"Your Majesty, I also know that the cost of pacifying the Western Region is indeed high, but the Western Region is too big, too far, too desolate, and has nothing. Everything has to be transferred from Hexi and Guanzhong. The military expenses allocated by the imperial court are simply not enough. I have no choice.

, I had no choice but to deduct 20,000 for the soldiers' luggage, mules, horses, and food. If the court could not make up for this money, I am afraid that my Hexi Army and Anxi Army would no longer be able to fight.

....”

The one who is pouring out his bitterness is Wu Sangui!

The acting king Zhu Cijiong is now out of trouble, while Wu Sangui has fallen into a bigger financial black hole - the Western Regions!

This is the Age of Discovery!

The Silk Road in the Western Regions has long been abolished, so there is no comparison between the Western Regions today and the Han and Tang Dynasties. During the Han and Tang Dynasties, the Western Regions Silk Road was dotted with wealthy commercial city-states, and at that time, the climate in the Western Regions was very humid and the area of ​​oases was very large.

The places we passed were good places with abundant products and prosperous trade. Therefore, the armies of the Central Plains Dynasty could be supplied locally in the Western Regions without the need for the court to spend a lot of money to maintain them.

But things are different now. There are no prosperous trade routes in the Western Regions. There are not many city-states that were prosperous in the past. There are only a few oases suitable for farming left, such as Hami, Gaochang, and Luntai.

So after Wu Sangui's army entered, they found that there was nothing to loot at all. Everything had to be transferred from Hexi and Guanzhong. This was a waste of money!

In addition, the depression in the Western Regions has also affected Hexi. Without trade, the Hexi Corridor is no longer a "corridor", but has become a dry and depressed agricultural area, and is often harassed by some poor Mongolian small tribes.

It's a very troublesome place.

Therefore, Hexi did not have much spare capacity to support Anxi, and could only rely on supplies from Guanzhong to be transported thousands of miles to the battlefield in Anxi.

Wu Sangui is really desperate now. He has already prepared his resignation. If Emperor Zhu refuses to pay, then he would rather not be the Jiedushi and the Protector of the Capital. And even if he wants to do it, he can't do it!

The military service system implemented by the two losing vassals at his disposal is different from that of most of the Ming army (including the vassal army). They are still implementing the land military service system. Earlier, Lao Wu had 330 thousand households, but now it has been reduced

When it reaches 240, it theoretically means 240,000 military households. If all are mobilized, it will be 240,000 troops!

It looks scary, but it is impossible to mobilize, because Wu Sangui simply does not have that much money to subsidize them. Without enough subsidies, most military households cannot afford to buy equipment, nor can they provide rations, mules and horses.

I can't serve at all.

Therefore, Wu Sangui could only adopt the method of feeding one household from eight households to maintain 30,000 Long March troops available at any time. This time he sent troops to Anxi, 24,000 Long March troops were used.

The 24,000 Long March soldiers need to prepare their own luggage, food, mules and horses before going on the expedition. If the expedition takes longer than expected, Wu Sangui needs to provide Long March soldiers' luggage money, food money, mules and horses money to the military relatives to subsidize them.

They live a regular life and at the same time pay a certain amount of military pay to the soldiers.

If Wu Sangui did not issue money for clothing, food, and horses, then these Long March soldiers would fall into poverty or even go bankrupt, and they would not be able to perform military service in the future!

"Dong Guo Liang, don't be anxious." Zhu Cixi also knew that he couldn't default on his debt, otherwise the Hexi Army and the Anxi Army would be gone. "For how much money, the imperial court will not miss a penny, and the battle in the Western Regions was fought very well. The imperial court

We will also give rewards to the soldiers who participated in the battle!"

He paused and then asked: "Gong Liang, how is the establishment of the Anxi army going? Can one hundred and twenty thousand households be mobilized to Anxi? The Northern Expedition army also captured many prisoners, can it be dispersed?

To the one hundred and twenty thousand households who entered Anxi?"

Wu Sangui frowned: "That's one hundred and twenty thousand households, at least hundreds of thousands of households, hundreds of thousands of people going to Anxi... It's not easy!

Not to mention moving to Kashgar, even if they move to Dunhuang, Hami, Gaochang, Luntai and other places, each household will have to spend at least dozens of taels of silver to resettle it. Even if it is ten million taels, it may not be enough.

Sales!

Moreover, due to the continuous wars in the Western Regions (the Yeerqiang Khanate itself was fighting every day without stopping), the people had long been destitute, the cities were dilapidated, and the oases were deserted. When I led my troops there, I often traveled two to three hundred miles.

There is not even a village or a town in sight! A place like this will probably not receive any taxes from the Western Regions within ten years.

If we want to take root in the Western Regions, even if we restore the situation of the Han and Tang Dynasties, we will have to spend millions of taels of silver every year to build cities and water conservancy projects, organize roads and gates, appease local wealthy families, and build academies and Buddhist temples. This is basically

What a bottomless pit!

In addition, my Hexi is also a barren land! There is drought and little rain, and the harvests have been poor year after year. I really have no power to support Anxi..."

"Can Hexi and the Western Regions be self-sufficient in food?" Zhu Cixiang didn't ask about money at all, because money was not a problem!

In his view, the root of the Ming Dynasty problem is who contributes money and who contributes? Let the rich contribute money and the powerful contribute, and the problem will be solved.

It is obvious who has the money, that is, four rivers, two lakes, Fujian and Guangdong plus Sichuan and Tianfu. If you can get 100 million (silver plus grain) for these sites, the Ming Dynasty will be the Celestial Empire. If you get 50 million, the Ming Dynasty will be a peaceful and prosperous age. If

If you are only willing to pay 10 million, it will be a blessing!

However, transportation capacity in this era is poor. For places where food cannot be self-sufficient and transportation is inconvenient, there is really no solution.

"The situation in the Western Regions is still unknown. Hexi can barely be self-sufficient," Wu Sangui said with a sad face, "But sometimes it is necessary to supplement some from Guanzhong, but other things are difficult to supply, and most of them have to be imported from the Central Plains. Because of the long distance, the prices are not high.

Cheap. Therefore, most of the military households are poor. In the past, they could still get some income from exporting horses. But now that the imperial court has a horse breeding land in Monan, the horse selling business may not last long. By then, each military household will

If I can't make ends meet, I'm afraid I won't be able to afford military service anymore."

"Dong Guo Liang, you don't have to worry," Zhu Cixi said with a smile, "I have already planned to implement a recruitment system in Hexi and Anxi, and at the same time retain military households to train militiamen in regiments, so there is no need to stay away from home."

"Recruiting troops?" Wu Sangui quickly asked, "I wonder how many standing troops your Majesty plans to maintain in Hexi and Anxi?"

"Hexi, the Western Region is vast, and it is not enough without 30,000 standing troops!" Zhu Cixi had already discussed with the people in the Generalissimo's Mansion to cross Hexi and prepare the Western Region's weapons. "And these 30,000 standing troops must be mainly composed of musketeers and cavalry.

, at least half must be musketeers."

The musketeers are the black lances and mule soldiers. They showed their prowess in the Battle of the Qing Dynasty and greatly weakened the Qing army's cavalry advantage.

"So many musketeers..." Wu Sangui was startled by Emperor Zhu's magnanimity, "Your Majesty, the military expenditure in Hexi and Anxi is probably 1.5 million per year!"

Zhu Cixiang nodded: "Anxi will add another one million for resettlement and construction. Add this one and a half million, and it will be two and a half million!"

In addition, I have made an agreement with you that the town of Anxi will allow you to inherit the Wu family hereditary! Anxi will offer 20,000 soldiers to recruit, plus the cost of resettlement and construction, the court will give you 2 million taels a year!"

"Your Majesty," Wu Sangui was stunned again and again, "Anxi and Hexi only spend 2.5 million taels a year... and Shuofang, Anbei, Peiping, Daning and other festival towns also have to spend money.

, is the imperial court really that rich?"

Zhu Cixiang smiled and said: "Anbei, Peiping, and Daning don't cost as much as you. More than five million a year is enough..." He turned to look at Zhu Yujian, "Prince Tang, how much does Shuofang cost?"

?”

"Three hundred thousand is enough!" Zhu Yujian said, "Shuofang is managed well by King Dai. If I work harder, I should be able to equalize within four or five years."

Zhu Cixiang nodded and said with a smile: "Well, the king of Tang is indeed a wise king! But you still have to spend what you should spend! Now all the wealth in the world is in the southeast. As long as the southeast is managed well, it can supply the military supplies of the north...
Chapter completed!