On the thirteenth day of the first month of the first year of Tongzhi, Jiang Qi and Chen Yucheng persuaded the Taiping army in several places in Wujiang Town and Yundu Town, totaling more than 3,000 people, approaching Jiangpu, and there was no Taiping army in Jiangbei; On the sixth day of the first month of February, Wang Jinxiu broke through Moling, and on February 11, Li Hongzhang crossed the river south to darken Chencang, broke through Jurong, and Li Shixian died; Zuo Zongtang recovered the whole territory of Zhejiang, and even surrendered eight kings in one day, Zhejiang Anhui has recovered the whole territory, Zeng Guofan was not to be outdone, and even went down to Xiaoshuiguan Xiaolingwei Zhongshan several Jinling peripheral strongholds, together with the naval commander Peng Yulin trapped Jiangpu Jiuhuanzhou Pukou, cut off the Tianjing grain road, and surrounded Tianjing.

Whatever Zeng Guofan played, everything was not allowed; Anyone who was cited by Zeng Guofan did everything. This is the biggest support of the Empress Dowager Cixi for the south at this stage, in addition, the land taxes of the six provinces of Huguang, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian are all levied on the spot for military use, and the central government's financial income is already an imminent problem, on February 16 of the first year of Tongzhi, Shen Zhaolin, the minister of military aircraft, was on the fold, and this headache was put on the table.

"In the old year, the "Regulations for the Purchase of Warships" were signed, and 11 million taels of silver were paid to foreigners every year, not including the cost of purchasing foreign weapons in Ningbo," Shen Zhaolin knew the central financial revenue well, "Among them, Xianfeng 10 years due to the invasion of foreigners, the flooding of the Yellow River, and the rebellion of the army, the annual income of 35.6 million taels of silver, Xianfeng's 11th year of foreign peace negotiations, the annual income has only risen to 39.78 million taels, but it has not yet recovered to the 21st year of Daoguang, the amount of 41 million taels, and now this military expenditure will be levied in six provinces to pay taxes, The taxes paid by these six provinces account for one-third of the silver of the household department, and 11 million taels have been paid to foreigners since last year, and the prime minister's yamen still owes 7 million taels, which will be paid off after the arrival of the ironclad ship. This is another huge amount of money, although last year it was only paid four million taels, but after this year, it will be paid in full every year. ”

"Wu Ren made a mistake and asked for the abolition of the prime minister's yamen. and cancel the trade with foreigners' warships. Prince Gong said.

"The knowledge of the Japanese people is excellent, but they are not practical," the Empress Dowager Cixi said directly and mercilessly, "This is not just a matter of treachery and breaking the contract, if it is a small country, the palace will break the contract if it is cheeky and broken, but if Britain and France bring troops in." Couldn't you tell him to plug the muzzle? Cixi faintly regretted that the emperor invited such a pedantic gentleman, "and the emperor's opium disaster has been going on so far." The invasion of foreign enemies all came from the sea, this scene is completely different from the Han, Tang, Song and Ming dynasties, if the foreigners invade again, is it still called the two palaces to hunt in the north? Absolutely not! ”

"So no matter how difficult the country is, the navy is bound to be built!" The Empress Dowager Cixi said categorically that the general trend of the world today is completely different from that of the Celestial Empire in the future, when the world has been carved up by the great powers, and the navy is urgently operated for quick success. There are no current interests left, but now there are still many places in this world to grab and occupy, and wherever the fleet goes, it is the border of territory, and although the navy is a rich man's toy, it must also be formed itself. What's more, China can be regarded as a local tyrant. "In addition, foreign guns and cannons are also needed to quell the rebellion, but the palace has already issued an order for Zeng Guofan to set up a musket and artillery factory, and the Ministry of Industry should also prepare for this in Beijing," Prince Gong nodded. said that he heard it, "Now buying is just a stopgap measure, if we blindly buy, and other Japanese and foreigners cut off our supply, wouldn't it be a black eye?" This is also why this palace has decided to send soldiers to foreign countries to learn naval techniques, it is better to buy them than to build them themselves, although they are not capable now. But you can't be presumptuous, learn with an open mind, and you can always practice. ”

"The ministers have already prepared a foreign affairs affair, and are preparing to submit them to the queen mother's palace."

"And don't be busy, and then call the six Jiuqing Zhan Shi Kedao to discuss together, it is better to have more than less, the Westerners are strong in machinery, we need to face it." Empress Dowager Cixi continued, "I'm not busy with this, it's the matter of money that is burning my eyebrows right now, Shen Shangshu, what are your plans?" ”

"The minister thinks that it is nothing more than the four words of open source and throttling," Shen Zhaolin kowtowed and replied respectfully, "The queen mother has already ordered the palace to reduce the diet and remove the palace people, and the first emperor may as well open more gold and donations, although there is a suspicion of exhausting and fishing, after all, it is a helpless move, in addition, Zhejiang and Anhui have been recovered, and a variety of local sericulture should be ordered to make silk for export to the West, Jiangxi should make more porcelain, Hunan lacquerware and Hunan embroidery, etc., in order to export foreign merchants. ”

"This is a very good method," Cixi nodded, "Now that the number of treaty ports has increased, except for Jiangning, all the treaty ports need to increase the number of goods to supply foreign countries, not only the merchants will benefit, but also the taxes can be collected, and the silver that flowed out of opium can also be recovered," Cixi's face showed a look of disgust, and then passed away, "The household department and the military aircraft have discussed how to motivate the export of goods from all over the country, and it is always good to use the benefits to attract talents." What's the other way? ”

"The household department consulted the yellow book, the people's livelihood in all parts of the south of the Yangtze River is withering, and the taxes of the old year cannot be collected, so it is better to bow and exempt."

"Yes!" The Empress Dowager Cixi simply responded.

"A little bit more."

"This," the Empress Dowager Cixi hesitated, "if there is too much money, this money will be added to ordinary people, and I am afraid of killing chickens and eggs." ”

"This is also a matter of no choice," Prince Gong replied, "Now the provincial gold is controlled by the household department, and the gold is indeed the bulk of the taxes paid by the national dynasty in recent years, far higher than the tariffs on the export of Western goods, relying on the gold medal, the taxes have not fallen below 30 million over the years, and the military aircraft have set some rules in accordance with the previous regulations of the Queen Mother, and if they donate more than five officials, the gold will be reduced by 30%, so if it is calculated, the merchants are not very bad." ”

"Anyway, it was a matter of course for merchants to pay taxes, but now although there is no commercial tax, they must be asked to hand over the money, and the household department will do it steadfastly, and wait until the long-haired thief is calmed down, and then reduce it." Cixi nodded, the commercial tax will naturally be collected, but not now, wait until the future.

"Encourage all localities to open up land for planting and alleviate the high price of grain."

"Yes!" The Empress Dowager Cixi thought slightly, "The mausoleum of the Emperor Daxing cannot be delayed, and besides, the mausoleum of the main palace and the Empress Dowager should be postponed." ”

"This" Prince Gong and the military planes looked at each other.

"The spring and autumn period of this palace is prosperous, it's too early to talk about this, not to mention that the country is difficult, why waste it early? Save some money. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for the recommendation ticket, your support is my biggest motivation. )