Seeing that Guo Yunhou, who was sitting first on his right hand, was shouting in front of him because he was too excited, Zhu Youzhen had to move his body back slightly to avoid the droplets brought out by the speech of the head of the household to spray on his face.

Zhu Youzhen waited silently, and it was not until Guo Yunhou said that he was stuck and paused to reorganize his thoughts, he seized the time to persuade him: "Why is Mr. Guo so excited, the Haihe River remediation plan in your hand is not very different from the plan a few months ago, but it is just an addition of some projects."

I've checked that there is a reason for these items to increase. If we don't build a large reservoir upstream to intercept the water from the mountainous areas, then in the rainy season, when it rains heavily, all these flows will flow into the Haihe River, and the dikes we built this year will inevitably be washed away.

What's more, the rainy season and the dry season in the Haihe River basin are particularly distinct. Heavy rain in the upper reaches of the river, flooding in the middle and lower reaches; If it doesn't rain, there will be no water to irrigate the fields on both sides of the Hai River. If the water from the rainy season can be intercepted, then not only can millions of acres of dry land on both sides of the Haihe River be converted into irrigated land.

It is now more than 50 million acres of depression and marshland and more than 20 million acres of saline-alkali land that are now abandoned in Beizhili, and at least more than half of the fertile land can be reclaimed. Even if the annual output value of one acre of land is 05 yuan, there will be more than 150 million output value in ten years. If you do the math of the general ledger, this 150 million investment will not lose money.

And this is not a one-time investment, 150 million yuan is divided into 20 years of investment, that is, 7.5 million yuan per year. We have now invested 1.5 million yuan in the management of the Haihe River. If you don't count this year, you only need to invest 5 million yuan in the next year. ”

Guo Yunhou finally calmed down a little, he looked at Chongzhen with strange eyes and said: "Your Majesty, even if you can reclaim 30 million mu of new land and add millions of mu of watered land, the imperial court can still only collect thirty taxes and one, and this increased grain can't go to the pockets of the imperial court." The imperial court made a big head, but it was the local landlords who benefited, and in the end we still couldn't make ends meet.

What's more, according to the new calculation method of tax money and grain compiled by the Ministry of Household this year. In the past three years, Daming's tax revenue has been about 00,000 yuan. Although this year has not yet ended, according to the forecast of the Ministry of Households, because of the impact of the drought in Shaanxi and the flood in Zhejiang, Daming's financial revenue this year is roughly around 29 million yuan.

After deducting 60 percent of military expenditures and subtracting miscellaneous incomes, less than 3 million yuan can be used for turnover in the state treasury, of which 1.2 million yuan still has to be paid to the three major banks for short-term loans and interest.

Therefore, not to mention the annual investment of 7.5 million yuan, even the annual investment of 750,000 yuan, the national treasury cannot afford it, and it is an expenditure for 20 consecutive years. Your Majesty, the minister thought that it would be better to put this water control plan on hold for the time being, and it would not be too late until the treasury was rich in the future. ”

When Guo Yunhou argued with the emperor, the other ministers maintained complete silence. On other issues, they will probably express their opinions, but on the issue of finance, no one wants to intervene.

Everyone knows that the emptiness of the treasury of the Ming Dynasty did not start with Chongzhen's accession to the throne, but before the death of Emperor Wanli, the treasury had already appeared to be unable to make ends meet.

In the past, Zhang Juzheng reformed the Ming Dynasty's finances, solved the problem of lack of treasury in the early Wanli Dynasty, and made the empty Ming treasury once again full of more than 800 taels of standing silver.

But this money did not fall from the sky, it was Zhang Juzheng who changed the tax law and snatched it out of the mouths of the gentry of the world. But Zhang Juzheng, who offended the gentry of the world, was not whipped by his student emperor in the end, and even the new policy he implemented during his lifetime was quickly overthrown.

With Zhang Juzheng's ending ahead, there is also that official who will think about reforming the tax law and generating revenue for the imperial court. Even Guo Yunhou is just doing tinkering work.

At the beginning of the year, Chongzhen personally invited businessmen from all over the country to Beijing to discuss matters and reformulated the method of commercial tax collection, but after the officials of the household department got this method, they did not actively promote the new method of commercial tax collection.

Only the Municipal Shipping Division, which was originally under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Palace, was renamed the Customs, separated from the local management and was directly under the leadership of the Imperial Palace, which can be regarded as a relatively active implementation of the new commercial taxation method.

However, the customs tax is directly into the inner treasury, even if it collects more, it has nothing to do with the household department. Let the poor household department take out so much money every year to fill in the governance of a river, can the life of this court continue.

As for learning from Zhang Juzheng, reforming the tax law, taking advantage of the gentry of the world, and sparing themselves for the country, everyone is not even willing to think about this issue.

After being rejected by Guo Yunhou again, Zhu Youzhen suddenly fell silent. Looking at the people present, no one was willing to speak out to support him, and he couldn't help but retreat in his heart.

However, he quickly reacted, and when the treasury was sufficient, it was obviously a prevarication. Even if he didn't mention the history he knew, with the ability of these officials in the household department, he couldn't think of any way to increase taxes, and in the end he still had a headache and a pain in his feet.

And in the history he understands, Chongzhen's 17 years are basically a year is not as good as a year. If he doesn't get a reliable grain source near Gyeonggi as soon as possible, God knows when the bureaucratic gentry from the south will get him in the neck.

Not to mention, from the records of the tax payment accounts of the past years that he retrieved from the household department, he could see the malice of the southern bureaucrats and gentry.

The voices of the bureaucrats and gentry in the south against the Jiapai were the loudest, but according to the account records of the Ministry of Households, the Susong region, the richest area of the Ming Dynasty, not only did the proportion of the completion of the payment of the additional payment be far lower than that of the northern provinces, but even the normal land endowment was much in arrears.

For example, Sanwu and Jiangyou owed nearly one million taels of gold and silver, and after Guo Yunhou reported to Chongzhen, he sent officials to urge him, but he only handed over 110,000 taels.

When Chongzhen learned that those Jiangnan gentry dared to fool themselves like this, he was angry with Huang Liji and Guo Yunhou, and said that he would dismiss all the Jiangnan officials who were in arrears, and remove the Jiangnan scholars from the titles of lifter and showman.

Huang Liji and Guo Yunhou naturally refused to let the emperor give such a severe punishment order, and with this order, Jiangnan would definitely be in chaos. Under their hard persuasion, Zhu Youzhen was able to endure this breath temporarily, but his prejudice against Jiangnan scholars became deeper and deeper.

Zhu Youzhen remembered this matter again, so his heart, which had been shaken, suddenly became firm again. He spoke again and said: "It is not only the business of the imperial court to control the Haihe River once and for all, but also those landlords and people who have benefited from it should also have the money to contribute and make a strong contribution.

We will ask the headquarters of the project to control the Haihe River to make a census of the land that will be profitable, and then levy a part of the cost of the Haihe River treatment according to the area of the field, accounting for about one-third of the total investment, that is, 2.5 million yuan per year. According to the calculation of the 50 million acres of fields that are now benefited, that is, 5 cents per mu. I think it should be affordable. ”

Seeing that Chongzhen still refused to give up, Guo Yunhou smiled bitterly and said, "Then Your Majesty, where do you plan to turn over the remaining 5 million yuan a year?" ”

Zhu Youzhen pondered for a moment and said: "According to the report of the survey team of the Haihe River Control Headquarters, there are still tens of millions of acres of wasteland between the capital and Shanhaiguan, and if the Haihe River can be controlled, these wastelands can be turned into fertile land.

Take the construction of a reservoir in the upper reaches of the Ji Canal as an example, the total investment will not exceed 600,000 yuan, but at least more than 1.5 million acres of fertile land can be reclaimed on both sides of the lower reaches of the Ji Canal.

Since the opening of the cotton textile factory in Beijing, the price of this cotton has been rising, at the beginning of the year the price of raw cotton was 22 yuan, and at the end of October it has risen to 65 yuan per quintal of raw cotton, an increase of almost three times.

And one acre of cotton field near Gyeonggi harvests flowers a year, and the poor ones are about one load, and the good ones are about two loads. If the 1.5 million acres of wasteland reclaimed land are used to grow cotton, it will be at least 9 million yuan a year.

From wasteland to ripe land that can grow cotton, it takes only 3 years, that is, an annual income of 3 million yuan. This year, the cotton textile factory opened in Beijing has 500,000 spindles, which can consume 125 quintals of cotton every day.

As far as I know, another 1 million spindles will be added next year. As a result, the scale of cotton planting in Hebei, Shandong, and the following year could not meet the increased demand of the textile workshops in the capital. It is imperative to expand the cotton planting area.

Therefore, I intend to grant the qualification for the reclamation of wasteland in the same way as who invests and who benefits. For every 100 acres of wasteland, you can qualify for reclamation of wasteland by paying a deposit of 200 yuan.

Within 3 years of reclamation of each wasteland, the imperial court will no longer charge any fees. However, in the next seven years, 100 quintals of cotton must be sold to the imperial court at a price of 4 yuan per quintal. As long as the task of selling cotton to the imperial court is completed as agreed, the deposit will be returned after 10 years. If there is no completion of the task for one year, the deposit of 20 yuan will be deducted.

Of course, in order to dispel the concerns of the people, the palace will take the lead in setting up a reclamation and cotton planting company, and apply for the reclamation right of 500,000 acres of wasteland in advance. The deposit of 1 million yuan can be used to start the reservoir project of the state river first. ”

Although Chongzhen's proposal failed to immediately solve the problem of the funding gap of the Haihe River management plan, it has already given a solution to the problem.

However, Guo Yunhou was still a little hesitant, and he said to Chongzhen with anxiety: "Your Majesty, there are two problems in this case. The first is that the imperial court buys cotton at a fixed price every year, what if the cotton in the market falls below 4 yuan in the future? The second is that the imperial court has taken the deposit to control the water, what will it take to return it to others after ten years? ”

Zhu Youjian said confidently: "If the household department is worried that the price of cotton will fall, the palace will sign a fixed-price purchase contract with the household department to purchase the cotton in the hands of the household department at a price of 45 yuan per quintal.

As for how to return the deposit, I remember that in the middle of the year, the household department had already issued a document to raise the tax on cotton, linen, and raw silk to one-tenth. At the same time as the household department purchases cotton, of course, it can ask the cotton growers to pay taxes according to the actual quantity. Although the tax is only levied for seven years, it should be enough to pay off the deposit. ”

Chongzhen's answer finally made Guo Yunhou quiet, but Huang Liji said unexpectedly: "Your Majesty, isn't this setting of 100 acres of wasteland for each piece of wasteland equivalent to the right of the poor people to reclaim wasteland?" Will this cause the newly reclaimed wasteland to eventually fall into the hands of powerful families? ”