Large-scale troops mean a lot of expenses, and the prince's guard of honor and pomp on the expedition are not trivial, and the opening fee and after-the-fact reward for these tens of thousands of Eight Banner soldiers are not a small amount -- there is nothing to grab in Shandong, and even if Yu Qi's own family property is more, it will definitely not satisfy the appetite of the prince and tens of thousands of Manchu and Han Eight Banners.

After the Shunzhi pro-government, the collection of wealth was still quite good, and the treasury of each province was sent by the central government to take charge, and the surplus was sent to Beijing; Every time there is a large-scale war, Shunzhi uses this as an excuse to try to deduct some rewards for the prince, and if anyone does not know how to promote, Shunzhi will not hesitate to abolish him, such as the uncle of the current Prince Kang. Shunzhi usually often talks about the 5,000-mile defense line operated by Hong Chengchou, and the rewards for the New Year's holidays are all simple.

In just a few years, the Qing court had accumulated enough savings in its treasury to use the whole country for four or five years. For this achievement, Sony and Aobai, who assisted Shunzhi, are also very proud. With this savings, the Qing court was able to make its internal affairs more flexible, and to provide the necessary tax exemptions so as not to provoke a large-scale popular uprising. Even after Shunzhi's death, the Auxiliary Minister still wanted to continue the policy of having the provincial treasury directly under the central government. According to the original plan, Sony and Ao Bai planned to save for the Qing court in five or six years to provide the savings for the normal expenses of the whole country for ten years.

After all, the Qing court was a small clan and a large country, and Sonny and Aobai, the two auxiliary ministers who had struggled from the Nurhachi era, had a strong sense of crisis, and while they tried their best to divide and disintegrate the unity of the Han people, and favored Wu Sangui and other collaborators, they still feared that a nationwide Han resistance would break out. This savings allowed the Qing court to have enough financial resources to suppress it even when it suddenly lost a large part of its territory, and it was able to ensure that it would continue to buy the loyalty of the Green Camp generals. If the situation inside the customs is not possible, they can also withdraw from the customs with a large amount of money.

In Deng Ming's previous life, when Ao Bai was killed by Kangxi, he had already saved almost the equivalent of ten years of expenses of the Qing court for his third-generation master, which allowed Kangxi to force Wu Sangui without worrying about the consequences. After losing a third of its territory in the blink of an eye, the Qing court was still able to mobilize an army much larger than Wu Sangui to fight back.

Now this good process has been interrupted, and the turning point is not Gaoyouhu but the subsequent Kangxi case. The auxiliary minister was overwhelmed and unable to resist the pressure from the princes, and the first Sichuan crusade was hastily launched at great cost and fruitless. It seems that the losses in western Sichuan were minimal, as Deng Ming then launched the Third Crusade and the Battle of Burma at the same time.

The upcoming battle of Shandong saw that the cost was about to greatly exceed the budget, which made Ao Bai feel a little distressed, but this was an unsavable expense. Let the prince go to Shandong to lead the army, the two princes reached an agreement after a few simple discussions, and then the two of them spent ten times as much time studying economic problems, trying to get some money from somewhere, but they did not find any good solutions.

It seems that there is no chance of making a windfall before conquering the Sichuan feedback treasury, and Sony and Ao Bai have to admit defeat. The two of them talked about it all afternoon, and their heads hurt a little, so they began to drink tea, chatted about inconsequential little things, and rested for a while.

"There is a case in Zhejiang," Ao Bai rummaged through in the song, and took out a copy casually and looked at it, it was about a case of a local rich man. The matter is not big, and it is estimated that the chief officer of the Criminal Department will not be interested in seriously reviewing it, and may hand it over to any official to deal with: "Oh, these Han people are so bold that they dare to write a counter-letter." ”

"What anti-book?" Sonny asked, sipping tea.

"It's not a real rebellion," Ao Bai flipped the chapter and threw it aside, he and Sonny were now looking at these trivial things for a little rest, and they wouldn't bother to study them seriously: "Only the magistrate and another person sued him." ”

"The family must be quite rich." Sony took another sip of tea unhurriedly. Generally speaking, the first person to sue gets a share of the property, and even the magistrate sues him for rebellion, but the case is not finalized - Sony feels as if he smells something.

"These lawless Han people, they don't know how high the sky is when they have a few dollars." Ao Bai really wanted to clean up this Han who didn't know how to fear the Manchurians, and let the literati in Jiangnan know the power of the imperial court. However, even the county order has not yet been decided, and naturally there is a reason: "The prefect of Huzhou, the Xuezheng of Zhejiang, well, and the general of the Eight Banners stationed in Hangzhou all vouched for this person that he did not rebel." Hey, there is also Liang Huafeng, the governor of Jiangnan, among the guarantors. ”

Ao Bai felt that there were so many officials as guarantors, there was no need to give them face. Ao Bai and Sonny both know very well that this book cannot be a real anti-book, and if the crime is unforgivable, these officials will not dare to accept bribes and come forward to protect people.

"It looks like it's really rich." Sony repeated, still sipping tea slowly. A gentleman in Huzhou Mansion can find the Huzhou prefect to guarantee him, and he can even attach the Manchurian generals who garrisoned the Eight Banners in Hangzhou, and even the governor of the green camp of a province in Linzhou, who is estimated to be a very rich man.

Ao Bai was stunned for a moment. When Sony said it for the first time just now, Ao Bai mistakenly thought that the Chief Auxiliary Minister was just casually asking, but if Sony repeated it, Ao Bai didn't notice it, it would be a big mistake.

Before Ao Bai reacted, Sony continued to ask in a calm tone: "Are there many people involved in this case?" Are they all rich people? ”

"I'll see!" Ao Bai took out the piece of music that he had just thrown into the pile of papers, hurriedly opened it, and looked at it seriously.

Sonny finished his tea and got up to go home. He is too old to work without black and white like Aobai; After sending the chief auxiliary minister out of the door, the energetic Ao Bai ran back to the table to continue the trial, and soon he had a rough estimate of the situation of the banker, the people involved in the case, and the benefits that the court could get from it.

After reading the recital, Ao Bai pondered for a while, in addition to the financial losses, with Deng Ming's crusades to the east again and again, public opinion in the southeast also had some unfavorable discussions against the imperial court, and by handling this case, the southeast scholars could be more clearly aware of whose rule they were in.

Ao Bai instructed his staff to find him all the records of the cases of the Southeast Jin Gentry in the past two years: "Well, how to judge this case is a simple matter, but when will the criminal be executed?" If the imperial court seeks to pacify Sichuan, it will have the best effect, right? Then let these rampant Han people live for a few more months. ”

……

At this time, Deng Ming was not far from Chengdu City, and he pondered how to spend less money and do more along the way, and finally came up with a few methods: "People are emotional animals, rather than letting them save the dividend money and then forget about it, it is better to give them a memorable night." ”

"You first return to the capital, put up a list at each pavilion, announce that I will return to the capital in three days, make up the ceremony of triumph from Burma, and invite parliamentarians, officials, and fellow Xiucai to come and watch the military parade." After thinking of countermeasures, Deng Ming asked the guards to go back to Chengdu to report the news. In the past, he has always kept a low profile, but this time he decided to do the opposite.

Most of the soldiers who participated in the expedition to Burma were from Chengdu, and Deng Ming sent rangers to inform them separately to put on their best clothes for the triumphal ceremony, and they could bring their families to watch. And all the knights of the three walls also stopped taking vacations, and Deng Ming needed them to go back to Chengdu with him once more - of course, in order to take advantage of their day of vacation, Deng Ming was prepared to pay three times his salary, and he could also bring his family to visit.

Zhang Bang was to attract Tong Xiucai to visit the triumphal ceremony, and Deng Ming also prepared several items for this ceremony, in order to impress Tong Xiucai: "Didn't some people say that the conquest of Burma was a waste of money and a reckless army? Don't you suspect that I didn't get a big win? Well, I'll show you the evidence of the victory. ”

Zhou Kaihuang and his guards were somewhat surprised that Deng Ming attached so much importance to public opinion, because Deng Ming had never visited celebrities and Confucians when he went to Jiangnan before, and the scholars he collected from the southeast were also small landlords and children of rich peasants. And usually Deng Ming didn't have any actions like Corporal Lixian, even for such an important person as Chen Zuocai, who was sacrificing wine in the academy, Deng Ming didn't go to ask for warmth. After taking the lead in applauding Chen Zuocai last time, many professors once thought that Deng Ming was the beginning of the action to win over Chen Zuocai, but there was no follow-up action for a long time, and now many people think that Deng Ming's applause may be because he completely ignores the scholar class and despises the role and power of public opinion.

"How could I not value speech?" Deng Ming was a little surprised by the doubts of his subordinates, perhaps because he had been committed to improving the status of soldiers over the years, and trying to make the people realize that the victory or defeat of the war was closely related to the vital interests of everyone.

However, the Sichuan army attacked in two directions this time, which led to a war-weariness in western Sichuan. There were few beneficiaries of the Burma War, and most of the income was spent on special projects by Deng Ming; In order to ensure the food and lodging of the immigrants, the share of maritime trade income obtained by western Sichuan in Chongming and the share of Premier Deng were filled, and even the income from the sale of ships was used to pay for the accommodation of the immigrants.

Coupled with military spending, bonuses for soldiers, and various preferential treatments, this offensive operation, which took nearly a year before and after, not only did not make money but lost more than one billion yuan, and the government in western Sichuan was not interested in a similar immigration war for the time being; And the bosses who supported the war before, after the war is finally over, also hope to recuperate for a while, at least let them expand production, and get back the year's investment.

Therefore, it is normal for war-weariness to appear, but Deng Ming does not want Kawanishi to think that war is harmful and unhelpful.

"Public opinion is part of war preparedness, and there are several ways to get public opinion to do what I want, and the easiest way is to get rid of all those who speak in a way that is not what we want. I could get the Three Walls and the Rangers to go out and smash down the academy where Chen Xijiu was made, forbid everyone to read and talk, and drive all the professors and students to farm. However, since Pangu opened the world, no matter how tyrannical the emperor is, as long as he is a Han Chinese, he will not destroy the inheritance of Han culture and knowledge for his own selfishness - I am not an emperor, and even if I do, I would not dare to do so. Deng Ming explained to the guards: "If people are afraid to express different opinions because of fear, and shout all day long, 'Sichuan West is good, it is good, and if it is good, it is good', is it convincing?" I hope that our good fellow talents in western Sichuan can tell the reason. ”