The reason why soldiers and many people have so much resentment at the moment is simply because they feel that their sacrifice is worthless, or that they do not know what they are sacrificing for.

This is actually very easy to do, as long as it solves this confusion in their hearts.

Therefore, the answer given by Yan Shao is social welfare, or 'welfare state'.

The welfare state is a method in which the capitalist state establishes and finances social public undertakings, implements and improves a set of social welfare policies and systems, and intervenes in social and economic life to regulate and alleviate class contradictions, ensure the normal operation of social order and economic life, and safeguard the interests and rule of monopoly capital. In Schwartz's A Legal History of the United States, the welfare state refers to the period of history between Roosevelt's New Deal and the outbreak of World War II.

The welfare state is a form of state, welfare is the characteristic of this state form, which is used to define the state, and the welfare state is a state form that prominently strengthens the social function of the modern state, so it is a political concept, and social welfare is a sociological concept. Welfare itself is a concept of economics. The economic environment is the condition and basis for state decision-making, and social welfare is the result of state decision-making.

In Yan Shao's view, if you want to solve the people's grievances, then this method is probably the best measure.

After all, the disgruntled soldiers will learn that the sacrifices they have made for the country are not meaningless. In this way, it is not possible to say that their anger will be completely extinguished. At least most of them can be eliminated...

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I am afraid that there are many people in this world who are waiting to see Yan Shao's jokes, and I hope to see the moment when Yan Shao is unlucky.

After all, no matter how many people in this world respect Yan Shao, there are even many people who regard Yan Shao as a god. But the same. There are still many people who regard Yan Shao as a thorn in the eye and a thorn in the flesh, and always feel that if Yan Shao can disappear, then their obstacles to moving forward will be greatly reduced.

On the other hand, while they were gloating because of Yan Shao's problem, they were actually thinking in their hearts what they would do if they were Yan Shao.

I have to say. In fact, there are still some methods, but the key is that these methods are either easy to provoke greater resentment. Either that, or the time to effect is too slow. But the longer it drags on, the more resentment becomes―――――― at least the voices of complaining.

As for the solution with a short time and quick results? Sorry, they didn't come up with it~

No. Maybe it's not that I can't think of it. At least this kind of thing of bribing the people with interests can be thought of by any politician. The point is that the idea of a welfare state is definitely not something that ordinary politicians can come up with, at least not in a short period of time, and therefore, when Yan Shao put forward the idea of a welfare state, it quickly shocked the entire upper echelons of government.

The reason is simple, as it was said before. The so-called welfare state is indeed a good initiative. But his flaw is also obvious, that is, the financial pressure on the government is too great.

And because of this. After Yan Shao proposed the concept of a welfare state, it was quickly opposed by many people, especially the Ministry of Finance. The excuse of the Ministry of Finance is also very simple, that is, the country's finances are still very difficult, and it is very difficult for the country to provide such welfare for the whole country.

However, Yan Shao's words then made Liang Shiyi a little speechless.

"Can't the whole of Kuwait's oil support a little bit of welfare measures?"

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Yan Shao's words made Liang Shiyi a little speechless.

Yes, if the current national government finances were to be used alone, it would be difficult to support a nationwide welfare program.

No, it can't be said that it is difficult, but it should be said that it is not possible at all.

After all, at present, the whole of China can be said to be everywhere in need of money, and it is difficult to ensure that the fiscal balance is even guaranteed. Nowadays, every year, the government needs to borrow some loans from Yushi Bank to ensure that it can maintain the stable operation of the government―――――― ordinary bank is naturally impossible to be so generous, but fortunately, this bank is opened by Yan Shao, and Yan Shao happens to be the president of this country, so it is logical.

How to put it...

At present, China is indeed a period of great need for money.

Among other things, the agricultural tax alone costs the government a considerable amount of fiscal revenue every year.

In fact, after this period of development, the level of domestic agriculture has reached a high level.

In the pre-Qing period, agricultural taxes at that time accounted for only about 10 percent of the Manchu government's fiscal revenue, no, about 13 percent to be exact. It is conceivable that although agricultural taxation was important to the Manchu government, it was definitely not the most important part.

This is also one reason why after Yan Shao exempted agricultural taxes, the original Anhui military government did not receive much impact. Because even if the agricultural tax was exempted, after having the part of the tax revenue of the Yushi Group, the Anhui military government at that time could still maintain a balance of payments.

What's more, a lot of the money at that time was actually spent on Yan Shao's money...

It can even be said that the entire Anhui military government at that time was able to operate so well was entirely because Yan Shao was supporting it with his own money.

This is also why, within the Anhui military government at that time, few people would question Yan Shao's status within the military government, because the operation of the entire military government Yan zhòng relied on Yan Shao's financial resources. It can even be said that if there is no Yan Shao, it will not be long before the military government will be paralyzed.

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Although in the early days, especially in the pre-Qing period, the agricultural tax was not much at all. But after such a long period of development, especially with the massive input of seeds including tractors, pesticides, and even some newer varieties. It has also led to a very good development of agriculture.

In general, it can almost be said that it has taken a leap, not only in terms of production, but also in other aspects.

If the national government is able to collect taxes from agriculture at this time, it can only be said that it occupies its share. It is definitely much larger than the pre-Qing period. However, it was precisely because of such a policy implemented by the Nationalist government that a considerable part of the government's fiscal revenue was lost.

That's not all, and there are a lot of places where the national government spends money at the moment. Don't say anything else. At present, a large amount of infrastructure in the country always needs to be built, such as roads and railways, which need to be built.

However, these things also cost a lot of money.

In fact, because the time is not particularly urgent at the moment. The government has slowed down many rail and road projects. And just slowly, gradually, but even so, the expenses are still staggering.

Again, in addition to these basics, there are power plants and many water conservancy facilities, which are also very expensive kinds.

Then there are the investments in the new territories, which are almost necessary.

For example, Siberia and the Middle East. and regions such as the Outer Northeast, which have either been separated from China for a long time. Either it's completely new territory, it hasn't been developed for a long time, and so on.

Since it is a new territory, it naturally requires a lot of investment, and only in this way can the people in the new territory feel a sense of belonging.

Of course, there is also the more important issue of being a new territory, which is that as new territories, these areas are usually in some of the more conflict-prone locations, and in order to ensure the security of these areas, the government needs to build a large number of fortifications, and even something that can be called a fortress.

Just like Yekaterinburg, which has not yet been completely completed, it is called a fortress city. In fact, the construction of such a fortress city alone costs a huge amount of money every year.

What's more, the current national defense force of more than 2 million is also a big expense. Especially after entering the new era, a large number of troops need to be reequipped, and at the same time, armored units to replace cavalry units are also beginning to be formed, and aviation units are also asking for an increase in the budget and the purchase of a large number of bombers, fighters and reconnaissance aircraft.

Even the navy, not to mention anything else, the four Jairus-class battleships alone have already occupied a lot of resources. What's more, in addition to these battleships, there are also a large number of new warships that need to be added? This, of course, was also the outcome of the Washington Conference.

According to the results of the Washington Conference, the main guns of battleships could not exceed 406mm, and similarly, there were regulations for cruisers and other ships. This regulation is very simple, that is, the displacement, and the caliber of the main gun cannot exceed 210mm.

Leaving aside whether this requirement is reasonable for the time being, at least under the provisions of the Washington treaty, all countries can only build new warships in accordance with such a requirement. It is also for this reason that, historically, the ships that were feared during this period were usually called treaty warships.

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As mentioned earlier, with the advent of a large amount of spending, it is usually difficult for the government to bear too much spending, especially this kind of thing that seems to only look at the sword to spend money, but not to see the income at all.

However, that's just under normal circumstances, and definitely doesn't include the present, especially after a new income.

Looking at the Minister of Energy on the side, Yan Shao asked softly. "What is the current income from Kuwait?"

The Ministry of Energy, which is relatively new in the upper echelons of the national government, is relatively junior in seniority. However, because of the importance of oil, especially after the government discovered a large amount of oil in Kuwait, the status of the Ministry of Energy in the cabinet can also be said to be a captain and a very high status, which can be equal to other ministers in the current cabinet.

Especially considering the importance of energy, the person who currently serves as the energy minister can almost be said to be a close confidant of Yan Shao.

After hearing Yan Shao's words, the man quickly stood up from his seat, and then softly glued a document that had just arrived not long ago.

"According to the current statistics. The oil wells in Kuwait's province are capable of spewing more than 25 million tons of oil per year, which is only an estimate. In the future, it is likely that this number will continue to rise, to the point where it will be on par with or even surpass Mexico's annual production, and of course, this will depend on the government's development of the oil fields..."

"According to the current calculation, more than 25 million tons of oil is roughly equivalent to more than 180 million barrels of crude oil. At present, the value of these crude oils is relatively high due to the great demand for oil in all countries of the world. However, the value of the fuel that has been refined is significantly higher than that of crude oil..."

"Considering that the government is currently in the Kuwait region, the construction of the refinery has begun. Especially after the purchase of the British refinery in Iran, we can do our own oil refining in the Middle East, and as long as we can turn crude oil into gasoline or diesel, the value of this crude oil will greatly increase. It's not a good estimate yet. But these things bring the government around £100 million a year. It should still be no problem..."

Saying this, although the energy minister's face was still expressionless, under his face, he was already twitching with a slight excitement. After all, such a large amount of money is almost equivalent to half of the fiscal revenue of the national government.

Although there is certainly still a lot of room for improvement in the future national government, it will not just stay in the same position of 200 million pounds. But in any case, it will take many years after all, and no one can guarantee that the oil fields in Kuwait will really always be maintained at the current production of more than 20 million tons.

It's just that according to the experts on the part of the Ministry of Energy. There is still a lot of potential for development of the oil fields currently located in Kuwait. It is very likely that it will eventually reach more than 50 million tons―――――― which is definitely an exaggerated figure for people of this era, after all, a country the size of the United States has a production capacity of only about 100 million tons a year, and a Kuwait, in terms of area, is not even one percent of the United States, but it can reach half of the United States government.

At least for the people of this era, this is already very striking.

It's just that they still underestimated the value of Kuwait's oil, at least in later generations, the oil production capacity of Kuwait as a whole reached more than 100 million tons. Even the world's largest oil field (the second in the world in later generations, but the first in the world in this era) discovered in Kuwait has an annual production capacity of more than 70 million tons in later generations.

Even such an oil field alone is equivalent to more than 70% of the production capacity of the US government today, and you can imagine how valuable such an oil field is.

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100 million pounds, although many of you have heard this figure for a long time, but when you hear it again, you can't help but exclaim, after all, this is a very exaggerated number, especially in this era.

And after getting the answer from the Ministry of Energy, Yan Shao bowed his head slightly, and at the same time, he also spoke.

"With more than 100 million pounds of extra income, there is always something to support..."

No one dared to answer Yan Shao's question this time, 100 million pounds? Not to mention supporting something, even if it is enough to form a naval fleet. After all, before the war, a battleship was only more than two million pounds, and 100 million pounds was enough for any country to buy fifty battleships to form an unprecedentedly large fleet.

Even now, when a battleship has reached more than five million pounds, this more than 100 million pounds can still form a huge fleet of more than twenty battleships for any country.

Therefore, anyone can imagine what a huge amount of money this is.

Don't say it's to support some benefits, even if you give a sum of money to all Chinese people, everyone can receive two or three yuan―――――― don't underestimate these dollars, in some parts of China, these money is already equivalent to a month's salary for many people.

In other words, if it is really distributed for free, then it is equivalent to everyone in the whole country receiving a month's salary for free. It can be seen from this that the value of this oil field is―――――― I believe that everyone knows very well how important a month's salary is.

"It's just—" After a moment of silence, someone finally couldn't help but ask. I don't know where you plan to start first, President? This kind of thing is a new thing for us now, after all, and I personally think that maybe we shouldn't rush it, at least we should do it slowly..."

Hearing the man's words, the other people in the venue couldn't help but nod.

"That's right, although there is an oil field now, it seems that there is no need to be nervous about your own problems. But after all, we haven't done anything like this in the past, so I also agree to take it slow and not be in too much of a hurry, otherwise there is a good chance that we will do bad things..."

"I know this in my own heart..."Saying this, Yan Shao lowered his head and muttered for a while, and then looked at Cai Yuanpei on the side.

I have to say that although he is relatively old, Cai Yuanpei has always been very energetic, at least compared with Feng Guozhang, he is indeed much more energetic―――――― according to the information Yan Shao obtained, Feng Guozhang's health has become worse and worse, especially some time ago, and he even tossed and turned on the hospital bed for a long time, and he couldn't go to the ground until not long ago, which also made Yan Shao start to think about the idea of transferring Feng Guozhang back from the northeast.

Doing so may hurt Feng Guozhang's heart, after all, Feng Guozhang has always been worried that Yan Shao will let him 'die of old age' in Beijing, and he has no chance to lead troops at all. In other words, although the Northeast is cold, Feng Guozhang is actually quite happy to live there, after all, he is there. Feng Guozhang can be called the number one, and he commanded these hundreds of thousands of troops, and also once commanded these hundreds of thousands of lions to fight in the ice and snow of the northeast, and won many honors for his country.

But if he returns to Beijing, it is estimated that Feng Guozhang will only have to retire.

However, after all, it is the national interest that is the most important, and in the face of the national interest, the persistence of an old man is nothing. Although among the many generals in China, Feng Guozhang can also be called a veteran and a famous general, but after all, he is already an old era figure who is about to be eliminated, and he is old, and his ability to accept new things has decreased a lot...

All in all, in order not to delay the situation in the northeast, Yan Shao felt that Feng Guozhang's transfer back was a very correct decision. In fact, Yan Shao has already exchanged views with Jiang Baili, Cai Yi, Xu Shichang and others on this issue, and these people also agree with Yan Shao's decision.

After all, Feng Guozhang is already old, and it is time for him to retire.

Naturally, in fact, Xu Shichang and Duan Qirui are not young, but the two of them are very energetic at the moment, unlike Feng Guozhang, who looks sick.

In this way, even if Yan Shao wants them to retire, there is no excuse for them to do so...

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"Let's start with education..."After glancing at Cai Yuanpei, Yan Shao said lightly.

"But..."Hearing that Yan Shao planned to start with the Ministry of Education first, Xu Shichang asked with a slight frown. Now that the nine-year compulsory education has begun, and everything else is going very smoothly, and the Ministry of Education has always had abundant funds, is it necessary to start with the Ministry of Education? ”

Hearing Xu Shichang's words, Cai Yuanpei wanted to refute, after all, no matter which department it was, he would not think that his department had little money.

Even people like Cai Yuanpei, after being the Minister of Education for a while, have a deep understanding of the importance of money.

It's just that Xu Shichang is also right, the current nine-year compulsory education is indeed going very smoothly, although there are still many areas that have not been popularized. But that is definitely not because of the funding, but because of some other reasons.

In other words, the Ministry of Education is not really short of funds.

At least compared to other departments, Cai Yuanpei's Ministry of Education is not very short of funds...

However, after listening to Xu Shichang's words, Yan Shao shook his head and said. "No, there are still many things that need to be replenished, such as the school's teaching facilities, and the students' food, which can be supplemented by the revenue from oil, and the same is true in terms of tuition fees..."

Saying this, Yan Shao pursed his lips, and then continued to speak...

(To be continued......)