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Chapter 429 Double Happiness

July 6, 4336 (1639 AD).

Su He was reviewing memorials in Qianqing Palace.

Other memorials were quickly approved by Suhe. The clerk was very attentive and gave suggestions on most matters.

Su He only needs to make a decision whether to agree to the cabinet's recommendations.

He repeatedly read the memorial in his hand. The cabinet did not reach consensus on the suggestions put forward by this memorial.

It involved an expenditure of millions of taels of silver coins.

Su He looked at the memorial in his hand again, which was written by Cabinet Minister Qian Mingyi.

Qian Mingyi was sent to Shandong by Suhe to supervise the construction project of the Yellow River embankment.

It took several years and millions of taels of silver coins to build the Yellow River embankment. This project has entered the final stage.

The construction of the Yellow River embankment in the Henan section has been completed, and the construction of the Yellow River embankment in the Shandong section is in full swing.

Su He wanted to ensure that this huge project, which cost thousands of taels of silver coins, was completed with quality and quantity.

In addition to dispatching a large number of censors from the Inspectorate and Xuanwu Guard spies, he kept a close eye on the quality of the project.

Cabinet Minister Qian Mingyi, as the representative of the imperial court, supervised all projects of the Yellow River Embankment.

Qian Mingyi came to the rescue, and the Yellow River Main Road project was progressing steadily. He proposed to connect the Yellow River Main Road with the local water system in Shandong.

After the diversion, the Yellow River, as the largest river flowing through Shandong, is not connected to the water system here, and Shandong will suffer greater floods.

Su He knew that Qian Mingyi's suggestion was correct.

He and many ministers in the cabinet were hesitant. The only reason was lack of money. This project required hundreds of taels of silver coins.

The Dahua Dynasty had developed industry and commerce, and the annual tax revenue placed in the Ming Dynasty would make Chongzhen drool with envy.

The Great China Dynasty had high taxes and a lot of expenses.

Nowadays, the big money devourer is the military, especially the navy building battleships, and every one of them is a big money eater.

The cost of building railways was the largest expenditure of the Chinese court besides military expenditures.

Railway technology is mature. The Dahua Dynasty has now completed the construction of the Xijin Line from Tianjin to Xi'an, and the Shenyang-Guangzhou Line, which has also been built to Songjiang Prefecture.

After the construction of two main lines, one horizontal and one vertical, railways will continue to be built until a railway network is formed, connecting every important city in the Great China Dynasty.

Su He has decreed to build a main railway line connecting important places in the country with Wuchang Prefecture in Hubei Province as the center.

The construction of railways to every city has brought great development to this place.

But every meter of rail track is equivalent to being paved with silver.

Now that technology has matured and steel prices have dropped, the cost of building one kilometer of railway is still as high as more than 10,000 taels of silver coins.

One-fifth of the income of the Great China Dynasty was used by the court to build infrastructure such as railways, rivers, and bridges.

No matter how much money is spent on infrastructure, Suhe will not feel bad about it.

Once these important facilities are put into use, the entire country will usher in a period of rapid development.

The Yellow River Project is a major project listed separately, and its importance is also ranked first.

The mouth of the Yellow River has always been in Jiangsu Province. A large amount of sediment has accumulated in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, and the river channel is often blocked, causing flooding in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River.

Flooding has made people on both sides of the Yellow River miserable...

If we leave it alone now, when the downstream river channel is completely blocked by quicksand, the Yellow River will change its course on its own.

This will cause the displacement of tens of millions of people and the destruction of millions of fertile farmlands.

Su He will never allow this situation to happen. No matter how much investment is made in the Yellow River Project, he will grit his teeth and persist.

Rebuilding the Yellow River channel is a project that will serve the present and will benefit the future.

Su He looked at Qian Mingyi's suggestions, gritted his teeth, took out his pen and wrote down his opinions on the memorial.

"I agree with Qian Mingyi's suggestion, the cabinet will discuss the detailed plan, and the relevant yamen will immediately cooperate with the implementation."

The Yellow River Project is one of the most important projects in Su He's heart. He wants to make this project perfect.

Be as beautiful as possible and try not to have any regrets.

Problems that can be solved with money are not big problems.

The court was really short of money, so Su He asked the Metropolitan Procuratorate to launch a major case and confiscate the homes of a few more high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen, which should be able to solve the urgent need.

Bank President Zhou Yunxu reported some time ago that the Nanyang Gold Mine has been put into production, and the court will not be short of money in a short period of time.

The commander of the Suzaku Guard, Eunuch Zhou Fangzhi, came to Emperor Su He.

"Your Majesty, Chief of General Staff Li Fengming would like to see you."

When Su He heard Li Fengming's request for an audience, he immediately put down the memorial in his hand.

This is not the time for the imperial meeting. Li Fengming came to Qianqing Palace to see him. He should have important military information to report to him.

Su He immediately ordered: "Don't delay the important military matter, let Li Fengming come to see me immediately."

After Zhou Fangzhi heard Su He's order, he immediately trotted out of Qianqing Palace.

Li Fengming came to Qianqing Palace under the guidance of Zhou Fangzhi.

He handed the military report to Zhou Fangzhi, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, this is a good report from Wu Jie, the governor of the northwest."

Su He took the military report from Zhou Fangzhi and read the contents of the military report carefully.

Wu Jie reported that he had led troops to occupy Turpan City.

After the eastern Mongolian forces in Eastern Chagatai were wiped out, only Abrun Muhammad Aziz Khan led a small number of nobles to escape.

The Royal Army of Great China won a great victory in the northwest military operation in the first battle.

Su He praised: "Okay, this is really great.

Wu Jie played to his level and won a big victory.

The Royal Army of Great China and I are old brothers who conquer the world.

Most of them have retired, and most of the army are young recruits, but they have not affected the combat effectiveness of the Royal Army of China.

The Governor's Office will verify the merits of the soldiers as soon as possible and report the meritorious officials. I will reward them heavily."

After Su He finished talking about the business, he asked with some confusion: "Feng Ming, Turpan is more than a thousand miles away from the capital.

How come Wu Jie's battle report was sent to the capital so quickly?"

Su He had some doubts in his heart. Even if it was eight hundred miles away, it would be impossible to deliver the military report to the capital at this time.

Li Fengming immediately explained: "Your Majesty, it has been nearly two months since Commander Wu Jie won the victory.

Wu Jie sent a quick horse to deliver the military report to Xi'an, and requisitioned a rail maintenance train from Xi'an to the capital.

The military can requisition civilian facilities when delivering urgent messages.

There is a railway to convey information, and he is much faster than a war horse."

When Su He heard this explanation, he laughed.

He momentarily forgot about the train, which was traveling much faster than the horses...

The Xijin Line railway has not yet been opened to traffic, mainly because the station and dispatching personnel have not been trained well.

Today's steam trains are not produced enough.

But the railway has been built, and there are engineering trains being tested on the railway.

For nearly two months, more than half of the journey was covered by train.

Wu Jie sent the military report to the capital without any problems.

Su He said happily: "Wu Jie showed the majesty of the Royal Army of China and eliminated the main resistance force of Mongolia in Eastern Chagatai.

I hope Governor Song Kangnian can govern the northwest region well.

This is one of the most important barriers in the Central Plains. The northwest region is not under the control of Dahua, so I have trouble sleeping and eating."

Li Fengming took the opportunity and said: "Your Majesty, in order to ensure the security of the Central Plains region, we must do our best to expand our influence outwards.

Only by forming a sufficient buffer zone around us so that the enemy cannot quickly reach the core areas of the Central Plains can we remain invincible."

Su He knew what Li Fengming meant, and now the military was ready to start a large-scale war.

Those princes in the military want to take a step further and become princes by virtue of their military exploits.

These people are the most determined militants in Dahua.

They have been using their influence to get Dahua to send troops to conquer all directions.

Su He saw the behavior of these people, but he did not suppress them.

As industrialization accelerates, Dahua must expand outward and cannot dampen the enthusiasm of the war faction.

Su He did not obey the main war faction in everything, and always controlled the pace of Dahua's expansion.

The military can only serve as the sword and shield to protect the country, but cannot be the brains of the country.

Suhe will never allow anyone to cross this bottom line.

He stopped Li Fengming from continuing to talk.

"I have my own ideas about the expansion of the imperial court, so your military should not be too impatient.

If you take too big a step, it will be bad if you pull your balls.

We have just annexed Nanyang and are in the process of annexing the surrounding Mongolian forces.

Now the Dahua army does not need to open another front and affect the war ahead.

The most important task for the imperial court now is to digest the spoils of war, and only when the time is right will the next step of expansion be carried out."

When Li Fengming heard Emperor Su He's words, he immediately kept silent. His goal had been achieved.

He spoke to test Emperor Su He, just to see if Emperor Su He had the idea of ​​continuing to expand.

Emperor Su He was satisfied with the achievements he had made so far, and wanted to put the swords and guns in the treasury and release the horses to Nanshan.

As ministers, it is useless no matter how many ideas they have.

Now it seems that Emperor Su He has no idea of ​​truce. Their military can continue to make their own small moves. Dahua's national policy of expansion will not change in a short time.

Just as Li Fengming was about to say goodbye and leave, he saw a young eunuch knocking on the door of Qianqing Palace.

"Your Majesty, bank president Zhou Yunxu wants to see you.

Your Majesty has previously ordered that whenever Governor Zhou asks for an audience, he must notify him immediately."

When Su He received the news, his face showed greater joy than hearing the good news.

"Hurry up and pass the message. I want to meet Zhou Yunxu immediately."

After the young eunuch received the order, he quickly left the Qianqing Palace.

Li Fengming bowed and saluted and asked: "Your Majesty, do you need to avoid me?"...

Su He waved his hand and said, "No need, this is not something that needs to be kept secret.

I will make this news public immediately."

When Li Fengming heard what Emperor Su He said, he did not leave Qianqing Palace and stayed here to continue waiting.

He also wanted to know what happened that made Emperor Su He so happy.

This should be a good thing, and a good thing that is closely related to everyone, otherwise it would not be made public.

Bank president Zhou Yunxu soon came to Qianqing Palace.

There were not many opportunities for him to come to the Qing Palace, and only the imperial meetings involved money-related national policies.

Only then did Zhou Yunxu come to Qianqing Palace to attend the imperial meeting and put forward relevant suggestions.

He walked into the Qianqing Palace and saluted Emperor Su He when he saw Li Fengming sitting next to him.

Zhou Yunxu hesitated and did not continue to report on his work.

When Su He saw Zhou Yunxu's reaction, he ordered: "This matter does not need to be kept secret. I will announce it at the court meeting soon."

When Zhou Yunxu heard Emperor Su He's order, he immediately reported the relevant situation.

"Your Majesty, the gold mining in Nanyang is going smoothly, and the smelted gold bricks are exchanged for gold and silver coins from the bank.

The shares paid by the Nanyang Gold Mining Company to the imperial court and the taxes paid by the Nanyang Taxation Bureau were all shipped to the capital through banks.

There are limited gold and silver coins in the Nanyang region. These coins have not been converted into gold and silver coins, but are still original gold bricks.

Plus the gold bricks used by the Nanyang Gold Mine to exchange for gold and silver coins.

Nanyang Bank accumulated ten tons of gold bricks and immediately transferred them to the capital to prepare gold coins.

These gold bricks can be made into two hundred and one thousand taels of gold coins.

The gold bricks were transported to Tianjin Port by sea, and then transported by special train to the vault of the Beijing Bank to be used to make gold coins.

I personally escorted the gold bricks from Tianjin Port and have transported all the gold bricks to the bank vault."

Li Fengming stood aside with his eyes wide open.

What did he hear?

It turned out to be 210,000 taels of gold coins. How many silver coins could be exchanged for this was an astronomical figure.

The most critical issue is that this is just over a month's output. As long as the gold mines are not exhausted, gold bricks will continue to be shipped.

Li Fengming was not surprised at all about the extra ten thousand taels of gold coins.

The gold and silver coins made by banks are not pure gold or pure silver, but contain 10% copper.

Compared with the price of gold and silver, these coppers are equivalent to making money in vain.

He had heard this word from Emperor Su Hekou. It was called seigniorage.

Whichever power can issue currency can collect seigniorage from people all over the world.

This was also the Great China Dynasty, which only allowed banks to issue currency. Privately issued currency would be confiscated and exterminated.

When Su He heard the news, he couldn't help laughing.

The gold produced by the Nanyang Gold Mine was transported to the capital, which was a timely blessing.

Every month, Nanyang produces a large amount of gold and transports it to the capital to make gold coins.

This gold was made into gold coins, which injected a huge sum of money into Dahua's market.

Now the people only accept metal currency.

One of the functions of money is to measure the value of all items in the country.

Many ministers in the imperial court are ignorant and do not know the role of money.

Su He told these ministers a short story before at the imperial meeting...

There is a small closed city, and all the items in the city are worth ten thousand taels of silver coins.

Now the total currency in the city is only one thousand taels of silver coins.

The goods worth ten thousand silver coins are now worth only one thousand taels of silver coins.

This is equivalent to a tenfold devaluation of all goods and a tenfold reduction in everyone's assets.

Dahua's current situation is very dangerous.

Industry produces a large amount of goods, but there is not enough money in the market to measure their value.

If Dahua had not continued to do business with Spanish and other overseas merchants, a large amount of overseas silver would have flowed in and be made into silver coins.

The current situation in Dahua has already entered deflation and the value of property has depreciated significantly.

This is also the reason why Su He coveted Luzon Island, but he never fell out with Spain.

Now, with the influx of large amounts of gold bricks from Southeast Asia into the country, this situation has been completely reversed.

There is another benefit to investing a large amount of gold coins in the market.

Gold coins with a more stable value, replacing silver coins, are more conducive to Dahua's asset value preservation.

Su He looked at the bank president Zhou Yunxu and ordered: "The bank will turn the gold bricks into gold coins as soon as possible.

Now that the court has this money, I no longer have to worry about those money-burning projects."

Zhou Yunxu looked serious and immediately issued a military order to ensure that the bank would produce gold coins as quickly as possible.

Su He said happily: "Today is a double blessing, I am so happy.

Eunuch Zhou, immediately notify the ministers to convene an imperial meeting tomorrow.

I will discuss with them how to use this huge amount of funds."

wind howling wood


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