Chapter 800 Daxing Water Conservancy Compulsory Education
When a group of ministers quarreled over sharing money, Prime Minister Qian Mingyi looked at Emperor Su He out of the corner of his eye and saw that Emperor Su He did not get angry.
Only then did he speak out to stop these people from continuing to quarrel.
The cabinet was in charge of all ministries, but these ministers ignored order and made noises over the distribution of money.
This shows that he, as the Prime Minister, has poor management and several ministers cannot control it. How can he manage a country with hundreds of millions of people?
These people are using practical actions to slap Prime Minister Qian Mingyi in the face.
Besides, this situation is very wrong. You can do whatever you want in private.
Emperor Su He, Prince Su Shu, and the military generals were all watching. If there was a quarrel in this environment, it would bring shame to the entire civil service.
The generals allocate military expenditures. Although the army and navy are a little cautious, the overall situation is relatively harmonious.
It's just a secret fight, not an open fight.
When the ministers heard that Prime Minister Qian Mingyi was angry, they immediately stopped arguing and looked at Prime Minister Qian Mingyi, who was already livid.
A few of them got emotional just now and smiled awkwardly.
Most ministers, with their formal apologies, had already expected this to happen.
As officials who came up from the officialdom, there are no pure little white flowers among them, they are all people with exquisite minds.
What I did just now was just acting.
Seeing such a huge amount of money, we must fight for it.
If you don’t argue, what do your subordinates think?
If you don't strive for this opportunity, your subordinates will not be able to make progress and will inevitably lose the reputation of a clay minister.
Not only does one's own official career stop, but future generations who want to enter the official career will also be burdened by fame.
No fight, what does the emperor think?
A minister who believed in Huang Lao's teachings and took things easy in all matters.
When he met a monarch who worked hard to govern, his official career came to an end.
Fight, you must fight.
It's not just a showmanship, it's a real effort.
Prime Minister Qian Mingyi also saw them fighting for funds, and he almost fell out with each other, and almost staged a full-scale martial arts show in Qianqing Palace.
That's why Prime Minister Qian Mingyi was so anxious to stand up and stop it.
He saw the expressions on these people's faces, many of whom had not yet realized their mistake.
Qian Mingyi can only take charge of this matter as Prime Minister and cannot let them do it in a haphazard manner.
"Fang Yizhi, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, you were the loudest just now. Please tell me about the budget of your Ministry of Industry first."
When Fang Yizhi, Minister of Industry and Industry, heard that he was named by Prime Minister Qian Mingyi, he did not panic at all.
Fang Yizhi said still calmly: "I sounded a little harsh just now, but what I said is the truth.
Our Ministry of Industry is mainly responsible for the construction of water conservancy, roads and other large-scale projects within the empire.
The railway has always been under the responsibility of the junior government, and the Ministry of Industry only provides some macro guidance.
But as far as water conservancy is concerned, if you invest 10 to 20 million taels of silver coins, you won't even hear a sound.
Heilongjiang, Yellow River, Yangtze River, Mekong River, Ganges River, Indus River.
These are the six major rivers in the empire, and the six river basins are also the main farming areas of the empire.
It only needs to dredge these six rivers, clean up the siltation of the rivers, and build large reservoirs in the six river basins.
This requires at least thirty million taels of silver coins.
If you include the Songhua River, Huaihe River, Pearl River and other rivers, even 50 million taels of silver cannot be completed.
River dredging and the construction of large reservoirs. The sooner these projects are completed, the sooner they can bring benefits to the empire.
What's more, as the number of cars increases, there are higher requirements for domestic roads.
The Ministry of Industry wants to build roads connecting major cities in the country and needs at least two thousand taels of silver coins.
Water power and roads are once-and-for-all projects that last for generations."
When Prime Minister Qian Mingyi heard what Fang Yizhi, Minister of Industry, said, he couldn't help but quarrel with Fang Yizhi.
There are a total of 140 million taels of distributable funds. The Ministry of Industry and Industry will only take half of it, and it is impossible for other departments to agree.
But as the prime minister of the empire, he has a very clear understanding of the situation in the empire.
The situation mentioned by Fang Yizhi, Minister of Industry and Commerce, is very true.
The empire now does not rely on agricultural taxes to survive, but a good food harvest is very important to the empire.
If you want a good harvest, the most important thing is good weather and good weather.
Building large reservoirs on major rivers can regulate the most important water resources for agriculture.
When a flood occurs, water can be stored in the reservoir to prevent the banker from being flooded.
When drought occurs, water can be released from the reservoir to nourish fields in need of water.
But this amount of funds is really huge, with a budget of fifty million taels of silver coins.
This is simply a first of its kind.
Any dynasty before the empire did not spend as much as fifty million taels of silver coins on building water conservancy projects from its rise to its demise.
As for the road construction proposed by Ministry of Industry Minister Fang Yizhi, Prime Minister Qian Mingyi believes that this project is not urgent.
There are railways connecting major cities, and the cement roads connecting various places are not so dilapidated that they need to be repaired.
He believed that Fang Yizhi, the minister of industry, was right, but he could not agree to this condition.
If the Ministry of Industry takes half, what will happen to the other departments?
As the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, he must be impartial to his subordinates in order to have sufficient authority.
Prime Minister Qian Mingyi could not make up his mind for a moment, so he bowed to Emperor Su He and said, "Your Majesty, please make a decision."
Emperor Su He looked at Prime Minister Qian Mingyi's approach, and he knew that Prime Minister Qian Mingyi supported Fang Yizhi, Minister of Industry, in his heart.
Prime Minister Qian Mingyi objected, and he could simply reject the unrealistic budget.
China has experienced thousands of years of emphasis on agriculture and commerce, so it is not surprising that they have this idea.
Emperor Su He also supported the idea of Fang Yizhi, Minister of Industry.
When he first occupied the Shaanxi-Gansu region, he spent great efforts on building water conservancy projects.
Emperor Su He knew the importance of water conservancy facilities to agricultural production.
In the past, there were theories of fertile farmland and poor farmland in various places among the people.
Fertile farmland is a farmland next to a river. You don't need to carry water yourself to irrigate the farmland.
Susukada is a field far away from the river, and irrigation must be carried out manually.
Before the empire was established, rural water sources were also in the hands of the gentry.
The people at the bottom want to fetch water from the river, but they don't have the ability to do so. They can only plant some drought-tolerant crops such as sorghum and wild rice on the thin fields and rely on the weather for their livelihood.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The price difference between fertile land and Susukada is several times greater.
After the empire built water conservancy, water canals were directed to every acre of farmland, and all the land became fertile farmland.
The empire now relies entirely on industry and commerce for its main income, but it must allocate enough funds to build water conservancy projects.
There are a large number of workers and small traders in industry and commerce, and they also need to eat.
Most of the raw materials needed for industry and commerce need to be grown in the fields or dug out of the ground.
If you don't have enough to eat, you can't even think about engaging in industry and commerce. The whole country will collapse because of this.
The optimal amount of food that Emperor Su He wanted to stock up on was enough to feed the entire country for a year.
In this way, even if there is a catastrophic disaster and all the land is harvested, the empire will not collapse due to lack of food.
The current amount of food stored in the empire is far from reaching this level.
The empire’s agriculture must be developed with great emphasis.
Emperor Su He ordered in a solemn tone: "Fang Shangshu is serious. Now the technology has matured, especially the construction machinery driven by diesel engines, making the construction of large projects more labor-saving.
The empire does not lack funds, so it should indeed build large-scale water conservancy projects.
However, large-scale water conservancy projects are likely to take several years to complete, and the initial start-up capital does not need to be too high.
I have decided to allocate 20 million taels of special funds to the Ministry of Industry for water conservancy projects.
As for building roads, it is not that urgent yet.
The Ministry of Industry can absorb private capital or raise funds by issuing bonds.
Roads can collect certain tolls and collect funds in this way.
As for the other budgets of the Ministry of Industry, they will be submitted to me for approval after the cabinet accounts.
The budgets of various ministries have been relatively stable in recent years. If you want to compete for budget, you must come up with some special projects."
Prime Minister Qian Mingyi heard Emperor Su He's words and arranged the matter clearly.
Emperor Su He also spoke at the same time, and the regular budgets of various ministries were allocated according to the growth rate over the years. If these people want to obtain additional budgets, they must come up with eye-catching projects.
For example, the Ministry of Industry's water conservancy project is a project that no one can find a reason to refute after listening to it.
Construction of water conservancy projects across the country is a benefit that all farmers can enjoy.
Prime Minister Qian Mingyi's next job will also be easier.
As soon as Emperor Su He opened his mouth, he issued great restrictions to each department.
Many people looked at each other and retreated in their hearts.
The Ministers of the Ministry of Personnel, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Commerce, and Ministry of People's Livelihood all took a step back.
People like them can't come up with big projects at all.
These people retreated collectively and immediately highlighted the figure of Tian Jiapeng, the Minister of Science and Technology who was deep in thought.
When Prime Minister Qian Mingyi saw Tian Jiapeng's position, he kindly reminded: "Tian Shangshu, do you have any projects to report?"
When Tian Jiapeng heard someone calling him, he immediately came back to his senses.
He looked at no one around him and thought he had walked out unconsciously.
He immediately glanced at Prime Minister Qian Mingyi gratefully, and knew to remind him at this time to prevent him from being too embarrassed.
"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Science and Technology wants to explore the laws of nature and needs more precise instruments.
Clocks that keep time more accurately, rulers with extremely high precision, and scales that can measure tiny changes in weight.
Making such equipment requires continuous money-burning exploration.
This money will not be wasted. Once there is a technological breakthrough, it can be quickly transformed.
The budget for next year is sufficient. I am applying for 10 million taels of silver coins to research and develop various equipment needed for scientific research.
Chen believes that scientific research funding cannot increase at the same rate as in the past.
Last year's scientific research funding was only three million taels of silver, but major achievements such as telephones, wireless telegraphs, and diesel engines emerged.
Just the emergence of diesel engines led to an increase in tax revenue for the court, which would be worth three million taels of silver coins.
I request your Majesty to increase the funding for scientific research to ten million taels of silver coins."
Emperor Su He has always been very generous towards scientific research.
"Tian Aiqing, I have agreed to the funding from the Ministry of Science and Technology.
But I have something to say first, scientific research funds must not be used indiscriminately.
For less than one hundred thousand taels, I only regard it as accumulating experience for success.
A scientific research project worth more than 100,000 taels must produce certain results. Even if the project fails, some unique technologies must be produced.
I will send people over to inspect key projects."
Shangshu Tian Jiapeng responded with a smile: "Your Majesty, these matters are subject to due supervision.
I cannot guarantee that all scientific researchers are selfless and have not defrauded the court of funds.
But I can guarantee that if this kind of thing is discovered, I will investigate it thoroughly and will never tolerate it."
Minister of Science and Technology Tian Jiapeng was completely relieved when he saw Emperor Su He smile.
Accompanying a king is like accompanying a tiger. Before Emperor Su He was angry, he was a very easy-going person.
But you must not touch the emperor's reverse scale. Whoever is lucky enough to experience it will try the emperor's thunderous wrath.
Tian Jiapeng believed that the three things that Emperor Su He hated most in his life were official corruption, tax evasion by the people, and fraud by scholars.
Kong Renxin, the Minister of Medicine, looked at the people around him, but he did not come forward.
The responsibilities of the Medical Department are very narrow, including managing doctors and hospitals and preventing plagues.
These three expenditures are extremely fixed, unless a major plague occurs involving tens of thousands of people, which will require more funds to be consumed.
But at this time, the court usually intervenes as quickly as possible to deal with the danger of the plague, so there is no need to worry about funding issues.
Lu Guanghan, the Minister of Education, saw that the others had either finished speaking or did not want to speak, and he was the only one standing here stupidly.
Lu Guanghan reacted and immediately bowed to Emperor Su He.
"Your Majesty, the rapid development of the empire's industry is inseparable from the elementary education promoted underground.
A large number of literate young people drive society forward after entering society.
The use of many machines in the factory requires workers to understand the instructions.
Only workers who can read will have more possibilities for development.
There are also some talents who choose the direction they are interested in, and famous people have emerged among them.
The rapid development of the empire was inseparable from the popularization of primary education.
The empire has been reducing the cost of primary education again and again.
But there are still some people who don’t let their children go to school in order to save money.
This is a huge waste.
Even if you are a farmer now, farmers who have mastered new technologies will be more efficient.
According to the previous proportion, many outstanding talents who promote social development should emerge among these children who do not go to school.
Now that the empire has a lot of funds, Chen Jianyi has made primary education free of charge across the empire.
For children whose parents do not allow them to go to school, the local government will send them to primary schools for education, and the schools will become their temporary guardians."
When Emperor Su He heard the suggestion from Lu Guanghan, Minister of Education, he fell into deep thought.
Based on the number of students remaining in the empire's five-year primary schools, the remaining 100 million taels of silver coins, except for the budget allocated to various ministries, will almost all be invested in compulsory education.
Is it worth it? Worth it.
A person who receives a primary school education can become a qualified worker in the industrial age, and he can become a grassroots officer in the imperial royal army.
If he meets a genius, he will promote a certain field of the empire and make a big step forward.
After Emperor Su He thought about it, he felt a little heartbroken.
This is not like a water conservancy project, which is just a one-time investment, but requires annual investment.
"I have thought about Lu Aiqing's idea before, but it was temporarily shelved due to cost issues.
Now that the empire has money, it can implement compulsory education from next year.
I will notify the Three Law Departments to amend the law to adapt to compulsory education.
Students who study in primary schools are exempted from all fees, and all food expenses need to be borne by the court.
In order to save costs and develop students' frugal character.
Students’ books are recycled, and whoever damages them will be responsible for compensation.”
Even Shangshu Lu Guanghan did not expect that Emperor Su He readily agreed, which required great determination.
He immediately made a guarantee that the Ministry of Education would fully implement compulsory education.