Xu Ding and his party were approaching from a distant road. Guards had already come up to check their identities, and then trotted over to report to Guo Ning.
Guo Ning stood up on tiptoe and saw Xu Ding and Jia She. He gave some instructions to others and came out of the crowd.
When he caught his sight, Xu Ding had already jumped off his horse and bowed respectfully.
Guo Ning hurriedly took a few steps, helped Xu Ding up, and then went to help Jia She. Jia She even said he didn't dare.
"Prime Minister Xu is a colleague and Jichuan is a guest. Why are you two so reserved?" Guo Ning sighed: "It's rare for me to go wild with others. When I am relaxed, when I see you two, I have to pretend to be knowledgeable.
Now that you're done with the ceremony. Come on, let's find a serious hall to sit down and talk."
"The Duke takes his actions calmly and can do whatever he wants. And I do this because I have been familiar with the etiquette of superiority and inferiority since I was a child, and I really can't change it."
Guo Ning shook his head repeatedly, showing displeasure on the surface, but in his heart he was very satisfied with Xu Ding's knowledge.
He turned to look at Jia She: "Jichuan, what do you think of my new Tianjin mansion during your trip? What about the situation under my rule?"
Jia She smiled and said: "This place is full of vitality, and it is indeed the place where great things have arisen. As for the situation under the rule of the Duke... there is something I have not thought about in the past few days."
"What's the matter?" Guo Ning rubbed his hands and exhaled a puff of white air.
"My lord, how can you support such a large expense? Even if some parts are provided as work-for-relief, I have to say, even if there is the support of maritime trade, even if the scale of maritime trade can continue to expand, no matter how I calculate,
Can’t you settle this debt?”
"Haha..." Guo Ning walked half a step quickly and said casually: "Shechuan, what is your calculation for this account?"
"I walked south from Tongzhou and saw the construction of cities, roads, bridges and docks along the way. It is roughly estimated that 100,000 people were used. According to a monthly salary of 500 or 650 yuan, by the beginning of spring,
It will cost 180,000 guan. I heard that the total number of people gathered in Tianjin Prefecture is more than 400,000 guan, which is an expense of nearly one million guan. Counting three meals, clothing, tools, wood, and stones, to the narrowest end, there is still more.
We need to add another million dollars."
"That's almost the number..."
"This is a flower building built by Tianjin Prefecture. From the north and south entrance of Juyongguan to the north of Zhongdu, and to the military bases behind Monan Mountain, I heard that they are also being restored. I don't know the number of civilians used there. I just
It is roughly estimated that the repair of an important pass requires 50,000 guan, each of the forts has 20,000 guan, and each military tower and beacon has 2,000 guan. The corresponding mountain roads must be repaired and repaired, and there are only five guan per mile... In this way, two million guan.
It’s necessary.”
"This account is a bit interesting." Guo Ning stopped, looked at Xu Ding, and said half-jokingly: "Is it Prime Minister Xu who poured bitter water on Shechuan?"
Xu Ding shook his head: "It's true."
"Brother Jichuan, please continue speaking, I will listen carefully."
"I just heard from the students in the Imperial College that your Majesty, you have also set up a new shipyard in Liaodong, which is a huge expense. I don't know the specific cost of shipbuilding in the old days of the Jin Kingdom. Based on the situation in the Song Dynasty,
In theory, a two-masted multi-oared ship with similar specifications to a Tongzhou-type sea-going ship would cost about 500 guan each in terms of materials, labor, food, etc.; if it is a large ship that can carry more than 200 troops, even if it is Qingyuanfu
The cost from the shipyard is more than 1,000 guan. As for the giant boats used by navy generals, because the wood is rare and difficult to dry and repair, the price will exceed 5,000 guan. I heard that the Jin Kingdom has not built a decent ship for decades. If Zhou Guogong
To build a shipyard from scratch and then produce sea-going ships, there are dozens or hundreds of processes, and the cost of recruiting craftsmen is even greater. Regardless of how many years it takes to achieve results, the cost will be at least five times that of the Song Dynasty...
I estimate that if you invest two million dollars first, you can barely see something, but you will need to continue to pay compensation later."
These numbers are really quite different.
Guo Ning handed Xu Ding another color, meaning, is this really not what your brother said?
Xu Ding shook his head again.
Guo Ning couldn't help laughing.
Jia She continued: "In the eyes of outsiders, Dinghai Navy controls the financial resources of the sea, and the millions of dollars it produces every year are enough to support the expenditure of the Marshal's Mansion. But in fact, what you get, my lord, is really millions of dollars."
Money? Not to mention other things, just the emergency purchase of grain from Song Dynasty around the beginning of last year consumed a large part of it, right? How much money was used by the military government to replenish the capital? One million yuan or more
many?"
At this point, he laughed: "If it's less than this, that guy from Zhou Keshan won't be willing to buy me with three thousand guan."
"Ahem, it does cost a lot to buy food this year. However, horses, furs and other items from the north are still very profitable."
"Horses are in urgent need of the Song army. The number of horses needed by the court and the army every year generally fluctuates between 10,000 and 20,000. However, the money used by the Song Dynasty court to buy horses every year is not endless.
Five hundred thousand guan, never more than 2 million guan. And..."
Jia She laughed twice: "There are rules for how these two million yuan have flowed over the past decades. Sichuan and Qinma account for 80%, and Guangma accounts for 20%. There are tea horses in both directions.
There are countless officials and merchants who rely on this to make a living. Everywhere they move, their whole body is affected. How can there be room for reduction? So last year and the year before last, the imperial court specially allocated money to purchase horses from maritime merchants...
No one is sure whether this kind of expenditure can become a regular practice and whether it will be retained forever. Moreover, even if it is retained, the annual expenditure is fixed and it is impossible to increase it all the time."
"We still have furs and northern beads on hand, and recently we have wool felt clothes. The quality and style are very good, and..."
"They are all sold to the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty does not have to buy them. The Song Dynasty will not sit back and watch the copper coins and wealth drain out without limit!"
Jia She said in a deep voice: "No matter how well the navy organizes and trains the navy, it will take at least twenty years to expand to the extent that it can defeat the Song navy and forcefully promote trade!"
The hall where the three people were talking was silent for a while.
Seeing the situation in front of him, Xu Ding felt a little embarrassed. He went out and asked his servant for tea, and then personally served it to Guo Ning and Jia She.
Jia She thanked Xu Ding, stood up from his chair, and lowered his voice: "So..."
Guo Ning asked subconsciously: "So what?"
"So the huge expenditures and lavishness of the Marshal's Mansion this year are actually based on the confiscation of the property of the Jurchen in the capital city? Maybe it must also include the emperor's private property? This year is like this, what about next year? Duke Zhou, your territory is getting more and more
As we get bigger, there will only be more and more places to spend money. When the time comes, we will force a few groups of Jurchens or old officials of the Jin court to find a reason to kill their heads and seize their property? This is like a long-term establishment of the country.
What are you planning to do? After killing the Jurchens, what happens next? Maybe you have no choice but to go south to the Song Dynasty in order to plunder them?"