Hearing Wu Dui's words, Zhang Weixian smiled bitterly and said, "Sir Wu, the logistics are also a problem!"
"Now, there are three areas for the military to distribute supplies. One is the local officials. Needless to say, this has been done in the past.
Another is the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the last is the merchants. "
"Ji Liao is already at its limit to provide rations for 100,000 people."
"And this is now. If it were in the past, we wouldn't be able to do this.
This time, it's not just Ji Liao who's going to war. There's also the capital and Liaodong. The imperial court is under great pressure to transport goods. "
Wu Dui nodded and then said, "Hasn't the imperial court been stockpiling goods for the past two years?"
"How many granaries have been built along the nine sides? I don't think it will be a problem, right?
Moreover, with the cement roads, transport is much faster than before. It shouldn't be a problem to add tens of thousands more, right? "
Zhang Weixian sighed and said, "It won't be a problem if we force them."
"But Sir Wu, you also know that since the military reform, how long has it been since the imperial court conscripted people?
The construction of the cement roads was done by the imperial court. Now, transport is not the same as before. "
"In the past, it depended on the amount of rations, the number of conscripted people, and the ability of the local officials."
"Now, it depends on money. Whether it's the Daming shipping, Daming land transport, or the merchants, they all need to pay.
Once the transport is too much, the imperial court won't have enough money to pay. "
Sighing softly, Wu Dui smiled and said, "His Majesty is so generous!"
"Commander Zhang, there's something I'm curious about. How much money does the imperial court have now?"
Zhang Weixian looked at Wu Dui and said with a smile, "I know a little about this. Wanli collected about 23 million taels of tax in the past 16 years, 16 million dans of grain, 9 million dans of surplus, and 6 million dans of grain."
"Wanli collected 13 million taels of tax in the past 16 years, and all of it was left over."
"In the 17th year of Wanli, the agricultural taxes didn't change much, but the commercial taxes were fully implemented. The commercial taxes were about 32 million taels of tax.
However, the imperial court has begun to repair the irrigation works in various places, so the surplus is only twelve million taels of silver. "
"In the eighteenth year, the imperial court began to levy business taxes, and the total amount of business taxes reached fifty-two million taels. Adding the agricultural tax, the annual income was seventy-six million taels, and the grain was sixteen million dans.
Wanli's eighteenth year is almost the same as seventeenth year. "
"The Imperial Court should have around ten million taels of silver left. As for food, I don't know. I think there should be around thirty million taels of silver."
"Of course, these are just the leftovers. In the past two years, the imperial court has set up regular warehouses in various places in order to stabilize grain prices. The grain reserves should be very sufficient.
Especially the granaries of the border towns, there should be no shortage of food. "
Hearing Zhang Weixian's words, Wu Dui smiled bitterly and said, "The imperial court is really rich!"
Zhang Weixian also nodded and said with a smile, "It's all because of His Majesty's wisdom that the imperial court is in its current state.
This time, Your Majesty sent three armies to destroy Duo Yan's three tribes. I believe this is the reason why you are so confident. "
Of course, Wu Dui knew this was confidence. Right now, His Majesty's confidence should be unprecedentedly high.
After all, this was only the imperial court's money, not the Emperor's palace treasury. Who knew how much money the Emperor had in his palace treasury.
In the past, when everyone had no money, they would always think of asking the Emperor for money. But in the past few years, no one had asked the Emperor for money.
The Emperor guarded the Ministry of Internal Affairs. With a mountain of income, the Emperor's palace treasury would probably be full soon.
With so much money, the Emperor could really fight wherever he wanted.
Forbidden City, Wenhua Hall.
Zhu Yijun looked at the memorial in front of him and gently put it to the side. He glanced at Shen Shixing and British Minister Zhang Yong and said, "This is the budget from the Grand Council and the Cabinet?"
The content of the memorial was very detailed. It was the budget from the Grand Council, the Cabinet and the Ministry of Revenue.
Three armies, one hundred thousand in Liao, one hundred thousand in the capital, and sixty thousand in Liaodong, totaling two hundred and sixty thousand.
The logistics and supplies were the responsibility of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Cabinet. This was the budget given by them.
"Your Majesty, counting from the start of the battle between the capital and Liao armies, if the battle ends within three months, the cost of this battle is about twenty million taels of silver."
"If they fight for half a year, the cost will soar to fifty million taels of silver."
"The rations that the imperial court has stockpiled at the border will definitely not be a problem for a year. If it exceeds a year and a half, then we will need to transfer rations from other places.
But by autumn, we should be able to supply part of it. "
"These expenses are only for the transportation and mobilization of rations. It does not include the rewards for the soldiers."
The officials present all felt that this was unreal. Was the Great Ming Dynasty this strong now?
The rations that could support three hundred thousand soldiers for two years could be bought with silver if it was not enough.
The transportation and personnel transfer of three hundred thousand soldiers could support the national treasury for two years without a problem.
When the autumn taxes came, they could fight for another year. If they were really desperate, they could tighten their belts and fight for another year.
With the current strength of the imperial court in Daming, supporting three hundred thousand soldiers for four years was not a big problem.
If it exceeded four years, it would be somewhat difficult. Of course, this was the money from the national treasury.
If the money from the Emperor's palace treasury was included, then they could fight for even longer.
If Zhu Yijun knew what the ministers were thinking, he would naturally be very disdainful. In Zhu Yijun's view, the national strength of the Daming had not been developed at all. If you don't believe me, just wait and see. Once the war started, the Daming's various industries would definitely usher in a big boom.
Basic industries, basic commerce, and even agriculture would definitely usher in a big development.
In the next two years, the tax revenue of the imperial court would definitely increase greatly. Seventy million taels of silver was far from the limit.
Of course, this also had something to do with the relatively low tax, but Zhu Yijun did not plan to increase the tax.
Zhu Yijun was very clear that with the current size of the Daming and the development of the sea trade, it was normal for the tax revenue to exceed a hundred million taels of silver.
It sounded very scary, but the Daming definitely had the strength to do so.
It might not be possible in the first few years, but in the next few years, it would definitely be possible.
Glancing at the ministers below, Zhu Yijun said, "Then execute according to this budget. Get the Law and Discipline Department and the Anti-corruption Department to move. Whoever dares to be greedy here will be directly punished by military law."
"I will say the ugly words first. Keep an eye on your subordinates."
"I will talk to whoever makes a mistake."
"We will obey your orders!"
The ministers did not dare to be negligent and quickly bowed.
As the imperial court mobilized the army, the war machine of the Daming was completely activated. The merchants from all over the country became the busiest group of people, especially the merchants who belonged to the Honours. They were extremely busy.
All kinds of orders floated out from the military like snowflakes. Every order represented money!
Not to mention other things, just the luck alone made the imperial court spend a lot of money.
Anyone who could gather a transport team could directly go and accept the orders.
The Honours and merchants sent many of their own people. Even the clans sent people to accept the orders.
After receiving the goods and delivering them according to the requirements of the imperial court, the money would be in their hands.
This time, Zhu Yijun clearly wanted to fight a war of extravagance!