The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 195 Generous and stingy
November 1788, the 12nd year of Xianning, December 21, in the Western calendar, was the winter solstice.

Zhu Jianxuan brought the main officials of his kingdom and the senior generals who had returned to Shuntian Prefecture one after another, and entered the Forbidden City in Shuntian Prefecture together.

The Forbidden City in Shuntian Prefecture has also recently completed a round of simple inspections and repairs, mainly replacing the door numbers.

At the same time, the names of some palaces were restored to their names before the Jiajing period. For example, the three main halls were restored to Fengtian Hall, Huagai Hall, and Jinshen Hall.

The Cultural Department placed an additional desk and chair under the imperial desk in the Fengtian Hall.

Zhu Jianxuan first bowed to the imperial desk above, and then sat behind the desk below to accept the bows of the subordinate officials.

Finally, Duan Yucai was ordered to read out the King of Wu's decree.

To explain the results of the Northern Expedition, to comfort the spirits of our ancestors in heaven, and to thank and congratulate His Majesty the Emperor for his grace.

The soldiers on the front line made outstanding contributions by killing generals and enemies and capturing cities.

The court officials worked hard to coordinate logistics and support the front lines.

The craftsmen and the people were wise and diligent in developing weapons and supplying military supplies.

All personnel from all walks of life in the Wu State were important factors in the success of the Northern Expedition.

After generally praising and encouraging everyone, the final rewards were announced.

The basic monthly salary of the Privy Councilor, Secretary, and Army Commander was increased to 500 gold notes.

The basic monthly salary of the commander, doctor, storekeeper, and chief engineer was increased to 300 gold notes.

The basic monthly salary of soldiers and clerks in the main division was increased to ten gold tickets, and the monthly salary of soldiers in the auxiliary division, servant division, and ordinary workers was increased to six gold tickets.

According to the length of service and assessment results, soldiers and clerks of the main division can get up to 20 gold tickets, while auxiliary divisions, servant divisions and workers can get up to 16 gold tickets.

For soldiers and officers who died in battle, according to the current new salary standards, pensions equivalent to five years' salary will be directly paid first.

For the next twenty years, a pension equivalent to one year's salary will be paid every year.

The value of the King of Wu's gold note was tied to gold. One gold note directly corresponded to one gram of gold. At that time, its market price was slightly higher than that of a Ming Dynasty silver dollar.

Calculated by purchasing power, one gold note is roughly equivalent to 200 yuan, which can buy about 70 to 80 kilograms of rice.

The soldier's salary of a dozen gold notes seemed to be equivalent to about three thousand yuan.

But it is already a very high income in this era.

Floods and droughts have lasted for several years. Ordinary workers and farmers now have no demands, and most of them are just content to survive.

The Wu soldiers' salary of a dozen gold notes was several times that of an ordinary worker.

Moreover, the soldiers lived in the barracks, and their food and clothing were provided by the court, so their military pay was completely pure income.

When this group of troops had just completed their training, their monthly salary was only four to five gold notes, but now it has increased three to five times.

Because Wu had just taken over the core land of the former Qing

Real industrialization has not yet begun here, but there is a large amount of mature land, a huge population, and a large number of basic handicraft factories.

The regular tax potential of this land is an order of magnitude higher than that of the entire Wu State.

Moreover, a round of land clearing and contract exchange has just been completed. Soldiers are stationed directly at the grassroots level to collect taxes, and administrative efficiency is at its highest.

The taxes that should be collected can be collected in full, and the traditional bureaucratic layers of levies have been eliminated.

For senior generals and officials, in addition to basic position salaries, there are additional titles and rewards.

The Privy Councilor, Army Commander, and Chief of Operations were all granted the title of County Marquis, with an annual salary of 6,000 gold notes.

The commander of the main division will be awarded the title of county earl, state earl, or state prince according to the scope of combat and the number of enemies annihilated and captured. The minimum title is state prince, with an annual salary of 5,000 to 3,000 gold notes.

The commander of the servant division will be given the title of Zhouzi, Xianzi, or Xiannan according to the circumstances, with the minimum rank of Xiannan. If he is already a County Baron, he will be guaranteed to be Xianzi, with an annual salary of three thousand to two thousand gold notes.

All the secretaries of the Secretariat were given the title of county sons, all the doctors in various departments were given the title of county barons, and the managers and chief engineers of major factories were also given the title of county barons.

Finally, there are the Wu Northern Agricultural Company and the Wu Northern Industrial Company. One tenth of all future net profits will be taken out as dividends for all official personnel at the beginning of the Northern Expedition.

Officials, clerks, generals, soldiers, craftsmen and workers in the kingdom's directly managed industries, and all those who received salaries were included, but foreign servants and soldiers were not included.

The right to share in company profits is a lifelong right and is not hereditary. For those who died in war, their relatives can enjoy it for twenty-five years.

The distribution plan focuses on balance, and the highest income shall not exceed ten times the lowest income.

After the specific content of the reward was finished, there was another general encouragement, encouraging everyone to continue to fight for the king, the country, the people, and the world's unity.

All the civil and military officials and craftsmen below were delighted after hearing the whole thing, and they bowed happily to express their gratitude.

Zhu Jianxuan was both generous and stingy in his rewards, and his generosity was mainly due to the shares of the two companies.

Although it was only 10%, it was shared by everyone, but it was equivalent to 10% of the net profit of all factories in the north in the future. The remaining 90% was not taken by the king himself, but was still the financial income of the kingdom's court.

There may not be much income now, but with the industrial construction and development in the northern region, it will definitely rise rapidly in the future.

It should soon exceed the salary and title rewards, and no one can imagine what level it will reach in the end.

At the same time, now that the dividend rights of these two companies have been taken out, it is impossible for the entire Wu Kingdom to give up the land in the north.

The stinginess mainly lies in the title.

He conquered the Central Plains in the Northern Expedition, eliminated the Qing invaders, and recovered the old capital. He accomplished such a great thing, but in the end, the highest title he was given was only a county marquis.

There are two more levels of nobility, Duke of a County and Duke of a State, and Your Majesty has not missed any of them.

However, those who have the opportunity to get their hands on the highest title can also realize some of the potential meanings of their king's arrangement.

Not releasing the highest title means that the king still has very important things to do, and now is not the time to enjoy peace with his subjects.

Everyone knows that the kingdom is currently expanding its military in the north and may recruit more than one million ground forces, so there will definitely be major wars in the future.

After the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains, what else was important enough? The only thing left was "reducing the power of the feudal lords", right?
Or to destroy Shun? Or to conquer Europe and America?

After the awarding ceremony, Zhu Jianxuan left the Fengtian Hall first and took a car back to the Old Summer Palace.

After Zhu Jianxuan left, the hall suddenly became noisy.

Officials, generals, and craftsmen gathered in groups of three or five, talking about their thoughts and feelings, recalling the past and imagining the future.

Liu Biao looked at his old boss Cao Zhendong and other senior generals, and said anxiously and puzzledly:
"Why is everyone silent? Are they just letting the king go like this?"

Cao Zhendong asked Liu Biao with a stern face:
"say what?"

Liu Biao wanted to say something, but couldn't:

"Speaking of that matter——"

Cao Zhendong asked:
"What is it?"

Liu Biao didn't know if Cao Zhendong was playing dumb. He looked around and lowered his voice and said:
"Shouldn't we give the king a whole set of clothes? We have come to this point, why is the king still just the king?"

Cao Zhendong finally understood:

"Don't talk nonsense, the king is the legitimate son of the current emperor!"

Liu Biao continued to mutter carefully:

"What should we do? Should we learn from Master Chengzu? We can't just stay like this, right?
"We succeeded in the Northern Expedition, but for the imperial court, the world is still divided into two halves.

“Although the current emperor favors our king, he is already seventy years old after all.

“What if the Crown Prince, who I have never met before, is dissatisfied with the current situation in the future?
"Instead of waiting for trouble in the future, why not take advantage of the fact that we are the only ones with new rifles and get it done right away..."

Cao Zhendong frowned after hearing this. This was probably what many generals of the Wu State thought.

It only took one year to directly destroy the Qing Dynasty, which had troubled the Ming Dynasty for hundreds of years. These people are now very ambitious.

He felt that his army was invincible, and that his king should also be the supreme ruler of the world.

Only by doing this can we truly safeguard our current vested interests.

The crown prince stuck between the king and the old emperor is a grudge that cannot be ignored in everyone's heart.

Cao Zhendong himself thinks so too, but he will consider more deeply how to achieve the goal with the least impact.

When Cao Zhendong was struggling, Secretary Fei Chun, who had returned from Yingtian Prefecture, came over:
"Cao Shumi, the king asked us to see him together."

Cao Zhendong quickly agreed:

"Mr. Xie Fei, I understand."

Liu Biao immediately whispered a reminder:

"Boss, remember to mention this to the king!"

Cao Zhendong immediately turned around and glared at Liu Biao:

"Don't talk nonsense! Don't tell anyone what you just said!"

Liu Biao also quickly agreed:

"I see."

Cao Zhendong and Fei Chun met up with Duan Yucai, and the three of them took a car to meet Zhu Jianxuan.

(End of this chapter)