The Australian Revolution of 1828

With the preparations settled, the only remaining issue is funding.

Han Qingyun gave a wink, and Luo Bingzhong of the Immigration Bureau understood immediately. He then elevated the issue of immigration to the level of the life and death of Hanyang, saying, "Directors, Hanyang is now coveted by foreigners, and there is a possibility of war breaking out at any time."

"As long as Hanyang has a sufficient population, I believe the foreigners will not succeed. The only thing lacking is funding, and I hope the Finance Department can provide support."

Hanyang was a prefecture, but its population was only the size of two or three towns. In terms of its current population base, it didn't even reach the size of a county in the Far East.

With such a small population, it is indeed quite difficult to contend with a legitimate country.

Moreover, it is also closely related to the development of Hanyang.

After settling in Hanyang Prefecture, most of the sailors who had made a living at sea gradually left the fleet and were resettled in various industrial and mining sectors, where they engaged in corresponding labor and production work.

Consequently, the number of people remaining in the fleet and army was significantly reduced, making Hanyang Prefecture's paper military strength weak and insufficient to deal with too many enemies at the same time.

Currently, the only military force consists of seven army companies, totaling approximately 500 personnel; a naval fleet of five warships, with approximately 2000 personnel; and a fleet of immigrant ships and armed vessels, totaling approximately 5000 personnel.

The army and fleet alone numbered over 7500 people, not to mention the staff of various government offices and yamen.

Fortunately, more than half of the people in Hanyang Prefecture were young and strong adults, and the other half were women of childbearing age, as well as children born in recent years.

Overall, the age structure is still relatively young; otherwise, even basic labor force might not be guaranteed.

The reason why Luo Bingzhong of the Immigration Agency is mentioning funds now is because the immigration plan has been approved, but the funds required for immigration have not yet been determined.

In order to fully implement the relevant funds for immigration affairs, Han Qingyun personally took the lead and said, "Director Luo is right. As long as we have enough population, it will not be us who are afraid of foreigners, but foreigners who are afraid of us."

"Ultimately, war preparations must prioritize immigration! With a sufficient labor force, our arsenals can operate at full capacity, and our mines will not lack manpower."

"Even you bureau chiefs here can take several more wives!"

To get things done, just talking slogans isn't enough; you still need to offer appropriate benefits.

The sixteen directors present had all survived the brink of death. Under Han Qingyun's persuasion, they couldn't help but praise him, saying, "Chief Inspector, you even gave me my name. I will fully support any decision you make."

The person who spoke was the Director of the Trade Bureau, a former roughneck who couldn't read a single word. After being recruited by Han Qingyun, he was officially appointed as the Deputy Director of the Immigration and Trade Bureau, and was known as one of Luo Bingzhong's right-hand men along with Luo Bingzhong of the Immigration Bureau.

Li Guochen, the Director of the Trade Bureau, was born on January 21, 1797. He is currently 31 years old and comes from Xuzhou Prefecture in the Huanghuai region.

Now he is also concurrently holding the title of Right Vice-General of the Grand General's Office, which can be said to be a great trust placed in him.

When the other dozen or so directors saw the new Director-General of the Trade Agency stand up to show his support, they immediately realized what was going on and said, "Chief Consul, I also express my support."

Many directors expressed their support, but the director of the Finance Department looked troubled and said, "Chief Inspector, we have already allocated funds to the Immigration Agency some time ago. If we allocate more money, the expenses of other agencies will be difficult to sustain."

For immigrants, money is the most important thing.

As the governor of Hanyang Prefecture, Han Qingyun had already inquired about the treasury's silver reserves. However, in order to raise cash as quickly as possible, he had to lay bare the difficulties before everyone and asked, "How much silver is left in the Finance Department's treasury?"

The Director of the Finance Department did not understand Han Qingyun's meaning, but still reported the government's treasury silver, saying, "Currently, the government's treasury has 200 million silver dollars, of which 70 silver dollars will be spent at the end of the month."

In other words, in addition to the 70 silver dollars to be spent this month, the treasury still has 130 million silver dollars in reserve.

These 130 million silver dollars were the cornerstone of Hanyang Prefecture, and Han Qingyun dared not misappropriate them easily. If something unexpected happened, and the salaries of the various government offices could not be paid normally, Hanyang Prefecture would be thrown into chaos!

Especially since Han Qingyun had only recently taken office as governor, there was a great deal of uncertainty. Subsequently, Han Qingyun turned his attention to the director of the Mining Bureau.

The Mining Bureau was a new agency split off from the Industry and Mining Bureau. It managed all the mines within the territory of Hanyang Prefecture, with gold mines being the most important.

Perhaps sensing Han Qingyun's intentions, the newly promoted director of the Mining Bureau was somewhat embarrassed and said, "Chief Censor, there are too few gold miners at present. Boddington Gold Mine only produces 3 taels of gold per month."

"To mine more gold ore, we need to hire more workers!"

In short, it's a cycle. To get more gold, you need to increase the number of workers, and workers come from immigrants.

And a large number of immigrants require money to process!

To be honest, immigration is very profitable, but the process takes five years. Assuming a 50% profit margin, the first two and a half years are for recouping costs, and the remaining two and a half years are for generating profits from immigration.

In a large, populous country, this would be a pillar of the nation. The problem is that Hanyang Prefecture has too few people, and for the first two and a half years, it was a net expenditure, putting a lot of pressure on its finances.

Moreover, based on the current gold-silver exchange rate, one tael of gold is worth about 12 taels of silver. Therefore, 3 taels of gold would be equivalent to 36 taels of silver, or 72 silver dollars.

Excluding the silver reserves in the Treasury, 72 silver dollars would be enough to meet the needs of the immigrants. However, preparing for war involves more than just immigration; stockpiling other supplies is also crucial and requires money!

Since the farmland was still exempt from taxes and there were not many commercial taxes, the total monthly tax revenue was about 5 yuan. It can be said that the Hanyang Prefecture's expenditures all depended on the gold mine.

If there is any disturbance at the gold mine, Hanyang Prefecture will face a financial crisis.

Since the director of the Mining Bureau was being reasonable, Han Qingyun naturally couldn't argue unnecessarily, and said, "I know the Mining Bureau is facing difficulties, and we're trying to find solutions!"

As he spoke, Han Qingyun gestured to Luo Bingzhong.

As governor, there were some things he couldn't say aloud, so he had to have others say them. Luo Bingzhong, as a trusted confidant, also tried his best to demonstrate his abilities, saying, "The financial problems are easy to solve."

"Over the years, foreigners have taught us a lot, such as using cannons to fight wars and raising funds when facing financial difficulties."

"Hanyang Prefecture has been peaceful for five years, and we all have a lot of cash on hand. If the foreigners attack and we lose the war, we won't be able to keep our money either. We might as well use the money to support our war preparations."

"After five or ten years, when Hanyang Prefecture has a sufficient population and is not afraid of foreigners attacking, we can return everyone's interest and principal one by one. I think that's feasible."

The Finance Director was aware of the national debt, but fearing a failure in Hanyang Prefecture and the lack of funds to flee, he said, "Director Luo is right, but I really don't have much money!"

Having said all that, Han Qingyun wasn't going to back down, so he said, "Money isn't everything, but you can't do without it."

"I know your concerns. Only if we take advantage of this gap and quickly organize a large enough population will the balance of the war tip in our favor."

"I think we should do it as Director Luo says. I will contribute 50 silver dollars, and you senior directors should contribute no less than 10 dollars each, while the other new directors should contribute no less than 1 dollars each."

"All of this money will be paid at a 3% interest rate, and will be cashed out in five years."