The Silent Reforms of Eldridge Chapter 80

Hedong Salt Road also has an annual income of three to four hundred thousand silver - this is the largest amount of income.

So I set up a donation and loss bureau to encourage wealthy businessmen to donate, and I made a total of more than 300,000 strings of money. Once the written donation is reported and received, the salaries of the soldiers stationed nearby will be immediately distributed and will not be transferred to the treasury. However, the vassal yamen will still publish the list and publicize it widely.

The western part of Gansu pays small grains, while the eastern part pays for grain and grass. These two items collect more than 200,000 shi of grain every year, plus no less than 6 million shi of reserves over the years. If the grain can be used as payment, the soldiers may not be unwilling, but where there is more grain, there will be fewer soldiers, and where there is less grain, there will be more soldiers. If the grain is transported to each camp for distribution, the transportation price will be more expensive than the price of the grain itself. In that case, Will lose more. The price of grain in Lanzhou was 1,900 Wen per shi, but the texture and color of warehouse grain were inferior to the market grain, and the people were unwilling to buy it. So I reported the price to the Ministry of Household Affairs at 1,400 Wen per shi, and the Ministry of Household approved it. But people are still unwilling to buy it. This matter was postponed for half a year, and only hundreds of thousands of stones were sold, which finally helped to pay the soldiers. In the future, I will definitely have to go to the Ministry of Household Affairs to walk around and express my feelings, but where will I get the money? I discussed with the capital and added fifty cents per stone as ministry fee to avoid harsh objections in the future, but the lower states and counties have not yet received the payment.

Suo Wen, the governor of Gansu Province, was from Urumqi, a Hui nationality, and his family was well off. Although this man is a martial artist, he is very scheming. I was very familiar with him when I was in Gansu in the 30th year of Daoguang's reign (1850). Now that I have reunited with him, I am naturally even closer to him. Although some of his ideas are selfish, they are indeed effective if implemented. The wages of the Gansu admiral's subordinates and the provisions for the army and horses can be offset by grain. The price is 1,400 copper and one stone, and the Ministry of Culture and Culture fee of 50 is still allowed. In this way, Ganzhou does not have to worry; as for Ningxia, Xining, and Hezhou , various towns in Liangzhou, the plan has not yet been decided. If it can be passed throughout the province, it will save a lot of expenses. Some people also say that the military grain reserves in the border areas are related to national security. If the warehouses are sold out, it will be very relevant in the event of famine. I said: "You do think very long-term, but if you stick to this, trouble will happen right now, and you don't have to wait until the lean years."

The land in Gansu Province is barren and the people are poor, with more mountains and less water. Even with mature farmland, one cannot expect to have a harvest every year. During the Daoguang period, when Mr. Deng Tingzhen was serving as the Gansu vassal, he mistakenly heard the slanderous words of committee member Ding Yuanmiao, saying that by reclaiming more than 200,000 acres of wasteland, tens of thousands of stones of grain and grass could be harvested every year. In order to please the court, Mr. Deng rashly went ahead and played it. In fact, the food and grass were collected by the committee members through tax increases, and even the villages, monasteries and temples had to pay rent. The prefectures and counties tortured the people severely in order to press for conscription. Therefore, the common people gathered thousands of people and went to the feudal government office to ask for an explanation. They turned in their farm tools and refused to farm anymore. The discarded farm tools were piled as high as the house. They made a lot of noise and thunder. They called it "Ken'en". In fact, they wanted to make the feudal clan Si is embarrassed. Mr. Deng was very sad and thought it was a great shame and humiliation. Thanks to the mediation of Zhen Si Yang Yizeng, the farmers took back their farm tools and dispersed. Seeing this situation, state and county officials were afraid of triggering a civil unrest and did not dare to continue supervising the expedition. Later, Mr. Deng was promoted to governor of Shaanxi. Farmers were waiting for him at Dongguan Slope, ten miles away from the city, with rubble, swords and sticks. Fortunately, the Fuzhi Army sent 500 troops to see him off, and with proper guidance from local officials, Mr. Deng was able to escape. However, the grain quota has been decided in the report. According to the regulations, it will be officially taxed after the trial period. The result is that the officials and the people are in trouble. When talking about this matter, everyone will scold the instigator Deng Tingzhen.