mtl008 Chapter 688: His Own Team
Chapter 688: His Own Team
Liu Ye first asked the heads of each organization to report on their recent work progress.
Food is the most important thing for the people, so Li Ergou was the first to step forward and report on the recent achievements in grain taxation and land reclamation.
"Reporting to the General: The three counties of Lingao, Chengmai, and Danzhou have collected a total of 116,000 shi of unpolished rice in kind. After deducting the 19,000 shi of unpolished rice and 9,000 taels of silver paid to the court, there is a surplus of 94,000 shi of grain. The military farms have reclaimed more than 75,000 mu of wasteland, and they are now starting to produce grain. As of this month, the yield is 53,000 shi of grain. I have already sent people to collect the surplus grain with cash..."
Because the Qiongzhou military settlements promised to exempt them from all taxes for two years, and the current grain production is all private property of the immigrants, the output of the military settlements is purchased with silver. The Qiongzhou Navy is currently making money quickly at sea and is not short of money; it has plenty of silver. However, in order to continue expanding the army and immigration, grain reserves are of paramount importance.
Liu Ye nodded and asked, "What is the price for purchasing grain?"
"Please rest assured, General, the grain price is lower than in the prefectural city and Guangzhou. There, the price has risen to 3 taels of silver per shi, while our price is 1 taels per shi. Immigrants do not have to pay taxes and receive cash. We buy grain at a fair price, and everyone is happy!"
"The price isn't high, but I hope the immigrants won't object?" Liu Ye didn't want to lose public support for a small amount of money.
"No, after the immigrants were guaranteed their food rations, the remaining food could be cashed out to improve their families' situation, and everyone was very happy. They all said that compared to the past when people were starving to death every day, now that they could eat their fill and had money to spare, it was like living in paradise."
"That's good." Liu Ye was relieved, then asked, "How about the new immigrants?"
"Anyway, we're just following the rules, and we have a set of effective procedures," Li Ergou replied. "This time, more than 50,000 people were sent to Wenchang and Wanxian. The magistrates of those two counties didn't dare to utter a word and obediently sent clerks and yamen runners to help us. With the successful examples of the previous batches of immigrants, these people are very at ease. Wenchang and Wanxian have a lot of wasteland and few locals, so the reclamation and farming went very smoothly."
Next, Shi Ying and Sun Yuanhua reported on the training of the militia and the production of firearms. The fourth person to step forward was Li Fei, who reported on the formation of the Marine Corps.
Liu Ye joked, "Should I call you Bo Ri Te China, or your current pseudonym?"
Li Fei calmly replied, "A name is just a code. You can call me whatever you like, General. However, I've been using the name Li Fei for so long that I've become unfamiliar with my real name. If you call me by my real name now, you might not even recognize me."
"Alright, I'll continue to call you Li Fei. To be honest, I've gotten used to it and can't change it right away. That Mongolian name is really hard to pronounce..."
Li Fei reported: "Since taking over the task of forming the Marine Corps, my subordinates have been selecting soldiers from various battalions and companies who are physically fit, quick-witted, and proficient in swimming. We have already selected more than a thousand qualified candidates. General, how many men are needed, and how much pay will be issued?"
Liu Ye pondered for a moment and said, "The Marine Corps was set up at Ying Mingzi's suggestion. It's currently experimental, and we don't know how effective it will be or how many people we should allocate... Let's set it at one thousand for now, with pay higher than regular infantry, on par with the guards and special forces. We'll decide whether to increase or decrease the number of personnel based on the results after they participate in actual combat..."
Of the two existing special forces units, the escort team serves as his personal protection force, while the special operations team is a crucial force for carrying out missions such as sabotage behind enemy lines and battlefield reserves. Each of them has only about a thousand members. Liu Ye has great faith in the loyalty of Lin San and Qin Tian, but he cannot fully trust Li Fei. For the sake of balance, he will not allow the Marine Corps to surpass the former two in terms of organization and status for the time being.
Li Fei replied calmly, "Yes, sir!" and then retreated.
Li Fu, who had not appeared for a long time, stepped forward, reported on the recent situation of the Qiongzhou Trading Company, and raised issues that needed to be addressed.
"General, currently, the sales revenue from the textile mill and winery accounts for less than 10% of the total income, while customs revenue accounts for about 70%, and our self-operated raw silk trade accounts for about 20%. This is more than enough to cover the payment of rations, the operation of the steel mill, shipyard, and arsenal. After deducting the previously agreed-upon dividends, we can still save several hundred thousand taels of silver each year. General, given our frequent personnel changes, shouldn't we revise the original dividend distribution rules? In addition, the Qiongzhou Trading Company is currently handling the distribution of military pay, dividends, and factory expenses, which is quite inconvenient. Could we appoint someone specifically to manage military pay, dividends, and the expenses of each factory?"
"That's a good suggestion!" Liu Ye praised. "Even if you hadn't said it, I would have brought up these two issues. First, regarding the profit-sharing, the rules do indeed need to be revised based on personnel changes. From now on, it will be like this: one-tenth of the total annual income, after deducting necessary expenses for the production of military supplies such as army salaries, steel mills, shipyards, arsenals, and clothing factories, as well as the monthly salaries of various managers, will be used for profit-sharing. This money will be divided into several equal parts, and all officers of regimental commander rank and above, as well as heads of specialized agencies such as the Quartermaster Bureau, the Military Discipline Staff Office, the Intelligence Department, trading companies, and money shops, will be eligible to receive a share. The specific details of how each person will receive their share and how much they will receive will be discussed by Mr. Sun and Mr. Yan and then reported to me for review before implementation. In the future, regardless of whether new people join, the distribution will be based on their positions, making it clear at a glance and eliminating the need for changes due to personnel changes."
Li Fu asked to confirm, "May I ask, General, how much is one-tenth?"
"It's one-tenth out of ten."
Everyone beamed with joy upon hearing this. Most of the people standing there were eligible to participate in the profit sharing. Even if only 10% of the annual surplus was given out, it would still amount to tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. Depending on their position and status, each person could receive several thousand or even tens of thousands of taels of silver, easily becoming a tycoon within a few years. Moreover, the higher the total income, the larger the surplus, and the more dividends they would receive. This would incentivize everyone to work even harder to promote the development of the Qionghai Army.
"As for the second request, it's easy to handle. Military pay, bonuses, and budget expenditures for each factory will be separated from the Qiongzhou Trading Company. Military pay will be transferred to the Military Supplies Bureau for management, and the rest will be managed by a special agency called the Finance and Accounting Department."
Yan Guang, Sun Yuanhua, and others secretly thought that this was the general starting to build his own team, preparing for taking over the throne in the future. These institutions, secretly compared with the Ministry of War, the Five Military Commissions, the Ministry of Revenue, and other government departments, were operating smoothly. Once he sat on the dragon throne, he could seamlessly connect with them and smoothly hand over the power of the Six Ministries and other government departments.