Merchants pursued profits and were one of the most difficult groups to control. While they contributed to the development of the territory, they also made a lot of money.
Unavoidably, merchants would get involved in local conflicts of interest for the sake of profits.
Ouyang Shuo would naturally take precautions against this.
Other than the management of the Department of Finance and Commerce, he had to nurture more chambers of commerce to prevent the emergence of oligarchs.
Clashing with the large chambers of commerce was one of the methods.
Of course, these were only temporary solutions.
Ouyang Shuo was planning to establish a trade association to strengthen the supervision of the large chambers of commerce.
This matter had to be considered at length.
After all, the territory was still in the early stages of development and needed the strength of the large chambers of commerce. He could not dampen their enthusiasm.
Among the three counties, Lianzhou County developed the fastest.
Although Shanhai City was separated from Lianzhou County, Lianzhou County still had four prefectures and one city.
The newly established Blessed Gods Prefecture had already passed the most difficult period, and the construction of the city was nearing completion. Its advantageous industries — animal husbandry and leather processing — were thriving.
Tianfeng Prefecture and Duanren Prefecture's aquaculture and pearl cultivation were also making money. Apart from that, the mulberry and tea gardens that covered the two prefectures were also not to be underestimated.
Especially the mulberry garden, which was paired with the colorful silkworm breeding, was enough to make people envious.
The colorful silk produced by Shanhai City had long been sold in the nine Royal Cities. It was loved by the nobles and wealthy merchants in the Royal Cities. It was a trend.
Among the four prefectures, Mulan Prefecture was an old force that was annexed from the territory. Unfortunately, due to its special geographical location, Mulan Prefecture's income was somewhat low.
The most important reason was that Mulan Prefecture did not have any advantageous industries.
It was estimated that only after occupying the entire Guangxi Province would Mulan Manor be able to rise from the ashes.
Of course, no matter how dazzling the three prefectures were, they could not overshadow Shanhai City.
The construction of Shanhai City's outer city was still in full swing. Every day, more than a thousand people came to Shanhai City to settle down. These people were not refugees, but people who had migrated from the various Royal Cities.
Shanhai City's population had already exceeded the 400,000 mark. Ouyang Shuo estimated that Shanhai City would be promoted to a second-class county by October at the latest, breaking the 500,000 population limit.
Currently, Shanhai City was full of streets. If Ouyang Shuo did not have anyone to guide him, he would get lost in the city. His range of activity was basically limited to Royal City.
Bing'er, on the other hand, started to run wild in the city again after the summer holidays. She was like a wild horse that had escaped its reins. Occasionally, the little girl would teleport to Cliff Mountain City to patrol her 'territory' and visit the four little ones.
In Cliff Mountain City, Bing 'er was a princess.
The County Governor of Qiongzhou, Tian Wenjing, had not only arranged for people to build a luxurious manor, but he had also specially built a wildlife park outside the city for Bing'er to play in.
The construction of the zoo was all because of a single sentence from Bing'er: "There are so many small animals here."
Ouyang Shuo shook his head without end when he found out about this.
Who would have thought that Tian Wenjing, the cold-faced governor, would dote on Bing'er so much?
As the headquarters of the territory, Shanhai City's commerce was the most developed. According to the Finance Department's Commercial Department's statistics, up to now, the number of chambers of commerce of all sizes in Shanhai City had reached 37.
Each of the nine Royal Cities had a Chamber of Commerce.
Other than commerce, Shanhai City's development was also supported by the military industry.
After more than a year of incubation, the military industry finally began to explode. With the completion of the east district, the production capacity of the entire military industry had directly tripled.
Now, the weapons and equipment produced by Shanhai City could not only meet the needs of the territory's army, but also accept orders from the Shanhai Alliance's members.
Only when the military industry was operating at full capacity could it truly be called a gold mine.
The political meeting began.
Cui Yingyou, the head of the Finance Department, reported on the territory's revenue and expenditure for July.
"Shanhai City's revenue was 85700 gold coins, Lianzhou County's revenue was 52700 gold coins, Leizhou County's revenue was temporarily unavailable, and Qiongzhou County's revenue was 41500 gold coins. In addition to the 55000 gold coins from the Industrial Department, the territory's total revenue for July was 234900 gold coins. "
Ouyang Shuo was delighted to hear that the territory's monthly revenue had exceeded 200,000 gold coins.
It was not easy.
Unexpectedly, Yingyou's next report made Ouyang Shuo's face darken.
"In July, a total of 80000 gold coins were transferred from the finance department, mainly 20000 gold coins were transferred from Shanhai City for the construction of the city, and 60000 gold coins were transferred from Leizhou County for the reconstruction. Apart from that, there were two major expenses, the Southern Border Protectorate's administrative expenses of 8000 gold coins and military expenses of 135000 gold coins. "
An army's monthly military expenditure was around 35000 gold coins.
In the land, the Dragon Elephant Legion and Tiger Legion were fully staffed. In addition to the newly formed Leopard Legion's First Division, the Imperial Guard Division, and the Featherwood Guard, the normal military expenditure was around 95000 gold coins.
The Nanyang Navy, including the Cliff Mountain Fleet's First Division and the North Bay Fleet's First Division, had a monthly military expenditure of around 20000 gold coins.
In total, the normal military expenses alone amounted to 115000 gold coins per month.
The military expenditure for July also included the compensation for the battle of Leizhou and the Battle of Giant Deer.
As a result, the entire military expenditure exceeded more than half of the revenue.
This was militaristic!
This was also in the game. If this was done in reality, the people would sooner or later rebel.
When Ying You reported the military expenditure, she glanced at Du Ruhui, intentionally or unintentionally.
Du Ruhui knew that she was in the wrong and kept silent with a dark face.
Previously, when the army had not yet been formed, the army could still obtain additional income by suppressing bandits to subsidize military expenditure.
At that time, military expenditure was not too much of a burden to the territory's finances.
After the establishment of divisions, and especially after the establishment of legions, the Shanhai City army became more and more standardized and professional. The work of suppressing bandits had long been delegated to the local garrison troops.
Therefore, on the surface, the army's financial impact on the territory had always been negative.
The army itself could no longer create any additional wealth.
Attacking cities and seizing land, because the implementation was occupation, could not carry out burning, killing, and plundering.
Of course, things could not only be looked at on the surface.
Taking the battle of Leizhou as an example, in the short term, the gains did not make up for the losses. But in the long term, the future financial revenue of Leizhou County was expected to be far higher than the current investment.
Expanding the territory would always be the only way to become strong.
Du Ruhui understood these things, and so did Cui Yingyou.
Ying You's subtle hint was just a warning to the military office not to expand the army wantonly in the future. Otherwise, the territory's finances would not be able to bear the burden.
In fact, Du Ruhui also had her own difficulties.
In the end, the establishment of the army was still the Marquis's arbitrary decision.
To put it bluntly, the military office was taking the blame for the Marquis.
Ouyang Shuo sat at the seat of honor and naturally noticed the confrontation between the two important officials. He knew that Ying You was subtly demonstrating to him.
This sister of his was not someone easy to deal with.
As Ouyang Shuo's status rose, Ying You would no longer directly rebuke him. Instead, she used this method to remind him, her brother, not to be overly aggressive.
In fact, Ouyang Shuo had already consciously controlled the size of the army.
Not to mention anything else, just take the battle of Jingzhou as an example.
Sun Bin led the Tiger Troop and captured more than 70,000 soldiers. Ouyang Shuo only instructed the military office to reorganize a garrison division from the prisoners of war.
Including the garrison troops of the various prefectures and counties, less than a third of the soldiers were reorganized.
However, no matter how much they reduced the size of the army, it was inevitable that the overall size of the army would grow day by day. Think about it, without these elite troops, where would Ouyang Shuo get the confidence to fight for the world?
As the saying goes, you can't have your cake and eat it too.
At this stage, Ouyang Shuo had to tilt towards the military and political sectors.
A strong army was the most important goal.
After establishing the Southern Border Governor's Office, Ouyang Shuo no longer kept any territory funds. In his storage bag, he only kept ten to twenty thousand gold coins as pocket money.
The territory's financial income was basically invested into the territory's construction.
The territory's prosperity was his prosperity.
According to Ying You's report, the territory's net financial income in July was only 11900 gold coins.
Next month, the financial income should improve.
The most fundamental thing was that Leizhou County not only no longer needed financial transfer payments, but could also turn over financial income. One in and one out, it was not a small number.
Ying You was not as optimistic about this as Ouyang Shuo.
For no other reason than the fact that the war in Zhaoqing was in full swing.
It could be foreseen that in the future, Zhaoqing County would be a mess waiting to be cleaned up.
After Ying You finished her report, she took her leave.
Next was to discuss the establishment of the Warden Office.
After the establishment of the Southern Border Protectorate, the establishment of the organization became more and more standardized.
Ouyang Shuo stipulated that the establishment of the organization could be proposed by the ministers and examined by the administrative bureau before it could be brought to the government for formal discussion and then handed over to Ouyang Shuo to make the final decision.
This arrangement was also to prevent Ouyang Shuo from becoming arrogant in the future.
When a person held a high position for a long time, they would become used to dictating the world, and their vision would inevitably be clouded. If this continued, it would be easy for them to not listen to the suggestions of the ministers.
Ouyang Shuo did not want to become that kind of person.
However, if there was no reasonable design of the system, with the current trend, he would definitely become that kind of person. For this reason, Ouyang Shuo took precautions and restrained himself while his mind was still clear.
Regarding this, Fan Zhongyan and the other ministers were extremely gratified.
With such a wise ruler, why would he need to worry about his hegemony?
Under Xiao He's proposal and the administrative bureau chief's examination, they unanimously agreed to establish the Warden Office under the framework of the military bureau.
The Warden Office had two responsibilities.
First, to manage the carriage of the Southern Border Protectorate.
When Ouyang Shuo went out, he would usually ride a horse and not a carriage. As the construction of Shanhai City gradually improved, Fan Zhongyan and the others proposed that Ouyang Shuo would also have to ride a carriage when going out.
According to them, this was a matter of law and could not be done casually. Only by doing so could he display the authority of the Southern Border Protectorate. Ouyang Shuo could only compromise.
Fortunately, he did not have many opportunities to go out.
With Ouyang Shuo's personality, he was not used to riding a carriage.
Second, to manage the management of the territory's horses.
All the major horse farms, including the Storm Valley Horse Farm and the Favored Manor Horse Farm, were managed by the Warden Office.
The head of the Warden Office was naturally Xiahou Ying.
With this, the four talents from the Battle of Giant Deer were settled. (To be continued.)
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