Bi Qingshan told the truth. Recently, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Tax Bureau all hoped to start a war with the South. Their reason for going south was simple. The rice route opened by Vézé to Vietnam and Siam had become a very important pillar of stability in the South.
Since the beginning of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Uprising, the region that had suffered the most damage was the Yangtze River Basin, and the Central Plains and the Northwest showed signs of being more damaged than the Yangtze River Basin. On the other hand, the Guangdong and Guangxi provinces in the Lingnan region had been stable after Vézé took over them. When the Taiping army left Guangxi, they took away the people who had the courage to revolt. Guangxi became stable.
Stability meant that the population grew quickly. With the new government system, the first thing to do was to allow those who were willing to work to survive. This required a large amount of grain to stabilize grain prices.
After Vézé left Guangdong, he did not care about it. However, Bi Qingshan, as the Premier of the State Council and the superior of the provincial governors, had to take care of this problem.
Since Wei Ze had asked, Bi Qingshan decided to share his grievances one by one. "Commander-in-chief, now that the farmers have been allocated land, they all want the price of grain to rise. Only with a higher price of grain can they earn more money. However, the industrial departments in the city do not want the grain prices to rise. If the grain prices are high, the workers will have a hard time. Now the army is desperately building water conservancy projects and roads, but the people have no income to participate in it. However, if we hire a large number of people, the quality of the project cannot be guaranteed. Moreover, we do not have that much money and grain. When the palm oil came out, our comrades in the South felt that it was good. In the past, we used to have grain, but now we have oil. With oil and water, everyone's complexion is different! "
When Wei Ze heard this comment, he thought to himself, Isn't this nonsense? In the 21st century, China wanted to lose weight. The reason was not just because they ate too much meat, but because there was enough oil in every dish.
Seeing that Vézé's expression had eased, Bi Qingshan sighed in relief and continued, "If we want more oil and spices, we can only go south. Commander-in-chief, you know that the people in the government have been away from the army for a long time, but they are still soldiers. So when they talk about going south to fight, they all think it's very easy. "
It made sense, and Vézé was no longer worried that someone in the army wanted to fight. He asked, "Does the government really want to go south now?"
"I want to go south very much. In the past few years, the government had held frequent meetings to discuss this. Everyone felt that the amount of money was getting bigger and bigger, and the increase was basically just paper money. The number of people living in the city was the highest. With money on hand, people would either deposit it in the bank or buy things. In addition to buying a house, the rest was to buy what they felt they needed now. Unlike the United Kingdom, France, and the United States, our paper money is not secured by gold or silver. We are in the business of paper. The people feel that this paper is trustworthy because we really provide so much grain and oil. Commander-in-chief, this is also your idea! "Bi Qingshan was worthy of being the head of the civil officials. In the end, he even put the blame on Vézé.
Vézé could totally accept this level of complaint. He asked, "Has the financial pressure reached this point?"
"Commander-in-chief, you haven't gone to Guangdong yet. I heard that the situation there isn't that good. Now the comrades in Guangdong, especially the comrades in the industrial department, are very unhappy! " Bi Qingshan continued to complain, "Commander-in-chief, we opened the Maanshan Steel Plant. The sales of steel in Guangdong immediately dropped. It turns out that they bought the iron pots and other goods in Hunan and Hubei. Now, Hunan and Hubei don't want their things. It's faster and cheaper to go from Maanshan to the Yangtze River. They originally thought that they could sell their things in Zhejiang and Jiangsu, but now Zhejiang and Jiangsu also buy steel products from Maanshan. The craftsmen in Zhejiang and Jiangsu are very capable. The things they make are not worse than those in Guangdong. If it weren't for the large railway repair and the high demand for steel rails, the Guangdong Steel Group's days would be even more difficult. "
Vézé originally thought that it was a disciplinary problem. He didn't expect that it would cause economic problems. Industrial products needed a market. They had to be sold to recoup money. To recoup money, the people needed to pay for it. But the people only bought daily necessities. They needed to buy bicycles, but they wouldn't buy steel bars to play with at home.
Bi Qingshan made it clear that the most acceptable things to the people now were grain, oil, and rubber shoes. Guangdong's grain was imported from Vietnam and Siam. At this stage, the cheapest source of oil was Lanfang Province. It was a sparsely populated area. After opening up oil palm plantations, it would be a very stable source of oil. The people in Guangdong and Guangxi were more accustomed to the tropical climate. In the past few years, more than 500,000 people had gone to Lanfang Province to make a living. Apart from sailors, most of them worked on plantations.
The ancients said, "If there is land, there is wealth." Opening up territory, especially a territory with huge output, was the most fundamental help to the economy.
Vézé was no longer in a serious mood. The civil government's desire to solve domestic problems through war was indeed a common feature of modern countries. Vézé didn't know whether to feel gratified or amused. It should be known that six years ago, the government's financial department openly opposed the military commission's proposal for war because the war budget was too large. The current Guangdong Provincial Party Secretary Wang Mingshan relied on daring to challenge the military to rise to fame.
But now, according to Bi Qingshan's words, the comrades in Guangdong who were enthusiastic about the expansion of the war could be said to be an example. This was really a bit like fate making a fool out of people.
Vézé's left arm was on the table, and his left hand subconsciously pinched his chin. The shaved beard didn't grow long, and the prickling feeling slightly balanced the pressure in Vézé's heart. He asked, "So the comrades in the government want to fight!"
"Yes, we want to fight now. This way, we can incorporate the immigrants from the south and the income into the new budget as soon as possible. Steel companies will be built all over the country, and we can't stop that. But oil, rubber, and spices must be shipped from the south. Those are all income. Commander-in-chief, with these, we can earn more money. We have millions of mouths waiting to eat with their wages! "Bi Qingshan said sincerely, and when he mentioned millions of mouths, his tone became more serious.
Seeing that Vézé's expression was no longer stern, Bi Qingshan emphasized again, "Commander-in-chief, if you go to Guangdong now, you will know the situation there. Fried seafood, fried vegetables, fried rice noodles. Everyone needs at least two taels of oil a day! This thing is more useful than food, and oil can help with hunger! "
Food was the most important thing to the people, and the purpose of Vézé's palm oil was to solve the problem of food. The best solution was to open up ammonia technology, but the current basic research on steel was far from that level. In the absence of technological breakthroughs, opening up the South China Sea was undoubtedly the best way. Although it seemed a bit improper for a country's prime minister to insist on oil palm plantations. But Bi Qingshan actually grasped the key point. Everything could be discussed if the people had enough to eat. Vézé's spirit in the 21st century and body in the 19th century did not join the revolution because of the problem of food, but the majority of the people who followed Vézé in the rebellion did so because they could not eat their fill and could not survive. This was the people's response to hunger.
After this discussion, Vézé was sure that if Bi Qingshan was not lying, the main representative for the war in the near future would come from the government. Vézé said to Bi Qingshan, the head of the government, "I will consider this matter carefully. I will give you an answer in a month at most."
After hearing this, Bi Qingshan's face lit up. But Vézé then said sternly, "But! Before I give you an answer, no one is allowed to spread this opinion. I will say it again, we are organized and disciplined! "
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