After hearing what Yinxiang said, Yinsi and others were stunned. They were princes. Everyone who interacted with each other on weekdays was either rich or noble. They were always surrounded by people when they went out. They saw and heard all the people were extravagant and lazy. How could they have carefully calculated the accounts? Thirty or forty taels of silver were not enough for their casual banquets on weekdays, but it was the expense of the lower-level bannermen in one year. Why do they say that the bannermen were squandering?

Seeing that a few people were silent, Yinzhen sipped the tea slowly and said, "Thirteenth brother knows a lot about the lower-level bannermen among the brothers, but he still only understands the superficial phenomena. After all, those who can get close to Thirteenth brother are not considered lower-level bannermen.

The reason why the bannermen have difficulty in making their livelihood is that the Thirteenth Brother mentioned two points just now. The bannermen are not good at managing and the more prosperous they are. You might as well consider it more deeply. First of all, it is a good thing for the Manchus. We should encourage them vigorously because there are too few Manchus. However, the more prosperous they are, it will cause the bannermen to make a living and bring huge financial burden to the court.

This is a dilemma. Should the court encourage the reproduction of bannermen? Or control the reproduction of bannermen? Everyone said that now we are discussing privately, so we can express our opinions."

The first one of the two old Yinyi couldn't help it, and immediately continued: "What is the rare trade-off? The bannermen are the foundation of my Qing Dynasty. In my opinion, the bannermen must be vigorously encouraged to reproduce."

Yinzhen also nodded and said, "The 14th brother is now promoting overseas closures, and promotes 'storing of 'stakes and acres' in various provinces, promotes high-yield drought-resistant crops in northern provinces, promotes acne vaccine laws nationwide, and restricts the Lamaism in Mongolia. These series of measures are all to encourage population reproduction. Our Manchu population is originally small. In this case, we naturally cannot fall behind. We must also vigorously encourage bannermen to reproduce, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable."

The old sixteenth Yinzhen also said with a rare slightest voice: "Although the recruitment of naval soldiers is not divided into Manchu, Han and Mongolian, the army is still dominated by the Eight Banners, and the bannermen are the main source of troops. The territory of the Qing Dynasty is becoming more and more wide, and it is just garrisoning in various places. There are many soldiers. How can the reproduction of this bannermen be controlled?"

Seeing that several people spoke up to encourage the bannermen to reproduce, Yinsi pondered for a while before saying, "The bannermen are growing stronger day by day and flourishing, it is naturally a good thing for consolidating the rule of the Qing Dynasty. However, the livelihood of the bannermen is already a big problem. If they reproduce in large quantities, a salary of a soldier in armor and soldiers cannot support their family. How can the court respond?

Although the territory of the Qing Dynasty is getting wider and wider, Australia and the South Ocean are also fertile, they are in the early stages of development. Not to mention collecting taxes, they pay a lot of money to invest in every year, at least in the short term. The salary of the Eight Banners soldiers is so high that it is difficult for the court to maintain it.

In short, in this situation, it is likely that the bannermen will be encouraged to reproduce in a strong manner, and it is better to be cautious."

"Didn't Japan pay 70 million this time? Why didn't it have money?" Yin Yi said carelessly: "If you don't have money, let the navy go on an expedition again. Are there still several vassal states in the Nanyang area?"

"You also know that it is a vassal state. How can a vassal state be vassal state be chaotic?" Yinzhen gave him a blank look and said, "Besides, those vassal states in Nanyang do not produce gold and silver. How can you get so much silver to pay you?"

After hearing this, Lao Shisan smiled and said, "Brother Jiu, don't just see the South China Sea. There are no Arab, Persian, Ottoman, and Mughal Empire. As long as you can fight, where can you not grab the silver?"

As soon as the topic was drawn out, Yinzhen said, "Encouraging bannermen to have children is in line with the long-term interests of the court, and it is more beneficial than disadvantages to the princes and ministers. The only disadvantage is that it increases the burden on the court and affects the livelihood of bannermen. If this problem can be solved, it will have benefits but no harm.

Let’s look at the second point that causes the livelihood of the bannermen. It is not good at managing. Many ministers believe that the main reason for the livelihood of the bannermen is that the bannermen are not good at managing.

Judging from the decades of entering the pass, the bannermen are indeed not good at managing, especially the bannermen at the bottom, but have you ever thought about it? Why are the bannermen not good at managing? I think this is entirely caused by the court, because the court strictly ordered the bannermen not to engage in task occupations except for joining the army.

As the saying goes, the bannermen have been in the pass for decades and have not been engaged in any industry. How can we demand that they be good at managing? We should not just accuse them of being in a difficult life. They have reasons, and they can only go to the imperial city to kneel down and ask the court to take responsibility. For them, this is a natural thing.

For a long time, how did the imperial court deal with this situation? I gave money! I helped redeem the flag land and stipulated that the flag property was not allowed to be bought and sold. In addition, Emperor Ama also tried to "garrison along the border", but the bannermen who were used to the prosperous capital city would not be willing to go to the border land again?

These measures by the court were like a quack doctor who treated the head with headaches and foot pains. They only treated the symptoms, not the root cause!”

The few people nodded frequently when they heard it. Lao Shisi’s words were indeed reasonable. These principles were also obvious. On weekdays, no one just went to investigate them. Even if someone knew this truth, he could not come up with a specific solution, and he would not dare to say anything. How could ordinary people dare to say right or wrong in the Eight Banners system?

Hearing this, Yinsi was a little expectant. Could the Fourteenth Old Man has a way to solve this problem? If the Fourteenth Old Man's Eight Banners uniform reform starts from this aspect, it will not offend people. From princes and ministers to the lower class, they will support them. This is definitely another act of inviting people to win their hearts.

Thinking of this, he tentatively said: "Can the fourteenth brother's Eight Banners system reform be able to solve the livelihood problems of bannermen completely and promote the reproduction of bannermen?"

"The livelihood problem of the bannermen not only curbs the reproduction of the bannermen, but also affects the military preparations of the Eight Banners forbidden brigades. Because the weapons and horses are all provided by the bannermen, if this problem is not solved, everything else can only be discussed." Yinzhen glanced at the brothers present and said slowly: "Innovating the Eight Banners system must first solve the livelihood problem of the bannermen from the root.

To solve this problem, we must relax the employment restrictions on bannermen. Only by allowing bannermen to engage in other industries can bannermen develop steadily."

After a huge circle, Yinzhen finally put forward this main purpose, but Yinsi and others were secretly shocked when they heard it. The Fourteenth Old Pictures revealed that they wanted to relax the restrictions on the employment of the bannermen! This is the ancestral system of the Qing Dynasty, how could it be easily touched?

Seeing that no one spoke, the Thirteenth Old Yinxiang said in a deep voice: "If the Fourteenth Brother wants to relax the employment restrictions on the bannermen, first of all, we must be clear about the real purpose of the court's restrictions on the bannermen's engaging in other industries, otherwise it may cause unexpected and fierce opposition."

When he heard this, Lao Jiu Yinzhen couldn't help but smile and said, "Thirteen has something to say, don't keep it from being kept in a silence. Let's have a long experience when you say it."

"I have always been puzzled about this matter, just treat it as a throwing brick and jade." Yinxiang paused slightly, took another sip of tea, and said: "The livelihood issue of the banner people has been mentioned for a long time, but there has been no proper solution. Releasing the employment restrictions of the banner people is the easiest and most direct way. Why did the Emperor and the important officials in the court keep silent?

The court spent a huge amount of money to "nourish" the bannermen. The reason used was nothing more than to ensure the sufficient source of troops of the Eight Banners soldiers, to avoid the bannermen competing for profit with the Han people, and to worry that the Eight Banners' children would be infected with Han customs, assimilated by the Han people, and even abandon their cavalry and shooting careers.

Let’s take a look at the source of troops one by one. The Eight Banners Banners now have constants of troops and fixed quotas. The families of each household can basically guarantee that one child can wear armor, and there are countless people in the idle banner. This ensures that the source of troops is sufficient, which is obviously untenable.

To prevent bannermen from competing for profit with the Han people, this may be due to this factor when they first entered the pass, but after the livelihood of bannermen had become a stubborn disease that plagued the court, this reason obviously did not exist.

It is indeed very likely to prevent being Chineseized and abandon the cavalry and archery industry. However, I don’t think the main reason is that although the Eight Banners’ children are not Chineseized, they are also corrupt. Some of the combat power is not as good as the Green Camp, and they also abandon the cavalry and archery industry.

More importantly, now the world is peaceful, and it is extremely difficult to join the army in armor. Why do we have to restrict all the families of the Eight Banners from other industries and focus on riding and shooting?"

After hearing this, Yinzhen couldn't help but frown. He had never thought about this question carefully. Lao Thirteen said so thoroughly, how could he not understand it? Lao Thirteen was tactfully reminding him that this matter was a taboo, and it was a big taboo!

The reason why the court still held the ancestral system even though he knew that the bannermen had a difficult life, and strictly prohibited all bannermen from engaging in other industries is not "grace", but "captive"! It is to firmly control the bannermen, making it difficult for the bannermen to survive if they leave the court, and making the bannermen always depend on the court. Only in this way can they always control this powerful force in the world, and the Qing Dynasty can always be firm. This is the same as playing with birds!

The eighth prince Yinsi reacted quickly. After figuring out the truth, he felt a little disappointed. Since the Thirteenth Laozi said this, he had no hope. There were many smart people in the court. Kangxi, some princes and ministers, and even some Han ministers should be clear about the intention behind this.

The Fourteenth Lao proposed to relax the employment restrictions on the bannermen, which was purely to be against Kangxi and all the princes and nobles. If this was to be said publicly, the prince, the Fourteenth Lao, would be the end immediately. Considering his control over the navy, he had only two consequences, either suddenly died or a lifelong ban.

Yinzhen obviously realized the intention behind this. He looked at Lao Shisi, then looked at Lao Ba again, pondered for a moment, and then said: "This current situation really needs to be carefully considered, otherwise, if it is just a violation of the ancestral system, it will be enough for us to drink a pot." (To be continued)

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Chapter completed!