Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1184 Not To Fool You
His Royal Highness King Lu was very pleased.

In his opinion, these nobles are actually similar to him, they are all masters who just pretend to do nothing. Why can they join the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance, and each of them is full of oil, and the king can only rely on that King Jing's inheritance with extremely poor profits?

What's more, King Jing's inheritance is very wet, and it's hard to say whether he can get the real number. Although the empress mother has agreed to him in private, after all, the real head of the Ming Dynasty is the emperor's brother.

As long as the emperor is easy to talk, that's all. If he is not good at talking, or if he doesn't want to bear the pressure of the foreign court for himself, then wouldn't he not be able to get five or sixty thousand taels a year?
I'm also called Zhu Fan Guan Zhan?Do you see how impoverished the princes are now?

Seeing His Royal Highness King Lu's complexion getting worse and worse, Gao Wushi knew that it was almost time, but it's better not to speak the following words first, and wait for King Lu to take the initiative to mention it.

So he coughed lightly as if he was thirsty, picked up the teacup on the table, and gracefully took the lid of the cup to wipe the non-existent tea foam twice, and Shi Shiran took a sip.

This move did not wake up His Royal Highness Lu Wang who was in a trance, but it alarmed Lu Wangfu Chief Shi.This Chang Shisheng was afraid that Gao Yushi would be neglected, and when he saw this action, he immediately asked in a low voice: "Gao Gongbao, is the tea soup cold?"

Gao Yushi is a little speechless, you are the head of the palace officials after all, and a serious civil servant who was once on the gold list, why do you ask this question as if you want to pour tea for me in person?Even if you have the nerve to pour it, I have the nerve to take it.

Gao Wushi just smiled and waved his hands, but before he had time to be polite, His Royal Highness Lu Wang was awakened by his Changshi's words, and suddenly asked: "Gao Gongbao, although what you just said is very reasonable, but this king suddenly thought of a troublesome thing. .”

Huh?This Highness seems to be a little bit higher than I imagined, so he didn't ask me for advice right away?
"Your Highness, if you have any troubles, you might as well come and listen."

King Lu sighed, and said: "Although Gao Gongbao touches stones into gold, let alone Xiao Wang is not as capable as Gao Gongbao. Only with the capital can things be done. Right now, King Jing’s legacy, the household department can’t even come up with a statement, and it’s not known when it will be all in place. No matter how tempted Xiao Wang is, there’s nothing he can do about it ah!"

After Gao Wushi heard this, he couldn't help snorting in his heart, and said to himself: This kid is already so greedy before he was a kingdom, no wonder his mausoleum specifications were seriously exceeded later.Hey, since I came to see you in person and said something like this, of course I don’t want you to get these estates of King Jing and cause harm to the local people and troubles to the local officials. Let's talk about the inheritance after we get it?

Don't you still want to take the bottom line of King Jing's inheritance first, and then slowly invest money in to take a ride with me in Jinghua?It's a good idea.

Gao Wushi shook his head and said: "Be willing, be willing, in the affairs of the world, you must first give up and then gain. King Jing's legacy is famous all over the world. Everyone in the world knows its hugeness, but few people know that his income is not outstanding. .Now Your Highness wants to take the king's inheritance first, and I think it's a small loss, but it's not a wise man."

Gao Wushi didn't wait for Zhu Yiliu to ask questions, and continued: ""Your Highness may not take it seriously when I say this, but it's okay, Your Highness, please listen to me carefully. "

Zhu Yiliu did not take Gao Yushi's words seriously, but he didn't dare to take Gao Yushi seriously, so he nodded seriously and said, "I would like to hear about Gong Bao's remarks."

Gao Wushi was not polite, and nodded, saying: "Since everyone in the world knows that King Jing's inheritance is huge, once His Highness pursues it and asks for a real amount, people in the world will regard His Highness as a rich man. In this way, in the future, His Highness wants to do more. What, you have to endure endless scrutiny, and everyone will pay attention to His Highness's every move. But if there is a slight carelessness, His Highness may be reprimanded by the court and discussed by the people..."

Lu Wang's face didn't change much, it seems that he is not afraid of this.

Gao Yushi was not surprised, but said softly: "Perhaps Your Highness thinks that with the protection of the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, these reprimands and discussions are nothing to His Highness. But Your Highness should know that the number of days is endless, and life is limited. How long can you protect His Highness? Ten years, 20 years, or 30 years, 40 years?"

Zhu Yichun looked at Gao Yushi in shock, and was a little speechless.

How dare you say such a thing?

That long history made him wish he could cut off his ears - why am I here?Is this what I should be listening to?

However, Gao Pragmatic's expression seemed to be more and more sincere, and he sighed: "This statement should not be made by a human minister, but in the past, when the emperor ordered his minister to accompany the prince to read it, he once told him, 'Little Gaoqing's family will know everything from now on. Words, endless words'...Now that the late emperor's words are still in my ears, I dare not not speak up and remonstrate, in order to be loyal to the late emperor, I look forward to His Highness Haihan."

What the late emperor said can be found in daily notes. Since Gao Wu dared to say it, Zhu Yiliu certainly would not doubt it.And when the word "Xiandi" was put out, he certainly had nothing to say, so he could only nod his head to express his understanding.

However, Gao Pragmatic's words really shocked him a lot.

At Zhu Yiliu's age, he would not have thought about the day when his mother would die. This is no different from people hundreds of years later. What's more, his mother's health is very good, and there is no serious problem at all. Never thought about it from this angle.

But now Gao Yushi said it bluntly. The meaning is extremely simple: You are now "fearless" because of the protection of your mother, but after all, your mother is more than 20 years older than you. Dead, who will you rely on when the time comes?

Do you rely on your brother?In theory, of course it is, but in terms of sincere love, is the emperor brother really comparable to the queen mother?
There is no need to prove this at all, Zhu Yiliu of course knows that it is impossible.

Zhu Xin thought a little bit, if the emperor's brother had no children for life, his attitude towards him might be better, but that is not really comparable to the empress mother's love, it is just helpless.What's more, the emperor's brother has a son, so in his eyes, what is his younger brother?
If you are more honest, you will be watched by the feudal lords, if you are dishonest... hehe.

Zhu Yiliu took a deep breath, his face began to look tangled, and he said after a while: "Xiao Wang now believes that Gao Gongbao really came here today with sincerity, but Gao Gongbao said just now that you can only get something if you give up... Xiao Wang understands well, Gao Gongbao wants to persuade Xiao Wang to give up King Jing's legacy, right? But if King Jing's legacy is given up, what will Xiao Wang get?"

"Endure the calm for a while, and take a step back." Gao Yushi said calmly: "If your Highness can give up King Jing's legacy, the world will definitely be known as a virtuous person, but this is not all. Apart from this one, since everyone in the world knows Since His Highness has given up King Jing’s legacy, shouldn’t it be natural for His Highness to earn some money through other means?”

King Lu frowned and said, "The reason is naturally the same, but doesn't it just come back? Without King Jing's inheritance, what will Xiao Wang use to earn money?"

Gao Wushi chuckled: "Take a look and rely on the opportunity."

Lu Wang asked suspiciously: "I don't know what Gao Gongbao is referring to? Xiao Wang has not been studying in the pavilion for a long time, and his knowledge is shallow. Please ask Gao Gongbao to explain in more detail."

Gao Wushi had been prepared for a long time, and took out an unsealed envelope from his arms, took out a few pieces of paper from the envelope, selected one of them and handed it to Zhu Yichun, saying: "Your Highness can tell the emperor, in order not to save the people from Disturbance, although His Highness's fiefdom remains unchanged, King Jing's legacy is not wanted, and it is only exchanged for the island marked on this picture."

Who knows that Zhu Yiliu looked at it for a long time but didn't see what was drawn on the high-level map, so he had to ask his long history.

The long history looked at it for a while, and he was a little surprised, but he still replied: "From the picture, this island seems to be in Guangdong, and it is not far from the Pearl River estuary."

Gao Wushi laughed, nodded and said, "That's right, this island is under the jurisdiction of Xin'an County, Guangdong."

"It's less than one county?" King Lu looked at Gao Yushi with wide eyes, and asked incredulously, "Gao Gongbao advised Xiao Wang to trade King Jing's inheritance for a mere small island for food? Gongbao, even if This place is a fishing ground, and Xiao Wang will be far away in Weihui, Henan Province in the future, so I'm afraid he won't be able to eat fresh sea fish here."

These words were obviously already full of anger, and he almost couldn't hold back anymore.

But Gao Yushi was not in a hurry at all, but said with a serious face: "Yes, as long as His Highness can persuade the emperor to use this island to exchange King Jing's inheritance, after three years at the latest, His Highness's annual income should be at least 10. More than two."

"What?" Zhu Yiliu was shocked: "Isn't Gao Gongbao joking? What's the use of this small island?"

Of course it is useful, and it is very useful. This small island will be very powerful in later generations.

The development of this small island in the Sui and Tang Dynasties was relatively mediocre. It was not until the Song and Yuan Dynasties that a large number of people from the mainland moved to this island, which promoted the great development of the local economy and culture.Its land belonged to Jiangxi Province in the Yuan Dynasty. During the Yuan Dynasty, an inspection department was set up in Tuen Mun in the southwest of the island and Tuen Mun in the outer port of Guangzhou. They stationed troops for a long time to prevent pirates from invading and defend the Guangzhou area.

During the Wanli period, part of Dongguan County was set aside to establish Xin'an County. Specifically, this island has been under the jurisdiction of Xin'an County, Guangzhou Prefecture since Wanli Yuan.

The name of this island is almost unknown in later generations: Hong Kong is also.

However, in the original history, before the British occupation of Hong Kong, Hong Kong was basically a deserted island. Only some fishermen lived in Stanley, Tai Tam Tuk and Shek Pai Wan in the south of the island, and A Kung Rock and Shui Jing Wan in the east.In other places such as Wong Nai Chung, Deng Tai Chau, and Seven Sisters, there are some small villages. At that time, there were only about 3000 residents on the island.

But the British took a fancy to the potential of Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor to become an excellent port in East Asia, so they have been focusing on capturing it from the Qing Dynasty.

During the Ming Dynasty, the population of Hong Kong Island was not large, and it was also a desolate fishing village island.But just like the situation of the British in the original history, Gao Yushi also took a fancy to Hong Kong.

How did the British see Hong Kong at that time?At that time, the world had entered the colonial era, and the British Empire had established colonies in many parts of the world.However, at this time, Britain was still a country of merchants, and it would carry out careful cost accounting when formulating foreign policies, and still consider costs and benefits as the starting point for making foreign strategic decisions.

Whether to colonize the place or keep it as it is; whether to rule directly by the British or foster local agents, the key to thinking about these questions is still the cost.

Therefore, when some places do not have a large population and lack complete social organizations or government agencies, the British may directly occupy the place as a colony.If there were local chiefs—even if it was just a local chief, Britain would use them to colonize the place step by step.

The British understood that for a huge country like China, the cost of completely destroying its state apparatus and establishing a new colonial government would be too high, and it was not in its interest.

The British also admitted that they were a merchant government. At that time, they fought with the Qing Dynasty only to force the Qing Dynasty to open the market first.This is what later generations said, the first step for Britain to drag China into its world system.

The reason why Britain forced the Qing Dynasty to cede Hong Kong was also for this purpose. When it sent the Macartney mission to China, it also wanted to seek a place as its commercial base.

Macartney's reason is very simple. Daming gave the Portuguese a Macau as a stronghold back then, why can't we give us the British one now?At that time, the British considered Ningbo, considered Zhoushan, and finally chose Hong Kong.

But Gao Yushi already had a private port in Guangzhou, why did he want to bring Hong Kong into Jinghua's private port chain?
This matter is related to the last time Huang Zhiting was with the Spanish President Alfaro.To put it simply, Gao Yushi actually agreed to the Spaniards to replace Portugal in Daming. However, in fact, Gao Yushi did not intend to directly push Portugal out. He hoped to balance the strength of the "two teeth" and keep them in competition. ——Even though the two countries are in a common monarchy and federation relationship, since each has its own government, high pragmatism can still take advantage of it.

You can even quietly provoke their conflicts.

Therefore, Gao Yushi intends to use Hong Kong as the foothold of the Spaniards, but he cannot use leases or other means to affect sovereignty, but must be limited to commercial leases—for example, lease some land in the port area to the Spaniards so that they can live there. Unloading to facilitate transactions with Guangzhou Port.

Here I want to explain that according to the rules of Ming Dynasty, no matter if they are Portuguese or future Spaniards, they are not allowed to take the initiative to go to Guangzhou Port. Only the Ming merchants in Guangzhou Port can approach them—in short, their ships Heren can't enter the mainland of Ming Dynasty, and only Daming can take the initiative to trade, so they need a foothold very close to the mainland.

It is here that Gao Pragmatism takes a fancy to Hong Kong, and it is also the reason why he introduced Hong Kong Island to Zhu Yiliu.

Zhu Yiliu got Hong Kong Island, as long as the trade with the Spaniards is carried out smoothly, nothing else is said, and the rent collection alone will definitely be more profitable than King Jing's inheritance.

Be willing to be willing, this is what you get.

Even if the Spaniards may still decline in the future, Hong Kong's geographical location is here, and the location advantage is obvious enough. Even if the Spaniards do not do business in the future, the Dutch and British will naturally replace them.

This is a deal that will never lose money.
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(End of this chapter)