East Factory Governor

Chapter 730

When Qin Shuhuai entered the imperial study, Chongzhen was warming his hands by the charcoal brazier.

Seeing Qin Shuhuai coming in, Chongzhen pointed to the wooden stool opposite and said, "Brother Qin, sit down. It's getting colder and colder today!"

Qin Shuhuai sat down, stretched out his hands to warm up, and said, "Yes, this year's snow is still the same early. But, the auspicious snow heralds a good year!"

Chongzhen smiled slightly, "That's right, Brother Qin, do you know how much more food was harvested this autumn than last year?"

"Twice as much?"

Chongzhen shook his head, then stretched out two fingers and said, "Twice as many!"

Qin Shuhuai smiled, "It's much more than expected! God bless Daming!"

Indeed, more than he expected.

Because although the New Deal was implemented in spring, it was not rolled out across the country at that time, but it was implemented first in some areas north of the Yangtze River.The so-called spring sowing and autumn harvest, although some crops are sown a little later, but the time is basically in the early stage of the implementation of the New Deal, and there will not be too many farmers who will benefit and re-cultivate the land, so Qin Shuhuai estimates that this year's grain output will be more than last year. Double is not bad.

But he forgot that the world is initially set, and without wars, even if the New Deal is not implemented, grain production will bottom out and rebound.Coupled with the good weather and good weather in Hunan and other traditional granaries this year, the grain output has soared to three times that of last year.

No wonder Chongzhen couldn't keep his mouth shut when he mentioned this matter.

"Brother Qin, if things go on like this, I estimate that next year's output will be at least five times that of last year! Hehehe, by then the warehouse will be full and the people will be safe! Tsk tsk tsk, five times! Let it go a year ago , I dare not even think about it."

"The emperor's blessings are equal to the sky, and the people will naturally enjoy the blessings."

"Brother Qin, don't flatter me. If it weren't for your new policy, I would still be worrying about money to raise food!" Chongzhen paused, and then said, "By the way, when it comes to money, you guessed it? How much tax did you receive?"

"It must be 2000 million taels, right?" Qin Shuhuai said conservatively.

"It's less, it's 3605 million taels! Brother Qin seems to be underestimating your New Deal? Hehehe."

"I only started to receive the first New Deal taxes in May, and it's only the end of October now, so there are so many?"

"I can still lie to you. By the end of the year, the new policy should be implemented in all parts of the country. I reckon that next year, I can really reach the 'small goal' of [-] million taels you mentioned, haha."

Qin Shuhuai smiled and said, "Hehe, then the emperor will have to give the minister a bonus. By the way, as you said, you will reimburse the minister for his expenses in the three sides, in Sichuan and even this Western Expedition."

Chongzhen laughed loudly, "Brother Qin is petty! This trip to Fujian, you must have extorted a lot of money from Zheng Zhilong, and I didn't care that you wanted to take a commission. Look at how generous I am."

"Your majesty has wronged the minister. The minister has always been upright and upright, how could he extort money from others?" Qin Shuhuai said righteously.

This is also true!When he went to Fujian, Zheng Zhilong did stuff him with 100 million taels of banknotes, but it was voluntary, and he didn't cheat.

Chongzhen laughed again, he would never argue with Qin Shuhuai about this.He knew very well that Qin Shuhuai's hands never stretched where they shouldn't.Moreover, for people like Zheng Zhilong, the bribes he gave had to be accepted, because if Qin Shuhuai didn't accept the bribes, it meant drawing a clear line with him, and Zheng Zhilong didn't panic.When he panicked, it was not so easy to collect his soldiers and ships.

Speaking of this, Chongzhen got up and took out an exquisite wooden box from a drawer of the bookcase, and when he opened the box, there was a bottle of wine.

"Last time on my birthday, the tribute sent by the governor of Guizhou, it is said that there is only one bottle in the world, and I have never been willing to drink it." Chongzhen opened the box as he said, "Today we two brothers drank it. Always Going to your house to have a drink, could it be that you are saying that I am stingy in your heart."

As soon as the bottle was opened, the aroma of the wine overflowed immediately.

It must be a good wine.

Qin Shuhuai looked at the red charcoal fire and said, "Your Majesty, shall we just drink?"

"Brother Qin, what's your idea?"

"This charcoal fire is really hot, why don't we have barbecue?"

Chongzhen was stunned.

The last time he ate hot pot in the imperial study, he just wanted to deliberately deviate from the tradition once to vent his anger.In fact, he was deeply educated in orthodox ideology, and he would never eat in the imperial study room.

But it didn't take long for him to relax.

You can eat hot pot in the imperial study room, but you can't eat barbecue?As the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, I have never forgotten to be diligent in government and love the people. Now that the Daming warehouse is full of peace for the people, I think I am already a good emperor.As for whether to eat barbecue in the Imperial Study Room, what does it matter?Is it possible that if word spreads out, the common people will say that I am a king of extravagance and licentiousness?

As an emperor, the standard of good or bad should be whether the people live well, not those rules!

So he immediately called Wang Dehua to come in, asking him to order the imperial dining room to make meat for barbecue and bring some related tools.

Wang Dehua was also taken aback, but he quickly said with a smile, "Your Majesty, please wait a moment, and I will go to the imperial dining room."

The efficiency of the Imperial Dining Room was so high that it took just over a quarter of an hour to deliver meat skewers skewered on bamboo sticks, as well as barbecue meat such as lamb chops and leg of lamb, complete with seasonings and utensils.

So Qin Shuhuai and Chongzhen were drinking and licking skewers in the imperial study.

The wine is the best tribute wine, and the meat is the freshest meat.

Don't say it, it's cool.

It's a reward for working hard for a year.

The two drank two cups first. At this time, the meat was almost roasted, and it was sizzling with oil, so they started to eat.

The mellow aroma of wine and the smell of barbecue in the room rises, which is very attractive.Wang Dehua stood by the side very depressed, swallowing unceasingly.I thought in my heart, after waiting for the value, our family should also have a good meal and drink.

After several glasses of wine, Qin Shuhuai wiped his oily mouth and asked, "By the way, your majesty, did Lu Xiangsheng and Li Dingguo send a pond report? It seems that they have been going west for more than three months, right?"

Chongzhen took a large piece of meat and chewed it in his mouth, then took a sip of wine comfortably, and then said, "I am going to tell you about this! Lu Xiangsheng and Li Dingguo are really worthy of your Qin A talent that everyone can look up to! As soon as the 3000 army left JYG, within ten days they encountered a cavalry from the Junggar tribe. It is said that the number was more than [-]. Guess what? Seeing that seven thousand cavalrymen wiped them all out! Brother Qin, it was all wiped out, and the escaped total was less than fifty! If it weren’t for the consistent descriptions in the pond newspapers sent by all parties, I really can’t believe it! You say, Are our Daming cavalry really this strong now?"

Qin Shuhuai smiled slightly, and said, "Your Majesty, the cavalry who left the customs this time were either from the Wulin Allied Forces, or they were from the ancestor Dashou of the former Guanning Army. Dozens of large and small battles such as the suppression of bandits have long been elite soldiers. The Junggar cavalry, to put it bluntly, is nothing more than hunting and training on the grasslands. In terms of training and equipment, they are far from ours. In addition, Our cavalry is more than twice as many as theirs, if we can't wipe out all of them, Li Dingguo should not be the deputy commander at all."

Chongzhen couldn't help nodding, and then said with emotion, "Brother Qin has trained me a Tiger Ben in the past few years in the South and North! Come on, I respect you!"

The two clinked glasses and drank it all in one go.

Qin Shuhuai continued, "But having said that, why did Junggar's cavalry suddenly enter the territory of Yarkand?"

Chongzhen laughed and said, "Haha, Brother Qin, you don't know about this, do you? Lu Xiangsheng was also puzzled at first, but later he found out after he went to Hami to inquire. He won, but there was not enough food and grass. Junggar Khan wanted to go to Yarkand to borrow some food, so he proposed to betroth his daughter to the eldest son of the king of Yarkand, and even the daughter brought a dowry in exchange for some food. Yarkand also He wanted to reconcile with Junggar, so he agreed. Who would have thought that the prince of Yarkand accidentally learned that Junggar Khan married not a real daughter at all, but a maidservant. This is all right, the king of Yarkand was furious and ordered Kill all the envoys from the Junggar tribe to send relatives off."

Qin Shuhuai understood as soon as he heard it, and continued, "Jungar Khan wanted to borrow food but didn't want to give away his real daughter. He made it clear that he would swallow Yarkand in the future. It's no wonder that the King of Yarkand is not angry!"

"That is to say, so the Junggar Khan can't be soft, so he can only be tough. Now he often sends horsemen to the territory of Yarkand to plunder. Unfortunately, they ran into my Ming's Tiger Ben this time. So it fell. Haha, Brother Qin, do you think this is funny?"

Qin Shuhuai also laughed out loud, "Interesting, interesting! Unexpectedly, this Junggar Khan is also full of bad blood!" After a pause, he continued, "By the way, the army has already arrived in Hami, so it should be preparing to attack Ruoqiang, right?"

Chongzhen nodded and said, "The last Tangbao was delivered more than a month ago, and they had already arrived in Hami at that time. Now... nothing unexpected, Ruoqiang should have been captured, right?"

Qin Shuhuai nodded, thinking, I don't know if those three red-capped masters are in Ruoqiang?Those three people have extremely high martial arts skills, I hope Meng Wei and others will not be injured.

In addition, after the Demon Cult captures Ruoqiang, will they report revenge, such as massacre the city?If that is the case, I am afraid that other city-states in Yarkand will be more determined to resist, and the casualties of the army will inevitably increase.Moreover, if the Ruoqiang site on the Silk Road is destroyed, it will be troublesome for passing business travelers.

Hey, I forgot to tell them about this before the expedition.

After talking about the Western Expedition, Chongzhen took a sip of wine, then changed his tone, and asked, "Brother Qin, next year we will really be rich and well-fed! Tell me, are we qualified enough?" Looking for trouble with Huang Taiji?"

Qin Shuhuai asked back, "Hehe, is it enough to make trouble?"

(End of this chapter)