The Soul of the Han Dynasty in the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 704 Turning the world upside down
In the past two years, although the Longwu Navy and Zheng Zhilong's Fujian Coastal Defense Guerrilla Battalion did not fight openly, the Zheng Zhilong Group suffered a lot of hidden losses and lost many warships and merchant ships.

The reputation of Zheng's Pirate Group has been severely slapped in the face due to the disappearance of dozens of ships that paid protection fees and hung the flag of Zheng's family, and now they can't be fat.

In the past few years, the Zheng family, which has made a lot of money, has gradually been unable to make ends meet. Zheng Zhilong needs to rely on his old capital to support his 4 to [-] horses.

Bandit groups are all a virtue, and the basis of cooperation is based on being able to make a fortune together. Now that the situation has taken a turn for the worse, there are not a few leaders among the eighteen Zhizhi who see things differently and change their minds.

Zheng Zhilong gave Xiong Wencan a big gift, trying to be able to speak to General Zhenglu, and strive to make the two parties sit down and negotiate the distribution of benefits in Nanyang trade calmly.

But Xiong Wencan is a high IQ official, he is very good at fooling others, there is no possibility of being fooled by Zheng Zhilong, all the gifts are accepted as ordered, and things are delayed.

Xiong Wencan served as the governor of Fujian for four or five years, successfully tricking the Zheng Zhilong Group into defecting to Daming, and making many pirates in the South China Sea disappear.

He has been an official in Fujian and Guangdong for many years, and he is one of the spokespersons of maritime merchants. He receives so much tribute every year, but he doesn't know the huge profits Zheng Zhilong makes every year.

How powerful is the general who promised to pacify Liao for five years, and how much money and food is needed?The "Red Banner Army", which has such a large interest in maritime trade, has already got its hands on it, and it is obvious that it has the upper hand. Otherwise, Zheng Zhilong would bow his head and seek political negotiations?

Xiong Wencan, who is old and mature, can add icing on the cake, but it is impossible to give charcoal in a timely manner, so accepting Zheng Zhilong's big gift will not do anything.

He felt at ease, thinking that Zheng Zhilong's filial piety was what he deserved.

Xiong Wencan knew that because he gave Zheng Zhilong an official position as the governor of Fujian, and spared no effort to support him with warships and artillery, Zheng Zhilong became the overlord of Nanyang, and the profits he earned were more than tens of millions of taels of silver.

One side is the great general Zhenglu who has outstanding meritorious service and has a strong army in his hands. He is a powerful minister who can bargain with the emperor.

On the other side is Zheng Zhilong, a lowly pirate leader. The reason why the court recruited him was because he needed stability in the south in order to face Jiannu. Zheng Zhilong was convicted of plundering Fujian and killing tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians along the coast of Guangdong.

The coastal defense guerrillas who were born as little pirates didn't know how to accept it when they saw it. When they couldn't beat the Longwu Navy, they actually came up with the idea of ​​negotiating with the general Zhenglu to carve up the interests of Nanyang. Is it possible for this kind of negotiation to be equal?
Xiong Wencan is not ignorant, trying to make the Longwu Marine Division stop giving up the benefits of tens of millions of taels a year to cheap Zheng Zhilong Group, it is simply humiliating itself.

Moreover, General Zhenglu has the important task of eradicating Dongnu, and he is a Jinshi and Liaodong civil and military strategist. From an emotional point of view, Xiong Wencan also has to stand on the side of the Longwu Navy.

Once Zheng Zhilong waits and sees nothing to say, he will be unable to hold back when he sees it, and if he doesn't explode in silence, he will perish in silence.

If you don't try to defeat the Longwu Navy, the Zheng family will be marginalized and pushed into a corner. Zheng Zhilong has no choice but to strengthen his training in order to compete with the Longwu Navy.

Eliminating all the pirates and the forces of the Western Yi kingdoms in Nanyang is one of the main tasks of the Longwu Navy. Zheng Yiguan will perish if he chooses not to surrender.

When Huang Kezao and Huang Yi led the fleet to Nagasaki, they had already contacted Li Guozhu, the son of Li Dan whose home port was in the Wudao Islands. The two armies had jointly destroyed a pirate lair, seized some real money and dozens of warships and merchant ships. ship.

Seeing the strong ships and guns of the Longwu Navy, and seeing the attacking ability of the Marine Corps with his own eyes, Li Guozhu has decided to surrender to Ming Dynasty and swears allegiance to the General Zhenglu.

The value of precious metals Huang Sifang confiscated exceeded 2000 million taels of silver. With the deepening, this number is still increasing, and the land he obtained has exceeded 500 million mu.

Shanxi merchants are wealthy, and they are also land rich. Merchants in this era have made money without exception, they choose to buy land. It is not an exaggeration for big Shanxi merchants to own tens of thousands of hectares of fertile land.

Land conflicts at the end of the Ming Dynasty not only existed in the expropriation of officials, but also had something to do with these merchants buying and annexing fertile land in large quantities.

The double scourge of slavery and bandits led to a sharp drop in the population of Shanxi. In addition, Huang Han accepted part of it and sent it to southern Liaoning to prepare for the occupation of North Korea. The land output here should be able to support the existing population.

Huang Han confiscated the private fields and food of the Shanxi merchants and the civilian and military generals who accepted bribes from the Shanxi merchants and participated in smuggling, and became umbrellas, and would not hand over the grain to the court.

The food is used to resettle the war refugees, and the acres are directly counted as military property and cultivated in the mode of military villages.

In principle, [-] acres per household is used for distribution. Since the "Red Banner Army" has set foot in Shanxi, the matter will be completed. Even if the troops are withdrawn, some troops will be left to deter Xiaoxiao.

At least let the effect of Anmin's farmland be realized, so that the millions of soldiers and civilians under the management of the "Red Banner Army" can get the harvest next autumn, so that these people can experience the joy of harvest.

Only by doing so can it be confirmed that these Shanxi and Xuanda soldiers and civilians will not turn into rogues for the time being, and these people will truly recognize the "Red Banner Army".

The residents of the "Red Banner Army" system in Yongping Prefecture have long received the order to raise a large number of seedlings in the first spring.

Not only must the seedlings of potatoes and sweet potatoes meet the needs of the system, but also prepare 300 million mu of seedlings for Shanxi.

Huang Han has never engaged in apportionment, and follows the market economy.The order issued is to agree on the amount of seedlings to be raised, and then proceed in the form of purchases. The villagers who raise seedlings have put in more labor, not only it is impossible to suffer losses, but they should also be able to earn more money.

In this era, the harvest of two acres of land in the north is not enough to feed one adult man, but one acre of potatoes can fully feed two adult men.

It is imperative to vigorously promote new crops in Shanxi in spring, and at least half of the acres obtained by beating profiteers and corrupt officials will be planted with potatoes.

A part of the population has been reduced, and the planting of potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn can greatly increase the grain yield per mu, and it will not be a problem to solve hunger by next autumn.

The "Red Banner Army" arrested tens of thousands of people, organized tens of thousands of Ming troops to retrain, and almost detained all the magistrates in Shanxi.

Huang Han came prepared and controlled all the passes leading to the capital from Shanxi. More than 300 million ordinary people survived on the food provided by the "Red Banner Army".

This number is still increasing, because the people who went up the mountain and into the forest to escape the war came back home one after another when they learned that Jiannu and Tartar had retreated.

(End of this chapter)