Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 562 The Fearless Emperor

"Uncle was so afraid of grandpa, so he ran away in fright, sweating from sitting there." Princess Ning Hui couldn't help laughing when she saw him like that.

The queen had been quietly watching her husband talking with her brother just now, without interjecting a word, but now she advised, "Your Majesty, the king of the country, why bother to resell ginseng to degrade your status?"

"The queen's remarks are biased. The 2 catties of ginseng sent by North Korea this time, my Daming can earn tens of thousands of taels of silver. Don't underestimate these 10 taels of silver. There are a lot of people in the imperial camp , 10 soldiers, 40 auxiliary soldiers, and a yearly salary of [-] million taels.

The proceeds from this single ginseng can provide a year's military pay for a town of soldiers and horses in the imperial camp. "

But for an ordinary farmer, if they plant nine mu of grain and then grow mulberry and silkworms for one mu of land, they only need two buckets of grain plus fire consumption for one mu of land, and only two buckets of grain for ten mu of land.

This single ginseng is equivalent to the tax payment of hundreds of thousands of households.

And the imperial battalion will be reorganized again this year, into the headquarters of five armies and twenty towns, one hundred thousand soldiers, and thirty-six auxiliary soldiers.Ten towns will be camped separately, with [-] combat soldiers and [-] auxiliary soldiers.

Jingying three towns.

There are seven towns outside the town.

In addition, troops from all over the country must be reorganized into towns and regiments.

The Northern Expedition was not yet successful, and the army began to be reorganized, and even the imperial camp was reduced. In fact, the key was the supply of money and food. Without the guarantee of money, food and military pay, the army had no combat effectiveness.

But if the food rate is increased, the supply will be difficult.

A balance has to be found.

Zhu Yihai's method is to build an elite imperial battalion, small but fine, with about 18 to 20 soldiers.

This is the main field army, and it is also a direct line army.

It is necessary to fight the Tartars outside, but also to deter the inside.

In the southwest and other frontier areas, more towns should be set up to assist in camping, to deter chieftains, and to maintain stability. In developed inland areas, a small number of camps are used to guard large cities, and local training is mainly used for group training.

There is no way to keep the outside and keep the inside.

Soldiers in towns and towns are stationed in farming and defending, and regiment training is even training in leisure time, all of which minimize expenditure and supply.

But the imperial camp must be fully guaranteed.

A penny beats a hero.

Without money, it is not only difficult for ordinary people to move an inch, but it is also difficult for the country to maintain.

Chongzhen's defeat was essentially a financial collapse.

No matter what the deep-seated reasons are, the financial collapse is the most direct manifestation, which in turn leads to the collapse of the military and other aspects.

Zhu Yihai is very pragmatic.

There is no shame in making money. If you can earn money to support military officers and support officials, there is nothing embarrassing about it.

Making money by reselling ginseng is a hundred times better than directly increasing the salary, right?

Emperor Wanli levied mining tax back then, which was also one of the good ways to save Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, they couldn’t stand up to the Donglin talkers.

Originally, the internal treasury could subsidize a lot of finances every year, but in the end, this little source of income was gone, and it became a stagnant pool.

"Ginseng is a good thing, especially ginseng with more than two taels, the effect is better. I will pick ten catties of high-quality ginseng and send it to the imperial doctor to prepare ginseng tea for the queen. The queen will also nourish and recuperate."

"This big ginseng is so expensive, ten catties is worth 2000 taels of silver, Your Majesty should sell it to supplement military use."

Zhu Yihai smiled and said, "I want to support the sergeants well, but I can't treat my wife and children badly. Don't worry, I have a lot of money-making skills, so I don't worry too much about money now."

He has a lot of assets for the emperor, including Huangzhuang Huangdian, but now the Huangzhuang is slowly reducing. It is not good to occupy too much land, so now he takes the initiative to sell it to the soldiers of the imperial camp.

Anyway, the income of the field is actually not high, but it is relatively stable.

But for the emperor, in fact, there are many businesses that make money, such as mining, smelting, and foundry, such as finance, opening banks, money houses, and pawn shops, and trade, such as caravans, caravans, and sea ships. Porcelain, silk weaving, weaving cloth, gold and silver ornaments, bronze ware, paper printing and so on.

The emperor has many advantages in doing these things. He is not affected by policies and is not afraid of suppression, especially if he has enough capital.

For example, in the shipbuilding industry, ordinary people can’t do it. It’s easy for the emperor to do it. The royal family used to have related industries, craftsmen and technology. Now it’s easy to make it big by combining private capital and technology, and even introducing foreign businessmen and Western technology. powerful.

This kind of industry is all about scale and relationships. After all, you only have technology, and you have to have orders.

The emperor's shipyard, are you afraid that there will be no orders?

Another example is the financial industry, where credit is the most important thing.

Although the bank of the emperor's family is not as famous as the bank of the household department, it is also a royal sign after all, and is not more trusted than ordinary businessmen?Coupled with natural policy advantages, it is very convenient for this business to be opened all over the country.

Other industries such as high-precision manufacturing, such as porcelain, ironware, gold and silverware, and silk weaving, have sufficient technological advantages.

Zhu Yihai used silver to reward soldiers, meritorious officials, and rescue victims at every turn, all directly using his own small treasury.

Although the queen is a daughter of the Zhang family, but now she also likes to use the traditional thinking of the Tian family. She feels that it is inappropriate for the emperor to get money in person, just like a gentry's family. Even the shopkeeper of the house slaves went to manage the business.

Some families of relatives even get some white gloves.

But Zhu Yihai didn't really care about these things, why bother to stand up.

There's nothing embarrassing about making money, as long as you don't steal or grab it, you're fine.Daming is like this today, so there is nothing to be ashamed of, now he has to focus on making money.

Only by getting money can we maintain the expansion and development of the army, defeat the Tartars, and recover the Central Plains.

If there is no money, then go back to the old road, and then it will be a dead end.

Instead of thinking all day about how to grab food and increase taxes from the mouths of the people who have difficulty warming food, it is better to engage in business by yourself.

Industrial and commercial tax is charged, and salt, tea, wine and mine tariffs are charged, but direct handicraft industry and trade are also very profitable, such as maritime trade, the annual tariff is only so much, and a direct trip to Japan or North Korea costs a boat The profits are worth a few banknotes for a year's tax.

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"The North Korean mission has already negotiated eight packs of ginseng. The top-grade ginseng is 50 taels per catty, and the medium-grade ginseng is 25 taels per catty."

"The Shaofu supervisor proposed that first-rank officials can subscribe for 25 catties, second-rank officials can subscribe for [-] catties, third-rank officials can subscribe for ten catties, and the rest can be subscribed according to the difference in grade. The ginseng purchased is not only for personal use or as a gift. If it is sold, it must be sold. According to the agreed price, the fifth class will get one tael of three taels of silver, the fourth class will get one tael of four taels of silver, the third class will get one tael of five taels of silver, the second class will get one tael of eighth taels of silver, and the first class will get one tael of ten taels of silver.”

The first-class price is ten taels of silver and one tael, and a catty is 160 taels of silver.

A catty of the fifth class costs 48 taels.

And leftovers such as pickled ding, slag, and reed beard are not even cheap. The hollow ginseng skin costs one liang of silver, and the slag costs half a liang of silver.

"Liu Zongxian refused the opportunity to subscribe, and the Shaofu supervisor persuaded him, but he was not willing."

"Does he have no money? You can get the ginseng first, and then you can make up the money after it's sold out." Zhu Yihai said.

"Liu Zongxian didn't want to buy it, and he said a lot of nasty things, and said that he would give His Majesty a piece of advice." Liu Chao was very helpless.

The emperor gave the officials benefits, and the first-rank officials could get fifty catties of subscription qualifications. This opportunity to earn at least a thousand taels of silver, he actually refused.

Not only did he not appreciate it, but he also criticized the emperor for not reselling ginseng, let alone involving hundreds of officials.

"Hahaha, as expected of Mr. Liu, if that's the case, then there's no need to persuade him."

Zhu Yihai was not angry.

"In this way, when his booklet is presented, you can go to Liu's Mansion to announce the decree, saying that he has just spoken out loudly, and if I want to reward him, I will reward him with a new house, and also give him five catties of ginseng, twenty bolts of silk, and silver dollars with dragon patterns." 200 yuan, um, and ten knives of rice paper as a reward."

Liu Chao wrote it down.

"The Portuguese envoy from Macau came to ask for an audience again, and Bi Francis was also invited."

"No, you go to see Bi Francis. The terms of friendly trade and commerce I made with them are still counting, but they must also hand over Macau. I can allow Portuguese to register with the government and continue to live in Macau after obtaining a residence permit." Doing business or even living long-term, but changing the residence permit every year in the future, if there is any violation of the laws of the Ming Dynasty, they will be deprived of residence, expelled or repatriated.”

"This is my bottom line. I won't allow them to occupy Macau like this, and build a country within a country. I will give them a three-month deadline."

"If Macau is not handed over within three months, not only will our imperial battalion capture Macau, but the trade treaty previously signed with them will also be invalidated, and all Portuguese in Macau will be expelled Daming will no longer allow the Portuguese to come to China for trade, let them think carefully!"

"What they want is trade, but they want to build a colonial foothold in Macau, which is absolutely not allowed."

For the Portuguese in Macau, Zhu Yihai is still very confident.

If he hadn't considered the cooperation with them before, and had some gratitude, he could have directly conquered Macau.

Don't look at the Portuguese guarding this place for so many years, repelling the Dutch attack many times, but the Dutch came from thousands of miles, each time with only a few boats, at most a thousand people, and the two sides were equally divided.

The Portuguese occupy a favorable location and have fortified castles. This kind of small-scale battle is naturally more advantageous.

But it will be different when facing Daming.

Even if it was the former Ming Dynasty, it would not be a problem if they really wanted to take back Macau. In history, places such as Tuen Mun, Shuangyu, and Penghu were occupied by these ghosts, and they were beaten and fled in the end.

The Portuguese can gain a firm foothold in Macau, which is related to their strategy, not their strength.They traded here on the basis of leasing for the people by half-deception, half-coaxing and bribery.

The ground rent of 500 taels a year, plus [-] taels of silver, the Ming Dynasty thought it was quite good.

But to Zhu Yihai, this is nothing.

During the heyday of the Portuguese in Macau, they entered and exited, four airlines, and tens of millions of taels of silver a year. If taxes were levied, it would cost at least a few hundred thousand taels to millions of taels.

Not to mention that they are still building fortresses and castles in Macau, and they are doing autonomous governors.

Although the Portuguese used to be rich, they have completely declined, especially in the Far East. After losing Malacca, now there is only one stronghold left in Macau. As a result, Japan and Luzon stopped doing business with him. He relied on Ming Dynasty and passed by Malacca has to pay tolls to the Dutch.

They really don't have the capital to negotiate terms with Zhu Yihai now.

The fact that Zhu Yihai was able to talk to them was due to the friendship from the previous cooperation.

Of course, if the Portuguese cooperate wisely, Zhu Yihai is willing to continue to cooperate. No matter how abject, it was once the earliest maritime empire, and the broken ship is still three thousand nails.

Lao Bi is still very nice, but we still don't meet each other, so as not to embarrass him.

Looking up to the outside of the hall.

The year is over, but I can't feel the slightest breath of spring.

A supervisor said that last year the Yellow River burst its embankment, flooded for [-] miles, and there was a long drought in autumn and winter, so there is a high possibility of a large locust plague this spring.

After floods and droughts, there are often large plagues of locusts.

As far as Henan and Shandong are now, once there is another major locust plague, it will really make things worse, and it is very likely that the locust plague will expand and spread to the Jianghuai area.

This is a hassle.

Zhu Yihai couldn't help being very worried, and now he only hoped to take Henan as soon as possible, to see if he could find a way to prevent the locust plague from spreading.

(End of this chapter)