Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Chapter 575 Economic Colonization
There was a serious accident during the test flight of Kongming Lantern. The craftsmen, Hanchen, Manchen and the main person in charge of the incident were arrested and sent to prison on the spot.

Dorgon also returned to Prince Rui's mansion with a dark face.

That night, the Ministry of Criminal Justice came up with a preliminary conclusion.

Wu Dahai, Shangshu of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, went to Prince Rui's residence to report the case.

"Master, the main reason for the rupture of the Kongming Lantern has been found out. The quality of the light yarn purchased from Huzhou was not strong enough to withstand the pressure and ruptured, which finally led to this disaster."

"The quality of the gauze isn't too hard? Isn't that right?"

Dorgon said with a dark face: "This is 100 taels of top-quality gauze!"

In order to build a sufficiently large air force, Dorgon spent a lot of money this time, taking out a full 100 million taels of silver from the treasury, and bought [-] pieces of light yarn from Huzhou under the guise of Shaanxi business routes.

Dorgon has a big appetite and plans to build hundreds of Kongming lanterns in one go.

In this way, when the next war starts, the sky will be filled with Qing Kongming lanterns, and an all-round attack on the Ming army without dead ends can be launched from the sky and underground.

However, the reality is cruel.

Now Wu Dahai told him that the quality of the light yarn bought from Huzhou was not good enough.

Thinking of this, Dorgon was so angry that he almost vomited blood, because it meant that the 100 million taels spent by the treasury was probably in vain, that damned silverfish Ganglin!
"Master, we must have been deceived."

"Cheated? Are you saying that Nanming's silk merchants are shoddy?"

"Yes, the servant has sent someone to seal up the warehouse, and found that the lake yarn stored in it would break if pulled with a little force, and it is even not as tough as ordinary silk."

"Master, this may also be someone's pocket."

Hou Fangyu didn't hesitate to throw stones at Gang Lin.

During this period of time, Gang Lin has been suppressing Hou Fangyu a lot.

Now it can be regarded as Hou Fangyu's opportunity to take revenge.

Dorgon snorted coldly and said, "What did Gang Lin say?"

"He doesn't admit it." Wu Dahai said, "He said he didn't know anything about it."

"I don't know?" Dorgon sneered, "He was responsible for making the Kongming Lantern himself, and his nephew bought [-] pieces of Huzhou yarn in person. Now that this happened, he actually said he didn't know?"

Hearing this, Wu Dahai knew what to do next.

This time, Ganglin hated the emperor's father and the regent, and he was afraid that his family would be ruined.

But Wu Dahai knew better that there was something else that prompted Dorgon to kill him.

Because of the Huzhou Qingsha incident, any fool can see that she has followed Nanming's way.

After sending Wu Dahai away, Dorgon called Ying Erdai, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and Fan Wencheng, a bachelor of the Academy of Secretaries, over. He still wanted to continue building sky lanterns and forming an air force.

"Ying Erdai, how much money is left in the warehouse of the Ministry of Finance?"

"Reporting to master, there are more than 2200 million taels of Wenyin left in Taicang."

"What did you say?" Dorgon said suddenly, "There are only 2200 million taels left?"

When they first entered the customs, the Qing army seized more than 6000 million taels of silver from the city of Beijing and the Puppet Shun army. In addition to the silver looted before, there were more than 7000 million taels of silver in Taicang warehouse.

How many years has it been?Actually spent only more than 2200 million taels?
"Master, please forgive me." Ying Erdai said helplessly, "After my Qing soldiers entered the pass, we fought several big battles, first the Xuzhou War, then the Hetao War, and then the Dagukou War and the Liaodong War. , The gain from these few wars is very small, but the loss of money and food is incalculable, and spending money is like flowing water."

Dorgon fell silent immediately, because wars cost money.

The Qing soldiers entered the customs five times before, and the reason why they did not lose money was because the property, livestock, and population they robbed were large enough to cover the war damage.

But after entering the customs, he lost money in several battles.

Especially in the two battles of Xuzhou War and Liaodong War, they lost all their money.

"That's not right." Dorgon said with embarrassment, "Even if Xuzhou, Hetao, Dagukou and Liaodong spent a lot of money in several battles, it wouldn't be so much as 5000 million taels, right?"

Dorgon has been in power for so many years, and he still knows a lot about finances.

After entering the customs, these several big battles cost up to 2000 million taels.

"Master Mingjian." Yingerdai said with a wry smile, "The total cost of Xuzhou and other wars was more than 1800 million taels, and the rest of the cost of more than 1000 million taels were used to make flintlocks, red cannons, camel cannons and armors. , more than 2000 million taels were used to purchase grain, tea, silk, cotton cloth and wine from Nanming and Pseudoshun."

"Tea cotton cloth and wine?" Dorgon's face collapsed.

There is no way to save more than 1000 million taels for making firearms and armor, and there is a high probability that more than 1000 million taels will be spent in the future. There is also no way to save money for buying food and silk, and it must be spent.

But what about tea cotton wine?

Can't you grow your own tea?Can't cotton cloth be woven by itself?

And wine, can't you brew it yourself, so you have to buy it?
Facing Dorgon's question, Yingerdai replied: "Most tea is produced in the south, and the north cannot grow it, so I can only buy it from Nanming. I was able to weave cotton cloth in the Qing Dynasty, but since the beginning of last year , A large amount of cheap cotton cloth from Nanming was continuously imported into Daqing, which made the cotton growers and weavers in Daqing lose their money. After that, few people planted cotton and weaved cotton cloth, so they could only buy a large amount from Nanming. "

"Alcohol is similar. In the beginning, I also made wine in Daqing."

"But since last year, a large amount of cheap wine has been imported from Nanming to Daqing."

"My distillery in Qing Dynasty was unprofitable, and I seldom brewed wine after that."

"By the way, the iron materials needed by Bingzhan Bureau to make firearms are also bought from Huguang."

After a pause, he went on to say: "So now every year, I have to spend a lot of money to buy cotton cloth, wine, tea and even iron materials from Nanming, and the cost is also increasing every year. Last year, these items A total of more than 600 million taels was spent, but more than 500 million taels have already been spent in the first half of this year."

"What?" Dorgon's face changed suddenly, "Doesn't this mean that it costs tens of millions of taels a year?"

The expression of Hou Fangyu next to him also changed drastically. Daqing actually sends so much money to Nanming every year?Why?If things go on like this, won't the Qing Dynasty become poorer and poorer, and won't the Nanming Dynasty become richer and richer?

Yingerdai said with a wry smile: "I'm afraid it's more than 1000 million."

Because the expenses are increasing every month, more at the end of the year.

"How can this be done, this is absolutely not possible." Dorgon said angrily.

Ying Erdai was silent, this matter is not something he can stop.

Even Dorgon would have to think twice before stopping this.

The reason is also very simple, these luxuries were bought for the rich and powerful of the Qing Dynasty to enjoy.

Most of them are bought in the name of the country and then distributed in the name of rewards.

To put it bluntly, it was used to buy people's hearts. Otherwise, why would the Qing dignitaries support Dorgon?

If the rewards of these luxuries were stopped, the dignitaries of the Qing Dynasty would definitely be unhappy. In this way, the foundation of Dorgon's rule would be shaken, and the Qing Dynasty might be shaken.

Now, Dorgon is also riding a tiger.

Stop buying luxury goods, the Qing dignitaries are not happy.

But don't stop, the treasury can last up to two years.

What about after two years?But is it time?

Seeing Dorgon so uncomfortable, Cao Eryu couldn't help feeling like a knife was piercing his heart.

Immediately, Cao Eryu suggested: "Master, didn't Nanming abolish silver and use silver notes instead? Silver notes are just a piece of paper. They are cheap. The Qing Dynasty can forge a large number of silver notes. With silver notes Can you buy a large amount of flowers, leaves, cotton cloth, silk wine and other goods from Nanming? It doesn’t cost money.”

"It's easy to say." Dorgon said unhappily.

"The eight imperial merchants have tried it a long time ago, and they can't be faked at all."

The eight major Shanxi merchants really tried, but they took a lot of people to go in.

In contrast, Hou Fangyu's suggestion is more reliable than Cao Eryu's.

Hou Fangyu said: "Master, tea, silk, cotton and wine, especially Ming wine, I'm afraid you can only buy from Nanming, and you can only buy more and not less, but the continuous outflow of money is also a big problem, and we must find a way to balance income. Otherwise, the treasury of the Qing Dynasty will be empty within two years."

Dorgon said: "Xiaohouzi, what can you do?"

Hou Fangyu said: "The only way is to take the special products that we have in Qing Dynasty but not in Nanming, such as Dongzhu, ginseng, horses, camels and furs. These goods are not in Nanming."

"We can sell these goods to Nanming at a high price."

After a short pause, he said again: "This way we can balance the income and expenditure."

"Well, that's a good idea." Dorgon immediately said to Ying Erdai, "I will pass on my order to let the Fan family and other eight imperial merchants increase the prices of goods such as Dongzhu, ginseng, horses, camels and furs."

"Hey." Ying Erdai replied respectfully, "Your servant will do it now."

……

Jiannu's actions were quickly reported to the Daming General Chamber of Commerce.

"The price of all Jiannu's goods has increased?" Kang Wanwan asked.

"Yes, everything has gone up." Zhang Han said, "Dongzhu has gone up, ginseng has gone up, horses, camels, cattle, sheep and furs have all gone up. I guess the treasury of Jiannu is about to be emptied."

"Great, it's finally the day I've been waiting for."

Kang Wanwan was overjoyed when he heard the words: "Let's go, face the saint."

At that moment, Kang Wanwan brought Zhang Han straight to the Imperial College.

However, when he arrived at Guozijian, he was told that Chongzhen had gone to Qingliangshan Palace.

Kang Wanwan and Zhang Han came straight to Qingliang Mountain again, but as soon as they got out of the car, they heard bursts of cheers from the direction of Qingliang Mountain Palace, shouting Congratulations to Long Live Lord?
Kang Wanwan and Zhang Han reacted immediately.

"Could it be that Concubine Ran gave birth to the prince?"

"The birth of the prince is really a great joy."

Immediately, the two entered the palace excitedly, already thinking of the words to congratulate.

But after entering the palace, the eunuch told Concubine Ran that Empress Ran had given birth to a princess.

Kang Wanwan and the two immediately lost their enthusiasm. In the Ming Dynasty, the status of the princess could not be compared with that of the prince. It could be said that it was a world of difference.

(End of this chapter)