Jingming

Chapter 367 The first step in Wang Zhi’s plan to become famous in Haijiang

Under the emperor, everything is civil and military.

Xia Yan, together with the crown prince, Taibao, Special Administrative Officer Ronglu, Youzhuguo, Guanliang Qidao, walked towards the Yangxin Hall with their heads held high.

As the general staff officer of the Military Affairs Council, what he was thinking at this moment was: In this great world, God's grace is so great. He is only 49 years old, and he still has a lot to do!There can be one more beam crown on the head.You can be granted a title based on merit, enter a temple, stand in the Hall of Heroes and watch for future generations!

"You should be diligent in your studies. In the future, you will be promoted to minister, and you will be free from my family's army."

This was what his father Xia Ding urged him to do when he was young.Previously, it was customary to become a minister before being released from the military.

Shangshu was the second-rank official, and he is now the first-rank official.

He no longer needs to care about such trivial matters as military status.He has wanted to show off his talent and ambition all his life, and today he has a place to put it to use.

Zhu Houcong didn't interact with Xia Yan that often because Xia Yan left early.

He knew that Xia Yan was talented and capable, but he also knew what many people said about Xia Yan.

Xia Gongjin has two "straits": upright and strong.

This guy is actually very strong.

Seeing Xia Yan kneel down respectfully in front of him, Zhu Houcong murmured in his heart: Let him serve as the general staff of military affairs and not care about civil affairs. Maybe he will be more upright and strong, and will not be tempted by Yan Song's thoughts. It's like a guy crashing on the eighteen bends on the mountain road.

"Gong Jin has already met Ying De and stayed in Shaanxi for more than a year. Let's first talk about Ying De's strategy of first retreading, then taking back the western Qinghai region, and finally wiping out the Khan's court. Is this strategy feasible? question?"

After asking him to stand up and sit down, Zhu Houcong immediately asked the question directly.

Xia Yan knew that this first performance in front of the emperor was crucial and directly related to whether the emperor could trust his opinions later.

He also answered directly: "I beg to differ!"

There was no special expression on Zhu Houcong's face: "I am waiting for you to take charge of all major matters. If you have any ideas, please speak out."

As soon as he took office, the military general staff expressed his objections to the plan of the three governors. This matter was naturally sensitive.

Talent or holy family, the emperor seems to be leaning towards who between the two.

Xia Yan said: "I know the talents who should be virtuous. However, Shaanxi is not bigger than Xuanda, and the border situation is particularly complicated. Turpan swallows Hami, and the ambition of the wolf is ready; the right wing is in Qinghai, and the attack from the north and the south is just waiting for the opportunity; Gunbilik is willing to do it. He is a little less talented than me, but he is the leader of the right wing. If you try to retaliate first, you will be attacked from both sides, making it easier to give up and harder to take."

"Then what are your plans for the invasion of the North and the Western Front?"

"According to my opinion, we should first seize Qinghai while the right wing has not yet established a stable foothold in Qinghai, so as to avoid the enemy's rear troubles; use Qinghai as the base, open border cities, and support Uzbekistan. Qinghai and Gansu two groups will attack Turpan and regain the loyalty of Hami. Wang and the Seven Guards in the West of Jiayu Pass; a few years later, Xuanda and the Three West Guards had successfully trained their troops, and then they regrouped with several large armies. The Seven Guards in the West of the Jiayugu Pass and the town of Gansu would protect the Western Regions from future troubles."

Xia Yan spoke without stumbling at all. He obviously had this plan in mind.

Zhu Houcong thought for a moment and asked, "Does Gong Jin know that I have accepted the Huang religion?"

"...I have heard about this matter."

"In the past, when Taizu pacified Qinghai and Tibet, the Mongolian and Tubo envoys governed Qinghai. During the Yongle period, Taizong conferred the titles of three sect Dharma kings, including the King of Chanhua, the King of Protectors, the King of Praise for Goodness, the King of Auxiliary Teachers, and the King of Chanjiao. A book was made and printed, and it turned out that Qinghai and Tibet actually did not have a single soldier from the Ming Dynasty. Taizu once said that the people of Xifan had been attached to them for a long time, but they had not paid tribute to them. After that, they only traded tea and horses to get some Tibetan horses. During the Zhengde period, Yibuza fled westward to Qinghai. This time the right wing drove away Yibuza, and Uzang could just sit back and watch what happened. Why did Gongjin think that?"

Xia Yan realized that he had not taken these into consideration before. After thinking about it for a moment, he asked, "Did I have a secret discussion with Wu Zang?"

"That should be the case. In Qinghai, there were many raids on Uzang. Qinghai changed hands, and everyone knew that it would take some time for them to gain a firm foothold. Why didn't Uzang take Qinghai as its own again? Answer It should be that the Yellow Sect missionary grassland was granted. Now that I don’t have Kou Xuanda, the next step for the right wing is probably to attack Turpan. In this way, Qinghai can be connected with the right wing."

After Zhu Houcong said this, he asked Xia Yan: "If the Ming Dynasty takes Qinghai now, Uszang and Turpan will worry about the Ming Dynasty's military front. If we take Qinghai first, how will we recruit Uszang? I can't believe in the Yellow Sect. Right? If we divide our forces to defend Qinghai, can we successfully recover Hami?"

Xia Yan's previous high spirits on the road were suddenly wiped out a lot, and he fell silent for a while.

Zhu Houcong picked up several more brochures: "The three west sides are only one of the Ming Dynasty affairs. Gongjin, don't be anxious. First, take a look at the affairs in the southwest and the movements in Jiliao. Many things have been delayed for a year or two. Xuanda After the First World War, both An Ningbo and I wanted to see the changes in the situation clearly before making a decision. Now that Gong Jin has become the general staff, we might as well consider everything. The Ming Dynasty’s military strength, money and food, and when and where to use them all must be considered. .”

"...I am eager to perform my duties, and your Majesty will forgive me."

"Serious words." Zhu Houcong shook his head, "I admire Gong Jin's spirit, and I believe in the people An Ningbo has entrusted. It's just that Gong Jin has been working in Nanjing and Zhejiang in recent years and has paid little attention to military affairs. In the past few days, I have been here first. Take a look at the secret files in Wuying Hall. If you have any doubts, just go into the imperial study and I will answer them."

He added meaningfully: "The war in the North is not the only thing the Military Affairs Council is planning."

"I understand. I will go to Wuying Hall first and check the secret files."

Xia Yan finally calmed down a little bit, knowing that the water in the military affairs meeting was deeper than he thought.

After returning to Wuying Palace, I briefly met the chief officers of the Military Discipline, Arms, and War Training Departments, and then asked: "Eunuch Mai, where is the secret file?"

It’s not just Yang Yiqing and Yang Tinghe who have passed away. Last year, Zhang Yong also reached the end of his life.Now, Mai Fu has returned to Beijing from Guangdong and took over Zhang Yong's position.And in the military affairs meeting, how come the position of the Royal Horse Supervisor's palm print is missing?Although he was not present, he kept the secret files in Wuying Palace.

"General Staff Xia, please come this way!"

Maifu took Xia Yan to the Jingsi Hall, the back hall of Wuying Hall, and opened the room where two guards, an inner minister and a green-robed clerk were guarding or working outside the door.

"The secret files in the treasury, General Staff Xia can go in and read them, but cannot take them out."

Xia Yan felt awe-struck when he saw that the minister and the clerk had written down something.

These procedures should not be to protect him as the general staff officer, but presumably there will be other ministers who need to see something, so they need to register and have someone accompany them.

Walking into the room, Xia Yan saw rows of pavilions at a glance.

At present, there are only three large, two small and five rows of pavilions: military equipment, intelligence, conferences, generals, and weapons.

After Xia Yan thought for a while, he went straight to the large row of pavilions where the meeting was held.

This should be the context.The meetings held at the Military Affairs Conference are eligible to be archived here, and they represent His Majesty’s truest military and national strategy ideas.

Xia Yan started watching it and spent four days here.Even after leaving at night, I was still thinking about the contents of those many secret files.

He gradually learned how long ago the Ming Dynasty had been preparing for affairs outside the territory, and also learned more information that he did not know before, so he gradually gave up the idea of ​​taking Qinghai first.

That doesn't mean that Xia Yan is inferior to Tang Shunzhi in strategy, but he just knows less.

But the question is, is Tang Shunzhi qualified to know this?Or does Wang Shouren speak more to Tang Shunzhi and less to himself?
Xia Yan suppressed the questions in his heart and thus began his official career as general staff officer.

……

There are three things that a new official needs to do when he takes office, and Xia Yan is more anxious about military and state affairs.

"I have fully understood your majesty's grand plan. I would like to first appoint Zhu Qi, the Marquis of Funing, as the chief military officer of Shanxi Town. Pinghu Boji Weimin should be appointed as the commander of the Yunnan capital. I would like to announce that the military garrison will be reorganized and expanded to Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Sichuan..."

He was acting vigorously and resolutely, and this time Zhu Houcong gave him trust.

"It seems that Gong Jin understands what is important in the past three years?"

"Now that Ruan Gan has found the descendants of the Li family, the changes in Jiaozhi have come. Yunnan produces seven out of ten silver and copper products in the world. If the Myanmar and Jiaozhi trade routes are connected, money and grain can flow from Shu and Huguang to Shaanxi and Jin. I understand. "

This is the news that just came back. Not only was the descendant of the Li family found by the Foreign Inspectorate, but Ruan Gan now had another descendant of the Li family who he had found on his own.

As it happened, the envoys sent by Mo Dengyong had already set off.

"Ji Weimin led the Shenji Battalion to select forwards in the battle against the rebellion in Huguang. He went from Sichuan to Yunnan, which really reminded Burma and Jiaozhi of the power of the Ming Dynasty's fire cannons that broke through the elephant formation." Zhu Houcong said, "Northwest, Waiting for An Da to help his brother destroy Tulufan, and letting Tang Yingde wait for an opportunity to help Hami to enrich the country will be enough to contain Qinghai and the forces on the west side of the right wing. On the Yunnan side, it is better to plan."

The new military affairs conference began to formally discuss matters related to Yunnan, and the strategies of Wu Wending and Mu Shaoxun were waiting for their answers.At this time, the fleet of Huizhou Maritime Trading Company had just arrived at Yuntun Port.

"What kind of struvite is this?"

On the boat, Wang Zhi did not get off the boat. He felt more comfortable on the boat.

Now, he was holding a piece of struvite in his hand and looking at it, and asked puzzledly: "Why do you have to bring such things back?"

"Everyone is like this, but I don't know why. I guess it is of great use."

"It's not worth it, it's not worth it..." Wang Zhi asked, "Master, can't you really do something about it and bring something else back? I got off the boat yesterday and took a look around. Gems, ivory, fine wood... which one is better than bringing this? How much will you earn if you go back?"

In front of him was Xu Dong, who recruited him to join the sea.

"Everything else can be taken care of, but this matter can't be taken care of!" Xu Dong shook his head, "I asked you to handle this matter. Instead, I wanted to see if I could negotiate with the sea trade company to get a lower price. Nowadays, people who go to sea There are more and more ships, and the price at the Ocean Trade House remains the same every year.”

Wang Zhi frowned: "Since this thing is so useful to the court, why don't we transport it back ourselves for maritime trade? Instead, we civilian ships have to spend money to buy it and then transport it back to get tax deductions? Wouldn't it be more useful for them to transport it back themselves? ? Or is it that the imperial court wants the Sea Trade House to make more money? Is this struvite only available to the Sea Trade House?"

Facing his many questions, Xu Dong shook his head again: "I don't know why exactly. This struvite is not only available to the sea trade company, they also bought it."

"Huh? Where did it come from?"

Xu Dong pointed to the west: "I heard that this struvite stone is only produced in isolated islands overseas. The sea trade company is just a trader, how can it hire people to mine on the island? But this Nanyang barbarian chief can kidnap the untouchables. Come to the island to mine. The sea trade industry welcomes all comers. Even though a pound of struvite costs only a few dollars, enslaving untouchables to mine it is also a profitable business and you can make money every day."

"If we buy it from the Yi chief, wouldn't it be much cheaper?"

Xu Dong sighed: "Nowadays, some people do think of this method, and some people do buy some from the Yi chiefs. Most of them give more money than the sea trade companies, and want to have a good relationship with the local wealthy families. Besides, we private businessmen, How much does it take in one year? They won’t offend Haimao Bank easily, and we don’t want to offend Haimao Bank easily.”

Wang Zhi held the struvite in silence.

Today's price here is five qian for a hundred pounds of struvite.Of course, if transported back to Ningbo, one hundred kilograms of struvite can be worth seven yuan of tax.

I don’t know if it is difficult to mine this struvite, but it doesn’t take much work to dig out a hundred kilograms of stone, right?
If you dig it out, there will be people who want it, which is indeed a good business for the Yi chieftain.

Let people have food and strength, and dig day by day. If one person can dig out three to five hundred kilograms of stone in a day, he can only earn a tael of silver from the sea trade company.

If there are 500 people on an island, wouldn't they be able to earn hundreds of taels a day?
It must not be that simple, otherwise the money would be too easy to earn.

Xu Dong wanted him to go over these matters to Haimao Bank and see if he could negotiate a lower price.

Wang Zhi now had other ideas: "Master, tell me, can we also find an isolated island with this kind of stone? If we go to Nanyang and kidnap some people again, let them dig out this stone, and then we can transport it back Ningbo. Other companies can carry other goods back to Ningbo and buy this struvite from us to deduct tax. Wouldn’t that be better?”

Xu Dong opened his mouth, and then said after a long time: "You don't think anyone has thought about it like this? I heard that the island that produces this kind of stone is surrounded by vast oceans for hundreds of miles. We are doing business, and we can make two more trips a year before we come back. If we occupy an isolated island for mining, who can bear to live in that deserted place and stare at it all the time?”

Wang Zhi grinned and said: "I can bear it. When I am observing my filial piety, I also live in the mountains and keep company with birds and beasts."

Xu Dong disagreed: "That's also in the village. You can see people if you want to go down the mountain."

"If the boss thinks this method can be tried, I will go and talk to the people from the sea trade company first." Wang Zhiding was moved. "If they can't bear the good business of making a fortune by changing hands, we might as well let them save money." They just want us to help them do this. The Yi chiefs are the same way. How much do they know about mining? Where is this struvite? The island is also ready-made. Let's help him. Mining. Either rent or buy, there is always a way."

"...Then give it a try."

Wang Zhi then got off the boat and felt that the sea was indeed full of treasures.

Unexpectedly, the court valued this humble struvite so highly.Since every private businessman going overseas requires bringing the struvite stone back to Hong Kong to offset taxes, then if the struvite stone business expands, won't every private businessman have to look at the Huizhou private businessman's eyes and act?
According to Xu Dong's introduction, the imperial court had no intention of letting the sea trade bank manipulate civilian merchants based on these.

At least there is no explicit order that you must buy from Haimao House, and some people really don't buy from Haimao House.

Wang Zhi wanted to be famous in the sea, and the first step of his plan would probably fall on this guano stone.

After going around and making friends, Wang Zhi appeared in front of Peng Yue, the eunuch in charge of the sea trade company on Cat Ba Island outside Yuntun Port.

"I heard that you want to talk to Haimao Bank about packing struvite?" Peng Yue was a little surprised and a little disdainful, "Why didn't Xu Dong come? How dare you, a small accountant, to talk about this? Now! None of the merchants who go to the sea are allowed to take struvite back with them, but you have a very good plan."

Wang Zhi didn't care about his ridicule, and just smiled and said: "My father-in-law left that beautiful land to come to Nanyang, and he must have other important responsibilities. This is just a piece of struvite, and the common people think that my father-in-law cannot really work hard for it." The sea trade company does not need to allocate money for this matter. My father-in-law only needs to send someone. If the common people here buy a hundred catties of struvite, they will distribute two coins of silver to the sea trade company. My father-in-law has other important things in Nanyang that he cannot do personally. Isn't it a good thing that ordinary people can also find ways to help?"

Peng Yue laughed: "How can we leave what we want to do to others? I heard that this is your first time going to sea. You are quite courageous. Aren't you afraid that the water in the South China Sea is too deep?"

"When the ordinary people went to the sea, they felt that the sea was like home. The ordinary people are just expressing their feelings to the father-in-law. My father-in-law can test whether the ordinary people can do things."

Peng Yue smiled and stopped talking.

Wang Zhi looked at him and asked tentatively: "When the grassroots came in to pay their respects just now, they saw that my father-in-law seemed to have a sad face. It must be that he is in trouble, right?"

Peng Yue stared at him, thinking in his mind.

This kid is good at observing people's emotions. That matter is indeed difficult and not easy to handle.

After a long time, he said: "This is your first time going to sea, but you are a stranger here in Jiaozhi. Are you afraid of losing your life if you want our family to test you?"

Wang Zhi felt that there was something interesting and immediately said: "The common people will not go to sea for fear of losing their lives."

A smile appeared on Peng Yue's lips and he said "ok" three times in a row.

"To tell you the truth, our family has asked several people about this, including Xu Dong, but they don't dare." Peng Yue asked meaningfully, "Our family has said so, do you still want to try it?"

Wang Zhi only hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Father-in-law, you might as well talk about it first."

Peng Yue chuckled: "I just want you to open a trade route to Ailao. There are still wars there, but some of the goods that the sea trade company wants to buy are out of stock."

Wang Zhi's heart moved: "Ailao? I wonder where Ailao is?"

During the months of sailing at sea, he also learned about Southeast Asia.Although Ailao is west of Jiaozhi, its scope is not small.

"West of Thanh Hoa. Ruan Gan is now inhabited there. The ivory, rhinoceros horn, agarwood, and wild Ganoderma there are all good things. What do you think? Do you dare to go?"

Wang Zhi only thought about it for a moment, and then smiled and said: "Common people dare to go. However, my father-in-law needs to help me persuade my employer to allow me to stay in Jiaozhi."

Peng Yue is also a dead horse and a live doctor. It is not yet time for the sea trade bank to directly express its attitude. His Majesty's decree is to "wait and see what happens."

It is more appropriate to open this line first for students and businessmen.

"Okay, since you have the courage, our family will take the word to Xu Dong. If you open up this trade route, your Huizhou Sea Trading Company can only spend [-]% of the silver to buy struvite next year!"

"Please also ask my father-in-law to send someone to teach the grass people the language of the birds."

Peng Yue was even more satisfied now. He knew that Wang Zhi understood that he had better send someone to do the real thing.Of course, opening up business channels is just a pretense.As long as you have money, can you really not receive those goods?

"You have the same name as Eunuch Wang in the past, so you are somewhat connected to our family." Peng Yue nodded, "I have done this with my heart, and future matters are not beyond negotiation."

Xu Dong got a lower price for struvite, and Wang Zhi became the shopkeeper of the store that Huizhou Sea Trading Company just opened on Cat Ba Island. He began to learn what he called "bird language."

One order departed from the capital to go to Kunming and the other to Sichuan.

In the courtyard of Governor Yunnan, Wu Wending looked at everyone: "Who wants to go to Myanmar first to find out the true situation?"

Those people shrank their heads.

(End of this chapter)