I'm really not doing business

Chapter 654: There is no conflict that Dingjian Engineering cannot resolve
"What happened?" Yan Shixuan asked in great surprise.

"It's a small matter. A ship capsized and the fast sailing ship cannot be completed smoothly." Although Shen Shixing's face was calm, his heart was in turmoil. He wished he could kick Yan Shixuan to the execution ground and torture him again.

Something had happened at the Songjiang Shipyard, a minor incident, and the seven fast sailing ships that were supposed to be completed this year could not be completed smoothly because a batch of teak that was being transported from Annan, Siam and other places capsized on the way and could not arrive smoothly.

The decks of fast sailing ships are all made of teak, which is the hardest. If they had used inferior oak, they could have delivered the job on time, but Shen Shixing did this because he didn't want to make any progress and was passing off inferior goods as good ones.

Teak is a very precious and rare wood. There is no teak in the Ming Dynasty, and all teak depends on sea trade.

This means that his original merit has become a sin, which means that the punishment of being demoted three levels this year will accompany Shen Shixing throughout the New Year, and that Shen Shixing will be laughed at for another year!
If he was just a little bit of teak, or just one hundred cubic meters of teak, Shen Shixing would be able to be reinstated. Even if he wasn't promoted, at least he would not be a fifth-rank official and governor of Songjiang and Zhejiang.

Shen Shixing was so angry! He looked at Yan Shixuan. This guy was really something.

"The boat capsized, it has nothing to do with me." Yan Shixuan said in a low voice: "How can a gentleman vent his anger on others?"

"This ship was supposed to stop at Shuangyu Port, but because Zhejiang was in chaos, this ship could only go directly to Songjiang Prefecture." Shen Shixing said helplessly: "This detour, we encountered strange waves, alas."

Is it related to Yan Shixuan? It seems not, but it also seems related.

"Ah, this, I..." Yan Shixuan could not say anything and had to remain silent. This was simply Shen Shixing's bad luck. What did it have to do with him, Yan Shixuan? A gentleman does not speak of strange and supernatural things!

Shen Shixing still had a lot of things to do, and he couldn't go to Songjiang Prefecture to deal with this matter.

After learning about this situation, Sun Kehong, the general manager of Songjiang Ocean Trading Company, sent 100 cubic meters of teak to solve Shen Shixing's urgent need. This was the teak that Songjiang Ocean Trading Company had always kept.

If the production of fast sailing ships was guaranteed, the production of pleasure boats could not be guaranteed, so the decks of pleasure boats were replaced with oak.

Anyway, when these powerful and wealthy people are enjoying themselves on the boat, they will not pay attention to the material of the deck under their feet, and most of them cannot even tell the difference between teak and oak.

Of course, Songjiang Ocean Trading Company sold this batch of wood at market price. This was a business deal. Of course, there was also the idea of ​​bribery, and they more or less hoped that Shen Shixing could take care of it.

While Shen Shixing was busy, he finally figured out the huge construction project that the local bureaucrats in Zhejiang were going to use to "drain the flood."

Government offices at all levels in Zhejiang have huge hidden incomes that need to be distributed before major plans are implemented. This is difficult, so under the leadership of Wu Shanyan, a project emerged: building a canal!

The starting point of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is Hangzhou. The Grand Canal connects to the Qiantang River. Building the Grand Canal from Hangzhou to Ningbo is the flood discharge project.

"Wu Shanyan wanted to build a large-scale canal to Ningbo, but he never thought about completing the construction. He just wanted to build such a big project here to distribute the huge amount of money collected by officials every year under a reasonable name. If he really wanted to complete the construction, he would not have made things difficult for the soldiers of the Nine Battalions."

"You should know that when the soldiers of the Ninth Battalion go out to fight floods, the most important work they do is repairing dikes and dredging ditches." Yan Shixuan said with certainty.

The time it took to build the canal was calculated as ten years, especially this waterway that runs through the Qiantang River, Cao'e River and Yong River, with a total length of more than 480 miles.

Force the Nine Battalions of Zhejiang to leave and start building the Ningbo-Hangzhou Canal. If the progress is slow, you can slowly plan it. Bureaucrats at all levels, local celebrities, gentry, etc., will drain the money of government offices at all levels bit by bit, leaving behind a mess that will cause endless harm and is impossible to get rid of.

The mess could not be cleaned up, and Wu Shanyan would definitely not care about it. Anyway, by that time, he would have been transferred away.

"Wu Shanyan has been beheaded and his head poured into the water under the Temple of Loyalty and Bravery. The key question is whether it is necessary to repair the waterway from Ningbo to Hangzhou?" Shen Shixing agreed with this very much. If Wu Shanyan had any conscience, he would not have ended up like this.

Shen Shixing asked whether there was a need to continue promoting this project.

Dingjian Dagong has many advantages.

For example, we can provide work-for-relief projects, so that refugees have a place to go and they won’t cause trouble if they are not idle.
It can be distributed to lower levels, but how to get the silver into the hands of the poor and coolies is the main problem of the silver dam;
It can increase the number of government factories. Building canals can create countless government factories to feed the people. This is also a concrete manifestation of the influence of the government.

You can create a group of meat-eaters to support the meat-eaters in the court to fight against the old rich;
A currency office can be set up to increase local tax revenue.

If you are an official and don't know where to start, you can start by repairing bridges and roads and dredging waterways. This is the distribution of benefits and also the process of gaining power.

For example, when Hai Rui became the governor of Nan Ya, the first thing he did was to renovate the Wusong River and Baimao River and make them flow into the sea. This led to the current Huangpu River and the prosperous Shanghai Pu.

Hai Rui was never an empty talker who only knew how to sit back and talk about his character. On the contrary, he did a very good job as the governor of Yingtian. It was because he did too well that he was forced to be promoted and retire.

"The golden waterway is a national priority." Yan Shixuan succinctly described the significance of this canal from Hangzhou to Ningbo.

The entire canal passes through Shaoxing to Ningbo. Ningbo is Shuangyu Port, one of the natural ports in the entire Ming Dynasty. The completion of this waterway means that sea and river transportation have been completely opened up, and coal from the north can go south, and silver and goods from the south can go north, and it has become a thoroughfare.

Yan Shixuan said with great emotion: "It is said that the Sui Dynasty fell because of this river. To this day, it is still thousands of miles long and relies on the water. Your Majesty called the Grand Canal the lifeline of the Ming Dynasty's economy, and it is not an exaggeration. If you really go to the canal to take a look, you will know what it means to have boats and ships lined up in an endless stream for thousands of miles. The canal ships sail to the right, one after another, with no end in sight."

"The price of inland river transport is one sixth of that of land transport, which is extremely cheap."

Emperor Yang of Sui brought about the demise of the Sui Dynasty, not because of his large-scale construction projects such as building the canal, but because he suffered three defeats when attacking Goguryeo, which made people lose confidence.

At this time, Yang Guang, who had suffered a defeat, returned to Luoyang in July of the 12th year of Daye.

At that time, Yang Guang had two choices. One was to return to the capital Chang'an from Luoyang to stabilize the people's hearts, work hard to govern the country, recuperate with the people, and slowly take revenge on Goguryeo; the other was to continue to stay in Luoyang, the Eastern Capital, mobilize the army to quell all the unrest in Shandong (east of Mount Xiao).

No matter which of these two options was chosen, the Sui Dynasty would not perish.

But Yang Guang chose none of them. He chose to go south to Jiangdu, now Yangzhou, and ran away. His escape directly cut off the destiny of the Sui Dynasty.

Therefore, the downfall of Emperor Yang of Sui was entirely due to the mismatch between his personal ability and ambition.

The Grand Canal of the Ming Dynasty was built by the Ming Dynasty itself. Large-scale construction began in the Hongwu period and continued until the 19th year of the Yongle period. However, since the Xuande period, dredging of the Grand Canal has been carried out every year. All water conservancy facilities require maintenance. If they are not maintained for more than 20 years, they will become completely unusable.

"Repair it while it's still possible." Yan Shixuan gave his final opinion.

The theory of contradiction talks about the cyclical development of all things. When the national strength is rising, it is best to start such large projects as soon as possible. After they are completed, they will bring endless benefits. When the national strength is declining, it will be impossible to repair them. Although the cycle talks about ups and downs, most of the time, it is ups and downs.

"That makes sense. I will report it to the court." Shen Shixing finally agreed with Yan Shixuan's opinion and reported it to the court in his capacity as the Governor of Zhejiang.

Shen Shixing did not serve as the governor of Zhejiang for too long, but during this short period of time, he brought the Great Highway to Zhejiang, the canal from Ningbo to Hangzhou, and opened up the river channels and sea transportation of the Ming Dynasty.

When Shen Shixing reported to the court that he was planning to build a canal, the first reaction of court officials was to oppose it. The reason for their opposition was simple: it was too expensive.

The cost of one li of the Chidao Road was 7500 silver coins, which was already extremely expensive, while the cost of one li of the Grand Canal was silver coins, twice as much as the Chidao Road! The total investment would exceed five million silver coins, and the extremely conservative Ming court was very opposed to building this canal.

"The Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Works all oppose it." Zhu Yijun looked at the memorials on the table, feeling somewhat helpless.

Four of the six ministries opposed it, and the opposition from the Censorate and the Six Departments was even louder and louder. Everyone had their own reasons. They even brought up the fact that Emperor Yang of Sui ruined the country by building the canal, as if Zhu Yijun had built the canal and thus became a king who lost his country.

The statements of various parties were slightly different, but they can be summarized in one sentence: we will make any arrangements after the Suiyuan Highway, Jingkai Highway and Jingmi Highway are completed.

The court was really afraid of being poor. If it had a little more money, it would engage in such large-scale construction projects. This was not a long-term solution. The unwillingness to incur debt was the fundamental reason why the Ming court as a whole opposed it.

The Suiyuan Highway is still two years away from completion. The Beijing-Kaifeng and Beijing-Miyun Highways are faster and will be completed by next spring. However, the Suiyuan Highway is really too long.

"Shen Shixing said in the memorial that Zhejiang can repair the canal on its own. Zhejiang is not short of money. I don't agree with this either." Zhu Yijun knocked on all the opposing memorials. His inclination was that the canal from Ningbo to Hangzhou must be repaired, and it must be repaired as soon as possible.

"Your Majesty, the situation in the history of the Ming Dynasty where the local government has made a mess and asked the court to help cover the losses has happened more than once. Everyone does this. It is said that 15000 silver per mile is enough, but after the actual investment in construction, who knows if it will be a bottomless pit? When the time comes, Zhejiang will run to the court and cry poor. Will the court help or not?" Feng Bao said with his head bowed.

Zhejiang is the Zhejiang of the Ming Dynasty. If a local project is left unfinished, the imperial court will have to cover it in the end.

"That makes sense." Zhu Yijun looked at the memorial and said, "Submit a memorial to the Ministry of Works and the Imperial Academy of Studies. Ask them to send three doctors of the Five Classics to conduct an on-site inspection and make a conclusion. If there are not too many difficulties, we can prepare to launch the project. I will be on a southern tour soon. When I go there, I will take a look at the site. If it is really necessary, we still have to overcome the difficulties."

There were three urgent matters to be addressed during the southern tour: splitting up the Southern Yamen, dredging the Baiyin Weir, and repairing the canal.

"Your Majesty, there is another problem here. In fact, the officials in the capital have never seen river transportation. In their impression, river transportation is a place for pleasure boats and cruise ships, and it is useless to build it." Zhang Hong explained the opposition of the officials in the capital from another perspective.

The canal from the Northern Yamen of the Ming Dynasty, Tianjin to Jining actually has an extremely low carrying capacity. Due to the water flow, this section of the canal is more of an ornamental canal. Among the officials in the capital, how many have actually seen the busy dock with their own eyes?

"The canal from Jining to the south is open all night long, and food and accommodation are provided on both sides day and night. Some time ago, the governor of the grain transport system reported that the ships were blocked." Zhang Hong mentioned a detail he noticed, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal that was blocked.

"That makes sense." Zhu Yijun was stunned and found that it seemed to be true. If you haven't been to the south, how can you know the development of shipping? As a landlubber in the north, no matter how hard you try to imagine it, you will not have that specific concept.

"Shandong Governor Wang Yi'e reported that the coal from Lincheng, Hancheng, Zaozhuang and other places is sold quickly and expensively through Weishan Lake and the Grand Canal, and 300 million kilograms of coal can be sold every year." Feng Bao immediately reacted after Zhang Hongyi reminded him. He reported that the main growth point of Shandong's ground economy in this year's national plan is that the coal from the north will go south. The main sales of Lunan Coal Mine are Suzhou, Hangzhou and other places. Relying on the Grand Canal, they live too comfortably.

"So, the southern tour is imperative. As the old saying goes, reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling a thousand miles. Speaking a thousand words is not as good as seeing it with your own eyes." Zhu Yijun agreed with the two ministers' opinions.

Zhang Juzheng and Wang Chonggu did not express their opinions on this matter. The main reason for Zhang Juzheng was that it was not convenient for him to explicitly support the canal construction proposed by his disciple, while Wang Chonggu could not care less as he was busy with this year's official factory celebration.

Since the Minister of Justice Wang Zhigao retired in the second year of Wanli, Wang Chonggu returned to Beijing to set up the state-owned factory. It has been a full ten years since then. For this reason, he wants to hold a grand celebration before the end of the year to celebrate the ups and downs of the past ten years.

All expenses for the entire celebration were paid for by Young Master Wang. The income Young Master Wang earned from the Suiyuan Highway had already exceeded the Wang family's assets. Wang Qian said that it was better to throw money on the official factory celebration than on the women's flower baskets.

In order to make this grand celebration a success, Wang Chonggu was once again not on duty at Wenyuan Pavilion. Of course, despite his busy schedule, Wang Chonggu still found time to perfunctorily address the Emperor. As for the canal issue, Wang Chonggu gave three words: "Repair, repair, repair."

As the leader of the Labor Party, Wang Chonggu has only one attitude towards all major labor projects: support.

According to the consensus within the Labour Party, there is no contradiction that cannot be resolved by big engineering and construction. If it is not resolved, it is because there are not enough big engineering and construction companies, and repairs can be done.

As the general manager, Wang Chonggu invited the emperor to attend the official factory's tenth anniversary celebration on December 25th, and Zhu Yijun gladly agreed.

Perhaps large-scale construction cannot solve all problems, but as one of the important means of imperial rule, it can solve many problems.

Zhu Yijun would certainly go to this critical juncture of the tenth anniversary celebration, and of course he might have to give rewards. The treasury had so much silver that it was almost overflowing, so rewards were not a problem.

The province is the province, the flowers are the flowers.

While the Ming Dynasty was busy dealing with the various internal conflicts caused by the influx of silver, the Ming Dynasty sent a special envoy to the West, the Left Envoy of the Ming Cult, Legazpi, who arrived in Lisbon smoothly.

"For a long time, I have stayed in the square city of the capital and have forgotten all the sailing skills. Fortunately, the smart captain and strong sailors successfully brought me back to this land, Taixi." Li Yashi got off the boat and stepped firmly on the ground, only then did he feel a little relieved.

“Thank you for the wisdom that guides the lost lambs.”

Prayers were heard around Li Yashi. All the sailors who got off the ship would take out a Bagua card, place it between their eyebrows, and pray in a deep voice before leaving. Li Yashi, the Left Envoy of Light, seemed out of place.

Li Yashi was a little bit bewildered, he had never expected this situation, and he became the most special one in the crowd!
"Actually, this is a spontaneous behavior. You don't have to worry about it. The teachings of the Daming Cult never force any believers to do anything they don't want to do." Marcus smiled softly and explained, then took out his ivory plate, placed it against his forehead, and whispered, "Thank you for the wisdom that guides the lost lambs."

Li Yashi, the Left Envoy of Light, is not a believer. He only got this status because he is the embodiment of wisdom, that is, he was sent by His Majesty the Emperor. Without His Majesty's dispatch, Li Yashi would be nothing in the Great Light Church.

"Thank you wisdom for guiding the lost lambs." Li Yashi took out his tooth card, placed it between his eyebrows, prayed, and walked away triumphantly.

His ivory plaque is the embodiment of wisdom, a magical instrument bestowed by the emperor! There are only a few of them in the whole of the West!
The port of Lisbon is very busy. It is the distribution center for Ming Dynasty goods. Here, Legashi actually felt the prosperous atmosphere of Ming Dynasty. Everything is so vibrant, and there is hope in the eyes of everyone he meets.

This is extremely rare in the West.

In the words of the Ming Dynasty, the common people in the West are generally numb.

Antonio was not good at being a king and did not have that ability, but he relied on himself to become a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty and successfully got rid of Philip II's plot against Portugal. At the same time, he used the Ming Dynasty to get rid of the Roman Catholic Church's constraints on the people. He got rid of the Roman Catholic Church more thoroughly than the Holy Roman Empire, which refused to go to the Holy See to accept the canonization, and than France and England, which were full of Protestant sects.

Just like a person getting out of a quagmire, the vibrant scene in Lisbon is no longer surprising at this time when Daming is distributing goods and Xu Fan is constantly expanding his workshop.

Li Yashi sat in a carriage, following the slightly muddy land, heading towards the Cintra Palace. Li Yashi, who was used to the hardened roads of the Ming Dynasty, complained about this bumpy road.

On the way, Legazpi saw firsthand the spread of the Great Ming Cult in Portugal, because every thirty miles or so, in any gathering place, one could see a House of Wise Men, and these Houses of Wise Men were so popular that they could be called incense.

"The safety of Lisbon and Portugal lies above the waves! Your Highness Antonio, have you forgotten? If the Freedom Fleet had not launched a suicide attack on Felipe's lair, how could Felipe II have given up on annexing Portugal! You want to disband the Left Guard today, but I don't agree!"

Before they reached the palace, Legazpi and Marcus heard a heated argument about the disbanding of the Ming Cult's religious army.

Marcus's face changed drastically!

The Left and Right Crusaders are the navy and army of Portugal, and the predecessor of the Left Crusaders was the Free Fleet. When Philip II attacked Portugal, the Free Fleet entered the Mediterranean with a suicidal attack, attacking the enemy and then rescuing him, which forced Philip II to withdraw his troops. Now, Antonio actually wants to disband the Crusaders!
Even though Marcus knew that Antonio was not fit to be king, he never thought that during the time he was away, Antonio would actually give such a ridiculous order!

"Listen, my friend, the Left Crusaders are all navy, which is too expensive. We are already losing money to maintaining such a large navy." Antonio stated his reasons. The navy has many advantages and the only disadvantage is that it is expensive. Of course, expensiveness may only be a disadvantage of Portugal.

Maintaining the army is enough to ensure security.

Marcus walked in quickly, knelt down with a half-kneeling salute, and said, "Your Highness, I have returned from the far east, bringing news from afar and greetings from your Majesty."

"Before I entered the room, I heard that you wanted to disband the Crusaders. I really couldn't understand it. Is it because the Crusaders are the Crusaders of the Ming Cult and not the Portuguese navy? If that's the case, I think the Secretary of State wouldn't mind changing the name."

"You know, the Left Crusaders, that is, the navy, has always been under my control. My loyalty to you began at the Lisbon dock. At that time, you told me that Portugal was the Portugal of the Portuguese. For this sentence, I gave up my noble status and followed you on the sea."

"If you want to disband the navy, then Portugal will no longer be a Portuguese country. The pirates of England and the robbers of Spain will swallow it up."

Marcus was expressing his opposition and stating his loyalty.

"No, someone told me that Felipe II is no longer determined to annex Portugal, and the expensive navy is too heavy a burden, causing many complaints at home, so I want to downsize it." Antonio said somewhat embarrassedly.

"Don't believe the slander of jackals, tigers and leopards. Who is whispering these slanders in your ears? My sword is still sharp!" Marcus gripped the hilt of his sword.

While he was away, someone tricked the not-so-bright Antonio into disbanding the navy, and Marcus wanted to kill the treacherous ministers with a sword.

Marcus narrowed his eyes slightly. He saw a court secretary's eyes evading and immediately knew it was this secretary. He stood up, walked over step by step, drew out his sword, took off his gloves, threw them in front of the other party, and said calmly: "It's you, right? I'll give you a chance for a fair duel."

"It seems you don't want a fair duel." Marcus dodged the secretary's sneak attack by moving sideways.

The secretary took out a small sword only one foot long and stabbed Marcus. Marcus was known as a sword saint in the West. He could not defeat powerful Ming generals like Chen Lin and Li Rusong, but he was more than enough to deal with a secretary.

Marcus dodged the sneak attack very gracefully, looked at Xu Fan and asked, "Minister of State, was he the one who whispered nonsense in Your Highness's ear?"

Xu Fan nodded and said, "Just arrest him."

"Puff!" Marcus swung his sword, and with a flash of cold light, the blade slashed across the secretary's neck. The secretary's dagger fell to the ground. He covered his neck and squatted on the ground. Blood began to splatter. The secretary fell to the ground with a look of disbelief.

"It's too much trouble to arrest and interrogate him." Marcus picked up the gloves, wiped the blade, and did not put the sword back into the scabbard. Instead, he returned to Antonio, handed the sword to him, knelt down again and said, "Your Highness, if you think I did something wrong, you can kill me now."

Antonio had no choice but to pick up the sword and tap Marcus' shoulder three times, then put the sword back into the scabbard and pulled the sword master up from the ground.

"Actually, what he said makes some sense. You shouldn't have killed him directly. You should have listened to what he said. Forget it, I'm dead anyway." Antonio said with a smile on his face: "Welcome back!"

"Wisdom led me back to Lisbon." Marcus hugged Antonio with a smile on his face.

"Uh..." Xu Fan felt his head buzzing. He couldn't understand what was happening. Marcus killed the secretary in front of him, and Antonio just tapped his shoulder three times with a sword and everything was fine? The atmosphere was still so harmonious?
"This is how it is in the West. Nobles are nobility. The Shah's envoy once said that there were no nobility in the Ming Dynasty at all." Li Yashi looked at Xu Fan's stunned expression and explained with a smile that this was the cultural difference.

There were no nobles in the Ming Dynasty at all. This was the conclusion Shah Mamtim came to after he had spent a year in the Ming Dynasty and completed the procedures to meet the emperor.

The censors of the Ming Dynasty were eager to look at the military achievements of the Ming Dynasty under a microscope. They would impeach if there was any flaw. For example, the annexation of border areas by the Duke of Qian was not a problem in any other country, but in the Ming Dynasty it had to be discussed openly, and the Duke of Qian had to submit a memorial to plead guilty. The Duke of Yingguo, Zhang Fu, was impeached for mining in the Western Hills and was forced to stop the mines because he was accused of competing with the people for profits.

Yang Shiqi took advantage of the young ruler and the unrest in the country to control the government. His son committed many illegal acts in his hometown and injured and killed civilians. Yang Shiqi was immediately impeached, his son was convicted, and Yang Shiqi was expelled and returned home.

There were no aristocrats in the Ming Dynasty.

If someone had whispered bad things about Qi Jiguang to the emperor, Qi Jiguang would have had to submit an apology and would never have killed the censor in front of the emperor.

Of course the emperor would do it himself.

Qi Jiguang could not do this, but Marcus could, because Marcus was a nobleman and was a true friend of Antonio, while the secretary was just a servant and could be killed at will.

Only in the West can you feel what strict hierarchy is.

"Is this called purging the court of evil officials in the Ming Dynasty?" Marcus put away his sword and asked with a smile.

"This is not nonsense." Li Yashi waved his hand and said quickly, "Purge the emperor's side" is the slogan of rebellion. To completely purge the emperor's side, the emperor must be eliminated together. Marcus understood the Ming Dynasty, but not so thoroughly.

(End of this chapter)