In the Southern Song Dynasty, I competed with Mongolia for the world

Chapter 554 The third prince is the most ruthless
"I still remember that in the winter when I was twelve years old, early in the morning, my father asked us brothers to take off our thick coats, and then we went out for a run with our father."

"It was very cold at that time, and it was still snowing outside. My mother was crying like a tear, but we didn't dare to say anything, so we could only run with our father because he wore less clothes than we did."

"The third brother got sick afterwards and almost - but luckily he survived in the end."

"General Zheng, so don't treat me like a pampered prince. If you can endure hardships, so can I."

Zheng Youcai looked incredulous when he heard the royal secrets for the first time.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Yurui, an official, was so strict with his children.

At this time, they had arrived at the coastline of Kalajin Bay. Zhao Fu looked east, silent, recalling his father's words and the palace map in his mind.

Going east from here is the Bering Sea. Beyond the Bering Sea is the Pacific Ocean, and opposite is Beibaozhou (North America).

According to my father, it is only about 10,000 miles from here to Beibaozhou. It can be reached in more than a month using the Song Dynasty ship. The opposite side is also a rich place with gold everywhere.

But now the Song Dynasty cannot support sailing from the Far East and crossing the Pacific Ocean.

There are no large shipyards or large docks here, and the population is small.

It is more than 10,000 miles from Lin'an. It is impossible to transport a large amount of materials, people, and ships from Lin'an and then cross the Pacific Ocean from here.

Only if this place builds its own shipyard in the future, has a large population, and can be completely self-sufficient can it do this.

Zhao Yurui's current main focus is on expanding westward to deal with the Mongols and Europeans.

However, Zhao and Rui implied that in the future, the task of expanding to the east and occupying the North and South Treasure Islands (North and South America) would be left to future generations.

"There is a place opposite called San Francisco, and there is gold everywhere there. In the future, my fleet will definitely arrive there." Zhao Fu pointed at the deep sea in the distance and made bold statements.

Zheng Youcai and other generals looked at each other.

In early February, Zhao Fu returned to Pinrenna Bay, returned to Kuye Island in late February, and then went directly to Kuye City. After years of development, the population here has already exceeded 10,000. However, in order to build Far East City, the local area is Recruit migrant workers.

While Zhao Yu was patrolling his territory.

Tens of thousands of miles away.

The city of Rai in Persia will also welcome its new owner.

A dozen carriages entered from the east of Rye City, and soon arrived at a large local house.

There are two rows of sergeants stationed outside the house. There is a wooden plaque on the left with a few words written from top to bottom.

"The Governor's Mansion of Daming City, Song Dynasty."

This is the temporary governor's palace.

After the carriage stopped, two people walked out of it. One was the emperor's brother-in-law, Qin Chen, the governor of Hanzhou, and the other was a young man who looked to be only thirteen or fourteen years old.

This young man is none other than the emperor's third son, the fourteen-year-old Zhao Yi, Qin Chen's sister and Qin Nan's son.

Zhao Qi was the king of Han, and Qin Chen was the governor of Hanzhou. He was supposed to accompany Zhao Qi in Hanzhou.

But this time Zhao Yi came to Persia. As his uncle, Qin Chen specially sent Zhao Yi here after getting Zhao Qi's consent.

Zhao Yi was only fourteen years old. He had just finished middle school and came directly to Persia without even going to college.

But in the accompanying carriage, many people got out one after another, including his guards, teachers, royal medical officers, etc.

In the fifteenth year of Yuanzhen, Zhao and Rui established Daming Province.

The scope of Daming Province extends to the city of Lai in the Caspian Sea in the north, to Western Persia in the west, to Afghanistan in the east, and to the Persian Gulf in the south.

Equivalent to the entire Persian and part of the Afghan region in later generations, this province was considered a relatively large province in the Song Dynasty.

Of course, there are many large provinces in the Song Dynasty now, the Far East Province is no smaller than here, and the Hanzhou of the emperor's eldest son, King Han, is not much smaller than here, and the territory of King Han has several provinces, and the total is not smaller than here.

At that time, there was Zoroastrianism in Persia. Zhao and Rui took the idea of ​​Ming and changed it to Daming Province, and the whole of Persia became Daming.

Lai City was renamed Daming City and became the capital of Daming Province.

The third son of the emperor, Zhao Yi, became the king of Ming Dynasty and granted the land of Ming Dynasty, but at the same time he also temporarily controlled the Central Asian provinces.

The first governor of the Ming Dynasty was Zhang Xuan, and the first governor of Central Asia was Meng Gong.

Zhao Yi is mainly responsible for the affairs of these two provinces, with Daming Province as the main one.

Zhang Xuan was the former guard general of Dashan Pass in Sichuan. He followed Meng Gong in many battles. This time he was finally divided into two sides, and he was considered to have reached the peak of military generals.

The commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty was Chen Xiaodao, a young man who was born in Prince Yi's palace. He had a good relationship with Qin Chen and had known each other in the palace in their early years.

Zhao Yi is only fourteen years old. Generally, young people from rich families at this age look relatively immature.

But Zhao Yu said before that Zhao Yi had suffered hardships with his father Zhao Yurui since he was a child. One time when he was running in winter, he almost died of illness.

Moreover, Zhao Yi goes to the south for a month every year. Now his skin is a little tanned and he looks more mature than an ordinary fourteen-year-old boy.

But where is his age? Now he is in a new place, his eyes are rolling around, and he looks very playful.

At this time, his uncle Qin Chen led him inside and said in a good voice: "Your eldest and second brothers are both overseas, and the conditions are more difficult than yours. You are younger and the place is better than them. When you get here, you must have more Study and don’t forget your homework, your father will send someone to test you at any time.”

"I know, uncle, Yi'er will learn attentively." Zhao Yi respected his uncle very much, and Yi'er spoke one word at a time.

After they entered, there were already many civil and military officials waiting for them in the hall.

Everyone came to see them one after another according to their official rank. Qin Chen and Governor Zhang Xuan said a few words to the crowd, then clasped their fists at everyone and left immediately without daring to stay any longer.

He is the governor of Hanzhou, and it is not suitable for him to stay in Ming Dynasty forever.

As soon as his uncle left, Zhao Yi's back seemed to straighten a lot.

Zhao Yi, who was only fourteen years old, looked at the officials around him curiously, still remembering the names of these people in his mind.

Zhao Yi has a good memory since he was a child, and his studies are among the best among his brothers. He is also the only prince among the brothers who can speak some English.

Seeing that he had a good memory, Zhao Yurui only taught him English.

The officials present were all new officials from various prefectures in the Ming Dynasty province, and they were all at the level of prefect or above.

Those at the county magistrate level are not qualified to be present today.

After meeting various officials, Zhao Yi, Governor Zhang Xuan, Zhizhi envoy Cui Shusi (Cui Yu's son), all commanded Chen Xiaodao, Daming City magistrate Zhao Shu, local Jin Yiwei Qianhu Xu Qi and other important officials entered Back hall.

Zhao Shu, along with Qin Chen, was the first to get acquainted with Zhao Yurui, but his abilities were limited and his official promotion had been slower in recent years.

There was also a man named Qin Zhonghu, a member of the Qin family, who was Zhao Yi's guard commander and bodyguard.

Several people sat together. Zhao Yi was the youngest, but he sat at the top. It seemed very inconsistent at first. But when Zhao Yi spoke, he seemed to have a decent tone: "You are all Zhao Yi's uncles and uncles. There are no outsiders here. We just treat each other as our own family members. Sit down, sit down, Zhonghu, and serve tea."

Qin Zhonghu immediately went to make tea.

Several people looked at each other, didn't expect Prince Ming to be so mature? It is worthy of being taught by His Majesty the Emperor.

Zhao Yurui now has a total of eight sons, four of whom are under ten years old, and two of them are fourteen years old, Zhao Yi and Zhao Wei. However, they have two older brothers. Zhao Qi was not crowned king until he was eighteen, and Zhao Yu He was only granted the title of king at the age of seventeen. Zhao Wei was still studying in Lin'an. Zhao Yin was able to be crowned the king at the age of fourteen, which was obviously different.

As soon as he opened his mouth today, everyone felt that he was much more mature than people of his age.

Zhao Yi has the Qin family behind him. What is the current status of the Qin family in the Song Dynasty? Qin Zhuo was the chief assistant, and his son Qin Chen was the governor.

The Qin family was the richest man in the Song Dynasty.

Therefore, Zhao Yi has heard and witnessed it since he was a child, and under the guidance of Zhao Yurui and the Qin family, he is much more mature than his peers.

After Qin Zhonghu made tea, Zhao Yi first chatted with everyone for a few words, so that everyone got to know each other again.

We just met outside, and now we get to know each other deeply.

After Zhao Yi finished speaking, Governor Zhang Xuan looked at the envoy Cui Shusi.

"His Royal Highness Prince Ming." Cui Shusi took out a small notebook and began to report to him.

It took nearly a year from the Song army's occupation of Persia to post-war statistics. The total population of Daming Province is now 21.6 million, and the arable land area is about 600 million acres. The actual cultivated land area is about 100 million. Ten million acres.

The population of Persia is still small now. At its peak, it had a population of more than 50 million. Of course, its area was also larger than it is now.

The total arable land area in Persia is about more than 700 million acres. Later generations have cultivated more than 200 million acres. Now it is less than half of it.

Uncle Cui seemed to report a lot of figures. The Song army captured the entire territory of Persia in the 13th year of Yuanzhen, and it has been nearly a year and a half now.

So now there are taxes.

Song Jun's local tax is 30%, and the annual tax revenue can theoretically be 60 million dan. In fact, due to various factors last year, he received more than 40 million dan, which can be regarded as a huge income.

This is much more than what the Mongols collected when they were here, because when the Mongols were here, they ruled the place in the same way as the original lords. The people paid taxes to the lords, and the lords paid taxes to Mongolia.

The Song army almost killed all the Persian lords, big and small, and distributed all the lords' fields to the people in various places. There was no middleman to collect taxes. In this way, the actual tax collected by the Song army was far more than that of the Mongolian army. In addition, the Daming Province is now There are also some areas such as Afghanistan.

In addition to grain tax, there are also various taxes such as commercial tax. In short, Zhao Yi's expression was shocked after hearing a series of figures.

Because he thought of what his uncle Qin Chen said just now, the population here far exceeds that of the two elder brothers, and this advantage is irreparable.

Although the eldest brother's fiefdom is large and there are several provinces, they are all overseas, and the total population is less than five million.

Not to mention my second brother’s Far East, which is entirely dependent on immigration. The territory is larger than his Daming Province, with a population of less than one million, and it is also a bitterly cold place.

His Persian fiefdom had a population of more than 20 million, an area of ​​arable land of hundreds of millions, developed commerce, and a huge port on the Persian Gulf.

So although he is the youngest, he has the best starting conditions.

Last year's grain tax and other revenue combined were as much as the Southern Song Dynasty.

Zhao Yi's eyes rolled around when he heard this, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

But these things are not something he can use casually. He is the king of the Song Dynasty, not the king of the Ming Dynasty.

Then Uncle Cui changed his tone and said, how many thousands of shi were paid to the court for grain tax last year, how many thousands of shi were used by the local garrison and officials, how many thousands of shi were transported to Hanzhou, how many tens of thousands of shi were stored in the local area, etc.

In the end, he left five thousand stones to the palace.

I'll go. Zhao Yi was quite speechless when he heard this. His fief collected more than 40 million shi, and finally left him with 5,000 shi.

But Cui Shusi said that this was the first year King Ming had just arrived, and the court had only given him so much. The implication was that starting from next year, there would not be so much, according to court rules.

Zhao Yi twitched the corner of his mouth and said quickly: "Properly, it should be in accordance with the laws of the court." Does he dare to say no? Of course not.

Cui Shusi then reported and gave a lot of figures, mainly building granaries in various places to store grain and prevent natural disasters and wars.

Granaries are concentrated in the west and north directions.

These two directions will use troops against Mongolia and Europe in the future, so the imperial court will build more granaries on these two sides.

Because you have collected more than 40 million shi in grain tax, it is impossible to ship all of it to Lin'an.

Although it was said to be handed over to the court, only a small amount was actually transported away. Most of it was converted into money or materials and stored in Daming Province to prepare for future wars.

Uncle Cui seemed to take the longest time to report. He talked for two quarters of an hour. All kinds of data were densely packed. Zhao Yi could write them down in a short time. But fortunately, he knew that the materials would be reported to him after the meeting, so he was not in a hurry. .

At this time, young Zhao Yi already understood what his father meant.

Conquering Persia has so much tax revenue and so many people, but what about conquering other places?
My father said that it is indeed necessary to continue to expand and conquer.

After Cui Shusi finished speaking, he directed Chen Xiaodao to stand up and report.

Daming Province currently has eight armies and more than 48,000 troops stationed there.

However, this year the imperial court began to require the recruitment of local Persians from Daming Province.

It is planned to recruit 20,000 people and mix them with the Song army. The garrison will reach about 70,000 people.

But the country is not yet stable, and there are sporadic resistances everywhere.

Because when the Mongols ruled here, regardless of the locals, they were managed by the lords. The local customs were still maintained. Places that are more famous for Zoroastrianism are full of Zoroastrian believers.

After the Song army came in, although they killed the lords and divided the fields, they were still ruthless in attacking Zoroastrianism. They also destroyed Persian characters and demanded learning Chinese. This caused local resistance. In the past year or so, the Song army The army made peace everywhere and resolutely killed all those who resisted.

Hearing this, Zhao Yi's expression changed and he said loudly: "Kill."

"There will be no mercy for those who dare to resist. People have absolutely no respect for gifts and alms, but for swords and guns."

Everyone's expressions changed slightly, they didn't expect the young third prince to say such cruel words.

He is indeed His Majesty's son, Commander Chen Xiaodao thought silently.

He still remembered the first time he saw Zhao Yurui in his mind.

Zhao Yurui threw a knife on the ground and asked their friends to kill each other.

Zhao Yurui was only fifteen years old back then. He was so similar to the Zhao Yi in front of him. Chen Xiaodao was a little dazed for a moment. Looking at Zhao Yi, he seemed to see Zhao Yurui back then.

After Chen Xiaodao finished speaking, it was Xu Qi, a member of the local Jinyi Guard Qianhu.

(End of this chapter)