Da Qin: Self-destruction and time travel, I will extend my life for Qin for a thousand years

Chapter 195 Five Northern Expeditions, Bei Yuan is still alive!

"Biao'er, don't you think our business tax in Ming Dynasty is too low?"

"From this auction alone, Cui Yuan and the others can at least make a profit of more than ten thousand taels, while our business tax can only get thirty yuan!"

"He earns thirty taels, and we only charge one tael in tax!"

As Zhu Yuanzhang spoke, he felt that his breathing was painful.

He had never felt there was anything wrong with his tax policy before. After all, business had always been the lowest-end profession in the Ming Dynasty. How much money could he make?

Now that I see Cui Yuan making so much, I understand what I missed!

There is no telling how much other businessmen can earn, but Cui Yuan actually made tens of thousands of taels in one day.

As long as Ming Dynasty's business tax is higher, I can take advantage of it to be full!

Instead of just watching like it is now.

Zhu Yuanzhang thought that Cui Yuan's purpose in obtaining the special commercial license was to take advantage of the opportunity to make a lot of money, but he still did not expect that he would be so exaggerated.

Contrary to many people's inherent impression that the court was very wealthy, the Ming court was actually very tight. Because the Beiyuan Dynasty was still there, the Ming Dynasty's annual military expenditure alone was a huge expense.

"Father, please calm down."

"Even if we raise business taxes now, it's impossible to impose them on Cui Yuan right away!"

When Zhu Biao saw Zhu Yuanzhang ready to make a move, he could only twitch the corner of his mouth and said helplessly: "Moreover, Cui Yuan and His Majesty Zu Long have just made money now. If you raise the business tax now, aren't you just saying that you are jealous? "

"In this way, even a fool can guess your purpose!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was speechless.

indeed

If you think about it carefully, if you raise the business tax, it will indeed be a bit ugly, and your greed will be too obvious.

"Then what can be done?"

Looking at the glaring Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao could only persuade him nicely: "What can we do? Of course, we won't do anything."

"Now that the deal is done, we have no other choice but to let Cui Yuan and His Majesty Zu Long do what they want."

"Even if the business tax is to be raised, it will have to wait until at least a year later. How can it not be too ugly?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. Although he didn't quite understand what "a done deal" meant, he felt that Zhu Biao was right.

Cui Yuan once said that he would continue to suppress the major wealthy families for himself and let them feel the pressure of survival at all times. He obviously planned to do business for a long time.

As long as Cui Yuan's business is long-term, then just one year's less tax collection is nothing.

However, neither Zhu Yuanzhang nor Zhu Biao would have thought that Cui Yuan's purpose was just to make a quick buck and help Da Qin send troops to attack the Maurya Dynasty.

Cui Yuan did intend to do business in Ming Dynasty for a long time, but except for the initial period, he personally managed it and made a lot of money.

In the future, we will all need to find spokespersons, and we will have a steady flow of water, so that we can be the hands-off boss behind the scenes.

Will the business tax be raised again in one year? The day lilies have already become cold.

"But we can't just swallow this breath! Otherwise, we won't be able to sleep peacefully for the next few nights."

"Ah? Father, what are you planning to do? Do you want to target Cui Shenxian?" Zhu Biao was very nervous, fearing that his father would do something irrational.

"Ha! Don't worry, Biao'er, we won't do anything like repaying kindness with enmity."

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly and stood up with cold eyes: "But we will not be soft on Li Shanchang, Lan Yu and the others!"

"Especially Li Shanchang, we thought he had retired, but we didn't expect he still had so much wealth hidden behind his back!"

"This time, we will never let him go!"

Zhu Biao: "..."

He looked at his angry father and couldn't say anything else.

And Li Shanchang did go too far this time.

It doesn’t matter if you have money, no one will know if you hide it secretly, but you show off your wealth in front of your father, who will suffer if he doesn’t suffer?

That is to say, Li Shanchang is not here, otherwise he would definitely cry and beg for mercy.

He obviously just saw Hu Weiyong, whom he supported with one hand, being killed, so he wanted to indirectly "offer" to His Majesty by purchasing a glass sculpture to seek peace. Who would have thought that things would be like this?

This time, he was really smart, but his cleverness led him to the point where he couldn't even wash his hands after he jumped into the Yellow River.

Talking two ends.

While Zhu Biao and Zhu Yuanzhang were discussing, a small accident also happened at the auction house.

Of course, it was not an accident that someone was causing trouble. Although these glass carvings were extremely valuable, no one with cerebral palsy would cause trouble at the auction.

Even if you don't mention the "secretly" hidden royal family, the Lu family alone is not something they can afford to offend.

But an unexpected person came to visit Cui Yuan.

"Cui Shenxian, His Highness Prince Yan would like to see you."

Lu Li's brother Lu Shou approached cautiously. He already knew Cui Yuan's true identity through Lu Li, and he was very respectful to Cui Yuan.

Although this Cui Shenxian, in a sense, blocked Zhu Yunwen's path to becoming emperor, and caused the Lu family to lose the opportunity to become the most powerful relative in the Ming Dynasty.

But if Zhu Yunwen becomes emperor, he will face the fate of being betrayed and burned alive by the Qing emperor. If the Lu family becomes a relative of a powerful Ming Dynasty, the result will be that their family is confiscated and exterminated.

Lu Shou would rather not have this overwhelming wealth.

Therefore, like Lu Li, he not only had no dissatisfaction with Cui Yuan, but was full of respect, and even vaguely regarded himself as Cui Yuan's follower.

"Judy, is he here?"

Cui Yuan was originally happy. After all, no one was making trouble, so he could count the money with peace of mind.

They even made a reservation at the largest restaurant in Yingtian Mansion for the evening, and were going to celebrate after finishing the work. Unexpectedly, Zhu Di came over at this time.

"Then let him in!"

"Yes!"

Lu Shou took the order and retreated. Not long after, Zhu Di appeared humming a ditty.

"Cui Shenxian, you are so majestic today!"

"In all the streets and alleys around this auction house, there are carriages of various wealthy families parked. Those carriages are full of grain, cloth, gold and silver, more than I have ever seen in my life combined!"

"When I came just now, I almost couldn't squeeze in!"

Zhu Di said, not hiding his envy for Cui Yuan in his eyes.

Although he was a high-ranking vassal king, due to his age and Zhu Yuanzhang's deliberate suppression, Zhu Di's wealth of more than ten years was actually not as good as that of the wealthy family.

Not to mention an old fox like Li Shanchang who has been in charge of the government for more than ten years and has made countless gold. Even if the wealth of ten Zhu Di combined is less than half of his family property. And even such an old fox is rushing to send money to Cui Yuan. How can he not make Zhu Di envious?

"Ha ha!"

"Your Highness, King Yan, has given you too much praise."

Cui Yuan was very humble. He was used to big scenes and was not shocked by the wealth.

For example, in the last two times he traveled to the Tang Dynasty, in order to help the people of the Tang Dynasty survive the many natural disasters in the early years of Zhenguan, he once promoted refined salt in Chang'an, which cost the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes a lot of money, and indirectly led to the creation of a super aristocratic family. ——The Cui family in Qinghe was destroyed.

Compared with that time of fishing from the lake, although the money earned from the wealthy Ming Dynasty this time was already a lot, it still seemed a bit insignificant.

"The reason why this auction is so successful is because the common people took advantage of the case between His Majesty and Hu Weiyong." Cui Yuan said with a smile.

"Being able to borrow the east wind is also your ability." Zhu Di continued to praise.

As he spoke, he stopped talking and turned to hand movements, slowly taking out a stack of detailed papers carefully wrapped in cloth from his arms.

Zhu Di raised his hand and opened the cloth. Cui Yuan looked curiously and realized that they were actually firearms drawings, and they were all completely different from the drawings given by Zhu Biao.

"This is a firearm that relies on a burning match to ignite gunpowder. It is called a matchlock."

"Compared with traditional fire cannons, it has stronger preparation and destructive power. Traditional fire cannons are difficult to kill if it exceeds fifteen feet, but even if the enemy is sixty feet away, it can still cause fatal damage!"

"Cui Shenxian, I hope you can accept this small gift."

Sixty feet, which is one hundred and eighty meters, rounding up is two hundred meters!

For modern firearms with a range of over a thousand meters, this range is basically equivalent to a disabled person half buried in the ground.

But for the current Ming Dynasty, it is undoubtedly an epoch-making artifact!

Although Cui Yuan has never seen the structure of a matchlock gun, he knows that it is a full century ahead of the European firearms of the same era!

"I really didn't expect it to happen now. I thought it would take a few years."

Cui Yuan took the drawing away without any courtesy.

There is no doubt about the power of the matchlock gun. With it, Great Qin's war against the Maurya Dynasty will definitely be more effective with half the effort.

Moreover, the matchlock gun is only one step away from the instant-fire flintlock gun.

As long as it can be taken back to the Mo family for research, I believe it won't be long before a quick-fire flintlock gun can be developed and put into mass production.

By that time, the Qin army, which had prepared flintlocks and matchlocks, would be absolutely invincible in the world. Even if all the other countries in the world put together a confrontation, they would not have the slightest chance of winning.

"His Royal Highness, King Yan, as the saying goes, there is no reward for no merit."

"You gave Cao Min such a big gift. What do you want to know from Cao Min?"

Cui Yuan spoke quickly. He believed that Zhu Di could not give him such a great gift for no reason.

Although Zhu Di did not explicitly explain the origin of the matchlock gun, judging from the fact that Zhu Biao did not have its drawings, Cui Yuan was almost 90% sure that this was the killer weapon developed by Zhu Di's men.

Of course, the purpose of Zhu Di's research cannot be rebellion. After all, Zhu Biao is still there, and his real target is most likely Bei Yuan who is hiding deep in the grassland.

Matchlock guns are inherently restrained for horse cavalry!

"It's refreshing to talk to Cui Shenxian."

Zhu Di smiled and said bluntly, "Actually, the purpose of my visit here today is very simple. I just want to ask one thing - how should the Ming Dynasty destroy Beiyuan?"

"How to destroy Bei Yuan?"

Cui Yuan was slightly surprised and looked at Zhu Di in amazement: "Why do you suddenly care about this? Are you worried that your fiefdom will be invaded by Bei Yuan in the future?"

He originally thought that Zhu Di wanted to ask about what happened after he ascended the throne, but he didn't expect that he actually asked about the annihilation of Bei Yuan.

Zhu Di shook his head repeatedly: "No, that's not the case."

"The remnants of the Northern Yuan are not worthy of justice. I even hope that they can all come out so that I can eradicate them in one fell swoop."

"However, they didn't give me this chance at all. They were just like flies, invading the borders of the Ming Dynasty and killing my people, just like a centipede insect that dies but does not freeze!"

As he spoke, Zhu Di's eyes were filled with murderous intent.

There is one big difference between Zhu Di and Zhu Yuanzhang's other sons, that is, he left Yingtian Mansion three times and was sent to Fengyang, Zhu Yuanzhang's hometown, to stay there.

While training troops and performing martial arts there, they should also fully understand the people's livelihood hardships and folk life, and help the people solve their problems.

Therefore, compared to other vassal kings, he can sympathize with the people at the bottom better, and he is very clear about how great the threat to the people is from enemy invaders.

That's why Zhu Di wanted to ask Cui Yuan about his countermeasures against Bei Yuan before he left for the feudal lord. For this reason, he even took out the blueprints of the matchlock gun he had just developed.

"Cui Shenxian, please help me and the people of Ming Dynasty."

With that said, Zhu Di bowed and saluted Cui Yuan with a solemn expression.

Cui Yuan looked at it and did not stop Zhu Di's actions, but his eyes were a little complicated.

"I didn't expect King Yan to be such a caring person for the common people. Unfortunately, according to historical records, you would go on the Northern Expedition five times after you ascended the throne."

"After I ascend the throne, will I make five northern expeditions in the future?"

Zhu Di, who originally had a serious face, was immediately shocked when he heard this!

What the hell!

Will I be so awesome in the future?

"Don't get too proud too soon."

Cui Yuan gave Zhu Di a roll of his eyes, motioned for him to sit down, and poured Zhu Di a cup of tea: "Although you have made five northern expeditions in the future, you have almost turned the grassland upside down."

"But except for the first two times, we achieved relatively great results - once we wiped out 50,000 elite cavalry of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, prompting the Tatars of the Northern Yuan headquarters to declare themselves vassals and pay tribute, and once we had the largest-scale battle with the Northern Yuan Dynasty in Hulanhu, and the In the duel, Ming Dynasty invested 500,000 troops, and Beiyuan also had about 300,000 troops, severely damaging Beiyuan's main force."

"The next three Northern Expeditions were just a waste of money and people. Beiyuan is simply not willing to confront you again."

"These rats in the stinking ditch know how to hide!" Zhu Di became a little angry, picked up the tea cup and drank it all in one gulp.

Originally, after hearing that he would conduct five Northern Expeditions in the future, he was very happy, thinking that he could finally wipe out the remaining forces of the Northern Yuan Dynasty with his own hands.

I didn't expect that these guys were still so cowardly. They only fought me twice and completely avoided me the next three times and refused to come out.

Cui Yuan sighed: "Hey, there is nothing we can do about this. The Ming Dynasty's army is an army of agricultural civilization. For them, land and food are everything. The deeper you go into the desert, the more terrifying the consumption of food will be."

"As a nomadic people, Beiyuan has no such worries at all. The herds can be stationed wherever they are, and they have no worries about supplies."

"Even if the future His Highness is brave and brave, he will still be unable to deal with Bei Yuan."

"So, do you mean there is no other way?" Zhu Di listened with some despair in his tone.

"No, I mean that Bei Yuan cannot be completely eliminated using conventional means."

Cui Yuan sneered: "But unconventional means are fine."

(End of this chapter)