The room goes through the late Ming Dynasty, and the back door leads to North America at the beginni

When this group of knightly guards came around, they all took out short muskets and aimed them at the Fan family.

Under such circumstances, even if their identities were exposed, no one in the Fan family dared to resist with a sword, and they all surrendered without mercy.

Fan Yongdou did not dare to resist the Cavalry Guards, but continued to beat his daughter for revealing his identity. The captain of the Cavalry Guards used a scabbard to pull him off his horse.

After everyone in the Fan family was tied up and Fan Yongdou's identity was truly confirmed, dozens of knights couldn't help but smile.

"I heard that the Fan family is the leader of Shanxi merchants and is one of the eight families named and punished by the Holy Emperor. We have captured Fan Yongdou, which is a great achievement this time."

"Hahaha, who says it's not?"

"The other teams are probably jealous of us."

After hearing the discussion of the Qiaoqiwei, Fan Yongdou realized that Liu Sheng paid so much attention to Shanxi merchants, especially the Fan family.

How could the Fan family escape in such a situation?

Thinking of the several concubines he had blown up to death with his own hands, Fan Yongdou regretted it and couldn't help roaring madly.

"why why!"

Seeing this, the captain of the Cavalry Guard sneered: "Why? Your Fan family should have expected this day from the day you colluded with the Qing captives and betrayed the country for glory."

Fan Yongdou couldn't help but argue, "Collude with the Qing Dynasty and betray the country for glory? I don't know how many businessmen do this. Why does the court target my Fan family?!"

The captain of the Cavalry Guard said, "Don't worry, none of the merchants who colluded with the Qing prisoners and smuggled contraband will be able to escape this time."

After hearing this, Fan Yongdou realized that the Fan family was just the first big piece of gravel to be crushed under the iron fist of the imperial court...
Qianyuan four years, late March.

The Da'ei imperial court's embroidered clothes guards, standing army, personal guards, and inspectorate acted jointly.

Dozens of Shanxi merchants including Fan Yongdou, Wang Dengku, Jin Liangyu, Wang Dayu, Liang Jiabin, Tian Shenglan, Qu Tang and Huang Yunfa were investigated and dealt with in one fell swoop.

These Shanxi merchants were either smuggling contraband, colluding with Qing captives to pass on information, or both.

What's more, when the Qing invaders entered the pass and attacked the city, they acted as internal agents and opened the city gates. In fact, they were an accomplice of the Qing invaders in massacre.

The Da'ei imperial court not only beheaded those who deserved to be beheaded and exiled those who deserved to be exiled, but also notified all provinces and counties of the crimes committed by these Shanxi merchants through notices, making the people of the world despise them.

He also asked historians to record it in the annals of history, making Fan and other traitorous merchants infamy for thousands of years!
April arrived in a blink of an eye.

Nanjing Purple City, Tianxin Hall.

Liu Sheng was listening to a joint report from the Inspectorate and Xiuyiwei on the results of the investigation into traitorous and smuggling Shanxi merchants.

In fact, Shanxi merchants were not the only ones in the north to smuggle and collude with the Qing Dynasty. There were also such merchants in Northern Zhili and Shaanxi, and former Ming officials and big households were also involved.

It's just that there are the most people of this type among Shanxi merchants, and they are also the most helpful to the Qing captives.

Since Liu Sheng decided to investigate Shanxi merchants, he would naturally not let these people go.

Therefore, this is actually a major operation involving the three provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi, and North Zhili.

"A total of 315 million taels of gold and more than 1 million taels of silver were seized this time. A number of jewelry, calligraphy and paintings and other jewelry were found, and their value cannot be estimated at the moment."

"In addition, a total of 13 hectares of farmland and a total of 1858 properties and shops were inspected..."

In fact, the documents, account books and other information related to the property of smuggling and traitorous merchants in the three northern provinces have been sent to Nanjing and handed over to the department for re-statistics.

These documents were piled up like a mountain, and it was naturally impossible for Liu Sheng to inspect them personally. He only needed to know the final results.

At this time, Fan Jingwen and Li Weiqi were asked to report, just for the convenience of hearing some information at any time.

As the commander of the Embroidery Guards, Li Weiqi has been responsible for many inspections in the past few years. When he heard these data, he couldn't help but feel emotional.

These businessmen are so damn rich.

But considering that these merchants, mainly Shanxi merchants, made their fortunes from smuggling and even selling information, the total number of merchants and large households in the three provinces that have been convicted of crimes is more than 100.

Li Weiqi felt that it was natural to be able to seize so much property.

However, as far as he knew, the eight major Shanxi merchants, including the Fan family, had contributed the most.

Take Fan as an example.

More than 100,000 taels of gold and millions of taels of silver were confiscated from several large houses in Laiyuan Fort, Zhangjiakou Fort and Jiexiu's hometown.

However, this is only a small part of the gold and silver hidden by Fan.

The bulk of it is in nine secret money cellars built by the Fan family with the efforts of several generations.

It's not that the Fan family can't build more money cellars, but it's because they have a superstitious belief in "nine is the best number" and worry too much.

Regarding the locations of these nine secret money cellars, Fan Yongdou would rather be "interrogated" to death by Xiu Yiwei than speak out.

Fortunately, Fan Yongdou was not the only one who knew the location of the money cellar. The other Fan family members did not regard wealth as life as much as Fan Yongdou did, and they successively revealed the locations of the nine money cellars.

When the Xiuyi Guards, the Inspectorate, and the Xiaoqi Guards jointly opened the nine money cellars.

I found out that it was called a money cellar. In fact, it contained almost all gold, silver and some easy-to-preserve jewelry.

And the silver is mostly cast into the shape of a large winter melon.

As for gold, it's not that the Fan family doesn't want to do it, but gold is too soft, and casting it into winter melon won't have as much of an anti-theft effect as silver.

After final statistics, the nine money cellars of the Fan family alone contained nearly 500,000 taels of gold and more than 8 million taels of silver!

It can be said that the wealth accumulated by the Fan family for six or seven generations has exceeded that of many vassal princes in the previous Ming Dynasty!
Although the other seven Shanxi merchants were much inferior to the Fan family, their combined wealth was equally astonishing.

Coupled with the more than 100 other convicted merchants in the three northern provinces, the amount of property confiscated is naturally an astonishing number.

Fan Jingwen, who personally told these shocking figures, was even more emotional.

Although he was born into a family of gentry and landowners in Hebei, and some members of his family were engaged in business, in terms of wealth, the entire clan combined was nothing compared to the bottom of the eight major Shanxi merchants.

Recalling that Emperor Chongzhen has been troubled by the financial problems of the Ming Dynasty since he came to the throne, I can't help but think: If Chongzhen knew that the eight Shanxi merchants had accumulated so much wealth through smuggling and betrayal, I wonder if Chongzhen would be so angry that he would survive.

If the imperial court had been able to track down these smuggling and traitorous merchants and seize these properties, the Ming Dynasty might have been able to sustain itself for more than ten years.

Then I knew that it would be difficult to accomplish this in the Ming Dynasty.

Not to mention how many officials were bribed by Shanxi merchants and other traitorous merchants, and they were even unclearly implicated in some high-ranking officials in the court.

Even if these smuggling and traitorous merchants were really investigated, with so many people involved, the number of seizures reported to the court would be estimated to be reduced to less than one-tenth.

Maybe even less.

The Ming Dynasty was like a sickly old man with too many problems that could not be saved by raiding a group of merchants.

Liu Sheng was sincerely happy when he heard these data again.

Although it was a one-time income, it also added more than 140 million taels of silver to Da'ei's treasury.

If you count those precious items such as jewelry, calligraphy and paintings, as well as numerous real estate properties.

This time the government raided Shanxi merchants and other smuggling and traitorous merchants, and the court estimated that it had increased its assets by 300 million taels of silver!
If we include the assets obtained by unscrupulous salt dealers in the four major areas of Huaiyan, Luyan, Southwest Well Salt, and Southeast Sea Salt that were investigated some time ago.

This year, the Da'ei imperial court obtained assets totaling more than 500 million taels of silver just by raiding illegal merchants!

And this is just an estimate.

If the International Trade Department can properly deal with those properties, shops, etc., it will be normal for the Damei court to gain another tens of millions.

After all, the world has been at peace for two or three years, people's lives are getting better and better, and real estate is rapidly increasing in value.

Liu Sheng knew that money piled up in the treasury was just a pile of useless dead things.

Only by spending it can it become Dawei's strength.

So, after Fan Jingwen and Li Weiqi left Tianxin Palace, he thought about how to spend the money.

'Take it from the people, use it for the people. '

'Since the most money was obtained from the investigation of illegal Shanxi merchants, the imperial court was asked to invest in the establishment of several large coal mines in Shanxi. '

'This can not only develop Shanxi's coal resources, but also drive the local economy and give back to the people. '

'By the way, we can also attack the numerous private mines and rescue the mine slaves. '

Shanxi has records of coal mining as early as the Tang and Song Dynasties. By the Ming Dynasty, the northern mountains and forests were not enough for woodcutting, so people in the urban areas began to use coal for cooking and heating.

By the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were already many coal bosses in Shanxi.

And because the Ming Dynasty did not regard coal mines as important mineral officials, it was easy for coal bosses to open mines at this time and they hardly had to pay taxes. The only difficulty that needs to be faced is probably the difficulty of mining coal itself.

However, in the late Ming Dynasty, when human life was not valuable, most of the coal bosses kept private mining slaves, using human lives to mine coal and make money from human lives.

Mining is the third industry that Liu Sheng plans to rectify after the salt industry and tea industry, so it is natural that he will also attack hard.

It can even be said that the rectification of the mining industry will be far more severe than that of the salt and tea industries.

Many minerals, such as coal and iron ore, will be nationalized, and the difficulty of private mining will rise dozens of times.

At the same time, the crackdown on private mines will be dozens of times more severe.

Those who secretly exploit gold, silver, copper, iron and other mineral deposits controlled by the court will even be punished as treason!
'In addition to opening coal plants and iron plants, the construction of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway can also be considered. '

The construction of the railway from Beijing to Zhangjiakou must be quite difficult.

But it's not insurmountable.

After the construction of the first railway in Jiangnan was completed, Dalei's railway construction technology had made great progress. With more time and money, building the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway would not be a problem.

Once the construction of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway is completed, Damei's influence on the military and people's livelihood of Monan Mongolian tribes will reach a new height.

If Dawei makes some breakthroughs in firearms, it may be possible to make the nomads on the prairie put down their bows and knives in advance, leaving only their good singing and dancing side.

From this, Liu Sheng thought of changing the army's uniform.

'It is not yet time for the entire standing army to be equipped with flintlock muskets. However, now that we have a large sum of money, it is better to equip all guards in the standing army with flintlock muskets. '

'Mortars, new explosive bombs, and new grenades can also be installed in the standing army. '

While thinking, Liu Sheng took out his pencil and started writing and drawing on the paper.

Several years later, although Liu Sheng was able to write calligraphy with calligraphy, he was still not used to it.

There are pens, ballpoint pens, and pencils in the villa, but there are not many, only a dozen in total.

Because in later generations, except under certain specific circumstances, he rarely used a pen to write, so naturally he did not have many pens at home.

As for preparing supplies for the end of the world, pens are not a necessity - if the end of the world really comes, pens are not an urgent need and are easier to find elsewhere.

He was ignored by Liu Sheng.

He has used up all the pens in the villa over the past few years.

So he first asked skilled craftsmen to make pencils, and now he has opened a pencil factory.

Liu Sheng usually drafts with a pencil. Only when he needs to write important documents or handwritten manuscripts, he will use a brush or quill.

After roughly calculating the money needed to open coal plants and iron plants, build railways, and re-equip the standing army, Liu Sheng found that the expenses were not large, and there was still a lot of money obtained from the inspection.

So I added the words "expanding the scope of compulsory education" on the draft.

The three-year compulsory education implemented before Dayei was only tried in a few prefectures such as Yingtian, Shuntian, Runing, and Yiyang.

It has been tried for more than two years now and a lot of experience has been gained.

Coupled with the fact that the court had sufficient funds, it was time to expand the scope of compulsory education.

'It is still difficult to implement three years of compulsory education across the country in one fell swoop - even if there are enough funds, there are not enough teachers. '

'However, with the educational talents accumulated in the past few years, it should be enough to promote it in the southern and northern Zhili provinces, Henan, Huainan and other provinces. '

'Not only does three-year compulsory education need to be promoted, but secondary schools and universities also need to be built. '

'In addition, Hailongwei, Donghai Navy, and Nanhai Navy also need to continue to invest money to build more battleships and even develop armored battleships...'

One after another major national events that required money were listed on Liu Sheng's draft.

Soon, he felt that the seizure of more than 500 million taels of silver was not too much.

What's more, these money are one-time income.

In the future, if Damei wants to obtain large amounts of money through inspections, he will probably have to wait until the implementation of "clearing the land and paying taxes to both officials and gentry".

But Liu Sheng estimated that not many gentry and landlords would dare to go against the imperial court at that time.

If the gentry and landowners did not go against the court, he could not seize their properties without any reason.

If you really do that, it will definitely make people panic and even cause great turmoil.

Not worth the candle.

……

The time came to 5:30 in the afternoon, and Liu Sheng "got off work" on time.

The red lady sent someone to send a message in advance, hoping that he would come to Kunning Palace for dinner today.

So he walked to Kunning Palace.

Before entering the palace gate, Liu Sheng heard Liu Rui's cheerful laughter.

"Haha, mother, hurry up!"

Liu Sheng walked in and saw that the red lady was wearing casual clothes and was riding a bicycle with Liu Rui, who was four or five years old!
Daughter Liu Yao (two or three years old) was also standing not far away, clapping her hands and laughing happily.

Seeing Liu Sheng come in, the red lady stopped the bicycle, took Liu Rui out of the back seat, and gave a simple salute together.

Liu Sheng smiled and said: "It seems that you asked me to come here just to look at the bicycles."

"Not bad." The red lady smiled and nodded, "What do you think of this bicycle, Your Majesty?"

Liu Sheng had actually carefully looked at this first bicycle produced by the Jinling Bicycle Factory.

Perhaps because it was sent to the palace to be presented to the Matchmaker, this bicycle was quite exquisite.

The two wheels are made of fine steel, but the outer ring is wrapped with a layer of Eucommia gum, and the outermost part is wrapped with fine silk thread.

Judging from the scene where the red lady was riding with Liu Rui just now, although the wheels are not as good as those with pneumatic rubber tires, their performance is quite good.

At least it rides very silky and smoothly on the palace floor tiles.

As for other designs such as axles, chains, handlebars, and seats, they are similar to those of later mature bicycles.

However, the materials used are exquisite and the workmanship is very exquisite. It actually looks like a handicraft.

Liu Sheng was moved for a moment and said: "It looks pretty good. How much does it cost? If it's too expensive, it won't sell many."

The red lady smiled and said, "This one is customized for the palace, so it is naturally more expensive, costing more than one hundred yuan."

"However, according to the report from the bicycle factory, the ordinary model they develop and produce only costs about fifty yuan."

"In addition, they are currently developing a basic model, and the estimated cost can be reduced by about 30 yuan."

Liu Sheng nodded after hearing this, "That's fine."

Taking the ordinary model as an example, the cost is fifty yuan, and the retail price can be set at eighty to one hundred yuan.

This isn't so dark.

It is common for many products in this world to be sold for several times or even ten times the cost, especially rare items.

Moreover, even if a basic bicycle is produced, for a long time in the future, the money earned will be the money of the middle class and above.

Therefore, Liu Sheng actually felt that ordinary bicycles should be priced at more than 120 silver dollars.

For example, 166 silver dollars, or 188 silver dollars.

In addition, it is possible to use the model in the hands of the red lady as a prototype to produce an exclusive version of the bicycle, priced at 666 silver dollars, or 888 silver dollars.

As for the basic models, they can be sold at a lower price in the future, just fifty or sixty yuan.

While thinking about this, Liu Sheng couldn't help but take action himself and rode a few laps in the palace courtyard, causing Liu Rui and Liu Yao to applaud.

After staying, Liu Sheng had to give a thumbs up to the bicycle factory's product.

The red lady came over and said with a smile, "This is my first bicycle. It'd better have a name. How about giving it a name by Your Majesty?"

Liu Sheng said without hesitation: "Let's call it Phoenix Bicycle." (End of Chapter)