Ming Zhengzhi, I am Zheng Kezang

"My lord, the prospectors sent to the Jilong River found a large amount of alluvial gold in the upper reaches of the Jilong River." In fact, the relevant report was sent to Qiongzhou as early as the end of March, but now it is only done by Hong Lei and Zheng Yingping It's just a face-to-face report. "The prospector went all the way up the river, and found two shallow ore veins. According to the prospector's estimate, the reserves of these two ore veins are at least 30 taels."

"30 taels of gold? 300 taels of silver!" Although Zheng Kezang had a slight impression of Taiwan's largest gold mine in history, he still felt emotional when he heard the figure of 30 taels. Fortunately, Zheng Kezang Finally suppressed his joy. "Did the Yantie Division have a detailed mining plan?"

"The Department of Salt and Iron please allocate [-] slave laborers to build roads and enter the mining area." Hong Lei handed over the report in his hand. "The political affairs hall has already discussed it, but firstly, the number of slave laborers is insufficient, and I am afraid that additional black slaves will have to be purchased. Second, if so many slave laborers are transferred, let alone food and fodder, a division of people must be mobilized In the past, take care of it nearby so that there will be no troubles in the future."

"Transfer a division?" Zheng Kezang gently repeated Hong Lei's suggestion. Since Mingzheng only has seven divisions now, any transfer and arrangement is related to the overall situation, so he did not answer immediately. , but asked Zheng Ying again. "Aside from gold mines, are there any other mines found near the chicken coop?"

"Two pyrite mines and four coal mines have also been discovered, but the reserves are not too large," Zheng Yingping replied honestly. "Furthermore, pyrite contains impurities and is useless for smelting. Although coal is used to make iron, the iron material produced is brittle and unusable."

"Pyrite can directly produce pure sulfur, and making coke from coal and then smelting iron is not inferior to charcoal iron making." What Zheng Yingping despises is a treasure to Zheng Kezang, so he took care of it. "Both are good things, and the Yantie Division will mine them together." Zheng Kezang thought for a while. "Since they are mined together, how to dispatch manpower and arrange transportation, you will come up with a new plan. As for how to make sulfur and coke, the Yantie Division will send some people, and I will personally arrange the experiment." Due to Zheng Zheng Kezang's reputation for being fond of miscellaneous studies has been widely known more than ten years ago, so Zheng Yingping couldn't believe Zheng Kezang's methods, so he agreed, and then listened to Zheng Kezang's words. "That's it for the time being, so please go down and get busy."

Of course Zheng Yingping understood why Zheng Kezang didn't reject Hong Lei, so he retreated obediently, but Zheng Kezang didn't say anything to Hong Lei immediately, instead he called Ke Ping, Yang Ying, and Zheng Bin in.After the prime ministers of the Ming Zheng regime were seated, Zheng Kezang began to talk about a seemingly irrelevant topic.

"Once the 40 people in Qiongzhou enter Taiwan, almost all the old settlements in Tianxing and Wannian counties will be replaced by officials. There are some small households in market towns and county towns."

"Your Majesty is right. In this way, the residents of the original towns were resettled to the northern and southern counties." Yang Ying responded first and then restrained. "However, in Tianxing, Wannian, and Chengtian, there are hundreds of officials and family members living in the clan, and most of the workshops and artisan households in the clan are in the two counties. If it is said that Dingkou's household registration is weak, it is not the same thing. .”

"Yang Qing misunderstood. It's not that Tianxing and Wannian counties are going to be abolished." Zheng Kezang said in shock. "Gu means seeing that Taipei's status is becoming more and more important, so Gu plans to build a city in a chicken coop. After the castle is completed, he will move the various departments and some factories of the feudal clan to Taipei."

Move the capital?Hong Lei and Ke Ping suddenly had intentions on their faces. They didn't expect such a big problem to be raised by a mere Jinguashi. For a while, the room was silent, and several people were desperately turning their heads or analyzing Zheng Kezang's intentions. Or organize sentences to discourage Zheng Kezang's reckless actions.

"My lord," Hong Lei was the first to speak after a long time. "This feudal clan has been fighting for years, and the people's strength has not yet recovered, and most of the people who have recently come to power have not yet returned. At this time, the large-scale labor labor is afraid that it will shake the foundation. Please think twice, my lord."

"My lord, what Lord Hong said is true, the divisions have not yet withdrawn, in case there is a civil uprising"

Zheng Kezang waved his hand and interrupted Ke Ping's words: "I'm afraid you have misunderstood, Gu is just going to set up a county in Danshui and a chicken coop, and then spend two or three years laying county roads to connect the whole Taiwan. During the period, a fortress was set up to guard Jilonggang, and when the household registration was complete and the people settled down, they moved north."

They all breathed a sigh of relief when they heard that Zheng Kezang was about to relocate immediately, among them Zheng Bin suggested after thinking for a moment: "My lord, I heard from Mr. Huang Liangbi who went north to the chicken coop, that although the chicken coop has It is a good port, but firstly, the narrow area is not the place where the foundation was established. Secondly, the surrounding mountains are layered and only connected to Tamsui through the Jilong River Valley. If there is a policeman, it is not easy to rush to rescue. Therefore, I think that if you want to move the capital to Taipei, the Tamsui area should be the best. .”

"Tanshui is still too far north." Hong Lei has his own opinion. "I think it should be located in the Changhua area, so that it can be connected to the hinterland of the vassal." In order to prove his point of view is correct, Hong Lei further pointed out. "Da'anxi North Snow Mountains are criss-crossed, the mountains are horizontal, the terrain is complex, and the traffic is not easy. Even if the Lord wants to build a county road going north, but this section alone, it may not be effective in three to five years, and even if it is completed, the Danshui line There is also a suspicion of loneliness."

"If you stop moving to Changhua, it's better not to move." Ke Ping thought that Hong Lei's suggestion was a waste of money and people, so he proposed to Zheng Kezang. "If the lord considers the issue of stationing troops in chicken coops, I think it's enough to just re-establish the chicken coop fort, and just set up another office to manage civil affairs. There are really miners raging. As long as the food is strangled, are you afraid that they will turn the world upside down?" ?”

"I think Mr. Ke's words are reasonable." Yang Ying only wanted Zheng Kezang to send troops, but he didn't want Zheng Kezang to move the capital, so he chose to support Ke Ping's opinion. "If the lord attaches great importance to Taipei, you can garrison troops in Tamsui, and at the same time move the Navy's Tamsui team to guard chicken coops, or you don't need to move the capital to the north."

Hong Lei also changed his mind: "I think the words of Lord Ke and Lord Yang are reasonable, and I second my opinion."

"The minister also seconded the proposal." Zheng Bin also gave up his proposal. "The minister thinks that tranquility is the most important thing in the town now."

Zheng Kezang frowned. He didn't expect that his proposal would be rejected in front of the political and political councilors as soon as it was put on the table. This made him a little unhappy. Of course, with his current prestige in Taiwan, he can force it However, considering the stability of the political situation, he still reluctantly accepted the opinions of the prime ministers.

"Since the intentions of the ministers are the same, let's put aside the matter of moving to the north for the time being. However, it is urgent to change Tamsui to a county. This is good. I will give it the name Taipei County to treat Danshui. In addition, it will be in front of Jilong and Beifengshan Creek. Xigudi (Note: Hsinchu area) has a separate Taipei County Branch Office to handle government affairs."

Zheng Kezang had no objection to this, so Zheng Kezang made a further decision: "In Changhua North and Taipei South, the Maoli (Note: also known as Maoli, Miaoli) mountainous area set up the Changhua County Branch Office, in addition to the former North Road Appeasement Department It was changed to the East Road Appeasement Department, and Qiongzhou was ordered to dispatch [-] new attached troops to follow the East Road Appeasement Department to the mouth of the Dongzhuoshui River to build a fortress and to appease the local communities."

Zheng Kezang had always been out of reach of the Taitung Kavalan Plain, which was blocked by mountains, but this does not mean that he has no interest in this Taitung hunting ground.Now with the expansion of Ming Zheng's power, Zheng Kezang is ready to test the waters, and the establishment of the East Road Appeasement Division is the first step.Although Hong Lei and others were worried about acting too hastily, since only some newly attached troops and a very small number of propagandists took the lead, it was inconvenient to oppose Zheng Kezang's decision again and again.

"Place names such as Chicken Coop and Dagou are too vulgar. If you don't like it, just change them to Keelung and Xigang (Note: Corresponding to Donggang in Pingtung County)"

Hong Lei and the others retreated, and Zheng Kezang immediately called Wu Shu and Hong Gongzhu in: "Zhengshitang means to station a division in Danshui, I think it is still necessary, and the two Qings immediately sent people to Do a survey in Danshui to see if it is suitable to set up passes and where to set up fortresses. In short, there are two things. The first thing to do is to prevent them from coming out of the mountains to cause trouble.”

Wu Shu looked at Hong Gongzhu, and asked with a slightly stooped body: "Please rest assured, my lord, I will arrange for the camp to be garrisoned. It's just that the lord has a decision, which division is going to be sent north?"

"It doesn't matter which division you are in," Zheng Kezang replied seriously. "Your Majesty is going to formulate a regulation, and each division will take turns to defend. As for whether it is a three-year round or a four-year round, you will discuss it first." Hong Gongzhu was about to say something, so he listened to Zheng Ke. Zang continued. "Not only do divisions have to take turns to garrison, military officers at all levels have to change their duties every three years."

Of course Wu Shu knew that Zheng Kezang's purpose was to prevent the generals from being in great trouble, but what he was worried about was that if the generals didn't know the soldiers, and the soldiers didn't know the generals, it would affect the combat effectiveness of the army, but now he Because of his embarrassing position, he didn't dare to fight against Zheng Kezang easily, so he signaled Hong Gongzhu to come forward with his eyes, but Hong Gongzhu became a coward at this time, leaving Wu Shu helpless.

"In addition, the service law of this feudal clan needs to be changed." Zheng Kezang decided to forcefully implement the national military service system, but how to change it specifically, he hopes that the Military Academy can first draft a charter. "Whether craftsmen should be exempted from military service, how much the merchant's exemption fee is reasonable, and whether the infirm can switch to hard labor if they do not perform military service, you have to coordinate with the various departments."

"My lord, this is a big matter. Should we discuss it after Lord Lin returns?" Since the requirements of the Navy and the Lu Division were inconsistent, Hong Gongzhu did not dare to leave the Navy alone. "In addition, the Lord just said that those who do not serve in the army are not allowed to grant land, so what if the only son of the family would rather work than serve in the army?"

"What you said makes sense. If you can't rush this matter, it's better to wait for Lin Sheng to come back and discuss it." Zheng Kezang stroked the short beard on his chin, with a smile on his face. "However, the punishment for deliberately evading military service and the specific provisions such as compensation for death and disability during military service, I'm still waiting for your advice. Don't expect Gu to be able to make arbitrary decisions."