Baidu otaku as Chongzhen

Chapter 445 Recruiting Zheng Zhilong

These days, wave after wave of interviews with people from all walks of life, promises, and persuasions, Yang Reform is so busy that he is dizzy, but fortunately, there is heavy snow these days, so he doesn't have to go to court, but he can concentrate on this matter , no need to be distracted to do other things.

In order to deceive people, Yang Reform met with a few of his own imperial party or people who needed to be wooed, and then met with a few ministers who were not familiar with or had no reliance. At the end of the day, Yang Reform was exhausted.It is really not easy to be the emperor, especially to be a good emperor, let alone to be a rebellious emperor, the difficulty is not ordinary.Who needs to be wooed, who is worthy of wooing, who is more important, and who needs to say something. All of these are carefully considered one by one. My head is about to explode, but it is obvious that the days are waiting for no one, and it is getting more and more urgent, and I can't take a break if I want to take a break.

Just after seeing off a minister, Wang Chengen reported that Li Ruolian had arrived.

"See you!" Yang Reform touched his forehead and said with a headache.

"I obey, Your Majesty!" Seeing the emperor's headache, Wang Chengen wanted to say something, but he didn't say anything. Since the emperor had already said that he had met him, it would be his fault to stop him. He shouldn't be quick-mouthed. It's not an ordinary person who holds the emperor's money bag, and it's okay not to report it.

"Minister Li Ruolian kowtows to Your Majesty!" Li Ruolian kowtowed as soon as he entered.

Yang Reform was lying on the warm bed to rest for a while. Seeing Li Ruolian kowtow, he opened his eyes and said, "Get up." Yang Reform took a sip of strong tea, and his energy improved a little. These days, relying on strong tea to refresh himself The effect is getting worse and worse.

"Thank you, Your Majesty Ron!"

Yang Reform looked at Li Ruolian, his complexion was rosy, he was much more capable than before, and he didn't develop into a big belly. He knew that he had been exercising a lot these days, nodded, and said, "Look at Ruolian's complexion, it's not bad. You should take a nap often these days." Boil it?"

"Returning to Your Majesty, these days, I get up early every day to work hard, not to forget your majesty's teachings, and to be a person who doesn't forget my roots." Li Ruolian said quickly. A few days ago, I was reprimanded by the emperor. Only then did he resume and increase the level of training, and the warning of not forgetting the original was hanging in his head all the time.

"That's right! If Lian can do this, I dare to say that the achievements in this life will be limitless!" Yang Reform stared.

"Thank you for your majesty's cultivation, and thank you for your understanding." Li Ruolian said hastily.

"What's going on in the bank now?" Yang Reformed.

"Your Majesty, everything is fine. Several branches have been opened in Nanjing, Shaanxi, and Liaodong." Li Ruolian quickly replied.

"How much money is collected and stored? How much is loaned out? What is the profit?" Yang Reform asked carefully.

"Returning to Your Majesty, as of yesterday, a total of 900 million taels of silver have been collected and stored in various places, and about 400 million taels of silver have been loaned out. After deducting various expenses, the profit will be about 40 taels by the end of this year." Li Ruolian replied quietly. .

"That's right. In the future, this scale will continue to expand. In the future, we will have branches in various places. What I promised in the first half of the year will make up for the debts over the years. The remaining 200 million taels will also be distributed to various places through the bank to avoid military suppression. For the pain of delivery, I request that it be distributed to the soldiers of all sides by the beginning of the twelfth lunar month at the latest. You must pay more attention to this matter. If it is really remote, it can be a little later, such as Gansu Town and the like, but it must also be released in the new year. It will be sent before." Yang Reform said again.

"The minister leads the order." Li Ruolian quickly agreed.

"In addition, I called you here today to tell you that at the end of the year, the money has to be tightened up, the accounts that should be recovered must be recovered, and this year's accounts should be done well, so that we can start bigger business next year... ... I will have a few big businesses next year, and I will take the bank route and get money from the bank instead of taking money directly from my internal funds. It is not worthwhile to get money from me. If you go through your bank For a while, you can earn some money, so you must have a lot of money in your bank, otherwise, if you can't do it, don't blame me for not taking care of you!" Yang Reform said with a smile, this kind of paradox Yes, like guessing riddles, weaving it is really a headache. You have to comprehend the second half of the speech, which really hurt Yang Reform's mind.

"Your Majesty's decree..., this, I dare to ask, the big business that His Majesty refers to is going to the minister, but you are talking about the carriage yard?" Li Ruolian agreed, and asked quickly. The latest news is that the emperor intends to separate the carriage yard. It was listed as a factory, and it was also made into shares like Liulizhai. After selling the shares, the carriage farm was expanded and the carriages were sold to the south. That's why Li Ruolian asked this question.

"Hehe, that's right. It seems that you still put your heart into it. Although the stock is not directly related to the bank, it has something to do with silver. It can be regarded as a matter in your industry. You can pay attention to this, which means that you are doing it with your heart. The thing is indeed like this, I plan to list the carriage farm separately, then make it into shares, and then sell the stocks on the stock exchange to raise funds, maybe the money is not enough, so I may still borrow money from your bank..." Yang Reform explained with a smile.

"I understand." Li Ruolian understood after a brief explanation from the emperor that the emperor was trying to solicit business for him. In fact, whether it is a carriage farm or other farms, it is not necessary to borrow money from the bank. If you want to Well, the emperor can get money directly from internal funds, but now that it has become a joint-stock system, it is not appropriate to take money from internal funds, because now it belongs to everyone, not the emperor alone. If the emperor wants to expand the business by himself and borrow money from the bank, it is obviously hypocritical, but if it belongs to everyone, it is understandable to use everyone's business to borrow money from the bank. Big money may not be enough, so it is logical to borrow money from the bank. By the way, it can also make him a bank.

"Just understand. This is just one of them. There are bigger deals that require more money. Therefore, I want you to tighten up your money and prepare for the big deal next year. If you don't earn money, you won't earn it for nothing." "Yang Reform said with a smile, in fact, Yang Reform asked Li Ruolian to prepare the money, and he was even more prepared to be afraid that something might happen. At any rate, he still had several million taels of silver in his hands, so that he would not face the unpredictable situation empty-handed. Things, at that point, you have to talk about real money, but you can't say it directly, you have to cover it up, it's really annoying.

"I understand, I understand the order!" Li Ruolian happily agreed, the emperor's business has always been a "high-quality" business, basically making a steady profit without losing money, and making money from these businesses is naturally much easier than lending usury up.

……

When Li Ruolian left, Yang Reform felt that he had a headache, to the point where he couldn't even drink strong tea to refresh himself.

"Your Majesty, why don't you go out for a walk? I haven't been out for a walk these days, so I can't bear it!" Seeing the emperor's uncomfortable expression, Wang Chengen said.

"Who else is there next?" Yang Reform wiped his forehead and asked again.The work of interviewing people can't be stopped. I don't usually feel that at this critical moment, when it's time to probe, make wishes, and win over people from all walks of life, only then do I know that an emperor is facing the entire bureaucratic class. I can't do what I want, I just meet the ministers in the court, those who can't come to the stage are not counted, I can't bear it, let alone facing the entire bureaucratic class, a person's energy is always limited, limited energy Facing many bureaucrats and ministers, apart from being strenuous, they are powerless. This is a job that will be exhausting.

"Back to Your Majesty, it's Zheng Zhilong who His Majesty wants to surrender." Wang Chengen said distressedly, His Majesty's body is obviously too much to bear, but this Zheng Zhilong is indeed a very important person who must be seen. good arrangement.

"Well, in this way, it's really not a problem for me to stay in this warm pavilion all the time. This person has also become listless. In this way, I will sleep for half an hour. After half an hour, I will go out of the palace. In addition, I will meet Zheng Zhilong in the carriage..." Yang Reform thought for a while, and ordered.

"This..., Your Majesty, then Zheng Zhilong is..., Your Majesty, I'm afraid it's..." Wang Chengen has no objection to the emperor leaving the palace, but he does have objections to the emperor receiving Zheng Zhilong in the carriage. Zheng Zhilong is a pirate. What if something happens?
"It's okay, my big companion will do as I please, I'm asleep..." After Yang Reform finished his orders, he fell asleep, not in the mood to care about so much.

Wang Chengen had no choice but to go out and make arrangements.

……

When he woke up again, Yang Reform was already in good spirits. He drank some hot tea, rinsed his mouth, put on some clothes, and left the Qianqing Palace that he hadn't been out these days.

Zheng Zhilong has been waiting at the palace gate for a long time, but he has not been summoned by the emperor. He was sitting there waiting for the emperor's summons, but was led out of the palace by the eunuch. Just wondering, seeing Wang Chengen waving at him, Zheng Zhilong was even more puzzled , Wang Chengen was dressed like an ordinary person, and he was still outside the palace.

"Fei Huang has met my father-in-law!" Zheng Zhilong hurriedly greeted and saluted.

"There is no need to be polite for an official. If you are not in the palace, you can just call our housekeeper Wang. An official can come with our house." Wang Chengen said.

Zheng Zhilong followed Wang Chengen, turned a corner, saw several large carriages standing there, and was even more puzzled.Wang Chengen opened one of the carriages and said, "My lord, Feihuang has arrived."

Yang Reform was drinking tea in this carriage, when he saw what Wang Chengen said, he nodded.

"An official, my son let you in." Wang Chengen said to Zheng Zhilong.

Zheng Zhilong got into the carriage in surprise, and was amazed to see the emperor sitting there in casual clothes. Without hesitation, he immediately knelt down and said, "Long live, long live, long live to see my emperor."

"An official! This is outside the palace. There is no need to perform such a big ceremony. Just be casual and sit down. I have been staying in the palace recently and feel very bored. I was about to go out for a walk. I happened to call an official for something. Let me take a stroll around the capital with me." Yang Reform said casually with a smile.

Although the emperor claimed to be more casual, Zheng Zhilong, who was afraid of the imperial power, was still very careful for fear of any trouble.

"Grassmen obey the decree!" Zheng Zhilong's heart was beating wildly. He actually met the emperor's incognito clothes, and the emperor even invited him to take a carriage with him, saying that they were visiting the capital together. Zheng Zhilong felt that he was dreaming, why was it so unreal?

"Housekeeper, you can go!" Yang Reformed.

"Yes, my lord." Out of consideration for the emperor's safety, Wang Chengen insisted on sitting in the carriage, and added a curtain in the carriage to separate the emperor from himself, so that if something happened to the emperor, he would be the first to rush up Protect the emperor. Fortunately, this carriage is very big. There is a big difference between the four-wheeled one and the two-wheeled one. A curtain is added, and the inside is still spacious. Hearing the emperor's call, he agreed. , opened the door and urged the "bodyguards" outside, and the carriage began to run forward.

……

The jingling carriage bells kept ringing non-stop, and there was thick water vapor on the glass of the carriage, reminding that it was winter outside.Yang Reform wiped the glass to wipe off the water vapor, and the outside world immediately came into view, and the scene of ordinary people rushing for their lives appeared.

It was very warm in the carriage, and it was a different world from the outside world.Yang Reform opened the window of the carriage, and a gust of cold air rushed into the carriage immediately, and the hustle and bustle outside also entered the carriage.

Yang Reform didn't speak, but kept looking at the situation outside the window, watching the people busy.Zheng Zhilong, on the other hand, sat there anxiously and accompanied the emperor. He didn't dare to speak rashly when the emperor didn't ask questions, and he didn't dare to pant when he saw the emperor looking out of the window in a daze.

The cold air had almost blown the heat inside the carriage. Yang Reform felt a little cold, so he closed the window and said with a smile, "It's a little cold." He immediately blocked the noise outside.

"Grass people are not cold!" It was rare for the emperor to say a word, and Zheng Zhilong quickly agreed.

"Hehe, what do you think of an official looking at the lives of the people outside this window?" Yang Reform asked with a smile.

"Returning to Your Majesty, the people under His Majesty's rule live a healthy and prosperous life, and they are all doing well." Zheng Zhilong tried to speak decently.

"Hehehe, do you? But I don't think so!" Yang Reform said with a smile, looking at Zheng Zhilong who was a little embarrassed.

Zheng Zhilong didn't know what to answer, so he just kept his head down and didn't speak.

"The people under my rule are not only the capital, Liaodong, Shaanxi, Fujian, Sichuan, Henan, Shanxi, etc. are all under my rule. You, the official just mentioned the capital..." Yang Reform said with a smile.

Zheng Zhilong didn't even know what to say. The place outside the Liaodong Pass was a place where he fought with the Eastern captives. Shaanxi immigrated millions of people and encountered a drought that was once in a century. Fujian probably said that he was a pirate who attacked the city and plundered land. , I won’t talk about other places, there are more or less problems, this is the emperor’s dissatisfaction with himself!
"...One official thinks, what should I do to make the people under my rule live a better life, not to go hungry, not to be cold, and to have books to read?" Yang Reform continued to ask.

"Return to Your Majesty, the grass people are stupid, the grass people don't know." Zheng Zhilong didn't dare to breathe. Is the emperor questioning him?

"Actually, I can understand why one official can easily immigrate tens of thousands of people under my rule to the Great Liuqiu." Yang Reform continued, staring at Zheng Zhilong with a smile.

"The grass people are guilty, the grass people deserve to die!" Zheng Zhilong quickly changed from sitting to kneeling, kneeling in front of the emperor, the emperor asked him his crime.

"Hehehe, I don't blame you. Get up. I'm actually very ashamed. I didn't give my people a place to live and work in peace. My people abandoned me. I don't blame them." Yang Reform smiled. Said, the atmosphere in the carriage is very dull and depressing.The jingling carriages intensified this depressing atmosphere even more.

"Grass people deserve death..." Zheng Zhilong kowtowed repeatedly, not daring to get up.

"I invited an official to travel in a carriage today, but I have no intention of pursuing your crime. Get up, an official." Yang Reform said again.

Zheng Zhilong got up now.

"One official thinks, how are the immigrants from Shaanxi doing?" Seeing that Zheng Zhilong got up, Yang Reform asked again.

"Returning to Your Majesty, this move is unprecedented. It is enough to demonstrate His Majesty's holiness. It will surely be praised by all people in the world, and its good name will surely be passed on forever. All people in the world are grateful to Your Majesty." Facing the emperor's millions of immigrants, Zheng Zhilong faced this. This kind of handwriting is also admirable and admirable. The emperor has this kind of ability and this kind of method, which also makes him fearful. The emperor can use 1000 million taels of silver to immigrate, but can't he use 1000 million taels of silver to run a navy?Previously, the emperor only said that a million taels of silver would be used to build warships every year. Zheng Zhilong felt more and more that the emperor was talking too little. Now, there is no difficulty in unifying the ocean, and he, Zheng Zhilong, may not even be left with scum in the face of such overwhelming power.

"Hehehe, although outsiders say that I did a beautiful job and did a good job, in fact, I have suffered a lot! As an official knows, 1000 million taels of silver can only immigrate a million people, and this natural disaster will last for more than ten years. Years, every year, the number of immigrants may be more and more, and it is unknown. Now I immigrate them to the big lakes such as Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake, and build fields around the lakes. There is still a place to settle down, but the northern provinces need There are more than a million immigrants? Where will I find them fast land to settle down? I can't sleep day and night! It is the actions of an official that inspire me and open my eyes. There are many overseas lands, and I will never Don't be afraid that the immigrants will have nowhere to resettle, it will solve my serious problem!" Yang Reform poured bitter water on Zheng Zhilong.

"What your majesty says, the grass people do, and the grass people only obey you." Zheng Zhilong heaved a sigh of relief. The emperor had taken a fancy to Da Liuqiu and wanted to immigrate there. If this is the case, he has now figured it out. The emperor is If he is determined to immigrate, the Emperor of the Great Liuqiu will definitely want it too. Conflicting with the emperor and fighting against him, he has no confidence at all now. According to the emperor's temper and methods, he may use 1000 million taels of silver to run the navy. When it comes to building warships, if I dare to say no, I'm afraid I will be beaten to the point where I can't even find the scum.

"...If I want to emigrate, I must ensure the safety of the sea. I heard that pirates and barbarians are rampant on the sea. If I want to emigrate, I will definitely run a navy. Is it right or wrong for an official? Is it necessary? "Yang Reform asked intentionally. Isn't it intentional to talk about pirates in front of pirates?"
"Caomin... Caomin thinks that His Majesty is right and necessary." Zheng Zhilong was already sweating, isn't he a pirate leader?Did the emperor say this to warn himself?Or, did you lift yourself out of the range of pirates?Recruited?
"The official is right. I plan to clean up all the pirates and barbarians on the sea. I not only want to emigrate to the Great Liuqiu, but also emigrate to Southeast Asia, Australia, America, and even wider lands. I plan to fight them all. , to resettle my people, otherwise, the tens of millions of people under my rule would have no place to live, and it would always be my fault, my fault..." Yang Reform raised his head and said with a sigh.

Zheng Zhilong's head exploded. It seems that the emperor knows as much about the ocean and overseas affairs as he does, and has made such a big ambition. Isn't the emperor just joking?

"Does the official think I can do it?" Yang Reform asked with a smile.

"This, maybe, should, definitely can." Zheng Zhilong changed a few words, and finally chose affirmation. No matter how you say it, the current Holy Majesty is not bragging when he speaks and does things. It has been done, although what he said just now is a bit big, but Zheng Zhilong still believes that there is some possibility.

"I won't hide the matter of seeking land with warships. I will definitely do this. I will definitely wipe out the pirates along the coast of Ming Dynasty. Those barbarians in Nanyang will definitely be driven away. Now There is only one person missing to do this for me, would an official be willing to go?"

"Grassmen are willing! Willing to share your majesty's worries!" Zheng Zhilong quickly agreed. In fact, he had been waiting for this day for a long time. All kinds of encounters made Zheng Zhilong understand that none of his calculations will work, and his future is completely in the hands of the emperor. Instead of fighting against the emperor, he might as well rely on the emperor and follow the emperor. Fugui, otherwise, I'm afraid there won't even be a whole body, but the emperor never gave him a letter of approval, didn't say anything about recruiting him, but just let him keep running around with Lin Qian, and now he finally got a letter of approval, Zheng Zhilong again Not ready to let go.

"Okay, an official is still very knowledgeable about current affairs. However, I can say what I say first. If you do things for me, I will naturally protect your Zheng family's wealth and prosperity. Naturally, it is no longer a problem. It may not be impossible to become a marquis in the future. However, success If you lose my general, you can no longer do business, I don’t want to have a general who holds the military power, and then a wealthy general appears, what do you mean, do you understand what I mean?” Yang Reformed.

"The grass people understand that the grass people swear to follow His Majesty to the death, and the Zheng family swears to serve the Ming Dynasty." Zheng Zhilong's previous calculation was like this. He was the "government" of the Ming Dynasty, and at the same time he was doing business. It seems that it is obviously impossible now. The emperor knew far more about maritime affairs than he imagined. Naturally, he didn't need to show off his tricks. In this world, there may be no money, but absolutely no power. No power. No amount of money is fake. A county magistrate of the seventh grade can destroy the family. Since the emperor has promised his Zheng family's prosperity, according to the emperor's good reputation, this is naturally not a lie, and it is naturally worth following. Zheng Zhilong immediately agreed.

(End of this chapter)