Chapter 519 The mighty fleet returns to Ming Dynasty
Chapter 519 The mighty fleet returns to Ming Dynasty
Author: seven fleas
The official couldn't help but murmur softly after hearing this: "If one ton is twenty thousand taels, then dozens of tons of gold are nearly one million taels of gold, tens of millions of taels of silver, plus countless gems and ivory...
"
Jiang Bin and others on the side were also stunned by this number at this moment. As the saying goes, it is not unknown, but they were shocked when they calculated it. Although the mountains of gold and silver jewelry in the treasure house in front of them were already quite shocking.
, but when the approximate quantity of these things was truly known, the psychological impact was even greater.
"Hiss, how come there are so many? These barbarians are really capable of looting!"
A military general had a look of disbelief on his face and exclaimed.
The rest of the people also showed approval, obviously shocked by the wealth that the Portuguese had plundered.
Jiang Bin subconsciously said: "Where did you get so much gold, silver and jewelry?"
Obviously Jiang Bin was also a little curious as to how these Portuguese people could plunder so much property in this wild land.
Paul, the political officer beside him, explained: "These were collected by my Lord Governor from the temples of the Tianzhu people. A large amount of wealth has been gathered in the temples of the Tianzhu people, and some temples even made Buddha statues directly from pure gold.
It can be said that hundreds of thousands of taels of property can be found by ransacking any temple."
Jiang Bin and others couldn't help looking at each other after hearing this.
When Jiang Bin and others checked the gold, silver, jewelry and other properties in the treasure house, the Jin Yiwei people immediately joined forces with the military and supervisory officials to pack all the treasures in the treasure house into boxes.
There are dozens of large ships docked outside the port, and there are more than a dozen of them just for the purpose of transferring this wealth. Each of these dozens of large ships is quite large. It can be said that they are specially manufactured to transfer goods at sea.
, can carry a large amount of cargo, and the reliability of the ship is quite strong. Unless you are very unlucky and encounter strong winds and waves at sea, otherwise, such a large ship will never be in danger of capsizing.
After Jiang Bin and others took complete control of the Goa port and gathered all the Portuguese under control, they immediately began to order their men to transfer the looted property.
You must know that the property in Goa is not just the property that Afonso collected and hid in the treasury. After all, those properties were registered and needed to be transferred to the country and presented to the king.
The property in the treasury can only be said to account for a part of the property plundered by the Portuguese in Tianzhu, and a considerable part of the property naturally fell into the hands of the Portuguese in Goa.
Among them, Portuguese officials such as Governor Afonso and Administrator Paul held the most wealth.
In Afonso's private estate, Jiang Bin sent people to search out a large amount of gold, silver and jewelry, dozens of boxes, and the property of the political officer Paul and thousands of Portuguese people in Goa all fell into the hands of the Ming Dynasty.
A large amount of property was plundered, counted, packed into boxes, and finally transferred to a large ship in the port.
Just to transport these properties, Jiang Bin almost used most of his men. Even so, it took three days.
Three days later, almost all of the dozen or so large cargo ships in the port were filled. Whether it was precious spices or ivory and other items, they were all looted by the people of the Ming Navy.
After this incident, I dare not say that all the wealth collected by the Portuguese in more than ten years has been wiped out. I am afraid that there is not much left in the corner.
Looking at the obviously desolate port and the more than a thousand soldiers of the Ming Dynasty who were left behind in the port, Jiang Bin said with a strange look in his eyes: "This Tianzhu is really a treasure. I went back to see the general.
, we must persuade the general to send troops to garrison here no matter what. Even if it is not for the land here, the vast amount of wealth that Tianzhu possesses is worthy of our Ming Dynasty sending troops to garrison here."
Jiang Bin sighed with emotion to the lieutenant beside him, while the lieutenant looked at the dozens of fully loaded ships behind him, still feeling as if he was in a dream: "Master Commander, you said we should bring back
If we present this much wealth to the Emperor, how will His Majesty reward us?"
Jiang Bin couldn't help but look at the ships, took a deep breath and said, "Don't worry, His Majesty has always given clear rewards and punishments. With these seizures, we will definitely have a bright future in the future."
More than half a month later, when the fleet led by Jiang Bin went to the old port to join Li Huan, a huge fleet had already gathered in the old port.
Almost all of these fleets are loaded with large quantities of Nanyang specialties, especially spices, minerals, rare timber, etc.
In a quiet manor in Old Hong Kong Mansion, Li Huan had just dismissed the governor of Old Hong Kong Mansion and other officials when he saw a guard in gilded clothes hurriedly came over with a bit of joy on his face and said to Li Huan: "Sir, Jiang Binjiang is commanding
The envoy has returned with his fleet and is now entering the harbor."
Hearing this, Li Huan raised his eyebrows and nodded slightly: "If you calculate the time, it's almost about this time."
Not long after, Jiang Bin, who was dressed in fatigues, was led by his own soldiers to pay homage to Li Huan.
Li Huan glanced at Jiang Bin, motioned for Jiang Bin to take a seat and said, "Commander Jiang's expedition to Goa has been hard work."
Jiang Bin heard this and said hurriedly: "The general really killed the junior general. This is just the duty of the junior general."
Li Huan smiled slightly and said to Jiang Bin: "Is everything going well to Goa this time? Is there any damage to the fleet?"
Jiang Bin hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, I wish you great blessings. The general has made all the arrangements. Everything will go well on this trip to Goa. Those Portuguese are afraid of the reputation of the general. As soon as our tomorrow's soldiers arrive, they will be easily captured. Honestly."
surrender."
Li Huan was not surprised when he heard this. The West is different from the East. Soldiers in the West often choose to surrender rather than make unnecessary sacrifices when they are defeated. However, Jiang Bin led so many ships here. The Portuguese alone
Goa's men are no match at all. Under such circumstances, it would be strange if the Portuguese tried their best.
Seeing Li Huan's indifferent expression, Jiang Bin secretly admired him and said hurriedly: "This time, the generals have seized a large amount of property in Goa, and the value is so huge that it is probably no less than tens of millions of taels.
"
Li Huan couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, glanced at Jiang Bin in surprise and said, "So many?"
Jiang Bin immediately reported in detail the general type and quantity of property seized in Goa, and then took out a book from his sleeve and said: "Because the quantity of property is too huge, and the time is too long.
For a short period of time, the general and others can only roughly calculate a number, but the specific number cannot be guaranteed by the general."
Li Huan took the book from Jiang Bin, looked through it, and said with a slight wave of emotion in his heart: "The property that these Portuguese people spent their lives to collect fell into our hands. If your Majesty knew it,
, I think I must be very happy."
As he spoke, Li Huan put the book on the table aside, his eyes fell on Jiang Bin and said: "Commander Jiang, this time you will lead the fleet and go back to Beijing with me to meet His Majesty."
When Jiang Bin heard this, he was immediately overjoyed. He immediately stood up and paid homage to Li Huan, saying, "General, thank you sir!"
Obviously Jiang Bin is not a fool. Li Huan asked him to lead the fleet back to Beijing, which was to give him a chance to show his face in front of the emperor. Bringing so much property to Beijing, you can imagine what the Ming court and the emperor will do by then.
reaction, and at this moment, he, the naval commander, will definitely come into the emperor's sight. If the emperor is happy, there is no doubt that he will become famous from now on.
However, Jiang Bin did not lose his head. He knew that whether he could enter the emperor's sight would depend on Li Huan's attitude, so Jiang Bin appeared even more respectful in front of Li Huan.
Seeing Jiang Bin's reaction in his eyes, Li Huan just waved his hand and said: "Go down and let the soldiers on the ship have a good rest today. In three days, all the returning ships will replenish their supplies and return to the capital."
August of the ninth year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty
The autumn wind is bleak, and the capital of the Ming Dynasty is more prosperous than before.
With the opening of the sea in the Ming Dynasty and the prosperity of maritime trade, a large amount of overseas goods flowed into the Central Plains. Because the capital of the Ming Dynasty was adjacent to the Shipping Department of Tianjin Wei City, a large number of merchant ships entered the Tianjin Wei Port, bringing a large amount of overseas goods. These overseas goods
Special products entered the capital, making the capital even more prosperous.
Of course, what was more important was that the imperial court had money. Under Li Huan's suggestion, the imperial court spent a sum of money to hire a large number of young men to repair the capital inside and out, especially the roads in the capital.
It was renovated once, giving the capital a completely new look.
On a busy street, people were coming and going in front of a store. Many people could be seen entering and exiting the spacious store carrying bags of various sizes.
This store is a branch of the Daming Royal Grain Store. There are only a handful of such a store in this area.
Food is related to people's livelihood. If food prices are unstable, people's hearts will be in chaos. The Ming Dynasty Royal Grain Store, a subsidiary of the Ming Dynasty Royal Commercial Bank, was specially opened to stabilize food prices.
Relying on the powerful background of the Ming Dynasty Royal Grain Store, the Grain Store has become the largest grain store in the capital since its opening, and it is like a magic needle that stabilizes the price of grain in the capital.
At this time, the squeaking carriage slowly came towards the grain store. The carriage was like a long dragon with no end in sight. These carriages were all filled with bulging cloth bags.
When the people on the street saw such a convoy, they were not surprised at all. Instead, they showed a somewhat reassuring smile.
"This is the second wave of grain convoys this month. I heard that all the grains were transported by the Ming Dynasty royal caravan from Nanyang Province!"
"Yes, I heard from my second uncle's third cousin that Nanyang Province has a vast territory and fertile land. You can harvest a lot of grain by sowing any seeds. In the past two years, the Ming Royal Caravan has only brought enough grain from Nanyang Province.
There are as many as millions of stones."
"Hey, have you heard that this year the Ming Dynasty Royal Caravan has launched hundreds of large cargo ships and is recruiting sailors? It is said that His Majesty personally issued a decree to form a special grain transport fleet. In the future, we will not need the grain needed by the capital.
Now that we can rely on water transport from the south, the food in Nanyang Province alone will be enough to supply the needs of the capital."
Among the crowd, many people who liked to watch the excitement watched from a distance as a young and strong man carried the grain bags on the carriage into the warehouse of the grain store, and at the same time they talked among themselves privately.
Several figures stood not far from the crowd and were watching this scene. The voices of the people around him could be heard. The leader, a young man with an obviously noble temperament, dressed in regular clothes, chuckled at a man in his forties next to him.
The elegant literati said: "The capital has such a prosperous atmosphere, sir, you have made a great contribution!"
The elegant scholar was none other than the current chief minister Wang Yangming, and the noble young man was, of course, none other than the current emperor Zhu Houzhao.
Wang Yangming heard the emperor's praise and said quickly: "Your Majesty is ridiculous. What merits can I say? If I really want to say it, all these are the strategies recommended by the Duke of Qin. I just followed the strategies recommended by the Duke of Qin."
Just implement it.”
When Zhu Houzhao heard this, he couldn't help but sigh and said: "Li Qing has made great contributions to the proposal, and you, my beloved, have made equally great contributions to carrying it out. The two beloved queens are my dear friends. God has shown mercy to me, the Ming Dynasty, and has given you such great sages through the ages."
, our Ming Dynasty has just now achieved the prosperous scene it has today."
The great eunuch Qiu Ju who was accompanying the emperor saw that the emperor was in a good mood, and chuckled with a sharp voice: "It all shows that there are great sages who should be worthy of the world, and the Duke of Qin and his chief ministers are all virtuous ministers through the ages.
, Your Majesty is also a wise king through the ages."
Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but smile and said: "What the great companion said is true. With the help of Li Qing, Wang Qing and others, our Ming Dynasty will definitely be able to create a prosperous age."
While speaking, Zhu Houzhao looked at Wang Yangming and said: "Li Qing reported a few days ago that he is about to lead the fleet back. I don't know where he is now. Li Qing has been away for two years. Without Li Qing, it will be impossible."
Without our own Ming Dynasty, there would be no Nanyang Province, and there would be no such prosperous Ming Dynasty today. I will personally go to Tianjin to welcome Li Qing back."
Wang Yangming heard this and said subconsciously: "Your Majesty, who has a body of thousands of gold, should be stationed in the imperial city. If not, I will go to Tianjin Wei on behalf of the imperial court to welcome the return of Duke Qin!"
Zhu Houzhao shook his head at Wang Yangming and said: "It's better for me to go there in person, otherwise how can I feel at ease!"
On August 19, the ninth year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Zhu Houzhao suppressed the opposition of hundreds of officials and left the important ministers in the capital to guard the capital. However, he took the Three Thousand Battalion, Shenji Battalion and a group of nobles to Tianjin Guards.
Of the three thousand battalions, all the Shenji battalions that were able to stay after the reorganization of the Beijing camp were elites. Although only a portion of them were transferred, there were still thousands of elite troops accompanying them.
Among the mighty motorcade, several carriages flying the flag of the Duke of Qin didn't look too conspicuous among the many carriages and horses, but just looking at these carriages after the emperor's imperial edict was enough to see the difference among them.
