ps: Suddenly I couldn't enter the author's backend. It took me half an hour to fix it. I'll update it soon.
Whether the opponent admits defeat or not has no practical significance to the officers and soldiers who have taken action. In their view, even if the enemy puts down their weapons, they are still enemies. They remember Wan Lei's lesson even more closely: on the battlefield,
To be kind to the enemy is to be cruel to yourself and irresponsible to your comrades.
Therefore, the officers and soldiers of the Peking Army will not show mercy to the enemy until the enemy is completely subdued. No, the prison robbery team headed by the old monk was quickly beaten to death by the group. If Wan Lei hadn't been present,
When the order to kill was given, they were not just injured, there must have been dozens or twenty bloody holes on their bodies.
Being cruel to the enemy does not mean that you have to kill the enemy. In the Peking Army, the reward for a prisoner is higher than a head, because the prisoner may be used as a slave labor. So whenever possible, the Peking Army will try to capture them alive. Of course, if the enemy
If you are too difficult to deal with, the Peking Army will still kill you. After all, the reward is not more important than your life.
The six people covered in blood were quickly subdued. The swordsman stepped forward and tied them into rice dumplings one by one before the battle formation was withdrawn. Liu Wan, who was also tied into rice dumplings, saw that her master and fellow disciples were covered in blood.
On the battlefield, I was worried and blamed myself. I wanted to go over and see their injuries, but I couldn't move.
The enemy has been captured. As a valuable labor resource, the Peking Army usually does not let prisoners die easily. Therefore, wounded prisoners will be sent to military doctors for treatment. If they can be cured, they will be cured as much as possible. If they cannot be cured, they will be given a medical treatment.
Happily, this can also be regarded as a manifestation of the humanitarian spirit.
Of course, prisoners of war are a kind of sinners, and they have no status in Shuntian Mansion. If they want to regain their freedom, they must serve five years of hard labor. This is also a form of labor reform. During the service period, you can work without complaint.
You have to make no more mistakes to qualify as a resident, which is far from being treated as a citizen.
After dealing with the prison robbery, it was already late at night. Wan Lei asked Zhang Yan to interrogate these prisoners overnight. As for whether the robbers had any accomplices in Beiping City, how to capture these remnants, etc., all the work was done by Zhao Xueer and Zhang Yan
In the practical work of others, Wan Lei only asked about the results and not the process.
Approaching the door of his home, Wan Lei found a person standing at the door under the dim light, waiting for him to go home. He took a closer look and saw who it was if it wasn't Fu Wei.
"Hey, they say you can't catch the wind." Wan Lei jumped off the horse and helped his wife into the house. Zhao Quanzhong understood the situation and immediately pulled up the horse and disappeared from Wan Lei's eyes.
"I heard that there are robbers in the city again. I'm worried about you..."
"It's okay, they're just a few little thieves. They were taken care of without me taking action." Wan Lei rubbed his hands. He was just watching the battle. Of course, he didn't hurt a single hair.
"I'm not worried about you getting hurt, I'm worried about you killing people in a rage." Fu Wei whispered.
"Don't worry, I have a sense of proportion. I will show no mercy to those who should be killed, and I will try my best not to kill those who should not be killed." Wan Lei is not a murderer, and he will not kill anyone he doesn't like, as long as it is not life-and-death.
, he can let it go if he can. After all, killing cannot solve the problem, it will only bring more hatred.
Seeing that her husband had not become irrational because of his own affairs, Fu Wei smiled brightly and asked, "Are you hungry? Mrs. Tie sent someone to bring some chicken soup. It's still hot."
"Mrs. Tie is so thoughtful. We really have to come and say thank you in person later." Wan Lei said with emotion. In the past few days, his wife can't cook, so he relies on the meals sent by Mrs. Tie to support his belly. As for the little devils, they are also full.
It's miserable to go hungry from meal to meal.
His wife was in good health, so Wan Lei was obliged to cook chicken soup. When he came to the kitchen, he saw the Zhao brothers cooking side dishes around a stove. There was a large plate of unknown meat next to it, and the two little guys
My little life was quite fulfilling, and there were a few empty seats next to me, which seemed to be reserved for others.
"Boss, you're back. Can I get you a bowl of fresh deer meat to try first?" Zhao Quanren didn't show politeness to Wan Lei and started fishing directly. And these meats were obtained by them when they went hunting with others today.
What comes back is the fruits of one's own labor.
"No need, you eat yours, I'll get some chicken soup and leave. Oh, by the way, leave some for Sister Xue'er and Miss Zhang to satisfy their cravings." Wan Lei rarely interfered with the private lives of several servants.
, as long as he doesn't do bad things in his name, he usually turns a blind eye.
"I understand, it's all reserved for them." Zhao Quanyi said, suddenly remembered something, took out a golden stone from his sleeve and handed it over, saying: "Boss, this stone was found by me in a valley.
I picked it up. I saw it was heavy and it might be some good mineral, so I brought it back."
Wan Lei took the stone, looked at it, and asked, "Where was it found?"
"In the southwest, not far from the junction with Baoding Prefecture, there are a lot of these stones there. I said this was not iron ore, but Xiaoyi still didn't believe it and insisted on bringing a piece back." Zhao Quanren said.
"This may be chalcopyrite. As for the copper content, it still needs experimental analysis, but judging from the appearance, it should be worth mining. You can bring it to my patent office tomorrow and I will issue you a certificate.
If it proves that there is mining value, I will talk to you again
Mining matters." Wan Lei has not been blinded by the mine, and he will not take the credit from his younger brothers. After all, this is a matter of principle. If the discovery of the Zhao brothers is in vain this time, who will be enthusiastic about prospecting in the future? This
Wan Lei will not do anything like sowing dry land and fishing.
"Well, it's not necessary. The mine is there at that time. Boss, just go and see for yourself. We are just blind cats who picked up dead mice. It's just a coincidence." Zhao Quanyi scratched his head and laughed. He loves money very much, but there is no reason for this.
He felt uneasy after taking the money.
"It's just getting paid according to your work. I hope you will pick up more dead mice in the future." Wan Lei patted Zhao Quanyi on the shoulder and said: "A gentleman loves money and gets it in a wise way. It is beyond reproach. I will be there at ten o'clock tomorrow morning.
The office is waiting for you to come and declare."
Seeing what Wan Lei said, the Zhao brothers were naturally so happy that they almost jumped up. And Wan Lei was also very happy, because after finding the copper mine, he had another way to make money. In the future, he only needs to mine copper
Once it comes out, it can be privately minted into Ming Dynasty money, used to impact the Ming Dynasty's currency market, and use finance, a smokeless war, to attack the Ming Dynasty's economy, which can better relieve the hatred in the heart.
According to Tie Xuan's introduction and Wan Lei's own understanding, generally speaking, the Ming Dynasty was a small peasant society that emphasized agriculture and suppressed business. The Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang was a beggar who did not understand economic laws and particularly disliked businessmen, so he
It is expressly stipulated that "those businessmen who are not engaged in production and specialize in unfinished business" can be directly arrested.
In the eyes of Taizu, professional businessmen are illegal professions and all should be arrested. Therefore, when the national household registration is divided into civil, military, craftsman, stove and other registrations, each professional household basically falls under it.
However, looking at the laws of the Ming Dynasty, there is no such thing as "merchant registration". Without business registration, there is naturally no special commercial law.
This is the most interesting thing about the Ming Dynasty. It is easy to understand that those who are registered are all legal professions, regardless of whether they are good or bad. How can there be a reason to set up a special household for businessmen, who are illegal and criminal professions? It can be seen from this that businessmen
His status is so low, he is usually extorted by government officials, and he is also a mute who complains about the pain of eating Coptis chinensis.
In order not to be bullied by villains, businessmen have looked for big backers and engaged in collusion between officials and businessmen. This is also one of the sources of official corruption: businessmen have a low status. In order to survive and develop, they must curry favor with the government and bribe officials. Officials of the Ming Dynasty
The wages are relatively low. In order to have money to purchase land, buy houses and take concubines, officials are naturally willing to act as a protective umbrella for businessmen.
Once this win-win situation of collusion between officials and businessmen occurs, all social wealth flows to high-ranking officials and big businessmen, and the interests of the common people and the court are bound to be damaged. Businessmen are protected by high-ranking officials, and the court naturally cannot collect business taxes from businessmen.
; And the merchants want to pay tribute to their patrons with real money.
Silver, as the so-called wool comes from the sheep, of course the merchants will not suffer losses themselves. On the one hand, they lower the purchase price, and on the other hand, they increase the selling price of the goods to make huge profits; they even hoard and speculate, making a lot of dirty money, but in the end they are still engaged in production.
The common people suffer.
Rich businessmen made money by colluding with officials and businessmen, and then bought land and became big landlords, so that land annexation intensified; the court could not collect commercial taxes, and once the finances were tight, it could only intensify its efforts to exploit honest farmers, so that farmers complained;
The people worked harder and became poorer, went bankrupt and became refugees, and were finally forced to rebel.
If this kind of collusion between government and businessmen develops, it will become a social cancer. In the Ming Dynasty, not only was the social economy and household registration management in a mess, but taxation was also a flaw.
Taxation in the Ming Dynasty can be divided into three major categories: land tax, salt tax, and miscellaneous income. Among them, land tax is the largest, accounting for about 75% of the total revenue. Salt tax is equivalent to 10% of land tax revenue. Shang tax is equivalent to 10% of land tax revenue.
Taxes are classified as miscellaneous, accounting for far less than 15%.
It can be seen that the poorest farmers are still the main body of the tax burden. Although the nominal tax rate in the Ming Dynasty was not high, when all administrative charges and labor are added up, the actual tax burden on farmers is still very heavy. If there is another issue at the financial level
If there is any problem, people will face bankruptcy.
Peasants who own a small amount of social resources are taxed heavily, while the official and business class who own a large amount of social wealth have no tax burden. It can be seen that the finances of the Ming Dynasty are in a mess. The taxes collected by the court are very few, but the people live a very miserable life. This is a typical example
of poverty and weakness.
In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, silver was not legal currency, and the Ming court even banned gold and silver transactions. The Ming Dynasty's laws and regulations included "banknote law" and "money law", but there was no "silver law". Although the court had explicit prohibitions
, but the use of silver in the private market has not stopped, but has gradually become a trend with the active market trade.
The reason is that, on the one hand, merchants quickly accumulated countless amounts of silver through the huge profits they made while engaging in smuggling trade, which was prohibited by the imperial court.
Among them, the amount of silver obtained from selling lead is the largest. Hunan and Hubei are rich in white lead ore, and the local price of white lead is only 2 taels of silver per load of white lead. Smugglers transport them to Guangdong and sell them to maritime smugglers.
You can get 6 taels of silver per load; maritime merchants transport them
When sent to Japan, 18 taels of silver can be extracted from each load of white lead; after refining the remaining white lead and transporting it back to the country, each load of white lead can be sold for 6 taels of silver. In this way, each load of white lead smuggled and trafficked can produce 18 taels of silver.
Net profit of 18 taels of silver, with a profit rate of up to 300%!
No wonder the overseas smuggling trade has been repeatedly banned. Anyone who sees this 300% profit will go crazy. The repeated ban on overseas smuggling trade has led to a large influx of silver. People who have no money immediately recognized and accepted this currency to maintain value.
.
Slowly, silver as a currency gradually penetrated into the entire society, and the demand for silver from all walks of life was also growing day by day. How to solve this serious contradiction between supply and demand has become a top priority. Where there is demand, there is a market.
In addition to the many volcanoes and earthquakes, the Japanese country is extremely short of materials. However, the Japanese country is also rich in silver, and the annual output is expected to be no less than millions of taels. On one side, there is a shortage of silver, and on the other side, there is a shortage of silver. At this time, the adjustment role of the merchants is reflected
Come out. Every year, many people smuggle goods from the Central Plains to Japan in exchange for silver.
That is to say, because smuggling was repeatedly prohibited, the imperial court became more and more hateful in enforcing the maritime ban. However, the more prohibited it was, the more it continued to be prohibited. Moreover, the more money was banned, the more silver circulated in the country, and the treasure banknotes issued by the court depreciated. This is a strange circle.
The starting point of this strange circle is still the same: Zhu Yuanzhang made businessmen illegal!
Zhu Wuzhang wanted to eliminate merchants and turn the Ming Dynasty into a small peasant society where chickens and dogs knew each other until old age and death, but he didn't know what social laws were. If there were no merchants in this society, would that be possible? Who would provide for the remaining shortages? And Zhu Yuanzhang
The idea of eliminating a businessman is ridiculous enough, but what is even more ridiculous is the treasure banknotes he issued.
Starting from the seventh year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, due to the shortage of copper, the Ming Dynasty promulgated the "Banknote Law" and began to print and issue banknotes. However, the paper quality of this kind of banknotes was very poor, and they were only issued but not collected, that is, there was no demarcation and no recycling of old banknotes.
, resulting in a flood of banknotes on the market. Inflation began in the year of issuance and depreciation was extremely rapid. People are not fools, so naturally they would not use such a thing.
The failure of the treasure banknotes led to the development of another hugely profitable industry, that is, the private casting of copper coins. Copper is used to make coins. For every one hundred kilograms of copper material, about 16,000 wen can be obtained after sales, which is equivalent to more than fifteen taels of silver, and one hundred kilograms of copper coins.
The cost price of a kilogram of copper material is only ten taels of silver. Based on this calculation, the profit rate is as high as more than 150%. If the coin minter is more evil-minded and casts inferior copper coins, the profit will be even higher.
Of course Wan Lei wants a share of such a hugely profitable industry. He mints money not to exchange for silver, but to exchange for food and various daily necessities. After all, as a regional leader, money is just a currency for him.
, what truly reflects whether he is rich is not how much gold and silver he has, but how productive Shuntian Mansion is and how competitive the society is. If Shuntian Mansion is not competitive, no matter how much gold and silver it hoards, it will not be enough to make a living.
Now the opportunity has come. If he can really find a copper mine, open the copper mine and privately mint copper coins, the production cost will definitely not be too high. The rice produced in Jiangnan will cost two thousand or even five thousand copper coins per stone.
I don’t believe I can’t change it. As long as I get through the difficulties, things will be easier in the future.
Moreover, once a large amount of privately minted copper coins poured into the Ming Dynasty, it would inevitably cause the currency to depreciate. In this way, the already poor people would become poorer and poorer, and the poorer they were, the easier it would be to cause trouble. The more chaotic the Ming Dynasty was,
The harder it is to extend its tentacles to Shuntian Mansion, this is the only way to benefit oneself at the expense of others.
"What are you thinking about?" Fu Wei couldn't help but ask when he saw that his husband kept the food on his lips but didn't move.
"Oh, it's nothing, it's just that my Wei'er is so beautiful that I was stunned." Wan Lei came back to his senses and said with a smile.
"Smooth talk and no seriousness." Fu Wei blushed and cursed.
Wan Lei wanted to say a few more disgusting words, but he heard a bang on the door, and then Zhao Xueer shouted: "Brother, something serious has happened, come out quickly."