Zheng Sen came back and brought back a group of pirates.
The pirates were led to meet Zhao Han. After walking through the hall, Zheng Zhiwan laughed softly and said: "This is the seat of the new dynasty's court? It's not as luxurious as our house."
"Shut up!" Zheng Zhilong immediately yelled in a low voice.
Zheng Zhiwan did not dare to speak any more. His cousin kept his word and all the brothers in the Zheng family had to obey.
The place where Zhao Han lived and worked was the Nanjing Inner Guards House of the Ming Dynasty, which was a special official residence of Zheng He. It was built by eunuchs in the early Ming Dynasty, so it was naturally very low-key and did not dare to do anything beyond the rules.
Although it is not lavish, it covers a large area and can temporarily accommodate Zhao Han's harem and inner and outer courts.
When I arrived at a foyer, I saw Zhao Han reviewing memorials, and there were several female officials and civil servants around him.
Zhao Han put down his ink pen, and the civil servant immediately left with the memorial in his hands.
"Greetings to Your Majesty!" Zheng Sen took the lead in bowing his hands.
"Long live my emperor! Long live!"
The Zheng brothers, Shi Daxuan and other pirates quickly knelt down and shouted, and the shouts were the same as in the play.
Zheng Sen felt so embarrassed. He asked him to go to court and made a point of not having to kneel down.
Zhao Han smiled and said: "Everyone, please get up and give me a seat."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
The pirates kowtowed again and then stood up and took their seats.
As soon as his buttocks touched the seat, Zheng Zhilong stood up again and introduced the members to Zhao Han.
There are Zheng Chenggong’s fourth brother Zheng Zhifeng, fifth brother Zheng Zhibao, cousin Zheng Zhiwan, and Shi Lang’s father Shi Daxuan.
In addition, Hong Xu had already taken refuge with Zhao Han and was now the deputy commander of the Shanghai Navy.
Zheng Zhilong's beloved general Gan Hui is currently staying in Fujian and is temporarily in charge of the fleet.
"Are you the only ones?" Zhao Han asked, "Where is Li Dan's son Li Guozhu? He still doesn't want to surrender?"
Zheng Zhilong replied: "Most of Li Guozhu's men are merchant ships, and there are not many warships anymore. Moreover, he usually lives in Japan."
Zhao Han wrote down Li Guozhu's name in a small notebook and decided to be the first to perform surgery on this person.
Zheng Zhilong is Li Dan's adopted son, and Li Guozhu is Li Dan's biological son.
After Li Dan's death, his power in Taiwan was occupied by Zheng Zhilong, and his power in Xiamen was occupied by Xu Xinsu. Li Guozhu only inherited his father's Japanese power. Therefore, Li Guozhu regarded Zheng Zhilong as his mortal enemy and helped Liu Xiang to attack Zheng Zhilong.
Nowadays, the fight is no longer because Zheng Zhilong is so awesome that Li Guozhu can only acquiesce in his dominance.
Zhao Han asked: "What other big pirates are unwilling to surrender?"
Zheng Zhilong replied: "Both He Bin and Guo Huaiyi took refuge in the Red-haired Ghost (Netherlands) and became Catholics."
Zhao Han corrected him: "Jesus is Christianity. You can no longer use God. God is called God. How can the God in "Shangshu", "Book of Songs", "The Analects" and "Mencius" be used to call the god of overseas foreign countries?
?For thousands of years, China has been worshiping Heaven and its ancestors. The gods of foreign countries call themselves God, and I am a Chinese citizen. How could it be that the Heaven I worship is a slave of foreign gods!"
"Don't dare!" Zheng Zhilong knelt down quickly because he was also a Catholic.
Zhao Han asked: "Every ship under my command, those with more than six cannons belong to me, and those with six or less cannons are still yours. What do you think?"
Everyone looked at each other in shock. There was such a big loophole in this regulation.
If all the cannons were dismantled, wouldn't there be no need to give away a single ship?
But when the pirates looked at Zhao Han, their hearts twitched. No one thought Zhao Han was a fool and began to suspect that this was a trick to lure the snake out of its hole.
Zhao Han now has two shipyards, one in Guangzhou and one in Shanghai. He also invited Dutch shipbuilders to build merchant ships and sell them to private merchants. While building ships, he also trained shipbuilding craftsmen.
Zheng Zhilong visited Guangzhou Shipbuilding, where there were many century-old oak trees stocked there, enough to build two warships with a cost of more than 400 materials.
Moreover, we have been hoarding wood for several years, but have not yet started building it. This is to follow the European method, soaking oak for more than ten years to make it extremely strong, and only then start building warships!
I heard that Shanghai is also stocking up on century-old oak trees, and due to transportation reasons, they stock more than the Guangzhou Shipyard.
More than ten years later, Zhao Han's oak warships were built and equipped with high-quality artillery. Who could withstand the entire ocean?
Zheng Zhilong still knelt on the ground and said: "The Zheng family is willing to donate eighty warships, and all the artillery of the remaining sea ships will be dismantled to less than six!"
"Very good." Zhao Han was very satisfied with this, and Zheng Zhilong finally understood what he meant.
The donation of warships was incidental. Zhao Han was mainly setting the rules. From now on, armed merchant ships should not have more than six cannons.
Zhao Han glanced at these pirates: "Zheng Zhilong, canonized as Marquis of Zhenhai. Zheng Zhifeng, Zheng Zhibao, Zheng Zhiwan, all canonized as viscount. Your property can be retained, but the land in Fujian, including the land in Dongbo Island (Taiwan),
Each person can only reserve twenty acres, and each household can only have ten people. If there are more than ten people, they must be divided into households!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reward!" The Zheng brothers knelt down quickly.
Zhao Han did not take away all their ships or confiscate their property, so they can continue to do maritime trade in the future. In this case, it does not matter if they hand over the land, because they will all have titles in the future, and their descendants will have unlimited glory from now on.
None of the Zheng brothers have any ambitions, and they are happy to receive the title.
Zheng Zhilong had some regrets. If he had dedicated his warship three or four years ago, he would probably have been granted the title of Zhenhai Gong.
After a few years of delay, although he made a lot more money, he changed from a duke to a marquis.
The gain outweighs the loss!
Zhao Han said to Shi Daxuan again: "Hong Xu is already the deputy commander of the Shanghai Navy. If you, Gan Hui and other Zheng family generals are willing to join the army, you can also be deputy commanders. If you don't want to join the army, then go into business on your own."
Shi Daxuan quickly knelt down and said, "The last general is willing to join the army!"
Zhao Han nodded in approval: "Very good. Part of the battleships you donated will be assigned to Shanghai, part to Guangzhou, and the rest will be used to form the Fuzhou Navy and the Taiwan Navy. Half of the soldiers and sailors on the ship will be sent to Taiwan with their families.
Reclamation, well, Taiwan is Dongbo Island. I will recruit additional soldiers and sailors to make up for the shortage of warships. I will also send people to serve as commanders of various navies. You must help me well."
"Yes!" Shi Daxuan kowtowed quickly.
Regardless of whether he knelt or kowtowed, Zhao Han did not stop these pirates. He said: "From now on, the Zheng family's merchant ships and the official navy are no longer allowed to collect protection fees from passing ships! Once discovered, they will be severely punished!"
No protection fees will be charged, but tariffs will be increased.
Except for the unchanged import tariffs on grain, the tariffs on all other goods have been increased. This can be regarded as converting all the protection fees collected by the Zheng family into customs taxes. Maritime merchants will not suffer any losses.
At the same time, tariffs on other goods will be increased, but grain will still be exempt from tariffs. More maritime merchants will be willing to ship grain back.
Today, it is difficult for governments to finance the navies of various countries. They either rob in the colonies or rob merchant ships of other countries. Zhao Han cannot afford to support a large navy, so he temporarily pays military expenses from customs duties, and at the same time allows them to rob merchant ships without licenses.
Merchant ships from any country, including maritime merchants under Zhao Han's rule, must apply for trade licenses at the shipping department of each city.
Take a copy of the license plate and register each customs duty payment.
Zhao Han's navy will be sent out to patrol and intercept passing ships at sea. If it cannot be taken out, or if it refuses to be inspected, the navy can rob it at will, but the stolen items need to be reported.
Don't talk about the navy not being able to do business and the navy not being able to rob.
This is the seventeenth century. If you don't do business or rob, you can't even think about maintaining the size of your navy. The navy of any country is officially recognized as a pirate!
The Zheng Group is done, along with Li Guozhu, He Bin and Guo Huaiyi.
Of these three pirates, one is hiding in Japan and the other two are hiding in Tainan. As long as they dare to go out for trade, they will be resolutely attacked until they completely surrender.
Everyone resigned and left together.
The Zheng brothers all looked happy.
Life at sea is not so easy, especially after the other pirates died out and the Zheng Group became the dominant family, the will of the Zheng brothers was even more weakened. Some of them had not gone to sea for several years and were living as gentry and landlords in Fujian.
life.
Zheng Zhibao, in particular, quickly gained the reputation of a scholar before Zhao Han occupied Fujian.
Zhao Han learned about this from Zheng Sen and was amused by Zheng Zhibao.
The Ming Dynasty is almost gone, why are you spending money to become a Ming Dynasty scholar?
A pirate who is willing to spend money to buy the reputation of a scholar, just make him an earl, you will see if he is happy!
"Brother...oh no, meet the Marquis!"
As soon as he walked out of the gate, Zheng Zhibao couldn't wait and bowed as if he were singing in an opera.
Zheng Zhilong was quite impressed and waved his hands with a smile: "Don't be like this, we are all brothers."
Zheng Sen couldn't help but distance himself, as if he didn't know them. His father and uncles were really embarrassed, they were just like bumpkins from the countryside.
Zheng Zhifeng suddenly asked: "What is the title of Viscount?"
Zheng Sen had no choice but to explain: "Your Majesty restored the ancient five levels of nobility. Those with royal titles include king, duke, marquis, uncle, son, and male."
Zheng Zhifeng muttered: "As a viscount, I am still under the earl."
Zheng Zhiwan said: "It's not bad, and there is also a baron below. From now on, our Zheng family will be full of nobles. Who dares to say no? Especially those poor scholars, if they still dare to look down on the Zheng family
, just look down upon the current Holy One!"
Zheng Sen quickly warned: "Father, uncle, and nobles of the new dynasty must also pay taxes according to regulations. From now on, the Zheng family must not evade taxes, otherwise the thunder will be angry and they may be destroyed."
"You don't need to tell me that," Zheng Zhilong said with a smile. "The Zheng family has already earned enough money that they can't spend it all in ten lifetimes. Why do they still care about the few taxes? What the Zheng family wants is status. After returning to their hometown, they will spend their money.
Set up a school and invite famous teachers from Fujian to teach. Once His Majesty resumes the imperial examination, my descendants of the Zheng family can take the exams and become officials. In another hundred years, the Zheng family will become a scholarly family!"
Zhao Han allowed the establishment of private schools. Girls' schools in various places are private, but they must apply to the government for registration.
Zheng Zhibao especially admired scholars, otherwise he would not spend money to be a scholar. He also smiled and said: "Your Majesty is a wise and noble son, and he can also take the exam and become an official. From now on, I, the son of the Zheng family, will be both a prince and a scholar.
It’s good to have both ends!”
The Zheng brothers did not sit in the sedan chair and walked all the way back to their residence, laughing and joking along the way. It seemed that they had all made a profit for handing over the battleship.
However, Zhao Han was reminded by Zheng Zhilong and ordered officials from all over the country to strictly examine the Christian Bible. If there is God in the Bible, everything with the word "God" will be burned!
(Oops, I'm very sorry. I thought I had already thanked you, but I found that my memory was wrong. Thank you to the leader of the sacrilegious leader for the reward. I'm really sorry, forgive me, forgive me!)