With the arrival of the people from Jianchang, Chengdu, which had been dormant for a long time, slowly began to gain popularity. Counting people, recruiting soldiers, dividing farmland, resettling people and other things came one after another. In the past ten days, Zhu Cixuan was busy without touching the ground.
, once again experienced the embarrassment of having no one under his command.
"We can't let the people live scattered in the wild. The wild beasts haven't been hunted down yet. What should we do if one of them is taken away? Yang Youcai, you are familiar with the surrounding area. Set up a settlement for them with a hundred households as a village. Liu Yao, you
Select some loyal and honest veterans from the army who are over thirty-five years old and arrange them to serve as village chiefs in various villages. Don't worry, each of them will also have thirty acres of land..."
"Tan Yi, I went to Fengjie and asked Supervisor Wen to order some farm tools. I have learned about it. These campers are very short of farm tools. Supervisor Wen needs as many farm tools as he needs. He also needs to bring back more cattle. Fengjie
There are mountains over there, and not much food can be grown, and the cattle are wasted on them. Tell Supervisor Wen that the farm tools and cattle are considered requisitioned by me, and the grain will be returned to him later."
"Old Wang, why are you here? Well... the first division has all the personnel, and you want me to present the flag? Trouble, I don't have the time, just do it yourself." Zhu Cixuan hurried impatiently
Wang Qilong, who was disappointed when he left, suddenly stopped him and said, "Come back, I just have something to tell you. The First Division is our current standing army. It's up to you how to train it. But we can't have only one First Division, right?"
Wang Qilong was stunned: "Your Highness, didn't you say we can't afford more soldiers?"
Zhu Cixuan raised his eyebrows and said: "Military people, these campers were all former soldiers, do you really plan to treat them as ordinary people? Organize it so that one person from each household will work on the farm during busy times and train troops during the off-time. We will expand the army in the future.
, these are the best sources of troops."
Wang Qilong was stunned. These were all things he should have thought of, but it was really inappropriate for him to ask the prince to remind him.
"Give them a status, let's call them reserves. They need to train and respond to calls. They won't be paid. I don't have that much money. Let's reduce taxes. Anyone who has reservists in their family will have their annual land tax reduced by half." Zhu Cixuan
After thinking for a while, he added.
Next to them, Wang Qilong and Tan Yi looked at each other and agreed. Military training is Wang Qilong's business, and Tan Yi is currently in charge of taxation.
"We need to set up a tax collection yamen to collect land and commercial taxes together..." Zhu Cixuan muttered, "We are really short of people, and I don't want to find someone to take advantage of. How about I get Yang Zai here? I just don't know him.
Whether you agree or not, this old guy is also a coward who is afraid of death..."
While thinking wildly, Tan Hong hurried in, saluted and reported: "Your Highness, according to your instructions, I have counted the specialties of the villagers who do not want to farm. A total of 1,341 people chose not to farm.
, 233 of them can make salt, 101 have been masons, 89 can do carpentry and shipbuilding, 67 can do blacksmithing, eight can make firecrackers, and one said he can cast
Cannon! The rest know all kinds of skills, including those who make oil, make wine, burn sugar, and everything else, and there is also a storyteller."
Zhu Cixuan was originally listening attentively, but when he heard the storyteller, he couldn't help but laugh: "There are quite a lot of talents. You can screen them carefully. The masons, carpenters, and blacksmiths are all here. We can use them. For the others, please support them in opening a store."
You think of some way to spend as little money as possible and have good results, so you can't starve them to death." Tan Hong's head was as big as a bucket when he heard this. What is the best way to spend less money and not only make the horse run but also keep the horse from running?
Eat grass?
"There are more than two hundred people making salt. Well, where does the salt in Chengdu come from?" Zhu Cixuan suddenly turned to ask Liu Yao.
"Your Highness, there are artesian wells more than two hundred miles away from Chengdu. The general also has a small group of soldiers there. They know how to make salt." Liu Yao replied immediately.
Zhu Cixuan came to his senses, Jingyan, Sichuan has Zigong, a thousand-year-old salt city, no wonder so many people in the villages are good at making salt. "Send more than two hundred villagers there, and you and Liu Yao will also go to expand the scale of salt production.
There are more people in Chengdu now, and the salt may not be enough to eat. If you can't finish it, it's okay. You can sell it to the Tatars. They have a lot of people." Zhu Cixuan said to Tan Hong, "Salt and iron are both government-run, so for the time being, it's all up to you.
Take care. I have only one request. The price of salt cannot be increased without my consent."
"Your Highness, where is the storyteller?" After Tan Hong responded, he asked again. He was very worried that the storyteller would starve to death. There are a lot of hard-working people living in Chengdu now. Who has the time to listen to books?
"Let him farm...wait a minute, storyteller, is he literate?" Zhu Cixuan replied casually, and suddenly his heart moved. The storyteller should be an educated person, right?
"Besides him, there are only a few literate people who can make firecrackers and cannons." Tan Hong said honestly. Not many people are literate these days, and most of the soldiers in these military camps are illiterate. The craftsmen are literate.
There are actually very few of them, but when it comes to making firecrackers and cannons, they are high-level skilled workers after all, and they still know a few words.
"Bring him to me and let me take a look." Zhu Cixuan said happily. If you are good at literacy, you can at least be a clerk. If not, you can just copy and write. You can be considered a cultural person to some extent, so you have to accept it.
"Screen through it again and ask if there are any who can settle accounts." Zhu Cixuan said expectantly. Talents are just like those ditches. If you squeeze them more, you will always find them.
Tan Hong accepted the order and had just retreated when Wang Tonghe arrived.
Zhu Cixuan, who had just picked up the teacup, held his forehead. He really had no time to calm down. Being entangled with these trivial matters every day, how could he plan for the great cause of overthrowing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty? He calmed down and asked: "Is there something wrong with Wang Banpan?"
Wang Tonghe skillfully stepped forward to massage his acupuncture points, soothing his nerves, and said with a smile: "Young master, the King of Shu has replied and said that he has invited Mr. Mu to return to Kunming. The matter of moving is over. But when Mr. Mu leaves,
His face doesn’t look good, I’m sure I’ll cause trouble for Mr. Chief Assistant when I go back…”
Zhu Cixuan smiled and said: "They can make trouble as they please. Anyway, I have done what my father ordered me to do. If Mr. Mu wants to cause trouble, he won't be able to find me here. Just let Ma Jixiang have a headache."
The two chatted and laughed for a while. Wang Tonghe glanced at Zhu Cixuan's face and whispered: "Master, we are almost out of money."
"Um?"
"The money you brought from the palace is almost gone." Wang Tonghe said again. He was literate and could do accounts. Zhu Cixuan didn't have many people, so he made him the chief steward of Chengdu. Well,
Cashier.
"What? So fast?" Zhu Cixuan was in a daze. My great career has just started. You told me that I have no money?
"Sir, when you came to Guiyang to comfort the whole army, you didn't have to reward the entire army. You decided to reward them, and spent more than 10,000 taels. In the Zhongzhen Camp, you rewarded more than 7,000 taels. Now the First Division has monthly military pay.
It costs twenty-five thousand taels, not counting the generals. And you asked Tan Yi, Tan Hong and others to build houses and shops... After all, the money you brought out will be distributed next month.
If the military pay is gone, it will be gone." Wang Tonghe carefully calculated an account for Zhu Cixuan, "You said you should collect grain directly from the field tax. Now the people have just begun to divide the fields, so it is not urgent. The commercial tax is paid every month.
Yes, I asked this servant, maybe I can receive three hundred taels this month..."
Wang Tonghe spoke softer and quieter, and Zhu Cixuan's face grew darker and darker as he listened. He has no money and is about to go bankrupt. What's going to happen? Soon Zhongzhenying and King Shu will send a group of people over. How will they be settled then?
"You go down first, let me think about it." Zhu Cixuan said with a tired heart. He didn't have enough money, and this matter was troublesome. He thought for a moment, and slowly came up with an idea.
The simplest and fastest way is to ask Yongli for money. After Sun Kewang rebelled against the enemy, Li Dingguo showed that he was different from Sun Kewang and gave Yongli a lot of money and food. Historically, when Wu Sangui attacked Kunming, Kunming's internal treasury was full and there were abundant supplies.
, so that Wu Sangui did not need to worry about logistical supplies at all, and directly took Li Dingguo's money and food to drive Li Dingguo to southern Yunnan. Yongli was not a stingy emperor, and his son would allocate as much as he asked.
There are many ways to support oneself. The most direct one is to rob! Whenever the Zhongzhen Battalion cannot get rid of the problem, they will send troops to Hubei to cause trouble. They say they are taking the initiative to attack the Manchu Qing Dynasty, mainly to conquer the grass valley. The Qing army in Hubei is average in strength, so let
Wang Qilong took the First Division over there, making money and training troops at the same time, but he was a little late in time.
"Actually, it's not bad to issue banknotes, but I'm worried that people won't be willing to use them." Zhu Cixuan hesitated. He thought about issuing banknotes in Sichuan when he was still in Guiyang, but now is still an era when precious metals have trading value, and pure credit currency is very difficult to use.
It is difficult to be accepted by everyone.
"It would be great if I could get a share of the Zheng family's sea trade. That would be a profitable business." I have sent Mu Zhongliang to Xiamen for a while, and I don't know what the Zheng family's attitude is. "I'm thinking too far.
Now, even if the Zheng family is willing to let me participate in maritime trade, Chengdu has nothing to sell due to the exhausted industry."
After sighing, Zhu Cixuan called Wang Tonghe, Wang Qilong, Tan Yi, Tan Hong and others over again.
"Wang Banban just said that we are almost out of money." Zhu Cixuan got straight to the point, "I just thought about it and probably have a few ideas. You guys can see if they are feasible."
Zhu Cixuan expressed his thoughts, and Wang Qilong immediately said: "Your Highness, the first division was expanded from the last general's imperial camp, and the new soldiers were also recruited from the camp. Now they have combat strength and can be dispatched at any time.
.”
"Originally I thought you were more cautious and wanted you to guard Jianmen. Now it seems that we can only let Yang Jing stay at Jianmen for a while." Zhu Cixuan nodded, "When you are ready, we will set off and defeat him.
I want the city, the people, the wealth, everything! Well, by the way, I can go to the Duke of Lin and the Duke of Anhui to learn from me, they are familiar with this job."
Everyone laughed, and Wang Tonghe also asked for orders: "Master, let me go to Kunming. I am familiar with Kunming. I can speak to Mr. Chief Assistant and Grand Scholar Yang."
"Originally, we planned to let Wang Banban make this trip." Zhu Cixuan said with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work, Wang Banban."
"Young Master has broken this slave." Wang Tonghe felt hot and was about to kneel on the ground.
"Okay, I just said, don't kneel down easily." Zhu Cixuan waved his hand, "Do you think it is feasible to issue banknotes to replace gold and silver?"
"Your Highness, banknotes have appeared in Sichuan since the Song Dynasty. They were also widely issued in the Yuan Dynasty. Our dynasty also had Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes, but they inevitably devalued and harmed the people, and were eventually abandoned." Tan Yi advised.
"The bad reputation of treasure banknotes still exists, and the people may not feel at ease." Liu Yao also shook his head. Let alone the people, he was unwilling to use treasure banknotes. How can a piece of light paper be as reassuring as gold and silver.
"Your Highness, I have an idea." Tan Hong suddenly said.
"Yeah, but it doesn't matter."
"When I was young and studying, I heard Master talk about treasure banknotes." Tan Hong recalled, "Master said that during the reign of Emperor Taizu Gao, when the Ming Dynasty was founded, there was a severe shortage of gold and silver, so treasure banknotes were issued as a last resort. At first, treasure banknotes did not depreciate in value.
, and made great achievements in activating commerce. After that, the treasure banknotes were issued too much, and merchants and common people were not allowed to pay taxes with the treasure banknotes, so the value quickly depreciated."
Zhu Cixuan's eyes lit up, and Tan Hong was encouraged, and continued: "I am thinking that since the treasure banknotes have been accepted by the people, it may not be impossible for His Highness to issue banknotes. However, whether it can be issued in the military first and can be combined with gold and silver
Mutual redemption?”
Zhu Cixuan secretly cursed himself for getting into trouble, thinking only about issuing credit currency, but forgetting that between metal currency and credit currency, there is also standard currency. He thought about it for a moment and said with a smile: "It's a good idea. I'll think about it again.
Trial it in the military." This chapter has been completed!