The first thousand and seventy-six chapters throw money
The New Year comes in the fourth year of Jiajing.
There is still no news about Zhu Hao overseas, and at this time, Zhu Si seems to be used to the days without Zhu Hao.
Originally, there was supposed to be a Meridian Banquet in the New Year, but in order to save money, Zhu Si issued an edict to cancel the banquet. This was called for the sake of frugality, but in fact, Zhu Si's current expenses were very high, which made everyone in the court miserable.
He said that now Zhu Si went to court basically for one thing, asking for money from the ministers.
On the morning of the second day of the Lunar New Year, Zhu Si remembered that he still had a childhood friend overseas. Maybe it was because his money had become tighter recently. He remembered how carefree and comfortable his life was when Zhu Hao helped him manage his finances.
"Your Majesty, there is still no news about Mr. Zhu."
Zhang Zuo heard the emperor's inquiry, and there was even a hint of pity in his tone, so he couldn't help but stepped forward and said.
Zhu Si sighed: "Will there be no news after he leaves? Will the fleet have an accident at sea?"
"It shouldn't be... right?"
Zhang Zuo shook his head and smiled bitterly.
In Zhang Zuo's impression, Zhu Hao was always cautious in doing things. Before officially going to sea, he even asked Guan Jing and Lu Bing to go to sea first. They successfully found the New World according to the charts and brought back a lot of useful information for navigation, and even some
With a large sum of gold and silver, he decided to leave.
Zhu Sidao: "It happened to be summer when we left Jingdao, right? There are many coastal wind disasters in summer, and every time a hurricane comes from the sea, it will bring huge disasters. Who knows whether the fleet encountered that kind of terrible hurricane? Alas!
"
Zhang Zuo asked tentatively: "Your Majesty, will you send a fleet out to sea to look for it? After all, there are still several large ships built under the supervision of Mr. Zhu himself in Tianjin Port, and they have been left there after delivering tributes."
"forget it."
Zhu Si shook his head, "I think, if Jingdao is safe, he will come back naturally. Otherwise, it will be in vain to send the fleet again. I have decided that as long as Jingdao comes back, I will never let him go again and jail him."
Stay firmly tied to the capital and serve me well... However, I always feel like something is wrong now..."
"What is your Majesty saying...?"
Zhang Zuo didn't understand.
Zhu Si thought about it carefully and shook his head again: "He only took away five thousand Coast Guard soldiers and horses, so he shouldn't cause much trouble, right?"
Zhang Zuo understood immediately.
At this time, Zhu Si actually developed a "crisis consciousness", especially when Zhu Hao did not return for a long time. Zhu Si had a premonition that his childhood playmate might have to part ways with him. If Zhu Hao established colonies for the Ming Dynasty overseas, he would not
Worried, but just afraid that Zhu Hao would suddenly lead the army back and kill him.
Zhang Zuo smiled and said: "Your Majesty, how is this possible? Mr. Zhu has always tried his best to plan for you. This Ming Dynasty's country... actually has a share of his contribution.
"Besides, Mr. Zhu brought a group of people out of Ming Dynasty, but he only did this to better obtain overseas resources. Maybe within the next month, Mr. Zhu will come back and bring with him the immortal grass that prolongs life."
Zhang Zuo did not dare to mention any panacea for immortality, for fear that the emperor's expectations would be too high and he would be disappointed later.
Zhu Si waved his hand dejectedly: "Okay, I don't want to get involved in court affairs recently. If there is any big event in the first month, just tell me. I'm sleepy and have to go to rest! Alas! I even had four daughters last night, and this waist
Some can’t stand it…”
…
…
The emperor was slacking on court affairs, but Zhang Zuo did not dare to slack off at all.
As the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, Zhang Zuo's power has been greatly improved, and even the cabinet has begun to show vague signs of returning to its former glory.
When Zhang Zuomian came out of Qianqing Palace after finishing his work, he immediately called Huang Jin to ask about some matters.
"...Mr. Zhu's family records are still in the capital, and there are no changes!"
Huang Jin responded respectfully.
Zhang Zuo frowned and said: "Not only does your Majesty think something is wrong, but our family also thinks it is unreasonable. Mr. Zhu went to sea and took his wife away, but why did he leave his mother and sister in the capital?"
Huang Jin's eyes widened and he asked in surprise: "Eunuch Zhang, you don't mean to say that Mr. Zhu has a disobedient heart, do you?"
"well!"
Zhang Zuo sighed, obviously there were some things he really couldn't understand.
Zhu Hao has always been calm in his work. If he left with the intention of completely breaking with Ming Dynasty from the beginning, he should be extremely determined and take away everything he can.
But then I thought about it, what is there worth remembering about the place overseas where hair and blood drink?
According to the officers and soldiers of the Northern Guard who returned from the New World, overseas are all uncivilized lands, full of savages, and there is not even a decent city. Although there is a lot of gold and silver, it has no use there at all, except to bring it back to the Ming Dynasty. I really can’t think of where Zhu Hao could go.
Besides, Zhu Hao only took 5,000 soldiers and horses with him. He was not a powerful frontier army, and there were also generals from Prince Xing's palace among them. With only these 5,000 troops, he dared to rebel against the emperor?
It's too childish!
Thinking about it this way, Zhu Hao's purpose of going to sea was probably to seek benefits for the Ming Dynasty and the emperor, not for himself.
Huang Jin asked: "The officers and soldiers who returned from overseas said that as long as the big ship is there, they can cross the ocean and reach the other side. However, it is said that it takes half a year to float back and forth on the sea... Are we too anxious?"
"Yes, it will take half a year."
Zhang Zuo sighed, "If that's the case, we can't be too demanding. If Mr. Zhu encounters a storm at sea and has an accident, it's not impossible."
"right."
Huang Jin quite agreed.
Zhang Zuo said helplessly: "Then Mr. Zhu is really looking for trouble for himself. If there are not enough ships or they are damaged, and he is trapped overseas, he will be in big trouble...won't those savages rise up to resist? After all, He only brought five thousand officers and soldiers, so he was too confident."
Huang Jin said: "What should we do now?"
"Keep an eye on the situation at the Coastal Guard Station at any time. You may not know where to dock when Mr. Zhu comes back. Your Majesty has already said that Mr. Zhu will not be allowed to go to sea casually after he comes back. He must return to Beijing as soon as possible and become the chief minister in the cabinet in the future. It is impossible to say We people still have to be sent by him and cannot be neglected."
"yes."
…
…
Zhu Hao, who is overseas, is currently working hard to manage his territory.
When the New Year comes, although Zhu Hao also wants to change the calendar to the AD calendar that future generations are used to, after all, all his subordinates are Ming people and have long been accustomed to the almanac passed down by their ancestors. Moreover, their ambition is not to stay overseas and take root. Back to the Ming Dynasty.
Around the New Year, Zhu Hao clearly felt that the Ming people who followed him to sea were more eager to return home.
It has been more than half a year since I went to sea.
Once his subordinates develop a strong feeling of war weariness and long for home every day, then mutiny and other situations are likely to occur. It is very important to provide psychological comfort now, and the best way to comfort them... is to provide benefits.
Only by keeping their eyes on the present can the hearts of most people be stabilized.
Zhu Hao began to think of a solution.
Although America is rich in products, there are no pigs, cattle, sheep and other domestic animals. If you want to eat meat, you can only rely on seafood, river freshness and hunting some strange-looking animals. The usual meals have begun to include corn, sweet potatoes and potatoes.
It's sloping up. It's okay to try this thing occasionally, but it's still a bit difficult to make it a staple food.
But the problem is that bringing rice, wheat and other crop seeds, sowing them and then waiting for harvest is obviously wishful thinking. Just a problem of incompatibility between water and soil is a headache.
Opening up large tracts of land and finding people to farm it would occupy the few manpower in the Ming Dynasty. Now a very difficult problem arises, that is, how to make the people of the Ming Dynasty adapt as quickly as possible to switching from eating fine grains to eating coarse grains.
Since you are not used to the expense of food and drink, let me give you the most practical thing.
Zhu Hao first served as a reward for his military exploits in Chang'an City.
"Ordinary people are given fifty taels of silver, soldiers are given one hundred taels, military generals are given two hundred taels, and officers are given an additional fifty taels for each level they are promoted, up to a maximum of five hundred taels. Those who have meritorious service will be awarded cumulatively based on fifty taels.
…”
Zhu Hao began to spend money lavishly.
When his subordinates heard about this number, they almost jumped up.
Zhu Hao planned to reward the three armies with four million taels of silver this time.
Such a large number would have been impossible to achieve in the Ming Dynasty, because the output of silver in the Ming Dynasty was extremely limited, and it was also the time when its value was at its highest. Four million taels of silver was probably all the silver in circulation.
The emperor would not be so generous with such a large reward at one time, and the courtiers would also object... How could he think of giving money to the soldiers and the common people when he had not received such treatment?
But Zhu Hao is different.
The most indispensable thing in the Americas is silver, and there are a lot of silver mines in Central America. There are already silver mines in production, and the output is quite considerable. In the future, there will only be more and more silver.
For Zhu Hao, the greatest role of silver in his colonization was to calm people's hearts.
…
…
When the news of the reward spread throughout the city, even Guan Jing and the others became excited.
When Zhu Hao called the generals together for a meeting, they were all in high spirits.
After the meeting, Zhu Hao was about to leave for the new city. Before that, he had to arrange the defense matters. He was going to hand over the military affairs of Chang'an City to Guan Jing. As for the government affairs, Zhu Hao was going to let Su Xigui, who was coming later, complete it on his behalf.
For nothing else.
It is Chang'an City that will become a major trading city in Central America in the future.
This place will be regarded as a thorn in the flesh by the European colonists, and it will also be regarded by the surrounding indigenous residents as a harbor protected by the gods. In the future, their goods will be transported here for trade, and Zhu Hao is also preparing to formulate a new monetary policy, not silver,
It's a golden system.
Paper money is even printed.
All these require experienced people to complete. As the person who knows the most about economics under his command, Su Xigui is the most suitable person to be the lord of Chang'an City.
"That's a lot of money, but shouldn't we give it all to the court?"
After the meeting, Lu Bing and Guan Jing stayed behind to await further instructions from Zhu Hao.
Guan Jing is still a bit greedy for money, but Lu Bing cares about whether his ambition can be demonstrated. Lu Song did not tell his son that we will not go back in the future, or we will not go back for a long time, so Lu Bing has always been a little fool
Like eggs, they are still waiting to complete overseas colonization and return all these treasures to the emperor.
Zhu Hao said: "Lu Bing, look at how much silver we can produce now? If we don't send out more, will everyone in the army be okay with it? Could it be that you don't want to go back to the Ming Dynasty?"
"think……"
Lu Bing is very direct.
He is homesick.
Zhu Hao smiled and said: "That's it. Is it wrong to give more benefits to the people below so that they can work for us with peace of mind? We have almost 50,000 indigenous people gathered here now, and there will only be more in the future. Is it right to put them
Abandon them all? This is a huge treasure with countless gold and silver output."
Lu Bing thought for a while and couldn't help but nodded.
Just looking at those silver mines, Lu Bing knew that he couldn't just abandon them and return to the Ming Dynasty.
There is no silver mine in the Ming Dynasty with such good quality and high output.
Zhu Hao said: "At a certain time, when our output is high, we will find someone to transport gold and silver to the Ming Dynasty. Then I will let you go, Lu Bing."
"No, let others go. I will fight with my father." Lu Bing didn't have such big objections now, and planned to follow Zhu Hao and do a good job.