"The only solution now is to endure it for a while and promote peace talks." Mr. Le said this with a sense of sadness.
"Negotiating peace..." Qian Taichong thought that the emperor did express this intention when he summoned him during the day, but then he thought about the documents he had read recently, and shook his head and said, "The imperial court recently discussed the collection of Guangdong pay in preparation for the suppression of Kun.
.Now that the matter has come to this, how can we talk about peace? Moreover, the thieves have always been ambitious and greedy. They regard the imperial court as their enemy. When students are in high school, whenever they mention the Ming Dynasty, they are either 'pseudo' or 'usurpation', which means they claim to be orthodox...
…”
"Otherwise." Zhou Lezhi then gave a detailed account of the current internal disputes within the Senate regarding the north-south movement and the pressure on finances caused by the sudden increase in governance costs after occupying Guangdong and Guangxi.
The more Qian Taichong listened, the more surprised he became. He was among the best scholars in the Ming Dynasty who could be called "knowing Kun". Not only had he fought against the Kun thieves, he had also been a prisoner of the Kun thieves, received training, and done
Paperwork. When he was released, he was invited to stay. If he hadn't been unwilling to "become a thief", he would have been a "pseudo-kun" by now, and he might have been a "cadre" in a county in Guangdong and Guangxi.
When it comes to his understanding of the Kun Thief system, internal conditions, and personnel, he believes that no other person in the Ming Dynasty can know it so thoroughly.
Unexpectedly, after a conversation with Mr. Le, I realized that my little knowledge was like water dripping into the ocean.
To say that the "imperial court" who truly understands Kun Thief and his "elderly mentality" is the only one who knows Mr. Le in front of him!
He was surprised and said: "Sir, you are a great talent! He knows the Kun thief so thoroughly..."
He suddenly realized that when the eloquent young man in front of him talked about the Kun thief, he had quite a bit of the temperament of the real Kun and fake Kun he had seen in Lingao. Could it be that he was...
But Mr. Le seemed to know what he was thinking, and sighed: "I wish I could!"
"Why did you say this, sir?"
"If I were a thief, I would try to persuade the elders to be friendly with the Ming Dynasty. We are both of the same lineage as China, so why attack each other! It was a waste of money, food and human lives, and I also made it easier for the barbarians!" After saying this, I felt a little excited.
Qian Taichong said: "What you said is absolutely true. It's just that even if the thieves are willing to negotiate for peace for a while, I'm afraid they will turn against each other and be ruthless in the future..."
Mr. Le sighed: "The current situation is dragging on for a while. Besides, the thief Kun is a human being, and the officials and gentry of the Ming Dynasty are also human beings. He can build cannons, fireships, and ships, but we can't?"
"However, none of us understand this. When the students were in high school, all the mechanical equipment was made by the real Kun, and the fake Kun was taught how to use it. The fake Kun would only follow the rules. The reason for this is completely unknown. Important instruments are absolutely useless.
Don’t use fake hands or fake knuckles.”
"We don't understand, just let the thief Kun teach him." Zhou Lezhi said, "Teach Kun the skills to fight against the Kun."
Qian Taichong only thought that Mr. Le was out of his mind and said: "Kun Thief and the Ming Dynasty are enemies. Even if the two sides can negotiate a peace, how can Kun Thief come to teach?"
"Haha, sir, you don't know something. The thieves are businessmen who run the country, and they have the most greedy nature. As long as there is money to be earned, how can you not make it?" Zhou Lezhi smiled disdainfully, "Sir, you probably know that in recent years, various towns have purchased more from the so-called Nanyang.
Gun?"
"I've heard a little bit about it, and I heard it's the gun owned by the thief Kun."
"That's right. When the two countries are at war, they are still selling such murderous weapons. How is it different from teaching swords to people?" Zhou Lezhi sneered, "Not to mention the Kun thief, it is the Ming Dynasty, and the merchants of the Shanxi House are killing the tiger's mouth everywhere.
The trade, which is said to be with the Mongols, is actually with the Tatars. Most of the iron tools and food used to build the slaves were sold within the customs!"
"This happened!" Qian Taichong was so excited that he didn't expect such a thing to happen. "Does the court not care about it?"
"The imperial court naturally wants to take care of it, but it's just that if you can get ten times the profit from selling one, how can you let it go? It has been said since ancient times that no one does the business of losing money, but there are people who do the business of beheading. Not to mention the ten times or twenty times the business.
Benefit!"
Qian Taichong was dumbfounded. He had been tossing around Zheng Sen all these years, and he really didn't pay attention to the overall domestic situation. He didn't expect that he had become so corrupt!
"Mr. Qian, you have stayed in Zhangzhou Bay for too long. Don't you understand the situation outside at all?" Zhou Lezhi said slowly, "The situation in the imperial court is extremely dangerous! Defeating Kun is a quick death; negotiating peace can still save one's breath.
, learn from Kun to learn skills to strengthen yourself, and slowly try to figure it out, maybe there is still hope!"
Qian Taichong was excited and praised loudly: "What a 'teacher who learns skills to strengthen himself'! What he said is worth ten years of reading poetry and books!"
"Excellent. In fact, this is not my opinion alone. Guangzhou Yuyuan Society has the largest collection of Kun's books and a lot of knowledge about Kun. However, after the fall of Guangdong and Guangxi, the members of the society were scattered, so these collections may not be preserved..."
Qian Taichong hesitated for a moment and asked: "I heard that the president of Yuyuan Society is Mr. Liang Cunhou?"
"Oh, you know him?"
"Know a thing or two." Qian Taichong concealed it a little, but in fact Liang Cunhou sent someone to contact him with the intention of wooing the remnants of the Zheng family. He also went to Guangzhou to discuss it. However, Liang Cunhou later discovered that the Zheng Group was torn apart.
, the intention of forming an alliance was not realized.
"Master Liang is extremely loyal to the imperial court! It's a pity that he is trapped in Guangzhou, between tigers and wolves. I'm afraid he can't protect himself." Zhou Lezhi sighed.
"What a pity, the Liang family is a prominent family in Guangdong..."
"Even if he is from a distinguished family, it probably won't be of much use at this moment. I'm just worried..." Zhou Lezhi frowned, "He couldn't help it, and his life was wasted!"
Speaking of this, the two of them sat and sighed at each other. After a while, Qian Taichong smiled and said: "You and I are working hard for the court to conquer China, why do we sigh about the new pavilion!"
"Sir, you are right!" Zhou Lezhi said with a smile, "In the future, I will ask you for your help when handling the affairs."
"I would be happy to, but young master..."
"Sir, if you only focus on this small Zhangzhou Bay, even if the emperor is willing to help you, the Zheng family will not be able to go back to the past."
Qian Taichong was speechless and said after a while: "Student, I just want to have a clear conscience."
Zhou Lezhi smiled: "I think that if you want to revive the Zheng family, you have to start with this 'kun affairs'."
Qian Taichong was taken aback, thought about it again, and said with a smile: "Sir, you don't know something now. If we talk about dealing with the Kun thieves, Zheng Lian, Zheng Cai and the others have already started doing it."
Although the Kun thieves blocked the Zheng family's overseas trade channels, they did not cut off the Zheng family's trade. Therefore, the various factions of the fragmented Zheng family turned into product suppliers on the spot, selling various Fujian products to Zhangzhou for trade.
The "Kon Merchants".
"...Although they have all kinds of brand names, but if you think about it with your heels, you can tell that most of them are the property of the thieves, or else they are businesses supported by the thieves."
These merchants came to various parts of Zhangzhou Bay to purchase raw materials on a large scale, and dumped all kinds of "Kun goods" and the salt that was in short supply in Fujian. Business was very prosperous.
"...But Anping is the poorest place. When the bandits broke into the city and dug everything out of Anping, nothing was left. It cost a lot of money to rebuild the mansion and the city walls. As for the Zheng family's trade routes and shops, there are few
The master has nothing to do with it. Now he can only live off the rent collected from several thousand acres of land from several farms! Even these thousands of acres of land cannot escape their covetousness!" Qian Taichong sighed, "If it weren't for this,
I won’t rush to Beijing to find a way out!”
"Does Kun Thief also have business dealings with you?"
"Of course I have something to gain. It's just that the only fish I catch here is rice, and I can't sell it at a high price."
“Why not grow sugar cane?”
"Growing sugar cane?" Qian Taichong was stunned. He really hadn't thought about this. Firstly, he was not from Fujian, and secondly, he was very unfamiliar with farming. He still had the concept of "taking food as the basis", "This
I haven’t thought about it. But the farm has always grown sugar cane, so if I switch to other crops, I’m afraid the tenants won’t be able to do it either.”
"Nowadays, sugar cane is grown everywhere in Fujian. If you want to switch to sugar cane, it's not difficult to do so." Zhou Lezhi said, "There are two biggest businesses for Kun Thief." He raised a finger, "Silk." Then he raised it again.
Pointed to the second finger, "Sugar."
He said slowly: "As long as you have sugar cane, you don't have to worry about selling it. And... you can set up your own sugar factory, turn the sugar cane into sugar and sell it to the thieves. You can also make a lot of money."
Plant sugar cane? Make sugar? Qian Taichong thought for a moment and said, "Sir's idea is excellent. It's just that running a sugar factory to boil sugar is more difficult than growing sugar cane. Where can I find such manpower..."
"Of course I'm going to ask Kun thief for advice."
Qian Taichong was stunned, and after a while he said: "Sir, don't be joking! Although the student has business dealings with the bandits, this sugar is the capital of his fortune. How can he teach the art of sugar making to us? Buy sugarcane at a low price.
Wouldn’t you make more money if you make sugar and sell it at a high price?”
"Haha, this means that you only know one thing, but don't know the other." Zhou Lezhi said with a smile, "Opening a sugar factory to make sugar requires workers, sites, buildings, and warehouses...the sugar hasn't been made yet, you open the door seven
The thing is that money is needed everywhere. This sugar factory has a huge investment, but it can only be operated for less than half a year. In contrast, if you buy your sugar directly and sell it to Westerners and Easterners, you will also have less processing expenses, isn't it?
It’s more profitable, you calculate the consequences here!”
Qian Taichong was still a little confused. Zhou Lezhi saw that he couldn't turn his head around for a while and reminded him: "Don't talk about sugar, just talk about rice. Does the farmer who grows rice and sells grain make more money, or the grain dealer makes more money?!"
Qian Taichong suddenly realized this and said: "That's right! Those who are covered with silkworms are not silkworm farmers!"
"That's it. The thief needs to be a commercial channel. This is also the most profitable thing. Making sugar has nothing to do with the military and national plans. If you want to do it, he will ask for it." As he said, he mentioned that he worked in Lingao and Guangzhou.
, all the thieves are looking for investment to set up factories, and transfer technology and equipment.
"... Several projects have also been auctioned in Guangzhou. The thieves helped build factories and train craftsmen. They even took care of the machinery. If you want to build a sugar factory, you can do it the same way."