As an engineer and technician engaged in natural sciences, Su Hao attaches great importance to the feasibility and development path of something. In the plan submitted to Wanli, he did not suggest that Ming Dynasty immediately form a powerful armada to dominate the world.
. Instead, a several-step strategy was formulated based on the current national strength, technological level, and the constraints of the government and opposition parties.
First of all, it is necessary to vigorously popularize scientific knowledge and promote the development of modern industry. To achieve this, it is necessary to introduce a large number of Western scholars and craftsmen, encourage businessmen to invest in industry, improve production technology, and realize the transformation from an agricultural country to an industrial country.
Secondly, it is to gradually restore the strength of the navy, including training sailors and building warships. The construction of the navy requires a large amount of funds, which can be raised through private fundraising, and the method used by the navy to repay private capital is to gradually
Expand overseas and earn overseas profits for the merchants who invest.
Among them, Su Hao specifically mentioned Luzon, which was not far from the Ming Dynasty, pointing out that it was a place rich in gold and had now been reduced to a colony of Franco. As a close neighbor of Luzon, the Ming Dynasty was fully obliged to include a large number of overseas Chinese.
The people of Luzon, including Luzon, were rescued from the enslavement of the French.
Regarding Su Hao's suggestion, Wan Li just smiled and said nothing. With his understanding of Su Hao, he naturally knew what this rescue meant. If Su Hao really meant to fulfill his international obligations as he said,
Why did he write the words "rich in gold" so eye-catchingly?
According to Su Hao's plan, after occupying Luzon, the next step is to go to Java, Sunda, Malacca and other places to establish their own forward strongholds. At present, Europeans have reached these places and begun colonial rule.
If Su Hao remembers correctly, the Netherlands, a powerful European country, would establish the Dutch East India Company in Indonesia a few years later as a base to enslave Southeast Asian countries. The Ming Dynasty was still the most powerful country in the world at this time, sitting back and watching a bunch of people.
For a small country like you to expand its power around itself, this is an act of sitting back and waiting for death.
The future plans seem relatively far away. According to Su Hao's idea, Ming Dynasty should develop further south and east, and establish its own sphere of influence in Australia and America respectively. Whether as an economic colony or a population colony,
All are very necessary. In addition, establishing spheres of influence in these places can also effectively curb the expansion of European countries, thereby avoiding the tragedy of later European powers taking advantage of China.
Wanli's blood is full of enthusiasm. He is actually only 30 years old. It is the age when he is full of vitality. Compared with his grandson Zhu Youxiao, who only wants to be a carpenter, Wanli can be regarded as an aspiring emperor.
After being scolded by ministers for more than ten years as "foolish and incompetent", he also hoped to find some way to prove his ability. Su Hao's trick was in line with his current ambitions.
In 1593, which was the 21st year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, the Battle of Ningxia had ended successfully. The first anti-Japanese war to aid Korea had achieved a decisive victory under the command of Song Yingchang, Li Rusong and others. Currently, there are only some remaining Japanese pirates to be eliminated. Because
With the application of advanced firearms, the costs of the Ningxia War and the Korean War were much less than expected, thus avoiding the dilemma of empty national treasury.
Under such a situation, Wanli had enough confidence to implement Su Hao's strategy of opening up territories. What's more, Su Hao also fully elaborated on economic issues in the strategy. Basically, he followed a set of "war-based strategy".
The idea of "supporting war" can allow private financial resources to voluntarily pool together to support the country's expansion strategy.
"In other words, your strategy is very good. I agree, so you can go ahead with it. If you need any support from me, just say so, but I will never refuse if I can do it." Wanli was full of ambition.
He promised Su Hao.
"Thank you for your grace!" Su Hao knelt down and kowtowed several times to Wanli sincerely to express his gratitude.
In any case, Wanli is the top leader of the country after all. A monarch can promise to his ministers that they will respond to their requests. This trust can be said to be as heavy as Mount Tai. Although Su Hao is a time traveler, he must do as the Romans do and kneel down and kowtow to Wanli.
It would be pedantic to talk about human rights equality in this era.
Next, Su Hao and Wan Li discussed some specific issues in more detail. Regarding the Australian continent that did not appear on Matteo Ricci's map, Su Hao could only deal with it by "knowing it by looking at it".
It was still more than 100 years before Captain Cook discovered Australia, so it was impossible for this continent to appear on European maps. However, there were some sporadic records in Chinese documents, which were enough to confirm Su Hao's judgment.
The monarch and his ministers chatted from the morning to the lighting of the lamp in the evening, and Su Hao spent two meals in the palace. Finally, the eunuch guarding the palace gate came over to remind him that the door would be locked soon, so Su Hao took his leave and left.
The memorandum sent by Su Hao to Wanli was strictly circulated within the scope of a few cabinet members, but many of its contents spread like wildfire and quickly penetrated into every small circle in the capital's official circles and shopping malls.
In the house of Yang Junmin, the Minister of Household Affairs, a group of officials who move around frequently gathered together and were discussing Su Hao's maritime strategy. In front of them, there was a painting that looked like Matteo Ricci's translation.
world map, and I don’t know where these people got it from.
Yang Junmin stared straight at the American continent that looked like a bunch of grapes on the map, and said with some excitement in his tone: "Can this place really produce more gold than the entire Ming Dynasty?
"
Zhou Wei'an, the Minister of Civil Affairs, said: "I asked Dong Tianzhang to inquire with Su Gaizhi. He said that in this place called America, in addition to gold, there is also countless silver. In this place in the south of America, there are hundreds of millions of hectares of forest.
It is a huge tree that has grown for hundreds of years and is worth more than a city."
"This Su Gaizhi has never been to America, how could he know such detailed information? Isn't it a lie made up to deceive His Majesty?" Censor Xu Shen said with suspicion.
As soon as he said these words, he was despised by everyone:
"What Xu Yushi said is wrong. Although Su Gaizhi is uneducated and has no skills, his words have always been very reliable. You don't see him asserting that there is a mine outside Helan Mountain, but it turns out that the mine is actually mined."
"There is also something wrong with what Mr. Zhang said. The result of the Soviet reform is that it is neither learned nor skillful. In terms of knowledge, I really think that this Soviet reform has many brushes."
"Don't get me wrong, Chen Dutang. What Zhang is saying is that Su Gaizhi knows nothing about the articles of saints and sages. If he is talking about heresy, we in this room are no match for him."
"What is heresy? We have been living in poverty for ten years. Can what we learn be exchanged for money? The things that others learn are truly useful things. If you just find a few mines, you can get tens of thousands of taels in dividends. It is harder than us.
Haha, it would be much more comfortable to earn some salary."
"Li Shaoqing, are you really just working hard to earn some salary? Do you want me to repay you for your properties in Shanxi?"
"..."
"Everyone, I'm off topic." Yang Junmin raised his hand and stopped everyone's heated discussion. He said, "It seems that everyone has no doubts about what Su Gaizhi said, right?"
"No doubt." everyone replied in unison.
"Then the next question is, what should we do?" Yang Junmin said.
"Of course it goes without saying that we should cooperate with Su Hao and become a shareholder." Zhou Wei'an said naturally. He was the first among the officials in the imperial court to cooperate with Su Hao in business. He made a lot of profits from these cooperations, and in his heart
I have long regarded Su Hao as a money tree.
Xu Shen is one of those people who is somewhat disdainful of Su Hao. He said: "You can't let this successful villain take all the good things, right? In the past, we didn't know that there was so much wealth overseas, but now that we know it, why do we have to cooperate with him?
Woolen cloth?"
Zhou Wei'an sneered: "Xu Yushi, you can see clearly that this America is four or five times as big as our Ming Dynasty. How can you find gold if you take tens of thousands of people there? Su Gaizhi's ability is that he not only knows that there is such a person
He knows where the gold mine is. Who else in the entire Ming Dynasty has this ability?"
"I don't believe it. There is no one in the entire Ming Dynasty who can prospect for mines." Xu Shen retorted with some lack of confidence.
Yang Junmin said: "I have asked someone to ask about this matter. This Soviet reform ability is indeed something that others do not possess. As for the mining outside the Great Wall, the Tatars have lived there for a long time.
I didn’t know there were mines underground. Su Gaizhi had never been to Fortress, so he could mark the mine points on the map in advance. According to the mine owners who invested in mining, the mine points targeted by Su Gaizhi were slightly smaller.
It's a bit off, but it's much more accurate than all the miners they found."
"Where did this kid learn his skills?" someone murmured.
"I heard that he learned it from Fo Langji." Another person guessed.
"This is just an excuse." Zhou Wei'an put on an authoritative look and said, "There are so many Buddhist missionaries in the Ming Dynasty. You can catch one and ask them to see if they have this ability. According to Zhou's passing
After inquiring about internal relations, we found that this Su Gai is a great person. He is a descendant of a Taoist sect in Yuhua Mountain, Fengcheng, Jiangxi. This land surveying technique is a secret that is not passed down from his sect."
"Yes, yes, I have also heard people talk about this." Someone next to him quickly added, and told everyone the anecdotes about Su Hao that they had heard from hearsay. Everyone nodded frequently, because something like this was so weird.
Things can only be explained by referring to metaphysics.
"It's not surprising." Yang Junmin nodded, "When it comes to Feng Shui, Jiangxi Taoism is the most proficient. The magic Su Hao has mastered is indeed something that no one else can learn. Just now, Zhou Shilang said, we
Only by cooperating with Su Hao can we have a chance. But I don't know how big this Su Hao's appetite is. If we cooperate with him, how much benefit will he be willing to share with us."
Zhou Wei'an discussed this issue with Su Hao. In fact, Su Hao needed to use people like Zhou Wei'an to convey his ideas to the rich or powerful people in the Ming Dynasty and outside the country, so as to attract them to join the
Join the ranks of overseas pioneers.
"From Zhou's point of view, Su Gaizhi is not a greedy person. Zhou has cooperated with Su Gaizhi in the past. In terms of profit distribution, Zhou feels that he is quite easy to talk to. Regarding the mining in Ningxia, everyone
We have all participated, what do you think of the benefits?" Zhou Wei'an said.
Everyone nodded in unison: "To be honest, the distribution is fair."
"That's it." Zhou Wei'an said, "Su Hao's ambition should be to assist the Holy Emperor to expand the territory in order to make history famous. When it comes to making money, the properties under his hands are all very fat. I think, he
You must be tired from counting money every day."
"Hahahaha!" Everyone laughed together, and there was a bit of resentment in the laughter. In fact, most of these officials also have strong properties, and their wealth is no worse than that of Su Hao. But their properties are accumulated through years of hard work.
Those who come down are not like Su Hao who started from scratch and made a fortune in a few years.
Su Hao is younger than everyone else, and his academic attainments are even less comparable to others, but he is able to earn a lot of money, which cannot help but make these top scholars and officials with Tanhua background feel aggrieved and envious.
Yang Junmin waited for everyone to finish laughing and said to Zhou Wei'an: "This matter has been settled. Zhou Shilang, you should seize the time to talk to Su Gaizhi to see if he is interested in cooperating with all of us and how he plans to cooperate.
.Although he has quite a lot of property, he is a newly wealthy family after all. Compared with the rest of us, there is still a gap. Doesn't he want to explore overseas? He needs to train troops and build ships, which are all things that cost money. With Yang