Chapter 201 Take my money and leave my ship
Antonio looked at the five-masted and twenty-one-sail ocean-going ship, and he was about to own two such ships, which he used with his own With the silver he earned, he saw hope again.
“What makes me feel strange is why this ship appears here.” Antonio looked at the majestic sailboat and asked with a frown.
The Ming Emperor was so brave!
Antonio couldn't understand that this ship was an improved version of the Ming Dynasty Fengzhou and plywood giant ships, especially the rows of artillery. It was really frightening to see it. He didn't understand why this ship appeared in Lu Song Dynasty.
“Governor Yin may not understand my question. Luzon is to the Ming Dynasty just like the Verde Islands to Spain and Portugal. The Verde Islands and Cape Verde are completely free. It’s hard to imagine that the Ming Dynasty Why did the imperial court decide to deploy such powerful firepower in Luzon? Isn't the emperor of the Ming Dynasty afraid that the governor of Luzon would join forces with the red-haired bandits, Japanese pirates, black bandits, and desperadoes to invade the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty? "< br>
“We are very worried about this problem because pirates in Cape Verde are constantly invading the port, such as Duguay Trouin, who was originally a noble but later became a pirate and captured our port with the French. , asking for ransom, causing us great difficulties. "Antonio did not believe that the Ming court would not have such concerns, but due to Ming's decision, the ship has been deployed in Manila.
Free Cape Verde is freedom without any rules at all. Is this freedom really freedom? But if freedom has rules, is it still freedom?
Yin Zhengmao was silent for a moment and said: "The imperial court's requirements for me are actually not very high. They are to stop the Hongmao Fans from encroaching on the Ming Dynasty's maritime territory, and to prevent the Hongmao Fans from getting together with Japanese pirates and desperadoes to harm the Ming Dynasty. It brought trouble; I cooperated with the Ming Dynasty on anti-smuggling matters to prevent tax evasion and smuggling; but I did better, recruiting a lot of pirates, settling in Luzon, and even assuming the function of the court's exile of criminals."
“To trust others, you must first be strong enough.”
Yin Zhengmao received administrative subcontracting tasks from the emperor, including military, economic, cultural and political tasks, and he completed these subcontracted tasks very well, and even used his subjective initiative to find ways to stabilize the Ming Dynasty's maritime territories. After doing so much, it is natural to gain the trust and favor of the court.
“If you do well, you will be rewarded, and if you do bad, you will be punished. Isn’t this a matter of course?” After Yin Zhengmao finished speaking, he laughed.
The surnamed master who has made great achievements does not believe in celebrating rewards and punishments, just like Wang Chonggu, the Minister of Punishment in the Ming Dynasty, does not believe in laws.
Antonio shook his head and said: "You are right. In theory, it is true, but the reality is that there is no justice in reality."
Antonio has traveled around the world in his life and has seen so many great things. There are too many things, he doesn't believe in justice, and from his observation, there is no justice in Ming Dynasty. Justice is more like the rules of the game, packaged as a dream that people believe in. Only those who are good at using the rules of the game can be like a fish in water.
Deng Zilong thought for a moment and said with a smile: "Captain, our Yin Butang is actually a descendant of the clan living among the people. When we return to Beijing this time, we are going to recognize our ancestors and return to the clan! This time we come back and change our surname directly!"< br>
Antonio’s eyes lit up, and he couldn’t help but nodded in agreement: “If that’s the case, then everything makes sense.”
Yin Zhengmao did not refute again, because he was already a national certified by the imperial court. My surname is Ye.
"There is no justice in reality." Yin Zhengmao repeated Antonio's words with some emotion. This problem was also common in Ming Dynasty.
In fact, more than one person said similar words to him and instigated him to proclaim himself king, and there were not many of them.
Japanese invaders were everywhere in Guangdong and Guangxi, and Li Qian, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, could not pacify the local herdsmen. Yin Zhengmao was ordered to come to Guangdong and Guangxi, destitute and with nothing. The pirates rode directly on Yin Zhengmao's face and beat them out. He won the battle, pacified the Japanese pirates and calmed the local herdsmen. , he did it all.
In May of the fifth year of Longqing, the powerful Jin gentry controlled the salt from Guangdong to Guangxi. Yin Zhengmao’s method of changing salt, the official transport of salt from Guangdong to Guangxi, and the sale of salt, snatching food from the hands of the powerful Jin gentry, Guangxi’s official movement, let Guangxi For the first time, people can eat affordable salt, and for the first time, Guangdong salt collectors can get the rewards they deserve.
In the second year of Wanli, he eliminated the last group of Japanese pirates.
When Yin Zhengmao returned to Beijing this time, he saw a mountain of impeachment memorials. Those scientific officials exaggerated him into a corrupt and corrupt person. Yin Zhengmao only admitted that he was corrupt. Greed is to raise guest soldiers. If you don't raise guest soldiers, you can't pacify the Japanese. If you raise guest soldiers, the court won't give you a penny, and you have to let the horses run without giving them grass.
But Yin Zhengmao can also understand the difficulties of the court, because the court really has no money. It can't even feed mice with the national funds, and there really is no money for Yin Zhengmao to quell the Japanese bandits.
Yin Zhengmao can only feed the Jin gentry.
The number of memorials to impeach him is decreasing rapidly, while the number of memorials asking him to return is increasing. Ling Yunyi has now become a serious problem for the gentry in Guangdong and Guangxi! Even Yin Zhengmao's reputation has improved a lot.
Yin Zhengmao is very capable, but in the eyes of the court, he is still a thorn and a corrupt man. If the emperor hadn't asked him to come to Luzon, how would things have evolved?
Zhang Juzheng was worried that Yin Zhengmao would no longer support him because he had ambitions for a vassal state. The criticism from the officials made it difficult for him to withstand, and he was eventually hidden. Worse, like Hu Zongxian, he became a controversial figure in the court. The guest soldiers of the Ming Dynasty who have fought for the Ming Dynasty for several years and survived the bloodshed may have to be disbanded on the spot. These guest soldiers have suddenly changed from loyal ministers of the Ming Dynasty to pirates threatening the maritime borders of the Ming Dynasty.
Is there anything more cruel than picking up a knife and pointing it at the former Pao Ze?
When pirates reappeared, a vicious cycle began. The pirates of the Ming Dynasty suppressed more and more pirates, and became stronger and stronger.
There is no justice in reality. This is a wise saying. Things that should be so but are not so often happen.
The bureaucrats who should carry out the imperial decrees have become mouthpieces for private parties and a weapon for the common people. The gentry is not a peaceful herdsman, but a subordinate. The emperor should have worked hard to govern, but he is addicted to extravagant enjoyment. The government servants should have He hunted down thieves and suppressed bandits, but he turned into a city sniper, using his wings to swallow up the good.
The world is always like this, it should be like this but never is.
"Governor Yin, I am very confused." Antonio was very upset because of the loss of the two ships, and he also had some confusion and doubts about the path of life. He needed someone to clear up his confusion. He felt that Yin Zhengmao was a A good person to ask for help.
Yin Zhengmao said with a smile: "I am not your priest."
Yin Zhengmao understands the culture of Thailand and Spain very well. This kind of turning to priests is a very common phenomenon in Thailand and Spain.
“I don’t know what the point of doing this is.” Antonio said helplessly. Indeed, Yin Zhengmao was not his priest and had no reason to answer his doubts in life, but he really couldn’t find someone who could Someone to ask for help.
“Let’s start with why Felipe II can’t be emperor.” Yin Zhengmao decided to answer Antonio’s questions. On the one hand, Emperor Ming was one of Antonio’s investors. Although these investments required In exchange for real money, such as weapons, ships, and privileged trade.
On the other hand, the reason why Yin Zhengmao was willing to answer his questions was because Antonio brought a large amount of crops to his majesty.
These crops are of great significance to enriching the agricultural structure of the Ming Dynasty. In the capital, Guo Xingye saw Baoqisi cultivating fine seeds, and also saw the positive effects of the Ming Dynasty's continuous reclamation of wasteland and sowing sweet potatoes.
On the other hand, Antonio brought ships to the Ming Dynasty every year and transported a large amount of silver to the Ming Dynasty, which injected power into the Ming Dynasty's whip method and solved part of the Ming Dynasty's money shortage problem.
Yin Zhengmao said quite accurately: "Felipe II is the king of the empire on which the sun never sets. His fleets travel throughout the new world, but he is still not an emperor, just a king, because he still cannot Establishing a set of effective rules that allow the stable operation of the territory under the rule is the reason why Felipe II cannot become emperor."
"Emperor, Caesar (Caesar), I think this is the case. The Latin translation is more accurate. It is not just a conquest, but also a code of etiquette. "
"I don't understand." Antonio shook his head again. He didn't understand Yin Zhengmao's analysis that Felipe II could not be Caesar. What kind of guidance does it have on his life?
Yin Zhengmao looked at Antonio and said: "What you did is right, and it is not completely meaningless. You are loved and supported by the civilians in Taixi, but only civilians without strength cannot accomplish anything. . ”
“Whether it’s a noble or a religion, the strength of Felipe II is an insurmountable mountain for you. You need to constantly enhance your strength. Common people have power, but these Strength requires more effective means to manifest it."
"To be more clear, you need more guns, more artillery, and more grassroots officers who are loyal to you. More well-trained sergeants, otherwise you and Felipe II will be beheaded as a trophy when you compete with Felipe II for the little Buddha, which will become one of the evidences of his great martial arts.”
< br>"If you have 20,000 people, he will need to think about the cost of pacifying you. If you have 50,000 people, he will hesitate to move forward. If you have 100,000 people, he will admit that you are Xiao Fo Langji. King!”
“Power must be in your own hands!”
When Yin Zhengmao said the last sentence, he clenched his fists in front of Antonio.
Antonio didn't understand, but Luo Lian did. In fact, in summary, what Yin Zhengmao said was, order, place the order quickly, Antonio, pay.
A five-masted ocean crossing ship requires at least 150,000 taels of silver coins, and the supporting ordnance and other items cost more than 50,000 taels. Finally, to arm the ocean crossing ship, Antonio has to pay more of silver.
Luo Lian can only say that Yin Zhengmao is worthy of being a scholar of the Ming Dynasty, and he asked for orders so confidently.
Yin Zhengmao is not deceiving Antonio. This illegitimate son wants to compete for the throne of Portugal. He has no army and only the support of civilians, and will only be shown his head in public.
Yin Zhengmao is actually very busy in Luzon. Luzon has also changed its appearance. The water gate of the previous Hongmaofan Fortress was not blocked, but was covered by a fort that extended out of the sea. In this way Now, it is no longer possible to replicate Yin Zhengmao's strategy of defeating ten guilds with one force.
Before, there were no drainage channels in the city, not even a toilet. Now, the muddy ground has been changed. Green wood has been paved, and bathhouses and toilets have been built.
Yin Zhengmao was very disgusted with the Westerners not bathing. The smell of the Westerners' glands was really too strong.
Yin Zhengmao was in charge of various matters in Luzon. He planted a large amount of palm and sugar cane in Luzon. Luzon’s pillar industries were oil and sugar, both of which were urgently needed by the Ming Dynasty. He was also Develop new pillar industries.
The planting area of palm trees has expanded to 120,000 hectares, and the planting area of sugar cane has expanded to 230,000 hectares. He continues to attract desperate people to come to Luzon to make a living, and divides them wherever they go. Tian, do what you say.
Yin Zhengmao finished disposing of the last official document. This was a small case. There was a dispute between two merchants on Daming Street in Luzon. There are more and more disputes like this. This does not mean that the public security in Luzon is getting worse, but that the people of Luzon used to I don't trust the Governor's Mansion at all. The disputes that were previously handled by the people themselves were brought to the Yamen to be judged by the referee, so it seemed busy.
When businessmen had conflicts in the past, the usual solution was to have a small fight with each other. After the small fight, the losing party must be unconvinced and look for people everywhere in order to regain the situation. It turns into group fights, and group fights may even turn into turmoil in the entire Luzon. It is common for verbal disputes to escalate into group fights. This is the case in Luzon, even in Manila, where turmoil occurs three or four times every year.
After Yin Zhengmao arrived at the Governor's Mansion, the merchants finally learned to ask the referee to make a decision, and Yin Zhengmao saw with his own eyes that two merchants who were still in court yesterday were drunk in a restaurant today.
A scholar asked to see him. Yin Zhengmao put down his pen and looked at the person in front of him. He was Chen Chengyi from Guangzhou Dianbai.
This person is a Juren from Guangzhou. He went to Beijing to take the exam three times and failed to pass the exam. In order to become an official, this Juren came to Luzon. After nine years, he will be awarded the special Enke Jinshi and then return to Beijing. Yin Zhengmao is not afraid that those who come to the island are just pragmatic idiots. Practical idiots will never come to Luzon, which is isolated overseas.
"Yin Budang." Chen Chengyi greeted him very respectfully. Yin Zhengmao was a legend in Guangdong and Guangxi. The Japanese troubles that had occurred for many years were put down by Yin Zhengmao in four years. No matter how the powerful gentry tried, Sprinkling dirty water on Yin Zhengmao, Chen Chengyi and the people of Guangdong are still very grateful to Yin Zhengmao.
Yin Zhengmao said with a smile: "No gifts, no gifts. There are not so many big rules on the island. We are all doing things for His Majesty."
"What should I do?" Chen Chengyi was a little confused. He asked confused.
"Don't you take two days' rest? Coming here by boat is very tiring." Yin Zhengmao said with a smile: "No hurry, no rush."
"My family has been a maritime trader for generations, so it's not very tiring." Chen Chengyi said very accurately.
Yin Zhengmao liked this kind of people. He worked as soon as he arrived. He asked Chen Chengyi to take charge of the copper and gold mines. There were gold mines and copper mines on Luzon Island, and mining required people to organize and schedule. Chen Chengyi Whether it can be done or not will be known in a few months.
Chen Chengyi is not a pragmatic person. He has been taking the Jinshi exam for many years but failed. To take the Jinshi exam requires not only knowledge, but also famous teachers. Chen Chengyi’s family is quite wealthy, but he really cannot find famous teachers. Second He passed the examination at the age of ten. After failing three times in his thirties, Chen Chengyi still wanted to be an official, so he followed him to Luzon.
Chen Chengyi was immediately confused by Yin Zhengmao. He had read books about sages all his life, and Yin Butang asked him to mine. He really didn’t know how to...
Yin Zhengmao gave Chen Chengyi a book on copper mining. After receiving the official factory records, Chen Chengyi took Lin Afeng's guards on the road. The target location was Parakalan, a small town east of Manila with a population of about 15,000. There was a large number of private people here. Kiln gold miners.
Chen Chengyi knew what he wanted to do when he arrived at the place. He turned the private kilns here into public kilns.
There was no war. The guards formed after Lin Afeng was recruited were vulnerable to Yin Zhengmao's elite guest soldiers. However, faced with these miners composed of low indigenous people, Lin Afeng was vulnerable. Ah Feng has an overwhelming advantage.
The guards under Lin Afeng are very tall. The height of the miners here is only as high as Chen Chengyi’s chest. With such a height difference, the guards will definitely win in a real fight. After they were stationed, Chen Chengyi began to improve the gold mining methods. Means and refining of copper ore.
The gold mining methods here are too inefficient, and there is not even a copper mining process.
Chen Chengyi was not obsessed with gold mining. Gold mining had too much luck and was far less stable than copper smelting. Chen Chengyi began to try to improve the copper smelting process here.
Any mountain that produces copper ore is always filled with soil and rocks. If you dig a few feet deep, you can get the gangue that wraps the copper ore. This gangue is shaped like a piece of ginger with a copper star on it, and is also called Tongpu.
After cleaning the soil on the copper Pu, you can start to smelt copper, and almost all copper Pu contains lead.
The copper smelting furnace was fired quickly. This furnace is very interesting. It has two holes, high and low. After the copper is melted in the furnace, the copper will flow out of the small hole at the bottom, and the lead will flow out. Outflow from the small hole at the top, copper and zinc are brass, copper and tin are bronze.
Chen Chengyi does not intend to further refine it. This step is enough. The produced copper ingots will be transported to Manila and then sent back to Daming.
The conditions were very simple, and the copper ingots cast by Chen Chengyi were very ugly. A hole was hammered into the sand pit to become the sand mold for the copper ingots.
But no matter how ugly they are, they are still copper ingots. After solving the problem of crude copper smelting, Chen Chengyi began to organize people to farm, palm and sugar cane. Yin Zhengmao did ask him to smelt copper and pan for gold, but Chen Chengyi was from the Ming Dynasty. I am very concerned and persistent about persuading farmers to grow mulberry trees. I feel that if I am an official, if I don’t encourage farmers to mulberry trees, then I am still an official?
With fields, there can be more people, and with more people, we can better mine copper and gold.
Plantations began to appear on both sides of the river. Chen Chengyi often took more than 20 guards and two generals to personally search for land that could be reclaimed.
The first batch of copper materials began to be shipped back to Daming. One hundred and fifty thousand kilograms of copper materials were loaded into a five-masted sailing ship. A large amount of palm oil, fish oil, and sugar filled the entire ship. .
Yin Zhengmao also wants to test the performance of the large ship. Ocean-crossing ships have to cross the ocean, so carrying a full load of cargo is also a kind of sea test.
Accompanying him was Antonio's galleon. He bought what he needed in Manila and headed north again.
At Songjiang Prefecture New Port, two large ships were moored. In comparison, the five-masted ocean crossing ship with a thousand materials was a whole circle larger than the four-masted sailing ship.
The people responsible for the weighing and drawing were Antonio’s old acquaintances, Zhang Jin, the Nanjing military eunuch, and Zhang Cheng, the Songjiang admiral and chamberlain. In the first year of Wanli, when Antonio first came to the Ming Dynasty, these two eunuchs were responsible for the weighing. To draw points, Luo Gongchen, the co-president of coastal defense in the Ministry of Rates and Regulations, was the same Luo Gongchen who came to the capital and wanted to draw points for foreign ships.
Songjiang Commander-in-Chief Chen Lin and Songjiang Governor Wang Daokun also rushed to the port.
Every year, it is a big event to draw points for foreign ships. This is a symbol of the emperor's southern treasury. The sea taxes entering the capital are divided into half and half of the national funds.
"All national funds and internal funds are the emperor's money. They have to be divided every year, which is really troublesome." Zhang Jin shook his sleeves and divided the foreign ships. It was Zhang Cheng and Luo Gongchen who were responsible for it. The thunder that comes down should be cut first and played later.
Zhang Jin didn’t quite understand why His Majesty, the late Emperor, and Emperor Jiajing wanted to separate the state funds and the internal funds. In his opinion, all the money, grain, taxes, and taxes were sent to the internal funds. That’s it.
This is the emperor.
The emperor made money in a wise manner and did some business. In addition to the sales of the imperial palace, he also had to share the accounts with the national funds. Naturally, the eunuchs were dissatisfied. It was all his majesty's money!
Zhang Jin's idea seems very reasonable when he meets the Ming Dynasty, but what should he do if he meets the emperor who can only get in and out? All the silver went into the palace, and the emperor rewarded the artists with silver. For a lantern festival held in Aoshan, he would be rewarded hundreds of thousands taels, which was the same amount for a battle with the Daning Guards.
Zhang Cheng smiled. The separation of state funds and internal funds was the result of a long-term struggle. It was not formed overnight. It was the final product of the constant compromise and struggle between the emperor and his ministers. Eunuchs were actually in the struggle between imperial power and ministerial power. , in a minion position without much decision-making power.
Literaturemen scolded the eunuchs and eunuchs every day for ruining the country. The eunuchs during the Jiajing and Longqing years were very quiet, and they did not see the Ming Dynasty flourishing.
The Ming Dynasty is a system. When the Ming Dynasty slides down in a swooping posture, every meat-eater in this system, regardless of each other, is a sinner.
Antonio couldn’t understand it again. The most unloaded cargo from the Ming Dynasty’s ships was copper ingots, not the more precious gold. There are at least three places on Luzon where gold can be mined, but Yin Zhengmao seems to be more obsessed with mining copper. mine.
“A total of 150,000 kilograms of copper material can be used to cast 20 million copper coins. According to the calculations of the Ming Dynasty, it is 20,000 guans and 20,000 taels of silver. After so much effort, is it just for such a small amount of copper coins? ?" Antonio asked his old acquaintance Luo Gongchen.
"The captain is supported by the common people in the West. It seems more like a setup to compete for the throne, and he does not really care for the common people." Luo Gongchen's words were not polite, everyone was already acquaintances , no need to be polite.
"You! You! You...spurr!" Antonio was really anxious and even used idioms. As a noble, he really paid attention to civilian life.
Luo Gongchen said with a smile: "Because copper coins are used by the people of the Ming Dynasty, gold and silver are used by meat eaters. Mr. Yuan Fu's idea has always been that the people are the foundation of a country, and the foundation is solid and the country is peaceful. Your Majesty It’s not that you don’t pay attention to silver and gold, but the common people also have to spend money. Copper coins are specifically for the common people, so your Majesty pays more attention to copper ingots.”
“That’s it, I understand.” Antonio suddenly understood.
"Honorable Chamberlain, can I still go to the Glazed Tower this year? I'll be satisfied just by looking at it. If I can't see the tower, it's like I haven't come to the Ming Dynasty." Antonio asked the eunuch Zhang Jin applied to visit the Glazed Pagoda of Baoen Temple.
"Uh, okay, I can only watch from outside." Zhang Jin agreed. He actually didn't quite understand why Antonio was so obsessed with that tower.
In Antonio’s eyes, that tower was a miracle and a symbol of civilization in his mind. When Felipe II saw the painting of the Glazed Tower, he always asked to build a similar one in his palace, but Felipe II's secretary told him that it couldn't be done.
The Ming Dynasty used more than 200,000 soldiers and civilians to build the Glazed Tower, and it took more than ten years to complete. Seville, the New World Trading House, only had a total of 150,000 people. How to build it?
The Ming Dynasty had very complicated feelings about the Glazed Pagoda. The purpose of constructing the Glazed Pagoda was that Emperor Cheng Zuwen built it in memory of his mother, Empress Ma, during the Yongle period. Since the construction began, there have been constant objections, harsh criticism of the people, and Words like extravagance, extravagance and the like are endless.
After Emperor Cheng Zuwen came to visit the guests, the tower was left unattended for more than three years due to the wind and public opinion.
The sacred tower in Antonio's mind. Every year when a large sailboat arrives at the port, Antonio goes there with the mentality of a pilgrim. One look at it makes him convinced that he has really arrived.
"The Emperor of Ming Dynasty promised me that he could buy Ming Dynasty's ocean-going ships. Is this promise still valid?" Antonio asked the second concern, buying ships.
Songjiang Admiral Zhang Cheng, an internal minister, said with a smile: "Your Majesty, since you have agreed, you have agreed. You can place an order here, but you need to go to Beijing and get your Majesty's edict before we can Delivered to you, have you seen that boat? It’s already launched.”
Antonio’s eyes lit up, his expression became relaxed and happy, and he laughed and said: “Take my silver and let you.” People, get off my boat!”
“I want two!”
The attitude of the emperor's attendants largely represented the emperor's attitude.
In the system design of the Ming Dynasty, the power of the eunuchs came entirely from the emperor himself. The emperor himself was the foundation of the eunuchs, so the possibility of the eunuchs betraying their masters was almost zero. The day before the emperor Liu Jin fell, No one expected Liu Jin to die so simply.
Wei Zhongxian is said to be nine thousand years old. Didn’t Emperor Chongzhen, the brother-in-law, say that he would just clean it up?
The only eunuch in the Ming Dynasty who betrayed his master occurred during the Tianshun period of Baozong. Cao Jixiang rebelled. Cao Jixiang's rebellion was like child's play, but rebellion was rebellion. The chief assistant Li Xian was chopped and Zuo Duyu Shi Kou Shen, Gongshun Hou Wu Jin were killed, and the son of Huai Ning Bo Sun Boring was killed.
Antonio’s experience of going to Beijing this time was like flying. He was on a hydrofoil sailboat, and the coastal defense patrol took him to Tianjin Wei.
Antonio, an old captain, started to sway as soon as he got off the boat. He held on to the pillar and vomited. He almost threw up his stomach. He collapsed on the ground. Riding a hydrofoil sailboat was an unprecedented experience. experience.
Seasickness is something that can happen to even the most experienced captain.
Please give me a monthly ticket, wow! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
(End of this chapter)