Chapter 352: Gewuyuan has an auspicious contribution
The reason why Zhu Yijun is willing to chat so much with Cai Jixun is because Cai Jixun is not a cheap Confucian in the complete sense. His political opinions are, in many cases, too idealistic. , divorced from practice.
Practice is that even the Ming emperor, if he did not control the means of production, could not control the relations of production and could not adjust the deep-rooted contradictions between various classes in the Ming Dynasty. To put it more simply, the practice is: without money, Even the emperor's words are useless.
If you don’t have any rice in your hand, you won’t even respond when you call me chicken.
After Zhu Yijun and Cai Jixun reviewed the accounts, Cai Jixun already looked ashamed.
"Cai Shaoqing, do you know how much it cost to build our Songjiangfu Shipyard in the Ming Dynasty?" Zhu Yijun began to ask about the details in addition to the general situation. The fiscal revenue and expenditure of the Ming Dynasty finally gradually became balanced due to the accumulation of profits. To put it more clearly, from the general to the specific, Zhu Yijun wanted to persuade Cai Jixun, because he was the person who opposed the accumulation of profits this time. To convince Cai Jixun was to suppress this trend of public opinion.
The problems he raised still exist, but many times, many problems are so difficult that they can only deal with them reluctantly. This is the best solution the court can come up with.
"I don't know." Cai Jixun felt that he knew a lot. He already knew much more than the average Confucian. After all, he was engaged in translation at the Seiyi Museum and the Royal Academy of Gewu. The books from Taixi, Cai Jixun was also one of the generals, but after playing the correct report, Cai Jixun realized that he had made a mistake. This mistake was to see the leopard in the tube and watch the sky from the well.
"Fifty-two thousand silver." Zhu Yijun paused and continued: "The imperial mausoleum of the late emperor is only half a million silver."
"Cai Shaoqing knows that Ying Tianfu, How much does it cost to build two official weaving factories in Songjiang Prefecture? ”
Zhu Yijun asked again. Cai Jixun was already sweating on his forehead, because he only knew that the three weaving bureaus of Yingtian, Songjiang, and Suzhou were the money-making machines of the Ming Dynasty's national and internal funds. But how much money was invested in these three money-making machines? Cai Jixun Really clueless.
"Three hundred and twenty thousand silver." Zhu Yijun told Cai Jixun the answer. He looked at Cai Jixun and said, "You need money to do things."
"I will obey the holy teachings." After Cai Jixun thought about it, he chose to admit defeat. His Majesty did not avoid the question, but chose to respond directly, and made the truth very clear. Without collecting taxes, how could the court perform its functions?
Zhu Yijun chatted with Cai Jixun for a while again, but this time they talked about the daily routine of coastal defense inspections. This time, Cai Jixun was silent for a longer time. There was nothing for no reason. The reason for peace in the southeast of Ming Dynasty was Nowadays, coastal defense patrols patrol day and night, and coastal defense patrols are very expensive. They also need a function that has a direct interest in the court, and tax collection has become a matter of course.
Cai Jixun finally left.
Zhu Yijun looked at Cai Jixun's back and said to Zhang Juzheng: "I have already answered him personally. If he is still stubborn, or simply does not dare to go against his private request and continues to shout, then you cannot blame me. . ”
Zhu Yijun never trusts civil servants. No matter how perfect the civil servant sets his character, Zhu Yijun always has the most basic wariness of civil servants, because he himself is a scholar.
"Your Majesty, what I observe about Cai Shaoqing's daily behavior should not be repeated." Zhang Juzheng said a few good words for Cai Jixun. Not every scholar is a cheap scholar. Cai Jixun usually treats all kinds of arty people. He rarely participated in things like poetry gatherings, poetry gatherings, outings and garden outings. The most important thing was in the examinations at Siyi Hall. Cai Jixun had been in the upper echelons for three years and was a typical Xunli.
"I hope so." Zhu Yijun nodded. He looked at Feng Bao and said, "Xuanmeng Wuer Kingdom's special envoy, Shah Maimaiti, please pay an audience."
Feng Bao moved forward. He took one step, flicked the fly whisk, and shouted loudly: "Xuan, the envoy of Shah of the Mughal Kingdom is here to see you."
Zhu Yijun met Shah Maimaiti in the Wenhua Hall, not the Huangji Hall. The Huangji Hall was where the great court meeting was held. This was an advance, small-scale communication to clarify each other's conditions. If the negotiation could not be made, If the conditions are good, just take it directly to the court, and both parties will be embarrassed.
After Shah Maimaiti entered the palace, he bowed five times and kowtowed three times to pay homage. He bowed his head and said: "I pay homage to His Majesty the Ming Emperor, the King of the Four Directions, the Lord of All Nations, and the Supreme Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. I bring greetings from afar. , from my king, Emperor Akbar, who expressed his sincere gratitude to His Majesty and sent him a national gift. These four carefully selected war horses can only express one ten thousandth of my king's sincere gratitude."
"The special envoy is exempt from courtesy." Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said: "Envoy Shah, there is no need to be so polite. I have received the credentials of the monarch of the Mughal Kingdom."
The credentials of Emperor Akbar The content of the book is a long and lengthy expression of gratitude, and the emotions are very sincere.
Last year at the Surat Port, the Mughal Kingdom's naval battle was completely defeated by the Taixi Red Army. This led to a bad consequence, that is, the Mughal Kingdom's ships had to go abroad. You had to buy a pass from the Governor of Diu, Barreto, who was appointed by the Red Haired Ban, but now there is no need at all. The five-masted ocean crossing ship is the toughest pass!
In addition to being grateful, Akbar hoped to obtain permission from the Ming Dynasty to allow merchant ships to regularly arrive at the Ming Dynasty and Luzon controlled by the Ming Dynasty for trade. Of course, Akbar promised in his letter of credence that he would All merchant ships are urged to pay taxes legally. If they fail to pay taxes, Daming can handle it themselves.
Akbar praised the Ming Dynasty for its extremely low taxes, but also expressed his doubts about why the Ming Dynasty's tariffs were so low.
Barreto, the Red-haired Governor of Diu, imposed a tariff of 30% at the Port of Surat. This was only a tax on the surface. As for the difficulties imposed by the tax officials at the port, it was not included in it, and it was not Guarantee that Hong Mao Fan's fleet will not interfere with merchant ships.
Even after purchasing expensive passes and paying expensive taxes, Mughal ships are still unable to sail smoothly for maritime trade and will be harassed and robbed. All of this is due to the The spices, countless gems, and endless grains all over the Mughal Kingdom are all the goods that the Red-haired Fans covet to plunder.
And all this humiliation became a thing of the past with the arrival of Ming Dynasty's five-masted ocean crossing ship.
"The request of the leader of your country is also my wish. I hope that the friendship between our two countries will last forever." Zhu Yijun agreed to the request for trade, and merchant ships came and went.
"My monarch also brought a batch of congratulatory gifts, please accept it with your Majesty's approval." Shah Maimaiti bowed his head again, and then two groups of beauties, wearing a layer of tulle, slowly appeared. In the Wenhua Hall.
There are seventy-two beauties in total, in various poses.
Whether the Emperor of Ming Dynasty allowed trade or not, Akbar still has seventy-two beauties on his list of congratulatory gifts. This is also a national gift. At the same time, he hopes to gain a long-term friendship with Ming Dynasty and achieve a prosperous national destiny. .
Qing Taichang Temple saw the seventy-two beauties. They were different from poisonous people and Indians in the traditional sense. In Ming’s impression, Indians were all short, dark-skinned, with long faces, Curly hair and other characteristics, but this group of beauties broke the Ming Dynasty's stereotype of Indians. This group of beauties are all from Brahmin and Kshatriya, they are Aryans.
They are all carefully selected beauties, and they are all charming in every gesture.
It can be seen that Akbar was really grateful to the Ming Emperor for his generosity.
"The Lord of your country is really too polite. This is a business in itself. The Shah's envoy paid an extra 50,000 silver for each ship." Zhu Yijun also had a smile on his face. This Shah's envoy came Just come and bring so many things, you are really very polite.
Zhang Hong brought these seventy-two beauties down, and how to place them became a problem. The emperor's uncle Zhu Zaiyu made it clear that he had no interest in beauties from all over the world, and spent all day in the Gewuyuan as the dean.
Zhu Yijun frowned slightly, and he found that King Lu Zhu Yiliu was looking at these beauties, salivating so much that his saliva was almost dripping to the ground.
"Your Majesty, money seems to be omnipotent, but sometimes money can't do anything. We are lucky that Ming Dynasty is willing to sell us such a powerful warship." Shah Maimaiti bowed his head again and said.
Zhu Yijun sat upright and said very seriously: "Envoy Shah, I need war horses now, just like your country needs warships."
"There is an old saying in the Ming Dynasty that a favor is reciprocated. We There is also a proverb, if you don’t entertain close friends with fine wine, you may make each other enemies. The generous Emperor Ming has helped us a lot, so we naturally have to repay him. I wonder how many horses your Majesty needs?” Shah Maimaiti did not hesitate. Ask His Majesty the quantity required.
"We need about 20,000 war horses this year." Zhu Yijun bit the war horse hard.
Shah Maimaiti thought for a moment and said: "I can make a promise on behalf of my king, but it does require many, many ships to transport."
"The Ming Dynasty You have your own way, as long as the leader of your country is willing to sell it after the Ming Dynasty ship arrives at the port." Zhu Yijun breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile.
The Ming Dynasty had ships dedicated to transporting horses. When Zheng He sailed to the Western Oceans, horse ships were responsible for transporting the rare birds and animals that paid tribute from various countries. The Ming Dynasty had very rich experience in transporting living animals by sea. Every ship The three-masted plywood ship, after improvement, can accommodate 500 war horses, so the Ming Dynasty had such transportation capacity to go to the Mughal Kingdom to transport the horses back.
“That would be great.” Shah Maimaiti didn’t think there was any pressure on 20,000 war horses. On the contrary, with this number, Shah Maimaiti believed that for the huge Ming Empire, Twenty thousand horses is really too few.
The current situation of the Ming Dynasty is that there is no shortage of horses, but war horses, and raising war horses requires vast pastures.
"Dear Your Majesty, I have some doubts. Why did Your Majesty abandon the near and seek the distant? Why didn't you build extensive pastures in the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty, but go to distant places to buy them? In this way, it must be much more expensive." Shahamai Maiti suspected that the shipping cost of each horse far exceeded the value of the war horse itself.
In doing so, the Ming Dynasty sacrificed the near for the distant and directly enclosed the land to build pastures. Isn't raising war horses a better solution?
Zhu Yijun thought for a moment, shook his head and said: "I can only say that the Ming Dynasty has its own national conditions."
The Mughal Kingdom can play like this, race horses to enclose the land, build pastures and obtain a large number of war horses. , but the Ming Dynasty could not do it, because the people of the Ming Dynasty would rise up, rush all the way to the capital, and smash the throne of the Ming Emperor. During the Chongzhen period of Tianqi, due to the great financial losses of the country, in order to pacify the Liao Dynasty, the three-pay levy was launched, and the sound was The death knell of the Ming Empire.
The poor coolies of the Mughal Kingdom will not resist. The greatest motivation for the poor coolies of the Mughal Kingdom in their lives is to be reincarnated and become human masters, not to resist.
This is the cultural difference, this is the difference in national conditions.
The Mongolian four-class system was not perfectly applicable in the Central Plains. However, after Timur's descendants invaded India, Timur's descendants were surprised to find that their four-class system The system can be perfectly integrated with the local religion. The soil and water support the people, and the Mughal Kingdom's local rule is extremely stable.
Zhu Yijun did not discuss this issue excessively with Shah Maimaiti. The Ming Dynasty now has no direct conflict of interest with the Mughal Kingdom. It is fundamental for everyone to put aside the dispute and do business well.
“Dear Your Majesty, my monarch hopes to obtain more five-masted ocean-going ships. Of course, none of this is free. For each five-masted ocean-going ship, we can increase the price by 50,000 silver. , to get the qualification to get the ship in advance." Shah Maimaiti talked about the business. The reason why he came to Daming again in such a hurry this time was naturally to buy a ship. The number of five-masted ships directly determines the number. Losing the face of Emperor Akbar.
"How much do you need?" Zhu Yijun asked looking at Shah Maimai.
Shah Maimaiti said quite sincerely: "Twenty ships, if your Majesty can agree, these 20,000 war horses can be regarded as our gift to your majesty, but you need to be dispatched by your majesty. The fleet went to pick up the goods themselves.”
"Twenty ships?!" Zhu Yijun coughed slightly. One ship is worth 250,000 silver, and twenty ships is worth 5 million silver!
This Shah Maimaiti is really rich. He can make a big deal of five million silver with just one mouthful! This is five million silver and ten imperial tombs of the late emperors. Shah Maimaiti said with great conviction: "If it doesn't work this year, it will work next year or the year after that. We need ships, just like His Majesty needs war horses."
" This year we can only let your envoy pick up five ships." Zhu Yijun counted and found that there are currently five ships in Songjiangfu Shipyard. These were originally intended for delivery to Taixi, but now it seems that they have been bought by the Shah. It was given to the quickest to get on board first.
I am willing to pay an extra fifty thousand silver for each ship to pick up the ship! This is taking money to throw away money. There is absolutely no reason to push money out when opening a business. Felipe II of Taixi can only wait any longer unless Felipe II also adds money.
"Thank you for your kindness and generosity, Your Majesty!" When Shah Maimaiti heard that there were five ships to carry, he bowed to the ground and bowed, kneeling down to thank the emperor for his great kindness.
The Mughal Kingdom also has its own national conditions. If the money is not enough, it can be paid with other goods. At worst, it will be squeezed downwards, but there is no face, and it may even threaten Akbar’s rule. This is the Mughal Kingdom. Never want to see that.
Zhu Yijun and Shah Maimaiti chatted for a long time, and then ended the interview.
This interview with Shah Maimaiti solved an urgent problem, the source of the war horses.
“In comparison, the Mongol Kingdom is closer to the Ming Dynasty. I am worried that after the Ming Dynasty and the Mongol Kingdom have a conflict of interests in the West, these five-masted ships crossing the ocean will become a threat to the Ming Dynasty. ." Zhu Yijun said to Zhang Juzheng with a little worry.
Zhu Yijun is also worried about the accurate and ruthless boomerang. Now that he has sold so many five-masted warships to the Mughal Kingdom, if the two sides have a conflict in the Indian Ocean in the future, Zhu Yijun will take advantage of this boomerang.
Qi Jiguang thought for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, no matter how sophisticated the ordnance is, it must be used by people. I do not think that the navy of the Mughal Kingdom can pose a threat to the Ming Dynasty navy, even if it is Yes, just defeat them. "
Ordnance is used by soldiers. Qi Jiguang doesn't know much about the Mughals, but he knows a lot about the Hongmaofan. The combat power of the Hongmaofan is equal to The Japanese pirates are comparable. The Red-haired Fans did not have any advantage in the Ming Dynasty, but the Red-haired Fans were able to do whatever they wanted in the Mughal Kingdom. This is the difference. The combat effectiveness of the army can be increased rapidly without obtaining sophisticated ordnance.
"What Marshal Qi said makes sense." Zhu Yijun thought about it for a while, and it was indeed the truth. No matter how good the ordnance is, it is useless without sophisticated soldiers to use it. The existence of five-masted ships crossing oceans , it can only prevent Akbar from being ridiculed by others without any backhand power. If you want to threaten the Ming Dynasty, what you need is to report to the emperor and rescue the head of Guizhou. You need to select people from good families who are loyal to the emperor and the country, and you need a large number of people. Boring and arduous training requires iron will and military spirit.
In short, if you want to have a powerful navy, you need a great country.
"Today, the Imperial Garden told me to go to the Royal Garden and have a look. Everyone, will you come with me to have a look?" Zhu Yijun didn't know what new tricks the Royal Garden had come up with. Emperor Zhu Zai Yu invited the Ming Emperor to come and offered auspicious gifts.
You don’t need to worry about the emperor’s uncle Zhu Zaiyu ambushing five hundred swordsmen and axemen, just waiting for the emperor to go, break the cup as a sign, take Zhu Yijun’s life, and ascend to the throne, because the Royal Gemological Garden is from beginning to end They were all funded solely by internal funds, and Gewuyuan had always been the emperor's back garden.
And Zhu Zaiyu was not interested in power. He was very unhappy with the court and even refused to become the crown prince of Prince Zheng. Zhu Yijun deceived Zhu Zaiyu into the capital and used a little trick, using a sextant. He deceived people.
Zhu Yijun’s car arrived at the Gewuyuan again. In front of the gate of the Gewuyuan, the emperor’s uncle Zhu Zaiyu and nearly a hundred Gewu doctors were waiting to greet him.
"Your Majesty is here!" Feng Bao shook his fly whisk, shouted loudly, and placed the dismounting stool under the jade chariot.
"Long live your Majesty, long live, long live your Majesty." The ministers saluted.
Zhu Yijun looked around and saw Zhu Zaiyu, as well as Dr. Geng Dingxiang, Jiao Hong, Gao Qiyu, Zhang Siwen, Huang Zifu, etc. Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said: "No courtesy."
On the lying stone in front of the Royal Garden, the line of words is still as new as ever. The only one who does it is faithfulness - Zhu Zhongxing.
"What good things did the emperor get this time?" Zhu Yijun asked curiously.
"Your Majesty, this time it was not done by your ministers, but by Huang Zifu." Zhu Zaiyu was not greedy for credit. This time, the new auspiciousness was really not created by him, but by the mechanical team. Huang Zifu.
Huang Zifu is a Yanshi, which is a puppet master, or an artist of various arts called puppet show. His unique invention is the tea-serving beauty, and he is very proficient in machinery.
"Oh? Dr. Huang, come forward and talk about it." Zhu Yijun asked with a smile.
"I pay my respects to Your Majesty. Your Majesty bows in peace. I am afraid. Please come with Your Majesty." Huang Zifu led the way. Everyone walked into the Gewuyuan, bypassed the library, and came to an open open air. In the square, the square is covered with railroad tracks, and there are several horses pulling vehicles quickly.
Horse-drawn rail cars were widely used in the Ming Dynasty. The tracks were used as early as Chidao in the pre-Qin Dynasty. Now the Xishan Coal Bureau also uses a large number of rail cars to transport coal.
"Your Majesty, the horse-drawn rail car can only go straight and cannot turn. It will overturn when it turns." Huang Zifu first introduced why he brought the emperor here and the problems he wanted to solve. , is the problem of steering of horse-drawn railway vehicles.
"Is it solved?" Zhu Yijun asked curiously.
"Solved." Huang Zifu brought a pair of wheels and said, "The secret lies in this wheel."
Zhu Yijun looked at the wheel, this wheel It was obviously a carefully crafted model. The wheel was different from other wheels in that it had a small slope. Zhu Yijun took the wheel and placed it on the reduced track. With a slight push, the wheel actually traveled along the winding track without derailing.
Zhu Yijun was surprised that the steering could be achieved without any steering mechanism.
"Interesting." After Zhu Yijun tried it several times, he suddenly said: "Dr. Huang is really a strange person!"
"I am scared." Huang Zifu seems to be humble, but in fact he is very proud. , because of the existence of the inclined plane, when turning, the outer stroke increases and the inner wheel stroke decreases, thus causing steering, and there is no need for an overly complicated mechanism. Coupled with the design of the track tilt at the turn, etc., the horse can go faster. Run, and the vehicle will never derail. This is the dominance of this invention.
Huang Zifu also invented many interesting things, such as a rail rolling car for one person. One only needs to roll a lever up and down to travel quickly on the track.
“This car weighs 400 kilograms. It can be used alternately by four people, two at the front and two at the front. It can run eighty miles in one hour and can transport 400 kilograms of goods from Xishan Coal Bureau. It only takes an hour to deliver the washed coal to the capital." Huang Zifu introduced the handcart in front of him. The structure was not complicated and it looked unremarkable. It was just a flat plate with a lever, but it was indeed an extremely useful invention of the Gewuyuan. pieces.
It can transport coal from Xishan Coal Bureau to Xizhimen Coal Market Port. It can be used by one, two or four people. It can transport goods very fast, covering 80 miles in one hour. The efficiency has been greatly improved. Improvement, because the laying of sleepers, gravel, rails, etc. can also ignore rain and snow, preventing the price of coal in the capital from skyrocketing due to rain and snow, affecting the lives of the people in the capital.
"Let me try it." Zhu Yijun was very curious about this thing.
Zhu Zaiyu immediately bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty, this has just been invented, let Tiqi try it."
Zhu Yijun is the emperor, and Zhu Zaiyu does not dare to let the emperor have any trouble in the Gewuyuan. , otherwise this hand-drawn cart, even before it is used, will be regarded as an ominous tool. Then wouldn't the Gewuyuan's invention be in vain?
Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and felt a little pity.
Such a fun thing, I can’t try it myself.
Soon the venue was vacated, and the four lanes, including uphill, downhill, and sharp turns, were vacated. After the four Tiqiu understood how to use it, they put on the inner lining, put on the iron armor, and started Test drive.
The tycoons pushed the lever, and the flatbed cart began to slowly start, and then slowly began to accelerate. The hands of several tycoons pressed faster and faster, and the flatbed cart began to speed on the track, causing friction between the wheels and the rails. The sound was slightly harsh. After a quarter of an hour of trial driving, the Tiqi riders slowly stopped.
The Tiqi riders were very powerful, and their pressing frequency was extremely high, and their speed was much faster than the designed speed. In just a quarter of an hour, they ran thirty laps on the railway track, and they could run at least 30 laps in an hour. Run a hundred and twenty miles.
“What a good thing!” Zhu Yijun looked at this thing and patted the flatbed truck with great conviction, confirming the work of Gewuyuan. Although this thing is small, it has great uses, at least for freight transportation and transportation. Maintenance is very convenient.
"How much does it cost?" Zhu Yijun asked the price of this handcart.
Handcars are not cheap, one costs seven to eight silver, and the rails required for handcarts are even more expensive, costing nearly ten thousand taels of silver per mile.
"There's another car, but it's not of much use." Huang Zifu touched his head this time with a little embarrassment, and brought up a new car. This car is a flatbed car with a wooden shell added to it. The shape of the wooden shell is extremely weird. It is streamlined and extremely low, with a total of two doors and two seats inside.
Zhu Yijun surrounded this strange-looking car, turned three times to the left and three times to the right, and asked curiously: "What is this thing?"
"Pedal on the car, people. Sitting inside, because the center of gravity is lower, it can run faster. It can run one hundred and twenty miles in an hour, but it is useless. This thing needs a track. " Huang Zifu said rather helplessly, this thing can run. It is faster, but it cannot carry cargo and can only be used to deliver letters. The reason why it is useless is that it can only be used on orbit.
The only places where there are tracks in the Ming Dynasty are from the Xishan Coal Bureau to Meishikou. For such a short distance to convey some information, a flat rolling mill is completely sufficient.
"Lay a road from Xiyuan to Wenhua Hall. I will use this to attend court meetings!" Zhu Yijun immediately thought of the use. From Xiyuan to Wenhua Hall, it is about four miles, and it is a daily commute. Troublesome, Zhu Yijun immediately thought of its role. Zhu Yijun himself used it to commute. Similarly, the eunuchs of the Secretary of Ceremony could move the memorials here and there quickly and in time.
Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Juzheng and asked, "What do you think, sir?"
"No problem, just supervise it from the Ministry of Works!" Zhang Juzheng promised to do it very quickly, without hesitation, even on the job. The Ministry Supervisor said everything he said, and he obviously expressed strong support.
In Zhang Juzheng's view, he had been advising to be frugal and frugal every day, which had made His Majesty's life too boring. Now that His Majesty has finally found something he likes, it is natural to do it, and it must be done quickly. It would be a bad thing for His Majesty to come to his senses and stop doing it once he thinks about how expensive it is to make.
Even Shah Amaimaiti was surprised that the Ming Emperor's life was comparable to that of an ascetic. For the sake of the face of the Ming Dynasty, he must do it quickly!
Please give me a monthly ticket, wow! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
(End of this chapter)