Chapter 455 Privateering License
Wang Chonggu has been a very normal conservative from beginning to end, but at this moment, Wang Chonggu can no longer bear it. Whether it is Meishan, Jinshan, Yinshan, or Tongshan, The benefits are far greater than imagined. Only by clearing up the channels and creating a legal system between the government and factories can real success be achieved.
"The Jin people have taken away the wool business." This is also the reason why Zhu Yijun doesn't want to read the pond newspaper to Wang Chonggu. The interests are really too great. There is no guarantee that Wang Chonggu will not lead the Jin Party to fight with the emperor for the sake of interests. fall out.
Zhu Yijun was not afraid of the Jin people quarreling with the court, but Zhu Yijun didn’t want to see the degrading scene, so he chose to be straightforward. For such an old fox, Wang Chonggu already knew it before Zhu Yijun opened his mouth. What is the emperor worried about?
The Jin Party occupies the advantageous location and people in this regard. The Jin Party’s inherent territory is the northwest regions such as Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia. Wang Chonggu promised with all his heart that the Jin people will definitely get a share of the pie. The imperial court allowed and No, they are all established facts.
Fortunately, Anda Khan was captured. This is Wang Chonggu’s most fortunate thing. Otherwise, His Majesty would not hesitate but take action. Your Majesty never lacks decisiveness, and as a student of Zhang Juzheng, he never lacks Cruel and ruthless.
For example, in Haibao, Zhejiang Governor Zhu Wan followed the Taoist decree of "doing things cheaply" to suppress the Japanese pirates. After he was forced to commit suicide, the Japanese invasion caused a boil, just like boiling water. The imperial court and the coastal areas The conflicts between localities have reached the point of fighting each other. Now that the sea is fully opened, the coastal households are also beneficiaries.
Because of the favorable geographical location and people, the people of Jin are bound to get a share of the pie, some big and some small.
"Meishan, Jinshan, Yinshan and Tongshan are worthless if left there." Wang Chonggu could not give His Majesty a guarantee as to what the Jin Party was. He knew very well that to Your Majesty Any guarantee is just an old general on the stage planting a flag for himself.
Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said: "The imperial court has no money, whether it is building roads or mining coal to refine gold, silver and copper, but the Ming Dynasty needs these. Everyone is a shipowner, which is actually quite good. , Wang Cifu thought.”
Yao Guangqi, the king of kelp, wanted to bring kelp into Huguang, Sichuan, and Jiangxi, but he also had to look at the faces of Zheshe households in Xitucheng. Otherwise, Yao Guangqi would not have had to attend that banquet. In the current Ming Dynasty, local rural gentry, gentry, and right-wing officials Still controls the vast majority of local social resources.
Zhu Yijun is clear about this, and Wang Chonggu is also clear about this. Politically, this kind of place holds together to keep warm, which is manifested in the form of township parties, fellow township parties, Jin Party, Chu Party, Zhejiang Party, Qi Party, etc. They are all examples of regionally united parties.
Everyone makes a shipowner plan and executes it very well. As can be seen from the vast number of ship ticket transactions in the trading industry, the volume of ship tickets is already large enough, but these shipowners who purchase ship tickets , always refused to trade the ship tickets in their hands, and mostly held them for a long time.
Zhu Yijun even announced specific financial reports on dividends, and he never used the dividends for other purposes once a year. Keeping his word is Zhu Yijun’s second biggest label besides being stingy. .
The credibility of the Ming Emperor is extremely strong.
Why is Duntai Yuanhou willing to hand over a kilogram of Wo Ma gold directly to Qi Shuai? I know that if you hand over this gold, your majesty will never treat you badly, and you will even get more. This is the embodiment of credibility. The country has lost its trust and people are suspicious. Now the credibility of the emperor and the court is rapidly recovering.
In order to unite the hearts of the people and for the credibility of the emperor and the court, Zhu Yijun and Zhang Juzheng had a disagreement and insisted on granting Qi Jiguang a public title.
The people of the Ming Dynasty were very tolerant. Even though they suffered a lot in the past, the government kept its word and had a strong reputation, and would recognize the government's decrees.
A government order that is not accepted by the majority of people is just a piece of waste paper.
What Zhu Yijun means is that if the people of Jin want to eat, they can refer to the trading method and divide the profits, but it is impossible to take them all. When necessary, they need to suppress the rebellion. Sometimes, Jingying can also turn the blade inwards.
Wang Chonggu thought for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, any promise is pale. I can't even guarantee it myself, but I can say it loudly. I will definitely use the most powerful means to ensure that the majority of Jin people are loyal to the emperor." Promote great ambitions and embody the excitement of the country. ”
Mining is a very complicated project, and Jin people are not professional. It is better to leave professional matters to professionals. You can wait for dividends with peace of mind and don’t want to cause trouble. There are a lot of people out there, and it’s the first thought of most people. It’s human nature to be lazy. Why bother when you can just sit back and get money?
But many times, judging from experience, everything the Ming Emperor and the court said was like farts, without any credibility at all. For example, the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes were issued with a value of one tael of silver. By the 26th year of Hongwu, they were no longer as good as wipes.
Wang Chonggu’s meaning is very clear. His Majesty still keeps his promise. He is responsible for cleaning up the rebellion among the Jin people. There is no need to trouble Your Majesty to take action. Your Majesty is the emperor after all. He has many worries when he takes action. But Wang Chonggu is a treacherous minister. , there is no such worry, that’s what he said and what he did.
Shaanxi Chief Minister Wang Yu, Zuo Erguan Xue Lun, and Shanxi Inspector Qiao Bixing were all cleaned up by Wang Chonggu himself.
"That's it." Zhu Yijun smiled, motioned for Wang Chonggu to sit down, and talked about the Meishan incident.
Shengzhou (today's Ordos) was established in the early Sui Dynasty. In the last years of the Sui Dynasty, it fell to the Turks. In the third year of Zhenguan, Li Jing led the generals out of the fortress, destroyed the Turks, captured Jieli Khan, and then attacked the Yinshan Mountains to regain the Hetao. In the fourth year of Zhenguan, Shengzhou, Xiazhou, Yanzhou, Fengzhou, Lingzhou and so on were established here.
During the Ming Dynasty’s expedition, there was no need to rename the places, only the place names from the Tang Dynasty were used.
The open-air coal mountain that Ma Gui heard about is located on the northeast edge of the Shengzhou coal mountain. It is a coal mountain in the physical sense. The entire mountain is made of coal. It is discovered that the coal mountain is Doctor Lin Buzhuang was also surprised.
The coal fields in Xishan, Gyeonggi Province of the Ming Dynasty, are generally 30 feet underground. In order to light the coal, it is a dojo inside a snail shell. It is as difficult as it is. Just to light the coal, we have to work hard to mine it. The Tomb of the Ming Dynasty Emperor is located in the West Mountain. In order to mine coal, he did not hesitate to alarm his ancestors. Now, an almost endless mountain of coal has fallen from the sky.
"I don't understand. Didn't An Dahan notice this bright open-air coal mountain?" Zhu Yijun and Wang Chonggu chatted about coal mining. Xishan Coal Bureau needs to send the general office and agent to Shengzhou to mine coal. Mountain, Wang Chonggu is also familiar with these things, and with the cooperation of the Ministry of Industry, the mining is off to a good start.
Wang Chonggu is the president of the factory as the second assistant to the cabinet. Wang Chonggu will take office soon, so there will be some small troubles.
"What if Anda Khan discovered it? Your Majesty, the open-air coal mountain is also in the mountain. Even if he discovered it, he would send a bunch of slaves to dig it out and they would not be able to transport it out." Wang Chonggu shook his head. Said: "He can't even build a Bansheng city, how can we expect him to open a mine?"
If it can't be done, it is impossible to do it under the political structure of Beilu.
Mining is a systematic project. Anda Khan built Bansheng City and spent more than 20 years tinkering with it. Under the artillery fire, it didn't even survive three days. The organization was not enough and the city construction was laborious. The Ming Dynasty and the Northern Barbarians fought for at least two hundred years. The thirteen Northern Expeditions to the grasslands in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, coupled with the embargo on the Northern Barbarians for more than two hundred years, have completely degraded the grasslands to the slave age. Mining and other coordinated efforts Things, Anda Khan can't coordinate at all.
"That makes sense." Zhu Yijun agreed with Wang Chonggu's point of view, and it was indeed difficult for Anda Khan to do mining.
"Your Majesty, what should we do with Anda Khan and other prisoners?" Wang Chonggu asked the question he wanted to ask. He is the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment. Anda Khan has been locked up in the sky prison. He is killed or scraped. Your Majesty must say something, it's not a big deal to shut him up like this.
Zhu Yijun said with a serious face: "The centurions, the captains of thousands, Wanhu, Anda Khan, the concubines of Anda Khan's children, etc., all beheaded. The old and new grudges between the Ming Dynasty and the Northern Lu. That's it."
"Including the two sons born by the third wife?" Wang Chonggu asked in a low voice.
"Including, before Mrs. Zhongshun left, she told me that it was not her child. At that time, Anda Khan was plotting against Oara and just needed a child. At that time, Anda Khan could no longer give birth." Zhu Yijun nodded and said, before Mrs. Zhongshun resigned, she specifically told His Majesty that the two sons under her knees were only sons in name, and those two sons did not live in Guihua City, but in Bansheng.
In a few years, the third wife will be able to adopt two more children, which will not be a big deal. On the grassland, blood relationship itself is not very important.
"I obey the decree." Wang Chonggu bowed again, bowed his head and said: "I resigned."
Wang Chonggu stood in front of the imperial study room of Tonghe Palace and sighed. When it is time to take action, Your Majesty Never hesitated. In fact, Yan Guan was waiting for His Majesty's treatment of An Da Khan. If An Da Khan died in the sky prison like this, then Yan Guan would impeach Qi Jiguang for killing five thousand people in Bansheng Pit. Nothing happened;
If Anda Khan beheads his head in public, everyone will pretend that nothing happened.
The courtiers actually had no idea how the emperor made his decision. After Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty captured Jieli Khan, he also kept Jieli Khan and danced to entertain everyone when he had something to do. After all, Khan was also the king of Lu who was canonized by the late emperor, the king of Shunyi with a golden seal and a five-piece gun uniform and ribbon.
Apparently more than a hundred households were killed, even the concubines were not spared, and the two sons in the name of the third wife were also killed. This was something that Wang Chonggu did not expect. Wang Chonggu’s The judgment is correct, His Majesty is really ruthless.
Wang Chonggu took two steps forward and suddenly stood still. He could suddenly understand why His Majesty did this. It was the same reason why Qi Jiguang killed people, for reconciliation.
If the grassland people really want to hate specific people, then they should hate the emperor himself and Qi Shuai.
The barbarians were wolf-faced and beast-like, fearful of power but not moral. They could not be intimidated without using thunderous means. They were gentle. During the Yongle period, they sealed the captive king Mahamu. Later, Mahamu’s grandson also took the lead and captured the Ming Emperor. Ming Yingzong.
The Ming Dynasty has been fighting with the Northern Lu for so many years. The main trend now is reconciliation. For some historical issues, someone needs to bear the infamy. The current and future infamy. The title of executioner will definitely fall on His Majesty in the future. I can't even take it off my head.
Wang Chonggu fully understood His Majesty's determination to revive the Ming Dynasty. What is his name after his death? Don't care at all, just take care of yourself.
In April of the eighth year of Wanli, when the Ming Dynasty's exploration fleet set out, Zhu Yijun promised to give each of the soldiers of the exploration fleet a thousand silvers to those who successfully returned, and to those who failed to return five hundred silvers to each family. After Xu Jiugao, Liu Ji and others returned to the court, they did not mention this matter because they all knew about His Majesty's frugality. (Chapter 368)
Zhu Yijun did not forget it, but he was doing the accounting before and needed to check the number of people, check the letter plate, customs clearance documents, etc., until the court inspection was completed, the court had its own rigidity and inefficiency. The disbursement of each amount of money took a long time, and the money was finally paid out in full two and a half months after the exploration fleet returned.
On the fourth day of July in the ninth year of Wanli, Zhu Yijun summoned Antonio's special envoy Marcus at the Wenhua Palace.
"My lord Cascais commanded Marcus to pay homage to your majesty. Long live your majesty, long live your majesty." Marcus bowed five times and kowtowed three times.
In the imperial edict that consecrated Antonio, Marcus was also consecrated as the commander of Cascais. Cascais is located forty miles west of Lisbon and is the most important defensive fortress and military port on the sea of Lisbon. Zhu Yijun conferred him the title of Commanding Officer, which is a match for the canonization of a king.
"No gift." Zhu Yijun looked at Marcus and asked with a smile: "I heard that the King of Portugal asked you to bring 500,000 silver to repay my debt this time. In fact, you don't have to be so anxious."
“Your Majesty’s generosity and kindness shine in Lisbon, thousands of miles away.” Marcus said politely. In fact, His Majesty’s interest rate is not high among private loans, not even usury. But Portugal really can't afford it. If it drags on for ten or eight years, I'm afraid the whole of Portugal will have to be compensated to His Majesty.
“How many boats do you plan to buy this time?” Zhu Yijun asked directly. Marcus hurriedly said: "Two are enough. Felipe II has no time to conflict with His Majesty's Portugal at this time. The gold and silver in His Majesty's hands are really stretched. This time I can buy two five-masted ships." Yangzhou, after repaying His Majesty’s 500,000 arrears, needs to leave some capital to do business in order to pay back all the arrears.”
In what Marcus said, Portugal is His Majesty's Portugal. Even if you ask for mercy from the emperor, you really have nothing left. You must always leave some capital for business.
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun said seriously: "Sword Master Marcus, there is an old saying in the Ming Dynasty, which is to prepare for a rainy day. If you wait until it rains before preparing for it, I'm afraid it will be too late. I have to remind you that Felipe II really has no time to pay attention to Antonio now, because the independence of the Netherlands makes him anxious."
"But again, once he solves the problem, he will want to build more. I’m afraid it will be too late for the huge fleet to deal with him. It will take a year to go back and forth, and you have to recruit naval troops to fight, which will only delay it longer.”
Business is business. Just because of the anxiety of selling, Felipe II could not solve the independence of the Netherlands at all, so the possibility of another conflict between Felipe II and Antonio began to decrease, especially after Antonio leased a port.
But otherwise, how could Antonio buy a boat? How could he willingly give the hard-earned silver to Ming's hands?
Marchus bowed his head again and said: "Your Majesty's wisdom is like the stars in the sky, and your Majesty's revelation guides us forward. However, there is really no money. His Highness Antonio did not get the support from the governorates. Support, the current sea trade even needs to rely on Spanish ports, please kindly give His Highness some time.”
There is really no silver left!
The old king Enrique the Pure did not leave any inheritance to Antonio, and the whole of Portugal was in dire straits. Antonio came to the Ming Dynasty with a total of 1.5 million silver, repaying the money and buying two ships. The ship has already used up 900,000 silver. The remaining 600,000 silver needs to be purchased to purchase enough goods and earn profits before it can pay back the money.
Antonio and Duchess Catarina’s grandfather are the same person. Xu Fan was shocked by this and carefully concealed it, but Antonio’s 1.5 million silver, 500,000 from it, was given by the Duchess. .
“I know Antonio’s predicament, why not do this? Merchant ships in the Portuguese Viceroyalty that do not obey Antonio’s orders are not allowed to buy spices in Manila, Old Port and other places. In this way, Antonio can get part of the governorship. "Zhu Yijun said with a smile: "Now, the spices that Portuguese merchants urgently need are under the control of Ming Dynasty. This punishment is unbearable for many governorates."
Luzon, Cebu, Mindanao, Yuanxu Islands and other regions are called the ‘Spice Islands’ by the West. The West can live without Jerusalem, but it cannot live without spices.
Legas has a travel diary that specifically discusses pepper, called "Fortune Adventure Colonization and Pepper", which systematically discusses the importance of pepper to the West.
Legasi said in his travel notes: [It is hard to imagine that there is no black pepper on the spice rack. It is a chameleon in the culinary world, blending silently into countless food combinations. It produces different hot and spicy tastes depending on the place of origin. Pepper is absolutely indispensable in recipes. When we go into the food store, we can usually find many kinds of ground pepper. pepper shakers, or bottles of colorful pepper seeds that you can buy and grind at home. ]
[Pepper is a world-wide spice. ]
For Daming, pepper is a kind of seasoning, but Taixi does need pepper, which is related to their dietary rules.
Legas once recommended Thai and Western food to the emperor. The next day, the Tiqi soldiers threw him to Beizhen Fusi on the charge of "murder". He was imprisoned for three days before being pardoned by the emperor. Release, after that experience, Legaz never dared to recommend Thai and Western food again.
Taiwan food is still in the era of "ruining hair and drinking blood". If the emperor eats uncooked beef, it is against etiquette. "Book of Rites·Liyun" says: Before cremation, eating grass and trees, birds The flesh of beasts, drinking their blood, and luxuriating in their hair. This was considered a barbaric act, and even Zhu Yijun only tasted the sea fish sent by the Trek expedition fleet.
The chief medical officer said that there are live insects in the uncooked beef, so he must not eat it raw. This is all for the sake of His Majesty's health.
The importance of pepper has a lot to do with eating habits. Although Legas is still arrogant, saying that freshly ground fresh pepper has a strong aroma, and it may taste like smelling a glass of very strong red wine. It is intoxicating, so the Thai people are very fond of pepper.
Wan Shihe believes that Taixi mainly uses pepper to cover up the smell and blood.
Now the Ming Dynasty's strategy in Nanyang has completely controlled the spices in the hands of the Ming Dynasty. Even the large ships in the West can only get enough spices from Manila.
So, Zhu Yijun's threat was real. If the governors and merchants did not support Antonio, they would have no choice but to buy it from Felipe II.
Marchus hesitated for a moment, then bowed his head and said: "Thank you for your majesty's grace, but don't do this. This way, the governors will not be able to sincerely support Antonio."
"Really?" Zhu Yijun immediately asked: "Does Antonio really not need it? It's really not a troublesome matter for a decree. Since I canonized Antonio, how can I ignore it?"
"It doesn't cost money, right?"
The free ones are often the most expensive ones.
The reason why Zhu Yijun imposed a ban on spices is because the spices from the plantations can be sold easily, because the Ming Dynasty is the largest market in the world. Even if the Ming Dynasty cannot eat it, there are still large sailing ships arriving at the port once a year. , spices can be brought back to Thailand.
Zhu Yijun’s move is indeed supporting Antonio to become king, but isn’t it cutting off Antonio’s last retreat? After this ban is issued, the governors of the Government House will never really support Antonio. Antonio can only be a traitor to Tessie.
Maintaining the relationship with Daming has become the most important thing for Antonio.
Marchus obviously understands this very well. After dealing with His Majesty for so many years, anything that can be obtained for free comes at a high price, such as the high interest on the money he borrowed to buy a boat.
Marcus struggled a little, and finally, he bowed his head and said: "Thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty."
We must first secure the throne before we can talk about other things. Antonio and Marcus, who were born pirates, they His eyes cannot see the long-term and can only focus on the present. Antonio urgently needs the support of various governor-general offices. The Eastern Emperor's ban is issued and takes effect, which can indeed make the governor-general surrender to Antonio.
Marcus could not and did not dare to refuse. He was not afraid of the Ming Emperor. It was indeed very dangerous to disobey the Ming Emperor. He was likely to be sent to the hell on earth that was Jiegeyuan, but Marcus There is another reason why Si cannot refuse His Majesty's proposal, and the most important one is that Antonio has changed.
Antonio was a captain, now he is a king.
This captain, after sitting on the throne of the king, did not work hard to govern. After completely handing over the general affairs to the Minister of State Xu Fan, he began his own extravagant life. As for the ambition to inspire the country before becoming the king, , has faded in the luxurious life.
Felipe’s secretary, Solon, had a reason to be dismissive of Antonio. Solon sneered that Antonio was not worthy of being a king at all, but only a captain. Solon’s monarch, Felipe, was extremely diligent. He writes more than 400 letters to governors in various places every year, which lasts for several years.
Antonio likes to be a king, at least it looks like flowers and flowers. This is why Marcus can only agree.
It is easy to change an old person's heart, but it is said that an old person's heart is easy to change.
"Okay, Grand Uncle Zong has made a good will." Zhu Yijun nodded, this time strengthening the political and economic constraints on Portugal.
Wan Shihe understood the purpose of His Majesty's move. He didn't care if any of his allies were surprised. He immediately bowed his head and said: "I obey the decree."
Zhu Yijun met Legas, who was still the same as before. He, the special envoy to the West, had been abandoned by Felipe II, but on the surface, he was still the special envoy. During this meeting, Legas presented a new letter to His Majesty. A good travelogue, the main content is that he looked at the Ming Dynasty's conquests from the perspective of the Westerners.
From Legas' perspective, the Ming Emperor and Qi Jiguang's treatment was too gentle and benevolent.
The other special envoy is Matteo Ricci. Matteo Ricci is still very young. His eyes are full of curiosity. He can’t even say greetings politely. Because he is a little timid, he even speaks a little bit. Stuttering, on the way to Beijing, Matteo Ricci had already seen how terrifying the power of the Ming Emperor was.
Zhu Yijun arranged for Matteo Ricci to Zhang Guoxiang. After finishing the study of Taoism and Buddhism, he had enough to sink his life.
Matteo Ricci presented the credentials of Felipe II. Zhu Yijun could understand it. It was written in Latin. The main content was to say hello and maintain the friendship between the two countries. It was worthwhile. Note that there is only one thing. Felipe II hoped that the Ming Dynasty would not open a route to England. Felipe's words contained a lot of resentment, resentment towards England. Obviously he already knew that England had completed the circumnavigation of the world.
Felipe II obviously worked hard to convince the Ming Emperor. In Felipe II’s description, if England had not been behind the scenes, the situation in the Netherlands would not have been the same. It will deteriorate to the point where it is today. In this way, Ming Dynasty may not understand intuitively. Felipe described England as a Japanese country in Western Europe.
It is now easy to understand.
England, the troublemaker, can stir up trouble on Spain's territory today, and stir up trouble in the Ming Dynasty's waters tomorrow.
For this kind of country, I still hope that the Ming Emperor will be more cautious and think twice before acting.
"Felipe II mentioned in his credentials that England issued privateering licenses to merchant ships. Is this true?" Zhu Yijun looked at Marcus.
Marcus sighed and said helplessly: "Your Majesty, something like this is indeed happening. This is bad news for all maritime trade, but it does happen."
This statement was obtained by Malkus Coos agreed that in order to support the independence of the Netherlands and to cope with maritime trade competition with Spain, England had begun to openly issue "private licenses", authorizing individual armed merchant ships to attack or rob other countries' ships.
Under such a policy, countless pirates will only be born. Whether it is Portugal, Spain, or the Ming Dynasty, pirates cannot be tolerated, because the growth of pirates will seriously affect the smooth flow of shipping routes.
Wrong legalization is a kind of bandit logic, but England openly implements this decree. Marcus and Felipe are hostile, but they also despise this behavior. There are even privateers along the coast of Portugal. haunt.
Marchus, who has been at sea for a long time, hates pirates deeply.
(End of this chapter)