Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1023 Draw Ding (seeking a monthly ticket)

Bearded John held his head high, his face full of pride.

He quickly got off the boat and asked for credit for himself: "You don't know, it took me a lot of human relationships to find these people for you."

"Send them down."

Soon, more than a hundred men and women were escorted off the ship. They were unkempt and thinly clothed, but their Han appearance was still recognizable.

Zhu Ci glanced at it, and then turned his gaze back: "Where did you come from?"

"The East Indies, which is what you often call the South Seas."

The bearded John said casually: "There are very few Ming people, and your Qin and Qi countries are recruiting, so I can only get you these for the time being."

"But don't worry, I can get you at least a hundred people every month, as long as you have enough pearls."

As he spoke, he laughed.

According to the agreement between the two, Han people regardless of gender are 50 taels of silver each, and ordinary seniors are 30 taels of silver.

Looking at these people in front of him, Zhu Ci was ecstatic.

Now his Kingdom of Ceylon seems to be rapidly expanding in size, but it is in jeopardy.

Because the core of its rule is only about a hundred Han people, and the way of balance is nothing more than that.

For example, Ceylon divided the tribe into three.

There were about a thousand people in the first batch of surrendered tribes. They could join the army, be officials, do business, etc. They belonged to the nearby tribe.

The second batch of conquests were from the remote area, and they were residents of the Mannar Peninsula. They could only pay taxes, join the army, and not be officials.

The last class is the residents outside the Mannar Peninsula. They know nothing about the Kingdom of Ceylon and can only be reduced to a group of pure taxpayers.

They are called the Ministry of Gong and the Ministry of Slaves.

As the name suggests, it is a pure upper offering, raising Han people, near and far.

Such differential treatment allowed the Kingdom of Ceylon to closely unite the near and far parts and jointly suppress the slave parts.

But this kind of squeeze is not in line with human nature, and what is even more frightening is that the number of Han people is too small. Even if the circle of contacts is expanded through marriage, it will not help.

At least, part of the reason why he didn't dare to enter the Jaffna kingdom at this time was because he was afraid of instability in the rear.

"5000 taels per month is too expensive."

Zhu Ci smiled wryly: "Although my kingdom looks decent now, it's just a joke. Pearls are very useful, and the output is not stable..."

John was taken aback, and hurriedly said: "My lord, everyone has already negotiated for you, but you actually told me that you can't afford it."

"It's not a good partnership."

"Let's reduce the price!" Zhu Ci blinked, "I'll buy it at the original price this time, but it won't be the same price next time, it's too expensive."

"After all, I have to save some money to buy armor and gunpowder from you, don't I?"

Hearing this, the bearded John heaved a sigh of relief, the meat is still rotten in the pot, that's it.

"I'll give you up to 40 taels at most, and 20 taels for the old and the young."

"30 taels—"

"I'm going to lose money..."

"30 taels."

"Okay, just 30 taels."

Finally, John had to give in.

If it was last year, he would never have agreed, but this time and that time also.

The Kingdom of Ceylon left the Mannar Peninsula and marched inland, occupying a lot of territory. At the same time, it could be regarded as invading the Kingdom of Jaffna, and the country's power rose sharply.

At this time, Ceylon could not only trade pearls, but also trade in ivory and gemstones, which made its caravan even more memorable.

In a sense, he can be regarded as a turnaround.

After sending these men and women into Yanbao, Zhu Ci pondered for a moment and said, "How much do you know about the Kingdom of Jaffna?"

"They are Tamils." John sighed: "I heard that they are from India, and they believe in the so-called Brahmanism. You know all of this."

"Now the Dutch are stationed in Jaffna and control the entire island of Sri Lanka from the south to the north with Colombo. There are about [-] soldiers and horses. There are not many musketeers, only a few hundred..."

"And the Dutch? How many are there?"

"Are you planning to hit Jaffna? Excuse me, Your Majesty, you are overthinking yourself."

John shook his head quickly: "The Dutch will not give up here, so you need to take down its capital Nallur as soon as possible, otherwise it will be in vain."

"Moreover, the most important thing for you is to withstand the fury of the Dutch, after all, it affects the interests of their company."

In other words, the Kingdom of Jaffna has been reduced to a puppet for many years, especially when it was conquered by the Portuguese before, it was beaten to pieces and completely lost its confidence.

So Jaffna is nothing to be afraid of, but the most important thing is the Dutch.

John said with fear: "The East India Company has hundreds of warships and tens of thousands of mercenaries. Even we are retreating again and again, and dare not compete with them."

"Of course, if you have a thousand muskets and several cannons, you will still be able to fight."

The bearded John showed a hint of slyness: "I have good quality and low price here."

Zhu Ci rolled his eyes.

Immediately, the two finished trading supplies.

Yanbao exchanged ivory, pearls, and rubies for nearly ten thousand taels of silver, but then turned them into Han people, muskets, gunpowder, armor, knives and guns, and scarce herbs.

This time it was completely changed.

Having earned double the money, John went in satisfied. Before leaving, in order to show his closeness, he gave Zhu a short gun for self-defense.

When he came back to his senses, his second younger brother Zhu Ding came over impatiently: "Brother, I really got a treasure this time."

"Fifty men and fifty women, the oldest is only in his thirties, the youngest is 16 years old, three carpenters, two bricklayers, and a shipbuilder."

"More importantly, there is a person who has read books and can make paper."

"Bring him here."

Hearing this, Zhu Ci was very excited.

Paper, such a simple commodity, is boiled and precipitated with bark rags, etc., but no matter how good it is made by a layman, it is just some rough paper for wiping the buttocks, which is difficult to write on.

"The villain Sun Bai, whose ancestral home is Quanzhou, Fujian, had to go to Nanyang to avoid debts, and went to Luzon to earn money to pay off debts..."

"Then I encountered a storm, fell into a pirate's lair, and was finally captured by a group of Francoids..."

Sun Bai was also a poor man, he looked to be in his forties, but in fact he was only in his thirties, his face was tanned, and he shrank himself, terrified.

"As long as you make paper that can be written on, I will reward you with a hundred acres of land."

Zhu Ci said in a deep voice, with piercing eyes: "Even, I can still make you an official."

Listening to the familiar official words, Sun Bai didn't react for a while.

He hesitated and said, "This is Daming?"

"No."

All the Han people were visibly disappointed.

Zhu Ci didn't panic, and said directly: "The widow is the king of Ceylon County canonized by the court, and he is here. As long as you do things well, it is not a delusion to go home in the future."

For this group of ordinary people, Zhu Ci did not show the imperial decree, but just explained it and left.

But it was also enough to boost their morale.

After this group of people stepped into Yanbao, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when they saw its neat workshops and houses, all of which were Ming-style, extremely familiar and familiar.

Even, the guise of an inn was hung in front of the house, swaying in the wind, and there were many people sitting inside.

Zhu Ci looked at the group of people and nodded with satisfaction: "In the long run, our Ceylon country will really be stable in less than a year."

Zhu Dingze echoed, "It looks like the Kingdom of Jaffna can be conquered by this day next year."

"Don't be too optimistic."

Zhu Ci said casually, but his mouth was full of smiles, obviously full of confidence.

The arrival of this group of Han people stabilized the situation in the dangerous Kingdom of Ceylon and made them breathe a sigh of relief.

Unconsciously, it has been two years, and for them, it has changed from living in peace to expansion and conquest.

The Kingdom of Ceylon is becoming more and more like a real vassal state.

At this time, suddenly there was an extra newspaper in his hand.

"Brother, I bought this from the crew and let him buy it."

Zhu Yong, who came out of breath, delivered the communiqué directly to him.

"Ming people already had Qin, Qi, and Yue as feudal vassals, and they have recently been suppressing pirates in Nanyang. The country's power is increasing day by day, which is a great thing for us."

"Oh?" Zhu Ci asked puzzledly, "Why?"

"The imperial court is showing its power in Nanyang, and the Dutch are naturally wary. The risk of us winning the Jaffna Kingdom has weakened again. Isn't that happy?"

With the arrival of a group of Han Chinese, Yanbao and the entire Kingdom of Ceylon set off an upsurge of learning Chinese. From the near, far, and slave parts, the response was good.

Sinicization, the previously elusive goal, has been gradually implemented and has become a reality.

It will be difficult for doves to occupy magpies' nests.

……

With the court's motion, it was put on the agenda to attack the Manchus from both sides.

Before that, the mobilization of the grasslands was put on the agenda.

This war is not about the Beijing camp and the frontier army, and it is normal to recruit herdsmen into the army.

Chahar, Chifeng.

"A cabinet decree?"

When Budari, King of Beihai County, heard about this, he jumped up from his seat, threw the two beauties away, and unfolded the decree.

This is a decree issued by the Chahar Governor's Mansion in Chifeng City, which involves almost all the Chahar nobles.

You must know that the governor of Chahar not only manages the army and general affairs, but also has the power to supervise and impeach the Mongolian nobles, which can almost cut off the fate of a family.

Therefore, even Budali, the two largest Mongolian aristocrats located in Beihai County King and Chahar, did not dare to be presumptuous.

"Three tents get one dick?"

Budari frowned.

This is a big deal.

Although the aristocrats are weak, as one of the few great aristocrats in Monan, Budari still has three thousand herdsmen under his banner.

In other words, he needs to recruit a thousand cavalry at a time, and obey the command of the Chahar Governor's Mansion.

And as far as he knew, Chahar had nearly [-] accounts, that is to draw nearly [-] troops, which is not a small number.

At this time, Abu Da, King of Chahar County, also came in a hurry and asked about conscription.

This was the first conscription since the founding of Chahar. Abu Da was younger and panicked, so he had to come to ask this uncle for advice.

Budari pondered for a long time before saying: "No matter how much it is, this is the seal of the Ministry of War and the Governor's Mansion. It should be correct. Let's just recruit troops."

"Then we're going out too?"

The young Abu Da whispered, very unwilling in his words.

Regarding this, the more experienced Budari could only say in a deep voice: "We have no right to refuse. Once we fight against the Governor's Mansion, our pastures and wealth will be deprived in an instant."

I don't know what happened, so I was recruited out of nowhere.

"There is still time, there are still a few months to go, we have to prepare well..."

In Chahar, the nobles who still retained their territory immediately complained when they heard the news of the conscription.

Regardless of how troublesome it is to go to various pastures to find herdsmen in winter, it is extremely uncomfortable for them to sacrifice their own interests to fight for the emperor.

Because if there is one, there are two.

It can be expected that there will be more and more recruits in the future, and the pain can be imagined.

Of course, the more important thing is that these nobles have to fight with the army. How can the Mongolian nobles who have enjoyed a peaceful life for more than ten years bear it?
However, those nobles who gave up their territories to the direct control of the Governor's Mansion only need to pay 100 silver dollars to avoid being drafted into the army.

For a while, many nobles made the decision to give up their territory and receive iron sheep money.

The seven counties of Chahar, Chifeng, Kuancheng, Chengde, Luanping, Pingquan, Daning, and Heicheng, these are the seven cities of Chahar, and they are also the seven power centers.

A large number of cavalry surrounded the city and scattered in all directions, looking for hundreds of households and thousands of households.

"Battelle, Battelle—"

A cavalry galloped in the snow, and after an unknown amount of time, he came to the nearby Baihusuo when he felt that his legs were about to freeze.

After dismounting, the cavalry recovered.

Baihu ran out of the house and saw a big man in a green Mongolian robe with a quail bird embroidered on his chest get off his horse. They immediately laughed and said, "Master Muren, why did you come in person?"

Although he is only a county government servant of Sesame Mung Bean, even though his hundred household ranks higher than the ninth rank, he dare not provoke him easily.

"There isn't even a patrol station, it seems that you are not vigilant at all."

Muren shook Ma Biao and said out of breath, "I don't have time to talk nonsense to you. The Governor's Mansion has an order to draw one out of three tents. We will arrive at the county seat by the end of February in the spring of next year, and then set off with a large team..."

After finishing speaking, he left without hesitation, not knowing what politeness is.

"Father, what is this for?"

When Baihu was concentrating, the son who ran out of the house asked suddenly.

"It is estimated that there will be a war."

"It's good to fight!" the son said happily, "It's time to grab things again, which is much easier than grazing."

"But it will cost lives."

Baihu said solemnly: "It seems that we are going to choose the most powerful hero—"

Chahar, who had not heard of the war for many years, was greatly moved. Many Mongolian herdsmen were sharpening their swords, wanting to participate in this war and gain wealth that is unattainable in daily life.

At the same time, this recruitment is also a test of the Chahar Governor's Mansion. If disobedient tribes appear, then the only way is to eliminate them.

……

Jilin.

The Jilin General's Mansion also started recruiting by coincidence, and the targets were naturally the Jurchens in the deep mountains and old forests, or other tribes.

The harsher environment honed its tenacious character and physique, which made it a natural war killer.

In a sense, this is also a kind of consumption.

(End of this chapter)