Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 999 Released (Ask for a monthly ticket! Brothers)
ps: I fell asleep halfway, and I still have a thousand words to go, so refresh it in half an hour

In fact, Zhu Cihong had some confidence in conquering the Kingdom of Jaffna.

Part of the reason is the support of the Portuguese, and the other part is because of the strength of the Yan army today.

Although the Yan army only has 300 people, the number of muskets exceeds [-]. The small Mannar Peninsula is not enough, and the territory under its control has reached [-] miles.

So this time some soldiers and horses were sent to attack, one is to plunder wealth, and the other is to expand the territory and increase more tribal tribute, so as to deal with the Portuguese trade.

Interests are forcing the Kingdom of Ceylon to move forward.

"My lord, my lord, the Portuguese are here again."

Just as Zhu Cihong was feeling deeply, a voice of calling suddenly came from afar.

When he looked around, a sailboat appeared on the sea.

"What's the rush?" Zhu Cihong scolded, and the little nephew lowered his head in aggrieved manner.

With that said, he walked briskly down the castle and arrived at the pier.

A rough sailboat is docking at the simple pier.

"Zhu, my Majesty the King, I don't know if you have any other good things? I have brought something that satisfies you this time."

The bearded captain came down and muttered:

"Ivory, you should be out of stock."

"Guaranteed to leave you with a rewarding experience."

Zhu Ci said loudly, with confidence written all over his face.

The bearded man was taken aback, and immediately followed suit.

For the Kingdom of Ceylon with only 2000 people, John the Bearded couldn't look down on him, but he didn't dare to underestimate it.

Leaving aside the fact that it came from the powerful Eastern Empire, just saying that it has an independent language and can use muskets is enough to make people pay attention.

The two walked away.

Passing through a salt field, dozens of people are constantly boiling seawater, and the other part is cutting firewood and hauling it in an orderly manner.

The bearded John didn't care about this. Countries by the sea never lacked salt, especially those who ran maritime trade.

After walking hundreds of steps, a group of people came to a cliff, which was more than ten feet high and looked extremely steep.

There are reefs everywhere on the seashore, and the waves beat fiercely.

"Go on and watch."

Seeing that John was getting impatient, Zhu Cilang said with a smile.

Sure enough, in less than a moment, a few 'mermaids' dressed poorly emerged from the sea and went ashore.

In their hands, they could vaguely see a fishing net bag filled with shellfish.

At this time, several women hiding under the cliff quickly unloaded the shells.

Afterwards, 'mermaids' came ashore one after another. There were men and women, men accounted for the majority, about [-] or [-] people. Without exception, they all carried fishing nets.

The shells are left to the women, they just rest.

"Let's go and have a look." Zhu Cihong said with a casual smile.

The bearded John became more and more confused. Is it possible to fish for gold in the bottom of the sea?

When I got off the cliff, I saw buckets of town pearls, big and small, arranged according to color and size.

John's eyes widened at this time: "Damn it, my God, is this a pearl? Look at this color, it's horribly red, and it's even more beautiful than that."

Pearls, whether in Europe, India, or East Asia, are the currency of the world and are very popular, especially large pearls, which are even rarer.

After looking around, John said with regret: "There are so many shells, and there are too few of them."

"Don't worry, John, I have stock here."

Zhu Cihong laughed.

At this time, the relationship between the two became closer, and pearls were the glue between them.

The dozens of catties of round pearls made John the Bearded extremely satisfied: "My lord, I am willing to exchange one mark of silver for one Arova pearl."

Zhu Cihong frowned.

After a long period of trade, he naturally knows the Portuguese weight unit.

Arova is about eighteen catties (Ming Jin), while one mark is only about six taels (Ming Dynasty), with a gap of nearly fifty times.

"impossible."

Zhu Cihong vetoed it: "Unless you exchange it with gold, one mark of gold can be exchanged for one mark of pearl."

John turned his head into a windmill at this time: "Impossible, I'm too bad."

The two refused to give in to each other, but they quarreled.

Zhu Cihong was born as a prince and has been in the private sector for more than ten years, so he is very clear about the price of pearls.

A pearl worth three and a half quarters (one quarter is three millimeters in diameter) is worth more than one tael of silver.

And the value of a very round one that has reached more than six points, it is impossible to get it without six or seven hundred taels.

Of course, this is in the capital, and it will be cheaper if it is by the sea.

And in India, a place that loves gold jewelry, the price of pearls will be even higher.

John wanted to use weight to ignore size and directly fool his behavior, but it was not successful at all.

As a last resort, the two reached a condition:
For pearls below three and a half cents, five marks (six taels) are exchanged for one mark of silver.

Three and a half to six cents, one mark for one mark.

More than six cents (two centimeters in diameter), one is worth half Avalo silver.

Eight points (diameter 2.64) or more, one for one Avaro.

In other words, a pearl of about six cents sells for 140 taels of silver; a pearl of about eight cents sells for 280 taels of silver.

Compared with the market price, Zhu Cihong is selling it at a [-]-[-]% discount.

And John only needs to walk around Goa for a few days, and he can get two or three times the profit, which can be described as huge profits.

After several months of accumulation, Zhu Cihong exchanged ten thousand taels of silver on paper.

Satisfied, John puffed out his stomach: "My king, this is a gift from me, I promise you will like it."

After saying that, the two returned to the pier.

At this time, a cannon appeared in front of his eyes.

"This is a three-pound gun. Depending on our relationship, I only charge you 1000 taels of silver, which is considered cheap for you."

John said without shame.

Zhu Cihong liked it quite a lot, but felt extremely uncomfortable with the price.

Good guy, in Daming, a 500-jin red-clothed cannon only costs 100 taels. Your cannon can support hundreds of catties, and [-] taels is too expensive.

Naturally, he refused to be taken advantage of, and the next time is still long, so he can't let him manipulate him.

In the end, Zhu Cihong bought it at a price of 800 taels.

Immediately, using the quota of 1 taels, Zhu Cihong bought 20 taels of matchlock guns, [-] sticks, and one tael a catty of gunpowder for two thousand catties.

The rest of ironware, cloth, shoes and socks, etc...

In the end, there were 2000 taels left.

John kept urging.

Zhu Cihong was unmoved, he raised his head and said, "I need a craftsman, Mr. John."

"Blacksmiths, carpenters, potters, and even shipwrights."

"It's easy to say." John narrowed his eyes: "100 taels of silver per person, I'll bring it to you next time."

"No, twelve taels."

"Your Majesty, this business cannot be done..."

"You are too treacherous."

In the end, 30 taels per person was sold.

"Then ten blacksmiths, ten carpenters, and ten shipwrights."

"What about the rest? My king." John said impatiently.

"I need Han people."

Zhu Cilang stared into John's eyes, looked carefully and said, "Han people who can speak Chinese."

"This is India, my lord."

John smiled wryly, he spread his hands, his face full of helplessness.

"To the East Indies."

Zhu Cihong vaguely remembered that the fleet passed by the East Indies on the way, and that Java island was extremely prosperous, and it should have everything.

"I remember there were quite a few Han Chinese there."

"100 taels of silver."

John the Lion opened his mouth wide.

"50 taels, young and middle-aged men and women; only 20 taels for children and the elderly."

"If there are craftsmen or scholars, I will give you 100 taels."

"Deal." John nodded.

The East Indies are not far from India, and it is impossible to go there.

Besides, these pearls cannot be sold at a price in India, so you can also go to East India to see them.

Such an expensive price, Zhu Cihong is also intentional.

If the price is low, maybe people don't care, and they don't feel bad if some die on the road, but for the Kingdom of Ceylon, Han people are the rarest.

A Han man who marries two or three local women can directly win over three Tamil families with twenty members.

Zhu Cihong would dare to attack the Jaffna Kingdom if there were a thousand young and strong Han people.

This is not due to lack of troops, but just after the battle, the Han people in Yanbao, as well as the Zhu family, will all be integrated into the aborigines.

This is unacceptable to him.

A few days later, all craftsmen arrived.

At this time, the Kingdom of Ceylon began to make paper, build and repair weapons, manufacture looms, pottery, and various handicrafts began to develop.

The development of handicrafts and agriculture allowed a small kingdom to take shape.

……

Songjiang Mansion.

Zheng Sen arrived in this bustling city from Suzhou on the rails.

With the opening of customs in Songjiang Prefecture, the goods of the entire Jiangsu Province are concentrated here for export.

Tea from Anhui and porcelain from Jiangxi also flowed down the Yangtze River to Songjiang Prefecture.

It can be said that the place is densely populated, shoulder to shoulder, very prosperous.

"Smoky willows and painted bridges, wind curtains and emerald curtains, there are 10 homes."

Stepping into Songjiang, Zheng Sen couldn't help but chant words.

At this time, Songjiang Mansion was already one of the largest counties in the entire Ming Dynasty.

Not to mention anything else, it is beyond everyone's expectations to say that its taxation is equivalent to that of Suzhou and slightly exceeds it.

According to Songjiang Mansion's own estimates, if it is counted as a foreign population, Songjiang City has accommodated nearly 60 people.

If the outer city is not expanded, it will not be built at all, and the people will directly build houses next to the city.

Zheng Sen was entertained by the civil and military officials of Songjiang Prefecture, and he was so drunk that he gave up.

The next day, he came to the pier with his entourage.

"Hey, there are barbarians in Songjiang Mansion." Zheng Sen was quite surprised.

The housekeeper at the side said: "Young master, Xiyi will only be allowed to move around and live in places where the customs are located. The customs of Songjiang Prefecture is huge, and this is normal."

Zheng Sen nodded slightly.

The development of Songjiang Mansion was too unexpected, and the court was also caught off guard.

At the pier, several warships have been docked for a long time, while another large ship is located in it, looking very thin.

The steward laughed and said, "Young master, this boat was specially chosen for you by the master. It is spacious and bright, and the most important thing is that it runs fast. Ordinary boats can't catch up with it."

Zheng Sen chuckled and said, "Master Hou has a heart."

This time he went south, of course, he was not playing for fun, but went to Luzon to take up a job as the governor of Luzon.

It has been nearly 19 years since he was a Jinshi in the first year of Shaowu, and his age has passed forty and is heading towards fifty.

Up to this time, he has been tossing back and forth from the local and central government several times, and today he has to be released as a feudal official.

From the left servant of the Ministry of punishment to the governor of Luzon, they are all third-rank officials.

But it can be expected that once he returns to Beijing, he will further serve as the eight ministers, or even enter the cabinet directly.

At the age of 43, assuming the post of governor, it is not an exaggeration to say that he is young and promising.

With Zhide consummated, Zheng Sen didn't have so many complaints about going to Luzon.

The wives and children are very satisfied with the spacious and comfortable boat. The specially modified room is not only spacious, but also has all kinds of food, drink and entertainment, which is extremely convenient.

There are no fewer than two hundred books just in the collection.

The Zheng family's extravagance is vividly reflected in this aspect.

The boat that could have accommodated five or six hundred people now only holds a hundred people, and the sailors only have three to forty people, and the rest are maids and servants.

Under the escort of the navy, the group arrived at the capital of Luzon: Zhenhai City without any surprises.

The salty sea waves are blowing, but they can't blow away the prosperity of Luzon.

Just the precious wood on Luzon Island, such as huanghuali, rosewood, mahogany, etc., is enough to feed thousands of people and a large number of timber merchants.

Not to mention the sugar industry, shipbuilding industry, tobacco, cotton, cinchona cream, etc., have also made great achievements.

Of course, the Philippines is also acting as a transit point at this time, and it is the third settlement and expansion of Europeans when they come to Asia.

The first and second stops are Goa in India and Batavia in East India.

Luzon Governor Jin Bao and other civil and military personnel greeted him at the pier.

What surprised Zheng Sen was that there were a few blue-eyed Xiyi in the team, which was quite unusual.

However, he also understood that Luzon was overseas after all, and it was normal to appoint Xiyi.

Not to mention a banquet, Jin Bao couldn't wait to leave and return to Beijing after staying in Luzon for a few days to explain his affairs.

In the past ten years in Luzon, Jinbao worked hard and made great achievements, so the emperor rewarded him for his achievements. He was promoted to Minister of Finance and took charge of Ming's tax collection, which can be said to be a high position and weight.

The rest of the chief envoys, academics and other officials, some returned to Beijing to report their duties and promotions, and some were replaced one by one. They were basically old people in Luzon, which ensured the stability of Luzon.

The new chief envoy was replaced by the inspector, and he reported to the new governor Zheng Sen with an excited expression:

"Under the Luzon Governor's Mansion, there are a total of 50 counties in Zhenhai, with a total of [-] towns and towns, and nearly [-] people under its rule."

"Among them, there are 35 natives, [-] Han people, and [-] Western barbarians. The overall situation is stable."

Zheng Sen said softly: "There are 5000 infantry alone, and [-] sailors. Is security unstable?"

Spreading out the copybook, Zheng Sen rubbed his temples, the situation in Luzon was not optimistic.

The huge Luzon Governor's Mansion looks domineering, but in fact it only occupies less than [-]% of Luzon Island, and the rest is occupied by local people.

Therefore, Luzon is developing and fighting at the same time. It can be said that it is very busy.

The chief envoy didn't take it seriously: "Luzon is a land of barbarians, and they are afraid of power but not virtue."

He said with pride in his eyes.

Last year, Luzon paid 300 million yuan in taxes and 100 million yuan was handed over to the court, so this year's promotions are sequential.

Zheng Sen naturally understood the capital of his pride, but he shook his head and said: "Education is also the foundation, and the current Luzon, but there is no Jinshi!"

The chief minister was dumbfounded for a moment, and lowered his head.

Like Mobei, the Luzon Governor's Mansion has a very low sense of existence among the people, so the two capitals, two Mongolia and two generals and 22 provinces in the folk jingle do not have the presence of the two.

At the same time, in terms of imperial examinations, both Luzon and Mobei are directly affiliated to Beijing, and they can only be tested locally. The provincial examination is in Beijing, and the Shuntianfu rural examination is taken.

That's all for Mobei, the style of writing is close to none, but Lu Song has suffered bad luck, the pressure of competition is too great, and there is no harvest.

(End of this chapter)