The end of the Ming Dynasty swept the world

Chapter 688 Crazy Grain Hoarding

Zhao Dashan said with a smile at the time: "The blockhouse, the only blockhouse in Manila."

only?

Blockade?

Xu Gonglie won the only blocking card in Manila on the spot with 10 taels per year.

At the same time, Zhao Dashan also learned from Spain and issued business licenses to foreign businessmen.

There are two types of business tax for foreign businessmen in Manila. One is for opening a shop. The business tax starts at [-] taels, and there is no upper limit.

The other type is merchants, that is, those with merchant ships. Here, the tax is set according to the cargo of the ship, which is one-fifteenth of the value of the cargo.

It is relatively low, because most tariffs in this era are about one-tenth.

Zhao Dashan used low taxes to stabilize some of the aborigines first, but in the following year or two, the local aborigines rebelled intermittently, and they were all put down by Ding Yi's army.

Until around 1643, there were [-] to [-] Chinese in Luzon, and the local aborigines finally surrendered completely.

After setting the tax, then divide the area, divide the entire Luzon Ming army control area into seven counties, garrison [-] troops in each county, build a bastion, garrison [-] troops in Manila, and a total of [-] troops garrison in Luzon.

And starting from the next year, recruiting soldiers from the big guys, recruiting [-] soldiers and horses every year, and always getting together [-] troops.

In February of the 14th year of Chongzhen (1641), a Spanish merchant ship came to Manila and learned that it had been captured by the Ming army.

The Ming army confiscated all the property on the merchant ship, and notified him to return to the Kingdom of Spain, and told their families and the government that a large amount of gold and silver could be used to exchange thousands of Spaniards here. After half a year, those who did not pay the ransom will all was put to death.

The Spanish merchants left Manila with great fear.

When the news came back to Spain, there was anger and panic in the country.

But at this time, Spain has already set in the west, and the Dutch are fighting for independence on the one hand, and the Ming people are knocking on the door on the other.

The Spanish navy is even worse. In the original history, when the Dutch came to rob Manila in 1646, they only had two old [-]-ton sailing ships. (It has now fallen into Ding Yi's hands ahead of schedule.)
Therefore, after the Spanish royal family heard the news, they immediately organized personnel to evaluate the possibility of retaking Manila, an important colony.

Soon their assessment results came out.

The Ming people's fleet is extremely powerful, and the Dutch fleet that defeated them was also wiped out by the Ming people's fleet.

The infantry battalion of the Ming people is even more elite and terrifying. If you cannot organize an army of more than 1 people, it is impossible to defeat the Ming army.

At this time, Spain's economy was in recession, and it was caught in the Hundred Years' War with the Netherlands. It simply could not afford to organize such a large-scale transoceanic war.

In the end, the Spaniards decided that, except for some particularly important figures, they would be redeemed by the royal family with silver and gold, and the rest of the Spaniards would be paid by their families.

Immediately, there was a lot of complaints in the country, and there were angry curses everywhere.

At the end of 1641, Xu Erxian, who was in charge of staying in Manila, received a total of 38 Spanish ransoms in silver, and released more than 400 of them.

The rest and the Japanese, after repairing the forts and castles, sold them to local Chinese businessmen who had been mercilessly slaughtered by them at the price of ten taels of silver per person.

The Chinese businessmen paid money one after another to avenge their blood hatred.

History repeats itself again, and the Spaniards must have never imagined that in the previous tragedy, they tied the local Chinese in groups of two, handed them over to the Japanese, and chopped off their heads in pairs.

Now, it's their turn.

And through this series of money-making methods, Zhao Dashan, one year after conquering Luzon, in addition to rewarding the Mengmanfan army and the Ming army,

In addition, the total amount of silver pesos plus silver equivalent to 480 million taels of silver, plus the 200 million military expenses given by the Chinese merchants, and Luzon's annual tax revenue totaled more than 700 million taels.

When the news reached Lushun, the generals of Lushun almost went crazy.

Ding Yi developed from Xu Dabao to Lushun, Jeju, Dayuan, Denglai, Shandong, and many other sites. After more than ten years of hard work, the money he saved has not been as much as Luzon once.

This is the profiteering of war.

This incident was even more shocking than the war against Japan and North Korea. This made Lushun even more convinced that only fighting and winning the war is the fastest way to make money in the world.

But some people don't think so.

Many officials are thinking that Xiyi has created a tragedy and plundered millions of pesos from the Chinese.

And they retaliated and got 700 million taels of silver.

So many senior officials, generals, civil and military personnel, suggested to Zhao Dashan that they should go further to Europe for revenge.

There should be countless mountains of gold and silver over there.

The magic box of war and plunder was completely opened in Dayuan.
-
Time goes back to April of the 13th year of Chongzhen.

In the imperial city of the Ming capital.

In the Pingyang Hall of Shouning Palace, Princess Zhu Yu of Kunxing lay sideways on the head of the bed, blinking her beautiful big eyes, looking at the maid in front of her.

"Princess Snow White and the Great General will live happily ever after." After Zeng Rou finished the last paragraph, the young Aimee Zhu sat up excitedly: "Is it gone?"

"Yes, princess, I've finished all the lectures today, can I go to sleep?" Zeng Rou smiled.

She trained in Dengzhou for half a year, and the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was changed to the story of Snow White and a fallen general.

In the deep forest, Snow White met a former general who lived in seclusion and was dispatched by the emperor. With the help and care of the general, she finally killed the vicious queen, and the two lived happily together successfully.

Zeng Rou entered the palace ten years before Chongzhen. At that time, Princess Kunxing Zhu Wei was only seven years old. Now Zhu Wei is ten years old, and she can be regarded as a slim and beautiful girl.

Zeng Rou is the favorite of Aimee Zhu among all the court ladies.

Because Zeng Rou had been telling her bedtime stories since she was a child, and the early days were all fun fairy tales.

The recent year is almost full of touching love stories, such as the classic Butterfly Lovers, Romance of the West Chamber, and even movie plots such as Journey to the West.

Some long love stories are divided into sections, one section per day, Princess Kunxing Zhu Yu couldn't stop listening to it, pestering her every night, she would not go to sleep until listening to it.

Zeng Rou also privately taught Aimi Zhu how to play backgammon, kick Jianzi, and organized the court ladies to jump the long rope, and soon became the most favored court lady in Shouning Palace.

In private, Aimee Zhu often called her Sister Zeng, which shows the close relationship between the two.

"Who is the most powerful general in my Ming Dynasty now? Is it still Ding Yi?" Auntie Zhu asked with her hands on her cheeks.

"Princess, I'm going to bed, let's talk about it tomorrow." Zeng Rou yawned.

"No, no, tell me, tell me to sleep again." Aimee Zhu quickly grabbed her with both hands.

Zeng Rou had no choice but to say: "I'm sure if it's the most powerful, but I heard that it seems to be younger and looks pretty good-looking." Zeng Rou said casually.

Aimee Zhu's eyes brightened immediately: "I was in my mother's harem once, and I seemed to hear my father talking about him."

"Father seldom talks about the affairs of the court. When Ding Yi is mentioned suddenly, there must be something important."

Zeng Rou didn't make a sound, she listened quietly and didn't dare to ask.

Auntie Zhu continued: "Father said that he is very good at fighting, but he is disobedient like Zu Dashou, and he is self-respecting."

"Hey, I don't understand these important family and country affairs, but I want to see them. What does a general who can fight look like?" Aunt Zhu suddenly lowered her head shyly.

"This kind of disobedient general, it doesn't matter if we don't see him." Zeng Rou said intentionally.

"Why are you like this?" Auntie Zhu pursed her mouth, with an unhappy expression on her face, "Perhaps there is a reason for her."

"Although I am a little court lady, I also know that in the whole world, all the civil and military personnel of the Ming Dynasty must listen to the words of the Holy Majesty." Zeng Rou laughed.

"But father is sometimes very unreasonable." After Zhu Yuxi finished speaking, she seemed to realize that she had made a mistake, so she quickly looked up. Fortunately, there were only the two of them in the palace.

Scaring me to death, Auntie Zhu patted her chest lightly, with a look of fear on her face.
-
Also in April of the 13th year of Chongzhen, Ding Yi also returned to Lushun.

He came back from Dayuan this time and passed through Guangdong, Fuzhou, Zhejiang, Songjiang, Jiangsu, Shandong. Ding Yi was the same as before. Everywhere he went, he looked for craftsmen and doctors, but the results shocked him greatly.

In the 14th year of Chongzhen in history, that is, next year, there will be natural disasters everywhere in the Ming Dynasty.

Although Chongzhen was only 13 years old at this time, it has already begun to show signs.

Especially Ding Yi, who came through time travel, clearly felt the changes between this time and the previous ones.

Because Ruan Siqing has been collecting craftsmen and doctors in the past few years, and the collection has become less and less, and it has become more and more difficult to collect, because they have collected all the good ones in the past ten years.

But this time Ding Yi went to Guangdong, Fujian, or Songjiang, and suddenly found that there were more people like this. A large number of craftsmen and doctors were running around looking for opportunities to survive.

Another obvious feature is food prices.

When Ding Yi was a senior official, Zhu Xiangyang told him happily that he sold 30 shi to Fujian merchants this year and got 60 silver.

At that time, Ding Yi also praised it like a sb, because the expenses of the big staff can be reduced.

But after arriving in Fujian and Guangdong, Ding Yi discovered that the price of rice here has reached two taels or even two taels.

When he passed through Songjiang on his return trip, he found that it had been raining continuously for several days, and the price of grain in Songjiang had reached around [-] taels.

Songjiang Prefecture is a large grain-producing area, and the price of rice has always been stable at around one tael. From Ding Yi to Daming, a fleet of ships passed through Songjiang every year, and the grain price at its peak was only one tael or four. Wandering between one and two.

What Ding Yi didn't know was that more than a month later, that is, on May [-]th, Wujiang, Gui'an and other places in Su, Song, Hu and other prefectures poured heavy rain day and night. dump.But the price of rice is soaring, and a bucket of rice costs three or four dollars in silver. Many rich families close their houses, and the people eat all the grass and trees, and they leave their wives and dead people to sleep with each other.Domineering gangsters ate in groups, clamoring for food, neighbors went on strike, and villages closed their doors to make people angry.

Only one month later, Su, Song, Hu and other places were hit by heavy rains and floods, and the price of rice rose to four taels a stone.

Ding Yi can't predict what will happen more than a month later, but he has come all the way and found that the price of domestic rice is getting higher and higher. Zhao Dashan suddenly realized that it was a blood loss when he sold 30 shi in the big staff.

Ding Yi set off from Dayuan in January and returned to Lushun in April. Along the way, he traveled to all the cities along the coast, bringing back more than 600 craftsmen and family members, and more than 200 doctors and family members, and then arranged them to Jeju and Fuzhou respectively. , Jinzhou and other places.

On April [-]th, Ding Yi called Lushun, the civil officials of Pidao, some generals, and even Zhong Zhennu and Wei Jiye in Jeju to the General Military Mansion in Dengzhou.

This time, we mainly convened civil servants, logistics leaders, and division-level generals. Most of the garrison generals did not move.

Dengzhou, Laizhou, Lushun, Pidao, and Jeju all reported the data of the past year first.

The population of Denglei and Denglai has reached 150 million, which has basically recovered to before Kong Youde's military uprising. About [-] of them are the diverted immigrants in recent years, especially in the past one or two years.

After re-measurement in Denglai and Denglai, the two prefectures have a total of 290 million mu of grain fields.

The tax standard at this time was changed at the end of last year.

In the past, Ding Yi was the same as the Ming Dynasty, with five promotions for the common people and three struggles for the gentry.

Last year it was changed to Tax Cheng, the one used in Jiaozhou.

"Within ten acres of land, the tax is [-]%, and in case of natural disasters, etc., it can be reduced or exempted."

"More than [-] mu, less than [-] mu, the tax is [-]%, in case of natural disasters, etc., it can be reduced or exempted"

"On fifty acres, within two hundred acres, the tax is [-]%, and in case of natural disasters, etc., it can be reduced or exempted."

"A fixed tax has been implemented for more than [-] mu. From [-] to [-] mu, the tax is [-]%, based on the output of two stones per mu. In case of natural disasters, etc., it can be reduced or exempted."

"More than [-] mu and less than [-] mu, the tax is [-]%, and in case of natural disasters, etc., it can be reduced or exempted."

"Above [-] mu and less than [-] mu, the tax is [-]%. In case of natural disasters, etc., there is no reduction or exemption."

"For those with more than [-] mu, [-]% of the tax will be paid, and there will be no reduction or exemption."

That is, the richer you are, the more mu you have, the more you can earn. However, if there are soldiers and officials in the family, they can all be reduced or exempted.

People's taxes are very low and they are very popular.

Because the people here have no other burdens or other taxes except the [-]% tax, especially the corvee in the Ming Dynasty, which once brought a heavy burden to the people. work, the rich can use money to offset or let people replace it.

The two places in Denglai are different. Ding Yi provides food for the local people when they go out to work in corvee, and there will be money. Although the money is very little, the people are willing to do it.

Many of Ding Yi's projects in Denglai, such as building canals, digging wells, and repairing rivers and roads, were all done by local people for food and money.

When he did this in the early stage, some officials didn't understand, you mobilize the people to work, it's not bad to stutter, and you still have to pay money?

You must know that these canals, wells, rivers, and roads are all for the common people.

But Ding Yi insisted on distributing silver, one penny per person per day, and only three cents a month, which is not much at all. The common people have food and money to take, and they work hard, with high efficiency and good quality of various projects.

In the past two years, Ding Yi spent a total of more than 100 million yuan on the construction of canals, river courses, and digging a large number of wells in the two states of Denglai.

Now they can see the effect. Droughts are beginning to appear in various places in Ming Dynasty, and Denglai is one of the least affected places.

If there is water in Denglai, the common people will suffer less disasters, and if the disasters are less, there will be production in the grain fields, and with production, Ding Yi will have tax revenue.

Ding Yi has already realized that various disasters are coming before the fall of the Ming Dynasty, and the price of rice will only get higher and higher in the future.

He wants to hoard food, hoard food crazily.

(End of this chapter)