Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 201 The Rapidly Growing Shipping Company
"One two... three! One two... three!"

"It's moving! Get out of the way!"

In April, when all parties were moving and planning their own plans, Daming started vigorous road repairs in Liaodong for the next battle.

On the road from Zhenjiang to Phoenix City and Kuandian, after the busy farming season, the [-] troops stationed in Zhenjiang Prefecture and [-] to [-] local middle-aged men began to open up the road.

The men used long shovels to pry the stones on both sides of the road, widening the road from Zhenjiang to Kuandian, which is less than ten feet wide.

From the first day of April to the middle of the month, [-] miles of the [-]-mile mountain road had been widened to [-] feet.

The soft soil was piled up on the mountain road, and then it was crushed by hundreds of kilograms of stone rollers, and after repeated several times, it was compacted.

This road is just a microcosm of Zhenjiang Mansion, and the manpower is only more than [-] people.

Compared with here, the road from Kuandian to the Yalu River is the road that Zhenjiang Prefecture is eager to widen.

This fifty-mile-long road is only three feet in the narrow part and fifteen feet in the wide part, but it is the closest road to Kuandian after Daming transported grain and grass by water to Kuandian to unload the ship.

If the road from Zhenjiang to Kuandian is to ensure the mobility of the army without being affected by the road, then the road along the Yalu River is the lifeline to ensure that the army is in a stalemate after the war.

In half a month, more than [-] people used gunpowder to continuously widen the mountain roads, not only widening the narrowest intermittent mountain roads to five feet, but also leading people to rebuild Yongdian Fort and the wharf at the mouth of the Yalu River.

And all these projects were organized by Qi Yuangong, Qi Yuanfu and Qin Minping, the three generals of Zhenjiang Prefecture.

But for these three people, they are not satisfied with such a road standard...

"After this kind of road is built, it is estimated that if you don't move around often, grass will grow and be abandoned in half a year."

On the dock of Yongdianbao, Qi Yuanfu looked at the road leading to Kuandian and sighed, while Qin Minping beside him also said:

"I really don't understand why His Highness doesn't let us stir-fry the soil and mix it with lime and compound soil. Is it because he is reluctant to eat food?"

"With His Highness's character, it shouldn't be..." Qi Yuangong next to him shook his head, rejected this idea, and said:

"I took a look at the military newspaper. His Highness basically asked people to sprinkle stones on the first floor as the foundation, and then fill in the soil and tamp it down. Everyone's idea of ​​frying the soil and adding lime and rice milk was rejected."

"His Royal Highness said that Yanshan Institute is working on something that can easily repair the road after it is made. Besides, there is a big battle coming, so there is no need to worry that no one will walk on the road."

"The war is imminent. Kuandian has hoarded [-] shi rice. After the road is widened, it needs to be turned into military rations. I'm afraid it won't be finished in half a month." Qi Yuanfu also said:

"It's already April [-]th. According to His Highness, it is estimated that when the soldiers and horses from the southwest to Liao arrive in Kuandian, we can start to do it."

"After three years of guarding, I can finally take the initiative to fight a war!" Qin Minping felt itchy in his heart, looking forward to the next big battle.

"Yeah, I've been guarding for three years..." Qi Yuangong also let out a turbid breath, looking at the endless green hills in the distance, and thinking of his hometown in Dingyuan in the south, feeling homesick.

"After this battle, I don't know if I can take a few months off and go home."

"It's convenient for you to go home. It will take me two months to go back." Qin Minping smiled heartily, but his voice was a bit bitter.

At present, among the Liaodong soldiers and horses, there are more than [-] soldiers from Zhejiang and Sichuan. They have been away from their hometown for three years. It is a lie to say that they do not want to go home.

So everyone took a deep breath, thinking about finishing the battle.

Because the generals all know that if the battle of Liaodong is won, then the next step is to abolish the Tianxia Guard.

Everyone can roughly guess where the Zhejiang soldiers and Sichuan soldiers will end up.

South Zhili, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Guizhou...

Thinking of going home after this battle, everyone let out a sigh of relief, but Qin Minping frowned and said:

"These days, the old servants are building stone forts every day. Is it possible that they really want to use the stone fortress to stop us from going through winter?"

"It should be more than just building a stone castle." Qi Yuangong has experienced many battles, so he explained:

"If it's just a stone fort, then the east is fine, but Tieling and Kaiyuan in the north of Liaodong don't have so many narrow mountain roads."

"In Tieling and Kaiyuan, although there is the remnant of Changbai Mountain on the left, the west is flat cultivated land and the Liao River flows."

"Tieling and Kaiyuan, where the Three Rivers are merged, can carry ships with thousands of materials, reducing the needs of the peasants. However, once Tieling and Kaiyuan are captured, half of the land that can be cultivated in the hands of the old slaves will be lost."

"The Fushun Pass will be conquered at that time, and the fields in the hands of the old slave will definitely not be able to support a hundred thousand troops."

"He must come up with a perfect plan, otherwise, even if the whole army withdraws, he won't be able to survive two years in the mountains."

Qi Yuangong's analysis is very reasonable, or it seems that after receiving Zhu Youjian's handwriting and opinions, all the generals who are regarded as the Qi royal party have a recognition.

Fighting, fighting is logistics.

No matter how good Nurhachi can fight, it is impossible to fight against two hundred thousand Ming troops on the Great Plains.

Once he dared not fight, he had to maneuver in the mountains.

However, as long as the Ming army is not fooled by this kind of mobile combat, it will gradually evolve into a protracted war.

In terms of the protracted war of sticking to the wall, not to mention Nurhachi, there are not many countries in the world that can play and consume with the current Ming Dynasty.

After Zhu Youjian's reform of the guards and vassal kings, the taxation of only six departments and five temples in Daming reached an annual income of [-] million shi.

Coupled with the internal funds and the Yumajian, Daming's taxes have now reached the level of Hongwu's [-]th year.

As long as the military pay and food are sufficient, the Ming army can attack and defend, so it is impossible for Nurhachi to wait for the decisive battle after knowing the advantages of the Ming army.

But even if he wants to avoid the battle, Zhu Youjian will not avoid the battle...

While the three of Qi Yuangong were discussing, the East Palace on April [-] seemed to be a small imperial court.

The generals of the thirteen guards on land rushed to the East Palace to conduct deduction and simulation of the Liaodong War.

In the short [-] days since Zhu Youjian returned to Beijing, more than [-] generals conducted thousands of sand table deduction, but no matter how they were deduced, the conclusion was that it was impossible to lose.

In the Hall of Spring Harmony in the main hall of the East Palace, a huge sand table with a length of one foot and a width of one foot was placed on a low table. The height of one meter would neither make people's necks uncomfortable nor make them unclear.

Zhu Youjian was wearing a red round-neck gown, and the other generals were wearing military uniforms. They stood around the sand table, and there were two rows of tables next to them with pastries and cold drinks. They could eat something to relieve fatigue when they were tired.

"How much grain is there in Yanshan Sancang?"

Zhu Youjian stood in front of the sand table, with his hands behind his back, holding his pear blossom stick in his hand, and asked without turning his head.

Cao Huachun, who was standing beside him, heard the words, stepped forward and said, "There are still [-] million stones of rice."

"Another [-] stones will be transferred to Kuandian, and one million stones will be shipped to Shenyang." Zhu Youjian stared intently at the sand table and ordered, and Cao Huachun also followed suit.

"Your Highness, in this way, Shenyang has [-] million shi, and Kuandian has [-] million shi."

Lu Wenzhao sighed a little. After all, even Beijing Taicang and Nanjing Taicang do not have three million shimi, yet Shenyang has accumulated so much.

"Not only in Shenyang and Kuandian, Liaoyang also has [-] shi, while Guangning, Daning, Zhenjiang, Lushun and other places each have [-] shi of rice."

Tian Cewei's commander spoke with a smile, and Zhu Youjian also nodded and said:

"Soldiers and horses have not moved, food and grass go first..."

"The food and grass can't be eaten up, so they will stay in Liaodong after the war and distribute it to Xinmin for reclamation."

"The first step in recovering Liaodong, the second step is to build stone fortresses along the Liaohe River and the Songhua River, and to the north of the river to reclaim the fields."

Zhu Youjian wrote a lot, and after saying this, Wang Chengen, who came from Yanshan Daying, couldn't help but said:

"Your Highness, if this is the case, I am afraid that the cost of reclamation will be even greater..."

After all, Wang Chengen is the treasurer of Yumajian, so he knows how much his family has.

With the finances of the Yumajian, it is already very difficult to support the army. Last year, there was already a lack of financial resources. If it wasn't for Liaodong's grain sales and the return of the silver that Daming sent to Liaodong, it is estimated that the government began to need relief last year.

Although it is said that tens of millions of acres of land have been added, it is still too difficult to maintain the reclamation of a million people.

However, Zhu Youjian was not nervous or uneasy about this, but said flatly to Wang Chengen:
"It's normal to spend a lot, and it's worth it to exchange for tens of millions of acres in Liaodong in the future!"

Zhu Youjian dared to say this because he knew the increase in the number of acres in the late Qing Dynasty.

For more than [-] years, without the support of the government and the provision of food, the people in the east of the pass developed the northeast from less than [-] million mu to more than [-] million mu.

But what Daming has to face right now is a more severe background than entering the Guandong.

In seventeen years, once the severe drought affecting hundreds of millions of people breaks out, the Northeast will become the main migration place for the people in the north.

Even if looking at it right now, the population of the five northern provinces in Beijing is less than [-] million, but even if only [-] million people flood in, the vast Northeast region will become the basic territory of Ming Dynasty.

Daming was unable to support tens of millions of people who flooded into land reclamation, and the people had no desire to move because there were not too many catastrophes.

But Zhu Youjian remembers very clearly that almost before the outbreak of the Little Ice River drought, Daming had earthquakes, droughts, floods and other disasters every year.

He can't remember the time and place of the disaster, but he can remedy the disaster, that is, immigration.

Once the Battle of Liaodong is over, he will start to insist on the immigration plan and the fiscal and tax reform plan.

It is impossible for him to announce fiscal and taxation reforms in a flash of his head. After all, even Zhang Juzheng implemented reforms after more than ten years of students.

Although Yanshan students can produce [-] to [-] students every year, most of them are just the talents of subordinate officials.

There are many types of taxes in Ming Dynasty. Three years later, Yanshan students graduate. Even if only one tax is changed every year, Daming can organize the relocation of people.

So for Zhu Youjian, the most difficult days are still two years away.

In the past two years, what Daming can mobilize is about [-] million taels of cash, plus more than [-] million shimimai.

"The money in the hands of the people in Liaodong was spent on last year's food. Although the military salary we pay every year will also flow back through the families of Liao soldiers, it is too little after all."

"The trade of grain should still benefit the people, and should not be exploited by money."

Zhu Youjian spoke to Wang Chengen and Cao Huachun, and they both nodded in agreement.

"Counting this year's acres, if there is no disaster, can fifty million stone fields be achieved?"

Zhu Youjian asked the two of them, he did not shy away from many generals, and Wang Chengen also slightly nodded and said:

"There shouldn't be a problem. After all, sweet potatoes and potatoes are planted more, which can account for about [-] million shi, and the remaining rice and wheat can account for [-] million shi."

At the critical moment, the role of sweet potatoes and potatoes appeared, and Zhu Youjian sighed and said:
"It's a pity that if these crops are cultivated in a row, they are prone to disease. Otherwise, tens of millions of acres will be cultivated, and the problem of reclamation in Eastern Liaodong will be solved."

"Your Highness, is this kind of crop so sick after being planted in a row?" Cao Huachun was a little puzzled, but Zhu Youjian shook his head and said:
"It's more powerful than you think..."

Cao Huachun and the others didn't know, but Zhu Youjian knew how quickly these crops would spread once they were infected.

Once something like the Great Irish Famine broke out in Ming Dynasty, it would not be as simple as killing hundreds of thousands or millions of people.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian controlled the scattered planting of these crops, and the planting area was far enough away, and strictly required the people to detoxify the crops.

In this era, there is no means to select good genes, so we can only use stupid methods.

"Sweet potatoes and potatoes can be promoted in Shandong, Liaodong, and Henan, but pay attention to the region."

"In addition to leaving the seeds, three million shi of sweet potatoes and potatoes can be transported to Liaodong for cultivation and grain distribution."

"As for the rest, you can also make baked sweet potatoes and fried potatoes in the imperial shop according to the drawings I gave you before."

"How to eat potatoes and sweet potatoes, you should tell the guys in the imperial store below, and let them tell the people in the city."

"Only when people like to eat them can they be better promoted."

"In addition, some peppers can also be sent to Liaodong. The winter is bitterly cold. With this thing, the soldiers will not be so cold."

Zhu Youjian told him one thing, and Wang Chengen and Cao Huachun also took notes.

Only after Zhu Youjian finished what he wanted to say, Cao Huachun said:
"Your Highness, the Huangdian has made good profits this year. The weaving factory in the south field, the livestock, briquette, and salt field in the north field have all made a lot of profits."

"The peanut oil production plant has also opened, and the oil yield is really good."

"These things made a profit of more than [-] taels in the first three months, and they have three million taels of silver in one year."

Cao Huachun told a piece of good news, and Zhu Youjian also said strangely:

"Why did it suddenly increase so much? Before I led the army to go out last year, didn't I only have a few hundred thousand taels of silver every month?"

It's not surprising that he had doubts, and Cao Huachun explained with a smile when he heard the words: "The reason why there are so many is His Highness's opinion."

"Me?" Zhu Youjian showed a puzzled expression, while Cao Huachun continued:

"Since Vice Tiju Shen arrived in the Ryukyu Mansion in November last year, he began to control maritime trade as His Highness said."

"In the beginning, it relied on the shortage of ships, and it has not improved yet."

"However, Deputy Shen went to Fujian to recruit tens of thousands of fishermen from the coast to make a living, and after they were formed into the Coast Guard, things were different."

"The ships that passed by were all required by the Coast Guard to hang the flag and iron plate of the Shipping Department. The iron plate has a number, and the number is recorded in a booklet together with the name, place of origin, and age of the owner of the ship."

"Deputy Shen set the tax that needs to be paid every year based on the weight of the ship. Below [-] materials, you pay [-] taels per year, from [-] to [-] materials, you pay [-] taels, and if you have more than [-] materials, you pay [-] taels."

"At the same time, Deputy Shen proposed to send people into Haojing to set up a royal store, and after Nangang took shape at the beginning of the year, he sent people to Dafranjiren (Spain), Franjiren (Portugal), and Anelia (UK) Wait for the merchants of the country to send orders."

"Western merchants can only buy goods and conduct trade in the Huangdian in Haojing and Nangang, while Japanese maritime merchants can only conduct trade in Beigang."

"After learning that Nanchang had Chayin and built a weaving factory, Deputy Shen used Chayin to buy tea in Fujian and asked for a third of the cloth produced by the weaving factory in Huangdian. .”

"In the future, in the name of His Highness, a large number of porcelains from official kilns and private kilns will be purchased from Jiangxi."

"In this way, Haojing, Nangang, and Beigang can purchase some goods needed by Western merchants at one time."

"It is precisely because of Deputy Shen's promotion that the monthly income of the Huangdian has increased to more than two hundred thousand taels of silver per month."

"This is just the monthly income of the Huangdian. It is estimated that the monthly income of the Shibo Department is even more."

Cao Huachun admired Shen Tingyang from the bottom of his heart, because the other party increased the income of the Huangdian in just five months.

And the Shibo Department probably earns a lot of money.

It's just that there is also a sea patrol department under the city ship department, and the sea patrol department has tens of thousands of sailors, so I'm afraid the expenditure is also a lot...

"Shen Tingyang, he really didn't make a mistake!"

Knowing what happened, Zhu Youjian couldn't help but praise Shen Tingyang.

However, his praise was a bit early, because the second after he finished, footsteps came from outside the Hall of Spring Harmony, and then Lu Wenzhao, who was holding two booklets, walked into the Hall of Spring Harmony, and When seeing Zhu Youjian, he saluted and said:

"His Royal Highness, South Ryukyu Prefecture and Shibo Division have received news."

"I really just praised him, and the news came." Zhu Youjian smiled at Cao Huachun and Wang Chengen, and then took the two booklets from Lu Wenzhao.

These two books were read, and the content was indeed the same as what Cao Huachun said just now, but it was more comprehensive and there were many more things.

These two volumes, one written by Huang Long and the other by Shen Tingyang, are different.

Most of what Shen Tingyang wrote was about the Department of Shipping and Sea Patrol, and it described the manpower problems of the Department of Shipbuilding and Sea Patrol.

Right now, the Shibo Department is staffed by Shen Tingyang recruited from Zhejiang, Fujian and other places who have failed the rankings. There are more than [-] people, each with an annual salary of [-] taels of silver.

The coast guards were recruited from middle-aged fishermen in Fujian and other places, and each had an annual salary of twelve taels of silver.

Including some other manpower, the annual salary expenditure of the Shibo Department is nearly [-] taels.

In addition to ships, the ships of the Shi Ship Department and the Sea Patrol Department are insufficient. Currently, there are only [-] large ships of [-] materials manufactured by Tianjin Shipyard.

Thirty ships want to control the Bashi Strait and monitor Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Nanzhili and other places by the way, which is simply a fantasy.

And in terms of the tonnage of the ship, it is not suitable for the sea patrol.

Although the North and South Ports are already preparing to build a shipyard, it takes time to dry the wood after all, and the Shipbuilding Department has not yet entered the right track, and the expenditure is greater than the income.

Therefore, Shen Tingyang wants to ask Zhu Youjian to order Tianjin Shipyard to manufacture [-] coast patrol ships with [-] materials and [-] sea patrol ships with [-] materials.

Shen Tingyang has written down the cost of these two types of ships, the cost of five hundred materials is fifty-two taels, and the cost of one thousand materials is one hundred and twenty taels.

Looking at it this way, the actual cost is not much, just tens of thousands of taels of silver.

At the end of the document, Shen Tingyang wrote that under the patrol of the two guards stationed in Huanglong, some maritime merchants still chose to hang signs and trade at sea in accordance with the regulations of the Shipping Department.

The price of the iron plates and flags on the ships is the same as what Cao Huachun said. After the inspection and warnings in the past three months, there are [-] ships that have paid the city ship tax. It is four hundred and sixty-four thousand taels.

However, more than [-] of them are trading ships of Europeans in the Nanyang area, and the tax on them is twice that of the Han people.

Even so, according to Shen Tingyang's observation, there are more than that number of sea-going vessels in one capital and three provinces, at least three times as many.

In other words, the tax silver that can be obtained by the land of one capital and three provinces is at least [-] million taels a year.

So Shen Tingyang wanted to ask Zhu Youjian to dispatch the sea patrol boat quickly, and when Zhu Youjian saw the tax money Shen Tingyang received, his eyes became straightened.

"These sea merchants are really rich..."

Chucking his mouth, Zhu Youjian sighed, but after careful calculation, the tax is actually relatively high.

After all, the profits of maritime merchants trading in the coastal provinces of Daming are around 20% to 50%, while the municipal ship tax of the Municipal Ship Department is almost 15% of the annual profit of a ship.

In short, those who do not know how to do business will only be squeezed out of the ranks of maritime trade because of the birth of Shibosi.

But for this group of people, Zhu Youjian also felt it was a pity, so after reading Shen Tingyang's papers, Dang even asked Cao Huachun and Wang Chengen to bring the letter paper.

He first replied that it was okay to build ships, and increased the number of ships built to five hundred and three thousand, and one thousand and one thousand.

In addition, in the next two years, [-] riding guns, [-] rifles, [-] five-jin cannons, [-] ten-jin cannons, and two iron armors will be transferred from the Yanshan Ordnance Institute. Give him ten thousand sets.

The artillery is mainly placed on ships with [-] materials as a deterrent ship, and the patrol boats are mainly patrol boats with [-] materials.

As for the Sea Patrol Division, Zhu Youjian suggested that Shen Tingyang increase his troop strength to [-] in preparation for subsequent inspections of Shandong, Beizhili, Liaodong and other sea areas.

Moreover, when the navy expands in the future, troops will also be drawn from the Sea Patrol Division. It can be said that the Sea Patrol Division is the reserve force of the future navy.

After writing the internal affairs of the Shibo Department, Zhu Youjian talked about trade.

That is, according to the previous plan, the small maritime merchants who have been squeezed out of the maritime trade ranks can be recruited as non-staff merchants in the imperial shop, and let them go to Nanyang for trade.

The navy can send a Class C fleet to escort, which is considered a benefit of non-staff businessmen.

After joining the non-staff merchant, you can freely go to Nanyang to enjoy the protection of the navy fleet, but you need to pay the city ship tax, and then pay the imperial shop's non-staff tax silver according to the tonnage of the ship, which can be determined according to the classification of the city ship tax. There are three levels of one hundred taels, two hundred and fifty taels, and five hundred taels.

After writing this, Zhu Youjian read it again, and after confirming that there was nothing wrong with it, he stamped his royal seal...

(End of this chapter)