Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 279
"According to His Highness's idea, although it can be realized, I'm afraid the people will complain..."

In Prince Qi's mansion, Bi Ziyan reminded Zhu Youjian about the salt price.

But he obviously underestimated Zhu Youjian, Zhu Youjian is not the kind of person who likes to make a name for himself.

Yes, the people may scold him personally because of the soaring salt price, but when the environment of severe drought and catastrophe begins two years later, the people will be grateful to Zhu Youjian.

If you want to do something, don't worry about your reputation; if you want to be famous, don't do anything.

"Personal reputation is not worth the interests of the court and the people. I will take care of my reputation. You just have to do it yourself."

Zhu Youjian took the initiative to stand up and was willing to take the blame instead of letting his subordinates take the blame, which made Bi Ziyan's pressure much less.

Therefore, after seeing Zhu Youjian's statement, he immediately bowed and said:
"If that's the case, you can try it."

"Hmm..." Zhu Youjian nodded slightly, and said to Bi Ziyan:
"In terms of tea tax, I plan to sell it from the imperial store as well. It costs [-] renminbi a catty of crude tea, [-] renminbi for second-class tea, [-] renminbi for high-quality tea, [-] taels of silver for extra-grade tea, and [-] taels for tribute tea. What do you think? "

"It shouldn't be a big problem..." After hearing this, Bi Ziyan didn't think there was any problem.

There are many varieties of tea in the Ming Dynasty, and the prices vary. The general good tea in the Ming Dynasty, that is, the high-quality tea that Zhu Youjian said, costs about two renminbi per catty.

As for special-grade tea, such as Jipian from Shanghai County, Songjiang Prefecture, its price is between two and three taels of silver per catty, which is a kind of top-grade tea that can be sold among the people.

The final tribute tea is not something ordinary people can buy.

After all, tasting tea is not only an elegant thing, but also a luxury thing, and it is a dream to have no right to drink tribute tea.

The tea price set by Zhu Youjian, except for crude tea, is twice or [-]% higher than the market price, which is not too much for the group of small and medium landlords and gentry tyrants.

Zhu Youjian didn't raise the price of the rough tea that ordinary people like to drink.

For ordinary people, simple tea and light meals, essays and novels are already the cheapest entertainment on weekdays.

It is impossible for Zhu Youjian to deprive this bit of happiness. Besides, the people already bear the heavy burden of the salt price. If the price of tea is raised again, they will probably secretly scold the Emperor Ming to the bottom.

However, even if the price is not raised, as long as he controls the tea farm and the imperial shop, Daming will not get too little tax from the tea class.

The demand for tea from the people of Ming Dynasty is over [-] million catties every year.

Excluding other teas whose output is only a few million catties, the remaining [-]% of crude tea can be harvested at [-] Wen per catty, and the tea farm can harvest nearly four million taels of silver.

If the other millions of catties of tea are counted, the harvest of the tea farm is probably around six or seven million taels.

Of course, this is a pure account entry, and the wages and costs paid to the tea farmers and employees of the imperial store still need to be withheld.

But even so, three or four million taels of silver may be recorded every year.

In addition to the salt tax, the establishment of the two departments and the state-run policy of salt and tea directly led to an increase of nine to ten million taels of Ming's fiscal revenue.

From this point of view, the establishment of the two companies seems to have made a lot of money, and this is also the case.

The emperors of the Ming Dynasty did not find a way to monopolize the salt tea of ​​the two divisions. Some were forced by the economic situation, and some were forced by the lack of imperial power and military power.

It's just that these problems are basically not a problem when it comes to Zhu Youjian.

He doesn't care about the economy and life and death of the gentry, what he wants is that Daming and the people live together, and the gentry is not in his consideration.

Either be honest, if you are not honest, you should be caught and killed.

Anyway, after a hundred years, his sons and heirs will all be overseas. If they have the ability, this group of gentry will encourage the new emperor to go on an expedition to Qi, which is tens of thousands of miles away.

"Your Highness..."

Bi Ziyan opened his mouth cautiously, then bowed and said, "The household department still has something to do, if there is nothing else..."

"One more thing..." Zhu Youjian came to his senses and said to Bi Ziyan:
"I am planning to move the coinage and site of the household department to Songjiang Prefecture, where I will smelt more than [-] jin of copper transported north from the old port into copper coins and issue Tianqi Tongbao."

"I will give you the manuscript paper of Tianqi Tongbao, but Tianqi Tongbao is different from ordinary copper coins. It needs to be minted in three types: pure copper, silver-plated copper, and pure silver coins, with five denominations."

"The specific household department will design it. This is a draft I prepared. You can observe it."

After finishing speaking, Zhu Youjian turned around and took out a handwritten letter from the bookshelf and handed it to Bi Ziyan.

In order to prevent Bi Ziyan from being under too much pressure, he said with a smile: "Tianqi Tongbao is still a few years away from its release, you can study it slowly, don't worry."

"Yes..." Bi Ziyan took the handwriting, looked up at Zhu Youjian and said, "Your Highness, that officer..."

"Well, you go back and get out the prices and regulations of the two companies early." Zhu Youjian nodded to signal him to retreat, and Bi Ziyan bowed and retreated after seeing this.

Looking at his leaving back, Zhu Youjian put away his smile and sat back in his seat.

The five denominations of Tianqi Tongbao correspond to five kinds of coins, including one coin, five coins, ten coins, fifty coins, and one hundred coins.

What it represents is that due to the lack of reputation of Ming Dynasty, it is impossible to directly implement the preliminary preparations for banknotes.

Only when the currency is light can the issue of trade be simplified, or the pressure of the court can be eased.

Otherwise, it would be too cumbersome for hundreds of people to guard dozens of carts of silver every time military pay and disaster relief are distributed.

Of course, more importantly, coins will correspond to the rise of banks.

However, it is impossible for Zhu Youjian to directly choose to issue new coins, because even if he issues them, the people of the world still have insufficient trust in such coins with denominations.

Although I have never seen coins with denominations, the common people have seen them.

It can be said that because of the nonsense of Zhu Yunqi and Zhu Di, it can be said that its credit value is the lowest among currencies in Ming Dynasty.

If Zhu Youjian issues new coins, the common people will resist after seeing the new coins.

Because judging from the appearance, it is nothing more than the imperial court getting the amount on the banknotes to the coins. Maybe someday the coins will collapse like the banknotes.

Therefore, the people will definitely resist the use of new coins, and Zhu Youjian's preliminary preparations are to give coins a place to use and people who use coins in large quantities.

The place is already obvious. The Huangdian, which is similar to the Ming Dynasty Department Store, is the best place, and it is even simpler for a large number of people.

First the officials, then the scribes, and finally the civil servants...

Under the situation of the severe drought in the Little Ice River, as long as seventeen years have passed, there will be a large amount of new coins in circulation in the original two capitals and thirteen provinces of Ming Dynasty, because Zhu Youjian wants to use new coins to provide disaster relief.

So this is why he said that there is no rush to make new coins for the time being.

First of all, he has to wait for the Armament Research Institute to perfect the steam engine, then start the research on the coin printing machine, and finally start mass production.

During this period, the mineral deposits in Jiugang will be continuously turned into ore ingots and sent to Songjiang Mansion, and Zhu Youjian only needs to do other things step by step.

For now, the most important thing is the battle to sweep North after the beginning of spring.

"The new year has not yet passed, the database is exhausted, and next year will be miserable..."

Looking at the military newspapers on the table, Zhu Youjian couldn't help sighing that his finances were drying up every year.

It's just that it's not bad, even he himself knows it.

But the problem is that time is running out. Even he himself is not sure whether Daming can survive the drought, locust plague, and plague in the Little Ice River.

There was nothing to say, Zhu Youjian lowered his head again and began to deal with other military newspapers.

At the same time that he was dealing with the military newspaper, as time passed, the Ministry of Household Affairs also took out and announced to the world the innovation of the salt and tea classes.

As Zhu Youjian and Bi Ziyan expected, when the notice was issued and the two of them ushered in, there were countless curses...

"This king of Qi, I used to think that he was different from those corrupt officials, but now it seems that they are all the same."

"Who can afford fifteen cents a catty of salt?"

"Fortunately, the crude tea has not risen."

"Cough tea has not risen, but I can't afford to buy one or two good teas after working every ten days."

"Pooh!"

"Official salt can't afford it, buy private salt!"

"Yes! Buy private salt!"

Yingtianfu Nanjing City, with the announcement of the two divisions, the people who heard the news went to see the price of official salt in the imperial store in the city.

Sure enough, the official salt has risen directly from six cents a catty yesterday to fifteen cents.

Everyone who heard the news yelled, and there were quite a few people who yelled like this.

They said they were going to buy illegal salt, but when they went to find the former illegal salt dealers, they found that most of the illegal salt dealers had been captured by the inspection department.

In this way, everyone can only buy expensive official salt.

This kind of coercion has caused complaints from the people, not just the city of Nanjing, but the entire Jiangnan, the entire Ming Dynasty, the two capitals and the sixteen provinces.

All of a sudden, various articles mocking the court and Zhu Youjian appeared in bookstalls and libraries all over the place like snowflakes.

Scholars in the south of the Yangtze River even made up folk songs and asked children to sing them in the streets.

"Emperor Emperor, Di Huanghuang. Ever since King Xiao Qi came out, every household has been desolate. The big family sells mules and horses, and the small family sells sons. If you drive people away today, you will be moved tomorrow. If you don't leave, your family will be ruined. Little King Qi... "

A group of children walked and danced, shaking rattles in their hands, and sang farther and farther regardless of the eyes of passers-by.

"The child's family doesn't care about it, so it's okay if Jin Yiwei heard about it?"

"Come on, Jin Yiwei can still arrest such an older child?"

Walking on the street, some people looked at the backs of the group of children and whispered.

But judging from their words, they are actually very dissatisfied with the court, and this dissatisfaction is still spreading rapidly.

With such a speed of transmission, Zhu Guozuo and others in Yuyao also heard the news from the people, and the three people hiding in the lakeside villa also started to ridicule this.

"Salt policy and tea policy, he dared to change..."

In the cruise ship in the lake, Zhu Guozuo listened to the news from others, with a sneer on his face, and he was very disdainful of Zhu Youjian's simple and rude behavior.

Shen Yun, who was sitting opposite him, was neither happy nor angry, picked up the teacup and sniffed the tea, and said softly:
"The salt merchants in Lianghuai and the tea merchants in Zhejiang and Fujian are all waiting for His Highness King Qi to give in..."

"It's not their turn to eat meat if they are soft. These merchants think they can threaten Zhu Youjian?" Zhu Guozuo sneered, obviously he also looked down on merchants.

However, they still need the help of this group of people, so he set his sights on Sun Ruyou:

"I heard that the gentry down below have some complaints about the increase in the price of salt and tea. They won't encourage fools, will they?"

"They don't dare..." Sun Ruyou, the old god, said to Shen Yu and Zhu Guozuo:

"We don't need to take care of the Lianghuai salt merchants. Didn't they take refuge in Cui Chengxiu? Then let Cui Chengxiu take care of it himself, and let Wei Zhongxian take care of it."

"The jobs of the salt merchants have been taken away. If they don't do anything, who will support them in the future?"

"But the tea merchants in Zhejiang and Fujian..." Shen Yun frowned and said, obviously the tea merchants in Zhejiang and Fujian put a lot of pressure on them.

"Let them wait first. If the situation doesn't change, then we have nothing to do." Sun Ruyou was not Shen Yiguan, and he couldn't think of any good way to face Zhu Youjian's nearly [-] army.

Doing his best to avoid damage to the Zhejiang Party is the best way he can think of.

At least if the Zhejiang Party is there, there are still people who can speak for the tea merchants, cloth merchants, and gentry in Zhejiang and Fujian.

"Form is better than people. Tell the merchants and squires in Zhejiang and Fujian not to conflict with the imperial court. What to do with the Lianghuai and other party forces is their business."

"At present, Zhu Youjian's layout in Yanshan is getting bigger and bigger. I also inquired about this year's Enke. If we also stick to the rules, I am afraid that the existing imperial examinations will be reformed and banned by Zhu Youjian."

"Him?" Zhu Guozuo frowned slightly, some couldn't believe that Zhu Youjian dared to play so big.

"If it's him, why don't you dare?" Sun Ruyou said solemnly:

"If all of his hundreds of thousands of students in Yanshan come out of the mountain, I am afraid that the government and the public will be all his people. Some mud-legged scholars and local scholars, can they be stronger than steel swords?"

"Then what does it mean now..." Shen Li asked tentatively, but Sun Ruyou decided after thinking about it:
"See if there is a way to send him to Yanshan Academy."

"I'm afraid it will be very difficult. We have tried it before, and the students of Yanshan Academy will be checked by Jin Yiwei. It is not so easy to get in." Shen Yun thinks this method is not feasible.

"There's nothing difficult or difficult, as long as you wait for the opportunity, you can always get some people in..."

Sun Ruyou stretched his brows, and Zhu Guozuo next to him also felt that this move was feasible.

"If Zhu Youjian returns from the second sweep of the North, I'm afraid he will start to solve the "three redundancies". If our speed is slow, it will be doubtful whether our voice in the DPRK and China can still exist. "

Sun Ruyou saw very clearly that most of Zhu Youjian's actions were to solve the "three redundancies".

From the "redundant soldiers" in the first year of Taichang to the fourth year of Tianqi, to the current "redundant personnel" this year, if there is no accident, according to this guy's style, he will take advantage of the momentum of great victory and use Yanshan students to slowly solve the "redundant personnel". ".

As long as the redundancy and redundancy are resolved, then the final "redundancy" can be easily resolved.

After solving these things, it will be easy for Zhu Youjian to deal with civil servants again.

As for Zhu Youxiao...

Sun Ruyou didn't think Zhu Youxiao was majestic at all, and even said that he was not afraid of Zhu Youxiao.

The only thing he is afraid of is Zhu Youjian, and Zhu Youxiao can only use means to maintain the balance of the court, and he can't do Zhu Youjian's way of resolving conflicts with war while suppressing the handwriting of civil officials.

The reason why he is looking for a way out for the Zhejiang Party is also because he wants to see.

Once you set foot in the political arena, you are doomed not to retreat, and Zhu Youjian is a person who cannot retreat.

If you can't retreat, you can only go forward, and going forward is Zhu Youxiao's dragon chair.

Although Sun Ruyou didn't know why there was no conflict between the Qi Royal Party and the Eunuch Party, he knew very well that this kind of thing couldn't be suppressed.

The eunuch party is still protecting itself, preventing the Qi royal party from stealing their power.

But the problem is, they can't keep it.

Just like the reform of salt and tea classes this time, the Lianghuai salt merchants who took refuge in Cui Chengxiu did not see the role of eunuchs at all.

It was almost as soon as Zhu Youjian made an order, Zhu Youxiao approved it, and the policy was issued, and the officials of the Yanshan Department stepped out.

Among them, neither the eunuch party nor Wei Zhongxian has the ability and strength to stop it.

So now Wei Zhongxian's situation is very embarrassing, he dare not play tricks with Zhu Youjian, but the people below are dissatisfied with Zhu Youjian.

This group of people have the feeling of fear and hatred, but fear is far greater than hatred.

From this point of view, if Zhu Youjian thinks about it, then Zhu Youxiao's downfall is only a short period of time...

All Sun Ruyou had to prepare with both hands. The first preparation was that Zhu Youjian looked down on the throne, so the Zhejiang Party could still survive under the protection of the Eunuch Party, waiting to support Zhu Ciran.

The other is that Zhu Youjian wants to seize the throne, so what the Zhejiang Party has to do is very simple.

Let go of all unrealistic ideas, honestly rely on Zhu Youjian, and wait for Zhu Youjian to die, and slowly boil his descendants.

This kind of thinking sounds unrealistic. After all, when Zhu Youjian died, Sun Ruyou's bones were probably gone.

But the problem is, even if Sun Ruyou dies, if his method is successful, and the Zhejiang Party is still there after a hundred years, then his descendants and family will also be protected.

The stench and difficulty of civil official groups, or Confucian literati, lie in interpersonal relationships.

The dense network of people has led to the fact that as long as there is a high-ranking official in the family, and the high-ranking official acts according to the ideas of the squires and gentry and protects their interests, no matter how poor the descendants of the high-ranking official are, they can be blessed for three generations.

Those like Zhang Juzheng who moved everyone's interests were thrown into trouble after death, and all factions were liquidated.

"Xungui is useless right now. It is estimated that the salt merchants in Lianghuai will find us in the end."

Sun Ruyou thought about everything that might happen, and then explained:
"No matter how they look for it, at the moment we are focusing on self-protection."

"Where is Fang Shaobao..." Shen Yu hesitated for a while, because Fang Congzhe had already set foot on the road back to Beijing ahead of schedule.

"Just remind him to take a good rest." Sun Ruyou said flatly, while Shen Yu and Zhu Guozuo could only honestly nod their heads in agreement.

But while they nodded in agreement, a barracks in Dayuan County in the east of Ryukyu, further south than them, was full of murderous atmosphere at the moment.

On the stage of the barracks, a Jinyi guard glanced at the nine thousand soldiers and horses in the audience, but none of these soldiers and horses were wearing the armor of the Ming army, and they were all wearing Japanese ronin costumes, with Japanese swords pinned to their waists.

Just judging from their behavior, this army has been trained for a long time and is very elite.

Facing them, the commander was very satisfied, and then slowly turned around, revealing his true colors, while looking at the more than twenty generals behind him.

"Yan Siqi, you have finished training, I hope you will not disappoint the trust of His Royal Highness King Qi, and do your own things well..."

Lu Jianxing's face appeared in front of Yan Siqi, and as soon as he spoke, the leader Yan Siqi immediately knelt down on one knee and bowed:

"The final general dare not disappoint His Royal Highness. No matter how much territory is captured during this trip to Japan, as long as His Royal Highness asks, the final general dare not refuse to obey and hand over all of them."

"It's fine if you don't hand over. Our navy alone can clean up Japan." Lu Jianxing raised his face and said:
"I will take people to Jeju Island in North Korea, where I will help you contact the Eastern Army's Governor's Mansion."

"His Highness has prepared five hundred five-jin cannons, six thousand rifles, and two hundred thousand shi of rations for you."

"These rations are enough for you to take Shikoku Island, and whether you can take down the mining area in the south of Kyoto within three years depends on your ability..."

Lu Jianxing glanced at Yan Siqi, and Liu Xiang, Zheng Zhilong and others behind him.

Regarding this group of pirates, Lu Jianxing did not trust them from the bottom of his heart.

If it weren't for the disgraceful things and missions they went to Japan, Lu Jianxing might have played Zhu Youjian and asked for a change of general.

However, since what they are doing is dirty, it is appropriate to use them.

"Please don't worry about this matter, within a year, I will definitely win Shi Jian!"

Yan Siqi lowered his head, and as he responded loudly, the people behind him also echoed.

Seeing this situation, Lu Jianxing nodded slightly, and then said:
"How to march, when to set off, how to supply, these are all your business."

"I will take a boat north to Jeju tomorrow. You can figure out what to do..."

After finishing speaking, Lu Jianxing turned around and left, and Yan Siqi also gave a gift loudly:
"Congratulations!"

"Congratulations!"

"Congratulations on sending you off—"

Three congratulations, the first one was from Yan Siqi, the second one was from Zheng Zhilong and others, and the final chaotic congratulations were from the nine thousand soldiers and horses in the audience.

In the sound of their congratulations, Lu Jianxing returned to Dayuan County, and Yan Siqi looked at his leaving back, and turned to Zheng Zhilong and the others.

"The preparations will start tonight, and we will set off in ten days. After one month, we will take down the four countries first."

"Yes!"

Hearing Yan Siqi's military order, Liu Xiang and others responded excitedly, but at this time, Zheng Zhilong stood up and said:

"Brother, I need to go to Kyushu first, and take my sister and the child to Jeju."

"Children? Do you have children?"

As soon as Zheng Zhilong opened his mouth, the sworn brother next to him looked at him in surprise, and Zheng Zhilong also squeezed out a smile and said:

"Before we went south, my wife was eight months pregnant. After the child was born, I sent a letter back to Kyushu and named the child Fusong."

"Zheng Fusong? It's a good name, but it's not as bold as your name." Yan Siqi didn't skimp on words, and took the initiative to boast.

After boasting, he also patted Zheng Zhilong:
"Go, just take your family back to your hometown."

"Right now, we are all officials. There is nothing wrong with taking our family back to Daming. Besides, there are family members in Daming. Some people can feel at ease..."

Yan Siqi glanced at the [-] soldiers and horses in the audience, he knew very well that many of these soldiers and horses were under the influence of others.

But he didn't care, just because he didn't want to separate himself.

After seeing the strength of the Twelve Guards of the Navy, he understood one thing, that is to seek self-reliance.

It's better to take advantage of this opportunity to do well what His Royal Highness Qi asked, maybe in the future, he can also use this credit to bless his descendants.

only……

"..." Yan Siqi couldn't help frowning when he thought of the task that King Qi had entrusted to him.

Although his reputation is already very bad, if he does what Zhu Youjian arranged, I am afraid that he will be resisted by the civil officials of other Ming factions.

Thinking of this, Yan Siqi hesitated.

However, this hesitation was completely overturned by Yan Siqi without sustaining a breath.

For the sake of wealth, even if he becomes a butcher, he doesn't care!

He glanced at Zheng Zhilong and the others, then at the nine thousand soldiers and horses, and finally all his thoughts turned into one sentence:

"Beijun, this time I want to see how Tokugawa Iemitsu can deal with me!"

(End of this chapter)