Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 579 The rain is coming
"Are you sure they're only for trade?"

In the Spanish royal palace at the end of March, when Felipe IV was lying on a chair and drinking a glass of wine in his hand, the foreign minister in front of him nodded:
"The news that has been spread so far is for trade, but the diplomat of Ming Dynasty has not written to you. Depending on the situation, he is going to let you take the initiative to talk to him."

"I'm looking for him? It's impossible!" Felipe IV waved his hand:
"All he wants is the New World, but the empire has a population of 10,000+ and tens of thousands of troops in the New World."

"Have you forgotten the gold and silver that come from the New World every year? We can't give up the New World!"

Felipe IV's words made the Minister of Foreign Affairs speechless. Of course, he knew that the New World sent hundreds of thousands of silver sopees back to Europe every year, but if Spain lost the support of Ming Dynasty in diplomacy and politics at the same time, they would struggle.

Thinking of this, the foreign minister felt that he had to remind Felipe IV.

"Your Majesty, what you said is very good, but if we lose the support of Da Ming, then the economy of the empire..."

"Okay! I don't believe that Daming will be willing to give up trading with us!" Felipe IV said arbitrarily, and said with a gloomy face:
"Don't forget, Da Ming supported Joao and his rebel army!"

"There is no conclusive evidence..." The diplomat didn't know, but he couldn't admit it, otherwise Spain would not be able to continue to trade with Ming, and even war would break out.

"I don't need evidence, I already know everything!" Felipe IV gave the answer decisively, and waved his hand:
"He wants me to give in, but I won't!"

"Even if Da Ming suspends trade with the empire, I will not cede the colonies of the New World to it!"

"You can step down now!" Felipe IV issued an order to evict the guest. Seeing this, the foreign minister hesitated to speak, and finally turned all his words into a sigh.

He eventually withdrew from the palace, and Felipe IV continued to taste his own wine.

When he made the decision not to compromise with Xu Xiake and Daming behind him, dozens of homing pigeons had already flown from the European continent to Levia.

After a journey of nearly [-] miles, they successfully arrived in Changsha City in Kyrgyzstan.

There were only [-] carrier pigeons that succeeded or arrived here. After confirming the news, Jin Yiwei in the pigeon house took off the letterboxes on their feet, transcribed them, and replaced them with carrier pigeons that could fly to Kunlun County, the supervisory envoy of South Kunlun.

Fifty homing pigeons were released this time, and they arrived in Kunlun County seven days later, and then continued to fly to Guangping County in East Kunlun Prefecture.

Here, they underwent another replacement, and flew towards the Ceylon Mansion of Xiaoxiyang Supervisory Commissioner.

In Ceylon they underwent their last replacement, and when the letterboxes arrived in the capital, thirty-six days had elapsed since their dispatch.

In Daming on the first day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar, Zhu Youjian enjoyed the leisure since last year.

It can be said that in the 18 years of Apocalypse, he has dealt with domestic and foreign affairs for three hours a day, and the rest of the time belongs to himself.

Since the end of the new year, the biggest news he has received is the matter of the talks between the five countries.

It costs 100 million taels of silver and the establishment of trade to obtain the colonies of various countries on the east coast of North and South America, which is a sure profit for Zhu Youjian.

The reason why countries give up their colonies is because they are going through wars and are underpopulated.

Zhu Youjian remembers that after the outbreak of the European People's Congress in the United States and the end of the Thirty Years War and the end of the 30-year war, all countries had the spare capacity to relocate their population. It took nearly half a century for all countries to relocate about 100 million people into the Americas.

Converted down, the average number is 2 people per year.

It's just that this is quite normal. After all, the environment of the Atlantic Ocean is different from that of the Daming Sea, and the distance from Europe to America is only half of the distance from Daming to the Americas.

A small population means less development and insufficient productivity. Naturally, too much gold and silver cannot be mined.

Up to now, the amount of mineral mining in the Americas by European countries is only less than 100 million taels per year, and [-]% of them are in the hands of the Spaniards.

That is to say, for the Netherlands and other countries, the total price of their annual gold and silver production is only about 20 taels of silver.

Such a comparison, of course, the four countries would rather sell the colonies and get the white silver directly.

Of course, the more important thing is to allow Huangdian to settle in various countries, so as to stabilize the prices of inflation and stagflation in various countries.

Under the situation of insufficient population in Europe and the United States, Ming Dynasty still has many means available.

Zhu Youjian wanted to win the Americas before the 30-year war, and then he could use the steam engine unscrupulously to vigorously develop Qi.

Since Spain is not on the road, Zhu Youjian has no choice but to support the Four Nations Alliance.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian called Jin Yiwei, who specialized in writing letters with mouse hair, and asked Jin Yiwei to write his thoughts on it.

Now that he has decided to support the four countries and attack Spain, Zhu Youjian naturally has to offer some more sincere prices.

For example, to provide ten-year low-interest loans of 300 million taels to the four countries...

This loan will be provided to various countries at an annual interest rate of 2%, but all funds will be used for trade with Ming Dynasty.

The flintlock guns and military equipment that the four countries wanted, the Western Fleet also packed 3 flintlock guns and more than 600 artillery pieces that were enough to equip [-] people.

If the price of this armament is in Ming Dynasty, it will only be worth 10,000+ taels, but if it is sold to European countries, their price will be 100 million taels.

Therefore, before the 300 million taels reached the hands of the four countries, there were only 200 million taels left, and the 200 million taels would also be used for trade with Daming.

No matter how you look at it, this deal is not a loss. After all, Daming needs enough jobs right now, and also needs to seize the European market.

The goods of Ming Dynasty accounted for less than [-]% of the European commodity market, and most of them were cloth, sugar, porcelain, tea and other commodities.

Not to mention cloth and porcelain tea, the simplest sugar, no matter what era it is in, actually exists as a strategic material.

Old Port, Liuqiu Prefecture and other places actually plant sugar cane for sugar extraction, and the price of white sugar is about [-] yuan per catty, and the price of brown sugar is [-] yuan per catty.

According to Huangdian's account book, if Daming candy is shipped to Ottoman and Persia, it can make eight times the profit, and if it is shipped to Europe, it can make six times the profit.

According to the income and population of Europeans, eating 1000 million catties of sugar every year is simply child's play. Just a small amount of sucrose can give Ming a harvest of 80 million taels of silver.

With the application of fertilizers, each mu of sugarcane land in Daming can produce about 1000 catties of sucrose, and [-] million catties of sugar is the output of [-] mu of land.

Needless to say, various other commodities, in short, Zhu Youjian believes that as long as the imperial store is opened in Europe, it will have the ability to earn money back.

This loan is not Zhu Youjian's whim, but a key step he made to prepare for the unification of the currency.

In the letter, Zhu Youjian replied to Xu Xiake that the Huangdian transaction only issued Tianqi Tongbao.

This also shows that after the opening of the Huangdian, when civilians from all over the world came with Sopees, Dutch Guilders and other currencies, Daming would only look for supplies from the other party's Tianqi Tongbao.

To put it bluntly, this is to prepare for future economic warfare.

Zhu Youjian doesn't think that the European monarchs can realize the importance of this kind of thing in advance. If there is, it is only limited to a few people.

"Tell Xu Xiake again to leave 2 people stationed on the east coast of North and South America, and then fly pigeons to send a letter to the Southern Kunlun Supervision Commissioner to ask Wu Aheng to prepare food for the soldiers stationed in the eastern part of Qi."

"Finally let Xu Xiake know Richelieu. If the navies of the four countries can interrupt the connection between the New World and Europe, then Ming can support them with another low-interest loan."

"Yes……"

After Zhu Youjian finished what he wanted to say, Jin Yiwei also wrote down all the words Zhu Youjian said with a mouse brush.

He handed Zhu Youjian the magnifying glass, the cloth strip about two inches long and less than two fingers wide, and a magnifying glass.

Zhu Youjian magnified it with a magnifying glass and looked it over. After confirming that there was no problem, he asked Jin Yiwei to copy it and send it to Europe.

All of this came naturally, and after he was busy with the affairs of Qi, Zhu Youjian also had time to focus on Daming.

More than three months have passed since the beginning of the new year. During these three months, nothing happened in Ming Dynasty, but the frontier of Ming Dynasty did not stop.

In February, the Mughals organized [-] troops to attack the Mengjia Mansion, which had just been recovered by the Ming army, and were repelled by Mu Yi who stayed there.

At the same time, war broke out in the Western Regions. Lin Dan Khan destroyed the Yarkand Khanate and further expanded his power. His subordinates had reached 40, which truly realized the bullshit he boasted to Nurhachi back then.

Now, in addition to the Junggar with more than [-] cavalry in the north and the Turpan Khanate in the south, which Lin Dan Khan used as a strategic buffer, other places in the Western Regions have become Lin Dan Khan's horse herding land.

Zhu Youjian was considering whether to send troops to destroy the Turpan Khanate first, but after careful consideration, he felt that it was too early.

When the train arrives at Jiayuguan, he can let people go all the way to the west, forcing the Turpan Khanate to surrender or fight with the Ming army.

It is less than a thousand kilometers from Jiayuguan to Turpan. With Ming's technology, it is not difficult to build this railway in four years.

Moreover, Zhu Youjian estimated that as long as the railway was repaired to Hami, the Turpan Khanate should make a statement.

Whether it is surrender or fighting, it will not affect the determination of the Ming army to regain the Western Regions.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian turned his attention from the Western Regions to West Siberia in the north.

Since it was still the snow season, the Tsarist Russian army did not make any feints or counterattacks.

With Cao Wenzhao and six thousand Northern Army cavalry, Zhu Youjian didn't need to worry about them.

What he was more worried about was the situation in the court.

For three months, Zhu Youjian seemed to have done nothing, but he did two things.

The first thing was to push Lu Yuangao, Zhou Boqian and others to Zhu Ciran's East Palace.

Seeing Zhu Youjian doing this, many veterans of the Conservative Party no longer had any scruples, and pushed their descendants to the East Palace one after another.

If it's just that, Zhu Youjian doesn't need to say anything special.

Among the group of people he recommended, one person stood out in particular.

He is neither from a noble family nor from a famous family. He is just a farmer who has been farming for generations.

In February, as officials from all over the country began to test their merits, Sun Kewang's name appeared at the forefront of the documents.

This time Zhu Youjian flicked his pen, and Sun Kewang became the chief bookkeeper of Zhan Shifu from the seventh rank of Zhan Shifu in the East Palace.

The person who entered the East Palace with him was Du Yinxi. He served as Zhilang Yousizhilang of Zhan Shifu, responsible for picketing and impeaching officials of the East Palace.

Before the two entered the palace, Zhu Youjian told Zhu Ciran to make good use of these two people.

Zhu Ciran has always believed in Zhu Youjian's words, so naturally he often takes the two of them to deal with the government affairs.

This was the first thing Zhu Youjian did. As long as there were Du Yinxi and Li Dingguo, Sun Kewang would not be in chaos, so he could only manage the East Palace honestly and govern the world.

This team can at least allow Daming to prosper for another ten years after Sun Chuanting and the others.

In the future, Zhu Youjian couldn't predict it, and he could only rely on Zhu Ciran's own insight to recognize people.

This was the first thing he did, and the second thing was to let the elders of Prince Qi's mansion go to Jimingfang next to Baiwangfang to study in official schools.

These days, he deals with memorials during the day, and when the children come home, he takes them to play, and asks them some common sense of life and some moral education.

Anyone can see that King Qi is preparing to raise his son.

This kind of thing made Yuan Xipin, who is the princess of the Qi Palace, naturally anxious.

She has been lingering on Zhu Youjian for more than ten days, and looks like she is going to keep lingering forever.

Zhu Youjian didn't blame her, after all, he understood Yuan Xibing's feelings.

However, what he cultivated was not the son of the prince, but the generals and civil servants of the Qi State in the future.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian also heard the sound of Mu Gu.

He looked out of the window, and sure enough, the color of dusk had already appeared outside the window.

This kind of scenery seems to tell him that it is not far from him to Fan Qi.

"boom!"

While Zhu Youjian was meditating, in the Qianqing Palace in Nanjing thousands of miles away, Zhu Youxiao fitted the mortise and tenon with a hammer, and then proudly looked at his works.

The scale and area of ​​the Qianqing Palace in Nanjing are larger and more spacious than those in Beijing, and the things that can be placed are naturally larger.

What Zhu Youxiao was beating was a boat five feet long and two wide.

This ship is a steam-powered ship, but the high-pressure steam engine, steam engine, propeller and other key things have not been put into the hull. Currently there is only one shell.

But even so, Zhu Youxiao looked at the object with satisfaction.

He planned to build a steam engine boat by himself, and when he returned to Beijing, he would return by sea in his own boat.

With the cooperation of the father, son, uncle and nephew, the processing speed of the Ming Dynasty's government affairs has been greatly accelerated, and the three of them have their own private space and time to do some personal things.

Zhu Youjian is with the children, Zhu Youxiao is playing with wood, and Zhu Ciran is riding a bicycle.

From this, it is not difficult to see why the officials of the Yanshan faction are dissatisfied.

After all, judging by their posture, no matter which of the two behind them is the emperor, they all seem to be foolish.

"Have the Yanshan officials in Nanjing City made any moves recently?"

Zhu Youxiao walked aside and asked the drowsy Wei Zhongxian while making wood.

"Back to Long Live, there is no change, only the landlords and gentry in the south of the Yangtze River have some conflicts with their tenant farmers."

"Oh? Let's hear it..." Zhu Youxiao didn't expect that the landlords and gentry in the south of the Yangtze River had conflicts with the tenant farmers, and he was very interested in this matter for a while.

"Long live back..." Wei Zhongxian bowed in response, and then told what he knew.

To put it more clearly, due to the severe drought in Yangzhou and other places, some tenant farmers felt that the land output could not support themselves, so they asked the landlords and gentry to reduce the land rent.

It's just that the life of the tenants is not easy, and the life of the landlords and gentry is not much easier.

Hundreds of people in the family needed to be supported, and many big landlords and gentry simply ignored the requests of the tenant farmers.

Therefore, the tenant farmers had to prepare to emigrate in order to survive.

As a result, when they wanted to immigrate, the gentry and landlords were unwilling to return the deeds, so the tenants went to the local officials to sue.

In general, this is the case, and the final settlement of this matter is that the local government ordered the gentry and tycoons to return the deeds, and the tenants were free, boarded the boat going south to the old port, and became a member of the wave of immigrants from the apocalypse .

"From this point of view, the gentry in Jiangnan really can't do it..."

Zhu Youxiao chuckled, obviously even he didn't expect that the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River couldn't even deal with a few tenants.

But this also shows that my younger brother's reform is very useful, and the political discourse power of gentry and landlords is constantly declining.

"How is your brother doing?"

"His Royal Highness has been busy teaching the county kings about the official learning."

Knowing the situation of the powerful gentry, Zhu Youxiao became worried about Zhu Youjian.

But the facts proved that he was overthinking, Zhu Youjian was living well in the capital, and Wei Zhongxian also specifically talked about the fact that the princes of the Qi Palace were studying in official schools.

"Study in an official school..." Hearing these three words, Zhu Youxiao understood his brother's intentions.

He remained silent, lowered his head and planed the wood by himself. After a long time, he felt a little restless, put the plane aside, and walked into the Hall of Mental Cultivation by himself.

Wei Zhongxian didn't follow, he knew very well that now was the time when the emperor was angry.

Why is Zhu Youxiao angry?Wei Zhongxian doesn't really understand...

After all, for a wolf mie like him who dares to leave the palace, in the face of benefits, not to mention brothers, even brothers who are one body can cut it.

Now he only feels that he is getting old, and he wants to make a few more money in the last few years, and then go home to retire.

Thinking of this, Wei Zhongxian happily counted his family property.

"Big companion..."

"The servant is here!"

It's a pity that before Wei Zhongxian could think about it, he was called into the Hall of Mental Cultivation by Zhu Youxiao.

He hurriedly walked into the hall, but as soon as he entered, he saw Zhu Youxiao sitting on a chair with a sad expression on his face.

"Long live... the servant girl is here."

Wei Zhongxian stepped forward to speak cautiously, Zhu Youxiao also raised his head and asked:
"What do you think I can reward my younger brother..."

What reward... Except for the chair under your buttocks, you have nothing to reward... Wei Zhongxian thought in his heart, but smiled and said:

"His Royal Highness King Qi is not short of anything, long live it is better to write more letters to His Royal Highness."

"Well... you can step back..." Seeing that Wei Zhongxian couldn't say anything, Zhu Youxiao raised his hand to signal that he could go out.

Seeing this, Wei Zhongxian was unambiguous, and immediately walked out of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

After he left, Zhu Youxiao also said sadly: "There is nothing to seal... There is nothing to reward..."

As he murmured, the night gradually passed, and when the sky brightened again, it was already April [-]th.

"Sun Kewang, you've done a good job, you've dealt with it so quickly?"

When Zhu Ciran's voice sounded, the scene had already arrived at the East Palace in Beijing, and the person bowing in front of Zhu Ciran was Sun Kewang who had just handed in dozens of memorials.

At this moment, Sun Kewang smiled kindly, and he bowed slowly:

"Xiaguan is usually good at handling government affairs, so the speed is a little faster."

"23 memorials in one hour, this speed can catch up with Uncle Qi...the handling is not bad."

Zhu Ciran took the memorabilia, opened it one by one, and gave his own evaluation.

"I don't dare to compare myself with the King of Qi..." Sun Kewang still had that smiling face, and Zhu Ciran glanced at him with a smile, taking in all his little thoughts.

"From this point of view, you may be able to be promoted to Zuo Zhongyun when you take the merit test at the end of the year."

Zhu Ciran never forgot to paint cakes for Sun Kewang, and when Sun Kewang heard that he might become Zuo Zhongyun of Zhan Shifu, he couldn't help but lower his back.

"It's the same person as Hong Chengchou, but that's good, it's easy to handle..."

Zhu Ciran had a smile on his face, but in his heart he put Sun Kewang and Hong Chengchou that his Uncle Qi talked about together.

For Zhu Ciran, as long as he has ambition, he can use it. He is a person who likes sincerity, so he is most afraid of officials using sincerity to deal with him.

It was as if he was not afraid that he would not be able to control Sun Kewang, but he was afraid that he would not be able to control Li Dingguo.

The control here does not refer to Li Dingguo, but a heart disease that Zhu Ciran suffered from after learning that Uncle Qi Wang would leave Daming in the future.

He always felt that those who could not control would leave Daming.

Jin Xuan, Cheng De, Cao Wenzhao, Cao Bianjiao, Man Gui, Sun Yingyuan, and... Li Dingguo.

Thinking of this, Zhu Ciran also looked at a memorial beside him.

It was the memorandum handed in by the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies in the merit examination last year, and Zhu Youjian had already processed it, all Zhu Ciran had to do was to read it and stamp it.

In the performance examination list, Li Dingguo ranked among the best for his achievements in governing Yanran City and leading troops to behead more than [-] northern captives last year.

Therefore, Li Dingguo was put on the inspection list in the performance test.

As long as the Fifth Army Commander's Mansion in the capital sends someone to visit Yanran City to confirm that there is no fraud in his achievements, then Li Dingguo can be promoted to the deputy general of the Yanran Camp of the Northern Army, and his official position is the sixth rank.

Li Dingguo's ability, Zhu Ciran knew, even being a general was considered inferior.

If it were him before, he would definitely break the rules and promote Li Dingguo to be a general of the Yanran camp.

But ever since he knew that his Uncle Qi might be leaving, Zhu Ciran didn't intend to do those outrageous things.

The faster Li Dingguo was promoted, the easier it was for him to return to the capital.

The current capital city is a big vat that has been muddied, and as time goes by, it becomes more and more muddy.

Zhu Ciran did not intend to let Li Dingguo, who has been taking care of him, be contaminated with this vat of sewage.

Thinking of this, Zhu Ciran picked up the test book, opened it and sealed it, and then handed it to Sun Kewang:
"Send this memorandum back to the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, and send a backup copy to the Household Department to update the changes in the Governor's Mansion this time. Don't pay less or miss out on salary."

"Yes..." Sun Ke Wanghai was immersed in the news that he was going to be promoted, so he took the memorial without thinking, turned and left.

Seeing his leaving back, Zhu Ciran leaned back on the chair, looked up tiredly, and slowly closed his eyes:

"Uncle..."

(End of this chapter)