Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 580
The ninth day of June in the 18th year of Apocalypse, the seventh day of the seventh month in the Western calendar.

Accompanied by the return of the pigeons, Xu Xiake signed mutual aid clauses in Paris with England, Sweden, the Netherlands, and France represented by Richelieu.

There are four parts in the terms, including but not limited to low-interest loans, commodity trade, arms trade, and land sales.

The four countries promised to send ships to follow the Ming fleet to America and evacuate 320 people from the four countries in America.

However, the materials needed for evacuation during this period need to be provided by Daming in gold and silver.

Xu Xiake had no objection to this. After all, it would not cost too much, at most tens of thousands of taels.

I spent 100 million taels, so I don’t care about the tens of thousands of taels...

"boom--"

"Stop the saltpeter trade?!"

In the Spanish royal palace on July [-], when Felipe IV learned that Ming and the four countries signed a mutual assistance treaty known as the "Paris Trade Agreement", he immediately lost his temper.

He didn't expect the four countries to snatch away the saltpeter trade that belonged to Spain. Now without Daming's annual import of 300 million catties of saltpeter, Spain's offensive on the battlefield would soon be disintegrated.

Originally, the Eastern Front was in jeopardy. Now, once France and other countries receive assistance and launch a counter-offensive, the war will inevitably end in the failure of the two Hasburg families, the Holy Roman Empire and the Spanish Empire.

Felipe IV did not expect Xu Xiake to act so decisively, nor did he expect Daming's news to respond so quickly.

He originally thought that it would take Daming a year to finalize this matter, but he didn't expect that it only took two and a half months for Daming to finalize this matter.

Thinking of this, Felipe IV stood up anxiously and walked around.

Seeing his anxious appearance, the Minister of Internal Affairs and the Minister of Finance next to him also spoke one after another after reading the news sent back by the North:
"Your Majesty, what we should do now is to take the initiative to interview Xu, who is the special envoy."

"Perhaps we can sell some colonies in South America to them, so as to ensure the order of our saltpeter trade."

"Impossible!" Hearing the words of the two ministers, Philip IV put his hand on the armrest of the chair, and he shouted:

"It is impossible for me to surrender to Daming. The Habsburg Dynasty will never accept threats."

"But Your Majesty..." The Minister of Internal Affairs frowned and stepped forward, but was interrupted by Philip IV:
"Now all the countries have withdrawn from the New World, leaving us and Ming in the New World."

"Most of the gold mines in the New World exist in Latin America that we have control over. The conflict between us and Ming is irreconcilable."

"What's more, since they have encouraged Joao to rebel in Portugal, they must be ready for war or cold war with us."

"Facing a robber with a sword, are you still going to try to persuade him not to rob you of the gold coins with your mouth?"

"I will not make any response, tell the administrators of the New World to mine gold mines as soon as possible, and order them to build warships as soon as possible, and cancel the [-]-ton limit!"

Spain has never lacked the technology to build large-tonnage warships. The reason why they did not build them was because they were once defeated by the British with small-tonnage fast ships.

Now facing the threat of Ming's warships, Felipe IV could only cancel the ban, trying to overwhelm Ming on the warships, and build enough warships to protect the safety of Spain's routes in America and Europe.

The conflict between Ming and Spain is destined to be irreconcilable, unless either of them is willing to give up the New World, but this party is absolutely impossible to be Spain!

Felipe's words made the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Finance feel cold, and when the news was spread, the maritime countries on the European continent knew that Spain had chosen a road of no return.

Soon, Huangdian suspended the saltpeter trade with Spain.

Except for common goods, no military trade is carried out with Spain.

At the same time, Huang Fei ordered to transport the military equipment in the fleet's inventory to the port of Marseilles.

All kinds of artillery, flintlock guns, and matchlock guns are piled up in the port of Marseille.

Faced with [-] flintlock guns, [-] matchlock guns, and [-] six-pound guns, Richelieu chose to distribute them according to the situation.

As the main force on the Eastern Front, Sweden will receive [-] flintlock guns, [-] matchlock guns and [-] six-pound guns.

As the main force on the Western Front, France will receive 150 flintlock guns and [-] six-pound guns.

The Netherlands received 250 flintlocks and [-] six-pounders, while England received the remaining [-] flintlocks and [-] matchlocks.

In this way, one-third of the 300 million low-interest loans provided by Ming to aid the four countries were spent, and the remaining 200 million low-interest loans were all used to buy saltpeter and sucrose.

The 100 million taels of land silver owed by Ming Dynasty to the Netherlands will be exchanged by the imperial store for commodities after Daming obtains the colonies of the four countries in the United States.

Since the European capital is now flocking to the Netherlands, these commodities can be realized quickly, and the actual cost price of the 100 million taels that Daming actually paid for was less than 30 taels.

As long as Zhu Youjian ordered the imperial store to purchase and transport, Qi would only need to spend 30 taels of silver, and 3 taels of silver for five ships, crew maintenance, wages, etc., to complete the 100 million taels of promise to the Netherlands.

Everything was settled by the end of July, which made the morale of the Four Powers high and Spain and the Holy Roman Empire low.

In early August, with the Western Fleet setting sail, more than [-] ships from the four countries accompanied them to America.

Not surprisingly, they will arrive in the American colonies in three months to pick up immigrants from various countries, and the east coast will completely become the land of Qi.

The good news came one after another, and finally they were sorted out by Xu Xiake and finally sent to Daming.

By the time Zhu Youjian got the message from the carrier pigeon, it was already August 18 of the lunar calendar in the 26th year of Tianqi.

"The amount of arable land on the east coast of various countries is close to [-] mu, and it should be no problem to feed [-] soldiers."

In the Chengyun Hall, Lu Wenzhao reported the information he got from Xu Xiake.

In front of him, Zhu Youjian was making tea unhurriedly.

Regarding Lu Wenzhao's report, Zhu Youjian also said after thinking about it:
"In Qi State, there should be more than two million mu of arable land by the end of the year. How is the labor camp in Yingzhou?"

Zhu Youjian asked, but Lu Wenzhao didn't understand this question, so he looked at Cao Huachun and Wang Chengen who were sitting not far away to deal with the imperial store and official affairs.

"From last year to this month, 26 people have been relocated there. In Qi, there should be 37 Yingzhou laborers, [-] local laborers and more than [-] natives."

Cao Huachun raised his head and reported the situation of Qi State, Zhu Youjian who heard the words nodded and said:
"Calculated, that's 43 reformed-through-labor workers and 13 natives, plus the sixth battalion of soldiers from Qi State and 60 soldiers from this time, the total is about [-]."

More than 60 million mu of arable land supports [-] people, plus tens of millions of bison and billions of passenger pigeons in North America... The situation and life of the people of Qi may be better than that of the people of Ming Dynasty.

Now that the east and west coasts of North America and the east coast of South America have been captured by Qi State, what Qi State has to do is to advance slowly.

At present, the main power of Qi is in North America, and the terrain of North America is very distinctive. There is a plain in the middle, and the Appalachian Mountains and the Rocky Mountains at the east and west ends. The mountains are all north-south.

The higher altitude of the Rocky Mountains just blocks the Pacific air flow.

The Appalachian Mountains are relatively low. Although they can barely block the humid air of the Atlantic Ocean, they cannot block the hurricanes of the Atlantic Ocean.

The two mountain ranges are the two wind-blocking walls of the Qi country, but these two walls have a fatal flaw, that is, the two mountain ranges run north-south, and there is a plain between the two mountain ranges.

Although the plains are good, the geographical conditions of North America determine that not only are there no decent mountains in the north to block the cold air from the Arctic, but there are also no mountains in the south to Central America to block the humid air from the Atlantic Ocean.

To put it simply, the terrain of North America is a draft house with gaps in the north and south, which is more terrible.

The cold air from the Arctic Ocean can travel southward through the central plain of Qi, and the humid air from the tropical Atlantic can also penetrate from Central America to the north through the central plain.

Once the two air currents collide head-on in the central plain, it will bring the extreme climate of ice and fire to the central plain.

Therefore, the climate in the central plains of North America is a bit like a weakened version of the Three-Body Chaos Era. It was unbearably hot for a while, and froze to death for a while.

Living on the east coast is not much better. There are Atlantic hurricanes that make landfall every three to five times, and living on the west coast is a volcanic and earthquake zone.

The reason why Zhu Youjian did not place the government in Jingmen County (San Francisco) was because it was in an earthquake zone, and Xijing City just avoided the earthquake zone.

In short, in an extremely changeable climate like North America, farming civilization could hardly survive there.

The germination of human civilization must be farming civilization. When farming civilization develops to a certain level, a large number of non-farming people can be fed, let them eat and look up at the starry sky, and then they can create words and culture, and gradually promote scientific and technological progress.

In such a climate and environment, only with the blessing of industrial civilization can a country gain a foothold locally.

In the era of farming civilization, the development of agriculture depends on the climate and land, while in the era of industrial civilization, the development of agriculture depends on the level of industrialization.

If Qi wants to use the central plains of North America, it must have strong industrial strength.

It's just that with the current industrial strength of Qi's annual output of less than 100 tractors, it may take [-] years to unify the Americas by its own strength.

100 years is too long and there are too many changes, so there must be external forces to help it.

Daming is the best external force in this era, and the population of Daming will also be Qi's biggest trump card to drive out the Spaniards.

The number of tractors in Qi State has reached nearly 15 units. Under such circumstances, Qi State can reclaim nearly one million mu of land each year with only [-] people operating them.

At the end of this year, the first batch of industrial zones in Qi State will be fully put into operation, and the industrial zones will reach an annual production capacity of [-] tractors.

Zhu Youjian can also allow Daming to "supply" the country's industry and population for about five years.

Five years later, Qi will reach an annual industrial production capacity of [-] trains, [-] ships, [-] industrial machines, and [-] tractors.

In terms of arable land, Qi State can reach at least 1000 million mu of arable land. With the rich protein of bison, Qi State can feed no less than 400 million people.

Even counting all the reform-through-labour prisoners in Yingzhou, Daming can support an additional 300 million citizens.

Judging from the news sent back by Jin Xuan, there should not be tens of millions of natives in North America, and the number of natives should be around 600 million.

If Qi State wants to assimilate the local people, it needs to increase the immigrant population.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian felt that the immigration plan seemed to be on the agenda.

According to the current situation that Qi State reclaims one million acres of arable land every year, but Yingzhou labor camps remain at 30 immigrants, Qi State can accept no more than 10 additional immigrants.

"Let the Migration Department include Qi State in the immigration selection, and the main immigration location is Jiangnan."

Zhu Youjian finally spoke after pondering for a long time, and his opening was good news, at least for the three of Lu Wenzhao.

"Your Highness is wise!"

The three of Lu Wenzhao's thoughts were all on Qi Guo. Seeing that the time for the feudal clan was getting closer, and his Highness had never mentioned the matter of immigration, the three of them were extremely flustered.

What they are most worried about is that they will not have time to immigrate later, which will cause Qi to be filled with local natives and Yingzhou laborers.

Now that the immigration plan has finally started, as long as it is vigorously publicized, there must be a lot of people willing to immigrate to Qi.

"Let the people in the relocation department prepare, and the people in the cabinet prepare the note."

"Yes!"

After Zhu Youjian lowered his eyes, he got up and prepared to go outside for a walk. The three of Lu Wenzhao responded and sent someone to protect Zhu Youjian.

Zhu Youjian walked out of the Chengyun Palace in this way, and after he left, Lu Wenzhao also walked in front of Cao Huachun and Wang Chengen.

He looked at the door, and after confirming that Zhu Youjian was far away, he said:

"The relocation of Qi State, you and I have to take care of it."

"I will go to Chengde for the Yanshan faction. Most of the officials of the Yanshan faction are gathered in the south of the Yangtze River. As long as they nod their heads and help publicize, the National News Bureau, the local yamen, and the Huangdian will work hard, and the number of immigrants will only increase. many."

"Okay!" Wang Chengen and Cao Huachun agreed with one voice.

They are eunuchs, and only by relying on Zhu Youjian can they keep their glory and wealth. Now that Zhu Youjian is going to Qi State, they can only enjoy Qi State in their old age if they make Qi State prosperous.

They have no reason to refuse the development of Qi.

"Then I'll go find Chengde now!" Seeing that the two agreed, Lu Wenzhao immediately walked outside the palace gate.

About half an hour later, Lu Wenzhao came to the neighborhood where the third division was located, and entered the Metropolitan Procuratorate after the transmission.

The arrival of Lu Wenzhao, the Commander of Jinyiwei, made many Yanshan officials in the Metropolitan Procuratorate couldn't help but pay attention.

They were wondering what the purpose of Lu Wenzhao's visit was, but before they could pay attention, Lu Wenzhao went to the Ducha General Pavilion where Chengde was.

Cheng De called officials at all levels in the Metropolitan Procuratorate, including himself a total of 12 people.

However, when Lu Wenzhao walked into the main pavilion, he glanced over everyone.

These 12 people are all Yanshan officials. Obviously, the Metropolitan Procuratorate is completely controlled by the Yanshan faction.

"I'm here to..."

Lu Wenzhao told his intention of coming and Zhu Youjian's order to immigrate to Qi State.

These made everyone's expressions change. Some people were nervous, some were angry, and some were happy.

It can be seen from this that everyone has different views on King Qi's choice.

After Lu Wenzhao finished speaking, Cheng De bowed like water:

"The Metropolitan Procuratorate already knows, please trouble Commander Lu to deliver the message himself."

"Since the matter has been passed on, I will take my leave..." Seeing that Chengde did not make the decision directly, Lu Wenzhao also bowed in return, then turned and left.

After he left, the door at the entrance was closed, and a quarrel broke out inside the main pavilion.

"Since it's for the country of Qi, then I should cooperate with His Highness..."

"Cooperate? Get the state of Qi in order, and let His Highness take over as a vassal?"

"Then what else? What do you want?"

"Your Highness can't go!"

"Correct!"

"Don't go? Why don't you stay? Work with those old-fashioned insects? Don't you think it's disgusting?"

In just a few breaths, the main pavilion became a pot of porridge.

Some people are watching, some are against it, and some are in favor.

To put it bluntly, there are only two choices, let Qi Wang stay, or support Qi Wang to become a vassal.

Supporting King Qi as a vassal, in the eyes of most Yanshan faction officials, is ungrateful.

"Why does Your Highness have to leave? Who stabilized the world? Who laid down the territory? Who cultivated you and me?"

"Is it the cabinet? Is it Long Live? No, it was His Highness who trained us!"

Zhang Chun, the left deputy imperial envoy of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, shouted that he, like Li Demao and Zhang Maocai, was a proper left-behind faction.

In their view, even if His Royal Highness King Qi didn't want to be emperor, at least he should stay and lead the government.

Anyway, the emperor doesn't care about state affairs, so what if he is allowed to supervise the country for the rest of his life?
"Your Highness is considering the suzerainty and vassal system of the Ming Dynasty. Did the Imperial Envoy Zhang Zuo forget the quotations from the King of Qi in the third volume of "Yanshan Politics"?"

"The purpose of going to North America, Merica, is for the Qi State, and it is also for the suzerainty system of the Ming Dynasty!"

The person who refuted was Sun Zhaokui, the censor of the right deputy capital. He was a faction that supported King Qi's vassal, but there were not many people in the same camp as him.

"For Daming? If it's for Daming, you should stay!"

Zhang Chun's words were full of disdain for Zhu Youxiao's father and son. It seemed to him that Zhu Youxiao's father and son were "faint lords".

He was too lazy to waste words with Sun Zhaokui, and directly bowed to Cheng De who was sitting at the top:

"Chengdu Yushi, please come up with an idea on how to do this matter!"

Zhang Chun knew that Cheng De was Zhu Ciran's teacher, but he also knew that Cheng De was in the Qi Palace, so he wanted to know what his choice was.

Facing Zhang Chun's pressing question, Cheng De frowned slightly, and then said:

"Your Highness has made a good decision, you and I cannot stop it."

"If you want to prevent the people from immigrating to Qi, it's not something you and I can stop."

"You and I both want His Highness to stay permanently in Daming instead of going to Qi to become a vassal, but this does not need to curb Qi's immigration."

"Immigration in Qi State is only good for Daming, not bad, and it is also for His Highness."

"Regardless of where His Highness sits, immigration to Qi will be carried out."

Cheng De Che Jilu talked back and forth, which made Zhang Chun frown.

"We will neither obstruct nor support the relocation. Let's wait and see His Highness's attitude first."

Cheng De knew that this matter had to be decided, and finally he made a neutral attitude.

This made Zhang Chun dissatisfied, but at least Chengde expressed his attitude. He supported King Qi's supervision of the country in Daming.

"Since this is the case, then there is no need to talk about it, just wait and see!"

Zhang Chun got up, and even the other nine officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate also got up.

They left the main pavilion. Seeing this, Sun Zhaokui and another official bowed to Cheng De in return, and then left the main pavilion.

After they left, Chengde also got up and went to the side hall of the main pavilion, continuing to deal with the tedious official duties.

As for Lu Wenzhao, after leaving, he went to the National News and the Migration Department. Fortunately, the National News and the Migration Department were fighting against the old school and the Yanshan faction.

In order to send King Qi away, all conservative parties made efforts one after another.

The National News will publish the recruitment of immigrants in Qi State in the next issue of "Da Ming Pao", and the Department of Migration will add a station in Jiangnan.

The news reached the East Palace after all the yamen were ready.

It was Lu Yuangao who brought the news, and Zhu Ciran who heard the news was processing the memorial at that time.

Hearing the news that Qi State started recruiting immigrants, he was taken aback for a moment, then nodded with a complicated expression: "Got it..."

"I will take my leave..." Seeing Zhu Ciran's appearance, Lu Yuangao bowed and exited the Palace of Spring Harmony.

Zhu Ciran looked at his retreating back, silently lowered his head and continued to deal with the memorial, but the restlessness in his heart could not fade away.

After a long time, when the footsteps sounded again, it was a 36-[-]-year-old civil servant who was dressed in the uniform of a sixth-rank official who walked in.

Zhu Ciran raised his head and smiled after seeing this person: "Zhongji, you are here."

"My subordinate Zhan Shifu Yousi Zhilang Du Yinxi, see Your Highness, Your Highness is a thousand years old..."

Du Yinxi has a handsome face and a thin beard. If you only look at his face, it is difficult to associate him with a loyal minister, because his appearance is a typical fickle appearance.

However, after Zhu Ciran got along with Du Yinxi, he discovered that Du Yinxi was loyal to the emperor and patriotic, and he was honest and fair.

Perhaps it is precisely because of his character that his uncle appointed him as Youji Zhilang, in charge of the picketing and impeachment of Zhan Shifu.

"Stay flat." Zhu Ciran raised his arms in a vain manner, signaling Du Yinxi to get up.

Seeing this, Du Yinxi got up slowly, and said: "The lower official heard about Qi's recruitment of immigrants, so he came here to warn His Highness."

"Warning?" Du Yinxi's words made Zhu Ciran frown, and Du Yinxi also nodded and continued:
"King Qi's move may make many officials dissatisfied, and there may be troubles in Jiangnan."

"Your Highness should remind me that Long Live is..."

"Hmm..." Zhu Ciran nodded slightly, but after a while he shook his head and said:

"No need, if the matter will involve the father, then Uncle Qi may have already made arrangements."

"This..." Du Yinxi didn't know what to say about Zhu Ciran, so he could only bow and change the phrase:
"King Qi arranges it as a brother, and His Highness should also remind him as the eldest son. This is not a conflict."

"Well... that's true." Zhu Ciran readily accepted this statement, and responded: "Then you will write it for yourself."

Seeing Zhu Ciran responding to the "official order", Du Yinxi heaved a sigh of relief, bowed and exited the Palace of Spring Harmony.

After he left, Zhu Ciran rubbed between his eyebrows:
"It's an eventful autumn..."

　Afternoon update around 04:30
　　
　
(End of this chapter)