Qianlong: Qing Dynasty?What about my Daqing?

Chapter 359 The Isthmus of Suez and the Mediterranean Garrison

early morning.

The sun shines into the Jiangbei Palace.

Emperor Zhu and his concubine Tokugawa Miki, who was sleeping last night, opened their eyes.

Tokugawa Manji hurriedly waited for the emperor to change clothes.

She returned to Zhongdu a few days ago.

The reason why I came back to Zhongdu.

Mainly because of two aspects.

The first is of course for the education of the sixth prince.

In this regard, Tokugawa Miki did not dare to be sloppy.

In essence, old Liu Zhu Yixin is a member of the princes of the Ming Dynasty, and his future contacts also need to be established in the Ming Dynasty.

He became the king of Japan, and Japan is the inner domain.

Therefore, the sixth prince must receive the same education as the other princes of Ming Dynasty.

The other is the situation in Japan.

In the past few years she has been in Japan.

Japan has also gradually stabilized.

The local vassals also accepted that the emperor was abolished, and the king above his head was the son of Da Mingzi.

after all
They actually have no opposition.

A large number of ronin warriors stared eagerly at the recruitment quota of the Japanese Armed Forces Corps.

Anyone who dares to oppose Da Mingzi is against hundreds of thousands of Japanese ronin warriors.

"Today you take the sixth son to the prince, and ask the prince to take him to school."

Zhu Yichi is already in the second grade.

The sixth child, Zhu Yixin, is only in the first grade of elementary school, and he has been in Japan for a few years, so now he is afraid that he is born in China.

Emperor Zhu wore a plain suit.

The linen clothes don't look very expensive.

But the jade and the sword hanging around his waist can be seen to be of great value at a glance.

"Ottoman, Russia, and American envoys are here today. They probably have a lot of things to do, but Ming doesn't plan to intervene in the war between Ottoman and Russia. The Americans are probably a North American thing. Like this."

Emperor Zhu pouted and said.

Tokugawa Manji didn't talk to her either, although Emperor Zhu couldn't help the harem to intervene in politics, and even Empress Luo often brought the prince to meet ministers and the like.

But Tokugawa Manji knows that the queen is the queen, the prince is the prince, and she is her.

In Japan, she is the "Queen of the West".

But in Zhongdu.

She can only be the maid of Emperor Zhu.

really.

Emperor Zhu came to the door after he was dressed neatly, and said to a female official, "Let Qian Heng, Rodriguez and others come to the imperial study. By the way, call Zhao Si and Luo Fangbo."

"As ordered."

soon.

Several ministers who participated in the royal consortium were summoned.

Qian Heng is the general manager of the royal consortium.

When he was in Europe, he was the treasurer who helped Emperor Zhu manage the property.

Rodriguez used to be a financial fraudster, but now he has washed his hands and went ashore, and is now a consultant to the Royal Bank.

As for Zhao Si and Luo Fangbo.

After retiring, the two established the Four Seas Consortium and the Xingwang Consortium respectively.

These two consortiums can be regarded as branches of the imperial consortium—Emperor Zhu has a lot of shares and investments in both consortiums.

"Your Majesty, this is the annual report of the Royal Consortium for the sixth year of Guangfu."

Qian Heng handed the report to Zhu Daohua.

It records the operation of the royal consortium last year.

In fact, it is now the late autumn and early winter of the seventh year of Guangfu.

However, because the Royal Consortium's business spreads too widely and is a true transnational consortium, the financial reports of each region have to be delayed for several months on the road, and this financial report is only issued after being sent to the headquarters of the consortium for summary.

"Operating income, 34421 million yuan, net profit 3788 million yuan"

Emperor Zhu read out a series of numbers in a low voice.

Because of the stimulus of war.

The military industry, medicine, chemical industry and other industries under the imperial consortium have maintained explosive growth for several years in a row.

But since this year, large-scale wars have ended one after another.

The royal consortium will inevitably shrink one after another in these industries.

"That's right, old Qian, you did a great job!" Emperor Zhu said with a satisfied smile.

In fact, Qian Heng didn't do much.

He is a qualified shopkeeper, and in today's words is a qualified manager.

But the specific strategy of the imperial consortium was formulated by Emperor Zhu himself.

The royal consortium has begun to withdraw from the specific middle and lower reaches of the industrial chain,
Thus began to pursue the control of finance and upstream industries.

The main thing is to control the financial industry and key technology industries - the so-called high value-added "technology industries".

Thereby ceding the middle and lower reaches of the industrial chain to private capital.

At the same time, it has also begun to establish subsidiaries that strengthen partnerships with private capital to save management costs and unnecessary expenses.

Second.

It is to establish a new strategic investment institution.

Establish a complete set of investment plans - as the emperor, his investment plans will naturally not be completely profit-oriented.

Instead, it seeks to invest in some industries that are beneficial to the country in the long run.

For example, education, infrastructure, support for new technologies, etc.

"How much cash do we have on hand right now?"

Emperor Zhu asked.

"Returning to the emperor, the royal consortium now has 3000 million Ming Yuan in cash flow, and the other Four Seas Consortium and Xingwang Consortium have a total of more than [-] million Ming Yuan." Qian Heng said, "In addition, the Northeast Development Corporation can use more than [-] Ming Yuan. ten thousand yuan."

"Total of the four parties, the total funds of [-] million Ming Yuan."

"Three hundred million!" Zhu Daohua raised his eyebrows.

"That's a lot of money."

Three hundred million yuan.

That's roughly the equivalent of £8000 million.

Twice the annual fiscal revenue of the British Empire.

Behind so much money.

Of course, it was the royal consortium's cruel exploitation and suppression of the lives of the working people of Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Daohua was not a good person in the first place.

The companies under his royal consortium are also capitalist companies.

There is no eight-hour work system, no weekends, no high benefits and high wages-the companies that engage in these things at this time simply think that they are living too long.

In Nanyang, the plantations controlled by the imperial consortium also used a large number of "piglets", and the factories in the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta also used a large number of women and children as workers. Sell ​​high, buy low and sell high.

In short.

These are the hard-earned money of the people of Ming Dynasty and the people of the world.

Basically no penny is clean.

these capitals.

Scarlet blood is seeping from head to toe, soaked in the blood and tears of the working people.

"Three hundred million Ming Yuan is enough to mobilize a capital of 15 billion!"

Zhu Daohua made some calculations.

What is the concept of 15 billion?
It is the total fiscal revenue of the Ming court for five years!
so much money.

How can I not make good use of it.

"Your Majesty, the investment plan is based on a total capital of 10 billion yuan. In the next five years, the royal consortium will use at least 10 billion yuan of capital to build railways and ports, support a number of emerging industries, and establish a nationwide medical system. In addition, we must continue to support new collective farms in the Northeast, expand the collective farms in the Northeast along the Heilongjiang River Basin to the north and west, and attract funds to establish the New World Development Corporation to invest in the agriculture and mineral development of the New World. Push for greater immigration to the New World!."

The plan Qian Heng said.

It is known as the [Royal Consortium's First Five-Year Plan] in history.

According to later history textbooks.

This five-year plan is of great significance.

It played an inestimable role in promoting the development of industrialization in Ming Dynasty, promoting Ming Dynasty to take the lead in entering the second industrial revolution, and promoting the establishment of infrastructure construction, medical care and education system in Ming Dynasty.

However, Mr. Hitler, a well-known historian and artist of the European Socialist Union in later generations, wrote in his book "The Great Ming Dynasty Ruled the World": "...In fact, 50.00% of the funds for the first five-year plan of the imperial consortium were all It was not used to promote any industrialization, but was used to invest in the colonization and development of the northeastern region of the Ming Empire and the invasion of the New World, and the remaining 50.00% of the funds were mostly used for the construction of railways—the construction of railways The purpose is to strengthen the connection between the northeast and northwest regions of the Ming Empire and the Han region, and it also serves the purpose of colonial aggression and expansion!"

Actually in this [Five-Year Plan].

The highlight is indeed the construction of the railway.

Daming's railway network will be centered on the three major cities of Northern Capital, Southern Capital, and Guangzhou.

Radiate outward.

The most important of these is a north-south artery connecting Heilongjiang, Shenyang, Beidu, Nandu, and Guangzhou.Then there are two railway arteries with Beijing and Guangzhou as the center, running through the entire Han area from the east and the middle respectively, forming the first three north-south trunk lines together with the Beijing-Guangzhou line.

Based on the three north-south trunk lines, the Daming Royal Consortium planned a very detailed construction plan for the railway network. The initial purpose was to use railways first to connect all the provincial capital cities of the Ming Dynasty with railways.

In refinement to the provinces.

If this pile of railways is to be repaired.

The total mileage of the Ming Empire's railways probably exceeded 10 li.

Such a huge railway construction plan.

Certainly a great test for the steel industry.

therefore.

In the [Five-Year Plan], another major goal is to invest [-] million yuan to fully support the exploration and mining of iron ore and coal mines, as well as the steelmaking industry.

its purpose.

It will be 10 years after the restoration.

Let the total steel output of the Ming Empire exceed 200 million tons.

"Yes, this plan considers both the long-term and the present. It is indeed a very good plan."

Emperor Zhu read the five-year plan from beginning to end.

He just put forward the general direction.

The specific rules, of course, were discussed by the managers of the royal consortium.

This sub-plan does not blindly pursue the expansion of steel production.

in contrast.

In the plan, full consideration was given to the national conditions of Ming Dynasty.

Among them, the large-scale development of the Northeast region is to develop agriculture, and the development of agriculture is to take care of the rations of hundreds of millions of mouths.

Feeding hundreds of millions of stomachs is always the most important thing for the Ming Empire to solve.

and.

Investing in agriculture is also the only way to provide funds for Daming's industrialization.

Except rice.

Bulk agricultural products such as silk, palm oil, tea, and spices were actually the top products exported by the Ming Empire.

The Ming Empire was not just an industrial empire.

same.

It is also an agricultural empire.

The agricultural products of the Ming Empire are also quite competitive in the international market.

The current international environment of the Ming Empire can be said to be very favorable.

The most powerful army and navy in the world belong to the Ming Empire.

The Ming Empire integrated the entire East and Southeast Asia.

In addition, the South Asian subcontinent also opened its arms to the Ming Empire.

Half of the world's markets are within the sphere of influence of the Ming Empire's army.

Such a huge market provided the greatest momentum for Daming's industrialization.

And in this case.

A step-by-step, safe industrialization route is the most reasonable.

It is impossible for Emperor Zhu to take the risk of self-destruction and exploit agriculture to develop industry by squeezing farmers, engaging in high-leverage industrial and agricultural scissors—the Ming Empire did not have such an urgent need.

in contrast.

Maintain social stability.

On the contrary, it is the place that Emperor Zhu values ​​more.

He may not care about the resistance of the scholar-bureaucrats.

But if there are starvation everywhere in the country.

Even if the army in Emperor Zhu's hands doubled several times.

They couldn't stand the explosion-like flood of hungry people.
Anyway.

The Ming Dynasty was also a dynasty, and Emperor Zhu had to consider his descendants no matter what. He couldn't imitate the first emperor's overdrawing of people's power and cause a second generation to die.

After discussing the investment plan of the royal consortium with Qian Heng and others.

Grand Duke Lin, Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, came in a hurry.

Qian Heng and the others also hurriedly resigned.

Although the royal consortium has great influence.

But Emperor Zhu was very polite.

The consortium belongs to the consortium.

The imperial court belongs to the imperial court.

Not to be confused.

He is still receiving an annuity of 500 million Ming Yuan from the Ming court—this is the maximum salary in the bureaucratic system of the Ming court.

this money.

He can not.

But not without.

From the emperor to the small officials of the ninth rank, this salary system must of course be established.

And the emperor's private money, the Ming court can't worry about it either.

Public and private are clearly distinguished.

"Grand Duke, how is it? What did the envoys of the Three Kingdoms say?"

Emperor Zhu smiled and ordered his attendants to pour a cup of tea for Lin Dagong who came in a hurry.

Grand Duke Lin took a sip of tea, took a breath and said, "Your Majesty, the Ottomans hope that we will stop selling weapons to Russia."

"What about the price?"

Emperor Zhu asked.

"The Isthmus of Suez and the military port of the Mediterranean!"

"Oh?"

Emperor Zhu leaned forward, sure enough, he became interested.

"They are willing to lease the Isthmus of Suez and a port on the eastern Mediterranean to Daming for 99 years."

Emperor Zhu couldn't help but said: "Just don't let us sell weapons to Russia?"

"That's right, Your Majesty, Ottoman was beaten badly by the Russians, and the two fronts were retreating steadily. Although the new Russian Tsar Petrovich lost Eastern Siberia, he took away most of the Balkan Peninsula and the Caucasus. Tsarist Russia has established a lot of prestige all of a sudden, if the Russians really completely obtained the Balkan Peninsula and the Caucasus region, they should not be underestimated."

Emperor Zhu nodded.

"In this case, we can promise Osman, anyway, we have not signed any treaty with Russia."

This is the benefit of being a great power.

Just by doing nothing, you can get so much benefit.

Needless to say, the Isthmus of Suez, digging a canal connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean, this place is definitely a strategic point!

And station a fleet in the Mediterranean.
For the Ming Empire, the temptation is quite great!
Because this means that the navy of the Ming Empire can directly intervene in Europe!

(End of this chapter)