I really don't want to be emperor at the end of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 238
Chapter 237

Cheng Shijie was not in the mood to pay attention to the affairs of the capital. In fact, he had less and less scruples about the capital in his heart. Sometimes, he couldn't even remember that he had an emperor and a Ming court on his head.

When Cheng Shijie arrived, he visited more than 20 Chinese settlements and farms in Luzon. Generally speaking, the living environment of Chinese in Luzon is not very optimistic.

After the Spaniards occupied Luzon, they occupied the most fertile and widest farms and plantations as well as a small amount of rubber forests. Their planting techniques were too rough, and when the land was exhausted, they gave up and looked for the most fertile land.

The Chinese can only pick up the land that the Spaniards don't want, pick up some leftovers, and even reclaim the land by themselves in remote places.

However, the Chinese are too industrious. For nomads, a grassland of at least [-] to [-] acres of dense grassland is needed to support a family in order to barely solve the problem of food and clothing.For white farmers, they need one hundred acres, that is, about six hundred acres of land, to be able to barely live a life of food and clothing.

But the people of Ming Dynasty only needed [-] to [-] mu of land. If it was paddy fields in the south of the Yangtze River, they could solve the problem of food and clothing with two mu, ten mu or eight mu of land a year.

In later generations, many people look down on the small-scale peasant economy in the Chinese countryside, but in fact, any ordinary person has no choice but to engage in sideline business as much as possible, such as planting fruit trees, economic trees, and vegetables. Under the condition of ensuring food rations, then start All kinds of poultry are raised.

The living environment of the Chinese in Luzon is actually far better than that of the two capitals and thirteen provinces of Ming Dynasty. Most of them have farms, and each farm will raise hundreds of thousands of chickens, ducks and geese. If there are no chickens, ducks, geese, cattle, The sheep are simply sorry for the identity of the farmer.

Once chickens, ducks, and geese are scaled up, the profits generated are also considerable.

Especially in Luzon, where the water resources are very developed, there is no need to raise ducks and geese at all. Go to the lake to eat some small fish and shrimp. The eggs laid are all red hearts, which are the most popular in the market.The same is true for cattle and sheep. As long as the sheepfold is large enough, there is no need to herd sheep at all. The sheep eat the grass, and when it rains, it will grow again immediately.

At least according to Cheng Shijie's investigation, very few white farmers raise poultry such as chickens, ducks and geese, not because of dirtyness or noise, but because of trouble.However, a farm of the same area can generate at least three to five times more profit in the hands of Chinese than in the hands of whites.

It is not surprising that the Chinese will become rich.But the problem is, wealth has been envied, and then there is tragedy.

Among them, Wu Shangzhi and Li Guoqun have been accompanying them all the time. Whether it is Wu Shangzhi or Li Guoqun, they are restless all the way. When walking, they are half shoulders apart from Cheng Shijie. Li Sixing, the eldest son of Li Guoqun, is taller than Cheng Shijie. Half a head tall, close to 1.9 meters in height.

In front of Cheng Shijie, he didn't even dare to straighten up, arched his waist, and looked shorter than Cheng Shijie. Cheng Shijie didn't feel abnormal about Wu Shangzhi and Li Guoqun's attitude.

After all, in the Han Steel Group in later generations, there are also old-fashioned people like Wu Shangzhi and Li Guoqun. Because of his professional habits, Cheng Shijie has always been neither humble nor overbearing when receiving anyone, even if his status is lower than Cheng Shijie. It will be unscrupulous, because Hansteel Group has the temperament of some troops. Maybe some old employees are the master of a certain boss. During the holidays, even a high-ranking boss will go to the homes of ordinary employees and give gifts.

Otherwise, people will be said to have forgotten their roots. If they are leaders of other private companies, they will definitely not care about the so-called gossip, because most of them do not have a good image among the employees.But Han Steel Group is different, this is one of the assessment criteria for leadership promotion, democratic appraisal.

Wind reviews will affect a person's future, and Cheng Shijie is the same for his master. He is the deputy director of the agency office, and he is already considered a leader in front of his master. Leadership shelf.

When Li Guoqun returned home, Li Sixing, Li Guoqun's eldest son, said with a smile, "My lord, General Cheng treats my lord the same way King Wen of Zhou treated Taigong Jiang!"

Li Guoqun gave Li Sixing a glance: "What are you talking about? General Cheng is King Wen of Zhou, how can he be one ten thousandth as a father than Jiang Taigong?"

However, from the bottom of his heart, Li Guoqun still felt that Cheng Shijie really respected him very much, which made Li Guoqun very proud.

In the seventh year of Chongzhen, on August 22, Cheng Shijie officially held the inaugural meeting of Luzon Chinese representatives and the Luzon Executive Committee.

As an old rule, before everyone gears up and prepares for a big fight, first hold a development planning meeting to unify their thinking. Only when thinking is unified can we think about one thing and work hard.

Before the meeting started, Xie Jinglin presided over the meeting, and began to read quickly: "There are now 670 Chinese in Luzon, and it is still growing rapidly. Now Yongsiquan Town, Zhenghegang Town, Fushan Town A total of 23 towns, 310 large and small farms and plantation gardens...a total of 890 million mu of land.”

As the Ning Navy occupied Luzon, more than 600 Spaniards were captured. Their farms, plantations, minerals and other properties naturally became the property of the Ning Navy.

Of course, the current development of Luzon is actually only about 530% more. The later generations of the Philippines have 950 million hectares of arable land, about 570 million mu.At its peak, it was 620 million hectares, or [-] million mu.

Cheng Shijie looked at the Chinese representatives and said, "The basic situation in Luzon is roughly the same. Everyone, what do you think now?"

Wu Shangzhi raised his hand cautiously: "Marshal, so many fertile fields can't be abandoned, right? Why don't you sell them to us for management, we will recruit people and organize planting!"

Of course, Wu Shangzhi was also testing Cheng Shijie's attitude. If Cheng Shijie and Ning Haijun really wanted to make a fortune and leave, they would definitely sell all their fields and minerals.

Cheng Shijie shook his head and said: "You can't eat these fields. Luzon was brought down by the soldiers of the Ning Navy. Naturally, part of the military land was given to the soldiers of the Ning Navy. Of the 890 million mu of plantations today, a total of 120 million mu belongs to the Chinese. , These fields, I respect the interests of Chinese plantations, you can continue to operate, at the same time, the remaining 770 million acres of land, Ning Navy officers and soldiers keep 300 million acres of cultivated land, 500 million acres of grassland and 600 million acres of forest land, the remaining 470 million mu of land can be sold for everyone to buy!"

When Cheng Shijie said this, Li Guoqun raised his hand and said, "I want to buy 80 mu to plant corn, rice and soybeans!"

"I want to buy a piece of land to grow sugar cane!"

"I want to buy a piece of land to process seafood!"

"I want to buy a piece of land..."

The Chinese representatives saw that Cheng Shijie left almost all the good fields for himself, and also occupied a large number of middle fields, leaving them only middle fields and bad fields, but the problem was that they felt relieved.

Because Ning Haijun occupies Shangtian, they will not leave easily. As long as Ning Haijun is in Luzon, they are not afraid of the Spaniards making a comeback. You must know that when Ning Haijun beats the Spaniards, they are all in their eyes.Ning Haijun beat the Spaniard like an adult beating a child, completely powerless to fight back.

"I don't know the price..."

Cheng Shijie said with a faint smile: "One tael of silver per mu for middle land and three taels of silver for bad land. You can pay it off in up to five years!"

Wu Shangzhi said: "I don't know how to collect this tax?"

"One-tenth, if one mu yields one stone, one fight is enough!"

Cheng Shijie looked at the crowd and said, "If you sell overseas, you need to pay one-thirtieth of the transaction tax."

Knowing that the tax rate is so low, everyone in the room smiled.In fact, during most of the Ming Dynasty, whether it was commercial tax or agricultural tax, the proportion was not very high. It was just that those people who did not do anything in personnel were sent layer by layer, knocking out the bone and sucking the marrow, and finally oppressed the common people.The imperial court wanted to collect one tael more silver, and it became ten taels when it was spread to the common people. It would be a strange thing to play this way that the Ming Dynasty would not die.

What Li Guoqun was most worried about was safety. He asked, "Marshal, but there are few Chinese in Luzon, and there are many aborigines. What if..."

Cheng Shijie chuckled. He conjured up a revolver like a juggler, with a total of six bullets. However, the smaller the caliber, the more difficult it was to make, so the revolver made by Ning Haijun is a quarter caliber, which means that the revolver has six bullets. The caliber of the pistol is twelve point six millimeters.

"You'll need this!"

Cheng Shijie put the bullets into the revolver, loaded it, and immediately fired six shots at a bottle of statue in the auditorium.

"Bang bang bang..."

The entire statue carved out of marble was smashed to pieces.

Cheng Shijie said: "This is a revolver produced by the Ning Naval Gun Bureau. It has a [-]-point caliber and an effective range of [-] paces. Even a child can easily shoot a strong man with this gun. One shot in the If anyone dares to forcibly break into a house and threaten your life and property, you don't need to say anything, just give him an arrow and then try to reason with him!"

"This is the Shansang crossbow produced by the Ning Navy. It has a range of 180 steps. Of course, it can directly shoot and kill armored targets within 120 steps. If conditions permit, you can buy revolvers for self-defense, or you can buy crossbows and long guns. , knives and other equipment."

You know, in the past dynasties, crossbows have always been banned, and people can have bows and arrows, but they must not own crossbows. The reason is that crossbows shoot accurately and are powerful. Use your skills to kill a samurai who has been practicing martial arts all his life! "Ten thieves stretch their crossbows, but a hundred officials dare not go forward." If the people possess such weapons, the threat to the government will be too great, so crossbows must be banned.How strict is the crossbow ban?The folks have three strong crossbowmen, all of them are the heads!
Cheng Shijie didn't have so many scruples in Luzon. He not only sold guns and crossbows, but also planned to set up a shooting club to cultivate the martial spirit of Luzon Chinese.

"I wonder how much this revolver costs?"

"It's not expensive, it's ten taels of silver, and comes with a box of thirty rounds of ammunition! Personally, I suggest that if you buy a revolver, you can buy six boxes of ammunition. Six boxes of ammunition are also ten taels of silver. You can use long time!"

"Where's the crossbow?"

"This one is cheaper, five taels of silver per set, and comes with two pots of arrows and fifty sticks!"

For Cheng Shijie to arm them, they all agree. Although the Spaniards are not dangerous now, the natives are very fucked. It's okay to force the family to be ruined!With weapons, they should restrain themselves a bit, right?
Wu Shangzhi asked: "Can we have a short knife?"

"Okay, a tael of silver!"

Cheng Shijie's plan is to turn Luzon into a place where the folk customs are fierce and everyone is martial.In the massacre of the Chinese by the Luzon natives, it was obvious that the Chinese were much taller than the Luzon natives because of their good nutrition.

The reason is not that the Chinese cannot fight, but that they lack the spirit of martial arts.He has no way to do anything to the whole world, but he can at least turn Luzon under his jurisdiction into a place of fierce folk customs, so that anyone who dares to get involved in this area will never return!

Cheng Shijie looked at the representatives of the Chinese people and said: "The living environment of the Chinese in Luzon is not optimistic. Since I came here, I must find a way to make the fathers and brothers of Luzon stand up and become the masters. And let all the fathers and folks get rich..."

It's not like Cheng Shijie doesn't know how to speak on the scene. For such impromptu speeches, Cheng Shijie can say that he just opened his mouth.

When Wu Shangzhi, Li Guoqun and other Chinese representatives heard this, they all knelt down towards Cheng Shijie.

Looking at the people kneeling in front of the Luzon Governor's Mansion, Cheng Shijie said with a look of surprise: "Everyone, why do you suddenly give such a big gift?"

Wu Shangzhi was so choked up that he couldn't speak, and Li Guoqun's eyes became hot, and tears rolled down involuntarily, choked up and said: "Commander, you don't know, I'm waiting in this land of Huhua in Luzon, and I'm used to seeing Spain. People bully and insult us, even if it is some generals of the imperial court, they are either as arrogant as the Zheng family, or they are some grassroots people who come to plunder for a good name to borrow money, and their eyes glow golden when they see money. Eyes glow red when you see a woman... Like the commander-in-chief, he can't live in a good mansion, but he wants to share the joys and sorrows with the people. We only heard about such things in books. We thought they were all fake before, but we only found out today , there really is such a virtuous king in the world!"

Speaking of this, Xie Jinglin felt that Li Guoqun had some national status. Although the sky is high and the emperor is far away, if this word reaches the ears of Emperor Chongzhen, it may have a great impact on Cheng Shijie.

Cheng Shijie's positioning of Lu Song never thought of a situation similar to that of Liaodong. Liaodong was placed in Ming Dynasty, and everyone thought it was Liaodong of Ming Dynasty. Emperor Chongzhen and the imperial court had a righteous name for Liaodong. , but also be careful, although not out of line.

The imperial court sent officials to Liaodong, and he had to accept that the imperial court collected taxes from Liaodong, and Cheng Shijie never thought about not paying them. In fact, for the seven-year autumn grain of Emperor Chongzhen, Liaodong had to pay the imperial court 300 million shi of grain. As far as it is concerned, it doesn't bother at all.

Cheng Shijie did not refute Li Guoqun's so-called monarch and ministers' words. He helped Wu Shangzhi, Li Guoqun and others up, and then looked at the crowd and said: "This commander is not a virtuous king. As the general of Ming Dynasty, I protect the people of Ming Dynasty. It's my duty and my responsibility. Now Ning Haijun manages Luzon, not only collecting taxes from everyone, but also caring about the livelihood of the people. These are all things I should do. Seeing everyone being bullied by the natives, I feel uncomfortable, and there is nothing else .”

"The commander-in-chief may think it's nothing, but for us, it's something we've never seen before, and we never dared to meet such a wise master in person... Wu Mou, in his decaying years, and Lu Song, in addition to his catastrophe, had to meet a great master Handsome, why don't you make me wait and cheer up?"

Just as Wu Shangzhi calmed down, he was about to kneel down again, but Cheng Shijie helped him without waiting for him to kneel down.

Wu Shangzhi went on to say: "Commander, you have such a heart to love the people, I am afraid that there is no second person in the world. Before I saw the general, I only thought that Lu Song had just changed masters. I only know today... the general From now on, I will do my best to assist the general to achieve great things."

Li Guoqun and others said loudly: "We will do our best to assist the general to achieve his great cause!"

Cheng Shijie naturally knows the strength of the Nanyang Chinese. In fact, the Nanyang Chinese are people who hold a lot of wealth in Luzon, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Cheng Shijie said with a smile: "The meritorious work is small, but the people's livelihood is the big one. We still need the help of Mr. Wu, Mr. Li and others!"

Wu Shangzhi and Li Guoqun looked at each other and said in unison: "I am willing to die for the great general!"

In fact, it is not the first time that the Chinese in Luzon were massacred by Spain and the indigenous people. If Ning Haijun did not take action this time, blood would definitely flow into rivers.At the same time, this incident really woke up the Chinese people.

Not only did Luzon massacre Chinese on a large scale, but it was very difficult for the Chinese who hid (really the sensitive words) Guwa and Medan to survive, because Daming behind them couldn’t take care of themselves. The powerful Spanish and Dutch are now becoming more and more unscrupulous.

For decades, no Ming official or general has ever stepped forward to uphold justice for them, save them, and protect them.

Representatives of Chinese from all over Nanyang set off one after another, deciding to be asylumed by Ning Haijun and Cheng Shijie like the Luzon Chinese.

At this time, the business representatives of the Dutch arrived in Luzon.

At this time, dozens of Dutch people, led by Ning Haijun, came to the mansion where Cheng Shijie stayed.

This time it was the senior commercial commissioner of the Dutch East India Company who had dealt with Cheng Shijie, the governor-general Putmans,

Putmans said a lot to the translator with a serious face.

In fact, Putmans is very fluent in Chinese, and it is a southern Hokkien dialect, as is the case with the official dialect of the imperial court.

The interpreter turned to Cheng Shijie and said, "My lord, with the authorization of the Spanish Empire and the Governor-General of Java, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, I have come to formally inform you. My qualifications to negotiate with the riots in Luzon have been confirmed, and I am ready to start a formal meeting with you at any time." Negotiations. I hereby inform you and wish you a good day by the way.”

Cheng Shijie nodded and said, "I want to talk, Jing Lin, you can talk to them on behalf of me!"

"It's handsome!"

"please!"

Xie Jinglin stretched out his hand towards Putmans.

"Hans, what's the matter with you?"

In the meeting hall of the Port Area of ​​Zhenghe Port Area, Xie Jinglin smiled and said, "When does Spain need you Dutch people to come forward?"

"Because of profit!"

Putmans said with a serious face: "Let's start!"

Xie Jinglin nodded and said, "Okay."

Putmans slapped the table: "You Ming Empire must give our Spanish Empire an explanation. Luzon is the territory of Philip IV of the Spanish Empire. Your side brazenly launched an attack on Luzon. This is a huge insult to a civilized country. .The whole of Europe is outraged..."

Speaking of this, Putmans lowered his voice and said: "This is already an act of war, and the negotiation is of little significance, but we still want to avoid war. This is our request..."

Xie Jinglin glanced at it, and saw the official diplomatic note written in Spanish, Dutch, and Chinese, which can also be said to be an ultimatum: "Hand over the murderer, release the Spanish nationals, and compensate for the loss of the Spanish Empire..."

Xie Jinglin glanced at it, and said calmly: "This negotiation is an insult to me and the Ming Empire. Hans, we are friends. I hope you resign from the Dutch East India Company. If this continues, my only friend in the Netherlands It's gone!"

Putmans also looked helpless.

It's ridiculous that Daming even thinks of solving the problem through negotiation.

Xie Jinglin said: "Since ancient times, Luzon has been the sweet potato country of our Ming Empire, just like the relationship between your Netherlands and Spain, the current Luzon is not an independent country, they are just the sweet potato country of our Ming Dynasty, you invaded Luzon , is to declare war on Ming Dynasty. This is an act of war. Although our Ming Dynasty loves peace, we are not afraid of war. Now we accept the war of your Spanish Empire. We will launch a knightly war against you Holland, this war will start in a month, please go back now and get ready..."

Before Xie Jinglin could speak, Putmans became impatient: "No, no, no, this is not an act of war, but a conflict. The Spanish Empire and the Ming Empire are just conflicts, not threats of war!"

"If you admit your mistake, you will be beaten seriously and you must stand at attention!"

Xie Jinglin said with a faint smile: "Negotiations require the sincerity of the negotiations. I can't see the sincerity of the Spanish Empire now. If there is sincerity and hope to avoid war, then please show your sincerity!"

"I don't know, your so-called sincerity is..."

"In the 21st year of Wanli, the Spanish governor of Luzon ordered the massacre of Chinese. In the 31st year of Wanli, the Spanish governor ordered the massacre of Chinese. In the 37th year of Wanli, the Spanish governor massacred Chinese. A total of more than [-] Chinese were massacred three times. This requires compensation. Secondly, severe punishment murderer!"

Xie Jinglin said: "This is our sincerity in wanting to see Spain!"

(End of this chapter)