I'm really not doing business

Chapter 201 Take my silver and leave my boat

Antonio looked at the ocean-going ship with five masts and 21 sails, and he was about to own two such ships, which he bought with the silver he earned, and he saw hope again.

"What makes me feel strange is why this ship appears here." Antonio asked with a frown as he looked at the majestic sailing ship.

Emperor Ming is so courageous!

Antonio couldn't understand that this ship was improved from the Ming Dynasty's sealed boats and plywood giant ships, especially the rows of artillery, which made his heart tremble. He didn't understand why this ship appeared in Luzon.

"Governor Yin may not understand my question. To Ming, Luzon is like the Verde Islands to Spain and Portugal. The Verde Islands and Cape Verde are completely free. It's hard to imagine why the Ming court decided to deploy such a powerful firepower in Luzon. Isn't the Emperor of Ming afraid that the Governor of Luzon will unite with the Red-haired Fans, Japanese pirates, black Fans, and outlaws to invade the coastal areas of Ming?"

"We are very worried about this problem, because the pirates from Cape Verde are constantly harassing the port. For example, Duguy Truin, who was originally a nobleman and later became a pirate, captured our port with the French and demanded ransom, which caused us great difficulties." Antonio did not believe that the Ming court would not have such concerns, but according to Ming's decision, the ship had already been deployed in Manila.

Free Cape Verde is freedom without any rules at all. Is this freedom really freedom?But if freedom has rules, is that still freedom?

Yin Zhengmao was silent for a moment and said: "The imperial court's demands on me are actually not high. I want to prevent the Hongmaofan from encroaching on Daming's sea area, and prevent the Hongmaofan from joining forces with Japanese pirates and desperadoes to bring trouble to Daming; cooperate with Daming in anti-smuggling matters, and prevent tax evasion and smuggling; and I have done better. I have recruited many pirates, settled in Luzon, and even assumed the role of the imperial court exiling criminals."

"To trust others, you must first be strong enough yourself."

Yin Zhengmao received the emperor's subcontracted administrative tasks including military, economic, cultural and political, and he completed these subcontracted tasks very well, and even played his own initiative to find a way to stabilize the Ming's sea area. He has done so much, so he naturally needs to win the trust and favor of the court.

"Isn't it natural to celebrate the rewards and punish the bad ones?" After Yin Zhengmao finished speaking, he laughed.

The national surname who has made great achievements does not believe in rewards and punishments, just like Wang Chonggu, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment of the Ming Dynasty, does not believe in laws.

Antonio shook his head and said, "You are right. In theory, it is true, but the reality is that there is no justice in reality."

Antonio has traveled around the world in his life and has seen too many things. He does not believe in justice, and as far as he observes, there is no justice at all in Ming Dynasty. Justice is more like a game rule, which is packaged as a dream that people believe in. Only those who are good at using the rules of the game can enjoy themselves.

Deng Zilong thought for a moment and said with a smile: "Captain, in fact, our Yin Butang is a son of the clan living in exile. This time when we return to Beijing, we are going to recognize our ancestors and return to our clan! This time we will change our surname directly!"

Antonio's eyes lit up, he couldn't help nodding his head in agreement and said, "If that's the case, then everything makes sense."

Yin Zhengmao didn't refute any more, because he was already a surname master certified by the court.

"There is no justice in reality." Yin Zhengmao repeated Antonio's words, feeling quite emotional, and this problem is common in Ming Dynasty.

In fact, more than one person had said similar things to him and instigated him to become king himself, and there were quite a few of them.

There are many Japanese plagues in Guangdong and Guangxi. Li Qian, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, can't settle down the herdsmen. Yin Zhengmao was ordered to come to Guangdong and Guangxi.

In May of the fifth year of Longqing, Quan Haojin took over the salt from Guangdong to Guangxi. Yin Zhengmao's method of changing salt, from Guangdong to Guangxi, sold salt by official transportation, and seized food from the hands of Quanhao Jin. Guangxi official transportation allowed Guangxi people to eat cheap salt for the first time, and also allowed Guangdong Yanding to get their due reward for the first time.

In the second year of Wanli, he wiped out the last wave of Japanese pirates.

But this time when Yin Zhengmao returned to Beijing, he saw a mountain of impeachment memorials. The officials of science and Taoism played up him as a greedy and abuser. Yin Zhengmao only admitted that he was greedy. He was greedy. He was greedy.

But Yin Zhengmao can also understand the difficulties of the imperial court, because the imperial court really has no money, and the national funds can't even raise mice.

Yin Zhengmao can only be fish and meat.

The memorials to impeach him are rapidly decreasing, but the memorials to invite him back are increasing. Ling Yunyi has now become the confidant of the gentry in Guangdong and Guangxi!Even Yin Zhengmao's reputation has improved a lot.

Yin Zhengmao is very capable, but in the eyes of the court, he is still a greedy and greedy man. If the emperor hadn't asked him to come to Lu Song, how would things have changed?

Zhang Juzheng was worried that Yin Zhengmao would no longer support him because he had the heart of a feudal town. The officials’ criticisms made it difficult for him to resist, and he was finally hidden in the snow. Worse, like Hu Zongxian, he became a victim of court strife;

Is there anything more cruel than picking up a knife and aiming at the past robes?
When the pirates reappeared, the vicious circle began. The more pirates were suppressed by Daming, the stronger they became.

There is no justice in reality. This is a famous saying. Things that should be so but not so often happen.

The bureaucrats who should carry out the imperial government’s orders have become the mouthpieces of the private sects and the sharp weapons of the fish and meat.

The world is always like this, it should be like this but it never is.

"Governor Yin, I'm very confused." Antonio was very annoyed by the loss of the two ships. As a result, he was somewhat confused and had doubts about the way of life. He needed someone to clarify his doubts, and he thought Yin Zhengmao was a good person to turn to for help.

Yin Zhengmao said with a smile, "I'm not your priest."

Yin Zhengmao understands Taixi's culture very well, and it is a very common phenomenon in Taixi to seek help from priests.

"I don't know what's the point of doing this." Antonio said helplessly. Indeed, Yin Zhengmao is not his priest, and he has no reason to answer his doubts in life, but he really can't find anyone to turn to for help.

"Then let's start with why Felipe II can't be emperor." Yin Zhengmao still decided to explain Antonio's doubts. On the one hand, the Emperor Ming was one of Antonio's investors, although these investments required real money in exchange, such as weapons, ships, and privileged trade.

On the other hand, the reason why Yin Zhengmao was willing to answer the question was because Antonio brought a large amount of crops to His Majesty.

These crops are of great significance to enriching the agricultural structure of Ming Dynasty. Guo Xingye saw Baoqisi cultivated fine seeds in the capital, and also saw the positive effect of Ming Dynasty's continuous reclamation and sowing of sweet potatoes.

On the other hand, Antonio brings a boat to Daming every year, transports a large amount of silver to Daming, injects impetus into a whipping technique of Daming, and also solves some of the problems of money shortage in Daming.

Yin Zhengmao said quite accurately: "Felipe II is the king of the empire on which the sun never sets. His fleet traveled all over the new world, but he is still not an emperor, but a king, because he still cannot establish a set of effective rules to make the territory under his rule run stably. This is the reason why Felipe II cannot become emperor."

"Emperor, Caesar (Caesar), I think this Latin translation is more accurate, not only for conquest, but also for rules of etiquette."

"I don't understand." Antonio shook his head again. He didn't understand Yin Zhengmao's analysis that Felipe II could not be Caesar, and what guiding significance it had for his life.

Yin Zhengmao looked at Antonio and said, "What you are doing is right and not meaningless. You are loved and supported by the common people in Taixi, but only the common people have no strength and can't do anything."

"Whether it's aristocratic or religious, Felipe II's strength is an insurmountable mountain for you. You need to continuously increase your strength. The common people have strength, but these strengths need more effective means to reflect them."

"To put it more clearly, you need more firecrackers, more artillery, more grassroots officers who are loyal to you, and more well-trained sergeants. Otherwise, if you compete with Philip II for the small French machine, you will only be beheaded by Philip II as a trophy, which will become one of the proofs of his great martial arts."

"If you have 2 people, he needs to think about the price of pacifying you. If you have 5 people, he will hesitate. If you have 10 people, he will admit that you are the king of Xiaofu Langji!"

"Power, you must control it in your own hands!"

When Yin Zhengmao said the last sentence, he clenched his fists in front of Antonio.

Antonio didn't understand, but Luo Lian understood. In fact, Yin Zhengmao's words can be summed up, order, place the order quickly, Antonio, pay.

A five-masted ocean-going ship needs at least 15 taels of silver coins, and supporting ordnance and other items cost more than 5 taels. Finally, Antonio has to pay more silver for arming the ocean-going ship.

Luo Lian can only say that Yin Zhengmao is worthy of being a scholar of Ming Dynasty, and he is so confident in asking for an order.

Yin Zhengmao was not trying to deceive Antonio either. This illegitimate son wanted to fight for the throne of Portugal. He had no army but only the support of civilians. He would only be shown to the public.

Yin Zhengmao is actually very busy in Luzon, and Luzon has also changed. The water gate of the former Hongmaofan Fortress was not blocked, but was covered by forts protruding from the sea. In this way, it is already impossible to reproduce Yin Zhengmao's tactics of defeating ten meetings with one force.

Before, there were no drains in the city, not even a toilet. Now, the muddy condition of the ground has also changed, paved with green wood, and built bathhouses and toilets.

Yin Zhengmao was very disgusted that the Thais did not take a bath. The smell of the Thais' glands was really too offensive.

Yin Zhengmao is in charge of various matters in Luzon. He has planted a large amount of palm and sugarcane in Luzon. Luzon's pillar industries are oil and sugar, and these two things are urgently needed by Ming Dynasty. He is also developing new pillar industries.

The planting scale of palm trees has been expanded to 12 hectares, and the planting area of ​​sugar cane has been expanded to 23 hectares. He keeps attracting desperate people to come to Luzon to make a living.

Yin Zhengmao finished disposing of the last official document. This was a small case. There were disputes between two merchants on Daming Street in Luzon. There were more and more such disputes. This did not mean that the law and order in Luzon was deteriorating, but that in the past Luzon people did not trust the Governor’s Mansion at all. The disputes that were previously resolved by the people themselves were taken to the yamen for referees, so they seemed busy.

In the past, when merchants had conflicts, the usual solution was to fight each other with their own people. After the small fight, the loser must be unconvinced and find someone everywhere in order to recover the situation. From small fights to group fights, group fights may even evolve into turmoil in the entire Luzon. Quarrels escalate into group fights everywhere. This is the case in Luzon, even in Manila. There are riots three or four times a year.

After Yin Zhengmao's Governor's Mansion arrived, the merchants finally learned to ask the referee to rule, and Yin Zhengmao saw with his own eyes that two merchants who were still in court yesterday were drunk in a restaurant today.

A scholar asked to see him, Yin Zhengmao put down his pen and looked at the person in front of him. He was Chen Chengyi from Dianbai, Guangzhou.

This person is a Juren from Guangzhou. He went to Beijing to rush for the exam three times and failed the Chinese style. In order to become an official, this Juren came to Luzon. After the nine-year period expires, he will receive a special Enke Jinshi and return to Beijing.

Yin Zhengmao is not afraid that the people who come to the island are only practical idiots, and practical idiots will never come to Luzon, which is lonely overseas.

"Yin Butang." Chen Chengyi saluted very respectfully. Yin Zhengmao was a legend in Guangdong and Guangxi. He had been troubled by Japanese invaders for many years and was put down by Yin Zhengmao in four years. No matter how powerful and wealthy gentry poured dirty water on Yin Zhengmao, Chen Chengyi and the people of Guangdong were still very grateful to Yin Zhengmao.

Yin Zhengmao said with a smile on his face: "Excuse me, excuse me, there are not so many big rules on the island, they are all doing things for His Majesty."

"What should I do?" Chen Chengyi asked a little confused.

"Aren't you going to rest for two days? It's very tiring to come here by boat." Yin Zhengmao said with a smile, "No hurry, no hurry."

"My family has been a sea merchant for generations, so I'm not very tired." Chen Chengyi said very precisely.

Yin Zhengmao likes this kind of person, and he works as soon as he arrives. He asked Chen Chengyi to take charge of the copper and gold mines. There are gold mines and copper mines on Luzon Island, and people need to organize and dispatch the mines. Whether Chen Chengyi can do it will be known in a few months.

Chen Chengyi is not a pragmatic person. He just failed the Jinshi exam for many years. The Jinshi exam requires not only knowledge, but also a famous teacher. Chen Chengyi’s family is fairly rich, but he really couldn’t find a famous teacher. He was in his 20s and was in his 30s. After failing three times, Chen Chengyi still wanted to be an official, so he followed to Luzon.

Chen Chengyi was directly confused by Yin Zhengmao. He had read sage books all his life, and Yin Butang asked him to open a mine. He really couldn't...

Yin Zhengmao gave Chen Chengyi an official history of copper mining, and asked Chen Chengyi to take Lin Afeng's guards on the road. The destination was Palaklan, a small town east of Manila with a population of about [-]. There were a large number of private gold miners here.

Chen Chengyi knew what to do when he got there, and turned the private kiln here into a public kiln.

There was no war. The guards formed by Lin Afeng after being recruited were vulnerable to Yin Zhengmao's elite guest soldiers, but Lin Afeng had an overwhelming advantage in the face of these low-slung miners.

Lin Afeng's guards were very tall, and the tallest miners here were as high as Chen Chengyi's chest. With such a height gap, in a real fight, the guards would win. After they settled in, Chen Chengyi began to improve the methods of panning gold and refining copper mines.

The gold mining method here is too inefficient, and there is no copper mining process.

Chen Chengyi was not obsessed with panning for gold. There was too much luck in panning for gold, which was far less stable than copper smelting. Chen Chengyi began to try to improve the copper smelting process here.

All mountains that produce copper ore are always surrounded by soil and rocks. If you dig a few feet deep, you can get the gangue that wraps the copper ore.

After cleaning the dregs on the copper roughs, you can start copper smelting, and almost all copper roughs contain lead.

The copper smelting furnace was quickly fired. This furnace is very interesting. There are two holes on the top and bottom. After the copper is melted in the furnace, the copper will flow out from the small hole at the bottom, and the lead will flow out from the small hole at the top. Copper and zinc become brass, and copper and tin become bronze.

Chen Chengyi didn't plan to further refine it, this step was enough, the copper ingots produced would be transported to Manila and then sent back to Daming.

The conditions are very simple, and Chen Chengyi's copper ingots are cast very ugly, and a hole hammered into the sand pit will become a sand mold for the copper ingots.

But no matter how ugly it is, it is still copper ingots. After solving the crude copper smelting, Chen Chengyi began to organize the people to farm, palm and sugarcane. Yin Zhengmao did let him smelt copper and pan for gold, but Chen Chengyi was from Daming. He was very concerned and persistent about persuading farmers and mulberry.

With fields, there can be more people, and with more people, it is possible to better mine copper and pan for gold.

Plantations began to appear on both sides of the river. Chen Chengyi often took more than 20 guards and two generals to personally look for land that could be reclaimed.

The first batch of copper materials began to be shipped back to Daming. 15 jin of copper materials were loaded into the five-masted galleon, and a large amount of palm oil, fish oil, and sugar filled the entire ship.

Yin Zhengmao also wants to test the performance of the big ship. The ocean-going ship has to cross the ocean, so it is also a kind of sea test when it is fully loaded with cargo.

Accompanied by Antonio's galleon, he bought what he needed in Manila and headed north again.

In Xingang, Songjiang Prefecture, two large ships were berthed. In comparison, the five-masted ocean-going ship of one thousand materials was a whole circle larger than the four-masted sailing ship.

Antonio’s old acquaintances, Zhang Jin, eunuch of Nanjing military preparations, and Zhang Cheng, eunuch of Songjiang admiral, were in charge of weighing points. In the first year of Wanli, when Antonio first came to Daming, these two eunuchs were in charge of weighing points.

Songjiang General Soldier Chen Lin and Songjiang Governor Wang Daokun also rushed to the port.

Every year, it is a big event to draw points for foreign ships. This is a symbol of the emperor Nanku.

"What kind of national and domestic money is the emperor's grandfather's money, and it is really troublesome to divide it every year." Zhang Jin flicked his sleeves and took a share of the foreign ships.

Zhang Jin didn't quite understand why His Majesty, the First Emperor, and Emperor Jiajing separated the national funds from the internal funds. In his opinion, all the money, food and taxes were sent to the internal funds, and the imperial court had to ask His Majesty for them.

This is the emperor.

The emperor has a good way of making money, and to do some business, besides the business of the Huangzhuang, he also has to share with the state treasury. The eunuchs are naturally dissatisfied, it is all His Majesty's money!
Zhang Jin's idea seems to make sense when he meets the Ming Lord, but what should he do if he meets an emperor who can only enter and cannot enter?All the money went into the palace, and the emperor rewarded the artists with money. When the Aoshan Lantern Festival was held, 10,000+ taels were rewarded, which was the same amount as the Daningwei for a battle.

Zhang Cheng smiled. The separation of state funds and internal funds was the result of a long-term struggle, and it was not formed overnight. It was the final product of the constant compromise and struggle between the emperor and his courtiers. In fact, eunuchs were in a position of minions in the struggle between imperial power and ministerial power, and did not have much decision-making power.

The literati scolded the eunuchs and eunuchs for harming the country every day. During the Jiajing and Longqing years, the eunuchs were very quiet, and they didn't see the prosperity of Ming Dynasty.

Da Ming is a system, when Da Ming slid down in a swooping posture, every carnivore in this system, regardless of each other, is a sinner.

Antonio couldn't understand it again. The most cargo unloaded by Da Ming's big ship was copper ingots, not the more precious gold. There are at least three places on Luzon Island where gold can be panned, but Yin Zhengmao seems to be more obsessed with mining copper mines.

"A total of 15 catties of copper material can cast 2000 million copper coins. According to Daming's calculations, it is 2 guan, 2 taels of silver. Is it just for such a small amount of copper coins?" Antonio asked his old acquaintance Luo Gongchen.

"The captain is supported by the common people in Taixi. It seems more like a setting for fighting for the throne, not really caring for the common people." Luo Gongchen's words are not polite, everyone is acquainted, so the politeness is avoided.

"You! You! You... spewing blood!" Antonio was really anxious, and even used idioms. As a nobleman, he really cared about civilian life.

Luo Gongchen said with a smile: "Because copper coins are used by the people of Ming Dynasty, and gold and silver are used by meat eaters. Mr. Yuanfu's proposition has always been that the people are the foundation of the country, and the country is stable. It is not that your majesty does not pay attention to silver and gold, but likewise, small people also need to spend money. Copper coins are specially for small people, so your majesty pays more attention to copper ingots."

"So that's the case, I understand." Antonio suddenly realized.

"My servant, can I still go to the glazed pagoda this year? Just take a look and I'll be satisfied. If I can't see that pagoda, it's like I haven't come to Daming." Antonio asked Zhang Jin, the military eunuch, to apply to visit the glazed pagoda of Baoen Temple.

"Um, yes, but we can only look outside." Zhang Jin agreed, but he didn't really understand why Antonio was so obsessed with that tower.

In Antonio's eyes, that tower was a miracle, a symbol of civilization in his mind. Seeing the painting of the glazed tower, Philip II always asked to build a similar one in his palace, but Philip II's secretary told him that it could not be done.

The Ming Dynasty used more than 20 soldiers and civilians to build the glazed tower. It took more than ten years to complete the construction. Seville, the home of New World Trading, has a total of only 15 people. How to build it?

Daming’s perception of the glazed pagoda is very complicated. The purpose of the construction of the glazed pagoda was to commemorate his mother, Empress Ma, by Emperor Cheng Zuwen during the Yongle period. Since the construction began, there have been constant opposition, criticizing the power of the people, extravagance and extravagance, and so on.

After Cheng Zuwen Emperor Longyu was honored as a guest, the pagoda was left unattended for more than three years because of the wind and public opinion.

The divine tower in Antonio's mind, every year when the galleon arrives in Hong Kong, Antonio goes there with a pilgrimage mentality, and at a glance, he is sure that he has really arrived.

"The emperor of Ming Dynasty promised me that he could buy the foreign ships of Ming Dynasty. Is this promise still valid?" Antonio asked the second question of concern, buying a ship.

Zhang Cheng, the admiral of Songjiang, said with a smile: "Your Majesty's golden words, since you have agreed, you have agreed. You can place an order here, but you need to go to Beijing to get His Majesty's edict before we can deliver it to you. Have you seen that ship? It has already been launched."

Antonio's eyes lit up, and his expression became relaxed and joyful. He laughed and said, "Take my silver and let your people leave my boat!"

"I want two!"

The attitude of the emperor's servants, to a large extent, represents the emperor's attitude.

In the system design of Ming Dynasty, the power of the eunuchs comes entirely from the emperor himself, who is the foundation of the eunuchs, so the possibility of the eunuchs betraying the master is almost zero. The day before the emperor Liu Jin fell, no one expected Liu Jin to die so simply.

Wei Zhongxian is said to be nine thousand years old. Didn't the Emperor Chongzhen, who was brother and brother, clean up as soon as he said he would clean it up?
The only eunuch who betrayed his master in Ming Dynasty happened during the Tianshun period of Baozong. Cao Jixiang rebelled.

Antonio's experience in Beijing this time was like flying. He was on a hydrofoil sailing boat, and the coastal defense inspection took him to Tianjinwei.

Antonio, an old captain, began to swing at the feet of the boat, leaning on the pillars and vomited, almost vomiting his stomach. He collapsed on the ground, and riding a hydrofoil sailboat was an unprecedented experience.

Seasickness is such a thing, even the old captain will get seasick.

　Ask for a monthly ticket, woo! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

　　
　
(End of this chapter)