I'm really not doing business

Chapter 352 There is an auspicious contribution from Gewüyuan
The reason Zhu Yijun is willing to chat so much with Cai Jixun is because Cai Jixun is not a Confucian in the complete sense. His political opinions are, in many cases, too idealistic and divorced from practice.

The practice is that even if the Ming emperor does not control the means of production, he cannot control the production relations and adjust the deep-rooted contradictions between the various classes in the Ming Dynasty. To put it more simply, the practice is: without money, even the emperor's words are useless .

If you don't have rice in your hand, you won't even respond when you call me chicken.

After Zhu Yijun checked the accounts with Cai Jixun, Cai Jixun looked ashamed.

"Cai Shaoqing, do you know how much it cost to build our Songjiangfu Shipyard in the Ming Dynasty?" Zhu Yijun began to ask specific questions in addition to the overall situation. With the accumulation of profits, the fiscal revenue and expenditure of the Ming Dynasty finally gradually became balanced, from the overall to the Specifically, Zhu Yijun wanted to persuade Cai Jixun, because he was the person who carried the banner this time against amassing profits. Convincing Cai Jixun would be equivalent to suppressing this trend of public opinion.

The problems he raised still exist, but many times, many problems are so difficult that they can only deal with them reluctantly. This is the best solution the court can come up with.

"I don't know." Cai Jixun felt that he knew a lot. He already knew much more than ordinary Confucians. After all, he was engaged in translation at the Seiyi Hall and the Royal Academy of Gewu. Cai Jixun was also one of the general managers of those books from the West. , but after playing it correctly, Cai Jixun realized that he had made a mistake. This mistake was to see the leopard in the tube and watch the sky from the well.

"52 silver." Zhu Yijun paused and continued: "The imperial mausoleum of the late emperor is only 50 silver."

"Does Cai Shaoqing know how much it cost to build the two official weaving factories in Yingtian Mansion and Songjiang Mansion?"

Zhu Yijun asked again. Cai Jixun was already sweating on his forehead, because he only knew that the three weaving bureaus of Yingtian, Songjiang, and Suzhou were the money-making machines of the Ming Dynasty's national and internal funds. But how much money was invested in these three money-making machines? Cai Jixun Really clueless.

"32 silver." Zhu Yijun told Cai Jixun the answer. He looked at Cai Jixun and said, "You need money to do things."

"I will obey the Holy Instructions." Cai Jixun thought about it and chose to admit defeat. His Majesty did not avoid the question, but chose to respond directly. He also made the truth very clear and clear. Without collecting taxes, what would the court do to fulfill its functions? ?
Zhu Yijun chatted with Cai Jixun for a while again, but this time they talked about the daily routine of coastal defense inspections. This time, Cai Jixun was silent for a longer time. There was no reason. The peace in the southeast of the Ming Dynasty was due to the day and night of coastal defense inspections. Patrolling, and coastal defense inspections were expensive and required a function that had a direct interest in the imperial court, so tax collection became a matter of course.

Cai Jixun finally left.

Zhu Yijun looked at Cai Jixun's back and said to Zhang Juzheng: "I have already answered him personally. If he is still stubborn, or simply does not dare to go against his private request and continues to shout, then you cannot blame me."

Zhu Yijun never trusted civil servants. No matter how perfect the civil servant set his character, Zhu Yijun always had the most basic vigilance towards civil servants, because he himself was a civil servant.

"Your Majesty, I see what Cai Shaoqing does on a daily basis, and it should not be repeated." Zhang Juzheng said a few good words for Cai Jixun. Not every scholar is a cheap scholar. Cai Jixun usually criticized various arty poetry gatherings, Ci poetry gatherings, etc. He rarely participated in things like outings and garden tours. The most important thing was in the examinations at Siyi Hall. Cai Jixun had been in the upper echelons for three years and was a typical Xunli.

"I hope so." Zhu Yijun nodded. He looked at Feng Bao and said, "Xuanmeng Wuer Kingdom's special envoy, Shah Maimaiti, please pay an audience."

Feng Bao took a step forward, flicked his fly whisk, and shouted loudly: "Xuan, the envoy of Shah of the Mughal Kingdom is here to see you."

Zhu Yijun met Shah Maimaiti in the Wenhua Hall, not the Huangji Hall. The Huangji Hall was where the great court meeting was held. This was an advance, small-scale communication to clarify each other's conditions. If the negotiation could not be made, If the conditions are good, just take it directly to the court, and both parties will be embarrassed.

After Shah Maimaiti entered the palace, he bowed five times and kowtowed three times to pay homage. He bowed his head and said: "I pay homage to His Majesty the Ming Emperor, the King of the Four Directions, the Lord of All Nations, and the Supreme Ming Emperor. I bring greetings from afar, from my King. Emperor Keba, he expressed his sincere gratitude to His Majesty and sent him a national gift. These four carefully selected war horses can only express one ten thousandth of my king's sincere gratitude."

"The special envoy is exempt from the courtesy." Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said: "The Shah's envoy does not need to be so polite. I have already received the credentials of the monarch of the Mughal Kingdom."

The content of Emperor Akbar's credential is a long and lengthy expression of gratitude, and the emotion is very sincere.

Last year at the Surat Port, the Mughal Kingdom's naval battle was completely defeated by the Taixi Hongmao Ban. This led to a bad consequence, that is, if the Mughal Kingdom's ships want to go abroad, they must be assigned from the Hong Mao Ban. Barreto, the governor of Diu, bought a pass from him, but now there is no need to do so. The five-masted transoceanic ship is the toughest pass!
In addition to his gratitude, Akbar hoped to obtain permission from the Ming Dynasty to allow merchant ships to regularly arrive at the Ming Dynasty and Luzon controlled by the Ming Dynasty for trade. Of course, Akbar promised in his letter of credence that he would urge all merchant ships to pay taxes legally. If there is no tax paid, Daming can dispose of it by itself.

Akbar praised the Ming Dynasty for its extremely low taxes, but also expressed his doubts about why the Ming Dynasty's tariffs were so low.

Barreto, Governor of Diu of the Red Mao Fan, has a tariff of 30% at the Port of Surat. This is only a tax on the surface. As for the difficulties caused by the tax officials at the port, it is not among them, and there is no guarantee that the Hong Mao Fan's tariff will be [-]%. The fleet will not harass merchant ships.

Even after purchasing expensive passes and paying expensive taxes, Mughal ships still cannot go out to sea for trade smoothly, and will be harassed and robbed. All of this stems from the Mughal ships all over the country. Spices, countless gems, and endless grains are all the goods that the red-haired fangs covet to plunder.

And all this humiliation became a thing of the past with the arrival of Ming's five-masted ocean-going ship.

"The request of the leader of your country is also my wish. I hope that the friendship between our two countries will last forever." Zhu Yijun agreed to the request for trade, and merchant ships came and went.

"My monarch also brought a batch of congratulatory gifts, please accept it with your Majesty's approval." Shah Maimaiti bowed his head again, and then two groups of beauties, wearing a layer of tulle, slowly appeared in the Wenhua Palace.

There are a total of 72 beauties in various poses.

Regardless of whether the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty allowed trade or not, Akbar still had 72 beauties on his list of congratulatory gifts. This was also a national gift. At the same time, he hoped to gain a long-term friendship with the Ming Dynasty and prosper both countries' national fortunes.

Taichang Temple Minister saw the 72 beauties. They were different from the traditional poisonous people and Indians. In Ming's impression, Indians were all short, dark-skinned, long-faced, curly-haired, etc., but this one This group of beauties broke the Ming Dynasty's stereotype of Indians. This group of beauties all came from Brahmins and Kshatriyas, who were Aryans.

They are all carefully selected beauties, and their every move and gesture is full of amorous feelings.

It can be seen that Akbar was really grateful to the Ming Emperor for his generosity.

"The Lord of your country is really too polite. This is a business in itself. The Shah's envoy paid an extra fifty thousand silver for each ship." Zhu Yijun also had a smile on his face. The Shah's envoy came as soon as he came, and he also brought It's really very polite to ask for so many things.

Zhang Hong brought these 72 beauties down, and how to place them became a problem. The emperor's uncle Zhu Zaiyu made it clear that he had no interest in beauties from all over the world, and spent all day in the Gewuyuan as the dean.

Zhu Yijun frowned slightly, and he found that King Lu Zhu Yiliu was looking at these beauties, salivating so much that his saliva was almost dripping to the ground.

"Your Majesty, money seems to be omnipotent, but sometimes money can't do anything. We are lucky that Ming Dynasty is willing to sell us such a powerful warship." Shah Maimaiti bowed his head again and said.

Zhu Yijun sat upright and said very seriously: "Envoy Shah, I need war horses now, just like your country needs war ships."

"There is an old saying in the Ming Dynasty that reciprocates love in return. We also have a proverb. If you do not entertain close friends with fine wine, you may make each other enemies. The generous Emperor Ming has helped us a lot, so we naturally have to repay him. I wonder how many horses your Majesty needs? "Shah Maimaiti did not hesitate and asked His Majesty the quantity needed.

"We need about [-] war horses this year." Zhu Yijun bit the war horse hard.

Shah Maimaiti thought for a moment and said: "I can make a promise on behalf of my king, but it does require many, many ships to transport it."

"The Ming Dynasty has its own way. As long as the leader of your country is willing to sell the Ming Dynasty ships to the port, it will be fine." Zhu Yijun breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile.

The Ming Dynasty had ships dedicated to transporting horses. When Zheng He sailed to the Western Ocean, horse ships were responsible for transporting the rare birds and animals that paid tribute from various countries. The Ming Dynasty had very rich experience in transporting living animals at sea. Every three-masted plywood ship passed by After improvement, it can accommodate [-] war horses, so the Ming Dynasty had such transportation capacity to go to the Mughal Kingdom to transport horses back.

"That would be great." Shah Maimaiti didn't think there was any pressure on [-] war horses. On the contrary, Shah Maimaiti believed that with this number, [-] horses was too much for the huge Ming Empire. not enough.

The current situation of the Ming Dynasty is that there is no shortage of horses, but there is a shortage of war horses, and raising war horses requires vast pastures.

"Dear Your Majesty, I have some doubts. Why did Your Majesty choose the distant places instead of the near ones? Why didn't you build grasslands in the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty, but go to distant places to buy them? In this way, it must be much more expensive." Shah Maimaiti suspected, every time The shipping cost of a horse far exceeds the value of the horse itself.

In doing so, the Ming Dynasty sacrificed the near for the distant and directly enclosed the land to build pastures. Isn't raising war horses a better solution?

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "I can only say that Ming Dynasty has its own national conditions."

The Mughal Kingdom could do this, race horses to enclose land, and build pastures to obtain a large number of war horses, but the Ming Dynasty could not do this, because the people of the Ming Dynasty would rise up, rush all the way to the capital, and smash the throne of the Ming Emperor. During the Chongzhen period of Tianqi, because The country suffered a huge financial loss. In order to quell the Liao Dynasty, a three-pay levy was imposed, which sounded the death knell of the Ming Empire.

The poor coolies of the Mughal Kingdom will not resist. The greatest motivation for the poor coolies of the Mughal Kingdom in their lives is to be reincarnated and become human masters, not to resist.

This is the cultural difference, this is the different national conditions.

The four-class system of the Mongols was not perfectly applicable in the Central Plains. However, after Timur's descendants invaded India, they were surprised to find that their four-class system was compatible with the local system. Religions are perfectly integrated, the soil and water support the people, and the Mughal Kingdom's local rule is extremely stable.

Zhu Yijun did not discuss this issue excessively with Shah Maimaiti. The Ming Dynasty now has no direct conflict of interest with the Mughal Kingdom. It is fundamental for everyone to put aside the dispute and do business well.

"Dear Your Majesty, my monarch hopes to obtain more five-masted ocean-going ships. Of course, none of this is free. For each five-masted ocean-going ship, we can increase the price by [-] silver to obtain it in advance. The qualifications of the ship." Shah Maimaiti talked about the business. The reason why he came to the Ming Dynasty again in such a hurry this time was naturally to buy a ship. The number of five-masted ships that crossed the ocean directly determined the fate of Emperor Akbar. face.

"How many are needed?" Zhu Yijun looked at Shah Maimai and asked.

Shah Maimaiti said sincerely: "Twenty ships, if your Majesty can agree, these [-] war horses will be regarded as our gift to your Majesty, but your Majesty will need to send a fleet to pick up the goods yourself." ”

"Twenty ships?!" Zhu Yijun coughed slightly. One ship is worth 25 silver, and twenty ships is worth 500 million silver!
This Shah Maimaiti is really rich, and he can make a big deal of 500 million silver with just one mouthful! This is 500 million silver and ten imperial tombs of former emperors. Shah Maimaiti said with great conviction: "It won't work this year, but it will work next year, and the year after that. We need ships, just like His Majesty needs war horses."

"This year we can only let your envoy pick up five ships." Zhu Yijun counted and found that there are now a total of five ships in the Songjiangfu Shipyard. These were originally intended for delivery to Taixi, but now it seems that they have been bought by the Shah. Maiti was the first to board.

They are willing to pay an extra [-] silver for each ship to pick up the ship! This is a direct blow with money. There is absolutely no reason to push money out of the country to open a business. Felipe II of Teixi can only wait any longer unless Felipe II also adds money.

"Thank you for your kindness and generosity, Your Majesty!" When Shah Maimaiti heard that there were five ships to carry, he bowed to the ground and bowed, kneeling down to thank the emperor for his great kindness.

The Mughal Kingdom also has its own national conditions. If the money is not enough, it can be paid with other goods. At worst, it will squeeze downwards, but it will not be shameful, and it may even threaten Akbar's rule. This is something the Mughal Kingdom never wants to see. .

Zhu Yijun and Shah Maimaiti chatted for a long time, and then ended the interview.

This meeting with Shah Maimaiti solved an urgent problem, the source of the war horses.

"In comparison, the Mongol Kingdom is closer to the Ming Dynasty. I am worried that after the Ming Dynasty and the Mongol Kingdom have conflicts of interest in the West, these five-masted ships crossing the ocean will become a threat to the Ming Dynasty." Zhu Yijun said to Zhang Juzheng He said slightly worriedly.

Zhu Yijun is also worried about the accurate and ruthless boomerang. Now that he has sold so many five-masted battleships to the Mughal Kingdom, if the two sides have a conflict in the Indian Ocean in the future, Zhu Yijun will take advantage of this boomerang.

Qi Jiguang thought for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, no matter how sophisticated the weapons are, they have to be used by people. I don't think the navy of the Mughal Kingdom can pose a threat to the Ming Dynasty navy. Even if there is, just defeat them." "

Ordnance was used by soldiers. Qi Jiguang didn't know much about the Mughals, but he knew the Hongmao Fan fairly well. The combat power of the Hongmao Fan was equivalent to that of the Japanese pirates, and the Hongmao Fan didn't have any advantage in the Ming Dynasty. , but the Hongmaofan can do whatever they want in the Mughal Kingdom. This is the difference. It is not that the combat effectiveness of the army can be increased rapidly without obtaining sophisticated ordnance.

"What Commander Qi said makes sense." Zhu Yijun thought about it for a while, and it was indeed the truth. No matter how good the ordnance is, it is useless if it is not used by sophisticated soldiers. The existence of the five-masted ocean-going ship can only make Ake If you want to be ridiculed without any backhand power, if you want to threaten the Ming Dynasty, you need to report to the emperor and rescue the head of Guizhou. You need to select people from good families who are loyal to the emperor and the country, and you need a lot of boring and arduous training. It requires an iron will and a military spirit.

In short, if you want to have a strong navy, you need a great country.

"Today, the Imperial Garden asked me to go to the Imperial Garden and have a look. Everyone, will you come with me?" Zhu Yijun didn't know what new tricks the Royal Garden had come up with. Emperor Zhu Zaiyu, the emperor's uncle, invited the Ming Emperor to go there. There are auspicious contributions.

There is no need to worry about the emperor's uncle Zhu Zaiyu ambushing [-] swordsmen and axemen, just waiting for the emperor to go, break the cup as a sign, take Zhu Yijun's life, and ascend to the throne, because the Royal Palace Museum is exclusively owned by internal funds from beginning to end. Gewuyuan has always been the emperor's back garden.

Moreover, Zhu Zaiyu was not interested in power. He was very unhappy with the court and even refused to become the crown prince of Prince Zheng. Zhu Yijun deceived Zhu Zaiyu into coming to the capital. He also used a little trick, using a sextant to deceive him. .

Zhu Yijun's chariot arrived at Gewuyuan again. In front of the gate of Gewuyuan, the emperor's uncle Zhu Zaiyu and nearly a hundred Gewu doctors were waiting to greet him.

"Your Majesty is here!" Feng Bao shook his fly whisk, shouted loudly, and placed the dismounting stool under the jade chariot.

"Long live your Majesty, long live, long live your Majesty." The ministers saluted.

Zhu Yijun looked around and saw Zhu Zaiyu, Dr. Geng Dingxiang, Jiao Hong, Gao Qiyu, Zhang Siwen, Huang Zifu, etc. Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said: "No courtesy."

On the lying stone in front of the Royal Garden, the words are still as new as ever. The only one who does it is faithfulness - Zhu Zhongxing.

"What good things did the emperor get this time?" Zhu Yijun asked curiously.

"Your Majesty, it was not the minister who created it this time, but Huang Zifu." Zhu Zaiyu was not greedy for credit. This time, the new auspiciousness was really not created by him, but by Huang Zifu from the mechanical team.

Huang Zifu is a Yanshi, that is, a puppet master, or an artist of various arts called puppet show. His unique invention is the Tea Serving Beauty, and he is very proficient in machinery.

"Oh? Dr. Huang, come forward and talk about it." Zhu Yijun asked with a smile.

"I pay homage to Your Majesty. Your Majesty pays you your respects. I am afraid. Please come with Your Majesty." Huang Zifu led the way. Everyone walked into the Gewuyuan, bypassed the library, and came to an open open-air square with pavilions on the square. The rails were full, and there were several horses pulling vehicles at a fast pace.

Horse-drawn rail cars were widely used in the Ming Dynasty. The tracks were used as early as Chidao in the pre-Qin Dynasty. Now the Xishan Coal Bureau also uses a large number of rail cars to transport coal.

"Your Majesty, the horse-drawn rail car can only go straight and cannot turn. It will overturn when it turns." Huang Zifu first introduced why he brought the emperor here. The problem he wanted to solve was the horse-drawn rail car. Steering problem.

"Is it solved?" Zhu Yijun asked curiously.

"Solved." Huang Zifu ordered him to bring a pair of wheels and said, "The secret lies in this wheel."

Zhu Yijun looked at the wheel. This wheel was obviously a carefully made model. The wheel was different from other wheels. It had a small slope. Zhu Yijun took the wheel and placed it on the reduced track. With a slight push, the wheel actually moved along the Winding track travel without derailment.

Zhu Yijun was surprised that it could achieve steering without any steering mechanism.

"Interesting." After Zhu Yijun tried it several times, he suddenly said, "Dr. Huang is really a strange person!"

"I'm scared." Huang Zifu seemed humble, but he was actually very proud. Because of the existence of the slope, when turning, the stroke of the outside wheel increases and the stroke of the inside wheel decreases, thus causing steering without the need for an overly complicated mechanism. Coupled with the inclination of the track at corners and other designs, horses can run fast, but the vehicle will never derail. This is the overbearing feature of this invention.

Huang Zifu also invented many interesting things, such as a rail rolling car for one person. One only needs to roll a lever up and down to travel quickly on the track.

"This car weighs four hundred kilograms. It can be used alternately by four people, two at the front and two at the front. It can run eighty miles in one hour. It can transport four hundred kilograms of goods. It can transport washed coal from the Xishan Coal Bureau to the capital. , it only takes an hour." Huang Zifu introduced the handcart in front of him. The structure was not complicated, and it looked unremarkable. It was just a flat plate with a lever, but it was indeed an extremely useful piece of invention from the Gewün Academy.

It can transport coal from Xishan Coal Bureau to Xizhimen Coal Market. It can be used by one, two or four people. It can transport goods very fast, covering [-] miles in one hour. The efficiency has been greatly improved because of the laying of sleepers. , gravel, railway tracks, etc. You can also ignore the rain and snow to prevent the price of coal in the capital from skyrocketing due to the rain and snow, affecting the lives of the people in the capital.

"Let me try it." Zhu Yijun was very curious about this thing.

Zhu Zaiyu immediately bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty, this has just been invented, let Tiqi try it."

Zhu Yijun is the emperor, and Zhu Zaiyu doesn't dare to let the emperor cause any trouble in the Gewuyuan. Otherwise, this handwriting cart will be regarded as an ominous tool before it is used. Then the Gewuyuan will be white-haired. Do you understand?
Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and felt a little pity.

Such a fun thing, I can't try it myself.

Soon the field was vacated, and the four lanes, including uphill, downhill, and sharp turns, were vacated. After the four Tiqiu understood how to use it, they put on the inner lining, put on the iron armor, and started the test run.

The horsemen pushed the lever, and the flatbed car began to slowly start, and then slowly began to accelerate. The hands of several horsemen pressed faster and faster, and the flatbed car began to speed on the track. The friction between the wheels and the rails was slightly harsh. After a quarter of an hour of trial riding, the riders slowly stopped.

The horsemen were very powerful, pressed very frequently, and their speed was much faster than the designed speed. In just a quarter of an hour, they ran thirty laps on the railway track, and they could run at least 120 miles in an hour.

"What a good thing!" Zhu Yijun looked at this thing and patted the flatbed truck with great conviction, confirming the work of the Gewuyuan. Although this thing is small, it has great uses. At least it is very convenient for transportation and maintenance.

"How much does it cost?" Zhu Yijun asked the price of this handcart.

A handcart is not cheap, costing seven to eighty silver per car, and the rails required for a handcart are even more expensive, costing nearly ten thousand taels of silver per mile.

"There's another car, but it's not of much use." Huang Zifu touched his head this time with a little embarrassment, and brought up a new car. This car is a flatbed car with a wooden shell added to it. The shape of the wooden shell is extremely weird. It is streamlined and extremely low, with a total of two doors and two seats inside.

Zhu Yijun circled this strange-looking car, turned three times to the left and three times to the right, and asked curiously: "What is this?"

"Pedaling bicycles, people sit inside, because the center of gravity is lower, so they run faster. They can run 120 miles in an hour, but they are useless. This thing needs tracks." Huang Zifu said helplessly. The thing runs faster, but it cannot carry cargo and can only be used to deliver letters. The reason why it is useless is that it can only be used on tracks.

The only places where there are tracks in the Ming Dynasty are from Xishan Coal Bureau to Meishikou. With such a short distance, a flat-bed rolling car is enough to convey some information.

"Lay a road from Xiyuan to Wenhua Hall. I will use this to attend court meetings!" Zhu Yijun immediately thought of the use. From Xiyuan to Wenhua Hall, it is about four miles. Commuting every day is a troublesome thing. Zhu Yijun immediately thought of Its function was that Zhu Yijun himself used it for commuting, and similarly, the eunuchs of the Supervisor of Ceremonies could move the memorials here and there quickly and in a timely manner.

Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Juzheng and asked, "What do you think, sir?"

"No problem, just supervise it from the Ministry of Works!" Zhang Juzheng agreed quickly and without hesitation. He even said what the Ministry of Works supervised him, which was obviously his strong support.

In Zhang Juzheng's view, he had been admonishing frugality every day, which made His Majesty's life too boring. Now that His Majesty has finally found something he likes, it is natural to do it, and it must be done quickly, so that His Majesty cannot come back to his senses. , when you think about how expensive this thing is, you don’t do it anymore, that’s a bad thing.

Even Shah Maimaiti was surprised that the Ming Emperor's life was comparable to that of an ascetic. For the sake of the face of the Ming Dynasty, he must do it quickly!
　Ask for a monthly ticket, woo! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
　　
　
(End of this chapter)