Back to the end of Ming Dynasty to be a warlord

Chapter 353 Issues with the Municipal Shipping Department

When we arrived at Meixiang Tower, Li Xiangjun's eyes turned red from crying. Her adoptive mother Li Zhenli was coaxing her, but she didn't look good when she saw Yang Chao coming.

Yang Chao kindly comforted her, telling her that he would definitely bring her into the Yang family, and just let her wait patiently.

Li Xiangjun didn't quite believe it. She had never heard of that son-in-law taking a concubine in all dynasties, and she had already given up.

However, Yang Chao was able to comfort her immediately, which made Li Xiangjun very pleased.

Yang Chao comforted him and left.

Although Li Xiangjun felt a little better psychologically, he still couldn't help being hit.

But her adoptive mother changed her view of Yang Chao at this time.

Said to Li Xiangjun: "Stupid daughter, my mother misunderstood this man. He is not a heartless man, but a passionate seed."

Li Xiangjun was puzzled.

Li Zhenli sighed: "He thought of you the first time, which shows that he has you in his heart. He also said that he would marry you and go home, but this is hard for him."

Hearing that Yang Chao had himself in his heart, Li Xiangjun felt much better, filled with a kind of sweetness, as if it didn't matter whether he could marry into the Yang family or not.

But she still has no hope of marrying into the Yang family, and even if Yang Chao dares to marry her, she is not willing to marry. Just like what her adoptive mother said, if she still wants to marry into the Yang family today, it is undoubtedly for her. Yang Chao caused trouble, which she didn't want to see.

Yang Chao left Meixiang Tower and soon arrived at Dong's house.

To Yang Chao's surprise, Dong Xiaowan was more violent than Li Xiangjun.

"He kicked me out of the house and said he wanted someone to marry me. It turned out to be a lie! So he wanted to marry the princess!"

Dong Xiaowan understood this way, no matter how Chen Yuanyuan tried to coax her, she couldn't be coaxed.

Dong Xiaowan has a high EQ and a high IQ, and people with high EQ are actually very sensitive. How can someone who is not sensitive be able to guess other people's minds, and how can they have a high EQ?
Ms. Dong was originally the daughter of a wealthy family, but her family was in decline, her father died early, and her mother was seriously ill. She had to start down the Qinhuai River, but she was known for being noble at the beginning, but she couldn't get along in the Qinhuai River. Suzhou.

After that, his temperament gradually changed, and he became more pleasing to others. Not only was he no longer arrogant, but his popularity became better.

But it was also at that time that she wanted to find a backer, a backer who was not so annoying. He looked down on fat merchants, and she didn't think it was safe for ordinary talents. A man who is kind to her and who can stand up at critical moments has a great attraction to her. Speaking of it, she just feels insecure.

So she tried every means to marry into the Yang family, but she was persuaded by Yang Chao, who promised her to carry a big sedan chair, but in the end she wanted to marry the princess. She felt that she had been deceived, and the great humiliation made her unable to support herself. In the depths, it turned out that she was still the noble Dong Xiaowan.

"Stop thinking about it! My promise, Yang Chao, will not change even if the mountain falls!"

Yang Chao heard Dong Xiaowan's hysterical and collapsed accusation outside the door, opened the door and said seriously.

Seeing Yang Chao coming in, Dong Xiaowan stopped crying, but turned her back and sobbed softly.

Seeing this, Kang Xiaobao and Chen Yuanyuan gave up the space with winks, and they all walked out.

"Don't cry. I didn't expect the emperor to give me a marriage. You know I can't refuse."

Dong Xiaowan snorted: "I know!"

Yang Chao sighed, "Do you really know?"

Dong Xiaowan said: "Others dare not refuse, but you cannot refuse."

Seeing Dong Xiaowan talking, Yang Chao also intended to talk to her more, and asked, "Why?"

Dong Xiaowan sighed: "Whoever lets you hold a heavy army will add three points of suspicion out of thin air. If you refuse the marriage offer from the Tian family, you will be even more suspicious. Unless you want to be Cao Cao, you can't refuse at all."

Dong Xiaowan explained Yang Chao's situation from another aspect, which Yang Chao hadn't considered. His concept was positive, and he always looked at what he could gain, rather than thinking about what he would lose.

However, what Dong Xiaowan said is very reasonable. If Yang Chao refuses, it will be very difficult to deal with. The little emperor trusts Yang Chao very much at present, but if he refuses, he will lose the trust of the little emperor. A series of actions may not make any sense.

Yang Chao couldn't help but look at Dong Xiaowan with admiration, no wonder this woman can take away the hearts of everyone in the Yang family, just because of her delicate mind, no other famous prostitutes can compare.

Yang Chao pondered for a moment, but he didn't realize that Dong Xiaowan had turned around, looked at him lovingly, and stopped crying.

Yang Chao sat opposite him, staring at her: "Don't worry, I will marry you if I say so, I will never break my promise!"

Dong Xiaowan shook her head lightly: "I thought I would be very sad, but when you come, I won't be sad."

Yang Chao sighed, "Don't worry, wait for me."

Dong Xiaowan shook her head again: "That's all. In fact, it doesn't matter whether you are a concubine or not. If you have the heart, I can be a concubine."

To put it bluntly, the outer room is the mistress of later generations, a woman secretly raised outside.

But Yang Chao is very firm: "I, Yang Chao, have always kept my promises, especially not in the habit of lying to women."

Dong Xiaowan suddenly smiled: "Have you cheated enough?"

Yang Chao said: "I have never lied to you. Don't worry about waiting for me. Don't go to Japan. I will prepare an unexpected dowry for you!"

Dong Xiaowan insisted: "No, I must go!"

Seeing Dong Xiaowan's firm eyes, Yang Chao sighed. She knew what Dong Xiaowan was thinking and felt that she could help Yang Chao if she went to Japan, so she decided to go.

Yang Chao nodded: "Actually, it's not bad to go and have a look, the Wa country is not as scary as the legend!"

After comforting the two women, Yang Chao returned to the barracks. Something happened in the army these days.

It is not a question of training, nor of infantry, but of sailors.

Zhang Dawei is now the vice-admiral of the navy, with one hundred large ships and three hundred medium-sized ships under his command, he has never encountered any opponents in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

But recently, he has repeatedly encountered difficulties.

It is a difficult problem for the Shipbuilding Department.

The matter of the Shibo Department is definitely not a trivial matter.

Yang Chao tried his best to reopen Daming Maritime Trade in order to get Shibosi.

One of the biggest concessions is the issue of self-financed military pay.

At this time, the North was destroyed and Zhu Cihong's new army ascended the throne, but what he was facing was a mess.

It can be said that half of the world is bad. Needless to say the north, let's just talk about the south.

When Li Zicheng invaded Beijing, Hubei to the north of the Yangtze River was basically occupied by him, while the entire Hunan and Jiangxi provinces in the south were completely controlled by Zhang Xianzhong. The only territory the imperial court could control was Wuchang. After that, Zhang Xianzhong suddenly entered Sichuan. It was only then that part of the state capital of Hunan was recovered.

However, the long-term war made Huguang obviously unable to provide food and military pay to the new court, and the Jiangnan area had already begun to rely on Huguang's grain for food because of the cultivation of cash crops such as silkworms and tea.

Losing Huguang means losing a considerable source of food.

Fortunately, Yang Chao supported the crown prince's succession, and the undisputed right of succession made most areas in the south of the Yangtze River pay their respects. It was equivalent to recognizing Zhu Cihong's monarchy, and on the surface it stabilized the situation in the south of the Yangtze River.

But relying on Jiangnan's salary alone is indeed stretched.

But the courtiers have to pay their salaries. Even if the courtiers don't pay their salaries temporarily, the army still has to pay them.

For the four towns in Jiangbei alone, the imperial court stipulated that each town had a quota of 20 soldiers, and an annual supply of 40 shi and 80 taels of silver. Due to the fall of Huguang, the price of rice in the south of the Yangtze River skyrocketed, and a load of rice once rose to five taels of silver. After a few months, it finally fell back, but it also stabilized at three taels of silver, so the four towns had to supply 240 dans of rice a year, worth 160 million taels, and 400 million taels of payment, totaling [-] million taels.

But this is only the quota given by the imperial court to the four towns. The four towns are not so obedient. After occupying the territory one by one, they will expand their army crazily. Thousands of soldiers, hundreds of thousands of salaries, more than one hundred thousand horses, and one or two years of rectification of equipment, can cross the river."

Under this guise, the total strength of the four towns has reached 30. At the same time, they kept demanding payment from the court, and used Li Zicheng and the Qing army to frighten the courtiers, saying that Li Zicheng would not be able to stop Li Zicheng from going south without military payment. Keep sending money and rice to Jiangbei.

The total amount of taxes and food collected by the imperial court so far is "less than 500 million in the southeast, and 360 million in Jiangbei."

Most of the taxes collected were given to the four towns in Jiangbei, but the four towns still said that the salary was not enough, and the soldiers showed no signs of fighting and even showed signs of mutiny, which frightened the civil servants.

Originally, in order to win people's hearts, when the new king ascended the throne, he usually wanted to reduce taxes. Some courtiers suggested that some taxes in Jiangnan should be reduced or exempted according to the old rules.

At this time, even Shi Kefa did not dare to agree: "The world is in a bad state, and the annual tax is only more than 450 million. In the future, the military salary will be very expensive, so the training salary, suppression salary and other items cannot be eliminated."

Not only can it not be reduced, but it also needs to be increased, but this proposal was rejected by Yang Chao. He insisted that no increase in taxes has been made. Then how to clean up the world.

If the tax is not reduced, the statistics of the Ministry of Household Affairs: "At that time, Zhengxiang earned only 620 million yuan, and Yangsi Town Army paid more than 750 million yuan, and the annual Zhengxiang was short of 150 million yuan."

This is still only supporting the troops of the four towns. If Zuo Liangyu in Wuchang is added, the shortage will be even greater.

The Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Households said: "Today, the overall plan for dispatching troops, horses, money and food, the shortage is as high as 220 million, and the Ministry of Households sees that the depository bank is only [-] yuan."

There is a shortfall of more than 200 million yuan, and the imperial court has only more than 1000 taels of silver in stock, so the imperial court simply cannot afford to support so many soldiers. The military commander is even more afraid of the bandits from the north coming.

The imperial court couldn't take it anymore to support the four towns and Zuo Liangyu who guarded a Wuchang city. The imperial court couldn't afford to add Yang Chao's [-] battalions anyway, so when Yang Chao agreed to raise his own military salary , After using sea trade to raise water battalion soldiers, civil servants agreed very happily.

As a result, Yang Chao obtained the exclusive privilege of monopolizing the tariffs of the Shibo Department. How could he be careless about the Shibo Department's issue.

You must know that the prostitutes in Yangsi Town need 400 million taels a year, although most of them were embezzled by generals. For example, Liu Zeqing built gardens in Huai'an for pleasure.

In fact, Yang Chao spent even more on raising troops. One hundred thousand troops, the military salary alone is not a small amount.

Because of the high price of rice, Yang Chao had to raise his military pay again in order for those soldiers to support their families. A private soldier would also be given one or two taels of silver. The military salary of military officers is more than 20 taels per month, and more than 200 million taels a year.

In addition, Yang Chao has always insisted on equipping soldiers with the best equipment. Each person should have at least one pair of iron armor. A pair of iron armor costs 20 taels, which is more than 200 million taels. 100 million taels of silver, so Yang Chao needs at least 500 million taels if he wants to build up [-] soldiers.

And all this money has to be extracted from Shibosi.

So after gaining the power of the Shibo Department, Yang Chao acted non-stop.

Yang Wencong had already arrived in Susong, and he set up his Shibosi Yamen in Songjiang Fucheng, but Yang Chao sent troops to set up three water camps at Wusong River Station, Chongming Sha Station and Jinshanwei, and continued to patrol the Yangtze River Estuary the area.

The purpose is naturally to suppress smuggling.

An agreement was reached with the Zheng family last year, but Yang Chao was still unable to control the Yangtze River. Later, he found that this was impossible to achieve. Just cruising along the two lines from Songjiang to Nanjing required [-] fleets, and each fleet required at least ten warships. , that is [-] ships, almost draining Yang Chao's troops, obviously this is impossible.

Now that he has mastered the Shibo Department and has the support of the court, Yang Chao can do it with confidence. Obviously, it is much easier to control an outlet than to control a route.

But things still made Yang Chao a little unexpected. Zhang Dawei was sent to fight against smuggling, but he still found it difficult to completely control it.

Yang Chao assigned him ten brigantines and ninety sloops to form a fleet of one hundred ships, but the force was still not enough.

There are too many places in the coastal area that can reach the sea.

Not to mention anything else, if it is Suzhou, you can travel through the canal of Wujiang to Jiaxing to Huatingtang, then enter the Huangpu River, and then go south to Zhejiang to reach a larger area.

Although Zheng's has been saving face and ordered 300 million taels of goods from Yang Chao, if Yang Chao can't control the shipping, the 300 million taels is probably the limit, and Zheng's will definitely not increase.

And Yang Chao took Daming Customs into his hands because he wanted to collect more tariffs by expanding maritime trade.

But the temptation of huge sea trade is too great, so big that people will not hesitate to take risks. Yang Chao has already taken this into consideration, so he assigned a very strong force to Zhang Dawei. Unfortunately, he still can't control it, and it's understandable that he can't control it. , after all, the coastline is too long, but if you can't beat the pirates, it's a bit unreasonable.

"what happened?"

Seeing Zhang Damiao waiting anxiously, Yang Chao immediately asked in dissatisfaction.

When Zhang Dawei was cruising with thirty warships, not only did one smuggling ship escape, but he himself was sunk by others and three warships were sunk. Most of the soldiers were rescued, but more than a dozen soldiers also disappeared into the vast expanse. the sea.

Zhang Dawei sighed: "The thief boat is big, invincible!"

(End of this chapter)