1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 849 Royal American Trading Company
On December 1669, 12, Jianye City, Qi Palace.

The noble concubine of King Qi, Zhu Yu, looked at her son kneeling on the ground lovingly, feeling entangled and reluctant in her heart.

"Mother, my child has turned 22 this year, and he has served in the army for four years. Don't treat me as a naughty child anymore." Qi Zibo raised his head and said with a smile: "You know, when my father When the king was my age, he had been in charge of the Qi country for several years, and he was established as the king."

"You made such a decision, but because you are afraid of being feared by your father and...the crown prince?" Aimee Zhu asked in a low voice.

"Mother, because of Daming's relationship, my identity will inevitably cause all kinds of controversy and criticism in the country." Qi Zibo said with a wry smile: "Who made me have the blood of the Ming royal family?"

Since Prince Qi Zixing was appointed as the prefect of Chang'an Prefecture two years ago, after leaving Jianye.It didn't take long for folk scholars to spread some rumors about how the Qi State chose and established an heir.

Some "sighted people" believe that King Qi is at the peak of his spring and Autumn period, and the heir to the throne should not be established so early.Even if you want to establish a prince, you shouldn't make him a prince just because Qi Zixing is the leader of the princes.

The way to establish the prince should consider establishing a virtuous person in addition to establishing a heir and an elder.

Or if it doesn't matter above, it should be according to the people's will.What is popular opinion?More than half of the people in my country of Qi come from Daming, if a crown prince with the blood of the Ming royal family is registered, wouldn't it be more able to gather the hearts of more than half of the people in the country!

For a while, the nine adult princes in the royal family were suddenly caught up in the public opinion, and some good literati and scholars discussed who would be the real future master of the Qi country based on the standards of concubine and virtuous.

Unexpectedly, the royal family, as one of the shareholders, rejected many shareholders' proposals to dissolve the trading company.Under the instruction of King Qi, the treasurer in charge of the royal family's financial investment management bought all the shares of those who wanted to withdraw from the trading company, so that the royal family accounted for 90% of the entire American trading company, and the only remaining 10% of the shares belonged to the cabinet. flag.

Looking at the people and stories of the past dynasties, our descendants can naturally easily distinguish whether a person is a virtuous person or a mediocre person, but in the eyes of the people at that time, it was difficult to distinguish, as the so-called authorities are obsessed, and what is even more frightening is that people can hide the real truth. Self-pretending to be virtuous and good.

Damn, instead of farming and fishing in this bitterly cold place, it's easier to hunt at sea to get wealth!

Today, the trading company has established five large and small strongholds near the Strait of Magellan and the southern tip of the Americas, controlling a population of more than [-] people. However, less than half of them are Han Chinese, and the rest are sent by the local Ona people and the Dongzhou region. Maori, South Pacific island aborigines, and some Europeans and Tehuelches who were successively captured and taken in.

The desperadoes in Fort Ning'an, who had tasted the sweetness, immediately handed over the work of farming and fishing to the natives and captive crew gathered nearby, and contacted Fort Suiping on the south bank of the Shanghai Strait (now Porvenir, the capital of Tierra del Fuego, Chile). City) A group of armed guards and sailors discussed how to use this golden channel to carry out robbery together.

In fact, the succession system of the eldest son had already appeared in the Xia and Shang dynasties. When the Zhou Dynasty was established, it was officially established as the iron rule for the succession of dynasties. Its status has always been orthodox. Never faltered, hardly even questioned.Even in the Tang Dynasty, which was relatively chaotic in the process of succession to the throne, its official legal records contained comprehensive regulations on the protection of the succession system of the eldest son.

Of course, we must also admit that the ancient eldest son inheritance system is not without any contradictions and conflicts, especially when there is a vacancy for the eldest son, the contradictions and conflicts in the battle for succession will be particularly prominent.

So, among the Qi royal family, who is the most honorable?
Undoubtedly, it is the former Princess Kunxing of the Ming Dynasty and the current noble concubine of the King of Qi Zhu Yuxi. Her father is Emperor Chongzhen and her mother is Queen Zhou. The blood of the Ming royal family flows through her body.And Auntie Zhu has three sons and two daughters, so she naturally belongs to the "noble" status.

Farming, fishing, obtaining furs, and robbing roads constitute the most important business activities of several strongholds under the American Trading Company.And because the distance is too far, no matter what goods are shipped back from the Americas, it seems to be a loss-making business for the trading company (unless they can obtain a large amount of precious metals like Spain).Even if a few passing merchant ships can be robbed sporadically in the Strait of Magellan every year, it is not a long-term business.Therefore, the Americas Trading Company has not gained any profits since its establishment more than ten years ago, and it is no wonder that many shareholders are eager to withdraw their shares and dissolve the trading company.

After reorganization, the American Trading Company has transformed into an overseas colonial trading company absolutely controlled by the royal family.Although I don't know why King Qi is so interested in this distant American continent, but as the Ministry of Finance of the cabinet government that manages the money bag, he is full of superstitious trust in King Qi's vision, and firmly believes that the 10% of the shares, In the future, it will inevitably bring generous returns to the government, and it has not withdrawn shares like several large domestic trading companies and private shareholders.

He can't guarantee that after his father's death, the successor prince will cut off his brothers who are threatening to him first to consolidate his ruling position like the new kings of all dynasties.Even if Xinjun thinks about brotherhood, he will definitely leave them idle or raise them in captivity, and live their lives dreaming and dying.

And the mother of Qi Zixing, the current Prince of Qi, is Queen Luo Yuru, who is the real eldest son, and when he was five years old, he was registered as a prince, and has been following King Qi to learn how to govern the country.It stands to reason that his position should be unshakable.

To be honest, as a member of the many royal men in Qi, if Qi Zibo had no idea about the throne, he would be deceiving himself and others.But now it seems that the position of eldest brother's prince is as stable as Mount Tai, and he has been trusted and protected by his father from beginning to end.If there is no accident, after a hundred years, the father will definitely become the successor monarch of Qi.

For more than a decade, neither gold mines nor any particularly valuable specialties have been developed there.People in several strongholds make a living by fishing, farming, and hunting for fur.It is said that life there was miserable.

Nanyang, Weiyuan (now New Guinea Island), Luzon, Dongzhou (now New Zealand), India, South Africa and other places are either too close to Hanzhou, and sooner or later they will be included in the mainland and implemented prefectural management; It is within the sphere of influence and the local indigenous population is very large; or it is a key place on the sea route, it will inevitably be placed under the direct control of the cabinet government and the military.

The most typical example is Wang Mang who usurped the throne in the name of accepting abdication. Throughout his life, Wang Mang was very frugal and strict in family management. A misbehaving son-in-law committed suicide, and was widely praised by all walks of life in society. At that time, in terms of the reputation of sages, no one could match him.It wasn't until he usurped power that he became a sycophant with solid evidence and a sinner through the ages.As the saying goes, "the day when Duke Zhou was afraid of rumors, when Wang Mang was humble and did not usurp".

Compared with the objective reality of concubines, elders and children, the distinction between virtuous and fatuous is absolutely subjective.If you like it, you may love it, and like it for no reason.Those who hate him may hate Yu Xu and reject him for no reason.This is the unavoidable extreme of human subjectivity, and it is destined to be difficult to see the whole picture of reality for a while.

The system of heir succession is generally considered to be "if there is a heir, the heir will be established, and if there is no heir, the elder will be established".But once the eldest son is vacant, there is often a huge room for game in the choice of other bastards.

No matter what the ending is, it is unacceptable to the proud Qi Zibo.At the age of less than the weak crown, the father and the hundreds of refugees were able to establish the huge foundation of Hanzhou today.As the son of King Qi, he has received more than ten years of advanced education, and he still has the blood of the Ming royal family, so how can he not also make great achievements?
Looking at the general geography of the world, except for Hanzhou, Nanyang and other regions, there are "ownerless" lands everywhere. Why don't you imitate your father's ability and go out to break out of your own world!

Oh, not really. In the two strongholds established on both sides of the Strait of Magellan, besides fishing and farming and skinning sea lions, the people there also have a very challenging sideline, robbery.Every year, there are tens of hundreds of Spanish ships and British, French and Dutch smuggling ships traveling between the two sides of the American continent, and many of them are merchant ships full of supplies and gold and silver.These are the best hunting targets for the two strongholds.

And the distant American (South American) continent seems to be a good place to start.

"Prince Qi Zixing served as the magistrate of Chang'an. He worked hard, made outstanding achievements, and made many achievements in political, economic, industrial and civil affairs. He is specially bestowed on the Duke of England."

The prince is also 28 years old. He has been carefully trained by the king of Qi for more than ten years.

Under such circumstances, Qi Zibo, who insists on his high status and great ambitions, but has no hope of the throne, falls into an embarrassing situation.

Of course, compared with the eldest son inheritance system, ideally, people are more willing to see the virtuous generation among the candidates win in a fair competition, rather than the result that the eldest son is doomed to lie down and win when he is born. Although the concept of justice in China is more in line with people's inner moral concepts, it has fatal flaws in actual practice.

Therefore, although Qi Zibo is ranked sixth among the royal males, he is regarded as valuable because of his Ming royal blood.In this way, in the eyes of some literati with a Ming background, they have more priority to inherit.

These examples show that instead of choosing virtuous talents who may be disguised in order to pursue the so-called subjective equality, it is far better to lock the heir through heir inheritance and give legal and material support so that other heirs dare not, cannot, I also don't want to covet the heart, and do my best to suppress the emergence of conspiracy from the system. This is the most conducive to stable inheritance, which is why the thousands of years of succession has never been shaken.

As for why it is so painstaking to establish and maintain the system of heir succession, it is actually not difficult to understand. The core reason is that the system of heir succession is conducive to reducing disputes and stabilizing the family business because of the certainty of the successor, which in turn stabilizes the family business. The royal Jiangshan Sheji.

Five years ago, relying on the two armed merchant ships left behind, Ning'an Fort (now Punta Arenas, Chile) happened to bump into a 300-ton Spanish ship somewhere in the strait by chance. people merchant ships.After some hard chasing and fighting, the Spanish merchant ship was finally captured. In addition to capturing more than 30 crew members, they also captured silver pesos worth about [-] Hanzhou silver dollars, as well as a large amount of production and living supplies.

However, these topics of controversy about the so-called heirs died down immediately after King Qi issued a decree to confer titles in June this year.

However, many literati and scholars from the Ming Dynasty have thrown out the Confucian classic "Chunqiu Gongyang Biography" that "the son is more expensive than the elder", that is, the more noble the status of the mother of the concubine, the more priority will be her inheritance.

The American Trading Company, founded in 1655, seems to be unsustainable after ten years of difficult operation.Because there is only endless investment, but no decent output, profits are far away, which makes many shareholders complain.Three years ago, some unrestrained shareholders suggested at the company's annual general meeting that the company's assets should be liquidated and the company, which had never been profitable, be dissolved.

The king of Qi also said that from then on, all those who become princes will be granted the title of prince.

Now, the royal family has taken over the entire American trading company, and those established strongholds have naturally become the royal family's territory, and Qi Zibo, who wants to create a great cause, has set his sights there.

"My queen, my father once said to my son that if my son of the royal family can develop a fortune in America, he will not hesitate to tear the soil and seal the country." Qi Zibo looked at his mother with a worried expression, and said confidently : "So, my child wants to give it a try. If it succeeds, it will not be worthy of the teachings of the father and mother, let alone humiliate the noble blood flowing in the body."

"My lord, Hanzhou is tens of thousands of miles away from the American continent, and the sea route is difficult, so I'm afraid it will be inconvenient to obtain the needed manpower and material assistance." Aunt Zhu frowned. , The hardships during the period and the dangers and obstacles of the journey cannot be made by you with a few bold words and enthusiasm."

"My son is mentally prepared for this." Qi Zibo said: "But my son really doesn't want to live a mediocre life. A man is born in this world, and he should make a great career. Although there are two countries in the American continent, Spain and Portugal It occupies more than half of the land, but there are still a lot of unclaimed land at the southern tip of America and some inland areas. I am confident that as long as I get a little support from the local people, I will be able to expand the territory, establish a feudal country, and win supreme glory for my father and mother. !"

(End of this chapter)