The Reborn Duke of Ming Dynasty

The carriage was on its way to Quanzhou. Apart from the guards outside the carriage, there were still those people in the carriage. The difference was that there were two more exotic figures in the carriage. carriage, in the same room as them.

"No, no, you don't understand," Zhang Fan was chatting eagerly with Richard and Joanna in English, while the two daughters Yingyue and Luo Linger watched with interest, "We have only been here for more than 2000 years. In the ancient times before, only the emperor at that time would distribute a large amount of land to princes to establish kingdoms. These kingdoms had their own armies, but they still had to pay taxes to the court... this... the central government and listen to orders. After arriving, princes with different surnames There are fewer and fewer marquises who have their own fiefdoms. At the beginning of the founding of our dynasty, Emperor Taizu stipulated that no kings with different surnames should be granted, so now only some of the direct descendants of the royal family can have fiefdoms, and most of them only have princes. title,"

"The heaven of your country... isn't he afraid that these princes will start a rebellion?" Richard asked with interest. After all, in his heart, princes who have their own fiefdoms will definitely hoard troops.

"Of course I'm afraid of this," Zhang Fan explained, "but this continent has experienced countless dynasties for thousands of years, and people have already figured out a way. Tax money, and the number of their own private soldiers is regulated, basically only enough for them to show off when they go out, and there is no big disturbance," Zhang Fan was blunt this time, after all, there is no fourth person here who can say English too.

Richard and Joanna were very surprised when they heard that, Joanna asked: "These princes are so obedient, don't they keep private soldiers in private?"

"Of course it will, but the emperor will send people to investigate and deal with it every three years. If there are too many private soldiers, then the prince will be in trouble," Zhang Fan said, "Although the princes are in charge of the taxes on the back cover, But most of them have to be handed over, so if they want to raise more private soldiers, they will have to spend more money, but it is estimated that none of them can bear this kind of 'poverty' life,"

These words really opened their eyes. Although feudalism is the most basic form of feudal society, people on the land of China have developed this theory to the extreme, while the most primitive feudal rules are still being implemented in the European continent. Princes rebelled from time to time, and what Zhang Fan said shocked the two of them. They could tell how powerful the emperor who ruled such a vast land was.

The reason why the two of them insisted on following this time was because they heard that Zhang Fan was going to supervise Haiphong. The two of them were already used to seeing the prosperity of Jiangnan, and they were no longer surprised by Zhang Fan's deliberate showing off. , but the two were very curious about what kind of army such a prosperous country would have. This time they heard that Zhang Fan was going, so they made up their minds to follow to see what happened.

Zhang Fan was looking for an opportunity to show off his military strength to the two of them, but he was worried that there would be no chance, so the two of them took the bait by themselves. Zhang Fan naturally readily agreed, but Zhang Fan was also a little fortunate in his heart. It has always been in the north from the founding of the country to its demise. It shoulders the mission of preventing the remnants of the Yuan and Mongolian parties from invading again. Therefore, the Ming army in the northern border is very powerful. Especially now, the north has Wang Chonggu, Li Chengliang, and Qi Jiguang. He is also a famous general.

The army in the southern part of the Ming Dynasty is relatively loose, perhaps because this is really a world of vanity, people yearn for stability besides wealth, the army here has not been very good, especially the southern coastal defenders during the Zhengde period. It can be said that it has reached a trough, but over the years, relying on some generals headed by Qi Jiguang, the Mingjun in the southern coastal area has once again regained the momentum that the soldiers should have. Only in this way can Zhang Fan let Richard and Joanna follow him , otherwise he would be ashamed.

However, the two still had a bit of a quarrel with each other, how did the small island country in the east of such a huge empire make them rush to this land to plunder.

Zhang Fan told them that the civilization level of the people on that land was very backward, and those Japanese pirates who came to rob in groups were also some desperadoes, and those who came to rob despite the orders of the big names in their country were only approved by the emperor of Ming Dynasty. Although he lost his status as a vassal state of Fusang, he couldn't control the intrusion of refugees, which led to the current situation.

The two of them didn't understand what Zhang Fan said. According to their thinking, Daming has such a vast territory, a huge population and army, as well as advanced ships and weapons. It would not be better to capture there.

Zhang Fan felt helpless when he heard what they said. Even in his previous life, he had never thought about it this way. It’s just that the Han people’s attitude of reciprocating courtesy and saving face for thousands of years has prevented the development of this matter. Regarding this, Zhang Fan Fan is powerless.

"By the way, there is something I have always wanted to talk to you two," Zhang Fan said to them suddenly, "It's just that I have some things to do these few days, and I haven't spared time."

"The earl is a high-ranking and powerful person, and he is busy with official duties on weekdays. We can understand," Richard said immediately with a standard diplomat's expression, "but we are on the road now, and it will take a long time to arrive... this ...Quanzhou, the Earl and we have plenty of time to talk, "

"That's good," Zhang Fan thought for a while, and said, "Your country and our country had contacts many years ago."

"Yes, at that time, our country sold multiple Francophone cannons to your country," Joanna, who was familiar with military affairs, said immediately.

"Exactly, these weapons have greatly helped the harassment from the surrounding areas of our country," Zhang Fan said, "and it is precisely about this that I want to say,"

The two looked at each other in blank dismay. They didn't know what Zhang Fan was going to say, but no matter what era, countries were very cautious about weapons.

"What does your lord want to say," Richard asked carefully.

"The loading method of these artillery is very convenient, which undoubtedly increases the chances of the soldiers surviving in combat," Zhang Fan praised, and said, "It's just that the Francois that our country has purchased from your country now Machine guns were a thing 50 years ago, and many artillery pieces have problems now," he said.

The two originally thought it was something, but they breathed a sigh of relief when they heard what Zhang Fan said, knowing that Zhang Fan wanted to buy artillery from them again.

"I would like to ask the two of you if it is possible to buy another batch of Franco cannons from your country." Sure enough, Zhang Fan said what they thought in their hearts.

"There is no problem with this matter at all. I can agree to the Earl's request without even asking the country," Richard said immediately. The two did not have much objection to this proposal. A relatively advanced artillery was sold to the Ming Dynasty because it was too far away from their territory, and it was difficult to have any conflicts between the two countries. Moreover, Ming's bid was very generous at that time, so they had no reason not to make this deal. , what's more, even though the Franc machine gun is still a large number of advanced artillery equipped in their army, they will not refuse this business, and before the two went abroad, the Portuguese royal family told them about it. After realizing the prosperity and strength of the Ming Dynasty, both of them had the intention of developing here to become their allies in the east. How could they refuse this matter, but Zhang Fan's next words made them a little embarrassed.

"But this time, we also bought the design drawings of our country's connected Franco cannons, and the price is up to you," Zhang Fan said in embarrassing words for the other two. , a batch of imitations were successfully made during the Jiajing period, but due to various reasons, the range and service life of the artillery were not as good as the original Fran cannon. That's enough; but the service life is so short that the Ming Dynasty has to issue a batch early every once in a while, which is a big burden for the national treasury. Just now Zhang Fan said that those artillery guns have been used for too long. In fact, now the Ming Dynasty The Franco cannons currently in use in the army were all imitations by the Ming court, and none of the original imported ones remained.

This matter made the two of them think about it. Yes, Zhang Fan gave a very generous condition. The price of the Franc machine gun back then was 10 taels of silver from Daming. Although Europe did not implement the silver standard, 10 It is a lot of money to exchange two pieces of silver into gold. Now that Zhang Fan asks for the design drawings, he asks them for the price. After they know how rich Daming is, they can naturally guess that those blueprints can be exchanged for a lot of gold. I understand that once Daming has the design drawings, he will no longer need to buy from them in the future, so this kind of business that could have flowed slowly will become a one-shot deal.

Originally, the two could refuse immediately, but the relationship between the island country of England and them is getting worse and worse. The two countries on the Iberian Peninsula are actively preparing for war, but they lack funds. The king borrowed money from the princes and dukes. These people are always procrastinating, and most of their money is spent on enjoying a luxurious life, which is why they are eager to colonize India and plunder their wealth. Zhang Fan's sentence "The price is up to you" made them very moved. It's a lot of money after all.

Zhang Fan patiently watched the two discuss in a low voice in Portuguese. He also knew the situation in their country, so this time he opened his mouth and even bought the design drawings.

The two discussed it for a long time, and then turned around, looking at Zhang Fan with some embarrassment, but Zhang Fan didn't care, he could see that the two were not embarrassing because they wanted to refuse but couldn't say it, but...

Sure enough, Richard said: "My lord, I can agree to the matter of the artillery right now. When I return to China next year, I will come here again with the artillery myself. It's just a matter of the drawings..."

Joanna on the side hurriedly said: "My lord, please don't be offended. Richard and I are not in charge of the drawings. We have to wait until we return to China to ask His Majesty for instructions."

Zhang Fan didn't mean to be angry at all, and said generously: "I understand these, I just want to trouble you two not to forget this matter."

"Thank you Earl for your understanding, we will never forget it," Richard quickly replied seeing Zhang Fan being so eloquent.

Zhang Fan is really not in a hurry. Although the world is in danger, it is still stable. He is just preparing. But he must get the artillery and design drawings. In this era, the rate of fire of the rear-mounted artillery is its greatest power. But of course Zhang Fan wouldn't just rely on Richard and Joanna to go back to clear things up, he would also bother that Zhao Xiande who has a lot of influence in Europe.

The carriage is still carrying the people forward,