prosperous age

In the blink of an eye, a month has passed and winter has arrived in Beijing. Although there has been no heavy snowfall, the temperature continues to drop and many people have put on cotton clothes to keep warm.

Wei Guangde had already returned to the cabinet to do his job. After all, the army had already been dispatched, and all that was left was to see how the generals would perform on the spot.

The battlefield is changing rapidly, and it is no longer realistic for the capital to control and command.

"Shandai, is there still no news coming back from Red Earth Castle?"

Wei Guangde had just finished drafting a memorial when Zhang Juzheng stepped in and asked.

"Brother, come and sit down."

Wei Guangde hurriedly stood up and greeted Zhang Juzheng, asking him to sit down.

"It's been more than a month, and there's been no news from Liaodong and Jizhen. I'm so anxious.

You should also know that various rumors have begun to spread in the market outside."

Zhang Juzheng sat down and started talking.

"Although the news is flying everywhere, at least the capital is not in a panic. Everyone is still doing their job and taking care of their own lives."

Wei Guangde said happily.

The rumors circulating in the capital city have actually been going on for a long time.

The people in the capital no longer seemed to be worried that the Mongols would break through the Great Wall.

First, everyone knew that the Mongolian king, Altan Khan, was the enthroned King of Shunyi. As long as there was no news of King Shunyi's rebellion, the people did not seem to worry that the Mongols would threaten the safety of the capital.

As for the second thing, the war seems to be in Liaodong, which is very far away from the capital, so there is naturally no need to worry.

If the fighting had taken place in Jizhen or even Xuanfu, the wealthy families nearby would have already rushed to the city for refuge on horse-drawn carriages or ox-drawn carts.

Now that we don’t see any refugees, it naturally means they are not near the capital, so there is no need to be nervous or afraid.

But after all, it was a war with the Mongols, so no one took it seriously at first. But after half a month had passed, and no battle reports had been sent in, rumors inevitably began to increase.

"No news is actually good news. If the situation on the front line was really bad, someone would have sent back a battle report long ago."

Wei Guangde said indifferently.

Are you kidding? He now has all his best troops at his disposal. If he is really defeated in this battle, his position as Lord Wei will probably be shaken.

Aren’t the combination of Ma Fang, Qi Jiguang, and Dong Yiyuan the trump cards he can play?

If reinforcements were really needed, the only two who could fight would be Li Chengliang and Yu Dayou, who were thousands of miles away.

Not to mention whether they can be recalled, I'm afraid by the time they come back, the defense of the capital will have been going on for who knows how long.

Wei Guangde was confident, and Zhang Juzheng was actually also certain about it, but he had heard too many rumors, so when he thought of it today, he simply came over to ask about the situation.

"I guess the battle has already started at Red Earth Fort, and the battle report should be sent back soon."

Wei Guangde smiled and said, "Half a month ago, Ma Fang and Dong Yiyuan both sent back a battle report. Since they are not far from Hongtu Fort, the encirclement has been completed."

"Then tell me the truth, are you sure?"

Zhang Juzheng asked.

Just at this moment, Lu Bu came in with tea, and Wei Guangde did not answer directly.

After he left, he said, "If Dong Yiyuan's troops were the first to engage in battle, they would have a 60% chance of winning."

Wei Guangde lowered his head and thought for a moment before saying, "If it's Ma Fang's army, they still have a 70% to 80% chance of winning.

But if Qi Jiguang's troops were the first to engage in battle, I wouldn't say it's 100%, but there's a 90% chance that they would be defeated."

The Ministry of War had already made plans for this battle and had sent confidential documents to the three armies, who were advancing towards Hongtu Fort from three directions simultaneously.

This must involve a part that will fight before Huang Taiji, or be the first to advance to the city of Hongtubao.

If Qi Jiguang's heavy firearms troops were to engage in such a battle, they would naturally have a very high chance of winning. The firearms were enough to severely damage the Mongols and even blow open the city walls.

Don’t think that Qi Jiguang’s chariot camp only had Portuguese cannons. In fact, they also had general cannons, which were early versions of the Red Cannon.

This thing is very powerful when it comes to smashing city walls, much more powerful than the falconet.

Moreover, the Ming army was now clearly changing from a cold weapon unit to a hot weapon unit, and Qi Jiguang was undoubtedly a leader in the use of firearms.

Dong Yiyuan and Ma Fang cannot be compared with Qi Jiguang to some extent.

"If any of their units stick to them, the two armies in other directions will rush over, and there is no other way except to escape to the north.

It's so cold now. I'm afraid it's already snowing in Liaodong. If we go north, I don't know how many people will freeze to death."

Wei Guangde smiled.

“That’s good, I can rest assured.

By the way, if there is any news from the Ministry of War, please arrange for someone to deliver it to my house at night."

Zhang Juzheng said.

"it is good."

Wei Guangde agreed immediately.

As I said, the night curfew only applies to ordinary people, and there is actually no taboo for officials.

Of course, if there are too many people, the night duty officers and soldiers will not dare to let them go.

They are just a few followers and no one will ask any questions.

When Wei Guangde returned home from office in the afternoon, he walked into the backyard and his wife came to greet him.

"Master, today when I went to Duke Dingguo's residence, I secretly leaked some of the news."

Wei Guangde unfastened the jade buckle, handed the jade belt to her, and then took off his official robe.

"Well, let's just say it. Has there been any news from Songjiang Prefecture?"

The people sent by the Wei Mansion to Songjiang Mansion had been away for more than a month, so it had been about half a month since they arrived there.

These people were naturally here to purchase local properties and land for the Wei family, and they were all near the county town.

"With the disappearance of the Japanese threat, I heard that the land prices in the south have risen again."

Wei Guangde said again.

"I heard that the price has returned to the level of more than 20 years during the Jiajing period. One mu of top-quality farmland costs 15 taels of silver. Previously, the lowest price was only 5 or 6 taels."

Xu Jianglan is in charge of all the big and small matters at home, so she knows more about these things.

"Fifteen taels is not expensive. I remember a letter from home last year saying that the price of farmland in Jiangxi was twenty taels per mu."

Wei Guangde didn't care. The price of fifteen taels would definitely not be enough if the output was calculated.

If you want to buy land and make money by collecting rent or agricultural products, forget it.

In fact, these days, land is more often used for asset allocation.

Rich families have too much silver and have no other way to use it, so they either buy land or dig a cellar to hide the silver.

"Do you have enough money?"

Wei Guangde asked again.

"It's not far from Nanjing. I wrote a letter. If you don't have enough money, you can go directly to the Duke of Wei's mansion in Nanjing to borrow from my eldest brother."

Xu Jianglan said casually.

Even if the Duke of Wei's Mansion does not have that much cash at the moment, it is no problem to borrow hundreds of thousands of taels of silver directly in Nanjing with the Duke's Mansion's face.

"This time, my family brought tens of thousands of taels. Nanjing already has some property, so I asked them to mobilize some silver. I also asked them to send silver to my hometown in Jiangxi as well.

It should be no problem. With the reputation of Lord Wei, is he afraid that we will default on our debt? "

Speaking of this, Xu Jianglan couldn't help but chuckle.

Much of the money Wei Guangde earned from his investments was not sent to the capital, but was directly transported back to his hometown in Jiangxi by water for storage.

Especially the profits from sea trade, which were not sent to the capital. If a truckload of silver was really sent home, it would probably cause a stir in the city in just one day.

"By the way, when you told the old ladies about this, did they notice?"

Wei Guangde asked casually.

By this time he had changed into casual clothes and watched the maid fold his official robes and put them away.

"Don't worry, the old lady's eyes lit up at that time."

Having said that, Xu Jianglan covered her mouth and laughed softly again.

"So, maybe we'll come tonight."

Wei Guangde said with a smile.

"Oh, Master, speaking of which, today the old lady was still saying that the expenses of the Duke Dingguo's Mansion are very high. Even if we listen to you and invest in many chambers of commerce, we will earn a lot of money, but the expenses will also increase a lot."

Xu Jianglan sat down with Wei Guangde in the main hall of the house and continued, "You have to be careful not to let them in, or they will steal your business."

The Ming Dynasty followed the old rules, with men working outside and women working inside, and the household business was usually managed by the mistress of the house.

As for the housekeeper and the steward, these are jobs assigned by the mistress of the house, so in fact these women seem to be more interested in money.

Not only is he good at spending money, he is also good at making money.

Xu Jianglan had bought a lot of jewelry and clothes before, but in fact, these women bought them because they were competing with each other.

"This business is so big that one family can't finish it all."

Wei Guangde said indifferently, he was just afraid that they would not join. It would be good if they joined, and directly bring Ming Dynasty into the industrial age.

Only when there are more investors will they compete with each other and stimulate the development of productivity.

Technological innovation actually arises from this kind of competition.

There is still a long way to go from handicrafts to industry.

Wei Guangde knew that under normal circumstances, the industrial age would not arrive for at least a hundred years.

Because the development of handicraft industry reached its limit and restricted economic development, people invested in improving the steam engine, and the steam engine power opened the prelude to mankind's industrial revolution.

That should have been something that happened in the eighteenth century, but now it seems too early, probably the early seventeenth century at most.

Wei Guangde was indeed not sure what century it was, because the AD calendar had not yet been created at that time.

If the West had already started using the Gregorian calendar, given the Ming Dynasty's contact with the West at that time, Wei Guangde would certainly be clear about the year.

In fact, the AD calendar was created a few years later by the Italian doctor, mathematician and astronomer Gregory, who improved the Julian calendar. It was approved and promulgated by Gregory XIII, the then Pope of Rome, in 1582, so the Gregorian calendar is also called the Gregorian calendar.

With the promotion of the Pope, it was naturally easily accepted by Western countries and then spread to China.

Therefore, if Wei Guangde wanted to know the exact AD year, he would have to wait at least several years, or even more than ten years.

As night fell and the lights came on, a flower hall in the Wei Mansion was brightly lit by candles.

Wei Guangde was currently receiving representatives of nobles from the capital who had arrived overnight, including Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi, Prince of Yingguo Zhang Yuangong, and Prince of Chengguo Zhu Yingzhen.

Zhang Yuangong came here on behalf of Zhang Rong. Because Zhang Rong was quite old at that time and had been in poor health recently, his son took his place.

Zhu Yingzhen was only sixteen years old, so the title of Duke Chengguo remained vacant. He had to wait two more years until he turned eighteen before he could officially inherit the title.

However, as the crown prince, Zhu Yingzhen had already taken over all the relationships in Duke Cheng's mansion at this time.

"Shandai, can't Ying Zhen's title be advanced? It's been vacant for several years."

The person who was speaking was Xu Wenbi, and he was the one who spoke more casually.

"The previous dynasty stipulated that one must be eighteen years old to inherit the title."

Wei Guangde said to Zhu Yingzhen with a wry smile.

"Brother Wenbi, there is no need to embarrass Elder Wei. We have waited for several years and there is no need to rush."

Zhu Yingzhen just smiled at Wei Guangde and said.

“Well, that’s it.

Shandai, this time we are here actually representing the nobles.

You should know that I will not complain, but I will ask, does the court have any plans to open the sea in another place besides Yuegang?"

Xu Wenbi then told them the purpose of their visit tonight.

In the afternoon, a group of nobles in the capital gathered together to discuss this matter.

Even though everyone has their own factions, when something good happens to everyone, prejudices can be put aside.

For the sake of the interests of the nobles, the Duke of Wei could even perform a double act with the Marquis of Chengyi in Nanjing for the emperor to see, not to mention the nobles in the capital.

Normally, everyone fights with each other, but it's just a show for the palace and civil officials. Who can defeat whom?

What good is there in defeating him?

In fact, in recent years, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty have also shown favor to the Duke of Chengguo, the Duke of Yingguo, and the Duke of Dingguo in turn. In any case, he would not favor one family alone.

During the Jiajing period, it was Duke Chengguo Zhu Xizhong, followed by Duke Yingguo Zhang Rong during the Longqing period. Now it is Xu Wenbi's turn to be favored.

In fact, Xu Wenbi now holds more than just an empty title of Duke Dingguo, but is in charge of two military offices, the Right Army Commandery and the Rear Army Commandery, and is also the Grand Tutor.

As for why he was so favored, we can understand the reasons by looking at the fact that Duke Chengguo did not inherit the title and Duke Yingguo Zhang Rong was old.

Although the noble group was severely suppressed by the civil officials, the royal family was still more willing to hand over the military power of the capital to the nobles.

"It's not the court, but many people have this wish, and I am also planning this."

Although they arrived a little early, Wei Guangde did not hide it. After all, this was actually the demand of some civil servants.

"Where did it start?"

Xu Wenbi's eyes lit up and he asked hurriedly.

"Songjiang Prefecture, choose a place near the sea to build a port."

Wei Guangde said directly.

"Lord Wei, how many boat guides will Songjiang Prefecture issue this time?"

For maritime trade, naturally, ships are needed to carry it, so ship guides are actually everyone’s favorite.

As long as you can get a share of the boat guide, it will be hard not to get rich.

The boat may break down, but the pilot won't.

Seeing the burning gazes of the three people, Wei Guangde smiled and said, "There are many people who want it this time, so I plan to send more. It is better to share happiness with others than to enjoy it alone."

"Too much hissing is not good either."

Zhang Yuangong spoke.

Ever since Xu Jianglan revealed the news to them, they knew they would definitely have a share.

So at this time, what they pursue is not to send out more boat pilots, but to send out fewer, so as to ensure the value of the boat pilots.

"Hehe, you guys."

Wei Guangde shook his head and said with a smile: "When Yuegang was opened to the sea earlier, you were unwilling to intervene. In fact, it was not just you, many people were like this.

Later, when they saw the huge amount of money that Yuegang made, they regretted their decision very much, and many people even petitioned to close Yuegang.

Fortunately, the Holy Emperor was in power, so such a thing did not happen.

There are too many people who want to participate. If not all are treated equally, the opening of the port will be full of twists and turns.

Instead of doing this, it would be better to give out more so that everyone can get some.

As for making money, Ming Dynasty products have no trouble selling. "

Wei Guangde said with certainty. (End of this chapter)