The ruthless emperor in the late Ming Dynasty forced Chongzhen to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 242 The Lawless Portuguese

The end of the new year is approaching, and the implementation of the first phase of the Southern New Deal has finally been completed.

Obviously without Zhu Cihong personally sitting in the town, the pressure on both the eight central departments and the local government offices has plummeted. Coupled with the expansion of the territory, the same communication, and the impact of the war, it took a whole year to transfer the provinces. The paddy and dry fields have been measured and verified.

As for the statistical measurement of shops and land, it is obvious that it will definitely not be completed this year.

"To the Empress Dowager, this is the latest data on acres of land after verification by the Ministry of Agriculture. The seven provinces have a total of more than [-] million mu of mulberry fields, [-] million to [-] million mu of paddy fields, and more than [-] million mu of dry land..."

Holding the booklet, Ma Shiying introduced with some shame that although there were various reasons, it took a full year to complete the statistics and measurement of the paddy and dry fields in the seven provinces, which is really a bit of a delay.

In this regard, even his cabinet assistant has nothing to do.

Zhang Yan did not intend to blame, after all, this year's war, everything is stable, and it is human nature to be slower.

So for a whole year, I never urged the advancement of the New Deal, and now I am relieved to see that the water and dry fields have finally been measured at the end of the year.

After listening to Ma Shiying's report, he took the booklet again, looked it up carefully, and said, "Ma Aiqing, the paddy fields in Hunan and Hubei alone account for more than half of the total. Is the data accurate?"

Zhang Yan couldn't help but have no doubts.

The paddy field in Huguang actually has more than 8000 million mu, while the five provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian and Jiangxi together only have more than 7000 million mu.

Among them, Jiangxi and Zhejiang account for more than 5000 million mu, and the other three provinces add up to only more than 2000 million mu. This gap is really too big.

"Reporting to the Empress Dowager, the data has been verified and there will not be too much discrepancy. Since ancient times, Huguang has been cultivated all over the world. It is reasonable that the paddy fields in the two provinces are more than [-] million mu. The other five provinces are Fujian, which has more mountains and less farmland since ancient times, and Guangdong and Guangxi. , it is really difficult to compare with Jiangxi, Zhejiang."

Ma Shiying quickly explained that he still believed in this data, and it was normal for the queen mother to have doubts, after all, she didn't know the geographical population of each province.

Zhang Yan really doesn't know much about the geographical population of the provinces, so she took out the maps of the southern provinces and looked at them carefully for a while, and found that the areas of the provinces are about the same, but the counties in Guangdong and Guangxi are obviously much sparser. Also relieved.

"Well, since that's the case, let's tax this year's land, and the business tax and land can only be exempted."

Zhang Yan nodded and said helplessly.

Fortunately, this year, the two provinces of Southern Zhili, plus the five municipal bureaus, have already collected nearly 4000 million taels of tax. The tax in the south is as high as more than 4000 million taels, which is more than enough no matter what you do next year.

"Yes!"

Seeing that Zhang Yan didn't say anything about checking again, and started collecting taxes directly, Ma Shiying also breathed a sigh of relief. Seven provinces are no better than two provinces. If they really check one by one again, then this year will not pass again.

And the ministers of the various ministries on the side were also relieved from the bottom of their hearts, secretly thinking that the queen mother is indeed much easier to talk to than the emperor.

"I would like to report to the Queen Mother that there is still one matter that needs to be decided by the Queen Mother. The governor of Guangdong recently wrote a letter saying that a cape called Haojing, south of Xin'an County, Guangzhou Prefecture, has been leased by the Frankies all year round. There are tens of thousands of people so far. Those Frangji people built houses and built a port here, set up government offices and set up officials, and banned ordinary Han people from entering and leaving. The scale is no less than that of an ordinary county town, and I ask the Queen Mother to show me how to deal with it!"

"It's unreasonable. Those Franji people built houses and built a port. It's fine to come to our Ming Dynasty for trade. They even set up government offices privately and banned Han people from entering and leaving. It's simply lawless!"

After Ma Shiying finished speaking, Zuo Liangyu was the first to jump out and scolded angrily before the other civil servants spoke.

Zhang Yan also frowned, obviously didn't expect such a thing to happen, this is no different from a country within a country, so she asked in a slightly stern tone: "Ma Aiqing, those Frangji people should have come a lot Years ago, such absurd thing, why did it take until now to report it?"

"This... Qi reports to the Empress Dowager, as far as I know, when those Frangji people came to Daming thousands of miles away, their ships ran aground when they arrived in Haojing sea area, so they communicated with the local fishermen and rented a place to dry their goods. After negotiating with the local government, I rented that place for a long time, and I don't understand why it has developed into the current situation."

Ma Shiying had no choice but to answer honestly. He also hurriedly looked up the relevant situation after the governor of Guangdong wrote the letter. After a general understanding, he did not dare to make decisions without authorization.

As for why officials at all levels in Guangdong have not reported it, he can guess one or two. The relevant officials must get benefits from the Frangji people every year, plus a piece of wasteland, so he turned a blind eye. .

In fact, the reason why the Portuguese were able to build a country within a country there was that it was left unattended for hundreds of years during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The reason is because of interests.

The benefit to officials is only a little bit, but the gentry class and businessmen in Guangdong are almost all benefited from it.

Because the Portuguese built port trade in Macau, which greatly facilitated the trade between the two countries. Every year, they would bring a boatload of silver to Macau, trade a large amount of porcelain and silk with Chinese businessmen, and then sell them to Europe, and both sides would earn money. The pours are full.

Even when the Qing Dynasty closed the country, this kind of trade never stopped. Compared with the maritime merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, they had to take great risks to transport silk and porcelain to Manila in Luzon to trade with the Spaniards, but the merchants in Guangdong had to be more convenient. This is why the Portuguese have been acquiescing to their behavior.

If it weren't for this new policy, all the fields would have to be measured, so that whether it is the magistrate of Xin'an County or the prefect of Guangzhou, the governor of Guangdong would no longer dare to pretend to turn a blind eye. I am afraid that most of them will not report.

Whether it is the Spaniards or the Dutch, they are extremely envious of the Portuguese owning a port in Daming territory where they can trade directly.

However, the impressions of the two countries in Daming are extremely bad, coupled with the instigation of the Portuguese, as a result, the two countries have not been able to conduct direct trade with Daming, let alone renting a place to build a port.

The Honan people were still greedy for a while, and sent a fleet to fight the Portuguese, trying to take Macau over, but in the end they failed to win, so they settled in Taiwan. In the end, they fought against the Spaniards for Taiwan. .

Regarding the conflicts and entanglements of interests between the three countries, I am afraid that only some maritime merchants and Zheng Zhilong along the coast are clear about it. Most of the other Ming officials can't even tell the Portuguese from the Spaniards.

This is the case for Zhang Yan. Of course, she has heard of Franji, and she has seen it, and she has a good impression. She once helped Daming train firearms soldiers and build artillery. Who would have thought that they would be so lawless and privately set up government offices? .

"Ma Aiqing, what do you think about this matter?"

Although Zhang Yan was very angry, she still planned to let the cabinet draft a draft and then report it, and it was up to Lang'er to decide.

Although Lang'er trusts her very much, allowing her to handle all military and political affairs in the south with full authority, the more she is like this, the more she cherishes this trust in her heart.

Unless it is absolutely necessary, she will never make decisions without authorization. After all, this is not an urgent matter.

After being in contact for so long, Ma Shiying also knows Zhang Yan's temperament. Zhang Yan can avoid suspicion and evade, but as the cabinet assistant, he doesn't need to evade. My Daming has always been respectful, most of the privately established government offices are ignorant of my Daming's laws, and now His Majesty has lifted the sea ban and promoted sea trade, if they are completely expelled from my Daming territory, it will inevitably affect the sea trade.

The old minister suggested that a city ship department could be added in Haojing, or even a county could be established directly, and officials should be dispatched to manage it. As for those Fulangji people, as long as they obey the law, abide by the laws of my Ming Dynasty, and pay rent and taxes on time, they can still live there. Do business in luxury. "

"Ma Ge, setting up a government office privately is a serious crime of treason. Will it be too cheap for those Francine people?"

"Empress Dowager, I thought that we should send troops to directly suppress them, and captured them all in the capital, beheaded them to show the public, so as to serve as an example to others, and I am willing to lead the army in person."

Zuo Liangyu was afraid that the world would not be chaotic, so after ridiculing Ma Shiying, he begged Zhang Yan.

"Hmph, this is government affairs. Will General Zuo want to intervene? What's more, the two thieves, Sun and Ai, have not been punished so far. General Zuo should think more about how to arrest them as soon as possible!"

Ma Shiying saw this guy went to Jiangbei, and after being promoted to general by His Majesty, his ass turned up to the sky. Now, relying on the empress dowager's favor, he is ignored, and he suddenly became a little annoyed.

"The Franji people forcibly occupied our Daming land and set up government offices, which is no different from the invasion of foreign enemies. As a general of the Ming Dynasty, Zuo has the responsibility to guard the land, so naturally he has an inescapable responsibility."

Zuo Liangyu said righteously, obviously being the only general in Ming Dynasty is indeed a little bit drifting, and also wants to make some real achievements.

"You're clearly making unreasonable words. Although Frangji's actions are illegal, the land was indeed rented from me, Da Ming. This matter was reported to the court at the beginning, and Emperor Sejong also approved it. How can it be done?" Have foreign enemies invaded our powerful land of Ming Dynasty?"

"Okay, Zuo Aiqing is eager to make contributions, and his loyalty and bravery are commendable. However, it is indeed an exaggeration to say that those Francines invaded our Ming territory. The cabinet will draft a complete memorial on this matter as soon as possible. After Ai's review , then report to His Majesty for a decision!"

Seeing that the two were still arguing, Zhang Yan could only wave her hands, first praised Zuo Liangyu, and then said to Ma Shiying.

"The minister obeys the order!"

Ma Shiying quickly replied, Zuo Liangyu didn't say any more.

(End of this chapter)