I really don't want to be emperor at the end of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 218 How to develop the economy without a road

Chapter 217

The Yangtze River in December made General Wu Sheng realize that his life is in the hands of Cheng Shijie. Live very nourishingly.

"Ben Shuai gives you two ways!"

Cheng Shijie looked at Wu Sheng, who was shivering in the cold wind, and said: "The first way, you guessed right, although I hold the Shangfang sword, you are indeed not under my jurisdiction. I use the Shangfang sword. If you can't kill you, don't be complacent. This commander can impeach you to His Majesty and the Ministry of War, and report your actions to the Ministry of War, so that the Ministry of War will take care of you! You...damn, a bunch of trash who only eat and do nothing, Such a strong fortress is actually easily occupied by a gang of mobs, I really want to kill you..."

When Wu Sheng heard this, his face turned green with fright: "Cheng Shuai, I will choose the second path in the end!"

"Do you know what the second way is?"

"No matter what the road is, I will do whatever Cheng Shuai tells me to do!"

"Very good, very smart choice."

Cheng Shijie pointed to the Yangtze River and said with a smile: "The boats running up and down the Yangtze River are not ships, but white money! Take a little from each ship, and we will make a fortune! But, none of you have thought about it before. Did you collect taxes in the past?"

Wu Sheng smiled wryly and said: "Cheng Shuai, it's not that he doesn't want to, but that he doesn't dare. All seagoing ships that dare to pass through Wusongkou have their own heels, and we won't be able to provoke them in the end!"

"You can't afford to offend them, why don't you find someone who can offend them?"

Cheng Shijie smiled lightly and said, "You don't think no one can control them, do you?"

Cheng Shijie did not immediately indicate that Ning Haijun wanted to occupy Wusongkou, but instead used the method of blocking the river to make money. When he was talking, Cheng Shijie asked Gao Qiqian to come over.

"Mr. Wu, let me introduce someone to you. Eunuch Gao Qiqian, the famous man in front of His Majesty, the eunuch who is the admiral of the warrior battalion, the eunuch who is the head of the imperial army, the palm seal of the imperial horse supervisor, and the army supervisor of Ning Haijun. Think about it, Gao Can the father-in-law offend those people!"

Gao Qiqian naturally knew that there was too much oil and water on the Yangtze River, but this oil and water was not controlled by Wusongkou, but in Nanjing. Wusongkou was the Six Departments of Nanjing and the small coffers and money bags of the guarding eunuchs.

Gao Qiqian said: "General Cheng, those people are not easy to mess with!"

"What about several million taels of silver every year??"

"what?"

Cheng Shijie said with a smile: "The protection fee collected by Zheng Zhilong at sea every year is taken up by these wealthy merchants in the south of the Yangtze River. If we occupy Wusongkou and collect 700% from each ship, it will be 600 million taels of silver. If we collect [-]% Taxes, that is [-] million taels of silver. Is this money worth offending them?"

Gao Qiqian's face became serious: "Our family has always shared the worries of the emperor, we and these moths are irreconcilable!"

"The money, Cheng thinks it should be divided into three pieces!"

"Eunuch Gao owns [-]%, and His Majesty owns [-]%. If Cheng is not talented, he takes [-]%. Eunuch will take care of the rest!"

Wu Sheng opened his mouth and said boldly: "Then what about the general?"

"Who do you think you are?"

Without waiting for Cheng Shijie to speak, Gao Qiqian stepped forward and kicked Wu Sheng.

Cheng Shijie said with a smile: "Oh, Eunuch Gao, this is wrong. The emperor is willing to starve his soldiers to death. If they don't let them eat enough, how can they work hard? How about it, Mr. Wu, your share, my commander Come out, I will give you 10 taels of silver every year!"

Wu Sheng was ecstatic in his heart.

However, he was stunned by the great news in front of him.

Gao Qiqian was a little unhappy: "Mr. Wu, why are you still not satisfied? You can't be too greedy..."

"Eunuch, the general is very satisfied!"

Cheng Shijie's promise to Wu Sheng was of course just empty talk, how could Cheng Shijie give him 10 taels of silver, what he gave him was only in name.

Cheng Shijie said: "Not only will I give you 10 taels of silver, but I will also provide you with equipment and supplies for the next part of my command. On the side of the Ning Navy Navy, I will transfer you a hundred ships to make you enough Intercept all smuggling boats on the river!"

Soon the supply ship of the Ning Navy docked at the Wusongkou Wharf and unloaded a large amount of food and supplies from the ship. Soon, Wusongkou also became a huge construction site like Chongming Island.

A large number of civilian men and guard soldiers are wielding hoes and shovels, building warehouses and trestles in full swing.Wusongkou is called a fortress, but in fact, it is the same as the Dengzhou Weizuo Thousand Households in the past. It is already in a mess, and many fortifications can be kicked down.

The weapon warehouse was empty, and there was not even a single cannon in the Wusongkou Fortress. After asking, it turned out that those cannons had been secretly used by successive commanders to melt copper coins.

Cheng Shijie finally knew why Zheng Zhilong's pirate group could easily capture Wusongkou. Can a fortress without a single gun be called a fortress?He had no choice but to command the civilian husband and guard soldiers to rebuild the fort and mount the five-inch naval gun that was originally assigned to him on the Jusha-class battleship.

It wasn't that Cheng Shijie didn't use the huge naval gun, it was because the five-inch naval gun was too heavy for a sailing warship. After one shot, the battleship retreated tens of meters as a whole. No one dared to fire a second shot due to the huge recoil.

If the second shot is fired, the Jusha-class battleship will fall apart if the enemy is not used. The Ning Navy and Army have nothing to do with these behemoths. Two naval guns with a range of more than 4000 meters are enough to block the river.

What convinced Cheng Shijie the most was that Wu Sheng and others who were in charge of building the fort, wharf and trestle bridge actually tried to cut corners under his nose!For example, let them dig the foundation. The foundation is only dug less than one meter, and the work is over. The wood for the construction of the trestle bridge should be as good as possible.

It can only be said that no one can die from eating it. The rice, salted eggs, salted fish and other good things that should have been given to the peasants were all sold by them.

But the problem is, for the bastard Wu Sheng, he still needs to be used. Cheng Shijie played a trick, reported the Wusongkou counterattack to the Ministry of War, and Gao Qiqian endorsed it. Therefore, Wu Sheng, the general soldier of Wusongkou, Wu Sheng became Cheng Shijie's personal guard commander. Wu Sheng also had the original generals and was promoted to the commander-in-chief.

He directly occupied the magpie's nest and became the de facto Wu Sheng's general soldier. As for the original Wu Sheng, this guy had no morale, so Cheng Shijie asked people to directly seal Wu Sheng in a concrete pillar as the final contribution.

As for the other guard officers with dirty hands and feet, Cheng Shijie also killed two and five, and killed one as soon as he was found!The Ning Haijun internal supervisor sent by Chen Guodong wandered around the construction site a few times a day, and then ate with the workers, and killed every one they found.Soon, the engineering quality of the Wusongkou Fortress was improved tenfold. When digging the foundation, I wanted to dig out all the magma. The food quality of the workers was also greatly improved, even better than that of some officials. !

Just when Cheng Shijie started to build fortifications in Chongming, Changxing, and Wusongkou, a Carrack warship written in Portuguese came to Wusongkou.

The Carrack is a three- or four-masted sailing ship.Also translated as Carrick Battleship.Japanese history books of the same period called it "black ship".It is characterized by its huge curved stern and huge bow spar.It is equipped with several square sails on the foremast and topmast, and a jib sail on the mizzen.

Carrick is the first ship in European history to be used for ocean voyages, because of its large size it can remain stable in the vast ocean; in addition, it is divided into a large amount of space to store enough supplies for ocean voyages.

Karak warships are huge and well-protected. The addition of the military has turned some Karak-type sailing ships into super sailing ships weighing two thousand tons, three masts, and multiple decks.The multi-layered deck can hold heavy artillery, and it is also convenient to fire side-by-side side artillery. The firepower is very powerful and terrifying.It can be said that it surpassed any warship in Asia at that time.

European navigators also continued to improve the Karak battleship.In addition to improving sailboat masts, cast iron replaced welded wrought iron in naval guns.A breech-loading gun that could be mounted on a rack replaced a muzzle-loading gun mounted on a cart with wheels.These have strengthened the performance of the naval gun.

It can be said that Portugal's ability to become the overlord of the sea relied on the warship Karak. The appearance of this warship has attracted Cheng Shijie's attention. Now that the main battleship of the Ning Navy is not at Wusongkou, this warship is not easy to deal with.

Cheng Shijie ordered: "All four hundred gunboats are ready to attack with fireboats!"

However, just when the war was about to break out, the battleship put on the gun cover, put on the gun cover, just like infantry putting away their rifles, this is not in a fighting state, and soon, a small speedboat was dispatched from this behemoth , Contact the Ning Navy Navy and express your intention.

Of course, the Portuguese have now gone downhill, and with the Dutch as a shit-stirrer, they are attacking Portuguese settlements or colonies all over the world.

Although the Portuguese have to pay taxes to the Ming Dynasty to settle and do business in Macau, if you don’t pay taxes, you won’t discuss it.Some foolish and brain-dead people make excuses and think that Macau was lost by the Ming Dynasty. In fact, the Ming Dynasty really can’t blame the Ming Dynasty. The Portuguese in Macau during the Ming Dynasty were very honest, and they didn’t dare to stab them. Macau is cut off from China, and we have to wait another 200 years for the glorious Qing Dynasty to turn the entire land of China into a place full of fools and all horses and horses.

The Portuguese are Ming's allies now. When the Manchus attacked Beijing, they sent troops to support them in the name of mercenaries. Of course, the Western-style army Sun Yuanhua trained in Dengzhou was the Spanish-style army trained by the Portuguese.After all, Portugal is not yet a sovereign state, but a vassal state of the Spanish Empire.

"Meet the Governor of Liaodong!"

If he hadn't seen this foreign devil with his own eyes, Cheng Shijie would have found it hard to believe that Zeng Dezhao, the representative of the Portuguese with a beard, was very fluent in Chinese. He came to Nanjing to learn Chinese in the 41st year of Wanli (1613) and named him Xie Wulu. In 44, Shen Zuo, the minister of the Ministry of Rites, was escorted to Macau when he asked for a ban on teaching.Over the next four years, this name was changed.

Now that he has lived in Daming for more than 20 years, it is not surprising that he can speak Chinese.

"Zeng Dezhao, what are you doing here?"

"Dear Governor, on behalf of Portugal, we want to do business with Liaodong!"

Zeng Dezhao said with a smile: "Our church members in Liaodong say that Your Excellency Governor has phosphate ore, guano, tin ore, manganese ore, copper ore, silver ore, sulfur, saltpeter, and a lot of wood!"

"That's right, I wonder if Your Excellency the Governor will allow us Portuguese to go to Liaodong?"

"can!"

Cheng Shijie thought for a while and said, "There are three things to follow!"

"Please say!"

"First, you are in Liaodong, and there are my soldiers to protect your safety. You can't bring weapons and equipment to land in Liaodong. You still want to go ashore with knives and guns. This will make people say that the law and order under my commander is not good!"

"can!"

Zeng Dezhao didn't hesitate, nor did he object. They had few people and few guns. Facing Ning Haijun, it was not enough to watch, especially the Spanish Army they were proud of. up.

"Second thing, you must abide by the laws of Ming Dynasty. The Portuguese in Liaodong violated the law and should be dealt with according to the laws of Ming Dynasty. As the saying goes, do as the Romans do, you should understand that you have been in Daming for more than 20 years!"

Zeng Dezhao said: "This is what it should be!"

"The other thing is that you have to pay taxes according to the Liaodong system. Of course, after paying the taxes, you enjoy the protection of the Ning Navy, and you can also have the right to buy property in Liaodong!"

Cheng Shijie said with a smile: "You can buy land in Liaodong, and you can also build churches!"

The Portuguese were so moved that they wanted to cry. They thought of ways to preach, but the problem was that they didn't know that the Ming people were actually the most pragmatic, and they only believed in their ancestors.

To be worthy of one's ancestors is the code of ethics and conduct, and to honor the lintel is the greatest goal and motivation.

Cheng Shijie wasn't worried that the missionaries would take away people's hearts. If they had the ability, they wouldn't have such a headache.

When Cheng Shijie met Zeng Dezhao, representatives of the Dutch East India Company also boarded Wusongkou and asked to meet Cheng Shijie.

"Your Excellency, I am the senior commercial commissioner of the Dutch East India Company. I think we have room for cooperation!"

Cheng Shijie said with a faint smile: "Dutch East India Company, how do you want to cooperate?"

Ning Haijun fought with the Zheng Group, which made the Dutch see an opportunity. In fact, the Dutch were very unhappy that Zheng Zhilong had monopolized the trade with the Dutch. They wanted to do business directly with Daming, but the problem was that no matter what the goods were, they had to After Zheng Zhilong scraped a layer.

More importantly, the Dutch have taken a fancy to Dayuan, who is rich in resources, pleasant climate, and extremely advantageous geographical location. Taking the risk of war with the Ming Dynasty, they sent troops to occupy it.

However, the officials are really too barbaric. They are completely in the prehistoric era. There are countless poisonous snakes and beasts stinging in the forest, and there are fierce and bloodthirsty natives hiding in the dark and staring at them. If they don't pay attention to their heads, it will make these terrifying The headhunters cut it off and hung it under the eaves to dry.

Of course, the most painful thing is that the traffic conditions are extremely poor, and there is not a decent road at all.It's not that they don't want to repair it, but it's too difficult to repair. After repairing it, it was washed away by the flood. The conditions are so bad, and it's hard to imagine the difficulty of developing a large staff.

Dayuan is not completely barren. For example, the Taichung area, because of the development of the founder of Taiwan Yan Siqi, after more than ten years of development, the Taichung area now has a certain amount of infrastructure, but the problem is that this area belongs to Zheng Zhilong, if they want to intervene, they will undoubtedly be hit by Zheng Zhilong.

However, the Dutch were not against Zheng Zhilong's opponents. In their view, Cheng Shijie's sea strength was far inferior to Zheng Zhilong's, and they had no choice but to cooperate with them.

When the representative of the Netherlands was the senior commercial commissioner of the Dutch East India Company, he is now the Governor-General Putmans.

Cheng Shijie unceremoniously rejected Putmans's proposal. No matter how he and Zheng Zhilong fought, it was a Ming civil war. However, the Dutch intervened and with the help of the Dutch, Cheng Shijie was a traitor and traitor. This is a matter of principle.

"Your Excellency, Governor, you must know that Zheng's strength is much stronger than yours!"

"I don't need you to worry about that!"

Seeing Cheng Shijie's resolute attitude, Putmans expressed great regret.

He also knew that Cheng Shijie hadn't suffered a loss yet, he won a chance victory and thought he could easily defeat Zheng Zhilong, but when Zheng Zhilong really attacked with all his strength, Cheng Shijie would cry and beg for their help.

When Putmans was about to leave, Cheng Shijie smiled lightly and said, "Hans, are you still comfortable in Dayuan?"

Hans, Putmans said bravely, "Comfortable, comfortable."

"It's good to be comfortable! But sir, the place is very barren, infested with malaria mosquitoes and beasts, it is very dangerous, and there is not even a decent road. You must have encountered many difficulties in settling there, right?"

Seeing that Cheng Shijie's attitude was very tough, Putmans thought that Cheng Shijie was going to ask the teacher for the crime, but he never expected that he would greet them with care.

Putmans tentatively said: "We are really grateful for the Governor's concern! To be honest with the Governor, we did encounter great difficulties with the Governor, for example, the traffic conditions are extremely poor, and the So we can only settle in a few ports, and we dare not go deep into the island at all..."

"How can this work? If you want to get rich, build roads first. Children can understand that, but roads don't help develop the economy! After you go back, build roads quickly, and build roads that run through the entire Dayuan Island!"

Putmans said with a sad face: "We also want to repair it, but it is hot and rainy, so we finally repaired the road. After a few heavy rains, the roadbed was washed away again!"

"You can build concrete roads!"

Cheng Shijie naturally had no good intentions, he bewitched the Dutch to build roads, waited for the Dutch to repair the ports, roads, and towns, and then sent troops to beat them down and eat ready-made ones...

(End of this chapter)