Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 300 Returning with a Full Load

"put!"

"Boom boom boom——"

In mid-October, on the pier outside the Jiangdong Gate of Nanjing City, Yingtian Prefecture, when more than ten treasure ships with 5,000 materials entered the berth, the salutes on the pier also fired eighteen times in succession to celebrate the success of the fleet to the East.

"My dear... How many treasures must be transported on such a big ship?"

"It should all be ours..."

"Shh... keep it down."

On the pier, in addition to the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses maintaining order, there were also tens of thousands of people who came to watch the excitement.

Of course, most of them are laborers working on the dock, followed by ordinary people watching the excitement.

However, among them, there are also many heads and managers of coastal merchant gangs who came to inquire for information.

On the pier, Zhu Di stood under the yellow tent, followed closely by Zhu Gaoxu.

Behind their father and son, more than a hundred officials from the six ministries and six government offices were present.

As if to show them the benefits of going to Japan, Zhu Di specially called all the officials of the fourth rank and above in Beijing.

In fact, all the ministers knew whether there were any benefits to going to the East, but their concept of this benefit was very vague.

Although there are hundreds of merchant gangs along the coast, only the top ones are actually doing well. The profits earned by most of the remaining smuggling merchant gangs after deducting various expenses are not very high.

But now the Ming Dynasty's Eastern Fleet monopolizes the Ming Dynasty's trade with Japan. It can be said that their income from this voyage is equivalent to the income of large and small merchant gangs such as Jiangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang in a year, or even more.

"boom!"

When the sound of the boat ladder being set up on the pier sounded, Zheng He, Yang Zhan, Yang Qiu and others got off the boat one after another and walked quickly towards the yellow tent.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Highness..."

"No need for etiquette, I just want to see what you get."

Zheng He led everyone forward and tried to perform five bows and three kowtows, but was stopped by Zhu Di. Zhu Di even stepped forward to support Zheng He.

In response to this, Zheng He could not hide the smile on his face, and Yang Zhan turned around directly to signal to the commanders who were following him.

Several people understood and quickly ordered people to start moving the proceeds from this trade off the treasure ship.

Compared to the 150 fully loaded ships that went out to sea, only 18 treasure ships returned and arrived in Nanjing with their cargo.

But even so, the fully loaded treasure ship is enough to make people look forward to it.

The first to move off the treasure ship were the hundreds of boxes on Zheng He's ship. The volume of these boxes was enough to hold a person.

Although their volumes are the same, their weights are not the same.

Some boxes need to be pushed on a cart, while others need to be carried by four people from the dock.

When they were all placed in front of the ministers, the treasure ship in the distance was still unloading its cargo, and soon nearly a thousand boxes were piled up.

It was difficult to finish their actions quickly, so Zheng He turned around and said: "Open the box!"

"Beep——"

It seemed that after a rehearsal, as soon as Zheng He opened his mouth, Yang Qiu at the side blew the wooden whistle.

For a moment, the boxes placed in front of Zhu Di and the ministers were unlocked and opened one by one.

"gold!!"

"And there's money, so much money?!"

When the boxes in the first row were opened one after another, not only the officials took a breath, but even Zhu Di, who was accustomed to the world, also took a breath.

After the first box was opened, there were twenty or thirty gold ingots inside, with varying amounts of silver underneath.

After it, almost half of the ten boxes in the first row were filled with silver, and the rest were various types of copper coins.

Before Zhu Di even came back to his senses, a smile was already on his face. Zheng He also spoke at the right time and presented a memorial.

"The proceeds from this trade trip to the East are six thousand seven hundred and forty-two taels of gold, more than three hundred and sixty-nine thousand six hundred and sixty cents of silver, and more than nine hundred and sixty-four thousand fifty-two taels and six hundred copper coins..."

"In addition, there are more than 364,000 jins of raw copper, 121,600 jins of hematoxylin, 460,000 jins of sulfur, 1,000 horses, and more than 460,000 jins of various commercial goods. ."

Zheng He's gift list, based on gold, silver and copper coins alone, brought back nearly 1.4 million guan. The value of the other various goods is difficult to estimate, but based on the market price, it is no less than 800,000 guan.

It can be said that the proceeds from this voyage to the East were more than Zhu Gaoxu expected, at least 2.2 million yuan.

If the cost of 420,000 guan is deducted, Daming made a net profit of 1.78 million guan, nearly 500,000 guan more than the expected harvest.

"it is good!!"

Zhu Di glanced at these gold, silver and copper coins and felt that his breath was so hot that he almost breathed out fire.

If the officials were not present, he would have picked up the dozens of gold ingots.

"I have already prepared banquets for the soldiers at Liujiagang and Chang'anmen. The military attaché of the fifth rank has also prepared banquets at the Wuying Hall in the inner court. We will go now."

Zhu Di happily took Zheng He's hand. With a smile on his face, he turned around and saw the expressions of the ministers.

Some of them were genuinely happy, while others were just smiling.

This scene was also seen by Zhu Gaoxu, who turned around. There were many officials who were genuinely happy, and it was not difficult to understand.

In history, Zhu Di kept all the proceeds from his overseas voyages in his internal treasury. He would only spend large amounts of money when he needed to carry out some national projects. Therefore, historically, the officials had little sense of participation in the overseas voyages.

If we really want to talk about a sense of participation, then they can only feel a sense of participation when they work, exert effort, money and food.

But things are different now. Zhu Gaoxu has long discussed with Zhu Di to build a shipping warehouse in the imperial city. All the proceeds from the Western voyages will be put into the shipping warehouse and managed by the Ministry of Household Affairs, but the transfer requires the consent of the emperor and the prince.

In this way, the things in Shiboku were under Zhu Di's nose, but they belonged to the household department. Although it was a bit cumbersome to spend, it at least gave the six departments a sense of participation.

"Show off in Wuying Palace!"

The accompanying eunuch Wang Yan opened his mouth to sing a salute, and soon a team of Han generals composed of royal guards escorted Zhu Di, Zhu Gaoxu and others to the motorcade.

The ministers all retreated to open a road. Zhu Gaoxu saw Wang Xuan on the road and nodded to him quickly, and Wang Xuan responded with a smile.

But after Zhu Gaoxu left, he immediately turned his attention to the team behind him and saw Yang Zhan.

"The Duke of Yue!"

Wang Xuan shouted to Yang Zhan. Yang Zhan had just arrived in the capital and didn't know that Wang Xuan was also in the capital. So when he heard this familiar voice, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then looked around quickly.

When he saw Wang Xuan with a simple and honest smile, he immediately left the team, opened his hands and gave him a hug.

"Okay! Don't tell me when you come to the capital!"

"You are wandering on the sea, and you don't have the opportunity or time to send a message."

Old friends reunited, the two joked and let go of their hands, and started chatting regardless of what others thought.

"You're welcome. This time I want to have a good time drinking and eating meat with you."

Yang Zhan showed the vigor he should have at his age in front of Wang Xuan. Wang Xuan also grinned when he heard this: "It's a pity that I can't go to conquer Annan, otherwise we can fight side by side."

"Do you want to go? Then I'll talk to His Highness." As soon as Yang Zhan heard what Wang Xuan said, he immediately went to find Zhu Gaoxu, but Wang Xuan held him back.

"Hey, I was just joking. His Highness has given me a job. I also met with His Majesty a few days ago and talked with him about many things."

"Three announcements and six comforts?" Yang Zhan said in a low voice, then pulled Wang Xuan aside and whispered:

"If you delay there, I'm afraid we won't be able to meet each other in this life."

Yang Zhan knew very well that although he had fought successfully on land in Guangxi, he could not compare to the sea.

What's more, considering how much His Highness attaches importance to the Navy, it is estimated that he will have to stay in the Navy for the rest of his life.

As a result, not only were he and Wang Xuan unable to fight side by side, they even had very few opportunities to communicate and meet.

"It's hard to say, who knows."

Wang Xuan still looked that honest and honest, and Yang Zhan couldn't help but feel sorry for him when he saw this: "Has His Majesty knighted you?"

"No, but I got promoted." Wang Xuan shook his head. At the same time, he was worried that Yang Zhan would defend him, so he quickly said:

"But His Highness said that the title will be reserved for me. I will be awarded the title after I have more military exploits."

"That's okay..." Hearing Wang Xuan do this, Yang Zhan, who was about to get angry, breathed a sigh of relief, but continued: "Your merits are no worse than those who have been granted the title of marquis and earl, but you can't say it out loud. It’s a bit embarrassing.”

"Fortunately, you and I are still young and have plenty of time to prepare. If you are still not knighted when you reach your thirties, then I will take the risk..."

"Okay, there will be." Wang Xuan interrupted Yang Zhan. Yang Zhan wanted to speak, but seeing Wang Xuan's serious expression, he slowly closed his mouth.

"Let's go to Wuying Hall and have a few drinks!"

"go!"

After calming down, Yang Zhan returned to his usual calmness. He pulled Wang Xuan and followed the team heading to Wuying Palace.

At the same time, Zhu Gaoxu also walked to the side of the carriage. After watching Zhu Di, Wang Yan and Zheng He get on the carriage, he stood there and waited for a while.

After a long time, he saw Wang Xuan and Yang Zhan walking quickly towards this side.

"Arrange the first carriage after the golden chariot for Wang Xuan and Yang Zhan."

"Yes"

Zhu Gaoxu ordered Yi Shiha, but Yi Shiha did not refute.

After all, among the military attachés in Beijing, except for Xu Huizu and Zhang Yu, who have already devoted themselves to teaching, no one has a higher status than Yang Zhan.

Yang Zhan and Wang Xuan were riding in the same car, and it was not against the rules to follow closely behind Jin Chao.

"Your Highness!"

Wang Xuan and Yang Zhan came looking for them, and Zhu Gaoxu quickly smiled and signaled: "Go and sit on that carriage, and stay close to me."

"Yes!" The two of them bowed in return, and then got on the carriage that Yi Shiha had arranged for them.

Not long after, as the golden train set off, a large number of civil servants who had got on the train early finally caught up with the team.

"Delaying so many people just for two people..." In a carriage, Xie Jin retracted his body leaning out of the window and complained dissatisfiedly.

In the same car with him were Yang Shiqi and three civil servants with minor official positions.

Although Yang Shiqi was only a Hanlin editor, he was very famous in Jiangxi literary circles, so he was appointed Zuo Zhongyun by Zhu Di.

In addition to him and Xie Jin, the other two civil servants were Hu Guang, the right concubine, Hu Yan, the minister of the Imperial Academy, and Jin Youzi, the lecturer of the Hanlin Academy.

Judging from their official positions alone, they seem to be dispensable, but in addition to their official positions, they also have the status of grand bachelors.

People may not be familiar with the Grand Bachelor of the Palace, but if we talk about its other name "Cabinet", then many people are familiar with it.

It is still the Yongle period, and the imperial academicians have no real power. They are just advisors to the emperor, similar to the secretarial position of later generations. They have not yet evolved to the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, when they could draft edicts, respond to memorials on behalf of the emperor, and actually have the power of the prime minister. that power.

But even so, they are the people closest to the emperor every day, so although their official positions are low, their status is high.

"Recently, the East Palace has released news that it is planning to classify the Western Ocean as an area for private maritime free trade. The Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangdong maritime merchants have learned the news, and each has his own plans."

"They have made a plan. The officials in eastern Zhejiang and Jiangdong above the temple can only concentrate on the voyage to the West. We have also made preparations in advance and will take this opportunity to find some outstanding scholars and wait for your majesty to launch the imperial examination next year. .”

Xie Jin spoke slowly, and everyone was convinced. Yang Shiqi also said, "Wang Zhi, Wang Ying, Zhou Shu, and Li Shimian are good people."

"My place of origin is..." Hu Guang tentatively spoke.

"They are all my children from Jiangxi." Yang Shiqi replied, and Xie Jin also nodded: "Compared to other places, the children from my hometown finally understand some things."

"There are no high-ranking officials in the six departments. If it is the imperial examination, I am afraid that there will be a step backward."

Hu Guang was worried, but Xie Jin was determined: "I, Jiangzuo, have a prosperous literary style, why do I need to worry about this?"

"Compared to this, it is better to focus on Dong Palace."

Xie Jin lowered his voice a bit: "Although the tax department in the East Palace has not taken any action, as long as they exist, measuring the land is always possible."

Everyone frowned when they heard about the land measurement.

At present, Jiangxi has 40 million acres of cultivated land. The quantity of water in it is very small, but the quality of the land is very large.

Thanks to the repair of Jiangxi's water conservancy during the Song and Hongwu years, the quality of Jiangxi's cultivated land is actually not bad. However, when it comes to paying taxes, the summer and autumn grains paid for the 40 million acres of cultivated land in Jiangxi are only 200 yuan. More than six hundred thousand stones.

Although this amount is quite large, it is far behind Shanxi, which has about the same amount of cultivated land.

Shanxi, which has more than 39 million acres of cultivated land, pays more than 2.8 million shi in land tax, which is much less than Jiangxi's cultivated land. The reason for this is not only that Lao Zhu's tax rate for Shanxi is different from that of Jiangxi, but more importantly, Jiangxi Many farm acres and household registrations have been changed in nature by local subordinates, district chiefs, and grain chiefs.

Just as the wealthy households in Jiangdong changed their upper households to middle households and lower households, and changed their upper-class paddy fields to lower-class dry fields, Jiangxi also did the same.

In other words, not only Jiangxi, but powerful people all over the world are saying this.

Zhu Gaoxu's Tax Department is the sword hanging above these people's heads.

It's just that the current tax department is too weak, and there is no way to clean up the world's fields and check the situation of the world's fields.

In addition, Zhu Gaoxu had already offended Jiangnan, so the tax department was uniformly dispatched to Qingzhang Tianmu in Shandong shortly after being transferred back.

But even if they go to Shandong, there seems to be few rumors about them clearing the land of their wealthy husband.

Although many people are still watching them, they don't really have much information. They only know that they are constantly measuring acres of land in Qingzhou, Dengzhou and Laizhou, and at the same time helping local people reclaim wasteland.

But even so, they did not think that Zhu Gaoxu was giving in. After all, the two methods for managing Annan given by Zhu Gaoxu a few days ago were widely circulated among the circles of senior officials above the fourth rank.

His temper is still cruel, how could he let go of the matter of clearing the land of his father?

Jie Jin just thought about it and then thought about what Zhu Gaoxu wanted to do.

"Although Liaodong has little information, it is not a place where water cannot get in."

Jie Jin listened to the sound of horses' hooves and slowly said to Yang Shiqi and others: "The imperial court allocated 8 million stones to Liaodong last year, but do you know the specific situation in Liaodong now?"

"I heard that there are more than 7 million acres of cultivated land. In the coming year, there will be at least 5 million shi of solid food, which can provide at least one-third of the food rations for the people of Liaodong."

Hu Yan tentatively spoke, and Hu Guang on the side also added: "Even so, the Ministry of Revenue has sent a note a few days ago, preparing to transport all the land tax from Shandong, Henan, and Lianghuai areas to Liaodong."

"I did the math at the time, and it was almost 6.4 million dan, which is a little less than last year, but more than what the East Palace originally requested."

"Of course there are more." Xie Jin hummed, his expression a little ugly.

"Do you know what the situation is like in Liaodong's official schools?"

"This……"

Xie Jin asked Hu Guang and the others a question, but Yang Shiqi on the side picked up the topic: "It is said that it has a wide range of operations."

"Not only Guangzhou, but all students outside Guan Guan are basically eligible for admission!"

Jie Jin's words immediately made the rest of the people in the carriage realize that something was wrong.

The reason for the flourishing literary style in Jiangxi is simply that there are a large number of official private schools, and the number of students who can benefit is even greater than that in Zhejiang and Zhili.

In this way, even if the number of people filing scientific reports in Jiangxi each time cannot exceed that of Zhili and Zhejiang, it will not lose too much to them, and may even have a chance of winning.

But now Zhu Gaoxu has invested so much. Although he won't be able to catch up with Jiangxi for a while, he is already a threat to Jiangxi.

After all, although the number of Jinshi is large, it is only 400 at most.

If there are more people applying, the competition will become more intense, and the spots originally held will be taken away by others.

There is a way to solve this problem, which is to increase the number of Jinshi places.

However, the quota for Jinshi is only a small thing, and the quota for officials is the most important thing.

After Zhu Di changed back to the old Hongwu system, the number of civil servants in Beijing dropped back to more than 900, excluding the tax department.

Locally, the number of civil servants remained at more than 26,000 in the late Hongwu period, and the same was true in the Yongle period.

However, including the tax department and civil servants in Beijing, the total number of officials during the Yongle period had reached 30,000.

Not counting the three divisions, prefectures and the current capital, the normal number of officials in a county is five. For the entire Ming Dynasty, the number of officials in an ordinary county is basically only more than 9,000.

Counting the three divisions, prefectures, prefectures and the capital, it can barely reach 30,000.

Under such circumstances, even if you pass the Jinshi examination, it will be difficult to get a position of real power. As for those who are promoted, they are basically waiting for the vacancies that are not wanted by the Jinshi to fill up.

Zhu Gaoxu's establishment of official schools in Liaodong can be said to be an eye-opener for the entire existing bureaucracy.

Once hundreds of thousands of students from Liaodong become successful and flock to the battlefield of the imperial examination, even if their literary talents are not good, the hundreds of thousands of people will always be able to emerge with a lot of talents. Not to mention the difficulty of the imperial examination, what does Zhu Gaoxu want to do with so many official students? What to do?

Before everyone expected it, they saw that the carriage had stopped.

For a moment, the officials got off the carriage one after another and walked into the outer court along the Xihua Gate.

Zhu Di took the lead and pulled Zheng He towards Wuying Palace.

Not long after, he led Zheng He and the ministers across the Sanlong Bridge. The place was already filled with tables and chairs, and there were soldiers and eunuchs waiting on the left and right.

Officials of the third rank and above walked into the Wuying Hall to attend the banquet, while the other officials sat down in the square outside the Wuying Hall and waited for the food to be served.

There were more than ten tables and chairs in the spacious Wuying Hall. Zhu Di let go of Zheng He's hand and walked up to the golden platform in the main hall of Wuying Hall. After sitting down, all the officials sang and took their seats.

Zhu Gaoxu's position was under the golden platform, very close to Yang Zhan's table.

Seeing the ministers taking their seats, Zhu Di said: "The voyage to the East has been so successful, so before the state banquet begins, I am going to announce something, that is, preparations for the voyage to the West will start from now on."

He expressed his thoughts, and for a moment the ministers in the palace looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

They were silent for a long time, and then reluctantly bowed to Zhu Di on the golden stage: "Your Majesty, the Holy Ming..."

"Have a banquet!" Seeing the reluctant expressions of the ministers, Zhu Di's smile did not diminish, and he ordered Wang Yan to have a banquet.

Soon the food and wine were served. In the early Ming Dynasty, the chefs and Guanglu Temple cooks were quite good, but they were not criticized for their poor cooking like in the late Ming Dynasty.

Famous dishes such as stir-fried mutton, pan-fried goose, stir-fried pork with yellow cabbage, shrimps with pepper and vinegar, etc. were served on each table. Each table could seat eight people and set out twelve dishes.

Looking at the table full of food, Zhu Gaoxu finally understood why the cost of the palace was so high.

Zhu Di likes to give banquets, and the banquets are not bad, so the cost will naturally go up.

"Your Highness..."

Not long after the banquet started, Zheng He found Zhu Gaoxu after toasting with Zhu Di.

At this moment, Zhu Gaoxu was still chatting and laughing with Yang Zhan, Wang Xuan, Xu Zengshou and others who had just come to toast. When he saw Zheng He approaching, he looked at him with a smile: "This is a good job. After Annan is pacified next year, The imperial court still needs you to continue your voyages to the West, and I look forward to your performance."

The performance he said was nothing more than how much gold and silver he brought back. Zheng He also knew this, but compared to this kind of thing, Zheng He cared more about other things.

"Just now, I toasted to His Majesty. His Majesty mentioned the establishment of the Xuanwei Department in Old Port and Luzon, so I came to ask His Highness."

Zheng He spoke in front of Yang Zhan and others, which meant that he did not regard Yang Zhan and others as outsiders, which made Zhu Gaoxu very happy.

"This matter is complicated to talk about. You have to drink and eat meat today. In two days, I will summon Xipinghou and others to come to Wuying Palace together. Let's talk about this matter."

"By the way, I also asked someone to make a Nanyang sand table for you. You can take a good look at it..."

After a few glasses of wine, Zhu Gaoxu also seemed a little excited. After all, he had too many old friends today. Since entering Nanjing, he had rarely participated in such lively banquets.

"Then this slave will go and toast with the other fleet brothers first."

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu say this, Zheng He also breathed a sigh of relief.

He experienced several storms during this voyage to the East. If the map provided by Zhu Gaoxu was not detailed enough, I am afraid that the fleet would have encountered a lot of trouble.

Now Zhu Gaoxu said that he had prepared a sand table for going to Nanyang, which meant that he had already investigated Nanyang, which saved Zheng He a lot of trouble.

"Go, go, drink and enjoy yourself!"

Zhu Gaoxu patted Zheng He on the shoulder. The force made Zheng He grin, but he had to force out a smile: "My slave, please leave..."

Looking at his appearance, Yang Zhan, Wang Xuan, and Cui Jun looked at each other in confusion.

They seemed to have a deep understanding of Zhu Gaoxu's strength when he was happy.

　"Records of Taizong of the Ming Dynasty": "In October, Zheng He returned from his voyage to the East and obtained millions of gold, silver, spices and merchandise."

　　"Bohai Chronicles": "In the tenth month of the first year of Renyin, the Sanbao eunuch returned to Yingtian and received more than two million gold, silver, copper coins and other commercial goods."

　　

　

(End of this chapter)