Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The actions of the nobles in the capital were soon noticed by the Jinyiwei's Intelligence Department and reported to the emperor in an intelligence briefing.

After Zhu Youjian learned that the source was in the Yinggong Zhang family, he sighed:
"The Duke of England has foresight!"

He highly appreciated the idea of ​​the Zhang family, Duke of Yingguo, taking the lead in preparing to establish a fiefdom.

However, they were not allowed to take Jiaozhi as their fiefdom.

This place is one of the best places around the Ming Dynasty. Not only the Duke of Yingguo has his eyes on it, but also the Prince of Jingjiang, Zhu Hengjia, who has just arrived in Beijing, has set his eyes on it and requested to go to Jiaozhi to establish a vassal state.

This person had coveted the throne in history. During the Southern Ming Dynasty, he claimed to be the regent, but was suppressed by the then Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Ding Kuichu, and the Governor of Guangxi, Qu Shisi. It can be said that he was an uneasy person.

Zhu Youjian suppressed all these opinions because the She'an Rebellion had not been quelled, and the Annan Governor-General Mo was quite submissive. He was not allowed to discuss the establishment of vassal states in Annan and other surrounding vassal states.

He didn't want to open a new front in the surrounding area when the She'an Rebellion had not been quelled.

In addition to the actions of nobles and ministers, the impact of overseas grain transportation to the capital began to ferment among the people.

After the people in the capital city ate the food from overseas, their view of overseas countries suddenly changed. They used to regard it as a barren land, but now they envy those who have obtained overseas land.

No matter how remote the overseas land is, as long as it can grow food, it has value in their eyes.

The sailors who were recruited by the vassal states with hundreds of acres of land some time ago became the envy of ordinary people.

Many people also went to inquire with the princes to see if they still needed people and whether they would distribute land.

The King of Han, the Duke of Jiangling, and the Earl of Ningyuan all recruited some talents because of this.

Zheng Zhihu, Li Guozhu and others who arrived in the capital were extremely envious of this.

Li Guozhu said sourly:
"What's so good about the land in the north? It snows for several months a year and the coast is frozen."

"Nanyang is a good place, with three harvests a year!"

Zheng Zhihu glanced at him unhappily and said:

"Okay, stop saying these weird things!"

"If you want to recruit talents, you must first make achievements and raise your own rank."

"They are all princes and nobles, and they can enfeoff vassal nobles."

"How can we, the knights, compete with them for talent?"

He was thinking about how he could make meritorious contributions and raise his title.

The emperor often appointed vassal states and gave them hundreds of miles of fiefdoms. Zheng Zhihu was really stimulated and wanted to become a vassal state as well.

Thinking of the emperor's appointment of him as a naval lieutenant general and Yu Zigao's continuous recruitment, he decided to bring his sailors with him when he returned this time.

Li Guozhu did not have this opportunity, and was more concerned about whether going to Southeast Asia to expand territory would be considered meritorious service. Would the emperor grant him all the land he had conquered?
Although he tried to exaggerate the merits of overseas expansion, Li Guozhu still felt that things were not that simple. Even if his knowledge was shallow, he would not think that the emperor would grant him a large territory based on how much land he conquered.

One must have made other contributions before the emperor can increase his title and grant him fiefdom.

"What kind of merit is considered merit for Your Majesty?"

"Does transporting grain to His Majesty count?"

"After all, His Majesty said that there will be severe droughts in the next ten years or so, so food will definitely be needed."

"If I donate food, can I be promoted to a higher rank?"

Thinking about all this in his mind, Li Guozhu, who was better at business, decided to make achievements in terms of money and grain rather than fight on the battlefield.

Before the two of them could think it through, Zhu Youjian in the palace quickly summoned them.

Zhu Youjian was very happy that these people brought in food at this time. He pointed to the map of the capital and said:

"You should have heard about the construction of the palaces of the kings."

"Since you have made great contributions this time, I will grant each of you 20 mu of land on which you can build your own residence."

"Work hard in the future, and I won't treat you unfairly!"

The words are spoken very straightforwardly and the rewards are very real.

Zheng Zhihu and Li Guozhu were so delighted when they heard that the emperor had allocated 20 acres of land to them like a prince to build a mansion in the capital.

Twenty acres of land is not large, but it means that they are truly regarded as nobles by the emperor, and will have the opportunity to enter the circle of nobles in the capital and establish connections with royal family members and nobles in the future.

What made Zheng Zhihu particularly happy was that the emperor also asked about the situation of his sons and nephews and asked him and his brother not to arrange engagements for them.

This made him feel that the emperor seemed to have the idea of ​​granting them marriages, intending to let them marry members of the royal family and nobles. He was so happy that he said:

"When I return, I will tell my elder brother to bring my nephew back from Hirado."

"You are already a lord, it is not right to leave your son out there."

"Don't give his future inheritance to your nephew!"

Zhu Youjian was surprised to hear this and asked for details. He confirmed that the nephew Zheng Zhihu mentioned was the famous national hero Zheng Chenggong, and that he also had a younger brother, Tianchuan Shizaemon, who now lived with his mother Tianchuan in Hirado Domain, Japan.

This made him very happy. After knowing that Zheng Chenggong was not yet famous, he immediately said:

"Since Ms. Tagawa is the legal wife, she should be canonized as a baroness."

"The eldest son she bears will be canonized as the Crown Prince."

"I give him the name Chenggong, and hope he will achieve great things!"

When Zheng Zhihu heard that his nephew was given a name, he thanked him with a smile.

Li Guozhu was extremely envious when he saw how harmonious the relationship between him and the emperor was.

If he had known that the current emperor was so easy to talk to, he would have taken the initiative to apply for it. It's not like now, where Zheng family has taken the lead.

However, his idea of ​​donating grain successfully moved the emperor. Zhu Youjian, who knew he would face more than ten years of drought, valued grain the most.

When Zhu Youjian heard that Li Guozhu wanted to donate grain to donate his title, although he felt that this would devalue the title, he did not reject it outright.

After all, if the disaster victims were not properly settled, the Ming Dynasty might have perished in a peasant uprising. It was really too far-fetched to consider whether the title would depreciate or not.

So after thinking about it, he said to Li Guozhu:
"The title can be donated, but it is limited to barons."

"How much do you think Li Qing should donate to obtain the hereditary baron title?"

Li Guozhu was worried when he saw the emperor frowning. He was relieved when he heard the emperor say that the title could be donated.

Then he heard the emperor say that the title of nobility that could be donated was limited to baron, which made him feel that it was a bit useless. After all, he wanted more than just the baron title.

Thinking of the fact that Zheng Zhilong was awarded the title of Baron when he was recruited as the leader of the Eighteen Zhi, Li Guozhu said unwillingly:
"Can you donate more, like an earldom?"

As soon as he said this, Wang Tiqian next to him shouted "Bold". He was so panicked that he knelt down hurriedly, deeply aware that he was facing the emperor, not an ordinary businessman bargaining. Zhu Youjian also frowned at his coveting the position of princes. If it was a viscount or a baron, it would be fine. He could accept the devaluation of the title to a certain extent. Moreover, he could fully decide the status of these two restored titles.

However, the titles above earl were very prestigious in the Ming Dynasty. If he dared to devalue the title of earl, the nobles of the Ming Dynasty might jump up in anger.

The titles that their ancestors obtained through hard work and merit cannot be obtained by merchants through donations.

That would be a complete humiliation for them.

Moreover, after the earldom was devalued, people would look down upon the title. The money and grain obtained through donations would not necessarily increase much.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian felt that the earldom should not be obtained through donations. The high-ranking nobles with titles must have made meritorious contributions before they could be granted.

Sitting quietly without saying a word, he just looked at Li Guozhu. Li Guozhu finally felt scared and knelt on the ground, repeatedly apologizing.

Zhu Youjian saw that his forehead was bleeding, frowned and said:
"Get up!"

"We were just discussing business, there's no need to accuse ourselves of this."

"Li Qing, please tell me first, how much do you plan to donate to obtain the title of baron?"

Li Guozhu didn't think much of the baron because he felt that the earl was the real aristocrat.

Moreover, he felt unhappy about being asked to donate money to get the same title as Zheng Zhilong.

So just now I plucked up the courage to donate the title of earl.

Now that he had learned his lesson, he immediately calmed down and realized that it was very, very difficult to be promoted to a noble title.

After calculating in his mind, Li Guozhu said:

"The baron's fiefdom is one hundred miles, which is ten thousand square miles."

"There is a saying among the people of Fujian: eight mountains, one water, and one field. Based on this ratio, we can probably reclaim one thousand square miles of arable land."

"One square li is 375 acres, and one thousand square li is 375,000 acres."

"I think the amount of grain required to donate to the baron should be set at 375,000 shi."

This number seemed very high to him, because he did not want to spend a lot of money and food to donate to get the same title as Zheng Zhilong.

But in Zhu Youjian's opinion, that was too low. According to Zheng Cai's calculation that one dan of rice cost five coins of silver, 375,000 dan was only equivalent to 187,500 taels of silver.

This is just a drop in the bucket for him.

Therefore, his interest in donating grain and titles suddenly decreased, and he said directly:

"Whether it is arable land or not, one mu of land requires a donation of one shi of grain."

"The baron's fiefdom is 3.75 million mu, which means 3.75 million shi."

"If you are willing to donate, donate. If you are not willing, I will not force you. Just pay your taxes."

"The baron is a hereditary title, which means the fiefdom is passed down from generation to generation. It cannot be easily obtained through donations."

"Once the drought eases, I will end the donation."

The amount of food required for the donation from the baron was directly increased tenfold, and he showed an attitude of not caring whether to donate or not, as if he didn't care about the matter.

This made Li Guozhu panic suddenly, knowing that the donation amount he set was too low and failed to impress the emperor, and even made the emperor a little angry.

In order to avoid the emperor's ill will towards him, he said hastily:
"I am willing to donate the baron, but I cannot provide so much food at the moment. Please give me some time, Your Majesty!"

He planned to ask Liu Xiang and others to raise money and try to get the title of baron. Although he looked down on this title, he didn't want to spend so much money to get the same title as Zheng Zhilong.

However, when the emperor was a little angry, he could only spend money to avoid disaster. After all, if it was spread that he was disliked by the emperor, he would never be able to compete with Zheng Zhilong in the future.

Zhu Youjian didn't expect that after he raised the price tenfold, Li Guozhu would be so eager to donate. And from what he said, it would only take some time to collect so much grain.

This once again made him marvel at the financial strength of these pirates. However, he did not intend to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs or exhaust the pond to catch fish. After considering it, he said to Li Guozhu:

"It would be difficult for the imperial court to come up with 3.75 million shi all at once."

"How about this? I allow those who donate the barony to pay in installments, one tenth of it per year."

"The barony can also be opened up in advance, and the baron's treatment can be enjoyed in advance."

"But Madam and the Crown Prince can only be conferred titles after the donation is completed."

"If the donation is not completed, the barony will be revoked upon maturity."

This condition made Li Guozhu go from feeling painful to being overjoyed.

Because he realized that he could use the title of baron to open up a fiefdom of 100 li, and then use the grain harvested from the fiefdom to pay the required donations.

If he could reclaim one-tenth of the arable land in his territory, that would be 375,000 acres. Given the climate in Nanyang where three crops a year are harvested, he would be able to collect at least one stone of grain in rent.

In other words, he could have donated the grain needed in the first year, and then used the output of his fief to pay the remaining donations. The difficulties were only in the first few years, but he could afford it.

This made him very happy and he felt that the donation was a good deal.

Zheng Zhihu didn't understand all this for a while, but he had Zheng Cai by his side. With Zheng Cai's reminder, he realized that he could get the baron title through donations, which made him ask with trepidation:
"Can the title obtained through donation be further upgraded through meritorious service in the future?"

"I also want to make contributions to your majesty and become a prince in the future."

Zhu Youjian laughed and said affirmatively:

"No matter what kind of title it is, you can get a promotion if you make meritorious contributions."

"If the imperial relatives of the Ming Dynasty have made contributions, their titles can be inherited by their descendants."

"The barons who donated money don't have to worry. I will treat them the same as other barons and they can be promoted if they make contributions."

"For example, Li Qing, if you can help a vassal king to open up his fiefdom and make great contributions in opening up the fiefdom, it is not a bad idea for me to confer you the title of earl."

"The Ming Dynasty has thirty vassal kings, and this is where the opportunity lies!"

This made Li Guozhu even happier, as he truly saw the opportunity to become an earl.

Thinking of the many large islands in the South Seas, and the many islands covering a thousand miles, he made up his mind to seize one and later present it to the emperor as a fiefdom.

In this way, he can become a prince and a high-ranking noble!

Zheng Zhihu and Zheng Cai thought the same, especially Zheng Zhihu, who wanted to urge his elder brother to go south to grab territory as soon as possible. After all, there were not many opportunities. There were only thirty princes in the Ming Dynasty, and they were not necessarily in Southeast Asia. If Li Guozhu and others got there first, the earl's position might be gone.

Even he himself was hesitant about whether to lead the navy north or go to Southeast Asia to help the princes seize fiefdoms and seek the title of earl.

Zheng Cai envied those leaders who had ships and soldiers, secretly hating himself for not going to sea earlier and having his own ships and soldiers. Now, he could only watch these leaders fight for territory, and all he could hope for was to gather food and donate to get a baronial title. (End of this chapter)