Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

All strategies, when translated into implementation, require financial investment.

Zhu Youjian questioned Bi Ziyan:

"How many meritorious soldiers have paid for the land purchase? Allocate the funds to the logistics department as military expenses first."

"Military production must not be interrupted; we should encourage them to expand their scale."

"After recovering Annam, we must also recover the three Xuan and six Wei places, and bring the whole of Southeast Asia into our fold."

"Tell the businessmen not to worry, the fighting will continue for the next few years."

Zhu Youjian was very patient with his strategy for conquering Southeast Asia, and he was prepared to continue for ten or twenty years.

In any case, no country can restrict the Ming Dynasty now; the only thing that can restrict the Ming Dynasty is its own financial resources.

Given the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, as long as there is money and grain, enough disaster victims can be recruited. They can be trained as soldiers and sent into battle with new-style muskets.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian was most concerned about military spending and was prepared to spend several years on it.

Bi Ziyan's face lit up with joy when he thought of this, because the imperial treasury had never been so well-off.

He had already tasted the benefits of war and was actively supporting the emperor:

"More than twenty meritorious officials have already paid more than three million taels of silver. I can allocate two million taels of silver to them first."

"This money is paid in advance, and the Privy Council will need to repay it after the proceeds from the sale of the land to the merchants are received."

Zhu Youjian nodded and praised Bi Ziyan. He then emphasized:
"At least half of the profits from future expansion should be allocated to military expenses."

"The land in Liaodong is like this, and so is Pingjiang."

"After defeating Annam's main force, send the Marines south to sweep across the tribes along the Lancang River and completely take control of the area."

"If there is time, we can also summon the rulers of vassal states and have them sign treaties to annex us."

"Anyone who is unwilling is an enemy of the Ming Dynasty."

They are prepared to sell land in Pingjiang to raise funds for the next round of military spending after this sum is exhausted.

If the Liaohetao Xiaojiangnan is selling so well, the Pingjiangfu Xinjiangnan is likely to be even more popular.

The ministers, upon hearing these words, each had their own plans.

Wen Tiren raised a question:

"Should the area of ​​overseas land be added together?"

“Some meritorious officials already had fiefdoms, but they still bought land.”

"If I buy 100 square li of land in the Liaohetao region, can I still buy land in Pingjiang Prefecture later?"

"There is indeed no such provision," Zhu Youjian thought for a moment and said.

"The land in the Liaohetao region is considered a preferential treatment for meritorious officials."

"There will be similar places in the future where meritorious officials with fiefs are allowed to purchase permanent land."

"But no matter who it is, the maximum area of ​​Yongye land is one hundred square li. If the area is larger, a title is required to turn it into a fief."

"Liaohetao is located in western Liaoning Province. It is not allowed to be divided into fiefdoms, so the maximum amount of land that can be acquired is 100 square li of permanent land."

“Pingjiang Prefecture is different. It is a Protectorate and can be granted fiefdoms, allowing people to have larger areas of land as their fiefdoms.”

"However, a person can only have one title. If he or she owns two or more fiefs, they must be transferred to his or her son who already has a title."

This was his way of rewarding meritorious officials, to prevent them from having no more titles to bestow and thus losing their motivation to make contributions.

When Man Gui conquered Shenyang, he was granted an additional viscount title, which allowed him to choose a fiefdom from other protectorates.

Upon hearing this, the courtiers understood that some of those with many children were already considering whether to donate titles to their other offspring.

However, most people were still thinking about making contributions and obtaining titles through their achievements. The land in the Liaohe River Valley also highlighted its uniqueness. This might be their only chance to own a large piece of land in a province of the Ming Dynasty.

In particular, when the emperor mentioned the establishment of schools in Liaodong and Liaoxi, as well as the number of candidates for the imperial examinations and the provincial examinations, they felt the difference between the provinces and the protectorates. The emperor was treating the two provinces as if they were inland areas.
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Upon hearing this news, Wu Shirui was overjoyed.

Everyone knows how difficult the provincial examination in Jiangnan is. Although his uncle and several cousins ​​praised him and called him handsome and talented, whether he could pass the provincial examination and become a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial examination) was still uncertain.

If one settles in the Liaohetao region and obtains the qualification to take the exam, wouldn't it be easy to pass the imperial examination?

He asked somewhat anxiously:
When will the Liaoxi provincial examination be held?

"If we buy land in the Liaohetao region, can we participate in the imperial examinations?"

Wen Tiren stroked his beard and said:

"As long as you purchase more than ten square miles of land and settle there for more than ten years, you can participate in the Liaoxi provincial examination and be regarded as a Liaoxi native."

"For those of you who have paid to purchase 100 square meters to reach the maximum level, the Emperor will grant you preferential treatment; you only need to settle there for five years."

"In other words, you can pay money now to buy 100 square li of land. After living in western Liaoning for five years, you can obtain a Liaoning examination registration."

This measure, clearly designed to drive up land prices, struck a chord with Wu Shirui.

At this point, he had already decided that he would buy the land in the Liaohetao area no matter what, and his family would move there.

However, considering the harsh cold beyond the Great Wall, especially the marshy Liaohe River basin, it was simply not a suitable place to live. He then asked:
"What do you mean by 'settled for five years'? Does it mean you spent those five years there?"

“The winters outside the pass are so cold. My nephew is from the south, and he might not be able to survive it.”

Wen Tiren said with a smile:

"The requirements are not that strict. You only need to ensure that you live in western Liaoning for more than 180 days each year for the first five years, become a citizen of western Liaoning, and pay taxes in western Liaoning afterwards."

"You can go wherever you want at other times, and you can definitely go back to Jiangnan in winter."

Wu Shirui was now at ease and decided to move to western Liaoning.

From then on, he would travel back and forth between the Liaohe River bend and Suzhou, between the two regions.

Thinking about it this way, he also thought about his shipbuilding business.

If others did the same, wouldn't many people buy ocean-going vessels?

This way, the shipyard will have no shortage of orders, and may even need to expand.

In particular, he thought about the development of the Liaohe River bend, which would require a lot of supplies. He could easily transport the supplies there by boat when he traveled back and forth.

In this way, products from other industrial parks also found a market. This made him start to consider whether he should invest in other industries.

Many others share his views; businessmen in the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area saw opportunities in the development of the Liaohetao region.

What delighted them most was that the war against Annam was about to begin, and the imperial court had once again placed an order with the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area.

According to the information they received, this order was not temporary and could not be suddenly interrupted again.

After the imperial court conquers Annam, it will then attack Southeast Asia, and perhaps the fighting will continue for the next few years.

They were satisfied with their plans to continue expanding production and actively supported the imperial court in purchasing land in the Liaohetao region.

Some people even planned to buy land in Pingjiang, hoping that the imperial court would sell land certificates for Pingjiang.

Liu Lishun received many requests from merchants who wanted to acquire land in Pingjiang, and some even wanted to obtain titles through his donations and then choose fiefdoms in Pingjiang.

However, at this time, the imperial court would not sell the land in Pingjiang. The revenue from the Liaohe River bend was already enough to sustain the war against Annam.

After Annam is conquered, it will be Pingjiang. Once Pingjiang is pacified, the land price in Pingjiang will skyrocket.

Selling land in Pingjiang now would be a huge loss; the imperial court would never sell it.

In particular, Liu Lishun came up with a plan that could bring the imperial court a large sum of money. (End of Chapter)