Ming Dynasty: Tanks blocked the door and you said to me, "Long live Ming Dynasty"

Youtong turned around and went out, relaying the original words to the soldier who delivered the memorial.

Those guys under Zheng Zhilong were quite vocal in their words.

There were as many as 400 warships alone, including everything from Fu ships and bird ships to net shuttle ships and Haicang ships.

These alone are enough for the shipyards in Nanjing to work at full capacity for a year or two!

Not to mention the muskets, cannons, armor, bows and crossbows, etc.

But Zhu Youxiao also knew that these things would have to be avoided sooner or later.

Although Shibazhi is strong, he is still a self-taught person after all, and there are many things he needs to improve.

At the same time, responding to these requests is also a way of showing attitude to Zheng Zhilong's subordinates.

In that memorial, in addition to the things that needed to be provided by the Ministry of Works, there was also a section about money and grain.

The Eighteen Zhis accepted the amnesty and were required to pay 100,000 taels of silver for their resettlement.

The monthly salary is 60,000 taels of silver and 25,000 dan of grain. In other words, it would cost 1.3 million taels of silver every year just to maintain the South China Sea navy!

This does not include wartime disability pensions and material consumption!

For the previous apocalypse, this is a distressing number!

But for Zhu Youxiao now, it is just a drizzle. After all, we still have more than 20 million taels of silver in our treasury.

Master...I have a lot of money, so I am a rich man!

Not long after Youtong left, Sun Kangwang came over in a hurry and handed him a booklet with both hands.

"Your Majesty, the searches of the Wen, Liu, Kong and other six families have been completed!"

"A total of 2,720,000 taels of silver and 43,000 taels of gold!"

"One hundred and seven thousand four hundred and twenty-one acres of land, eighteen houses, and thirty-two shops!"

"There are also jade articles and other items, estimated at 500,000 taels!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youxiao immediately felt the urge to dig Wen Yuanqiu and the others out of the mass grave and chop them to pieces again.

These days, in addition to distributing porridge, he also briefly looked through the information about Zhangzhou.

The entire Zhangzhou has only 700,000 acres of arable land!

Six families!

More than 100,000 acres of land!

What a big appetite they have!

If this continues, how can the people not rebel?

"Allow Zheng Zhilong to receive 1.5 million taels of silver and tell him that this is for the resettlement allowance for the Nanhai Navy, the military pay for the eighth year of the Tianqi reign, and the food money for the soldiers!"

"Also, let Shi Bangyao come to see me!"

After Sun Kangwang left, Zhu Youxiao looked at the item of jade ornaments in the booklet and frowned again.

How to deal with these things?

For sale?

Scarcity makes things valuable. We confiscated these things from the homes of officials in Beijing some time ago, and we haven’t dealt with them yet. Why are we getting another batch?

Those guys in the West have liked Chinese antiques since ancient times.

But Zhu Youxiao always felt uncomfortable if he sold these things to them.

It is easy to sell the items left by your ancestors, but it is difficult to get them back.

No, you can’t sell it!

At worst, I can just keep them all in my own hands and build a museum to put them in so that future generations can admire them.

Shi Bangyao arrived very quickly, and arrived in the blink of an eye.

"See Your Majesty!"

Zhu Youxiao nodded at him and went straight to the point.

"More than 100,000 mu of land was confiscated from the six families of Wen and Liu."

"What do you think, Lord Shi, should be done with these lands?"

He wanted to follow the example of later generations and state-owned the land for the people to cultivate.

Having only the right to use but not the ownership can greatly alleviate the problem of land annexation.

But he was not sure whether such a policy was applicable in the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, in the northwest, Li Zicheng directly distributed land to the people.

Even if Li Zicheng and his men withdrew from Shaanxi in the future, these lands were destined to be difficult to recover, and forced expropriation would only provoke civil unrest.

But if the policies between the North and the South were different, Zhu Youxiao was afraid that trouble would arise in the future.

Shi Bangyao bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I think it would be better to sell them at a low price and distribute them to the people."

"Of course, most of the people in Zhangzhou cannot afford to pay money now, but for the sake of stability, I ask Your Majesty to allow them to buy on credit!"

Zhu Youxiao nodded. This was indeed a good idea. However, if such a large amount of land was simply sold, someone might take advantage of it.

"That's a good idea, but we need to strictly check the identities of all land buyers!"

"Limit the amount of land that can be purchased to prevent people from playing tricks."

"in addition........."

He pondered for a long time before speaking slowly.

"If these fields are strictly prohibited from being traded or resold after they are sold, do you think it is feasible, Lord Shi?"

"This..." Shi Bangyao hesitated, "Your Majesty, the land is the property of the people, so they should decide for themselves. How can it be wrong to not allow their own things to be sold?"

"If someone in a family falls seriously ill and needs money urgently, but the land cannot be bought or sold, wouldn't that mean they will just sit there and watch their loved ones die?"

Zhu Youxiao said: "You can use the land as collateral to apply for a loan from the government! Or you can sell it back to the government at the price of buying the land."

"Actually, what I mean is that as long as we can prohibit the free trading of land among the people, that will be fine."

Shi Bangyao's eyes lit up when he heard this: "Your Majesty is wise, this method can be tried!"

There is a very reasonable saying in later generations: there would be no killing without buying and selling.

Although someone will definitely find a way to exploit loopholes in the future, it is better to maintain stability for the time being.

Zhu Youxiao believed that as long as he could make the people rich and find a more labor-saving way to earn more income than farming, whether or not there was arable land was actually not that important.

Zhu Youxiao stood up, stretched, and glanced at the sky outside.

"Okay, let's settle it this way for now. Go find Commander Sun and take those land deeds away. Go back and prepare and then implement it."

"It's time for me to go and give out porridge again!"

"I obey your order!" Shi Bangyao bowed and retreated.

Zhu Youxiao asked someone to call Concubine Rong and Concubine Cheng, and after tidying up their clothes, they strode out.

Outside the city gate, the atmosphere at the porridge stall was still lively.

After Zhu Youxiao looked at him casually for a few seconds, his brows gradually furrowed.

"Why are there so many more shacks?"

Yutong cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, they are afraid that they will digest the food on the way home, so they simply built a shack here to live in. After eating, they sleep, which will slow down the digestion of food in their stomachs."

Zhu Youxiao:..........

I'm going!

I always feel that this method is like raising pigs!

But it is still deep winter now. Although it is in the south, the temperature is around minus 7 or 8 degrees Celsius.

This is not a good time to repair bridges or roads.

Find some way to get these people moving?

Chapter 139 Do you want me to teach you?

"Come on, come on, don't rush, don't push, everyone has a bowl!"

"Thank you, empress!"

"My Lady, My Lady, my mother said that you are a fairy from heaven. Can you give Yaya more fish? Yaya's brother is sick..."

"Here, this fish is all yours!"

Listening to the words coming from the two concubines and the people in the porridge shed behind him, Zhu Youxiao suddenly turned his head and looked at the sea in the distance.

I actually forgot about this!

This is the coastal area, and there are fishermen everywhere!

Since we can’t build bridges or repair roads, let’s reach out to the sea!

Due to material limitations, fishing was not well developed at that time, and people mostly caught fish using fishing nets woven with hemp ropes and cotton threads.

This type of fishing net has a short service life due to long-term immersion in sea water and exposure to the sun.

Moreover, in order to make the net strong enough, the rope must be thick enough. This would increase the weight and make it extremely inconvenient to use.

If the internet doesn’t work, try another method!

After the porridge distribution was over and Zhu Youxiao returned to his residence, he asked someone to find the craftsman who repaired fishing nets in the city.

"I need a rope that is thin and strong and can pull a hundred kilograms of weight. Think about what material is suitable!"

After hearing this, several craftsmen thought hard for a long time, and one of them answered tentatively.

"Your Majesty, how about using tempered steel to draw the wire?"

"I've heard that blacksmiths can make the steel extremely thin..."

Zhu Youxiao shook his head: "Steel won't do. I want something that is not only strong but also soft."

Another craftsman replied, "Then... use a bowstring? The kind made of cow tendon!"

Zhu Youxiao's eyes lit up. Yes, the bowstring!

At that time, there were two kinds of bowstrings. One was made of cotton and linen, which was then coated with glue on the outside.

The other type is made from beef tendon, which is the Mongolian way of making strings.

Cotton and linen have limited tensile strength and poor toughness, but tendon is different!

But then he frowned again.

Killing cattle and taking out tendons, this method is too extravagant for the Ming Dynasty!

He asked again: "Is there anything that can replace beef tendon?"

The craftsman said with certainty: "Snake tendons! Especially the tendons of big snakes! In terms of firmness and toughness, they are stronger than beef tendons, but they are not easy to catch."

"Also, the big fish in the sea, their tendons can be used too!"

At this time, snakes have already hibernated, and it is extremely difficult to find a big snake.

Then we can only use fish tendons!

Zhu Youxiao asked the craftsman, "What does the big fish you are talking about look like?"

The craftsman scratched his head and said bravely, "Can you give me some paper and pen?"

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Youtong, who immediately took out a pencil from his pocket and handed him a page from the back of the Tianqi Quotations.

The craftsman took it, thought about it, and quickly drew an outline on it.

When he saw the pattern above, Zhu Youxiao's eyes widened immediately.

Damn it!

Great White Shark!!

The craftsman pointed to the picture and said, "More than ten years ago, someone brought a fish back from the sea. I saw it with my own eyes. It was as long as three men and weighed more than 3,000 kilograms!"