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

Guo Yunhou stretched out his right hand, spread his five fingers, and emphasized again: "Five thousand taels, that's a full five thousand taels!"

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

Damn it!

With only five thousand taels of silver, you came up with a mature plan?

This old guy, are you sure he didn't collude with Wu Chunfu to come to my Versailles?

According to the purchasing power of silver in the late Ming Dynasty, one tael of silver was approximately equivalent to eight hundred yuan in later generations.

In other words, the cost of this fire transformer is only 24!

The total cost of developing this fire bull was only 400 million!

If this isn’t Versailles, then what is it!

For those car companies in later generations, which car’s R&D budget is not calculated in tens of millions?

The most important thing is that it has only been half a year since he said he wanted to modify the fire bull, and the plan has matured to this point, which is enough to prove the superb skills of the Ming Dynasty craftsmen.

Looking at Guo Yunhou's heart-breaking expression, he wanted to kick him on the spot.

It’s so fucking infuriating!

He stared at Guo Yunhou in displeasure: "This thing costs three hundred taels per piece, and you're still not satisfied?"

Guo Yunhou said with a frustrated look on his face: "Is it about the three hundred taels of silver?"

"Once the fire bull is built, it must be driven by burning coal!"

"Nowadays, a pound of coal costs six cents. Once you throw it into the furnace, it's gone in a moment."

"But if it's converted into food, it's enough for a laborer to eat for a whole day!"

Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao's heart moved, and he seemed to understand the fundamental reason why the steam engine had not developed in China!

cost!

According to Guo Yunhou's calculation, the cost of this thing is indeed a bit high!

A pound of coal costs six cents, and this is just the market price.

Add transportation and loss, and the cost will at least double!

What the Ming Dynasty lacks the least is manpower. In today's situation, as long as they can have food to eat, there will be countless victims lining up waiting for work!

Similarly, the fire bull is not finished once it is built. Its upkeep and maintenance require a continuous flow of money.

The cost of three hundred taels of silver alone can be exchanged for more than one hundred shi of grain!

More than a hundred stones of grain are enough to feed a thousand people for a month!

Zhu Youxiao shook his head helplessly and pointed to the south.

"Does Mr. Guo know what other places are south of the Ming Dynasty?"

"Your Majesty, are you talking about Siam, Luzon and other places?"

Zhu Youxiao took out a piece of chewing gum from his arms and put it in Guo Yunhou's palm.

"My dear Lord Guo, the island country to the south is rich in spices. You must be aware of this."

"But besides spices, the climate there is much warmer than that of Ming Dynasty, and it can produce three crops of rice a year!"

"Even if the local people do nothing, they can always find wild fruits to fill their stomachs when they are hungry!"

"Tell me, is the fire ox worth three hundred taels of silver expensive compared to the countless grains?"

Guo Yunhou didn't understand what was going on for a moment, and subconsciously asked back: "But Your Majesty, didn't you say before that you would ban the sea?"

Zhu Youxiao was almost choked to death by his words, and said directly to Wei Zhongxian: "Send Minister Guo back to the city to reflect on his actions!"

Guo Yunhou:? ?

Before he could figure out where he had gone wrong, Wei Zhongxian and several Jinyiwei took him away.

The moment his feet left the ground, Guo Yunhou seemed to understand something.

Sea ban?

Ban the sea of ​​chicken feathers!

Your Majesty said that the sea was banned, but didn’t you still recruit Zheng Zhilong back and form the South China Sea Navy?

If the sea is really banned, why do we still need a navy?

Also, if I remember correctly, your Majesty just announced the maritime ban in Nanjing last year, and then you went to Fujian to go fishing, right?

So this sea ban actually has a specific meaning...

Guo Yunhou was from Caozhou, Shandong, which is an inland area. Although he was not very familiar with maritime trade, after becoming the Minister of Revenue, he more or less understood some of the inside stories.

As he was thinking, he suddenly broke free from the control of the Jinyiwei, ran back to Zhu Youxiao, and asked with a serious face.

"Your Majesty, after the sea is reopened, you will not use spices to pay the officials' salaries like Chengzu did, right?"

This question left Zhu Youxiao confused.

Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di........

Paying officials with spices?

When did it happen?

Judging from Guo Yunhou's expression, there seemed to be a huge hidden secret here. He pretended to be impatient and shouted at the Jinyiwei.

"What are you standing there for? Send Minister Guo back to the city!"

Minister Guo was carried away again, looking at Zhu Youxiao with a heartbroken face.

"Your Majesty, this old law is not feasible!"

"Your Majesty, please think twice..."

Zhu Youxiao ignored him, but pulled Wei Zhongxian a few steps to the side and ordered the Jinyiwei to impose martial law thirty meters away.

"Tell me, what's the matter with Chengzu paying salaries with spices?"

Wei Zhongxian didn't do what he thought and immediately told him everything he knew.

And these things also overturned Zhu Youxiao's understanding of Zheng He's voyages to the West!

turn out to be........

Zheng He's voyages to the West not only promoted the country's prestige, but also brought back a huge amount of wealth to the Ming Dynasty!

It was precisely these riches that gave Zhu Di the capital to launch northern expeditions again and again!

The northern expedition was against Mongolia, and the southern expedition was against Jiaozhi.

He governed Hami and established Guizhou as a province.

Move the capital to Beiping and dredge the sea.

The Yongle Encyclopedia and the Sixth Voyage to the West.

These are extremely expensive things. No matter which dynasty, if one of them can be accomplished, it will be enough for an emperor to brag about it for the rest of his life.

But Zhu Di not only did it, but also accomplished it!

Where does the money come from?

Just look at the agricultural taxes collected from the fields, and don’t even think about it!

But the biggest problem was that all the wealth brought back from the voyages to the West went into Zhu Di’s treasury and had nothing to do with the Ministry of Revenue!

However, the large ships built for going out to sea were made by the Ministry of Revenue at the cost of all its resources..........

In addition, in order to save money, Zhu Di also used the tricks of the Tang Dynasty, paying wages with spices and converting them according to the market price of the Ming Dynasty!

Overseas, the price of spices purchased by Zheng He's fleet was no more than one tael of silver per stone, but when distributed to officials, one stone was equivalent to twenty taels of silver.

At the same time, as large amounts of spices were brought back by the fleet, the price of spices in the market slowly fell to five taels of silver per stone.

The market price has fallen, but the discount Zhu Di gave remains the same...

In other words, the direct consequence of Zheng He's voyages to the West was that Zhu Di became richer and the country became stronger, but the officials' lives became worse and worse...

So, this is the fundamental reason why officials oppose going out to sea?

After the maritime ban, officials and southeastern merchants colluded to trade overseas, and after tasting the sweetness, they became more determined to ban the maritime trade.

Zhu Youxiao was speechless.

As far as maritime trade is concerned, can it be said that Zhu Di played a good hand badly?

If you had left some soup for the bottom, it wouldn't have come to this, right?

If things like Zheng He's voyages to the West could have continued, there would be no need for Portugal and Spain!

Chapter 336 Daomen, Liuyi Mud

After figuring this out, Zhu Youxiao finally understood what Guo Yunhou was worried about.

Well, if you were to work hard for a month and end up getting some worthless spices, you would probably be very angry.

He turned around and looked at Guo Yunhou being carried away, and smiled knowingly.

How could I possibly do such a thing as taking raw materials out to pay off debts!

Little do people know that deep processing of raw materials is the most profitable business?

Looking at the fire bull again, it had actually stopped. Under the command of Liu Saner, the head of the Ministry of Works, the laborers connected the other drill rod to the drill rod in the well, then connected the end of the new drill rod to the fire bull and restarted it.

The rumbling sound of drilling continued for a long time.

Cartloads of coal were transported out of the city and then loaded into the furnaces of the fire bulls by the servants.

White steam floated above the construction site like a cloud.

From morning till night, the number of people watching did not decrease, but increased instead.

A bunch of naked kids were playing on the dry grass nearby, braving the wind and trying to see who could pee farther.

Although the youngest among them was only about three or four years old, the oldest was at least ten years old.

The Adam's apple has appeared, and even some sparse hair is exposed.

Seeing this scene, Wei Zhongxian was so jealous that he spat in hatred and cursed from afar.

"It's immoral, it's immoral!"

Zhu Youxiao glared at him angrily: "Those young wives didn't say anything, what does it have to do with you!"

"Do you think they like being naked? Aren't they just being poor?"

Wei Zhongxian shrank his neck and smiled awkwardly.

"Your Majesty is right. I have spoken out of turn."

Seeing this, Youtong shrugged his shoulders and was obviously laughing.

Wei Zhongxian accidentally saw this scene and wanted to kick this guy into the well.

The sun sets and night gradually covers the sky.

The progress of digging the well did not stop because a fire was lit around for lighting, and the fire buffaloes were still roaring.

Around midnight, a sudden scream came from the other side.

"There's something bubbling up in the well!"

Zhu Youzheng was dozing off in a chair. When he heard the shout, he quickly stood up and looked over there.

At first nothing unusual was seen, but soon a stream of turbid muddy water was seen rising into the sky from beside the fire bull like a fountain.

It spurted out more than ten meters high!

“Hahahaha, water’s coming out!”

"It's out of water!"

"It's amazing. It took only one day to make water..."

The servants cheered and shouted.