I don't know how many degrees it opened this night.

After Lao Taishan inquired about sexual affairs, Ning Xiu officially put the work of creating people on the agenda.

But this kind of thing is not what you want after all, Ning Xiu can only work hard, do his best, and obey the destiny of heaven.

Early the next morning, Ning Xiu returned to Xiangshan County.

The affairs of the yamen were not important, so Ning Xiu focused more on the training of the township soldiers.

Of course, it was impossible for him to send untrained villagers to garrison Wuzhushan Island. Such a soldier is no different from an old peasant in a military household, and he has no use except to be cannon fodder.

The training process was boring, and under the command of Qi Wen and other instructors, the recruits repeated simple movements.

Ning Xiu trained them completely in the way of the Qi family's army, focusing on practicality and cooperation, and discarding all those fancy things.

In fact, he wanted to have more pikemen and musketeers.

After all, in the face of a large-scale cavalry charge, it is a good choice for pikemen to line up with firearms to shoot.

No one knows better than Ning Xiu that in Liaodong, a fishing and hunting tribe called Jianzhou Jurchen is rising, and in thirty years it will become a big problem for the Ming Dynasty.

Although it is a peaceful and prosperous time, it is always good to plan ahead.

But at the moment, the equipment of the firecracker is a problem. Although Zhao Guangning found a considerable number of Franc machine people to guide the production of firecrackers, due to the limitation of raw materials, the output of firecrackers has not been able to rise.

A considerable amount of steel is required for the hammer to be made, and the steel production of Daming has not been high.

Guangdong's own steel-making technology is very high, but the same output is limited.

This gave Ning Xiu a headache.

Daming still uses steel filling to make steel, which of course cannot guarantee the output of steel. Although Ning Xiu is a doctor of chemical engineering, he doesn't know much about steelmaking, and he is at a loss for technological upgrades.

It was Ning Xiu who could only wait until the firecrackers were almost equipped and then reorganize the firecracker team.

His projection was to ensure that 50 percent of the entire unit was equipped with firearms. This way you won't be at a disadvantage when facing cavalry.

Of course, the firecrackers must not be allowed to face the cavalry directly, and must be covered by pikemen.

These pikemen act as meat shields, and without a solid shield, the spear cannot be effective.

Training is not a one-day thing, and Ning Xiu still has to maintain sufficient patience.

His idea is to spend half a year to train this army into a strong army with strong combat effectiveness that is forbidden by orders.

Qi Wen and the others were very keen on training, and Ning Xiu was also happy to be the shopkeeper in this way, and the specific training matters were handed over to Qi Wen and the others. After a month of basic training, these people can be stationed on Wuzhushan Island to prepare for the next step of going to the sea and doing business.

Ning Xiu now has two big fortune ships and one small fortune ship, which is a little small in number, but it is barely enough.

He found Zhao Guangning to consult on matters related to maritime trade.

Zhao Guangning has been mixed with the Francophone for a long time, and he knows the Nanyang trade well. He also has a number of properties in Nanyang.

Ning Xiu mainly inquired about the route to the sea, risks, benefits, and so on. Zhao Guangning answered them one by one very patiently.

With Zhao Guangning, a Nanyang pass, Ning Xiu gradually had a bottom in his heart. Originally, he was blind to this part, but now it is like a guiding light, and he has a lot of confidence.

It was Ning Xiu who decided to subdue Zhao Guangning and let him be used by me.

On this day, Ning Xiu called Zhao Guangning to the county office, and after some greetings, he went straight to the point.

"Runtian, tell me quickly, if this official wants to go to the sea, what is the best trade to do?"

Zhao Guangning was very excited when he heard Ning Xiu shouting his words.

Lord Xianzun regards him as his own.

Zhao Guangning calmed down a little, cleared his throat and said: "Qiyu County Zun, with a certain opinion, to trade in Nanyang, silk and lacquerware are the best, followed by tea." ”

Ning Xiu nodded and said, "What about porcelain." ”

The porcelain of the Ming Dynasty is famous all over the world, and Europeans are proud to have a set of Ming porcelain tea sets, and porcelain is a luxury in Europe.

If you export porcelain to Nanyang, you can probably make a lot of money, right?

Who knew that Zhao Guangning shook his head and said: "The county respects something, although this porcelain is good, it is not easy to transport, not to mention long-distance shipping. Ten pieces of porcelain were shipped to Nanyang for sale, and it would be good to save two or three intact pieces, and the profit was not as high as that of lacquerware. ”

"Oh? Is lacquerware so profitable? ”

"Of course, my Ming lacquerware is the best in the world!"

Zhao Guangning said with pride.

Ning Xiu couldn't help but feel a wave of pride.

Later generations were proud to own a set of Toei lacquerware, because the Toei lacquerware is extremely sophisticated. As everyone knows, the rise of Dongying lacquerware was after the entry of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Prior to this, the lacquerware of the Ming Dynasty was the first in the world.

As for silk, not to mention, Suzhou silk can be sold at a sky-high price in Nanyang, and the price of even a little Lu silk is unimaginable.

According to Zhao Guangning's estimate, if the three lucky ships are all loaded with silk and lacquerware, the net profit of a sea trip is about 200,000 taels.

This number surprised Ning Xiu.

You must know that the profits of his other industries together are more than 200,000 taels a year, and the gains from one trip to sea are even offset by it.

If Ning Xiu could have a fleet of thirty lucky ships, then the profit from a trip to the sea would be two million taels.

Two million taels! This is the total tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty in a year!

It is said that the maritime merchants are rich and rival the country, but Ning Xiu understands it!

The most terrifying thing is that these silver money maritime merchants will use it to develop their fleets, and the speed of expansion will be faster.

For example, Zheng Zhilong, a famous Haikou in the late Ming Dynasty, started by smuggling, and his route from Fujian and Xiaoliuqiu to Nanyang was almost monopolized.

When he thought of this, Ning Xiu felt heartache.

In the early and middle periods of the Ming Dynasty, it could still receive three-four-tenths of the national tax amount, but in the later period, it could not even collect one-twelfth of the national taxes.

On the one hand, this is due to the collapse of the Lijia system, and on the other hand, the deeper reason is because of the imperial examination.

The core of the imperial examination system is to study and take scholars, and the people who take the taxis will become large landowners.

The gentry of the Ming Dynasty are not distinguished, and the land under the names of these officials is naturally tax-free, and it will also attract relatives and friends to participate in it. As a result, a large part of the land at the grassroots level has become tax-free. The rest of the tax payers were yeoman farmers.

And how much tax can yeoman farmers bear?

The officials had to collude with the local gentry for the sake of political success, and distributed the shortfall to these yeoman farmers. Eventually, the pressure on the yeoman farmers grew, and they were overwhelmed and eventually went bankrupt.

This problem was especially evident in the late Wanli period and even the late Ming Dynasty. After the increase in salaries, the pressure on yeoman farmers reached its peak, and many people could not bear the oppression and eventually rose up and became thieves.

This is the fundamental reason for the rise of thieves in the last years of the Ming Dynasty. Natural disasters are only part of the cause, but man-made disasters are the most important.

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