Banks nodded and said, "Hopefully we won't regret our decision today." ”

Cohen laughed, "It's too late for you to regret it now." I just said the good side of the Ming Empire, and I haven't told you the bad side yet. Now, though, I can tell you. ”

After pondering for a while, Cohen continued: "The so-called bad side is that their punishments are really excessive, and most of the punishments they officially set are closely related to their family members - that is, if you commit a crime, your family will also be implicated and punished, or even killed."

Of course, this situation is limited to opposing the rule of their emperor, and beyond that, at most, they will exile their families far away, and they may not be able to return for the rest of their lives.

In addition, if you commit a relatively large crime, it is likely that your children will not be able to become an official - they can study, they can do business, they can farm, but they cannot be officials.

In the Ming Empire, the status of officials is much higher than the status of doing business and farming, and they will not have any big capitalists there, because they think that everything is given by the emperor and the state, so merchants are just pigs raised by the state.

So, never think of relying on capital to manipulate politics in that country, that will cost you your own life and your family. ”

Banksy suddenly felt extremely painful: "Then we went to the Ming Empire, wouldn't it be equally dangerous?" Once the Ming Empire is short of money, can we still keep our property? ”

Cohen said: "It is definitely possible, provided that you have not violated the laws of the Ming Empire." I've heard Li say that the Ming Empire is now working on a law to protect private property, and it may be implemented after a while. ”

Banks nodded and said to Cohen: "Then please leave it to you, five hundred catties of gold is not a small amount, I hope God willing, I will not regret today's decision." ”

Cohen smiled: "Listen to me, brother, don't pray for God's blessing in the future, you should pray for the blessing of His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Empire - that is the god who walks in the world, and whatever he says will be carried out by his loyal soldiers, which is far more effective than God's blessing." ”

After sending Banks away, the rest of the story was not expected by Lansing and Cohen, and the remaining fourteen people came to Cohen one after another, saying that they wanted to get Daming's household registration through Cohen, including those who had previously said that they wanted to defend the Netherlands.

As for the gold needed, these people will raise it in the shortest possible time, and then transfer it to Cohen, so that Cohen can bring it with him the next time he goes to Daming.

Cohen finally put his mind at ease.

What I am most worried about is that someone will stand on the side of the Netherlands and perish with this country that has entered the countdown.

It turned out that the East India Company was still a commercial company, although it had relied on the support of the Dutch government before - in the face of life and death and money, the so-called conscience could basically be fed to dogs.

When Cohen ran to Daming again with a large amount of gold and silver, in addition to discussing the latest arms deal and other matters with Li Chengyan, he proposed to naturalize Daming.

Lee Seung-yan was bewildered by Cohen's request.

When did Daming's household registration become a hot item? If it's really a hot item, why are there only a few people like Cohen who are asking for naturalization, and why don't the remaining barbarians on Europa's side react?

After thinking about it, Li Chengyan also understood why Cohen wanted to get a Ming household registration.

Any Ming high hope does not take household registration too seriously - his baby has been a natural Ming person since the day he was born, and the officials of the government wish they had a few more children to make political achievements.

Even Xinming Island and those who migrated to the Mughal are taken for granted by the Ming people, and these people who have had household registration since birth naturally don't take it very seriously.

But overseas is different, having a Ming household registration and not having a Ming household registration are completely two concepts - the former ensures the most basic needs of "being a man", and the latter is completely "savage".

This is especially true for these Europa merchants.

Taking the sea ship as an example, any citizen of the Ming Dynasty can get a boat and go to sea with the flag of the Ming Dynasty as long as he is willing and can afford the relevant expenses.

If you change to someone else, the owner of the ship is not a Ming person, so you are absolutely not allowed to fly the Ming flag, otherwise you will be sent to the bottom of the sea to feed the fish by several fleets of the Ming Dynasty.

And those pirates on the sea, the favorite is the merchant ship that does not fly the Ming flag - the merchant ships that attack the Ming Dynasty will be sent to the bottom of the sea to feed the fish by the Ming fleet, and it is no problem to attack other merchant ships.

For the East India Company represented by Cohen, whether or not there was a Ming banner was entirely related to the cost and profit of the maritime merchants.

In addition, the war was raging on the side of Europa, but the Holy Roman Empire gave the people of the Ming Dynasty the treatment of citizens, and the Holy See was also very interested in not asking about the beliefs of the people of the Ming Dynasty, and even no one in other European vassal states could not think of attacking the merchants of the Ming Dynasty, which is very important.

Once the household registration of the Ming Dynasty is obtained, it means that Cohen and these people, or the entire East India Company, belong to the Ming Dynasty and no longer have anything to do with the Netherlands, so the security of these people in Europe is equivalent to an invisible improvement a lot.

Li Chengyan did not immediately agree to Cohen's request, even if Cohen proposed a high price of 50 taels of gold for a household registration - this matter must go through the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Households, but he promised but could not do it, and it would be more embarrassing at that time.

When Wu Ganlai, the head of the household, heard that fifty taels of gold was alone, he stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Since these barbarians have a heart for the Ming Dynasty, it means that they can be educated." As the saying goes, those who come do not refuse, but the official has no opinion.

It's just that the official remembers that if the Buddha has clouds, the so-called scriptures cannot be passed on lightly. Even if these people are oriented to the Ming Dynasty, they can't be given their household registration immediately, and they still need to go through many tests. ”

Because of the influence of Emperor Chongzhen, the whole person's painting style was seriously deviated, and Ni Yuanlu, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, even said: "Yes, Wu Shangshu is reasonable.

As the saying goes, if these barbarians are easily allowed to get my Ming household registration, they may not be cherished in the future, just as these people can sell the Netherlands now, who knows if they will still have their hearts to my Ming in the future? ”

Li Chengyan immediately understood what the two bigwigs meant, this is because the price of fifty taels of accounts is sold low - since it is low, it is better to double it directly.

Ni Yuanlu obviously doesn't just care about the amount of money: "In addition, if these barbarians want to return, can I speak the official language of the Ming Dynasty?" Can I write Chinese characters? Even if their generation can't learn to write, they should always learn to speak and watch, right? Their next generation should always learn to write, right? ”

Li Chengyan nodded and said: "This is not a big problem, Cohen himself will speak the official language of our Ming Dynasty, but he is not fluent and often makes some jokes." As for the other barbarians, this 100 taels of gold is just a chance to give them a chance to become my Ming people, which is not a big deal. ”

After finding Cohen again, Li Chengyan said straight to the point: "For the sake of our friendship for so many years, I have done my best to help you find the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Households, and I have explained the two of them for you." ”

Before Cohen could express his gratitude, Li Chengyan continued: "Of course, you must know how important my Daming's household registration is, so it's not so simple to get my Daming's household registration." ”

Cohen nodded, picked up his pipe and signaled to Li Chengyan, seeing that Li Chengyan signaled that he was casual, he lit the pipe: "Of course, the household registration of the Ming Dynasty should not be given to people at will, such as those barbarians from Burma and Annam."

In my opinion, they are completely unworthy of having a household registration of the Ming Dynasty, unless they can contribute to the Ming Dynasty like me, and then they should consider whether to give them or not. ”

Shaking his head with a smile, Li Chengyan said: "Cohen, this is what His Majesty the Emperor meant, not something you and I can discuss, if you can't understand, deepen your understanding in the years to come." ”

Cohen shook his head in the same way and said, "Li, I can feel that the time left for me by Heaven is running out, and the so-called God obviously does not have enough strength to fight against His Majesty the Holy and Great Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Help me, for the sake of our friendship over the years. ”

Seeing the heaviness of Cohen's words, Li Chengyan also said with a straight face: "Okay, then I will briefly say what the two ministers mean, as for whether you can accept it or not, it depends on you."

First, it is certainly unrealistic to have a quota of fifty taels of gold, and it must be raised to one hundred taels;

Second, if you are an adult, you are not required to write the Ming language, but you must know the Ming language and speak the official language of the Ming Dynasty. As for the standard of adulthood, I now set the age of sixteen;

Minors must learn to write 1,000 Chinese characters, and adults must know 2,000 Chinese characters to officially have my Ming household registration, they must give up their original household registration, and they must swear allegiance to our Ming Emperor.

Third, you must know and abide by the Da Ming Law, if there is a violation of the Da Ming Law, honestly accept the disposal of the government, do not have any other ideas, this is the advice I can give you from the position of a friend.

To put it simply, in fact, there are only three conditions, if you can accept it, then you can go back and start preparing, if you can't accept it, then I can only express regret. ”

Cohen shrugged his shoulders, held his pipe in his left hand, and tapped his right hand back and forth on the armrest of the chair twice: "Of course, after becoming a member of the Ming Dynasty, we will definitely take into account the interests of the Ming Dynasty, and we will abide by the laws of the Ming Dynasty, we are good citizens." ”

After a pause, Cohen continued: "There is another piece of news, which you may be interested in, although I hope to be able to pass it on to Da Ming as soon as possible, but there is not enough way to tell you." ”

Li Chengyan suddenly showed an interested look, and said with a smile: "Let's talk about it, or maybe this news will help you get Daming's household registration." ”

Cohen said: "Europe is now in chaos, many countries are at war with each other, and their own countries are also constantly in civil strife, you know this. ”

Li Chengyan nodded and said: "Of course, the biggest demand in Europe now is arms, presumably because the war is too fierce." ”

Cohen nodded: "However, what you probably don't know is that Hamilton led the Scottish army to take advantage of the fact that the parliamentary army was pinned down in South Wales and Kent, went south to England, and cooperated with Landale's royal army to seize London and restore Charles I to the throne."

As for Cromwell leading his troops north to Wales, it should not be too good news for Daming, because Cromwell also has a lot of Ming muskets and artillery in his hands, and it is estimated that Wales will be pacified next month.

But it's not without good news, and that's that the Welsh don't have the same heart as the other Englishmen, whether it's England or Scotland, the Welsh hate them.

That is, with a little provocation and support, the Welsh would once again provoke war against Cromwell's rule - so the East India Company had decided to send someone over to peddle arms.

Moreover, the long wars between Catholics and Protestants, Czechs and Germans, between the Holy Roman Emperor and the German princes, were on the verge of draining the blood of these men and nations.

This means that Europe will probably enter a period of calm in a very short time, at least on the surface, which may have an impact on our arms trade.

Of course, as a member of the Ming people, I personally definitely don't want such a situation, so I have persuaded the company's board of directors and decided to increase support for their people, such as asking the Ming Empire to make a batch of simpler and easier to use weapons, so that their people can also be lively. ”

After nodding, Li Chengyan said: "Believe me, Cohen, although Da Ming also knows a lot of the information you provided, when you provide this information, it already means that you are one step closer to Da Ming's household registration, because Da Ming will not treat anyone who has a heart for Da Ming."

I am going to sort out this information now, and then send it to His Majesty the Emperor, as well as the intelligence department of the Ming Dynasty and the military government.

Now, I think you should think carefully about what kind of last name you want to take.

Although I also have a lot of compound surnames, but the surname Cohen is not very good, if you have no opinion, it is better to change one? ”

Cohen naturally understood what Li Chengyan revealed, and said with a smile: "We're brothers, aren't we?" So, I hope to be able to use your last name and please call me Lee Cohen in the future. ”