“… Another major source of revenue for the Ministry of Internal Affairs is the ginseng and fur trade in the Outer Northeast, and the fur trade in West Siberia, the Kuril Islands, and the coastal areas of the Americas. According to our statistics last year, the ginseng and fur trade provided a net profit of about 4.95 million yuan, of which the ginseng trade contributed about 90 yuan of profit, and the fur in North America provided about half of the fur profit.

North America offers the largest increase in the amount of fur compared to the smaller islands in the Outer Northeast, Siberia and the North Pacific. It is said that the coastal bays and land of North America have an endless number of fur animals, but there is only a shortage of manpower, so it is impossible to continue to expand the activity of fur hunting.

These furs are at least three times more profitable just from raw hides to mature skins, and from cooked skins to clothes, it depends on the craftsmanship of the craftsman and the quality of the leather, and the least is also three times the income. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is mainly engaged in the sale of raw hides and some high-end cooked skins.

At present, the most concentrated place in the cooked leather industry in the north is in Tianjin, and the other is in Xingtai. The large cooked leather workshop has 5 to 600 people, with an investment of 15-200,000 yuan, and tens of thousands of skins are processed a year; The small cooked leather workshop employs five to ten people, invests thousands of yuan, and processes hundreds of skins a year. But even if it's a small workshop, it has an income of one or two thousand yuan a year..."

“… Up to now, the balance of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has more than 17 million yuan. The surplus of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is mainly responsible for subsidizing the military, education, prevention and control of infectious diseases, and water conservancy facilities, while the surplus of the Prime Minister's Yamen is mainly for education.

However, the current high balance of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is not derived from normal trade, and much of the money comes from war reparations from Japan. Of course, since last year, our trade with Japan has been declining, for example, last year's trade in deerskin and raw silk has been cut in half. Demand for these luxury goods in Japan will not increase for the foreseeable years.

Therefore, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is trying to find a way to digest these excess deer skins and raw silk. For example, deerskin was made into all kinds of small leather goods used by soldiers, and raw silk was made into silk stockings and sold to Europe..."

After Xu Xingsheng finished reporting to Chongzhen on the situation of the Internal Affairs Office, he looked at the emperor with a thoughtful look, and couldn't help but cautiously said to him: "There is one more thing, the minister thinks that he should also report to His Majesty." The Spaniards suffered a little loss in Japan, and the Dutch refuted the proposal in the ASEAN, so they submitted a letter to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, hoping that His Majesty would support them in the friendship between the Ming and Spain..."

After Zhu Youzhen heard what happened, he couldn't help pouting and said: "The honor of the Kingdom of Spain needs to be maintained by the King of Spain himself, and I am not their nanny. Now that they have signed the peace agreement, they should obey it and not think about breaking it for their own benefit.

The cooperation between the Ming and the Philippines was based on mutual benefit, and it was not something that one of his petty colonial officials could comment. But then again, how far have we come in the development of the Philippine Islands? ”

Xu Xingsheng thought about it for a while, and then said: "After we reached an agreement with the Philippine governor and members of the Congress, we began to migrate to Luzon in the middle of the previous year.

Luzon is divided into two seasons of the year, with the rainy season from November to April and the dry season at other times. The north and northwest sides of Luzon are mountainous, with only the central and southern sides being plain.

According to our survey, the areas near Manila and the inner lakes to the south are the best places for nature, followed by the Central Plains to the north of Manila, and then the Cagayan Valley at the northeastern tip of the island.

The Spaniards developed mainly the inner lake area, then sixty or seventy kilometers inland along the Pampanga River, and the rest of the coastal flat land.

We obtained from the Spaniards a lease for most of the Central Plains and the Cagayan Valley from the west to the east from Lingayen Bay in the west to the east, for a term of 99 years, with no rent to be paid for the first 19 years, but for the last 80 years to pay 10% of the harvest to the Church, 10% to the Governor's Palace, and 10% to the Governor and other officials. Of course, we will also set aside a few estates for several high-ranking officials, such as the governor, the prosecutor, and the bishop.

Over the past year, we have relocated thousands of immigrants and thousands of Vietnamese laborers to Luzon, and have carved out more than 5,000 hectares of rice fields, a Lingayen port and dozens of villages. Rice, tobacco, cotton, sweet potatoes and coconut groves were originally grown in the area, but now there is a soybean. As for rubber cultivation, it is still being tested. ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded and said: "We are getting along well with the Spaniards now, but we can't guarantee that we will get along well in the future." Now these Spaniards are willing to let us into Luzon for development, one is because of the smuggling business with which we cooperate; second, to maintain normal trade between the Philippines and the Ming Dynasty, so as to maintain the expenditure of the colonial government; The third is that they also need to develop Luzon to satisfy the self-sufficiency of the colony, so that they can use these materials to conquer Mindanao in the south and the Dutch further south.

However, there is no guarantee that when the Spanish governor leaves office, the next governor will remain friendly to the Ming dynasty. I think the new Spaniards might take a fancy to the land we have developed in Luzon and create another Manila incident.

So, there are some things that we need to plan for. For example, the port of Lingayen is a newly built port, and the garrison of this port must be in our hands. The port of Apari in the northeast of Luzon, although in the hands of the Spaniards, also had to find a way to get a private port nearby.

Once we have a port, we will be able to send weapons to the island. The Ming immigrants who went to the Philippines tried their best to select veterans who had served in the army, organized them in villages and towns, and conducted military training during the slack time. First, it can suppress those Vietnamese who dare to resist; Second, it can also eliminate natives and others who are hostile to our country.

In addition, the Ministry of Internal Affairs should also send personnel to contact some tribes who rebelled against the Spaniards in the local area, so that they could send personnel to the Ming Dynasty to learn some military knowledge. If necessary, we can have these tribes provoke war against the Spaniards for us, and thus find an excuse for the imperial court to send troops to protect the emigrants..."

On the first day of the fourth month of the sixth year of Chongzhen, the public opinion that had been disturbed in the capital finally calmed down. First, after the emperor made his statement, the overall situation has been decided, and no one in the capital today dares to run out and confront Chongzhen head-on.

The second is that although the imperial court disposed of a group of gentry, it finally left them a little dignity, and only exiled them overseas, instead of beheading them. As long as there are no dead people, there is always a chance to make a comeback. Most of the gentry felt that it was clearly more appropriate for the present situation to concede three points now for the next day, rather than risk their own lives to touch His Majesty the Emperor, who was gaining prestige.

Finally, the annual imperial examination is about to start again, although the current imperial examination seems to be a little frequent, but under the implementation of several consecutive years, the people of the world still accept this change. Although the gold content of the current Jinshi seems to be a little insufficient, the official positions they hold are always genuine.

This time, Zhou Yanru served as the chief examiner, and Fan Jingwen was the deputy examiner. It was also on this day that Zhou Yanru hurriedly came to Xiyuan to meet Chongzhen with the prepared test questions.

After Zhu Youzhen looked at the test questions brought by Zhou Yanru, he asked casually: "Have you also read Mengzhang?" Did he approve of these topics as well? ”

Zhou Yanru replied with a smile: "Your Majesty, rest assured, Fan Mengzhang has already nodded." In addition, the collection of essays that His Majesty lent to the minister for reference, and the minister also brought it back to you. ”

Zhu Youzhen glanced up at the manuscript that Zhou Yanru took out, then nodded and said: "Very good, after I go back, I will also tell Mengzhang, you have to read the article carefully in this scientific expedition, and choose a few good talents for the country, I am very much looking forward to the results of this scientific expedition..."

After sending Zhou Yanru away, Chongzhen asked Lu Qi to put away the manuscript brought by Zhou Yanru. When Lu Qi put it into the stack, he turned a few pages slightly, and found that it seemed to be the daily work of a certain reader, so he quietly put the manuscript on the shelf.

On April 15, the imperial examination for the sixth year of Chongzhen officially began. Xia Yunyi, who was urged by Niu Jinxing to freshen up early in the morning, did not miss the hour, looked at the flow of people in front of the examination room, took the examination basket from Li Dingguo's hand, and shook his head at Niu Jinxing beside him with a yawn and said: "Actually, I didn't plan to take the undergraduate exam, I haven't touched the books much in more than a year, how can I get the middle school, it is better to let me stay in Wuqiao for a few more days to see if the land is really distributed to the farmers." ”

Niu Jinxing held the test basket tightly in his hand, and always felt that his palms kept sweating, but on the surface, he seemed very calm, and he replied to Xia Yunyi without squinting: "After Your Majesty returns to Beijing, whether this land reform can be implemented or not is naturally in the capital and not in the place."

You can still raise the banner for land reform in the capital, but what can you do locally? People respect you, not because of your talents, but because of your current reputation. But this kind of respect is not enough to make those gentry obey you and give up their fields.

We have been studying hard for so long, and we still have to go to the field after all. Only after the title of the gold list can we serve His Majesty and the people, instead of being a white-clothed minister among the people, and achieving nothing.

Besides, as the leader of my Daming Youth Society, it's okay for you to inspect the implementation of land reform, why do you provoke those brocade guards? Unprovoked vouching for others, knowing that it is your poor orphan girl, this is not known to spread that you are greedy for beauty, and my sister-in-law heard these rumors in the capital, isn't it bad? ”

Xia Yunyi couldn't help but smile bitterly and shook his head and said, "Brother Juming, what you said is true, even if you are admitted to the exam like this, it can be regarded as a preparation for the coming year..."

Xia Yunyi said so, but after the examiner sent the test questions, he found that they were all familiar questions, and he couldn't help but write like a god, and the answers were extremely easy and freehand.

Niu Jinxing, who was not far from him, immediately smiled after seeing the title, and sure enough, His Majesty asked him to collect Xia Yunyi's articles in the last year for another purpose, but this gave him a ride.