Just when Chongzhen was explaining the task to Yi Bangcai and Wang Heng in the Xiyuan Retreat, Guo Yunhou was also calling Li Changshi to talk in the main hall of the household department.

As the presiding officer of the Hebei, Henan, and Shandong cotton planting industry plans, Li Changshi has made remarkable achievements in the past two years.

However, with the high price of cotton, the local gentry, who were originally resistant to the plan to plant cotton for business, soon realized that this was not only a good opportunity to make money, but also a good opportunity to annex land.

Although under the auspices of the imperial court, these lands were enclosed as cotton fields, and the ownership of the land was concentrated in the hands of the state. But it was still the landlords and gentry who were able to develop the cotton fields on a large scale.

As a small official, Li Changshi was able to get the emperor's appreciation and be in charge of this work, so he naturally hoped to do his job the best. He has always believed that the cotton fields under these enclosures should be divided into small plots and rented to small farming families, so that more people can make a profit.

At the beginning, the landlords and gentry were angry that the imperial court forcibly ransomed their fields, and they were even more worried that this so-called cotton planting and industrial development plan was a trap for the imperial court to change tricks to collect money, so few landlords and gentry were willing to cooperate with Li Changshi.

But after the cotton harvest in the first year, the landed gentry finally saw the profitability of the plan.

First of all, a considerable part of the land occupied by the imperial court is hillside land and dry land, and even saline-alkali land, which can be said to be rotten land. This is also the reason why the local gentry only complained verbally and did not resist by force, and even if these lands were lost, they would not hurt their roots.

However, after the comprehensive transformation of farmland in the hands of the landlords and gentry, a considerable part of the land was transformed from rotten land into good irrigated land. Although the cost of these land redevelopment still has to be deducted from the tenant in installments, the difference between the output of the rotten land and the irrigated land is basically more than doubled. Therefore, the lessee is still profitable, not to mention that the price of cotton has been rising.

The landlords and gentry were unwilling to spend effort to clean up the rotten land in their hands, but it did not mean that they did not covet the water in the hands of others, even if this other person was the imperial court.

After seeing the rotten land that had been renovated by the imperial court, the landlords and gentry who had been indifferent to the cotton planting plan immediately moved and took action. However, Li Changshi, who was in charge of the plan, refused to hand over a large area of enclosed land to one or two large households, which undoubtedly offended many local gentry.

The success of the cotton-planting business plan also made Li Changshi a thorn in the side of some household officials. Officials from a small official, because of this plan, are more and more valued by the emperor, how can these officials from Jinshi be embarrassed?

Not to mention, after Li Changshi opened up the successful road of the cotton planting business plan, many household officials immediately understood the trick, which was not only an opportunity to establish meritorious service, but also a very oily position.

The local gentry below attacked Li Changshi for favoritism, and his colleagues in the household department excluded him everywhere, which made Li Changshi's situation suddenly delicate.

Li Changshi, who was called by Guo Yunhou to talk today, suddenly felt a little angry after listening to Guo Yunhou's suggestions for his new job.

Li Changshi was angry and said to his boss with some resentment: "This is really unfair, since he confessed to presiding over the cotton planting plan, he has not trembled for a day, and he has not dared to forget His Majesty's instructions for a moment.

The gentry in these places first refused to cooperate with the cotton division and forbade their servants to rent cotton fields, but now they say that I deliberately make things difficult and want to blackmail the gentry, which is really unreasonable. I, I want to avenge my Majesty..."

Guo Yunhou waved his hand to stop him from continuing, pulled down his face and reprimanded him: "What grievances do you want to require, Your Majesty asked you to leave this position now just to protect you."

Now that the cotton planting industry has achieved initial results, the landlords and gentry are very active in transforming the farmland to plant cotton. These landlords and gentry had enough capital and manpower in their families, and if they could invest in this plan, they would be able to greatly reduce the investment of the imperial court in this plan.

Although your previous actions have made a good start for the cotton planting industry, you have also greatly offended these landlords and gentry. However, all the landlords and gentry who were willing to change the old way of producing and operating the grange and put themselves into the new agricultural production relations were now the objects of the imperial court's dependence.

If you continue to stay in this position, I am afraid that you will become the target of public criticism. Even His Majesty may not be able to keep you. Your Majesty thinks that you should cherish talents for the country, so you should be removed first, lest those gentry continue to form a party to attack you, what more can you be wronged about? ”

was scolded by Guo Yunhou like this, Li Changshi suddenly shrunk his neck, he was able to rise from a small official to the current Wupinlang, it would be impossible to do it without Guo Yunhou's initial appreciation.

Although he can't become Guo Yunhou's disciple and protégé with his identity, Li Changshi respects Guo Yunhou with a teacher etiquette on weekdays.

Although Li Changshi didn't dare to continue complaining, he still pleaded with Guo Yunhou: "My lord, even if it is to protect me, it won't let me go overseas to visit the cotton manufacturing industry in mainland India, right?"

I have never swam in the river since I have grown up, and if this sea boat encounters any wind and waves, will I not even be able to find the corpse, and I will become a ghost in a foreign land? Xia Guan would rather stay on land than go to mainland India. ”

Guo Yunhou glanced at Li Changshi, and then said hatefully: "Confused, although Your Majesty took you from the position of Cotton Shilang, he has not forgotten your merits, so he assigned you to investigate the Indian continent."

If you think about it, the annual tax revenue of cotton cloth is now second only to salt and raw silk. Unlike salt and raw silk, the annual production of cotton cloth is still increasing rapidly, and it seems to be endless.

The yield per mu of cotton varieties tested by the peasant association is three times that of native cotton, and it can be popularized on a large scale after this year, so it can be seen that the annual output of cotton cloth must at least double.

Based on the 70 million pieces of cloth that will be put on the market this year, that is, 140 million pieces of cloth, and 7 million yuan in taxes can be collected. However, the taxes that were collected on the cloth produced had to be sold, and the market that could accommodate a large amount of cloth was left with the vassal states of Southeast Asia, in addition to Korea and Japan in the northeast.

However, now in Southeast Asia, there is still Indian cloth to compete with our Ming Dynasty, if we do not understand the production of Indian cloth, how can we determine how the scale of cotton cloth production should be developed?

If you are able to find out the detailed means of cotton cloth production from the Indian continent, who else in the household department will oppose you going to the next level? Isn't it clear to you how big the difference is between Lang Zhong and Shiro? ”

Of course, Li Changshi knew how big the difference was between Lang Zhong and Shi Lang, but his appointment as a Lang Zhong had already made those non-commissioned officers very red-eyed, so he really didn't expect that he would be promoted to the rank of Shi Lang again.

Guo Yunhou, who was sitting in the hall, looked at Li Changshi's expression of suffering from gains and losses, and his heart suddenly brightened, so he continued: "You don't have to worry about the old man being deceived by you, do you know who the biggest opponent of my household is now?" ”

Li Changshi immediately replied without thinking: "What did the Lord say about the Prime Minister's Yamen? ”

Guo Yunhou immediately nodded with satisfaction and said, "Yes, my household department should have been in charge of the world's wealth. But now the whole court is bowing down to the Prime Minister's Yamen, do you know why? ”

Li Changshi thought for a moment before saying: "Although the household department is in charge of the world's wealth, there are precedents to follow when these money come and go, and there is not much room for turnover.

Although since His Majesty ascended the throne, he has tried his best to suppress the small coffers of the ministries and put them under the management of the household department, but there is still not much living money available.

On the other hand, because of the great development of overseas trade in the past two years, the annual surplus will not be less than 2 or 3 million yuan, which is real living money, and the ministries naturally want to borrow money from the prime minister's yamen to make up for their own shortfalls, and it is common sense to bow down to it. ”

Guo Yunhou sighed and said, "Yes, the people in the market know that they can't bother the two masters.

The old man was still not persistent enough, he just thought about scavenging out the small treasury of the six departments, and the world was clear, so he left such a little private treasury for His Majesty.

But who would have thought that overseas trade would be so profitable, and that His Majesty would turn his small treasury into a nondescript yamen like the Prime Minister's Yamen, to suppress the financial power of our household department.

The voice of the prime minister's yamen in terms of wealth is louder, and the voice of our household department is naturally smaller. If this continues, won't my household department become a subordinate of the prime minister's yamen, which is tolerable but unbearable.

Therefore, we must try our best to divide the control power of the customs from the prime minister's yamen, even if half of the right to speak.

This cotton cloth business not only involves the domestic trade of our Ming Dynasty, but also concerns the trends of the overseas trade market. If we can get to the crux of the problem one step ahead of the Prime Minister's Yamen, then the Ministry of Household Affairs will have an excuse to meddle in the management of customs. This is a miracle for my colleagues in the household.

Therefore, His Majesty named you to go to the Indian mainland for this trip, and the old man did not postpone it. I now hope in you, are you going to disappoint the old man? ”

Li Changshi, in the midst of his own promotion** and worries about overseas voyages, finally accepted Guo Yunhou's order with a twist.

Three days later, Li Changshi, Yi Bangcai, Wang Heng and others went south, preparing to set off from Shanghai for the Strait of Malacca.

At this moment, Edmond Dantès slowly left the Madeira Islands with the Zheng He and the Flying Tiger, heading towards the Strait of Magellan in South America. Zheng Zhihu watched the beauty of Madeira for the last time, and still regretted this wonderful European voyage.

In order to be able to send the white-bearded old man Galileo to China as soon as possible, Zheng Zhihu had to abandon his plan to continue to Constantinople. In order to get Pope Eirbang VIII to allow Galileo to go to China, Xu Gao, who went to meet the Pope on behalf of the emperor, took out half a shipload of precious goods and bribed the Holy See.

And Galileo, who was standing beside Xu Gao, also glanced at Europe behind him with nostalgia, and took his daughter and a group of students to the legendary country of Seris, which was a gamble for him.

If it weren't for the Jesuit propaganda, he would not have dared to get on this boat, knowing that China, far to the east, was a more civilized and wealthy place than Europe.

After reluctantly saying goodbye to the Madeira Islands that disappeared on the sea level, Galileo asked Xu Gao again with trepidation: "Your Majesty the Emperor of China, will you really agree to publish my Dialogue on the Two World Systems of Ptolemy and Copernicus?" Will he really repeal the 1616 ban that the Holy See had given to me? ”

Although he has answered countless times in the past few days, Xu Gao still replied with a smile on his face: "Of course, Your Majesty's promise to you is that as long as you are willing to go to China, you will be completely free, and you have the final say on what you study or not." It doesn't matter what content you want to publish, you won't have any problems.

In our country, no mortal can transcend the will of the Emperor except the will of the Divine, not even the Pope..."