readx; Under the strong recommendation of Yuan Chonghuan, Zhu Youzhen appointed Huang Long as the chief military officer of Dongjiang Town, under the control of Gao Di, the governor of Liaodong. Pen ~ fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info It stands to reason that Huang Long was only a third-grade general before, and the general soldiers were generally first-class, and there was a second-grade deputy general in the middle, and the promotion seemed to be too fast;

Huanglong had been depressed before, but this time he was promoted to a first-class member, and he was overjoyed when he went out of town. Cao Wenzhao was very red-eyed, although he didn't dare to say it, he complained a little about Zhu Youzhen in his heart, and he didn't take care of his old acquaintance for Li Chongyao's sake.

Zhu Youzhen had already seen what was on his mind, and said with a smile: "General Cao, don't worry. In a few days, you will return to Ningyuan with me, and there will be more opportunities to make meritorious contributions in the future, and it will not be difficult to worship the marquis. Your forte is cavalry, and I plan to let you take command of the Guanning Iron Cavalry! Cao Wenzhao turned his worries into joy.

In the next few days, Huang Long, Mao Chenglu and others ventured to cross the sea by boat to reach Tieshan, and evacuated the soldiers in the city to Phi Island in batches. At the same time, Zhu Youzhen and Yuan Chonghuan began to check the residents of the islands. Because in addition to the border army on Phi Island, Mao Wenlong also gathered a lot of people, some fishermen, some businessmen engaged in sea smuggling business, and of course, there were many willing or unwilling initiatives, adding up to as many as 30,000 or 40,000.

Yuan Chonghuan advocated that all of them should be sent back to the mainland, so as not to mix the soldiers and the people, and make the border troops feel lax and lazy. In particular, those smugglers violated the laws of the imperial court and should be punished severely.

Zhu Youzhen thought about it for a long time, but first gathered those smuggling merchants together and personally lectured: "If you don't obey the laws of the imperial court and go to sea to smuggle without authorization, you can die for your crimes!" ”

The merchants were immediately frightened, weeping bitterly and begging for mercy. Zhu Youzhen said with a wicked smile: "But I have the virtue of a good life, and I also know that most of you venture to the sea because your family is poor and you can't survive. Now I show you a way to live, I wonder if you will take it? ”

When these smugglers heard that they could not die, of course they were very happy, and they all kowtowed like garlic and said: "As long as the villain is not dead, he is willing to be a cow and a horse for the court!" ”

"That's not necessary." Zhu Youzhen said leisurely, "You earned money by smuggling before, but it is estimated that you have spent a lot, and now if you want to return, I am afraid you will not be able to return." You have no choice but to confiscate your boats, and you are not responsible for the previous smuggling activities. ”

The ship is the job of these smugglers, and they will certainly not be happy to confiscate the ship. But compared to losing your head, this is already a great grace. Everyone was about to thank them, but Zhu Youzhen said: "But without the boat, you have no livelihood, and I don't want to watch you starve to death." If you are willing to join, you can continue to do your job, and if you do not want to stay, you will not be reluctant, and when the storm is over, the officers and soldiers will send you back to your hometown, and you will not be allowed to smuggle again. ”

These people came out to smuggle because they couldn't survive at home, and who would go back and wait for death? Therefore, they all said: "The villain is willing to stay!" ”

Zhu Youzhen smiled with satisfaction: "Okay! However, the Phi Island Trading Company is a public-private joint venture, so naturally it must have some rules, which are different from your indiscriminate smuggling in the past. First of all, the captain of each ship was selected from the naval division of the border army, and the non-commissioned officers were selected to be on board the ship, and the militarized management was implemented. In case of emergency, the captain has the right to deal with it on the spot; But generally they don't interfere with your normal business, and when they come into contact with the Yi people, they don't reveal their identities, they just pretend to be your buddies. This is also for the sake of your safety, and every time you go to sea in the future, wouldn't it be good to have the protection of the officers and soldiers? ”

In fact, these smugglers used to occasionally commit some pirate-like robberies, but now when they heard that there were officials and soldiers on board, this kind of thing naturally could not be done, and some people hesitated. Zhu Youzhen was also not polite, and those who did not agree were immediately eliminated, and he was not even given a chance to reconsider.

The rest are naturally honest businessmen, and they have no objection to military management. Zhu Youzhen continued: "The profits of trade are divided between the government and the people; The officers and soldiers brought their own food and drink on the ship, and if they really needed to requisition your supplies, they would pay the silver according to the price when they returned to Phi Dao. The account books are in duplicate, which is clear at a glance and does not deceive each other. What do you think? ”

When these merchants heard this, the boss was reluctant, because the smuggling trade was very profitable, and who wanted to share half of the silver in vain? But on second thought, now that the ships are gone, if you don't do it, you won't be able to earn a silver or two; On the contrary, if you continue to do it, although the profit of a single time is reduced, this is a trade authorized by the emperor himself, and with the protection of officials and soldiers, it can be carried out in a fair and bright manner, and there is no need to hide it. As long as you make a few more trips, you may earn more than you used to. Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, most people still choose to agree.

In the end, Zhu Youzhen said solemnly: "I know that you have done business with Japanese people, Koreans, and even Jurchens in the past. In the future, this kind of business can be carried out, but the types of trade must be strictly limited. For example, the Jurchens were only allowed to sell tea, porcelain, and other goods, and it was strictly forbidden to sell grain, ironware, ordnance and ammunition. And you must not reveal the secret that you have joined the firm, otherwise you will be killed for collaborating with the enemy! ”

Although everyone didn't quite understand Zhu Youzhen's intentions, whoever dared to disobey the emperor's words had to comply. Including Yuan Chonghuan and others, they didn't understand why Zhu Youzhen was so concerned about these "minutiae" matters, and Zhu Youzhen didn't bother to explain more to them.

In fact, Zhu Youzhen's move has two major intentions. First, the strength of the Daming Navy Division is very weak, and the most prominent problem is the lack of ships. The establishment of a public-private partnership of maritime comptoirs would make it possible to effectively control these smuggling ships and, if necessary, convert them to military use. Zhu Youzhen is not just staring at the ship of Phi Dao, if this method is feasible, he will have to increase the number of ships on a large scale in a short period of time.

Second, foreign trade has always been an important part of Zhu Youzhen's reform plan. The Ming Dynasty had missed this important historical opportunity of the Great Geographical Discovery, and Zhu Youzhen did not want to fall behind again in the booming global maritime trade.

However, the comprehensive reform involves a wide range of issues, because the conservative ideology of agricultural civilization is deep-rooted, and the imperial court has not completely lifted the maritime ban, and a series of systems related to foreign trade, including perfect customs supervision and taxation, have not yet been established, and the time is not yet ripe for the complete liberalization of non-governmental trade. Now Zhu Youzhen has set up a joint venture between the government and the people, which is also testing the waters for the reform that will come sooner or later. As for the effect, we have to paraphrase a popular saying in the previous life: practice is the only criterion for testing the truth!