Chapter 140: Building the Foundation
Most of the people who are willing to go to sea with Zheng Guofan this time are dilapidated military households with no permanent property, and the fields of these people's ancestors have long been eaten by the officials, in fact, they are tenants, but their sideline business is relatively strong, as sailors and gunners, they can make some money with General Zhongli Zhong to suppress bandits, and go to sea with Xiao Maocai to make a plan, isn't it just a way to make money. However, in the end, they are military households, and there is still a difference between them and pure farmers, knowing that Fusang Country is a country that is not levied by the grandfather back then, and it is no problem to go to Fusang to make money, and it is no problem to fight Fusang people, but two hundred stones per person, these more than five hundred people, is a territory of 100,000 stones, which is equivalent to a year's tax in a medium-sized county in Daming, so everyone just heard that two hundred stones per person, and their hearts were hot, but after thinking about it carefully, they were a little hesitant.
"Xiao Mao is talented." Everyone quickly put forward a very popular guy in their eyes, this person is thirty or forty years old, with a loyal and honest face, and belongs to the kind of appearance that puts his hand into other people's pockets and others will not suspect him of stealing things.
The good officer said to him, "Get up and speak, but I don't like others to kneel." "Where is that person willing to follow, Master Maocai is polite when he lifts up, and he really wants to be polite as a blessing, that is, he doesn't know how to lift," Xiao Maocai went down to earth, and he must be a high school scholar full of gold and jade, how dare the villain. The villains have some questions and want to ask Xiao Maocai. β
frowned slightly, but the good official didn't insist, after all, these generations of military households, expecting them to broaden their horizons and tell them that everyone is equal, this is a joke, so he looked at him and said, "What's your name?" If there is any problem, just say it together. β
"The villain's surname is Cao, Xingsan, everyone is called the villain Cao San, knows a little bit about arithmetic bookkeeping, and also knows some words, everyone can afford to look down on villains, and they all love to find villains if they want to write something or something." Cao San said that the rules and regulations were decent, and it didn't sound like a good thing, but the good official was slightly stunned, you know, literacy is not rare in the Ming Dynasty, the key is that others ask him to write on his behalf, not to mention that he understands arithmetic, which means that this person is at least the level of a bookkeeper, if he goes out to work, not to mention much, at least ten times stronger than the military household.
But he was also relieved immediately, a military household is a military household, and the ancestors have to be for generations, and the fugitive household who abandons the identity of the military household is a heavy punishment if he is caught, to put it bluntly, it is the identity of the military household that delays this person.
"The villain just wants to ask, we have more than 500 people here, 200 stone each, this time it is more than 100,000 stones, in our Daming, it is also a medium county for a year to pay taxes, Xiao Mao gave such a large piece of land to the villain, this ...... Is it a violation of the laws of the imperial court? Cao San said cautiously.
When the obedient official heard this, he said that this person actually had some goods in his stomach, and at the same time he sighed, after all, this time was not the year of the Apocalypse, the year of Chongzhen, at that time the world had collapsed, if there was a field divided, where would anyone manage whether it was in line with the laws of the imperial court, but Wanli year...... To put it bluntly, although everyone is a little harder, they still have something to eat, so they have this tangled mentality, happy and worried, in case this field is in hand, the court will decide that we will be a rebel, what should we do?
This is the shortcoming of using military households, after all, the Ming Dynasty has been in the world for two hundred years, although there are injustices in the world, but most people themselves first follow the rules, if those pirates, hearing that there is a field divided, it is estimated that they are happy to say something like Xiaomaocai has more children and grandchildren, more blessings and more longevity, where are these military households, obviously their eyes are full of green light, they all want to take it, and they are a little afraid.
At this time, Hu Litao lowered his face and wanted to scold this guy, but the obedient official reached out under his sleeve to stop him, after all, Hu Litao was born in the green forest, and it may not be appropriate for these military households to be honest, but this is not the guts, I am afraid that it is not as big as those maritime merchants, so he smiled, "Cao San is right!" What a future you think is for you to look like me! β
Cao San hesitated for a moment and said: "The villain has also heard that Xiao Mao is a 12-year-old middle school student, that is really a genius, and it must not be difficult for Lianzhong Sanyuan to become an official in the future." He originally wanted to say that a prince Wandai, but it is obviously unrealistic for a civil official in the Ming Dynasty to be a prince, congratulations to a literati prince Wandai, in fact, it is to beat around the bush and say that others are rude and unliterate, so he used a magistrate to enter the knighthood.
The good official laughed, then said nothing, and said, "If you don't want it, so be it!" What do you think of the reward of five taels of silver per person? β
After all, the good official is a borrowed force, there are some things that he can't say clearly, he can't say it, I'm not afraid of a talented show with unlimited prospects, you guys are afraid of a hair! Therefore, he nodded Cao San, and then offered a reward of five taels of silver.
The price of the Ming Dynasty, one tael of silver and two stone of rice, two hundred stone is equivalent to one hundred taels of silver, the key is that this is not given rice, but the land that produces rice, and there are two hundred stone every year! And five taels of silver is also a big reward in Daming, after all, ten taels of silver is enough for a family of three, or a family of three living in the city for a year, so this is indeed not a little.
However, five taels of silver is really incomparable with two hundred taels of land, and if the good officials said at the beginning that each person would be given five taels, these people would certainly be very happy, but the land that produced two hundred taels of rice became five taels of silver, which is really unacceptable.
Cao San was really stunned, swallowed his saliva, and said, "Can the villain discuss it with the brothers?" The obedient officer waved his hand generously. Cao San got up, took three steps back, and then turned around and returned to the military household, and it was definitely impossible for more than 500 people to surround him, and dozens of people who were more authoritative among the people immediately surrounded him.
Seeing that this group of soldiers were so cautious, Hu Litao couldn't help but spit on the ground, "There are no eggs, we don't have such goods under our hands." "These people are not his direct subordinates, they are all from the families of the thousands of families of the Eight Guards, so he has this to say.
The obedient official chuckled and said, "Brother Hu, what you said is biased, after all, I borrowed these guards, and it is normal for them to hesitate." In fact, he also had a lot of thoughts in his heart, you know, if he can't even handle a bunch of mud-legged military households, how dare he boast about engaging in the gentry to pay food in one piece, the gentry are much more difficult to do than the military households.
Ryan Stein next to him didn't speak, after all, he was an outsider compared to Hu Litao and even those military guards, but he had already been moved by the reward of the good official, and he couldn't help but come to him and whispered: "Your Excellency, in Europa, farmers who have lost their land are everywhere. β
The obedient official knew what he meant, but he didn't consider this problem for the time being, these military guards were the ones he was most eager to win over, as long as these people took the land of two hundred stones, in the customs of the Ming Dynasty, they became his subordinates, and the peasants of the Ming Dynasty often liked to give the land to a certain meritorious scholar in order to avoid forced labor, so that the taxes originally paid to the imperial court became handed over to their masters, and the advantage was to escape the forced labor, and the disadvantage was that they became someone else's subordinate without personal freedom.
In fact, at this time, he regretted it a little, originally he thought that he would learn from Mao Taizu to divide the fields into households, and these military households would not rush to them! It's a pity that he still thinks too simply, and it seems that he has messed things up, and it seems that he is even more angry with these people.
"It turns out that it's not just a field where the farmers burst into tears and shout that it's better to xxx!" The obedient official couldn't help but muttered to himself, and Hu Litao next to him didn't know it clearly, "What's good?" β
The obedient officer smiled and said that it was nothing, and watched the soldiers talk together, densely crowded.
The military households surrounded Cao San, and some surnames asked impatiently directly, "Cao Laosan, what did Xiao Mao say?" β
Cao San smiled bitterly, "Xiao Mao just said, if everyone doesn't want land, they will give each person five taels of silver." β
"What? Only five taels? The man who was the first to open his mouth to ask suddenly widened his eyes, "Cao Laosan, it won't be you who swallowed it privately!" β
"Lao Cao is not that kind of person." There was a round next to him.
"I want to swallow it!" Cao San spread his hands, "Do I dare?" β
"That's not good, let's go to sea to put it bluntly, isn't it just for money, Xiao Maocai is too stingy." A few of them were indignant, "Five taels of silver is called Huazi!" β
A few people in the crowd said, "Your family sent Hanako for five taels of silver!" If you are under Niu Qianhu, can you mix five taels of silver a year? "This one is more kind.
"If you want me to say, two hundred stones of land are good, but you are timid, and you are too hot to eat hot oil cakes." A lean and lean man said loudly, this person's surname is Ji, and he is the flag soldier on the official ship, and his speech is somewhat useful.
When someone heard this, they were naturally not convinced, so they said: "Crazy Ji, what you said seems to be that you are a good man." β
"I am consciously a good man, anyway, I want the land of 200 stones, I am a single, with a land of 200 stones, I will marry an obedient mother-in-law in the future, I can't say, Xiao Mao will promote me, and I can mix up in the future." The flag soldier obviously made up his mind to hug the thigh of the obedient officer, "If you want to go back to eat chaff vegetables, don't stand in my way." β
If the good officials in the distance heard them so noisy and did not have an accurate idea, they might have to sigh, and it was indeed [the people can make it impossible to know it], this sentence is really useful in this era.
As soon as Ji Feng said this, some of the hard-mouthed people were silent, didn't he go to sea with Xiao Mao because he didn't have a good time in Weishang, hundreds of households and thousands of households were fat, and they were thin, and the men here, ninety-nine out of a hundred were singles, and they couldn't even marry their wives.
At this time, Cao Laosan played a round game, "Everyone, listen to my Lao Cao's words, everyone think about it clearly, Xiao Maocai also said, follow us, whether we want two hundred stones of land, or five taels of silver......"
"Lao Cao, which one do you choose?" Someone couldn't help but ask him, obviously, he usually said that his prestige and popularity are good.
Cao San gritted his back molars, he felt that he was also capable, but on the guard, it was really bitter, and he couldn't see a little oil and flowers in it, sometimes General Zhong went to sea to suppress bandits, and gathered thousands of households, so that he could fight a dozen tooth sacrifices mixed with pork, and go out to suppress bandits desperately.
To tell the truth, although these military men are said to be more hard, they are still much happier than the peasants in Fusang, but when people go to high places and the water flows to low places, people's normal mentality is to compare with those who are stronger than themselves, but they will never compare with those who are worse than themselves.
"I will also ask for two hundred stones." Cao Laosan went out, "General Zhongli Zhong is not afraid, Xiao Maocai is not afraid, what are we afraid of, cutting off the head is just a big scar in the bowl, and then I said, it's a big deal, let's not go back, the tree is dead, the person is alive, with these two hundred stones of land, the children and grandchildren will pass it on, and this life can be regarded as an account." β
When everyone heard this, they first thought about it, the so-called wealth is moving, and the temptation of two hundred stones of land is really great, so some people said, isn't it, there are more people who have been begging for a life abroad, and we have been selling for the Ming Dynasty for two hundred years since our ancestors, and we should also consider it for ourselves.
"Yes." The flag soldier Monsoon shouted loudly at this time, "Who asked himself if he could mix with the small flag when he went back?" Now that I have followed Master Maocai, a person has not died, but he has set off a cannon according to the canon in Pingyue, and he can be promoted and make a fortune, where can he find such a good thing? You have to cry and mourn one by one, as if Master Maocai led you to rebel, didn't you just rob the Fusang people of a little land, it's a balloon! β
As soon as a few extremely inflammatory words were shouted, the balance in everyone's hearts suddenly tilted sharply towards the obedient official, that's it! One person didn't die, everyone was promoted and made a fortune together, where to find such a good thing, I didn't dare to ask for it, it was really stupid.
"However, what if the imperial court says that we occupy the land of the Fusang people and do not conform to the rules of our ancestors, and detain us as a rebel?" No matter what the crowd is, there will definitely be the faint of heart.
"Fuck the ancestral rules." Someone said indignantly, "Zhang Ge Lao engaged in a whip method, and as a result, he did not collect grain but collected silver, and the grain originally paid now has to be scraped twice by black-hearted grain merchants, is this also the rule of the ancestors?" My sister originally married to a family, originally quite solid, these years a whip law down, brother-in-law's family is not very good, if the ancestral rules make people poorer and poorer, Lao Tzu does not want the ancestral rules, timid nonsense get out, Lao Tzu made up his mind, and then he ate with Master Maocai. β
Everyone was noisy, and some of them had loud voices, and the sound naturally reached the ears of the good official, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, it seems that Taizu's method still works.
The entanglement and quarrel of the military households can be regarded as a kind of sublimation and rebirth, and at this time, they can be regarded as forgetting their original identity that has been on their backs for two hundred years, and they are desperate to eat with good officials.
Now that he has made up his mind, Cao San went to talk to the obedient official as a representative, but this time he came over, and his walking posture was not so restrained, after all, they were all Zheng obedient officials' people in the future, and they used to be called under the fence, but now they are half the master, this kind of mentality, as if a woman did not sleep with a man before she covered it up, after going to bed, with the mentality of [the old lady is your person], I don't care if I walk back and forth naked, that's probably what it means.
The obedient official listened to Cao San's words, and was immediately overjoyed, it was all borrowed forces before, but from this moment on, he Zheng Guofan can be regarded as having his own power.
Then, more than 500 people, again stood up to the good officials, so that they are all considered a minimum and smallest military attachΓ©, can call themselves lowly, under the sunset, watching more than 500 people kneel on one knee, the feeling of satisfaction is really refreshing, immediately decided to strike while the iron is hot, cut the mess quickly, turn around and go to Hirado Castle, to start dividing the land.
Wait for these more than 500 people to firmly occupy the land, even if he has a complete foothold on Kyushu Island, in this way, even if he returns to Daming, he will not worry about the Fusang people making trouble, after all, there are more than 500 former military households who occupy the land of 100,000 stones, in case someone makes trouble, these people will desperately protect the land for themselves, this is the foundation of long-term occupation of Fusang, and if there are no more than 500 military households, it is a source of water and no root.
(To be continued)