The next day, the Beijing Daily News published the news of the complete success of the Beiyang Fleet's maiden voyage to the Americas of the Qing Imperial Navy, expounded the importance of opening the American route and the division of the Americas, and reported on the various conditions in the Americas in a series of articles, describing in detail the living conditions of the land, climate, grasslands, horses, buffalo, Indian tribes, and Indians in the Americas, and even more exaggerated the huge amount of silver and gold plundered by the Spaniards of 4 billion taels in the Americas in more than 100 years.

As soon as the Beijing News came out, the entire Beijing Division, up to the officials of the imperial court, and at least the people of Shengdou, all talked about the Americas, and the huge figure of 4 billion taels stimulated the blood of the officials, gentry and people of the entire Beijing Division.

At this time, the princes and nobles who were enshrined in the Americas also learned about the details of the Americas from the mouths of the housekeepers and servants who returned to the capital from the Americas, and they all couldn't wait to go to the 'Four Hengs' to borrow money, send people south to buy ships, shop, hire sailors, and spare no effort to carry out hype and agitation in their respective flags.

At the same time, he also lured a group of bannermen to go to the Americas through means such as sealing officials and making wishes, staking horses, and high salaries, as long as they could ride horses and draw bows. There are also some active-minded princes and nobles who are not limited to recruiting people in the banner, but secretly recruiting people in the outer city who are strong and can ride and shoot.

As soon as the wind came out, a number of princes and nobles followed suit, and further expanded the range, it doesn't matter whether they can ride and shoot, as long as they have a skill, the body is strong, and the farmers and businessmen do not refuse, this limelight immediately spread to the surrounding areas of the capital, and the entire capital and its nearby prefectures and counties immediately set off a feverish gold rush in the Americas, and the teahouses and restaurants in the capital, the guild halls, theaters, streets and alleys, the focus of discussion everywhere is the Americas.

In a private room in the backyard of the 'Tran Bo Ju', the old eight Yinyu, the old nine Yinyu, the thirteenth Yinxiang, the fifteenth Yinlu, and the sixteenth Yinlu were chatting and laughing, and in the past two days, they visited almost all the European missionaries in Beijing to inquire about the situation in West Africa. They were thrilled to learn that Ghana was indeed known as the 'Gold Coast', that gold was produced throughout Europe, and that the West African coast was indeed a stronghold of the slave trade.

A few people were talking and laughing, and Lao Shiyin pushed the door and walked in, smiling and said: "It's too late, let a few brothers wait for a long time, and I will punish myself with three cups later." As he spoke, he gave a salute to the eighth and ninth children.

Yin Yu stood up with a smile. said with a smile: "You are not allowed to drink alcohol in the army, if the tenth brother wants to drink a few more glasses, there is no need to make excuses, the thirteenth brother is here, and you are worried that no one will accompany you to have fun?" ”

The old thirteen also hurriedly got up to greet him, and after a little greeting, a few people sat down again, and the old eight Yinyu said with a smile: "Today, I will take the opportunity to give the ninth brother, the tenth brother, and the sixteenth brother to invite everyone to come, mainly for the matter of Africa." Speaking of this, he looked at Yin Qi and said, "The general situation." The tenth brother should know, right? ”

Yin Qi nodded and said, "I came out of the palace." The emperor has already told me in detail. ”

"Okay." Yin Yu said with a smile: "The division of West Africa is mainly three tasks, one is to capture black slaves, one is to mine gold, and the other is to plant and graze. Slave hunting and gold mining are the top priorities, and I need no more to say, but I would like to emphasize the third point. Planting and grazing.

West Africa is far away from the Qing Dynasty, and daily consumption cannot rely on supplies from the Qing Dynasty, and the voyage is too long. Therefore, it is necessary to vigorously promote planting and animal husbandry in the local area to ensure the daily needs of a large number of garrisons and miners.

None of the European missionaries in the capital had ever penetrated into West Africa, but had only stopped in the coastal ports, and they did not know much about the local situation, but according to them, there were plains and grasslands, and crops such as millet and peanuts and cocoa. The local climate is hot, and I don't know if it is suitable for rice planting, so in any case, I have to bring some people who are familiar with agriculture and crop seeds to try planting. ”

"It's still starling's way of thinking, we only focus on gold and black slaves." Lao Jiuyinyu smiled and said: "The emperor alone divided our six brothers in West Africa, which can be described as a great grace, Ghana's gold has a long reputation, indicating that the reserves are quite large, and forty percent of the mining income must be handed over to the imperial court, which is the only income of the imperial court in West Africa, therefore, gold mining should be put in the first place." Gold mining is naturally inseparable from the exploration and smelting of gold craftsmen, these craftsmen, we must step up the search for recruitment, otherwise we can only look at gold and sigh. ”

"Brother Jiu, didn't you recruit a large number of craftsmen to send them to Nanyang Kalopa for on-the-spot exploration and training in smelting gold and silver mines last year?" Yin asked puzzled.

Yin Yu smiled, and then said: "Those craftsmen, don't count on the ten brothers, the Qing Dynasty is now in short supply of manpower in exploration and smelting ores, Australia, America, and South Africa all need a lot of manpower in this area, how can the emperor easily let go, even if it is given, it is extremely limited."

Brothers don't have much money now, be well prepared, and get the gold as soon as possible is the right way, if my expectations are good, the emperor will definitely want us to help train people in this area. ”

"Brother Jiu's words are true, now the court spends money everywhere, and the emperor also hopes to get the gold of West Africa as soon as possible." The old thirteen Yinxiang continued: "While vigorously expanding the feudal states of the Americas, the emperor sent troops to West Africa and South Africa, although there is the meaning of military training, but the main purpose is to open up overseas financial resources, and this matter cannot be neglected. ”

After a slight pause, he continued: "I have dealt with Westerners in Nanyang, in fact, the slave trade is also a high profit, and the income should be more than gold mining, the candidates for this slave hunting team must be carefully selected in order to achieve twice the result with half the effort, but at present, the banner people of the Beijing division have gone through several rounds of screening, and the rest are old, weak, sick and disabled, and they are incompetent. ”

Yinxi glanced at Yinxiang with appreciation, secretly wondering that this old thirteen fruit was outstanding, no wonder Zhenwu tried his best to dig him up from the fourth child.

The old fifteenth Yinyu, who had not been silent, said at this time: "The slave trade is not very glorious, and using the garrison to catch slaves not only does more harm than good, but also easily provokes criticism. ”

"Sixteenth brother, this method is good." Yin Qi chuckled: "Those bastards are abducted and deceived and stealing, and sending them to West Africa to catch slaves can be described as killing two birds with one stone." ”

Yinxiang also smiled and said: "The sixteenth brother's method is not bad, but this matter must be nodded by the emperor." ”

Tianjin, a military port of the Beiyang Fleet.

Wu Ge stood on the seashore with a gloomy face, looking at the vast sea, stunned, the first voyage to the Americas lost three warships, more than 1,000 officers and soldiers, which was a great blow to the morale of the Beiyang Fleet, the battalion was filled with a sad mood these days, he was tired enough these days, he had to train the soldiers ruthlessly during the day, and at night he had to personally take a group of officers to patrol the night and check the sentry, one was afraid of desertion, and the other was also worried about bombing the camp at night.

He knew very well in his heart that after several years of training and naval warfare, most of these officers and men of the navy had established quite a deep affection, and they had lost more than 1,000 people at once, and the officers and men of the entire fleet were uncomfortable.

However, apart from training them desperately, he really couldn't think of any way to boost their morale, and perhaps the war would allow them to recover as soon as possible.

Wu Ge was thinking to himself, but when he heard a sound of fast footsteps, he couldn't help frowning slightly, turned around, and found that it was Yande, he couldn't help but show a smile, and said: "It's hard to go back to Beijing, why don't you stay at home for a few more days, and rush back so quickly?" ”

Yande reluctantly squeezed out a smile and said, "Don't worry, you can't sleep well in the capital." As he spoke, he walked up to him, glanced at the sea, and said, "Are you tired these days?" ”

As soon as he heard this, Wu Ge knew that he had already walked around the barracks before finding it, and immediately said: "It doesn't matter if you are tired, it's just that how to boost the morale of this army is a bitter and unscrupulous method." As he spoke, he asked with concern: "When you enter Beijing to see you, you haven't been punished, right?" ”

Yande shook his head slightly, and said in a deep voice: "The specific pension plan has come out. ”

"So fast?" Wu Ge was slightly surprised to hear this, the imperial court has a set of strict procedures for the death pension, all the fallen officers and soldiers must be folded by the commander of the army and the local governor to ask for compensation, and with the fold list of the deceased members' resumes, the lower grades by the commander of the army to make an inventory and submit it to the Ministry of War, by the Ministry of War to consult the Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of Officials on a monthly basis.

Within 10 days after the order is approved, the three ministries of ceremonies, soldiers, and workers shall be notified of the pension according to the rules, and the Ministry of Rites shall issue the sacrificial silver and funeral silver, the Ministry of War shall issue the pension silver, and the Ministry of Industry shall issue the stele price silver. Whether it is sacrificial silver, funeral silver, or shirt silver, they are all set according to the grade, and no ambiguity is allowed at all; under normal circumstances, it is already fast to be able to complete this procedure within half a year, and the navy's pension can come up with a specific pension plan within a few days, which is simply incredible.

He immediately thought that this was the imperial approval of Zhenwu himself, and he couldn't help but feel excited, and hurriedly asked, "Is it the emperor's imperial approval?" Not a reference to the standards of the Eight Banners? ”

"It's not." Yande said in a deep voice: "The emperor said that the navy is high-risk, the salary of the soldiers is generous, and the pension must also be preferential, each soldier is tentatively set at 200 taels of silver, exempting his family from the regular endowment of 50 acres of land for 30 years, and the pension is 20 taels per year, for a period of 20 years, the children of the family are taken care of when they go to school, join the army, and join the army. ”

Speaking of this, he paused for a moment before he accentuated his tone and said word by word: "In addition, the emperor also said that he would build another altar at the Temple of Heaven in the capital, specifically to worship the fallen soldiers who fought for the country in all directions. ”