When His Royal Highness the Crown Prince returned to Beijing, it was already the sixth day of the third month of the twenty-first year of Chongzhen. Although it is said to be March, because the 21st year is a leap year, there are two Marches, which are actually the end of April in the Yeli calendar, and nearly a month has passed since the battle for the restoration of Taiwan.

In view of the fact that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince does not like to make a big splash, after going ashore in Tianjin, he deliberately put the time of entering the city in the early morning, and his subordinate personnel also entered the city in batches. Rao is like this, and still let the deaf and clear-sighted people of Beijing know the news of the prince's return to Beijing, and spontaneously lined up the incense case in front of the house, and for a time the entire Beijing city was shrouded in green smoke, like a fairy capital.

Zhu Cihong walked into the country in this unpleasant air, immediately disbanded the guards, and entered the palace with a few attendants. Except for the cabinet to greet Zhu Cihong at noon, all other officials were not allowed to greet him, and they must be loyal to their duties.

"Where's Mr. Li?" Zhu Cihong saw the absence of the first assistant of the cabinet at a glance.

The second assistant Wu Fu stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, Elder Li Ge has been bedridden since last year, and it is difficult to see things. ”

Zhu Cihong said: "I still have to work Mr. Wu to greet Mr. Li on my behalf." ”

Wu Fu retreated.

Li Yuzhi was in a semi-retired state after last year's big competition, and he submitted his resignation every two months on average, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince couldn't take care of him, and the emperor refused to let go, so it dragged on until now.

Along the way, Zhu Cihong was also considering the issue of replacing cabinet assistants, not in the candidate, but in the method.

Before the Chongzhen Dynasty, the selection method of cabinet members was to push the court officials, called the "Divination Ceremony". Later generations look at the meaning of the text, but they don't know that this sentence comes out, and it is also a cultural tragedy to say that Emperor Chongzhen whimsically chose his ministers by "drawing lots". In fact, this ceremony is more like a small-scale democratic election, in which the five officials in Beijing and above, as well as the Fengxian officials, must participate. At the same time, it also has the meaning of job publicity.

In addition to the court push, there is also the channel of the emperor's hand-picking, Zhongzhi's entry into the cabinet. Although he is the same as Zaifu, most of the officials with backbone are unwilling to be called. In their opinion, the court pushed into the cabinet is their own expectation, but relying on the emperor's favor to enter the cabinet is a courtier's trip. This resistance, intentional or unintentional. The estrangement between the imperial power and the civilian clique is even more obvious.

"The matter of the divination will be discussed later," Zhu Cihong said, "I will enter the palace first to greet the imperial father and the imperial mother." ”

The ministers saluted one after another, and secretly sighed in their hearts for this crown prince who had the posture of a holy emperor. The ancients Dayu ruled the water three times and did not enter, and now the crown prince is running north and south for state affairs, and even the birth of Yuanzi is not a sign, which is indeed a sign of the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty.

Emperor Chongzhen knew that the crown prince was coming back, so he deliberately did not go to the Wuying Palace, so as not to embarrass the crown prince. He sat in the Qianqing Palace with Zhou Hou. Wait for the emperor's eldest son to come back and restore his life.

"Emperor Erchen's eldest son, Cihong, to meet His Majesty the Emperor's father and His Royal Highness the Queen Mother." Zhu Cihong entered the Qianqing Palace and behaved like a ceremony.

"Give a seat." Chongzhen couldn't help but ask: "Is the battle to Taiwan over?" ”

It has been a month since the good news came out, and Zhu Cihong sat on the embroidered pier and said: "Father, I am fortunate to have the soldiers use their lives, and the battle for the restoration of Taiwan has been completely victorious, and the Taiwan government has returned to my Ming rule." "Say it. Zhu Cihong ordered people to hand over two trophies of this battle, namely the Dutch flag captured in Geranza - the red, white and blue three-color striped flag. and the flag of the United East India Company with the letters AVOC.

Chongzhen and Zhou Hou looked at the Dutch flag and felt a little strange.

Zhou Hou said: "What are you doing with bringing this back?" ”

"Erchen plans to donate it to the museum for me to observe the people of Daming." Zhu Cihong said with a smile: "After thousands of years, there will still be people who remember that under the rule of my father, my Ming Tiger went to the isolated island to expel Xiyi. ”

Chongzhen disagreed. A small country thousands of miles away. Living on a small island in the middle of the sea, Xingshi ran to fight them, and it is not worth showing off if he wins. If you lose, it will leave a stigma and make future generations laugh.

But Zhu Cihong went on. made Chongzhen almost bite his tongue.

"After the recovery of Taiwan, we purchased sugar and deerskin from Taiwan and sold them to Japan and Nanyang, with an annual income of more than 580,000 taels. (Note 1)" Zhu Cihong said: "And this year, the Taiwan government will promote the planting of sugarcane, and the output of granulated sugar is expected to reach 10,000 quintals." In addition to deer skins and deer breasts, we also buy deer antler velvet and sell them to pharmaceutical companies in the mainland, so that the increased income is at least 600,000 taels or more. ”

Chongzhen's throat rolled twice: "If you can have such a benefit, it will not be in vain to go on an expedition." ”

"Father, it's much more than that." Zhu Cihong said: "The population of Taiwan Island is only 70,000, fishing and hunting for a living, there are big mountains in the center of the island, dense mountains and forests, and hugging trees abound. Taiwan is located in the tropics, rice can be harvested three times a year, if it is intensively cultivated by the Chinese people, the income is afraid that there will be no million stones. There are high-quality coal mines in Keelung County, Taiwan, which can not only be self-sufficient, but also supply Guangdong. ”

Chongzhen said for a long time: "In this way, it should really be taken back." ”

"This is a direct benefit," Zhu said, "and the indirect benefit is even greater." First of all, there are tenant changes in Jiangxi and Fujian, and it is not easy to be a tenant forever, and it is necessary to abolish the winter warehouse...... The retainers moved all these tenant farmers to the island and allocated land for them to cultivate, so that the tenants could not be granted the right to settle for a hundred generations, so that the people could live and the place could be peaceful. ”

Chongzhen said: "This is a good method, much more clever than suppressing it." It's just that there was no landlord on the island? ”

"Exactly, all the land is owned by the state, and they can be given to them to plant." Zhu Cihong said: "But Erchen still suggested that they plant sugarcane. Because after the sugarcane is harvested, sugar extraction is a benefit. The residue after sugar extraction can be used to make paper and wine, which is another income. ”

"To put it this way to you, it's a treasure island." Zhou Houdao.

"It's really a treasure island." Zhu Cihong said: "Especially after the return of this island, my Daming sailor can find another way, go to America by the ocean, and share the new land with Taixi. It was a land as vast as the Ming Dynasty, but without an owner. ”

Chongzhen frowned slightly and said, "Although the country is big, the belligerent will die." I'm very glad that you can manage your ancestral homeland well. ”

Zhu Cihong restrained a little: "Now that the sons and daughters also have sons, they must always plan for their children and grandchildren." I can't let the Taixi people take all the benefits, and in the future, I will have to rely on people's snorts. ”

Chongzhen waved his hand, indicating that this kind of unreliable thing was not to be said, and asked, "How to spend this silver, can there be a plan?" ”

"The imperial court only collects business taxes and land rent in Taiwan." Zhu Cihong said: "These trade matters are handed over to Nanyang Company to operate. ”

"Nanyang Company?" A company founded by the crown prince of Chongzhen Zhilu Dao. It is larger than the store number, and it is often funded by several merchants, and the profits and losses are shared equally.

"Erchen set up this Emperor Ming Nanyang Company, with a total share capital of 10 million taels, and my heavenly family accounts for 30 percent of the shares, which will never dilute the equity. The Zheng family accounts for one percent; Fujian and Taiwan garrisons are allocated 30% of the equity. dividends as a warrior's allowance; Fujian Sailor accounts for 10% of the equity, Fujian Ocean Academy accounts for 10%, and there is still half of the remainder, 50,000 taels of share capital, I plan to take it back and give it away. Zhu Cihong reported one by one.

Chongzhen is not good at the economy, and when he hears this, he also divides that, and his head is dizzy. He only took his own three-fifty to calculate, and he could get 210,000 taels in a year. That's not a small number.

"Didn't all such a big head be taken by others?" After a week, I was a little reluctant.

"Queen Mother," Zhu Cihong said. "The Zheng family is a local wealthy family, and the connections and business routes are in their hands, giving him one percent is the meaning of the topic, otherwise if you send someone who is ignorant, you can't make a couple of silver and lose money? In the future, the garrison of Fujian and Taiwan will be controlled to two divisions and 26,000 men, and it will be located in a remote area. Speaking of which, aren't these soldiers still soldiers of the Ming Dynasty? ”

"As for the Fujian Sailor and the Fujian Ocean Academy, the same is true. They are all places where the country raises scholars, not to mention that Fujian Ocean School has forty percent of the equity of the Heavenly Family. Zhu Cihong said.

Chongzhen said: "That's it. Aren't you afraid that Zheng Zhilong is powerful? ”

Zhu Cihong said with a smile: "Father, Zheng Zhilong is in Tianjin, and he will enter Beijing to face the saint in the near future." Seeing Chongzhen's surprised face, he said: "Erchen appointed him to serve as the priest of the Huangming Naval University, and the days of returning to Fujian in the future will not be numbered." ”

Huangming Naval University is a training base for naval officers mainly from Shandong, as you can imagine. In the future, the population of Beijing and Tianjin will gradually integrate into it. However, Fujian people will not come all the way to study at this university, and even if they do, they are the best among the Fujian sailors, and the number will inevitably be small.

Zheng Zhilong, an officer trained at the Naval University, even if he accepted his love for sacrificial wine. However, most of them were assigned to Shandong or Zhejiang Sailors, so as not to make Zheng Zhilong form a force. During the period when Zheng Zhilong was not in Fujian, the Fujian Navy Division and Zheng Jiajun will continue to divide, and the public will compete endlessly to fill the power vacuum of Zheng Zhilong's departure.

Three years and five years later, the "de-Zhenghua" of the Fujian Navy Division is a matter of course.

"Who is the half of the equity that my son said he wants to give to?" Zhou Hou asked.

"When the court is the cabinet auxiliary, the six books are still in the book, and the wind is the official of the constitution...... The share capital of 50,000 taels is also stretched thin. Zhu Cihong said with a smile: "So when Liaodong sees the profits, some of the shares over there will also be taken out to share the profits with them." ”

Chongzhen was stunned: "The heavenly family divides the profits from the courtiers? ”

"Father, do you remember the New Year's Day of the seventeenth year?"

Of course, Chongzhen will not forget the most bleak New Year's Day in his life. It was that New Year's Day that made him feel the sadness of people who were cold before they left tea. The dignified emperor was so angry that he personally hit the bell, and the military generals abandoned it. If it weren't for the crown prince who brought his troops back in time, he would really have no face to live in the world.

"To share the profits with them, it is to tie these big and small court officials to the big ship of Huangming, so that the matter of opening the door and stealing will not be repeated. When they get dividends from this equity and get the benefits, they naturally know that they should be in the same boat with the heavenly family, and they will no longer be able to openly dig the corners of the country by secretly digging up the corners of the country. ”

Zhu Cihong said in a deep voice. (To be continued......)

PS: Note 1: This data is based on the "Tax Contracting System under Dutch Rule" (2006) by Wu Cong-min, Department of Economics, National Taiwan University, and is based on the ratio of 1 liel to 1.4 taels of silver. In fact, during the period in which this book is written, the Dutch used a complex trading currency, a variety of trade methods, and the exchange rate between the Lile and silver fluctuated greatly over time and region, so only a relatively acceptable middle value could be taken. Incidentally, in 1648, Taiwan had not yet popularized the cultivation of sugarcane, and the sugar production was only 9,000 quintals, and the promotion of sugarcane was after 1650. In 1648, only 110,000 pieces of deerskin were exported, and it was only after the 50s that the scale of 150,000 pieces was reached.

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