A fleet of boats, sailing on the surface of the Yangtze River, constantly has boatmen using long poles to push away the ice floe.

The boat is moving very slowly, for fear of colliding with the ice floe.

Zheng Guozhong stood on the deck, his hands on his sleeves, shivering from the cold, he looked at the Yangtze River frozen everywhere: "Why is this so cold that it is worse than in the Chongzhen period?" Every year? ”

Zhang Xiong, the general of the Yangtze River Naval Division, said in a joking tone: "Zheng Zongxian is really lucky, he has been at sea for many years, and as soon as he comes back, he encounters the Yangtze River freezing. It wasn't so cold in previous years, but this year it's really weird. We, the Yangtze River Naval Division, dispatched the whole army some time ago just to open up the Yangtze River waterway. But fortunately, you can make some hard-earned money, and there are rich people along the river who buy ice. ”

"Ahh

Zheng Guozhong let out a sneeze and hurriedly went back to the cabin to hide. He had served as governor of Luzon for several years, and now he had returned to Beijing from his post and suddenly came from the tropics to the frozen Yangtze River.

Zheng Guozhong said with emotion: "Fortunately, when I was supplying in Fujian, it snowed in Fuzhou, so I bought two sets of padded jackets, otherwise I would have to be frozen and sick." ”

He returned all the way from Luzon on a warship. Sitting on the navy's warships on the sea and the warships of the navy division on the Yangtze River are such grand and high-standard, not only for his safety, but also to ensure the safety of the gold and silver on board.

When I arrived in Nanjing, it was almost the winter solstice.

Looking at the long-lost Nanjing city wall, Zheng Guozhong's thoughts were infinite.

As soon as they heard that he had returned to Beijing, various ministries sent officials one after another, and they were officials at the level of squire, who came to the dock with great fanfare to warmly welcome him.

Similarly, it's not how big Zheng Guozhong's shelf is, it's just that he carries gold and silver treasures with him on the ship - all the yamen of the imperial court can get a piece of the pie!

After the debriefing, Zheng Guozhong was summoned by the emperor.

"Minister Zheng Guozhong, meet His Majesty the Emperor!" Zheng Guozhong's excitement is not faked. After serving in Luzon for seven years, he had long wanted to return to Beijing and missed the emperor for a long time.

"Give a seat."

Zhao Han smiled and said, "Zheng Qing has worked hard. ”

Zheng Guozhong hurriedly said: "Do things for the country, share worries for the monarch, and don't feel hard." ”

Zhao Han said: "On the Luzon side, if there is anything that needs to be changed, Zheng Qing might as well speak freely." ”

Zheng Guozhong said: "Everything has been straightened out, and Luzon will inevitably become more and more prosperous in the future...... It's just that there are more and more big landowners there. Although the more land there is, the more taxes there are, but landlords can think of ways to avoid taxes. The imperial court stipulated that the landlords of Luzon should collect taxes normally within 100 acres of land. For every 20 acres of additional acres, the tax rate will be increased by one level. But now it is all 100 acres of land, and I have never seen a landlord with more than 100 acres. ”

"More than 100 acres of land is registered in the name of the clan?" Zhao Han asked.

Zheng Guozhong said: "Yes! Luzon was barbarian, and the Han people had to hold together, so the clan and fellow villagers were very strong. When something happens, it also uses patriarchal law or village rules, and rarely asks the government to intervene in adjudicating cases. Therefore, although the clansmen who are entrusted with the land property, although they nominally own the land property, they have never thought of really getting it by fighting a lawsuit. Once you fall out with the master's family, after the government intervenes, you may be able to get the land, but you will be ostracized by the clansmen and fellow villagers. ”

Zhao Han didn't hate this phenomenon either, and only said: "There are too few Han people in Luzon, let's take our time in the future." ”

In another twenty years, when the Han Chinese in Luzon multiplied more, they could begin to deal with the matter. When the time comes, a comprehensive inventory of the status of the acres of land - land that has not been registered with the government will be directly nationalized. For the land entrusted to someone else's name, the government will award the land to whoever the name is registered.

After all, it belongs to the colony, and Tian Zheng cannot be the same as the mainland, which will greatly hinder the development of the colony.

However, it is also necessary to restrict land annexation, with each person owning a maximum of 100 acres of land, and a maximum of 1,000 acres of land for a household of 10. If there are more than 10 people, the family will be divided. More than 100 acres of land will not be forcibly taken away, but only a step-by-step tax increase.

If left unchecked, there are two consequences:

First, the colonies were heavily annexed to land, with the emergence of many large overseas families, and in the end, they were even able to control the localities without paying attention to the colonial officials. Until, there was a colonial independence movement!

Second, if land annexation is not suppressed, then the big landlords of the colonies will not think about how to open up, but how to annex the land of their compatriots. After all, it is easier and safer to annex land from fellow Han Chinese than to claim land from indigenous barbarians. In this way, there will be a large number of landless peasants in the colonies! The peasants were forced to revolt, and the governor was able to suppress it, benefiting the big landlords, and the common people were alienated from the court. If the governor could not suppress it, then the colonial uprising succeeded, and it was the big landowners who benefited. The big landlords would guide public opinion, pour dirty water on the imperial court, and then take the opportunity to seize the fruits of the uprising, and the big landowners would become the de facto rulers of the colonies after independence.

Zheng Guozhong began to report on the work:

"In the first year of his tenure in Luzon, the main thing was to register and settle down and confirm the ownership of the land. The Spaniards left a lot of land, and every Han people could get a share of the land. Even some indigenous people who have made meritorious contributions can also get a part of the land. In the first year, there was no gain, and the military expenses of the 3,000 Datong troops stationed in Luzon also had to be borne by the imperial court. ”

"In the second year, there was a surplus of land taxes and commercial taxes, especially port tariffs. The military expenses of the Datong army, as well as the salaries of Luzon officials, can already be borne by themselves. ”

"In the third year, the tax revenue became more abundant, and the ministers began to organize the expansion of the port, and began to increase the number of schools in Luzon."

In the fourth year, the minister began to organize people to build roads and encourage landlords to dig canals. In that year, 10,000 taels of tax silver were sent to the imperial court. ”

"In the fifth year, there were quite a lot of spontaneous immigrants from Fujian, and these Fujian immigrants had both household registration in their hometowns and temporary household registration in Luzon. The minister suggested that two additional counties be added and that the indoctrination of the nearby natives should begin. The Governor's Office allocated silver taels to hire scholars to teach indigenous children to read, and Han Chinese farmers were hired to teach indigenous farming techniques. In that year, 30,000 taels of tax silver were sent to the imperial court. ”

In the sixth year, the people of Pampanga around Manila all gave up Yahweh and converted to Taoist Mazu. So far, more than 2,000 people from Bangpanya have learned simple Chinese and have registered with the government to become Han Chinese. In that year, 110,000 taels of tax silver were sent to the imperial court. ”

"In the seventh year, the minister sent the Datong army stationed in Luzon, sending 800 troops to help the Ifugao people in northern Luzon fight, and six Ifugao tribes supported the government and agreed that the government should establish schools in their tribes. These Yifugao people know how to open up terraced fields, and they also know how to irrigate water conservancy, and the yield of rice is extremely high. In addition, there are three tribes in central Luzon, who have been in contact with the Han people for hundreds of years, they have also learned to grow food, and many natives even speak Hokkien, and all three tribes are subject to the government. ”

"This year, the minister brought back 240,000 taels of tax silver, as well as many Luzon specialties. There are pearls, hawksbill turtles, spices, corals, and many more. ”

Such a large island of Luzon, after seven years of governance, only brought back a total of 390,000 taels of silver in taxes.

Compared to the Spanish colonial government, to be honest, it is a little too little.

But fortunately, it has doubled year by year, and the tax silver in the seventh year alone is as much as 240,000 taels, and it will definitely increase in the future. Moreover, officials at all levels in Luzon, the Datong Army stationed in Luzon, and the salaries and salaries were borne by Luzon himself, and there was no need for the imperial court to transfuse blood.

In addition, Zheng Guozhong's governance of the colony was obviously different from that of Spain.

Whether it is for the natives of Luzon or the Han people in Luzon, the Spanish governor is crazy about exploitation, as long as he has not been squeezed to death, he will continue to squeeze to death!

And what about Zheng Guozhong?

Most of the time was spent building ports, roads, water conservancy, promoting education, and disseminating farming techniques...... The relationship between the government and the indigenous people has improved significantly. There is no need to guard against the natives all day, there is no need to fight every once in a while, and military spending is much lower than that of Spain.

The schools built by the Spanish in Luzon were all missionaries who led the army to lay down a piece. The missionaries became the largest landowners there, capturing natives as slaves and building schools in the villages. Zheng Guozhong built a school directly in the indigenous tribe and hired scholars to become teachers in the indigenous tribe.

Zheng Guozhong did not go to colonize at all, but regarded the indigenous people of Luzon Island as a minority in the Yunnan-Guizhou region, and completely treated the colony as a native to govern!

This is the traditional thinking of Chinese officials, which has been engraved in their bones and integrated into their blood, and it is difficult to change it.

Zheng Guozhong arched his hand and said, "Your Majesty, the minister has a request." ”

Zhao Han said: "But it doesn't hurt to talk about it. ”

Zheng Guozhong said: "The children of the leaders of the indigenous tribes of Luzon who are good with the government can study at Jinling University for free. Moreover, the expenses of coming and going, the expenses during the study period, are borne by the Luzon government. The children of these tribal leaders, once they saw the prosperity of the Celestial Empire, would inevitably admire the Celestial Empire even more. Chen felt that the natives of Luzon were no different from the natives of Yunnan and Guizhou, and as long as they did not discriminate against and oppress, they could be reasonable. ”

"According to Qing, this matter is feasible," Zhao Han asked, "the tribal leaders of Luzon, are they willing to send their children to Nanjing?" Do you feel like a hostage? ”

Zheng Guozhong said: "No. The ministers have already told the leaders of the various ministries that they believe in the court. ”

Zhao Han asked, "Are the natives of Luzon really so easy to talk to?" ”

Zheng Guozhong said: "There are also people who are not easy to speak. In seven years, the Luzon Datong Army was dispatched only once. In that expedition, several tribes were wiped out, more than 1,000 people were killed, and more than 2,800 people were captured. All the captives were captured and sold to Han landlords as tenants (in fact, serfs). ”

That's right, this is like a colony, Zheng Guozhong is not a rotten Confucian.

Zheng Guozhong also said: "Tie Hong, the chief soldier of Luzon, has his eldest son who has completed middle school. Luzon has not yet taken entrance exams, and there is even only one middle school, so Tiehong asked to send his son to Jinling University to study. ”

Tiehong is that black buddy, and he has been thrown to Luzon to lead troops for several years.

Zhao Han nodded and said, "It should be so." I will send a message to the officials of the Ministry of Rites that in the future, there will be no entrance exams, not only in the overseas territories, but also in the northern prefectures. However, all civil and military officials who served in those places, as long as they were above the seventh rank, could guarantee a child and directly study at the universities in the provinces. ”

Zhao Han asked, "How many Han people are there in Luzon now?" ”

Zheng Guozhong replied: "There are more than 63,000 registered households in Luzon (Han people over 12 years old, including the indigenous spouses of Han Chinese). More than 50,000 Han Chinese who hold household registration in China but have settled in Luzon for a long time have voluntarily registered with the government. In addition, there are more than 3,000 aborigines who have learned Chinese, changed their names, and have become Han Chinese. ”

Such a small population is still too small.

Luzon's tax revenue is not based on land endowments, but commercial taxes and customs duties are the real majority.

Luzon was a test field, and the tax money that was brought back to the imperial court every year was now redefined: the royal family took 40% alone, 30% went to the Ministry of Finance, and the remaining 30% was thrown to the yamen of other ministries.

Anyway, all of them can share the money, the royal family has money, and the ministries and institutes also have money.

In order to make more money, the emperor and his ministers will work together to create more colonies in the future.

In the first three or five years, the ministers of the DPRK and China were not very concerned about Luzon.

When Luzon's tax money was sent 110,000 taels a year, the ministers finally faced it squarely.

I also heard that Luzon's tax money can be doubled this year compared to last year. Good guys, various ministries and institutes directly sent officials at the level of squire to go outside Nanjing to warmly welcome Zheng Guozhong back to Beijing.

If Luzon's annual tax silver exceeds one million taels, it is estimated that all the Shangshu will personally come forward to greet it.

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