Officials can't count on it.

And the financial and military strength of the royal family is far from being the opponent of Xujiazhuang.

Lie flat.

In front of Zhu Youzhen, there is only one way to lie flat.

I even had to hypnotize and convince myself like a Q: what the civil officials said should be right, the limit of Xujiazhuang's expansion should stop at the Nanzhili area, and it is impossible to continue to expand, because the rest are chicken ribs with little oil and water, Xujiazhuang can't look down on it, and doesn't want to increase the burden, the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty, at least fourteen pieces of territory, are still in the hands of the imperial court, and the loss is not very large.

Including the land south of the Yangtze River in Nanzhili, Xujiazhuang also controls at most one-third of the fattest area, and there are still two-thirds of the less fertile territory, which is in the hands of the imperial court, that is, most of Nanzhili has not been lost.

So there is no need to worry too much and be anxious, Xujiazhuang is a merchant force, in order to make money, it is impossible to meet the welfare needs of so many people, and if it continues to expand wildly, maybe Xujiazhuang will rebel and rebel and collapse without a fight.

Just comforted myself and felt a little more comfortable.

Zhu Youzhen decided and admitted it, he had to move his bottom line back this time, and he could only acquiesce to Xujiazhuang's round of expansion.

But!

He also has several conditions.

Xu Jiazhuang must nod and agree to the conditions, otherwise even if he acquiesces to Xu Jiazhuang's expansion, the alliance between the two sides will be seriously broken, no matter what cooperation there is in the future, Xu Jiazhuang has a place to ask the royal family, he Zhu Youzhen will never cooperate, it is impossible to help! On the contrary, it is necessary to make a mess of stumbling blocks, to ruin the affairs of Xujiazhuang, to become a-stirring stick, and to stir up some good things.

So the next morning, he canceled the early dynasty, did not want to see those ministers again, but sent someone to summon Qi Chunnian into the palace, in the Dongnuan Pavilion, first expressed his strong dissatisfaction with Xujiazhuang's expansion of the village, the wording was extremely harsh! Like a storm, it gives people the feeling of a showdown.

"But!"

Zhu Youzhen changed his words again, and said with a soothing expression: "The Xu family is an ally of the royal family, an important partner who has cooperated for many years, and a future son and daughter-in-law. Otherwise, the relationship between the royal family and Xujiazhuang will be greatly damaged, seriously damaging the mutual trust between the two sides, and the consequences will be unimaginable, Xujiazhuang will definitely not be able to afford it, I am not joking! ”

"Uh, what's the condition?" The corners of Qi Chunnian's eyes twitched, and he felt that the emperor in front of him, I don't know who was influenced by him, and he didn't make much progress in other aspects, but in terms of bragging and bluffing, his level had improved a lot.

"You look at the list first."

Zhu Youzhen took out a list from the sleeve of his uniform, handed it to Qi Chunnian, and said: "There are hundreds of Jiangnan officials on it, these traitors to the imperial court, I am deeply disgusted!" They are all people who ride on both sides, and even murder the lives of ordinary people, the purpose is to infiltrate Xujiazhuang...... I hope that your side will refuse these officials to join, and do not accept them to become a member of Xujiazhuang, these self-interested people are useless to Xujiazhuang, and will only do everything possible to become rats and moths, and gnaw Xujiazhuang from the inside, they are worthless to Xujiazhuang, and will only damage the interests of Xujiazhuang. ”

Get you back.

Zhu Youzhen wanted to take a fierce revenge on those Ming officials who wanted to defect to Xujiazhuang, so as to prove that he, the emperor, was very small-minded and could not accept the betrayal of traitors, and at the same time played a role in killing chickens and monkeys, curbing the thoughts of other officials to change jobs, so as to set an example!

also used this to maintain the majesty of the imperial power, so that the officials behind could understand the consequences of betrayal: that is, whether in Xujiazhuang or in Daming, there would be no place for them.

“…… Your Majesty, I can only guarantee that those officials who murdered ordinary people will not be allowed to join Xujiazhuang, and I can't be the master of the rest, so I have to ask the owner of the village. ”

Qi Chunnian thought for a while.

"Then you should hurry up and ask for instructions, and don't make me wait too long."

Zhu Youzhen shook his head, and then continued to make his request.

The second condition, the land in the south of the Yangtze River, was built by Xujiazhuang thousands of new estates, encircled countless land, will definitely lead to a significant reduction in the imperial court's financial revenue, so we have to make up for the loss in this regard, and require Xujiazhuang to give the royal family's financial support, from 13 million silver dollars per year (an increase of 1 million last year), to 37 million, this requirement is not too much, but each manor, 20,000 silver dollars per year compensation, of which 10,000 is agricultural tax, and the other 10,000 is commercial tax capitation, And with Xujiazhuang's operating ability, the income generated by each manor will not exceed 2 million per year in the future? He only takes 1%.

"My condition is extremely reasonable, there is no excess, Xu Jiazhuang will definitely be able to agree, right?" Zhu Youzhen asked.

"I find it hard to say yes."

Qi Chunnian was embarrassed and said: "Financial support, an increase of 24 million, this is not a small number, you must know that a few years ago, the cash income of the imperial court, only four or five million, to Your Majesty one or two million is a huge amount of money, and now it is easy to ask for one or two million, our Xujiazhuang's silver dollar did not fall from the sky, if Mrs. knows, he will immediately refuse." ”

"Didn't I ask you to ask Xu Yuan, maybe Xu Yuan thought it was okay and agreed immediately? Anyway, if you ask Xu Yuan's opinion, don't ask that Fang Qingyan. ”

Zhu Youzhen said, in fact, his bottom line is to increase it to at least 25 million, and it would be best if it could be increased to 30 million, and 30 million was the number he was most looking forward to.

"This ...... All right. ”

Qi Chunnian said, and muttered in his heart, if the owner of the village is not there, maybe it will be better, this Zhu Youzhen is opening his mouth again, and he needs his wife to pour some cold water on him.

Subsequently, Zhu Youzhen put forward three more demands one after another.

That is, let Xu Jiazhuang sign a copy of the "Guarantee Not to Expand Agreement", requiring a guarantee that it will not expand in the Ming Dynasty in the future, and when this round of expansion is over, no manor can be built in the future, no land can be occupied, and no one of the people of the Ming Dynasty can be absorbed, if the agreement is violated, it will be compensated for tens of billions of silver dollars, and it will be severely punished, and it will bear the responsibility for deliberately destroying the relationship with the royal family, and even the provocation of taking the initiative to provoke war.

In addition, ten mines should be allocated in Shanxi or overseas places and handed over to the royal family to operate, so as to consolidate the relationship with the royal family.

"In the end, I originally owed Xu Yuan two favors, but at the beginning of the year, I changed from opposition to support, so I offset a favor, this time Xu Jiazhuang expanded again, I still maintained great restraint and chose to acquiesce, so I don't owe Xu Yuan a favor now, on the contrary, this matter can be worth at least three favors, Xu Yuan owes me two favors, what difficulties I encounter in the future, ask him for help, he must help me unconditionally, otherwise he will be ungrateful!"

After listening to Zhu Youzhen's words.

Qi Chunnian couldn't stand it anymore, his eyes were about to roll out of the sky, he just felt that the emperor was getting more and more funny, his head must be broken, and he was still stuck in the thinking of the supremacy of imperial power in the past, unable to keep up with the development of the times, and said all the words like a dream, not considering whether it was reasonable or not, whether others could listen to it.

However, he will not say these complaints in his heart, otherwise he will sweep Zhu Youzhen's face and provoke his anger, maybe it is really possible to order him to be checked, because some of the emperor's thinking and performance are like a neurotic with a head problem in his eyes.

"Your Majesty, I don't dare to make any of your requests, I have to ask for instructions from above, and I have to give you an answer tomorrow at the earliest." Qi Chun Nian Road.

"Don't be in such a hurry, it's okay to give me an answer the day after tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, but there is one point, you can only ask the owner Xu Yuan for instructions, and you can't ask others for instructions, do you know? Otherwise, if it spoils my business, I won't be able to spare you! ”

At this time, Zhu Youzhen said with an extremely high IQ, maybe he knew very well in his heart that his five requests were very good to be promised two or three, and he had to be discounted, but what if? What if Xu Yuan, who is more generous and confused than he imagined, agrees with a wave of his hand? This possibility must not be ruled out, and even, it would be better if the imperial sister-in-law could be sent over to negotiate in person, and the success rate would increase by at least fifty percent, hey, it's a pity that the imperial sister-in-law is too traditional and high-minded, and she is unwilling to make a big sacrifice for the royal family, otherwise that Xu Yuan, I don't know how many benefits she will take the initiative to give?

"Yes, yes, I'll ask the owner for instructions."

Qi Chunnian nodded, but casually glanced at his mouth, and said secretly: If you want to be beautiful, I won't let you be satisfied, you have to ask Mrs. for instructions.

……

Leave the palace.

Return to your accommodation.

In the afternoon, Qi Chunnian sorted out the content of a telegram, and then asked the dispatcher to send the five requirements of Emperor Zhu Youzhen to the harbor city, and specially asked to reduce the importance level of the telegram, so that this telegram will not be directly sent to the desk of the village owner Xu Yuan's study, but first handed over to the rotating consul to deal with, if the consul feels that he can't handle it, he will ask his wife upward, and if his wife Fang Qingyan can't handle it, it will be placed in front of Xu Yuan.

However, man is not as good as heaven.

This time, it seems that the heavens are on the side of Emperor Zhu Youzhen.

On the side of Harbour City, Mrs. Fang Qingyan took a group of girlfriends and friends to board a luxury passenger ship full of 5,000 tons, and went to sea for relaxation and tourism in the past few days.

And Xu Yuan happened to be in White Fort for the past two days.

As a result, the consul Yang Zhongyuan, without daring to make a decision privately, had to take a telegram and come to Xu Yuan's study office and ask him how to reply to so many requests from Emperor Zhu Youzhen?

Xu Yuan took the telegram, read the terms above, and couldn't help shaking his head and laughing: "Zhu Youzhen is almost thirty years old this year, how can he feel more innocent than a three-year-old child?" It's clear that I want to eat while standing, and I am justified, as if I owe him a lot and must ask for it? So unconscious, unable to see reality at all, I really overestimate him. ”

"That is, Lord Zhuang, there is almost no reasonableness in the five articles above, when all of them are refused, let the emperor wash his face with cold water, and sober up."

Yang Zhongyuan nodded in agreement, it seems that his worries are superfluous, the owner of the village is not so easy to be fooled, and it is impossible to be generous to the point of agreeing to these absurd and unreasonable conditions, because normal people will decisively refuse.

"It's not appropriate to refuse all, our emperor, not only has a good face, but also has a particularly strong sense of self-esteem, and his personality is also very easy to get excited...... In this way, he can agree to a small part of his several requests, make a small concession, and give him a step down, he seems to be a lion's mouth, but in fact, what he needs most is just a step. ”

Xu Yuan analyzed.

"Lord Zhuang, it seems that you know the emperor's character well, but we can't make too many concessions, otherwise he will have to take it for granted, and even make unreasonable demands at every turn, which is also to be avoided as much as possible."

Yang Zhong said from afar, and sighed in his heart: The owner of the village has softened, and the problem of kindness has flared up again, especially in the face of the royal family, this is simply an old problem.

"Don't worry, I already have a plan to deal with it, and I won't give him the illusion that he can easily take advantage."

Xu Yuandao, picked up the pen, and immediately wrote a telegram replying to Qi Chunnian.