"Guangqumen Tonghuihe Wharf recruits thirty workers! Thirty in one day! ”

"Me, me, me!"

On the nineteenth day of the first month of the second year of the Apocalypse, in the Luoma Market Street in the capital, a man dressed in silk shouted, and dozens of laborers squatting on both sides of the street surrounded him in an instant.

In the first month of the year, the weather in the capital is only three or four degrees, and the exhalation is full of white smoke, and these laborers are only wearing thin cotton clothes.

There were many people around the man in charge, and he roared, and then pointed to a few people, and after gathering thirty people, he hurried towards the armor factory.

This scene appeared in the streets and alleys of the capital, and thousands of laborers went to the Tonghui River in Guangqumen, and then saw the soldiers and horses of the Daxing battalion escorting a cart of money and grain.

Those laborers put their hands in their sleeves and waited for the officers and soldiers of the Daxing battalion to open their mouths before they dared to step forward to carry them.

They all knew that this should be the military salary and grain to be escorted to a certain place, and they also knew that a box of silver was silver that they could not earn in their lifetime, but no one dared to think of anything wrong.

At this moment, on the wharf of the Tonghui River, hundreds of merchant ships gather and thousands of sails are moored, but they are not as lively and prosperous as before.

It is estimated that they all knew that the imperial court was going to transport money and grain today, and the officials of the canal notified in advance and cleaned up the site.

The general of the Daxing camp stood next to a carriage, talking and laughing at the people inside, as if some big man was sitting inside.

"Eh, what are you waiting for?"

The atmosphere of the late Ming Dynasty was open, and the "Da Ming Law" clearly stipulated that the relationship between the employer and the hired man, the landlord and the tenant was a transaction, not a master-servant relationship, so some Li Fu was not afraid of being held accountable, and there were jokes in the crowd.

"I guess I'm waiting for the ship, but looking at these thousands of carriages, I guess there are a lot of things to be transported today." There was a whimpering reply.

"It's better to have more, if we have work to do every day, we will have a comfortable life." One of the Lifu laughed as someone started to riot.

Some of the laborers looked in the direction of the riot, and it turned out that tall ships were coming from the Tonghui River.

These boats were somewhat different from the traditional boats of the Ming Dynasty, narrower and longer, and the sails of the boats were replaced with hard sails (for walking the river).

The laborers were discussing, and some soldiers of the Daxing camp were also discussing, and Zhu Youzhen, who was sitting in the carriage, looked at the armed merchant ship that he had not been able to see.

"It's been half a month since I was launched, and there is no problem at all, Daming's boatsmiths are really first-class."

Zhu Youzhen sighed in his heart at the craftsmanship of the Ming craftsmen in shipbuilding, and then asked Cao Huachun, who was sitting in the groom position:

"Has the shipyard started a new shipbuilding?"

"Back to Your Highness, sixty big ships have already begun to be built with dry logs, the keel is being laid, the armed merchant ships of three thousand materials should be built in late March, and the four, five, and six thousand materials still need to test the craftsmanship of craftsmen."

Cao Huachun responded to the car, and said by the way: "Long live the connection technology of the sealed boat with the mortise and tenon connection technology of the sealed boat to solve the connection problem of these large material ships. ”

"The connection problem is solved, and the next thing is to solve the problem of the watertight compartment and the unloading of the artillery."

"The head of the shipyard replied that these three ships should be launched for sea trials in late May."

"Well, how's the teak in Siam?" Hearing that his imperial brother used the connection method of sealing the boat to apply the new type of boat, Zhu Youzhen smiled and continued to ask.

"Last year, August began to dry in the shade, after peeling, 300,000 teak, when the shade dried to the beginning of the month, there were still more than 263,000 materials, and it is estimated that after waiting for another seven months, there will be only 2.34 million materials."

"Well...... "Hearing 300,000 teak, you can actually get 2340,000 materials by drying it in the shade, which greatly exceeds Zhu Youzhen's expectations.

In terms of tonnage, a material of 0.325 tons and 230,000 materials is more than 74,000 tons, which greatly exceeds Zhu Youjian's estimate of more than 48,000 tons.

If an armed merchant ship of 6,000 materials can be developed, then the development of a sail battleship of 4,000 materials is relatively simple.

The 5,000-pound sail battleship, or 1,625 tons, was no more than about 400 tons of armed merchant ships and no more than thirty Galen ships in the South Seas.

Galen ships are further divided into small (100-400 tons), medium (500-800 tons), and large (900-1200 tons).

Therefore, as long as the 5,000-material Daming sail battleship is developed and launched, and is successfully put into service, then it is no longer a dream that Nanyang is the back garden of the Ming Dynasty.

Only twenty such sail battleships were needed, and it would be enough to dominate the east of Malacca.

If we take the Second Anglo-Dutch War forty-three years later, the Ming Dynasty only needs to equip these 20 capital ships with 4,000 or 3,000 battleships and about 2,000 cruisers.

Then the total size of the fleet will reach a terrifying 300 ships, more than 14,000 artillery pieces, and 120,000 sailors.

In comparison, the Second Anglo-Dutch War 43 years later, the combined size of the two sides amounted to only 212 warships, 32 arsonist ships, 14 communications ships, 21 armed merchant ships, 9,200 artillery pieces and 43,000 sailors.

This is the family foundation accumulated by Britain and the Netherlands for a century, and if the Ming Dynasty wants to build the three hundred warships in Zhu Youzhen's heart, how long will it take?

If there is no problem with the technology, only the Tianjin Shipyard and Longjiang Shipyard need to make efforts, plus the effective transportation of teak from Siam, and it will take up to five years to build this invincible armada.

At that time, the east of the Cape of Good Hope and the west of the Americas will be prostrate under the banner of the Great Ming Water Division.

With these 300 warships as the main body, eight regional invincible fleets can be divided.

At that time, the teak of the Indochina Peninsula, the rubber, gold, spices of the South Seas, and the trade markets of South Asia will be dominated by the Ming family.

The benefits it can obtain will reach 3 million taels per year.

Although Zhu Youzhen does not have the luxury of maintaining such a large fleet, he still needs a five-percent discount.

"Beep~~~"

While he was thinking this, all the ships of the three guards arrived at the dock and began to lower the ladder.

"Alright, let's get to work!"

Seeing the ship docking, as the general of the Daxing camp spoke, the head of the more than two hundred imperial shops notified all the lifu to start working.

Tens of thousands of Lifu began to work carefully at the dock, where hundreds of ships could dock, carrying boxes of heavy silver and bags of grain onto the cargo ship.

At the same time, a cannon with a black door was also pushed out under the gaze of the three guards of the navy.

They couldn't wait to start receiving the guns, and at the same time pushing the guns onto the fixed muzzles.

This scene was seen by Zhu Youzhen, and he couldn't help but smile and shook his head, thinking to himself how this group of guys would feel if they knew that they were only sitting on a supply ship now.

Perhaps since Liu Daxia burned the blueprints of the treasure ship and Zheng He's navigation data, the Ming sailors no longer dared to hope that they could command a big ship with 3,000 materials.

Daming has technology, but there are no drawings, Zhu Youzhen happened to provide the drawings, and Zhu Youxiao summarized the differences between the two ships, and made them out by learning from each other's strengths.

Zhu Youzhen was very happy to see the artillery being hoisted up and put on the gun emplacement, watching the silver and grain being transported onto the ships, and watching the cargo ships leaving with full loads.

He was happy not only with the shipping, but also with the workers on the docks.

At the beginning of spring, the capital with a population of one million cannot provide too many jobs, and most of the low-level people who come to the capital come after the autumn harvest, ready to earn some wages in the winter and go home.

Spring is now in full swing, and spring planting is not far away, but there are not many jobs for them in the capital.

Like the imperial court dispatch, the loading of goods for a few days can allow a group of laborers to save a lot of money and go home before the spring planting.

"Maybe I need to solve the livelihood of the people under my feet first......"

Looking at those who were obviously covered with sweat, but were talking and laughing after carrying the goods, Zhu Youzhen felt deeply in his heart.

He always thinks about the future, always thinks about Liaodong, Northwest, Southwest, and for Beizhili, Shanxi and other places under his feet, only the matter of dividing land benefits the people.

But how much does that benefit? Maybe only a third of the people.

If he can't even solve the livelihood of the remaining two-thirds of the people, how can he solve the livelihood of the entire Ming people?

Thinking of this, he pondered for a moment, thinking about what could solve the livelihood of so many people.

First of all, the largest number of people must be large infrastructure.

But the problem is that the infrastructure of the Ming Dynasty is often completed through the people's conscription.

Not only do people need to bring their own dry food, but it also delays their busy farming time.

Conscription must be abolished in order to lighten the burden on the people.

But the abolition of conscription had to face the opposition of the gentry throughout the world.

Rich peasants, small and medium-sized landlords, and poor peasants may have thought it was a good thing, but for the gentry, who were exempt from forced labor, it was tantamount to depriving them of their benefits.

If the rich and the poor eat the same and drink the same, then what else is there to be proud of the rich?

Knowledge?

The knowledge that the rich are proud of, for ordinary people, is just a conversation after dinner.

You tell your Tang poems and Song lyrics, and I listen to my market.

You play with your landscapes, and I play with my coal graffiti.

It doesn't have to be scored to be noble.

For the gentry who did not have to serve the conscription, the pain of watching others serve the conscription was the pleasure of feeling that they were superior.

If all people are not subject to servitude, their power is lost.

What does it take to keep the place honest?

Again, a nail must be left in the place, and this nail is the army.

The abolition of forced labor is not the same as the collection of taxes, which have to be investigated and calculated before they can be collected.

But what about the abolition of conscription? You only need to make a decree, but the difficulty is to see the local implementation.

For the sake of private interests, a situation is bound to arise for local officials.

That is, the imperial court abolished the conscription, but the local officials continued to shout that the conscription still existed in order to collect the money exempted from the levy.

This kind of corrupt officials and corrupt officials actually intercepted the ugly elements of the imperial court who benefited the people.

What should be done to deter such people?

Naturally, a group of people were arranged to supervise them, and this group of people could do without soldiers, and Nanzhen Fusi Jinyiwei was enough.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youzhen had a plan in his heart, and immediately said to Cao Huachun:

"Huachun, go back to the palace, and go to the Heart Cultivation Hall to find the imperial brother."

"Yes......" Hearing the words of His Royal Highness, Cao Huachun drove the carriage out of here, and there were more than 100 cavalry guards behind the carriage.

They guarded the sides of the carriage and escorted it to the palace.

To tell the truth, with such a rush and pomp, Zhu Youzhen can't see the atmosphere and style of a place at all.

He has always wanted to see the real people, but for now, every time he is "close to the people", it represents an adventure.

There are many people who want to kill him, and Zhu Youzhen can't bet that everyone is a smart person, because as long as there is a reckless man in this group, then his private visit to get close to the people's livelihood may become his last day.

With this thought, half an hour passed slowly, and when they came to Donghua Gate, Zhu Youzhen changed his chariot and drove towards Qianqing Palace.

The abolition of forced labor still needs to be planned first, rather than decided at the first moment.

The abolition of forced labor represented the loss of free labor for the local government.

Zhu Youzhen could naturally abolish forced labor, but after the abolition, the cost of building water conservancy and roads, repairing city walls, county offices, stone bridges, and so on will rise.

For example, a stone bridge, when there is a levy, you can levy it, and the government only needs to pay for materials.

It can even be said that if there are suitable raw materials in the local area, then only the cost of tools and the material of Sanhe soil is enough.

But if conscription is abolished, then labor costs arise.

In some small counties, even if you only give ten cents a day, one hundred people are one tael of silver, and one thousand people are ten taels.

A road, a stone bridge, a canal......

The time required for these infrastructure projects is measured in months.

Even if only 100 people are recruited and the road is built for three months, it will require an expenditure of 90 taels, plus tools and raw materials, and the expenditure can even reach 200 taels.

Two hundred taels of silver, how many two hundred taels can a small local county have?

There are 1,427 counties in the Ming Dynasty, and the coastal areas are good to say, and in some inland counties, the treasury silver is only two or three thousand taels of silver.

This seems like a lot, but the daily maintenance of the yamen, the repair of the city wall, the repair of the roads in the city, etc., will cost most of the silver.

Sometimes, the imperial court will also ask the provinces to raise silver, which is even more fatal for these counties.

For example, in the current war in the southwest, the five provinces themselves raised more than 1.8 million taels, all of which were based on the fact that the counties were spending money from outside.

The financial system formulated by Zhu Yuanzhang ensured the local government's disaster relief for the peasants and the local government's autonomy.

The reason is that the Song Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty excessively concentrated silver and two to the center, resulting in the disaster of the people with insufficient local financial resources.

It is also because the local government of the Ming Dynasty has left enough money for its own operation, so it is rare to see the situation of the central government issuing silver for disaster relief.

This system is very good, but it can't stand the forces of civil officials, eunuchs, emperors, and relatives in the late Ming Dynasty.

The system set by Zhu Yuanzhang has been stirred into muddy waters by them.

Asking the provinces to raise money is essentially an act of reducing the risk of local counties resisting famine.

Therefore, if Zhu Youzhen wants the local government to continue to operate after the abolition of forced labor, he must make some changes.

The first is the centralization of one department, especially finance.

The Imperial Horse Supervisor is a good example, but the concentration of one-third of the world's military tuntian has reached a staggering tax revenue.

If local silver collection is abolished, then the local finances will be richer, and as for various military operations, the central government will allocate silver taels.

Whether the central bank's silver taels are sufficient is a prerequisite for the feasibility of abolishing forced labor.

When Zhu Youzhen's brain was running rapidly, his chariot also arrived at the gate of Qianqing Palace.

After passing the message, he walked into the Qianqing Palace, entered the Yangxin Palace, and saw his own imperial brother sitting in the position, frowning and dealing with the music.

"Brother......

As soon as Zhu Youzhen spoke, Zhu Youxiao put down the recital, raised his head and said with a kind smile at him:

"My brother is here, sit down, and tell me if there is something wrong."

"There are things, but ......" Zhu Youzhen sat on the chair that Wei Zhongxian asked someone to move, and said to his imperial brother:

"The younger brother wants to abolish the world's forced labor and reduce the burden on the people."

The words "......" were said, and Zhu Youxiao fell silent.

The abolition of conscription meant that the imperial court might increase its expenditure by millions of taels of silver every year.

Zhu Youxiao couldn't figure it out, why did his younger brother say such a thing?

"After the abolition of conscription, the expenditure of the imperial court will increase, so let's wait until Liaodong is pacified......"

Zhu Youxiao thought about it, and finally said this sentence in a more kind tone, telling Zhu Youzhen in disguise that he did not look like abolishing forced labor.

In this regard, Zhu Youzhen expressed another opinion.

"The abolition of conscription is not an act that cannot be done, the abolition of conscription, and the supervision of the Nanzhen Fusi, will only make the people grateful to their brother."

"Did my brother forget? In the future, we will also have to collect taxes, and if the forced labor is abolished, the people can farm at home for a longer time, and take care of the crops more carefully, then the yield per mu will increase, and the taxes of the imperial court will be higher. ”

"Not to mention that after having the hearts of the people, if miscellaneous items are to be levied in the future, then when the people of the world are faced with the gentry's demagoguery, once someone mentions this matter, will the people still come together with the gentry with one heart?"

Zhu Youzhen's words have some truth, but Zhu Youxiao said:

"The abolition of forced labor is naturally a good thing, but is the people's heart really in the Son of Heaven?"

"Brother, don't forget, when there was a hunger in the Huaibei North, the gentry were only slightly fanned, and the hungry people almost rioted."

"If I abolish the conscription, but the local officials say that it is the work of the minister, then the people will only be grateful to the minister, but not to you and me."

Zhu Youxiao's point of view shows that he knows that the power of public opinion is not in his two brothers at the moment.

In such a situation, even if his two brothers did something to benefit the people, they would be pushed to the ministers of the court, and the people only felt that the emperor had just listened to the opinions.

Of course, Nanzhen Fuji can be promoted, but will the local people believe it?

Do you believe the words of your fellow countrymen, or do you believe the words of the emperor's eagle dog?

This is a difficult problem, Zhu Youzhen thinks about it too simply, and Zhu Youxiao thinks more comprehensively.

In this regard, Zhu Youzhen could only say in silence:

"My brother thinks thoughtfully, but my younger brother thinks too smoothly."

Zhu Youzhen came to his senses, he thought that he had a brocade guard, an army, and money, so he could control the civilian officials.

But he missed one point, that is, people are not pawns, and people can think.

In this era when public opinion was controlled by civil officials and had a strong local complex, the people were more willing to listen to the words of their fellow township officials, rather than a Qi king who couldn't be beaten with eight poles.

"It's good that my brother can understand." Watching Zhu Youzhen listen to the persuasion, Zhu Youxiao also breathed a sigh of relief, and then picked up a copy and said:

"This is Xiong Tingbi sent after hearing his younger brother last time that he wanted to encircle and suppress the old slave, Xiong Tingbi responded, things are difficult to do."

"My brother has protected him many times, telling me that he is talented, but now he has passed through Liaodong and has 180,000 soldiers and horses, and he doesn't dare to fight with the old slave......"

Zhu Youxiao paused and didn't continue to speak, but the meaning was clear to Zhu Youzhen, that is, he began to doubt Xiong Tingbi's ability.

However, this is not surprising, the last time to hold Liaoshen, the main thing was that Zhu Youzhen operated properly, and Xiong Tingbi's department was the only soldier and horse among the departments who did not behead him.

Coupled with the defeat of Puhe in June last year, after careful calculation, Xiong Tingbi did not have any credit, and the only credit that can be praised may be the merit of rectifying Liaodong.

Zhu Youxiao was suspicious of Xiong Tingbi, which Zhu Youzhen didn't think was strange, he also knew that Xiong Tingbi couldn't speak the scene and spoke relatively straight, so it made people think that he was cowardly.

However, Zhu Youzhen knew that the strength of the Ming army in Liaodong was relatively strong at present, but the quality of the generals obviously could not keep up.

If he really wants to recover the lost territory, then Zhu Youzhen must find at least four generals who can command 10,000 people without chaos.

Of these four people, Zhu Youzhen really couldn't find them.

Whether it is Sun Chuanting, Hong Chengchou, or Yang Wenyue, Wu Aheng......

They have only led their troops to fight for less than a year, and at most they are at the same level as Qi Yuanfu, commanding 10,000 people, or dealing with opponents like the old slave and the Lord of the Eight Banners, if they want to win, they must pay a heavy price.

Rather than losing tens of thousands of people and recovering the three places in Tieling, Zhu Youzhen was still willing to wait and wait for the Liaodong Guard to be abolished before moving troops.

Therefore, he could only continue to wipe his ass for Xiong Tingbi to speak straight, and persuaded him with good words:

"Xiong Tingbi speaks straight, my brother knows, the reason why he said things are difficult is because of the problems of soldiers and generals."

After that, Zhu Youzhen looked at Wei Zhongxian: "Take the Liaodong sand table I gave to the imperial brother." ”

"Yes......" Wei Zhongxian responded, and then asked people to bring the Liaodong terrain sand table that Zhu Youzhen had made before.

After the sand table came, Zhu Youzhen looked at the city and the army flag, and after confirming that there was no problem, he got up with Zhu Youxiao and explained to him:

"Brother, please see, there are 58,000 soldiers in the two cities of Shenyang and Liaoyang, and there are five battalions and 15,000 soldiers and horses in each fort between the two cities."

"It seems that there are enough soldiers and horses on this line, but brother, don't forget, out of the 73,000 soldiers and horses, there are less than 8,000 cavalry."

"There are many cavalry under the command of the old slave, and on the northern front, this terrain is favorable to the old slave, but not to our army."

"After talking about the northern front, brother, look at the eastern front, Qi Yuanfu and other seven battalions of 21,000 people on the eastern front, carefully calculated that they have only been trained for ten months, and there are still more than 8,000 of them who have not yet been equipped with armor and stomachs."

"Of the 16,800 people in Daning's three guards, more than 4,000 have not yet been equipped with armor, and among them, 9,000 cavalry can't even satisfy one person and one horse."

"The last time my brother said that he would recover Tieling and other places, it was just the idea that the civil officials wanted to use troops in Hetao."

"If you really want to recover Tieling, at least you have to wait for the soldiers and horses in these three places to be equipped with armor and war horses, so that you can really send troops and recover the lost territory."

......After listening to his younger brother's words, Zhu Youxiao was silent for a while, and then sighed:

"Money is needed everywhere, and horses are difficult."

"Brother, don't worry, I have asked the people below to transport the two million taels of silver from Liaodong to the capital, and it will eventually be included in the internal payment."

Zhu Youzhen smiled and comforted his imperial brother, and then spoke again:

"In addition, the ministers are going to order them to go south to Daryukyu after the ships of the three guards of the navy are built at the end of the year."

"I heard that there are a lot of tall trees in the Great Ryukyus, and if those trees are transported to the capital, the repair of the three major halls can begin."

"Really?!" Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao's eyes lit up.

He dreamed of repairing the three major halls, but the cost of repairing the three major halls was as high as ten million taels of silver, which he couldn't afford.

Now that Zhu Youzhen said this, it is not surprising that he is happy.

After getting Zhu Youzhen's confirmation, Zhu Youxiao happily looked at the sand table in Liaodong, as for Zhu Youzhen, although he smiled on his face, he sighed in his heart.

The silver repaired by the three major halls is enough for the Ming Dynasty to train 100,000 new troops.

If it were him, he would never spend his silver on the three major halls, because he was a pragmatist.

But there is no way, in the eyes of people in this era, or their own royal brothers, a palace without three major halls is like a dynasty that has lost its mandate of heaven.

It is impossible for him to stop the construction of the three major halls, even if he doesn't produce silver, but Zhu Youxiao will take silver from the interior to repair it.

All he could do was to let the navy Sanwei take the Great Ryukyu, and at the same time open up cultivated land in Liaodong and the Great Ryukyu, he would transport the usable timber to Tianjin.

Thinking of this, he looked at Zhu Youxiao, who had a smile on his face in front of him, and could only shake his head in his heart, sighing:

"The world is difficult, ......"