"Are you sure they're just for trade?"

In the Spanish royal palace at the end of March, when Felipe IV was lying in a chair and drinking a glass of wine in his hand, the foreign minister in front of him nodded:

"At present, the news that is spreading is for trade, but the diplomat of Daming has not written to you, depending on the situation, he is ready to let you take the initiative to talk to him."

"I'm looking for him? That's impossible! Felipe IV waved his hand:

"What he wants is nothing more than the New World, but the empire has a population of more than 200,000 and tens of thousands of troops in the New World."

"Have you forgotten the gold and silver that comes from the New World every year? We can't give up the New World! ”

Felipe IV's words made the foreign minister speechless, he certainly knew that the New World was transporting hundreds of thousands of silver sorpes back to Europe every year, but if Spain's diplomacy and politics lost the support of the Ming Dynasty at the same time, they would be struggling.

Thinking of this, the Foreign Secretary felt the need for him to remind Felipe IV.

"Your Majesty, what you said is very good, but if we lose the support of the Ming Dynasty, the empire's economy will ......"

"That's it! I don't believe that Daming will be willing to give up trading with us! Felipe IV said in a monolithic manner, and said with a gloomy face:

"Don't forget, Ming supported Joao and his rebels!"

"There is no conclusive evidence for this...... the diplomat did not know, but he could not admit it, otherwise Spain would not be able to continue trade with the Ming Dynasty, and even war would break out.

"No need for proof, I already know everything!" Felipe IV gave a categorical answer and waved his hand:

"He wants me to give in, but I won't!"

"Even if the Ming Dynasty suspends trade with the Empire, I will not cede the colonies of the New World to it!"

"You can step back now!" Felipe IV gave the order for the expulsion, and the foreign secretary stopped talking, and finally turned all his words into a sigh.

He eventually withdrew from the palace, and Felipe IV continued to taste his wines.

When he made the decision not to compromise with Xu Xiake and the Ming behind him, dozens of carrier pigeons had already flown from the European continent to Leviia.

After a journey of nearly 8,000 miles, they successfully arrived at Changsha City in Kyrgyzstan.

There were only seventeen carrier pigeons that succeeded or arrived here, and after confirming the news, the brocade guards in the pigeon room removed the letter boxes on their feet, transcribed them, and replaced them with carrier pigeons that could fly to Kunlun County, the South Kunlun Supervision Mission.

This time, fifty carrier pigeons were released, and they arrived in Kunlun County seven days later, and then continued to Quang Binh County in East Kunlun Province.

Here, they underwent another change, and flew towards the Ceylon Mansion of the Little Western Inspectorate.

In Ceylon, they underwent their last replacement, and by the time the letterboxes arrived in the capital, thirty-six days had passed since the day they were sent.

On the first day of the fourth lunar month, Zhu Youzhen has enjoyed the leisure since last year.

It can be said that in the eighteenth year of the Apocalypse, he dealt with the government for three hours a day, and the rest of the time belonged to himself.

Since the beginning of the year, the biggest news he has received is the matter of the five-nation talks.

For one million taels of silver and the establishment of trade, he could obtain the colonies of various countries on the east coast of North and South America, which was a sure profit for Zhu Youzhen.

Countries cede their colonies because they are experiencing war and are underpopulated.

Zhu Youzhen remembered that after the outbreak of the Great War in the United States and Europe, it took nearly half a century for each country to move about one million people into the Americas after the outbreak of the Great War in the United States and the end of the Thirty Years' War and the surplus of all countries to relocate their populations.

When converted, the average number is 20,000 per year.

It's just that this is also normal, after all, the environment of the Atlantic Ocean is different from that of the Daming Sea, and the distance between Europe and the Americas is only half of the distance from the Ming Dynasty to the east.

A small population means less development and less productivity, so it is naturally impossible to mine too much gold and silver.

Up to now, the amount of mineral exploitation in the Americas by European countries is only less than one million taels per year, and eighty percent of it is in the hands of the Spaniards.

That is, for the Netherlands and other countries, the total price of their annual gold and silver production is only about 200,000 taels of silver.

In this comparison, the four countries would of course prefer to sell their colonies and get the silver directly for nothing.

Of course, it is more important to let the royal store enter various countries to stabilize the price of inflation and stagnation in various countries.

In the situation of insufficient population in Europe in the United States, Daming still has many means to use.

Zhu Youzhen wanted to seize the Americas before the Thirty Years' War, and then he could use the steam engine unscrupulously to vigorously develop the Qi State.

Since Spain is not on the road, Zhu Youzhen has no choice but to support the Four-Nation Alliance.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youzhen called Jin Yiwei, who specialized in writing letters with rat hair, and asked Jin Yiwei to write his thoughts.

Since it has been decided to support the four countries and attack Spain, Zhu Youzhen naturally has to come up with some more sincere prices.

For example, low-interest loans of 3 million taels for 10 years were provided to four countries......

The loan will be provided to countries at an annual interest rate of 2%, but all funds will be used for trade with the Ming Dynasty.

The flintlock pistols and military equipment that the four countries wanted, and the Western fleet also weighed 20,000 flintlock pistols and more than 600 artillery pieces of various sizes enough to equip 30,000 people.

If the price of this arms was in Daming, it would only be worth a few hundred thousand taels, but if it was sold to European countries, the price would be one million taels.

Therefore, before the three million taels reached the hands of the four countries, there were only two million taels left, and these two million taels would also be used for trade with the Ming Dynasty.

No matter how you look at it, this deal is not a loss, after all, Daming needs enough jobs at the moment, and it also needs to seize the European market.

Daming's goods account for less than half of the European commodity market, and most of them are cloth, sugar, porcelain, tea and other goods.

Not to mention cloth and porcelain tea, sugar in its simplest form, no matter what era it is, actually exists as a strategic material.

In fact, sugarcane is grown in Jiugang, Ryukyu Province and other places for sugar extraction, and the price of white sugar is about 80 wen per catty, and the price of brown sugar is 30 wen per catty.

According to the ledger of the imperial store, if the sugar was shipped to Ottoman and Persia, it would be eight times more profitable, and six times more profitable if it was shipped to Europe.

According to the income and population of Europeans, eating 10 million catties of sugar every year is simply pediatric, and a small cane sugar alone can make Daming harvest 17.8 million taels of silver.

In the case of applying fertilizer, Daming can produce about 200 catties of sucrose per mu of sugarcane land, and 10 million catties of sugar is the output of 50,000 mu of land.

Needless to say, there are various other commodities, in short, Zhu Youzhen believes that as long as the imperial store is opened in Europe, it will have the ability to earn back the silver.

This loan was not a whim of Zhu Youzhen, but a key step he took to prepare for the unification of the currency.

In the letter, Zhu Youzhen replied to Xu Xiake, and the Huangdian transaction only issued the Apocalypse Tongbao.

This also shows that after the opening of the imperial store, when civilians from various countries came with currencies such as Sobi and Dutch guilder, the Ming Dynasty would only find supplies for the other party's Apocalypse Tongbao.

To put it bluntly, this is to prepare for economic warfare in the future.

Zhu Youzhen did not think that European monarchs could perceive the importance of such things in advance, and if they did, it would only be limited to a few people.

"Tell Xu Xiake again, leave 20,000 people stationed on the east coast of North and South America, and send a message to the Southern Kunlun Supervision Envoy to let Wu Aheng prepare to support the soldiers stationed in the eastern part of Qi State."

"In the end, let Xu Xiake understand Richelieu, if the navies of the four countries can interrupt the connection between the New World and Europe, then the follow-up Ming can also support them with another low-interest loan."

"Yes......"

Zhu Youzhen finished what he wanted to say, and Jin Yiwei also wrote down all kinds of things Zhu Youzhen said with a mouse pen.

He handed Zhu Youzhen a magnifying glass, a strip of cloth less than two fingers wide and about two inches long, and a magnifying glass.

Zhu Youzhen magnified it with a magnifying glass and read it, and after making sure that there was no problem, he asked Jinyiwei to transcribe it and send it to Europe.

All this fell into place, and after being busy with the affairs of Qi State, Zhu Youzhen also had time to focus on Daming.

More than three months have passed since the beginning of the year, and nothing has happened in the Ming Dynasty in these three months, but the frontier of the Ming Dynasty has not stopped.

In February, the Mughals organized 30,000 soldiers and horses to attack Benga, which had just been recaptured by the Ming army, but was repelled by Mu Yi, who remained there.

At the same time, a war broke out in the Western Regions, and Lin Dan Khan destroyed the Yarkand Khanate, and his power was further expanded, and his subordinates had reached 400,000, truly realizing the cowhide he boasted about Nurhachi back then.

Now, in addition to the Dzungar with more than 10,000 cavalry in the north, and the Turpan Khan in the south, which Lin Dan Khan used as a strategic buffer, other places have become Lin Dan Khan's horse grazing land.

Zhu Youzhen was considering whether to send troops to destroy the Turpan Khanate first, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that it was too early.

When the train arrived at Jiayu Pass, he could have people go all the way to the west, forcing the Turpan Khanate to surrender or fight with the Ming army.

It is less than 1,000 kilometers from Jiayuguan to Turpan, and with the technology of the Ming Dynasty, it is not difficult to build this railway in four years.

Moreover, Zhu Youzhen estimated that as long as the railway was repaired to Hami, the Turpan Khanate should take a stand.

Whether it is surrender or fighting, it will not affect the determination of the Ming army to recover the Western Regions.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youzhen set his sights from the Western Regions to Western Siberia in the north.

Since it was still the snow season, the Russian army did not make any moves to attack or counterattack.

With Cao Wenzhao and the 6,000 cavalry of the Northern Army here, Zhu Youzhen didn't need to worry about them.

He was more worried about the situation in the court.

For three months, Zhu Youzhen didn't seem to have done anything, but he did two things.

The first thing was to push Lu Yuangao, Zhou Boqian and others to Zhu Ciran's East Palace.

Seeing Zhu Youzhen doing this, many old ministers of the old party no longer had scruples, and pushed their children and grandchildren to the East Palace.

If that's all there is to it, Zhu Youzhen doesn't need to say anything special.

Among the group of people he recommended, there was one person who stood out in particular.

He is neither a noble nor a famous family, he is just a farmer's son who has been farming for generations.

In February, as officials from all over the country began to take meritorious examinations, Sun Kewang's name appeared at the top of the book.

This time, Zhu Youzhen waved his pen, and Sun Kewang became the master of Zhan Shifu from Qipin in the East Palace.

Entering the East Palace with him was Du Yinxi, who served as the right division of the Zhan Shifu and was responsible for picketing and impeaching the officials of the East Palace.

Before the two entered the palace, Zhu Youzhen explained to Zhu Ciran and made good use of these two people.

Zhu Ciran has always believed in Zhu Youzhen's words, so he naturally often takes the two of them to deal with government affairs.

This is the first thing that Zhu You's procuratorate does, as long as there are blocked Yinxi and Li Dingguo, then Sun Kewang will not be able to mess up, and he can only honestly manage the East Palace and govern the world.

This team can at least allow Daming to prosper for more than ten years after Sun Chuanting and them.

In the future, Zhu Youzhen couldn't expect it, and he could only rely on Zhu Ciran's own discernment to recognize people.

This was the first thing he did, and the second thing was to let the old princes of the Qi Wangfu go to the Jiming Fang next door to Baiwangfang to study at the official school.

These days, he deals with the slackness during the day, and when the children come home, he takes them to play while asking them some common sense of life and some moral education.

Anyone can see that King Qi is preparing to cultivate a son.

Such a thing made Concubine Yuan Xi, who was the princess of the Qi Palace, naturally anxious.

She pestered Zhu Youzhen for more than ten days, and she was ready to linger forever.

Zhu Youzhen didn't blame her, after all, he understood Yuan Xi's mood.

However, what he cultivated was not the son of the world, but the future generals and ministers of the Qi State.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youzhen also heard the sound of the dusk drum.

He looked out the window, and sure enough, it was already dusk.

Such a view seemed to tell him that he was not far from his kingdom of Qi.

"Bang!"

When Zhu Youzhen was pondering, thousands of miles away in the Qianqing Palace in Nanjing, Zhu Youxiao hammered the mortise and tenon joints, and then looked at his works proudly.

The scale and area of the Qianqing Palace in Nanjing are larger and more spacious than those in Beijing, and the things that can be placed are naturally larger.

What Zhu Youxiao was beating was a five-zhang long and two-wide ship.

The ship is a steam-powered ship, except that the high-pressure steam engine and key things such as the steam engine and propeller have not yet been put into the hull, and there is only one hull at present.

But even so, Zhu Youxiao still looked at this object with great satisfaction.

He was going to build a steam engine ship with his own hands, and then when he returned to Beijing, he would take his own ship to the sea and return.

With the cooperation of father, son, uncle and nephew, the government of the Ming Dynasty was dealt with a lot faster, and the three of them had their own private space and time to do some private things.

Zhu Youzhen is accompanying the children, Zhu Youxiao is playing with wood, and Zhu Ciran is riding a bicycle.

From here, it is not difficult to see why the officials of the Yanshan faction are dissatisfied.

After all, looking at the posture, the two behind seemed to look like a faint monarch, no matter which one was the emperor.

"Have the Yanshan officials in Nanjing City done anything recently?"

Zhu Youxiao walked to the side, concocting wood while asking the sleepy Wei Zhongxian.

"Back to Long live, there was no change, only the landlords and gentry in Jiangnan had some conflicts with the tenant farmers under their command."

"Oh? Let's hear it......" Zhu Youxiao didn't expect that the landlords and gentry in Jiangnan would actually have a conflict with the tenant farmers, and he was very interested in this matter for a while.

"Long live it......," Wei Zhongxian responded, and then said what he knew.

To make it clear, because the drought in Yangzhou and other places was too severe, some tenant farmers felt that the output of land could not support themselves, so they asked the landlords and gentry to reduce their land rents.

It's just that the tenants are not having a good time, and the landlords and gentry are not much better.

Hundreds of people in the family needed to be fed, and many large landowners and gentry simply ignored the pleas of the tenant farmers.

As a result, tenant farmers had to prepare to emigrate in order to survive.

As a result, when they wanted to emigrate, the gentry and landlords were unwilling to return the deeds, so the tenants went to the local government to sue the officials.

In general, this was the case, and the final culmination of the matter was that the local government ordered the gentry and magnates to return the deed papers, and the tenants were freed to board the ships that went south to the Old Port, and became part of the wave of Apocalypse immigration.

"In this way, the gentry in Jiangnan are really not good......"

Zhu Youxiao chuckled, obviously even he didn't expect that the gentry in Jiangnan couldn't even clean up a few tenants.

However, this also shows that his younger brother's changes are very useful, and the political discourse of the gentry and landlords is declining.

"How's my brother doing?"

"Your Highness has been busy with the official education for the county kings recently."

Knowing the situation of the gentry and the powerful, Zhu Youxiao was worried about Zhu Youjian.

However, it turned out that he was too worried, Zhu Youzhen was living well in the capital, and Wei Zhongxian also deliberately said that the princes of the Qi Wangfu were studying in official schools.

"Reading the official school ......" Hearing these three words, Zhu Youxiao understood his younger brother's intentions.

He was silent, lowered his head and dug the wood by himself, and after a long time he felt a little irritable, put the planer aside, and walked into the hall of heart cultivation by himself.

Wei Zhongxian didn't follow, he knew very well that now was the time when the emperor was angry.

Why is Zhu Youxiao angry? Wei Zhongxian doesn't understand very well......

After all, for a wolf like him who dares to destroy himself from the palace, in the face of interests, let alone his own brothers, even one brother can be cut.

He only feels that he is old now, and he wants to make a few more money in the last few years, and then go home to retire.

Thinking so, Wei Zhongxian also happily counted his family property.

"Otomo ......"

"The slave is here!"

It's a pity that before Wei Zhongxian could think about it, he was called into the Heart Cultivation Hall by Zhu Youxiao.

He walked into the hall in a hurry, but as soon as he entered, he saw Zhu Youxiao sitting on a chair with a sad face.

"Hooray...... The slave and maid came. ”

Wei Zhongxian cautiously stepped forward to speak, and Zhu Youxiao also raised his head when he heard this:

"What do you think I can give my brother ......?"

What is the reward...... You don't have much to reward you except the chair under your ass...... Wei Zhongxian thought in his heart, but said with a smile:

"His Royal Highness King Qi doesn't lack anything, it's better to write more letters to His Royal Highness."

"Hmm...... You stand down......" Seeing that Wei Zhongxian couldn't say anything, Zhu Youxiao raised his hand to signal that he could go out.

Seeing this, Wei Zhongxian did not contain the lake, and immediately walked out of the Heart Cultivation Palace.

After he left, Zhu Youxiao also said secretly: "There is no seal...... No reward ......"

In his whispering, the night gradually passed, and by the time the day dawned again, it was already April 16.

"Sun Kewang, you did a good job, you have dealt with it so quickly?"

When Zhu Ciran's voice sounded, the scene had already arrived at the East Palace in Beijing, and in front of Zhu Ciran was Sun Kewang, who had just handed in dozens of notes.

At this moment, Sun Kewang smiled kindly, and he slowly moved:

"Xia Guan is good at handling government affairs on weekdays, so the speed is a little faster."

"Twenty-three parts in an hour, this speed is almost as fast as Uncle Qi Wang...... The handling is also good. ”

Zhu Ciran took the note, opened it one by one, and gave his own evaluation.

"Xiaguan doesn't dare to compare with King Qi......" Sun Kewang still looked like a smiling tiger, Zhu Ciran glanced at him with a smile, and took in his careful thoughts.

"In this way, when you take the exam at the end of the year, you may be able to be promoted to Zuo Zhongyun."

Zhu Ciran didn't forget to paint a cake for Sun Kewang, and when he heard that Sun Kewang, who might become Zuo Zhongyun of Zhan Shifu, he couldn't help but lower his back when he heard this.

】

"It's the same person as Hong Chengchou, but it's okay like this, it's easy to handle......"

Zhu Ciran smiled on his face, but in his heart, he put Sun Kewang and Hong Chengchou in the mouth of his own Uncle Qi together.

For Zhu Ciran, as long as he is ambitious, he can be used, he is a person who likes sincerity, so he is most afraid that officials will use sincerity to deal with him.

It's as if he is not afraid that he can't control Sun Kewang, but he is afraid that he can't control Li Dingguo.

The control here does not refer to how Li Dingguo is, but a kind of heart disease that Zhu Ciran suffered from after learning that Uncle Qi Wang would leave Daming in the future.

He always felt that those who couldn't control it would leave Daming.

Jin Xuan, Cheng De, Cao Wenzhao, Cao Bianjiao, Man Gui, Sun Yingyuan, and ...... Li Dingguo.

Thinking of this, Zhu Ciran also looked at a note next to him.

It was the note handed in by the Governor's Office of the Five Armies in last year's examination, Zhu Youzhen had already dealt with it, and all Zhu Ciran had to do was to read it and then stamp it.

In the merit examination, Li Dingguo ranked among the best for his merits in governing Yanran City and leading troops to behead more than 300 Beiyu last year.

Therefore, in the examination performance, Li Dingguo was put on the inspection list.

As long as the Governor's Office of the Five Armies in the capital sends someone to Yanran City to make sure that there is no fraud in his merits, then Li Dingguo can be promoted to the deputy general of the Yanran Battalion of the Northern Army, and his official position is six grades.

Li Dingguo's ability, Zhu Ciran knows, even if he is a general, he is a condescending talent.

If he were the same as before, he would definitely directly promote Li Dingguo to the general of the Yanran Battalion.

However, since he knew that his Uncle Qi might be leaving, Zhu Ciran didn't plan to do those extraordinary things.

The faster Li Dingguo's official position was promoted, the easier it was to return to the capital.

The current capital is a big vat that has been muddyed, and with the passage of time, it has become more and more muddy.

Zhu Ciran didn't plan to let Li Dingguo, who had been taking care of himself, get contaminated with this tank of sewage.

Thinking of this, Zhu Ciran picked up this test score, opened it and stamped it, and then handed it to Sun Kewang:

"Send this note back to the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, and send the backup to the Ministry of Households, update the changes in the Governor's Mansion this time, don't send less or miss the silver."

"Yes......" Sun Kewanghai was immersed in the news that he was going to be promoted, so he took the song without thinking and turned to leave.

Looking at his departing back, Zhu Ciran leaned back in his chair, raised his head as if he was tired, and slowly closed his eyes:

"Uncle......"