Chapter 185

There are no eternal friends, only eternal interests.

This is true from man to man, and it is also true from country to nation.

It's like the Ming Dynasty, sparing no effort to support the Korean War, one of the three major expeditions of the Wanli Emperor, the Korean War, which emptied the treasury and indirectly left a mess for the Apocalypse and Emperor Chongzhen.

But the question is, is Da Ming really selfless?

To put it bluntly, it is also for the sake of national interests.

Once Xiao Ri occupies North Korea, it is like putting a knife on the waist and eye of the Ming Dynasty, Xiao Ri sleeps and snores in North Korea, and the emperors of Beijing can't sleep.

Therefore, Emperor Wanli can only fight, whether he can't fight or can't afford to fight, then he must fight, this truth is the same as Yang Guangsan's expedition to Goguryeo, and the nature of the Tang Dynasty's attack on Goguryeo.

Can you let others sleep soundly on the side of the couch?

The seven-year Wanli Korean War emptied the treasury of the Ming Dynasty and lost tens of thousands of elite troops, but for the sake of national interests, it had to be fought.

In fact, there is no pure friendship between countries, and there are only interests.

Catherine, as the second in line to the throne of the Cantarini family, thinks about the problem from the point of view of political logic, and hits the nail on the head: "Show our worth!" ”

Giovanni was an outstanding son of the Corona family, so he naturally understood what Catherine meant: "You mean, let us betray the interests of Venice?" ”

"What do you say?"

Catherine said seriously: "We are just cooperating, in the words of His Excellency Duke Cheng, this is called win-win cooperation." ”

"Win-win cooperation?"

Catherine smiled faintly: "Our Venetian city-state republic is in Europa, it can be said that the whole world is the enemy, the Holy Roman Empire attacked us, the Ottoman Empire attacked us, the French Empire, the Netherlands, and the Spanish Empire all attacked us, is it because we Venetians disobeyed God?" ”

"Actually, we all know that they attacked our Venice because they had accumulated hundreds of years of wealth against our Venice!"

"That's the problem!"

Catherine pointed to the steel ingots on the big ship: "We have no friends in Europa, even if we have money, we can't buy what we want, but the territory under the rule of a governor in the Ming Dynasty can far exceed the steel produced in all the countries of Europa, with steel we can build more artillery, well-made armor, make sharp swords, and better guard our Venice!" ”

Giovanni suddenly realized: "You mean that we are going to open a sea trade route with the Ming Dynasty?" This can be done, the products of the Ming Dynasty are too rich, their tea, tea, white sugar, silk, porcelain, ......"

Venice is a country of commerce, and when it comes to doing business, Giovanni is also interested.

"These things are very precious, but they don't help our city-state much, what we need most is something that can make our Venice stronger!"

Catherine said this, and Giovanni said excitedly: "I see, do you want their artillery?" ”

Giovanni worked as a skilled worker in a factory under the Gun Bureau for more than six months, and his hands were blistered with blood, and during this time, he first saw the flying thunder cannon cast by the Ning Navy and the three-inch cannon, and the power of the flowering cannonball left a deep impression on him.

Catherine said, "Yes, it's their incredibly powerful artillery!" ”

"This is the Ming Empire's weapon for the country!"

Catherine smiled: "There is nothing that cannot be sold, the only reason is that the price is not enough!" ”

As Luo Yonghao said in a speech: "In the eyes of prostitutes, there is no woman in this world who is not for sale, and the upper limit they can understand when they hear a rumor that a woman is not for sale is, is it impossible to negotiate the price?" This is the upper limit of what they can understand about not selling.

Catherine is a nobleman from a merchant country, and a typical businessman, Catherine, who has a merchant mentality, absolutely does not believe that Daming will not sell artillery, the only possibility is that the money is too little, if the money is given enough, it will definitely be sold.

Catherine had seen too many chaste martyrs, and they would be shameless in the face of money, but in the same way, greedy officials would sell everything they could.

"Duke Cheng seems to be ...... It's very rich, it's not easy to buy! ”

"That's not enough money!"

Catherine laughed: "He is willing to sell grain to their hostile merchants for money, and also for money, he will also sell artillery to us Venice, and we Venice do not pose any threat to them!" ”

Catherine is very confident, but it's a pity, she will definitely be disappointed, Cheng Shijie is not a businessman in his bones, he is just a civilian, a civilian with a bottom line and principles, there are some things, he will definitely do them, no matter whether he makes money or loses, there are some things, he will definitely not do.

When Cheng Shijie led the triumphant army of the Ning Navy to Tianjin Port, he was really stunned, Tianjin Sanwei, thousands of "elites", and Cheng Shijie's old acquaintances, as well as tens of thousands of people gathered at the dock of Tianjin Port.

The sound of cheers soared into the sky.

What Cheng Shijie didn't expect was that there was a Huang Luo umbrella in the crowd.

The umbrella is a symbol of the power of emperors, generals, dignitaries, and nobles. In ancient China, where the hierarchy was strict, the material, color, and size of the umbrella were like the black yarn on the head and the court dress on the body, which was also a sign to distinguish the size of the official position and the dignity of the status. Yellow represents the royal family, could it be that Emperor Chongzhen is here......

In fact, not only the emperor, but even civil and military officials came.

Just when Cheng Shijie was stunned, Fu Zonglong, Fan Jingwen, including Sun Chengzong and others had already run down, especially Sun Chengzong, who knelt, was really sincere, and he felt that his knees hurt when he listened to the voice.

Cheng Shijie thought secretly: "When can I see the emperor without kneeling?" ”

Cheng Shijie was about to salute, Emperor Chongzhen seemed to be like an agile monkey, three steps and two steps, bypassing Fu Zonglong, Fan Jingwen and other officials, came to Cheng Shijie, and held Cheng Shijie's arm with both hands: "Cheng Qing is exempt!" ”

"How can the minister make His Majesty ......?"

Speaking of which, Cheng Shijie's eyes were red, because he shed more tears, his tear glands became more developed, and he cried when he wanted to, stopped when he wanted to, and sent and received it freely.

Emperor Chongzhen said with a smile: "I originally wanted to go to Liaoyang to see, to see the capital of Jiannu in the past, what is it like to build slave Shengjing now, it's just ...... It's just that the ministers of civil and military affairs fiercely opposed it and had to use it. I came to Tianjin to greet me in person, so I can compensate Cheng Qing for one or two, right? ”

"Torture the micro-minister, torture the micro-minister!"

Emperor Chongzhen smiled and said: "I owe you so much, how much I owe you!" ”

Cheng Shijie didn't react to this matter, he thought it should be, but the problem was that the civil servants were sour to death, and since the Jingjing, there has never been a military general who can be crowned a marquis, let alone a military general, and there are no civil officials!

Since the Jingjing, there has been no military general in the Ming Dynasty who can be a marquis, not a single one! Qi Shaobao's credit is big enough, right? Not sealed; Li Chengliang's military exploits are much more prominent than Qi Shaobao's, and he is just a Ning Yuanbo!

The pattern of using literature to control military affairs has lasted for nearly two hundred years, and you coldly collapsed a duke from among the military generals, and overwhelmed all the civil officials at once, and the pattern of civilian officials suppressing military generals has not been completely destroyed.

No, absolutely not!

Wenchen collectively objected, but the problem was that this time Emperor Chongzhen was surprisingly stubborn, and Cheng Shijie's military exploits were too prominent, and it was more than enough to seal the duke, if they insisted on talking about ancestral training or something, the people of the capital could drown them with a mouthful of saliva!

The witty Wenchen had an idea, and proposed that either he should not be sealed, but he would be sealed, and Lu Xiangsheng would also have to be crowned a marquis, anyway, he couldn't let the generals dominate! Although Lu Xiangsheng is invincible in the charge, he is still a civilian official in essence, and if he is also a marquis, it will also be a kind of counterbalance to the growing military generals.

So, Lu Xiangsheng picked up a marquis, and he was a champion marquis.

Well, Lu Xiangsheng is indeed worthy of the marquis of Champion Hou, he is indeed the champion of the three armies, at least he has no problem playing seven or eight like Cheng Shijie, Cheng Shijie is really not Lu Xiangsheng's opponent without using a gun.

Emperor Chongzhen smiled: "Cheng Qing, what are you thinking?" ”

"The minister is wondering, is Your Majesty tired of staying in the palace and wants to come out for a walk!"

"Why does Cheng Qing have such an idea?"

"Since ancient times, there has been no example of the Son of Heaven going out of the capital to greet the courtiers for more than 200 miles, if you are not idle, you will not go out of Beijing!"

"That's what you really think?"

"Other than that, the minister really can't think of any other reason."

Of course, Chongzhen didn't run out to play by himself, he couldn't handle his daily state affairs, he was not Emperor Zhengde, Emperor Chongzhen didn't like to play, he wanted to boost the martial spirit of the Ming Dynasty.

This time, more than 200 miles away from Beijing, I finally saw clearly what the 200,000 elites in Beijing were.

Chongzhen was not wearing a dragon robe this time, but a golden armor, in order to take care of Emperor Chongzhen's small body, his armor, although it looked golden, in fact, was just a piece of paper armor, painted gold.

Of course, the Ming Dynasty does need a martial spirit.

Daming's economic downturn in recent years is not only affected by the weather of the Xiaoice River, mainly military spending, in fact, if it is not for the rebellion of Jiannu, plus the rebellion of the rogue, at most three or five years, Daming can recover its vitality.

It's just a pity that in order to defeat Jiannu, you can only raise taxes on the common people, because of the tax increase, countless ordinary people can't survive and can only rebel.

Since then, a vicious circle has been formed, for the sake of Liaodong, the only way to expand the army, but the army has to spend money, the more the army expands, the more the battle is lost, and there are more and more places of rebellion.

As Ning Haijun began to slowly disembark, the sound of neat steps drowned out the discussion of the crowd on the dock, and as more and more Ning Haijun soldiers disembarked from the ship, they felt that they were lined up in a neat formation.

Different from the troops in the Liaoyang period, the equipment of the Ning Navy has been restored to its original appearance, mainly pikemen, sword and shield soldiers, and artillery have also been replaced by Franc machine two-wheel artillery, when the Ning Navy more than 2,000 cavalry, more than 1,000 artillery, seven or eight thousand infantry, began to complete the formation, the entire dock of Tianjin Port, became noticeable.

Looking at Ning Haijun silently lined up, during this period, Cheng Shijie did not give a single order, all of which were completed by Ning Haijun under the command of their respective officers.

When Emperor Chongzhen saw this scene, he was very envious, and he smiled and said, "Cheng Qing, I should really learn from you how to govern the army!" ”

"No, Your Majesty, you have always been our role model and do not need to learn from anyone!"

Cheng Shijie smiled faintly: "As the king of a country, you don't need to learn how to govern the army, you just need to learn how to govern the handsome!" ”

"Perhaps, but Wen Shoufu should learn from you how to govern a country."

Emperor Chongzhen was a little self-destructive, and his dissatisfaction with Wen Tiren could be seen.

This is very, not disrespectful, for Wen Tiren, the head of the cabinet. Because Wen Tiren has done almost nothing in office, as long as he occasionally impeaches a minister, his role is to pretend to be deaf and dumb.

It's not that Wen Tiren doesn't have the ability, but he knows that the more he does, the more mistakes he will make.

Although it is said that Daming has been going downhill in recent years, the domestic party strife and contradictions have become more and more serious, and Cheng Shijie is also at a loss if Cheng Shijie is the first assistant to the cabinet.

Cheng Shijie said with a smile: "Lord Wen is already sitting very well, and if you change to someone else, you may not be able to do better than Lord Wen." ”

Cheng Shijie naturally knows that Wen Tiren's eyes and ears must be there right now, and on the dock, it is not a place to really talk about things, no matter how much Cheng Shijie hates Wen Tiren, in this case, Cheng Shi still helps Wen Tiren say a fair word, except for Wen Tiren, it will be even more unbearable to change someone else to be the first assistant of the Ming Dynasty.

Emperor Chongzhen looked up to the sky and sighed, looking at the sky in the distance from the top of Cheng Shijie's head, with a melancholy expression.

Cheng Shijie wanted to remind Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, now is not the time for sad spring and autumn, so many people are watching!" ”

Fortunately, Emperor Chongzhen still had Cao Huachun and Gao Qiqian by his side, and the two of them hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, it's time to return!" ”

"Cheng Qing got into my car!"

"It's a shame to be a micro-minister!"

Cheng Shijie didn't want to take Emperor Chongzhen's big jade chariot, although the name sounds very good, it's not an old-fashioned two-wheeled carriage?

More than 200 miles, and the ass is not upside down?

Cheng Shijie walked to his carriage: "The minister has a car!" ”

"Then I take Cheng Qing's car!"

Emperor Chongzhen got into Cheng Shijie's four-wheeled carriage, and Cheng Shijie's carriage was originally just a carriage drawn by two horses, which was in line with Cheng Shijie's identity.

Now that he is a duke, Cheng Shijie can take the troika, which in ancient times was the standard carriage for generals, prime ministers and princes.

Seeing Emperor Chongzhen get into Cheng Shijie's carriage, Emperor Chongzhen and Cheng Shijie began to return to the capital.

The ministers outside were sour again.

Sitting in Cheng Shijie's carriage, as soon as the carriage moved forward, Emperor Chongzhen felt sleepy and fell asleep unconsciously, and when Emperor Chongzhen woke up, Cheng Shijie was already grilling meat skewers in the carriage.

Emperor Chongzhen was awakened by the fragrance.

After eating five or six skewers of meat, Emperor Chongzhen said seriously: "Organizing the people to reclaim the famine, this method is not unique to Cheng Qing, many people are already doing it, why have they all failed, only Cheng Qing succeeded?" ”

"It's actually quite simple!"

Cheng Shijie smiled: "That's Liaonan!" ”

"What is the difference between southern Liaoning and the interior of the Central Plains?"

"It's a big difference!"

Cheng Shijie smiled faintly: "There are no gentry there, there is no gentry exploitation, the minister can naturally run it, if it is really in the Central Plains prefectures and counties, the minister has no way!" ”

"The gentry?"

Cheng Shijie looked at Emperor Chongzhen and said: "Yes, whether it was in the Ning Navy or in southern Liaoning, there were no gentry there, otherwise no matter how much wasteland was reclaimed, they could only send food to the mouths of those insatiable bastards!" ”

Emperor Chongzhen was a little disappointed: "Can't the mainland be reclaimed? ”

"It's not that it can't be reclaimed, it needs investment!"

Cheng Shijie said with a smile: "Unless the government takes the lead, the rich businessmen invest, and organizes the people to run large farms, the current homeless people or ordinary people are too poor, they have no overnight food, let alone seeds, cattle, farming tools, and fertilizer, so there is basically no way out for reclamation!" ”

"Merchant Greedy ......"

Emperor Chongzhen was puzzled: "Is the merchant willing to do it?" ”

"If there is money to be made, they will definitely be willing to do it!"

Emperor Chongzhen heard Bi Ziyan, the former head of the household department, say a similar problem.

"The gentry is no longer in a tail...... How to fix this! ”

"Unless!"

"Unless what?"

"Unless they are allowed to run a factory and understand that the profits of running a factory and doing business are far higher than the profits of farming, they will invest in the factory!"

Cheng Shijie ran a collective farm in southern Liaoning, and did not give the land to individuals, just to avoid that the displaced people did not have the seeds, farm tools and fertilizers to reclaim the wasteland, because the displaced people had no money, so he went out to cultivate cattle, seeds and fertilizers, and the collective farm was actually a collective farm.

Because Cheng Shijie has money, he can invest, and let the people reclaim the land by themselves, what will they do to reclaim the land?

It's not that Cheng Shijie is stingy and reluctant to divide the land for the displaced people and let them reclaim the land by themselves, but because the displaced people have no ability to reclaim the land.

In this case, only collective farms can be handled.

Emperor Chongzhen was still a little difficult: "No one has ever done such a thing as setting up a factory, it violates the ancestral system......

For thousands of years, the Chinese people have guarded more than a dozen acres of fields at sunrise and sunset, passed down from generation to generation, and the small-scale peasant economy has long been deeply rooted in the soul of the Chinese people, so it is indeed a bit difficult for them to set up factories.

Cheng Shijie said with a smile: "But you can make a lot of money by running a factory, a landlord who owns a thousand acres, a year's income is not as good as a small shoe and socks workshop!" ”

(End of chapter)