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In the Jinluan Hall, Qin Mu, as the king of a country, Zheng Di said loudly: "Portugal has only two choices. One, hand over Macau, and two, declare war between the two countries."
Portugal obtained the right of residence in Macau from the Ming Dynasty in the 32nd year of Jiajing. Portugal had to pay 500 taels of silver to the Ming court as rent every year.
Strictly speaking, this is an equal agreement, and there is no coercion on the part of the Ming Dynasty.
Da Qin inherited China's legal system. If Portugal had not secretly sold weapons to the hostile Zhu Yuxian, Da Qin would have planned to abide by this agreement, at least for now.
But now, since the Portuguese had betrayed their trust first, Qin Mu was not polite.
When Wasiki learned that Qin Mu actually wanted to take back Macau, he couldn't help but screamed. Ma Shidu translated his words: "Your Majesty, your Majesty, you can't do this. We have a lease agreement... ."
Qin Mu said calmly: "The two choices I gave Portugal, you think about it carefully before making a decision."
After Qin Mu finished speaking, after giving a brief signal, the ceremony officer immediately came out and invited the three of them out of the Jinluan Hall.
Of course, Qin Mu would not tell the three people about the Spanish attack on Macau at this time. If he used this to put pressure, it would inevitably be said that the Qin Dynasty was taking advantage of the situation and adding insult to injury.
Sooner or later, they will be reported about the Spanish sneak attack. At that time, they will naturally make a decision whether to accept Da Qin's conditions or choose to be Da Qin's enemy.
Looking at the world, the thirteen chief ministers of the Ming Dynasty all commanded the envoys, that is, the thirteen provinces. Only Guangxi, Guangdong, and Yunnan were not yet included under the rule of the Qin Dynasty.
As for Tibet, the Ming Dynasty canonized the local chieftains and nominally included Tibet within the territory of the Ming Dynasty. However, the chieftains of Tibet were still in a state of autonomy.
In addition, the environment in Tibet is harsh and there are not many benefits to be gained, so officials in Da Qin felt that attacking Tibet was a thankless task. Most officials have little interest in Tibet.
The situation is different for Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan. These were the three provinces under the direct jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty at the beginning. It was impossible to allow them to stay outside the control of the Qin Dynasty.
After the vigorous development after the Song Dynasty moved to the south, Guangdong and Guangxi are no longer the smog-filled land that people talked about in the past hundreds of years;
Even Hainan Island, which is isolated overseas, has already had famous ministers like Hai Rui, and its communication with the mainland has been very close.
Not to mention Yunnan. In the early Ming Dynasty, there was a large-scale relocation of people, and at the same time, the Duke of Guizhou was sent to sit in charge for generations. More than half of Yunnan is already Han people. Moreover, Yunnan is rich in silver and copper mines and was one of the major silver and copper producing areas in the Ming Dynasty.
At this time, even if there was no incident of Portugal selling weapons to Zhu Yuxuan of Guangdong, the eyes of all civil and military officials would definitely be focused on Guangdong, Guangdong and Yunnan.
Cui Feng was the first to come out of the squad and said: "Your Majesty, starting from the beginning of the year, our Daqin State has been going all out in the Northern Expedition. The southwest has been focusing on maintaining stability. For a while, it was not possible to plow the courtyard and clear the holes, so that a few clowns in the northwest are still living there.
Now the Central Plains has been settled. I, the Qin Dynasty, have a strong army and strong horses. I would like to ask your Majesty to send another 20,000 troops and horses to me. If I cannot conquer the entire southwest, I am willing to give up my title. Cut jobs to serve the people. "
Cui Feng originally held the title of General Conquering the South, but most of his glory was first taken away by Ma Liuliang. Then the Qin Dynasty concentrated all its efforts on the Northern Expedition and his offensive in Yunnan. I had to switch from offense to defense, and I felt so depressed for a long time.
Now it seems that the world has basically been peaceful, with only Guangdong and Guangxi and half of Yunnan left. So he got out of work first, took care of everything, and planned to scoop the remaining pieces of meat into his own bowl.
He is so generous, how can anyone else be willing to do it
In addition to the five governors who remained calm, Liu Tichun, Han Gang, Hui Dengxiang, Jin Shenghuan, Hao Yaoqi, Guo Shouliang, etc. all stepped forward to challenge.
Even Zheng Sihai, Gu Rong and others from the navy were not willing to be outdone. They also wanted to step in and take over Guangzhou City and the entire Pearl River Delta. They also vowed that if they could not take it, they would come directly to see him. This is comparable to Cui Feng They are much more determined to cut jobs for the people.
In the Jinluan Palace, you are fighting for me, and for a while, "the demons are dancing wildly", is this ridiculous
The imperial censor, who was responsible for correcting the indiscretions in the official meeting, immediately stood up and shouted loudly, and then the Jinluan Hall became quiet again.
Well, the villain asked the imperial censor to do this, and His Majesty the Emperor of Qin blushed and said with a heartfelt expression: "You generals are brave and adept at fighting, and your loyalty is commendable. My heart is very comforted, my heart is very comforted." !”
Sima An, the chief assistant of the cabinet, looked like an old monk in meditation. After hearing these words, his eyebrows could not help but tremble slightly.
Gu Junen, the left minister of the Ministry of War, held his wat and went out to the class and said: "Your Majesty, as the saying goes, there are no two days in the sky and no two masters in the people. Now your majesty has been entrusted with heaven to rule the world. If Zhu Yuxuan and Zhu Youlang from Guangdong and Guangxi are allowed to arrogantly claim their title again, Emperor, it is indeed inappropriate. Looking at the Qin Dynasty today, there are many war generals and the morale of the army is high. It is time to take advantage of the great victory of the Northern Expedition to wipe out the southwest in one fell swoop, so as to rectify the situation and calm the world. "
Qin Mu nodded slightly, looked at Liu Boquan, the Minister of Household Affairs, and said, "Liu Qing."
As the saying goes, before the soldiers and horses are moved, food and grass go first. How and when to fight this battle depends first on whether the national treasury can support it.
Liu Boquan hurriedly held his wat and left the office. He bowed his arms and said: "Your Majesty, I have been in charge of the household department for several years. I dare not say that I have made any contribution to the country. However, your Majesty promoted me to the poor and the lowly. I can only repay your Majesty for your kindness to all people." 1. Since I have been in charge of the household department, whenever your Majesty has orders, I will do my best to make every effort to gather the food and grass needed by the army, but this time...
I also hope that Your Majesty will learn from it. The Central Plains has just been recovered and millions of people are crying for food. To be honest with Your Majesty and the generals, there is still some money in the treasury, but in Taicang, the food and grass can no longer supply the needs of the army for the southern expedition. I will die. "
Liu Boquan knew very well that both civil servants and military generals now hoped to unify Guangdong and Guangxi as soon as possible, capture the entire territory of Yunnan, and complete the great cause of unifying the world as soon as possible.
By saying this, he was undoubtedly trying to discourage everyone, and would even offend a group of generals who were eager to try.
But he knew his own affairs, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and tell the truth;
In terms of money, in fact, even if the national treasury has no money, it is not a problem to temporarily divert one to two million taels from Huitong Bank's huge deposits as military expenses in an emergency.
The problem lies in food and grass. The reason why the Central Plains was able to stabilize so quickly was not just because the Qin army was so good at fighting.
Without the Ministry of Household Relief's vigorous relief efforts, there would be many people who would continue to take desperate risks due to the pressure of life.
This year is considered a good year for Jiangnan and Huguang; even Sichuan has supported Guanzhong with a lot of grain and grass;
However, the Northern Seven Provinces have been too corrupt after years of famine and war. In order to help the Northern Seven Provinces settle down as soon as possible, the relief grain allocated by the Ministry of Household Affairs has exceeded an astonishing 32.6 million dan. In addition, the Northern Expeditionary Army's grain and grass consumption has reached almost 8 million dan. Stone, these two figures added together are already the limit that the household department can bear.
You must know that during the Hongwu period in the early Ming Dynasty, the summer and autumn taxes of the Ming Dynasty were 24.73 million shi on rice and 4.71 million shi on wheat.
Now the Ministry of Household Affairs supports 40 million shi of food and grass expenditure in Jiangnan, Huguang and Sichuan provinces. If it had not been for the vigorous promotion of foreign crops such as corn and medicinal potatoes in the past two years, it would have been impossible to do this.
The generals marched in front and fought happily, all relying on Hu Bu to support them from behind. The real hard work fell on Hu Bu;
If money and food were not allocated in time, the generals would impeach officials from the Ministry of Revenue and delay military flights. Wartime was no different than usual. When receiving an impeachment, in order to stabilize the morale of the army, Qin Mu often had no choice but to blame the officials from the Ministry of Revenue first, causing them to suffer a lot of grievances. .
This time, three of the six ministers were granted the title of Duke. Among them, Yang Tinglin, the Minister of Personnel, was granted the title of Duke. Qin Mu was more motivated by political considerations;
As an emperor, he doesn't have any uncles or brothers to help him, and the Qin family in Zhongzhou is also a member of the family more than ten generations apart, so it's a bit far-fetched to recognize him. He had to carry Yang Tinglin, his father-in-law, out to hold the battle.
He Liang is in charge of the military department, he is smart and capable, and has made great contributions. But it is true that among the three ministers, Qin Mujue was the one who deserved to be rewarded by the Duke the most, and it was none other than Liu Boquan.
Over the years, there have been one war after another. Although a lot of wealth has been obtained from the Dashun Army and Yunnan, it would still be difficult to support one war after another if Liu Boquan and the officials of the Ministry of Revenue were not good at managing it.
In the past few years, Qin Mu had hardly had to worry about money and food, all thanks to the promotion of a petty official and a merchant.
Although Xu Yingjie's abilities are not weaker than Liu Boquan's, in terms of loyalty, and perhaps in terms of the degree to which Qin Mu can be reassured, Xu Yingjie is far inferior to Liu Boquan.
Liu Boquan did not live up to his trust. He was loyal and conscientious. Even though he was only forty years old and had managed the household department for several years, his temples were actually covered with frost.
Looking at his troubled look, Qin Mu felt a warm feeling in his heart. He nodded to him and comforted him: "I know your loyalty well. Liu Qing, please retreat first."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Liu Boquan bowed and stepped back.
Qin Mu secretly sighed and glanced at Gu Rong, Zheng Sihai and others.
During the Northern Expedition, Qin Mu once thought of sending the navy to Nanyang to grab grain;
Just considering that many Zheng Jiajun had just been recruited at that time, it took time to digest and brainwash.
Moreover, once the army's progress is unfavorable, the navy will be required to enter the Bohai Bay to open a second battlefield at any time, so the navy is not allowed to expedition to Southeast Asia.
Qin Mu's concept of developing the navy is completely different from that of developing the army. The navy is a technical branch. Not only is it difficult to train, but it also costs a lot to manufacture, maintain, and train warships and artillery.
Qin Mu would never let such a money-burning army sit at home as watchdogs.
In this case, Da Qin could not afford to support such a huge navy, and Qin Mu who could afford it would not be willing to pay this amount.
In this era, the navy must not only be self-sufficient, but also create a lot of wealth for the country. Didn't the Spanish Armada bring back hundreds of millions of silver for Spain? This is called a navy.
When several naval generals saw Qin Mu looking at him, they immediately puffed up their chests, as if they had been given a shot of chicken blood. Gu Rong rushed out of the squad and said: "Your Majesty..."
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ps: I sincerely ask for a monthly ticket! After doubling the price, it has been deserted until now. It’s really hard to endure. Brothers and sisters, please give me your monthly votes... Ah! (To be continued...)
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