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"I don't care about politics, I just want to make money, more money."
There were two beautiful maids with graceful figures. One held an exquisite cloisonné enamel tea cup and fed him a sip of tea. The other carefully trimmed his nails, even the nail gaps were neatly treated.
The nobles of Da Qin not only have elegant homes, but even the details of their lives are exquisite to the extreme. Croswell sighed in his heart.
Today's cities in Europe not only have sewage flowing across them, but also the smell is high. Even some kings did not bathe for a whole year and their bodies smelled bad.
Croswell, who prided himself on being a civilized man in the colonies, felt like a barbarian in the Qin Dynasty.
He was silent for a while and said: "Dear Your Excellency, I believe you should know that Qin is currently at war with our British Empire."
Xu Yongshun chuckled and said: "Mr. Croswell is also a man who has seen the world. Don't you know that the more war there is, the more money you can make?"
"But... ... "
"I have said that I don't care about politics. No matter how our country, Qin, fights with Britain, I just want to make money. Don't worry, our caravan has two hundred merchant ships, and it can travel all over the world without hindrance. If the East India Company is willing to cooperate, you What do you want, the best silk, the most beautiful porcelain, or a lot of cotton, spices, tea...
In short, as long as it is not weapons and all commodities, my fleet will transport them to you as much as you want. The Dutch East India monopoly on trade in the Far East will be replaced by the British East India Company.
However, since we are responsible for transporting the goods to India, the distance is quite far, so the price is naturally higher. Of course, your company can also refuse to cooperate with me. There are Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch people in the prison. I believe there are always people willing to cooperate with me. "
"No, no, your Excellency, we are willing to cooperate with you."
Croswell was like he had just gone from hell to heaven. The original reserve was just an attempt to boost one's worth.
He was the manager of the British East India Company. After understanding Xu Yongshun's energy, he certainly knew what amazing benefits cooperation with Xu Yongshun would bring to the East India Company.
In this world, there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies, only eternal interests. Although Britain has eight warships joining the war this time, it does not mean that Britain will refuse trade with Great Qin.
On the contrary, almost all European countries have become enemies of Qin now. If Britain can find another way. Then this is a monopoly trade. After Daqin's goods are shipped back to Europe, the profits will increase exponentially.
Croswell was almost shaking with excitement at the thought that he would be the one to make history.
Xu Yongshun was not afraid of him not cooperating at all. As he said, there were Spanish, Dutch and Portuguese people in the prison. Who doesn’t salivate over the trade of the Far East
The Qin Dynasty had just settled down, and the northwest was invaded by the Mongolian army, with wars everywhere. Money is needed everywhere. The emperor was unwilling to increase taxes on the people so as not to affect the recovery of people's livelihood.
As far as Xu Yongshun knew, the imperial court originally received more than 60 million taels from the Dashun Army, another 20 million taels from Yunnan, and nine million taels from the Zheng family in Fujian. When the palaces in Nanjing and Xijing were built, private political donations amounted to tens of millions of taels.
When Guangdong and Guangxi were pacified, more than two million taels of silver were seized from Ding Kuichu, the former governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. From the Yongli Dynasty, Duke Chen Bangfu of Qing Dynasty, General Sun Jinding, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites Wu Bitong, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry Lin Zizhong, and Chief Military Officer Liu Chengyin. Nearly two million taels were seized from the homes of Ding Kuichu's party members such as Huang Wei, the deputy censor of the capital, and Cao Ye, the governor of Guangxi.
The emperor has been lavish in everything in the past few years, and all the money comes from this. However, the money comes more and the money is spent more. The money spent on relieving the people in the newly recovered northern provinces alone has reached 20 to 30 million taels.
Moreover, there are always times when there is gold and silver.
Xu Yongshun knew the emperor's thoughts. He vigorously established a navy in order to use the sea to expand overseas and inject blood into the country.
But naval plundering alone is not enough, because plundering often involves killing the goose to obtain the eggs, and can only be plundered once.
So the emperor asked him to set up this trading company to export Daqin's products. It complements the navy. The navy uses force to plunder a large amount of wealth, and the trading companies export a large amount of goods, creating wealth in another gentle and long-term way.
This two-pronged approach had to be implemented well. Even if the Qin Dynasty sent troops to the north every year and fought every day, it would not worry about running out of money, let alone increase taxes on the people.
The Xu family was the most noble family of princes in the former Ming Dynasty. Of course he knew what amazing wealth Zheng He had brought back to the Ming Dynasty during his voyages to the West.
Zhu Di Gang and Emperor Jianwen fought a civil war. Millions of troops from both sides fought for four years, causing a complete defeat between the two capitals. Soon, hundreds of thousands of troops were dispatched to conquer Mongolia five times; an astonishing 800,000 troops were dispatched to conquer Jiaozhi in the south, and the city of Beijing was built on a large scale.
Everything costs countless dollars. In other dynasties, not to mention the five conquests of Mongolia, one conquest would be enough to make the court poor.
In the early Ming Dynasty, the annual income was only three to four million taels. Not only was the Yongle Dynasty not dragged down, but it became the most prosperous Yongle era in the three hundred years of the Ming Dynasty.
What did Emperor Yongle rely on? Can he conjure mountains of gold and silver out of thin air
Xu Yongshun knew the secret of this very well. What supported the prosperous age of Yongle was the countless wealth brought back by Zheng He from his seven voyages to the West.
The current Emperor of Qin obviously knew this, and he went a step further, plundering the navy on the one hand, and exporting massive amounts of goods on the other. The effect of this two-pronged approach is probably many times better than Zheng He's Qixi Xiyang.
Xu Yongshun knows what kind of work he is doing. If he does it well, I am afraid that like Zheng He, he will become a famous figure in history in the future.
Not to mention Xu Yongshun's daydreaming about a bright future, in the west of Guangxi, Jiande Houma Liuliang led 6,000 troops from Guiyang via Pingyuewei, Duyun Prefecture, Dushan Prefecture, and advanced to Nandan Prefecture in Guangxi .
Among the generals of the Qin Army, Ma Liuliang earned the nickname "King of the Mountains". The three thousand mountain divisions he originally led made great achievements in pacifying Guizhou and conquering Yunnan and Guangxi.
Now the Mountain Division has expanded to 10,000 people and is dedicated to southwest operations.
This time, Cen Yin, the chieftain of Si'en Prefecture, started a rebellion, which affected Si'en Prefecture, Qingyuan Prefecture, Sicheng Prefecture, and Tian Prefecture.
It can be said that the entire western part of Guangxi has been involved. Most of these places have typical karst landforms. The mountains are undulating, the jungle is dense, and the roads are rugged and difficult to navigate.
It is recorded in the historical materials of the Ming Dynasty: The Yao and Tong (i.e. Zhuang) ethnic groups in Guangxi are the majority. Among the mountains and mountains, there are dangers of three rivers, sixty-three mountains lean on them as nests, and thirty-six sources are located in their heart. They are scattered in Guilin, Guilin, The counties of Liuzhou, Qingyuan, and Pingle spread everywhere. Tianzhou and Sicheng are especially powerful.
The word "powerful" is not an overstatement. In the Ming Dynasty, these native soldiers of ethnic minorities were called "wolf soldiers". Starting from the Hongwu Dynasty, Guangxi's wolf soldiers were often deployed to fight.
Among them, the chieftain of the Mo family in Nandan was granted the title in the seventh year of Kaibao in the Northern Song Dynasty and has experienced the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties. If we count from the first generation chieftain Mo Hongyan, Mo's chieftain has been hereditary for 20 generations, with a total of 36 terms.
In response to the orders of the Ming Dynasty, Chieftain Mo sent troops many times to help the Ming Dynasty in the war. The Ming Dynasty granted him the honor to build the "Xunzhu Southwest" archway in front of the prefecture.
Now, Mo Ziqian, the magistrate of Nandan, was probably worried that the Qin Dynasty would cancel the policy of chieftain autonomy, so he actually responded to the rebellion of the chieftain of Si'en Mansion.
Horses and six soldiers are strong and the horses are strong. As soon as the Liuxing Mountain Division reaches Nandan Prefecture, they will start a big fight.
Tang Yue, the governor of the capital, quickly advised: "Master Hou, wait a moment."
Ma Liuliang raised his eyes and asked, "Tang Xiucai, what do you want to do?"
"Master Marquis, there is no need to go to war this time. Just use the reputation of Master Marquis."
Ma Liuliang looked at Tang Yue suspiciously and said: "Tang Xiucai, you don't want to persuade him to surrender, do you? What's there to persuade? Your Majesty, doesn't he intend to seize the opportunity to return to his old ways?"
"Master Marquis, it is true that Your Majesty intends to change the land and return it to the local people. But now the Qin Dynasty is focusing its energy on the northwest, and the time for the southwest to change the country and return the local people is not mature yet. Moreover, this is not something that can be accomplished overnight. It must be done step by step. Otherwise, even if you defeat it, , the rebellion will continue in the future.”
"But Your Majesty..."
"Your Majesty has no intention of immediately pushing all the chieftains to the enemy. If you can win over chieftains like Nandan, you have to win first."
"Tang Xiucai, didn't you take off your pants and fart? If we don't wipe them out now, we will allow them to govern themselves. In the future, they will have to fight again if they want to return to their old ways. Aren't you annoyed?"
"Don't worry, Lord Marquis, there is no need to come to conquer again in the future."
"Bullshit, can you convince them to hand over their power obediently just by opening your mouth?"
"Your Majesty has now issued a decree to implement a draft law in Monan. Males over the age of sixteen will be drafted one out of two to form an army to help the imperial court fight in all directions. I feel that your Majesty's move is really clever and it can be said to be a drain on the bottom of the cauldron.
I was about to submit a letter to the imperial court, and I also implemented this strategy in the southwest. I mobilized Ding Zhuang, the chieftain of the southwest, to form an army to conquer Jiaozhi and Dongwu. First of all, these wolf soldiers in the southwest are suitable for fighting against Wuzhi and Dongwu, and there is no need to worry about being acclimatized;
Secondly, after taking away these strong men from Tuzhou, even if they intend to cause trouble, it will be difficult for them to cause trouble. I believe that the imperial court must also be considering this strategy. The letter submitted by this official should be approved by His Majesty;
In short, we should first implement the lottery, wait for the asphalt road to be built in the future, and then improve the land and flow step by step, then it will be a matter of course. Therefore, there is no need to rush now and we must first win over a small chieftain like Nandan and a powerful local magistrate like Ping Sien Mansion..."
"Haha, I understand, Tang Xiucai, you really have it. Use a group of shrimps to bite the big fish. When the big fish has finished eating, you can catch all the small shrimps in one go."
"That's probably the reason."
"Okay, since now, Tang Xiucai... Well, Tang Xiucai, you'd better not go there yourself. I'll just send another person to persuade you to surrender. Don't do it yourself. If you don't listen to the advice, I'll kill you with a knife." I'll cut you off. Where can I find another sour scholar like you?"
Tang Yue rolled his eyes and said: "I appreciate the love and protection of the Marquis. Don't worry, Marquis. I will not die. I will teach Mo Zigan to come and welcome the Marquis."
Ma Liuliang couldn't defeat him, so he could only watch him walk alone to Sanshanguan, controlled by Mo Zigan, northwest of Nandan!
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ps: There is really a lot going on these days, so I can only update once. I’m sorry everyone, bow! (To be continued...)
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