Chapter 317 Mutual Guarantee between Fujian and Zhejiang (End of Chapter, New Chapter Tomorrow)
Eunuch Xiaoyan was transferred away, and the affairs of the Shipping Company had to be handled by others. Su Ze personally brought gifts to visit Eunuch Tao, who claimed to be ill.
Regarding Su Ze, Eunuch Tao had very complicated feelings.
Well aware of the cruelty of political struggle, the eunuch is not a scholar, and he has no delusions about the court.
In his life, he had seen too many tragic consequences for eunuchs who had made mistakes and lost power. Even "death" was considered a good outcome.
Eunuch Tao knew that he was too tied to Su Ze and there was no possibility of returning to the Ming court.
Even if he kills Su Ze now, there will definitely be no good results.
The empress, Lu Bing, these are all people close to the emperor, and they have even saved the emperor's life. What is the final result?
But Eunuch Tao still had a knot in his heart. He had obeyed Su Zeyan when he was in Fujian, and he had also given Su Ze a lot of convenience when he was in charge of the Municipal Shipping Department. But how could Su Ze repay himself? Drag yourself to rebel!
Eunuch Tao felt that he had been cheated, and he was angry and did not want to see Su Ze.
However, Eunuch Tao's anger had subsided after he had been ill for so long. Su Ze's visit today was a step down.
Eunuch Tao understands that Fujian and Zhejiang have fallen into the hands of Su Ze. Regardless of whether his rebellion is successful or not, Su Ze is now the one who talks about Fujian and Zhejiang.
Eunuch Tao stepped off the bed and greeted Su Ze warmly.
"Mr. Tao, this matter in Fujian cannot be separated from you! I have to trouble you to take care of the affairs of the Mint and the Mint Bureau!" Su Ze's words reassured
Mr. Tao. The Mint Bureau and the Mint Company The affairs of the Bureau cannot be separated from him, and Su Ze is here to ask him to come out.
After being polite, Eunuch Tao said, "Then Tao will continue to serve the Governor."
Su Ze personally took Eunuch Tao's pulse and prescribed him a prescription for recuperation. It was a great pleasure for both host and guest.
The reason why Su Ze treated Eunuch Tao so favorably was because Eunuch Tao was a rare talent in the Shipping Department and the Mint.
When he was in charge of the shipping company, Mr. Tao handled so many goods and was able to handle them properly.
Apart from the fact that there are no problems in the account books, the Shibo Company involves so many interests, including local wealthy businessmen, the Ryukyu mission, and various relationships in the capital. Eunuch Tao can divide the profit cake without causing any trouble. This ability is already It is to stand out from the crowd.
In terms of financial ability, I am afraid that only Su Ze's father-in-law Fang Wanghai can compete with Eunuch Tao.
Now that Eunuch Tao agrees to continue working for Su Ze, the atmosphere will be much better.
Su Ze naturally talked about Japan's collection of three immortal coins.
Eunuch Tao frowned and said:
"This matter started last year. The Zajia family once detained a merchant ship of the Ryukyu Mission. They said it was exporting cotton cloth. In fact, all the cotton cloth was wrapped with three immortal coins. The Japanese country had a great influence on me. I have been coveting the copper coins for a long time."
Su Ze smiled and said: "The Japanese country is now in the 'Warring States' era when bandits are fighting for hegemony. At this time, there is an even greater need for circulating currency. The Japanese country does not have mature coinage technology. In terms of silver, those who master The powerful daimyo who had a large population but no silver mines in their territory disagreed. In the end, many parties compromised, and we could only use our Ming Dynasty copper coins." "I see, I said that
those Japanese countries clearly produce their own silver, but they don't use it. , but it is strange to use our copper coins from the Ming Dynasty."
Su Ze added: "Copper coins have other meanings to the names of the Japanese country."
Although Eunuch Tao is familiar with overseas trade, he still does not understand the situation of the Japanese country well enough.
Su Ze said: "In the current 'Warring States' era of Japan, the most powerful names belong to the Hojo and Takeda families of the East Kingdom. The Daimyo of the East Kingdom is the most powerful daimyo in the entire Japanese Kingdom." "The reason why the Daimyo of the East Kingdom is stronger than other
daimyo , mainly because they used the Guan Gao system." "
The system of the Japanese country is very different from that of the Central Plains, but Tao Gonggong can understand that the Guan Gao system is a feudal system that uses copper coins paid every year to allocate land. "
Eunuch Tao is in charge of the affairs of the Shipping Department, and he also has some international vision. He nodded and said: "I heard that the Japanese country's national system is backward and it is still in the age of princes with real land enfeoffments. Is this really the case for the governor?" Su Ze thought for a while and said
. : "It's more or less like this. The land ownership in Japan is complicated, so it's okay to understand it this way." "
These big names, similar to princes, once again granted their land to their retainers, which was based on Guan Gao." "On the basis of
land. The tax generated is very high. For example, the tax generated by a piece of land in a year is 100 guan, then the vassal can receive this much money from the villages on his own land." "Copper coins are the unit of measurement for Japanese enfeoffment, because the Japanese
state It is impossible to inspect the land and clear it like the Ming Dynasty, and there is no way to determine the specific grain yield of the land. We can only use this method of negotiating taxes with the villages to determine the value of the land we own." "The daimyo of the Eastern Kingdom can be stronger than other
daimyo , because they have a relatively complete and fair Guan Gao system, which allows retainers who have made military exploits to receive due compensation, and there are enough copper coins circulating to ensure the operation of this system." "Because of the existence of the Guan Gao system, copper coins are not
only It is not only the currency in circulation, but it is also the basis for the Japanese big names to win over their subordinates and realize the military merit system. It is no wonder that Japanese businessmen are trying to find ways to smuggle three immortal coins." After hearing Su Ze's explanation, Eunuch Tao said with sudden realization: "That's it, there is no such thing
. I think that the leader of the Japanese country also knows the principle of clear rewards and punishments, so that his subordinates can work hard."
At this point, Tao Eunuch couldn't help but sigh again. Even the barbarians of the Japanese country understood the truth, but it seemed that it did not work in the Ming Dynasty.
Many ministers who had made great contributions were killed. If Su Ze hadn't rebelled, Eunuch Tao wouldn't have been able to hold his position in the shipping company for long.
"Then how to restrict the smuggling of Three Immortals coins?"
Su Ze laughed and said: "Restrictions? Why restrictions?"
"Since the Japanese want it, just give it to them!"
"The technology of casting Three Immortals coins has matured. The mint will use full power to mint coins and sell them to the Japanese people in a dignified way!"
Eunuch Tao looked at Su Ze in surprise and said, "If the copper coins flow out, won't there be less money in the country?"
Su Ze said, "That's exactly what I want. Discussing this matter with my father-in-law, now the Ryukyu mission brings a lot of silver each time. It is quite inconvenient for the people to use broken silver. We can mint silver coins." Making silver
coins?
Su Ze nodded and said: "The silver in the hands of Shibo Division is enough to mint silver coins. I want to use five cents of silver as a basis to mint half a tael of silver coins." "The amount of copper coins is too small to be used in daily life
. OK, but in Fujian's increasingly developing commercial trade, it is too inconvenient to use copper coins for transactions. Even if it is a hundred coins like three cents coins, some transactions require carrying a cartload of copper coins." Eunuch Tao thought for a while
. , I think what Su Ze said makes sense.
When their shipping company was trading, they handled so many copper coins that they had to have dedicated personnel to count them every time.
It's heavy to use silver, and you have to confirm the fineness of the silver. In fact, it's not convenient to settle the money.
Eunuch Tao heard that in the Ryukyu market, it is now more popular to use silver coins minted by Westerners for settlement.
Su Ze's proposal to mint silver coins was indeed a policy conducive to commerce.
Su Ze said to Eunuch Tao: "Please ask Eunuch Tao to mint silver coins. You can sell the excess copper coins to Japanese merchants, but they must be exchanged for silver." "It's high! It's really
high!"
Regarding the coins sent by the Japanese state themselves, Quan, Su Ze will certainly not be polite.
This is because his current power is insufficient. After unification, he will definitely have to fight against the Japanese country. If Sanxian Coin can really replace Yongle Tongbao and become the basic currency of the Japanese country, then before the war begins in the future, the coinage power can be used to plunder the resources of the Japanese country.
Su Ze had the right to mint coins, and he could use the money to support the great names of Japan.
Naturally, you have to eat this fat meat in one bite!
After settling the matters with the Shipping Department and the Mint, Su Ze returned to the Governor's Mansion.
Xu Wei, the counselor of the Metropolitan Governor's Office, found Su Ze in a dilemma with a letter.
"Is it a letter from Hu Butang?"
Su Ze took the letter. It was a letter written by Hu Zongxian to Su Ze.
Hu Zongxian actually wrote two letters, one to Xu Wei and one to Su Ze, talking about the same thing.
Waiting until Su Ze finished reading, Su Ze's expression did not change at all.
Xu Wei then cautiously said:
"Hu Butang has written to me. He agreed to serve as an official in the Governor's Mansion, but he hopes that the Governor will be magnanimous and allow some scholars to leave Zhejiang." Su Ze closed the letter and said, "Hu Ruzhen is from Fujian and Zhejiang
. One of the first initiators of mutual protection cannot be regarded as an official, but Hu Ruzhen has recovered her mood and will continue to work for the people of Zhejiang."
Xu Wei had already expected Hu Zongxian's defection to Su Ze.
Hu Zongxian was originally regarded as a rebel and sent to Beijing by the imperial court. Now Hu Zongxian's signature on the memorandum is second only to Su Ze's. He is already an iron rebel on the imperial list.
Moreover, in order to reassure Hu Zongxian, Su Ze even found a way to move all the people from Hu Zongxian's hometown in Huizhou to Zhejiang before the war started.
But for other people on Hu Zongxian's letter, Xu Wei himself was quite contradictory.
Many of those clamoring to leave Zhejiang were also Xu Wei's old friends and colleagues. Hu Zongxian wrote to plead for mercy, but Xu Wei also had to take into account his old friendship and persuade Su Ze to agree to release these people.
Hu Zongxian recruited a lot of staff to fight against the Japanese, most of whom were literati like Xu Wei and Wen Zhengming who were frustrated in the academic field but had great reputations.
The rest are officials like Tan Lun who are still loyal to the Ming Dynasty.
Xu Wei knew that some of them were still capable and did not want Su Ze to let them go back.
Unexpectedly, before Xu Wei could persuade him, Su Ze said directly:
"Those people Hu Butang mentioned, as well as the officials and gentry from Zhejiang and Susong Prefectures who are leaving, if they want to leave, let them go." Xu
Wei He was about to open his mouth to persuade Su Ze when he suddenly raised his head and asked, "Grand Governor, do you want to let them go?"
Su Ze said, "Let them go. We are benevolent and righteous teachers who want to punish the people and punish their crimes, and we are not bandits who want to force them to leave." To recruit people to join the team, if they are willing to stay, I, Su Ze, will use them if they are talented. If they are not willing to stay, no matter how talented they are, they will not be used by me." Xu Wei still said incomprehensively: "But these
people Returning to the Ming court, some of them are familiar with Zhejiang's military affairs, some have prestige in Zhejiang, and some are capable. What if they are used by the Ming court or speak ill of our Zhejiang-Fujian coalition?" Su Ze said with a smile
: "If the Ming Dynasty could fight, it would have fought long ago. Whether the Ming Dynasty can fight or not, what does it have to do with so many officials and gentry? Is it possible that these scholars can still go to the front line?" "If the Ming Dynasty wants to fight, we will defend it
. If you want to attack, we will defend."
Xu Wei looked at Su Ze, he had been calculating Su Ze's intentions these days.
Logically speaking, Su Ze issued a remonstrance, but Su Ze made no move to go north. He even gave Nanjing a symbolic blow, and stopped fighting when Zhenjiang hit a wall.
Xu Wei has never seen Su Ze be so rebellious in history.
After working in Su Ze's Governor's Mansion for a while, Xu Wei finally understood what Su Ze was thinking.
Su Ze's occupation of Zhejiang and Fujian was a knife stuck in the empire's southeastern belly.
From this wound, Su Ze could march west to Huguang, south to Guangdong and Guangxi, and also harass Qilu along the coast.
Occupying the southeastern region, which is now the richest part of the empire, the power of Su Ze and Ming Ting was ebbing and flowing.
As long as it holds on for a period of time, with the wealth of Southeast, the Ming court will only continue to decline, while Southeast will continue to grow stronger.
Therefore, the most important thing in Su Ze's message to the Ming court was not to seek rebellion, but to "protect each other."
In short, Su Ze's current strategy is simply "drag".
The release of these Zhejiang officials and gentry was also Su Ze's confidence. He did not think that these officials and gentry could cause harm to him, and the Ming court would not attack Zhejiang and Fujian at this time.
Xu Wei still said: "Grand Governor, if you let these people go back, they will definitely say bad things about you. What if the people in other places are bewitched by them?"
Su Ze said with a smile: "If you let them go back, wouldn't you just scold us?" Our Zhejiang-Fujian coalition forces burned, killed and looted? Did we say that we cannibalize human flesh and share wives? If these officials and gentry will not be released, isn’t the Ming court saying the same thing? I heard that Zhang Juzheng ran an "Imperial Affairs Times" in Nanjing. Isn't it okay to publish jokes on it and scold me?"
"As for the secrets, the registered land of Zhejiang, the deployment of troops at the garrison, the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs and the Capital Ministry of War are more comprehensive than us, but is it useful? Relying on these, The Ming Dynasty failed to accomplish anything in Zhejiang. They messed up the conversion of rice into mulberry. They relied on the new army to fight the Japanese. What secret information could they bring back? - Did Hu Butang surrender to the 'enemy'?" Xu Wei was speechless
. To right.
Su Ze murmured: "What I need now is time. History and time are on our side. If releasing these people can delay a little more time, it will be more worthwhile." August 14th, Mid-Autumn
Festival Before that, Su Ze personally signed the decree of the Metropolitan Governor's Office, allowing former Ming court officials from Fujian and Zhejiang, or famous scholars to go to Nanjing.
Tan Lun, the former governor of Zhejiang, immediately went north with his wife and son, accompanied by 17 prefecture and county officials from Zhejiang.
Most officials in Fujian and the remaining officials in Zhejiang still chose to stay in Su Ze's territory and wait and see.
However, Su Ze was no longer polite to them. Officials of any rank only rationed food based on their head, and no longer entertained them with delicious food and drinks.
Scholars who have no meritorious status will be released to their hometowns in accordance with regulations if they have not committed any criminal offenses that violate the Ming Dynasty Laws.
Su Ze was too lazy to recruit them, let alone spend money to support them.
In the 41st year of Jiajing's reign, the two governments of Fujian, Zhejiang and Suzhou issued a memorandum announcing mutual protection and a counter-remonstrance, requiring the court to punish traitors, stop major construction work, and provide peace and stability to the people.
The Ming court only declared Su Ze and Hu Zongxian to be traitors and traitors, and asked everyone in the world to fight against them.
However, the Ming court did not respond or refute the petition, and at the same time it did not move troops.
The two sides actually faced off peacefully across the Yangtze River.
It is said in history that Fujian and Zhejiang protected each other. (End of chapter)
Ps1: This chapter is over, the next chapter will be tomorrow.
Ps2: I thought I could repay the debt, but there are still 300 words left, but the plot is like this, it’s boring, so I’ll make up for it tomorrow!
Ps3: Fat Bird had his teeth extracted today. His wisdom teeth were really painful. I wrote this chapter with great pain, but I won’t stop updating it. We are a team that focuses on stability!
Ps4: Does anyone want to see my wisdom teeth? The doctor said that the wisdom teeth are very standard and grow very well. If anyone wants to see it, I will send an Easter egg stamp for everyone to see.
(End of chapter)