My Daming New Empire

"Zhanji obeys!"

After Zhu Zhanji was asked to sit down, he asked again: "Does Jier have a plan for overseas expansion?"

"Let your grandson think about it carefully. Ambassador Zheng will go to sea a month ago, and his return will be at least the next year. Grandson still has enough time to prepare."

He nodded, then looked at Zhu Gaochi who was standing restlessly, and said, "My grandson beats me, and my son is weaker than me. The prince is old and standing, and he should wake up."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Gaochi immediately knelt on the ground and said, "Your child must be able to distinguish right from wrong and work hard."

As soon as he knelt down, Zhu Zhanji had to kneel down with his knees, kneeling with him.

Zhu Di nodded and said: "I don't want you to work hard, I just want you to be content with your duty. If you have a child like this, you can worry less than me!"

Chapter 27 Proposal

The 12th year of Yongle's new year was a little more deserted than previous years.Since December, the Northern Expedition was decided at the beginning of the year, and the entire Ming Dynasty was preparing for this Northern Expedition.

Since the beginning of the year, 30 troops dispatched from various places have set out for Beiping, and they have basically settled down now.

Zhu Di is the general who attaches the most importance to logistics. The food and grass conscripted by various places, even during the Chinese New Year, are continuously transferred to Beiping.

For this expedition, 40 infantry, 30 cavalry, and nearly [-] horses were mobilized from various places.

There are still 20 troops in the capital and the Zhongdu camp, and they will march to Peiping in February next spring.

With the nearly 400 million taels of silver that Zhu Zhanji took out, not to mention fighting this war, another one is enough.

In this era, Zhu Zhanji realized that compared with modern people, Ming Dynasty people may have a higher sense of happiness.

First, prices in the Ming Dynasty were low.At this time, it was still the early Ming Dynasty, when silver was expensive and money was cheap, and one tael of silver could be exchanged for a full thousand yuan.And a steamed bun, including buns, only costs two cents. This kind of steamed buns and buns are oversized, not the small buns of later generations.

A catty of meat generally does not exceed 25 Wen per catty. In the past ten years, only one year when swine fever spread, the price of pork has risen to [-] Wen per catty.

Housing prices in the capital are relatively expensive, usually 50 taels of silver to buy a three-room house with a yard and a kitchen.About 150 square meters.

However, even for an ordinary person, the daily minimum income is more than one penny.

In other words, the minimum income of residents in the capital is three taels of silver a month, and they can buy a house with a yard in less than two years.

As for girls at this time, they usually paid the same price as male servants in their prime. They only needed ten taels of silver, which was equivalent to an ordinary person working for more than three months to buy a maid or servant.

Pan Jinlian, a famous beauty in history, only sold 30 taels of silver because of her literacy.

These are ordinary people, like the silk workers in Suzhou and Huzhou, whose annual income is higher than that of the county magistrate. They can earn about 70 taels of silver a year. With their income, they can build a luxury house, marry a wife, and buy maids a year. .

Prices are low and income is high, so although the enjoyment in all aspects is not very good in this era, people are full of happiness.

Of course, there are still many poor people in the countryside, because the tax burden on farmers in this era is astonishingly high.There are also some tenants, or people who have fled from famine, and they can also be called poor and helpless.

However, in this era, the government has relief homes for the poor, nursing homes for orphans, and nursing homes for the elderly.

Seeing these measures for the people, Zhu Zhanji couldn't believe at first that in the era 600 years ago, in the era of being criticized as useless, there were such perfect social welfare.

In fact, there are still many relief policies in this area. Zhu Yuanzhang was born in a poor family, and he took care of the poor in every possible way.

In short, in the Ming Dynasty of this era, basically the country can take care of every poor person, so that you will not be unable to survive.

Nearly 400 million taels of silver, plus the 100 million he started to take out, is equivalent to a quarter of the annual tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, it is not a quarter of all taxes, because in this era, most taxes are collected in kind.

For example, farmers pay grain, and urban residents pay per capita. Craftsmen can even hand over the tools they make, and silk merchants can pay taxes in silk.

In this era, when you serve as a soldier, most of your salary is some food and cloth, and only a small part of money.

Now that Zhu Di has money in hand, he doesn't panic anymore.The preparations for the war are already almost done. Even if the war is over in the future and the rewards are generous, Zhu Zhanji's money will not be used for half of it.

The taste of the new year in the palace is even weaker, and there is a fear of fire. Except for Zhu Zhanji and the princes and grandchildren in the palace, they can set off firecrackers in the open space. Eunuchs and maids who set off firecrackers will be beheaded.

Even for offering sacrifices, they can only offer sacrifices in designated places, and they are absolutely not allowed to worship their ancestors in their own rooms. In short, except for the kitchen, open flames in all places must be strictly monitored.

Zhu Zhanji is no longer a child, and he doesn't have much enthusiasm for the Chinese New Year. After having a long talk with Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi that night, he started to write the proposal.

To fight against the outside world, the inside must be settled first, and there is no need to worry too much internally now, but since Zhu Di entrusted this matter to him, of course he first targeted the Japanese pirates.

In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, it was the time when the feudal princes of the Northern and Southern Dynasties of Japan were fighting.

Some frustrated feudal lords in the coastal areas of Japan gathered samurai, ronin, pirates, and smugglers, carrying weapons, and went to the coastal areas of Daming by hundreds to rob. They murdered, set fire, and robbed property.

From Liaohai and Shandong in the north to Fujian, Zhejiang and Dongyue in the south, they all suffer from it.

In October of the 20th year of Hongwu, Japanese pirates invaded Liaodong and Jinzhou; in the 26th year of Hongwu, Japanese pirates invaded Jinzhou for the second time;

In the 30th year of Hongwu, the fifth large-scale invasion by Japanese pirates led to the isolation of coastal shipping in Liaodong.

Later, when Zhu Yuanzhang passed away, Emperor Jianwen was busy withdrawing his domain, and the civil war broke out again.

It wasn't until Zheng He's voyages to the West, the Ming Dynasty's navy was strong, and Dongying was relatively stable now that the Japanese pirates gradually disappeared.

But Zhu Zhanji knew that they were only dormant for the time being. In the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese pirates were almost never completely eradicated.

If the army of the Ming Dynasty wanted to travel across the world, of course they had to clean up the front of the house first.

Just like dealing with Yuan people, Zhu Zhanji has never been a passive person to be beaten. If he wants to deal with the Japanese pirates well, of course he directly digs their foundation.

What's more, there is still a world-class silver mine waiting for him to dig.

When he went to Japan for a meeting in his previous life, he also visited the Iwami Ginzan Museum, so he knew the location.

As for the other Ikuno silver mine, although he knew the name, he didn't know the exact location, so Zhu Zhanji didn't think about it for the time being.

Iwami Yinshan is a little more than ten kilometers away from the sea, and it is very easy to occupy it.However, if you don't want everyone in Dongpu to unite against Daming, you still need to pay attention to some strategies.

In addition to Dongying, what Zhu Zhanji most wants to develop is the Hongji Coal Mine and Shilu Iron Mine in Vietnam.

Compared with gold and silver, steel is what Daming most needs to develop.

From Halong Bay in Vietnam to Shilu, although the distance between the two places is nearly [-] kilometers, it is by sea.

The transportation volume of sea ships is far greater than that of land transportation. The cost of pulling coal from Halong Bay to Shilu, Hainan is lower than the cost from Ma'anshan to Nanjing.

Although there is coal in Huaibei, the coal in Huaibei is not as good as the coal in Hongji Coal Mine, and the iron ore content in Ma'anshan is also lower than that in Shilu Iron Mine.

Therefore, even if the steel is made in Hainan and then shipped back to Daming, the cost is lower than that of making steel in Ma'anshan.

In addition to thinking about the strategy, Zhu Zhanji is now recalling the development history of steel.

Although he has set up many steelmaking plants in Africa and South America, he really doesn't understand the technology.Even his wife, Gracia, knows a lot more than him.