Qin State, its capital is Hanoi.
With the last heavy rain, most of the Qin country entered the dry season.
Spring rice is grown from February to May, and summer rice is grown from June to October.
From October to January, upland rice has the lowest yield and value.
In the past, due to the smooth progress of the autumn harvest, Hanoi was extremely prosperous.
This is the first time in hundreds of years that the grain taxes of the 21 prefectures in the country have been neatly put into the treasury. For the Qin State, it is extremely cumbersome and joyful.
Prime Minister Liu Guan of the Yizheng Hall, Second Prime Minister Mao Fu, and Prime Minister Ruan Cheng each sat quietly, their eyes moving, but they did not say a word.
Liu Guan, 50% of the 40s, was born in the same Jinshi class; Mao Fu, 33% of the 40s, was also a Jinshi student.
Only Ruan Cheng is a local, in his early sixties, a Jinshi of the Later Li Dynasty, and has always been highly respected among the people.
In order to completely eliminate the resistance among the Annan people, the Qin State invited him to join the political hall and become the prime minister.
Following the example of the politics of the Ming Dynasty, the Qin State was headed by the Yizhengtang, with a prime minister, secondary prime ministers, and group prime ministers who drafted memorials and assisted the king of Qin in managing politics.
At the same time, a Dadu Protectorate was set up to command the entire local army of the Qin State.
Set up a winged imperial army, numbering 30,000, to guard Jiaozhou Prefecture and protect the safety of the king and the capital.
There are 21 prefectures and 190 counties in the country, of which Jiaozhou prefecture governs 21 counties, the most among them.
The eight ministers are called the judges, and the five temples are called the judges.
"His Royal Highness has arrived——"
Suddenly, the eunuch screamed, and the 19-year-old King of Qin came to him.
He has a slightly dark face and bright eyes. He inherited the bloodline of the Ming Emperor, making him handsome and extraordinary.
Wearing a four-claw dragon robe with dragons on the shoulders, chest and back, the yellow dragon robe looks majestic.
"I see your highness——"
Several people hurriedly bowed their hands, nearly sixty degrees.
"Get flat!"
King Qin waved his hand and sat down on the soft couch.
Looking at the three ministers of the country, he smiled and said:
"The Qin State has been unified for several months, and various prefectures and counties have been organized. Our Qin State is three thousand miles from north to south, with a population of six million, and the country is prosperous in the South China Sea——"
"The autumn harvest is over. I wonder how much grain the household department has in stock?"
Compared with the vast area of thousands of miles from north to south of the Ming Dynasty, the Qin State had only one province, which was narrow and long from north to south. And relying on the entire Jiaozhou, the King of Qin directly controlled the Red River Plain, a grain-producing area.
Therefore, just over a month was enough to put the entire country's grain into the warehouse, and the entire Red River Plain was collected and put into the warehouse in less than a month.
"Your Highness, the twenty-one houses have turned in a total of 6.7 million dan."
Liu Guan whispered: "The imperial treasury is full!"
When the King of Qin heard this, he nodded with satisfaction: "When the spring grain was put into the warehouse, I had just entered Hanoi, and the various places were not in peace, and the national treasury had only collected four million stones."
"Now it's nearly seven million stones. Thank you for your hard work, gentlemen."
"I dare not take credit——"
A few people were modest.
Liu Guan replied: "Upland rice is not as good as spring and summer, and its yield is only half. The imperial court can collect about 4 million shi. In this way, in the entire 18th year of Shaowu, the national treasury can receive 15 million shi."
As he spoke, he said excitedly: "It's a pity that the food in our country is cheap. Each stone is only worth four silver cents, which is only half that of the Ming Dynasty."
"But when the commercial tax was first established, it still used the old people, so it could only collect 300,000 yuan..."
"Even so, the Qin State can still earn 6.3 million silver dollars per year."
"How much does it cost?"
The corners of King Qin's mouth rose, and he forcibly suppressed the joy in his heart.
Six million yuan can only be reached by a few provinces in Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the Ming Dynasty, which is much better than many large provinces.
"The total number of officials is about three thousand, the court has one thousand, and the local government has two thousand. According to previous years' salary, the expenditure can reach four million dan."
"The local garrison camp has 200 in the county and 500 in the prefecture. There are nearly 50,000 people, and its expenditure is one million dan."
"The Winged Forbidden Army consists of thirty thousand people, with an annual expenditure of two million stones..."
Qin's army was treated completely differently by the central and local governments.
In local garrison camps, ordinary soldiers are paid ten dan per year, including food, housing, clothing, and food.
These garrison camps were made up of a mixture of captured soldiers and Qin army officers, and their treatment could only be described as average.
But this is not bad in Qin State, and it can support the family.
The Forbidden Army is divided into the Garrison Forbidden Army and the Guard Forbidden Army.
The troops stationed in the Forbidden City received an annual salary of twenty stones, and there were also rewards during the holidays.
Not to mention, there are three thousand musketeers and one thousand cavalry among them, who are elite soldiers for suppressing disobedience.
There are only 5,000 guards in the Imperial Guard, protecting the palace and garrisoning the city of Hanoi.
His salary reached thirty stone.
The King of Qin trusted the veterans of the Beijing camp who helped him conquer the world.
The title is given away.
There are five county princes, twenty-seven county uncles, fifty-two county sons, and seventy-eight county men.
Basically, all officers above the rank of captain have received knighthoods.
The number of knights he occupies is equal to that of the other 30,000 Qin troops.
In other words, six times as much.
The injured general went to various prefectures and counties to serve as garrison officers, which was extremely thoughtful.
Ordinary soldiers were awarded two hundred acres of land per capita, and they became landlords in one fell swoop.
Officials and the army ate up seven million shi a year, which was almost half of the treasury.
The remaining eight million stones seemed like a lot, but when converted into silver, they were only three million pieces.
"Eight million stones."
King Qin squinted his eyes and rubbed his temples: "For these grains, I will pay 200,000 stones as tribute (in exchange for 100,000 pieces).
Send another 800,000 stones to the capital to sell in exchange for some silver coins.
The remaining money will be used to expand Hanoi City and repair national roads. "
"The third is to prepare for the establishment of a navy."
“It’s pretty good to have 1.8 million left in the end.”
Among these three things, the most important is the expansion of Hanoi City.
Hanoi is a narrow castle-like city. When Zheng was in power, it was for military purposes, with a circumference of only fifteen miles.
At most, it can accommodate only about 100,000 people.
This was not enough for Qin to unify Annan.
Therefore, the King of Qin and the Yi Zhengtang discussed extending Hanoi by two to three miles, expanding the outer city, and turning Hanoi into an inner city.
Its city is six miles long from east to west and seven miles wide from north to south, totaling twenty-six miles.
Enough to accommodate a population of half a million people.
For the Qin State, it was already a big city.
Also expanded were the palace and the inner city.
In this way, the total cost of the political hall was nearly ten million dan, and the number of corvees was 500,000.
Naturally, it was divided into three years to practice.
Facing the sigh of King Qin, the Second Prime Minister Mao Fu smiled and said: "Now the imperial court is establishing the Commercial Tax Department and the Customs Department. By then, taxation will reach a new level."
"Judging from Daming's effect, it's pretty good."
King Qin chuckled.
The customs is his internal fund, so he doesn't ask for much. A net income of one million silver dollars a year will be good.
"Your Highness!"
At this time, Ruan Cheng, the insignificant prime minister, cupped his hands and said: "Nowadays, the imperial court relies on the Ming Dynasty for its silver coins, but the silver coins are so valuable that the people may not be able to use them."
"People usually barter for things and rarely use silver coins."
"Where are the copper coins?" King Qin was stunned, then slapped his head: "Damn it, I forgot that we don't produce copper."
In fact, there are copper mines in Annan, but their output is inherently small and has been exhausted by logging over the years.
Nowadays, people mainly barter for cloth and food.
Just look at the Qin State. Isn’t the salary also food?
"Paper money?" King Qin asked tentatively.
The three prime ministers righteously refused.
Not only ordinary people don't like this thing, but even officials like them are afraid of it, for fear that they will be paid to wipe their butts when the time comes.
“Which mineral is rich in our country?”
King Qin said helplessly.
"Coal, iron, lead."
Liu Guan said helplessly.
These three things are extremely cheap.
In Guangdong during the Ming Dynasty, a pound of pig iron only cost fifteen cents, and lead was even cheaper, only two or three cents per pound.
"Then cast iron money."
The King of Qin thought carefully and decided to use iron to cast the money. Lead would easily break into eight pieces and would be useless in a year or two.
Although the iron is rusty, it can still be used, right?
"In the Song Dynasty, iron coins were cast. Because of their heavy weight, one copper was worth ten iron coins."
Liu Guan was well-read and said smoothly: "Although our Qin State is short of copper, we can only use iron money."
“How much iron can be made from a pound of iron?”
King Qin suddenly asked.
"In the Song Dynasty (Song Dynasty Yiguan 777) iron coins weighed about seven kilograms, so one kilogram of iron can be cast into hundreds of iron coins."
】
"Fifteen cents per pound of iron is worth one hundred and ten iron cents."
"Eight irons are worth one bronze."
King Qin thought about it, good guy, it’s really cheap.
Qin's iron production was large, so it was cheaper. Ten irons and one copper.
"no."
King Qin raised his head and said in a deep voice: "The imperial court's cast iron coins must be of exquisite style, with five irons and one copper made to order."
"Your Highness, I'm afraid that the public will take advantage of this opportunity and imitate a large amount of bad money..."
Ruan Cheng said quickly, his face full of worry.
"I can't control that much anymore." King Qin said casually: "Nowadays, the people are short of money, so what can we do if we don't use iron money?"
"Qin is a hot and humid country, and food cannot be stored for long. Iron money is inevitable."
"That's all."
King Qin suddenly shook his head and said helplessly: "I will ask my father to spare some craftsmen and do fine work such as stamping and water forging. Then there will be fewer imitations."
At this time, he felt a little irritable.
Although it is majestic to have a country all to yourself, there are a lot of nonsense things that ruin the situation, which is really annoying!
Several people discussed it all morning, and finally decided that in order to avoid private manufacture, one copper and eight irons should be exchanged.
In this way, the iron ore mined by the imperial court, coupled with blast furnace iron smelting, coal control, and exquisite forging, will definitely reduce the profit margins of the private sector.
Those who have technology do not have iron ore, and those who have iron ore do not have coal mines. They can all be prepared, unless there is an internal rebellion.
At noon, while the eunuchs were serving the meal, someone suddenly came to report that an angel from heaven had arrived.
"Father, what's the matter?"
After thinking about it, King Qin realized that he really didn't know, so he had to lead all the civil and military officials to greet him outside the palace.
This is because the Qin vassal is a close vassal. If it is like North Korea, the monarch and his ministers will kneel down to greet them thirty miles out of the city.
The angel is a civil servant, carrying a group of people, twenty or thirty, with a kind appearance:
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty asked me to send the princess and the prince here..."
Hearing this, King Qin was startled, and then he looked happy.
He took in several concubines in Qin State, but he almost forgot about his son and wife in the capital.
The civil and military ministers behind him were also delighted.
The emperor sent the princess and the crown prince here, and the trust in them was self-evident.
Sure enough, a woman slowly emerged from the carriage holding an almost two-year-old boy in her arms, smiling gently.
"I'm waiting to see the princess and the crown prince at their residence——"
All the civil and military personnel quickly knelt down.
"Ping Shen!" The princess raised her hand dignifiedly, with the air of a mother nurturing the world.
Regardless of the princess or the prince, King Qin never worried about this. How could a grandfather harm his grandson?
The angel bluntly stated the reason: "The imperial court will set up an embassy in Hanoi to accept the words of Beijing and explore the affairs of Qin..."
"Imperial envoy?" King Qin looked ugly. He did not want to have a supreme emperor.
"What exactly?"
Seeing that his tone turned cold, the angel hurriedly said: "The imperial envoy to the vassal state and the ambassador to the vassal country. He is only at the embassy on weekdays and does not interfere in the political affairs of Qin."
"It's just to convey Beijing's imperial edict."
"Your Highness is also going to Beijing to set up an embassy and send envoys to stay there permanently."
King Qin was relieved.
…
When it comes to setting up an embassy, the most enthusiastic one is North Korea.
It's so close that it only takes a day or two to cross the sea.
He heard about the embassy affairs during the day and arrived in Beijing at night.
It was just something that made the Ministry of Rites dumbfounded. North Korea was dissatisfied with its own ambassador and requested the appointment of an imperial envoy:
"Although our country belongs to the county prince, we still enjoy the treatment of a prince, so why not envoy?"
The Ministry of Rites said helplessly: "The imperial envoys all go to the feudal lord, and your majesty and his son are in the country, so it is a bit special..."
Because of this, North Korea was willing to give up.
By the time the delegation arrived in Beijing, it was mid-September, and everything was gradually becoming bleak, leaving behind the last touch of green before winter.
At this time, the emperor and the court, who had summered in Yuquan Mountain, also returned to Beijing, where they had been away for several months.
From this, the capital city became lively again.
As for the embassy area, it was extended to an area near Chaoyang Gate in Daxing County.
The Ministry of Rites said bluntly: "The inner city is tight and there are many people, so don't run around, otherwise you won't be able to find people. The embassies should be adjacent to each other, and the area is one acre square."
The vassals can only rent or buy a second home in a designated area, and cannot run around.
This arrangement allowed the Ministry of Rites to take a breather.
The emperor had just returned from Yuquan Mountain and was not in peace.
It turned out that after several compilations, the pinyin was finalized, and it was named "Shaowu Phonetic Notation" and published all over the world.
For a time, public opinion was boiling.
The defenders were furious and spoke in barbarian language, usurping the Chinese language and should not be published.
Some were overjoyed and started enlightenment according to their methods, making rapid progress.
mixed reviews.
Seeing this, Zhu Yixi was annoyed by the scolding of this group of people. He said directly: "I not only want to pinyin, but also to make it known to the world."
A group of doctors were found in the Imperial College and asked to compile a book of enlightenment.
That is to say, all the enlightenment books for Confucian children such as the Three-Character Classic, the Thousand-Character Classic, and the Classic of Filial Piety must be noted in pinyin and then promoted throughout the world.
At the same time, the emperor also asked them to compile "Three Hundred Tang Poems", "Three Hundred Song Ci Poems", and "Guanwen Guanzhi".
Poetry, lyrics, and prose cannot escape.
These must be phoneticized.
To put it bluntly, these enlightenment books allow scholars to become familiar with pinyin from an early age.
At this point, the emperor refused to give up. He once again summoned Confucian scholars from both the government and the public to compile a dictionary "Shaowu Dictionary".
Sort Chinese characters according to pinyin alphabetical order, radicals, strokes, etc.
The role of Shaowu Dictionary is very important for scholars, especially poor scholars.
Since there is no guidance from a famous teacher, a dictionary can help standardize taboos, search for typos, and standardize pronunciation.
The Shaowu dictionary contains more taboos than the Kangxi dictionary, so I don’t know how many people it could save in the imperial examination.
At the same time, due to the existence of Pinyin, dictionaries can also quickly popularize Mandarin, so that everyone can speak as one.
