"San Francisco? Or Alaska?"
The prince's letters are naturally very fast.
The emperor returned to Beijing, feeling shocked.
He had long heard that the Indians entered the Americas through the Bering Strait, and even made an ordinary wooden boat, which could be pushed by the Japanese warm current to the Americas.
It would be great if we could actually colonize America.
There are many gold mines in the eastern and western parts of North America, the eastern plains and the western mountains. They are also the hot spots for the development of the western United States.
"If this is really the case, in a few years we will even be able to ban several sons."
Having made up his mind, Zhu Yixi began to write: "What my son said is quite right. This place should be America, the New World he mentioned."
"There are many savages and the vast land is very beneficial to our Ming Dynasty. My son should check carefully and inquire again and again. Don't get distracted. You must put Arctic City as your priority..."
Putting down the pen, Zhu Yixi said, "Send this letter to the prince."
"Yes." Liu Afu agreed.
Immediately, a huge map of Kun Yu and Ten Thousand Kingdoms appeared in front of the emperor.
It is 3.8 meters long and 1.9 meters wide, like a screen.
In fact, the emperor had someone make a copy, repaint it with embroidery, and turn it into a screen that could be viewed at any time.
This is a world map jointly drawn by Matteo Ricci and Li Zhizao. It is the earliest painted world map in China and was dedicated to the Ming Emperor in the 30th year of Wanli.
At that time, the map was centered on Europe, but Matteo Ricci was flattering the emperor and made Ming Dynasty the center of the world, which shocked the court at that time.
It consists of three parts: the main map, including the five continents, oceans, specialty species, etc.; astronomical map, geographical map; and the final explanation.
In the early years, he had been observing this map again and again and corroborating it with later maps.
Eighty percent of them are relatively reliable.
Looking back now, his fingers unconsciously rowed from Heilongjiang to Arctic City, then to the Bering Strait, and then to America.
This is a route, a feasible route.
But if we rely on government power for development, we don’t know when it will be fully developed.
Therefore, there must be a pure interest group like the East India Company to develop as quickly as possible.
Moreover, the bureaucrats are so chatty that even if they have money, they are reluctant to spend it. They only want to save money. Now that it is too late to develop the sea in Anxi and Northeast China, it will be difficult to go to America.
After thinking about it, Zhu Yixi casually ordered: "Ask the Minister of Internal Affairs to come over."
"By the way, call Wei Kuangguo over."
Wei Kuangguo, who worked in Qintian Prison, came to the villa in confusion.
After many years of summer vacation, almost all yamen have offices in Yuquan Mountain and can serve the emperor at any time, and Qintian Prison is no exception.
The Jesuit missionaries worked tirelessly to implement the upper-level line, so Wei Kuangguo also worked in the Qintian Prison.
Only in such a highly professional institution can people with Western identity not be excluded.
Wei Kuangguo was wearing an official robe and a black gauze hat, his face full of doubts.
But he didn't dare to be careless and couldn't wait to follow the young eunuch.
A moment later, he saw the emperor wearing fish-white robes and wooden clogs.
At this time, the emperor's face was full of leisure. He was holding the fat white cat in his left hand and spreading fish food in his right hand. He seemed to be in a good mood.
Wei Kuangguo was convinced.
"My lord, Deputy Wei Kuangguo of Qintian Supervisor, comes to see Your Majesty."
"Get up!"
Zhu Yixi glanced at Wei Kuangguo. He was sixty-three years old, with a white beard, rather conspicuous brown-green eyes, and prominent facial features.
It seems that due to eating too much of Daming's food, his appearance is not as sharp as it was at the beginning, but has become much softer.
It makes sense that diet changes your appearance.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Wei Kuangguo's pure Beijing dialect was already better than 90% of the people of the Ming Dynasty.
"It's no big deal to call you here today."
Zhu Yixi sat on the stone, half-leaning his body, which made the eunuchs beside him become anxious, but he did not care and fed the fish comfortably.
"On the European side, the mission should have arrived in the Netherlands, and they may have already discussed the matter of the Eastern Diocese with the Holy See."
When Wei Kuangguo heard this, his expression straightened, his buttocks were half touching the chair, and he became more and more respectful.
He naturally understands the vision of the Eastern Diocese.
Because this was the vision he presented to the emperor.
East of India, including the Dutch East India Company (Protestant), more than a dozen countries, etc., all belong to the Eastern Diocese, almost half of Asia.
The archbishop is appointed and removed by Rome, but the auxiliary bishops, as well as the bishops of various large and small dioceses, are appointed and removed by the emperor.
Rome got its name, Ming got its name.
The Jesuits, on the other hand, retained the fruits of victory.
It's a win-win situation.
And on the surface, in order to satisfy the emperor's ambition to expand the territory, he included the Dutch East Indies into the Eastern Diocese, just to bring conflict between the Ming Dynasty and the Netherlands.
After all, the Netherlands, a Protestant country, now dominates the European seas. Let it fight with the Ming Dynasty, and the church will benefit from it.
Heretics are worse than pagans.
"As expected, the Pope will definitely comply."
Wei Kuangguo took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "The land directly under the jurisdiction of the Holy See is shrinking day by day. France and Austria are coveting Italy deeply, and the life of the Holy See is not easy."
"That's right."
Zhu Yixi nodded and said with a smile: "If nothing happens, you will serve as the deputy archbishop of the Eastern Archdiocese, with an official rank of second rank, and the title of Minister of Ceremonies."
Wei Kuangguo had expectations for the deputy archbishop, but he really didn't expect the title of minister of etiquette.
Having lived in the Ming Dynasty for many years, he certainly knew the significance of a minister. He was a real important official in the court of the Ming Dynasty. There were only a few dozen officials in front of him.
"I thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty."
Wei Kuangguo was overjoyed and couldn't wait to kneel down and kowtow, doing it in one go without any hindrance.
"You deserve this."
Zhu Yixi was not surprised.
After staying in the Ming Dynasty for a long time, this group of Europeans became accustomed to the etiquette of kneeling three times and prostrating nine times, and missionaries were no exception.
Nowadays, the Ming Dynasty ranks first in the world in terms of economy, military, population, land, etc. Under such circumstances, how can Europe, which claims to be a civilized people, continue to remain proud of the Ming Dynasty?
Although Wei Kuangguo is the deputy archbishop, Zhu Yixi will appoint and remove Han Chinese as the bishop of the Daming Diocese.
Although the Jesuits were more respectful to the emperor, the Han people were obedient to the emperor, completely obedient.
And easier to control.
As for dioceses such as Korea and Qin, the emperor would basically appoint and remove Han bishops to maintain the nobility of imperial power.
After chatting about this happy event, Zhu Yixi got down to the topic:
"Dutch East India Company, you should know about it!"
"I know a thing or two." Wei Kuangguo thought for a while and said seriously: "Today in Europe, only the Netherlands has set up companies. In countries such as Spain and Portugal, the kingdoms personally conquered."
"However, the East India Company's shares increased sharply and its profits were huge, prompting other countries to follow suit and establish company models."
"Generally speaking, the king will sign a special order allowing the company to buy out the trade routes of a certain place. It will be allowed to have an army, civil servants, etc. It is a huge colonial conquest agency."
"Spain's trading points in the South Seas and Portugal's trading points on the east coast of India were all defeated by the Dutch East Indies, which shows how powerful they are..."
In the colonial expansion of Europe, Spain and Portugal were pioneers. They adopted a model of government behavior that allowed kings and nobles to obtain large amounts of wealth.
But in this case, the disadvantages are obvious.
Bureaucratic corruption and low efficiency made it difficult to deal with the Dutch East India Company in the colonial field, so that Eastern trade opportunities were monopolized by it.
The Dutch East India Company, because of its strong autonomy, could choose to attack or defend at any time. Coupled with its interests, it had great ambitions.
But in Zhu Yixi's view, the Dutch East India Company also had a weakness, which was its lack of stamina.
In other words, the Dutch East India Company was too far away from the Dutch officialdom to receive real support.
For example, in the British East Indies, because of its semi-official organization, the navy and army were always available for support, and even endorsed by the British government. However, it was difficult for the Dutch East Indies to be like this.
Therefore, for the Ming Dynasty, the Dutch East Indies was not advisable, nor was the direct access to the West or Portugal.
The British East Indies are the most suitable.
After listening to Wei Kuangguo's words and thinking about the form of colonial conquest, Zhu Yixi had a plan in mind.
"I see."
Zhu Yixi nodded: "Can you please help me find some employees of the East India Company, or people with colonial experience in Spain and Portugal? The remuneration is negotiable."
"I understand."
Wei Kuangguo responded quickly.
He knew that His Majesty the Emperor seemed to be reluctant to part with colonial interests and wanted to carry out colonial activities.
Half an hour later, Wang He, the Minister of Internal Affairs, came in a hurry.
The former Minister of the Interior, Zhang Qi, retired and returned to his hometown a few years ago because of his old age.
After some recommendation and selection, the emperor chose Wang He.
He was a Huizhou merchant and was originally part of the imperial merchant system. He had excellent management skills, especially in the business world, and was known for being stingy and frugal.
For a huge profit-making organization like the Ministry of Internal Affairs, making money is important, but frugality cannot be underestimated.
Sometimes the money saved is even higher than the profit.
After more than ten years of expansion in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it is time for some stability.
Wang He, who is in his forties, has thin cheeks, slender eyebrows and piercing eyes. He is dressed in a light blue robe and black cloth boots, and looks energetic.
Although he is the Minister of the Interior, he is not wearing official robes, but civilian clothes.
This has been a tradition for more than ten years.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs was originally the emperor's personal minister, working for the royal family. Official titles were just for convenience and could not be communicated to the outside world.
In other words, the Minister of Internal Affairs will not be able to transfer to foreign dynasties as officials at any time like the Qing Dynasty.
Those who came from the imperial examination are still the mainstream.
Because he is a retainer and a private minister, the House of Internal Affairs, like the Royal Guards, is completely handled by the emperor without the need to consult the civil officials, which is very refreshing.
"My lord, Wang He, I would like to pay homage to Your Majesty."
"Flat body."
Zhu Yixi nodded slightly: "How many people are there in the Ministry of Internal Affairs now?"
Wang He rolled his eyes and then said: "There are about one hundred and twenty people with official status, and the remaining people who eat food are no less than three thousand."
"In the imperial business system, there are 12 families with a family fortune of more than one million, 36 families with a family fortune of 100,000, and 72 families with a family fortune of less than 1 million..."
The imperial merchant system is an important part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In addition to doing business, the Ministry of Internal Affairs also needs to purchase royal supplies. Naturally, it cannot do everything by itself. There must be many merchants who cooperate with them and let them purchase them on their behalf.
Therefore, these royal merchants and buyers also serve the royal family.
In the pre-Ming Dynasty, all things for imperial use were either made by the government themselves, or they were asked to pay tribute by the local government, which was a waste of money and people.
Now that the emperor and merchants had gone through the formalities, although people could not avoid laboring and losing money, the blame was passed on to the merchants, and the emperor's reputation was not damaged.
When some royal merchants become notorious or disobedient, it will be time to kill the pigs.
Therefore, for these imperial businessmen, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will also calculate their net worth, and the intention is self-evident.
The obligation of the imperial merchants is to purchase goods for the Ministry of Internal Affairs. At the same time, they are in a semi-official status, so if there is a disaster there, the local imperial merchants have to donate money in the name of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
As for the benefits of becoming an imperial merchant, just the title of imperial merchant would allow him to do business in the Ming Dynasty without any hindrance, and he could even directly enter the Yamen to meet officials.
Therefore, many imperial merchants basically paid for their services and did business just for their reputation.
"Is there anyone with a net worth of tens of millions?"
the emperor suddenly asked.
Wang He was startled, and immediately said: "The Ministry of Internal Affairs has been avoiding including those local wealthy businessmen for many years, because they are out of control, so there is no one with a net worth of tens of millions."
"However, among the people, salt merchants, Shanxi merchants, and Hui merchants are extremely active, and there are many with a net worth of tens of millions."
"That's right. Hui merchants' bank and Shanxi merchant's bank have accumulated many rich people."
The emperor's exclamation made Wang He tremble all over.
As a Huizhou merchant, he certainly understood the emperor's ill will toward merchants.
In the past, the eight imperial merchants of the Qing Dynasty caused Shanxi merchants to suffer a lot. In the past, they could keep pace with the Hui merchants, but now they have been suppressed for more than ten years.
Shanxi merchants were aggrieved. Although the eight families were from Shanxi merchants, they had nothing to do with other Shanxi merchants, and many of them were even competitors.
But the emperor is sure, and there is nothing you can do.
This is the power of imperial power.
"Okay." Zhu Yixi chuckled and said, "Tell those royal merchants that even if they work for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they must abide by their duties. It's okay to make money, but the taxes they should pay must not be less."
"Otherwise, there will be good fruits to be eaten."
"Yes!" Wang He was shocked and hurriedly responded.
Damn it, there were some bad apples who evaded taxes, which made the emperor angry.
If this involves us, it would be a shame to die.
Afterwards, the two chatted about some money-making matters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs was involved in sugar, salt, iron, minerals, tea, raw silk, wood, and even monopolized the cinchona trade.
The emperor finally talked about what the prince said: "There is no doubt that there are gold mines there, but the government is not suitable, so the Ministry of Internal Affairs led some imperial businessmen to do it."
"By the way, you should refer to the Dutch East India Company and talk to me later."
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(End of chapter)
