In fact, it’s not just modern times. The business of laundering money has been around since ancient times. How can shady money become legal? If there is demand, there must be a market.
The military expenditures of the Ming Dynasty were allocated from the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the civil servants in the capital first had to collectively lose 30%. Someone needs to handle all this money before it can enter their pockets openly.
In Zhangjiawan, a commercial gathering place in Tongzhou, there is a special existence, the Li Sancai family.
Although Li Sancai died in 1623, his family still managed the Donglin Party's finances. However, for the next five years, the Li Mansion in Zhangjiawan became the secret financial operation center of the Donglin Party in the capital. The annual turnover is as high as more than 10 million taels.
Although Donglin was attacked by the eunuchs and retreated back to the south of the Yangtze River, Donglin's underground forces in Beizhili are still secretly operating here.
Zhangjiawan is strategically located, and official supplies from the canal in the south are landed in Tongzhou. Private supplies are disembarked at Zhangjiawan Pier. There are many merchants here, and the fish and dragons are mixed together, which is very suitable for hiding. At the same time, transportation is convenient, whether it is mobilizing manpower or funds, it is also convenient to escape if things fail.
Any bureaucracy that wants to remain pure must meet three conditions. The first is organization, the second is funding, and the third is combat teams and law enforcement teams. Indispensable.
The Li family is Donglin's financial center in Beizhili.
This center is so important that Donglin's underground forces in the north basically gather here to protect the safety of the Li family.
"How much money do you think the Li Mansion can have? My main concern is gold," Yang Fan asked.
"From what Dongchang knows, the monthly turnover is no less than one million taels. After the summer tax and autumn tax, it is as high as more than four million taels." Lin Yueru said.
"Donglin came to power again after His Majesty ascended the throne. They want to integrate various forces in the north and need a large amount of funds. If nothing unexpected happens, they will bring a large amount of funds from the south of the Yangtze River. In addition, the Wanli Dynasty has spent decades The amount of silver reserves should be at least eight million taels, and the gold should not be less than three million taels."
Yang Fan sighed. He had read records about Li Sancai's corruption in history books, saying that his family property was 20 million taels, equivalent to several years of the Ming Dynasty's fiscal revenue.
Although he has been the governor of rivers and water transportation for thirty years, he can earn three hundred thousand taels a year.
It is possible to save tens of millions of taels in thirty years. However, being an official is not all about getting in and out. If he wants to be promoted, he must spend money to buy an official position. In fact, he cannot save so much.
Now I heard that the money belonged to the Donglin Group, which is understandable. After all, the bureaucratic group in the richest area of the Ming Dynasty controlled the rice and grain production areas transported by water and the salt distribution center in Yangzhou. It was entirely possible to have such huge financial resources.
Previously, Yuan Chonghuan approached Yang Fan in an attempt to seize his army. Yang Fan had already realized that Donglin's return to the throne this time had further expanded his ambitions. In addition to controlling the salt industry and controlling the military expenditures of the Nine Borders, he also wanted to control Zunhua, the steel center in the north.
It seems that over the past year, Yang Fan's vigorous development in Zunhua has greatly increased steel production, making some people jealous.
Moral gentlemen like Dong Lin must hand over all profitable business to them, otherwise you are immoral. I will criticize you in court.
If they really can do it, it's not impossible to listen to them.
But apart from scolding people and making money, and ostracizing other forces, they can do nothing else. During his decades in power, he never did anything beneficial to the people of the court.
Not long ago, a joke happened in Shaanxi.
A county magistrate in Donglin captured several rebellious hungry people. The county magistrate was very angry and scolded these rebellious farmers, you are so immoral. Don’t you know the justice of the king and his ministers?
Why rebel? They are simply worse than pigs and dogs. Didn’t you know that those who rebel would be beheaded?
The hungry people replied that there was nothing to eat, and the government was forcing them to pay taxes. After three years of severe drought, even the weeds in the fields were dead, so there was no food to pay taxes.
But the government ignored them and tortured them severely to force them to pay taxes.
His whole family was dead and he was the only one left. He thought that instead of being a starving ghost, it would be better to go to a wealthy family and become a well-fed ghost.
But when the county magistrate heard this, he became even more angry and cursed, "You unruly man, why are you so selfish? I studied hard for ten years before passing the Jinshi exam. Is it easy for me to get this official position?"
You have no food to eat, so why don't you close the door and let the whole family starve to death quietly? Instead, you go to rebel, causing trouble for me and affecting my evaluation.
The hungry people were stunned and speechless. Not sure how to answer at all.
This joke spread throughout the Ming Dynasty official circles, and the Chu Party, Zhejiang Party, Qi Party, etc. all used it as a joke.
Yang Fan was dumbfounded after hearing this. It's really a long time to see him. What kind of weird thinking is this. Even if you kill a chicken, the chicken won't be able to resist and will flutter a few times.
He actually let people starve to death without resisting. Isn’t this reading stupid?
This incident made Yang Fan completely lose his willingness to cooperate with Donglin De's people. These people were not on the same channel as him, so it was better for everyone to go their own ways.
Now that they have begun planning Yang Fan's territory, Yang Fan naturally cannot make it easy for them.
This time the Hexi Guard Qianhu Office was established, and they placed a large number of officers in it. In an attempt to control Yang Fan's army.
Through Lin Yueru and Tu Shanyue, Yang Fan quickly found out the details of these officers.
Then, the hellish training began. These officers followed the Donglin Party. In addition to making money and wooing women, they had already abandoned their martial arts skills.
If the training is not completed, I will be hit with the military stick over and over again.
If you are about to be beaten to death, take a breath, recover from your injuries and then fight.
They complained angrily, but were suppressed by the emperor.
They were passive and inactive, did not organize training, and were imprisoned. After being locked in a closed space with complete darkness and no sound, and coming out three days later, people were almost going crazy from the suffocation. This kind of mental torture is more unbearable than being beaten with a military stick.
The key is that Yang Fan personally participated in the training. Why can't you do what I can do? You are deliberately disobeying military orders.
Yang Fan just said, "beat me. If you don't agree, beat me again. Beat me again until you agree."
Fight until you can complete the training mission, and fight until you can lead the troops according to Yang Fan's requirements.
Good soldiers are all produced by fighting.
How could these people suffer so much, and they couldn't give a reason. Yang Fan himself participated in the training, and the superior officials set an example. What else could they say.
The military pay and benefits here are distributed by Xinghe Bank on behalf of them, and it is not in their hands at all. The officers and soldiers receive it themselves. Fundamentally put an end to corruption.
In addition to good food and adequate wages, they could not earn a single cent.
So they all found connections to transfer away. After the last few rounds, most of the people in Donglin left on their own.
Now that he and Dong Lin had broken up, there was no need for any more ambiguity. Yang Fan immediately made up his mind to drag out the Italian cannon and give them a shot.
It is rude to come and go without reciprocating.
"Master, this matter must not be leaked out. It is best not to leave anyone alive during the raid on Zhangjiawan. Otherwise, if Dong Lin goes crazy, we will be in big trouble. We must not be merciful as a woman." Lin Yueru said viciously.
Tu Shanyue glanced at Lin Yueru and said in her heart, you think you are thinking of the master, but in fact, the master hates killing innocent women and children. This can only make the master disgusted. I'm afraid your good intentions have gone astray.
"No need, why bother? As long as you don't resist, I won't kill anyone and let the news leak out at will. I will definitely make Donglin unable to find anything against me."
Tu Shanyue and Lin Yueru both looked at Yang Fan in confusion. There were thousands of elite forces secretly protecting Zhangjiawan. These people were not gangsters like Yang Liuqing. It would be difficult for Yang Fan to defeat him without using more than 3,000 people. Otherwise, It's even harder to leak someone.
Because they are in the dark, you don’t know who is Donglin’s hidden stake, and you can’t kill everyone.
It is a bustling dock there, with too many people coming in and out every day. This is why Donglin considered this place as a place to hide silver. The information here is well-informed and the personnel are complex. No one can block the information, but it is safe.
"I will not use my servants, regiment training and guard troops, nor will I mobilize the newly formed cavalry on the grassland. I will find an acquaintance to borrow a force to do this."
"Who do you want to borrow troops from?" The two women looked at each other. How could they keep such a confidential matter from outsiders?
"Mrs. Masuda, I have supported her vigorously over the past year. She now has 300,000 followers and a corps of 10,000 soldiers. They are all recruited wandering warriors and established warrior groups who have lost their lords. Recently in Jeju If the island surrenders, our three thousand pirates can also join us.”
Lin Yueru clapped her hands and said, "This master's plan is wonderful. He uses Japanese pirates to raid Zhangjiawan. No one can tell what he is doing. It's perfect."
Yang Fan nodded and said: "Choose a thousand men from the servants, equipped with flintlock guns and three-pound cannons. Borrow three thousand men from Mrs. Masuda, and bring with them the three thousand Korean and Ryukyu pirates we have recently recruited on Jeju Island. A total of Seven thousand people are enough troops. One thousand servants are enough to control them."
Tu Shanyue said: "Master, how can I divide the money?"
After all, everyone is a partnership, so naturally a part of it should be given to Mrs. Masuda.
"The pirates we have collected have their family records in our hands. They dare not be disobedient, so there is no need to share their share. When the time comes, we can just give them money and food. As for Mrs. Masuda, I gave her ten gates before she was in chaos. She should be willing to use the large bronze cannon captured in the Shitan battle to help her form an artillery force."
The ten large bronze cannons that Yang Fan had previously seized at the rocky beach were the craftsmen invited by the Ming Dynasty government from Luzon to forge naval cannons. A total of thirty of them were cast in the capital, all of which were 24-caliber red ones. cannon. Two of them were sent to Xuanfu Town, which made fifteen more copies.
Later, I didn't know that the general was so audacious that he secretly sold it to bandits disguised as Jiannu who sneaked into the pass and used it to attack Yang Fan.
Now that Yang Fan's open-hearth steelmaking technology has been perfected, there is no need to use heavy copper cannons. Cast steel cannons are lighter because the steel is better and the barrel is stronger. The tube wall can be made thinner, which greatly reduces the weight. Or, for the same weight, the caliber and length can be increased, and the charge capacity and projectile weight can be increased. .
Now these ten guns are only used for training artillery. It has been dumped in the shipyard over Beitangkou and is basically in a decommissioned state. This kind of gun will not be used on ships in the future.
What Yang Fan looked down upon was a good thing to Mrs. Masuda.
Japan had no artillery at all, only matchlock guns passed down from the Dutch, which they called iron cannons.
Later, after improvements, large-caliber iron cannons were produced. The caliber was about thirty centimeters, which was equivalent to the large-scale carrying guns of the Qing Dynasty. They were called big tubes.
The big pipe is already the ceiling of Japan's firearms technology.
After Yang Fan got these ten cannons, he made a lot of improvements in order to train artillery.
First, a gun carriage was installed so that it could be towed and marched.
A sighting device and a pitching mechanism are installed, and the range can be adjusted by adjusting the angle.
Ammunition trucks were also developed to transport ammunition.
The ammunition cart and the artillery cart are both two-wheeled. After being connected together with bamboo shoots, they form a four-wheeled cart. The front can be towed by eight horses.
As for ammunition, Yang Fan used two types of projectiles: lead solid spheres and shotgun shells.
The propellants are all maroon gunpowder packets wrapped in silk, and a few are installed according to the range requirements.
In order to train artillery, Yang Fan spent a lot of effort on these Ming Dynasty artillery, and even increased the range to more than 1,500 meters.
Now these twenty-four pounders had completed their mission and could be sold.
These ten heavy artillery pieces, which are mounted on artillery carts and can be pitched to adjust their range. They are connected to ammunition carts and towed by eight horses. They are absolutely intimidating to the whole of Japan.
Yang Fan knew that Mrs. Yitian would definitely be tempted.
This woman looks delicate, but she actually has a lot of ambition in her heart. She knows that if she wants to have a place in Japan, she must be powerfully armed. And what can best train soldiers is actual combat.
The warriors she recruited had all participated in the Japanese Civil War and had sufficient combat experience. If they were familiar with the operation of firearms, they would be even more powerful, which would be very beneficial to her.
Yang Fan said to Lin Yueru: "You go to Nagasaki on my behalf and ask her to bring 3,000 people in person. These ten cannons will be used as reward. If this thing is done, I will give her another 3,000 match ropes." Guns. Thirty three-pounders. And thirty bases of ammunition."
Lin Yueru's eyes were red with excitement. She knew that Yang Fan took this opportunity to ask her to visit her adoptive father, Duke Wei, who was placed with Mrs. Yitian.
"Master, thank you." Lin Yueru threw herself into Yang Fan's arms and started crying.
"Are you and I still being polite? Go ahead. He's lonely there too. Bring some of your original people there to take care of his food and daily life, and make it more lively."
Lin Yueru hugged Yang Fan tightly. Thinking that it would take at least half a month to go to Japan, she suddenly felt reluctant to leave Yang Fan.
When she first married Yang Fan, four people slept in a big bed. She was not used to it and couldn't sleep. I'm used to it now. She felt unaccustomed to not being hugged by Yang Fan. Thinking about being alone during this period of time, I felt a little uncomfortable.
Yang Fan gently stroked her back and said: "When you get there, learn more about the situation in Japan. Mrs. Masuda is very ambitious. If there are changes in Japan in the future, we must also respond. They invaded Korea. We haven't settled the accounts with them yet. The war to aid Korea depleted the temple's treasury, which led to the expansion of slave-building and the death of three million people in Liaodong. This debt must be settled on their heads."
Lin Yueru nodded obediently, and was also very curious about Mrs. Yitian. She had never seen that strange woman. She only heard about it and knew that she was Yang Fan's client. Unexpectedly, such a large force has been deployed in Japan quietly.
In the dead of night, there are small silver hooks hanging diagonally on the horizon.
The stars in the sky blinked.
Yang Fan couldn't sleep. Thinking of Mrs. Masuda, that pure and lustful person who wanted to resist but still welcomed her, I felt a little itchy in my heart.
Tonight, Lin Yueru turned her gratitude into strength and galloped on the grassland. Now the female knight was tired and fell asleep. She was still holding Yang Fan's arm tightly. The little girl was on the other side, still mumbling something. What sleep talk.
Yang Fan felt sleepy, his eyelids gradually became heavy, and he fell into sleep.
