After listening to his son Zheng Sen's reminder, Zheng Zhilong just sneered, looked at his son and said: "Damu, don't you want Wu Sangui to die? If he is gone, who among these bumpkins from the Wu family can do it? Wu Sanfu can do it. ?Can Wu Guoyong do it? Can Wu Yingxiong do it?"
Zheng Sen shook his head and said: "Of course the three of them cannot compare with Wu Sangui, nor can they compare with the child and the second brother. But... don't forget the queen, and don't forget the prince!"
Zheng Zhilong sneered and said: "The queen is old and beautiful, how long can she be favored? As for the prince...the prince's surname is Zhu! Moreover, cousin marriages are prohibited in this dynasty. The prince cannot marry the daughter of the Wu family as his concubine, but I am my wife. The granddaughters have great hopes!”
Zheng Zhilong has a large number of sons, and of course there are many granddaughters. Besides, except for Zheng Jiangong, who became a princess, all of Zheng Zhilong's sons married daughters of famous Jiangnan families. Therefore, among Zheng Zhilong's granddaughters, the proportion of academic masters is very high. !
Zheng Zhilong smiled: "I have already seen the results of the preliminary examination of Jinling Women's University. Among the top 100 talented girls, 11 are girls from my family. Not counting the daughters born to the second child and the princess, there are 18 more. Those who are related to my family... account for almost 30% of the total! Among the old Wu family, only one Wu Ake was selected, ranked 93rd, which is worse than my 11 granddaughters."
Zheng Sen was a little dumbfounded when he heard what the old man said...Does this old man really regard choosing a concubine for the prince as the top scholar?
However, the old Wu family did fall behind in the competition. Wu Sangui, Wu Sanfu, Wu Sanfeng, Wu Guogui, Wu Guozheng, Wu Guoyong and others also had many daughters, but the one who ranked among the top 100 in the preliminary examination was Wu Ake. If the number is expanded to 300, there will be one more Wu Ahuan, Wu Guogui's daughter. After ranking 300, theoretically you are not eligible to take the re-examination... Even if you reluctantly take part, it is just a foil and you will definitely not be able to enter the women's university. After all, Jinling Women's University only accepted 100 students in the first phase.
"Abba," Zheng Sen frowned, "Everyone in the court knows that my family and the Wu family are not on good terms, but now that we are facing a powerful enemy, you must not say these words in front of outsiders. Even in front of your own people. You can’t even say that in front of me!”
"I know, I know... your father is not an old fool yet!" Zheng Zhilong waved his hand and said, "Damu, it's getting late now. It's time for you and I to go to the palace to meet His Majesty and your sister Tea Girl. . I guess His Majesty will discuss the relocation of the town to Dongning with you. Have you decided how to answer?"
"Think it over," Zheng Sen said, "it would be best if we could withdraw from the vassal. My family already has a lot of people in the navy, and the official business is getting more and more prosperous. We also have a situation in the United States of Xinzhou. There is no need to occupy a vassal town. Dong. Ning Zhen is not a strength to my family, but a burden."
Dongning Town of the Zheng family is divided into two parts, one is Quanzhou Prefecture and the other is Taiwan Dusi. Quanzhou Prefecture is of course a money-making prefecture, with abundant financial resources. It is the "cash cow" of Dongning Town. But Taiwan Dusi is a bottomless pit. Zheng Sen puts hundreds of thousands of dollars into it every year. He has been putting money into it for 20 years, but he hasn't developed much.
Because the commercial value of Taiwan was really low, Zheng Sen could only carry out armed colonization by setting up garrison posts. He set up the Taiwan Metropolitan Command Department, and under the capital department, he established four garrison stations in Taichung, Taitung, Tainan, and Taipei. There were five thousand-household offices under Gewei, and a hundred-household office below.
In addition, the Zheng family's residence in Taiwan Dusi, which was the original Dutch city of Jelan, established Dongning City as the central city of Taiwan Island.
After 20 years of immigration and reclamation, the total number of Han military households (actually armed peasants) on the island of Taiwan has reached nearly 36,000, with a population of more than 200,000. This number may seem small, but it has been Zheng Sen’s life for many years. It took a lot of hard work and a capital investment of several million taels to get it started!
There are four main reasons why this is so difficult.
One is because tropical diseases on the island of Taiwan are too severe.
The second reason is that Taiwan is not a trade transit point - merchant ships from various countries passing through the Taiwan Strait these days all dock at Anping Port or Xiamen Port in Quanzhou Prefecture, and no one goes to Dongning Port in Taiwan.
The third reason is that there are no treasures on the treasure island of Taiwan, there are few plains, and the specialty is deerskin.
The fourth reason is because there are so many places to go!
If you are not afraid of dying from dysentery, visiting the Ca Mau Army, the Kingdom of Siam, the Western Army, the Twelve Principalities of Malacca and Temasek Island are all good. Why go to Taiwan?
If you can't stand the heat and dysentery, you can go to Liaoyang, Heilongjiang Town, Andong Town, or the United States of Xinzhou...especially the United States of Xinzhou, which has a comfortable climate, fertile land, and mink skins and gold. A mouth-watering treat!
Therefore, the operation of Taiwan depends entirely on the Zheng family's money and Emperor Zhu's continuous sending of prisoners to the island.
Zheng Zhilong heard that his son wanted to get rid of the burden, so he smiled and shook his head and said: "Since Taiwan is a burden, then my family has to carry it! Quanzhou Prefecture does not need it, but Taiwan Dusi has to continue to hold it in his hands... and he still has to Keep investing in development!”
"That year we have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars. This money..."
"My family will pay for it!" Zheng Zhilong said, "You have to pay for your own money so that you can be careful with your calculations...and break a copper plate in half to compensate! If my family doesn't have to pay for it, the court will pay for it, and the compensation will be 10 million taels. Taiwan will not be in its current situation!"
of course!
Can compensating the country's money be the same as compensating one's own money?
Moreover, in the entire Ming Dynasty, when it comes to the ability to lose money, Zheng Sen is definitely at the top. The only ones who are better than him are Zheng Zhilong, Zhu Cihong, and Shen Tingyang.
"Then let's continue to carry Taiwan on our backs..." Zheng Sen sighed, "Let Zheng Jing take charge of Dongning Town and continue to lose money!"
"We still need a piece of land." Zheng Zhilong said, "Every time I come in and out, it seems that the court has not taken advantage of my family."
"Where?" Zheng Sen asked.
"We want Ryukyu!" Zheng Zhilong said, "After the Shang family left, Ryukyu was left without an owner. The court just didn't know how to take over Ryukyu. Dongning just wanted to get Ryukyu and set up another Ryukyu mansion."
"Can Ryukyu Mansion... make money?" Zheng Sen asked.
"I can't make any money," Zheng Zhilong shook his head and said with a smile, "But I can't lose either."
...
"Senior Brother, do you really want Ryukyu? This is a useless place. How can it compare to Quanzhou?"
In the East Lake Palace, in the Wanghai Hall where Concubine Zheng lived, Zhu Cixiang, who was talking to the Zheng family and his son, was really overjoyed when he heard that Zheng Sen wanted to trade Ryukyu for Quanzhou.
Of course he knows that Quanzhou Prefecture is Dongning's source of wealth, while Ryukyu is just a useless place and cannot be compared at all.
Zheng Sen's proposal was actually to bear the burden himself and give the benefits to Emperor Zhu. This is what a loyal minister is!
Zheng Sen smiled and said: "Ryukyu and Taiwan are one. With Ryukyu, the value of Taiwan has doubled. Moreover, Ryukyu is a mature land, so it is much easier to develop than Taiwan. Dongning will lose money in the short term by using Quanzhou to trade Ryukyu. , but the long-term benefits are not small.”
Emperor Zhu nodded and said, "How can we fill the short-term holes? How much subsidy does Dongning Town need from the court?"
"There is no need for any subsidies from the court," Zheng Sen said with a smile. "Taiwan already has some income. If we save a little, we can meet various expenses. It won't be much short. Ryukyu should have a small surplus, which will just make up for Taiwan's deficit."
"Then what's the reason for Taiwan Dusi's deficit over the years?" Zhu Cixiang asked again.
"Those are all the costs of immigration," Zheng Sen said.
“Won’t you immigrate to Taiwan in the future?”
"Return to immigration!" Zheng Sen said, "But I don't need Dongning Town's money to handle the immigration process. My family will pay for it."
"Didn't your family suffer a loss?" Zhu Cixiang broke the casserole and asked the final question!
Zheng Sen still smiled and said: "It's not a loss, it's not a loss... I made arrangements when I immigrated before. Instead of concentrating around Dongning City, we spread a net to distribute the Qianhufu and Baihubu. Taiwan's coastal areas. In the Tainanwei and Taichungwei areas where there are many plains, there is a large amount of open space between the forts, which is perfect for building sugar cane estates. This is a profitable business, and it will not be a bottomless pit. There will definitely be Money-making days.”
