When Zhu Cixiang said that he had no money, his expression looked a little grim and his brows were slightly frowned. It was not very good at first glance.
"Master Qiantose," Zheng Zongming looked at him and seemed a little convinced, "Your money is really tight?"
Zhu Cixiang nodded, looking like he was hesitating to speak.
"Isn't that true?" Zheng Zongming was a little surprised, "Now you have the Salt Bank, a money tree, and you are also in charge of money minting, credit, exchange, remittance, and banknote issuance all over the world, and you are also in charge of the land merchants in Jiangsu Province. He also manages the world's salt tax, and has invested in so many real estate projects in Shanghai Commercial City and Xiangshan Commercial City. He collects hundreds of thousands of taels of rent every year... By the way, do you have any more in your hands? Don’t you need land coupons from Northeast China and Nanyang? Land coupons have increased dramatically in recent years, and you have made a lot of money, right?”
There is no doubt that Zhu Cixiang’s ability to make money for the country!
In addition to what Zheng Zongming said, Zhu Cixiang also invested money to mine copper in Yunnan. He also established an ocean shipping company with three to four hundred large bird boats and hundreds of large Western-style soft sailing ships. He also invested in Daye in Hubei with Zheng Zhilong. Iron Works, Jiangnan Shipyard and Jiangnan Gun Building Bureau in Shanghai, and also invested in Meishan and Tieshan in Xuzhou. However, compared with the banking industry that prints money and the speculation of land certificates, these shipping companies, iron factories, gun factories, coal mountains, iron mountains, copper mountains, etc. can only be regarded as small businesses, and Zheng Zongming simply did not mention them.
When Zhu Cixiang heard this, he sighed and lowered his voice and said to Zheng Zongming: "Zongming, you don't know something... My father is a man who spends money like water! No matter how much money I make in Jiangnan alone, it is still very difficult." It’s hard to fill the hole dug by his old man!”
These words are quite "slanderous"!
Zheng Zongming was a little nervous and looked around hurriedly. The place where he and Zhu Cixiang were talking was the Suzhou River Tower in Shijian Hall Palace—what a strange name? This pavilion is obviously located at the intersection of Wusong River and Huangpu River. Why is it called Suzhou River Tower?
The Suzhou River Tower is a secluded place, and the people who serve here are all recruited from Hunan after Zhu Cihong arrived in Yangzhou. They can only speak Hunan dialect and can't read.
Moreover, where Zhu Cihong and Zheng Zongming were talking, there was not even a maid from Hunan from Hunan...
Seeing that there was no one around, Zheng Zongming breathed a sigh of relief and asked Zhu Cihong: "Master Qiansui, what happened to Master Long live him?"
Zhu Cihong snorted: "He has more than just the third child and a precious son to arrange for! There are also the second, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth... They It’s time to lead troops to fight and take control of one side!”
Chongzhen had many sons!
It is hard to say whether these sons can get a feudal state or not. But if each person has a prince and receives 10,000 households, then they must have it.
The second among them, Xinwang Zhu Cixuan, had a bright future early on, and all seven of his princes had taken possession of Xunzhuang, a total of 70,000 households, all of which were sealed in the border areas. It's easy to find 70,000 military households... Chongzhen took advantage of the great disaster year to collect military households, but now there are still many unarranged ones! They are all under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War. With Chongzhen's decree, they have to go their separate ways with various household registers under the supervision of the Ministry of War.
Among them, those who traveled across the ocean to the New World got green household registrations, those who went to Kangaroo Home got khaki household registrations, those who went to the Western Regions got white household registrations, those who went to Southeast Asia got blue household registrations, and those on the mainland of the Ming Dynasty I'm lucky to have been resettled, and I got a red household registration... It's prosperous, how happy I am?
However, the relocation of military households is not just a household registration and supervision by the Ministry of War... you have to give money and food! The starting price is 100 one-two coins or food and items of equivalent value. If you go further, you have to pay extra! Calculated based on the distance on land (on sea, it is calculated with the shipowner, and the money is calculated based on the number of people who arrived at the destination alive). The farther the place you go, the more money and food you pay.
Therefore, the starting price for sealing 70,000 households is 7 million. Considering that some military households are sealed far away, the total cost is 10 million.
This is just within the country... The nearest ones are Yanning and Xuanda, the further ones are in Northeast China, and the further ones are in Anxi.
After these military households lived on the border for a period of time, as their princes grew up and could leave the vassal country, the second wave of troubles began!
Compared with the first wave of immigration, this second wave of effort is a bit wasteful.
No matter how much it costs to immigrate, it will be used by Ming Dynasty itself. Although it costs more to build and consolidate the border, it can expand the territory of the Ming Dynasty and push the border outward, thereby improving the safety factor of the interior.
But it's different when you go abroad...especially to the Western Regions (not including Anxi and Beiting, but refers to Kazakhstan, Bukhara, Khiva and other places), Mongolia and the north of Mongolia. It's a bit cost-effective.
In Zhu Cixiang's view, throwing money at Japan can still make a return...but throwing too much money at the Western Regions, Mongolia, and north of Mongolia is meaningless.
Zhu Cixiang continued: "My father launched the eldest son's expedition to the west, which made the second son and his mother, the great concubine Wu Liangha, famous! But after the glory is over, what kind of Mongolia will my father build for the second son on the grassland?" In Xijing, we also need to establish feudal states in Bukhara, Samarkand, Fergana, Chu River and other places..."
"How much will it cost?" Zheng Zongming frowned. "When the land Silk Road was still prosperous, these places could still be maintained. But now 99% of trade between the East and the West is by sea, and the land Silk Road has long been It’s meaningless. Without the income from the Silk Road trade, how can these vassal states maintain their daily expenses?”
"Daily expenses?" Zhu Cixiang snorted, "We still have to continue fighting! My father is still planning an expedition to the Rakshasa Kingdom... He wants to drink from the Ma Ural River!"
"Why?" Zheng Zongming was greatly surprised, "Has the Rakshasa Kingdom offended us?"
"We didn't offend us," Zhu Cihong said, "but we offended Mongolia...there were conflicts at Lake Baikal and Tangnuwu Lianghai. But those were small things, big things It’s because the Long Live Master listened to the words of Concubine Wu Liangha and wanted to compete with Wo Kuotai! Wo Kuotai’s eldest son went to the Rakshasa Kingdom in the Western Expedition, so he also wanted his second son to go and fight!”
"Yes, can we win?" Zheng Zongming knew about Rakshasa Country, which was far away, cold and poor... and the people there were very fierce! It was much more ferocious than when Wokuotai launched his eldest son's expedition to the west!
"Who knows?" Zhu Cixiang snorted, "But it doesn't make any difference whether we win or lose, and it won't be of any benefit to our Ming Dynasty!"
"Then... Master Qianzai, how about we give you some advice?" Zheng Zongming said, "Master Qianzai is a wise king, and it's not like he doesn't listen to advice."
"What advice?" Zhu Cixiang glanced at Zheng Zongming, "Remember... Even though Long Live Lord spends money like water, and the hole is so big that even a mountain of money can't be filled, I am the only one in the world who has the money to fill it. Find a way to fill his hole so he can continue spending money!
Only in this way can we live a good life without worrying about the country's foundation being shaken! "
Zhu Cixiang was so filial in his life...filial to the point of encouraging Chongzhen to spend money indiscriminately.
Zheng Zongming sighed, already fully understanding what his great nephew was thinking... Since ancient times, it has been difficult to serve the wise kings and heroes, and being a prince for them must be like walking on thin ice. But Zhu Cixiang couldn't do this at all. He lived too freely in the southeast, and he was protected by a group of civil and military personnel who were promoted by him.
If there were no skills that Emperor Chongzhen could not live without, the dethronement of the crown prince and the seizure of the heir apparent would very likely have happened...
Therefore, the larger the financial hole of Emperor Chongzhen, the more secure Zhu Cihong's position will be. It is best if Chongzhen can dig out a hole so big that no one else can fill it except Zhu Cihong.
At this time, Zhu Cixiang said to Zheng Zongming: "Zongming, Gu will go north soon... You go with Gu to tell my father about the holes in Japan. If it's bigger, let my father The emperor knows the seriousness of the problem!"
"I know, I must let Lord Long Live know that His Highness Prince Ning must give the land to his subordinates!"
(End of chapter)
