After listening to Li Zhongshan's proposal to send new troops to cooperate with the Northern King's army to enter Zhejiang, and then divide the two palaces under the direct jurisdiction of the imperial court, Liu Jinzhong and Zhu Shunshui immediately felt that something was wrong.
He originally wanted to join forces with Lu Sanhao and Chen Yonghua, and nothing would happen without Li Zhongshan. But now why did Lu Sanhao and Chen Yonghua invest their troops in the new army of the General's Mansion?
In this way, Li Zhongshan, Lu Sanhao, and Chen Yonghua became one, and there would be no independent "Zhongshan Army", "Sanhao Army", and "Yonghua Army", but only the unified New Army of the General Administration!
As for the composition of the 20,000 to 30,000 new troops sent by General Li Zhongshan, and who will be the commander and general, it is General Li who has the final say.
If he sends Li family generals like Li Zhongxian, Li Zhongren, and Li Zhongyi to supervise the army, or if he sends Zhou Chang, Yao Qisheng, He Tianran, Wang Leiyong, Yu Haitao, and Luo Dawei to lead the army, Liu Jinzhong has no way to object. After the people led their troops and captured Zhejiang together with the Northern King's Army, if they were stationed on the spot, wouldn't the Northern King's Zhejiang territory become shared by the Northern King and the General's Mansion?
Liu Jinzhong felt something was wrong after thinking about it, and looked back at Zhu Shunshui.
Zhu Shunshui also frowned because he suddenly discovered that Li Zhongshan's identity was a bit strange. He was one of the five elders (kings), one of the three followers (middle hall), and one of the four gentlemen who led the political meeting. Why is he included in everything?
This one is even more powerful than Ieyasu, the god from Japan next door. How can this be restricted?
Seeing Zhu Shunshui frowning, Liu Jinzhong's heart tightened - that's not right, the three and four gentlemen of Zhongtang are in the same group. King Nan and King Ying are father and son, King Zhong is connected with them, and there is also King Yi. Zheng is very "smart" and has always had a good relationship with the Li family and his son. Maybe he has colluded with them secretly.
Why two kings and two middle halls join forces to restrain the three kings of Li? It doesn’t seem to work!
Thinking of this, Liu Jinzhong immediately put on an easy-going and friendly smile, and said to Li Zhongshan with a smile: "Okay, with the support of the new army from the General's Mansion, I am sure! General, who do you want to send to lead this place?" A new army?"
Li Zhongshan smiled and explained: "King Bei, the reorganization of the new army will not happen overnight. Even if it is carried out in batches, it will take a lot of time. After the reorganization is completed, the new army will have to train and adjust for at least three months. It's still relatively smooth.
In addition, the new army is new in armaments and tactics, so they have to wait for Foshan to send several more batches of flintlock muskets, bronze cannons and half-length plate armor. After the change of clothes, I have to train for another month. This will have to wait for a long time. I am afraid that we will have to wait until the second half of the year to send out troops to deal with Geng Jingzhong. If you, King of the North, can't wait, you can send troops together with King Yi first, and fight first. "
Let's fight first and then talk about it?
Liu Jinzhong said: Isn't this just trying to consume my strength first?
Thinking of this, he frowned and said: "General, my king's soldiers and horses have been running continuously for conquests these days. They are very tired and need to recharge their batteries.
In addition, I have too few guns and artillery. I can only rely on the soldiers to fight hand-to-hand with swords and spears. The losses are too great. If the General's Palace can replenish me with a batch of guns and ammunition, then there is no need to use the Heavenly Soldiers of the General's Palace. The king was also able to capture the traitor Geng Jingzhong. "
Li Zhongshan smiled and said: "This matter is easy to explain, but the General's Mansion cannot replenish guns and ammunition for the feudal army!"
"No? Why? Isn't the vassal army the army of the Ming Dynasty?" Liu Jinzhong suddenly stood up, looking like he was about to fall out.
"Peace, King of the North." Chen Yonghua saw that Liu Jinzhong was anxious and quickly explained to Li Zhongshan, "This Fang Town has land and people can support the army. Unless you go abroad to fight for the imperial court, you must support yourself. We can no longer ask the court to pay for it. So it is no problem for King Liu Bei to buy some good guns and cannons for his brothers, but King Bei must raise the money yourself."
"What?" Liu Jinzhong was startled, "I, I still have to spend my own money to buy guns and cannons for my subordinates?"
Lu Sanhao nodded: "Yes, King Bei, you have the land of nine prefectures in Zhejiang. Among them, Hangzhou Prefecture is called paradise. Huzhou Prefecture is also the world-famous origin of Hu silk. Jiaxing Prefecture is not only a land of fish and rice but also rich in sea salt. It is managed well. Earning millions a year is no problem!”
There are now a total of eleven prefectures in Zhejiang, excluding Shaoxing and Ningbo, nine are left. Although the prefectures in western Zhejiang are not very wealthy, Hangzhou, Huzhou, and Jiaxing are no less good places than Susong. .
"But the land in Zhejiang is still in the hands of Geng Jingzhong, where can I collect the money?" Liu Jinzhong's face was ashen, and he felt like he was being played like a monkey.
"Bei Wang, you can borrow money first, and then collect taxes to repay the debt after winning Zhejiang." It was Chen Yonghua who made this reasonable suggestion.
"Borrow money?" Liu Jinzhong was so shocked that he could hardly speak, "Who should I ask to borrow money from?"
"Ruiyintang, Zhongshan Hall, and Fuyintang can lend you money together, King Bei." Chen Yonghua said with a smile, "I happen to know the shopkeepers of these three major banks. How about asking them to discuss it with you later?"
This Ruiyintang is actually a new bank account that was reorganized after Li Zhongshan, Chen Yonghua, and Lu Sanhao took over the business of Ruixintang in Jiangsu, Anhui, and Zhejiang that had fled. Although Yuan Linjing of Ruixintang brought the inventory Bai Yin ran away, but he did not take away the IOU for the loan, the bank's account, and the bank's clerk. All the semicolons were not withdrawn, but were handed over to UBS.
After Ruiyintang took over, it announced that it would be responsible for the repayment of all private deposits and took over all the assets of Ruixintang. In fact, the private deposits absorbed by Ruixintang were mainly deposited by Yangzhou salt merchants. How could they dare to run on Ruixintang? Yintang? It’s too late to repay filial piety!
Zhongshan Tang is the original Guangdong Customs Bank. Of course, the Customs Bank relies on customs and overseas trade to carry out business. After the liberation of the southeast, customs offices were opened in Nanjing, Yangzhou, Suzhou, Songjiang, Dinghai and other places, and the Guangdong Customs Bank followed suit and was renamed Zhongshan Bank.
This bank was founded by the Li family's father and son brothers. Li Zhongshan is the major shareholder, Li Jizhen, Li Jiyong (Zhang Xiaoyu), Li Fuchen, Li Fuhan, Zhang Xiaobao, Guo Jinbao, Li Zhongyi, Li Zhongxian, Li Zhongren, Li An, Li Quan, Zhou Peigong, Yao Qisheng and other core members of the Li Group are all shareholders. Yao Qisheng also served as the general manager of Zhongshan Hall for a time. The current general manager of Zhongshan Hall is Li Zhongshan's good brother Li Jizhen.
Fuyintang is the property of the Zheng family. Zheng Jing saw Li Zhongshan, Chen Yonghua, and Yang Qilong making a lot of money from opening bank accounts. He was so envious that he opened one of his own.
In other words, the four major families of Li, Zheng, Chen, and Lu are actually four capital consortiums that are quietly developing. If Liu Jinzhong borrows money from them to invade Zhejiang, he will most likely be controlled by these capital consortiums!
After all, in this era, capital is still very scarce! If Liu Jinzhong wants to borrow money, he must have a mortgage, and the only thing he can use as mortgage is the taxation rights of Zhejiang Jiufu.
At that time, the tax collectors of Jiufu in Zhejiang will all be members of the four major families, the money in the Zhejiang vassal treasury will be stored in the bank accounts of the four major families, and the soldiers of Liu Jiajun will receive their military pay from the bank accounts of the four major families. He just wanted to There is no such condition for fighting "Sekigahara"!
However, Liu Jinzhong didn't know how powerful capital was. He just felt that it didn't matter if he borrowed money based on his ability and didn't pay it back. So he nodded and said: "Okay, I will be a debt commander for once!"
"The debt lord is the debt lord," Li Zhongshan said with a smile, "In fact, the imperial court now owes a lot of money to the three major banks, and also owes a lot of money to Yangzhou Yanshan, Foshan Iron Merchant, and Fujian and Guangdong Maritime Merchant. By the way, Sanhao Brother, how much debt does the imperial court owe now?"
"I already owe several million taels!" Lu Sanhao replied with a smile.
"What? Millions. So much?"
“Wouldn’t that mean we are in deep debt?”
Liu Jinzhong and Zhu Shunshui were both shocked!
"Not many, not many, where are you?" Lu Sanhao said, "After the reorganization of the new army is completed, there will be more than 100,000 new troops under the General's Mansion. Just changing the clothes will not help. A few million won’t do!
From now on, the monthly expenses for these new troops alone will probably be hundreds of thousands of taels, or at least seven to eight million a year!
This is the cost when the army is stationed. If we want to send troops to capture Jiangxi, the cost will probably be doubled!
In addition, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces still have to set up government offices, set up political meetings, set up schools, inventory land, and repair water conservancy. The Huaihe River, Yellow River, and canals also need to be overhauled.
Add in all kinds of expenses, and in just the past few years, the court may have to owe a huge debt of 30 million! "
Thirty million!
Zhu Shunshui and Liu Jinzhong were both speechless.
Why is Prince Zhu's financial fortune worse than his father's? Although his father died poor, he was debt-free and light when he died! If he owed 30 million to the gentry in Jiangnan, he wouldn't even want to die!
You owe someone thirty million and you still want to hang yourself? How could I let you hang? If you hang up, the debt notes in other people's hands will remain unchanged and become waste paper?
Believe it or not, the Jiangnan gentry immediately selected several "Guofan", "Zongtang" and "Hongzhang", then purchased foreign guns and cannons made in Foshan from Guangdong, organized regiment training, and went north together to defend their creditors?
"I owe so much money, how can I pay it back?" Zhu Shunshui shook his head repeatedly, looking anxious!
Liu Jinzhong also sighed repeatedly: "The late emperor just had no money. Now that he is the king of Ding, why is he even poorer?"
"No rush, no rush," Li Zhongshan said with a smile, "There is no rush to pay back the money. The top priority now is to finalize the "Original Law of the Ming Dynasty" first, and then elect generals according to the original law. Now that we have a general, Then all the ministers of the Ming Dynasty will be able to support King Ding as he ascends the throne together!"
Ascending the throne to pay off debts?
Liu Jinzhong asked: "When King Ding ascends the throne, will he be able to pay off his debts?"
"How is that possible?" Lu San said with a smile, "When the emperor ascends the throne, it will be easier for us to borrow money in his name. Otherwise, it would sound unreliable for Prince Zhu San to borrow money. If it were replaced by the Republic of the Ming Dynasty, Isn’t it more reliable to borrow money?”
"What is Mr. Gonghe?" Liu Jinzhong was puzzled.
"Gonghe is the name of the year!" Li Zhongshan said, "It is taken from the fourteen years of republican administration after the uprising of the Western Zhou Dynasty. It means that the people of the country are republican and the king of the north. Mr. Shunshui, what do you two think?"
Liu Jinzhong felt that it was not good. They had become a republic and were still in debt. How could the emperor be okay?
But he didn't understand political matters, so he turned to look at Zhu Shunshui.
Mr. Shunshui was thinking with his eyes squinted. After thinking for a while, he finally figured it out. He nodded repeatedly and said: "Okay, okay, that's great! The emperor of the Republic is in debt, and the country is forever solid!"
"With so much debt, can the country be strong forever?" Liu Jinzhong was stunned again and again.
"Of course," Zhu Shunshui said, "If it is not permanent, who will bear the debt?" He glanced at Li Zhongshan, Chen Yonghua, and Lu Sanhao again, "And what is the purpose of usurping the throne, which is heavily in debt? To help pay off the debt?"
After all, Zhu Shunshui has an international perspective. He knows that the emperor of Japan does not have to worry about General Tokugawa worrying about his throne. The income of the imperial family is only tens of thousands of shi, which is not as good as that of a mid-level feudal lord. Whoever wants the throne will take it. For a hundred thousand koku, the emperor can also find a katana and change his profession to become a samurai!
After listening to Zhu Shunshui's words, Liu Jinzhong had no choice but to nod, "Then let's have as much debt as possible. Anyway, as long as the Ming Dynasty survives, debts can always be carried from generation to generation. Maybe the country can be consolidated forever, and the debts can be built forever. !”
Li Zhongshan smiled and said: "That's enough! Now the South King, Zhong King, Yi King, and I have all supported the "Original Law of the Ming Dynasty", and now with the support of the North King, we can vote to pass the original law today. , we will choose the general tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow we can invite His Highness King Ding to ascend the throne together!"
Ascend to the throne?
Liu Jinzhong and Zhu Shunshui sighed and thought to themselves: Is that an enthronement? It's obviously a debt trap!
Tens of millions of debts. Take it slowly!
Liu Jinzhong and Zhu Shunshui were distressed that the Third Prince Zhu would be in debt, but the Third Prince Zhu himself was looking forward to shouldering the debt of tens of millions!
He doesn't care about "xiandi" or "debt emperor", as long as there is an emperor who can be the emperor.
Maybe the debtor is better than the emperor!
He has lived at the bottom of the class, borrowed debts, and lived frugally to pay off his debts. I know that life with debt is difficult, and I have also seen the tactics used to collect debt. But he is not afraid! Because as long as he becomes the emperor, no one will dare to use means to force him to pay off his debts, and he will be able to keep owing and owing, and maybe the debt will last forever.
If Emperor Xian owed the nobles of the world tens of millions of taels of silver, how dare Cao Pi dare to usurp the throne? To usurp the throne is to be an enemy of the nobles of the world!
Therefore, Prince Zhu San is not afraid of debt at all. The more debt, the better!
If he could owe him several hundred million, then Prince Zhu wouldn't have to worry about someone usurping the throne and taking out hundreds of millions. Who would pay him back!
Since it can't be repaid, it can only be carried on by the Zhu Ming Dynasty from generation to generation. The more debts are incurred, the more stable the Zhu Ming Dynasty becomes.
Whoever dares to overthrow Zhu Ming will have all the creditors in the world to fight him!
If Master Tianqi could have left Chongzhen a high debt platform, maybe Chongzhen's "Ming Debt Sect" would not have finished yet!
Therefore, Prince Zhu is not worried about having too many debts, but is worried that he will not have the chance to get on top of the debts.
Therefore, during this period of time, the political assembly was busy deciding on the original law and selecting generals, but Prince Zhu was so anxious that he put on his dragon robe every day and waited in the Supervisor's Mansion, waiting to be swarmed by the ministers. Taiwan!
Waiting and waiting, I almost suspected that Li Zhongshan wanted to take on debt himself. Suddenly, his beloved concubine Yang Ziyun cheered: "Coming, coming"
"Who is coming?" Prince Zhu was also excited.
Yang Ziyun's voice was also a little trembling: "General Li, Chen Zhongtang, Lu Zhongtang, Nan Wang, Bei Wang, the counselors of Prince Yi's Mansion joined the army, the long history of Prince Zhong's Mansion, and Mr. Lizhou, Mr. Chuanshan, and Mr. Tinglin. There are also many government officials, officials from the General’s Office and the Shangshu Province, and they are here together!”
"Thank God!" Prince Zhu immediately understood what these people were here to do, to collect debts from him! It seems that Li Zhongshan is still loyal to Ming Dynasty!
The Ming Dynasty can finally be restored, it can finally be on the debt platform, and the country is forever solidified!
Thinking of this, Zhu Cijiong, who was making a fuss in the hall, quickly ran back to the throne and sat down, pretending to be a virtuous master who "must pay his debts".
As soon as the third prince Zhu took his stance, a group of loyal ministers of the Ming Dynasty were already in place. All of them were wearing the most formal court uniforms. The leader, Li Zhongshan, was holding a form of persuasion in his hand. He saw that the third prince Zhu in the main hall had put on the dragon robe, even the yellow robe, so he strode into the main hall, held up the form of persuasion in his hand, and loudly said to the third prince Zhu: "Jian Guoding" Your Highness, today the Fu Ming Government Conference has unanimously agreed to elect you as the Son of the Tomorrow. After discussing with the officials in the General Mansion and the Shangshu Province, they have also unanimously decided to elect you as the Son of the Tomorrow. Your Highness, please do not refuse and ascend the throne as soon as possible. To comfort the loyal and righteous people in the world!"
Then, Li Zhongshan took another sharp breath and shouted loudly: "Long live my emperor, long live, long live the emperor!"
(End of chapter)
