After discussing the upcoming improvements in the military training and operations of the Guards, Zhu Youxiao met with the veterans who had joined the Privy Council, the important civilian officials who were summoned to the Privy Council by Zhu Youxiao, as well as the admiral of the East Factory and the commander of the Jinyi Guards. Let’s talk about coastal defense together.
"According to the latest secret report obtained by Dongchang, the previously missing Hong Chengchou and Yang Sichang have indeed gone overseas, and together with other gentry who intend to rebel, they are preparing to train troops to plunder our Ming Dynasty in the future, and even plan to seize the country!
In addition, it is reported that they still use the Yuanyang formation to train troops, but the organization is looser, and the firearms used are mainly matchlock guns purchased from Hongmao Fan;
Also, it is reported that among them, Yang Sichang proposed a strategy of attacking from four directions, six corners, and ten directions. Specifically, Shuangyu, Ryukyu, Dongfan, and Ryukyu were the main attack directions, while Hirado and Shika were the main attack directions. Kojima, Manila, Borneo, Manchuria, and Annan are the secondary attack directions. "
Wei Zhongxian first reported the latest information obtained by Dongchang according to Zhu Youxiao's request.
Because Yang Sichang and other reactionary gentry were dispersed in their organization and did not pay too much attention to confidentiality measures, they had already allowed Dongchang to infiltrate many undercover agents within them. Now even Yang Sichang's latest strategy has been neutralized by Zhu Youxiao in the hands of his ministers.
Xiong Tingbi therefore said: "The firearms of the Hongmao Fan were purchased and paid tribute by Xiong Mingyu, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and tested by the Ministry of War. They are not as good as our flintlock guns. The strategy of the traitor Yang Sichang sounds quite good, but In fact, when you think about it, it's a bit vague. It just means to attack in multiple directions and take care of each other. The man named Yang was right that the Ming Dynasty's sea area was very vast and it was difficult to deploy defenses everywhere. But who said that the imperial navy would only stay at home? At the door, in my opinion, no matter how many ways they attack, we will only go all the way to conquer their lair!"
"But one thing is that once these rebels join forces with Japanese bandits and pirates to attack the sea and plunder the coast in the future, many gentry along the coast who accepted the court's new policy and cooperated with the reform will inevitably be affected, and many of these gentry families will be affected. Many of them who are officials in the court are also important ministers of the court. When the New Deal is implemented this time, they will definitely urge the court to strengthen coastal defense, prevent the navy from expedition, and ask the navy to defend their family property for them. In this way, it will be difficult for the navy to achieve the purpose of attacking. Way to eliminate pirates on the sea."
Chen Ce said at this time.
As a member of a wealthy family in Guangzhou Prefecture, he did not choose to let his family go overseas to resist the imperial court because he had the same interests as the emperor. Instead, he allowed his family to cooperate with the imperial court's reforms. But now he has to worry about the dangers his family may suffer from pirates. They were worried and hoped that the imperial court could protect the interests of these large southern families who were still loyal to the imperial court and cooperated with the imperial court's reforms.
Now, he expressed his opinion on the grounds that "officials with southern gentry background may oppose the navy's expedition."
After hearing this, Zhu Youxiao said: "Protecting the safety of the people along the coast is not inconsistent with family property and the navy's ability to go out to suppress the bandits. I have already thought of a countermeasure, and this countermeasure is the coastal defense insurance system!
Specifically, the imperial court set up an insurance bureau under the Ministry of Household Affairs, and then set up insurance departments in various states and counties, which were run by one household department. All the people along the coast could purchase coastal defense insurance on a household basis from the imperial insurance department. The price ranges from five yuan to fifty thousand silver coins. Anyone who purchases coastal defense insurance can receive ten times the original insurance principal paid after verification if their home encounters a maritime disaster, whether it is a natural disaster or a man-made disaster! All you need to do is go to the local state or county insurance department to collect the household receipt and insurance deed! "
The ministers present all began to think deeply.
Because the system proposed by the emperor was a bit unheard of for them, they didn't know whether it was good or bad for a while.
Soon, Bi Ziyan, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue who was ordered to attend the court meeting, understood first. He was good at dealing with money and food, and had left economic works in history. He had extraordinary understanding of finance and economics, so he couldn't help but think about it first. said:
"Your Majesty is wise! This is really a good plan!
The coastal defense insurance paid by the southern citizens was not a large amount according to different household registrations, but it amounted to a large amount of money. After all, only a few families were ruined by the sea, and there were not many families who needed compensation from the court, even if they were ten. Double compensation is enough, and the remaining money can be used to make profits. "
"That's right! This is a good idea. This can be used to pay for the Navy's expedition. When the time comes, there will be no need for the court to provide additional military pay. Our Navy will rely on this money to pay for military expeditions and go to some overseas expeditions. , if you borrow five or six hundred stones of grain or five or six million taels of silver, it will be more than enough to compensate the people whose families were destroyed by the pirates, and there will still be a lot left over to fill the national treasury."
Chen Xin, the son of Chen Ce, went to Japan to borrow food, so he was recalled to the capital by Zhu Youxiao. After that, he also participated in the military aircraft court discussion on coastal defense. Because of this, he did business with Westerners before entering Habayashi Guards and made a profit. After learning a lot, he understood it first, and even took the initiative to propose using the money collected from coastal defense insurance as navy military salary, and then the navy relied on this military salary to go overseas to plunder profits.
As a scholar-bureaucrat who had received Confucian education since childhood, Bi Ziyan was a little embarrassed to agree with Chen Xin's proposal, but he had to admit that Chen Xin's method was very good. In this way, the navy would not have to spend military expenses when the navy went on an expedition, and it would also save money. He could bring back benefits that were several times more than his military salary, so he didn't say anything. He just smiled and looked at Emperor Zhu Youxiao.
The same is true for Fang Congzhe. He still remembers the results of the imperial court sending navy troops to borrow food from overseas.
He had to admit that it felt really good to have millions of stones of food coming out of a warship and a cannon. You know, it is very difficult to produce so much food in the country. Not only does it require a lot of powerful people, The cake of the gentry, and as a member of the powerful gentry, he had to take the initiative to spit out some grain to the court. Only in this way could he produce millions more grain grains in the country.
But Fang Congzhe was also a scholar-bureaucrat who grew up with Confucian education and accepted the concept of good-neighborliness and friendship. He was still a little embarrassed when he directly agreed to Chen Xin's proposal. After all, scholars have to pay attention to their dignity and don't want to leave a trace behind. The military attache like Chen Xin could directly put forward his idea of leading the navy to plunder for the imperial court.
Therefore, Fang Congzhe only looked at Zhu Youxiao.
After all, everyone now pays attention to the emperor as the constitution. As long as the emperor agrees, the ministers will not object. Anyone who objects will violate the purpose of Xingming Society.
In fact, this is also the reason why Fang Congzhe and others are willing to take the monarch as the constitution. Everyone has already tasted the sweetness of external plunder from the previous imperial court sending navy to borrow food from overseas, and they are waiting for His Majesty the Emperor to lead them in the name of strengthening the monarch's power. They are plundering the outside world with people like themselves.
However, when Chen Xin saw that the civil servants did not express their opinions, he thought that these people did not understand what he meant and had not turned their heads, so he said: "Your Majesty, gentlemen, isn't my idea a bad one? What can this do to the court?" You can get a lot of income without any effort, just give a few silver rewards to the navy brothers!"
Zhu Youxiao raised the corner of his mouth slightly because of this. From the enthusiastic eyes of a group of old foxes and the impatient looks of Chen Xin and other generals, he could see that these people could not wait to serve as the fangs of the Ming Empire and go overseas. Get more benefits.
"This is a very good idea!"
Zhu Youxiao said something.
Fang Congzhe, Bi Ziyan and other civil servants smiled knowingly when Zhu Youxiao said this.
Chen Ce, Chen Xin and other generals also laughed.
"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"
These people couldn't help but flatter him first.
For a time, there was great harmony between the monarch and his ministers.
7017k
