"Steam engines bring disaster to the country and the people, and the court cannot use them!"
"Fantasy techniques are harmful, and the imperial court should stop promoting steam engines!"
"You Qi family can't abandon Confucianism and amass money, thereby destroying your own merits!"
…
Capital.
Outside the courtyard of the official residence where the ruling ministers lived, many scholars and citizens were demonstrating and shouting some slogans. They directly criticized the steam engine for causing harm to the country and the people, and it was a very harmful technology. They also demanded that the Qi family run the family in accordance with Confucian teachings.
Of course, there are also those who directly scold the Qi family.
For a time, both Qi Jiguang and Qi Changguo became the target of public criticism.
Qi Jiguang was in the process of making a preamble to the imperial court when some people were demonstrating.
However, even so, because Jin Yiwei notified the situation in time.
Therefore, Qi Jiguang still knew about this matter.
Zhu Yijun naturally knew it too, and spoke first:
"Because steam engines are not a spontaneous demand generated by the private market, it is inevitable that they will cause some public dissatisfaction."
"After all, not all the people in the world are rational people. It's just that Yuan Fu and his family have been wronged. They can't directly criticize me as the king and father, so they can only criticize you as the leader."
"I understand, and I also believe that the people will gradually understand me in the future."
Qi Jiguang replied with a smile.
Zhu Yijun nodded: "Yes, people who are dissatisfied now will gradually understand the imperial court."
Zhu Yijun said, "Although they don't understand it now, the court still has to control their life and death. Have the response policies been implemented?"
"Your Majesty, we are already implementing it, but the effect may not be that fast, so there will still be some troubles or slander of the court."
Qi Jiguang replied.
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun only told Tian Yi: "Mobilize more on the Dongchang side and let the celebrities working for the Dongchang guide public opinion. If you really can't guide it, muddy the water first so that the people don't fall into one voice." form public opinion so that they can start to think for themselves.”
Tian Yi raised his hand and said yes.
In fact, when Zhu Yijun gave this order, Dongchang had already begun to do so.
and.
Dongchang officials, who are experienced in guiding public opinion, have begun to deliberately confuse public opinion.
"Ms. Ma, we should just raise troops and start a fucking rebellion. It's clear that the court has no intention of letting us live, so we won't let the court live!"
Guo Ji, the leader of Dongchang, deliberately proposed this to Ma Zhen when he followed Ma Zhen and You Bin to go to Jiangzuo Temple to demonstrate.
However, there were also a few fierce people who were not afraid of big troubles and responded.
Snapped!
But Ma Zhen was not so irrational, so he gave Guo Ji a slap in the face: "You bastards! The treacherous minister Qi Jiguang and his son are the damn ones. What kind of rebellion are they? What kind of rebels are they? Are they unable to afford food or clothes?" Wear it, do you think the days of peace and prosperity have gone too long? Demonstrations are enough to cause trouble, so what’s the point of rebellion?”
"Ma, why do you beat my brother?"
"You guys are not fighting for the injustice of your Ma family. Do you really think that we have no other way to survive? To tell you the truth, I will sign up to move to Japan and Luzon to live in the worst case!"
"My brother just said this, you can persuade him if you want. Why are you teaching him such a lesson and showing off your authority?!"
So Qi San, a worker who was close to Guo Ji, shouted first.
"That's right! Mr. Ma, this is too much. Brother Guo is not your slave!"
Later, Fan Ruixiang, who like Guo Ji is also a fan of Dongchang, also echoed.
"I dare not think, if Mr. Ma dares to hit Brother Guo today, will he also dare to hit us tomorrow?"
"So, big guy, why should we come to make trouble for him? It's just that we don't have this job, and it's not like we really can't survive!"
After Fan Ruixiang said this, he became speechless and provoked. For a while, many people began to shift their targets and criticize Ma Zhenlai.
"I!"
Ma Zhen didn't know what to say for a moment.
At this time, Ge Zhaohe, another Dongchang secret agent, directly encouraged the people and said: "That's right. Let's go. We don't have to shamelessly complain about the injustice of the Ma family. I heard that the imperial court is now in Recruiting reserve soldiers, you will be paid two taels of silver dollars every month, so you can still survive without the work of Majia Shafang. Besides, being a soldier is not a shameful thing now. Only those who can be real soldiers In the eyes of the imperial court, they are all high-ranking military men, military masters who don’t have to raise their own wives and children, and who can’t be spanked even if they commit crimes!”
"Really?"
"The imperial court is recruiting troops again. Are you paying two taels of silver dollars?"
Many people who came to demonstrate immediately asked Ge Zhaohe curiously.
Ge Zhaohe said: "Of course it is true. When did I, Lao Ge, ever deceive others? If you want to sign up, come with me!"
With that said, Ge Zhaohe pushed aside the crowd and walked out.
For a while, many demonstrators followed.
Ma Zhen was quite confused when he saw this. He didn't expect how the public opinion developed like this. He couldn't help but said: "Wait a minute, didn't we come to the Qi family to demonstrate?"
While people in the East Factory secretly interfered with various public opinions and dismantled various demonstrations, the imperial government was also solving the problem of a large number of unemployed workers and bankruptcy of ordinary merchants caused by the application of steam spinning wheels.
The first is recruitment and immigration, as well as the expansion of government, business, workers, and students from government-run schools.
The conditions are very favorable.
For an unemployed worker, regardless of gender, age, or different ideas, there are corresponding channels to choose from to change careers.
Most of the young and strong men chose to serve as soldiers, or moved overseas with subsidies, were allocated acres of land, and then became homesteaders.
Most women entered government-run commercial and various newly established women's normal schools.
Secondly, the imperial court also asked the Ming Dynasty Bank to lower the loan interest rate and encourage private merchants to continue to take loans, purchase steam spinning wheels, and also undergo transformation.
Finally, the imperial court also opened many new infrastructure projects, allowing private merchants to transform and contract these projects, and also allowed people who were unwilling to serve as soldiers or immigrate, let alone enter government-run businesses or schools to study, and just wanted to get a job to make a living. work at.
And this way.
The number of merchants and people making trouble was greatly reduced.
Even though there are still many voices dissatisfied with the emergence of steam spinning wheels, and voices that denounce the construction of steam spinning wheels as a show of fancy skills, they can no longer make any waves.
In addition, while the government used various methods to absorb the unemployed and bankrupt people, it also used force to arrest many individual extremists who acted recklessly, and dealt with these people severely, which made the situation under strong control.
What's more, in today's Ming Dynasty, the people have not yet suffered from hunger and cold, so there is no need to resist the imperial court to the end for this reason.
Therefore, within a month, the world became calm.
Merchants such as the Luo Wanhua family who were robbed for using steam spinning wheels were also allocated pension funds by the court to make up for their losses and prevent them from losing confidence in following the court in transforming from handicrafts to industry.
Although the unemployed and bankrupt people in the country were absorbed by the imperial court through various methods of expanding troops and recruitment, and even the new merchants who were hit by the storm were comforted by the imperial court, the imperial court itself still suffered losses after the promotion of steam engines, and was still in the process of controlling the country. A stage where a lot of money from the bank is taken out.
Therefore, next, the court has to earn back what it takes out.
How to make money?
Naturally, it is the privilege of external development obtained through the war and after the war.
"His Majesty has decreed that Fuyuan should immediately seize the Yamaguchi City for search on the grounds that there are missing soldiers, and seize the Yamaguchi City as the next place where the army will land in Honshu!"
Nagasaki, Japan.
Governor Yang Gao received the imperial edict from Zhu Yijun, and looked at Shen Bingyi, the 100-year-old Jin Yiwei who came to deliver the edict, in shock: "Your Majesty will personally direct such a small matter?"
Shen Bingyi said: "Why does Your Majesty do this? I don't know because of my humble position, but since this is the holy will and signed by the Privy Council, why should the Fuyuan hesitate?"
"I didn't hesitate, I just lamented His Majesty's method."
When Yang Hao said this, he sighed and said, "How brilliant!"
Then, Yang Hao really told the Japanese town minister Qi Jin: "Act according to the will!"
Qi Jin cupped his hands and said yes.
Yamaguchi Castle belongs to the territory of the Choshu Domain, and the lord of the Choshu Domain is the Mouri clan, who is a gaijō daimyo.
The so-called foreign daimyo are daimyo who are not members of the Tokugawa clan. Most of them are daimyo who were forced to surrender to the Tokugawa clan due to defeat in the war.
The Choshu Domain originally belonged to a large domain. Before it surrendered to the Tokugawa clan, it occupied the territory of ten countries in Japan and China. It was a daimyo with an annual salary of 1.2 million stone grain. It was very powerful, but it was now owned by the Tokugawa clan. The reduction is only two countries, which is about two to three hundred thousand stone annual salary.
However, despite the reduction, Mouri is still considered a big name.
This also shows how prosperous Japan’s agriculture is.
You must know that the wealthy Nanzhili in the Ming Dynasty only turned in 1.8 million shi of grain a year, while the previous Changzhou Domain's annual income was already two-thirds of the grain turned in by the Nanzhili in the Ming Dynasty!
This is why, historically, Japan was the world's major trading market along with the Ming Dynasty and India during the Age of Discovery. Why were Western barbarians such as the Netherlands and Portugal keen on shipping Chinese goods to Japan for sale, and then bringing back money from Japan? .
Obviously, in addition to money, Japan's own food production is also good, so it also supports many landowners and forms a large consumer market.
In other words, if the Ming Dynasty captured the Changshu Domain before it was reduced, at least the food income would be increased by more than one million dan. If the Ming Dynasty's more advanced farming technology was used and promoted, the increase in food income might be even greater.
certainly.
Even if the Ming Dynasty only got 200,000 to 300,000 shi of food from the current Changzhou clan, it was not a small number, and it was much greater than the benefits of going to the northern desert to annihilate a Mongolian tribe.
What's more, there is commercial value in it.
Back to the topic.
When the daimyo of the Choshu clan, Terumoto Mori, heard that the Ming army was going to the city to search for missing soldiers, he quickly felt something was wrong and said:
"This is a provocation and an attempt to seize our Yamaguchi City!" (End of Chapter)
