Selling rickshaws to his subordinates was also a helpless move for a certain prince. Making money was secondary. Selling a thousand rickshaws from this project would be no more than a fraction of what he would earn from digging a gold mine.
The real reason is that the current shortage of war horses in each army is too large, and they are in urgent need of replenishment. Even if the Ministry of War has money, it cannot buy enough war horses.
Huang Degong's Yongwei Battalion and Zhou Yuji's East Palace Guards combined required tens of thousands of war horses. If there were no war horses, pack horses would do. What embarrassed the Ministry of War was that there were not even enough pack horses...
The new Minister of War, Wang Jiayan, encountered such a thorny problem when he took office. The prince tried to organize the army and recruit troops. These soldiers were easy to recruit, but horses were difficult to buy.
It was no longer possible to buy horses from Liaodong. Even if they could be bought, they would be digested privately by various ministries in western Liaoning, and the imperial court would not get a single horse.
Monan Menggu now also took refuge in Braid, so he sold inferior pack horses to the Ming Dynasty as war horses. The court had to sell them. Otherwise, the battle losses of the cavalry troops would not be replenished in time.
You can buy some good-quality war horses from the Tumut tribe west of Shaanxi Province, but the truly high-quality war horses come from the Western Regions, and no more than a thousand horses enter the Ming Dynasty every year.
This quantity is nothing more than a drop in the bucket for the Ming army. A certain prince has ordered the road to be opened wide. As long as good horses can be purchased, the court can offer 150% or even 200% of the market price for purchase.
Moreover, the horse market in Jifu has been closed. All horses driven to the vicinity of the capital, regardless of their quality, will be eaten by the Ministry of War. No horse dealer is allowed to sell horses to other yamen or individuals without the approval of the imperial court. Anyone who violates the order will be punished. Sent to jail.
Not only that, cattle, mules, and donkeys, three types of livestock that can pull carts, are also under priority care. Sales and slaughter must be reported in advance. Except for livestock that die due to injury or disease, all others must first go through the court. It can only be acted upon with the approval of the Yamen.
A certain prince's intention was to first eliminate the shortage of cavalry in various departments guarding the capital, and then raise horses to supplement other combat units. The front-line combat units must be equipped with a full quota of horses, and non-combat units can be replaced by oxen, mules, and donkeys.
At present, we must find ways to gather 10,000 war horses first, otherwise the cavalry of the Yongwei Battalion and the East Palace Guards will have to walk to train, and they will not even have mounts. It is a daydream to expect them to display their combat effectiveness in future battles.
Yaoji doesn’t know if the price of donkey meat roasting will rise after the announcement of this decree. The beef ramen developed by him will also be changed to elbow ramen in the future...
From now on, the people of the Ming Dynasty will use pigs, sheep, and fish as the main meat ingredients for meat dishes. All kinds of cattle will be strategic materials.
The good news is that there were so many seafood in this era that fishing boats could not catch them. Later generations used large trawlers, and they operated in groups, and they were able to catch more than half of the fish and shrimps in the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea.
In summer, when the temperature is high, fish and shrimp will easily rot if not eaten immediately. In winter, this problem is no longer a problem. You can eat them even if you encounter thousands of miles of inland areas.
The miners who mine in Shandong rely on cheap fish and shrimp to supplement the protein they need. There are no other products in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea. Fish such as pomfret, seabass, Spanish mackerel, barracuda, and yellow croaker can definitely be managed. food.
Unlike river fish, sea fish have many spines. Except for a few fish such as mandarin fish and catfish, which have relatively few spines, river fish have a lot of spines. If you eat a crucian carp, just picking at the spines can make people impatient.
Eating large sea fish is actually not much different from eating meat. Except for one main thorn and several auxiliary thorns, there are almost no small thorns. Therefore, Yaoji thinks that using sea fish to replace beef and donkey meat is a good way to enjoy the meal. , there is nothing wrong with it.
Besides, a certain prince has never eaten giant grouper in his whole life, especially the kind that is served whole on the table. Just looking at it can make your taste buds arouse. The grouper hot pot must be very delicious.
Now that I have become a prince, all the fish in the sea must be rinsed thoroughly, and the big blue lobsters and ghost claw snails must all come to a certain prince's hot pot.
In this era, there are countless wild large yellow croakers in the sea, and they are not valuable at all. Bluefin tuna can also be caught, but transportation is more troublesome, and it must be wrapped in ice as soon as it comes out of the water to keep it fresh.
Just by relying on the unrestrained wandering of the brain cells, one can feel like drooling. Yaoji feels that he has reached a whole new level...
Using fish, shrimp, crab, and shellfish to replace horses, cows, mules, and donkeys is definitely an unprecedented idea!
Not only can it supplement protein for the general public, but it can also directly supplement iodine, killing two birds with one stone.
Best of all, seafood is much less expensive to purchase than livestock.
All official ships that were unable to fight were converted into fishing boats. As long as weather conditions permitted, they would go out to sea for fishing all year round.
Dahai is indeed my biological mother~!
For the capital and surrounding areas, if rickshaws can be used, livestock vehicles should be replaced as much as possible, and all the savings will be used for military purposes. As long as the seller is willing to sell the horses raised at home, the Ministry of War can offer to buy them at twice the market price.
You can also exchange cattle, horses and other livestock for a rickshaw, and the converted price will definitely satisfy the seller. And for some wealthy people who like to be superior, there is no better way to give them a sense of superiority than to use a living person to pull a cart.
Just like some characteristics of the slave dynasty, only by truly being superior to the poor people and dominating them can their tireless vanity be satisfied. But now it has become an employment relationship. .
But this does not prevent the rich from pursuing excitement and pleasure. The salary does not need to be too high. As long as the price is five taels of silver per month, I believe there will be hundreds of drivers willing to pull a cart for a rich man.
The original intention of the court officials to buy a car was mostly to save money, to set an example for the officials, to have a strong sense of curiosity, and most importantly to show favor to the prince.
"This policy is very good, the price is fair, the cost is not high, it is convenient for officials to go to work, and it is also convenient for people to travel. It can be said to be a move that benefits the country and the people, and it should be vigorously promoted!"
Zhang Guowei, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, was not only good at coding the Great Wall, but also had a lot of research on machinery. Otherwise, he would not have the discernment to value Bo Dacai. However, the latter was unruly and did not buy Chief Engineer Zhang's account at all.
Imperial officials of his level do not need to take official cars. Official cars are mainly for officials below the seventh rank and with a monthly income of no more than fifty taels.
It is more difficult for this group to keep a car. If they don't buy a car or horses, they have to go to court on foot. It's okay for the petty officials to say that they are at the bottom and have nothing to do. But for the sake of face, the Zhima officials have to go out and buy horses.
The Ministry of War is in urgent need of a large number of war horses. Now even pack horses cannot be spared. When officials purchase horses, they will inevitably compete with the Ministry of War for resources. Considering this, a certain prince simply used official cars instead of raising horses for himself.
With free official cars, officials who feel that raising horses is not cost-effective will directly sell their livestock, and those who have this idea will give up.
If the wives and concubines at home really want to travel, instead of raising a horse, it is more economical to buy a rickshaw, which can not only save money, but also keep up with the trend, and gain both face and dignity.
"I agree with what Grand Sikong said. Not only will this save the expenses of the officials, but it will also facilitate the passage of the market and provide work for the labor force. The horses resold by each family can be used by the Ministry of War."
Du Yinxi, the Minister of Civil Affairs, was still worried about filling the vacancies. He was still a little resentful about the prince's direct dismissal and even the imprisonment of many important court officials.
It's a bit too much to say that it was an avenging of personal vengeance. This incident was actually an avenging of public vengeance, because I heard from Zuodu Yushi Zhong Qian that the property taken from the criminal's mansion was so large that it needed to be registered in order to be counted.
Du Yinxi not only had no objection to using the thunderous method to punish the moths, but also strongly supported it. However, using this method to implement the personnel appointments of the two governors was somewhat unacceptable in terms of method.
Du Yinxi has read Yan Yingyuan's resume, and his superiors have praised his work. He is considered capable, but there is still suspense whether he can be qualified for the position of governor of Jizhen. Since the prince said it was recommended by military advisor Liu Bowen, it would be difficult for him to intervene.
As far as the matter at hand is concerned, Du Yinxi highly agrees with the prince's approach, using buses and official cars to replace personal carriages, so as to prevent officials and merchants from buying too many horses from the horse market, otherwise the war horses needed by the Ministry of War Where did it come from?
Many families do not need to maintain more than one set of carriages and horses. If they do not go far away, it is enough to go shopping and take a bus or a rickshaw, which can save a lot of money in a year.
After the two expressed their opinions, Lu Zhenfei, the Minister of Medicine, Feng Quan, the Minister of Rites, and Li Shiwen, the Minister of Household Affairs, also agreed. Maybe there are differences on other matters, but on this matter, everyone has the same opinion. Very consistent.
The Ministry of War needed war horses, officials did not want to support extra carriages and horses, and the people wanted benefits and convenience when traveling. The prince's method was a combination of the three aspects and satisfied all three parties.
"Now that we are facing a formidable enemy, the needs of the Ministry of War are naturally a top priority. However, I will not deliberately harm the rights and interests of officials and people for this reason. Therefore, I am very pleased that you all can agree with this strategy."
It seems that replacing animal power with human power is the general trend and people's will. Everyone thinks so, so Yao Ji feels nothing to be embarrassed about and can vigorously promote these three means of transportation in the future.
Generally speaking, when the business talk is over and Taiyang shows signs of getting off work soon, the prince will ask everyone to stay for dinner. They are just working in their respective yamen. Unless he is specially summoned, there is basically no chance.
The ministers had no objection to coming to the East Palace to eat and drink, because the prince was good at eating, and they would be able to take advantage of him. No matter how good the cooks at home were, they could not compare with the imperial chef.
"There is one more important thing that Feng Aiqing needs to pay attention to. Dear friends, you can also brainstorm. I will propose it at the court meeting on Monday for the officials to consider, and that is the position of consul in Japan. 'Consul' means acting on my behalf. The Ming Dynasty has lived in Japan for a long time, and usually has a five-year term. When it expires, it will return to the Ming Dynasty to perform its duties. This position is equivalent to the special envoy of the palace. It is mainly responsible for communicating with the current leader of Japan, General Tokugawa, and eliminating misunderstanding, enhance friendship, and deepen understanding and cooperation. I have previously negotiated with the Japanese army and offered a price that General Tokugawa cannot refuse. Most of them will agree to send troops to the Liaodong Peninsula and land from the coastal areas of the peninsula. Coordinate our army and contain the Donglu. Therefore, the candidate for the consul stationed in Japan is very important. He must be versatile and able to take advantage of the situation. He must always safeguard the rights and interests of our country. Before taking up the post, he will receive relevant training and he will understand the customs of Japan. Favor.”
Just letting the profiteer from Yokoyama go back might be enough to convince the Tokugawa general to send troops, but if you want to tie him to your own chariot, you have to send someone there to carry out the attack on him every day, 365 days a year. Just deceive.
"Foreign exchanges are a battlefield where gunpowder can't be seen. I require the consuls to be flexible and sophistry, so as not to let the other party take advantage of them. They must also be good at dancing, pay attention to interpersonal exchanges, and be able to learn about the important affairs of the Japanese country. The intelligence was sent back to the Ming Dynasty. I originally wanted to send factory guards to serve, but this would inevitably arouse the Japanese side's vigilance, so civilian personnel must be sent to eliminate the other side's doubts. I require the consul to be neither humble nor overbearing in conversation. , you must be mature and capable in dealing with things, and you must make prompt decisions in times of crisis. So, do you have a suitable candidate for this position in your mind?"
Although there are many requirements for this position, and the person holding the position must be absolutely reliable, on the other hand, this position is also a huge vacancy, because it not only comes with a salary, but also a part of the funds that can be used freely.
The annual salary of the consul stationed in Japan is 3,000 taels of silver, and the working capital is as high as 7,000 taels. If it is not enough, someone can be sent back to Beijing to collect it. As long as it is effective, a certain prince has no restrictions on the funds in this area.
This stumped Feng Quan, the Minister of Rites, and quickly ran through hundreds of portraits in his mind. In addition to the many requirements put forward by the prince, the person who was qualified for this position must be young and strong, otherwise he would not be able to travel eastward to the Japanese country.
Being flexible in mind, articulate, impeccable in dealing with people, and able to be loyal to the emperor and serve the country thousands of miles away, it seems that this condition itself is contradictory...
Moreover, it is impossible to recommend a rotten person who only knows how to talk. The prince has a sharp eye in this regard, so Feng Quan really racked his brains and did not dare to answer abruptly.
"Your Highness, I recommend Yang Tinglin. This man comes from the Imperial Academy. He was once the head of the Ministry of War. He also followed Governor Lu to fight against the Eastern invaders. He is a fairly honest official and may be one of the candidates!"
Seeing that everyone was thinking deeply, Wu Di first announced the candidate he had in mind. Yang Tinglin was a civil servant, but he had also joined the army. Although he did not have the talent to lead an army, he was somewhat immersed in it and would not be confused by related issues. Stumped.
"Well, that's not bad!"
Yaoji also felt that Yang Tinglin's talents were remarkable, and there was no need to elaborate on his loyalty to the emperor. At least he would not have gone to Japan and sold the Ming Dynasty to nothing. Such a person was basically qualified.
Not only Yang Tinglin, but also loyal and capable ministers such as Qu Shichun, He Tengjiao, and Cai Maode were all suitable to serve as consuls in Japan. Later, when the Tokugawa generals were fooled, they could be promoted to ambassadors.
Anyway, all a certain prince can do is to prepare gifts for the Tokugawa general. Whether he can fool him depends entirely on the words of his consul.
Being able to speak eloquently is a must-have skill, and the level cannot be lower than that of Uncle Yu who can defend the capital, but also likes smoking, drinking, and perming his hair...
