The Japanese army killed more than 3,000 Tatars in one fell swoop, almost setting a historical record for fighting on the Kimchi Peninsula since the Wanli period. However, that time the Ming army helped the Cai army fight the Japanese army, and this time it was the Japanese army helping the Ming army. Braid your hair.
At that time, Caiguo didn't even have to pay a single tael of silver. The Ming Empire still had to contribute money, send troops, and store grain. It spent a huge amount of taels of silver to settle the matter.
All in all, Kimchi Country is a huge trap, especially good at harming its suzerain country.
If you fight it, you will lose money and lose money. Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty is the most typical example.
If you go to help it, it will still be a waste of time and money. This is what Shenzong did when he was in power.
From an economic point of view, in order to save military expenditures and avoid casualties, this country should be wiped off the map instead of occupied, which would cost more money!
Putting kimchi aside, when it comes to inviting foreign aid, there is no doubt that the bet has been won this time. The Japanese army is the most suitable and cost-effective mercenary in East Asia.
Guan Ning's army was asked to fight, and he had to provide money, food, weapons and ammunition. In the end, not only did he not win, but he also had to reimburse the false results presented. The court was really deceived.
Instead of doing this, a certain prince would rather hire Japanese soldiers from afar. Their combat effectiveness is only higher than that of Japanese soldiers outside the customs. Moreover, their business is very real, and at least the results of the battle are not falsely reported.
You can talk about three results as five results, but don't say it as ten, that would be too much and would completely deceive a certain prince into a big-headed son.
Fortunately, Wang Zaijin will not take the initiative to attack after he takes office. Zu Dashou was surrounded enough before and finally recovered, and he will not be able to get out in a short time.
Even if three thousand enemies are wiped out, each braid can be cashed in two hundred taels of silver. Not counting the reward for the official position, the court will have to spend 600,000 taels of silver just for the amount!
If the Japanese army could defeat 10,000 enemies when they went abroad to fight this time, the Ming court would have to pay them two million taels of silver according to the price agreed upon in advance.
The amount seems high, but if this money is given to Guan Ningjun, it will never be able to annihilate 10,000 enemies. If they annihilate 1,000 enemies, they can be called a "super victory."
According to reports, of the more than 3,000 pigtails annihilated by the Japanese army, only more than a thousand were pure pigtails, and the rest were from Xushun Gong Shen Zhixiang's men.
But it is still possible. To be able to kill a single cavalry braid, if the Ming Dynasty King's division were to do this job, at least 50,000 people would be needed!
In addition to the silver reward, a huge pension had to be paid. The casualties suffered by the Japanese army would not be too low, but a certain prince believed that their losses were less than those of their Ming counterparts.
All the required silver has been prepared. As long as the Japanese army works hard and "snaps" their braids, the Ming Dynasty will not be short of them by one tael of silver.
"Pa bang bang..."
"Whoosh... Whoosh~!"
Through the gossip of some well-informed people, the sounds of firecrackers and kicks were soon heard all over the capital, extremely fierce, one after another.
"Did you hear that?"
"What's the content?"
"We won the battle outside the customs!"
"What? How is it possible? How powerful is Dog Tartar?"
"It's not our king's division, it's the Japanese army that did it!"
"...Ah??? Seriously?"
"It will be announced in the newspaper tomorrow!"
"It's amazing! How many dog-Tatars were killed?"
"Five thousand!"
"Hiss... so many?"
"you do not say!"
"Is it possible that the Japanese country has a grudge against the Dog Tatars?"
"I heard that the imperial court hired Japanese soldiers to fight the Tatars!"
"Tsk! That's it!"
"This way, there is no need for me, Da Ming, to take action!"
"That's absolutely true!"
As the firecrackers sounded, gossip in the city spread all over the place. The number of enemies wiped out became a topic of discussion among the people in the streets. It climbed from the initial three thousand to twenty or thirty thousand without stopping.
If you continue to talk like this, hundreds of thousands of dog Tatars will be exterminated by the words of the people of Ming Dynasty before the "Jingshi Daily" is sold tomorrow morning...
Except for the profiteers who colluded with the pigtails to make money, there were few Ming people who didn't hate the pigtails. If one could be captured alive and sent to the capital to Lingchi, even if a piece of meat could be bought for tens of pennies, the supply would be in short supply.
Although Master Wang was not responsible for this incident, it could be regarded as a breath of bad breath for the people of the Ming Dynasty. The people in the city were naturally happy.
The result was that firecrackers were out of stock, restaurants and teahouses were full, and various entertainment venues were crowded with people. Before the official announcement was made, the entire capital entered carnival mode, and it was so "high" that it couldn't help itself.
Since it was rare to encounter such a happy event, and it was a Friday, a certain prince followed suit and announced that all employees, except those engaged in security and arms work, would have a day off.
Together with Sunday, it will be a double holiday. Each yamen must deploy left-behind personnel to wait for orders and official documents at any time. Those who cannot rest temporarily can take turns to take the rest next week without defaulting on rest days.
Without making great efforts to make money, officials belong to the middle-income class. Although they are not as good as rich businessmen, after the court significantly increased their salaries, their daily living standards are not low.
Working under the scorching sun is already a hard job, but now I can take a two-day break. With their participation, it can stimulate consumption in the capital area.
Everyone is ready to get back home, and the afternoon errands can be finished hastily. Except for very special military aircraft matters, they can wait until next Monday.
Many people who could go to the palace came to wait in the East Palace just after three o'clock in the afternoon. For example, Li Shiwen, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, who regarded wealth as his life, came to consult a certain prince half-publicly and half-privately.
Regarding official matters, there is one thing at the moment, and it is very important, and that is the matter of paying the Japanese army for their victory.
Unlike in the past, the imperial court could of course spend 600,000 taels of silver without hesitation.
Previously, the money shipped from Tianjin could cover this amount.
The important thing is what to do next. If the Japanese army can really wipe out another three to five thousand people, things will be very serious.
Because suppressing bandits is a top priority right now, this money worth 7 million taels has passed the budget review and cannot be used.
The construction of the new capital city and the construction of cities along the coast of Shandong have long been finalized, and the work-for-relief programs in various places cannot be abandoned halfway.
Although there is still a lot of silver in Taicang, the Ministry of Accounts, they have all been allocated to various large-scale projects.
At this moment, the actual liquidity that can be taken out immediately is only one million taels.
The harvest was more than ten million taels more than last year, and it was almost spent. It was really like spending money like water.
As the steward of the imperial treasury, Li Shiwen certainly knew the seriousness of the situation.
This matter cannot be delayed and must be resolved immediately.
As time goes by, it will become difficult to deal with things alone.
But he had no solution. He could only come to consult a certain prince and regent who was extremely wise.
"Li Aiqing, this matter is easy to say and troublesome to say. I wonder if Li Aiqing wants to pay the bill or not?"
A certain prince doesn't know anything else, but he can do this very easily.
"I am stupid, I hope Your Highness can give me some advice!"
When the prince said this, Li Shiwen knew that the matter could probably be solved, but he still didn't know what the prince's solution was.
"It's very simple. I first took out three million taels of silver from the East Palace and lent it to the Ministry of Accounts. This amount does not need to be repaid by the Ministry of Accounts. It can be directly deducted from the coal mines, gold mines and other projects under my command. This There is no need to transfer the account, the Ministry of Accounts only needs to issue a tax deduction certificate. Otherwise, the Ministry of Accounts still needs to repay me three million taels of silver."
I believe that a certain prince will agree to this condition, because the Ministry of Revenue is already used to spending money, and apart from selling land and selling antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and eating the price difference, he always puts money in his pockets, and rarely takes money out. .
"This... please allow me to think twice!"
Li Shiwen never thought that the prince would solve the problem in this way. He had never thought of using this method to obtain silver, so he did not dare to agree immediately.
"It doesn't matter. We can brainstorm ideas after all the ministers from the Military Aircraft Department have arrived. If there are no objections, ask the cabinet for approval, and the relevant personnel will sign it and it will take effect. If the Ministry of Revenue feels that three million taels are not enough, I can borrow more. Two million taels, make up five million taels!”
Looking at the entire Ming Empire, a certain prince only had less money than Zheng Laofi, but the fixed assets he controlled were dozens of times that of the entire Zheng family.
Including Shandong Gold Mine, Kailuan Coal Mine, Imperial Oil, Qianqi Department Store, Meile Advertising Company, "Jingshi Daily", special medicines and various daily necessities, plus a bunch of high-tech projects, the total assets are no less than hundreds of millions of taels. .
"Your Highness, are you serious about this?"
Li Shiwen really wanted to borrow more, and after finally borrowing it once, it was naturally better to borrow more, so as to avoid the Ministry of Household Affairs being stretched again after some time.
"You have no joke!"
Seeing that the Ministry of Household Affairs was working hard to sell the luxury goods and land confiscated from the prince's mansion, a certain prince would not embarrass Li Shiwen too much.
Part of the money in a certain prince's pocket was also cashed out through the Ministry of Accounts. The two parties had a mutually beneficial cooperative relationship, which needed to be maintained as much as possible for long-term development.
The Military Aircraft Department is composed of nine people, including two cabinet members and seven ministers. Certain extremely special matters can be directly voted on by the Military Aircraft Department without going through court discussion.
The offices of the First Auxiliary and the Second Auxiliary were located outside the East Palace Courtyard, and later became the location of the Military Aircraft Department, mainly because everyone saw the unique benefits of working here.
That's the phone!
That's right!
A certain prince had limited raw materials for making cables. Since he could not make long-distance cables for the time being, it would be more appropriate to make telephone lines directly.
There are currently only two lines in use, one is from the East Palace to Kunning Palace, which is the beautiful mother's bedroom, and the other is from the East Palace to the military aircraft, so you can call your prospective father-in-law at any time.
At first, both Xue Guoguan and Wu Dong were extremely curious about this unique object, but they were both extremely uncomfortable with it, especially when the phone rang suddenly, they were frightened every time.
It's just that as time goes by, this can be regarded as reluctant acceptance, and answering the phone is also a very honorable thing. Not only can you show off to your family, but also to your colleagues.
At present, there is only one telephone in the Military Aircraft Department, which is usually answered by the first or second assistant. If a prince calls one of the seven ministers, someone else will answer it.
Most of the courtiers did not believe in the matter of telephony from thousands of miles away, but they were determined not to deny it, because some of the inventions and creations of a certain prince were displayed there, and some of them were even displayed in public.
When the telephone came out, everyone had completely given up their previous thoughts. This was a real fairy object. No similar object had been created in the past dynasties. Most people believed that the prince went to the fairy world to study.
Compared with a group of courtiers who have exhausted all their agencies, the beautiful biological mother naturally believes in what her son says, and does not need to use objects to prove it. It would be better if she really had it.
At least you can ask your beautiful mother and a group of aunts every day for instructions on when you can eat at the Great Wall of Baima...
The three lines currently under construction are from the East Palace to Chengtianmen, Dongchang, and the Academy of Sciences. These three places are important places and are within the scope of the imperial city. If anything happens, you can be informed at any time.
As for other places, for example, some local wealthy businessmen even said that they could spend thousands of taels of silver to build a dedicated line for their own use.
However, there is currently a serious shortage of raw materials. No matter how generous the expenditure is, they can only wait for the number to be converted to min use before they can enjoy it.
After counting, a certain prince took a brief look and found that there were hundreds of rich people willing to invest five hundred taels of silver to buy the line.
The total amount is more than 50,000 taels of silver, which can probably recover the laying cost. Artificial rubber is still in the practical stage, and it is expected that it will not be widely used on a large scale until the end of this year or the beginning of next year.
Currently, the Military Aircraft Department has a large writing desk, a high-end sofa, a swivel boss chair, a flush toilet, and a telephone. It is considered the most luxurious place in the entire Ming Dynasty, except for the East Palace and Kunning Palace.
In the future, a certain prince plans to equip this group of like-minded lovers with refrigerators and televisions, which will be considered "all five poisons".
Since there are fewer people to serve, the salary has been improved accordingly. Senior officers working in the military aircraft department can order meals, and the Shangshan Superintendent has a chef on call 24 hours a day.
The most popular foods are novelties such as cream cakes. Even if you send your family to Qianqi Department Store to buy them, you may not be able to buy them at a high price.
By controlling the cabinet, influencing the court meetings, and then corrupting the military department, a certain prince achieved complete control over the government, at least allowing the "Beiting" to act according to his own will.
Whether "Nanting" listens to the emperor's words depends on the ability of the dumper. If it remains the same as before, it means that the dumper has not learned the relevant experience and lessons at all, and has not made any progress at all!
After the eight guys from the Military Aircraft Department learned the general situation of the matter from Li Shiwen, it took only five minutes to unanimously approve the proposal to borrow five million taels of silver from the prince.
And they agreed to let the prince use project taxes to offset the loan, which is good for everyone, because a group of people are all senior industry insiders and understand that it is easy for the Ministry of Accounts to borrow money. If they want to take out five million taels of silver from their pockets, then It's too much effort.
After that it’s down to business – playing mahjong!
This time, because everyone was celebrating the big victory in Liaodong, not only did they have to play mahjong for six people, but they also set up several tables at once.
In the military aircraft department, there was a table for myself, a table for nobles, a table for senior chamberlains, two tables for the ministers, and three tables for the generals.
There were many people who went to battle in person, and even more people who watched the excitement.
A certain prince was given ten taels of silver per person this time. Once everyone at the table lost, the substitutes could immediately go into battle.
