Within the Ming Empire, some people believe that the Ming Dynasty should take advantage of the opportunity of the Second European War to seize Brazil, India, central and western Africa and other places.
However, Zhu Cixi directly rejected this proposal. These three places are used for fishing.
How to fish?
As long as the countries behind the Ming Empire want to strive for a higher ranking or maintain their current rankings, they must work hard to improve their national strength.
The most convenient way to improve national power is to suck blood from overseas territories. The larger the area and population of overseas territories, the more blood the local area will receive.
To maintain control of overseas territories, one must rely on the navy.
The farther the overseas territories are from the mainland, the stronger the mainland's dependence on the navy.
Therefore, this is the reason why Zhu Cihong is indifferent to those three big pieces of fat!
Countries that do not have the ability to build ironclad ships must purchase ironclad ships from the Ming Dynasty if they want to improve their naval strength.
Even countries that have the ability to build ironclads, such as France and the Netherlands, will give limited consideration to purchasing super ironclads with larger tonnage, stronger firepower, and longer range from the Ming Dynasty in order to ensure the strength of their navies.
The cost of building a seventh-level ironclad ship (King) reaches nearly 60 million silver coins, and the export price can reach 400 million, which can make a net profit of more than five times.
The profit part is secondary. What is important is that France, the Netherlands, the Ottomans and other countries can take on loans.
This invisibly drained them of the blood they had drawn from their overseas territories.
In other words, even if the Ming Dynasty did not send troops to occupy these places, it could still make a fortune by exporting ironclad ships!
This also saves a lot of trouble in sending troops, and there is no need to kill a soldier. Isn't it the best of both worlds?
Even if the next family uses a twenty-year loan to purchase this kind of armored ship, the repayment would be twenty million silver coins a year.
For Daming, it only takes three years to recover the capital, and the remaining payment part is a net profit!
Zhu Cihong welcomes all countries to purchase ironclad ships. Within the range that can be sold, the larger the tonnage, the better.
However, there is a prerequisite, that is, before any customer has repaid half of the payment for the largest ironclad ship purchased, no ironclad ship of the same class or greater tonnage can be purchased.
This is to limit the rapid expansion of a certain country's navy, so as not to threaten the dominance of the Ming Navy.
Zhu Cixiang has never sold aircraft carriers to any country, only ironclads equipped with artillery and missiles.
Even if the heads of state of other countries want to own an aircraft carrier, they can only use the ironclad ships on hand to modify them...
The performance of the "Albatross" fighter jet is there, and it is really difficult to use it as a carrier-based aircraft.
Some competitors of the Ming Navy want to play this way, and it seems that they have to upgrade the "Albatross".
The prerequisite for a single-engine fighter to be a carrier-based aircraft is that the engine must be reliable, otherwise it may feed the fish while flying...
Zhu Cixiang preferred to use the expensive "Black-footed Albatross" as a carrier-based aircraft. After all, it was twin-engined and more reliable.
Due to the small number of mass production and the fact that the twin-engine aircraft is still a new model, the cost of one "Black-footed Albatross" is equivalent to four "Albatross".
The advantage of being smaller than the prototype "Messerschmitt" -110 is reflected at this time, and it is more suitable to be used as a carrier-based aircraft.
However, when the wings cannot be folded, the size is still too large. According to calculations by the Academy of Sciences, the smallest aircraft carrier must be equipped with an aircraft carrier modified from a "King" type ironclad.
Including the spare aircraft that were broken into several large pieces, a King aircraft carrier can only carry up to twenty "Black-footed Albatross", plus four to six helicopters used to search for enemies or fallen pilots.
The thirteenth batch of shipbuilding plans (1709-1717) had long been drawn up, including two eighth-level ironclads "Scharnhorst" that were larger than the "King".
In order to ensure quality, the construction time is expected to be as long as eight years. Taking into account factors such as rising prices, the use of new power systems and main guns, the Academy of Sciences estimates that the total cost of the two giant ships will be at least 150 million silver coins.
Bismarck and Blücher both used 171 mm main guns, and the King installed a 246 mm main gun. When Scharnhorst came here, it was upgraded to the latest 322 caliber main gun.
Louis XIV already had two Blüchers, and Zhu Cihong not only had to widen the generation gap with him, but also had to be two generations ahead of him in terms of tonnage and firepower to be able to rest easy.
The tonnage of the new version is similar to that of the old version. The standard displacement is about 32,000 tons, and the full load displacement is close to 39,000 tons. Both indicators are about 10,000 tons higher than the previous generation King.
Due to the sufficient length of the hull, not only four twin main gun turrets can be installed, but also a large hangar that can accommodate four helicopters can be installed.
It can be said that the cost of Scharnhorst has indeed set a historical record, but it is also worth the money, because at least the main gun caliber exceeds the original version, and it is equipped with a helicopter.
As for the cost, for the Ming Empire, whose annual income has reached 1.3 billion silver coins, it should not be difficult to spend about 100 million silver coins every year on shipbuilding.
This annual income standard is only the amount of income including gold, silver, copper, iron and other metals converted into silver coins. If you add in the local products, it can reach more than 1.6 billion.
Assuming that the total cultivated land area of the Ming Dynasty in Guan Nei was one billion acres at its peak, now the Ming Empire (excluding the vassal state and the Zheng family) has a registered cultivated land area of nearly three billion acres.
Moreover, the area is still expanding, because the excavation of mountains in Australia and the migration to the east and north are continuing. In the future, the cultivated land area will exceed 4 billion acres.
The piece of land he just acquired is the only black land in Europe, and Zhu Cixiang plans to make good use of it.
It was most appropriate to send troops and their families to garrison there, and I was very happy when I received Zhang Huangyan's report.
After the victory, this disciple had already arranged his subordinates. It was true that he had learned from him for so many years.
Based on the calculation of one stone per mu, the average agricultural tax on three billion acres of land is about 10%, so the three hundred million stone of grain is worth at least three hundred million silver coins.
The advantages of having a large area and a railway network are obvious. If a certain area is hit by a disaster, stored grain can be quickly transported to the area to provide relief to the victims.
Unless the Little Ice Age comes back, ordinary natural disasters cannot hit such a large area at the same time with the Ming Dynasty's territory.
In fact, due to good weather and the large-scale planting of high-yielding crops such as potatoes and corn, the average yield per mu in various places is around three to five stones.
The state-owned grain depot has too much stock to store, and the imperial court is racking its brains from top to bottom to find a way to solve this extremely difficult problem.
In the past, all these stored grains would have been eaten up by the hungry.
But now every household has a surplus of food, and the supply of non-staple food is extremely abundant.
The children in the rich gentry's family basically do not eat staple food, and some wayward children even eat snacks for three meals.
Most of the uneaten grain was ordered by Zhu Cixiang to feed the slave miners and their families.
Today, slave miners have developed to the fourth generation and are heading towards the fifth generation!
The total number of miners in various places exceeds 50 million, accounting for more than 10% of the total population.
Just like the slave owners in North America, Daming Mining will not use slave miners to death and must adhere to a sustainable mining strategy.
If a slave with able-bodied limbs digs out ore worth five silver coins every month, then the task is completed, and the rest of the time can be used freely.
The part you get from mining in your spare time can be exchanged for money and any food and daily necessities.
A slave miner of appropriate age can save ten or twenty silver coins every year, and after ten years he can be freed and become a free miner.
After experiencing life in the Ming Dynasty, not many free miners from Africa and other regions are willing to return to their hometowns to avoid being caught by some white-skinned bandits again.
Even if you mine as a slave, you can still marry a female slave as your wife, without delaying the birth of children at all...
If a female slave wife worked as a slave or even a maid for a wealthy gentry's family, not only could she earn more than her miner husband, but she would also have the opportunity to have her husband bailed out by her master.
For those guys whose elder brother or younger brother is mining, if their elder sister or younger sister is attracted by a wealthy gentry, it will directly save ten years of mining time.
It’s not that there are no beautiful slaves. Even if they are black, the probability of having a beautiful woman is only about one percent to one thousandth.
Those wealthy gentry who were tired of playing with local skinny horses or Western ocean horses took riding black horses as their latest hobby.
As long as you spend enough silver coins, you can buy anyone from female slaves to slave miners.
The price of a strong slave miner can even reach as high as two to three hundred silver coins.
Many wealthy gentry who were not short of money even acted at the same time to form a black and white combination to protect themselves!
White slaves were naturally captured from Europe, mostly British, Spanish, and Eastern Europeans.
The former two came to the Ming Empire as prisoners of war, while the latter was captured by the Ottomans to pay back their money.
The Germans are special. Several of the earliest batches were sent over by the Duke of Hesse to make money...
Basically all Germans were mercenaries. After that, except for a few who went home, most chose to stay in the Ming Empire where living conditions far exceeded those in Europe.
Those who stayed behind were willing to bring their families over to enjoy a quality life. Not only would they not go hungry, but the mercenaries could also receive medical care.
There are quite a few descendants of mercenaries among the troops fighting in the grasslands, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia, but they have all become enlightened.
From language to food, they are no different from the local Ming army soldiers. The military services include the navy, land and air force.
Especially when dealing with guerrillas in the rainforests of Southeast Asia, speaking German can even reduce the chance of accidentally injuring a comrade.
Parts of Southeast Asia controlled by the Ming Dynasty have almost become a paradise for guerrillas, and these things have not been completely wiped out yet.
The emergence of armed helicopters has greatly helped the Ming army's ground forces, especially since such aircraft do not require an airport and can take off and land in open spaces.
In addition to Europe and North America, the place with the largest number of armed helicopters is Southeast Asia, where the total number of "Black Hawks" in service exceeds 300.
This was far from meeting the needs of the local Ming army. According to estimates from the Ministry of War, at least a thousand aircraft would have to be invested to inflict heavy damage on the guerrillas.
Fortunately, Zhang Huangyan acted quickly. After two years of hard work, he was finally done, allowing the production capacity of the local helicopter factory to be used in North America and Southeast Asia.
"Black Hawk" also has a special function, that is, since the mine is equipped with this thing, it has become much easier to catch escaped slaves...
Emperor Haojing has used the extra food to feed the children of slaves, and he will definitely not let the father automatically give up his custody rights!
This is the backbone of the family. If you don't support him for ten years, you won't be able to leave the mine alive!
In the event of a surplus of grain, all slaves, their wives, and children were well fed, even to the point of being exhausted.
The premise is that slave miners must complete the mining quota and cannot be lazy, otherwise the mining time in the mining area will be automatically extended.
Not only black miners, but also white miners and monkey miners captured from Southeast Asia.
Most of the latter served in the mining areas of Nanyang Jinshan and Australia. "Service" refers to corvee service!
In addition to the territory allocated to the vassal king, the East Indies and Nanyang Jinshan were under the administration of the imperial court.
Australia was managed by the emperor's eldest son Zhu Xiangtang, assisted by a group of younger brothers.
Zhu Cixiang arranged for a group of sons to blow up mountains and dig canals, but they have not yet been completed.
Since the Great Dividing Range is a huge project and twenty or thirty canals need to be dug, it is estimated that it will take about fifty years to complete the entire project.
Of course Zhu Cixi could afford to wait. It would take a hundred years to use a drying barrel to extract enough enriched uranium.
By the time the number of slave miners grows to two to three hundred million, some major projects will be almost completed.
According to the factory guard's report, there are rumors in the market that the Ming Empire has moved closer to the Roman Empire.
Slaves began to be used in large numbers, Akira became more and more lazy, and the empire would eventually be destroyed at the hands of slaves...
Zhu Cixiang has certainly considered this issue.
What I was thinking about was not how to get rid of the slaves, but what other empire in history was destroyed by slaves besides the Roman Empire?
The biggest difference between the Ming people and the Romans is that they are particularly fertile. This time, there are always more Ming people than slaves.
In addition, slaves have no weapons, and Ming Dynasty will not raise a large number of gladiators, so there is no such thing as Spartacus.
The most important thing is that without the emergence of a faint king, there is no country like Carthage around the Ming Dynasty.
The possibility of the Ming Empire being destroyed by slaves is very slim. At least the army will not have slaves, and the proportion of barbarians will not be high.
Because the future of mankind is to develop high technology, not herding or mining!
Zhu Cixiang now sends people to work hard to mine in order to accumulate original funds for the development of high technology.
When everything is ready, the Ming Empire can take off directly.
It's far from taking off at the moment. At most, it's just three or four blocks away from the few friends behind it.
Since the friends can no longer see their tail lights, they have to wait for them.
So much so that the construction time of the "Scharnhorst" type battleship was extended to eight years.
It was planned to build six "Scharnhorsts" in the fourteenth batch (1716-1724), and eight "Scharnhorsts" in the fifteenth batch (1724-1730).
Starting from the sixteenth batch (1731-1738), two giant ships of 50,000 tons were built - Bismarck!
