In the early morning, a two-wheeled carriage hurried into Nanjing. Zhang Mingzhen, who was sitting on the carriage, sometimes turned his attention to the carriage.

Born in Nanjing, he is not unfamiliar with this city. However, in his opinion, Nanjing is completely different from the past.

Not to mention that the streets are wider, even the two sides of the street are full of buildings with more than three floors of double eaves and heavy closures. In the past, these were beyond the rules, but now... the Gansheng Dynasty has long abolished the strict hierarchy of architecture. In fact, in the Ming Dynasty, all officials and civilians who had some power and money, especially in the wealthy areas in the south, who did not exceed the rules for building houses?

But who can imagine that His Majesty will be useless?

"Our Majesty, we are very different from the emperors of all generations..."

Once again, Zhang Mingzhen thought of his friend's evaluation of His Majesty. However, as a general, he did not consider it so much. Instead, he was thinking about the reason for His Majesty's visit this time.

In fact, Zhang Mingzhen didn't know that when His Majesty saw him, he wanted to give him a fortune, not to praise his contributions over the years, but to praise his loyalty to the Ming Dynasty in another world.

According to Zhu Guoqiang's idea, loyal ministers should be praised!

Therefore, we will always find some opportunities to increase the title of these loyal ministers.

If you look for such an emperor... Sometimes, even the parties don't know. After all, many parties have no chance to show their loyalty to the Ming Dynasty and to this nation in this world.

But Emperor Zhu will not forget it! That's why he called his name.

"Xuan Zhang Mingzhen meets you!"

After entering the palace, Zhang Mingzhen didn't wait long before a guard led them to see the emperor.

The place where the emperor was met was the Imperial Study Room, which was also a place where civil and military officials could meet in addition to Fengtian Hall. The minister of Rites, Qian Qianyi, was present to accompany Emperor Zhu to summon the two of them. This guy had no chance to be too cold. He also presided over the publicity in Nanjing that year and also contributed a lot to Emperor Zhu. As a hero of the dragon, he stopped at the Ministry of Rites.

Zhang Mingzhen, dressed in a civilized guard robe, gave a big gift, and Emperor Zhu immediately gave him a seat.

"Zhang Qing,"

Zhu Guoqiang saw him fall down and looked at his body of Jinyiwei. Zhang Mingzhen was the official robes of Jinyiwei. Although he was transferred to a general of the navy, he still wore Jinyiwei's official robes when he met the emperor and said with a smile.

"Today, you entered the palace, and there was a dispatch to you."

Zhang Mingzhen sounded a little strange. He didn't even expect that one day he would get his Majesty's choice. He was just a mere coastal defense guerrilla. How could His Majesty know his name?

Looking at his doubts, Emperor Zhu then pointed at the Prince of Dongyuan County Zhu Youbin:

"This is Zhu Youbin, the prince of Dongyuan, Zheng Fan. In recent years, our Ming Dynasty has expanded its overseas colonization and has increased its contact with the countries of Europe. Therefore, it is inevitable to send an envoy to Europe. Therefore, I plan to go to Europe with the prince of Dongyuan, and sign trade treaties with various countries. I am using you as a reminder to the fleet. I wonder if your family is willing to lead the fleet?"

In fact, Zhu Youbin only made a suitable request at the right time and sent an envoy to Europe was inevitable. It was not just to strengthen communication, but more importantly, to see if several trade treaties cannot be signed, such as demarcating spheres of influence, and the goal can be achieved by peaceful means. Of course, Emperor Zhu was unwilling to start a war, after all, wars cost money.

So what I asked to send missions to Europe was to set up a museum to establish diplomatic relations; the second was to divide the sphere of influence. The Ming Dynasty now had low requirements, namely the East Asia continent, the Indochina Peninsula, India, the Mexican Governor's Area and the Northern Region. As for other places, this requirement is not high, that is, half of the world. The third was the transfer of the Philippines - Spain transferred the Philippines to the Ming Dynasty!

Of course, Spain may not be willing to transfer it, but there is no problem. Anyway, I’m telling Spain now that the Ming Dynasty can no longer accept their presence in the Philippines. They have only one choice, which is to give up the Philippines. Then Isolate Spain through diplomatic efforts. Anyway, this rich man is quite hated in Europe.

Not to mention this year, even in the 21st century, the rich countries will also raise hatred, but this era is more straightforward, and everyone wants to eat meat on Spain.

After talking about the mission of visiting Europe, Zhu Guoqiang continued:

"Zhang Qing, this is an errand that can be remembered in history! Do it well, and when you succeed in the future, I will grant you a viscount."

Compared with the past, the Ming Dynasty now has seventh-class titles, including Duke, Marquis, Bo, Zi, Male, and Prince and Prince. Among them, Prince and Prince are of course royal relatives, and give titles to meritorious officials of other surnames. In the past, there were only Duke, Marquis, and Bo, and the establishment of viscounts was not only for rewarding meritorious officials, but also for placing a group of great ministers. According to the principle of "not being granted titles without military merit", only military generals can be granted titles. The titles of the Ming Dynasty are not given salaries, but will be given to honor land and residences. The maximum honor land is 5,000 acres. If the Duke counts down, the first level will be reduced by 1,000 acres, and the smallest baron is 1,000 acres of honor land.

However, in the Ming Dynasty's title system, the viscount is the lowest hereditary title. As for the lowest baron, it is actually just a title. Although there are 1,000 acres of land, after he dies, he has to pay taxes like ordinary private land. Of course, when the first landlord was alive, he also had to pay taxes, but after paying the tax, the court will "reward" the tax he paid - that is, tax refunds!

Pay first and then return, which seems like a waste of money. But in fact, it is of great significance. After Zhu Guoqiang ascended the throne, his first knife was to attack the gentry, "Scholars and officials are exempted from being paid first and then return". What does this mean? Whether you are a first-rank high-ranking official, a county student, a minister, or a military general, you are a military household. You no longer directly exempt the amount of grain. How much land is paid as much tax, and after the full amount is paid, you will "refund" according to your identity. In other words, even if you are a first-rank Beijing official, you can only exempt 30 s of grain tax according to the law. If you want to exempt it, you must pay the imperial grain tax first.

This knife seems inconspicuous, but it hurts to cut the body of the gentry and the local gentry! This fundamentally eliminates the possibility of the expansion of the power of the gentry's exemption from duty and exemption from the tax. All privately held land must be paid taxes! Moreover, "payment and refund" is to talk to the court. The local officials dare not ask how much land the officials in the capital have, but the Ministry of Revenue has accounts to check, and you will know it once you check it.

In addition, even the land in the imperial village held by Emperor Zhu himself is paid first and then tax refunded!

This extremely strict land tax system for the powerful was proposed by Zhu Guoqiang to learn from the "individual tax refund" in later generations! It was through this knife that the land tax of the Ming Dynasty suddenly jumped from a few million taels to nearly 20 million taels.

"I thank you for your kindness!"

Zhang Mingzhen was so excited when he heard this!

Viscount!

This is a hereditary title!

Two thousand acres of tax-free merit fields are no big deal. After all, according to the emperor's habits, this field is either in the Northeast or in Chenghua. However, a hereditary title means a title and status represented by generations. After all, there are no hereditary military positions in the Ming Dynasty now, and Zhang Mingzhen's hereditary military positions... have come to an end!

Not only did he lose his hereditary guerrillas, but he would have been abolished, and now he has become a "title", and he can only hold one generation of people. The garrison offices have all become misplaced positions.

But what if the viscount is enfeoffed?

That is a hero who is in the same resignation as the country!

Looking at Zhang Mingzhen who was excited, Zhu Guoqiang said with a smile:

"You guys go back and prepare for it, and let's go this month! I have asked the Navy to prepare ships and escorts!"

This trip was quite grand. The mission's personnel would not be less than a hundred people, and there would be at least 12 cruise ships with more than 100 tons to escort them to Europe. They would also carry gifts to the monarchs and popes from all over the European countries with the ship, as well as many porcelain and silks that were planned to be sold in Europe to pay for the mission's expenses in various European countries. They were all good things for "royal royal use"! Of course, those things were used to... cheat money!
Chapter completed!