One hundred million taels of silver, what is this concept?
During the Wanli period, the Ming Dynasty's annual income was about 4 million taels. During the Taichang period, due to the invasion of the Qing Dynasty and the locust drought in the northwest, the annual income dropped sharply to about 1.8 million taels. After the Tianqi Dynasty began, the Manchu and Qing Dynasties were busy absorbing and digesting the land they occupied in the north.
After giving Jiangnan time to recuperate, the annual income rose to three million taels. After Zhu Youxiao took charge, Liu Ziguang conquered the east and west, and the Ming Dynasty was powerful throughout the country. The national economy further developed greatly. Taking the fourteenth year of Tianqi as an example, the annual income
It has reached an incredible amount of fifteen million taels, and this does not include the money raised from the securities market, so the idea of Apocalypse ZTE is not blown out of thin air.
The money that Hu Xueyan used for Liu Ziguang's military expenditure was more than six times more than the annual income at the peak of the Ming Dynasty. This shows that the richest man in the Ming Dynasty has strong financial resources. Even Liu Ziguang, who is as well-informed as he is, can't help but be stunned. This is also
It is just a preliminary preparation. If the subsequent ones are included, it will not be able to match the fiscal revenue of the Ming Dynasty for half a century. We might as well stop this battle and just buy the Ming Dynasty with money.
One hundred million taels of silver, that is, ten million catties, five million kilograms, or five thousand tons of silver. It would cost thousands of wagons to transport it by train, and it would cost three thousand freight cars to transport it by ship. It would take several round trips.
The Hu family gave so much money to themselves all at once. If there were no conditions behind it, he would not believe it even if he killed Liu Ziguang.
With such sufficient financial support, the chance of winning this battle has been greatly increased. However, Liu Ziguang did not show surprise immediately. Instead, he shook his head and said: "Silver can only be used as military pay. If it cannot buy food, grass or weapons, it is still the same as scrap metal."
, as long as the south seals the border, controls traffic, and does not allow ships to enter the sea, and does not allow an inch of iron to cross the border, no matter how much money is given, it cannot be exchanged for supplies, and it is given to soldiers who have nowhere to spend, so it will not be of much use."
Hu Xueyan said: "These old men have thought of it a long time ago. As long as there is money, 99% of the problems in this world can be solved. It doesn't matter if the south can't buy food, grass and weapons. We can buy weapons from the Song Dynasty and rice from Nanyang, and completely blockade them."
Borders cannot be achieved. Currently, 50% of the Ming Dynasty's economy relies on overseas trade. If trade is cut off, taxes will not come from it. Therefore, the court will never resort to this strategy. The cloth, silk and tea leaves from the south of the Yangtze River are mainly exported to the sea and transferred to the north for unloading.
Who knows? The border is thousands of miles long and cannot be closed. You can’t buy what you want.”
Liu Ziguang said: "Even so, it will take time to raise supplies. It will not be possible to launch the southern expedition in less than a year and a half. If you insist on me raising troops now, I still can't help you."
Hu Xueyan said: "Of course, I will give you eight words: Retreat in order to advance, play hard to get, and now you are living in exile overseas. When the traitors in the court bring the world to a state of disarray, you can come back to clean up the old country. By then, you will get twice the result with half the effort, and the army will move south like a broken bamboo.
The losses caused by the war will be reduced to the lowest point."
The eight-character policy mentioned by Hu Xueyan is exactly the strategy Liu Ziguang is currently implementing. The two of them have thought of it together. At this point, there is no need to be secretive anymore. Liu Ziguang said: "Old shopkeeper, wait until the world is finally settled.
, I will definitely repay you well, and Rishengchang’s ticket number will definitely spread all over the world again.”
Hu Xueyan stretched out a finger and shook it: "This is not what I want."
"Then what does the old shopkeeper want with such strong support?" Liu Ziguang asked suspiciously, thinking to himself, Mr. Hu, you wouldn't say it was for world peace.
Hu Xueyan suddenly changed the subject and said, "Do you know why I named my daughter Yimin?"
Liu Ziguang said: "It is said to be in memory of the late madam."
"Yes, she was the second young lady of the powerful Grand Master Li's family back then. I was just a poor scholar, and she was about to enter the palace as a concubine. She had a bright future, but she gave up her glory and wealth and was willing to live on the streets with me.
Living a life full of meals, I gave birth to our daughter in a thatched shed outside Luzhou City. She died early due to lack of medical treatment. In memory of her, I named my daughter Yimin.
, it means commemorating my beloved wife Li Min. My daughter is very sensible. She grew up eating hundreds of meals. She started doing business with me when she was less than three years old. She didn’t have enough to eat. She never cried when she was bullied. She had a very stubborn temper.
, this is very much in line with her mother."
Hu Xueyan was immersed in the memories of the past, and his voice became a little choked. Liu Ziguang did not dare to interrupt, but just listened quietly. Suddenly Hu Xueyan smiled: "It's far away, it makes the Duke laugh, I only have this daughter
, I am twenty-five years old this year. My Hu family is the richest in the world. Naturally, there is no shortage of people coming to propose marriage. But this girl has a very high vision. She has taken a fancy to one person in the world, and this person is the husband of her best friend.
, so...well, seeing my daughter in pain, I, as a father, am no longer afraid of being embarrassed..."
Before he finished speaking, Liu Ziguang was already lying down: "Father-in-law, please accept my brother-in-law's greetings."
I originally thought that Liu Ziguang would pretend to be stupid, or at least pretend to evade a few words, but I didn't expect him to be so direct. Instead, Lao Hu didn't have time to say many prepared words, and was stunned for a while. Young people these days are so ignorant.
Are you being subtle?
Liu Ziguang said: "Miss Hu is a hero among women. Zi Guang has admired her for a long time. But because she is married, she dare not reach out to her. She has kept her true feelings in her heart for several years. Now that my father-in-law mentioned it today, Zi Guang
Naturally, I don’t dare to be pretentious. I will listen to your old words when it comes to getting married."
When the matter was settled, the two of them came out of the back hall with happy faces. Hu Xueyan was happy that he finally helped his daughter find a home, and at the same time helped Ri Shengchang find a stable backer. Liu Ziguang was happy that he had married again.
Good daughter-in-law, from now on, someone will take care of the family's accounts, and she will also take away a dowry of 100 million taels. This is a good thing that cannot be found even with a lantern.
Looking for Hu Yimin and Peng Jinrong again, they no longer know where they have gone. Miss Hu must have expected that her father would mention the marriage to Liu Ziguang, and she was too embarrassed to see anyone. It turns out that the powerful shopkeeper Hu in the past also had this problem.
It’s really funny to think about the mentality of a little girl.
The next day, Liu Ziguang gathered his generals again and announced to everyone that he would go into exile overseas. He ordered Lu Ying, the garrison of Qingdao, not to fight against the imperial court, but to accept the orders of Sun Qichao, the imperial envoy who inspected Shandong.
As soon as the order came out, everyone was in an uproar. They originally thought that Qingdao was the closest Red Shirt Army base to the south and would become the starting point for the southern expedition. Unexpectedly, the commander-in-chief went into exile. So where will these subordinates go?
The rough man actually had tears in his eyes and cried to the ground, urging Liu Ziguang not to abandon them.
But Liu Ziguang had made up his mind to go and refused to look back despite everyone's persuasion. When Lu Ying saw the situation, he drew his sword and put it across his neck: "Commander, if you leave, we will have no way to survive. Instead of being killed by Sun,
The traitor was tortured to death, so why not die in front of you now?"
The men in the red shirts were not those hypocritical masters. They drew their swords to kill themselves. They meant it. It was too late. Liu Ziguang flicked his sword away with a flick of his finger, pulled Lu Ying over and said: "Come on, come on.
Please listen to my advice."
The two of them didn't know what they said in the back room. After a long time, Lu Ying came out. He didn't mention the matter of seeking death anymore, and said with a cold face: "If you are a man, please help the commander take care of Qingdao's property. No one can be a coward."
!”
When everyone saw that even Lu Ying could not persuade the commander, they did not dare to say anything and could only accept the order with tears in their eyes.
The families of the red-shirted soldiers who escaped from the capital have been resettled on the spot, and the disabled veterans have been given enough money to live in anonymity. The people who followed Liu Ziguang in exile overseas were only a hundred servants and a ship with three thousand materials.
Just a boat.
A few days later, at the Qingdao pier, seagulls were soaring at low altitude, waves were beating against the trestle, and a three-thousand-material ocean-going sailing ship was parked next to the pier. Thousands of soldiers and civilians on Qingdao were bidding farewell to the commander-in-chief in the drizzle. Liu Ziguang wore a white washed red suit.
Wearing a shirt, no hat on his head, and only a sword hanging on his waist, he looked extremely simple. He stood at the bridge and said goodbye to everyone: "Fathers and fellow villagers, the imperial court is controlled by traitors. I, Liu Ziguang, do not want the people to suffer from war."
Because of the suffering, I went into exile overseas and will never set foot on my homeland again. The sky is high and the sea is vast, so everyone should cherish it."
The villagers recommended a few respected old men to give Liu Ziguang a bowl of farewell wine. Liu Ziguang took the wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp. He handed over to everyone, said no more, turned around, held the hilt of his sword, and strode away. Just before he
The moment he turned around, the people who were close to him clearly saw something glittering and translucent flashing on the Duke's face.
Liu Ziguang left, the rain became heavier, the wind began to howl, dark clouds were gathering in the distance, and petrels were fighting in the wind and rain, which symbolized that the Duke of the country would go through many storms when he went overseas. The people watched the ship gradually
I couldn't help but choke up as I walked away.
Two inconspicuous people in the crowd exchanged glances with each other, left the farewell team and returned to their residence, packed up their things and left quickly. They were spies stationed in Qingdao by the Imperial Secret Service. Of course, such important news as Liu Ziguang's exile overseas must be reported as soon as possible.
Report to the capital so that the emperor and Eunuch Wei can rest assured.
The ship carrying Liu Ziguang's family sailed alone in Jiaozhou Bay, with only seagulls for company. It looked extremely desolate. However, as soon as it left Jiaozhou Bay, the fleet that had been waiting outside the harbor sounded its whistle together.
The commander saluted, and the remaining ships of the Qingdao Navy and several warships coming from Tianjin Port formed a huge formation to follow Liu Ziguang into exile.
Liu Ziguang held the side of the ship and inspected this powerful fleet. Countless steel giants rode the wind and waves, and the thick muzzles raised their heads to the sky. Navy officers in white sailor uniforms stood on the side of the ship facing Liu Ziguang and saluted in unison. Liu Ziguang
He also returned the courtesy to them seriously.
I don't know when the heavy rain stopped, the sun showed its face from behind the dark clouds, the golden light was scattered, the bright red flag fluttered in the wind, and the fleet sailed towards the east against the sun.