In the capital, a fast horse galloped towards the palace from the central Zhuque Street at an extremely fast speed. This time it was not a battle report from the border, but a good news from Tianjin.
In the brand-new Qianqing Palace of the Imperial Palace, in Emperor Hongzhi's study, Emperor Hongzhi was discussing the reform of the military system with several ministers.
The reform of the military system is a major event. Although it has been finalized to carry out the reform according to the plan submitted by British Prime Minister Zhang Mao, such a major military event involving the army must not be implemented in a hurry and all aspects of the details, etc. It also requires repeated discussions and research.
The next step is to carry out pilot projects now. After the pilot effects are obvious, we can then promote it nationwide. This is also Liu Jin's advice to Zhang Mao.
Such a method has been used for a long time in later generations. Try it first to see the effect. If it works, then promote it on a large scale. In this way, you can try out a stable transition. If there are problems, you can Stop immediately.
"Your Majesty, my opinion is that we can try it out here in Beizhili for the time being. We can build a military academy first and see the effect before deciding whether to promote it on a large scale."
Zhang Mao said to Emperor Hongzhi and the ministers.
"Well, this is a good idea~"
Emperor Hongzhi nodded to express his support. As for Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, and Xie Qian, they also nodded slightly. They were afraid of a one-size-fits-all thing and would have to comprehensively promote the new system throughout the Ming Dynasty at once, which would easily lead to problems.
This pilot method is a good method. First, check the effect. If the effect is good, then gradually promote it.
The area where Emperor Hongzhi has been hesitant is that after the reform of the military system, military expenditures will have to come from the emperor's internal funds. This is where he hesitates the most.
Military expenditures are not a small amount, especially after the reform of the military system. The Ming Dynasty's army will be completely separated from production. Hundreds of thousands of troops a year will be completely separated from production and will be purely consumed. All this will be counted on the emperor, and this expenditure will be very large. There are far more horrors than the current military household system, much, much more.
Although Emperor Hongzhi is rich now, and the many industries he has invested in are continuously making money for him, but who knows whether this can last long, and who knows whether there will be some great changes in the future?
He was hesitant, which is why the reform of the military system has not yet begun.
After discussions over this period of time, the plan has been worked out in great detail, and every detail has been fully discussed.
Now Zhang Mao proposes to conduct a pilot project first, which is in line with Emperor Hongzhi's wishes. The pilot project means that there is no need for large-scale promotion, but to build an army first and try building a military academy. It does not cost much money.
Even Emperor Hongzhi was willing to throw away a million taels of silver without blinking an eye.
"What do you think?"
Emperor Hongzhi thought for a while and asked Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and Xie Qian.
"I think this is indeed a good idea. Let's pilot it first and see the effect."
Liu Jian nodded and expressed his support. The reform of the military system is imperative, and the military household system is indeed terrible. Whether this compulsory military service system will work or not, we will know after giving it a try.
"I think it's okay~"
Li Dongyang and Xie Qian also gave the same answer.
"Since everyone thinks it's possible, let's try it here in Beizhili first and build a military academy to see how it goes."
Emperor Hongzhi saw that several important ministers had no objections and made the final decision.
At this time, a small yellow door hurriedly came to the door. Xiao Jing hurried over and quickly dragged a tray and said with a smile on his face: "Congratulations, your majesty, congratulations, your majesty, the fleet has returned from the Golden Continent. Not only did it bring
I came back with several high-yielding crops, and I also brought back gold and silver worth thirty million taels of silver."
Xiao Jing's words were very clearly conveyed to the ears of everyone present.
Everyone looked at each other, wondering if their ears had heard wrong.
"You mean thirty million taels?"
Zhang Mao asked Xiao Jing.
"Yes, there are gold and silver worth thirty million taels, including one million taels of gold and twenty million taels of silver. The total value is thirty million taels."
Xiao Jing quickly said seriously again and said carefully.
"A million taels of gold?"
"Twenty million taels of silver?"
When everyone heard this, everyone immediately opened their mouths. Even Emperor Hongzhi also opened his eyes. This number was so huge that everyone couldn't believe it and didn't believe it at all.
"Is this number correct?"
Emperor Hongzhi was a little dumbfounded and asked again.
"Back to Your Majesty, the numbers are correct. There are tens of thousands of people in the entire Tianjin Port who have seen it live. Every detail is scaled, and there is absolutely no mistake."
Xiao Jing said firmly again.
"Thirty million taels~"
Zhang Mao couldn't help but sigh. He, Zhang Mao, could now be regarded as an emerging capitalist. He was very rich, but he still couldn't calm down when he heard the figure of 30 million taels.
Not only Zhang Mao, Liu Jian, Xie Qian, and Li Dongyang were also unable to calm down. They were all dumbfounded and opened their mouths. If they hadn't repeatedly confirmed that this was not a joke, they really couldn't believe this number.
of.
"Haha~"
Emperor Hongzhi couldn't help laughing happily. At first, he just thought of sending people to Huangjinzhou to bring back several high-yielding crops that Liu Jin mentioned. Who knew that he would actually bring back such a huge amount of wealth?
According to the original agreement, Emperor Hongzhi and Du Mingen each took 30%, Liu Jin took 20%, and the remaining 20% was shared by the crew of the fleet. After all, Emperor Hongzhi could get 9 million taels of silver.
At first, I thought that this military reform was very expensive, but now it’s better. As soon as the fleet came back, it brought back nine million taels of silver to Emperor Hongzhi. With this huge amount of money, the entire Ming Dynasty implemented the new military system.
There are no more problems.
"Where's that high-yielding crop? Bring it over and show it to me~"
After being happy, Emperor Hongzhi remembered that the most important thing was not the silver, but the several high-yielding crops Liu Jin had mentioned.
Although silver is wealth, you can't eat what you can't make peace with.
As an emperor and having his own huge property, the most important thing for him is money.
For him, the most important thing is a few high-yielding crops. With these high-yielding crops, the people of Ming Dynasty will not starve. As long as the people do not starve, then the position of Lao Zhu's family will be very stable. This
A country can be passed down from generation to generation.
This is more important than anything else. The most important thing is that people eat.
"Your Majesty, these are the high-yielding crops in his Golden Continent. This is corn, this is sweet potato, and this is potato~"
Xiao Jing quickly presented the contents of the tray to Emperor Hongzhi, pointed at the contents and said.
Emperor Hongzhi picked up the corn and looked at it carefully. Then he picked up the sweet potatoes and potatoes and looked carefully. These things were indeed not from the Ming Dynasty.
Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian, and Zhang Mao also looked at them curiously. All three items were unremarkable in appearance, and there was no trace of them being high-yielding crops capable of yielding tens of shi per mu.
"Can these three things really produce dozens of shi per mu?"
“I don’t know how it tastes or whether it can satisfy my hunger~”
Emperor Hongzhi looked at it carefully and said.
"Your Majesty, I have already ordered the imperial kitchen to prepare it. Soon, Your Majesty, you will be able to taste the high-yielding crops of the Golden Continent."
Xiao Jing said with a smile.
"Nonsense, this is a fine seed that the fleet finally brought back from Golden Continent. How can we eat it now?"
When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he immediately said sharply.
"Your Majesty, please rest assured. The fleet has brought back enough seeds. Your Majesty will taste them without any problems at all. Ten large ships went out, and all of them came back without missing a single one."
Xiao Jing said.
"That's it, then let's have a taste and let everyone have a taste."
"If these things can really produce dozens of dan per acre, then there will be no famine in our Ming Dynasty. This is much more important than those 30 million taels of silver."
When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he felt relieved and then said to the ministers around him.
"If we can really produce tens of stones per acre, then our Ming Dynasty will really have no more famines. This is definitely a big event worth celebrating."
Liu Jian nodded solemnly and said.
"Well, that's necessary. Pass the decree and I will personally reward them in the Jinluan Palace."
Emperor Hongzhi is not a stingy person. When encountering such a big event, there is no doubt that he must give a good reward. He brought back a huge wealth of 30 million taels of silver and several high-yielding crops. This is definitely
For a big happy event, a reward is a must.
Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, and Xie Qian looked at each other, and no one objected. For such a big event, which is worthy of universal celebration, Emperor Hongzhi cannot give him an excessive reward.
Soon, the chef in the imperial kitchen simply cooked the corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes and sent them to Emperor Hongzhi's study.
"Hmm~ This corn is quite fragrant."
Emperor Hongzhi smelled the fragrance of corn and couldn't help but smile and said: "Come on, come on, everyone has a taste. We are almost the first to eat crabs."
Liu Jian, Zhang Mao and the others were not polite, and each of them started to try the food.
Someone had already tasted this stuff and made sure it was not poisonous before it could be sent to Emperor Hongzhi.
"Well, this corn tastes really good."
After just one taste, Emperor Hongzhi couldn't help but smile and said.
"This sweet potato is also very sweet and tastes good."
Liu Jian ate the sweet potatoes and nodded with a smile.
"This potato is also good. It is similar to rice. It is very suitable to be eaten with other dishes."
Li Dongyang also commented with a smile on the potatoes he ate.
"Haha, at least the taste is very good. As long as there is no problem with the production, then my Ming Dynasty will be famine again."
Emperor Hongzhi is really happy today, you can tell just by hearing the laughter.
