The bearded John held his head high and his face was full of pride.
He quickly got off the boat and asked himself for credit: "You don't know, I spent a lot of human connections to find these people for you."
"Send them down."
Soon, more than a hundred men and women were escorted off the ship. They were unkempt and disheveled, and their clothes were thin, but at least they looked Han Chinese.
Zhu Ci glanced at it, then turned his gaze back again: "Where did it come from?"
"The East Indies, which is what you often call Nanyang."
The bearded John said casually: "There are very few Ming people, and your Qin and Qi countries are recruiting, so I can only get these for you for the time being."
"But don't worry, I can get at least a hundred people for you every month, as long as you have enough pearls."
As he said that, he laughed.
According to the agreement between the two, Han people, regardless of gender, would each receive fifty taels of silver, while ordinary veterans would receive thirty taels of silver.
Looking at these people in front of him, Zhu Ci was ecstatic.
Now his kingdom of Ceylon seems to be expanding rapidly, but it is also in danger.
Because the core of its rule is only about a hundred Han people and the way of balance.
For example, Ceylon divided the tribe into three.
The first batch of surrendered tribes numbered about a thousand people. They could join the army, serve as officials, do business, etc. They belonged to the nearby tribe.
The second batch of conquests before were from the far reaches, the residents of the Mannar Peninsula. They could only pay taxes and join the army, but could not serve as officials.
The last class is the residents outside the Mannar Peninsula. They know nothing about the Kingdom of Ceylon and can only be reduced to a purely tax-paying group.
They are called the donor tribe and the slave tribe.
As the name suggests, it is a pure offering to the Han people, with the near part and the far part.
Such differentiated treatment allowed the Kingdom of Ceylon to closely unite the nearby and distant tribes to jointly suppress the slave tribe.
But this kind of oppression is inherently unkind, and what's even more frightening is that the number of Han people is too small. Even if a circle of contacts is expanded through marriage, it will be of no avail.
At least, he did not dare to enter the Jaffna Kingdom at this time, partly because he was afraid of instability in the rear.
"Five thousand taels a month is too expensive."
Zhu Ci smiled bitterly and said: "Although my kingdom looks a bit like this now, it is just a joke. The uses of pearls are too great and the output is unstable..."
John was stunned and said hurriedly: "My King, everyone has negotiated for you, but you actually told me that you can't afford it."
"This is not a good collaboration."
"Lower the price!" Zhu Ci blinked: "I will buy it at the original price this time, but it won't be the same price next time. It's too expensive."
"After all, I have to save some money to buy armor and gunpowder from you, right?"
Hearing this, Bearded John breathed a sigh of relief. The meat was still rotten in the pot, so that was it.
"The maximum I can give you is forty taels, and twenty taels for young and old."
"Thirty taels——"
"I'm going to lose money..."
"Thirty taels."
"Okay, just thirty taels."
Finally, John had to give in.
If it was last year, he would never have agreed, but that was the case now.
The Kingdom of Ceylon left the Mannar Peninsula and moved inland, occupying a lot of territory. At the same time, it was considered to have invaded the Kingdom of Jaffna, and the country's power increased greatly.
At this time, Ceylon could not only trade pearls, but also ivory and gemstones, which made its caravan even more impressive.
In a sense, he can be regarded as a turnaround.
After sending these men and women to Yan Fort, Zhu Ci pondered for a moment and said, "How much do you know about the Kingdom of Jaffna?"
"They are Tamils." John sighed: "I heard that they are from India and they believe in the so-called Brahmanism. You know this."
"Now the Dutch are stationed in Jaffna, and control the entire island of Sri Lanka from the south to the north with Colombo. They have about 10,000 troops and not many musketeers, only a few hundred..."
"What about the Dutch? How many are there?"
"Are you planning to attack Jaffna? Forgive me, Your Majesty, but you are overestimating your capabilities."
John shook his head hurriedly: "The Dutch will not give up here, so you need to capture their capital Nalur as soon as possible, otherwise it will be in vain."
"Moreover, the most important thing for you is to withstand the anger of the Dutch. After all, it affects the interests of his company."
In other words, the Kingdom of Jaffna has been reduced to a puppet for many years, especially after it was beaten to pieces by the Portuguese expedition and completely lost its self-confidence.
So there is nothing to fear about Jaffna, the most important thing is the Dutch.
John said with fear on his face: "The East India Company has hundreds of warships and tens of thousands of mercenaries. Even we retreat again and again and do not dare to compete with them."
"Of course, if you have a thousand muskets and several artillery pieces, you can still fight."
The bearded John showed a hint of cunning: "I have good quality and low prices here."
Zhu Ci rolled his eyes.
Immediately, the two of them finished trading the supplies.
Yanbao exchanged ivory, pearls, and rubies for nearly ten thousand taels of silver, but then changed hands and turned them into Han people, muskets, gunpowder, armor, swords, guns and other supplies, as well as scarce herbs.
This time it was completely replaced.
Having made double money, John went in satisfied. Before leaving, in order to show his closeness, he gave Zhu Ci a short gun for self-defense.
When he came to his senses, his second brother Zhu Ding couldn't wait to come over and said: "Brother, I really got a treasure this time."
"Fifty men, fifty women, the oldest is no more than thirty years old, the youngest is sixteen years old, three carpenters, two bricklayers, and a shipwright."
"What's more important is that there is a person who has read books and can make paper."
"Bring him here."
Hearing this, Zhu Ci was extremely excited.
Paper, such a simple commodity, is boiled and precipitated with bark rags, etc., but no matter how good a layman is, he can only make some rough paper for wiping, which is difficult to write on.
"The villain Sun Bai, whose ancestral home is Quanzhou, Fujian Province, had to go to Southeast Asia to avoid debts and went to Luzon to make money to pay off debts..."
"Then I encountered a storm, fell into a pirate den, and was finally captured by a group of Franji people..."
Sun Bai was also a poor man. He looked about forty years old, but was actually no more than thirty. His face was darkened by the sun, and he was huddled up in fear.
"As long as you make paper that can be written on, I will reward you with a hundred acres of land."
Zhu Ci said in a deep voice with piercing eyes: "I can even make you an official."
Sun Bai didn't react for a while when he heard this familiar official language.
He said hesitantly: "Is this the Ming Dynasty?"
"no."
Therefore, the Han people were visibly disappointed.
Zhu Ci did not panic and said directly: "I am the king of Ceylon who was conferred by the imperial court. I am here. As long as I do my job well, I will not have any illusions about returning home in the future."
To this group of ordinary people, Zhu Ci did not show any imperial edicts, he just explained them and left.
But it was enough to boost their morale.
After this group of people entered Yanbao, they were struck by its neat workshops and houses, all of which were of Ming style, as expected. They looked very familiar and close, and they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
There was even an inn cover hanging in front of the house, swaying in the wind, with many people sitting inside.
Zhu Ci looked at this group of people and nodded with satisfaction: "If things continue like this, in less than a year, our country of Ceylon will be truly stable."
Zhu Dingze echoed: "It seems that the Kingdom of Jaffna will be conquered today next year."
"Don't be too optimistic."
Zhu Ci said casually, but with a smile on his lips, he was obviously very confident.
The arrival of this group of Han people stabilized the situation in the dangerous Kingdom of Ceylon and gave them a sigh of relief.
Unknowingly, it has been two years. For them, the situation has changed from settling down to expansion and conquest.
The Kingdom of Ceylon is becoming more and more like a real vassal state.
At this time, suddenly there was a newspaper in his hand.
"Brother, I bribed the crew to buy this."
Zhu Yong, who came out of breath, directly delivered the communiqué to his hands.
"The Ming Dynasty already had Qin, Qi, and Yue as vassal states, and recently they were also clearing out pirates in Nanyang. The country's power is growing day by day, which is a great thing for us."
"Oh?" Zhu Ci asked doubtfully, "Why?"
"The imperial court is showing its power in Southeast Asia, and the Dutch are naturally wary of the rat. The risk of us taking over the Kingdom of Jaffna has weakened again. Don't you like that?"
With the arrival of a group of Han people, Yanbao and the entire Kingdom of Ceylon set off an upsurge in learning Chinese. From the near, far, and even the slaves, the response was very good.
Chineseization, a previously elusive goal, has been gradually implemented and has become a reality.
It will be difficult for the dove to occupy the magpie's nest.
…
After some moves by the imperial court, it was put on the agenda to attack the Qing Dynasty from both east and west.
Before that, the mobilization of grasslands was on the agenda.
This war is not a matter between the Beijing camp and the border troops. It is normal for herdsmen to be recruited into the army.
Chahar, Chifeng.
"Cabinet's decree?"
When Budali, the king of Beihai County, heard about this, he jumped up from his seat, threw the two beauties away, and spread out the decree to read.
This is a decree issued by the Chahar Governor's Palace in Chifeng City, and it affects almost all Chahar nobles.
You must know that Governor Chahar not only manages the army and general affairs, but also has the power to supervise and impeach the Mongolian nobles, which can almost seal the fate of a family.
Therefore, even Budali, the two largest Mongolian nobles in Chahar, the king of Beihai County, did not dare to be presumptuous.
"Take one ding out of three accounts?"
Budari frowned.
This is a big deal.
Although the nobility is weak, as one of the largest nobles in Monan, Budali still has 3,000 herdsmen under its banner.
In other words, he needed to recruit a thousand cavalry at one time to obey the command of the Chahar Governor-General.
As far as he knew, Chahar had nearly 50,000 troops, which meant nearly 20,000 troops. This was not a small number.
At this time, Abda, the king of Chahar County, also came in a hurry and asked about the recruitment.
This was the first conscription since Chahar was established. Abda was a little younger and felt a little panicked, so he had to ask this uncle for advice.
Budali pondered for a long time before saying: "No matter how many there are, this is stamped by the Ministry of War and the Governor's Mansion, so it should be correct. We will just recruit troops."
"Then we also have to go on an expedition?"
Young Abda said softly, with great reluctance in his words.
In this regard, the more sophisticated Budali could only say solemnly: "We have no right to refuse. Once we fight against the Governor's Mansion, our pastures and wealth will be deprived of us in an instant."
I don’t know what happened, so I was recruited out of nowhere.
"There is still time, there are still a few months to go, we have to prepare well..."
In Chahar, the nobles who still retained their territories immediately complained when they heard the news of the conscription.
Regardless of how troublesome it is to go to various pastures to find herdsmen in the middle of winter, sacrificing their own interests to fight for the emperor makes them extremely uncomfortable.
Because if there is one there are two.
It can be expected that there will be more and more recruitments in the future, and you can imagine the pain involved.
Of course, the more important thing is that these nobles have to fight with the army. How can the Mongolian nobles who have enjoyed a peaceful life for more than ten years bear it?
However, those nobles who gave up their territories to the direct jurisdiction of the Governor-General only needed to pay one hundred silver coins to avoid being drafted into the army.
For a time, many nobles decided to give up their territories and receive iron sheep money.
The seven counties of Chahar, Chifeng, Kuancheng, Chengde, Luanping, Pingquan, Daning, and Heicheng, are the seven cities and the seven power centers of Chahar.
A large number of cavalry surrounded the city and scattered in all directions, looking for hundreds and thousands of households.
"Battle, Battle——"
A cavalryman was galloping in the snow. After an unknown amount of time, when he felt that his legs were almost frozen, he came to the nearby Baihusuo.
After dismounting, the cavalryman regained his composure.
Baihu ran out of the house and saw a big man wearing a green Mongolian robe with a quail bird embroidered on his chest dismounting. He immediately smiled and said: "Master Muren, why are you here in person?"
Although he was just a county yamen servant from Sesame Mung Bean, and even though he was a member of a hundred households higher than the ninth rank, he did not dare to provoke him easily.
"There's not even a patrol station, so it seems you don't have any vigilance."
Muren shook Ma Biao and panted: "I don't have time to talk nonsense to you. The governor's office has issued an order to draw one from every three tents. We must arrive at the county seat before the end of February next spring, and then set off with the large team..."
After saying that, he left without caring at all, not knowing what politeness meant.
"Dad, what is this for?"
While Baihu was concentrating, his son who ran out of the house suddenly asked.
"There's probably going to be a war."
"It's good to fight!" the son said happily, "I can go grab things again. This is much easier than herding."
"But it will kill people."
Baihu said solemnly: "It seems we have to choose the most powerful hero——"
Chahar, who had not heard of the war for many years, was greatly moved by this. Many Mongolian herdsmen sharpened their knives and wanted to participate in this war and obtain wealth that was difficult to achieve on a daily basis.
At the same time, this recruitment is also a test of the Chahar Governor's Mansion. If disobedient tribes appear, the only way to eliminate them is to eliminate them.
…
Jilin.
The Jilin General Mansion also began to recruit people in unison, and the targets were naturally the Jurchens in the mountains and forests, or other tribes.
The harsher environment has honed its tough character and physique, making it a natural war killer.