Zhu Hounan was very ambitious. Although he was only fourteen years old, he insisted on taking the imperial examination based on his ability and politely declined the opportunity to take the imperial examination directly.
The young emperor admired Prince Zheng even more, allowed him to study in the Imperial College, and asked the clan government to arrange a marriage as soon as possible. He also gave Zhu Houwan a place in the capital as a residence when he was studying in the Imperial College.
Winter went to spring, the third year of Shaofeng, 1533 AD.
In this year, Ivan the Great of Russia succeeded to the throne at the age of three, and his mother was the regent.
The Russian Empress Dowager's ancestor was the regent Wanhu of the Golden Horde, and she was of Khitan or Han descent. Anyway, the Empress Dowager built "China Town" everywhere, which can also be called "Khitan City". "China" in Russian means "China"
Khitan".
If a merchant from the Ming Dynasty went to Russia and wandered into a big city, he might encounter "China Town", an entire area full of Chinese-style buildings.
During the Lantern Festival, student Huang Xu came to see Wang Yuan, and there was an Indian among his followers.
"Well done, sir!" Huang Xu said politely to his disciples.
Wang Yuan opened the gift box on the spot, pulled out the sword and praised: "What a sword!"
Huang Xu said: "This is made of authentic wootz steel."
Utz steel, also known as Damascus steel, has two origins. One originates from South India and Ceylon, and the other originates from Central Asia. Anyway, they are forged from high-quality iron ore.
The Uzi knife presented by Huang Xu has a gorgeous steel pattern on the blade, but the style is the Chinese Yanling knife.
Wang Yuan asked: "How is the business doing?"
Huang Xu replied: "Cotton and rice have been planted, and students have 70,000 acres of land in Tianzhu. However, I plan to smelt iron in Tianzhu in the future, and I will hire some iron smelting craftsmen when I come back this time."
"How did you come up with the idea of smelting iron in Tianzhu?" Wang Yuan asked.
Huang Xu said: "The student's property is in the southwest of Tianzhu, where there are many iron mines. This Uzi knife is made using Tianzhu's forging method, first casting iron in a crucible, and then forging it repeatedly. This type of forging
The technology is still not as good as that of the Song Dynasty, so the students want to hire some craftsmen there."
India's high-quality iron ore can literally make Chinese craftsmen cry.
The average grade of iron ore in China only reaches 32%, while India has a pile of rich ores with more than 60%.
After the Tianzhu Cotton Society occupied southern India, it initially focused on growing cotton and rice. Gradually, it was discovered that something was wrong. Indian craftsmen were able to easily create the Uzi sword using very primitive techniques.
So, some merchants took the Indian iron ore to Foshan to have it appraised by craftsmen, which soon caused a sensation throughout Guangdong.
Take Huang Xu as an example. In order to seize the mines, he built a private army of a thousand men. Among them were 100 musket soldiers with bayonets, all composed of Han people; the remaining 900 were close combat infantry, all of whom were local Indian soldiers.
He also hired a low-level officer from the Ming Dynasty Navy with a high salary and trained hard for half a year.
Then they sent out their troops to attack and occupied a mine by force. They killed the original owners and managers of the mine, snatched the women and distributed them to private soldiers as wives, and arrested untouchables everywhere to dig in the mountains.
The whole process was extremely bloody.
Moreover, these bloody scenes continue to occur in various parts of South India, especially in the western part of South India, where there is the most high-quality iron ore!
It's a pity that the local craftsmen in India have poor skills.
These Ming Dynasty merchants who grabbed the mines could only mine the mines in India and smelt pig iron, and then transport it to Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang provinces for sale. As for the Uzi sword, it requires a high level of craftsmanship and is very time-consuming to make.
As a luxury product, it was shipped to the Ming Dynasty and sold first. For example, Japan's Yoshitaka Ouchi bought Uzi steel ingots from India and asked a famous master to make a wild sword called "Fly Slash", which was widely used in Western Japan.
It is regarded as a gift from God.
Wang Yuan asked: "Why are the mines being robbed? Who is the regent of Ananda now?"
Huang Xu said: "The actual controller of the Ananda Kingdom is the Tianzhu Cotton Association. The Tianzhu Cotton Association now has more than 600 shareholders. Every three years, all shareholders meet in Guangzhou to elect fifty presidents. These five
The ten elders all serve as officials in the royal city of Ananda, and they elect a general secretary, a manager, a financial officer, an army trainer, and thirteen deacons."
The word manager has been around since ancient times. The Ming Dynasty's Fish Scale Yellow Book (Field Map Book) was also called "manager" in the local area.
Wang Yuan put away his smile and said, "Elaborate."
Huang Xu said: "The general manager of the Tianzhu Cotton Association is the president of the Cotton Association and is equivalent to the ruling minister of the Ananda Kingdom. The manager is in charge of conference affairs and government affairs; the manager is in charge of the accounts of the Cotton Association and the finances of the Ananda Kingdom; the manager is in charge of military training and control
Ananda's army. If there is a major incident, the general manager cannot make the decision without authorization. Seventeen people must discuss the decision. If the seventeen people still cannot make a decision, then the fifty elders will vote, and the decision will be passed with more than half of the votes."
Wang Yuan listened silently for a long time. He still wanted to rule India in the future. A group of businessmen had already created a "parliamentary system".
However, the structure of the Tianzhu Cotton Association is still very immature, and more than 600 shareholders clamor for dividends every year. As a result, the Ananda government’s treasury is always empty, and it does not provide relief at all when it encounters disasters, and it never takes care of local projects.
.In addition to being more active in distributing money, in other matters, the efficiency is far less than that of the "East India Company".
Moreover, the local taxation of Ananda Kingdom has also been messed up. There is no distinction between agricultural tax and industrial and commercial tax. The tax amount is only set according to the region and allowed to be collected by the local nobles themselves. As long as the local nobles pay the tax in full, they can do whatever they want.
law?
does not exist!
After experiencing the initial chaos, the surviving local nobles in India became very supportive of the Tianzhu Cotton Society, because they had become real lords and had gained far more benefits and power than before.
Those emerging nobles from lower castes even regarded the Tianzhu Cotton Society as gods.
The Indian caste system has a very powerful ability to evolve.
For example, Green religion, after spreading in India for hundreds of years, gradually began to divide Green religion into castes. Another example is Sikhism, after spreading in India for hundreds of years, castes were gradually divided internally.
Caste does not come first, power and money come higher.
Only when power and money are not equal, Indians will talk about caste, which is so realistic that it is almost blasphemous.
Due to the invasion of the Tianzhu Cotton Society, the low castes and untouchables that quickly emerged have been accepted by the upper castes in just a few years. The surname Ning Botao gave him casually was also recognized by the Brahmin religious leaders - the surname
The person named "Ning" is a Vaishya, the person named "Tao" is a Sudra, and the person named "Follower" is a Kshatriya.
Even the Brahmins in the capital of Ananda took the initiative to intermarry with the "followers", pulling all the emerging nobles supported by Ning Botao to tie them up with the old forces.
As for the members of the Tianzhu Cotton Society, they are all regarded as Kshatriyas, while ordinary Han people are regarded as Vaishyas.
By the way, there was no such thing as a "yellow race" at this time, only the difference between dark and light skinned people. In the eyes of Europeans, the Han people were all light-skinned and were as "noble" as white Europeans.
The whole of South India was turned into a loose federation composed of local lords.
Huang Xu is essentially a small lord who owns 70,000 acres of land and a mine. He can do whatever he wants within his own territory. If he is in a bad mood one day and kills a few people casually, no official will hold him accountable.
Wang Yuan asked: "In other words, the entire Ananda Kingdom has become a lawless land?"
Huang Xu said: "There are also some rules. Natives of Tianzhu are not allowed to insult, beat, or kill Han people. Even if the lord of Tianzhu beats ordinary Han people for no reason, he will be tried harshly."
Wang Yuan smiled bitterly: "What you are doing is a bit like when the Mongols first entered the Central Plains."
Huang Xu added: "If the local aristocrats of Tianzhu are robbed of their land and mines by members of the Cotton Society, as long as the members of the Cotton Society spend money to register with the government, the Cotton Society will resolutely recognize and protect them."
So damn barbaric!
I am a member of the Tianzhu Cotton Association. I have someone with a gun and money, and I have my eye on a piece of land. But what if there is an owner of that land? I just lead people to kill and rob it. According to the regulations, I go to the Cotton Association to pay the registration.
Once you pay enough to purchase the land, it's yours.
The land purchase payment is very cheap. One tael of silver can buy one acre of fertile land. The money is paid to the Cotton Association and can be calculated together with taxes. According to their shares in the Cotton Association, some dividends can be paid back every year.
The identity of the local lords in India is very embarrassing. When they are not targeted by members of the Cotton Association, they are absolute local emperors. Once they are targeted by the Cotton Association merchants, they become lambs to be slaughtered. If they dare to resist and succeed, the Cotton Association
They directly sent troops to clear out the suspects and charged them with killing innocent Han people.
Fortunately, the territory was large, there were not many members of the Cotton Society, and only a few Indian lords were targeted.
If Indian lords are bullied like this, how miserable must ordinary Indians be?
Well, actually, as long as they work diligently, ordinary Indians can live quite well. Because overall they are too lazy, and as long as there are a few diligent people, Han merchants are willing to reward and encourage them.
Wang Yuan sighed: "You can't do this. In the future, as we occupy more and more land, the local nobles in Tianzhu may rise up."
Huang Xu said: "The nobles of Tianzhu are not allowed to have an army of more than a hundred people. Once they are discovered, they will be exterminated."
Wang Yuan shook his head: "You can't be soft when you are soft, and you can't be strong when you are strong. It is the truth to combine hardness and softness. You bring a letter to the Tianzhu Cotton Association and say it is my suggestion. A Tianzhu family has one-third direct members.
If they can speak Chinese, can memorize the Three-Character Sutra, and give up their belief in Hinduism and Green Christianity, they can be called Han people. Their whole family will be issued Han certificates, and they will have all the rights of Han people, and can even join the Tianzhu Cotton Association."
"This is a good method," Huang Xu said with a smile, "There are several Brahmans who came to Beijing with me this time. They want to enter the Imperial College to study the articles of sages."
"No problem, the tuition fee is one hundred taels per person per year," Wang Yuan said. "They have really learned their skills. I will give them separate quotas to participate in the imperial examination."
As long as they are foreign students from the Ming dynasty, they can take the imperial examination in the capital. This was the old system at the time of Zhu Yuanzhang. However, they must study in the Imperial College and take the exam with the Imperial College's academic status. Yeluzi is not recognized by the court.
Huang Xu said: "The student has a follower this time, who is from the untouchables of Tianzhu. This person is diligent and loyal, and has a good brain. The untouchables of Tianzhu can also be taught."
Wang Yuan said: "Let him come in and take a look."
Soon, an Indian untouchable was brought, who was as black as an African brother. He immediately knelt down and worshiped Wang Yuan. He first kissed his own hands, and then touched Wang Yuan's boots with his hands. It was probably similar to the Chinese prostrating himself.
Wang Yuan asked: "Can you speak Chinese?"
The untouchable replied: "Yes, a little bit."
Wang Yuan nodded: "Go down."
Wang Yuan then said to Huang Xu: "Those Brahmin boys, just ask them to bring one hundred taels of silver to the Imperial College to report and register. The accommodation fee is extra, or you can rent a house by yourself."
Indian culture has always obeyed the strong. It was colonized by the British in history. High-caste children are proud to enter Oxford and Cambridge. It is estimated that they will be proud to enter the Northern and Southern Imperial Colleges in the future.
The Imperial College of the Ming Dynasty has become very bad. Except for a few high-ranking officials, the teachers are all just dawdling. Not really dawdling. Their main energy is not used in teaching, but in studying hard to pass the imperial examination.
This is because Jinshi do not want to be teachers in the Imperial College, so they can only choose Juren as teachers.
However, teachers' salaries are not high, and there is no way for promotion. They all want to continue the imperial examination and fool around when teaching students. Often, students are asked to recite books in class, and teachers learn their own lessons in class.
Alas, the Imperial College should also be reformed.
A tutoring system is implemented, and each teacher is assigned how many students, and then the political performance is assessed. After how many years of teaching, and how many Jinshis he has taught, he can be sent to another place to serve as an official. Based on the number of students who have been taught Jinshi, the highest rating can be directly
Released to the county magistrate.
Only in this way can we have a bright future, otherwise who would be willing to teach seriously?