Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 442: Calculations are Everywhere
Europe is a very chaotic place.

A war that lasted intermittently for thirty years exhausted Spain, which had vast overseas colonies, and led to the de facto demise of the Holy Roman Empire.

In the first half of the war, the Habsburgs had an absolute advantage. Even though Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden took turns to fight, and even though the princes within the Holy Roman Empire rebelled one after another, they all suffered heavy defeats in the face of Spain's overwhelming strength.

However, the population belonging to the Habsburgs was too small, and they were inevitably caught in a dilemma when the war was raging. After France went into battle, its homeland and colonies were besieged by the Protestant Alliance, and it was forced to sign the "Peace of Westphalia" in 1648.

In this document, the Holy Roman Empire was dismembered. Not only did it have to pay a large amount of compensation and cede large tracts of territory, but the eight princes within it also became independent kingdoms in fact. The country that was neither holy nor Roman eventually became a falsehood.

In comparison, Spain's outcome was slightly better.

Although it lost Portugal and the Netherlands, its national destiny continued.

However, his reservation was not due to strength, but because France and Britain had other plans.

The situation at that time was very clear. Spain, which was in financial collapse, had no power to fight back. If it collapsed directly, it would be like a whale falling, and countries big and small would have the possibility of getting a piece of its corpse.

At that time, Spain's vast overseas colonies will be divided up among various countries, and even if Britain and France have every means possible, they cannot guarantee that they will get all the benefits.

In another ten or twenty years, there might be another country that has the courage to challenge the superpower. It would be better to let the half-dead Spain continue to exist, and the two countries can quietly erode its overseas interests.

Of course, although the Habsburgs are gradually losing the upper hand, it will still take a year or two before the contract is signed.

If there really is a powerful external force involved, a turnaround seems not completely impossible.

But then again, what does this have to do with the Ming Dynasty?

Emotionally speaking, both the Netherlands and Spain had frictions with the Ming Dynasty. If Zhu Cilang had not been unable to take action, he would have expelled them from the South China Sea long ago.

Logically speaking, the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca were both places that the Ming Dynasty had to occupy, and accepting this deal from Philip IV became a constraint.

Furthermore.
Zhu Cilang was indeed a little short of money.

This year's tax collection was only over 3 million, and including the seizure in Sichuan, it was only 6.7 million.

This number sounds like a lot, but as Qian Qianyi worried, after deducting the various expenses of the court, this amount of money may not even be able to support the Northern Expedition, let alone support Spain?
As for Luzon.
Zhu Cilang understood clearly that Spain had been half-dead since this war. Since Britain and France were able to encroach on its colonies in the Americas, the Ming Dynasty could also take back Luzon.

After all, as long as the Ming Dynasty can be unified again, this empire headed by Zhu Cilang will become a powerful and terrifying existence. By then, no matter which family wins the final victory, they will have no place to stand around the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, Zhu Cilang finally asked Du Chen to leave on the grounds that "this matter is of great importance and requires careful consideration". Only after the matter was settled did he summon Jin Yingyuan to the warm room.

There is nothing much to say about this matter. The Satsuma Domain is just a prefecture. If the Ming Dynasty had not been weak and had no time to take care of other things, the Governor of Zhejiang might have sent troops to impose a slight punishment long ago.

Even if most of the Ming fleet was patrolling the waterways in the open sea at this time, it would not be difficult to free up six or seven galleons. After dealing with the thousands of stragglers in Ryukyu, Zhu Cilang would naturally ask Shaoren and Tokugawa Iemitsu for an explanation.

By this time, the bigger things have basically been concluded.

The three ministers of the cabinet also planned to go to Wenhua Palace to discuss the emperor's wedding, but when they left the warm room, they saw Li Yongmao Zhenghou in the outer room, and the three of them had some guesses in their minds.

Throughout the dynasties, the most powerful departments in the court were the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue. However, during the Jingwu period, the Ministry of Works, which was the last in the list, not only gradually surpassed the Ministry of Punishment, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of War under the attention of His Majesty, but it even had the ability to compete with the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue.

This does not mean that the Ministry of Works has taken away the Ministry of Personnel's power to appoint and dismiss personnel, or the Ministry of Revenue's power to settle accounts.

The key point is that the Yingtian factory, which is under the Ministry of Industry, is full of craftsmen, and all its expenses are paid from Your Majesty's treasury.

In this way, the two most powerful ministries will not be able to interfere in the matter, and the Ministry of Works can still control certain matters in the name of Your Majesty.

By this time, this place, which had to handle huge amounts of money and materials every day, began to show some signs of being separated from the Ming system.

"Lord, I heard that the muskets produced in that factory were very effective in the war in the southwest."

After greeting the three people, Li Yongmao entered the Qianqing Palace. After his figure disappeared around the corner, Ma Shiying suddenly said something.

As cabinet ministers, they naturally knew the details of this war. Needless to say, in Sichuan, Your Majesty had exchanged some money and food for an opportunity to reap the benefits, while in Hanzhong, it was a solid fight. If it were not for Li Chengdong's musket cavalry that broke the deadlock, who knows how the situation would have developed.

"Yes, that's true," he replied calmly, but then Lord Qian continued, "Those muskets are all fired by flint, and their firing speed is much faster than the old muskets."

At first, he had placed all his hopes on Ma Shiying, and even had some friction with Zhejiang for this. But who would have thought that Ma Shiying would condone Ruan Dacheng's wanton retaliation, causing the Southern Zhili faction to suffer repeated losses locally.

This time, the two of them are both cabinet ministers, and he usually doesn't have a good face.

But today he didn't know whether he was happy because of His Majesty's triumphant return or happy because of the defeat of his internal competitors. After hearing these few words, he unexpectedly changed his behavior and poured out everything he knew.

After a while, Qian Qianyi finished speaking, and Ma Shiying cooperated with him and showed a surprised expression: "Hiss~~~~, if it really comes to this, the horseback archery that the Tartars rely on will be useless."

"Who says it's not true? Li Chengdong was just a surrendered general, but this time he used his new musket to wipe out half of the 20,000 Khoshut cavalry. With such merits, it's not too long before he can build his own army."

It was obvious that Qian Qianyi was in a very good mood, as if the two old ministers, who had some grudges against each other, would put aside their grudges and laugh it off because of Liu Zongzhou's experience. But unexpectedly, Ma Shiying, who should have followed this harmonious atmosphere, sang a different tune after the Prime Minister finished speaking.

"You are worrying too much, Lord. Such a weapon must be difficult to make. He wants to form an independent army with only a few thousand soldiers. Li Chengdong is not Xiang Rensheng."

"Mr. Ma doesn't care about these things. He doesn't know the inside story. Although Your Majesty has not been there many times, the factory's various arrangements were built according to the emperor's orders. The new-style muskets alone can produce nearly 2,000 per month."

Qian Qianyi didn't care too much about this.

After all, the three ministers had their own responsibilities, so it was reasonable for Ma Shiying not to know these things, so Qian Qianyi smiled and looked over after explaining. "Two thousand poles?!"

"Well, I heard that His Majesty wants to use the hydraulic machine tool to make gun barrels. By then, it will be easy to produce several thousand gun barrels a month."

Having said this, Qian Qianyi originally wanted to see Ma Shiying's surprised expression, but who would have thought that the former prime minister looked as if he was troubled by many thoughts. He only let out a long sigh when the three of them were about to reach the Wenhua Hall.

"We are so incompetent that we let Your Majesty do everything by yourself. If this continues, we might as well go home and have grandchildren, which will also save some salary for the court."

Ok?
As Qian Qianyi heard the sigh, he immediately became confused.

If this sentiment came from Yuan Jixian, he would understand it without any difficulty, but Ma Shiying
He knew very well that the reason why Ma Shiying had been quiet for more than half a year was because His Majesty was too strong, but if anything went wrong he would end up like Liu Zongzhou, working hard but still ending up in disgrace.

The second reason is that his followers were either dead or scattered, so even if they wanted to die, they no longer had the ability to ricochet.

But this does not mean that he has lost his desire for the position of Prime Minister.
Qian Qianyi was just not good at quick thinking. After his mind turned several rounds, he immediately came up with a guess. Then he regretted his carelessness and said with a smile.

"Yaocao has spoken out of turn. As ministers, we only need to help Your Majesty find out what is missing. As for what arrangements Your Majesty has made, it is not for us to comment."

"What the elder said is absolutely right. It is indeed my fault."

Before he finished speaking, Qian Qianyi entered the pavilion first, while Ma Shiying had a smile on his face, as if he was unaware of the warning in the words. After Qian Qianyi entered, he followed with his head held high.

Seeing this situation, Yuan Jixian, who was the last one left, shook his head helplessly, obviously having tasted the weirdness inside.

The title of Grand Councilor represents power. Without its blessing, it is just a title like that of a cat or a dog.

Although Ma Shiying's words were blunt, their core was pointing directly to the erosion of the cabinet's power by the Yingtian Factory. As long as Qian Qianyi still had some determination in his heart, such words would inevitably be planted in his heart like seeds, and when the time was ripe, they would become an opportunity for Ma Shiying to ascend to power.

Can't you all just calm down?
Thinking of this, Yuan Jixian shook his head again, then calmed himself down a little before stepping into the Wenhua Hall.

To tell the story in two parts, while the three people in the cabinet were scheming against each other, Li Yongmao had already entered the warm room of the Qianqing Palace. However, after entering, Zhu Cilang did not listen to his report as usual, but tidied himself up briefly and took the Minister of Works out of the palace.

Go out of Zhengyang Gate and go around Zhongshan Mountain. After walking north for a few miles, you can see the Shen Ce Gate of the inner city.

Years ago, the area outside the Shen Ce Gate was just a flat wilderness. In terms of prosperity, it was far inferior to the city gates in the south through which the Qinhuai River flowed.

But now, in the area of ​​several miles in radius, there are not only houses for craftsmen to live in, but also several large courtyards built in between.

This is the factory that Zhu Cilang has been dreaming of.

To be honest, this place is still in an extremely simple state. Needless to say, the living quarters outside are just some hastily built thatched houses made of wooden frames.

From a distance, the inner courtyard seemed much better, but Zhu Cilang knew that it was just a wall. If you really went in, you would find that apart from the storehouse, it would be difficult to find even a half-decorated house.

Simple.

Apart from these two words, it is difficult to find an appropriate description.

But there is nothing that can be done about it.

In the past, there were battles one after another. If the soldiers did not have useful weapons in their hands, let alone defeating Hauge, they might not even be able to take down the small Zelanzha.

Therefore, the order Zhu Cilang gave to Li Yongmao was to focus on output, and the rest would be improved later. Under such conditions, tens of thousands of generals produced cannons and muskets one after another, and Zhu Cilang was naturally a little embarrassed.

"During this period of time, you should make some plans to replace all the thatched houses outside with brick ones."

"Yes."

Li Yongmao had always been firm in his compliance with his Majesty's orders. When he heard this, he just bowed in response, unlike some people who would not miss any opportunity to flatter him.

"Has the monthly salary been paid in full?"

"Your Majesty, the monthly salary for skilled workers is 10 taels, the monthly salary for unskilled workers is 7 taels, and the monthly salary for apprentices and coolies is 3 taels. Each payment is recorded and stamped for verification."

When Zhu Cilang heard the words, he began to calculate in his mind. At that time, the world was in chaos, and even in the places south of the Yangtze River that had not been devastated by war, a bushel of grain would be sold for two hundred coins.

At this time, the new grain had already arrived, and with the addition of grain purchased from overseas, the price of grain here had returned to the price during the Tianqi period.

By this calculation, the monthly salary of a skilled worker is enough to support a comfortable life for the whole family, and even for an apprentice laborer, it is a good way out.

According to his original idea, he actually wanted to implement piece-rate system, but everything was in its infancy, and Li Yongmao's energy was not enough to take care of everything. In this situation, he simply adopted a one-size-fits-all approach.

The laws were strict, and no one would risk their life unless they had no other choice. Besides, the craftsmen were treated like slaves at the beginning, so the sudden increase in monthly salary would play a role for a while.

This was Zhu Cilang's plan. According to the current situation, improving the status of craftsmen would encounter huge resistance. It was obviously not appropriate to offend the scholars before the foreign enemies were wiped out.

Therefore, before taking any drastic measures, he planned to first use the increase in monthly wages to create a subtle influence. After everyone in the Ming Dynasty accepted the fact that craftsmen were paid quite high, he would then gradually make changes to the privileges of scholars.

After all, money is the foundation of a hero. Don’t be fooled by everyone’s constant talk about “the smell of money”. When the real treatment is placed in front of them, they will know what is more important.

"go in."

(End of this chapter)