Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 219 The Problem of Fugitive Slaves

Wuhai City in Hetao is the new city closest to the border of Ming Dynasty in Hetao area. Zhang Cong, who has been promoted from county magistrate to governor, is gathering merchants from inland here to sell land in Shajing area. This is a new way he has recently thought of to increase military expenditure and infrastructure funds, that is, to pre-sell land and then annex land, so as to obtain the funds needed to launch a war in the early stage, and it has been tried and tested.

"I have obtained the approval of His Majesty and am preparing to establish a new county named Shajing. I will soon build a city and expand the area under the jurisdiction of Hetao to protect Wuhai City and upgrade Wuhai to a prefectural city. The geographical overview of Shajing has been surveyed by the Geomantic Department of the Ministry of War. There are five iron mines, nine coal mines, 36,740 hectares of pastureland, and more than 10,600 hectares of fertile land. Legal merchant groups registered with the Ministry of Revenue can now go to the Wuhai Merchant House and find Liu Gui, the first magistrate of Shajing, to apply for the auction!"

Not long after Hetao Governor Zhang Cong said this, wealthy businessmen flocked to the Wuhai Trading House.

Nowadays, these wealthy Ming businessmen are no longer as conservative as they were in the first years when Yulin City was first built. After seeing the first batch of merchant groups heading north making a fortune by mining, farming and border trade, more and more wealthy Ming businessmen are rushing to Hetao. In addition, after the Sino-French treaty was opened, a large number of Huaiyang tycoons also rushed to Hetao. As a result, there are more and more merchants in the Hetao area, all trying to find ways to make profits by taking advantage of the empire's northward advance.

The imperial court naturally had to make money, otherwise it would not be able to maintain military spending in the Hetao region. Therefore, Hetao Governor Zhang Cong thought of pre-selling land.

As Zhang Cong was taught by Emperor Zhu Houzhao at the Imperial University of Peking, it is not surprising that he thought of obtaining capital for overseas expansion by pre-selling overseas land, and he was even able to do it very well.

After Zhang Cong took office as the governor of Hetao, he publicly sold the official land that had not been divided after the Hetao immigrants settled on the border. However, because these undivided official lands were all on the border of Hetao and were often harassed by Tatar cavalry, not many merchants were willing to buy them at the beginning.

But there are always a few who dare to be the first to try something new.

When Zhang Cong, the governor of Hetao, issued an order stating that the court was preparing to build a new city and pre-sell the land for the new city, some businessmen with a long-term vision or confidence in the empire's military capabilities still bought the land.

After the governor-general Yang Yiqing led his imperial guards to defeat the Tatar nomadic tribes at the target location of Xincheng and built the city, all the merchants who had purchased land in Xincheng in the past got the land as they wished.

According to Zhu Houzhao's plan, land annexation must be prevented within the Great Wall.

This is not necessary outside the Great Wall. In order to consolidate the ruling foundation and increase the enthusiasm of merchants to develop new territories, these merchants can naturally be encouraged to purchase land.

After all, the land outside the Great Wall is barren and sparsely populated. Even if the imperial court holds it in its hands, it cannot make money. It even has to send troops to garrison, which is a waste of money and food. It is better to let merchants develop it.

These merchants who obtained new lands did have their own ways of developing the new lands. As long as the imperial army could provide them with a stable environment and protect the safety of their property, they could make profits through mining and other means.

Since the imperial court officials only participated in the business by investing a certain amount of shares, these merchants who opened mines in border towns did not have to worry about being exploited by local government officials or eunuchs. They only had to pay dividends to each household regularly every year.

The profit from this dividend was actually Zhu Houzhao's disguised form of increasing commercial taxes.

After all, the Ming Dynasty collected too little commercial tax, and if it wanted to directly increase commercial tax, it would naturally encounter layers of obstacles. The newly opened border towns had no major interference from civil servants and gentry, so Zhu Houzhao could naturally take advantage of this and use various means to provide the court with weight in the distribution of commercial interests.

But in general, because the government only collected a certain share of equity dividends and did not impose any other miscellaneous taxes or extortion, these businessmen still made a lot of profit. In addition, due to the advancement of steel smelting technology and the increase in military industry and infrastructure projects in the Ming Dynasty, the demand for iron ore and other products increased sharply.

These first merchants who opened mines in the newly opened territories made a fortune, and also attracted more merchants to go north to dig for gold and make money.

In the later period, as soon as the Hetao court government issued a call for investment to build a new city, countless businessmen flocked to buy the land, which led to a continuous increase in land prices in Hetao. There were not only benefits for development but also for investment.

As a result, the Hetao government naturally had a large amount of income before it expanded outward, and even achieved a model of local infrastructure construction without the need for imperial funding. This changed the feeling that border towns had been useless for thousands of years, where it was a pity to abandon them or a waste of money and food to occupy them. The government also began to have a surplus of taxes without the need for imperial funding.

Of course, the Ming court had to do something after receiving the money. Even if the court did not want to send troops to build a new city, the merchants who paid for the land would force the court to send troops. After all, they had spent money and were just waiting for the court to expand outward, build new cities and divide the land so that they could develop and recover their costs.

Moreover, many merchants had military backgrounds, and the real military forces involved in foreign expansion and plunder were the Ming imperial guards and border troops, who naturally wanted to share the benefits of foreign expansion. The Tatar nobles were the ones who suffered losses, and their living space was reduced. Even the lower-class Mongols and slaves they could exploit became hired workers for the Ming merchants because of the large number of Ming merchants stationed on the border.

Because agriculture outside the Great Wall was underdeveloped, and the Tatar nobles exploited the lower classes of the people to the same extent as the landlords of the Ming Dynasty, many Mongols were very poor. Even if they did hard labor for Ming Dynasty merchants, their income was better than being slaves of Tatar nobles. Naturally, more and more Mongols smuggled into the Ming Dynasty to work, and with the government's deliberate guidance, they were gradually assimilated into the Han people.

The lives of the Tatar nobles naturally became more and more difficult, and they became more and more brutal. On the one hand, they increased their efforts to loot the border towns of the Ming Dynasty, and on the other hand, they increased their internal control and directly beheaded escaped slaves. However, even so, they could not prevent a large number of ordinary Mongols from migrating to the Ming-controlled areas.

"Your Excellency, the first batch of land in Shajing County has been pre-sold. This is the silver tael earned. It is more than 1.2 million taels more than when the first batch of land in Tongda County was sold!"

On the third night, Shajing County Magistrate Liu Gui braved the wind and snow and came to Zhang Cong's inner hall.

As a county magistrate who had just been promoted from the post of prefect of Jurong County, a wealthy county in the south, it was the first time that Liu Gui saw a small border county that was countless times poorer than Jurong being able to cash in so much silver in one go, and it was even a county that had not yet come under the rule of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, Liu Gui could not conceal the excitement on his face at all. He came to Zhang Cong with a pile of bills issued by the Royal Bank and began to report in detail.

Zhang Cong was already used to it. He glanced at the bills and the cooperation contracts signed between the government and the major business houses, and smiled faintly: "Why did Jiao Gelao's business group buy so much land? Is he going to come to Shajing County to retire?"

Zhang Cong said, "Let's follow the rules. In addition to handing over part of it to the Ministry of Revenue and keeping part of it in the government offices at all levels in Hetao, you can keep part of it for yourself. It is estimated that there will be a million taels of silver.
At that time, once the Royal Guards occupy Shajing, you, the county magistrate of Shajing County, will need to organize people to build a city and roads. You must build a road between Shajing County and Wuhai Prefecture. You will be responsible for the section within Shajing County, and the other sections will be the responsibility of each county. The road must be built well and the city must be built solidly. As long as the road is built, it is equivalent to establishing a connection with Wuhai.

By then, the Third Division of the Guards of Wuhai can be dispatched in the morning and arrive in the evening, and naturally there is no need to worry about being attacked by the Tatars! His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty has formulated the overall military and political strategy! It must be strictly implemented. You estimate whether the silver you only use from Shajing County is enough to build roads and cities. If not, I will give you some more. After all, Shajing County is really going to build a city on the grassland, and there are places to spend money. "

"I have been a county official for many years. I only know that subordinates pay money to their superiors, but I don't know that superiors give money to subordinates. But now, Your Majesty understands the difficulties of local governance and can't bear to see the local government impose additional taxes on the people, so you let the local government keep a portion of the treasury silver. This is unprecedented in the reign of a sage monarch! More than one million taels is enough, and I dare not ask for more."

Liu Gui smiled and said that for him, over one million taels was already a huge sum of money. If he was asked to take more public funds, he himself would not know how to use them effectively. Moreover, he also knew that the current examination of officials was extremely strict. He had always been cautious and did not want to cause any trouble because of managing too much public funds, so he rejected the kindness of his superior Zhang Cong.

"In that case, come back to me when you need more money. There is too much money in the Royal Bank right now. According to the Ministry of Revenue, you have to spend as much as possible and not keep it in the hands of the court. Your Majesty is unwilling to build a large number of palaces and must help the people first. If you spend more, you can also let the border residents have more money. Then more people will be willing to come to the north to make a living. To immigrate to the border, you have to let the people see the benefits of getting money, so that they are willing to leave their homeland and settle here."

After Zhang Cong said this, Liu Gui also nodded and said, "I will remember your teachings, but I am worried that the Ming Dynasty has expanded too quickly in Hetao by building cities and roads. At present, most of the people in Wuhai Prefecture are Hu people. Do you think these Hu people will take the opportunity to cause trouble? I would like to ask you, how to control these Hu people."

“Although they are not of our race, their hearts must be different, but our Ming Dynasty is the Celestial Empire after all, and we cannot do things that are inhumane. Moreover, these Hu people were originally poor people enslaved by the Tatars. Many of them were Han people who were robbed by the Tatars and then assimilated. They came here voluntarily to do hard labor, and we also need them to build cities, roads, mines, etc. As long as they can live better than when they were slaves, they will naturally not want to go back.

However, we must also take this opportunity to change customs and habits and make them assimilated to the Han culture. It is enough for these lower-class Hu people to have enough food, so they naturally don’t care about what kind of culture they are exposed to. But we must instill etiquette in them, let them forget that they are Hu people, and only know that they are Ming people. Through trade, work, cultural propaganda, and entertainment, let them gradually get used to speaking Chinese. Gradually, they will forget that they were Hu people before. For example, there was a Xiongnu named Liu who established a Han country. You, Liu Gui, may be a Xiongnu, and you say yes or no.

Zhang Cong started to tease Liu Gui, and Liu Gui smiled awkwardly: "Although I don't know whether my ancestors were Han or Yi, I know that I am a minister of the Ming Dynasty."

Zhang Cong nodded and continued, "That's right. Those who are loyal to His Majesty are all subjects of the Ming Dynasty! You must remember one thing when the time comes. These Hu people must not live together in clans, Han and Hu people must not live together, and they must not marry within their clans to form alliances. They must not form gangs or factions. Anyone who takes the lead and wants to be the leader of other Hu people will be killed! No Hu nobles will be spared!
Use more of the methods in the "Foreign Regulations" issued by the General Political Department of the Guards. When promoting their sinicization, tell them about the crimes of the Tatar nobles when they enslaved them. Investigate a few of the more miserable ones and give them the opportunity to talk about their painful experiences of being enslaved in various places where the Hu people work and live, and by the way, talk about the good things in Ming Dynasty! The effect of doing so will be very good, and it may even make these Hu people defend the city more desperately than the original Han people when they encounter Tatar cavalry attacks in the future! "

Just as Zhang Cong finished speaking, Wang Xi, the prefect of Wuhai Prefecture, and Gui Yong, the deputy general, suddenly came to report in a hurry: "Governor! The Wuliangha cavalry is attacking, led by Daha, the son of the Wuliangha leader. According to our Jinyiwei, they are still here to demand the return of the Hu people, saying that we have robbed their people."

"How ridiculous! These Hu people escaped on their own, how could we have robbed them?"

I am very sorry. I did not update yesterday because I lost the manuscript and could not find it, and I had a bad cold. I will make up for the update today. I took some medicine and feel better. I will try to update more often. In the future, the author will try to fix the update time. It is tentatively scheduled to be updated at 8 am, 12 noon and 4 pm every day. I will do a minimum of three updates. I can't fall into depravity again!
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(End of this chapter)