Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 20: Annihilate the Japanese pirates and reward them with silver for killing them!
That's enough.

Not full.

This world, this country.

The era when civil and military officials could act recklessly is over.

Zhu Houcong looked at Yan Song, Xu Jie, Gao Gong, Yan Shifan and Zhang Juzheng for a while, trying to read their thoughts from their eyes.

However, Zhu Houcong did not have the ability to see through people's hearts, and he could not tell who was loyal and who was treacherous among all the loyal faces.

Perhaps some people are loyal now, but may become unfaithful in the future.

Some people may be loyal to the Ming Dynasty, while others may be loyal to themselves.

Among these people, is there anyone who is loyal to him, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty?

Zhu Houcong couldn't guess, so he simply gave up and issued a final warning: "Remember how much you have eaten, don't overeat."

Everyone answered loudly almost at the same time: "Yes."

"Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng were summoned by me, as well as Lord Yan, Lord Xu, and Yan Shifan, what do you have to report?" Zhu Houcong finished playing the riddle and went straight to the point.

Yan Song adjusted his mood slightly and said sincerely: "Your Majesty, this matter is related to Zhang Juzheng."

Zhang Juzheng was stunned and immediately looked at Yan Song and Xu Jie subconsciously.

With the merger of the Yan Party and the Qing Party, the civil and military officials of the imperial court officially returned to "great unity". The most important thing for the entire civil service group at present is to strive for the right to inspect and assess the performance evaluation system.

Zhang Juzheng asked himself if he had ever discussed anything with Xu Jie, let alone with Yan Song.

After not seeing each other for a night and a morning, what did the chief minister and the second chief minister of the cabinet discuss that made the first thing they reported after the two factions merged be related to Zhang Juzheng?
Yan Song said slowly: "Zhang Juzheng said that as long as the trade routes on the sea are unblocked, the merchant ships of our Ming Dynasty can transport goods to Persia and India, and we can earn more than 10 million taels of silver every year."

Hear the words.

Zhang Juzheng was obviously a little excited, and tried his best to calm down.

After more than ten years, the imperial court finally formally put forward his first proposal to change the Ming Dynasty in front of the emperor.

Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish. Managing a household means both saving money and increasing revenue. Saving money will hardly make the country rich and strong, but increasing revenue can.

"If we want to reopen the sea trade route, stabilize the sea, and suppress the Japanese pirates, all of these must be focused on by the Ministry of War. I and other officials believe that we should increase military pay for Fujian and Zhejiang, and let Hu Zongxian recruit troops and build warships." Yan Song added.

Zhang Juzheng could no longer hold back and a smile appeared on his lips. Although Yan Song had only mentioned his close friend Hu Zongxian, the Governor-General of Zhejiang, and not Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou in his memorial, nothing else mattered as long as the anti-Japanese campaign was accomplished.

Besides, there is no distinction between the Yan Party and the Qingliu Party, so Hu Zongxian can just leave his name in front of the emperor.

"How much does the cabinet think the military pay of Fujian and Zhejiang should be increased?" asked Zhu Houcong.

Regardless of whether Yan Song and Xu Jie were motivated by public interest or selfish motives, the Japanese pirates had to be wiped out.

The hatred from past and present lives can only be eliminated by annihilating the Japanese.

The amount of the increase in military pay was agreed upon by Yan Song and Xu Jie on the sedan chair leading to Yuxi Palace. Yan Song then said, "Your Majesty, at least nine million taels of silver."

Six million taels of silver were used to build warships.

Three million taels of silver to recruit troops.

Without the mutual constraints of the Yan Party and the Qingliu, Yan Song and Xu Jie both believed that if the money was spent effectively, the Japanese pirates could be driven back to their homeland.

but.

The military pay expenditure of nearly 10 million taels of silver was the first time since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Yan Song and Xu Jie never thought that the emperor would actually approve it.

According to the estimates of Yan and Xu, if six million taels of silver could fall into the southeast, Hu Zongxian would be able to smooth the seas and restore the situation of smooth sea trade to the situation more than a decade ago during the Jiajing period.

The Analects of Confucius says: "If you aim at the highest, you will get something in the middle; if you aim at the middle, you will get something below; if you aim at the lowest, you will get nothing." Yan Song and Xu Jie's tricks were not concealed, and everyone in the hall knew it.

"Aim!"

The holy sound came.

Everyone was stunned.

The emperor is not stingy anymore?

Immediately afterwards, Yan Song, Xu Jie, Yan Shifan and Zhang Juzheng felt a little uncomfortable because they realized that the emperor's sudden generosity and the increase in military pay in Fujian and Zhejiang might have come from the silver they had just offered.

Zhu Houcong seemed to want to make the four people feel even worse, and continued: "Pass on my decree. From today onwards, anyone who kills a Japanese pirate will be rewarded with 20 taels of silver by the court. There is no upper limit!"

Cash.

Not capped.

As soon as six words came out.

Everyone couldn't help but gasp.

The reward for beheading has existed since the time of Emperor Taizu Gao, in order to boost morale and encourage everyone to kill foreign troops.

Among the many foreign armies, the reward for beheading the grassland cavalry is always the highest.

If you behead a grassland cavalryman, you will receive a reward of 20 taels of silver and be promoted one level.

However, the grassland cavalry was always the most dangerous to the Ming army. In battle, the casualty ratio between the Ming army and the grassland cavalry was often very different.

Moreover, the grassland has its own rules. If you save your companions on the battlefield, you can get half of their spoils.

If you can retrieve your companion's body on the battlefield, you will get all of his spoils.

This rule made the grassland cavalry fight bravely on the battlefield. Even if their companions had died in battle, they were unwilling to leave their bodies to the Ming army.

The bounty on the grassland cavalry's heads has always been the hardest thing for the Ming army to earn.

Even if they could really make some money, due to the court's arrears and the exploitation by generals at all levels, by the time the soldiers got their money, there might not be even two taels of silver.

Therefore, most of the time, the Ming army was not keen on the reward silver for the grassland cavalry, and as a result, their desire to resist the grassland cavalry was relatively weak.

Killing Japanese pirates was a relatively low reward in the Ming army. Beheading one Japanese pirate would only earn one fifteen taels of silver.

However, there were also serious cases of arrears by the imperial court and exploitation by generals.

After noticing Yan Shifan's unusual expression, Zhu Houcong added something new about the reward of silver. "I will let the Jinyiwei be responsible for the reward of silver, and distribute it directly to the soldiers."

The Jinyiwei, which was independent of the army and could not be interfered with by outsiders, perfectly avoided the court's arrears and exploitation by generals. Yan Shifan's expression suddenly darkened.

Zhang Juzheng thought more deeply. With such a reward system, the southeastern army would probably be able to eliminate the Japanese pirates at sea.

even.

There is a possibility of rushing to the Japanese island, capturing the Japanese and pretending to be Japanese pirates to earn a reward.

We cannot think too much about this kind of thing. Anyway, it is beneficial to the Southeast Army.

"There is no one more wise and intelligent than the Emperor." Yan Song and the other four praised the Emperor in unison.

"Your Majesty, Hu Zongxian will be in charge of the mission to suppress the Japanese invaders, but the goods to be sold to Western countries must be prepared in advance. Tea and porcelain are not to be mentioned. Silk is the currency, and the key to silk is silk. If you want to produce more silk, you have to increase the number of mulberry fields. I and your humble servants think that we should simply convert half of the existing farmland in Zhejiang into mulberry fields, which will produce an additional 200,000 bolts of silk a year." Yan Song bared his fangs.

Zhang Juzheng's smile suddenly froze on his face.

(End of this chapter)