Ming Dynasty: The Crocodile King of Han Prince Zhu Gaoxu's Family

Chapter 274 Hanming Peninsula!

"Father-in-law, you're surprised already? You know, I've heard that a natural, open-pit iron ore island has been discovered overseas. That place is probably dozens of times the size of Yunnan!" Before his father-in-law could recover from the shock of the Japanese gold and silver mine, Zhu Zhanhe dropped another bombshell. This news from Zhu Zhanhe left Xia Yuanji, who had been calming down, staring at his son-in-law with disbelief, his mouth agape as if he were looking at a ghost.

"Father-in-law, let's hurry up and unify the Indochina Peninsula and develop it well. Once we unify the Indochina Peninsula, it will no longer be the Indochina Peninsula, but the Hanming Peninsula of my Han Prince's Mansion!"

"The world is vast and boundless, and it is all waiting for us to explore it for future generations." Zhu Zhanhe looked at his father-in-law, whose mouth was agape and whose eyes were glazed over, and brought the topic back to reality. He told his father-in-law directly that this place would henceforth belong to the Hanming Great Island of the Han King lineage of the Great Ming Dynasty! At the same time, Zhu Zhanhe was also reminding his father-in-law that the focus should be on the affairs of the Indochina Peninsula at present. They should deal with the Indochina Peninsula first before discussing other matters.

"Thump... thump... thump..." At this moment, Xia Yuanji finally recovered from the two pieces of news his son-in-law had just delivered. Overwhelmed with emotion, Xia Yuanji stumbled backward, nearly falling to the ground. Luckily, Zhu Zhanhe reacted quickly and caught his father-in-law; otherwise, if his father-in-law had been seriously injured, there would have been no one to do the heavy work for him!

Xiao Xizi, who had been serving him the whole time and was also stunned by the prince's words, quickly recovered. He came to Xia Yuanji and gently helped him to sit down and rest.

"Huff~, huff~, huff~," Xia Yuanji, who was being helped to sit in a chair by Xiao Xizi, was panting heavily in order to calm the turbulent emotions in his heart.

A gold and silver mine with an annual output of nearly a million tons! A super open-pit iron mine! Hanming Island! Is this His Highness the Crown Prince's trump card? Truly formidable! Connecting all the dots, Xia Yuanji felt that his son-in-law was incredibly unfathomable. Is this the Han Prince's Mansion that my grandson will inherit?! Suddenly, the image of his pregnant daughter flashed through Xia Yuanji's mind, and he was deeply moved. After catching his breath for a long time, Xia Yuanji slowly recovered.

"Previously, I was considering how to develop the country after we occupied the entire peninsula. Now, judging from Your Highness's previous plans, it seems you had already made those plans."

The establishment of the ocean-going merchant fleet was probably for trade and ocean shipping. Xia Yuanji, having recovered his senses, stared at his son-in-law with astonishment. He then realized that his son-in-law's seemingly chaotic arrangements were, in fact, all meticulously planned for a grander future!

"Father-in-law, let's focus on perfecting the layout of the Indochina Peninsula." Zhu Zhanhe did not answer his father-in-law's current question, but instead directed his father-in-law to focus on the ongoing development of the Indochina Peninsula.

"Your subject understands," Xia Yuanji said, looking at his calm son-in-law with a sense of astonishment. So young, yet possessing such a grand plan; possessing the power of a dragon, yet able to cultivate it for so many years; and now, with such steady progress in implementing the plan, showing no sign of impatience or eagerness for quick success. This made Xia Yuanji see his son-in-law as even more unfathomable. Therefore, when his son-in-law asked him to turn his attention to the Indochina Peninsula, Xia Yuanji agreed without hesitation.

"Father-in-law, the land allocation needs to be expedited. The Embroidered Uniform Guard has already begun its deployment to Annam, the Taoist temples have arranged abbots for each prefecture, and the scholars are being selected. All that's missing is the land allocation document." Seeing that his father-in-law's expression had completely calmed down, Zhu Zhanhe reminded him to quickly come up with the land allocation plan.

"Does Your Highness have any specific ideas? I'd like to incorporate them into my plans." Xia Yuanji didn't dare to underestimate his son-in-law. Therefore, when his son-in-law urged him for a plan, although Xia Yuanji already had a basic plan in mind, he still wanted to ask his son-in-law for his thoughts and ideas.

“Speaking of ideas, I do have some.” Zhu Zhanhe was quite surprised by his father-in-law’s consultation. In the past, his father-in-law would write the memorial and hand it over, and he would revise it before finalizing it. Now his father-in-law was actually asking in advance. Although this was somewhat disrespectful to a superior, Zhu Zhanhe liked this approach, as it saved a lot of unnecessary time.

"Your Highness, please speak." Hearing that his son-in-law had a good idea, Xia Yuanji was also startled and immediately listened carefully.

"First, let's talk about the ordinary soldiers. Every soldier in my army should be allocated a basic land quota, for example, a minimum of ten mu per person, with an additional five mu for each enemy killed. This quota should be increased accordingly to encourage soldiers to fight bravely. Of course, there should be corresponding deduction clauses, but the minimum quota cannot be changed. Secondly, for basic ranks such as squad leaders and platoon leaders, each rank higher should be allocated an additional five mu of land as a rank-based bonus, to make our ranks more prestigious. Similarly, the land allocation should be based on the number of enemy kills."

Positions at the level of deputy commander and above no longer receive subsidies for killing enemies. Instead, they are given fixed land based on their success or failure in battle, or a corresponding amount of land is deducted.

However, soldiers who stayed behind could only receive a fixed amount of land.

The same applies to civil officials; different levels are allocated different lands, but the general requirement is that the number of civil officials cannot exceed 80% of that of military officials of the same rank.

This allocation was intended to include all civil and military officials in Yunnan, including those in the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

However, soldiers from other races need to explain or participate in several battles before they can receive the same treatment as our soldiers, which gives them confidence.

It must be noted that regardless of who the land is allocated to, taxes must be paid to the Prince's Palace!
"The tax rate shall be between one-thirtieth and one-fifteenth, and shall never exceed one-fifteenth at any time." Zhu Zhanhe rambled on about his ideas for distributing land to everyone. Xia Yuanji listened attentively. He was especially shocked when Zhu Zhanhe mentioned the unified tax payment and the strict establishment of post-tax standards.

Xia Yuanji knew that some of his son-in-law's ideas were dangerous, but could be perfectly implemented on this soon-to-be-destroyed peninsula. And once outside the peninsula, these policies in Yunnan would be utterly condemned by the gentry of the Central Plains!
"Your Majesty understands. Before the officials sent to Annam depart, I will present a preliminary plan." After listening to his son-in-law's ideas for a while, Xia Yuanji understood his son-in-law's basic thoughts. Combined with his own ideas, Xia Yuanji believed that he could come up with a preliminary plan within a few days.

"Once the preliminary plan is ready, we'll send it to the two armies to test it out. If there are any problems, we'll ask them to give us feedback so we can make further revisions." Zhu Zhanhe also knew that the land allocation plan couldn't be perfected in one go. They could only develop a trial plan first, then continuously improve and revise it until a mature plan was finally formed.

"Try it first? What if something goes wrong?" Xia Yuanji was momentarily stunned by his son-in-law's suggestion to try it out first. After all, those in positions of authority have never made mistakes, nor can they afford to, as it would damage their prestige. His son-in-law's suggestion to try it out first and then revise it undoubtedly violated this common sense.

"No one is perfect, let alone a new policy. To implement a policy perfectly, it is necessary to continuously identify problems and make modifications and improvements. Otherwise, even the best measures will gradually become outdated and unsuccessful over time, ultimately leading to serious consequences."

Therefore, I believe that making mistakes is not terrible; what is terrible is not correcting them. Zhu Zhanhe made no attempt to conceal his awareness of his errors. In fact, if necessary, he was even willing to admit his mistakes, as long as the desired outcome could be achieved.

"Your Highness possesses the qualities of a benevolent ruler from ancient times." Xia Yuanji was genuinely surprised upon hearing his son-in-law's words. Staring at his son-in-law's youthful face for a long time, Xia Yuanji finally praised him. This was the first time Xia Yuanji had openly acknowledged that his son-in-law possessed the bearing and magnanimity of an ancient emperor.

(End of this chapter)