The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 689 Buying Land for a Fortune
At around 5 p.m., the sun sets in the west.

The Ming Dynasty's naval fleet finally sailed to the outskirts of Xuanfu Bay amidst the crimson glow of the sunset.

Ships of all sizes kept docking at the pier, and countless black dots kept surging ashore.

The soldiers and able-bodied men and women who had migrated from Xuanfu Town earlier had all arrived. They had already set up tents and prepared meals for their families.

The reunion of loved ones was incredibly exciting, and the area around the port and docks instantly erupted in cheers, with the noise reaching the heavens.

At this moment, Yu Zigao also arrived on the flagship by imperial decree.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli couldn't help but ask, "How was it? Was anything wrong in court? Is Xun'er alright? Did he say anything to you?"

A mother worries when her son travels a thousand miles away. Even though the emperor was tens of thousands of miles away, he couldn't help but worry about his son, the crown prince.

Yu Zigao said cautiously, "Your Majesty, there is nothing going on in the court, and His Highness the Crown Prince is doing well. He didn't say anything to me, he just said he missed you."

Just be fine.

Let's talk about migration.

Wanli nodded slightly, then pondered, "If you go back this time, the earliest you'll reach the vicinity of Pianguan Town will probably be mid-November."

The land there may start to freeze as early as mid-November, but this year we still need to bring all the able-bodied men and women and the sheep that can be eaten from Pianguan Town.

Because next year we will be bringing garrison troops, railway tracks, and trains to this area.

Here's what we'll do: You'll send the Flying Dragon Ship to Pianguan Town to deliver my imperial edict, ordering General Du to lead the able-bodied men and women to drive the sheep to Fenglingdu.

Fenglingdu shouldn't start freezing until December, and since you've saved time crossing Hukou Waterfall, you can pick them up earlier.

He will definitely need to bring a lot of garrison soldiers over next year.

The development and construction here cannot rely solely on conscripting young and strong men from vassal states.

Next year, the fortresses and walls of Xuanfu Town will need to be built further inland.

The defenses of Pianguan Town are still nowhere to be seen.

The key issue is that it's still tropical over there, and the beef would probably spoil if transported from North America. It's also not convenient for them to send the able-bodied men from their vassal states to work there.

He didn't even know what was going on over there.

The reason he hasn't gone there is because it's tropical, and summers and autumns are very hot.

At this moment, Yu Zigao's fleet had all returned to port, and the men, women, children, cattle, sheep, and horses of Xuanfu Town had all been brought over.

The beacon towers have been built all the way to the vicinity of the Central American islands, and more importantly, the temperature there has already started to drop.

He can finally get there and make some proper plans.

On the second day of the tenth lunar month, Dingyou, he led Deng Zilong, Li Guozhu, Li Zhizao, and others, along with two hundred Weiyuan warships and several hundred Flying Dragon ships, straight to the central waters of the Americas.

At this time, there were also Native American vassal states in the Central Seas of America. Qi Jiguang gathered them on three large islands and established three vassal states, Avana, Umana, and Amaga, according to their names.

These three islands are all quite large. The largest, Avana Island, covers more than 100,000 square kilometers, Umana Island covers 80,000 to 90,000 square kilometers, and the smallest, Amaga Island, covers more than 10,000 square kilometers.

However, the populations of the vassal states on these three islands are not large. The populations of Awana and Umana are only around 100,000, and the population of Amaga is only 40,000 to 50,000.

This is one of the reasons why he wanted to bring the garrison soldiers over.

Because these three vassal states can only muster tens of thousands of able-bodied men in total, which is simply not enough. If they rely solely on the able-bodied men here to build the defense line, it would probably take at least one or two years, let alone one or two years, to complete it.

They sailed for three days and three nights.

On the sixth day of the tenth lunar month, around 7:00 AM, the enormous island of Avana finally came into view.
At this time, the more than a thousand centipede ships that Deng Zilong had dispatched were already lined up in two neat rows in the sea area north of the capital of Awana, and King Awana and his naval officers were already waiting for him at the dock.

As soon as Wanli stepped onto the dock, King Awana, along with his naval officers and soldiers, bowed and shouted in unison, "Welcome, Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor!"

The Ming Dynasty here has done a really good job.

Emperor Wanli nodded slightly, then waved his hand and said, "Bring the reward."

Two royal guards immediately brought a large tray of gold coins and a large tray of silver coins to King Avana.

King Avana immediately rubbed his hands excitedly and said, "Your Majesty, I cannot accept such a generous gift without having done so much. How could I possibly accept so many gold and silver coins?"

Wow, you've even learned to say "no reward without merit" now. You've really mastered the official language of the Ming Dynasty.

The problem is, does this look like you don't want it?

Emperor Wanli smiled slightly and said, "My dear minister, please accept this money first. I'd like to buy some land from you. What do you think?"

So you mean you want to use some land, right?

You're too kind.

Upon hearing this, King Avana quickly ordered his men to accept the gold and silver coins, then cautiously said, "Your Majesty, just tell me how much land you want. How could I dare ask you for money?"

Both Awana and Umana have 40 to 50 million acres of land.

He already knew this all along.

The soldiers who migrated from Pianguan Town needed land to cultivate, otherwise transporting food for millions of people would be extremely troublesome.

Therefore, he plans to solve the problem of farmland and pasture first.

Emperor Wanli said solemnly, "I want to buy 20 million mu of land from you. What do you say? Any problems?"

So much land!

King Avana was stunned upon hearing this.

They still have 20 million mu of land. Officials from the Ming Dynasty have roughly calculated it for them, and the total land area of ​​Awana is more than 40 million mu.

The problem is, His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty wants almost half of their land right now. Can he really refuse to pay?

At this point, he began to regret accepting the gold and silver coins.

He thought that the Ming Dynasty just wanted to build a few cities and ports in Avana, which wouldn't require much land.

Who would have thought that His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty would ask for 20 million mu of land?

He was speechless.

Is he going back on his word?

They just said it was free, but now they want money?
He really didn't dare to say it, and he was too embarrassed to say it.

He stood there dumbfounded for a long while before cautiously asking, "Your Majesty, if I may be so bold, what do you need so much land for?"

What's that expression on your face?
Wanli explained in detail: "In the past two years, the fleets of those colonial bandits from Europe have come here again, as you should have seen."

They are not satisfied yet and want to fight back and continue to enslave you.

They've now advanced all the way to the Viceroyalty of Brazil in Portugal; it's estimated that once they take that area, they'll attack here next.

I cannot stand by and watch my subjects be enslaved, so I am prepared to send a large army to help you defend your territory.

As you know, people need to eat, so we need to grow a lot of grain here to ensure that our soldiers are well-fed.

"I plan to mobilize 100,000 troops to help you garrison the area. According to the standards of the Ming Dynasty, each military household will be allocated 200 mu of land, so 100,000 troops would mean 20 million mu of land."

what?
Those colonial bandits are coming again!

They were once colonized by the Spanish, and those days are terrifying to even think about.

Upon hearing this, King Avana nodded repeatedly and said, "Good, Your Majesty, please send a large army over as soon as possible. You can use any amount of land you need without paying any money."

Oh, so you thought I didn't want to spend money to buy land?

The reason I said this is simply because I don't want to calculate it according to the land prices of the Ming Dynasty.

In the Ming Dynasty, one mu of land cost more than 20 taels of silver, so 20 million mu of land would cost at least 400 to 500 million taels of silver.

He really couldn't come up with that much money. It's not that he didn't have that much real gold and silver, but the key was that he couldn't pull out that many gold and silver coins at once.

He's actively promoting the Ming Dynasty's currency, so it's impossible for him to directly give people gold and silver.

Moreover, he had to maintain the image of the Ming Dynasty as benevolent and righteous in front of its vassal states, distinct from that of colonial bandits, and he still had to pay money to buy this land.

That's why he said that.

Of course, this wasn't exactly lying. If he hadn't established a defense here, the colonial bandits would have certainly taken over all the islands here, and would have frequently come to plunder them.

Wanli shook his head slightly and said solemnly, "The Ming Dynasty is not a colonial bandit. Even if we come to help you and use your land, we still have to pay for it. However, this is not a prosperous area of ​​the Ming Dynasty, so the land price cannot be calculated according to the land price of the Ming Dynasty."

The Ming Dynasty is truly generous; not only did they send a large army to help them, but they also paid money to buy land from them.

If they were colonial bandits, they would not only seize their land, but also force them to work. They would not only fail to pay their wages, but also fail to feed them properly. Moreover, if they slacked off even a little, they would be beaten or even killed.

Upon hearing this, King Avana was moved and said, "I really have to accept this money. Since Your Majesty has said so, then just give me some money."

Yes, that's exactly what I wanted to hear.

However, I cannot just give them away casually, lest I give them away and give others cause for criticism.

Emperor Wanli pretended to ponder and said, "How about this, for twenty million mu of land, I will give you twenty million gold and silver coins. What do you think?"

what?
How many?

King Avana could not even imagine how many twenty million gold and silver coins actually were.

He paused for a moment, then couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, how many gold and silver coins are those?"

How can I explain this to you?

I cannot say that the total value is only a few million taels; I must exaggerate.

Wanli thought for a moment, then pointed to the large money bag containing gold and silver coins and said, "The largest of these money bags can probably hold two or three thousand gold and silver coins."

If these money bags were used, approximately 10,000 bags would be needed to hold 20 million gold and silver coins.

My God, even the biggest money bag would need to hold ten thousand bags!

Now the King of Avana roughly knew how much it cost, because their grain was also packaged in bags, and he collected land taxes just like the Ming Dynasty.

The land tax he collected in a year was less than ten thousand bags of grain.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty actually wanted to give him ten thousand bags of gold and silver coins!
The land tax he collected in a year was only worth a few bags of gold and silver coins.

This means that His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty will give him land tax revenue equivalent to thousands of years' worth of income at once!
He trembled with excitement and said, "How could Xiao Wang possibly accept so much money?"

That much money is indeed a lot for the king of a small vassal state.

You've taken so much money from me, you'll surely speak well of me to everyone you meet, that's enough.

Spending a fortune to buy a horse's bones is just buying a reputation.

The fact that I'm spending so much money to buy land is also to buy a good reputation for the Ming Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)