Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 111 Eunuch Tax Commissioners' Control of the Inner Court (Part 2)

Zhu Jue seemed to have forgotten about sending tax envoys after talking for so long.

Wei Zhongxian was so anxious he was practically scratching his head in frustration.

He was naturally impatient; otherwise, he would never have done something like self-castration.

After holding back for a while, seeing that Zhu Jue seemed to have finished explaining the matter of Dongfan, he hurriedly and cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, if I may be so bold, when will the tax envoy be sent over?"

Are you in such a hurry to rob us?

I also want to make money as soon as possible.

The outer city of the capital is under construction at a frenzy. Next, we need to continue to recruit soldiers from the Beijing garrison, build spinning mills, weaving mills, porcelain factories, and so on. We also need to equip them with steam spinning machines, weaving machines, and recruit enough manpower to do the work. All of this will require a lot of money.

He also had to send eunuchs and tax collectors to collect the raw silk and tea taxes from Jiangnan, then weave the raw silk into silk fabrics and sell them together with the tea, so that he would have enough money to continue developing.

However, human nature is inherently greedy. It's difficult to keep people from being greedy when dealing with hundreds of thousands or even millions of taels of silver. The eunuchs and tax collectors must be strictly controlled. Otherwise, these guys will run rampant and plunder for their own enrichment, which would be a huge problem.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then decisively said, "Tell them to get ready, and they'll go with Zixian later."

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhongxian quickly asked, "Lord Xu, when do you plan to go?"

The use of the word "you" here is subtle, and most people would appreciate it. There aren't many people who would be addressed as "you" by the eunuch Wei, who is said to be of high rank.

Xu Guangqi was also very pleased. He said earnestly, "It's already early April. The spring tea will soon be ready to be picked, and the silkworms that were raised early will soon be spinning silk. I also want to hurry over there."

"Your Majesty, how about I go with Lord Xiong and the others tomorrow?"

It's good that you go with them; at least you'll have two thousand musketeers and three hundred Imperial Guards protecting you, and you won't get into trouble passing through areas where the rebels are active.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "Zhilong, how many men and goods can the fast boat you brought this time carry?"

Zheng Zhilong replied without hesitation, "Your Majesty, there are no storms on this inland waterway, so there is no problem in carrying more people and horses. A centipede boat can carry a hundred or so people, and fifty warhorses is also not a problem."

"Your humble servant has brought over a hundred centipede-shaped boats. Excluding the crew, they can carry at least eight thousand people, and carrying hundreds of thousands of kilograms of cargo won't affect their speed."

That's good. Two thousand musketeers and three hundred Imperial Guards make a total of two thousand three hundred people and three hundred warhorses, which is less than half the number of centipede ships.

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully, and then decisively said: "Of these hundreds of centipede ships, half will be used by Tai Meng and Zhong Xian's men, and the other half will be used by Zi Xian."

"Zixian, you'd better take as many disciples as possible with you, all the farmers who work with you and their families, and all the improved potato and sweet potato seeds. Also, bring plenty of fertilizer, especially phosphate fertilizer; you can decide on nitrogen and potassium fertilizer as needed."

Upon hearing this, Xu Guangqi slowly nodded and said, "Your Majesty, this time we are going to the sea, which is a good opportunity to find the islands where seabirds live."

Seabirds in a sea area usually congregate on one or a few islands to breed and roost. These islands are mostly sparsely populated, some probably untouched for hundreds or even thousands of years. They should have a lot of bird droppings. If we find a few such islands, we should have enough potash fertilizer.

Yes, the islands where seabirds inhabit do indeed produce a lot of potassium fertilizer. There are several such islands in later generations, where bird droppings are piled up several meters or even tens of meters thick, producing thousands of tons of fertilizer annually, which is millions or even tens of millions of kilograms.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, you can send someone to look for it. They should be able to find it by following the flock of seabirds from a distance with binoculars. If we can find a few islands like that, the potash fertilizer should be enough for us for several years."

If only there were that many.

Xu Guangqi nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then said solemnly, "Zhilong, do you see any other agricultural products that are profitable to sell overseas? You can talk to Zixian about them, and I'll let you plant them on a large scale. This way, ordinary people can earn more money."

Agricultural products?
This really exists.

Zheng Zhilong explained in detail: "Your Majesty, the reason why the Dutch occupied Dayuan was that they wanted to grow sugarcane on it, because sugar is also in short supply in Europe. The white sugar produced in Guangdong and Guangxi is about one tael or so per dan, but it can be sold to the Dutch and Spanish for about ten taels per dan."

Sugar can be so profitable?
Understood.

In continental Europe, staple foods are mainly flour and milk. Adding salt may not necessarily make them taste good, but adding sugar will definitely make them taste good.

The current sugar price is unlikely to last long, mainly because European countries have too many colonies. Once they start large-scale sugarcane cultivation in their colonies, the price of sugar will inevitably plummet.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then instructed, "Zixian, you must also hurry up and promote the large-scale planting of sugarcane. The Dutch are already preparing to plant sugarcane in Dongfan. The money from sugar will probably only last for a few decades at most." Xu Guangqi nodded repeatedly and said, "Your subject understands."

Zhu Jue thought for a moment and then asked, "Zhilong, we urgently need a large amount of copper and rubber. Have you asked the Dutch and Spanish if they have large quantities of copper and rubber for sale?"

I almost forgot about this.

Zheng Zhilong cautiously said, "Your Majesty, I have already asked. It seems that our term for rubber is different from theirs, and they don't know what it is."

As for copper, after we drive the Dutch out, we can directly purchase it from Japan. They probably produce tens of millions of kilograms of copper a year, so purchasing two or three million kilograms shouldn't be a problem for us.

The Dutch actually wanted to raise deer in Japan to trade for copper, which would not only save them a lot of shipping costs, but also the money they would have spent on purchasing copper.

Is venison delicious?

Zhu Jue asked, somewhat puzzled, "Do the Japanese like to eat venison so much?"

Not really.

Zheng Zhilong shook his head repeatedly and said, "No, Your Majesty, the King of Japan is a Buddhist and strictly forbids killing poultry and livestock for food. They are only allowed to eat fish and wild animal meat. Japan is such a small place that they have almost eaten all the wild animals. Therefore, they can only buy venison from Japan to eat."

Those agricultural communities in Dongfan (Eastern Japan) originally raised deer. I myself have purchased deer there to sell in Japan. The market was excellent; whatever we brought over, we sold immediately.

Oh, so it turns out that the King of Japan strictly forbids eating poultry and livestock. No wonder the Japanese are much shorter than the people of the Ming Dynasty, and they are all as thin as monkeys.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue slowly nodded and said, "We can have the agricultural cooperatives in Dongfan raise deer on a large scale and then buy them to exchange for copper with the Japanese, but two or three million catties of copper a year is far from enough, so we still have to buy from the Spanish."

As for rubber, I will describe its properties in detail later and have Tai Meng take it over to ask the Dutch and Spanish prisoners if they can understand it.

Taimeng, this time we just need to disarm the Spanish and Dutch we captured, and then send them back to their country. We can also talk business with them while we're at it. If we kill them all, business will be difficult.

We urgently need money and resources for development now. It's not too late to deal with them and drive them completely out of Southeast Asia once we've developed."

Upon hearing this, Xiong Wencan nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

That should be enough to explain things now.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then said sternly, "Zhongxian, you must make the rules clear to Tu Wenfu and the others. They can't just collect as much raw silk and tea tax as they want. They must collect according to the quota approved by Zixian."

When they patrol and collect taxes, they can only do so according to the quota approved by the inner court. They are not allowed to increase the amount of taxes and levies without authorization. Moreover, they are only responsible for collection, and the transportation is entirely the responsibility of Zhi Bao's men. They are not allowed to find their own boats to transport and deliver the goods privately.

In short, the quota approved by the inner court, the amount they collected, and the amount transported by Zhi Bao's men must all match. If they don't match, I will execute whoever is at fault!
As long as they do their best to fulfill their duties, I will naturally give them a 10% share of the profits. They shouldn't try to emulate the mining supervisors and tax commissioners of the Wanli era and give me a 10% cut.

Furthermore, local officials can't just investigate whomever they want. They can only investigate whomever Zixian and Taimeng tell them to investigate. Remember that?

There are so many rules?

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhongxian nodded repeatedly and said, "This servant will remember."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "Does anyone have any other questions?"

And also, you forgot the most important thing.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zhilong quickly and cautiously reminded him, "Your Majesty, if I may be so bold, what do you think of this matter of bestowing a title upon someone?"

Oh, I forgot about that.

This guy came all morning just for this matter; he has to get it done for him, and he has to do it in a grand and impressive way.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then instructed, "Zhongxian, you arrange this. Zhilong's conferment ceremony will be held this afternoon at around 1:00 PM in the square in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony."

All officials of the inner court who could come should come; all dukes, marquises, and nobles in the capital who could come should come; and all officials of the outer court of the second rank and above who were on duty must attend.

Wei Zhongxian nodded repeatedly and said, "This servant understands."

(End of this chapter)