The Ming Dynasty: A Modern Return, Building an Overseas Empire

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Mei Qing with a calm expression.

"Pack all of these up, and when we leave, take them all with us."

Before we leave this area, stop the forging process and use the remaining iron to make farm tools, as many as we can.

As for the other craftsmen, improve their treatment and tell them that if they can raise their offspring to have excellent skills, they can also receive subsidies.

In addition, I will regularly select a group of people to be their apprentices. As long as they train others and enable these apprentices to learn the skills, I will also provide them with subsidies.

This so-called subsidy is simply a cash payment, and the amount will be determined based on the skills acquired after completing the training and the time spent learning.

After you go down there, speak to them about this personally, and make sure everyone understands clearly.

Compared to his meager family fortune, Zhu Gaoxu clearly placed greater emphasis on the artisans.

Mei Qing and the others were surprised when they heard this.

They were just some craftsmen, yet Zhu Gaochi valued them so highly?

"Yes, Your Highness, I will begin making arrangements immediately upon returning!"

Seeing that Mei Qing didn't ask any further questions, Zhu Gaoxu then turned his attention to Wang Bin.

"Wang Bin, how many able-bodied men have you recruited in secret?"

"Your Highness, there are now 521 people gathered in the mountains outside the city, and they have completed their training!"

However, current equipment is incomplete; firearms are not yet in use, and swords and spears are widely employed, with a smaller number of shields and crossbows.

Zhu Gaoxu's gaze remained calm; these five hundred-plus men were also his private soldiers.

He had always been preparing for potential conflicts in the capital, and his preparations behind the scenes were never lacking.

However, there was also a problem: although they had more than a thousand private soldiers, their equipment was very poor, making it difficult for them to accomplish anything.

After a moment's thought, Zhu Gaoxu slowly spoke.

"Go and bring them out to the manor outside the city to help Mei Qing prepare."

The supplies we're taking out next will be piled up outside the city; keep a close eye on them.

Inform me immediately when the supplies sent by the King of Zhao arrive.

"Your Highness, if we take these people directly, the Embroidered Uniform Guard will probably find out immediately..."

Wang Bin didn't finish his sentence, but his meaning was clear: he was worried.

Wang Bin felt extremely heavy-hearted. These were private soldiers; if the Embroidered Uniform Guard found out, the problem would be huge.

If Zhu Di were to deal with this, beheading would probably be the lightest punishment.

"Don't worry, just take him there, nothing will happen."

Zhu Gaoxu knew what Wang Bin was worried about; looking back now, those concerns seemed quite naive.

He used to think that everything was done in secret and that he was being discreet.

But all of this was under the surveillance of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and Zhu Di knew it all.

With such a large force of several hundred people, and located outside the capital, if the Embroidered Uniform Guard didn't even have this much capability, Zhu Di would probably have had to completely overhaul the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Now that they are going to sea to assume their fiefdoms, there is no point in hiding anymore.

It would be better to lay his cards on the table and let Zhu Di see that everything he was doing was in preparation for going overseas to assume his fiefdom, thus demonstrating his determination.

Wang Bin was startled, but he didn't say anything more.

"Yes, Your Highness!"

Zhu Gaoxu paid no attention, his mind constantly reflecting on his current military strength, or rather, his military resources.

Wang Bin had over five hundred private soldiers, Mei Qing was in charge of over five hundred private soldiers at the manor, and his royal guard had over three hundred men, which is about fourteen thousand men in total.

The rest were filled by the three guards.

According to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty's garrison system, one garrison consisted of 5,600 people.

However, because it was his three guards from the royal palace, and because of his covert operations, the number of guards on the surface reached tens of thousands.

In the past, the number of soldiers in the garrison could reach more than 13,000, but he did not have all of them at full strength.

More importantly, Zhu Gaoxu himself knew one thing: the three guards were ostensibly numbering in the tens of thousands, but in reality, there were none.

The highest was just over six thousand, and the lowest was less than five thousand.

Because even Zhu Gaochi wouldn't dare to do it openly before, he could only recruit private soldiers in secret.

The remaining vacancies on the surface were all salaries he was receiving without actually working.

Now that he is leaving, the total number of troops he can muster is only about 16,000.

Thinking about all this, Zhu Gaoxu felt no worry at all; on the contrary, he had a slight smile on his face.

This family's wealth is not bad at all; on the contrary, it is quite astonishing.

But the prerequisite is that he can take all these troops out.

The joy didn't last long, and Zhu Gaoxu felt melancholy.

The crux of the matter is that Zhu Di must agree to let him go before he can take him with him.

In other words, Zhu Di's attitude became the absolute key to his decision to go overseas to assume his fiefdom, especially his preparation to go to Japan to assume his fiefdom, and it was impossible to bypass Zhu Di.

Having a headache from thinking about it, Zhu Gaoxu stopped thinking about it and looked at Zhu Huan.

"How much money do you have in the accounts now?"

"Your Highness, we currently have 50,000 taels of gold, 180,000 taels of silver, and 370,000 taels of paper money."

The grain we've collected so far, from the estate and the prince's annual stipend, amounts to about ten thousand shi (a unit of dry measure), in addition to some other supplies.

Zhu Gaoxu was somewhat surprised when he heard Zhu Huan describe the family's resources.

This wealth does not include the Wangfu (Prince's Mansion) assets; those within the Wangfu are managed by Wei Wanrong.

Before he actually took stock of his assets, he had no idea that he actually had quite a lot of wealth.

What displeased Zhu Gaochi the most was the paper money.

Nowadays, paper money is the only common currency, but it doesn't hold its value; people generally prefer silver and copper coins.

If you take out these 370,000 taels of silver notes, you're bound to get a discount. Even if he's the King of Han, a 20% discount is a given.

Adding gold and silver, the total value would be around one million taels of silver, or close to that amount even if it weren't.

Zhu Gaochi's heart was filled with excitement. A million taels of silver might not seem like much in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, but after all, he was a prince.

But nowadays, it's an absolute fortune.

Currently, paper money is the official currency, and gold and silver are not widely circulated. The purchasing power of silver today is much stronger than that of silver back then.

Just like in modern times, one hundred yuan in the 1970s and one hundred yuan in the 2000s are completely different concepts.

As for grain, it was about 10,000 shi, roughly 600 tons. It sounds like a lot, but in reality, it wasn't that much.

This 600 tons is enough to feed 10,000 people, which is more than 200 days' worth of consumption.

This is just the daily routine; once physical exertion or warfare is involved, the consumption is even greater.

But the number of troops he was going to take with him was already close to 16,000.

Add to that the families of those to be taken, and the other people to be taken, what can 10,000 shi (a unit of dry measure) do?

Zhu Huan did not mention specific quantities for other supplies, which suggests that reserves were even smaller.

Zhu Gaoxu, who had just felt that his family was very wealthy, suddenly felt helpless.

Even if he had a million taels of silver, how much would he have left after buying grain and other supplies? And how long could the grain and supplies he bought last?

As for the money and grain in his palace, even if he didn't take inventory, he could still make a rough estimate.

When you convert it up, it's not enough, not nearly enough.

In this respect, it is still too difficult to start developing territories.

Before setting sail, you must secure money, food, and supplies; otherwise, things will be really difficult once you're out at sea.

In terms of grain production, none of the surrounding areas of the Ming Dynasty can produce more grain than the Ming Dynasty itself.

If we don't prepare more in the Ming Dynasty, we'll only be able to rely on robbing once we're out there, and we won't be able to rob much anyway.