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

Zhu Gaoxu pondered for a while, then stopped thinking about it.

It's nothing more than money and provisions. Now that he has decided to leave the Ming Dynasty, he might as well lose face. With his status as the Prince of Han in the Ming Dynasty, how could he not get money and provisions?

This is a good opportunity to get Zhu Di to kick him out, so that he won't have to keep going back and forth with Zhu Di.

After a long while, Zhu Gaoxu slowly spoke.

"This time, we will be taking a lot of people with us on this voyage, including not only the army, but also their families, as well as some other craftsmen, scholars, and special talents."

Once at sea, wars are inevitable, which means that the consumption of food will certainly be significant.

In addition, weapons, armor, firearms, ammunition, and so on need to be crafted, which requires a considerable amount of iron.

The farm tools that Mei Qing made first also required a lot of iron.

It hasn't even mentioned other supplies, such as cloth, clothing, medicinal herbs, and raw materials that need to be taken to the domain for cultivation, etc.

These two items alone will certainly incur significant expenses, but they are also the most important, forming the foundation for our journey abroad.

Next, I'll leave 200,000 taels of silver; I have a great use for it.

The rest of the money was used to buy food and iron, especially food, which was the most important, while iron was secondary.

Zhu Huan, when you go to the grain merchants, take my guards with you and help me lower the price.

Anyone who dares not to sell will have their property smashed and be sent to the Imperial Guard's prison!

In addition, we should take out all the salt permits we still have from the Nine Borders and exchange them with the merchants, who can then exchange them for grain.

Remember, we must not only demand food from them, but also the means to transport it.

Zhu Gaochi was going all out this time, directly targeting the grain merchants.

Although Zhu Huan's actions this time won't ruin the grain merchants, at least they can forget about making any money this year.

Zhu Gaoxu was even more aware that if he did this, impeachments against him would be flying everywhere, and countless people would file complaints against him to Zhu Di.

But he didn't care anymore. As long as he could get food, he didn't care about his reputation.

However, let the grain merchants and civil officials curse behind their backs; let them curse as they please.

As for the salt permits for the nine border regions, this system originated from the salt permit system established during the Hongwu period. Grain merchants would transport grain to the nine border regions, obtain salt permits from the border troops, and then use these permits to exchange for official salt, which they would then sell for profit.

Zhu Gaochi didn't want to comment on whether the Nine Border Salt Certificates system was good or bad; one could say it had both advantages and disadvantages.

On the positive side, the border troops could obtain fresh and sufficient food, and the imperial court could be greatly relieved of pressure.

Because the grain merchants themselves bore the losses incurred on the way to the nine border regions, and the grain was also transported by the grain merchants.

This ensured that the border troops would not lack food and were well-protected.

As for the negative aspects, history has already provided the answer.

The reason he obtained the salt permits was due to his influence in the military.

While obtaining large quantities of salt deposits is impossible, obtaining small quantities multiple times is still achievable.

Zhu Huan felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words.

This approach completely leaves no way out for themselves, and they have no intention of retreating back to the Ming Dynasty in the future.

Having gone through a lot with Zhu Gaochi, he quickly calmed down.

The more resolute Zhu Gaoxu was, the more he saw Zhu Gaoxu's well-thought-out plan to go overseas and establish his fiefdom, which meant that once he went abroad, Zhu Gaoxu was at least confident that he could rise to power.

With this in mind, Zhu Huan no longer hesitated.

"Your Highness, I will certainly handle this matter well! I will guarantee the seafaring crew at least six months' worth of provisions!"

Six months' worth of needs—this was the limit Zhu Huan had carefully considered.

And it was prepared according to his estimated number, which was about 50,000 people.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu's brows remained furrowed.

He felt that the food needed for half a year was still not enough.

This trip meant missing the spring planting season, which means that in addition to saving grain for seed, we would have to check until the following year, specifically the autumn harvest, before we could receive any grain revenue.

Zhu Gaoxu stopped thinking about it, fearing that if he overthought things, he might give up on going to sea.

It's normal to encounter difficulties; he was mentally prepared for that when he made the decision.

However, these difficulties are not insurmountable.

"I'll leave this matter to you. Also, take 20,000 taels from the 200,000 taels set aside and give it to Mei Qing and Wang Bin."

"Mei Qing, after you go down there, make a list of the artisans who are going to sea and give each of them five taels of silver."

Tell them that this is an extra subsidy for their willingness to go to sea with me, and that it is given to them by me!

You must distribute the full amount to everyone. If I find anyone daring to misappropriate this money, don't blame me for showing no mercy!

Zhu Gaoxu valued craftsmen highly.

Having experienced modern life, he has a particularly clear understanding of the kind of energy those craftsmen possess.

It can be said that many talents in physics, chemistry, metallurgy, firearms, infrastructure and other fields today are mostly craftsmen.

If we want to develop our territory, we cannot do without these talented people.

If the army represents the foundation, then these talents represent the potential for development.

"Yes, Your Highness! I will personally distribute them to everyone and tell them they were given to them by Your Highness!"

Mei Qing's expression turned solemn; he knew Zhu Gaoxu was not joking.

If anyone dares to reach for this money, Zhu Gaoxu will really kill them.

Zhu Gaoxu withdrew his gaze and then looked at Wang Bin.

"Wang Bin, give each of the young men you recruited and trained three taels of silver."

Tell them that this is what I, the king, have given them, and that it is a subsidy for their willingness to follow me.

"The land I promised them, once they reach their fiefdoms, they will receive it!"

"Yes, Your Highness!"

Seeing Wang Bin agree, Zhu Gaoxu breathed a sigh of relief.

Using this money is not only about winning people's hearts and minds, but also about making these people more loyal to him.

Zhu Gaoxu wanted everyone to know that the promises he made earlier were not empty words.

He gave away such a large sum of money, and it wasn't even in paper money. Would he be reluctant to give up anything else?

No one wants to work for a stingy boss, and no one wants to work for a selfish person.

When he went to his fiefdom, he needed these people to serve him; they were the foundation of his survival.

If you add the troops of the Three Guards, the amount of money he has to give out will only be more.

Zhu Gaoxu also felt sorry for the money, but he had to give it to them.

What the hell is loyalty? What the hell is betrayal? When you give enough, it's all loyalty.

If he gives them enough, they won't back down even if he orders them to attack the capital.

Zhu Gaoxu kept increasing the amount of money he was giving, and Zhu Huan frowned, his heart filled with heartache over the loss of the money.

As both Zhu Gaochi's advisor and steward, he couldn't remain calm watching so much money go out.

But he also knew that this was Zhu Gaoxu's most practical way of winning people's hearts, and he had no choice but to pay the price.

To ensure that everyone who went to sea to assume their fiefdom was willing to follow without complaint and was extremely loyal to Zhu Gaochi, the most practical solution was to provide them with money.

After settling these matters, Zhu Gaoxu gave the group many instructions before letting them go down to begin preparations.

Zhu Gaoxu then went to the room where Wei Wanrong was.

"Madam, how much money and grain is currently in the Prince's manor?"

He has already made arrangements for the assets outside the Prince's Mansion, and now he has to start taking out assets from inside the mansion as well.

This is an excessive deficit, and we can only try to fill it.

Wei Wanrong didn't speak, but went to one side of the bedroom and took out a small box from a hidden compartment.

"Your Highness, these are all the account books of the Prince's Mansion, recording income and expenses, as well as what is left now."

Looking at the account books inside the wooden box, Zhu Gaoxu's face was full of smiles.

"My wife is truly my wise and capable helper. With these account books, I can save myself a lot of trouble this time."

Zhu Gaoxu knew all too well how complicated it was to manage these things.

Nowadays, there are no modern computers or systems; everything is done by human labor.

Organizing all of this clearly and making changes in real time is no small task.

He took a deep breath, looked at Wei Wanrong with satisfaction, and then solemnly picked up the account book to look at it.