Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 142 The Powerful Second in Command
In April 1609, Zhu Youdong's memorial was sent to the cabinet through the Tongzhengsi. Two cabinet elders, Ye Xianggao and Li Sancai, signed the draft, saying "It is proposed to act according to the proposal and let the Ministry of War handle it." After that, the Silijian also quickly approved it and quickly transferred it to the Ministry of War.
After the Ministry of War received this memorial, officials from top to bottom were overjoyed. They followed the procedure and asked for the opinion of the Military Affairs Secretary, and when it was naturally not rejected, they immediately began to implement the specific matters.
In June of that year, the Ministry of War came up with a complete plan:
First, it was allowed to replenish Henghaiwei. According to the Ming Dynasty's ancestral system, Henghaiwei was restored to the standard of 5,600 households. Since Henghaiwei only had more than 30 households at that time, it was suggested that the Ministry of Household Affairs coordinate with various localities, especially Guide Prefecture in Henan, Xuzhou in South Zhili, Huai'an Prefecture and other places that suffered serious floods in recent years to make up the relevant number of households.
Second, the Ministry of War re-verified the establishment of military officers in Henghai Guard, including one commander, five thousand households, fifty hundred households, one hundred general flags, and five hundred small flags. For the above establishment, the Ministry of War was responsible for selecting outstanding sons of generals from various military towns to serve as commanders, thousand households, hundred households, etc. When the number of households transferred by the Ministry of Households was full, the general flags and small flags would be selected by Henghai Guard and submitted to the Ministry of War for record.
Third, he coordinated with the Ministry of Revenue to allocate 1,000 hectares (66.6 square kilometers) of sandy land on the south bank of Jingjiang Island as the Henghaiwei garrison.
Fourth, starting from the 39th year of Wanli (1611), Henghaiwei paid grain and special products to the imperial court every year, totaling 50,000 taels of silver. All of this money was put into the Ministry of War.
After receiving the proposal from the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue immediately replied: The first three items are fine, and for the last item, it is recommended that the two departments split it equally.
Then, after three months of wrangling, the two departments finally reached an agreement after repeated coordination by Li Sancai: 30,000 for the Ministry of War and 20,000 for the Ministry of Revenue.
At this point, all departments of the Ming central government reached a consensus, and the reconstruction of Henghaiwei officially entered the stage of concrete operation.
Of course, some censors raised objections, saying that this would put the people of Jingjiang in a different position. However, these noises were suppressed by the bigwigs in Beijing, and only caused a little splash, and then they were silent.
In August of that year, the official imperial edict to rebuild Henghaiwei was finally issued, and the specific departments in charge fell into the hands of the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue and the Nanjing Ministry of War - in fact, it fell into the hands of Zhu Youdong.
During these few months, Zhu Youdong was not waiting there foolishly.
He opened another golden finger: cement.
In fact, China is one of the countries with the richest limestone deposits in the world. In the 21st century, almost all provincial administrative regions except Hong Kong, Macao and Shanghai have limestone deposits. Specifically, in Nanzhili during this period, Changzhou Prefecture, which was close to Zhu Youdong, and Luzhou Prefecture, which was far away, both had large amounts of limestone mines.
Jingjiang is a county-level city with strong economic strength in the 21st century. Although it is located on the north bank of the Yangtze River, the local people speak the Wu dialect. It is a typical Jiangbei Wu dialect city.
The reason for this phenomenon is, of course, that Jingjiang was just a small sandbar in the Yangtze River before. Later, as the Yangtze River silt continued to accumulate, it gradually became an island, and then the north bank of the island was completely connected to the north of the river.
However, at least in 1609, Jingjiang was just an island in the Yangtze River, with a land area of about 50 square kilometers. During the Chenghua period, the Ming Empire established a county here for the first time. Now, the entire county has a population of about 70,000 to 80,000 (the permanent population of Jingjiang in the 21st century is nearly 700,000).
With such a small island and such a large population, the Ministry of War could only suggest to the Ministry of Revenue that one thousand hectares of sandy land be allocated to Henghaiwei.
After Zhu Youdong got the 1,000 hectares of sandy land, he certainly couldn't farm it. The first thing he had to do was to build a house on it. And he had to build a five- or six-story building with cement. Otherwise, he couldn't leave more land for military training!
Yes, although his memorial mentioned that the purpose of rebuilding Henghaiwei was mainly to prevent smuggling and to protect the Yangtze River estuary, these functions could be fully met by the current Chongming Sand Station. Why did he need to build another navy? He used this place to train the army.
In such an era, the cavalry has not yet reached the point of being eliminated, and the construction of artillery must keep up. Therefore, one thousand hectares of land is really not much. Therefore, cement must be taken out to build high-density residential areas.
"Your Highness, the imperial edict has come down."
"Great! I can finally let go and do something big. Mr. Yuan, please forgive me for a moment. Please use my identity as your teacher to be the executive prime minister of the reconstruction of Henghaiwei."
"I will obey your orders." After saying this, Yuan Keli smiled mischievously: "I will definitely live up to Mr. Dong's high expectations."
"Hahahaha, Mr. Yuan is joking. In this case, for a teacher like you, the price cannot be reduced at all . How about this, the annual salary is temporarily set at 5,000 taels. When I find a new developer in the future, I will invite you to invest."
"Okay, in that case, I will be disrespectful in refusing."
Speaking of which, Yuan Keli, recommended by Shen Li, really solved many problems around Zhu Youdong.
Now, in Zhu Youdong's group, Sun Chengzong and Xiong Tingbi were in charge of the southwest and northeast respectively, while Wen Tiren and Wei Zhongxian stayed in Beijing to look after the house. In Nanjing, Cao Sanxi was the chief financial officer and production manager, Zhang Yicheng was in charge of propaganda and education, Xu Guangqi was the director of science and technology, Liu Zhaosun and Li Shizhong were in charge of military training and Zhu Youdong's daily security, Yan Siqi and Li Guozhu were naval talents, Tian Ergeng was the chief intelligence officer, Cao Huachun was the minister without a specific department (he was not in charge of anything specifically, but filled in wherever needed), and Wang Chengen was the director of Zhu Youdong's personal life.
A big problem with this team is that there is no deputy, and everything needs to be decided by Zhu Youdong. Once multiple departments need to collaborate, Zhu Youdong must come out to coordinate. As a result, when Zhu Youdong is exhausted, the work efficiency of the entire team is not high.
The bigger problem is that Zhu Youdong's team is too young and lacks experienced people to give him advice. In the past three or four years, if direct action is not feasible and strategies are needed, Zhu Youdong has been thinking about it himself.
This situation may work for one or two years, but how can it continue in the long run?
Now that Yuan Keli is here, all these problems have been solved at once.
After Zhu Youdong fully authorized him, Yuan Ke immediately organized a working meeting with relevant personnel and made the following division of labor:
First, Cao Sanxi allocated 200,000 taels of silver and construction materials such as cement, iron materials, bricks and tiles in advance. All materials must be unloaded at Jingjiang Island within one month. Cao Sanxi contacted the Xu family to find the required ships.
Secondly, Cao Huachun was responsible for coordinating with local officials of Changzhou Prefecture and Jingjiang County to implement the allocation of land as soon as possible. If residents on these lands were unwilling to move, they should try to solve the problem with silver. To this end, Yuan Keli instructed Cao Sanxi to compile a separate budget of 50,000 taels of silver for Cao Huachun.
Third, the craftsmen from Fangshan Laboratory must first go to Jingjiang Island to conduct geological surveys, and carry out foundation load calculations and related area planning (living area, training area, equipment storage area) according to the house sketch drawn by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
Fourthly, the fourth-grade students of Fangshan School (currently the highest grade in Fangshan) will have their academic and physical education classes reduced by half this semester, and will have to intern on the construction site during the remaining time.
Fifth, the Jinling Daily should publicize this to let the people of the Ming Dynasty know the significance of rebuilding Henghaiwei.
Sixth, Liu Zhaosun, Li Shizhong and others were responsible for receiving the new officers of Henghai Guard who were about to arrive in Nanjing. After the refugees arrived from local transfers, they would first select the strong men who could serve as soldiers.
Seventh, the Fangshan factory will put the armor, muskets, etc. that have been experimentally finalized into mass production, and equip the entire Henghaiwei by next year at the latest.
Eighth, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince must personally come forward to receive the refugees who are transferred from various places to join the Henghaiwei military households. The Fangshan Medical Laboratory must conduct relevant physical examinations on the arriving refugees to prevent people with serious diseases from entering Jingjiang Island.
The above work will be carried out from August of this year. Each department will hold a meeting every ten days to report the progress. If anyone drags down the overall situation, he will be reported to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for punishment!
