Volume 3: Confrontation! The Run of Civilization Chapter 430 The Business World Begins to Change
"News, news, the imperial court has officially confirmed that it will send 400,000 troops to the north to attack Mongolia in March this year. This is the largest-scale military assembly of our dynasty since Emperor Chengzu!"
"Newspaper seller, the commander of the Eastern Route Army, General Du Song of Liaodong, accepted an exclusive interview with our newspaper. The deployment of troops and the new equipment of the troops are all reported in detail in our newspaper!"
Early morning of February 25, 1620, Huating County, Songjiang Prefecture.
At the eastern end of the county, there is a large row of houses with green tiles and white walls. Although from the outside, these houses look plain and simple, but you can't help but feel that the area they cover is too large: a large part of the eastern part of the county is occupied by this courtyard.
In this courtyard, which was originally of uniform style, with undulating and harmonious overall structure, a tower about 30 meters high has now been erected abruptly inside the courtyard wall: although the tower body has been painted to give it a wood grain feel, it is actually a new-style building made of reinforced concrete.
In recent years, wealthy people from all over the country have begun to build similar towers in their gardens: the top of the tower is actually a huge closed pool. Through the principle of lever mechanism, water from below is pumped up and then connected to the bedroom through water pipes, so that running water can be used for washing hands, cooking, going to the toilet and even bathing in summer.
At this moment, facing the morning mist, the owner of this garden, Xu Yuanzuo, was standing on this high tower, overlooking the Huating County that had just awakened - this was Xu Yuanzuo's favorite thing to do in recent years.
Listening to the clear cries of newsboys on the street under the high tower, Xu Yuanzuo unconsciously sneered .
Because he knew: despite the grand speeches in the newspapers, the soldiers in the nine important towns on the border were actually living a life worse than death.
The Emperor's order to conquer Mongolia was a military action after tearing apart Siam, annexing Korea, and dismembering Japan. In other words, at this time, the Emperor's prestige was high, and no one in the country, whether civil or military, dared to make trouble.
Then the emperor said that this time the northern and western expeditions were all Ming forces fighting against the Mongolian tribes, so all the soldiers from the nine important towns had to go into battle. Of course, the number of soldiers was not determined by the commanders of the various military towns, but had to be reviewed by officials sent by the Ministry of War, Ministry of Revenue, and the Censorate.
What are the standards? Simple: Infantrymen must lift a 50kg dumbbell and snatch it back and forth five times. Archers must be able to draw a crossbow three times in a row. Cavalrymen, they just need to ride a horse and gallop 20 miles quickly. If you can't do any of these, then you can run 5,000 meters in 18 minutes.
However, Xu Yuanzuo knew that this was the standard. The nine important towns on the border were said to have 400,000 soldiers, but after the joint assessment of the three departments in recent months, it is estimated that they could not even gather 100,000 soldiers who met the standard. The worst were the Beijing Camp and the Tengxiang Four Guards: they were said to have 100,000 central troops, but they did not even have 10,000 soldiers who met the standard!
Thinking back to when he went to Beijing for a meeting, some generals didn't take it seriously - everyone is so bad, my troops are still good. Xu Yuanzuo couldn't help but smile more clearly: Your Majesty has done so many things since he became the crown prince, which one of them is just a boring thing to do when you have nothing to do? Aren't these all full of deep meaning?
What is the deep meaning? The first step is to pick out the soldiers who can fight in the nine border towns and Beijing, reorganize them and send them out to fight Mongolia. The second step is to integrate these soldiers in the process of fighting Mongolia, let the officers of the ten towns of the new army command them, and separate them from the corrupt generals. The third step is to return from the fight against Mongolia and carry out a thorough military reform with the power of a great victory!
As a descendant of Xu Jie, although the Xu family lacked high-ranking officials in recent years, the family tradition is here: Xu Yuanzuo knew very well that although 300,000 soldiers were eliminated from the 400,000 soldiers in the nine important border towns, they were already rare elites compared to the 300,000 soldiers in the south. Once the military reform in the north is completed, the military reform in the south will naturally be a piece of cake.
In this way, the emperor completely controlled the military power of the whole country, the country gained a powerful combat force, and the burden of the Ministry of Revenue would be greatly reduced - all of which were good things. But who would be harmed? Wasn't it the military commanders who had become landlords?
"Slurp~" After taking another sip, Xu Yuanzuo felt that the temperature of the milk in the cup was not enough. Then he straightened his clothes and prepared to leave the tower.
Just as he reached the stairs, he saw his grandson Xu Bengu climbing up.
"Greetings, Grandfather."
"Well, what's the matter?"
"The postman just delivered a letter. It's a letter from Brother Ben Gao in Beijing to his grandson."
"Since it's given to you, you can read it yourself."
"Grandpa, I've opened the letter and read it. Brother Ben Gao said in the letter that he has helped you register the coal mine you want to buy with the Royal Bank. But the other party requires a deposit first, and this... Brother Ben Gao doesn't have enough money."
The so-called Ben Gao was the grandson of Xu Yuanchun, the grandson of Xu Jie. At that time, he was serving as a centurion of the Imperial Guard in Beijing.
The Xu family now consists of two branches: Xu Yuanchun's branch is an official, while Xu Yuanzuo's branch is engaged in business. The two branches of officials and businessmen collude and support each other. This combination is the norm for the wealthy families in the Ming Dynasty.
After hearing what Xu Bengu said, Xu Yuanzuo frowned unconsciously: "How much silver is left at home now?"
"Before my grandson went up to the tower, he went to the account office to ask. Currently, all the money that can be withdrawn from the family is only 60,000 silver dollars."
"Ah?! Why is there only this much?"
"Grandpa!" Xu Bengu, who had been fully delegated power by Xu Yuanzuo in recent years and was responsible for the family's financial turnover, raised his voice unconsciously: "Grandpa, the family's expenses have been really high in recent years! When the Grandson just regent, the salt mine was auctioned, and my family bought two salt fields near the sea, costing 1.2 million yuan, and as of today, it has not been fully recovered. Three years ago, the war fund was established, and my family took out 300,000 silver dollars to invest. After the Siamese war ended the year before last, my family circled a large farm of more than 300,000 acres in Saigon and Singapore, and invested 600,000 yuan in this one. Recently, you heard that Zheng Hongyuan and others brought back rubber from America, and asked your grandson to send people to Hainan to reserve 300 plants at 1,000 silver dollars per plant...
Well, the salt field currently provides the family with a profit of 150,000 to 160,000 yuan every year, but the other things have not yet seen any harvest!"
"Ah." After listening to Xu Bengu's dissatisfied report, Xu Yuanzuo sighed: "You still don't quite understand that the world is beginning to change."
After saying this, Xu Yuanzuo took another sip of milk and then asked, "Has the steam engine arrived?"
"It arrived last night. Because it was dark, my grandson did not organize anyone to unload the goods. We will organize workers and technicians to unload the goods this morning after it is completely light."
"Well, you have to serve the two technicians well. Don't be stingy with the delicious food, luxurious houses, beautiful maids and even the gifts. You have to know that as long as we use this steam engine as the power of our silk weaving factory, the price of our products will reach 30% or even 20% of the original price. In this way, we can squeeze all the silk and cloth from other companies out of the market! And if we don't have such a machine, and other companies have it, then we will be the ones squeezed out of the market!"
"Yes, Grandpa, don't worry. I invited two technicians from Beijing to Piaoxiangyuan last night. But Grandpa, the family is really short of cash right now. Not to mention the auction of the coal mine, even the installation of new machines and the reconstruction of the factory building, I am a little embarrassed here."
"Hmm..." Turning around, he looked at the unobstructed view of Huating County below him, and patted the railing beside him vigorously. Xu Yuanzuo turned back and stared at Xu Bengu and said, " Let's get a loan. We will use all our land in Songjiang, Suzhou and Zhejiang as collateral to get a loan from the Royal Bank!"
"Loan?" Xu Bengu almost fell off the 30-meter-high water tower when he heard this: "Grandpa, our Xu family has been lending money to others for many years. When did we actually start borrowing money from others?"
"Hehehe... Gu'er, come on, stand by this railing and listen carefully. Have you heard anything?"
"My grandson...heard the sound of the wind whirring."
"This is the wind and thunder of the times! Young man, how come you are not as aware of the changes in the current situation as an old man like me?"
Xu Yuanzuo stretched out his hands and patted Xu Bengu's shoulders heavily: "Grandson, you have to work hard! Grandpa is old, and I don't know how long I can support this family. And this era is about to set off a huge wave because of the emperor's wisdom and bravery. Those who don't recognize the situation will be eliminated quickly. Only by recognizing the direction of this wave can our Xu family stand invincible! And take advantage of the situation and become the trendsetters of this great era!"
