Dominate the Country

The old-style bureaucracy is a huge group, and Chen Ming has never thought of turning all these people on the opposite side. As long as they are willing to surrender, as long as their ability and official reputation can reach the standard, Chen Ming has always been generous.

Yue Wenhai is not a horse bone that he needs to buy with thousands of gold. There are already many Jinshi like him in the Fuhan Army. But with his status and his entanglement with the Chen family, Chen Ming would certainly not just throw people aside lightly. So much so that at this moment, I took out time to see him.

Yue Wenhai came and went in a hurry, and Chen Ming turned around and buried his head in the military aircraft documents as high as a hill.

It started to rain again outside, and the dense sound of raindrops hitting the tiles reached my ears. Strings of water droplets dripped from the eaves, as if a bead curtain was hung outside the window.

In late June, Ningbo opened its port first, followed by Shanghai, which also opened its port in early July.

Long before the opening of the port, large quantities of tea, porcelain, Nanjing cloth, raw silk, etc. had already gathered in these two places, whether it was Ningbo or Shanghai.

In addition to the above bulk trade goods, there are also cinnamon, stone strips, white paper, tiles, square bricks, umbrellas, stone mills, twine, rock sugar, castings, tinware, lacquerware, alum, green alum, red beans, medicinal materials, etc. wait.

The influence was so huge that it grabbed the attention of the whole Jiangnan when he appeared. Jiangnan, which was lifeless in March and April, immediately glowed with vitality. Even the slow progress of land clearing in Zhejiang has become much faster, just like adding a pot of oil.

Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, China has been using mu and hectares as the measurement units of land. However, due to different regulations in each dynasty, the width and width of hectares are quite different. In addition, due to different traditional habits among the people, each place often has its own methods and standards. Taking the north as an example, there are large acres and small acres. One acres equals three small acres. Even the small acres in the north are generally larger than official acres.

"History of the Ming Dynasty·Shihuo Zhi" records: The upper land near Guo is the upper land, and the middle land and lower land far away are the middle land and lower land. Five feet is a step, two hundred and forty steps is an acre, and a hundred acres is an hectare.

In the twelfth year of the reign of Emperor Shunzhi of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing government decreed that bows made by the Ministry of Justice were made throughout the world. For every ten feet of land, five feet were considered bows, and two hundred and forty bows were considered acres. But when the folk custom came to Wu, it was based on six feet. On the surface, it seems that it is larger than the official acres with steps of five feet, but in fact it is not. The old bows in the south of the Yangtze River are made by craftsmen and are popular in the province. Gu Yanwu once discussed this in "Rizhilu". Although the Jiangnan people use six feet as one step, Su Chi's verification calculation shows that one foot of the official's foot is regarded as nine inches of Su's chi; The arch should be a little shorter. Moreover, the land area in Wuzhong is less than 240 steps per mu, or even 30% or 20% off, which is much smaller than the acres stipulated by the state.

When he arrived in Zhejiang, the words "Zheji" and "Zhemu" in Zhejiang gave Chen Ming an even bigger headache.

Tongxiang, Chongde, Gui'an, Wucheng, Jiaxing, Xiushui, Jiashan, Pinghu and other places do not have the same field area, and the difference can exceed 10%. Especially in Pinghu County, one acre of land is 30% higher than that of Tongxiang and Wucheng. The above list is only limited to the two prefectures and counties of Jiaxing and Huzhou. As far as the whole province of Zhejiang is concerned, of course it is more It’s complicated.

The progress of land measurement in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas was very slow. Even if a large number of local farmers joined the Fuhan Army, it was still as slow as a tortoise. This time has been the most troublesome thing since ancient times. As the supervisory censor, a considerable part of Shen Guozhen's energy was involved here.

However, since the opening of Shanghai and Ningbo ports in June and July, the pace of land clearing in Jiangsu and Zhejiang has suddenly increased. This made Chen Ming not know what to say.

The foreign ships arrived even faster, and the people were floating in the open sea before the port opened. Some are British, some are French, some are Dutch, and some are Portuguese. Macau has not given Chen Ming a definite answer yet, but this does not hinder trade between the two sides. Among these ships are Western-style sailing ships and Chinese-style lucky ships.

In mid-July, the export volume of Ningbo, the first port to open, easily exceeded one million silver dollars. Just looking at the share of goods, there is still a certain market for Chinese porcelain at this time, especially those exported porcelain that outlines Western-style figure paintings. In terms of price and variety, mid- to low-end export porcelain still occupies the main market, while the rest are mostly high-end, high-white porcelain. As for the miraculous bone china that was introduced in Europe in the past life and has become synonymous with nobility and elegance, the "world-recognized highest-grade porcelain type" bone china does not seem to have won the special favor of European businessmen represented by British businessmen. A small portion is more like seeing a new type of porcelain and taking it back to test the water. It’s impossible to tell that in Chen Ming’s previous life, the middle- and upper-class people in Britain and the United States loved bone china—‘The moment you meet bone china, the aristocratic temperament contained in her bones is inadvertently revealed...’!

The French who came to Ningbo and Shanghai brought a large number of bird's nests, many of which were precious blood bird's nests. Chen Ming now lives a life of 'gargling with bird's nests'. Although this thing has been popularized in China and has become a health treasure, its main production area is in Southeast Asia.

Recently, the Spaniards seldom come to China to trade directly. The French took the place of the Spaniards heading west. They and the Dutch who occupied the position of Indonesia in later generations, as well as Siam, that is, Chinese merchants in Thailand in later generations, brought a large number of Chinese merchants every year. Bird's nest, hematoxylin, silver, betel nut, ebony, orchid, rice, sea cucumber, deer breast, cowhide, tortoise shell, moxa cotton, etc. were imported into China.

European merchants have been dealing with China for so many years, and they know very well that China is a society of human relations. Although this concept is completely incompatible with their culture and thinking, it does not prevent them from using it neatly. Bird's nest is a very good magic weapon for Europeans to give as gifts, but Europeans themselves are absolutely resistant to bird's nests - they think bird's nests are: "These gelatinous things are actually the residue of some seaweed spit out by a big swallow - the swiftlet - after digestion!"

Due to time and current affairs, this year's foreign trade transactions are destined to be small-scale. But a good start means half the success!

Looking at the current group of people in the officialdom of Jiangsu and Zhejiang who are busy and exhausted, Chen Ming was going to release the news to revise the "History of Ming Dynasty". He has already communicated this matter with his father. Chen Hui thinks further. In the future, not only will the "History of Ming Dynasty" be revised, but also the "History of Qing Dynasty". Zhu Yuanzhang also ordered the revision of the "History of Yuan Dynasty". There is no reason why Chen Han would not revise the "History of Qing Dynasty".

They can take this opportunity to gather a large number of prestigious scholars. Because the writing of history is extremely destructive to traditional scholars, these people may not take the official position given by Chen Han seriously, but they will definitely cherish the opportunity to write history.

Jiangnan is a place where humanities gather, with many famous scholars, so it is naturally a "key area".

Chen Ming also wants to take the opportunity to send a group of "high-virtue and famous scholars" with local reputation to Henan, so that they don't gossip in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and only cause trouble for him.

But now looking at the workload of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang government, Chen Ming thinks it's better to wait.

By the end of the year, the army should have taken Guangdong and Jiangxi, so that it will be more confident to propose the writing of "Ming History".

You must know that although the "Ming History" compiled by the Qing Dynasty has many disgusting things, its number of volumes is second only to "Song History" in the Twenty-Four Histories, and its long compilation time, hard work, and perfect record are far more than the previous histories. Although there are many untrue things in the History of Ming Dynasty, it is still praised by many historians in later generations.

"Your Highness, there is movement in the navy of the Qing army."

Liu Wu rushed to him excitedly, holding a narrow piece of paper in his hand. This is a pigeon message!

...

On the blue sea, a huge fleet is sailing towards the mouth of the Pearl River.

The roaring sea water hits the side of the ship, and white water marks quickly appear and disappear on the blue sea. The red military flags flutter on the tall masts. They are the current Southeast Navy of the Fu Han Army, a behemoth that combines the two major forces of the Fujian Navy and Zhang Qiu Fleet.

Even if sixty or seventy old warships are withdrawn from the front-line combat sequence, the Southeast Navy now has more than 140 real main warships. And they have fully updated their armaments!

Those old small cannons and bulky old-style cannons were lifted off the warships, either scrapped or remade.

In more than a month, the production of the Fuzhou Gun Bureau and the artillery transferred from Nanjing, the artillery of the entire Southeast Navy was completely renewed, and the firepower suddenly increased by more than one level.

And with the arrival of this batch of iron mold cast cannons, a new weapon was also sent to the warship. It is a rocket, officially called the Fire Dragon Bomb.

Chen Ming didn't know how much rockets could play a role in naval warfare. Some of them were just his imagination. The first target of this thing he "invented" was the Manchu and Mongolian cavalry in the north.

Rockets on the sea and rocket launchers on the road are all products extended from this concept.

The current battle in Guangdong is the first "actual combat application" of rockets at sea. So it's time to sneak out and see whether it is a mule or a horse.

Chen Ming believes in Zhang Qiu and Ye Xiangde's ability to fight naval battles. Without real skills, Zhang Qiu would have died in Wu Bi Da's hands long ago, and Ye Xiangde, whether it is the Qing Navy or Zhang Qiu's fleet, has a very positive evaluation of the level of battle.

With such a commander and an army with updated weapons and good morale, there is no reason for them to lose to the disadvantaged Qing Guangdong Navy.

Moreover, they have the help of Zheng's fleet.

The latter is a local snake. The direct forces of the Zheng family team are mostly from Xin'an area. Xin'an at this time is the Shenzhen and Hong Kong area in the future. They know the geographical and water conditions of the Pearl River Estuary very well. And the strength of the Zheng family fleet is not weak at all. Although they are not the opponent of the Guangdong Navy in a head-on fight, although the latter does not have a special water admiral, unlike Fujian, which divides its troops into land and water, the strength of the foreign navy is much stronger than that of Fujian.

Guangdong has five town navy. Even if half of Nan'ao Town is missing [the other half is under the command of the admiral of the Fujian Navy], the strength of the foreign navy is still the best in the southeast.

Previously, He Sihe, the general of Nan'ao Town, was ordered by Admiral Gan Guobao to lead the navy of Nan'ao Town as the main force, assisted by some troops of Jieshi Town, and went north to Fujian to help suppress the rebellion, which made Zhang Qiu very embarrassed.

But later the situation turned around, Wu Bi Da gave up Penghu and moved to Haitan Town. He Sihe ordered his deputy general Zhang Shen to lead his troops north, and he took the remaining ships and soldiers back to the mouth of the Pearl River.

Once Penghu was lost, He Sihe really had no need to stay in Nan'ao. Previously, Wu Bi Da stationed troops in Penghu, which cut off the connection between Taiwan and the local rebel party in Fujian, and greatly compressed the space for Zhang Qiu's fleet to move. He Sihe stationed troops in Nan'ao, echoing Penghu from a distance, directly cutting off the connection between the Fujian Taiwan Strait and the Guangdong sea.

But once Penghu changed its owner, Nan'ao Town was on the verge of danger. Because the distance between Penghu and Nan'ao was only half of the distance between Haitan and Nan'ao, and part of Zhang Qiu's navy was stationed in Xiamen, it seemed that Penghu and Xiamen echoed each other and divided the Nan'ao and Fujian navies.

Zhang Qiu stood at the bow of the large Ting ship, the bow of the ship was like a sword splitting the waves, the waves were splashing, and the water vapor was surging. Zhang Qiu's face was wet after standing here for a while. But Zhang Qiu's heart was happy.

It's not that he had not led the fleet across Nan'ao Island and entered the Guangdong waters. But those memories of the past were all about embarrassment and escape. How could it be as free and easy as now?

"Don't talk about Nan'ao Island, I'm going to fight into the mouth of the Pearl River and see what the Thirteen Lines are!"

You can say that Zhang Qiu is very arrogant, very arrogant, and arrogant, and he doesn't even take the Qing army's five town navy seriously. But now, with the momentum of the Fu Han Army, he really has the confidence to do so.

The fleets of the Zhang family and the Zheng family are not just their own, but also have gathered most of the pirates and foreign bandits in the southeastern ocean. These dozens of pirates and foreign bandits, big and small, are all average in strength, but if they are added together, they can really fight against the provincial Qing Navy and have a back-and-forth.

In addition to the surrendered Fujian Navy and the cannons provided by the Fu Han Army these days, if Zhang Qiu had such capital and was still afraid of the Qing Navy in Guangdong, he would have sunk into the sea many years ago and turned into fish feces.

There is no need for cowards on the sea, and cowards can't show their heads on the vast ocean. Even if Zhang Qiu didn't have the help of the Fu Han Army, he was still one of the biggest bandits on the Fujian Taiwan Strait. Don't underestimate him!

Zhu Fu was standing not far from Zhang Qiu. He was an elite seedling selected by the second batch of the Fu Han Army Navy. Because in Guangzhou, the British have prepared a large Western-style sailing ship waiting for the Fu Han Army to come for inspection. The speed is amazing, right? This is because they now have a close relationship with the Dutch.

This ship sailed from Batavia to Guangzhou at the fastest speed, taking advantage of the last remaining power of the summer monsoon.

Chen Ming was surprised by the speed of the British. After receiving the news, he immediately asked the navy to select basic officers and elites to form a second batch of interns, also with a number of 100 people.

Zhu Fu was one of them.

His father Zhu Zhiwei was already the boss of Jiangnan Trading Company. Zhu Zhiwei did not choose to join the logistics department of the army, nor did he choose to work in Shanghai Port. Instead, he went to sea to do business. With the family fortune left by Chen Jigong, and Chen Ming allocated 100,000 silver dollars, he started to do shipbuilding, transportation and foreign trade.

Chen Ming's requirements for him were to communicate with North Korea and Japan in the second half of the year, communicate with Ryukyu and Southeast Asia next year, connect the shipping route to India in five years, and connect to Europe within ten years.

Among the three options Zhu Zhiwei faced, the last one was obviously the most difficult, and the official position was also the lowest, only the fifth rank. Jiangnan Trade Company was under the newly established Foreign Trade Department of the Industrial and Commercial Bureau, and Zhu Zhiwei's immediate superior was the fourth rank. But he chose this one.

Zhu Fu's second brother Zhu Wo entered Wenzheng University and is now on a serious political path.

So Zhu Fu is more like Zhu Zhiwei's son than Zhu Wo. Both father and son have a restless and adventurous spirit in their bones, and they both love and yearn for the sea.