Emperor Yonglong remained silent.

The poor situation in the northwest has always been a hidden danger. Gansu and Ningxia, together with Liu Dongyang and their expansion of Hami and Shazhou, look very glamorous, but in fact the shortcomings have begun to show up, that is, the difficulty of logistical supply and the huge cost, which has become a letdown

He had a faint ache of regret.

Zhang Jingqiu and Chai Ke had previously reported to him the pros and cons of regaining Hami and Shazhou when they were talking about recovering Hami and Shazhou. But in that situation at that time, they had to win the hearts and minds of the people and the support of the northern scholars.

, made this decision, and now Hami and Shazhou have been recovered, but the long-term supply has become a pain point for the three sides.

Chen Jingxuan's memorial to the cabinet and himself was full of serious shortages of grain and money. The biggest problems were Gansu Town and Hami. Shazhou's supply consumption was too large. Chen Jingxuan even vaguely revealed whether he could give up Hami.

Fortunately, this guy hasn't said that he wants to give up Shazhou, but even so, it has caused a lot of controversy in the cabinet.

But fortunately, everyone understands the sensitivity of this matter, and it has not spread yet. It is only known to a few cabinet elders and themselves. However, the Ministry of Revenue has also been shouting that the expenditures of Liaodong and the three sides are too large, and it has reached a point where it is difficult to support

to the point.

But once banditry breaks out in northern Shaanxi, supplies will no longer be able to be maintained as before. I am afraid that the two towns in Gansu and Ningxia will not be able to support them, especially Hami and Shazhou. Can they still be maintained?

Thinking of this, Emperor Yonglong felt a faint pain in his head. How come his father, who had been in power for forty years, was able to travel to the south of the Yangtze River six times with great ease, but when it was his turn, he ended up in such a mess? This question has always troubled him, and it also made him think.

Difficult to follow.

"Brother Imperial, since Huguang has a good harvest in sight, it is better to take advantage of the situation in the north to collect grain in Huguang and transport it to Xi'an first. As long as we can give the people of Gansu and Shaanxi the news that Xi'an has a large amount of grain, we can lower the price of grain in northern Shaanxi.

Once it stabilizes, we might as well let Henan adjust grain from the south of the Yangtze River. Once Henan is stabilized, there will be little room for grain prices in Shaanxi to rise again." King Zhongshun couldn't help but interject.

Emperor Yonglong smiled bitterly, "Old Jiu, although there is still some money in the Ministry of Finance, it is all for emergencies. What you said will cost a huge amount of money. The remaining money from land tax and sea development strategies will be spent in November and December.

Already?

Where can I find the money to do such things in advance?"

Loyal and obedient to Wang Moran?

After a while, he said: "Why not borrow money from Haitong Bank?"

Emperor Yonglong also hesitated, "Someone in the cabinet also proposed to borrow money from Haitong Bank?

But the opposition is not small?

Mainly in terms of interest. Do you know that this loan is not worth hundreds of thousands of taels?

At least one or two million taels, not to mention whether Haitong Yinzhuang can get it?

Is this a lot of interest per year?

…”

In business, if King Zhongshun wants to help his brother again, it is absolutely impossible to borrow money without interest. Even if he wants low interest rates, he will be opposed by other shareholders?

It’s no wonder that there’s a lot of opposition in the cabinet.

"Why don't you speak?" Emperor Yonglong chuckled.

"It concerns your own interests, so you think it's easy to handle?"

"Brother Emperor is joking, but Brother Emperor also knows that Haitong Bank is composed of hundreds of shareholders, among whom there are dozens of members of our Zhang family, northern gentry and merchants?

Jiangnan gentry and merchants, plus maritime merchants and salt merchants and grain merchants from the south of Huguang?

The ingredients are complex, although Chendi is also the largest shareholder?

But after all, it’s nothing to worry about..."

King Zhongshun looks embarrassed?

Explain with a grimace.

Only Feng Ziying has the specific list of shareholders of Haitong Bank?

But as the largest shareholder?

King Zhongshun knew roughly, and even Captain Long only knew a rough idea. If it were to be specific to each person, only Feng Ziying knew it.

"Lao Jiu, you mean you can't make the decision?" Emperor Yonglong was a little curious.

He had a rough idea of ​​the situation of Haitong Bank, but he didn't know much about how it operated and what model it used to make money. He only knew that he had reached an agreement with the imperial court and that Denglai's naval fleet and related shipyards and docks

Construction Haitong Bank will provide loans, but nothing else.

"Brother Emperor, when Haitong Bank was first established, there was a charter, which was signed and approved by all shareholders. It clarified the operation model. No one can go beyond this business operation rule, not my brother, Feng Ziying

No matter who the initiator is, this point has been recognized by everyone at the beginning. Otherwise, the gentry, merchants, salt merchants and grain merchants in Jiangnan would not join in, otherwise they would be worried about our royal family members and the imperial court occupying

Are they cheap? But in fact, we royal family members are probably more opposed to the imperial court getting involved than they are."

King Zhongshun was very dismissive of this group of relatives. If he hadn't wanted to raise money to open up the situation, he really wouldn't want to deal with this group of relatives, near or far, but he had to admit that there were people like this.

Joining it has indeed made many gentry and merchants in the North feel more at ease, and also encouraged them to invest in the company.

"This group of people had always disagreed with the loan from Denglai. They felt that the interest rate was too low, and the court did not provide much help to the bank. It was Feng Keng who went to make several explanations before reluctantly convincing them.

To help people, I have to say that these people are really less loyal to the emperor than ordinary gentry and merchants."

Emperor Yonglong was also greatly touched by King Zhongshun's emotion. Who would give in under the interests? These royal family members are all their ministers and relatives in terms of etiquette and law, but when it comes to interests, there is no such tenderness and affection anymore.

It is even more impossible to take a piece of the pie from their mouths.

"In that case, Lao Jiu, you also mentioned that you want to borrow money from Haitong Bank?" Emperor Yonglong was silent for a while before saying.

"Brother Imperial, I don't have this ability, but maybe Feng Keng can." King Zhongshun hesitated and said: "The same was true for the previous Denglai loan matter, but Feng Keng found a few leading figures to persuade them one by one.

, although there were some twists and turns in the middle, it was finally passed. Although it was difficult this time, my brother felt that with Feng Keng's eloquence, he could still convince these profit-seeking guys."

"Is Feng Keng really so capable?" Emperor Yonglong was a little surprised. Although the strategy of opening up the sea was proposed by Feng Keng, which was enough to prove his foresight on the macro level, it was completely different from the specific lending of money. Emperor Yonglong was very surprised.

Knowing the appetites and virtues of those clan members, it is not easy to convince them.

"Although I don't know how Feng Keng can convince these people, I admire Feng Keng's ability very much. He can always find some truth that makes people follow his ideas and principles involuntarily..." Zhongshun

Wang laughed, obviously still very confident about this.

Emperor Yonglong nodded slightly, as if he was trying to figure out something, but also seemed a little touched.

"Brother, are you still troubled by Liaodong affairs?" King Zhongshun said cautiously.

"This Lu Song is also talkative, you know it? Compared with the Shaanxi incident, Liaodong is nothing, at least it is not so urgent, but I think I am an impatient person with a big appetite, but Feng

Tang seems to be even worse than me." A smile appeared on the corner of Emperor Yonglong's mouth, but this smile was a bit complicated, "Old Jiu, do you know what he wants?"

King Zhongshun was nervous for a while, "My younger brother also wants to know."

"Humph, he proposed to assign Kuandian Liubao to Shuerhaqi's Jianzhou right guard, and at the same time allow Shuerhaqi to recruit Korean refugees to reclaim wasteland in Kuandian Liubao area." Emperor Yonglong said word by word.

Although Kuandian Liubao was abandoned by Li Chengliang, he only withdrew his troops in actual operations. However, in theory it was still an area controlled by the Zhou Dynasty. It was only withdrawn to avoid being raided by Nurhaci and due to supply difficulties. Now it is handed over

It seems reasonable to give Jianzhou Youwei jurisdiction. The only thing that is a bit unreasonable is that Kuandian Liubao is close to the Jianzhou Youwei area, not the Jianzhou Youwei area.

King Zhongshun naturally understood the logic here, and frowned and said, "I'm afraid Nurhachi won't agree, and North Korea will also react, right?"

"I am also worried about this. Although North Korea and Nurhachi are now at odds with each other, it is also because Nurhachi has great influence outside the pass and it is also the reason that our Liaodong side is not strong enough. But if Shuerhachi is allowed to take root and absorb in the Liubao area of ​​Kuandian

North Korean refugees, firstly, Nurhaci will not agree, which will intensify the conflict and the war will continue. Secondly, will North Korea become resentful because of this, and even get involved with Nurhaci?"

King Zhongshun was also unsure. He had a rough idea of ​​such important military matters, but when it came to making a decision, he did not dare to speak out. "What are the opinions of the cabinet elders and the Ministry of War?"

"I don't agree. Qi Yongtai and Li San are supportive. Fang Congzhe is firmly opposed. Ye Xianggao and Li Tingji are not clear and have no objections. However, they have raised several concerns. The main concern is that if the war is prolonged, the Ministry of Household Affairs will

We can't afford it." Emperor Yonglong was also hesitant. Since the matter was serious, he really did not dare to make a sudden decision. "And once North Korea turns against us, the situation in Liaodong will be even more dangerous."

"Didn't Feng Tang realize this?" King Zhongshun always felt that it was not that simple. "He should have an explanation."

"Of course he has his reasons, and I can't say he's wrong. It's just that I and the cabinet are worried about whether what he said can achieve the goal." Emperor Yonglong sighed, "Feng Tang pointed out in the memorial that King Li Hui of Korea forced

Due to the power of Nurhaci, they are increasingly flattering to the Jianzhou Jurchens, but they are also afraid of the pressure of the Zhou Dynasty, so they deliberately adopt the strategy of sitting on the fence. At present, the Zhou Dynasty is still unable to force North Korea to change its policy trend, so it should seek practical benefits, such as supporting Shu

Erhaqi’s Jianzhou Right Guards recruited Korean refugees to compete with Nurhaci as a strategy..."

"Brother, is that all?" King Zhongshun frowned.

"Of course, Feng Tang proposed that people from Shandong, Beizhi, and Henan be moved to Liaodong and west Liaoning to replenish the border areas. Three hundred thousand people would be relocated, and they would be exempted from taxes for twenty years, and provide support such as grain seeds and cattle for the first three years.

,…”

King Zhongshun took a breath. No wonder even the emperor's brother and the cabinet were so hesitant. This gap was too wide.

Relocating people to the border is not a new approach, but moving to Liaodong, especially now, must be done with caution.

The reason why Nurhachi's development momentum is so rapid is that, in addition to unifying the Jianzhou Jurchens and annexing the Huifa and Hada tribes of the Haixi Jurchens, another more important factor is that he recruited, absorbed and plundered many Han people from the Han region in Liaodong.

, even from Chahar, it attracted many Han people living outside the Great Wall.

This group of Han people brought to the Jurchens iron smelting, armor making, leather making, farming and other technologies that the Jurchens had never mastered before. For the first time, the Jurchens in Jianzhou had the ability to make their own weapons and armors, greatly increasing their strength.

Only then did he have the strength to further annex the Haixi Jurchens.

You must know that Nurhaci made his fortune with more than a dozen pairs of tattered armors. He paid special attention to the production ability of weapons and armors. As long as Han people with the ability can get better treatment and a better life under his command than in the pass.

Because of this, the imperial court is now half-hearted and hesitant about the situation in Liaodong.

Knowing that Liaodong can't support Liaodong's needs by relying on military garrison alone, a large amount of supplies and material needs have to be transported from within the customs, and the freight cost alone is an astronomical figure, and except for grain and fodder, all other materials need to be imported from within the customs.

This huge supply difficulty has seriously restricted Liaodong's self-supply ability, making any operation or even many trainings have to consider whether its own supplies can be met.
To be continued...