I

The emperor is the emperor, and the first assistant is the first assistant.

Zhao Han set the tone for the rewards of the frontline soldiers, but Pang Chunlai could add on this basis.

Lao Pang has always been very Buddhist, but he is extremely fussy about matters related to Tartars.

Wang Tingchen's cavalry division once severely damaged the elite Tartar cavalry, and now it has completely wiped out the elite Tartar infantry. Pang Chunlai felt that even if he violated military regulations, it would be too stingy to only give honorary titles.

Therefore, he maximized the power of the first assistant, and asked the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, and the Dudu Mansion to give extra rewards. All the silver and land were rewarded at the highest level, and the Ministry of Household Affairs was even given to Wang Tingchen to reward Wang Tingchen with a house in Nanjing. Then he put down his old face again, and acted as a matchmaker for Wang Tingchen's son, and got engaged to the daughter of the right servant of the Ministry of Punishment.

To put it bluntly, Wang Tingchen's actions made him very happy, and Pang Chunlai made it clear that he wanted to cover this general.

Naturally, these small actions could not be concealed from the emperor, so Zhao Han laughed at it: "Master Pang has done a lot of hard work, and before he left Beijing, he rewarded the military officials heavily, so let him be the master once."

The celebration was scheduled for April, and Zhao Han's birthday was chosen instead of any auspicious day.

The victory of the Northeast, the victory of Nanyang, the coming of the kingdoms, the birthday of the Longevity, the retreat of the heroes... These together, there is a good reason to make a big deal, so that before the time comes, the city of Nanjing begins to decorate.

The merchants and dwellings are decorated with lanterns and festoons, and the money is also paid out by the imperial court. This is a practice that has been carried forward in the Ming Dynasty so as not to disturb the people.

Suburbs, school grounds.

Wu Liangfu, who killed Dayuer and Shunzhi, was practicing etiquette with everyone. He was allowed to participate in the celebration. Although he was only standing on the outermost edge, he already had infinite glory.

The Datong imperial court did not keep eunuchs, and Wu Liangfu did make great contributions, so he was thrown into the Ministry of Industry as a nine-rank sesame official.

"Get up. Goodbye!"

Officials from the Ministry of Rituals yelled at the top of their voices, and Wu Liangfu hurriedly followed suit.

There were also many foreign envoys and a few gentry merchants who were allowed to participate in the celebration. No matter what his background is, he will go to the school field honestly every day, and practice all kinds of etiquette first.

"Okay, take a break."

When everyone was suffering from sore backs, the officials from the Ministry of Rites finally showed mercy, and all the "students" slumped on the ground.

Wu Liangfu ran to the side of the school field and took out a "Dictionary of Great Harmony". He bought this with silver rewards, a set of six dictionaries, and Wu Liangfu planned to learn the characters one by one.

This guy was born in the general family, and his family invited someone to teach him, but unfortunately he didn't have time to study in Wei Xue (Military Confucian school). After becoming Shunzhi's companion, he has been learning Manchu and Mongolian characters, and has never touched Chinese characters again.

"Sir, how do you pronounce this word?"

Chai Shaoliang was pouring water into his stomach when he suddenly heard someone questioning him. He turned his head and saw that it was the "Tartar eunuch", and suddenly said with a smile: "You also want to learn how to read?"

Wu Liangfu hurriedly said: "I want to teach adults to know that the younger one was also a general of the previous dynasty. When he was young, Kaimeng's family could read a few words. The Tartars killed him, and the younger family was ruined. In the womb of the tartar. The little one doesn't want to be an eunuch, but now the sage has given me a favor to do it for a ninth-rank official. Only by working hard can the young one be a good official and repay His Majesty's great kindness."

These words surprised Chai Shaoliang, he was the official in charge of the etiquette training, and among all the trainees, the Tartar eunuch was the most despised.

But Wu Liangfu's diligent and studious attitude changed Chai Shaoliang's impression of him, saying: "If you want to know how to read, you can first learn the method of pinyin, so that you can get twice the result with half the effort. Open the front of the dictionary, and I will teach you a few pinyin letters today."

"Thank you, sir!" Wu Liangfu burst into tears of gratitude.

This man is a ruthless man, as can be seen from the fact that he killed Dayuer and Shunzhi. Moreover, he is also an ambitious and hard-working ruthless man. The nine-rank official rewarded by the imperial court gave him hope of prosperity.

First learn to read, then self-study various courses, try to integrate into the civil service group, and complete the work tasks conscientiously. One day, I will be able to climb up.

Wu Liangfu's ideal in life is to adopt a son and continue the Wu family's incense. It's better to marry another wife. It doesn't matter how ugly she is, the main thing is to be virtuous and housekeeping, which can make him look like a normal man. He wants to be the "Zheng He" of the new dynasty of Datong, lead the fleet to sail all over the world, and leave his name in history for a lifetime.

In fact, as early as a few days ago, he had never heard of the name "Zheng He".

But there are too many envoys from foreign countries who study etiquette together, chatting about Nanyang affairs all day long, and from time to time they have to mention the Sanbao eunuch. They are also eunuchs, and the Sanbao eunuch is so powerful, why can't he be himself? Zheng He soon became Wu Liangfu's idol.

"Ah, oh, uh, eh, woo, woo..."

Wu Liangfu shook his head holding the dictionary, looking very different in the school grounds.

Jin Yi, a wealthy man in Jiangning, was chatting with Fan Shi. He is in the inland river transportation business, and also runs jewelry and jade wares. He donates money to the school every year, and also donates money for disaster relief every time there is a natural disaster. .

"Is there any jade produced in Siam?" Jin Yi asked.

Jin Yi spoke standard Nanjing dialect, but the Siamese prince could only speak Cantonese, and the two had to rely on Yang Dongkui's translation to communicate.

Nalai replied: "Our country is rich in gemstones of all colors."

"Really?" Jin Yi immediately beamed with joy, "I'm in the jewelry business, can the prince write a letter so that I can take it to Siam to meet gem merchants. If the business can be done, I will be very grateful!"

Na Lai smiled and said, "It's easy to say, easy to say."

China has liked jade since ancient times, but gemstones are equally precious. For example, in the tomb of King Liangzhuang in the Ming Dynasty, a golden seat hat was unearthed, inlaid with ten gems, and the top is a 200-carat sapphire.

However, the items that Siam sells to China are mainly ivory, rhino horn, and spices. The gem business is still a blue ocean.

If he can make friends with the Siamese prince, Jin Yi can obtain a stable and cheap source of gemstones.

These merchants are really pervasive, and through the gap of learning etiquette, they are actually busy negotiating business with Nanyang envoys.

Not only Jin Yi, but other wealthy businessmen are also talking, and someone has already contacted the Aceh envoy. Aceh provides low-priced pepper, and this inland businessman is in charge of marketing, and then he can contact a Fujian-Guangdong-Hai merchant to transport the goods.

Aceh is one of the main producing areas of pepper. In the past two decades, the source of pepper in Aceh has been monopolized by the Netherlands. Kuang Hong's operations in Nanyang broke this monopoly. Why aren't Chinese businessmen excited? The quick-witted ones are already preparing to go to sea.

...

The Forbidden City, Qinzheng Hall.

Zhao Han smiled and said, "Those rich merchants, are they negotiating business with Fanbang envoys?"

Chai Shaoliang replied: "It is true. It was originally a course for learning etiquette, but it was full of copper smells by rich businessmen."

"That's fine," Zhao Han nodded approvingly, "merchants and Nanyang countries are getting more and more connected, and the imperial court's control over Nanyang will be more secure. When the domestic market is saturated, maritime merchants will naturally turn their attention to the West, and they will push The imperial court opened up to the west."

Chai Shaoliang said: "Wu Liangfu, who killed the puppet empress dowager and the emperor, was an eunuch, but he was also diligent and studious. He never forgot to read during school breaks. I talked with him several times, and he said that he wanted to be Zheng He of the Datong court. .”

"Hahahahaha!"

Zhao Han couldn't stop laughing, and said: "It's good to have such ambition, don't stay in Nanjing, let him follow Kuang Hong to Nanyang to be an official."

"Your Majesty is holy." Chai Shaoliang didn't know how to answer, so he flattered him.

Zhao Han waved his hand and said, "Go ahead and continue teaching them etiquette."

Chai Shaoliang bowed and stepped back, Zhao Han continued to read the memorial, a piece of news from Japan quickly caught his attention.

The Japanese shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu, died of illness, more than half a year earlier than in history.

Tokugawa Ietsuna, who was only ten years old, succeeded the shogun. After the news came out, the ronin rebellion broke out in Edo immediately.

Ronin, in the Muromachi period, specifically refers to wanderers (at least samurai) who have lost their territories and positions.

Prisoner, especially a warrior who left his master's house and lost his salary.

This rebellion in Edo led to a direct equation between ronin and prisoner.

After the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the number of ronin increased sharply due to the massive reduction of vassals. Moreover, there are no more wars, and there are too many warriors in various families, and more and more prisoners have stopped paying their wages.

And due to the spread of Confucian loyalty to the emperor, if a warrior left the master's house on his own initiative, the master's house would write a letter to other lords. This is a document called "Feng Gong Gou". The lords exchanged "Feng Gong Gong" and gradually formed unspoken rules, so that even if the prisoner who was forced to leave the lord's house, he could not find a new job elsewhere.

The superposition of various factors has resulted in a terrible result. At this time, the number of ronin (prisoners) in Japan has exceeded 500,000.

The shogunate regarded these people as unstable factors, and either directly expelled them from the castle town, or restricted which street they could only live in, and prohibited them from becoming official again, locking up the promotion channel of ronin (prisoners).

So as soon as Tokugawa Iemitsu died, the ronin (prisoners) in Edo rebelled.

There were no ronin who rebelled, and many chose to change their careers, directly changing from warriors to farmers.

There are also some who went to sea as mercenaries, and the more famous one is Yamada Nagamasa. There are more than a thousand ronin warriors under this guy, all of whom use firearms. They once helped Siam resist the Burmese army, successfully defended the capital of Siam, and were appointed by the king as the prefect of Ayutthaya—equivalent to Jing Zhaoyin in Thailand.

Yamada Nagamasa once controlled Siam's foreign trade, and then died inexplicably. After his death, the King of Siam, Prince Narai's father, immediately expelled all Japanese. These Japanese wandered to Luzon and became Spanish mercenaries. They fought a battle with the Datong Army a few years ago.

In this Edo ronin rebellion, the shogunate began to expel ronin in large numbers.

The county magistrates of Ryukyu and Fangzhang counties reported that two or three thousand vagrants came to seek refuge in simple small sampans one after another. Would the imperial court agree to accept these guys?

Zhao Han thought about it carefully, and replied: "Ryukyu and Fangzhang counties are each allowed to accept 500 vagrants, and they will be given land to settle down. When they settle down, they must be changed to Chinese names. After three years, if they can't speak Chinese Deportation. The rest of the ronin will be resettled in Taiwan, Luzon, Malacca and other places, and they will all have their Chinese names changed, and they will be deported if they cannot speak Chinese within the time limit!"

These are all samurai, able to fight and educated, and after they are Sinicized, they can be recruited directly for combat at critical moments.