Now Wu Shigong has begun to cultivate the crown prince Xue Chenglin. As long as it is an important national policy, Wu Shigong always asks Xue Chenglin to watch the politics from the sidelines. Although because of the war, Xue Chenglin's wedding was delayed to the second half of the first year of Qiongyuan. But Wu Shigong has cultivated him carefully as the crown prince, and he has always taken him by his side.

But Wu Shigong regretted that when Xue Chenglin was young, he was never by his side. By now, Xue Chenglin has been strictly educated by the nobility and cultivated into a person with an old personality. Although as the crown prince, it is better to be older, but the father and son always feel that there is less emotional exchange, as long as they meet, they always talk about state affairs.

Hearing Wu Shigong talk about his evaluation of Zheng Zhilong, Xue Chenglin hurriedly memorized it with his heart. But when he heard that Wu Shigong had a high opinion of the Zheng family's fleet, Xue Chenglin, who had been educated in landing rights, couldn't help but ask the question in his heart: "Father! Mr. once said that China is a vast land and there is no shortage of things. And opening the sea is a waste of money, and a waste of national strength for playthings. Therefore, Ming Taizu will ban the sea, and later generations of virtuous people also adhere to the previous Ming ancestor system. But the father said that the Zheng family's fleet is making money every day, so what is true? Is my Daping Dynasty still going to ban the sea? ”

Wu Shigong saw that Xue Chenglin had begun to think about problems in addition to listening and watching more, so he was very happy in his heart. So Wu Shigong began to ask: "In fact, the matter of the sea ban is very complicated. Before I say this, I will test you: What is your opinion on military affairs? ”

"Soldiers?" Xue Chenglin was stunned by Wu Shigong's jumping question. He thought for a moment and replied, "Soldier." The major affairs of the country, the place of death and life, and the way of survival must not be ignored. Therefore, according to what the child has seen, you need to be cautious in the use of soldiers. ”

Wu Shigong was amused by Xue Chenglin's standard answer from "The Art of War". He smiled: "Lin'er, what you said is right. But before a war, the hardest thing to do is to know oneself and one's opponent. If you just want to know the commanders and troops of the two armies. You can send spies to find out, but it's hard to tell if this war will deplete the country. So. In fact, the use of soldiers is not only to look at the soldiers, but also to see whether there is money. ”

"Huh?" Xue Chenglin was immediately attracted by this novel statement. He immediately bowed and saluted, "Please teach my father!" ”

"In fact, you decide whether to go to war or not, except when the survival of the country is at stake, you have to fight. Generally, it is enough to grasp a little bit - whether the battle is profitable or not. Wu Shigong said.

"Huh?" Xue Chenglin immediately exclaimed.

"Don't be surprised." Wu Shigong smiled and patted his eldest son on the shoulder. Then he said, "In fact, as long as there is a war, the money will be like flowing water. For example, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty conquered Goryeo three times, exhausted the national strength of the Sui Dynasty, and turned the world against him, so that he died and the country was destroyed. And Ming Chengzu conquered Annam, and gained and lost, because the land tax he earned was not as good as the military expenses paid. Annan also became chicken ribs. How so? It's just a money word. ”

"But...... But what the father said seemed to ......" Xue Chenglin's face immediately became weird. I started to talk and start to spit out.

"Do you want to say that your father is a philistine?" Wu Shigong smiled and added Xue Chenglin's words.

"Hahaha!" Father and son laughed at each other.

"Spring and Autumn Unrighteous War!" Xue Chenglin shook his head with a smile and sighed.

"Lin'er!" Wu Shigong continued, "Although the teachings of the saints are good, they also have shortcomings. In places such as governing the country and military affairs, it is not possible to act exactly according to the words of the sages. Otherwise, why are there hundreds of schools of thought in the Spring and Autumn Period? For the monarch to govern the country, there are two important things to grasp: one is the way to drive down; One for money. ”

"In the pre-Ming Dynasty, in addition to the field tax, there were three major sources of revenue: one was the salt tax; One is maritime trade; One is weaving. My father started by grasping the salt tax, but the salt tax was gradually divided by the salt merchants, and the salt tax was gradually reduced, resulting in the overflow of private salt in the world, and the people had to eat expensive salt. Not to mention the maritime trade, all of them were occupied by maritime merchants and pirates like Zheng Zhilong, but the imperial court stubbornly clung to the ban on the sea, and really gave the court's belongings to the maritime merchants in vain. And weaving, which is also closely related to maritime trade. The reason why Songjiang cloth is famous all over the world is because it is sold overseas through sea trade. ”

Therefore, as long as we grasp these three financial resources, we can make the country rich and the people strong. Of course, there is also a commercial tax, which is a major income for the imperial court in the future. ”

It can be seen that Zheng Zhilong has sea trade, and he has sea soldiers and horses, and if he operates wholeheartedly, he can at least support an army of 100,000. Fortunately, his rat eyes made the Zheng family retreat if they did not advance, and by now, it is far inferior to the Great Ping Dynasty of Me. ”

"I see!" Xue Chenglin nodded and said, "But the child still has a question: fighting with the Liaodong chieftain can be said to be a major matter for the survival of the country, but why did my father want to go on an expedition to Korea?" Doesn't it mean that North Korea is barren and widowed, so Ming Taizu regarded North Korea as a country that is not to be conquered? ”

Seeing that Xue Chenglin's words were getting deeper and deeper, Wu Shigong's smile became even stronger. Today, he is very happy to talk, and he is willing to pour out some of his experience: "Lin'er, remember my words: there is no bad place in the world, only people who can't operate." This is true for North Korea, and the same is true for Annan. In the past, all the kings and ministers only stared at the fields and acres, but they did not realize that the gold mine was far more than that. Isn't the population worthless? Mountains and forests are worthless? Is commercial tax and maritime trade tax worthwhile? Not to mention the mine land. ”

"Then why didn't people in the past think of this?" Xue Chenglin asked again.

"What Lin'er thinks is bad!" Wu Shigong said with a smile, "In fact, there are smart people in every generation. But in the past, if he won a foreign war, the monarch thought that everything would be his own. The glory of expanding the territory, the acres of land, and so on. However, in this way, apart from some rewards and booty for the soldiers who went out on the expedition, the officials of the DPRK and China and the people of the world received nothing. Moreover, other taxes are to be operated by people, where there is a field tax income so clear at a glance, how much land you get, how much tax you charge! But in this way, everyone will also focus on the field tax, and turn a blind eye to other taxes, if the income cannot make ends meet, it will eliminate the desire to expand the territory. ”

"Then how should our Daping Dynasty solve this dilemma?" Xue Chenglin then asked.

"There is no other way, only to divide the interests equally." Wu Shigong replied, "Lin'er, do you remember?" A few days ago, you asked me, why did the DPRK and China set up this reclamation firm? This firm is not like a firm, and the yamen is not like the yamen, and it is a bit nondescript. In fact, this reclamation business house is used here. ”

"Nowadays, this reclamation commercial house is mainly in charge of the wasteland in the provinces, and organizes the displaced people's army to reclaim the wasteland. However, in the future, when the local government is established and the government affairs of the DPRK and China are straightened out, the affairs of the provinces will gradually be handled by the department, and the reclamation commercial banks will no longer be allowed to interfere in the slightest. So what should the reclamation firm do? It is to expand the territory with the imperial court. ”

"The reclamation firm collects money from the people, and then recruits guards from the people, plus the personnel with management experience in the reclamation firm, will work with the officials and soldiers to attack abroad. For example, this expedition to North Korea means that the Marine Corps of the Navy Division and the Reclamation Commercial Bank set out at the same time. ”

In this way, the official army only fights the war, and the territory won is guarded and managed by the reclamation trading house. This not only saves troops and military spending, but also mobilizes the power of the private sector to jointly develop new territories. After the capture of Korea, the reclamation firm only needs to pay the Qing military expenses to the imperial court, and can obtain the right to develop Korea for a certain period of time. This will basically not put any pressure on the expenses of the DPRK and China, and in the future, the court will also be able to benefit from the distribution of shares in the reclamation of commercial houses and the tax revenue of the DPRK. ”

Hearing this, Xue Chenglin had a question: "Father! In the event that the official army is defeated and Korea is not obtained, won't the people who invested money in the reclamation of the merchant house lose all their money? And how do they know how much the Lu Dao Reclamation Commercial Bank earns? ”

"Lin'er! You're so good! That's a good question. Wu Shigong smiled, "If you want to make money, especially make a lot of money, how can you do it without taking risks?" But you have to keep in mind that many of the people who have invested in the reclamation trading houses will also arrive in North Korea and jointly run the Korean industries, even if the reclamation trading houses want to play any moths, they will still have nothing to hide under the crowd of people. In fact, the income of the imperial court is supervised by thousands of people, and we do not need to care about it. ”

"One more thing is important! You always remember that no matter what a person says or does, it doesn't actually prove his inner thoughts. But as soon as he took out his own money, he said his thoughts with certainty. No one wants to waste their possessions. Therefore, as long as the shares developed by the reclamation firm sell well, it proves that the battle has a great chance of winning. If the stock is unsalable, then we have to be cautious, and sometimes those battles that can be fought or not are willing not to be fought. In this way, it can also prevent those battles that are good at rejoicing and spending money on the treasury, which is also a big reference for the imperial court to declare war. ”

Xue Chenglin listened with relish, and it wasn't until Wu Shigong finished saying it all that he said with satisfaction: "It turned out that the father was far-sighted, and the child knew." However, what my father said was different from the law of governing the country taught by several gentlemen. ”

Wu Shigong nodded and said, "Actually, there is nothing wrong with what the gentlemen taught. In addition to the difference between the imperial power technique and the official power technique, Lin'er, you must also remember: internally, you must do what the husband says and govern the country with benevolence. But externally, it is to be iron-blooded and to plunder. There must be a difference between inside and outside! ”

Then, Wu Shigong turned his head and said to Han Lin, who recorded the "Living Note": "Mr. Mu! Later, you can sort out this passage and give it to the prince to study. ”

"Yes! Emperor! The Hanlin immediately stood up and bowed, and agreed.

Then, Wu Shigong said to Xue Chenglin: "If you don't understand anything in the future, you can come and ask me at any time." When the day comes when you have your own opinion, it will be the time for you to ascend the throne. When that time comes, I and your queen mother will be able to play with confidence. Hahaha——! ”

"Yes! Father! Xue Chenglin also bowed and saluted. But then, he thought of another question, "Father! What should we do if the people in charge of the territory there have a different heart? ”

"Since it's lonely overseas, our Daping Dynasty needs a strong fleet!" Wu Shigong replied immediately.

"Haha——!" The two fathers and sons immediately laughed. (To be continued......)