Zheng Zhilong is a smart man, and he knows what to do is the right choice.

In the past, when I was a pirate, I naturally had to desperately get money to quickly expand my strength in order to survive in the fierce competition at sea.

And now that he has been recruited as a general of the Ming Dynasty, for the sake of his future career, he must decisively cut off from the past.

The shares in the Royal Maritime Trade Company were given by the emperor in order to quickly enter the maritime trade to make money, and he considered a group of old brothers who followed him at that time, so he did not refuse.

And now, the old brothers either work in a trading house, or enter the Fujian Navy Division, eating the salary of the imperial court, and it is very inappropriate for them to continue to occupy these shares. Maybe the emperor didn't mean anything else when he said this, but he couldn't think about it later. Perhaps some ministers will use this as an excuse to attack themselves, and if their holy relatives are not there at that time, it is likely that the ship will capsize because of this incident.

Forget it, anyway, the money I have earned over the years is enough, and I can develop in officialdom with peace of mind in the future, and find a wife and son, isn't it better than anything else?

"Your Majesty, no matter how difficult the state affairs are, the last general is willing to give up the shares of the Maritime Trade Company." Zheng Zhilong said again.

Zhu Youzhen was a little stunned, the conscience of heaven and earth, he really didn't think about getting back Zheng Zhilong's shares, at least he didn't have this plan now. The reason why I talk about the past is just to sigh, and at the same time, it is also to express my appreciation for Zheng Zhilong. After all, if there was no Zheng Zhilong, it would be impossible for the Royal Maritime Trade Company to develop so fast.

"State affairs are more difficult, but it's not bad for your little silver, don't talk about the matter of shares, don't talk about Aiqing, take it with peace of mind, if there is no Aiqing, how can there be a royal maritime trading firm?" Zhu Youzhen shook his head and said.

Zheng Zhilong insisted: "Your Majesty, the last general will have a fortune, there is still ancestral property in Anping, and the clansmen also have their own livelihoods, so there is no need to worry about the last general. These shares are also requested to be taken back by His Majesty. ”

"This is hundreds of thousands of taels of silver every year, can you afford it?" Zhu Youzhen smiled.

"Money is just something outside the body, and the last general is more willing to cut through obstacles for His Majesty and help me to become famous all over the world." Zheng Zhilong said angrily.

Zhu Youzhen was moved: "Aiqing has high aspirations, and I am very relieved. In this case, I took the shares. In this way, Fujian, you don't want to go back yet, I am training the Yangtze River Water Division, so you can be the Admiral of the Yangtze River Water Division. ”

Zheng Zhilong was overjoyed: "The last general will thank Your Majesty." ”

Admiral Cao Jiang, in charge of the Yangtze River Water Division. The trade between Huguang, Jiangxi and Jiangdong rely on the Yangtze River, and the merchant ships on the Yangtze River are shuttling every day, and the safety of the river is responsible for the river sailors, how important the responsibility is! In the past, the position of commander of the river commander could only be done by nobles.

"After the summer harvest, when the military rations are sufficient, I will send a large army to fight against the rebels in Jiangxi. After you take office, you must familiarize yourself with your subordinates as soon as possible, train your ships and horses, and then be responsible for killing people from the river to Jiangxi. Zhu Youzhen said.

Zheng Zhilong beat his chest and said: "I am willing to die for Your Majesty!" ”

Zhu Youzhen instructed: "Fighting on the river is no better than fighting on the sea, and most of your men are flat-bottomed river boats, so you must familiarize yourself with the tactics as soon as possible." ”

Zheng Zhilong nodded and said, "The last general will obey the order." ”

As for the art of war and how to fight, although Zhu Youzhen has studied painstakingly over the years, he still knows only a little about it, but this does not prevent him from pointing fingers. Zheng Zhilong, on the other hand, listened attentively and humbly accepted the emperor's guidance.

"I heard that you brought Ling Lang to Nanjing?" Zhu Youzhen asked suddenly.

Zheng Zhilong nodded: "I heard that Mr. Li said that His Majesty wants to open a school in Nanjing, unlike the previous private school, Damu has reached the age of entering the school, and the last general will bring him to Nanjing, hoping to study in a new school." ”

"I have instructed the Ministry of Rites to handle the school, and dozens of primary schools will be built in Nanjing, and after the summer vacation, they will enroll students. By the way, why don't you bring Ling Lang to see me? Zhu Youzhen asked.

Zheng Zhilong said: "The dog is blunt, and the minister is afraid that His Majesty will be annoyed, so he will let him stay in the pavilion." ”

Zhu Youzhen instructed: "Come here, go to the pavilion post to spread the decree and take Zheng Gongzi into the palace." ”

"Yes." The little eunuch had already agreed, and quickly left the palace to pass the decree.

Zhu Youzhen and Zheng Zhilong chatted casually, asking about what they had seen at sea, as well as various things about the Xiyi people, Zheng Zhilong had worked as an interpreter on the red-haired ghost ship, and had dealt with the red-haired ghost Lang Jiren, and knew a lot about the situation of the Xiyi people. Zheng Zhilong was very contemptuous of the Xiyi people, thinking that these people were just relying on the strength of the ship and the artillery, but in fact they were a group of barbarians.

Zhu Youzhen said: "Luzon, Java, and Malacca have always been the land of the Ming Dynasty, but now they are occupied by the Xiyi people, and the people of the Ming Dynasty have become Xiyi slaves. After I have completely clarified the interior of the Ming Dynasty, I will definitely send sailors to conquer Xiyi and drive Xiyi away from the land of my Ming domain. ”

"Your Majesty is wise, and the last general is willing to be the vanguard and fight to the death with the Xiyi people." Zheng Zhilong said happily.

When the conversation was hot, I saw a seven or eight-year-old boy led by a eunuch into the hall, this young man looked like a tiger, a pair of dark eyes, and looked very smart.

"Zheng Sen to see Your Majesty, long live long live long live." Without waiting for Zheng Zhilong to remind him, the young Zheng Sen knelt down and kowtowed to Zhu Youzhen and shouted.

"Hahaha......" Zhu Youzhen laughed, "Hurry up, get closer, let me see." ”

Zheng Sen obediently got up from the ground and walked to Zhu Youzhen's side.

Zhu Youzhen looked up and down, and saw that this young man was generous, and he didn't have the shyness of children of the same age at all, so he couldn't help but like it more and more, so he said to Zheng Zhilong:

"I like this kid very much and want to take him as my son, are you willing?"

Zheng Zhilong was ecstatic: "Of course the last general is willing." ”

"Hurry up and shout out to the Emperor." Zhu Youzhen said to the teenager Zheng Sen.

"Father." Zheng Sen screamed crisply.

"Okay, I will give you your national surname, and you will be called Zhu Sen in the future." Zhu Youzhen said happily.

'Four towns have more than two hearts, two islands and divisions, dare to fight for half of the wall to the southeast; The kings have no land, and they have a corner to resist their will, and they know that there are lonely loyalists overseas. This was another Temporal Tartar Emperor's evaluation of the young man in front of him. When the soul was traveling, Zhu Youzhen also saw that Zheng Sen did not hesitate to break with his father Zheng Zhilong, and led the crowd to fight with the Qing soldiers. It's a pity that he failed to reverse the general trend by himself, and in the end he could only choose to settle for a corner of Taiwan.

At the time of the Southern Ming Dynasty, no one could compare with Zheng Sen when it came to those who were loyal to the Ming Dynasty.

For Zheng Zhilong, Zhu Youzhen was a psychology of use from the beginning, because this person's later demotion made Zhu Youzhen always a little tired. Of course, in this life, Zheng Zhilong's surrender to the Qing Dynasty could not have happened, but he did not have much loyalty to the Ming Dynasty, which is an indisputable fact.

As for Zheng Sen, Zhu Youzhen has a heartfelt love, so he decided to recognize him as a righteous son and give him the surname Zhu, hoping that Zheng Sen can truly become a pillar of the country in the future.

......

"Someone, go and ask Elder Wen Ge to come over." After Zheng Zhilong's father and son left, Zhu Youzhen pondered for a while and commanded.

Because the two red scarf thieves in Henan have been pacified, there is no need to leave two senior members in Henan, so Zhu Youzhen ordered Wen Tiren to come to Nanjing to take over the Ministry of Rites, and all the affairs in Henan were handed over to Sun Chuanting. Wen Tiren has only been in Nanjing for more than ten days.

"Wechen greets Your Majesty." Wen Tiren entered the hall and saluted.

"Elder Wen Ge, how is the opening of the school going?" Zhu Youzhen asked.

"Back to Your Majesty, it is being carried out, and the minister has sent people to find the school site in Nanjing City, and more than 20 places have been found so far, and people will soon be sent to renovate the school building. The school building is simple, but other things are a little troublesome. Wen Tiren replied.

"If there's any problem, I'll help you solve it." Zhu Youzhen said.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. The first trouble is the textbook. I am a Ming student, and the enlightenment textbook is nothing more than 300,000 these, and there are not too many requirements for arithmetic. Therefore, there is no teaching material for enlightenment. Chapter 9 Arithmetic, I'm afraid some of these are not suitable for the first enlightenment.

Then there is a serious shortage of arithmetic teachers. His Majesty wants all schools to open arithmetic, and the whole city of Nanjing should build 100 primary schools, and each school has at least 10 arithmetic teachers, and all schools in the whole city of Nanjing need thousands of arithmetic teachers, and it is not easy to find so many teachers who are proficient in arithmetic. Wen Tiren frowned.

According to Zhu Youzhen's demand, all school-age children should be enrolled in school, and there are tens of thousands of children between the ages of seven and 15 in Nanjing, and at least dozens of schools must be opened to ensure that all children can go to school. With such a large number of schools, the need for teachers is a big problem. There are quite a lot of scholars in Nanjing, especially those poor low-level scholars, they must be happy to have such a teacher job, but there are not too many scholars who know arithmetic, after all, the imperial examination does not test arithmetic.

"So for so long, the Ministry of Rites hasn't done anything?" Zhu Youzhen frowned. From the beginning of his entry into Nanjing, Zhu Youzhen planned to open schools on a large scale, popularize education, and replace the gentry families with a large number of scholars from ordinary families, so as to completely eliminate the privileges of the gentry bureaucracy. Unexpectedly, after such a long time, the progress was so slow, which made Zhu Youzhen very angry.

"The minister is incompetent." Wen Tiren hurriedly said, but he was a little helpless in his heart. After all, he has only been in Nanjing for more than ten days, and the shelves of the Ministry of Rites have not yet been built.

"Let's speed up and ensure that the first students can enter the school smoothly after the fall. I have decreed that the professors and teachers of the Royal Academy of Sciences, who are proficient in arithmetic, should come to Nanjing as soon as possible to compile teaching materials and train arithmetic teachers. Before that, your Ministry of Rites will first select a group of young and potential readers as candidates for teachers. Zhu Youzhen commanded.

"Wechen takes orders." Wen Tiren hurriedly said.

"But ......," Wen Tiren hesitated.

"Tell me as soon as you have something." Zhu Youzhen said lightly.

"Your Majesty, building so many schools at once, renovating school buildings, printing teaching materials, and paying teachers' salaries, but this is a lot of money, and the minister roughly estimated that it will cost more than 100,000 taels of silver every year just to support the schools in Nanjing. If the school is promoted in the entire Yingtianfu, there will be no hundreds of thousands of taels a year. Your Majesty, is it really necessary to spend so much money? Wen Tiren asked.

According to Zhu Youzhen's plan, the school does not charge tuition, that is, all expenses must be borne by the government, which is definitely a heavy burden for the government. You must know that just a few years ago, in order to deal with Jiannu, the imperial court repeatedly increased Liao's salary. Although in the past two years, Zhu Youzhen has made some money by opening a maritime trade firm and collecting commercial taxes, but he can't help but be so hooky! This made Wen Tiren very uneasy.

"A century-old plan, education-oriented, to create an unprecedented prosperous world, we need countless talents. All my people of the Ming Dynasty, I will give them a chance to become talents. Zhu Youzhen was full of pride. He had seen the situation of education in later generations, and he was very envious of the unprecedented power.

"The minister understands His Majesty's thoughts, but he must also do what he can, with our current conditions, we will not be able to achieve the universal education that His Majesty said." Wen Tiren sighed.

Zhu Youzhen was silent, and after thinking about it carefully, he felt that what Wen Tiren said still had some truth. With Daming's current financial resources, it is really impossible to achieve universal education.

"What does Elder Wen Ge think, even if he says so." Zhu Youzhen said.

In Yichen's view, it is better to pilot it in Nanjing first, and first open more than ten schools to recruit students from the people in the entire Nanjing city, regardless of status, as long as they are school-age children, they can be enrolled. But the school has to charge some tuition, and the amount is not too much, just enough to pay the teachers' salaries. In this way, the court did not need to spend a lot of silver, and could use the money and grain for more important things. Wen Tiren suggested.

"What if the people can't afford to pay the money to go to school? Isn't that a chance for the poor to turn over? Zhu Youzhen frowned.

The rich can pay money to go to school, and then pass the official examination to become officials, while the poor have no possibility of getting ahead, which is what Zhu Youzhen does not want to see.

"There is no way to do this, when the imperial court is financially rich, more schools can be opened, tuition fees can be waived, and more children can go to school." Wen Tiren sighed.

"I don't want to see that." Zhu Youzhen shook his head and said, "The reason why I release slaves in Juntian and say that everyone is peaceful is not a slogan, but I really hope that everyone can be equal." Equality of personality and equal access to education should also be equal. Schools may charge students some fees for books, but they are never allowed to charge tuition. Make sure that all children who want to go to school can go to school. As for the cost required, as long as you find a way, you can always solve it.

The number of schools should not be reduced, and in the city of Nanjing, it is necessary to ensure that each square has a primary school. In villages outside the city, it is necessary to ensure that each town has a primary school. As for the required teachers, a rule can be set that those who pass the official examination must teach in the school for at least one year before they can work in the government, and this year is used as a probationary period, during which the salary is halved. Governments at all levels should send some officials to work part-time in schools.

Another rule was formulated to make education an important part of the evaluation of magistrates. Every year, the imperial court sent people to various places to inspect the state of education, and if they failed to pass the education assessment, the local officials had to be punished. ”