Chapter 1234 Jingren is sick!

Ye Mingsheng also has his own ideas about the five conditions put forward by Zhang Dapeng.

First of all, the first clause is to pardon Zhang Dapeng and his men. This is what should be done, and it is also the basis of the entire recruitment. Ye Mingsheng still has this sincerity, and there is no problem in announcing it to the world in the form of an imperial edict. In short, Ye Mingsheng can accept this first clause in its entirety...
As for the second point, Zhang Dapeng's request to be crowned king was totally unacceptable. As an eyewitness to the turbulent times of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Ye Mingsheng witnessed with his own eyes the harm caused by the noble group becoming too powerful to be eliminated. Therefore, due to his own limitations and the limitations of the times, Ye Mingsheng was unable to completely solve this problem.

However, he was also determined to lay a good foundation from the beginning and control the size of the noble group. Therefore, if Zhang Dapeng's request to be crowned king was met, it would inevitably lead to dissatisfaction among the generals of the Fengwu Army.

Everyone would inevitably think, they fought hard for the Fengwu Army but in the end they were only a marquis or an earl, why should you, a pirate, be crowned king right away?
This will cause everyone to become dissatisfied, and it will be difficult to lead the team if people are not united. This is a problem that Ye Mingsheng must consider!

It is impossible to confer the title of king, nor is it possible to confer the title of duke. However, it is entirely possible to confer the title of Marquis of Jinghai on Zhang Dapeng after the establishment of the new dynasty.

As for the position of Governor of Nanyang, Ye Mingsheng could also agree to it conditionally. He was not satisfied with just recruiting Zhang Dapeng. Ye Mingsheng wanted to use the recruitment as an opportunity to infiltrate, control, and finally transform Zhang Dapeng's team, turning it from a pirate armed force into the Great Zhou navy!
Therefore, if Zhang Dapeng wants to be the Governor-General of Nanyang, it is not impossible. He also needs to show some sincerity, such as allowing the people sent by the court to join his team and participate in the daily management of the Nanyang Governor-General's Office.

The third point is about establishing a musket factory in Ba Harbor and sending instructors to train musketeers. In principle, Ye Mingsheng has no problem with it, especially the matter of sending instructors to train musketeers. The Fengwu Army can also use this opportunity to learn experience in naval warfare from Zhang Dapeng!

Although the Fengwu Army was a powerful army that had fought its way through many wars, its past battles were mainly land battles, and rarely involved the navy.

In order to develop the Great Zhou Navy, Ye Mingsheng had asked the General Staff to conduct a survey to see which generals in the army had research and experience in naval warfare.
But according to the research of the General Staff, among the Fengwu Army with hundreds of thousands of armored soldiers, there were only nine generals in the entire army who had research and practical experience in naval warfare, and seven of these nine were former surrendered soldiers from the Jiangnan Navy!

And because for a long period of time in the past, the main tasks of the Jiangnan Navy and even the entire Da Zhou Navy were to meet the enemy on the Nanjiang River and do some work in the near sea to eliminate pirates and arrest S, so they basically had no experience in high-sea combat.

So after learning about this situation, Ye Mingsheng was actually very troubled. After all, when the entire navy from top to bottom had no experience in high-sea combat, it was very difficult to build a fleet that could sail in the high seas and ensure the merchant ships and overseas interests of the Great Zhou.

Regarding this aspect, the suggestion given by the General Staff is to let the merchant sailors, first mates, and captains from major Jiangnan businesses that sail to Southeast Asia come to the Navy to share their experience...

Because the situation in the South Seas is chaotic and pirates and native tribes often harass and rob, even the sailors, first mates, and captains of merchant ships have certain sailing and combat experience.

Although Ye Mingsheng felt that the suggestion of the General Staff had some truth to it, after all, there was still a huge difference between merchant ships and warships. But at that time, the Great Zhou Navy could not find a better teacher, so Ye Mingsheng agreed with the General Staff's idea!
But the situation is different now. If Zhang Dapeng can be successfully recruited, Ye Mingsheng hopes that Zhang Dapeng can send some outstanding talents to train the Da Zhou navy.

These South China Sea pirates are either fighting or on their way to a war. Although they are a bunch of bastards who kill without blinking an eye, it is undeniable that they are very experienced in combat and their combat effectiveness at sea is also very strong!

Therefore, if they could be allowed to pass on their experience to the Great Zhou Navy, Ye Mingsheng believed that this would be very helpful for the Great Zhou Navy to quickly form combat effectiveness.

As for the matter of building a musket factory in Ba Harbor, Ye Mingsheng knew very well what Zhang Dapeng was planning. However, because there was a precedent of building a musket factory in Jiangnan, Ye Mingsheng was very confident that Zhang Dapeng would not be able to cause any trouble, and he could also use this matter to control this big pirate!
Zhang Dapeng’s fourth condition is that he wants 50% of the overseas trade profits, which is a condition that Ye Mingsheng absolutely cannot agree to!

Ye Mingsheng thought that although Zhang Dapeng wanted 50%, in fact, Zhang Dapeng himself knew that 50% profit was simply unrealistic. What he really wanted was probably 20% or 30%. The 50% was just to have room for negotiation...

Ye Mingsheng’s bottom line in this matter is to give Zhang Dapeng a maximum of 10%, which is a red line that cannot be crossed!
Although the finances of the Yijing court can maintain normal operation at present, the debt of the Yijing court has long exceeded five million taels of silver. The interest paid each year alone is as much as hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. Therefore, this is a problem that Ye Mingsheng urgently needs to solve!

According to the calculation of the Ministry of Revenue, three million taels is a safe dividing line for the debt of the Yijing court. Within three million taels of silver, the usual payment of the principal and interest of the debt will not have much impact on the Yijing court. But if it exceeds three million taels of silver, it will be very dangerous!

In the next two years, the Yijing court will gradually have debts of about 2.3 million taels of silver due. Before this southern tour, Cui Shao also briefed Ye Mingsheng that the Ministry of Revenue will use various means to resolve a maximum of 800,000 taels of silver in the next two years. This means that Ye Mingsheng needs to find a way to deal with the remaining 1.5 million taels of silver!
In fact, as long as Ye Mingsheng wanted to solve the two or three million taels of silver, even the five or six million bonds, it was just a thought for Ye Mingsheng! However, considering the overall stability and commercial credit, Ye Mingsheng decided to solve this problem in a commercial way.

To be honest, Ye Mingsheng's work in Jiangnan this time is not even half done, and all these businesses in Jiangnan have contributed nearly one million taels of silver...
So Ye Mingsheng was generally very satisfied. The one million taels of silver solved the bulk of the problem. With more than a year left, he would be able to solve the remaining 500,000 taels of silver. It couldn't be said to be easy, but it could basically be said to be no problem!
However, life is all about struggle. As the tiered tax system has achieved certain results in Yun, Ye Mingsheng also wants to promote it to the entire Da Zhou!
Although Ye Mingsheng had such an idea, he was also aware of how much resistance this idea would encounter. The resistance that Ye Zhu Pi Lao Si encountered in promoting the reform of making officials and gentry serve as one and pay taxes as one had threatened his throne. His own tiered tax system was much more severe than that of making officials serve as one and pay taxes as one, so there was no doubt that the resistance he would encounter would be even greater!

Ye Mingsheng has a clear understanding of this matter. He is not too worried about other issues. After all, he has always held the military power tightly. Even if there is any turmoil, Ye Mingsheng believes that he can suppress it in the first time. The only thing Ye Mingsheng is worried about is that the resistance encountered in the reform will affect the financial revenue of the Yijing court!
Once some problems arise in the local areas of Da Zhou due to the implementation of reforms, and the financial revenue of the court drops sharply, things will become very difficult!
Therefore, before implementing the reform, Ye Mingsheng had to ensure that overseas trade could be unimpeded and could become one of the financial pillars of the Yijing court!

According to the calculations of the Ministry of Revenue, if the maritime trade routes could be unimpeded, the Great Zhou would earn three to five million taels of silver from overseas trade every year.

Therefore, Zhang Dapeng should not even think about getting half of the money, let alone 20% or 30%. This part of the money will be the basis for Ye Mingsheng to implement the reform. Being able to give him 10% is already a sign of Ye Mingsheng's great kindness!
Zhang Dapeng’s fifth condition was that the court should hand over Wang Tao, who had persecuted his family, and Lu Jianchao, who had uncovered the Longyi Xin Company, to him for punishment!
There was no way Ye Mingsheng would agree to this. After all, the word "handing over someone" did not exist in Ye Mingsheng's dictionary. Moreover, where would the dignity of the Yi Jing court be if he handed the person over?
However, considering the reality, Ye Mingsheng also has a compromise plan. Ye Mingsheng doesn't know whether Wang Tao is still alive after decades. If he is still alive, Ye Mingsheng can ask the Qilu Censorate to re-examine the incident and then convict Wang Tao. Then he can kill him to give an answer to Zhang Dapeng!
Wang Tao framed someone and violated the laws of the Great Zhou and he can be killed, but as for Lu Jianchao, Ye Mingsheng must protect him!
Although Lu Jianchao was not a good person, as the governor at the time, there was nothing wrong with him sealing up the Longyi Xin Trading Company which was an accomplice of the pirates. Ye Mingsheng also supported and appreciated this behavior, so Ye Mingsheng would never hold him accountable for it!

What's more, although Lu Jianchao was hesitant about whether to surrender, which made Ye Mingsheng somewhat dissatisfied with him, he finally chose to surrender and did not cause any trouble. Ye Mingsheng had also promised the safety of him and his family, so regarding Lu Jianchao, this was not a topic that could be negotiated!

Although the negotiation conditions of both parties seem to be quite different now, Ye Mingsheng is very confident that he can control this great South China Sea pirate. Ye Mingsheng is looking forward to the day when he comes to Yijing to pay a visit to him...

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While Ye Mingsheng was working hard for his career, in Yijing, Ye Mansion, Doctor Wang from the Medical College was taking the pulse of Jingren who was lying on the hospital bed. Looking at Doctor Wang's serious expression and Jingren's weak and pale face, the usually calm An Miaoyi couldn't help showing a little anxiety at this moment!
After reciting the Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng to himself that day, Jingren found Jingcheng, and the two of them started playing in the back garden of Ye's mansion. Because there were nannies and maids watching them, the two little guys did not climb trees, go up to the roof, or go near the well to do anything dangerous.

It was a sunny and cloudless day, and the weather was very good. The two little guys were having a lot of fun. However, the weather in July changed suddenly. As a dark cloud covered the sun, there were lightning and thunder in the sky, and heavy rain began to fall, even though the maids and nannies had taken the two children to shelter from the rain as quickly as possible!

But the rain fell too fast and too heavily, so Jingren and Jingcheng inevitably got wet. Jingcheng had no problem with it. After returning home, he took a hot bath and had a good sleep, and nothing happened. However, Jingren fell ill and developed symptoms of fever and cough.

An Miaoyi was not careless about this, and immediately went to the medical school to invite Doctor Wang. Doctor Wang prescribed two doses of Chinese medicine, and after Jingren took the medicine for a few days, his fever subsided and his cough stopped, so the matter ended there and An Miaoyi was relieved...
However, unexpectedly, Jingren had a fever again today, and the temperature was even higher than before. An Miaoyi became even more anxious, and immediately invited the highly respected Doctor Wang to come over again to see what was going on!

As a cup of tea passed, Doctor Wang finished taking the pulse. Seeing this, An Miaoyi immediately asked:

"Doctor Wang, what's wrong with my son?"

"Didn't you tell me that Ren'er didn't have any serious problems, that he just caught a cold, and that his illness would be cured after taking your medicine?"

Although Doctor Wang had experienced many ups and downs and seen a lot of the world, he still felt a huge pressure when facing An Miaoyi's barrage of questions. He frowned, thought for a while, and said:
"From the pulse, Master Jingren has undoubtedly caught a cold. Logically, he should be fine after taking the medicine I prescribed. I just don't know why the disease keeps recurring!"

Listening to Doctor Wang's words, An Miaoyi, who loved her son dearly, also seemed a little impatient and said in a deep voice:

"Doctor Wang, I don't know any medical skills, and you don't have to tell me about the pulse. You just need to tell me how to cure Jingren!"

An Miaoyi's words can be said to have suffocated Doctor Wang. He hesitated for a moment before slowly saying:

“I heard that Madam Pei in your mansion is also a very skilled doctor, so why not ask her to come and take a look at Master Jingren…”

(End of this chapter)