On the city wall of Pyongyang by the Datong River.
The history of this city was quite long. Emperor Wu of Han destroyed Weiman Korea and set up four counties on the peninsula, which were under the jurisdiction of the Central Plains. Pyongyang was under the jurisdiction of Lelang County. More than a thousand years later, the peninsula broke away from the Han civilization and became the world of the Lee Kingdom of Korea.
As the only two big cities on the Korean peninsula, Pyongyang was quite big. Zhou Qingfeng had nothing to do, so he pulled a group of officials in the city to the tower on the south side of the outer city for a political lesson. To put it bluntly, it was to teach these guys a lesson and let them know how to be an official under him.
The dozens of people who were pulled up to the tower were the backbone of the current puppet government. Based on the principle of meritocracy and the coercion of Zhou Qingfeng, the ratio of men to women was four to one. Most of the male officials were older, and most of the female officials were the family members of the male officials. When they appeared, they all cowered and hid behind the crowd.
"Sit up here, women, sit in front. I'm not a tiger, I won't eat people. "Zhou Qingfeng sat under the city wall with a pot of tea in his hand and asked everyone to sit down.
The Korean faction smiled, and the Shandong faction looked panicked. When they heard Zhou Qingfeng say 'I won't eat people', they all cursed in their hearts, "You won't eat people, but you're even worse than eating people."
"Our 'Revolutionary Army' pays attention to gender equality and has many preferential policies for women. You have to take the lead in implementing it. "Zhou Qingfeng said earnestly. Women, as an important labor force, were suppressed. This was absolutely unacceptable in the development of industrialization. For example, the textile industry was the focus of the 'Revolutionary Army', which required a large number of female workers, so women had to be liberated.
There were tables and chairs in front of Zhou Qingfeng, and more than ten female civil servants sat down with their heads lowered. Occasionally, someone looked up at him, but quickly lowered their heads. Zhou Qingfeng had to say, "Since you've come out to work, women are not inferior to men. Nod generously and raise your heads. I'm your ruler now. Recognize my face, so you can greet me when you see me in the future. "
Hearing Zhou Qingfeng's amusing words, some of the women burst out laughing. After laughing, they quickly lowered their heads in fear of making a mistake. Their fathers and brothers were all present, trying to figure out what was going on. One by one, they opened their mouths to ask the girls to raise their heads. Speaking of which, these girls in front of them were either the daughters of noble families or the daughters of humble families. Many of them used to be the wives of high-ranking officials in Shandong. Their statuses were not ordinary, but there was no lack of them wanting to curry favor with him.
"Everyone, if you join my Revolutionary Army, it will take at most one month, at least ten days. Presumably, they had all made up their minds and had their own questions. Today, I have gathered all of you here to listen to your thoughts. If you have anything to say, just say it. Today, there are no taboos. Since I want to use you, I won't kill you at will. I don't want all of you to be fools. "
Zhou Qingfeng was about to set off to attack Han City. Before he left, he gathered these people to unify their thinking and to give them a lesson to appease them. As soon as he opened his mouth, his gaze swept across the crowd. Those who were gathered here were either ministers of conquered countries or people who had been exiled, but they were all shrewd people. In the face of the question, they were all deep in thought, thinking about how they should answer.
Those who were experienced and astute refused to speak easily, but some of the girls in the front row were young and bold. A Shandong girl in her teens asked, "Is what Grand Marshal said true? There are no taboos?"
"Do I have to bully a girl like you?" Zhou Qingfeng personally poured tea and handed a cup to her. "Come, moisten your throat. If there was anything, he could say it or ask it. I went to Hetuala alone the year before last. I lived under someone else's roof. What have I not suffered? Many people scolded me and called me a traitor, but I spat on them. If I didn't have a bit of magnanimity, I would have hung myself long ago. "
The girl who spoke was somewhat flattered that Zhou Qingfeng personally poured tea for her. After all, as long as one was not blind, anyone could see that Zhou Qingfeng would become the ruler of the world sooner or later. This tea was personally poured by the Emperor of Heaven, who could boast about it for a lifetime.
The other girls frowned and looked over. Many of them were jealous of this seemingly ordinary cup of tea. The girl who spoke gritted her teeth and braced herself to ask, "Grand Marshal treats the people well. His politics is clear and his military power is very strong. No one in the world can match him. But why does he treat us officials so harshly? We officials are familiar with the classics, know etiquette, and are good at governing. Why doesn't Grand Marshal give us preferential treatment? "
This was an old problem.
In just one year, the Revolutionary Army had the momentum to sweep the world, and there were countless people who wanted to join them. But Zhou Qingfeng never gave preferential treatment to officials. Recently, the newspapers even reported that he wanted to strengthen the liquidation, and even caught the Kong family as a target for criticism.
Zhou Qingfeng smiled bitterly and asked, "Have you read the political handbook issued by the Revolutionary Army? And the newspaper that was issued in the past year? "
"I'm still reading it. There are many parts that I don't understand," the girl said.
"I'll be straightforward. Because you are too much of a hindrance." Zhou Qingfeng did not hide it. When the girl heard this, she wanted to refute, but he raised his hand to signal her not to interrupt. Zhou Qingfeng stood up from the rocking chair and pointed to a construction site in the city. He said, "Do you see those mud mixers?"
Dozens of officials stood up one after another and looked down the city wall in the direction of Zhou Qingfeng's finger. The government office was being built in Pingyang City, and there were construction sites everywhere. Recently, the Revolutionary Army's construction machinery had increased a lot, and the animal-powered mud mixer under the city wall was one of them.
Song Yingxing was an extremely practical talent, but this guy was also very "unprofessional." Zhou Qingfeng asked him to work on spring steel, but he first learned a lot of mechanical principles and created a hydraulic ore crusher that could greatly improve the efficiency of steel smelting. It was using water to drive a steel ball in a large iron tank to crush the ore.
After the crusher was created, Song Yingxing conveniently created the mud mixer in front of him. The two mechanical mechanisms were similar, and both could greatly improve the production efficiency. The Revolutionary Army now used a lot of calcium oxide obtained from firing shells as' soil cement. 'This kind of' soil cement 'needed to be mixed with sand and stones in use. The animal-powered mixer could greatly save manpower.
With the help of the Revolutionary Army's wood and metal processing ability that surpassed the times, Song Yingxing brought a group of craftsmen to 'invent' a lot of mechanical equipment. These equipment could improve safety and efficiency when used in the mining and construction industries, laying a more solid foundation for the industrial development of the Revolutionary Army. He just didn't work on spring steel, and even Zhou Qingfeng couldn't do anything about it.
Zhou Qingfeng pointed to a few pieces of machinery on the construction site that were produced in Jinzhou and shipped from Lvshun and said, "You officials make money while harming the people, hindering the development of commerce, and suppressing political progress. I've criticized you on many occasions and in many articles.
Today, I'll talk about one of your crimes. You make money either to buy land and cause the collapse of agriculture, or to save money in the cellar and cause deflation. A lot of money is in your hands, and it doesn't play any role at all. Your existence is of no use to the progress of science and technology and industrial development. You control the imperial examination and control public opinion. You're a pest to the country and the people.
These machinery and the people who designed and manufactured them are very important, but they need to spend a lot of money to support them. Where does the money come from? Isn't it from you? So if I don't eradicate you, how can I develop a powerful force? You look down on farmers and craftsmen, and it's too much of a hindrance to the Revolutionary Army. "
The reason was very simple, but the dozens of people present felt like they were in a fog and couldn't understand. After all, for thousands of years, there was a saying that 'all things are inferior, but only books are superior.' Master Zhou was dealing with 'scholars.'
"You're just arguing with clever words. You can immediately take over the world, but can you immediately rule the world? Since you treat the officials so harshly, who will help you rule the country in the future? Today, we traveled thousands of miles to conquer Korea, and this is the 'country without conquest' that my Hongwu Emperor personally promised. If we treat the vassal states like this, sooner or later the people will be angry and rebel.
Moreover, the world is so big. You can kill the officials in Shandong, but can you kill the officials in the whole Central Plains? Can you cross the sea and kill all the officials in Korea? If you're so militaristic, sooner or later you'll run out of money and food and be defeated, "another person said. His tone was not so calm, but full of resentment.
Zhou Qingfeng looked up and was happy. The person who spoke was a member of the Ming Dynasty's imperial family, King De Zhu Youshu, who lived in Jinan. There were many members of the Ming Dynasty's imperial family. More than half of the officials captured in Jinan had the surname Zhu. These people couldn't be officials, they couldn't do business, they couldn't do anything, and they couldn't even leave Jinan City. They were completely raised like pigs by the Ming Dynasty.
Most of the members of the imperial family were actually not rich. The Revolutionary Army breaking Jinan was equivalent to liberating them. Their status was not high, and it was difficult for them to do evil, so most of them were released. However, a group of important members of the imperial family were escorted to Korea. Zhu Youshu himself was a little educated but had no practical talent, so he made do as a scribe in the puppet government.
Going from Jinan to Korea was like escaping from a cage. Zhu Youshu himself was actually quite happy. However, when he saw Zhou Qingfeng, who wanted to seize the Zhu family's world, he was really angry and couldn't help but spit out a few words.
"Who said I'm militaristic?" Zhou Qingfeng said happily.
"You brought troops to attack Korea. Isn't that militaristic? Only the muddle-headed ruler Yang Guang did this. You still have to give Korea 50 million silver dollars, so much money … "Zhu Youshu's fingers pointed randomly, not knowing how to scold.
"You plunder the officials and seize the people's wealth in the Central Plains just to show off your military might in Korea. You, you, you … Are you going to learn from the first emperor and go overseas to find the elixir of immortality? "
This person's imagination was really rich!
However, everyone's eyes lit up. In an instant, they felt that this was very possible.
Otherwise, why would a rebel leader like you come to a place like Korea where even birds don't shit?
Zhou Qingfeng was even more happy. He laughed and said, "I can spend, but I can also earn. If I spend 50 million silver dollars, I can earn back at least 1 billion silver dollars in ten years. "
"Nonsense, how is that possible?" Zhu Youshu threw caution to the wind and scolded angrily, "How can there be 1 billion silver dollars in this world? How can there be so much silver? I, Daming, have never seen so much money in my 200 years of existence! "
Zhu Youshu spoke with certainty, and the group of officials all agreed with him.
That's right, how can there be so much silver?
We are all well-read people, don't think of lying to us.
Zhou Qingfeng laughed again, "The silver dollars we issue are 25 grams each. 1 billion silver dollars is equivalent to 25,000 tons. It sounds like a lot, but in reality, it can be earned. Not to mention the wealth from mining, logging, farming, and selling goods in Korea. As long as I use Korea as a springboard to go to Japan, there will be mountains of gold and silver waiting for me there.
Not only does Japan have silver, there are also many Thai merchants in Southeast Asia. The Dutch are in Nagasaki, and the Spanish are in the Philippines. They transport large amounts of gold and silver from South America and buy all kinds of silk, porcelain, and other goods from the Central Plains. They can also bring us tens of thousands of tons of precious metals.
Once the sea trade route is opened, what is 1 billion silver dollars? Billions and trillions of wealth will come rolling in. Our Zhonghua will flourish and become an empire where the sun never sets. "
Zhou Qingfeng spoke in a grand manner, but Zhu Youshu felt like he was listening to a fantasy story. He shouted in surprise again, "You, you, you … you really want to go to Japan. You are really going to ask for immortal pills and elixirs like Xu Fu. I just want to tell you that this is wishful thinking. You … "
The dignified King De said 'you' for a long time, but he still couldn't find the words to refute Zhou Qingfeng. After all, Master Zhou's plan really challenged people's imagination. Not to mention these Han people from Shandong, even the Koreans who were closer to Japan expressed their shock and didn't know how to evaluate it.
King De pondered for a long time and wanted to refute Zhou Qingfeng's wishful thinking, but he couldn't find the words to say. While he was really distressed, he suddenly stared at the Datong River outside the city wall and shouted, "Hahaha … surnamed Zhou, you still want to go to Japan? You haven't even conquered North Korea. Look, look, someone is coming to beat you up. "
The dozens of officials on the city wall immediately stretched their necks to look at the river. At a glance, the Korean officials immediately became excited. They even shouted, "Our Lord Chungwu's tortoiseshell ship is an important military weapon that can't be defeated!"
Several large ships came on the river, and behind them were dozens of smaller ships. The leading ship was very large. The hull of the ship was armored and wrapped in iron plates. There were also iron awls and steel blades stuck on the iron plates. It looked terrifying. Especially the tortoiseshell at the bow of the ship, which would spit out flames and smoke from time to time. It looked like it had come to burn the port.
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