Chapter 179 Setting Fire to the Mountain, Chen Daniu Has Changed!

Before Wei Yuan went to war, Zhao Zhen issued an order to the Ministry of Works and the Military Equipment Bureau at the same time.

Work together to build 300 warships.

The Ministry of Works was managed by Hai Zhong, and the purpose of taking the quota of 200 warships was to curry favor with Wei Yuan.

The Military Equipment Bureau has always been the most money-losing department in the Great Zhou Dynasty. It has to wait for the Ministry of Revenue to allocate money to supervise the construction of 100 warships. The process alone takes about ten days and half a month.

It is estimated that only half of it has been built at this time.

The 200 warships of the Ministry of Works are actually enough for Wei Yuan to use.

However, if he wants to build a navy, he believes that at least thousands of warships are needed.

There are old warships that have been shelved for a long time in Liangzhe and the southeast area. It is not impossible to refurbish them.

Put them together, plus the warships manufactured by the Ministry of Works and the Military Equipment Bureau, there will be about 600 to 700 ships, which is enough for a navy.

As long as the navy is built, Wei Yuan will have a say in the future in terms of shipping, no matter where he is.

Once the navy is built, it will definitely be under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War, and Wei Yuan is the Minister of War.

In addition, when the time is right, it is not impossible for Wei Yuan to submit a letter to transfer the navy to the Cavalry Division.

After all, Zhao Zhen trusts no one but Wei Yuan when it comes to training soldiers.

"That's not what I mean."

"I mean, without the help of my Hai family, these two hundred warships cannot be built so quickly."

"I"

Hai Qing looked embarrassed.

Wei Yuan stood up suddenly, put his hands behind his back, and said impatiently:

"Master Hai, I am giving you face by being able to sit here and talk with you today. I hope you will not be ignorant."

"Your Hai family gives so much silver to the Japanese pirates every year, which will become the weapon to kill the people of my Great Zhou."

"To tell you the truth, every soldier who died during the suppression of the Japanese pirates by the Danglu Army was "contributed" by your Hai family!"

"Besides, Lord Hai Zhong, you are not aware of your collusion with the Japanese pirates, right?"

According to the intelligence of the Imperial City Bureau, Hai Zhong was indeed unaware of the fact that the Hai family gave silver to the Japanese pirates every year.

And the Japanese pirates entrenched in Haizhou were mostly disguised by the mountain bandits of the Great Zhou.

In fact, it was not just the Hai family who did this.

Many clans along the coast gave money to the Japanese pirates in order to avoid being harassed by them.

Now that the court wants to suppress the Japanese pirates, it is a good thing for them.

This indicates that in the future, there will be no need to give money to the Japanese pirates.

They will naturally rush to donate money to let the Ministry of Works build ships.

It can also be regarded as a gesture of goodwill to the commander who led the troops to the southeast.

Hai Zhong’s housekeeper is very strict. According to the family tradition and family background of the Hai family, it is absolutely not allowed to collude with the Japanese pirates.

But you don’t know the hardship of being a head of the family.

Hai Zhong’s cousin Hai Qing is also helpless.

“Master Hai, this is all I have to say. I will get the result in a cup of tea.”

Wei Yuan sat on the chair again and drank tea leisurely.

Hai Qing frowned.

For a long time.

Wei Yuan put down the teacup, looked at Jiang Ji, the personal guard standing outside the door, and ordered:

"Tell Chen Yuanzhi that all Japanese pirates and bandits inside and outside Haizhou City will be killed without mercy."

"Those who have anything to do with the Japanese pirates will be punished for treason."

Hearing this, Jiang Ji bowed deeply, "Yes!"

As soon as these words came out, Hai Qing was shocked.

He saw Wei Yuan stand up and was about to leave, and hurriedly stopped him, "Wait, wait!"

Wei Yuan smiled and said, "Has the master of the Hai family figured it out?"

Jiang Ji sighed, "Okay, 20%, that's 20%!"

"Every autumn, the account book will be sent to the loyal and brave man's mansion for you, the Lord, to read in person."

Wei Yuan laughed and said, "That's right. From now on, the Wei and Hai families will advance and retreat together, and share honor and disgrace."

For him, the biggest benefit is not money, but being tied to the famous and clean Hai family.

The help he will get in the court in the future will be extraordinary.

"By the way, if you encounter a Cao Gang ship in the future, your Hai family, if you can, help."

After saying this, Wei Yuan left the Hai family.

Hai Qing sat dejectedly on the chair, not knowing what he was thinking.

After a while, Hai Chaoyun came over and saw that his uncle was unhappy, so he asked:

"But did the loyal and brave uncle make things difficult for you? How about I write a letter to my father and complain about him?"

Hai Qing shook her head and said, "No!"

After a pause, she said earnestly:

"In the future, we need to rely more on this loyal and brave uncle to help our Hai family's business."

To be honest, if there was no second branch of the Hai family.

The first branch of the Hai family would not be able to maintain its dignity in the capital.

Even if you are a high-ranking official, you need a lot of money.

To this day, Bao Xiaosu still lives in the Kaifeng government office.

The Bao family has no money to buy a house in the capital.

Wei Yuan once tried to give the Bao family a house, not too big or too small. If no one from the Bao family served as an official in Beijing in the future, at least they could still live in the capital.

As long as they stayed in the capital, there would be endless hope and possibilities.

Most of the time, some lower-ranking officials in Beijing, if they did not commit corruption and abuse the law, could not afford to buy a house with only the salary given by the court.

If you want to avoid corruption and maintain your dignity, you can only have your own business like the Sheng family and the Hai family.

This highlights the benefits of being a noble.

Officials' direct descendants cannot engage in business, which refers to the literati, not the military merits.

Wei Yuan can do business openly and seriously.

Of course, this is also a point that civil officials look down on military merits.

But then again, those civil officials who seem to live a glamorous life on the surface, how many of them do not collude with officials and businessmen in private, hoping that the side branches of the family can make some money with the help of their power.

Then improve their lives?

Some incompetent nobles need to embezzle money.

Therefore, Wei Yuan sometimes keeps saying that the clear stream and the muddy stream are all quite vulgar.

Especially the clean officials, on the surface, they do not seem to be corrupt, but some of your family branches are engaged in business.

Even Han Zhang is not immune to this.

On weekdays, Han Zhang said that he was born in a poor family, a shit poor family, and his father was an official of Kaifu Yitong Sansi.

His father's younger brother is the richest man in Xiangzhou.

Go to Xiangzhou and ask around, who is richer than their Han family?

They say one thing in front of others and another behind their backs. With the money bag of their clansmen, they can certainly act as if nothing has happened and act as a clean official.

Now those officials in the court, including Wang Anshi, who claim to be clean officials, check three generations ago. If their ancestors were not officials or businessmen, Wei Yuan would cut off his head and let them kick it.

This has been the case in every dynasty! It has been in every dynasty!

So, no one should say anything to anyone else, and if they just do their job well, everyone will be able to live in peace. If they really tear their faces apart and fight to the death, who doesn't have some dirt on each other?

Why did Wei Yuan dare to blackmail the Hai family?

That's because, if you check the three generations of their Wei family, they are all poor.

He is a bachelor, and his family will not be hungry if he eats well. He is also the first generation of the Wei family. What is there to be afraid of?

When Wei Yuan returned to the city defense camp, Jiang Ji asked:

"In addition to the Hai family, should all the clan merchants who have ties with the Japanese pirates be strictly investigated?"

"After the Hai family incident, I think that the local merchants will give you benefits."

He always showed Wei Yuan that he was very smart, intentionally or unintentionally.

The more he did this, the more likely it was that Wei Yuan would be worried.

"Except for the Hai family, the rest should be dealt with according to the law. All the merchant clans that had ties with the Japanese pirates should be controlled, and their names should be sent to the local Imperial City Department, and they will present them to His Majesty."

The purpose of Wei Yuan's doing this was simple.

He had already made money from the Hai family.

As for the small profits in Haizhou, he didn't want them.

Whether to confiscate their property depended on the intentions of the court and Zhao Zhen.

It's impossible for him to make all the money while the royal family and the court didn't get any, right?

That would be taboo.

Jiang Ji bowed deeply, then left here, went outside the city, and told Chen Daniu and others what Wei Yuan meant.

With the help of the local Imperial City Department, scouts had already discovered several dens of Japanese pirates.

They were all in the deep mountains and old forests near the coast, forming their own mountain strongholds.

They usually made a living by robbing houses at sea or on land.

They were very small, with only a dozen people in the smallest.

The largest one only had about 300 to 400 people.

The Hai family gave money to the Japanese pirates every year, not only near the coastal areas of Haizhou.

To deal with such a small number of Japanese pirates, Wei Yuan did not need to do it himself, Chen Daniu could do it alone.

He wanted Chen Daniu to earn more credit.

In addition to Xu Changzhi, Chen Daniu and Lin Zhaoyuan were the people Wei Yuan trusted the most.

After receiving Wei Yuan's order, Chen Daniu led 2,000 soldiers to fight the Japanese pirates without saying a word.

Originally thought, what was waiting for him would be a fierce battle.

The largest Japanese pirates were in a village in the valley.

This place is very close to the sea, and it only takes three quarters of an hour to walk.

When they came to the village, many soldiers volunteered,

"General, I was brought up by you from Daizhou. No matter what, you have to give me this first battle!"

"General, use me. I will destroy this village in one hour at most!"

"General, I am willing to go!"

"."

Chen Daniu was unmoved by their voices.

At this time, it was spring, the weather was dry, and catkins were flying.

Set up camp in the valley.

If we use a big fire to burn the mountains on both sides, wouldn't it be easier?

Chen Daniu became more and more excited as he thought about it, and said, "No! Set fire to the mountains!"

Burn the mountains?

As soon as these words came out, the eyes of the soldiers suddenly lit up. In this way, wouldn't those Japanese pirates hiding in the valley become ducks to be roasted?

The soldier from Daizhou frowned and said:

"General, the commander said that using fire is not a good idea. You burned the grain outside the pass that day because you had no choice."

"Since then, General Wei has told you not to use fire tactics unless it is absolutely necessary."

"Moreover, I heard that there are many women from the Great Zhou who were abducted by the Japanese pirates in this village. They are all innocent people!"

Chen Daniu snorted coldly:

"Don't use my elder brother to pressure me! My elder brother didn't mention me by name, who do you think you are?"

"You can't command an army with kindness! Those women have been abused by the Japanese pirates long ago. Even if they survived, I'm afraid they would be criticized and would rather die than live!"

"Besides, can you guarantee that those women will not be hurt during the chaos?"

"Burn the mountain, burn the mountain!"

The Daizhou soldiers bowed their heads and said nothing.

Perhaps even Chen Daniu didn't realize it.

Since he came to the capital and was quickly promoted by Wei Yuan, his personality and state of mind have changed.

Only in front of Wei Yuan, he is still the Chen Daniu who often says "I'm too stupid".

But in front of his soldiers, he is a ruthless and decisive general who is willing to achieve his goal at any cost.