Pierre knew that people in the Ming Dynasty or Qing Dynasty were very rich.

For example, Pan Zhencheng, the leader of the Thirteenth Bank of China in Guangzhou, has a family fortune of about 100 million francs and an annual consumption of 3 million francs. His property is more than the real estate of a king in Western Europe. For this reason, he was commented by "French Magazine"

As "the richest man in the world".

But what the French treasury lacks is not 100 million francs, but a full 2 ​​billion francs. Pan Zhencheng, the world's richest man, is rich, right? But no matter how rich Pan Chengzhen is, it will take twenty of Pan Zhencheng's entire family property to make up for it.

The depletion of the French treasury.

Even if your Ming Dynasty is much more powerful than the Qing Dynasty, your Ming Dynasty can still spend as much money as twenty richest men in the world?

That's not how you brag.

After thinking about it, Pierre felt that Zeng Cheng must have misunderstood the value of the franc.

Pierre simply explained to Zeng Cheng: "Take Mr. Pan Zhencheng, the world's richest man from the Thirteenth Bank of Guangdong, as an example. His estate is about 100 million francs. If converted into your silver, it is about 50 million taels.

"

"And our French treasury currently has a deficit of two billion francs, which is equivalent to one billion taels of silver when converted into silver."

"I think, let alone Mr. Pan Zhencheng, even the original treasury of the Qing Dynasty or the treasury of your Ming Dynasty may not be able to come up with one billion taels of silver, right?"

As soon as he heard that the Ming Dynasty's treasury came up with the keywords "one billion taels of silver", Zeng Cheng couldn't help but feel happy for Pierre.

Fortunately, I was here to negotiate with Pierre today. If it were Liu Huaiwen, the old man who was in charge of the money bag of the Ming Dynasty treasury, he would probably have to kill Pierre directly - the entire Ming Dynasty treasury, even one million taels of silver

None, but one billion taels?

Of course, I was secretly happy for Pierre. In fact, Zeng Cheng and his family didn’t pay much attention to the one billion taels of silver.

How should I put it? It is nonsense to ask the Ming Dynasty’s treasury to come up with one billion taels of silver. Even if all the people in the five provinces of Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, Shanxi, and Fujian are now ruled by the Ming Dynasty, it may not be possible.

We can scrape together one billion taels of silver.

The reason why Zeng Cheng and Zeng Futai did not pay much attention to these billions of silver was simply because this matter had nothing to do with the Ming Dynasty or Zeng Futai himself.

If it were Zeng Cheng and Zeng Futai himself, let alone taking out one billion taels of silver, even if Pierre dared to ask to borrow ten taels of silver, Zeng Cheng and Zeng Futai would have broken three of his legs.

Shaking his head with a smile, Zeng Cheng said with a smile: "In my opinion, the deficit of your country's treasury and the unrest of your people are actually one and two problems, and two and one."

"As long as the problem of national treasury deficit can be solved, then the problem of common people's unrest will naturally be solved. If the problem of common people's unrest can be solved, then the problem of national treasury deficit will naturally not be a big problem."

"Of course, it is unrealistic to spend one billion taels of silver to solve the problem of national treasury deficit. So, why doesn't Mr. Pierre think from a different angle?"

Pierre wondered, aren't you talking nonsense? Who doesn't know that solving the problem of people's unrest can solve the problem of national treasury deficit? The key is what do you do to solve the problem of people's unrest?

Is it your Ming Dynasty that can give me one billion taels of silver, or is it because of your big words?

Want to think about it from another angle?

If I could think of a solution from another angle, would I still need to go to the Far East to do business?

Just as Pierre was complaining secretly, Zeng Cheng pointed to the direction outside the door with a smile and said: "Mr. Pierre, the unrest among the people under the rule of France has never been comparable to the people under the rule of the Qing Dynasty.

The turmoil? In other words, if this kind of turmoil occurs in France, what will happen to France?"

After Zeng Cheng said this and thinking about the scene after this happened, Pierre immediately shuddered.

The original Qing Dynasty was also famous internationally. After all, the Ming Dynasty defeated the Netherlands twice, but we, the Tatar Qing Dynasty, destroyed the Ming Dynasty. Who in the world dares to disrespect me, the Tatar Qing Dynasty?

Didn't you see that Holland, who is known as the Sea Coachman, has always wanted to take action against Lan Su? Is it because he cares about the existence of our Tatars that he has not dared to act rashly until now?

However, the Qing Dynasty, which was so powerful, collapsed almost overnight, and even the Qing Emperor Qian Deangou had to order his eggs to be reduced and returned to Zhili.

If this happened in France, wouldn't France be in trouble?

If France is in trouble, Louis XVI, the King of France, will definitely be in trouble. If Louis XVI is in trouble, even if Louis XVI's cousin himself is not in trouble, he will definitely not be much better.

At the very least, the maritime trade in the Far East will be owned by others, and the wealth in your hands will be greatly reduced.

If that day comes, how can I keep so many mistresses as usual? What should I do to raise so many illegitimate children?

Just when Pierre was frightened by the scene described by Zeng Cheng, Zeng Cheng and Zeng Futai laughed again, and then asked: "Then Mr. Pierre knows why the original Qing Dynasty suddenly

Is there chaos? Why do people want to create new accounts?"

Hearing what Zeng Cheng said, Pierre couldn't help but become curious.

After spending so many years in the Thirteenth Bank of Guangdong, Pierre is not a novice who knows nothing about the Qing Dynasty, and he knows something about the situation in the Qing Dynasty.

Before Zhu Jinsong, the Ming Emperor, occupied Shandong, there were no people in the territory ruled by the Qing Dynasty who were fighting against the Qing Dynasty. Almost every year, there would be people making a fuss against the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty, but it was never like this time. It seemed like overnight

During this period, the entire territory ruled by the Qing Dynasty was full of rebel thieves, and even the emperor of the Qing Dynasty had to voluntarily give up those territories.

After thinking for a long time, he couldn't figure out the reason. Pierre simply shook his head and said, "I really can't figure out why. I wonder if Mr. Zeng can tell me the reason?"

Zeng Cheng smiled and nodded, saying, "Of course, there's nothing I can't say about this."

"The first thing is that our...His Majesty the Ming Emperor chose the time very well."

"When His Majesty the Emperor first launched his army, it happened to be near the end of the 49th year of Qian De's reign. The winter that year was particularly cold, but there were only a few snowfalls in Shandong. In other words, it was almost 100% better the next year.

There will be drought, and drought means that a large number of people will not be able to eat."

"However, on the 15th day of the first lunar month of the 50th year of Qian De's reign, Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty was about to go to Jiangnan for the sixth time in his life."

"In other words, the people of Shandong will not only have to face a certain drought in the second year, but also have to work for Emperor Qianlong. This means that the people of Shandong will have a very difficult life, or even be unable to survive."

"Mr. Pierre, you have been in Guangdong for so many years, and you should have seen how difficult it is for ordinary people under our Tatar rule, right?"

Pierre nodded, reached out and made a sign of the cross on his chest, and said: "God is my witness, I originally thought that the life of French farmers was already very difficult, but I never thought that there are people in the world who are more difficult than them."

Having said this, Pierre looked at Zeng Cheng sincerely and said, "Fortunately you are here. You have overthrown the ignorant and extremely cruel Tatar rule and made the people of this country live a good life."

[To be honest, I have been using Mimi recently to read and catch up on books. I can switch sources and read aloud with a variety of sounds. It can be used on both Android and Apple.]

Zeng Cheng didn't care whether the sincerity on Pierre's face was partly real or fake, but couldn't help feeling a little emotional.

Dadang...His Majesty the Emperor chose the timing of the rebellion very well. First, Shandong was about to experience a drought, and then Qian Deaf Old Dog was about to conduct his sixth southern tour, which made the people already

A very difficult life has become even worse, and it is even difficult to survive.

In this case, if no one takes the lead in the rebellion, or if someone takes the lead in the rebellion but the noise is smaller, then it is more or less okay. Once someone takes the lead in the rebellion and makes the noise bigger, then our Taqing will immediately be in flames.

In this situation, even if I don't want to be cool, I will be cool.

In other words, if His Majesty the Emperor were allowed to rebel a few years ago, and if His Majesty the Emperor did not always have so many fantastic ideas in his head, I am afraid that it would be His Majesty the Emperor who would suffer the consequences, not me.

After feeling secretly, Zeng Cheng smiled and said: "What I'm going to say next may not sound so nice, or even a little unpleasant. I hope Mr. Pierre doesn't mind?"

Pierre, who had already vaguely understood something, waved his hands repeatedly and said: "No, no, I know you have a saying that good medicine is bitter in the mouth and good for the disease; good advice is hard on the ears but good for action. As long as it can help solve France's problems

, even if what you say is unpleasant, I won’t mind.”

Zeng Cheng nodded slightly and said with a smile, "That's good."

"Actually, what I want to say is that once the people find it difficult to live, the country will be in turmoil. If the people cannot survive, they will definitely rebel. How similar is the situation in France now to the situation in the Qing Dynasty at that time?"

Having said this, Zeng Cheng couldn't help but sigh again and asked: "So, Mr. Pierre, do you know what is the biggest reason why people cannot survive?"

Hearing Zeng Cheng's question, Pierre considered it carefully and then asked tentatively: "Is it because the queen of France always repairs her gardens and spends too many francs, so France's finances have problems?"

Is it precisely because of France’s financial problems that the people of France cannot survive?”

Zeng Cheng shook his head and said: "My deaf old dog from the Tatar Qing Dynasty built a lot of gardens, and even went to Jiangnan five times. In terms of money spent, I'm afraid the little money spent by your queen is just...

My Tatars are just a drop in the bucket."

"In fact, from the beginning to the end, the Qing Dynasty's finances have always had no problems. In other words, if there were any problems, they were only very small problems and could not reach the level of chaos."

Hearing what Zeng Cheng said, Pierre couldn't help but become curious: "Since there is no problem with the Taqing's finances, why can't the people survive? So what exactly is the problem? Is it really the case?

To fight against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty?"

After chatting with Pierre for such a long time, Zeng Cheng was finally able to confirm that it was not that what he said was too complicated, but that Pierre, a French barbarian, was really stupid. No wonder Dadang... No wonder His Majesty the Emperor confessed that

Don't talk to these barbarians in official talk. They really don't understand.

Thinking of this, Zeng Cheng simply smiled and shook his head and said: "If there is a financial problem with the Tatar treasury, then the people under the Tatar rule will definitely not be able to survive. But if the people cannot survive, it is not necessarily me.

There is a financial problem in the Qing treasury."

"The main problem ultimately lies in one word, official."

"Take your previous visit to Guangzhou as an example. The tariff rate stipulated by our Tatar Qing court was only 3.9%, but the actual tax rate you paid was about 50%."

"Then the question is - apart from the less than 4% tariff collected by our Tatar and Qing court, where did the remaining 40% of tax money go?"

"This problem is actually the same when it comes to France. If there is a problem with the French treasury, then the people of France will be in turmoil. However, if the people of France cannot survive, it does not necessarily mean that there is a problem with the French treasury.

.”

"In the final analysis, the problem lies in the word I just said, official."

Having said this, Zeng Cheng picked up the tea on the table again, took a sip and said: "As the saying goes, the world is as dark as crows. The officials of the Qing Dynasty are corrupt, and the officials of you France may not be corrupt. The officials of the Qing Dynasty are corrupt.

Officials cannot withstand investigation, and your French officials may not be able to withstand investigation either."

"As long as your French king is willing to arrest a few wealthy corruption models, chop off their heads, confiscate their property, collect the money they use to keep mistresses and raise illegitimate children into the national treasury, and then allocate a small portion.

Buy some food for the people."

"What's this move called?"

"This trick is called killing two birds with one stone. It can not only make up for part of the French treasury's shortfall, but also allow the French court to establish a good impression in the hearts of the French people."

"With money, M. Pierre can go back with a large number of artillery and flintlock muskets."

"As long as you, the King of France, can control the army, and cooperate with the artillery and flintlock guns developed by our Ming Dynasty, plus enough cannonballs and bullets, even if you French people really want to rebel, it is actually no big deal."

"If they dare to rebel, they will be suppressed severely, a group of them will be killed ruthlessly, and their homes will be ransacked at the same time."

"With a smaller population, there will naturally be less food needed, and by ransacking homes, we can make some more money."

"Look, isn't this problem solved?"
Chapter completed!