Chapter 136: Humans’ Joys and Sorrows Are Not the Same!

In the next half month, Qin Hao lived a very happy life. It was almost the most comfortable time he had ever had since time travel. Apart from issuing some beheading orders every day, he basically just drank tea and watched the scenery.

Every day, I would sit under the cherry blossom trees, watch the sunrise and sunset, comment on the enchanting dances of Kabuki, and measure the body size of those Japanese ladies with my eyes.

Want to experience the warm Japanese style?

When Qin Hao was asked to choose kabuki, all of them were not powdered, and the ghost-like expression was something he could not accept.

One more thing, Qin Hao is also very careful!

Unless he is familiar with the local environment, he will not have any relationship beyond friendship with these Japanese women.

You must know that this Age of Discovery happened to be a time when many infectious diseases were prevalent. Different pathogens gradually spread around the world through promiscuity among sailors and small nobles, such as syphilis and so on.

God knows what kind of moral character these Japanese women, who are charming and artistic on the outside, have in private?

Even virgins may carry local pathogens. Only by being familiar with diet and living habits can this probability be reduced. Fortunately, Qin Hao is not so impatient.

For the sake of a happy life in the future, he is still willing to wait for some time.

Therefore, Qin Hao's greatest pleasure was to stay in the noble's living room, sit cross-legged and kneel, and try to eat local food every day, such as tempura, meatloaf, ramen, soba noodles, sushi, salad, etc.

As for the most famous salmon in Kobe, Qin Hao did not accept it. It was not that the meat was not good, but that it contained too many parasites. Is there any way to remove them in this era? If it is cooked, it will lose its original flavor, so he was He abandoned it like a shoe, but he ate the other food with gusto.

His life was comfortable, but of course there were some that were not.

Qin Hao could not stay in Kobe all the time. He always had to go out to continue fighting. Naturally, he needed civil servants to come to govern and coordinate. Zhuge Xuan wanted to take charge of Keelung and could not come, so he recommended Li Yi.

Li Yi, as one of Qin Hao's early elders and one of the old confidants, originally he was extremely unwilling to come. It was not so prestigious to stay in Keelung and follow Master Zhuge. Who wants to go to Japan, a place he is unfamiliar with?

He didn't relent until Zhuge Xuan enlightened him and said that he was being promoted. After all, he was a citizen of the Ming Dynasty, and he still had a concept of promotion and wealth in his heart.

After that, he was appointed as the chief officer of Qinhan Commercial Representative Office in Kobe. Although the name was very difficult to pronounce, which was a bit difficult for him, an old man with a low level of education, to accept it, but after Qin Hao's explanation, it was easy to understand. Easy to understand.

"Have you ever seen the Ming Dynasty patrol on the stage? Have you ever seen the imperial ministers? Don't they all have Shangfang swords in their hands, so-called like me coming in person? That role is just like yours! In Kobe, you are me! You are The representative of the Keelung General Mansion is the county magistrate of Kobe! Any actions against you or the commercial representative office can be considered as targeting the Keelung General Mansion!”

As a result, Li Yi began to be busy with the construction of the commercial representative office, personnel, soldiers, houses, and fortifications. etc.

The most important thing is to train the new recruits of the escort team to form combat effectiveness.

If he leads his army to leave, Kobe will need someone to garrison it, but Qin Hao is unwilling to spread his troops too far apart. In this expedition to Japan, there are not many troops. If one place is not captured and dozens of people are left behind, three or five people will be left behind. The garrison force in a city can bankrupt oneself.

This is extremely inconvenient and unworkable!

Therefore, Qin Hao selected several hundred people from all the hardworking people such as Japanese fishermen and farmers to train according to the training methods of the Keelung Army, while leaving several veterans as assistants.

Qin Hao's request for them is very simple. After the army leaves, they must not rebel.

To this end, a series of treaties were specially revised. Both the Japanese poor and the Han people had the right to cultivate wasteland in the Kobe area. Compared with the past, the land belonged to the daimyo, and the poor could only farm, and they had to pay heavy taxes after the autumn harvest. This treaty fundamentally moved people. It has influenced the psychology of the majority of Japanese wage farmers.

At the same time, it was stipulated that as long as one person from each household served as a soldier, he could get 20 acres of cultivated land and not pay taxes for three years. Anyway, those fields belonged to the dead nobles, so Qin Hao didn't feel bad at all.

After hearing this news, the Japanese Ashigaru who were practicing formation, stabbing, and sword skills under the scorching sun of Kobe waved their swords and guns even more vigorously.

As for the miserable Zhang Hu, he was busy leading several battleships and several schooners captured from Kobe, working non-stop among the various islands in Seto Inland.

According to Ichiro Sugimoto and his predecessors, the wealth of Kobe and the islands in the Seto Inland Sea was the merchant ships that plied Kobe's port.

Qin Hao greatly praised Sugimoto's vision. If he was not so greedy, he would be a good subordinate.

The openness of maritime merchant ships must continue to be maintained. Li Yi returned to implement this as the chief officer. In addition to the convenience of the port, Kobe also has another advantage, which is its mining resources.

These islands in the Seto Inland Sea are rich in mineral reserves, such as iron, coal, gold, copper, chromium, and manganese. Except for the poor quality of coal, the other various mineral reserves are among the top ten in the world. The name is often calculated in units of 10,000 tons;

Copper, gold, nickel, chromium, and manganese are all resources that Qin Hao needs now or in the future. Especially in front of us, there are huge copper resources on the islands near Kobe. For the Ming Dynasty, which used copper as its basic currency unit, it was no less than a huge gold mountain.

What's more, Qin Hao's troops now need a lot of metal to make artillery and other weapons.

At the same time, there are about 1,500 active volcanoes in the world, most of which are distributed in the Pacific Rim, and Japan is located in the active volcano zone. There are 110 "active volcanoes" in Japan! Therefore, the Japanese archipelago is also called the "Volcanic Archipelago". Most of these volcanoes are distributed in the Seto Inland Sea, with rich sulfur, which is a must for making gunpowder.

After occupying this place, the price of sulfur will be greatly reduced, and the era of gold will no longer exist when the cannon sounds.

Therefore, Zhang Hu worked hard. He chose landing sites on several islands, built simple ports and berths, and selected addresses for mines in appropriate places to build fortifications and houses.

Most of them were willing to move to Kobe under Qin Hao's land exchange policy, share a large piece of land, and take tens of thousands of taels as compensation.

However, there were some Japanese nobles who were unwilling to see their homes occupied by these outsiders and came out to resist. These places were their property. However, under the dense fire of muskets, these people either became heads on bayonets or prisoners of Zhang Hu.

In this era, there is no so-called justice, only the bloody law of the jungle, and the survival of the fittest.

Then, the nobles who were sentenced to hard labor appeared. According to the trial, although these people did not participate in the confiscation of minerals, the actions of their guards made them accomplices who enjoyed the fruits of crime. Therefore, they must serve ten years of hard labor in places such as mines and farmlands.

After ten years of hard labor, they can become free men.

Of course, as a mining mine, there will naturally be certain losses and reductions in the face of high-intensity labor, poor production conditions and other factors. The proportion is not too large and is completely tolerable. The annual loss of personnel is about 10%.

However, don't worry, the loss of personnel will naturally be supplemented by new personnel until there are no males in this family or tribe!

Finally, after completing the mapping, measurement, and construction of simple port docks on several islands, Qin Hao stood up and led the huge fleet to set off leisurely.

This battle with Kobe was a huge harvest. From a military point of view, the military action against Kobe has trained the combat capability of the naval fleet, whether it is against artillery or naval land warfare. The officers and soldiers of the navy are all more confident. Moreover, a good naval port, Kobe Port, was obtained.

In Qin Hao's mind, with the Kobe Port in the east and Tokyo Bay in the south, the two ports in hand can firmly grasp the Japanese route.

Politically speaking, the signing of the Kobe Treaty made the Kobe Prefecture of Japan a direct government. By showing off military power in front of them and slaughtering those small nobles, they have once again defeated them spiritually.

Economically speaking, Qin Hao has obtained the right to reclaim, plant, and mine minerals in Kobe. He is confident that within ten years, Kobe will become another granary in his hands.

It is entirely possible to achieve the same writing system and the same wheel gauge. Of course, the premise is to conquer the whole of Japan and obtain the orthodox status, which is what Qin Hao needs to do in the next few years.

As for how many precious metals were looted from Kobe, this number has always been a topic of endless debate among Chinese and Western scholars.

Western scholars insist that Qin Hao looted at least tens of millions of taels of gold and silver, and the evidence is the account books and records of gold and silver transported from New Japan to Kobe for several consecutive years. In addition, during the period when Kobe was occupied by Qin Hao like a pirate, he carried out dozens of organized, step-by-step, and purposeful looting against small nobles, looting at least millions of taels of gold and silver. From gold and silver to copper ingots, from pig iron to sugar, there was almost nothing that Qin Hao did not rob.

So much so that later, in Japanese, there was a group of words, "Qin's cleanup" and "Qin's attack". It came from this Kobe incident.

The most powerful evidence is the confession of Li Yi, a capable official under Qin Hao, in his notes "Kobe Records", which contains the following words, "Although the general's trip to Kobe was dangerous, the money accumulated in Kobe for several years has all gone into our treasury!"

Listen and see! This is what you recorded yourself!

Isn't it conclusive enough! ?

However, Chinese scholars have another theory.

Qin Hao got the gold and silver from Kobe, but these gold and silver were obtained through legal trade, and there are contracts between the two parties, as well as historical materials such as inspection reports as evidence.

"As for what Japanese scholars said about the whereabouts of the gold and silver in Kobe, we ask you to read carefully the memoirs of Ichiro Sugimoto and the memories of many parties involved. At the beginning of the armed conflict between the two sides, the person in charge of Kobe's finances disappeared with the account books. Is this accidental?"

He must have fled with the money and denied the robbery. Although many Japanese scholars have been collecting evidence for many years, the matter was eventually left unresolved, because blaming one's ancestors is not something that one person can bear.

Sitting in his cool cabin, Qin Hao's heart was tormented as if it were fried in oil.

For no other reason, the gold, silver, and copper ingots carried on the warships, these wealth and materials, made the sailors and soldiers of the fleet excited and smiling. They sat together in groups of three or five, discussing enthusiastically how the general would distribute the rewards after returning this time, and how much money each person could get.

However, as the commander, Qin Hao could not be so optimistic.

He knew in his heart that the influx of huge amounts of precious metals would inevitably cause inflation. He had suffered a lot from Zheng Zhilong's previous ransom payment.

Failure to understand monetary inflation may make the war a waste.

The territory Qin Hao now controls, in addition to Keelung and Hsinchu, is the Ryukyu area and Kobe, with a population of about one million.

If such a large amount of gold and silver pours into the Keelung area like a landslide, the situation will become serious.

Although the current price index in Keelung is very low, if the rewards that the soldiers should receive are distributed, it will still be a huge amount. Once this batch of gold and silver flows into the market, there is no doubt that prices will rise.

Some are happy and some are sad!

"I'm telling you, when you go home this time, just wait until you marry the most beautiful girl in your village!"

Outside the cabin, Navy soldier Wang Dahai was describing to Army Kong Yun and other recruits the good times after several military expeditions.

As for Qin Hao, he was sitting in the cabin thinking about how to deal with such a huge amount of gold and silver.

In Qin Hao's memory, no army in this era has handled this business for its soldiers and officers. Perhaps the insurance business did not exist at all. Most soldiers were worried about their livelihood after being injured and disabled. Problems in family life after death have led to many problems such as military discipline and hesitation during combat.

If part of the reward money is used for insurance after the war, will it avoid inflation and excessive accumulation of precious metals?

Moreover, it can also make the soldiers worry-free?

However, in order to stabilize the morale of the army, Qin Hao still made a bold move when landing. At the dock in Keelung, he announced that the captains of the fleet, Duan Daxin and Zhang Hu, had accompanied them on the expedition this time. They had commanded properly and had meritorious service in the battle. They would be rewarded with a certain amount of gold and silver, which they would cash in on the spot.

This caused many navy and army soldiers to scream, and they all wanted to die for the general!

However, Zhang Hu, after getting thousands of taels of gold and silver, went to the Refugee Bureau to find a Miao silversmith, drew a pattern, and made a huge three-headed tiger.

Soon, this three-headed tiger symbol made of gold and silver became the most familiar thing in the eyes of countless business travelers at sea. Those who love him regard him as a protector, and those who hate him regard him as the gate of hell.

"it is finally over!"

Qin Hao stretched himself out on the soft bed, allowing his tired body to have close contact with the soft bedding to relieve the fatigue of these days.

Although he returned in triumph, the things that happened after a victory were no less complicated than after a defeat.

The rewards for meritorious service, the distribution of trophies or commercial profits, the statistics and replenishment of weapons and ammunition losses, the summary statistics of each unit's battles, merit evaluation, etc., all require him to be prepared and busy.

The most terrible thing is the establishment of casualty insurance for soldiers. This newly established system cannot be sloppy.

Now he is no longer alone. Any decision he makes affects the lives and deaths of thousands of households and hundreds of thousands of people. This feeling is very wonderful, but it is also tiring.

No wonder the emperors all died early, most of them died of exhaustion.

After a few days of busy work, the income from this trip to Kobe was finally tallied up.

Obtained 17 million taels of silver.

Obtained two hundred thousand taels of gold.

Obtained 450,000 catties of copper.

Obtained more than three million jins of brown sugar.

Figures for obtaining pig iron are being tallied.

After deducting the cost of this war and normal wear and tear, there is still a profit of 13 million, 330,217,000 taels!

After hearing this number, the whole army was in an uproar!

However, Qin Hao's next actions were even more shocking.

"This trip to Ryukyu and Kobe, whether the soldiers left behind in Keelung or Hsinchu or those who accompanied the fleet, will all be rewarded and treated equally!"

However, the method of execution has changed.

Five million taels of the thirteen million taels of silver were stored as casualty insurance reserves, one million taels were used for the construction costs of public facilities such as granaries in Keelung, Hsinchu, Ryukyu, and Kobe, and two million taels were used. It will be used for the construction costs of roads and bridges leading to various places in the four places, and another one million taels will be used as funds for recruiting refugees.

At the same time, personal casualty insurance was taken out for every soldier, including the sailors on the ship and the young men who had received military training.

According to insurance regulations, once a soldier is injured or killed while performing a mission, the policy holder will receive a certain amount of compensation, which can be withdrawn in one go or handled by the beneficiary or client on his or her behalf.

If the soldier does not suffer any personal injury or death during his service, the policyholder can withdraw all the insurance money and use it as a pension when he retires.

After careful calculation, the vast majority of people chose the best insurance. After all, it was formulated by the general, and it was impossible to deceive the big soldiers. With the leadership of the officers, almost all the soldiers participated in the insurance.

This was also within Qin Hao's expectation.

However, after several wars, people discovered the benefits of insurance. It turned out that in addition to receiving pensions after being injured or killed in battle, they could also receive a large amount of insurance.

As a result, there are more and more brave people in the army who are not afraid of death, and more and more people are even seeking death on the battlefield.

For this reason, Qin Hao had a headache for a long time, and finally had to issue an amendment. Anyone who was injured or killed in action due to not following the rules and regulations and not abiding by military rules and discipline would have their insurance paid at a 30% discount, and only then did this unhealthy trend stop.

Others were worried about not having soldiers to charge into battle, but Qin Hao was worried about these fearless soldiers.

It can be said that human joys and sorrows are not the same!

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