No one would have thought about why the court suddenly issued such a notice.

Looking for a tree?

It sounds very unreliable.

But the reward is real.

In just one day, the news spread like wildfire in the capital, and everyone in the streets and alleys was discussing it.

Ten million strings of precious coins, plus a reward of marquis ten thousand households.

This is straight up to the sky.

The conversion of 10 million taels of silver was basically clear to everyone, and it was for the convenience of foreign businessmen.

Obviously, there is no tree that can shed tears in the Ming Dynasty.

The common people were just watching the fun, but the ones who were really excited were the families involved in the maritime business, the nobles, and the merchants from all over the world in the capital.

There are also those who are self-righteous and believe that there is no tree in the world that can shed tears, and that the name itself sounds a bit ridiculous.

How could there be a tree in this world that could shed tears?

Most of the international merchants who were able to come to the capital had spent most of their lives doing business in various countries, and the real big businessmen had never heard of this tree.

However, when the latest imperial gazette came out, recording the detailed information, no one doubted whether the tree really existed.

First, the origin of the tree.

Zhu Ying made a modification here. In order to motivate everyone, he said that he had seen the trunk of this tree when he was in the Western Regions.

He was not a homeless person, but an old businessman.

This tree trunk is the old merchant's last treasure.

Then the tree is introduced in detail.

It is extremely poisonous. When the bark is cut, a lot of milky white juice will flow out, which looks like tears, so it is called the weeping tree.

According to the prince's recollection, the old businessman found this tree in a place where it was hot all year round, and the trees around it were tall and dense.

Once the detailed description in the official gazette appeared, it quickly dispelled the non-existent rumor.

It's described so clearly, how could it be fake?

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince does not need to bring out a fake tree to deceive people.

The key is that the Marquis of Ming Dynasty is so delicious.

The notice is relatively brief, but the official report is very detailed.

First of all, the title of Marquis of the Ming Dynasty is hereditary!

And he was given a title of nobility with real power.

After receiving the title of Marquis of Wanhu, he will also be given the command of a thousand households.

Secondly, it is the mansion.

This is not an empty mansion. The servants and maids will be fully equipped by the court.

With an additional 10 million strings of precious coins, he reached the peak of his life.

The official report also said that whoever could find the tree would be given it.

Even if the child is only three years old, he will be given the title.

This imperial gazette is to be disseminated overseas, which means that the court's promise is given to the whole world.

Such a huge reward is unprecedented in history.

The most important thing is that this report will be sent to the entire Ming Dynasty via an express route of 800 miles.

Zhu Ying went to great lengths to get rubber trees.

In fact, he originally wanted to offer a reward of 10 million strings of cash.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang persuaded him to stop.

“If it’s too high, it won’t feel real.”

In this regard, Lao Zhu has experience, such as the Guo Huan case.

After hearing this, Zhu Ying agreed with the idea, so he decided on a figure of 10 million strings of cash.

A hereditary marquis, wow, if someone can really find a rubber tree, to be honest, Zhu Ying would think it's worth it even if he is given the title of Duke.

The first month of the lunar year had not even ended yet, but a large number of ships had already set sail along the coast of the Ming Dynasty.

It feels like if someone is a little slower, the bounty will be snatched away by someone else.

Even Zhu Ying did not realize that the emergence of this bounty greatly promoted the progress of the great voyages.

Especially in the expansion adventure.

The great voyages in history were a search by Europe for greater benefits, including colonization, and are also known as the Age of Exploration.

And now, because Zhu Ying is looking for the tree and offering a huge reward, all the caravans will inevitably embark on the road of opening up new land.

There is no specified time limit for the reward.

In other words, no matter how long it takes, whoever can find the tree will be rewarded.

In order to ensure the safety of those who were looking for the tree, Zhu Ying even said in the court bulletin that if anyone found the tree but was unable to bring it back, the Ming Dynasty could send a fleet to escort and protect them.

I have saved myself from having to worry about anything.

This also brought about a series of chain reactions.

Big families that had not previously engaged in maritime trade are now beginning to join in and are recruiting crew members on a large scale.

The shipyard began to operate around the clock, and a large number of shipyards began to be built.

There is no way around it. Orders for seagoing ships have exploded, and some large shipyards have queues of three years already.

Today's shipbuilding technology itself is increasing on a large scale.

Before this, it would take at least three months to build a seagoing ship at full capacity, and this was a capability only available at large shipyards, such as Jiangnan Shipyard.

Zhu Ying implemented parts processing in the factory, which greatly improved the factory efficiency. This increased the speed of shipbuilding, and a large shipyard could build a ship in less than two months.

For a smaller one, three months is enough.

Even so, there is still a shortage of supply.

Almost everyone with some money in the Ming Dynasty is now engaging in maritime trade. The enthusiasm is too high.

Although Zhu Ying had anticipated such a situation, he did not expect it to be so high.

Ten million strings of precious coins might be something many big families have, but to be a hereditary marquis with real power and rewards, this is really crazy.

After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, it became difficult to block titles except for those founding heroes.

In recent years, there have been wars, such as the wars against Japan and Annan, which involved hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

But even so, the court did not award many titles, but only promoted people according to merit, and the financial rewards increased.

This also means that it will become more difficult to obtain a title in the future.

That is why the hereditary marquisates that have emerged now are so exciting.

Moreover, for many families, maritime trade itself is profitable. Even if they cannot find the weeping tree, the possibility of losing money is not great. So there is no need to think too much, just do it.

In addition, Zhu Ying issued another decree through the Ministry of War.

Ten years of expedition.

Fifty thousand men were recruited for a ten-year expedition, which was conducted on a voluntary basis.

The age limit is under thirty-five years old.

Only children in the family are not eligible to register.

Just looking at these two points, let alone 50,000 people, even 10,000 people signing up would be considered pretty good.

But the following conditions are really exciting.

All soldiers who registered would receive 200 strings of cash as settling-in allowance.

Just this one thing made the hearts of most soldiers start beating.

Before the military pay reform, the status of soldiers was extremely low, and many soldiers were even criminals who had no sense of self at all.

Previously, military pay was not settled with treasure notes, but with grain, such as rice and wheat, with the unit of calculation being stone or liter.

For example, for criminals who are sent to exile, once they die, they are dead, and that's all. The court will not pursue your crime anymore, and collecting your body is the most they can do.

For many soldiers, it is actually good enough to be given food, especially in times of war, when there is no such thing as being paid for serving in the army.

As for the regular army, they are divided into combat soldiers and auxiliary soldiers.

The treatment of auxiliary soldiers was very ordinary. They only needed two or three stone of rice for their families. If they did not have families, the money would naturally go to the commander. Even some of them who had families would be embezzled.

The treatment of combat soldiers was much better. Generally speaking, the commander would not embezzle the soldiers' pensions, but would report them to the court and send them to their families.

Of course, in addition to pensions, the military household system is also a benefit.

In the military household system where the son inherits the household registration from the father, after receiving the pension, even if the underage son inherits the military household registration, he can still receive a certain amount of food every month. It is naturally impossible to get rich, but starving to death will definitely not happen.

Now that Zhu Ying's army has been restructured, the treatment has naturally improved a lot.

First, the hereditary system of military households was broken, which meant that even if the father was a sergeant, the son did not have to be a sergeant.

The second is money and food.

The food and drink of active-duty sergeants are basically taken care of by the military, and they also receive monthly wages.

Ordinary auxiliary soldiers and logistics soldiers can get seven strings of treasure notes every month, combat soldiers can get eleven strings of treasure notes, and those with official positions, such as small flags and general flags, can naturally get more.

For example, at the level of a hundred households, one could get about eighty to ninety strings of cash every month.

This also depends on the region. For example, there will be more subsidies in border areas.

Compared with the current economic situation of the Ming Dynasty, it doesn't seem very high, but the soldiers are provided with food and accommodation, including military equipment, and the monthly salary they receive can be saved in full.

When you go to war, you will receive war subsidies, and you will be rewarded for your meritorious service. If you capture enough spoils, you can even get a share of the spoils.

Soldiers in all dynasties have never had such treatment. It cannot be said to be good, but it can be said to be quite high-end.

It was because Zhu Ying developed the economy and made the Ming Dynasty's treasury rich that he dared to do this. If it were any other dynasty, such a military pay system would have directly dragged down the country.

In fact, the key lies in the attack on the aristocratic families. After all, in previous dynasties, 80% of the money and grain produced went into the pockets of the aristocratic families, and the court and the people shared 20%.

Although the imperial court collected taxes from all over the country, it also had to bear all expenses such as famine, salaries, rewards, military pay, wars, etc. There would also be a large number of corrupt officials who embezzled the court's money and grain. It was said that people traveled thousands of miles to seek an official position just for money. Therefore, the courts of most dynasties were naturally stretched to the limit.

In terms of pensions, the current Ming Dynasty can be said to be very high.

The starting price is fifty strings of cash, even for logistics soldiers and auxiliary soldiers.

If the soldiers are in combat, they will receive eighty strings of cash.

If it is a small flag, a general flag, or a hundred households, there will naturally be more.

Therefore, Zhu Ying gave you 200 strings of cash as a resettlement fee, which is equivalent to paying you several times the death compensation in advance.

Zhu Ying knew very well that the 50,000-strong expeditionary force would cross the Bering Strait from northeastern Asia to North America, and then almost cross the entire North American continent to South America.

The distance between them is estimated to be at least 40,000 miles.

Even at the normal marching speed of fifty miles a day, more than eighteen thousand miles a year, it would take about three years.

In reality, it’s definitely not that fast.

This was different from the Long March in later generations. There was no need to deal with war. Northeast Asia was almost an uninhabited area. Even if there were some small tribes, no one would dare to provoke an army of 50,000. I was afraid that all the surrounding tribes combined would only have a few thousand people.

The only thing to worry about is the harsh natural environment, so Zhu Ying chose soldiers under the age of 35.

The younger you are, the better your physical fitness will naturally be.

This is not a battle, it mainly depends on endurance.

Even if he crossed the Bering Strait and arrived in North America, Zhu Ying was not worried.

How can the tribes fight against the regular army of the Ming Dynasty? They are not on the same level at all. There are 50,000 soldiers here.

In reality, there are definitely not 50,000 soldiers. In terms of combat soldiers, 20,000 is already the maximum. The rest are mostly auxiliary soldiers, including military doctors and talents in various fields.

Even so, it would still be able to dominate the entire American continent.

Of course, the expeditionary force was not trying to seize territory. Their purpose was to find trees, spread Ming civilization, and publicize the majesty of the Ming Dynasty. Naturally, friendly exchanges were the main focus.

Due to the harsh natural environment, such as the fact that northeastern Asia is almost covered with ice and snow, the marching speed will naturally be slower.

The reason for choosing 50,000 soldiers instead of 100,000 or even more was also due to this consideration.

After all, a lot of food is needed, especially in northeastern Asia before entering North America.

There are naturally limitations on the amount of food that can be carried. It is impossible to carry a year's worth of food during a march, which is unrealistic. The only thing you can do is collect food while walking on the road.

Therefore, the cook who accompanies the army is also a key figure.

By this calculation, being able to reach South America in five years is already very good. Even if you are familiar with the road and go again, it will probably take about five years to come back.

The ten-year expedition was truly pure and without any dilution.

In fact, Zhu Ying felt that even if everything went smoothly, it would probably take twelve or thirteen years, or even fifteen years.

The fastest scenario, of course, is that the 50,000 expeditionary forces are completely wiped out.

Two hundred strings of cash is the basic salary for soldiers. In fact, if you add the officers and doctors, the starting salary is at least 30 million strings of cash.

In addition to resettlement allowances, Zhu Ying also provided special treatment. Anyone who could complete the mission and return to the Ming Dynasty would be promoted three levels and all military pay would be compensated.

Ten years of military pay, this is not a small amount.

Even if it is ten strings of cash, there will be one hundred and twenty strings a year, and one thousand two hundred strings in ten years.

However, the resettlement allowance, or pension, has already been given, and the supplementary military pay can only be received by those who return alive.

In military merit.

Ordinary soldiers directly skipped the flag trial and became flag officers.

The general flag can skip the trial centurion and become a centurion.

People like commanders, in addition to official positions, can also be awarded titles.

To sum up all the treatments mentioned above, just listening to them is really tempting.

This is especially true for new recruits who have just joined the army.

How could a soldier be afraid of death? Besides, no one thought that any country would dare to go against the Ming Dynasty. It was just a march. As long as he could come back alive, he would have an official position, money, and fame.

Of course, when Zhu Ying issued the order, he did not say where to go, and most of the soldiers did not know how harsh the natural environment they would encounter was.

In fact, it would have made no difference if Zhu Ying had not issued this decree, even if he had directly issued a military order. It was just that he knew the difficulty of it, so he gave such a generous reward.

After all, the bounty offered is already tens of millions of coins, and there is also a hereditary marquisate, so you can't favor one over the other.

In fact, Zhu Ying thought that this expeditionary force of 50,000 people was the one most likely to find rubber trees.

When the order was issued in the military, the atmosphere was already boiling.

In fact, even if it was not stated explicitly, most people could guess that the purpose of this ten-year expedition was to find the weeping tree mentioned in the previous official bulletin.

How could an ordinary military operation last as long as ten years, and it is impossible to offer such a high reward.

But no matter how difficult it is, the rewards currently offered are enough to encourage soldiers to sign up enthusiastically.