Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1396 Sugar-coated poison
Zhu Yingzhen returned home with Gao Yushi's "constructive suggestions", and Gao Yushi basically handed over matters related to contact with the Shimadzu family to him.

In general, this "constructive opinion" is to let Zhu Yingzhen live in the Shimadzu family to carry out development-oriented reforms, making them feel that the root cause of being defeated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi is not that the Satsuma samurai are not good at fighting, but that Feng Omi Hideyoshi's economic strength crushed Satsuma, so he could use ten times the force to forcibly push him.

This is not a bluff but a fact, and the Shimadzu family will definitely understand it, so they can proceed to the next step of the plan.Naturally, this plan is what Gao Pragmatism is best at: from economic penetration to economic control, it will eventually form a state where Jinghua is the tree and Shimadzu is the vine, just like today's Tumed.

At that time, no matter what Jinghua wants to do, the Shimadzu family can only follow, otherwise there will be a total economic collapse.That kind of collapse is not only the decline of people's livelihood, but also the situation where the vassal government is in chaos and the low-level samurai rise up. For the Shimadzu family, it is beyond redemption.

To achieve this goal, the main purpose is to grasp the economic lifeline of Satsuma.However, Satsuma is still very backward at the moment. The so-called economic lifeline is nothing more than agriculture, and commerce and trade are just a supplement.

Mastering agriculture is obviously not what Gao Pragmatic is interested in, and besides, he can't do it-currently Japan is still a land enfeoffment system in the final analysis. How can Gao Pragmatic use to master other people's fiefdoms?
Therefore, the high-practical meaning is to let the Shimadzu family produce one or two high-quality products, and the income brought by these two high-quality products must be able to overwhelm the traditional agricultural income, become the largest income of the Satsuma domain government, and then form the entire Satsuma domain. It is inseparable from this benefit situation.

This kind of thinking is very useful for small countries. For example, the economic rise of South Korea in later generations depends on a few chaebol giants?
However, the purpose of high pragmatism is to control them instead of developing them as locals. Therefore, the first thing that these two fist products must satisfy is that they cannot do without the support of high pragmatism. Once they leave high pragmatism, there will be industrial The collapse became the "unbearable pain" of Satsuma.

Gao Yushi had a rough understanding of the history of Japan's rise in his previous life. In his opinion, if Japan is Germany, Satsuma should be Prussia.The Satsuma domain is undoubtedly the engine of Japan's modern rise, and its importance to Japan's modernization is even more important than the Changzhou domain that "has the Japanese army".

Later generations are familiar with the Satsuma Domain, which belongs to the Shimadzu clan, a foreign daimyo, with a height of 77 shi, ranking second in Japan, and its city is Kagoshima Castle.However, unfortunately, the current Satsuma domain has been reduced to a little over 60 shi because of being taught and punished by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and its strength has declined greatly.

The history of the Satsuma clan and the Shimadzu family has been briefly mentioned before, so I won’t go into details here, but only talk about the economic problems of the Satsuma clan at this time.

If the financial problem is a long-standing problem that generally plagued all feudal clans from the Azuchi-Momoyama period (Oda Nobunaga-Toyotomi Hideyoshi) to the Edo period (Tokugawa shogunate), then Satsuma's situation is probably the most difficult of all feudal clans.

Due to many historical reasons, it is no exaggeration to say that Satsuma was basically on the verge of bankruptcy during this period for more than 200 years.Years of poor pockets and geographical remoteness made the Satsuma feudal vassals often discriminated against as countrymen.

Regional discrimination is very common in Japan. For example, the Asano family of the Ako clan was regarded as a "country daimyo", so they were required to learn etiquette, which led to a story of a loyal minister.And this Ako clan is in Harima country, not very far from Kyoto.

In contrast, the status of the Satsuma clan, which is farther than the Ako clan, can be imagined in the eyes of "city people".This kind of unfair treatment can be said to have greatly promoted the active participation of the Satsuma feudal clan in the future.

Because it is regarded as a country or even a barbarian, the significance of successful fiscal reform is quite extraordinary for Satsuma.As the number one powerhouse among the four major vassal kingdoms at the end of the Shogunate period, the Satsuma vassal was able to transform from a vassal that was on the verge of bankruptcy in the past 200 years to the head of the male vassal, and even created the vassal politics for nearly a hundred years without stable financial support.That is impossible.

Since the founding of the Satsuma clan, financial problems have always been the number one problem in the clan's administration.It is precisely because of financial difficulties that the Satsuma clan has been unable to carry out various reforms, resulting in the long-term backwardness of the Satsuma clan, and the consciousness of long-term backwardness has become an obstacle to reform.

Satsuma's financial problems are mainly caused by too many recurring and non-recurring expenditures.

The first question comes from the domain organization system of the Satsuma domain.The Satsuma clan's fan organization system is quite unique, called the outer city system.This unique system is similar to the imperial family system of the Kamakura shogunate, and it is a historical legacy after the Shimadzu family was named as a guardian by the Kamakura shogunate.

The biggest feature of the outer city system is that its warriors do not gather to live and live near the main city, but live in small strongholds near the fields.There are a large number of small military strongholds in the Satsuma domain, such as mountain fortresses called "roku" and plain fortresses. These places are collectively called outer castles (the main castle of the Shimadzu family is the inner castle).

In these military strongholds, there lived a large number of groups of half-samurai or quasi-samurai.These people farm in peacetime and organize to attack in wartime.

This situation exists, on the one hand, because the Shimadzu family, as the guardian daimyo during the Kamakura shogunate period, inherited the imperial family system in order to unify the local area as soon as possible, and retained a large number of local wealthy families and other clans in the territory, and entered the Warring States Period. During the period, these lang gangs were transformed into so-called outer city warriors, that is, quasi-samurai.

On the other hand, the outer city system is also a result of the long-term war of Satsuma.Because the Satsuma clan has never stopped fighting since entering the Warring States period until the opening of the Tokugawa House, compared with other clans, the Satsuma clan needs more mobilized soldiers to maintain its combat effectiveness.

Therefore, in order to be able to balance war and farming, and to facilitate the control of the country, Satsuma set up a large number of quasi-samurai personnel all over the townships.The samurai of the Satsuma clan accounted for more than 26% of the total population, close to 40%, a high proportion even in Japan is rare.

Moreover, the Shimadzu family was forced to spit out a large amount of land when they were defeated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi when the goal of unifying Kyushu was almost completed. The land was lost, but the Shimadzu family could not abandon it. As a result, there were many vassals in the Satsuma domain.Because there are too many vassals and the territory has been reduced, the issue of the salaries of these vassals naturally makes Satsuma scratch his head.

The second question came from the later Tokugawa shogunate, but since it hasn’t happened yet, I won’t go into details. It can be roughly expressed in one sentence: Since the Shimadzu family stood on the side of the Western Army in the Battle of Sekigahara, Therefore, the Tokugawa shogunate kept wearing small shoes for them, which caused all kinds of inexplicable extra expenses for the Satsuma clan.

Financial issues are nothing more than income and expenditure, that is, "source" and "flow". In addition to the various expenditures, the Satsuma domain's income also has a big problem.

As I said before, the measure of wealth in Japan during this period was the output of rice.Therefore, the rice-producing land is the cornerstone of finances.The land of the Satsuma domain was divided into two counties, Kagoshima and Miyagi (the counties in Japan are larger than the cities, and the reason can be Baidu yourself), and a large part of them is a small plateau unique to Japan, called the Shirasu Terrace.

The formation of this small plateau is due to the accumulation of lava and rock fragments flowing out of active volcanoes.Such land accounts for 52% in Kagoshima Prefecture and 16% in Miyagi Prefecture in later Japan (Satsuma land is in these two counties).

A very serious problem with this kind of land is that the soil has extremely poor water retention. After rains, water often gushes out, making it very difficult to cultivate crops. Moreover, because of the accumulation of volcanic ash and debris, and the scouring of rivers, this kind of land is prone to various Strange landform.

The changeable landform exacerbates the difficulty of irrigation, and the location of the Satsuma Domain faces the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, often becoming the landing point of large typhoons.Due to the difficulty in irrigation and a large number of natural disasters, although the Satsuma Domain had a nominal income of 77 shi (now 60 shi), the actual income was often only a little over 35 shi (now 30 shi).

The low income and high expenditure, coupled with the consumption of the long-term war, made the current actual situation of the Satsuma domain extremely poor.

In the original history, in order to alleviate this impoverished situation, the Satsuma Domain's solution was to send troops to Ryukyu.During the Shimadzu Tadane period, the Shimadzu family seized the land of Shimangoku, Amami Oshima, by conquering Ryukyu.At the same time, he obtained the right to profit from Ryukyu's tribute trade.

This move not only greatly eased Satsuma's financial difficulties in the early and mid-terms, but also allowed Satsuma to obtain a strong source of income: for example, the brown sugar produced in Amami Oshima.

Sugar was a valuable commodity in Japan at that time, and brown sugar was needed to make sweets from Honshu to Kyushu as well as traditional sake.At this time, Ryukyu was the largest producer of brown sugar in Japan, so this huge benefit was exclusive to Satsuma.

Black sugar even established financial credit for the Satsuma domain. With the help of black sugar, the domain hall successfully obtained a large amount of loans from businessmen in Osaka and other places, which provided immeasurable benefits for the domain's finances in the early and mid-term.

However, Satsuma's seizure of the interests of Amami and black sugar only effectively alleviated the financial distress. In fact, it only left Satsuma in a state of half-starved and starving. The finances still needed to borrow money to maintain daily expenses. The high interest attached to the loan has gradually become another major financial burden on Summer.

Therefore, the various reforms in early Satsuma only eased the financial crisis, but did not really reverse the financial predicament.It even added major difficulties (interest) to the subsequent finances, and is still on the verge of bankruptcy in essence.

But now, due to the existence of high pragmatism, the Satsuma clan will definitely not even be able to get the Ryukyu Islands, so the suspenseful money from the sugar is doomed to miss them.It can be said that the severe financial problems of the Satsuma clan at this time were actually more exaggerated than that of the Ming court.

Gao Yushi intends to pass Zhu Yingzhen's constructive advice to them. It really has a consistent characteristic of ancient China: the monopoly system.

Of course, it is not a monopoly of salt and iron, but a resale system of sulfur and camphor.Sulfur and camphor are the main products of Satsuma’s foreign trade. Jinghua’s main purchase in Kyushu Island is sulfur, and Zhu Yingzhen’s family is engaged in camphor trading—this point was mentioned in the Miike Port conflict before.

In fact, Gao Pragmatism knows very well that the camphor output of Taiwan Island is larger and the quality is better. However, the development of Taiwan has only just started. So far this year, less than 20 Han Chinese have immigrated, and it is far from reaching the deep mountains. The period when Lao Lin developed camphor.At this moment, the Satsuma clan can continue to operate the camphor trade as the main financial force.

However, the backward production and sales system of the Satsuma domain obviously did not match the strong purchasing power of the Ming people.According to Gao Situ's estimation, even if the production of camphor in the Satsuma clan increased tenfold, it would be nothing more than a splash if thrown into Daming.It is absolutely necessary for the Satsuma clan to abandon the laissez-faire development and management of the past, carry out official reforms, let the clan hall take control of the management, and sign an exclusive supply and marketing contract with the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance.

Meanwhile, the same goes for the sulfur trade.For Japan, which has many volcanoes, sulfur is close to a godsend—a free gift.The whole of Japan is produced from north to south, but the main production areas of later generations are Tohoku and Kanto.

There is no need to worry about the high yield problem, and there is no need to compare it with later generations. After all, the amount of sulfur used in later generations is far more than the current one.Anyway, judging from the current situation, as long as Satsuma develops and manages well, the output of his family is enough for the entire Jinghua to go to war.

Of course, having said that, Gao Yushi does not really intend to make Satsuma the only supplier of sulfur in Jinghua. Maybe he can tolerate getting goods from Satsuma in normal times, but other places with sulfur output such as Taiwan will definitely maintain a low level. To avoid the shortage of sulfur in Jinghua in case the situation in Satsuma or Japan gets out of control.

However, according to a highly pragmatic rough estimate, even if Satsuma reforms sulfur and camphor into a monopoly system, it is not enough to become really strong, and it is probably slightly stronger than after capturing Ryukyu sugar in the original history—unless Jinghua really went to war everywhere, The demand for sulfur has increased significantly.

Therefore, in addition to the two traditional products of sulfur and camphor, Gao Pragmatism also needs to point out a clear path for Satsuma, and at the same time tie it more firmly to the big ship of Jinghua.

This time, Gao Pragmatism created an industry that conforms to the original historical development and can be controlled by him: glass manufacturing.

The Satsuma clan in the original history later came up with "Satsuma Kiriko", that is, the process of cutting and grinding delicate patterns on the surface of crystal or glass with emery by hand (you can Baidu "Satsuma Kiriko" and "Edo Kiriko").However, this technology appeared very late in the original history, in the 30s.The reason is very simple. At that time, glass was more popular.

However, with the expansion of Jinghua's two-ocean fleet, the output of binoculars urgently needs to be increased. Therefore, Gao Yushi is also considering the development of the Oriental glass industry on the agenda recently. Previously, all natural crystals were used, and there were some troubles in terms of raw materials.

It stands to reason that this industry should not be placed in Satsuma, Japan, which is not native to Japan, but Gao Yushi is not too worried about this, because in this era of Japan, the development of the glass industry cannot do without someone from him.This confidence does not come from technical control, but from raw material control.

There is a misunderstanding in many time-traveling works, that is, glass is waiting for travelers to invent it, and then sell it overseas for unfathomable profits.But in fact, glass was invented by the ancients a long time ago. About 3700 BC, the ancient Egyptians had produced glass decorations and simple glass vessels, but only colored glass was available at that time.

Colorless glass was produced in China about 1000 BC.Commercial glass appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty and began to become an industrial material.In the early years of the Qing Dynasty, in order to meet the needs of developing telescopes, optical glass was produced.

But one thing is very important, that is, the glass in ancient my country has always been relatively simple low-temperature lead-barium glass.Because of the chemical composition and firing temperature, it will be fried when it encounters hot water, so it cannot be used as a living utensil at all.This is two different glass systems from the western "soda-lime glass". Although the latter is less transparent, it is durable and will not burst when exposed to heat.

Therefore, the glass in ancient my country can only be limited to decorations, and is rarely used as eating utensils, let alone to make optical glass, but it is obvious that what is needed for high pragmatism is optical glass, which is the common glass in later generations.

Everyone knows the raw materials of glass, nothing more than quartz sand, limestone, feldspar, and soda ash.The first three raw materials are almost available all over the world, and Japan is no exception, but the last one, soda ash, is different.

The technology of making soda ash in ancient times is good, but it is very troublesome and uneconomical. In fact, only natural soda ash can be used, and the soda ash used in the highly pragmatic soap business is also natural soda ash.

Natural soda ash is not so common, especially those that have reached "mining value" are even less pitiful.This thing is sodium carbonate, also known as soda, caustic soda, stone soda, and caustic soda. It is widely used in printing and dyeing, tanning, and food.Natural soda ash mainly exists in salt lakes, and its output is limited. The ancients have used it for a long time, but before the advent of modern "artificial soda", this was a major constraint on industrial production.

Unfortunately, Japan is very poor in this regard, and the output of natural soda ash is negligible.By the way, to correct a mistake, the lye juice made from plant ash is not sodium carbonate, but potassium carbonate.Sodium carbonate is what comes out of saline lakes.

Who has this thing?Tummet has it.The mainstream name of soda ash in Ming Dynasty is "Koucai", the reason is that it comes from Tumed: because it comes from outside the mouth, it has this name.

In addition, there is another huge production area in Henan—but Gao Wushi didn't know it before, and he was informed by Liu Xin not long ago, so he hasn't started mining it yet.

All in all, within the scope of East Asia, the soda ash producing areas worthy of mining are now directly or indirectly controlled by Gao Yushi, and he doesn't have to worry about Satsuma's neck being stuck in his neck after mastering the glass manufacturing process.

Moreover, with his prudence, he did not intend to hand over the entire manufacturing process and production base to Satsuma. His idea was that the basic manufacturing would be done by Jinghua, and a series of operations such as subsequent processing and polishing would be handed over to Satsuma.

Of course, the glass industry is hugely profitable, and the added value of finishing is even higher, so it can be expected that Satsuma will gradually increase investment in exchange for this profit.

But this is in line with high practical needs, because in this system, Satsuma is the fish, and Jinghua is the water.

Water without fish is still water, and fish without water can only be dead fish.The more Satsuma invests in this aspect, the more he will be inseparable from Jinghua. In addition to the previous sulfur and camphor, Satsuma can only obediently stay on Jinghua's thief ship and dare not jump ship.

The sugar-coated poison has been prepared, just waiting for the hungry Shimadzu family to take the bait.
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(End of this chapter)