Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 789 The Fifth Column
The gold, silver and copper coins issued by the Japanese shogunate are not calculated according to their issuance value, but only according to the actual fineness and color content, and all the water is squeezed out.

This kind of settlement mode has caused a large amount of gold, silver and copper to flow out of Japan, but instead imported a lot of silver dollars and copper coins. In Edo, there is basically no currency from the shogunate. Coupons are also rare. People use silver and copper coins directly, just like they used Yongle Tongbao for more than 200 years.

With the help of Zhu Chenggong, Daming is now making a lot of money from the Japanese trade. Not to mention how much those merchants made from selling goods to Japan, just transporting the copper back is equivalent to earning five times the profit.

At Jeju Port, minting coins has become a new industry that is constantly expanding. The number of minting machines continues to increase, and the profits of minting coins continue to increase.

This also makes it so that now Jeju Island, no matter the Han people in the Ming Dynasty's concession or the Koreans outside the concession, are all using Daming silver dollars and copper coins.

A large amount of gold, silver and copper flowed into the Ming Dynasty, but they were all absorbed. The minted coins of the Ming Dynasty had a huge gap with gold, silver and copper. Moreover, with the trade, the silver dollars and copper coins of the Ming Dynasty began to flow into North Korea, Japan, Annan, Myanmar, Liuqiu, etc. Land has also become their favorite currency.

Minting coins is profitable, and the imperial court is naturally happy to continuously increase the minting. The minted money will flow out to the surrounding areas appropriately, and even become a high-quality trade commodity. Changes can make the currency more stable.

However, as smuggling intensified and the lords were unscrupulous, it also made the shogunate's situation more and more difficult. They implemented the currency policy of the three goods system, and gold, silver and copper circulated together.

Although Tokugawa Ieyasu obtained Western mining technology from the Spaniards and increased the production of silver and copper mines, their ability to mint coins was not good.

The shogunate prohibited the outflow of silver ingots, so foreign merchants set their sights on the shogunate's money, and the increase in trade volume led to a large outflow of silver.

When the silver is insufficient to settle the trade payment, it starts to switch to copper bars for settlement.

The shogunate wanted to cast copper coins for trade settlement in Nagasaki and porcelain to reduce the trade deficit, but whether they cast money or burn porcelain, they all faced the problem of insufficient quantity and poor quality, which was not enough to solve the problem of trade. billing issues.

The shogunate closed other ports, leaving only Nagasaki trade, and monopolized the trade rights in their own hands. However, facing the goods shipped by foreign businessmen, they could not exchange valuable things, but they refused to exchange gold, silver and copper. Taking it out for settlement can only continuously reduce the amount of merchant ships and goods in the future.

However, other lords are not allowed to smuggle and trade.

This kind of coercive policy is obviously unsustainable.

Not only are the daimyos very dissatisfied, but the big mine owners in Japan are even more dissatisfied, especially those copper mine owners. All kinds of imported goods can make a lot of money by handing them over.

But because of the shogunate's ban, the supply of copper mined by Japan itself exceeds demand in the country, and the price keeps falling, and it can't be sold, so it falls into the hands.

Mining and smelting copper also requires a lot of expenses, so the mine owners and copper merchants can't afford it. The shogunate doesn't allow copper to be sold, and they want to keep it for making money, but their ability to make money is not good enough, and they can't digest so much copper.

Both ends are blocked, so the mine owners and copper merchants can only unite with some coastal names and even some pirates to start a vigorous smuggling trade.

The prestige of the shogunate is constantly declining, and the power of local daimyos such as the Hirado clan is constantly expanding.

"Now there are more than 50 ronin scattered all over the country. These people have not been able to get the opportunity to become officials, and they have long been restless. Like a spark, they can start a prairie fire and sweep Japan at any time."

Most of the ronin were caused by the shogunate cutting down the vassals. A large number of lords were cut down, and the samurai attached to them had nowhere to go, so they could only become ronin.During the Battle of Osaka that year, Toyotomi alone gathered more than [-] ronin.

After Tokugawa Ieyasu unified Japan, he carried out several times of vassal reduction, resulting in waves of ronin. There was no war, and ronin had no chance to become an official.

Some people choose to be farmers, some do business in the castle town, but there are still many people who are unwilling to wander.

"I think these ronin can be used. These ronin are living in poverty now. If we recruit them with money and make some promises, there is a lot to do."

Zhu Chenggong asked his mother's brother, "Tell me specifically?"

"We can call on the ronin to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate, or simply support the Edo feudal lord Matsuura Shigenobu secretly, promising to support him to overthrow the Tokugawa family, and then support him to open the government and serve as the general who conquered barbarians.

Under the banner of Shigenobu Matsuura, we can recruit those ronin warriors and promise them that after the Edo shogunate is overthrown, we will grant these ronin territories, salaries, etc., and at the same time join the rebel army against the Tokugawa family and receive military pay Salary, these impoverished ronin warriors would definitely be willing. "

Matsusuke Shigenobu is the fourth generation lord of the Hirado clan. The Hirado clan has a household height of more than 6. It is considered a small clan. Hucheng.

If you want to talk about the Hirado Clan, you have to talk about the Matsuura Party first. In the Hizen Matsuura area of ​​Kyushu from the Heian Period to the Warring States Period in Japan, with the Matsuura family as the core, the Matsuura Party was formed by 48 families of all sizes.

During the Warring States Period, the Hirado Matsuura family in the Matsuura Party prospered, surpassing the main family and other branch families, and became the leader of the Matsuura Party. Later, Matsuura Takanobu of Hirado Matsuura unified the Matsuura Party and became the daimyo of the Warring States Period.

During the Kyushu Conquest, Longxin and his son Jinshin joined Toyotomi Hideyoshi's side, and retained all the territories after the war.

After the outbreak of the Battle of Sekigahara, Jinshin, who was in charge of the family, first joined the Eastern Army and later joined the Western Army, betting on both sides. After the war, the Matsuura family's territory of [-] koku was preserved, thus creating a new era. The Hirado Domain of the Edo Shogunate became the first feudal lord.

Shigenobu until now is the fourth generation feudal lord.

The Matsuura family has always been the first mouse to sit on the wall at both ends, but the Matsuura family is also very capable of fighting. In the battles such as Sekigahara and Shimabara, the Matsuura family finally stood on the victor's side and made a lot of achievements.

The Matsuura family is famous for being able to fight. In the Heian period, Minamoto Yorimitsu, a descendant of Emperor Saga Genji of Japan, served as the guardian of Hizen. After taking office, he moved his clan to Hizen. After his term expired, he returned to Kyoto, but his clan stayed in Hizen. .

These people who stayed and Genji separated, took the name of the local Matsuura County, and changed their surname to Matsuura. In the era of the Kamakura Shogunate, the Matsuura clan became a huge samurai group that ruled the Hizen Kingdom, with a powerful naval force under its command.

The Matsuura clan also multiplied into a large clan at this time, and there were 48 branch families in Matsuura alone. However, they were different from other Japanese families. They were usually divided into divisions, but in case of war, they would fight in groups, so they were called Matsuura party.

The Matsuura Party, relying on its naval superiority, was dissatisfied with normal trade and began to rob Koreans. They were called Mishima Japanese pirates by the Koreans. At that time, during the Northern and Southern Dynasties of Japan, the local restraint was not effective. The Matsuura Party called many ronin and others to rob North Korea. Liaodong area.

Later, the Ashikaga family in the Northern Dynasty unified Japan, and a large number of defeated soldiers from the Southern Dynasty poured into the sea. They continued to plunder the sea with the Matsuura family. Zhu Yuanzhang in the Central Plains established the Ming Dynasty.

Because the Matsuura Party was too rampant, they not only robbed Korea, but also robbed Ming Dynasty, and even plundered all over Japan. All the pirates in Japan were simply called the Matsuura Party, and the Japanese shogunate killed the Matsuura Party pirates if they caught them.

Later, the Ashikaga shogunate weakened and entered the Warring States Period, when the feudal vassals continued to conquer. During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, the Matsuura Party rose again. While engaging in maritime trade, he resumed his old career as a part-time pirate, and joined forces with pirates such as Wang Zhi of the Ming Dynasty. Taking Hirado as his base, the Matsuura family built ships and guns, recruited ronin and refugees, and followed Wang Zhi and others to plunder the coast of China, leading to the Great Japanese Rebellion in Jiajing.

During the Japanese Rebellion in Jiajing, the Ming pirates accounted for [-]%, but the Japanese also accounted for [-]%, especially the pirates of the Matsuura family were well-equipped and well-trained lords.

From the former pirates of the Matsuura Party to the current Hirado feudal lord, they are still those people.

They are a group of pirates at heart.

"Matsuura Shigenobu is also an ambitious man. As long as we support him, he is absolutely willing to take a risk. When the 50 wanderers take advantage of it, won't he turn his country upside down?
Now Jiaguang is about to die. Once he dies, the new general will only be ten years old, and he can only be presided over by the elders. There is no leader in the shogunate. If this chaos occurs, it will surely start a prairie fire.Let's fan the flames in the back, wait until the entire Wa country is in chaos, and then send out troops, in the name of helping the Matsuura family, and dispatch the battleship navy. Isn't that adding fuel to the flames, or even winning in the chaos? "

Zhu Chenggong looked at this younger brother who was only in his twenties in surprise. He didn't expect him to have such an astonishing strategy. The warship cannon can blast away any city in any port of Wa Kingdom.

But if all Japanese resist, it is not the best policy.

But now the younger brother's plan is really a ruthless word. Push out Matsuura Shigenobu, gather hundreds of thousands of Japanese ronin, under the banner of overthrowing the Tokugawa shogunate, open up the curtain, and let them start their own internal strife.

When two tigers fight, one must be injured.

"You will write a detailed memorial of your plan later, and I will report it to His Majesty for you."

"Okay, how about I invite my grandfather to test out Shigenobu's meaning, and if he is interested, I will arrange for him to come to meet you for an interview?"

Zhu Chenggong nodded, "Yes, but you have to be careful of the Songpu family. These are white-eyed wolves, and they are not familiar with them."

(End of this chapter)