Rule over Ming Dynasty

Chapter 324: Nanyang in August, it’s not easy to get gold

The sky is blue, and several white seagulls are flying above the blue sky and white clouds.

In the vast expanse of blue waves, the summer sea breeze ripples, and three three-masted ships sail southward, as if they have entered an anime-like world.

Since this sea area has not been damaged by humans, everything here seems natural. Groups of colorful fish swim on the clear seabed, and patches of coral reefs suck tiny floating objects in the water.

Facing such beautiful scenery, especially the more novel fish schools and coral reefs, the group of people on the deck who were going to sea for the first time seemed very excited.

"The movement of the sun and the moon can be seen within it; the stars can be as brilliant as if they were seen within it. What a magnificent Ming Dynasty!"

"Strata of clouds grow in my chest, and I reach Gui Island through my canthus. I will be at the top of the boat, and I can see all the fish and small fishes at a glance. It's magical, Nanyang!"

"There will be strong winds and waves, and you can hang sails directly across the sea! Why don't you bring a Wu hook and collect the fifty states in Guanshan?"

……

Wang Shouren, Xun Qi's disciples and a group of Imperial College students stood at the front of the deck. They couldn't help themselves when they saw the beautiful scenery in front of them, and they all expressed their feelings.

Time flies, and the young man back then has become a young man who has reached eighteen years of age.

Under Zhu Youtang's instruction, the Imperial College presided over by Wang Hua was no longer limited to cultivating imperial examination talents, but became a comprehensive college with subjects covering mathematics, medicine, fine arts, navigation, and languages.

This time, the imperial court arranged for personnel to send back envoys from many countries in the Luzon Islands, and the Imperial College arranged for some outstanding students to accompany them, so they were fortunate to see the beauty of the ocean.

The sea of ​​this era is indeed extremely majestic, which has broadened the horizons of students who have lived in Middle-earth for generations, and the disciples of Qi Xun, who have always had their eyes set higher than the top, were also shocked.

Chen Zheng, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, gently stroked his beard and looked at everything in front of him with blurred eyes.

This time he came as an imperial envoy, and his horizons were broadened along the way. He finally understood why His Majesty wanted to lead China out, instead of being obsessed with the vast land and abundant resources.

Perhaps the ruling class of the Ming Dynasty lacked nothing, but in this boundless world, China could actually obtain greater resources.

"Luzon Island, look!"

A young student raised his hand and looked very excited.

As far as the eye could see, a green strip appeared in the southern sea. It was a huge island full of primitive atmosphere, which seemed to be responding to their cheers.

"It's here, but... it no longer belongs to Raja's island!"

The envoy from the Malani Kingdom came to the deck with the envoys from various countries. When he saw the green coastline in front of him, there was a trace of bitterness in the corner of his mouth.

Ming Dynasty did not just talk about it at this year's imperial meeting.

During this period of more than half a year, the Ming court established contact with various forces in Luzon Island, and these leaders who had always admired the Ming Dynasty all surrendered to the Ming Dynasty.

In the past, the entire Luzon Island belonged to their Malani Kingdom in name, but now the Ming court corrected this mistake and deprived them of their status as the Lord of Luzon.

Now the entire Luzon Island is being redivided. Manila only occupies the central area of ​​Malani Bay, and the rest of the island has been officially assigned to various forces.

Since they all belonged to the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, under the leadership of the Ming Emperor, they signed a non-aggression treaty and could only operate in their own territory.

"So this is what the Luzon Island we live in looks like!" The bearded King Ma Zhu of Mayi looked at the island in front of him and couldn't help but sigh.

Their Mayi country is not worthy of its name, because they are just an alliance of village communities, and their external affairs are coordinated by their leaders, who do not have absolute dominance.

Of course, they are not affiliated with the Malani State and have always been an independent alliance.

As early as the Song Dynasty, they had trade relations with the Guangzhou area of ​​the Ming Dynasty, exchanging local products such as yellow wax, pearls, and betel nuts for Chinese porcelain and ironware.

As for their territory, although they occupy part of southern Luzon Island, their main residence is Mindoro Island in the southwest of Luzon Island, so they are not the aborigines of Luzon Island.

Because they were too weak and needed to rely on the Ming Dynasty for trade, the Ming Dynasty designated Malani as the lord of Luzon, and they did not dare to stand up and oppose it.

Fortunately, now the Ming Dynasty not only deprived King Manila of his title as King of Luzon, but also officially gave them the title of Mayi King granted by Mayi Kingdom.

Ma Zhu looked at Luzon Island in front of her and already had a clear decision in her heart.

After witnessing the power of the Ming Dynasty during this trip, he knew that if the small country of Mayi wanted to survive well, it had to firmly embrace the strong thigh of the Ming Dynasty.

Whether it's yellow wax, pearls, or betel nuts, they have to work hard to deliver it to the Ming Dynasty, thereby bringing the two countries closer.

"Compared with the Ming Dynasty, our island is not worth mentioning!"

Gumalalang and other forces were also canonized as kings by the Ming court. Now they are standing on the deck with the Malani envoy Color and Mayi King Mazhu, but they have different emotions.

They landed from Tianjin on sea ships and went north from Fujian, but they had already experienced the gap between the two.Even though the island I live in front of me is very spectacular, compared to the Ming Dynasty, it is like a whale compared to a small shrimp.

The fleet sailed across the calm sea, leaving white ripples behind.

There were three large sea ships on this trip. One sea ship was mainly to send back the mission and their rewards, one was to transport military supplies and supplies to Luzon City, and one was to come here. Nanyang is engaged in maritime trade.

Although the Ming Dynasty has always had trade relations with Nanyang, the merchants of the Ming Dynasty were mainly interested in other people's pearls, so the total trade volume between the two parties was not large.

But now that the Ming Dynasty has opened shipping routes, even Marani's surplus grain, fruits and vegetables have now become key commodities traded by Nanyang merchant ships.

As for the Ming Dynasty, while carrying their favorite porcelain and ironware, they also tried their best to promote Ming Dynasty cotton to them, making cotton the first choice for clothing materials for Nanyang residents.

After the fleet approached the coastline of Luzon Island, it continued sailing along the west coastline.

The total length of Luzon's coastline is more than 5000 kilometers. If impassable factors are excluded, it would take more than a year to walk around the island.

Because the northern part of Luzon Island has a maritime tropical climate and the southern part has a tropical rainforest climate, and it is now in the agricultural era, the population of Luzon Island is mainly distributed in the south.

In addition, most of the central and northern parts of Luzon are mountains, plateaus and hills, such as Mayon Volcano, which is ranked among the most active volcanoes in the world, resulting in a relatively small population here.

In particular, water sources are the biggest factor restricting population development. Not to mention the islands in Luzon that do not have agricultural support and well-drilling technology, even in the southwest region of the Ming Dynasty, there are a large number of unclaimed lands.

This is exactly the case. Even though the Ming Dynasty divided Luzon Island into several kingdoms, they focused on cultivated land and water source areas. Most of the entire island belonged to unclaimed land, or was the jurisdiction of the Luzon governor's office of the Ming Dynasty.

After a day and night of sailing, the Ming Dynasty fleet finally arrived at a place called Hawksbill Turtle. The hawksbill turtles living here became an important supply station for sea-going ships.But now it is no longer a hunting ground, but now there is a port and a city. It is the Luzon Wharf and Luzon City built by the Ministry of Works sent by the Ming Dynasty.

The Luzon Governor's Yamen is naturally located in the city. Luzon Governor Zhang Sui has led Yu Yuanzan and other soldiers to wait at the Luzon Pier.

The overall person in charge of this trip is Chen Zheng, the left minister of the Ministry of Industry. Although it is nominally escorting envoys from various countries back to Luzon Island, the more important task is to understand the latest situation here.

It is now August of the third year of Hongzhi, and Ming Dynasty has been laying out Luzon for more than half a year.

Not to mention whether the emperor was in a hurry or not, even the people in the capital were already looking forward to it, but they wanted to know the results of Luzon and whether overseas gold mines could really be found.

"How many gold mines have been found?"

"There are four major gold mines!"

"How big is the gold mine?"

"It's immeasurable. It's estimated to be at least tens of millions of taels of gold!"

……

After Chen Zheng, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, ordered the ship to send back the envoys from various countries, he immediately asked Zhang Sui, the governor of Luzon, for the specific situation. He was filled with ecstasy when he learned the answer.

Although it is impossible to bring back tens of millions of taels of gold at once, even if it takes 20 years to produce 50 taels of gold in a year, it is very amazing.

Obviously, the emperor did the right thing by insisting on going to Nanyang. The wise and powerful emperor would open up an important source of wealth.

Beijing City, Xiyuan.

The surface of Taiyechi Lake, which is more than 1 miles away, looks like an ancient well without ripples. A black water dragonfly is standing on the end of the fishing rod, which is like a beautiful hook pattern.

As the buoy was pulled into the water, the dragonfly was frightened away by the raised fishing rod, and a very beautiful red carp was brought out of the water by the fishing line. The red carp showed a strong body shape.

With a total of [-] acres of water, it is a world without pollution and a place without other fishermen. The fish conditions here are simply a paradise for fishermen.

"Your Majesty, this fish is so fat and beautiful!" Liu Jin stepped forward and picked off the lively fish.

Zhu Youtang put the fishing rod next to him, took the tea brought by the beautiful lady next to him and said, "Counting the days, Chen Zheng should be in Luzon City by now, right?"

In the past six months, he changed from the practice of fighting every year in the previous two years, and instead chose to recuperate and recuperate, and even deliberately cut major financial expenditures.

Although under his own administration, both salt tax and grain tax have increased rapidly, especially grain tax revenue has been stretched thin, and the annual grain tax revenue is heading towards 4000 million shi.

It’s just that the vassals of the Ming Dynasty need money to support them, as well as their relatives and civil and military officials. Their own army needs to continue to invest money to strengthen the army. The fortifications of Jianzhou are still under steady construction, and it also requires millions of taels of effort to control the Yellow River. investment.

Zhu Youtang deeply realized that it was difficult to be an emperor, and it was even more difficult to be a good emperor.

Whether it was Jiajing's policy of increasing taxes and arrears to "purify every household" or Wanli's eunuchs sent to collect mining taxes, the money they received was actually better than clearing their land.

Unfortunately, I worked hard to be a good emperor, so I didn't intend to make every household clean, so I couldn't bear to raise taxes.

Fortunately, Chongwenmen got a little bit of mosquito meat from the tax, and the effect of the luxury tax was also very significant, but it got a lot of financial subsidies from the rich tax.

Although he successfully solved the state-building project that was once suspended and managed the Yellow River without financial impact, the money collected from extravagant taxes was limited after all, but it was impossible to rob all the rich in the world.

An empire never lacks places to spend money, especially when it faces the problem of weapon upgrades, so Ming Dynasty's finances are still not very wealthy.

"Your Majesty, people should have arrived, and this one should be treated properly!"

"Why treat Zhang Sui?"

"Zhang Sui was promoted to governor by His Majesty since he was a censor since he was a child. However, he did not know how to be grateful. Instead, he kept asking for taels of silver from the court. Now he has already asked for 200 million taels. The servants feel that half of it may have gone into their pockets!"

"You do not understand!"

"Your Majesty, didn't you send Chen Zheng there to investigate Zhang Sui?"

"Yes, and no, the money must be spent, but just don't let Zhang Sui spend it randomly!"

……

Only when Zhu Youtang was living in this era did he realize that those novels in the previous life that thought that there would be a steady stream of gold after finding the novel were deceptive. A large amount of money was required to be invested in the early stage of gold mining.

At this moment, he realized that it was really not easy to do things, and he also understood why the profit margin of gold mining companies was not high.

Zhu Youtang knew that to mine a gold mine, not only a huge initial investment was needed, but also an effective management mechanism.

The biggest problem is transportation, not how to transport gold out, but how to transport living materials and production materials in, which require a large amount of silver support.

However, Luzon is located overseas, and the Baguio Gold Mine is the hinterland of Luzon Island. This greatly increases the difficulty of mining and increases the cost of gold mining.

Beyond that, the biggest problem is actually corruption.

It is not that there were no gold and silver mines in the Ming Dynasty. Except for Yunnan, which has an annual output of 10,000+ taels of silver, there are several large silver mines in the southern provinces, which are currently being mined. However, other silver mines do not have much mining value.

The mining value mentioned here refers to the government. Due to the low mining efficiency of the government, some silver mines cannot make ends meet, but they have fed the maggots in vain.

On the other hand, private private silver mining has been banned repeatedly, and those silver mines that have lost money have been turned into profitable business among the private sector.

"Your Majesty, your Majesty!" Liu Jin took it as a compliment when he learned that Zhu Youtang had this intention.

Zhu Youtang gently put down the tea cup in his hand, then threw the pole again and said: "Sheng Ming cannot be eaten as food. After Chen Zheng returned from inspecting for me, I will have more money in the future, but the national money has almost bottomed out now. !”

It was obviously possible to get good news, it was obviously a coveted gold mine for future generations, but when he came to the dignified emperor, he didn't look very excited.

In fact, there is another reason!Gold cannot improve society's productivity. It is far better to focus on developing nylon materials, but everyone in the world is obsessed with gold.

(End of this chapter)