I'm really not doing business

Chapter 570: Your Majesty and Yuanfu are so kind

Empires are often accompanied by a high degree of monopoly in production, such as the court’s absolute dominance and monopoly over shipbuilding and coal;
Empires are often accompanied by financial and military aggression and expansion, such as the conquest of Liaodong, the recovery of the Hetao area, the reopening of the Western Regions, the four overseas governor-general offices, and the issuance of Ming overseas currency notes in Japan.
An empire is often accompanied by extreme cruelty and exploitation within the country. The imperial court becomes a tool for the carnivores to exploit the people below them and a cruel executioner within the country, and even the emperor is among these carnivores.

These three phenomena accompanying the empire are very obvious.

Zhu Yijun, the Ming Emperor, was trying his best to avoid the emergence of the last phenomenon that accompanied the empire. His method was to turn the court into a tool for external exploitation by the carnivores, to expand and attack abroad, and to obtain enough wealth from the ocean to satisfy the greed of the domestic carnivores, including the emperor.

Of course, desires are hard to satisfy, and sometimes, as violence itself requires us to resort to more radical measures, which is also a helpless act.

The Confucian scholars of the Ming Dynasty agreed with the emperor on this point.

Because the imperial court had completely become a tool for exploitation, this was reflected in reality: the reactionary decisions made by the decision-making level and the overall waste of social productivity and production relations.

The Confucian scholars of the Ming Dynasty described this as warmongering and causing unrest in the country.

"Your Majesty, in fact, agreeing to Oda Nobunaga to set up a coastal defense patrol in Japan has another benefit, that is, even if the daimyo do not want to fight, they have to continue fighting. They have no say in whether to fight or not." Zhang Juzheng finally revealed his final thoughts.

Only a chaotic Japan would be most beneficial to the Ming Dynasty, because only in this way could the Ming Dynasty obtain silver stably. Once Japan stabilizes, if the Ming Dynasty wants to obtain silver so easily again, it will have to face a Japan that has formed a joint force, which is extremely unfavorable for Japanese silver to enter the Ming Dynasty.

Whether to fight or not, they have no say. This is the fundamental purpose of Zhang Juzheng's support for Oda Nobunaga's request. More currency is Zhang Juzheng's advocacy, because only with more silver can the prerequisite of the Single Whip Law be gradually met and the last link of Zhang Juzheng's reform, the reform of the financial and taxation system, be completed.

By that time, he had completed the revision of the Ming Dynasty Code and the fiscal and taxation reforms, and he could be said to have finally fulfilled his historical mission.

Therefore, Japan cannot stabilize.

"Sir, what you said is very true, but it still depends on whether the soldiers on the front line are willing or not. We still have to fully consider the opinions of the soldiers on the front line." Zhu Yijun agreed with Zhang Juzheng's advice, but when it comes to fighting, the attitude of the soldiers on the front line is more important.

Zhang Juzheng talked with the emperor for a long time. In addition to the issues that the emperor was more concerned about, such as the great thinking in the Ming Dynasty capital, the main contradictions in Annan, and Oda Nobunaga's request, Zhang Juzheng mainly talked about shipbuilding in the Ming Dynasty.

Now Taixi is in a dilemma. Judging from Xu Fan's memorials to the Ming Dynasty and the intelligence collected by the Ming Dynasty's coastal defense inspectors in Taixi, the Ming Dynasty's commodity advantages have put Taixi in a dilemma where it is better to buy than to make.

If they want to manufacture in their own country, it would be faster and more convenient to come to Ming Dynasty every year and place an order at the Ming Dynasty's shipyard. Even if a five-masted ship is sold at a price of 180,000 silver coins, which is 130,000 silver coins more expensive than local merchants in Ming Dynasty, it is still a money-saving measure for the West.

The dilemma of buying rather than building is a destruction of the local manufacturing industry. Felipe has been trying to imitate the five-masted ocean-going ship and made certain improvements on the three-masted plywood ship, but the high cost of the Western shipyard and the huge R&D expenses are a headache for the wealthy Felipe.

However, if they continued to purchase ships from the Ming Dynasty, the shipbuilding industry in the West would gradually disappear. Not to mention competing with the Ming Dynasty in the shipbuilding industry, even the original ability to manufacture three-masted plywood ships would be lost bit by bit. The number of industrial craftsmen would drop sharply, or even disappear. Once the Ming Dynasty stopped exporting ships, if the West wanted to start again, it would have to start from scratch.

It did not start with a three-masted frigate, but from scratch, because all the craftsmen who mastered the technology disappeared in the long river of history due to the hollowing out of the industry.

The dilemma of buying rather than making will definitely lead to industrial hollowing out, which is something the Ming Dynasty must prevent at all costs.

"This dilemma of buying is worse than making is also of reference significance to the Ming Dynasty. During the Age of Discovery, once a country fell into a commodity disadvantage, productivity, production scale, and technological progress would become difficult. This was not only true for the shipbuilding industry, but also for all walks of life." The reason why Zhang Juzheng talked about the dilemma of the West was to advise His Majesty to pay attention to the huge passiveness of falling into a commodity disadvantage.

Is the trend of industrial hollowing out only in the shipbuilding industry? No, it is true in all industries.

Just as the Ming Dynasty's cotton cloth is now expanding into the Western market, once the expansion is completed, the Western textile industry will suffer a devastating blow.

As the captain of the Guochao, Your Majesty needs to know this.

"Because of this, the West has become cautious about imported ships in recent years, and is more inclined to import luxury items such as silk, glassware, official kiln porcelain, and jade." Zhu Yijun said with a frown.

Apparently, Philip II also realized the bad situation. His purpose in purchasing cotton cloth was to destroy the handicraft workshops in England and the Netherlands, rather than to sell it in his own country.

"This is not freedom. The world needs more free trade!" Zhu Yijun immediately said. Any place where Ming Dynasty goods cannot arrive smoothly is not free. This is Lin Fucheng's consistent advocacy of free trade.

"If Felipe insists on doing what he wants, then we'll have to find a way to knock on their door!"

Zhu Yijun discovered that Philip II was setting up trade barriers to protect his country's handicrafts and industries, and immediately made statements in favor of free trade!
"It is difficult for him to completely ban it because King Antonio of Portugal is still alive." Zhang Juzheng put forward his own idea. In fact, there is no need to take action at all. The Ming Dynasty does not have the ability to deploy strong troops on the ocean. But as long as the goods can reach the West smoothly, the widespread pirates and smugglers in the West will make Felipe's ban completely in vain.

The widespread appearance of pirates in the West was caused by Philip II himself, who overfished the Netherlands. Heavy taxes, cruel inquisition, and widespread discrimination against lowlanders all contributed to the proliferation of pirates in the West.

Felipe himself must bear the consequences of this.

"That's true." Zhu Yijun said with a smile. It would be great if free trade could be achieved without fighting.

Zhang Juzheng brought up this matter mainly to remind Your Majesty to pay attention to maintaining the commodity advantages of the Ming Dynasty.

Oda City arrived at Tianjin Prefecture in the Ming Dynasty. The prosperity of Tianjin Tanggu made Oda City dazzled. She brought her two daughters with her to the Ming Dynasty. As the most beautiful woman in the Warring States Period, Oda City's eldest daughter looked a little sorry for her mother, but the remaining two daughters, one eighteen years old and the other sixteen years old, were both very beautiful.

Oda Ichi was well aware that the beauty trap was ineffective against the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, so Tachibana Ginchiyo was sent to the Ming Dynasty and became a laundry maid together with the saint of the West.

She brought her two daughters to the Ming Dynasty, with some selfish intentions of finding a good family for her daughters and taking the upper-class route. However, soon, the moment Oda City set foot on Tianjin Port, she gave up this plan.

Because Oda City saw five pleasure boats docked at the harbor. The boats were ready to depart, patrons were boarding, and groups of beauties on the boats were also waiting to get on board. Each one was extremely beautiful, and her every frown and smile was full of charm. On the boats were beauties from all over the world, and they were truly charming.

Beauty? Beauty has never been an expensive commodity.

Oda City looked at his two daughters and knew clearly that the Ming Dynasty was really not short of beauties. Two beautiful daughters could not be used as bargaining chips to gain the friendship of the Ming Dynasty's nobles. On the contrary, the bigwigs of the Ming Dynasty would stay away from them. The words "collaborating with Japan" were equivalent to being abandoned by both gods and men in the Ming Dynasty.

The upper route is difficult to access.

Oda City looked at the bustling Tianjin Port Wharf, then thought of the Nagasaki Wharf he had seen, and sighed heavily, just as he didn't know where his daughter should go, and Japan also didn't know where to go.

Japan has never been afraid of the strength of Central Plains, because if Central Plains is strong, all it needs to do is submit to it. But Japan is afraid that the Ming Dynasty will hate it, because blood feud can only be avenged with blood.

Oda City entered the capital. The special thing about this delegation was that it was led by a woman, and she also brought her two other children.

Zhu Yijun was very suspicious that Oda Nobunaga sent his sister and his two daughters to the Ming Dynasty in order to gain the diplomatic initiative. Because women had all kinds of inconveniences, once the accompanying Ming Dynasty coastal defense inspectors were unable to suppress his second brother's desire to vent and rape occurred, Japan would gain the diplomatic initiative.

Even Oda City and her daughter took the initiative to seduce, and then turned the tables, accusing Ming of rape. Ming, which had such a scandal, could only passively accept it.

Zhu Yijun's idea was to speculate the Japanese with the greatest malice, and it was very likely to happen. When one was desperate, one had to find ways to fight for any possible way out.

The last straw for the drowning man.

The Ministry of Rites soon saw through the Ming Emperor's malicious speculation and made comprehensive arrangements. If Oda Ichi acted like a rogue, all the Japanese envoys would die of sudden illness.

Nowadays, it is normal to suffer from acclimatization when moving to a new place.

According to Jie Kuo-in, various kinds of small insects are ubiquitous, but the insects that make people sick are not exactly the same in different places. This is the essence of acclimatization.

To the Ministry of Rites of the Ming Dynasty, it was not a difficult choice to admit the scandal or to ruthlessly deal with the person who created the problem. Maintaining the reputation of the Celestial Empire was the duty of the Ministry of Rites.

In order to prevent trouble before it happens, the Japanese tribute dispute that began in the second year of Jiajing put the Ming Dynasty into a dilemma. During the tribute dispute, Ningbo Guard Commander Yuan Zan and Japanese Defense Commander Liu Jin were killed in the battle. Japan discovered the fact that the Ming Dynasty's military was in decline. At that time, the Ming Dynasty could only make a choice: either open the sea ban, cancel the tribute, and replace it with merchant ships and trade; or tighten the maritime ban to guard against Japanese pirates' invasion and Japan's coveting.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty chose a four-stage response method and did not make a choice until the 12th year of Jiajing, ten years after the tribute dispute, when it made the decision to tighten the maritime ban. But it was too late.

Zhu Yijun believed that the Japanese envoys would resort to such despicable tactics because the Japanese pirates had used such tactics before and the Ming Dynasty had to be on guard.

Emperor Zhu Yijun was not the only one who thought this way. In the words of Wan Shihe, the Japanese pirates are lowly people on the border. They are not worthy of being treated with kindness and righteousness, nor can they be held accountable to common etiquette. They have been kept as fish and turtles since ancient times. They know small etiquette but not great righteousness, and are particular about small matters but not great virtue. They will surely be robbers when they are strong and will surely be submissive when they are weak. If they violate the loyalty of a minister, they can be punished; if they harass the people, they can be destroyed; if they can cause trouble to China in the long run, they can be eliminated. If they have any of these qualities, even if they kill ten thousand men a day, they will not feel ashamed.

In Wan Shihe's words, since ancient times, Japanese pirates should be treated like livestock and it is never too much to guard against them.

Oda City was helpless against this kind of defense. The Ming Dynasty was already gentle, tolerant, and reasonable enough. The Ming Dynasty used to be a gentleman as gentle as jade and a gentleman of his words. The Ming Dynasty had established fifteen unconquered countries during the Hongwu period. Except for Annan, which ambushed the Ming army and was beaten once, the Ming Dynasty really did not conquer these fifteen foreign countries.

But in fact, gentlemen are anomalies all over the world.

The Ming Dynasty rarely communicated with the surrounding barbarians through power or force. Who made the Ming Dynasty become what it is today?

The Ming Dynasty is already easy enough to talk to. The one who is easier to talk to than the Ming Dynasty is the Ming Dynasty of yesterday. The best conditions are also the previous conditions.

Oda City was surrounded by palace maids, including security women, not guards. This was not respect, but precaution. Even when officials from the Ministry of Rites came to communicate, they were kept three feet away. After communicating with the officials from the Ministry of Rites, Oda City felt empathy for the "Eta ninja" for the first time. In the Ming Dynasty, everyone avoided them. They were the untouchable Eta ninja, and it would be unlucky to have any contact with them.

Zhu Yijun had been waiting for the opinions of the coastal defense inspectors from various places. The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty sent a memorial to the Northern Pacification Office, and the Northern Pacification Office sent a memorial to the offices of various inspection offices. Soon, before the Mid-Autumn Festival in August, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty received replies from various places.

When Zhu Yijun issued the memorial to the Northern Pacification Office, he made it clear that even if Oda Nobunaga died, there would be no responsibility. To be precise, the protection provided to Oda Nobunaga by going to Wakoku did not include protection.

The reply letters from various inspection offices were full of loyalty. The inspection offices in various places, especially the one in Nagasaki, expressed their support. The reason for their support was that the Ming Dynasty could not fully grasp the intelligence on Japan because it did not have a legal identity, which made it impossible for the Ming Dynasty to respond.

Although the Coast Guard Inspection Office thought of many ways, the Ming people were tall and strong, while the Japanese pirates were short. The Ming Coast Guard Inspection Office was too conspicuous and its activities were not carried out well.

The choice of support is to better obtain intelligence from Japan.

The harsh working environment of coastal defense inspections means that those who sign up to participate are all loyal to the emperor and the country.

Zhu Yijun was silent for a long time, and finally decided to put forward conditions, requiring Oda Nobunaga to hand over the customs. Oda Nobunaga, who was defeated in Osaka Bay, had lost control of the ocean, and the Ming Dynasty's coastal defense inspectors were advancing in Japan and would not protect him.

This exchange seems extremely ridiculous, as it is exchanging non-existent sea power for protection that will not be protected.

This was a win-win exchange. The Ming Dynasty obtained the title of customs and capital salary, and the coastal defense inspectors gathered intelligence in a legitimate capacity. The Ming Dynasty won twice, which was a win-win situation.

After Wan Shihe received the emperor's edict, he went through the Ministry of Rites' discussion and came to the Imperial Study in Tonghe Palace to meet the emperor. After the greetings, Wan Shihe said without any nonsense, "Your Majesty, the way the barbarians think is this: the more polite you are to me, the more it must be that there is something about me that you are afraid of, although I don't know what it is, maybe you are not as strong as me in terms of regional strength, or you need something from me!"

"Han Feizi: Wang Zheng once said: A country that is small but does not humble itself, has little strength but does not fear the strong, is rude but insults its big neighbor, is greedy and stubborn but clumsy in making friends, is doomed to perish."

"What does Grand Master of the Imperial Clan mean?" Zhu Yijun understood Wan Shihe's words. What he meant was that good people are often bullied. The Ming Dynasty should be more assertive in foreign relations instead of acting like a gentleman.

"The Ministry of Rites believes that we can ask for more, such as asking Oda Nobunaga to cede Iwami Silver Mine." Wan Shihe felt that the emperor and the prime minister were too kind.

Now that Oda Nobunaga needs something from the Ming Dynasty, we should take the opportunity to ask for a sky-high price and wait for Oda Nobunaga to bargain.

Wan Shihe continued, "Iwami Silver Mine belongs to the Mori family, not the Oda family. However, the shogun of the Azuchi shogunate is Oda Nobunaga. His cession is the righteousness of the Ming Dynasty taking Iwami Silver Mine. It is a legitimate reason. In this way, Oda Nobunaga can only fight with Mori Terumoto to the death."

Wan Shihe is very good at being both good inside and out.

Zhu Yijun understood that Wan Shihe was trying to get more than he wanted. How could the customs alone be enough? He also needed a mountain of silver.

"Then do as the Grand Lord said. Anyway, Oda City has no say in this matter. Let's just send a letter directly to the Nagasaki Governor's Office and pass the message to Oda Nobunaga." Zhu Yijun agreed with Wan Shihe's suggestion.

"The Ministry of Rites has completed a new volume of the Chronicles of Overseas Countries and is presenting it to Your Majesty." Wan Shihe bowed his head and said, and a eunuch placed the new volume of the Chronicles of Overseas Countries presented by the Ministry of Rites on the imperial desk.

The new volume was about Annan, and gave a very detailed description of Annan's history. Zhu Yijun flipped through it and said with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work, Grand Master of the Imperial Clan."

The Ming Dynasty Code and the Overseas Foreign Countries Records were revised and presented one volume at a time. After the revision was completed, they were placed in the seven display windows in the side hall of the Wenhua Hall.

Zhu Yijun read every volume carefully and even made annotations himself.

Zhu Yijun did not study it immediately because it was still time for the performance. He decided to wait until Wan Shihe finished his performance and then read it carefully.

"Your Majesty, when I was compiling the book on the history of foreign countries, I discovered a problem, that is, most of the foreigners are ignorant of etiquette, and force may be the only way of communication they can understand." After presenting the new book on the history of foreign countries, Wan Shihe talked about his experience in compiling the book.

Wan Shihe talked about Mang Yingli of Toungoo. The Ming Dynasty was too polite to Toungoo, which made Toungoo have the illusion that it was on an equal footing with the Ming Dynasty. That's why Mang Yingli dared to provoke the Ming Dynasty and thought that the Ming Dynasty would not do anything to him. So he came up with the idea of ​​attacking the Ming Dynasty to gain cohesion and prestige.

Is it really that easy to gain reputation by stepping on the Ming Dynasty's face?
This kind of provocative behavior must be dealt with heavily and through the use of force to make Mang Yingli wake up in the Tianlao, just like when Zheng He captured the King of Ceylon.

Zhu Yijun agreed with this very much. Wan Shihe’s attitude might not be the best, but it was indeed the most suitable method for the current situation.

After Wan Shihe left, Zhu Yijun picked up the book on the history of foreign countries in his hand. This volume was about the Kingdom of Annan. The biggest contradiction in Annan at the moment was the confrontation between the north and the south. This was the biggest reason why the people of Annan were living in poverty. From the perspective of the theory of contradiction, Wan Shihe believed that this confrontation was essentially a contradiction between the centripetal force and centrifugal force of the Central Plains.

It is the name Annan, and it was because the Tang Dynasty established the Annan Protectorate there that the name Annan came into being.

Since the pre-Qin Dynasty attacked Annan, for 1700 years, Annan had been jumping between being a territory of the Central Plains dynasty and a vassal state. It was not until the Xuande period that it became independent, but it still existed as a vassal state.

Annan was a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty for only 156 years. Centripetal force and centrifugal force are the essential contradictions of the confrontation between the North and the South.

"Wan Shihe believes that whether it is the Mo family, the Nguyen family, the Zheng family, or the Later Le tyrants, they are all representatives of centrifugal force. The real centripetal force lies in the countryside, among the ordinary people who yearn for a stable life." Zhu Yijun looked at the book on the history of foreign countries in his hand and thought seriously for a long time before he was convinced that Wan Shihe was probably right.

The situation in Annan has lasted for fifty-six years, and it may take more than a hundred years. It would be better to just let them fight it out and decide the outcome.

Zhu Yijun had previously sent a memorial to Wang Jiaping, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, asking Wang Jiaping to understand the spirit and implement it flexibly.

Once Wang Jiaping is allowed to execute flexibly, he will really be very flexible.

Oda Nobunaga was very slow in replying to his letters. The communication distance from Ming Dynasty to the Governor-General's Office in Nagasaki was seven days when the Bohai Bay was not frozen, and ten days when it was frozen. However, the communication distance from Nagasaki to Azuchi Castle was one month or even longer.

After Wang Chonggu led the Xishan Coal Bureau of the Coal and Steel Joint Venture to officially participate in the production of hydraulic rolling presses, the speed of minting silver coins in the Ming Dynasty was finally rapidly improved. According to the report of the Ministry of Industry, by the end of the 11th year of Wanli, the speed of silver coin minting would be increased to 4 million silver coins, and in the 12th year of Wanli, the scale would reach 6.5 million silver coins.

After the 15th year of Wanli, the number of silver coins printed by the Ming Dynasty will reach 20 million, a terrifying number. After the 15th year of Wanli, the Ming Dynasty will no longer have to worry about the problem of silver being stuck in the treasury due to insufficient coinage capacity.

Of course, it will still be blocked in the metropolis, and the silver coins will be dredged into the countryside, which will require a transformation of production relations.

In other words, in another two years, starting from the 13th year of Wanli, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty could start investing again. Before that, the investment of the treasury still needed to be cautious. Let the silver accumulate in the treasury. The blockage was temporary and it would take time to improve productivity.

By then, the Ming Dynasty would have fallen into the same predicament as in the past, with an unlimited demand for silver.

On August 15th, Zhu Yijun received a reply from Oda Nobunaga, stating that Oda Nobunaga was willing to pay more instead of ceding customs, capital pay, silver mines, etc. Oda Nobunaga's reply was extremely humble. He was willing to pay a tribute of one million silver coins every year instead of sea power and silver mines.

The Ming Dynasty's Ministry of Rites responded quickly and planned to expel the Japanese envoys back to their country.

It was already a great blessing that the Great Ming was willing to communicate with us, but we still wanted to bargain? !

The Ming Dynasty's Ministry of Rites did not tolerate the Japanese envoys and chose to expel them.

Oda City begged in every possible way, and finally took out the letter written by his brother, stating that Japan could agree to the Ming Dynasty's request. Before Oda City left, Oda Nobunaga gave Oda City some power to act at his own convenience, and agreed to the Ming Dynasty's request if the Ming Dynasty took a tough attitude and could no longer bargain.

The envoy Oda City is not without any power. She is responsible for providing a guarantee and will be responsible for agreeing if the Ming Dynasty refuses to lower the price.

Oda Nobunaga had already judged the bargaining chips that the Ming Dynasty demanded. Sea power and silver mines were within his expectations, so he could agree to it.

On August 17, Zhu Yijun summoned the envoy of Japan, Oda Nobunaga's younger sister, Oda Ichi. With her eyebrows grown out, no strange makeup, and no dyed teeth, Oda Ichi finally looked normal. Zhu Yijun was not surprised by this woman who was known as the most beautiful woman in the Warring States Period. The Ming Dynasty had no shortage of beauties, and the Ming Emperor had even less.

Zhu Yijun finished reading the letter written by Oda Nobunaga. As far as the handwriting was concerned, Oda Nobunaga's handwriting was much neater than that of the Tatar overlord Khan Tuman.

"Oda Nobunaga asked me to allow you to stay in Ming Dynasty as a Japanese envoy." Zhu Yijun looked at Oda Ichi and shook his head and said, "This is a very rude request. According to the ancestral system, Japan can pay tribute once every ten years, and the number of tribute ships at most is three."

"My brother just wants to find a place for me to settle down." Oda City chose to tell the truth. The officials of the Ministry of Rites repeatedly warned Oda City not to be clever, to say what he thought, and never to deceive His Majesty.

He was said to be a permanent envoy of Japan to the Ming Dynasty, but in fact, Oda Nobunaga was worried that the situation would deteriorate further and that his sister and two daughters' lives would be in danger.

It was Oda Nobunaga's decision to let his sister marry into the Asai family. It was also Oda Nobunaga's decision to attack the Asai family and force Asai Nagamasa to commit suicide. Oda Nobunaga was afraid that the situation would deteriorate further and his sister, whom he felt sorry for, would really have nowhere to go.

An ordinary woman who lived in harmony with the world, had no special talents, and had never committed any crime. It is easy to imagine what kind of prying eyes she and her daughter would attract because of their extraordinary beauty after Oda Nobunaga was defeated or died.

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said, "I cannot stay in Ming as a Japanese envoy."

"I beg for mercy, Your Majesty." Oda City begged again with his head bowed.

"Just stay in Ming Dynasty as a Japanese prostitute." Seeing that Oda Ichi didn't understand the meaning of his words, Zhu Yijun chose to explain directly that there were many Japanese prostitutes in Ming Dynasty. In the context of Ming Dynasty, prostitute no longer refers to prostitutes, but vagrants.

(End of this chapter)