I'm really not doing business

Chapter 627 General, you don't want to raise the tax to eight public officials and one public official, do you?
The Ming Dynasty enjoyed the benefits of opening up the sea, but the various disadvantages of opening up the sea gradually began to surface.

Because the supply of raw materials could be eliminated, centrifugal force was increasing, materialism appeared under various names, ideology and culture were impacted, and the emperor's unfathomable imperial power was being constantly challenged. All this was the price of opening the sea.

No matter how great the cost, Zhu Yijun would not give up the strategy of opening up the sea.

"After Columbus, there are countless Columbuses. After Da Gama, there are countless Da Gamas. After Magellan, there are countless Magellans. After Zheng He, there is no Zheng He." Zhu Yijun looked at the two important officials of the Ministry of Revenue of the imperial court and said sincerely: "The Ming Dynasty has already lost the ocean once, and we cannot lose it again."

Zhu Yijun met two English envoys, John Harrison and Francis Drake, with his own eyes.

These two men were both pirates and adventurers. John completed the first voyage to North America, and Drake completed England's first circumnavigation of the world. Drake chose to set out only after he learned that Magellan had successfully circumnavigated the world and that Portugal and Spain had successively become world empires.

The Queen of England has always refused to give up the privateering license in order to compete with Spain for the dominance of the global navigation.

More than two hundred years ago, the Ming Dynasty was the first to begin exploring the ocean, but now it lags behind.

"If there is centrifugal force, we must find ways to create centripetal force, instead of cutting off the feet if the feet hurt, cutting off the hands if the hands hurt, and if it is a headache, do we have to cut off the head? Even if the wealthy coastal areas can give up the supply of raw materials, then we should find ways to make the poor inland areas in the northwest rich. This is the way to solve the problem." Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Guoguang and reaffirmed that the road of opening up the sea must be consistent.

If you retreat when you encounter the slightest resistance, and gradually give up everything halfway, this is a lack of perseverance and also a sign of cowardice.

"Your Majesty is wise." Wang Guoguang said with his head bowed.

"Your Majesty, there is a huge problem with overseas raw material supply, which is instability. The fluctuations are really too huge." Zhang Xueyan put forward his own point of view. Your Majesty's concerns are correct, but Zhang Xueyan has a different opinion.

"Your Majesty, it is an unrealistic daydream for the wealthy coastal areas to be independent of the inland supply of raw materials. It is just a fantasy that is not based on reality. The production diagram tells us that the most important thing for production is stability. If the quality and quantity of incoming materials fluctuate too much, how can we ensure the stability of production?"

The Production Diagram is one of the results of the Ming Dynasty's great thinking. Production is not equal to business. Business is profit-driven and profit-oriented, while production is dominated by producing more goods and stability.

The Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Wang Jiaping, and the Governor of Sichuan, Wang Tingzhan, fought desperately, even sending foreign soldiers, just to steal silkworm seeds. The quarrel even reached the emperor. Each said he was right, and it was all for the silkworm seeds of Sichuan, because silkworm seeds affect the quality of raw silk and the quality of the final product.

Similarly, Guangzhou Prefecture was one of the pioneers in the Ming Dynasty's opening up of the sea, second only to Songjiang Prefecture.

Why didn't Wang Jiaping resort to overseas tactics and rely on overseas imports of raw materials, but instead had to fight a real battle with Zhang Juzheng's direct disciples?

Because there really isn't any overseas.

Some raw materials can be supplied from overseas without relying on the Ming Dynasty, but some can be forgotten.

"I agree with you, you are right." Zhu Yijun approved of Zhang Xueyan's idea very much. Relying on cheap sea transportation and a large amount of raw materials relying on overseas imports, they could get rid of the poor brothers in the mainland. This was the same fantasy as the lowly Confucian idea that everyone would cultivate virtue and the world would be in harmony.

Silk has always been profitable, so is it that people don't like the high profits of silk?

Even in later generations, China's raw silk production still accounted for more than 90% of the world's total, because sericulture is a technical job.

Silkworms are very delicate. When they are frightened, they will stop spinning silk. Silkworms also need temperature and humidity. The slightest problem will really lead to a complete failure. The county magistrate is the local emperor in the county. During the silkworms' spinning season, even people dare not beat drums and gongs.

"It is more stable to be self-sufficient in raw materials." Wang Guoguang's eyes lit up, and he said to Zhang Xueyan: "The Ming Dynasty has exchanges with the Mongolian Empire and obtained a lot of cotton, but the cotton from the Mongolian Empire only accounts for about 5%. More cotton is relied on in Shandong. Shandong cotton accounts for 45% of Songjiang cotton raw materials. This is ironclad evidence."

Rice from Champa and cotton from the Mongol Empire are both bulk commodities, but for the behemoth Ming Dynasty, they are a drop in the bucket and a drop in the bucket. They cannot even affect the price of cotton in Songjiang Prefecture, because the dominant position is still the cotton from the inland areas of Ming Dynasty, such as Shandong, Henan and other places.

This is also the reason why Emperor Akbar of the Mongol Empire did not dare to confront the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty could not use the cotton of the Mongol Empire, but if the Mongol Empire wanted to be a middleman, it had to have the cotton cloth of the Ming Dynasty.

Akbar thought about weaving by himself, but later found it too difficult. Hard-working labor is a scarce resource in any era and any place. It's just that the Ming Dynasty had too much of it, so it was just commonplace.

This is often the case. No matter how logically complete the propaganda is, it often ignores all facts. Once you combine it with reality, you will find that it is nothing but a fallacy.

Leaving behind the poor brothers in the mainland and relying entirely on the import of raw materials from overseas, everyone in the coastal areas can become a wealthy man. This is typical actuarial thinking. But can the coastal areas, which have lost their depth, really maintain their wealth?

Japan wreaked havoc for more than 20 years during the Jiajing period, proving that without depth, wealth is just a huge piece of fat meat, a lamb to be slaughtered.

How can a child carrying gold through a busy street not be noticed?

Look at what the Ming Dynasty is doing to Japan now. Isn’t it just bullying Japan for not having enough depth?
Even if we don’t consider it from the perspective of wealth security, the instability of overseas materials is the natural enemy of production.

Wang Guoguang and Zhang Xueyan communicated with the emperor for a long time. The most direct way to make poor places rich was to build government-owned factories and engineering corps camps. Only by large-scale production and abundant material resources could they obtain more silver, which could then be reinvested to make the place rich.

And the premise of all this is: building roads.

Wherever the highway reached, there were government factories and engineering corps camps everywhere.

"Building roads is a good idea. The national treasury has no money, right? I do! So, I will lend it to Tessi Antonio at an annual interest rate of 3.3%. If you lend it to our Ming Dynasty court, there will be no interest charge, and you just need to repay it regularly. I can now give million from the national treasury to build roads!" Zhu Yijun waved his hand and was about to withdraw million from the treasury to give to the court to build roads!
"It's such a waste to have so much money piled up in the treasury!"

Zhu Yijun was a miser and he couldn't bear to see the silver piled up and getting moldy.

"I'll take my leave!" When Wang Guoguang heard that the emperor wanted to borrow money, he immediately slipped away with Zhang Xueyan! As a loyal supporter of conservatism, Wang Guoguang firmly opposed living beyond one's means. He could not pay back the money he owed to anyone, he could owe military pay, he could pay the salaries of officials for only three months, but he had to pay back the money he owed to His Majesty.

If he really gets to the point where he can't pay back the money owed to His Majesty, His Majesty's solution is to dissolve the court and reorganize it. If that day really comes, Wang Guoguang will be nailed to the pillar of shame and ridiculed for thousands of years. Incompetence is the greatest mockery of a person.

"Hey, why are you leaving? I don't even want interest! Have you ever seen such a conscientious creditor!" Zhu Yijun stretched out a hand, but he only caught the slightly hot summer wind.

Zhang Xueyan passed away even faster than Wang Guoguang. Wang Guoguang was a cabinet minister and the best he could do was to go to Xitu City to retire. But Zhang Xueyan was the first person in charge of the Ministry of Revenue.

"It hasn't been loaned out yet." Zhu Yijun put his hand down helplessly. Antonio borrowed the two million taels, which was the same as not borrowing it at all. The silver in the Ming Dynasty's treasury could not be invested until the scale of silver coins printed by the Armory Bureau reached 650 million.

Feng Bao and Zhang Hong just smiled. Having too much silver was a happy trouble.

In June of the fifth year of Longqing, the late emperor, who liked to remain in seclusion, convened a court meeting, hoping to withdraw 300,000 taels of silver from the national treasury. This was because the national treasury still owed the internal treasury 500,000 taels of silver for the gold and silver in the fifth year of Longqing. The late emperor was asking the national treasury for the debt, but in the end the national treasury only gave him 126,000 taels of silver by scraping together all the money it could.

Because there is no national treasury.

Compared with having money but not being able to spend it and having no money and begging for food everywhere, it is better not to spend it. If you don’t have rice in your hands, even if you call the chickens, no one will come.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was worried about having too much silver, while Oda Nobunaga, who was in Honnoji Temple in Kyoto, Japan, was worried about having no silver.

The Ming Dynasty demanded 1500 million in war reparations, and million silver coins had to be paid in the first year, which meant that the million silver coins had to be paid before June of the th year of the Wanli reign, otherwise the Ming navy would land in Osaka Bay again.

"General, there is a Tang merchant outside the door who wants to see you." Kuroda Xiaogao said solemnly, "He is not from the Nagasaki Governor's Office."

Not coming from the Nagasaki Governor-General's Office means that he is not of the same kind as the Ming court. He is here to negotiate business with Oda Nobunaga.

"What do these black-hearted businessmen want? Is there anything in Japan that is worth their attention?" Oda Nobunaga said helplessly, "They just want my people to suffer in the Yuanxu Islands."

Oda Nobunaga never had any contact with these merchants from the Yuanxu Islands because he knew that these merchants were digging into the foundation of Japan.

"It would be great if Takenaka Shigeharu were here." Oda Nobunaga looked helplessly at the blood-stained sunset in the sky and sighed heavily.

Takenaka Shigeharu, also known as Takenaka Hanbei, was an advisor to Oda Nobunaga on domestic affairs. He died in the seventh year of the Wanli reign while on his way to fight against the Mori clan.

The Kuroda Kotaka who was beside Oda Nobunaga was Kuroda Kanbei, and he was also an important adviser to Oda Nobunaga, but Kuroda Kotaka was better at military affairs.

"But we are short of silver, and the Ming court is coming aggressively." Kuroda Xiaogao also said in a somewhat tragic tone: "What else can we do? Even if the general has sympathy for these farmers, paying the military expenses is a top priority."

"Then let's meet them." Oda Nobunaga's originally straight back now looked a little hunched, and he finally agreed to meet these greedy businessmen.

Oda Nobunaga was originally full of confidence, because the policy he implemented was two officials and one citizen, which was still a heavy tax. But compared with other Warring States dynasties that demanded eight officials and one citizen, or even nine officials and one citizen, there was no doubt that Oda Nobunaga was worthy of everyone in Wa.

But the situation took a sharp turn for the worse.

The war reparations of up to 15 million taels of silver were like a sword hanging over Nobunaga's head. Even if Nobunaga disliked these merchants, he still had to meet them.

The visitor was a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing a Confucian robe, but he did not have much of the elegant and easy-going temperament. He was a businessman with no flesh on his cheeks, and looked a bit sarcastic and greedy.

"It's really hard to get in, General. I spent a lot of money and finally knocked on your door. So, General, let's talk business." The man didn't show any courtesy, and was even more impolite. He just sat down in front of Oda Nobunaga. He didn't kneel, but found a low stool and leaned on it. "You are very rude." Oda Nobunaga felt insulted. Since he came to Kyoto from Owari Province, no one dared to be so arrogant in front of him.

"Impolite? Do you need to be polite when dealing with Japanese? Is it useful?" The merchant said nonchalantly, "My name is Liu Changshan, you can just call me Manager Liu."

Liu Changshan was from Huarong, Huguang. His family migrated to the Yuanxu Islands. Unlike Sun Keyi, who sought to be awarded the title of pioneer lord by the court, Liu Changshan's family did not seek to be canonized by the emperor at all. It was in the sixth year of Wanli when the court ordered the migration of wealthy households that they left the heartland of the Ming Dynasty in order to avoid the court's decree.

Even the opponents of the Wanli Reform were definitely not friendly towards the Japanese, and their attitude was even extremely bad. It could be said that it was difficult for Confucian scholars who grew up under the education of the distinction between Chinese and barbarians to be polite to the foreigners.

As long as the other party is expelled from the society, everything becomes natural.

"Let's talk business. One Japanese slave is worth four taels of silver. How about that? The general is good at fighting, so he will probably get a lot of prisoners. If we kill these prisoners, we will be criticized, and killing prisoners is unlucky. But if we let these prisoners go, it will be like letting a tiger go back to the mountain, but it will take a lot of silver or land to settle them." Liu Changshan said with a smile: "What do you think of my proposal?"

"Sell the captives to me, and you will get goods worth four taels of silver. Then you can easily make three or five taels of silver by reselling them. In this way, the three million taels of silver will only be needed to support the military. It will be very easy."

"General, you don't want to raise the tax to eight public officials and one civilian, do you?"

Liu Changshan proposed a plan. One Japanese slave could be exchanged for four taels of silver for goods, and there would be a profit on the resale. In this way, the war reparations could be paid without raising the tax rate and without losing the basic base of one's rule. This sounded wonderful.

"Is there a way to have the best of both worlds? What you said seems to have the best of both worlds, but the biggest problem is, what are prisoners? In the past, killing innocent people and claiming credit for merit was rampant, but now prisoners can be obtained by robbing farmers. After all, compared to defeating the enemy, it is easier to rob farmers." Oda Nobunaga said sternly.

What a bullshit win-win solution! As long as captives are as valuable as human heads, killing innocent people and robbing farmers will become extremely common.

"Look, look, I've given you a way out and an excuse, but you insist on telling me the truth. I'm just a businessman, not the shogun of Japan. Why should I care where the Japanese come from? You give me the Japanese, and I give you goods. It's just a simple barter." Liu Changshan spread his hands. He was just looking for a reasonable excuse for Oda Nobunaga.

As a businessman, did he have to figure out where these Japanese slaves came from? Anyway, when they arrived at the plantation in Yuanxu Islands, they were all animals when the whip was lashed.

If a person is castrated, he will have fewer worldly desires and will work peacefully until he dies.

"Don't you want anything else except population?" Oda Nobunaga was silent for a long time. Indeed, Liu Changshan knew that he was talking nonsense and was just trying to give Oda Nobunaga a way out. Oda Nobunaga insisted on exposing himself, and ended up slapping himself in the face.

If there really was a way, Oda Nobunaga would not have met Liu Changshan.

"Apart from the Japanese, is there anything else in Japan worth our attention?" Liu Changshan asked in return.

Liu Changshan smiled and said, "By the way, there is a large sulfur mine in Luzon, on Mindanao Island. It is a volcano, only 80 miles away from Davao City on Mindanao Island. Guoxingye has sent Deng Zilong to lead the guards and Chen Chengyi to lead the miners. You know, sometimes miners are extremely excellent sources of soldiers."

"In addition to silver, we can also buy sulfur, a specialty of Japan, from Luzon."

The mine on the Davao side is an active volcano, which is still active. This has resulted in very rich mineral resources nearby. Someone picked up a huge piece of gold nugget, which triggered people's enthusiasm to go to the volcano. Eventually, the Ming Dynasty found silver and sulfur mines in Davao, and found Dalong.

All preparations for development have been completed, and the minerals will really attract the Ming army.

"It's really unfortunate news." Liu Changshan said with a bit of gloating. Liu Changshan's expression was playful, his tone was frivolous, and his words were even more irritating. But even so, Oda Nobunaga could not do anything to Liu Changshan because he really needed goods in exchange for silver.

"I know, I know. The general is a man who cares a lot about his reputation. How can he be allowed to do such an evil thing? The general has so many generals under his command. I will just ask them to do it. In this way, the general's reputation will be fulfilled, and the general will also get the goods." Liu Changshan found another way out for Oda Nobunaga.

Let the poor people suffer more, the blame will be borne by the retainers, and the benefits will be reaped by Oda Nobunaga.

"There's no such good thing in the world. No need for that." Oda Nobunaga still refused to give up the chance. He would rather be scolded than hand the matter over to his retainers. Ever since the last assassination, Oda Nobunaga knew clearly that as long as he relaxed the constraints a little, even the officer and soldier in front of him, including Kuroda Kotaka, would betray him.

There was a very common political atmosphere in Japan of subordinates overthrowing their superiors and layers of power being manipulated. The Shogun manipulated the Emperor, the Sankanrei manipulated the Shogun, and the family heads manipulated the Kanrei. If Oda Nobunaga wanted to stay alive, he had to do everything himself.

"Why is the Ming Emperor so lucky? Not only does he have Zhang Juzheng, but he also has Qi Jiguang! If he got one of them, he could get the world, but the emperor got two!" Oda Nobunaga's words showed visible resentment.

The Ming navy landed in Osaka Bay. The military discipline was strict and the troops were neat. They didn't even trample the rice seedlings in the fields! No matter how terrible the rumors were, they were not as despairing as seeing it with one's own eyes.

The training method of the Ming Dynasty navy is the two military training books by Qi Jiguang. The Ming Dynasty printed them everywhere. Oda Nobunaga has also read them. He also wants the Ming Dynasty's capital camp. Let alone the 100,000 capital camps, if Oda Nobunaga has 10,000 such samurai with a samurai spirit, it would be like a piece of cake to sweep across all the Warring States daimyos in Japan. He doesn't even need firearms like the Ming Dynasty's capital camp.

It is always the people who are strong, not the weapons.

"That's right, that's right! Why is the emperor so lucky? Having Zhang Juzheng is enough to make people grit their teeth, and there is also Qi Jiguang. It's simply unjust!" Liu Changshan became very excited when he talked about this!
Why would the powerful and wealthy who were attached to their land flee? Why didn't they rebel? They couldn't win, the Beijing army was there, and rebellion was tantamount to seeking death. This was the basic consensus. Anyone who had personally witnessed the Spring and Autumn Review would not say something as outrageous as rebellion.

Whether Zhang Juzheng was the prime minister or the regent, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that Zhang Juzheng did not usurp the throne and returned the power to the people.

Zhang Juzheng could be said to be special, but for Qi Jiguang, who was the hereditary duke of Fengguo, the four words "reshaping the military spirit" were no joke.

I can’t win the argument or the fight, so I can only curse at you.

"The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is still a child, in his twenties. What right does he have to be so arrogant and do whatever he wants? He can do whatever he wants! He can kill people if he wants to, and execute a whole family if he wants to. He even set up a dismemberment house to send people there to be cut into pieces! He is just taking advantage of the power of Zhang Juzheng and Qi Jiguang! Without Zhang Juzheng and Qi Jiguang, what is he, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty? How dare he be so harsh on the people!" Liu Changshan was extremely angry.

But this kind of anger is more like the rage of impotence, because the stray dogs who escaped from the Ming Dynasty were these powerful and wealthy people.

"Now there is also Li Rusong. Oda City received news from the capital that Li Rusong is highly regarded by the emperor and has a brilliant military record. Half of the title of Ningyuan Marquis was won by Li Rusong."

"There is also a man named Xiong Tingbi in the Quan Chu Guild Hall who is both civil and military. He is a fellow student of the emperor. I heard that the emperor treats Xiong Tingbi very well. Every time he goes to the Quan Chu Guild Hall, he brings some things and always refers to him as Xiong Da. He has already gone to Suiyuan, and as soon as he arrived in Suiyuan, he led the Suiyuan soldiers to start suppressing bandits. At the age of sixteen, he conquered Yinshan with three arrows." Kuroda Kotaka reminded Oda Nobunaga that there is also a young and vigorous person in the Ming Dynasty, Li Rusong, and an even younger and more vigorous person, Xiong Tingbi.

"Three arrows to conquer Yinshan?!" Liu Changshan said dully, "Who? Who is Xiong Tingbi?"

Kuroda Kotaka explained the whole story.

Xiong Tingbi's three arrows to conquer Yinshan has become a widely circulated story in Hetao.

There was a group of horse bandits with more than 8,000 people entrenched in Yinshan. This group of horse bandits was extremely ferocious. Even the military garrisons that migrated from the three borders of Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia to Hetao could not wipe them out. However, Xiong Tingbi led the soldiers of the garrison and shot and killed the first, second and third in command with only three arrows.

Of course, this is a story. Xiong Tingbi did not use three arrows. Only the eldest boss was killed by Xiong Tingbi using the Tiger Force Bow, a heavy bow weighing more than 120 pounds. He shot a total of three arrows, and only one arrow pierced the eldest boss's head, killing him on the spot. The second and third bosses were not killed by Xiong Tingbi, but were defeated by the Ming army during the pursuit and encirclement.

The second in command was killed by a shrapnel bomb, but he was not blown to pieces. His body was just filled with caltrops.

The third in command was captured, his bell was removed and he was sent to Shengzhou Coal Yard to work as a miner, because working in the coal yard was a labor-intensive job and the emperor was frugal, so such strong laborers could not be wasted.

But as the story spread, it became the story of Three Arrows Conquering Yin Mountain, in which only the boss was shot to death by Xiong Tingbi.

Qi Jiguang is like Wei Qing, Li Rusong is like Huo Qubing, now Li Rusong is like Qi Jiguang, and Xiong Tingbi is like Li Rusong.

"Is this the end? Is this the end?" Liu Changshan stood up suddenly, his scalp numbing with shock. The story would have some deviations in the process of being spread, but judging from the source of the information, Oda Ichi was the messenger of Oda Nobunaga, and 80% of the information he received was true.

Qi Jiguang alone is difficult enough to deal with, and Li Rusong is famous for his violent temper. He is fearless in battle and believes that the battlefield is always fair. When you kill others, you will also be killed. In Liu Changshan's view, Li Rusong is not a concern. Such a person will sooner or later meet with misfortune on the battlefield.

But now there is another Xiong Tingbi, who became known to the world as soon as he came out.

There are endless talented and ambitious people under the Ming Emperor!

"Matsujiang Governor Shen Shixing has just completed the One Whip Law of Songjiang Prefecture." Kuroda Xiaotaka is now very familiar with the intelligence of the Ming Dynasty. Because of the opening of the sea, these public information can be obtained from miscellaneous newspapers.

Shen Shixing completed the implementation of the Single Whip Law in Songjiang Prefecture. This was the first time that the Ming Dynasty had completed a pilot project since Gui E proposed the Single Whip Law in the eighth year of Jiajing. Although there were many compromises and struggles in the middle, a consensus on monetary tax was finally reached.

In the face of the overwhelming trend of the Wanli Reform, being a rebel is a dead end, because you only need to follow the emperor's footsteps to become rich enough to rival a country. Look at Sun Kehong, the general manager of Songjiang Ocean Trading Company. He is a lame man who can only sit on a swivel chair. He became extremely rich just because he surrendered to the emperor! He became a monopoly class among the powerful and wealthy.

Liu Changshan was a little confused. He had originally thought that everything would be fine after Zhang Juzheng and Qi Jiguang died, but now it seemed that they were all just false fantasies.

"What's that sound?" Oda Nobunaga frowned and looked outside. It seemed a little too noisy outside.

"Oh no, General! Akechi Mitsuhide has started a rebellion!" A confidant ran in in panic, pointing outside and shouting in fear.

"Hurry up and inform the Osaka Bay Guard Thousand Households!" Oda Nobunaga was stunned at first, and then shocked. In a flash, the only reinforcements Oda Nobunaga could think of were not his own retainers, but the Nagasaki Gyodosu and the Guard Thousand Households from the Ming Dynasty.

Oda Nobunaga still owes 15 million silver in military expenses!
As the creditor, how could the Ming Dynasty watch this debtor die?
(End of this chapter)