I'm really not doing business

Chapter 674: Mine, all mine!
What Zhu Yiliu and Li Yougong discussed was called foreign chaos.

Zhu Yiliu and Li Yougong both followed the Emperor since they were young. They were more familiar with geomancy maps than the military generals. They were both good at mathematics, which was considered foreign knowledge in the Ming Dynasty because the Ming Dynasty translated many Western mathematical works to make up for the Ming Dynasty's deficiencies in mathematics.

Before the Ming Emperor was determined to open up the sea, the Ming's understanding of the red-haired and golden-haired barbarians was no different from that of the Japanese pirates. The Ming Dynasty simply regarded them as small foreign countries that came to the Ming Dynasty to beg for food.

Even the Portuguese envoy, Huozhe Yasan, had become a favorite of Emperor Wuzong as early as the Zhengde period. In the eyes of the literati of the Ming Dynasty, Portugal and Japan were the same.

Although both foreign rebellion and Japanese invasion seem to be threats from the ocean, there are still huge differences between them.

It is an ignorant perception to regard the red-haired and golden-haired foreigners as a kind of Japanese threat, because the red-haired and golden-haired foreigners are too far away. Even for ocean trade of a commercial nature, a round trip can only be made once a year. With such a long journey and the lack of effective ocean deployment capabilities, the Ming Dynasty has no effective means to punish these red-haired foreigners.

The cost of conquest is simply too high and unfeasible.

This means that these red-haired and golden-haired foreigners will commit crimes more unscrupulously and become a problem for the Ming Dynasty.

"It seems that this silver grows from the soil of the New World. The governors of the colonies only need to use cheap slaves to mine silver from the mines to obtain sufficient goods in the Ming Dynasty. However, silver is a medium for storing value. How long can the West continue this losing business?" Zhu Yiliu said solemnly as he looked at the list of goods sent by the Ministry of Revenue.

Are these Western barbarians really willing to do this? In other places, they would just rob openly, but when they come to the Ming Dynasty, they have to do business normally. It would be strange if they were willing to do this! Moreover, the Ming Dynasty made all the money, but they could only buy Ming Dynasty goods in the Ming Dynasty, and they couldn't rob them anywhere else.

Li Yougong agreed and said, "For the Ming Dynasty, the West is too far away. The same is true for the West. In the short term, the Ming Dynasty does not need to worry too much about the problem of foreign turmoil, but in the long run, foreign turmoil is bound to happen because of interests."

"If you ask them to do business, they are not good at it, but if you ask them to burn, kill and loot, they are very good at it."

Zhu Yiliu thought for a moment and said, "We need to build a moat. At the very least, we need to prevent these barbarians from entering the Strait of Malacca."

Prince Lu stood in front of the geomancy map, pointed heavily at the location of the Strait of Malacca, and said, "It is time to truly promote the pioneering lordship of the Yuanxu Islands in the Thousand Islands Country. The Songjiang Sun family, Jimo Chen family, Dianbai Zhang family, etc. who meet the requirements should all be given the third-class marquisate."

The title of Lord Pioneering has never been used since it was established.

Firstly, the originally agreed five-year period had not yet expired, and secondly, there was a lot of opposition in the court. In the eyes of the officials, this would lead to the proliferation of the Ming Dynasty's honorary system, which was the selling of official positions and titles in the Han Dynasty. In order to deal with the opposition from the officials, some changes were made to the system.

For example, the official titles that were originally planned to be the same as the Ming Dynasty’s Military Merits, such as the Earl of Yicheng and the Marquis of Ningyuan, have now become divided into first-class, second-class, and third-class.

But Zhu Yiliu knew very well that the military merits of the Ming Dynasty were military merits. Whether in the hinterland, overseas, or in any corner of the world, they were the hereditary military merits of the Ming Dynasty. However, the pioneering lordship could only be used in the places it pioneered. Its status was not recognized in the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty. This was made very clear at the beginning of the establishment of the system.

In fact, it is a modification of the feudal system. In places where the Ming Dynasty could not reach, the feudal lords were allowed to restrain and manage.

"I obey your order." Li Yougong was stunned for a moment, then immediately bowed his head and accepted the order.

Zhu Yiliu has always been like this. He would do it first and then talk about it. If it doesn't work, he would just flip it over and pretend nothing happened.

While His Majesty is away, the mischievous Prince Lu is in power and is pushing forward some controversial policies to see the effects. Practice will tell the truth.

Start first, and gradually sum up experience and lessons amidst the collision of contradictions.

When Yin Zhengmao went to Luzon, many people in the court said that it would become a major threat to the Ming Dynasty's coastal areas in the future. But now Luzon is gradually becoming one of the hinterlands of the Ming Dynasty, and even the land surveying is done in an orderly manner. The speed of royalization is even much faster than that of Suiyuan. Until now, the land surveying of Suiyuan cannot be carried out because there are too few people.

Zhu Yiliu was not always fooling around. For example, he held public trials and he was now rudely promoting the title of Lord Kaituo.

"When the third son of Li Tianwang was born, there was a "Na" character on his left palm and a "Zha" character on his right palm, hence the name Nezha. This Nezha is a person who cannot be confined by worldly rules and regulations."

"This prince went to the sea to clean himself up for three days and got into trouble. He trampled down the Crystal Palace and caught a dragon to extract its tendons to make a belt. The Heavenly King knew about it and wanted to kill him for fear of future troubles. Nezha was furious and took a knife in his hand. He cut off his flesh to return to his mother and his bones to return to his father. He returned his father's essence and mother's blood, and his soul went straight to the Western Paradise to report to the Buddha." Li Yougong reminded Zhu Yiliu that there must be a limit to mischief. (Journey to the West Chapter 83)
Zhu Yiliu was very smart and naturally understood what Li Yougong meant. He was saying that he was the mischievous Nezha who had made too much trouble and would probably end up having to give his flesh to his mother and his bones to his father.

"Tsk, do you really think that my brother is a figure like the Heavenly King Li who holds the pagoda?" Zhu Yiliu shook his head and said, "You have followed my brother since you were ten years old. It has been twelve years, but you still don't understand me. If I really went to the sea to pull out the dragon's tendons, my brother would only help me hold down its head and tell me to pull it out completely so that I can make a Xuanyuan bow and pull out the teeth to make a Qiankun arrow."

"If someone really blames me, my brother will just set the whole world on fire, report to the Heavenly Palace, and ask the Jade Emperor why he made things difficult for my brother and me."

Li Yougong was a lower-ranking person and he looked up to the emperor, so he would see some compromises in his majesty's actions. But Zhu Yiliu was his younger brother and he looked at the emperor at eye level, so he would come to a completely different conclusion. It was just that the identity of the emperor confined him.

The sky is falling, my royal brother will hold it up!

"Your Highness is right." Li Yougong was stunned, and then immediately bowed his head and said that this was indeed the case. Whenever Zhu Yiliu got into trouble, His Majesty would always bring more people to the capital to prove that Zhu Yiliu was just fooling around and playing house like a child.

Real violence still depends on the emperor.

Zhu Yiliu stood in front of the geomancy map and said with great certainty: "My brother and I actually don't like fighting, not at all."

"Because the most loyal warriors will die, followed by the brave warriors, and finally the cunning, utilitarian, selfish warriors who are still willing to fight for the people of Ming Dynasty."

"These people can all be called great. These great people will die on the battlefield. When all the warriors who reported to the emperor and saved the people leave us, what is left is ultimately a contest between hypocrites and villains."

"No matter who wins, it will be a disaster for the world."

"Therefore, we need to do everything we can to prevent the war from happening in the heartland of Ming. In this way, as long as there are gentlemen in the world, the situation will not be so bad that it cannot be handled."

"The Han Dynasty has had loyal people from generation to generation, but each generation has been disheartening. There will eventually be a day when dark clouds will cover the sun."

Zhu Yiliu was the world's top meat-eater and a hereditary prince of the Ming Dynasty. What he least wanted was the Ming Dynasty to fall, as that would mean he would have no good life.

"I am different from Your Majesty. As long as I win, I don't care what means I use to win." Zhu Yiliu expressed his attitude to Li Yougong very affirmatively. Winning is everything to him. As for whether the Ming Dynasty is good or not, he doesn't care.

It was not him who sat on the dragon throne. He, as regent, brought his own square stool. This was also the rule passed down since the Yongle period.

On the second day of March in the thirteenth year of the Wanli reign, Prince Lu officially issued an order to begin conferring titles on overseas nobles.

When Lord Kaituo's decree was implemented, all the officials in the capital were silent and there was no fierce opposition. Now all the officials understood Prince Lu's temper, and they knew that he was an unreasonable man!

The emperor is at least reasonable, and Prince Lu won't listen to any objections at all. Now the only hope of all officials is the emperor whom they have scolded for twelve years. They just hope that His Majesty can come back soon. Zhu Yiliu really does things without rules.

After the perpetrators of the Yizhou opium den case were brought to the capital, they were carefully interrogated by the Northern Pacification Office, which revealed why this opium den was so bold as to open for business when the Ming Emperor was on his southern tour.

The opium den located in Huiminfang, Yizhou has been established for more than three years. At first, the people around did not notice anything unusual, but later it became so smoky that the people nearby could not stand it anymore. Moreover, the smoke from the opium den made the people around it feel weak all over, and they could not sleep or eat well as if they had lice on their bodies.

After several families discussed it, they went to the government office to file a complaint. The prefect of Yizhou, Lei Shizhen, sent government runners to check and told the people that there was nothing unusual.

Originally, the matter should have ended here, but that night, several families who went to file a lawsuit suffered disaster. There was a curfew in the city, but a group of scoundrels appeared in Huiminfang openly and smashed the houses. The people who filed the lawsuit had their legs broken and were warned not to meddle in other people's business, otherwise their entire family would be killed.

These families were so angry that they had no idea what a casino was doing that caused such a big fuss. A fifty-year-old man could no longer tolerate it, so he went out with a knife and never came back. No one knew where he went.

From then on, no one dared to speak, no one dared to talk about the matter of this opium den. This kind of thing happened more than once, so that the people could only pretend that it did not exist. This is also the reason why the opium den did whatever it wanted. No matter how powerful you are, as an emperor, and how well-connected you are, how can you still see it if no one tells you?

Isn't this a coincidence?
It just happened to hit the muzzle of the emperor's gun during his southern tour.

Zhu Yiliu finally finished reviewing all the memorials. The memorials that had been piled up for four days were all sent to the six ministries. This inefficiency made all the officials somewhat uncomfortable, but after all, the machine of the Ming Dynasty court could still work normally.

Zhu Yiliu walked out of Tonghe Palace, stretched hard, and went towards the Royal Gewuyuan. His uncle Zhu Zaiyu invited Zhu Yiliu to go because there was important stuff to do.

The Ming Dynasty's 48-horsepower steam engine, Shengping No. 4, has successfully completed its test run, and the Xishan Coal Bureau's production workshop is also under construction and is expected to be completed before the end of the year. The annual production of more than 3,000 Shengping No. 4s will inject new vitality into the Ming Dynasty's basic economy.

"Hasn't mathematics developed to this point now?" Zhu Yiliu stood in the Sutra Library, staring at the works in the mathematics compartment, stunned.

Because of the emperor's requirement, Zhu Yiliu's mathematics was not bad, but the mathematics he learned was addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, basic geometry, positive and negative numbers, and decimals. Ever since Li Kaifang became a doctor of the Five Classics and invented the number axis, mathematics seemed to have opened the door to another world. Now there are many more data graphs, variables, equations, functions, images, and so on.

Zhu Yiliu exclaimed at these things as amazing, especially the trigonometric function graph drawn at the main entrance, which made Zhu Yiliu stare at it for a long time.

"Keep learning new things." Xiong Tingbi felt a headache as he looked at the mathematics that he was completely unfamiliar with. This stuff looked difficult, and in fact, it was not easy at all.

"Hahaha, Xiong Da still has to take the imperial examination, but I don't! You still have to learn these things, you are really lucky!" Zhu Yiliu said proudly with his hands on his waist. Seeing Xiong Da get into trouble is also one of Zhu Yiliu's pleasures.

The size of the 48-horsepower steam engine was smaller than the previous Shengping No. 3. Zhu Yiliu circled the iron horse three times to the left and three times to the right, asking questions with great interest. He asked for a long time before he felt unsatisfied.

"Your Highness, the reason I invited you here this time, in addition to confirming the success of the Shengping No. 4 test run, is for one more thing." Zhu Zaiyu held up his hand and said, "Let Dr. Wei talk about this matter." Wei Youshan, the inventor of the water-based fertilizer in the Ming Dynasty, was awarded the Chonggu Award for water-based fertilizer. He is now a Doctor of Five Classics in the Imperial Academy of Gewu of the Ming Dynasty, specializing in the study of fertilizers. The technological improvements of water-based fertilizers were all led by Wei Youshan.

"In the 12th year of the Wanli reign, the water and fertilizer output was able to benefit about 6 million mu of land, or 60,000 hectares, which basically covered all the cultivated land in Shuntian Prefecture." Wei Youshan said nervously, "There seems to be no difference between water and fertilizer and compost. At least we haven't found any harm so far."

"Does Your Highness farm?"

Wei Youshan was not nervous when facing the emperor, but he didn't know where to start when facing Prince Lu, because Prince Lu did not farm.

"I don't know how to farm. I've only been to the fields with my elder brother, but it was just to play with my nephew. I've never farmed seriously, unlike my elder brother." Zhu Yiliu told the Doctor of the Five Classics very clearly that he, a natural nobleman, really didn't know how to farm.

Among all the civil and military officials in the court, there are only a few ministers who can talk to His Majesty about farming.

Wei Youshan was silent for a moment before he said, "I'm from Fengxiang, Shaanxi. There's a wealthy man named Li in our area. He owns thousands of acres of fertile land. When he goes out to visit relatives and friends, he picks up broken straw sandals on the road and puts them on the roof to smoke. After a thick layer of ash is formed in the woodshed, the broken straw sandals become soft and can be thrown into the compost pit to be composted."

"It's not that Mr. Li is poor. On the contrary, he is very rich. He is not stingy either. He is just desperate for fat money."

Zhu Yiliu's eyes lit up and he immediately said, "Ah, so these old straw sandals are piled up for composting. I've seen my brother do this before. It turns out it's for fertilizer!"

He could understand Li Yuanwai's behavior and didn't even think that Wei Youshan was making up a story, because Zhu Yiliu had really seen it. He was surprised at that time that his royal brother piled up those broken straw sandals and rags there, and they disappeared after a while. It turned out that they were all used for composting and manure treatment.

"Ah?" Zhu Zaiyu looked at Zhu Yiliu in astonishment. In the Sutra Library, all the Five Classics doctors looked at Zhu Yiliu in horror. Isn't it true that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty also picks up rags? ! Is this kind of thing something that their officials can listen to?
"The Great Light Church says that a prophet has eight virtues, and frugality is one of them. Everyone, why make a fuss?" Zhu Yiliu said calmly.

Zhu Yiliu was somewhat panicked. He just spoke too quickly and told the emperor's story. He really was not spreading rumors about his brother. His brother really did it, and more than once.

"Your Highness is right. The country relies on the holy ruler. Your Majesty is like the scorching sun in the sky. Why should the world not prosper?" As an official of the Ministry of Rites and a representative of the administrative power of the Imperial Academy of Gewu, Shen Li quickly came out to express his opinion! This is the wisdom of your Majesty. Can the emperor's work be called picking up rags? That's called resource redistribution!
Definitely not rag picking!
"Composting is actually a very difficult thing. My brother told me many times, but I'm stupid and didn't remember it. I don't know how to compost. But the composting process is called ripening. My brother told me that if the compost is not ripe and hot, the bugs in the soil will not be burned to death. If it is spread, it will burn the seedlings."

"My royal brother always says: A successful farm depends on good fertilizer." Zhu Yiliu didn't like farm work, so he just memorized the general idea.

The composting process does not actually kill bacteria, but rather turns organic matter into inorganic matter. If organic matter is piled directly underground, it will cause bacteria to multiply, generate heat and burn seedlings, and the roots and stems of plants cannot absorb these organic matter.

Zhu Yiliu has always been like this. He can't remember clearly things that he is not interested in, so this misunderstanding arises.

Wei Youshan continued, "After pulling the radishes, the season entered the cold twelfth month of winter. During this period, when the weather was clear, people would go to the fields to burn ashes. That is, they would put straw, branches, shrubs, weeds, etc. into a conical earth stove and light a fire at the bottom. Once the flames passed, these straw and other things would become crackling sounds."

"Usually, pine or fir trees are chosen because they have high oil content. This is what ordinary people often call stewed tobacco."

"After burning one pile, burn another. In winter, the fields are full of these piles. During spring ploughing, a dustpan of ash plus half a shovel of compost is the best fertilizer."

Pan Jixun said that the land reclamation in Suiyuan was a bit reckless, as they simply set fire to the mountains. This was naturally a manifestation of their eagerness for quick success and instant benefits, and it was also for the purpose of burning ashes.

"So this is where the ash mixed into the compost comes from." Zhu Yiliu suddenly realized that the emperor would do this every year when he went for spring ploughing. At that time, Zhu Yiliu was still wondering what was added in it.

Now he finally understood that gray is also fat.

Zhu Yijun told his brother about this more than once, but Zhu Yiliu really didn't like it and later he was too lazy to tell him anymore.

"We have found a substitute for burnt ash." Wei Youshan looked at Zhu Yiliu and told him about the recent findings of the Imperial Academy of Gewu. He took out a small box the size of a palm and said, "This is mineral salt from the Western Regions. It can replace burnt ash and be added to water and fertilizer."

"What is this?" Zhu Yiliu asked curiously.

Wei Youshan shook his head and said, "I don't know. Our Five Classics Doctors know the fact but not the reason. However, the test results show that it has the same effect as the things made from burning ashes."

"This thing is called Jingjue Salt. Merchants from the Western Regions brought it to Jiayuguan to sell, but no one wanted it. This salt is poisonous if eaten."

Jingjue Salt was sold as salt, but buyers soon discovered that it was completely inedible and it became unsalable. It was called Jingjue Salt because merchants from the Western Regions said it was produced from the ancient Western Region country of Jingjue, but in fact the ancient Jingjue country had long since perished.

In fact, all the Jingjue salt comes from Yanze (Lop Nur), which is a saltwater lake in the Western Regions.

The Royal Academy of Gewu was always criticized for wasting imperial and national treasury because the things studied by the Five Classics doctors in the Academy were always strange. All kinds of things would be transported to the Academy through the Ming administrative system for research, and most of them would produce no results. This was indeed the case. The research of the Five Classics doctors was indeed strange.

But it was this strange thing that allowed Wei Youshan to find a substitute for burnt ash again, in the Western Regions.

"It only needs a simple processing and can be directly added to water and fertilizer. It is much more useful than burning ash." Wei Youshan was a little helpless. When he said this, Zhu Yiliu, who was born a noble, didn't understand. The emperor was not here, which made Wei Youshan scratching his head.

Burning ash sounds fun, but it is actually very tiring. Outdoor activities in winter are the most tiring, and the hard soil makes it difficult to work. You also have to burn some of the most important firewood, which is your lifeblood, especially in the freezing winter in the north.

The processing is actually very simple. It is to heat the water solution, cool it to a certain temperature to crystallize, take out the crystals, wash and dry them. By repeating this process, you can get the Jingjue Salt in Wei Youshan's hand. No matter what it is, as long as it can be used.

"I can't fully understand its importance." Zhu Yiliu rubbed the Jingjue salt and said with certainty: "Who made me lazy? I can't understand your anxiety, and I don't even understand the hard work of the people to burn ashes. After all, I don't have to burn ashes."

"But I understand one thing. This thing of yours is a mine, right?"

"It's a mine." Wei Youshan thought about it and agreed with His Royal Highness Prince Lu's definition. It is indeed a kind of mine.

"As long as it's a mine, there's no problem. Who cares what it is? Just occupy it first!" Zhu Yiliu couldn't empathize with the significance of this thing at all. He changed the statement to one that everyone could understand. There are mines in the Western Regions that the Ming Dynasty needs. After changing it to this statement, Zhu Yiliu felt that he understood its importance.

Zhu Yiliu couldn't tell the difference between iron ore, copper ore, silver ore and gold ore. In his opinion, they were all stones. But it was these stones that turned into gold and became important resources for the Ming Dynasty. That made things much easier. If it was a mine, he had to occupy it!

Whether it is useful or not, just take it and see.

"Ah? Ah." Zhu Zaiyu was stunned, and then relieved. Although Zhu Yiliu was not good at learning and did not want to figure out what it was, his domineering character was very similar to His Majesty. What's mine, it's all mine!
Zhu Zaiyu thought for a moment and said, "The Laotian Xuanwei Office has also presented this type of ore. The effect is the same. It's the same thing."

"I understand." Zhu Yiliu immediately understood that there were mines in the Western Regions and Indochina that the Ming Dynasty needed. That was it. The rich silver mountains had been occupied by the barbarians in the West, and the Ming Dynasty could not reach out to them until today.

The mineral vein is right next to us. If we don't occupy it, are we going to wait for the red-haired barbarians from the West to occupy it?

The mineral veins will really attract the Ming army.

Zhu Yiliu quickly wrote a memorial to the emperor on his southern tour, reporting on the fact that the salt lakes in the Western Regions and Laos possessed mines needed by the Ming Dynasty.

After receiving the memorial, the Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun immediately summoned Zhang Juzheng and Wang Chonggu.

"I farm the land, so I naturally know how hard it is. Burning ashes looks fun, but going outdoors in winter is a huge burden for the people. Cotton-padded clothes, cotton shoes, are all consumables, and they also need to eat more food. If this Jingjue salt is really as magical as the Institute of Gewu says, it must be in the hands of the Ming Dynasty." Zhu Yijun first set the tone for the matter.

Zhu Yijun understood what the thing called Jingjue Salt by the Five Classics doctors was. It was actually a natural potassium salt mine. The ash from burnt wood was mainly potassium carbonate, while the natural potassium salt mine was potassium chloride.

It exists in the Western Regions and in Laos, and its production is not complicated. It is a typical dissolution crystallization method, heating and cooling, adding water and salt, and repeating the cycle. If the purity is not high enough, it can be crystallized multiple times. The main thing is temperature control.

Wang Chonggu thought for a moment and said, "I know Wei Youshan very well. He is a timid person and would never dare to deceive the emperor. After all, he was born a poor laborer and likes to study some strange and tricky things. If it weren't for the Institute of Gewu, the things he tinkered with would not be worthy of being accepted by the upper class. In fact, tinkering with these things is not doing his job properly."

The person who likes to do nothing the most in the Ming Dynasty is the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty himself. His Majesty really doesn't care about the proper work of the Confucian scholars. He just likes these strange and tricky auspicious signs.

"So, we need to build a highway to Jiayuguan, and also find a way to reach Yanze. As for Laos, we need to find a way. At the very least, this mine must be in the hands of the Ming Dynasty. Only then can I sleep well." Zhu Yijun made a summary.

Mine, all mine!
"This is a great blessing for Laos." Zhang Juzheng immediately added: "Laos Xuanweisi is a place surrounded by wars. Toungoo, Annan, and even Siam can bully it. The Ming Dynasty needs Laos, so Laos can have a backer. With a backer, it can live like a human being."

The Ming Dynasty did not need to resort to conquest to obtain the Jingjue salt. The Laotian Xuanwei Office wished that the Ming Dynasty would turn its attention to it. As long as they took one more look at it, they would be able to survive in the cracks.

Zhang Juzheng put it very tactfully. He said bullying, but that was not bullying. It was aggression, killing, rivers of blood, and bone-sucking exploitation.

Nothing is more important than staying alive.

For the Lao Xuanwei Office, this was a blessing from heaven. Once the Ming army was really stationed in the mine, Annan, Siam, and Toungoo would only make a few noises at most, and the evil deeds of wantonly occupying territory and killing citizens would be gone forever.

If the Ming army really stationed there, would that be bullying Laos? That would clearly be pulling the Ming's tongue!
The Ming Dynasty, a dynasty that fought wars every day from its establishment to its demise, really used force to tell others what the Celestial Empire is.

(End of this chapter)