Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 410 Japanese slave rebellion
"Did you hear that?"

"what?"

"There are gold mines in Kunlun Continent. You can find gold sand just by searching in the river."

"You're fooling people, right?"

"Really, the fireworks over the Imperial City last night were all to celebrate the good news brought back by the sailors from the Western Sea."

"Even if there is gold sand, it would be very difficult to mine it from such a long distance."

"That's the truth, but you can't control the fluctuation of people's hearts. Go to Jiangdong Gate and Dinghuai Gate. There are a lot of people recruiting sailors on the dock. I heard that the wages of sailors have reached forty cash per day."

"so tall?!"

On the second day after the voyage fleet returned to Nanjing, with Zhu Gaoxu's encouragement, news of a gold mine in Kunlun Continent began to spread.

Regardless of whether the people regard it as a topic for after-dinner talk, or they are really interested in trying to make profits overseas, in short, the public opinion environment that Zhu Gaoxu wants has emerged.

After all, the population can move, but the mines cannot. The food and clothing for millions of laborers is important, and the food and clothing for millions of miners is equally important.

"Recently, as the construction of Beijing City has gradually come to an end, there has been a lot of criticism among the people and temples about the relocation of the capital..."

In the Chunhe Hall, while the news of the Kunlunzhou gold mine spread to the entire Jiangnan at an extremely fast speed, Zhu Gaoxu calmly reviewed the memorial.

If he can only restrain the emperor, no matter whether it is a strong restraint or a weak restraint, the subsequent king who ascends the throne will not have enough capital and strength to maintain these two regions of restraint.

Compared with the benefits brought back by the fleet, this is not much, but the financial situation of the Ming Dynasty is not optimistic now, and more than one million guan is already a huge expenditure.

Such a distance is not suitable for today's Ming Dynasty to occupy.

Instead of coveting Kunlun Island, it is better to manage Yunnan, Jiaozhi, Luzon, Jiugang, and Ceylon that we have already obtained, and strive to further control the three declarations and six comforts.

Only by taking actual control of the local area and allowing the local area to develop its own capital and fight against Jiangnan can the northern territory be stabilized. This is why Zhu Gaoxu vigorously promoted official education and built factories in the north.

Zhu Gaoxu revealed the unknown side behind the navy's glory, which made Hu Lun couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"Only with sufficient cinchona bark can they go deep into Kunlun Continent and mine the gold mines in the dense forest."

Zhu Gaoxu asked Hu Lun in return, but did not wait for his answer, but continued: "What's more, the imperial court controls two important straits, Ceylon and Manchuria. Whenever a fleet wants to pass through, it must pay the imperial court's commercial tax of one out of ten. ”

Zhu Gaoxu is indeed very keen on the resources of Kunlun Continent. Compared with Indochina, Nanzhou (Australia), Beizhou and Dongzhou... Kunlun Continent is too far away for the Ming Dynasty.

"You have done a good job in this matter. Now we just need to wait for the news of Kunlun Cape's appointment with peace of mind, and at the same time see how Japan's Ashikaga Yoshimochi plans to deal with the situation."

"It would be great if they could really gain a foothold." Zhu Gaoxu interrupted Hu Lun's words and explained:

Such efficiency is not suitable for today's Ming Dynasty.

"If they gain a foothold in Kunlun Continent, then the imperial court..."

"It's interesting." Zhu Gaoxu looked disdainful.

"The situation in Kunlun Island is even more complicated than in Nanyang. Without enough cinchona bark, they can only pan for placer gold in the peripheral rivers."

During this voyage to the West, not many people of the Ming army died on the battlefield, but more people were killed by diseases.

Even if the North cannot continue to expand its capital territory, it can still rely on these resource-based handicrafts to protect itself.

Zhu Gaoxu ordered projects such as Beijing, the Canal, the Yellow River, Wusong, Huangpu, and Dabaoen Temple to be carried out slowly. After all, what he cared about most at the moment was the implementation of the New Deal in Jiangnan.

"Tell me, how much should the court sell this piece of cinchona bark?"

Zhu Gaoxu knew very well that the country's power could be directed to the south, but the north could not shrink or give up its power.

This phenomenon cannot be tolerated by Zhu Gaoxu. Once the political center is coerced by capital to develop towards Jiangnan, then after Jiangnan becomes the political center, its development direction will definitely be towards the Indo-China Peninsula and Southeast Asia, and the north will not be taken seriously by them at all.

"Without cinchona bark, the imperial court wants to use troops to attack Sanxuan and Liuwei, but the price cannot be borne by the current national treasury."

Hu Lun reported something, and this incident made Zhu Gaoxu put down his pen.

Standing in front of him, Hu Lun, the commander of the West Factory, returned the greeting and asked at the same time:

It takes at most three months to get to Beizhou from Daming, and you can make two round trips a year, but it takes a whole year to get to Kunlun Continent.

If they failed, it would mean that the imperial court would have to organize a voyage to the West, and the cost of organizing a voyage to the West was more than one million yuan.

"Have you found out who is adding fuel to the flames?" He asked Hu Lun calmly, but Hu Lun shook his head:
“It’s not so much who the people are, but everyone is involved.”

Zhu Gaoxu said, but Hu Lun said: "What if you don't want to?"

Historically, the Ming Dynasty worked so hard to shift the political center to the north. However, because it did not have enough resources to develop the north, the right to speak was always in the south, or in Jiangnan.

After he said these words, the ink brush in Zhu Gaoxu's hand stopped. After a moment, he continued to review the memorials and said in a calm tone: "Then I will reveal their old background."

"Your Highness, I can understand the news being given to the merchant gangs, but why should the news be given to countries like North Korea, Japan, and Siam?"

He does not need to pursue actual control of Mobei, but he must actually control the Northeast and Western Regions. Because he does not have actual control, subsequent kings will definitely not have the power to control these two areas.

"Let's first look at the actions of these business gangs. As long as they turn their attention from the land to the sea, the implementation of the New Deal will be much simpler."

At present, Jiangnan has completely lagged behind the north in resource-based handicraft industries such as coal, iron ore, gold and silver ore.

"The more gold they mine, the more the court makes, and the deeper they go, the more cinchona bark they need. No matter which way you look at it, the court cannot lose money."

"This time, more than 26,000 navy personnel went to the Western Ocean. Even if they did not go deep into the hinterland of the rainforest, more than 1,600 people lost their lives to diseases. Among them, those who helped Dagu La Xuanwei Division to suppress the local bandits lost their lives due to disease. More than seven hundred people.”

If you want to abandon the Northeast and Western Regions by then, it will take more than just migrating people.

Because of this, Wang Ren and the others have become the unit that Zhu Gaoxu cares about most.

It's just that pure mineral resources are still not enough to support the north's self-protection. After all, the development of mineral resources in this era is too slow, but once you have a steam engine, everything will be different.

Thinking of this, everyone's affairs returned to the starting point, which was whether Wang Ren and his party had arrived in Dongzhou and whether they had found what the imperial court needed.

Rubber and cinchona bark are the resources that Ming Dynasty currently needs most for external expansion and internal demand.

There is a huge difference between finding it one year earlier and finding it one year later. Zhu Gaoxu is already thirty years old and he is not sure how many years he can live.

All things must be implemented by his hands at the moment, and all classes in the entire Ming Dynasty can benefit.

The current Ming Dynasty has one advantage, and that is its "small population."

Compared with the world, the population of Ming Dynasty is naturally very large, but compared with the territory of Ming Dynasty, the population of more than 80 million is not that much.

In addition, there is no country in the world that can compete with the Ming Dynasty. Even the Ming Dynasty that has not been transformed by Zhu Gaoxu has no opponent in the world.

A sailing fleet of less than 30,000 people can fight back and forth with the Timurid Empire in the Persian region, not to mention the Mamluks and other countries.

As long as Ming Dynasty's naval deterrence is guaranteed, Ming Dynasty can dump its products on any coastal place and harvest various countries with tea, porcelain, silk and brown sugar.

As for the problems that will be encountered, that is not what Zhu Gaoxu should worry about.

As long as the overseas interests are sufficient, the business associations in Jiangnan will find ways to solve the problem themselves. The fusion of bureaucracy and capital, which appeared in the Song Dynasty, will also appear in the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Gaoxu cannot stop it.

Although capital is a scourge, as long as primitive accumulation is completed, the subsequent pressure will be greatly alleviated.

However, based on the size of Ming Dynasty, once Ming Dynasty is capitalized, it will be difficult for the global market to give birth to a second country of Ming Dynasty's size, but that will happen in an unknown number of years.

Gathering his mind, Zhu Gaoxu once again devoted his attention to the pile of memorials.

At the same time, Zhu Di, who was at the west corner gate, also heard the reports from Ji Gang, Chen Ying and others.

"After returning from this voyage, the tone of the temple has indeed changed. From the initial resistance to the voyage to the current support, it is all because His Highness the Prince saw the Shandian Mine and asked Zheng He to send people to lead the merchant gang to find it. The gold mines of Kunlun Continent.”

"Your Majesty, I think that the whole world is not the land of the king, and all the concubines of the Ming Dynasty are on the shores of the land."

"The gold mines in Kunlun Continent should be taken over by the imperial court, not handed over to these merchants."

In the west corner gatehouse, Ji Gang expressed all his thoughts, but now he didn't know that he had become a chess piece in Zhu Di's place that could be discarded at any time.

When he expressed his thoughts happily, Zhu Di asked: "You said that the imperial court would take over, then who would you send? Should you send it?"

"Uh... Chen..." Ji Gang was choked by Zhu Di's words, but he still responded: "I also have trustworthy servants under my command."

"No need." Zhu Di interrupted: "The national treasury is currently unable to make ends meet, and it is only thanks to the gold and silver spices that Zheng He brought back this time that it can be relieved."

"The affairs of Kunlun Continent are beyond the reach of the imperial court, and it is extremely easy to separate one party from another. It will not end well by then."

"According to what the East Palace said, the imperial court is stationed in Ceylon and Managa to collect taxes from these merchants."

"But Your Majesty..." Ji Gang wanted to say something else, but Zhu Di waved his hand: "Go down."

"Yes……"

Seeing Zhu Di like this, Ji Gang could only turn around and leave unwillingly. As for Chen Ying, who was standing aside, she bowed after Ji Gang left and said: "Your Majesty, although the temple has changed now, Xie Jin and other people from Jiangzuo are still the same. They are unruly and I think they still need to be rectified.”

"It is indeed necessary, but not now. Let's wait until the New Deal is implemented in Jiangxi." Zhu Di also interrupted Chen Ying and waved him off.

Upon seeing this, Chen Ying quickly returned the greeting and then slowly exited the west corner gate tower.

After they left, Wang Yan, Zheng He, and Yao Guangxiao, who had not been seen for a long time, walked out from behind Zhu Di.

Although he is seventy-five years old, Yao Guangxiao is still sharp and his behavior is the same as ten years ago.

Arriving in front of Zhu Di, the three of them bowed respectfully, and then Zhu Di was the first to speak: "These two people think that I don't know what they are doing."

He complained first, then turned his attention to Zheng He: "Do you really mean this, to hand over the gold mines of Kunlun Continent to those people?"

"Your Highness indeed means this." Zheng He nodded, and Yao Guangxiao next to him also considered his beads after hearing this:

"You can't bite off more than you can chew. His Highness's methods in the past have always been to act steadily and step by step. It's the same now."

"From the perspective of this poor monk, His Highness is more concerned about the implementation of the New Deal in the south of the Yangtze River, the reform of the land in the southwest, and how to attack the three tribes of Oara in Mobei than the gold mines in Kunlun Continent."

"As long as any of these three things are successful, they can solve the problems in the north, southwest and southeast of the Ming Dynasty."

Facing Zhu Di, Yao Guangxiao was no longer so clumsy. He would tell Zhu Di any information he could guess.

On the contrary, it was Zhu Gaoxu. Because he could never see through him, Yao Guangxiao mostly showed his clumsiness when facing Zhu Gaoxu. Zhu Gaoxu could also see his thoughts and would not bother him normally.

"The second child is really steady and a master of talents, just like me."

Zhu Di stroked his beard and responded to everyone with great satisfaction.

Since the last time the father and son had a frank talk with Yandian, he no longer had much resentment or worry about Zhu Gaoxu.

After all, he is getting older after all. Once a person gets older, he instinctively wants to be cared for by everyone, and he needs achievements to prove himself.

Zhu Gaoxu happened to be able to give him these two points, so he naturally focused on Zhu Gaoxu.

At least judging from the current situation, if Zhu Gaoxu really wants to be the emperor, then I may not be able to defeat him in Jiangnan.

Among the troops in Beijing, the Bohai faction accounts for 50%, and the Yanfu faction accounts for 50%. However, 30% of the Yanfu faction favors Zhu Gaoxu, and although the remaining 20% ​​do not express their stance, they will not be enemies of Zhu Gaoxu.

By doing this, he, the old man, has long been ignored by this second child without even realizing it.

In such a situation, the second child is still willing to let himself be the emperor, which shows his filial piety.

Although he still didn't want to give up the throne in his heart, when he thought about his age, Zhu Di still put away the idea of ​​continuing to occupy the position.

"How is the situation of Jie Jin's group repairing books?"

Zhu Di looked at Yao Guangxiao. Yao Guangxiao also considered the Buddha beads and said: "Guide but not suggest. Most of the books they have compiled are copied, and there are many taboos in them."

"As long as His Majesty wants to, these problems left by Jie Jin can be used as a handle."

"Hmm..." Zhu Di nodded, but he still cherished his talent deep in his heart and didn't want to kill Xie Jin just like that.

After thinking for a long time, Zhu Di hesitated and said: "After the book revision is completed, find an opportunity to demote him to Yunnan and Guangxi as an official, let him suffer and then see the situation."

"I accept your order." Yao Guangxiao nodded in agreement, but upon hearing the words, he sighed in his heart.

He knew Xie Jin's temperament very well. If it weren't for Zhu Di Xicai, he would have died several times.

Zhu Di is already wavering, and it is impossible for Xie Jin's temper to change, so his death is probably not far away.

Thinking of this, Yao Guangxiao stopped speaking, and Zhu Di also looked at Zheng He:
"How long do the treasure ships and warships of the Pacific Fleet need to be overhauled before they can continue sailing?"

"Probably all will be launched by the winter moon." Zheng He responded and then added: "In addition, the Ministry of Industry has also built more than a dozen treasure ships, more than 30 war ships, and more than 50 horse ships."

"According to what His Highness said yesterday, he probably wanted us to sail before the twelfth lunar month, and Yang Zhan, the Duke of Yue, has already started recruiting troops in the Huaihe and Jiangdong areas."

"According to the training progress, it will probably be around the twelfth lunar month that we can participate in the mission to the Western Ocean."

"The scale of this voyage to the West is about 70 treasure ships, 120 Daifuku warships with 3,000 rations, a total of 300 horse ships with 5,000 rations and 3,000 rations, and more than 30,000 soldiers and six guards. "

Zheng He explained the situation and progress of his third voyage to the West, and Zhu Di was very satisfied after hearing this.

After all, if this voyage to the West was carried out during his reign, it would naturally be counted as his achievement.

But he didn't know why the second child was so persistent in going to Dongzhou and Beizhou.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di couldn't help but ask Zheng He: "Although the second brother told me that there are things that can treat malaria in Dongzhou, and there are many crops that are not available in the Ming Dynasty, but it shouldn't take so much manpower and material resources to find these things."

"Yesterday you said that I was planning to set up the Dongzhou Xuanwei Department, which would require more manpower and material resources. Why is that?"

"It's strange that I didn't explain it clearly to Your Majesty." Zheng He realized that Zhu Gaoxu seemed to have forgotten to tell Zhu Di about many things, so Zheng He quickly added;

"There are tens of millions of natives with similar skin color to us in Dongzhou and Beizhou. They have their own country, and there are many mountains in Dongzhou and Beizhou. Especially Dongzhou produces gold and silver."

"His Royal Highness established the Dongzhou Xuanwei Division because he wanted to trade with the local people. After all, the imperial court's population is increasing a lot every year, and the speed of gold and silver mining in Southwest China, Japan, Luzon and other places has not increased. It has obviously reached its limit. ”

"Under such circumstances, only by obtaining gold and silver from Dongzhou can we continue to mint new money and avoid the recurrence of the money shortage during the Hongwu period."

After Zheng He finished speaking, everyone felt suddenly enlightened.

"So that's it!" Zhu Di smiled and stroked his beard: "I said that the second one who picked out the cracks in the bricks, how could he be willing to hand over the gold mines in Kunlun Continent to some merchants? It turned out that he had found more gold and silver mines. ”

"Well, not bad..." Zhu Di looked at Zheng He with satisfaction: "You must perform well during this voyage to the West."

"Servant, take your orders!" Zheng He bowed in response, and Zhu Di also waved his hand to signal them to leave.

Not long after, Yao Guangxiao and others exited the west corner gate tower, and Zheng He also returned to Chunhe Hall after a while.

It was already dusk when he arrived at the Chunhe Hall. Zhu Gaoxu had finished all the memorials and had just time to meet him.

"Why are you here?"

Zhu Gaoxu stood up with a smile, and Zheng He also chuckled and said: "I just got some news at the West Corner Gate, so I will pass it back to His Highness."

"Tell me about it." Zhu Gaoxu asked curiously, and Zheng He explained everything about the West Point Gate without hesitation.

From the conversation between Ji Gang and Chen Ying, to Zhu Di's decision to demote Jin, and Zheng He's introduction to Dongzhou to Zhu Di, all were told by Zheng He.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't have much emotion after hearing this. He just commented: "Ji Gang and Chen Ying can deal with Jiangzuo together after they have been dealt with."

"That Jie Jin should have been killed directly, but my father Xi was unwilling to kill him."

"But it doesn't matter. With Jie Jin's character, he probably won't be able to make peace with his demotion. In the end, he will be seeking his own death, and it will make it difficult for Jiangzuo officials to find fault."

"As for the matter in Dongzhou..."

Zhu Gaoxu paused and thought before continuing: "This time the fleets heading to the West and East will no longer escort merchant ships. At least, don't let anyone know about Dongzhou until the imperial court sets up the Dongzhou Xuanwei Department. "

"Yes!" Zheng He agreed. When Zhu Gaoxu heard this, he smiled and said, "You haven't eaten yet. In that case, eat with me."

"Yes..." A smile appeared on Zheng He's face. Being able to act as a lubricant for Zhu Di and his son was a great favor in his opinion.

Not long after, the two sat together and started talking, laughing and drinking.

But while they were talking, laughing and drinking, the island country across the sea from Nanjing began to become restless.

In the dark night, in the Sanjobo Gate Residence in Kyoto City, Ashikaga Yoshimochi, who was kneeling on the couch, looked a little mature.

At this moment, he was holding his samurai sword and looking at it, and the clothes he wore were those of the Wu family, not the clothes given by the Ming Dynasty prince that his father wore before his death.

Since the death of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, he has moved back to Sanjobo gate residence, and the former center of Japanese power, "Kitayama", has been left out in the cold.

In the dim environment, Ashikaga Yoshimochi shifted his gaze from the katana to the front of him.

On the long table in front of him, a small gold seal was placed on the table.

This is the gold seal of the Japanese King that Zhu Di gave to Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. For Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, this is a representative of the strong support he has received from the outside world, but for Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, this is his shame.

One day before, Emperor Gogameyama Hōri went to Yoshino to protest against the shogunate and the imperial court for violating the provisions of the Meitoku Peace Treaty, which stipulated that the two powers should be established one after the other, establishing Prince Shihito as the crown prince, and claiming that the Ashikaga shogunate was a lackey of the Ming Dynasty in ruling Japan.

This sentence deeply hurt the heart of Ashikaga Yoshimochi. He had never wanted to become a minister to the Ming Dynasty, but now he had made a decision in his heart.

"According to the plan, clean up those people in the city who support the declaration of vassalage, and then send envoys to Yingtian to tell the emperor of Ming Dynasty that Japan can accept trade, but refuses to declare vassalage."

"Hi!"

In the dark room, several voices sounded at the same time, and then they slowly got up and walked outside the room.

A moment later, the sound of rustling armor resounded in Kyoto, and tonight was destined to be a sleepless night...

(End of this chapter)