Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The news Zhu Youjian received was brought back by Jiang Yueguang during his diplomatic mission to Japan.

He was ordered to go to Edo to question the Tokugawa shogunate why it detained the Ming Dynasty's imperial concubine and why the Satsuma domain invaded Ryukyu.

At the same time, he was responsible for collecting intelligence, especially news about exchanges between Ming Dynasty and Japan.

The news of Portuguese merchants' trading methods in Japan was thus passed on, causing Zhu Youjian to notice the difference in the gold and silver price ratio between the two countries.

"What products are selling best in Japan?"

"What do they import the most from Ming?"

He ordered someone to summon Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Zhiyan, and Zhu Youjian questioned them.

Zheng Hongkui was still young at that time and did not participate much in these matters.

Zheng Zhiyan was one of the Eighteen Zhis and had participated in the uprising in Japan, so he was sent by Zheng Zhilong to pick up his wife and children.

He heard the emperor's question and replied:
"Most of the goods shipped from Xiangshanao to Japan were silk, mostly raw silk and silk, as well as cotton, linen, sugar, leather, medicine, etc. Most of them were traded in Nagasaki."

"The items brought back included silver bars, lacquerware, Japanese swords, kimonos, etc. Most of them were sold to India."

Zhu Youjian nodded slightly, then frowned a little and asked:
“Why is raw silk listed first, and not finished silk?”

"Also, doesn't the Ming Dynasty have ready-made silk garments? Do we need Portuguese merchants to purchase Japanese kimonos?"

Zheng Zhiyan opened her mouth. She had never thought about these things before.

Only when the emperor asked him about it did he begin to think about the reason.

Thinking about the silk weaving workshops in Jiangnan, Zheng Zhiyan said:

"There are many looms in Jiangnan, so the silk woven is not difficult to sell."

"The patterns they weave are mostly Ming Dynasty styles. They can be sold without having to accommodate foreign merchants."

"But the Japanese and Westerners always need the patterns and colors they need, so they will purchase raw silk and weave it into silk for clothing."

After this explanation, Zhu Youjian understood.

It is simply because the Ming Dynasty is now a seller's market and there is no need to accommodate foreign businessmen.

Therefore, the silk woven here is mostly of the patterns and colors commonly used in the Ming Dynasty. If foreign merchants don’t want to buy it, they can just get out of here.

This led to the Japanese and Westerners purchasing some raw silk and weaving it into silk fabrics they needed.

Ming Dynasty merchants have become accustomed to this and have never thought about whether they should do so.

However, Zhu Youjian keenly realized that the Ming Dynasty's interests were being damaged by exporting raw silk compared to exporting silk.

After all, how can the price of raw materials compare with that of industrial products?

Weaving the raw silk of the Ming Dynasty into silk and selling it can feed more Ming Dynasty workers.

At the same time, it will effectively hit foreign textile industries, making it difficult for them to catch up with silk technology.

Zhu Youjian thought about this and immediately gave the order:
“Let the customs restrict the export of raw materials such as raw silk and implement a quota system in the future.”

“Those without quotas for raw silk can only purchase finished products.”

Thinking of the previous order to set silk grades, Zhu Youjian summoned Shen Yin, the seal holder of the Shangyi Bureau, and asked:
"How is the silk grade being developed?"

“Are there any written rules?”

Shen Yin had eaten some food some time ago and had been working very hard these days. Upon hearing this, he quickly replied:

"It has been formulated. There are special grade, first grade, second grade, and third grade."

"The palace only uses special and first-class silk, and never allows inferior silk to be mixed in."

"Silk medicine bags are all inferior. As long as they can be used, they are as cheap as possible."

Zhu Youjian nodded slightly and praised Shen Yin a few words.

The purpose of asking the Shangyijian to set the grades of silk was to reduce the cost of silk medicine bags so that they could be used in firearms.

The initial results achieved today are indeed worthy of praise.

Now he ordered:
"Not only silk needs to be graded, but raw silk also needs to be graded, and the raw materials must be controlled."

“The grades of raw silk can be classified into A, B, C, D, E, and F. The better ones can be classified as Class II and Class III.”

"As for raw silk above Grade A and special grade silk fabrics, in principle, they are not allowed to be exported. Only when the amount of silk traded reaches a certain level, they are allowed to buy it."

"In the future, weaving groups and garment workshops will accept customization, weave corresponding silk fabrics according to the requirements of foreign merchants, and make ready-made clothes."

Shen Yin remembered them all and boasted:
"Your Majesty has the clothing workshop make the clothes and determine the size of the finished clothes."

"I have already decided on a few sizes and asked the tailor to try to make the clothes."

"Would you like to use these for the palace's winter clothes this year?"

Zhu Youjian nodded, praised Shen Yin a few words, and said to him:
"Let the tailors design a few more sets for the masters of the palaces to choose from."

"The outstanding ones will be promoted to fashion designers, set up fashion design studios, and share the profits from the sales of ready-made clothes."

"Next year's music festival will hold a fashion show. We must ask them to prepare excellent works and let models wear them to compete." Zhu Youjian was very concerned about this matter because it was related to the development of the Ming Dynasty's textile and clothing industries.

In order to handle this matter well, Zhu Youjian also ordered:

"The fashion show is hosted by the clothing association, and the association needs to expand its membership and promote standards such as clothing sizes."

“We also need to form a textile association to set standards for raw silk, silk fabrics, cotton and linen fabrics, etc., and make members abide by the court’s regulations.”

"Send someone to inform the weaving workshop to collect more patterns from various countries, as well as places with developed textile industries. Don't be ignorant of everything."

When Shen Yin heard this, he was secretly delighted.

It was not for any other reason, but because the emperor asked him to inform the weaving workshop about this matter.

This means that the emperor was not satisfied with the weaving workshop. If he did a better job, it would be possible that the weaving group would be changed into a clothing group in the future and placed under the supervision of the Shangyi.

So he happily agreed and did these things according to the emperor's orders.
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Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Zhiyan watched the emperor's brief instructions determine the textile and clothing industries. They had a deeper understanding of the emperor's power, which really could influence the world with just one word.

Then they heard the emperor say:
"Sugarcane was brought from Nanyang. Nanyang and Dongning should be suitable for growing sugarcane."

"Go back and ask Dongning to make some arrangements. Select a few plots of land for trial planting and boil them into sugar cane to sell."

"Also, there are a lot of deer in Dongning. I heard that deer skins are in great demand in Japan?"

Zheng Zhiyan quickly replied:

"Japanese armor linings, shoes and socks, leather cords, sword handles, and archery gloves all require flexible deerskin."

"Last year, Mr. Huo hunted deer and asked Dongning Trading Company to sell a batch of them."

"The Dutch mainly engaged in the trade of silk, silver, sugar and deerskin in Dongning."

When Zhu Youjian heard this, he realized that he was ignorant. It turned out that the Dutch had discovered that the Japanese needed raw silk, sugar and deerskin the most. They even opened a sugarcane plantation on Dongning Island to trade with Japan.

Zhu Youjian was very satisfied that Huo Weihua could inherit these from the Dutch, and his understanding of this person's ability deepened.

After such discussions, Zhu Youjian had a basic understanding of the trade situation between Ming Dynasty and Japan.

Seeing that Zheng Zhiyan was quite familiar with these, he gave the order:

"I appoint you as deputy envoy to discuss trade matters with the Edo Shogunate."

"Tell the Tokugawa clan that if they don't accept Ming's conditions, then forget about trading with Ming."

"If they still refuse to obey, I will allow your fleets from the Zheng clan and the Andong Protectorate to continue the attack and occupy the smaller islands outside the three major islands."

At this moment, Zhu Youjian had no intention of attacking Japan. He even restricted Zheng and the imperial army from attacking the three islands to avoid going to war with another country besides Jianlu.

What he needed most now was to trade with Japan, find a market for the products of the Imperial Household Department, and collect customs duties at the same time.

As long as the Tokugawa shogunate agreed to his proposed conditions such as trade, agreed tariffs, most-favored-nation treatment, establishment of a free trade zone, and independent trial in the free trade zone, he would not mind letting the Tokugawa shogunate off and forgiving their mistakes such as detaining the Ming Dynasty's imperial concubine and invading Ryukyu.

After seeing these conditions, although Zheng Zhiyan did not understand the deep meaning of some of the clauses, she strongly agreed with the independent trials in the free trade zone and the protection of the rights and interests of Ming Dynasty citizens.

If this clause had existed earlier, how could his sister-in-law, a consort of the Ming Dynasty, be detained and captured by the people of Hirado Domain?

He was anxious to bring back his sister-in-law and nephew and complete Zheng Zhilong's orders, so he quickly set out with these terms to meet Jiang Yueguang in Edo.
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In Edo Castle, the generals and ministers of the Tokugawa shogunate were shocked when Jiang Yueguang brought people from the Matsumae domain.

They never expected that the Ming Dynasty would send troops to Japan and conquer the Matsumae domain.

What they didn't expect was that Zheng also sent troops to drive out all of Satsuma's forces in Ryukyu.

The attacks from both the north and south made them feel the pressure of a mountain. The reclusive general Tokugawa Hidetada could not sit still and discussed with his son Tokugawa Iemitsu and others:
"Is the Ming Dynasty's move intended to attack Japan?"

"Are they still not satisfied with the conquest of Korea and want to continue to teach Japan a lesson?"

The Korean Expedition was Japan's name for the Wanli Korean War, which was later called the Bunroku-Keicho War. They were all worried that the Ming Dynasty would attack from both sides in order to destroy Japan.

Especially after learning from the people of Matsumae that Korean soldiers were involved, they became even more worried that this was a war of annihilation to avenge Korea.

The young and energetic Tokugawa Iemitsu said:

"What are you afraid of!"

"We are blessed by the divine wind. No matter how powerful the Ming Dynasty is, its army cannot get through."

Tokugawa Hidetada was the son of Tokugawa Ieyasu and had experienced the Korean War. Toyotomi Hideyoshi's defeat made him realize how powerful the Ming army was, but he did not have the same confidence as his son.

But he couldn't show his fear in front of everyone, so he nodded and said:
"Very good! Very energetic!"

"But we can't just rely on the kamikaze. We also need the samurai to prepare."

"Whether the Ming army comes or not, all the vassal states must gather their forces and prepare for battle."

Tokugawa Iemitsu was eager to try and asked:
"Are you going to mobilize troops to retake the Matsumae domain?"

"Our position is the Shogun."

As a position exclusive to the head of the shogunate, Seii meant to conquer Ezo.

Now that the Ming Dynasty has occupied Ezo and driven out the Matsumae clan, this has made Tokugawa Iemitsu embarrassed, and he plans to take back Ezo. (End of this chapter)