The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 303 Information Exchange
In fact, Zhu Houzhao was not opposed to colonizing Japan.

It was only because of the strong opposition from the civil officials that the Emperor had to think carefully about the matter.

However, after listening to Tang Hao's ideas on sea power, Zhu Houzhao had only one thought.

That is, it is necessary to colonize Japan, build it into the base of the Ming navy, and then completely control the maritime power of the East China Sea!
In fact, Ming Dynasty's complete colonization of Japan had many advantages for the Ming Dynasty.

First, the Ming Dynasty could frantically plunder Japan's resources, including gold, silver, minerals, money, grain, supplies and even population resources. This was equivalent to using Japan's resources to drive the development of the Ming Dynasty!

Secondly, it is what Tang Hao said about the maritime power in the East China Sea. If Japan is completely colonized and controlled, there will naturally be no more Japanese pirates. The Japanese pirates in the south and the northern barbarians that troubled the Ming Dynasty in the past will be eliminated. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty and Japan can clamp down on Korea, allowing this vassal state, which has been honest and peaceful, to continue to be honest and peaceful!

Thirdly, and this is what Tang Hao is talking about right now, some of Japan's mineral resources, such as the Iwami Silver Mine that had already spread the news, could be used as an exchange of interests in exchange for the rise of military generals and nobles, or even for the Emperor Zhu Houzhao to completely control the court!

"Your Majesty, we have to consider one issue, which is how to develop Japan's mineral resources!"

Tang Hao circled Japan heavily, and then explained: "Indeed, there are many Japanese slaves in Japan. The Ming Dynasty does not need to care about the life and death of these Japanese slaves. They are the cheapest labor force and can help the Ming Dynasty to mine Japan's minerals."

"But even so, relying solely on the power of the royal family and military honors to tap into all of Japan's resources is simply unrealistic!"

"Why not?" Zhu Houzhao asked, "It's just some minerals. We can send troops to guard them, dig them, and use the Japanese as laborers. We can definitely take over Japan!"

After all, Zhu Houzhao was unwilling to accept this.

It is obvious that both of them can swallow up the entire resources of Japan, so why do they have to give up part of their interests to the gentry, or even members of the royal family?

If he could swallow up Japan's resources, then money and food would naturally no longer be a problem. Zhu Houzhao could immediately start to clean up the administration, train soldiers, and then go to war against the northern barbarians... and completely create a true era of revival and prosperity!

Tang Hao did not answer Zhu Houzhao, but smiled and asked: "Your Majesty, what is our ultimate goal?"

"The ultimate goal... is naturally... to revive the Ming Dynasty!"

Restoring the Ming Dynasty has always been the ultimate goal of Tang Hao and Zhu Houzhao, the emperor and his minister, and Zhu Houzhao has never forgotten it.

"That's right, our goal is to revive the Ming Dynasty, not to make a profit!"

Tang Hao said in a deep voice: "If it is for profit, we can completely monopolize the resources of Japan, but what is the point of doing so?"

"Let alone other mineral resources in Japan, the Iwami Silver Mine alone is enough for us to develop for dozens or even hundreds of years. In this way, Japan is just a silver mine for the Ming Dynasty, and the real meaning of our colonization of Japan is lost!"

Hearing this, Zhu Houzhao's face turned a little ugly and he stared at Tang Hao unhappily.

This damn savage actually accused him of forgetting his original intention and only caring about profit!

What a bastard!
But Zhu Houzhao didn't mind these little things.

"Then even if we give up some of our profits and use the power of the entire Ming Dynasty to explore Japan's mineral resources, what difference will it make?"

"Of course!" Tang Hao said with a smile: "Scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, the four classes of people each have their own duties."

"The scholars are responsible for the management of these resources, while the farmers go to Japan to open up wasteland and cultivate land, and the workers go to the major mines in Japan to provide technical support. Merchants are undoubtedly the most important. They need to sell these Japanese resources and transform them into what we need."

"Giving up some of our profits can speed up our progress in exploring Japan's mineral resources. Why not do it?"

"For example, we can give the Iwami Silver Mine to these gentry in exchange for what we want. Even if the gentry get the Iwami Silver Mine, Your Majesty can collect mining taxes from them when they go to dig. In addition, the silver mined by these gentry will naturally return to the Ming Dynasty. It's just in the hands of these gentry. When we need silver, wouldn't it be better to just cut a batch of leeks?"

After these words were spoken, even Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but gasp.

What the hell is this about “giving up” part of the interests? This damn savage is so cruel and ruthless!

It was obvious that he had calculated against the gentry. He first used the Iwami Silver Mine to exchange for what he wanted from the gentry, and then used the power of the gentry to dig up the Iwami Silver Mine. Anyway, the silver would eventually return to the Ming Dynasty, and when he was short of silver in the end, he would just kill people, confiscate their properties and exterminate their families.

If this were really done, then the gentry would be completely wronged.

Not only did he give up some of his rights and interests, but he also spent a lot of resources to excavate the Iwami Silver Mine. In the end, he was targeted by the Emperor and Marquis Zhongshan. No one knows when he will be liquidated!
"Savage, savage, you are such a vicious person!"

Zhu Houzhao sighed sincerely, which caused Tang Hao to laugh.

"Not only the Iwami Silver Mine, but also the gold and silver mines in Japan can be ceded to these gentry and nobles. With the help of their power, we can mine them in exchange for what we want!"

"But there is one thing, that is, the iron ore must be controlled in our hands, not only Japan's, but also Ming's!"

Zhu Houzhao was elated when he heard this, and asked: "Savage, what do you mean..."

"Your Majesty should know about the Laiwu Iron Works incident, right?"

"The facts have proven that the workers among the four classes of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans are also a class that deserves attention. If they had not developed the Rumi gun and the Sanyan gun, it would definitely not be so easy to flatten Japan this time, and the soldiers would have suffered a large number of casualties!"

"And if we promote the model of Laiwu Iron Works to all iron works, not only can we greatly increase the steel production of our Ming Dynasty, but we can also ensure the quality of the firearms our soldiers need. In addition, we can continue to encourage those craftsmen to develop new firearms!"

"Once the quality of firearms is in place, the soldiers will naturally stop resisting. When high-quality firearms become standard equipment in the army, that will be the best time for us to send troops to the Northern Tartars!"

"Of course, before that, it is also urgent to give priority to equipping the soldiers of the Nine Frontiers and the Navy with firearms!"

Send troops to the Northern Tartar!

These four words successfully touched Zhu Houzhao's heartstrings.

His biggest dream in this life was to send troops to the Northern Tartars, defeat these arrogant Mongolian Tartars and make them flee in disgrace, thus washing away the shame left by his great-grandfather Zhu Qizhen!

"Then do it!"

His Majesty the Emperor slammed the table and made up his mind immediately.

"Savage, I will issue an order immediately, instructing the Ministry of Revenue to reform all major ironworks according to the Laiwu Ironworks model..."

"No!" Tang Hao directly rejected the proposal. "The iron factory must send troops to take over directly by the military to ensure the quality of the firearms!"

"There is no room for negotiation on this point. We must do this. The previous actions of these gentry have proven that they are deliberately weakening the military's strength. I don't know how many soldiers in the Nine Border Military Towns have lost their lives in vain because of these inferior firearms. This kind of thing must not happen again!"

The military took over major ironworks!

There are too many issues involved.

After all, the ironworks and the salt fields are, to put it bluntly, places where interests converge, and a large number of forces compete for profits!
If Tang Hao really did this, he would undoubtedly encounter a lot of resistance!
However, when thinking back to the four words "send troops to the northern barbarians", Zhu Houzhao still found it difficult to refuse.

"Your Majesty, have you ever paid attention to the news from the Northern Tartars?"

Zhu Houzhao was stunned when he heard this and shook his head subconsciously.

The Ming Dynasty today is no longer the same as it was in the past. It has long lost the initiative and can only hide inside the Great Wall and passively defend itself. As a result, it has naturally lost its source of information from the grassland. Unless the Jinyiwei sends scouts to risk their lives to investigate deep into the grassland, the Ming Dynasty is like a blind and deaf person with regard to the grassland, waiting for others to come and rob and harass it.

"On the grassland, a true leader of Mongolia's revival has appeared, the 'little Mongolian prince' that the imperial court has always contemptuously called him!"

"He will personally lead his troops to conquer the right wing of Mongolia. Once he succeeds, he will unify the various Mongolian tribes, and a powerful and unified force will once again emerge on the grassland!"

"Your Majesty, do you understand what this means?"

what does this mean?
It means that the Ming Dynasty is about to usher in a new Mongol Empire!
"damn it!"

Zhu Houzhao's face suddenly turned gloomy.

How could this be?
As both were the leaders of a revival, why did the Ming Dynasty become increasingly weak while Mongolia became so powerful?

This question was somewhat disrespectful, but Zhu Houzhao just couldn't figure it out! But time didn't give him the opportunity to think about it.

Zhu Houzhao immediately made a series of arrangements.

"Zhang Yong, send a message to the Ministry of War, asking them to find a way to investigate the movements of the Mongolian prince. Also send a message to General Ti to send the elite Jinyiwei to investigate the situation in Mongolia at all costs. I want to know who this Mongolian prince is!"

Zhang Yong immediately bowed and took the order and left.

Zhu Houzhao then looked at Tang Hao and said in a deep voice: "Then it will be as you said. The military will take over all the major ironworks and immediately start reforming them. They must produce a batch of firearms as soon as possible and send them to the soldiers of the Nine Border Military Towns!"

This is Zhu Houzhao!

He has never lacked the courage that an emperor should have!
When it comes to dealing with the Northern Tartars, Zhu Houzhao is as concerned as ever!
Then the monarch and his minister exchanged information with each other. When Tang Hao mentioned Yang Tinghe's son Yang Shen, Zhu Houzhao was obviously still angry.

"To be honest, I like Yang Shen very much."

"He is talented, upright and outspoken. When Master Yang taught me in the past, he would occasionally bring Yang Shen to study with me..."

Having said this, a trace of reminiscence flashed across Zhu Houzhao's face.

"But Yang Shen's biggest problem is that he is a son of a noble family!"

Zhu Houzhao slammed his fist on the table in anger!
"Because he is a son of a gentry family, he is well aware of what the gentry do. He has been watching them since he was a child, so he doesn't think there is anything wrong with these behaviors."

"That Cui Xian called him 'Little Master', and Yang Shen actually accepted it with a clear conscience. Has he ever thought about how I, the Emperor, feel?"

Have you ever thought about it?
of course not!

Just as Zhu Houzhao said, when the master-disciple system became an unspoken rule of the imperial examination system, and when the gentry all took it for granted and even spoke out to defend the master-disciple system, then the next generation of scholars would naturally take it for granted, such as Yang Shen!

Cui Xian was grateful to Yang Shen for recommending him, and respectfully called Yang Tinghe "Master" and Yang Shen "Little Master", and regarded himself as Yang Tinghe's disciple. Yang Tinghe and Yang Shen, father and son, had no objection to this at all, but instead thought it was a matter of course. This is precisely the saddest thing!

Just as the gentry and the nobles believed that the court's preferential treatment of them was also a matter of course!
"Haha, the master's disciple!"

Zhu Houzhao sneered: "Do you really think I am still the emperor who knows nothing?"

"Why can these damned gentry control the government? Isn't it because they have a monopoly on the imperial examinations? It is this so-called master's disciples that allow these bastards to control the government for a long time and cultivate their own factions for a long time!"

Simply put, the scholars who participated in the imperial examination were naturally all Juren. Most of these Juren were children of officials and gentry, a small number were children of poor families, and a few were truly children of poor farmers.

And because of the hidden rules of the imperial examination for the disciples of this house, as long as they passed the exam, no matter they were the sons of gentry, poor families, or even poor farmers, they were no longer just nobody, but new scholars in the court, and they also won resources and background.

For example, if Yang Tinghe presided over the imperial examination, then all the new scholars, including those from poor families and poor farmers, would regard Yang Tinghe as their master and consider themselves his disciples.

Then, when this group of new scholars have completed the palace examination process and are being selected as Hanlin scholars, Yang Tinghe can operate behind the scenes; when these new scholars enter official careers and decide whether to stay in the central court or be sent to serve as officials in other places, Yang Tinghe can also operate behind the scenes; when Yang Tinghe is old and ready to retire, he can select the most outstanding and most outstanding young man from these younger generations to inherit his political mantle and ensure that his interests will not be harmed after retirement!

This is the significance of the master-disciple system!
Becoming the chief examiner of the imperial examination is equivalent to having a group of potential forces and a group of disciples and old friends who support him and can work hard for him at any time!
You know, after the palace examination, these new scholars were hailed as "disciples of the emperor"!

As a result, because of this master-disciple system, no one cares about the empty title of "Emperor's disciple", but instead pays more attention to who their master is!
"Your Majesty, there is no way around this kind of hidden rule in the court."

"Unless we can break the gentry's monopoly on the imperial examination system, there is nothing we can do about it!"

"The former Song Dynasty also issued a clear ban on this matter, but what was the final result? It's still the same as before, without any change!"

Having said this, Zhu Houzhao suddenly burst into cursing.

"Li Dongyang, that damn old thing!"

"When I think of this bastard openly expressing his support for the master-disciple system, I want to chop him into pieces!"

"Otherwise, why could Li Dongyang become the leader of the gentry?" Tang Hao sneered.

"But speaking of which, last time His Majesty asked Li Dongyang to take up his post in a royal palace, which palace did he go to?"

Hearing this, Zhu Houzhao's anger turned into joy and he started laughing again for no apparent reason.

The absurd emperor is moody and unpredictable, nothing more than this.

Tang Hao looked at Zhu Houzhao with a confused look on his face, not understanding what this ridiculous emperor was doing.

Zhu Houzhao looked very proud and smiled mischievously.

"Guess what, Savage?"

Seeing him like this, Tang Hao also became interested.

It is obvious that the dog emperor has cheated others!

But the question is, among these princes, which lineage is...

and many more!

No way?
It can’t be that cruel, right?
Tang Hao asked tentatively: "Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao?"

"Of course... that's right!" Zhu Houzhao said with a smug smile, "Isn't Zhu Chenhao an official in Beijing? As the emperor, I am worried that the royal family members of the Ning clan are disobedient and no one is restraining them. It just so happens that Li Dongyang is a famous scholar in the world, so I will ask him to go to Nanchang, Jiangxi to take up the post of Chief Clerk of the Ning Palace immediately!"

Hearing this, even Tang Hao couldn't help but take a breath.

This kid Zhu Houzhao is really ruthless!
Zhu Chenhao's intention to rebel was obvious, and Li Dongyang was always shrewd, so he could naturally see it.

So if Zhu Chenhao really rebelled, Li Dongyang, the Chief Clerk of the Ning Prince's Mansion, would also have an unshirkable responsibility. Zhu Houzhao might even be ruthless and directly treat Li Dongyang as a traitor, which would be a death penalty for the extermination of all nine generations of his clan!
But Li Dongyang still couldn't break the impasse.

What can he do?
Or he would try his best to stop Zhu Chenhao's rebellion, which would undoubtedly lead to Zhu Chenhao's revenge, or he might even be killed directly by Zhu Chenhao. After all, Prince Ning was ruthless in eliminating dissidents.

Or he could join forces with Zhu Chenhao to rebel and give advice to Prince Ning. It would be best if he could successfully seize the central power, and finally he, Li Dongyang, would sit in the position of a loyal minister!

Of course, this possibility is very low. After all, even if there was no Tang Hao, Zhu Chenhao failed to succeed in his rebellion in history. It was just a farce.

Then Li Dongyang will still be executed along with his entire clan!

So no matter how you look at it, Li Dongyang is facing a desperate situation this time and is doomed to die!

No wonder Zhu Houzhao was laughing so happily. He personally sent the famous scholar he hated most into a desperate situation. He really had the right to be happy.

"Alright, alright, you haven't returned home since you entered the capital today, right?"

"Hurry back home to see your precious son. I heard he weighs 6.8 jin. He looks like a blessed child!"

Zhu Houzhao spoke with envy on his face, and took the initiative to sympathize with his ministers and ended the meeting.

Tang Hao didn't waste any words. He just bowed and said goodbye without any delay.

But he didn't notice that Zhu Houzhao had an expression of unwillingness to admit defeat on his face at this moment.

"Six pounds and eight ounces?"

"Hehehe, my dragon son must weigh seven kilograms!"

(End of this chapter)