1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2633
Those present would not empathize with Zhu Zian's thoughts, because when Tao Hongfang and others became sensible, Zhoushan Island was already controlled by Haihan, and in their perception, it could be said to be the inherent territory of their country.At that time, one of the important reasons why Haihan forcibly occupied Zhoushan was to open up the northern sea route and obtain more immigrant population from the northern coastal areas of Daming.

In their view, the function of Daming at that time was to provide Haihan with raw materials, markets, and labor force. The introduction of immigrants from Daming was just a customary practice, and there was nothing wrong with it.Haihan's immigration measures solved a large number of famine population and war refugees for Ming, and avoided more serious civil strife in Ming. .

Local governments in some areas of Daming played deaf and dumb to Haihan's immigration and migration measures, perhaps because they wanted to use Haihan's hand to relieve local pressure.It is better to let the Haihan people pick up the homeless refugees than to watch them rise up and cause chaos.

Of course, even if such an approach does not get the support of Da Ming, Hai Han has no intention of seeking a consensus between the two parties.As Ha Jianyi said, what if Daming disagrees?Could it be possible to mobilize troops and launch a full-scale war with Haihan in the coastal areas?
Of course Zhu Zian understood that it was impossible. At that time, Daming had constant internal and external troubles, and he was unable to fight against a powerful enemy like Hai Han. Even if he was unwilling to accept Hai Han's encroaching methods, he could only swallow his anger and avoid conflicts.Even the Ming Dynasty is still struggling like this, the situation of Japan and Japan will only be worse if they think about it, there is no possibility of resistance.

If Zhu Zian had asked Xiu Nian from the Foreign Affairs Office a few more questions, perhaps he would have a clearer understanding of this situation.When the Haihan Army invaded the Hirado Domain, they took almost all the living people on Hirado Island away after the war, and burned the Hirado Castle, leaving no room for it.In comparison, Haihan's measures to obtain immigrants in Daming can be regarded as very gentle.

Tao Hongfang and others have limited interest in immigration issues, and they are more concerned about the current international trade situation.Although they can learn relevant information from other sources, it is definitely not as intuitive as obtaining first-hand data here.Moreover, Yang Yun has been rooted in Zhoushan for more than ten years, and he is the clearest about the development of trade here. However, if everyone has any questions, he can get more reliable answers from him.

The first question Yang Yun answered was, which of North Korea and Japan has the stronger purchasing power and is more suitable to be Haihan's trading partner: "In terms of purchasing power, Japan is much stronger than North Korea. The reason is also very simple. Japan There are Sado Gold Mine and Iwami Silver Mine, which can produce a large amount of gold and silver, so their purchasing power will not be bad. However, North Korea has not many proven gold and silver mines, which is slightly inferior in comparison. If Japan’s purchasing power is set as Ten, then North Korea is probably around six to seven."

Tao Hongfang interjected: "But I have heard people say that North Korea is rich in mineral deposits. The Mining Department of the Ministry of Industry sends people to North Korea every year to explore ore and organize mining work. Doesn't it make money to develop these minerals?"

Yang Yundao: "I'm a layman and don't know much about this, but North Korea's minerals are mostly in the northern part of the peninsula, while the southern region has the most trade with Zhoushan, so it probably doesn't benefit much from it. And even if they can mine minerals, Smelting and processing also have to rely on my country. Even coal and iron, which are the most produced, have established large-scale smelting plants with the help of my country. I heard that there are some precious minerals that can be used in Sanya, but they don’t understand their value at all. With processing capabilities, it is natural that they cannot be sold at a good price."

Although Yang Yun claims to be an outsider, he has actually stated the objective situation.In fact, North Korea’s mineral deposits are far richer than Japan’s, and the reserves and quality are also very valuable for mining. In addition to coal and iron, there are quite a lot of untapped mineral deposits that can be used for industrial development.Such as copper, lead, zinc, tungsten, phosphorus, graphite, mica, etc., there are many minerals that Haihan needs.

However, North Korea, which sits on the cornucopia, does not have the ability to mine and utilize these minerals, and does not even know their uses at all. This naturally makes it easier for Haihan, who can mine some precious minerals and transport them back at a very low cost. Domestically, it is used in industrial manufacturing.But for North Korea, selling these mineral deposits to Haihan at a very low price did not make much profit, it was just in exchange for the benefits Haihan gave in other ways.

Ha Jianyi asked: "Master Yang, what are the most purchased products from Zhoushan in these two countries?"

Yang Yunying said: "What they buy the most is actually relatively traditional commodities, such as porcelain, tea, high-grade textiles, etc., which account for about [-] to [-]% of the overall trade volume. The rest is unique to our country and mass-produced Industrial products, such as glassware, ironware, daily necessities, books, etc. There are also some special trade items, such as shipbuilding, real estate, arms, etc., because there are full-time yamen in charge, so they are not included in the general trade in the statistics."

Hearing this, Zhu Zian couldn't help asking: "Master Yang, you said earlier that North Korea is rich in coal and iron, so why did you import a large amount of iron from Haihan?"

Yang Yun said with a smile: "The reason is very simple, because our country's ironware can be produced in large quantities, so the cost is extremely low. Even if the freight is added, the price is much lower than their local production. Like iron farm tools, Almost all of the high-demand commodities such as kitchen utensils have been occupied by our country. In recent years, I heard that most of the private blacksmith shops in North Korea have closed down, and even if they are still open, they have basically changed their careers. Finished product."

Zhu Zian asked: "In this case, what is the use of the iron ore produced locally?"

Yang Yundao: "It is mainly supplied to smelters operated by the government to make iron, and then to make some handmade ironware that requires high craftsmanship. Ordinary people can't afford it. As for the parts they can't use, it is said that they will be disposed of at a very low price. In our country, it is used to smelt refined steel. Hehe, North Koreans can’t learn such advanced smelting techniques!”

What Yang Yun said reminded Zhu Zian of what he had seen and heard in Shandong before.He had seen the weapons and armor made by Haihan obtained by the Ming army through some secret channels. They were all made of excellent stainless steel, which was even better than the equipment of the Ming army's own, but the price was lower than that of the Ming army. The internal procurement prices of the Military Arms Bureau and the Bingzheng Bureau are even lower.

At that time, someone pointed him out, and there was obviously only one reason for this situation, that is, Haihan could produce these equipments at a very low cost.In other words, Haihan's ordnance production capacity is terribly high, which is why the cost can be kept down to such a low level.

(End of this chapter)