Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 47, fifty thousand taels of silver
It was already late at night in the imperial palace in the capital, but Emperor Hongzhi didn't feel sleepy at all. He was staring at the crude globe made by Liu Jin non-stop.

"Golden Continent, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, food crops with an yield of tens of mu, if they can be introduced back, there will be no famine since then in my Ming Dynasty."

The three high-yielding crops of gold were always on the mind of Emperor Hongzhi. For him, gold, spices, gemstones, ivory, etc. were not as attractive as these crops with an yield of tens of mu.

As the emperor of a country, he is too aware of the importance of food.

After more than 100 years of development in the Ming Dynasty, the population has already increased many times, but the land and food have never changed. This contradiction has become more and more acute with the growth of the population and the continuous acquisition of land.

Once natural disasters and man-made disasters occur, people will be displaced immediately, and farmers who cannot survive will rise up in severe cases. Even if it is called Hongzhi Zhongxing, this phenomenon is still very common.

"Your Majesty, it's time for you to rest."

At this time, Emperor Hongzhi's personal eunuch was also the eunuch who was in charge of the chief inspector of ceremonies, and Xiao Jing, who was in charge of the East Factory at the same time, came over to remind him.

If Liu Jin was here, he would definitely be able to recognize him at a glance. This person is the one dressed as a housekeeper who followed Emperor Hongzhi today.

"I asked you to check the matter, how did the check go?"

Emperor Hongzhi ignored it, his eyes were still staring at the globe, and he even took a ruler in his hand to measure it on the globe. While measuring, he said to himself: "The distance between this Golden Continent and our Ming Dynasty is really It’s far enough away that it’s several Daming distances away, but going northeast from the north of our Daming, this place is very close to the northwest of the Golden Continent.”

"Return to Your Majesty, I have already checked."

Xiao Jing took a leather coat from the little eunuch beside him, and gently put it on for Emperor Hongzhi.

"Go ahead."

Emperor Hongzhi was still staring at the globe.

"Liu Jin is from Changli County, Yongping Prefecture, North Zhili Province. He is seventeen years old this year. He has already passed the examination as a scholar. He lost his father in his early years and was raised by his mother alone. He was smart, hardworking and very filial since he was a child. .”

Xiao Jing told the information about Liu Jin that he found.

"Well, a filial person can't be too bad."

After listening to Xiao Jing's report, Emperor Hongzhi nodded. He has always adhered to the principles and strategies of governing the country with loyalty and filial piety. He still attaches great importance to a person's conduct, and the most important thing is filial piety.

"Have you found the information about Xu Xiake?"

After thinking about it, Emperor Hongzhi asked again.

"Return to Your Majesty, I haven't found any information about Xu Xiake."

Xiao Jing shook his head and replied.

"It's normal if you don't find out. If you find out, you're not a master. Of course, it doesn't rule out that Liu Jinzi just thought of a name out of nothing to fool us."

Emperor Hongzhi turned the globe, and said at the same time: "I asked you to look up the information over the years. Is Liu Jin's statement about the monsoon true?"

"Returning to Your Majesty, I have asked people to look up all the historical records from the Han Dynasty to the present. It is indeed like what Liu Jin said. Once there is a famine, it will either be flooded in the south and drought in the north, or drought in the south and flood in the north. The timing is also consistent with what Liu Jin said."

"And as he said, every dynasty change must occur in a year of famine, and all of them start with the northern provinces."

Respectfully replied: "I also asked people to look up the materials left by Zheng He when he went to the Western Seas. The climate in Annan, Siam, Luzon, and Nanyang is indeed very different from our Middle-earth."

"According to records, these areas are summer all year round, and there has never been snow or frost at all. Rice can indeed be grown three times a year, and the yield is extremely high."

"It seems that this Liu Jin is not talking nonsense, just empty words, this Golden Continent seems to really exist, and these sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes should not be aimless."

"Even though the output may be exaggerated, but no matter what, if these three food crops can be introduced to our Ming Dynasty, our Ming Dynasty can also have three more food crops, and the common people can eat enough."

Hearing Xiao Jing's reply, Emperor Hongzhi turned the globe and fixed his eyes on the Golden Continent. At the same time, he carefully looked at the location of Daming, and then at the location of the Golden Continent. He had already made a decision in his heart.

"How much money does it cost to organize a fleet to go to the Golden Continent? How is your discussion with that Du Mingen going?"

After thinking for a while, Emperor Hongzhi asked about the matter of agreeing to organize a fleet to go to the Golden Continent with Du Mingen today. Now that the imperial court is in financial difficulties, the emperor doesn't have much money left.

"Based on the calculation of ten Fuchuan, it will cost about 10 taels of silver to equip all the supplies, manpower, and the cost of Fuchuan itself."

"Because we are in partnership with Du Mingen, we only need to pay 5 taels of silver. Of course, we can order the blessing ship to be requisitioned, except that the cost of the blessing ship is relatively cheap, and it only needs 2 taels. Two silvers are enough."

Xiao Jing's memory is very good, before he came to report, he had already memorized these things, and he could quickly say whatever Emperor Hongzhi asked.

"Since we are doing business with people, we will do things according to the rules of the business, and do whatever we want."

"5 taels of silver is not much, so let's pay it out of the internal funds. If you can exchange for these three high-yield crops, even if you spend 50 taels, 500 million taels of silver is worth it."

After listening to Emperor Hongzhi, he thought for a while and said.

This internal money is different from the national treasury. The internal money belongs to the emperor himself. It belongs to the emperor himself.

But the treasury is different. The treasury belongs to the country and can only be used for state affairs. If the emperor wants to use the money from the treasury, he must get the consent of the ministers, and there must be serious reasons.

5 taels of silver can organize a good-scale fleet to go to the Golden Continent. I have to say that the purchasing power of silver in this era is still very strong. After all, the silver in the Golden Continent has not flowed into the Ming Dynasty on a large scale, and the value of this silver is still very high. high.

Of course, in this era, whether it is the emperor's internal funds or the Ming treasury, there is not much real silver, far from being a huge amount of hundreds of millions of taels of silver when it is concealed.

　The purchasing power of silver at this time is still very strong. I checked the information and found that before the large-scale inflow of silver, the value of silver was very high. Generally, copper coins are the main transactions, and silver is a currency of high value.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)