Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1509 New Trends in Japan (Part [-])
In fact, the glass industry itself has nothing to do with Zhu Yingzhen. His business in the Satsuma domain is concentrated on the camphor industry. In layman’s terms, he buys camphor from Satsuma and resells it back to China for sale—in fact, the transfer is mainly to Jinghua, more specifically. In other words, it was transferred to Jinghua Pharmaceutical.

Camphor has many functions in later generations, but in this era, it is generally only used for medicinal purposes.Jinghua Pharmaceutical was established on the basis of the original Jinghua Pharmaceutical Store. Essentially, this action was to expand the industrial chain.For example, the original Jinghua Pharmacy mainly sells medicines and practices medicine, and does not involve much in the field of pharmaceuticals. The main product is Liushi Baibao Pills (Yunnan Baiyao).

Later, because Li Shizhen joined the Department of Medicine of Jinghua Craftsman School, and he had no sense of copyright at all, he transferred the prescriptions in "Compendium of Materia Medica" to Jinghua for free, and Jinghua began to produce some...well, it is considered "Chinese patent medicine".

However, after getting the news, Gao Wushi later ordered that the "one hundred percent (1%) of the net profit" of "Materia Medica" be used as an exclusive royalty (there is no such thing as a patent right at this time), and agreed to provide it to Li Shizhen and his descendants continuously for 50 years. , 50 years later it will be regarded as exclusive to Jinghua.

This incident caused a sensation in the "medical circle" at the time, so that later on, famous folk doctors or others sent Jinghua various prescriptions, hoping to imitate Li Shizhen's example in exchange for income.

The most amazing thing is that not only the folks, but even imperial hospitals have imperial physicians to "sell" prescriptions—anyway, Daming has no restrictions on this, and Daming imperial hospitals themselves do not only serve the palace.

Not only did the emperor ask the imperial hospital to send someone to see a doctor when the officials in the capital needed it, but even when there was an epidemic in the capital, or there were mass casualties in the army, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty always directly dispatched the imperial hospital to help for free. of.

Because of this, the Ming court or royal family had very few personal restrictions on the imperial physicians of the Imperial Hospital.The rules of imperial hospitals are mainly concentrated in the palace. For example, as mentioned earlier in this book, "It is absolutely impossible to have only one imperial physician to see the emperor, at least two or three people are required to go together", and so on.

As more and more prescriptions are obtained, many of which require unique methods to manufacture, and the diseases targeted are becoming more and more targeted, so Jinghua Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. has to increase its investment in the pharmaceutical industry.In the end, Gao Yushi decided to upgrade Jinghua Pharmaceutical, so there was a "one-stop medicine" Jinghua Pharmaceutical.

Here I have to explain why Zhu Yingzhen cares so much about the task assigned to him by Gao Yushi against the Satsuma clan.

Camphor is not the fruit of the camphor tree. It is actually a granule obtained by distilling and refining the roots, trunks, branches and leaves of the camphor tree.Camphor trees are widely distributed, and there are many in Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Nanzhili, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Huguang, Sichuan and other places in Ming Dynasty, and Taiwan is the most densely populated.

Before the emergence of Jinghua Pharmaceutical, a pharmaceutical giant in Ming Dynasty, there were not many pharmaceutical factories and drugstores producing camphor in various places. Occasionally, the production was in small batches, and the distribution was very scattered. It was hard to see it as a big industry, and almost all of them were produced when there was demand. Make some.

Since the establishment of Jinghua Pharmaceutical, the situation has changed. There is no need to elaborate on the advantages of large-scale production. High quality, large output, and cost reduction are all part of the question.

As a result, non-governmental pharmacies all over the country have discovered a reality: "It is better to buy than to make", so they have given up making camphor by themselves, and almost all choose to buy it directly from Jinghua Pharmaceutical.As a result, Jinghua Pharmaceutical soon unconsciously monopolized the camphor industry.

Now that Jinghua Pharmaceutical has monopolized the camphor industry, Zhu Yingzhen, the "honest businessman" who monopolized the acquisition of camphor in the Satsuma domain (in fact, he bought camphor in the entire Kyushu Island), has to have a sense of urgency.

What sense of urgency?Two points: First, there are camphor trees everywhere in the south of Ming Dynasty. Although the distribution is scattered, high-level practical theory does not necessarily require the use of Japanese products made by him; second, Taiwan is now the focus of Jinghua’s development, even in If Gao Yushi decides to develop a large amount of camphor in Taiwan in the future, Zhu Yingzhen's monopoly on Japanese camphor will be almost meaningless.

Therefore, Zhu Yingzhen felt that it was necessary for him to increase his weight in Gao Wushi's mind. He could not rely on Cheng Guogong's card and think that Gao Wushi would always give face—the Xinzheng Gao family is a family of civil servants and eunuchs. There is no need for Xungui's help at all, but he can make trouble for Xungui at any time. It is obvious who needs who.

So in Zhu Yingzhen's opinion, it is necessary to take advantage of this opportunity to help Gao Wushi deal with the matter of the Satsuma domain, not to mention that he has other discoveries during the process.

At this moment, after hearing Gao Yushi's words, Zhu Yingzhen immediately expressed that he had understood it, and then added: "Nisin, I think we can't just sit idle during the period of exploring crystal glass grinding technology at Shimadzu's house. It can be done first.”

Gao Wushi didn't expect that Zhu Yingzhen, who he thought could do nothing but collect money before, would start to have his own ideas in his spare time, so he couldn't help asking with interest: "What is the Duke talking about?"

"That's it. I think it is very necessary for us to open up the glass sales market in Japan in advance." Zhu Yingzhen said: "Now Jinghua has two types of glass, one is ordinary glass and the other is crystal glass. I think the value-added processing of ordinary glass Not too significant, but seems fine for everyday use.

Just like after the completion of the Rixin Building, since all the windows are made of glass, it has now attracted a wave of window replacement among wealthy households in the capital.Everyone felt that this kind of almost transparent window (technical limitations at this time, and ordinary glass could not be fully transparent) symbolized status and wealth, and they all began to think of ways to replace the paper window.

This is a big deal, Nissin!I think it can be done in Japan too. I have thought about the method and built a building in Japan.There must be more windows in this building, and all glass windows should be used, so that all the daimyos and elders in Japan can be proud of using glass. "

Gao Wushi was really surprised at this time, he didn't expect that one of his usual tricks was now learned by Zhu Yingzhen.

That's okay, though, and even a good thing.So Gao Wushi asked with great interest: "What the Duke said is very reasonable, but has the Duke ever thought about where this building should be built?"

Zhu Yingzhen said: "I think there are two options, one is to build in Kyoto (where the emperor is), and the other is to build in Fushimi (where Hideyoshi is). These two places are the places that the Japanese pay the most attention to, which is conducive to attracting the whole of Japan. attention."

Gao Wushi pondered and didn't speak immediately, but Liu Xin who was beside him smiled and said, "The Duke's idea is very good, but the slave family thinks there is still one thing to consider."

Zhu Yingzhen already knew that she had a special status in front of Gao Yushi, so she was not angry when she heard the words, but said politely: "Since Miss Liu has a great opinion, please come quickly."

"Don't dare to speak high opinion." Liu Xin said: "Kyoto and Fushimi are the places that attract the most attention in Japan, but they are also the core of Hideyoshi's rule. Although we have business contacts with Hideyoshi, this kind of contact is not direct, mostly Through some wealthy businessmen, at most it is through his generals and ministers, so it is difficult for us to know how Hideyoshi will react to our actions, this is one of them."

She paused for a while, as if waiting for Zhu Yingzhen to think about the meaning, and then continued: "Second, the purpose of our assistance to the Shimadzu Satsuma clan is not only to obtain some benefits through the Shimadzu clan. More importantly, it is through supporting the island. The Jin family, let them quickly become stronger, and thus become the second place among Japanese daimyos.

In other words, Shimadzu's rapid growth is just a means for us to make more daimyos lean towards us.That being the case, we should strengthen this influence in all aspects.The Nu family thought that building this building in the territory of the Shimadzu family, such as Kagoshima Castle or its surrounding areas, would have a better effect. "

Zhu Yingzhen thought for a while and asked: "Miss Liu's statement is indeed reasonable, but there is a problem: Satsuma is regarded as a countryside by Japan, and most Japanese neither understand nor care about the situation here. If we This building is built in Kagoshima Castle, so it may be difficult to arouse the interest of other daimyos, and it will be difficult for them to pay attention to the glass. I wonder if Ms. Liu has a solution to this problem?"

Liu Xin took a look at Gao Wushi, saw him nodding slightly at her, then smiled and said, "There is a way."

Zhu Yingzhen was a little surprised, but he asked immediately, "Oh? I'd like to ask Ms. Liu for advice."

"Don't dare." Liu Xin said: "First of all, we must first estimate the construction period of this building and ensure that there will be no shortage of construction period; secondly, we must vigorously publicize this building during the trade process with Japan. It doesn't matter if the 'Crystal Building' under construction is too hyped; finally, we would like to announce that on the occasion of the completion of this 'Crystal Building', the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance will invite Japanese celebrities and wealthy businessmen to gather together in the 'Crystal Building' 'Hold a large-scale business fair."

Zhu Yingzhen was taken aback: "Business fair? What are you going to talk about?"

"What we want to talk about, we can discuss later." Liu Xin said earnestly: "The most important thing is to invite famous and wealthy Japanese businessmen. Of course, at the same time, the Maritime Trade Alliance should let the wind out and make the possible achievements of this business fair. The huge scale has been heavily publicized, and the conference has been cleverly linked to the influence of the participants in Japan."

At this time, Gao Wushi added lightly: "In short, only people with sufficient influence in Japan's political and business circles will be invited."

"Oh...that's what it means." Zhu Yingzhen suddenly realized, and then his eyes lit up: "I can almost imagine that many people in Japan will even try their best to get our invitation!"

Liu Xin added with a smile: "That's right, based on the influence that the Maritime Trade Alliance has established in Japan's political and business circles over the years, there is almost no doubt about it."

Of course, since the establishment of the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance, it has controlled more than [-]% of Japan's foreign trade share so far. Other than that, the only ones that can be talked about in scale are the Daming Jiangnan Merchant Gang, Portugal and North Korea, and even North Korea's share has been shrinking.

The shrinking of trade between North Korea and Japan is not because the absolute volume of trade between North Korea and Japan has shrunk. It is just that North Korea’s local merchant ships have been gradually replaced by the Sea Trade Alliance—because the Sea Trade Alliance is larger in scale and the transportation cost can be lowered. This is a purely commercial sexual substitution.

However, North Korea did not dare to reject the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance, which was backed by the Ming court, so it could only watch its private merchant ship owners lose money, lose business, and finally change their careers to survive.

This is the dilemma of small countries, especially small countries that are not on the rise.Think back to the period when Goryeo was transformed into North Korea. Although North Korea was cheated by Zhu Yuanzhang (not canonized, and technology and raw materials were blocked), it still dared to steal and eat away at Liaodong during the period of Jingnan and Wubei. Territory, it was not until Cheng Zu made a decree to demarcate the boundary that it was basically honest.

Compared with that time, North Korea now has no "aggressiveness". Not to mention paying tribute obediently, when Shanggong passes through Liaodong, he is often blackmailed by some people in Liaodong.The current situation is that a local general in Liaodong dares to blackmail the North Korean envoy, not to mention the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance, a super group composed of top civil servants and top nobles, the king of North Korea has no courage to resist at all.

As for Japan, geographical factors have determined that its main trading partner during this period can only be Daming. Although the Portuguese opened up Japanese trade routes, since Taiwan is gradually controlled by Jinghua, the Portuguese now have to pay Jinghua a sum to go to Japan. Tolls, so the trade volume also showed a downward trend.

The toll fee is called the safety guarantee fund, what Jinghua said...it's similar to Zheng Zhilong's.However, there is also a difference, that is, Jinghua only charges for Portuguese ships going to Japan on purpose, and does not charge for trade with Ming Dynasty.

Portugal has no place to justify this matter, because Jinghua not only blamed the pirates, but also said that this action is the same as Denmark’s charging of the Oresund toll, which is completely reasonable. But the subtext is the same: if you are not satisfied, you will fight my navy.

Well, the Hanseatic League did this back then, losing first and then winning, and gained trade hegemony for a period of time. Unfortunately, time has passed, and now the Øresund Strait has once again been controlled by Denmark.As for Portugal's desire to compete with Jinghua for the waterway from Nanyang to Japan... let's go to sleep.

The failure of the Spanish fleet in the Philippine waters has shown that Jinghua's position as the maritime hegemony of the South China Sea is unshakable. Instead of dreaming of competing for the dominance of the South China Sea, the Portuguese might as well worry about when the ownership of Malacca will change.

The issue of the Satsuma clan was basically finished here, and the three of them discussed a few details, and the topic quickly turned to the changes in the Japanese government.

However, the topic of Zhu Yingzhen's report made Gao Wushi stunned as soon as he opened his mouth.

"What? Toyotomi Hideyoshi wants to ask us to buy a ship?" Gao Wushi looked surprised and puzzled in his heart. He secretly said: This is wrong. It is only 16 in the 1588th year of Wanli. It is impossible for Toyotomi Hideyoshi to prepare to attack North Korea so early. what.

Zhu Yingzhen nodded with a smile and said, "That's right—hey, you don't have to worry about Rixin. His emissary said that they don't plan to buy an armed transport ship with guns, they only need the version without guns, saying that it is only for transportation .”
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Thanks to book friends "Cao Mianzi" and "tbs1971" for their support, thank you!
Thanks to book friends "Cao Mianzi", "This is the temporary nickname", "Shimakaze Riding Face", "Chi Yu Jing Fengchen" for their monthly support, thank you!
(End of this chapter)