prosperous age

After talking about Tsushima Island and Jeju Island, Wei Guangde turned his attention to Busan.

"What's the situation in Busan? Tell me in detail."

Wei Guangde asked Liu Shouyou.

Although he had already set his eyes on Tsushima Island and Jeju Island, Liu Shouyou also mentioned Busan just now, so Wei Guangde felt it necessary to learn more about it.

He still had some impression of this place. It seemed that during the Korean War, Busan was the last stronghold held by South Korea and the US military.

In other words, it was in this place that the North Korean army pushed forward at the beginning of the war and almost drove the U.S. troops into the sea.

However, Busan was eventually defended by the Allied Forces, which led to the subsequent Incheon Landing. The North Korean army was cut in half and ultimately suffered a major defeat.

In Wei Guangde's impression, Busan seems to be the southernmost tip of the Korean Peninsula.

"This is Busanpo."

Liu Shouyou pointed to a point on the land north of Tsushima Island and said.

"I see."

What Wei Guangde saw was the nearest land to the north of Tsushima Island, and then he heard Liu Shouyou continue to describe the situation there.

“Busan is located at the mouth of the Nakdong River and has always been a transportation hub in southeastern North Korea.

In the early Ming Dynasty, it was already the most important trading port for Korea and Japan, and it was called Goryeo at that time.

Liu Shouyou talked about the history of Busan, and Wei Guangde just nodded slightly and listened carefully.

"In the eighth year of Zhengtong, the King of Joseon signed the Treaty of Guihai with Japan behind the back of the imperial court, allowing Japan to establish a Wakan in Busan and start large-scale trade activities that have continued to this day.

Japanese merchants purchased goods from Busan, shipped them to Tsushima Island, and then spread them to other parts of Japan.

Busan Port can also cut off the trade ties between Korea and Japan. If the imperial court wants to completely cut off trade with Japan, this place is particularly important. "

After Liu Shouyou finished explaining the situation, he waited for Wei Guangde's decision.

"By stationing troops on Tsushima Island, the navy can block the ships entering and leaving Busan Port, and naturally block the commercial trade between Korea and Japan.

However, finding a piece of land for the troops stationed on the island is also a solution."

Wei Guangde considered for a moment and finally decided not to move in Busan. After all, it involved Korea, and he was worried that the Korean delegation would run to Ming to complain.

"The Japanese have established a guild hall there? Then my Ming Dynasty can also establish a guild hall there, responsible for purchasing the materials needed for Nurgan City and Tsushima Island from Korea."

Although there was no plan to station troops here, Wei Guangde thought it feasible to set up a semi-official office.

The Daming Guild Hall is a good model. It can purchase necessary supplies for the officers and troops stationed on the island nearby, and can also monitor merchant ships entering and leaving Busan Port.

"The Royal Guards are stepping up their investigation of the area. I need more information to finalize my plan.

Please leave this document with me. I will discuss this matter with the Prime Minister later.

Remember to keep it secret, and don’t let any news leak out.”

Wei Guangde gave instructions to Liu Shouyou.

"Yes, Lord Wei, I know what to do."

Liu Shouyou immediately expressed his opinion.

After learning about Japan's gold and silver mines, he had already been salivating over them.

Wei Guangde's attention is obviously on those big mountains of gold and silver. If he uses some tricks, he might be able to get a gold and silver mine, and then he will be rich.

Yes, even if Wei Guangde really wanted to take action against Japan, he would not seize all of Japan’s gold and silver mines.

The imperial court must want the best, but it must keep some of the remaining small and medium-sized mines for itself, and others should also get a share of the profits, otherwise who will support you in sending troops to Japan.

This is a war, and the current officials of the Ming Dynasty are precisely the ones who least want to go to war. It is too troublesome.

What they need is stability. Anyway, the Ming Dynasty is rich enough for them to mess around with.

Not to mention Japan's gold and silver mines, their distribution is really interesting.

Japan, which is opposite to Tsushima Island and Jeju Island, happens to be an area densely populated with gold and silver mines.

Controlling these two places could just satisfy the Ming Dynasty's demand for gold and silver.

As for the gold and silver mines in the northeast, it is better to leave some for the Japanese. If you don’t leave any, they will be in a desperate situation.

According to the intelligence we have obtained about Japan, the population of Japan is still very large.

To make them surrender completely, they have to choose the method of Western colonizers, winning over one faction and attacking another.

Leaving some resources to the Japanese daimyo who need to be won over can also strengthen their strength.

Of course, the man named Hideyoshi is not within the scope of winning over.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was a madman who arrogantly thought that he could conquer the Ming Dynasty with just a few hundred thousand people.

I guess they had heard about the great achievements of the Japanese pirates in the Ming Dynasty and thought that the Ming army was vulnerable.

Since a war will break out sooner or later, it is better to take action early to weaken Japan's strength.

Wei Guangde knew that although the Ming Dynasty forced Japan to retreat on the Korean battlefield, it was also a tragic victory and the Ming Dynasty suffered heavy losses.

Especially when the government troops entered Korea to participate in the war for the first time, the Ming court thought it was the work of a small group of Japanese pirates at that time, and had no idea that it was an aggressive war launched by Japan by gathering its elite troops.

Only after suffering a great loss did they begin to gather their troops and fight.

In fact, both sides made strategic misjudgments.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi regarded the weak southern soldiers as the main force of the Ming army, and naturally underestimated the actual combat effectiveness of the Ming army.

The Ming court also thought that the Japanese pirates had a small population and it was impossible to mobilize hundreds of thousands of people to enter Korea to start a war because of the scattered forces of the Japanese pirates.

At the beginning of the war, the Ming court once thought that it was just a few thousand Japanese pirates invading Korea, so it only dispatched two border troops to Korea, with a total force of less than 10,000 people.

After Liu Shouyou left, Wei Guangde sat there thinking for a while and basically sorted out his thoughts.

After the emperor's wedding, the South China Sea Fleet left some elite troops to temporarily join the East China Sea Fleet to prepare for military operations against Tsushima Island.

As for Jeju Island, Wei Guangde was inclined to put pressure on North Korea. As long as there was no document left by the Ming Dynasty proving that Jeju Island was handed over to North Korea, it should be taken back by force.

There is no need to resort to force if things can be resolved through diplomacy.

What's more, Korea has always been respectful to the Ming court. If it wants to make its attitude clear, the King of Korea should know how to choose.

As for establishing a hall in Busan, it shouldn't be difficult, it's just a matter of purchasing goods.

If Korea is asked to cut off trade with Japan, the King of Korea might not be willing to do so.

What would be the reaction of Japan after the Ming army occupied Tsushima Island? This was what Wei Guangde wanted to think clearly about.

Although Japan is now divided into several daimyo, Wei Guangde is not sure whether these daimyo will unite to fight back against the Ming Dynasty after the Ming Dynasty sends troops.

"Next year, the navy's main task will be to find a route to Nurgan City and familiarize themselves with the strait. The earliest they can take action will be after completing military preparations the year after next."

Wei Guangde murmured.

"There's still a year left."

Wei Guangde roughly estimated how long he could monopolize the trade with Japan. It would be impossible to trade with Japan as recklessly as he did now after one year. Although he was somewhat reluctant, Wei Guangde had made a lot of gold and silver by controlling the maritime trade with Japan over the years.

Once the war against Japan broke out, these good days would come to an end.

Although this sea route is still possible, there will definitely be other competitors involved.

Monopoly business is the most profitable. Although foreign merchants also run this route, they care about Japan's specialties and gold and silver. Wei Guangde cares not only about these, but also resources such as copper.

In fact, the barbarians looked down upon many materials and thought the profits were too small, so Wei Guangde's merchant ships monopolized this part of the trade.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde suddenly had an idea, which was to control the Japanese currency.

The previous trade between the company and Japan allowed Wei Guangde to see various coins privately minted in Japan during this period, which could only be described as very crude.

Although after coming into contact with foreign merchants, they also minted small gold and silver coins in imitation of Western coins, but according to the news brought back by the Chamber of Commerce, the most popular currency in circulation in Japan was actually Ming coins.

The copper coins minted by the Ming Dynasty and the previous dynasty are the hard currency for transactions in Japan. Now Japanese merchants also like Ming Tong Bao very much, and are even willing to exchange them for Ming Tong Bao at a price half a percent higher.

After all, the silver coins minted by the Ming Dynasty look much better than the Eagle Dollars used by the barbarians. Compared with the Eagle Dollars, which are obviously handmade and have countless edges cut out to control the weight, most people don't like them.

The Tongbao coins minted by the Ming Dynasty were almost all of the same specifications, and it was said that foreign merchants also highly praised the silver coins minted by the Ming Dynasty.

Well, in this era, if Ming Dynasty’s craftsmanship is second to none, no one dares to claim to be first.

Controlling the Japanese market and filling it with Ming Dynasty coins would mean that all the currency in circulation in Japan would pay more than 10% in taxes to the Ming Dynasty court.

Gold, silver and copper materials were collected at low prices and cast into Ming Tongbao coins, which were circulated around the world and became the world currency.

Not only that, the return gift for the tribute of the emperor's wedding can also include Ming Tongbao, and some gold and silver coins can be distributed to let those country bumpkins see the coinage strength of the Ming Dynasty.

If they could all transport their gold, silver and copper materials to the Ming Dynasty and process them into coins, the court would have even more income.

Although it still cannot compare to the Federal Reserve's cost-free business of issuing money, Ming Dynasty is just making some hard-earned money, but it is also considerable in this era.

Wei Guangde's main goal was to try to issue paper money after building up sufficient gold and silver reserves.

As long as we can make the foreigners believe that Ming's paper money can be exchanged for gold and silver in Ming, it seems that it is not impossible to make a big move.

Wei Guangde was still very afraid of issuing paper money, worried about losing control, so he could only think about it and would not try it easily.

At the beginning of the afternoon, which was about three o'clock in the afternoon in later times, Wei Guangde finally walked out of the duty room, holding the information sent by Liu Shouyou in his sleeve, and walked into the duty room of the Prime Minister.

"Brother, this is the information collected by the Jinyiwei about the main gold and silver mines in Japan. Take a look at it first. It's amazing."

After a few brief greetings, Wei Guangde directly stated his purpose and handed the document handed over by Liu Shouyou to Zhang Juzheng.

Sure enough, Zhang Juzheng took the document casually at first, but soon he sat up straight and looked at the document in his hand carefully.

"Is this all true?"

After Zhang Juzheng finished reading the document, he was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth. He looked at Wei Guangde and asked.

"pretty close."

Wei Guangde nodded with a straight face and replied in a very serious manner, "I have heard that the price of gold and silver in Japan is very low. It is said that sometimes three taels of silver can be exchanged for one tael of gold.

I didn’t believe it at first, but after reading the secret report from the Royal Guards, I believe it now.”

At this point, Wei Guangde pointed at the document and smiled bitterly, "Who would have thought that such a small place would have so many gold and silver mines.

Not only that, I heard that there are also many copper mines and sulfur mines there, which are also scarce commodities in our Ming Dynasty.

The imperial court needs to build up gold and silver reserves, and Japan's gold and silver mountains really need to be seriously considered as to how to deal with them."

"But they all belong to Japan."

Zhang Juzheng hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“The Japanese are so rude that they dare to call the Japanese king the emperor. In the past, Japanese pirates were rampant in Ming Dynasty, causing countless innocent people to die tragically.

This is all due to the incompetence of the Japanese king, and the Ming Dynasty should send troops to punish him."

Wei Guangde answered without hesitation.

How could Zhang Juzheng not guess what Wei Guangde was thinking? He immediately shook his head and said, "Let's not talk about this for now. Your Majesty's wedding next year is the top priority of the court."

"Indeed, this matter will be considered in detail after your majesty's wedding."

Wei Guangde nodded in agreement.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Juzheng looked at Wei Guangde, knowing that he must have had an idea.

Although he was taught since childhood that this should not be done, as the ruler of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Juzheng still could not resist the temptation of mountains of gold and silver.

The Ming Dynasty was very short of money.

"Shandai, what do you think?"

Zhang Juzheng finally lowered his voice and asked.

Wei Guangde reached out and took the document from Zhang Juzheng, unfolded the last part of the drawn map and said, "Here and here."

Wei Guangde pointed at Jeju Island and Tsushima Island, and then said: "Jeju Island was originally the territory of our Ming Dynasty. In the early Ming Dynasty, Taizu asked Goryeo to pay tribute to Jeju horses, so the King of Joseon sent troops to occupy it and provide horses for our Ming Dynasty.

However, after checking all the historical records, all of them show that Taizu gave the island to Korea.

This time, the North Korean envoy can be asked to prepare to return the island.

By then, the East China Sea Navy can relocate some of its warships there, and it can also provide war horses for the Ming Dynasty."

After Wei Guangde finished speaking, he glanced at Zhang Juzheng, who showed no sign of reaction, and then continued, "This is Tsushima Island."

Wei Guangde talked about the situation on Jeju Island, and now he also talked about the situation on Tsushima Island that he heard from Liu Shouyou, and by the way he also talked about the Japanese trading house in Busan.

In fact, compared to Tsushima Island, which can be resolved by force, the situation on Jeju Island is more difficult to deal with.

All this is of course related to the image that the Ming Dynasty projects to the outside world. Although Taizu did not explicitly say that Jeju Island would be handed over to Korea, he had actually done so.

Now North Korea is asked to withdraw from Jeju Island and return it to Ming Dynasty. If North Korea is unwilling to make trouble, it will be a troublesome matter.

After Wei Guangde finished introducing the situation on Tsushima Island, Zhang Juzheng spoke out his thoughts.

At this time, Zhang Juzheng was actually in the same boat with Wei Guangde, and he really couldn't let go of Japan's mountains of gold and silver.

Although they were talking about two islands, Zhang Juzheng was able to figure out Wei Guangde's plan through the map.

"After your majesty's wedding, send off the envoys from other countries and keep only the Korean envoys to discuss this matter with them."

Wei Guangde spoke up and expressed his thoughts.

Diplomacy is no small matter.

This is what later generations said, but compared with the current Ming Dynasty, Wei Guangde does not think this is a difficult choice.

"If they are unwilling to voluntarily return Jeju Island, let Qi Jiguang support the Jurchens and let them go to Korea."

Wei Guangde's words suddenly became gloomy and he expressed his thoughts.

"Ok?"

Zhang Juzheng suddenly looked up at Wei Guangde and was speechless for a long time. (End of this chapter)