prosperous age

Just as Li Zhi, Yang Keli, and others were discussing countermeasures, in a luxurious mansion in Anfu Ward of the inner city, Zhang Jing was drooling over several huge boxes in front of him.

The lids of the boxes were all open, revealing neatly stacked Tongbao coins inside.

Zhang Jing reluctantly withdrew his greedy gaze, looked at the eunuchs standing behind the box, and asked calmly, "No one saw this, right?"

"Godfather, don't worry, no one saw it."

Our carriage didn't encounter many people after leaving Dongyuku; it went straight through Xiyuan.

Anfu Lane is located outside the west gate of Xiyuan. A wealthy merchant spent a fortune to buy it in order to curry favor with the newly appointed eunuch. After careful renovation, the deed was delivered to him through the eunuch's clerk. All he wanted was the eunuch's protection.

Zhang Jing was very satisfied with this.

Isn't this exactly what he's been pursuing?
Now, he finally did it.

The house isn't large, with three courtyards in the front and back, plus a side courtyard, but it's enough.

The key point is that once you step out of the courtyard and cross the alley, you'll reach the west gate of the West Garden, making it very convenient to enter and exit the Forbidden City.

So this place became Zhang Jing's residence, and he would come here to rest whenever he was not in the palace.

Of course, all the benefits received are also kept here.

These boxes of silver coins were naturally the funds spent on the Aoshan Lantern Festival, but according to unspoken rules, he had to take the lion's share.

"Put it in the inner vault."

As he spoke, Zhang Jing took a bunch of keys from his waist, found one, and handed it over.

The eunuchs carried the box away, and Zhang Jing hummed a little tune as he sat back on the recliner, his good mood needing no further explanation.

"Dongyuku, tsk tsk."

Thinking of the boxes piled up in Dongyu Warehouse, Zhang Jing couldn't help but feel a surge of emotions.

Dongyu Warehouse was actually an inner warehouse, belonging to the inner warehouse system, and was mainly responsible for storing valuable items such as gold, silver, jewelry, and jade.

There are naturally many good things here.

In earlier years, Dongyu's coffers actually contained a limited amount of gold and silver, but mostly jewelry and jade.

However, in recent years, not only has the imperial court reaped huge tax revenues, but the imperial treasury has also become full.

The revenue share that the four open ports alone gave to the palace each year amounted to hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.

Before the maritime ban, these eunuchs had no idea that foreign trade could be so profitable.

They do nothing but collect taxes.

In the past, the Maritime Trade Office thought it was very impressive to pay 20,000 to 30,000 taels of silver a year. It has to be said that the civil officials in the outer court were quite shrewd and could find ways to make money.

"It seems we really need to find a way to get some, well, no, we need to get a lot more."

This was mentioned by a wealthy businessman from Beijing a few days ago. He doesn't have a strong background in Beijing and didn't get a share of the ship licenses issued in the early years.

Sure enough, they're throwing money at Zhang Jing. He'd been so indifferent before, but now he's finally showing his true colors.

However, the boat license wasn't free; Zhang Jing received 40% of the annual profits, which naturally made him very satisfied.

However, obtaining a ship license now is still somewhat troublesome.

After all, the imperial court had no plans to issue new ship permits, so they could only try to seize them from others.

But which merchant with a ship's license doesn't have a powerful figure standing behind them?

Thinking of this, Zhang Jing gritted his teeth again.

If customs duties are already so profitable, then obtaining a shipping license and joining the maritime trade would undoubtedly be even more lucrative.

Unfortunately, when the boats were distributed, he was nobody and didn't get any benefits at all.

"Xiao Guizi, come in."

Having already made up his mind, Zhang Jing immediately called out to the door.

"Godfather, you called me."

A palace attendant entered the room and stood respectfully before Zhang Jing, awaiting orders.

"Go and tell Director Lin to investigate which merchant guilds received the shipping permits issued by the imperial court in previous years, and who is behind them."

"Find out the details, write up an entry, and send it over."

"Yes, I'll have someone go find it right away."

After Zhang Jing finished speaking, the young eunuch hurriedly replied, then turned and went out to carry out his business.

The saying goes, "You have to pick the weakest one to squeeze." Zhang Jing wanted this list because he planned to pick and choose, to see who had a weaker backing than him, and then find a way to snatch them away.

He's now the head of the Eastern Depot, and even the Embroidered Uniform Guard has to listen to him, or they'll all suffer.

Therefore, Zhang Jing now believes he is qualified to manipulate certain people.

Zhang Jing is currently focused on making money; he has no time to worry about important matters of state.

As for the scheme orchestrated by Li Zhi and his group to target Zhang Juzheng, Zhang Jing didn't really care at the moment.

The main reason for doing that was to curry favor with the Emperor. Knowing that the Emperor was dissatisfied with Zhang Juzheng, this was called catering to his preferences.

However, Zhang Jing didn't really care much about a dead person.

Even after the court session ended, when officials were either going home or visiting brothels with friends, the Ministry of War's main hall remained brightly lit, with officials still busy with their work.

"Shi Yong, this is the document. You must immediately arrange for someone to rush to Tianjin overnight and deliver the gunpowder needed by the Eastern Expeditionary Army."

In the main hall, Zhang Ke took out a signed and stamped document and handed it to a fifth-rank physician in front of him.

Just half an hour before the end of the day, an urgent document from the Eastern Expeditionary Army arrived, ordering officials from the Ministry of War, the Armory Department, and other government offices to suspend their get off work and remain at their posts.

Zhang Ke was no exception; he immediately checked the documents sent back by the Eastern Expeditionary Army.

Besides the usual battle reports, the requests were for the imperial court to expedite the transfer of a batch of gunpowder.

Gunpowder, although expensive, has always been a crucial military and national asset, and thus has always been the focus of the inner court's control.

However, this also has one advantage: production can be maintained.

After all, the inner court is sometimes more efficient than the imperial court.

These large orders for sulfur and saltpeter involve substantial profits.

The Ming Dynasty had no shortage of gunpowder; otherwise, Wei Guangde wouldn't have been so eager to discuss with Zhang Hong the establishment of a military town near Daxingliangxiang, south of the capital, specifically to store gunpowder.

The battle report is to be sent to the palace first thing tomorrow morning, but the request for the allocation of gunpowder is a matter within the purview of the Ministry of War, and naturally cannot be delayed.

Since the front lines are short of gunpowder, the Ministry of War must ensure its supply as soon as possible.

Fortunately, in order to disperse the gunpowder in the capital and to prepare for the Eastern Expeditionary Army, Wei Guangde had already instructed the Ministry of War to allocate a large amount of gunpowder to the Tianjin Garrison warehouse for storage.

It's quite simple to allocate them now; all it takes is a document from the Ministry of War to load them onto ships and ship them out by sea.

After seeing the person leave, Zhang Ke took out a piece of official paper from the side, quickly wrote something, and then attached it to the military report.

In this way, when the military report is sent to the palace tomorrow, both the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Cabinet will know that the Ministry of War has already met the Eastern Expeditionary Army's request for gunpowder supplies overnight and has directly allocated them from the Tianjin Garrison's firearms depot.

The large Fujian ships of the East China Sea Fleet are usually docked there. I imagine that when the documents are delivered to the palace tomorrow, they will probably start loading them onto the ships.

Zhang Ke knew how hard-won his position was; it was mainly due to someone above him promoting him.

Of course, his past achievements in leading the suppression of Japanese pirates in the southeast for more than half a year also played a crucial role in this appointment.

It can only be said that every step he and Lao Kan took over the years was meticulously calculated by that person. There's also someone to thank: Lord Tan Lun. If it weren't for him personally teaching him about the Ministry of War, especially after he stood guard until his last shift despite his illness, this position wouldn't have fallen into his lap.

On such a night, the capital city was a scene of all sorts of activity, while in Japan, the moon still hung high, but the mindset of the people under the moon was very different.

"Based on the documents sent by Liu Ting, I believe that the Japanese people's desire for peace may be genuine."

The speaker was Qi Jiguang, and what they were discussing was naturally the document sent by Liu Ting, the garrison commander of Datianzhuang.

Just two days ago, the Japanese sent envoys to the city to negotiate with the Ming army.

Although no formal credentials were presented, the conversation seemed to suggest a ceasefire and a desire for peace talks.

Liu Ting knew that the court's true intention was to rob him of money.

Of course, the most important thing was to station troops in Japan, so that the Japanese could be kept under close watch and prevent the recurrence of the Japanese pirates in the southeast of the Ming Dynasty.

The coastal trade of the Ming Dynasty is now thriving, having recovered to the level before the Japanese pirate raids.

Neither the local government nor the local people wanted to see Japanese pirates plundering again.

Stationing troops in Japan is undoubtedly the best solution.

For the Japanese, this was a tremendous deterrent.

In fact, the Ming generals who came to Japan this time also found it very novel.

In their eyes, Japan was a poor and remote place, and from what they learned about the lives of the Japanese people, that was indeed the case.

Despite the poverty of the place, these soldiers managed to make a small fortune.

Although Japan is extremely short of resources, it seems that the common people have no shortage of silver.

The silver here is far more than what ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty have.

Although their designs were ugly, and their silver coins looked like silver bars that had been hammered, the silver content of the coins was very high.

It is worth mentioning that after the Japanese stopped attacking Datianzhuang on the second day of the Lunar New Year, although there were still traces of Japanese outside the city, large-scale battles had stopped, and the most frequent battles were scout battles.

Several days after the ceasefire, Liu Ting recalled the cavalrymen who were stationed outside the camp, and then sent out scouts to investigate. They found that the original Japanese camp was now deserted.

However, traces of Japanese soldiers can still be found on the hills outside the city.

Liu Ting naturally knew what was going on.

After all, that's how they gradually came to power and finally took over the city.

After that, the Japanese envoys came to the city and had exchanges with Liu Ting, which seemed to suggest that the war might be coming to an end.

Liu Ting naturally dared not neglect the task. After everyone left, he immediately summoned the officers and military clerks to complete the military report together.

At this time, Qi Jiguang was discussing with Wang Xijue whether or not to pass on this matter back.

"I have read the document. Although the Japanese seem to have this intention, I have not seen the official letter."

As for reporting back to the imperial court, it's too early. We can wait until the Japanese truly submit before reporting.

Wang Xijue stared at Qi Jiguang, thought for a moment, and then continued, "During this period, there must be absolutely no negligence in military affairs."

It should be understood that all warfare is based on deception.

If the Japanese use peace talks to lull our army into a false sense of security, causing us to lose our vigilance, they will then seize the opportunity to launch an attack.

The defenses you've built are excellent, and I've pondered them repeatedly, but there's one thing I must admit.

The defenses lacked depth; once a point was breached, the government troops would only have one chance to intercept.

If the Japanese act quickly, they could easily break through the defenses and reach the Iwami mining area.

If tens of thousands of local miners were incited to riot, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiguang stood up, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Your Excellency is right to remind me. I almost ruined a great undertaking."

Tomorrow, I will send a document to each town, instructing them to strengthen their defenses and not give the Japanese pirates any opportunity to take advantage.

Wang Xijue was quite satisfied with Qi Jiguang's attitude. Although Qi Jiguang was already a first-rank military general holding a position in the Five Armies Commandery, he remained humble in front of Wang Xijue, a third-rank civil official.

Of course, Wang Xijue was also very satisfied with the spoils of war from this war against the Japanese.

Although he also complained a lot about the Japanese gold and silver coins, saying they were too ugly and not worth even a fraction of the value of Ming Dynasty coins, it's no wonder that the Japanese preferred Ming Dynasty coins.

Wang Xijue came to Japan with the intention of making a name for himself, but he was pleasantly surprised to find that he had discovered many ancient coins that were extremely rare in the Ming Dynasty.

Many of the copper coins circulating in Japan came from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period and the Sui and Tang dynasties. After all, Japan had the closest ties with China during the Tang dynasty and was most influenced by it.

This also led to a large influx of Chinese coins into Japan, where they ended up in the hands of wealthy merchants and ordinary people.

In the Ming Dynasty, apart from coins like the Kaiyuan Tongbao which had a relatively large issuance volume, many coins with a short history and small issuance volume are already very rare.

For example, coins such as Tian Ce Fu Bao and De Yi Yuan Bao were extremely rare in the Ming Dynasty, but Wang Xijue unexpectedly made a discovery here.

Aside from the readily available achievements, these coins were his greatest gain from the trip.

Well, Wang Xijue is a coin collector, perhaps because these things can be turned into more money.

Just as people in later generations still collect brand-new RMB banknotes, ancient Chinese people actually understood the art of collecting very well.

You can collect it if you like it.

"So, how should we write to Liu Ting?"

It seems that the Japanese are currently fighting and negotiating in Ota-sho, perhaps because it is the closest place to Kyoto.

However, Qi Jiguang was more concerned about how Wang Jinglue planned to negotiate.

"No need to say too much. If the Japanese continue to make contact, let them come into the city to talk and ask them their bottom line."

As for our bottom line, it is limited to the existing borders, ceding to our Great Ming, including land and people.

Wang Xijue immediately laughed.

The mineral deposits here are just as its name suggests, known as the Stone-Seeing Silver Mountain. The ore contains an extremely high amount of silver, making it a true treasure trove.

According to the collected account books, in a normal year, Iwami Silver Mine could produce nearly one million taels of silver annually.

However, this is not the maximum capacity of the silver mine. If needed, more miners could be mobilized to mine and refine the silver around the clock, which could double the capacity.

In addition, the situation at Sado Kinzan was also reported to him, living up to Kinzan's name.

With an annual gold production of 70,000 to 80,000 taels and a few hundred thousand taels of silver, it's definitely the biggest surprise.

Who would have thought that such an island could produce so much gold and silver?

These two mines alone can bring back nearly two million taels of gold and silver for the country every year. What a great contribution that is!

Wang Xijue knew that the imperial court had previously received only three million taels of tax revenue per year, and this was almost the imperial court's annual cash reserves.

Even if the imperial court's tax revenue has skyrocketed, it is still a considerable sum of income.

The key point is that it costs almost nothing.

The taxes collected in China are enough to cover the expenses of the military base and the mines.

"Then leave the military report with you, sir. This humble general will now return."

Having said all that needed to be said, Qi Jiguang took his leave.

Watching Qi Jiguang's retreating figure, Wang Xijue nodded and commented, "Capable, knows how to conduct himself, a truly talented person." (End of Chapter)