Daming talker

Chapter 754 Treaty of Busan
After Lin Tianshuai and Tokugawa Ieyasu reached a consensus, they jointly drafted the terms of the peace treaty and then submitted them to their respective countries.

When the contents of the treaty reached the capital, it caused great joy throughout the court.

The main reason was that the surprise came very suddenly. Neither the emperor nor his ministers had expected that such a large-scale military deployment could make money, and a lot of money.

According to the provisions of the treaty, the first installment of compensation this year, 600,000 taels of silver, can almost cover the explicit costs.

The 400,000 taels of silver that flowed in every year were basically pure profit. The current annual income of silver in the Taicang warehouse of the imperial court is about 4 million taels. 400,000 taels per year is equivalent to a one-tenth increase in income.

This is a huge boost to the national treasury, which has been in deficit for years.

In the 18th year of the Wanli reign, troops were sent to Xihai and Gansu. In the 19th year of the Wanli reign, troops were sent to Ningxia. In the 20th year of the Wanli reign, troops were sent to Korea again. In the 21st year of the Wanli reign, the war continued in Korea. Military expenditure remained high.

Marshal Lin's glorious military achievements of twelve victories in twelve battles over the past four years were the result of a cost of millions.

When Yu Shenxing, the Minister of Revenue who was worried about the deficit in the national treasury, saw the compensation clause, he actually had the urge to call Lin Tailai "godfather".

You know, although it is only May now, there are only more than 500,000 taels of silver in the Taicang Silver Vault, and there are only 1.5 million taels of silver left in the old vault.

Therefore, the good news that 600,000 taels of silver will be deposited into the treasury this year and 400,000 taels of silver will be deposited into the treasury every year in the next nine years can really make the Minister of Revenue put aside some of his dignity.

Emperor Wanli was also very happy. First, the war was over and he could get some money back, so he didn't have to pay out of the treasury with the pain of losing money.

Second, there are already 25,000 captives working as miners at the Linjiang Copper Mine in Jiashan County. According to preliminary estimates, they can produce 500,000 kilograms of copper a year.

If it were cast into copper coins, about 70 million coins could be minted, equivalent to 100,000 taels of silver.

This is not a small amount. For example, the Imperial Stables occupied hundreds of thousands of acres of so-called grassland, but its annual operating income was only a few tens of thousands of taels of silver.

The mine supervisors were sent to various places to open mines, but often they could only earn a few thousand taels of silver after a year of hard work.

Moreover, this copper mine is still in its initial stage of development. Once more miners are involved, the output can continue to increase.

Therefore, the Ming court was pleased with the treaty and approved the terms of the treaty quickly.

However, although Japan is closer to Busan, the feedback is much slower.

Lin Tianshuai expressed his understanding of this. After all, facing an unequal treaty that was humiliating and detrimental to the country, it takes time to complete the psychological construction.

Anyway, he was not in a hurry. The Ming Dynasty soldiers had plenty of time to spare.

By June, feedback from Japan's Taiko Toyotomi Hideyoshi finally reached Busan, approving the terms of the previously negotiated peace treaty.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who was caught in a dilemma both internally and externally due to the great defeat in the expedition to Korea, had no choice but to accept the terms of the peace treaty.

He had to rescue the remaining 75,000 soldiers and generals who were besieged, as well as the captured confidants.

With the Iwami Silver Mine still there, the installment payment of three million taels of silver is still within the affordable range.

Moreover, western Kyushu was not the core area of ​​Toyotomi's power, so it would not be so painful to divide it up.

By mid-June, Ming Dynasty Marshal Lin Tailai and Japanese General Tokugawa Ieyasu formally signed a treaty outside Busan City and exchanged letters of credence, which is known in history as the "Treaty of Busan between Ming and Japan".

The aspects covered in the treaty seemed simple, nothing more than the two countries' pledge to make peace, the amount and method of compensation, the Kyushu issue, the issue of captured generals, and so on.

But the actual implementation was quite complicated, and many details needed to be sorted out. When the first batch of 200,000 taels of silver was delivered from Japan to the headquarters of the shogunate, Lin Tianshuai said to his subordinates with emotion: "The war is finally coming to an end."

Judging from the fact that they handed over the silver obediently, the Japanese pirates probably had no intention of going back on their word.

Since that’s “the end”, I may not have the chance to visit the old monkey.

Then, Marshal Lin Tian released Ukita Hideie, Kobayakawa Takakage, and Kuroda Nagamasa and allowed them to return to Japan.

After receiving the second batch of silver, Lin Tianshuai bid farewell to Konishi Yukinaga.

He also sent 3,000 naval forces and 5,000 infantry and cavalry to escort Konishi Yukinaga back to his country to ensure that Konishi Yukinaga, who made great contributions to peace, would receive the treatment he deserved.

Standing on the pier of Busan Port, Konishi Yukinaga, the envoy of the Chikushi Xuanweisi of the Ming Dynasty and the daimyo of western Kyushu of Japan, was so grateful that he burst into tears in front of Tianshuai.

The Ukita family promoted him from a merchant to a samurai, and Taiko promoted him from a samurai to a daimyo of 140,000 koku.

Tianshuai turned him from a prisoner into an envoy appointed by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, as well as a daimyo with a rank of million koku and the third highest official in Japan.

Lin Tailai encouraged Konishi Yukinaga, "Go ahead! There is a long way to go! The West Kyushu Million Koku may just be a starting point!"

Konishi Yukinaga replied respectfully, "I will never forget the days when I received instruction from the Heavenly Marshal!"

After standing on the shore and watching Konishi Yukinaga's ship sail away, Lin Tianshuai took a tour of Busan Port.

Then he said to Cui Wukui beside him: "It seems that there is no need to rent Busan, Incheon and other ports anymore."

"Ah? Why?" Cui Wukui was stunned and asked subconsciously. If Tianshuai lost contact with North Korea, wouldn't his role as a Korean interpreter be even smaller?

Lin Tailai explained: “When a war first begins, everything is uncertain, so you have to prepare for the worst.

Because the Ming Dynasty strictly prohibited trade with Japan, and considering the need for re-export and smuggling to Japan in the future, the idea of ​​leasing a port in Korea came into being, in order to serve as a transit point between the Ming Dynasty and Japan.

Now that we have Konishi Yukinaga occupying western Kyushu, our Ming Dynasty can directly connect with Konishi Yukinaga without the need for transit. So what is the point of leasing the ports of Korea?
Besides, North Korea was so poor that it didn’t even use silver or copper coins, so there was really not much oil and water.

If we lease the port just for trade with North Korea, I am afraid that the income will not be enough to cover the expenses. "

Cui Wukui couldn't explain the details, he could only say: "Back then, Tianshuai spent a lot of time and effort on renting the port, it would be a pity to give up now.

Besides, Busan is an extremely important place and is the hub between Korea and Japan.

By occupying Busan, we can prevent the Japanese pirates from invading Korea, which can also be regarded as a way to ensure long-term stability. "

Lin Tailai thought for a moment and replied, "That makes sense. It would be a waste if we don't rent it. Let's rent it first and talk about it later.

But there’s no need for too many, so let’s just temporarily decide on Incheon and Busan!
From now on, ships from Liaodong, Tianjin, and Shandong can sail along the coastline of Korea, passing through Incheon and Busan.

After returning to the Shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu sent someone to convey a message, wanting to discuss the issue of releasing the captured Japanese soldiers, and additional clauses could be added for this purpose.

However, this proposal was rejected by Lin Tianshuai. The captured Japanese soldiers needed to undergo labor reform, so he would not accept any negotiations.

If all 25,000 miners were released, how would production be maintained? Where could so many excellent miners be found in such a short period of time?

(End of this chapter)