I'm really not doing business

Chapter 804: Juezhou, nothing but iron

Chen Dazhuang and the Stargazing Ship set out from Coconut Sea City and conducted a total of twenty-seven explorations, which took a full three years, before they were completely sure that the vast continent in the south had some value to the Ming Dynasty.

During the Age of Exploration after the Ming Dynasty opened up the seas, the Ming Dynasty discovered many places, but most of these places were not worth exploring.

At least one of the following must be available to be worth developing: minerals, rivers, or land. Otherwise, it will all be a piece of rotten land with input greater than output. During the period when the Ming Dynasty had just opened up its seas, it would hardly be the first choice for development.

The Nanyang dream had to be supported by plantations and Han towns. Without the Han towns, the prerequisite for building plantations would not exist, and the people of the Ming Dynasty would not bother to touch them.

The Ming Dynasty expanded its territory by occupying rich territories.

The Ming Navy had actually known for a long time that there was a vast continent south of the Yuanxu Islands in the Thousand Islands Country, but in the eyes of the local people, that place was a desolate place.

There are people, but they are all tribes that do not farm and live on hunting. They cannot even get rid of the life of eating raw meat and drinking blood, let alone building a dynasty. They have no diplomatic value.
These poor people do not know how to trade cotton or silk, and do not have any special products, so they have no trade value;
The climate is so hot that the local natives don't even wear clothes. There are large areas of deserts, wildfires, storms and other natural disasters on the island. Even the water flows red. It is a truly desolate place and not worth conquering.

Only some areas in the southeast are suitable for farming, but they are too far away.

There is a widespread shortage of Han people in Southeast Asia. Within five years, there will be a gap of one million or more, and the Ming Dynasty does not have any extra people to go to more distant places to farm.

The natives of the Yuanxu Islands occasionally go south to the big island, but most of the time they go to catch sea cucumbers, so this desolate place is also called the Sea Cucumber Land.

Overall, the Ming Dynasty's exploration of the southern island had no exploratory value other than catching a few jumping rabbits with bags in their hands to offer good luck to the emperor and seeing some new species.

Moreover, this marsupial rabbit eats a lot and produces little meat, so it is not a good livestock.

It was not until Chen Dazhuang explored this barren land where even the rivers flowed with blood and no grass grew, and found the endless Iron Mountain, that he was sure that this exploration was meaningful.

If there were no Datie Mountain, the only use of this place would be as a destination for exile.

The Ming Dynasty needed high-grade iron ore, or in other words, for the Ming Dynasty, any mineral must have Ming troops stationed there, only then would the Ming Dynasty feel at ease.

Minerals really will breed the Ming army.

"Your Majesty, this vast land is still missing a name." Chen Dazhuang took out the geomancy map he had drawn and handed it to Feng Bao to present to Your Majesty, reminding the Emperor that he should give this place a name.

Zhu Yijun looked at the map for a long time. This map completely outlined the contours of Australia. It can be seen that the stargazing ship really tried its best and hoped to find a good reason to explore this place.

The stargazing ship wanted to give up several times, but because of the huge manpower and material resources invested in the survey, the sunk costs prompted the exploration activities to continue for three years.

"What did you call it when you were exploring?" Zhu Yijun asked their customary name.

Chen Dazhuang showed a slightly painful expression and said: "We call that place the Jedi."

"Except for some places in the south that are suitable for living, other places are not very suitable for living. Your Majesty, this desert is really strange. Most areas of their desert have more than twelve inches of rainfall per year."

"Only when the rainfall exceeds 24 inches can it be called wet."

"You know, in the Ming Dynasty, twelve inches of rainfall is already fertile land, and it is all in the heartland of the Ming Dynasty. But in the desert, twelve inches of rainfall is a desert with no grass growing. It's not even sandy land, but a desert."

The accompanying geomancers found it really difficult to understand this strange situation. Any place where the annual precipitation exceeded twelve inches and the frost-free period exceeded one hundred days was a good place for farming. Even if the land was not particularly fertile, it could be cultivated slowly.

But it doesn't work in the wild. Twelve inches of precipitation is a desert.

Most of the places in the deserted land are really not suitable for human survival. The local indigenous people number only hundreds of thousands, divided into hundreds of tribes, scattered on such a large island. They have no interaction with each other, and cannot interact with each other. There is also a lack of large livestock.

Chen Dazhuang continued, "The reason why the geomancer called it Jedi is because there are too many inland rivers in Jedi. Jedi actually has no shortage of precipitation, so these inland rivers will flood regularly."

"But these inland rivers have no outlets to the sea, so the salt cannot enter the sea, forming large areas of saline-alkali land, which is really difficult to grow crops on."

Such a large area, even if placed on a globe, would occupy a large area. Unfortunately, it is really not a good place.

Chen Dazhuang said with emotion: "Your Majesty, I have been in Taixi for several years, protecting Xu Fan, and returned to Ming Dynasty. I think I have seen a lot. This Jedi is a very bad place."

Exploration needs to be driven by interests.

Apart from iron ore, there seems to be nothing of value, and the mining of iron ore requires roads, steam engines for transportation, and a lot of labor.

"Then let's call it Juezhou." Zhu Yijun gave this place a name, which was later known as Oceania.

"The iron mine is open-air, and it's a huge iron mountain that the Ming Dynasty may not use up for hundreds of years." Chen Dazhuang was afraid that the emperor was not interested in this barren land and was just filling it with color.

After all, in his impression, the emperor preferred farming and silver. He once again emphasized the iron ore endowment there, which was of high quality, high reserves, and easy to mine.

The Ming Dynasty also had high-grade iron materials, but these iron materials were called ginseng iron. These ginseng iron materials were only used in the production of precision instruments. The reserves were small and it was not easy to mine in deep mountains and forests.

In comparison, the Iron Mountain that had been discovered by the Stargazing Ship only needed to build a 600-mile highway to transport the inexhaustible ginseng iron to the Ming Dynasty.

The construction cost of one li of highway in the Ming Dynasty was only 7500 silver coins. Even if it was built in a remote area, the price per li would not exceed silver coins.

This is definitely a super bargain.

"Marquis Yingyang and Marquis Sishui have already looked at the hydrology and geography. They believe that the area is very valuable for mining. Moreover, there is no need to worry about rebellion in that area because it is impossible to grow crops around Datie Mountain. We are completely dependent on the Ming Dynasty for food supply."

"Your Majesty, the southeastern part of Juezhou is suitable for farming, but the southeastern part and the northwest area where Tieshan is located cannot be directly navigated. Because in the sea area south of Juezhou, the waves are more than ten feet high. Even for the ships of the Ming Navy, it is very difficult to pass through."

Chen Dazhuang emphasized the issue of loyalty again. He did not understand politics very well. These words were taught to Chen Dazhuang by Yin Zhengmao after he had carefully read the hydrological and geographical survey.

The imperial court has its own difficulties, and the people may not understand its difficulties, but as subjects, they must consider loyalty, and loyalty is an unavoidable topic.

To convince the nobles to invest heavily, we need a reason. We need to make sure that this area is under the control of the Ming court, rather than investing heavily and then raising a group of rebels.

The inability to produce grain on a large scale means a high degree of reliance on the maritime trade economic order, which represents the Ming Dynasty's high degree of economic control over this place.

This is the biggest prerequisite for loyalty.

Juezhou has nothing but iron.

"I know that you have brought back such an important hydrological geography. I will not let your efforts go in vain." Zhu Yijun said with a smile: "Da Zhuang, how about letting you manage this Datie Mountain?"

"I want to make you a pioneer lord and station you here. This place will be enough for hundreds or even thousands of years, and your descendants can all rely on it for their livelihood."

Since it was discovered by Chen Dazhuang, it is reasonable for it to become his fiefdom. Otherwise, who would be willing to be the pioneer of development?
In the Age of Exploration, whoever discovered something owned it. This made sense, as sailing was a life-threatening matter.

"I will give you one million silver coins. You can recruit people on your own. First, build the port, then level the road so that vehicles and horses can pass through. Immigrants will be moved in little by little. Then you can survey where the highway will go and to what extent. It will be completed in ten years." Zhu Yijun briefly described his plan.

"Your Majesty..." Chen Dazhuang said hesitantly, "Your Majesty, I don't have any children. It would be better to let General Shi Longbo Deng go. Your Majesty has already made an appointment with the Stargazing Ship to go to the other side of the Pacific Ocean to continue the exploration."

Chen Dazhuang once had two sons, one named Tiedan and the other named Fugui. One son died at the hands of the Kong family, and the other son starved to death.

Later, he traveled everywhere, to Nagasaki, to the West, to Jupiter, and left behind many romantic debts. As for whether he had children or not, he didn't care much, as they were all one-night stands, and he never thought of getting a wife again.

"You are like a monk, without any desires or requests. How old are you this year?" Zhu Yijun asked in feigned anger.

Chen Dazhuang didn't know why the emperor was angry, so he quickly said, "Your Majesty, I am thirty-five years old this year."

Zhu Yijun nodded and said, "Feng Daban, when Dazhuang leaves later, bring a few beauties from all over the world and give them to him."

"I'll have someone find you a matchmaker and ask you to marry me. Tell them that your family owns a mine and that you're sitting on a mountain of gold. You're a six-foot-tall strong man, so why would you worry about finding a wife? Once you get there, have as many children as you can!"

"I can't control others, but I can control you. That's it! Go and take good care of Juezhou Iron Mountain for me. It belongs to me and will belong to the Ming Dynasty for generations to come!"

"This is an imperial edict!"

Chen Dazhuang bowed his head again and said, "I obey your order!"

Chen Dazhuang didn't want to be the owner of the Tieshan mine. He had become more or less open-minded and only wanted to pursue the unrestrained freedom and great liberty. He didn't particularly care about accumulating property to pass on to future generations. He had gotten used to traveling around for so many years.

Just like Yuanhou of Womagang Duntai set up an expedition team to explore everywhere, the coastal defense inspector also followed the Ming Dynasty's star-gazing ship to explore the unknown world.

He received news that there was a mountain of gold deep in the mountains on the other side of the sea. He wanted to find that mountain of gold for His Majesty. When the Ming Dynasty's ocean-going caravan was trading with the local natives, they received a gold nugget.

No matter how heavy the gold nugget is, it is just that heavy. The reason why geomancers are obsessed with gold nugget is that it is the most important clue in finding gold mines, and it often has associated minerals.

Chen Dazhuang planned to continue his adventure after meeting the emperor, and then die on the way.

After His Majesty avenged him, he no longer had any concerns, and his only obsession was to repay the Holy Spirit's grace.

Ling Yunyi gave him a knife in Shandong and asked him to kill his enemies with his own hands, but Chen Dazhuang could not be killed because it would bring endless trouble to Ling Yunyi, after all, he was the Duke of Yansheng.

When Chen Dazhuang was in the most difficult time, Ling Yunyi took him in, which brought trouble to his benefactor and was unjust.

Your Majesty executed Kong Yinlin, avenged his parents, and saved them from an unjust situation. This is the grace of the Holy Lord.

Now that His Majesty has given a clear order, he can only obey.

"I will take good care of the iron mine for Your Majesty." Chen Dazhuang bowed his head again. He didn't think that the iron mine belonged to him. It was Your Majesty's property, and he or his family was just managing it on behalf of His Majesty.

Everything in the world is not the king's land, and the shores of the land are not the king's ministers.

Of course, he couldn't care less about the affairs of future generations. What was important was to provide the Ming Dynasty with a steady supply of ginseng iron. He had participated in a round-the-world voyage, and he couldn't think of any other place in the world that could produce so much iron ore.

There is no other major seller for this iron ore except the Ming Dynasty.

Chen Dazhuang didn't say that it was actually very difficult to survive there. There were many sharks in the sea of ​​Juezhou, but the sharks didn't dare to approach the shore because there were many saltwater crocodiles on the shore, which were crocodiles that lived on the seashore, big crocodiles with bared teeth.

Chen Dazhuang once saw a big crocodile baring its teeth at him. The crocodile was about two meters long. Of course, the final result was that all the crew members on the Stargazing Ship had an extra meal, which weighed about 1,800 kilograms, and each person got five kilograms of crocodile meat.

Chen Dazhuang led three Duntai Yuanhou and killed the ferocious crocodile. He did not use the tiger squat cannon, but only used bows and arrows and muskets to kill the crocodile on the shore.

The area where Tieshan is located is very hot and humid, and people can easily get heatstroke there.

Zhu Yijun said with some concern: "Don't be stubborn. You can live in Yehai City, buy some black slaves, and let them dig in Datie Mountain. Just go there once a year. At present, except for Daming, no one will go there to buy iron ore."

“There’s nothing there except iron ore.”

The Hancheng Town in Coconut Sea City is still very prosperous, and all kinds of cargo ships come and go. Living in Coconut Sea City, the living experience is much better than living in Juezhou.

Zhu Yijun reminded Chen Dazhuang that he could adopt an offline monarchy. When delivering food every year, he could just take a look. If there were not enough slaves, he could just buy some. He should act like a slave owner instead of doing everything himself like a farmer.

Chen Dazhuang is actually not very good at being a meat eater, so Zhu Yijun is teaching him step by step how to enjoy life.

"I obey your command." Chen Dazhuang bowed his head again and accepted the order.

When Chen Dazhuang left, he felt a little regretful. The emperor's edict interrupted all his plans and he could no longer follow the stargazing ship to continue exploring across the sea.

Zhu Yijun looked at Chen Dazhuang's back as he left, and said with a twitch of his mouth, "Why does Dazhuang look like he has seen through the mundane world? Has he been influenced by the evil spirits of the Jile Cult?"

During the conversation between Zhu Yijun and Chen Dazhuang, he felt the indifference of going with the flow. Chen Dazhuang told him about his experience of discovering the mine. Zhu Yijun listened and heard that he did not care about his life and did not care much about his own life.

Datieshan was found by Chen Dazhuang himself.

Most people on the stargazing ship had given up. They had already been exploring for three years and there was nothing worth exploring. However, Chen Dazhuang still found the red river that the Yi people had mentioned and the Iron Mountain. He went there alone and came back alone.

After finding out the way, Chen Dazhuang led the geomancers of the star-gazing ship deep into Datie Mountain.

"Your Majesty, everyone has concerns. Chen Dazhuang has no concerns anymore." Feng Bao answered the question carefully.

Your Majesty is actually a little unaware of your own illness. For a period of time, the situations of Your Majesty and Chen Dazhuang were very similar. If it weren't for Queen Wang who had entered Your Majesty's heart and provided an emotional anchor, Your Majesty would probably be more open-minded than Chen Dazhuang.

Zhu Yijun frowned and said, "I have given him a lot of rewards. He is now the governor. Considering his status and wealth, it would be easy for him to find a wife, right?"

Feng Bao took a deep breath and said in a very low voice: "Your Majesty, worry can sometimes also be a weakness."

After the 21st year of Jiajing, the Taoist priest no longer met with the late emperor, Prince Yu, on the pretext that two dragons should not meet each other, especially as he got older.

For Dao Ye, he really couldn't see him again. He couldn't even save his only remaining son. Worry is a weak spot. No matter who it is, once their weak spot is caught, they will be hesitant. The emperor is no exception, and so is Chen Dazhuang.

Chen Dazhuang's parents and two sons died. He had no worries for the rest of his life except revenge. When his revenge was successful, Chen Dazhuang changed. He no longer valued his life and didn't care about life or death. Nothing could fear him anymore.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty introduced him a wife and rewarded him with beauties from all over the world. His purpose was to create attachment in him.

After Zhu Yijun read the geomancy map sent back by Chen Dazhuang, he copied it and asked Feng Bao to put the original in a side hall of Wenhua Hall. It would be placed in the tomb after his death and was the thing Zhu Yijun cared about most.

Marion, the Patriarch of the Great Light Church, was a woman who had shown her devotion to wisdom from the very beginning. However, after she formed the Free Knights, the Ming Dynasty changed its view of her, especially the Ministry of Rites, which became more strict in its scrutiny of her.

It is not impossible to use the authority of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and the believers of the Great Light Church to achieve one's own goals, but it is absolutely not okay if they are not only unwilling to pay but also intend to get it for free!
You have to pay no matter what.

Marion was almost the last envoy to be summoned to see the emperor because she was considered by the Ministry of Rites to have ulterior motives.

Zhu Yijun looked at Marion who was bowing respectfully, shook his head and said, "Are you plotting to take the throne of France? If you are here to seek financial support, I cannot help you. The West is too far away, and I cannot help you."

Marion replied helplessly: "Wise prophet, I have explained to your officials countless times that it is my father's idea, not mine. I have no interest in the French royal family."

"Please forgive the weakness of the Great Light Church. I can only accept my father's financial support to quickly form a legion to face the complex situation."

"I formed the Free Knights to ensure that the followers of the Great Light Religion would not be harmed. Your Majesty is the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty and does not know much about the bloody conflict between Western religions. This is the wisdom of the prophet. The prophet once said: If you have not seen it with your own eyes, everything is false."

"In Taixi, I can only use the sword to protect my believers!"

Marion has told the Ming Dynasty countless times that the rapid formation of the Knights of Freedom was indeed helped by her father, the French Army Marshal. Her father did have the ambition to replace the Knights of Freedom, but she did not.

"Don't be so polite. I know very well that you have your difficulties and I don't intend to make things too difficult for you. But when did I ever say this? If you didn't see it with your own eyes, everything is false." Zhu Yijun had a puzzled look on his face.

When did he say this? How come he didn't know!
Marion stood up, her eyes sparkling with excitement, and she said solemnly: "At the beginning of the paradox theory, wisdom itself was discussed."

"The great prophet once quoted the famous saying of the ancient sages: To know is to know, and not to know is not to know. This is wisdom. To know what you know and to know what you don't know is knowledge."

“Any experience needs to be put into practice to be real experience. Any experience separated from practice is false.”

"Your Majesty is in the Ming Dynasty and does not understand the complexity of religious conflicts in the West. This is because you have only heard about it but have not practiced it, so you cannot understand it. You don't know, but you don't speak nonsense. This is the real knowledge!"

Marion was very excited. The purpose of her coming to the Ming Dynasty was indeed to gain the recognition of the Ming Dynasty, but she hoped to discuss the doctrine with the Ming Emperor even more.

Zhu Yijun could only say that she would deceive herself.

In fact, the Ming Emperor did not care much about the Great Light Church. He received these believers only because they were willing to pay for the pilgrimage.

"Uh." Zhu Yijun shook his head and said, "This is what you saw from the contradiction theory. It's your understanding. Your understanding is very good."

"Let's talk about something specific. What does your father want from Ming?"

Zhu Yijun felt that although the Great Light Sect was a bit strange, overall it was not evil and had a stronger orthodox color.

Marion was a little disappointed. She actually wanted to discuss the doctrine in depth, but His Majesty seemed to want to do business more. She bowed her head and said, "We have some colonies in the New World and Africa, and have obtained some gold and silver. We hope to buy enough ships from the Ming Dynasty."

The name Africa comes from the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire defeated Carthage, captured Tunisia, and established the province of Africa. With the opening of new sea routes and the Age of Discovery, this concept expanded to the whole of Africa.

During this era of navigation, France, the Netherlands and England could only establish some strongholds in the places left by Portugal and Spain. The profits were far less than those of Spain, but there were still some profits.

Obviously, buying more ships will allow you to gain more colonies.

Zhu Yijun shook his head and said, "That's probably not possible. The Ming Dynasty's five-masted ocean-going ships are not enough for themselves. The production capacity has reached its limit, and the production schedule has been extended to three years later."

In the five major shipyards of the Ming Dynasty, shipbuilders worked overtime to build ships. The shipyards did their best to expand their production capacity, but the production capacity could only meet the internal needs of the Ming Dynasty. The industrial chain of ships was too long, and the speed of capacity expansion was really limited.

The main problem here is the wood problem.

The Ming Dynasty needed a large amount of teak to make decks. Teak, a precious wood, was only used to make decks, not hulls. Today's hulls are made of copper-clad wood, which greatly increases the life of the ship.

The Songjiang Prefecture Ship Design Institute has been trying to use more readily available steel plates to splice decks to replace the difficult-to-supply teak.

The ship design institute is always designing some strange things. For example, they launched a cement ship into the sea, but it sank very soon because it had a heavy weight, a thick hull, was not crack-resistant, and had poor elongation and could not withstand thermal expansion and contraction.

The design institute really tried its best to find a replacement.

"Three years later is also fine. We can pay a 30% deposit. Your Majesty, please agree." Marion said confidently, "We believe in your Majesty's credibility."

This is one of the eight virtues of the emperor, and Marion learned from all aspects that His Majesty has never broken his promises and always keeps his word.

In comparison, His Royal Highness Felipe of Tessi defaulted on his debts twice, causing heavy losses to those who trusted him.

"Ming's shipyards must give priority to meeting Ming's internal needs. I must ask the Ministry of Industry for the specific arrangements, and also ask the Ministry of Revenue about the expected scale of maritime trade."

"After all, the scale of Ming Dynasty's maritime trade is expanding, and the demand for ships is increasing. Only after confirmation can we know whether the shipyard has the production capacity to meet your country's needs." Zhu Yijun said a lot of nonsense, but the meaning was very clear between the lines, just three words.

Need to pay more.

Recently, the Ming Dynasty's treasury has been a little short of money, especially since Zhu Yijun granted Chen Dazhuang one million silver coins to let him develop the Datie Mountain in Juezhou, which made the situation even more stretched.

Marion took a deep breath and said, "We bought five-masted ocean-going ships at a price of 25 silver per ship."

"We know that this is very expensive. In the Ming Dynasty, a five-masted ocean-going ship usually only sells for 50,000 silver. But we don't have a complete shipbuilding industry, and Felipe has almost monopolized the shipbuilding industry in the West. Only the Netherlands can build ships, but due to the limitations of territory and scale, it cannot meet our needs."

The independence of the Netherlands is causing Spain to lose its maritime hegemony, which includes not only shipping route hegemony but also a monopoly on the shipbuilding industry.

Before the independence of the Netherlands, only Spain could own the most advanced sea ships, but now, the English and the French both have usable sea ships.

In fact, Portugal used to have its own shipbuilding industry, but as time went by, it was all taken over by Felipe.

"How many ships does France need?" Zhu Yijun asked, sitting up straight.

Marion said with a look of pity: "Twenty ships, five million silver, this is all the silver in France."

"Now France believes that our backwardness in maritime trade has caused the current chaos in France. As long as we gain an advantage in maritime trade, everything will be fine."

"Twenty ships. I will arrange production as soon as possible and strive to deliver them all within three years. If you need firearms and gunpowder, you can contact the Ministry of Works. The Ming Dynasty does business with clear prices and no deception." Zhu Yijun changed from being perfunctory to being sunny and bright.

There will always be production capacity if we squeeze it.

If you want the craftsmen to work overtime and give them enough rewards, they will be motivated to produce and give full play to their subjective initiative.

No matter how loud the slogans are, they are not as effective as the motivation of real money.

(End of this chapter)