I'm really not doing business

Chapter 840 Tonghe Palace Treasury

Qi Jiguang was much luckier than Yue Fei. Qi Jiguang met Zhang Juzheng, who was able to pacify the Japanese pirates and completely eliminate the Japanese threat. He was also able to repel the northern barbarians, preventing them from going south to harass the Ming Dynasty for fifteen years. Yue Fei was completely different.

Qin Hui and Zhao Gou, a prime minister and an emperor, tried every means to hinder each other.

Yue Fei was fighting desperately in the front, while Qin Hui was shouting in the back: We can't win, because winning will affect the peace talks!
Yue Fei had already reached Zhuxian Town and was about to kill the Jin army, but Qin Hui shouted from behind: We can't fight, an isolated army can't stay here for long!

Zhao Gou is a dog who wins by doing nothing! He won't even lie down when he wins by doing nothing!
Yue Fei was a military saint in the Ming Dynasty, and his worship was very common among the people. Even at the entrance of the East Factory, there was a portrait of Yue Fei. This was a kind of universal worship.

Zhu Yijun's red comment is a poem he wrote himself, which is about both Yue Fei and Qi Jiguang.

His loyalty shines like the sun and the moon, and his determination to serve his country never ceases;
Sighing the storm in front of Fengbo Pavilion, making long-term plans for the nine provinces.

Yue Fei's loyalty is evident to all. The slogan of welcoming back the two saints was shouted by Zhao Gou himself, and the imperial decree of taking over Kaifeng and retaking the capital was also issued by Zhao Gou.
He never forgot the loyalty to his country engraved on his back by his mother, and he never dared to slack off. He led four northern expeditions to recover the old mountains and rivers, recover the lost territories, and rebuild the mountains and rivers.
In the 13th year of Wanli's reign, the emperor went on a southern tour to the tombs of Yu Qian and Yuewang in Hangzhou Prefecture, and stood at Fengbo Pavilion and lamented the turmoil in the relations between the two Song dynasties. If there had not been the turmoil at Fengbo Pavilion (the location of the Dali Temple in the Southern Song Dynasty) at that time, would the Hu people have not been vile for nearly a hundred years?

Today, Qi Jiguang is going to continue the attack in order to fulfill his ambitions and aspirations when he was young. I have no desire to be a marquis, but I wish for peace at sea.

If we do not continue to attack and expand in Japan, and drive a nail that can interfere with the situation in Japan at any time, the Japanese threat will probably come back again. This plan is for the long-term stability of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yijun was setting the tone for the matter. If the front line thought it was necessary to fight, then they should fight, and everyone else behind them should not make comments.

The Ming Dynasty cannot learn from the Song Dynasty. Zhu Yijun should not be Zhao Gou, and Zhang Juzheng is certainly not Qin Hui.

"Barbarians are like this. The only language they can understand is fists." Zhu Yijun quoted Wan Shihe's words again to express his attitude.

He was not worried that Qi Jiguang would lose the battle, because Qi Jiguang was now very steady. If he could win, he would fight, and if he could not win, he would fight next time. Anyway, His Majesty would not urge him.

A very detailed battle plan was submitted, dividing the overall offensive waves into three waves, roughly speaking: the Ming Dynasty’s Beijing camp would kick the door, the Liaodong Army would clean up the remnants, and the Korean Army would be responsible for security.

The direction of the attack was also the many cities along the northern coast of Japan, all the way northward, from Nagato Castle to Izumo Castle and Matsue Castle.

The most noteworthy among them are the Iwami Three Fields, namely Masuda, Hamada and Ota. These three places are part of the Yoshida Plain of Japan, and are the main grain and silver producing areas of the three Reirijuku provinces of Nagato, Iwami and Izumo. Iwami Silver Mine is located between Hamada and Ota.

Iwami Silver Mine is also the largest silver mine in Japan.

According to Qi Jiguang's plan of advancing both by land and sea, all the northern coastal cities could be captured within half a year to a year, and then these port cities could be used as offensive fortresses to interfere with the situation in Japan at any time.

Zhu Yijun agreed to this plan. The reason was actually very simple. After fifteen years of military expansion, he had to give an explanation to the world.

Conquering Tuman Khan, Altan Khan and conquering Liaodong was an explanation to the people in the north, while aiding Korea and destroying Japan was an explanation to the people in the south.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty took the land and taxes from the people of the world, but he did not build large-scale projects or indulge in luxury. Instead, he used all the money where it was needed, and did not let down the trust and expectations of the people of the world.

Obviously, the powerful and wealthy people, local gentry, and poor laborers in the south, especially in the southeast, were very satisfied with the results of the fifteen years of military revitalization.

The powerful and wealthy people kept submitting donations, even if it was just a symbolic amount of silver, it would give them a sense of participation. This time there was really no conspiracy, they just wanted to have a sense of participation.
The local gentry checked their land deeds and finally could sleep peacefully without having to worry about the Japanese invasion again.

The poor and laboring people spread the news, and every household set off firecrackers to celebrate the hard-earned peace.

Gao Qiyu once said to Oda City that it was the Ming Dynasty court that was suppressing the anger of the people, rather than the Ming Dynasty court hiding the truth from the people and doing so many immoral things.

Yu Dayou once told the emperor that the security of the Ming Dynasty's coastal areas has never been in the fortresses on land, but in the sea. Now, Yu Dayou has passed away for many years, and Zhu Yijun can tell Yu Dayou calmly that the Ming Dynasty is clearing out the lairs of Japanese pirates.

Some people are dead, but they live forever.

The opening inspection in the 16th year of Wanli was very lively. Although there was no public trial this time, there was still the custom of parading the masters, mainly for the atmosphere. This year, the wine industry from Guizhou began to come to the fore. The wine from Maotai Town appeared in the capital of the Ming Dynasty, participating in the competition for the best wine in the world.

Sichuan salt goes to Guizhou, and Qin merchants gather in Maotai.

The history of winemaking in Maotai Town can be traced back to the pre-Qin period. It has a very advantageous geographical location, being located on the banks of the Chishui River. It is a vital throat for water and land transportation between Sichuan and Guizhou. It has been an important wharf for the entry of Sichuan salt into Guizhou since ancient times. Merchants have gathered here for thousands of years. By the Ming Dynasty, Maotai Town had become the most important winemaking site in the southwest region.

But unfortunately, the wine from Maotai Town failed to win the championship. This year, the Shenxian wine from Shanghai County and the Kuaiqu wine from Beiya are still competing for the top spot.

Behind this is a competition between two comprehensive science and engineering colleges in the north and south. In microbial engineering, these two colleges are still leading the country. After all, only these two places have PhDs specializing in bacteria cultivation, and the competition is very fierce.

In the end, it was Beiya's Kuaiqu wine that won the title of the best wine in the world with a slight advantage.

The competition within the Ming Dynasty was very fierce. In the past two years, the focus of the South Campus, namely Songjiang Institute of Technology (formerly the Maritime Academy), was still the cultivation of Penicillium, mainly to increase the yield of old brine, that is, to increase the production of penicillin.

As for the wine, Songjiang Institute of Technology mainly produces strong liquor. The fairy wine is distilled many times to obtain an alcohol concentration of over 75%. This wine is mainly used for disinfection. The main use of alcohol is to disinfect medical equipment. It is also used as a high-strength liquor and as a sailing wine.

The research direction of Songjiang Institute of Technology is mainly in the field of navigation, so it is not surprising that its flavor is slightly inferior.

The wine of the Ming Dynasty gradually became a commodity and was marketed all over the world. When the strong liquor arrived at the local area, it was blended and mixed with various strange flavors such as fruit juice, egg white, milk, coffee, etc. that suited the local taste.

Zhu Yijun once again approved the best wine in the world and earned 100,000 silver coins in advertising fees from this grand celebration.

Amid the bustling atmosphere of the capital's opening day, large Western sailing ships arrived at Songjiang Prefecture. Envoys from various countries, boarding hydrofoil sailboats, came to the capital of the Ming Dynasty, ready to pay homage to the emperor.

As the Spanish envoy to the Ming Dynasty, Legazpi met the envoy from Spain.

Last year, the foolish, greedy, young Jose Luis lost too much gold and silver at the Yanxinglou Trading House. After returning to Tessi, he was imprisoned by the angry Prince Felipe, who demanded that Jose's family pay enough gold and silver to make up for the losses caused by gambling.

Felipe didn't know much about Ming Dynasty's trading houses, but the gold bonds he issued had never been redeemed, so he was very familiar with the background of such trading houses.

Traders may make money, but the trading house will never lose money.

This year's Spanish envoy was Pedro Fernandez, who had visited Ming Dynasty once before. Pedro was a nobleman of the Mesta Association, an association composed of shepherds. It played an important role in Spain's long reconquest movement.

Before becoming the British Empire, Spain was always a "country on the back of sheep".

"This year's silver is only 2 million taels, and this year's gold is only 250,000 taels." Li Yashi calculated that the proportion of sailing ship trade in the Ming Dynasty's maritime trade was gradually decreasing and was sliding down again.

"Any questions?" Pedro asked with a smile as he put on his white ruff.

Li Yashi took off his glasses, took out a pen, wrote a few equations on a piece of paper and said, "These 25 taels of gold are now only worth 175 million taels of silver. In other words, you can only buy goods worth 375 million taels of silver, not the million taels of silver you thought."

"Before, the ratio of gold to silver in the Ming Dynasty was about 1:16. At the beginning of this year, due to some events, the ratio of gold to silver slipped to 1:5. With the signing of the Kyoto Treaty by the Ming Dynasty to force Japan to cede its silver mine, the ratio of gold to silver was raised to 1:7 again. This ratio is still fluctuating, but it has stabilized."

Pedro's face changed drastically, and he frowned and asked, "I have heard about the signing of the Kyoto Treaty by the Ming Dynasty in Songjiang Prefecture. The silver mountains of Japan were occupied by the Ming Dynasty. The more silver the Ming Dynasty obtained, the less gold it could exchange for silver in the market."

"What caused the price of gold to drop from a high price to 1:5?"

Legazpi found a report and placed it in front of Pedro, saying helplessly, "The Ming Dynasty has established the Jinchi Governor's Office overseas. Two ships of gold sand will arrive in the Ming Dynasty every year. The estimated output of gold this year can reach 500,000 taels. In a few years, the Ming Dynasty will have more gold."

"Governor's Palace in Jinchi?" Pedro looked at the official bulletin and the translated Latin text. He knew a little about Chinese studies. Since the original official bulletin was there, it meant that Legazpi had not lied to him.

After reading the official report, Pedro said solemnly, "Do you have any information about the Governor-General Jinchi's Mansion?"

"No." Li Yashi spread his hands and said, "The Ming court has never made public exploration maps, celestial maps, and sea maps. You know, the sea is endless. Without these things, even if they tell you the approximate direction, you will only get lost in the endless sea and be swallowed by the waves."

"I am not afraid of death, but I cannot access these confidential things."

"This year, the cabinet passed a confidentiality bill, which strictly keeps confidentiality on production technologies such as coal mining, coke, steel, shipbuilding, steam engines, breeder chickens, fungus strains, and planting."

The law prohibiting the outflow of technology passed by the Ming Dynasty Cabinet is actually a confidentiality law. The Ming Dynasty was not particularly strict in managing these things before, but now it is very strict.

"If you catch me, I'll behead you." Li Yashi put his hand on his neck, feeling somewhat helpless.

The court is full of conservatives who are unwilling to be open and inclusive. It is impossible to open up the source of the truth. Now is the Wanli Restoration, not the Kaiyuan Prosperity.

"This is really a pity." During Pedro's last visit, he proposed exchanging market for technology. Before the confidentiality law was introduced, this could be discussed. But now that the confidentiality law is in place, this is an issue that cannot be discussed because it is against the law.

Even the mining technology would not be shared with other countries by the Ming Dynasty.

"The Ming Dynasty did not collect gold before, but later it began to store gold. However, I noticed that the gold of the Ming Dynasty was not a currency. What did the Ming Dynasty want to do with so much gold?" Pedro was a little unable to understand the Ming Dynasty's approach.

Gold is useless. If gold were useful, Ming Dynasty merchants would not have accepted only silver. Because the amount of gold is too small to be used as a currency, most of the gold is used for jewelry.

The consumption of jewelry was too small compared to currency, so the Ming Dynasty did not have enough motivation to store gold.

The currency of the Ming Dynasty was still silver coins and Wanli Tongbao coins. What did the Ming Dynasty want to do with all this gold?
Li Yashi sat up straight and said, "The Ming Emperor is preparing to build a huge treasury. This treasury is located in the Tonghe Palace, covering an area of ​​about 11 acres. It is made of concrete, granite, and steel. The gate built by the Armory Bureau alone weighs more than kilograms. It is very expensive. Even if you use gunpowder to blow it up, it is difficult to blow it open."

"The locks on the gate were carefully designed by the Institute of Gewu, and they require four locks." "The emperor controls all the keys, while the chief minister of the cabinet, the president of the Institute of Gewu, the commander-in-chief of the Beijing camp, and the minister of the Ministry of Revenue each have one. The gate is opened once a year, and people can only enter but not leave."

"Under the witness of four ministers, the cast gold bars were placed inside. Each gold bar weighed 25 kilograms and had gold stamps of the craftsman, the Armory, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Imperial Treasury."

Pedro was stunned for a long time after hearing this, and his face became even more puzzled. He asked in confusion: "You still haven't answered my question. What does the Ming Dynasty do with the gold? Is it hidden?"

"Issue Ming treasure notes." Li Yashi exhaled and said, "The Ming court was very poor before. After the separation of the national treasury and the internal treasury during the Jiajing period, people still begged for food and borrowed money from each other. Later, there was no money left in both the national treasury and the internal treasury."

"If the national treasury is out of money, you can write an IOU and receive gold from your majesty, which is the gold in the Tonghe Palace vault. But your majesty will not give gold, but treasure notes, which is equivalent to giving out gold. In this way, the amount of Daming treasure notes anchors the amount of gold in Tonghe Palace."

"Anyone who gets the treasure notes can go to the Baoyuan Bureau to exchange them for silver or Wanli Tongbao of equal value. The gold is only a guarantee of your majesty's credibility."

Pedro was extremely surprised and said, "This... The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty issued treasure notes and required gold as collateral? No one knows whether His Highness Felipe's gold bonds have gold or not. Can't they be used as money?"

No one knows whether Felipe has so many gold bonds. Even Pedro, a nobleman and court secretary, is not sure. When everyone believes that he has them, they can regard the gold as real.

Legazpi said with emotion: "You are right. Your Majesty has just sent a great general to defeat Japan and obtain the ownership of Japan's mineral resources. With your Majesty's credibility, even if you have nothing, you can still issue banknotes."

"Really? If Your Majesty says that your treasury is very poor and signs a document to collect all the gold and silver in the world and put them into the treasury, and gives a bond, agreeing to return it in a certain number of years, I will definitely give all my gold and silver to Your Majesty."

"You can issue banknotes without gold. I will recognize any foreign barbarian."

Legashi felt that His Majesty was sometimes very bold and sometimes very cautious, a little too cautious.

It's really unnecessary to go through the trouble of building such a vault.

As a true emperor, Your Majesty has unlimited power. It's just issuing money, what's the big deal?

No one dared to object to collecting all the gold and silver in the world and putting them into the treasury. If there was real opposition, they could just send the Beijing troops to send the opponents to hell.

Li Yashi actually understood the emperor's thoughts very well, because the Hongwu Baochao completely overdrew the credibility of the Ming emperor and the court. In order to prevent the same thing from happening again, His Majesty the Emperor was so cautious about the banknote system, which was naturally a blessing for all the people in the world.

However, the Ming Dynasty was short of money and currency, and the emperor was so cautious that the economic vitality of the Ming Dynasty could not be fully released. Now the economy of the Ming Dynasty was completely dancing in shackles. Even so, the Ming Dynasty was still the Celestial Empire.

Legashi once had in-depth communication with the commander of the tribe, Liu Ji. The current economic vitality of the Ming Dynasty was completely restricted by His Majesty's caution. The Ming Dynasty issued banknotes in Japan, making the coastal areas of Japan that used treasure notes extremely prosperous; the Ming Dynasty issued banknotes in Luzon, and the economic vitality of Southeast Asia was even higher than that of the Ming Dynasty.

The merchants of the Ming Dynasty recognized the Ming Dynasty treasure notes, especially the overseas treasure notes issued by Luzon. Not counting the Yunnan Copper and Womagang gold, silver, copper and iron mines, there were twelve copper towns and Han town towns in Luzon alone. No one doubted that Your Majesty could not accept them.

The core of Baochao is credibility and confidence, confidence in the Ming Dynasty, and belief that Baochao is valuable. Then Baochao is really valuable.

Your Majesty is twenty-six years old, in the prime of life. Your diligence is well known. No one will doubt that the Ming Dynasty will decline in your hands.

Regarding the issue of issuing banknotes, the former Situ Wang Guoguang and the current Grand Situ Zhang Xueyan have communicated with His Majesty many times, but His Majesty has always refused and insisted on building a treasury before issuing banknotes based on the gold in the treasury.

Your Majesty means that real money is the confidence.

Li Yashi attributed this phenomenon to the fact that the Ming Dynasty was too shameless in doing things.

High morality is a disadvantage in colonization, but for the people of the Ming Dynasty, high morality is a huge advantage. The people of the Ming Dynasty may be accustomed to it, but as a foreign barbarian, Legazpi knows very well that a wise and holy ruler like Your Majesty is extremely rare.

Not to mention those uncivilized places overseas, even the monarchs in the West are just beginning to take human form.

Li Yashi further added: "The Ministry of Revenue has previously submitted a book on the anchoring of treasure notes. In fact, the treasure notes of the Ming Dynasty do not have to be anchored to gold. They can be anchored to various assets of the Ming Dynasty, such as the Ming Dynasty's official factories, the Ming Dynasty's overseas plantations, and other assets. These can also be anchored."

Pedro leaned back in his chair, looking up at the rafters, remembering the pain of being tortured by the gold bonds.

Gold bonds are something that have to be used, but every morning when Pedro wakes up, he has to worry about the gold bonds depreciating, and they do depreciate.

"As a Westerner, I have to admit that being born in the Ming Dynasty may be a lucky thing." Pedro was filled with emotion. The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was so reliable!

His Majesty the Emperor possesses such a vast territory, loyal and brave soldiers, stable power, and strong national strength, but he still acts with caution.

Felipe, on the other hand, is somewhat unscrupulous.

"Special Envoy Li, can you briefly explain why there is such a big difference between the East and the West?" Pedro was a little confused as to why there was no emperor like Your Majesty in the West.

Li Yashi smiled and said, "Well, in fact, in the East, wise and holy rulers like your Majesty are rare among the few."

During the two hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, there were only three rulers who could be considered wise, and two of them were at the beginning of the country. In the past one hundred and seventy years, the situation of the Ming Dynasty was getting worse and worse, and even the northern barbarians who didn't even have iron pots could not be suppressed.

"That's all right." Pedro could only comfort himself in this way. After all, at the maritime trade table, only Ming Dynasty and Spain were sitting at the table, and the rest were still on the menu. Portugal, because of its allegiance to Ming Dynasty, was moved from the menu to the children's table.

The Ming Dynasty and Spain were in direct competition in maritime trade.

"The recent chaos in France is a bit worrying." Pedro said worriedly: "Marion has received a lot of sponsorship. These French nobles are all looking forward to Marion getting a special permit from the Ming Emperor to allow Ming goods to be distributed in the port of Le Havre, which she occupies, that is, the Grand Light City."

"The armor, horses, swords, banners and followers of the Free Knights increased rapidly, but the King of France was obsessed with his male favorites and did not respond."

"The Ming Emperor would not allow Ming merchant ships to go to the Great Guangming City to collect and distribute goods. After all, King Antonio of Portugal was canonized by the Ming Emperor."

France and Spain have been fighting for many years. France's current bad situation has a lot to do with Spain. Felipe does not want to see a more united France, otherwise if the French become strong again, Spain will be in danger.

If France were united again, it would be a greater danger than England.

Li Yashi sighed, took out a report, handed it to Pedro and said, "The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty has allowed Ming merchant ships to go to the port of Le Havre, which is the Grand Light City you mentioned, to collect and distribute goods."

After reading the court report, Pedro said in shock and anger: "The last time the Ming Dynasty allowed the Netherlands to obtain salt, it disrupted your Highness's plan! Now it allows merchant ships to come to the Great Light City to collect and distribute goods."

"By doing this, isn't the Ming Dynasty afraid of losing the friendship of His Highness? Isn't it afraid of losing the silver from the rich silver mines?"

"The Ming Dynasty has stretched its hand too far. If we interfere with the Ming Dynasty's actions in Annan, Japan, Luzon, and Malacca and create trouble for the Ming Dynasty, how will the Ming Dynasty react?"

Pedro couldn't bear this humiliation!
The Ming Dynasty simply did not take Spain seriously. It was absolutely intolerable for Spain to interfere in Western affairs so blatantly, and it had to fight back.

Legazpi looked at Pedro and said very seriously: "Whether you can accept it or not, for Ming Dynasty, the friendship of Spain is actually not that important, just like when Governor-General Yin Zhengmao attacked Luzon and broke through our Governor's Mansion."

"The Ming Dynasty has its own way of doing things and logic, and will not be disturbed by external voices."

"The Ming Dynasty used Ming goods to interfere with the West, but how did Spain interfere with the Southeast Asian countries? Using violence, firearms, or disease?"

The surprise of friendly countries is just a way for the Ming Dynasty to correct its mistakes. As for whether they are really surprised or not, the Ming Dynasty does not really care.

Spain wanted to interfere in the many small countries in Southeast Asia. Even if it could pass through the Strait of Malacca smoothly and establish good relations with these small countries, what could it use to make these small countries oppose the Ming Dynasty? At present, the goods from the West have no appeal to these small countries.

On the contrary, the past events in Luzon have made all the foreign countries and small nations be sufficiently vigilant against the red-haired foreigners.

Legazpi looked at Pedro's angry expression and motioned him to sit down and talk.

"When the Kingdom of Malacca was conquered, the Ming Dynasty sent envoys to Malacca City to ask the colonists to leave and return the throne to the king's descendants. Didn't we not obey? The red-haired barbarians in Haojing and Shuangyu even invaded the territory of the Ming Dynasty."

"When countries interact with each other, interests come first. It's a bit naive to talk about friendship."

The Ming Dynasty would not distinguish between the red-haired foreigners, whether they were Portuguese or Spanish. The conflict between the Ming Dynasty and the red-haired foreigners began during the Hongzhi period. Because of the Japanese invasion of Shuangyu and the occupation of land in Haojing, the Ming Dynasty had no good feelings towards the red-haired foreigners.

When the Ming needed large sailing ships for trade, it had already launched an attack on Luzon.

"If this continues, won't Spain become a tributary state? Your Highness will not allow this to happen!" Pedro gritted his teeth and emphasized that Spain cannot become a vassal of the Ming Dynasty!
Legazpi did not answer but looked out the window. No matter how Felipe denied it, in fact, Portugal and Spain now fully met the definition of tributary states. Although he denied it with his mouth, his body was still very honest.

After a long time, Legazpi replied: "Your Majesty said that currency only exists when there are goods, and that is true."

At this time, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was conducting a groundbreaking ceremony for the Tonghe Palace treasury. Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng, the person in charge of Dinggong Dajian Wang Chonggu, the Minister of Revenue Zhang Xueyan, the Minister of Works Wang Daokun and others witnessed this historic moment.

Zhu Yijun shoveled a shovel of soil to indicate the foundation, and then said to the prime minister and the second prime minister: "In the fifteenth year of Wanli, the treasury has a gold reserve of 3000 million taels, and the gold bars are jin each, totaling bars. The construction of the treasury will take five years. When it is completed, I will put the gold bars in."

Zhang Juzheng could not help but whispered: "This is your majesty's gold."

"So I have four keys, and each of my ministers has only one." Zhu Yijun confirmed Zhang Juzheng's statement. It was indeed his, the emperor's, gold, but it was also the gold of the Ming Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)