My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 703 Controlling Cochin’s economic lifeline

"Your Highness, two of the five people we arranged have died in the battle. Among the remaining three, Li Song has the strongest momentum of development. After he captured Nie An, he took the opportunity to go south and captured Xin Binh and Hue. , this was originally Li Shan’s territory, but now it’s all in his hands.”

In Zhan Shi's mansion, Liu Ke was reporting the latest situation in Jiaozhi to Zhu Zhanhe.

"If his lair is lost, that Li Shan will definitely not give up, right?"

Zhu Zhanhe took a sip of tea and then asked.

As Wang Tong led the army and civilians of the Ming Dynasty to withdraw from Jiaozhi, the heroes in Jiaozhi are now vying for hegemony. The most powerful one is Li Shan, who killed Liu Sheng. Besides him, there are dozens of large and small forces, and Li Song is among them. The team with the strongest rise now clearly has the capital to confront Li Shan.

"Li Shan really refused to give up. He led his army back to Yi'an from Jiaozhou, and wanted to attack Jiuzhen on the way. He planned to take down Li Song's lair. Then he would be able to avenge himself and capture some hostages. He exchanged his family members, but he didn't expect that Li Song left a heavy army in Jiuzhen. Not only did Li Shan fail to capture Jiuzhen, but he was held back by Jiuzhen's defenders..."

Liu Ke answered again, and then introduced Li Song's current situation in detail.

Li Song's power developed rapidly. He used the banner of the Jiuzhen Li family. Wherever his army went, he had no offense with the local people. Whether they were Han people or Jiaozhi people, as long as they were willing to join him, he would treat them equally.

With his strict military discipline, Li Song became a breath of fresh air among the rebels. After all, other rebels committed almost every crime wherever they went, burning, killing, and looting. Of course, this cannot be entirely blamed on the rebels, because the rebels also need to eat. Apart from looting, they had no other means of obtaining food and wages.

In contrast, Li Song had the support of a big man behind him. He had plenty of food and supplies, and even the army's equipment was very sophisticated, including firearms. This also made Li Song's enemies almost flee wherever he went. Within a short period of time, Li Song had already amassed tens of thousands of troops.

Now that Li Song has conquered several state capitals in the south, he will send his troops north to assist Jiuzhen, who is besieged and attacked by Li Shan. By then, he and Jiuzhen's remaining army should cooperate with each other inside and outside. If Li Shan does not want to die under Jiuzhen City, , so we could only evacuate in a hurry.

"This Li Song is really a talent. He has such vision and courage at a young age. If he really defeats Li Shan, he may be able to unify Jiaozhi and become the new king of Jiaozhi in the future!"

After Zhu Zhanhe listened to Liu Ke's story, he couldn't help but admired it.

"Your Highness is absolutely right, but I am worried now. Seeing that Li Song is getting stronger and stronger, if he really wants to become king in the future, I am afraid it will become difficult to control him?"

At this time, Liu Ke suddenly raised a very realistic question.

Although Li Song was single-handedly supported by a big man, and even his family members were also supported by a big man, after he took control of Jiaozhi, he would definitely not be willing to be controlled by a big man again. This is also human nature, and no one can change it.

"This is indeed a problem. Although Li Song is Han, he is also a Jiaocheng. Now our interests are consistent, so we can naturally cooperate seamlessly. However, if there is a conflict of interest in the future, differences will definitely be inevitable."

When Zhu Zhanhe said this, he also looked thoughtful.

If you want to control a person, there are only two methods. One is to show him power, such as Li Song's family is on the Han side, and the other is to show kindness, such as the various supports the Han has given Li Song now. Make him grateful.

But even with both kindness and power, it is impossible to control the monarch of another country for a long time. The best way is to firmly bind this country to the Han Dynasty.

Thinking of this, Zhu Zhanhe immediately smiled and said: "There is a way. Although the results are a little slower, if it can really succeed, we will firmly control Jiaozhi in the future!"

"Your Highness, what can you do?" Liu Ke's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he immediately asked Zhu Zhanhe.

"If you want to control a country, the best way is to control its economy, especially some important economic lifelines, such as grain, transportation, steel and other industries. If we can hold the economic lifeline of Cochin in our hands, we will never be able to control it again." Don’t worry about him jumping out of our hands.”

Zhu Zhanhe said with a proud smile.

This is a method that has been proven by later generations. When a country's economic lifeline is in the hands of others, the country's destiny is no longer under its own control.

"Control the country's economic lifeline?"

This was the first time Liu Ke heard this statement, and then he asked Zhu Zhanhe again in confusion: "But what should we do to control the economic lifeline of Jiaozhi?"

"Let's start with something simple. If I remember correctly, our Chinese Yuan can also be used in Jiaozhi, right?"

Zhu Zhanhe smiled slightly and then asked Liu Ke.

"Yes, our Han Yuan is still very popular. It can be exchanged with Ming Dynasty banknotes overseas. In Nanyang and Jiaozhi, you can directly use Han Yuan to buy and sell things."

Liu Ke nodded immediately.

Although Han Yuan was not introduced for a long time, with the help of the overseas trade of the Han Dynasty, it was quickly promoted to Nanyang and other places. Even in the Ming Dynasty, a certain amount of Han Yuan was circulated.

"Very good. You try to persuade Li Song to use Chinese yuan as the currency of Jiaozhi. If necessary, you can give them more financial support. Of course, these financial support will be sent directly to Jiaozhi in the form of Chinese yuan, so that more people can use it." Many Jiaozhi people are accustomed to using Chinese yuan!"

Zhu Zhanhe ordered immediately.

If you want to control a country's economy, the most direct way is to control their currency. Now that there is war in Jiaozhi, it is a good time to promote the Han Yuan. Moreover, Jiaozhi was accustomed to using the Ming Dynasty's currency, and now it also accepts the Han Yuan. Easier to promote.

"Is it enough to just promote Han Yuan?"

Hearing this, Liu Ke asked again in confusion, if controlling a country's economy is just about promoting Han Yuan, that would be too simple.

"Of course not. Letting them use Han's currency is only the first step. Next, we need to control more of their key industries, such as customs. Cochin is a seaside country with a very long coastline, so shipping is very important to them. If we can control them The customs tax is equivalent to controlling half of Cochin!"

Zhu Zhanhe also showed excitement when he said this. In the late Qing Dynasty, when the great powers invaded economically, a very critical step was to control the Manchu customs. Now Zhu Zhanhe is following suit.

Next, like the great powers, he will invest in some key industries in Cochin, such as transportation, mining, etc. As long as he has these firmly in his hands, Cochin will never escape his grasp.

(End of this chapter)