unclear

Chapter 1345: Bloody Battle of Panama City 9
"You are late. More than ten years ago, His Majesty asked the Army General Staff to conduct a detailed simulation of a full-scale attack on Japan, but the conclusion was not ideal.

Unless the Japanese Emperor and most daimyos are willing to surrender voluntarily, the complete occupation alone will cost at least three thousand casualties, and the consumption of weapons, ammunition and supplies will also be huge.

At that time, Governor Li Ruzhang was more in favor of attacking Japan, and was willing to lose troops and generals to wipe out the Japanese. His reason was that he could not allow others to sleep peacefully beside his bed. After the Japanese islands were incorporated into the territory of the Ming Dynasty, the entire east would no longer need to be defended, which was not nonsense from a strategic point of view.

Many army generals, including the Chief of the General Staff, shared the same idea, but the operational plan was ultimately rejected.

The emperor asked them a question: if there was a safer and more economical way, which would only take longer, would they still choose to lose at least three main guard forces to attack Japan?

The answer is definitely no! The top leaders all agree on this point. Japan is a chicken rib that is tasteless to eat and a pity to throw away. If the Empire occupies it, not only will it not get enough returns, but it will also have to bear the burden of feeding and clothing more than 1000 million people, which is too heavy a burden.

So after that, no one mentioned attacking Japan anymore. Instead, military forces and resources were shifted westwards, focusing on developing Central Asia and West Asia, which led to the current situation.

Look at these new army soldiers. When they first arrived, each of them hoped to revitalize Japan and defeat the Ming Dynasty, and were willing to sacrifice themselves for this goal.

However, as time went by, their ideas were slowly changing. Some people were frightened by the huge gap and felt that it was impossible to do anything, thus losing their fighting spirit.

Some people saw the essence of the situation and no longer believed that the Ming Dynasty was an obstacle to Japan's revitalization. Instead, they set new goals and regarded the Ming Dynasty as a model and support to follow.

This is the strategy that Your Majesty set back then, called peaceful evolution. The general idea is to use peaceful means to replace war, unconsciously influence people's minds, and defeat the enemy without fighting.

The plan has been implemented by the Army and Navy Statistics Department for many years, and the effect is obvious to all. You may not pay enough attention to Japan and find it difficult to notice its changes. In fact, there have been great changes in the past decade, especially among the people.

You can get off the ship at any port in western Japan and immediately be warmly received by the locals, with the best houses to live in, the best food and wine to eat, and the most beautiful and gentle Japanese women.

In fact, the Japanese didn't like us in their hearts, but they liked silver coins. In the eyes of the local people, Ming merchants and soldiers who could go to Japan were all rich people. Warm hospitality could be exchanged for silver coins, and these silver coins could make them live a better life. It was that simple.

Your Majesty took out a small portion of the military expenditure that would have been used for offensive operations to build many factories and farms in Japan, taught the locals how to make tools and grow food, and also sold Ming products to all parts of Japan.

It is not a problem if you don't know the goods, but it is a problem if you compare the goods. Many Ming Dynasty products cannot be produced in Japan at all, but they are all necessities of life, such as matches.

Compared with flint, matches are definitely more convenient for starting a fire, and no one would use flint if they could afford it. In the first few years, the price of matches shipped from the Ming Dynasty to Japan was 30% cheaper than that in China. It was a complete money-losing product and had to be subsidized by the General Staff.

However, within less than five years, there were no more craftsmen or workshops producing flint in Japan. Because Ming Dynasty matches were cheap and easy to start a fire, the Japanese people gradually got used to using matches, and there was no market for flint for making fire.

At this time, the Ministry of Rites will negotiate with the shogunate to build a match factory in Japan, mine raw materials locally, employ Japanese workers, and produce matches at only one-third the cost of Ming Dynasty. As far as I know, there are 5 match factories in Saikaido alone, employing thousands of Japanese workers. They produce day and night and still cannot meet the demand. The business is quite good. The daimyo who invested in it recovered their principal in as little as half a year, and they will make money in the future! "

When it comes to the Ming Empire's policy towards Japan, Du Wenhuan has a lot to say, all of which he has personally experienced. And like most officials and generals, he went from not understanding to understanding and then to support, with a clear ideological transformation process.

"...Then won't our matches make any more money?"

Setel was in the stage of not understanding. At first he thought that selling matches at a low price was just to give the Japanese people a taste of sweetness first, and then after they formed a habit, they would raise the price to make up for the previous losses.

But the more I listened, the more I felt something was not right. If this trend continued, they would really be paying money to help the Japanese build the city, and they were still persisting until now. What was the purpose? Did the emperor want to influence the Japanese to remember the good of the Ming Dynasty and then willingly submit to it in the future?
"Alas... Compared to His Majesty, you and I are both children, not worth mentioning. If it weren't for Grand Secretary Silva revealing the inside story, I would still be in the dark like you.

How could our Majesty suffer a loss! He had already figured out how to make money from the Japanese, and he wanted to make money and gain fame at the same time, so that he could gain both fame and fortune!

Don't bother thinking about it, neither you nor I have such wisdom. Suddenly it seems that the method is very simple, so let me explain it slowly.

By deliberately missing one or two steps in the production process of Japanese match factories, the quality of the matches they produced would be poor and not suitable for ignition. As a result, the Japanese people did not like to use them and would buy the Ming brand even if it was much cheaper.

When the Japanese match factories were struggling, they would send Ming merchants to negotiate with them and buy their semi-finished products at a very low price, saying that they would be shipped back to Ming for further processing. In fact, they would be sent across the strait to Korea, where they would be made into finished products by the match factories there, marked with the Ming trademark, and then shipped back to Japan for sale.

The Japanese match factory was reluctant but had to agree to this in order to keep the factory. They paid almost all the raw materials and most of the labor, but the products could only be sold at a low price and they could not get much profit.

The North Korean match factory only did the last one or two processes, and it didn't have to pay anything, so the price was cheaper. The one that gained the most was the Daming match factory, which did nothing at all. It didn't have to buy materials or use workers, and it only had to pay two freight costs to get most of the profit. How's that for calculation?

It's not just about profits. If this kind of thing happens a few more times, the Japanese people will lose confidence in their own products. From then on, whenever they buy something, they will choose the Ming brand first. This is a way to win over people's hearts and minds, and it's the smartest way!
From now on, Japan will become Ming Dynasty's processing factory, and any industry that consumes resources and manpower, has toxic and harmful production processes, and does not involve high-level secrets can be imitated.

The hard work of the Japanese people can only earn a small amount of income, while the wealth they create is used to feed the people of Ming Dynasty. Du didn't quite understand the specific reason, but he only knew that if things continued like this, no matter how many new troops Japan had, they would not be able to stand up. Wars are all about money! "

Du Wenhuan responded to Settle's concerns with a sly smile and self-mockery. If we were to ask who among the people of the Ming Dynasty supported Emperor Jing Yang the most, the navy and the army might not be the first because of their small numbers.

The more numerous merchants are the emperor's staunch supporters. Since the day he ascended the throne, the emperor has been helping merchants to make money in various ways. He has not been idle until now. I really don't know how many tricks he has in his head, but fortunately he rarely uses them on his own people.

(End of this chapter)