I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Zhu Youxiao has always been very interested in Japan. Such a small country actually wants to peek at the Ming Dynasty. He has always wanted to send troops to punish it.It's just that a cross-sea expedition is difficult. This kind of thing will be a big problem even in later generations, let alone now.

Moreover, the lesson of the Yuan Dynasty's three expeditions to Japan, which were defeated by typhoons, is still vivid in my mind.Moreover, Ming Dynasty did not have that much money to support a conquest plan with extremely low investment return ratio.

If Zhu Youxiao insists on going his own way, it will be fine if he succeeds, but if he fails, it will definitely be a big blow to his prestige.

But Japan is on the side of the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Youxiao is very envious of the gold, silver and copper mines in it.Coupled with the geographical location that was conducive to exploring the Americas and Zhu Youxiao's hatred of Japan from later generations, he was determined to deal with Japan no matter what.

So Zhu Youxiao thought about it a lot and felt that since he couldn't do it himself, he would choose an agent to make the best plan for himself.

Therefore, after learning that Yan Siqi had long been dissatisfied with the Japanese shogunate and secretly prepared to start an uprising in Japan, he was immediately overjoyed.If he was really sleepy and offered a pillow, he would naturally like someone to wade through the flood for him.

And as long as Yan Siqi raises troops, it will not only cause chaos, but also be very beneficial to the Ming Dynasty's economy.

Once Yan Siqi raised an army and asked for money, people, and things, I'm afraid it would be difficult to build him in Japan, but it was much clearer.Whether it is food supplies, firearms and other weapons and armor, or even strong labor force, as long as Yan Siqi has money, Ming Dynasty can continuously provide it.

Especially firearms. Since the preparations for the Beijing Camp were completed, the She'an Rebellion in the southwest, and the Jianlu in the northeast were pacified, the Ming Dynasty's demand for firearms such as blunderbuss and Krupps has been greatly reduced.

This caused the output of Tongzhou Firearms Workshop to stagnate for a time, and its related industrial chains were also affected.

Although the Tongzhou Firearms Workshop is still manufacturing firearms to meet the firearms expenses of military towns such as Jiubian and Liaozuo, and has also begun to manufacture artillery for the Ming Dynasty Navy and private merchant ships, this quantity is far from enough.

Therefore, Zhu Youxiao has always wanted to find potential customers for Tongzhou Firearms Workshop and expand new sources of income.And Yan Siqi is a good choice.

He is a big businessman, he can compete with Li Dan, and he is certainly not short of money.

As long as he raises troops in Japan, the demand for firearms and other weapons and armor will definitely be huge, and he will definitely be a potential big customer.What's more, he still needs people. If he wants people, he can completely pay for it and let Ming allow him to recruit people.

Anyway, the Ming Dynasty now has a lot of people. The imperial court encourages immigrants to go to remote areas such as Liaodong, Southwest, and Taiwan. If you are willing to go to Japan to work for Yan Siqi, then Zhu Youxiao is very supportive. This can also reduce the population pressure of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, Zhu Youxiao values ​​​​Yan Siqi's "customer" very much, fearing that his uprising will not succeed and his subsequent plans will not be implemented.

However, Luo Sigong on the side was a little surprised when he saw that the emperor said so clearly that as long as there was money, the Ming Dynasty could provide guns, weapons, and even manpower.

"Your Majesty, is this too much support for him? I'm afraid that if Yan Siqi's example is set in the future, someone will follow suit and go to the Southeast Asian countries to practice Yan Siqi's work. This may lead to criticism."

When Zhu Youxiao heard this, he immediately shook his head and did not agree with Luo Sigong's words.

"So what, Westerners can do this, why can't I, the Ming Dynasty, do this? I wish there were more people like this. If someone really has such great ability, it is not impossible for me to make him an overseas sovereign. . So you tell Yan Siqi to do a good job. If he really succeeds, I will reward him with the title of Lord of Japan."

Zhu Youxiao is not afraid of more of this kind of good thing, but afraid of less.After all, it is better for this group of unstable elements to harm the country than to harm the country.

But no matter what, the cake was drawn first, so he asked Luo Sigong to tell Yan Siqi that as long as he did a good job, it would be okay to reward him with the title of Lord of Japan.

But whether he can get to that point depends on Yan Siqi's strength and luck.

Luo Sigong was secretly surprised when he saw Zhu Youxiao making such a promise, but he did not dare to object and immediately said:
"Wei Chen understands!"

"That's good. Let's do this as soon as possible. Don't delay."

Seeing that the matter was settled, Zhu Youxiao didn't want to say anything anymore and immediately asked Luo Sigong to do it quickly.

It was already three o'clock in the morning, and Zhu Youxiao went to Kunning Palace to visit Zhang Yan, had dinner with him, and then teased Zhu Ciran for a while, and then went to Wenhua Palace to work.

After arriving at the Wenhua Hall, the six ministers of the cabinet were already waiting here. When they saw Zhu Youxiao, they all bowed and saluted.

"Get up, Sun Aiqing. I looked at the question book you wrote and said that there has been a reply from the Hongmao Yi. I wonder if it is related to this matter?" Seeing that the emperor asked about this matter as soon as he came in, Sun Shenxing quickly raised his hand and said:
"Your Majesty, in April this year, the Chief Secretary of Fujian received a letter from the Red Mao Yi, saying that he was willing to redeem the Dutch prisoners of war captured by our Ming Dynasty. His words were also sincere, saying that he already knew the consequences of offending Tianwei. So I want to The reason for sending envoys to Beijing is firstly to redeem the prisoners of war, and secondly to have good business relations with the Ming Dynasty so that there will be no more disputes."

While Zhu Youxiao listened, he took the question book handed over by Wei Zhongxian about the Dutch East India Company's desire to come to Ming Dynasty.He asked without looking back:

"The price offered by Ming Dynasty is 100 taels for a soldier, 500 taels for a Western soldier, and 1000 taels for a general. Do they all agree with this?"

Zhu Youxiao knew that the Dutch East India Company was very rich, so naturally he would not miss the opportunity to blackmail them.The Ming Dynasty captured about 780 soldiers and more than 200 sailors.

Among them, there were about 240 five native soldiers, about 430 five hired German soldiers and Dutch soldiers, and about 20 generals. These can all be redeemed by the Dutch East India Company.

As for the other sailors, they were all requisitioned by the Ming Dynasty, and most of them had followed the expedition fleet organized by Zheng Zhilong and Li Dan to the Americas.The rest were sent to the Nanzhili, Fujian and Zhejiang navies to train sailors.

But even so, more than 700 soldiers are not a small sum, a total of about 26 taels are needed.Unexpectedly, the East India Company was so brave that they agreed immediately.

"Your Majesty, they said in the messenger that as long as the Ming Dynasty can ignore their past grievances, forgive their guilt, and allow them to do business in various places in the Ming Dynasty, then they are willing to pay the ransom and respect the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and they will never dare to invade again in the future."

Seeing the emperor's question, Sun Shenxing explained it calmly.In his opinion, this was a great victory for the Ming Dynasty. This group of Westerners had no laws and actually wanted to invade the territory of the Ming Dynasty. After being punished by the Ming Dynasty, they finally stopped.

Zhu Youxiao was secretly surprised when he heard this, secretly thinking that the Dutch East India Company had really changed its gender.

Historically, after the Penghu Naval War, although the Ming Dynasty expelled the Dutch, the Dutch still persisted in their evil intentions and eventually colonized Taiwan.

But now they are much better behaved. It seems that the beating hurt them this time.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but recall that it seemed that in the Penghu naval battle in history, due to the Dutch's sufficient preparation, the Ming army did not further conquer the Dutch bastion. In the end, most of the Dutch were able to retreat, and only a dozen people were killed. captive.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao figured it out and secretly thought that these Europeans really respected their strength.Only by beating them to death and beating them down can they listen to you seriously.

"Your Majesty, the red-haired barbarians despised Tianwei so much that they invaded the Ming Dynasty. Although they are defeated now, if they only asked for ransom for the prisoners, their punishment would be a bit light.

I have heard before that the Western countries are constantly fighting, and if they lose, they will cede territory and pay compensation.Today we, the Ming Dynasty, have a great victory over the red-haired barbarians. Although we cannot cede territory, we can still pay the compensation requested, otherwise it will not be enough to show punishment. "

But at this moment, Xu Guangqi, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, stood up and suggested to Zhu Youxiao that compensation should be levied on the Dutch.

Zhu Youxiao also became interested when he heard it. What Xu Guangqi said did make some sense.Every time there is a war in Europe, the defeated country cedes territory and pays compensation. Now the Ming Dynasty has a great victory over the Dutch East India Company.Although the Dutch East India Company's land could not be ceded, so many of them were now captured, and the Dutch East India Company was seeking compensation from the Ming Dynasty, so it was not impossible to demand compensation.

Sun Shenxing on the side glanced at Xu Guangqi when he heard this and secretly thought that Xu Guangqi had changed his temper today.In the past, I always spoke for the Westerners. Today, I went out of my way and actually suggested that the emperor collect compensation from the red-haired barbarians. It was really strange.

"Well, that's fine. I've heard of the Red-haired Barbarians before, and I know that their country was founded on commerce. Merchant ships traveled across the sea and traded everywhere. So I saw that the Portuguese and the French were very jealous of the trade with the Ming Dynasty, so I just want to take this opportunity to start trade with the Ming Dynasty. I will ask them for compensation this time. It depends on their sincerity. Anyway, one more of them is not more, and one less of them is not more."

As Zhu Youxiao spoke, he looked at Sun Shenxing and said slowly:

"Sun Aiqing, the Ministry of Etiquette will be responsible for the Red-haired Barbarians' entry into Beijing. The compensation fee must not be less than 150 million taels. If the Dutch find it too expensive, let them get out!"

"The minister obeys the order!"

Xu Guangqi breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the emperor nodded and agreed to pay compensation.He originally didn't want to intervene in this matter, but he couldn't bear the requests of Tang Ruowang and others.

According to Tang Ruowang and others, although these red-haired barbarians also believe in God, their teachings are completely different from the Western religion he believes in.Therefore, these red-haired barbarians are incompatible with the Portuguese who believe in Western religion. They must not be allowed to enter the Ming Dynasty, otherwise it will be extremely detrimental to Tang Ruowang and the others.

Xu Guangqi was not a fool. He naturally knew that behind Tang Ruowang and others there was definitely the instigation of the French and the Portuguese. However, doing so could increase the income of the Ming Dynasty, and he was happy to tell the emperor about it. (End of chapter)