Daming: I, Yang Xian, really govern Yang!

No matter how much iron ore is prepared and how much advance preparation is made, as long as the smelting technology remains unchanged, it can only achieve limited improvements and cannot achieve qualitative changes.

The only way to achieve qualitative change is to innovate smelting technology!

This is the only way to build the invincible Ming Empire with steel as its body!

You must know that the use of steel is not only in building railways. The military industry also requires a large amount of steel consumables.

Take artillery as an example. During the long years since the birth of artillery, bronze cannons played the leading role most of the time.

Compared with today's iron, which is not pure enough, copper is corrosion-resistant and not easy to rust, has good ductility and is not easy to explode, and has a low melting point and is easy to cast.

Because of these various advantages, various countries in history have a long history of bronze cannon casting, and the Ming Dynasty is no exception.

But copper has one biggest disadvantage, and that is that it is expensive!

Take the ship-borne heavy artillery on the Ming Dynasty warships as an example. Each heavy artillery weighs a ton. How much would these coppers be worth if they were made into copper coins?

In the original time and space, it was not until the late 18th century that pig iron refining became popular, and the British Navy finally completely eliminated copper cannons after the cannons cast from wrought iron after removing impurities no longer exploded.

Yang Xian has a wealth of knowledge and knows that steel is made from pig iron.

Then many properties of steel, such as strength, toughness, welding performance, hot workability, etc., are far superior to pig iron.

As for how to make steel, Yang Xian was really blind and could only rely on the system.

After entering the system and browsing.

Yang Xian planned to bypass the reverberatory furnace and set his sights on converter steelmaking technology.

The so-called converter steelmaking uses molten iron, scrap steel, ferroalloys and other slag materials as the main raw materials. It does not require external energy and relies on the physical heat of the molten iron itself and the heat generated by the chemical reaction between the molten iron components to complete the steelmaking process in the converter.

In 1856, the Englishman Besmer invented the bottom-blown acid converter steelmaking method. This method was the beginning of modern steelmaking. It produced a large amount of cheap steel for mankind and promoted the Industrial Revolution in Europe at that time. By 1879, the Thomas bottom-blown alkaline converter steelmaking method appeared, which could use a converter with an alkaline lining to process high-phosphorus pig iron.

The principle of converter steelmaking is very simple and there is not much technical threshold.

After Yang Xian redeemed the raw material design drawings, he was ready to hand them over to the following research institutes for implementation.

Simplicity and no technical threshold are relative. No matter how innovative smelting technology is, it is also a systematic project. If it is to be put into normal application, it still needs a certain period of testing and improvement.

However, the steelmaking industry is finally on the right track.

Navigation, commerce, education, and industry all progressed hand in hand.

In the ninth year of Hongwu, Ming Dynasty handed over an extremely beautiful report card.

In the blink of an eye, time has come to the tenth year of Hongwu.

In this tenth year since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the country is still making rapid progress and is unstoppable.

In the first year of this year, it is the Zhengdan Festival.

On the day when the vassal states came to pay tribute, Zhu Yuanzhang announced something.

That is, from now on, the original tribute system of paying more than what was paid in return will be completely ended.

For a time, it caused a heated discussion among envoys from various countries.

This tributary system has always been the case in China as a suzerain country in all dynasties. That is, China sends more goods or resources to foreign countries than it receives. This practice is usually accompanied by high compensation or rewards. The second is to give the other party a reward higher than the market value in order to obtain foreign goods or resources.

This tribute system was more for political purposes, to promote the country's prestige and to win over these small vassal countries.

But now the Ming Dynasty is completely different from the original time and space. Zhu Yuanzhang, who has set his sights on the world, has a pattern that is far from comparable to before.

The new tribute system is a unilateral request for resources. Of course, the Ming Dynasty can give verbal commendations to vassal states, as well as some free rewards such as canonization.

The new tribute system is not a face-saving project like the previous dynasties in the original time and space. It is a tribute in name, but in fact the suzerain country returns more gifts.

But in a real sense, it is to directly suck the blood of these vassal countries.

This is completely different from the Ming Dynasty in the original time and space.

You must know that after the founding of the Ming Dynasty in the original time and space, the Northern Expedition was still going on year after year, and the hidden dangers of the Northern Yuan Dynasty were always there. As for these vassal states, their former suzerain state was Beiyuan.

The last large-scale head-on confrontation between the Ming Dynasty and the Northern Yuan Dynasty, the Battle of Yuerhai, took place in the 21st year of Hongwu.

It was this battle that allowed the Ming Dynasty to completely destroy the central power and main army of the Bei Yuan Dynasty, making the Bei Yuan truly destroyed. Tuogusi Timur, the monarch of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, fled to the Tula River and was hanged by his general Yesudier.

Therefore, after the founding of the Ming Dynasty in the original time and space, until the real demise of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, some small vassal countries were still in a situation of being at both ends.

This situation is especially true in Korea.

After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang sent Fu Baolang Gesi as envoy to Korea in December of the first year of Hongwu.

Ge Si came to Korea in April of the second year. King Wang Zhuan warmly received He Si, and happily agreed to Zhu Yuanzhang's request: to stop using the "Zhizheng" reign name, and to come to the DPRK to sever the vassal relationship with the Northern Yuan Dynasty and regard the Ming Dynasty as the suzerainty.

After Nasi returned to China, Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy to hear that Wang Zhuan was so sensible. In August, he immediately canonized Wang Zhuan as King of Korea and gave him a gold seal, an imperial edict, a Datong calendar, and ten pieces of brocade velvet. Others such as queens, concubines, prime ministers, important ministers, etc. each have their own rewards.

In order to completely free North Korea from the fetters of marriage relations in the Northern Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang was very polite to Wang Zhuan.

At that time, the vassal states valued economic and trade relations most, and for this reason, paid tribute to China's official trade very seriously. Zhu Yuanzhang told the North Korean regime that you can pay tribute to anything, but local products are the best. Our two countries have been friendly for thousands of years. Isn't there a saying that goes, etiquette is worth less than affection, so don't waste money. Furs and other luxury goods are no longer needed now that the Ming Dynasty is under construction. We don’t need any cloth when we are building a clean government. There is no need for gold and silver, I will leave it to you to carry out the construction work.

Zhu Yuanzhang was very generous with the local specialties sent by Goryeo, and often gave them generous rewards with a wave of his hand. The meaning is obvious, he is trying to win over Wang Zhuan. In order to make more money for Goryeo, Goryeo can come three times a year for tribute trade, and the frequency is the most among many vassal states.

Which three times? They are the emperor's birthday "Holy Festival", the prince's birthday "Qianqiu Festival", and the annual first day of the first lunar month "Zhengdan Festival".

Zhu Yuanzhang even gave Goryeo special privileges. All roads or seals in Goryeo's Ming Dynasty territory could travel to and from anywhere in the Ming Dynasty.

Many students from Goryeo also entered the Imperial College to study.

But even if the Ming Dynasty was so kind to Goryeo, it would not be an exaggeration to call him a foster father, but even so, some white-eyed wolves are just not well-raised.

In the fifth year of Hongwu in the original time and space, without Yang Xian's intervention, Li Wenzhong led his army to the Northern Expedition and failed miserably.

This battle allowed the Northern Yuan regime to survive, and at the same time, it also shocked Wang Zhuan, the king of Goryeo, thousands of miles away.

The pro-Yuan forces in Goryeo suddenly became active.

For this reason, Wang Zhuan deeply realized that Bei Yuan's power was so powerful, and Wang Zhuan decided to shrink his past closeness.

This situation did not change until the later generation Yang Xian traveled through time.

All I can say is that a dog cannot change its habit of eating shit.

Of course, this did not happen in Ming Dynasty at this time.

Beiyuan was swept into the garbage heap of history early because of the fierce man Yang Xian who fell from the sky. The Kingdom of Koryo could only rely on the Ming Dynasty.

However, for those who have long been accustomed to benefiting from the blood-sucking of the Ming Dynasty, they suddenly received news that the annual tribute from now on will become their one-sided contribution.

For a while, they couldn't accept it at all.

You must know that their country, Goryeo, pays tribute three times a year. Doesn't this cost them their lives?

These envoys from various countries cannot be the masters. The treasures they donated have already been brought. Of course, it is impossible for them to take them back.

They can only return home empty-handed and report back to their respective masters.

"Father, is it too early?"

When the envoys from various countries left, the banquet was dispersed.

Only Zhu Biao and Zhu Yuanzhang were left in the hall, and Zhu Biao suddenly asked.

Just ask sooner or later, it is obvious that Zhu Biao is also in favor of the new tribute system.

Because the Ming Dynasty is so powerful, it no longer needs these false things to show it.

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said: "It's late, boss, Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin lived to be fifty years old, and Tang Taizong Li Shimin only lived to be fifty years old."

"We are already fifty this year."

Zhu Yuanzhang turned to look at Zhu Biao with a complicated expression, and he had not finished what he said.

Planting the flag of the Ming Dynasty all over the world, maybe I won't be able to see it, but at least when I am still here, I will try my best to lay a better foundation for you in the future.

In Zhu Yuanzhang's vision, while he was still in power, at least the Ming Dynasty should be transformed into a pattern surrounded by the sea on three sides.

The Silk Road is opened to the west, the White Mountains and Black Waters are directly crossed to the east and the Korean Peninsula is in our hands, and the Cochin Kingdom is to the south.

Then we will collect some overseas island countries such as Japan and Ryukyu as a buffer for entering the world.

Once the territory reached this point, he could safely hand it over to Zhu Biao.

Zhu Biaoxin will operate internally for a few years or more than ten years, and then expand externally.

It is precisely because he is fifty years old that Zhu Yuanzhang is so supportive of the changes proposed by Yang Xian.

In fact, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was of great use to the stability of the country.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang could see that this stability came at the expense of creativity, the ability to change, and even courage and justice.

As an emperor, he saw this clearly.

Nowadays, some civil servants in the officialdom are not very good at doing things, but their ability to deceive people is second to none.

If they fooled you into something, you would be lame.

On the contrary, in the past few years, officials selected through the new imperial examination have been quick and efficient in their work.

This is especially true for students with Yangzhou University study background.

If he didn't have the ambition to build a country and conquer the world, and just consolidate the imperial power, Zhu Yuanzhang, as an emperor, would never stand so firmly on Yang Xian's side.

But he knew very well that if Ming Dynasty wanted to be strong and achieve the vision he envisioned in his heart, it would not be reliable to rely on these rotten scholars.

Zhu Biao still saw a trace of sadness in his old father's firm eyes.

Zhu Biao opened his mouth and said: "My father is still young and prosperous. Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty, only ascended the throne at the age of 55. My father is still very young now."

Zhu Yuanzhang reached out and patted Zhu Biao on the shoulder, laughed loudly and said: "Okay, there is no need to show such an expression. This is not like your boss."

"And I never said I was old."

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang never imagined that in another parallel time and space, his eldest grandson, his first wife, and his most beloved son would all be ahead of him in the end.

He must have been so miserable and desperate when he lived until he was seventy years old.

This is also the biggest reason why Zhu Yuanzhang became violent and capricious in the later period.

"Now with the national strength of our Ming Dynasty, there is no need to do the same thing as before. If these vassal states are sensible, it will be fine. If any of them are ignorant of life and death, that would be great." Zhu Yuanzhang sneered.

As soon as the new tribute system was introduced, all the small vassal countries around the Ming Dynasty were in chaos.

All countries are still re-evaluating how to deal with themselves and how to deal with Ming Dynasty.

Some vassal states even had the idea of ​​getting rid of the Ming Dynasty.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the Ming Dynasty planned to turn the vassal states into vassal states, or even vassal states.

There is a world of difference between these three.

In feudal society, the economic main body of most countries was a small-scale peasant economy with limited resources. And many people are influenced by the concept of hierarchy. As a result, backward countries became attached to and curry favor with advanced countries in order to obtain more resources. After surrendering to the advanced countries, and relying on the east wind of the advanced countries, the relatively backward countries have achieved better economic, political, and cultural development.

This is a vassal state.

The Central Plains Dynasty's management of the vassal states was relatively loose, and it only required the vassal states to perform their due obligations when necessary, such as coordinating operations, paying tribute and court meetings on time, etc.

Compared with vassal states, vassal states and vassal states are more dependent on advanced countries. This deepening of dependence occurs when national sovereignty is controlled by other countries.

Vassal state and client state are not the same concepts.

Although both have the word "attached", there is a big difference in the degree of attachment. If the vassal state can still participate in international dialogue as a country to some extent, then the vassal state is in a "dumb" state in diplomacy.

During the Yongle period of Zhu Di in the original time and space, the Ming Dynasty further strengthened its rule over Goryeo. By sending officials to Goryeo for management and supervision, Goryeo gradually changed from a vassal state to a satellite state of the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty's rule and management of Goryeo changed. The Ming Dynasty established the Koryo Metropolitan Procuratorate and sent officials to Koryo for administrative management. Important official positions in Goryeo were designated by the Ming Dynasty, and Goryeo's national policies were also intervened and controlled by the Ming Dynasty. This method of rule and management strengthened the Ming Dynasty's control over Goryeo and enabled the Ming Dynasty to more effectively influence the political situation of Goryeo.

The current Gao Li would obviously not be so obedient. (End of chapter)