King of Han Dynasty of Ming Dynasty

Time flies by.

Half a year had passed unknowingly, and it was already the agreed time for Zhu Gaosui to return to Beijing after his expedition to Japan.

In the palace of the King of Han.

Zhu Gaoxu leaned leisurely on the couch, his eyes slightly narrowed as he gazed into the distance in the direction of Japan. He could not help but be a little absent-minded. It was unknown what he was thinking about. He had no interest in reading the memorials piled up beside him recently and had no intention of reading them at all.

Da da da.
Just then.

At the gate of the secluded house, a hurried sound of footsteps was heard. Lao He trotted in, bowed and said:
"Old slave, I pay my respects to the prince."

Zhu Gaoxu suddenly opened his narrowed eyes, turned his head to look at Lao He who was very close to him, and asked softly:
"What?"

"Regarding the situation of the third brother returning to Beijing, has there been any accurate news from outside?"

"Have you received any news from the spies at the seaport?"

After hearing this and seeing his master's behavior, Lao He understood instantly. He knew better than anyone that in the past ten days, his master had been truly unable to eat or drink, and had almost always asked him to keep an eye on the news about the spies at the seaport.

Then, he did not dare to hesitate, and quickly reached into his arms, took out the message sent back by the spy below, presented it respectfully with both hands, bowed and saluted:

"My lord."

"Fortunately, it fulfilled its mission."

"After so many days, the spies at the seaport have finally sent back accurate information."

"Please have a look, Your Majesty."

After these words were spoken, Zhu Gaoxu, who was leaning on the couch, suddenly sat up straight. A long-lost smile appeared on his originally silent face. He took the letter from Lao He's hand, calmed down, looked at Lao He, then looked at the letter in his hand, and opened it without any hesitation. He took out the rice paper with the contents recorded inside and looked at it carefully.

As the content came into view, the smile on Zhu Gaoxu's face became more and more intense, and his frown slowly relaxed. He stretched out his hand and gently raised the letter in his hand. Then, as if he thought of something, his expression became extremely solemn, his pupils shrank, and he fell into deep thought.

The content of the letter is correct.

Just as Lao He said, the spies at the seaport did indeed get the news.

However, this is limited to knowing that Prince Zhao Zhu Gaosui is on his way back to Beijing and will return to the Ming mainland soon.

But for this time when Prince of Zhao Zhu Gaosui left the capital, spent so much money and silver on supplies, and led so many Ming soldiers on an expedition to Japan, what was the actual situation of the war, and whether they achieved their intended goals.

There is indeed no record or description on this letter.

This is also true.

Zhu Gaoxu's happy mood suddenly became gloomy.

War!
Especially since they were fighting far away from their homeland, traveling thousands of miles to a foreign country, without any logistical supplies, food, supplies, or reinforcements. Although they knew that the Japanese soldiers were not powerful, they were simply no match for the Ming Dynasty.

But after all, it is someone else's country and someone else's land.

Even if others are not as strong as the Ming Dynasty, they have an innate familiarity with the various terrains. These innate conditions are enough to make up for and fill the gap between the two, so no one really knows whether they will win or not.

The reason why Prince Zhao Zhu Gaosui left the capital and went on an expedition to Japan was not just for revenge or to show the strength of Ming Dynasty, but he went there with the purpose of plunder. The victory or failure of this battle was also directly related to the planning of him and the prince on certain things in Ming Dynasty.

The results of Zhu Gaosui's trip were not ideal. He did not achieve victory and failed to conquer Japan.

Then the huge amount of silver mines in Japan would definitely not become part of the Ming Dynasty.

Although the Ming Dynasty's treasury introduced new salt water, changed the previous sales methods and ways, and launched refined salt and coarse salt after Zhu Gaoxu became regent, in order to consolidate the Ming Dynasty's finances and fill the gap in the treasury.

The Ming Dynasty's treasury indeed made a lot of money because of the decrees and policies launched by Zhu Gaoxu, and a lot of money was taken out of the hands of merchants and wealthy people.

Subsequently, they continued to reap benefits for the Ming Dynasty.

However, it is definitely impossible to maintain such a large country with just such an income, and it is totally insufficient. It is just a drop in the bucket.

Not to mention, Zhu Gaoxu and the Crown Prince were also planning on some other matters.

The huge silver mines in Japan were the key to the success of the plan of Zhu Gaoxu and the Crown Prince.

Because as long as they can take over Japan's huge silver mines, the Ming Dynasty money house that had been prepared before can start operating in an orderly manner without worrying about the so-called bank run.

Once the Ming Money House can start operations, it will be able to be truly settled without any problems.

So next.
The Ming treasure notes will also be put on the right track step by step, and there will be no depreciation. At the same time, the Ming's finances will be effectively alleviated. It will also become the second goose that can lay golden eggs for the Ming Dynasty, in addition to refined salt, and can continuously provide silver and money for the Ming treasury.

With the Ming Money House and Ming Refined Salt, these two powerful economic support points, he no longer has to worry about the empty treasury in the true sense. Then, the things he and the prince have planned will have a chance to be implemented, and they can truly realize what they both want.

Although the reform of the imperial examination system may seem to be just about books and literary assessment at first glance,

actually not
This involves not only literature and books, but also money, and the amount of money required is more than anything else.

Why?
Because if we want to change this monopoly that has been entrenched for thousands of years, it is not possible to succeed or be realistic just by making a small reform to the exams and their contents.

It is not just the ideas we have learned that have created these deep-rooted monopolies.

Just like the Song Dynasty reformed the imperial examination system and continued to use Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, abolishing previous theories, but was it useful?
To put it bluntly, it's just a change of name but the substance remains the same.

Those who can become officials and can actually take part in the examinations are still the same group of people, still that small group of people. Why?

Very simple.
Because of the issue of reading and recognizing words!
In this era, only rich people have the opportunity, because the consumption and expenditure are too great, and it is not something that ordinary people can support or afford. So don’t be fooled by the so-called reforms and restructurings of successive dynasties, which are extremely joyful, but ultimately have no effect. This is the point.

So, did the rulers of every dynasty really not know this?
Obviously it's impossible.

So if you know the reason and the cause, why not do it?

After all, they all have the courage and ability to reform and restructure.

The reason is actually very simple: those in power have no money!

As the saying goes: A penny can make a hero fall, this is not just talk but a reality. For example, Emperor Yongle was so warlike and wanted to completely conquer Mobei and incorporate it into the territory of the Ming Dynasty, but why did he never succeed?

Is it that the Ming Dynasty’s soldiers are unable to defeat them?

Apparently not.

When it comes down to it, it’s all about money. What can we do when the treasury is empty?
What is the war about?
In addition to the strength and momentum of the army, the most important thing is money. With so many people setting out with the army, the daily expenses are astronomical. How can you do it without money?
After all, if they can't even get enough to eat and can't even get paid, how can they fight this war? Who would be willing to fight such a war? This is also the real reason why Zhu Gaoxu was so restless and couldn't calm down as he approached the time to return to Beijing agreed with Zhu Gaosui.

One shot can affect the entire body!
If Zhu Gaosui made a mistake somewhere, then all the efforts he and the Crown Prince had made for so long would be in vain.

More than that.

If both sides' expeditions against the Japanese pirates fail, it will become extremely difficult to launch another expedition.

After all, so much money was spent without any effect.

Those ministers in the court will definitely not agree easily and will definitely try to stop it.

Subsequent operations will become extremely troublesome.

Such a thing was naturally not the result that Zhu Gaoxu wanted to see, and it was also a result that he absolutely could not accept.

After a brief pause, Zhu Gaoxu gathered his mixed thoughts, waved his hand at Old He, and said:

"Order people to keep a close eye on the situation of King Zhao and his entourage, and to see if the expedition to Japan is a success or not."

"If you have nothing else to do, please leave first!"

After hearing this, Lao He was slightly startled, then he bowed and saluted:
"Yes! The old slave resigns."

Say it.

He retreated quickly.

Watching the figure disappearing at the gate, Zhu Gaoxu's eyes suddenly became deep, his brows furrowed tighter than before, and he murmured in a low voice:
"The third child! The third child!"

"Are you reliable or not, you bastard?"

"Can you bring me some exciting news?"

"Don't let me down!"

"otherwise,……"

Just then.

At the entrance of the courtyard, which had been in silence, a hurried sound of footsteps suddenly rang out, pulling Zhu Gaoxu's drifting thoughts back. He raised his lowered head suddenly, revealing a hint of displeasure on his face. He looked towards the place where the sound came from, and was about to shout.

However, when he saw a fat figure appear, Zhu Gaoxu had to take back the scolding words that were about to come out of his mouth, and subconsciously frowned and asked:

"no!"

"Boss, what's the matter with you?"

"What happened? Why are you so anxious and noisy?"

"What kind of behavior do you have?"

"This is not your style as a prince!"

"What exactly happened?"

"Can it make you like this?
This move really shocked Zhu Gaoxu. He really didn't expect that the prince would come to his mansion at this time. Was he dissatisfied that his place was not messy enough, or that his mood was not bad enough?

You know, during this period of time, because of the recent return of Zhao Wang Zhu Gaosui to Beijing, he was worried about whether this expedition to Japan would be successful or not, and whether it could achieve the results they wanted. He has been very annoyed and distressed during this period of time.

At this time, it is really too much to cause trouble for him and to cause trouble for him.

Of course, it also made him feel extremely unhappy and uncomfortable.

After hearing this, although Zhu Gaoxu's expression did not show any change, from these words and tone, Zhu Gaochi still tasted something different, and knew that his actions made the person in front of him unhappy.

At the same time, the Crown Prince also understood everything in his mind and could probably guess why Zhu Gaoxu had acted like this during this period and why he had such an attitude. After all, the two of them had kept each other informed and knew what each other was busy with and what kind of support was needed to complete the subsequent tasks.

Then, Zhu Gaochi walked up quickly as if nothing had happened, stretched out his hand and gently patted Zhu Gaoxu on the shoulder, and said with a smile:

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!”

"Second brother, second brother, that's enough, that's enough!"

"Can you please stop looking so sad and gloomy all day long?"

"Don't put it here, making such an ugly face."

"What are you thinking, what happened, or what happened? Others don't know. Do you really think we don't understand it at all?"

"That's about right!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu glanced at the prince with disdain, snorted coldly, looked at him coldly, showed a sarcastic look, and did not give him any good face at all, and said faintly:

"Even if you knew, what would happen?"

"Isn't it that the boss has no idea how much money is needed for our work?"

"Where do we get so much money?"

"Obviously, the treasury of our Ming Dynasty is definitely not able to support our plans and ideas. The only thing we can rely on is the Third Brother's expedition to the Japanese pirates to see if he can bring us extremely beneficial news."

"Otherwise, even though we have made sufficient preparations in the early stages, the subsequent execution and deployment will be in vain if we fail to capture the Japanese mainland and take over Japan."

"All our preparations in the early stage were nothing but illusions. They were completely useless."

"At the same time, we also have to think about how to deal with the aftermath, especially because we have offended the lineage of Duke Yansheng because of this incident. Over this period of time, the lineage of Duke Yansheng has been stabbing us in the back for revenge. I think you, Boss, are also deeply touched, right?"

"Do you really want to be so frustrated? Do you really want to admit defeat like this?"

"Obviously. It's impossible!!"

"So don't make sarcastic remarks here. Instead of making sarcastic remarks, you'd better pray quietly for what to do next and how to handle it so that nothing goes wrong." (End of this chapter)