Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

When fortune smiles, heaven and earth lend their strength; when fortune turns, even heroes are powerless.

"Am I having a stroke of good luck? Everything I do is going smoothly."

With this feeling in his heart, Zhu Youjian now felt that everything he did was going smoothly.

Instead of going through the trouble of arguing with the courtiers as before, and then having the plan implemented without any results.

After the Liaodong War, he became noticeably less diligent in his duties at court. However, he pushed forward even more projects than before, seemingly because the increased prestige brought by the war made everything he did go incredibly smoothly.

Even the previously troublesome finances have found a new source of revenue when the sale of land in the Liaohetao region is about to bring in a huge sum of money.

"Foreign trade vouchers, coupons, even bank drafts and checks—these are all tokens!"

"Why didn't I think of this before? Maybe it could have solved our financial difficulties sooner."

Slapping his forehead in frustration, Zhu Youjian deeply regretted not having thought of this method earlier.

However, even if he had thought of it, he couldn't have implemented it, because just last year, the Ming Dynasty couldn't produce so many goods, or rather, couldn't allow them to gather together.

This year, the wartime status quo during the Liaodong War stimulated the industrial potential of the Suzhou-Songjiang region. The immediate overcapacity following the war enabled the establishment of supply and marketing groups and the tokens associated with them.

The total value of these tokens could potentially reach several times the total amount of silver dollars in the future.

This would free the Ming Dynasty from the restrictions of gold and silver, allowing it to obtain sufficient circulating currency.

An internal cycle of industrial and commercial production, sales, profits, investment, and expanded reproduction will be established within the Ming Dynasty, and this internal cycle will be sustainable.

Zhu Youjian had already foreseen that the industry and commerce of the Ming Dynasty would make rapid progress in the next few years.

Various demands from the public will be stimulated, promoting the further improvement of industrial sectors.

He intends to use the proceeds from issuing tokens to invest in these industries, perfect the royal conglomerate, and control the economy of the Ming Dynasty.

To this end, he instructed the Imperial Assets Management Committee to set up several investment companies and allowed the banks under his control to invest as well.

In the next few years, as long as you're not too stupid, these investments should generally be profitable.

Even if something unexpected were to happen, Zhu Youjian could still absorb these goods by launching a war.

Launch wars to expand territory, sell fertile lands, obtain military funding, and launch wars to expand territory again...

This external circulation was also initially established after the recovery of Liaodong, and it has shown its power.

As long as the concepts of "Little Jiangnan" and "New Jiangnan" are accepted by the people, the imperial court can obtain a steady stream of funds.

So Zhu Youjian looked at the map and pondered which places he could promote the Jiangnan concept and sell the newly acquired land:
"The Hetao region, known as the 'Jiangnan of the North,' is a place where, apart from the western Hetao in Ningxia, the recently recovered Houtao and the Qiantao area around Guihua all need to be developed."

"It could attract disaster victims from Shaanxi and Shanxi to go there, and even sell some to wealthy merchants."

"The Jiangnan region beyond the Great Wall is the Ili River Valley, where the water and grass are abundant. It's just a bit far from the inland areas, so we'll have to consider that later."

"The concepts of 'Little Jiangnan' in the Liaohe River Basin and 'New Jiangnan' in the Lancang River Delta have already been hyped up. The next step is to develop 'Little Jiangnan' and sell the land in 'New Jiangnan' at high prices."

These four concepts of Jiangnan are all widely accepted, and Zhu Youjian also believed that they could be developed.

In addition, he set his sights on several other regions that, like the Jiangnan region, belong to the subtropical monsoon humid climate:

"The Mississippi Plain, the La Plata Plain, and the southeastern mountains and plains of Australia all have this climate."

"It seems like rice could be grown there, and it could be developed into a region resembling the Jiangnan region." (World Climate Type Distribution Map)

(Distribution of major rice-producing areas in the world)
Looking at the two large plains of North and South America, and the climate similar to that of Jiangnan, Zhu Youjian almost drooled.

To him, this was the blessed land of the Ming Dynasty, a place that could support even if the population of the Ming Dynasty doubled.

What particularly appealed to Zhu Youjian was that this land had a very small population. After being ravaged by plagues such as smallpox, a large number of the natives had disappeared, and the current total population was only over 11 million.

The Ming Dynasty only needs to relocate ten million people to this region to assimilate it.

It's easier than having 20 to 30 million in Nanyang.

(After the Americas were "discovered", the population dropped from about 1400 million to 1150 million including immigrants.)
If it weren't for the distance, Zhu Youjian would have chosen it as his first choice for immigration.

Now, he could only gaze at the ocean and sigh, hoping that Geng Ruqi, whom he had sent, and the feudal lords he had enfeoffed, would establish a foothold in North America as soon as possible.

He hoped to defeat Spain and seize this territory in his lifetime.

The guano, saltpeter, and copper ore ordered from the Spanish were all motivations to incite the Ming army and people to wage war against Spain in the future.

He secretly hoped that the Spanish would find these things soon and attract the attention of Ming Dynasty merchants.
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Zhu Youjian, who was in the capital, was naturally unaware that Geng Ruqi, whom he had sent out, had already arrived in the Vancouver area.

This was the location of the North American Governor's residence that he designated. After the Yukon River froze over in September, Geng Ruqi headed south to find this place.

Upon arriving at the large island mentioned by the emperor, and noticing its warm and comfortable climate and proximity to Yangzhou, Geng Ruqi decided to establish the North American Governor's Office there and sent people to search for gold in the vicinity.

According to the emperor, there are also gold mines in this area, which can serve as start-up capital for the North American Governor's Office.

They followed the river upstream and eventually found gold in a canyon.

Upon returning from the expedition, Shang Kexi, who had led the fleet, excitedly shouted:
"Found it! Found it!"

"Governor, there is gold in this river too!"

(In 1858, news of the discovery of gold in Fraser Canyon spread far and wide, turning Vancouver into a bustling metropolis of gold rush.)

Upon receiving the news, Geng Ruqi was overjoyed. Holding the gold dust handed to him by Shang Kexi, he said with equal excitement:

"Indeed, there really is gold in this area."

"His Majesty is indeed a divinely ordained and enlightened ruler, a gift from heaven to the Ming Dynasty!"

"Our North American Governor's Office can now take root here, and the Ming Dynasty will rule this region."

He loudly proclaimed this, and the soldiers who came with him cheered loudly as well.

They had endured countless hardships on their journey. Now that they had finally discovered a gold mine, everyone had a chance to make a fortune.

In the future, they will all have the opportunity to become hereditary officials of the garrison and share in the profits of the gold mine.

The group cheered and sang loudly, rejoicing in the bright future that was about to arrive.

After his joy, Geng Ruqi ordered a stele to be erected here to record the event, and then began to write a memorial to report the news to the court.

He couldn't wait until next year to send a message back. He planned to head south to find the Spanish strongholds, send ships to follow them, and take the route back to Luzon.

This letter was written in code to prevent the Spanish from discovering it. He also repeatedly instructed his soldiers heading south that even if their ships were destroyed and they perished, they must not reveal any information about the gold mine. (End of Chapter)