The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

Maritime trade has another name in the Ming Dynasty, called tribute trade.

That was the emperor's purse and also the royal family's purse.

Including all the Ming Dynasty's maritime trade, both open and smuggled, 80% came from royal family and meritorious officials, and the remaining 20% ​​were from local nobles and pirates.

"If the maritime ban is lifted, the royal family will not be able to defeat the merchants," Wang Ji said, "Ming merchants will bring back more, better and cheaper imported goods from the sea."

Jiang Gui disagreed: "If they can bring it back, why can't the royal family bring it back? Just make less money."

Wang Ji glanced at him and said, "When you go shopping, do you prefer to buy from humble, polite and honest stores? Or do you prefer to buy from arrogant, superior and overbearing stores?"

"Of course it is..." Jiang Gui paused, thinking of the business shops of the royal princes and the powerful families, and fell silent.

Wang Ji said, "Their status is there. If the maritime ban is really lifted, they will not only earn less, but will even lose all their money. Besides, who would be willing to earn less money?"

Jiang Gui: "What should we do? Japan doesn't want to fight anymore, and the silver mine is gone?"

"We still have to fight, and we can't give up the silver mine," Wang Ji said slowly, "but how to fight and how to get it, we have to think slowly."

Jiang Gui was anxious: "We can't be slow, what if Japan also discovered a silver mine?"

Wang Ji raised his eyebrows and said leisurely: "Isn't this a solution?"

Jiang Gui was confused: "What?"

Liu Ju pushed his head away and squeezed in front of Wang Ji: "Old General, what should we do about this battle in Jiangnan?"

"Fight as you should. Do you need me to teach you how to fight?" Wang Ji said, "Fight quickly and win as soon as possible so that you can free up your hands for the next battle."

Liu Ju understood: "I must make a quick decision!"

Liu Ju went to recruit troops immediately, and the next day he set out south with Chen Rong and Zhang Kai.

Yu Qian received the task of providing relief. As soon as he left the hall, he began to urge the Ministry of Revenue to prepare money and grain, and then hurried to catch up with Xue Shao.

There was a space of eight feet wide around Xue Shao, and everyone tried to avoid him when walking on the road, for fear of having anything to do with him.

Yu Qian walked towards him quickly, grabbed his sleeve, and when he turned around, he laughed heartily and said, "Yushi Xue walked too fast. I just said a few words to Minister Chen, and when I turned around, you were gone."

Xue Shao looked at him in surprise and glanced at the officials around him.

Yu Qian didn't care at all. He pulled his sleeve and said, "I will go south to provide disaster relief soon. You know something about the disaster in the south of the Yangtze River. I want to ask for your advice."

Xue Shao did have many things he wanted to explain to the disaster relief officials.

Timely information can make disaster relief more effective.

"If Lord Yu doesn't mind, why don't we go to the post station and have a chat?"

Yu Qian agreed immediately and went to the post station with Xue Shao.

When leaving the imperial city, Yu Qian looked back at the endless avenue of officials and said: "Although it is human nature to seek benefits and avoid harm, it is inevitable to make people sad."

Xue Shao also looked back, but he was not sad. Instead, he said, "Don't blame them. My uncle just didn't want to get close to Wang Zhangyin, which led to a huge disaster that has not been resolved to this day. Avoiding harm is not the right thing to do. I just hope that I won't lose my original intention."

Yu Qian recalled that the whole court was united in purpose, and he felt relieved. He said with a smile, "You are bold enough. You knew that there would be pedantic scholars who would oppose your proposal to attack Japan to obtain minerals, so you became a pedantic pedantic scholar yourself."

Xue Shao smiled and said, "It's just an introduction. If you really need someone to oppose, it's better for me to do it instead of letting others do it."

Yu Qian asked, "Is that silver mine really that big and rich?"

Xue Shao: "Master Pan is very knowledgeable. If she says there is, then there must be."

Yu Qian sighed, "My Great Ming has been short of silver for a long time. Copper coins are cheap and heavy. Merchants use them as currency, which takes up a lot of manpower and material resources, and consumes a lot of money. The value of Baochao is unstable and depends entirely on silver. Unfortunately, the silver production in my Great Ming is very low, and the rich and powerful keep most of their silver. The silver circulating in the market is getting less and less every day.

Your Majesty reopened the silver mines, and the miners in Jiangnan rebelled, all because of this."

Xue Shao also nodded: "If we can take the silver mine in Dasen Township, then the silver shortage in Ming Dynasty can be solved."

Yu Qian: "It can also help solve the problem of an empty treasury."

Think about it, if the treasury is no longer short of money, how much can they do?
Without having to spend so much manpower and resources on the silver mines, how much more would they be able to do?
Yu Qian and Xue Shao looked at each other, their eyes shining like stars.

The two of them went to the inn where Xue Shao was staying.

Xi Jin was waiting at the post station. Seeing Xue Shao return safely, he breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly came to greet him: "Master, hot water and clean clothes are ready. Who... is this?"

Only then did he see Yu Qian.

Xue Shao introduced with a smile: "This is the Minister of War, Lord Yu. He has been ordered to go south to provide disaster relief. Go and prepare some food. Lord Yu will stay here for dinner later."

Xijin quickly agreed.

Xue Shao just changed his clothes and went into the palace this morning without washing at all.

Yu Qian was very generous and didn't mind Xue Shao taking a bath. He even borrowed a set of clothes from Xue Shao and went to take a bath with him. While taking a bath, the two of them talked about the disaster in the south of the Yangtze River.

As they talked, the two of them talked about the Jiangnan miners' campaign.

Xue Shao still believed that recruiting the people was more in line with the interests of the people, the country, and the king than suppressing the rebellion. "The worries of Wang Zhangyin and Lord Wang Wen will not come true, because this rebellion is not simply a channel for some people to seek fame and interests. To solve this matter, it is not just a matter of giving a few official positions."

Xue Shao said: "I investigated Deng Maoqi when I was inspecting Jiangnan."

Yu Qian was curious: "Brother Xue has already found him before he rebelled?"

Xue Shao smiled and said: "He is very famous in Jiangxi and Fujian."

"Oh?"

Xue Shao said: "Deng Maoqi's original name was Deng Yun. He was from Jiangxi and had killed someone in his hometown. There was a bully in their area. His family had some assets and he was a rampant bully in the village. One day, he bullied someone in the street. Deng Yun stood up for him and fought with him, and accidentally beat him to death."

Yu Qian sat up straight and asked, "What did the local government say?"

Xue Shao smiled and said, "He was sentenced to death by beheading."

Yu Qian said, "It's too heavy."

Xue Shao nodded: "Deng Yun escaped, and the case was never solved. I investigated the case when I was on patrol in Jiangxi. This case is very interesting."

Yu Qian leaned back on the pool, slapped the water with his palms, and asked, "How is it fun?"

"The local landlords especially hated Deng Yun, but the tenants and poor peasants loved him very much," Xue Shao said. "The biggest local landlord was named Huang Shijian, and the Deng family was his tenants. After Deng Yun ran away, Huang Shijian often picked trouble with the Deng family. The local tenants openly distanced themselves from the Deng family, but they went to help the Deng family work at night and in the early morning to help them collect enough silage for the landlords."

Yu Qian gradually became serious: "It seems that Deng Yun is a very respected and prestigious person."

Xue Shao nodded.

Yu Qian: "It will be difficult to suppress the rebellion in Jiangnan..."

Xue Shao: "The imperial army is never afraid of the rebels. They don't have armor, their weapons are far inferior to those of the imperial army, and they haven't even received special training. But if the rebels have one thing, it will be extremely difficult to suppress them."

They both whispered in unison: "People's hearts!"

Xue Shao: "Your Majesty wants to quell the rebellion in one month. Unless Deng Yun dies suddenly, it will be impossible."

Yu Qian frowned and asked, "How did Deng Yun win the hearts of the people?"

Xue Shao: "In Jiangxi, tenant farmers rented land from landlords. In addition to paying rent and interest, they also had to raise a certain number of chickens and ducks and hand them over to the landlords every year. Every winter, they had to hand over a certain amount of silage and firewood. Deng Yun hated this, so he led the tenant farmers not to hand over chickens and ducks, silage, and firewood.

After he fled to Fujian, the situation there was even worse than in Jiangxi. In addition to handing over chickens and ducks, preparing silage and firewood, the tenant farmers also had to pay rent and interest to the place requested by the landlord.

Some places are so far away that tenants have to spend nearly half a month to transport them. "

Yu Qian stood up from the pond and said angrily, "They are using the tenant farmers as transportation. After selling the grain, they let them deliver the goods. This can not only avoid losses on the road, but also save on transportation costs!"

Xue Shao nodded: "So the local tenant farmers suffered greatly, and the miners also had a hard time because the silver mines were reopened this year. The silver tax set by the court was very high, and since the silver mines were not mined in sufficient quantities, the tax was shared among every household.

The gentry had their own ways to avoid this extra silver tax, so more silver tax fell on the ordinary people. This is why Deng Maoqi could get so much support. "

Xue Shao said: "This is the will of the people. If we want to win, we have to compete with him for the will of the people."

How to fight?

Deng Maoqi has already done it once, so they just need to improve on his basis and meet the demands of the people.

Xue Shao lowered his eyes and said, "The people are suffering so much. This might be an opportunity."

Yu Qian pondered: "If it were in the past, I would not agree to give in like this. Even if it was to improve the environment, it should be done slowly. But now we have an endless silver mine, and there are many things we can do."

Yu Qian became excited: "I will submit a memorial to Your Majesty to request that you re-investigate the Fujian rebellion case. Song Zhang actually allowed such a chaotic situation to occur under his rule..."

"Master Yu," Xue Shao interrupted him, "Song Zhang is the man who holds the seal."

Yu Qian frowned: "So what?"

Xue Shao: "Every year, the tribute ships that passed through Fujian all passed through his hands."

In other words, he was one of the emperor's private money bags. Touching him would not be as simple as touching Wang Zhen, but would also touch the emperor's interests.

Xue Shao said: "Otherwise, why is it that Deng Maoqi has already captured eight cities in a row, and Song Zhang is just 'not good at fighting', but still sits safely in his position as the governor?"

Yu Qian's eyes flashed, and he looked at Xue Shao steadily: "Brother Xue is not someone who fears power."

Xue Shao said: "I am not afraid of power, but I hope to get something for my money. The most urgent tasks are disaster relief, opening the sea ban, and seizing the silver mines."

Yu Qian frowned: "In your eyes, maritime ban is more important than suppressing the rebellion?"

"In my opinion, the maritime ban is also a disaster relief measure," Xue Shao said, "Once the maritime ban is lifted, half of the main contradictions in Jiangnan will be shifted. Merchants can engage in maritime trade, and ordinary people can also rely on maritime trade and ports. Even if the court's disaster relief is incomplete, they can still find a way to survive.

The people are like fish in the great rivers and lakes. There is no need to feed them specially. As long as they are not imprisoned, they will chase after food on their own and find the most suitable place and way for them to survive. "

Yu Qian looked at the quiet Xue Shao with a bright look in his eyes.

That night, Yu Qian stayed at the post station and talked with Xue Shao all night long. (End of this chapter)