The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

Xue Hua and his team have been conducting explorations during this period and have marked out several points that are convenient for mining.

Kuang Ping first took the craftsmen from the Ministry of Industry to select a spot for mining.

Then Wang Cong went to choose.

Xue Hua and others divided up the remaining mining sites.

The people who came on the ship immediately found their own power points and started mining, and also assigned people to build furnaces.

Pan Yun gave all parties enough time to prepare, so everyone had craftsmen who could smelt.

As for retail investors, who did not have the ability to smelt silver, they began to contact various parties, intending to mine and sell the silver to them, or entrust them to smelt it, and finally divide the silver according to proportion.

Except for Kuang Ping, who represented the court, all other parties agreed.

Then, mining of Iwami Silver Mine began in full swing.

In order to avoid being discovered by local villagers, they deliberately chose the mining site deep in the mountains.

Villagers at the foot of the mountain occasionally heard the sound of stones being knocked, but they thought they were quarrying stones for building a Taoist temple and did not know that they were mining.

Pan Yun chose an auspicious day and took out the three statues from the spiritual space and placed them on three huge rocks halfway up the mountain.

With red cloth tied around their necks, all the Taoist priests in the academy changed into Taoist robes along with her and consecrated the statue on this day.

Not only did the villagers come to join in the fun, but the monks from Kiyomizu Temple on the opposite hill also came over to watch.

After the red cloth was unveiled and the eyes were painted, the statue was completed. The monks and the people came forward to pay their respects, and then squeezed in to find Pan Yun: "Master Pan, I heard that Buddhism and Taoism in the upper country are one, is that right?"

"There are indeed many similarities." Pan Yun said: "The great Dao of the world, it's just that the paths to the Dao are different, so the manifestations are different."

The monks hoped that Pan Yun could preach to them and let them appreciate the Taoism of the Taoist priests from the upper country.

Pan Yun was overjoyed, so he called all the Taoists in the team and asked them to discuss Taoism with the monks in turn.

Today we are here, halfway up the mountain, under the seat of the Three Pure Ones; tomorrow we will be in the Buddhist temple opposite.

After a while, everyone ignored the clanging sounds in the mountains and only focused on their discussions. It even attracted monks and Shinto monks from other parts of Honshu, and even monks from Kyushu came to visit.

Shinta Masuda was stunned as he watched Omori-go becoming increasingly lively.

Xue Shao said: "In time, this area can become an important town, or even a city. Yitian-kun, hasn't your Yitian family always wanted to own a city?"

Masuda Shinta's eyes flickered slightly, and he suppressed his excitement and said, "But Omori Township has many mountains and little land, and it is far less convenient to get in and out than Onsenzu Town. Building a city here..."

Xue Shao said: "I have been bored these days, so I looked around the area and found that there is another road from Omori Township to Wenquanjin Town Port, which is only about five miles away. If the road is opened, the city can be built in the Yitian clan land, and Wenquanjin Town is outside the city, and Omori Township can be the suburbs."

Masuda Shinta was stunned for a moment and then said, "But there is a mountain between them..."

"It's just a small hill, it can be leveled," Pan Yun put down the teacup and continued, "I can refine gunpowder and use it to level the hill, which will be twice as effective with half the effort. If the hill is leveled, a lot of land can be allocated for planting. In this way, Yitian-kun will not be stingy with the land in the hill, right?"

When they met again, Pan Yun had been talking to Shinta Masuda about buying land. Shinta Masuda had already given her this mountain, but with so many people here, they still needed to buy some arable land to serve as a cover.

But Shinta Masuda refused to sell.

Xue Shao also encouraged him: "Mr. Yitian has also seen that farming is not very profitable. On the contrary, business is the most profitable. If we can open up a road from here to Onsenzu Town, it will be more convenient for monks and Shinto from all over the world to come here. If there are fewer shops and inns here, they can only live in Onsenzu Town Port and the Yitian clan land. In addition, the prosperous seaport brings business and travel... Mr. Yitian, popularity can bring wealth. With both people and wealth, the city will not be far away."

Japan is not like the Ming Dynasty, where every county is a city. Here, the place where a family gathers is actually a big village.

The Masuda family was affiliated with the Yamana clan and managed this large piece of land, but the population here was scattered throughout the small villages.

The largest village in this area is the Masuda family.

In the view of Pan Yun and Xue Shao, they were somewhat similar to the fortress system that was popular during the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

It was also a coincidence that Japan was in the Northern and Southern Dynasties period at that time.

It is not easy for a fortress to develop into a city. In addition to people and money, it also needs military force. Only after all these are obtained can a city be slowly built.

The Ouchi clan developed in the same way back then, and eventually surpassed the Yamana clan.

As one of the most trusted retainers of the Yamana clan, has Masuda Shinta ever thought of becoming a member of the Ouchi clan and replacing the Yamana clan?

That is impossible.

A soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier, and a retainer who doesn't want to replace his master is not a good retainer.

Masuda Shinta was determined to become the greatest retainer in the world.

Xue Shao said softly: "Mr. Yitian, how long will it take to accumulate popularity and wealth by farming? The fastest development of the Ouchi clan was when they went to sea as pirates and interfered with the maritime trade of Japan.

Now, you have better conditions than them. You don't have to do such evil things as pirates, but you can accumulate the same wealth as them. With the Ming Dynasty as your backing, how much money and population can you not accumulate?"

Pan Yun took the opportunity to push him a cup of tea and said softly, "Mr. Yitian, people should look at the long term."

Masuda Shinta picked up the teacup and drank it all, then made up his mind: "Okay! I'll build this road!"

So they started selling gunpowder for blasting mountains to Shinta Masuda, and Pan Yun and his mining team also started using gunpowder openly.

Wang Cong saw that making gunpowder was more profitable than refining silver, so he encouraged Pan Yun: "Uncle Junior, you should bring your junior brothers and sisters here. Miaozhen and Miaohe are the best at making gunpowder. They are better than me. You can let them earn some pocket money. It will keep the wealth within the family."

Pan Yun: "You are good at ordering people around."

She counted with her fingers and found that she had been here for twenty days, so she asked, "How much silver have you refined?"

Wang Cong said: "We have refined more than 9,800 taels of silver together with the mines of the Ministry of Industry."

Pan Jun frowned: "This is too little."

Wang Cong: "... Junior Master, do you want to go and see Kuang Ping? See how excited he is. Kuang Ping said that last year Yunnan mined only over 50,000 taels of silver, but we have mined nearly 10,000 taels in just 20 days."

Pan Yun: "Considering the wealth of Iwami Silver Mine, this amount is too small. To put it bluntly, it is still because the mining volume is insufficient and the smelting capacity is not enough."

"Yes, not only is the smelting power insufficient, the smelting purity is also poor. In the final analysis, the technique is too rough, and even many ores are not refined cleanly." Wang Cong admitted this.

When Pan Yun heard this, he immediately felt distressed: "Not refined cleanly? How could it not be refined cleanly? I'll go and take a look."

Wang Cong took her to see it. (End of this chapter)