The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

The miners holding shovels reacted immediately, pushed the box carts up, and began to shovel stones in, pushing all the stones into a huge strange oval furnace.

This thing is made of clay, and the stuff inside is very weird, and the stuff outside is also weird.

It was completely suspended in the air, held up by two mud pillars, and had something like a wheel on top.

The ore was poured in, and Miaozhen touched a mechanism at the top. The elliptical furnace flashed all over, and the front and back lids rose up, covering the furnace tightly. The light instantly covered the entire column, and then there were a few gurgling sounds, and the iron knife inside turned rapidly, cutting the stone with a click.

Those waiting outside could clearly hear the sound of stones breaking.

When it stopped, the lid opened, the column tilted, and the rubble inside poured out. The stones had been broken into slag, and only a small part was as big as a child's fist.

When the workers took out the debris, they picked out the stones and threw them aside. Then they broke them into several pieces with a big hammer.

The workers poured the slag into another horseshoe-shaped furnace.

There is a special stove underneath, which has been heated up for a long time. The slag is heated here, and when it comes out, the silver ore can be divided into two types, one with high content and the other with low content.

This was the first experiment, and to ensure its success, Pan Yun and his team were present throughout the entire process.

By the time Kuang Ping received the news and rushed over, it was already the morning of the next day. The ore had gone through several processes and had reached the final step.

The production line was eventually split into two routes, one of which used the ash-blowing method to light silver, and the other used the mercury-adding and re-firing method.

The molten silver fell into the mold and gradually took shape in the afternoon.

Kuang Ping stared blankly at the workers knocking out the silver bricks and placing them one by one on the stone platform.

He asked blankly: "How long did it take to refine this?"

Pan Yun: "Because it didn't stop at night, so it's twelve hours."

“How much manpower does it take?”

Pan Yun's lips curled up slightly: "Twenty people."

"Including gravel?"

Pan Yun nodded: "Including gravel."

Kuang Ping murmured: "It's amazing that we can save manpower to this extent..."

He had already planned to write a memorial to the court, asking them to send workers over. Both mining and smelting would require a large amount of manpower.

The miners had a hard life, so his plan was to ask the court for two thousand prisoners. He felt that the court would have more options for exile.

For some extremely vicious criminals, there is no need to send them to Datong and Lingnan all the time. They can also be sent to Japan.

He had already written the memorial, but Pan Yun gave him this...

Kuangping planned how many people could be reduced.

Pan Yun glanced at him and said, "Master Kuang, don't you want to reduce the number of people you want to transfer?"

Kuang Ping said: "When criminals come here, they must be escorted by soldiers. We also need more guards here. If we can use this weapon to replace manpower..."

"Your Majesty, what he wants is not 10,000 or 20,000 silver pieces, or even 100,000 or 200,000, but 1 or 2 million. How much manpower do you think is needed?"

Kuang Ping was silent.

Pan Yun said: "We need to recruit people from China, but not all of them. We can also recruit Japanese people. If we pay them enough and treat them well, I believe some people will come to mine."

Kuang Ping hesitated: "But..." "Can the matter of the silver mountain be concealed for a while, or for a lifetime?" Pan Yun said: "By the way, the imperial court's envoys should have arrived in Japan, right?"

Yang Shan arrived early, and not only did he arrive, he also met the nine-year-old general of Japan, and Oda standing behind him.

He is the actual agent of Japan now.

Unlike in the past, this time Yang Shan brought a large army and almost fought with Japan when they landed. After all, Japan had been disrespectful to the Ming Dynasty in recent years. The last time they went to the capital to pay tribute, they had received a lot of gifts in return. However, when they arrived in Quanzhou, they pretended to be bandits and robbed the people, snatching a lot of property and leaving.

The Ming Dynasty hated Japan deeply, and therefore, it was not active in paying tribute every other year, and rejected their requests for tribute several times.

Because of these contradictions, Japanese soldiers once thought that the Ming Dynasty was coming to fight. In particular, last year some Japanese people went to the Ming Dynasty to burn, kill and loot, and this year, people from the Ming Dynasty rushed to Japan to burn, kill and loot again.

The news that Pan Yun led his men to kill the Ouchi clan had spread throughout Japan.

The Ouchi clan was one of the important officials of the shogunate, and the generals and soldiers of the shogunate were also very dissatisfied with this. When they saw the envoys from the Ming Dynasty, everyone's eyes were filled with anger.

Yang Shan's eyes were filled with anger. As soon as they met, he pointed at the nine-year-old general and scolded him. Then he looked directly at Oda and asked, "Japan has repeatedly allowed its people to kill and plunder the soldiers and civilians of the upper country. Are they trying to rebel?"

Oda thought about the uncertain situation of the shogunate at the moment. Although there was a strait between them, he didn't think the Ming army could really come over, but he still didn't want to conflict with them. So he lowered his eyes and comforted Yang Shan on behalf of the general, saying that it was all done by pirates, not the shogunate's intention, and they were innocent too.

However, the reason why the pirates went to plunder was because they really admired the culture of the superior country and liked its silk, tea and porcelain.

It was precisely because they liked it so much and there were few things coming out of the Ming Dynasty that they robbed it.

Even though Yang Shan was knowledgeable and experienced, he was still made to laugh by Oda.

When Pan Yun asked, Yang Shan was arguing with the Japanese monarch and his ministers in the shogunate.

He came with a mission this time.

Hasn't Japan always liked Ming Dynasty's silk, tea and porcelain?
Well, they open customs!

However, the customs cannot be opened casually. How can the great China open its customs just because the Japanese pirates looted their things?

Naturally, Your Majesty sympathizes with the people of the vassal state, so he granted amnesty and opened the gates.

So, shouldn't your vassal state make some statement?

Yang Shan asked Oda to open several seaports and exempt Ming merchants from tariffs. At the same time, they had to send troops to garrison one of the ports.

The Nanao Port and Onsenzumachi Port that Pan Yun wanted to pay tribute to the imperial court were just the imperial court's second best options.

They could just ask Japan for one first, and then come back if they can't get it.

However, according to the drawings that Xue Shao brought back, Wenquanjin Town is indeed very close to Yinzan. Well, this port cannot be given up and must be controlled.

In addition to the seaport, Yang Shan also asked Oda to give them a piece of land to arrange officials from the Ming Dynasty to deal with Japanese pirates and maritime trade matters.

Yes, the emperor felt that Japan was too chaotic.

Yang Shan said that the reason why Japanese pirates were rampant was because Japan was divided into north and south, with one imperial court in the north and another in the south. The daimyo attacked each other, and the people were displaced, which led to the emergence of so many pirates.

The emperor not only loved his own people, but also had pity for the people of foreign countries. Therefore, he decided to send people to mediate and help the Ashikaga shogunate govern the local area to prevent large-scale Japanese pirates from disturbing the people again.

Oda expressed strong opposition. Although Japan was a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, it had always been independent. Even the dethronement and enthronement of the king did not go through the Ming Dynasty. How could they allow the Ming Dynasty to interfere in their internal affairs?
But the nine-year-old general agreed the moment Yang Shan opened his mouth.

Oda: ...(End of this chapter)