Chapter 618: General, you don't want to raise taxes to eight public and one civilian, do you?

The Great Ming enjoyed the benefits of opening the sea, and the various drawbacks of opening the sea began to gradually surface.

Because they could get rid of raw material supply, the centrifugal force was increasing, the worship of gold appeared in various names, ideological culture was impacted, and the Emperor's unfathomable imperial power was constantly being challenged. All of this was the price of opening the sea.

No matter how high the price, Zhu Yijun would not abandon the strategy of opening the sea.

"After Columbus in the West, there were countless Columbuses. After Da Gama, there were countless Da Gamas. After Magellan, there were countless Magellans. After Zheng He, there was no Zheng He." Zhu Yijun looked at the two important ministers of the Ministry of Revenue of the country and said sincerely: "The Great Ming has already lost the ocean once, and cannot lose the ocean again."

Zhu Yijun had personally seen two English envoys, John Harrison and Francis Drake.

Both of these people were pirates and adventurers. John completed the first voyage to North America, and Drake completed England's first circumnavigation. Drake only chose to set out after knowing that Magellan's circumnavigation was successful and that Portugal and Spain had successively become global empires.

The Queen of England never gave up the privateering license, just to compete with Spain for the dominance of global navigation.

More than two hundred years ago, the Great Ming first began the exploration of the ocean, but now it is lagging behind others.

"If there is centrifugal force, we must think of ways to create centripetal force, rather than cutting off the foot when it hurts, and cutting off the hand when it hurts. If the head hurts, do we have to cut off the head? Even if the rich places in the coastal areas can abandon the supply of raw materials, we should also think of ways to make the poor inland areas in the northwest rich. This is the way to solve the problem." Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Guoguang and confirmed again that this road of opening the sea must be carried through to the end.

Giving up slightly when encountering resistance, and slowly everything becomes half-finished, this is lack of perseverance, and it is also weak.

"Your Majesty is wise." Wang Guoguang bowed.

"Your Majesty, there is a huge problem with overseas raw material supply, and that is that it is unstable, and the fluctuations are simply too huge." Zhang Xueyan put forward his own point of view, His Majesty's worry is correct, but Zhang Xueyan has different opinions.

"Your Majesty, the rich coastal areas abandoning the raw material supply from the inland is a daydream that is not based on reality. Production tells us that the most important thing in production is stability. If the quality and quantity of the incoming materials fluctuate too much, how can we guarantee the stability of production?"

"Production Illustrated" is one of the results of the Great Ming's great speculation. Production is not equal to business. Business is profit-seeking, dominated by profit, while production is dominated by producing more goods, dominated by stability.

Guangdong Governor Wang Jiaping fought with Sichuan Governor Wang Tingzhan, even sending guest soldiers to steal silkworm seeds. This matter even reached the Emperor's ears. Public opinion says the public is right, and the mother-in-law says the mother-in-law is right. It was all for the silkworm seeds of Sichuan, because silkworm seeds affect the quality of raw silk and the quality of the final product.

Similarly, Guangzhou Prefecture is one of the vanguards of the Great Ming's opening of the sea, second only to Songjiang Prefecture.

Why didn't Wang Jiaping resort to overseas, not rely on overseas raw material imports, but had to fight with Zhang Juzheng's direct disciple with real swords and guns?

Because there really isn't any overseas.

Some raw materials can be obtained from overseas without the Great Ming, but some are impossible to think about.

"I agree with your view, you are right." Zhu Yijun was very appreciative of Zhang Xueyan's thoughts. Relying on cheap sea transport and relying heavily on overseas raw material imports to get rid of the poor brothers in the inland is a fantasy of the same nature as the base scholars' "cultivating virtue for everyone, the world is great."

Silk is highly profitable, and it has been so throughout the ages. Is it that others don't like the high profit of silk? It is that they can't do it.

Until later generations, China's raw silk production still accounted for more than 90% of the world, because sericulture is a technical job.

Silkworms are very delicate. When they are frightened, they will stop spitting silk, and silkworms need temperature and humidity. If there is a slight problem, it will really make you have no harvest. The county magistrate is the local emperor in the county, and he doesn't even dare to beat gongs and drums during the season when silkworms spit silk.

"Raw materials are more stable when they are self-sufficient." Wang Guoguang's eyes lit up and said to Zhang Xueyan: "The Great Ming communicated with the Mughal Empire and obtained countless cotton, but the cotton from the Mughal Empire only accounted for about 5%, while more relied on Shandong's cotton, and Shandong cotton accounted for 45% of Songjiang's cotton supply. This is ironclad evidence."

Rice from Champa, cotton from the Mughal Empire, these are all bulk commodities, but for a behemoth like the Great Ming, it is a drop in the bucket, and it cannot even affect the price of cotton in Songjiang Prefecture, because the dominant position is still the cotton in the Great Ming's inland, Shandong, Henan, and other places.

This is also the reason why Akbar the Great of the Mughal Empire dared not kick his nose and face at the Great Ming. The Great Ming can not use the Mughal Empire's cotton, but if the Mughal Empire wants to be a middleman, it must have the Great Ming's cotton cloth.

Akbar thought about weaving it himself, but later found it too difficult. Diligent labor, no matter in what era or in what place, is a scarce resource. It is just that the Great Ming has too much, so it is considered ordinary.

It is often like this. The wind of public opinion that is drummed up, no matter how complete the logic is, often ignores the facts. Once you combine it with reality, you find that it is just a fallacy.

Getting rid of the poor brothers in the inland and relying entirely on overseas raw material imports, so that the coastal areas can all become big billionaires, is a typical calculation style. But can the coastal areas that have lost their depth really maintain their wealth?

Japan ravaged for more than twenty years during the Jiajing years, proving that without depth, wealth is a huge piece of fat, a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

A child holding gold through a busy city, how can it not be known.

Look at what the Great Ming is doing to Japan now. Isn't it bullying Japan for having no depth?

Even if you don't consider it from the perspective of wealth security, the instability of overseas supply is the natural enemy of production.

Wang Guoguang and Zhang Xueyan communicated with the Emperor for a long time. The most direct way to make poor places rich is government factory group construction and engineer corps camps. Great production, rich materials can obtain more silver, and these silver can be reinvested to become rich.

And the premise of all this is: building roads.

Where the road reaches, it is the place where government factories and engineer corps camps blossom everywhere.

"Building roads is good. The national treasury has no money, right? I have it! Like this, I lend to Antonio in the West at an annual interest rate of 3.3%. If I lend it to our Great Ming court, I don't need interest, just pay it back regularly. I can give the national treasury 20 million now, build roads!" Zhu Yijun waved his hand and wanted to take 20 million from the inner treasury to the court to build roads!

"Piling up white silver in the inner treasury is really too wasteful!"

Zhu Yijun is a miser. He can't stand seeing white silver piled up and molding.

"I will take my leave!" Wang Guoguang heard the Emperor say he wanted to lend money, and immediately wiped the soles of his feet and slipped away with Zhang Xueyan! As a loyal supporter of conservatism, Wang Guoguang firmly opposed eating the grain of the tiger. He could not pay back anyone's money, could owe military pay, could only give three months of salary to all officials, but he really had to pay back the money he owed His Majesty.

If he really owed the Emperor's money and couldn't pay it back, the Emperor's solution was to dissolve the court and reorganize it. If that day really came, he, Wang Guoguang, would be nailed to the pillar of shame and mocked by people for thousands of years. Incompetence is the greatest mockery of a person.

"Eh, why did you leave? I don't even want interest! Have you ever seen such a conscientious creditor!" Zhu Yijun stretched out a hand, but he only caught the slightly dry and hot wind of summer.

Zhang Xueyan ran faster than Wang Guoguang. Wang Guoguang is a cabinet minister, and at most he will go to the Western Earth City to retire. He, Zhang Xueyan, is the first person responsible for the Ministry of Revenue.

"Didn't lend it out again." Zhu Yijun put down his hand helplessly. The 2 million taels borrowed by Antonio were like not borrowed. The silver in the Great Ming's inner treasury cannot be invested until the scale of the Ministry of War's silver coins reaches 6.5 million.

Feng Bao and Zhang Hong just laughed. Too much silver is a happy trouble.

In June of the fifth year of Longqing, the late Emperor, who liked to hide, convened a court deliberation, hoping to take 300,000 taels of silver from the national treasury, because the national treasury still owed the inner treasury 500,000 taels of silver for the gold flower silver of the fifth year of Longqing, which had not been given. The late Emperor was asking the national treasury for money, but in the end, the national treasury gathered together and only gave 126,000 taels of silver.

Because the national treasury didn't have any either.

Compared with having money but not being able to spend it and having no money and begging everywhere, it is better to have money but not be able to spend it. If you don't have rice in your hand, call the chicken, and the chicken won't come.

The Great Ming Emperor is worried about having too much silver, while Oda Nobunaga in Honno-ji, Kyoto, Japan, is worried about having no silver.

The Great Ming demanded a war indemnity of 15 million taels of silver, and 3 million silver had to be paid in the first year, that is, paid off before June of the thirteenth year of Wanli, otherwise the Great Ming navy would land in Osaka Bay again.

"General, a merchant from the Great Tang is asking to see you," Kuroda Yoshitaka said with a solemn expression: "He is not from the Nagasaki Governor's Office."

Not from the Nagasaki Governor's Office means he is not on the same path as the Great Ming court. This is to talk about business with Oda Nobunaga.

"These black-hearted merchants, what do they want? What is worth their plotting in our Japan?" Oda Nobunaga said helplessly: "It's just to make my people suffer in the Yuanxu Islands."

Oda Nobunaga had never been in contact with these merchants from the Yuanxu Islands, because he knew that these merchants were digging the foundation of Japan.

"If Takenaka Shigeharu were here, it would be good." Oda Nobunaga looked at the blood-stained sunset in the sky and sighed heavily.

Takenaka Shigeharu, Takenaka Hanbei, was Oda Nobunaga's strategist in internal affairs, who died on the way to conquer the Mori family in the seventh year of Wanli.

This Kuroda Yoshitaka by Oda Nobunaga's side is Kuroda Kanbei, who is also Oda Nobunaga's important strategist. It's just that Kuroda Yoshitaka is better at military affairs.

"But we lack silver, and the Great Ming court is coming aggressively," Kuroda Yoshitaka also said with a tragic tone: "What else can we do? Even if the General pities these farmers, paying the expenses of the army is the top priority."

"Then let's meet." Oda Nobunaga's waist, which was originally straight, now looked a bit hunched, and finally agreed to see these greedy merchants.

Oda Nobunaga was originally full of confidence, because the decree he pushed was two public and one civilian, still heavy taxes, but compared to other Warring States daimyo who demanded excessively, eight public and one civilian, or even nine public and one civilian, there is no doubt that Oda Nobunaga is worthy of everyone in Japan.

But the situation took a turn for the worse.

A war indemnity of up to 15 million taels of silver is the sword hanging over his head. Even if Nobunaga dislikes these merchants, he has to see them.

The person who came was a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing a Confucian robe, but he did not have much of a refined and easygoing temperament. The face is born from the heart, and the merchant with no meat on both cheeks looks a bit mean and greedy.

"This door of the General is really hard to enter. I used a lot of silver, but finally knocked open the General's door. Then General, let'

"You are very rude." Oda Nobunaga felt insulted. Ever since he drew his sword in Owari and marched on Kyoto, no one had dared to be so arrogant in front of him.

"Rude? Does one need courtesy when dealing with the Japanese? Is it useful?" The merchant said completely unconcerned, "My name is Liu Zhangshan; you can just call me Manager Liu."

Liu Zhangshan was from Huarong, Huguang. His clan had migrated to the Yuanxu Islands. Unlike Sun Kehong, who pursued titles of nobility from the imperial court, Liu Zhangshan's family did not seek imperial enfeoffment at all. When the court issued a decree in the sixth year of Wanli to relocate wealthy households, they left the Ming heartland to avoid the court's policies.

Even for the opposition to the Wanli Reform, their attitude toward the Japanese was by no means friendly; it was extremely hostile. Or rather, Confucian scholars raised on the education of distinguishing between Chinese and barbarians found it difficult to be polite to foreign savages.

As long as you strip the other party of their status as human beings, everything becomes a matter of course.

"Let's talk business. How about four taels of silver for one Japanese slave? The General is adept at fighting and winning battles, so I imagine you will capture quite a few prisoners. Killing these prisoners will invite accusations, and killing captives is inauspicious. But if you release them, it's like letting a tiger return to the mountains, yet housing them requires vast amounts of silver or land." Liu Zhangshan smiled and said, "How about this proposal of mine?"

"Sell the captives to me. You receive goods worth four taels of silver, and after a quick turnover, making three or five taels of profit is no problem. In this way, the three million taels of silver needed for military expenses will be very easy to come by."

"General, you wouldn't want to raise taxes to eighty percent, would you?"

Liu Zhangshan offered a plan: one Japanese slave exchanged for goods worth four taels of silver, with profit to be made upon resale. This way, the war reparations could be paid without raising tax rates, and there would be no need to lose his own ruling base. This sounded incredibly wonderful.

"Is there any perfect solution in this world? What you say looks like the best of both worlds, but the biggest problem is: what constitutes a prisoner? In the past, killing civilians to claim merit was repeatedly banned, but now, plundering farmers can yield 'prisoners.' After all, compared to defeating an enemy, plundering farmers is simpler." Oda Nobunaga said with a cold, stern face.

What kind of nonsense 'perfect solution' is this? As long as prisoners are as valuable as heads, killing civilians to claim merit and plundering farmers will become extremely common.

"Look, look, I've already found the steps and reasons for you, yet you insist on speaking the truth. I am just a merchant; I am not the Shogun of Japan. Why should I care where the Japanese slaves come from? You give me Japanese slaves, I give you goods; it is just that simple, a barter of goods." Liu Zhangshan spread his hands; he was just finding a plausible excuse for Oda Nobunaga.

As a merchant, was he supposed to distinguish the origins of these Japanese slaves? Anyway, once they reached the plantations on the Yuanxu Islands, once the whip cracked, they were all just livestock.

Once a man is castrated, he loses most worldly desires and will work steadily until he dies.

"Besides people, is there nothing else you want?" Oda Nobunaga was silent for a long time. Admittedly, Liu Zhangshan knew he was talking nonsense, just finding a way for Oda Nobunaga to save face. Oda Nobunaga insisting on exposing it was like slapping himself in the face.

If there really were another way, Oda Nobunaga wouldn't be meeting Liu Zhangshan.

"Besides Japanese slaves, is there anything else in Japan worth our scheming?" Liu Zhangshan asked in return.

Liu Zhangshan smiled and said, "By the way, a large sulfur mine has been opened in Luzon, right on Mindanao. It is a volcanic area, only eighty li from Davao City on Mindanao. The Koxinga has already dispatched Deng Zilong to lead the tooth-soldiers, and Chen Chengyi has taken miners there. You know, sometimes miners are excellent sources of soldiers."

"Besides silver, we can also purchase sulfur from Luzon, instead of Japan."

The mine near Davao is an active volcano, still erupting, which has resulted in very rich mineral resources nearby. Someone found a huge gold nugget, sparking people's enthusiasm for heading to the volcano. Eventually, the Great Ming found silver and sulfur ore veins in Davao and discovered the 'Great Dragon.'

Preparations for development are all ready; mineral resources will truly attract the Ming army.

"That really is an unfortunate piece of news." Liu Zhangshan said with a bit of schadenfreude. His expression was playful, his tone flippant, and what he said was even more infuriating. But even so, Oda Nobunaga could do nothing to Liu Zhangshan, because he indeed needed goods to exchange for silver.

"I know, I know, the General is a man who cares about his reputation. How could you let the General do such evil deeds? You have so many generals under your command; I will just go find them to do it. In this way, the General's good name is preserved, and the General also gets the goods." Liu Zhangshan found another step for Oda Nobunaga to take.

Let the poor people and laborers suffer a bit more, let the retainers bear the infamy, and let Oda Nobunaga reap the benefits.

"How can there be such a good thing in the world? No need." Oda Nobunaga still refused to take the step offered. He would rather be scolded than hand this matter over to his retainers. Ever since the last assassination attempt, Oda Nobunaga clearly understood that as long as he relaxed his control even slightly, even Akechi Mitsuhide, who was standing right in front of him, would betray him.

Japan had a very prevalent political atmosphere of 'the low overthrowing the high' and layers of being hollowed out: the Shogun hollowing out the Emperor, the three deputies hollowing out the Shogun, and the family heads hollowing out the deputies. If Oda Nobunaga wanted to live, he had to do everything himself.

"Why is the Ming Emperor's luck so good? Having one Zhang Juzheng is enough, and there's also a Qi Jiguang! Getting one is enough to win the world, yet the Emperor got two!" Oda Nobunaga's words were filled with visible resentment.

The Ming navy landed in Osaka Bay; their military discipline was strict, their military appearance was neat, and they didn't even trample the rice seedlings in the fields! No matter how terrifying the rumors were, they were not as despairing as seeing it with one's own eyes.

The Ming navy's method of training troops was based on those two military books by Qi Jiguang. The Ming printed them everywhere, and Oda Nobunaga had read them too. He also wanted a Ming Capital Battalion. Forget about a hundred thousand; if Oda Nobunaga had ten thousand samurai with such a martial spirit, he could sweep across all the daimyo of Japan as if it were child's play, without even needing the firearms of the Ming Capital Battalion.

What is strong has always been the people, not the weapons.

"Exactly, exactly! Why is the Emperor's luck so good? Having one Zhang Juzheng is enough to make people gnash their teeth, and there's also a Qi Jiguang. It's simply unreasonable!" Liu Zhangshan became very agitated when he mentioned this!

Why did the wealthy and powerful who were attached to their land flee? Why didn't they rebel? They couldn't win. With the Capital Battalion there, rebelling was equivalent to seeking death. This was a basic consensus. Anyone who had seen the Spring and Autumn Grand Review with their own eyes could not say such heaven-defying words as rebelling.

Whether he was a regent or a prime minister, whether Zhang Juzheng was a prime minister or a regent, it didn't matter. What mattered was that Zhang Juzheng didn't usurp the throne and had returned power.

One Zhang Juzheng could be called an exception, but there was also Qi Jiguang, who was a hereditary Duke. The four words 'reshaping the military soul' were not a joke.

They couldn't win an argument, they couldn't win a fight, so they could only curse a few times.

"The Ming Emperor is still wet behind the ears, a child in his twenties. Why is he so arrogant, doing whatever he wants! Acting recklessly! He says kill, and he kills; he says exterminate the clan, and he exterminates the clan! He even set up the 'Dissection Institute' to send people in to be sliced into a thousand pieces! Isn't he just acting like a fox borrowing the tiger's might, using the prestige of Zhang Juzheng and Qi Jiguang! Without Zhang Juzheng and Qi Jiguang, what is he, the Ming Emperor? How dare he be so harsh to the people!" Liu Zhangshan was incredibly angry.

But this anger was more like the impotent rage of a loser, because the stray dogs fleeing the Ming were these very wealthy and powerful people.

"Now there is also a Li Rusong. Oda City sent news from the capital that this Li Rusong is deeply valued by the Emperor and has brilliant military achievements. Half of the Marquis of Ningyuan's title was won by Li Rusong."

"The Quanchu Guild Hall also has a Xiong Tingbi, who is both civil and martial and is a fellow disciple of the Emperor. I heard the Emperor treats Xiong Tingbi extremely well, bringing him things every time he goes to the Quanchu Guild Hall, and always calling him 'Big Brother Xiong.' He has already gone to Suiyuan, and as soon as he arrived, he led the Suiyuan troops to suppress bandits. Sixteen years old, and he settled the Yin Mountains with three arrows." Akechi Mitsuhide reminded Oda Nobunaga that the Ming also had a young and vigorous Li Rusong, and an even younger Xiong Tingbi.

"Settled the Yin Mountains with three arrows?!" Liu Zhangshan said sluggishly, "Who? Who is Xiong Tingbi?"

Akechi Mitsuhide explained the ins and outs of the matter.

Xiong Tingbi settling the Yin Mountains with three arrows had become a widely circulated story in the Hetao region.

A group of over eight thousand horse bandits was entrenched in the Yin Mountains. This group of bandits was extremely fierce; even the military colonies that moved from the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia border to the Hetao could never wipe them out. But Xiong Tingbi led the garrison troops and used only three arrows to shoot and kill the first, second, and third leaders.

Of course, this was a story. Xiong Tingbi didn't use only three arrows. Only the first leader was shot and killed by Xiong Tingbi using a 'Tiger Strength Bow'—a heavy bow of over 120 jin. It took three arrows for one to pierce the first leader's head and kill him on the spot. The second and third leaders were not killed by Xiong Tingbi; they were defeated by Ming troops during a pursuit and encirclement.

The second leader was blown up by a shell; he wasn't blown to pieces, just filled with iron caltrops.

The third leader was captured, had his bells removed, and was sent to the Shengzhou coal mine to work as a miner, because the coal mine was heavy labor. The Emperor valued frugality, and such strong labor could not be wasted.

But as the story spread, it became 'Settling the Yin Mountains with Three Arrows,' even though only the first leader was shot to death by Xiong Tingbi.

Qi Jiguang was like Wei Qing, Li Rusong was like Huo Qubing; now Li Rusong was like Qi Jiguang, and Xiong Tingbi was like Li Rusong.

"Is there no end to this! Is there no end to this!" Liu Zhangshan stood up abruptly. He was shocked to the point of numbness. Stories would have some deviations during circulation, but judging from the source of the news, Oda City was Oda Nobunaga's envoy, and eighty percent of the news received was true.

One Qi Jiguang was difficult enough to deal with. Li Rusong was famously hot-tempered and fought without fear of death. The battlefield was always fair; when killing others, one could also be killed. In Liu Zhangshan's view, Li Rusong was not to be feared; such a person would sooner or later meet with bad luck on the battlefield.

But now there was an additional Xiong Tingbi, who became known to the world as soon as he appeared.

The talented and ambitious people under the Ming Emperor were emerging one after another!

"Shen Shixing, the Governor of Songjiang, has just completed the 'Single Whip Law' in Songjiang Prefecture." Akechi Mitsuhide was now very knowledgeable about Ming intelligence because, due to the opening of the seas, this public information could be obtained from the miscellaneous newspapers.

Shen Shixing completed the implementation of the Single Whip Law in Songjiang Prefecture. This was the first time the Ming had completed a pilot project since Gui E proposed the Single Whip Law in the eighth year of Jiajing. Although there were many compromises and struggles in the middle, a consensus on monetary tax was finally reached.

In the face of the rolling trend of the Wanli Reform, being a rebel had no future, because one only needed to follow the Emperor's footsteps to become as wealthy as a nation. Look at Sun Kehong, the head of the Songjiang Ocean Trading Firm—a cripple who could only sit in a swivel chair, yet because he offered his loyalty to the Emperor, he gained immense wealth! He became a monopoly class among the wealthy and powerful.

Liu Zhangshan was somewhat lost. He had originally thought that if he outlived Zhang Juzheng and Qi Jiguang, everything would get better, but now it seemed that was just a delusional fantasy.

"What is that sound?" Oda Nobunaga frowned and looked outside. It seemed a bit too noisy outside.

"It's bad, General! Akechi Mitsuhide has raised an army in rebellion!" A confidant ran in, panicked and distraught, pointing outside and shouting in terror.

"Quick, send word to the Osaka Bay Tianjin Tianjin Weisuo Battalion!" Oda Nobunaga was stunned at first, then astonished. In a flash, the only reinforcements Oda Nobunaga could think of were not his own retainers, but the Nagasaki Regional Military Commission and the Tianjin Tianjin Weisuo Battalion from the Great Ming.

He, Oda Nobunaga, still owed 15 million taels of silver in military expenses!

As the creditor, how could the Great Ming watch its debtor die!

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