Chapter 831: Tonghe Palace Gold Treasury

Qi Jiguang is much luckier than Yue Fei. Qi Jiguang met Zhang Juzheng. He can pacify the Japanese pirates, completely eliminate the Japanese pirate scourge, and resist the Northern Barbarians, allowing the Northern Barbarians to be unable to harass Great Ming for fifteen years. Yue Fei was completely different.

A Qin Gui and a Zhao Gou, a Prime Minister and an Emperor, tried every means to hold him back.

Yue Fei was fighting desperately in the front, and Qin Gui was shouting in the back: "Cannot win, winning will affect the peace talks!"

Yue Fei had already fought to Zhuxian Town and was about to beat the Jin people to death, and Qin Gui was shouting in the back: "Cannot fight, an isolated army cannot stay long!"

Zhao Gou is a dog who won by lying down! He didn't even know how to lie down to win!

Yue Fei is a Martial Saint in Great Ming, and folk worship is very common. Even the Eastern Depot has a portrait of Yue Fei as soon as one enters. This is a universal worship.

Zhu Yijun's vermilion comment was a poem he wrote himself. This poem talks about Yue Fei, and also about Qi Jiguang.

Red Heart of Loyalty Shines on Sun and Moon, Devotion to Country Unending;

Sighing at the Wind-Wave Pavilion, Ten Thousand Generations of Planning to Settle the Nine Provinces.

Yue Fei's red heart of loyalty can be seen by the sun and moon. Welcoming back the two emperors was a slogan Zhao Gou shouted himself, and taking back Kaifeng Prefecture and reclaiming the capital was also an imperial decree issued by Zhao Gou.

He never forgot the "Devotion to Country" carved on his back by his mother, nor did he dare to slack off. Four northern expeditions to tidy up the old mountains and rivers, recover lost territory, and reshape the mountains and rivers.

In the 13th year of Wanli, the Emperor toured the south to Hangzhou Prefecture to visit Yu Qian's tomb and Yue Fei's grave. Standing at the Wind-Wave Pavilion, he sighed at the wind and waves at the intersection of the two Song dynasties. If there had been no wind and waves at the Wind-Wave Pavilion (the location of the Southern Song's Dali Temple) back then, would there have been no barbarian filth for nearly a hundred years?

Today, Qi Jiguang wants to continue the attack for the sake of his youthful ambition and aspirations: "Enfeoffment is not my intention, I only wish the sea waves would be calm."

If he does not continue to attack and expand in Japan's mainland and drive in a nail that can interfere with Japan's situation at any time, I am afraid the Japanese pirate scourge will make a comeback. This planning is for the long-term peace and stability of Great Ming.

Zhu Yijun is setting the tone for this matter. The front line believes it is necessary to fight, so fight. Everyone behind should not point fingers.

Great Ming cannot learn from the Great Song, and Zhu Yijun certainly does not want to be Zhao Gou, and Zhang Juzheng is certainly not Qin Gui.

"Barbarians are like this; the only language they can understand is the fist." Zhu Yijun once again quoted Wan Shihe's words to express his attitude.

He is not worried that Qi Jiguang will lose, because Qi Jiguang is now very steady. If he can win, he will fight; if he cannot win, he will fight next time. Anyway, the Emperor will not urge him.

He submitted a very detailed battle plan, dividing the offensive waves into three waves. Generally speaking: the Great Ming Capital Battalion kicks the door, the Liaodong army cleans up the remnants, and the Korean army is responsible for security.

The direction of the attack is also the numerous cities along the northern coast of Japan, marching north all the way from Nagato Castle to Izumo Castle and Songjiang Castle.

The most noteworthy part is the Iwami Three Fields, namely Masuda, Hamada...

... and Oda. These three places are part of Japan's Yoshida Plain and are the main grain-producing and silver-producing areas of the three provinces of Nagato, Iwami, and Izumo. The Iwami Bai Yin Mine is located between Hamada and Oda.

The Iwami Bai Yin Mine is also Japan's largest silver mine.

According to Qi Jiguang's plan of advancing by sea and land, he can take down all the northern coastal cities in six months to a year, and then use these port cities as offensive fortresses to interfere with Japan's situation at any time.

Zhu Yijun agreed to this plan. The reason is actually particularly simple: fifteen years of martial arts, we must give the world an account.

Taking down the Tumad Khan, the Altan Khan, and attacking Liaodong is an account to the northerners, while the war to aid Korea and destroy Japan is an account to the southerners.

The Great Ming Emperor took the land tax from the people of the world, did not engage in large-scale construction, nor did he live in luxury, but used it all in places where it needed to be used, not failing the trust and entrustment of the people of the world.

Obviously, the south, especially the powerful and wealthy, local gentry, and poor commoners in the southeast direction, were very satisfied with the answer sheet of the fifteen years of martial arts.

The powerful and wealthy kept submitting memorials to donate. Even if it was just a symbolic collection of one silver, it was a sense of participation. This time, there was really no conspiracy; it was just a simple desire for a sense of participation.

The local gentry checked their land deeds and could finally sleep peacefully, without worrying about the Japanese pirate scourge rising again at any time.

The poor commoners ran around telling each other, and every household set off firecrackers to celebrate the hard-won peace.

Gao Qiyu once told Oda Ichi that it was the Great Ming imperial court that was suppressing the anger of the people, not that the Great Ming imperial court was hiding so many wicked things from the people.

Yu Dayou once told the Emperor that the security of Great Ming's coast had never been in the fortresses on land, but on the sea. Now, Yu Dayou has passed away for many years, and Zhu Yijun can calmly tell Yu Dayou that Great Ming is clearing out the old nests occupied by the Japanese pirates.

Although some people are dead, they live forever.

The "Kaigu" (Opening of the Port) inspection in the 16th year of Wanli was very lively. Although there was no public trial this time, there was still the custom of "parading the master," mainly for the atmosphere. This year, the wine industry from Guizhou began to emerge. The wine from Maotai Town appeared in the capital of Great Ming to compete for the title of the world's best wine.

"Shu salt goes to Guizhou, Qin merchants gather in Maotai."

Brewing wine in Maotai Town can be traced back to the pre-Qin period. The geographical location is very superior, located on the banks of the Chishui River, and is the throat of land and water transportation for Sichuan salt entering Guizhou. It has been a gathering place for merchants for thousands of years. By the Great Ming Dynasty, Maotai Town had become the most important wine-brewing place in the southwest region.

But unfortunately, the wine of Maotai Town failed to win the championship in one fell swoop. This year, it was still the "Fairy Wine" of Shanghai County and the "Fast Qu Wine" of the Northern Yamen competing for the top spot.

Behind this is the competition between the two comprehensive polytechnic institutes in the north and south. Microbiology is still leading the country in these two institutes. After all, only these two places have doctors specializing in raising bacteria. The competition...

... is very fierce.

In the end, the "Fast Qu Wine" of the Northern Yamen won the crown of the world's best wine with a slight advantage.

The internal competition in Great Ming is very fierce. In the past two years, the Southern Institute, which is the Songjiang Polytechnic Institute (formerly the Maritime Academy), has had a key direction: the cultivation of Penicillium, mainly to increase the production of old brine, which is the increased production of penicillin.

And in the field of wine, Songjiang Polytechnic Institute mainly focuses on strong liquor. The "Fairy Wine" is distilled many times to obtain alcohol with a concentration of over 75%. This type of wine is mainly used for disinfection. Alcohol is mainly used for the disinfection of medical instruments, and also as a kind of high-strength liquor used as sailing wine.

The research direction of Songjiang Polytechnic Institute is mainly for the direction of sailing, so it is not surprising that it is slightly inferior in flavor.

Great Ming's wine gradually became a commodity, sold all over the world. High-strength liquor is blended in various places, mixed with various strange fruit juices, egg whites, milk, coffee, etc., that meet local tastes.

Zhu Yijun once again gave a vermilion comment to the world's best wine and fished 100,000 silver in advertising fees from this grand celebration.

Amidst the lively atmosphere of the Capital Kaigu inspection day, the Western large sailing ships arrived in Songjiang Prefecture. Envoys from various countries took hydrofoil sailing ships to the capital of the Great Ming Dynasty, preparing to enter the court for an audience.

Li Yashi, as the special envoy of Spain stationed in Great Ming, met the envoy from Spain.

Last year, that stupid, greedy, and young José Luis lost too much gold and silver at the Yanxing Building Trading House. After returning to the West, he was imprisoned by the angry Prince Felipe, who demanded that José's family pay enough gold and silver to make up for the losses caused by gambling.

Felipe did not understand the trading house of Great Ming, but he had never cashed in the gold bonds he issued, so he understood the background of this kind of trading house very well.

Traders might make money, but the trading house will never lose money.

This year, Spain's envoy is Pedro Fernández, who had visited Great Ming once before. Pedro is a noble of the Mesta Association, which is an association composed of shepherds. In Spain's long Reconquista movement, it possessed a pivotal status.

Before Spain became the empire on which the sun never sets, it had always been a "country on the back of sheep."

"This year, there is only 2 million taels of silver, and this year, there is only 250,000 taels of gold." Li Yashi clicked the abacus. The proportion of large sailing ship trade in Great Ming's maritime trade is gradually decreasing, sliding downward again.

"Is there any problem?" Pedro put on a white ring collar and asked with a smile.

Li Yashi took off his glasses, took out a fountain pen, wrote a few arithmetic formulas on paper, and said: "This 250,000 taels of gold is now only worth 1.75 million taels of silver. That is to say, you can only buy 3.75 million taels of silver worth of goods, not the 6 million taels of silver worth of goods you think."

"Before, Great Ming's gold-to-silver ratio was about 1:16, and at the beginning of this year, because of some things, the gold-to-silver ratio slid to 1:5. With Great Ming signing the 'Treaty of Kyoto' and forcing Japan to cede silver mines, the gold-to-silver ratio has risen again to 1:7. This ratio is still fluctuating, but it has stabilized."

Pedro's face changed greatly, his brows furrowed, and he asked: "The matter of Great Ming signing the Treaty of Kyoto, I had already heard about it in Songjiang Prefecture. Great Ming occupied Japan's silver mines, and Great Ming obtained more silver, so silver can only be exchanged for less gold in the market."

"What made the price of gold slide from a high price to 1:5?"

Li Yashi found a copy of the Di Bao (Imperial Gazette) and placed it in front of Pedro, saying helplessly: "Great Ming established the Jinchi Governor's Office overseas. Every year, two ships of gold sand will arrive in Great Ming. This year, the estimated production of gold can reach 500,000 taels. In a few years, Great Ming's gold will increase."

"Jinchi Governor's Office?" Pedro looked at the Di Bao and the Latin translation that had already been translated. He knew a little bit of Chinese studies. Since the original Di Bao was there, it meant Li Yashi did not lie to him.

After Pedro finished reading the Di Bao, he said with a solemn face: "Is there any intelligence on the Jinchi Governor's Office?"

"No." Li Yashi spread his hands: "The Great Ming imperial court has never made public the needle charts, star charts, and sea charts of exploration. You know, the sea is boundless. Without these things, even if you are told the approximate direction, you will only get lost in the endless sea and be swallowed by the waves."

"I am not afraid of death, but I cannot get in touch with these confidential things."

"This year, the Cabinet also passed a secrecy act, strictly keeping secret the production technologies of coal mining, coke, steel, shipbuilding, steam engines, breeding chickens, bacterial strains, planting, etc."

The secrecy act passed by the Great Ming Cabinet is actually a secrecy act. Great Ming did not manage these things particularly strictly before, but now it is very strict.

"If you are caught, you will be beheaded." Li Yashi gestured at his neck with his hand, somewhat helplessly.

The court is full of conservatives. They are unwilling to be open and inclusive. Opening the source is impossible. Now it is the Wanli Revival, not the Kaiyuan Prosperous Age.

"This is really, too regrettable." Pedro visited last time and proposed "market for technology." Before the secrecy act, this could be discussed. Now that there is a secrecy act, this is a problem that cannot be discussed, because it is illegal.

Even mining technology, Great Ming will not share it with the outside world.

"Great Ming did not accept gold before, but later started to store gold. But I see that Great Ming's gold is not a currency. What does Great Ming want so much gold for?" Pedro could not understand Great Ming's approach.

Gold is useless. If gold were useful, Great Ming merchants would not only accept silver, because the quantity of gold is too small to be used as a currency. Therefore, most gold is used for...

... jewelry.

The consumption of jewelry is really too small compared to currency, so Great Ming does not have enough motivation to store gold.

Great Ming's currency is still silver coins and Wanli Tongbao. What does Great Ming want to store this gold for?

Li Yashi sat up straight and said: "Issue Great Ming Baochao. The Great Ming imperial court was very, very poor before. After the national treasury and the inner treasury were separated in the Jiajing reign, they still begged each other for food and borrowed money from each other. Later, neither the national treasury nor the inner treasury had silver."

"If the national treasury has no money, it can write an IOU and collect gold from the Emperor's hands—that is, the gold in the Tonghe Palace gold treasury. But the Emperor does not give gold, but gives Baochao, which is equivalent to giving out gold. In this way, the quantity of Great Ming Baochao is anchored to the quantity of gold in the Tonghe Palace."

"Anyone who gets Baochao can go to the Baochao Bureau to exchange it for silver or Wanli Tongbao of equal value. Gold is just a guarantee of the Emperor's credibility."

Pedro said with great surprise: "This... Great Ming Emperor issues Baochao and still needs gold as collateral? Does Prince Felipe's gold bond have gold? No one knows. Isn't it used as money anyway?"

Whether Felipe has so much gold to issue gold bonds, everyone is not clear. Even Pedro, a noble and court secretary, is not very clear. When everyone believes he has it, then those gold can be treated as if they really exist.

Li Yashi said with great emotion: "You are right. The Emperor just sent a Grand General to defeat Japan and obtained the ownership of Japan's mineral resources. With the Emperor's credibility, even if the Emperor has nothing, he can still issue notes."

"Really, if the Emperor said that his inner treasury was very poor, wrote an IOU, collected all the gold and silver in the world into the treasury, gave bonds, and agreed on how many years to return them, I would definitely hand over all my gold and silver to the Emperor."

"Without gold, one can also issue notes. I, a barbarian, recognize it."

Li Yashi feels...

... that the Emperor is sometimes very bold, and sometimes very careful, careful to the point of being a bit excessive.

Going to the trouble of building such a gold treasury is really a bit of a superfluous act.

As a true Emperor, the Emperor's power is infinitely great. Issuing notes is just a small matter.

Collecting all the gold and silver in the world into the treasury, no one would dare to oppose it. If they really opposed it, just send the opposition to heaven with the Capital Battalion.

The Emperor's thinking, Li Yashi actually understands very well, because the Hongwu Baochao completely overdrawn the credibility of the Great Ming Emperor and the imperial court. In order to prevent the old things from happening again, the Emperor is so cautious about the banknote law, which is naturally a blessing for the people of the world.

But at present, Great Ming lacks money and lacks currency. The Emperor's caution has caused Great Ming's economic vitality to be unable to be fully released. Now Great Ming's economy is completely dancing in shackles. Even so, Great Ming is still the Heavenly Dynasty.

Great Ming merchants recognize Great Ming Baochao, especially the overseas circulation Baochao issued in Luzon. Not counting the Dian copper and the gold, silver, copper, and iron mines in Womagang, Luzon alone has twelve copper towns and Han villages. No one doubts that the Emperor cannot honor them.

The core of Baochao is credibility, is confidence—confidence in Great Ming. If you believe Baochao is valuable, Baochao is really valuable.

The Emperor is 26 years old, in his prime, and his diligence is well known. No one will doubt that Great Ming will slide downward in the Emperor's hands.

The matter of issuing notes, the former Minister of Revenue Wang Guoguang and the current Grand Minister of Works Zhang Xueyan have communicated with the Emperor many times, but the Emperor has always refused, insisting on building the gold treasury before relying on the gold in the gold treasury to issue notes.

The Emperor's meaning is that real gold and silver are the foundation.

The Emperor's thinking, Li Yashi...

... identified it as: Great Ming is still too "face-conscious" and has high morality.

High morality is a disadvantage in colonization, but for the people of Great Ming, high morality is a huge advantage. Great Ming people might be used to it, but Li Yashi, as a barbarian, knows it too well. Such a wise and holy Emperor is very rare.

Not to mention the uncivilized places overseas, even the monarchs of the West are just barely human.

"Li, you can briefly explain why there is such a big difference between the East and the West?" Pedro didn't understand why the West didn't have an Emperor like the Emperor.

Li Yashi smiled and said: "Eh, actually, in the East, a wise and holy Emperor like the Emperor is also a minority of the minority."

In the past two hundred years of the Great Ming Dynasty, there have only been three who can be counted as wise monarchs, and two of them were at the beginning of the dynasty. In these 170-plus years, Great Ming's situation has been getting worse and worse, and even the Northern Barbarians, who didn't even have iron pots, could not be suppressed.

"Then that's fine." Pedro could only comfort himself like this. After all, on the table of maritime trade, only Great Ming and Spain are sitting at the dining table, and the rest are still on the menu. Portugal, because it surrendered to Great Ming, moved from the menu to the children's table.

Great Ming and Spain are in a direct competitive relationship in maritime trade.

"Falanxi's recent chaos is a bit worrying." Pedro said with great concern: "Ma Minister Liang has received a lot of sponsorship. These Falanxi nobles are all looking forward to Ma Minister Liang being able to obtain the Great Ming Emperor's special permission to allow Great Ming goods to be distributed in the Le Havre port she occupied, which is the Great Light City."

"The armor, horses, swords, flags, and followers of the Knights of Freedom are increasing rapidly, but the King of Falanxi is addicted to male favorites and has no reaction to this."

"The Great Ming Emperor should not allow Great Ming merchant ships to go to the Great Light City to distribute goods, right? After all, the King of Portugal, Antonio, was enfeoffed by the Great Ming Emperor."

Falanxi and Spain have been fighting for many years. The current terrible situation in Falanxi has a lot to do with Spain. Felipe does not want to see a relatively united Falanxi; otherwise, if the Falanxi become strong again, it will put Spain in danger.

If Falanxi becomes united again, it will be a greater danger than England.

Li Yashi sighed, took out a Di Bao, handed it to Pedro, and said: "The Great Ming Emperor has already allowed Great Ming merchant ships to go to Le Havre, which is the Great Light City you mentioned, to distribute goods."

Pedro finished reading the Di Bao, both surprised and angry, and said: "Last time Great Ming allowed the Netherlands to obtain salt, it already disrupted the Prince's arrangement! Now this allows merchant ships to go to the Great Light City to distribute goods."

"Great Ming does this, is it not afraid of losing the Prince's friendship? Is it not afraid of losing the silver from the rich silver mines!"

"Great Ming's hand stretches...

... too long. If we were to interfere with Great Ming's actions in Annan, Japan, Luzon, and Ma Liujia and cause trouble for Great Ming, how would Great Ming react!"

Pedro could not bear this kind of humiliation!

Great Ming simply does not put Spain in its eyes. Interfering in the affairs of the West so blatantly is absolutely unbearable and must be retaliated against.

Li Yashi looked at Pedro and said very solemnly: "Whether you can accept it or not, for Great Ming, Spain's friendship is actually not that important. Just like when Governor Yin Zhengmao attacked Luzon back then and broke the Governor's Office."

"Great Ming has its own way of acting and logic, which will not be interfered with by external voices."

"Great Ming uses Great Ming's goods to interfere with the West, and how does Spain interfere with the various small countries in Nanyang? Does it interfere with violence, firearms, and disease?"

"Friend-state astonishment" is just a way of self-correction for the Great Ming Dynasty. As for whether it is really astonished, Great Ming actually does not care.

Spain wants to interfere with the many barbarian small countries in Nanyang. Even if it can smoothly pass through the Ma Liujia Strait and establish good relations with these small countries, what can it use to make these small countries oppose Great Ming? At present, Western goods have no attraction to these small countries.

On the contrary, the old events in Luzon have kept all the barbarian small countries sufficiently vigilant against the Red-Haired Barbarians.

Li Yashi looked at Pedro's angry appearance and signaled him to sit down and talk.

"Back then, the Ma Liujia Kingdom, which is the Ma Liujia Kingdom, was destroyed. Great Ming sent an envoy to Ma Liujia City to demand the colonists to leave and return the throne to the descendants of the King. Didn't we also not listen? The Red-Haired Barbarians in Haojing and Shuangyu even occupied Great Ming's territory."

"In the exchanges between countries, interests come first. Saying things like friendship is a bit naive."

Great Ming will not distinguish between Red-Haired Barbarians. Distinguishing whether the Red-Haired Barbarians are Portuguese or Spaniards—Great Ming and the Red-Haired Barbarians have been in conflict since the Hongzhi reign because of the two events of the Shuangyu Japanese pirate scourge and the occupation of Haojing. Great Ming has no good feelings for the Red-Haired Barbarians.

When Great Ming needed the large sailing ship trade, it had already launched an attack on Luzon.

"If it continues like this, won't Spain become a tributary state? The Prince will not allow such a thing to happen!" Pedro emphasized through gritted teeth. Spain cannot become a vassal of Great Ming!

Li Yashi did not answer, but looked out the window. No matter how Felipe denies it, in fact, Portugal and Spain now fully meet the definition of a tributary state. They deny it with their mouths, but their bodies are very honest.

After a long, long time, Li Yashi finally answered: "The Emperor said, currency—only with goods can there be currency. Indeed."

And at this time, the Great Ming Emperor was conducting the foundation-laying ceremony for the Tonghe Palace gold treasury. The Senior Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng, the person in charge of the construction Wang Chonggu, the Minister of Revenue Zhang Xueyan, the Minister of Works Wang Daokun, and others witnessed this historical moment.

Zhu Yijun shoveled a shovel of soil to indicate the foundation laying, and then said to the Senior and Junior Grand Secretaries: "In the 15th year of Wanli, the gold stored in the inner treasury was 1.2 million taels. The gold bars are 25 jin each, totaling 3,000 bars. The gold treasury construction period is five years. When it is built, I will put the gold bars in."

Zhang Juzheng could not help but say in a low voice: "This is Your Majesty's gold."

"So I have four keys, and each minister only has one." Zhu Yijun affirmed Zhang Juzheng's statement. It is indeed the gold of him, the Emperor himself, but at the same time, it is also the gold of Great Ming. ===== CHAPTER 832 =====

On the contrary, the old affair of Luzon made all the small tributary states maintain sufficient vigilance against the red-haired barbarians.

Li Yashi looked at Pedro's angry appearance and signaled for him to sit down and talk.

"When the Ma Liujia Kingdom was conquered and destroyed, the Ming Empire sent an envoy to Ma Liujia City demanding the colonists leave and return the throne to the descendants of the king. Didn't we also not listen? The red-haired barbarians in Haojing and Shuangyu even occupied the territory of the Ming Empire."

"In exchanges between countries, interests come first. Talking about friendship is a bit naive."

The Ming Empire would not distinguish between red-haired barbarians. Distinguishing whether the red-haired barbarians were Portuguese or Spanish—the Ming Empire and the red-haired barbarians had been in conflict since the Hongzhi reign. Because of the two incidents of the Shuangyu pirate scourge and the occupation of Haojing, the Ming Empire had no good feelings toward the red-haired barbarians.

When the Ming Empire needed the great galleon trade, it had already launched an attack on Luzon.

"If this continues, wouldn't Spain become a tributary state? His Highness will not allow such a thing to happen!" Pedro emphasized through gritted teeth. Spain cannot become a vassal of the Ming Empire!

Li Yashi did not answer either, but looked out the window. No matter how Felipe denied it, in fact, the current Portugal and Spain completely met the definition of a tributary state. They denied it with their mouths, but their bodies were still very honest.

A long, long time later, Li Yashi answered, "His Majesty said, 'Currency—only with goods can there be currency.' Indeed, that is so."

At this time, the Ming Emperor was conducting the foundation-laying ceremony for the Tonghe Palace treasury. Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng, Wang Chonggu, who was in charge of the great construction, Minister of Revenue Zhang Xueyan, Minister of Works

Wang Daokun, and others witnessed this historic moment.

Zhu Yijun shoveled a spade of earth to signify the foundation laying, and then said to the Grand Secretary and the Junior Grand Secretary, "In the fifteenth year of Wanli, the inner treasury stored 1.2 million taels of gold. The gold bars are 25 jin each, totaling 3,000 bars. The treasury construction period is five years. Once it is built, I will put the gold bars inside."

Zhang Juzheng could not help but say in a low voice, "This is Your Majesty's gold."

"Therefore, I have four keys, while each minister only has one." Zhu Yijun affirmed Zhang Juzheng's statement. It was indeed the gold of him, the Emperor himself, but likewise, it was also the gold of the Ming Empire.