Chapter 709: A True Friend

Maritime trade, in Great Ming, has another name: tributary trade.

It is the emperor's purse, and also the imperial clan's purse.

In Great Ming's maritime trade, whether open or smuggled, the imperial clan and meritorious nobles hold eight tenths; the remaining two tenths belong to local magnates and sea bandits.

"If the maritime ban is lifted, the imperial clan cannot compete with merchants," Wang Ji said: "Great Ming's merchants will bring back more, better, and cheaper foreign goods from the sea."

Jiang Gui dismissed this: "Can't the imperial clan bring them back too? They'll just make less profit."

Wang Ji glanced at him: "When you buy things, do you prefer shops that are humble, courteous, and honest? Or shops that are arrogant, condescending, and brutal?"

"Of course…" Jiang Gui fell silent, remembering the imperial princes' and powerful nobles' trading establishments.

Wang Ji said: "Their status is fixed. If the maritime ban is truly lifted, they won't just make less—they may make nothing at all. And who wants to make less money?"

Jiang Gui: "Then what do we do? Don't fight Japan? Don't take the silver mine?"

"We still must fight, and we still must take the silver mine," Wang Ji said slowly: "But how we fight, and how we take it, must be thought through carefully."

Jiang Gui fretted: "We can't wait! What if Japan discovers the silver mine first?"

Wang Ji raised an eyebrow, calmly: "Is that not also a solution?"

Jiang Gui looked bewildered: "What?"

Liu Ju shoved his head aside and squeezed in front of Wang Ji: "Old General, how do we handle this war in Jiangnan?"

"Fight as you must. Do I need to teach you how to fight?" Wang Ji said: "Win swiftly, end it quickly, so we can free our hands for the next battle."

Liu Ju understood: "I will win swiftly!"

Liu Ju immediately mustered troops and set out south the next day with Chen Rong and Zhang Kai.

Yu Qian took charge of relief efforts, began pressing the Ministry of Revenue for funds and grain the moment he left the palace, then hurried after Xue Shao.

An eight-zhang-wide space remained empty around Xue Shao; everyone walking nearby went out of their way to avoid him, fearing even the slightest association.

Yu Qian strode toward him, grabbed his sleeve, and grinned as he turned: "Xue Censor, you walk too fast—I'd barely finished two words with Minister Chen, and you vanished."

Xue Shao stared at him, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding officials.

Yu Qian paid no mind, still holding his sleeve: "I'm heading south to relieve the disaster. You know the situation in Jiangnan—I've come to consult you."

Xue Shao indeed had much to convey to the relief officials.

Timely information doubles the effectiveness of relief efforts.

"If Your Lordship doesn't mind, let's discuss it at the inn."

Yu Qian agreed at once, and went with Xue Shao to the inn.

As they left the imperial city, Yu Qian glanced back at the crowded road lined with officials: "Chasing profit and avoiding harm is human nature, yet it still brings sorrow."

Xue Shao also looked back, not with sorrow, but said: "Don't blame them. My uncle merely refused to draw close to Wang Zhangyin—and brought down a flood of disaster. It hasn't been cleared yet. Avoiding harm is their only choice. I only hope they don't lose their hearts."

Yu Qian recalled how the entire court had stood united in the hall moments ago, his mood lifting slightly: "You're bold indeed. You knew proposing to attack Japan for the mine would draw scorn from scholars, so you became the very scholar you despised."

Xue Shao smiled: "I'm merely the bait. If someone must oppose, better it be me than someone else."

Yu Qian asked: "Is that silver mine truly that vast, that rich?"

Xue Shao: "Master Pan has seen much. If she says it exists, it exists."

Yu Qian sighed: "Great Ming has suffered silver shortages for too long. Copper coins are cheap and heavy; merchants use them as currency, consuming vast manpower and resources. The treasure notes are unstable, entirely dependent on silver—yet Great Ming produces almost none. The powerful and wealthy hoard silver, refusing to circulate it. The amount of silver in circulation dwindles day by day."

The Emperor reopened silver mines, and Jiangnan miners rebelled—all because of this."

Xue Shao nodded: "If we seize the Dasenxiang silver mine, Great Ming's silver shortage can be resolved."

Yu Qian: "And the imperial treasury's emptiness too."

Imagine—the treasury no longer short of silver. How many things could we do?

Without wasting vast manpower and resources on silver mines, how many other things could we accomplish?

Yu Qian and Xue Shao exchanged glances, their eyes shining like stars.

The two went together to Xue Shao's inn.

Xi Jin waited inside, and seeing Xue Shao return safely, let out a long breath and hurried forward: "Master, hot water and clean clothes are ready. You… this gentleman is?"

Only then did he notice Yu Qian.

Xue Shao smiled and introduced: "This is Vice Minister Yu. He's been ordered south to relieve the disaster. Prepare some food—he'll stay for dinner."

Xi Jin hurriedly agreed.

Xue Shao had only changed clothes that morning before entering the palace—he hadn't washed or bathed.

Yu Qian was easygoing and didn't mind Xue Shao going to bathe; he borrowed a set of Xue Shao's clothes and joined him in the tub. As they soaked, they discussed Jiangnan's disaster.

As they talked, they turned to the Jiangnan miner uprising.

Xue Shao still believed amnesty was more aligned with the people's, the state's, and the monarch's interests than suppression.

"The worries of Wang Zhangyin and Wang Wen will not come true, for this rebellion is not merely some individuals seeking fame and profit through it. Solving this cannot be done by simply granting a few official posts."

Xue Shao said: "When I patrolled Jiangnan, I investigated Deng Maoqi."

Yu Qian curiously asked: "He hadn't rebelled yet—how did you find out about him?"

Xue Shao smiled: "He's well-known in Jiangxi and Fujian."

"Oh?"

Xue Shao said: "Deng Maoqi's real name is Deng Yun. He's from Jiang Xiren. He once killed a man in his hometown. There was a local bully, moderately wealthy, who routinely terrorized the village. One day, he publicly humiliated someone. Deng Yun stood up for the victim, fought him, and accidentally killed him."

Yu Qian sat upright: "What did the local magistrates rule?"

Xue Shao smiled: "Death sentence."

Yu Qian: "Too harsh."

Xue Shao nodded: "Deng Yun fled. The case was never settled. When I patrolled Jiangxi, I investigated it. The case was… interesting."

Yu Qian leaned back against the tub, gently slapping the water: "How so?"

"The local landlords especially hated Deng Yun, but the tenant farmers and poor peasants adored him," Xue Shao said: "The largest landlord was Huang Shijian. Deng's family were his tenants. After Deng Yun fled, Huang Shijian constantly harassed Deng's family. The tenant farmers publicly severed ties with the Dengs—but at night, at dawn, they secretly went to work the Dengs' fields, helping them gather enough silage to pay their landlord."

Yu Qian's expression gradually grew solemn: "Looking at it this way, Deng Yun is a man held in deep respect, with great prestige."

Xue Shao nodded.

Yu Qian: "Then suppressing the Jiangnan rebellion will not be easy…"

Xue Shao: "The imperial court's army is not afraid of rebels — they have no armor, their weapons are far inferior to the court's troops, and they have not even received proper training. But as long as the rebels possess one thing, suppressing them becomes extremely difficult."

The two said in unison, in low voices: "The hearts of the people!"

Xue Shao: "If His Majesty wishes to suppress the rebellion within a month, it is absolutely impossible — unless Deng Yun drops dead."

Yu Qian furrowed his brow and asked: "How did Deng Yun win over the people's hearts?"

Xue Shao: "In Jiangxi, tenant farmers who lease land from landlords must, besides paying rent and interest, raise a set number of chickens and ducks each year to hand over to the landlord, and each winter they must hand over a fixed quota of silage and firewood. Deng Yun despised this practice, so he led the tenant farmers to stop handing over chickens and ducks, silage, and firewood.

And after he fled to Fujian, conditions there were even worse than in Jiangxi. Besides handing over chickens and ducks and preparing silage and firewood, the tenant farmers also had to deliver the rent to whatever place the landlord demanded.

Some places were very far away, and the tenants had to spend nearly half a month delivering it."

Yu Qian sprang up from the pool in a flash, furious: "They are treating tenant farmers as transport capacity — after selling the grain they make them deliver it, which both avoids losses on the road and saves shipping costs!"

Xue Shao nodded: "So the local tenant farmers suffered greatly. On top of that, this year the silver mines have reopened, and the miners' lives are also very hard. The silver tax set by the court is very high; when the silver mines fail to meet the quota, the shortfall is spread across every household of commoners.

The gentry have their own ways to evade this extra silver tax, so even more of the silver tax falls on ordinary commoners. That is the reason Deng Maoqi can rally a hundred responses with a single call."

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

How to compete?

Deng Maoqi has already done it once. They only need to improve upon his foundation and meet the commoners' demands.

Xue Shao lowered his eyes and said: "The common people have suffered too much. This may yet be an opportunity."

Yu Qian mused: "In the past, I would not have agreed to such a concession — even improving conditions should be done gradually. But now we have an inexhaustible silver mine, so there is much more we can do."

Yu Qian grew excited: "I will submit a memorial right now requesting His Majesty to reinvestigate the Fujian rebellion case. Song Zhang actually allowed such chaos to arise under his jurisdiction…"

"Lord Yu," Xue Shao cut him off: "Song Zhang is Wang Zhangyin's man."

Yu Qian furrowed his brow: "So what?"

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

In other words, he is one of the Emperor's private purses. Moving against him is not as simple as moving against Wang Zhen — it also touches the Emperor's own interests.

Xue Shao said: "Otherwise, why has Deng Maoqi already taken eight cities in a row, yet Song Zhang is only 'not skilled at warfare,' and still sits safely in his position as Provincial Administration Commissioner?"

A gleam flashed in Yu Qian's eyes as he stared fixedly at Xue Shao: "Brother Xue is not a man who fears the powerful."

Xue Shao said: "Xue Mou does not fear the powerful, but Xue Mou hopes for it to be worthwhile. The pressing tasks are disaster relief, lifting the sea ban, and seizing the silver mine."

Yu Qian furrowed his brow: "In your eyes, lifting the sea ban takes priority over suppressing the rebellion?"

"As I see it, lifting the sea ban is itself an act of disaster relief," Xue Shao said: "Once the sea ban is lifted, half of Jiangnan's main conflicts will be shifted. Merchants can engage in maritime trade, and ordinary commoners can also depend on maritime trade and ports. Even if the court's disaster relief has gaps, they can find their own way to survive.

The common people are like fish in a great river — you don't need to feed them deliberately. As long as you don't cage them in, they will chase after food on their own and find the places and ways most suitable for their survival."

Yu Qian looked at the calm Xue Shao, his eyes shining.

That evening, Yu Qian stayed the night at the relay station and talked at length with Xue Shao through the night. (End of chapter)