Compared with Pyongyang to the north, although Jeju Island is still in the hands of Goryeo, the Goryeo monarchs and ministers have lost control of the island.
They were able to continue to appoint officials on Jeju Island, but all these officials were left vacant.
The officials and gentry on the island all looked to the Ming Dynasty fleet to make money.
The official fleet of the Ming Dynasty traveled to Japan once a year. It resupplied in Jeju Island on the way and traded with the island residents. It purchased fresh water, vegetables, fruits, honey, pearls and other specialties, and then sold iron pots, farm tools, and cloth to the islanders.
, the transaction between both parties was harmonious and pleasant.
Even Jeju Island has begun to use copper coins from the Ming Dynasty.
In late spring, the official fleet of the Ming Dynasty sailed from Tsushima Island. After resting for one day on Jeju Island, it went straight to Haizhou (Lianyungang).
Haeju was an important port in the Tang Dynasty, transporting goods from Huainan to Silla and Baekje.
Now it was reused by the Ming Dynasty purely because the transportation is more convenient than Dengzhou. There are large and small salt canals here, which can connect Shushui and Bianhe rivers. Overseas goods can reach Kaifeng by waterway.
"rise!"
The crane, which is pulled by manpower, works through the pulley block to pull up the heavy cargo box, and then turns after it is stabilized in the air.
Then it slowly lowered, and boxes of goods landed on the dock.
Yingxuan led a group of navy soldiers, and Wang Xiong (the prototype of Guan Suo) led a group of Cao soldiers. They were carefully inspecting the goods at the dock for handover.
"So many this year?" Wang Xiong pointed to the container marked with the word "forbidden".
Yingxuan explained: "Two more mines were opened. The people of Japan were very poor. Even though mining was tiring and dangerous, there were still many people who volunteered to be miners."
"The year before last, Governor Bai issued a decree that after three years of mining, people could go home with cloth (salary), and he also deliberately released a group of prisoner-of-war miners. Those miners returned to their hometowns with cloth, causing a sensation in various counties in Japan, and attracted people one after another.
Thousands of people mine."
Wang Xiong smiled and said: "This is a good idea."
The dock has been separated by the Navy and the Cao Army, and boxes of silver collars were moved out and weighed.
The scribe in the Cao army, after reading the scale of the scale, shouted while recording: "Treasure box No. 1, received 3,000 taels of silver. Seal the box and put a note!"
Another clerk also looked at the scale, and then watched Cao Jun put the silver in it. Then, he stepped forward and carefully affixed the seal, stamped and signed the seal.
"Treasure box No. 2, received 3,000 taels of silver..."
3,000 taels of silver is not heavy, only about 200 catties.
After working for a long time, the clerk in charge of accounting came to Wang Xiong and said: "Reporting to General Wang, I have received a total of 4,500 taels of gold and 250,000 taels of silver."
Wang Xiong glanced at the accounts, counted the boxes himself, and signed his name with a pen.
Historically, Shijian Yinshan produced one million taels of silver per year at its peak, but that required a large number of miners and supporting workers.
The same is true for Sado Gold and Silver Mountain, with an annual output of 30,000 taels of gold and more than 1 million taels of silver, and more than 100,000 related practitioners.
Shirojiro is serving as governor-general in Japan, and what worries him most now is the lack of manpower.
Countless gold and silver are in the mountains, but no one can use them.
He encouraged miners to settle nearby, encourage miners to get married and have children, and also reduced the intensity of work, basically changing shifts every five or six hours.
Afraid of exhausting the miners to death!
"There's really gold and silver everywhere." Wang Xiong exclaimed as he put away his brush.
Yingxuan said with a smile: "There will be more next year. The miners recruited last year transported three thousand to Sado Island. There is a mine there that has just opened. This year's silver production will definitely increase."
While they were chatting and joking, they kept watching the coolies carrying and loading the goods for shipping.
After everything was done, Yingxuan shouted: "My sons, go to the city in batches to drink!"
The navy officers cheered and rushed to the outside of Haizhou City to have fun. There were many brothels there, a few of the prostitutes were locals, and most of the prostitutes came from Japan and Korea.
Wang Xiong did not dare to drink, so he personally escorted the gold and silver on the journey.
When traveling along the Yan Canal, a small boat was used, and then a large boat was used to transfer to the Bian River, and the mighty journey towards Kaifeng was carried out.
Although the capital was moved to Luoyang, part of the treasury warehouse and the mint remained in Kaifeng. The gold and silver were transported there and pressed into gold and silver coins with water-powered machines, and then entered the treasury and distributed throughout the country.
…
Imperial meeting.
Fang Mengqing, the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, said happily: "My dear sirs, Iwami, Sado, and Tsushima produced 4,500 taels of gold and 250,000 taels of silver last year. They have all been shipped to Kaifeng and put into storage!"
"So many?" Zhai Ruwen said in surprise.
Not only Zhai Ruwen, but also all the important officials present were shocked.
Qin Hui was extremely envious. He felt that Bai Chongwu must have made a lot of money, and even the auditors could not find it.
Because there are loopholes to exploit.
Bai Erlang needs development, and some are retained every year.
Moreover, the Ming Dynasty still had troops stationed in Japan. Although military expenses had to go to the Ministry of War, they only had to go through the formalities and then withdraw them from Bai Erlang with the formalities.
These 4,500 taels of gold and 250,000 taels of silver are the figures after deducting the salaries and military expenditures of overseas officials and withholding development funds!
Chen Dong suddenly said: "The number of officials from the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War and the Supervisory Council who go to Shijian every year should be increased. Otherwise, there may be loopholes in the supervision. There is too much gold and silver there."
Zhao Quan said: "That's true. Money and silk move people's hearts. This is not to doubt Governor Bai, but to protect him from making mistakes."
Ju Ming made the decision: "Starting from next year, the number of officials from the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, and the Supervisory Office will be increased by three people, and the number of civil servants will be increased by twelve."
Huan Guo said: "The names of Shijian and Sado are too Japanese and should be changed to Han place names."
"Then let Hu Shangshu choose the name." Ju Ming didn't care.
Huan Guo said: "It can be changed to Shi Jian and Zuo Du. To identify the Jian, left and right are Zuo, and the capital is the capital."
"Okay." Zhu Ming felt that it was unnecessary and it was just a different translation.
Zhai Ruwen said: "Since the treasure ships enter the port through Haizhou, Shijian, Zuodu, and Tsushima can be changed from being subordinate to Shandong to being subordinate to Huainan."
Zhu Ming shook his head and said: "There is no need to change the affiliation to Huainan, nor to Shandong. The Shijian Governor's Mansion exists completely independently, and the household registration does not need to be hung in any province. It is directly responsible to the cabinet and the six ministries. From now on, the rules of the Governor's Mansion will be set.
The chief is a military commander, and the chief of the Governor-General's Office is a civil servant."
This matter was settled.
Zhang Boring said: "The envoys from Xiliao have entered Shaanxi, and Xixia and Xiliao may be colluding together."
Ju Ming asked: "Does the Privy Council have a plan?"
Li Bao took out a report: "If we want to attack Xixia in the future, we can divide it into two steps."
"The first step is to divide the troops into three groups and cut off his hands and feet. The northern route is from Han Shizhong's Monan Protectorate to seize Xixia's territory at the southern foot of Yinshan Mountain. The southern route is to send troops from Hehuang to capture the Hexi Corridor. The middle route is from Huichuan (
Jingyuan) to the Hengshan line, relying mainly on forts and mountain defenses."
"In this way, Xixia has no limbs and only a torso. Moreover, the armies from the north and south can also block the reinforcements from Xiliao."
"The second step is to annex Xixia. It can be carried out continuously with the first step. After repelling the Xiliao reinforcements, use the power of victory to destroy Xixia in three directions. If there is not enough food and grass by then, the second step can also be delayed.
If we do it again in a few years, Xixia will have its hands and feet cut off anyway."
Ju Ming nodded in approval: "Excellent."
The plan provided by the Privy Council is actually a pincer offensive.
The troops are divided into three groups, defending in the middle and attacking from the north and south. You can destroy Xixia in one go, or you can stop in the middle of the battle to consolidate your advantages and slowly develop your business.
As long as the first step of the plan is completed, Xixia will only have the Yinchuan Basin and some other scattered grasslands.
Ju Ming said: "Bring the map over."
A miniature version of the Tang Dynasty map was carried to the conference room by the guards.
Ju Ming held a slender stick and pointed in the direction of the Western Region and said: "According to the information provided by the merchants, the Black Khanate (Kara Khanate) has long been divided into two countries: the East and the West. What Yelu Dashi annexed this time is the East Black Khanate.
.”
"This is Dawan where Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty asked for Tianma. It is surrounded by mountains and is both farmable and grazing. It is now also occupied by the Western Liao. This is the Talas that defeated the Tang Dynasty and was also occupied by the Western Liao. This is the Tianshan Mountains.
, now the north and south of Tianshan Mountain are owned by Xiliao..."
As Zhu Ming pointed out the territory of Western Liao, the military officials had already understood and were calm, but the civil servants were extremely surprised.
"Xiliao is so big?" Zhang Shuye blurted out.
Ju Ming smiled and said: "These are the hometowns of the Tang Dynasty."
Zhang Guangdao slapped the table and said, "Kill them all!"
Ju Ming then pointed to the Kelie and Mongolian tribes in Mobei: "We are not afraid of collusion between Xiliao and Xixia, but if we add Kelie and the Mongolian tribes, we will have to spend a lot of effort to deal with it."
Qian Chen said: "They are so far apart, I'm afraid they won't get together."
"Other people don't know it, but Yelu Dashi Hui," Ju Ming said, "Yelü Dashi came from Mobei, and many tribes still miss him. This man is talented and strategic, and he will definitely contact Kled and Mongolia. And Kled, Mongolia
The chiefs are also very ambitious, and even if they don’t go south with all their strength, they will probably take the opportunity to invade the border."
"At that time, Yue Fei must be vigilant against Mongolia. Han Shizhong must also be prepared to prevent the Klei troops from crossing the Yinshan Mountains and heading south."
"Of course, Yelu Dashi's energy is in the west. As long as we don't attack Xixia, he will definitely not provoke a war, because his goal is to swallow up the Western Black Khanate."
Zhang Shuye carefully observed the big map and couldn't help but sigh.
He considers himself to be a man who knows the military, but his vision is still too small and he is far unable to keep up with the current situation.
Emperor Zhu pointed a few times and included Central Asia and Mobei, and also said that these places would definitely collude with Xixia.
Ju Ming pointed to the far west of the map: "The Seljuks are not on the map. Many of their lands outside the Western Liao are vassals of the Seljuks. As Yelu Dashi expands in the Western Regions, the people who are most worried about it must be the Seljuks. I plan to send
An envoy went to Seljuk by sea and invited the King of Seljuk to attack Xiliao together."
Zhang Shuye was even more confused. This alliance had already exceeded the territory of the Tang Dynasty.
Ju Ming didn't expect Seljuk to do anything, he just wanted to make some trouble for Yelu Dashi, and get some Arabian horses back by the way.
