The value of silver coins was greater than that of copper coins, and the mining of silver mines and the production of silver coins were all in the hands of the Ming Dynasty.
Under the same value system, the Ming court was equivalent to having the right to define currency.
All countries that trade with the Ming Dynasty will be restricted by the Ming Dynasty currency from now on.
Of course, the implementation of the silver coin system does not mean the abolition of other currencies.
The most widely circulated copper coins are still in use, but they will be changed to new styles in the future.
Gold coins with greater value will also be issued on a large scale, specifically to pay for large amounts of trade.
The currency reform of the Ming Dynasty completely pushed Jiangnan's business to another level.
A large number of currency banks have sprung up in places such as Yingtianfu and Suzhou.
The circulation of money has become faster and more convenient, and many wealthy people have begun to look for new growth points for their wealth.
And at this time.
Ming Dynasty's two voyages to the West within one year gave these Jiangnan businessmen a keen sense of profit through generous returns.
Zhu Han and Tang He's two voyages to the West brought back a large number of slaves, horses, medicinal materials, spices, etc.
Although the cost of the two voyages to the West was very high, the goods brought back were enough to quadruple the cost.
In particular, Zhu Wenzheng, King of Jingnan in the Ming Dynasty, sent someone to report to the court that he had all the Nanyang Spice Islands under his control.
This news made businessmen even more crazy.
You must know that in today's Ming Dynasty, the price of a pound of pepper is one tael of silver!
If we can send a fleet from the Ming Dynasty to go to Nanyang and bring back a shipload of spices, we can immediately make several times the profit.
Stimulated by such huge profits, various banks have participated in large and small maritime trade.
In just a few months, at least one million taels of silver entered the accounts of major shipbuilding companies.
Zhu Han is naturally very clear about all this.
It can be said that this was one of the purposes of his personal voyages to the West.
Now that the Ming Dynasty has three important footholds in Southeast Asia, East India and Persia, the Ming Dynasty's fleet will no longer be as dark-eyed as before.
The Ming Dynasty's military power in these three places will become the best security guarantee for merchants.
As long as safety and profits can be guaranteed, no one will be able to take advantage of this ocean except Daming.
However, there are also many fleets belonging to Arab and Persian merchants on this ocean.
In order to suppress and control these Persians and Arabs, driven by Zhu Han, the Ming court passed a new decree.
Any ship that wants to berth in these three places must undergo Ming's review.
In this way, Ming Dynasty will gradually establish its dominance on the ocean.
Kunming, Yunnan.
A thin drizzle of rain was falling.
The whole city was quiet.
Tens of thousands of soldiers wearing armor and waiting solemnly, each with a very solemn look on their face.
In a palace in Kunming City.
This was originally the palace of Prince Liang of the Yuan Dynasty.
It is now the palace of Han Emperor Chen Youliang in Yunnan.
Two days ago, Chen Youliang held a banquet with soldiers singing and dancing in this palace.
but.
In today's palace, there is only chaos all over the floor.
Countless rare treasures were smashed to the ground.
A large group of eunuchs and palace maids knelt on the ground and shivered, not daring to express their anger.
Chen Youliang held a sword and sat slumped on the dragon chair.
In front of him were kneeling civil and military officials.
In front of the civil and military officials, kneeling was a thin young man.
""Father, calm down, the child deserves to die!"
This young man is Chen Li, the son of Chen Youliang.
When Chen Youliang led his army on an expedition, he left his prince in Chengdu to supervise the country.
Chen Youliang originally thought that Sichuan's defense line was impregnable and Chengdu was the city in the rear area. It would be enough for his prince to stay there to calm people's hearts.
But Chen Youliang never expected it.
Xu Da of the Ming Army actually led a group of elite soldiers to sneak into Sichuan from the mountainous areas in the north.
After entering Sichuan, this Ming army first captured Guanghan, and then rushed all the way to Chengdu.
As the crown prince, who is Xu Da's opponent?
With just one encounter, the army in the hands of the Han Crown Prince was defeated.
After losing the protection of the army, Chengdu naturally could not be saved.
Without any choice.
The Crown Prince of the Han Dynasty, Chen Li, could only lead some people to escape in panic.
Chen Youliang, who had just vented his anger, became angry again when he heard his son's voice.
Chen Youliang moved forward violently and kicked his son several steps away.
"Why do not you go to hell!"
"Even if we only need to defend for three days, we can wait for reinforcements!"
"Why did I, Chen Youliang, the first hero, give birth to a son like you, who is like a pig and a dog?"
The more Chen Youliang talked, the more annoyed he became. He even picked up the sword in his hand and was about to chop it off on Chen Li's head.
When Zou Pusheng, Chen Youren and others next to him saw this, they quickly stood up and grabbed Chen Youliang's arm.
"Your Majesty, please calm down!"
"Your Majesty, take care!"
"The Crown Prince is young, Your Majesty, please calm down!"
…
Finally, under the persuasion of these people, Chen Youliang finally calmed down.
"Where are Wang Bao from Badong and Liu Quanan from Northern Sichuan? Where are their troops now!?"
Chen Youliang took a deep breath and sat on a chair in the palace and asked.
The two people he mentioned were both generals of the Chen Han regime. One was stationed in the east and the other was stationed in the north.
Logically speaking.
Chengdu is attacked by the enemy. Soldiers and horses from these two directions should quickly rescue Chengdu.
Zou Pusheng and Chen Youren looked at each other.
"Your Majesty, there is no movement from these two people."
"But there are rumors that they seem to have surrendered to the Ming army."
Chen Youliang didn't believe these two generals surrendered to the Ming army at first.
But only two days passed.
Very reliable news came from Sichuan.
Under the leadership of Xu Da, the Ming army successively took over the territory of Badong and northern Sichuan.
And there was no fighting at all.
This means that these two generals of the Chen and Han regime must be the Ming army who really surrendered.
Chen Youliang became furious again after learning of this situation.
Originally, he planned to use Yunnan's troops and horses as the main force, and let Wang Bao and Liu Quanan's troops and horses support him from the rear, so that it would be possible to recapture Chengdu.
But now both generals have surrendered to the Ming army.
The organized army of the Chen and Han regime in Sichuan no longer exists.
If Chen Youliang still dares to lead his army from Yunnan to Sichuan at this time, he will plunge headlong into the encirclement of the Ming army.
Even if Chen Youliang's army enters Sichuan, there will be no need for Xu Da to lead the Ming army to attack, and most of the soldiers will surrender or flee before the battle.
because.
In Chen Youliang's army, almost most of the soldiers left their family papers in Sichuan.
Now that Sichuan has become the territory of the Ming army, it is no longer possible for these soldiers and their families to get together.
There are big rivers and high mountains between Yunnan and Sichuan, so these soldiers did not dare to think of escaping back to Sichuan easily.
But if they were allowed to set foot on the soil of Sichuan, the Ming army would only need to wave their fingers, and most of Chen Youliang's soldiers would completely collapse.
After learning about this situation, Chen Youliang became so furious that he fell ill.
Chen Han's 100,000 troops who stayed in Kunming suddenly became even more panicked.
There were almost three shocks a day in the city of Kunming.
The soldiers began to spread some gossip that frightened everyone.
Some people say that the Ming army killed all the family members of the Han soldiers who stayed in Sichuan.
Others said that the Ming army was not that cruel. They kept the families of the soldiers under centralized care. I heard that if anyone returned and surrendered, his family members could be spared.
In addition to these, there are many rumors that the Ming army has stationed troops in the north of Jinshajiang River and will invade Yunnan at any time.
The soldiers of Chen Han's army had no ability to distinguish between true and false news.
Many brave people have even begun to quietly prepare to escape.
In order to curb this very unfavorable situation.
Chen Youliang issued several orders one after another. Any soldiers who dared to discuss the news would be punished for disturbing the morale of the army.
but.
The more severe Chen Youliang's punishment was in the army, the more serious the soldiers' panic became.
In less than ten days, more than 2,000 people fled.
Even though most of them were captured and beheaded, they still couldn't stop those who wanted to escape.
In order to deal with this situation, Chen Youliang almost racked his brains.
But I still haven't figured out an effective way.
As Chen Youliang's think tank and strategist, Zou Pusheng immediately offered Chen Youliang a strategy.
"Kunming is too close to Sichuan. Soldiers running away can return to Sichuan with just a little inquiry, even if they don't know the way."
"If this continues, our army will completely collapse without the Ming army attacking. The only solution for now is to stop the soldiers from escaping back to Sichuan!"
Zou Pusheng's words immediately gave Chen Youliang a life-saving straw.
"Mr. Zou, tell me quickly, what can you do?" Chen Youliang grabbed Zou Pusheng's arm and asked.
This is the first time in more than a year that Chen Youliang calls Zou Pusheng sir.
But now that the situation is critical, Zou Pusheng is no longer in the mood to care about it.
"Your Majesty, I just said that it is precisely because Kunming is too close to Sichuan. If we lead the soldiers south and keep them far away from Sichuan, they will no longer think about escaping!" Zou Pusheng said with a sinister look on his face.
.
Hearing this, Chen Youliang was immediately shocked.
"What, you still want to go south?"
Chen Youliang feels that Yunnan is already very remote, and Kunming is already a big city very far to the south.
If you leave Kunming and continue southward, there will only be a few scattered small cities where you can garrison.
Except for those small towns, the rest of the place is covered with dense forests and mountains.
At that time, let alone feeding an army of 100,000 people, it will be difficult to feed even 100,000 farmers.
Chen Youliang even thought that Zou Pusheng had been bribed by the Ming army and was planning to use a poisonous trick to kill him.
However, Zou Pusheng's subsequent words gave up Chen Youliang's idea.
"Your Majesty's troops are still there, but no one is dead!" Zou Pusheng said heartbrokenly.
Chen Youliang suddenly understood.
Yes, his only confidence now is the soldiers under his command.
Now Chengdu has been lost.
If we lose all the soldiers in our hands, the land of Yunnan will not be saved.
In this case, the best strategy is to protect the soldiers in your hands first.
"Where do you think we should go, sir?" Chen Youliang asked quickly.
You must know that the area to the south of Kunming is really huge. If he didn't tell him a specific location, Chen Youliang wouldn't know where he should go.
"The further south you go from Kunming, the higher the mountains and denser the forests, and there are so many snakes, insects, rats and ants that it is impossible to survive. If we want to lead these soldiers to open up a situation, we can only go southwest and reorganize the people who escaped when Duan Gong
The old road." Zou Pusheng said.
As soon as he heard this, Chen Youliang felt unhappy again.
Duan Gong was in such a panic when he fled back then, I could have laughed at Duan Gong so much at that time.
It's only been a few years.
He was about to repeat Duan Gong's mistakes.
For Chen Youliang, this was a slap in the face.
"Is it necessary?" Chen Youliang asked with difficulty.
"The farther they go, the soldiers will inevitably unite without support. When they go further, they will let go of their families and children in Sichuan and let them marry wives and have children again, and they can unite people's hearts again.
"
I have to say that Zou Pusheng is really a bachelor character that is very suitable for rebellion.
His own wives, concubines, and children were also captured by the Ming army in Sichuan.
However, this guy never thought about these wives, concubines, and children when he made his considerations.
As the saying goes, a wife is like clothes, and a brother is like brothers.
Chen Youliang actually has such a character.
"Okay, then just do as the sir said!"
Chen Youliang immediately made up his mind.
Since Duan Qiu led more than 10,000 remaining soldiers and defeated the generals, he was able to escape.
Then if Chen Youliang's 100,000 soldiers and horses also arrived on the Zhu continent, wouldn't they be able to do even greater things?
What's more, the Delhi Sultanate on the Tianzhu continent had just turned its back on itself not long ago.
Chen Youliang had already made up his mind that when he arrived in Tianzhu, he would first seek out the bad luck of the Delhi Sultanate.
but.
The march route planned by Zou Pusheng was destined to be full of hardships.
Whether it is the continuous savage mountains or the snakes, insects, rats and ants all around, Chen Youliang's soldiers and horses will undergo severe tests.
As a loser in the Central Plains competition, this is the suffering that Chen Youliang must endure.
Western Region.
Huozhou City at the foot of Tianshan Mountain.
After the Mongolian and Yuan armies led by Wang Baobao captured Huozhou City, they immediately moved the capital of the Yuan Dynasty here.
As the most prosperous city in the Western Region.
Huozhou City not only has tall city walls, but also has merchants from all walks of life traveling from north to south.
Wang Baobao only needed to send a few officials to collect commercial taxes at the city gate to support tens of thousands of soldiers and officials.
Among these merchants, many came from the Lanzhou area of Ming Dynasty.
Wang Baobao treats these people equally.
Whether it was the collection of commercial taxes or the safety of pedestrians and goods, Wang Baobao did not treat these Han merchants any differently.
This way.
The business in Huozhou City is no less than before.
Seeing Wang Baobao loving his people like a son in Huozhou, all the Wala generals under him were unhappy.
As the Oara people of the desert Mongolia, their barbarism is much worse than that of Wang Baobao, a Sinicized Mongolian.
Almost everyone among the Oara people takes it as an honor to plunder on the battlefield.
They originally regarded the territory of the Chagatai Khanate as their own paradise for robbery.
Now the territory of the Chagatai Khanate has become Wang Baobao's territory, and the Oara people can no longer rob without restraint.
The Oara generals headed by Hao Hai were naturally very dissatisfied.
but.
Wang Baobao actually knew everything about the inner thoughts of the Wala people.
Wang Baobao understood that these Wala people were wild and difficult to train, so letting them know how to govern the place and collect taxes would be like playing the piano to an ox.
So in order to satisfy the desire of these Walas people to rob.
Wang Baobao finally formulated a very suitable strategy for them.