Whether it is a feudal society or a capitalist society, capital is profit-seeking. As long as there is profitability in a certain place, capital will flock to it. Haven’t you seen Westerners travel thousands of miles and risk their lives to travel across the ocean to the Ming Dynasty to do business? This is not because of the lucrative profits.

The land outside the border is vast, but the climate is generally harsh, and there are few places suitable for farming. For a feudal farming society dominated by agriculture, it is indeed not very valuable. In addition, the nomadic people outside the border are tough and difficult to tame, and come and go like the wind, and it is difficult to defend even if the local area is defeated. Therefore, Han regimes in all dynasties rarely have the intention to include outside the border into the national territory, and they all adopt passive defense strategies.

Qin Shihuang, the eternal emperor who unified the six kingdoms, isn't he so awesome? Even such a hero still has no intention of conquering the outside world, and would even mobilize millions of labor to build a Great Wall to prevent the nomadic peoples in the north.

Like Zhu Di, the Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, personally conquered Mongolia six times. In terms of military strength, he was fully capable of occupying the southern desert, but he did not do that. The reason was that it was unprofitable!

These nomadic peoples were so poor that they were not good at production except grazing. They even fought with the Ming army and ran away if they could not defeat them. The Ming army wasted a lot of manpower and material resources, and at most they caught some horses, cattle and sheep, which was not enough to help supplement military expenditures. They were purely a loss-making business.

However, it is different now. As a modern time traveler, Xu Jin's pattern and cognition are N times higher than the so-called heroes of all dynasties. He turned his strategic attention to mineral resources, and the bitter and cold land outside the border immediately turned from a useless rib to a treasure land.

Of course, the Ming Dynasty was vast and sparsely populated, and handicrafts were just emerging, and the demand for coal was extremely limited. The people could not even burn out firewood, so they naturally looked down on coal. Only large cities such as Beijing, Nanjing, and Yangzhou had a large demand for coal.

So, even if large open-pit coal mines are found outside the West, it is difficult to sell. However, it is better than not. At least it solves the fuel problem for the local garrison and provides hardware conditions for the rise of local cities in the future.

If it is a gold and silver mine, it is different. These precious metals are hard currency. Digging gold and silver is equivalent to digging money. Therefore, once gold and silver mines are discovered, capital and labor will inevitably flock to it. When the popularity becomes stronger, the demand for coal will naturally rise, which is linked.

Fortunately, there are gold and silver mines in Inner Mongolia, and there are many in Gansu!

At this time, Jiajing opened the map drawn by Xu Jin and enthusiastically urged Xu Jin to "calculate with his fingers". What is it? Where is it gold and where is it silver?

Xu Jin was so angry that although he was a time traveler, he was not an expert in mineral resources. He only remembered some famous large oil fields, large coal mines, etc., but they were also extremely limited.

Fortunately, Xu Jin also loved stock trading in his previous life, but he remembered the names of some precious metal stocks, such as Chifeng Gold, Yintai Gold, Hunan Gold, Zijin Mining, etc. At this time, he was urged by Jiajing, so he poured out all these goods. As for whether he could find gold and silver in these places in the end, it depends on whether the craftsmen of the Ministry of Works have this level.

"Xu Qing, your head is such a treasure. Sometimes I really want to change my head with you!" Jiajing looked at the more than a dozen newly marked coordinates on the map and sighed proudly.

"Master, please don't mention your head? I'm so furious that my neck is cold!" Xu Jin said with a wry smile.

Jiajing was stunned for a moment, and then laughed: "What's the panic? Yours is mine. I can really take your head."

Xu Jin shrugged and changed the subject: "The emperor summoned the ministers to the palace this time, it's not just for these things."

Jiajing curled his lips and said, "I despise Aduo, right? Don't you get the salary of 7,000 septembers per year, so I can save some money."

Xu Jin said calmly: "Eat the king's salary and share the worries for the king. Although the minister is not talented, he also shares a lot of worries for the emperor, right? It is natural to get a salary, and even a single copper coin cannot be lost."

Jiajing showed an expression of my contempt for you!

"Could it be that the emperor was short of money?" Xu Jinqi said.

Jiajing shook his head and said, "There is no shortage. The national treasury revenue has increased this year, but there are more places to spend money. Not to mention anything else, you spent nearly three million taels of this year's Northern Expedition, accounting for nearly 20% of the fiscal and taxation this year. However, silver is the second most important thing. What I am now worried about is the lack of troops."

Xu Jin shrugged, picked up the wine glass indifferently and took a sip. It was right that the troops were insufficient. The land area increased by 20% to 30%. It was necessary to fight and send local garrisons. It was normal for insufficient troops, not to mention that the entire Ming Dynasty had only a population of more than 60 million.

Seeing Xu Jin's appearance of nothing to do, Jiajing said a little unhappy: "Who said that you would share your worries just now? You have an idea for me. Believe it or not, I will deduct your three-year salary, so that you can't even afford the dowry of Sister Zhier."

Xu Jin almost squirted out a sip of wine. What kind of brains does this kid have? I can't afford to pay a dowry, isn't you the one who suffers?

"The emperor is as wise as you. You don't need to give me some advice on such a simple question, not to mention that there are many capable people in the court." Xu Jin said unhappily.

Indeed, Jiajing had already been concerned about the problem of insufficient troops, and the court officials also proposed many solutions to the problem to him. It was just out of trust and dependence on Xu Jin that he habitually asked Xu Jin's opinions.

Jiajing smiled and said, "Stop flattering me. It's my business that I have an idea. I just want to know what you have."

Xu Jin spread his hands and said, "What else is there to do? Just spend money to recruit soldiers. Yu Dayou's Yu family army was recruited. Its combat effectiveness is not much stronger than the military army. The hereditary system of military households is no longer feasible and must be reformed."

Jiajing's eyes lit up and he smiled and said, "It seems that Xu Qing and my heroes have a similar view. For 150 years since our founding of the country, the hereditary system of military households in the garrison has indeed been innovated, which has seriously affected the combat effectiveness. We should have made drastic reforms. However, it is inappropriate to allow generals to recruit soldiers privately. We must recruit them uniformly."

Xu Jin nodded. Leaving the generals to privately invest in the army may cause the generals to hold their own troops and even to separatist warlords, posing a threat to the central government. Therefore, the best way is to recruit soldiers nationwide, and the food and wages must be issued by the court to ensure centralization.

Jiajing said again: "Now the national treasury is full, and it is no problem to spend money to recruit soldiers. However, if these soldiers are recruiting too many, I am afraid of affecting the country's farming season and production."

Xu Jin shrugged and said, "Then let's see if the food is served. According to my opinion, the population of our Ming Dynasty is still too small. It's appropriate to increase it a few times."

Jiajing rolled his eyes: "You don't have a back pain when you stand and speak. So many people, what can you use to support you?"

Xu Jin looked dissatisfied. More than one billion people in China could support it. Although there is no hybrid rice from Mr. Yuan now, there is no problem in raising 100 to 200 million people in the fertile land of China. Therefore, although the population is full and the farmland is managed enough, if not enough, then open up the land. A large number of wild forests in the south are still in primitive state.

After hearing Xu Jin's description, Jiajing couldn't help but feel excited and asked, "How can the people have more children?"

"Simple, life is rich and material is abundant, and there is surplus grain to support the family, so the people will naturally create more people. You don't have to worry about it. Oh, the emperor can also accelerate population growth, so it's just for incentives. For example, if you raise one more child, you will reduce the tax on a 10% basis, and divide it into several acres of land, so that the people will be happy to live."

Jiajing rolled his eyes again and said, "Well, everyone has ten children, don't they have to pay taxes?"

After saying that, Jiajing glared at Xu Jinxu suspiciously and said, "You guy is not trying to harm the public or private, right? After all, you have four... No, five, General Xue Shen still has one in his belly, and in a few years, there will be more than ten. It's outrageous. Why can Xu Qing give birth so much? I finally gave birth to one, but I'm still a person who doesn't have a hand. God is so unfair!"

At the end of his speech, Jiajing looked depressed and deep resentment came to his face.
Chapter completed!