In Iwami Port, the spring sea breeze is mixed with a hint of cold air, making the entire sea surface filled with a chill from the Arctic. Many dock workers in the port are also hiding in houses, lighting fires and talking.
Issues.
"It's time to recruit soldiers again soon. I heard that we have 100 places in Iwami County this year."
"real or fake?"
"Of course it's true. I learned from the county magistrate that although our Shijian County is far away from the mainland of the Ming Dynasty, it has always received much attention."
"The children at home must be well prepared. If they can join the army and serve the Emperor of Tomorrow, it would be a supreme honor."
"Yes, look at the changes in our Ishimi County over the years. Everyone's life is getting better and better. All this is because of Da Ming Zi. Without Da Ming Zi, we might not have enough food and clothing now.
It’s not warm.”
"Of course, there are more and more people smuggling into our Ishimi County. Yesterday, we saw that the Yamen's police caught a group of people smuggling."
"If you want to sneak over here, you should at least learn to speak Ming Dynasty Mandarin, otherwise the secret will be revealed easily."
"That is, in fact, there is no need to smuggle in at all. Our Ming Dynasty is also willing to accept Japanese people. As long as the Japanese are willing to immigrate to overseas places in our Ming Dynasty, Australia, Golden Island and other places, they can enjoy the same treatment as our Ming Dynasty people."
"I think this is a bit unfair. It's unfair to us Ming people. Why can they enjoy the same treatment as us?"
"Because the Japanese country is a vassal state of our Ming Dynasty and enjoys the contents of the vassal state agreement. Now there is almost no difference between the people of the Japanese country, North Korea and the Ming Dynasty, and they can all settle in each other at will."
"We Ming Dynasty people would not think of settling in North Korea and Japan. Look at our Ishimi County. There are cement roads everywhere, but Japan has not built a few decent roads yet."
"That's right, we Ming people are better."
A group of Japanese people leaned against the stove and chattered about the goodness of the Ming Empire. Those who didn't know better thought they were real Ming people, but looking at their height and the work they did, you knew they were just Japanese people from Iwami County.
.
It's just that Shijian County was ceded to the Ming Empire many years ago and became a county under the Ming Empire's Northern Zhili. As time went by, the Japanese here gradually regarded themselves as Ming people and looked down on the Japanese in other places around them.
Already.
"The ship is coming, the ship is coming."
At this time, someone hurriedly came over and said, and the Japanese who were warming up immediately hurried out one by one and came to the pier. Looking towards the sea, they saw three large ships slowly approaching on the sea.
"Three big ships, it's quite busy now."
When someone saw it, they quickly wiped their hands and said.
They are stevedores at the wharf and make a living by loading and unloading cargo. They earn more when there is a ship and less when there is no ship. Naturally, they like more ships so they can earn more.
Especially in this winter, there are very few ships passing through Iwami Port. It is not safe to take the northern route in winter. Only a few merchant ships from the Ming Dynasty and North Korea will berth here at Iwami, so that everyone can make some hard money.
On the three large ships, Emperor Hongzhi and Liu Jin were leisurely drinking hot tea. The weather was really cold.
The cold is unbearable as soon as the dimensions are high. When we were sailing in low latitudes, it was still too hot to die. Now when we go to higher dimensions, it is extremely cold. It is really life-threatening.
"Your Majesty, we will stay here in Iwami County for a few days. After resting, we will directly cross the Whale Sea (Sea of Japan, which we called the Whale Sea in ancient times) to the port of Vladivostok in Liaodong Province, and then take a bus from Vladivostok
The train returns to the capital."
Liu Jin took a map and told Emperor Hongzhi about the upcoming itinerary. It had been almost a year since he went out. He really missed home, especially his two charming wives.
But Emperor Hongzhi obviously didn't have enough fun, and he even came to Shijian to see the silver mountain and see what the Shijian silver mine was like.
So Liu Jin had to follow him, and then he adjusted his return route and went directly back to Daming from Liaodong.
Liaodong is one of the fastest-growing regions in the Ming Dynasty. Agriculture, forestry, shipyards, steel industry, oil exploration, and smelting are all extremely prosperous.
Of course, this is inseparable from the rich natural resources that Liaodong possesses.
Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty now includes the three eastern provinces of later generations, as well as a vast area such as the Outer Xing'an Mountains. It has huge forest areas and forestry resources, and it is very suitable to develop the shipbuilding industry.
There are three major shipbuilding centers, one is Dalian, one is Liaohekou, and the other is Vladivostok.
Although Vladivostok is at a high latitude, it is an ice-free port. Relying on the huge forest area behind it, the shipbuilding industry has developed extremely rapidly. There are a large number of shipyards, wood processing plants and the like settled here.
It also allowed what was originally a desolate place with few inhabitants to rapidly develop and become one of the most important cities in the Far East during the Ming Dynasty.
At the same time, because Vladivostok is located next to the Whale Sea and is a frost-free port, the fishing and whaling industries in Vladivostok are very developed, especially in winter, seafood can be stored longer, relying on the built railway
Transportation can transport a steady stream of seafood, whales, whale oil, etc. to the Beijing-Tianjin area.
All these have allowed Vladivostok to develop rapidly and become a relatively famous emerging city in Liaodong, with a population of more than 100,000.
Therefore, you must still go to Vladivostok and take a look. By the way, you can also go to Liaodong to see the snowfields of Liaodong and feel the wealth and vastness of Liaodong.
"Okay, just make the arrangements here."
Emperor Hongzhi looked at the map and nodded.
For Emperor Hongzhi, it didn't matter where he went. Anyway, he was just out for fun, traveling around and seeing the great mountains and rivers of the Ming Dynasty.
Liaodong has always been a place that Emperor Hongzhi wanted to visit.
Emperor Hongzhi had already read various reports about Liaodong, and he had long wanted to see if the real Liaodong was like what was described in the newspapers.
This time I can go to Liaodong from Vladivostok and see everything in Liaodong.
Looking at Shijian Port again, Emperor Hongzhi's mind came to the description of Yinshan that Liu Jin had said before.
When the Ming Empire sent troops to conquer the Japanese countries and teach them a lesson, attacking the Japanese pirates was of course part of it, but another important purpose was to seize Iwami's silver mines.
At that time, Liu Jin said that the silver mine here was a real silver mountain, with a reserve of hundreds of millions of taels of silver. As long as the silver mined from this silver mountain was occupied, the amount could reach a terrifying level of tens of millions of taels every year.
In Golden Continent, I have already seen the pyramids made of gold bricks and silver bricks, and seen the gold and silver mines. Now I also want to see what the silver mine in Iwami is like and whether it is real.
It's a mountain of silver.
The large ship slowly anchored at the port, and soon cars drove off the ship and headed straight for the Iwami Silver Mine in Iwami Prefecture.
Here at the Iwami Silver Mine, machines are roaring, excavators, bulldozers, large trucks, etc. are constantly working. The noisy sound drives away the cold of winter. The rolling blast furnaces are emitting black smoke. In the distance,
You can smell a pungent smell from a distance.
Liu Jin and Emperor Hongzhi came to the silver mine accompanied by the head of Tianjin Ocean Trading Company.
I saw cartloads of silver ore being pulled over by large trucks and then put into smelting. As the furnace was heated, silver, copper, molten iron, etc. continued to flow out.
"The silver mine in Iwami is not just a silver mine, but the associated iron ore and copper mine are the most important. The silver content is much smaller than that of copper and iron."
Liu Jin explained it to Emperor Hongzhi patiently and in detail.
It's freezing cold outside, but inside the smelter it's so hot that I'm sweating. It's too hot.
Emperor Hongzhi looked at the smelting plant in front of him carefully. Along with the rolling heat waves, molten iron, molten copper, and molten silver were poured out, forming standard silver, iron, and copper blocks in each grinding tool.
Then, as the cold water cooled, billowing steam rose up, and soon standard modules were separated from it, and then staff began to label and brand these silver mines.
Each silver mine has an individual number to ensure that it can be traced back to the initial mining and smelting links, preventing the loss of the company's wealth.
"This speed is really fast."
Emperor Hongzhi picked up a heavy piece of silver and said.
"Yes, we smelt tens of thousands taels of silver here every day, and sometimes we have to purify the silver. Only after the purification reaches qualified standards can it be stored in the warehouse and recorded in the account."
"See those mountains outside?"
"In the past, these mountains were very high, but with our mining, these mountains have been leveled by us."
The person in charge of Iwami Silver Mountain was very proud to introduce the situation of Iwami Silver Mine to Emperor Hongzhi and Liu Jin. After many years of mining, the silver that can be mined from Iwami Silver Mine is getting less and less.
The mountains have been leveled, that is, there are now more excavators, bulldozers, and large trucks. Otherwise, it would be difficult to mine silver ore.
Of course, for Tianjin Ocean Trading Company, more than 200 million taels of silver have been mined, and they have already made huge profits. Even if they give up the Iwami Silver Mine now, it is completely acceptable.
There was a war that year, and Tianjin Ocean Trading Company suffered for many years. It was enough.
