Chapter 2183 Don't make trouble, I will reward you with some beauties
Inside the study room of the Qianqing Palace.
Zhengde Emperor Zhu Houzhao was convening ministers to discuss national affairs.
"Your Majesty, King Charles V of Spain has asked us, the Ming Dynasty, to provide Spain with another loan of 30 million taels of silver!"
Fang Yongliang, the Minister of Rites, reported to Zhu Houzhao.
"30 million silver?"
"How much loan does Spain owe us to Ming Dynasty now?"
When Zhu Houzhao heard this, he thought about it and asked.
"There are already 70 million taels of silver."
Fang Yongliang replied quickly.
"70 million. If you include these 30 million taels, that's 100 million taels of silver."
"What are they going to put up as collateral?"
Zhu Houzhao figured it out and asked again.
"They are planning to mortgage several colonial islands in Penglai Bay of Golden Continent, which is the only land in the entire Golden Continent that is not owned by our Ming Dynasty."
Fang Yongliang replied.
"Are those islands willing to be mortgaged?"
When Zhu Houzhao heard this, he quickly looked at the location of Penglai Bay on the world map. The islands Fang Yongliang mentioned were the island of Cuba and several surrounding large islands.
In order to annex the Golden State, the Ming Empire also united with Spain to deal with the English, Portuguese, and French pirates in Europe. The final agreement was that Spain recognized the entire Golden Continent except those islands as belonging to the Ming Empire.
The Ming Empire recognized Spain's colonial rights and ownership of these islands, and the two sides formed an alliance to jointly fight against piracy.
Because of their critical geographical location, these islands have always been Spain's most important overseas colonies. Relying on the geographical advantage of being close to the Golden Continent of the Ming Dynasty, the Spaniards relied on these islands to carry out trade with the Ming people, and they just changed hands. Spain has made huge profits from its transactions.
For Spain, the colonies on the Gold Coast of West Africa are important, but their status is far inferior to these islands, and their income cannot be compared with these islands.
So this is why Zhu Houzhao was surprised that Spain would use these islands as mortgage.
"It seems that the Spaniards are having a very difficult time fighting the war in Europe."
Zhu Houzhao thought for a while and said.
"Back to Your Majesty, although Spain annexed France, it suffered repeated defeats in the war with the Holy See. After the early defeat, the Holy Roman Empire has gradually stabilized the situation and is constantly counterattacking."
"In addition, on the Gold Coast of West Africa, North Korea, Persia, and the Japanese countries also launched attacks on Spanish colonies one after another, which greatly restricted some Spanish military forces."
"A multi-front war is extremely detrimental to Spain, which is why they consume funds quickly."
Yang Yun, the Duke of Australia from the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion, stood up and said.
"Well, it seems that if we don't lend money to Spain, they may not be able to hold on."
"In this case, our early loan will be in vain."
"Give them loans and let them continue fighting."
After thinking about it for a while, Zhu Houzhao gave the order decisively.
This loan of 70 million taels, if Spain were defeated, wouldn't my money be wasted?
Although the left hand went out and the right hand came in, the money still returned to the hands of the Ming Dynasty, but these are profits and must not be lost.
"yes!"
Upon hearing this, all the ministers responded respectfully.
"Your Majesty, the Ottoman Empire and the Persian Empire are at war again in the Mesopotamia."
"Are Ottomans and Persians fighting again?"
When Zhu Houzhao heard this, he immediately became energetic and seemed a little worried that the world would not be in chaos.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
"This time it was mainly a war launched by the Ottoman Empire to seize the oil-producing areas in the lower reaches of the Mesopotamia."
"As our Ming Dynasty's demand for oil becomes more and more strong, the price of oil continues to rise, and more and more oil is discovered in the Persian Gulf. The Ottoman Empire will definitely not let this rich land go."
Fang Yongliang said quickly.
"It turns out it's for oil, so no wonder."
When Zhu Houzhao heard this, he nodded immediately.
Liu Jin next to him couldn't help but sigh after hearing this. The Middle East is really a powder keg.
At the same time, I have to lament the development speed of the Ming Empire.
Originally, when oil first appeared in history and was used in many fields, the price of oil was actually not high, although there was still considerable profit in extracting oil.
But because there are many places around the world where oil can be extracted, the amount of oil extracted can easily meet market demand.
However, once the Ming Empire embarked on the road of industrialization, its huge population and market, as well as its terrifying manufacturing capabilities, resulted in a development rate that was far faster than the rate of industrialization development in history.
Taking cars as an example, in history, the process lasted for decades from the time cars first appeared to when they really entered thousands of households. However, it is different in the Ming Dynasty.
Because of Liu Jin, a time traveler, the Ming Empire attached great importance to science and technology and basic education, and vigorously popularized basic education. This greatly stimulated the development of various technologies. Automobile technology developed rapidly and quickly became mature and mature.
Large-scale industrial manufacturing.
It has only been more than ten years since the emergence of automobiles in the Ming Empire. However, the cars manufactured by the Ming Empire now not only fill the streets of the Ming Dynasty, but are also exported in large numbers all over the world.
The Ming Empire produced millions of cars a year.
Such a huge scale and output are all due to the advancement of science and technology and the popularization of basic education. Of course, it is also inseparable from the huge domestic market demand of the Ming Empire.
A large number of cars have an increasing demand for oil, so that even though the Ming Dynasty searched for oil all over the world, the supply of oil was still in short supply and the price continued to rise.
In addition, the development of chemical technology in Ming Dynasty was also extremely rapid. Petroleum was used in the chemical industry, which was also an important use and also increased the demand for petroleum.
As the most important oil-producing area in the world, the Persian Gulf region has naturally become a key area for competition between the Ottoman Empire, the Persian Empire and Egypt. Just for oil, several wars have broken out before and after.
There were victories and defeats between the two sides, but the Persian Empire had a geographical advantage and occupied the lower reaches of the Mesopotamia, the main oil-producing area, while the Ottoman Empire occupied the upstream areas where oil was scarce.
"Did Egypt come over to join in the fun?"
Zhu Houzhao thought for a while and asked.
"Egypt made a request to the Persian Empire to share the oil revenue from the two river basins, but the Persian Empire rejected it."
"So this time Egypt did not send troops, nor did it join the Persian Empire in fighting against the Ottoman Empire."
Fang Yongliang quickly replied that these are matters belonging to the Ministry of Rites.
"It seems that the strength of the Persians has increased a lot in recent years. They are monopolizing the oil in the two river basins and competing for colonies in West Africa."
Zhu Houzhao thought for a while and said with a smile: "Let's fight, let them fight well, so that we can sell arms and weapons again."
"yes!"
Upon hearing this, everyone responded in unison.
If the world is in chaos, it will definitely be a good thing for the Ming Empire. Arms and weapons can be sold at high prices, making money and making your hands cramp.
"There are two colonies of our Ming Empire in the Persian Gulf."
Zhu Houzhao looked at the map of the Persian Gulf. He could clearly see that there were two colonies of the Ming people on the southern coast of the Persian Gulf, which were completely divided. These two colonies were the richest in oil in the Persian Gulf.
area.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
"The colony to the west is the Chaling colony belonging to former cabinet minister Li Dongyang's family, and the colony to the east is a colony belonging to the British Crown."
When Liu Jin heard this, he quickly replied.
"You are really good at choosing locations. Who would have known that these two desert areas actually contain a large amount of oil. This is a huge profit."
Zhu Houzhao also nodded and said based on the current oil distribution map.
After discussing national affairs, there was nothing else to do. Zhu Houzhao was about to let everyone go back when Liu Jin stood up and said: "Your Majesty, I kindly ask you to return to your hometown for retirement."
As soon as Liu Jin's words came out, not only Zhu Houzhao was shocked, but also Zhong Fan, Fang Yongliang, Tong Rui, and Yang Yun were all stunned. Only Wang Shouren sighed lightly as expected.
"You want to go home to retire?"
When Zhu Houzhao heard this, his eyes widened and he looked at Liu Jin in disbelief.
"You are only fifty years old now. If you are in good health, you can kill a tiger. Why are you going home to live in old age?"
Zhu Houzhao looked at Liu Jin and asked.
"Your Majesty, the reason why I decided to go home to retire is because I want to use the remaining time to travel around the world. While I am still able to walk, I want to see the great rivers and mountains in the world.
Go and experience the customs and customs from all over the world.”
"If we really wait until we are 70 or 80 years old, even if we want to visit other parts of the world by then, I'm afraid I won't be able to go."
"In addition, Your Majesty, you are at the peak of your power in the spring and autumn, and you are an eternal sage. Our Ming Dynasty is now in a prosperous era. The country is strong, the people are rich, the military is powerful, and the world is powerful."
"All the princes in the court are virtuous and upright people. Even if there are fewer ministers, the Ming Empire can still become more prosperous and stronger."
"So I sincerely ask for your Majesty's permission. The world is a big place and I want to see everywhere."
Liu Jin expressed his inner request to Zhu Houzhao very sincerely.
Hearing Liu Jin's words, Zhu Houzhao also stared slightly. This Liu Jin always has many things that he didn't expect. In the position of the chief minister of the cabinet, he can retreat at any time and let go at any time. He really takes it.
You can afford to let it go, it will make people look at you with admiration.
However, he had only been on the throne for two years. Although the Ming Dynasty and Liu Jin said the same thing, Zhu Houzhao felt that Liu Jin's assistance was still indispensable. With Liu Jin here, he felt very comfortable as the emperor.
"Don't make trouble, I will reward you with a few beauties, and then continue to work for me."