There was a reason why the emperors of the Central Plains looked down upon the Japanese island country.
Not only is the land small and the people are small, being isolated overseas is not conducive to management, but the land is too small and mountainous, and natural disasters are frequent. This is really a bit boring for the emperors who are in charge of thousands of miles of mountains and rivers in Middle-earth...
The most important point is that the Central Plains regime, which was founded on farming, was extremely conservative under the influence of Confucian culture. It was abandoned and despised as a "foreign place" like the Japanese country. How could it send a large army to conquer thousands of miles away?
Since ancient times, the Central Plains regime under the dominance of Confucian culture has believed in the closed policy of "sweeping the snow in front of the door". If you can't manage so many people and so much land in your own family, how can you be interested in coveting other people's land?
And when this policy develops to the extreme, it is the extremism of "closing off the country", closing oneself off from the entire world...
In fact, regardless of the Ming Dynasty or the Qing Dynasty, the initial "isolation of the country" was caused by the social environment at that time. To some extent, it was a policy that was beneficial to the country at that time. However, when the borders changed, the "filial sons and virtuous grandchildren" were affected by various factors.
The reason is that they hold the view that "ancestral laws cannot be violated" and clamor to refuse reforms and fail to make changes according to local conditions, which has become the main culprit that leads to the country's isolation and backwardness.
Lao Wang once said, "There is no need to be afraid of changes in nature, no fear of ancestors, and no compassion for people's words." This is a wise saying!
Too far away...
In the Tang Dynasty, the country was powerful and the people were coquettish. Even when it was at its lowest point after the An-Shi Rebellion, it was still the object of admiration from the surrounding small countries. Naturally, there was no talk of "isolating the country". However, the emperor's thoughts were the same, and he seriously lacked enterprising spirit.
Even a hero like His Majesty Li Er, besides protecting the trade routes in the Western Regions, was focused on completing the unfinished conquest of Goguryeo by Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty. He was not even in the mood to take a look at the vast lands hanging overseas...
Fang Jun's thoughts were transferred to him.
He had not considered this issue before, which was due to negligence and helplessness.
The influence of Confucian culture has long been ingrained, and if the emperor is rashly allowed to race around the world, the great Confucians in the dynasty can spit him to death...
Statements such as "Although a country is large, it will perish if it is warlike" and "A gentleman uses military weapons to destroy his weapons", etc., were enough to beat Fang Jun to pieces.
But now he suddenly realized that His Majesty Li Er in front of him was different from the previous emperors...
This is not to say that His Majesty Li Er is more wise and powerful than Emperor Qin and Han Dynasty, but that His Majesty Li Er is more determined and obsessed with becoming "one emperor through the ages"! His Majesty Li Er's throne came from a wrong path, and he has to rely on unprecedented achievements in ancient and modern times.
Let me show my achievements to future generations that I, Li Er, am the one who can be the best emperor!
This is equivalent to an extremely large "whitewashing" process. History has proved that His Majesty Li Er did a good job, although he failed to conquer Goguryeo from beginning to end. People know that he killed brothers and even killed his brothers.
His wife was included in the harem. Such a person's moral character has reached the extreme. He should have been abandoned by both humans and gods and will be infamy for eternity. However, when future generations talk about His Majesty Li Er, they only regard his rise to power as a source of discussion, and more as a way of affirming him.
His achievements as an emperor.
I have to say that His Majesty Li Er is loved by history...
But in Fang Jun's view, this is far from enough.
I made up my mind that if I want to persuade His Majesty Li Er, I can only induce him with benefits.
It has the benefits of opening up new territories, but also the benefits of real money...
"Wei Chen often comes into contact with merchants from all over the world and hears about strange things from all over the world. I once heard someone say that the Japanese country is rich in gold and silver. The silver veins on the mountains are only shallowly buried under the soil surface. After a little digging, there is a
There are abundant silver mines, and gold mines are everywhere. It is said that there is a place called 'Ishimi' in the Japanese country, where there are silver mines everywhere, and the entire mountain is mined with silver..."
As for the mining of "Iwami Ginzan" only started in Japan at the end of the Warring States Period, Fang Jun didn't care. All he had to do was confuse His Majesty Li Er. Anyway, even if he sent people to excavate by then, he would still be able to dig out the silver...
His Majesty Li Er frowned, feeling a little moved and a little confused: "Silver is not circulated as wealth, so what is it used for?"
Fang Jun almost choked to death on his own saliva.
I actually forgot that in the Tang Dynasty at this time, silver was not a currency in circulation...
The value of silver is recognized by the world, but it is mainly used as a precious metal for gifts and collections, which is different from gold and copper that serve as monetary value. Silver, like gold, has been the legal currency of many countries in the world in history.
The financial reserve function has also been an important means of international payment. China has a long history of understanding and utilizing silver. Silver has been made into handicrafts and currency for a long time. However, the large-scale use of silver as currency began in the Tang Dynasty.
Things after the Song Dynasty...
In the Yuan Dynasty, the silver standard system was further strengthened, and the government regarded silver as an important currency, and silver ingots "Yuanbao" appeared. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the silver standard system continued to be consolidated and strengthened, and silver coins became the official currency in the Ming Dynasty, including Yuanbao, broken silver and
The silver dollar became the legal currency of the Qing Dynasty.
Fang Jun said: "As the country becomes more and more prosperous, the circulation of private goods becomes more and more frequent and in larger quantities. Often a trade requires tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of copper coins, which is too troublesome. Although the price of gold
Expensive, it can make up for the shortcomings of the low price of copper coins, but the production is scarce and it cannot become a currency in circulation. Gold is expensive and copper is cheap. If silver can be set between the two as legal tender, wouldn't it be appropriate?"
Historically, silver officially became legal tender in the eighth year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1529). In other words, it was possible for Linghu Chong to use silver to buy wine. Qiao Feng, Guo Jing, Yang Guo, Zhang Wuji and other heroes often took out their money.
It is absolutely impossible to spend money in vain...
Do you want to confirm the silver standard system in advance?
Fang Jun disagreed with this.
The so-called backwardness of the silver standard system is just that at the end of the Qing Dynasty, almost all European powers in the world were on the gold standard system, which naturally formed a contradiction. The fate of a country does not depend on its financial system, but whether it is advanced, strong or backward.
If you are going to be beaten, does it matter whether you are on the gold standard or on the silver standard?
Now, as the Tang Dynasty is the most powerful existence on the planet, what kind of financial system has it established? All countries in the world that want to trade with the Tang Dynasty must establish what kind of system they must follow. "Kaiyuan Tongbao" can exchange
The world.
This is true hegemony!
Conquering the enemy without fighting and making the world's wealth depend on the Tang Dynasty. What could be more fulfilling than this?
This is plundering the world's wealth...
His Majesty Li Er is not proficient in finance. In fact, no one in this era has studied finance. Everyone just knows that when the crazy issuance of currency makes huge profits, it will lead to skyrocketing prices. Farmers who work hard to grow food finally find that not only I don’t have enough to eat, and I don’t even have enough to pay taxes…
His Majesty Li Er pondered for a moment, unwilling to express his opinion easily. You have no joke, every word must be carefully considered. What you say is like a nail and cannot be changed. This is how you can show the majesty of the king to the greatest extent.
He wanted to settle this matter first and let me think about it for a while...
But seeing Fang Jun's shining eyes with a slightly expectant look, he swallowed back the words that were on his lips. Just kidding, isn't that the same as admitting that I don't understand the relationship between gold, silver, and copper coins? What?
Of course His Majesty Li Er would not be happy to feel inferior in front of this little bastard!
After thinking for a while, His Majesty Li Er excused himself: "This matter is of great importance. If I can't make the decision, it would be better for all the ministers and ministers in the political hall to discuss it together. If there is no objection, then we can formulate a strategy. In this way, you Go back and write a detailed memorial outlining the advantages and disadvantages of silver as legal tender. Send it here to me first to make sure it is correct, and then submit it to the Political Affairs Hall for discussion."
Fang Jun's lips curled up, feeling contempt in his heart...
If you know something, you know it, but if you don’t know it, you don’t know it. You obviously don’t understand it at all. You want to seek the popularization of knowledge here, but you still have to make high-sounding excuses. This Emperor is quite shameless...
His Majesty Li Er just looked at Fang Jun's expression and knew that this guy despised him, so he became a little angry and stared at Fang Jun with unkind eyes.