Zhu Qizhen has been very troubled since Zhu Qiyu left.
He didn't want to spend every day reviewing memorials besides eating and sleeping, but he couldn't find anyone to replace him.
He even tried to discuss with Cao Nai and Zhang Yi that the matter of reviewing memorials could simply be handed over to the cabinet.
As a result, Cao Nai said, if you don’t approve, neither of us will do anything anymore!
Are you kidding me? As an emperor and the king of a country, you don’t even read the memorials. You still manage the country, but it’s lonely!
When conquering Mobei, it was reasonable and reasonable to leave King Tan behind to supervise the country.
Even if you ran to Nanjing, even if you escaped secretly, after all, you defeated the Japanese pirates and destroyed Bai Lian. For the time being, it is considered business and it makes sense.
As a result, now that King Tan has led his troops to fight, do you still want to give up the challenge?
Faced with the threat of a strike from the cabinet, Zhu Qizhen had no choice but to temporarily put away his small calculations.
On this day, Huaien sent a message and Shi Heng asked to see him.
Zhu Qizhen was overjoyed when he heard this and hurriedly said: "Xuan!"
Since the Japanese invasion was quelled, Shi Heng has been to Japan. The last time he sent a memorial to the capital, he said that a large silver mine had been discovered in the southern part of Japan, near Ryukyu, which excited Zhu Qizhen.
When the Japanese envoy Toyama Xiong came to the Ming Dynasty to ask for help, he agreed that the Japanese country would provide military expenses of three hundred thousand taels per month.
However, it is a small country after all, and it cannot afford so much money, so it reached an agreement and exchanged Hong Kong gold.
In recent years, the territory of the Ming Dynasty has expanded rapidly, and there is a shortage of people everywhere. Although it has obtained several ports, it does not have the manpower to carry out construction, so this matter has been put on hold for the time being.
Now that silver mines have been discovered, it's different.
No matter how scarce manpower is, some must be allocated to it, and then we can hire workers from Japan, Ryukyu and other places. In any case, we must dig the mines first!
Shi Heng went to the hall, saluted and kowtowed: "I, Shi Heng, wish you all the best!"
"I am at peace!"
Zhu Qizhen threw away his pen and said, "The Qing family comes forward and gives me a seat!"
Huai'en was more discerning and moved a Jindun early. Shi Heng stood up and said, "I obey your order!"
"I have read the memorial sent by the Qing family, and I did a good job!"
Shi Heng bowed and said: "It's all arranged by the emperor. The emperor is sitting in the capital, strategizing, decisive victory, decisive victory...what's going on?"
Wynn whispered from the side: "The decisive victory is thousands of miles away!"
"Oh, yes, a decisive victory thousands of miles away, Your Majesty..."
"Okay, okay!"
Zhu Qizhen hurriedly waved his hand and said: "It's not your strong point to talk about words. Let's talk about the affairs of the Japanese country. I have decided to recruit 10,000 households immediately and follow you to the Japanese country to dig silver mines!"<
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Shi Heng asked with some confusion: "As far as I know, construction is going on everywhere now. Where is the emperor going to transfer people from?"
"This is easy to handle. I have decreed the abolition of household registration and changed the original military households to recruit soldiers. In the past, a large number of military households were freed up. I am preparing to arrange for these people to go to Mobei, Annan and other places to carry out construction. I will transfer one to you first.
Wanhu, go back to Yu Qian and ask him to make arrangements for you."
"Yes!"
Shi Heng agreed, and then said weakly: "Your Majesty, actually...that..."
"If you have something to say, why are you still hesitating?"
"What I mean, those silver mines...are within the territory of Japan after all..."
"Yeah, I didn't say it was someone else's."
"Then let's..."
"We are going to help them mine. Besides, we originally promised to provide 300,000 yuan in military expenses every month. It's been half a year now. They only paid 600,000 yuan, and they just used a few useless seaports to fool me.
"Is it appropriate for them to do this?"
"No, not appropriate!"
"Moreover, do they have the ability to develop such a large silver mine? I am helping them open the mine now. As for the issue of income distribution... you can watch and talk about it. I will leave the matter to you. I believe you!"
”
Shi Heng was immediately flattered and hurriedly knelt down and saluted: "I will definitely live up to the divine grace!"
Zhu Qizhen waved his hand and said, "Get up and answer!"
"Yes!"
At this time, Shi Heng was greatly shocked. The Japanese country was isolated overseas and he had a dark history of rebellion. Logically speaking, the emperor should limit himself as much as possible and send some people to keep an eye on it every day.
However, the power given to him by the emperor is almost comparable to that of a vassal king!
The leader of the Japanese country is the king of a country. Whenever he sees himself, he must be cautious and obedient. Even if he is the vassal king of the Ming Dynasty, he must be like this!
He considers himself a warrior, and now he can only do his best to repay the kindness of the king.
"Your Majesty, I have one more thing to do."
"What's the matter?"
"This time when I return to the capital, I will bring someone with me."
"Oh, who is it?"
"King Ainu of Ezo!"
"Ezo Country..."
Zhu Qizhen frowned and thought for a while, and suddenly realized that it was not Hokkaido!
It seems that at this time, Ezo Kingdom had not yet been annexed by Japan and was an independent island country.
In fact, the Japanese country originally only had three islands. The Ezo Kingdom in the north and the Ryukyu Kingdom in the south coexisted with the Japanese country.
Even if there are only three islands, they are not united. The situation is similar to the vassal states in the Eastern Han Dynasty. They called them the Lingzhi Kingdom. There are more than sixty of them. The large Lingzhi Kingdom can match the size of the prefectures and counties in the Central Plains. The small ones
It’s almost like a village or town.
On the surface, these imperial kingdoms all obeyed the orders of the Japanese monarch, but in fact they fought on their own and even conquered each other.
The so-called Warring States Period in later generations was the village- and town-level chaos among these sixty kingdoms.
However, it is not clear what the current situation of this Ezo country is.
"What happened to Ezo Country?"
Shi Heng replied: "Your Majesty, there is a Daimyo Dewa in the northernmost part of Japan. In recent days, he has frequently sent troops to attack Ezo Kingdom. After the ministers came to Japan, Ainu, the king of Ezo Kingdom, sent an envoy to submit a document to the country.
He wrote a letter, claiming that he was willing to surrender to the Ming Dynasty and hoped to be protected by the Ming Dynasty."
Zhu Qizhen nodded, it turned out to be a younger brother who was looking for a big deal.
"Wynn!"
Wynn hurriedly stepped forward: "Your Majesty, please give me your instructions."
"Go to the Hanlin Academy and ask who knows the Ezo Kingdom. Ask him to come over quickly. I have something to ask!"
"Yes!"
Not long after, an old Hanlin came and started talking.
According to historical records, Ezo Island is very large, but most of the island is in extremely cold places, and only the southern narrow strip is inhabited.
The residents of the island are still in the era of tribal alliances. They have their own language and religious beliefs, and their various living customs are obviously different from those of the Japanese country. Even the Japanese country calls them barbarians.
So far, the Ezo people have never paid tribute to the Central Plains, and the Ming Dynasty did not have time to contact them in detail because they looked down upon them.
That old Hanlin only knew so much, because there were so few records about the Ezo Kingdom.
After Zhu Qizhen heard this, he shook his head secretly. Although there was no one there, there was a mine!