Chapter four hundred and sixty-ninth ministers, please send troops to your majesty!
In fact, before Chu Yi insisted on going to Japan, many civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty had objections in their hearts. Of course, these people did not dare to speak out even if they opposed it in their hearts.
Even so, many people are waiting to see Chu Yi's jokes.
In the eyes of these people, spending so much manpower and material resources, crossing the vast ocean, and expending so much energy to deal with a mere barbarian country is simply a manifestation of militarism.
Everyone is waiting for the day when Chu Yi returns from defeat. Then they want to see what kind of face Chu Yi still has to face the emperor and the civil and military officials of the dynasty.
However, Yang Yiqing's words at this moment made these people open their eyes wide, with expressions of disbelief on their faces.
The expedition to Japan indeed cost a huge amount of financial and material resources. Even if we include the gold and silver invested in building the big ship, it would be at least tens of millions of taels of silver.
Even if the Japanese barbarian country could really be conquered, how much property could be obtained by digging three feet into the ground?
However, Yang Yiqing actually said that the total value of the trophies brought back by Chu Yi's people was as much as five million taels. In the past, this would have been equivalent to the tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty for one and a half years.
Zhu Houzhao sat there, looking at the expressions and reactions of the civil and military officials below, and couldn't help but smile a little at the corner of his mouth.
The data mentioned by Yang Yiqing were obviously memorials submitted by Chu Yi through formal channels. These had to go through the cabinet and the Supervisor of Ceremonies before they finally reached him.
But in addition to this memorial that was full of civil and military views, Chu Yi sent Yu Dayou to present a secret letter to Zhu Houzhao.
In the secret letter, Zhu Houzhao knew very well how much wealth Chu Yi, who had established a firm foothold in Japan, had plundered in the past six months.
More than a dozen countries, large and small, were destroyed. Not to mention others, nearly five million taels of property were confiscated from these dozen countries alone. It was Chu Yi who sent people to escort them back and declare it to the Manchu Dynasty.
The amount of gold and silver for civil and military affairs.
However, there are many gold and silver mineral deposits in the land of Japan, especially the mine of Shijian Yinshan. When Chu Yi, Lu Dazhu and others madly captured a large number of slaves to dig and smelt the mineral deposits, Shijian Yinshan started to mine and smelt the mineral deposits.
The monthly output of one hundred thousand taels of silver has reached nearly one million taels a month now.
In addition, there were some large and small gold and silver mines in the destroyed countries. However, for all these mines, Chu Yi sent people to demote the captured Japanese aliens as slaves and send them to the mines.
Perhaps the output of these large and small mines cannot be compared with Iwami Ginzan, but when more than a dozen gold and silver mines that can be called rich ores are started together, the monthly output of gold and silver reaches almost hundreds of thousands of taels.
many.
In other words, if these mineral deposits are combined with Shijian Yinshan, as long as there are no major accidents, Ming Dynasty can steadily harvest almost 1.5 million taels of gold and silver every month.
If calculated in this way, it would be nearly 10 million taels in half a year, and nearly 20 million taels in one year.
This number is really astonishing and exaggerated, but according to historical facts, Japan's annual gold and silver output during this period reached as much as six to seven million taels.
The Ming Dynasty, which now controls part of Japan's mineral deposits, has used high-intensity excavation and smelting. There are many times more slaves in the mines than before, so the gold and silver that can be produced can only be doubled.
Not surprising anymore.
Chu Yi's secret letter to Zhu Houzhao stated that the loot worth nearly five million taels was sent to the national treasury, and Chu Yi prepared another shocking gift for Zhu Houzhao.
A total of ten million taels of gold and silver. This was the amount of gold and silver mined from the gold and silver mines occupied by the Ming Dynasty in Japan in almost half a year.
This is 10 million taels of silver. Although after several confiscations and annihilations, both the national treasury and the emperor's inner treasury are very full, but whether it is nearly 5 million taels of loot or 10 million taels of silver, for the national treasury
And the Emperor Neikuna is very amazing.
No one would dislike having too much silver. Even though Chu Yi once told Zhu Houzhao how terrible the silver production in Shijian Yinshan was, Zhu Houzhao didn't quite believe it.
It's not that Chu Yi doesn't believe it, but in Chu Yi's case, the silver production in Shijian Yinshan is so amazing that not many people would believe it if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes.
Now Zhu Houzhao understands that among the tens of millions of taels of silver, almost 70% come from the rich gold and silver mine of Shijian Yinshan. Only then can Zhu Houzhao believe that there really is a rich mine like Shijian Yinshan in this world.
At the same time, Zhu Houzhao also became more and more determined to send troops to Japan. This was only the result of occupying more than a dozen small countries in Japan. If the entire Japan was really occupied, would it be possible to plunder more wealth?
The Ming Dynasty was really short of gold and silver. As the emperor, Zhu Houzhao knew this very well.
Previously, they did not know that Japan contained such rich gold and silver. If they had known this for a long time, not to mention the fact that they were far away from each other, no matter how difficult it was, Ming would try their best to take Japan as their own.
have.
Chen Ding gulped, eyes wide open, and looked at Yang Yiqing with a look of disbelief on his face.
Apparently, Chen Ding, who is the Minister of Household Affairs, was also shocked by this number.
There are still nearly 100 million taels of silver in the Ming Dynasty's treasury. It can be said that it has been rare since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. It is true that Chu Yi confiscated his family and exterminated the clan, which accumulated a rich treasury for the Ming Dynasty.
But the Ming Dynasty spent money as fast as water. Not to mention other things, just for shipbuilding, the Ministry of Revenue allocated tens of millions of taels of silver.
Then there are the large and small water conservancy projects that are currently being carried out everywhere in the Ming Dynasty. These projects are all based on Chu Yi's suggestions and are paid for employment.
Not to mention other things, just for these alone, the court has to spend millions of taels of silver every month to pay wages. Therefore, although there is still a large amount of silver in the treasury, as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Chen Ding has experienced
The kind of day when a penny breaks the flowers.
Now that Chu Yi went to Japan to conquer Japan, he actually harvested nearly five million taels of loot in just half a year. How could this not shock Chen Ding?
I heard Chen Ding say subconsciously: "How can the Japanese barbarian country be able to harvest so many trophies?"
Just listening to Chen Ding's tone, he was obviously very surprised that Chu Yi had harvested so many trophies in the land of Japan. After all, in the eyes of people like Chen Ding, except for the Ming Dynasty, which was a celestial kingdom, other countries were barbarians.
A foreign country, a remote and remote place.
Seeing the expressions of many stable people like Chen Ding, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but sigh in his heart. He could understand why Chu Yi said that these officials of the Ming Dynasty were all staring at the land in front of them.
.
There is obviously a vast world beyond the Ming Dynasty, but these people are immersed in the self-feeling of the so-called heavenly kingdom and cannot extricate themselves.
Taking a deep breath, Zhu Houzhao coughed lightly, attracting the attention of all civil and military officials in the court to him, and heard Zhu Houzhao slowly say: "You all think that the land of Japan is a barbarian land, and it is a remote and remote place. But
Do you know how much silver flows from the land of Japan to our country every year? And in the land of Japan, how much silver can be produced every year from just a mountain of silver?"
Among the many civil and military ministers in the DPRK, there may be a few who have some understanding of Japan because of their background, and know that Japan is not actually a barren land. But really speaking, how much silver flows into the Ming Dynasty from Japan every year?
Ishijian Yinshan also produces silver, and no one can really tell.
But everyone looked at Zhu Houzhao. Since Zhu Houzhao raised such a question, Zhu Houzhao must know something about it.
As the head of the civil servants, Jiao Fang stepped forward and saluted Zhu Houzhao: "Your Majesty, please give me a clear explanation to clear up my doubts!"
What Zhu Houzhao knew was what Chu Yi said at the beginning, and he heard Zhu Houzhao slowly say: "I don't know very well, but my great companion once said that the gold and silver flowing into our Ming Dynasty from the small country of Japan amounts to millions of taels every year.
, and there are many gold and silver mines in Japan, especially in Iwami, Sado, Izu and other places. Among them, Iwami Ginshan’s annual silver output is over one million taels..."
Astonishing numbers came from Zhu Houzhao's mouth one after another, but the heads of all the civil and military ministers in the hall were heard buzzing.
The Ming Dynasty is short of silver. All the civil and military officials present are very clear about this. The huge Ming Dynasty only produces hundreds of thousands of taels of silver every year. How can such a small amount of silver be enough? Plus those powerful people and gentry
Everyone likes to hide silver, which makes the silver flowing among the people in the Ming Dynasty extremely rare.
Even when the Ming Dynasty was founded, the Ming Dynasty had to issue treasure banknotes to alleviate the crisis of shortage of silver.
Now Zhu Houzhao actually said that Japan produces millions of taels of silver every year. How could this not shock everyone?
The civil servants all had shocked faces, but the eyes of all the military officers and nobles present were gleaming, as if they wanted to lead their men to kill Japan immediately and occupy it.
I saw one of the generals swallowing his saliva, and said to Zhu Houzhao emotionally: "General, I sincerely ask your Majesty to send troops. I am willing to send troops to Japan to help the general manager!"
As this general opened his mouth, the other generals and nobles reacted and immediately prostrated themselves, one by one clamoring to lead their troops to the land of Japan to capture Japan for the Emperor Zhu Houzhao.
If there were still objections to Yang Yiqing's request to the emperor to send 100,000 troops to Japan, now even the civil servants showed signs of change.
If it is true as Zhu Houzhao said, then this means that Japan is a treasure land. Not to mention other things, it only produces millions of taels of silver every year. If they do not occupy such a place, then they are not worthy of standing there.
Here it is.
Jiao Fang respectfully said to Zhu Houzhao: "Your Majesty, I second the proposal!"
As for the rest of the civil and military officials, seeing the situation and the temptation of visible benefits, they all finally bowed to Zhu Houzhao and begged him to send troops.
There was a bit of a smile on Zhu Houzhao's face. He had already said it to this extent. If these civil and military officials still insisted on objecting, then don't blame him for being rude.
Before Chu Yi set out to conquer Japan, he had warned him several times that he should be ruthless when dealing with these civil and military officials, otherwise it would be difficult to establish the majesty of the emperor.
Zhu Houzhao did have a generous temperament, but this does not mean that Zhu Houzhao would not kill people. For those who had touched Zhu Houzhao's bottom line, Zhu Houzhao would not hesitate or be soft at all when killing.
Looking at the civil and military officials below, Zhu Houzhao smiled a little and secretly said in his heart: "My eldest companion, have you seen it? I convinced the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty..."
On this early morning, when all the civil and military officials came down to the court, many people looked a little dazed. When these civil and military officials dispersed, a news suddenly spread in the capital.
Whether it was that the imperial court would once again send 100,000 troops to Japan or rumors that Japan was rich in gold and silver, rumors suddenly spread in the capital.
Everyone only knew that Chu Yi, the general manager who had been on an expedition to Japan for half a year, sent people to escort the loot back to the capital. In just half a year, he actually transported back gold and silver worth five million taels. This was a huge loss to the people in the capital.
The shock was not light.
In the restaurant, on a table near the window, several scholars were sitting there. One of them said with a bit of amazement on his face: "Brother Nian, have you ever heard the rumors about Japan being rich in gold and silver?"
?”
One person shook the folding fan in his hand, narrowed his eyes and said, "This news has been spread to everyone for a long time. We will naturally know about it."
While speaking, the man looked at several people and said, "Do you think that Japan is really as big as what the civil and military officials of the DPRK say, with an annual output of several million taels of gold and silver?"
The scholar from before looked up at this man and said, "What? Brother Feng doesn't think that all the elders will be deceived so easily, or does our chief steward deceive the civil and military officials in the court?"
While the two were arguing, a man in Tsing Yi who was present coughed lightly and said: "You two, we might as well ask Brother Zheng to tell us about the situation in Japan."
Suddenly the eyes of several people fell on a man present. This man looked to be in his twenties. He was wearing a scholar's uniform. Judging from where he was sitting, it was obvious that among the people, this man should have the lowest status.
of.
Zheng Ke was slightly startled, and couldn't help but realize that among their group, Zheng Ke, who was the only one from a businessman's family, undoubtedly had the lowest status. He had always been a foil and had never become a
When everyone is in the spotlight.
Now Zheng Ke is being stared at by a crowd of people, which makes Zheng Ke not nervous.
However, under the gaze of several companions, Zheng Ke nodded slowly and said: "Thanks to the Chief Manager, as the imperial court opened the sea, our Zheng family's sea trade business has become more and more prosperous. It happens that our Zheng family's merchant ships have been traveling all year round.
Japan and the Ming Dynasty, I still have some understanding of Japan."
A scholar couldn't help but said anxiously: "Brother Zheng, please tell me, is Japan really that rich? It actually produces millions of taels of gold and silver every year. This... this sounds incredible!"
Zheng Ke nodded slowly under the gaze of several people and said: "To be honest, no one will know the exact amount of silver produced in Japan every year, but one thing is certain, that is, Japan is indeed rich in gold and silver.
Maybe what the court said is a bit exaggerated, but it’s not far off.”
"Hiss... If you say that, just for the gold and silver, I, the Ming Dynasty, should send troops to occupy the land of Japan!"
At this moment, a big man next to him left a small piece of broken silver on the table, glanced at Zheng Ke and others, and turned away.
In the capital city, in a seemingly ordinary courtyard, a figure fell lightly into the courtyard. It was the muscular man who was in the restaurant earlier.
Shangguan Yun stood in front of a room and said to the closed room with some respect: "Shangguanyun, please see the leader!"
With a creak, the closed door slowly opened, and an erratic voice came from the room: "Master Shangguan Hall, come in!"
There was something strange about this erratic voice. Shangguan Yun took a deep breath and slowly walked into the room.
This was a rather elegant-looking room. What frightened Shangguan Yun the most was that his Dongfang Cult Master was sitting there dressed in red. In front of him, there was a picture of a fierce battle on a moonlit night.
With just one glance, Shangguan Yun was sure that the content on this picture was clearly the scene depicting the fight between Dongfang Bubai and the now-powerful General Manager Chu Yi.
As the imperial court becomes increasingly powerful, it naturally becomes more confident when facing Jianghu gangs, especially sects such as the Sun Moon God Sect. The imperial court has changed its previous attitude of laissez-faire and even indifference. Now it is always for
Any sect that brings trouble to one side must consider the consequences of a large army coming to the door.
Therefore, under this general trend, even the Sun and Moon God Sect, which was extremely powerful in the past, now has to keep a low profile. Otherwise, if it is targeted by the imperial army, let alone a Sun and Moon God Sect, even if it is a
Even if it were doubled, it would still be no match for the imperial army.
Slowly turning around, Dongfang Bubai, who was dressed in red, stretched out his hand and immediately saw a jar of fine wine falling into Dongfang Bubai's hands. He took a sip of the fine wine and said, "Have you ever found out the specific information about Chu Yi?"
News, when will he come back from Japan?"
When Dongfang Bubai fought against Chu Yi, the two of them were almost evenly matched. Because of the defeat of the Governor's army, Dongfang Bubai decisively stopped and left. Before leaving, Dongfang Bubai once said that one day he would be able to cultivate well enough.
As long as you work hard, you will definitely come back to fight with Chu Yi again.
The result was that when Dongfang Bubai woke up from seclusion and came excitedly, trying to fight Chu Yi, he learned that Chu Yi had actually led an army to Japan.
ps: I recommend a new book, "Grassroots of the Republic of China". This is the precarious journey of a small-time worker in the Republic of China... Even if the wind blows and rains, I am as strong as a rock.
