Rule over Ming Dynasty

Just this morning, the Iwami Silver Mine, hidden deep in the mountains, was operating as usual.

Inside the silver mine, the dim light of the mine lamp barely tore through the thick darkness, throwing in mottled light and shadow, reflecting on the dust-covered faces of the miners.

The air is filled with the smell of ore, mixed with the dull sound of mining in the depths, like the low roar of the earth.

Miners with their bare upper bodies sweating profusely inside the mine, their breaths echoing in the narrow tunnels, intertwined with the sound of hammers hitting rocks.

The silver ore fell off from the ore body one after another under the violent hammer blow, and then pieces of silver ore were transported outside the mine by manpower.

"If you don't work faster, believe it or not, I will kill you now!" Zheng Yu waved the whip in his hand and cursed fiercely.

An old miner's legs and feet were obviously weak. Although he tried hard to pull the hemp rope to drag the ore to the nearby workshop, he walked slowly.

Suddenly, a mine supervisor raised his whip and struck the old miner hard on the back.

The whip made a "snap" sound in the air. After one whip, it did not stop. Another whip fell on the old miner's violently shaking body.

The red whip marks were clearly visible on the old miner's back, and blood was flowing down his skin. However, he didn't shout or resist, he just gritted his teeth and endured the pain silently.

The surrounding miners saw this scene, and their hearts were filled with anger and helplessness.

What can they do? These mine supervisors belong to both the Da Nai family and the Zheng family, the founders of Jiangnan Company, but they are all forces that cannot be disobeyed.

They could only watch all this happen silently and endure the humiliation and pain silently.

The old miner got up from the ground, his body seemed to be getting weaker and weaker, his back was stained red with blood, and sweat kept falling from his forehead.

Only by continuing to move forward can he have a way out and hope to return to his country.

Finally, the old miner fell to the ground, his body reaching its limit. He was panting, breathing hard, and there was silence.

It was just that the old miner fell, and another miner was driven forward, and then the basket of ore was smoothly transported into the tall workshop next to the silver mine.

The division of labor in this mine is clear. Some people are responsible for mining silver ore in the mine, some are responsible for transporting silver ore, and finally, some are responsible for refining silver from silver ore.

In the dim silver smelting workshop, with a roaring fire, a silversmith named Li Tie with long bangs was concentrating on the silver extraction operation.

He was wearing a black short-sleeved cotton coat, and his face was stained with soot, but his eyes shone with firmness and concentration, which could not hide the superb skills on his body.

Li Tie held long-handled iron tongs and flexibly picked up a piece of ore rich in silver and lead, and then placed it into the burning charcoal fire. The ore melts rapidly at high temperatures, and the silver-lead alloy liquid sparkles with a mysterious luster in the firelight.

He used a hammer to hit the cup-shaped crucible from time to time, heating it to a high temperature while allowing the alloy liquid to be fully mixed.

Over time, the lead in the alloy liquid begins to oxidize, producing a gray-white layer of lead oxide. This was the most critical moment for processing. Li Tie took a deep breath and blew into the iron pipe.

A strong air flow passes through the iron pipe and directly blows away the lead oxide floating on the surface of the alloy liquid. These gray-white impurities flew around under the impact of the airflow, revealing the pure silver liquid underneath.

This seemingly simple set of practices contains the wisdom of the Chinese ancestors. It is the soot blowing method for refining silver that the Japanese have never been able to master.

Now history has quietly changed. Jiangnan Company not only helped the Japanese mine silver mines, but also brought over China's most advanced silver mining technology.

Li Tie continued to skillfully blow away the lead oxide floating on the surface of the alloy liquid until no trace of impurities could be seen on the surface of the alloy liquid.

At this time, his face was covered with sweat, but his eyes showed satisfaction and joy. He knew that after all this hard work, he finally got pure silver liquid.

Next, Li Tie poured the silver liquid into the prepared mold.

Since the silver was intended to be used in the Ming Dynasty, silver treasure molds were chosen. As the silver liquid cools and solidifies rapidly in the mold, white silver treasures are formed, which look very beautiful.

Li Tie picked up a piece of silver treasure. Since he had some problems with his eyesight, he needed to get closer and look at it carefully.

Under dim light, this silver ingot exudes a soft and charming luster, as if telling its value and beauty.

As long as anyone can bring this batch of freshly baked ingots back to the Ming Dynasty, let alone providing for their own food and clothing, they can even raise a few women.

Just as Li Tie was dreaming about getting rich while holding the silver ingot, a sturdy young man opened the door and walked in. His eyes also noticed the silver that had just been refined.

Li Tie glanced at the man who came out, and immediately shouted arrogantly: "You can't come in here, get out immediately!"

"You would rather teach the Japanese people how to blow soot than teach it to your two apprentices. You are really a lackey of the Japanese people!" Zhao Jia looked at the usually arrogant silver smelting master and said coldly. jeered.

Li Tie's self-esteem was damaged, and he immediately said angrily: "Even the lackeys of the Japanese are ten thousand times stronger than a coolie like you. Get out of here right now and make a good fire. I'll deal with you in the evening!"

"Do you really think that the imperial court can't even deal with your little Jiangnan business? Do you really think that Ishijian Silver Mine can change its surname to Jiangnan so easily?" Zhao Jia no longer had the timidity of the past, but regained his arrogance.

Li Tie saw the change in the temperament of Zhao Jia, who was in charge of lighting the fire, and immediately asked with vigilance: "Who are you?"

"Zhao Jia, deputy squad leader of the first shift in the night department!" Zhao Jia no longer concealed his identity, but revealed his identity.

He was originally from Yebushu. After being recruited into the Yebu by the Ministry of War, he received secret training from the imperial court. Due to his outstanding performance in several missions, he was promoted to the deputy squad leader of the first squad in the dark night.

Because he learned that Jiangnan's official gentry group actually wanted to target the Iwami Silver Mine, he also disguised his identity and entered the Iwami Silver Mine and became an extremely ordinary member.

Li Tie didn't know the existence of Dark Night, but he guessed in panic: "Are you from the Ming Dynasty court?"

"That's right! Since you, the people of the Ming Dynasty, did such a traitorous thing to seek glory, you really deserve to die!" Zhao Jia had long seen Li Tie's evil deeds, but he accused him angrily.

At this time, there were sounds of shouting and killing, and even some cries for help.

Li Tie realized that a major change had occurred outside, and immediately asked in horror: "What's going on?"

"The Shijian Silver Mine belongs to our Ming Dynasty. Today is just a cleanup of you little rats who have taken over the Ming Dynasty Silver Mine!" Zhao Jia snorted, appearing to be joking.

Li Tie knew that the miners below hated them, but it was impossible to help them resist the Ming army: "I am a silver smelter, I can serve the imperial court!"

"Our Ming Dynasty does not need scum like you, and we are not ready to mine silver mines yet!" Zhao Jia stepped forward with a knife and replied jokingly.

Perhaps the Shijian Silver Mine is a golden mountain in the eyes of Jiangnan merchants, but in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty, it can also be said that it is no different from scrap iron.

Now that the Ming Dynasty wants to clean up the small Ouchi family, there is no need to rush to mine the Iwami silver mine, but to slowly hammer down this Japanese daimyo who repays kindness with hatred.

"Help!" Li Tie didn't care that his bangs showed a big split, he just held the silver ingot and wanted to steal it.

puff!

A ray of light flashed, Li Tie reached out and touched his neck, looked at the blood on his hand in disbelief, and fell down full of reluctance.

At the same time, the silver smelting masters in various workshops were slaughtered one after another. The Ming Dynasty did not need such people who cheated on others. The miners in the silver mines may have been lured by the high wages, but these silver smelters were all insiders.

Huo Hai stood on the high ground of the silver mine and read loudly: "Your Majesty's edict! This is the mine of the Ming Dynasty. Anyone who dares to mine privately with the imperial family will be executed!"

The Ming court only strategically gave up on the Iwami Silver Mine, but now it can be said that it was a sudden whim, so it decided to bloodbath the little mice in the Iwami Silver Mine.

"Kill them, and let's go back to the Ming Dynasty and be good citizens!"

Although the oppressed miners were keen on wealth, they also cherished their families. Moreover, they were already unwilling to be oppressed and started to rise up one after another.

A burly miner rushed out of the mine, waving the iron pickaxe in his hand towards a fat mine supervisor. The iron pickaxe drew a sharp arc in the air, and then hit the fat mine supervisor heavily on the shoulder.

The fat mine supervisor screamed in pain, and the whip in his hand fell to the ground.

The miner didn't give him any chance to breathe. Then he swung his pickaxe and hit the fat mine supervisor's head hard, causing blood to splatter immediately.

Other miners followed suit. They used their picks, hammers and other tools to fight to the death with the mine supervisors, and the bitterness of the past six months broke out at this moment.

"Are you rebelling? If you dare to go against our Zheng family, there will be no place for you in the entire Jiangnan!" Zheng Yu threatened loudly when he saw the uncontrolled scene.

A miner avoided the whip swung by Zheng Yu, but instead of retreating, he rushed forward, then swung the pole in his hand and hit Zheng Yu hard on the knee.

With a crisp "click" sound, Zheng Yu's kneecap shattered, and then he fell to the ground and rolled in pain while holding his injured leg.

puff!

The bullied old miner came here without knowing when he was holding a hammer. In Zheng Yu's frightened peripheral vision, the hammer fell heavily on Zheng Yu's head, and blood splattered everywhere.

Huo Hai originally thought it would take some effort, but when he saw the scene in the mine, he felt pity for these weak mine supervisors, who were almost unilaterally massacred by the miners.

Zhao Jia noticed Huo Hai, nodded slightly, and then led his men into the forest in front, disappearing here as if he had never been there.

There was a lot of rioting in the mining area, and the blood spread with the wind, so the news here was quickly learned by Ishimi Kuni, and then passed to Yamaguchi Castle as soon as possible.

When the news reached Yamaguchi Castle, Ouchi Yoshihiro was meeting with Xie Qian, the Ming envoy.

"Did you do this?" Ouchi Yoshihiro suddenly realized that Daming might not be as cowardly as he thought, but he asked angrily.

Xie Qian had already known that Ming Dynasty had launched an action, and was not surprised by the news: "Can't we do this? Don't forget, the mining rights of Shijian Silver Mine are in the hands of our Ming Dynasty, and also in the hands of your family. The family emblem is the seal of the letter! In order to avoid our unhappiness, I advise you not to send people there anymore, otherwise you will be bloodbathed again!"

Although he did not know the emperor's overall plan, when Ming Dynasty established the East China Sea Governor's Palace on Shenzhi Island, he took the initiative to make friends with the Ouchi family for this Iwami Silver Mine.

Originally, the relationship between the two parties was harmonious, but Ming Dynasty had already launched a mining plan in Shijian Country.

Due to the turmoil at the Great Court Meeting on New Year's Day this year, and the interference of the Jiangnan Company, the Ming Dynasty and the Ouchi family finally turned against each other, and the Iwami Silver Mine was "changed ownership" by the Ouchi family.

It's just that the Ming court never said it would give up the mining rights of the Iwami Silver Mine, and it still held the seal of the Ouchi family. Therefore, the mining rights of the Iwami Silver Mine still belonged to the Ming Dynasty, and Jiangnan Company was just a latecomer.

"Your Ming Navy cut off the strait to prevent us from communicating with Kyushu, and you dare to take back the Iwami Silver Mine?" Kuroda Masayori thought of the Ming Dynasty's "evil deeds" and immediately asked angrily.

Xie Qian did not answer, but looked at Ouchi Yixing with a smile and said: "Young Master Ouchi, does your Ouchi family's family crest not count?"

Ouchi Yoshihiro's brows couldn't help but frown. This matter was related to the century-old reputation of their Ouchi family, so naturally they couldn't go back on their words openly.

It's just that I didn't know the value of Iwami Silver Mine before, but after contacting Jiangnan Company, I knew that Iwami Silver Mine was enough to buy the entire China.

Ouchi Yoshihiro's mind was quick, and he immediately retorted jokingly: "How dare you attack our mine workers this time, how dare you mine in Iwami Country?"

Xie Qian shook his head gently and said calmly: "We are just a little mouse in the silver mine this time. We should have withdrawn to Daming City by now!"

"You, the Ming Dynasty, love silver as much as your life, so why don't you start mining? Young master, please immediately allocate two thousand people, and I will lead them to go to the silver mine to wash the stones with blood!" Kurada Masayori didn't believe it at all, but he immediately Please tell me.

Ouchi Yoshihiro is a young man at heart, so he immediately expressed his stance and said: "Okay!"

When Xie Qian saw that the other party didn't believe him, and saw Kurada Masayori striding away, he shook his head helplessly.

"I don't know, sir, what is your purpose for coming here this time?" Tao Qiandao asked in a respectful manner despite having personally visited the capital to see the power of the Ming Dynasty.

Only then did Ouchi Yoshihiro realize that Xie Qian had not revealed the true purpose of his visit, and he couldn't help but look curiously at this elegant Ming envoy.

"Our Ming Dynasty has a good life! I heard that your family's current bank account has reached one million taels of silver?" Xie Qian asked with a slight smile.

Before Ouchi Yoshihiro could speak, a retainer next to him said in a strange tone: "You have good news about the Ming Dynasty. So what?"

Since the ore currently mined in the Iwami Silver Mine is on the surface, it is much easier to mine, and with the foundation laid by the Ming Dynasty, silver has been continuously produced in the past six months.

Although half of the silver produced belonged to Jiangnan Company, in order to show its sincerity in cooperation, Jiangnan Company also asked the Ouchi family to transport the silver to the kilns of Yamaguchi Castle for storage.

"If you give us Ming Dynasty one million yuan, we Ming Dynasty can give you ten thousand stones of fine grain to replace it!" Xie Qian looked up at Ouchi Yixing, and his words were shockingly authentic.

As soon as these words came out, everything was silent.

Everyone looked at Xie Qian in disbelief as if they couldn't believe their eyes.

Although Ten Thousand Stones is a lot of fine grain, it costs one million taels of silver to buy it. This is simply a big joke in the world. Not to mention that silver was the official currency of the Ming Dynasty. Even if silver was worthless, it could easily be exchanged for a large amount of food.

Not to mention that the Ouchi family can produce food on their own, but now with the help of Jiangnan merchants, they only need to nod slightly, and a large amount of cheap Korean rice will be shipped to their Ouchi family's territory.

Ouchi Yoshihiro has a strong arithmetic talent, and he immediately said with a mocking look on his face: "You, Ming Dynasty, sell one stone of fine grain for one hundred taels? Are you crazy?"

"The word has been conveyed! It's up to you whether you want to trade or not!" Xie Qian seemed to have guessed such a reaction, and said goodbye very calmly.

The purpose of his mission this time was not to lobby the imperial family, but more to convey the attitude and trading conditions of the Ming Dynasty. The most important thing was that the Ming Dynasty decided to impose a comprehensive economic blockade on them.

In fact, the most important thing in this era has never been gold and silver, but food.

Xie Qian hoped that after experiencing this, the Ouchi family would understand the insurmountable gap between them and the Ming Dynasty. In fact, it was a gift for them to send Ouchi Saeiko to the dragon bed. (End of chapter)