The Great Industrial Ming Dynasty Started from Beiping

Chapter 535: The sinister Crown Prince (Thanks to book friend Musi Shenming for the reward)

"Although the Eighteenth Trading Company is a trading firm, its predecessor was actually a Japanese pirate, and it is not honest in private."

Jin Zhong objected.

When Qi Tai heard the news about the Eighteenth Trading Company, he quietly pricked up his ears.

The complicated and intertwined relationships between the Koryo Trading Company, the Eighteen Commercial Banks, and the trade in Jinzhou made many high-ranking officials of the Ming Dynasty wonder what was going on.

The main public opinion is that some of the upper classes of Goryeo and Japan privately set up trading houses to conduct trade in the Ming Dynasty.

But anyone with any sense can see the contradictions in this statement and it is not logical.

However, Japanese and Korean maids have become inseparable for many wealthy families, so many people turn a blind eye.

After Zhu Gaochi came to the capital, the things he had to face every day were vast and complex. Fang Fangming could no longer take care of them all like in the past in Peking.

Therefore, countless talents are needed to help take care of various matters.

Jin Zhong, the Minister of War, was naturally particularly concerned about military matters. Jin Zhong looked serious, indicating that they were very important.

"Ignore the others, even the always obedient Liu Ying, this person has actually taken control of Tanegashima."

"He has taken control of the island's indigenous population. The young slave soldiers he raised have now grown up. According to the news from the Golden State Navy, those people are extremely desperate in fighting."

Every inch of land will have detailed ownership in future generations.

The present moment is different.

Even in Southeast Asia, the population is very sparse, and there are many uninhabited old forests, swamps, depressions and other areas.

The population explosion in Southeast Asia in later generations was due to great progress in agricultural technology, abundant food, and a good medical system, so the population explosion occurred.

In ancient times, only the Chinese civilization had these two things.

In short.

In the early days of Tanegashima, it was only an area with indigenous people on the island, and there was no concept of a kingdom. It belonged to neither Japan nor the Ryukyu Kingdom.

Later it gradually became part of the Ryukyu Kingdom.

In the seventeenth century, the Amami Islands and other five islands in the northern part of the Ryukyu Kingdom were invaded by the Satsuma Domain of Japan and later annexed the entire Ryukyus.

Originally, after the victory of World War II, the Ryukyu Kingdom should be restored, and Japan would also be divided, with part of it supervised by China.

However, in order to protect its interests, the United States left its sphere of influence in East Asia and became the suzerain state of Japan. It continued to disturb the structure of East Asia and prevented East Asia from restoring stability.

The main culprit for the instability in East Asia is the United States.

That's the essence.

Zhu Gaochi became concerned when he heard that Liu Ying had separatized Tanegashima.

The changes brought about by having one's own territory and not having one's own territory are completely different, especially Liu Ying watched how Jinzhou developed.

really.

Jin Zhong mentioned things that Zhu Gaochi cared about.

"Liu Ying plundered the Japanese population and screened out the craftsmen and kept them on his Tanegashima. Not only did he establish a shipyard, but he also imitated the Ming Dynasty's firearms. I heard that he could already make blunderbuss, but he was limited by production capacity. , as well as high-quality flint, unable to produce self-generating fire muskets, and the output of bird muskets is not high.”

"The last time he was in Jinzhou, he even asked if he could buy flint from the Huguang Changsha area. Jinzhou refused on the spot. Although this person did not ask again later, his ambition is evident."

Qitai also changed his color.

This can be said to be a disaster caused by raising tigers. Although Ming Dynasty gained the majority of profits, these Japanese pirates also developed.

He couldn't help but look up at His Highness the Emperor Taisun, wondering if the Emperor Taisun was on guard.

Zhu Gaochi was not surprised, but he didn't expect the other party to walk so fast.

There are several places in the East where the productivity is sufficient to develop firearms.

The first was Annan, then Japan, and finally North Korea.

Although Annan's technology is advanced, external competition is severe, resulting in a limited population, which is destined to have a low upper limit. North Korea's hereditary yangban class is destined to be at the bottom.

Only Japan.

We have studied Chinese civilization since ancient times and have accumulated a large amount of excellent technologies, including in agriculture. Although the land area is small, the population cannot be underestimated.

Today's population of about 400 million is equivalent to four or five times that of Annan.

If a civilization only has a population of 100 million, it will not only be unable to build the Great Wall or the Pyramids, but it will also be unable to invent metallurgical technology and porcelain manufacturing technology.

In the agricultural era, most people were tied to the land. Only a small proportion of people were engaged in work other than agriculture, including handicrafts and construction, and even fewer were engaged in so-called scientific and technological inventions and creations.

Therefore, before humans use machines on a large scale, the base of the population is the most important factor in ensuring the development of civilization.

nothing else.

Nomadic fishing and hunting are destined to be backward civilizations that cannot develop science and technology and bring only destruction.

Therefore, Japan is an opponent worthy of attention. This country has learned from Chinese civilization from the beginning, but due to its geographical environment, it is not subject to external invasion and has the advantage of avoiding the regression of its own civilization.

The Northern and Southern Dynasties have been unified for many years, Japan has experienced thousands of years of development, and has a rudimentary national character.

When the Japanese shogunate solved the resistance forces led by Ouchi Yoshihiro, the future would be a period of stability for half a century.

If he wants to plot the whole of Japan, I am afraid that with the current national strength of the Ming Dynasty and the need to fight across the sea, Zhu Gaochi will not be too optimistic. It will definitely be half the result with twice the effort, and it will take at least 30 to [-] years.

With this strength, he might as well do something else.

Develop the Ming Dynasty industry, complete the technological update of the first industrial revolution as soon as possible, and create a better, bigger, less resistant Australia, and even the New World.

But he couldn't leave Japan alone, and he couldn't allow others to snore on the side of the bed, so Zhu Gaochi came up with the double-edged sword of the Eighteen Trading Banks.

It not only solved the Japanese pirate problem, but also continuously weakened Japan. In the end, it also supplemented the hard work needed by the Ming Dynasty.

The cost of putting people first is that the most dangerous and least cost-effective jobs require people from other countries to do them.

It can be said with certainty that the eunuchs of the Japanese Kingdom provided the most important support for the industrialization of Liaodong and the creation of Peiping's "steam engine."Jin Zhong pointed out Liu Ying, and then pointed out the rest.

Every force has made great progress, and Jinzhou is not the only one developing, although it is far from threatening Jinzhou.

But if the main forces of the Jinzhou Navy and Tianjin Navy go south, will they take the opportunity to cause chaos, causing the situation in the Ming Dynasty to fester and causing the greatest backlash?

His Royal Highness the Emperor Taisun was a bit gambling, and Jin Zhong felt that he wanted to give some advice in private.

There is no room for gambling on national affairs.

Zhu Gaochi didn't care.

No matter how the Eighteen Commercial Banks develop, they still need to start from scratch, and the Japanese country deserves the most attention. Compared with the current risks, they are nothing.

"The leakage of firearms does not surprise me."

Zhu Gaochi smiled.

Not to mention Japan, even North Korea is not a fool. Zhu Gaochi never expected that only the Ming Dynasty could produce firearms.

This is impossible.

Historically, Korean firearms, Japanese firearms, and even Annan firearms have made great progress, and it is not just the Ming Dynasty that had firearms.

The influence of Chinese civilization was too great in ancient times.

When Chinese civilization declined, the civilizations of East and Southeast Asia also declined. The Qing Dynasty restricted technology and ideas. For example, firearms were regressing, and the firearms of these countries also regressed.

The new army's firearms were powerful, and Goryeo would imitate them, and the Japanese would also imitate them due to the influence of the Eighteenth Trading Company.

Firearms are not difficult, the difficult thing is production volume.

Just that.

Although the Ming Dynasty could still win against troops with firearms, the casualties would increase. Only in front of indigenous countries could it maintain its dominance over the times.

After spending three cents of effort, Ming Dynasty might have occupied Australia and started to gain something. However, in Japan, it took ten cents of effort and there may not be any gains.

The reason is that the difference between opponents means the price they pay is also different.

For the same reason, Zhu Gaochi will continue to support the Eighteen Commercial Banks and adopt a continuous bloodletting policy against Japan.

"Send an envoy to contact Ouchi Yoshihiro. The Ouchi Navy can garrison his port and form a Uuchi United Navy with him to jointly fight against the shogunate. The premise is that he must not support the Eighteen Trading Firms."

"In addition, let the Zhejiang navy go to Tanegashima. Tanegashima is a vassal territory of our Ming Dynasty since ancient times. We cannot let Liu Ying occupy it. We can agree to give him a base."

"Send an envoy to Goryeo and agree with the King of Goryeo to establish the Myungryeo United Navy and station it on Jeju Island."

"Send an envoy to the Ryukyu Kingdom and make an agreement with the Ryukyu King to establish a Meiryu United Navy to garrison the Amami Islands."

Based on the historical situation and the current situation, Zhu Gaochi formulated a method to hijack the Eighteenth Commercial Bank.

The King of Goryeo would never refuse if he could combine with the Daming Navy to stabilize his throne.

The King of Ryukyu can combine with the Daming Navy to strengthen his rule on Ryukyu Island and intimidate the remaining chiefs to submit. He will also not refuse to combine with the Daming Navy in the Amami Islands.

Because it was equivalent to the Ming Dynasty opening up territory for him, and the power of the Ryukyu King was only on the main island.

"The Ryukyu Kingdom's shipbuilding industry was carried out by the imperial grandfather who sent Fujian shipbuilders, and the Amami Islands themselves are not within their jurisdiction."

"They don't have a navy of their own. The reason why they want to unite the navy is mainly to let the Ryukyu Kingdom bear the food supply and reduce the navy's expenses."

"As for Ouchi Yoshihiro, he is a sensible person. If it were not for the support of the Ming Dynasty, he would have been defeated by the shogunate. It is he who needs the Ming Dynasty, not the Ming Dynasty who needs him."

"As long as he agrees, Daming promises him that he will inform the Eighteen Commercial Banks and will not allow looting in his territory."

"As for Liu Ying."

Zhu Gaochi smiled: "Didn't he keep saying that he wanted his children to go ashore? Now you can see whether he is being hypocritical."

Tanegashima was controlled by the navy of the Ming Dynasty, directly holding Liu Ying's life gate.

Is it so easy to create a foundation?

It's easy to create, but hard to keep.

Zhu Gaochi stopped smiling. He had never taken pirates seriously, not because pirates were easy to deal with. On the contrary, pirates were the most troublesome existence.

However, Liu Ying is a Han after all. She is used to farming and has forgotten her own reliance.

"Liu Ying has no foundation, so I don't have much to do with him. However, he wants to build a big base and spends a lot of manpower, material and financial resources, which gives me a weak spot to exploit."

Through a combination of elimination and attack, combined with the North Korean navy, Yoshihiro Ouchi was roped in to form a closed island chain with the Ryukyu Kingdom as the end point.

The entire East China Sea is the sphere of influence of the Ming Dynasty. All forces that can provide trade are controlled by the Ming Dynasty. Unless the eighteen trading houses want to dig their own graves.

The only thing is that the forces of the shogunate will turn their backs because Ming Dynasty fully supports Ouchi Yoshihiro.

However.

The Eighteen Trading Banks did not produce their own goods and were involved in re-export trade. They had to obtain population from the Japanese country in order to obtain the benefits of trade, so they could not form a cooperative relationship with the shogunate.

Qi Tai below was dumbfounded when he heard Zhu Gaochi's new method of playing.

His Royal Highness the Emperor’s Grandson.

It's really a shame.

Qitai couldn't help but lower his head, admiring him beyond measure.

Jin Zhong also had no doubts.

The emperor's grandson always came up with surprising ideas to solve problems, just like an antelope hanging its horns without a trace.

He's used to it.

Jin Zhong couldn't help but glance at Qi Tai. Qi Tai looked like he had never seen the world. Jin Zhong couldn't help but laugh at himself, wondering if he was like Qi Tai at the beginning.

(End of this chapter)