Volume 3: Confrontation! The Run of Civilization Chapter 505: Destiny
After a dull "thump" sound, the Fujian sailing warship stopped steadily at the dock of Hirado Port in Japan.
"Motosuke, Hirado is here."
"Huh~ I'm finally here. I've been feeling really bad for this period of time. But Captain Zheng, I'm the second assistant in the imperial court, not the first assistant. So, the word "first assistant" is inappropriate."
"Hehe, everyone knows that this inspection is for the Emperor to let the princes get to know you. When you return from this inspection, you will be the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty."
Because of his outstanding performance in the Battle of Manila, where his guns hit enemy ships many times, Zheng Zhilong, who was only 18 years old, was promoted to captain of the Fujian-class sailing warship and held the rank of lieutenant colonel in the fourth year of Tianqi. This time, he served as the commander of a small fleet, leading four warships, two large and two small, to escort the Ming Dynasty 's deputy minister Wen Tiren to inspect the four major overseas fiefdoms of the Ming Dynasty and various vassal states headed by Japan.
Zhu Youdong's original intention of this tour was to let Wen Tihen, who was good at networking, take a look and listen to various vassal states to understand their current situation and listen to the demands of these vassal kings.
The reason for doing this is largely because the growth rate of various production in the Ming Dynasty is too fast, and the demand for resources is also growing exponentially.
Let's talk about the military's bullets. As the standard bullet of the military, the demand for copper shell bullets has soared after the machine guns were invented. However, the copper mines in China are not abundant, and the existing large mines are far away in Yunnan, Jiangxi, Shanxi, South Zhili and other places. The copper mines in these places, except for Tongling in South Zhili, where the minerals are relatively convenient to transport, are somewhat awkward in transportation. In addition, after the copper mines are produced, in addition to the military, there are many other places that need them. In short, the copper mine production in Daming has begun to fail to meet domestic demand.
In later times, the military of our great country was forced to use steel shell bullets due to the shortage of copper mines. Although the application of various advanced technologies made the use of steel shell bullets not a big problem, but in this era, where do you ask Zhu Youdong to get the copper-clad steel and painted steel technology?
Apart from copper, China actually does not have many iron ore ores, nor precious metals such as gold and silver. Rare metals such as chromium and nickel that determine the quality of artillery steel are also relatively scarce.
Of course, Zhu Youdong was not too worried about the lack of these resources: as an old bookworm before the time travel, he had seen in countless time travel novels that the countries in East Asia and Southeast Asia were rich in mineral resources!
North Korea has iron and graphite, Japan has large amounts of precious metals such as gold, silver and copper, Siam has tin and fluorite, and the newly conquered Luzon and Mindanao to its south, in addition to large amounts of gold and copper mines, also have rare large nickel and chromium mines!
Therefore, we must make full use of the mineral resources of the vassal states!
This is the main purpose of Wen Tiren's tour this time.
Of course, nominally, the purpose of the tour of the second assistant was not to plunder minerals, but to find a way for the people of the vassal states to make money: because the Ming Dynasty launched the Industrial Revolution, but at the same time strictly prohibited the export of steam engines. As a result, the wealth of all countries in Greater East Asia was concentrated in the Ming Dynasty like a tide. This one-way flow of wealth is definitely not a good thing. Over time, the East Asian countries that sucked too much blood would become the heart of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty also had to find a way for the vassal states to make money besides farming.
To put it in the official language: complement each other's strengths and move forward together!
Although this was the main task, Zheng Zhilong's flattery was not wrong: the current cabinet had been in existence for more than ten years since Zhu Youdong formed it in the 39th year of Wanli (1611). Whether in terms of the age of the cabinet ministers or their tenure, it was time for adjustments.
Wen Tiren already knew that this cabinet adjustment would be completed after the joint examination in the fourth year of Tianqi. Zhu Youdong had already told him in advance that after Fang Congzhe retired, he would take over as the first assistant. In addition to Yuan Keli succeeding as the second assistant, the cabinet also needed to introduce the Zhejiang Party - this was a reward for the Zhejiang Party's first surrender before the power of the Imperial Teacher Party was fully developed.
As for the six ministers, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Revenue all had to be adjusted: the number of departments in the central government of the Ming Dynasty at that time was too small. As a result, the six ministers had great power. In this way, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Revenue had not changed their ministers for more than ten years, which was simply unimaginable in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty before.
Of course, given Old Wen's character, he would not spread these words. But in the imperial capital, there are too many street clubs and street organization departments. After Fang Congzhe, Zhao Huan, Xu Honggang and others submitted a petition to beg for death, rumors about Lord Wen's promotion to the prime minister naturally spread.
In short, Zhu Youdong did want the future Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty to go out for a walk and meet the princes of various places. And a guy like Zheng Zhilong, who is naturally good at scheming, was naturally very happy after receiving such a task. Along the way, he served Wen Tiren very well - except for the fact that he could not help seasickness, he tried his best to do everything he could think of for Wen.
"When the Prime Minister got off the ship..."
"Stop!" After he called Lao Wen "Yuan Fu" again, Lao Wen, who had always been cheerful, also got angry.
"Hey." Although he was angry, who was Old Wen? He just raised his voice slightly to express his dissatisfaction: "Captain Zheng, I don't hate people who flatter, but I hate people who can't flatter well!"
After saying this, Wen Tiren flicked his sleeves and got off the boat on his own.
At the dock, Toyotomi Tohide, Gao Panlong, Sanada Yukimura and other civil and military officials came to greet them. After a simple exchange of greetings, Wen Cifu quickly got into a luxuriously decorated carriage and left in a flash, leaving Zheng Zhilong embarrassed on the bridge.
It's not easy for me! Along the way, in order to take good care of you, I gave up my captain's room and stood guard for you as the commander of the fleet! Because it was your first time on a ship, you vomited a lot and couldn't eat, so I personally cooked porridge for you... But you didn't even look at me in front of so many crew members!
Alas, my origin is too low...
"This is Captain Zheng, right?"
"Um?"
Zheng Zhilong, who was very unhappy, raised his head and said, "This Minnan dialect is authentic. Who are you?"
"My name is Weng Yihuang, my ancestral home is Quanzhou, Fujian. When my family's land was invaded by the sea, I went to Japan to make a living. Now I am a blacksmith. This time the Ming Dynasty soldiers came, and I heard that Captain Zheng was from Fujian, so the Japanese governor entrusted me to be Captain Zheng's translator. Below the ship are the local Japanese feudal lords, and they are responsible for the specific reception work."
"Oh, I see. Um, old man, my soldiers sailed directly from Tianjin to Hirado and have been drifting on the sea for several days. Please talk to the feudal lords below and ask them to send people to guide them to restaurants, brothels, etc. to relax."
"Okay, what about you, Captain Zheng?"
"I'm not interested at the moment."
"Then Captain Zheng, please come with me to my home and sit down. I will cook for you some Fujian cuisine."
"...Well, that's fine. Since I joined the navy, I've been drifting on the sea all year round. I haven't eaten authentic hometown food for a long time."
After arranging some soldiers to be on duty and some soldiers to disembark and relax, Zheng Zhilong followed Weng Yihuang to his home in Hirado.
"A Song, A Song, come out quickly, there are guests at home."
"Hi, father."
Following Emperor Weng Yihuang's call, a slim and gentle-looking woman trotted out.
"Captain Zheng, I am ashamed to say that when I came to Japan from Quanzhou, I was extremely poor, so I had to marry a local widow to make a living. This Ah Song is the daughter of my wife and her ex-husband. But we have lived together for so many years, and we are as close as a family... Anyway, I am sorry to make you laugh. Uh, Captain Zheng?"
"Ah? Oh, no, no, no, it's excellent, excellent!"
