Volume 3: Confrontation! The Run of Civilization Chapter 506: Moderate Support for the Vassal States
"Greetings, Mr. Wen."
"Hey, Brother Cunzhi is not the right name. If you want to call me Lord, should I call you Lord of the Imperial Household?"
"Tsk~ I'm sorry to make you laugh. This Minister of Internal Affairs was appointed by a small vassal state behind closed doors. He may not even be as good as a prefect of the Ming Dynasty."
Wen Tiren smiled slightly at Gao Panlong's implicit expression of wanting to return to the Ming Dynasty, but did not directly confirm or deny it. Instead, he pointed around and said, "This teahouse is very good, peaceful and quiet, but with its own flavor. I have heard that Japan has preserved many of the customs of the Han and Tang dynasties, and it seems to be true."
“Hahaha.” Gao Panlong was not in a hurry to change the subject when Wen Tiren diverted the topic: “There are Han and Tang relics, but this country also has its own unique culture and customs. Changqing can experience them later.”
"Okay." Old Wen is not Liu Xiahui, and he does not reject these things. But he is better at one thing, talking about things first, and then enjoying.
Seeing Wen Tiren making a gesture of invitation, Gao Panlong took a deep breath and said, "Since June of the first year of the Tianqi reign, I have followed His Majesty the Kanpaku to live in Japan. It has been almost three years now. In the past three years, thanks to His Majesty the Kanpaku's trust and the support of the Ming Dynasty, we have done a little bit.
First, the Torin Academy was rebuilt in Osaka. Nowadays, the children of daimyo from all over Japan will go to Torin Academy to study after a period of enlightenment. It is now the end of January, and the new semester is scheduled to start in April. It is expected that there will be more than 3,000 new students enrolled this semester. The total number of students on campus will exceed 10,000 for the first time. "
"Not bad." He took a sip of tea and said, "Brother Cunzhi, the Fangshan School in Daming has only about 30,000 students. The Royal Military Academy and the Naval Academy have less than 10,000 students. Moreover, these schools will be split up this year. After the split, the number of students will probably be less than that of Donglin."
"Split?"
"Yes, the emperor meant that the two existing military academies will be places for middle and senior commanders to improve and exchange in the future. With the update of our military equipment, the demand for technical arms is also increasing. Therefore, in the future, the basic military academies will establish different professional schools according to the different needs of artillery, logistics, engineering, ordinary infantry, sailors, etc.
The same is true for Fangshan. In the future, Fangshan will only have a research institute, which will recruit a small number of students with the potential to become great scientists. The elementary and middle schools will be separated from Fangshan. The emperor has decided to build new official elementary and middle schools in Beijing, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Xi'an, Chengdu, and Wuchang according to the original model of Fangshan. In the future, as fiscal revenue continues to increase, more and more cities will establish new schools. "
"… The Emperor's courage is truly extraordinary. I thought I had learned the essence of the subject, but who knew it was just superficial knowledge."
"Learn?" Wen Tiren smiled playfully. "Why, from what , aren't you teaching the Four Books and Five Classics at Donglin in Osaka?"
"Of course we need to teach the words of the sage. During the Warring States Period in Japan, there were more than 200 years of fighting. The daimyo from all over the country did all kinds of shameless things to keep their family names alive. Betraying their lords was commonplace. If we don't vigorously promote the words of the sage, how can we fundamentally eliminate the chaos? But, Japan doesn't have an imperial examination, so eight-legged essays and the like are not taught."
"Haha, then what else can we teach besides the words of the saints?"
"Japanese history, the 21st history of our Celestial Empire, the world history published in the Jinling Daily over the years, etc., as well as Japan's own unique kendo and martial arts."
"Hmm..." Wen Tiren was thinking that he would have to ask the Jinyiwei in the entourage to find a way to get a complete set of teaching materials for the Osaka Tolin Academy, but his face was calm: "Education is an old business of Cunzhi, so it must be done well. What else?"
"Also, what I am most proud of is that I promoted the land tax of the three dukes and seven commoners in the Toyotomi clan's own territory."
As a close follower of the Emperor, Old Wen naturally knew that Japan used to have five officials and five commoners. He was a little surprised that Gao Panlong could promote the three officials and seven commoners in Japan: "Well, Cunzhi, the Kanpaku is your student, and he has been educated in my Ming Dynasty for so many years. He has seen with his own eyes that ordinary people in my Ming Dynasty have a hard life even with a tax rate of 10. So, he listened to you, and it was easy to promote the three officials and seven commoners. But by doing this, wouldn't the Toyotomi family become the public enemy of Japan again?"
"That's right." After a smug smile, Gao Panlong said, "When the Toyotomi family first started doing this in their territory, there were indeed a lot of voices of opposition, and many silly little names and powerful families even rebelled. But on the one hand, Japan now has Ming troops stationed in Japan, so a few small rebellions are not a big deal. On the other hand, Japan is no longer a closed country like the Tokugawa shogunate. The large amount of gold and silver in this country can buy enough food outside. In this way, the Three Dukes and Seven Commoners can naturally be implemented. If the Toyotomi family implements this policy and other daimyos don't follow suit, the farmers in their territories will run away."
"I see." After clapping his hands and laughing, Wen Tiren said, "Well, speaking of Japan's gold and silver mines, how long can they continue to produce so much?"
"This..." Gao Panlong's expression, which was somewhat smug at first, suddenly dimmed.
Japan is a country with frequent volcanoes and earthquakes. Although natural disasters have brought great losses to the people of this country, volcanoes and earthquakes often bring up precious metals from the lower crust. Therefore, Japan is a country rich in precious metals, with many gold and silver mines, the most famous of which is Iwami Ginzan.
In the 17th century, Japan's silver production accounted for more than one-third of the world's silver production at one time. With such a strong silver production capacity, the core silver mine, Jianyinshan, is now at its peak, producing nearly 200 tons of silver (4 million taels of silver, equivalent to more than 5.7 million silver dollars in the Ming Dynasty) every year.
Such a high-quality mine was previously directly under the jurisdiction of the Tokugawa shogunate, and now it is naturally directly under the jurisdiction of the Toyotomi family. Toyotomi Toshihide adopted a shareholding system to distribute the annual output: the Toyotomi family took 50%, Sanada and other Japanese officials who followed him to the Ming Dynasty took 20%, Gao Panlong and other Ming Dynasty teachers took 10%, and the remaining 20% went to the producers and managers of the mine.
It can be said that this money was the fundamental reason why the Toyotomi family had the confidence to reduce the land tax.
However, everyone knows that the mine is not infinite and will eventually be mined out. In the past one or two years, the local magistrate has repeatedly reported that mining at Iwami Silver Mine is becoming increasingly difficult, and the silver content of the ore is decreasing...
Not only Iwami, but also other places, such as Kai, which had long been exhausted, and Sado, whose output was also declining year by year. Among the Donglin gentlemen who crossed the sea to the east, Zuo Guangdou was considered to be somewhat practical. After a detailed investigation of various places, he pessimistically stated that Iwami, which was in the best condition, could only continue to be mined on a large scale for another ten years, and then it would gradually become exhausted.
"Changqing, I won't hide it from you. Japan has always had a hard time being self-sufficient in food. Besides food, the only thing it has is minerals. If the minerals run out in the future, this country..." Gao Panlong smiled bitterly and shook his head: "No matter how hard we try, we can't stop this country's desire for external expansion."
"Cunzhi, I came here this time to bring the emperor's message. Japan should not be just a country that exports gold and silver."
"Oh? What about the Emperor?"
"Copper and iron are also very much needed by the Ming Dynasty. Your Majesty said that the Iwami Silver Mine not only produces silver, right? There are also many associated copper mines?"
“Indeed, the copper ore is of high quality.”
"That's right. My Ming Dynasty is in great need of copper, and the demand for iron will also rise rapidly. These are all good ways to make money."
"... Changqing, this country produces too little. Almost everything has to be bought from overseas. Although the mining of copper and iron can last longer, these things are not as valuable as gold and silver. In the long run, life will continue to get worse and worse."
"Hahaha, Cunzhi, the emperor has thought of what you said. So the emperor said that starting from this year, Japan will be allowed to build steel mills and copper smelters. These factories are allowed to use steam engines as power."
"Oh my! This is really great!" Gao Panlong stood up excitedly: "Changqing, you don't know that Japan's copper ore and iron ore are sold at such a low price! At that time, I was thinking that if we could sell these ores after refining them in Japan, wouldn't the price go up? It's a pity that the emperor didn't open this door before. We thought about it, but we didn't dare to do it."
"Haha , the emperor said that as the suzerain of East Asia, if only the suzerain is prosperous while the surrounding vassal states are starving, then the suzerain's prosperity will not last long. Therefore, the emperor sent me out this time to give appropriate relief to the vassal states."
"Great! In this way, Japan will not have to worry about its livelihood for the next 100 years."
"Well, in addition to this, tomorrow I will discuss maritime trade, logistics, and the appropriate recruitment of soldiers in Japan with His Majesty the Kanpaku."
"Changqing means that Japanese people should be allowed to serve as soldiers for the Ming Dynasty?"
"Why not?" Wen Tiren spread his hands. "In the past, our Ming army was not only made up of Han people, but also Tujia, Mongolian, Miao people, etc. Were there not all of them? When the emperor personally led the expedition to Japan, didn't the Jurchens fight well? In the Battle of Manila Bay last year, the Fuguo, which was manned by Korean sailors, fought badly, but the Guiguo, which was manned by Japanese sailors, fought very well! In addition, people like Inukai Tsuyoshi, who became naturalized citizens of our Ming in the early years, have already been promoted to the rank of major general... Why not use such a good source of troops?"
"Your Majesty's heart is indeed as broad as mine. In this way, those restless samurai in Japan will have a place to go. These guys go to Ming Dynasty to serve as soldiers. Not only will the country be stable, but their salaries and pensions will also benefit the country a little. Excellent, excellent."
"Cunzhi, please work hard tonight and explain what we just said to the Chancellor. I hope the talks tomorrow will go smoothly. Please note that in addition to Japan, I also have to go to Siam."
"Okay, leave this matter to me. Changqing, open this door and turn left to find the hot spring bath. There is a little show I prepared for you, so please don't mind."
"Hahaha, in that case, I will be disrespectful to refuse."
