There was a reason why the emperors of the Central Plains looked down upon the Japanese island country.
Not only is the land small and the people are small, being isolated overseas is not conducive to management, but the land is small and mountainous, and natural disasters are frequent. This is really a bit boring for the emperors who are in charge of the thousands of miles of mountains and rivers in Middle-earth...
The most important point is that the Central Plains regime, which was founded on farming, was extremely conservative under the influence of Confucian culture. It was abandoned and despised as a "foreign place" like the Japanese country. How could it send a large army to conquer thousands of miles away?
Since ancient times, the Central Plains regime under the dominance of Confucian culture has believed in the closed policy of "sweeping the snow in front of the door". If you can't manage so many people and so much land in your own family, why would you be interested in coveting other people's land?
And when this policy develops to the extreme, it becomes the extremism of "closing off the country", closing oneself off from the entire world...
In fact, in both the Ming and Qing dynasties, the initial "isolation" was caused by the social environment at that time. To some extent, this was a policy that was beneficial to the country at that time. However, when the country changed, the "filial sons and virtuous grandsons" clamored to reject reforms for various reasons with the view that "ancestral laws cannot be violated" and were unable to make changes according to local conditions, which became the main culprit that led to the country's isolation and backwardness.
Lao Wang once said, "There is no need to be afraid of changes in the sky, no law for the ancestors, and no sympathy for the words of people." This is a wise saying!
Too far away...
In the Tang Dynasty, the country was powerful and the people were coquettish. Even when it was at its lowest point after the An-Shi Rebellion, it was still the object of admiration from the surrounding small countries. Naturally, there was no talk of "isolating the country". But the emperor's thoughts were the same and he seriously lacked enterprising spirit.
Even a hero like His Majesty Li Er, while protecting the trade routes in the Western Regions, was focused on completing the unfinished conquest of Goguryeo by Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty. He was not even in the mood to take a look at the vast lands hanging overseas...
Fang Jun's mind was spinning.
He had not considered this issue before, which was due to negligence and helplessness.
The influence of Confucian culture has long been ingrained, and if the emperor is rashly allowed to race around the world, the great Confucians in the dynasty can spit him to death...
Statements such as "Although a country is large, it will perish if it is warlike" and "A gentleman uses military weapons to destroy his weapons", etc., were enough to beat Fang Jun to pieces.
But now he suddenly realized that His Majesty Li Er in front of him was different from the previous emperors...
This is not to say that His Majesty Li Er is more wise and powerful than Emperor Qin and Han Dynasty, but that His Majesty Li Er is more determined and obsessed with becoming "one emperor through the ages"! His Majesty Li Er came to the throne in a wrong way. He has to rely on his unprecedented achievements to show future generations that I, Li Er, am the one who can be the best emperor!
This is equivalent to an extremely large "whitewashing" process. History has proved that His Majesty Li Er did a good job, although he failed to defeat Goguryeo from beginning to end. Everyone knows that he killed his brothers and even brought his brothers' wives into the harem. Such a person's moral character has reached the extreme. He should have been abandoned by both humans and gods and will be infamy for thousands of years. However, later generations talk about His Majesty Li Er and how he came to power. It was just used as a source of conversation, and more to affirm his achievements as emperor.
I have to say that His Majesty Li Er is loved by history...
But in Fang Jun's view, this is far from enough.
I made up my mind that if I want to persuade His Majesty Li Er, I can only induce him with benefits.
It has the benefits of opening up new territories, but also the benefits of real money...
"Wei Chen often comes into contact with merchants from all over the world and hears about strange things from all over the world. I once heard someone say that the Japanese country is rich in gold and silver. The silver veins on the mountains are only shallowly buried under the soil surface. With a little digging, there is a trace of gold and silver. There are abundant silver mines, and gold mines are everywhere. It is said that there is a place called 'Ishimi' in the Japanese country, where silver mines are everywhere, and the entire mountain is mined with silver..."
As for the mining of "Iwami Ginzan" only started in Japan at the end of the Warring States Period, Fang Jun didn't care. He just wanted to bewitch His Majesty Li Er. Anyway, even if he sent people to dig out by then, he would still be able to dig out the silver...
His Majesty Li Er frowned, feeling a little moved and a little confused: "Silver is not circulated as wealth, so what is it used for?"
Fang Jun almost choked to death on his own saliva.
I actually forgot that in the Tang Dynasty at this time, silver was not a currency in circulation...
The value of silver is recognized by the world, but it is mainly used as a precious metal for gifts and collections, which is different from gold and copper that serve as monetary value. Silver, like gold, has historically been the legal currency of many countries in the world. It has the function of financial reserve and has also been an important means of international payment. China has a long history of understanding and utilizing silver. Silver has long been used Made into handicrafts and currency. However, the large-scale use of silver as currency only happened after the Tang and Song Dynasties...
In the Yuan Dynasty, the silver standard system was further strengthened, and the government regarded silver as an important currency, and silver ingots "Yuanbao" appeared. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the silver standard system was continuously consolidated and strengthened, and silver coins became official currency in the Ming Dynasty. Yuanbao, broken silver and The silver dollar became the legal currency of the Qing Dynasty.
Fang Jun said: "As the country becomes more and more prosperous, the circulation of private goods becomes more and more frequent and in larger quantities. Often a trade requires tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of copper coins, which is too troublesome. And although the price of gold Expensive, it can make up for the shortcomings of the low price of copper coins, but the production is scarce and it cannot become a currency in circulation. Gold is expensive and copper is cheap. If silver can be set between the two as legal tender, wouldn't it be just right?"
Historically, silver officially became legal tender in the eighth year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1529). In other words, it is possible for Linghu Chong to use his silver to buy wine, but it is absolutely impossible for heroes such as Qiao Feng, Guo Jing, Yang Guo, Zhang Wuji and others to frequently spend their money...
Do you want to confirm the silver standard system in advance?
Fang Jun disapproved of this.
The so-called backwardness of the silver standard system is just that at the end of the Qing Dynasty, almost all European powers in the world were on the gold standard system, which naturally created contradictions. The fate of a country does not depend on its financial system, but whether it is advanced and strong. If it falls behind, it will be beaten. Does it matter whether you are on the gold standard or the silver standard?
Now, Datang, as the most powerful existence on the planet, has established whatever kind of financial system it has established. All countries in the world that want to trade with Datang must establish what kind of system they must follow. "Kaiyuan Tongbao" can exchange The world.
This is true hegemony!
Conquering the enemy without fighting and making the world's wealth depend on the Tang Dynasty. What could be more fulfilling than this?
This is plundering the world's wealth...
His Majesty Li Er is not proficient in finance. In fact, no one in this era has studied finance. Everyone just knows that when the crazy issuance of currency leads to huge profits, it will also lead to skyrocketing prices. Farmers who work hard to grow food finally find that not only do they not have enough to eat, they don't even have enough to pay taxes...
His Majesty Li Er pondered for a moment, unwilling to give his opinion easily. You don't have to joke, every word you say must be carefully considered. What you say is like a nail and cannot be changed. This is how you can show the majesty of the king to the greatest extent.
He wanted to settle this matter first and let me think about it for a while...
But seeing Fang Jun's shining eyes with a slightly expectant look, he swallowed back the words that came to his lips. Just kidding, isn't that the same as admitting that I don't understand the relationship between gold, silver, and copper coins?
Of course His Majesty Li Er would not be happy to feel inferior in front of this little bastard!
After thinking for a while, His Majesty Li Er excused himself: "This matter is of great importance. If I can't make the decision, it would be better for all the ministers and ministers in the political hall to discuss it together. If there is no objection, then we can formulate a strategy. In this way, you Go back and write a detailed memorial, outlining the advantages and disadvantages of silver as legal tender, and send it here to me first to make sure it is correct, and then submit it to the Political Hall for discussion."
Fang Jun's lips curled up, feeling contempt in his heart...
If you know something, you know it, but if you don’t know it, you don’t know it. You clearly don’t understand it at all. You want to seek knowledge among us, but you still have to make high-sounding excuses. His Majesty the Emperor is quite shameless...
His Majesty Li Er just looked at Fang Jun's expression and knew that this guy despised him, so he became a little angry and stared at Fang Jun with unkind eyes.
