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When it came to the main topic, Ban Dingyuan immediately straightened his posture, coughed slightly, and said to Li Shen: "Prime Minister Li, I represent the Han Dynasty to officially establish equal diplomatic relations with your country.
The specific matters have been clearly written in the credentials submitted. The Han Dynasty wants to conduct comprehensive cooperation with your country in the fields of business, military, economy and culture.
Thus achieving a win-win situation. "
Li Shen smiled slightly: "Then I dare to ask Envoy Ban, what is win-win?"
Ban Dingyuan said: "Our country purchases excess ore raw materials from your country and opens mines and factories within the territory, which will definitely give your country corresponding profits.
Your country can also make a profit by purchasing the goods it needs from our Han Dynasty. Wouldn't this be an economic win-win for both parties?
Our country sells the most advanced firearms and equipment to your country to help your country eliminate outdated weapons and thereby enhance the combat effectiveness of its army. Isn't this a win-win situation in the military?
Our country and your country can jointly investigate folk culture, help people enrich their spiritual and material lives, and improve their horizons. Wouldn't it be a win-win situation in terms of culture?
Li Xiang thinks about it, which of the three mentioned below is not a policy that benefits the country and the people? Is it mutually beneficial to your country and this DPRK? "
After hearing this, Li Shen's eyes lit up and he quickly fell into deep thought.
According to Ban Dingyuan, if the Kingdom of Jin really develops according to this idea, the national power of the Kingdom of Jin will definitely rise to several levels.
The interconnection of commercial markets can increase the revenue of the national treasury, and there is no need to rely solely on the two-quarter agricultural tax per year to maintain daily expenses.
Military cooperation can replace all the backward weapons in the army with new equipment, thereby improving combat effectiveness. After all, he has roughly understood the power of firearms from Zhang Gui.
As for folk cultural exchanges, it can also allow the people who have long-standing grievances to transfer their conflicts outwards against the imperial court and relieve the pressure on the central government.
Based on this calculation, Ban Dingyuan's "diplomatic relations" proposal is indeed beneficial to both parties.
However, Li Shen understood that it was basically impossible to fully implement these three items.
First of all, the first rule is that the ore must not be used by enemies. This is the golden rule.
South Australia is rich in minerals, but the mining intensity is very limited. So far, there are only 13 official mines operating, and most of them are in an intermittent state. The private mines are very small in both scale and number.
This is because the rulers of the Jin Kingdom believe that it is easy for a group of green-skinned rogues to gather in the mines, and the miners have been a group of fierce and courageous people since history. If they gathered together and caused trouble, it would be enough to bring trouble to the local government.
Only when the weather was bad and the people could not survive, would they be "merciful" and "give" the people and officials work to show the emperor's great kindness.
But once the disaster subsides, these people will be quickly driven back to their respective areas, in order to prevent the miners from ganging up and threatening local security.
As for military cooperation, it is even more impossible to achieve.
In fact, Li Shen knew very well that among the Nanyang countries, the reason why the Jin Kingdom was able to intimidate the barbarians was not relying on advanced military technology, but simply crushing manpower.
But when it comes to soldiers' equipment, they were already lagging behind the enemy in the Battle of Luzon many years ago.
Luzon's army is equipped with weapons forged from wootz steel, armor spliced with willow leaves, heavy defensive weapons such as crossbows and stone cannons, and a fleet that can gallop across the ocean.
At that time, the weapons of the Jin Army soldiers were still made of backward pig iron, and the penetration rate of iron armor was less than 10% of the entire army. The navy was far behind, and it relied on several times the number of enemies to defeat its opponents.
Li Shen understood that the reform of military equipment must continue, otherwise it would not be able to continue to show an absolute advantage over the surrounding vassals and barbarians.
However, Honglin would not admit the fact that his army had lagged behind the world. In his heart, he believed that the Jin Army was still the invincible Jin Army. Even if he admitted that it was indeed inferior to the enemy in some places, this arrogance would not change. thought of.
As for the last piece, opening up cultural exchanges is a national taboo, and it is absolutely impossible for Honglin to allow it.
Thinking of this, Li Shen sighed and could only proceed step by step.
So, he said to Ban Dingyuan: "I will truthfully convey what the foreign envoy said to the emperor, but I just venture to ask,
If your country opens a mine and sets up a factory in Daikin’s territory, how much benefit might Daikin get? "
This is also the most urgent problem that Li Shen needs to solve at the moment. Since Honglin came to the throne, the money in the treasury has been flowing like water, which is not enough for him to spend his family. He is in urgent need of additional financial solutions.
Ban Dingyuan said: "It depends on the scale of the factory. Taking our Jizhou Iron Factory in the Far East as an example, the national treasury can collect four million silver dollars in tax revenue from the iron factory a year."
As soon as these words came out, Li Shen's eyes suddenly lit up.
Four million taels?
What is this concept? !
The annual treasury income of the Jin Kingdom is only 80 million taels at most, and sometimes even only 50 million taels. However, just one iron factory can bring one-twentieth or even one-twelfth of the tax revenue to the treasury. It is completely acceptable. Solve current and future financial problems.
"Envoy Ban, don't say this nonsense. Can you really have so much tax revenue?"
"Just a little more."
Seeing Ban Dingyuan's confident tone, Li Shen decided to give it a try and persuade Honglin to let the Central Plains people mine in the territory.
The two chatted happily until it was time to light the lanterns, and then Li Shen said goodbye and left.
Today's meeting with Ban Dingyuan benefited him a lot, and he also saw that the Central Plains has a deeper heritage than he thought.
But when Li Shen and others returned to the palace and saw Hong Lin, before he could say hello, he heard Hong Lin ask in a deep voice: "You're back?"
Li Shen was startled, it was obvious that Honglin's tone was displeased.
He dared to take a peek and saw Honglin's face was ashen.
"My servant is back. He has talked with the Dongyi envoy and roughly understands the content of the diplomatic relations..."
Before Li Shen could finish what he said, Honglin directly threw a secret report in front of him: "Take a look for yourself."
Li Shen lay on the ground, picked up the secret report, opened it and read it.
After reading it, he couldn't help but look shocked: "Your Majesty, I really don't know that such a thing exists."
Honglin said expressionlessly: "What a Dongyi, they actually decided to come to my Nanyang. Fortunately, I still treated them with courtesy. There is no need for the courtesy of a monarch or a minister to meet a saint.
But when they arrived, half of the thirty-six and seventy-two states in Nanyang became the territory of Dongyi. It was obvious that they did not take me, Dajin, seriously.
If it weren’t for the Manila envoys coming to Beijing to report, I would still have been kept in the dark! "
Honglin was very angry. This move by the Han Dynasty was tantamount to significantly weakening the Jin Kingdom's control over Nanyang forces, which he absolutely could not accept.
In fact, the Han Dynasty only had about thirteen colonies in Nanyang, and these thirteen areas were sanctioned by the Han Dynasty navy because the local indigenous people actively threatened the Han Dynasty merchant fleet. Most of the areas were actually normal businesses. Just trade.
But even so, Honglin will never allow a second force to threaten the Jin Kingdom's absolute right to speak in Nanyang!
