"I heard that there is land at the end of the sea, and there are people and countries on the land. I don't know if they have a king. If possible, I would like to talk to those people."
Wang Shouren did not fully understand this knowledge. He just responded and said: "Your Majesty, it is better to be cautious in uncivilized overseas lands. These people do not know Confucius and Mencius and do not follow etiquette. Besides, the barbarian lands are definitely not as good as our Central Plains." The land is vast and abundant.”
Zhu Houzhao would not refute or despise Wang Shouren in this regard. Arguing with a person who lived five hundred years ago would not have a sense of superiority, and it would be meaningless. He was just talking about the imperial court's maritime policy.
"That's why Bo'an said that we need to have 'bandits' at sea to protect our Ming merchant ships. I think it's feasible. The purpose is to tell these small barbarian countries that our Ming people will not tolerate bullying at will even if they go overseas."
"You should go ahead and do this. I originally wanted to promote you to an official position, but after thinking about it carefully, it is better to join politics so that you don't have to stick to your rank. But there is a trouble. There seems to be a shortage of ships now."
Wang Shouren thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, Fujian has also investigated several smuggling merchants. If your Majesty allows it, please give these captured ships to me. We will solve the urgent need first."
"Accurate."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Zhu Houzhao looked at Wang Shouren, who was in his thirties, carefully. The more he looked at him, the more he admired him, because at this time he had already shown the appearance of a "literary knight".
If this naval force really does tricks for him and fights a few victorious battles at sea, why can't he be made a marquis?
And there is no theme of peace and development these days. If you need to fight, then let’s fight.
There was one reason for the war: silver.
In fact, Ming Dynasty was an area poor in both silver and copper. The few silver mines there are are not large enough for the huge land population and economic scale.
So currency is an embarrassing thing in our history.
Take copper coins as an example. Because of the lack of copper, as long as the feudal dynasty minted copper coins seriously, the value of the copper coins itself was very high. When the money was taken and refined, it became even more valuable. But if it's shoddily made, the thing won't work and it's easy to fake it.
As far as silver is concerned, Japan next door has become a world-wide exporter of gold and silver since the 16th century.
The demand came from the Ming Dynasty. In fact, including Japan, a large amount of silver in the world was flowing into China.
Zhang Juzheng later implemented a whip method, the basis of which was the monetization of silver. That is, the entire country already has so much silver.
Otherwise, the country is short of silver, and if you insist on using a whip method to collect money that others don’t have, wouldn’t this cost people’s lives?
In fact, despite this, many people recorded at the time that many people in the Ming Dynasty had grain in their hands, but there were not enough channels to exchange it for silver. Of course, this is something.
And think from a higher level,
What is silver? Metal.
Can't eat, drink or wear clothes.
What did Daming export? Silk, porcelain, tea.
These are all serious, actual products, made bit by bit by ordinary people. As a result, the people sitting in the silver and gold mines dug up the mountains and exchanged them for these products.
The essence of opening the sea for a long time is to exchange labor for a little currency.
But what if we could also mine silver directly?
Although this is not unlimited, because silver itself has no value and can be mined indefinitely, at a certain stage the country must switch to the gold standard.
But for now and in the next few decades, it would be best if there were silver mines... and Japan was currently in the Warring States Period, when various princes were fighting each other and mining silver crazily.
The Portuguese called Japan at this time the 'Silver Island'.
Gu Yanwu in China also said, "Japan has no goods, only gold and silver."
From this point of view, spending three hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver today is well worth it. First of all, it has at least supported some people in the Ming Dynasty. Secondly, it also has some maritime armed forces. In the end, maybe we can try that goal.
It is precisely because Zhu Houzhao's thoughts extend to such a distant future that when he looks back at Wang Shouren, he feels that this person must be of great use.
Therefore, it is difficult to hold back my admiration for Wang Shouren.
In the next few days, even though he was very busy, the emperor still found time to constantly summon him and accompany him.
There were often ministers who came to the palace, and they always met Wang Shouren in advance. Sometimes, the emperor would ask Wang Shouren for his opinion not only on matters in Fujian, but also on matters in other regions.
Such grace had already appeared before, but this time it came suddenly, urgently, and better than any minister before.
So a few days later, a word came from the palace.
It is said that the two nobles of Yongshou Palace seldom see His Majesty. Once they asked the eunuch beside them what His Majesty was doing. The eunuch replied that His Majesty was summoning the king to participate in politics.
Just such a sentence, I don't know if the two nobles really asked, let alone where it came from. Maybe it was a joke made up by some good people to show Wang Shouren's favor, but it was really realistic.
Therefore, it spread very quickly in Beijing, because it indeed catered to the inner thoughts of many officials.
On this day, Wang Shouren came out of the palace and was shocked when he returned home. It turned out that the bandit leader from Fujian had touched him!
He turned around and looked at the housekeeper, who was helpless, "This girl... said she was a friend of the master. She is really a villain..."
As he spoke, he lowered his head.
Bai Li smiled and crossed his legs on the chair while eating and drinking, feeling very comfortable, "Mr. Wang, he can't stop us, so why should we blame him?"
Wang Shouren sighed, "Why did you come to the capital?"
"You can't go to the sea, and you can't go up the mountains to rob people. This girl has never had time to relax here since she was a child. It was really unbearable, so she suddenly came to the capital to have a look. Didn't it say that this is the foot of the emperor?"
"The emperor has more rules under his feet than in Fujian. Miss Bai, for your own good, it is better to be less public in the capital."
Bai Qiwei made a movement and held the snack in mid-air.
Wang Shouren is a very smart man, "Isn't he already in trouble?"
"It should...not be a disaster..."
"What is it? Tell me quickly."
"Originally, I wanted to take credit from you. I was walking on the street with several brothers and clearly heard two people speaking ill of Mr. Wang behind his back. This kind of man is really worthless. I am jealous that you are favored by the emperor. Just think about it in your heart and say it out loud. I can’t stand it, so..."
Wow.
Wang Shouren stood up and said, "You won't be cruel and hurt others, will you?"
"It's okay, I just broke my arm..."
"What?"
"Pfft... Hahaha." Bai Li suddenly burst into laughter, "You are too ungrateful. Don't worry, I didn't hit anyone."
Wang Shouren tossed his sleeves angrily, "Did you hurt anyone?"
"No, this girl is not brainless. When I hurt people, I hurt them halfway. How could I do it in the city? And I don't want to cause you any trouble. Aren't you loved by the emperor now?"
Wang Shouren felt relieved and said, "Don't tell such jokes in the future. Isn't this a trivial matter?"
Bai Li clapped her hands, stood up and bowed seriously, "The little girl knows her mistake. Master Wang taught her that."
Because she was a girl, Wang Shouren really didn't have any good ideas.
As a result, Bai Li bent down and raised his head, looking playful, "Hey, what do you mean by exempting the Shibo Department from getting access to silver? I really don't have that much silver to pay this amount."
"This matter has been settled. If you stay safely in Fujian, the letter should be delivered in a few days."
Bai Li was overjoyed. He slapped his thigh and said, "It's no wonder that you are the famous Prince Wang from Fujian. I have over one hundred thousand taels of silver. If you say so, I will waive it off! No wonder you are the emperor's favorite."
"Who said that?"
"I heard it on the street. Although I didn't beat anyone, I made trouble for them. When they saw that I was a girl and I was exposed, they left in despair."
Wang Shouren pondered for a moment, it seemed that Jingli really had such a mood.
"Hey, what are you worried about?"
Bai Li didn't seem to know what men and women were allowed to have sex with each other. He actually knocked Wang Shouren on the shoulder and said grandly: "The emperor likes you. That's your ability. It's okay for you to take care of us bandits, but how can you take care of others?" Just let them talk. Oh, by the way, the emperor likes you so much, so he didn't give you a promotion, right? Will he keep you in the capital from now on?"
Wang Shouren really didn't know why this girl's thinking was so out-of-the-box, "If Miss Bai is really doing my best, why don't you want me to be promoted?"
"I didn't say that."
"Okay. But I'm telling you, your Majesty has not been promoted to any other official."
"Then you now..."
Wang Shouren had no choice but to say, "I am solely responsible for the matter of you bandits going to sea. If you didn't come, I would like to return to Fujian as soon as possible. There are some things that I still need help from the second master."
"Seriously?" Bai Li was instantly delighted, and suddenly said without any reason: "There are people in the capital praising the emperor for his kindness. According to this girl, our emperor can be called the most wise emperor in the world! He has arranged this for you. Excellent job! It sounds like he is a very clever person."
"Let's get down to business, shall we?"
"Aren't we talking about business?" The girl blinked her big eyes.
Wang Shouren didn't want to get entangled and said directly: "I have to select and select the officers and soldiers who have trained in the guard station in Fujian, and the people under the second master's stronghold."
"Selected for what?"
"The suitable ones go to sea, and the inappropriate ones stay."
Bai Li's complexion changed, "No, I promised my brothers that as long as they are willing to follow, I will not leave out any one."
"I will arrange where they go, so they won't starve to death."
"That's not possible. If there are brothers who want to go but are not selected, what should I say? I can't say that."
Wang Shouren frowned, so His Majesty asked what the use of bandits is. This is indeed a profound question.
This group of people is still far from being a truly mighty master.
And he probably has to find another way.
(End of chapter)
