Chapter 143 Four Nanyang Towns
Dinner in the palace was as usual. Zhu Yuanzhang's taste is relatively strong, rich in fat and meat.
This is not the first time He Xi has eaten it.
I remember that when he first came to this era, he was eating such a meal.
Also here.
For a moment, there was a feeling of the past reappearing.
He Xi is not the only one who feels the past reappearing. And Zhu Yuanzhang.
That night, he came out of the blue, dressed in strange clothes. Verbally, it is also difficult to communicate. But today, He Xi is dressed in official uniform, sitting upright, and his hair has changed from short and bald to serious Han attire. Before, He Xi was very impetuous and could not do many things without Zhu Yuanzhang's help.
But today, He Xi has done great things in Nanyang.
Zhu Yuanzhang knew very well that within the Ming Dynasty, he would naturally stick to his word. But in Nanyang, there are certainly people who know who Zhu Yuanzhang is. It's hard to say how much influence Zhu has. And He Xi could do such a big thing in such an environment.
Zhu Yuanzhang was both happy and a little disappointed.
In Zhu Yuanzhang's view, He Xi has graduated.
Before this, Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude was to protect and cultivate, but now, he can really be used as a capable man. No more worrying about cleaning up the mess.
Of course, this does not mean that He Xi is perfect. It's just that people's materials are different, their styles are different, and their behavior is also different. He Xi only needs to be qualified in terms of tactics and political acumen. He Xi's strengths in other aspects are enough to make up for other shortcomings.
Just like what He Xi did in Nanyang.
Zhu Yuanzhang asked himself. He couldn't be like He Xi. In other words, he didn't even think of this. After all, the knowledge of political strategists, that is, the knowledge of diplomacy, was close to the art of slaying dragons in the unified Central Plains dynasty. However, no matter how exquisite the skills are, there will be no dragon in the world.
Today, there is no need to learn the skills of great powers fighting for supremacy in later generations, using various methods, combining vertical and horizontal, and using all possible means, such as proxy wars and selling out teammates. It even greatly opened up the theory of diplomacy. He Xi did not need to study hard at all. Under the influence of his ears and eyes, he acquired one or two skills and was able to determine the situation in Nanyang.
Let the Ming Dynasty make the smallest investment and maximize the profits, and master the art of military conquest and friendship.
Zhu Yuanzhang estimated that only one person in the world could do this, He Xi.
However, Zhu Yuanzhang was also surprised by He Xi's rapid growth.
Zhu Yuanzhang actually attached great importance to the cultivation of talents. After all, many of his generals were trained by Zhu Yuanzhang. Lu Zhongheng is one of them. It’s just that Lu Zhongheng’s upper limit is set there. Zhu Yuanzhang set a future route for Lu Zhongheng, which was to guard the country outside. Now it was Nanyang, and in the future it might be the Western Regions. Anyway, Lu Zhongheng would probably work hard and make great achievements during his lifetime outside, and he would be granted the title of Duke or County King after his death. But in the court, he was deceived by someone's few words. But he died without a burial place, and his children were also implicated.
This made Zhu Yuanzhang have to lament the education system of later generations.
It's a very common thing that people don't value anymore. Just like the education system of later generations. Almost everyone has learned it, so they no longer think it is valuable. But he didn't know that in Zhu Yuanzhang's view, it was a matter of judgment. Similarly, when comparing Lu Zhongheng, when Lu Zhongheng met Zhu Yuanzhang, he was younger than when He Xi met Zhu Yuanzhang. But after following Zhu Yuanzhang for so many years, Zhu Yuanzhang had a group of old team members such as Lu Zhongheng. Not under the current attitude towards He Xi. That's really how you treat it as a family. After all, Zhu Yuanzhang's family is weak and must gather people's hearts. Only then can great things be accomplished. But under the great waves, only Lu Zhongheng and a few others achieved something.
Although some of the others died on the battlefield, more people reached their upper limit early. Serve as officers at all levels across the country. But because of his seniority, he gets some preferential treatment.
Of course, although these people have low achievements, they are Zhu Yuanzhang's most loyal team.
Lu Zhongheng is already one of the best. But Lu Zhongheng can fight well, but he is still far away from being a handsome man. Everything else is a mess. As for He Xi, Zhu Yuanzhang only gave advice and training. However, within a few years, he had understood various rules of Ming Dynasty officialdom and made achievements in various places.
But Zhu Yuanzhang knew that there was a gap between He Xi's talent and the world's top talents. But with his current performance and taking charge of a province, there should be no problems.
What complemented He Xi's talent was that more than ten years of education in later generations gave He Xi a different perspective on the world and the ability and habit of continuous learning.
It's just that He Xi is at a loss and doesn't know it.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at He Xi without speaking for a long time.
He Xi became more and more nervous and thought to himself, "Is there anything inappropriate about what I did in Nanyang?" He Xi thought more and more, and thought inwardly: "By the way, there is one thing I didn't say. "
He Xi immediately said, "Father, there is one thing about Nanyang that was hard to say just now."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "What's the matter?"
He Xi said: "About Nanyang Copper Mine."
Zhu Yuanzhang's heart moved and he said: "Nanyang Copper Mine?"
He Xi said: "Yes, I checked my qualifications and explored Nanyang. I already know where the Cebu copper mine is in the future. It is in the Sulu country. Now the King of Sulu is here as an envoy."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "I remember that this copper mine was very large. And it was on an island."
He Xi said, "Exactly. If there is this copper mine, the imperial court will be able to mint money on a large scale. A four-level or three-level currency system of gold, silver, copper and iron will be used to replace the treasure banknote system. I think this copper mine will be there. Within two hundred years, there will be no shortage of money in the Ming Dynasty."
He Xi has studied treasure notes for a long time. But he finally decided to give up the Baochao system.
Without him, Bao Chao would owe too much.
This debt belongs not only to Ming Dynasty. There are also those from the former Song Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty, and the Yuan Dynasty.
Before their demise, these three countries all issued money indiscriminately. In addition, from the beginning, the Ming Dynasty Baobao was intended to be distributed indiscriminately and to plunder people's wealth. It can be said that today's treasure banknotes are similar to what later generations of warlords called military notes.
It's nothing more than a person without subjective will. Zhu Yuanzhang just doesn't understand these financial knowledge. And hereafter is just subjective.
Even after the fourteenth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang did not discover treasure banknotes on a large scale. However, it still cannot prevent the price of treasure notes from falling. This is actually the reason why Ming Dynasty's finances have become increasingly tight in recent years. In the past, when I had no money, I would print treasure banknotes. Now this item is discontinued. Only then will the costs in all aspects be reduced a lot.
In the past one or two hundred years, the Chinese people have experienced four or five banknote bankruptcies. Almost everyone has learned the lesson. There has long been no trust in paper money.
Money is essentially confidence and credit. Since no one believes it, the money is worthless.
He Xi thinks it would be better to return to a precious metal-based currency. As for credit currency. Just wait. But precious metal currency requires enough precious metals. It should be noted that China's banknotes are entirely driven by a shortage of precious metals, especially copper.
If the Song Dynasty had a steady stream of copper mines, there would be no Jiaozi.
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "I remember that the country of Sulu seemed to have asked for annexation twenty or thirty years later. Was it this King of Sulu?"
He Xi said: "This is not clear. Many countries in Southeast Asia have no historical data, and we rely on Chinese historical data to get a glimpse of their history."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "I know, I will pay attention to this matter."
As a result of Zhu Yuanzhang's attention, when bidding farewell to the envoys from other countries, King Sulu cried bitterly at the banquet and asked the Ming Dynasty to surrender his land. Zhu Yuanzhang repeatedly persuaded and comforted. To no avail, King Sulu said that he would rather be the ghost of the Ming Dynasty than the king of Sulu.
Seeing that King Sulu was so determined, Zhu Yuanzhang could not refuse, so he finally agreed. But again, this is just one example. This will not be the case next time.
Therefore, the territory of the Ming Dynasty in Nanyang was basically determined, namely, the four towns of Nanyang, Xinzhou, Jiugang, Sanbao, and Sulu. In the end of the Hongwu era, there were no big changes. The real big changes would come later.
However, these are all things for later.
