Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 358 Copper Material
In the Baohe Hall of the Guangzhou Imperial Palace, Qu Shisi, Jiao Lian and other military officials were sitting in the hall, listening to Li Chengzhi's report on the plan to station troops in Ryukyu.
Zhu Lang had previously told Jin Yingyuan and other Ryukyu envoys that the purpose of stationing troops was to intercept the merchant ships sent by the Qing Dynasty at sea, but in fact it was just an excuse.
The Qing invaders were originally a nomadic people from outside the Great Wall. After entering the Great Wall, the Qing government was already overwhelmed by the task of restoring farming in the Central Plains, not to mention sending out ships for maritime trade.

After Lu Jianguo and his men occupied Zhoushan, they often sent warships to raid and plunder places such as Suzhou in Southern Zhili. Lu Jianguo's fleet was of course unable to break through the city, but they had no problem robbing a handful and leaving.
The Qing court was naturally strong on land, but it was helpless in the face of this kind of surprise attack from the sea.
The Qing court had gathered some civilian ships in Ningbo and other places in an attempt to intercept the looting fleets on Zhoushan Island.

However, the Qing court had recruited only coastal river boats such as sand boats from the people, which were no match for the sea fleet led by Zheng Cai.

With the powerful firepower of his fleet, Zheng Cai easily tore apart the navy fleet that the Qing court had confiscated with great difficulty.

Now the Qing government couldn't even get out to sea in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, let alone organize a fleet to go to Japan for trade.

Zhu Lang's real purpose for stationing troops in Ryukyu was to obtain copper from Japan.

In 1639, the Edo Shogunate completely closed the country and began a strict ban on sea trade. All ports along the Japanese coast were closed, and even the prosperous Hirado Port was directly banned from trade.

Now all of Japan's foreign trade is restricted to Nagasaki.

Last year, the Maritime Trade Bureau purchased copper from Japan, and the price of the copper material obtained was only 100 kilograms and 8 taels, which was already extremely low. However, in fact, there is still room for this price to be further compressed.
The prices of all items traded in Nagasaki were subject to the intervention of the shogunate. In other words, the price of eight taels of copper was actually the price after the intervention of the shogunate. The price of copper in Japan would only be lower.
Zhu Lang decided to station troops in Ryukyu this time. Of course, there were some other considerations, but the main purpose was to obtain low-priced copper materials from Japan.
After listening to Li Chengzhi's report on the plan to station troops to obtain copper, Chen Zizhuang frowned slightly and said

"Stationing troops overseas is a serious matter. The price of copper offered by Japan is already extremely low. If we rashly send troops overseas just for some cheap copper, wouldn't it be a loss?"

Zhu Lang heard this, but shook his head and said

"Jiangnan has always been an important place for taxation, but now it has been seized by the Qing Dynasty. Although the court has worked hard to govern the country in recent years, it still has more expenses than income and must find another source of income."

Qu Shisi and others below nodded slightly upon hearing this. It was common knowledge that the government's financial situation was not good. Otherwise, the government would not have to come up with the method of using grain instead of silver and borrowing from private merchants to exchange silver for salaries.
Seeing the ministers nod, Zhu Lang continued to speak.

"The minting of new coins will be a major source of revenue for the court in the future. You all know the profits from minting coins last year. Last year, the court purchased 2 million catties of copper, and the Ministry of Revenue made a profit of 80,000 taels just from minting coins."

"The Maritime Trade Department has estimated that with the current shipping capacity of the imperial fleet, plus some civilian shipping capacity, it should be no problem for the imperial court to transport 6 million kilograms of copper materials from Japan every year."

"If all of this copper could be used to make coins, the Ministry of Revenue would be able to earn an extra 200,000 or 300,000 taels of silver every year."

"If the imperial court wants to increase revenue, it can only raise taxes, but whether it is land tax or business tax, it will probably cause resentment among the people. Only minting coins is the simplest. As long as the copper materials are delivered, minting coins can be started immediately, and profits can be made immediately without exhausting the people."

"The court just started buying large quantities of copper last year, so Japan set the price at 100 kilograms and 8 ounces. If the court increases its purchases in the future, Japan will definitely take the opportunity to raise the price. The court needs to prepare for a rainy day now."

The ministers below frowned when they heard this. The method of making money for profit has now been initially implemented, and this method is indeed as His Royal Highness the Regent said, with almost no disadvantages.
The core of the coin-making method is the low-priced copper material of Japan. If the court continues to increase its purchase of copper in the future, Japan will take the opportunity to raise the price while seeing what the court needs. This is almost inevitable.
If it is impossible to obtain low-priced copper materials from Japan, where can the court find another source of income that is so clean and can generate hundreds of thousands of taels of profit every year?

Seeing that the ministers were still hesitant, Zhu Lang spoke again.

"And you should also know that minting new coins is not just for profit. If the court can invest a large amount of new coins into the people every year, after the new coins are circulated, it will be much easier for the court to collect taxes in the future."

Qu Shisi and others nodded when they heard this. Not only the imperial court was short of money, but the people were also short of money.
Baochao has become waste paper, copper coins are of various kinds, and the value of copper coins of different qualities can differ by more than ten times. Silver is of course the best, but there is a silver shortage everywhere among the people, and there is simply not enough silver to circulate.

The court minted new money at this time not only to gain the profit of coinage, but also to stabilize the monetary economy of the people.
After the imperial court stabilized the price of money by using the official warehouses, the ministers in the court reached a consensus that a large number of new coins should be minted for circulation among the people.

All the ministers in the room frowned and said nothing. Zhu Lang was about to approve the matter, but Chen Zizhuang spoke up again.

"According to the intelligence obtained by the Jinyifu, Ryukyu is now secretly controlled by Japan. The court has stationed troops in Ryukyu. If Japan sends troops to attack, how should we respond?"

This is also what the cabinet ministers are most worried about. Now the Ming court's biggest enemy is still the Qing invaders. If they provoke a war with Japan because of the garrison, it will probably be more trouble than gain.
Although the war during the Wanli period ended with the victory of the Ming court, the strength of Japan also left a deep impression on the Ming court.
The Japanese could mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops at one time, which was not comparable to a small country like Ryukyu.

Zhu Lang heard this, but he didn't care, and said

"You are worrying too much. The Japanese shogunate has been at peace for decades, but now the country is no longer as prosperous as it once was."

Ten years ago, the Shimabara Rebellion broke out in Japan. Tens of thousands of farmers and common people on Kyushu Island rose up in rebellion. In order to quell the Shimabara Rebellion, the Edo Shogunate mobilized more than 100,000 troops from all over the country, but they were unable to defeat the rebels who only had tens of thousands of people.

At the beginning of the war, the shogunate army was even defeated by the rebels.

The Edo Shogunate eventually used Dutch gunboats to cut off the sea route and besieged the city with hundreds of thousands of troops for several months until the rebels in the city ran out of food and money. Only then did they finally break through the city and put down the uprising.
During the Wanli period, Toyotomi Hideyoshi gathered hundreds of thousands of troops and dared to challenge the Central Plains. Decades later, the Tokugawa shogunate gathered hundreds of thousands of troops, but could not even defeat the uprising army composed of some farmers and civilians. This shows the weakening of the shogunate's strength.

After the Shimabara Rebellion, the Edo Shogunate immediately issued a national isolation order. Now the shogunate only wants to close the country and ban the sea, and maintain its power behind closed doors. How can it have the courage to send troops to foreign lands?
"Besides, although the shogunate is now secretly controlling Ryukyu, Ryukyu is still a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty has stationed troops in the vassal state, which is a matter between the Ming Dynasty and Ryukyu. It has nothing to do with Japan."

The ministers below still hesitated after hearing this. All the ministers were civil officials, and they instinctively did not like to use force.

They had never seen such a precedent for stationing troops overseas, and they didn't know what changes would follow, so they instinctively wanted to oppose it.
Seeing that Qu Shisi and the others below were still unwilling to speak, Zhu Lang spoke again

"Even if we take a step back, what will happen if Japan really sends troops?"

"If Japan really sends troops, the worst that can happen is that they can just withdraw the troops from Ryukyu. Japan attacked Korea back then, so do they dare to send troops to attack Fujian Province?"

Why did Japan choose to attack from Korea when it was eyeing the mainland? Because Korea and Japan are separated by the Tsushima Strait, with Tsushima Island in the middle for transit. If Japan wanted to send troops to the mainland, its only choice was Korea.

Korea has now become a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty. Even if Japan sends troops to Korea, Zhu Lang does not care at all.

With the current level of navigation, even the Ming court could not transport a large army across the sea. If Japan wanted to attack Fujian Province across the sea, it would only be courting death.

At this time, the Ming court had retreated to the south. No matter how Japan reacted, it would not affect the Ming court at all.

As for whether Japan would join forces with the Qing court, that is even more absurd. During the Hongguang and Longwu periods, some people from the Ming court went to Japan to request the shogunate to send troops, but the Edo shogunate delayed and refused for various reasons. The Ming court's desire for Japan to send troops was just wishful thinking.
The Edo Shogunate did not help the Ming Dynasty, nor would it help the Qing Dynasty, because no matter who it helped, it would not benefit the Shogunate, which was separated by an ocean.

After hearing this, the ministers finally agreed to this matter. Since no matter how much trouble Japan makes, it can't affect the Ming Dynasty at this time, let the Regent take charge of the trouble.

Ryukyu is thousands of miles away from Japan, and they really don't have the energy to care about the situation over there.

In the Imperial Garden Study, Zhu Lang sat behind the desk, reviewing the information on Ryukyu compiled by the Imperial Guards.

The Jinyifu reported the general situation of Ryukyu earlier. After the Ming army captured Fuzhou, except for the three envoys who did not move rashly, the rest of the accompanying interpreters and others were all captured by the Jinyifu.
After interrogating these internal personnel, Jinyifu finally obtained the real situation inside Ryukyu at that time.
After reading the information from the Jinyifu, Zhu Lang frowned slightly. If the information was true, Ryukyu was still a kingdom on the surface, but secretly it had already been completely controlled by the Satsuma Domain.

After the Satsuma War, the Satsuma Domain and the Ryukyu Islands signed the Treaty of the Fifteen Articles.
According to the treaty, the Ryukyu Kingdom was not allowed to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty without the permission of Satsuma. In addition, merchant ships in the Ryukyu Kingdom were also prohibited from going out to sea without the consent of Satsuma.
Through this treaty, Satsuma completely controlled the right to pay tribute to Ryukyu and trade with the sea.
Shortly after the Satsuma War, the Satsuma Domain established the Ryukyu Zaifan Bugyosho in the name of managing Ryukyu's maritime trade. This was actually the ruling body of the Satsuma Domain stationed in Ryukyu.

After establishing the Bugyoso, Satsuma went a step further and stationed troops on Yaeyama Island and Iriomote Island in the Ryukyu Islands. At this point, Satsuma had seized the military and political power of the Ryukyu Islands.

The cause of the Salayu War was that the Ryukyu Kingdom was unwilling to send envoys to pay homage. However, according to the confession of the Ryukyu interpreter, now even the succession of the throne of the Ryukyu Kingdom must be reported to the Satsuma Domain first. After the Satsuma Domain and the Edo Shogunate agree, the Ryukyu King can ascend the throne.
After the Satsuma War, after decades of gradual encroachment, all aspects of the Ryukyu Kingdom were controlled by the Satsuma Domain. As long as the Satsuma Domain was willing, it could completely annex the Ryukyu Kingdom without bloodshed at any time.

Zhu Lang was checking the information in his hand when a report came from outside the room. Soon two figures entered the room.

"Your servants Zhu Zhiyu and Lin Cha pay their respects to His Royal Highness the Regent."

When Zhu Lang saw the two people saluting, he also asked them to stand up. These two people were the ministers appointed by Zhu Lang to go to Ryukyu.

Zhu Lang asked Fujian Province for someone. Fujian Governor Zhang Kentang recommended several candidates. After seeing the list, Zhu Lang chose Zhu Zhiyu.

The resumes of the several candidates Zhang Kentang gave were all comparable, but for some reason, Zhu Lang felt that Zhu Zhiyu seemed to have a connection with Japan.
Zhu Lang gave them a seat, then looked at Zhu Zhiyu below and said

"Have you read all the information from Jinyifu?"

"I have seen that Japan has evil ambitions and has been plotting for decades. I never thought that it has secretly controlled our Ming vassal state."

"This time, I will definitely unite with the Ryukyu County King to complete the matter of stationing troops in the court."

Until this time, Zhu Zhiyu still believed that the imperial court stationed troops in Ryukyu in order to intercept the merchant ships sent by the Qing invaders at sea.

Zhu Lang heard this, but shook his head slightly and said

"Mr. Zhu is wrong. The primary purpose of your trip is copper."

"When you arrive in Ryukyu, you must find a way to get in touch with the people of Satsuma. As for Ryukyu, it is not important to our Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Zhiyu was shocked when he heard this, but Zhu Lang ignored their expressions and directly informed the court of the plan to obtain low-priced copper materials from Japan.

After hearing the plan, Zhu Zhiyu looked hesitant and said

"Japan now controls the politics of the Ryukyu Islands. If the court stationed troops in the Ryukyu Islands, it would certainly harm the interests of Japan."

"If the imperial court really stationed troops in Ryukyu, the two sides would be at loggerheads. How could Satsuma cooperate with the imperial court's actions?"

Zhu Lang heard this and said softly
"It's nothing but coercion and inducement"

"The situation in Japan is complicated. Although the shogunate has unified Japan, its domestic political system is different from that of China."

"There are many lords in Japan, and Satsuma and the shogunate may not be on the same page. This is where you can take advantage of it."

"The court only got some rough information about the internal situation of Japan after interrogating the Ryukyu delegation. The details of the internal situation of Japan can only be investigated by Zhu Qing after he arrives in Ryukyu."

Zhu Lang looked at Zhu Zhiyu, who looked serious, and suddenly laughed softly.

"Don't be so serious. In the end, the Ming Dynasty won the battle."

"Japan is a small country, and will never dare to send troops to provoke the Ming Dynasty again. I have discussed this matter with the military ministers. Zhu Qing, you can just go ahead and do it. If it doesn't work, just retreat."

"This is the latest intelligence obtained by the Jinyifu. Ever since Japan took control of the Ryukyu government, the Kume samurai in the Ryukyu Kingdom have been repeatedly suppressed. These people's ancestors came from the Ming Dynasty, so they can also be used as leverage."

Zhu Lang ordered Li Guoyong to hand over the information to Zhu Zhiyu, and then looked down at Lin Cha

"General Lin, you will lead the troops to Ryukyu this time. Zhu Qing's safety is in your hands."

"Safety comes first. If necessary, you can lead the troops to evacuate directly without having to fight hard."

"I will do my best to ensure the safety of Master Zhu."

Zhu Lang nodded to Lin Cha, and then explained to the two of them the precautions for this mission. The two of them bowed and left the study.

The court decided to send an envoy to Ryukyu, and a group of Ryukyu envoys were also brought to Fujian Province. In May, as the monsoon blew, Zhu Zhiyu and others finally boarded the warship and set sail for Ryukyu.
(End of this chapter)