All Heavens and Worlds Modified History System

Chapter 187 Chongba, Eat More
"Prince, I'm back."

Chen Ran, who had returned from Japan again, invited Zhu Biao to board the ship at the Shitoujin Wharf to see the harvest this time.

The ship in the shipyard is still under construction, and we will still use a merchant ship to go to Japan this time.

The only difference is that the scale is larger than the last time, with as many as seven ships, two of which are giant ships of 800 tons.

Middle-earth is not as ignorant of the sea as the legend says. As early as the Song Dynasty, it was already the world's largest maritime trading center.

There are many civilian sea vessels, and their sizes are getting bigger and bigger.

There are quite a few large ships that can reach 800 tons.

"Zihou." Zhu Biao, smiling, walked to the cabin skillfully. "How many good things did you bring back this time?"

“It’s still the same old three.”

The cabin is still mainly filled with gold, silver ore, and copper bars.

But this time there were some other goods.

"This smell" Zhu Biao, who came to the cabin, immediately covered his nose "Sulfur?"

"The sulfur is of very good quality," Chen Ran said. "It is all mined near volcanoes. It is absolutely pure and natural."

The sulfur of this era is actually a medicinal herb.

Detoxify, kill insects, replenish fire and boost yang, etc.

Of course, Taoists also need it to make elixirs.

The most important use and the largest consumption are firearms in the military.

That’s right, as early as the time of Zhu Yuanzhang, the Chinese army had been equipped with firearms on a large scale.

The Ming army was equipped with muskets and even artillery on a large scale, far exceeding that of any other country in the world.

In the famous Battle of Poyang Lake, the Ming army used firearms on a large scale and successfully defeated the more powerful Chen Youliang.

As for the fact that swords, spears, bows and arrows were still being used hundreds of years later, it was entirely because the Tatars deliberately destroyed the progress of Middle-earth civilization for the sake of their own rule.

"Very good." Zhu Biao nodded repeatedly to show his satisfaction. "How much is it?"

There is almost no natural sulfur in the heartland of the Ming Dynasty due to the lack of volcanoes.

It is either imported from outside or obtained by refining pyrite.

This leads to the high price of sulfur.

"I'll keep you in suspense." Chen Ran said with a smile, "Your Highness may wish to take a guess."

"The current market price of sulfur is 500 coins per catty." Zhu Biao thought carefully and asked, "100 coins per catty?"

Chen Ran shook his head and raised his hand to make the number eight.

"Eighty coins?" Zhu Biao laughed. "That's a lot of money!"

"Your Highness is overthinking." Chen Ran shook his head. "The local purchase price is six cents per catty, and there is an additional two cents for transportation. So the cost is eight cents per catty."

"Hiss~~~"

Zhu Biao stared, "Eight coins per pound? How is that possible?!"

"That's true." Chen Ran nodded. "If our own boat is good, it will be six coins per pound."

"You don't know, Prince, that the common people in Japan are too poor. We took out the copper coins from the Ming Dynasty, which they call good money. The money they make themselves is called bad money. We offered six coins per pound to buy sulfur, and that day hundreds of locals went to the volcano to carry sulfur back."

Chen Ran vividly described his trip to Japan: "As soon as we took out our armor, the local governors immediately knelt down. We really gave them everything they asked for."

"Once you take out the Hongwu Tongbao, you can buy anything, and the price is extremely cheap."

Chen Ran took out a dagger, and the followers behind Zhu Biao suddenly widened their eyes.

Fortunately, he had no intention of stabbing the king, but instead used his dagger to cut open the sack beside him.

The best rice flowed out and scattered in the dirty cabin, which was very eye-catching.

"Don't waste food." Zhu Biao, with a look of regret on his face, stepped forward, picked up the sack, and stuffed it into the arms of his follower. "Japanese rice?"

"Yes." Chen Ran put away the dagger. "The rice in Japan is of high quality and has a large yield."

"There are many volcanoes in Japan, not only is sulfur abundant, but the land has also become very fertile due to the accumulation of volcanic ash, so the yield is very high."

This is also the reason why a mountainous country like Japan can feed such a large population.

"The annual rice production of Japan is about 20 million koku."

This shocked Zhu Biao. "Really?"

"It's more real than these gold ores." Chen Ran responded, "The annual grain tax of the Ming Dynasty is only 30 million dan. If we conquer Japan and skin them, it won't be a problem to get 10 million dan more grain every year."

Chen Ran's words were so tempting that Zhu Biao couldn't help but start fantasizing.

During the Hongwu period, the Ming Dynasty's taxation was mainly based on grain.

The annual grain income of 30 million shi is the guarantee for the entire country.

However, this tax level has reached its limit, and it is almost impossible to increase it on a large scale in a short period of time.

He wanted to launch a large-scale war, like sending troops to Mobei or something like that.

Or maybe you want to do a big project, like river work, dredging canals, etc.

That would require years of accumulation, and only when you have saved enough money, food, and supplies can you start doing big things.

But if it were as Zihou said, and he could get tens of millions of shi of grain from Japan every year, no, if he only needed millions of shi of grain, he would dare to launch a war against the remnants of the Yuan court next year!
Zhu Biao, who was breathing rapidly, took a long time to calm down.

"I will seriously consider this matter."

After hearing this, Chen Ran knew that it was done.

No emperor who wants to make a difference would be uninterested in millions or even tens of millions of grain income.

As for what the Japanese people ate after the tens of millions of koku of grain were taken away, no one mentioned it, as if they had forgotten about it. In Chen Ran's view, provoking internal strife in Japan and the loss of a large number of people would naturally reduce the demand for food, which was not a big deal at all.

Among the goods this time, there were also many swords sent by local feudal lords of Japan.

Chen Ran was disdainful of these so-called famous swords.

Too long, too brittle.

It's fine for street fights, but it's useless on the battlefield.

In a real war, we still have to rely on long weapons and firearms.

Even short weapons are mainly axes, hammers, bone fragments, etc.

There is no other way. When facing armored soldiers, the only way is to find a way to break their armor.

On the way to the East Palace, Chen Ran mentioned the shipbuilding again. "It's very expensive to hire these foreign ships (Ming Dynasty's ships for sea trade) every time. It's better to use our own ships. Especially in the future when we transport grain on a large scale, there will be a severe shortage of ships."

"It's already under construction." Zhu Biao quickly stated, "When I return, I will transfer all the dried wood stored in shipyards across the country to the Jiangnan Shipyard. I will also mobilize as many experienced shipbuilders as possible to speed up the construction and increase the scale of construction."

Before, Zhu Biao was indeed a little hesitant, because after all, it was thousands of miles out to sea, and God knew what might happen.

But today he was indeed moved by the huge benefits, and he didn't care about much else for the sake of Ming Dynasty.

"According to what we agreed on before." Chen Ran looked at Zhu Biao again, "I will get 10% of the hard work fee for this harvest. I can't help it, there are too many people eating at home."

Zhu Biao: "That's fine."

When he made tens of thousands of taels in one trip, he would grit his teeth and give it to them.

But when I think about the annual income of millions of shi of grain in the future, is it really possible to give hundreds of thousands of shi to Chen Ran?

"No, no, absolutely not."

In the imperial study, Zhu Yuanzhang, who was walking with his hands behind his back, immediately instructed, "Boss, find a way to take back this promise."

"father."

Zhu Biao smiled bitterly, "A gentleman's promise cannot be easily retracted. If so, how can my son face others in the future?"

"But this is too much." Zhu Yuanzhang also scratched his head. "Your face cannot be damaged, but I can't give you hundreds of thousands of shi a year."

Old Zhu had the character of an old farmer. The salary he paid to officials was the lowest in history, and he even wanted the officials to bring their own food to work for him.

Chen Ran's current official position is still the sixth-rank Eastern Palace Zanshan, and he only gets eight stone of grain a month.

If he were really asked to take away hundreds of thousands of stones of grain from Japan every year, he would absolutely not be able to accept it.

"I don't care."

Old Zhu simply acted like a rogue, "You go and solve the problem that you caused."

Zhu Biao'(°ー°〃)'

"You're such a good dad, I won't do it!"

"If you don't want to do it, then pay one million shi of grain every year!"

"No, just starve everyone in the East Palace to death."

"Hey!" Old Zhu glared, picked up a stick and chased Zhu Biao.

The two of them were chasing each other, swearing at each other.

It was not until Empress Ma came over with food that the father and son chase scene came to an end.

"I don't think it's a big deal." After hearing the story, Queen Ma immediately said with a smile, "It's a simple matter."

Old Zhu and Zhu Biao looked at her at the same time, trying to understand what good ideas Empress Ma could come up with.

"Fu Ning is old enough to get married." Empress Ma said bluntly, "Marry Zihou."

"Let's talk business." Old Zhu frowned in dissatisfaction, "What are you talking about?"

"Listen to me." Empress Ma served Zhu Yuanzhang dishes while continuing, "You have to give a betrothal gift to marry a wife, right? Let Zihou use 10% of the share of Haimao as the betrothal gift."

"Hmm~~~" Old Zhu sat up straight immediately. "That's a solution. It doesn't need to damage Biao'er's reputation."

Zhu Biao also agreed in his heart, thinking that it was a good thing for his sister to marry Zihou, and it would also solve an important problem at the same time.

But "Since such a heavy betrothal gift is required, the dowry must be strong. Zihou has done a lot of favors to my family, so it is not good to scheme against him like this."

"What nonsense are you talking about." Old Zhu glared, "It's his blessing to marry Fu Ning!"

Zhu Biao didn't argue with him at all, but just looked at Empress Ma, "Mother, he saved your life."

Empress Ma simply looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "Tell me, how much dowry do you want?"

"Did you two force me to come here?" Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to lose his temper, but the two relatives sitting on his left and right were the two most important to him in the world.

What else can we do? We can only rage and glare, but it is useless.

"Appoint him as the imperial concubine."

"Give them land and give them a salary of 2,300 to 5,000 dan!"

There was no other way. Facing the burning gazes of the mother and son, Old Zhu had to increase it all the way to five thousand stones.

"That's not enough!" Queen Ma immediately said, "He saved your eldest grandson's life!"

Old Zhu couldn't eat anymore, so he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his forehead. "As for Biao'er, give him a promotion and arrange for him to receive more salary. As for Funing's dowry, give her more according to the specifications."

He looked at Queen Ma and said, "Just give it to me, okay?"

"That's pretty much it."

Empress Ma laughed heartily and picked up the chopsticks to serve food to Zhu Yuanzhang. "Chongba, eat more."

(End of this chapter)