My hotel is full of emperors throughout history.

Zhu Yuanzhang remained silent.

Li Shimin remained silent.

Liu Che also fell silent.

Everyone fell silent.

The entire courtyard fell into a deathly silence.

Just then, soft footsteps came from the wooden stairs.

Li Lizhi carried Xiao Sizi, who was rubbing his eyes and had obviously just woken up, down from the second floor.

She keenly sensed the unusually heavy atmosphere downstairs, paused for a moment, and hugged Sizi tighter in her arms.

Little Sizi doesn't understand these things.

She had slept well and was feeling great.

With its big, bright eyes, it curiously surveyed the group of silent adults below, tilted its little head, and rang out in a clear, childlike voice.

Why aren't you saying anything?

Looking at the still silent crowd, Xiao Sizi became even more puzzled.

"Are you playing 'Statues'? Why are you ignoring Sizi?"

All eyes turned to the little girl on the stairs.

Li Lizhi quickly coaxed him gently.

"Good boy, Father and Uncles have important matters to discuss."

"It wasn't anything serious, we just chatted about a few things."

Chen Mo was the first to react.

He took a deep breath, forced a fairly natural smile, and waved to Xiao Sizi.

"Sizi's awake? We weren't playing 'Statues,' we were...thinking about something. Come here, little sac-like fungus."

When the little ox saw the familiar little sac fungus, it immediately forgot its previous question and wriggled in Li Lizhi's arms, wanting to get down.

Li Lizhi carefully put her down.

The little girl immediately ran towards Chen Mo, pounced on him, hugged his leg, and looked up at him with her little face.

"What are you thinking about?"

"It's nothing serious. Has Sizi washed up yet?"

Li Shimin smiled, but his gaze turned to Li Lizhi.

"Not yet, Dad."

Li Lizhi replied.

"In that case, how about you go wash up first, Sizi?"

Li Shimin smiled.

Although Xiao Sizi was puzzled, she obediently let Li Lizhi pull her to wash up.

Seeing Li Lizhi and Xiao Sizi leave, Li Shimin looked at Chen Mo again, preparing to ask him a question.

But Zhu Di beat him to it.

"With the might of our Great Ming Navy, it is not impossible for us to cross the sea and conquer that tiny place."

He glanced at Old Zhu.

"Father may have had many concerns when he was alive, but if he truly makes up his mind..."

He shook his head, then changed the subject.

"But I've fought the Northern Yuan so many times, the court is already short of money."

"That small island nation has many mountains and little farmland, how many good things could it possibly have?"

Chen Mo chuckled after hearing that.

"I told Lao Zhu and Zheng Ge'er about this before. That place may not look like much, but underground, there was something that was plentiful for a long time."

"Oh? What is it?"

"silver."

"silver?!"

Two exclamations rang out almost simultaneously!

Zhu Di suddenly jumped up from his chair, his eyes wide open.

Countless images flashed through his mind in an instant: the enormous expenses of Yongle's voyages to the Western Ocean, the military expenses and provisions for the northern expedition against the Mongols, and the huge expenditures on buying all sorts of things here...

Which of these isn't a money-devouring beast?

If there really is such a place nearby with astonishing silver reserves...

Hiss!

Zhu Di gasped, he was so excited!

The same applies to Liu Che.

He's wealthy, but who wouldn't want more money?

Especially after learning that there are so many good things, there are all sorts of places where money is needed.

Now he wishes he could split every dollar in two.

In addition, they were already preparing to destroy Japan, but it was a priority after the Xiongnu.

But now, as soon as I hear there's silver there...

Tsk!

If we wipe them out every night, the Japanese might just take an extra tael of silver from us!

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin's body trembled slightly, and his eyes flashed with a sharp light.

How many?

"Not just a little bit."

Chen Mo thought for a moment and then spoke.

"During the period from the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, that is, one or two hundred to three or four hundred years after the Ming Dynasty, Japan discovered several super-large silver mines, such as the famous Iwami Silver Mine."

"Its silver production once accounted for one-third or even more of the global total!"

"One-third of the world's population?!"

Zhu Di's voice even changed tone.

"Exactly."

Chen Mo nodded.

"A large amount of this silver flowed out of Japan, and a significant portion of it entered China through trade, where it was used to purchase our silk, porcelain, and tea."

"To some extent, it even affected the currency circulation and economy in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty."

"Japan itself, with its silver wealth, accelerated its domestic unification and accumulated capital for its later expansion."

Zhu Di's mind was buzzing.

He suddenly felt that compared to Japan, the crippled Northern Yuan didn't seem so important.

After all, Japan and they have a blood feud.

Most importantly—it can drop silver!

Zhu Di's mind immediately became active.

The minds of Li Shimin, Liu Che, Ying Zheng, and others also became active.

But Li Shimin hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"But there is no suitable reason to start a war..."

Upon hearing this, Liu Che immediately burst into laughter.

"You wouldn't have looked for someone if you weren't there?"

"try to find?"

Liu Che smiled.

"Between nations, if one desires to condemn someone, one can always find a pretext."

"When I waged war against the Xiongnu, did I have to wait for them to plunder the border regions and deliver declarations of war every time?"

"Excuses? If you want, you can find excuses everywhere, wherever you point the blade!"

"As for your claim of not having a suitable excuse? That's easy!"

Liu Che looked like he knew this very well.

"They had envoys to Tang China before, now you can send one too!"

"Send an envoy from Tang? And then what?"

"And then? There are too many ways."

Liu Che chuckled.

You'd have to ask an expert for that.

"First, we can let the envoys inadvertently carry a few scrolls that have been deliberately altered and are an insult to the national prestige of Japan, and see how they react."

"If they see through our forbearance, then let the envoy behave inappropriately while drunk, and do something disrespectful in front of their palace or important shrine."

At this point, Liu Che was even afraid that Li Shimin wouldn't understand, so he gave an example.

"For example, they might lay hands on their queen, or even..."

Liu Che chuckled.

"Hiss~!"

Everyone gasped in shock.

I had long heard of the fierceness of the Han envoys!

But I've never heard of anyone being this fierce!

"What if you can still hold back?"

Ying Zheng couldn't help but ask.

Liu Che chuckled.

"Since that's the case, there's nothing we can do about it."

"Anyway, whenever my envoys go on a mission to a small country, I always see them off before they leave and tell them... I will take good care of your family."

"Basically none of the Han envoys I sent out came back alive."

Liu Che had a domineering look on his face.

"This tiny, insignificant country dares to kill even the envoys sent by our great Han Dynasty? They've gone too far!"

"Mobilizing troops and generals, overwhelming the borders and destroying the country!"

"..."

Li Shimin glanced at Liu Che.

No wonder historical records describe Emperor Wu of Han as being warlike and aggressive.

That's some pretty impressive tactics for starting a war!

but……

Li Shimin thought about it carefully.

It actually works!