In the early years of Jiajing, a far-reaching event occurred in Japan: Mishima Kiyoemon, a retainer of Ouchi Yoshiko, discovered the Iwami Silver Mine, a super large silver mine that could be mined for more than 400 years.

This staggering amount of silver quickly made Japan a major silver producer, especially since they later obtained the "ash blowing method" silver smelting technology from the Ming Dynasty, and the output of silver ore has increased by leaps and bounds.

Japan's Ouchi Yoshiko family was hit by a pie falling from the sky and has become the richest family in Japan. It's just that this silver can't be eaten, and the problem they face is not to make money, but how to exchange the silver for what they need.

Their ideal trade partner is naturally the Ming Dynasty, which stands at the top of the world in the handicraft industry, but the two countries have already cut off tributary exchanges, and Wang Zhi's killing has caused the trade between the two countries to drop to a low point.

Although there were a few scattered starfish and Portuguese, the goods they brought were limited, and the prices they spent were much higher than the market price of the Ming Dynasty.

That's why they chose North Korea as the object of the deal. In the seventeenth year of Jiajing, the Ouchi clan sent an envoy to bring more than 5,000 taels of silver to North Korea to buy cloth, and completed the transaction in a tough way, and then went to North Korea to buy cloth and other goods.

In the beginning, North Korea was reluctant to engage in such a trade, after all, their domestic hard currency was five liters of cloth, and the people did not buy silver.

However, as the silver could be exchanged for better quality goods in the Ming Dynasty, they gradually accepted this model, and some North Korean officials even took the initiative to contact the Ouchi Yoshixing family.

Although the Ouchi Yoshiko clan was defeated in the war and withdrew from the Sengoku stage, the Mori clan took over the entire territory of the former Ouchi clan and the Iwami silver mine, and this trade was maintained.

Gradually, North Korea played the role of a trade broker. They took Japanese silver in exchange for goods from Daming, and then sold it to Japanese Maori families to obtain some benefits from it.

Of course, due to the limited number of tributes paid by the Ming Dynasty, this mode of trade was not too frequent, and the goods they could bring back to Korea on each trip were limited after all.

Chen Yu came to Daming this time, although the name was to pay tribute to Jiajing, but in essence, it was to purchase goods from the capital and trade with the Japanese Maori clan.

This kind of thing is not big or small, but it is not small to say small. However, once it is stabbed, it may be difficult for North Korea to continue to purchase in the capital in the future, and it will even bear the charge of "complication."

Lin Haoran has been collecting intelligence through the joint business group, so he naturally has insight into this secret, and the reason why he said the problem here is indeed that he has no intention of tearing his face.

After all, this matter did not cause any loss to Daming, and he still wanted to maximize his interests and seek more benefits from this hidden trade in the fog.

Lin Haoran looked at the anxious Chen Yu, and said in a tone without any room for negotiation: "Don't bring back the flintlock pistol you got, this kind of firearm is the latest private murder weapon developed by my Ming Dynasty, and taking it out of the country without permission is equivalent to treason!" Our two countries have always had friendly exchanges, and we must not cause trouble because of this kind of thing! ”

Beads of sweat immediately oozed from Chen Yu's forehead, and when his nephew hurriedly got the magical bird gun from the black market, he knew that this fire gun was not small, and he thought that this thing would cause trouble.

Now listening to Lin Haoran suddenly mention this firecracker, he knows that the other party sees their every move, and that kind of magical firecracker is indeed something they can't touch.

Chen Yu swallowed his spitting with difficulty, and arched his hand in embarrassment: "That...... The flintlock pistol is a nephew under the festival, and I don't know that it is a forbidden item of the Ming Dynasty, and I will let people return it to the adult, and it will never be smuggled back to China, and please not tell the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty about it! ”

Lin Haoran knew that even if this tunnel pistol fell to North Korea, it would definitely not be able to develop a spring to prevent it with North Korea's technology alone, but he still didn't intend to let the flintlock pistol flow lightly, so he nodded lightly.

Lin Fu is a clever person, and he has already brought tea to Lin Haoran.

Lin Haoran saw that Chen Yu's attitude was good, so he agreed, and asked in a soothing tone: "Honorable envoy, you borrowed the road from North Korea to Liaodong, I'm afraid it's not easy to come to the capital, right?" ”

"It's really not easy to hide it from Lord Lin! Not only do we have to suffer from long journeys, but we also have to worry about being robbed of goods, and every trip is ...... Skate on thin ice! Chen Yu's attitude was very correct, and he responded with arched hands.

Lin Haoran pinched the tea lid and splashed the tea lightly, and asked casually: "I don't know how many silver taels you can earn from your hard run?" ”

If you talk about making money with Ming officials, it will undoubtedly be not speculation. It's just that Chen Yu is a North Korean official, and his Chen family is a local clan, and he has already participated in this tributary trade, but he is not afraid to talk about trading.

"If you only talk about the silver taels or goods in my hand, it is about a thousand taels!" Chen Yu sighed heavily and replied bitterly.

Lin Haoran took a sip of tea, raised his head and looked at Chen Yu and said seriously: "Lord Chen, this official can give you a deal that can earn tens of thousands of taels at a time, but I don't know if you are interested?" ”

"Your Excellency, you're not kidding, are you?" Chen Yu was about to reach out and take the tea from Lin Fu, and his face looked at Lin Haoran with wide eyes in disbelief.

Korea is a small country after all, even for this little profit, they are fighting for blood, and the king is cheeky to find all kinds of reasons to come to pay tribute.

If there is a big deal that can reach tens of thousands of taels each time, not to mention their Zhang clan, even their king may have to be tempted, even at all costs.

Lin Haoran naturally didn't talk in vain, pinched the tea lid and splashed the tea lightly and said lightly: "This official once served as the prefect of Leizhou, not only promoted the opening of the sea in Leizhou, but also encouraged Leizhou to develop cotton cloth, I don't know if you ever knew about this?" ”

"The next section is really confused, I learned earlier that the adult once served as the prefect of Leizhou, and now the capital is saying that Leizhou cloth is the best, it turns out that this Leizhou cloth is the handiwork of adults!" Chen Yu patted his forehead in annoyance, and only then did he connect the two things at this moment, and responded with hindsight.

"I can't talk about my handiwork, but the United Workshop was developed during my administration, and I also have some relationship with the manager of the United Workshop!" Lin Haoran took a sip of tea, and then asked with a smile: "What is the price of the cloth given to you by the Maori family?" ”

Although Korea's textile industry was backward, it was stronger than Japan's war-torn country, so the Ouchi Yoshiheung family and their successors, the Mori family, both started the idea of Korean cotton.

"If the price is according to the last discussion, they bought our 48,000 horses and five liters of cloth for 20,000 taels, that is, 20,000 taels bought 24,000 pieces of cloth from the Ming Dynasty!" Chen Yu had already confirmed that the other party knew the roots, so he replied honestly.

Lin Haoran was not surprised by this number, and slowly splashed the tea with the tea lid, and immediately made a verbal calculation: "So the price given to you by the Maori family is eight dollars and a third horse?" ”

"Not bad!" Chen Yu didn't expect the other party to be so powerful, and nodded in secret admiration.

Lin Haoran suddenly had an idea in his heart, so he said his thoughts: "If the United Cooperative Workshop gives you 100,000 high-quality Leizhou cloth, each horse costs seven yuan, but you want to sell it to them at a price of more than one tael?" ”

"I don't have that much silver!" Chen Yu has learned about the market of Leizhou cloth, and this price can be described as very fair, but he shook his head with a wry smile.

They are short of gold, silver and copper in North Korea, in fact, they may still be able to get some gold and copper, but this silver is really not available. couldn't take out seven hundred taels of silver back then, this is really not to deceive Ming Xuanzong.

Even the 24,000 pieces of cloth that I had with the Yoshiko family in Ouchi last time were barely enough by piecing together them, not to mention their Zhang family, even the king couldn't get together the 70,000 taels.

Lin Haoran knew what North Korea's economic strength was, so he took a sip of tea and said: "I can guarantee you, and the joint workshop will sell me a few thin noodles!" These 100,000 pieces of cotton cloth will be sent to North Korea in batches, and you can trade with this batch of cotton cloth for the time being, and when the Japanese Ouchi Yoshiko family gives the silver taels, you can return them! ”

"Really?" When Chen Yu heard that this was a transaction without capital, his eyes immediately lit up and asked.

Lin Haoran put down the teacup and said lightly: "In two days, someone from the joint workshop will come to contact you, and you can leave a cronie to discuss how to receive the goods!" ”

If you want to completely change this decaying dynasty, you must not only carry out internal reforms, but also vigorously develop commerce and promote maritime trade with the Ming Dynasty.

Due to political influences, the United Merchant Group is now unable to trade directly with Japan. If you use North Korea as a middleman, you will not only be able to trade with Japan, but you will also be able to take advantage of the opportunity to enter the North Korean market.

Only by opening up these emerging markets step by step can the Lianhe Workshop recruit more female workers, so that more people can get rid of the shackles of the land, and then let Daming continue to stand on the top of the world.

"Thank you for your love and trust, I will definitely abide by our agreement! If this covenant is violated, I, Chen Yu, will be hit by five thunderbolts! Chen Yu is a person who attaches great importance to credibility, and immediately made an oath.

Lin Haoran had investigated the credibility of Chen Yu, so he smiled and said, "I heard that you are quite interested in Daming's potatoes and sweet potatoes?" ”

"Please forgive me, for the next section is just a ...... I just inquired, and I didn't have the intention of stealing back to China! Chen Yu's face was slightly red, and he immediately explained.

In fact, this is a bit against his will, his predecessor Wen Yi brought back cotton seeds from the Yuan Dynasty so that the people of the whole country can finally wear warm clothes, and he learned that the potatoes and sweet potatoes of the Ming Dynasty are very productive, and he also moved his mind in this regard.

However, these two things could not be found in the capital, and although he heard that they had been planted in a large area in Guangdong, it was impossible for him to travel all the way to Guangdong to find the seeds.

Now that he has the experience of flintlock pistols, he naturally has to keep silent, otherwise the friendship between the two countries will be hurt because of this incident, and he will not let the DPRK bring about a catastrophe.

"Don't worry about the seeds of potatoes and sweet potatoes! I will have someone bring you back to the past, and teach you how to plant, and in the future, you North Korea may also exchange potatoes or sweet potatoes with us for Leizhou cloth! Lin Haoran didn't know that he was not right-hearted, but he smiled generously.

The people of North Korea are very poor, and they are not a resource-based country, so it is not feasible to open the market with Leizhou cloth alone. Their "currency" was originally five liters of cloth, and it would be a big joke if the United Merchant Group that produced Leizhou cloth turned out to bring back a batch of low-quality cotton cloth.

But North Korea's cotton itself is a potential trade, and if North Korea can grow sweet potatoes and potatoes on a large scale, then the trade relationship can be maintained.

In essence, the Ming merchants were very adventurous, and the reason why there were fewer and fewer merchants who went to Nanyang to trade later was precisely because the Nanyang countries could not exchange ideal goods with the Ming merchants.

Supporting the DPRK now is in essence cultivating the market, which can be described as a win-win situation.

Chen Yu naturally didn't understand Lin Haoran's long-term plan, and when he learned that Lin Haoran was going to give them potatoes and sweet potato seeds, he immediately thanked them: "The next time I return to China before the next festival, I will definitely tell the king personally about the kindness of my lord, and I hope that the friendship between our North Korea and my lord will last forever!" ”

"You and I send each other as before, but I don't know if we can intersect?" Lin Haoran's heart moved slightly, and he smiled at Chen Yu.

Chen Yu was stunned for a moment, and then immediately arched his hand and said: "Fortunately, adults can afford to be there, and I am willing to make friends with adults!" ”

"Okay, refreshing! Since we have made friends, the official is from Lingnan, so the official will give you a Lingnan watch from your hometown! Lin Haoran immediately took out the Lingnan gold watch, handed it to Lin Fu and said with a smile.

"This ...... It's so precious! Chen Yu looked at the expensive pocket watch sent over, and immediately said in shock.

He listened to the Pearl River bell in the hall ringing every day, and he had long been greedy for this magical object, but when he went to the Pearl River Watch Store to ask the price, the price of several thousand taels made him immediately dumbfounded.

If he hadn't seen a few wealthy businessmen really come over to buy clocks and watches with a few thousand taels, and the clocks were made of gold and silver, he really suspected that the other party was deliberately bullying him, a foreigner.

Now, Lin Haoran actually wanted to give him such an expensive pocket watch, which made him surprised and happy, but he didn't dare to accept this extremely expensive gift.

"Now that we've made friends, let's not say anything expensive or not, it's too raw! I think your friend is worth making, it's just a small heart! Lin Haoran said sincerely.

Chen Yu saw Lin Haoran's sincerity, and immediately accepted it: "In this case, I will accept it!" As he spoke, he took off the saber at his waist and said, "This is the cloud sword I have always worn, and it has been stained with the blood of the Japanese daimyo, please be sure to accept it!" ”

Cloud sword, this has nothing to do with the sword, it is essentially an out-and-out sword. In terms of shape, it is very Japanese, the overall curve is similar to the Japanese sword, but the equipment is Ming Dynasty style, and there are two rings hanging on the scabbard around the waist.

Faced with Chen Yu's gift, Lin Haoran would not refuse.

Although Chen Yu is nearly forty years old, his relationship with Lin Haoran is naturally not a grievance. Not to mention that there is a certain gap between the status of the two sides now, Lin Haoran is the old man of Daming Pavilion in the future.

After exchanging gifts, Lin Haoran earnestly admonished: "Brother Chen, if you send envoys over in the future, you will definitely be monitored by all sides, and you must not buy anything that is easy to arouse the suspicion of the Ming Dynasty!" ”

"Thank you Brother Lin for your advice, I will tell the king and order them not to break the ban!" Zhang Yu replied with a wry smile.

Now that their deal with the Japanese has been known, it remains to be said whether they can transport silver to the capital to purchase goods in the future, let alone purchase some munitions.