After Matsudaira Tsunayoshi visited Ning Yu, he quickly revised a book, wrote Ning Yu's relevant thoughts in it, and sent someone back to Edo, Japan. Originally, he wanted to go back to Edo by himself and personally report to Tokugawa Yoshimune, the general of the expedition, but he felt that the time was not right now, and it might be more convenient to stay in Nanjing for the time being.

At the same time, Matsudaira Tsunayoshi thought of the words of Du Qiuyan, the secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and understood that Zhu Yuyan's status in the hearts of Ning Chu Junchen might not be ordinary, so he also sent someone to find Zhu Yuyan, hoping that Zhu Yuyan would say more good things when he visited Ning Yu in the future, so as to promote tributary trade.

Of course, Matsudaira Tsunayoshi did not take Ning Yu's words lightly, in fact, he had long been aware of the Satsuma Domain's control of the Ryukyu Kingdom and the Qing court's tributary trade, and he was also quite dissatisfied, for the simple reason that the tributary trade sent by the Satsuma Domain to the Ryukyu Kingdom almost occupied the most important foreign trade quota, and this was detrimental to the interests of the shogunate.

Therefore, Matsudaira Tsunayoshi also wrote about this aspect in his letters, hoping that in this matter, the influence of the Satsuma clan could be weakened at the root, or at least the shogunate would be dominant.

After Matsudaira Tsunayoshi left, Ning Yu also convened a cabinet meeting in front of the imperial court, the content of which was naturally about the Japanese envoy's visit to China, in this matter, Ning Yu hoped that the officials of the imperial court could get rid of the limitations of the past, not to always make the mistake of arrogance, and not to lose their hearts for the sake of face.

"Japan sent tribute to our dynasty, what do you think?"

Ning Yu now likes to dig out the problem more and more, and wait until all the ministers have spoken, and then make a decision or refute it, the purpose of which is naturally to hope that the courtiers can understand the holy will more and more, so that things can be more handy.

At this point, Ning Yu was very conceited, just because he came from the next generation, if he was led by the nose by this group of old-school courtiers, it would be in vain.

"Your Majesty, now that I am a new Chu, the Quartet is coming to the court, which is a sign of prosperity...... It was only the case of the Ryukyus, but it was necessary to order the Japanese to evacuate and restore the Ryukyu tribute. ”

Ning Zhongjing said with a glance, his words were generally correct, but in the matter of the Ryukyus, he saw it a little shallowly.

Ning Yu nodded noncommittally, and then turned to the others, "What do other Aiqing want to say, can you speak freely?" ”

"Your Majesty, the matter of the Ryukyus should not be neglected, if it is just the action of the local vassals of Japan, it will be fine, but if there is interference by the Japanese court inside, then please be cautious." It was the second assistant Cui Wancai who spoke, and it can be regarded as the key.

Ning Yu continued to scan the ministers, and saw that no one else spoke, his face was a little disappointed, and when he was about to speak, he found that Ning Zhonghai, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, who had been silent, slowly stood up.

"Your Majesty, now that overseas trade is advancing in a big way, trade with Japan cannot follow the old system, nor can it be replaced by tributary trade, and please be enlightened."

Someone can finally understand my thoughts!

Ning Yu had a little smile on his face, speaking of which, the ministers of the imperial court have not yet opened their minds, but this uncle Wang, who has been selling smuggled salt for a while, really has his own set in terms of trade.

Of course, what Ning Zhonghai said made the ministers feel a little incomprehensible, this tribute is a tribute, how can it be related to trade?

"King Yunyang, do you think tributary trade is not feasible? Tell me your reasoning. ”

Ning Zhonghai sighed softly, "The minister is a big rough man, he hasn't read any books, and he used to make a living selling smuggled salt every day, and he can be regarded as understanding a truth, that is, any business in the world can be done, but only the loss-making business can't be done, and the current tributary trade is a big loss-making business!" ”

After saying this, it made the ministers in an uproar, and even Ning Zhongjing glared at his younger brother fiercely, now it's not the past, he is also a prince, how can he speak so incoherently...... It's just unorthodox.....

Compared with everyone else, Ning Yu was more accustomed to this way of speaking, and laughed loudly: "Uncle Wang, this is not rough!" It is precisely this reason that we can no longer engage in loss-making transactions in the future! ”

Speaking of tributary trade, its original intention was good, but when it came to the end, it changed its taste. The earliest tributary trade itself was an important part of the tributary system, and its prototype was the 'five suits' system in the Western Zhou Dynasty, which stipulated the tribute of the tributary according to the distance of each place from the national capital, and then carried out such a process of reward.

The tributary system and the distinction between Huayi are almost two sides of the same coin, while despising other states, they also yearn for the glory of all nations, so all the central dynasties in the heyday of national power need such an honor to serve in the Quartet, from the Qin and Han dynasties to the Sui and Tang dynasties, and then to the Ming and Qing dynasties, it is like this.

But the problem is that tributary trade is not a real trade system, and it is also mixed with some flavor of promoting national prestige. In this way, the big country has face, the small country has the inside, and everyone is very happy.

This mode of tributary trade developed to its peak in the Ming Dynasty, and the number of tributary states, the scale of tribute or the degree of organization were far beyond those of the previous dynasties, such as Zheng He's voyage to the West is a typical example, along the way all the countries took three melons and two dates to pay tribute to the great emperor, and then brought back a boatload of property, a bumper harvest.

In this kind of tributary trade, in order to pay attention to a benevolence and righteousness in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang also wrote a special book "Emperor Ming Zu Xun", which contains "I am afraid that future generations will rely on China's prosperity and strength, be greedy for a moment of military exploits, and raise troops for no reason to hurt people's lives, remember not to", and listed the fifteenth "country that is not to be conquered." ”

It can be said that the starting point of this matter is good, but it is a pity that this kind of system is destined to not last forever, because it is difficult to live forever if you only talk about face and not lining.

However, for those small tributary countries, there are fewer and fewer such good wrongdoers, so one is more diligent than the other, just like the Ryukyu country in front, when the Ming Dynasty paid tribute, it often brought worthless seafood over, and then pulled back a boatload of gold and silver treasures, which really envied the Japanese.

Therefore, after Japan was expelled from the tributary trade system, it was still trying to re-enter it, even using force to occupy the Ryukyus, and then using this layer of Ryukyu skin to carry out tributary trade, and the fundamental reason was that this deformed tributary trade could make a lot of money.

For the emperors of the past, face is bigger than the sky, isn't it money? It's over, it's enough for everyone to call the Heavenly Khan.

But Ning Yu's thinking is very fresh, Tian Khan is by no means bought by relying on gold and silver treasures, but by the guy in his hand, so he will never do this kind of thing as long as he has face, and even in the future, he will not hesitate to save the so-called face now.

As long as the industrial revolution is carried out, it will not be difficult to push East Asia at that time, and there is no need to be polite to them now.

Of course, before proceeding with this step, Ning Yu had to first reverse the thinking of the ministers around him, a good man should not be a good person, and if he did, he would suffer a loss, and someone like Ning Zhonghai who likes to do business without capital is the more the better.

"Trade with Japan can be done, but it cannot be done in the form of tributary trade, the more money you make, the more money you make, the better, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce needs to take the lead in this matter, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can assist from the side."

Ning Yu quickly set the tone, if you want to do business, you can do it well, as long as you make money, and nothing else is left to talk about.

The ministers looked at each other, in their eyes, it was really rare for someone to talk about money as straightforwardly as Ning Yu...... Shouldn't it be a gentleman who is ashamed to talk about profit? Now it's good, the emperor has taken the lead and started talking about money.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

.........

Nanjing, the chief rudder of the Cao Gang.

A man in Tsing Yi had sweat on his face, he walked into the courtyard quickly, with a little anxiety on his face, and when he saw the people who greeted him along the way, he ignored them, and only cared about himself and walked forward.

It wasn't until the innermost one entered the courtyard that the man in green clothes was intercepted, and several young men in black were in a formation with sticks in their hands, but they didn't say a word.

"In the lower king, he is the eldest disciple of Pan Ye, and now he has something important to meet Pan Ye."

Although the man in Tsing Yi was very anxious on his face, he didn't dare to trespass in, you must know that there are many big people here, and he doesn't dare to make a mistake for a junior character.

"It turned out to be Brother Wang, get out of the way, please!" When a black-clothed man at the head heard the name Wang Chuan on his face, he directly clasped his fists and saluted.

"Thank you, brothers!"

Wang Zhen didn't dare to delay any longer, and walked quickly towards the courtyard inside, but before he got close to the main hall, he heard some noise coming from inside, but he was far away, but he couldn't hear it clearly.

This made Wang Zhen's heart more and more dull, and now I am afraid that something is not good in the gang!

After Wang Jian walked into the main hall, he saw three old men sitting on the top, one of them was his master Pan Qing, who was also one of the three ancestors who founded the Cao Gang, and the other two were Weng Yan and Qian Jian, who were also sitting on the top, each sulking.

"Master, two uncles, there is a letter from the capital!" Wang Jun took out a letter from his bosom and handed it over respectfully.

Pan Qing glanced at his eldest disciple with some disgust, now that the Cao Gang is facing a life-and-death crisis, the three of them have already argued over this matter, but he, the eldest disciple, has no ability to observe words and emotions at all.

However, teaching the disciples is a matter of the future after all, Pan Qing took the letter handed over by Wang Zhen, and asked casually while opening the letter: "Jingzhong?" Which Kyochu? ”

Weng Yan and Qian Jian, who were on the side, also focused their attention at this time, staring at Wang Jian in front of them.

Wang Zhen swallowed his saliva, cautiously pointed to the sky, and whispered, "....... from the north"

"Hiss ......."

The three of them took a breath of cold air, especially Pan Qing held the letter in his hand as if he was holding a soldering iron, but he felt extremely hot, he couldn't help glaring at his disciple fiercely, he really regarded the military intelligence department and the shadow as fools, if they found out, the rest of his life would be over!

Fornicating with the north is a big crime, even if they are the ancestors of the Cao Gang, they are just slightly older ants in front of the Fu Han army.

Thinking of this, Pan Qing's hand to open the envelope slowed down, and he glanced at Weng Yan and Qian Jian, a little hesitant.

Weng Yan was a little older, and he sighed and said, "The Cao Gang has become like this now, so it's better to take it apart first." ”

When Pan Qing heard Weng Yan say this, he also opened the envelope, spread out the letter and looked at it carefully, but the more he saw the back, the more dignified his face became, and then he handed the letter to Weng Yan, and after Weng Yan finished reading it, he handed it to Qian Jian.

After the three of them had seen it, the atmosphere in the whole room was extremely solemn, which made Wang Zhen feel a little breathless, and he could guess with his ass that the content of this letter was probably not ordinary.

"Wang Zhen, tell me honestly, who else has come into contact with this letter besides you?" Pan Qing's face was a little gloomy, once this kind of thing was discovered, it would be a big deal.

Wang Chuan was a little nervous, and said in a low voice: "This matter was handed over by a cousin in my north, and no one else knew, only that the content of it was related to the life and death of the Cao Gang, and it must be handed over to several ancestors, and it must not be seen by others, so the disciple didn't even dare to open the letter, and sent it directly." ”

Hearing Wang Chuan say this, Pan Qing and the other three people were all relieved, and casually sent Wang Chuan out and waited outside the courtyard, which made Wang Chuan even more nervous, and he didn't dare to disobey the master's will, so he had to go out of the courtyard honestly.

After only Pan Qing and the other three were left in the room, Weng Yan's face revealed a somewhat complicated taste, and he took the lead in opening his mouth.

"Second brother, third brother, what do you think of this letter?"

Since the three of them founded the Cao Gang, they have always been headed by Weng Yan, and Qian Jian and Pan Qing are the right and left hands, not brothers but more like brothers, so these major events are discussed and decided together.

Pan Qing saw Weng Yan asking, and a little wry smile appeared on his face, "For example, anyone with a discerning eye can see that the Qing Dynasty is already in a state of survival, and even the little White Lotus Sect can't clean it up, I'm afraid the momentum has been exhausted, if we get mixed with them, I'm afraid there will be no good fruits to eat......"

Seeing Pan Qing say this, Qian Jian's face was a little ruthless, "But eldest brother and third brother, don't forget, now that Ning Chu is in the capital of Nanjing, it is forbidden to connect the north and the south, and my Cao Gang disciples have no chance to live now...... If we can create some momentum in the south of the Yangtze River, maybe we will have a livelihood in the future.....

To put it bluntly, taking people and wealth is often the same level as killing their father and wife, although this is not Ning Chu's original intention, but at present, it has become a foregone conclusion that all the disciples of the Cao Gang are unemployed, and there are a large number of supporters in the Cao Gang with ideas like Qian Jian.

Pan Qing was really reluctant to get on the ship of the Great Qing Dynasty at this time, so he said in a low voice: "My Cao helps the livelihood of my disciples is naturally important, and I am already looking for a relationship to see if I can find some ministers in the court to speak for me and other small people, and seek a way to live." ”

"Humph! Third brother, you can't help but think too well, what is there to find a relationship with my Cao Gang now, there is not even much silver at the moment, how can I talk to the big guys? Besides, how can untouchables like me be taken to heart by the old man? ”

Qian Jian's words are quite true, because in the past, under the hands of the Qing court, the so-called Cao Gang was almost equivalent to idle people in society, and they were all ignored by the government.

The two argued, and then looked at the boss Weng Yan and asked him to decide.

But at this time, Weng Yan sighed lowly, just stared at the letter on the table, and didn't say a word.