"Your Majesty, there is something that the old minister doesn't know whether to talk about or not..."

Zhang Juzheng said unhurriedly.

Emperor Wanli smiled slightly: "Yuanfu said that it doesn't hurt. ”

"Your Majesty, do you still remember Ling Ningxiu of Xiangshan County?"

Emperor Wanli nodded and said, "Of course I remember, why did he come up with something new?" ”

Zhang Juzheng shook his head and said: "He wrote a letter to Lao Chen, saying that the Franco-Rang Man, who is entrenched in Manila, Luzon, is trying to attack my Daming coastal prefecture and county. ”

In fact, Ning Xiu's letter to Zhang Juzheng used the words "invasion of the Ming Dynasty".

It's just that Zhang Juzheng felt that this was too mysterious, so he changed it to 'attack coastal states and counties'.

After all, when the Japanese were most rampant, they did burn, kill and loot on the southeast coast of the Ming Dynasty.

If you think of the Francophiles of Luzon as pirates like pirates, it is still in the past.

"Oh? Where did he find out? ”

"Some missionaries and businessmen from Manila."

Zhang Juzheng paused and said: "The old minister feels that this matter is important, so he immediately came to pay homage to His Majesty and ask His Majesty to make a holy judgment." ”

"This..."

Emperor Wanli looked embarrassed.

Since he ascended the throne, he has been accustomed to Zhang Juzheng's affairs. Now it's really uncomfortable to suddenly let him make a decision.

"Yuanfu, I feel that if the Francophiles really have the intention of invading the southeast coast, they should indeed send troops to recruit them. But there is still one need to say. ”

Zhang Juzheng nodded and agreed: "It is naturally not possible for a teacher to be nameless. The old minister thought it was better to use the Francophone to rob my Ming merchant ship on the grounds that the Franc machine man had robbed me. ”

"Yes."

Emperor Wanli let out a sigh: "But after all, fighting a war is not a trivial matter, Yuan Fu can calculate how much gold and silver it will cost to conquer Manila?" ”

Although Zhang Juzheng is not an official of the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of War, he has been in charge of military affairs for many years, and his estimate of military salaries is even clearer than that of the Ministry of Household and the Ministry of War.

He pondered for a moment and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, in the opinion of the old minister, the conquest of Manila will cost at least 300,000 taels of silver. If it doesn't last for a long time, I'm afraid there will be more. ”

"So much..."

Emperor Wanli frowned when he heard this.

The annual tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty is three million taels, and a war with the Franc machine will cost one-tenth of the year's tax revenue. That's not a small amount.

He thought of those reckless emperors in history, who did not end well, and couldn't help but hesitate.

Of course, Zhang Juzheng saw the emperor's thoughts, he cleared his throat and said, "Your Majesty, I heard that there are countless silver mines in this Manila......

Of course, this was also written by Ning Xiu in the letter.

As a traverser, no one knew better than him that there were no silver mines in Luzon. The large quantities of silver in Manila were brought by the Spaniards from the Americas and Africa. In other words, Manila is just a transit point for silver. Most of the silver influx in the late Ming Dynasty came from Japan, not Manila.

But this did not prevent Ning Xiu from exaggerating in the letter. Because he knew that if he wanted to persuade Zhang Juzheng and Emperor Wanli to send troops, there must be sufficient reasons.

This reason is nothing more than the word profit.

With Emperor Wanli's greedy character and Zhang Juzheng's shrewdness, he will not fail to see the importance of silver mines.

As long as they were convinced that there were silver mines in Manila, they would definitely send troops against the Spaniards entrenched in Luzon.

As for finding that there is no silver mine after defeating Manila, Ning Xiu will not have any loss. After all, he had heard it from merchants and missionaries.

In Ning Xiu's view, Manila's important geographical location is even more important than the silver mines.

Holding here, holding the passage to Malacca, the route to the South Seas can be firmly held in their own hands, which is extremely beneficial to the development of maritime trade in the Ming Dynasty.

This was the time of the Great Voyages, when Europeans discovered and colonized the American continent, and obtained large quantities of gold and silver from the continent, as well as high-yield crops.

It was with this almost frenzied plunder that the Europeans completed the primitive accumulation of capital.

It was precisely by virtue of this accumulation of capital that they were able to develop rapidly in the subsequent industrial revolution.

At the same time, the Ming Dynasty still lived in his own world. Although the Ming Dynasty did not completely close the country like the Manchu Qing Dynasty, they still looked down on these barbarians in their hearts.

What Ning Xiu wants to do is to change this established history. He decided that it all started in Manila...

Of course, these Zhang Ju are exactly what they don't know. He was only interested in the silver mines of Manila.

Emperor Wanli was also very interested in silver mines.

He paced with his hands behind his back, thinking about the pros and cons of sending troops to fight. If, as Ning Xiu said, there are silver mines in Manila, then it is not impossible to conquer Luzon. The military salary for the expedition will definitely be made up, and maybe you can make a lot of money.

It's just that Luzon is too far away from the Ming Dynasty. If troops are sent to garrison, the food and silver consumed will inevitably not be less.

This kind of place is a battleground for soldiers. If there are fewer soldiers, they will not be able to hold it, and if they send more, they will consume a lot of silver.

The most important thing is that the imperial court has little control over this kind of isolated enclave, and if it raises a town of warlords, wouldn't it be worth the loss?

This was something that Emperor Wanli had to consider.

"Your Majesty, there is no rush in this matter. However, the old minister thought that even if he did not immediately send troops to recruit the Luzon Franc Jiren, he would have to vigorously develop the sailors in case of emergency. ”

Zhang Juzheng's suggestion was in line with Emperor Wanli's wishes.

In any case, a strong sailor can enhance the influence of the imperial court.

The Ming Dynasty gained a high prestige in the Nanyang region after Zheng He's voyage to the West. However, the Ming Dynasty did not implement this behavior in the following dynasties, so that the Taixi people took advantage of the loopholes and built cities and ruled in the Nanyang lands.

Emperor Wanli was ambitious, and he certainly would not be satisfied with the existing territory of the Ming Dynasty.

To the north, he was to strike at the Tatars and cover the entire steppe with the empire. In the west, he wants to go west out of Jiayu Pass, recover the Western Regions, and point to the Green Mountains. To the south, of course, is to control important sea lanes through Luzon and other places.

All of this requires money, and it will not be easy to accomplish it in a few decades.

However, since the implementation of the new policy, the income of the imperial court has grown year by year, and the inner treasury has also been full. This gave the Wanli Emperor hope.

Can the deeds that the ancestors and ancestors have not accomplished really be able to accomplish on him?

If he really did all the martial arts he hoped for, wouldn't he be able to compare with an emperor like Han Wu and Tang Sect?

At the thought of this, the young emperor felt very excited.

"Well, what Motosuke said is extremely true. If I have the heart to rectify the water division, let's start with Guangdong and Fujian. The money is allocated by the household, and if it is not enough, it is drawn from the inner money. ”

Emperor Wanli waved his hand and said, "As for Ning Xiu, I will let him be in charge of the supervision of the Guangdong Sailors." ”

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