After getting Zheng Taixian's report, early the next morning, Feng Quan rushed to Qianqing outside the palace, ready to report the good news to Chongzhen.

Less than three years after the new emperor ascended the throne, there were small overseas states that donated land to attach it, which was obviously the reason why Chongzhen's virtue spread overseas. Compared with the previous forcible seizure of Jeju Island from North Korea and the recovery of a pirate and indigenous island of Taiwan, the annexation of the Ryukyu Kingdom is a real celebration, after all, this is a country with a proper economic system.

Feng Quan didn't expect that if he was sitting like this in the capital, pie would fall from the sky. As the prime minister Yamen in charge of the overseas affairs of the Ming Dynasty, the reception of the Ryukyu Kingdom was naturally the responsibility of his department, and the news that the Ryukyu prince intended to donate the soil was also sent to him first.

According to reason, he should have spoken to the Ministry of Rites and the Cabinet first, and came to see Chongzhen with several ministers. But in order to compete for credit, Feng Quan pretended to forget about it.

Zhu Youzhen, who was about to go out, heard Feng Quan asking to see him outside the palace gate, and he didn't care and instructed Lu Qi: "It just so happens that I originally planned to go to the Prime Minister's Yamen to meet him, but since he came here, let him in." ”

Lu Qi, who was standing by the door and waiting, immediately bowed his head and responded, "Yes, Your Majesty." ”

Lu Qi withdrew from the door as he spoke, and after a while, he brought the beaming Feng Quan to the study's room.

After meeting the emperor, Feng Quan reported to Chongzhen about the Ryukyu prince's plan to dedicate the soil.

Zhu Youzhen thought for a while and said: "The annexation of Ryukyu to China can be regarded as a happy event. Don't be lacking in this etiquette and procedure, Master Feng can discuss with Zhou Shilang of the Ministry of Etiquette and try to make this thing as beautiful as possible.

The Ryukyu prince is there, Master Feng, you can go and meet him on my behalf. By the way, I would like to bring a few words to him: first, since the Ryukyu royal family is willing to donate land and population to my Ming Dynasty, then from now on Ryukyu and China will be one, and there will be no distinction between each other;

Second, since the Ryukyu royal family has contributed to the sacrifice of land, then I will no longer pursue any past events, and the previous collusion between Ryukyu and Japan will be stopped;

Third, after the return of the Ryukyu Kingdom, the private property of the Ryukyu royal family was not violated, and the Ryukyu throne was still preserved. However, the Ryukyu royal family needed to move to the capital separately, and the Ryukyu king no longer directly governed the Ryukyu Kingdom.

We established a Governor's Office in the Ryukyus, and from then on, the Governor's Office was responsible for the administration of the Ryukyu Kingdom. As for the diplomatic and military affairs of the Ryukyus, the Imperial Court will be in charge, and will temporarily be placed under the Prime Minister's Yamen and the Tokai Patrol Office.

As for Zheng Taixian and Mao Taijiu, two places will be reserved for them in the future Ryukyu Governor's Palace. Other trivial matters can be handled by Mr. Feng and reported to me. ”

Feng Quan felt very satisfied with the emperor's disposition, not only did he succeed in grabbing the credit, but there was also an additional Ryukyu territory under the prime minister's yamen, and there was nothing better than this ending.

When Feng Quan's heart was beautiful, he unexpectedly Chongzhen continued to him: "Actually, if Master Feng doesn't come to look for me today, I will also look for you. Yesterday, I received news from the Tokai Patrol Office, and there were several decisions about the Japanese shogunate, which seemed to have hindered the business of the Prime Minister's yamen. ”

Feng Quan's heart was suddenly shocked, although he had not stayed in the Prime Minister's Yamen for a long time, but as one of the founders of this Yamen, he had already regarded this Yamen as his own private property, and when he heard that the interests of the Prime Minister's Yamen were going to be lost, he couldn't help but get nervous.

Zhu Youzhen picked up the booklet that Ye Yuxuan brought back, opened it to a page and read: "The Tokugawa Shogunate decided to implement the "Fengshu" system from the 8th year of Kanei, that is, in addition to the seal, the ship going to sea must also have a document issued by the old man. Kanei 8 is the next year, and this article is mainly aimed at businessmen in Japan.

From next year, all foreign ships will not be allowed to enter Japan for trading, except for Chinese ships. However, Chinese ships were restricted to Nagasaki, Hirado, and Osaka, and it was strictly forbidden to cross Nagoya to enter Edo Bay and other eastern Japan areas for trade. Chinese fishing vessels have also been treated in the same way. In addition, foreign trade between the Tsushima clan and Korea, and the Shimazu clan of the Satsuma domain and the Ryukyu kingdom were retained.

In addition, the shogunate also decided to limit the trade quota of Chinese ships, and the annual amount of silver traded with Chinese ships was fixed at 12,000 koshime, including 1,500 kokume in Hirado, 4,500 kokome in Osaka, and 6,000 kokume in Nagasaki. The consistent purpose is about 100 taels of silver. In other words, in the future, Japan and China must not import more than 1.2 million taels of silver.

As for the trading method, the transaction method is as follows, and after the transaction limit of each port is met, the transaction is no longer carried out, and the ship should leave Japan in a timely manner. ”

Feng Quan was suddenly taken aback and said: "This Japan is too ridiculous, this year alone, my country's imports of silver and gold from Japan are about five or six million taels, and the copper bars and other materials imported from Japan are also worth about five or six million taels.

With such a trade quota of the Tokugawa clan, won't our trade volume with Japan next year not even reach 20% of this year's? Are their officials nervous? ”

Zhu Youzhen glanced at Feng Quan, who suddenly became excited, with some surprise, and couldn't help but say casually: "Even a person as cultured as you, Master Feng, thinks that the Tokugawa clan is too much, and I think that the Tokugawa clan's decision on overseas trade this time may indeed be a little arrogant." ”

The emperor's words made Feng Quan a little ashamed, but he quickly suppressed this shame. After all, the financial blow he received in front of the emperor made him feel more heartache than a small faux pas.

Compared with other officials, although Feng Quan is keen on power, he has an advantage that others do not have, that is, he understands current affairs. When he took refuge in Wei Zhongxian, Wei Zhongxian asked him to step down from the position of first assistant, and he obediently retreated.

The emperor was disgusted that there was too much land in the hands of local magnates, so he honestly donated a large piece of land and invested it in the workshops set up by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Ordered to set up the Prime Minister's Yamen and manage the money bag of the customs for the emperor, Feng Quan suddenly discovered the windfall profits of overseas trade. In the past, he had always heard that although overseas trade was very profitable, it was also very risky, and ten ships went out, and maybe only one or two could come back.

But when he started trading overseas, he realized that this was not the case at all. Obviously, the rumor that the sea trade is too risky should be the rumor that those maritime merchants want to monopolize this profiteering industry.

Of course, there is no risk in overseas trade, and if you are not familiar with the sea routes and seasonal climate, it is good that half of the ships that go to sea can come back. But the success of one voyage is enough to cover the cost of three or four voyages, and the risk is worth taking.

What's more, as the head of the Prime Minister's Yamen, he has information on sea routes and seasonal climates collected from various places, and coupled with the welcome of maritime merchants, he has much less risk in conducting overseas trade than ordinary merchants.

The lucrative route of Tianjin-Korea-Japan-Ryukyu-Shanghai has become more and more familiar to maritime merchants, reducing the risk to a point that is slightly higher than that of inland navigation.

Feng Quan naturally got two boats to run on the route, and he earned back his capital in less than half a year. Seeing that the development momentum of maritime trade is so good, he and his relatives and friends ordered eight large ships in one go, with a total tonnage of up to 5,000 tons and a value of 750,000 yuan.

He has just placed an order here, and the Tokugawa shogunate here wants to block foreign trade, isn't it embarrassing for him? Wouldn't it be a great increase in the risk of ships going to sea to break away from this trade route through Japan and run other routes.

What's more, the amount of trade with Japan accounts for one-third of the total overseas import and export trade of the Ming Dynasty, and if trade with Japan is hit, customs tariffs will also be affected next year.

For both private and public affairs, Feng Quan was disgusted by the impersonal approach of the Tokugawa shogunate. He now feels in his heart that this is a rogue country, which is even more hateful than Houjin.

After hesitating for a moment, Feng Quan couldn't help but ask Chongzhen, "Your Majesty, can't we negotiate with the Tokugawa clan?" Isn't there an envoy stationed in Edo who dealt with the Tokugawa shogunate? ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded and replied: "It is true that there is an envoy in Edo, but that Imperial Tokugawa Hidetada has been sick since this spring, and even our envoy is difficult to see. Therefore, most of the affairs of the shogunate are now entrusted to the three generations of shoguns, Tokugawa Iemitsu.

The attitude of this three-generation general towards my Daming is far less kind than that of the Great Imperial Palace. It is said that the shogunate's decision was made by him himself. Therefore, it may be difficult for our envoys in Edo to get the Tokugawa Iemitsu to reverse the restrictions on Japan's overseas trade. ”

Feng Quan was suddenly a little depressed, and he said in frustration: "In this way, the life of the Prime Minister's Yamen will be sad next year." "If the Japanese really implement these policies next year, then the customs will lose at least millions of yuan in tariffs, and those merchants who have been running the Oriental trade will lose even more.

For Zhu Youzhen, these policies are, of course, unacceptable. Not counting other goods, the annual import of raw silk into Japan alone has reached 3 or 4 million taels, and if the Japanese are so restricted, there will be many small workshops that will go bankrupt next year.

Not to mention, in order to make up for the shortage of gold and silver currency, Japanese merchants have been exporting copper bars to make up for the difference in the price of Ming goods. The price of copper sold in Japan was 105 taels per 100 catties, 125 taels per 100 catties when Japanese merchants sold or mortgaged the money, and 115 taels per 100 catties when the Nagasaki shogunate officials sold or pledged the money. 1 tael is equivalent to 01 tael of silver, which means that the price of copper in Japan beats between 105-125 taels per 100 catties.

In China, the price of copper is roughly six catties of copper and two taels of silver, and one tael of silver is worth 880 copper coins according to the regulations, and the copper content of these copper coins is five catties and six taels. The less 10 taels of copper is the casting cost and money interest.

However, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the copper content in the minted copper coins has been insufficient, so the exchange ratio between copper coins and silver has become suddenly high and low. After Chongzhen ascended the throne, he replaced the irregular silver weighing currency with paper money and a fixed proportion of silver dollars, which finally fixed the value of silver.

After that, he adopted the abolition of copper coins before a certain dynasty and the issuance of copper dollars denominated in face value, which finally standardized the types of copper coins in circulation on the market. The smooth flow of logistics channels between the north and the south has also greatly dealt a blow to the imbalance in the exchange between the north and the south. Now a large Ming yuan has been exchanged for 100 as ten copper yuan, or 1,500 official copper coins, which has lasted for more than three months.

The copper content of 100 copper dollars is only 5 catties, so after the people receive the copper dollars, they will use the copper dollars as soon as possible, and keep the copper coins. Due to the policy of the government and banks to always ensure that the copper dollar is recycled first, the copper dollar, which was originally regarded as an inferior currency, has now slowly begun to take over the circulation status of copper coins.

This is a good thing for the imperial court and banks that want to abolish copper coins and circulate copper dollars. After all, die-cast copper dollars are difficult to counterfeit, while poured copper coins are too easy to counterfeit. However, whether it is a die-casting copper dollar or a pouring copper coin, Daming is in a difficult situation, that is, the lack of copper.

The copper imported from Japan is a good supplement to the embarrassment of the lack of local copper in the Ming Dynasty, and the highest price of copper in Japan has reached 13 taels per 100 catties, while the copper price of Daming has risen to 18 taels per 100 catties. Of course, this is not because of the problem of the imperial court minting money, but the Ming Workshop used copper to make mechanical parts and cast cannons, which greatly increased the demand for copper in the Ming Dynasty.

In the first year of Chongzhen, Japan's annual copper output was only more than 10 million catties, and in the third year of Chongzhen, it only increased to 15 or 6 million catties. In order to meet the needs of the Ming Dynasty, Japanese copper merchants even smuggled copper bars from their previous stores for sale, which were supposed to be used for the shogunate to mint coins.

The strong demand for copper has also made the price of copper in Japan continue to rise, and the copper price that has arrived in Daming this year has exceeded 13 taels per 100 catties. Although the rise in copper prices has increased the cost of copper workshops in the Ming Dynasty, it has also brought a benefit, and the phenomenon of privately minting copper coins and copper dollars is also decreasing.

However, what is good for the Ming Dynasty is not a good thing for Japan. The outflow of gold, silver, and copper had already begun to affect Japan's domestic market transactions, and the shortage of money led to a sharp rise in the price of daily necessities and rice in Japan, which was why the shogunate enacted a policy to restrict overseas trade.

However, whether it is Zhu Youzhen, Feng Quan, or those merchants from various countries who conduct overseas trade with Japan, they don't care about the anxiety of the Japanese shogunate. All they know now is that their interests have been damaged, and whether this loss will be compensated by the Japanese shogunate or whether they will consider themselves unlucky depends on whose fist is harder.