For this account, Yinxi is not clear, and discussed with Zheng Shichang, the same is not the point, both of them do not know how big the trade volume of the Wa Kingdom is, nor is it clear how big the difference will be after the embargo of gold, silver, copper and other metals, and the valuation of the young and strong labor of the Wa State is also quite vague, I don't know whether it should be calculated as a slave or as a long-term worker.

After a slight sigh, Yin Yu bowed down and said: "Back to the emperor, the annual salary of Jiangnan Changgong is equivalent to five or six stones of rice, and the high one is seven or eight stones, that is, five stones, and the silver is also around five taels, and 100,000 young and strong people are employed for five years, which is two million taels of silver."

If it is agreed that the Japanese state will not allocate gold, silver and copper out of the country within three years, if the 'Four Great Heng' and others are to bear the interest on the silver for three years, the 2.5 million taels will not be a loss, after all, the scale of the Japanese trade is up to us in the Qing Dynasty. ”

"It's not up to us to decide on the scale." Zhenwu smiled slightly, and said: "An overseas trade route has been sold, and the imperial court cannot limit the scale of maritime trade, and besides, 100,000 Japanese people also want to be shipped out, so they will not go to the Japanese country empty-handed." 100,000 Japanese people, this is the amount of trade offered by Arai Junmi. ”

After saying this, Yinxi also reacted, the 100,000 people of Arai Junmei were not believing, but carefully calculated, he hurriedly bowed down and said: "The emperor's candle shines thousands of miles, and the insight is slight, and the ministers are ashamed." ”

Zhenwu nodded slightly, and was about to speak, when Bao Fuquan bowed in and reported in a low voice at the door: "Your Majesty, Yijun Wang Yinxiang, Qingbeile Yinyu, and Bei Ziyinli are handing over signs outside to ask to see." ”

The old thirteenth and the old seventeenth are responsible for expanding the recruitment of the new Praetorian Guard, is there something wrong? With a slight groan, Zhen Wucai said, "Let them in." ”

Zheng Shichang bowed down at this time and said: "Your Majesty, the voyage to the Americas is extremely long, and a ship cannot accommodate many people, and the number of ships required for 100,000 Japanese people to move to the Americas will be extremely huge. ”

"There's nothing to worry about." Zhenwu said lightly: "You can sell it in Beijing first, and they know how much the princes and nobles can eat, and all the rest will be shipped to Australia." After a slight pause, he continued: "Sea sailing." It's a long way to go. The five-year period is really too short, and it is necessary for the Japanese state to change the time to ten years, and in addition, the manpower should not be too small, so it should be changed to 50,000 per year, and only 150,000 in three years. It's hard for them. ”

Yinxi, Zheng Shichang, and Nian Qianyao couldn't help but secretly say to themselves, this is really a lion's mouth, and it has tripled as soon as he opens his mouth, according to Jiangnan's long-term labor algorithm, this is 7.5 million taels of silver.

After a little hesitation, Yinxi hesitated and said, "Your Majesty." Arai Junmei is good at calculation, three years of interest, 7.5 million taels of silver, and the minister is worried that it will be difficult for the Japanese country to accept. ”

Zhenwu glanced at him and sneered: "No matter how calculating you are, you have to have strength, tell Arai Junmi that it is better to agree." Disagree. I sent someone to catch it myself. ”

Yinxi couldn't help but be stunned when he heard it, the Wa State is now a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty. Will such a strong oppression cause panic among other vassal states? Nian Qianyao was greatly excited when he heard it, Zhenwu was so strong, and the garrison seemed to be doing a lot.

Yinxiang, Yinyu, and Yinli rushed in at this time, and they all asked An to see the ceremony, Zhenwu nodded, and said, "All are exempt from courtesy, give a seat." ”

After the three of them sat down, Yin Yu bowed and said: "Your Majesty, now the Wa Kingdom is nominally a vassal of the Qing Dynasty, and if you persecute and oppress it like this, you may damage the reputation of the Qing Dynasty." ”

"The Heavenly Empire is also maintained by strength, without strength, the reputation is just a false name, what good do you want?" Zhenwu glanced at the few people present and said: "Since the Tang and Song dynasties, all dynasties have unified and not governed the vassals and frontiers, and the Qing Dynasty is no exception.

It's just a false name, and it's even more worrying, because the imperial court has no substantive management of the vassals, and once they encounter the invasion of foreign enemies, these vassals will not only be difficult to reap the effect of the barrier, but will become a springboard for foreign enemies to invade our Qing Dynasty. ”

Everyone present is clear that Zhenwu has long had the idea of reforming the relationship between the Qing Dynasty and the vassals, and it is not surprising to hear this, it seems that Zhenwu is determined to open the knife of the Wa country, and he deserves the bad luck of the Wa country, who let him be remembered by Zhenwu.

After a slight pause, Zhenwu continued: "The territory of the Wa Kingdom is small, and the minerals such as gold, silver, and copper are not rich, and the 'Four Hengs' are stationed in the Wa Kingdom, one is to promote trade with the Wa Kingdom, and the other is to absorb the gold of the Wa Kingdom. ”

Zheng Shichang knew that Zhenwu had long had the idea of issuing banknotes to replace silver, and when he heard the credibility of the 'Four Great Hengs', he knew that Zhenwu was taking precautions, but he didn't quite understand why Zhenwu only emphasized the absorption of gold, isn't silver important? In front of so many princes, he didn't dare to ask, so he hurriedly bowed down and said, "Weichen obeys the order." ”

Yinxiang couldn't help but say: "Your Majesty, the silver production of the Wa Kingdom is not low, why only absorb gold?" ”

Zhenwu glanced at everyone, took a sip of tea, and then said calmly: "Why only absorb gold?" Before the Ming Dynasty, the scale of maritime trade was very small, basically negligible, although there was the Silk Road and Western trade by land, but its scale was also limited, not enough to affect the circulation of silver money in China.

However, in the past 100 years, with the prosperity of maritime trade, this situation has changed dramatically, especially after the discovery of a large number of silver mines in the Americas, American silver since the middle of the Ming Dynasty began to flow to China one after another, and it is with sufficient silver that silver has gradually become a legal tender in circulation.

Nowadays, the Qing Dynasty will exchange a large amount of silver for its annual sea trade, what will happen if there is more silver? Naturally, it is to cause depreciation! Trigger the crisis of cheap silver! Have you ever wondered why the price of silver has been stable in the past few decades, but more and more silver has flowed into the Qing Dynasty?

This is because the wealthy merchants, officials, gentry, and common people of the Qing Dynasty like to save silver, bury the silver in silver cellars, bury it in the ground, store it in various unexpected places, and do not take it out for circulation. ”

Speaking of this, Zhenwu stopped, glanced at everyone, and said: "Zheng Shichang, you have been operating the silver account for many years, do you know what the risk is?" ”

When Zheng Shichang heard this, he naturally understood what the risk was that Zhenwu said, but he was old, where was he willing to be in the limelight, so he immediately bowed down and said: "Weichen is stupid, and I ask the emperor for guidance." ”

Zhenwu glanced at him, and then continued: "With the prosperity of maritime trade and the increasing scale of maritime trade, the money law of the Qing Dynasty can no longer be left alone, but connected with Europe and the Americas, with the increase of silver production, the silver in Europe has begun to depreciate sharply, through large-scale maritime trade, it will inevitably cause the depreciation of the silver of the Qing Dynasty in a few years."

Once the silver depreciates, the larger the reserves, the greater the disaster, the reason why I absorb gold overseas and make the customs forcibly collect gold on a pro-rata basis is to prevent a large influx of silver, which will cause the depreciation of silver, and the other is to be consistent with Europe.

Europe began to accumulate gold more than 100 years ago, and was preparing to implement the money law with gold as legal tender, that is, the gold standard, and the Qing Dynasty must also accumulate gold, and transition from the gold and silver double standard system that uses gold and silver to circulate at the same time to the gold standard, only in this way can the Qing Dynasty be invincible in overseas trade.

Otherwise, the maritime trade between the Qing Dynasty and Europe would be in an absolutely unfavorable situation, of course, the wealthy merchants, officials and gentry did not worry about the depreciation of gold, and the Qing Dynasty could also avoid the crisis caused by the depreciation of silver. ”

Yinxi, Yinxiang and others couldn't help but suddenly realize when they heard this, no wonder Zhenwu asked the Japanese to compensate for the gold, and to conquer Africa to rob the Gold Coast.

Zheng Shichang was secretly frightened, how large the amount of silver in circulation in the Qing Dynasty, he could roughly estimate it, it was not difficult to implement the simultaneous circulation of gold and silver in the Qing Dynasty, but to implement the gold standard, how much gold would be needed? This is a bit unrealistic, but he doesn't dare to say this, now that the Qing Dynasty is trying to expand its overseas territories, who knows if it will find a large gold mine, I heard that there are big gold mines in Australia.

Yinxi immediately took the lead and said: "The emperor's holy thoughts are far-reaching, he has insight into the crux of the problem, he has a unique eye, and the ministers are not as good as one. ”

"The emperor's wisdom and insight are really the blessings of the subjects of the Qing Dynasty." Yinxiang was not far behind, and followed closely.

Seeing Yinyu, Yinli also wanted to be praised, Zhenwu smiled and waved his hand, and said, "Don't make these false courtesies." ”

"Your Majesty, the ministers are all from the bottom of their hearts." Yin Yu bowed and said: "The royal family of the Manchu Dynasty, the princes and nobles, and the ministers of civil and military affairs, no one can have this insight, and no one can be prepared for danger in times of peace and see the hidden crisis under the prosperous world. ”

"This is the way of economics, and you can't learn it from the Four Books and the Five Classics." Zhenwu smiled slightly, then pulled the topic back again, and said: "The mining and smelting industry of the Japanese country is prosperous, and there are many craftsmen, and the Americas, Australia, and Africa are all in urgent need of such talents, and all kinds of craftsmen can be deliberately selected.

According to the will of the Beijing newspapers and periodicals, regardless of whether the south or the north, and whether or not the apportionment of the land into the mu, the silver of the craftsman class will be spread into the ground, the silver of the stove will be spread into the stove, and the silver of the tunding will be spread into the grain, so as to completely remove the shackles on the craftsmen, and allow the craftsmen to move and flow freely. (To be continued.) )