"Yunnan is rich in silver and copper, while Myanmar is rich in gold, ivory and jadeite."

Today is Laba, Liu Jun also has a rare day off, he and the queen, the four concubines and the two princes, together with the emperor's palace to meet.

The Taishang Emperor resides in the Imperial Palace. On the east side of the Forbidden City, it occupies a large area to the east. Huangji Palace, Ningshou Palace imitate the regulation of Qianqing Palace and Taihe Palace, there are Huangji Gate and Ningshou Gate in front, and Ningshou Palace in the back, imitating the regulation of Kunning Palace. The Emperor Taishang lived in the Huangji Palace, and the Queen Mother lived in Ningshou Palace.

This palace is on the east side of the Forbidden City, and it corresponds to the Cining Palace on the west side of the Forbidden City, where the two empress dowagers Zhang and Zhou of the previous dynasty and the concubines now live.

Today's Laba is also a family reunion, the Huangji Palace, in addition to Liu Jun with a queen, four concubines and two princes, Liu Jun's two brothers also brought their wives into the palace to participate in this family banquet.

In addition, several of Liu Jun's sisters also brought their husbands and sons, including the fifth brother-in-law, Fu Shan, the left privy envoy, and Liu Yunsheng, the right privy envoy, who is the younger brother of the Son of Heaven, so he also invited his family to come today.

They are all royal, and this banquet is also more relaxed and casual, everyone is talking about their hometown, during which the eldest brother asked about the specialties of Myanmar in Yunnan.

During this time, all newspapers and periodicals in Beijing were promoting the three propaganda and six consolations, and constantly talked about the "since ancient times" Mengyang, Laos and other three propaganda and six consolations are the inherent territory of China.

Many newspapers also carefully introduced the cultural specialties of Yunnan, Myanmar and other places, especially several newspapers said that Yunnan is the source of silver and copper, and its silver and copper reserves occupy the third place in the country. As for Sanxuan and Liuwei, they are rich in gold, ivory and jadeite.

Liu Jun's eldest brother Liu Zhao was just a boy who failed many times, and he couldn't pass the exam. But in reality, nothing can be done. Liu Jun would rather reward him with more gold and silver money than give him an official position.

However, Liu Zhao didn't care, he simply became his own rich and idle king.

China has low silver reserves and low production, with the three provinces with the highest silver reserves being Jiangxi, Guangdong and Yunnan. Compared with the years of mining in Jiangxi and Guangdong, Yunnan is rich in silver and copper reserves. However, because of the long distance and inconvenient transportation, there is not much mining.

The Han Dynasty had a high demand for silver and copper, both of which are precious metals and are the main materials of today's silver and copper dollars. As soon as this propaganda in the newspaper came out, now those businessmen in China with a keen sense of smell began to move. In the past, everyone also knew that there was silver and copper in Yunnan, but those places were mainly the territory of Tusi, and it was too difficult to mine and transport it out.

But now it's different. The Han Dynasty has pacified the southwest and changed the land to return to the stream. Toast is no longer a problem, and the other most important problem is the problem of roads, and there is a solution. On the one hand, the imperial court was changing the land in the southwest, and on the other hand, it was already building roads, laying post posts, and setting up warehouses along the route. Merchants only need to apply to the imperial court for permission to prospect, and after they can explore the minerals. You can apply for a mining license, and after you get the license, you can organize manual mining.

After digging the mine, it can also be transported out smoothly. At present, the demand for silver and copper is rising, and the price of silver and copper is rising, and the mining and trading is extremely profitable.

And the gold and ivory of Burma stimulated the merchants of the Han Dynasty even more. Compared to gold ivory, jadeite today is not worth much.

Liu Zhao also saw these news from the newspaper. Yesterday's daily newspaper even said that the city of Bagan is full of pagodas inlaid with gold and jade, and the large pagoda in the largest temple is almost completely wrapped in gold.

In the newspapers, it seemed that the whole of Myanmar was full of gold.

This kind of preaching. In fact, it is the joint work of the new Publishing Deployment and Propaganda Department of the imperial court. This was naturally instructed by the imperial court, and it also came from Liu Jun's request.

The propagation of the three propaganda and six consolations is naturally to show the legitimacy of the legal principle that the imperial court sent troops to Burma. At the same time, the promotion of gold and ivory in Burma and other places is also to gain the support of more ordinary people and businessmen for this war.

In fact, now the court does not resist war. The military is as enthusiastic about war as ever. Today's army is a professional army, and the soldiers are also professional soldiers, and they are constantly training, so as to naturally use the soldiers for a while. If you fight, you can make meritorious contributions and be promoted.

The invincible record of the Han army has been more and more stimulating the soldiers to be keen on war. Under today's system, the army is a standing army, and the military is a professional army, but they cannot be mixed up in the army. Every soldier has a military rank. For each rank, there is a specified number of years of promotion.

If there is meritorious service, you can be promoted in advance.

But if you don't fight, the chances of promotion are much lower, and the higher you go, the narrower the channel for promotion. The imperial court has long stipulated that the number of officers at each level and the promotion rate at each level are very clear, one radish and one pit.

If a soldier of each level is not promoted once, there will be a next time, but the opportunities are also limited. If you still can't be promoted within the specified number of years, you must change jobs and be discharged from the army.

This system not only avoids unlimited officer promotions, but also leads to the problem of too many officers. At the same time, it also avoids that the soldiers will not be promoted for a long time, and their enthusiasm will continue to decrease, resulting in those soldiers who have no hope of being promoted to end up in chaos.

There is a limit on the promotion time of each rank, and the number of officers at each level is also strictly controlled.

Although this system will also cause the army to lose well-trained soldiers, it can maintain the morale of the army and the spirit of progress. At the same time, on the other hand, the army is also a melting pot, and a steady stream of veterans and demobilized soldiers can also have plenty of space.

It was under this system that the soldiers of the Han Dynasty were extremely enthusiastic about war. Because there is a war, the demand for the army is great, the army will expand, maintain a relatively large scale, and they can also make meritorious contributions in wars, so they can be promoted faster.

Staying up for years and qualifications, which is faster than being promoted to the war.

What's more, if you don't fight, you only have a normal salary, but when you fight, all kinds of allowances and rewards, as well as dividends captured on the battlefield, etc., almost every time you fight, it is a small fortune. The excellent logistics support and generous rewards and pensions of the Han army made everyone not afraid of the casualties of the war.

The army is not afraid of war, but likes to fight, and the other common people and merchants have no reason to be afraid of war. If in the past, everyone was afraid of war, soldiers were afraid of death, people were afraid of levying money and grain, and officials were afraid of raising grain and grass, in short, no one wanted to fight before, the casualty rate of wars was high, the consumption was large, and they always lost wars, who wanted to fight?

But now it's different, the Han Dynasty is constantly using soldiers, but it is invincible, it is invincible, the country is expanding its territory, the soldiers are rich, the people don't need to bear the extra burden, and occasionally recruit some people, everyone is not in danger, on the contrary, there is a salary to take, and you can earn a penny.

Merchants were more fond of war, and as early as the Chu army era, many merchants worked closely with the Chu army and made a fortune following the Chu army. This time, the southwest of the imperial court was in turmoil, and many merchants flocked to the south and made a lot of money.

Now that the southwest has settled down, the businessmen who have just made a lot of money will not be satisfied. If the attack on Myanmar continues, then it will be another gluttonous feast.

"Myanmar has fertile land, like Sichuan, a country of abundance, especially in the south, if it can open up the sea mouth, it will be of great significance to the imperial court."

Liu Zhao didn't know what the meaning was, he cared about the gold ivory of Myanmar and the silver and brass of Yunnan.

"I am also going to invest money to build a Kantan team to explore silver and copper mines in Yunnan. If you can find one or two big bonanzas, then you can hire people to mine the ore. ”

Liu Jun smiled and did not object. Liu Zhao is willing to give up his career, which is a good thing. He wants to make money, and that's fine. Of course, there is a premise for this, "Are you going to do it yourself, or are you going to partner with someone?" ”

Liu Zhao said honestly, "I'm ready to partner with someone." ”

Liu Jun immediately understood that there must be a shrewd businessman who took the initiative to find Liu Zhao, and as for the so-called partnership, it is estimated that someone wants to use Liu Zhao's relationship to be an official businessman and want to evade the imperial court's taxes.

This is the old routine of many businessmen, and the collusion of power and businessmen harms the interests of the state and enriches their own pockets.

Liu Jun looked at his brother, he was really shallow-eyed.

"It's a good thing that you want to partner with someone to explore mining, and the imperial court also encourages businessmen to invest in the southwest. But I also remind you that it has nothing to do with people, but you have to abide by the laws and regulations of the country and pay taxes truthfully. If you can promise me these two things, of course I support you, and if you can't do this, then you should dispel this idea as soon as possible. ”

Liu Zhao said sarcastically, "I must abide by the law and discipline and pay taxes truthfully." This is a bit insincere, in fact, what he originally thought was that my dignified marquis, the emperor's brother, would open a mine to dig some silver and copper, and then pay taxes?

But now it seems that not to mention that he is the emperor's brother, even if he is the emperor's own father, he has to pay taxes according to the law.

Emperor Liu Xiu couldn't look at it at this time, and the cup touched on the table, "Today is a family banquet, what are you going to do about talking about this." Emperor, you are busy with state affairs, it is rare to have time to come over once, and it is inconvenient for your brothers to enter the palace outside the palace, not to mention that all of your sisters have come here today, everyone gathered together and said what to do, how happy it is. ”

My sister-in-law has always been shrewd, and I also understood the attitude of the second uncle at once. At the moment, she whispered to her husband, "Are we short of food or less clothing, a few businessmen flatter you casually, you really don't know that the sky is thick in the southeast and northwest?" ”

Liu Zhao has always been afraid of his wife, so he had to smile wryly at the moment, "Okay, okay, I'll go back to them when I turn around." (To be continued.) )

PS: Thank you Hua Xiaoyun, I love my sister and my brother for their support, thank you!