When Jiajing was in Anlu, he participated in the management of the palace and was no stranger to general affairs. Xingwangfu also has tenants, and he is very clear about the purchase and sale of grain. What Yang Chengzu said can be regarded as the normal state of business, and Jiajing also agreed.

"Yes, the unified purchase and sale of grain ensures that farmers can farm with peace of mind, and there will be a fixed harvest, and most people can work in the fields with peace of mind. In the year of disaster, you can also eat, and there will be no people like Shi Jinliang who will rise up to rebel, and the world can be stable. It's a pity that there are too few people like the eldest brother who understand. ”

"Hooray. The princes of the court, who read the books of sages and sages, are full of wealth, and some have been local officials close to the people, and I can't catch up with them on horseback in terms of ability, knowledge, and means. But they don't want to do it, because they themselves will suffer. When the price of grain stabilized, they could not take other people's land, and they could not expand their family business. Farmers can farm with peace of mind, and as soon as there are fewer displaced people, the cost of hiring slaves and workers will increase, such as in the southeastern region, where hired laborers are mostly landless farmers, and now that farmers are farming, they will not be able to hire workers. When the price of grain falls, their income will shrink in disguise. There are also the interests of the family and the interests of the villagers, and when all kinds of interests are pulled down, they will become enemies. There are always too few people who are really willing to stand with the ministers. Therefore, the ministers have to find a way to open up sea trade, the first step is to reduce the price of grain, and the second step is to make the cake bigger. Wait until most people can benefit, the food, the land, and so on, and hopefully they will look down on it, and then we can do our business. ”

Speaking of the matter of sea trade, Jiajing was also quite excited, "Big brother, the envoy of the Franc machine saw it, and I signed it with them in a few days." There are also envoys of the Wa Kingdom. I heard that it was an important minister of the Hosokawa family, and the Son of Heaven of the Wa Kingdom was hollowed out by the powerful ministers, and the powerful ministers were set up by the powerful ministers under him, and if this continues, I don't think it will be long before the Wa Kingdom will be in chaos. Are we doing any of our business? ”

"It's good to mess up, if they mess up, we won't have to worry about it. It is a good private virtue to beggar-thy-neighbor and watch the fire from the other side. The more chaotic the neighboring countries, the higher our security, and besides, in the final analysis, fighting a war is about making money, and they trade with us and make money. Fighting a war will not affect business. ”

"What about the Franc machine? I heard the minister say that Manraka chokes the throat of the South Seas, and all the ships that pay tribute to the South Seas must pass through Manraka. Now that the Francophone is in control of Manraka, it has cut off the tributary road of the Nanyang countries, and many people are suggesting a war during this period, and Jin Xianmin has become the secretary of the military department, and it seems that he is also ambitious to go to war. But only the eldest brother has met with the Buddhists, do you think you can fight or not? ”

The officials of the Ming Dynasty still have the ability and level at the moment, which is nothing more than attitude and thought. When they really want to fight, the work on the data is also very well done. For example, the geographical location, production, military importance, etc., of Manraka have been investigated accordingly.

Since the Ming Dynasty did not have a real foreign intelligence agency, the current strength of the Buddha in Manraka is not clear, and the prince of Manraka is there, and from his mouth, he can at least understand some mountains and rivers and terrain and so on. Coupled with Yang Chengzu's victory in Tuen Mun, many people in the court believe that they will definitely win the fight with the Buddhas. After all, such a thing can defeat the Buddhas, and those who really have the experience of leading a large army will definitely be able to win.

Yang Chengzu shook his head, "Fight, it must be a win, and the process will be very difficult." After the minister and the Francophile fought, they became even more determined to have a thought, I only defend and not attack, and the world is invincible. If you take the initiative to attack, you will spend a lot of money, and this battle will definitely be a bad battle. The ministers had contact with their people, and Manraka was an important stronghold for the Buddhists, and its status was different from that of Tuen Mun. If they suffer a loss in Tuen Mun, they will retreat, and in Manraka, they will gamble everything and fight with us to the end. ”

He casually compared pictures on the table, telling the story of the battle in Tuen Mun, the Buddha's guns, ships and castles, and the good fighting of the Franc soldiers. Of course, he also mentioned the distance, as well as the delivery capacity of the Franc machine. Due to the current scientific and technological conditions, it is impossible for the Portuguese to send too many troops over, but the governor of Goa and the governor of Manraka, if they want to fight, plus the natives, tens of thousands of troops can be mobilized.

If the Ming Dynasty wants to eat these tens of thousands of people, it must at least dispatch the same level of troops, which is just a simple land battle, and if you calculate the water battle and the fortification, you will need more troops. Related to this, it is necessary to raise a large amount of money, food, and military supplies for consumption, and according to Yang Chengzu's estimates, military expenditures may cost several million taels of silver.

"The bottom line is, it's not worth it. Manraka did produce spices, but after the imperial court defeated the Francophiles, they could not replace them, and we suffered similar losses in Annam. said that it was to help them restore the country, and later they wanted to build a yamen, but in the end, they were not people inside and out, and they threw in countless money, food, and elite soldiers, and finally withdrew from it. It's the same with Manraka, if you hand it over to that prince, he and we won't be of the same mind, and he will build his own yamen, which is too far away from the Central Plains, and I am afraid that something will happen. The appointment of a governor or the like is an overseas emperor, and it is useless for the court to establish a strong feudal domain. ”

"Besides, if we want to fight now, Jin Xianmin and them will definitely use our new army to take the lead, and when Manraka is defeated, I am afraid that the new army will also be in tatters. And most importantly, who do we do business with after the fight? Those maritime merchants may be able to go further, but the imperial court can't. It's better to leave the Franc machine man and buy our silk, tea, and sugar with silver. If we want spices, just ask the Franc machine to buy them. This time, in order to show their sincerity, they sent a lot of ambergris over, which was much easier than doing it ourselves. ”

Jiajing heard the ambergris and nodded, "Tao Shenxian is inseparable from this." It's a pity that we don't have this thing, so we can only ask for the Franc machine. In the final analysis, the purpose of those people is not to want the imperial court to participate in maritime trade, and some people recently said at the banquet that the imperial court should not compete with the people for profit, and should hide the wealth from the people. Hiding the wealth from the people, will they hand over the money to me for use? If you don't want to, then instead of hiding the wealth from the people, why don't you hide the wealth from me? That trench, they said it seemed to be a great shame, but I have checked, and we couldn't get any money from the trench before. Now the Francois rents half of the island, and he is willing to pay 20,000 taels of silver in commercial tax and 600 taels of silver in land rent every year, which is a profitable business, why not do it? ”

"Because this money goes into the inner treasury, the local yamen and even the household department can't share the benefits, so they naturally don't want to do it. Only by sabotaging this matter first, and then making it through the local yamen in the future, can this money be guaranteed to flow into the hands of the household department and the locality, and this kind of trick is not new. ”

Yang Chengzu smiled, he was also very familiar with these tricks, and when he started the Shaolin Temple, he used the leftovers. He added: "In addition to giving money, the Franc machine man is also willing to cooperate with Daming to set up workshops, including a cannon foundry, a shipyard, and an armor workshop. They have a very good set of armor, and it will be very beneficial to the imperial court to cooperate in the future. However, after the new army shouted long live today, the minister thought that the military department and the household department did not have a good opinion of the new army, and it would be even more difficult to replenish it. ”

"Dare to withhold the supplies of the new army, it should be killed, go back and let the Jinyi guard go to investigate, kill a few people, it can be regarded as a warning to them, and I will see who dares to withhold the supplies of the new army in the future. At the beginning, Wuzong had four foreign armies, and the five battalions of the loyal word were my pro-army. I have already issued an order to let the other two battalions of new troops enter Beijing and defend the Beijing division. In the future, with them as the backbone, I will have to train more soldiers. On the side of the Francophile, the eldest brother went to say that the contract was ready to be signed. But don't be so happy with your promises, you have to let them give more benefits before you can nod. The eldest brother has worked hard this time, and as soon as he returned to Beijing, he received such treatment again, I will give you justice, let Franco be a machine first, and give the eldest brother a little compensation for me. ”

Two days later, the results of Yang Chengzu's closed-door seal pending investigation have not yet come out, and on the Son of Heaven's side, Yang Chengzu's promotion rewards have been issued one after another in the form of holy decrees, like a loud slap in the face of those investigating officials.