At the end of the third year of Hongwu, when two naval ships carrying 300,000 taels of gold each docked at Weihai Weijun Port, a news that made all the people engaged in overseas trade in the Great Jin Dynasty crazy began to spread: the Great Jin Navy had discovered a 'golden island' on the coast of the South China Sea!

The island is full of gold, and it is said that if you dig anywhere with your hands, you can dig up a hand of golden sand on the local seashore. The most important thing is that the local people are still in a primitive society that drinks the blood of Maoru, and those natives do not know the value of gold at all, and listen to those admirals who have just returned from there say that a very ordinary cotton cloth can be exchanged for a large piece of gold.

Everyone who heard the news went crazy, and although everyone didn't know exactly where this so-called 'Golden Island' was, the news alone was enough to make people engaged in maritime trade go crazy.

Some people with connections began to dig around the bush about everything related to Luzon from the Navy. Gradually, the news that the navy's gold-carrying fleet had docked at Weihaiwei Port was learned by most people, and the rumors about the Golden Island became more credible.

"Your Majesty, is there really a golden island on the edge of the South China Sea?" The rumors about the Golden Island have intensified, and many of the concubines in the harem have also heard a lot of legends in the past few days.

"Hahaha, there is no gold island, it's just an island rich in gold mineral resources. The island was huge, almost a quarter the size of Yuzhou, and was full of primeval forests and mountains, rich in timber and minerals, especially gold. ”

"Concubine Ai knows. My Dajin has always lacked precious metals such as gold and silver, and now that I have such a gold import place, hahaha, I don't have to have a headache about this in the future. Sima Shu was overjoyed to see the gold from Luzon and immediately set about getting the imperial court to increase the exploitation of Luzon gold.

"Congratulations to Your Majesty on the concubine!"

The Great Jin Navy found Luzon, Sima Shu was very happy about it, others don't know, isn't he still clear? In later generations, Luzon had abundant mineral resources, which were mainly divided into six categories: precious metal ores, ferroalloy ores, base metal ores, fertilizer ores, industrial ores, gem and decorative stone mines.

According to the data obtained from the exploration of later generations, if calculated in terms of mineral reserves per unit area. Luzon ranks third in the world in terms of gold ore reserves, fourth in the world in copper ore reserves, fifth in nickel ore reserves and sixth in the world in chrome ore reserves.

In the metal minerals of Luzon. Copper ore reserves are 4.8 billion tonnes. According to later sources, the island contains 134 tons of copper per square kilometer, ranking fourth in the world. In addition, there are 136 million tonnes of gold ore reserves, although most of the minerals cannot be mined. But just what can be mined is enough for the Great Jin.

Two days later. Sima Shu convened a cabinet meeting in the Jiade Hall. Each cabinet member holds in his hand a report on Luzon's resources, presented in the name of the Intelligence Agency, through which the cabinet members are aware of the positive implications of developing Luzon.

"Let's talk about it, everyone. What should we do about Luzon? Seeing that half an hour had passed, several pavilion elders were still silent, and Sima Shu couldn't help but ask.

Luzon Island is one of the closest big islands in the South China Sea to the Central Plains mainland, as early as the Han Dynasty, Luzon Island has been in contact with the mainland, so it is the most well-known island of the Central Plains Dynasty. It is also worth mentioning that Luzon Island is not far from the large island of the Ryukyus, and it can be reached in a few days from the southern part of the Ryukyus, if there is a tailwind.

It is precisely because Luzon is so close to the Ryukyus, and because the resources here are much more abundant than those of the Ryukyus, that the discovery of Luzon Island is more sensational than the discovery of the Ryukyu Island.

"Your Majesty, this island is very important to my Great Jin, especially the gold and copper mines above it are in urgent need of our dynasty, and I ask Your Majesty to issue an order to develop Luzon Island." The Ministry of Industry was in charge of the minerals of the Great Jin Dynasty, so when he heard that Luzon was full of gold and copper mines, he was a little impatient and wanted to immediately turn Luzon Island into the land of the Great Jin Dynasty.

"Xie Shangshu's idea is good, but with the current strength of the imperial court, I am afraid that we will not be able to achieve large-scale development of Luzon. Before the Jiangdong separatist forces were resolved, the minister did not recommend investing too many resources in Luzon, after all, the transfer of supplies from Qingdao Port was much farther than from the south. ”

"Isn't Ryukyu Island close to Luzon? Isn't it okay to start from the Ryukyus? Didn't the navy's fleet depart from the Ryukyus this time? Hubu Shangshu Du Xi asked.

"Du Aiqing, of course you can start from the Ryukyus, but the Ryukyus have just been incorporated into our rule, and the supplies on its island are very scarce, not to mention that it would be good to supply Luzon to meet the local needs. For at least two years, the Ryukyu Islands will not be of great use. Developing an island is different from sending out an expedition fleet, the former requires a lot of resources, while the former only needs to have a boat and a little supplies. Sima Shu opened his mouth to explain that he actually had a case in his heart, just to show his wisdom and martial arts and false advice, and every time he had a meeting, he had to let his subordinates speak freely first.

"Can we only look at Luzon and not move?" Huangmen Squire Jiang Tong asked with some dissatisfaction.

"Of course not, although we cannot develop Luzon on a large scale, the imperial court can learn from the practice of Wadao and develop Luzon on a small scale. In particular, the focus is on the copper and gold mines on the island, where there are so many indigenous people that we can drive the locals into dangerous mining. ”

"Well, what Mr. Mengsun said is right, very much in line with my intentions! The Cabinet came up with a charter in accordance with this proposal, so that everyone could have a basis for acting. Sima Shu nodded with satisfaction.

"Your Majesty, is this Luzon still being intervened by private individuals?" Wang Yan suddenly asked, but he asked this question a little sharply, so that everyone fell silent in an instant after hearing his words, and the Jiade Hall was so quiet that even a needle could be heard falling on the ground.

Wang Yan asked this question when many people wanted to ask it but did not dare to ask, after the rise of overseas trade, many people present made a lot of benefits from it. Especially after Sima Shu allowed private intervention in the silver mining resources on Wa Island, the people of the Great Jin Dynasty made a lot of money. It's just that Luzon is not the same as Wajima, in everyone's opinion, Luzon is much farther away than Wajima, and the imperial court's monitoring is much smaller.

The emperor agreed to mine silver on the island, because the island was under the blow of the Great Jin navy as soon as there was a little trouble, and Luzon Island was too far away from the mainland of the Great Jin Dynasty, if any careerist took this opportunity to make waves on the island, the imperial court would not be able to react for a while.

In this case, everyone thought that Sima Shu would never open Luzon Island to private individuals, but to everyone's surprise, Sima Shu said to Wang Yan with certainty: "Of course, the development of Luzon Island is still done according to the case of Wajima, and the court and private parties will work together. ”

Luzon Island was thousands of miles away for the courtiers of the Great Jin Dynasty, but for Sima Shu, this point had long been included in the territory of future China, and he attached no less importance to this place than Wa Island.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is a map of Luzon, you see that the topography of Luzon is high in the north and low in the south, and the east side of the island is vulnerable to typhoons, so the most suitable place to be a port is on the southwest side of the island. The expedition discovered a huge bay here, which I intended to name Zhangqian Bay (present-day Manila Bay). ”

"In the future, all the bays, islands and ports discovered by the Great Jin Dynasty can be named after celebrities in Chinese history, and this Zhang Qian Bay is the first attempt. The bay is a vast bay surrounded by two peninsulas and a small island in the middle of the bay, which divides the entire bay into two waterways, north and south, making it a natural harbour in excellent condition. ”

"Today, on the eastern shore of this natural harbor, the Naval Expeditionary Force has established a settlement and is preparing to build a port there, which is also named after Zhang Qian. In the future, I hope that this port will develop into one of the important ports in the South Seas, and in the future, the merchants of the Great Jin Dynasty will be able to go further after making a simple supplement here. ”

"In the future, the main task of the imperial court is to expand the port of Zhangqian, and strive to complete it within two years, and I do not want to find that the port cannot be put into use when the imperial court is free to prepare for the development of Luzon. If this happens in the future, don't blame Nar and the others. ”

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, the ministers will never dare to delay the court's plans!"

After the court meeting, Sima Shu was about to go to the Imperial Garden for a stroll, but as soon as he arrived at the Imperial Garden, he heard Xiao Dengzi hurriedly come over and report: "Your Majesty, the King of Huainan asks to see you!" ”

"Uncle Wang? Please let him in! ”

In the past year, the king of Huainan has been busy promoting Keju sports and operating overseas trade, which can be said to be very busy, and under his leadership, the royal family has devoted themselves to overseas trade and sports. There are many princes and grandchildren who have formed a team of keju after making money, and every once in a while they will organize a competition and gradually more and more people will like the sport.

"King Huainan sees Your Majesty!"

"Hey, Uncle Wang, please get up!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"What is Uncle Wang's business with me today?"

"Hehe, it's not a big deal, the minister just wants to ask His Majesty about the situation of the 'Golden Island'."

Sima Shu was stunned when he heard this, and immediately understood the intention of King Huainan. It seems that the king of Huainan asked him for a permit, and even the ministers of the family are very scruples about participating in Luzon, let alone these royal relatives. After all, Luzon is a place far away from the emperor, and it was not easy for the royal family to have a good relationship with Sima Shu, and they didn't want to be imprisoned by Sima Shu because of impulse.

"Oh, this matter, you just go to the relevant departments to inquire, and you need to go here on purpose? You just have to go boldly and boldly, and I will be your backing. ”

"Your Majesty, is this true?"

"Of course, Uncle Wang can just organize the fleet and manpower."

The king of Huainan left the palace happily and prepared to send someone to visit the legendary Golden Island. (To be continued......)