Shoichi Ouchi and Kaede Hosokawa never had the chance to meet Emperor Shotoku again.

In fact, they also did a lot of things, such as if they couldn't see the emperor, they would find a way to meet the cabinet or the emperor's close ministers.

But their search made these ministers very uncomfortable, and they could not speak a lot in front of the Son of Heaven.

Because some officials will gossip, for example, did the Japanese envoys bribe you with something?

The word bribery is now a sensitive word.

In a way, this incident started with bribery in the first place.

July and August are the last chance to go to Japan every year, and after that, we will have to wait until next year.

This is also Zhu Houzhao's reluctance to listen to what the courtiers said to return to Beijing to discuss again, and when he goes back, then he will still discuss it, and the discussion will be next year, maybe the quarrel will be put on hold again.

Therefore, he had to finish the matter first, and then listen to the recital of returning to Beijing.

The Xing Guan recommended by Jiang Yong also knew Gu Zuo earlier, and he was not as good as Jiang Yong's official luck over the years, but this time he suddenly entered the sight of the Son of Heaven.

Zhu Houzhao summoned him in the evening when no one was around.

And it was not in the main hall, but on the shore of the less formal palace resort.

Xing Guan cautiously saluted recently, and after saluting, he kept his head down and followed the emperor's footsteps to walk by the lake.

“…… A few days ago, Ping Haibo said something that I care about very much, since you are in Ningbo, you may have heard it. ”

Xing Guan was short, "Please make it clear to Your Majesty." ”

"It's true that Heihaibo said that the Ouchi clan is rich in gold and silver, and they often bid a lot of money, right?"

Xing Guan only dared to tell the truth when he met Jun for the first time, "Back to Your Majesty, there is indeed such a thing." ”

"This is strange, Japan has a small country, the land is barren, even I dare not say that it is rich in gold and silver, how can they use it?"

"Your Majesty is rich all over the world, how can the gold and silver of the Ouchi clan be compared?"

"Rich and rich is what everyone says to join in the fun, Daming's family background is clear, and you should know it too. If you want to talk about life, it has been a little better in the past ten years. But this is still on the basis of the eighteenth year of the emperor's reign. What about Japan? There are constant wars in the country, and the people must also be struggling to make a living, and it is really strange that any country will be defeated after a long war. ”

Xing Guan's heart began to bubble.

He gradually realized why the emperor had appointed such a person to join the army yesterday......

"Speaking in detail, what His Majesty said is indeed reasonable. Ouchi's rich gold and silver characters come strangely. ”

"Yes. So when you go out with the army this time, I don't want you to kill the enemy, I don't want you to charge into battle, but as long as you solve the mystery, the key is to find out what is beneficial to the Ming Dynasty. Do you understand? ”

"Yes! Wechen will not be dishonored! ”

Zhu Houzhao felt that he should have seen the name Xing Guan somewhere in the past, after all, he had also done a bad and important position. But I guess I didn't pay much attention to it, the Zhengde Dynasty is full of talents, not particularly outstanding or particularly lucky, and it is indeed not easy to emerge.

As for Xing Guan, he wanted to say a few more words.

"Xing Guan."

"The minister is here."

"How do you understand war and trade?"

This is the school entrance examination.

Xing Guan's heart tightened suddenly.

The person who tested him was the emperor, and this answer could even be said to determine his life. So he didn't reply immediately, and fortunately the emperor didn't rush to ask, but waited for him for a while.

After counting the breaths.

Xing Guan spoke, "Back to Your Majesty." Weichen understands His Majesty's national policy, and the most different thing from the previous generation of male lords is that His Majesty is supplemented by war and trade. Emperor Qin and Han Wu were the pioneers of the Han people, but they also made the treasury empty and all industries withered, and His Majesty was very different from this, but he wanted to use war to promote trade and make all industries prosperous. ”

"Why do you think I have this national policy?"

Wechen guessed that it should be related to maritime trade. In the early years of Zhengde, after the opening of the imperial court's sea ban, a large amount of sea trade silver poured into the Ming Dynasty, and the treasury was suddenly abundant. Since then, the Ming Dynasty has been inseparable from maritime trade, but overseas countries have their own bad intentions, so if they want to stabilize maritime trade, they must carry out war if necessary. ”

"Some people say that our conquest of Japan was an impulsive move."

"There are millions of people in Japan, and even if they can't afford to wear silk, they have summer cloth and cotton robes to sell them."

This sentence is the right answer.

Jiang Yong said that he has some talents, and it seems to be true.

Zhu Houzhao was in a slightly relaxed mood, and joked, "Xia cloth and cotton robes are also available locally, is it possible that people didn't wear clothes before?" ”

"They mainly wore linen, less cotton and even less silk."

This was pointing out his mistake, but Zhu Houzhao was thinking about the meaning behind this sentence, he blinked his eyes and asked, "Have you investigated?" ”

"Yes, sir...... The minister thought, if Your Majesty has time, can you allow the minister to be detailed? The minister had been thinking about this for years. ”

"Okay, I'll give you a chance, you say."

Xing Guan forced himself to compose, and he pinched himself hard with the hand hidden in his cuffs.

Hurt!

After the pain, you are awake!

It seemed that all of a sudden, his face changed, and he was no longer so nervous and hurried.

"Your Majesty, since the minister took office as the head of the Ningbo port, he has been thinking about how to sell commodities on a larger scale. Although silk and porcelain are also very good, these good things are too expensive, even in a rich country, at most only one percent of the nobles can afford to use it, or even less than one percent. And what about the remaining more than ninety percent? Who does their business?

So the minister thought, it is better to have a commodity, which should be cheap, so that most people can afford it; Everyone needs it, so the demand is great; Finally, it needs to be easy to transport. For example, sweet potatoes and other foods are not very good, because food is easy to spoil, and in addition to eating, it is to wear, so the minister thought of cotton cloth.

Cotton cloth, as the name suggests, is clothing made of cotton, after the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty had such a technology. However, most people still wear linen cloth and kudzu cloth, although hemp and kudzu have the advantages of dry air and comfortable sweating, they also have the fatal shortcomings of rough texture, rough texture, not soft enough, and irritating the skin very uncomfortable. These shortcomings, cotton clothes happen to be absent. ”

Xing Guan's last sentence is very distinctive, and the words are emphasized, as if he is in his chest.

Zhu Houzhao was slightly shocked, he heard a Ming person talk about industrial development for the first time, "...... Cotton products meet exactly these three requirements you said, being cheap, in high demand, and easy to transport. ”

Xing Guan said again, "Not only that, but the minister also went to study cotton. Cotton has been promoted to the whole country during the time of Emperor Taizu Gao, and cotton has strong adaptability, and most of the Central Plains and northern regions are planted, so the source of raw materials is extensive. Secondly, cotton is hardy, waterlogging, drought and rainfall can grow. In addition, cotton has a short growth cycle, which can mature in about 120 to 150 days. ”

His discovery should not have been considered accidental.

Because by the late Ming Dynasty, the cotton textile industry had indeed become a leading industry.

It has no glaring, fatal flaws in every aspect, and who does it not dominate?

In fact, the Industrial Revolution also began with the cotton textile industry, because it was so much that everyone had to wear clothes. This huge market stimulates business owners to do everything they can to increase production, and all kinds of innovations come.

And now, Xing Guan's words reminded Zhu Houzhao that in this way, he can use the power of the government to support and cultivate industrial development.

"It seems that Jiang Yong recommended people, you are indeed a talent."

Xing Guan was overjoyed in his heart, "The minister doesn't dare to be praised by His Majesty." ”

"Xing Guan, I leave this matter to you. You're right, no matter what, Japan also has a million people, and that is also a million market, but you just said that there are many people in the Ming Dynasty who wear linen, and the market in the Ming Dynasty is even bigger. ”

Xing Guan is relaxed now, "Of course that's better, in business, I'm not afraid that there will be many people, but I'm afraid that no one will want it." Your Majesty can rest assured that since the minister has received His Majesty's will, he will do his best to bring about this matter. ”

Raw materials, transportation, production, sales......

Zhu Houzhao is already thinking that the huge market stimulus may make the opportunity to improve the loom appear in Daming.

It's hard to say what will happen in the future, it's hard to say what will happen, he can't make Jenny spinning machines, and I believe that few modern people will, but as a modern person, he can build the underlying logic.

It can be said that Jenny machine is not a start, but a result, and it is the result of the great development of the industry.

From this point of view, it doesn't matter if there is no Jenny machine, because this kind of force will definitely force out another thing.

Xing Guan later left, and he now has one of the most important insights.

The Emperor's conquest of Japan may have been a battle of will, but it was also profitable.

And at this time, he still didn't know about the silver mountain......