When Jiang Xinghuo saw Zhu Di, the Yongle Emperor who had not been seen for a long time, in the Fengtian Palace, the other party was lying on a rocking chair to enjoy the shade.

In addition to the large pillars used to bear the load, there are also several pillars in the hall that are hollowed out of the golden pillars, which are specially used to put ice and absorb heat in summer, so the temperature in the entire hall is much lower than the outside, which makes Jiang Xinghuo feel cool.

The "air-conditioned room" of the cat in the previous life is a similar principle, and it seems that this is still an enlarged version.

Zhu Di was wearing loose Yanju clothes, his eyes were slightly closed, and he seemed to be in a state of sleep.

Zhu Gaochi beside him was reading the recital to him very seriously, and the palace maid was fanning him behind, but the sweat couldn't stop flowing down his fat cheeks.

"Father, the right attendant of the household department, Wang Li, has died."

"Oh."

Zhu Di didn't open his eyes, he didn't seem to take the folds in his eldest son's hand to heart, and Wang Li didn't die suddenly, so he naturally chose the official to replace him.

"Xia Shangshu went to Jiangnan, and the left attendant Sun Yu (the former left senator of the Beiping Buzheng Division, Zhu Gaochi's descendant) has not enough experience in managing money for the country, and Li Wenyu, the left senator of the political secretary, is promoted to the right attendant of the household department."

Zhu Gaochi took out the next fold and stacked the fold at his feet, because he was sitting on the brocade pier, one after another fold had been piled up to the position of his calf.

"Anything else? Pick up the important ones and say. ”

Zhu Gaochi heard the footsteps of Jiang Xinghuo and Zhu Gaoxu, but he couldn't care much at this time, he hurriedly put down the fold in his hand and turned out another copy.

"Liaodong General Military Officer, Baoding Hou Mengshan has a performance: Taifu Temple Shaoqing Zhu Meng Xian went to North Korea through border trade, traded thousands of war horses, and now the Song Fold and the North Korean mission together to Nanjing, but the war horses do not have to go by sea, and they are still stranded in Liaodong, I don't know what to do?"

How could Zhu Di not hear what Meng Shan meant, he pondered for a moment, and said: "Liaodong 30,000 guards have just been attacked by the Mongols, these war horses will be supplemented to Liaodong, who is the leader of the North Korean mission?" So what's going on? ”

Zhu Gaochi looked at the song and said: "The envoy is Li Guiling, the official of Gong'an Mansion in North Korea, mainly for two things, one is the golden seal of the king of North Korea, which was the golden seal of the Hongwu Dynasty in the past, and later the puppet emperor Jianwen was replaced, and asked the Ming Dynasty to give back the original one; Second, the king of Joseon, Li Fangyuan, said that his father and brother were sick, so Li Guiling brought 50 horses of fine cotton cloth to Nanjing to buy some borneol, agarwood, Suhe, sesame oil and other materials and medicinal materials. ”

After listening, Zhu Di snorted lightly and said angrily: "I know, you can retreat first!" ”

Only then did Zhu Gaochi stop, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and bowed respectfully: "The son of the minister retires." ”

The two brothers glanced at each other without leaving a trace, and when Zhu Gaochi walked out of the hall, the palace maids who fanned the wind also retreated, Zhu Di's leg had old injuries, and the ice cubes were refrigerated, but they couldn't stand the wind, so the huge hall suddenly became quiet, leaving only Zhu Di, Jiang Xinghuo, and Zhu Gaoxu.

After a while, Zhu Di slowly opened his eyes, and his gaze fell on the thick stack of folds placed on the side of the Jindun next to him.

"Think about it carefully, don't you think I can't see it......"

Zhu Di muttered to himself, after a short period of diligence last year, apparently not interested in watching this kind of thing, he got up from the rocking chair.

"The national teacher is black and thin."

"Live up to Your Majesty's trust." Jiang Xinghuo nodded casually.

I haven't seen him for a few months, Zhu Di's change is still quite big, from the psychological state of the whole person, he has fully adapted to the change from a vassal king to an emperor, in Jiang Xinghuo's view, this emperor's temperament is more profound, restrained, and more majestic than before, just like an active volcano that is about to erupt but is still silent, as long as there is a slight movement, it will detonate the entire land and deter Kyushu.

But it's useless to him, Jiang Xinghuo doesn't care about this, he is not even afraid of death, how can he be afraid of the "domineering spirit" of the feudal emperor?

"I've seen Your Majesty."

"See Father!"

Zhu Gaoxu was very funny, walked closer, knelt on the ground, and said respectfully.

When he had said that, he prostrated himself to the ground.

Obviously, Zhu Gaochi's recitation of Zhu Di just now made him feel a sense of crisis after leaving Zhu Di for a few months.

"Okay, get up."

Zhu Di showed a hint of a smile: "I originally wanted the Ministry of Rites to send someone to pick you up for Triumph, but I didn't expect that your temperament was impatient, and I ran back directly with the national teacher in a hurry." ”

Zhu Gaoxu wanted to ask Jiang Xinghuo about the situation in Beijing, but he was suddenly choked back, and he realized that he threw down the tax guard and ran back without asking for instructions, just to take care of Jiang Xinghuo, but there was a problem with the procedure. The general of the national dynasty, without an order, must not leave the army station, he received the order to go to the north to Kaiping to prepare for the autumn (to prevent the Mongols from plundering in the south), it is considered to be an order, but the five armies of the Governor's Office and the Ministry of War have not yet arrived to transfer the tax guard power, if you really want to be more serious, there are still some sayings.

"Father and Emperor are falsely praised, and the rebellion against the White Lotus Sect is not a tough battle, I am just worried about my mother, so I am eager to return, but it is as hot as today, I heard that my father and emperor had a little cold a while ago, you should pay more attention to rest." Zhu Gaoxu had an idea and changed his words.

"I'm fine, sit down, don't stand." Zhu Di waved his hand.

Zhu Gaoxu breathed a sigh of relief, and after nodding his head in agreement, he brought over a brocade pier and sat down by himself, while Jiang Xinghuo sat down on the brocade pier where Zhu Gaochi had just sit.

Jiang Xinghuo was just about to tell Zhu Di about the situation in Jiangnan and what he had just done in the capital of the Five Armies, but Zhu Di directly threw the North Korean side to Jiang Xinghuo and said, "The national teacher will take a look and see if he can see what the way is." ”

Since Zhu Di did this, there must be some intentions in it, Jiang Xinghuo was not in a hurry, he flipped through the fold, but he didn't think about it, when he looked at the fold, it was really full of doubts.

"North Korea has lost Jeju Island, and there are still so many war horses? It's not right to trade thousands of horses at a time, the price is wrong, and what is the tribute buffalo for, for Jiangnan? ”

At the beginning of this year, in order to prepare for the invasion of Japan, under the threat of the Ming Dynasty, the Korean king Li Fangyuan had no choice but to cede Jeju Island to the Ming Dynasty.

War horses are out-and-out strategic materials in this era, and dozens of horses are big deals, not to mention thousands.

"I remember that this Li Fangyuan knows his father?"

Zhu Di didn't explain directly, but nodded and said: "The last time I met Li Fangyuan, it was in the twenty-seventh year of Hongwu, when I was the king of Yan, and Li Fangyuan was the fifth prince of Korea, he came to apologize to the Ming Dynasty on behalf of Li Chenggui, and brought twenty good horses to pay tribute, and when he walked to Liaodong, he was robbed by the Jurchens. This favor, he Li Fang is far away. ”

Jiang Xinghuo didn't expect that the two of them would have this past, if it was just to return the favor, this story would sound quite righteous, but is this really the case?

Jiang Xinghuo weighed the fold in his hand: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid I haven't finished speaking." ”

"The national teacher is really smart!"

Zhu Di suddenly laughed and said: "That's what I said, but the reason is not like this, let's be honest, this is because I listened to the prediction of the national teacher about the Jurchens, and planned to think of a way to weaken the military strength of North Korea The Jurchens are a dog raised by the Ming Dynasty and used to deal with North Korea, if they can directly weaken North Korea, the Jurchens will naturally lose their use value." ”

After Zhu Di's explanation, Jiang Xinghuo understood the profound meaning contained in this seemingly inconspicuous letter.

When Goryeo was the eastern province of the Yuan Dynasty, the entire Korean Peninsula became the horse farm of the Yuan Dynasty, and the Yuan Dynasty even sent excellent war horses from Central Asia to Goryeo for large-scale breeding and raising, so the Korean kingdom that inherited the Goryeo family background, in this period of the early Ming Dynasty, had a very large reserve of war horses, and could even easily dispatch tens of thousands of cavalry, which was also the confidence of North Korea to sneak to the north to push the border line.

In order to weaken North Korea's military strength, Zhu Di adopted two methods, one is to force North Korea to trade war horses at a price of one-third of the market price, called the trade market, which is actually a forced robbery, and this transaction is to emasculate the national strength and military strength by himself, and not to do it is an excuse for the Ming Dynasty to start a war, and Li Fangyuan is also helpless; The other is to force North Korea to pay tribute to buffalo, the Ming itself is not so short of buffalo but even more lack of cattle, under normal circumstances, even if there is a lack of something, it will not ask other countries in the clan system to pay tribute to tens of thousands of heads, that food is too ugly, Daming still has to face. The reason why this is so is because in addition to the cavalry, the North Korean army is quite powerful, and the archers are also very powerful, and buffalo horn and buffalo tendon are high-quality materials for making bows and arrows, which is equivalent to directly pouting the root of the raw materials.

Without bows and horses, the North Korean army naturally lost its combat strength.

As for Li Fangyuan's father and brother who are sick, well, I'm afraid it's Li Fangyuan's heart disease.

Li Fangyuan, like Zhu Di, is a usurper, the difference is that Li Fangyuan's father and brother are still alive, and Zhu Di's father and brother have long since died. On the surface, Li Fangyuan was asking for medicine for his father and brother, but in fact, he was testing the attitude of the Ming Dynasty in combination with whether he could give the Golden Seal Turtle Button according to the old system of the Hongwu Dynasty, and whether he would recognize the legitimacy of the usurper.

Zhu Di said lightly: "I plan to give Li Fangyuan and his queen, the golden seal, the edict, the crown dress, the nine chapters, the Guiyu, the Peiyu, the concubine Zhucui Qizhai crown, the Xia veil, the gold pendant, the scriptures, the silver coins of the Eight Si Pa Wen and other things, the medicinal materials will be sent by the Tai Hospital, and the fifty cotton cloths I don't want him, and send them back together, and I will trade a thousand war horses every year, and pay a tribute of a batch of buffalo every few years. ”

This is what it means to give Li Fangyuan face and make him lose his lining.

The rewards of the Ming Dynasty are not so easy to take, especially this large string of ritual items, which have to be exchanged for war horses and buffaloes.

Jiang Xinghuo thought for a moment and replied:

Everything else is fine, but Jiang thinks that North Korea and Annam have a south and a north, Annam has a population of more than 3 million, and North Korea has a population of more than 6 million, adding up to a market of 10 million people, and these 50 pieces of cotton cloth are a reason. The North Koreans must have been very indignant at the Ming Dynasty's purchase of war horses at a low price, so they might as well simply sign a "trade treaty" with them for a number of years to agree on the price, and trade freely with cotton cloth. ”

Zhu Di was stunned when he heard this, and asked:

"If you can take advantage of it directly, why do you want free trade?"

Of course, Zhu Di had heard Jiang Xinghuo's theory of free trade and comparative advantage in prison, but now he has obviously fallen into some kind of misunderstanding of "abacus".

Jiang Xinghuo simply asked: "North Korean cotton cloth, how much silver does a piece of cloth cost?" What is the price at which War Horse is sold to Japan? ”

Zhu Di has been in the north for a long time, and the transaction prices of these key materials are still roughly clear, he replied.

"A piece of cotton cloth costs 1.7-2 yuan per horse like Japan, and a war horse has to be sold for 40 or 50 taels in Japan, but North Korea has always been wary of Japan and has never sold horses to Japan."

As soon as Zhu Di finished speaking, he realized something: "What does the national teacher mean is that the Ming Dynasty trades separately from Korea and Japan?" Daming used cotton cloth to buy war horses from North Korea, and then sold the war horses to Japan at a high price, and since Jeju Island is in the hands of Daming, Daming's sailors can cut off the entire sea passage, North Korea is regretting and has no way, which is equivalent to the trade monopolized by Daming! ”

"That's it."

Jiang Xinghuo nodded: "Now in the handicraft workshop area of the cotton textile industry in the south of the Yangtze River, the water-powered spinning wheel has been put into production on a large scale, and the cotton cloth is being manufactured in a steady stream, and it only needs the price of 1 money / horse, and it will even be reduced to 0.8-0.9 money in the future, and the price agreed on trade is to be determined according to the price in North Korea, and the North Koreans have to feel that they have taken a big advantage, such as 1.3-1.4 money / horse, so that it is much cheaper than North Korea to trade, if it is sold more expensive than North Korea, Naturally, people are reluctant to trade. ”

"Moreover, this kind of castration of the military power of the Korean kingdom is much faster than buying and selling, after all, it is a thousand horses a year at most, and free trade is even if Li Fangyuan realizes this afterwards, as long as the "Trade Treaty" is signed, he can't stop the people below, the control ability of the Korean Kingdom is much weaker than that of the Ming Dynasty, and then there will be a steady stream of war horses through trade transactions to the Ming Dynasty, so that the Ming Dynasty sold the cotton cloth at a low price, and some of them earned when they were sold, and so on to buy the war horses back, whether it was for their own use, Or export to Japan at a high price (as mentioned earlier, Japanese samurai were very fond of mounted archery during this period), and they can double their profits. ”

What is a win-win situation?

Win-win means that Daming wins twice.

"Of course, free trade has been carried out for a long time, after all, it is transnational, and there will be friction, and it can even be said that as long as the model of free trade has started in Annan and North Korea, then this kind of trade friction will always accompany the Ming Dynasty in the future, the stronger the Ming military, the more intense the trade friction will be, which is a positive correlation."

"Why is that?"

Not only did Zhu Gaoxu not understand, but even Zhu Di didn't understand what Jiang Xinghuo meant.

After all, in their cognition, the model of changing from tributary trade to "tributary + free trade", for example, taking North Korea as an example, the original war horses and buffaloes were forced to be sent free of charge/at a low price, and free trade is equivalent to North Korea still earning, so there should be no friction.

Yes, for the powerful in North Korea, buying a large amount of cotton cloth from the Ming Dynasty at a low price, and then selling it to the domestic people with additional money, the price is still lower than the price of cotton cloth made in China, and they still make money by blood.

Those who can trade freely will trade freely, and special items that cannot be traded freely will then be paid as tribute.

In this way, there is also a saying in the country, so as not to be accused of being domineering and less kingly, and losing the bearing of the heavenly kingdom.

And as long as the Ming Dynasty is still at the center of this system, then it should be the pattern of Siyi Binfu, which will never change.

Even if someone wants to engage in "trade friction", shouldn't the weaker the Ming army, the more likely it will happen? Why is it the other way around?

So it is difficult for them to understand what Jiang Xinghuo said about "trade frictions are positively correlated with the military strength of the Ming Dynasty".

Jiang Xinghuo thought for a moment and continued: "Let's take the import and export of cotton cloth and war horses from the Ming Dynasty and North Korea as an example, the theory of comparative advantage that I talked about in prison before, you should still remember, that is, because of comparative advantage, in the transnational division of labor, the Ming Dynasty will produce and export cotton cloth, while North Korea will produce and export war horses." But here you have to think about one thing, how is the international price of cotton cloth and war horses determined? Is it entirely up to the Trade Treaty? This is certainly true of official deals, but if we take into account the long border between the two sides, and the weak Ming control over the Changbai Mountains in eastern Liaodong (in fact, the actual control area of the Ming Dynasty in Liaodong was only the area of the Liaoxi Plain in later generations), once profitable, smuggling was inevitable. ”

"Assuming that the Ming Dynasty and North Korea signed the "Trade Treaty", in theory, once free trade is carried out, then the international market is completely competitive, and the price of the international market is also determined by the perfectly competitive market, for example, a hundred cotton cloth is 10 taels of silver, and a war horse is 20 taels of silver, then there is a relative price between cotton cloth and war horses, this relative price can not be too low, if the relative price is too low, free trade will lose momentum, the lower the relative price, the worse the endogenous drive of trade, if equal, Then there is no need for trade, if it is negative, then it is a strong buy and strong sell, but we should note that this free trade is completely competitive pricing, which is not in line with the actual situation. ”

"The actual situation, that is, the essence of international trade, is the competition between monopoly powers, and the pursuit of transnational monopoly profits by monopolistic parties. You know, war horses are not North Korea's monopoly specialty, from Mongolia, Burma, Daming can buy the same war horse, and high-quality and inexpensive cotton cloth is the monopoly specialty of Daming, which is why this trip to Jiangnan is so important, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a step towards the success of the law. ”

Zhu Di listened quietly, listened for a long time, and then asked.

"Then the pursuit of transnational monopoly profits, can Daming achieve it by trade alone?"

"Of course not."

Jiang Xinghuo shook his head, how could there be such a simple thing in the world.

"To put it simply, there is a multi-pronged approach, let the Ministry of Rites establish an angel pavilion in North Korea, and the Ming merchants in North Korea (and spies disguised as merchants) or others, etc., violate the laws of North Korea, and North Korea has no right to dispose of it, and it needs to be handed over to the angel pavilion of the Ming Dynasty to be dealt with in accordance with the "Ming Law"; Then let North Korea cancel the maritime ban on Daming, Japan and other countries still can't cancel it, and Daming needs to enjoy the most preferential trade rights; The Ming sailors on Jeju Island are allowed to supply fruits, vegetables, oil, grain, rice, and noodles at designated ports such as Busan and Incheon along the coast of the DPRK, and they can sail into the ports without being inspected by the DPRK sailors."

After Jiang Xinghuo finished speaking, Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu were silent.

"In addition to these practical measures, is there anything else?"

"Of course."

Jiang Xinghuo continued: "After the Ming Dynasty got the silver mine in Japan and completed the currency reform, after the establishment of the silver treasure system, including North Korea, Annam and other countries, they will join the Ming Dynasty's monetary system, and the Ming Dynasty enjoys a rule monopoly, that is, in all kinds of international organizations, there is a veto. ”

In fact, monetary and financial integration has weakened the independence of the country's monetary policy, which is where the killer trick lies, and why Jiang Xinghuo said that with the power of gold, the Ming Dynasty can become a thousand-year-old empire.

Free trade will lead to economic integration, especially the international financial integration has deepened the interdependence of East Asian countries in the economic field, in addition to the Ming Dynasty, the monetary policy and exchange rate policy implemented by various countries, the adjustment policy of the balance of payments and the management and operation of international reserves, will be affected by the Ming Dynasty.

After Jiang Xinghuo finished speaking, Zhu Di nodded, of course he understood Jiang Xinghuo's bitter meaning, he couldn't be clearer.

On the surface, they are talking about North Korea, Annam, Japan, and free trade.

But in fact, what Jiang Xinghuo told him was to tell him that the Ming Dynasty's changes, through the practical development in Jiangnan, have already seen real things, and they are no longer the source of no origin.

And this is also after Jiang Xinghuo conveyed confidence to him and sought his support, hoping that Zhu Di could continue to firmly support the change of law and not be affected by the recent temple storm.

Why did Wang Anshi's reform fail? Song Shenzong swayed from side to side, of course, one of the most important reasons.

When the reform is supported, everything is fine, but once there is a setback, once the emperor shows hesitation and vacillation, then the ministers who originally supported the reform will stand again, and the opposition, which has been temporarily suppressed, will also raise its head again and attack it vigorously.

For Jiang Xinghuo, although the temple storm is menacing, as long as Zhu Di is not bluffed, and Zhu Di can see the results of his work and the changes that can be produced in the future, then there is a great probability that Zhu Di will not waver.

In other words, it's time to talk about PPT at the beginning of the product.

Let's suffocate for free trade together!

Of course, President Jiang really made something, and such a large handicraft workshop area in Huangpu New Town is not completely painting cakes for Zhu Di.

"I heard that the national teacher wants to refuse the queen's marriage?"

Zhu Di suddenly asked.

Jiang Xinghuo was stunned for a moment, and quickly reacted, it should be something Xu Jingchang said before.

I don't know what went wrong, and I don't know if Zhu Di was deliberately bluffing him, but I am sure that Zhu Di and Queen Xu are still quite concerned about this matter, otherwise they can't bring it up at this time alone.

But what does it mean to talk about this at this time?

Logically speaking, if you are talking about military affairs, there is no need to suddenly talk about children's affairs.

unless

"Jiang just did what Jiang should do."

Jiang Xinghuo said calmly, with no waves on his face.

"Oh?"

Zhu Di narrowed his eyes and said, "Then the national teacher thinks that he is doing the right thing?" ”

Jiang Xinghuo said: "The daughter of the King of Zhongshan (Xu Da), the family is a benefit and an obstacle, that is, Your Majesty does not doubt that I am married to a top magnate like Daming, but this is also the queen's sister, and it is not easy to do things after all." ”

As he spoke, he raised his head and looked at Zhu Di opposite.

The two of them met their eyes.

After a while, Zhu Di sighed lightly, and said in a complicated tone: "These things are urged by the queen, you can do it yourself, the national teacher, I just hope that it will not involve too much and affect the stability of the court...... Before the national teacher told me, the dividends of the handicraft workshop of the Jiangnan cotton textile industry to some nobles, this matter I also mean the same thing, to change the law, is to do some interests to bind, whether it is Jingnan Xungui or Hongwu founding nobles, and the idea of civil officials is different, that is, with the West, with the nobles, there is a powerful force, then you and the Wei Duke's marriage, do you think about it from another angle, isn't it the same? ”

Jiang Xinghuo was silent and did not speak.

Zhu Di continued: "I have just passed down the decree to reward your aunt, give you a decree and an archway, and order the Ministry of Works to build a new mansion, and it is not a matter of living with the old monk."

Jiang Xinghuo just wanted to say that the Rongguo Mansion was actually spacious like a ghost mansion, but Zhu Difu said again: "The mansion is the rules and decency of the national dynasty, don't shirk this, it's not for you to pray for rain before getting married, and go to Jiangnan to control the water, and I went too hurriedly I owe you the ceremony of worshiping the national teacher to the Ministry of Rites, and when Emperor Taizu Gao's death day has passed, I will choose a good day to do the ceremony, and make it more lively." ”

Jiang Xinghuo was also stunned, and immediately gave up.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Regardless of whether Zhu Di is sincere or fake, the posture is enough, Jiang Xinghuo still feels comfortable.

So, why is the Ministry of Rites noble? This is in the temple game of the dynasty, in the emperor's statement, the sense of ritual is the most important link.

And Zhu Di's series of arrangements are obviously sending a clear and unmistakable signal to the outside world, and the emperor is still unswervingly supporting Jiang Xinghuo and supporting the change.

However, Zhu Di, as the emperor and this arbiter, is not good at going straight to the field, and there is only so much he can do, as for how to deal with this temple storm, it depends on Jiang Xinghuo's ability.

In the end, those officials are making trouble behind their backs, and what interest class Jiang Xinghuo has offended, Zhu Di did not say it clearly.

But Zhu Di clapped his hands, and the third prince Zhu Gaosui walked out of the shadow of the main hall.

"Go and send your second brother, and when Cao Guogong comes back, he will collectively award the generals military ranks, and your second brother will have to go back to Beizhili."

Nominally, it was sent to Zhu Gaoxu, but in Zhu Gaosui's hands, he naturally had an information to give to Jiang Xinghuo.

Today's view can be regarded as a strengthening of mutual trust and cooperation between the two sides, and they will continue to walk on the road of changing the law.

Zhu Di gained a new way to deal with the relationship between the suzerains and vassals in Korea, Annam, and even the entire tributary system in the future, a method of continuously bringing benefits and benefits to the Ming Dynasty.

And Jiang Xinghuo got everything he could get from Zhu Di.

The rest have to meet with the old monk, and then go home to see Li Zhigang, who is "more imprisoned and more gained".

PS: I still haven't recovered, my head is swollen, the efficiency is a little low, I only made up a little bit today, and I will continue to make up for the lack of more compensation when I recover tomorrow.

(End of chapter)