Rebirth of the Ming Dynasty: Sixth Generation of Glory, I don't want it

"I hope that these imperial edicts issued by Dad will not become empty words."

Zhang Xin wanted to sigh.

Even though the father-in-law is so fierce, he is unable to stop the people below from just sitting around doing nothing.

"Don't be so discouraged. Things are done bit by bit."

Zhu Gaochi was very satisfied with the current situation.

Dad's attitude towards him is much better than before.

The two younger brothers are also very well behaved.

Most of the court officials were relatively obedient.

The country is also on the rise.

What more could I ask for?

Another thing is that the people’s love for the royal family is real.

I felt it more in the capital before, and I can feel it in the capital recently.

The assassination of Zhu Gaochi and Zhang Xin.

There was not much commotion on the streets that night, and the people of the capital were completely unaware of it.

Later, when the whole city was searched, the people found out that the eldest prince and his wife had been assassinated.

The eldest prince still attends court every day, which means that he is fine.

But the eldest prince's wife never went out again.

So when Zhu Anle went to the Royal Shop on behalf of Zhang Xin, he would always find a bunch of purses stuffed with amulets.

Ordinary people did not dare to enter the Royal Treasure Shop, and most of their wallets were sent to the Royal Treasure Shop.

According to the shopkeeper, most of the people who gave Zhang Xin amulets were women, ladies, and children.

This is what the people want.

"Since ancient times, reform from the top down is called reform, and rebellion from the bottom up is called rebellion. Dad is considered a pioneer of reform."

Zhang Xin sighed.

“These two sentences are brilliant!”

After a moment of silence, Zhu Gaochi gave Zhang Xin a thumbs up.

His father was both a rebel and a reformer, which was just right, a balance.

~~~~

Ming Dynasty, the third year of Yongle, June.

Beijing.

As soon as Zhu Di arrived in the capital, he met with the Japanese envoys and the Ryukyu envoys brought back by Li Jinglong.

Immediately afterwards, he had a secret conversation with Li Jinglong.

“Is there really a silver mine in Japan?”

"Yes. More than one. And gold mines. I have visited several of them myself."

When Li Jinglong just got off the boat, he was dark, thin, and in low spirits.

After resting for two days and waiting for Zhu Di's summons, he was extremely excited.

"Explain it?"

Zhu Di immediately became energetic.

"Stay with us today, Jinglong can have a good chat with your uncle."

Seeing this, Xu felt that it might take a while to finish the conversation, so she kept the person there.

"Okay, thank you, aunt."

Li Jinglong was not polite either.

"Women are always talkative. Start talking."

Zhu Di became impatient and, after receiving a glare from Xu, he took back his complaints and motioned for Li Jinglong to start speaking.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Let me start from the beginning. Your Majesty, please don't think I'm being long-winded."

Li Jinglong laid the foundation in advance.

This mine involves too many people and things.

"understood!"

"Then I will start talking!"

Li Jinglong left in the first year of the Yongle reign. At that time, he actually didn't think much about it.

He was dazzled by the huge profits from maritime trade thrown out by Zhu Gaochi and Zhang Xin.

I agreed to this on impulse.

As a result, I was gone for more than two years.

Of course, it was his own idea to stay in Japan and not come back with Zhang Chang.

Because just before returning home, Li Jinglong met a Ming Dynasty man who was relocated to Ryukyu by the previous emperor in a Japanese tavern. He had some preliminary clues about the mineral vein.

So he just stayed in Japan.

During these two years, Li Jinglong not only traveled all over Japan, but also got a thorough understanding of the situation in Ryukyu.

The final conclusion is simple - if you want to take over Japan's silver mines, you must first take over Ryukyu.

When the previous emperor ascended the throne, the Ryukyu Islands were actually divided into three countries: Zhongshan, Beishan and Nanshan, and these three countries had been constantly fighting with each other.

Zhongshan Kingdom was the first to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty.

The King of Zhongshan Kingdom also requested the Ming Dynasty to grant Mingding when paying tribute in the 25th year of Hongwu, so as to guide the Ryukyu people to study Chinese studies, navigation and shipbuilding techniques to facilitate trade.

The late emperor then granted his wish and moved 36 families of skilled boatmen from Fuzhou and Zhangzhou across the sea to Zhongshan State.

The late emperor gave away these craftsmen for the sake of the reputation of his great country.

As a result, Zhongshan Kingdom developed much faster than Beishan Kingdom and Nanshan Kingdom, which also invisibly accelerated the sinicization of Ryukyu.

By this time, the Ming people who had migrated to Zhongshan State had already multiplied and thrived, and had the second and third generations, and they also had considerable say in Zhongshan State.

Scholars, navigators and shipbuilders were dominated by the Ming people. Basically, the Ming people had a high social status in Ryukyu and were a major local noble family in Ryukyu.

Naha, the port of Zhongshan State, also became a place where merchant ships from various countries gathered.

In particular, ships departing from Japan to the Ming Dynasty, and ships from the Ming Dynasty to Japan, basically would trade and resupply in Naha.

But Zhongshan Kingdom also had its bad times. Starting from Naha, it went south to Southeast Asia through Nanshan Kingdom, and went north to Japan through Beishan Kingdom. It was sandwiched in the middle and was easily attacked from both sides and restricted from both ends.

It was not very safe for merchants from Zhongshan Kingdom to trade south or north with the goods sold by Ming Dynasty merchants and local specialties of Ryukyu.

Japanese pirates would also take the opportunity to join forces with the other two countries to rob Zhongshan Kingdom's ships.

The King of Zhongshan was extremely annoyed.

The people Li Jinglong met in Japan were Ming people from Zhongshan Kingdom.

As they drank and chatted, the Ming people from Zhongshan Kingdom spat a lot and, under the guidance of Li Jinglong, talked about the situation in Japan.

As a maritime merchant who traveled between Ryukyu and Japan for many years, that Ming Dynasty man knew Japan very well.

This was during the reign of Ashikaga Yoshimochi, the fourth shogun of the Muromachi shogunate in Japan.

The one who sent envoys to the Ming Dynasty to pay tribute was Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the father of Ashikaga Yoshimochi.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu had actually handed over the position of Shogun to his son Ashikaga Yoshimochi, and resigned as Grand Minister of State, becoming a monk with the Buddhist name Dogi.

However, it was Ashikaga Yoshimitsu who came forward to accept the Ming Dynasty's enthronement.

The rise of the Muromachi shogunate established by the Ashikaga family was rapid and strange.

The first two shoguns of the Muromachi shogunate did not even have their own palace. It was not until the third shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, that the shogunate truly entered its heyday.

There have been rumors in Japan that the Ashikaga family secretly owns a treasure.

At that time, Li Jinglong felt that there was no hole without wind.

After Zhang Chang left Japan, Li Jinglong followed this Ming man to Ryukyu, where he was introduced to the King of Zhongshan Kingdom.

Afterwards, he had in-depth discussions with the Ming people who had become samurai in Ryukyu, and followed the Ming people's merchant ships back to Japan, conducting open and secret investigations in Japan for a long time.

Finally, it can be confirmed that the Ashikaga family most likely had a silver mine or even a gold mine.

But there are far more silver mines in Japan than just the Ashikaga family.

The first two shoguns of the Muromachi shogunate were unable to fully control the local samurai forces.

Therefore, the authority of the shogun was not high, and there were many factions within the shogunate, each of which held military power.

When Ashikaga Yoshimitsu rose to power, these forces with military power were gradually absorbed and integrated.

The economic sources of these local forces are also unclear.