Chapter 452: Do we, the great Ming Dynasty, still lack people?

Author: Potato Sweet Potato Pie

Chapter 452: Do we, the great Ming Dynasty, still lack people?

The commander-in-chief Zhang Mao did not agree with selling firearms to the Japanese state at first. If he sold firearms to the Japanese state, if they turned around and used firearms to attack the Ming Dynasty, wouldn't he become an enemy?

But later he was persuaded by Xia Yuan, and now that he has changed his strategy, he simply changed it more thoroughly. It is impossible for the Ming army to conquer the entire Japanese country alone, so it is better to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, and let the Japanese war escalate in an all-round way.

He not only wanted to sell weapons to the Ashikaga Shogunate, but also wanted to sell them to the daimyo who were separatists.

The Ming army brought tens of thousands of firearms with them on this expedition, and there were still more than 20,000 explosive packs left.

The cost of making a firecracker is about three taels of silver, and the cost of making an explosive bag is even cheaper, less than one tael.

As long as you sell it, almost all of it will be profit. Let alone selling it all, as long as you can sell half of it, it will be a profit of tens of millions of taels.

At that time, a group of troops was left to guard Sado Island and defended with artillery. The rest returned home with all the money they earned, and the Japanese used the purchased firearms and explosive packs to beat them to death.

Based on the current war situation in Japan and the addition of Daming firearms, the war will definitely escalate in an all-round way, and the escalation of the scale of the war means that the death toll will increase significantly.

During this period, the Ming Dynasty could completely rely on the money it earned to launch its voyages to the West. Even if tens of millions of taels were not enough, it could also develop the gold and silver mines on Sado Island and the rest of the silver mines in Japan.

After its voyage to the West, Ming Dynasty will come into contact with advanced weapons from the West. According to Ming Dynasty's habits, it will definitely imitate them and develop better ones on its own.

In more than ten or twenty years, the war between Japan and Japan will never stop. If this idea continues, it is unclear what the Ming Dynasty will develop into in more than ten or twenty years, but it will definitely be much stronger than it is now.

.

By that time, the Japanese country was in dire straits after years of wars, but the Ming Dynasty had become stronger and stronger. One and the other waxed and waned. Whether it was to annex the entire Japanese country or to control the entire Japanese country, it would be much easier than it is now.

This will be a plan with a time span of ten, twenty, or even thirty years.

The first step of this plan is to sell the firearms to the Hosokawa Masamoto in front of him, so that the Ashikaga Shogunate can use the firearms to conquer the other daimyo, so that the rest of the Japanese people can also feel a little shock from the firearms, and then

They all came to Daming to buy firearms.

Xia Yuan stared at Hosokawa Masamoto, now waiting for the little devil to agree and propose how much he wanted to buy.

However, Masamoto Hosokawa remained silent and looked embarrassed. After a long while, he leaned down and asked, "I wonder if the firearms in your country can be cheaper?"

"It can't be cheaper. I told you that the price I gave you is the cost price. It cost a lot of money to make it. If you think it's expensive, I still think it's expensive."

"But the shogunate is currently facing financial difficulties, and it really can't afford much money."

"Can't get money? What kind of shogunate are you opening if you can't get money?"

Xia Yuan adjusted his sitting position and said, "You have no money and your finances are in dire straits. You are right, but this is the lowest price. No matter how low it is, we will lose money. You buy something and you want me to sell it at a loss. This is the truth in the world.

?I, Daming, am not your father, I have to pamper you and let you go."

"Can"

"What buts? There are no buts. Even if you, the Japanese country, want to be the son of my Ming Dynasty, it won't work. It is only natural for a son to be filial to his father. You can't let your father cut off his flesh to support you."

"."

Hosokawa Masamoto was speechless. He felt that the person in front of him was deliberately taking advantage of him, but he had no evidence, and even if there was, he did not dare to care.

Xia Yuan's tone was calm, "There are ways to buy firearms with more money, and there are ways to buy firearms with less money. Let me ask first, how much money can you spend to buy firearms?"

Hosokawa Masamoto calculated it in his mind and said aloud: "About one hundred thousand taels."

"Well, one hundred thousand taels is a bit small. Buying one thousand three-eyed blunderbuss and adding ammunition will be enough."

"ammunition?"

Hosokawa Masamoto couldn't help shouting, and Xia Yuan raised his eyebrows, "What, you just buy firearms but not ammunition? Or do you want me to give you ammunition?"

"No, I want to buy ammunition from your country."

Hosokawa Masamoto bent down again. He originally thought that one hundred thousand taels of silver could buy a thousand three-eyed blunderbuss, as well as a thousand general-like artillery pieces. These could at least arm an elite force of a thousand people.

But the ammunition was omitted.

"There are only one hundred thousand taels, so buy the one hundred thousand taels first. If you want more, you can exchange it with land, for example, where you currently control, and then give it directly to Da Ming. I, Da Ming, will estimate it by then.

Look how much this place is worth."

Masamoto Hosokawa rejected this proposal without thinking. According to the contract, the ceded Sado Island was not under their control, and the only places the shogunate still controls are Kyoto and part of the surrounding areas.

If it is cut out, there won't even be a place to stay.

Seeing his refusal, Xia Yuan didn't care and said his true intention, "Then you can use someone else instead."

"Replace with someone else?"

"Yes, it can be exchanged for men or women. At this price, a man will pay two taels of silver, and a woman will pay one tael of silver."

"This" Hosokawa Zhengyuan's eyes were a little dazed, and Xia Yuan leaned down, "Why, do you think this is difficult to handle?"

"It's difficult to do, but not difficult to do, but"

"What's the point? I didn't ask you to exchange your own people. Now the Japanese country is in constant war and there are rebels everywhere. You can attack those rebels and then capture their people.

My Ming Dynasty has no restrictions, anyone can do it. We want the people you captured in the war, and we want the people captured in the mountains and fields. Of course, as long as they are adults, we don’t want children."

"It's not difficult to capture thousands of people in a battle. Then they can be used to exchange for weapons. Using the enemy's population to exchange for your weapons will not only attack the enemy's forces, but also enhance your own strength. How about this deal?

I’m tempted to think about how to get a good deal.”

"."

Hosokawa Masamoto was stunned for a moment, moved his Adam's apple, raised his head and asked the question that he had not asked just now: "But what does your country want from the population of the Ming Dynasty?"

Of course, they are to be captured and mined. The gold and silver mines on Sado Island are waiting to be developed, and there is an urgent need for mining people. And the risk factor of mining these days is too high. My own compatriots cannot bear it, so I use the Ming army to capture them.

Capturing the local Japanese was time-consuming and laborious, and there would inevitably be casualties.

It's better to buy and sell Japanese people and bring them all back to mine for me.

And there are no restrictions on who can come, as many as they want. The mines cannot be filled, and the Ming Dynasty still needs people. Repairing rivers and roads, building embankments and bridges are all done by collecting corvees.

With the Japanese, the people of the Ming Dynasty can be liberated from the heavy corvee. Moreover, the Japanese are consumables. If they are worn out, they will not feel bad. Just buy them again and work to death for me.

Moreover, this method can further reduce the population of the Japanese country. In this era when population is the productive force, the serf trade and the comprehensive escalation of war due to firearms will take a two-pronged approach. The Japanese country will be abolished in a few years.

"You're still questioning me. I don't know what to do with it. Maybe it's to be shipped back to the Ming Dynasty and sold, so that they can serve as officials and gentry of the Ming Dynasty. If it's not that you are so poor and have no money, then

If you want to buy firearms, do you think I want you to trade people for firearms? Is the Ming Dynasty still short of people?"

PS: I coded half of another chapter last night. I'm at the company to see if I can code it out. If it doesn't work, I'll code it when I get back from get off work.

The story of Japan will end in two or three chapters.
Chapter completed!