Zhu Di hurriedly asked about the silver mine.
Whether it was Zhu Yuanzhang or Zhu Di, they were very clear that one of the main problems of the Ming Dynasty was that the reserves of silver were too low.
If it was just that the silver reserves were low, it would be fine. The key was that there were countless places where Da Ming needed to spend money.
Just the salary of the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty was an astronomical figure. Zhu Yuanzhang did not hesitate to invent the Wei system for this purpose, allowing the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty to serve as soldiers in wartime and civilians in normal times. Although it alleviated the financial crisis of the Ming Dynasty to a certain extent, it buried the root of the Ming Dynasty's future destruction.
In addition to the salaries of these soldiers, Zhu Yuanzhang could not ignore the large number of landless disaster victims due to the years of war. Every year, he had to allocate a large amount of money from the court's finances to relieve the disaster victims.
There were also places where floods often occurred. They also needed a lot of manpower and material resources to maintain the flood from spreading too much and affecting areas that were originally not affected by the disaster.
Not to mention that in order to resist the invasion of the northern Mongolians, several border towns were built outside the Great Wall to protect the safety of the Ming Dynasty.
All these things required a huge amount of silver, and this money was money that had to be spent. The amount of silver produced by Great Ming every year was simply unable to satisfy the consumption of Great Ming.
Especially because of the previous dynasty, the silver circulating in the market became even rarer.
During the Yuan Dynasty, anyone who had a little money at home would choose to find a safe place to hide it.
Those rich merchants and landowners would find a place to dig a cellar to bury the silver. These places were either in a remote place or in a hidden corner of their homes. They would not even tell their sons and daughters-in-law except themselves. Only when they were about to die would they tell their families where they hid the money.
On one hand, this was to make the Dayuan court exempt him from taxes, and on the other hand, it was to prevent the Mongolians from robbing him.
Once those vicious and greedy Mongolians knew that they had money, they would be like sharks that smelled blood. They would not let the matter rest until they had taken all the money from these people.
Although the Yuan Dynasty had already perished, it was difficult to change the habits that had been formed for a long time.
These wealthy merchants and landlords had long formed the habit of hiding their wealth. As long as they had some money, they would immediately hide it.
He would only use it when he needed it. Sometimes, even when he needed it, he would do everything possible to raise money instead of using the silver that had been hidden.
He would not easily reveal his wealth in front of others, afraid of causing a fatal disaster.
This also led to the lack of silver in the early days of the Ming Dynasty. It even caused the price of copper used to cast copper coins to rise!
How did Shen Wansan become the richest man in Ming Dynasty?
It was precisely because at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, when the world was in turmoil, everyone exchanged copper coins for silver coins that were smaller and easier to carry, resulting in the situation where copper was cheap and silver was expensive.
Shen Wansan did the opposite and collected a large number of copper coins.
After the Ming Dynasty was established, due to the scarcity of silver, the price of copper began to rise. This caused Shen Wansan's wealth to expand by several times, and he became the richest man in the Ming Dynasty!
This kind of unimaginable situation could only appear in the current Da Ming.
The reason for this was because they lacked the support of precious metals like silver. The economic exchange in the market required a large number of copper coins, which was why this situation occurred.
If Da Ming had enough silver now, this situation would not have happened at all.
To the imperial court, nothing existed independently. It seemed like only the price of copper had risen, but the series of problems it caused would directly affect the stability of the court.
The simplest example was the rise in the price of copper coins, which would lead to the rise in the price of food.
The commoners who could not afford to buy food in the first place were even more unable to afford food now.
Without food, they could only sell their businesses and then sell their children. In the end, their families would be shattered and they would become disaster victims.
Now that Zhu Gaoye said that there was a huge silver mine in Japan, not only Zhu Di, but even Zhu Yuanzhang began to ask.
Whatever flintlock, whatever Franc machine gun, they were all put aside first. Money was the thing that the entire Ming Dynasty lacked the most.
Without money, so what if they had these advanced firearms? If they could not pay the soldiers, who would work for them?
The emperor did not lack hungry soldiers. Moreover, without money, just making these flintlocks and Fran cannons would be a problem.
If they couldn't make flintlocks and cannons, how could they equip the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty? If they couldn't equip the soldiers, no matter how advanced the firearms were, they were just like a mirror in the water. They could be seen but couldn't be touched.
Although Zhu Gaoye's underground base had a lot of flintlocks and Fran cannons, it was far from enough to meet the needs of the entire Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, when Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di heard the news, they immediately asked,
"Gao Ye, is what you said true?”
"Is there really a huge silver mine in Japan that has more silver reserves than the entire Great Ming?”
The two of them looked at Zhu Gaoye eagerly, afraid that they would hear a disappointed answer from Zhu Gaoye's mouth.
One had to know whether this silver mine existed or not, it was very likely to determine the future direction of Da Ming!
Zhu Gaoye did not expect the two of them to be so interested in the silver mine in Japan.
However, after thinking about it for a while, Zhu Gaoye instantly understood that the two brothers in front of him were businessmen.
Merchants pursued profits. Even if there was a copper mine or iron mine in Japan, these two people would be tempted.
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Gaoye's behavior was very normal.
Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoye said,"
"That's right, there is indeed the largest silver mine in the world in Japan.”
"The silver reserves in this silver mine account for more than 30% of the entire world!”
Although they didn't know what Zhu Gaoye meant by the entire world, even Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di knew that the 30% silver reserve that Zhu Gaoye mentioned was definitely not a small amount.
At the very least, as Zhu Gaoye said, it was more than the current silver reserves of the entire Great Ming Dynasty!
Therefore, after hearing Zhu Gaoye's answer, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di's breathing became heavy.
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