Chapter 428
The fat sheep delivered to the door
...
Not only did many Song Dynasty officials realize that the Japanese envoys were bringing a sure-fire deal for the Song Dynasty, but Emperor Zhao Yu also realized that Japan was essentially paying the Song Dynasty to fight for them.
The mercenary business has always been one of the most profitable businesses, both throughout history and across the world.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Jin sent troops to help the State of Zheng fight against the State of Chu. After the victory, the State of Zheng directly presented countless jades and grains, and even ceded three cities as a token of gratitude. During the Warring States Period, the State of Qin helped the State of Han attack the State of Wei. After the victory, Qin not only demanded thousands of miles of land, but also extorted tens of thousands of yi of gold. The State of Han did not dare to resist at all.
During the Han Dynasty, when the small kingdoms of the Western Regions were bullied by the Xiongnu, they came to the Han Dynasty for help. Camels, horses, cattle, sheep, and jewels were transported to Chang'an in an endless stream. The Han Dynasty made a fortune by collecting protection fees from the small kingdoms of the Western Regions.
In addition, the United States in later generations stationed troops everywhere to protect those small countries; North Korea sent mercenaries to help Russia fight; and all countries wanted to provide international aid.
These are all examples of how mercenary businesses are guaranteed to be profitable.
The crucial point is that Japan is currently suffering repeated defeats at the hands of the Jurchens, and it is a matter of life and death. At this time, whatever amount of money the Song Dynasty asks for from Japan, Japan will have to give—cities can be ceded, treasures can be offered, and annual tribute can be paid in full. Japan has no room for negotiation.
How could you not make money from this kind of business?
Most importantly, Japan has money.
Japan is known as "Treasure Island".
This title isn't given lightly.
Japan is prone to volcanoes and earthquakes, and has few plains. Apart from rice, there are almost no decent crops, and essential minerals such as iron ore and copper ore are scarce. Daily expenses are mostly covered by overseas trade. Yet, it seems that God has been exceptionally kind to Japan when it comes to gold and silver.
It is no exaggeration to say that Japan, a land that is not very large, is full of gold and silver mines.
Let's start with silver.
At its peak, Japan's annual silver production reached around 200 tons, accounting for a quarter to a third of the world's total production.
The core of it is the Iwami Ginzan.
The Iwami Ginzan is known as the "King of Silver Mines." Hidden in the mountains of western Honshu, the mine has an extremely high silver content, and the silver mined there is so pure that it can be used directly without refining. From the late Heian period to the Kamakura period, the silver produced here once accounted for more than 70% of Japan's total silver production.
—In the 16th century, after Japan introduced advanced smelting technology, this place could produce 38 tons of silver a year at its peak, and that was just the output of one mine.
In addition, there are the Tajima Silver Mine and the Bingo Silver Mine. Although they are not as large as the Iwami Silver Mine, they are advantageous because the veins are scattered and easy to mine, and private mining can be very profitable.
The silver mines on Sado Island alone can produce more than 60,000 kilograms of silver annually.
Between 1615 and 1625, during the decade when Japan's overseas trade was at its most prosperous, Japan exported 130,000 to 160,000 kilograms of silver annually.
Japan's gold reserves are also staggering.
The famous Sado Gold Mine had already been mined by this time, and it reached its peak during the Edo period, when the gold produced here once accounted for half of the world's production.
The Hishikari Mine was even more impressive, with proven gold reserves of 260 tons. It once set a record of producing 7 to 10 tons of gold per year, more than twice the output of established gold mines such as the Sado Mine.
At that time, more than fifty gold mines and more than thirty silver mines were developed in various parts of Japan. The mountains were full of gold and silver that could not be mined. Ordinary people used silver as much as copper, and it was common for nobles to inlay gold and silver on their objects.
—To what extent was gold and silver so abundant in Japan? It was so abundant that even the tsuba (handguard) of ordinary samurai swords was inlaid with gold and silver, merchants settled transactions directly with silver ingots, and even fishermen in remote fishing villages could occasionally find natural gold and silver in the sand and gravel of rivers.
Even Gu Yanwu, a thinker from the late Ming Dynasty, bluntly stated that "Japan has no goods, only gold and silver."
More importantly, the Song Dynasty is currently short of gold and silver.
As is well known, the Song Dynasty had been carrying out currency reforms in recent years.
The direction of the Song Dynasty's monetary reform was towards paper money reform.
This is not only because paper money is the future trend, but also because there are many other practical reasons.
Now, the Song Dynasty has recovered Qinghai-Tibet, Western Xia, Goryeo, and the Northeast. Crucially, the Song Dynasty is also engaged in a great geographical discovery, expanding its territory to an unprecedented scale.
During the more than twenty years of Zhao Yu's rule, the population more than doubled and even dipped, reaching nearly 250 million.
This does not include the population residing in the Americas, Australia, and other regions.
With the expansion of its territory, the surge in population, the onset of the Industrial Revolution, the vigorous development of maritime trade, and the increasing prosperity of the Song Dynasty's commercial trade, the size of the Song Dynasty's economy also rose accordingly, and the demand for currency in daily transactions increased exponentially.
However, the Song Dynasty was a country with scarce copper resources. Its copper reserves were limited, and the mining efficiency could not keep up with the demand. As a result, even if the Song Dynasty devoted all its resources to minting copper coins, it could not meet the needs of market circulation.
For a period of time, the people of the Song Dynasty even experienced a "money shortage," and merchants had to barter with cloth and grain as temporary currency.
This severely hampered the economic development of the Song Dynasty.
In this situation, lightweight, easy-to-print, and readily available paper money becomes one of the few options for solving the currency shortage problem.
The problem is that paper money itself has no value; it relies entirely on the reserves backing it up for credit. Otherwise, paper money is just a piece of waste paper.
If the Song Dynasty wanted its paper money to circulate throughout the country and even in the newly recovered territories, and to allow the people and merchants to use it with confidence, it had to reserve a large amount of gold and silver as a backing to stabilize the currency value and prevent inflation.
However, the gold and silver reserves of the Song Dynasty were too limited.
To put it simply, if it weren't for the fact that the Song Dynasty had been expanding outwards all these years, plundering gold and silver from Tibet, Western Xia, Liao, Goryeo, and Jin, and hadn't earned large amounts of gold and silver from various countries through maritime trade, as well as from Australia and the Americas, and hadn't used this gold and silver to over-issue paper money and introduced various monetary policies to stabilize the value of the Song Dynasty's currency, the Song Dynasty's currency would have been in trouble long ago.
To put it simply, the issuance of paper money in the Song Dynasty was highly dependent on the replenishment of gold and silver from "war plunder + trade surplus", and lacked a stable source of endogenous reserves.
With the expansion of the Song Dynasty's territory and the explosive growth of its industry and trade, the amount of paper money issued by the Song Dynasty far exceeded the scale of its gold and silver reserves.
Although it has not yet triggered inflation, this "reliance on excessive issuance" has actually created a hidden bubble.
If the Song Dynasty slows down its external plundering, or if its foreign trade surplus narrows, or if a large-scale war or famine suddenly occurs, the inability of reserves to cover the demand for paper money redemption could directly trigger a "bank run crisis," leading to the devaluation of paper money, the collapse of the Song Dynasty's credit, and the decline of the Song Dynasty's economy.
Furthermore, the scarcity of copper resources in the Song Dynasty remained unchanged. The insufficient supply of copper coins led to a high degree of market dependence on paper money, but the credibility of paper money required the backing of gold and silver. This created a vicious cycle of "copper shortage forcing the issuance of paper money, and gold and silver shortage supporting the credibility of paper money."
If the inflow of gold and silver were to cease, paper money would become unredeemable as hard currency, and copper coins would be insufficient to fill the circulation gap, directly paralyzing the Song Dynasty's monetary system and impacting its commerce, trade, and the stability of its people. Even more problematic was the Song Dynasty's ongoing military expansion, which required enormous military expenditures, and these expenditures relied on the excessive issuance of paper money.
This "currency-driven war-fighting" model will further dilute the reserve requirement ratio and increase potential inflation risks.
At the same time, the pacification and infrastructure investment in the newly recovered areas of the Song Dynasty also require a large amount of currency. If there is a lack of sufficient gold and silver anchoring, it is very easy to trigger local inflation and intensify the contradictions between the newly subjugated people and the Song Dynasty.
These are all potential monetary risks for the Song Dynasty.
Is this risk easy to resolve?
Easy to solve.
The problem can be solved as long as the Song Dynasty has enough gold and silver.
It could be said that just as Zhao Yu was dozing off, Japan sent him a pillow.
As long as the Song Dynasty sends troops to aid Japan, Japan's gold and silver will flow into the Song Dynasty's treasury in a steady stream.
This not only solved the urgent problem of the Song Dynasty's paper money reserves, but also enabled the Song Dynasty to completely get rid of the constraints of copper shortage, allowing the Song Dynasty's monetary reform to proceed smoothly.
At the same time, this can also solve the problem of redundant troops in the Song Dynasty, help the Song Dynasty bear part of the military expenses, open up a huge foreign trade market for the Song Dynasty, give the Song Dynasty an obedient vassal state, and bring the Song Dynasty a considerable amount of tribute revenue every year.
Such a win-win opportunity is not to be missed.
Furthermore, Zhao Yu thought that this might be a golden opportunity for the Song Dynasty to completely resolve the issue of its ambitious neighbor, Japan.
Sima Guang, in his "Zizhi Tongjian", commented on the Japanese: "They know small etiquette but lack great righteousness, are bound by trivialities but lack great virtue, value minor details but disregard integrity and shame, fear power but do not cherish virtue, the strong will inevitably become thieves and bandits, and the weak will inevitably become subservient."
Emperor Kangxi's assessment of Japan was: "The country of Wa is the most fickle and unpredictable. Its people are extremely lowly, ignorant of kindness and righteousness, and only subservient to military might. Therefore, one should not show them the slightest kindness."
Former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, "The Japanese are the most despicable and shameless people I have ever seen."
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill described Japan as "extremely perverse, treacherous, and disgusting."
Former French President Charles de Gaulle described Japan as: "A treacherous and cunning cruel nation, extremely opportunistic, whose insane bloodlust is like that of Dracula, the vampire of medieval Europe. Once it sees your weakness, it will immediately bite through your throat, leaving no chance of survival."
MacArthur's assessment of Japan: "The more you defeat him, the more willing he is to give everything for you."
French philosopher Montesquieu commented on Japan: "Their character is very perverse. In the eyes of Europeans, the Japanese are not only stubborn and obsequious to their superiors, but also fierce and brutal to their inferiors. They are born with a contempt for death and kill people at the drop of a hat, or commit seppuku. They are a bloodthirsty, perverse, and bloodthirsty people."
If Japan is not eliminated before it becomes strong, it will surely invade other countries as it has in history once it becomes strong.
Once Japan takes this step, its neighbor, the Song Dynasty, will inevitably be the first to suffer.
Don't forget, even Jidi now belongs to the Song Dynasty.
To paraphrase Zhao Kuangyin, how can one allow others to snore beside one's bed?
Furthermore, how much gold and silver could Japan give to the Song Dynasty if it were in the hands of the Japanese?
If Japan were in the hands of the Song Dynasty, then all of Japan's gold and silver would belong to the Song Dynasty.
At that time, Zhao Yu could issue as many banknotes as he wanted.
Moreover, Zhao Yu could even abolish gold or silver in order to stabilize the paper currency, and adopt a silver standard or a gold standard.
What an enormous temptation!
To be honest, Zhao Yu was extremely tempted by this!
Seeing that Emperor Zhao Yu and his ministers were interested in their proposal to Japan, the deputy envoy Minamoto no Yoshimi quickly said:
"According to what your ministers know, Your Majesty personally led the expedition to annihilate the Jin Kingdom, capturing all members of the Jin royal family, clan, and nobles, killing more than half of them, and imprisoning the rest in the City of Ten Thousand Kingdoms. He also took their daughters into the harem, thus forging a deep-seated hatred with the Jin people. Their resentment must be ingrained in their very bones."
If the Jurchens were to conquer Japan, amass wealth and provisions, train soldiers, recruit fugitives, and gradually grow in power, they would surely seek revenge.
They are known for their bravery; if they were to return and take advantage of the Song Dynasty's unpreparedness to harass the borders, then the border troubles would be endless, the people would not live in peace, the country would not be tranquil, and it might even shake the very foundations of the Song Dynasty. Wouldn't it be too late for regret then?
"The way a sage governs lies in preventing problems before they arise. Now the Jin people are isolated and weak, like fish swimming in a pot. If Your Majesty launches a thunderous army, advancing by land and sea, and strikes them before they can exert their strength, you will surely be able to wipe them out in one fell swoop, thus securing the foundation of the Great Song Dynasty for ten thousand generations and eliminating future troubles forever."
"Given the current situation, I dare not remain silent. If Your Majesty were to send a large army to aid Japan, it would be beneficial to both our families. I urge Your Majesty to make a wise decision and send a large army as soon as possible to save Japan from this dire situation, and also to eliminate this hidden danger for the Song Dynasty..."
With the excuse provided by Genji, many ministers of the Song Dynasty immediately changed their tune and began to urge Zhao Yu to send troops to rescue Japan.
Zhang Bangchang stepped forward and said, “Your Majesty, what the Japanese envoy said makes sense. If we do not eliminate Wuzhu and his ilk in time, they may cause great harm. It would be better to take advantage of their weakness and quickly send a large army to wipe them out, so as to prevent them from harming our dynasty when they become too powerful.”
Li Guang then stepped forward and said, "If Japan were to pay for all the expenses, risks, and losses incurred in sending troops, it would not be unreasonable for our Great Song Dynasty to send troops to help them preserve their national destiny."
Mei Zhili then stepped forward to remind Your Majesty: "Your Majesty, the envoy's proposal is indeed far-sighted, and sending troops to annihilate the enemy is in accordance with the foundation of the nation. However, I have a humble opinion that I dare to present to Your Majesty."
Our Great Song Dynasty and Japan are separated by the sea, facing treacherous winds and waves, and the journey is long and arduous. Wherever our troops travel, transportation is difficult and costly.
Today we are requesting aid in a time of urgent need. However, if, after the matter is settled, that country delays repayment of the promised gold and silver, or even reneges on its promise, citing reasons such as the vastness of its maritime territory and the weakness of its national strength, even though our dynasty has the might of thunder and wants to pursue it, we will regret that we are too far away to do so.
Military affairs are of paramount importance to the nation, and provisions and military supplies are vital to the nation's survival.
If our Great Song Dynasty were to launch a military campaign, we should first establish an alliance, clearly defining the terms: Japan must first pay the full amount of gold and silver as funds for military expenses and as collateral for the alliance.
Once the treasury has verified and received the funds, our Great Song Dynasty will then send its royal army eastward. This is the most secure strategy.
This is not because I am suspicious of foreign nations, but because our safety hangs by a thread in this overseas campaign, and our finances are crucial to the overall situation. We must first secure their trust before launching an attack, so that we can have no worries about the rear and achieve a perfect outcome.
We humbly submit to Your Majesty's wise decision.
Next, the ministers of the Song Dynasty stepped forward one after another, saying that the Song Dynasty could send troops to help Japan wipe out the Jin people, but Japan had to pay money first. Moreover, they were all sharpening their knives, ready to take advantage of the situation and make Japan bleed heavily.
In response, Zhao Yu skillfully told the Japanese envoys, "You may go to the Prime Minister's house to discuss the details. If the conditions are right, it is not impossible for our Great Song Dynasty to send troops to rescue Japan."
Cai Jing, who had been tasked with negotiating the price, smiled slightly...
...(End of chapter)