Chapter 631
Stay
Pan Yun's eyes sparkled: "There is a silver mine in Shimane Prefecture."
Xue Shao suppressed the throbbing in his heart and asked with a smile: "How big a mine must be to make you so excited that you would travel thousands of miles and even cross the sea to come here?"
Pan Yun: "How much silver was the Ming Dynasty's treasury revenue converted into last year?"
Xue Shao passed the imperial examination last year. Although he had been with the emperor for a while, he was not qualified to go to the Ministry of Revenue to see the real financial report for the whole year. He thought for a moment and said, "In the fifth year of Zhengtong, the annual income of the Taicang warehouse was 2.43 million taels of silver. I estimate that the national treasury income that year was about 6 million taels."
Pan Yun's lips curled up slightly: "The silver mine in Shimane County can produce one million taels a year."
Xue Shao's heart was pounding and he looked at Pan Jun intently.
Pan Yun raised an eyebrow and asked him, "Do you want to take it?"
Xue Shao said solemnly: "If you don't take what God has given you, it would be disrespectful."
Pan Yun smiled brightly and turned back to the cabin.
Xue Shao hurriedly followed her and whispered, "Silver mines are not like treasures that can be taken and left. They need to be mined, and they need to be mined year after year. Japan is not within the Ming territory, and it is not even as dependent on our dynasty as vassal states like Liuli and Korea. How can we obtain them?"
Pan Yun: "I don't know. Let's find a place first. Maybe we can just buy the land?"
In the feudal dynasty, anyone with money could buy land.
What's more, Japan is currently in political turmoil and regime change, so it is easier to buy land.
Xue Shao was slightly stunned: "You mean the silver mine has not been discovered? I thought we needed to rob it... How did you know about the undiscovered silver mine?"
Pan Yun: "Someone has mined in a small area nearby, but what they found should be the edges. As for how I knew there was such a large silver mine there... I said I calculated it with my fingers, do you believe me?"
Xue Shao nodded: "I believe it."
Isn't this her job?
Why doesn't he believe it?
Although this was not calculated by her, Xue Shao was very satisfied that she trusted her so much, which meant that she didn't have to rack her brains to think of reasons.
Just as worry-free as Xue Shao are her four nephews.
They didn't even bother to ask questions. When they heard that there was a large silver mine in Shimane Prefecture and they were going to explore the silver mine, they immediately became excited.
Without asking how Pan Yun would take possession of it after finding it, he asked directly, "Does the silver mine belong to our Sanqing Mountain?"
Pan Yun: "You guys are quite bold in thinking. I only dare to think about our Ming Dynasty."
Miaohe was disappointed: "Can't I?"
Pan Jun's heart moved, and he thought: "It may not be impossible."
Several people's eyes lit up.
Pan Yun pointed to the deck and said, "Don't always stay in the cabin to practice, you should go out for a walk occasionally. Buddhist disciples can travel across the ocean to spread Buddhism. We Taoist disciples have come here by chance, so how can we do nothing?"
Miao He and Tao Yanbai looked confused, but Miao Zhen and Wang Cong looked thoughtful. After a moment, their eyes lit up and they nodded repeatedly: "Little Master Uncle is right."
So they made friends with the captives on the ship, and from time to time they displayed their Taoist magic in front of them, bewitching the old men, women and children.
They had already seen the abilities of Pan Yun and others and knew they were very powerful. Now, seeing that the four of them could create things out of thin air, and could even start a fire or condense fresh water in a flash, they simply wanted to worship them like gods.
The four's position in the captives' hearts quickly surpassed Qu Le.
But they also liked Qu Le very much, thinking that he was an optimistic, kind-hearted person. Moreover, he was not scheming.
He is a simple-minded person. No matter old people, women or children, everyone likes to play with him. Although he sometimes has a bad temper and is a little arrogant, he has a good heart.
During the two days on the ship, all three parties were very friendly and had a happy time.
When the ship arrived at Bungo Channel, because a considerable number of the captives on board were from Kyushu Island, Pan Yun ordered the ship to stop near Oita Prefecture and let them disembark.
Pan Yun still prepared travel expenses for them.
Sixteen people chose to disembark here, much less than Pan Yun expected.
According to their statistics, thirty-four of the remaining people were from Kyushu Island, which means that eighteen people chose to stay on the ship instead of leaving.
Pan Jun pretended not to know and showed no strange expression, but he was actually very happy.
Pan Yun gave them travel expenses on the spot and escorted them off the boat, and then the boat set off again without stopping.
The captives on the deck watched the sixteen men take the travel expenses, jump ashore, and immediately disappear into the crowd. Their gratitude and trust in Pan Yun reached its peak.
By the time the ship passed the Toyo Strait and stopped near Honshu Island, no one chose to get off.
The remaining sixty-nine people selected three representatives to look for Pan Yun, kneeling in front of her, hoping that she would take them in.
"We can be slaves, fishermen, or sailors, whatever. We only ask that you let us stay."
Pan Yun: "I arrested your family members, don't you hate me?"
An old man said, "I am a bandit. Since I went to sea, I have known that there is no right or wrong in this world, only strong and weak, life and death. My son is weaker than you. He died because he was not capable enough. I don't blame you."
A woman said, "I was kidnapped. I just want to live. Now, I just want to take my daughter with me. Please take us in. If a woman goes ashore, she will either be kidnapped again or become a prostitute. Please take us in!"
The other was a big boy of twelve years old. Among pirates, those over twelve years old were allowed to go to sea.
So when they were suppressing bandits, anyone over the age of twelve was either killed while charging into battle or captured and handed over to the government.
The children who survived were all under the age of twelve.
This child was lucky. He was two months short of turning twelve, so he had never been on the pirate ship. When he was liquidated, he was considered innocent and was taken on board by Pan Yun.
He represented the orphans on the ship. He knelt on the ground and said sincerely, "We are willing to be at your service."
Pan Yun shook his head and said, "I can't give you an answer right away, because I brought you across the sea to send you back home, and we don't have the money and food to support you for a long time."
The three of them quickly stated that they worked for Pan Yun and earned their own living.
The old man said: "Although we are old, we still have some strength and can do many things. We also have experience."
Woman: "We can clean, sew, and we have also learned to fish. As long as the nobleman does not despise us because we are women and thinks it is unlucky to go on a boat, we are willing to go out to sea to fish."
Child: "We will grow up slowly and become stronger and stronger. We will become your sharpest and most loyal sword."
Pan Jun's lips curled up slightly, and then she agreed to keep them.
Gao Zhiming and others standing nearby looked puzzled: "Is this your purpose? To support a group of Japanese pirates' families, why?" (End of this chapter)