Zhu Yunying attached great importance to the Maritime Trade Office, which served as the window for the Ming Dynasty's import and export trade. These areas had to be under the control of the imperial court. Whether they would be further opened up in the future was still uncertain, but at this stage, he would not allow too much private participation.

Ultimately, the current Maritime Trade Office has a large output and is in a stage of continuous development and expansion.

At this point, it was naturally the court's responsibility to reap the greatest profits, rather than allowing merchants to continue to grow and expand. Moreover, Zhu Yunying's three maternal uncles were eager to make their move, and some military officials had also obtained information, intentionally or unintentionally.

They were becoming increasingly interested in the indigenous people of Southeast Asia, and they also hoped to make use of the land bestowed upon them by the imperial court. Although the land was now mostly in Liaodong, it could still yield a considerable amount of revenue if developed.

They all fought on the battlefield, and their wealth and status were obtained through killing. At this point, there's no point in talking about mercy.

As long as nothing is done within the territory of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court can turn a blind eye. The emperor's meaning on this point is quite clear.

After the court session, Zhu Yunying summoned the ministers of the six ministries to the Wuying Hall, as he had other matters to discuss. While it concerned the Maritime Trade Office, Zhu Yunying also needed to further refine some of his plans.

Upon seeing the arrival of his high-ranking officials, Zhu Yunying immediately asked, "How is the Xinming silver mine doing now?"

Xinming Silver Mine is the Iwami Silver Mine in Japan, which was one of the important sources of silver for the Ming Dynasty.

Yan Zhenzhi immediately stepped forward, as he was well aware of these matters. "Your Majesty, since the discovery of the silver mine, the court has continuously dispatched skilled craftsmen and recruited artisans from Japan."

This is a euphemism. Zhu Yunying's fourth uncle expanded his territory in Japan, and apart from some people who were incorporated into the kingdom, the defeated samurai, rebellious civilians, and some able-bodied men were all handed over to the Xinming Silver Mine Garrison.

The imperial court provided Zhu Di with troops, provisions, and other supplies, naturally helping him expand his territory. However, this wasn't without expectation of return; the Xinming silver mine was a key focus. Therefore, in addition to the craftsmen sent by the Ming Dynasty, many miners came from Japan.

Yan Zhenzhi continued, "The imperial court has long since found the main silver mine, and in recent years it has also frequently found some branch mines. Three hundred mine tunnels have already been opened, and there are still mine tunnels under construction and being opened. The imperial court has also introduced methods such as ash blowing, which has led to a dramatic increase in the amount of silver."

Zhu Yunying nodded slightly, but asked, "How much silver is sent to the Ming Dynasty each year now?"

Yu Xin immediately said, "Your Majesty, approximately 1.4 million taels of silver are sent annually, along with 50,000 taels of gold. 500,000 taels of silver are deposited into the Imperial Treasury, 300,000 taels are managed by the Imperial Clan Court and the Five Military Commissions, and the remaining 600,000 taels are collected into the National Treasury."

One million four hundred thousand taels is roughly equivalent to fifty tons. One tael of silver in the Ming Dynasty was approximately thirty-seven grams.

Seeing Zhu Yunying frowning, Yan Zhenzhi quickly said, "Your Majesty, the Xinming silver mine has astonishing reserves. The court does not yet know exactly how much gold and silver can be extracted from the Xinming silver mine. Moreover, the amount of silver is constantly increasing..."

Zhu Yunying interrupted Yan Zhenzhi and said, "I have no complaints. I also know that it will take some time to mine those silver mines."

Although the Ming Dynasty had skilled craftsmen and continuously invested resources in mining, it was still difficult to produce millions of taels of silver every year. In reality, mining often relied heavily on human lives, and mechanization was practically impossible; being able to utilize animal power was already a good outcome.

Yan Zhen breathed a sigh of relief. These bigwigs in the court naturally knew some things, especially some of Zhu Yunying's direct subordinates.

Back then, Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang listed Japan as a country he would not conquer, probably because he felt that conquering Japan was not worthwhile, which can be seen as learning from the lesson of the Mongol conquest of Japan. At that time, the Ming Dynasty only conducted trade with the Southern and Northern Emperors of Japan.

However, the Crown Prince sent people to search for mineral deposits in Japan and 'accidentally' discovered a huge mineral vein.

As a result, the then Emperor Zhu and Crown Prince Zhu immediately turned against the Ming Dynasty, declaring that there was no country that would not be conquered. Moreover, Japan had to be conquered as well, since the Japanese emperor had failed to control the Wokou pirates and had not paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty, and even a small foreign country dared to call itself "Emperor".

The Xinming Silver Mine was a source of pride for Emperor Ying Shi. Even though the war was orchestrated by the retired emperor, many people knew about it, and the greatest contributor was the current Emperor Ying Shi.

Zhu Yunying nodded slowly and said with a smile, "That's good. With more and more silver in the Ming Dynasty, we can finally collect copper coins."

For many years, the Ming Dynasty had stopped issuing new copper coins, as copper was already in short supply. However, it did not abolish the issuance of new coins immediately; instead, each time copper coins were withdrawn, they were basically smelted, and the amount of silver and paper money circulating in the market increased.

This is a good thing, especially for Zhu Yunying, since the Ming Dynasty was indeed short of copper, so it was better to use as little as possible.

Zhu Yunying then asked, "What is the Ministry of Revenue's statement regarding the paper money?"

Yu Xin immediately replied, “Your Majesty, in recent years, the people have become increasingly accepting of paper money. There are now seven types of paper money: one coin, five coins, ten coins, twenty coins, fifty coins, one hundred coins, and one string of cash.”

This is the face value of the paper money. According to the regulations issued by Zhu Yuanzhang in the eighth year of Hongwu, one string of paper money was equal to one thousand copper coins or one tael of silver, and four strings of paper money were equal to one tael of gold.

In fact, this was adjusted. When Zhu Yuanzhang first issued banknotes, the denominations were relatively large, starting from one hundred coins and going up to one string. However, over the years, the court imposed more and more restrictions on copper coins, so smaller denomination banknotes appeared.

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