Natsuhara Yoshi came again, and this time he brought some good news.

“Your Majesty, the imperial banknotes are inherently difficult to counterfeit.” Xia Yuanji said confidently to Zhu Yunying, “The paper used for the imperial banknotes is mulberry bark paper, and the manufacturing process is complex. Even those large family-owned banks find it difficult to imitate them.”

Zhu Yunying smiled and nodded, agreeing with this point as well. "That makes sense. Furthermore, the designs on the banknotes are exquisite, making them even more difficult to forge."

In fact, some things were not explicitly stated. For example, all those paper carvings with engraved patterns should have been recruited into the imperial court, supervised by the government, and incorporated into the government system.

Moreover, in those days, counterfeiting banknotes was a serious crime. In fact, in his earlier years, Zhu Yuanzhang even added the abbreviations of each province to the currency, which could be considered a way to assign responsibility to individuals and increase the enthusiasm of law enforcement officers for supervision.

Seeing Zhu Yunying nod, Xia Yuanji continued, "I have heard that the court is currently raising an army in Goryeo..."

Zhu Yunying was displeased because he felt that Xia Yuanji was likely to repeat the same old arguments, such as the harm of waging war against nature and the waste of manpower and resources. Zhu Yunying had heard these kinds of things many times before.

This wasn't just the case when the war broke out in Goryeo; such voices would appear from time to time whenever there was a war.

Seeing that the emperor seemed to have misunderstood, Xia Yuanji quickly said, "Your Majesty, I have heard that there is a kind of paper in Goryeo that is tough, smooth, and absorbs ink slightly, making it suitable for writing and painting. It also has a mirror-like surface and can be used as stationery. I believe that Goryeo paper can be used to print banknotes."

Zhu Yunying was taken aback. Although Goryeo seemed like a remote and impoverished place, it shouldn't be assumed that Goryeo had nothing. It wasn't just the Silla female slaves who were charming; Goryeo also had other good things.

For example, Korean paper or Korean ginseng are quite valuable.

Zhu Yunying smiled and nodded, saying, "I understand. I will have someone bring back some Korean paper for you to take a look at."

This gave Xia Yuanji even more confidence; the emperor clearly supported him. This Emperor Yingshi was anything but rigid; aside from his wildly imaginative thoughts, he was primarily a pragmatist.

As long as the emperor deems it useful, as long as Emperor Yingshi deems it useful for governing the country, then Emperor Yingshi will adopt it. This emperor doesn't care about 'benevolence and morality,' as long as the Ming Dynasty lasts forever.

After Xia Yuanji reported on the situation, Zhu Yunying summoned Chang Mao and said, "Uncle, we need to hurry up with things in the South Seas. Although Liaodong is not peaceful right now, we cannot stop dealing with those matters."

Chang Mao smiled, but also seemed a little embarrassed. "I just feel that Liaodong is crowded with people right now, and it's also a place of war and chaos. Even farming is not peaceful."

"No peace?" Zhu Yunying said irritably, "Does anyone still dare to cause trouble in the land of the Duke of Kaiping? But those things also need to be done well. We are going to open up Liaodong, which is no small matter. Uncle has to help us do it well."

Chang Mao hesitated for a moment, then suddenly said, “Your Majesty, relying solely on me to capture some people in the South Seas is probably not enough. Although I have many dealings with Marquis Shenyang and mostly have his men cultivate the land, this is still not sufficient.”

That's the truth. Although some people have been arrested in Southeast Asia to cultivate land, compared to that relatively primitive land, such a small number of people is really not enough. It's far too few.

As for Marquis Shenyang, also known as Chahan, even though he took over Nahachu's forces, he still had many Mongols under his command. These people, who seemed to be used to these harsh environments, actually didn't really want to change their lifestyles.

For many of them, it would indeed be too difficult to let them go back to farming and settle down.

So even though Zhu Yunying arrested people in Southeast Asia, or intentionally encouraged the migration of people from within the Great Wall, or established some military garrisons and settlements, the development in Liaodong was still far from sufficient.

Looking at Zhu Yunying, Chang Mao continued, "The Shenyang Marquis's tribe is originally composed of Mongols, or Han Chinese who were under Mongol rule in earlier years. I dare not let them settle down, as they are, after all, guarding Liaodong, and the Haixi Jurchen and Jianzhou Jurchen have also caused much trouble."

This is actually a very troublesome matter. Don't be fooled by the fact that the Jurchen tribes are currently severely divided and seem to be relatively weak.

However, these Jurchens were truly difficult to manage, and some of their territories were independent of the Ming Dynasty. They seemed unwilling to provoke the Ming, but when they ran out of food, raiding southwards was a perfectly normal occurrence.

Once Liaodong is developed and becomes a land of plenty, the Jurchens might start raiding the borders. Moreover, the Liaodong region currently has many swamps and depressions, making development extremely difficult.

They finally managed to grow some food, only to have it stolen by those savages. This must have been very difficult for the Mongols, who were used to raiding, to adapt to; it wasn't their way of life.

Looking at Zhu Yunying, Chang Mao said earnestly, "Uncle, we know the difficulties involved. But we are the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and we cannot just watch what's happening right under our noses. There are some things we should do now, and you should understand that, Uncle."

Chang Mao nodded and said with certainty, "Your Majesty, I know these things, and I will certainly share your burdens."

This wasn't Chang Mao being obsequious; after all, the person in front of him was the emperor, his nephew, and Chang Mao would support him. It could also be said that the Chang lineage was naturally bound to Zhu Yunying's cause from an early age. From the moment Zhu Yunying was born, the Chang lineage couldn't sever ties with him unless they sought their own demise.

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