"It's okay."
Zhao Jun rolled his eyes and said, "I'm talking to you about national affairs, and you're trying to flirt with me?"
This is outrageous.
"Don't worry, Brother Zhao, what do you want to know about Japan? I know everything."
Seeing that he seemed a little unhappy, Song Cai quickly said, "I have a friend named Da Baojian Sanlang, the son of a Japanese merchant. He knows everything Brother Zhao wants to know."
"Da Baojian Sanlang? That's a strange name. Where is he from?"
Zhao Jun was puzzled.
Song Cai smiled and said, "His surname is Daibao, and his name is Kenzaburo. He is from Izumo. Japanese people have names like this. I heard that he is a Japanese noble. Their common people don't even have names."
"Izumo people? Are they far from Ishimi?"
"Brother Zhao, do you know Iwami? It's not far away, right next to Izumo. The family of Daikokusaburo also owns land in Iwami. It's said that both Iwami and Izumo are mountainous areas, and farming is simply not enough to sustain life, so they have to go out to sea to do business."
"Um."
Zhao Jun pondered.
The reason why I asked Song Cai casually was because Song Cai was a good person with a wide circle of friends, and maybe she would be of great use to me in the future.
I didn't expect that he would actually give me a surprise.
Zhao Jun had mentioned the national policy of obtaining minerals from Japan before, but when it was brought up again at the Political Bureau meeting this morning, Lu Yijian and others explained the situation to him in detail.
It is indeed a feasible plan to go to Japan in the name of a company or a business group and buy their Iwami area.
Including economic invasion, cultural invasion, political invasion, etc., it should be relatively easy to control Japan.
However, Zhao Jun only considered the situation in Japan and did not consider the Liao Kingdom.
Although the Song Dynasty occupied the Central Plains and claimed to be the heir of the Tang Dynasty, its status in neighboring countries declined sharply due to its lack of martial virtue.
Although the Liao Dynasty only occupied the Northeast and the Mongolian grasslands, it was regarded as a superior state by the surrounding countries at that time because of its abundant martial virtues.
The result was that at that time, including the Song Dynasty, Western Xia, Japan, Goryeo, the Western Regions, and even the Arabs and Persia all paid tribute to the Liao Dynasty. This is clearly recorded in the "History of Liao".
Therefore, during the Song Dynasty, the Japanese government did not have close contact with the Song Dynasty government. Only the people had close contacts because they admired the Song style more.
If an official envoy is sent to Japan to lease or purchase the Iwami area and start mining, given the situation of the Liao Kingdom, they will definitely intervene and may even directly seize the minerals.
After being persuaded by everyone, Zhao Jun realized that he had thought too much. He only thought about the domestic situation in Japan and did not think about the diplomatic situation of the Song Dynasty.
Therefore, at least before the Song Dynasty defeated the Liao Dynasty, it certainly could not go to Japan to mine in a high-profile manner. It could only do it secretly and let private merchants go to Japan first to test the waters.
It would definitely not be possible to contact Japanese private merchants in an official manner, as it would very likely be discovered by the Liao people in Bianliang.
So Zhao Jun planned to let private merchants from the Song Dynasty communicate with private merchants from Japan.
When I met Song Cai today, I just asked casually.
The result was an unexpected gain.
Thinking of this, he said to Song Cai, "Can you do this task?"
Song Cai was overjoyed and said, "Brother Zhao gave the order."
Zhao Jun thought for a moment and said, "I remember your family is in business."
"Yes, I did do some business."
Song Cai looked embarrassed.
Their family is not particularly wealthy, but they are basically middle class.
The family owned several shops and had assets of about two to three thousand strings of cash, otherwise they would not have been able to support him in his studies and visits to brothels.
But compared to Zhao Jun, it's nothing.
Zhao Jun said, "You can pretend that you are planning to do business with that great health care Saburo and ask him about the basic situation of Iwami and Izumo."
"Is that all?"
Song Cai was puzzled.
"Well, that's all for now."
Zhao Jun thought about it and waved to a captain behind him.
The captain came over, and Zhao Jun took his badge. He then handed it to Song Cai and said, "If you want to find me in the future, you can use this token to go to the Imperial City Office and ask someone to find me. Although the Iwami region is mountainous, it is of great use to me. You should understand the situation well. It would be best if you could accompany that great health care Saburo to Japan next time to conduct a physical investigation of the local situation and then report back to me one by one."
"yes"
Song Cai suppressed the ecstasy in her heart and carefully took the badge.
Of course he knew Zhao Jun's identity.
Last time, he had already exposed his identity as the Imperial City Chief.
Now the news that Zhao Jun, the head of the Imperial City Department, is in charge of the Political System Council has spread throughout Bianliang.
Song Cai naturally knew that Zhao Jun was now like the prime minister.
Of course he understood what it meant to be appreciated by the prime minister.
And most importantly, he knew his own abilities. He was not cut out for studying, otherwise he would not have been able to write such poems, nor would he have taken the exam on the "Book of Filial Piety".
Passing the imperial examination was a great honor for one's ancestors, and to pass the Jinshi examination, even a talented person like Liu Yong had to be 48 years old to pass, let alone him.
So Song Cai felt that now was a good opportunity to get close to someone.
As long as he could complete the task assigned by Zhao Jun, he might be able to achieve great success in the future, so he was naturally ecstatic.
For Zhao Jun, it was difficult to contact Japan in an official capacity. Once the Liao Kingdom discovered something, it would probably be a situation of "my neighbor hoards grain and I hoard guns, my neighbor is my granary."
After working so hard to dig for silver for a long time, the Liao army came and took it all away. It was so painful that I couldn't even cry.
Therefore, official action is not advisable.
Then it’s infiltration among the people.
Private businessmen were gradually allowed to settle in Japan, and then they mined minerals on a small scale through leasing and purchasing, and secretly transported them back to the country.
Although it feels a bit like mold stealing oil, it’s not like we’re taking the Japanese’s things for nothing.
He could conduct trade activities with the locals. After understanding the situation, Song Cai could hire local people to mine, and then transport grain, porcelain, and silk fabrics from the country to Japan in exchange for minerals.
This would be just like the private trade between the Ming Dynasty and Japan, allowing silver to flow into the country in an open and aboveboard manner, alleviating the increasingly acute problem of money shortage.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
