Although China is vast and rich in resources, many open-pit gold, silver, copper and iron mines have been almost mined out since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
Even though iron coins were still being mined continuously in the Song Dynasty, it still could not alleviate the reality of the money shortage, so that by the time of Emperor Huizong, iron coins had become the mainstream.
So to sum up, the commerce and handicraft manufacturing industries in the Song Dynasty were actually very developed, and what they lacked was money.
Once a large amount of funds flow in, it will greatly alleviate the pressure of spending money and make the economy more developed.
The current situation in the Song Dynasty was that there had been an agricultural revolution and it could support so many people.
It’s just that countless landlords annexed too much land, leaving many landless farmers with no land to farm, and a large number of migrant population appeared.
Logically speaking, this situation is exactly what the Industrial Revolution requires.
But the problem is that commodities cannot be circulated, and the total economic volume is so small that even if landless farmers flow into cities on a large scale to engage in handicraft manufacturing, they still have no food to eat.
To put it simply, the current business scale is a bit small, and it can only continue to waste resources internally, causing the farmers' lives to become increasingly miserable and eventually leading to an uprising.
Therefore, Zhao Jun believes that it is necessary to expand the business plate and increase the business cake.
The key to all this is money!
Money is as important in business as food is in agriculture!
The Song Dynasty was short of money, so it had to rob.
There happened to be a piece of fat meat nearby, which would become the main source of silver and foreign exchange for the coastal areas of Jiangnan during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
However, the Ming and Qing dynasties mostly closed their seas and isolated the country from the outside world, and most of the silver and foreign exchange were earned by the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River.
Therefore, it is better to benefit the current Song Dynasty than to benefit those bad people along the Jiangnan coast during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
At least the Song Dynasty has always maintained an open attitude and expanded its business to Europe.
As long as we can continue to maintain such productivity and capital inflow, sooner or later all the wealth in the world will be concentrated in the Song Dynasty, allowing the Song Dynasty to maintain its strong national strength!
But after Zhao Jun finished speaking, a look of embarrassment appeared on the faces of everyone present.
Zhao Zhen stammered, "Do you mean to send troops to Japan to rob their gold, silver, and copper mines?"
"What else?"
Zhao Jun asked in confusion, "Hasn't what I said been clear enough?"
Song Shou, who had once served as the Junior Minister of Rites, could only say awkwardly, "Japan has been on good terms with us for many years. If we send troops to attack, it would be a violation of morality."
"What kind of shit is morally dishonest?"
Zhao Jun was displeased at the time and said, "I hate you corrupt scholars the most. The interests of the country always take precedence over personal morality. Don't you understand that there is no such thing as righteous war in the Spring and Autumn Period?"
"Forehead"
Everyone felt even more embarrassed, and even Zhao Zhen's expression looked a little awkward.
Seeing this, Zhao Jun frowned.
Could there be something behind this?
He couldn't help but start to recall carefully. He had not read "History of Song Dynasty" much, but he had heard people talk about it when he was studying "History of Tang Dynasty".
There are a lot of records of official exchanges between the Tang Dynasty and Japan in the "History of Tang Dynasty", but there is almost no such content in the "History of Song Dynasty".
Is it because Japan was closed to the outside world at that time and stopped communicating with the Song Dynasty?
It doesn't make sense. He remembers that during the Song Dynasty, there were a large number of Japanese people coming to the Song Dynasty to do business.
"What's going on? We're discussing a major national development issue right now, so why are you all being so fussy?"
Zhao Jun was a little impatient.
Everyone looked at each other, and finally Song Shou told him the reason.
It turns out that the Song Dynasty’s international situation was not very good at this time.
The Liao Kingdom and Western Xia in the north, Tubo in the west, Dali and Yue Dynasty in the southwest, and Goryeo in the northeast all have relatively tense relations with the Song Dynasty.
Dali was still okay, but the Liao Dynasty, Western Xia, Tubo, and Yue Dynasty were different. Both sides had troops stationed on the border.
Goryeo initially had a good relationship with the Song Dynasty, but it could not withstand the Liao Kingdom next to it. After the Battle of Chanzhou, the Liao Kingdom seemed to have been defeated, but it had won both face and money, which led to the further weakening of the Song Dynasty's influence. Eventually, Goryeo and the Song Dynasty broke off diplomatic relations.
Under such circumstances, the only countries that are still barely maintaining relations with the Song Dynasty are Japan and the Dali Kingdom.
Even Japan has been under pressure from the Liao Kingdom in recent years and has had no official exchanges with the Song Dynasty, only private trade exchanges. This is why "History of the Song Dynasty" does not record any official exchanges between the Song Dynasty and Japan.
If the Song Dynasty sent troops to attack Japan again, its situation would be even worse.
They were originally surrounded on all sides, and their previous enemies were all on land. If they failed to defeat Japan, Japan would break off diplomatic relations with them and harass the coastal areas in the south of the Song Dynasty from the sea, which would be a disaster for the Song Dynasty.
"I'm really convinced."
After listening to Song Shou's explanation, Zhao Jun looked at this group of idiots, clenched his fists, and almost died of anger.
This is not the Japan of later generations, but the Japan of the Song Dynasty.
Zhao Jun had studied "World History" and knew that Japan was now in the Heian period. Although it had not fallen to the point of becoming a primitive tribe, it was still a world apart from the Song Dynasty in terms of national strength, productivity and power.
Simply put, Japan at that time can be understood as a smaller version of the late Tang Dynasty. Whether it was the system, culture, clothing, or architecture, they all imitated the Tang Dynasty. There were also many warlords and rebellions.
Even at that time, Japan had not yet been integrated into one nation, and among the four islands, there were still discussions of indigenous peoples, conquerors, and even colonists.
Some places, such as Honshu and Kyushu, are closer to China and have learned advanced culture, so their level of civilization is higher. Some places, such as Hokkaido and Shikoku, are much less civilized. Each local faction is basically a city or a country, each governing its own territory.
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