"Greetings to Her Royal Highness the Princess." When several people heard the announcement from outside, they immediately knelt down to pay their respects.
Princess Jinyi hurried in, raised her hand and called out, then hurriedly asked, "Report the details of your voyage quickly."
The envoy who had led the voyage stepped forward and replied, "Your humble servant has fulfilled his mission. Using the route map provided by the princess, this voyage went smoothly. All the goods we intercepted have already been sold, and the value far exceeded our expectations, exceeding the previously envisioned sum by ten times." He paused and continued, "Your humble servant has returned with a batch of imported goods as instructed by the princess. Please review them later."
The envoy then recounted his experiences on the sea voyage, and mentioned anecdotes from the several countries he had passed through. He singled out one of them in detail: "Princess, while I was stopping at that island, I accidentally pulled out a silver ingot from my purse. The locals seem to say that these silver ingots are everywhere on the island, as plentiful as rocks." After glancing at Princess Jinyi's expression, he swallowed and added, "Perhaps I misheard due to a lack of understanding of the language."
Hearing this, Princess Jinyi recalled Empress Jing'an's mention of the silver mines. She had always wanted to reclaim Ryukyu, claiming it held numerous silver mines that would provide leverage for a future invasion. She also said there were countless silver mines overseas, and that mining and transporting the silver would be a boon. If foreigners seized the mines, flooding the market with silver would be disastrous.
Princess Jinyi, with a serious face, ordered: "Mark the location of this island and send people to the island after I give the order." The envoy responded quickly after hearing it.
After questioning, the envoy withdrew, leaving Xu Lin seated. Princess Jinyi discussed with Xu Lin another voyage and asked him to recruit miners. After Xu Lin left, Princess Jinyi knew the time had come to travel overseas, and she hurried back to complete the half-finished letter, focusing on the silver mine.
Three days later, upon receiving the letter, Empress Jing'an immediately summoned the Emperor. After some discussion, the two decided against allowing Princess Jinyi to sail alone. They then considered Xu Lin, who was in Quanzhou. Although he held two positions, he also had an aide-de-camp to assist him. Firstly, Xu Lin was knowledgeable about sea transport, and secondly, he was a trustworthy figure. Given the urgency of the situation, they ultimately decided to have Xu Lin accompany Princess Jinyi.
By the time the imperial edict arrived, the miners had already deployed fifty men. They had made a lucrative profit last time, and had turned all their earnings over to the imperial treasury. This time, along with the imperial edict, came funding for the voyage and two ships of mirrors. When it was time to set sail, the Jiangning Weaving Bureau's fabrics occupied one ship, while two ships of mirrors, along with a crew, formed a group of four. They had originally planned to add two more ships of porcelain, but time was of the essence, so they had to wait until next time.
Princess Jinyi, high-spirited on the boat, was unaware of the opposition swirling in the court. For centuries, inland sea transportation had affected the livelihoods of nearly a million people. Ever since the return of revenue from sea transport, the Governor-General of the Grand Canal, along with officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Warehouse Department, had joined forces to protest against maritime transport, stating that the previous dynasty had suffered excessive losses and that further maritime transport, a waste of resources and resources, should be discontinued.
Amidst this widespread opposition, the Emperor resisted all pressure and sent Princess Jinyi away. If the large quantity of silver ore could be successfully transported back, the opposition would gradually subside. Otherwise, there would be chaos in the officialdom. If care was not taken, it could also cause unrest among the people.
People frequently visited the Yongyi Marquis's Mansion in Jinling, and even the prefect of Jiangning came to persuade the Marquis to find a way to recall Xu Lin.
After several groups of people arrived, the Marquis' wife fell ill and closed the door to the mansion to refuse visitors. Xu Ting was sent to the canal by imperial decree, commanding 20,000 soldiers to take charge of the canal fighting. In fact, this was to prevent canal officials from inciting the people to cause unrest, and troops were deployed in various places in advance.
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