For the Ming Dynasty today, the two most difficult places to attack are not the grasslands and the Western Regions.

But it is Annan and Japan.

Although these two countries are very different from the Ming Dynasty, it was these two small countries that caused heavy losses to the Mongol army.

The two failures in the expedition against Japan did not discourage Kublai Khan, nor did they make him afraid of typhoons and the Japanese.

Kublai Khan was not the type to give up halfway. Having already taken control of the Central Plains, he would never admit defeat easily.

So he reorganized the army to attack Japan, built ships again in various places in Jiangnan, trained the navy on a large scale, collected food and fodder, and launched the third major campaign against Japan.

With the experience of two failures, Kublai Khan believed that his Mongolian cavalry would be able to flatten the entire Japan.

However, something unexpected happened in Annan.

An army of 300,000 invaded Annan and suffered a disastrous defeat!

The Japanese are pirates, which is not favorable to the Mongol cavalry, but Annan is a land country, how can it defeat the Mongol army of 300,000?

What a shame!!!

The following year, he once again assembled an army of 300,000 elite soldiers and launched an expedition to Annan.

Lose again!

Come again!

Kublai Khan was not willing to give in and launched three expeditions to Annan.

Unfortunately, at this time, Kublai Khan was seriously ill, and all kinds of illnesses attacked him and overwhelmed him all at once.

Yourself is the most important thing, as for expanding territory, put it aside for now.

If you let it go, it will be over.

His successor didn't dare to fight either.

The Mongols suffered four consecutive defeats, which seriously damaged their vitality. More than half of their core elite troops died tragically in a foreign country.

Until now, Annan has stationed troops to conquer Japan.

The Mongol Yuan Dynasty had failed to capture Annan twice with its 300,000-strong army, but now the Ming Dynasty's 50,000 elite troops have entered the southern capital of Annan.

Sometimes, when it comes to fighting a war, it’s not just about strength, it’s also about timing.

For example, the current Japan is actually a good opportunity for the Ming Dynasty.

The war between the Northern and Southern Dynasties did end last year.

However, the special system of figurehead monarch and the unique emperor system do not mean that Japan is peaceful today.

Instead, the accumulated legacy problems were getting worse. Both the victorious Emperor Go-Komatsu and the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu were faced with the problem of insufficient rewards.

This is also why there were invasions by Japanese pirates along the coast. To a large extent, the actions of the Japanese pirates towards the Ming Dynasty were condoned.

In many places, it is even believed that those who can seize money from the powerful Ming Dynasty are the real heroes and true warriors.

An army of 500,000 is equivalent to a quarter of the entire Ming Dynasty’s military strength.

The amount of food and fodder consumed every day is an astronomical figure.

Zhu Ying personally inspected the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War, and issued repeated strict orders that the logistics of the army must be kept stable.

At the same time, we must speed up the construction of the sea route from Haikou to Jeju Island.

Because Jeju Island alone cannot supply food for an army of 500,000.

When the army moves, thousands of loads of food and fodder are needed; when the cannon fires, millions of taels of gold are needed.

At this time, grain prices in various parts of the Ming Dynasty showed a rapid upward trend.

Ministry of Revenue lobby.

Zhu Ying said in a deep voice: "No matter what method you use, even if it is by force, you must lower the grain price for me."

"There must be no mistakes in the supply of 500,000 troops, but at the same time, the grain prices in various prefectures and states must not rise beyond the market price."

The Minister of Revenue, Zhao Mian, the left and right assistant ministers, and the various responsible persons looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Your Highness, thanks to the maintenance of the Qunying Chamber of Commerce, the grain prices in the Southern Zhili area are now stable with only minor fluctuations."

"But the provincial Qinglisi was unable to control the market. Landlords and gentry hoarded grain, and most grain merchants closed their doors and refused to sell. This led to a sharp rise in grain prices."

Zhao Mian said with a wry smile.

Although the Ministry of Revenue controlled grain and money, its control over the money and grain was seriously insufficient.

In fact, Zhu Ying was very clear in his mind that under the current situation, neither the Ministry of Revenue in the capital nor the Qinglisi in various provinces had any solution to the current situation.

Market behavior cannot be regulated just because you want to.

If grain merchants refuse to sell and landlords refuse to pay, then the Ministry of Revenue can only sell grain to stabilize grain prices and fill the grain gap.

But now, due to the logistics of the 500,000-strong army, a large amount of food is strictly restricted. Even if some of it is freed up, it will be a drop in the bucket for the current overall market.

Some big grain merchants, landlords, wealthy families, and nobles even united together to continuously buy up the government's affordable grain.

This kind of behavior is difficult to combat.

It is not that the goal can be achieved by limiting the population. Food is purchased secretly at a high price, and some people, after getting the food, resell it and make a profit from the difference.

What is a fool? In the eyes of the fools, the government is in charge anyway. If they have money but no food, they can only make trouble. The law does not hold everyone responsible, so there is nothing to be afraid of.

Some people even hold a lucky mentality, thinking that if others don’t sell, they will sell instead, and they can make a lot of money by selling two or three times.

Once the grain price comes down, we will make a lot of money.

How could ordinary people have imagined these things? It’s nothing more than someone watching and spreading the news and instigating them behind the scenes.

Zhu Ying had already guessed that the driving force behind this was mainly the Shanxi merchants.

The word "Shanxi Merchants" is simple to say but extremely complicated to practice.

That represents the people of an entire province.

The most important thing is the complex situation in Shanxi.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the country was in ruins, the population in the Central Plains was dwindling, and everything needed to be rebuilt.

However, Shanxi, which is known for its natural defenses and mountains and rivers, has not been greatly disturbed.

The people are relatively stable and the population is large in the province.

In the first twenty-five years of the Hongwu period, there had been several immigrations.

This is why, although Zhu Ying had almost issued an order to interrogate the Shanxi merchants in the capital, it seemed that only some superficial actions were taken without causing any fundamental damage.

Immigration from Shanxi was not only the largest in the early Ming Dynasty, but also the largest, longest-lasting and most widely distributed movement in all history.

In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, large-scale immigration and settlement were carried out in order to fully utilize the military farming system.

In terms of culture, it also plays a significant role.

The rule of the Mongols had a huge impact on the entire Central Plains, especially traditional Han culture.

Zhu Yuanzhang wrote in his Fengtian proclamation to attack the Yuan Dynasty: Since ancient times, emperors have ruled the world with the Chinese as their own, controlling the barbarians, and the barbarians as their own, serving the Chinese. I have never heard of the barbarians as their own, controlling the world. …

Drive out the barbarians, restore China, establish rules and regulations, and save the people.

Throughout this century, I have not heard of anyone who has governed the country and brought peace to the people. This has only made you live in fear and switch sides, which is truly pitiful.

After the fall of the Song Dynasty, there was a saying that "there is no more Central Plains after Yashan".

Influenced by a large number of ethnic minorities and the deliberate crackdowns under the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, the Han Dynasty was in decline when Zhu Yuanzhang founded the country. Traditional moral principles, etiquette and ethics were no longer the mainstream culture.

But Shanxi is different.

It has a long and rich traditional Han culture, especially southern Shanxi, which is the hometown of Yao and Shun and can be said to be the birthplace of Han culture.

Confucian culture has penetrated deeply into the hearts of every Shanxi citizen.

The immigrants from Shanxi will surely bring traditional Confucian culture with them and spread it throughout the Ming Dynasty.

Due to the impact of war, large-scale immigration has resulted in the locals becoming a minority and the immigrants becoming the majority.

Combined with the influence of strict laws, relatively backward ethics and morals can be quickly regulated.

Among them, Shanxi immigrants are mainly from the Central Plains and the Huaihe River regions, and there are also a small number of immigrants from other places.

This is the reason why Shanxi merchants have such a huge advantage among the world's chambers of commerce.

With the connection of clan and blood, merchants who go out of Shanxi can rely on their clan relationships and get a great degree of protection during their business trip.

This kind of mutual interaction can quickly reach a consensus on interests.

It is because of this complicated relationship that even if a rumor case occurred, it was only to clear the capital and could not be extended further.

If it reaches too wide a range and has too great an impact, it will shake the foundation of the Ming Dynasty.

The officials of the Ministry of Revenue were naturally aware of this situation, so even the Crown Prince himself was helpless.

Zhu Ying thought for a moment and said in a deep voice: "Since grain merchants are not selling and landlords are hoarding grain, we should order the local Qinglisi to measure the land. Anyone who conceals or fails to report it will be fined or have the grain confiscated."