"Hmm." Zhao Hao nodded, put his hands behind his back and thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "I was only planning to occupy a port on Jeju Island and do some trade first, but this guy did this and it whetted my appetite. I want it all."

"Then take them all." Wang Rulong smiled.

"Aren't you afraid of dying of stuffiness?" Zhao Hao rolled his eyes at him.

It is impossible to swallow up Jeju Island in one bite.

Although Zhao Hao would never admit that the Jiangnan Group was following the old path of European overseas colonization, he insisted that he was maintaining the Tianxia system with the Ming Dynasty as the core, helping all the vassal states in the Chinese civilization circle to resist the invasion of evil Western forces, and ultimately allowing all the vassal states to bathe in the glory of the Celestial Empire and reconstruct a more closely connected Greater China civilization circle!

However, we can still critically absorb the lessons learned from the colonialism of the Western powers. This way, when we reconstruct our own Tianxia system, we can avoid detours and achieve more quickly, efficiently and economically!

The most taboo thing in overseas colonization is to be greedy and want everything. If you do not always pay attention to the input-output ratio, it will often lead to a surge in occupation costs, which will in turn drag down the empire itself.

Therefore, when occupying any piece of land, we must carefully evaluate whether the input and return are balanced. Only areas with low input and high return can be occupied. If the input and return are similar, we must find ways to reduce costs, such as adopting a more economical ruling method.

In this regard, there are too many examples of success and failure of various colonial countries, and Master Zhao has to learn from them - especially don't try to occupy a piece of land easily!

Even if it is a place like Tamra Island that is extremely obedient to the Ming Dynasty, once it is taken over, even if there is no rebellion, the cost of maintaining internal rule is extremely high. The bureaucratic system, border defense, public security, disaster relief, people's livelihood and other expenses will also turn it into a black hole that devours the group's profits.

Moreover, the land of Jeju Island is barren, and there are no conditions for large-scale immigration, and even long-term benefits cannot be guaranteed.

So what benefits can Tamra Island bring to Jiangnan Group?

First of all, it is located in the heart of the shipping route between China, North Korea and Japan. Controlling it basically controls the maritime trade of the three countries. This is also the fundamental reason why Zhao Hao wants to attack Jeju Island - Sino-Japanese trade is one of the three pillars of Jiangnan's overseas trade system in the future. Its high profits are absolutely in the hands of Jiangnan Group.

There is no way, because Japan is so rich in gold and silver...

Secondly, Jeju Island is a place for raising horses, which is exactly what the Ming Dynasty lacks. It has extremely high strategic value in dealing with the threat of the northern Tartars in the future. Moreover, stallions can be introduced and good draft horses can be bred here to provide transportation capacity guarantee for future group landing operations.

Furthermore, the high-quality pastures in Halla Mountain can also be used to raise cattle and sheep on a large scale, providing the Jiangnan Group's employees with scarce animal protein. In the future, if tinplate technology is mastered, meat cans can be made to ensure the food supply of the expedition fleet... This is also very important, because cattle in the Ming Dynasty were not allowed to be killed casually, although Mr. Zhao's table never ran out of beef. But large-scale beef cattle breeding in the local area is purely asking for trouble.

In addition, Jeju's citrus fruits are very good, and canned tangerines can prevent the crew from getting septicemia. However, Ming sailors have rich experience in this area, and they can even grow bean sprouts on board, so canned tangerines are not urgently needed.

Oh, yes, the island has beautiful scenery and hot springs. We can build a few sanatoriums for the group and let the employees and security team members come and see the female divers taking a bath...

If you think about it carefully, all the above benefits can be enjoyed without directly occupying the land. So why bother?

So it is better to control indirectly, and it is more comfortable to be the emperor. In this way, the Jiangnan Group only needs to focus on building a key city, making it a transit point for Northeast Asian maritime trade, a military base for fighting against Japanese pirates, and a model for promoting the good life of the Ming Dynasty.

As for the area outside this city, it is better for the Li Dynasty to rule. In this way, all the burdens will be borne by the Li Dynasty officials, and all the conflicts will be on the Li Dynasty side. The Jiangnan Group will not be involved in the troublesome things, and the cost of governance will naturally be greatly reduced.

In this way, the cost-benefit ratio will be greatly improved, and Jeju Island will become a strong cornerstone of Gangnam Group instead of a burden on the group.

Since there is no plan to occupy Jeju Island directly, there is no need to go to the distant place and wade into the muddy water of Jeju City.

It would be wiser to open a port in Dajing County, avoid the bloody political entanglements of the Joseon Dynasty, and quietly do one's own thing.

But the name Dajing County is too ugly, we have to change it later!

~~

At this time, Park Sung-sung returned to the Wuwei ship, and the three stopped talking. Zhao Hao was not in a hurry to tell Park Sung-sung about his decision. He was still very interested in listening to Park Sung-sung's introduction of the political struggles of the Joseon Dynasty and the strength of the island's defenses... Although Zhao Hao already knew about these situations, he was not as detailed as a senior official of the Joseon Dynasty and the highest military commander in the area.

However, Zhao Hao had no interest in the foul-smelling court struggles of the Li Dynasty. Anyway, no matter who came to power, they were all dogs of the Ming Dynasty. What difference did it make whether they were black dogs or white dogs?

Park Sung-sung keenly noticed that Mr. Zhao was a little impatient, so he obediently reduced his proactive speaking and focused on answering questions instead.

The Wuwei ship was sailing under the beautiful sunset. Zhao Hao looked northward, wanting to see the mainland of North Korea, but he could see nothing.

"Can't you see the other side from here?" Zhao Hao asked indifferently.

"Jamra Island is two hundred miles away from the mainland, so it is definitely invisible." Park Sung-sung apologized with a smile.

"It's really far away." Zhao Hao asked, "Isn't the connection with the mainland very close?"

"My lord, you are wise." Park Sung-sung smiled bitterly and replied, "Our dynasty values ​​the north over the south, and Jeolla Province has always been neglected, not to mention our isolated island. If it weren't for the fact that this place is located at the strategic point of the Three Kingdoms, it would be quite a drawback, and the nobles would probably not have remembered that there is such a ghost place."

"What would happen if the yangban leaders in Seoul knew that you had embezzled the lion's share?" Zhao Hao said with a teasing smile.

"He will definitely be furious." Park Sung-seok said in a relaxed manner. The problem that had been weighing on his mind was no longer a problem. He held his hands to his heart and said flatteringly, "I am willing to give all my money to you, young master, to make up for my previous sins."

"Yes, that's what I should do." Zhao Hao nodded, thinking that now he had a source of money for building the port and city in the future.

Now he finally found this guy a little pleasing to the eye. He smiled and said, "Try to get the silver back first. I'll have other uses for it later."

"This is not difficult. I can secretly take a boat to Tianjin and bring back the silver. The round trip will take at most half a month." Park Chengxing said hurriedly, "I can give the silver to you at the beginning of next month."

"Well, no rush." ​​Master Zhao nodded with a smile.

~~

After leaving Jeju City, the Wuwei ship continued to head east and arrived at Jocheonpo at dusk.

Park Sung-sung informed Zhao Hao that there were nine ports with good conditions on Tamra Island, and the Joseon Dynasty set up nine towns in these nine ports. This Jocheonpo was one of them. Because it was not far to the east of Jeju City and even closer to the mainland, there were post stations and shipyards here, and it was one of the more prosperous ports on the island.

He warmly invited Master Zhao to stay at Chaotianpu tonight and asked him to taste the best of the official slaves.

After thinking for a while, a decent boy like Mr. Zhao finally refused. He was worried about the unsanitary conditions... Don't think too much, he was afraid of lice and fleas. Most of the accommodations in this era were substandard, and it was more hygienic to sleep on the security team's boat.

Right, Sister Qiaoqiao?

Seeing that the young master was strict with himself, Park Sung-seong couldn't help but respect him more.

The fleet continued to sail eastward, and finally reached the end of the island the next day, then turned south and arrived at Chengshan at noon.

Chengshan Mountain is as its name suggests, like a tall castle protruding from the coastline. It forms a pair of natural gateways with Niu Island on the sea, guarding the harbor below the mountain and forming a perfect shelter. Moreover, setting up artillery batteries on Chengshan Mountain and Niu Island is enough to make the entire port impregnable, making it a natural military port.

This is also the easternmost point of the entire Jeju Island. Four hundred miles across the sea is Japan's Hirado Domain.

As expected, there were beacons and smoke towers on Chengshan and Niudao. Park Chengxing told Zhao Hao that there was a town and a water battle station under Chengshan, as well as several warships, all of which were used to monitor the Japanese pirates on the three islands opposite.

He told Zhao Hao somewhat embarrassedly that because the conditions of the seaport here were so excellent and it was closest to Hirado Domain but far away from Jeju City, the merchants chose it as a smuggling port. On the first and fifteenth day of every month, Japanese ships would sail into Seongsanpo to trade with Korean merchants and use the gold and silver they carried to purchase goods smuggled from the Ming Dynasty.

"Those Japanese lack everything except money." Park Chengxing said in amazement, "I heard that their island produces gold and silver. Many daimyo have mines at home. They fight all the time, and the consumption of materials is huge. They are so poor that they only have money left. They don't care what goods they have, they want them all. Boss Jin and his men can make three or four times the profit from selling goods every time. Then they can exchange the gold and silver from Japan for Ming copper coins and make twice as much again. It's just like robbing money."

Otherwise, he would not have been able to save up 300,000 taels of silver in overseas deposits.

Park was talking with saliva flying, but Zhao Hao was staring at the extinct volcano that had risen from the sea, as if he was deeply shocked by the wonders of nature.

Park Sung-seong was quite proud when he saw this. He felt that this was the most spectacular place in the entire Jeonra Island, so he asked Zhao Hao enthusiastically if he was interested in climbing the mountain.

He thought that Mr. Zhao would be too lazy to get off the boat, but Zhao Hao became interested and nodded, saying, "Let's go and take a look."

The fleet slowly sailed into the long harbor.

Chengshan and the winding ridge reefs below the mountain form a long arm extending into the sea... Chengshan is the elbow of this arm.

Jeonra Island and the Seongsan Mountains form an excellent seaport, Seongsanpo, which is two kilometers long and one kilometer wide.

Zhao Hao exchanged glances with the two King Jins beside him, and all three of them showed satisfied expressions.

This place can serve as the home port base for the future anti-Japanese fleet.

ps. Only two chapters today.