"Old Cao, you seem to be in a good mood today?"
Gao Qingyun turned around and glanced back.
"Ever since you came back from Xiao Zhu's place, you've been secretly laughing to yourself."
"What's wrong? Did you win the lottery?"
Although Cao Huachun didn't know what lottery meant, he could guess what Gao Qingyun meant.
He smiled and nodded, saying, "Master Gao, you guessed right, I really did encounter some good news."
"I only used a little trick, but I got an old enemy into big trouble."
Upon hearing this, Gao Qingyun shook his head indifferently.
In his view, it was probably just that "Old Cao" had a conflict with some old man or woman, and then he was gossiping about them and talking badly about them behind their backs.
He couldn't be bothered with the mundane affairs of Dahe Village.
"Alright, stop telling me all this."
Cao Huachun didn't want to talk about these things, so he quickly changed the subject:
"Master Gao, let's talk about the opening of the fishing season."
"Tell me, how come our Ming Dynasty's specialties suddenly become so valuable in Europe?"
Although Cao Huachun was busy scheming against Wei Zhongxian, he did not neglect his primary job.
Once they seized the opportunity, they extracted information from Gao Qingyun.
Gao Qingyun chuckled a few times.
"Old Cao, you speak quite politely, so you must watch the news quite a bit. How come you don't even know about Europe?"
Cao Huachun was a little worried that he might have let something slip, and he planned to make up an excuse to cover it up.
Then Gao Qingyun continued, "However, doing business is actually quite troublesome."
Cao Huachun breathed a sigh of relief and quickly asked, "What's the trouble? We're free right now anyway, so just tell me slowly."
Hearing this, Gao Qingyun was actually quite moved.
"Old Cao, do you think I'm blind, so you're just chatting with me on purpose?"
"I didn't expect you to be such a nice person!"
Cao Huachun's expression was strange. He couldn't refute it, but he couldn't admit it either.
So he could only say haphazardly, "Master Gao, please don't say that."
Gao Qingyun smiled and didn't bring up the matter again, instead answering Cao Huachun's question.
"Old Cao, actually, Europeans have always been quite poor."
"But they were quite lucky. Around the end of the 15th century, during the Hongzhi reign of the Ming Dynasty, they sent people out to sea to explore and actually discovered the Americas."
“There are many gold and silver mines in Central and South America, which made Europeans rich instantly, and that’s how they got the silver to buy Chinese porcelain and silk.”
His explanation was much simpler.
After all, explaining the Age of Exploration would require a lengthy discussion.
However, Cao Huachun didn't think too much about it.
His mind was focused on the so-called American continent.
"Is there really that much gold and silver in that Americas continent?"
Gao Qingyun nodded: "Of course! Not to mention ancient times, even now, those silver mining companies in South America are world-famous."
Cao Huachun swallowed.
He knew that Gao Qingyun came from hundreds of years in the future.
He thought to himself, "Good heavens, that silver mine in America, after being mined for three or four hundred years, still has such a high output?"
He sighed as he thought about this.
"Alas, it's a pity that our Great Ming... uh, the historical Great Ming, didn't occupy the Americas."
"Otherwise, with so much gold and silver, the Ming Dynasty certainly wouldn't have collapsed so soon."
Gao Qingyun nodded casually and said:
"That's not surprising. We Chinese have never liked going to sea. We haven't even occupied the South Seas right under our noses, let alone the Americas thousands of miles away."
"However, there's something wrong with what you're saying. There are places around China that produce gold and silver, so it's not necessary to go to the Americas."
Cao Huachun's eyes lit up instantly.
"Master Gao, are you perhaps referring to...?"
In fact, he had no idea where Gao Qingyun was talking about.
But he was afraid that he might let slip that he was unaware of something that would become common knowledge in later generations.
That's why I'm deliberately keeping you in suspense.
As expected, Gao Qingyun had no suspicions.
"That's right, I'm talking about Japan."
"Although Japan's gold and silver mines have not been as long-standing as those in the Americas, they can still be mined for one or two hundred years."
"It's definitely enough for the Ming Dynasty in history."
Cao Huachun silently made a note of it.
Not long after, he made an excuse to write down everything he had found out in the past few days in a small notebook.
Then he handed the book to Zhu Youjian.
After reading it, Zhu Youjian's tired face showed a hint of excitement.
"Good, good, good! As expected, Master Gao is the most reliable person, and you're also great, Cao Daban!"
He praised Cao Huachun a few times, then shook his head and swayed his body:
"Hmm, it seems that after the court wiped out the Donglin Party and Wei Zhongxian, the first thing they did was to open up the sea to raise military funds, and then summon Qin Liangyu to the capital to train troops."
"Then we launched a northern expedition to pacify Liaodong."
"Finally, we will conquer Japan and fill the treasury of our Great Ming with all its gold and silver."
"Excellent! I finally feel more confident!"
Cao Huachun paid no attention to the emperor's plans.
Instead, they noticed the details.
"Your Majesty, why are you saying you want to deal with Wei Zhongxian?"
"Could it be that he's been unreliable these past few days, and hasn't managed to completely discredit the Donglin Party?"
Upon hearing this question, a hint of anger flashed in Zhu Youjian's eyes, and his previously happy expression vanished.
"Hmph, Cao Daban, you are completely unaware of this!"
"Wei Zhongxian was indeed very dedicated to attacking the Donglin Party."
"But besides attacking the Donglin Party, he also has a devout heart!"
Cao Huachun was overjoyed, but deliberately feigned surprise on his face: "What makes you say that?"
Zhu Youjian snorted coldly a few times.
"I have already had Luo Yangxing investigate, and it turns out that Wei Zhongxian really does have connections with Prince Fu!"
"Moreover, he secretly allied himself with the eunuch faction in Japan and even bribed some of the court's generals..."
Zhu Youjian was about to reveal everything that Wei Zhongxian had done.
Then they heard footsteps in the distance.
"Little Zhu, what are you saying over there? What's with this 'Prince Fu' thing?"
It turned out that the two of them were talking too loudly, which attracted Gao Qingyun.
Zhu Youjian quickly suppressed his anger and forced a smile.
"Master Gao, are you sure you heard me right? Where did this 'King of Fortune' come from in our Dahe Village?"
Gao Qingyun didn't think much of it and just smiled and said:
"I know, it must be because you saw Leonardo DiCaprio that you felt compelled to say that, right?"
Zhu Youjian knew that the "Little Li" Gao Qingyun mentioned was Li Zicheng.
But he was still puzzled: "What does this have to do with Li Zicheng?"
Fortunately, Gao Qingyun explained it herself without him having to ask:
"In history, when Li Zicheng led his troops to capture Luoyang, he directly captured and killed the Prince of Fu, and even used him to make a Fu Lu Banquet."
"Tsk tsk, this is really..."
Gao Qingyun shook her head and did not continue.
Cao Huachun was startled.
"Although the Emperor and Prince Fu have a bad relationship, and not long ago when he was seriously ill, some people even suggested that Prince Fu's heir should succeed to the throne."
"But Prince Fu is His Majesty's uncle after all. He would probably be saddened to hear this, wouldn't he?"
He quickly turned around and looked at Zhu Youjian's expression.
To everyone's surprise, Zhu Youjian was not saddened at all; instead, he smiled.
"Haha, I see."
Cao Huachun was taken aback, and then many thoughts flashed through his mind.
"Your Majesty truly lives up to his reputation as a member of the Zhu family."
"The ancestral uncle-nephew relationship in the Zhu family is indeed like this."
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