As the Ming banknotes gradually turned into waste paper, silver became the most important currency in circulation in the Ming Dynasty, and the value of silver ore became increasingly prominent. Silver deposits have been discovered in Chaozhou, Huizhou, Shaoguan and Guangzhou in Guangdong, and local villagers are naturally reluctant to dig for it.

It's just that this silver mine is the same as the pearl in Tokyo Bay, and this "under the whole world, it is not the king's land". Even if a silver mine is found under your family's house, it will also belong to the Ming Dynasty and belong to their Zhu family.

At other times, the imperial court would turn a blind eye to the theft of silver mines. But the biggest problem of the Ming Dynasty at the moment is not Mongolia in the north, nor the Japanese in the southeast, let alone the endless peasant uprisings, but the financial problems of the imperial court.

Some officials who like political speculation also speculate on their intentions, hoping to attract the attention of the saints and thus get promoted by rockets. The theft of this silver mine is undoubtedly a point of force.

This proposal, which concerns the interests of the Zhu family, was naturally approved by Jiajing. Even if the official silver mining is inefficient, it is better than being robbed by the people, so that the provinces are issued with a seal on the silver mines.

In the same way, the imperial court issued an edict to the Guangdong Provincial Envoy Department, allowing local governments to severely crack down on the phenomenon of smuggling of silver mines and seize the related silver mines.

"If you are foolish, you are well-informed! Yes, after the old man verifies that it is correct, he will officially send the official document to all the prefectures and seal up all the silver mines in the territory! Wang Bai seriously dropped a son, and then raised his head and replied.

Lin Haoran pinched a sunspot and did not rush to fall, but looked up at Wang Bai and said, "Wang Gong, who do you think are the people who steal silver mines?" Why would they risk being beheaded? ”

"Ruoyu, you have something to say!" Wang Bai's gaze moved away from the chessboard and asked thoughtfully.

With the contact of these days, he found that this Lin Wenkui's vision was very wide, and there was great wisdom hidden in his chest, and he had already faintly seen the shadow of Chu Xiang in him. Every time I communicate with him, although it is not much, it is thought-provoking.

Lin Haoran dropped a black chess piece in the center, so that the decline of the sunspot immediately changed greatly, and then he raised his head and said seriously: "As far as this official knows, many mine owners in Guangdong are just ordinary traders, and they have exhausted their wealth to deal with the government, which has caused the local government to turn a blind eye, or only to help the officials hide from the officials. The miners are mostly landless tenants, and the income from the silver mine is related to his livelihood, but also to the food and clothing of the whole family. ”

"Ruoyu, are you worried that this ban will force the mine owners to rebel with the miners?" Wang Bai ignored the changes in the situation on the chessboard and asked seriously.

Lin Haoran thought to himself: What kind of worry is this, but it will definitely rebel.

Although the specific timing is not clear, the storm of the imperial court's closure of mines has caused miners in various places to rise up one after another, and the whole of Guangdong has also fallen into turmoil for many years.

"Flower Waist Bee" Wu Duan and Li Yayuan both have tens of thousands of subordinates, which brought a catastrophe to the entire Guangdong people, and indirectly promoted the strength of the thief Zhang Lian to be greatly enhanced.

There were just some words, but he couldn't say them clearly, he nodded lightly and said, "Yes! Once the silver mine is closed, the silver mine of the imperial court will be saved, but I am afraid that something big will happen! If these silver mines existed, those landless people still had hope of survival, but the closure of the mines really cut off their way of life all at once. ”

It has been nearly 200 years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and similar to previous dynasties, the biggest problem is still the issue of land annexation. A large amount of land was concentrated in the hands of the squires, and more and more people joined the ranks of the proletarians, and the result of keeping to themselves could be starvation to death.

The emergence of this silver mine actually alleviated this contradiction and gave some proletarians hope to live. But once the silver mines were closed, that hope was undoubtedly dashed.

Even if some people want to go back and honestly become tenants, not to mention whether those landlords still want such dangerous elements with "bad deeds", they will not survive the autumn harvest without a grain store.

Lin Haoran is well aware of the harmfulness of this ban, whether it is for his own future or to avoid Guangdong from falling into a period of turmoil for several years, he has a responsibility to do something to prevent this catastrophe from happening.

Wang Bai picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea, but shook his head bitterly and said: "The official document of the imperial court has come down, if you don't follow it, you and I will definitely not be able to hold it!" Unless you can get the court to change its mind, this ban will have to be enforced honestly! ”

This is the truth, although the two of them are already big people who can cover half the sky with their hands in the current officialdom in Guangdong.

It's just that the personnel power of the Ming officials has always been firmly in the hands of the emperor and the officials, once they really dare to do such a rebellious thing, the officials will definitely jump out and stab them, so as to take the throne through their corpses.

Lin Haoran sighed lightly, looked at the butterfly that happened to land on the edge of the chessboard and flapped its wings, raised his head and asked, "Fantai, can you drag it out?" ”

The advantage of being a local snake is that the decrees of the imperial court have to be obeyed, but there are many "workarounds", and the word "drag" is one of the usual methods used by local officials.

"If there is a way to solve it?" Wang Bai did not refuse, but asked seriously.

Lin Haoran pursed his lips bitterly, looked up at the southeast and said, "Maybe there is, maybe not!" But once this ban is implemented now, I'm afraid the whole of Guangdong will be in chaos! ”

Although Wang Bai felt that he was alarmist, he admitted that he did have some truth, and dropped a chess piece and said: "The old man has never understood why these Francis people are so obsessed with spices? For the spices, they came across the ocean! ”

"It's not their obsession, it's their aristocratic obsession?" Lin Haoran's gaze refocused on the chessboard, and he replied casually after thinking about a sunspot.

Wang Bai was very interested in this topic, frowned and asked seriously, "Could it be that they are also like you and me, they are looking for spices for the king of Franc Ji?" ”

"It's not! They are for themselves, for their wealth! Lin Haoran dropped the sunspot in his hand, shook his head and explained: "Their nobles all believe in a god called God, and this god left a book called the Bible, which clearly states that everything with fragrance is sacred. Therefore, these nobles who believed in God were extremely sought after for things that could emit fragrance, and they were also sacrifices for their religion. As far as I know from Simon, the nobility of their country buys more than a million taels of silver every year for spices alone! ”

"What? One million taels! Wang Bai was thinking about it, but he was really taken aback when he heard this astronomical figure, and his eyes widened.

Lin Haoran took a sip of tea, and then continued: "This million taels is not that they only have this little financial resources, but because the spices they brought back are not enough, and they can't satisfy all the nobles. Just like we have been looking for ambergris, if someone brings a hundred catties, our saint will also take out this money to buy it! ”

The mystery in Wang Bai's heart has been solved, and he dropped the chess pieces in his hand and said: "I understand, no wonder they took the risk to come, it turned out that they were all spices, for money!" Hey? Why don't we have spices? ”

"Who's to say no, isn't it?" Lin Haoran smiled indifferently and took out something from the teacup proudly.