Chen Mu asked Hai Rui to ask this question, Hai Rui only cares about whether the people eat well and dress warmly, people's energy is limited, and those who have no worries about food and clothing, Hai Rui selectively does not pay attention.

But even so, Chen Mu still asked for a little bit of news.

For example, the average price of cotton cloth in several provinces in the north and south is one and a half times lower, which is a very rough estimate, after all, Hai Rui is not the official Shangshu Wang Guoguang, and he does not have the energy and responsibility to compile the "Wanli Accounting Record".

Hai Rui's comparison method is that the price of cotton cloth in Guangdong is 20% cheaper than in previous years, and half % cheaper in Beizhi, and then it comes out like this, just like playing.

But it is very referential, in Chen Mu's view, this is the result of productivity progress and business competition, and at the same time suspects that Yin Zhengmao's work is not doing well, so the market is saturated?

How can the market be unsaturated Guangdong cotton cloth will be sold domestically, and how will the price of cloth be reduced so much?

Very unconscionable.

In fact, Daming's overseas market is far from saturated, and cotton cloth is exported to Nanyang, India, and Japan, but the price of cloth is also very low, because there are officials.

Gao Gong, the minister of Nanyang who was on the sickbed, believed that in order to fill the vacancy in the overseas market, it was necessary to rely on the production of various provinces, not only on Guangdong alone, and if the textile factories in the provinces did not increase, it would not be possible to weave the cotton that Yin Zhengmao transported back every year by relying solely on the seven surplus textile factories of Zhuwei in Guangdong and dozens of small textile factories in the countryside.

Not at all.

Therefore, in the fifth year of Wanli, he united with the local governments at all levels and the commanders and envoys to issue an order covering all walks of life, ordering the production materials of merchants and military surplus factories to be sold in China at least 20% during sea trade, and the price was up to 90% of the original market price of all kinds of goods.

The price of cotton cloth in Beizhili is normal, because the cotton cloth produced there is generally sold in the country, and the productivity increases the output, and the quality of linen cloth produced in North Korea and Japan is not bad and is easier to be accepted by the people in the relative economic level, so the general cotton cloth is facing the outside of the border and taking the land route, so the price is low.

"It's time for Tinda, you're on your way."

On September 14, Chen Mu summoned Shao Tingda and Shen Sixiao, who had been idle for a long time, to come and hand him a bilingual parchment scroll, saying, "Duke Avar has signed a treaty on the land on the west coast of South Asia to be owned by the Ming Dynasty, and you can go and receive the land." ”

The treaty that Chen Mu held in his hand was like the Ming and Western Nanjing, which were owned by Emperor Wanli, King Philip, Chen Mu, and Alva, and it was just a draft with the signatures, seals, and fingerprints of Chen Mu and Alva, and there were also two different names in the Ming and Western countries.

In the Ming Dynasty, it is called the "Mingxi Asia Trade Treaty", and in Spain, it is called the "Minting Act on the Ming Dynasty", no matter what it is called, the content in it is the same.

Chen Mu handed the treaty to Shao Tingda, raised his hand, two personal soldiers, one pulled down the map, and the other handed over the bamboo cane, he took it and gestured on the map: "Go to Lima in the Viceroyalty of Spain and Peru first, Alva has already sent someone to deliver the news, and the rest of the matter will be measured by the two countries." ”

"It is said that there was a watchtower in the south of the city of Lima, and from the foot of the watchtower measured 1,666 miles along the coast to the south, and a lower boundary monument was erected there. The boundary monuments are 1,000 miles to the east and nearly 6,400 miles to the south, all of which belong to the Ming Dynasty. ”

"Along the way, there are several cities founded by the Westerners, Arica, Santiago, Concepción, Arauco, Valdivia, and they will wait for you to hand over in turn."

Chen Mu said and turned his gaze to Shen Sixiao, and said: "Father Shen Chun, you have also seen how Changsheng County is governed, there are heavy governance missions over there, there are many people, especially the barren desert with language barriers, and the soil area is very vast, you have to show your ability as a jinshi." ”

In fact, Chen Mu said that wasteland and desert, not only Shen Sixiao, no one has this concept.

What is the concept of land that spans more than 6,000 miles?

This is the distance from Haojing to Tianjin.

No matter how much desert there is, Shen Sixiao has no bottom in his heart, he really has no bottom, and asked Chen Mu: "Can the big marshal be reappointed as Haigong, Sixiao will be content to make a move, these thousands of miles of land...... I am really worried about delaying the major affairs of the imperial court. ”

Chen Mu saw that Shen Sixiao retreated as soon as he came up, and said with a smile: "If you can send Haigong to go, why do you want to ask you to fight?" Your role is not just to govern, but also to do other important things. ”

"First of all, although Alva has ordered the local westerners to retreat, many plantation owners along the coast may not be willing to retreat, if they want to stay, they will be driven away by General Shao one by one, remember to attack in an all-round way, break through each one, kill the evil leaders and let others go, don't give them a chance to unite."

This time it was Shao Tingda's turn to make a difficulty, and he said: "The military government just sent four thousand banner troops to the border a few days ago, how many people can be allocated to his subordinates now?" ”

Shao Tingda felt that this matter required a lot of troops, and in the face of a coastline of 6,600 miles, even if the flag army of the entire Oriental Military Mansion was not enough, he beat the drum in his heart like Shen Sixiao.

This is also a tricky problem in front of Chen Mu, he smiled helplessly, and said: "I can only give you 1,000 Beiyang infantry and 400 all kinds of military craftsmen, but don't worry, I will transfer 500 Jurchen soldiers and 2,000 Japanese soldiers from Jincheng to help you suppress various places, and the Japanese soldiers may go a little later, so you have to wait for them to learn to speak." ”

"In addition to Arica, the rest of the cities are all big cities, there are more Westerners nearby, in the contract they will leave in batches, it will take a long time, you are now handing over Arica, and then measuring the land, within a year, there will be Westerners for the Ming Dynasty to continue to govern other places."

Hearing that there was only one place, both civil and military let out a long sigh, if the coastline of 6,600 miles can scare people to death as soon as they come up, and there are not enough people to take care of it?

Chen Mu smiled when he saw the relieved appearance of the two of them, and said: "I won't tease you, governing the lands is only a long-term goal, and for a while and a half, it will mainly be stationed in Arica, and build a cannon temple, a county office, and a cannon foundry, where there is an official road leading directly to Potosí to the east, and the garrison will escort silver, and buy iron ore from Peru to mint coins for the western country." ”

"But this is also a hard work, helping them mint two million taels of silver a year, and we can earn back our military salary in Asia, no more."

"There are a lot of copper mines in the local area, and there are some small silver mines and lead mines, you have to dig them as soon as possible, and if you encounter the western miners who are unwilling to let go, you will drive them away, and the most important thing is not these."

"There is a big task related to the fortune of the country, and you must do this well." Chen Mu mysteriously approached the two of them and whispered: "When the place is stable, you will take advantage of the measurement to make dozens of teams of gunpowder craftsmen, escorted by soldiers, and go deep into the desert from all directions to find saltpeter." ”