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After learning about the difficulties Wang Ji encountered in buying grain, Han Qing couldn't help but wonder: "How did Wang Aiqing buy back six million stones of grain and earn back more gold and silver for the court?"

Wang Ji replied truthfully: "I am bypassing the grain purchased from private individuals and porcelain sold by the Goryeo court and the Japanese court through overseas Chinese businessmen..."

turn out to be--

Not only does China have a "sea ban", but Japan also has it.

Since the Fujiwara family took control of the regime, they have issued a "country lockdown order" to implement a maritime ban. The severance of government exchanges between Song and Japan once caused great trouble to Chinese businessmen.

It is also in this context that the merchants of the Song Dynasty took on the burden of Sino-Japanese communication.

The reason is that Japan's self-blocking is mainly aimed at Japanese citizens, and Song merchants are not prohibited from going to Japan, but there are many restrictions.

For example, the same caravan can only do business with Japan once in three years.

For example, when doing business, you cannot trade with ordinary people.

The reason for such regulations is mainly because the Japanese upper class has huge demand for high-end consumer goods.

Faced with such a situation, Chinese businessmen evaded the ban on the pretext of "experience a typhoon on the way and being blown to Japan". They went from doing business a year to twice a year, three times a year, and even more than a dozen times.

Frequent trade brings huge benefits. For example, the purchase price of Japanese pearls is 70 guan per piece, and when it is sold to the Song Dynasty, it becomes 50,000 guan, and the profit is hundreds of times.

Because Song Dynasty culture is in the leading position in this era, Song Dynasty books are very popular among Asian countries.

However, the Emperor of the Zhao family was not as enlightened as the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Song Zhezong stipulated that books were forbidden items and that they would be sentenced to two years in prison when traded to foreign countries.

The order immediately flourished business, and the ban meant that smuggling could bring huge profits.

Therefore, books on education, philosophy, music, calligraphy, painting, technology and other aspects frequently flowed into Japan, such as the rubbing of the "Sixteen Arhats Picture", which was brought back to China by Japanese monks at this time.

The active trade with Japan also promoted the craze for Chinese to live in Japan. Hakata, Kyushu, Seto Port, Echizen, and other places began to build residences and Buddhist temples after the arrival of Song merchants, using this as a base to carry out trade.

These Chinese overseas communities have gradually become large and continuous, which locals call "Tangfang".

Not only were there merchants gathered there, but there were also craftsmen who followed the fleet to make a living, and even fugitives.

Many of the overseas Chinese living there formed a transnational marriage and married married and adopted children in the local area. For example, the father of the Liangshi of the Song Dynasty and the mother of the Japanese noble princess was from the Song Dynasty.

As a result, overseas Chinese have formed a considerable force in Japan, especially in the field of trade. Not only are they large in number, they also operate a wide variety of goods and a huge scale, including not only gold, silver, copper and iron, but also tea, toys, umbrellas and other daily necessities, some of which have developed into the ranks of grain merchants.

Although these maritime merchants are not as large as in Japan, many of them have reached the ranks of grain merchants.

Seeing that the right path was not working, Wang Ji contacted maritime merchants in Japan and Goryeo to sell Chinese porcelain and buy food through them.

A large part of the porcelain brought by Wang Ji this time is a fine official kiln. So in Japan and Goryeo, they are definitely gun-breaking. How can the maritime merchants who focus on interests not be furious?

Furthermore, who said that businessmen have no patriotism? Many businessmen heard that Chinese people could not even eat food, and were willing to go around buying grain for the court if they didn’t want profits.

Therefore, with the efforts of a huge maritime business group, Wang Ji bought six million stones of grain on behalf of the court through smuggling, and earned 1.2 million taels of gold and 5.8 million taels of silver for the court.

After listening to Wang Ji talk about all the stories of his overseas trade, Han Qing was also filled with emotion.

After sighing, Han Qing said, "Let's go back and report to the merchants who have made contributions this time. I will ask the Ministry of Personnel to draft a charter and promote them."

When Wang Ji heard this, he quickly said, "I thank the king for his grace on behalf of those patriotic merchants."

"What they deserve."

Han Qing said again: "You said the court prohibited the sale of books, calligraphy and paintings to Goryeo and Japan?"

Wang Ji said: "That's true. Zhezong issued a strict order once he issued this time, and this order has not been terminated until now."

Han Qing shook his head and said, "Cultural needs communication, and it is difficult to develop by being self-confidence."

Seeing that Han Qing intends to open up cultural dissemination, Wang Ji was happy and immediately advised: "The king doesn't know that Goryeo and Japanese dignitaries love Chinese culture very much. They highly value Chinese books, calligraphy and paintings. Often, an ancient book, some famous calligraphy and paintings can be sold in Goryeo Japan for tens of thousands of gold."

When Han Qing heard this, he said, "There are so many ancient books and famous calligraphy and paintings. Can you see if you can go to Goryeo, exchange some food in Japan, and come back with gold and silver."

Han Qing does have a large number of ancient books and famous calligraphy and paintings.

Speaking of which, this matter is also due to Zhao Ji.

Zhao Ji, the emperor's collection of the most famous artist in history, is so rich that he has countless antique calligraphy and paintings.

In addition, during the Jingkang crisis, Wanyan Zonghan's younger brother Wanyan Zongxian also came.

Unlike other Jin people, Wanyan Zongxian was not good at military combat, but was good at literature and politics, especially his research on the court's etiquette system.

The etiquette system of the Jin Dynasty's court basically imitated the old system of the Liao Dynasty.

In this regard, Wanyan Zongxian once said, "There are Liao and Song dynasties today. We should go from ancient times to the past, adapt to the times and become a law for a generation. Why is it that the Liao people's system nearby?"

Wanyan Zongxian's opinion resonated with Wanyan Xiyin.

Wanyan Xiyin said: "And I am very committed to me."

With the help of Wanyan Xiyin, Wanyan Zongxian created the etiquette system of the Jin Dynasty.

Wanyan Zongxian was not only proficient in Khitan literature, but also proficient in Chinese characters. His purpose of following Wanyan Zonghan to attack the Song Dynasty was to widely collect original cultural classics.

Therefore, after the city of Bianliang was destroyed, other Jin people fought for property, but he was only interested in books and calligraphy and paintings of famous people.

Under the leadership of Wanyan Zongxian, all the books and famous calligraphy and paintings in the city of Bianliang in Tokyo were collected, with a total of 1,050 ox carts.

Later, Han Qing intervened, and all the books and famous calligraphy and paintings of these thousand,050 ox carts were sent into his own library.

Of course, Han Qing cannot sell those books to Japan and Goryeo, but he can sell some replicas to Japan and Goryeo.

As for famous calligraphy and paintings, they are national treasures in the eyes of many people, but in Han Qing's eyes, they are definitely not as precious as food and gold and silver. Without these famous calligraphy and paintings, Han Qing would have only a little regret at most, but if there were no food and gold and silver, how would Han Qing develop and complete the unification?

The key point is that Han Qing has already had the idea of ​​destroying Japan and Goryeo in the future.

"Let you keep it for a while. I will get back all the capital and profit sooner or later!"

……
Chapter completed!