Sometimes, Li Shimin felt rather poor.
Why was it that when his son went to Mount Tai for the Fengshan sacrifices, it stirred public outrage, drained the treasury, and forced the state to compete with the people for wealth?
Yet that Song emperor, though endlessly mocked by later generations, had paid for his own Fengshan ceremony from his private treasury.
Thinking further, the introduction of paper money had only happened after that emperor died, when Empress Liu understood affairs of state and experimented with it in Sichuan.
Which meant that during that emperor's reign, the dynasty had first been beaten to the gates of its capital, then forced into tribute payments, then staged a grand sacrificial tour of Mount Tai, and still managed not to ruin state finances.
By contrast, later records showed that Tang's fiscal problems had already begun to surface during the campaigns against Goguryeo.
And by the time of his son's reign, the collapse of the fubing system and the shattering of the empire's undefeated reputation had led the ministers to a clear conclusion.
In plain words:
Without victory, soldiers cannot be rewarded.
Without wealth, armies cannot be fed.
Without reward, no man will fight to the death.
Thus, both the earlier visions from the screen and the court debates of the past half year had focused heavily on fiscal systems. Li Shimin had paid close attention.
Now, hearing later generations calmly list the wealth of the Japanese islands, he tried to calculate how many years of Tang fiscal failures that amount represented.
He could not help clicking his tongue.
"This truly is an island forged of gold and silver."
Fang Xuanling, ever cautious, hesitated slightly upon hearing the emperor's order.
"We still do not know how the Duke of Cao fares in his campaign in Japan. And the methods for handling such wealth are not yet established…"
Before he could finish, Wei Zheng jumped forward in fierce opposition.
"Our Tang acts to relieve the people and punish wrongdoing. We purge the corrupt court of Japan, strike down its violent marauders, and speak for Silla's grievances as well. How could we possibly fail?"
Du Ruhui looked surprised. Normally it was Wei Zheng who argued against the emperor. Yet this time he sided with him. Still, Wei's reasoning held.
Du Ruhui nodded.
"Later generations, when judging the Han fiscal system, repeatedly emphasize the importance of minting authority. If we wish to produce coinage, it is never wrong to stockpile more gold and silver."
The logic was simple enough.
If Emperor Wu of Han had possessed such a mountain of precious metal, would he ever have needed to issue those infamous white deer tokens and draw such criticism?
And considering the long sea route from Japan to Shandong, preparation must begin early. Fang Xuanling therefore agreed, though he sighed with a smile.
"No wonder later generations cling so fiercely to territory."
"We look at Japan and see a narrow land of mountains. Who would imagine it hides an island cast in gold and silver?"
"Just as those distant southern islands, full of venomous insects, turn out to be vast deposits of iron."
"Compared to them, the ancient lands of China seem almost poor in resources."
His tone was light, clearly meant as a joke.
Yet when they thought about the later accounts, the joke felt less amusing.
Glassmaking depended on minerals from salt lakes in Central and Western Asia.
Gold and silver islands lay in Japan.
Champa rice came from Jiaozhou.
Those far southern islands held iron.
Zhuyai offered volcanic ash.
Not to mention the Americas, invisible on their maps, said to hold maize and potatoes capable of sustaining entire populations.
Li Shimin burst into laughter.
"The world is vast. Why should we fear a long road of exploration?"
"We shall strive with all our strength, seeking only that the people of Xia shine for a thousand years."
---
Inside Kunning Palace, Zhu Yuanzhang had barely processed the phrase "throughout the Ming dynasty" before the simple figures that followed struck him down like a hammer.
Until today, he had been the founding emperor of Ming.
The commander who drove out the Mongols and destroyed Yuan.
The only man in history to rise from utter poverty and seize the throne.
The one who restored China after a century of foreign rule.
Looking back, he had seen the ends of Han, Tang, and Song.
Still, it was hard not to hope for a foundation that would last forever.
Yet now, only thirteen years after founding the dynasty, and on the very day of his birthday, he learned that Ming too would perish after a few centuries, no different from the rest.
It felt like when he had first entered Huangjue Monastery as a starving boy, believing at last he had found stability.
He had barely begun imagining a life of devout service to the Buddha when the abbot locked the gate and told everyone that food did not come from prayer, and they must go out into the world.
Since hearing the news, he could only comfort himself in two ways.
Perhaps the screen spoke falsely.
Or perhaps every state rises and falls. None lasts forever.
Yet whenever he thought of the name Nurhaci, and of what the Marquis Huan had told him, another thought refused to quiet down.
If the dynasty must change, then so be it.
But why must it always be barbarians?
The fate of a century could wait.
What lay before him now was simpler.
Was Japan truly that rich?
"Our Ming produces forty thousand taels of gold in total, and that boy says that equals barely a ton and a half… Then that Japanese gold island would yield…"
The emperor was still staring at the numbers on his paper when Empress Ma exhaled softly and spoke.
"Roughly two million taels of gold."
"As for silver, if measured similarly, that would be over sixty million taels."
"And the young man also implied there may be three major silver mines besides."
Two million taels of gold.
Zhu Yuanzhang could calculate well enough to grasp that.
According to the currency ratios he himself had set…
One tael of silver equaled one string of copper cash.
Four strings equaled one tael of gold.
Which meant…
Empress Ma spoke calmly, a hint of amusement in her voice.
"That gold converts to eight million strings of cash.
The silver to over twenty-four million."
"I can count!"
The emperor, who had nearly finished the calculation himself, sounded indignant.
But the numbers still stunned him.
"Twenty-five million strings… Even if we combine the treasury and tax revenues of Ming today, we barely reach a tenth of that mountain of wealth."
"If Japan truly possesses such riches, why do they still turn into pirates and raid our coasts instead of trading peacefully with silver?"
Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang understood the answer.
During the chaos at the end of Yuan, he had personally walked through Henan and Huai regions. Bandits had been everywhere.
Some were driven to desperation.
But many simply robbed because they could.
A land without proper governance, like Japan, naturally produced the latter.
Thus, almost without thinking, a notion formed in his mind.
If a single gold island equaled ten years of Ming revenue… then if it could somehow be brought under Ming control…
But that thought could only remain in his mind.
The Northern Yuan still existed.
Yunnan was not fully pacified.
And the Yuan's disastrous invasion of Japan was warning enough.
He had also heard that the islands themselves were unstable, divided between north and south, constantly at war. That likely explained why Japanese pirates had been fewer in recent years.
How to deal with Japan required careful thought. If mishandled, it might unite the warring factions against Ming instead.
Yet strangely, Zhu Yuanzhang felt a stone lift from his heart.
If the islands were truly so rich, then many strategic options existed.
Even if his own Hongwu reign remained occupied with the north and the southwest…
Once Biao'er, that future Yongle Emperor, took over, surely Japan could be subdued.
Its gold and silver might even build a prosperity surpassing the Kaiyuan era.
Thinking this, Zhu Yuanzhang grinned and praised himself aloud.
"Refusing tribute from the Japanese was indeed the right move."