Chapter 1043

“Your Majesty, what should we do now?”

Wang Xuan was also scratching his head over this problem and couldn’t help but ask for Xiao Ming’s thoughts.

“As expected, it’s easy to conquer an empire, but difficult to rule it.” Xiao Ming shook his head helplessly.

He once thought that defeating a country would solve all problems and he could then exploit that country to his heart’s content. But now, the facts told him that everyone in this world had their own ideas, and this was something he could not change.

Once these defeated people had their own ideas, they would not play by his rules. This was the case with Japan now.

“Yamada Nobunaga is very clever, but cleverness can always be his undoing. He is terribly mistaken in thinking that I would choose one of the two, him or his confidants.”

Xiao Ming walked to the door with his hands behind his back, watching the clouds roll by in the sky. He continued, “How is the secret guards’ infiltration of Japan progressing?”

“Reporting to Your Majesty, we have now established our own intelligence agencies in all the important cities in Japan. The developments in Japan can be reported back at any time. We also have informants around other daimyos…” Wang Xuan reported his achievements in Japan one by one.

Xiao Ming listened and nodded to himself. He said, “From now on, you will begin the assassination of the rebel leaders. At the same time, you will install our people into the rebel army and support one of them to become the rebel leader.”

Wang Xuan thought carefully about this when he heard it and was instantly enlightened. He said, “Your Majesty means to have the Japanese daimyo be our man?”

“That’s right. Isn’t that the best outcome? As for Yamada Nobunaga and his confidants, it’s time for them to return to the dust. From now on, you will begin preparing for this. If they can use the Japanese people to disrupt my market, I can use the Japanese people to take the market back.” Xiao Ming said.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I have many people here who are proficient in the Japanese language, so it will be easy to arrange a Japanese identity for them,” Wang Xuan said happily.

A smile appeared on Xiao Ming’s lips. The two then discussed the details of this plan, including the actions to be taken against Japan after the war in Southeast Asia ended.

…

Manila.

After more than ten days of reorganization, Manila City returned to its former appearance. The only difference was that the people entering and leaving were no longer Western merchants but merchants from the Great Yu Empire who had come after hearing the news.

Because of the Spanish and Dutch’s management, Manila actually had a complete set of living and commercial facilities. The spice factories and surrounding mines in Manila City were all well preserved.

The merchants were naturally drooling over this, because as soon as they took over these industries, they could immediately start earning profits.

So after the war ended, many merchants flocked to Manila to survey the situation, preparing to make a move at any time.

“Commander, I have to say that the servants trained by the Spanish are not bad. Should we pick a few to go back and serve our wives and daughters?”

Behind Liu Chen were two natives dressed as servants. These natives were bought by the Spanish and Dutch from local native tribes during their rule.

In Manila City, these people were strictly trained to be excellent servants, and were then sold at a high price by the Spanish and Dutch to other colonies to serve the lives of the nobility.

After the Dutch fled in a hurry, they found many such natives in the city.

“If you like them, send them back for your own use. I don’t want to be woken up in the middle of the night by them,” Yue Yun said, curling his lips. “But the Spanish and Dutch’s method is not bad. These natives are uncivilized because they have not received an education. With some training, they can completely become submissive servants. Since the Empire is in short supply of slaves now, we can find a way here.” Yue Yun said.

“Exactly.” Liu Chen said loudly, “How many slaves did we capture after defeating the barbarians? And how many slaves are there in Siberia? There are some natives in Australia, but their number is also very small, not even enough for themselves. If we want to find high-quality slave resources, we have to start from Southeast Asia. I once heard that the total population of Southeast Asia is at least tens of millions, and the population of that India is over a hundred million. It’s a huge waste not to make use of such abundant resources.”

While the two were talking, a hearty laugh suddenly rang out. Yue Yun turned to look and saw Li Kaiyuan walking towards them with a big belly.

Yue Yun teased, “Li Kaiyuan, you have gained a lot of fat in these past few years. I heard that every time His Majesty sees your big belly, he wonders how much money he can get if he kills you and cuts you open.”

Li Kaiyuan’s face immediately turned green. He said, “Don’t talk nonsense. My fat has nothing to do with embezzling money. Besides, my Li family has always been a merchant family, so we are not short of money.”

“Hahaha…” Yue Yun laughed. He walked over and put his arm around Li Kaiyuan’s shoulder. “Just a joke, just a joke. But why are you here in Manila this time?”

Li Kaiyuan’s expression became serious. He said, “You need money and food for your military campaigns, and this money does not fall from the sky. His Majesty sent me here this time to sell the industries in Manila that can be sold and to reopen the stagnant mines. Now that domestic commodity trade is increasing, the demand for dragon coins is also increasing. If there is not enough gold, silver, and copper, we cannot mint coins.”

“Don’t we still have paper money? What’s there to be afraid of?” Yue Yun said as a matter of course.

Li Kaiyuan sneered. He said, “I am no match for you in fighting, but when it comes to industry and commerce, you are just talking nonsense. Our Empire is on the gold standard. We only print as much paper money as we have gold. Our economy is not something to be trifled with.”

Liu Chen and Yue Yun looked at each other. They couldn’t be bothered with these matters. He said, “In that case, show me His Majesty’s handwritten decree, and we will handle the handover. Everything in Manila will be under your management.”

Li Kaiyuan took out a handwritten decree with the imperial seal from his pocket, then had his subordinates go with Liu Chen to handle the handover.

He then glanced at the servants beside Liu Chen, a smile on his face. “I came here this time for another big business deal.”

Yue Yun noticed Li Kaiyuan’s gaze. “I was just talking to Liu Chen about this. It seems His Majesty also doesn’t want to waste so much labor.”

“That’s right. The ideal of the Empire’s people now is to own their own estates. The Empire’s territory is getting bigger and bigger, and the number of people who own estates is also increasing. But as a result, many people have become estate owners. In addition, many people have entered factories to make a living, and the labor needed for the estates is gone. Because of this, the price of slaves has been increasing. Now, many slave-catching groups have appeared, traveling all over the world to capture slaves and sell them back home. In light of this, His Majesty came up with this idea,” Li Kaiyuan said.

Yue Yun nodded. The Empire’s technology had been progressing all these years, but the laws on slavery had never been abolished, which gave the people the legal right to own slaves.

However, from Li Kaiyuan’s words, he also understood the problem the Empire was now facing. If estate owners had no slaves to cultivate the plantations, the Empire’s estate economy would soon go bankrupt.