Chapter 397 Eastern Policy

After the Imperial Parliament passed by chance, Vlad began to transform Brandenburg. He used tax incentives as bait to attract people to come and open up the land, and encouraged religious reforms in Bohemia to let them fight the Catholic Church.

Thanks to this parliament, Vlad also made a name for himself in the Holy Roman Empire. The northern princes also paid attention to this electoral prince from the East, and a new change was taking place in the Holy Roman Empire.

The younger brothers all had their own achievements, while Peter continued to worry about the interests of the empire. The news from the East was as he expected, with some difficulties.

The Roman delegation followed Zheng He back to the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Di happily received them. The Roman envoy also presented the emperor with imperial treasures, and the exquisite glass products and gems made the emperor very fond of them.

But the request submitted by the envoy to the emperor was shelved, because those civil servants knelt down at the gate of the palace by dozens, begging the emperor to abide by the ancestral precepts and not to open the port for trade.

The emperor was not afraid of one or two civil officials, but he was afraid of hundreds of them coming together to exert pressure. This was also the reason why Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing. Beijing was his base camp, and the resistance to the implementation of the new policy would be small, and it could also deter the nomadic peoples outside the Great Wall. But the expenses incurred from this gave Xia Yuanji and other ministers a headache, not to mention the expenses of the expedition to Annan and the operation of the Nurgan Dusi.

At this time, the voyage to the West brought back a lot of treasures and luxury goods for the emperor. Zheng He proposed to sell these foreign goods in exchange for silver. At first, he was going to let the officials of the Ministry of Revenue do it, but they were unwilling to do the business of merchants, which was done by low-class people.

The trading agency established by Rome in Nanjing volunteered to take on this burden. Zhu Di was happy and immediately established the trading agency with the same grade as the Shibosi, and the leaders could also enjoy the official uniforms and salaries of the Ming Dynasty.

There is no doubt that this was opposed by all officials, because this Fulin man really sold out all the goods. The goods of more than 700 ships, except for those that entered the emperor's inner treasury, were sold. The total income exceeded 4 million taels of silver, which was enough to earn back the money for building Beijing.

The Roman mission was not idle either. Since trade was not feasible for the time being, they tried to preach. The missionaries visited 39 villages in depth, but gained little. It's very simple. Why should we believe in your religion? Is it that the Buddha or the saints can no longer be protected? Moreover, some of this is contrary to their living habits. Don't believe this.

But how could Andre stop there? They came to spread the gospel to the East. If they could take this place, their names would be remembered by the believers.

If it doesn't work below, then start with the middle and upper classes. Of course, the Orthodox Church still needs to be localized and transformed, so as not to provoke the emperor's anger, otherwise what if he kicks them out in anger?

Of course, the Fulin people solved the financial crisis for the empire this time, and Zhu Di had to thank them. At the same time, he also saw the huge benefits of maritime trade, which was also a way to effectively make up for the expenditure. He took advantage of the memorials of Shi Jinqing, the envoy of Jiugang, and the governor of Fujian to get off the mountain and officially promulgate the edict.

From now on, the Maritime Customs Offices will be established in Ningbo and Guangzhou, but all imports and exports will be handled by the Fulin people's trading houses, and they will need to pay a portion of their profits to the court every year.

This can also be regarded as partially meeting Rome's requirements. After all, they are responsible for both ports, and they earn more from the monopoly trade with Japan. The envoy quickly wrote a letter to the emperor, but it still took several months to deliver it.

"Your Highness, our request has encountered very great resistance in the East. The emperor dared not open the port under the pressure of their officials, and our country's normal trade cannot operate normally."

Peter had anticipated this situation. If the central government wanted to open the sea ban, it would have to risk the world's disapproval, and it was not an ordinary difficulty at this time.

"Don't complain at this time, maybe good news is on the way."

Peter could only cheer them up in this way, and the specific situation depended on how they talked.

Of course, they had to be polite to the Ming Dynasty, but not so easy to talk to Japan. Most of the local warriors and government officials were very unfriendly to them. The trading house staff wanted to see the emperor and the general many times but were rejected, and they said that they were merchants and did not deserve to see the emperor.

This is a great shame. They didn't do this when they went to the Ming Dynasty. How dare you, a small Japanese, be so disrespectful. I will destroy you.

This request was sent to Constantinople. Peter felt incredible when he saw the news, but his subordinates were very enthusiastic to make plans. However, they missed a very important issue: they knew too little about Japan.

They are only setting up a trading house in Osaka now. They don't know anything about the local geography and humanities. Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you win every battle. How can you attack Japan when you don't even know much about it?

So they issued an instruction: the Military Department will take the lead, thoroughly understand the human geography of East Asia, and take steady steps to squeeze and infiltrate Japan militarily and politically.

The trading house in Japan began to look for some local forces as a supplement. Even if the upper level opposes, they can always find support for him. The Shimazu clan in Kyushu has always wanted to suppress the Shiba clan, and the Roman trading house has become an important source of funds for him.

In Kagoshima, Roman merchants opened a second trading house and provided funds to the lord every year. Spies who also served as merchants also went deep into various places to make maps in preparation for the empire's expedition to Japan.

Since Japan is to besiege, the Ryukyu Kingdom in the south is naturally the object of struggle. At this time, there are other regimes on the archipelago. King Shang Sishao continued to fight north and south to unify the Ryukyu Islands. The Ming Dynasty also officially enthroned Shang Sishao as the King of Ryukyu. The East India Company also took a fancy to the geographical location here, set up trading posts, sent people to contact, and engaged in trade, all for the purpose of attacking Japan.

This made Peter speechless. He had never been so enthusiastic about fighting the Ottoman Empire before, so why was he so active in fighting Japan.

"Your Highness, the people here are stupid, selfish, fierce and brutal. The empire cannot watch important trading countries fall under his threat. Such people will not be welcomed even in hell. For the long-term interests of the empire, we need to make this uncertainty disappear."

It is quite internationalist and thorough. The evil Anglos, I don't believe you can still be king and dominate with the Romans here this time. Although it is known that the eastward expedition to Japan is impossible to succeed, it might as well continue to be the best ally of the Ming Dynasty. Where can we find such a good country?

Now it is necessary to accumulate strength. The empire needs more colonies and manpower in the East to continue, otherwise it will be just a mirage.