eldest son of Ming dynasty

Historically, after the Longqing Switch (1567), tens of millions of silver poured into the Ming Dynasty from all over the world.Sufficient money supply will promote economic prosperity and business activity within a certain period of time.

In the decades after that, the "germinations of capitalism" that we learned about in textbooks appeared in the late Ming Dynasty. This was because overseas imports of silver continued to give birth to more merchants and even business gangs in the Ming Dynasty.

The raw silk, porcelain, medicinal materials and tea of ​​the Ming Dynasty were all overwhelming trade advantages.

More businessmen will promote the development of handicraft industry and generate employment and consumption.In this process, the small-scale peasant economy in coastal areas will transform into a market economy, and the economy will also move towards monetization in a big way.

The economy is something that belongs to the bottom. When the bottom begins to change, the impact on the entire society will be huge.

For the upper class, they can rely on their financial resources to live a luxurious life, and they can have a good life without being an official. Therefore, there is a group of "thinkers" who live a safe life and observe the society and people. Different from the past, this has limited ideological enlightenment in the late Ming Dynasty.

For the people at the bottom, as all national taxes were uniformly paid in silver (1581), the people could only exchange grain for silver. However, as silver continued to be imported and the price of silver kept falling, the burden on the people continued to increase.

For the Ming Dynasty, one thing that needs to be noted is that a large amount of currency is imported from overseas, so it loses the right to issue currency in disguise.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Thirty Years War (30~1618) broke out in the West. The war caused their own demand for silver to surge. Moreover, the war lasted for too long and caused an economic crisis. The original trade routes were also destroyed, and all types of demand decreased.

It was no longer bright in the west, so it was too late to die. In 1633, Japan's Tokugawa shogunate began to turn to a policy of isolation, and Japan's silver flow into China dropped sharply - it was no longer bright in the east!
This whole set of logical relationships among currencies, trade, geography, etc. is still very complicated.

Zhu Houzhao has been thinking about this for a long time.One of the concepts is that there must be economic motivation behind this type of reform and state behavior.

If there is no economic motivation, it would be unwise to only use a piece of paper to fight against the interests of millions of people.

Now, on this occasion, Cheng Guogong must prepare the naval force.

The message this sentence gave Zhu Houzhao was not just as simple as building a water fleet, but further confirmed the idea in his mind.

In addition, a strong country and a strong military are certainly indispensable aspects of it, but the real Celestial Kingdom must stand at the peak of its economy.No matter how powerful he is as a future visitor, he cannot lead his army to sweep across the world. In the end, he will be covered in scars, but economic domination is another concept.

So some issues are worthy of further investigation.

For example... he responded to Duke Cheng Guo's request and asked something he had thought about for a long time, "Mr. Cheng Guo, what do you think the imperial court's purpose is in planning to build a navy?"

The four cabinet ministers all lowered their heads, but they were thinking about the emperor's intentions.

The Emperor's thoughts were unusual, and with Duke Cheng's adaptability, I don't know if he could tell accurately.

However, the four of them were just worrying blindly. Duke Cheng Guo must be so eager for a purpose. He immediately replied: "I think we should ensure that the sea station on Luzon Island is not controlled by the Folangji people!"

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but smile. At the sea station, people in the Ming Dynasty began to understand maritime trade. Would they use this analogy?I don’t know who said it, but there is indeed some charm in it.

"You mean the Francois will capture Luzon."

"Every man is not guilty, but he is guilty of having a jade. According to Ping Haibo, tens of millions of taels of silver were obtained after the opening of the Ming Dynasty. Fo Langji is ambitious and greedy, so he will definitely take risks."

Zhu Houzhao asked again: "The silk and porcelain of the Ming Dynasty were mainly sold to the far west through the Folangji people. If they attack Luzon, we will step in and beat them up again. In this way, the two sides will fight, just like the Ming Dynasty and the Tartar, to whom will silk and porcelain be sold at this time? To those who are at war with us?"

"Um..." Cheng Guogong just listened to Ping Haibo's exaggeration of the dangers involved, but he had never been exposed to matters at sea, so he was confused by this question, "Your Majesty, please make it clear."

Zhu Houzhao smiled softly, raised his eyebrows and said, "If you want to go to war with someone, you must first be prepared to survive without him. Otherwise, once the war breaks out, it will last three to five years, and the trade between the two parties will be cut off. Who will go?" Tell those farmers, ah, we can’t sell any silk this year, can you keep it for your own use?”

"Yup,"

"Not bad."

……

The five people under the throne nodded one after another. The emperor's consideration was indeed more comprehensive this time.

"The military is a major event for the country. It should be used with caution. Your Majesty has taught me this, and I will take it from you."

When it comes to flattering people like this, Wang Bing is the one who talks the most.

Duke Chengguo couldn't understand, what did it mean?Isn’t the Navy going to be built anymore?Don’t want the money anymore?When the Francois really take control of Luzon and lower the price of a piece of silk from 16 taels to [-] taels, what will they do then?
People are afraid of caring.He had his own interests involved, and Cheng Guogong had already carefully understood with Mei Kejia the unit price of the goods, the joints of the trade, what methods the other party used to block them, etc.

Thinking of this, he became even more anxious.

This matter has been going on since Mei Kejia came to Beijing. Everyone had a bottom line, that is, since there is a court meeting in March anyway, it can be discussed at the court meeting.But today is closed. If you go out with this result...how can you do it?

"Your Majesty! The amount of silver from Hai Mao is one million per year. This is another southeast. The imperial court revitalizes the horse administration and organizes and trains cavalry. Half of them rely on Hai Mao's silver. If the navy is not built, there will be storms on the sea. I'm afraid it will It’s too late to regret it!”

"When did I say I won't build a navy? Why are you panicking?" "Ah?"

The four members of the cabinet were also thinking hard about the emperor's holy will. Yang Tinghe at the end seemed to have thought of something.

"I want you all to understand why the Ming Dynasty is planning to build a navy? Is it because the Folangji are about to make a move, so it builds a fleet to defeat them? Is that all?"

At this point, the answer to the mystery is finally coming out.

Yang Tinghe handed over his hand, "There are also Japanese pirates and pirates. There are others who have defeated the Folangji people. The most important thing is that the trade routes of the Ming Dynasty cannot be controlled by the Folangji people, but should be controlled by themselves. Otherwise, today A thief comes, a thief comes tomorrow, there are thieves every day, how long do we have to guard against this?"

It is extremely difficult to say these words.Even Yang Yiqing and Wang Hao had a look of surprise.

"Only in this way did I agree to build this navy." Zhu Houzhao followed the words and murmured at the same time: "How powerful was the Sanbao eunuch's fleet back then? In the end, it just disappeared. If I rebuild the navy today, if I can't find it, For the reason, I will no longer exist in a hundred years.

Going back to the question just now, what will happen if the Folangji people don’t do business with the Ming Dynasty? What I mean is that the Ming Dynasty’s caravan must be able to go west by itself. First, it is looking for someone who can replace the Folangji people. Substitutes also need to find places where they can buy so many goods. The second is to expand westward and sell goods to Luzon, Mankara or even further.The significance of the navy is that wherever the Ming Dynasty's caravan goes, the navy will go.Those who are willing to do business with us, who want to be friendly with us, will never offend, and those who are unwilling or even want to invade the Ming caravan... must use the four words that Chen Tang said back then - no matter how far away they are, they will be killed!

In this way, the establishment of this Ming Dynasty navy will be meaningful, and the Haimao Bank will be stable year after year. Even if we are no longer here, future generations will know what is best for themselves, and they will not easily let the tragedy of the Sanbao Eunuch happen again. ! ! "

The emperor's words were not impassioned.

But the truth contained in it is very profound.

It's just that... none of the four members of the cabinet knew that they had heard wrongly, "Anyone who is unwilling to invade the Ming caravan will be punished no matter how far away it is." How can it be understood that if they invade, they will be punished if they are unwilling to trade?
In this case, the emperor could not be wrong.

Duke Cheng Guo didn't pay attention. He was so excited after hearing the emperor's words that he couldn't help shouting: "Your Majesty knows everything from thousands of miles away! This is exactly what I should do as the emperor of heaven!"

"Well, I have four bachelors here. You can think of a slogan for the navy. Starting from the fifth year of Zhengde, every ship built, every soldier raised, and every step forward by the Ming Navy are for this goal. And This goal must be communicated from top to bottom, at all levels, especially the navy officers and soldiers themselves, and they must know why they have to fight against people on rough seas.

According to this idea, we are planning to build a navy. Mr. Yang Ge, what do you think?Did I miss anything?Also... spending money to expand the army, maybe someone will label me as militaristic. "

Cheng Guogong rushed to speak, "How can the imperial court's move be considered as a militancy? If we don't expand the army, we will lose more money!"

Yang Yiqing sighed, the emperor's methods were too clever.

On the one hand, the sea trade bank account is related to the abundance of the national treasury, on the other hand, it is related to the dividends of most of the ministers and civil servants in the capital, and on the other hand, it is related to the business income of coastal people and merchants. Under this situation, those who oppose it are afraid of arousing public outrage.

The emperor's will is just in line with this general trend.

Of course, the emotion in his heart was not due to disapproval. The original discord between him and Liu Daxia was also due to his insistence on supporting the imperial court in sending troops.War is a major matter for the country, but it is not a truce without a bottom line.

"Your Majesty wants to build a navy to protect the Ming Dynasty's caravans and the people. This is the responsibility of the emperor, and it is indeed not a militancy. I think it is better to use it as a motto of 'protecting the country and the people, and serving the imperial court'."

Zhu Houzhao twitched the corner of his mouth. In fact, it was true. Serving the imperial court was the number one political correctness in the feudal era, but it always felt weird.

"What about the rest?"

Wang Hao was a great talent. He frowned and said, "Your Majesty, how about defending our sea territory instead?"

"Replace which one?"

"Instead of protecting the country and the people. Protecting the country and the people cannot be reflected in the navy. Even land troops can also be used to protect the country and the people."

Zhu Houzhao: "..."

Why did this great talent leave behind the words "Serve the Imperial Court"?

"Yang Tinghe, what do you think?" The emperor's eyes looked like he was asking for help.

"I think that most of the people who serve in the army are illiterate, so the simpler it is, the better. It is better to call it the Protecting Shang Army."

Zhu Houzhao:? ? ?

He made a quick decision, "No more fighting, let's use it to defend our maritime territory. Choose the word 'territory'."

"Xinjiang"?

"Yes, from now on tell the world that the sea is also a territory!"

Hundreds of years from now, let them use this as their ancient basis.He can also occupy more space and see which unfilial descendant misses the place from ancient times.