Da Ming started to ascend the throne

If the history of the Southern Song Dynasty is far from that of the Ming Dynasty, then the Yuan Dynasty was also a big country of maritime trade, and there was an endless stream of sea boats filled with porcelain.

East to Japan, west to Southeast Asia, Persia, Arabia, Africa.

It can be said that the profit of an overseas trade can be ten times or a hundred times.

The huge profits from overseas trade are no secret to the bureaucratic gentry in the Jiangnan area. Many families rely on this to make their fortunes.

After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang issued a sea ban in order to solve the intrusion of Japanese pirates and the remnants of Zhang Shicheng, Fang Guozhen and others.Remember Biqu Pavilion on the mobile phone in one second→.B\\.\Provide you with wonderful novels to read.

The ship divisions of the three major cities of Quanzhou in Fujian, Mingzhou in Zhejiang, and Guangzhou in Guangdong were abolished, and foreign trade was prohibited. Anyone who built seagoing ships without permission and conducted overseas trade would be executed and his family members sent to the army.

But there is a famous saying in the theory of capital, "If there is a profit of 10, capital will be guaranteed to be used everywhere; if there is a profit of 20, capital will be active.

If there is a profit of 50%, capital will take risks; for a profit of 100, capital will dare to trample on all human laws; if there is a profit of more than 300, capital will dare to commit any crime, and even risk hanging.

"Zhu Yuanzhang's strict orders couldn't stop the residents in the Jiangnan area from pursuing their interests. Ordinary civilians with no power and power simply went to sea to become pirates.

The bureaucratic and gentry of the privileged class simply helped the pirates sell their stolen goods, or organized fleets for smuggling trade.

However, the Ming Dynasty did not have a strong navy, so it was powerless to stop piracy and smuggling.

Zhu Yuanzhang's sea ban was of no use except to reduce the court's tax revenue. The bureaucratic gentry took the opportunity to become the leader of the Ming Dynasty's overseas trade and reap huge profits.

Take the famous Zheng Zhilong Zheng Chenggong's father, the Maritime Trading Group in the late Ming Dynasty, as an example, earning tens of millions of taels of silver every year.

The emergence of Zheng He's voyages broke the monopoly of the bureaucratic gentry in the Jiangnan area on maritime trade.

Zheng He's fleet of more than 200 ships in his voyages consisted of 63 main treasure ships.

According to British scholar Mills, each treasure ship can carry 2500 tons. Before each voyage, the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty would uniformly purchase a large amount of goods such as porcelain, tea, and silk so that they could go to sea with the ship to start trade in the countries along the route.

However, the trade volume of various countries is limited every year. Zheng He's fleet brought a large amount of goods, which naturally affected the sales of Ming Dynasty smuggling caravans.

The most important thing is that everyone blatantly violated the sea ban because the emperor couldn't catch it.

Now Zheng He has formed an invincible fleet at that time, showing off overseas, clearing up pirates, and catching a smuggling fleet is not easy.

The eunuchs who were in charge of the voyage fleet were all the emperor's trusted eunuchs, as long as they were loyal to the emperor, they didn't need to give face to the bureaucrats and gentry.

Therefore, the smuggling fleet decreased greatly after Zheng He’s voyages to the West. At that time, 26 kilograms of silver flowed into China due to trade every year. Silver was money in the Ming Dynasty, and money touched people’s hearts. This large group of interest groups did not hate to die Zheng He's fleet.

The Ming Dynasty relied on imperial examinations to select scholars, and the culturally developed Jiangnan region has long monopolized the number of admissions.

The famous "North and North List Case" in 1397 is a concentrated expression of this phenomenon. Most of the officialdom in the Ming Dynasty was controlled by officials from the Jiangnan area, and these officials were more or less related to overseas trade.

Even civil servants who are not involved in overseas trade, the "Bing Jing" and "Charcoal Jing" respected by the people below each year, holding large sums of money, have short hands and short mouths, have to speak for interest groups, and attack eunuchs Isn't power the political correctness of the civil service group?

A large group of civil officials collectively appealed for the abolition of voyages to the West. Naturally, it could not be said that it affected their own self-interest. The slogan to be upright was "the expenses are huge, and the treasury is empty."

However, Ming Chengzu Zhu Di was a very assertive emperor, and basically dismissed civil servants, so it was not until 1424, when Ming Renzong Zhu Gaochi, who believed in civil servants, ascended the throne that he abolished voyages to the West.

In 1430, Emperor Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji of the Ming Dynasty again ordered Zheng He to sail to the Western Ocean for the seventh time. Unfortunately, Zheng He was already old, and many years were delayed in the middle. Many supporting personnel and facilities for the Western Ocean were abandoned. The feat has become unsustainable.

Whether Zheng He made money from his voyages to the West, you only need to look at what Ming Chengzu Zhu Di did.

Zheng He's first six voyages to the West were from the third year of Yongle to the 22nd year of Yongle.

During this period of time, Zhu Di personally conquered Mongolia five times, each time dispatching more than [-] troops.

Sending Cheng Guogong Zhu Neng and British Duke Zhangpu to conquer Annan four times, it cost more than [-] soldiers and horses.

Millions of craftsmen and civilian husbands were recruited to expand Beiping City, build the Forbidden City, move the capital to Beijing, etc. A lot of money came from the emperor's internal treasury.

The emperor's money was earned by Zheng He and other eunuchs for him. To put it bluntly, all the money earned from the voyages went to the emperor's own small coffers.

If the officials of the DPRK have no selfish intentions, such as not paying taxes and monopolizing overseas trade, they should not push for the abolition of voyages to the West.

Instead, we should promote the abolition of the maritime ban and promote the expansion of foreign trade.

This kind of selfishness can be said to have destroyed the only chance to postpone the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

There are two biggest reasons for the demise of the Ming Dynasty. One is that the country’s finances collapsed, and there was not enough money to pacify Liaodong and suppress Li Zicheng and other peasant uprisings.

If the emperor of the Ming Dynasty could get money from maritime trade, the so-called "three rates" would not be a problem at all, how could he be short of money to spend.

The second is the Little Ice Age. In the Ming Dynasty, natural disasters continued, food harvests failed year after year, and famines continued.

Champa, Siam, Annan, Chenla and other countries in Southeast Asia are all big grain-producing countries, and the grain is cooked twice or three times a year.

If the voyages to the West had always existed, these grain-producing areas would have always respected the leadership of the Ming Dynasty.

Whether it is to collect grain, borrow grain, or buy grain, it can solve the food shortage problem in the Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, there is no such thing in history.

Chapter 306 Secret Mission

After the capital defeated the rogue bandits, the land reform of Ming Dynasty had already started, and the business tax was also carried out simultaneously.

The sea ban has been opened, and maritime trade has been taxed. Zhu Youjian knows that this aspect is not perfect, and there are still problems and loopholes.

It seems that we must hurry up to formulate a comprehensive tax system. With the strong rise of the Ming Dynasty Navy, the maritime trade of the Ming Dynasty will soon enter its heyday. This is a big cake.

Zhu Youjian retracted his thoughts, looked at Xia Wanchun with admiring eyes and asked:

"Xia Wanchun, I have already appointed you as the commander of the Zhejiang capital, why do you still take the scientific examination, tell me what you think, do you not want to be an official?"

"Reporting to the emperor, it's not that I don't want to be an official. Since I'm an official, I have to do well. I can't sit in an important position and do nothing. I'm only 14 years old this year. I'm too young, and I don't have much experience. I want to train for two years first. The minister starts from the county magistrate."

"Oh……"

Xia Wanchun's idea surprised Zhu Youjian, even the two princesses and Chen Yuanyuan looked at Xia Wanchun as if they were fools, there will still be such people in the world who think they are big officials! "

Zhu Youjian didn't think Xia Wanchun was stupid, but thought that this child would be a great talent. At first he thought he was 16 years old, but now that he thinks about it, he made a mistake.

Xia Wanchun was 16 years old when he died in battle, but not at this time. According to historical records, Xia Wanchun should have died in battle two years later.

But now the history of Ming Dynasty has been emptied, and there is no such thing as Dong captives attacking Jiangnan. Of course Xia Wanchun will not die, he will only be a trump card in Zhu Youjian's hand.

Zhu Youjian patted Xia Wanchun on the shoulder and laughed loudly:

"Good boy, I will fulfill your wish, I will give you an imperial decree, and send him two expert guards. I will leave the capital tomorrow and go to Jiangnan to secretly investigate the smuggling of the Jiangnan consortium.

You are still a child, no one should pay attention to you, and when you can’t remember the key, don’t take out the imperial decree at will, try to find out their details as much as possible.Remember Biqu Pavilion on the mobile phone in one second→.B\\.\Provide you with wonderful novels to read.

If you encounter danger and go to Li Dakai, after successfully completing the task, I will set up a new department to manage maritime trade. If it is done well, it will not be difficult for the official residence to be a high-ranking official, how about it? "

Xia Wanchun hurriedly knelt down and thanked:

"Chen, Xia Wanchun takes the order to thank you!"