I originally thought that the opening of the sea would be a matter of benefit to the country and the people. Merchants could go to sea to do business and make huge profits. Ordinary people could also go to sea to fish and obtain cheap meat. The Ming Dynasty court could also impose tariffs accordingly.
, to solve the long-standing financial problem.
I originally thought that even if there were objections, there wouldn't be too many. In addition, the above parties had already reached a consensus, so there shouldn't be any major problems with the sea ban.
But who could have imagined that the opposition in the court would be so loud. Ministers one after another stood up to express their opposition, and the more they spoke, the more serious they were, such as shaking the country, causing chaos in the world, people living in dire straits, Japanese pirates raging, and so on.
Yes, it seems that once the sea ban is lifted, the Ming Dynasty will be over.
And he, the eternal sage who has always been praised by his ministers, will become an unfaithful, unfilial, unkind and unjust emperor of the ages, and will directly ruin the great Ming Dynasty.
How could Emperor Hongzhi be happy when he heard such words? Even though he had always been indifferent to emotions and anger, even though he had always been a good man, his face was getting darker and darker.
"...Your Majesty, once the sea ban is lifted, the foundation of the Ming Dynasty will be shaken, the country will be in turmoil, and the world will inevitably be in chaos. War smoke will rise everywhere, and the princes and heroes will compete for the throne. Once the country is lost, how can your Majesty have the face to meet the ancestors, and the people of future generations will
How would you rate Your Majesty?"
One of the censors said sadly, and he really dared to say anything. He directly described Emperor Hongzhi as the king of subjugation, without noticing that Emperor Hongzhi's face was already frighteningly dark.
In other words, they didn't care about Emperor Hongzhi's feelings at all. Emperor Hongzhi was a good old man. Everyone in the court didn't know this. The favorite thing of the censors and imperial officials was to point their noses at Emperor Hongzhi's nose and give advice without spitting it out.
Emperor Hongzhi cannot be considered successful if he spits on his face.
"enough!"
Emperor Hongzhi gave a cold shout, and the entire Jinluan Palace immediately fell silent. There were many ministers behind who wanted to stand up and express their opinions, but they all stood back immediately.
Emperor Hongzhi had always been gentle and gentle, and rarely became so angry. This made the ministers in the court stop admonishing one by one.
Emperor Hongzhi glanced around the Jinluan Palace. Zhou Jing still looked calm and indifferent, as if he didn't care at all about the words of other ministers or those who impeached him.
As for Liu Jian, Xie Qian, and Li Dongyang, the three cabinet elders frowned slightly and seemed to be thinking about what the previous ministers said; the generals and nobles were as always watching their eyes, nose and heart, seeming to be listening carefully, and they seemed to be listening carefully.
It's like air, without the slightest sense of existence.
"Zhou Jing, you heard it too. Since you proposed a sea ban, what do you have to say?"
The one who untie the bell is the one who ties the bell. Since it was Zhou Jing who proposed it, and now that Zhou Jing is being impeached and criticized, it is natural that Zhou Jing should be given a chance to speak.
"Although the implementation of the sea ban is an ancestral system left by Emperor Taizu, the reason why the policy of sea ban was formulated during the Emperor Taizu's period was because at that time, our land in China had been poisoned by the Northern Yuan Dynasty for a long time, and all life was devastated.
Maritime merchants colluded with Japanese pirates and repeatedly invaded our Ming Dynasty waters."
"That's why Emperor Taizu formulated various policies to restore national strength, and sea ban is just one of them."
When Zhou Jing heard this, he thought about it and said slowly.
"However, times have changed. It has been more than a hundred years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. After the hard work of the previous kings, the Ming Dynasty has changed from what it used to be. The country is rich and the people are strong. The Japanese pirates in the southeastern coastal areas have also been completely banned. Sea bans will be implemented again.
Obviously it’s not appropriate.”
Zhou Jing first talked about the origin of this sea ban, and also explained the reasons for the changes of time. He believed that this sea ban was no longer suitable for the development needs of the times and must be changed.
"Secondly, lifting the maritime ban will not affect our Ming Dynasty's agriculture-based national policy. On the contrary, the ocean is rich, the fishery resources are extremely rich, and there are almost endless fishery resources."
"Food is the most important thing for people, and sea fish in the ocean are the cheapest and most easily available meat."
"So the lifting of the maritime ban will not only shake the country's foundation, but will also benefit the people. The current fishing in Tianjin, where a boat can catch more than 100,000 kilograms of marine fish in one day, is enough to illustrate this point."
Then he talked about the foundation of the country. The starting point was sea fish. This cheap and easy-to-obtain meat is now sold for a penny per catty in the capital. There is no such cheap meat in the world.
The key is that the quantity is still very large. There are only a few ships in Tianjin, and they can catch more than one million kilograms of marine fish every day. This explanation is powerful enough and cannot be refuted.
"As for the Japanese pirates on the southeast coast, most of them are actually Ming merchants pretending to be merchants. Their purpose is to go to sea for trade and make huge profits. The real Japanese pirates are less than one-tenth of them."
"The reason why merchants on the southeastern coast pretended to be Japanese pirates and went to sea privately was naturally because of the huge benefits and huge profits from sea trade. At the same time, the Ming Dynasty implemented strict maritime bans, so Japanese pirates gradually developed."
"As the old saying goes, it is better to clear the sea than to block it. Since merchants have the need to go to sea to do business, it is better to simply ban the sea and allow merchants to go to sea. In this way, the Japanese invasion will disappear."
Speaking of Japanese pirates, Zhou Jing told the truth about the Japanese pirates. The number of Japanese pirates who really came from the Japanese country was very small. Most of them were actually businessmen in the southeastern coastal areas. Big families pretended to be Japanese pirates and went to sea to make profits.
"As for the tribute paid by vassal states, our Ming Dynasty has its own rules. Firstly, it can strictly regulate the scale, number and frequency of tribute. Secondly, our Ming Dynasty has been friendly with various vassal states for generations. We should value wealth and justice, and the same should be true for tribute.
"
Speaking of this tribute, Zhou Jing, the Minister of Household Affairs, had a deep understanding that every tribute was a bloodletting for the Ming Dynasty. This loss of face killed people, so he also put forward the concept of valuing wealth and righteousness to alleviate the problem of Ming Dynasty.
side burden.
"As for the impeachment remarks, I believe that I have always been loyal to His Majesty. I have lived up to His Majesty's trust and trust, and I dare not forget the sufferings of the people."
"Nowadays, famine is raging and the land is full of hungry people. I have seen with my own eyes that the hungry people have eaten all the bark and grass. I also saw a different scene here in Tianjin."
"Here in Tianjin, because His Majesty loves the people like his own son, he heard that there are high-yielding and fine varieties in the Golden Continent, and specially formed a fleet to introduce the seeds back to our country, the Ming Dynasty, so we have a fleet to go out to sea for fishing training."
“Because of marine fishing, not only was Tianjin not affected by the famine at all, but everything was completely new and full of vitality. Not only did not a single victim starve to death, but everyone lived and worked in peace and contentment.”
"Those who impeach and criticize ministers, His Majesty should send them to inspect the conditions of the victims. They should be allowed to eat and live with the victims and taste the taste of hunger. Only in this way can they truly feel the suffering of the people.
, instead of standing on top of this temple, calling out to the common people over and over again, but not caring about them at all."
Finally, Zhou Jing refuted those impeachments and criticized others without any politeness. I really felt a lot when I went out this time.
Here in the capital, the victims are starving to the ground, eating tree bark, eating grass roots, and are so hungry that they are skinny and bones. But here in Tianjin, the victims can eat meat every meal. Those hungry people who went early, because they eat meat every day, a
They were all muscular and powerful. At the same time, under Liu Jin's organization, ports, cities, cement roads, etc. were built, which brought about earth-shaking changes to the entire Tianjin.
All this is because of the sea fish. Just because there are a few ships, tens of thousands of people can be fed by fishing every day, and even now they can support the capital.
"Your Majesty, Zhou Jing's nonsense is simply deceiving the public. I request your Majesty to dismiss him immediately and investigate him."
"I impeach Zhou Jing for his evil words to confuse the public, deceive the saints, and deceive the saints..."
After Zhou Jing finished speaking, as expected, someone immediately jumped out and pointed at Zhou Jing's nose and began to criticize him.
"Hmph~ Have you ever felt hungry?"
"Do you dare to go among the hungry people and take a look?"
"Can you get food for the hungry people?"
"Every day, one mouthful is the king's country, and one mouthful is the common people. The last time I donated money and food, I remember that you Xu Ziyuan only donated five hundred taels of silver. As far as I know, you Xu Ziyuan is a descendant of a wealthy family in the south of the Yangtze River. Your Xu family has good land.
We have ten thousand hectares, but you only donated five hundred taels of silver. How dare you come to talk to me?"
"And you Xu Long, although you are a noble Hanlin, your father-in-law seems to be a big salt merchant in Huaiyang, Jiangsu. It is said that he is rich in Jiangnan. Last time you didn't even have five hundred taels of silver.
Donate it?"
Zhou Jing snorted coldly and counterattacked unceremoniously. His words were extremely sharp and hit those people's vital points directly.
"Okay, this is the Jinluan Palace, not a place in the market. You are important officials of the court, and you are not ordinary people in the market. This is not a place for you to quarrel at will."
Emperor Hongzhi looked at the courtiers and knew that if they continued to argue like this, there would never be a result. Moreover, if Zhou Jing was fighting with the Confucian scholars, he would inevitably be unable to defeat four people with two fists, so it was time to add allies to Zhou Jing's side.
And it must be a heavyweight ally.
So Emperor Hongzhi looked at Liu Jian, Xie Qian, and Li Dongyang. They were the three most important people, and they had already discussed it yesterday, and everyone had the same opinion.
"Liu Aiqing, what do you think of this matter?"
The first thing Emperor Hongzhi asked was naturally Liu Jian, the chief minister of the cabinet.
Upon hearing Emperor Hongzhi's question to Liu Jian, the officials immediately became quiet and prepared to listen to Liu Jian's words.
Liu Jian studied under the great Confucian Xue Xuan. He had profound knowledge and the courage to give direct advice. He always regarded the world as his own responsibility. In addition, he was a veteran of three dynasties under the Yingzong and Xianzong emperors. He was also the teacher of Emperor Hongzhi. He was deeply trusted by Emperor Hongzhi.
