Chapter 689 Reappearance of the Invincible Navy of the Ming Dynasty
The eventual evolution of the Ming Dynasty's shipping department system was caused by various factors.
Among them, one of the most important factors is that in the past, the emperor had to live alone in overseas trade, and his ministers did not reap the benefits.
Therefore, once the agents of the sea trade merchants came to power, they took advantage of the ignorance of the emperors who had never left the palace to achieve this result.
Officials of the Ming Dynasty attached great importance to their reputation, and many even spent tax money at the expense of the court to please the people and businessmen, and to add to themselves a protective aura of loving the people like their own children.
Therefore, although some people realized that imposing a maritime ban and engaging in maritime trade would bring prosperity to the court, no one promoted the reform of the municipal shipping department system.
However, it is different now. Zhong Jinwei used the profits of state-owned enterprises and the national policy of feudal kings to feudal North America to tie the interests of Ming officials to the imperial court.
The more state-owned enterprises make, the richer the integrity money will be for Ming officials when they retire and return home; the more money the court has, the faster the vassal king's feudal North America will proceed, and the vassal king's vacated interests in the Ming Dynasty will be released as soon as possible.
come out.
There are also other benefits, but those are more indirect benefits.
Therefore, when the ministers in the Wenhua Hall heard Zhong Jinwei attacking the current Shibosi system, no one stood up to defend themselves, and they just looked at what Zhong Jinwei had to say.
When Zhong Jinwei heard Emperor Chongzhen ask him, he replied loudly: "Your Majesty, if the municipal shipping department system is used well, it will be much easier for the Ming Dynasty to become strong and prosperous, and the court will not be worried about lack of money. The shortage of materials in various parts of the Ming Dynasty will also be
Can be relieved..."
Emperor Chongzhen was dumbfounded as he listened to Zhong Jinwei eloquently exemplifying the benefits of a reasonable market and shipping division system.
According to what Zhongxing Hou meant, there was a golden mountain in front of him, but he turned a blind eye, looked for money everywhere, and lived frugally in order to earn more money.
"Master Zhong, do you really have that much money?" Emperor Chongzhen asked after waiting for Zhong Jinwei to finish speaking and confirming this matter first.
When Zhong Jinwei heard this, he pointed at Zheng Zhilong beside him and said: "He should know very well how huge the profit is!"
Emperor Chongzhen looked in the direction of Zhong Jinwei's finger and found that it was Zheng Zhilong, a coastal defense guerrilla from the Fujian Navy. Thinking that he indeed knew more about maritime trade than the average person, he asked: "Zheng Qing, please answer me truthfully without any deception."
!”
Zheng Zhilong looked at Emperor Chongzhen, and from the corner of his eye, he saw all the senior officials in the palace looking at him. He hesitated for a moment, and finally answered truthfully: "Your Majesty, if general goods are shipped to Southeast Asia, the profit will be about three times; if it is shipped to Southeast Asia again,
If the goods are sold back to the Ming Dynasty, you can make about three times the profit. This time, as long as it doesn't sink in a storm or encounter pirates, you can make a total of about nine times the profit."
Emperor Chongzhen was once again stunned. He didn't expect the profit to be so huge. It was trivial to make tens of thousands of taels in one trip.
He was dazed for a while before he came to his senses. He looked a little angry and turned to ask Wen Tiren: "Wen Qing, why don't you explain to me such a profitable sea trade? If you say you don't know, I don't believe you!
"
Wen Tiren smiled bitterly, and today he tasted the bitter fruits planted by his predecessors. He went out to answer Emperor Chongzhen and said: "Your Majesty, Zheng Youyi also said just now that although the profits are large, the risks are high. There have always been many Japanese pirates along the coast of Ming Dynasty.
, although there have been no more in recent years. However, there are many pirates, and the Ming Navy has always struggled to protect itself."
Having said this, he turned to look at Zheng Zhilong, and then said to Emperor Chongzhen: "The Fujian Navy was completely wiped out by Zheng You in the past, and Quanzhou was captured by him. This is a case in point."
"Therefore, although sea trade is extremely profitable, it is not as powerful as the Ming Dynasty Navy. It can only quench its thirst by looking at the plum blossoms. And to rebuild the powerful Ming Dynasty Navy, it will require a lot of money. Your Majesty should know that in the past few years, , the imperial court can’t even pay the border troops, so how can there be money to build a navy!”
Wen Tiren said this, and this problem seems to be unsolvable. If Zhong Jinwei hadn't suddenly appeared, and with the money gained from copying traitors, salt merchants, and attacking Shenyang, Ming Dynasty would have been stuck in an endless cycle of moneylessness.
When Emperor Chongzhen thought of this, he couldn't help but feel more grateful to Zhong Jinwei. At this time, he had long believed that if it weren't for Zhong Jinwei, and the situation continued in the second year of Chongzhen, the Ming Dynasty would definitely have died of poverty.
So, he stopped worrying about the past affairs of Shibosi and said to Zhong Jinwei: "Master Zhong, please tell me the specific strategy and benefits of Shibosi."
The civil servants in the Wenhua Hall were relieved to see that Emperor Chongzhen was no longer obsessed with historical issues. They all sincerely admired Wen Tiren's witty answer.
"Your Majesty, I accidentally mentioned the Shipping Department just now, so I didn't organize it systematically. I can only talk about it one by one."
Emperor Chongzhen could understand Zhong Jinwei's reason. He nodded and said: "It doesn't matter, Master Zhong just says it."
"First, the Ming Dynasty can open multiple port cities, and goods entering and leaving the Ming Dynasty must pass through these ports. This is to facilitate management."
"Second, different taxes must be levied on different goods entering and leaving the Ming Dynasty. For example, if the Ming Dynasty is in urgent need of food, it can impose heavy taxes on exported food until no merchants are willing to export food; while imported food can reduce tariffs, or even Not harvesting, thereby encouraging merchants to import grain from overseas."
"This second point also includes dumping our Ming Dynasty's products overseas. For example, glass, this kind of thing should be said to be used more by the rich, so we can promote dumping overseas, yes, it is dumping. Westerners also have glass, but we are more They have an advantage, defeat them, occupy all markets in Southeast Asia, and earn as much money as possible for Ming Dynasty."
Emperor Chongzhen smiled happily as if he saw money rolling in.
"Third, to establish a strong Ming Dynasty Navy, you can build several more naval divisions according to the region. For example, to escort North America, you must have one or two powerful naval forces; to protect the Ming Dynasty's coastal security, you must also have a navy; for the Ming Dynasty Merchants who want to trade in Southeast Asia or even further afield must have a navy. In addition, the navy's fight against smuggling is also an important responsibility."
Wen Tiren frowned when he heard this. Emperor Chongzhen was still a young monarch, and there was still a hint of impulsiveness in his temper. Just now, he had talked about expanding the new army by 50,000 people. Now that Marquis Zhongxing said this, he was afraid that Emperor Chongzhen would do it again. With a wave of his hand, he said that he would build ten navy divisions.
So Wen Tiren quickly interjected: "Marquis Zhongxing, the imperial court cannot build so many naval forces now."
Before Zhong Jinwei could answer, Emperor Chongzhen stood up, waved his hand and said: "If we can't build it now, we will build it in the future. We will never let the chaos in Jiangnan happen again. I must let the Ming Dynasty navy cover the sea. I want to Reproduce the grand occasion when the Ming Navy was invincible in the world during the Yongle period!"