Chapter 0791 Chongzhen who cried blind, the shogunate locked up the country
"Princess, from now on His Highness King Xin, I will ask you to take more care of me."
Wei Zhongxian, the chief eunuch of the Ming Dynasty's ceremonial department and the chief eunuch who holds the seal, and the general manager of the inner palace, Wei Zhongxian, smiled and handed the house deed of Prince Xin's mansion and several commercial deeds to Princess Xin's wife Zhou.
"Eunuch Wei, what is this?" Princess Xin was a little at a loss. How could these things be handed over to her? Shouldn't these royal properties be managed by Zhu Youjian?
Wei Zhongxian explained: "The Emperor knows everything about you and His Highness King Xin. The Emperor said that you are smart, virtuous and well-managed. It was His Highness King Xin who made the mistake, not you. His Highness King Xin has made a mistake now. In the future, Prince Xin will make a mistake."
The family business still needs you to take care of it. The emperor has redeemed Prince Xin’s Mansion, plus the three shops and two fields of the royal family. These are all handed over to you. From now on, Prince Xin’s Mansion will be yours. The emperor said that if Prince Xin’s Mansion is
If I make you angry again, you can go directly to the Queen."
Princess Xin's eyes turned red, she sniffed and put these things away very solemnly. This was the emperor's trust in her and his approval: "Please Eunuch Wei, please report back to your majesty. I know it."
"The slave has gone back, so I will leave it to the princess to help you with the palace."
After leaving Zhou's house and getting on Zhang Haogu's steam car, Eunuch Wei's expression relaxed: "Finally, I have completed the errand assigned by the emperor."
"As long as it's done, only Eunuch Wei can handle this kind of thing." Zhang Haogu said with a smile.
"Master Zhang, don't you want to get involved in this matter? Why are you here anyway?" Eunuch Wei was a little curious. He knew that the emperor wanted Zhang Haogu to come at first, but Zhang Haogu was unwilling. Originally, Eunuch Wei
Everyone thought they would come by themselves this time, but unexpectedly Zhang Haogu came with him.
Zhang Haogu sighed, what can he do?
Queen Zhang Yan has asked him to do this, so what else can he do?
Eunuch Wei smiled when he saw Zhang Haogu's appearance, and then asked, seemingly unintentionally: "Master Zhang, what do you think of His Highness King Xin?" "Huh?" Zhang Haogu looked at Eunuch Wei, this question was asked by Wei Zhongxian.
, not simple.
"Your Majesty, King Xin, your Majesty has been worried a lot during this time, alas." Eunuch Wei said and sighed. Zhang Haogu silently glanced at Eunuch Wei, this man was about to act like a monster again.
"Ahem, Eunuch Wei, we are about to arrive at the palace."
Eunuch Wei's desire to talk was interrupted by Zhang Haogu's words. He looked in front of him silently, feeling a little dissatisfied: "How come it's here so quickly?"
After returning to Zhu Youxiao and Zhang Yan, Zhang Haogu did not forget to take a look in front of Prince Xin's Mansion after leaving the palace. He saw three or five servants busy in front of Prince Xin's Mansion, and Zhang Haogu left silently.
If nothing happens, Zhu Youjian will stay in the palace for the rest of his life. Even if he comes out, it doesn't matter. Nothing will happen.
The monetary reform of the Ming Dynasty can be regarded as the end of the storm. The change from the silver standard to the gold standard was naturally not just a word from the court. The entire Ming Dynasty could complete the reform within a few days. It takes time for information to travel from Shuntian Prefecture in the capital to all provinces and counties in the Ming Dynasty, and Bao
How banknotes are linked to gold also needs to be determined.
The original one tael of silver equivalent to one thousand treasure notes cannot be directly put on the gold standard, and silver does not mean that it should not be used. After all, the output of silver in the Ming Dynasty is not much, and silver is still there in the Ming Dynasty or in other countries around the world.
It is a precious metal, so silver can still be exchanged for a certain amount of treasure banknotes, but it has shrunk ten times compared to before.
Now one tael of silver is only equal to one hundred treasure notes. The currency of the Ming Dynasty is valuable, but for the people of the Ming Dynasty, because the Tianqi Dynasty used treasure notes instead of gold and silver, there is almost no domestic price fluctuation.
How much should you earn?
But to the outside world, the appreciation of Ming’s currency undoubtedly made Ming’s profits even greater.
The currency changes of the Ming Dynasty not only affected the Ming Dynasty, but also the surrounding countries and even the Western countries. But who made the Ming Dynasty the center of the current world and the place where wealth from all over the world gathers?
Domestic currency reform had an impact on Ming Dynasty's overseas trade, but it was not serious. Ming merchants could still take shiploads of goods to trade and earn huge amounts of gold and silver back home.
The Ming Dynasty's trade was so profitable that it naturally attracted more covetousness. Nowadays, the maritime route from the Strait of Malacca to the Indian Ocean for Ming merchants has become much more dangerous.
There were pirates plundering.
After leaving Nanyang, the deterrence of the Ming Dynasty has become almost non-existent. Instead, it has become a symbol of wealth. The pirates like to rob the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty very much. Although the risk level is high every time, the successful profits are enough for the pirates to obtain massive wealth.
.
This forced the merchants of the Ming Dynasty to act as a group, and the retired warships and artillery of the Ming Dynasty Navy were also purchased by the merchants to arm their own merchant ships.
The Ming Dynasty merchants' overseas trade was unfavorable, and they frequently appeared on the cabinet desk, causing the cabinet ministers to constantly discuss solutions.
"Nowadays, the main tax revenue of the imperial court is commercial tax, and the tax on overseas trade is getting higher year by year. How much silk tea does the imperial court export overseas every year? How many pieces of porcelain and cloth? How much tax do these account for? Nowadays, Western trade is blocked, which is not good for the imperial court.
That's a good thing." Qian Qianyi said while holding a foldout.
Lu Xiangsheng nodded: "Yes, the imperial court's influence now mainly lies in the surrounding countries. Even Nanyang has not yet been fully controlled by the imperial court. As for the West, the imperial court's influence is really limited."
Huang Liji asked: "Can the navy go on a trip to the West?"
Lu Xiangsheng shook his head: "It's unrealistic. There are only so many naval fleets in the imperial court. Fleets patrol all the seas in the East and Southeast Asia. If you want to go to the West, you need a new fleet. Not to mention the birthplace of the West.
I’m not familiar with it, the supply of the fleet is also a problem.”
"Now the imperial court has a port in Nanyang, which allows the naval fleet to patrol Nanyang for a long time. In the West, the imperial court now has no influence, not to mention that the imperial court cannot continue to expand its influence. The surrounding countries and those who have influence on the imperial court
Be wary."
Qian Qianyi is now a very radical pioneer. He took a sip of tea and said calmly: "It is mediocre not to be envied by others. Our Ming Dynasty is strong and the people are rich, and we come from all over the world. How can the Western barbarian countries not be jealous?"
If they are jealous of our Ming Dynasty and abandon their martial arts and not go to the West, in the future their strength will increase, and I am afraid they will come to my Ming Dynasty to steal money."
"As for the surrounding countries, they are all vassals of the Ming Dynasty. If they have no intention of rebelling against the Ming Dynasty, why would they be wary of the Ming Dynasty? I think what Lu Xiang said is inappropriate. The Western lands should be explored and still need to be explored.
"
Zhang Haogu smiled and said: "Okay everyone, the short-term obstruction of Western trade is not a big deal. Once the Nanyang Development Company has managed Nanyang well, the next step will be to manage Western trade."
"It's not a bad thing to suffer some setbacks now. Let's work hard to manage Nanyang first. Nanyang is still in its infancy stage. If you only think about the interests of the West, it is easy to cause problems."
Qian Qianyi said: "We also understand what Yuan Fu means, but we can't just watch the businessmen's interests suffer. After all, the losses are all the court's money."
Zhang Haogu nodded: "Yes, the merchants of the Ming Dynasty cannot be bullied in vain. The navy commissioned several new ships and retired a batch of warships and artillery. These warships and artillery were awarded to the Nanyang Development Company for them to organize
fleet to explore the Western Ocean."
Qian Qianyi smiled and said: "This is a good idea."
Lu Xiangsheng also said: "Governor Qian is always more convenient than us in Nanyang. Let him look after the affairs in the West and at least provide a front line for the imperial court."
Qian Qianyi said: "There is a country of Ceylon above the Western Ocean, which can be used as a springboard for the imperial court in the Western Ocean. If the imperial court's influence can be expanded to Ceylon, it will undoubtedly be beneficial to the imperial court's future strategy.
Zhang Haogu said: "It's feasible."
Zhang Ruitu flipped through the book: "Recently, it's not just the west that has problems, the east is also uneasy. Many businessmen say that business in Japan has been criticized a lot for nothing, and business in Japan is not as easy as before."
Qian Qianyi snorted coldly: "It's just a Japanese country that provoked our Ming Dynasty territory before, but the imperial court didn't care about it. How dare he cause trouble?"
Huang Liji asked: "The Japanese country is right next to our country, the Ming Dynasty. It has always been a big importer of raw silk and silk satin since we opened the sea. There has been no trouble in trade with our country, the Ming Dynasty, in these years. Now this suddenly happened.
The question is, is there something hidden in it?"
Zhang Ruitu said thoughtfully: "This is really worth noting."
Zhang Haogu said: "Prime Minister Zhang, the Ministry of Rites sent someone to
We should ask the Japanese envoys to find out the internal situation of the Japanese country, so we can make plans in advance. Raw silk and satin from Jiangnan, Southeast and other places are exported to the Japanese country in large quantities. If this business is cut off, the loss to the court is not small.
"
Zhang Ruitu nodded: "Yes, I saved you."
After looking at these excerpts, Zhang Haogu couldn't help but laugh and said: "There are a lot of things going on at the beginning of this year. You must be prepared. I always feel that I will be very busy next time."
Qian Qianyi stroked his beard and smiled and said: "Hahaha, with His Majesty and Yuan Fu here, there is nothing to worry about. This burden does not fall on me."
A few people talked and laughed and decided on a series of things.
Be it pirates in the West or abnormalities in the Japanese countries in the East, it is really not a problem for the Ming Dynasty. Is there any other problem that can pose a threat to the Ming Dynasty, which has a strong country and a prosperous people?
Is there anything else that can make today's unprecedentedly powerful dynasty feel like it's facing a formidable enemy? No, it doesn't exist at all!
There is no such enemy outside that can be an enemy of the Ming Dynasty, and there is absolutely no enemy outside the Ming Dynasty.
This is not only the self-confidence of the princes of the Manchu Dynasty, but also the self-confidence of every Ming Dynasty citizen. The Tianqi Dynasty is so strong and proud.
At this time, Japan and Japan were also having an internal dispute.
Now the Japanese country is in the Edo period when the third shogun is in charge of the shogunate. The reputation of the Tokugawa family has climbed to its peak, and its control over various parts of the Japanese country is also constantly strengthening. Fifty-six foreign lords are working in Edo, and the Tokugawa shogunate
The prestige of the shogunate continued to increase, making the influence of the shogunate reach the highest level in three generations.
However, Tokugawa Iemitsu, the shogunate's general who conquered the barbarians and was only thirty years old this year, is still dissatisfied with the current situation. Although he has dominated the Japanese world and is undoubtedly the general, Japan still faces many problems.
For example, the many foreign business travelers and the culture, ideas and various novelties they brought were not good news for the shogunate who wanted to maintain permanent rule, or for the Tokugawa family.
News from the West, news from the Ming Dynasty, and all kinds of novel things have brought about a complicated and changeable domestic situation. Tokugawa Iemitsu, who originally didn't like opening up to the outside world, looked at the foreigners and barbarians pouring into his country.
I always feel like there are a lot of bugs in my castle tower.
He hates these foreigners, he hates these barbarians who bring various ideological trends. They have caused damage and influence to the rule of the Tokugawa family. These changes are detrimental.
If you want the Tokugawa family to rule the world for a long time and serve as the shogun for a long time, you must eliminate these external influences and maintain an unchanging and stable situation in the country.
The descendants of daimyo are daimyo, the descendants of samurai are samurai, merchants are merchants, and farmers are farmers. As long as the outside influence is shielded and the domestic situation is maintained, the Tokugawa family can always rule Japan, because the descendants of the shogun can also
He will definitely be the next general.
This is the Japan conceived by Tokugawa Iemitsu. He is already thirty years old. He is a powerful general. He does not reject Western culture, but only for himself. As for the common people, samurai, and those who are restless,
It’s better to be honest about your name.
It is now the thirteenth year of the Great Ming Dynasty and the tenth year of Japan's Kan'ei. At the beginning of the year, Tokugawa Iemitsu announced his new decision. He decided to isolate himself from the country.
It was forbidden to sail ships other than the shogunate ships, Japanese people who were stranded abroad were prohibited from returning to their country, and stricter control measures were adopted against Westerners. Francois and Dutch were imprisoned in Nagasaki. In addition,
Foreigners are not allowed to approach other places
After two naval battles between the Ming Dynasty and the Dutch, the Dutch power in the east was greatly weakened. In addition, the Francois were not strong in the first place and had been suppressed by the Spanish. Therefore, Tokugawa Iemitsu had no psychological burden.
I chose to deal with these two soft persimmons together.
Nowadays, Japan has implemented a maritime ban. If these Dutch and French people want to do business in Japan, they can only come to Nagasaki and cannot go to other places.
How to sell goods in Nagasaki is decided by Nagasaki Town, and behind Nagasaki Town is the shogunate. To put it bluntly, Tokugawa Iemitsu directly monopolizes Nagasaki's business and does not want those big foreign lords to do so.
The famous names of foreign vassals are not allowed to trade with outsiders.
According to the strict order of the shogunate, the Dutch and Francois can enter Nagasaki to do business, but it is easy to get in and difficult to get out. After all, Japan is currently closed to the outside world, and no entry or exit is allowed.
As a result, many Dutch and French people were trapped in Nagasaki, and all their goods were owned by the shogunate.
Because the Ming Dynasty was close to Japan, it still gave some preferential treatment to the merchants of the Ming Dynasty, but it only allowed the Ming Dynasty merchants to enter and exit Nagasaki to do business. The supervision of business was also extremely strict, and high taxes were imposed on raw silk, satin and other commodities.
, making businessmen very uncomfortable.
The implementation of a series of government decrees in Nagasaki Town naturally made the merchants furious, but after all, Japan was ruled by the shogunate, and they had no choice but to swallow their anger and do some business first.
The elders in the shogunate also had strong opinions on Tokugawa Iemitsu's decree and what happened at Nagasaki. Therefore, a dispute broke out in Tokugawa Iemitsu's mansion.
"We can't go on like this. What if Akito, the Dutch, and the French don't come to do business?" "Without the interference of these outsiders, the shogunate will only get better. Will it still be better?"
Does it get worse?"
"But without the weapons, armor, technology and books brought by these foreigners, how could we have achieved what we have today? We are learning from the technological achievements of the Westerners, improving our iron cannons, armor, and changing our army, so
Only the shogunate can subdue the vassal states in the world. If these vassal states obtain newer technologies from foreigners, what will we do?"
"This kind of thing will not happen! The general has ordered the country to be locked down. If there is a vassal state that dares to trade privately with foreigners, then such a disobedient vassal state should be exterminated as soon as possible."
"Okay! Even if we can not do business with the Westerners, we can reject the Dutch, reject the Francons, reject their armor, reject their technology, reject their culture and ideas, but what about the Ming Dynasty? We still have to
Can you refuse Ming merchants?"
As soon as these words came out, everyone fell silent.
Yes, Westerners are easy to reject because they are too far away from the East. At present, whether it is the Netherlands or the Francois, with the strong rise of the Ming Dynasty and re-opening overseas, their strength in the East is very weak, and they are basically weak.
It poses no threat to the shogunate.
But the reason why they are weak is because Ming Dynasty is stronger.
Japan is too far away from the Western countries, and too close to the Ming Dynasty. If it can reject the Western countries, can it reject the Ming Dynasty? "General, the Ming Dynasty is not something we can provoke. We should treat the Ming Dynasty with caution."
Tokugawa Iemitsu sat firmly on his knees and nodded slightly: "Indeed, Ming Dynasty is very close to us, and Ming Dynasty is also very strong. If we want to fully implement the national isolation plan, will Ming Dynasty stop us?"
A middle-aged man said: "According to the policies that the Ming Dynasty has always implemented, they don't care about these. What they focus on is their own development and influence. The Ming Dynasty is very powerful, so they are proud, and they look down on any place or thing outside the Central Plains.
The shogunate is far away overseas, and its relationship with the Ming Dynasty is not very close. We are still a country that does not conquer the Ming Dynasty, so it should be safe for us to close the door to ourselves."
But someone soon retorted: "But today's Ming Dynasty implements overseas policies. They actively communicate with various countries and have very frequent trade exchanges. They use this method to exert their influence in various countries. If we lock down the country, they will
How could you not pay attention? "
"You also said that the Ming Dynasty is actively exerting influence in various countries. If we don't lock the country now, will we have to wait for the Ming Dynasty to influence our shogunate? Don't you know what the mainstream thoughts and culture of the Ming Dynasty are now?
"The person who spoke at the beginning refuted it righteously.
He looked at Tokugawa Iemitsu very seriously, leaned over and said: "General, your policy is right. The shogunate wants to maintain a long-term rule, and it is important to seal off external influences for a stable rule."
