"The emperor doesn't test your knowledge of classics and meanings. With those people studying Confucianism and teaching, and with Master Yao supervising you, you will definitely be good in this aspect." Zhu Di chuckled and said, "But no matter how much knowledge you have, if you can't understand the truth and apply it in the world, you won't be able to apply it in the world."
He is just a book cook with two feet, how is he any different from an illiterate person?"
"It's good, it's good." Yao Guangxiao, who had been silent all this time, suddenly praised: "The emperor has exposed the shortcomings of today's imperial examinations with one word."
"It's a pity that my father is so wise that he has to re-open the imperial examination. I have been inferior to my great ancestor too many times, so what can I do?" Zhu Di sighed and said to Zhu Zhanji: "But my grandson doesn't have to take the imperial examination.
There is no need to throw away your book bag. The purpose of reading is to apply what you have learned. Your Majesty wants to see if your head has been damaged by those old Confucians..." After a pause, he said: "I ask you, I will send Zheng He three times.
Xiyang, what do your masters think, and what do you think?"
Zhu Zhanji couldn't help but secretly complain, this problem really makes people scratch their heads. Three years after the Yongle War, Zheng He led a fleet to the Western Ocean for the first time, which was accompanied by controversy. The opposition was mainly from civil servants. The first time was fine, and the ministers
The envoys from various countries were shocked by the rare treasures brought back by Zheng He. They were intoxicated with the glory of conquering the world and attracting all nations to come to court. They forgot to argue.
But everything happened again and again, and when the last time he went to sea, the courtiers became more annoying. This time they realized that the emperor had the intention of traveling to the West again, and the remonstrances were like snow flakes, and the words were also very fierce. Let
What makes Zhu Zhanji embarrassed is that several of his teachers are also among those who are admonishing him. If he disagrees with his teachers, it will inevitably be awkward when they meet in the future, but he does not dare to disobey the emperor. He has to make a clear decision:
"Reporting to your Majesty, my grandson's masters also agree with the imperial court's national policy of distant relations and close attacks. However, they feel that now that the imperial court is using troops to build the city of Beijing and rebuild the Grand Canal, the Tatars are not living well, and the provinces below have suffered disasters.
This is a time when the situation is getting worse and we are stretched thin, so it is understandable that we hope that the court will save money."
"Hmm." Zhu Di said noncommittally, "What do you think?"
"My grandson's humble opinion is different," Zhu Zhanji changed the topic: "My grandson thinks that it is precisely because the imperial court has huge expenditures and cannot make ends meet that it is more appropriate to go to the West."
"Oh?" Zhu Di said with a look on his face: "Why do you say that?"
"The masters are all ministers of Neo-Confucianism who speak eloquently, but the court has to fight wars, practice cultivation, and dig canals. Reason alone is not enough. It also requires manpower and material resources, and both manpower and material resources require real money." Zhu
Zhanji said: "People only see that Uncle Ma's fleet has hundreds of ships and tens of thousands of troops every time it goes out, and they think it must be a huge expense. But they have never thought about how such a huge fleet can be built without any income.
, stay overseas for two years without needing to return to China for supplies?”
"Haha." Zhu Di looked at Zheng He and then at Yao Guangxiao. The three of them looked at each other and smiled. Such a simple truth could not be understood by those civil servants. They were not even as good as a child under the age of sixteen.
In fact, Zhu Zhanji did not rely on guessing, but what Zheng He told him personally when he went to the south of the Yangtze River last year. Zheng He told Zhu Zhanji that going to sea is a waste of money. It can help sailors, officers and soldiers overcome their fear of the vast sea.
If you go there, you won't be able to return home for two years. There is no other way except that there will be a brave man who will be rewarded heavily.
The fleet floats on the sea for a day, and the food and salary for the sailors, officers and soldiers alone will cost ten thousand taels of silver, plus shipbuilding, ship repairs, supplies, and gifts along the way. If it is all funded by the court, the cost of the next Western voyage will be
Nearly ten million taels of silver. Although the current emperor is determined to surpass the kings of the past and present and become the emperor of the ages, he is by no means a second-generation ancestor like Emperor Yang of Sui who overestimates his capabilities. Even if he wants to show off his national power, promote orthodoxy, and go to the Western Seas,
You only need to play a money-burning game once, and you will never repeat it again and again...
The only explanation is that the actual benefits he gained from his voyages to the West must exceed the costs. Only in this way will people have the motivation to repeat it.
The secret lies in his father, Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, who banned the sea from entering the sea. Even if Emperor Taizu, who was born as a small farmer, could say, "The crescent moon in the sky is a fishing hook, how many mountains and rivers do I have?"
The floor of the tent is made of felt, and the sun, moon and stars accompany me to sleep. I dare not stretch my feet at night, for fear of stepping on the mountains, rivers, and the country. This kind of heroic poem has passed through the ages, but when facing the vast ocean, it still produces deep fear.
, subconsciously thought that he could not control it. Then he began to worry, if the people of Ming Dynasty fled to the sea, wouldn't he be powerless?
What to do? It’s easy to issue a sea ban. No one is allowed to go to the sea, and no one is allowed to go to the sea. Isn’t there no problem?
The national policy set by Emperor Taizu had always been this way. If he thought there was no problem, he would just do it, regardless of other people's opinions. The sea ban was promulgated in the name of dealing with Japanese pirates. Unexpectedly, the number of Japanese pirates harassing the coast not only did not decrease, but actually
Intensified, even from sea to land, from Liaodong to Guangdong, have been invaded by Japanese pirates
Even to his death, Zhu Yuanzhang did not understand why the more severe the maritime ban he imposed, the more serious the Japanese invasion became.
It was Daoyan monk Yao Guangxiao who solved the mystery. When Zhu Di was at the feudal residence, he once eliminated a group of Japanese pirates who invaded Beiping. When he unexpectedly raised this issue, Daoyan told him that everything was because of the sea ban.
We all know that Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong have a long history of maritime trade. Since the Tang Dynasty, maritime merchants have sold countless domestic products to Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, and even further to the West. They have also exported overseas products.
The produce was trafficked to the country, making huge profits, and he became extremely rich.
Especially in the Southern Song Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty, overseas trade reached its peak, and even half of the imperial court's annual income came from the sea. At the same time, the large merchants in Fujian, Zhejiang and Guangdong were also extremely wealthy and developed into a force that cannot be ignored. For example, the Pu family in Quanzhou and Chongming
The Zhu family in Jiading, the Zhang family in Jiading... these long-established maritime merchants have even become wealthy families. And Emperor Taizu banned them from going to sea with a ban on the sea. Even if these maritime families can wash their hands in a golden basin and live an honest life ashore, they
Even the sailors of the giant ship under his command can refuse to agree.
It's like a big river. It originally flows eastward, but occasionally brings harm to the people on both sides during the flood season. If you insist on blocking the river, the river will be fierce. If it escapes from the river, it will flood and submerge the farms, villages and towns on both sides of the river, causing a hundredfold harm. Forbidden
The same is true for Hai Ling.
As a result, many maritime merchants were forced into the sea and became big pirates. In order not to harm their relatives at home, they often shaved their heads and changed clothes and disguised themselves as Japanese to hide their identities. With these people, they knew the country well and had power.
Wealthy men and well-equipped fake Japanese pirates joined in. It would be strange if the Japanese invasion did not become more serious.
In the view of Yao Guangxiao and Zhu Di at that time, now that the crux of the problem had been found, the solution was also available. As long as they strictly suppressed the Japanese pirates, opened sea bans, and pardoned the pirates who came ashore, the Japanese troubles would soon disappear. But when Zhu Di became emperor
, only to realize that this move didn't work - the reason why Jingnan raised the army was that Jianwen had changed the ancestral law. Now that he had overthrown Jianwen and became the emperor, he would naturally use the banner of restoring the ancestral system everywhere. How could he change the order promulgated by Taizu?
Sea ban?
What's more, Zhu Di never thought about opening a sea ban. The reason is very simple. The sea ban bans civilian ships, not official ships. The imperial navy can still sail around the world. When the sea ban is opened, the maritime merchants make money, and most of it belongs to them.
How much profit can the imperial court share? Isn't it like salt and iron, which monopolizes Yu?
Ordinary people may just think about it when they have an idea, but once the idea of a great emperor sprouts, it will definitely become a reality. Hence, the reason why Zheng He sent more than 300 giant ships and nearly 30,000 troops to his voyages to the West
, because the sea is a lawless place, pirates are ferocious and arrogant, and the large Japanese pirate gang has tens of thousands of people, and there are more than one pirate group. If the troops are not strong enough to ensure everything is safe, and if they are defeated by the pirates, where will Emperor Yongle's face be?
Moreover, such a super navy that covers the sky and the sun can also show off its force to the Southeast Asian countries, defeating others without fighting, and restoring their respect for the court. More importantly, they worship him as the emperor. This is also the Yongle Emperor.
What he dreamed of... When Zheng He went to the West for the first time, Zhu Di's wishful thinking was that even if this trip failed to make a deal, he could let the countries in the South China Sea know that if he were the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he could make several vassal states come forward.
It is worthwhile to come to pay tribute and create a scene where all nations come to pay tribute.
Of course, in order to reduce domestic opposition, Zheng He's fleet's frequent overseas trade was deliberately covered up. After all, it was a very disgraceful thing for an emperor to engage in business. He would be scolded by the imperial censor and ridiculed by the historian. So he only said it to the outside world.
It is to promote the country's prestige and contact various countries in Southeast Asia.
In fact, the reason why Zheng He traveled to the West again was simply that the emperor was short of money.
Zhu Zhanji had already learned from Zheng He the purpose of the emperor's mission to the Western Seas, so he could naturally tell Zhu Di what he wanted to hear. He made the emperor very happy, stroking his beard and saying, "My good grandson still knows.
"Your Majesty's Heart" he said with a happy smile and said: "Not bad, not bad, you have made great progress. Tell me what you want to reward me. What do you want your Majesty to reward you with?"
"I don't want anything else for my grandson," Zhu Zhanji said with a smile, "I just want to ask if I can add someone to my young army."
"Who?" Zhu Di asked with a smile. The so-called "Young Army" is what he ordered the Ministry of War to select from all over the country, brave, strong, and slightly talented civilians aged seventeen to twenty last year, and sent them to the capital.
He acted as a follower of the emperor's grandson Zhu Zhanji, and gave this unit a name, Jun.
These people are actually the private security force of the emperor's grandson. It is reasonable for Zhu Zhanji to want to recruit some people. He replied softly: "It's a small official whom my grandson met by chance when he was in Suzhou. He is very smart.
, and he is capable, I want him to help me manage people."
Hearing that he was a minor official, Zhu Di was not interested in asking. He nodded and said, "Just tell Jin Shangshu and he will help you."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Zhu Zhanji said with great joy, saying it in his heart