Zhu Houzhao arranged three officials in Zhejiang in succession. Although they were only seventh-rank officials, they still attracted the attention of the cabinet and the six ministries.
What on earth does the emperor want to do?
Soon they found out.
Baofang, Liang Chu, Jin Gui and Yang Yiqing were all present.
Zhu Houzhao said straight to the point: "I want to establish a new shipping department in Hangzhou. What do you think?"
None of the three people objected immediately because they were unclear about the situation.
Liang Chu asked: "Your Majesty, there is already a Ningbo Shipping Department in Zhejiang, why should a new Hangzhou Shipping Department be established?"
Zhu Houzhao said: "The Ningzhou City Shipping Department is responsible for Japan's trade. I have newly established the Hangzhou City Shipping Department to be responsible for the trade of the Thai and Western countries."
Liang Chu was still confused: "The Guangzhou Shipping Department is responsible for the trade between the countries in Europe and the West."
Zhu Houzhao said: "Guangzhou is too far away, and it is difficult to transport goods from Jiangnan."
Liang Chu advised: "Your Majesty, there is more than enough business between Guangdong and Guangxi and trade with other countries in Thailand and the West."
Zhu Houzhao said: "It's definitely not enough."
Liang Chu wanted to persuade him again, but Yang Yiqing suddenly asked in shock: "Your Majesty wants to open the sea?"
Zhu Houzhao smiled and said: "We only open the sea from Hangzhou, so you don't have to panic."
"Your Majesty, you must not do this!"
Liang Chu knelt down directly and begged the emperor not to open the sea. He said: "The sea ban is an ancestral system and cannot be easily abolished."
This reason is so powerful that it directly blocks all dissent.
Even Zhu Di did not dare to violate the ancestral system and even enforced the sea ban more strictly.
Zheng He's voyages to the West were not a voyage to the sea; they were official trade.
What is a sea ban?
Private merchants are prohibited from going overseas, and foreign businessmen are prohibited from coming to China. Only foreign countries are allowed to bring some private goods when paying tribute!
There are strict rules for bringing private goods as tribute. Last year, the North Korean envoy brought too many private goods, and the Jin Yiwei went directly to the Huitong Hall to block the door. The North Korean king felt that he had lost face and took the opportunity to suppress factions in North Korea.
Zhu Houzhao asked Yang Yiqing and Jin Gui: "What do you two think about the sea ban?"
Yang Yiqing objected politely: "We should discuss it with the six ministries."
Jin Gui said ambiguously: "You still need to be cautious."
The civil servant group opposes opening up the sea mainly for two reasons -
First, all the admirals in charge of the shipping department were eunuchs. Opposing the opening of the sea was suppressing the eunuch party. Emperor Hongzhi strengthened the maritime ban. The most important reason was that the eunuchs relied on the shipping department for too much corruption.
Second, they were afraid of being cut off from their financial resources. This mainly came from southern officials.
Northern officials, on the other hand, have always expressed an indifferent attitude about whether to open the sea or not. They won't make much money anyway.
Although Yang Yiqing is originally from Yunnan, his household registration is in Guangdong and his roots are also in Guangdong.
Jin Gui is from Jiangsu and Liang Chu is from Guangdong.
The three cabinet ministers are all from the southern coastal areas. How could they support opening up the sea?
Zhu Houzhao was very angry and sneered: "What if I insist on having my own way?"
All three cabinet ministers knelt down and resisted silently.
Zhu Houzhao said angrily: "In business, it's important to ask for a high price and pay back the money when you get there. I've already made a bid, so you should pay back the price."
Liang Chu said: "Your Majesty, this matter concerns the country, how can it be trivial?"
Yang Yiqing suddenly said: "Your Majesty, if there is no eunuch to supervise the shipping department, we may try to open the sea."
When Liang Chu heard this, he immediately turned his head and glared at Yang Yiqing.
The eunuch admiral who oversees the Shibo Department was created by Zhu Di. This man especially liked to reuse eunuchs. Of course everything went well when he was in office, but as soon as he died, the eunuchs jumped up and ate up the profits from the tribute trade.
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Zhu Houzhao was hesitant. He also wanted to use eunuchs, but Wang Yuan was a little unwilling. Now Yang Yiqing also firmly opposed it.
Jin Gui was also an imperialist after all. Seeing that the emperor was silent, he immediately echoed: "Your Majesty, if the system of eunuchs supervising the shipping department is abolished, I will also support the opening of the sea!"
Jin Gui's little idea is very simple. It's not that I want to oppose His Majesty, I just oppose those eunuchs.
Don't blame the civil servants for their attitude of rebelling against eunuchs. In fact, eunuchs as a whole cannot support them. Take the silver mines of the Ming Dynasty as an example. Eunuchs must be selected as mine supervisors. Even the silver mines can give you a full loss, so you can
Let’s talk about how greedy it is!
Wang Yuan also firmly opposed the eunuch admiral to supervise the shipping department. He did not want to work hard and end up with most of the proceeds from sea trade going into the eunuch's pocket.
Zhu Houzhao sat there, silent for a long time. It was obvious that he could not trust the civil servants, but rather believed in his own slaves, the eunuchs.
Liang Chu felt relieved and admired Yang Yiqing's clever methods. Such an attitude not only did not offend the emperor, but also maintained the imperial court's maritime ban policy.
When the three of them thought about it, Zhu Houzhao would definitely not agree.
Salt mines, iron mines, silver mines... I don't know how many were destroyed by eunuchs. Civil servants have always been opposed, but they have not continued to use eunuchs for hundreds of years.
Zhu Houzhao gritted his teeth and suddenly made a decision: "Ningbo, Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Hue, and Xinping, these four city shipping departments will continue to be supervised by eunuchs. The Hangzhou City Shipping Department will be newly established, and will be supervised by civil servants. For the time being, it will only operate in Hangzhou for trial operation.
It will take a few years to see the results. No more objections are allowed, the matter is settled! I will be promoted to Yunnan Left Chief Envoy Chen Jin, right deputy imperial envoy, and admiral of the Hangzhou Shipping Department."
Chen Jin is from Shanxi. How could he oppose the opening of the sea without eunuch corruption?
Liang Chu, Jin Gui and Yang Yiqing were so surprised that they actually sent a right deputy imperial envoy to the Admiral City Shipping Department. This was too heavy a weight!
"Your Majesty..." Liang Chu still wanted to dissuade him.
"Shut up!"
Zhu Houzhao interrupted directly: "I have already said that we will only open the sea in Hangzhou and implement it for a few years to see the results. If it is difficult to achieve any results, we will ban it before it is too late."
The three of them were silent, thinking hard about countermeasures.
During this time, Wang Yuan was selecting helpers, and Zhu Houzhao was naturally not idle either. He added: "He Tang, who was promoted to Dongchang Prefecture, was promoted to the Hangzhou Shipping Department!"
It was during the banquet that He Tang pointed at the emperor's nose and scolded the foolish emperor.
Zhu Houzhao remembered him at some point, and not only did his anger disappear, but he was also promoted to He Tang by two levels.
Before Liang Chu, Jin Gui, and Yang Yiqing could regain their composure, Zhu Houzhao threw out Wang Zha again: "I will order Wang Yuan, the right minister of the Ministry of War, the governor of Zhejiang, to grant the right to open the mansion, and to accompany him with a thousand Shenji battalions as pacesetters!"
"His Majesty!"
The three cabinet ministers shouted in panic.
Liang Chu said: "The governor has the power to open the government and has the power to serve as a model. He may become the disaster of the vassal towns in the Tang Dynasty again!"
Zhu Houzhao laughed angrily: "It's just a temporary opening of the government, and there are only a thousand pacesetters. If a vassal town can be formed in this way, then all the officials of the three local divisions can be killed! I am not discussing with you today, I am giving an order, please go down.
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Whether it was Wang Yuan's power as governor to open the government and lead the army, or to open up maritime trade, the three cabinet ministers refused to cooperate, and even incited the officials of the Ministry of Science and Technology to go to court to persuade them.
But again, the cabinet during the Zhengde period did not have that much power.
The three of them did not cooperate. Lu Wan, the Minister of Civil Affairs, cooperated, and Wang Qiong, the Minister of War, also cooperated.
Zhu Houzhao directly asked Jiang Bin to pass the message, vaguely revealing that as long as Lu Wan cooperated with the opening of the sea, he would be appointed as the prime minister after the event was completed. Lu Wan was from Suzhou. In order to cater to the emperor, he even sacrificed the interests of the gentry in his hometown.
They didn't want any of them, and they took this opportunity to promote cronies in the Ministry of Personnel - Mao Cheng, the left minister of the Ministry of Personnel, refused to cooperate. Lu Wan used the emperor's power to replace three doctors of the Ministry of Personnel in one go.
The Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War fully support it, but what's the use of the cabinet's opposition?
Mao Ji, the Minister of Rites, and Shi Jie, the Minister of the Ministry of Husbandry, all threatened the emperor with resignation and resolutely opposed these two things. Zhu Houzhao just pretended that he could not see or hear, and would not allow anyone to resign, so they could only stare blankly.
Zhu Houzhao could even force the border troops to enter Beijing, so what else could he not do?
The success or failure of opening a sea does not depend on the court, but on the place!