"Trade can exchange what is needed, regulate supply and demand, and promote development."
Zhu Yihai attaches great importance to the economy. During the war, agricultural production was greatly affected, which made it even more necessary to increase tax subsidies from industry and commerce.
North Korea is a large market. In the past, the volume of tribute trade was too small and had many restrictions.
Zhu Yihai's plan is to fully liberalize trade. When Dongjiang Town is reopened, Dongjiang will be the nearest trade transfer station, and ports such as Denglai, Ningbo, Chongming, and Hangzhou can also be fully liberalized for trade by North Korean officials and citizens.
At the same time, he also hoped that North Korea would open up Xuanshapo, Pyongyang, Yiju, Seoul and other places to allow Ming merchants to trade.
During the Ming Dynasty, the two countries traded with each other, opened their ports, and jointly combated smuggling.
North Korea's ginseng, cattle and horses, wood, medicinal materials, grain, etc. can enter the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty can also sell silk, cotton, ironware, tea, etc. to North Korea. Not only do they exchange what they need, but they can also obtain profits and taxes.
This is extremely beneficial to the courts of both countries.
Although trade in the past was limited to the official government and private trade was prohibited, that was all in the past, and there were past considerations. For Zhu Yihai now, what he values more is the benefits of open trade.
Moreover, private trade itself is more in line with the laws of market and economic development. What the court needs to do is to make the best use of the situation, rather than blocking it.
As long as you do a good job of auditing and taxing, you'll be fine.
"Recently, the Ming Dynasty and the Dutch are at war in the East China Sea, so I hope North Korea will not trade with the Dutch in the future."
Cui Mingji directly stated that Western churches have been secretly introduced into North Korea recently, which has had a very bad impact on people's thinking. The North Korean court has also discussed banning Christianity many times.
They planned to ban all Western churches, and even completely ban Portuguese, Dutch, Spanish and other Westerners from coming to trade, and severely crack down on smuggling.
Among the two countries in East Asia, North Korea and Japan, North Korea is more conservative than Japan.
However, Japan banned Christianity earlier, mainly because Japan had a large trade with several Western countries, attracting many foreigners, and the spread of the church had a great impact on the people, and even the Shimabara Rebellion occurred. After this rebellion, Japan banned Christianity
, expelled the Portuguese and Spanish behind the Catholic Church, but left the Dutch alone and allowed them to continue trading, making the Netherlands the only Western trading partner of Japan.
The Dutch maintain trade relations with Japan and earn a large amount of money every year. Because of the development of trade with Japan, they need Taiwan as a trade transit station.
Especially after many attempts to open port trade with the Ming Dynasty failed, they could only occupy Taiwan and trade with the Zheng Group.
"Your Majesty, please rest assured that North Korea will never let the Dutch set foot in North Korea."
In fact, Zhu Yihai had greeted the Dutch before and wanted to have a good talk with them. Zhu Yihai summoned the Dutch representatives in Taiwan and proactively proposed a friendly plan.
That is, the Ming Dynasty allowed the Netherlands to trade with the Ming Dynasty, opening more than a dozen ports such as Hangzhou, Ningbo, Guangzhou, Wenzhou, and Guangzhou for them to trade freely in the Ming Dynasty. The condition was that the Dutch returned the occupied Taiwanese land, including their victory over the Spanish a few years ago.
Captured Keelung Port.
This proposal was very sincere, and even the opening of the port by the Ming Dynasty was something they had always dreamed of. However, they could not convince the Ming Dynasty at that time. They were not good at writing and military. They occupied Penghu by force and even launched a war on the coast, but they all failed.
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In particular, the rise of the Zheng family monopolized the Ming Dynasty's goods, forcing them to finally start a transit trade in Taiwan. They could only buy Ming Dynasty goods from the Zheng family, and then resell them to Japan or ship them back to Badawi.
Asia and other places.
Now we can trade directly with the Ming Dynasty, which means a larger Chinese market and a direct purchasing place for Chinese goods without middlemen making a difference in their prices.
Zhu Yihai even proposed that they could come to China to preach, as long as they abide by the laws of the Ming Dynasty and act according to the rules of the Ming Dynasty.
Originally, he thought that the Dutch would happily agree and then start in-depth cooperation with the Ming Dynasty like the Portuguese. Who knew that this matter would not happen in the end.
The Dutch wanted to trade with the Ming Dynasty, but were unwilling to give up Taiwan.
They even asked the Ming Dynasty to allocate Macau, a Portuguese concession, to them.
This is extremely excessive.
The Portuguese have indeed weakened in recent years, and even their colonies in Malacca and other places have been gradually seized by the Dutch. However, Macau is a treasure land. The rent of 500 taels a year is exchanged for at least 2.5 million taels a year.
Huge profit gains on silver.
They have an advantageous position in Macau and make a lot of money through re-export trade every year. Why are they willing to quit?
When the Dutch sent a fleet to besiege Macau, the Portuguese troops in Macau held out to the end with a small number of soldiers. In the end, they were able to defeat the Dutch commander with a single shot and then repelled the enemy and defended this treasured land.
For the Ming Dynasty, the Portuguese in Macau were already friendly partners. They helped Zhu Yihai a lot in the early stages, providing mercenaries, selling artillery, gunpowder, etc. It was mutually beneficial for the two sides to strengthen trade.
The Dutchman opened his mouth, talked for several rounds, and finally broke up.
If peace talks fail, then we can only fight hard.
Zhu Yihai also knew that this negotiation failed. In fact, the Zheng family was also causing trouble inside. The Zheng family had fought several battles with the Dutch East India Company before, and finally drove the Dutch out and monopolized the Ming Dynasty's foreign trade rights.
Now that the imperial court has opened up sea trade, the Zheng family has suffered the most, but there is nothing they can do.
But given the opportunity, I am still willing to cause damage.
This negotiation failed, in fact, mainly because during the negotiation, Fujian Governor Zheng Hongkui sent people to Taiwan to attack the Dutch on the island, killing more than a dozen Dutch people, and then attacked two Dutch merchant ships at sea.
The Zheng family blocked the Taiwan Strait and did not allow Dutch merchant ships to go north. They wanted to cut off the Dutch trade with Japan. They wanted the Dutch to trade with the Zheng family and let them make the middle money.
Gu Yue
There is negotiation here, while Zheng takes action secretly over there.
The Dutch trade with Japan and make huge profits every year. Their ships can sail directly from Batavia (Jakarta) to Japan, but they also need to trade with the Zheng family to purchase Chinese goods.
Zheng broke the previous post-war agreement with the Dutch, attacked their colony in Taiwan, intercepted their merchant ships, and even stopped selling goods to them. The Dutch were also angry.
They even think that Zheng's behavior was instigated by the Ming Dynasty, negotiating here, and secretly causing trouble there. The Dutch, who have been strong in recent years, no longer negotiate, and they want to fight the Ming army in Taiwan, and use a big defeat to make the Ming Dynasty calm down.
, and then force Ming to trade and recognize their possession of Taiwan.
Faced with this situation, Zhu Yihai did not explain any more.
If the negotiation fails, then fight him. If he refuses to drink a toast, then give him a fine drink.
While Zhu Yihai sent people to Luzon to negotiate for open trade cooperation with the Spaniards, he also asked the southeastern frontier ministers such as Zhu Chenggong, Zhang Kentang, He Tengjiao, Zhang Mingyang, and Qu Shichu to step up preparations for the recovery of Taiwan.
They united with the Spanish to block the Dutch's northward route, and promised to allow the Spanish to return to the island of Taiwan to establish merchant houses and trade in Hong Kong after the Dutch were wiped out on Taiwan Island.
Zhu Yihai also sent people to Japan as envoys. However, the generals of the Tokugawa family of the Japanese shogunate were a little confused, or they were bent on seclusion and did not pay the Ming Dynasty. It may also be because they sent troops to Korea in the early years and were eventually defeated by the Ming Dynasty.
The fight was a bit miserable, so I still hold grudges.
The Japanese country ignored the Ming emperor's envoys and did not even agree to liberalize trade with the Ming Dynasty. It still insisted on the lock-down order and did not allow the Ming Dynasty to trade with Japan, nor did the Japanese come to the Ming Dynasty to trade.
Zhu Yihai was too lazy to talk about this kind of stupidity. If trade was not allowed, let's just smuggle it.
The profits from international maritime trade are so huge that the Tokugawa family cannot stop it. If the shogunate doesn't cooperate, then it will look to the lower feudal lords for cooperation.
A war in Taiwan is inevitable.
Regarding the matter of regaining Taiwan, in fact, most of the voices in the court now disapprove. The reason is very simple, that is, it is a deserted island in the sea, with only some cannibal islanders and a group of Westerners occupying land.
Including some hungry people from Fujian who came to the island to reclaim wasteland in the early years, the total number of Han people is only 10,000 or 20,000.
With such a small population, coupled with the fact that it is across the sea from Fujian and it is difficult to travel due to high winds and waves, it is not worth expending too much effort to attack the Tatars. The Tatars should be attacked first now.
Moreover, even if it is conquered, it will not be easy to develop.
Any larger island along the coast of the Ming Dynasty is far better than Taiwan Island. It is very expensive to transport people there to cultivate it, and it is difficult to recover the cost. The current situation is not cost-effective.
Chongming, Zhoushan and other islands, any one of them has a population of one or two million people, countless fields, and the benefits of fishing and salt. Isn't it a hundred times better than that of Tai Island?
Although he suspected that there were many voices of opposition, Zhu Yihai still insisted on taking back Taiwan Island.
As for the large investment in development and the difficulty in repaying it in a short period of time, it also depends on the specific situation.
For example, the Central Plains is now full of wars and famines, and Taiwan Island is located in the East China Sea. It can be said that it is in the rear area. What is needed now is ships to transport hungry people from Huainan, Shandong, Huguang and other places to Taiwan Island, and to provide everyone with some seeds and agricultural tools.
Letting everyone reclaim wasteland and rely on their own efforts to at least have a stable environment is a hundred times better than staying in a dead place like the Central Plains?
After working hard for three to five years, I will be able to be self-sufficient.
Even if it takes a few years of hard work to build a shack at the beginning, it will always pay off. Sooner or later, the court will be able to get tax returns, not to mention having a place to safely settle the people in troubled times, which is also an excellent source of troops.
On the other hand, by fighting against Taiwan, we can also take the opportunity to integrate the troops and horses in Fujian and Guangxi, strengthen the jurisdiction of the court, and even drive away the Dutch and recapture Taiwan in the long run, which will also seriously weaken the Zheng family.
The Zheng family's ability to dominate the sea in recent years is also related to their early defeat of the Dutch and then reaching a trade agreement with them. When this agreement is broken, the pattern can be redrawn.
Zheng's status will naturally be weakened again.
The southeast was far away, and Zhu Yihai could only hope that Zhu Chenggong and the others could defeat the Dutch and regain Taiwan as soon as possible.
At that time, if we send people to talk to the Dutch, it may be easier to talk.
He still hopes to start trade with the Dutch. After all, they have great influence in Nanyang. Trade between the two parties is a mutually beneficial and win-win situation. But next time, it will be the Ming Dynasty trading with the Dutch, not the Fujian Zheng family and the Taiwanese Dutch.
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"Does Your Majesty plan to fight the Tartars here?"
The crown prince of Korea, Li Hao, was very interested when he looked at the fortress and water fortress that were about to take shape in Laizhou Bay. This fortress was different from what he had seen before. He had never seen such a fortress even among the Liaodong Tatars.
It just feels full of edges and corners, full of ferociousness.
Especially the heavy artillery being hoisted up the fort is even more powerful.
"Well, I'm waiting for the Tatars here. They should be here soon."
Li Hao was very excited and requested that he and his five hundred Korean archers be given deployment tasks.
"We Korean archers have always been good at shooting, and we will never let your Majesty down."
Zhu Yihai smiled. North Korean archers are indeed quite famous. Like their kimchi, beauties and Korean ginseng, they are among the treasures of North Korea.