1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2694
Zhu Zi'an's De Wang's Mansion became desolate because of insufficient income, and Daming in this period was not an exception.Counting from the last year of the apocalypse, more than 20 consecutive years of domestic and foreign difficulties and poor financial resources, by the 50s, the annual income of the Ming treasury had dropped rapidly from 2000 million taels of silver in the Wanli period to less than 500 million taels. The situation can be described as stretched.

Such a small amount of income is needed to maintain the operation of the entire state apparatus, and it is not enough for the imperial court to use for itself.So in the face of Haihan's continuous expansion and erosion in recent years, Daming couldn't even organize a decent resistance due to a serious lack of military spending, so he could only temporarily preserve Zhu's Daming's name from being erased by surrendering.

As for the down-and-out vassals like De Wangfu, even if they ask the capital for help, they will only be ignored, so they can only fend for themselves, or find their own way out like Zhu Zian.

Without sufficient financial resources, it is impossible to maintain a strong national power. The situation of Daming in recent decades has perfectly explained this point.On the contrary, Haihan relied on its strong financial resources to make it rise rapidly in less than 30 years and become the number one power in East Asia.

Before, Zhu Zian only knew that Haihan's overseas trade scale was extremely impressive, but he didn't have a definite understanding of the specific extent.It was not until I came into contact with these first-hand data in Busan this time that I really felt the shock.

Thinking back, if Daming could open up the sea ban and guide maritime merchants to engage in transnational trade activities under the supervision of the government, it must not be much worse than Haihan.If the national treasury has more income from sea trade, why worry about insufficient military food and poor armor, and it will be much more calm when facing internal and external troubles.If Ming had controlled the maritime trade of East Asian countries more than a hundred years in advance, how could it have left room for Haihan to develop.

Of course, Zhu Zian also knew that these were just useless assumptions in his mind. The reality is that Da Ming chose a wrong development route, and Hai Han seized the opportunity and made full use of maritime trade to rapidly expand his strength.

Zhu Zian didn't remember that Daming had adopted similar measures to set up autonomous zones to demarcate the borders of other countries' trade ports. It can be seen that the development of Haihan in terms of maritime trade is already at a level that even Daming can't catch up with.

After the audit work of the day was over, Tao Hongfang called everyone to have a dinner. Although this work only required sitting in the room and flipping through various documents without being exposed to the wind and sun, it was a brain-intensive task after all, and the statistics to be counted were very complicated. , You may make mistakes if you don’t pay attention, and you will feel dizzy and tired after a busy day.There are enough good wines and dishes on the table, which can be regarded as a kind of consolation for the hard work of his subordinates.

Zhu Zian seized the opportunity and asked Tao Hongfang for his doubts during the meeting: "Master Tao, Haihan merchants pay a lot of taxes in Busan. Even if we have a way to make the local government shut up and compromise, the amount of tax paid to the national treasury There will eventually be a big hole in the tax bank, can the king of North Korea be willing to lose 10 taels of income every year?"

Tao Hongfang said: "Then how could it be reconciled? What we do is actually to make the North Koreans spit out the meat that has been put into their mouths. Even if the North Korean court reluctantly approves this matter through exerting diplomatic pressure, we still have to try to appease the North Koreans." That’s fine. Busan earns a few 10 taels less every year, so they have to think about it.”

Zhu Zi'an said: "Can my lord elaborate on it?"

Zhu Zian has no relatives in the local area, and Tao Hongfang will not worry about him revealing the secret, so he patiently explained to him: "Although this tax will not be collected, our country promises to increase the scale of trade and investment in Busan. This can also indirectly bring a lot of benefits to Busan. Moreover, the taxes we collect in the Busan Special Zone are basically used for the daily operation and infrastructure projects of the special zone, which means that the money will eventually be spent in Busan. Part of it will go to the people of Busan. Although the money did not go into the national treasury, it still stays in North Korea. Do you understand the reason?"

Zhu Zian suddenly said: "So that's how it is! After my lord explained it like this, I'll understand it now!"

Haihan merchants pay hundreds of thousands of taxes to the government in Busan every year, which is not a big amount for Haihan's own finances. If this money can be used to further consolidate Haihan's influence in Busan, the executive committee Will be happy to see it happen.

The establishment of the special zone does not mean that it will be isolated from North Korea. On the contrary, it will create more jobs for the local North Korean people, and will provide the Busan area with a port city model that can be emulated. cost, greatly improving the efficiency of local trade.

In the future, in addition to Haihan merchants, many North Koreans will be able to enjoy the relatively complete city and port facilities in the special zone. Therefore, for the local government, this plan is not just a unilateral loss, but actually a loss. Got it.From a long-term perspective, this may be more conducive to the development of Busan Port.

Tao Hongfang continued: "And from a security point of view, the more my country invests in Busan, the safer the trade environment in this place will be. For North Korea, on the premise that my country is not allowed to deploy troops, it can get a In a relatively safe environment, this is actually a very good deal.”

Zhu Zian nodded silently, this was a point of view he hadn't realized before.

Tao Hongfang's point of view is not difficult to understand. Although Busan is a natural port, it has been captured by Japanese pirates more than once in history because of its geographical location.Every time Japan invades North Korea, Busan is the first choice to attack, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the lifeblood of the Korean peninsula.Even though the two countries have gradually restored normal relations more than ten years ago, the history of the fall of Busan is still a lingering shadow in the hearts of North Koreans.

But after Haihan merchants began to station in Busan, North Korea became more at ease. What they brought to Busan was not only a straight-up trade scale, but also a huge protective umbrella above Busan.

If Busan encounters the crisis of foreign invasion again, the interests of Haihan merchants will inevitably be damaged. In this case, Haihan will definitely not sit idly by and will definitely send troops to intervene.And Japan has suffered a lot under Haihan's hands in the early years. Even if they are salivating at Pusan ​​Port, if the Japanese risk another military attack by Haihan to attack Pusan ​​Port, then they will definitely choose Give up this unrealistic goal.

Therefore, Haihan's increased investment in Busan and the expansion of its business scale will indeed protect the local area objectively.The North Koreans have suffered and tasted the sweetness, of course they will not fail to realize this, so after weighing the pros and cons, they finally agreed to Haihan's request to set up an autonomous zone in Busan.

(End of this chapter)