Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 210, the ministers are angry

In the early morning of the next day, Emperor Hongzhi had just sat on his buttocks, and Xiao Jing had just finished shouting slogans, and several ministers immediately stood up.

"Zhou Aiqing, tell me first."

Emperor Hongzhi looked at the several courtiers who stood up. Among them, the highest-ranking one was the Hubu Shangshu Zhoujing of the Ming Dynasty. Most of the other ministers were Hanlin and Yushi with low ranks. Let Zhou Jing speak first.

Hearing what Emperor Hongzhi said, the other ministers returned to their positions silently. Zhou Jing, the Minister of the Household Department, had something to say, unless he was the elder of the three cabinets, he would basically give way to him first.

"Your Majesty Zhou Jing said that I have recently been ordered to go to Tianjin to raise food for disaster relief. I saw with my own eyes in Tianjin that a seagoing ship harvested more than [-] catties of sea fish every day, enough to supply the needs of tens of thousands of people."

"Today, the three provinces of Beizhili, Shanxi, and Shandong are suffering from famine. The land is full of hunger and people are dying. I ask your majesty to lift the sea ban for the common people of the world and the people of Li."

Zhou Jing's words almost stirred up a thousand waves with one stone. Just as the words fell, the entire Golden Luan Hall seemed to explode. Before Emperor Hongzhi could speak, more than a dozen ministers stood up one after another.

"I object. The implementation of the sea ban is the ancestral system established by the Emperor Taizu. It is the foundation of the country. It must not be shaken, otherwise disaster will happen."

The person who spoke was Wu Kuan, a member of the Hanlin Academy. He was the one who said at the beginning that he would use silver to buy food for disaster relief. Expropriating food from merchants would break the trust of the people. Take out the ancestral system and take out the country.

"I also object. The sea ban is a national policy and the foundation of the country. Since the emperor Taizu made it, the previous kings have strictly abided by it and severely cracked down on businessmen who go to sea without permission."

"To open the sea ban just for a little sea fish is really an act of disloyalty, filial piety, benevolence and unrighteousness. It bears the painstaking efforts of the previous kings, and down to the life and death of the people of Li. Your Majesty should strictly abide by the ancestral system, severely crack down on those who go out to sea without permission, and strictly prohibit fishing in the sea, otherwise the foundation of the country will be shaken, and the world will inevitably be in chaos."

The second person who stood up was Xu Ziyuan, a censor. His words were extremely offensive. He not only opposed the sea ban, but also described the sea ban as unfaithful, filial, benevolent and unrighteous. In his mouth, it seemed that once the sea ban was opened, the sky of Daming would collapse.

"My ministers agree that the sea ban is an ancestral system. Since Emperor Taizu, the Japanese pirates in the southeast coast of our Ming Dynasty have been repeatedly banned. The implementation of the sea ban can effectively fight against the pirates. Once the sea ban is lifted, the pirates in the southeast coastal area will inevitably be rampant. , the people are in dire straits."

The third person who stood up was Xu Long, a member of the Hanlin Academy. He explained the reason why the Ming Dynasty enforced the sea ban.

"The minister seconded the proposal, the sea ban must never be opened."

"Emperor Taizu established the policy of banning the sea, dividing up scholars, farmers, and businesses, and implementing the household service system. All this is to uphold the agricultural-oriented national policy that has been implemented in all dynasties since ancient times."

"Once the sea ban is lifted, merchants will sell my Ming's wealth and goods overseas for profit, which will inevitably make our Ming Dynasty more and more difficult. Ordinary people will also become merchants because of the benefits of maritime trade. They will give up farming and shake the foundation of the country. Daming is bound to be in danger."

"Besides, once the sea ban is lifted, my vassal states in the four directions of the Ming Dynasty will inevitably pay a large amount of tribute every year, and my treasury of the Ming Dynasty will be empty, so I will be unable to repay it, which will lose the prestige of the Ming Dynasty."

The fourth person who stands up has some weight. His name is Dai Shan, and his official position is Zuodu Yushi. This official position is equivalent to the current head of the Supreme Procuratorate, and he is an important minister of the second rank.

His words directly linked the sea ban with the agriculture-based country. Opening the sea ban means abandoning the agriculture-based country and shaking the country's foundation of Ming Dynasty.

At the same time, it also mentioned the matter of paying tribute to the vassal states. Because of the good face, every time a vassal state came to pay tribute, Daming would definitely pay it back several times, which led to the consumption of a lot of financial resources of the Ming Dynasty. This is also an important reason for the strict implementation of the sea ban. .

As soon as Zhou Jing's words came out, ministers stood up one after another, as if he had aroused the anger of the crowd. Zhou Jing just said a word, and then more than a dozen ministers expressed their firm opposition.

From the ancestral system to the foundation of the country, they also talk about loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness. At the same time, in their mouths, once the sea ban is lifted, the Ming Dynasty will be in chaos, the people will be devastated, the country will not survive, and so on.

"The minister impeached Zhou Jing. Zhou Jing, as the secretary of the household department, was an important minister of the country. He didn't think about sharing the worries of the king and the country, and he didn't think about seeking the well-being of the people of the world. He even talked nonsense about banning the sea. A person of filial piety, how can such a person be above the temple, and how can he be dedicated to the country and the people."

At the same time, a censor directly stood up to impeach Zhou Jing, saying that Zhou Jing was worthless, and at the same time he wanted to see Zhou Jing and beat him to death directly.

Emperor Hongzhi has not spoken, but his face is not very good-looking. In fact, Zhou Jing, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian, Liu Jian, and Zhang Mao also discussed with Emperor Hongzhi yesterday about the opening of the sea ban.

When Li Dongyang and Zhou Jing came back from Tianjin, they not only brought back a million catties of sea fish, but also more than one million taels of silver. This was among the three million taels that Du Mingen earned from going to sea, and it belonged to Hongzhi after excluding the cost. Emperor's profits.

So he also tasted the sweetness of this sea trade, knowing that this sea trade is very profitable.

Of course, the more important thing is that he learned about everything that happened here in Tianjin from Prince Zhu Houzhao, from Li Dongyang and Zhou Jing, and even from Xiao Jing who was in charge of Jinyiwei.

Knowing the importance of ocean fishing to Daming, once the sea ban is lifted and the seas of Daming can be fished, the annual sea fish caught by the entire Ming Dynasty is enough to feed thousands of people in the coastal areas.

Especially now that there is a famine in the three northern provinces, because the harvest of sea fish is huge. Beizhili and Shandong are both close to the sea. As long as there is a boat, they can go to sea to fish, so that the hungry people can fill their stomachs and overcome the current hurdle.

Therefore, Emperor Hongzhi, who loves the people like his son, summoned the important officials in the court to unify their thoughts and opinions yesterday, and planned to propose it by Zhou Jing at the early court today, and then everyone discussed it. Open fishing first, at least let the people in the coastal areas go to sea to fish to fill their stomachs.

However, what Emperor Hongzhi didn't expect was that the Zhou Jing had only just been put forward, and it was really surprising that so many people in the court would stand up to oppose it.

　This should be the last free chapter. It will be released at 12:[-] noon on Friday, and there should be three updates at that time. Please support me~~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)