Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 619: Reshaping the Tribute System
Such apportionment of North Korea is nothing more than punishment.

After all, Zhu Yixi still has face, and he didn't directly order him to pay tribute like Man Qing.

Therefore, only these three items, low-cost purchase of grain, open trade, and restraint of naval forces.

From the economic and military, to achieve control.

Of course, even so, in the eyes of the civil and military people of the Manchu Dynasty, it was still not decent enough and lost the demeanor of a great country.

How can there be any reason in the world for a father to blackmail his son?
However, the emperor argued hard, especially uncompromising: "If you don't punish him now, and the state will follow suit in the future, wouldn't it be a violation of the rules?"

This time, the officials gave up.

Throughout the historical records of various dynasties, the most proud and glorious sentence of the Chinese emperor is roughly "All directions come to pay tribute, and all nations come to court."

Especially during the period of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, after Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty ruled as the first emperor, when all nations came to the dynasty, in order to boast of China's wealth, he used silk as a color and hung it on both sides of the road, regardless of the hungry and cold people on the streets.

Therefore, thin coming and thick going has become a tradition.

In the Ming Dynasty, during the reign of Ming Chengzu Zhu Di, Zheng He made seven voyages to the West, visiting countries all over Asia and Africa. The exchanges between China and foreign countries flourished for a while, and the great Ming Dynasty was "famous all over the world."

There were as many as 150 tributary states, and the unique "sovereign state-vassal state" system in the East reached its peak in terms of history and geography.

As the saying goes, all prosperity in the world is for profit, and tribute trade is a sharp weapon to maintain its tribute system.

That is to say, in any country, only its entrusted lord can come to China to pay tribute, so as to monopolize trade and seek huge profits.

The first is to get rewards from the Ming Dynasty, and the second is private trade, the goods carried by private individuals in the mission.

In the early Ming Dynasty, no taxes were levied on these private properties, but in the second year of Jingtai, they finally succumbed to national power and began to levy taxes.

The monopoly of the tributary trade and the huge profits it brought maintained the tributary system for more than 200 years.

Even in the last years of Chongzhen, there were still tributes from Korea, Ryukyu, Annan, Champa (annexed by Annan), Siam and other countries.

For example, Japan, as a non-subject country, has usurped the benefits of the tribute trade, which is a very special existence.

"Now that the customs are open, merchants from all over the world are coming, and the tribute trade may be difficult to sustain, unless the imperial court is still not stingy with rewards."

Zhu Yixi glanced at the neatly arranged chime clock, which was sent by the Portuguese ambassador not long ago as a congratulation.

Its voice was clear and loud, and within a few days, it became an extremely important timekeeper for the inner court.

And the imperial palace affected the outer court, and noble ministers followed suit one after another, buying them wantonly.

This moved the Westerners for a moment. Except for firearms, they finally had something to sell, and they finally got money back.

Given time, it will definitely become popular in Ming Dynasty.

Fiddled with the heavy chime clock, Zhu Yixi thought a lot.

He could see clearly that the tributary trade and the tributary system were external and internal to each other. From the moment Longqing switched it on and off, the tributary system had already survived, relying only on rewards to survive.

The monopoly is broken by free trade, and the tribute has become the representative of the attitude. Except for North Korea, Ryukyu, Annan, and Siam, how many people are willing to travel thousands of miles to show their loyalty?
For example, the Ouchi clan of Japan was also a victim of changes in the tribute trade!

Reshape tribute, reshape rights and obligations.

Before, everything was blurry.

As a vassal state, it is obliged to send troops to help, and even more obliged to provide money and food support, while Daming needs to help it restore the country and ensure the continuation of its power.

The best representative is North Korea, especially the Imjin Japanese Rebellion. Helping it restore the country directly contributed to the second wave of tribute peaks in the Ming Dynasty, and its reputation was greatly enhanced.

Obviously, in Zhu Yixi's view, Daming has paid too much, while the subordinate country has paid too little, which is not worth it.

Therefore, we must use North Korea as a benchmark to reshape the tribute system, increase trade, and control the army, these two powers.

Commerce can promote commerce and trade, so that the customs can collect more taxes and support finances, while restraining the army can further expand Ming's influence.

In the future, you can even ask to monopolize its diplomacy.

At that time, Ming and Canada will be a vassal state, so it will cover the whole of Asia.

"Portugal waits for Xiyi, what's the reaction?"

"Your Majesty, this is a private matter of our country, how can the country speak for itself?"

"Hahaha, I'm the one who got the picture."

Zhu Yixi was taken aback, then reacted, and laughed again and again:
"Forget it, you, the Minister of the Lifan Academy, did a good job, but it won't work for a long time. There are many discussions inside and outside the court, so you should rest now.

"Just enjoy the food and double salary, and the noble will be the uncle."

"Thank you Your Majesty for your grace." Zhu Mou was overjoyed, and immediately knelt down and kowtowed.

Since its establishment more than a year ago, the Lifan Academy has been represented by Zhu Mou.

The Ministry of Rites was divided into two, except that it still controlled the tribute and diplomacy, and the right to dispose of the inner vassal was completely seized by the Li Fan Yuan.

In terms of power division, the Ministry of Rites is external, and the Lifan Academy is internal.

Mongolian tribes like the Chahar tribe, or Tibet, and even vassal states like Korea, Annan, and Ryukyu were all handled by the Lifanyuan.

Western Yi such as Portugal and England are dealt with by the Ministry of Rites.

Although the power of Li Fanyuan is small and the departments are messy, it is the center of the imperial court after all.

In other words, he was the first civil servant to hold two ministers in the more than 200 years of the Ming Dynasty. On the surface, he was extremely powerful.

But in essence, because the Lifan Academy was originally separated from the Ministry of Rites, it is said to be a department, but it is actually just a division, so it is not valued too much by the court officials.

This is also the reason why the emperor allowed him to serve concurrently. The officials of the Lifan Academy were all drawn from the six ministries.

But with the passage of time, as the Lifan Academy gradually got on the right track, a Shangshu was too tempting.

Although the power is small, it is still a minister after all, and one step further is the cabinet. Is this the expectation of many officials in the frontier?
In fact, although Zhu Mou is carrying the glory, the pressure is really not small. He has two jobs and is born in the clan, and the gossip behind him is enough to kill.

Now that he is unloaded, he can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

But now, the Lifan Academy is an extremely critical part of reshaping the tributary system.

"I'm not afraid to tell you either."

Zhu Yixi glanced at Zhu Mou's appearance as if he was unloading a heavy burden, and couldn't help feeling a little distressed.

After all, it is not a good thing to keep him in the political vortex because of his own background.

Even if it is given to an earl, the damage to it is difficult to make up for.

Rules are the most important in officialdom, and if they break the rules, it will be difficult to convince the public. Not to mention, it will be extremely difficult to enter the cabinet in the future.

"I decided to transfer someone from the local area to Beijing to serve as the Minister of the Lifan Academy."

"Your Majesty is wise!" Zhu Mou knew nothing about it, and it was time for him to avoid suspicion.

"You don't want to know?" Zhu Yixi said softly, "After all, the Lifan Academy is where your painstaking effort is."

"Li Fan Yuan is His Majesty's Li Fan Yuan, and it belongs to the imperial court, except that it does not belong to the humble minister—"

(End of this chapter)