The Second Master of the Red Chamber

The Minister of Works acted swiftly, and that very afternoon the cabinet and the heads of the six ministries gathered at the Southern Study.

Their reason for coming to see Jia Lian was quite simple.

Jia Lian's advocacy for tax cuts foreshadowed a decrease in annual revenue over the next few years.

Not to mention that Jia Lian also advocated for training a new army.

If too much money is spent on steelmaking and shipbuilding, the imperial court may very well come to a standstill!

Faced with the advice of his ministers, Jia Lian remained remarkably calm.

"Your arrival is perfectly timed. I have just finished reading your memorials regarding whether or not to open the seas. Let's discuss this matter first. Then I will explain to you why I am determined to increase steel production."

Jia Lian gestured to the officials to remain calm and was about to speak when a eunuch came to report: "The Eldest Princess and Prince Bei Jing request an audience."

Jia Lian smiled and immediately ordered them to come in.

"Your Majesty, I, your humble sister, pay my respects."

"Your subject Shui Rong pays his respects to Your Highness."

Although Prince Bei Jing and Princess Zhao Yang are young, they both have exceptionally high looks and remarkable demeanor.

Moreover, both men acted impartially when they served as regents for Emperor Ningkang, which earned them a good reputation.

Therefore, when they entered the hall, the other ministers consciously made way for them.

Jia Lian looked at the two of them and said, "You've come at the right time. We were just about to discuss the strategy for opening up the sea. You two can listen in and share your opinions."

Princess Zhaoyang smiled upon hearing this, bowed, and stood at the very front.

Prince Bei Jing hesitated for a moment, then cupped his hands and said, "The policy of opening the sea is a matter of national importance and the people's livelihood. Your Highness and the other officials will discuss it."

Moreover, Your Highness is wise and decisive, with insights far exceeding those of ordinary people.

"I have come today precisely to receive Your Highness's instruction and broaden my horizons."

Shui Rong's words inevitably disappointed the other ministers.

He thought to himself, "You're a prince, the head of the nobility, why do you have to be so obsequious and flattering? It's despicable."

However, some people knew perfectly well that Prince Bei Jing was getting restless.

Jia Lian simply smiled at this, gestured with his hand, and then said to the assembled officials, "I have read your policy proposals, and they all make a lot of sense."

I've summarized the main reasons why people oppose opening up the sea.

the first.

The founding emperor once issued an ancestral precept that "not a single plank of wood may be taken to sea."

second.

With rampant Japanese pirate raids along the coast, there is fear that chaos will continue after the seas reopen.

third.

After the seas opened, there was a fear that ordinary people would rush to the seas to make a profit.

This not only disrupts agriculture and sericulture, but also contradicts our dynasty's ancestral policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce.

"I wonder if what I said is correct?"

Upon hearing this, the officials knew that Jia Lian had carefully read their policy proposals.

Although there are some other reasons, it's pretty much the same.

They all nodded in agreement.

Jia Lian said, "I have already asked Chief Minister Zhao about this first point in private."

He told me that there were two main reasons why the Taizu Emperor banned the sea.

First, the country had just been established and everything needed to be rebuilt.

The world's population has already suffered severe losses due to years of war, and every year there are people fleeing overseas.

To prevent further population decline, the order was issued prohibiting boatmen from going to sea.

Secondly, although the country was settled back then, remnants of opposition forces still existed.

Many even fled to the sea, where they often colluded with the mainland to cause trouble.

The maritime ban was imposed to sever ties between civilians and overseas communities.

As Jia Lian spoke, seeing no objection, he continued, "As the saying goes, times change."

Now, our dynasty has enjoyed a century of peace and stability, and the population of the country has reached 200 million.

Not only will we no longer have to worry about people fleeing overseas, but every year there will also be foreigners who admire our Central Plains culture and come to our country to trade or even settle down.

As for those remnants of the previous dynasty, they have long since disappeared and can no longer cause any trouble.

In fact, these concerns were no longer a major issue as early as the reign of Emperor Muzong.

That's why the maritime ban was amended, granting special permission for royal and government ships to sail abroad, engage in trade with foreign countries, and promote the prestige of our great Wei Kingdom.

Kong Si, Minister of Rites, stepped forward and said: "Your Highness is right. Since the reign of Emperor Muzong, although the sea ban has been sometimes strict and sometimes lenient, the court has always prohibited civilian ships from going to sea."

It's not just because of the Japanese pirates. You must know that scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants are the foundation of our dynasty.

If the people neglect farming and only think about making money at sea, the consequences will be far-reaching!

Jia Lian smiled and said, "Let's talk about the Japanese pirate raids first."

Do you gentlemen know where the root of this Japanese invasion comes from?

Kong Si said, "It is the Eastern Ocean country of Fusang."

Jia Lian nodded: "That is why I demanded that the Ministry of Works carry out a large-scale steel production campaign."

That Japan, a tiny country, has repeatedly violated our borders, causing harm for decades.

I desire to build strong ships and powerful cannons, lead an invincible army, cross the ocean to the east, destroy their country, and educate their people.

What do you all think of my proposal?

The ministers were both surprised and surprised by what they heard, but they also felt that it made perfect sense.

Surprisingly, Jia Lian had such great ambitions that he actually wanted to cross the sea and destroy the country.

It's only natural that this wasn't the first time Jia Lian had done this.

At the beginning of the year, he persuaded Emperor Ningkang to allow him to cross the sea to rescue Korea, even though many people were not optimistic or even opposed it.

But in the end, Jia Lian really did it.

Not only did they successfully rescue Korea, but they also brought back countless spoils of war, including nearly 10,000 Japanese prisoners of war.

I heard that many of those prisoners of war stayed in Tianjin and worked diligently in the shipyard every day...

"It is good that Your Highness has such grand ambitions, but you should know that throughout history, all those who have tried to cross the sea to conquer have ultimately failed!"
Lessons from the past, the teacher behind the car.

"Your Highness, please reconsider."

"Please reconsider, Your Highness."

Seeing seven or eight ministers kneeling down to petition, Jia Lian said unhappily, "Oh, all those who crossed the sea to conquer have failed. Could it be that my previous crossing of the sea to rescue Korea was a sham, and that the annihilation and capture of tens of thousands of Japanese devils was also a sham?"

The kneeling crowd fell silent.

Although there were still those who disagreed, none of them dared to respond.

Everyone knows that it was this battle that solidified Jia Lian's status as a military genius in the army, and also made Emperor Ningkang decide to pass the position of crown prince to him.

To deny this battle is to deny the legitimacy and rationality of Jia Lian's ascension to power.

Seeing that they remained silent, Jia Lian countered, "Crossing the sea to fight is certainly difficult, but if you don't even dare to try, don't you think you're being narrow-minded?"
Could it be that the story of the Dutch in the West, who traveled thousands of miles to invade and exploit our southeastern Ryukyu Islands, was a lie?

If even a Western barbarian can do it, why can't our Celestial Empire do it, or even dare to think about it?

If all the officials in the court think this way, then I am truly quite disappointed in you all.

"This……"

Zhao Dongsheng lowered his head, slightly ashamed.

The same applies to other ministers.

Although being reprimanded by the Lord was somewhat embarrassing, it was also a profound awakening.

Yes, over the years, foreign envoys have been visiting the court frequently.

Upon inquiry, it was discovered that most of them came from the distant West.

They used to boast about how amazing their country was, but the courtiers all thought it was just empty talk.

Even if they bring out some outlandish items, they think they are nothing more than whimsical tricks, not worth mentioning.

Until the advent of weapons such as the "Hongyi Cannon".

Until recently, the Fujian governor submitted a memorial stating that the Dutch dared to blatantly encroach on the territory of this dynasty...

As Your Highness said, if a Western barbarian can do it, the imperial court cannot.

In that case, what face would the imperial court have left to call itself the Celestial Empire?

Seeing that the ministers on the ground were silenced by Jia Lian's rebuke, Prince Teng, who was standing, quickly said, "Your Highness's vision is far beyond our reach."

"Your Highness, please consider that Chief Minister Zhao and the others acted in the best interests of Your Highness and the court, and forgive their foolishness."

Prince Teng already had a considerable foundation in the army, and was more warlike than other civil officials.

Moreover, he was Jia Lian's brother-in-law, so he should unconditionally support Jia Lian's political views.

Upon hearing Wang Ziteng's words, Jia Lian's expression softened slightly, but he still said coldly, "Alright, get up, everyone."

Only then did Zhao Dongsheng and the others dare to stand up. They exchanged glances, all seeing the embarrassment in each other's eyes. They were all seasoned veterans who had spent decades navigating the treacherous waters of the imperial court, yet today they had been so thoroughly outmaneuvered by their young master, a truly humiliating defeat.

"I know your concerns, but you must know that only through reform can we become strong."

If we blindly follow the old ways and dare not try new things, sooner or later the Ryukyu incident will happen again on the land of our Celestial Empire!
In order to completely eliminate the Japanese pirate threat and to prevent Western foreign powers from invading our maritime borders again.

I have decided to reorganize the Tianjin Naval Force, the Fujian Naval Force, and the East China Sea Naval Force into the 'Great Wei Royal Navy'.

Let them shoulder the sacred responsibility of protecting our maritime borders and showcasing the might of our Great Wei army!
The Ministry of War will deliberate on this matter and come up with a practical and feasible solution as soon as possible.

Minister of War Fan Chengju hurriedly replied, "This old minister accepts the order."

Jia Lian then looked at the Minister of Works and asked, "Does Your Excellency still have any concerns regarding steel production?"

The Minister of Works originally thought that by instigating the other officials, he could persuade Jia Lian to reconsider.

Little did they know that in a short while, the ministers were persuaded by Jia Lian instead.

Knowing that if he didn't speak up now, Jia Lian would hold a grudge against him, he quickly bowed and replied, "Your Highness, rest assured, after I go down there, I will definitely discuss with my colleagues in the Ministry of Works and strive to come up with a concrete plan for increasing steel production within seven days... no, within three days."

Jia Lian nodded, and a smile returned to his face.

"Please rest assured, my lords, I am not someone who only knows how to wage war and expand military power, and this move is not a spur-of-the-moment decision."

As you all know, although the land of Japan in the East is small, its population is several times larger than that of Korea.

It is also rich in silver mines.

As far as I know, there is a famous silver mine in Japan that has been in operation for over a hundred years, yet its silver reserves remain unfathomable.

"If our dynasty could conquer Japan in one fell swoop, this one mine alone would be enough to offset several years of our dynasty's silver tax revenue."

"Is what Your Highness said true?"

The ministers' expressions changed drastically.

What kind of concept is it that a single mine can equal several years' worth of the imperial court's annual silver revenue?
It must be at least hundreds of millions of taels, right?
How could a mine be like this?

Faced with everyone's questioning gazes, Shui Rong suddenly said, "Is Your Highness referring to the 'Iwami Mine' located on the main island of Fusang?"

Seeing Jia Lian nod, the officials were even more surprised and hurriedly asked Shui Rong, "Does Prince Shui also know?"

"One of the warriors under the command of the young king is a Japanese from Fusang. He came to our dynasty in his early years to escape the war."

Seeing his bravery and superb swordsmanship, I recruited him into my ranks.

Because of him, Xiao Wang also met several other extraordinary people and events from Fusang.

I had only heard about this silver mine from them.

This was later confirmed by conversations with merchants from other countries.

However, Xiao Wang only knew that this silver mine was enormous; the Fusang Kingdom, after a century of effort, had only mined the tip of the iceberg…”

Hearing Shui Rong say this, everyone sighed.

I never imagined that such a small country as Fusang would be so blessed by the heavens.

The newly appointed Minister of Revenue, Lu Zhongxiang, had a gleam in his eyes.

He turned around abruptly and bowed to Jia Lian, saying, "Your Highness's grand plan is truly admirable."

From this day forward, the Ministry of Revenue will do its utmost to cooperate in all matters concerning the reform of the Great Wei Royal Navy.

So that Your Highness may soon build an invincible naval force to completely annihilate the Japanese pirates and bring those barbarian people under the rule of Your Majesty.

If this undertaking succeeds, Your Highness's name will surely resound throughout history.

We, the ministers who assist Your Highness, will also receive Your Highness's favor and our names will be remembered for generations to come.

Seeing Lu Zhongxiang's change of attitude and his sycophantic behavior, the crowd appeared indifferent on the surface, but in reality, they were not disgusted.

The Ministry of Revenue, which is in charge of money and grain, should be "money-grubbing" like that.

Only when the Ministry of Revenue has money in its hands will it be more willing to pay when people ask it for money in the future.

Therefore, if the Fusang Kingdom is indeed rich in silver mines as Jia Lian said, then we really must let them be bathed in the king's rule!
Kong Si said, "Your Highness wants to reform the navy, but this old minister has no say in it."

Even if it were to reinstate the old system from the reign of Emperor Muzong, allowing the royal family and the court to trade with foreign countries, the old ministers would approve.

However, regarding the complete opening of the seas, especially the permission for civilians to go to sea, this old minister still advises Your Highness to think twice.

Scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants—these are the foundation of the nation.

This case should not be handled lightly!

Jia Lian's discovery of a silver mine had stirred up ambitions in everyone, much like Emperor Ningkang had before, leading them to believe that the third issue was no longer worth discussing.

In fact, of the three questions about opening the sea, Jia Lian cared least about the last one.

They say that opening the sea will cause people to rush to the sea, delaying agriculture and sericulture, and blurring the lines between agriculture and commerce?
Are you kidding me? Do you really think that ordinary people can just throw down a plank and go out to sea to fish and trade with other countries?

This kind of thing will remain unrealistic even hundreds of years later.

Ultimately, those with the resources to profit overseas are still the powerful families and wealthy merchants.

Therefore, the opening of the fishing season has virtually no impact on farmers' farming.

However, there was no other way. People at the time believed most in the system of rites and ceremonies, thinking that if agriculture and commerce were not separated, the country would be in danger of chaos and collapse!

So Jia Lian looked at Kong Si and slowly said, "Does Minister Kong think that agriculture and commerce must be separated so clearly?"
Or, to put it another way, did Minister Kong truly believe that merchants were of no benefit to the country?

Kong Si replied without hesitation: "Merchants who do not engage in production but rely on speculation and profiteering are naturally of no benefit to the country."

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian was so angry that his brain stem throbbed with pain.

He thought to himself that it was fortunate this fellow was in the Ministry of Rites, otherwise he would definitely be a menace.

Fortunately, when he looked at the others, although some of the other ministers echoed his sentiments, most of them looked thoughtful.

If it were just Kong Si, Jia Lian would definitely be too lazy to lecture or explain. He would just let him go to his grave with his arrogance and prejudice, and at worst, he would just stop using him in the future.

However, Jia Lian still had to persuade those who were reasonable and knew how to be flexible.

When the ruler and his ministers are of one mind, they can achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Dictatorship may feel good in the short term, but in the long run, it will inevitably lead to dissent and alienation.

"Does Minister Kong know the meaning of the word 'efficiency'?"

"efficiency?"

Kong Si frowned, staring at Jia Lian with a scrutinizing look.

Facing the assembled officials, Jia Lian slowly said, "Before discussing the issue of efficiency, I'd like to ask you all a question."

Suppose there is a family in Dongcun who is skilled at weaving cloth and can weave one hundred bolts of cloth a year. However, they are not good at farming and can only grow ten bushels of grain a year.

In contrast, one family in Xicun could grow 100 shi of grain a year, but if they were to weave cloth, they could only produce 10 bolts.

"You all help me calculate: if these two families each dedicate half their time to weaving and half to farming, how much cloth and grain will they ultimately produce?"

Princess Zhaoyang, who had been standing for a long time, was the first to raise her hand: "Your Majesty, I know that if they each spend half their time weaving cloth and farming, they can eventually produce a total of fifty-five bolts of cloth and fifty-five bushels of grain."

Jia Lian nodded and said, "Let's assume this is all the production capacity they have."

Both households need clothes and food, so they do this every year.

Ultimately, the two households together could produce fifty-five bushels of grain and fifty-five bolts of cloth.

If, at this time, a merchant appeared and told the people of Dongcun, "You only need to weave cloth, and I will provide you with grain every year thereafter,"

He also told Nishimura to grow grain every year, and he would provide him with cloth.

So the east village began to focus all its efforts on weaving cloth, while the west village focused all its efforts on growing grain.

A year later, the merchants bought cloth and grain from each of them and provided them with food and clothing, just as they had at the beginning.

Please calculate again how much grain and cloth these two households produced in total this year.

Princess Zhaoyang smiled. She didn't speak again, but just quietly watched Jia Lian, who was sitting behind the table talking eloquently, with a light in her eyes.

The other ministers also understood Jia Lian's meaning at this point.

Zhao Dongsheng sighed and said, "Your Highness, if that's the case, then the two families produced a total of one hundred shi of grain and one hundred bolts of cloth in a year."

Compared to before, there were forty-five more bushels of grain and forty-five more bolts of cloth.

Jia Lian clapped his hands and laughed, "Two households can both do what they are good at because of the appearance of merchants, which greatly increases production. That's called efficiency!"

Based on this calculation, could the extra 45 shi of grain and 45 bolts of cloth have been partly due to the efforts of the merchants?

So, does Minister Kong still believe that merchants, who do not engage in production, are of no benefit to the country?

Kong Si said, "Your Highness is engaging in sophistry. How can someone weave a hundred bolts of cloth a year but only be able to grow ten bushels of grain?"

"This is a hypothesis, not a fact."

In any other profession, there is always a difference between proficiency and unfamiliarity.

Although the figures may vary, ultimately, it was merchants who enabled goods to circulate across different regions, thereby maximizing production efficiency.

This is an indisputable fact; Minister Kong, there is no need to repeat your previous statement!

Sensing Jia Lian's displeasure, the others quickly gave Kong Si meaningful glances.

However, Kong Si pretended not to see it and said, "This old minister admits that what Your Highness said makes some sense, but Your Highness also said before that emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce is an ancestral system established by Emperor Taizu."

If the sea is opened to the public, people will see that there is profit to be made at sea and will rush to go out and make money.

At best, it will disrupt agriculture; at worst, it will mislead the people, causing farmers to cease farming and merchants to cease trading – a recipe for disaster. I urge Your Highness to reconsider!

Kong Si placed his hands on his forehead, knelt down, and prostrated himself, his attitude earnest.

Jia Lian's face darkened completely. (End of Chapter)