prosperous age

Wei Guangde had actually deeply realized that to reform the Ming Dynasty, the most important thing was to make adjustments to its finances, and the focus was actually on taxation.

As long as the country develops and the court can get a share of the profits, there will never be a situation where the last emperor dies of poverty and has to hang himself.

In fact, the responsibility for all this does not lie entirely with Zhu Yuanzhang. The policies he formulated at the time were in line with the national conditions of the Ming Dynasty at that time.

The biggest problem of the Ming Dynasty was the so-called "ancestral system". This could not be changed and that could not be changed. Even if the later emperors knew that some of the "ancestral systems" were inappropriate, they had no way to make drastic corrections.

In fact, among all the emperors, the only one who was truly capable of making changes to this was Emperor Jiajing.

However, at the most critical moment, faced with the various difficulties facing the court, he chose to hide in the harem to practice Taoism and become an immortal instead of actually dealing with them.

After all, what really prevented the Ming Dynasty from reforming was the civil service group. Their conservative style prevented China from developing in this era.

Even someone like Zhang Juzheng could only make some modifications based on the original system of the Ming Dynasty, and Gao Gong wanted to restore the system of the early Ming Dynasty.

In fact, both of them are disliked by the civil service group.

It's just that Gao Gong was a little presumptuous, and restoring the requirements for official administration in the early Ming Dynasty undoubtedly greatly offended civil and military officials.

Of course, even if you don't like him, when the same enemy appears in front of everyone, you might as well be pushed out to disgust another enemy.

As for Zhang Juzheng, he really did practical things for the Ming Dynasty.

If the results of the land survey could be maintained, it would actually extend the life of the Ming Dynasty, at least ensuring that the court had a stable financial income.

It is a pity that at the beginning of the counterattack, the results of the land survey were ruthlessly abandoned. The emperor used this extremely huge benefit, which even affected the fate of the dynasty, to exchange for the support of officials and gentry.

Wei Guangde's suggestion was actually somewhat contrary to Zhang Juzheng's desire to restore stable land tax revenue, although in Wei Guangde's view, this could somewhat ease the relationship between him and the officials.

Yes, let the Jinshi and Juren truly own tax-free land, instead of just messing around at the local level as in the past.

When the office was almost dismissed, Wei Guangde left the Ministry of War and went straight back to his own residence.

Wei Guangde stayed in the Ministry of War all day, so the news naturally could not be concealed from anyone.

Although the news from Liaodong arrived only recently, it had already spread quietly throughout the major government offices in the capital.

"What news did you get?"

Wei Guangde had just finished dinner and was sitting in the main hall to rest, with Zhang Ji standing next to him with his hands clasped.

"Based on the news we have received so far, people outside seem to be very optimistic. There is no panic as before because of the possibility of a large Mongolian army approaching the border.

I heard that most people believe that after the master's hard work over the years, the Ming army's combat power has changed a lot and can completely defeat the Mongols head-on, so the people in the capital are at peace, and there are no signs of people outside the city moving into the city. "

Zhang Ji was reporting in a low voice the news he had learned since the afternoon. If it were the Jiajing period, the people in the capital would have been in a panic.

"Haha, in the past few years, we have fought against the Jurchens in the north and conquered Burma in the south. This has raised the spirits of the people of Ming Dynasty. It is not a wasted effort."

Wei Guangde smiled.

In fact, whether a country is strong or not, in addition to the country's military strength, the most important thing is the improvement of the people's mental outlook.

If ordinary people act servile when they see foreigners, then this country will still be a colonized land and everyone will still be slaves of foreigners.

The late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China are vivid examples. At that time, the Chinese people were very timid when facing foreigners.

In Hong Kong from the 1950s to the 1970s, British companies could use their power to seize Chinese assets they set their sights on, even by writing IOUs.

"Go and watch outside. When Lord Jiang and the others come, please come in directly."

In the afternoon, Wei Guangde had someone pass a note to the Ministry of Works, stating that he wanted to talk to Jiang Zhi in private in advance about the Songliao Canal and hear his opinion.

After Zhang Ji left, Wei Guangde just smiled and continued reading the book in his hand.

Now Wei Guangde finally started to read the Taoist classics he had bought from the Taoist temple. He was really bored.

He had read most of the miscellaneous books he could get his hands on, and he had also roughly looked through the number of volumes of miscellaneous books recorded in the Yongle Encyclopedia, which was treasured in the palace.

And tonight, it was not only Wei Guangde who was paying attention to the direction of the officialdom in the capital. Zhang Juzheng and Zhang Siwei were also paying close attention to the discussions outside.

Entering the cabinet is completely different from being in the six ministries. They need to always pay attention to external public opinion and use it as a reference for their administration.

Not long after, Tan Lun and Jiang Zhi came together. It was unclear whether the two had agreed in advance or met on the road.

They were welcomed into the study, and soon a map was spread out on the desk.

"Zhang Ji, light a few more lamps."

Wei Guangde gave an order.

Soon, Zhang Ji came with two servants and brought four candles, which they placed beside the desk, completely illuminating the map on the table.

"Brother Zili has already told me that he plans to dig a canal to connect the Liaohe River and the Songhua River.

Speaking of this task, it is not difficult for the Ministry of Works, but it mainly involves two issues. One is money and food, and the other is that the winter in Liaodong is too long and the frozen soil is not conducive to digging rivers.

Regardless of where you are, summer and autumn are busy farming seasons, and it is difficult to muster a large number of young and strong laborers to dig the river, so the court will pay more money and grain for this.”

Jiang Zhi hadn't even looked at the map yet, but based on his conversation with Tan Lun, he thought of two key issues that would affect the project, which were also the most difficult problems.

Under normal circumstances, it would be fine if the Ministry of Works had money in its account, but now the Ministry of Works has only completed a little more than half of the construction of the Jiayun River section, and it will take another two or three years to complete, but the silver consumed is not small.

The remaining money was used to build new sea-going ships in Nanjing, Zhejiang and other places, which was also a huge gold-consuming cave that continued to devour money.

"Has the Ministry of Industry thought of other ways to make money?"

Wei Guangde suddenly asked.

Since you are making trouble because you have no money, you should think of ways to make money instead of thinking of borrowing money from other places like Yan Song did. The accounts are still the same, but they have become overdue.

As for wanting to save some money, forget it. There is no way to save money on the court's mission. It would be good if you don't spend too much and seriously overspend.

"The silver collected by the Ministry of Industry for materials is limited, so where does this method of making money come from?"

Jiang Zhi smiled bitterly, but then he thought of something and said tentatively: "I won't say anything else. Unless the court opens a wider range of maritime bans, it will probably encourage merchants from all over the country to purchase a large number of sea vessels.

The several large shipyards under the Ministry of Industry may be able to make a lot of money from it and supplement the government's income."

"Does the shipyard down there have so many materials to build ships?"

Wei Guangde was shocked. You know, a few years ago, Yu Dayou went to great lengths to transport materials from Guangxi and other places to Jiangnan in order to collect wood for shipbuilding.

In fact, the reason for sending troops to Ryukyu was because of the towering trees on the island, which could be used to store wood for naval shipbuilding.

Wei Guangde took advantage of Yu Dayou's request and gave it a push, thus truly bringing Taiwan Island under the rule of the Ming Dynasty, more than a hundred years earlier than the official rule of Taiwan Island by the central court in history.

"A large amount of wood has been stored in Ryukyu, and after several years of crafting, it is ready for use.

What is restricting the shipyard and the navy now is actually money. Unless there are a large number of shipbuilding orders entering the shipyard, it will be difficult for the Ministry of Industry to raise enough money to support the excavation of the Songliao Canal. As far as I know, the Ministry of Revenue does not have much money to spend either."

The Ministry of Works is a government office that spends money, and it has frequent contact with the Ministry of Revenue. Although the Ministry of Works has some income, the total amount is limited, so it has to rely on the Ministry of Revenue to cover some expenses every year.

"Later, the Ministry of Revenue sent a note saying that they had already allocated grain and silver to support the Three Tun Camps, and that the Prime Minister had asked about it directly. They also said that after the Taicang warehouse was pulled out of this batch of silver, it was almost empty, and even the profit from the newly minted silver coins in the foundry had been arranged for use."

Tan Lun also spoke.

"hehe."

Wei Guangde laughed dryly twice, knowing that the Ministry of Revenue was somewhat dissatisfied with the matter.

It would be strange if they were happy about the war again.

Moreover, it seems that they did not get any benefit from the salary allocated to the Ministry of War this time, so they said these things in the Ministry of War.

However, Wei Guangde quickly started thinking.

The imperial court has no money, so we have to find a way to help it get money.

It would take another two years for Zhang Juzheng's land survey to be effective. By then, the court would have stable tax revenue to fill the treasury. What would happen during these two years?

The wedding of Emperor Wanli can be arranged by waiting for the return of the ocean-going fleet and using the profits from maritime trade. I think the imperial court will not refuse the voyage to the West in the future.

"It seems we should consider loosening the maritime ban a little bit."

In the short term, it seems that the only way to make money is by building ships.

In fact, the most violent business of this period, in addition to seizing colonies and plundering gold and silver, was shipbuilding, which was also a very profitable industry.

Everyone knows that maritime trade makes money, so why don’t shipyard owners build the ships themselves?

Not only is there no risk, but the profits from shipbuilding are no less than those from maritime trade.

However, if a shipyard wants to make money, it does need the support of the overall environment.

"The imperial court now has Yuegang in Fujian. Where do you think it would be best to develop another port and issue a ship guide?"

Wei Guangde looked at Jiang Zhi, then at Tan Lun, and asked seriously.

“If only one area is open, I’m afraid the competition will be fierce.”

Tan Lun said, "Guangdong, Zhejiang, and even Huai'an in Nanzhili and Dengzhou in Shandong are also places where civilian ships gather and trade is very prosperous."

"Yes, I think all the coastal provinces will try to grab it. Yuegang is very profitable and can earn Fujian more than 100,000 taels of silver every year."

Jiang Zhi also said, "Since we are opening up, why not open up a few more places?"

Jiang Zhi was seeking benefits for the Ministry of Industry. When the maritime ban was implemented, only government-run shipyards were retained in the country, and private shipyards had long been abandoned.

The government-run shipyards were also established because they were still needed for water transport, so it was not that the government did not need to build ships.

Naturally, the private sector lost orders and private shipyards had to close.

Of course, it is impossible to reopen a shipyard in a short period of time after it is closed.

Even though those maritime merchants have ships for smuggling, in fact many of their ships are old ships that have been repaired and patched up, and some are custom-built overseas.

There are also some that are built secretly in the country, but the cost is extremely high. It is only because of the huge profits from maritime trade that some people do this.

Now that the Ming Dynasty has lifted its maritime ban, the profits of the government-run shipyards in recent years will be extremely terrifying, and it can almost be said that there will be no worries about sales at all.

"It's not a good idea to roll it out all at once. If that happens, the sea will be too chaotic and it will easily cause trouble."

Wei Guangde shook his head. He understood Jiang Zhi's plan, but he couldn't agree to it, even if he could make money.

Wei Guangde fell into deep thought, while Tan Lun and Jiang Zhi remained silent.

In fact, they are now also interested in maritime trade. Who doesn’t like to make money? But they only want to make clean money, just like Wei Guangde.

Wei Guangde invested in a business and made money from his business. Although he was despised by scholars, no one said that the money he earned was unclean.

Of course, Wei Guangde actually made some dirty money, but it has been ignored.

Tan Lun and Jiang Zhi also want to make money by doing business in an honest way.

No one would dislike having too much money.

Especially when it comes to making money from foreign vassal states through maritime trade, it becomes even less of a burden to take it.

If you want to participate in maritime trade, you will need a ship guide.

In order to increase the number of ship guides, the court needs to open more ports.

In fact, they talked about this matter with Wei Guangde, which was also mentioned by Jiang Zhi on the way here. Jiangxi Wenfeng is prosperous, but this also requires an economic foundation.

In fact, many fellow villagers want to invest in the Chamber of Commerce and make money by doing business. Wei Guangde has already shown them the way.

Although others may be ashamed to talk about profits because of jealousy, who would really be willing to give up real money?

It is natural to increase the number of open ports.

It has been more than ten years since the opening of the sea in the Longqing period. We have experienced many ups and downs in the meantime, but it is indeed time to continue development.

It is impossible for a country as big as the Ming Dynasty to have only one external port on its homeland.

However, what Wei Guangde needs to consider is how to use this matter to allow the court to gain more benefits.

The huge profits from shipbuilding have been claimed by the Ministry of Industry, so of course he has to support it. After all, the Ministry of Industry is his strong backing.

Helping the Ministry of Industry is actually also a way to win over the hearts of the people.

Make money

In the later stages of national development, industrial production is profitable.

As productivity increased and production capacity expanded, colonies were needed to distribute these products.

But this problem does not exist now, but it involves the cake he shared with the nobles and gentry.

Looking up, Wei Guangde saw Tan Lun at a glance.

When he and Zhu Heng bought land near Taijiazhuang, Tan Lun also had a stake, but not much.

Buy land

Thinking of this word, Wei Guangde couldn't help but think of the most profitable industry in later generations - real estate.

Suddenly, an idea came into his mind.

Build a city as a port open to the outside world, and all the land will be owned by the imperial court and the inner court. The ownership will not be sold, but the right to use will be leased. In this way, as maritime trade develops, the imperial court can continue to obtain benefits from it and will no longer be limited to the tax link.

When the profits from maritime trade are high, the rent will be raised. When the profits from maritime trade decrease in the future, the rent will be lowered so that the court can truly gain the benefits of maritime trade.

When this idea came to his mind, Wei Guangde naturally thought of the Oriental Pearl Tower in later generations.

Don't get me wrong, it's certainly not Hong Kong. That place developed by chance. The real Pearl of the Orient was just a small county town at that time.

Around Songjiang Prefecture, we found a suitable port location, enclosed it to build a city, and established warehouses based on the port.

As for the original owner's land, it was directly exchanged for government land. (End of this chapter)