prosperous age

The rudiments of passports appeared in ancient times. At that time, traveling abroad was limited to a few people such as nobles and royal envoys, who held identity certificates or tokens issued by the monarch.
Such as the "Fujie" held by the envoys of the Han Dynasty and the gold rings of the Roman envoys, which were used to indicate their status and rights so that the country they were visiting would give them special treatment.

By the 17th century, Britain began issuing passports to all captains of British merchant ships.

At this time, the British Empire's maritime hegemony was about to emerge.

In the French Constitution of 1791, a passport was recognized as one of the rights of citizens, and a decree of 1792 stipulated that every French national who migrated must have a passport.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the modern passport system was widely adopted by most countries, and more and more countries required those entering the country to present their passports.

In 1914, the United Kingdom first implemented this type of passport and stipulated that all citizens must apply for a passport when traveling abroad. This form of passport has also been adopted by other countries.

In China, the prototype of passports appeared in the Xia, Shang and Western Zhou dynasties. At that time, they were called "Ya Zhang" and "Gui Zhang" and were a kind of ceremonial vessel.

The word "passport" officially appeared during the reign of Emperor Kangxi. During the Republic of China period, the central government established a relatively complete passport system.

In January 1950, New China also put into use the first batch of diplomatic passports, official passports and ordinary passports.

It can be said that the prototype of the modern passport appeared in the late 18th century and early 19th century, while the formal passport did not appear until the early 20th century.

However, Wei Guangde has now brought this process forward.

In a luxurious garden of Huitong Hall, Zhao Yongxian, a doctor from the Ministry of Rites of the Ming Dynasty, convened envoys from three European countries.

When he took out the Ming passport and handed it to the other party, the three envoys were still confused.

The Spanish envoy took the passport. He had seen many "Ming" characters in the Ming Dynasty these days, so he naturally recognized what was engraved on the wood.

As for what the words below are, I'm sorry, I don't know.

On the back, there were still some small words, written vertically from right to left, which he couldn't recognize either.

In fact, at that time, the writing styles of the East and the West were very different, which made them often uncomfortable and they were always used to looking to the upper left.

When his eyes fell downward, he did not recognize the Arabic characters, but he was familiar with Latin and immediately understood the purpose of the thing in his hand.

The Portuguese and British envoys standing on his left and right naturally also saw the Latin text below.

Well, Latin was the prevailing language in Europe at that time, so people of their level were naturally very familiar with it.

"The Ming Cabinet requests that all governments provide necessary assistance and protection to holders of this certificate in accordance with the agreement."

All three of them recited the passage in their minds, three sentences with similar pronunciations, yet slightly different.

Zhao Yongxian raised his hands, closed them, and then opened them.

It was just a gesture to indicate that it was very difficult to communicate with these foreigners these days, even with the help of people from the Siyi Hall to translate.

There were not many people in the Ming Dynasty's Siyi Hall who were proficient in Latin. In fact, most of them were first translated into Portuguese and then converted into Chinese.

Who asked the Ming Dynasty and Portugal to fight two wars? They became more familiar with each other.

The translator at the Siyi Pavilion also hurriedly said in Portuguese: "Open it, there is more inside."

He had seen this thing on the way here. Zhao Yongxian also told him the purpose of this trip and asked him to plan the wording in his mind first and how to clearly express Shangguan's meaning.

Following the instructions, the Spanish envoy opened the wooden sign and found a piece of silk cloth inside with some Ming characters written on it.

"What does Lord Zhao mean?"

The Spanish envoy asked.

Europe respects strength, and among the three countries now, Spain is undoubtedly the strongest and also the top in Europe. So even if Portugal and Britain have conflicts with Spain, the three countries will still remain united at this time and target the Ming Dynasty together.

"This is the Cabinet's decision. From now on, all citizens of the Ming Dynasty who travel to other countries will need to hold this certificate to prove their identity."

Zhao Yongxian repeated the cabinet's intention, then raised his hand and asked the interpreter beside him to translate.

At this time in Ciqing Palace, the two Empress Dowagers and the young emperor were also looking at the passport samples sent by the cabinet.

The Ming passport looks exquisite, but it is actually simple to make. The Silver Bureau can make dozens of such things in an hour until the materials run out.

After the cabinet discussed and decided on the matter, they immediately had Shen Shixing write a memorial in the prime minister's duty room and sent someone to deliver it directly to Feng Bao.

The reason why the Ming Dynasty considered this matter to be relatively important was mainly because maritime merchants had previously reported to the government that Chinese merchants from Southeast Asia had pretended to be Ming Dynasty merchants and traded with the foreigners, which led to trade disputes.

This had an impact on the business of real Ming Dynasty maritime merchants when they went abroad.

To Europeans, since these Chinese looked no different from Ming dynasty merchants, they naturally thought they were the same.

The reason why Wei Guangde's passport was supported by Xu Xuemo was because he thought of this.

In the future, passports will be issued to Ming merchants traveling abroad, and they can use them to prove their identity.

Any businessman who cannot produce a passport will not be recognized even if he claims to be a Ming citizen.

In the Ming Dynasty, if you were not very familiar with the Portuguese and Westerners, it would be difficult to tell the difference in appearance between the two countries.

The foreign businessmen who come to Yuegang and Songjiang Prefecture now are mainly them. British businessmen have not appeared yet, so they are naturally not counted.

"This is a good idea. The Ministry of Rites said that some Nanyang merchants used the Kanhe issued by our dynasty to impersonate Ming merchants. From now on, we should use passports to prove our identities, so that people from small countries can avoid impersonating Ming merchants and defrauding people abroad."

Feng Bao said with a smile on his face.

“It looks good, but it’s too simple.”

Empress Dowager Chen felt that this "passport" was exquisitely made, but it was too easy to forge.

"Queen Mother, this matter is easy to handle, hehe."

Feng Bao immediately said: "This item was commissioned by the cabinet to be made by the Silver Bureau. Why not let the Silver Bureau be responsible for making this passport in the future? Not only can the quality be guaranteed, but some technologies that are not available outside can also be added.

Before coming here, I asked the Neibaochao Bureau. For example, this silk cloth can be exchanged for mulberry paper used for printing treasure banknotes.

Only the inner court can purchase mulberry paper, and it is forbidden for the public to use it. Besides, the Inner Treasure Banknote Bureau does not have many tasks to print treasure notes now, so the printing technology of treasure notes can be used here."

Feng Bao raised the issue of the location of passports. In a nutshell, the inner court was responsible for the production of passports, and when they were sent down, one only needed to fill in information such as name and place of origin.

There is also engraving on the back of the passport, which is a trivial matter. The anti-counterfeiting technology is mainly reflected in the paper and printing techniques.

To be honest, the Baochao Tizhusi and Nei Baochao Bureau, which are responsible for printing Baochao in the Ming Dynasty, really have nothing to do now. The Baochao printed in the past cannot be issued now, and it has become an empty office.

However, the inner court still had to retain these people, especially craftsmen who mastered special techniques.

People in later times said that there were almost no counterfeit Ming Dynasty treasure notes, because they were too worthless and counterfeiting would only result in a loss.

This statement is actually incorrect, especially during the reigns of several emperors of the Ming Dynasty, when Baochao was actually the main currency in circulation. At that time, the circulation of copper coins, gold and silver was strictly prohibited among the people.

The difficulty of counterfeiting Baochao is the main reason why there are few counterfeit banknotes. According to relevant literature, the material used for Baochao was the same as that of the Yuan Dynasty. The material used for making banknotes was mulberry pulp, which is the very thin inner layer between the bark and the flesh of the mulberry tree after the bark is peeled off. This material is particularly difficult to counterfeit.

At that time, the government's control over banknote materials was extremely strict, which made it almost impossible for counterfeiters to get raw materials. This was equivalent to killing the idea of ​​counterfeiting treasure notes in the cradle.

In addition, the copper plates used to print the treasure banknotes were engraved with exquisite and delicate techniques. Such difficult engraving techniques made it difficult for counterfeiters to print the treasure banknotes exactly as they were.

In addition, there are two red official seals on the front of the Ming Dynasty's circulating treasure notes, one is the "Seal of Ming Dynasty's Treasure Notes" and the other is the "Seal of Treasure Notes Administration"; there are also two seals on the back of the Ming Dynasty's Treasure Notes, a red official seal of the "Seal of the Treasure Note Printing Bureau" and the denomination of the coin printed in ink.

These seals all have corresponding anti-counterfeiting marks, which were difficult for ordinary people to imitate at that time.

Not to mention that the printing of Baochao used a particularly troublesome "feibai" font.

This font looks like the ink was peeled off before it dried, forming a unique broken effect. Folk craftsmen have no way of imitating this superb printing technique.

However, these techniques are now strictly controlled by the inner court. Not only must the craftsmen swear an oath to keep it secret, they also live in special courtyards and are not allowed to go out at will or discuss their work with outsiders.

With the anti-counterfeiting technology used in printing treasure notes, Feng Bao doesn't think that passports can be easily counterfeited outside.

Of course, the most important thing is that Feng Bao also has to develop more ways to make money for the inner court.

The inner court employs tens of thousands of people. For example, the Inner Treasure Bureau now has nothing to do and employs a group of eunuchs and craftsmen, but no one dares to propose layoffs.

After Feng Bao received the passport sent by the cabinet, he could tell at a glance that it was simple to make and could be easily forged.

Don’t think that the ancients had no awareness of anti-counterfeiting. Both the common people and the officials paid great attention to this.

Although the memorials submitted by ministers were varied, when they reached the Ministry of Public Administration, they were all copied onto special document paper. These papers had special patterns printed around the edges and were special document papers.

In the court offices and local government offices, the paper used for documents was also special, and usually had a circle of patterns around it.

Even the paper used for documents in the imperial court and various government offices, such as the "admission tickets" issued to candidates in the imperial examinations, were filled out on special paper and took anti-counterfeiting measures into consideration.

Feng Bao planned to keep the "passport" business in the inner court and let the Silver Bureau and the Inner Treasure Bureau do it. The silk cloth would be converted into paper for the Inner Treasure Bureau to print banknotes, which could be considered as waste utilization.

Of course, he didn't dare to say that the treasure notes were waste paper.

I don't think those sea merchants who go out to sea will be stingy with those few taels of silver.

When a ship goes out to sea, there are only a dozen or twenty sailors, which means the income is nearly one hundred taels of silver.

The local authorities registered their information and issued "passports", and each of them was given one or two taels of silver as a reward, and the rest could be entered into the inner court.

Think about it, there are already more than 200 ship permits issued, which means passports for 3,000 to 4,000 people, which can at least earn the inner court tens of thousands of taels of silver.

These materials had already been distributed to local governments a long time ago. Even if they were not used, they had to be collected and put into the warehouse, taking up space.

Well, in Feng Bao's opinion, the materials and labor used for the passport were almost nothing, and the inner court made a fortune in vain.

Not to mention that if Tianjin and Guangzhou open their seas later, it will add a large amount of income.

"I thought that this passport could be renewed every five years and different secret marks could be added."

It is of course not possible to have a passport that can be used all the time. It is also not good to renew it every year, as it costs very little and the inner court cannot make much money.

Feng Bao felt that changing positions every five years was appropriate.

The passport for a ship only costs a few hundred taels of silver, but compared to the profit of paying out thousands of taels of silver at a time, it doesn't seem to be much, so it's better to use it for five years.

"Feng Bao, we will do as you say. You should coordinate this matter with the cabinet and make sure you do not lose face for the court.

After all, this thing is for the vassal states to see, and it must not be made poorly for something made by the imperial court."

Empress Dowager Chen glanced at the little emperor and said, Zhu Yijun was still looking at the passport in his hand over and over again with great interest, finding it very strange.

After coming out of the palace, Feng Bao first sent the little emperor back to the palace, but halfway through the journey the little emperor went to the Kunning Palace instead of returning to the Qianqing Palace.

Well, the little emperor is now a newlywed and has a very close relationship with the queen.

During this period, both the Ciqing Palace and the Cining Palace were "negligent in disciplining" the little emperor, and Feng Bao didn't know how to say anything for fear of upsetting the emperor.

After he sent the little emperor to Kunning Palace, he went directly to the cabinet and found Zhang Juzheng, and soon Wei Guangde was also called over.

After all, this thing was invented by Wei Guangde, and the Ministry of Rites strongly supported it.

Feng Bao discussed the passport business in detail with Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde in the cabinet. The main point was: anti-counterfeiting.

In the Huitong Hall, the three European envoys looked through the passport samples for a while and nodded.

Zhao Yongxian and I carefully listed what kind of help and protection needed to be provided to the citizens of the other country. It was all mutual, and there was no question of who would suffer a loss.

After all, few people go abroad these days.

In Europe, only aristocrats would think of traveling abroad.

It is difficult for ordinary people in China to get rid of stuttering.

Among them, the poorest is naturally Britain.

Spain and Portugal are better off, as they are both rich at that time. Although the wealth mainly flows into the hands of the nobles, the common people can still get a share.

Later, when Spain fought the Holy War, most of its troops were mercenaries who paid to fight.

Nobles had privileges in Europe, and even if there was a war they could use money to buy themselves off, so passports were really useless.

However, after studying it together, the envoys of the Three Kingdoms still felt that the system formulated by the Ming Dynasty had its merits. No wonder it was an ancient country that had been passed down for thousands of years and was very thoughtful.

"When I return, I will report to Her Majesty the Queen and issue passports to citizens who are abroad."

The British envoy spoke first.

“Yeah, I think this thing is good too.

Also, in addition to signing an agreement with Ming, should we also sign a similar agreement among the three countries to protect the rights and interests of citizens in other countries? "

The Portuguese envoy also spoke.

Anyway, once you say it here, the great nobles in the country will study whether it works or not. If they think it works, then it really works.

"Only the mainland, not including overseas colonies."

The Spanish envoys had already figured out that Spain's rights and interests in the New World would definitely not be interfered with by other countries.

It's no big deal for them to go to their homeland, but don't think you can just wander around the New World with your passport.

Spain is very annoyed by English pirates. (End of this chapter)