prosperous age

"They can't turn back, because both Xu Hai and Wang Zhi were killed by the court. If they put down their weapons, they are just waiting to be beheaded by the court."

Wei Guangde said in a low tone.

"Killing Wang Zhi was a matter of justice in the court at the beginning. Although there were very few people who spoke out against it, there were very few after all."

Yin Shizheng said.

"Yeah, they have a very good reason. So many innocent people died, why did they let these people go?"

Wei Guangde sighed.

"Shan Loan, what is your solution?"

King Yu also sighed softly, and then asked.

What he wants to know is how to solve the Japanese problem, not to analyze the cause of the Japanese pirates. Although analyzing the cause is conducive to solving the problem fundamentally, the current situation is a done deal and cannot be changed.

I forgot to mention that Wang Zhi was executed by you Wei Guangde.

"Yeah, if you have any ideas, just say so, and we can figure it out."

At this time, Yin Shizhen also echoed.

However, Wei Guangde still noticed the different expressions of the people in the room. Although King Yu and Yin Shizhen were eager to hear the solution from him, Zhang Juzheng still looked at him with wide eyes.

Apparently, Zhang Juzheng had already had some guesses about what Wei Guangde wanted to say, but it was hard for him to confirm if Wei Guangde didn't say it. After all, King Yu had said it before, and the Shibo reopened, but the Japanese plague remained.

"Actually, whether it is dealing with the Japanese pirates or the Fujian rebels, the problem is the same, that is to prevent them from getting worse.

How many people were there at the beginning of the Japanese pirates, and they were all scattered into countless small forces that did not belong to each other, but after 27 years of Jiajing, especially since the 31st year of Jiajing, the strength of the Japanese pirates has become tens of thousands, and even appeared to be able to command ten The leader of the Japanese pirates.

To solve the pirates, we must find a solution from the root, that is to allow private businessmen to go to sea to do business. If they have a way to survive, they will naturally not become pirates and join the pirates. "

Wei Guangde's tone of voice was very flat, but it sounded like a bolt from the blue to King Yu and Yin Shizhen's ears. Only Zhang Juzheng showed an expression that had seen through everything.

Yes, what Zhang Juzheng guessed was the sea ban.

The sea ban in the Ming Dynasty originated from the policy of Zhu Yuanzhang. Throughout the Hongwu period, there were records of Zhu Yuanzhang reiterating the sea ban every two or three years.

In the third year of Hongwu, the Ming government dismissed the shipping department of Huangdu City, Taicang; in the fourth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered that the boards are not allowed to enter the sea, and those who dared to trade in private markets must be tried; in the seventh year of Hongwu, the Ming government revoked Fujian Quanzhou, Zhejiang Mingzhou, Guangdong and Guangzhou are the three official agencies responsible for overseas trade in various Chinese dynasties that have existed since the Tang Dynasty.

In the 14th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered that the Japanese pirates still not stop their footprints, and ordered that people living near the sea should not communicate with overseas countries. In the 17th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Tang He to inspect the coastal cities of Zhejiang and Fujian, and banned people from fishing in the sea to prevent Japanese pirates from plundering.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang’s maritime embargo policy was not intended to close the country, nor to interrupt official and private foreign trade. His more purpose was to completely solve the remnants of the two armed forces Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen who had fled to the open sea.

And the later Yongle Emperor Zhu Di sent Zheng He to the West, which actually illustrates this point.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang's ban on the sea is only to prevent the residents near the sea from communicating with the "rebels" who do not want to surrender. It is a temporary military policy, and the incidental impact on ocean trade is only temporary.

The subsequent emperors did not imitate Zhu Di, but learned from Zhu Yuanzhang. The reason is intriguing.

However, although most officials believed that the so-called ancestral system should be followed, that is, the sea ban was enforced, there were still many insightful people in the Ming Dynasty who believed that the sea ban should be opened and non-governmental trade should be carried out.

It's just that most of these insightful people don't know that the publicly prohibited overseas trade has actually formed a complete chain of interests in private.

Originally, under the cover of Shibo, this chain of interests was running covertly and efficiently, but with the ban issued by Emperor Jiajing, there were changes.

However, this change has intensified under the stimulation of the high-pressure policies of the several governors and governors, and finally it cannot be dealt with, forming a massive Japanese invasion.

Naturally, this is the result of some ambitious people making waves among them.

But no matter what, Wei Guangde feels that as long as the people go to sea properly, and the soil where the Japanese pirates grow is blocked first, at least there is no fresh blood to replenish, the Japanese pirates can be eradicated fundamentally.

Only if the sea merchants are given a way to survive, and they do not join the Japanese pirate group one after another, then the existing Japanese pirates will be less and less under the encirclement and suppression of the Ming army until they are all wiped out.

Otherwise, in order to survive, today you wiped out a group of Japanese pirates, but more people joined in at the same time, and finally more and more Japanese pirates were suppressed.

This principle is actually similar to the principle of encircling and suppressing Fujian rebels.

As long as the government does not force the people to rebel, and the people do not join the rebels for their livelihood, the natural impact and scope can be controlled. The most feared thing is that a small fire will start a prairie fire, then there is no way at all.

"Now that Japanese pirates are so rampant, is there anyone willing to be a sea merchant and do business at sea?"

Yin Shizhen frowned and said, Zhang Juzheng on the side was also very interested.

Although he guessed that Wei Guangde wanted to mention the opening of the sea, but because he was in Huguang, he didn't know much about the sea merchants, not even as detailed as his teacher Xu Jie.

"Of course there is."

Wei Guangde replied decisively: "The Lilan of Haimao is beyond your imagination."

Speaking of this, Wei Guangde paused for a while, as if recalling it before continuing to speak: "I remember that in the 34th to 35th year of Jiajing, the imperial court sold the silk accumulated in the three major weaving bureaus of Nanjing, Suzhou, and Hangzhou through the Zhejiang Shipping Department. For this reason, the imperial court earned 100,000 taels of silver, which solved the imperial court's financial difficulties."

"It seems that at that time, someone in the court proposed to plant a large number of mulberry trees in Zhejiang and Nanzhili to increase silk production, but in the end there was no result."

At this moment, King Yu seemed to think of something, and interrupted.

"Agriculture is the foundation of the country, and food is the most important thing for the people. I know what Shandai said. In the end, the senior officials in the court were worried that mulberry trees would occupy the farmland and affect the grain harvest. , so in the end it’s nothing.”

Yin Shixuan replied, which was an explanation of why there was no post in the end.

"This way of writing is definitely not acceptable. The court issued official documents, and local officials didn't know what would happen in order to show off. It's not impossible to destroy fields and plant mulberries."

Zhang Juzheng nodded. When he was in Huguang, he saw that many local officials would do anything in order to show their political achievements. No matter how absurd, as long as the order from above, they would do it desperately, just for the sake of their heads. Usha.

"In the past few years, has the Shibo Department still sold silk to the outside world?"

At this time, King Yu recalled that Wei Guangde meant that he wanted to earn money from the barbarians through the Shibo Company. If he expanded sales and earned a million taels of silver a year, it seemed that Hu Zongxian's additional distribution could be abolished.

"At the beginning of the Shibo matter, it was Zhao Wenhua who led it. After his death, it seemed that Shibo was suspended, and only the tribute was kept."

Wei Guangde replied, "However, as far as I know, when the barbarians came to Daming, they didn't just want to buy silk, they were also keen on porcelain and tea.

As for these things, there are actually a lot of these things stored in official warehouses in various places in the south of the Yangtze River. If the porcelain, tea and silk confiscated by the governments of various places are handed over to the Shibo Department for trading as they did with silk, they can be turned into a lot of money. "

What Wei Guangde said was actually that the Ming Dynasty collected in-kind taxes on workshops and tea mountains during this period. In fact, it was not only tea and porcelain. The Ming government collected the most food, and even fruits that were not easy to preserve.

Many articles in later generations cite that the tax silver collected by the Ming Dynasty was about 3 million taels a year, and as many as 4 million taels.

If all the goods collected by the imperial court are converted into silver, the total tax revenue should be around 30 million taels of silver. Although this figure is far lower than the tax revenue of the last dynasty’s annual tax of [-] million taels in the last years, it is not as high as many articles say. few.

Once these things are not transported in time, they will often be destroyed in large quantities, but as long as the things are still there, who cares whether they are well preserved. Perhaps only food can be used relatively effectively in this era.

However, as Wei Guangde said, in fact, there are indeed a large number of porcelain, tea and other items that were collected in the official warehouses in various places in the south of the Yangtze River. I think the silk and other items sold by the Weaving Bureau were all eliminated and not transferred to the north. supplies.

High-quality porcelain, tea, silk, cotton, etc., of course, will be transferred to Beijing through the Grand Canal first. These high-quality items are used as salaries, and officials can accept them.

Hearing Wei Guangde's words, King Yu's eyes lit up. Of course he is very aware of the court's financial difficulties. Now that Wei Guangde proposed such a solution to financial difficulties, he is naturally very interested.

But soon, King Yu's eyes dimmed, and it was an almost impossible task to turn all this into reality.

Emperor Jiajing didn't like to trade with barbarians, and he even wanted to abolish the Shibo Department completely, and wanted to keep all the goods in Daming.

If it is proposed to Emperor Jiajing to abolish the sea ban and start the city ship again on a large scale, it may be a blessing or a disaster.

King Yu can think of it, and so can other people, but Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng are not as simple as King Yu thought at the moment. What they need to consider is the impact on the country if the sea ban is abolished and the city ships restarted as Wei Guangde said.

This is not a simple policy, as long as the court promulgates it, it is fine. After all, the sea has been banned for many years, and it is not that no one has mentioned this matter in the previous court, but everyone knows what the result will be.

Moreover, the meaning of Wei Guangde's previous words is obvious. His so-called Shibo is not currently being traded with the barbarians under the leadership of the imperial court, but to involve private merchants and let them go to sea to do business.

The sea ban in the Ming Dynasty was actually banned by the people. The government has been trading with overseas countries through tribute trade. It is only in this dynasty that this model was broken for some reasons.

However, there is still a contradiction in Wei Guangde's words, that is, since he intends to use Shibo to dispose of the goods hoarded in the official warehouses in the south, but on the other side, the merchants are sent to sea. The quality of the goods in the warehouse in the south is not very good, how can they be discounted at that time?

Who doesn't know that if merchants get the right to sea trade, they will naturally sell top-quality items, because only these well-made products can be sold at a good price, and they can get more lucrative benefits.

The goods collected by the imperial court were both good and bad. The good ones were shipped to Beijing, and the bad ones were discarded and left in the official warehouse over there. Who would want the bad ones when there were good ones.

Zhang Juzheng first raised this issue. In his opinion, it would be good to completely restore the city ship system, and there is no need for the people to participate in it.

Since the sea trade is beneficial, why not keep this profit in the court and put it all in the pocket of the court, why let the people also share a share of the pie.

"Actually, if the goods are in short supply, those goods can be exchanged for cash, and it's not like it hasn't been done in various places."

Wei Guangde answered Zhang Juzheng's question with just a few words.

It is true that the Ming Dynasty levied taxes on real objects according to a certain percentage, but merchants could also choose to discount them in cash, that is, to pay with silver.

Except for the items that were endowed with special purposes, in fact, the overall quality of the objects received by the government was not high, or it could be said that they were commodities that were difficult to sell on the market.

The main reason why these things are manufactured even though they are not easy to sell is that the cost is low and they can be used to deduct taxes.

After all, the market is so big, and not all the things produced can be sold, and businessmen are naturally very good at taking advantage of loopholes, making both good and bad things, selling what can be sold for money, and handing over to the government for tax deductions if they cannot be sold.

In other words, most of the things that were abandoned in the southern official warehouses were actually worthless things, and they were all colluded by businessmen and local officials to fool the court.

However, that is under the premise that the market is fixed. When there is a new market, the supply of porcelain, cotton cloth and other things produced is in short supply. Who has time to make these worthless things, and would like to sell all the things produced. At that time, the silver will be handed over to the government, and everyone will save trouble.

Afterwards, Wei Guangde discussed some of these issues with Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng. Most of them were asked by Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng, and Wei Guangde gave the solution, while the eyes of King Yu who was listening gradually brightened.

The emperors of the Ming Dynasty seem to like money and money beyond ordinary. Maybe they were afraid of poverty when they were bullied by the Ministry of Households a few years ago. At this time, King Yu heard Wei Guangde’s analysis. Silver is still very easy, but it is just reselling the unrealizable physical objects collected by the governments of various places every year.

And if the private merchants are released, they will definitely find a bigger market after they go out to sea by boat, and the industry and commerce in the south will be unprecedentedly prosperous as a result. By then, the imperial court may be able to earn millions or even hundreds of dollars a year just by collecting taxes. Ten thousand taels.

"The development of industry and commerce can absorb refugees. This is good governance. Taxes are collected from workshops, and you are collecting customs duties from the Municipal Shipping Department. How can there be so many? One million taels?"

Yu Wang finally couldn't help but interrupted and asked.