I'm really not doing business

Chapter 713: Extreme Dilemma

Everyone must read more books to avoid being cheated by scholars. Shen Shixing's image has always been very gentle, appearing as a master of keeping things balanced. This gentle appearance is very deceptive. In taking advantage of others' misfortunes and adding insult to injury, Shen Shixing showed the usual cruelty of scholars.

Taking advantage of the liquidity crisis of money shops and bill exchange houses, Shen Shixing took advantage of the situation and demanded that they hand over their last piece of land in exchange for payment.

The liquidity crisis is not because there is no money, but because the debts have not been recovered, resulting in the inability to exchange all the silver bills. The crisis of trust is very fatal to money houses and bill exchanges. These money houses and bill exchanges are not trying to protect their reputation and accumulate wealth, but if they lose their credibility, they will lose everything. They can only do things according to the rules set by Shen Shixing.

Shen Shixing was constantly and tirelessly pushing for the new policies of Songjiang Prefecture, because he knew very well that with the navy at his side, the powerful and wealthy people in Songjiang Prefecture could not do anything to him.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty announced that a naval review would be held in Songjiang Prefecture. The Ming Dynasty had the spring and autumn reviews, as well as the naval review. The purpose of these two types of military reviews was to let everyone know that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty still possessed military force and had the final say over the use of force.

The Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun dealt with a number of memorials. The highway from Kaifeng to Jiayuguan had been divided into sections and was undertaken by the engineering corps in Henan and Shaanxi to start construction. The canal from Hangzhou to Ningbo in Zhejiang had also begun construction. The highways from Hangzhou to Nanya and Hangzhou to Suzhou Prefecture had also begun preliminary mapping and surveying, and the height, slope, bends, etc. needed to be designed. Planning had already begun.

The Ministry of Revenue told the Emperor that large-scale highway construction could not be carried out recently. Both the imperial treasury and the national treasury only had enough silver to maintain the operation of the country. More silver was needed to further invest in infrastructure.

The money that the Ming Emperor and Minister of Finance Wang Guoguang had saved over the years had already been spent completely, but the Ming Dynasty still had many highways to build, from Mizhou to Songjiang Prefecture, from Kaifeng to Mizhou, from Kaifeng to Wuchang Prefecture, from Wuchang Prefecture to Guangzhou Prefecture, and from Jilin to Yongning Temple in Nurgandusi.

The ministers of the Ming Dynasty were extremely conservative. In the eyes of the extreme conservatives, the vassal areas, vassal states and even the governor's office were not the territory of the Ming Dynasty. Only the places reached by the imperial highways could barely be considered as the territory of the Ming Dynasty. If the king's rule could be achieved, then they would be real counties with real land.

If you can't have complete control, expanding the territory on the map is as ridiculous as having sex and only getting someone spit all over them.

"We are poor now. We have to live a hard life for a few years and then save some money." Zhu Yijun said helplessly.

This kind of poverty is a relative term. Compared with the Ming Dynasty before the Wanli Reform, when the annual revenue was no more than 6 or 7 million taels of silver, the finances of the Ming Dynasty are still very healthy and able to maintain basic operations. There is no need for border areas to owe wages, and court officials do not need to receive only 30% of their salaries and only for three months. The Ministry of Revenue also makes financial plans for the entire year instead of three months.

"The silver has simply become an asset and has remained with Your Majesty in a different form," Feng Bao said with a smile.

These silvers were distributed downwards through extensive construction projects. Admittedly, this distribution method seemed rather clumsy, but it did achieve the goal of distribution. The silver flowing in from overseas continuously flowed into the hinterland through the construction of the Chidao mines, effectively increasing the liquidity of Ming Dynasty's goods.

No one can accuse Your Majesty of not doing well, we can only say that Your Majesty did not do well enough.

"The Grand Tutor said that there is actually a permanent solution, and that is the banknote issuance system." Zhu Yijun said with a smile on his face, looking at the memorial in his hand.

Because the right to mint coins was not in its hands, the Ministry of Revenue was obsessed with the banknote system. The copper furnace for minting coins was in the hands of the Baoyuan Division of the Ministry of Works, the silver coins were printed in the hands of the Ministry of War and the Bingzhang Bureau of the Imperial Treasury, and the acceptance bills of the Huitongguan were in the hands of the Ministry of War. Only the Japanese Treasury Notes and the Overseas Treasury Notes were in the hands of the Ministry of Revenue. However, in theory, these two kinds of treasure notes could not be circulated in the Ming Dynasty. Of course, this was only theory.

Therefore, the Ministry of Revenue was obsessed with the currency system. Unfortunately, the Emperor's attitude towards the currency system was even more conservative than that of the extreme conservatives.

"The Grand Tutor also wrote in his memorial that without completing the accumulation of silver, the banknote system is a lazy policy that will harm the country and the people." Feng Bao said a good word for Wang Guoguang. Wang Guoguang was very clear about the standards of the Ming Dynasty's banknote system. Now is not the right time. To be precise, the silver-based treasure notes need more silver as the standard and more original accumulation.

After Zhu Yijun dealt with a batch of memorials, he picked up the newspapers on the table and read them, but to his disappointment, no one still scolded the emperor for destroying the business environment. Instead, the newspapers highly praised the emperor's arrogant and unreasonable use of force to deal with the Wanlongzhuang bond market. Of course, these pens still hoped that His Majesty would use gentler means, and that bloody things would not look good. It would be more elegant if beheading could be replaced by sinking into the sea.

"Is this the work of Grand Minister of the Imperial Clan Wan Shihe?" Zhu Yijun was somewhat surprised by the opinions of these miscellaneous newspapers.

Feng Bao said with certainty: "I have asked, and the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan is busy collecting books on overseas countries and has no time to deal with them. This kind of trend is actually normal. After all, the threshold for the Wanlongzhuang bond market is very high, and most of the Pen Zhengs don't know about it."

"In fact, the officials are also very confused. The Yangtze River connects nine provinces. Goods from all over the world are distributed in Songjiang Prefecture. Silver from overseas flows into Songjiang Prefecture. Songjiang Prefecture is obviously thriving and developing rapidly. Everyone can see it. But life is getting worse and worse. Food and daily necessities are getting more and more expensive. Various romantic places can easily cost hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. Why are people's lives getting worse and worse? Why are their resentments growing more and more?"

"Everyone has a question in their mind: where did the silver go?"

"These scribes were also confused. It was not until the Wanlongzhuang bond market was investigated by His Majesty that they realized that the fruits of development had been snatched away by these people."

The Bi Zhengs were also people of the Ming Dynasty. They also had to live. It was no problem for them to just barely survive, but if they wanted to do something, such as setting up property, buying their favorite calligraphy and paintings, silks and satins, they had to borrow money. After understanding the ways of these bosses, the Bi Zhengs would of course criticize the Wanlongzhuang bond market.

The amount of money taken away by the emperor and the court was limited. Your Majesty was of a timid nature. After taking the silver, he did not waste it himself, nor did he leave it in the treasury to grow trouble. Instead, he used it all to build highways.

The emperor and his court took the money to promote public benefit, which no one could blame. However, if the local tyrants in Songjiang wanted to steal the fruits of the new policy, it would cause public outrage.

Many creditors themselves are also victims of debt.

"This article is not bad. Ask Ma Jinglun if the court can copy it into the official newspaper. Of course, the signature should still be his." Zhu Yijun took out a miscellaneous newspaper and nodded continuously after reading it.

Ma Jinglun was also a man of many opinions. Compared with Lin Fucheng's treason and Li Zhi's arrogance, Ma Jinglun was more of a debater.

Ma Jinglun believes that the antonym of conservatism is innovation, and the antonym of extremism is rationality. The entire article discusses the contradictions between conservatism, innovation, extremism and rationality, and then demonstrates the inevitable laws of the development of all things, which goes on in a cycle.

Reformists, or any self-proclaimed rational reformists, are unable to achieve internal metabolism, because they need more extreme reformist ideas to complete self-reform.

The long history of the Central Plains tells everyone that if any collective cannot achieve its own internal metabolism, history will repeat itself over and over again. Reformists naturally lack the ability to correct themselves and will fall into the dilemma of extremism.

Once it falls into the dilemma of extremism, it will be widely opposed and ultimately fail.

“From Shang Yang’s Reforms in the pre-Qin period to the Wanli Reforms today, it has always been like this. In the end, they fell into a dilemma that was unable to correct themselves. Even though the master was in charge of the administration of officials and hoped to get rid of this dilemma, he still ended up in an extreme dilemma.” Zhu Yijun felt a sense of fate that could not be escaped when he watched Ma Jinglun’s discussion of this matter.

Historically, Zhang Juzheng's new policies became increasingly radical, even extreme, after the seventh year of Wanli. In particular, the nationwide implementation of the Single Whip System would have been a miracle if it had not failed in the face of a shortage of silver. Emperor Wanli was certainly a piece of shit and dug his own grave. However, the extremist dilemma of the reformists was also a dilemma that Zhu Yijun, the leader of the new policy, had to get rid of.

Extremes are irrational. Rational reformers will eventually become irrational reformers, trapped in the dilemma of extremism and unable to extricate themselves. At this time, it is inevitable that conservatives will begin to take over and start comprehensive opposition and correction.

When rational conservatives begin to correct past mistakes, overcorrection will occur. As the world situation develops, rationality gradually disappears, and then they will inevitably fall into the next cycle, the dilemma of extreme conservatives becoming radicalized.

In some cases, conservatives and reformists are bound to face the same problem: the dilemma of extremism.

Extreme conservatives will also be widely opposed, rational reformers will begin to emerge, and the cycle will continue.

But the question is, how many times can the Ming Dynasty go through such a toss? Not to mention the Ming Dynasty, even the ancient kings and sages admired by the lowly Confucian scholars before the Three Dynasties, facing such a cycle, how many times can they go through such a toss?
In recent years, Zhang Juzheng became more and more conservative. He opposed the land return order he himself proposed, and he refused to start writing the third and fourth volumes of the class theory he compiled. He opposed the nationwide implementation of the Single Whip Law, and he even opposed excessive military expansion.

Obviously, Zhang Juzheng's change was intended to suppress the reformists' extreme degeneration into irrationality.

"This article looks like a very boring polemical article, and it won't even make much waves among the literati. But I feel that the dilemma he raised is something I must experience and face." Zhu Yijun repeatedly weighed the miscellaneous newspaper in front of him. It was well written, but no one wanted to read it.

Few people like theory.

In the current Ming Dynasty, talented men and beautiful women are the talk of the town and are widely sought after. This kind of purely polemical article really has no market and will not attract anyone's attention.

Ma Jinglun personally believes that the nine Zhejiang battalions entering the city to suppress bandits, the bank run that spread in Songjiang Prefecture, the craftsmen in Chongdefang taking up arms to demand wages, and the slaves taking up arms to demand wages when the slave status was abolished were all irrational, but this irrational struggle was not meaningless. It was these irrational struggles and innovative behaviors that held the bottom line of consensus.

The situation at the moment in the Ming Dynasty was just right. While it was keen on reform, it also retained a group of extreme conservatives in the court. The existence of the extreme conservatives suppressed the extreme progress of the reformists.

In the original historical line, Zhang Juzheng was unable to retain a part of the extreme conservatives. Anyone who opposed his reforms would be thoroughly suppressed by him. Without the support of imperial power, Zhang Juzheng could only serve as regent and continue to accelerate, because after the seventh year of Wanli, Emperor Wanli, who had his own ideas, did not support Zhang Juzheng's reforms.

Ma Jinglun felt that the current Ming Dynasty was just right, and that enough conservatives must be retained in the court. As for how many, that was not something Ma Jinglun had to worry about. The degree here required a summary of long-term practice, and Ma Jinglun had no such practical experience.

"I'll have someone ask Ma Jinglun if he's willing. If not, I'll give him a pseudonym." Feng Bao accepted the order. In his opinion, this kind of debate article has no meaning. No matter how good the reasoning is, it's your Majesty who does the work. Your Majesty's will is above all else. On August 20, the 13th year of the Wanli reign, God finally showed favor to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The sky was clear and the visibility was extremely high. Even in the golden autumn morning, there was no morning fog. Under the auspices of Wan Shihe, the Ming Dynasty's fleet review was held in the new port of Songjiang Prefecture.

Sun Kehong was also on his way to Xingang. He was invited to attend the national naval review. The invitation was sent by Zhang Cheng, the eunuch and governor of Songjiang Town. Zhang Cheng told Sun Kehong very clearly that this invitation was personally chosen by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and he specifically praised the Songjiang Ocean Trading Company, which was a mainstay in this run.

This is a personal affirmation from His Majesty the Emperor.

But Sun Kehong was in a mixed mood. He seldom attended public occasions such as poetry gatherings and cocktail parties because his leg was broken and he had to be pushed wherever he went. This disability made him very resistant to such public occasions. But since His Majesty had personally invited him to attend the meeting, he was very excited, because at least His Majesty could see what he did.

Sun Kehong's surrender was extremely thorough, in fact, it was just a way of repaying a favor. Xu Jie was killed by Your Majesty, and everything the Sun family has now was obtained after Your Majesty settled accounts with Xu Jie and took advantage of the east wind of the opening of the sea.

Without the land of Ming Dynasty, Sun Kehong would be nothing more than a cripple.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. Long live Your Majesty, long live Your Majesty." Sun Kehong wanted to climb down from the swivel chair and perform the ritual of five bows and three kowtows to His Majesty. This was very undignified and extremely embarrassing. For Sun Kehong, who was the tyrant of Songjiang Prefecture, he wanted to avoid being seen in this embarrassing state.

Sun Kehong was a juren, and was also the chief merchant of an ocean-going trading company appointed by the imperial court. This chief merchant was not an official position, but a clerk, but he could also be called a subject.

Before Sun Kehong could move, Feng Bao stopped him. Feng Bao smiled and said, "Your Majesty has ordered that General Sun Shang is not in good health, so he is exempted from kneeling when meeting officials or paying homage to the emperor."

Sun Kehong was stunned for a moment, then bowed his head and said, "I, your Majesty, thank you for your grace."

"General Sun Shang, don't be nervous. The naval review hasn't started yet. I thought I had nothing to do, so I summoned you to come over and talk. The people of Songjiang Prefecture want to thank General Sun Shang. I heard from Duke Wei Xu Bangrui that some time ago, General Sun Shang took out 50,000 silver coins to promote the cowpox treatment. This is a great and meritorious thing." Zhu Yijun talked about old things with Sun Kehong to ease Sun Kehong's nervousness.

The prices in Songjiang Prefecture were relatively high, with eggs costing 24 wen per pound. In other words, Sun Kehong bought nearly 1.5 million pounds of eggs and placed them in Huimin Pharmacy, giving away one pound for every vaccination against cowpox. Only then was the cowpox vaccination method in Songjiang Prefecture thoroughly promoted.

"That was all the money saved by the owners of the business firms, not my own money. The cowpox vaccination is really powerful. There was a swine fever in Taicang, Suzhou Prefecture in June, but it didn't get out of hand because they also vaccinated against cowpox." Sun Kehong said sincerely.

The flow of people in Songjiang Prefecture was extremely high, even greater than that in Beiya. For example, merchants from Sichuan would take boats down the river to Songjiang Prefecture to do business, and overseas ships would also dock in Songjiang Prefecture. With a population of 2.7 million, if smallpox really broke out in Songjiang Prefecture, Sun Kehong dared not even imagine the consequences.

"Your Majesty, every time there was a plague, many people died, but this year we have rarely heard of it. It's all thanks to your virtue." Sun Kehong said sincerely.

For Songjiang Prefecture, was the Ming Emperor's only favor to open the sea? No, there was also the cowpox treatment.

Zhu Yijun and Sun Kehong talked a lot. Sun Kehong was very talkative and there was a lot to talk about, such as the impact of imported grain from overseas on the grain price in Songjiang Prefecture, the scale of the cotton cloth business, the demand of maritime merchants for berths in the port of Songjiang Prefecture, and the construction of a new port by Songjiang Prefecture on the overseas Yangshan Island.

"The situation of Yangshan Port shows that the imperial court is sorry for the Songjiang area." Zhu Yijun felt somewhat apologetic about the construction of Yangshan Port.

In the ninth year of Wanli, when Wang Daokun was still in Songjiang Prefecture, he suggested building a Yangshan Port for Ming Dynasty ships to berth. The court at that time disagreed because the Suiyuan Chidao was about to be built and the court had no money. Wang Guoguang told Songjiang Prefecture at the time that they should build it themselves. The court had no money at all and had to borrow money from the people, which was already embarrassing enough.

Songjiang Prefecture has an urgent need because the port of Songjiang Prefecture is already congested with ships.

Later, Songjiang Prefecture built it on its own. The imperial court had no money, but Songjiang Prefecture did. Songjiang Prefecture took 1.2 million silver coins and started construction directly. Now Yangshan Port and Yangshan Town have been built. Facts have also proved that Yangshan Port is really necessary, because after it was built, Yangshan Port was overcrowded. The small Yangshan Island actually has more than 200,000 people, which is more than the population of a county in the hinterland. The sails of the ships can be said to cover the sky and the sun.

The imperial court at that time was quite worried that Yangshan Port would become a gathering place for pirates like Shuangyu, and made a conservative decision. However, it turned out that the imperial court was overthinking. Yangshan Port did not become a gathering place for pirates. Instead, it greatly increased the maritime trade throughput of Songjiang Prefecture and injected new vitality into the Ming Dynasty's economy.

The Yangshan Maritime Customs and the Supervisory Office were affiliated with the Songjiang Maritime Customs. Every year, they could pay the imperial court a total of more than 400,000 silver coins in taxes. The imperial court did not spend a penny, which meant that the imperial court got the Yangshan Port of Songjiang Prefecture for free.

"Your Majesty, the national policy is to advance both by land and sea. We can't just sit and watch Suiyuan being conquered and lost, can we? Songjiang Prefecture also needs Suiyuan's coal and alkaline noodles, which are goods that cannot be imported from overseas." Sun Kehong did not think that the court had done anything wrong. All under heaven belongs to the king. It would be a pity to give up Suiyuan after conquering it.

There is huge uncertainty in these overseas imports. How can they be as stable as the stable supply of raw materials from the mainland?

"Do the merchants have any difficulties in doing business?" Zhu Yijun asked about the merchants' demands. Scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans are all the pillars of the country and the foundation of the dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, which had a serious culture of despising business, it was difficult for the opinions of the merchants to flow smoothly to the emperor's ears.

"Yes, the Ming navy must be expanded. At least one hundred thousand navy will be needed to barely be enough." Sun Kehong said with a rather sad face: "Your Majesty, the most dangerous section of the ocean-going trade is from the old port of Malacca to the West. The Portuguese Governor's Office of Diu and the Governor's Office of Goa always attack the Ming merchant fleet."

"But the transportation of cotton and saltpeter to the Mughal Empire is a necessary route, which is really difficult. If we destroy the Governor's Office of Goa and the Governor's Office of Diu, the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty can pass smoothly."

"Expand the military?" Zhu Yijun was amazed. The biggest demand of the Ming Dynasty's maritime merchants was to expand the military. Expanding the military to ensure the free trade of Ming Dynasty merchant ships sounded easy to understand and logically correct, but it made Zhu Yijun feel a little weird.

"We have to expand the army sooner or later, so it's better to expand it sooner." Sun Kehong said very affirmatively. His demand was very simple, a very small goal, to destroy the Diu and Goa Governor's Office.

Armed merchant ships are of course useful, but no matter how armed they are, they are not warships. Facing the two governorates established by Portugal, they are still a bit stretched.

Moreover, the loss of customs duties every year made Sun Kehong extremely sad. Giving all the silver to foreigners was a sin. It would be better to give it to the navy and soldiers to sort out the business environment in the West.

The management of the Ming Dynasty's Maritime Customs was extremely strict. There were certainly clerks in the Inspectorate who demanded bribes, but the situation was by no means as vicious as that of the foreigners. Compared with the business environment within the Ming Dynasty's territorial waters, the situation outside the Ming Dynasty's territorial waters was really too bad, and the Ming Dynasty's navy was urgently needed to show its power.

Sun Kehong really described the scene of being asked for bribes by foreigners with tears in his eyes, and his face was really greedy.

"I will pay attention to it." Zhu Yijun did not make any promise. Whether to expand the army still needs careful study.

After Sun Kehong left, Shen Shixing said in amazement, "Your Majesty, you can't be fooled by Sun Shangzong. You see he is crying and looks like he has suffered a great injustice. A few days ago, the governor of the Goa Governor's Office sent an envoy to accuse Sun Shangzong of a crime. The merchant company's ships, relying on their large number of cannons, are rampant in the Western Ocean."

"This?" Zhu Yijun was stunned. He really didn't know this situation. Just listening to what Sun Kehong said, it seemed as if the maritime merchants had suffered a lot of grievances in the West. But looking at what Shen Shixing said, it seemed that this was not the case?
Who robs whom? This is the question.

In the West (Indian Ocean), everyone is a merchant with swords, so it is a competition of background. There is no doubt that the weapons of the Ming Dynasty are cheaper and there are more people. It is not certain who is wronged. The Governor's Office of Goa hopes that the Ming Dynasty can restrain its maritime merchants.

"Your Majesty, the ivory obtained from Manbasa has been increasing year by year." Shen Shixing always felt that Sun Kehong was too obedient in front of the court. The Songjiang merchants obeyed Sun Kehong's words, not just out of simple conviction, but to a large extent out of fear, because Sun Kehong was essentially a Zhoushan cobra, extremely vicious.

"That's because our Ming Dynasty was bullied. Even if it was robbed, it was only the Ming Dynasty that robbed them, and they couldn't fight back." Zhu Yijun thought for a while and shook his head. His basic view on this issue was that the Ming Dynasty's maritime merchants were robbed outside, and that was a fact. They were bullied.

As for the robbery of the red-haired foreign merchant ships, what does it have to do with him, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty?
"Your Majesty is wise." Shen Shixing thought for a while and bowed his head and said, Your Majesty, what you said makes sense. No matter what the situation is in the West, the Ming Dynasty's ships cannot be bullied. What fairness and justice are things that only talk about within the Ming Dynasty. The barbarians are not human beings.

Zhu Yijun included military expansion in the agenda. Just as Sun Kehong said, it would have to be expanded sooner or later, and it is better to expand early than late.

The naval review began. At the port of Songjiang Prefecture's New Port, the sounds of drums, trumpets, and cannons rose and fell. In the distance on the sea, an endless fleet began to hoist its sails, and the sails covered the entire port like clouds.

The first to appear were four hot air balloons. In those days, hot air balloons were made of silk and were so expensive that even the wealthy navy only had four in total. They were only pulled out for a walk during each naval review. They were useful, but the cost was so high that even the navy could not afford it. Only when there was a breakthrough in materials could hot air balloons be widely used.

Hot air balloons are actually unreliable because they move with the wind and there is too much uncertainty.

But when these four hot air balloons, dragging a huge vermilion banner, slowly passed over the sea, everyone still looked up. After all, these were weapons flying in the sky, which was truly shocking.

There is almost no difference in the process between the naval review and the previous naval review in Tianjin Port. The only difference is that the navy participating in the naval review this time is larger in scale, and this group of navy is only a part of the Ming Dynasty navy.

Youlong, the flagship that does not undertake combat missions, appears first, mainly as a political symbol. Its performance is actually not as good as the fast sailing ships produced later. Feiyun represents exploration. Even though Feiyun is a failure in all aspects, the failure of exploration does not mean that this path of exploration is wrong. It is absolutely qualified to participate in the naval review, which is a symbol of the Ming Dynasty's exploration of ship design.

Five-masted ocean-going ships, three-masted frigates, and warships kept passing through the sea. Every time a ship appeared, Zhu Yijun would stare at it for a long time. It was a pity that he would never be able to set sail on a ship in his lifetime. Going to the sea was not something he would have the chance to do. Being able to board a ship at the port and take a look was already the limit for the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

After the naval review, Zhu Yijun rewarded the naval soldiers. The end of the naval review meant that the Ming Emperor, the living devil, had finally completed his southern tour and was about to return to the capital!
The powerful and wealthy people in Jiangnan had only one attitude towards this, that is, the emperor should never tour the south again!
(End of this chapter)