I'm really not doing business

Chapter 890 When goods cannot pass through borders, the military will pass through
When the powerful and wealthy people in the Southern Court faced the emperor directly, they realized what it meant to be intimidating without even getting angry. His Majesty's words were serious, but his tone was extremely calm. However, it was this calmness that made the powerful and wealthy people even more frightened.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty knew very well that the only thing that could overthrow the Ming Dynasty was an uprising of rebellion by the poor and laboring people.

Now it is no longer the early years of Hongwu, when the princes led their troops to fight. Even the princes cannot rebel.

Zhu Yijun never expected these new nobles to sacrifice their lives and spend all their wealth for the Wanli Reform of the Ming Dynasty. His expectation of these new nobles was only that they would not oppose the new policies of the Ming Dynasty.

But they are crossing the line by talking nonsense to the government-run factory.

"We, the ministers, will faithfully follow His Majesty's instructions." Sun Kehong, the most powerful and influential person in Songjiang Prefecture and the head of the Qingpu Sun family, expressed his attitude on behalf of everyone.

There are also factions among the new nobles, and they are extremely complicated factions. For example, the ship owners of the ocean-going trading companies headed by Sun Kehong, these people have completely surrendered to the court. The Sun family even provided long-term funding to Songjiang University, which has exceeded 1.5 million silver.

This group of ship owners are staunch supporters of the court's policies and are the most active group in donating money during the Ming Dynasty's fight against the Japanese pirates. Your Majesty has already met their demands. Your Majesty's failure to conduct official trade on official ships near the coast is the greatest mercy.

There is a group of people among them who are pretending to be loyal. On the surface, they are actually plotting treason. They think they are the masters of this land and no matter who sits on the throne in the Northern Yamen, they have to cooperate with them.

Some of the traitors who pretended to be loyal were completely exposed in this tribute selection case, while others, because of the emperor's strong power, were trying hard to hide their restless hearts.

The majority are actually centrists. They have no attitude on whether to vote or not. They are typical fence-sitters who just want to live their own lives.

Finally, there are those rebellious people who don’t know how to live or die.

Sun Kehong initially stood on the court's side because the court was targeting Xu Jie.

Later, Sun Kehong figured out a problem, that is, the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River were good at economics, cultural prosperity, and influence of public opinion, but they were not good at politics, and even worse at military affairs.

Xu Jie is a typical representative among them. Xu Jie completely killed Yan Song and his son, and even killed Hu Zongxian. As a result, during the Longqing period, he was driven back to his hometown after serving as the prime minister for more than a year as the emperor's teacher.

The Jiangnan gentry were not good at military affairs. Zhu Yuanzhang was not from Jiangnan, he came from Jiangbei and conquered Nanjing. The representative of the Jiangnan gentry was Zhang Shicheng. History has proved countless times that the Jiangnan gentry were really a mess when it came to military affairs.

The Japanese pirates were not completely expelled until Qi Jiguang, who went south and led the miners from Zhejiang, during the Jiajing period. Before that, the people of the Ming Dynasty were tortured by the Japanese pirates and their lives were miserable.

It's not that the people of Jiangnan cannot be fought, it's that the gentry of Jiangnan cannot be fought.

The maritime merchants headed by Sun Kehong must see the fact that the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River must rely on the navy of the Ming Dynasty court to maintain the stability of the coastal areas in order to make money.

This is why Sun Kehong always stands with the court, because they are bound by mutual interests.

Sun Kehong kept your majesty's teachings in mind.

Your Majesty is an extremely simple and easy to understand king. Your Majesty's anger is definitely not without reason. Some guy must have said something that made Your Majesty very dissatisfied, but he did not punish him, so he scolded him.

This time when the emperor met with the powerful and wealthy people in Jiangnan, the atmosphere was no longer peaceful, but extremely serious and tense.

The meeting was unfriendly and did not last long. When the powerful men from Jiangnan were about to leave the Mochou Lake Palace, they were even thankful that they still had their heads.

Sun Kehong was left alone. Zhu Yijun still had some good feelings towards this Qingpu Sun who always supported the court's policies. This was Sun Kehong's second time to meet the emperor.

Sun Kehong bowed his head and said, "Songjiang University is currently building its fourth phase. I am not a talented person, but I have a little extra money at home. I will donate 500,000 silver coins to help the Ming Dynasty's cultural heritage flourish."

Zhu Yijun said with a smile on his face: "I heard from Wang Qian that General Sun Shang has contributed a lot of manpower and effort. The Songjiang Maritime School and the Songjiang University have been so successful. General Sun Shang has made an indelible contribution."

The heads of the ocean-going trading companies of the five major Maritime Customs were all ninth-rank officials appointed by the imperial court. Sun Kehong was a juren, so it was completely reasonable for him to pay homage to the court.

The emperor's attitude towards Sun Kehong was very good.

"I am just a businessman, I am just pursuing profit." Sun Kehong has been giving money to Songjiang Maritime Academy. The naval officers who graduated either served the imperial court or the Songjiang Ocean Trading Company. They were all classmates.

The Sun family's merchant ships can sail freely wherever the Ming navy is. If there is some trouble, the navy master will come forward and ask the navy's navy master to intercede. Once they say they are all brothers from the same school, there will basically be no problem.

During the 17 years since the Ming Dynasty opened its maritime borders, not a single merchant ship of the Sun family had been confiscated or detained by the coastal defense inspectors. It was not because the coastal defense inspectors did not inspect or that the Sun family was well-trained, but because the Sun family only did legal business.

As a representative figure of the Ming Dynasty's opening up of the seas, he broke the law knowingly, which was a disgrace to His Majesty. If he brought shame to His Majesty, many people in his family would die.

Given the size and scale of the Sun family, legal business is already very profitable. Even smugglers mostly smuggle white goods, not black goods.

"Your Majesty, I have received news that the foreign chieftain Philip II is going to increase taxes on Ming Dynasty's commercial goods. He is now going crazy with poverty because of the invasion of England." Sun Kehong shared with the emperor an accurate piece of news he had learned.

The source of the information was very reliable. He took out an official document from the Governor-General's Office of Peru.

The Songjiang Ocean Trading Company, led by Sun Kehong, has a Pacific ocean route, which is currently the only fleet that requires ocean insurance for a 100,000-mile water journey. His fleet has received official documents from the Governor's Office of the New World, including Peru and Mexico, and tax increases have become inevitable.

"How much?" Zhu Yijun asked with a frown.

"Thirty percent, six out of ten. This will seriously affect the outflow of Ming Dynasty goods and the inflow of silver." Sun Kehong expressed his pessimism about the future of maritime trade.

The cause of the incident was not that Felipe wanted to protect the workshops in mainland Spain or the interests of the shepherds' association, but for money.

Philip launched his first expedition against England, but due to a storm in the Atlantic Ocean, the fleet was almost destroyed. Although Philip quickly defeated the English navy, the losses needed to be made up.

Sun Kehong said with a serious face: "Your Majesty, Felipe owes about 1.45 million ducats in bonds, and his annual income is no more than 2100 million ducats, which means he owes million taels of gold, and his annual income is only million taels of gold."

"In order to continue the war, he has to issue more bonds."

"But the defeat in the war caused Genoese merchants to sell gold bonds out of panic, causing the interest rates on the bonds to rise."

Felipe's financial problem has become his top priority. He must prove to everyone that he still has the ability to plunder more wealth from the New World in order to maintain the stability of the gold bonds, issue more bonds, arm the navy, and win the war.

War is always like this, people can only decide the beginning, not the end.

Once the war begins to fail, the possibility of sliding into a total war will be greater. The more the war punishes civilians, the more difficult it will be for the court to stop the fighting.

Because of a devastating failure, people's emotions will quickly change from complex to simple, and from various attitudes to a desire for victory, because hatred needs to be avenged and lost interests need to be recovered.

And most importantly, a tragic defeat will inevitably lead people to take revenge on the leaders who led people to destruction, that is, the kings and the ruling class.

Therefore, when the war breaks out, the kings and the ruling class completely ignore everything else and the difficulties suffered by the people. They hope for victory in the war to overcome the difficulties and maintain their ruling status.

But, they often end in failure.

Sun Kehong continued: "The failure of Felipe II's first expedition has completely worsened the situation of gold bonds. He needs to issue more gold bonds."

"But as gold bonds in the market were sold off, the interest on the bonds would naturally rise, and the rising interest rates caused huge trouble for Felipe's bond issuance."

When bonds are sold, the interest rate will float upwards in order to attract people to buy them. The rising interest rate makes it difficult for Felipe to issue bonds.

Before interest rates went up, Philip II had to pay 56 taels of gold coins as interest every year, which accounted for a quarter of Spain's fiscal revenue.

Now that interest rates are rising, more debt has to be issued, and at least 70 taels of gold coins must be paid as interest every year.

"He can stop the war with England and stop the losses in time, but it seems that Felipe can't do it no matter what." Zhu Yijun thought about it and gave his own judgment. The obstacles of the ocean prevented Spain and England from destroying each other. Stopping the losses in time is the only solution.

Sun Kehong said with great emotion: "Your Majesty is wise, but unfortunately, Felipe arrested the Genoese merchants who sold the gold bonds. These merchants are the largest holders of the gold bonds."

"It would have been fine if they hadn't arrested him. Once they did, something even more annoying happened to Felipe. Gold bonds were sold in large quantities again due to panic, and the interest rates continued to rise."

"Felipe had no choice but to release those Genoese merchants and increase taxes on the Ming Dynasty. This is the only thing he can do now."

Zhu Yijun heard this and shook his head and said, "It's just a temporary solution. He imposed tariffs on goods from the Ming Dynasty. Let's not talk about how the Ming Dynasty will react. Spain doesn't want the goods, but there are people who do."

"They don't allow global trade fleets to take the Pacific and Atlantic routes, so we take the Western and Atlantic routes."

“The earth is round.”

"The Ministry of Revenue knows that it plans to increase tariffs on Spanish goods to 60%, including inflowing silver. Once it is confirmed that Spain will impose tariffs on Ming, we must respond in a timely manner."

"I have been charged with punitive tariffs. The number of pirates in his family is still too small."

Zhu Yijun went even further and doubled the tariff. If Felipe dared to increase it by 30%, Zhu Yijun dared to increase it by 60%. At the beginning, the Ming Dynasty only imposed a 30% punitive tariff on Portugal.

Since Antonio took office, the punitive tariffs have been abolished.

For this reason, Antonio handed over the legal rights of the Strait of Malacca to the Ming Dynasty.

The Strait of Malacca was conquered bit by bit by Zhang Yuanxun, Marquis of Yingyang. The legal title of this territory belongs to the Governor's Office of Jiugang of the Ming Dynasty, but the actual rulers are the Portuguese. I am afraid that there will be disputes over its ownership in the future.

If Antonio is returned to the Ming Dynasty, there will be no more arguments in the future.

If the name is not right, the words will not flow. The Ming Dynasty has always done things in an upright and aboveboard manner.

The Ming Dynasty was not so bad. The civilian population mainly engaged in near-shore trade, and the only troublesome global trade for official ships and official trade was the Strait of Magellan at the southern end of the New World.

Since the Ming ocean-going fleet cannot pass through, it can just take another detour. The Ji Fu Governor's Office, an idle chess piece, can actually play its own role.

However, with the actual tariff as high as 60%, the only way to get the Ming Dynasty goods that Spain needed was through smuggling. Once smuggling began to spread, pirate ships would pop up like mushrooms after a rain.

Spain could not withstand the rampant pirates, and even the Ming Dynasty could not withstand the adverse effects of the rampant pirates on the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yijun spread his hands and said with a sneer: "The Ming Dynasty entered Korea to fight against the Japanese pirates, and they, Spain, attacked England. The Ming Dynasty won, and Spain lost. He lost, but he actually wanted the Ming Dynasty to pay for him? What's the logic?"

"Then the question is, I have reminded him many times, even Legashi went back to persuade him once, did he listen? Did he investigate the hydrological geography clearly? If he had investigated it clearly, how could the fleet be swallowed by the storm?" "If he doesn't have the ability and can't investigate it, why doesn't he buy a stargazing ship from the Ming Dynasty?"

Sun Kehong did not explain Felipe's reasons for raising taxes.

Felipe's reason was that the Ming Dynasty provided salt to the Netherlands. His original plan was to take back the Netherlands by attacking the salt industry in the Netherlands' overseas colonies through non-violent means.

But the Dutch had the Ming Dynasty's salt, so Felipe couldn't do it.

The main purpose of launching a war against England was to recover the Netherlands.

Felipe's story seems reasonable, but the Ming Dynasty did not want to see Felipe establish a Western trade alliance and use Kiev's grain, the New World's raw materials, and the Netherlands' craftsmen to compete with the Ming Dynasty.

Your Majesty's decision is in line with the interests of the Ming Dynasty, so regardless of whether Felipe's reasons are sufficient, the Ming Dynasty must retaliate in kind.

Therefore, Sun Kehong did not even mention it, and the Secretary of the Central Secretariat did not use the Spring and Autumn style of writing. He simply did not mention it.

"Don't give me face. The Ministry of Rites knows that the envoys from the Netherlands are coming this year. Arrange for them to meet the emperor. I will approve several five-masted ocean-going ships for them." Zhu Yijun looked at the cabinet minister Shen Li and issued a new order.

The Ming Dynasty had plenty of ways to deal with Fei Lipei, who was getting on Ming's bad side.

Because of the relationship with friendly countries, Zhu Yijun has not provided military support to the Netherlands. Since Felipe is shameless, he cannot blame the Ming Dynasty for not helping him as a friendly country.

"I obey your command." Shen Li bowed his head and accepted the order. This time when the sailing ship arrived at the port, he had to ask the Spanish envoy what Felipe was going to do.

Due to the impact of the war, the large sailing ships that would have arrived in May in previous years did not arrive in Songjiang Prefecture until mid-June. Moreover, there were only five large sailing ships this time, two of which were Antonio's five-masted ocean-going ships.

There were only three treasure ships belonging to Felipe.

Felipe had to transfer more navy ships back to his homeland in Thailand, resulting in a much smaller number of large sailing ships that could be dispatched. In normal years, there were only more than ten ships.

In order to withstand strong winds and waves, the current global trade fleet is composed entirely of five-masted ocean-going ships, and Felipe is completely unable to mobilize more ships.

Le Ya Shi had been accompanying the emperor on his southern tour. He was the interpreter of the Ming Dynasty and was responsible for the communication between the Western envoys and the Ming Dynasty. Under the instruction of the Ministry of Rites, he went to Songjiang Prefecture to pick up the ship at the port.

Legazpi met an old acquaintance, Pedro, the envoy from Spain and the Shepherds' Guild.

"Your Highness, are you not going to do business with the Ming Dynasty? If so, the ridiculous practice of increasing tariffs by 30% can still be justified. If you still want to do business with the Ming Dynasty, this practice is simply childish and like a child's play." Li Yashi sat very upright. He could not understand this tax increase at all.

Pedro immediately shouted, "What's this? Your Highness's decision is to make Ming bear the cost of the war!"

"All of this was caused by the Ming Dynasty supplying salt to the Dutch. Your Highness has destroyed the Dutch salt fields. It was all because of the arrival of the Ming Dynasty's large sailing ships that caused all of this to happen! It stands to reason that the Ming Dynasty should bear the cost of the war!"

“It’s abominable!”

"Nonsense." Li Yashi let out a breath and said a word in Chinese.

The word "harassing and unreasonable" means that some people handle things unreasonably, deliberately make trouble, and are persistent. Such unreasonable people are the Hu people and barbarians.

The Hu people and the barbarians do things in an unreasonable and unruly manner.

"Why did the Dutch rise up in rebellion? Have you, the court secretaries, ever read the Oath of Abjuration? Do you know the reason why the Dutch want to revolt?" Legashi said angrily: "The root of the contradiction is still there. Even if we use salt to force the Dutch to surrender, the next rebellion will be tomorrow!"

“And it’s only going to get more intense.”

"Even before the Ming Dynasty intervened, the Dutch had already sought independence, and they were determined to fight to the death. They would never surrender until every last Dutchman was dead!"

Legazpi was very angry. He watched helplessly as Spain, which had gone from being the empire on which the sun never set, turned into a country that only knew how to shirk responsibility. He felt extremely sad.

The once arrogant empire no longer has the courage to admit its mistakes.

"Legazi, you are Spanish!" Pedro could not understand at all that Legazpi was looking at the issue from the perspective of the Ming Dynasty.

Instead of backing off, Legazpi stood up, grabbed Pedro by the collar, pressed it against Pedro’s forehead, and said sternly, “When I was fighting for the empire on the sea, you were not even born!”

"I am indeed Spanish. That is why I say this. Let me tell you, Pedro, even the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty has read the Oath of Abjuration Act. Do you know why the Dutch rebelled?"

"No matter who you are, whether you are a stonemason, carpenter, farmer, shepherd, knight, priest, or noble, whether you are a man or a woman, you have to be a pirate to survive. This is the fundamental reason why the Dutch people fought hard!"

"Now tell me, have you ever seen the Dutch oath of denunciation?"

Pedro had never expected that this kind-looking, even somewhat old man in front of him could be so scary when he got angry. The corner of his mouth twitched and he replied, "I have seen it."

"Look me in the eyes!"

"Answer me again! Have you seen it?" Li Yashi didn't believe it at all. Lying, cheating and evading responsibility are the current court secretaries.

"No." Pedro finally became a little timid. He could beat the already old Legashi, but he really couldn't beat the Tiqi next to him.

Chen Mo, the chief judge, had already drawn his sword. The Ming Dynasty had already killed a Spanish envoy, Solon, so killing Pedro would not be a problem.

"Arrogant! Die in shame in your arrogance! Just like the arrogant Papal States, die in arrogance." Legacy pushed Pedro out with force.

Chen Mo's expression was a little strange. His Majesty said that Legaspi was a patriot. At this moment, Chen Mo believed it because there were some barely noticeable tears in Legaspi's eyes. It was obvious that Legaspi was angry because he did not fight back and watched the empire slide down without being able to do anything.

"Let me ask you, porcelain, tea, silk, iron pots, cotton cloth, spices, what do the Spaniards use to cook? Do they still have to eat raw food?" Le Ya Shi sat back in his original position, exhaled heavily, and said helplessly.

Pedro said quickly: "Our court secretary proposed a currency offset idea, which is to greatly reduce the amount of silver and gold shipped to Ming. Ming was originally short of gold, silver and copper. Ming merchants don't sell to us, and they can't sell to others."

"In order to maintain the original trade volume, the price of goods will naturally decrease. At the same time, the silver and gold in our hands can buy more goods, which actually appreciates. In this way, we pay less currency and get more goods."

While imposing tariffs, the amount of silver transported to the Ming Dynasty was reduced, and the Ming Dynasty's money shortage was used to achieve cost transfer.

"Hahaha!" Legaspi clapped his legs and laughed, pointing at Pedro and laughing. At this moment Legaspi finally understood why His Majesty hated those despicable scholars so much.

Pedro always traveled abroad as an envoy and never actually participated in trade, so this set of currency offsets was nothing but wishful thinking.

Li Yashi laughed for a long time before he shook his head helplessly. Sure enough, when the empire was going downhill, someone always had to give it a hard push to make it slide faster. He sighed and asked, "Pedro, your idea of ​​currency offset is very good."

"The only problem with this idea is, what if Ming doesn't cooperate?"

"But the Ming Dynasty is short of money. What can we do if the Ming Dynasty does not cooperate?" Pedro said as a matter of course.

Li Yashi took the three people's teacups to the middle, pushed out the first teacup and said, "When you came last year, I gave you a stack of treasure notes for you to use. You used it and said it was convenient. Have you forgotten?"

"The Ming Dynasty can issue banknotes."

He pushed out the second teacup and said, "General Qi returned triumphantly this year. Your Majesty has come down from the city to Tianjin to pick up General Qi and bring him back to Beijing, because the Ming Dynasty has complete control over the mines in Japan, including silver mines."

He pushed out the third teacup and said, "Do you see what's outside the window? That's the Ming Navy Yamen. The Ming Navy has a total of 130,000 elite soldiers. The Ming Dynasty is really short of silver. Do you think these 130,000 navy soldiers will all set off to Peru to seize the rich silver mines?"

"In just a moment, I thought of three ways. When goods cannot pass through the border smoothly, the army will pass through."

"With twelve fast sailing ships, one hundred and fifty five-masted ocean-going ships, and five hundred three-masted frigates, do you think the Viceroyalty of Peru can defend the rich silver mines?"

Issuing banknotes, making the Japanese suffer, and sending troops on a long expedition were the three solutions that Legashi thought of in an instant.

There are so many scholars and officials in the Ming Dynasty, so there are naturally other ways, and each scholar in the Ming Dynasty is more vicious than the other.

Pedro shook his head like a rattle and said, "No one has such a strong ability to deploy troops in the ocean. The Ming Dynasty is 40,000 miles away from Peru. How can the emperor of the Ming Dynasty be assured of sending out such a large army?"

"If it were really possible, the Ming army would have been dispatched long ago."

Legashi sneered and shook his head, saying, "That's because it wasn't worth it before, but it is worth it now. Your Majesty has seized the silver mine, and even the most conservative ministers will only sing praises!"

"I have told you more than once not to threaten the Ming Dynasty with silver. This kind of threat is useless. The best way to deal with the Ming Dynasty is to give it more applause and more flowers, so that the Ming Dynasty, from top to bottom, will be immersed in the arrogance of the Celestial Empire and look down on everything. This is the only way to defeat the Ming Dynasty."

"If you threaten it with silver, it will only make everyone united against the enemy."

After Legazpi finished speaking, he chose to leave. He regarded Felipe II's so-called currency offset policy of increasing tariffs and reducing the flow of silver and gold into the Ming Dynasty as wishful thinking.

After Li Yashi left Songjiang Prefecture Huitongguan Inn, he said to Chen Mo, "It's understandable. Your Highness is not unaware of the root of the problem, but he is desperate and has no other choice but to pretend to believe the lies of these palace secretaries."

"Your Highness needs money to maintain the war, to pay interest, and to issue new gold bonds. This is just drinking poison to quench thirst."

Felipe is not a fool. He certainly knows whether such a policy full of loopholes can be implemented, but he has no way to do anything.

Spain has gone bankrupt twice and fooled everyone twice. If the gold bonds go bankrupt again, there will be no need for the Ming Dynasty to implement the Sunset Plan. Spain, the empire on which the sun never sets, will fall on its own.

"It's just the last struggle before the gold bonds go bankrupt." Li Yashi felt helpless, and even his body hunched over a bit.

From the very beginning, His Majesty had been advising Felipe not to fight, especially before he had a clear understanding of the hydrology and geography.

Any military failure could potentially lead to an overall crisis. Legazpi had advised against it, but in the end, it still came to this.

Everything is just as Your Majesty said, Spain's maritime hegemony will collapse as the war intensifies.

(End of this chapter)