Daming: Dad, you are really not good at governing the country

Chapter 318 After a hundred years of development, the Ming Dynasty’s shipbuilding technology is actually worse than that of the Song Dynasty?
When Zhu Gang first presented the design drawings of the ironclad ship, Zhu Yuanzhang's biggest concern was that there were not enough craftsmen to build the ships.

Until the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Chinese shipbuilders had neither made a breakthrough in headwind sailing technology nor solved the keel technology.

The ships built under such circumstances are simply unable to carry out ocean voyages.

This can be seen from the maritime trade throughout the dynasties.

Whether it is the trade with Arabia, India and other places during the Tang and Song dynasties, the trade with Spain, Portugal and the Dutch during the Ming and Qing dynasties, or the trade with Japan, Southeast Asia and other places.

Basically, it was their ships that came to Chinese ports, rather than the Chinese dynasty's ships going to overseas ports.

When talking about this incident, Zhu Gang said with some emotion: "Although the Ming Dynasty's sea merchants knew that the price of porcelain shipped to Europe could be ten or a hundred times higher, they had no corresponding navigation technology and could only watch the red-haired foreigners make a lot of money.

Except for pirates with more advanced ships, Ming Dynasty ships that wanted to go to Japan had to try to sail north around the Korean Peninsula in order to sail close to the coast.

Even so, we still have to bear half of the losses at sea, so going to Japan now is already a risk of death for us."

Zhu Gang's words are truly thought-provoking.

Even Zhu Yuanzhang, who knew little about navigation, realized that if no changes were made, the Ming Dynasty would inevitably fall behind overseas countries.

After all, the fighting and killing within China since ancient times were basically caused by political differences that were too great to be compensated by exchanging interests.

Only conflicts of interest from outside can lead to wars with heavy casualties.

What did war bring to ordinary people?
Endless suffering!
In the eyes of the rulers, the dead soldiers are nothing more than a string of cold numbers.

However, for ordinary people, if a strong laborer dies in the family, the sky will fall.

It would take one or two generations to digest such a result.

As a military emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang was well aware of the Ming people's desire for a peaceful life.

That was why, amid everyone's puzzled gazes, he decided on 15 "unconquered countries" in the hope of allowing them to rest and recuperate with their people.

If Zhu Gang had not used Iwami Silver Mine as bait, Zhu Yuanzhang would never have taken action against Japan.

"There is a saying in the Ming Dynasty: Among three people walking together, there must be one who can be my teacher.

We are very willing to see the scene of Siamese shipbuilding craftsmen communicating with the leaders of the same industry in Ming Dynasty."

Hearing that Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to shipbuilding craftsmen, the tense expressions on the Siamese envoys' faces immediately relaxed a lot.

"Your country invented the keel structure during the Song Dynasty. It is a longitudinal continuous component that runs from bow to stern at the centerline of the bottom of the ship and runs through the entire length of the bottom.

Its main function is to use a hard material to penetrate the entire hull to effectively support the hull.

This makes the ship stronger and more stable while also making it more capable of withstanding wind and waves.

It is no exaggeration to say that the keel structure of a ship is a major invention in the shipbuilding industry.

It has had a profound impact on the development of ship structures around the world.”

Faced with the high praise from the Siamese envoy, Zhu Yuanzhang showed a hint of embarrassment in his eyes.

He originally thought that the dragon bone technology had never been solved, but the other party said that this problem had been solved as early as the Song Dynasty.

In other words, after 108 years of development, the Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding technology has not only not improved, but is even less advanced than that of the Song Dynasty.

It was not until this time that Zhu Yuanzhang understood why his third son Zhu Gang was so strongly dissatisfied with the "maritime ban".

After a little thought, Zhu Yuanzhang asked Wang Jinghong to copy a list of vassal states that would participate in tribute trade and send it to Kunning Palace.

After all, according to the previous plan, Zhu Gang should have been there with Xu Miaoyun, who was disguised as a man, to pick up Fang Shuxiu from the palace to attend the wedding celebrations.

"Miaoyun has me, her mother, to take care of her, so you can rest assured. Besides, this is Kunning Palace, and those assassins are not so bold as to do this!"

Seeing Empress Ma with a loving look in her eyes, Zhu Gang smiled and explained, "It is not that I intentionally delayed the time, but I took into consideration that my father and elder brother were entertaining envoys from vassal states.

I guess there are still many doubts that need to be answered.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Jinghong walked in from the gate of Kunning Palace with a copy of the list of vassal states participating in the tribute trade.

"Your servant greets Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin."

When Empress Ma saw Wang Jinghong holding a document in his hand, she frowned immediately.

"Today is Tang'er's wedding day after all, so your Majesty and the Crown Prince can make the decisions on official matters.

If we delay the auspicious time, then..."

Without waiting for Empress Ma to say anything to blame him, Zhu Gang took the document.

“I’ve heard from my eldest brother before that there are more vassal states participating in the tribute trade this time than last time.

I have been a foreigner in Taiyuan for a few years and have seen a lot. It is a good opportunity to see if there are any unqualified people among them!"

However, when he opened the list of vassal states and saw the name of Bengal, he immediately showed great interest.

"Bengkala was the Kingdom of Sindhu during the Han Dynasty, and was called Tianzhu during the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Later, Central India paid tribute to Liang, and South India paid tribute to Wei.

During the Tang Dynasty, it was divided into five parts according to different geographical locations.

According to the markings on the World Atlas, this place belongs to East India.

A large number of merchants from Central Asia, India, Arabia, Persia, East Africa and Europe gathered in Bengal.

Therefore, in addition to conventional goods, rare and exotic animals such as African giraffes and zebras can also be found in Bengaluru. "

After Zhu Gang finished speaking, he also specifically described the appearance of the giraffe. Wang Jinghong nodded and said, "The tribute animal brought by the Bengal envoy is indeed exactly the same as what His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin said.

They called it "Deer Qilin". Although this beast has weapons that can be used to attack, it will not harm living things.

This is a 'good omen' that only appears in times of peace and prosperity or when a saint appears in the world!"

The reason why auspicious signs have become the object of faith for rulers of all dynasties is related to Dong Zhongshu in the Western Han Dynasty.

The Confucian thought he advocated was based on the concept of "harmony between man and nature".

After this idea was accepted by the rulers, almost all natural phenomena began to be related to politics.

For example, whenever a comet appeared, the emperor would often grant amnesty to the entire country.

At the same time, he would make a self-criticism to the people and issue a self-criticism letter called "The Edict of Confession of Sins".

However, compared to this strange phenomenon that was not liked by the rulers, emperors of all dynasties still preferred the "auspicious sign" that symbolized good luck.

There are three main criteria used by later historians to evaluate the prosperity of an imperial period.

There were neither large-scale rebellions nor massive invasions by foreign races, nor did the people freeze or starve to death on a large scale.

But in the eyes of emperors of all dynasties, the appearance of auspicious signs is the best proof of good governance.

(End of this chapter)