The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 640: The food and clothing of millions of laborers

The second year of Guangde was the first year of the empire's new policy, and also the year when the old ministers died.

In August, Qiao Yiqi passed away due to illness;
In September, a comet fell to the earth;
In October, Mao Yuanyi died of illness, and in December, Xu Guangqi died of natural causes.

From then on, the only civil officials and nobles from the Kaiyuan era left were Sun Chuanting and Wang Huazhen, who were idle at home.

Metabolism is the law of the world.

Liu Zhaosun is the king of all kings and cannot disobey him.

However, time has left no trace on the emperor.

There isn't even a single gray hair.

This is nothing short of bizarre.

On New Year's Eve of the second year of Guangde, the New Year was approaching, and the emperor held a family banquet in the palace as usual.

Most of those attending the banquet this year were newly promoted nobles, and there were very few old officials.

There are Kang Jingxiu, nephew of Kang Yingqian, Kang Guangxu, son of Kang Yingqian, Mao Chengdou, son of Mao Wenlong, Mao Yan, nephew of Man Gui, Yuan Zhaoji, nephew of Yuan Chonghuan, Shen Mo, nephew of Shen Lian, Wang Jin, son of Wang Erhu, Yuan Shu, son of Yuan Keli, Qi Ming, son of Qi Jin, and Sun Shirui, son of Sun Chuanting.

As for Zhang Juzheng's son Zhang Yunxiu, he was also supervising the implementation of land measurement in Fujian.

Pirates in Kinmen County rebelled against the new law, resulting in casualties. Zhang Jinglie was unable to escape and had to stay in Fujian to work during the New Year holidays.

"Zhang Jinglie is a good official. If Da Qi had more officials like him, the world would be stable."

After some toasts, the retired emperor looked at Kang Guangxu with a sharp gaze.

"Inspector Kang, I know everything you and Zhang Jinglie did in Jiangnan. I'm very pleased that you've accomplished such great things. You haven't let your father down."

Kang Guangxu stood up to express his gratitude, saying that the implementation of the new policy was all due to the planning of the retired emperor. Of course, he did not forget to praise the young emperor Liu Kan.

"Our emperor is truly pure and filial, sharing the worries of the retired emperor, which has moved heaven. In July, I witnessed with my own eyes in Taicang auspicious signs, including white deer and golden crops..."

Liu Kan smiled politely.

As expected, a dragon gives birth to a dragon and a phoenix gives birth to a phoenix, and a mouse's son

When it comes to explaining auspicious signs, Kang Guangxu was just like his father, learning it all by himself.

"Reform has not yet succeeded, and you still need to work hard."

In front of all his confidants, the retired emperor announced that the focus of domestic affairs in the third year of Guangde would shift from the New Deal to the abolition of the grain transport system.

~~~~~
A single stone caused a thousand ripples. When the emperor announced the order, the ministers were in an uproar.

Even Emperor Guangde, who had remained silent all this time, could no longer sit still.

"Abolish the canal transport system?"

"The livelihoods of millions of canal workers depend on it. How can we just abandon it?"

"The grain transport and banknote customs pay millions of yuan to the state every year. If they are abolished, how will they fill the gap?"

"The Yuan Dynasty abandoned grain transport and adopted sea transport, which later led to the flooding of the Yellow River, the rise of rebel armies, and pirate rebellions... How can our dynasty repeat the same mistakes?"

The ministers were discussing the matter, and even the radical reformists were shocked when they heard that the banknotes were to be demolished.

To say that these new nobles of the Great Qi have any interest connection with the canal transportation is, of course, nonsense.

Imperial commerce belongs to the Chamber of Commerce, and the Chamber of Commerce belongs to the state. Moreover, the North Grand Canal has long been completely abandoned. What we are discussing here is the section of the South Grand Canal south of Guazhou.

The scholars of this era, whether they were officials from the State of Qi or officials from the former Ming Dynasty, had already had a fixed mindset. When they heard that the canal transport system was going to be abolished, they thought that the sky was about to fall and the earth was about to break.

It’s because this river is so important.

The canal transportation began in the Qin and Han Dynasties and lasted for nearly two thousand years until the Qi Dynasty.

The Grand Canal was dug during the Sui Dynasty.

During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the economic center shifted southward, and water transport became the economic lifeline of all dynasties.

The transportation of grain and taxes in the Jiangnan region, the transportation of troops and supplies between the north and the south, the people's livelihood along the route, the construction of the granary system, and the prosperity and stability of the capital region all relied on the Grand Canal.

"The North Canal has been abolished for a long time. Maritime transport has been used for many years. Now the ports of Dengzhou, Jiaozhou, and Lushun are prosperous and no worse than before. If the North Canal can be transformed, then the South Canal can certainly be transformed as well!"

Liu Zhaosun remained calm and composed, and was well prepared for the opposition from his ministers.

"Dean Dai, tell everyone about it."

The retired emperor looked at Dai Li, the seated professor of the University.

Dai Li saluted the retired emperor and the young emperor in turn, glanced at everyone, and said in an excited tone:

"Your Majesty, it is technically feasible to replace river transport with sea transport. At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, shipping grain by sea was already the norm. When the wind and weather conditions allowed, it only took ten days to travel from western Zhejiang to the capital."

"The Liaodong Chamber of Commerce determines its direction by identifying longitude and latitude when sailing. Specifically, they use measuring instruments to calculate the longitude and latitude based on the North Star and the Southern Cross. Last year, the Portuguese craftsman John Harrison (1593-1676) created a precise marine clock with an error of only 5 seconds." A group of civil servants and military officers were confused by what they heard.

Liu Zhaosun waved at Dai Li, signaling this knowledgeable expert to speak in human language.

"In short, our dynasty's navigation skills are far superior to those of the Yuan people. Not to mention the north-south shipping, from Yinzhou in the north to Australia in the south, ships can travel back and forth as if walking on flat ground!"

As Dai Li said, the empire's navigation technology has made great progress and is no longer comparable to that of the previous Ming Dynasty.

Of course, to say that sailing to North America is as easy as walking on flat ground is obviously nonsense.

In this magical country, what determines things is not technology, but so-called human factors.

Fortunately, the current Da Qi is not a family dynasty, but a dynasty of several circles.

Kang Guangxu quickly said, "This shows the foresight of the former Emperor. When our dynasty was just beginning, he ignored all objections and focused on developing maritime transport, even spending a large sum of money to hire French instructors. Such a unique vision is beyond the reach of us, the ministers."

Liu Zhaosun smiled awkwardly.

Mao Chengdou and Sun Shirui, who were sitting next to Kang Guangxu, looked at each other and forced themselves to continue listening to Kang Guangxu's disgusting flattery.

~~~~
Sea transportation has large capacity, fast speed and low cost, and was the main way to transport grain from the south to the north in the Yuan Dynasty, while grain transport was only auxiliary.

However, by the Ming Dynasty, with the further improvement of navigation technology, sea transportation was gradually abolished.

In the sixth year of Hongwu's reign, the Liao Xiang ship disaster occurred, and the Secretariat submitted a petition requesting that military farming be stepped up in the north to reduce sea transport.

In the 27th year of Hongwu, the 21 guards in Liaodong were basically self-sufficient in food and wages, so sea transportation was stopped in the 30th year of Hongwu.

In the first year of Yongle, Beijing's grain reserves were insufficient, so the court reopened sea transportation and appointed Pingjiang Earl Chen Xuan as the commander-in-chief to supervise sea transportation. The large ships set sail from Nanjing.

After that, people continued to suggest rebuilding the Grand Canal.

In the end, the Ming Dynasty had to employ 26 workers and spend six months to dredge the Huitong River, which was 6 miles from Jining to Linqing.

In the tenth year of Yongle, Song Lili, the Minister of Works, once again pointed out the drawbacks of sea transportation and proposed adjusting the proportion of rivers and seas.

Pingjiang Earl Chen Xuan successfully regulated the Huai River, allowing 3000 grain ships to be dispatched simultaneously, carrying 400 million dan of grain, without obstruction.

In the 13th year of Yongle, the imperial court announced the official cessation of sea transportation.

To sum up, there are several reasons against sea transportation, including that it is not in line with the ancestral system, that the sea transportation technology is not up to standard, that there is a shortage of sea transportation vessels, that the risks of sea transportation are too great, and that the sea transportation system is immature.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this is nothing but nonsense.

There are only two reasons that really hinder the implementation of sea transportation:

First, there was a complex game of interests among various parties. Compared with seaport cities like Dengzhou and Jizhou, the representatives of the major cities along the Grand Canal undoubtedly had greater influence in government and public opinion. It was understandable that sea transport could not compete with grain transport.

Second, the uncontrollable nature of sea transport. In the early Ming Dynasty, the remnants of Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen frequently raided coastal areas. In the mid-Ming Dynasty, the coastal areas were plagued by serious Japanese invasions. Concerned with controlling the coastal population and strengthening governance, the imperial court could not support large-scale sea transport.

~~~
None of the ministers spoke.

It is too bold to completely abolish the canal transport system.

Liu Zhaosun waved his hand, and the chief eunuch brought out an account book.

That was the revenue of the former Ming Dynasty treasury that Sun Chuanting painstakingly compiled when he was the Prime Minister.

"Do you know how the former Ming Dynasty was destroyed?"

The emperor suddenly asked this question, and everyone was confused.

Wasn't it destroyed by you, the Supreme Emperor?
"Here is a bill. Let Eunuch Dongfang settle it for you."

Dongfang Zhu quickly opened the account book.

"Ming Dynasty tax revenues came mostly from land taxes, and the state's annual revenue was less than 3000 million taels. Of this 3000 million, not all was turned over to the national treasury. 1200 million was withheld by the various prefectures and counties, 800 million was used to supply the nine frontier armies, and finally, the remaining 1000 million taels, transported by grain transport, arrived in Beijing, amounting to 620 million taels." (Note 1)

Liu Zhaosun interrupted:

"Of course, this is just on paper. The actual amount is far less than 620 million."

The emperor threw the account book on the table.

"Floods and droughts are frequent in various places, and we have to fight against the Tartars and bandits. Just relying on these millions of taels, even if Zhu Youjian sells himself, it still won't be enough!"

"Da Qi doesn't support termites!"

"What about the millions of canal workers? Their livelihood depends on it. If we leave the canal, these people will starve to death."

Liu Zhaosun slammed the table and stood up. "Sailors, boatmen, river porters, and thieves are all vagrants. Abolish the canal transport and recruit them into the new army—of course, not all of them. Those stubborn ones will all be relocated north to Liaodong to cultivate the land."

"The canal merely boosted commerce in a few cities, bringing temporary prosperity and enriching a group of canal officials. Asking for help from the canal gangs was of no benefit to the country! The benefits to the people were far less than the cost. A vast empire was ultimately confined to this canal. Everyone was like a frog in a well, leaving the fate of the country in the hands of a tiny canal. Billions of people were blinded by the affairs of the ocean, like a blind man riding a blind horse, facing a pond in the middle of the night. Isn't that tragic!"

Note:
1. "A Thousand Sails Racing: A Study on the Transformation of Canal Transport from River to Sea in the Qing Dynasty" by Liu Lu

(End of this chapter)