The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 244 It’s rare to be confused
Whether there were Japanese pirates along the coast of the Ming Dynasty was actually decided by the emperor of the time.

If the current emperor thinks it exists, then it exists.

The Jiajing Dynasty is a clear example.

In fact, there have always been officials in the Ming Dynasty court who have colluded with Japanese pirates and pirates to engage in illegal overseas trade.

If the current emperor does not order a thorough investigation, then there will be no problem.

They are very happy making money from business, so naturally they won't look for trouble.

Once the emperor of the current dynasty issues an order for a thorough investigation, trouble will arise.

During the Jiajing reign, because of the case of the Xie family being exterminated in Yuyao, Emperor Jiajing ordered a thorough investigation. As a result, pirates and Japanese pirates were found, as well as wealthy maritime merchants.

Knowing that pirates and Japanese pirates are colluding with wealthy maritime merchants to do illegal overseas business, it is natural to deal with these guys.

Therefore, Emperor Jiajing ignored the consequences and ordered a thorough investigation of the wealthy maritime merchants and the elimination of pirates and Japanese pirates.

As a result, it was like stirring up a hornet's nest, and pirates and Japanese pirates immediately emerged in large numbers.

As for the reason, it is actually very simple. To put it bluntly, it is for profit.

Overseas trade can bring in tens of millions of taels of profit a year.

Later generations studied the flow of silver during the Age of Discovery. Starting from the Wanli Dynasty, at least 30 million taels of silver flowed into the Ming Dynasty every year.

However, very little of this money flowed into the Ming Dynasty court. Most of it was earned by wealthy maritime merchants in collaboration with pirates and Japanese pirates.

These wealthy maritime merchant families are actually the same as pirates and Japanese pirates. If the emperor does not investigate, then there will be no such thing. But if the emperor investigates, then there will be trouble.

Now Wanli knew without checking that the Zhejiang Party was the representative of the wealthy maritime merchants, because the Donglin Party was colluding with the northern barbarians.

These guys make more than 30 million taels every year!
If the current Ming Dynasty navy was as powerful as that of the Hongwu and Yongle dynasties, he would immediately break off hostility and take action.

The problem is that the Ming Dynasty navy only has two hundred centipede ships in total.

It is estimated that there are more than two hundred ocean-going warships in the hands of pirates and Japanese pirates.

If you start a fight with someone at this time, you will be asking for trouble, huge trouble.

So, Wanli decided to pretend to be confused.

He pretended to think it over carefully, then nodded slightly and said, "Well, there are indeed no Japanese pirates along the coast of Daming now."

Fortunately, fortunately, the little emperor knew nothing.

Pan Jixun nodded repeatedly and agreed, "Yes, the Japanese pirates were all wiped out by Duke Peng."

He knew that the young emperor favored Qi Jiguang very much, so he gave him a pat in disguise.

As expected, Wanli nodded with satisfaction and said, "Yuan Jing is indeed a rare commander. Neither the northern barbarians nor the southern Japanese are his match."

Pan Jixun quickly followed suit and said, "Your Majesty is wise and has a keen eye for talent."

The Zhejiang Party is like this. As long as the emperor doesn't care about their business and how to make money, they will flatter them.

Wanli nodded, impressed, and then asked with feigned curiosity, "Who did they build this huge ocean-going ship for?"

This one.

Pan Jixun pretended to ponder, "Your Majesty, I guess they were built for those sea merchants. Now that the maritime ban has been lifted, sea merchants must use these ocean-going giant ships when they go to Southeast Asia to do business."

Do you really think I'm so easy to fool?

To open a business overseas, you must have the necessary conditions.

If you buy a Kanhe, you have to pay tax.

The commercial tax rate in the Ming Dynasty is 10%. For an overseas business of more than 30 million taels every year, you have to pay more than 3 million taels of commercial tax.

Have you paid?
You haven't paid the three hundred thousand taels for a year!
Forget it, just pretend to be confused.

The most important thing now is to develop the navy. Once the navy is developed, I won’t just want more than 3 million taels a year. I want it all!

Wanli feigned confusion and said, "They didn't report this to the court. This is considered illegal shipbuilding for profit. That ocean-going ship must be confiscated. It just so happens that I want to take the ship back to Beijing. That centipede ship is too small."

Oh, you are interested in that 1,000-ton ship.

Okay, I'll give it to you. It only costs a few hundred taels anyway, and the money is paid by the court.

Pan Jixun nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. That huge ocean-going ship should indeed be confiscated."

Next comes the issue of shipbuilding.

You'd better pretend to be confused for me.

Wanli thought for a moment, then asked, "Lord Pan, do you know Ziwei?"

What does this mean?
Of course I know Shen Yikuan. He is a key figure in our business.

It is not so easy to earn tens of millions of taels a year. You must have talented people in the court, and they must be in power.

If there is no one in power in the court, with such huge benefits, who knows how many people will come to grab them.

The Xie family of Yuyao is a clear example.

Originally, three generations of the Yuyao Xie family had been in power in the court, and therefore, they were in charge of this huge overseas business.

As a result, the fourth generation of the Yuyao Xie family was incompetent and no one was in power in the court.

At that moment, the whole family was wiped out!

The wealthy maritime merchants are all aware of this, so they try every possible means to cultivate people to hold power in the court.

Shen Yikuan was the one they trained to be in power.

Can he say he doesn't know him?
That doesn't seem to work.

Pan Jixun thought for a moment, then said carefully, "Master Shen and I are from the same hometown. We served in the same court, so naturally we know each other."

Wanli nodded slightly and asked, "Do you know Bingzhong?"

What does this mean?
Oh, I see.

The young emperor is currently using this group of fellow villagers to deal with the factions of Shen Shixing and Zhang Siwei in the court. What this means is that the young emperor is in the same group as us, and we are all one family.

Pan Jixun nodded quickly and said, "Your Excellency the Prime Minister, I know you too."

Well, this guy should understand.

I am pretending to be on the side of your Zhejiang Party now, so don't ask for trouble. If you make me angry, it will be a huge trouble for you.

Wanli pretended to be frank and said, "My dear Pan, I came to Nanjing this time to build ships for the navy.

You should also know that the most powerful among the Northern Tartars now is Tumen Khan. Tumen Khan not only occupies most of the Liaohe River basin, but is also expanding into the Heilongjiang River basin.

That is an area of ​​tens of thousands of miles in radius. Without naval ships to transport food and supplies, if we rashly go over to start a war with Tumen Khan, the food supply route will most likely be cut off by Tumen Khan, and then we will be in trouble.

Therefore, I want to build a batch of ships for the navy, and I will let Danyang manage the Treasure Ship Factory. I will promote him to the position of Langzhong of the Water Conservancy Department of the Nanjing Ministry of Works, and put him in charge of the Treasure Ship Factory.

You have to help keep an eye on it from now on, and don't let those sea merchants come here to buy ships. The navy doesn't have enough ships."

You want to take over the Baochuan Factory!

Will this work?

The problem is, this kid is very rebellious. If we piss him off, we'll all be in big trouble.

Forget it, there is more than one shipyard, and giving Baochuan Shipyard to you won’t have much impact on us.

Pan Jixun thought about it carefully, then nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand. I will do my best to help Lord Peng build the navy ships."

I hope you understand.

Wanli pretended to ponder, "It seems that just one treasure shipyard is not enough. I want to defeat Tumen Khan as soon as possible. The navy ships must be built quickly. Other shipyards must also recruit more people to build fast ships for the navy."

Do you want another shipyard?
Pan Jixun endured it for a moment, then asked carefully, "Your Majesty, I'm so bold as to ask how many ships do you want to build for the navy?"

Wanli pretended to ask, "Do you think other shipyards can build a thousand navy ships a year? That is, 500 of the 800-ton centipede ships and 400-ton octopus ships."

Of course it is possible. There are more than ten shipyards, and it is definitely no problem for each shipyard to build dozens of speedboats a year.

Moreover, the navy's clipper ships are similar to grain ships and cannot sail out to sea, so building a thousand ships a year will not have much impact on them.

The problem is, they also need to build ships.

Pan Jixun thought for a moment, then asked cautiously, "Your Majesty, I dare to ask that the other shipyards under the Ministry of Works cannot just build speedboats for the navy. After all, they also have to build a lot of grain ships every year."

Humph, a canal boat?

You want to build a pirate ship!

It is better not to provoke these guys for the time being. If pirates and Japanese pirates are rampant on the southeast coast at this time, it will involve most of his troops.

By then, the Japanese pirates in the south and the Tartars in the north will be causing trouble on both sides, and the Wanli Dynasty will turn back into the Jiajing Dynasty.

Forget it, I'd better pretend to be confused.

I can't let these guys know how big the navy will be expanded to right now.

If these guys knew that the navy was going to be expanded to hundreds of thousands, they would definitely go crazy and mobilize pirates and Japanese pirates to cause trouble.

I am not a fool. Does it take hundreds of thousands of naval forces to defeat Tumen Khan?
Tumen Khan had only tens of thousands of troops in total.

The navy grew to hundreds of thousands, definitely for the purpose of seizing the benefits of overseas trade.

These guys would do anything for the huge profits from overseas trade.

It’s better to pretend to be confused to numb them.

Wait until the navy develops, hehe.

Wanli pretended to ponder and said, "Other shipyards also need to build grain ships. Then I can only find a way to get the treasure shipyard to build more ships."

Pan Jixun nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. This Treasure Shipyard still has many existing docks and waterways. With a little repair, it will be enough to build warships for the navy."

Then even if it's a deal, don't mess with me. If you dare to mess with me, don't blame me for being rude.

At this time, Pan He, who was beaten half to death, was dragged in.

Wanli said coldly, "Are you still going to yell? I came to the Treasure Shipyard to take a look. You're whining like that, are you looking for a fight?"

How would I know you were the little emperor!
Pan He begged for mercy repeatedly, "I didn't know Your Majesty was coming. Please forgive me."

I don't want to fall out with you.

Wanli looked at Pan Jixun, then his expression softened and he said, "For the sake of Mr. Pan, I will spare you this time. Don't worry about the Treasure Shipyard."

Why should I care about the Baochuan Factory? What matters most is my life.

Pan He kowtowed quickly and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."

Wanli raised his finger and pointed at him again, warning: "I will forgive you this time, but don't bring people to the Treasure Shipyard to cause trouble in the future. If you dare to bring people to the Treasure Shipyard to cause trouble for me, I will kill all your clans."

How dare I come here to cause trouble? I wouldn't even dare to come if Lord Pan asked me to.

Pan He shook his head repeatedly and said, "I dare not, I dare not."

These words were actually said to Pan Jixun.

Upon hearing this, Pan Jixun thought for a moment, then bowed and said, "Your Majesty, he is, after all, an official under me. How about I take him to the city to heal his wounds?"

Okay, get out of here now, I still have to build ships for the navy.

Wanli waved his hand without hesitation and said, "Go."

Pan Jixun quickly bowed and said, "I will take my leave."

After saying this, he called over the yamen runners and carried Pan He away.

Wanli looked at his back and his eyes narrowed slightly.

Overseas trade brings in more than 30 million taels of profit a year. Sooner or later, I will take it back!

(End of this chapter)