Li You's Tang Dynasty

Chapter 412 Ocean Culture Starts From Me

When Li Shimin was dispatching troops under the order of His Royal Highness Ganlu, Li You had already brought his Huben Regiment to Hanshui Ferry at this time, and at this time Hanshui Ferry, someone had already received the news.

The bald headed Liu Dageng is busy with his second son Cheng Kui. This is a shipyard, hehe, you wouldn’t have thought that. Li You actually built a shipyard here. Everyone in the Lavender Villa has been killed transferred here.

Liu Dageng is the chief person in charge here, and the boatmen who built this shipyard were actually brought in from Yin Hongzhi's shipyard.

Originally, Yin Hongzhi wanted to use those boatmen to build a sea-going ship, so the boatmen Yin Hongzhi got here were all masters. That Li Jiuzhe was only 21 years old, but he was a great boatbuilder.

Li Jiuzhe's grandfather even participated in the production of the dragon boat of Emperor Sui Yang.

This dragon boat is really big. The dragon boat is tall and has four floors, 45 feet high (29.51 centimeters in Sui chi today), and 200 feet long. The upper floor has the main hall, the inner hall, and the east and west halls.There are 120 rooms on the second floor in the middle.

The dragon boat that the empress rides on is called "Xiang Chi", which is slightly smaller than the emperor's dragon boat and is also extremely luxuriously decorated.

In the fleet, there are three high-rise ships called "Fujing" and nine water palaces. There are thousands of large ships.

Servants, kings, princesses, officials, monks and nuns, Taoist priests, and foreign guests ride separately according to their grades.Another part of the ship carried items used by all passengers below the empress.There are more than [-] boatmen in total.

Among them, there are hundreds of people holding the dragon boat of Emperor Yangdi, and 9000 people holding the "Yangcai" class and above boats.These 9000 people are called "Dianjiao", all wearing splendid clothes.The soldiers of the Twelve Guards took thousands of boats, and they all went on their own.

The names of the boats are Pingcheng, Qinglong, 艨艟, 艚 and so on.When the ships sailed, they were connected end to end for more than 200 miles, shining on Sichuan and land.The cavalry escorted the shore, and the flags covered the field.

Residents within 500 miles of the prefectures and counties they pass have to come to "donate food", and the extra prefectures have to donate 100 liters.The food is delicious food, water and land rare treasures, and the harem can't finish it, so they dig holes and bury them when they set off.

Hey, Emperor Sui Yang didn't die, it's unacceptable, of course, Emperor Sui Yang is rubbish, but Emperor Sui Yang was still very enthusiastic about the navy, which also indirectly developed the water warfare in the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

General Yang Su was once sent to build various warships in Yong'an. The largest warship is called "Wuya" with five floors and a height of more than 50 feet. .It can carry 800 soldiers, and the flag is added to it.The second is the "Yellow Dragon Boat", which can carry more than a hundred soldiers.

Such a battleship is very powerful.

On the contrary, during Li Shimin's Zhenguan period, the shipbuilding industry declined somewhat, because Li Shimin didn't pay much attention to the ocean, and Li Shimin paid more attention to the inland at this time, because the Tang Dynasty was very powerful at that time, and its western border had been reached. Apart from Central Asia and West Asia, its Silk Road is very smooth on land, and the Maritime Silk Road is relatively less important.

However, Li You came from the future, and he and Li Shimin see it differently. Li Shimin pays attention to the development of cavalry, but Li You pays more attention to the development of the ocean, because Li You knows that the ocean will be the center of wealth in the future.

China used to be the overlord of the sea. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, especially during the Tang Dynasty, a very important sign is that the port cities developed relatively fast, and the number gradually increased, and the scale also expanded. Compared with the Three Kingdoms, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the development was obvious.

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, especially the southern coastal port cities basically developed and formed one after another, such as Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Fuzhou, Ningbo and other places, and later, especially during the Yuan Dynasty, they became the main foreign trading ports and the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road. Quanzhou, at the end of the Tang Dynasty, had begun to have a relatively prominent development or become a very important foundation for us to move towards the Maritime Silk Road.

In fact, only when the coastal port cities are developed, more people go to sea, more ports, and more trade, the Maritime Silk Road will become more prosperous, more prosperous, and more developed.

At that time, European countries were still gnawing their own leaves and using honey to show off their wealth, but it was a pity that our marine culture and civilization soon fell away.

When I say this, some people will definitely refute, saying how the ancient Chinese marine civilization fell, and the famous Zheng He's voyages to the Western Seas is the best evidence.

At that time, the largest of Zheng He's treasure ships was 44 feet long and 18 feet wide, and the compass, charts and other navigation tools for long-distance voyages were also very complete. The "Zheng He Navigation Chart" has been preserved since the Ming Dynasty.

These are all facts, but you have to make it clear that Zheng He's voyages to the Western Seas were not the beginning of China's marine civilization, but the complete end of China's marine civilization, which is a bit like a flashback.

Speaking of the navy in the Yongle period, it was definitely the number one in the world.Just when the European warships were still hovering a few hundred tons, Zheng He's treasure ship had already exceeded 7000 tons.

In other words, when European countries were still developing missile boats, we had already started playing cruisers.However, the Ming Dynasty's status as a maritime power was only a flash in the pan. After more than 20 years, the Ming Dynasty completely withdrew from the ocean it dominated.

After 100 years, the shipbuilding technology of that year has been lost, and even the Ming Dynasty itself could not build such a large warship.This can be seen from the history of the late Ming Dynasty. The warships of the Ming army also weighed more than 1000 tons.

That's why I said that Zheng He's voyages were the end of our ancient marine civilization.

In addition, the Ming Dynasty went to the ocean. His purpose was not simple. He was not exploring the ocean, nor was he conquering the ocean. His own capital Nanjing, his nephew Emperor Jianwen disappeared without a trace.

Although Zhu Di later became Emperor Yongle, Zhu Yunqi haunted him like a nightmare.Zhu Di was afraid that one day Zhu Yunqi would suddenly lead the army to regain the throne, so Zhu Di thought that Zhu Yunqi must be found.

At that time, Zhu Yunwen's whereabouts appeared in Yunnan and Luzon Island. Just in case, Zhu Di sent two groups of people to look for Zhu Yunwen.

And Zheng He was in charge of the road to Luzon Island, and his most important purpose of going to sea was to find Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunqi.

Zheng He is Zhu Di's absolute confidant, so Zhu Di entrusted him with such an important task as an eunuch.

You must know that the Ming Dynasty paid great attention to diplomatic etiquette, and officials from the Ministry of Etiquette were generally in charge.Now send Zheng He to say that Zhu Di has no other thoughts, I am afraid no one will believe it.

Of course, if Zhu Di is only looking for Zhu Yunqi, he doesn't need such a huge fleet at all.Zhu Di hopes to do one thing that kills two birds with one stone, that is, to publicize China's national prestige.Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Di's father, has already done such a thing, but Zhu Di thinks the scene is not big enough.

The overjoyed emperor hoped to reproduce the scene of the Great Tang and all nations coming to the court, but the problem came, the Great Tang relied on its own culture and economy.

And Zhu Di's Wan Guolai Dynasty was bought with his own money, and Zhu Di sent Zheng He to the sea to promote the national prestige of the Ming Dynasty.

Then the Ming Dynasty began to take advantage of it. The Ming Dynasty's rebates to foreign envoys were very generous, usually more than five times the price of foreign goods.In other words, this is a business that loses money and makes money, and the Ming Dynasty often does it.

Such a period can basically be maintained when the country does not have any major expenditures, but when economic difficulties arise, this system immediately collapses.

When Zheng He went to sea, he exchanged tea, porcelain and silk from the Ming Dynasty for spices and wood from overseas.After so many times of tossing and tossing, Zheng He spent a total of more than 2000 million taels of silver, but the benefit he received was less than 200 million taels.

Although the economic situation of the Ming Dynasty was not bad at that time, but if it continues to be consumed like this, sooner or later it will be empty.Therefore, the first thing Zhu Gaochi, Zhu Di's son, did when he came to the throne was to suspend the great voyage, because this project was too expensive.

Zheng He only needs to go out once, and the Ming Dynasty will have at least 200 million taels of silver in vain.Don't think that the Ming Empire at that time was not short of money. On the contrary, the Ming Dynasty needed money very much.

During Zhu Di's reign, he used troops against Mongolia and Annan for years, and the treasury of the Ming Dynasty really didn't have much money.There is also a costly capital relocation project. It is not easy to rebuild a capital.In order to build the city of Beijing, the Ming Dynasty's finances were already on the verge of collapse, and now they are going to sea again, and this time they can't agree to anything.

This disagreement led to a situation of overcorrection, and then the Ming Dynasty completely banned great navigation, and it was rarely mentioned even in history books.During the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, Ming Xianzong Zhu Jianshen suddenly wanted to see the treasure ships of the Zheng He period.

In the eyes of the court officials, the emperor might start his voyage again, which would be a disaster for the country and the people.

The officials of the Ministry of Industry abruptly pushed back, saying that the drawings had been destroyed.In the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court reopened overseas trade.But at this time, the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty could no longer build the big ships of the past, and the shipbuilding technology of the past has disappeared.Due to long-term neglect, the bustling shipyard in the past has become unusable.

In fact, the most suitable way for the Ming Dynasty is not to stop the great voyages, but to change the business model of losing money and making money.In this way, the Ming Dynasty completely withdrew from the sea.After that, countries such as Portugal, the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands began to spread across the world.

Therefore, the ancient Chinese marine civilization basically ended when Zheng He went to the West in the Ming Dynasty. Because of his business model of losing money and making money, all the people of the Ming Dynasty felt like a prodigal when they went to the West.

No one yearns for the sea any more. If you go to the sea, you will lose your life and money, so what is the meaning of the sea?

Afterwards, China began to close the country, but Europe discovered the wealth of the ocean, and everyone knew the following things, and they would be beaten if they fell behind. Fortunately, Li You at this time knew very well that the ocean is definitely a place that must be contested in the future. The important thing is that Li You still has his own little thoughts.

The throne belongs to Li Zhi, and there is no room for two tigers on one mountain. If his ninth younger brother has bad thoughts about him one day, he can go overseas, so Li You spent a lot of money to build this shipyard.

(End of this chapter)