Chongzhen Chat Group

Just listen to his answer Wen Tiren said: "His men will have more Dongjiang and Korean sailors, not all his old men, this is one of them. In addition, I have actually said that this new navy will be based on the Ming Dynasty The formation of the Army's First Division is in progress, and every ship has supervisors, and some factory guards are secretly arranged, and some other means are used. I am not afraid that he will have different intentions!"

After a pause, Emperor Chongzhen continued: "Li Kuiqi said that Zheng Zhilong defeated him and will dominate the sea in the future. This matter must be guarded against. He issued an order to Fujian and ordered Zheng Zhilong to go north. I also want to see this man."

When Wen Tiren heard this, his heart moved, and he quickly asked: "Your Majesty, do you want to detain him first?"

There are many reasons for detaining or even killing a person like Zheng Zhilong. Moreover, the civil and military officials of the DPRK and Chinese looked down upon such people. Just like the great pirate Wang Zhi during the Jiajing period, he was simply killed after being falsely recruited by the court, and not many people cared.

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen shook his head and said: "Let me see the situation. I probably won't kill him. Otherwise, his men may rebel again and commit robberies, which will also bring disaster to the southeast. This situation is not what I want to see." He has arrived. Now he has not tasted the taste of domination, and now he has red-haired barbarians to deal with, so he has not truly become a dominating family. The best situation I envision is that I let him establish a water company on his own. Master, Li Kuiqi and Li Kuiqi balance each other and check each other. But how it will be, I will wait until I meet Zheng Zhilong."

After hearing this, Wen Tiren thought for a moment, then bowed and said in admiration: "Your Majesty, you are wise!"

Emperor Chongzhen thought for a moment and then ordered Wen Tiren: "You can send this memorial to the imperial newspaper to test the reactions of all parties. In addition, I will secretly send a decree to He Qiaoyuan. I want to make him the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Censor of Zuodu. Sitting in Fujian, the governor of Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong is dedicated to opening up the sea. Let him prepare first, and when the time is right, the imperial decree will arrive! "

After thinking for a while, he added: "Let Liu Jinsheng communicate with He Qiaoyuan. If anything happens, report it to Wen Qing and me."

Wen Tiren was secretly happy when he heard this. It seemed that Emperor Chongzhen was very determined to open up the sea. In this way, with the sea tax, if the amount mentioned by the pirate can really be reached, the pressure on himself, the chief assistant, will be reduced a lot. So, he bowed down and went to work according to the emperor's orders.

In the original history, Emperor Chongzhen consulted the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the final reply was: Since the ministry said it was inconvenient to open foreign trade, the ministry banned it as usual. For this reason, He Qiaoyuan later wrote a memorial asking for the sea to be banned, but he did not get the court's consent and eventually died of depression.

After Wen Tiren left, Emperor Chongzhen recalled what happened and found that his previous impression seemed a bit wrong, at least about the maritime ban in the late Ming Dynasty.

In the impression of his soul in later generations, there is a saying that the Ming Dynasty banned the sea. It is said that the southeast sea traders instigated the court to ban the sea in order to make huge profits from smuggling. However, as far as the late Ming Dynasty was concerned, it was the Zheng Zhilong Group that dominated the sea. As Li Kuiqi said, in the original history, it was the Zheng Zhilong Group that benefited most, not the southeast smugglers.

For this period, the sea was full of pirates and Western barbarians. A smuggler takes a big risk when going to sea, unless he is a backer of pirates and Western barbarians. But historically speaking, there is no obvious backstage behind Zheng Zhilong. He himself is the biggest beneficiary.

As He Qiaoyuan said, the policy of banning the sea actually harmed the interests of Southeast maritime merchants. Goods cannot go to sea. Not only does the circulation of goods between the southeastern coastal provinces no longer have sea routes, but transportation is also weak, which increases costs and reduces profits. More importantly, when going to sea without the escort of the imperial navy, there are so many pirates that it is good to pay protection fees, but it is more likely that even people and ships will be robbed, which is a big loss.

This means that at least it is a bit unfair for southeastern merchants or smugglers to take the blame for the sea ban in the late Ming Dynasty. The reason why the sea has always been banned is caused by the lazy policy pursued by ancient officials that doing more things is worse than doing less. We advocate the establishment of a maritime ban, but after all, only one out of ten people engaged in maritime trade will succeed, and the others may even lose their lives. If this kind of thing is attacked by political opponents, it can easily threaten the official career.

It is precisely for this reason that He Qiaoyuan emphasized again and again in the memorial that although there were various disadvantages in opening up the sea, and even gave the example of studying, the benefits were definitely beneficial to the court.

This actually hits a key point in the bureaucratic class. Indeed, opening up the sea was beneficial to the court, but it was not beneficial to individuals. Therefore, most officials in the Ming Dynasty will not do anything that is not beneficial. They will make many mistakes if they do too much. The most important thing to them is whether there is any danger in Wu Sha Mao. As for what is beneficial to the court, what does that have to do with them?

Such things can be found everywhere in ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad, but especially in the late Ming Dynasty. This reason accounted for a large proportion of the demise of the Ming Dynasty, which is really regrettable!

Emperor Chongzhen thought for a while and couldn't help but sigh secretly, and at the same time he was a little alert. The benefits brought by opening up the sea must be shared equally. Its sea tax revenue cannot be used for military expenses in Fujian, as Qiao Yuan said.

By the way, one more thing, He Qiaoyuan used a previous example to say that the sea tax revenue in the year after the sea was opened during the Wanli period was more than 20,000 taels. In the past, I might have been happy because I got such a free income. But that's not possible now, it's far from what Li Kuiqi said.

Emperor Chongzhen carefully considered the reason, and it was actually not difficult to understand. The reason must be that many people evade taxes. And this may be the area that needs to be closely investigated in the future, and it is also the biggest problem after opening the sea.

Haha, although pirates charge protection fees like that, sea trade can still make Zheng Zhilong earn tens of millions a year. This is enough to prove that the tax rate of this business is too low and tax evasion is too serious!

The national tax policy of the Ming Dynasty still needs to be transferred from land taxes to commercial taxes to reduce the pressure on farmers!

When he thought of this, Emperor Chongzhen just came back to his senses and couldn't help but feel a little funny. He summoned Wen Tiren to come over to discuss the matter of the ownerless land. Unexpectedly, he talked about the maritime affairs. As a result, the maritime affairs came to light, but the matter of the ownerless land was completely forgotten, haha!

Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen had no choice but to summon Wen Tiren to talk about the fields.

Wen Tiren also smiled when he heard this. He reported to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, this unowned land can also be included in the scope of clear land nationwide."

Chongzhen nodded upon hearing this. He had already made it clear that this was going to happen before. Therefore, he asked: "Wen Qing, is it possible to clear the land?"

"Your Majesty, I have discussed with my cabinet colleagues that it is better to proceed based on the Wanli period. Being familiar with the family and the road will have the effect of getting twice the result with half the effort!" Wen Tiren obviously had a plan in mind and immediately replied.

Thanks to DHB for the reward!