Daming: Is There Imperial Examination Fraud At The Beginning? I Cry As A Candidate During The Test

Chapter 30 The sea ban is a double-edged sword

"The sea ban has its benefits, but it also has its drawbacks."

Ye Xuan tactfully talked about the benefits of the sea ban.

Monopolizing maritime trade brought huge profits to Ming Dynasty.

Prevent Japanese pirates from invading marginalized people.

Prevent population loss to Southeast Asia.

Prevent domestic anti-Ming forces from colluding with overseas forces to threaten the Ming Dynasty.

Although the Ming Dynasty has been established, Zhang Shicheng, who fought against the Ming Dynasty, hanged himself, and Fang Guozhen surrendered, but their remaining parties are not extinct and may resurrect. The sea ban also prevents Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen's remaining parties from colluding with the foreign countries and threatening the Ming Dynasty.

Later, Hu Weiyong communicated with the Japanese, and the Sakura Kingdom harmed the envoys of the Ming Dynasty in the 13th year of Hongwu, etc.

Under these circumstances, Zhu Yuanzhang's sea ban became even more stringent.

Zhu Yuanzhang's expression changed slightly.

The way he looked at Ye Xuan changed.

Unexpectedly, Ye Xuan had such profound insights into the sea ban.

It was beyond his expectation.

Prince Zhu Biao opened his mouth and eyes wide. His somewhat fat face showed such a shocked expression, which was really funny.

He was deeply shocked at this moment.

As a prince, why don't you know that the Forbidden Sea has so many benefits?

No wonder my father wants to ban the sea.

This really needs to be banned.

Otherwise, the Ming Dynasty will suffer from external and internal troubles. Before the Ming Dynasty develops, the Mongolian tribes in the north, the Japanese pirates in the southeast, the domestic anti-Ming forces and overseas forces collude with each other, etc. These internal and external hidden dangers will bring down the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded frequently.

He said to Zhu Biao:

"Biao'er, listen carefully."

"It'll be good for you."

"Yes, Father."

Zhu Biao looked serious.

After Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, he turned to look at Ye Xuan.

"Ye Aiqing, since you know that the sea ban has so many benefits, why do you still want us to lift the sea ban?"

"Your Majesty, I have already said so."

“Everything has pros and cons.”

"The sea ban is a double-edged sword."

"If used well, it will benefit the country and the people; if used improperly, it will lead to a series of disastrous consequences."

"Moreover, I just talked about the benefits of the sea ban, but I haven't talked about the disadvantages yet."

Ye Xuan began to talk about the disadvantages of the sea ban.

The starting point of the Ming Dynasty's forbidden sea was to allow the people and the Ming Dynasty to recuperate and defend themselves against enemies.

However, the maritime ban also restricted the Ming Dynasty's culture, technology, navigation, economy and other aspects, and even affected the Qing Dynasty's coastal foreign trade policy.

The Qing Dynasty was most famous for its isolation from the country.

Anyone who is familiar with history knows the seriousness of the sea ban. The Qing Dynasty continued the Ming Dynasty's sea ban policy and closed the country. As a result, the Qing Dynasty was unable to learn advanced technologies from other countries, falling behind the world and being invaded and suppressed by other countries.

This lesson is painful.

There is no problem with temporarily banning the sea.

But don’t let the small lose the big.

Moreover, monopolizing the market and trying to monopolize maritime trade cannot last long.

Ye Xuan vaguely reminded Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang's face gradually turned purple.

He really wanted to monopolize maritime trade.

After all, the benefits of maritime trade are huge.

Of course, it is also to suppress internal and external hidden dangers.

However, it was undesirable for Ye Xuan to ban the sea by naming him, and it might even cause repercussions, so Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but speak harshly.

"The other countries are just foreign countries."

"How can we compete with our Ming Dynasty?"

"Our Ming Dynasty is stronger than them in every aspect."

"Even if the sea is closed, our navigation technology is stronger than other countries!"

Ye Xuan superficially agreed.

However, I couldn’t help but think:

Now the Ming Dynasty is stronger than other countries in all aspects, but later other countries overtook it, and the following dynasties still implemented the sea ban, which led to the tragedy later.

Everything must be viewed in the long run.

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang was clicked by Ye Xuan, and he also knew the shortcomings of the sea ban, but he couldn't get over that hurdle in his heart.

"What about the businessman?"

"What did the merchant say?"

"Those businessmen are ruthless and exploit the people for the sake of their wealth. If the sea ban is really lifted, won't those businessmen go to heaven? How can we govern them?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's face was full of disgust.

He was born into a poor man, and what he hated the most were businessmen. Those businessmen were unkind and even dared to enrich the country.

Therefore, his approach has always been to focus on agriculture and suppress business.

Children of merchants were not even allowed to take the imperial examinations.

Zhu Yuanzhang believed that if the sea ban was lifted, these merchants would definitely compete with them for sea trade, and the interests of the royal family would also be divided up.

Ye Xuan saw Zhu Yuanzhang's disgusted look.

Thought:

How much did Zhu Yuanzhang hate businessmen?

Ye Xuan said:

"Businessmen value profits, but they promote economic activity and allow the economy to develop rapidly."

"Economic activity?"

It was the first time for Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao to hear such novel vocabulary.

In their eyes, the economy is dead.

In Ye Xuan's eyes, the economy is alive and well.

This view makes them feel novel, just like hearing the immortals flying into the sky and escaping from the earth in fairy tales.

"We must first understand the nature of a businessman, what exactly a businessman is."

"Merchant can promote the circulation of valuable commodities."

"Strengthen the dissemination of product information."

“You know, it’s the goods that circulate that have meaning.”

"The indispensable bridge for the circulation of goods is merchants. They take goods from one place to another and realize the circulation of goods."

“Without merchants, goods would not reach buyers.”

"Maybe you think businessmen have no contribution to the country, but this is not correct."

"Everyone has his or her own strengths."

"Someone's good at hunting."

“There are people who are good at planting.”

“Those who hunt must eat grain and wear sackcloth.”

"Those who plant them must eat meat and wear animal hides."

"That requires a deal."

"In the past, when villages and towns opened markets for mutual trade, it was just buyers and producers trading, and merchants had not yet appeared. But as society continues to develop, the social structure continues to grow, and clans and tribes evolve into national systems."

“At this time, there are constraints on buyers and producers transacting.”

"For example, salt is produced from seaside salt mines, and the same goes for metal mines. Different places produce different commodities."

"If buyers want to buy, they have to travel a long way."

“That’s when Hongshang was born.”

“They got the goods moving.”

"The salt produced in the seaside salt mines was brought to all corners of the country, and metals and other commodities were also brought to other places and sold to people in various places."

"Perhaps you may think that businessmen who buy low and sell high are competing with the people for profit."

"That's not the case."

"People can not buy goods from merchants, but travel across mountains and rivers to buy goods themselves."

“Businesspeople are just offering options.”

"It's not a forced buy or sell."

"In addition, merchants circulate goods and promote the country's economic development..."

"Driving improvements in people's living standards."

"Our Ming Dynasty focuses on agriculture, and it is difficult for business to affect the people and agriculture..."

Ye Xuan explained it all.

After Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, his expression softened slightly.

But he still has concerns.

Businessmen can promote economic development.

However, businessmen are difficult to control.

After the sea ban is lifted, merchants may be the first to compete with the royal family for sea trade business.

Zhu Yuanzhang said tactfully.

"This is easy."

"Increase the taxes on merchants, especially those who trade with foreign countries. If they want to bring goods into the Ming Dynasty, they can also extract taxes from them."

"In addition, the state must guide businessmen well, set rules and draw red lines for businessmen."

"Control business."

Ye Xuan said.

After all, a businessman belongs to the people. As long as he is in the Ming Dynasty, he is under the control of the Ming Dynasty and the emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.

Want to rectify businessmen.

Not simple yet?

Zhu Yuanzhang was suddenly enlightened.

A sudden enlightenment.

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