Author: Potato Sweet Potato Pie

"Your Majesty, if you want to sail to the West, eight hundred thousand taels will not be enough."

Amidst the praises that filled the hall, a rather discordant voice sounded.

Emperor Hongzhi couldn't help frowning when he heard this. He paid a total of 800,000 taels, but 800,000 taels was not enough? Or was it far from enough?

How much is enough?

He looked at the speaker and asked, "Wang Qing's family, do you think eight hundred thousand taels is still far from enough?"

"Your Majesty, I am not just being alarmist, but it is indeed far from enough."

Wang Shu's snow-white beard trembled a few times, and his eyes under his white eyebrows looked at Emperor Hongzhi, "Your Majesty, I was born in the twelfth year of Yongle. Since I was born, I have experienced Zheng He's voyages to the West three times. The first two times I was at that time

He was young, but his last voyage to the West was in the fifth year of Xuande, and he returned in the eighth year of Xuande. In that year, I had just won the title of scholar, and was already at the age of being a governor."

"As far as I know, this treasure ship sailing to the Western Ocean must be built with thousands of materials if it wants to block the wind and waves on the sea, cope with accidents along the way, and return home from a long distance. Such a treasure ship, one

The cost of construction was tens of thousands of taels of silver. In those days, every time the Sanbao Eunuch went on a voyage, there were dozens of large ships like this, as well as hundreds of medium-sized ships costing thousands or even tens of thousands of taels. That's why the veteran said

, eight hundred thousand taels is far from enough."

"."

These words came out of Galen's mouth, truly speaking in a whisper, silent and breaking his guard.

Both those who knew about shipbuilding and those who didn't knew how to build ships were silent.

The people present were all very old, in their sixties or seventies, but when they were born, the voyage to the West had already been put on hold.

Even the most recent voyage to the West was more than seventy years ago. They didn't know the cost of the treasure ship, and no one would dig through the piles of old papers to find out how much money was wasted on a treasure ship back then.

But Wang Shu knew that he was the oldest person on the scene, ninety years old, and a native of the Yongle period.

He knew the cost of building this treasure ship and what a huge amount it was.

Emperor Hongzhi was speechless. The cost of building a treasure ship was tens of thousands of taels. To be honest, he couldn't believe it.

But there is no need for Wang Shu to exaggerate.

According to this cost, 800,000 taels can only build a dozen treasure ships. This does not include the cost of training sergeants and building a shipyard.

Xia Yuan kept looking at Wang Shu, an old man with a white beard and kind eyes. Why is he like this?

Seeing that everything is done, you still intervene and settle the matter first. After it is carried out and there are sunk costs, it is not too late for you to bring it up.

But he also knew that Wang Shu was right. The merchant ship he sent to Southeast Asia earlier cost thousands of taels of silver to build. After a round trip, the ship's hull was damaged in several places.

And if you want to go on a long voyage, all boats are now made of wood. Therefore, the boat must be big, strong and reliable, and must use giant trees from deep mountains and old forests, otherwise it will not be able to cope with the wind and waves at sea.

Looking at it this way, if we want to restore the scale of Zheng He's voyages to the West, 800,000 taels are indeed far from enough. Ten times this number is still about the same.

But why is it necessary to restore the scale of the past?

At this time, Min Gui, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, said: "How about building a few treasure ships and launching them into the sea first? After all, this is a search."

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Han Wen, "If there are only a few treasure ships sailing, how can we show my Ming spirit? How can we deal with dangers at sea?"

"Not to mention, when Taizong and Xuanzong set sail, they used hundreds of huge fleets to cover the sky and the sun, spreading the prestige of our Ming Dynasty to the whole world, and all countries in the world heard about it.

If my Ming Dynasty voyage this time only has a few treasure ships, what will the small foreign countries along the way think when they see it?"

"Wouldn't they think that Ming Dynasty is in despair?"

This statement immediately attracted the approval of many people, and even Emperor Hongzhi had to admit that it made sense.

Although nearly a hundred years have passed since Zheng He's voyages to the Western Seas, the small foreign countries along the way must still remember the grand occasion of the Ming Dynasty's fleet sailing. Hundreds of large ships sailed, covering the sky and the sun. It was truly the power of the emperor.

All over the world, preaching to all nations.

Let all countries in the world know the existence of the huge empire of the Ming Dynasty.

But if there are only a dozen treasure ships sailing now, still under the banner of the Ming Dynasty, what will the countries along the way think?

Is that Ming Dynasty in despair?

Is the Ming Dynasty dying?

At this moment, Emperor Hongzhi couldn't help but complain about why his ancestor Zhu Di formed such a huge fleet to sail to the West.

Taizong, Taizong, you have really left your descendant Zhu Youtang with a difficult problem.

In the blink of an eye, all the monarchs and ministers in the palace fell silent again. Xia Yuan no longer looked at Wang Shu, but instead stared at Han Wen, and another disruptor popped up.

I don’t know if it’s a matter of genetics or genetic inheritance, but Chinese people are always worried about this so-called face.

This has been the case in all dynasties, all caring about face, and this is still the case even in later generations.

In order to save face, it is not uncommon for people to smear their faces and pretend to be fat.

This is a damn face issue.

He said aloud: "Your Majesty, I think Master Han has said too much. In my opinion, this voyage is to search for crops. It is for the livelihood of the people of our Ming Dynasty. It is for the ten thousand years of our Ming Dynasty. It is not

Why do we need to build such a large-scale fleet to go sailing to show off our national strength? I believe that pragmatism should be the first priority."

"Xia Zhanshi is pragmatic. How many soldiers can a few treasure ships carry? How can we resist if the country on the way intends to do evil?

There is also the Folangji Country. During this voyage to the West, the top priority is to find the Folangji Country according to the sea chart. Then, either ask for crops or ask about the whereabouts of that overseas place.

But we still don’t know the strength of this country. A few treasure ships passed by and were looked down upon by the Folangji country. How could they tell us? You also said before that the Folangji country has no influence on the residents of that overseas land.

The people are massacred, which shows that the people are cruel and cruel. What if the Ming Dynasty's fleet has a disobedient heart and becomes disobedient, and what happens if the fleet encounters an unexpected event?"

"."

Xia Yuan was rarely speechless, because these worries were not unreasonable. European countries were now in the Age of Discovery, and had already begun colonization under the instigation of interests.

And the most important thing is that Europe has just experienced successive years of war, such as the Hundred Years' War between Britain and France. As we all know, war is a catalyst for military technology.

Europe's military level, or firearms and artillery, is now ahead of the Ming Dynasty in all aspects.

If the fleet goes to Europe by then, and negotiation with them fails, or even without negotiation, perhaps these foreign devils will start fighting directly.

For example, he remembered that when the Portuguese first arrived in Guangdong during the Ming Dynasty, the first thing they did was fire cannons.

Of course, there are different opinions on this matter. Some said it was a ceremonial cannon salute, while others said it was a test.

But in any case, through the cold words, it is impossible to know the true face of this Westerner in the sixteenth century.

But through those colonizations, the slave trade can get a glimpse, and it is impossible to be a good and lawful camp.

Once the war started, the Ming Dynasty would fight away from home and had few troops, so self-protection would be a problem.

If it is an extremely large fleet, at least these foreign devils will not dare to act rashly after seeing it, and at least they will have the strength to fight.

This matter seems to have reached a dead end.
Chapter completed!