Chapter 2694

Prince De's Mansion, where Zhu Zian lived, fell into abject poverty because it could not make ends meet. The Ming Dynasty was not an exception during this period. Starting from the end of Tianqi, there were more than 20 consecutive years of internal and external difficulties coupled with poor financial resources. By the 1750s,

By that time, the annual revenue of the Ming Dynasty's treasury had dropped rapidly from 20 million taels of silver during the Wanli period to less than 5 million taels, and the financial situation was extremely stretched.

This small amount of income is needed to maintain the operation of the entire state machine. It is not enough for the imperial court's own use, and it can no longer take care of the vassal princes and clans outside Beijing. Therefore, in the face of Haihan's continuous expansion and erosion in recent years, the Ming Dynasty suffered from a serious lack of military spending.

Not even a decent resistance could be organized, so the only way to temporarily protect Zhu's Ming name was to surrender.

As for the down-and-out vassal kings like Prince De's family, even if they ask the capital for help, they will only be ignored. Then they can only fend for themselves, or find their own way out like Zhu Zian.

Without sufficient financial resources, it is impossible to maintain a strong national power. The situation of the Ming Dynasty in recent decades has perfectly explained this. Haihan, on the other hand, relied on its strong financial resources to make it possible in a short period of time.

In less than thirty years, it rose rapidly and became the most powerful country in East Asia.

Zhu Zian only knew that the scale of Haihan's overseas trade was extremely considerable before, but he did not have an exact understanding of the specific extent. It was not until he came into contact with these first-hand data in Busan that he was truly shocked.

.

I think that if the Ming Dynasty could open up the sea ban and guide maritime merchants to engage in transnational trade activities under the supervision of the government, it would not be much worse than Haihan. If the national treasury had more revenue from maritime trade, there would be no need to worry about insufficient military rations and incomplete soldiers.

It can also be much more calm when facing internal and external troubles. If the Ming Dynasty had controlled the maritime trade of East Asian countries more than a hundred years in advance, it would not have left any room for Haihan to develop.

Of course, Zhu Zian also knew that these were just useless assumptions in his mind. The reality was that Ming Dynasty chose a wrong development route, while Haihan seized the opportunity and made full use of maritime trade to rapidly expand its strength.

Zhu Zian did not remember that the Ming Dynasty had ever taken similar measures to demarcate trade ports in other countries and establish autonomous zones. It can be seen that the current development of Haihan in maritime trade has reached a level that even the Ming Dynasty cannot catch up with.

After the day's audit work was over, Tao Hongfang convened everyone for a dinner. Although this work only required sitting in the room and flipping through various documents, and did not need to be exposed to the wind and sun outside, it was still a brain-intensive job, and the data required to be collected was very complicated.

, he may make mistakes if he is not careful, and he will feel dizzy and tired after a busy day. Having enough wine and food on the table can be regarded as a kind of comfort to his subordinates for their hard work.

Zhu Zian took advantage of the opportunity and asked Tao Hongfang about his doubts during the dinner: "Master Tao, the taxes paid by Haihan merchants in Busan are quite large. Even if we have a way to silence the local officials and compromise, the taxes paid to the national treasury

There will eventually be a big hole in the tax bank. Can the King of Korea be willing to lose hundreds of thousands of taels of income every year?"

Tao Hongfang said: "How can we be willing to do so? What we are doing is actually asking the North Koreans to spit out the meat that they have put into their mouths. Even if the North Korean court reluctantly recognizes the matter through the application of diplomatic pressure, we still have to find other ways to appease them.

That's right. Busan's income is hundreds of thousands of taels less every year, so we have to give them something to think about."

Zhu Zian said: "Sir, can you elaborate a little bit?"

Zhu Zian had no relatives in the area, so Tao Hongfang was not worried about him leaking secrets, so he patiently explained to him: "Although we cannot collect this tax, our country promises to increase the scale of trade and investment in Busan.

This can also indirectly bring a lot of benefits to Busan. Moreover, the taxes we collect in Busan Zone will basically be used for the daily operation and infrastructure projects of the zone, which means that the money will eventually be spent in Busan, and a large part of it will be spent in Busan.

Part of it will flow to the people in Busan. Although the money does not go into the national treasury, it still stays in North Korea. Do you understand this?"

Zhu Zian suddenly said: "That's it! Once you explain it like this, I will understand it!"

The hundreds of thousands of taxes that Haihan merchants pay to the government in Busan every year are not a large amount for Haihan's country's finances. If this money can be used to further consolidate Haihan's influence in Busan, the executive committee will

Will be happy to see the results.

The establishment of the special zone does not mean that this area is isolated from North Korea. On the contrary, it will create more jobs for local North Korean people and provide the Busan area with a model of a port city that can be followed.

This greatly improves local trade efficiency.

In the future, in addition to Haihan merchants, many North Koreans will also be able to enjoy the relatively complete urban and port facilities in the zone. Therefore, for the local government, this plan is not only a one-sided loss, but actually a loss.

Yes. From a long-term perspective, this may be more conducive to the development of Busan Port.

Tao Hongfang continued: "And from a security perspective, the greater our country's investment in Busan, the safer the trade environment here. For North Korea, without allowing our country to deploy troops, it can get a

In a relatively safe environment, this is actually a very cost-effective deal.”

Zhu Zian nodded silently, this was a point of view that he had not realized before.

It is not difficult to understand Tao Hongfang’s point of view. Although Busan is a natural port, due to its geographical location, it has been captured by Japanese pirates more than once in history. Every time Japan invaded Korea, Busan was the first choice for attack.

It is not an exaggeration to say that security is a vital factor. Even though the two countries have gradually restored normal relations more than ten years ago, the history of the fall of Busan is still a lingering shadow in the hearts of North Koreans.

But after Haihan merchants began to settle in Busan, North Korea became much more practical. What they brought to Busan was not only a sharp increase in trade scale, but also a huge protective umbrella over Busan.

If Busan encounters the crisis of invasion by foreign enemies again, the interests of Haihan merchants will inevitably be damaged. In this case, Haihan will definitely not sit idly by and will definitely send troops to intervene. And Japan has already suffered under Haihan’s hands in the early years.

After a lot of hardships, even if they covet the Pusan ​​Port, if the Japanese are to risk another military attack by Haihan to attack the Pusan ​​Port, then they will definitely choose to give up this unrealistic goal.

Therefore, Haihan’s increased investment in Busan and expansion of its business scale will objectively protect the local area. North Koreans have experienced both losses and benefits, and of course they will not be unaware of this, so after weighing the pros and cons,

, finally agreed to Haihan’s request to establish an autonomous region in Busan.
Chapter completed!