Chapter 281 The Japanese Return to Japan (12) Overturned
"That is to say, what the Emperor wants is not the Ming Dynasty Navy, but the Royal Fleet." Gao Pingshi leaned his head gently on the back of the chair behind him, closed his eyes slightly and asked: "The Emperor plans to invest this money from his own funds.
As for the money, do you still want the Ministry of Accounts to provide the money, or the Ministry of Accounts to provide part of it?"
"Your Majesty has said that if such a large amount of money is all paid by the Ministry of Household Affairs, even if you, Lord Marquis, are loyal to the country and don't mind, you will definitely face huge pressure from public opinion from both the government and the public. Naturally, your Majesty will not be happy about this.
Yes, so the emperor wants to ask you..."
Liu Ping carefully paid attention to Gao's pragmatic expression and whispered: "What is the maximum percentage that the Ministry of Finance can contribute?"
Gao pragmatic did not open his eyes, just smiled, shook his head slightly and said: "Liu Ping, let me tell you this: if the emperor wants to rely entirely on the inner court to build a royal fleet, even if the Ministry of Revenue only provides
I'm afraid I can't even afford a tael of silver.
Or, I can take it out, but from then on I can only resolutely resign, or even hang up my hat and leave, just wandering in the forest and never ask a word about the affairs of the DPRK."
Liu Ping's expression changed drastically, and he asked in disbelief: "Isn't Mr. Ge just joking? With your unparalleled achievements..."
"Merit or honor is not a gold medal for immunity from death. What's more, even if it is a gold medal for immunity from death, Taizu did not say that the gold medal for immunity from death does not mean that you will not be blamed for serious mistakes. Those who should resign must resign."
Gao pragmatic finally opened his eyes, stretched out his hand to stop Liu Ping who was about to speak, and said calmly: "About this matter, just tell the emperor the exact words you said, and convey another sentence, saying that I never joke about such things.
These words have no other meaning, they are simply statements of facts.
Of course, please don’t misunderstand the emperor. If the emperor decides to do it, I will still fully support him. This support is not only willing to do everything within the power of the Ministry of Household Affairs to approve the appropriation, but also including personally funding some after resigning...
If the emperor needs Jinghua Shipyard to also contribute to the construction of the fleet, I will also arrange the orders for the royal fleet at the forefront and let them complete them first. The above is my attitude, every word is from the bottom of my heart."
Gao Pangshi's words exceeded the emperor's expectations at all levels. Liu Ping roughly knew the emperor's attitude, and of course he was very shocked and incomprehensible.
He neither understood why because of "this matter", Gao Jingshi thought that as long as he helped the emperor, he must resign at the cost of his resignation; nor did he understand why Gao Jingshi didn't seem to mind resigning, and was even willing to resign.
Later, he personally helped the emperor build this fleet.
"Mr. Pavilion, this servant is stupid and I really can't understand the reason for this. I wonder if Mr. Ge can give me some pointers to clear up my confusion so that I can sort out my relationship with the Emperor after I return to the capital?" Liu Ping
After all, he is Huang Mengyu's nephew, and he is very confident and pragmatic and will not reveal any inside information.
"Actually, you don't need to explain it to the emperor. Tell him what I said, and with the emperor's wisdom, you can naturally guess the reason."
Gao pragmatically said, glanced at Liu Ping, and sighed softly: "But if you really can't understand, then... look back and think about why the overseas voyages were resolutely stopped by the foreign court, and even later Liu Zhongxuan would rather risk
For the crime of deceiving the emperor, the documents related to the voyages to the West will also be burned. When you understand this, you will naturally understand what I mean."
Liu Zhongxuan was Liu Daxia, the Minister of War during the Hongzhi period. He was deeply favored by Xiaozong and assisted Xiaozong in realizing the "Hongzhi Zhongxing". Together with Wang Shu and Ma Wensheng, he was known as the "Three Gentlemen of Hongzhi", and together with Li Dongyang and Yang Yiqing, he was known as "Chu"
"Three Heroes of the Earth".
After Wuzong came to the throne, Liu Daxia repeatedly resigned and returned to his hometown with the title of Crown Prince and Taibao. When Liu Jin was in power, he was punished to garrison in Suzhou. In the fifth year of Zhengde, he was pardoned and returned to his hometown, and was immediately reinstated. In the eleventh year of Zhengde, Liu Daxia passed away.
On the 81st, he was posthumously given the title of Taibao by the imperial court, and was given the posthumous title of "Zhongxuan" - starting with the word "loyalty", it was considered a very prestigious posthumous title in the Ming Dynasty.
"Sail to the West?" Liu Ping's heart moved and his eyes began to move. Gao Pingshi glanced at him and sighed secretly in his heart. He didn't know if Liu Ping could understand the reason, but Zhu Yijun must be able to understand it, right?
When later generations mention Zheng He's voyages to the Western Seas, they are often associated with "customers from all over the world" and "those who go back and forth but who do not come back". The feat of this ocean voyage, which lasted for more than thirty years, was the largest and longest in the history of navigation in the ancient world.
The great ocean voyage with the largest number of ships and crews radiated the political prestige and influence of the Ming Dynasty to the Western Pacific, the Indian Ocean and even eastern Asia, which is indeed worthy of praise from future generations.
However, the opposition, represented by many court officials, always insisted that the voyages to the West "wasted people and money" and was an achievement that could not make ends meet. After many twists and turns, the voyages to the West finally came to an end during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty.
However, Zheng He's voyages to the West were really an act that only focused on political interests and not economic interests. Was it really terminated because he failed to make ends meet and caused huge economic losses?
Of course not. If you carefully examine the political and economic situation in the Ming Dynasty before and after Zheng He's voyages to the West, it will not be difficult to find that the economic benefits brought by Zheng He's voyages - especially the economic spillover effects are actually far greater than the economic expenditures. Not only are they not
Loss, but huge profit.
So why was it resolutely stopped? It's very simple. Although the voyages to the West brought huge benefits, the distribution of these benefits by the domestic interest groups in the Ming Dynasty was seriously unbalanced. In addition, the trade model of the voyages deviated from economic laws.
, this made the voyage itself an unsustainable "bad policy" and was eventually abandoned completely.
Saying "huge profits" and "unsustainable" at the same time is not pragmatism, but the actual situation at the time.
At the beginning of his accession to the throne, Zhu Di ordered the confidant eunuch Zheng He to lead a fleet to the Western Ocean. The purpose was obvious. This point is very obvious in the "History of the Ming Dynasty", "Chengzu suspected that Emperor Hui died overseas.
I want to trace it, and I want to show off my troops in foreign lands and show China's prosperity."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Judging from the analysis of "History of the Ming Dynasty", Zheng He was ordered to form a fleet to sail to the Western Seas for two main reasons:
Because of his improper access to the throne, Emperor Jianwen was nowhere to be found after taking the risk to seize Nanjing and seize the throne. Zhu Di was not at ease. He sent people from all over the country to conduct overt inspections and secret visits, fearing that Emperor Jianwen would be exiled overseas. After all, at that time in Southeast Asia,
There were many Chinese doing business and living there, so they planned to send Zheng He to the Western Seas to find traces of Emperor Jianwen.
After Zhu Di took the throne, in order to demonstrate his legitimacy, he planned to establish diplomatic relations with overseas countries and include them in the tribute system. The dispatched fleet not only carried a large amount of hard currency such as porcelain and silk, but also
There are a large number of armed troops stationed there, which shows that the Ming Dynasty has excellent soldiers and a strong country.
According to numerous historical materials, the main purpose of Zhu Di's sending Zheng He to the Western Seas seems to be to promote the country's prestige and to show his status as the "Celestial Kingdom".
"Historical Records of Western Countries" written by Gong Zhen who followed Zheng He on his voyages to the West records: "At the beginning of Yongle, he ordered China and foreign countries to follow the Western Sea countries to show their kindness and majesty, and to expand to the Holy Rules."
Obviously, Emperor Yongle hoped to use a huge fleet to show the strength of the Ming Dynasty, to achieve the scene of "recruiting people from far away" and "all nations coming to court" - this is not surprising, ancient China always regarded itself as "the heaven above"
They regard other countries and nations as "barbarians" and believe that all "barbarians" in the world should submit to the "Celestial Dynasty" and pay tribute to the "Celestial Dynasty".
This point is well-documented. For example, when Zheng He made his seventh voyage to the West, he once recorded on a stele his purpose for his seven voyages to the West: “If the overseas expeditions are actually faraway lands, they will all praise them.
Congzhi came to court from across the ocean. The emperor commended him for his loyalty and ordered He and others to command tens of thousands of officers and soldiers. He took more than a hundred huge ships and sent money to him in exchange for money. So Xuandehua? Rouyuan people."
But obviously, this statement is only superficial. To truly understand the deep-seated reasons behind Zheng He's voyages to the West, we have to start from the domestic and international situation during the Yongle Dynasty.
First of all, let’s talk about the expenditures required for several major events during the Yongle period.
At the beginning of Zhu Di's succession to the throne, in addition to stabilizing the domestic population and solidifying the foundation of his rule, he also faced thorny issues at the border. The remnant forces of the Northern Yuan Mongolia in the north were still strong and invaded the border from time to time. Jiaozhi County in the south also broke away from the Ming Dynasty.
The idea of domination.
Therefore, in order to further demonstrate his legitimacy, in the third year of Yongle and the third year of Yongle, Zhu Di personally conquered Mongolia five times, each time dispatching more than 10,000 troops.
In addition, he sent the Duke Zhu Neng and the British Duke Zhang Fu to conquer Annan four times. He moved the capital to Beijing, recruited craftsmen, and millions of civilians expanded and built the Forbidden City, overhauled Wudang, respected Emperor Zhenwu, and so on.
All of these require a large amount of manpower, material and financial resources. On the one hand, this money and food come from the national treasury, and on the other hand, they come from the emperor's inner treasury. Without sufficient sources of revenue, it is impossible to effectively support these political achievements.
Secondly, the construction and maintenance of Zheng He's huge fleet also required huge financial support and consumption. In order to complete the first voyage to the Western Ocean, the imperial court had to pay huge financial expenditures for this, which is reflected in the following points:
In terms of ship construction expenditure, the ocean-going ships selected by Zheng He for his voyages to the West had a carrying capacity of "five thousand materials" - good guys, Jinghua's second-level battleships such as the "Dongchang" only had 4,000 materials.
But it is already a giant in the East Asian seas. So what is the concept of five thousand materials? That is the estimated tonnage of the first-class battleship that Jinghua is still in the finalization stage of research.
Zheng He's fleet often consisted of six or seven ships of the same type at a time. Coupled with the expenses of craftsmen and material transportation costs, the cost of building an ocean-going fleet was astronomical.
Of course, because the cost of pure warships of Jinghua is actually much higher than that of civilian ships, the cost of a treasure ship is still much lower than that of a warship of Jinghua. One of the biggest reasons for the cost difference here is that there are many expensive artillery pieces on Jinghua warships
, so the main reason is that the artillery has greatly increased the cost.
In addition, most of the workers used to build treasure ships are military craftsmen, and the wages are naturally lower than those from commercial shipyards under the name of Gao Jingshi. Many of the timber used to build treasure ships are directly cut down in military camps, and the cost is about the same as the freight, which is also higher than what Gao Jingshi can get.
much lower.
But even so, Luo Denmao still wrote in "The Romance of the Three Treasure Eunuchs in the West": "The number of these ships is large, the production is detailed, and the praise is huge. It must be enough to support the world. Only three money and food are enough."
.
Therefore, the reason why Gaowu Shi's current ships are so expensive is that, firstly, the cost is indeed much higher than that of Zhu Di, and secondly, the benefits of sea trade are indeed too great, and the powerful and wealthy people involved in sea trade are not afraid of high costs.
? is the cost of purchasing materials. Although Zheng He's voyages to the West had an important mission of "Xuanwei overseas", it was also an important task to purchase goods with overseas countries. For this reason, before the fleet set off, the imperial court had to purchase a large amount of porcelain.
Silk and other goods.
Although the imperial court did not purchase through market negotiation, it often exploited various craftsmen by purchasing at low prices - this also became an important reason why the overseas voyages were criticized in the future. However, the purchase of huge amounts of goods alone
In itself, it is already a huge expense.
The third is the rewards given to overseas countries and the officers and soldiers on board the ships. During the ocean voyage, Zheng He followed the imperial court's decree and would give rewards to the vassal countries that recognized the tributary relationship. For example, "Ben'tang Biezhu" records that during Yongle's three
The rewards given by the imperial court to the king of Champa in 1999:
"The king of Champa will be rewarded with one hundred taels of gold, five hundred taels of gold. In six years, he will be rewarded with one hundred taels of gold, five hundred taels of gold, five pieces of brocade gauze, and one hundred pieces of colorful silk."
In addition, due to the arduous tasks of sea voyages, which always lasted for several years, the officers and soldiers on board the ships suffered a large loss. In order to encourage the generals to fight, the emperor also had to train the officers and soldiers of the fleet after returning from each voyage.
Large-scale rewards. For example, in the ninth year of Yongle's reign, "10,000 ingots of banknotes and colorful coins were given all at once."
According to the research in the book "On Zheng He's Voyages to the West", only low-level crew members were rewarded with 10 silver coins each. Considering the fleet's scale of tens of thousands of people each time, the reward of silver coins alone was at least as high as or even
There may be more than 300,000 tablets (one tablet is not just one or two).
It can be seen from the above two aspects that during the Yongle period, the Ming Dynasty conquered Mongolia five times and Jiaozhi four times, dredged the canal and overhauled the city of Beijing. For a country that had just experienced the "Jingnan" civil war, the cost was
unimaginable.
The cost of going to the Western Seas was even greater. If Zhu Di was just a simple emperor who loved great achievements, then he might indeed have made such a show of wealth as the Western Seas voyages.
However, considering the huge manpower and material resources consumed by the next voyage to the West, spending money to buy food like this can only be done twice at most. It is not as many as six consecutive voyages to the West during the Yongle Dynasty - this is no longer the case.
Great explanation of the function, I can only say that unless Zhu Di is a psychopath.
However, something magical happened. According to historical records, despite facing huge expenses and considering that the trauma of the domestic war caused by the "Battle of Jingnan" when Zheng He went to the West has not been completely eliminated, in the end of the Yongle Dynasty, the Ming court's financial situation
The situation actually didn't get worse.
"In Yongle period, although Beijing was built, Jiaozhi was conquered in the south, and the desert was conquered in the north, the resources were not lacking." - "History of Ming Dynasty·Huang Fu Zhuan"
Is this strange? When domestic financial resources have not been effectively expanded, the Ming Dynasty spent money without any financial crisis?
Obviously, the only reasonable and credible explanation is that Zheng He's trading activities on his voyages to the West brought huge economic benefits to the Ming Dynasty. It was this economic benefit that maintained Zhu Di's huge expenses during his reign.
?And according to preliminary calculations in the book "The Vicissitudes of Jinghai" edited by Lu Congdong, the overseas trade opening policy of the early Ming Dynasty, characterized by Zheng He's voyages to the West, brought huge wealth to the Ming court, at least "more than a thousand taels of silver and three taels of gold?"
"Ten thousand taels".
This is what Gao Pragmatic believes is "huge profit".
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