Xinshun 1730

Chapter 266
The emperor thought he had come up with an excellent idea, which could be called perfect. He wanted to show his "business acumen" in front of Liu Yu, and he was not that kind of pedantic person.

Who would have thought that the emperor would see the scene where Liu Yu's face changed drastically, not only did he not flatter him like a tide, but he hastily objected as if he was about to be beheaded.

The emperor thought he was hallucinating, and after thinking about it for a long time, he felt that he was right.

Only a few East India companies can come to trade with Westerners.

That being the case, why not communicate directly with the East India Company? Westerners can grant monopoly rights to make money, why can't they themselves?
Moreover, it is much better to trade directly with Westerners and make profits than to charge that little tariff.

If you say less in a year, you will get an extra profit of three or four million taels a year, and you will get an extra three or four million taels a year. In addition to immigration and land reform, you can also allocate an extra one million taels to Liu Yu every year. No matter how you look at it, Liu Yu should Excitement is.

Thinking of Liu Yu's enthusiasm for immigration, Liu Yu's enthusiasm and persistence for building a navy, and Liu Yu's attitude at this time, the emperor was a little dizzy.

After a while, Li Gan said, "Did you hear me wrong? Or do you think that I have underestimated the navy, and if I can charge 300 million taels more, I should put all of it into the navy?"

When Liu Yu thought of one-stop trade just now, he almost subconsciously opposed it.Now the emperor asked, his face gradually calmed down.

It would be a lie to say that after hearing that the emperor wanted to invest an extra two or three million taels a year to the navy, he was not at all moved.

There is no need to invest 300 million more a year, even if you invest 100 million more a year, that is three main battleships a year.

If we really want to do this, in less than ten years, Dashun can spread the West, Portugal, Holland, and Britain in Nanyang, take back Macau, and capture Malacca...

But after calming down and thinking about it, Liu Yu still refused.

All this stems from the emperor's mind.

If the emperor wants to give it, he can give it; if he doesn't want to give it, he doesn't have to.In this way, if the emperor keeps forging ahead, it's okay, but once he touches the bottom line and starts to be conservative, it's over.

"Your Majesty, please give me an example."

"Say."

The emperor was also very curious as to why Liu Yu's face was so ugly.

Li Gan thought to himself, now that he has seen the strong ships and guns of the Westerners, he also knows the level of Western firearms, and he also understands the importance of communication, so he still needs to continue to invest money in the navy.

Moreover, he can get a large amount of money to invest in the navy in a short period of time. With his quick temper, he hopes to create a powerful navy as soon as possible.

Why did Liu Yu object?
"Your Majesty, in the 14th year of Chongzhen in the previous dynasty, Emperor Taizu entered Henan, what slogan did he call?"

This is the history of the founding of Dashun. This Li of Li Gan was not Li Zicheng's blood, but inherited Li Zicheng's throne. Of course, he remembered these things clearly.

Slowly, the emperor said four words.

"Equal land, free grain."

Liu Yu also followed up and repeated: "All the land, no grain. After a piece of stone, the Wu thief led the eastern captives into the customs. After the Jingxiang battle, what is the flag of righteousness of Emperor Taizong?"

"Expel the Tartars and preserve the world."

Liu Yu said again: "At that time, in order to preserve the world, there were many compromises with the gentry. Didn't Emperor Taizong think of expulsing the Tartars first to preserve the world, and after the world is stabilized, let the gentry pay the food as a whole, exempt privileges, and check the acres of land?"

This kind of thing is a lice on a bald head, but Dashun hasn't done it yet.

Liu Yu smiled wryly and said: "It has been nearly 90 years since the founding of Xi'an by the great ancestor. The temporary expedient plan at the beginning has become deeply ingrained now. I am afraid that it will be difficult to complete the determination to fight the corruption of Jiangnan by means of thunder."

"That's why, an expedient measure is bound to have future troubles. His Majesty wants to grant monopoly power, which is also an expedient measure. Even if His Majesty wants to get money to build a navy... I dare to ask."

"If there is a war against the West in the future, the Westerners will have to cut off trade. At that time, His Majesty is really determined to see that the annual income of three to five million taels of silver will disappear? Will His Majesty still be determined to dominate the Seven Seas? At that time How many personnel affairs with related interests will be born, even if it is abolished at that time, how can it be implemented?"

Li Gan was silent.

What Liu Yu said seemed to make sense.

At the beginning, the slogan of expelling the Tartars and preserving the world was also to compromise with the gentry.At the beginning, I also wanted to wait for the stability of the world to completely solve the problem of the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, but various accidents and obstructions later made it impossible to even check the land, the gentry pay the grain, and exempt the gentry tax from the mu tax. , all failed.

I knew it was an expedient measure at the time, but the expediency later became deeply ingrained and difficult to eradicate.

Li Gan looked at Liu Yu, and suddenly said: "Then don't you support the establishment of a trading company against Japan and exercise a trade monopoly? You also know that this is not good, but it can collect money, facilitate jurisdiction, and reduce smuggling. Why? Are you for this and against that?"

Liu Yu felt that it was necessary to clarify the difference.

"Your Majesty, by granting a monopoly on Japanese trade, Your Majesty can get tens of thousands of sailors who can be recruited to board ships at any time; get money; get control over the Japanese country; get hundreds of ships that can transport food and troops at any time; get the geographical mountains and rivers of the Japanese country ..."

"And if you monopolize the government's trade with the West, what else can your majesty get besides money? Corruption? Embezzlement? Drift? There are no sailors, no crew members with sailing experience, and no captain who can compete on the ocean. .”

Li Gan laughed and said, "Your words are wrong. All my money should be invested in the navy. I can also get sailors, crew, and warships."

Liu Yu poked his neck and asked, "Your Majesty, since you can collect money by sitting on the ground, why do you need to raise a navy? Isn't that a loss of money?"

Li Gan was almost bypassed by Liu Yu. After thinking for a moment, he couldn't help laughing and said, "Aiqing is so confused! You have put the cart before the horse. Does raising a navy have to be useful? It's like raising an invincible army." For the elite of the world, do you have to use them after raising them? Wouldn’t it be better if there were no soldiers in the world?”

"As Ai Qing said, with a strong navy, Westerners would not dare to attack the dynasty and corrupt the southeast. Why do they have to use it? If it doesn't matter, what can I do if I spend money to keep it? "

Liu Yu waited for the emperor to laugh before asking: "Your Majesty can continue to invest money. How can His Majesty ensure that future generations will definitely invest money? The former Ming Taizu could guarantee diligence and abolish the prime minister. How can you ensure that future generations are so diligent? Your Majesty's A stopgap measure is beneficial in 30 years; but in the long run, it is not only useless, but harmful.”

"If you have the monopoly over Japanese trade, Your Majesty can leave an annual income of one million taels for future generations; leave a steady stream of tens of thousands of sailors every year for Dashun; leave for Dashun the control of the Japanese country well; Leave hundreds of ships ready to call into battle."

"And if you monopolize trade on the shore, you will get nothing but money. Moreover, Your Majesty is wise, you can invest money into the navy, and I firmly believe it. But I can't believe that after a hundred years, the navy will still have money to invest. Therefore, in the short term, it may be beneficial and can raise money; in the long run, it will be very disadvantageous."

"So, this time, I took advantage of the opportunity of the Swedes to order porcelain, and sent the ship to Europe. Your Majesty has the largest share and can benefit. Similarly, your Majesty also got a captain who has been to Europe, and a ship that has been to Europe. sailors; a route to Europe; a chart of supplies along the way."

"Yes, I am opposed to granting monopoly rights on the shore. You can make money while sitting at home, and you will be lazy."

"Chen, object!"

This was the first time that Liu Yu formally opposed the emperor's opinion, and he opposed it in the capacity of the honorable Earl of Dashun.

Everything he did was to break the inertia of the Chinese dynasty that "you can collect money while sitting at home". For this reason, he would rather wait for a few more years, and would rather slow down the number of ships built each year, and he would not want the emperor to engage in such expediency. plan.

It may only take one person to change the dynasty's surname.

But to change the world, what is needed is a group of people, a group of interest groups that are completely different from Dashun's ruling foundation at this time.

What the emperor can give today can be taken back tomorrow. He did not pin all his hopes on the emperor's "sage".

Even this kind of "Holy Wisdom" may allow Dashun to expand an invincible fleet east of the Cape of Good Hope within a few years.

But this is not a fleet at sea, but a fleet in the Forbidden City, which is likely to be as short-lived as Zheng He.

Seeing Liu Yu's opposition so fiercely, Li Gan was not upset, but carefully considered his own thoughts.

"My love, don't be impatient. Are the Western countries retreating?"

There is no way to refute this point. Western countries are closed at this time. Monopolized trading companies and mercantilist thinking only want to leave but not to enter.

According to the monopoly of the East Trading Company, if Dashun's merchant ships were sold at the British port, the British government was obliged to sink the Dashun's cargo ship and take away the goods.Even if it wasn't so intense, Dashun's merchant ships would never be allowed to enter the port.

"Yes. Western countries are closing their doors to Dashun." Liu Yu could not refute.

"Then, how long will it take for Aiqing to send a ship to Sweden, relying on those helpless smugglers? According to what you said, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom have a total of 120 million warships, and my navy invests 100 million a year. , How long will it take to chase? I will try my best to squeeze out 120 million taels and put it into Weihai every year. It has been almost ten years since you went to Weihai."

"For so long, there is not a single battleship, only six or seven cruisers, how can I not be in a hurry?"

"The annual income is nothing more than increasing income and reducing expenditure. Isn't it increasing income if I do this?"

Liu Yu shook his head.

"Your Majesty, you are not open source. You are competing with the people for profit. The water flow at the source has not expanded, but it was originally owned by merchants, and now it belongs to Your Majesty."

"Send a ship to Sweden, start with smuggling and expand gradually, that's called increasing revenue and reducing expenditure. Because if a load of tea is sold for ten taels in Fujian, it can be sold for 30 taels to smugglers in Gothenburg. The extra 20 taels is only It's called open source."

"The smugglers in Gothenburg, Sweden, are where the Chinese open source."

"You can only choose one of the two. If your majesty monopolizes the customs and allows you to send ships to Sweden for smuggling. Let me ask you, if the Westerners accuse you of smuggling and threaten to cut off the trade if they don't deal with it, your majesty will stand on the side of the Chinese maritime merchants. On the other hand, can it be done in a hundred years?"

(End of this chapter)