Why did the emperor rebel?

Chapter 255 Mutual Market
In the Wenhua Palace.

Looking at Shen Yi who suddenly became eager, Zhu Qiyu looked a little unnatural, with a dark face, and said displeased.

"Why did Shen Qing ask this?"

"I have already promised to double the amount of silver to the household department to compensate for the loss during transportation."

"Even if the Ministry of Household transports the materials to repair the city wall to the border, it will cost tens of thousands of taels more than the usual opening of China and France."

"It doesn't affect the stability of Kaizhong France, and the household department can benefit. Is there any dissatisfaction for Shen Qing?"

In normal times, if the Son of Heaven had such a gloomy face, and he was short of writing the four words "I am not happy", Shen Shangshu must have been hiding as far away as possible.

But this time, not only did Shen Shangshu not run away, but he even moved forward, saying seriously.

"Your Majesty's words are wrong. Although the minister is in charge of the household department, he is managing the money for the court. How can he only care about the household department's profit?"

This awe-inspiring look was the same as if he wasn't the one who was tempted by the few hundred thousand taels just now.

Shen Shangshu felt it coming, and continued to speak with an expression of dedication, diligence, and compassion.

"Since the imperial court implements the official management of salt and tea, then as the minister of the household department, it is natural for the minister to know the whereabouts of each salt and tea quotation. In this way, the minister will live up to His Majesty's trust."

"What's more, salt and tea are both daily necessities of the common people, and they are also the wealth and life of countless salt merchants and tea merchants."

"With such a large amount of salt and tea flowing into the market, there is bound to be a backlog of salt merchants, and the living space of tea merchants. Although they are not engaged in production, they are ultimately the people of Ming Dynasty."

"Your Majesty is rich and powerful, but I really can't bear the loss of those merchants who have invested all their wealth in business."

"Therefore, I implore Your Majesty to tell the truth, otherwise, I will find it difficult for you to hand over the salt and tea to Your Majesty."

Zhu Qiyu's face turned dark again.

This old fox must have noticed something.

Seeing that Shen Yi had just finished speaking, Zhu Qiyu sighed and said.

"Shen Qing, don't worry, I use these salt and tea to sell the salt. After the tea is sold, it will be sold at the border. It will not be sold in the capital. Naturally, it will not squeeze the market of ordinary salt merchants."

border?

Shen Yi's heart skipped a beat, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and said tentatively.

"Your Majesty, since my dynasty implements the Chinese law, the place where the most salt is imported is probably all over the border. You don't sell it in the Gyeonggi area where it is easy to sell, but go all the way to the border. This is not the reason for doing business. what."

Although there are not many salt farms on the border, the Sino-French model determines that the border is the source of salt imports.

With Yanyin, there will be no shortage of salt, and the merchants who go to exchange Yanyin will naturally bring enough salt.

So in fact, compared with the mainland, the prices of salt and grain at the border are relatively cheap.

Therefore, the usual method of transporting salt from the capital to the border is simply not worth the gain, unless...

Seeing that he couldn't hide it anymore, Zhu Qiyu simply didn't hide it, and said directly.

"Shen Qing doesn't need to inquire so round and round. You guessed right. I don't want to sell these things to the border people, but I plan to trade with the Mongolian tribe!"

Although he had already vaguely guessed in his heart, Shen Yi was still a little dazed when he heard the Son of Heaven's acknowledgment so straightforwardly.

During the years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, most of the time, transactions with ethnic groups outside the customs were prohibited, from the official to the private sector.

The only legal way for grassland tribes to obtain materials from the Central Plains is to pay tribute.

Bow down to Daming, and pay tribute every year. As a gift in return, Daming will give some daily supplies to show the meaning of repairing.

It should be said that the fuse of this large-scale attack on Ming was because Daming rejected the return gift from his thousands of envoys.

Except for tribute, any supplies flowing into the grassland tribes, even daily supplies, were considered smuggling.

For smuggling businessmen, the yamen on the border punished them extremely harshly. If they were caught, not only the goods would be confiscated, but even their lives might not be saved.

Of course, this is for the folks. If this kind of trade is organized by the imperial court, it is called...

Facing Shen Yi's astonished gaze, Zhu Qiyu said frankly.

"I want to reopen the border trade!"

Taking a long breath, Shen Yi managed to gather his mind and said.

"Your Majesty, this is not a trivial matter. The reason why we haven't opened the exchange market..."

Halfway through speaking, he saw the emperor raised his hand and stopped his words.

At this moment, the Son of Heaven no longer had the relaxed intention just now, but had a solemn expression on his face, and said.

"I know the pros and cons of the mutual market."

"I don't want to open an exchange market for two reasons. One is that this will strengthen the power of the Mongolian tribes, and the other is that it is difficult to guarantee the safety of the exchange market."

Although it was a bit inappropriate on such occasions, Shen Yi still felt a little embarrassed.

Their majesty is good at everything, but he likes to talk to his ministers.

You have finished speaking, what do you want me to say?
Arching his hands, Shen Shangshu said.

"Your Majesty is wise, that's exactly the case. The disaster of the former Song Dynasty is always on the horizon. If these two problems cannot be resolved, the mutual market may not be able to open."

To say that the most frequent exchange with other tribes was during the former Song Dynasty, but the collapse of the former Song Dynasty also gave the courtiers of the Ming Dynasty a powerful warning.

Although it is said that the demise of the former Song Dynasty cannot be completely attributed to this point, it has a lot to do with it after all.

The so-called non-my race must have a different heart.

Because the ethnic groups inside the pass occupy the most favorable living environment, they will naturally be coveted by the ethnic groups outside the pass.

When the Central Dynasty was strong, the tribes outside the pass naturally hibernated and lingered on.

But once they become strong, or the central dynasty becomes weak due to turmoil, they will definitely march towards the pass as soon as possible.

Therefore, the border policies implemented in the past dynasties are nothing more than two points, to curb the development outside the customs and maintain the stability of the central dynasty.

Whether it is war or the prohibition of trading, they are just means to restrain the tribes outside the customs from becoming stronger.

Salt, tea, iron, grain, and even cloth and jewelry, these supplies are commonplace in Daming, but on the grasslands, they are rare and good things.

Once these supplies are sufficient, the Mongolian tribes can quickly develop and become stronger.

This is the fundamental reason why Daming did not open the mutual market.

As for the so-called self-respecting the country and unwillingness to surrender its status and trade with foreigners, it is just a folk rumor.

In the period of Hongwu and Yongle, Daming actually tried to open up the mutual market to a limited extent for a small number of tribes that had a good relationship with Daming.

But it turned out badly.

The merchants of Ming Dynasty traveled to the border to start trade, and after the exchange, they needed to be transported back to the mainland for turnover, which cost a lot.

Coupled with the advantageous position of Ming Dynasty in trade, these merchants usually set the prices very high, several times the prices in the mainland.

Therefore, there are many Mongolian tribes who often choose to take risks and leave after robbing things.

Even later, these tribes stopped trading at all, but directly brought cavalry to rob the market.

After such a commotion, the merchants were all in danger and were unwilling to risk their lives. In addition, the court itself was worried that the mutual market would make the Mongolian tribes develop too fast, threatening the safety of the dynasty.

Neither the imperial court nor the people are willing, so naturally this mutual market cannot be opened...

(End of this chapter)