I'm really not doing business

Chapter 450 Knowledge is expensive
Shen Shixing was quite heartbroken when he saw Shi Peng and other seven navy masters trained by the Ming Dynasty eventually going against the imperial court. Wang Daokun's nine years of hard work was not completely in vain. At least Shen Shixing was able to mobilize the navy's The boat master came to maintain the normal operation of the Ming Dynasty's maritime trade.

Shen Shixing looked at Shi Peng and others and said solemnly: "I know that you have gradually forgotten the pain of the past, and those unbearable memories have even become your shame, the ugliness that your current glamorous life cannot expose. "

"In the past, you had a shoulder pole weighing one hundred and twenty kilograms of cargo on your body. You only paid six cents for a trip on the boat, and you could only do about ten trips a day. You would be tired and have back pain, but Every time you put down the goods, you have to run back to pick them up, just for this day."

"No matter how tired I am, I have to wake up when the rooster crows the next day and run to continue working. Even if it is so hard, no matter whether it is a strong wind or a heavy rain, I dare not take a rest, and I am afraid that the dock will not be able to work today, and it will not last more than a month. One thousand eight hundred cents can probably be exchanged for one tael of silver."

"Now you are highly respected on the ship. All the sailors will say hello to you. Even the captain needs to listen to your opinions. When you go ashore, you are sought after by others. Countless people invite you to banquets. They are never stingy. Praise for you, yes, if it were me, I would also praise you. Your voyage can bring them thousands to tens of thousands of taels of silver in one go. "

Shen Shixing knew the life of the poor coolies of the Ming Dynasty very well. When Wang Daokun did not leave, Shen Shixing spent a month in Songjiang New Port and the shipyard. He truly understood the life of the poor coolies of the Ming Dynasty. This was before Zhang Juzheng left. Following the previous confession, Zhang Juzheng told Shen Shixing when he left: Only by being down-to-earth can you achieve great results.

Shi Peng and others looked embarrassed. Shi Peng clenched his fists and said loudly: "That was the past, not who we are now!"

Shen Shixing looked slightly pained, spread his hands, then put it down and continued to say patiently: "If you don't return to work in three days, you will go back to the way you were before. Don't believe what those powerful people say, they have been deceiving you. "

"Have you ever thought about a question? They support complete freedom because they, the ship owners, are extremely rich. They have many ships, and each ship can bring thousands or even tens of thousands of taels when it returns from the ocean. With silver wealth, they don’t even know how much money they have. No matter how extravagant their life is, the speed of spending money is far slower than the speed of making money.”

"The complete freedom they preach to you, the interference of the imperial court is hindering the vigorous development of sea trade. They support this completely free sea trade in order to make more money. What about you? Act as the first to die in the battle, and even What can you gain if you don’t hesitate to disobey the imperial decree?”

Zhang Juzheng criticized Tao Ye's "burning Xiu", referring to the political weirdness of "Qing Ci Prime Minister" and Dao Ye's own obsession with Xuan Xiu.

"Thank you Futai for your teaching." When Shi Peng heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up! What he is most concerned about is himself, or whether the interests of the boat master group will be damaged after the enrollment expansion, and this is a profession that can be a blessing to future generations.

"The reason why I am willing to call it a school rather than an evil spirit is because the freedom it advocates has merits, but they are distorting freedom."

The imperial court's in-depth interference in maritime trade hindered the development of maritime trade, which in turn caused harm to the people of the world. To accept the imperial court's interference in maritime trade was to exchange freedom for guarantees and the emperor's promise, but the imperial court's rope would gradually be tightened. tight, and eventually suffocated to death.

"Money cannot be expropriated, but power can?" "Hanshu" says: Farmers and their sons are exposed in the middle of the field, without shelter from the cold and heat, grinding loquat soil, and their hands and feet are calloused. They have already paid grain rent and paid taxes. The township government asked for it privately, and it is not allowed. If the sacrifice is successful, the people will abandon their roots and seek the bottom, and those who cultivate the land will not be able to do half of it."

This school of thought never talks about a key issue when gathering students to give lectures. To this day, apart from going to the Mughal Kingdom to pull war horses, the Ming Dynasty does not have any official ships and official trade, and it will not talk about another issue, Yongle. What did the emperor use the money earned from sea trade to conquer the grasslands, move the capital, sail to the West, build the Yongle Grand Ceremony, build official roads and post roads, etc.

Shi Peng and other boat masters who were fascinated by the authorities were worried about gains and losses and had trouble sleeping and eating after being shouted into their ears. Instead, it was Shen Shixing's last words that suddenly made him realize something he had always ignored, the maritime trade of the Ming Dynasty. Not stagnant.

"Does free trade really exist?" Shen Shixing looked at the backs of the seven boat masters and murmured to himself, then smiled to himself. Confucianism has always said that as long as everyone cultivates virtue, the world will be conquered. Datong, this has been going on for fifteen hundred years, but there is still no world where everyone cultivates virtue.

A very common hereditary system existed in the Ming Dynasty. The sons of jailers were still jailers, the sons of soldiers were still soldiers, the sons of craftsmen were still craftsmen, and the sons of generals were still generals. If they became navy masters, their children and grandchildren would have the advantage of being one step ahead of others.

Shi Peng cannot defend Shen Shixing at all. Shen Shixing has already been involved in this position. When he returns to Beijing, he will directly join the cabinet, only one step away from the top building where elected officials are elected, while Shi Peng only transcends the poor people himself. Just the coolie class.

According to this school of thought, those who are willing to give up freedom in exchange for security will lose both freedom and security.

Zhang Juzheng was born in a military household. Zhang Juzheng was definitely not wealthy. He was ridiculed by Wang Shizhen as a poor coolie who had not even washed the mud off his legs. Wang Shizhen turned around and gave Zhang Juzheng a copy of Song Huizong's "Bamboo Bird Picture" ", this painting was painted by Song Huizong himself. At that time, the court of the Northern Song Dynasty had many painters. Excellent paintings would be signed with Song Huizong's monogram, which was the best in the world.

Why do you have to fight for two taels of silver a month? This is Shen Shixing's soul torture.

"This logic is very strange. Money is open to the poor. Doesn't it mean that the poorer a person is, the richer he will be? Moreover, money is free, so why don't the profits of tens of thousands of silver from a ship flow into your hands? ? Is it worthy of your gratitude if it only comes to your hands?"

The bamboo and bird pictures are among the few that can be identified as being painted by Song Huizong himself.

In the end, at the emperor's insistence, the national treasury allocated 30 silver each, and the Maritime School's obligation was reduced to a personal responsibility of 60 silver. If you are willing to join the Navy and serve for three years, you do not have to repay the obligation. During these three years, you can still receive salary.

The logic of these propositions is based on greater free trade.

"Three days." After seeing that Shi Peng and others had nothing to say, Shen Shixing stretched out three fingers. This was the maximum time he could get.

I don't know the true face of Lushan, I am only in this mountain.

"Two taels of silver a month, why are you working so hard?"

It would be Shen Shixing's dereliction of duty to really let Wang Chonggu reach into Songjiang Mansion. It is also Shen Shixing's dereliction of duty that this problem has not been solved for a long time.

However, from then on, the Maritime School began to close its doors. You can't owe money, but you must pay it back, and the price is not cheap. Three years of study in the Maritime School requires 60 silver. In other words, the boat master is in the school. After taking the boat, it would take three to five years to return the favor without eating or drinking.

Recently, a Songjiang School has emerged in Songjiang Prefecture. The arguments of this Songjiang School advocate absolute free sea trade.

This is not a strange thing. In his later years, Taoist Master raised a lot of Qingci writers. Taoist likes mystical cultivation, is keen on alchemy, and prays for immortality. During the ritual of gods and gods, he needs to write some Qingci for incineration and sacrifice to heaven, that is, Chapter memorials dedicated to the gods in the heavens need to use extremely gorgeous rhetoric and word stacking to express the emperor's respect for the emperor of heaven and his sincerity in seeking immortality.

"I can earn three taels of silver a month!" Shi Peng seemed to have finally found a breakthrough point and a reason to convince himself under Shen Shixing's strong suppression.

He advocated that the imperial court should open up the qualifications for the purchase of five-masted ocean-going ships instead of raising funds through trading houses; advocated that the imperial court should remove the Metropolitan Rating Office and opposed the imperial court's tax sharing; advocated liberalizing the ship guide system, free navigation and free trade; advocated the complete abolition of the trade ban , any goods can be trafficked across the sea; he advocated that the imperial court completely abandon overseas plantations and instead switch to commercial shipping...

"Recently the Songjiang School, they say to everyone that money is the greatest instrument of freedom invented by mankind, only money will open to the poor, but power will never, money will not expropriate, power will, because money is freedom of."

"The imperial court asked for high taxes, the rural ministries asked for personal benefits, and the landlords asked for grain rent. After all, the imperial court took the high taxes and used them for border areas and official roads and post roads. What about the rural ministries and landlords? Money really cannot be stolen. ?"

Moreover, Zhu Yijun requested that there be no interest, that is to say, the sixty silver loan was an interest-free student loan.

Even if the boat master disobeyed the imperial decree and hoped that the imperial court would take back the order, the Emperor of Ming Dynasty still did not want to accept the money. According to the Ministry of Household Accounting, the beam repair was too expensive, one hundred and twenty silver per person, which was too expensive. Repairing it will hinder the Ming Dynasty's pace of opening up the sea.

Shin Shih-hsing's understanding of freedom is completely different from that of the Songjiang School. If we really want to apply it, it is that money will not be open to the poor, but power will open a small window.

Shi Peng was confused about those big principles, but he completely understood the last words. The ocean is really big.

"Student, please leave." Shi Peng looked at the others and saw that no one had the courage to continue arguing with Shen Shixing, so he had to say goodbye.

Because the imperial court is not an invisible hand, the Ming Dynasty navy parked in and out of Songjiang New Port Pier is a visible hand and a real physical threat.

Soon, the Ming Dynasty naval officers began to return to their posts due to pressure from the court. The court was urging them. Under the feudal monarchy, the naval officers were unwilling to risk their lives to maintain the so-called freedom, just as the Songjiang School criticized. , the boat master exchanged freedom for protection.

The Ming Emperor's promises are worthless. The stingy and greedy dragon will eventually devour everyone, just like when Yongle opened the sea, official ships and official trade completely monopolized maritime trade, and all profits from maritime trade belonged exclusively to the emperor.

Shen Shixing was given a slap in the face, and he had to return to work within three days, otherwise the letter plate would be confiscated, and another big deal was drawn. The Ming Dynasty expanded the recruitment of boat master apprentices, and the interests of the boat master would not be harmed, because the ocean It’s really big enough and has enough demand.

Shen Shixing said with a smile: "You know very well how much you can earn from that ship's cargo."

"As a naval engineer, you don't actually have to worry about the impact this expansion will have on you. The Ming Dynasty has a huge gap in its naval forces. The Ming Dynasty has already explored routes to Mexico, Peru, Brazil, and Western Europe, and the war in the Strait of Malacca At the end of the day, in addition to Nanyang, Ming Dynasty also needs to explore the Western Ocean, and Ming Dynasty's gap in naval forces will only become larger and larger. "

Half of the careerists can coerce 95% of the mob. This is what Zhang Juzheng told the emperor, and he needs to be wary of these careerists fanning the flames.

After three generations, it was just an utopia that scholars kept describing.

Zhu Yijun still felt that it was too expensive, but Wan Shihe told His Majesty that knowledge is expensive, whether in the Ming Dynasty or in Western Europe.

Shen Shixing handled all matters in Songjiang Prefecture. The Songjiang Prefecture Tax Office communicated with the Songjiang Prefecture Yamen and carried out penetrating law enforcement on some tax audit matters.

It's just some right-wing people who evade taxes in maritime trade without coming forward in person, and set up a brokerage and comprador activity. When the tax office collects taxes and calls for payment, they find that this brokerage comprador has no ability to repay, so they need to find this broker Behind the compradors, who exactly owes taxes? Send reminder notes and reminders to the people who really owe taxes.

This is penetration, penetrating the blinders and finding the person behind the scenes.

The tax audit office only does one thing, and that is to collect taxes. The taxes that should be paid will not be less, and the tax that should not be paid will not be overpaid, because the tax audit offices in various places will retain 30% of the tax. The court gave generous rewards for the tax income.

In the Ming Dynasty, only death and taxes were inevitable.

Penetrating law enforcement by the tax bureau required the cooperation of the Songjiang government office. This matter made Shen Shixing scratch his head, but he finally agreed, because if he did not agree, the tax bureau would use its own law enforcement power to enforce the law on its own. Times are more difficult to end. The Taxation House is subordinate to the Taxation Yuan, and the Taxation Yuan is under the Fusi of Nanbei Town and under the Jinyi Guardi Cavalry.

The North and South Town Fusi is the judicial department, which has independent investigative powers in addition to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Criminal Department, and the Dali Temple.

Shen Shixing had to agree, and the tax-collecting households of the tax-collecting office would enforce the law on their own. The power of the tax-collecting office would soon break away from the scope of tax collection and expand rapidly.

On June 24, the ninth year of Wanli, Shen Shixing came to Songjiang Wanguo City. This was a seaside city that was no more than ten miles away. All the foreigners would gather here. It was also the residence of the Shipping Department. When Shen Shixing came here, he mainly The purpose is to communicate with Special Envoy Taixi about the number of five-masted ocean crossing ships to be purchased this year, so as to confirm delivery.

The English navigator Francis Drake needed to avoid the colonies and ports of Portugal and Spain in his round-the-world voyage. This put Drake's circumnavigation in danger and took nearly three years to complete.

The circumnavigation of the world by Xu Jiugao, Liu Ji and others of the Ming Dynasty took one year and one month to complete, because along the way, the Ming Dynasty exploration fleet did not have to avoid the jurisdiction of the Hongmao Fan and could resupply at mature ports.

Ming merchant ships could trade in Peru, Brazil, and even Seville, the home of Spain's New World trade. However, if English merchant ships appeared, they would be treated as pirates.

Felipe II had to open these permissions because he needed to buy the Ming Dynasty's five-masted transoceanic ship to maintain his position as the overlord of the West. He also needed the Ming Dynasty's silk to keep the silver, religion and gold and silver in his own hands. They are the two most important links for Spain to maintain its status as an empire on which the sun never sets.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty really did not prefer friends to domestic slaves. The price of a five-masted transoceanic ship was extremely expensive. If the purchase authority was released, it would only become a carnival for a very small number of people.

"I've seen the governor." Marcus bowed nondescriptly. King Antonio of Portugal was the king canonized by the Ming Dynasty, so Marcus used oriental etiquette to meet him.

"Captain Marcus, we meet again." Shen Shixing met Marcus for the sixth time. Antonio's first mate has now become the new red-haired envoy.

Marcus introduced the young man next to him and said: "This is Matteo Ricci, a missionary from Italy and the Holy See. This time he came to the Ming Dynasty as an envoy of Felipe II. I hope he can stay here for a long time."

"The Ming Dynasty did not allow Nestorian Christianity to preach, so he might not be able to stay there for a long time." Shen Shixing looked at the handsome man with a high nose in front of him and shook his head.

"Envoy Legaz is also a believer and a missionary, but he stayed in the Ming Dynasty, didn't he?" Marcus smiled and said: "I will clearly tell him the rules. If the Ming Dynasty finds out that he wants to preach , and threw him into the sea. Anyway, he was Felipe II’s man.”

Spain, as the defender of the New Crusaders, had an overly close relationship with the Holy See. Marcus was a pirate at sea and was born with no affinity for order.

"This time we plan to repay His Majesty's debt of 500,000 silver. The excessively heavy debt really makes His Highness uneasy." Marcus kept communicating with Shen Shixing in Chinese, and drove slowly out of the City of Nations. Marcus wanted to arrange people Trade, buying silk, porcelain, tea, cotton and woolen cloth.

This time woolen cloth is also on the purchase list. Antonio is not a qualified king, but he is very keen on business. What England and Spain compete for is the profits of the woolen business, and Antonio also needs to take advantage of the abundant and cheap supply of goods in the East. , do some serious business.

Matteo Ricci couldn't understand what they were talking about. He just looked around, with shock in his eyes.

Even though the sailors were using extremely exaggerated language to describe the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty along the way, it was the first time for Matteo Ricci to leave the City of All Nations and see this prosperity with his own eyes.

Even Seville, the home of New World Trade, was only a city with a population of 150,000 people. Jimo County in Bosi, Mizhou City (now Qingdao) in the Ming Dynasty was just a county seat with more than 150,000 people.

Whether in terms of size or population, the Ming Dynasty in this era was worthy of the title of "Chinese Empire".

Matteo Ricci, who was only twenty-four years old, was dazzled by the endless stretches of Fuguo houses, the bustling merchants and horse teams, the endless private workshops, the endless flow of people, the row upon row of shops, and the clean and tidy streets.

The number of Dingkou in Songjiang Prefecture City has exceeded one million. It took nine years to grow from a fishing village on the seaside to a million-level city.

"These scavengers only earn three cents a day, nine hundred cents a month, less than half a tael, and only six taels a year. But there are still many people who are willing to do it. There are about six thousand taels in the entire Songjiang Mansion. Just to clean up the streets, the Songjiang government office will give the merchant gang 3.6 silver every year, and the merchant gang only needs to pay silver to the street sweeper." Shen Shixing looked at the street sweeper and looked at Mal with emotion. Kus said.

All the money was made by the merchant gang. The reason why Shen Shixing mentioned this was because Marcus used an extremely exaggerated tone to praise Xu Fan's management of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. The stench has disappeared, and Lisbon is now called Taixi. It is called the City of Flowers, and Xu Fan’s management model is being promoted to the entire Portugal.

And Xu Fan also became a rich man, because cleaning up urban garbage is a very profitable business.

"I was very curious when I was in Lisbon, why didn't I do it myself? I mean, why didn't the Songjiang Prefecture Yamen directly hire scavengers to clean up? Instead, the money was made by the merchant gangs. In addition to building a street department in Lisbon, Xu Fan , and when it comes to other places, it’s left to the merchants,” Marcus asked curiously.

"Because if the imperial court does this, it will not cost 50,000 silver. Corruption, embezzlement, redundant staff and empty pay will all become cases." Shen Shi said concisely and concisely. The imperial court has the rigidity and bloat of the imperial court. This is also Shen Shi's behavior. The reason why Songjiang Liberal School is allowed to exist.

The imperial court does have some rigid and bloated aspects, and it is easy to get sick without realizing it. Someone needs to remind and supervise. For example, the complexity of the ship navigation system, coupled with the inefficiency of the handling personnel, has indeed affected the smoothness of ships going to sea; for example, the city ship Si Du's salary office enriched his own pockets and deliberately made things difficult to ask for bribes when drawing points; for example, Shen Shixing discovered that the shipyard had bloated personnel and empty wages.

The emergence of the Songjiang Liberal School was not without reason or foundation.

Contradiction is the opposite and unified existence of spear and shield, and they do not exist alone.

Marcus still has to go to the capital to meet the Holy Spirit this year. He has to present his credentials, pay back part of the debt, and obtain approval from the Ming Dynasty to sell him a five-masted transoceanic ship. Felipe II is still buying five-masted ships. To cross the foreign ships, Antonio had to expand the size of the Free Fleet. The one who benefited most from this confrontation was the Ming Dynasty who sold the ships tens of thousands of miles away.

"What is this?" Marcus came to the shipyard. He originally wanted to see the inventory of the Ming Dynasty's five-masted ocean-going ships to determine the number to purchase this year. He saw the keels of the Youlong and Feiyun.

"A fast sailing ship under construction." Shen Shixing did not intend to let them visit. Youlong and Feiyun were top-notch ships that would not be sold to the outside world. The purpose of letting them take a look at it from a distance was to show the country's prestige, just like Yongle Nineteenth. In 2001, Emperor Cheng Zuwen invited envoys from various countries to conduct a military parade together.

Marcus said dullly: "This is really incredible."

Marcus has been traveling on the sea for more than ten years. He knows sea trade very well. The emergence of this kind of ship will completely change the pattern of sea trade. However, apart from a name, Marcus knows nothing about this kind of ship.

Shen Shixing smiled and said nothing, and took Marcus to the dock of the five-masted ocean-going ship. Marcus reluctantly looked back and looked around. The governor of Songjiang did not introduce much, but his meaning was already clear. This kind of ship will not be sold to the outside world. , but Marcus took a sudden glance and could not forget the figure of the clipper.

Three days later, Marcus set off for Tianjin Wei, and in addition to Matteo Ricci, there was also a Ming Dynasty man who went to Jingtang. This man's name was Chen Chengyi, who was the general office of Tongxiang Town in Manila, Luzon. This time it was Entering Beijing, Chen Chengyi escorted five thousand taels of gold.

These five thousand taels of gold were a congratulatory gift to the emperor from His Majesty's daughter, Princess Yingjia, Zhu Xuanchang.

August 17th is my father's birthday. As a daughter who is married to a foreigner, it is filial piety to give her father a gift.

Zhu Yijun was frugal and never celebrated the Wanshou Festival, which was the emperor's birthday, meaning longevity without borders. He had to rest for three days and reward all the officials in the palace according to their rank.

According to the system, the former emperor had a dragon to control the guests. Within three years, the emperor did not attend the Wanshou Festival. In the third year of Wanli, the Ministry of Rites presented the Wanshou Festival, but the emperor finally canceled it because it cost a lot of money and wasted people and money.

This is also true. In order to celebrate this festival, the palace needs to prepare intensively for a month. During the Jiajing and Longqing years, a birthday would cost hundreds of thousands of silver, and the capital of the Ming Dynasty would display colorful lanterns inside and outside the nine gates to establish a brocade. The colorful pavilions, the multi-storey pavilions, the colorful trees and flowers, the music and singing, all are the labor of the common people.

The Wanshou Festival of the Ming Dynasty was not that big anymore. In the Northern Song Dynasty, all places had to offer "Birthday Guidelines", which was a big mess that caused public resentment to boil over.

Zhu Yijun finally stopped the Wanshou Festival.

At that time, internal funds and state funds were begging each other, and the soldiers on the border were in arrears. Zhu Yijun was really not in the mood. In the sixth year of Wanli, the country's finances were increasing day by day. The Ministry of Rites tried to resume this festival again, but every time the emperor said it was 'business as usual'. It was rejected on the grounds of "no need for effort".

It is true that Princess Yingjia Zhu Xuanchang is not His Majesty's biological daughter, but since His Majesty recognizes this daughter, he should express his filial piety.

Princess Yingjia gave away five thousand taels of gold at one time. In fact, she was telling the emperor that his daughter was living a good life in Luzon. She had not been wronged and could use five thousand taels of gold to honor her father.

Of course, under normal circumstances, the emperor would reward him.

After Chen Chengyi, the general office of the Luzon Copper Factory in Tongxiang Town, came to Beijing, this batch of gold entered the palace. Zhu Yijun ordered the Bingzhan Bureau to forge gold vessels. In a rare act of generosity, Zhu Yijun added five thousand taels of silver and made another He bought a batch of ritual utensils and asked Chen Chengyi to take back all the gold jewelry and ritual utensils.

Five thousand taels of gold, 312.5 kilograms, and 186500 grams of gold, was just a birthday gift. It was a generous gift, but Zhu Yijun didn't want it. It was mainly for reciprocity and strengthening the connection between Ming Dynasty and Luzon.

Zhu Yijun had heard of Chen Chengyi's name. He was one of the first batch of candidates to arrive in Luzon. He was a white man from Guangzhou. In order to obtain the special Enke Jinshi after the nine-year term, he obtained an official status. When he arrived in Luzon, Chen Chengyi received the Luzon Copper Award. Factory errands, and Tongxiang Town grew from scratch and gradually grew under the leadership of Chen Chengyi.

Zhu Yijun had not yet announced his meeting with Chen Chengyi, but Wang Daokun, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, went to Huitongguanyi to see him first.

Wang Daokun was asking Chen Chengyi about his copper mining experience. Luzon's annual copper output has reached 12 million jins of red copper, while Yunnan copper is only 6.5 million jins.

(End of this chapter)