Daming: The most ruthless tyrant in history

Chapter 376 Xi Yi goes north

From the national and dynasty level, it is clear that the strategy of opening up the sea for trade will have to go through a long road for the Ming Dynasty, which has a conservative system and is not open-minded. After all, there are too many interests hidden behind the opening up of the sea. If you want to build it with the imperial court as the main Great voyages and great trade are by no means as simple as words.

Although during the Longqing Dynasty, Ming Dynasty announced the lifting of the maritime ban and chose to open Fujian Yuegang to the outside world, in Zhu Youxiao's eyes, this was undoubtedly a compromise.

The Longqing Switch had a certain degree of enthusiasm, which effectively alleviated internal conflicts and reduced the threat of Japanese rebellion in the southeast. However, it is undeniable that it also led to more rampant private traders in maritime trade. None of these had anything to do with the imperial court, let alone the money earned from traveling back and forth. Even the customs and customs court could not collect it, which laid many hidden dangers.

A sea-opening system that cannot be dominated by the imperial court cannot collect tariffs through frequent sea trade to enhance the maritime power of the Ming Dynasty. This is undoubtedly a failure in Zhu Youxiao's view.

In the current period of great order changes, if we do not seize the precious opportunity and take advantage of the situation to seize strategic maritime locations, then the dividends of the great voyage will be gone forever!

Ming Dynasty's existing maritime forces, except for the Fujian Navy, which has certain strength, are not worth mentioning. Even the Fujian Navy, in Zhu Youxiao's eyes, is only an offshore garrison force, completely It does not have the capability of ocean warfare.

Therefore, closely focusing on the coastal areas of the northern provinces, actively developing maritime trade, focusing on stimulating shipbuilding, supporting emerging groups, and innovating shipbuilding technology are strategies that Zhu Youxiao must promote and implement.

As for the southeastern provinces of the Ming Dynasty, when will the evil spirits under their rule be completely wiped out and the struggle between the north and the south be transformed into complementarity between the north and the south, then Zhu Youxiao will vigorously support and develop all walks of life in the southeastern provinces in the name of the central court. Karma, otherwise it will be like a meat bun beating a dog, and there will be no return.

Zhu Youxiao would never do a loss-making business!

The vassal Korea condemned its envoys to return to the Ming Dynasty to pay tribute. This matter attracted a lot of attention between the government and the public, and even a lot of news spread from the court to the people, which also caused many people to discuss it heatedly.

After all, it is the Kingdom of Heaven above, and the vassal states below want to pay tribute. This is a highly praised thing, and under this background, there are more private contacts between nobles and nobles in Beijing.

But for Zhu Youxiao, he didn't care too much about this. He would only be intoxicated with the glory of the past and be unable to extricate himself. He was destined to be ruthlessly abandoned by this era.

For many days.

The Forbidden City is still peaceful.

"Brother Emperor, according to what you said before, the largest areas of European countries such as Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom are not as large as our own province. Why are their maritime powers so strong?"

In Dongnuan Pavilion, Zhu Youjian frowned and expressed all the doubts in his heart, "Although my brother doesn't know much about the shipbuilding industry, if you want to build a thousand-material sea-going ship, you need to use all kinds of wood and all kinds of materials." Iron materials, etc., the number of shipwrights required for construction must be from a few to hundreds."

"Even if this is not considered, just like building a thousand-material sea-going ship, paint, cloth, special ropes, etc. are still needed, and the production of these requires more manpower. These European countries Is it just focusing on the shipbuilding industry and ignoring other aspects?”

"You missed the artillery installed on the ship."

Zhu Yujian, who was standing aside, added: "The maritime situation that your Majesty has talked about in the past few days, including the accumulated conflicts among the European countries, all prove that naval battles outside the Ming Dynasty are extremely frequent. Without powerful artillery support, The outcome will be very tragic.”

Zhu Youxiao, who was sitting, heard this with a happy smile on his face. It seemed that he had not wasted his precious time by squeezing out time in the past few days to tell them about the situation outside the Ming Dynasty.

In order for the Ming Dynasty to truly embark on the road of opening up the sea to the outside world, seize strategic strategic locations on the sea, and build a Han cultural circle dominated by the Ming Dynasty, this cannot be achieved by one person. This requires the participation of many groups. This can only be achieved by alternating sea trade and naval warfare.

"I have told you more than once before that before considering anything, you must know how to consider everything from a higher level."

Zhu Youxiao leaned on the cushion, stretched out his hand and said to the two of them: "The real roots of the problems you mentioned need to be found. Have you ever thought about why the European countries I mentioned are not far away?" Thousands of miles away, not afraid of all kinds of dangers at sea, but still choose to go to the countries in Southeast Asia, and even secretly reach trade cooperation with my maritime merchants under the Ming Dynasty? "

"On the other hand, I am Daming."

"Seven large-scale external voyages were organized around the early Ming Dynasty. In addition to demonstrating our country's national prestige, we even achieved many strategic arrangements, such as preparing to build the Xuanwei Department in the old port. But what was the result? It was like a flash in the pan, and the follow-up Failure to maintain this pattern has resulted in Ming Dynasty’s overseas influence being continuously reduced.”

Zhu Youjian and Zhu Yujian looked at each other with different expressions on their faces.

indeed. At present, the influence of the Ming Dynasty overseas has been severely reduced. Although there are still many vassal states and tributary relations, it is undeniable that the influence of the Ming Dynasty is almost exhausted.

"Back to your question."

Zhu Youxiao continued: "The reason why the European countries are so eye-catching is that none of them can unify the continent of Europa. This has led to them constantly fighting against each other. If you think about it carefully, they are different from me in China." Which period is similar?"

"Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period!!"

Zhu Yujian's eyes lit up and he said.

"Yes."

Zhu Youxiao smiled slightly and said: "The general trend of the world is that 'if divided for a long time, they will unite, and for a long time they will unite and divide', it was established by Qin Shihuang Fen VI who unified the six countries, abolished the feudal system, and established prefectures and counties. The books have the same text and the cars have the same track. The first unified centralized autocratic dynasty has given our country a consensus that no matter how chaotic the world is and how many powerful forces there are, China must be unified and will eventually be unified. This is the soul of our civilization!"

"On the other hand, the continent of Europa has never reached this level from the beginning to the end. Therefore, when the competition between each other is unable to do anything about the other, and they fall into a stalemate, then they will turn their attention to the ocean and hope to survive through the mainland. plunder and conquer, and then continuously increase its own strength, so as to achieve the ultimate goal of defeating the opponent."

"Brother Imperial! This is the land power country and sea power country you mentioned in the past."

Zhu Youjian seemed to have thought of something, and said with some excitement: "The European countries are maritime countries. Their unique culture and ideas make them have no scruples about opening the sea. Even if there are many dangers during the voyage, if they can get what they expected, Wealth will come to them one after another."

"You can say that, but it's not precise enough."

Zhu Youxiao kept smiling and said: "But as far as the opening of the sea is concerned, the Ming Dynasty is typically too rich and vast, which makes it lack the urgency to make progress. This is why it is clear that before this, our dynasty had developed The shipbuilding industry and the prosperous navigation industry eventually declined."

"In the final analysis, even if it loses its maritime rights and status, the Ming Dynasty can still remain strong. Even in the eyes of many civil servants, cutting off various expenditures on opening up the sea can greatly reduce the administrative burden and reduce the pressure on the national treasury. As for what we have gained from opening the sea, it is clear that everything is lacking under our rule, so why do we insist on insisting on these?"

Zhu Youjian and Zhu Yujian frowned. They had never heard words like this before, but for some reason, nameless anger arose in their hearts.

"European countries have done very well in this regard."

Zhu Youxiao suppressed his smile and said: "The administrative system they built, especially the authorization given to some registered companies, allowed them to be pioneered through maritime power, consolidated in the form of plunder and colonization, and various forms of trade. Monopolize and recruit support, and then continue to increase maritime influence.”

"The money earned from this will create a steady stream of additional shipbuilding businesses, and at the same time stimulate more people to participate. This will create such a boom-like positive investment, which will allow them to continue to expand externally."

Zhu Youxiao knows better than anyone else that if Ming Dynasty wants to reverse its destiny, it must implement a strategic plan of advancing both sea and land. Only in this way can Ming Dynasty change.

Under Zhu Youxiao's overall planning, perhaps the first group of people to participate in the opening of the sea in the Ming Dynasty would be the maritime power of the Ming Dynasty, plus emerging maritime trade groups. However, as a number of overseas important places were occupied by the Ming Dynasty, the vassal clan of the Ming Dynasty You have to participate in it to form a continuous momentum of moving forward.

As long as this head can be set up well, it will not be difficult for the Ming Dynasty to intervene in the countries of Nanyang. After all, in Nanyang at the same time, there were many Han Chinese forces who were interested in China. They were both merchants and pirates. If they could be integrated, The Ming Dynasty will take advantage of the wind to open up the sea!

"Your Majesty, express delivery to Tianjin!"

Just as Zhu Youxiao was thinking, Han Zanzhou's voice sounded outside Dongnuan Pavilion, "Tianjin Military Preparation Road has urgently reported that Tianjin Port has docked with Xiyi Shipping, hoping to establish trade relations with our country."

This……

Zhu Youjian and Zhu Yujian were stunned when they heard this. They have been chatting about the European countries in the past few days, but a merchant from the West Yi appeared in Tianjin Sanwei?

(End of this chapter)