Daming: Apocalypse of Longevity

Chapter 174 Daming Maritime Affairs
After Zhang Shili helped Zhang Guoji transport Annan's rice back to the capital, he continued to go back to his old business and started his own sea business.

Although Zhang Guoji gave Zhang Shili some rewards, he couldn't take care of Zhang Shili because the emperor later arranged for him to purchase grain from various chief envoys across the country.

However, in the memorial to the emperor, Zhang Guoji specifically mentioned Zhang Shili, and it was precisely because of this that Zhang Shili's fate changed drastically.

After Zhang Shili returned to Lianzhou Prefecture from the sea, he was approached by his cousin who was the prefect of Lianzhou. However, this time his cousin, the prefect who had always been alienated from him, was extremely warm and kind to him.

Zhang Shili was still puzzled at first, but when the Lianzhou magistrate spoke about the matter, he immediately understood why his cousin was suddenly so polite to him. It turned out that it was Mr. Zhang from the capital who had written to him, asking him to Go to Beijing to see him by yourself!

Zhang Shili suddenly felt excited. He just knew that he did his best for Mr. Zhang at that time, and Mr. Zhang would definitely remember him. Now that Mr. Zhang has asked him to go to the capital, it seems that his days of prosperity are coming.

However, although Zhang Shili knew that Zhang Guoji was a senior official in the capital, he had no idea how big the official was. But he didn't know, which didn't mean that his cousin, the prefect of Lianzhou, didn't know.

As the head of the state, Zhang Guoji is now highly regarded by the emperor. Not only was he just named Taikang Bo last year, but he was also rewarded by the emperor with the Shangfang Sword. Even the big shots in the court did not dare to compete with him. If he could get it Zhang Guoji's appreciation and promotion will naturally have a bright future.

The prefect of Lianzhou didn't expect that his cousin was really lucky that such a big shot could remember such a person like him, and he couldn't help but feel envious and jealous in his heart.

But envy is envy, and he will naturally not let go of such a good opportunity. Speaking of which, he was the one who introduced Zhang Shili to Zhang Guoji at that time. Now that Zhang Shili is about to become famous, he can't help but give him a hand, right?

Although Zhang Shili has never been in officialdom, he has worked hard in shopping malls and at sea for a long time, dealing with merchants and pirates, so he is naturally thoughtful and discerning. He can naturally see what his cousin means.

He immediately said that if he could achieve great success in the capital, he would definitely not forget his cousin's kindness in recommending him to Mr. Zhang. He would definitely say more good things about his cousin to Mr. Zhang and ask Mr. Zhang to promote his cousin. .

The magistrate of Lianzhou burst out laughing after hearing this. Although Zhang Guoji had no right to make the decision to promote himself, as long as Zhang Guoji could speak a few nice words for himself in front of the emperor, he would definitely be promoted!
"Then I have to leave it to you, my cousin!"

Later, the magistrate of Lianzhou gave Zhang Shili a lot of silver as payment for his trip to the capital.

But in terms of money, Zhang Shili is much richer than his cousin who is the magistrate. His cousin is relatively clean and honest as an official. His annual income is even higher.

But Zhang Shili was afraid that he would not accept the money. His cousin misunderstood him again and thought that he was unwilling to help, so in order to give his cousin some direction, he had to accept it.

After Zhang Shili came out of the Lianzhou government office, he went directly home to pack his luggage. Now there was nothing more important than going to Beijing to see Mr. Zhang. He also gave up his subsequent plans to go overseas and got on his subordinate's car. A smaller boat went north to the capital.

While waiting for Zhang Shili to enter Beijing, Zhu Tianqi was discussing with Zhang Guoji about building the Ming Dynasty's maritime industry.

Zhu Tianqi planned to establish a "Ming Dynasty Maritime Affairs Department" to oversee all maritime-related affairs, including customs, shipping, and navigation.

Among them, the "Customs" is in charge of import and export trade. The existing Municipal Shipping Department will be improved. With reference to the modern customs management model, the imperial court will uniformly manage the import and export trade and tariffs of the Ming Dynasty. Import and export trade and tariffs are a "big fat". "Meat", if managed properly, this alone may be able to generate revenue that is enough to match the current national land rent and land tax!

"Shipping" was responsible for the manufacture, maintenance and management of all imperial ships in the Ming Dynasty, and was also responsible for the registration and management of private sea-going ships.

"Navigation" is mainly divided into two parts: maritime transportation and ocean trade.

Maritime transportation mainly refers to maritime transportation in offshore areas. The inefficient and highly corrupt inland water transportation is gradually replaced by faster and more convenient maritime transportation.

Ocean trade is naturally responsible for managing the affairs of the imperial court and private ships going out to sea for ocean trade, but although it is called "trade", it does not necessarily mean doing business honestly.

Zhu Tianqi knew very well that the current sea was dominated by the jungle. If he couldn't be defeated, he would engage in trade. If he could be defeated, he would directly transform into a pirate and start robbery. So he had spent so much effort to build a strong ship and a powerful gun, so he naturally didn't mind it. The right time, the right person, how many votes can you do!

Now Zhu Tianqi has briefly listed the organizational structure of the "Ming Dynasty Maritime Affairs Department", but it may take some time to truly establish it, so he needs to put it into practice step by step and stage by stage. .

Although the "customs" part is worth doing and is the one that can benefit the most after its establishment, it is also the most difficult to achieve for Zhu Tianqi at present.

Today's Shibo Division is simply useless. Obviously, the import and export trade of the Ming Dynasty is extremely prosperous, and countless silver flows into the Ming Dynasty. However, the Shibo Division cannot collect much silver in a year. Relying on the original Shibo Division system, It's definitely not going to work.

But if you want to bypass the current bureaucracy and start a new one, building the Ming Customs from scratch is unrealistic because you have no one available.

Although after the battle of encircling and suppressing the slave establishment, he had gained a certain prestige, won the hearts of the generals and soldiers, and firmly held the military power in his hands, but now he only made the officials below him start to be a little afraid of him. But it cannot make them truly loyal to themselves, and their decrees still cannot be effectively implemented.

It is naturally a way to continue to arrange Jin Yiwei to serve as inspectors like the establishment of the Taxation Department. However, tax departments across the country have already used a lot of Jin Yiwei's manpower. If the customs still uses Jin Yiwei, this will be a big stall. I'm afraid Jin Yiwei’s existing manpower is not enough!
Therefore, the construction of Daming Customs can only be put on hold for a while!

Compared with customs, shipping and navigation plans are more feasible.In terms of shipping, although it is temporarily difficult to build a complete management system for the imperial and private ships, it is still possible to build a shipyard for the imperial court to build, repair and maintain ships for the imperial court. This can be done with money. things.

Navigation work is also relatively easy to carry out. Although the imperial court does not have a ready-made fleet of sea-going ships, it can achieve its goal by recruiting private maritime merchants' fleets.

It was for this reason that Zhu Tianqi asked Zhang Guoji to bring Zhang Shili to the capital. Although Zhang Shili was not a famous merchant, his character was quite reliable, at least while he was working under Zhang Guoji. He is still trying his best.

Therefore, it is possible to use Zhang Shili's fleet as a breakthrough and let Zhang Shili recruit some ships from the same industry to form a maritime transport fleet of considerable scale.

At the same time, you can also use Zhang Shili to learn about the current trade situation and maritime power in the waters near the Ming Dynasty, so that after the imperial court's navigation fleet is established, it can join the "sea market" as soon as possible and get a share of the pie!

Half a month later, Zhang Shili arrived in the capital. He took the gifts he had prepared and went straight to Zhang Guoji's house.

During this period, Zhang Guoji would go to the Qianqing Palace every now and then to listen to Zhu Tianqi telling him about his "grand plan" for the Ming Dynasty's maritime construction. Although he didn't understand a lot of what Zhu Tianqi said, the more he listened, the more he understood. Keeping it in mind, he had a relatively deep understanding of what Zhu Tianqi wanted to do.

Now that he heard that Zhang Shili had arrived in the capital, Zhang Guoji immediately became energetic, because this Zhang Shili was a very important link in the emperor's plan. This was an entry point. Only with Zhang Shili could the follow-up work begin.

Zhang Guoji immediately ordered someone to bring him in, and received him very warmly, even avoiding Zhang Shili's kneeling.

In fact, after not seeing each other for such a long time, now that I saw Zhang Shili again, all the past memories came to mind instantly, which made Zhang Guoji feel a little emotional. He looked at Zhang Shili and breathed out slightly, "Shili, this In the blink of an eye, we haven’t seen each other for a year, and the trip to Annan to buy grain and rice still seems like yesterday!”

Zhang Shili laughed along, and hurriedly said: "The little one misses the master day and night too!"

Although Zhang Shili said what he said sincerely, Zhang Guoji felt a little weird when he heard it, and he couldn't help feeling a little chilly.

Zhang Shili didn't feel that there was anything wrong with his words. Instead, he took out a gift list from his sleeve, presented it to Zhang Guoji, and said with a flattering smile: "These are just small thoughts, and what's more?" I hope you won’t dislike it, sir!”

Zhang Guoji took the gift list, opened it and glanced at it. He couldn't help but be a little surprised. This ten-mile order is really a generous gift. There are more than a hundred rare treasures in it, including hundreds of large South China Sea pearls, and countless corals. Ten plants, just glanced at, are already worth no less than ten thousand taels.

Zhang Guoji came back to his senses, grinned pretending to be indifferent, and put the gift list on the table for the time being, "Shili, you are a bit out of touch. When you and I were guarding the granary in Wujiazhuang, Annan, we were together. We have a life-long friendship. Although we were lucky enough not to be plundered by soldiers and bandits, we have lived and died together, so why did you bother to give me such a big gift!"

In Zhang Guoji's view, Zhang Shili was rich in his maritime business, but giving such a generous gift would probably cost all his family money.

However, Zhang Shili shook his head with a smile on his face. Not only did he not see the hardship after losing his entire family, but he was actually a little touched. "It is really a compliment for me to say this. My lord has been exposed to fire and swords, and it is not a pity to die. How dare you have such a life-and-death relationship with me?

These are just trivial gifts and really not a sign of respect. If the little one hadn't come in a hurry, he should have shown more respect to the master! "

Upon hearing this, Zhang Guoji could hardly conceal his shock. A gift of tens of thousands of taels of silver came out, but it was still a "mere gift"?How profitable is this maritime business?No wonder the emperor is so concerned about maritime affairs!
Thinking of this, Zhang Guoji felt that he had to help the emperor "win" this ten miles. However, now that he was determined, his confidence was instantly lacking.

Originally, he thought that Zhang Shili was so flattering to him that he would be willing to serve him and the emperor wholeheartedly if he granted him an official position casually.

But now it seems that they are making so much money doing business in the sea, and they are making a lot of money every day, so why bother to put a lot of money and not make money, and come to be an official?
Zhang Guoji suddenly felt that official position might not be very attractive to Zhang Shili anymore. If he wanted to recruit Zhang Shili, he might have to make the pie bigger.

Zhang Guoji pondered for a moment, then simply used his trump card and asked seriously: "Zhang Shili, do you know why I summoned you to the capital this time?"

Zhang Shili is good at observing words and expressions. Seeing Zhang Guoji suddenly become so serious, he immediately stood up respectfully and replied: "I don't know, I hope the master will make it clear!"

Zhang Guoji pointed to the sky and said, "The emperor wants to see you!"

"Your majesty?!" When Zhang Shili heard this, he was taken aback for a moment, but after only a moment, he came back to his senses in an instant. At that moment, he was so frightened that he knelt on the ground with an unbelievable expression on his face, "How could the emperor know that Cao Min is so stupid?" Kind of little guy..."

Zhang Guoji laughed loudly and said comfortingly: "You don't have to be afraid. Since the emperor said he wants to see you, he naturally wants to reuse you. This is a great thing for you!"

"Your Majesty...want to be important to me?" Zhang Shili felt even more confused. He even began to wonder if Zhang Guoji was not a court official at all, but a big liar and a big deceiver. He was setting a trap for himself. ! "But ordinary people have never been an official, and they don't know how to be an official. What can ordinary people do to help the emperor..."

Zhang Guoji could see that Zhang Shili was frightened. It was hard for him to believe what he said, so he had to explain: "Of course it's a matter of sailing on the sea. The emperor plans to run the maritime industry and needs to find some reliable people. I naturally I am the first one to recommend you to the emperor!"

When Zhang Shili heard this, he immediately came back to his senses and relaxed a lot. If the emperor knew that he was such a person, it was naturally inseparable from Zhang Guoji, and if the emperor came to him, he planned to let him go. He does some things like sailing and going to sea, so he is really confident that he can handle these errands, so he is not so afraid!

(End of this chapter)