I was the emperor in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 520 Reorganization of Coastal Defense and Establishment of Ports

After Zheng He sorted out his excited emotions for a while, he said leisurely.

"This pirate invasion is a signal. His Majesty can use this to reorganize the coast defense station, or reorganize it, or send it overseas, which will have an important impact on the future navigation."

Li Tian was also very appreciative when he heard the words.

There are twenty or thirty guard posts along the entire coastline of Daming, with nearly 15 officers and soldiers.

This part of the guards is completely different from other guards. No matter how many troops the court recruits, it will not be their turn.

So among the military factions of Ming Dynasty, they are actually a very special one.

But because they had little opportunity to go to the battlefield and could not accumulate any merits, their sense of existence was very weak for decades, and they had little right to speak in the court.

Although Daming has more than [-] soldiers stationed along the coast, from the original historical point of view, these more than [-] soldiers are actually semblance of existence.

When the Japanese pirates were the most rampant in later generations, the officers and soldiers of the coastal guards almost collapsed and failed to play their due role. In the end, it was Qi Jiguang and Marshal Qi who recruited the people and formed the prestigious Qi's army. calm.

Such a faction is useless and has a false name. The role of the existence of the guard force is really negligible.

Zheng He's eyes were burning like a torch. In fact, he had seen this a long time ago. It's just that the important affairs of the court were never left to his fingertips in the past.

Since Li Tian asked, he pointed it out.

These hundreds of thousands of people are veterans who have been trained for many years. Although they have no combat effectiveness, there are soldiers, craftsmen, and farmers among them.

The personnel structure is complete, which can almost be compared to a complete small community, and it is more than enough to be the maintenance personnel of a supply station.

According to Li Tian's plan, Daming overseas supply stations will definitely be indispensable in the future.

If all the supply stations are filled with immigrants, it will not only cost a lot, but also it will take time to train the immigrants into a militia that can guard against small-scale pirates, and the designation will not be too short.

On the contrary, it is better to move these coastal guards overseas to save trouble.

Zheng He's words can be said to have awakened the dreamer a little bit.

Li Tian had previously been troubled by where the personnel stationed overseas would come from, but Zheng He's suggestion solved it easily.

It is conceivable that Tongchi Island would have a guard with thousands of people stationed there.

They only need less than half a year, and it is estimated that they can transform this small island into a qualified parking base.

Anyway, the soldiers in the guard are soldiers when they need to fight, and civilians when they are not allowed. This structure is more suitable for expanding overseas colonies.

Using the guard as a group to immigrate can maintain the integrity of the group structure to the greatest extent, and settle down overseas at the fastest speed.

In this way, a group with a certain combat effectiveness and a high degree of organization is definitely the best form of overseas immigration.

The more Li Tian looked, the more excited he became.

Immediately a decision was made, and Zheng He was asked to draft the detailed rules for the establishment of overseas colonies.

But just halfway through the conversation, Zheng He said solemnly,

"Your Majesty, there is no rush for this matter. Although the combat power of the dozens of guards along the coast is limited, they still bear the responsibility for this part of coastal defense after all.

If all of them are dispatched to sea hastily, before the follow-up defense forces appear, there may be a gap in coastal defense for a period of time, and we have to pay attention to this. "

Li Tian pinched his chin and thought for a while before saying,

"Actually, this problem is easy to solve. At worst, let the inland guards close to the coast move out a little, and the temporary vacancy can be filled."

Zheng He was noncommittal, but this method of tearing down the east to make up for the west is not a long-term solution after all.

He once again told Li Tian his concerns.

Li Tian smiled lightly,
"It's okay, after all, it's just a temporary decision. I already have a better way to solve this matter."

Zheng He said suspiciously,

"Your Majesty, please forgive us for being stupid and failing to understand what Your Majesty meant."

Li Tian smiled mysteriously,
"Actually, it's not hard to understand.

In the past, the biggest function of the coastal guards was to check the passing ships, and the role of warning was far greater than that of defense.

The reason why so many people are needed is because Daming has not established strict regulations for entering and leaving the sea. "

"If we set up several special ports in various places, stipulating that all ships must enter and leave the sea through the ports, and others are illegal. In this way, we can not only concentrate our power, but also levy commercial taxes on ships entering and leaving the sea, wouldn't it be Multi-tasking?"

After hearing this, Zheng He's eyes immediately reflected, and he said excitedly,

"Very good, this method is very good!
In this way, from the south to the north, only three or five ports are needed to collect all the merchant ships entering and leaving Daming. Not only that, but also the places that need to be defended will be tightened, which will save a lot of human resources at once.

Moreover, once merchant ships gather at a certain port, it will inevitably bring a huge flow of people and goods to these ports. In a few years, Ming will have several more lush port cities... "

Zheng He and Li Tian have different concerns. He just saw the impact on local security and economy after shrinking the coast.

Li Tian, ​​on the other hand, is even more fancy about the taxation on merchant ships.

You must know that at the end of the Qing Dynasty, after the country was forcibly opened by overseas powers, the customs tax revenue for a year reached an astonishing 8000 million taels at the highest, accounting for one-third of the entire Qing Dynasty's revenue.

Of course, some people may say that it was caused by the dumping of goods by foreign powers to China.

But it is undeniable that customs taxation, especially after modern times, has become one of the pillars of a country's tax revenue.

But what was the customs tax in the Ming Dynasty?

More than 100 years ago, the Ming Dynasty implemented a very strict sea ban due to Japanese pirates, and almost did not get a penny. It was not until the Wanli year that the sea ban was relaxed that 20.00% of the actual tariff was imposed.

But after a year, only a few tens of thousands of taels were collected.

Such a small income is absolutely intolerable to Li Tian.

If it is to open up the sea in an all-round way, relying on the prosperity of Daming's overseas trade, even if it does not reach the height of tens of millions of taels, it is still very easy to get 500 million taels in a year.

Wouldn't it be a waste of money to let go of such a large amount of income.

However, if you want to open the sea, you must ensure the safety of the waterway, and eliminating the remaining pirates at sea has become a prerequisite.

But if you want to eliminate pirates, you must set up a sea supply base, that is, relocate the guards.

(End of this chapter)