Zhu Cixiang knew that Zheng Sen's words were mostly true, because in the original history, the Zheng family had managed Taiwan as a base that could confront the entire Qing Dynasty, and had resisted for forty years.
If he loses money every year, there is no need for Shi Lang to attack Taiwan, and he will lose money to death.
Although the Ming and Zheng Group finally lost to the huge Qing Dynasty, they also made the Qing Dynasty pay an unimaginable price. This price even evolved into two cancers that were enough to destroy the Qing Dynasty!
One of the cancers is called moving the boundaries and banning the sea!
In history, in order to deal with the Zheng family on the island of Taiwan, Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty even resorted to moving the border and banning the sea, killing a hundred enemies and injuring three thousand himself. According to the records of the time, "The period of restraint was only three days, and those who were far away were not He knew it, but those who were close to him knew it but did not believe it. After two days, they arrived on horseback, staggering for a moment. The rich man abandoned his inheritance, and the poor man, whose husband was carrying a cauldron, and his wife who was carrying a child, carried a bucket of rice and a bunch of manuscripts, and looked at the door. Habitat. Starting from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, arriving in Fujian and Guangdong, thousands of miles of fertile soil were donated as basil, and all the indigenous people were relocated!"
In this disaster alone, hundreds of thousands of people in the southeast died!
Even Li Shutai, the second son of the great traitor Li Yongfang (who had been Lingchi in this time and space), confessed in his posthumous letter: "I was in Guangdong first, and the people still had enough resources to survive. However, they died gradually due to the recent migration. In all likelihood, they will not survive. "
It is no exaggeration to say that the policy of moving borders and banning seas during the Kangxi period was another heavy blow to the economy of the southeastern coastal areas after the massacre policies in the southeast, Fujian and Guangdong. It also sealed off China most completely. ——This kind of isolation far exceeds the Ming Dynasty's isolation policy. Because no matter how much the Ming Dynasty retreats, it is impossible to clear out all the coastal areas. Considering the management capabilities of the feudal dynasty, as long as the coast is not cleared, there is no way to truly prevent maritime traffic.
Therefore, the real maritime ban in the Ming Dynasty actually only ended from the large-scale voyages to the Western Seas (the existence of official voyages to the Western Seas cannot be considered a real maritime ban, otherwise Spain, which prohibited private overseas trade, would also be considered a maritime ban country) until the rise of Japanese pirates in Jiajing , which lasted more than a hundred years. Moreover, the blockade was not reliable. Otherwise, where did those big Japanese pirates who exported to domestic sales come from during the Jiajing period?
The relocation and sea ban during the Kangxi period can be said to have truly cut off the channels of communication between China and foreign countries that had been very smooth in the late Ming Dynasty, and also closed the windows through which one could view the world.
Later, in the face of the invasion of Western powers, an important reason why the Qing Dynasty made slow progress in various reforms and salvation was that the interruption was too long - Guangzhou may be an exception, but the Chinese people in other places, especially the ruling class, have been separated from the world for too long. .
Even Fujian scholar-bureaucrats like Lin Zexu didn't know whether foreigners could bend their knees. You can imagine the Qing Dynasty's isolation, and the sequelae of moving borders and banning seas can also be imagined!
And another cancer is Hongmen! Although Hongmen was not necessarily founded by Zheng Chenggong, its birth was definitely related to Chen Yonghua and the Zheng Ming Group.
Mr. Zhongshan, who later led the Paiman Revolution and overthrew the Qing Dynasty, was also a Hongmen disciple! Many key members of the revolutionaries also have Hongmen backgrounds.
Therefore, the Manchu and Qing dynasties really paid an extremely heavy price to destroy the Zheng family, a maritime business group!
The fact that the Zheng family could rely on small pieces of land on Taiwan Island and the coast of Fujian to fight the Manchu Qing Dynasty to such an extent shows their outstanding capabilities. It is also enough to prove that the Zheng Group is a new political and business group that is different from other bureaucratic, aristocratic and warlord groups in the late Ming Dynasty!
You must know that after Taiwan was captured by the Qing Dynasty, the population count showed that it was only 120,000! Taking into account the factors of the Qing army's slaughter, the Han population in Taiwan under the rule of the Zheng family was at most more than 200,000.
If the Zheng family were stronger, had more territory, and had a larger population, and the three generations of the Zheng family had a longer life...it is not certain whether the Zheng family would become China's Orange family!
And now the Zheng family is a Zheng family with greater strength, more people, more territory, and the head of the family has a longer life span!
And the current Ming Dynasty is not just a big bourgeois family with industry and commerce as its economic foundation, but there are many similar big bourgeois families... and they are also concentrated in the core of the Ming Dynasty - the four families. It is located on the territory of eight southeastern provinces including Jianghu, Fujian and Guangdong.
The leaders of these industrial and commercial families are undoubtedly the Zhu, Zheng, and Shen families!
It does not exist that Zhu and Wu share the south of the Yangtze River, but it is obvious that Zhu and Zheng and Shen share the south of the Yangtze River...
"Elder brother," Zhu Cixiang said with a smile, looking at Zheng Sen who had died of tropical infectious diseases in the original history but is still in good health (he, the Dongning Festival Marshal, is based in Quanzhou and rarely goes to Taiwan), "Exchanging Ryukyu for Quanzhou is still a loss for your family. Since moving south, your family has contributed money and effort to the country. It is really the family that is the number one contributor to the ZTE. How can I treat my hero so badly? Otherwise, Ryukyu will still return to Dongning.
In addition, I will grant your family another kingdom! Senior brother, where do you want to go? "
When Zheng Sen heard that Emperor Zhu wanted to grant him a kingdom, his heart skipped a beat - what a loss!
All the profitable feudal states have been taken over by people named Zhu. Most of the remaining territories are loss-making ones, and the Zheng family has to use money to fill the holes!
Moreover, the Zheng family is different from the Wu family. They are not feudal warlords. They only have a bunch of shipheads under their command. These are businessmen, not warriors who only know how to kill people and keep rents, so it is difficult for them to occupy too many unprofitable areas. turf. Taiwan has already given Lao Zheng’s family a headache!
"I wonder where your Majesty wants to seal this concubine's father and brother?" Zheng Chagu, who was accompanying me at the side, saw that the atmosphere was a bit awkward and immediately interjected.
Zhu Cixiang smiled: "We can't lose the meritorious service. We must find a richer base... What about Sulu? The original Sultan of Sulu moved to Aceh, Sulu Island and nearby Palawan Island, as well as Bo The land of Sabah on Ni Island has been vacated, which is perfect for setting up a principality."
Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Sen breathed a sigh of relief at the same time - this piece of land is not profitable, but the loss is not much. The Zheng family can still make a long-term investment...
The two father and son looked at each other, then stood up to bow and thank them.
Zhu Cixiang smiled and said: "Get up... This is what your Zheng family deserves. However, neither Old Taishan nor senior brother can go to Sulu to join the country. You have to stay in the capital to assist me."
Zhu Cihong gave the Sulu Kingdom to the Zheng family so that they could lose money. He did not want to send the Zheng family and his son out of the country - he used this method to weaken the Zheng family's financial resources in order to maintain the advantage of the royal consortium over the Zheng family consortium.
Emperor Zhu paused and then said: "Old Taishan is already old. You can choose one of the three divisions and three princes to be my advisor. I plan to ask Shen Chongming from the Ministry of Household Affairs to take over, and Shen Chongming's Ministry of Works will be here. Give it to Senior Brother!
The Ministry of Industry used to be a money-making yamen, but under Shen Chongming's management, it has now become a money-making yamen... Now that it is handed over to Senior Brother, I can sit back and relax! "
Shen Chongming is Shen Tingyang, the second richest man in Ming Dynasty! He was a loyal minister to begin with, and with Emperor Zhu as his wise master, he could of course give full play to his role. First, he was in charge of the "Beihu Department" (actually the job of the Beiyang Minister, the Governor-General of Zhili). Later, the Beihu Department was abolished and he became the Minister of the Ministry of Industry.
Zhu Cixang also placed all canals, official roads and mining affairs in various places in the province under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry.
Under Shen Tingyang's new operating system, canals and official roads could be "charged", and commercial markets could be opened along the way; mining could be contracted out to collect tax, or it could be operated by the court itself; and there were also many ports and cities in some northern areas that belonged to The industry of the Ministry of Works, so the Ministry of Works of the Ming Dynasty actually became a money-making bureau - the expenditures on major projects such as river construction, road construction, miners, city and port construction within the direct province can all be met by the revenue of the Ministry of Works, and There is still a surplus!
Now Emperor Zhu gave the profitable Ministry of Industry to Zheng Sen, and also asked Shen Tingyang to take over the Ministry of Revenue, plus Grand Duke Luo's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ma Shiying's Ministry of Punishment, and Zheng Jiangong's Ministry of Navy. Now headed by Zheng, Shen, and Luo The Southern People's Party already accounts for more than half of the ministers in the Ming Dynasty!
