The middle of the first lunar month.
The ships sent by Zhang Zhou to Nanyang returned successfully.
Tang Yin and Xu Er jointly submitted a report to the court in detail about the "results" of this trip to Nanyang... In addition to bringing back 160 taels of gold and 6,000 taels of silver, they also brought back more than 10,000 taels of spices. Jin, plus all kinds of weird products, as well as the more than 300 Nanyang captives brought back... The guaranteed income for this trip to sea is 25,000 taels.
Excluding the rewards for the officers and soldiers on board, as well as losses such as cannon use, the net income was more than 20,000 taels.
Li Rong announced this news to the ministers in the court, but as expected, Zhang Zhou still didn't come.
Zhang Zhou went to court, saying he spent three days fishing and two days drying nets, but in fact it was closer to fishing one day and sifting nets ten days. Anyway, no one forced him to go to court on any day. Zhang Zhou only appeared in the court once after the anniversary.
Zhu Youtang said with a look of relief: "When Bingkuan said that he would send troops to sea, I was still worried, thinking that this would not bring any results, but now it seems that I have underestimated the income from going to sea."
Everyone who is an emperor likes to send ships to the sea. Whether it is Zheng He's voyage to the West or Zhang Zhou's ship to the sea this time, the emperor is keen on it.
When he was in Chenghua, Xianzong also wanted to send ships to sea, which led to rumors that Liu Daxia burned Zheng He's navigational charts. This matter is not accurate. It is difficult to say whether it is true or not, but it also indirectly shows that the emperor He is still very enthusiastic about conquering overseas things, including getting back overseas goods.
Ma Wensheng, the Minister of Civil Affairs, came out and said: "Your Majesty, if you use ships equipped with soldiers and artillery to go to sea to plunder the children of foreigners and rob overseas wealth, it will be the same as bandits and is really worthless."
We still have to oppose it.
If the income from overseas is so high, can it be guaranteed to be this high every time?
The first time I went there, they were unprepared. You plundered 20,000 taels of silver in one boat and came back. You were so complacent that I was afraid that you might not catch anything next time you went out to sea. You might also be thought by those small foreign countries in Southeast Asia that the great Ming Dynasty actually liked it. Doing things that only pirates can do, the loss to Ming Dynasty's reputation at that time cannot be settled with tens of thousands of taels of silver.
Zhu Youtang asked: "In recent years, are there any precedents for the vassal states in Nanyang to pay tribute?"
Ma Wensheng said: "Your Majesty, the shipping companies in various cities are still engaged in the trade in Nanyang. If the rules of trade are rashly changed, I am afraid that it will cause conflict among the Nanyang people and make it impossible for Wang Hua of the Ming Dynasty to advance."
"No need." Zhu Youtang said, "I think that in order to preach the king's transformation to the world, benevolence and righteousness should not be used. For those foreign people in Java, they will not understand what the king's way is. In the end, The best way is to use artillery to conquer them and make them surrender... I don't think that relying solely on ethics can bring long-term peace and stability. I think Bingkuan has done a good job in this matter."
Seeing the emperor's attitude, Ma Wensheng couldn't say anything else.
Zhu Youtang said: "Wei Guogong and Tang Yin also mentioned in their memorials that the first batch of three ships is almost ready. I have ordered the transportation of artillery and other artillery from Yongping Mansion and other places to the south. In addition to the defense of Nanjing, In addition, it is also used to equip ships for sending troops overseas. I hope to harvest something in half a year...I don’t know what it is exactly yet. I don’t think you have any objections, right?"
Once is not enough.
This time I went to the South China Sea, next time I will go directly to the Western Ocean, go further and further, and directly cross the Pacific Ocean.
Although it was too late to discover the American continent, it was not difficult to conquer America and bring its mines and goods back to the Ming Dynasty.
More importantly, America is a vast land with abundant resources. It will be Ming Dynasty’s important overseas territory. The food, minerals, etc. produced will greatly supplement Ming Dynasty’s lack of resources, especially if Zhang Zhou wants to develop Ming Dynasty’s industrialization. The American continent is almost essential.
Liu Jiandao: "Your Majesty, you should be cautious when going to sea. It is not advisable to make a hasty decision."
There is no objection, but traditional civil servants feel that it is better not to change it easily.
Zhu Youtang seemed very confident and said: "You and your family don't know anything about overseas. You don't even know where the islands are or how many people there are. What's the point of talking about this? I'll leave it to Bingkuan. I believe it won't take long. Years, the wealth that can be obtained from overseas can fully supplement the Ming Dynasty's military needs. This can not only bring peace to the people, but also bring peace to the northern frontier, why not?"
Aren’t you civil servants always beeping, saying that Bingkuan’s northern military strategy is an act of militarism?
Now I am asking Bingkuan to help create wealth. If the war in the north does not require additional expenses from the court, then you will not be embarrassed?
…
…
After the meeting.
Zhu Youtang was also in a bad mood.
"Going to sea to get so much wealth can be said to be unbenevolent. If there was benevolence, would anyone pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty? When will overseas taxation be provided to the Ming Dynasty?" Zhu Youtang was filled with indignation.
He felt that there was no point in staying in the palace, so he found out that Zhang Zhou was in the city that day and had not gone to Xishan, so he changed his clothes and took Li Rong and others out of the palace to find Zhang Zhou.
Zhang Zhou was in his workshop in the city.
When Zhang Zhou learned that Zhu Youtang was coming, he personally brought Zhu Feng out to greet him.
Zhu Youtang smiled and said: "No need to be polite, Bingkuan, I have nothing to do, so I came to your place to take a look. You have been able to create a lot of good things in the past. Have you got anything new recently?"
"Your Majesty, please." Zhang Zhou made way.
After Zhu Youtang left the palace, he seemed to have more smiles on his face. When he walked out of the palace, his mood was rarely relaxed.
Several people from the monarch and his ministers entered the workshop together, and saw what looked like a boiler inside. It was boiling water on one side, and there was a "click, click, click, click" sound next to it. A machine was being driven by the boiler. It was Zhang Zhou. I've been working on a steam loom recently.
There are two craftsmen debugging next to it.
The two of them seemed to be there as if there was no one around. No matter it was Zhang Zhou, Zhu Fenglai, or Zhu Youtang bringing someone, they would not come over to salute, and would only concentrate on what they were doing.
Zhu Youtang asked curiously: "What is this?"
Because the noise was relatively loud and the machine could be moved without manpower, Zhu Youtang did not rush forward to observe.
Zhang Zhou said: "Your Majesty, this is a loom."
"Loom? Isn't there anyone weaving?" Zhu Youtang was curious.
He only saw two people walking in front of a bunch of machines, but no one was weaving by foot or hand. Naturally, Zhu Youtang didn't understand.
Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "This is to drive the rotating shaft with water vapor, and use the movement of the rotating shaft to make the loom run. A pile of looms only needs a few people to look after it, and they can make repairs at any time when something like a disconnection occurs. That's it. Once here, a skilled weaver girl can take care of five or six looms, and at a faster speed, she can weave dozens of feet of cloth in a day."
Li Rong smiled bitterly and said, "Mr. Zhang, are you laughing?"
"Um?"
Zhu Youtang looked back at Li Rong.
You old eunuch, you actually question my Bingkuan for speaking nonsense?
Zhang Zhou pointed with a smile and said: "Eunuch Li, it's really not a joke. The traditional loom also has some shortcomings. I have also improved it. This is a flying shuttle. With the flying shuttle, there is no need for manual labor to increase the width of the loom. Thread, what you should worry about in the future is not the lack of female workers or the slowness of weaving, but the lack of straw cotton."
Straw cotton is also cotton.
In Chinese history, when "cotton" is mentioned, it is actually more of kapok.
It was not until the Song and Yuan Dynasties that straw cotton gradually became common people's daily use to keep out the cold. However, due to the low efficiency of weaving, cotton was mostly used as filler. Taizu of the Ming Dynasty stipulated that every farmer must plant a certain amount of straw cotton to keep the cold. To ensure military supplies and daily use of the people, straw cotton was also regarded as a very important economic crop in the Ming Dynasty.
"That's quite interesting."
After Zhu Youtang knew that the machine was just a loom and was not dangerous to him, he finally dared to walk over and take a closer look.
But Zhu Youtang would also find it very magical when he saw that the cloth was produced little by little without anyone weaving it, and began to gradually become rolls.
…
…
Because the weaving room was very noisy, Zhu Youtang only made a brief observation and then went to the laboratory next to the workshop with Zhang Zhou.
"Bingkuan, when are you going to promote this loom?"
As the emperor, Zhu Youtang certainly knew the needs of the people of the Ming Dynasty for food, clothing, housing and transportation.
Growing food seems to be an unsolved problem for the time being. It is not that easy to reclaim wasteland. The only thing left is to find new crops from overseas, which also takes time.
But if weaving efficiency is improved, it will greatly improve the clothing constraints of the people of the Ming Dynasty. After all, for ordinary people, it is normal to wear ordinary coarse linen clothes for ten or eight years, and it will take another year of sewing and mending. Some people even wear the same piece of clothing for a lifetime, and it can be found in many places.
Zhang Zhou said: "Your Majesty, in order to promote it, we need to be able to manufacture so many looms first. My idea is to first use government-run weaving workshops to recruit female workers to come back for study and training. After they learn how to do it, the looms can be used." After the quantity increases, it will be gradually extended to the private sector. In a few years, we will strive to have weaving workshops in every larger state capital in the Ming Dynasty, and the cloth produced can also be used for military supplies."
"Yes, yes, we must first ensure the use of the soldiers in the northwest." Zhu Youtang was very pleased after hearing this. "The northwest has already proposed to the court in the past few years that they want to change military uniforms, etc., but how can they have so much manpower and material resources? ? If we can really weave large quantities of cloth... then wouldn’t the Ming Dynasty have as much cloth as they want to use?"
Li Rong reminded with a smile: "Your Majesty, have you forgotten what Mr. Zhang said? You should be worried that there will not be enough straw cotton."
Zhu Youtang said: "It is time to make certain improvements. We will go back to various places and issue orders to increase the acres of grass-cotton planting fields. The court will purchase them in the future to ensure that cotton farmers will not suffer losses."
Zhang Zhou said: "Your Majesty, it is not enough to rely on government procurement alone. Special personnel should be sent to carry out the procurement. Otherwise, if we have to rely on local officials... I am afraid it will dampen the enthusiasm of cotton farmers."
"Um."
Zhu Youtang probably understood Zhang Zhou's worries.
This is a communication gap between the upper level and the lower level. If it depends entirely on local officials, this separation will be exacerbated.
Only the emperor directly sending people can improve this situation to the greatest extent, but this is not a once and for all solution. After all, people are still doing things, and the so-called systems are also implemented by people.
…
…
After talking about weaving, Zhu Youtang sat down and said with emotion: "Bingkuan, the ship to Nanyang has returned and brought back a lot of things. Whatever you need, it should be delivered to the capital in a month." Come."
Zhang Zhou cupped his hands and said, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty."
Zhu Youtang said: "If we want to send a ship to the West now, do you think it is appropriate?"
Zhu Youtang made a decision first and then asked Zhang Zhou for his opinion.
Zhang Zhou had already planned with him before and let him know that there was a large territory overseas, even larger than the Ming Dynasty. , there were no animals such as horses, cattle and sheep, not even wheels, and even some large tribes with millions of people did not even have their own writing, let alone ironware, and even bronzes were only used for decoration by nobles.
Such a tribe can conquer an entire country with just one hit and an army of several thousand people.
Historically, the Aztec and Inca empires were conquered by European colonists with only a few hundred people.
That’s why Zhu Youtang had such a deep obsession to include overseas places in the territory of the Ming Dynasty...
Zhang Zhou said: "Based on the information on shipbuilding in Jiangnan, the large ship built according to the minister's drawings has not yet been completed. Only a few medium-sized ships have been built. If we want to sail across the ocean, I am afraid we will have to wait until after February. But I am afraid that in the next few months, hurricanes will be rampant at sea..."
Since he was about to go to sea, Zhang Zhou had to explain clearly all the difficulties of going to sea.
It does not mean that if you send a fleet, you will definitely reap rewards. If the ship never comes back, there will be no news from now on. Don't let the courtiers blame me and say that I harmed them.
Zhu Youtang nodded and said: "There are strong winds and waves on the sea. If we encounter extreme weather again, any accident is possible, but we can't stop eating because of choking. Didn't you say Bingkuan that there are already some foreign countries in the Western territories?" The tribe has discovered it and will they conquer it in the future? We must hurry up."
Zhang Zhou said: "Your Majesty, my idea is that when I go to sea for the first time, I will mainly explore the location of overseas places and successfully retrieve the rhizomes, seeds, etc. of several food crops proposed by me to facilitate widespread planting in the Ming Dynasty. Make preparations for future sea voyages Prepare."
"When will we go to sea?" Zhu Youtang seemed impatient.
Seeing that the emperor was so straightforward, Zhang Zhou had no hesitation and said: "Your Majesty, with the experience of fleets sailing to the South Seas, and with the help of several new ships, even smaller ones, we can order the voyage immediately."
"good."
Zhu Youtang said, "I have been waiting for a long time. If I can fundamentally change the national destiny of the Ming Dynasty through one voyage, and use this to conquer the four seas, it will even be more meaningful than conquering the Tatar aliens in northern Xinjiang. Bingkuan, can you? Do you have a navigation chart?”
Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "Actually, before I returned to the north, I left behind navigational charts and even many plans for going to sea, including strategies for dealing with various emergencies. As long as there are enough artillery and blunderbuss, There are still hundreds of soldiers who want to successfully bring back what they want from overseas...it depends on whether God is good."
(End of chapter)
