Chapter 139 All Nations Come to Korea
The king of Zhou was well clothed and well-fed since he was a child. He was inferior to one person and superior to ten thousand people.
I have enjoyed the top treatment of the Ming Dynasty since I was a child. I have followed King Zhou for so long that King Zhou has become accustomed to it. I think it should be so. Thinking of what happened now, he suddenly realized that everything he had was given by Zhu Yuanzhang.
He must obey Zhu Yuanzhang's wishes. Once the two conflict, no one around him will fight against the court for him.
Of course, since ancient times, between father and son, it is natural for the son to be under the shadow of his father.
However, King Zhou must know that Zhu Yuanzhang cannot always be there. Once Zhu Yuanzhang is gone and the prince ascends the throne, can everything be taken for granted?
Or even if the prince is really nice to his brothers. But he is still different from his father. If he is still like this, what will happen after a few generations? Can we really have a blind date?
King Zhou didn't know. Don't dare to think too much.
After all, he has seen too many things to be so naive.
Only now did he feel the value of overseas territories. Precisely because of the hardship, precisely because it was beyond the reach of the imperial court, it was the true world of the King of Zhou, and the imperial court could not take that away. Unless the court starts a war.
This is what he wants.
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The encounter with King Zhou was just an episode.
However, it was not just the King of Zhou who stayed in Liujiagang for a period of time. It was because so many envoys followed He Xi.
This is the first time since the founding of the Ming Dynasty that so many vassal states have paid tribute for the first time. It was even the first time for many vassal kings to pay tribute. Naturally, it should be extremely grand. So when He Xi came to Liujiagang, it was only a few days' flight from Nanjing. Everyone in the etiquette department was busy.
In the end, the Minister of Rites had to ask Zhu Yuanzhang for instructions in person. Let He Xi stay in Liujiagang for a while. Otherwise, the Ministry of Rites would not be able to be busy at all.
Don’t say anything else. Simply speaking, the Ministry of Rites' Huitong Pavilion where foreign envoys are housed cannot be accommodated at all. There aren't that many places. Even finding a temporary place to stay is not an easy task. First of all, where are the specifications for the accommodation of these envoys? It is definitely not something that can be done by choosing some inns in Nanjing city.
No matter how nice an ordinary private inn is. It is impossible for them to be involved in entertaining state guests. The Ministry of Etiquette cannot afford to lose this person.
At the very least, private gardens are temporarily recruited.
The size of the garden can be used as a garden for entertaining envoys. If anyone is not a big shot, it is impossible to have such a garden in the city of Nanjing. The Ministry of Rites did not dare to neglect such a person. From the Minister of Rites and the Minister to the chief officials below. Everyone is running something like this.
In short, everyone in the Rites Department was so busy that their legs were smoking because of the people He Xi had brought.
So, when He Xi and more than forty envoys came in from the main gate of Nanjing, Jubaomen. On behalf of Zhu Yuanzhang, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince greeted him at the door of Jubao Gate.
In fact, when an envoy from a single family meets in court, it is naturally not the prince's turn to greet him, but quantitative changes lead to qualitative changes.
I saw tens of thousands of guards in bright armor. From Jubaomen Pier to Jubaomen, and from Jubaomen to the palace, along the way, there was a post every three steps and a sentry every five steps. Each one was as firm as a statue. With such a military appearance, Compared with the People's Liberation Army of later generations, it may be somewhat lacking. But for the kings of Nanyang, it was shocking enough.
Nanyang's army lags behind the Ming Dynasty in almost all aspects, from weapons to organization, from combat experience to the quality of its officers, and it is not a year or two, but hundreds of years.
Even in a sense.
Weapons are the area with the smallest differences between the two sides. After all, most of the Javanese armies used iron weapons.
There were originally some arrogant Nanyang envoys. At this moment, I was immediately shocked. They saw in Nanyang the army under the Ming Dynasty's Nanyang Governor's Mansion. I already feel great. But I never expected that Nanjing Jingying could win again.
They were even more shocked. It's the giant cannon at the top of Jubaomen City. When the team entered the city. A series of dozens of gun salutes frightened many envoys into falling off their horses.
Originally, it was not that there were no horses in Nanyang, but the quality of horses was not good and the quantity was not large. Most of them are shipped from overseas. There are not many people who can ride horses. Originally, my riding skills were not good, so I just managed to ride. Being frightened like this again.
Falling off is also normal.
As a result, this group of people was in confusion for a while in front of Jubao Gate.
The prince looked at what was happening in front of him with a slight smile, turned to He Xi and said, "Brother He, you have made a lot of achievements this time. Uncle Xu suggested that Brother He be given a title. What title does Brother He want?"
He Xi's heart moved and he quickly thought about this matter in his mind. I couldn't tell for a moment whether this was a good thing or a bad thing. However, He Xi knew one thing. That's a lot of things, it depends on what Zhu Yuanzhang thinks. It was useless for him to think about it at this moment.
He Xi laughed and said, "Brother Prince, I'm so grateful. I just used the power of the imperial court to intimidate Nanyang. Furthermore, the countries in Nanyang are still cultivating by slash and burn. As long as there are talented people, they can conquer Nanyang. I just rely on my power." He's just brave and fearless. There's no credit for that."
The prince said: "Although the countries in Nanyang are engaged in slash-and-burn farming, they still have tens of millions of people. You don't have to be modest. Even if nothing else is said, the grand occasion in front of you is unprecedented since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. You can let the Ministry of Rites I hate you so much."
He Xi said, "I'm afraid it will be a common occurrence for all nations to come to court from now on. They need to get used to it."
The prince said: "It's not this one thing, but the Ming Dynasty's national policy of thick and thin, which has become a piece of waste paper in your hands. The Ministry of Rites is very angry with your approach of killing first and reporting later."
He Xi's heart moved and she was about to say countless things. But he was blocked by the prince. Said: "Don't worry. I have already taken care of this matter for you. Money is used everywhere in the court. Those masters are not rich and don't know how expensive firewood and rice are. How can they not accept the money that is delivered to their door? Just for the sake of face, it is embarrassing." Lilizi. That's just trying to make someone look fat. It's the behavior of a fool."
"However, Nanyang has made profits. Then the customs taxes can't always be occupied."
The prince actually didn't want to say this at the beginning. Nothing else, because customs taxes are increasing too fast. It can be said that Ming Dynasty's operations in Nanyang suddenly detonated the maritime trade market.
It can be regarded as a long-term accumulation.
When He Xi established Jinghai Trading Company, there were not even enough ships. But Ming Dynasty had strong production capacity and shipbuilding was profitable. In the past two years, the price of boats has been rising. Originally, you could buy a similar boat for about a thousand taels. But now it has doubled or tripled.
However, ship prices will reach their peak this year and next.
Because, after all, the total scale of sea trade is limited. And people below were busy building ships. Naturally it will cause squeezing. Only then will ship prices return to reality.
From the price of ships, we can see how popular sea trade is.
The boom in maritime trade also led to customs taxation. Originally there were four customs offices in the south, one for each province. But because of maritime trade, the northern provinces are also preparing to open sea. They want to open Lushun, Tanggu, Denglai, Qingjiangpu and other places respectively.
Of course, it is still being planned.
The four customs offices in the south still feel that this is not enough, especially in Fujian. Fuzhou and Quanzhou have always been on par. One cannot have customs and the other does not. The total revenue from these customs has exceeded the salt tax and has become the second tax after land tax.
The customs tax has exceeded two million taels. And the growth trend has not slowed down yet.
The bulk of the Ming Dynasty's tax revenue was land tax, which amounted to more than 30 million shi, equivalent to more than 10 million taels of silver. Second is salt. In fact, because of the opening of China to France, after paying the cost of transporting grain to the border, there is still a tax of more than two million taels, or nearly three million taels.
Under the salt tax, there is no tax exceeding one million taels. It was tea, iron, fined silver, and other random taxes, but most of them were only a few hundred thousand taels.
It can be said that the increase in customs taxes caused structural changes in Ming Dynasty's fiscal revenue. As previously agreed, all customs taxes should be used to fund the Nanyang War, which is no longer possible. Because the tribute money from the Nanyang countries is included. The entire Nanyang Governor's budget will exceed three million taels.
