It's true that it's beyond the reach of a whip, but when hitting someone, there's no need to stick to using a whip.
We also have muskets, cannons, and crossbows. We can’t reach them with whips, but we can reach them with something else...
The most difficult problem in ruling overseas areas is not whips or cannons, but people.
Nowadays, if you are hundreds of miles away from the capital, you can be said to be as far away as the emperor. So if you are thousands of miles away from the Ming Dynasty, don't you just become a local bully, pull the banner, and become the emperor?
Anyone who goes there may have ambitions. The place is too far away. Even if he rebels, by the time Daming knows the news and reacts, he has already been the emperor for a year or two. Even if he dies, he will have bragging rights. When he meets the Lord of Hell , you can also shout:
I was the emperor back then, so you have to show some respect.
Only by solving the problems of distance and ambition and making those who go there can be honest and obedient will it be possible to completely control the old port and control that long, narrow and vital seaway!
After Zheng Bo's court meeting, Zhu Yunwen summoned Yao Guangxiao, Xie Jin, Ru Yu, Xu Huizu, and naval officer Zhu Neng who escorted Zheng Bo back to the capital.
After Xie Jin read Liang Daoming's credentials aloud, he sat back.
Zhu Yunwen was straightforward and asked: "What do you think of Liang Daoming's invitation? Ru Yun, as the Minister of War, please talk about it first."
Ru Yu stood up and said cautiously: "Your Majesty, Liang Daoming's letter of credence is quite meant to lure you into a trap. We, the Ming Dynasty Navy, are not familiar with the waters near the old port. If we rashly agree to Liang Daoming, we will accept the three Buddhas." If Qi is the territory of the Ming Dynasty, will it arouse fear in the Southeast Asian countries?"
"For example, Annam, Champa, Siam, Luzon, Balni, Manraka, and Majapayi, if they think that the Ming Dynasty has the potential to make a large-scale invasion, and once they unite to resist the Ming Dynasty, what should they do? In my opinion, you can A Xuanwei Department was set up in the old port to show the territory of the Ming Dynasty, but no soldiers were stationed to avoid disturbing other countries."
Zhu Yunwen looked at Ru Yu with some disappointment in his eyes.
He is a conscientious minister, and he will handle the tasks assigned to him well, but his acting style is too steady, to the point of being cautious and hesitant.
It seems it's time to bring Tie Hyun back.
Zhu Neng saw Zhu Yunwen looking at him, so he took out a map of the Nanyang countries from his sleeve, stood up and said: "Your Majesty, although Lord Ru's concerns are reasonable, he does not understand the Nanyang countries. There are differences between the Nanyang countries. , it is not a friendly relationship, but constant wars. Annam and Champa are mortal enemies, Majapahit is also at odds with Manrakya, Balni, Srivijaya, etc. Siam also has differences with Champa and Annam."
"And my Ming Dynasty navy holds the certificate of Liang Daoming and enters Nanyang. It can be said that it is justified. First, I can capture and kill Chen Zuyi and other pirates for the Nanyang countries to stabilize the sea. Second, I can protect the safety of the three Buddhas and deter the Manchu Boyi. As long as It is not difficult for our Ming navy to establish its presence in Nanyang without conquering other countries."
fo
Xie Jin, Xu Huizu and others stood up and looked carefully at the Nanyang countries marked on the map. Xu Huizu said to Zhu Yunwen: "Your Majesty, I urge you to enter Nanyang. According to the map, the place where Srivijaya and its old port are located is the East-West Sea Road. Most importantly, if Srivijaya can be controlled, it will be the best strategy for the Ming Dynasty in the future, whether it is communicating with Southeast Asia or sailing to the Western Ocean."
"I second the proposal."
Xie Jin expressed his position and said easily: "Setting in Srivijaya will be beneficial to the Ming Dynasty, whether it is opening sea routes or clearing out sea bandits. Although it costs a lot, it is relatively stable in Nanyang and it is worth it to eliminate maritime troubles."
Zhu Yunwen nodded slightly, looked at Yao Guangxiao who had been examining the credentials, and asked: "Master Yao, is there anything wrong with the credentials?"
Yao Guangxiao put the credential on the table, looked up at Zhu Yunwen, fiddled with the Buddhist beads in his left hand, and said softly: "Your Majesty, there is nothing wrong with the credential, but there is one thing that I am a little confused about."
"Which place?"
Zhu Yunwen asked.
Xie Jin looked at Yao Guangxiao with some doubts in his eyes. He also read the credentials himself and found no problem.
How could this old monk discover his problem?
Yao Guangxiao said calmly: "The description of Srivijaya in the credential is 'rich in products and accessible to all directions'. I am wondering whether its rich products can be used by our Ming Dynasty."
A gleam flashed in Zhu Yunwen's eyes and he said, "You mean trade and tribute?"
Yao Guangxiao nodded and said, "I just had a momentary thought."
Rujun said quickly: "Your Majesty, you need to be especially cautious when it comes to trade and tribute. In the thirteenth year of Hongwu, a spy case occurred in the Three Buddhas Qi Nai, which caused a sensation in Southeast Asia. Taizu ordered strict investigation and strict prohibition, so that later, he explicitly ordered not to enter the sea. It is forbidden to sell anything from South Asia.”
Zhu Yunwen's expression became serious. The Srivijaya spy case and the trade and tribute issues need to be discussed from the beginning.
As early as the Qin and Han Dynasties, or even further back, the military and civilians along the coast had begun to have contact with the land adjacent to the sea. Of course, this kind of contact was very limited, the frequency was not many, and the distance traveled was not far, and it was often just as much as floating on the sea. Three or two days.
Until the Three Kingdoms period, in 230 AD, Sun Quan sent 10,000 officers and soldiers to "Yizhou", which is now Taiwan Province of China. During the period of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, in the name of "visiting foreign customs" and "comforting", he sent three groups of people to "Liuqiu" for public-expense travel, where they had good food, drink and fun, and then went back.
During the five to six hundred years of the Tang and Song Dynasties, the coastal generation, especially the residents of Quanzhou, Zhangzhou and other places in Fujian Province, had to run from land to sea in order to avoid the wars and military disasters that occurred from time to time. This run took them to Penghu, Liuzhou and other places. beg.
But if people run away and settle down in other places, it does not mean that they have commercial relations with China.
Before the commercial relationship, the soldiers and civilians of the Chinese dynasty in these places had to meet, have a meal, and get to know each other. After they became familiar with each other, they could hold hands, go shopping, and buy gifts.
After cultivating a relationship for hundreds of years, we finally established a "long-distance relationship" in the late Southern Song Dynasty. You are here and I am there. This month I will bring gifts and stay with you for a few days. Next month you will bring gifts. I'll spend a few days here.
Commerce and trade initially took shape during this period.
The Yuan Dynasty was relatively open-minded about trade issues and did not object to long-distance relationships, but it also did not allow you to flirt with women and have affairs everywhere. Therefore, three shipping offices were set up in Guangzhou, Guangdong, Quanzhou, Fujian, and Mingzhou, Zhejiang. Officials were stationed there to be responsible for boat traffic, trade and taxation.
Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, realized very early that overseas trade was profitable. After all, if he only needed a piece of land and arranged a few officials to collect commercial taxes, why not do it?
Before the Ming Dynasty was established, Lao Zhu was already working at the construction site in Huangdu Town, Taicang Prefecture, wearing King Wu's helmet.
The Municipal Shipping Department was built, and Lao Zhu wrote an inscription with a stroke of his pen:
The feelings between China and foreigners can be transferred to those who have and have nothing.
The customs department of the Municipal Shipping Department managed foreign trade at that time, which was divided into two sections, one was trade and the other was tribute.
Trade is ordinary trade, bringing things to see, talking to a matchmaker, finding a partner, and selling the goods.
For these people, the officials of the Municipal Shipping Department will go on the ship to have a look, investigate what goods you are selling and how much they are worth, and then collect taxes according to the proportion, and then you can use it to sell goods freely.
No one cares about what you eat or drink for lunch, whether you sleep on a bunk on the floor or on a boat at night.
Of course, if you want to import some goods after selling them, the same rules apply. Taxes will be charged based on the value of the goods, and you can go back after paying the money.
This method was called "reporting officials to draw points" at the time.
Tonggon is different, although it also has the nature of trade. But its target was not the tycoon or the rich peasant, but the imperial court.
Since it is a gift to the imperial court, it cannot be neglected.
City Shipping Department officials need to inspect the ships and cargo. If this group of people feel that it is not good to sleep on the ship, they need to be sent to stay in a post house. If they want to eat some local specialties, they need to buy them. If they want to go to the capital for a walk, If it’s a circle, then you have to make arrangements for others.
The goods brought by tribute are called offerings.
If this group of overseas envoys presented cardamom, hematoxylin, agarwood, rhinoceros horn, peacock tail, ivory, or directly brought over lions and elephants, then the court would need to estimate the value of these things and then "return" "Gift" goods.
Of course, all big countries like to save face. People have obviously donated a thousand taels of goods, but when they "give back" here, most people will give back one thousand five hundred taels, two thousand taels, sometimes even several times...
By the way, people have finally come to see the Ming Dynasty. They should be given some reward. Thirty taels for each person is not much, right?
If you eat, drink and have fun, it will be recorded in the government's ledger. Is that okay?
Even if what someone offers is not a rare thing, but a bunch of rice, conches, turtles, and a tortoise, you have to accept it with a smile, and then tell him: We will accept it this time, and next time, don’t ask for the tortoise. Brought...
No matter what people bring, as long as they come here, there will always be great benefits.
Lao Zhu enjoyed the scenery several times, but within a few years, he felt something was wrong.
Why do these foreign envoys have nothing to do and go to the Ming Dynasty every day? Yesterday there were ten people, and today you have five hundred people. You can't take advantage of me like this, right?
The result of Lao Zhu's depression was to limit the number of tributes paid by trade. The so-called "tributes are too frequent and the labor costs are too high, which I don't want to do. I ordered you to follow the classics and don't bother too often. I will translate the text to make other countries aware of it."
Of course, disputes are likely to arise when paying tribute through trade. The tortoise brought by someone is a thousand-year-old and is worth at least one thousand taels. Ming Dynasty offered two hundred taels. Is it appropriate?
We even had a fight because of the price.
For example, Annan was dissatisfied several times and harassed the southern border of the Ming Dynasty, and also bullied Champa, which was relatively good with the Ming Dynasty.
Another example is the Tumu Fortress Incident. The initial fight was triggered by the failure to agree on the price of the horse. The Tatars said the horse was worth three hundred taels, but the Ming Dynasty said it was only worth a hundred taels.
If they can't reach an agreement, they fight, and then the "God of War" Zhu Qizhen emerges. In one battle, the myth of all three battalions being wiped out was created.
Tribute means foreign envoys came to the Ming Dynasty to give gifts, and China bought them and then opened a market to sell the remaining goods.
What if the Ming Dynasty thinks that the peacocks in this country are good, but the envoys don’t visit for several years, and some of the peacocks in the family die?
Don't be afraid of this. Ming Dynasty was wise and created the "gift trade".
I just don’t wait for them to come to Ming Dynasty. Ming Dynasty will find an official, hold an imperial edict and carry gifts, go directly to their country, and then write clearly in the imperial edict that I, Ming Dynasty, need peacocks. I hope you will actively cooperate and catch a few for my officials. Bring back.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, there was no obvious maritime ban policy.
But as the days passed, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang and other places occasionally made small reports about people who went to sea and colluded with Japanese pirates, and many tragedies happened.
Some people also say that Fang Guozhen's remaining troops are living well on overseas islands. If they are left alone, they are likely to cooperate internally and externally to counterattack the Ming Dynasty.
So only three years later, Zhu Yuanzhang withdrew the project in Huangdu Town, Taicang Prefecture. The reason was that this place was too close to Nanjing. If a traitor sneaked in, wouldn't it be very dangerous for me, Old Zhu?
Without Huangdu Town, there are still Guangzhou, Quanzhou, and Mingzhou, and business can still be done.
But Lao Zhu is very greedy, really greedy. When he saw that private maritime trade was so profitable, and it was not safe for people to run out often, he thought, well, abolish private maritime trade and ban it. I will do business on my own. Just make money?
In one sentence:
I, Lao Zhu, want all the profits.
PS:
Taiwan Province of my country was called "Yizhou" during the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms; "Liuqiu" during the Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty; "Liuqiu" or "Liuqiu" during the Song Dynasty; and "Liuqiu" or "Luqiu" during the Yuan Dynasty. "; during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, it was called "Xiao Liuqiu" or "Ryukyu", which was not a typographical error in the article.
