Ban shipping!
Zhu Yunwen felt a little heavy in his heart. At present, the Grand Canal has not yet connected the north and south, and water transport interest groups have not yet been formed. Song Li is only the minister of the Ministry of Industry, not an official in the water transport system. There is no need to speak out for water transport. He made this idea not out of personal gain. Rather, it is a "rational" advice based on some "objective" facts.
The sea route is dangerous and long, causing harm to people and money. These eight words really describe all the shortcomings of maritime transportation.
Song Li waited for Zhu Yunwen's reply with a serious look on his face. Maritime transportation problems are not small. The biggest problems are ship damage, food damage, and human death.
For example, in the seventh year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang transported more than 4,700 tons of grain to the north by sea. As a result, he encountered a storm, and 717 officers and soldiers drowned. He also lost more than 40 horses and more than half of the grain. Another example is that in the 23rd year of Hongwu's reign, 600,000 shi of grain were transported by sea. After arriving in Tianjin, only 490,000 shi were left.
It is not that there were no shipping accidents in the Jianwen Dynasty, but they were relatively few, the losses were not large, and they did not attract much attention. If sea transportation is banned and river transportation is used, these problems can be well avoided.
Song Li glanced at the Huitong River in front of him. Although the river was more than twenty-three feet wide, there was not much danger of capsizing the ship. After all, it was an inland river and there were no large waves. Even if there was a strong wind passing by, the ship could be docked calmly.
To put it bluntly, even if the ship sinks in an accident, as long as a person has some water skills, he can still be rescued, or he can swim to the shore by himself and escape with the help of others, so that the tragic drowning of the entire ship will not occur.
Even if a million stones are transported by river, not much food will be lost even if there are some accidents. Compared with sea transportation, river transportation has low risks and high safety, which has great advantages.
If this is the case, why do we need to ship it by sea?
Song Li advocated a ban on sea transportation and transferred the money and grain saved to river transportation, that is, canal transportation.
Zhu Yunwen walked forward, his mind sinking into the long river of history.
The maritime transport of the Ming Dynasty only lasted for more than fifty years, starting in the Ming Taizu period and ending in the 13th year of Yongle. Over the past fifty years, shipping has made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty's desert conquests, supporting Liaodong, and ensuring the stability of Northern Zhili.
Zhu Di promoted maritime transportation and sent Zheng He to the Western Ocean several times, which can be said to have created history. However, it was also in the hands of Zhu Di that he completely banned maritime transportation, allowing water transportation to take the lead, and affected countless people.
Historical choices cannot only depend on the results, but also need to consider many factors and conditions of the year.
Zhu Di had good reasons for his choice at that time. For example, the Huiteng River was connected, the river transportation was prosperous, which was enough to meet the food needs of Peiping, the Liaodong military camp was effective, and it was basically self-sufficient. In addition, officials subjectively believed that the cost of sea transportation was higher than that of water transportation. , constantly submitted letters proposing to use water transportation instead of sea transportation to reduce shipwrecks and losses.
The question in Zhu Yunwen's hands was whether to follow the old path of Yongle in history, banning sea transportation and using canal transportation as the dominant one, or whether to use both sea and river transportation, regardless of priority. This is a realistic issue of great importance.
"What do you think?"
Zhu Yunwen stopped and looked at Yang Shiqi and Xia Yuanji.
Xia Yuanji pondered for a while and said: "Marine transportation is very stormy, and ships are often capsized and people are killed. Although the Japanese pirates are being eliminated now, there is no guarantee that the Japanese pirates will stop intruding. After weighing the left and right, I believe that maritime transportation should be given up to water transportation."
Zhu Yunwen did not comment. He looked up at the old woman carrying the burden in the distance and walked forward step by step: "Yang Shiqi, what do you think?"
Yang Shiqi raised his brows slightly, his thoughts changing quickly. Even though Song Li and Xia Yuanji both suggested that sea transport was inferior to water transport, Zhu Yunwen still asked for his opinion. Obviously, he did not support or agree with the idea of banning sea transport, but what Song Li and Xia Yuanji said was that sea transport was inferior to water transport. What I said are all facts. The risks of sea transportation indeed exceed those of water transportation. Once there is any loss, it will be disastrous.
"I believe that after the completion of the Grand Canal, water transportation should account for the majority. Even if sea transportation is not banned, the frequency should be reduced to once a year or twice a year."
Yang Shiqi came up with a compromise method.
Zhu Yunwen still didn't comment and remained silent all the way. When he came to the old woman, he looked at the covered baskets at both ends of the load and couldn't help but step forward and ask: "Old man, what did you pick?"
Seeing that there were many people like Zhu Yunwen and others, the old woman carefully lowered the burden and said, "Would you like to buy some vegetables and eggs? They are fresh and tight."
As she spoke, the old woman bent down and took off the cloth on the basket, revealing the eggs, radishes, and cabbage.
"Are these all vegetables you grew at home?"
Zhu Yunwen stepped forward, picked up a white radish and asked.
"Yes, I just dug some radishes today. Let's buy some."
The old woman doesn’t know much about marketing, she only knows how to persuade.
Xia Yuanji looked at the two baskets on the left and right and found that there were eggs in them, so he asked, "Why don't you put the eggs together?"
The old woman rubbed her waist and replied with a smile: "Look at what this person said, ordinary people don't know that eggs cannot be put in one basket. If you lose your hand, you can at least save half of the basket of eggs, right?"
Zhu Yunwen's eyes lit up, he stood up and said seriously: "Look, even the people in the countryside know the truth, but you don't know it."
Song Li and Xia Yuanji were ashamed.
Zhu Yunwen's meaning is very obvious. Food transport is like eggs, river transport is a basket, and sea transport is also a basket. To carry the eggs, you need to separate river transport and sea transport, rather than just choose one basket.
"Buy them all."
Zhu Yunwen ordered Liu Changge.
The old woman helped him, so it was only natural to help her. The old woman was grateful with joy. Seeing Liu Changge's grandeur, she gave the basket to Liu Changge and left with the pole on her shoulders.
Zhu Yunwen glanced at Song Li and Xia Yuanji, and said with a serious face: "There are many risks and problems in shipping, but you must also see it clearly. Zheng He traveled to Nanyang, to the West, and returned across thousands of miles of sea! Ming Dynasty has the ability If you conquer the sea, won’t you be able to go to the sea to transport food?”
"There are many disturbances and high risks in maritime transportation. These are facts, but have you ever thought about it? Water transportation also has many problems. If the imperial court relies entirely on water transportation and bans sea transportation, the Yellow River will overflow and break its banks or change its course, and the Grand Canal will not be able to flow smoothly for a while. How to ensure that Food security in the north? How much can it be remedied by temporarily activating sea transportation?"
"River transport is important, and sea transport must not be neglected. I know you think that sea transport is expensive, wastes people and money, but how much does sea transport cost, how much does river transport cost, and which one is more, you still need to use mathematical calculations to get the result. You know In the early Yuan Dynasty, everything depended on shipping. With so many ships traveling between the north and the south, how much was lost? Banning shipping due to several accidents, what is the difference between this and not eating due to choking?"
Song Li lowered his head and said: "The emperor has far-reaching concerns, but I did not think carefully."
After hearing this, Xia Yuanji also changed his opinion and seconded: "Considering the long term, it is best to transport both rivers and seas."
Zhu Yunwen put his hands behind his back, looked up at the sky, and said in a deep voice: "The shipping must be caught, not let go. The Ming Dynasty is not accustomed to sea power, so let me start! You must remember that the Ming Dynasty's territory is not just land, but also the sea! Ours If we don’t use the sea, others will come and use it! When we lose the sea, the enemy will be at our doorstep.”
Xia Yuanji, Yang Shiqi and others were a little confused. They didn't know who the enemy Zhu Yunwen was talking about, but they could clearly hear from his words that the sea belonged to the Ming Dynasty, and the sea at home could not be given to others!
Then use it. Maritime transportation has lasted for more than thirty years. Although there have been a few accidents, it has indeed played a huge role and saved a lot of people's labor.
Zhu Yunwen knew history very well, and the debate on reopening maritime transport had not stopped in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, even a man as powerful as Zhang Juzheng was unable to fight against the water transport interest group and had to choose to submit.
The darkness and oppression of water transportation are far beyond Song Li and others' imagination, and there are even more fees and charges, such as gate and Huaihe River fees, expediting fees, stripping fees, stationing officials fees, storage fees, etc. This amount of money is not regulated by the court, and naturally it will not enter the court's pocket.
Such huge interests are naturally distributed layer by layer according to the level of official positions, so much so that there is a scene where the corps commander "brings bright clothes, angry horses, restaurants and singing halls, spends millions of dollars and turns it into ashes", and those who are squeezed will never It's the common people!
This major problem can be solved by using the navy instead of civilian forces. If anyone dares to collect money from the navy, it’s better to explain it clearly. If you don’t explain it clearly, these soldiers are not incompetent in fighting. It’s normal to beat up a few people. Plus The Navy is affiliated with the Fifth Military Governor's Office and is not under the control of civilian officials. If there is a problem, it can be directly impeached without being suppressed by civilian officials, and even the voice cannot be heard.
Of course, the navy is the main force, and civilian ship transportation also needs strong support. Where to set up granaries, how to manage civilian ship transportation, and how to collect corresponding fees, these details need to be carefully clarified.
"The Grand Canal is a matter of national importance and cannot be taken lightly. The Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Household Affairs coordinate with the local chief envoys to discuss management methods. In addition, major personnel such as the Heroes Chamber of Commerce and the Shanxi Chamber of Commerce are notified to let them make suggestions on the management of the Grand Canal and determine When enacting a decree, it must be carefully considered.”
Zhu Yunwen instructed.
Song Li, Xia Yuanji and others were a little surprised. This was the first time in the Ming Dynasty that merchants were allowed to participate in the formulation of laws.
"Your Majesty, how about the merchant..."
Song Li quickly persuaded.
Zhu Yunwen waved his hand and interrupted Song Li: "Except for the court ships, most of the ships in the Grand Canal are merchant ships. Is it appropriate to not ask them for advice and expect the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Industry to think of a solution?"
"But if businessmen consider their own interests, they will definitely interfere with the court's laws..."
Song Li frowned.
Zhu Yunwen looked at Song Li seriously and said, "How businessmen put forward suggestions is their business. Whether or not to use their suggestions is the court's business. I just hope you have a reference to understand where the businessmen's concerns are. It can also better restrain and manage businessmen to ensure that the Grand Canal is a river for the people and the country, instead of being full of personal enrichment and collusion between officials and businessmen!"
Xia Yuanji and Yang Shiqi looked at each other. They both knew that no matter how legitimate Zhu Yunwen's reasons were, the businessman's status had indeed been improved.
