Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 46, Jiangnan gentry

The three elders of the court gathered together to discuss what happened in Wangyue Tower today, and discussed that tomorrow Emperor Hongzhi would take out his own money to organize people to go to Huangjinzhou to find the three high-yield food crops that Liu Jinkou said.

In the mansion of a wealthy family in the capital, a group of people from Jiangnan also gathered together. Behind each of these people was a huge Jiangnan clan.

In the great clans in the south of the Yangtze River, there are children of the upper family who speak for themselves at the top of the court, and there are intertwined roots at the bottom. The relationship like the roots of an old tree firmly controls one side, like cancerous tumors sucking on the body of this dynasty, constantly devouring The luck of the Ming Dynasty completely ruined the Ming Dynasty until more than 100 years later.

These Jiangnan big clans who claim to be scholarly heirs are the most greedy existences. They will try their best to intervene in any interests, from salt, iron, grain, cloth, tea, etc., to almost all the most profitable businesses of this era. Almost all of them are monopolized by these big Jiangnan families.

Similarly, they are also the most stingy existence, stinginess does not refer to their stinginess like Grandet, but refers to their contribution to the entire Ming Dynasty.

As long as it involves commercial tax, salt tax, land tax, etc., they will unreservedly oppose it. If anyone in the history of the Ming Dynasty dared to involve the issue of commercial tax, they would eventually be punished by these Jiangnan clans. Even some people suspect that the bizarre deaths of several emperors in the history of the Ming Dynasty are inextricably linked to these great Jiangnan clans.

Emperor Wanli reused the mine supervisor, and the interests of the merchant and landlord groups were damaged. Therefore, Wanli became the most disgraceful emperor in the history of the Ming Dynasty. Those literati wished to use the worst words in the world to describe Emperor Wanli.

Zhu Youxiao reused Wei Zhongxian. When Wei was in power, he dealt a heavy blow to the civil servants and landlords. The situation in the country improved, and the situation in Liaodong also began to improve. Zhu Youxiao was still in power for one day, and the Donglin Party had no time to stand up.

However, Zhu Youxiao, who was just in his early twenties, also fell into the water inexplicably, and because of this, he contracted a serious illness and died a few months later.

This is very similar to the death of Emperor Hongzhi's son Ming Wuzong Zhengde Emperor Zhu Houzhao. He fell into the water inexplicably when he was in his prime, and then died a few months later.

Although it is difficult for future generations to know the truth of history, after all, history is a clown who can be dressed up by others, but the two emperors of the Ming Dynasty fell into the water inexplicably in their prime of life, and died within a few months in the end, which makes people have to doubt this. Things are not as simple as they appear.

Coincidentally, Ming Wuzong and Ming Xizong both tried to make some changes, and the changes involved the interests of civil servants and landlords and the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River.

The power of the Jiangnan gentry is intertwined and spread all over the entire Ming Empire. It is impossible for them to know what happened in the Moon Tower today. Now that they are gathered together, their eyes are red, like a pack of hungry wolves.

"I didn't expect that the silk and porcelain would be equivalent to gold after being transported to Europe. If a shipment of silk can be shipped to Europe, wouldn't it be possible to exchange for a shipment of gold?"

Everyone gathered around a simple globe. If Liu Jin was there, they would definitely be able to find that this globe was exactly the same as the one Liu Jin drew in Wangyue Tower today.

And the crude globe made by Liu Jin is now in the hands of Emperor Hongzhi. If it is drawn solely based on the memories of the people at the Moon Tower, it is impossible to draw it exactly the same.

We don’t know how this globe was made, but it can be seen from here that the emperor’s palace is almost as transparent to them. As long as they want to do anything, they can hardly do it. arrived.

Someone pointed to Europe, wishing to load several large ships of silk and porcelain to Europe and exchange for a ship of gold. Silk is very common in the Jiangnan area. Unexpectedly, in Europe, it can be compared with Gold equivalent.

"How reliable Liu Jin's words are, I don't know yet, but there is no problem with the description of the Luzon area. The land in Annan, Siam, Luzon, and Nanyang is indeed very large. It is fertile, and rice can be harvested three times a year."

Many of the big families in the south of the Yangtze River will go to sea, especially the gentry from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Most of these people go to the three routes of Nanyang, Japan, and North Korea. It is very clear that the profits of sea trade are very high.

Therefore, on the one hand, the court strongly supports the policy of banning the sea, because the banning of the sea will reduce the number of people who can go to sea to do business. With fewer people going to sea, the competition will naturally be smaller, and they will be able to earn money. more.

As for the situation in the Nanyang region, these people from the Jiangnan clan know very well. Some even have been to Nanyang in person and have seen the richness of the Nanyang region.

"If Liu Jin's words are true, our ship can go northeast along the Wa Kingdom to arrive at the Golden Continent. It is said that the Golden Continent is full of gold. The barbarians here use gold to build cities, and it seems that the barbarians here Very easy to deal with, if we can carve out a voyage to the Golden Isle."

Someone stared at the Golden Continent with red eyes. According to Liu Jin's words, this place is simply a paradise for adventurers. There is gold everywhere, and the city is built with gold. Just thinking about it makes people want to go to the Golden Continent to loot it now. Fan.

"This Golden Continent not only has gold, but also vast and fertile land. This Liu Jin said that the central and eastern regions of the Golden Continent are all endless fertile land. You can wait for the harvest after you sprinkle a handful of seeds. It's a waste of money for barbarians to occupy it."

"Also in the Luzon and Nanyang regions, rice is harvested three times a year, sow the seeds and wait for the harvest. The land in Africa is also very fertile and vast, and there are a lot of gold, silver, gems, and ivory."

There are land-loving people who are staring at the fertile fields everywhere on the earth. For these landlords and gentry, there is nothing they like more than land, and they even wish to attribute all the land in the world to their own names.

"Tomorrow, the court will definitely discuss this matter. I think we all can support the court to send people to explore the way in the Golden Island, Nanyang and other areas first. If it’s true, then we can come back and have a good discussion.”

"That's a good suggestion. I'll go back and explain to my brother. I'll write the test book overnight. The big thing tomorrow is to discuss this matter."

"Well, it is indeed a good suggestion. Let the court send people to explore the way first, and we will wait patiently."

Everyone, you and I have already agreed that tomorrow we will jointly push the imperial court to send fleets to the Golden Continent and Nanyang to explore the way. For these people, they can let the imperial court do it for them for free without costing themselves a penny. Things, this is naturally the best.

Every abacus is tinkling, the benefits are absolutely indispensable, one's own interests must not be moved, and contributions are absolutely impossible.

　Regarding the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, my personal point of view is that any matter should be viewed from two sides. The gentry in the south of the Yangtze River is just like capital. If it is used well, it can also promote the progress of history and push this Ming Dynasty to start a vigorous expansion~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)