prosperous age

Grain by sea?

Wei Guangde took a step back and proposed that only grain should be transported by sea, and all civilian ships should be transported by water. From Zhang Juzheng's point of view, it seems that there is some feasibility.

At the very least, when it is clear that civilian ships must be transported by water, local forces will naturally no longer oppose the reform of water to sea because it will not be greatly affected.

The prosperity of the towns on both sides of the Grand Canal is of course due to this north-south artery.

However, the carrying capacity of the Grand Canal is still limited, which does not mean that unlimited ships can pass through it.

According to the system, all the ship locks on the canal are given priority to the ships transporting grain, and only after that are the passenger ships and merchant ships.

In addition, due to the dry season and flood season, ships are often blocked in the river and cannot move.

During this period, the Grand Canal was actually in a state of de facto suspension.

How much food does the Grand Canal transport to the capital every year?
400 million stone.

主要由六省上缴这400万石粮食，通过大运河送入京城，其中南直隶每年交180万石、浙江承担63万石、江西则是57万石、河南和山东各38万石，湖广25万石。

The large tank ships of this era could hold nearly 500 shi of grain, but due to the shallow water in the canal, they usually carried about 400 shi of grain, and tens of thousands of ships were needed to transport the [-] million shi of grain.

Of course, some of these unspoken rules, such as the Cao Army privately modified the tank boats in order to increase income, increased the cargo capacity by lengthening the boats and other methods, that is, the Cao Army carried the goods of the North and South merchants to make profits, but it would not increase because of this. grain transported north.

And how many ships are there in total on the Grand Canal?
According to the number of customs-collecting ships that Wei Guangde saw from Chaoguan, it is estimated that there are about [-] civilian ships on the Grand Canal.

These [-] to [-] ships are the limit of the capacity of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and are also the main reason for restricting the traffic between the north and the south.

Not to mention that you can still go by land, the cost will be doubled at least. For the merchants, it is undoubtedly as difficult as killing them.

Of course, the imperial court only paid attention to the tariffs on the grain and banknotes brought in from the Grand Canal. As for the others, it seemed that they could not give up.

According to what Wei Guangde said, if water grain is changed to sea transportation, naturally so many water boats will not be used, and even these water boats cannot be used for sea transportation, and even offshore navigation seems inappropriate.

The more than [-] Cao Jun directly took away the best players to participate in the sea transportation, and the rest either supplemented the surrounding guards, or directly transferred the ship owners, and those useless water ships were sold directly to merchants. You don’t have to worry about it, you can directly collect it from merchant ships, and the people on both sides of the canal can still do their familiar jobs.

Sure enough, Wei Guangde's next words were consistent with Zhang Juzheng's thoughts.

"The imperial court only changed the transportation of grain, sold the boats to raise money for new sea-going ships, and collected tolls for the dredging of the canal."

Wei Guangde, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

And the most important thing is that if grain grain is changed to sea, the grain transported to the capital will probably increase a lot, and it is possible to increase it to 450 million to 500 million shi.

As for possible losses during shipping, in fact, there are many shipwrecks on the canal due to various reasons every year, so a lot of grain will be lost, so there will not be much more.

After Wei Guangde finished his thoughts, Yu Wang did not express his support immediately, but looked at Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng to see their reactions.

While Yin Shizhen was still bowing his head in thought, Zhang Juzheng was already applauding.

"The idea of ​​a good loan is good. It is indeed feasible to transport grain by sea, but the imperial court has gradually reduced or even stopped its investment in the canal. This may not work."

Zhang Juzheng said with a smile: "The civilian ships definitely cannot afford the expenditure in the short term. Even if all the grain is transported by sea, the imperial court still has to bear a considerable part of the expenses."

Zhang Juzheng knew very well that the maintenance cost of the canal was extremely high, and it was definitely not affordable by more than ten thousand civilian ships.

Of course, the number of false reports is huge, and the expenditure has been borne by the courts in previous dynasties, which is why the Water Transport Yamen is so strong.

Too rich, so they have huge financial resources, increasing their voice in the court.

"However, it is true. Compared with the two, although the imperial court still has to invest a lot of money in the canal, it will definitely be much better than it is now."

Zhang Juzheng finally publicly supported Wei Guangde.

"If now, write what Shan Loan said just now into the memorial, will the father get approval?"

Although Yin Shixuan's opinion was not obtained, Wei Guangde suggested that Zhang Juzheng supported it, so at least in the palace, the support would be very strong.

King Yu didn't think Zhang Juzheng was stupid, on the contrary, he was very smart, otherwise Xu Jieduan would not have chosen him as his successor.

Yin Shizhen's attitude is actually not important anymore.

However, he still threw the question out, hoping to get an answer from them.

However, after he finished speaking, he saw that Wei Guangde's face showed embarrassment, and Zhang Juzheng also frowned and remained silent.

"What? Won't the father support it?"

Yu Wang asked in surprise.

Not long ago, he also dispelled the idea of ​​water transportation changing to the sea. After all, in Wei Guangde's words, water transportation is related to the livelihood of countless people, and even the safety of the country.

But soon, Wei Guangde put forward another set of arguments, which was also supported by Zhang Juzheng.

Regardless of whether the court will provide money to the canal at that time, this is a move that is beneficial to the court.

King Yu felt that his father had no reason not to support him.

"Your Majesty is a pioneering monarch, at least before he became obsessed with cultivation."

Wei Guangde said in a low voice.

In the early days of Emperor Jiajing's accession to the throne, in order to stabilize his rule, he corrected the bad governance formed by the Hongzhi and Zhengde dynasties, such as suppressing eunuchs and rectifying the administration of officials.

At the same time, in order to alleviate domestic social and class contradictions, a series of pilot reforms were carried out in the tax and service system, such as reforms in the inventory of newly added fields and the compilation and examination of corvee, which became an important reference for the reform of the tax and service system in later generations.

The system of hereditary titles for foreign relatives was changed and made permanent.

The implementation of these policies promoted the economic development of Ming Dynasty, reduced the burden on the country, and restored the country's strength again. It was called Jiajing New Deal in later generations.

But soon, after the imperial power was stabilized, Emperor Jiajing switched careers and dreamed of becoming an immortal, delusional to live forever, and many reform attempts of a pilot nature in the Jiajing New Deal came to nothing.

Although many policies were later picked up by Zhang Juzheng again, and gradually evolved into the so-called "one whip method" that is more well-known in later generations.

Everyone in the room heard Wei Guangde's words clearly, and even Yin Shizhen, who had been thinking about the problem with his head down, looked up at Wei Guangde.

Officials talked a lot about Emperor Jiajing's cultivation in private, but they dared not say it on official occasions. It could be written in the impeachment memorial, but what greeted him was the imperial staff and relegation.

Wei Guangde said this, but he said it in front of King Yu.

Emperor Jiajing's superstitious belief in prayers and sacrifices, large-scale construction projects, and the increasing military expenses due to the southern and northern captives directly led to the decline of various domestic industries, and the financial economy was on the verge of collapse.

When King Yu heard Wei Guangde's words, there was no other expression on his face, he just smiled wryly and said: "Okay, Gu also knows that in your hearts, what Emperor Father did...
The sage said that everyone in the world is a parent, and it goes without saying that the father is involved. "

Immediately, King Yu looked at Wei Guangde and said, "I probably understand what you mean. I will remember what I said today, and I will think about it when I come down."

Wei Guangde immediately bowed and said, "Yes."

Even so, Wei Guangde couldn't help thinking in his heart that King Yu didn't dare to say the next sentence "the father is unkind, but the son must not be unfilial".

There is a lot to talk about today's affairs, and it is about the Xinghua Mansion, and then it involves the current crimes of the Ida Department, and then the sea and water transportation.

In terms of military affairs, Wei Guangde obviously didn't care.

But think about it, King Yu can also understand that with Yang Bo in the court, they don't need to worry about the affairs of the Ministry of War at all.

Yang Bo, that is someone who even Yan Shifan, who has always been conceited, dare not despise.

Yan Shifan is cunning and quick-witted, well versed in current affairs, and familiar with national codes. He is undoubtedly No. 1 in the dynasty, but it is a pity that his talent has been used in crooked ways.

At this moment, in King Yu's heart, in the future, besides opening the sea ban and choosing a city ship, the second thing he needs to do after taking office is to change water transportation to the sea.

Now that the imperial court is in a difficult financial situation, it would be good if it can save a fortune.

"Shandai, Xinghua Mansion, don't you need to worry too much?"

Finally, when King Yu was about to go back to rest, he asked Wei Guangde again before leaving the house.

"Your Highness, there are three generals Liu Xian, Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang in the Xinghua Mansion, so don't worry about it."

Perhaps because of the fact that Yu Dayou was in charge, Wei Guangde said confidently: "Besides, there is no wind direction for the Japanese pirates to escape. Even if the Japanese pirates escape on board, they will not be able to go out to sea, which is why they retreated to Pinghai Weicheng.

That is to say, it will take time for the Jiangxi Army and the Zhejiang Army to arrive, otherwise they would have wiped out them in one go.

In the final analysis, it is still time to win the downstream shock and see how he makes a good Fujian. "

"Ah That's good."

King Yu nodded, then smiled, and led Li Fang out of the room.

After King Yu left, Yin Shixuan said: "Shandai, water transportation is too involved, if you are not careful, you will get burned."

Although Yin Shizhen was from Jinan, Shandong, he didn't use the canal very much, but he had been in the court for many years, and he knew that the water transport yamen had a very important say in the court.

The reason for this is also because there is too much oil and water in the water transport, which is enough to buy countless officials from the DPRK and China to help them.

"Those words I said are all from the bottom of my heart. The imperial court is too deep in the water transportation."

Wei Guangde said: "You two, don't just look at the livelihood of the tens of thousands of people on the canal. You should know that millions of people are suffering because of their livelihood."

Zhang Juzheng nodded, "I've also heard that the government along the canal, in the name of controlling floods, dredging, and digging auxiliary rivers, set up clever schemes to engage in private and fraudulent activities, and took the opportunity to search for the people's aspirations, making the people's lives miserable."

"Brother Zhengfu, Brother Uncle, that's all for today, and it won't be too late to talk about everything after His Highness succeeds to the throne in the future."

Wei Guangde said to Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng, cupping his hands.

Both of them nodded, knowing that the matter was of great importance, if it got out, there would be countless impeachment memorials flying into Xiyuan tomorrow, and the target must be Wei Guangde.

In the past few dynasties, officials who proposed to replace water transport by sea did not seem to end well, and the reason is self-evident.

It's not that they don't know the benefits of sea transportation, but that the benefits of water transportation far exceed those of sea transportation.

In the face of huge benefits, no one would not bow down, as for the others, they can all be discarded.

However, Wei Guangde had already considered these in his thinking a few days ago, but he didn't think there was a big problem in it.

Convenient transportation is naturally a great thing for businessmen, and it also conforms to the statement of those officials that they will not compete with the people for profit.

However, actually implementing it is another matter.

In the final analysis, it was caused by the low political status of the merchants in the Ming Dynasty.

The saying that agriculture is the "base" and business is the "end" originated from pre-Qin thinkers such as Guan Zhong, Shang Yang, and Han Fei.

Guan Zhong took the lead in dividing people's occupations into four categories: "scholar, farmer, worker, and businessman". He believed that "the fields will be barren and the country will be poor." Shang Yang advocated persuading farmers to restrain business, thinking that "the ones who can do things at the root should be forbidden to be rich"; Strike to clear the column.

Since then, the idea of ​​"emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business" has become an important content of the official economic policies of Chinese dynasties.

As a self-taught emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang naturally regarded the words of the ancient sages as the golden rule, so when formulating the national policy of the Ming Dynasty, he favored agriculture and suppressed business, with more restrictions on businessmen.

As for the extremely light business tax, it is actually because the war has just ended and the Ming Dynasty needs to be rebuilt.

And he strictly prohibited officials from exploiting businessmen, probably more because of his hatred of corrupt officials.

Whether sea transportation can replace water transportation should actually be a gradual development process, at least Wei Guangde thinks so.

Of course, he would not directly collide with the water transport interest group, that would only crush him to pieces.

It is still only possible to use the method of dripping water to wear through rocks, and break the solid defense of the Water Transport Group bit by bit.

For this reason, we must first clarify whether the enemy is an official businessman or a commercial official, and who is playing the main role in this.

There are many sayings in later generations that capitalism sprouted in the Ming Dynasty, and some even said that it appeared in the Song Dynasty.

However, Wei Guangde, who came here, wanted to say that the Ming Dynasty had a fart of capitalism.

At this stage, the businessmen he saw were completely flattering him, a petty official. Many businessmen took whatever they asked for and dared not disobey.

In this state, it is capitalism as fart.

However, for the development of the country, Wei Guangde still does not intend to be a purely corrupt official, he wants to support businessmen.

Of course, from it, he naturally has some benefits.

He no longer wants to simply be a protective umbrella and amulet for these businessmen, but wants to directly participate in it and become a bureaucratic capital.

Reliance is naturally the relationship between himself and King Yu, and his future official position in the court.