prosperous age

Zhu Heng received a letter from Bengshan Castle, and there was only half a month left before the New Year.

In fact, Zhu Heng and Liang Menglong didn't have much contact before.

The correspondence this time was mostly due to the Jiaolai Canal being discussed by the court.

Excavation of the Jiao-Lai Canal is not a trivial matter. It requires Shandong local authorities to raise a large amount of manpower and material support. Although the capital will provide some funding, the local government will also bear a lot, so it is certainly a big deal for Shandong officials.

If the imperial court really digs the canal and completes it, it will be a major political achievement for Shandong officials, and it can become a step for promotion.

However, once it is actually excavated, the investment in the excavation process continues to increase and the project is ultimately unfinished due to lack of money, or after completion, the water volume cannot meet the shipping requirements and cannot be used, which will undoubtedly ruin the future of these officials.

Therefore, it is understandable that Liang Menglong is extremely concerned about this matter. He accompanied Hu Guiao, the director of the Ministry of Engineering, for almost the entire inspection, so he knew the results of the inspection very clearly.

In the end, both he and Hu used to hold the same attitude, that is, the cost of digging new river channels is high and difficult to predict, and the most important thing is that the water volume may not meet the needs of navigation.

However, during the investigation, Liang Menglong did not just care about his own affairs.

In recent years, the Yellow River has overflowed and caused floods that have also had an impact on Shandong. At least the Shandong section of the canal has been suspended due to this.

Northern officials don't know the importance of water transportation.

The food for the capital and the frontier army depends on the boats traveling up and down this canal.

However, after following Hu Zong and seeing the planned Jiaolai Canal, it seemed that it was not feasible. No wonder the Yuan Dynasty proposed it at that time, but it was abandoned in the end.

But with the shape of the Yellow River, water transportation could not be delayed, so Liang Menglong put it together and discovered that since the court was digging a new river channel this time, it was intended to allow water ships to go out to sea from Huai'an and sail all the way to Shandong to enter the canal.

Now that the canal cannot be repaired, can't the canals bypass Laizhou and deliver grain directly to Tianjin?

Although the detour will take a lot of time and the cost will increase, it is better than being blocked on the canal. At least the grain can be transported to the capital.

For this reason, he sent someone to inquire about the news and learned that at this time, there were actually merchant ships running the route from Tianjin to Haicang, and there were also merchants from Huai'an sailing to Jiaozhou, and there were also merchant ships from Jiaozhou to Haicang.

What does this mean?

This shows that the entire route from Huai'an to Tianjin has actually been established among the people for a long time, and merchants have already transported goods through this route.

The Haicang here is not Haicang in Fujian, but the Haicang Inspection Department in the west of Laizhou.

During the mid-Jiajing period, there were salt fields on the northeastern coast of Shandong, that is, along the coast near Dengzhou and Laizhou.

For this reason, in the middle period of Jiajing period, Wangxuzhai was set up nearby to guard thousands of households, and inspection departments were built in Haicang in the west and Chaihuzhai in the north.

The merchant ships from Tianjin to Haicang are naturally salt merchant ships mainly selling salt, and the same goes from Jiaozhou to Haicang.

Jiaozhou is located in the southeast of Shandong. Due to geographical reasons, it is inconvenient to build salt fields. As the territory of Shandong Salt Administration, naturally it cannot buy salt from other places, but only local salt produced in Shandong, so this route was explored.

In fact, these are just sea routes that people spontaneously seek. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, in order to support the Ming army in Liaodong, 700,000 shi of grain were transported to Liaodong every year. They were transported to Taicang through the Yangtze River waterway, where they were loaded onto sea ships and shipped directly to Liaodong. peninsula.

For this reason, a shipping department was established in Taicang in the early Ming Dynasty.

Taicang is actually to the west of Shanghai in later generations, and the two places are close to each other.

Considering the times, it was actually the safest and most secure location for Ming Dynasty to set up a port here, rather than moving it to Shanghai.

It should be noted that Liujiagang in Taicang was actually the starting point for Zheng He's fleet to sail to the West, not Nanjing.

Of course, Nanjing Bao Shipyard was the largest shipyard in the world at that time. All treasure ships in Zheng He's fleet were built in Nanjing Bao Shipyard. Therefore, some people in later generations believed that Nanjing was the starting point of Zheng He's fleet, which makes sense.

But in fact, every time Zheng He went to sea, he boarded the ship at Liujiagang in Taicang, where supplies and personnel rested.

Later, considering the safety of Nanjing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, in the heart of the country, the establishment was abandoned and the three cities of Ningbo, Quanzhou and Guangzhou were reestablished. Ningbo connected to Japan, Quanzhou connected to Ryukyu, and Guangzhou connected to Champa City and Western countries.

Therefore, in Wei Guangde's letter to Zhu Heng, although he actually supported Liang Menglong's proposed route from Huai'an to Tianjin, Wei Guangde directly intercepted part of the memorial he originally wrote to Emperor Longqing and used it, that is, to restore Taicang in the early Ming Dynasty. This was used as the starting point for grain and sea transportation.

You must know that in this area, from Taicang and Liuhe in the west, to Shanghai in the east, and to Ningbo, Dinghai, Wenzhou, and Taizhou in the south, sea-going ships can be berthed for overseas trade.

During the Yongle period, Xia Yuanji controlled water in the south of the Yangtze River and dredged the ports such as Anting on the north and south sides of the Wusong River to divert water from Taihu Lake into Liujia and Baimao ports and directly into the sea.

Songjiang and Dahuangpu are connected to the Wusong main road, which merges the Wusong and Huangpu rivers. The downstream port is wide and smooth, which is more conducive to maritime transportation.

As for Wei Guangde's letter about the great maritime situation in the early Ming Dynasty, Tan Lun was hesitant at first, but after thinking about Wei Guangde's previous words, he acquiesced.

Zhu Heng noticed the wording in Wei Guangde's letter and was vaguely aware of Wei Guangde's intention. However, the imperial court's sea ban policy has not been relaxed. Although Yuegang is allowed to open the sea, other local officials and businessmen have requested the imperial court to follow Yuegang's example. , but encountered huge resistance in the DPRK.

Even Emperor Longqing, who received tens of thousands of taels of silver every year, showed little interest in continuing to open and develop the port at this time.

The reason is that the development of Yuegang is extremely limited, and there are strict restrictions on ship routes and numbers. Therefore, Emperor Longqing cannot see much money coming in. In addition, the Japanese pirates have been almost surrounded and suppressed, so naturally he no longer has the original interest. .

Of course Wei Guangde is aware of these problems, but he is often unable to change them.

Think about it, at the beginning of the first year of Longqing, Emperor Longqing issued the decree to open the sea, but Fujian and the Ministry of Household Affairs of the imperial court continued to argue over the details of opening the sea.

If it weren't for Tu Zemin's compromise, I don't know whether the negotiations between the two places would have continued until the Wanli Year.

In other words, after Wei Guangde realized the opposition forces in the DPRK, opening a gap became the most important step.

As for the gradual expansion in the future, we still have to wait for opportunities.

Even if huge concessions were made, the final implementation of the policy had to wait until the end of Long Qingyuan.

If it weren't for the maritime merchants who couldn't wait to prepare enough goods, it would have been impossible for ships to go out to sea for trade.

Although he was worried about Wei Guangde's meaning, Zhu Heng still understood the meaning of the letter between Wei Guangde and Tan Lun, which was to support the matter, but he hoped that Shandong Liang Menglong would take the initiative to report and undertake the trial mission.

Yes, even if the court agrees, how to implement it is also a troublesome matter.

There is actually a big difference in whether it is handled by Huaian, Nanzhili, or by other yamen.

For example, if you let the Caoyun Yamen take charge of this matter, I'm afraid it might drag you on for ten or twenty years.

And since this matter was proposed by Liang Menglong, he naturally had the initiative and would actively coordinate the matter.

In any case, sailing on the sea is risky, and no other yamen will take the initiative to take up this job.

If it is done, it will offend the water transport interest groups.

If you don't do it well, you will be reprimanded by the court. It is not a good deal no matter how you calculate it.

Immediately, Zhu Heng wrote to Liang Menglong, expressing his intention, supporting Liang Menglong's memorial, trying to transport grain by sea, and sent people to rush to Shandong.

Finally, at the end of the fifth year of Longqing's reign, before the government sealed the yamen, Liang Menglong's memorial arrived.

Liang Menglong, the censor of the governor of Shandong, Wang Zongmu, the political envoy to the left of Shandong, and others jointly submitted the "Sea Transport Discussion", which suddenly shocked the court officials who were gradually lazily waiting for the New Year. No one expected that there would be a meeting near the end of the year. There is such a big drama. “Uncle, what do you think?”

In the cabinet, only Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng were left. After receiving Liang Menglong's memorial, Gao Gong was quite moved.

He had no choice but to take action. As the chief minister of the cabinet, he had spent too much energy on water transportation, and the imperial government's finances were also exhausted by ineffective water control. If he did not think of a way to solve the problem of water transportation to the north, the capital I'm afraid there will be chaos.

"Menglong's words are reasonable. Since merchant boats can travel in Huai'an, Laizhou, Tianjin and other places, naturally cano boats can also do it.

As he said in his memorial, the river transport is the main transport and the sea is the backup transport. This can just avoid the Yellow River floods, and the grain can no longer be intercepted at the Huai'an line and cannot go north. "

Zhang Juzheng had already read this memorial and was very moved by the method proposed by Liang Menglong.

No matter what your position is, when you enter the cabinet, you will be more concerned about the stability of the country and peace in the world. Ensuring the safe transportation of grain to the north is a very important link.

"Then let him try?"

Gao Gong looked at Zhang Juzheng and asked.

"I think it's feasible. According to his wishes, he can ask someone to allocate food for a trial voyage to see how it works."

Zhang Juzheng met Gao Gong's gaze and said.

"Sea transport."

Gao Gong did not nod in agreement as Zhang Juzheng suspected, but muttered these two words, as if lost in memories.

In fact, Zhang Juzheng had already approved the memorial when he saw it, and he judged that Gao Gong would not object, probably because when the sea was originally discussed, Gao Gong only hesitated but did not object.

Moreover, in Zhang Juzheng's memory, there had actually been discussions about opening up sea transportation in Yuzhu very early, and the opening up school was the absolute mainstream. This was also the reason why Emperor Longqing agreed to try to open a port in the first year of Longqing.

"When I was still in Yuzhuan and I had just joined the Ministry of Rites, Jia Shangshu strongly supported maritime transportation. It was also because of him that the maritime transportation to Jiliao was started."

Gao Gong spoke slowly.

"Oh."

Zhang Juzheng followed him habitually and stopped talking, waiting for Gao Gong to continue.

"I remember that Shandai also strongly supported this matter at that time. He was the first to propose the opening of Yuegang."

Gao Gong continued.

"It seems that Shandai is very fond of shipping. I have long heard that he has a good relationship with Liaodong merchants. Their ginseng, deer antlers and furs are sent to the capital. They choose the best ones and send them to his house. The goods are also Only companies that have a good relationship with him can receive it.”

Zhang Juzheng heard Gao Gong mention Wei Guangde and immediately gave him eye drops.

Anyway, Wei Guangde is not here now, and what he said was not made up, it was all true.

"He has always been pro-maritime."

Gao Gong finally nodded at this time, "In fact, he thinks that the policy of banning the sea should be completely abolished, starting with Moon Harbor and gradually opening it up."

Zhang Juzheng had not known what Gao Gong said before.

Although the two have discussed shipping, they mostly consider shipping as an alternative.

What Gao Gong is saying now is actually the content of the memorial written by Wei Guangde that he saw in Emperor Longqing.

Wei Guangde's guess was correct. Emperor Longqing would discuss his memorials secretly with his chief ministers and close ministers. In the past, he would discuss it alone with Gao Gong, Xu Jie and others. After Gao Gong left, he would discuss it with Xu Jie, Li Chunfang and others. discuss.

In fact, Wei Guangde, Chen Yiqin and others did not see through Emperor Longqing. When Emperor Longqing was thinking about problems, he usually would not discuss Wei Guangde's proposals with Chen Yiqin, Yin Shizhen and others, but would discuss them with Xu Jie, Li Chunfang and others.

Xu, Li and others' proposals were discussed with Chen Yiqin, Wei Guangde and others.

Emperor Longqing was very skillful in taking advantage of the different political views among ministers to fully analyze and discuss proposals.

Of course, if everyone has different opinions in the end, he will choose to stay in China.

This is also the main reason why Wei Guangde said that he once sent several memorials to Emperor Longqing, but in the end there was no response.

In fact, many of his suggestions were not recognized by Xu Jie, Li Chunfang and others, or were only partially recognized.

"This goes against the ancestral system."

After Gao Gong finished talking about some of Wei Guangde's ideas, Zhang Juzheng frowned slightly and said.

"Yes, that's why His Majesty didn't accept it at the beginning."

Gao Gong said, "I just didn't expect that the imperial court is now forced to a dead end again. It seems that shipping by sea is impossible."

"When the sea was transported to Liaoning, why did grain and grass not go through western Liaoning but were transported by sea?"

Zhang Juzheng asked.

When Yu Zhuan discussed this matter, Zhang Juzheng had not yet entered Prince Yu's palace, so of course he was not among them.

Xu Jie knew, but it was Gao Gong who told him.

“Land transportation has always been inconvenient and costly.

Indeed, as Jia Shangshu and Shandai said, shipping by sea takes a very short time and costs very little.

So I now accept Menglong's words. The imperial court must control the water route from Huai'an to Tianjin regardless of whether there is a flood in the Yellow River to prepare for emergencies.

I will ask your Majesty to see you tomorrow. According to Shandai's suggestion, a certain amount of grain will be transported by sea each year to ensure that the cavalry soldiers are familiar with the route. "

Wei Guangde didn't know that something that Xu Jie and Li Chunfang once talked about as unnecessary would actually get Gao Gong's support.

The cabinet has set the tone, but the outer court doesn't know it.

However, because Liang Menglong's memorial said that private merchants were taking this route, many opposing officials lost an important reason for their opposition, which was the risk of shipping.

In fact, among the courtiers who had read Liang Menglong's memorial, the voices of support and opposition were split evenly, with some being at a stalemate.

After all, grain transportation has now become an important part of stability in the north. The method proposed by Liang Menglong can just solve the transportation problem, so naturally many people agree with it.

In the evening, after it was reported in the cabinet that both Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng had a positive attitude, although the trend did not change immediately, the opposition voices also subsided.