I really don't want to be emperor at the end of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 430 Economic issues are a big problem
Chapter 430

The plenipotentiary representatives of the Dutch East India Company issued a joint statement in the Ming Empire Times. The Ming Empire recognized that the Spanish Habsburg Empire was Spain, the Netherlands (the Netherlands and Belgium), Austria, Alsace, Silesia (southern Poland, The sole legal government of the Kingdom of Hungary, the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Netherlands, Portugal, New Spain (Mexico), Italy, Genoa and other countries.

Similarly, the Spanish Habsburg Empire recognized the Ming Dynasty as the [-] provinces of the Ming Dynasty, the Western Regions, Hanhai, Wusi Zang, Nurgan Dusi, North Korea, the Shibir Khanate (Siberia), and the Junggar Khanate (west to Samarkand in the Fergana Basin of Central Asia, to Lake Balkhash in the northwest, to the middle reaches of the Chu River and Talas in the north, to the Khalkha border in the northeast, and to the Badak Mountains in the southwest), the Kazakh Khanate, Astor The only legal government of the Lakhan Dynasty, Taiyuan, Luzon, Annan, Taungoo, Coconut City (Batavia), Sumatra and other places.

The two sides exchanged envoys, traded with each other, etc. When Fernan saw this announcement, he immediately became anxious. You must know that the current United Kingdom of the Netherlands has not officially obtained independent status, but the Netherlands and the Portuguese Empire have been seeking independence. , and participated in the war with the Spanish Empire. If the Ming Dynasty and Spain became allies, it would be a disaster for Europa.

Fernand was also very embarrassed. He was only the plenipotentiary representative of the Dutch East India Company and could not represent the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. On the one hand, he submitted an application to the Ming Dynasty Cabinet for a meeting, and on the other hand, he quickly wrote a letter to the Governor and the Board of Directors of the Dutch East India Company, stating that The news of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Ming Dynasty and the Spanish Empire and the possible alliance was reported to the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, hoping that the United Kingdom would immediately send heavyweight representatives to the Ming Dynasty to handle the matter.

At the same time, Fernand did a lot of homework to lobby Xie Jinglin, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. When he lobbied Xie Jinglin, he mainly talked about the power of the Spanish Empire. The Ming Dynasty did have a better environment than the Spanish Empire, but the problem was that once the Spanish Empire Survive the immediate financial crisis, but you will be troubled by tigers later.

Later, the Dutch East India Company also sent representatives to Beijing to explain to Cheng Shijie the issue of the Beibu Gulf naval battle. On the Dutch East India Company side, they insisted that it was the Ming Royal Navy that first attacked the merchant ships of the Dutch East India Company. The Indian Navy was forced to fight back.

Moreover, the Dutch East India Company also suffered miserably. Although the sea area where the incident occurred was in the North Gulf, the Dutch East India Company had normal trade relations with the Annan country. This time they sent more than [-] skilled workers to prepare Used to improve Annan's country's sugar-making technology.

This originally normal trade was brutally attacked by the Ming Royal Navy, causing four merchant ships to sink directly. As many as 940 skilled workers were killed, and 450-seven people were missing, including 560-300 skilled workers, together with more than [-] workers’ families.

This tragedy was a violation of the sovereignty of the Dutch East India Company by the Ming Dynasty. The Dutch East India Company strongly condemned the irresponsible behavior of the Ming Royal Navy...

When representatives of the Dutch East India Company elaborated on this statement, the Ming Dynasty Military Ministry directly stated that this was an invasion of the Ming Sea by the Dutch East India Company. When the Ming Royal Navy showed their identity and asked to board the ship for inspection, they not only did not inspect as required, but instead Lighting up the gun jacket is a hostile act against the Ming Royal Navy and the Ming Empire. Of course, the Ming Royal Navy has the right to be forced to defend itself and fight back. We cannot allow the Ming Royal Navy to be bombarded before it can fight back.

Both sides insisted on their own opinions and quarreled with each other. The key to the problem was that the Dutch East India Company really could not defeat the Ming Royal Army and Navy and did not dare to threaten the Ming Dynasty with war.

So the question is, is the Beibu Gulf considered the Ming Dynasty’s waters?

There is no international law now. The Royal Navy of the Ming Dynasty implements Cheng Shijie’s theory of sea power. The entire South China Sea is the inland sea of ​​the Ming Dynasty, including Venice, the Spanish Empire, and even the Dutch’s own maps. The Sea of ​​China is marked on it. Therefore, the north The bay is the sea area of ​​​​the Ming Dynasty.

As long as they enter the Ming Dynasty's waters, all ships must report to the Ming Dynasty and accept naval inspections at any time, otherwise it will be an act of infiltration and hostility.

Xie Jinglin started a lawsuit with the Dutch East India Company over this matter, and there was no substantial progress between the two parties. However, Sun Zhili came to the door instead. Originally, he didn't know what the Spanish Empire was, but the problem was As Sun Zhiyi used the world map to find out the territory of the Spanish Empire on the map, he broke into a cold sweat.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

Just when Cheng Shijie was taking a nap, Sun Zhicheng's voice appeared nervously outside the door.

Cheng Shijie got up, washed his face, and said, "Yongyan, what's wrong? What happened?"

"Meet the king!"

Cheng Shijie said: "Without courtesy, sit down and tell me if you have anything to do!"

Sun Zhili said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, we have established diplomatic relations with the Spanish Empire, and have opened up maritime restrictions to trade with each other. I'm afraid..."

Cheng Shijie smiled faintly and said: "Although our Ming Dynasty has always had a sea ban, maritime trade has never stopped. The gold and silver found by Europe in the Americas have continuously entered the Ming Dynasty through sea trade, hundreds of millions of them. It's just that sea trade has always been controlled by The Jiangnan Maritime Commerce Center was controlled by the imperial court, which had nothing to do with it. The imperial court could neither participate in maritime trade and compete for profits with the people, nor collect taxes from it. Wanli did collect a little, but it turned out to be as black as ink. "

Sun Zhidao said: "We can use our powerful navy to completely block the maritime trade in the south of the Yangtze River..."

"Have you ever thought about the consequences?"

"as a result of?"

"Yup?"

"If we continue to ban the sea, the direct consequence of this approach will be that the country and the people will be poor, which will all benefit the bastards in the middle. Moreover, Ming Dynasty's interest in the West seems to be limited to their gold and silver, and has no interest in Western scientific knowledge. They care about it and are not even willing to have normal exchanges with the West. This is absolutely unacceptable."

Cheng Shijie continued: "The life of the Ming Empire lies in expansion, and the vitality of a country lies in communication. A country, no matter how tyrannical it is, cannot play its own game behind closed doors. It must communicate with foreign countries, otherwise the whole country will It’s going to become a stagnant pool of water.”

Both the Ming and Qing dynasties made the same mistake and were unwilling to actively communicate with foreign countries. As a result, the Ming Dynasty missed the Age of Discovery, and the Qing Dynasty missed the first Industrial Revolution. Both dynasties paid a heavy price for this.

Fortunately, in this time and space, Cheng Shijie turned the tide and gave this country a chance to start over. Taking advantage of the armistice negotiations, Spain, a large maritime country, established diplomatic relations, opened the long-closed door to them, and also used them to open the door to Europe. .

"But the Spanish Empire is too powerful. They already have a powerful territory and a population of tens of millions. Once they survive this crisis, I'm afraid our Ming Dynasty will have tigers in trouble!" Cheng Shijie sighed and said, "What do you think? Well, good goods have to be sold abroad to create more tax revenue for the national treasury, right? In addition to establishing diplomatic relations with Spain and the Netherlands, I also want to establish the same diplomatic relations with another powerful country."

"Another powerful country?"

"Yes, that is the Ottoman Empire, a behemoth spanning three continents, Europe, Asia and Africa."

Cheng Shijie went on to explain: "The Ottoman Empire was a country established by the descendants of the Turks."

Naturally, Sun Zhiwan was no stranger to the Turks. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Xianbei people began to decline, and then the Rouran people rose up, but the Rouran people seemed to be like a flash in the pan, rising quickly and then withering quickly.The Turks also had this fate. Under the leadership of Tumen Khan, they rose to power and became a frighteningly powerful nation.

With their angry bows and powerful bows, they came and went in the wind, across the desert, and were invincible. At their peak, their territory spanned the Eurasian continent. In the east, they were like giant ancients, pressing on the heads of the Sui and Tang dynasties, making the Sui and Tang Dynasties breathless. Come.

As powerful as the Sui Dynasty and as wise as Yang Jian, they had to adopt the method of differentiation, dividing the Turks into five, and later into two, so that Li Shimin had the opportunity to defeat them one by one.

Speaking of Turks, Cheng Shijie had to think of the Ming Dynasty. In the history of the Ming Dynasty, it was considered destroyed after Li Zicheng entered Beijing. But the problem is that almost all the officials and generals of the Ming Dynasty surrendered, but it was the Dashun Army and the Daxi Army. The rebels are still trying their best to maintain the crumbling dynasty of Ming Dynasty until they shed the last drop of blood.

In fact, the same is true for the Turks. When the Tang Dynasty fell, countless Jiedu envoys established themselves as kings and separated themselves from each other. Only the Shatuo tribe was still fighting to support the crumbling empire from east to west, fighting against Zhu Wen and others. Khitan, fight... In short, they will fight anyone who dares to touch the Tang Dynasty. They have become the last guardians of the Tang Dynasty. If the Turkic kings saw this scene, the coffin boards would probably be unable to hold it down!

Crowds of Chinese Jiedu envoys rebelled and destroyed the Tang Dynasty, but the Turkic people who were supposed to be the mortal enemies of the Tang Dynasty fought to defend the glory of the Tang Dynasty, and even named the country they established as the Later Tang Dynasty, isn't it very strange? funny?

Of course, in Cheng Shijie's view, Sun Zhiyi's worries were actually unnecessary. He patiently explained to Sun Zhiyi: "Since I reformed the land, developed industry, developed the navy, attacked the navy, and collected commercial taxes in Liaodong, these In 300, I sent 2000 taels of grain to the court, collected taxes on merchants, distributed the property of the Zheng family, and cracked down on Shanxi merchants. I made more than [-] million taels of silver. Has the financial situation of the court improved? ?”

"no!"

Sun Zhiyi couldn't figure it out. With so much money and food, it was enough for Emperor Chongzhen to build an army similar to Ning Haijun and feed hundreds of thousands of troops. It was no problem at all.But the problem is that if Emperor Chongzhen led hundreds of thousands of Ning navy during the Northern Expedition, it would be impossible to lose the Northern Expedition, and he could even beat Huang Taiji to the point where he could no longer take care of himself.

Sun Zhiman then asked: "What does the king mean, is the Spanish Empire like the Ming Dynasty?"

"It can be said that it's almost the same, because the Spanish Empire mined a lot of silver and gold in the Americas. The Spanish Empire was very wealthy. After their entire Armada was destroyed, it only took three years to rebuild the Armada, and it was even better than the previous one. The fleet is bigger!”

Cheng Shijie smiled and said: "But the problem is that silver can neither be eaten nor drunk. Once there is too much silver, there is actually no good. Just like our Ming Dynasty, excluding the effects of famine and war, in the early Ming Dynasty, during the Hongwu period, the price per stone meter The price is four cents and six cents of silver. By last year, even in the Huguang area, which is rich in rice, the price per stone of rice was equivalent to one or two cents of silver. This was still the price of grain taken directly from the hands of the people, that is, This means that our Ming Dynasty’s inflation has more than quadrupled.”

It can be said that this is not the most serious period of inflation in the Ming Dynasty. In history, in the years of Chongzhen, Gengchen, Xinji, and Renwu (AD 1640, 1641, and 1642), the price of grain rose to three or two and six yuan per stone. This data is not a statistic. The price of grain in the north is the price of grain produced in the south of the Yangtze River. From this aspect, we can see how serious the inflation in the Ming Dynasty was.

Facing the financial crisis, there were only two options before Emperor Chongzhen: the first was to print money; the second was to increase taxes.As a result, Emperor Chongzhen did both. In just 12 years, inflation nearly quadrupled.

Sun Zhili asked in surprise: "Is the Spanish Empire like this too?"

"No, they are more serious than us!"

Cheng Shijie smiled and said: "They now sell an egg for two pesos, which is about one, two or four cents of silver. Even the small nobles can't afford eggs. What kind of life do their people live like?"

Whether it is the Ming Dynasty or the Spanish Empire, it is difficult to recover from the long-standing shortcomings. If it were not for Zhang Juzheng’s reforms, the Ming Dynasty would not have been able to survive the Chongzhen Dynasty. It’s just that Zhang Juzheng died too early, and Emperor Wanli’s ability was too strong. If Emperor Wanli were If it were Apocalypse, maybe Ming could hold on longer.

In fact, a country is like a large enterprise. After a period of rapid development, if the upper-level leaders become complacent and complacent, then the enterprise will enter a period of decline and a large number of inferior assets will be abandoned. Run faster.

Therefore, many companies in later generations did not set up manufacturing factories, but outsourced production tasks, because production tasks require a lot of people and are also where problems are most likely to occur.Just like from the early days of the founding of the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Ming Dynasty, they not only created 30 million clan members, but also created more than [-] candidates and Jinshi. This is a huge privileged class of more than [-] households. They are the privileged class in the Ming Dynasty. The blood sucked from his body, and he was sucked to death immediately.

Many people will conclude that the Ming Dynasty died due to corruption and many clans, but few people will conclude that the real reason was that they were too kind to scholars. Those who concealed the land were all gentry. Zhang Juzheng clarified the country's land acres and found three more [-] billion acres of land, equivalent to nearly one-half of the country’s cultivated land.

This means that nearly half of the land at that time was hidden by the gentry and officials. It is strange that the country did not have problems in this way.

Sun Zhidan said: "What does the king mean, even if we trade with the Spanish Empire, their problems will not be solved, and the country's financial problems will not get better?"

"That's for sure. Although trade is a national act, those in charge of trade in the Spanish Empire can only be nobles and have little to do with ordinary people!"

Cheng Shijie smiled lightly and said: "If our Ming Dynasty imports a large amount of goods and commodities from the Spanish Empire, it will indeed be possible to improve the domestic environment of the Spanish Empire. But the problem is that we will not import their goods, we can only import With their raw materials, such as various ores, gold and silver, their country’s economy will not get better, but will get worse!”

(End of this chapter)