The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 456 Sail
In the middle of the first month.

The ship sent by Zhang Zhou to Nanyang earlier returned smoothly.

Tang Yin and Xu Yu jointly played the memorial, and reported the "war results" of this trip to Nanyang in detail to the imperial court... In addition to bringing back 160 taels of gold and 6000 taels of silver, they also brought back more than 1 catties of spices, etc. There are all kinds of weird products on the market, and more than 300 Nanyang captives brought back... The guaranteed minimum income for this trip to sea is 5000 taels.

Excluding the rewards of the officers and men on board, as well as losses such as guns, the net income exceeded 2 taels.

This news was announced by Li Rong to the ministers in the court hall, but Zhang Zhou still did not come if nothing unexpected happened that day.

Zhang Zhou went to court, saying that he fished for three days and dried the nets for two days, but in fact it was closer to fishing for one day and sifting nets for ten days. Anyway, no one forced him to go to court on any day. Zhang Zhou only appeared in the court once after the anniversary.

Zhu Youtang said with a look of relief: "When Bingkuan said that he would send troops to sea, I still had some concerns, thinking that it would not bring any effect, but now it seems that I underestimated the income from going to sea."

All emperors like to send ships out to sea. Whether it was Zheng He's voyages to the Western Seas or Zhang Zhou's sending ships to sea this time, the emperors are keen on it.

When he was in Chenghua before, Emperor Xianzong also wanted to send ships to sea, which led to the rumor that Liu Daxia burned Zheng He's nautical charts. I am still very enthusiastic about conquering overseas, including getting back overseas goods.

Ma Wensheng, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, came out and said, "Your Majesty, if you go out to sea with ships equipped with soldiers and artillery to plunder the children of foreign people and rob overseas wealth, it will be like robbers, and it is really not worthwhile."

The objection is still to be objected.

The income of going overseas is so high, can it be guaranteed to be so high every time?

The first time I went, people were unprepared, and you plundered 2 taels of silver in one boat and came back. You were complacent. I was afraid that you would not get anything when you went to sea next time, and those foreign countries in Nanyang might think that the big Ming Dynasty actually liked it. Do some things that pirates can do, and the loss of Ming's reputation at that time cannot be settled by tens of thousands of taels of silver.

Zhu Youtang asked: "In the past few years, have there been any precedents for paying tribute to those vassal states in Nanyang?"

Ma Wensheng said: "Your Majesty, the shipping departments of various cities are still conducting trade with Nanyang. If the rules of trade are changed rashly, I am afraid that it will cause resistance from Nanyang fans and make Wang Hua of Ming Dynasty unable to advance."

"No need." Zhu Youtang said, "I think that if you want to preach Wang Hua all over the world, you should not use benevolence and righteousness. For those foreigners in Java, they don't know what Wang Hua's way is. A good way is to conquer them with artillery and make them submit... I don’t think that relying solely on ethics can bring long-term peace and stability. I think Bingkuan has done a good job in this matter.”

Seeing the emperor's attitude, Ma Wensheng couldn't say anything more.

Zhu Youtang said: "Wei Guogong and Tang Yin also mentioned in the above memorial that the first batch of three ships are almost ready to be built, and I have ordered the dispatch of artillery from Yongping Mansion and other places to go south. In addition, it is also used to equip ships and send troops overseas. I hope to spend half a year to harvest something... I don’t know what it is exactly. You shouldn’t have any objections, right?”

Once is not enough.

This time I went to the South Seas, and next time I went directly to the Western Seas, going farther and farther, and directly crossing the Pacific Ocean.

Although it was too late to discover the American continent, it would not take much effort to conquer the Americas and bring the mines and goods from the Americas back to Ming Dynasty.

More importantly, America has a vast land and resources, and it will be an important overseas territory of Ming Dynasty. The food and minerals it produces will greatly supplement the lack of resources of Ming Dynasty, especially if Zhang Zhou wants to develop the industrialization of Ming Dynasty. The American continent is almost essential.

Liu Jian said: "Your Majesty, you should be cautious about going to sea. It is not appropriate to make a hasty decision."

There is no objection, but the traditional civil servants feel that it is better not to change easily.

On the other hand, Zhu Youtang seemed very self-confident: "Your family doesn't know anything overseas, even where there are islands and people, so what's the point of saying these things? I'll leave it to Bingkuan, I believe it won't take long In the next year, the goods that can be obtained from overseas can be fully supplemented by the military supplies of the Ming Dynasty, so that it can not only stabilize the people, but also pacify the northern border, why not?"

Aren't you civil servants always beeping, saying that it is Bingkuan's strategy of using troops in the north, is it militarism?
Now I am asking Bingkuan to help create wealth. If the northern court does not need to spend extra money to fight wars in the north, will you not be so talkative?
……

……

After the court meeting ended.

Zhu Youtang was also in a bad mood.

"Going to sea to get so much wealth, it can still be said to be unrighteous. If there is benevolence, will someone pay tribute to Daming? When will overseas provide taxes to Daming?" Zhu Youtang was filled with righteous indignation.

He felt that it was meaningless to stay in the palace, so he asked that Zhang Zhou was in the city that day, and he didn't go to Xishan, so he changed his attire and took Li Rong and others out of the palace to find Zhang Zhou.

Zhang Zhou is in the workshop in the city.

When Zhang Zhou learned that Zhu Youtang was coming, he personally brought Zhu Feng out to greet him.

Zhu Youtang smiled and said: "You don't need to be too polite, Bingkuan, I have nothing to do when I'm free, I come to you to have a look, you have made a lot of good things in the past, do you have any new ones recently?"

"Please, Your Majesty." Zhang Zhou stepped aside.

After Zhu Youtang left the palace, there seemed to be more smiles on his face, and he was rarely relaxed when he walked out of the palace.

Several people from the monarch and ministers entered the workshop together, but there was something like a boiler inside. It was boiling water, and there was a "click, click, click" sound next to it. A machine was being driven by the boiler. It was Zhang Zhou. Recently engaged in steam loom.

Next to it are two craftsmen who are debugging.

The two of them acted as if there was no one else around, whether it was Zhang Zhou, Zhu Fenglai, or Zhu Youtang who brought someone, they would not come over to salute, and just concentrate on doing what they were doing.

Zhu Youtang asked curiously, "What is this?"

Because of the loud noise and the fact that the machine can be moved without manpower, Zhu Youtang didn't rush to observe it.

Zhang Zhou said: "Your Majesty, this is a loom."

"Loom? Is no one weaving?" Zhu Youtang was curious.

Seeing only two people walking in front of a pile of machines, but not seeing anyone weaving with their feet or hands, Zhu Youtang naturally felt puzzled.

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "This is to drive the rotating shaft with water vapor, and the movement of the rotating shaft makes the loom run. A pile of looms only need to have a few people to look after them, and they can make up for any problems such as broken threads at any time. That's it. As a result, a skilled female weaver can take care of five or six looms, and the speed is faster, and she can weave dozens of feet of cloth in a day."

Li Rong smiled bitterly: "Mr. Zhang, are you joking?"

"Ok?"

Zhu Youtang looked back at Li Rong.

You old eunuch, you actually questioned my Bingkuan just talking about it?
Zhang Zhou pointed with a smile: "Eunuch Li, it's not a joke. The traditional loom also has some disadvantages. I have also improved it. This is a flying shuttle. With the flying shuttle, weaving does not require manual labor to increase the weft." In the future, we should worry not about the lack of female workers or slow weaving, but about the lack of straw and cotton.”

Grass cotton is also cotton.

In the history of China, when it comes to "cotton", it is actually more kapok.

It was not until the Song and Yuan Dynasties that grass cotton gradually became the daily use of the common people to keep out the cold. However, because of the low efficiency of weaving, cotton was mostly used as filler. In the Ming Dynasty, it was stipulated that every farmer must plant a certain amount of grass cotton. To ensure the military supplies and the daily use of the common people, grass cotton can be regarded as a very important economic crop in Ming Dynasty.

"That would be interesting."

Knowing that the machine was just a loom and that it was no danger to him, Zhu Youtang finally dared to walk over and observe it carefully.

However, Zhu Youtang would also find it miraculous to see that the cloth was produced little by little without anyone weaving it, and gradually began to form rolls.

……

……

Because the weaving room was very noisy, Zhu Youtang and Zhang Zhou went to the laboratory next to the workshop after simply observing.

"Bingkuan, when are you going to promote this loom?"

As the emperor, Zhu Youtang certainly knew the needs of the people of Ming Dynasty for food, clothing, housing and transportation.

For the time being, it seems that there is no solution to planting food. It is not so easy to reclaim wasteland. The rest is to find new crops from overseas, which also takes time.

But if we improve the efficiency of weaving, it will greatly improve the restrictions on the dressing of the people of Ming Dynasty. After all, for ordinary people, it is normal for ordinary people to wear ordinary coarse linen clothes for ten or eight years. Some people even wear one piece of clothing for a lifetime, and it is found in many places.

Zhang Zhoudao: "Your Majesty, if you want to promote it, you must first be able to manufacture so many looms. My idea is to use the government-run weaving workshop first to recruit female workers to come back for study and training. After they learn it, the looms After the number increases, it will be gradually extended to the civilian population. In a few years, every larger state capital in Daming will have a weaving workshop, and the cloth produced can also be used for military supplies first."

"Yes, yes, we must first guarantee the expenses of the Northwest soldiers." After hearing this, Zhu Youtang felt very relieved, "Northwest has already proposed to the imperial court in the past few years to change the military uniforms, etc., but how can there be so much manpower and material resources? ? If it is really possible to weave large quantities of cloth... how much cloth does Daming want to use?"

Li Rong reminded with a smile: "Your Majesty, have you forgotten what Mr. Zhang said? You should worry that there will not be enough grass cotton by then."

Zhu Youtang said: "It is necessary to make certain improvements. Go back and order to various places to increase the acres of grass cotton planted, and the imperial court will buy it later to ensure that the cotton farmers will not suffer losses."

Zhang Zhoudao: "Your Majesty, it's not enough to rely solely on the government to make purchases. Special personnel should be sent to carry out the purchases. Otherwise, relying on local officials... I'm afraid it will dampen the enthusiasm of the cotton farmers."

"Ah."

Zhu Youtang probably understood Zhang Zhou's worries.

This is a fault in the communication between the upper and lower levels, and if it all depends on the local government, this division will be exacerbated.

Only the emperor directly sent people to improve the situation to the greatest extent, but this was not a once-and-for-all solution. After all, it was still people who did things, and the so-called system was also implemented by people.

……

……

After talking about the weaving, Zhu Youtang sat down and said with emotion: "Bingkuan, the boat to Nanyang has returned and brought back a lot of things. If you need anything, it should be sent to the capital in a month. Come."

Zhang Zhou cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your concern."

Zhu Youtang said: "If you want to send a ship to the west now, do you think it is suitable?"

Zhu Youtang made a decision first, and then asked Zhang Zhou for his opinion.

Zhang Zhou had planned with him before, and let him know that there is still a large territory overseas, even bigger than that of Ming Dynasty, and the land is vast and sparsely populated. What's more, the people there are close to slash-and-burn farming. , There are no animals such as horses, cattle and sheep, not even wheels, and even some large tribes with a population of several million do not even have their own writing, let alone iron, and even bronzes are only used for noble decoration.

Such a tribe can conquer an entire country with a single hit and an army of thousands of people.

Historically, the Aztecs and the Inca Empire were conquered by European colonists with a few hundred people.

That's why Zhu Youtang has such a deep obsession to bring overseas lands into the territory of Ming Dynasty...

Zhang Zhoudao: "Based on the Jiangnan shipbuilding, the large ships built according to the drawings of the ministers have not yet been built. Only a few medium-sized ships have been built. If they want to sail on the ocean, I am afraid that they will have to wait until after February. But I am also afraid that in the next few months, it will be the time when the sea hurricane will be rampant..."

Since he wanted to go to sea, Zhang Zhou had to explain all the difficulties in going to sea.

It doesn’t mean that sending out a fleet will definitely reap rewards. If the ship never returns, there will be no news from then on. Don’t be blamed by the courtiers, saying that I have harmed them.

Zhu Youtang nodded and said: "There are strong winds and waves on the sea. If you encounter extreme weather again, any accidents are possible, but you can't give up eating because of choking. Didn't you say Bingkuan? There are already some foreigners in the western territories. The clansmen found out, and they will conquer there in the future? Hurry up."

Zhang Zhoudao: "Your Majesty, my idea is that the first time I went to sea, I mainly explored the location of overseas places, and successfully retrieved the roots, seeds, etc. of several food crops proposed by me, so as to facilitate the widespread planting of Ming Dynasty. Do something for going to sea in the future. Prepare."

"When will we go to sea?" Zhu Youtang seemed impatient.

Zhang Zhou saw that the emperor was so straightforward, so he had nothing to hide, and said: "Your Majesty, you have experience in sailing to Nanyang with a fleet, and with a few new ships, even if the scale is smaller, you can order to go to sea immediately."

"it is good."

Zhu Youtang said, "I have been waiting for a long time. If I can go to sea once and change the fate of Ming Dynasty, and use it to conquer the world, it will be more meaningful than conquering the Tatars in northern Xinjiang. Bingkuan, can you Got a nautical chart?"

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "Actually, before I returned to Beijing, I left a nautical chart, and even left a lot of charts for going to sea, including strategies to deal with various emergencies. As long as there are enough artillery and firecrackers, There are still hundreds of soldiers, and if they want to bring back what they want from overseas... it depends on whether the heavens are good or not."

(End of this chapter)