My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 97 Give Me All the Spots

Historically, there have been different opinions about the reasons for Zheng He's voyages.

Some people say that Zheng He's voyages were to promote the country's prestige, while others said it was to outflank the powerful Timurid Empire from the sea and achieve military goals.

Of course, the most widely circulated one is Zheng He's voyage to the west in order to find Zhu Yunqi whose whereabouts are unknown.

But regardless of the above reasons, it shows that Zheng He's voyages were mainly to achieve military or political goals, and this was the primary task of the fleet.

As for the wealth brought by the fleet of voyages to the West, it was just a surprise to Zhu Di. According to the estimates of later generations, Zheng He brought back 30 taels of gold and more than [-] taels of silver in his seven voyages to the West. There are countless other rare jewels.

There are two main ways to obtain these gold and silver properties. The first is the mutual market, that is, every time Zheng He's fleet arrives at a port, it trades with the local natives.

Daming products were extremely popular overseas. For example, at the beginning, a porcelain plate could be exchanged for an equal weight of gold or silver, which also allowed Zheng He and the others to make huge profits.

However, as small overseas countries surrendered to Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di artificially increased the prices of goods from small countries in order to show his generosity, which greatly reduced the profits of the mutual market.

As for the second way to make profits, of course it is war. Zheng He's previous voyages to the West did not fail to destroy some overseas forces that coveted the fleet. The wealth accumulated by these forces over the years was naturally brought back to Daming by Zheng He.

For example, the box of gems that Zhu Di rewarded Zhu Zhanhe was taken back by Zheng He when he broke into the Lion King's Palace.

But after the previous several voyages to the West, Zheng He's fleet became more and more famous, and the overseas forces would not dare to provoke them unless they were blind.

Zheng He was not like some white-skinned pirates who burned, killed and looted directly without any reason. As a result, the benefits of fighting wars were almost cut off.

It was for the above reasons that Zheng He’s income was greatly reduced during his fourth voyage to the West. Although he still made some money in general, it was far from comparable to the previous three times.

If this continues, I am afraid that the fifth voyage to the West will lose money, which is why Xia Yuanji firmly opposes another voyage to the West.

Hall of Martial Arts.

Zhu Di looked solemn, weighing the pros and cons of letting merchant ships join the voyage fleet.

Yao Guangxiao's face was indifferent, his mind wandered away, as if everything in the world had nothing to do with him.

Zhu Zhanhe looked relaxed on the surface, but in reality he was anxious, anxiously waiting for Zhu Di's decision.

As for Xia Yuanji, his expression was complicated at this moment, he looked at Zhu Di for a while, and Zhu Zhanhe for a while, and he didn't know what he was thinking?
After a while, Zhu Di finally looked up at Zhu Zhanhe and said, "It's not difficult to reward honorable ships with a few boats, but have you ever thought that it's good to make money, but if you lose money, you might be born Many complaints!"

"Grandfather, haven't you always thought about what to reward me? Today, my grandson boldly asked you for it, and rewarded me with all the ships that accompanied me to the Western Seas!"

Zhu Zhanhe took a deep breath, and then solemnly stepped forward to salute.

"All for you?"

Zhu Di was taken aback for a moment, wondering why Zhu Zhanhe wanted so many quotas?
"That's right, all the quotas will be given to me, and I will arrange the quotas among various nobles in private. Needless to say, if I make money in this way, if I lose money, the responsibility will be borne by my grandson alone!"

Zhu Zhanhe puffed out his chest and said again.

Zheng He has already traveled all over the world, and the ships, personnel, routes and other aspects have already matured. If he can still lose money, Zhu Zhanhe will just find a piece of tofu and kill him!
"I think the words of the son are feasible!"

Unexpectedly, at this moment, Yao Guangxiao, who has always been an old god, suddenly stood up and expressed his opinion.

"Young master, do you agree with Zhan He's opinion?"

Zhu Di also asked in surprise, Yao Guangxiao had been silent just now, he thought the other party was unwilling to express his views on this matter.

"Your Majesty has made outstanding achievements recently, and he is very interested in the matter of voyages to the West. Your Majesty loves his grandson very much. It is only natural for His Majesty to reward you with some ships to sail to the West!"

Yao Guangxiao is still old-fashioned, it is obviously a major national event, but he said that it is the emotional exchange between Zhu Di and Zhu Zhanhe's grandchildren, at least on the surface, people can't fault it.

When Zhu Di thought about it, it was really the case. If he rewarded the honorable persons, there might be ministers who objected, but if he rewarded all the quotas to Zhu Zhanhe, then this was a family affair of the royal family.

Who doesn't know that he loves Hanwang more?Now reward the son of the king of Han with something, that is also the grandfather's love for the grandson, whoever dares to make irresponsible remarks, is to provoke the royal family, should directly send Jin Yiwei to arrest them in the imperial prison!

Thinking of this, Zhu Di finally nodded and said: "Okay! Since Zhanhe has this heart, then I promise you!"

Zhu Di pondered for a moment when he said this, and then he patted the table and said: "Well, because there is no precedent before, I will give you a quota of fifty ships first. You prepare the ships, personnel and goods by yourself. Next year, you will be accompanied by Zheng He. Western!"

"Thank you, grandpa!"

Zhu Zhanhe also showed ecstasy when he heard the words, this hole was finally opened by himself, as long as it is managed properly, the sea ban will be useless sooner or later!

"and many more!"

Unexpectedly, at this moment, Xia Yuanji suddenly stood up and said seriously.

"Your Majesty, if the son's ship sails to the west, do we need to pay taxes to the imperial court?"

"This one……"

Zhu Di was taken aback for a moment. He really hadn't thought about this problem. In the past, all the ships that went to the west were official ships, and all the income was from him, the emperor, but now it was merchant ships that went to sea under the name of Zhu Zhanhe. Tax.

"Pay it! You must pay it, and it will be higher than the commercial tax!"

Unexpectedly, Zhu Zhanhe took the initiative to speak.

If you want the Ming Dynasty's maritime trade to continue, you must let everyone benefit from it. Like Zhu Di, the imperial court pays, but all the proceeds go into your own internal funds. It will definitely not work.

Therefore, Zhu Zhanhe not only wanted to recruit nobles to join the gang, but also to benefit officials like Xia Yuanji, so the commercial tax must be paid, and even if there is an opportunity in the future, he would even formally establish the customs duty of Ming Dynasty.

"Higher than commercial tax?"

Xia Yuanji was even more surprised when he heard this.

The business tax in Ming Dynasty is quite rough. Generally, there are two types. One is the business tax, which was initially [-] yuan, and later increased to [-] yuan. The other is the toll tax, which is collected by the local government according to the proportion of the goods.

"Yes, the risk of sea trade is high, but the profit is higher. In addition, the ship under my name accompanied Zheng He and the others to the west and was protected by the court, so naturally more taxes were required. Otherwise, wouldn't the court be in vain? ?”

Zhu Zhanhe spoke righteously again.

The taxes paid will definitely go to the national treasury in the end, and Zhu Zhanhe wants to use the money to silence Xia Yuanji and his group of ministers who oppose going to the West.

"This……"

Xia Yuanji has nothing to say now, after all Zhu Zhanhe has offered to hand over the money to the imperial court, what else can he say as the secretary of the household department?
"Okay, this matter is settled like this. I will let Zheng He discuss with you Zhanhe about the follow-up going to sea!"

Seeing Xia Yuanji's smelly and hard stone, Zhu Di was left speechless by Zhu Zhanhe, and Lao Huai immediately made a decision in comfort.

"Thank you, grandpa!"

Zhu Zhanhe thanked again, and left the Hall of Martial Arts happily after speaking.

But Zhu Zhanhe didn't go too far, suddenly he heard a familiar voice from behind saying: "Your Majesty, please stay!"

Zhu Zhanhe turned his head and saw Yao Guangxiao walking towards him. This scene seemed familiar.

"Thank you, Young Master, for helping me speak just now!"

Zhu Zhanhe thanked Yao Guangxiao, if he hadn't helped him at the critical moment, Zhu Di probably wouldn't have agreed so simply.

"A mere trifle is nothing to worry about!"

Yao Guangxiao smiled slightly, and then looked Zhu Zhanhe up and down before asking.

"My lord, why are you so concerned about going to the West?"

"Of course it's for making money!"

Zhu Zhanhe spread his hands and replied very calmly.

"Your Majesty, will you be short of money?"

Yao Guangxiao laughed dumbfounded, apparently not believing his words.

"Of course I don't. I made some money by selling weaving, but later I built a printing workshop, but I didn't make any money. Instead, I invested all the money I earned before. Not only am I short of money, but our Han Palace is also short of money. There are thousands of people up and down, it costs money to eat and dress, my father wants to buy a good horse and knife, and my mother wants to build a house and buy fields, all of which need money."

Zhu Zhanhe paused for a while when he said this, and continued to say again: "Actually, the one who is most short of money is Grandpa Huang. His old man wants to conquer the north, build the city of Beijing, open canals, and sail to the west. need money?"

"Your Majesty is really eloquent. I just asked casually, but you can even relate to His Majesty!"

Yao Guangxiao was also a little dumbfounded when he heard the words, but when he thought about it carefully, Zhu Zhanhe's words were not unreasonable. Many problems in Daming's ups and downs were essentially caused by the word "money".

"But even if Daming is short of money, can the money problem be solved with just one sea trade?"

Yao Guangxiao asked again.

"Master, the reason why you ask such a question is because you don't know how big the overseas world is!"

Zhu Zhanhe replied with a smile.

"Do you know how big the overseas world is?"

Yao Guangxiao raised his eyebrows, looked at Zhu Zhanhe in surprise and asked.

Yao Guangxiao has seen the sea charts of Zheng He's voyages, but judging from what Zhu Zhanhe said, it is obvious that the overseas he is talking about is not limited to the places Zheng He traveled.

"This one……"

Zhu Zhanhe hesitated for a moment, and finally raised his head and smiled, "Young master, if you want to know how big the overseas world is, why not come back with me, there is something in my house, and you will know it when you see it!"

Zhu Zhanhe knew that Yao Guangxiao had always been surprised by the various talents and insights he displayed after "resurrecting from the dead", and even had doubts about his identity.

But Zhu Zhanhe didn't care about this issue long ago. To put it bluntly, even if he said that he was a time traveler from later generations, how many people would believe him?

So some things should be brought out, anyway, Zhu Zhanhe has established a firm foothold in Daming, no matter how much others doubt him, as long as he doesn't admit it, who can do anything to him?
(End of this chapter)