Emperor Ming's grandson

Chapter 75 World Topography Map! The people of Ming Dynasty were extremely shocked!
At this time, Dong Lun was also shocked. As military ministers, they naturally understood the importance of the maritime ban policy to the Ming Dynasty, but the information Shengsun said made them see a brand new possibility.

What is the concept of 72 taels of gold and 1276 million taels of silver?
This is no business, this is simply robbery!
No, they directly moved all the treasury of other countries back!
Even if they try hard, these military ministers cannot figure out why there are such huge profits from overseas trade.

In fact, the Seven Voyages to the West were not a mere honorable project, but an outright exclusive royal trade, in which the profits were extremely terrifying.

At this time, with the rise of the Ottoman Turkish Empire and the Timurid Khanate, the east-west trade routes had long been cut off, and the Ming Dynasty's flagship products, such as porcelain, silk, tea, etc., were not sold to the West, let alone to the West. India, those are completely sky-high prices!
Without the huge profits brought by Zheng He's seven voyages to the West, Zhu Di in history would not have been able to complete the great achievement of "ruling the Tang and Song Dynasties, and traveling as far as the Han and Tang Dynasties".

After all, whether it is the Five Expeditions to Mobei, moving the capital to Beijing, dredging the Grand Canal, or compiling the "Yongle Dadian", the money required for these things is not a small amount, and the Ming Dynasty has just experienced the Battle of Jingnan. , how did you conjure up so much money out of thin air? Could it be that it depends on collecting land taxes? Of course it's impossible, it's all obtained from outside.

The truth behind this is actually clear when you think about it. If the voyages to the West do not make money and still lose money, then why do you persist in doing so on such a large scale and do it so many times? Is it really to find Zhu Yunwen?

And it was precisely because they saw the huge benefits, and the emperor monopolized such huge benefits, that the civil servants and gentry engaged in sea trade smuggling could not sit still. Therefore, after the Mingbao Zong ascended the throne, the civil servants encouraged and canceled the " The voyages to the West were a waste of people and money.

In the ninth year of Xuande, Zheng He's deputy Wang Jinghong led a fleet to Sumatra and other Southeast Asian countries, which became the last swan song of the Ming Dynasty's ocean fleet.

From then on, the archives were burned, the shipyards were abandoned, and maritime trade interests were monopolized by coastal gentry families.

"Can this official maritime trade really make so much money? Is this really feasible?" Dong Lun couldn't help but ask, with a tremor in his voice.

"If this can be done, then if the country is rich and the people can maintain stability, maybe it is not a bad idea to partially open the sea ban. After all, if the Ming Dynasty had the annual income of the Song Dynasty, it would not have to bear the pain of annual coins and land annexation, and the national destiny would be extended for another hundred years. , I’m afraid it’s not impossible!” Wang Jing also exclaimed.

Zhu Yuanzhang did not answer immediately. He was going through a huge struggle in his heart.

He was well aware of the importance of the maritime ban policy in stabilizing the Ming Dynasty's agricultural foundation, but Zhu Xiongying's words made him realize that perhaps only by breaking the rules could he find a new path.

However, although wealth is tempting, national affairs are not child's play after all, and national policies related to the national destiny of the Ming Dynasty cannot be changed easily.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang decided to wait for the results of Jinyiwei to test the benefits through small-scale official trade, and then make a decision on the two matters of sea ban and non-conquest country.

In fact, just as the essential purpose of the sea ban was to stabilize the Ming Dynasty's agricultural foundation, the so-called "non-conquest country" was essentially to allow the Ming Dynasty to have a good geographical environment so that it could concentrate on dealing with the life-and-death enemy of the Beiyuan Dynasty, and also to avoid future generations. There are people like Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, who then engage in things like three conquests of Goguryeo that led to the destruction of the country.

Zhu Yuanzhang himself made it clear that the so-called "barbarians from all directions are limited to mountains and seas, and are isolated in a corner. The land they obtain is not enough to provide supplies, and the people they obtain are not enough to command. If they don't think about themselves and come to trouble us, Then it is unlucky, that is, it is not a trouble for China, and it is also unlucky for me to raise an army and commit a minor crime. I am afraid that future generations will rely on China's wealth and strength, be greedy for temporary military achievements, raise armies for no reason, and cause harm to human lives, so remember not to do this."

The premise of all this is actually the first sentence, that is, these barbarian countries are all located in a corner and are blocked by mountains and seas. The areas occupied by the countries are very poor, so fighting them is laborious and has no benefits, so don’t fight them for the sake of great success. .

But if the premise of the first sentence changes and this place produces 10,000 taels of gold and 8 million taels of silver annually, then the nature of the matter will be different!
This becomes "If God does not take what he wants, he will take the blame."

A country without conquests? What is the country without conquests, where is my great general and artillery? !
After calming down, Zhu Yuanzhang continued: "Do you have maps of Africa and America?"

"A map, right? Wait, there is an old topographic map of the world at home (see the Easter Egg Chapter on the next page for details), which has been posted on the wall for many years."

What followed was a long wait, and they waited for two full hours.

For Zhu Yuanzhang and everyone present, this was an outright ordeal, and they became more and more nervous as time went by, looking forward to the map that could reveal the truth about the so-called "Africa and America."

Finally, when the map fell from the sea of ​​yin and yang, everyone's eyes were focused on it.

This is a map they have never seen before, with vast land and oceans drawn on it, marked with unfamiliar place names and symbols.

However, unlike the maps they saw, this "World Topographic Map" did not have the name of the country marked on it.

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes narrowed slightly, and he tried hard to identify every detail on the map. Dong Lun, Wang Jing and others were also staring at the map intently, for fear of missing any important information. After all, from the perspective of terrain, this map The details are outrageous!
To use the most appropriate words to describe it, it is the whole world, spread out in front of your eyes, and it is spread out at a glance!

This visual impact is obviously very shocking.

In fact, the rulers and ministers of the Ming Dynasty did not know anything about the world. At least Japan and Ryukyu in the east, as well as the Nanyang countries in the south, were known to the Ming Dynasty. However, in the farther west, the Ming Dynasty did not have the accurate knowledge formed after close contact. However, Ming Dynasty learned about the countries in the west of Ming Dynasty through the classics and archives left by the Mongols in Dadu.

Xiliao, Khorezm, Kipchak, Muscovite Principality, Kiev Principality, Borel (Poland), Magyar (Hungary), Mulayi Kingdom (Iran), Mamluk (Egypt). These were conquered by the Mongols three times The countries conquered or contacted by the Western Expedition were all truthfully recorded in the archives, and "Journey to the West" written by Yelu Chucai based on his personal experience, who participated in the first Western Expedition, became Zhu Yuanzhang's leisure reading.

Therefore, Ming Dynasty not only knew about Central Asia, West Asia, and the Middle East in terms of geographical concepts in later generations, but even had some understanding of Europe. But this map revealed more truth about the world to them.

In addition to the areas where the Ming Dynasty can exert influence and the areas that the Mongols once conquered, there are so many unheard of places in the world!
"Are these Africa and America?" Dong Lun's voice was trembling. He could not imagine that there was such a vast and unknown land in this world.

Even by visual inspection, it can be seen that the land called "Africa" ​​is many times larger than Japan, which is only about the size of a little finger on the map, and is even much larger than the entire Ming Dynasty.

In America, there are two continents next to each other from south to north. These continents are isolated and independent and have never been discovered by anyone.

Wang Jing was also shocked. He murmured: "We in the Ming Dynasty have never set foot in these places."

Everywhere on the map seems to be full of unknowns and possibilities. The world these ancient people saw was suddenly magnified countless times, making them realize that the world they knew before was just the tip of the iceberg.

Zhu Yuanzhang took a deep breath and tried to calm down the shock in his heart.

The world is so big?
From this point of view, although it claims to be the center of the world, it is obvious that it is looking at the sky from a well.

No, that’s not appropriate to say. I can only say that it’s somewhat limited to the known world.

After all, in this era, according to the transportation conditions, it is quite difficult to explore the complete world. This is not like playing Victoria or Europa Universalis. You can send a boat out to explore the foggy area.

Across the boundless Pacific Ocean, it was really unrealistic for Ming Dynasty to explore the Americas eastward without any supply points along the way.

After all, all naval ships of the Ming Army were designed for fighting on rivers and lakes, including the sails on the ships. Fundamentally speaking, they were not suitable for ocean navigation.

After staring at it for a long time, Zhu Yuanzhang put away this world topographic map with his own hands.

"Nothing is allowed to be spoken out without our order, do you understand?"

Looking at the people around him, Zhu Yuanzhang gave a stern warning.

This map contains too many secrets!

Therefore, the information must not be allowed to flow out before it is fully grasped.

This is why Kantu maps have always been items whose circulation was strictly restricted in all dynasties.

Maps represent information gaps.

For the empire's top leaders, if this information gap is presented to the people in an official name, it will only bring one consequence, and that is serious panic, and even cause the rule to be shaken.

Of course, if it is presented in someone's private name, then the people will just treat it as whimsical entertainment.

Zhu Yuanzhang knew very well that this map would bring unprecedented opportunities to the Ming Dynasty, so he had to study it himself first.

It is estimated that after such a long conversation, Yin Yang Qi Hai is about to disappear.

Zhu Yuanzhang asked.

"By the way, Dasun, is there any record of this information about the Yongle Dynasty? We want to see it."

"Yes, but I have to look for it. I will bring some information about this next time."

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this answer, he became satisfied. In fact, whether it was prediction or deduction, in the future secret information, what happened to the third generation of "Yongle Dynasty" and which of his grandsons became the emperor? Later, Zhu Yuanzhang was very interested in him when he dared to violate his ancestral system and engage in Western affairs.

　The most highly ordered work in the history category, a book you absolutely cannot miss!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)