The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Grain transportation by sea?

Wei Guangde took a step back and proposed that only grain should be transported by sea and all civilian ships should be transported by water. In Zhang Juzheng's view, it seemed to be somewhat feasible.

At the very least, when it is clear that civilian ships must be transported by water, local forces will naturally no longer oppose the change of canal to sea because they will not be greatly affected.

The prosperity of the towns on both sides of the Grand Canal is of course due to this north-south artery.

However, the carrying capacity of the Grand Canal is still limited, which does not mean that it can accommodate unlimited ships.

According to the system, all the ship locks on the canal give priority to ships transporting grain, followed by civilian ships carrying passengers and merchant ships.

In addition, due to the dry season and flood season, ships are often blocked in the river and unable to move.

During this period, the Grand Canal was actually in a state of no navigation.

How much grain does the Grand Canal transport to the capital every year?

Four million stones.

The four million shi of grain were mainly handed over by six provinces and sent to the capital through the Grand Canal. Among them, South Zhili paid 1.8 million shi per year, Zhejiang paid 630,000 shi, Jiangxi 570,000 shi, and Henan and Shandong each paid 380,000 shi. Huguang 250,000 stones.

The large canals of this era could carry nearly 2,000 shi of grain. However, due to the shallow water of the canal, they usually carried about 500 shi of grain. Tens of thousands of ships were needed to transport these 4 million shi of grain.

Of course, there are some unspoken rules. For example, in order to increase income, the Cao Army privately modified its ships and increased the cargo capacity by lengthening the ships and other other methods. This is how the Cao Army made profits by carrying the goods of merchants from the north and the south, but this will not increase the number of ships. Food transported to the north.

And how many ships are there in total on the Grand Canal?

According to Wei Guangde's observation of the number of customs-collecting ships from Chaoguan, he estimated that there were around 5,000 civilian ships on the Grand Canal.

These 15,000 to 6,000 ships are the limit of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal's carrying capacity, and are also the main reason restricting north-south traffic.

Not to mention taking the land route, the cost would at least double, which would undoubtedly be as difficult for the merchants as costing their lives.

Of course, the imperial court only paid attention to the grain shipped on the Grand Canal and the customs duties on banknotes. As for other things, it seemed that it was not impossible to give up.

According to Wei Guangde, if the grain transportation is changed to sea transportation, naturally there will not be so many water ships. Even these water ships cannot be used for sea transportation. Even offshore navigation seems inappropriate.

The more than 100,000 canal troops were directly taken out of the best to participate in maritime transportation. The remaining ones were either supplemented by surrounding guards or directly transferred to ship owners. Those useless canal ships were sold directly to merchants. The annual dredging and maintenance of the canal was basically covered by the imperial court. You don't have to worry about it, you can collect it directly from the merchant ships coming and going, and the people on both sides of the strait who live on the canal can still do their familiar work.

Sure enough, Wei Guangde's next words were consistent with Zhang Juzheng's thoughts.

"The imperial court only changed the transportation of grain, sold the canals to raise money for new ships, and collected canal tolls for canal dredging."

Wei Guangde made a lot of rhetoric, and it turned out that all the money the court had invested in the canal every year would be borne by civilian ships passing on the canal. People on both sides of the strait could still make a living on the canal.

The most important thing is that if the grain is transported by sea instead of by sea, the grain transported to the capital will probably increase a lot, and it is possible to increase it to 4.5 million to 5 million shi.

As for possible losses in shipping, in fact, many shipwrecks occur on the canal every year due to various reasons, so a lot of grain will be lost, so there will not be much more.

After Wei Guangde finished speaking his mind, King Yu did not immediately express his support. Instead, he looked at Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng to see their reactions.

While Yin Shizhen was still lowering his head and thinking, Zhang Juzheng was already cheering.

"The idea of ​​philanthropic loans is a good one. It is indeed feasible to transport grain by sea. However, the imperial court has gradually reduced or even stopped investing in the canal. This may not be possible."

Zhang Juzheng smiled and said: "Civil ships will definitely not be able to afford this expenditure in the short term. Even if all grain is transported by sea, the imperial court will still have to bear a considerable part of the cost."

Zhang Juzheng knew very well that the cost of maintaining the canal was extremely high and could not be afforded by more than 10,000 civilian ships.

Of course, the number of false reports is huge, and this expenditure has been borne by the imperial court in previous dynasties. This is also the reason why the Caoyun Yamen is so strong.

They are too rich, so they have huge financial resources and increase their voice in the court.

"However, it is true. Comparing the two, although the court still has to invest a large amount of money on the canal, it will definitely be much better than now."

Zhang Juzheng finally publicly supported Wei Guangde.

"If now I write what Shandai said just now as a memorial, will it be approved by my father?"

Although he did not get Yin Shizhen's opinion, Wei Guangde proposed that if Zhang Juzheng supported it, then at least in the palace, the support would be very strong.

King Yu did not think Zhang Juzheng was stupid, on the contrary, this man was very smart, otherwise Xu Jiejian would not have chosen him as his successor.

Yin Shizhen's attitude is actually not important anymore.

However, he still raised the question, hoping to get their answer.

However, after he finished speaking, he saw that Wei Guangde looked troubled, and Zhang Juzheng also frowned and remained silent.

"What? Won't Father support it?"

King Yu asked in surprise.

Not long ago, he also gave up the idea of ​​changing water transportation to sea. After all, in Wei Guangde's words, water transportation is related to the livelihood of countless people and even the safety of the country.

But soon, Wei Guangde put forward another set of arguments, which was also supported by Zhang Juzheng.

Regardless of whether the court will provide money to the canal at that time, this is a move that is beneficial to the court no matter how you look at it.

King Yu felt that his father had no reason not to support him.

"Your Majesty is a monarch who is brave enough to pioneer, at least before he became obsessed with spiritual practice."

Wei Guangde whispered.

In the early days of Emperor Jiajing's accession to the throne, in order to stabilize his rule, he corrected the bad governance caused by the Hongzhi and Zhengde dynasties, such as suppressing eunuchs and rectifying officialdom.

At the same time, in order to alleviate domestic social and class conflicts, a series of reform pilots were carried out in the tax and servitude system, such as the inventory of newly added fields and the compilation and review of servitude and other aspects, which became an important reference for the reform of the tax and servitude system in later generations.

The system of hereditary titles for relatives was reformed and made permanent.

The implementation of these policies promoted the economic development of the Ming Dynasty, reduced the national burden, and restored national strength again. It was called the Jiajing New Deal in later generations.

However, soon after the imperial power was stabilized, Emperor Jiajing changed his career and began to dream of becoming an immortal and delusional about immortality. Many of the pilot reform attempts in the Jiajing New Deal ended in vain.

Although many policies were later picked up again by Zhang Juzheng, and gradually evolved into the so-called "One Whip Law" that was relatively well-known in later generations.

Everyone in the room heard Wei Guangde's words clearly, and even Yin Shizhen, who had been looking down at the problem, looked up at Wei Guangde.

Officials talked a lot about Emperor Jiajing's cultivation in private, but they dared not say it in formal occasions. He could write it in the impeachment memorial, but what greeted him was the imperial staff and his banishment.

Wei Guangde said this, but he said it in front of King Yu.

Emperor Jiajing's superstitious worship practices and large-scale construction projects, as well as the increasing military expenses due to the Southern Japanese and Northern invaders, directly led to the decline of various domestic industries, and the financial economy was on the verge of collapse.

When King Yu heard Wei Guangde's words, he had no other expression on his face. He just smiled bitterly and said: "Okay, I know that in your hearts, what your father did is...

The sage said that everyone in the world is a parent, and it goes without saying that it involves the father. "

Immediately, King Yu looked at Wei Guangde and said: "I probably understand what you mean. I will remember what I said today and will think about it when I get down."

When Wei Guangde heard this, he immediately bowed and said, "Yes."

Even so, Wei Guangde couldn't help but think in his heart that King Yu did not dare to say the next sentence: "The father can be unkind, but the son cannot be unfilial."

Today’s events have been talked about a bit too much. It’s about Xinghua Prefecture again, and then it comes to the Anta Department’s crimes this year, and then it’s about sea transportation and water transportation.

In terms of military affairs, it was obvious that Wei Guangde was not interested.

But thinking about it, King Yu could also understand that with Yang Bo in the court, they didn't need to worry about the Ministry of War at all.

Yang Bo was someone that even the always conceited Yan Shifan didn't dare to look down upon.

Yan Shifan was cunning and debating, well versed in current affairs, and familiar with national laws. He was undoubtedly the number one person in the dynasty, but it was a pity that his talents were used in crooked ways.

At this moment, in King Yu's mind, in addition to imposing a sea ban and choosing a market place for shipping, the second thing he needs to do when he comes to power in the future is to change water transportation to sea.

Now that the imperial court is in financial difficulty, it would be good if it could save some money.

"Shandai, Xinghua Mansion, there is nothing to worry about?"

Finally, when King Yu was about to go back to rest, he asked Wei Guangde again before going out.

"Your Highness, there are three generals Liu Xian, Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang in Xinghua Mansion, so there should be no big worries."

Perhaps because of the fact that Yu Dayou was in charge, Wei Guangde spoke with confidence: "Besides, there is currently no wind direction for the Japanese pirates to escape. Even if the Japanese pirates escape on the ship, they cannot leave the sea. This is why they retreated to Pinghai Acropolis.

In other words, it will take some time for the Gan and Zhejiang armies to arrive, otherwise they would have been wiped out in one go.

In the final analysis, we should have taken down You Zhende long ago to see what he can do to a good Fujian. "

"Ah That's good."

King Yu nodded, then smiled and led Li Fang out of the house.

After King Yu left, Yin Shizhen said: "Shandai, water transportation involves too much, and you will get burned if you are not careful."

Although Yin Shizhen was from Jinan, Shandong and did not use canals very much, he had been in the government for many years and knew that the canal transport yamen had a very important say in the court.

The reason for this is also because there is enough oil and water in water transportation, enough to bribe countless officials in the DPRK to look after them.

"I said those words from the bottom of my heart. The imperial court was too deeply involved in water transportation."

Wei Guangde said: "You two, don't just look at the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of people on the canal. You should know that millions of people are suffering for their livelihood."

Zhang Juzheng nodded, "I have also heard that in the name of controlling floods, dredging and excavating auxiliary rivers, the governments along the canal used clever names and engaged in private fraud, taking the opportunity to plunder the people's wealth and make their lives miserable."

"Brother Zhengfu, brother Shu, that's all for today. It won't be too late to talk about everything after His Highness succeeds to the throne."

Wei Guangde said to Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng, cupping their hands.

Both of them nodded, knowing that the matter was of great importance. If word got out, countless impeachment memorials would fly into Xiyuan tomorrow, and the target would definitely be Wei Guangde.

In the past few dynasties, officials who proposed sea transportation to replace water transportation seemed to have ended badly, and the reasons are self-evident.

It's not that they don't know the benefits of sea transportation, but that the benefits of water transportation far exceed those of sea transportation.

In the face of huge interests, no one would not bend for them, and everything else can be abandoned.

However, Wei Guangde had actually considered these in his thinking a few days ago, but he didn't think there was much of a problem here.

Convenient transportation is naturally a great thing for businessmen, and it is also consistent with the statement of those officials that they do not compete with the people for profit.

However, actually implementing it is another matter.

In the final analysis, it was caused by the low political status of merchants in the Ming Dynasty.

The theory that agriculture is the "base" and industry and commerce is the "end" originated from pre-Qin thinkers such as Guan Zhong, Shang Yang, and Han Fei.

Guan Zhong was the first to divide people's occupations into four categories: "scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants". He believed that "if you neglect your ability and do nothing, the land will be barren and the country will be poor." He also promoted the "separation of occupations and settlements among the four people" in Qi State. policy; Shang Yang advocated encouraging agriculture and suppressing business, believing that "those who are able to do things well and ban the poor will get rich"; Han Fei clearly stated that "agriculture is the basis for industry and commerce," and listed businessmen as one of the "five beetles" who belong to the state. Crack down on the clear list.

Since then, the idea of ​​"focusing on agriculture and suppressing commerce" has become an important part of the official economic policies of all Chinese dynasties.

As a self-taught emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang naturally regarded the words of ancient sages as golden rules. Therefore, when formulating the national policy of the Ming Dynasty, he favored focusing on agriculture and suppressing business, and placed more restrictions on businessmen.

As for the extremely light business tax, that was actually because the war had just ended and the Ming Dynasty was in ruins and waiting to be revitalized.

And he strictly prohibited officials from exploiting businessmen, probably more because of his hatred of corrupt officials.

Whether sea transportation can replace water transportation should actually be a gradual development process, at least that's what Wei Guangde thinks.

Of course, he would not be stubborn enough to collide with the water transportation interest groups, which would only break him into pieces.

Or we can only use the method of dripping water to penetrate the stone to break down the strong defense of the Canal Transport Group bit by bit.

For this reason, we must first clarify whether the enemy is government officials or business officials, and who plays the main role in this.

Many later generations said that capitalism sprouted in the Ming Dynasty, and some even said that it appeared in the Song Dynasty.

However, Wei Guangde who came here must say that there was a budding capitalism in the Ming Dynasty.

At this stage, the businessmen he saw were completely trying to curry favor with him, a small official. Many businessmen were willing to take whatever they wanted and did not dare to disobey.

In this state, it is nothing more than capitalism.

However, for the development of the country, Wei Guangde still does not intend to be a purely corrupt official. He wants to support businessmen.

Of course, he will naturally have some benefits from it.

He no longer wants to simply be a protective umbrella or amulet for these businessmen, but wants to directly participate in them and become bureaucratic capital.

The reliance is naturally the relationship between himself and Prince Yu, and his future official position in the court.