Chapter 338 The Eastern Emperor's Thoughts

Ningbo was originally one of the residences of the Municipal Shipping Department, but the maritime ban was revoked after it was promulgated. Although it was re-established in the first year of Yongle, private trade still did not recover. When he learned that the other party was here for an audience, the Shibosi also came and asked the special envoy to stay in Ningbo City.

Mason has never seen such a city before. Cities with more than 100,000 people are rare, but the receptionist said that this is common, and the capital has a population of more than one million. Mason was surprised, how big is a city with a population of one million? ?

The market and population in the city were something he had never seen in Florence and Constantinople. All this made him believe that his efforts were worth it.

Mason has always believed that Constantinople is one of the richest and largest cities, but since the Ming Dynasty, Ningbo has been no less inferior to the great Imperial Castle. I am even more curious about the capital of Ming Dynasty.

The city ship envoy told Mason that if they could continue a little further north, they could reach Zhoushan Port, and from there they could go directly to meet the emperor. Now that they have arrived in Ningbo, time may be a little slow.

In Nanjing City, Yongle Emperor Zhu Di, who had been on the throne for more than two years, felt his head grow bigger when he looked at the officials kneeling below. Today is another day of battle of wits and courage with them.

"Your Majesty, Taizu has taught you that you are not allowed to go into the sea. Anyone who goes out to sea will be beheaded. Three people will destroy their family. Three or more people will destroy the three clans. This is the teaching of our ancestors. Your Majesty cannot violate it!"

An official advised Zhu Di that in his opinion, going to sea was a waste of people and money, and would also endanger national security. Going to sea to Japan last year was already the limit. Now we have to go to sea and build a large number of ships. This is a waste.

Not to mention going to sea, we have to expand the army, move the capital, and compile the Yongle Grand Ceremony. There are also droughts and floods in some places. We got news a few days ago that Timur in the West is preparing to lead the army to attack. One after another, Zhu Di was almost exhausted. Most of the ministers below were against him. It was really...

Xia Yuanji, who became the Minister of Household Affairs, also told Zhu Di about the country's difficulties. Money is needed everywhere now, and the amount of silver in the national treasury is less than 1 million taels, so expenditures need to be saved.

"You all look too small"

Seeing these people's performances, Zhu Di began to have his own opinions. "During this period, I have heard about wasting money and wasting money for the sake of reputation. If we want to revive the Ming Dynasty, we must open the door to the country, promote our country's prestige, and revive the glory of the Celestial Dynasty."

"This is my purpose of fishing for fame and reputation. I want to trade for the name of the Celestial Dynasty and the reputation of the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Di's determination made the ministers feel uncomfortable. This emperor still valued military power over civility. How could he manage the country well without them?

At this moment, an urgent message came.

"Your Majesty, the Chief Secretary of Zhejiang Province has come to report that a large number of ships have appeared in the waters near Ningbo, and it is suspected that the Japanese are causing trouble.

Hearing that they were Japanese, Zhu Di quickly asked: "How many ships are there?"

"There are probably no less than 100 ships covering the sky and the sun."

At this time, those conservative ministers seized the opportunity and said that this was the reason why Taizu was not allowed to go to the sea.

"Your Majesty, the reason why the late Emperor did not let you go to the sea was to guard against Japanese invaders. Even though he has been enthroned as the King of Japan, Japanese invaders have always been troubled. Your Majesty, God is trying to stop you!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, the laws of our ancestors are immutable!"

"Your Majesty, please don't ruin the Ming Dynasty."

Yes, now it has reached the point of ruining the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Di's already dark face turned even darker.

"let…"

Just as he was about to order people to exterminate the Japanese, another piece of news came, and it was urgent.

"Your Majesty, the Shipping Department of Hangzhou City is here to report."

"explain"

"It has been found out that the ships coming and going were not Japanese pirates, but were sent by a country who heard that the Celestial Empire was wealthy and powerful, and specially sent envoys here. Also, envoys from two other countries came together to beg for an audience with the Emperor of the Celestial Dynasty."

This sudden reversal made Zhu Di confused, but he soon smiled. Isn't this just right?

"You see, overseas envoys come to China in admiration. This is why Ming Dynasty must open its doors. Otherwise, where is the national prestige?"

"Your Majesty, the Shipping Department said that the special envoy also brought a big gift to the Emperor."

"Oh, what is it?"

"Pirate Chen Zuyi and other leaders who have been operating overseas for many years have been captured. They will be presented on a selected day."

Not only Zhu Di, but also the ministers were still confused by this sudden information. Before he could react, he only heard the emperor's order for the special envoy to pay an audience on another day and then left the court.

Chen Zuyi, a pirate with many evil deeds, was kidnapped and sent to the Ming Dynasty, which made Zhu Di feel relieved. But the pirate was caught by an envoy from another country, which made him feel uncomfortable.

The majestic emperor of China actually allowed the envoys from a foreign country to catch the pirates who had been troubled for many years. How could they lose face when this news spread?

This made Zhu Di firm up his determination to go to the West, even if all the ministers opposed it.

Some people believe that the main goals of the voyages to the West were twofold: to promote the country's prestige and to find nephews. This is what novices or donuts understand. Why Zhu Di went to the Western Ocean was to imitate Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty and establish a maritime Protectorate of the Western Regions.

During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the importance of the Maritime Silk Road exceeded that of the land Silk Road. The tea, silk, and porcelain produced can be continuously exported in exchange for tax money. Moreover, China is still a silver-poor country. All the money obtained from foreign trade is invested in the domestic market. Once it is cut off, it will cause deflation.

In order to reduce the use of silver, Emperor Taizu directly issued Ming Baochao, making it equal to silver. But the people had little confidence in paper money, because most people knew the consequences of the excessive issuance of paper money in the previous dynasty. They didn't want to experience the experience of a 6,000-fold increase in prices. They either used silver or bartered.

As for promoting national prestige and finding a nephew, I would like to ask if the whole country's efforts to build a fleet are for these two purposes. Wouldn't the cost be too high? The ministers knew that they had to die to make a suggestion, so they said, it's impossible!

The special envoy who came to the Ming Dynasty this time was an opportunity. He carefully read the memorial sent by the Maritime Customs, saying that the other party came from a faraway place, a Roman Empire, and that the two countries had contact more than a thousand years ago. He would go to check the information later. More than a thousand years ago, it was still the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qian to the Western Regions. Maybe there was a record of this country.

In order to let the envoys from afar feel the power of the Ming Dynasty, he asked to decorate all the palaces and arrange accommodation for them. He heard that they brought a lot of people with them, so they must be treated well.

In order to temporarily divert the attention of the ministers, Zhu Di announced in the hall the next day that his eldest son Zhu Gaochi would be made the crown prince, which made the civil officials shout that the emperor was wise. However, his second son had a very rich expression, which was no wonder. After all, he was also Zhu Di's favorite prince. He was originally thought to be the only candidate for the crown prince, but he missed the position of the crown prince. If it wasn't in public, he would definitely make a scene.