Chapter 505 504 Prohibition of Liaodong Maritime Transport

Time finally entered December of the 41st year of Jiajing, and Wei Guangde began to drift again.

Before this, Wei Guangde's time was either to go to the government office to do errands or to go home after the office was dismissed. However, all this gradually relaxed after Wei's mother rushed to Beijing before the Grand Canal froze.

Wei's mother came to Beijing naturally to take care of the pregnant Xu Jianglan, which made Wei Guangde feel relieved. He could return to his past life and drink and listen to music with his colleagues after the office was dismissed.

Although experienced midwives could be hired in Beijing, as masters, both Wei Guangde and Xu Jianglan were unfamiliar with these things, and they were often in a hurry and gave random orders. With Wei's mother in Beijing, everyone felt much more at ease.

Participating in these activities not only enhanced Wei Guangde's relationship with his colleagues, but also allowed him to hear a lot of news from the court. During the banquet, after drinking a few glasses of wine, many people's mouths were no longer closed, and no matter what information they heard in the government office, they would jump out.

Although Prince Yu's Mansion had its own people in the Cabinet, the Six Ministries, and even the Tongzhengshisi to explore information in the court, many messages were still missed. Of course, most of them were useless information, at least Wei Guangde felt that they were of little value to him, or Prince Yu's Mansion, but some were valuable, but they were not very related to Prince Yu's Mansion on the surface, so they were missed.

For example, Wei Guangde heard from the officials of the Ministry of Revenue that the Shandong Provincial Administration had complained to the court many times that due to the famine in Liaodong the year before, sea transportation was temporarily allowed, so that Liao ships could go to Deng and Lai in Shandong to buy grain to save the famine.

Later, Liaodong merchants took this as a great benefit and privately carried goods to Shandong, which led to the gradual relaxation of the sea ban, hoping that the court would reconsider the sea transportation policy.

The reopening of sea transportation to Liao was actually a project initiated by Jia Yingchun, a disciple of Prince Yu's Mansion, when he served as the Minister of Revenue. This move was supported by Gao Gong, Wei Guangde and other people in Prince Yu's Mansion, hoping to prove the reliability of sea transportation and get rid of the restrictions on north-south transportation caused by the lack of navigability of the Grand Canal.

Moreover, under the influence of Wei Guangde, Prince Yu has also developed a strong interest in sea trade. However, due to his unfamiliarity with the ocean, he still has deep concerns about the safety of sea transportation.

In particular, according to Wei Guangde, once sea trade is opened, it will not only attract foreigners to sail to the Ming Dynasty to trade, but also people in the Ming Dynasty will go out to sea to do business. After all, profits will come out in the turnover of goods, and the profits are not small.

Emperor Jiajing often worries about money, and although Prince Yu has not succeeded to the throne, he has already felt the constraints of finance on the court.

Moreover, if Shandong's lobbying in the court really makes progress, Wei Guangde himself will also suffer actual losses.

Wei Guangde has been asking Zhang Ji to purchase wild ginseng. At first, Zhang Ji was still wandering around in various medicine shops in the capital, but after a long time, he also knew the inside story.

These ginsengs were purchased by the medicine shops from merchants who traveled to Liaodong. One more layer of middlemen naturally means one more layer of profit. In order to save money, Zhang Ji began to contact these chambers of commerce and purchase ginseng directly from them.

In this way, Zhang Ji met many Liaodong merchants in the process of purchasing wild ginseng, and also learned that there were many specialties in Liaodong.

Taking this as an opportunity, under the instruction of Wei Guangde, a small business group composed of Liaodong merchants and Jiujiang merchants was established, including Huitong Commercial Bank, and many Jiujiang merchants in Beijing joined in trade.

Although Wei Guangde was protected, the land transportation of Liaodong Town, which was isolated, could not guarantee safety and smoothness, especially outside Shanhaiguan, which was a mixed residential area. Not only Han people lived there, but also many Mongolians roamed here, but they were all tribes with good relations with the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, the terrain was complex in many places along the way. There were still mountains after leaving the mountains. Not to mention the rugged mountain roads, there were also many bandits and robbers. They didn't care whose business card you had. Once you entered their territory, they would naturally find ways to rob you. Unless you formed a large caravan and were more powerful than them, you could pass safely.

Moreover, even with Wei Guangde's business card, it can only guarantee that you can pass through customs, no one will cause trouble to you, and the goods of the caravan will be forcibly seized, but the silver that should be paid will be indispensable.

With these obstacles, a large amount of goods of the caravan are circulated in the direction of Shandong by sea, and transported from Shandong to the capital or directly to Jiangnan through the canal.

Wei Guangde does not know how to do business, but since he has done this with great effort, he naturally has his own shares in this chamber of commerce.

To get a share of it, it is natural to escort this group.

Although Wei Guangde is a Beijing official, after all, the official position is so small, and sometimes it is not very useful. So last year, because Shandong encountered some minor troubles, he also got a business card of Xu Jie through Zhang Juzheng's relationship.

Although Wei Guangde's title of censor is sometimes intimidating, in order to avoid trouble and to increase contact with Xu Ge Lao, he still spent money to get one.

With these relationships, Wei Guangde naturally took the news to heart after hearing it.

Prince Yu's focus on maritime trade also shifted to sea transportation. In fact, the cost of sea transportation and land transportation is very comparable.

Transporting a large number of goods by sea to Shandong for circulation may seem to take more distance, but the actual cost can be reduced by 30%, and it is also safer.

Going by land through Shanhaiguan, in addition to the exploitation of officials along the way, the court also levied commercial taxes at Shanhaiguan. For goods leaving from the Central Plains, Shanhaiguan collected 6% and Liaodong 4%. For goods entering the pass from Liaodong, Liaodong collected 6% and Shanhaiguan 4%.

As for shipping, the goods entering and leaving Liaodong are carried out by smuggling, just like the grain ships on the canal. You only need to pay a certain amount of money to the grain transport soldiers.

Although Prince Yu did not say it explicitly, he was looking forward to shipping and even maritime trade.

He did not say it explicitly because he took into account the attitude of Emperor Jiajing.

At this banquet, Wei Guangde also roughly inquired about the views of the Ministry of Revenue on this, that is, as long as Liaodong's agriculture has a good harvest and no longer needs food aid from the mainland, it is indeed possible to consider not transporting food by sea, but as long as the problem of food shortage in Liaodong is not solved, sea transportation cannot be stopped.

The attitude of the Ministry of War is relatively conservative, or it should be said that it is a young and radical force among the conservatives.

For security reasons, the Ministry of War has always opposed the lifting of the sea ban.

Originally, the Ministry of War could not get many resources every year, and the nine borders were slightly insufficient, so naturally there was not much power to invest in coastal defense.

Shipping to Liaodong by sea forced the Ministry of War to dig out a sum of money from the limited funds to purchase a batch of warships for the Denglai Navy to ensure the safety of the waterway.

Although Liaodong is vast in area, it is not an independent region in the administrative division of the Ming Dynasty. It has always been under the jurisdiction of Shandong Provincial Administration. However, the military town model, that is, military control, was implemented in Liaodong.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the court attached great importance to Liaodong. During the Hongwu and Yongle dynasties, people were relocated to Liaodong many times. However, since Liaodong had not yet been fully developed at that time and the living conditions were extremely poor, few people could really take root here, and the immigration policy had little effect.

In fact, from the perspective of the Ming government, it was not cost-effective to implement the same rule over Liaodong as in the inland areas. Due to the poor local basic conditions, the entire Liaodong could not bring much tax revenue to the Ming Dynasty, but the cost of ruling was extremely high.

It is for this reason that the Ming Dynasty did not attach much importance to Liaodong in terms of civil affairs except for the military level.

The court's emphasis on Liaodong in military terms was more to form an encirclement of the Northern Yuan Dynasty from the northeast.

With the many northern expeditions during the Hongwu and Yongle years, the Northern Yuan Dynasty had completely collapsed. During the Renxuan years, the Tatars and Wala were busy fighting for the right to rule the grasslands, and it was difficult for them to pose a threat to the Ming Dynasty. The strategic role of Liaodong began to decline significantly.

During the Jiajing period, although the rise of the Mongolian Altan Khanate posed a threat to the Ming Dynasty again, due to financial difficulties, it was difficult for the court to reproduce the large-scale military operations of the early Ming Dynasty and conquer the Mongolian grasslands. The attitude towards Liaodong was also very wavering, and it was no longer able to increase the military strength of Liaodong again.

For the entire northern land, extending all the way to the vast Siberian region of the Arctic Ocean, Wei Guangde certainly knew that the strategic value was huge, especially the extremely rich resources there.

However, in the face of the cruel environment, even Liaodong could not allow the Han people to take root and live, and it was naturally a luxury to continue to expand the territory to the north. Didn’t you see that the northern ethnic groups such as the Jurchens were forced to move south and pray for a piece of land to survive in the border areas of the Ming Dynasty?

It is impossible to build towns and relocate people. Just sending a team of elite soldiers to patrol from time to time, such rule is actually ineffective. No one will be convinced of the territorial rights you claim.

It is still a state of the survival of the fittest. If you want to control an area, you must achieve real rule, and the competition is still fists.

If others come, you must be able to drive them away, and this is your territory.

If you can't beat them, then you can only give up.

Overseas now, the vigorous Age of Exploration launched by Europeans directly divided up the newly discovered continent.

But the division is not a fait accompli.

In fact, in the future, countless wars of all sizes will break out in order to compete for these colonies.

Until the British confirmed their hegemony, such wars gradually decreased.

In Wei Guangde's view, his intervention in Liaodong's business is to create opportunities for the people who migrated there so that they can live a better life.

Only when the people of Liaodong live a prosperous life can they live and work in peace and contentment.

When Prince Yu comes to power, he can try to bring up this matter again, relocate some people to Liaodong again, continue to expand the territory to the north, and slowly swallow up that land step by step.

If you rashly go to a place in the far north to build a big city, the population cannot be attracted, and the soldiers will not be willing to go. At that time, countless military households will inevitably flee.

The current north is really unbearable, and the living conditions are too difficult.

If you want to keep this big city running, you can only invest a lot, but the Ming Dynasty simply does not have such money to expand its territory to the north.

Even if you go north, except for furs and mountain products, there are really not many profitable businesses in this era, and it takes a huge amount of manpower and material resources to transport materials. It is really not worth the loss. No wonder Prince Yu has no interest in the north.

Even if Wei Guangde throws out the reason for expanding the territory, it is still invalid.

Even in later times, the vast Siberian region still has limited development area, because the ecological environment is too bad. Perhaps only the Maozi living at the same latitude can adapt to such an environment.

However, what makes Wei Guangde feel a little relieved is that although Shandong has made connections in the court and asked people to speak for this matter, after all, at this stage, whether it is the Ministry of Revenue or the Ministry of War, the main focus has not yet shifted in this direction.

In Jiangnan, although Zhang Lian was executed, the wave of rebellion that was triggered was higher and higher.

Many bandits in the past quickly expanded their power after seeing Zhang Lian's uprising, and they followed suit. Many of Zhang Lian's old bandits hid in the mountains and forests to avoid the army and then started revolting again. They are already spreading everywhere. What's more, Xinghua Fucheng is still occupied by Japanese pirates.

"Shandai, I heard from my teacher yesterday that Dayou's appointment as the general military officer of Fujian may have to be delayed for a while, and the order will be issued only after taking over Fuxinghua Prefecture."

Wei Guangde was looking through the copied ceremony that had been sent to him in the first two days, and Zhang Juzheng beside him whispered to him.

"Why delay?"

Wei Guangde was a little surprised. This matter had been talked about for a long time, but the decree had not been issued, so naturally it could only be regarded as a rumor.

A few days ago, I got another confirmation from Zhang Juzheng, but I didn't expect to say this again today.

"I heard that in order to conquer Fuxinghua in Fujian, generals such as Liu Xian, Yu Dayou, and Qi Jiguang were sent to lead their troops. At present, Qi Jiguang's troops are still in Zhejiang, and Yu Dayou is still gathering troops. If an order is issued at this time, Generals Liu and Qi were a little embarrassed when Yu Dayou was promoted to Chief Military Officer of Fujian."

Zhang Juzheng explained.

"As for Yu Dayou, he had a letter a few days ago, saying that Ye Huai from Anyuan County, Ganzhou Prefecture, Li Wenbiao from Longnan County and others had gathered to cause trouble. He was about to go back when he returned. I am afraid that this was the reason why he was delayed in taking over Fuxinghua Fucheng."

Wei Guangde nodded and said.

People in Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi continued to gather to make trouble. This was only known from Yu Dayou's letter. Originally, Wei Guangde thought that by annihilating Zhang Lian, Jiangnan would be able to stay in peace for a while.

"By the way, Uncle, I wonder if you know anything about shipping to Jiliao?"

When Wei Guangde said this, he suddenly thought of the news he heard two days ago, so he asked.

"You're talking about this. I know that when there was a famine in Liaodong, the Ministry of Household Affairs requested permission to purchase grain from Denglai, Shandong and other places and send it to Liaodong to stabilize the place."

Zhang Juzheng put down the book in his hand, looked at Wei Guangde and replied.

"I wonder if the cabinet has discussed this matter?"

Wei Guangde asked tentatively.

"You mean Shandong side?"

Xu Jie has now replaced Yan Song, so he naturally has a good understanding of the situation in the DPRK and will know about it as soon as possible. As the successor he selected and trained, Zhang Juzheng is also very well-informed.

Wei Guangde just said the beginning, and he already roughly knew the reason.

Wei Guangde had family members involved in business with Liaodong, and Zhang Juzheng also knew about this.

In fact, in this era, it is not surprising that most officials have someone in their family involved in these side businesses.