Chapter 811 900 Affirmation

Zhu Heng received the letter from Bengshanbao, and there was only half a month left before the Chinese New Year.

In fact, Zhu Heng and Liang Menglong did not have much contact before.

This correspondence was more about the Jiaolai Canal discussed by the court.

Digging the Jiaolai Canal is not a trivial matter. It requires Shandong to raise a lot of manpower and material support. Although the capital will give some funding, the local government will also bear a lot, so it is of course a big deal for Shandong officials.

If the court really digs the canal and does it well, it will be a great achievement for Shandong officials and can be a step for promotion.

However, once it is really dug, the investment will continue to increase during the digging process, resulting in a failure in the end due to lack of money, or after completion, it will not be able to meet the shipping requirements due to insufficient water and cannot be used, which will undoubtedly ruin the future of these officials.

So it is understandable that Liang Menglong is very concerned about this matter. He almost accompanied Hu Guan, the head of the Ministry of Works, in his inspection work, so he knew the results of the inspection very clearly.

He and Hu Guan finally held the same attitude, that is, the cost of digging a new canal is high and difficult to predict, and the most important thing is that the water volume may not meet the needs of navigation.

However, during the inspection, Liang Menglong did not just take care of his own affairs.

The floods caused by the Yellow River in recent years have also affected Shandong, at least the Shandong section of the canal has been suspended.

Northern officials, how could they not know the importance of grain transport.

The food of the capital and the border troops depends on the ships going up and down this canal.

But after following Hu Guan's planning, the Jiaolai Canal seemed to be useless. No wonder it was proposed in the Yuan Dynasty, but was finally abandoned.

But the appearance of the Yellow River, the grain transport could not be delayed, so Liang Menglong calculated and found that since the court was digging a new canal this time, it was intended to let the grain ships go out to sea from Huai'an and sail all the way to Shandong to enter the canal.

Now that the canal cannot be repaired, can't the grain ships bypass Laizhou and directly deliver the grain to Tianjin?

Although the detour would take up a lot of time and increase the cost, it was better than being stuck on the canal. At least the grain could be transported to the capital.

For this reason, he sent people to inquire about the news and learned that there were actually merchant ships running the Tianjin to Haicang route at that time, and there were also merchants in Huai'an sailing to Jiaozhou, and there were also merchant ships from Jiaozhou to Haicang.

What does this show?

It shows that the entire route from Huai'an to Tianjin has actually existed among the people for a long time, and merchants have already transported goods through this route.

The Haicang here is not Haicang in Fujian, but the Haicang Inspection Office west of Laizhou.

In the middle of the Jiajing period, there were salt fields on the coast of the north of Shandong, that is, the coast near Dengzhou and Laizhou.

For this reason, in the middle of the Jiajing period, the Wangxu Fort Guarding Thousand Households was set up nearby, and inspection offices were built in Haicang in the west and Chaihuzhai in the north.

The merchant ships from Tianjin to Haicang were naturally salt merchant ships that mainly traded salt, and the same was true for Jiaozhou to Haicang.

Jiaozhou is located in the south of Shandong. Due to geographical reasons, it is inconvenient to build salt fields. As the territory of Shandong Salt Administration, it is naturally impossible to buy salt from other places, but only local salt from Shandong, so this route was explored.

In fact, these are just sea routes found by the people spontaneously. At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, in order to support the Ming army in Liaodong, 700,000 stones of grain were transported to Liaodong every year, which was transported to Taicang through the Yangtze River waterway, and then loaded on Shanghai ships and directly transported to the Liaodong Peninsula.

For this reason, the Maritime Customs Office was established in Taicang in the early Ming Dynasty.

Taicang is actually the west of Shanghai in later generations, and the two places are close to each other.

Considering the relationship of the times, it is actually the safest and most reliable location for the Ming Dynasty to set up a large port here, and it is definitely not to move the place to Shanghai.

It is particularly noted that Liujiagang in Taicang is actually the starting point of Zheng He's fleet to the West, not in Nanjing.

Of course, Nanjing Treasure Shipyard was the world's largest shipyard at that time. All the treasure ships of Zheng He's fleet were built in Nanjing Treasure Shipyard. Therefore, some people in later generations believe that Nanjing is the starting point of Zheng He's fleet, which is reasonable.

But in fact, every time Zheng He went to sea, he boarded the ship at Liujiagang, Taicang, and replenished supplies and rested personnel here.

Later, considering the safety of Nanjing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, the three customs offices in Ningbo, Quanzhou and Guangzhou were abolished, with Ningbo connecting to Japan, Quanzhou connecting to Ryukyu, and Guangzhou connecting to Champa and Western countries.

Therefore, in Wei Guangde's letter to Zhu Heng, although he actually supported Liang Menglong's proposal to take the route from Huai'an to Tianjin, Wei Guangde directly intercepted a part of the memorial he wrote to Emperor Longqing, that is, to restore Taicang in the early Ming Dynasty as the starting point for the sea transportation of grain.

You should know that in this area, from Taicang and Liuhe in the west to Shanghai in the east, and to Ningbo, Dinghai, Wenzhou and Taizhou in the south, you can anchor sea vessels and conduct overseas trade.

During the Yongle period, Xia Yuanji dredged the ports of Anting and other ports on both sides of the Wusong River to divert the waters of Taihu Lake into Liujia and Baimao ports, so that they can flow directly into the sea.

Songjiang Dahuangpu is the main road to Wusong, which makes the Wusong and Huangpu rivers merge, and the downstream ports are wide and smooth, which is more conducive to sea transportation.

Regarding Wei Guangde's writing about the grand occasion of sea transportation in the early Ming Dynasty in his letter, Tan Lun was a little hesitant at first, but he acquiesced when he thought of Wei Guangde's previous words.

Zhu Heng noticed the words in Wei Guangde's letter and vaguely sensed Wei Guangde's intention. However, the court's maritime ban policy has not been relaxed. Although Yuegang is allowed to open the sea, other local officials and merchants have asked the court for permission to emulate Yuegang, but they have encountered huge resistance in the court.

Even Emperor Longqing, who received tens of thousands of taels of silver every year, showed little interest in continuing to open and develop the port at this time.

The reason is that the development of Yuegang is extremely limited, and there are strict restrictions on ship routes and numbers. Therefore, Emperor Longqing cannot see much money coming in. In addition, now that the Japanese pirates have been almost surrounded and suppressed, naturally there is no original interest.

Of course Wei Guangde is aware of these problems, but he is often unable to change them.

Think about it, at the beginning of the first year of Longqing, Emperor Longqing issued the decree to open the sea, but Fujian and the imperial household department continued to argue over the details of the sea opening.

If it weren't for Tu Zemin's compromise, I don't know whether the negotiations between the two places would have continued until the Wanli Year.

In other words, after Wei Guangde realized the opposition forces in the DPRK, opening a gap became the most important step.

As for the gradual expansion in the future, we still have to wait for opportunities.

Even if huge concessions were made, the final implementation of the policy had to wait until the end of Long Qingyuan.

If it weren't for the maritime merchants who couldn't wait to prepare enough goods, it would have been impossible for ships to go out to sea for trade.

Although he was worried about Wei Guangde's meaning, Zhu Heng still understood the meaning of the letter between Wei Guangde and Tan Lun, which was to support the matter, but he hoped that Shandong Liang Menglong would take the initiative to report and undertake the trial mission.

Yes, even if the court agrees, how to implement it is also a troublesome matter.

There is actually a big difference in whether it is handled by Huai'an, Nanzhili, or by other yamen.

For example, if you let the Caoyun Yamen take charge of this matter, I'm afraid it might drag you on for ten or twenty years.

And since this matter was proposed by Liang Menglong, he naturally had the initiative and would actively coordinate the matter.

In any case, sailing on the sea is risky, and no other yamen will take the initiative to take on this job.

If it is done, it will offend the water transport interest groups.

If you don't do it well, you will be reprimanded by the court. It is not a good deal no matter how you calculate it.

Immediately, Zhu Heng wrote to Liang Menglong, expressing his intention, supporting Liang Menglong's memorial, trying to transport grain by sea, and sent people to rush to Shandong.

Finally, at the end of the fifth year of Longqing's reign, before the government sealed the yamen, Liang Menglong's memorial arrived.

Liang Menglong, the censor of the governor of Shandong, and Wang Zongmu, the envoy to the left of Shandong, and others jointly submitted the "Sea Transport Discussion", which suddenly shocked the court officials who were gradually lazily waiting for the New Year. No one expected that there would be a meeting near the end of the year. There is such a big drama.

"Uncle, what do you think?"

In the cabinet, only Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng were left. After receiving Liang Menglong's memorial, Gao Gong was quite moved.

He had no choice but to take action. As the chief minister of the cabinet, he had spent too much energy on water transportation, and the imperial government's finances were also exhausted by ineffective water control. If he did not think of a way to solve the problem of water transportation to the north, the capital I'm afraid there will be chaos.

"Menglong's words are reasonable. Since merchant boats can travel in Huai'an, Laizhou, Tianjin and other places, naturally cano boats can also do it.

As he said in his memorial, the river transport is the main transport and the sea is the backup transport. This can just avoid the Yellow River floods, and the grain can no longer be intercepted at the Huai'an line and cannot go north. "

Zhang Juzheng had already read this memorial and was very moved by the method proposed by Liang Menglong.

No matter what your position is, when you enter the cabinet, you will be more concerned about the stability of the country and peace in the world. Ensuring the safe transportation of grain to the north is a very important link.

"Then let him try?"

Gao Gong looked at Zhang Juzheng and asked.

"I think it's feasible. According to his wishes, he can ask someone to allocate food for a trial voyage to see how it works."

Zhang Juzheng met Gao Gong's gaze and said.

"Sea transport."

Gao Gong did not nod in agreement as Zhang Juzheng suspected, but muttered these two words, as if lost in memories.

In fact, Zhang Juzheng had already approved the memorial when he saw it, and he judged that Gao Gong would not object, probably because when the sea was originally discussed, Gao Gong only hesitated but did not object.

Moreover, in Zhang Juzheng's memory, there had actually been discussions about opening up sea transportation in Yuzhu very early, and the opening up school was the absolute mainstream. This was also the reason why Emperor Longqing agreed to try to open a port in the first year of Longqing.

"When I was still in Yuzhuan and I had just joined the Ministry of Rites, Jia Shangshu strongly supported maritime transportation. It was also because of him that the maritime transportation to Jiliao was started."

Gao Gong spoke slowly.

"oh."

Zhang Juzheng followed him habitually and stopped talking, waiting for Gao Gong to continue.

"I remember that Shandai also strongly supported this matter at that time. He was the first to propose the opening of Yuegang."

Gao Gong continued.

"It seems that Shandai is very fond of shipping. I have long heard that he has a good relationship with Liaodong merchants. Their ginseng, deer antlers and furs are sent to the capital. They choose the best ones and send them to his house. The goods are also all Only companies that have a good relationship with him can receive it.”

Zhang Juzheng heard Gao Gong mention Wei Guangde and immediately gave him eye drops.

Anyway, Wei Guangde is not here now, and what he said was not made up, it was all true.

"He has always been pro-maritime."

Gao Gong finally nodded at this time, "In fact, he thinks that the policy of banning the sea should be completely abolished, starting with Moon Harbor and gradually opening it up."

Zhang Juzheng had not known what Gao Gong said before.

Although the two have discussed shipping, they mostly consider shipping as an alternative.

What Gao Gong is saying now is actually the content of the memorial written by Wei Guangde that he saw in Emperor Longqing.

Wei Guangde guessed correctly. Emperor Longqing would discuss his memorials with the Prime Minister and his trusted ministers. In the past, he discussed them with Gao Gong, Xu Jie and others alone. Later, after Gao Gong left, he discussed them with Xu Jie, Li Chunfang and others.

In fact, Wei Guangde, Chen Yiqin and others did not see through Emperor Longqing. When Emperor Longqing was thinking about a problem, Wei Guangde's proposals were generally not discussed with Chen Yiqin, Yin Shizun and others, but with Xu Jie, Li Chunfang and others.

And Xu, Li and others' proposals were discussed with Chen Yiqin, Wei Guangde and others.

Emperor Longqing was very good at using the relationship between ministers with different political views to fully analyze and discuss the proposals, which was not to listen to one side.

Of course, if everyone had different opinions in the end, he would choose to keep them.

This is also the main reason why Wei Guangde said that he had handed over several memorials to Emperor Longqing, but there was no response in the end.

In fact, many of his suggestions were not recognized by Xu Jie, Li Chunfang and others, or were only partially recognized.

"This is against the ancestral system."

After Gao Gong finished talking about some of Wei Guangde's proposals, Zhang Juzheng frowned slightly and said.

"Yes, that's why your majesty didn't accept it at the beginning."

Gao Gong said, "But I didn't expect that the court is now forced into a desperate situation. It seems that sea transportation is not possible."

"When the sea transportation was used to save Liao, why didn't the grain and grass go to Liaoxi, but by sea?"

Zhang Juzheng asked.

When Yu Ji discussed this matter, Zhang Juzheng had not yet entered the Prince Yu's Mansion, so of course he was not included in it.

Xu Jie knew it, but it was also conveyed by Gao Gong.

"Land transportation has always been inconvenient and costly.

It is true that as Shangshu Jia and Shandai said, sea transportation takes a short time and costs very little.

So I now accept Menglong's words. The route from Huai'an to Tianjin, regardless of whether the Yellow River is flooded, must be mastered by the court in case of emergency.

Tomorrow I will ask to see Your Majesty. According to Shandai's suggestion, a certain amount of grain will be transported by sea every year in the future to ensure that the grain soldiers are familiar with the route."

Wei Guangde didn't know that what Xu Jie and Li Chunfang had said was unnecessary would actually be supported by Gao Gong.

The cabinet has already set the tone, but the outer court doesn't know.

However, because Liang Menglong's memorial said that private merchants were taking this route, many opposing officials lost an important reason for opposition, that is, the risk of sea transportation.

In fact, the court officials who have read Liang Menglong's memorial at this time are half in support and half in opposition, and some are deadlocked.

After all, the transportation of grain has become an important part of the stability of the north. The method proposed by Liang Menglong can just solve the transportation problem, so naturally there are many people who agree with it.

In the evening, after the news came out in the cabinet that Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng both held a positive attitude, although the wind direction did not change immediately, the voices of opposition also became smaller.