Zhu Houzhao arranged three officials in Zhejiang in a row, although they were all only seven-grade petty officials, but they still attracted the attention of the cabinet and the ministers of the six ministries.

What exactly does the emperor want to do?

Soon they knew.

Leopard room, Liang Chu, Jin Gui, Yang Yiqing, and the three ministers are all there.

Zhu Houzhao said straight to the point: "I want to set up a new Hangzhou City Division, what is your opinion?" ”

None of the three immediately objected, because the state was unclear.

Liang Chu asked: "Your Majesty, Zhejiang already has a Ningbo City Shipping Division, why do you want to set up a new Hangzhou Shipping Division?" ”

Zhu Houzhao said: "The Ningzhou City Shipping Division is responsible for Japanese trade, and the newly established Hangzhou Shipping Division is responsible for the trade of the Taixi countries. ”

Liang Chu was still puzzled: "The trade of the Taixi countries is in charge of the Guangzhou Shipping Division." ”

Zhu Houzhao said: "Guangzhou is too far away, and it is not easy to transport goods from Jiangnan. ”

Liang Chu persuaded: "Your Majesty, the two Cantonese merchants are more than enough to trade with the Taixi countries. ”

Zhu Houzhao said: "It's definitely not enough. ”

Liang Chu wanted to persuade again, but Yang Yiqing suddenly asked, "Your Majesty wants to open the sea?" ”

Zhu Houzhao said with a smile: "Only open the sea of Hangzhou, you don't have to panic." ”

"Your Majesty, by all means!"

Prince Liang knelt down directly and begged the emperor not to open the sea, he said: "The sea ban is an ancestral system, and it cannot be easily abolished." ”

This reason is very powerful, and it directly kills all dissent.

Even Zhu Di did not dare to violate the ancestral system, and even enforced the sea ban more strictly.

Zheng He's voyage to the West was not an open sea, it was an official trade.

What is the sea ban?

It is forbidden for private businessmen to go to sea, foreign businessmen are forbidden to come to China, and only Fanbang is allowed to bring some private goods when paying tribute!

Tributaries carry private goods, and there are strict rules. Last year, the North Korean envoy brought too many private goods, and Jin Yiwei went directly to the Huitong Pavilion to block the door, and the North Korean king felt that he had lost face and took the opportunity to carry out factional suppression in North Korea.

Zhu Houzhao asked Yang Yiqing and Jin Gui: "What do you two think about the sea ban?" ”

Yang Yiqing politely objected: "It should be discussed with the Sixth Ministry." ”

Jin Gui said ambiguously: "You still need to be cautious." ”

There are two main reasons why the civilian clique opposes the opening of the sea -

First, the governors of the city are all eunuchs, and they oppose the opening of the sea, which is to suppress the eunuchs. Emperor Hongzhi strengthened the sea ban, and the most important reason was that the eunuchs relied on the city to embezzle too much.

Second, the fear of being cut off from their financial resources, which mainly comes from southern officials.

And the officials in the north have always been indifferent to whether to open the sea or not, and they can't make any money anyway.

Although Yang Yiqing's ancestral home is Yunnan, his household registration is in Guangdong, and his roots are also in Guangdong.

Jin Gui is from Jiangsu, and Liang Chu is from Guangdong.

The three ministers, all from the southern coast, could have supported the opening of the sea?

Zhu Houzhao was very angry and sneered: "What if I insist on going my own way? ”

The three ministers all knelt down and resisted in silence.

Zhu Houzhao said in a weird manner: "Do business, pay attention to the sky-high price, and pay back the money on the ground." I've already made a bid, so you should pay it back. ”

Liang Chu said: "Your Majesty, it's about the community, how can it be child's play? ”

Yang Yiqing suddenly popped out and said: "Your Majesty, if there is no eunuch to supervise the city, you may be able to try to open the sea." ”

When Liang Chu heard this, he immediately turned his head and glared at Yang Yiqing.

The eunuch to supervise the city is made by Zhu Di, and this guy especially likes to reuse eunuchs. Of course, everything went well during his reign, but as soon as he died, the eunuchs jumped up and ate all the profits from the tributary trade.

Zhu Houzhao hesitated, he also wanted to use eunuchs, but Wang Yuan was a little unhappy, and now Yang Yiqing was also resolutely opposed.

Jin Gui is also an imperial party, and when he saw that the emperor did not speak, he immediately echoed: "Your Majesty, if the system of eunuchs and admirals is abolished, the ministers will also support the opening of the sea!" ”

Jin Gui's careful thinking is very simple, it's not that I want to oppose Your Majesty, I'm just against those eunuchs.

Don't blame the civil officials for their attitude of rebelling against the eunuchs, it's really that the eunuchs as a whole can't support the wall. Take the silver mine of the Ming Dynasty as an example, the eunuch must be selected as the mine supervisor, and even the silver mine can give you the whole loss, just talk about how greedy it is!

Wang Yuan was also resolutely opposed to the eunuch Admiral City Bosi, he didn't want to work hard by himself, and in the end, most of the profits from the sea trade went into the eunuch's pocket.

Zhu Houzhao sat there and was silent for a long time, obviously not trusting the civil officials, but believing in his domestic slave - the eunuch.

Only then did Liang Chu feel relieved, and he admired Yang Yiqing's clever methods. Such an attitude did not offend the emperor, but also maintained the imperial court's maritime ban policy.

In the minds of the three of them, Zhu Houzhao would definitely not agree.

Salt, iron, silver, ...... I don't know how many eunuchs have been abolished, and civil officials have always held opposing opinions, but they have not continued to appoint eunuchs for a hundred years.

Zhu Houzhao gritted his teeth, and suddenly clapped his head and said: "Ningbo, Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Hue, and Xinping, these four cities continue to be supervised by eunuchs. The newly established Hangzhou City Bo Division, supervised by Wenchen, temporarily only opened the sea in Hangzhou, and tried it for several years to see the results. No further objections, the matter is settled! Chen Jin, the political envoy of Yunnan Zuobu, was the right deputy imperial envoy and the governor of Hangzhou. ”

Chen Jin is a native of Shanxi, how could he oppose the opening of the sea without the corruption of eunuchs?

Liang Chu, Jin Gui and Yang Yiqing were surprised, and actually sent a right deputy imperial envoy to the Governor City Division, which was too heavy!

"Your Majesty......" Prince Liang still wanted to advise.

"Shut up!"

Zhu Houzhao directly interrupted: "I have said that I will only open the sea in Hangzhou, and it will be implemented for several years to see the results, and if it is difficult to do anything, it will not be too late." ”

The three of them were silent, thinking hard about countermeasures.

During this time, Wang Yuan was choosing helpers, and Zhu Houzhao was naturally not idle. He also said: "Shengdong Changfu is the same as He Jiao, and he is the official of Hangzhou City!" ”

He Jiao was at the time of the feast, pointing at the emperor's nose and scolding the faint monarch.

Zhu Houzhao didn't know when he remembered him, not only did his anger disappear, but now he had promoted He Yao by two levels at once.

Before Liang Chu, Jin Gui, and Yang Yiqing could recover their strength, Zhu Houzhao threw out Wang Bang again: "That is, order Wang Yuan, the right attendant of the military department, the governor of Zhejiang, to give the right to open the mansion, and accompany him with a thousand Shenji battalions as pacesetters!" ”

"Your Majesty!"

The three ministers shouted in panic.

Liang Chu said: "The governor has the right to open the government, and the strength of the pacesetter, I am afraid that it will be the disaster of the Tang Dynasty!" ”

Zhu Houzhao laughed angrily: "It's just a temporary opening of the mansion, and there are only 1,000 pacesetters, if this can form a feudal town, then the officials of the three divisions in the place can all be killed!" I'm not talking to you today, I'm giving orders, so let's go down! ”

Whether it was Wang Yuan's right to open the government and lead the troops as the governor, or the matter of opening the sea for trade, the three ministers refused to cooperate, and they also persuaded the officials of Kedao to advise.

But again, the cabinet during the Zhengde period did not have so much power.

The three of them did not cooperate, Lu Wan, the secretary of the ministry, and Wang Qiong, the secretary of the military department, also cooperated.

Zhu Houzhao directly asked Jiang Bin to speak, vaguely revealing a layer of meaning, as long as Lu Wan cooperated with the opening of the sea, he would be allowed to enter the cabinet after the matter was completed. Lu Wan is a native of Suzhou, in order to cater to the emperor, he didn't even want the interests of the gentry in his hometown, and he also took this opportunity to promote his cronies in the ministry - Mao Cheng, the left servant of the ministry, did not cooperate, and Lu Wan took advantage of the emperor's prestige to change three officials in one go.

The Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of War fully support it, so what is the use of the cabinet opposing it?

Mao Ji, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and Shi Jie, the secretary of the household department, all threatened the emperor with resignation and resolutely opposed these two things. Zhu Houzhao only couldn't see or hear, and those who resigned were not allowed, and they were only stunned.

Even the transfer of border troops into Beijing, Zhu Houzhao can forcibly do it, what else can't he do?

The success or failure of opening the sea is not in the court, but in the place!