At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, following the system of the Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties, the tributary trade policy controlled and managed by the government was continued. The tributary trade led to continuous losses, so that "the treasury is empty", which brought an increasingly heavy financial burden to the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang believed that the foundation of the Ming Dynasty was agriculture, and the output value of agriculture was enough to feed the Ming Dynasty.

The people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and even the foreign merchant groups living in Quanzhou at that time, had assisted Zhang Shicheng, Fang Guozhen and others to compete with them for the world, which made Zhu Yuanzhang afraid of maritime trade.

The high degree of concentration of power under the feudal system has caused many interesting phenomena, and there are many major policies of the country, which are really decided by just a thought of the monarch.

It was even decided because the sovereign's insight was limited.

In response to the rampant private overseas trade and the rampant Japanese pirates, Ming Taizu established a policy of strict prohibition.

He felt that a big agricultural country like Daming didn't matter whether it was close to the sea or not.

Not only will it not increase the tax much, but it will also bring endless trouble, so it is better to simply ban it.

Soon after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, there was a major case of the so-called Hu Weiyong's "treason".

The node of this major case is that Hu Weiyong secretly colluded with the Japanese in a vain attempt to overthrow the Ming regime and establish himself as king.

Although later historians have questioned this conclusion, the Japanese as an external force that threatened the Ming Dynasty at that time should not be underestimated.

During this period, Japan entered the Warring States Period, and many Japanese ronin wandered along the coast of China, engaged in piracy activities, and frequently attacked the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty.

Since the Yuan Dynasty, it has long been recorded that the Japanese are troubled, and at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Japan was still "not subject to the king, and it was as stubborn as ever".

The Ming Dynasty sent an envoy Zhao Zhi to his monarch, but what was unexpected was that the Japanese emperor actually played to Zhao Zhi and killed him.

Liao Yongzhong, a general who had marched to recover Hainan, suggested to Zhu Yuanzhang that he completely eliminate the Japanese and strengthen coastal defense.

So, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an ultimatum to Japan: "Although Japan is really deceitful, it secretly collaborates with the adulterous minister Hu Weiyong, and plots to do wrong, so it is absolutely avoided." Ordered to believe in the national public soup and the coastal area, equipment to prevent the Japanese. At the same time, in order to prevent the coastal traitors from colluding with the Japanese bandits, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered that the pieces should not go to the sea, and the common people were forbidden to go to sea without permission.

Ming Taizu's order that "not an inch is allowed to go to the sea" was a maritime ban policy formulated at the beginning of the establishment of the Ming Dynasty to curb Chinese foreign exchanges.

In the third year of Hongwu, the Ming government "dismissed Taicang Huangdu City". In the seventh year of Hongwu, the Ming government ordered the abolition of the three cities of Quanzhou in Fujian, Mingzhou in Zhejiang, and Guangzhou in Guangdong, which had existed since the Tang Dynasty and were responsible for overseas trade, and China's foreign trade was cut off.

In the fourteenth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang "did not collect his footprints with the Japanese and the Japanese, and ordered to prohibit the people of the coastal sea from smuggling with overseas countries".

Since then, even the countries of Southeast Asia that have been on good terms with the Ming Dynasty have not been able to come to China for trade and cultural exchanges.

In the twenty-third year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang once again issued the "Ban on Foreign Domain Traffic Order". In the 27th year of Hongwu, in order to completely ban overseas trade, it was forbidden for the people to use and trade imported incense and goods.

In the thirtieth year of Hongwu, he again issued an order prohibiting the Chinese from going to the sea.

In the Yongle period of Ming Chengzu, because Emperor Yongle seized the throne of his nephew Emperor Jianwen by force, and Emperor Jianwen's whereabouts are unknown.

As a result, the Yongle Emperor organized a powerful seafaring team, led by Zheng He, the eunuch of the Three Treasures, to make seven voyages to the Western Ocean, declaring the majesty of the Ming Empire to the countries bordering the Indian Ocean, so that they did not dare to hide Emperor Jianwen.

Zheng He's voyage to the West has long been regarded as a pioneering achievement in the history of Chinese navigation, but Zheng He's seven voyages to the West did not bring much economic benefit to the Ming Dynasty at that time, but instead increased the economic burden of the Ming Dynasty through this system of tribute.

In order to prevent the coastal people from entering the sea for trade, the Ming Dynasty law stipulated severe punishment methods: "If the traitors and tyrants and the military and civilians build illegal ships of more than three masts without permission, they will take the prohibited goods to the sea, go to the country to buy and sell, sneak into the pirates, conspire to gather, and plunder the good people as a guide, and the offender will be punished according to his own law, and still show the head to the public, and the whole family will send border guards to fill the army." It builds the sea ships mentioned in the previous paragraph, sells them to those who make profits, and compares them with those who will go to sea with forbidden weapons, so they leak the law of military affairs, behead those who are the leaders, and send the border to fill the army for the servants."

The Ming government also did not let go of the residents who participated in the buying and selling of foreign goods, "Those who dare to have a private mutual market must be put on the heavy law, and all incense and goods are not allowed to be sold, and the existing ones are limited to three months." ”

Under the guidance of this erroneous policy, the Ming government abolished Changguo County in the 19th year of Hongwu, and in the 20th year, the residents of Zhoushan Island and outside the town were moved inland by advocating two miles away and the residents of other 46 mountain islands.

Originally, Ming Taizu hoped that the maritime ban policy would play a decisive role in the consolidation of coastal defense.

However, since the direct targets of the maritime ban policy were the subjects and not the anti-Ming forces at sea, it not only failed to become an effective means of coastal defense, but even intensified some contradictions in the coastal areas.

The people of the coastal areas depend on the sea for their livelihood and life, or engage in fishery production or maritime trade.

Ming Taizu's strict ban on transportation to foreign vassals blocked the normal livelihood of the people in the coastal areas. Xinguo Gongtang and inspected the coastal cities of Zhejiang and Fujian, and forbade people to enter the sea to fish. They had no choice but to rise up and fight.

In May of the second year of Jiajing, two tributary missions of the Japanese vassal lords broke out in Ningbo over the issue of tribute qualifications, resulting in many innocent soldiers and civilians being killed or taken captive.

After that, the rulers of the Ming Dynasty believed that the Japanese plague originated from the city, so they stopped it, and closed the tribute road to Japan, and implemented a more severe maritime ban policy. Therefore, the imperial court accepted the suggestion and blockaded the coastal ports, destroyed the ships going to sea, and cut off sea traffic.

Under the policy of strict maritime ban, private overseas trade was regarded as illegal, and they were forced to embark on the path of abnormal development, that is, forced to turn into smuggling and armed smuggling, and some large armed smuggling groups at sea appeared.

During the Jiajing period, Wang Zhi, the leader of the largest armed smuggling syndicate, became the recognized leader of many smuggling syndicates, and "all of them obeyed the command" of the 36 islands, with hundreds of thousands of people, first called "King Jinghai", then "King Hui", and even "called Gu in the south".

The Ming Dynasty launched a military attack on these armed smuggling groups, and the smuggling groups united and used the Japanese Japanese to confront them, thus causing the so-called "Japanese Rebellion" that lasted for more than 40 years in Jiajing.

In fact, the rebellion was the inevitable result of the policy of strictly prohibiting non-governmental overseas trade, and it was in the nature of a struggle between prohibition and anti-prohibition.

The rebellion of the Japanese invaders was fought repeatedly, and even the more they struck, the more intense they became, so that the Ming Dynasty consumed a lot of troops and material resources, and was tired of coping, which became a major trouble.

During this period, the policy of strictly prohibiting non-governmental and private overseas trade was very backward, ran counter to the requirements of social and economic development, and violated the interests of the broad masses of the people, especially the people in the southeastern coastal areas, and caused huge losses to the normal social and economic development of the Ming Dynasty, especially the southeastern coastal areas, and seriously hindered the normal economic and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries.

After Sejong's death, Mujong succeeded to the throne and began to adjust the policy of strictly prohibiting private overseas trade.

In the first year of Longqing, Tu Zemin, the governor of Fujian, wrote to say, "Please open the market, and the smugglers will be public sellers." In the same year, the Longqing Emperor announced the lifting of the sea ban, adjusted the overseas trade policy, and allowed private people to sell the east and west oceans, known as the "Longqing switch" in history.

Private overseas trade has gained legal status, and non-governmental overseas trade in various parts of the southeast coast has entered a new period.

The Ming Dynasty had a relatively comprehensive opening up.

The Yuegang of Zhangzhou, Fujian Province was opened, and Haicheng County was established with the Yuegang as the governing office, and the Governor's Office was set up to manage private overseas trade and collect taxes.

The contents of the supervision and management of private overseas trade mainly include: ships going to sea for trade are not allowed to carry prohibited items; The shipowner receives the ship guide from the Governor's Office and pays the introduction tax. In addition, trade with Japan is still prohibited, and all ships going to sea are not allowed to go to Japan. If you go without permission, you will be punished with the crime of "forbidging the widow".

Although there are still many regulations and restrictions, and the open Moon Port is only a small port, private overseas trade has been recognized by the imperial court after all, and as long as the government's administrative restrictions are observed, private overseas trade is considered a legal operation.

The opening up of Longqing enabled nongovernmental and private overseas trade to get rid of the illegal situation of smuggling, and began to develop openly and conditionally and normally, and quickly played a positive role.

At the beginning of Longqing, only in Yuegang, "the money traded, there are hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, and both public and private dependence", and the results are obvious.

At that time, the products of the Ming Dynasty, such as silk fabrics, porcelain, tea, ironware, etc., were widely welcomed by countries around the world, and many countries lacked famous and high-quality goods to meet the domestic needs of the Ming Dynasty, so they had to pay for the goods purchased in silver, resulting in a large amount of silver flowing into the Ming Dynasty.

In the original history, in the 72 years from the first year of Mingshenzong Wanli to the seventeenth year of Mingsizong Chongzhen, the silver dollars imported into the Ming Dynasty from Portugal, Spain, Japan and other countries were at least more than 100 million taels!

It effectively promoted the development of the domestic commodity economy and social economy in the Ming Dynasty, promoted the improvement of people's livelihood and social progress, and also provided an opportunity and stage for Chinese merchants in the Ming Dynasty to actively participate in the East Asia and Pacific trade circle that had been established at that time.

The sea ban at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty was introduced as a defense strategy for the new dynasty to gain an unstable foothold, and the sea ban after the fourteenth year of Hongwu became a by-product of the suspicious Ming Taizu to eliminate political opponents and prevent collusion at home and abroad. The strict prohibition in the 30 years of Hongwu set a bad example for later generations of Zhu Ming monarchs.

The Ming Dynasty's maritime ban policy seriously affected the main source of central finance in the Ming Dynasty, but at the same time, it also protected the safety of the people in the border sea to a certain extent.

The Battle of Tuen Mun and the Battle of Sai Cao Wan in the middle and late Ming Dynasty were the first naval military conflicts between modern Western countries against China, and the root cause of the conflict was the irreconcilable contradiction between the colonial expansion of modern Western countries and the tributary trade and maritime ban policy of the Ming Dynasty.

In the Ming Dynasty, the sea ban not only did not stop the common people, but the coastal people broke through the sea ban and blockade and went to the sea to engage in smuggling trade activities.

Under the long-term restrictions of the Ming Dynasty's authoritarian policy of banning the sea, non-governmental overseas trade activities entered a difficult path of development.

In order to crack down on private trade, the Ming Dynasty imposed a sea ban at the beginning of its establishment, and Sino-foreign trade lost its normal channel; In order to achieve the government's control over overseas trade, the Ming court also vigorously developed the official tributary trade, and the city shipping department uniformly purchased the goods attached to the mission, so as to monopolize the profits of the tributary trade.

The combination of tributary trade and maritime ban in the Ming Dynasty formed a special official trade monopoly system in the Ming Dynasty - the tributary trade system.

The ban on the sea restricted the normal livelihood of coastal people, and in the early days, the quality of the hemp fishing nets was very poor, requiring three days of fishing and two days of drying the nets, and the poor food storage technology, so few people "went to sea" to fish, even if they were not allowed to go to sea.

Positioning, astrological signs, fishing news, meteorology, and wind signs were all big problems in the early days, and sailing to Taiwan was a matter of life and death, not a matter that ordinary fishermen could handle, and a slightly larger tonnage sailboat was not something that individuals could afford, so at that time, most of them used the rising and low tides to engage in coastal fishing with Shihu, Chinese fishing nets, cormorants, sampans, etc.

Although the civil trade was banned in the Ming Dynasty's official ships, Nanyang ships, and county ships were not banned, and the civil coastal ships were only forced to change to flat-bottomed ships that were not conducive to long-distance voyages and strictly forbidden to build brigs, the coastal ships of the Ming Dynasty were really banned for a short time, strictly speaking, there was never a ban on offshore ships, only ocean-going ships were regulated, but they could effectively stop the outflow of food because of the greed of unscrupulous merchants for Oriental silver, and the migration of contraband such as copper and copper money, resulting in unstable domestic prices and high prices of rice and other necessities for people's livelihood, and even caused a food crisis.

Although the purpose of the ban is to prevent smuggling and crack down on piracy, in fact, it is the local fishing industry and domestic coastal trade that are really being hit, and the activities of pirates and smugglers are becoming more rampant because of the existence of the sea ban, which has a rather negative impact on the social and economic development of China and its neighboring countries.

Throughout the reign of the Ming Dynasty, the "sea ban" has always been the basic policy of the Ming government towards the sea, not only the overseas private trade of the ocean nature was prohibited, but the Ming government even did not allow the people to engage in fishing and coastal trade.

In fact, only the coastal boats or sampans of the Tan family and fishermen, in the Ming Dynasty never disappeared, until the Qing Dynasty's sea relocation order, so it is suspected of exaggeration, in the early Ming Dynasty because of Lan Yu's "collusion with foreign forces, conspiracy to overthrow the Ming Dynasty" to strengthen the coastal defense and strict sea ban, there is information only existed for five years, if there is no sea transport capacity at all, it is impossible to suspect that Emperor Jianwen may have fled overseas by boat after the Jingjing, let alone the seven voyages to the South Seas after the ancestor.

Wei Bao does carpentry work.

Zhu Youxiao, Wei Zhongxian, Feng Quan, and Ke Baba chatted on the side.

"I've heard of the Manila galleon, but I haven't heard of the ironclad, Grandpa Wei, have you heard of it?" Zhu Youxiao asked.

Wei Zhongxian shook his head: "The old slave hasn't heard of it. ”

"Feng Aiqing, have you heard of it?" Zhu Youxiao asked Feng Quan again.

Feng Quan naturally hadn't heard of it, shook his head and said: "The minister hasn't heard of it, it must be a new trick that Tanhualang came up with by himself, if there is any practical use, it is impossible for the minister not to have heard of it." We only have a little overseas trade in Yuegang in the Ming Dynasty, Fujian's sailors are mostly used to exterminate the Japanese around Fujian, and Denglai sailors are mostly used to meet the overseas Mao Wenlong, and our Ming court does not have many ship fancies, and it is still dominated by treasure ships. ”

Zhu Youxiao nodded.

"I don't know what model Master Wei made, is it pretending, or can it ensure that it will not sink after entering the water? Can you stand firm in the water like a real boat? "Feng Quan said: 'Your Majesty, if you can't stand steadily in the water, you just pretend to be like it, you can't count, right?'

Feng Quan saw that Wei Bao was really good at carpentry, and began to look for other breakthroughs, in short, he wanted to rely on the gambling contract of 100,000 taels of gold and being a slave for life.

"Didn't Your Majesty say that just now? Master Wei has proven that he can do carpentry, and he has already won. Since Master Wei wants to build a ship, such a complex craft will definitely not be finished today, and it can be continued tomorrow, how? You still want Lord Wei to launch the built ship today, and ah, Lord Wei said that it was a model, of course, it was put out for ornamentation, why did you launch it? Do you want to be able to stand up after entering the water? Kebaba was displeased, and spoke for Wei Bao again.

Feng Quan frowned, unconvinced, and wanted to contradict Kebaba, but he didn't have the courage.

Zhu Youxiao saw Feng Quan's thoughts, and said with a smile: "Otherwise, Feng Aiqing, you will admit defeat and forget it, I will intercede with Wei Aiqing for you, you will have less gold, as for being a slave." ”

Before Zhu Youxiao finished speaking, he was interrupted by Kebaba, "Your Majesty, isn't this fair?" If Lord Wei really doesn't know how to do carpentry, then will Lord Feng let him go? How can you admit defeat after all the things you just said? Isn't that a lie? The two of them put up a post in front of His Majesty and set up a note, which is not only a matter for the two of them, but also related to His Majesty's integrity, and His Majesty's integrity is the majesty of the Ming Dynasty, how can it be changed. ”

This time, Zhu Youxiao had nothing to say, and asked Wei Bao: "Wei Aiqing, Feng Aiqing asked if the boat you made can be launched?" ”

Wei Bao said: "Your Majesty, the model made by Weichen can be launched!" It's made entirely according to the model of the entity! A real ironclad ship, a hundred meters long! 20 meters wide! Six meters of draft! The model made by Weichen is twenty times smaller, 5 meters long and 1 meter wide, and the inner structure cannot be fully made, but the backbone frame is all simulated, not only that, but after it is done, it is also covered with iron armor and uses steam power! The minister can let this boat go from one end of the lake to the other side of the lake without a driver! During this period, people shot with arrows and smashed with stones, and the ironclad ship was still fearless! If it is made in kind, it is enough to raise the waves of thousands of miles and raise the prestige of the Ming Emperor on the sea! ”

"So magical? What is Steam Power? I haven't heard of it either, have I? You don't need someone to take a stance, you can walk by yourself? Can you go from one end of the lake to the other side of the lake? From one end of the lake to the other, it's a thousand meters! Not afraid of arrows? Not afraid of being stoned? The more Zhu Youxiao listened, the more amazing he felt.

Kebaba exclaimed: "If this is the case, the real ship is much more powerful than the largest treasure ship of the Ming Dynasty!" The Yangtze River and the Yellow River can also swim casually, right? ”

Wei Zhongxian and Feng Quan were shocked.

Feng Quan's frightening point was that he heard Wei Bao say this, as if Wei Bao had already made this kind of ship?

Wei Bao has never made a physical object, but he has indeed made this kind of model, so he is so sure!

Now Weijiazhuang is indeed using an ironclad ship, but the wooden core, covered with ironclad, is all imitated from the Zhenyuan ship he brought!

Of course, with the current level of ironmaking in southern Liaoning, it has not yet reached the standard of steelmaking, let alone the creation of a real ironclad ship with an all-steel structure!

In that case, a few ironclad ships can allow Wei Bao to fight from one side of the earth to the other side of the earth.

If the steel technology keeps up, the artillery and muskets are all out of the question, and they will also develop a hair, directly armed with 10,000 people, and easily sweep the earth if the logistics can keep up.

Of course, Wei Bao is not a scientist, and he can't make a big leap in steel technology, let alone gun technology.

Some of the knowledge he has mastered has already been contributed.

Wei Bao is now at most speeding up the social development under his command, and he is constantly stimulating social and economic development, nothing more.

As for the speed at which Weijiazhuang, Liaonan, and the areas controlled by Wei Bao in North Korea can develop, it is not up to Wei Bao to grasp.

The main ones are Weijiazhuang and Liaonan, North Korea Weibao did not spend much energy, let alone let people invest money in North Korea, North Korea is just a secondary market in Weijiazhuang and Liaonan.

Wei Bao followed history and only regarded Korea as a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.

The vassal state is subordinate, but it is still different from the actual ontology.

Therefore, Wei Bao's attitude towards Jiannu has always been very friendly, as long as Jiannu does not mess around, Wei Bao will not take the initiative to mobilize his own forces to fight Jiannu.

Wei Bao sees the Northeast as a part of the Ming Dynasty!

This is true both in history and in the habits he developed in later generations.

Wei Zhongxian's frightening point is that Wei Zhongxian is a very clever person, and he has vaguely felt why Wei Bao wants to build a boat for the emperor to see, in fact, Wei Bao can win this bet by making a wooden basin bucket or something.

Wei Zhongxian vaguely felt that Wei Bao was not only trying to win the bet, but also to get closer to the emperor and guide the emperor's thinking to a more open place.

Wei Zhongxian was secretly worried, and felt that Wei Bao must not be allowed to get close to the emperor again, Wei Bao is handsome and chic, eloquent, eloquent, able to speak, and good at figuring out the emperor's thoughts, let Wei Bao come for a few more days, I am afraid that he will become the only big celebrity around the emperor, and even squeeze his position away.

This is not the end, Wei Bao has already shown a strong power trick, and in a short period of time, he has completely controlled the Duchayuan and Dali Temple, and even, the officers of the Duchayuan and Dali Temple can challenge Jinyiwei!

The official positions sold from Wei Bao's hands, even if they do not include the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Dali Temple, there are at least four or five hundred people!

How many people are there in the entire Beijing officialdom? More than 10,000 people.

If this development continues for a long time, in less than a year, even if Wei Bao is still only a fifth-grade official, Wei Bao's control will surpass that of Shoufu, and he will even be able to keep pace with him Wei Zhongxian.

Wei Zhongxian didn't want to see his power replaced by others, so he fell into deep anxiety.

However, Wei Zhongxian is much more sophisticated and calm than Feng Quan, and seeing that Kebaba defends Wei Bao so much, he did not rashly release arrows at Wei Bao, and was ready to persuade Kebaba first, don't let Kebaba help Wei Bao, and then design a pit and bury Wei Bao!

In short, from this moment on, Wei Zhongxian was really murderous towards Wei Bao.

Wei Zhongxian needs someone with the ability to help him, but Feng Quan's half a load of water is enough, and Wei Zhongxian doesn't need someone who is too powerful, such as Wei Bao.

Zhu Youxiao watched Wei Bao's carpenter's work and stood beside Wei Bao.

I saw Wei Bao drawing drawings while selecting materials.

This made Zhu Youxiao nod frequently after reading it, he felt that Wei Bao's drawings were very different from the drawings he drew, Wei Bao's drawings could be understood at a glance, and they were very formal, and the sizes in various places were clearly marked.

The drawings drawn by Zhu Youxiao were all learned from the old carpenters, and most of them relied on a look in their hearts, so they followed the carpenter, and they had to learn for several years in this era before they could barely get started.

Unlike Wei Bao with a modern set of formalized, systematic operation process, modern training of a technical school student, half a year can go to metalworking internship, and then a few months to work, if you learn a carpenter to take a few years to get started, how to adapt to the modern fast-paced life, so adapt to the huge labor needs of the factory?

Zhu Youxiao's hands were itchy, and he also took a pen and paper to draw a picture, he wanted to build a model Manila galleon.

The Manila galleon is a kind of wooden sailing ship that sailed between Manila in the Philippines and Acapulco in Mexico during the 250 years from the second half of the 16th century to the beginning of the 19th century.

Since the cargo of the Manila galleon mainly came from China, mainly Chinese raw silk and silk, which were popular all over the world at that time, the Mexicans directly called the Manila galleon Chinese ship.

Zhu Youxiao had seen Manila galleons, but he was originally only interested in buildings for enjoyment, and had little interest in these practical ones.

Because of the practical things, they have nothing to do with Zhu Youxiao's court life.

The reason why Zhu Youxiao thought of building a model Manila galleon instead of building a model Daming treasure ship was mainly because he felt that Wei Bao was a northerner and should not have the opportunity to see this kind of Western-style galleon, which was a little tricky.

"Wei Aiqing, have you ever seen a Manila ship?" Zhu Youxiao asked.

Wei Bao has not seen it, but he has heard of it, he has seen it in books and on TV, but he said: "I haven't seen it, but Weichen heard that it is the main ship of the Spanish trade with our Ming Dynasty, right?" ”

"Not bad!" Zhu Youxiao was even more happy when he heard that Wei Bao had never seen a Manila galleon, "I built a Manila galleon to compare with your ironclad ship, so as not to be lonely for you to do alone." ”

Wei Bao looked very happy: "That dare is good, and having His Majesty by your side is a blessing for Weichen." ”

"Why weren't you accompanying me?" Zhu Youxiao smiled, in a very good mood: "I hope that Aiqing will know everything about me in the future, and tell me more about what you know and think." ”