The ministers were most concerned about what would be beneficial to the Ming Dynasty in concluding a peace treaty with Spain.

Yes, there has been progress, and he has begun to care about the national interests of the Ming Dynasty, instead of putting on the face and etiquette of the Heavenly Empire at every turn, Zhu Youzhen laughed secretly.

The ministers did not have the vision of later generations, and the Ming Dynasty imposed a ban on the sea for more than 200 years, so that the Han people, who were already introverted, could only see the land, but turned a blind eye to the vast sea, and they were not used to seeing the Xiyi from the sea.

The Europeans of this era are still relatively proud, they rely on advanced science and technology, developed economy, and strong military to set off all kinds of bloody storms in the world, brutally exploiting, oppressing and even killing the indigenous people in various places.

If the Ming Dynasty concluded a peace treaty with Spain, he would be able to gain the respect of the Spaniards, and in the future, other European countries, and be able to truly live with them as equals, whether as friends or enemies.

Zhu Youzhen couldn't say such a thing at the cabinet meeting, he took a porcelain bowl from the eunuch beside him, "This is an ordinary porcelain bowl bought from the bazaar, guess his price." ”

"Price?" These high-ranking officials don't care about specific housework on weekdays, and they have housekeepers and wives to take care of them, so how can they know the price of an ordinary porcelain bowl.

"I tell you that one tael of silver can buy two hundred of these porcelain bowls," Zhu Youzhen's gaze swept over the faces of the ministers one by one, and such a price obviously did not intimidate them, "But do you know the price of this kind of porcelain bowl in Spain?" ”

“……”

I don't even know the price of the porcelain bowl in Kyoshi, who knows the price in Spain? Before the South Seas War, they had basically never heard of Spain as a country.

"I tell you again that in Spain, one tael of silver can buy eight porcelain bowls, but in England, one tael of silver can only buy five porcelain bowls." The price of the porcelain bowl, Zhu Youzhen is not nonsense, this is Tabora told Zheng Zhilong, originally this is a commercial secret, but in order to convince Zhu Youzhen, in order to convince the cabinet ministers, he said the huge price difference between the East and the West.

"Is this true?" Even Huang Liji couldn't believe it, this was dozens of times the profit.

"(3)dǐng(3)diǎn(3)小(3)語,.≡.≈os_(); Of course it is true, this kind of porcelain bowl, once transported to the West, is dozens of times the profit, otherwise, who is willing to take a huge risk and go all the way to Daming to do business? ”

"Your Majesty, it turns out that overseas trade has such a high profit? Is the tax rate of 15 taxes too low? Huang Shijun immediately thought of the issue of taxation.

"Of course, these huge profits are now monopolized by Westerners," Zhu Youzhen waved his hand, "If the merchants of the Ming Dynasty can directly participate in the trade between the East and the West, they will get a share of the huge profits, and the taxes of the imperial court will also increase appropriately." ”

"Your Majesty, when porcelain is transported to the West, it will generate huge profits, but what about silk? What about tea? Is it also dozens of times the profit? Foreign Minister Fang immediately thought of other goods.

"Fang Aiqing said well, not only silk, tea, but almost all the goods of the Ming Dynasty, once they are transported to the West, it will be a huge profit."

The court suddenly seemed to be fried, and the ministers talked about it, and they used this place as a vegetable market.

Zhu Youzhen didn't stop them, what he wanted was such an effect.

"But, Your Majesty, it is said that Daming is not only separated from the sea, but also tens of thousands of miles away, can Daming's goods be safely sent to the Western Ocean?" Huang Liji still has some questions.

"Merchants have their own merchants' methods, Western merchants can come to Daming, can't Ming merchants go to the West?" Zhu Youzhen saw that the ministers were gradually quieting down, and continued: "If the imperial court can help them, the merchants will get this huge profit as soon as possible. ”

Li Changgeng, Minister of Communications, was still a little uneasy, "Your Majesty, once the maritime merchants obtain high profits, they will be rich enough to rival the country, which may not be a good thing for the Ming Dynasty." ”

"Li Aiqing's words are wrong, it is good for maritime merchants to get high profits, but the Ministry of Taxation will also levy high taxes on them, and in the end, it will be cheap and leave it to the imperial court."

Minister of Justice Cao Sicheng has always rarely spoken, but today he couldn't help it, "Your Majesty, for the sake of businessmen, is it worth it for the Ming Dynasty and Xiyi to fight in Nanyang?" ”

Zhu Youzhen stood up and paced back and forth a few steps, "Cao Aiqing, even if it is not for the benefit of businessmen, Da Ming wants to fight to the death with Westerners, do you know why?" ”

Cao Sicheng shook his head, saying that of course he didn't understand, he used his eyes to ask for help from others, but unfortunately, the others turned their heads one by one, either looking for Chang'e Moon Rabbit with their heads raised to the sky, or looking for mouse holes on the ground, and they didn't understand either.

"Daming has a vast territory and a lot of products, in the eyes of Westerners, it is like a stunning woman, who will be greedy when they look at it." Zhu Youzhen had to make a popular analogy.

The ministers suddenly had a black line on their faces, especially Kong Zhenyun, who was already scolding his mother in his heart, and his arms were trembling slightly, if Zhu Youzhen was not the emperor, I am afraid that his fingers would have reached Zhu Youzhen's head.

Zhu Youzhen directly ignored the dissatisfaction of the ministers, "What I mean is that even if the Ming Dynasty does not challenge the Western countries, they will come to the door sooner or later, and instead of being forced to face the battle when the Ming Dynasty is not ready, it is better to take the initiative to attack and grasp the initiative in the war." ”

"Minister, I understand, sooner or later, there will be a large-scale war between the Ming Dynasty and the West, and the relationship between the two sides can be established until the winner is decided." Since Fang Fengnian became the foreign minister, he began to pay attention to the surrounding countries that had influence on the Ming Dynasty, especially the Western countries.

"Well, the Han people are weak, and no one wants to see war," Zhu Youzhen didn't plan to hide it from the ministers, the South China Sea Fleet had already entered the Nanyang region, and he couldn't hide it if he wanted to, "Da Ming is like a stunning beauty, everyone in the Western countries is salivating, only war can completely dispel the illusions of Westerners, and war can stop the war." ”

Huang Liji suddenly remembered: "Your Majesty, what the cabinet is discussing today does not seem to be a matter of war, but a matter of concluding a peace treaty with Spain. ”

"Peace treaties are also related to war, and war and peace have always been two states between countries," Zhu Youzhen didn't care whether today's cabinet meeting was off topic, "Just like this Spain, if it weren't for the defeat of the Ming Dynasty in the war, they would have ceded Luzon?" Will they make peace with the Ming Dynasty? ”

"Your Majesty, should you sign this peace treaty? It seems that the peace treaty was only related to merchants and had nothing directly related to war. Kong Zhenyun finally seized the opportunity to express his personal opinion.

"If Kong Aiqing understands it this way, then he is a sinner of the Ming Dynasty," Zhu Youzhen first gave Kong Zhenyun a dǐng hat, "If the Ming Dynasty concludes a peace treaty with Spain, the two sides will have a cooperative relationship in the future, just like commercial friends, there will be no war between the two sides, even if there are different opinions, it can also be resolved through negotiation, if the two sides cannot sign the peace treaty, the Ming Dynasty will remove Luzon Province from the mouth of Spain, how can the Spaniards be willing to rest?" There will definitely be a large-scale war between the Ming Dynasty and Spain. ”

"Your Majesty xià......" Kong Zhenyun trembled, and it was not easy to speak, he didn't want to be a sinner of the Ming Dynasty.

Who wants to be a sinner of the Ming Dynasty?

In accordance with Zhu Youzhen's opinion, the cabinet held peace talks with Tabora on behalf of Da Ming by Vice Foreign Minister Huang Xiaofu.

After three days of negotiations, Huang Xiaofu and Tabora finally drew up a peace treaty, which mainly contained six articles:

1. Spain recognized the Ming Dynasty's ownership of the entire Southern Ryukyu Islands, and all Spanish troops withdrew from the Southern Ryukyu Islands;

2. Daming sent 200 students to Spain to study in institutions of higher learning such as the Royal Academy of Sciences of Spain, with a duration of one year, and then sent 100 people every year to study in Spanish colleges and universities, and the living expenses of all students were borne by Daming;

3. The Ming Dynasty unconditionally released all Spanish prisoners of war;

Fourth, the Ming Dynasty opened its commercial ports to Spain, including the Forint of Luzon, the Dayuan of Taiwan, the Macao of Guangdong (to be recovered from Portugal), Xiamen of Fujian, and the opening of Seville by Spain to the Ming Dynasty, and the two sides protected the safety of each other's personnel and property within their respective territories;

5. The Ming Dynasty and Spain respectively sent permanent envoys to each other;

6. Spain helped the Ming Dynasty obtain a permanent land on the west coast of the Americas.

The peace treaty focused on commerce and trade, and the emphasis was on cultivating mutual trust between the Ming Dynasty and Spain, but there was no military cooperation, so it was not considered an alliance, and the name was "Mingxi Beijing Treaty".

Huang Xiaofu and Tabora respectively represented the Ming Dynasty and the Spanish government, signed the "Mingxi Beijing Treaty", because the treaty also involved cooperation at the national level, Zhu Youzhen, as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, orally authorized Huang Xiaofu to wait for the approval of King Felipe IV of Spain before the treaty officially entered into force.

In Zhu Youzhen's mind, he did not want to flatter Spain, but to win over Spain, in order to let Western countries see that while the Ming Dynasty showed off its muscles, the West could coexist peacefully with the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty is in a critical period of reform and needs a relatively peaceful international environment.

The current Ming Dynasty is not weaker than the West, whether it is science and technology or economy.

However, there are too few scientific and technological craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty, the cultural quality is low, and there is a backward model of inheriting the father's business everywhere in the country, which restricts the sustainable development of science and technology.

More than ninety percent of the population is illiterate, and the elite is short-sighted and simply cannot see the great changes that are taking place in the West.

Zhu Youzhen was very anxious, Daming is a country with a long history, and it is not possible to change traditional habits for a while, but Zhu Youzhen has never given up the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education, especially higher education, and he wants to use these visible science and technology to arouse the people's scientific enthusiasm.

In the Daming Academy of Sciences, there happens to be such a scientific champion, this person's name is Wang Zheng, and he and Xu Guangqi are called "the king of the south and the north".