After Yamashita Yuandao left, Luo Hai and Liang Shaojie also got up to say goodbye, and Li Yuntian and Lei Ting were left in the room. {d} {u} {0} {0}. {c} {c}

"Big brother, do you want that Yamashita Yuandao to help you do business in Nanyang?" Lei Ting walked over quickly, closed the door of the room, and asked Li Yuntian, who was sitting there drinking hot water slowly, with great interest.

"This man has two ships of cargo and was able to escape from the hands of pirates, so he must be a character as well."

Li Yuntian smiled slightly, put down the teacup in his hand and said, "Big brother needs someone like him who is familiar with the shape of the Nanyang countries to do business with those countries. ”

Since Emperor Hongwu issued a ban on the sea, the trade between the Ming Dynasty and overseas countries was "tributary trade", that is, the trade between the Ming Dynasty and overseas countries to pay tribute and give back.

In the fourth year of Hongwu, Ming Taizu designated Annam, Champong, Goryeo, Siam, Ryukyu, Sumatra, Java, Huanheng, Baihua, Sanfuqi, Boni and other Western and Nanyang countries as "non-conscripted countries", and established the actual control scope of the Ming Dynasty.

At the same time, Emperor Hongwu also determined the tributary principle of "thick and thin", and established a complete tributary system, in which the Ming Dynasty was the central power, and the tributary states constituted the outer vassals of the central power.

The so-called thick and thin, which means that overseas countries pay a small amount of tribute to the Ming Dynasty, but the items rewarded by the Ming Dynasty are very rich.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty was established, the economy gradually recovered and got the initial development, and the country was thriving, so it was willing to send envoys to overseas countries to make good deals, strengthen the national prestige, and determine the sphere of influence of the Ming Dynasty.

It is worth mentioning that in ancient history, an important criterion for whether the country is prosperous is "admired by the four seas and sent envoys to the court", that is, "Weide is admired, and guests from all directions are served".

Therefore, in order to attract overseas countries to send envoys to pay tribute, Emperor Hongwu, Emperor Jianwen, Emperor Yongle, Emperor Hongxi and Emperor Xuande all implemented the policy of "preferential value" and "tax exemption" for overseas tribute ships.

The Ming court not only spent a lot of money every year to receive foreign envoys, but also gave them higher value gifts in return on the principle of "thin exchanges", such as brocade leno, gold and silver, porcelain, and tea.

In addition, although it was customary for foreign envoys to pay a percentage of the trade goods, the emperor would usually issue a special decree to exempt them, and the government would buy most of them at a high price.

In the second year of Hongwu, the imperial court stipulated that "those who attach tribute to the goods and want to trade with China will be taxed by the official and compensated for the price."

At the beginning of Yongle, there were several Western countries sent envoys to pay tribute, with pepper hope and the Ming Dynasty, the officials of the household department asked the Yongle Emperor for a decree to collect the pepper tax, but the Yongle Emperor refused, and issued an edict: "The merchant tax man, the country suppresses the people at the end, how can it be profitable?" Now the Yi people have come from afar, but they have encroached on their profits, and they have gained a lot of money, and the losses are generally many."

The meaning is very simple, that is, the foreign trade of the Ming Dynasty is not for the purpose of taxation, but to treat those tributary envoys who come from afar to pay tribute, and if they are taxed, they will not get much money at all, but will insult the prestige of the Ming Dynasty.

As a result, the Ming Dynasty bore a huge financial burden in the tributary trade.

According to the regulations of the imperial court, when the tributary envoys of various countries came to pay tribute, not only the city department and the local government along the way to Beijing were responsible for receiving and escorting them, but also the reception and rewards after arriving in Beijing also cost a lot of money.

After Zheng He went to the West, with the large increase in the number of tribute ships and caravans attached to ships, the cost of receiving tribute envoys every year in the Ming court also increased, which seemed overwhelming.

In order to reduce the financial burden, but also to avoid confusion, those greedy for profit to take advantage of the loopholes, fake tribute envoys to come to the Ming Dynasty to reap benefits, Yongle Emperor gradually to the tributary countries and regions to implement the qualifications, awarded the "survey", that is, to the country or region that is allowed to come to China to pay tribute, the certificate is not allowed to enter the port.

Later, regulations were also made on the period of tribute, the number of tribute ships, the number of people accompanying the ships, the entry routes, and the ports of berth.

For example, Japan stipulates that one tribute in 10 years, entering Ningbo Port, Zhejiang, no more than 300 people and no more than 3 boats; Ryukyu into Quanzhou Port, Fujian, 2 years of tribute, no more than 100 people; Champa State, Chenla, Siam and Western countries enter the port of Guangzhou, a tribute for 3 years, and the number of people does not exceed 100.

During the reign of Emperor Yongle, the tributary system reached its peak with Zheng He's voyage to the West to proclaim his national prestige and the Ming Dynasty's sweep of the Mongol forces in the north.

Under the "coercion" of the navy of the strong mainland of the Ming Dynasty and the "lure" of the policy of thick exchanges and thin futures, the number of countries and tribes that paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty once reached 65.

At the same time, Japan also made tributary demands on the Ryukyus and Korea, Korea on the Jurchens, and Annam on Champong and Nanzhang, forming several sub-tributary systems.

In Li Yuntian's view, although the tributary trade practiced by the Ming Dynasty was a declaration of grace, there were three drawbacks that could not be ignored.

First, due to the principle of thick and thin in tributary trade, the Ming Dynasty finances shouldered a huge burden;

Second, because the tributary trade was mainly to declare the grace of the Ming Dynasty, it affected the development of the normal overseas trade of the Ming Dynasty, so that the Ming Dynasty gradually lost its dominant position in overseas trade since the Tang and Song dynasties;

Third, because tributary trade was the only overseas trade route of the Ming Dynasty, the coastal people lived in difficulty, smuggling was frequent, and piracy was rampant, which affected social stability.

In the final analysis, the Ming did not really regard tributary trade as a means of trade, for the Ming Dynasty, in addition to maintaining the majesty of the suzerain, it was a waste of treasury funds, leading to a large outflow of gold and silver from the Ming Dynasty, which was not only a burden for the people, but also not conducive to the long-term development of the Ming economy.

Therefore, Li Yuntian took advantage of the opportunity of the Jiaozhi Rebellion to invite a favor from Emperor Xuande, and conducted trade with overseas countries in the official name under the banner of Jiangwutang.

Of course, his trade is naturally not tributary trade, but like the Tang and Song dynasties, it is a normal trade between countries, only in this way can the Ming Dynasty earn gold and silver from overseas, which can be used to build the country of the Ming Dynasty, reduce the burden of the people, and improve the economic system of the Ming Dynasty.

"Big brother, that Yamashita Yuandao has violated the Ming Dynasty's ban on the sea, if you use him like this, will it cause criticism from the outside world?"

Lei Ting didn't know much about the tributary trade of the Ming Dynasty, and she usually couldn't get in touch with it, but she believed that Li Yuntian must have a reason for saying this, thinking that Yamashita Yuandao was a widow pretended to be a Ming merchant, she couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive in her heart, and asked tentatively.

"Since Yamashita Motomichi just said that he was a Japanese person, then he will be a Japanese person in the future." Li Yuntian smiled slightly when he heard this, and said disapprovingly, he was not afraid that someone would make a fuss about the identity of Yamashita Yuandao, since Yamashita Yuandao was engaged in smuggling, with his shrewdness, he must be able to cover up his true identity well.

Besides, there was Li Yuntian standing behind Yamashita Yuandao, and it was not easy for someone to use this matter to rectify Yamashita Yuandao.

It's just that Li Yuntian still doesn't know if Yamashita Yuandao is willing to use it for him, after all, people like Yamashita Yuandao who dare to engage in sea smuggling with their heads are very afraid of dealing with the government.

"Sister, you sue the guy, put a table of good dishes at noon, and the eldest brother wants to feast on Yamashita Yuandao." After pondering for a while, Li Yuntian made up his mind and said to Lei Ting with a smile.

"Big brother is going to give him a banquet?" Lei Ting flickered her long eyelashes, and then asked Li Yuntian in a coquettish voice.

She and Li Yuntian have been through hardships together, and they know Li Yuntian's character very well, Li Yuntian held a banquet at noon, definitely not because he wanted to drink with Yamashita Yuandao to catch up with the old days, let alone to wash the dust for Yamashita Yuandao.

"There is a cloud in the art of war, and the only way to deal with people like Yamashita Yuandao can they be subdued by outwitting." Li Yuntian smiled and nodded, his eyes flashed with a fine light, he decided to take this mountain Yuan Dao for his own use, and open up a route for him to do business in the South Seas.

At noon, the room on the Mingding prepared a table of sumptuous dishes according to Li Yuntian's requirements.

Yamashita Yuandao was taken into Li Yuntian's cabin uneasily, and was slightly stunned when he saw the wine and food on the table, and he didn't react for a while.

At this time, Yamashita Yuandao had already known Li Yuntian's identity from the mouth of the crew, and he never thought that the young Li Yuntian would be the new Zhenwubo of the Ming Dynasty, the Dingnan general of the Xuande Emperor's imperial seal, not only served as the general soldier of Guangxi and Jiaozhi, but also shouldered the heavy burden of patrolling Guangxi and Jiaozhi.

Since Yamashita Yuandao was not in Daming when the battle of Black Bull Town started last year, he didn't know what had happened in Daming in the past year, and he never expected that Daming would appear as the number one person like Li Yuntian.

Although Li Yuntian was young, Yamashita Yuandao didn't dare to take him lightly, after all, he had already learned Li Yuntian's power in the morning.

Moreover, the commander who can win more with less in Black Bull Town and fight to the death with the elite of the Han King rebels is enough for Yamashita Yuandao to pay attention to.

After sending Yamashita Yuandao into the door, the sergeant of the Xiaowu Army who followed him retreated and closed the door.

"The little people knock on the chief soldier." Yamashita Yuandao hurriedly stepped forward and knelt in front of Li Yuntian, who was sitting behind the desk and reading "Historical Records".

"Get up." Hearing this, Li Yuntian put down the "Historical Records" in his hand, raised his hand upwards towards the mountain Yuandao, then got up and walked to the dining table and sat down, stretched out his hand and pointed to the seat opposite, and said quietly, "Sit." ”

"Master Xie." Seeing this, Yamashita Yuandao hesitated for a moment, with his current identity and status, he was not worthy of sharing the table with Li Yuntian now, and then bowed over and sat on the seat, sitting there nervously, secretly guessing Li Yuntian's intentions.!^!