Opening the sea trade is not a trivial matter, it belongs to the out-and-out national policy, so once the imperial court issued it, it spread all over the world within a few days.

In the inner city of Xiangyang.

“…… Sir, this is freshly made blood bird's nest, how about it taste? ”

A beautiful woman with a complexion of better than snow and a graceful appearance came over with a delicate porcelain basin, and said softly in front of Qin Feng.

Qin Feng smiled and nodded, there is no industrial pollution in this world, and there is no possibility of counterfeiting of the ingredients in the Guogong Mansion, so the taste will not be bad.

Zhao Yuanjin, who was sitting opposite, said with a smile: "There is a new batch of blood bird's nest in the warehouse, which is donated by those wealthy families in Jiangnan. ”

"Although the bird's nest is good, it also has to cooperate with the cooking skills of the lady, and this taste is the most palatable." Qin Feng said.

The beautiful woman pursed her lips and smiled: "If Mr. likes the craftsmanship of the concubine, he will often come here to eat in the future, and the concubine will cook it herself." ”

Zhao Xinyue next to her said ostentatiously: "Of course, my mother's cooking skills are the best in the house, even those chefs can't compare, and my father usually likes to eat the dishes made by my mother." ”

Zhao Yuanjin laughed heartily, and didn't mind his daughter's words, and the atmosphere at the banquet was quite harmonious.

This beautiful woman is Zhao Yuanjin's Yuan match Lu, because of her excellent genes, her daughter is also a beauty who has brought disaster to the country and the people.

The Lu family now has a son and a daughter, and the son still has the identity of the eldest son, so if nothing else, it is impossible for the position of the founding queen to be snatched away by other women.

After three rounds of drinking, Lu knew that her husband wanted to talk to the mysterious immortal chief, so he found an excuse to retire and took his daughter away by the way.

"The imperial court's decision to open the sea ban, Mr. already knows, right?" Zhao Yuanjin straightened his expression and asked.

Qin Feng nodded, put down his wine glass and said, "Zhang Minzhen, the first assistant, is still a little smart, as soon as the sea ban is opened, the embarrassment of the imperial court's tight finances can be effectively alleviated." It's a pity that he understood too late. If this decision had been made ten years earlier, or even just five years earlier, the imperial court would have been in a much better position than it is now. ”

The huge profits of maritime trade are obvious to all, and as long as the policy is implemented in place, it is easy to increase the income of tens of millions of taels of silver for the imperial court every year. In the Song Dynasty of the main world, the annual income from maritime trade is said to be as high as 30 million guan, and during the Manchu Dynasty, the imperial court left only one treaty port in Guangdong, and it is said that the annual silver income was 15 million taels of silver.

Zhang Minxin has been the first assistant for more than ten years, if he could open the sea ban a few years earlier, the family foundation of the imperial court household department would be at least twice as thick, and with more silver, many things would be easier to do.

“…… Therefore, although this decision of the imperial court is good, the impact on the overall situation is insignificant. Qin Feng finally concluded.

In a few months at most, the war in the south will come to an end, and Zhao Yuanjin will enter Jinling, saying that Wang Jianguo is inevitable. The imperial court, which has lost half of the country, still has to face the chaotic north, how can it be able to carry out a large-scale southern expedition?

At that time, the south can completely follow the example of the imperial court to open up the sea and trade, and make huge profits, thus laying the foundation for the unification of the world.

Zhao Yuanjin muttered: "Sir, it is true that the maritime trade is lucrative, but the civil scholar class has many criticisms of this, thinking that it is competing with the people for profit, and the imperial court will definitely abandon the thousand-year-old tradition of valuing agriculture and suppressing commerce, which is not conducive to the fortune of the country." ”

Therefore, the Great Qi Taizu did not make this attempt at the beginning, and set up the ancestral precept of the forbidden sea. If Zhao is fortunate enough to win the world, will he be criticized if he does not continue the old system of the previous dynasty in this regard? ”

"It depends on how the national government weighs the trade-offs,"

Qin Feng said lightly: "Is the Zhao family's Jiangshan Sheji important, or is the hearts of some officials and scholars more important?" They don't want to open the sea, is it really out of public interest? No selfish intentions? I'm afraid not. ”

In this regard, the Ming Dynasty in the main world is the best negative teaching material, a group of sanctimonious civil officials control the government, in order to protect their own vested interests, try their best to oppose commercial taxes, oppose the opening of the sea, oppose the increase of income of the imperial court, and so on. So much so that the commercial tax collected in the Jiangnan area in a year is only twelve taels of silver.

When Li Zicheng's army approached Jingshi, Emperor Chongzhen hoped that his ministers could make up 1 million taels of silver to transfer Guan Ningtie to ride into King Jingqin.

Chongzhen committed suicide, and after breaking into the king's capital, he used a knife to force these officials and ministers to pay money, and as a result, he looted 70 million taels of silver at once.

The economy is the foundation of a regime, and a regime without money is not far from collapse. Many historians in later generations believe that the key to the Ming Dynasty was the death of the financial crisis, which is indeed justified. One of the key reasons for the collapse of the former Soviet Union in the Overworld was because of major economic problems.

Therefore, Qin Fengcai has always had no good impression of those scholars and scholars in the Ming Dynasty, full of benevolence and morality, full of men, thieves, women, prostitutes, flies and dogs, putting selfish interests above national interests, and they are all a group of silverfish of the country that are not to be regretted.

If you want the country to last for a long time, you can't be too accustomed to these sons and gentlemen in the court, you must beat and suppress it from time to time, and find out a few typical examples every once in a while to raid the family and kill the head, so as to set an example.

Although there were many disadvantages at the end of the Ming Dynasty, as long as there was no financial crisis, it may not be impossible for the state to continue for decades.

"It seems that Zhao will have to set up an ancestral system in the future, stipulating that future generations will not be allowed to ban the sea." Zhao Yuan pondered.

In order to increase revenue, the most common measure used by the imperial court in the past dynasties is to increase taxes in the people, but the common people live by guarding the fields, and how much oil and water can be squeezed? If you want silver, you should go to those gentry and merchants, and if commerce is prosperous, there will naturally be more sources of taxes. Qin Feng said.

Zhao Yuan bowed his head silently, as early as when he was in Jingnan County, Qin Feng had agreed with him that in the future, he would establish customs in coastal ports across the country and maintain a strong sailor as one of the main sources of imperial finance.

Of course, in the southern region, many excellent ports, including Quanzhou, were sealed to Qin Feng in advance, and in the future, he could organize his own army and naval division in these places, engage in maritime trade, and did not need to pay taxes to the imperial court.

“…… Now that the imperial army is approaching Yangzhou, Wu Zhence is at the end of the road, we have waited for so long, and now it is time to send troops to pick peaches. If you are lucky enough, maybe Guogong can spend the New Year in Jinling City and officially become king. Qin Feng finally said.

"That's very good, according to the gentleman's words." Zhao Yuan said happily.

Two days later, Xiangyang City, which had been quiet for months, was lively again.

Soon the princes from all over the country got the news: Zhao Yuanjin, the prince of Chu, personally led an army of 200,000 people, advancing by land and water, and the troops were directed at Jinling.