"Your Majesty, if you want to go to the Western Ocean, 800,000 taels is far from enough."

In the midst of the voices that filled the hall with praise, a rather discordant voice rang out.

Emperor Hongzhi couldn't help frowning when he heard this, he gave out a full 800,000 taels, but 800,000 taels was not enough? Or is it not enough?

How much is enough?

He looked at the person who spoke and asked, "Wang Qingjia, you said that 800,000 taels is still far from enough?" ”

"Your Majesty, it's not that the minister is alarmist, but it's really far from enough."

Wang Shu's snow-white beard shook a few times, and the eyes under the white eyebrows looked at Emperor Hongzhi, "Your Majesty, the old minister was born in the twelfth year of Yongle, since the old minister was born, a total of three times Zheng He went to the West, the first two times the old minister was young at that time, but the last time he went to the West was in Xuande five years, Xuande eight years to return, that year the old minister just won the show, has reached the age of remembering the governor. ”

"As far as Lao Chen knows, if this treasure ship of the Western Ocean wants to block the wind and waves on the sea, cope with accidents along the way, and return from a long voyage, it must build a huge ship of thousands of materials. The cost of such a treasure ship is tens of thousands of taels of silver, and every time the Three Treasure Eunuchs set sail back then, there were dozens of large ships like this, and there were hundreds of medium-sized ships that cost thousands of taels or even tens of thousands of taels. That's why the old minister said that 800,000 taels was far from enough. ”

“.”

When these words came out, it was really Galen's whispering, silent and broken.

Both those who understand shipbuilding and those who don't understand shipbuilding are silent.

The people present were all very old, all in their sixties and seventies, but when they were born, they had already been put on hold.

It has been more than 70 years since the last trip to the West, and they don't know the cost of this treasure ship, and no one will go through those old paper piles to find out how much silver a treasure ship cost back then.

But Wang Shu knew that he was the oldest of the people on the field, ninety years old, and he was born during the Yongle period.

He knew the cost of the treasure ship, and he knew how much it was.

Emperor Hongzhi was speechless, the cost of a treasure ship was tens of thousands of taels, to be honest, he didn't dare to believe it.

But there is no need for Wang Shu to exaggerate.

According to such a cost, 800,000 taels can only build a dozen treasure ships, not including the cost of training sergeants and building a shipyard.

Xia Yuan kept looking at Wang Shu, the white-bearded old man, and looked at his kind eyebrows, why is this?

Seeing that things seem to have been done, but it is good to intervene in a good way, first set this matter, and after it is carried out, when there is a sunk cost, it is not too late for you to bring it up.

But he also knew that Wang Shu was right, the merchant ship he had sent to Southeast Asia before cost thousands of taels of silver, and the hull of the ship was damaged in several places.

And if you want to go to sea and sail far away, they are all wooden ships nowadays, so the ship must be big, strong and reliable, and use giant trees in the deep mountains and old forests, otherwise it will not be able to cope with the wind and waves at sea.

Looking at it this way, if you want to restore the scale of Zheng He's trip to the West, 800,000 taels is indeed far from enough, and this number is almost ten times higher.

But why revert to the size of the year?

At this time, Min Jue, the secretary of the Criminal Department, said: "Then why don't you build a few treasure ships and go to sea first, after all, this is a search."

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Han Wen, "If there are only a few treasure ships sailing, how can I show my great courage?" And how to deal with the danger at sea? ”

"Not to mention, when Taizong and Xuanzong set sail, they were a huge fleet of hundreds of ships, covering the sky and the sun, spreading the prestige of our Ming Dynasty to the four seas, and all countries in the world heard about it.

If I sailed this time but only a few treasure ships, how would I feel if the small countries along the way saw it? ”

"Wouldn't they think, 'Am I down-and-out?'

This immediately attracted the approval of many people, and even Emperor Hongzhi had to admit that what he said made sense.

In the past, Zheng He went to the Western Ocean, although nearly a hundred years have passed, but the small countries of Fanbang along the way must still remember the grand occasion when the Ming fleet sailed, hundreds of big ships set sail, covering the sky and the sun, that is to truly achieve the power of the emperor in the four seas, preaching and educating all countries.

Let all countries in the world know the existence of the Ming Dynasty, a colossal empire.

But now that it is sailing, if there are only a dozen treasure ships, still under the banner of the Ming Dynasty, what will the countries along the way think?

That Da Ming is down?

That Da Ming can't do it?

At this moment, Emperor Hongzhi couldn't help but complain about his ancestor Zhu Di, why he wanted to form such a huge fleet to go to the Western Ocean.

Taizong, Taizong, you really left a problem for your children and grandchildren Zhu Youzhang.

In the blink of an eye, the monarchs and ministers in the hall fell silent again, Xia Yuan stopped looking at Wang Shu at this time, and instead stared at Han Wen, and jumped out to make a disturbance.

I don't know if it's heredity or genetic inheritance, Chinese people are always afraid of this so-called face.

All dynasties and dynasties have been like this, they all care about face, and they will continue to be the same in later generations.

In order to save face, it is not uncommon to slap a swollen face and become fat.

It's a damn face issue.

He said loudly: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that Lord Han has said it, in the minister's opinion, this voyage is to find crops, for the livelihood of the people under my heaven, and for my Ming Dynasty for thousands of years, not to boast of national strength, why do you need to form such a large-scale fleet to sail?" The minister believes that pragmatism should be the first priority. ”

"Xia Zhan's matter is pragmatic, how many soldiers can a few treasure ships carry, and how to resist if the country on the road intends to do something wrong?

There is also the country of the Franc machine, this time to go to the West, the task is to find the country of the Franc machine according to the chart, and then either ask for crops, or ask about the whereabouts of the overseas land.

But we still don't know how the strength of their country is, and a few treasure ships have passed by, and they have been despised by the country of the Franc machine, how can they tell them? You also said earlier that this country of the Franc machine slaughtered the inhabitants of that overseas land, which shows that its people are cruel, if you see that my fleet of the Ming Dynasty is outnumbered and has a heart of disobedience, what if the fleet encounters an accident? ”

“.”

Xia Yuan was rarely speechless, because this kind of concern was not unreasonable, and the European countries were now in the Age of Discovery, and had begun to colonize under the instigation of interests.

And most importantly, Europe has just experienced years of war, such as the Hundred Years War between Britain and France, which, as we all know, is a catalyst for military technology.

Now the military level of Europe, or firearms and artillery, has been ahead of the Ming Dynasty in an all-round way.

At that time, if the fleet goes to Europe, and it is impossible to negotiate with it, or even without negotiation, maybe these foreign devils will directly start fighting and firing.

For example, he remembered that when the Portuguese first arrived in Guangdong in the Ming Dynasty, the first thing they did was to open fire.

Of course, there are different opinions on this matter, some say that it is a ceremonial cannon salute, and some say that it is a temptation.

But in any case, through the cold words, it is impossible to know the true face of this Western foreigner in the 16th century.

But through those colonizations, the slave trade could be glimpsed, and it could not be the camp of good order.

And once the war starts, the Ming Dynasty will fight away from home, and the number of troops will be small, and self-protection will be a problem.

If it is an incomparably large fleet, at least it will make these foreign devils dare not act rashly after seeing it, at least they have the strength to fight.

It seems like a dead end.

(End of chapter)