In the last chapter, although the Ming Dynasty cooperated happily with Portugal, it failed to overcome the rigidity of its own political system, and eventually fell into decline due to the "collapse of faith".

In fact, the trade deficit between China and the United Kingdom has a long history, because China is a land that has been famous for its abundant products since ancient times.

Since ancient times, China has been a self-sufficient "small peasant society", and the development of foreign trade is just the icing on the cake, while the export of silk, tea, porcelain and other goods has always been popular with Westerners. At the same time, Europe was able to exchange with China for nothing but silver.

Silver has poured into the Chinese market through close sea trade in the Qin and Han dynasties in the 2,000 years, especially after "Zhang Qian's passage to the Western Regions", a large number of "Roman gold coins" and "Persian silver coins" poured into China along the "Silk Road", gradually replacing the "copper coin" as a local currency in large transactions.

However, with the development of society over the past 2,000 years, even China itself has sporadic gold mines and silver mines that produce a small amount of gold and silver, but they cannot meet the development of the commodity economy of the domestic dynasties, especially after the Tang Dynasty, the demand for silver in Chinese society has soared, so the war began.

Since the Sui and Tang dynasties were founded by the "Guanlong Group" and had their capital in Chang'an for a long time, they followed the courage of the Qin and Han dynasties and their desire for gold, Hetian jade and precious stones, so they vigorously conquered the Turkic and Central Asian vassals in the north, with the aim of protecting trade routes and gaining stable wealth and rule.

After all, if the ruling class of any dynasty wants to maintain the stability of the political power, it is indispensable to raise elite armies and reward meritorious officials, and it is far from enough to collect the "poll tax" of the common people of the world, and the maritime trade at that time is still not developed enough, so it has to plunder wealth by waging land wars.

With the historical evolution of the late Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties, the Liao, the Song, the Xia, the Jin, and the Yuan dynasties, the endless land wars have disrupted the "Silk Road" operated by the Han and Tang dynasties.

As a result, the Age of Discovery came, first there was the "Zheng He Voyage to the West" of the Ming Dynasty in China, and then there were European countries to explore new routes, in order to make money!

Among them, the rise of trade between European countries and China began with the "new group" dominated by the bourgeoisie on the stage of European history after the "European Renaissance", because capital is afraid of risks and is only interested in profits, and the emancipation of the mind is the prosperity of trade and the exploration of the world.

During the Age of Discovery, Europeans used advanced navigation technology and fearless adventurous spirit to draw the trajectory of their fleets all over the world. They set sail from Lisbon, Portugal, and traveled south along the west coast of Africa, and after rounding the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, they happened to catch the route of "Zheng He's voyage to the Western Ocean".

The Portuguese were the first to cross the Strait of Malacca, arriving in China by sea before other Europeans. This route first discovered by the Europeans carried an important role in the exchange and trade transportation of Eastern and Western cultures at that time, allowing a steady stream of Chinese goods to enter Europe and exchange for silver.

The rise of this route allowed European countries to get rid of the original maritime trade route to the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, and had to pass through the territory of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, and after paying high taxes and fees, they could continue to go east to China by land, during which they had to face the dilemma of being robbed at any time.

Those countries with advanced navigation technology that were able to transport high-quality goods from China to Europe without exception all became the wealthy states of Europe at that time, such as Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Therefore, at that time, all European countries were able to trade with China as a symbol of their national strength. As pioneers of ocean-going adventures in the Age of Discovery, Portugal and Spain monopolized almost all of the trade of this route throughout the Age of Discovery, because it was safest not to cross the ocean.

In order to establish trade relations with China, there were many naval wars between European countries and Portugal and Spain. However, without exception, the outcome ended with the defeat of the European countries. This continued until the first half of the 17th century, when Spain and Portugal were weakened by the war on the continent. The rest of Europe took advantage of the situation and carved up Spain's share of the maritime trade with Portugal.

From the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean, maritime trade between countries has also changed from dominance to rivalry. It is precisely because of this that it directly contributed to the prosperity of maritime trade after the Middle Ages. And the Ming Empire at that time also became the richest country in the world because of this.

The main reason is that China obtains a large amount of silver from foreign trade every year, and flows it to the Taoist market as currency, just as the countries of the world in later generations use "US dollars" to settle in international trade, and China's "currency silverization" caused the financial crisis of the Ming Dynasty.

On the surface, this "financial crisis" promoted the rapid development of the commodity economy and the budding of capitalism, but in fact, the Ming Dynasty government unconsciously increased the issuance of the "Ming Treasure Banknote", just like the indiscriminate issuance of paper money in the late Yuan Dynasty, once it caused inflation, it would cause turmoil.

There is also a serious consequence, that is, after the "silverization of currency", China's local currency "copper money" since ancient times has become less and less valuable, and cannot meet the needs of the government for taxation and bulk trading, but once the "sea ban" leads to a decrease in the inflow of "silver" and a reduction in tariffs, it will trigger a government debt crisis!

Some people think that the Ming Dynasty fell because of the "poor death", because the imperial court lacked silver! In 1596, Elizabeth I, the last Tudor monarch of England, wanted to establish trade with China. He personally wrote a friendly letter to the Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty at that time.

In the letter of the Queen of England, she expressed her reverence for the emperor of the Ming Dynasty and her yearning for friendship between the two countries. At the same time, the letter also expressed the willingness of Britain to establish trade with China at that time, and hoped that the Wanli Emperor would allow Britain to send diplomatic personnel to China.

The letter is full of Queen Elizabeth I's sincere friendship. Unfortunately, Elizabeth I's letter was never delivered to the Wanli Emperor, as the fleet at that time encountered a storm at sea, and the ship carrying the letter was also wrecked at sea.

Therefore, Queen Elizabeth I did not wait for a reply from the Ming Emperor until her death. In 1588, the queen ordered the "Royal Navy Fleet" to fight to the death against the Spanish "Invincible Armada" in order to gain a place in the maritime trade, and finally won the victory.

The Queen of England passed away with an unfulfilled wish. It wasn't until 1978 that the letter was recovered from the bottom of the sea.

In 1986, when Queen Elizabeth of England visited China, she sent this letter carrying the friendship of the British to China.

If Elizabeth I's letter had been successfully delivered to China, it would have been very likely that a good story of friendship between China and Britain would have been achieved from that time on. The cultural exchanges between China and the West in the next few hundred years may take another peaceful form.

Although Elizabeth I's letters never reached the Wanli Emperor, the British wanted to open the trade routes to the East did not change, because after the death of Queen Elizabeth I, England entered a period of so-called "Stuart rule".

The "Stuart dynasty" was founded by the Stuart family of Scotland and ruled Scotland from 1371 AD. In 1603, after the death of Queen Elizabeth I of England, King James VI of Scotland became King of England (known as James I) and ruled England again.

Although the political changes in Britain at that time had no effect on the Ming Dynasty in China, the Portuguese and Spaniards had been trading with China for many years, and they had dealings with Chinese coastal defense officials, making it difficult for the first British merchant ships to come to China to get the goods they wanted at a fair price.

In the eighth year of the reign of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty (1635), a British merchant ship was extorted a lot of money by Ming officials after arriving in Guangzhou, China, but the Chinese goods brought back were not very good. The British were not reconciled, and in order to continue to develop trade with China, some British businessmen united to form the Getting Federation. These confederations of merchants were able to obtain from King Charles I of England the privileges of trading to and from the eastern kingdoms.

They also lobbied Charles I to participate in the trade of the Commonwealth. After receiving the authorization of Charles I, this federation of merchants, in a blink of an eye, became an official group with the nature of state capital, that is, bureaucratic capital that conquered and operated.

In 1636, the "Götin Federation", under the authority of Charles I, sailed to China with a fleet of six merchant ships. In this fleet, it was no longer composed entirely of merchants, but also a large number of British royal guards.

When the fleet arrived in Macao, the Portuguese, who had been operating there for a long time, wanted to prevent the British from getting involved in their monopoly trade with China. So he did his best to prevent British ships from docking, and at the same time desperately slandered British merchant ships from local officials in the Ming Dynasty.

Ming officials, who were very cautious about coastal defense, decisively refused to allow six British merchant ships to dock after listening to the rumors of the Portuguese.

Seeing that there was no hope of docking, the British captain Weddell had no choice but to go to Humen Port in Guangzhou. On August 8, 1636, the British fleet arrived at Humen "Ya Niang Shoe Mooring". However, because the Humen defenders of the Ming Dynasty thought that an enemy was coming, they immediately fired a warning to the British ships and drove them away.

Weddell, who was already on fire because he was squeezed out by the Grape People, immediately removed the original St. George's trade flag, replaced it with the British royal flag, and then lined up on the sea and fired at the Humen Fort. The defenders of the Ming Dynasty, who had neglected coastal defenses, were soon defeated by the British bombardment.

After Weddell led people to rush to the Humen Fort, he tore off the battle flag of the Ming Dynasty and hung the British flag. This was not the end, Weddell also ordered the soldiers to carry all 35 Furlong cannons on the Humen Fort back to their ships as trophies, and this is the "old European" mentality began to make trouble.

At that time, the "Canton Garrison" sent a Portuguese merchant who had trade with China to negotiate with the British. Weddell finally agreed to return the stolen Chinese artillery to the Ming defenders, but he needed to be allowed to go to China to procure goods.

The officials of the "Canton garrison" of the Ming Dynasty agreed to the request of the British. However, when the British went ashore to buy goods, they let their ships sail directly through the Pearl River estuary in the Canton section. This practice of sailing ships into inland rivers without China's approval was undoubtedly a violation of the sovereignty of the Ming Dynasty at that time.

So, on September 10 of that year, the "Canton Garrison" sent three ships and rushed to the British merchant ship with artillery and rockets. After seeing that the Chinese were really enraged, Weddell ordered the advance ships to retreat quickly.

However, the British, who fled in a hurry, did not apologize for this, but showed their pirate nature at a glance. On 19 September, the British burned three Chinese fishermen's sailboats at Humen, followed by a small town and plundered 30 pigs on the town for supplies.

After this landing and plunder, the coastal defense officials of the Ming Dynasty completely broke with the British. The seaside batteries were ordered to open fire on the British as soon as they saw them, and at the same time completely forbade the British to go ashore to buy goods. Weddell realized that he couldn't explain it to the Götting Federation.

If you really cut off the road of trade with China, I am afraid that you will not be able to eat and walk around. As a result, Weddell sent a Portuguese merchant to come forward and make overtures to the Ming coastal defense officials, expressing their willingness to apologize for their previous actions, and at the same time use 2,800 taels of silver as compensation for the loss.

It was only after receiving the apologies from the British that the officials of the "Canton Garrison" agreed to reconcile. However, British merchant ships had to leave the vicinity of Chinese waters immediately. In the end, Weddell returned home with his six merchant ships, and did not complete the "glorious mission" given to him by the "Gottin Chamber of Commerce".

After Weddell concluded his trip to China, the first exchange between China and Britain broke up. When the British came to China again many years later, it was already during the Qianlong period, and the Ming Dynasty had been replaced by the Qing Dynasty. Finally, the first trade exchange between China and Britain ended in failure.

In 1840, the Sino-British Opium War began the process of China's modern history. The former "Heavenly Empire" was also forced to degenerate into a semi-feudal and semi-colonial society under the strong ships and cannons of the Western powers. It can be said that China's modern history is full of blood, tears and humiliation, which stems from the imperial court's reluctance to forge ahead.

At that time, in order to reverse the huge trade deficit between China and Britain, the British decided to import a large number of contraband represented by opium to China. After Lin Zexu Humen sold his cigarettes, the angry British forced the Manchu regime to submit by force and signed many unequal treaties with it.

This is that strength determines everything, and it has nothing to do with right and wrong itself, in order to obtain more profits, the country can be a thief, the army can sell drugs, the war of aggression can be used as an investment project, as long as you win the opponent, you can openly rob its wealth, these are all later words, and have little to do with this article, so don't mention it.

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Haha, thank you for your attention, collection, recommendation, subscription and review of this book! As an author, I am very happy and honored to provide readers with a novel that meets the needs of the general public. As the saying goes, "Life is short, but the tip of the pen is slender." "Therefore, the road to cultivation is long, where to find immortality? There is nowhere to go for troubles, and read the people in the book! I hope that the novel "Heaven and Earth Let Me Go" series can bring happiness and insight to everyone!

This story is pure fiction, if there are similarities, it is a coincidence! Friends, the part-time job is hard, the time is urgent, the creation is not easy, like the collection, by the way, forward, want to know the plot? Next time I break it down! ("The book has its own golden house?") There are thousands of bells in the book? There is Yan Ruyu in the book"? Welcome to my book)