Shen Shixing watched Shi Peng and other seven boat masters trained by the Ming Dynasty finally go against the imperial court, it was quite heartbroken, Wang Daokun's nine years of hard work was not completely in vain, at least Shen Shixing was able to mobilize the boat masters in the sailors to maintain the normal operation of the Ming Dynasty sea trade.

Shen Shixing looked at Shi Peng and the others, and said with a solemn face: "I know that you have gradually forgotten the pain of the past, and those unbearable memories have even become your shame, and they are the ugliness that your current glamorous life cannot reveal. ”

"In the past, you had a flat burden on your body, which was one hundred and twenty pounds of goods, and you picked up the ship, only six cents a trip, and you could only do ten trips a day, and you would be tired and have a sore back, but every time you put down the goods, you have to run back to pick up the goods, just for this day to make one more trip."

"No matter how tired you are, you have to wake up when the rooster crows the next day, run to continue working, even if it is so hard, whether it is a strong wind or a torrential rain, I dare not rest, and I am afraid that the dock will not be able to work today, and it is only 1,800 Wen Fei a month, which can probably be exchanged for one or two silver."

"Now you are highly respected on the ship, all the sailors will greet you, even the captain needs to listen to your advice, you go ashore, you are sought after, countless people invite you to banquets, they never hesitate to praise you, yes, if it were me, I would also praise you, your voyage can bring them thousands of taels to tens of thousands of taels of silver at a time."

Shen Shixing knows very well the life of the poor coolies in the Ming Dynasty, when Wang Daokun did not leave, Shen Shixing had a month's time, in Songjiang New Port and Shipyard, he really understood the life of the poor coolies in the Ming Dynasty, this is Zhang Juzheng's explanation before leaving, Zhang Juzheng told him when Shen Shixing left: down-to-earth, can go far.

Shi Peng and the others looked embarrassed, Shi Peng clenched his fists and said loudly: "That's the past, not the current us!" ”

Shen Shixing's face was slightly painful, he spread his hands, and then put down and continued to say patiently: "If you don't return to work in three days, you will change back to the way you were, don't believe what those powerful people say, they have been deceiving you." ”

"Have you ever thought about the fact that they support complete freedom, because they are all very wealthy, they have many ships under their control, and each ship can bring thousands or even tens of thousands of taels of silver when they return from the sea, and they don't even know how much money they have, no matter how luxurious they live, the speed of spending money is far less than the speed of making money."

"The complete freedom they preach to you, the interference of the imperial court is hindering the vigorous development of maritime trade, and they support this completely free maritime trade in order to earn more, what about you? What can you gain by acting as a dead soldier who is the first to enter the battle, even at the expense of disobeying the imperial decrees? ”

"Two taels of silver a month, what are you fighting for?"

What kind of life is fighting for two taels of silver a month, this is Shen Shixing's soul torture.

Recently, a Matsue school has emerged in Songjiang Prefecture, and the arguments of this Matsue school advocate absolute freedom of maritime trade.

advocated that the imperial court should open the qualification for the purchase of five-masted ships, rather than subscribing through trading houses; advocated the dismissal of the Imperial Court and opposed the Imperial Court's tax collection; advocating the liberalization of the ship guidance system, free navigation and free trade; advocate the complete lifting of the trade ban, and any commodity can be trafficked out of the sea; He advocated that the imperial court completely abandon overseas plantations and instead exchange them with merchant ships...

The logic of these propositions is based on great free trade.

In the view of this school of thought, those who are willing to give up their freedom in exchange for security will lose both freedom and security.

The deep intervention of the imperial court in the maritime trade hindered the development of the maritime trade, which in turn led to the damage of the people in the world, and accepting the interference of the imperial court in the maritime trade was to exchange freedom for security and the emperor's promise, but the rope of the imperial court would gradually tighten and eventually suffocate to death.

The promise of the Ming Emperor is worthless, and the stingy and greedy dragon will eventually devour everyone, just as Yongle opened the sea at the beginning, and the official ships and official trade completely monopolized the maritime trade, and all the profits of the maritime trade belonged to the Emperor of the Inner Palace.

To this day, in addition to going to the Mughal Kingdom to pull war horses, the Ming Dynasty does not have any official ships and official trade, nor will it talk about another issue, what is the silver earned by the Yongle Emperor in the sea trade, what is it used for, the five expeditions to the grassland, the relocation of the capital, the Western Ocean, the repair of the Yongle Grand Ceremony, the repair of the official road post road, etc.

"I can earn three taels of silver a month!" Shi Peng seems to have finally found a breakthrough point and a reason to convince himself under the strong suppression of Shen Shixing.

Shen Shixing said with a smile: "You know very well how much you can earn from that boat's cargo." ”

"Recently, the Matsue School, they said to everyone that money is the greatest tool of freedom invented by man, that only money will be open to the poor, and power will never, that money will not be stripped away, that power will be, because money is free."

This logic is very strange and strange, money is open to the poor, doesn't it mean that the poorer the person, the richer he is? Moreover, money is free, why didn't the profit of tens of thousands of silver from that ship flow into your hands? Only a little bit of it flows into your hands, is it worth your gratitude? ”

"Money doesn't strip away, power does? The Book of Han says: The farmer's father and son exposed the middle field, did not avoid the cold and heat, and rubbed the soil, and the hands and feet were calloused. The grain rent has been paid, and the tax has been paid, and the township has asked for it privately, but it cannot be supplied, so the people abandon the original and chase the end, and the cultivator cannot be half. ”

"The imperial court asks for the high tax, the township asks for private demand, the landlord asks for the grain rent, but the imperial court takes the high tax and uses it for the border and the official post road, so what about the township and the landlord? Is it true that money doesn't get stripped away? ”

"The reason I like to call it a school and not a cult is because it advocates that freedom has merit, but they are distorting it."

Shin Shixing's understanding of freedom is completely different from that of the Songjiang School, and if it is really to be applied, it is that money will not be open to the poor, but power will open a small window.

Zhang Juzheng was born in a military household, Zhang Juzheng is definitely not a surplus, he was ridiculed by Wang Shizhen, the mud on the mud legs has not been washed clean poor coolies, turned his head Wang Shizhen gave Zhang Juzheng a pair of Song Huizong's "Bamboo Bird Picture", this painting was painted by Song Huizong himself, at that time the Northern Song Dynasty court raised a lot of painters, excellent paintings, will be signed Song Huizong's monogram, the world is a person.

The bamboo bird picture is one of the few that can be identified as being painted by Song Huizong himself.

This is not a strange thing, Dao Ye raised a bunch of green words in his later years, Dao Ye likes Xuan Xiu, is keen on alchemy, praying for longevity, and the gods and gods chatter in the ceremony, it is necessary to write some incineration and sacrifice to the heavens, that is, to the heavenly gods of the chapter and table recital, it is necessary to use extremely gorgeous rhetoric and words to express the emperor's respect for the emperor and the sincerity of asking for immortals.

Zhang Juzheng criticized Daoye's burning and cultivation, talking about the political strangeness of 'Qingzi Prime Minister' and Daoye's own obsession with Xuanxiu.

Shi Peng can't argue with Shen Shixing at all, Shen Shixing has already reached this position, and when he returns to Beijing, he will directly enter the cabinet, only one step away from the top building of the official election official, and Shi Peng has just crossed the class of his own poor coolies.

"As a boat master, you don't have to worry about the impact of this expansion on you, the gap between the Ming and the boat division is too big, the Ming has explored the route to Mexico, Peru, Brazil, and Taixi, and the war in the Strait of Malacca has come to an end, in addition to the South Sea, the Ming Dynasty still has the West to explore, and the gap of the Ming to the boat division will only get bigger and bigger."

"Three days." After Shen Shixing saw that Shi Peng and the others had nothing to say, he stretched out three fingers, this was the maximum time he could buy.

really let Wang Chonggu put his hand into Songjiang Mansion, that is Shen Shixing's dereliction of duty, this problem has not been solved for a long time, and it is also Shen Shixing's dereliction of duty.

Half of the careerists can coerce the ninety and a half of the rabble, this is what Zhang Juzheng told the emperor, and it is necessary to be vigilant against the fanning of the flames by these careerists.

"Thank you for the teachings of Futai." When Shi Peng heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up! He is most concerned about himself, or whether the interests of the boatmaster group will be damaged after the expansion of recruitment, and this is a profession that can grace future generations.

There is a very common hereditary system in the Ming Dynasty, the son of the jailer is still a jailer, the son of a soldier is still a soldier, the son of a craftsman is still a craftsman, and the son of a general is still a general.

Shi Peng was in a fog about those big truths, but in the end, he completely understood what he said, the ocean was really big.

I don't know the true face of Lushan, only because I am in this mountain.

Shi Peng and other boat masters, who were fascinated by the authorities, suffered from gains and losses, and it was difficult to sleep and eat, but it was Shen Shixing's last words that made him suddenly realize that he had been ignoring a point, and the maritime trade of the Ming Dynasty was not stagnant.

"The student quits." Shi Peng looked at the others, and saw that everyone didn't have the courage to continue debating with Shen Shixing, so he had to say goodbye.

Shen Shixing was beaten with a slap, and he must return to work within three days, otherwise the letter plate will be confiscated, and a big pie will be drawn, and the Ming Dynasty will expand the recruitment of boat master apprentices, which will not damage the interests of the boat master, because the ocean is really big enough, and the demand is enough.

"Is there really free trade?" Shen Shixing looked at the backs of the seven boat masters, muttered to himself, and then smiled self-deprecatingly, Confucianism has always said that as long as everyone cultivates virtue, the world will be the same, this set has been shouted for 1,500 years, and there is no world where everyone cultivates virtue.

More than three generations, after all, it is just an ideal country that is constantly depicted by readers.

Soon, the Ming boatmen were forced by the pressure of the imperial court and began to return to work, the court was urging, under the feudal imperial system, the boatmen were not willing to fight their lives to maintain the so-called freedom, as criticized by the Songjiang school, the boatmasters exchanged freedom for security.

Because the imperial court is not an invisible big hand, the Daming sailors who are moored in and out of Songjiang Xingang Wharf are the big hands that can be seen and a real physical threat.

However, since then, the maritime academy has begun to restrict, there is no money to owe, but it must be repaid, and the price is not cheap, three years in the maritime academy, it takes sixty silver, that is to say, after the boatmaster gets on the ship, it will take three to five years to pay it back without eating or drinking.

Even if the boat master disobeyed the imperial decree and hoped that the imperial court would take back the order, the Ming Emperor still didn't want to collect this money, and the bundle of the household accounting was too expensive, and a person would have to pay one hundred and twenty silver, and the excessively expensive bundle would hinder the pace of the Ming Dynasty's opening of the sea.

In the end, at the insistence of the emperor, the state treasury and the internal treasury each contributed 30 silver, and the bundle of the maritime academy was reduced to 60 silver for the individual.

Moreover, Zhu Yijun asked for no interest, that is, the bundle of 60 silver was an interest-free student loan.

Zhu Yijun still felt that it was too expensive, but Wan Shihe told His Majesty that knowledge was expensive, whether it was in Daming or Taixi.

Shen Shixing handled the affairs of Songjiang Mansion, and the Songjiang Mansion Tax Office communicated with the Songjiang Mansion and carried out penetrating law enforcement on some tax affairs.

It is some powerful people who evade taxes on the sea trade, do not come forward in person, and get a brokerage comprador activity, and when they are called for tax audits, they find that this brokerage comprador has no ability to repay, so they need to find out who is in arrears behind this brokerage comprador, and send the reminder and reminder to the person who really owes taxes.

This is penetration, penetrating the blindfold, finding the people behind the scenes.

The tax office will do one thing, that is, the tax should be paid, and the tax that should be paid should not be less, and the tax that should not be paid will not be more, because the tax office will retain 30% of the tax income, and the court has given a generous reward.

In Daming, only death and paying taxes are inevitable.

The tax inspection room needs the cooperation of the Songjiang government to carry out penetrating law enforcement, which made Shen Shixing scratch his head a little, and finally agreed, because if he did not agree, the tax inspection room would use its own law enforcement power to enforce the law on its own, and it would be more difficult to end up at that time.

The tax house is subordinate to the tax institute, and the tax house is subordinate to the north and south town Fu Division, and is subordinate to the Jinyi Wei Ti Ride.

The North and South Zhenfu Division is the Department of Law, which has independent investigation powers in addition to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Criminal Department, and the Dali Temple.

Shen Shixing could not but agree, and the thousands of tax inspectors of the tax audit houses would enforce the law on their own, and the power of the tax audit houses would soon be out of the scope of tax audits and rapidly expanded.

On June 24, the ninth year of Wanli, Shen Shixing came to Songjiang Wanguo City, which is a seaside city that does not surround ten miles, where all Fanyi will gather, and it is also the residence of the city's ship, and Shen Shixing came here mainly to communicate with the special envoy of Taixi about the number of five-masted ships to be purchased this year, so as to confirm the delivery.

England's navigator Francis Drake's round-the-world journey needed to avoid Portuguese and Spanish colonies and ports, which made Drake's round-the-world voyage a crisis that took nearly three years to complete.

The circumnavigation of Xu Jiugao, Liu Ji and others of the Ming Dynasty was completed in one year and one month, because along the way, the Ming exploration fleet did not have to avoid the jurisdiction of Hongmaofan, and could be replenished in a mature port.

Ming merchant ships could trade with Peru, Brazil, and even Seville, Spain's New World trading home, while English merchant ships were treated as pirates if they appeared.

Felipe II had to open these permissions, because he needed to buy the five-masted ship of the Ming Dynasty to maintain his hegemony over the Ctessi, and he also needed the silk of the Ming Dynasty, and the silver in his own hands, religion and gold and silver, were the two most important ties for Spain to maintain its status as an empire.

The Ming Emperor really didn't prefer to be a friend and not a house slave, and the price of the five-masted ship was extremely expensive, and if he let go of the right to buy, it would only become a carnival for a very small number of people.

"I've seen the governor." Marcus was nondescript, and King Antonio of Portugal was the king canonized by the Ming Dynasty, so Marcus used the oriental etiquette to see him.

"Captain Marcus, meet again." This is the sixth time that Shen Shixing has met Marcus, the first mate of Antonio, who has now become the new red-haired envoy.

Marcus introduced the young man around him and said: "This is Matteo Ricci, a missionary from Italy, the Holy See, this time as the envoy of Felipe II, I hope to stay for a long time. ”

"Da Ming does not allow Jingjiao to preach, and he may not be able to live for a long time." Shen Shixing looked at the handsome man with a high nose in front of him, shook his head and said.

"Envoy Le Yashi is also a believer, and he is also a missionary, but he stayed in Daming, didn't he?" Marcus smiled and said, "I will clearly tell him the rules, if the Ming finds out that he is going to preach, he will throw him into the sea and sink, anyway, he is Felipe II's man." ”

Spain, as the apologists of the New Crusaders, had become too close to the Holy See, and Marcus used to be a sea warrior who was born out of order.

"This time, we intend to repay His Majesty's debt of 500,000 silver, and the excessively heavy debt really makes His Highness uneasy." Marcus had been communicating with Shen Shixing in Chinese, and the chariot slowly drove out of the City of Nations, where Marcus had to arrange for people to trade and buy silk, porcelain, tea, cotton cloth, and wool.

This time the wool is also on the list of purchases, Antonio is not a qualified king, but he is very keen on business, England and Spain are competing for the profits of the woolen business, and Antonio also has to take advantage of the abundant and cheap supply in the East to do some serious business.

Ricci couldn't understand what they were saying, he just looked around, his eyes full of shock.

Even though the sailors were using extremely exaggerated language to describe the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty along the way, Matteo Ricci walked out of the City of Nations for the first time and saw this prosperity with his own eyes.

Even Seville, the New World Trade House, was only a city of 150,000 people, and Jimo County in Bosi (present-day Qingdao) in the city of Mizhou in the Ming Dynasty exceeded 150,000 people alone.

Whether in terms of volume or population, the Ming Dynasty is worthy of the four words of the Heavenly Empire in this era.

The endless stretch of houses attached to Guo, the busy caravan of merchant houses, the endless factories with no end in sight, the endless stream of people, the rows of shops, and the clean and tidy streets all dazzled Matteo Ricci, who was only 24 years old.

The capital city of Songjiang Prefecture and Dingkou has exceeded one million, and it took nine years to become a million-level city from a fishing village by the sea.

"These scavengers are only three cents a day, only nine hundred wen fei money a month, less than half a tael of silver, and only six taels of silver all year round, but there are still many people who are willing to do it, there are about six thousand scavengers in the entire Songjiang Prefecture, just to clean up the streets, the Songjiang Mansion will give 50,000 silver to the merchant gang every year, and the merchant gang only needs to pay 36,000 silver to the scavengers." Shen Shixing looked at the scavenger on the street and said to Marcus with emotion.

The reason why Shen Shixing said this is because Marcus praised Xu Fan's management of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, in an extremely exaggerated tone, the stench has disappeared, and now Lisbon is called the city of flowers by Tessie, and Xu Fan's management model is being promoted to the whole of Portugal.

And Xu Fan has also become a wealthy man, because of the cleaning of urban garbage, it is a very profitable business.

"I was curious in Lisbon, why not do it myself? I mean, why didn't the Songjiang Yamen just hire a scavenger to clean it up? This money was instead earned by the merchant gang, and Xu Fan, in addition to building a street division in Lisbon, also handed it over to the businessmen to do it in other places. Marcus asked curiously.

"Because the imperial court does this, it will not be 50,000 silver, corruption, embezzlement, redundancy and empty salaries will all become nest cases." Shen Shixing said succinctly that the imperial court had the rigidity and bloat of the imperial court, which was also the reason why Shen Shixing allowed the existence of the Songjiang Liberal School.

The imperial court is indeed a bit rigid and bloated, and it is easy to be unaware of its own illness, and someone needs to remind and supervise it, such as the complexity of the ship guidance system, coupled with the low efficiency of the handling personnel, which does affect the smooth flow of ships going to sea; For example, the city is full of private pockets, and deliberately makes it difficult to ask for bribes when drawing points; For example, Shen Shixing found that the shipyard personnel were bloated and empty-paid.

The emergence of the Songjiang Free School was not without reason and without foundation.

Contradiction is the existence of the spear and the shield in opposition and unity, not alone.

Marcus still has to go to Beijing to face the saint, he has to present the credentials, and at the same time return part of the arrears, and get the approval of the Ming to sell him the five-masted ship, Felipe II is still buying the five-masted ship, Antonio must expand the size of the Freedom Fleet, this kind of confrontation, the biggest benefit is the Ming who sells ships for tens of thousands of miles.

"What is this?" Marcus came to the shipyard, he was supposed to look at the inventory of the Ming five-masted ocean-going ship to determine the number to be purchased this year, and he saw the keels of the Youlong and Feiyun.

"A fast sailing ship under construction." Shen Shixing didn't plan to let them visit, the Dragon and Feiyun are top ships that will not be sold to the public, let them take a look at it from a distance, the purpose is to show the national prestige, just like in the nineteenth year of Yongle, Emperor Cheng Zuwen invited envoys from various countries to parade military horses together.

Marcus said sluggishly, "It's really incredible. ”

Marcus has been running at sea for more than ten years, and he knows too well that the appearance of this kind of ship will completely change the pattern of sea trade, but except for a name, Marcus knows nothing about this kind of ship.

Shen Shixing smiled silently, and took Marcus to the dock of the five-masted ship, Marcus looked back reluctantly, the governor of Songjiang did not introduce much, the meaning was already very clear, this kind of ship would not be sold to the outside world, but Marcus glanced at it, and he couldn't forget the figure of the fast sailing ship.

Three days later, Marcus set off for Tianjin Wei, and in addition to Matteo Ricci, there was also a Ming man who went to Jingtang, this person was named Chen Chengyi, who was the general office of Tongxiang Town, Manila, Luzon, this time to enter Beijing, Chen Chengyi escorted five thousand taels of gold.

The five thousand taels of gold were a congratulatory gift from His Majesty's daughter, Princess Yingjia Zhu Xuanchang, to the emperor.

August 17 is my father's birthday, and as a daughter who is married outside, I want to send a congratulatory gift to my father, which is filial piety.

Zhu Yijun is still thrifty, never over the longevity festival, the longevity festival is the emperor's birthday, take the meaning of longevity without borders, to rest for three days, but also to reward the hundred officials of the Beijing hall according to the rank.

According to the system, the first emperor dragon drove the guests, within three years, the emperor was only the longevity festival, and the Wanli three-year ceremony department played the longevity festival, which was finally canceled by the emperor with a lot of money, labor and money.

This is also the truth, in order to celebrate this festival in the palace, need to be in full swing to prepare for a month, Jiajing, Longqing years, a birthday will cost tens of thousands of silver, and the Ming Jingshi nine doors inside and outside to Zhang Cai lamp, the establishment of Jinfang Caiting, the floor of the treasure pavilion, the fire tree silver flower, the sheng song tile, these are the people's labor.

The longevity festival of the Ming Dynasty is not large, and during the Northern Song Dynasty, all parts of the country had to offer the 'Birthday Gang', which was the big mess of tossing and boiling public resentment.

Zhu Yijun finally stopped the Halloween Festival.

At that time, the internal money and the state money begged each other for food, the border soldiers were in arrears, Zhu Yijun really didn't have that mood, and in the sixth year of Wanli, the country's finances were surplus, and the Ministry of Rites wanted to restore this festival again, but every time the emperor vetoed it on the grounds of 'no labor as usual'.

Princess Yingjia Zhu Xuanchang is indeed not His Majesty's biological daughter, but since His Majesty has recognized this girl, he should express his filial piety.

Princess Yingjia made a shot of 5,000 taels of gold, in fact, she also told the emperor that his daughter was doing well in Luzon, and she was not wronged, and she could take out 5,000 taels of gold to honor her father.

Of course, usually, the emperor will reward it back.

After Chen Chengyi, the general office of the Luzon Copper Factory in Tongxiang Town, entered Beijing, this batch of gold entered the palace, Zhu Yijun issued an order, and ordered the War Bureau to create gold weapons, and Zhu Yijun was rare and generous, added 5,000 taels of silver, and created a batch of ritual vessels, so that Chen Chengyi brought back gold jewelry and ritual utensils.

Five thousand taels of gold, 312.5 catties, 186,500 grams of gold, is just a birthday gift, this is a generous gift, but Zhu Yijun did not ask for it, mainly to exchange gifts and strengthen the connection between the Ming Dynasty and Luzon.

Zhu Yijun had heard of Chen Chengyi's name, he was the first batch of people to arrive in Luzon, Guangzhou Electric White, in order to obtain the special gift of Enke Jinshi at the end of the nine-year period, obtained the official status, to Luzon, Chen Chengyi received the errand of the Luzon Copper Factory, and Tongxiang Town also started from scratch, under the leadership of Chen Chengyi, gradually growing.

Zhu Yijun had not yet announced that he had met Chen Chengyi, but Wang Daokun, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, went to the Huitong Pavilion to see him first.

Wang Daokun asked Chen Chengyi about his experience in copper mining, and the annual output of Luzon copper has reached 12 million catties of red copper, while Yunnan copper is only 6.5 million catties.

(End of chapter)