Of course, this also put a lot of pressure on Nan Juyi.
He knew that he could put everything else aside now. The emperor's secret order was the most important thing, and he had to complete it at the cost of his life.
The two hundred thousand taels of silver His Majesty had allocated wasn't a lot, but if each soldier was given ten taels, nearly half of it would have been spent. After sending out the navy and gathering supplies, there wouldn't be much left.
But Nan Juyi felt confident because the secret decree also told him one thing: Xiamen would be opened as a port for trade.
Although Yuegang, the only trading port of the Ming Dynasty, is located in Fujian, its tariff policy is problematic, and it can only collect tens of thousands of taels of silver each year. Isn't that infuriating?
"Strangers from all directions all gathered in Yuegang", "Merchants from Zhangzhou and Quanzhou counties traded in the East and West Oceans and made profits on behalf of farmers and merchants, and this was commonplace", and in Haicheng County alone "seven out of ten households... had ten times more trade with foreigners than before".
Looking at all these descriptions, it was clearly an unprecedented grand occasion. However, Zhu Youxiao was left with tears in his eyes when he saw the data of 35,000 taels of silver in shipping tax.
In a year, the customs of our Ming Dynasty only collected this much? This is still a relatively good level in history. Isn't it too much?
Nan Juyi read the general regulations of the new Maritime Customs and thought it was quite feasible and much better than the current one in Yuegang.
Half of the Xiamen Maritime Customs' income will be allocated to the Provincial Government, that is, the local finances, and used for Fujian's coastal defense construction.
The more he collected, the more he kept. After a rough calculation, Nan Juyi felt that he could surely spend tens of thousands of taels more on military expenses each year.
Moreover, Yuegang is located at the mouth of Jiulong River and is an inland port. A large amount of silt is gradually silting up the port, which is also a major factor affecting Yuegang's overseas trade.
Xiamen is great, Xiamen is great!
Nan Juyi summoned civil and military officials to a meeting, but he did not think that the return of the red-haired barbarians would have any serious consequences.
The Red Barbarians had come all this way for trade. Now that the maritime ban had been lifted, they should just do business honestly and were unlikely to resort to violence.
Of course, the tasks assigned by His Majesty must be completed well and even exceed the targets.
As for Dongfan, judging from the emperor's opinion, it is a good place.
When Fujian is hit by famine again, we can relocate the refugees there. This will provide disaster relief and comfort to the people while satisfying His Majesty. It's the best of both worlds!
………………
When Shen Yourong walked out of the palace excitedly and moved, night had already fallen.
He was already the newly appointed commander-in-chief of military affairs of the East China Sea Navy of the Ming Dynasty, with the title of Shao Bao, and stationed on Chongming Island in Hua.
From Deng Zhen to the audience in Beijing, to the admiral of the East China Sea Navy, Shen Yourong thought about his experiences in the past few days and felt as if he was in a dream.
After decades of hardship, risking his life, and fighting against Japanese pirates, Tartars, and the Qing army, he finally became a general.
And in just a few short days, not only was his rank promoted and his power increased, but he also gained the trust and reliance of the emperor. It was hard to believe.
However, it is indeed true.
Shen Yourong stretched out his hand and brushed the robe he was wearing. It was the Feiyu robe bestowed by the emperor, a symbol of the highest courtesy. It was the highest honor a minister could receive.
First-class python clothing, second-class flying fish, third-class fighting bull, fourth-class qilin.
Qi Jiguang, the general, had once been honored with the imperially bestowed python robe. Shen Yourong, who dared not compare himself with General Qi in terms of merit, was already incredibly excited and moved to tears by receiving the Feiyu robe.
Lian Po is old, can he still eat?
Shen Yourong looked back at the solemn Meridian Gate and seemed to see the young emperor's eager eyes.
He bowed deeply, lowered his hand, and stroked his long beard.
Then he straightened his back, turned around and strode forward, as if to show the emperor that he was still healthy and able to serve the king and the country.
Inside the Qianqing Palace, the young emperor slowly withdrew his gaze from outside the palace and prayed silently in his heart: Chen Yourong, you are an old horse in the stable, with ambitions to run a thousand miles, please don't let me down.
Regardless of whether the Dutch will make a comeback as they did in history, a strong navy that can at least dominate East Asia is absolutely necessary.
Without a monopoly, where would the huge profits come from? If you can't calm the sea, how can you confidently collect protection fees?
To achieve a monopoly, one cannot avoid confrontation with the red-haired barbarians, and even more so with armed groups that are both merchants and bandits.
If you can't defeat others, who will willingly pay the protection fee? If you can't stand up for others, who will pay you the protection fee?
I just don't believe that Zheng Zhilong can become as rich as a country by relying on this, while my Ming Dynasty will be extremely poor.
Of course, it would take several years of preparation to dominate the East China Sea and the South China Sea. Zhu Youxiao tentatively set it at three years, and no more than five years at most.
Focusing on the five provinces of Jiangsu, Shandong, Fujian, Zhejiang and Guangdong, we built a lot of sea ships, built large sea ships, built a lot of cannons, built powerful cannons; trained sailors, seamen and gunners, and then defeated the opponents one by one.
During this preparation period, fully lifting the maritime ban, cracking down on smuggling and increasing revenue became relatively important sources of income.
You don’t even need to calculate how much raw silk, silk, porcelain, sugar and other items are exported from the country every year to know that the tens of thousands of taxes collected by Yuegang are almost confiscation.
Since Yuegang, the only trading port designated by the court, has become non-existent, why should we stick to it and continue to implement the policy of banning the sea?
If smuggling cannot be stopped due to the incompetence of the navy or collusion between officials and businessmen, then the navy should be reorganized, and then the source of the goods should be gradually controlled and standardized.
Moreover, Zhu Youxiao had used his historical knowledge and the information obtained from maritime merchants to implement a strategy of cutting off the source of the problem, and the probability of success was very high.
Zhu Youxiao's final policy towards Chinese maritime merchants would be to support them so that they could compete with European maritime merchants and even engage in global trade.
But at this stage, we must subdue them and make them know to fear the law of the country, rather than just "forgetting life and death for the pursuit of profit." They even dared to collude with the red-haired barbarians just to make money.
Wang Tigan tiptoed into the hall. Seeing the emperor's gaze turned, he bowed and said, "A female official has come to report on behalf of the Empress Dowager, saying that she has been unwell for the past few days and cannot serve the emperor."
Zhu Youxiao was about to say summon the imperial physician, but stopped. After thinking for a while, he understood the meaning.
The reason for not feeling unwell was not because of any illness, but because Queen Zhang Yan had relatives visiting, as they did for a few days every month.
It is said that in previous dynasties, if a concubine was inconvenienced, she would put a red dot on her face, and the eunuchs would not include her in the list of people to sleep with.
There was no rule of drawing lots in the Ming Dynasty, and there were only three concubines in the palace. The emperor could completely decide where to sleep according to his wishes.
So, when this happened, Zhang Yan was probably too shy and at a loss, so she sent a female official to inform the emperor so that he wouldn't be disappointed when he went.
Am I that kind of person? I would go there just to do that. Can't I just do nothing and have a good sleep?
"I understand." Zhu Youxiao still felt a little aggrieved and instructed Wang Tigan, "Tell the female officials to tell the queen to rest and take care of her diet."
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