In order to make money, Chongzhen turned his attention to maritime trade.
Theoretically speaking, the size of the maritime trade pie is limited in the short term.
If he takes a piece of it, the amount of cake for others will be reduced.
This results in the interests of vested interests being damaged.
Who are the vested interests?
In the late Ming Dynasty, ocean trade was mainly monopolized by merchants from Guangdong and Fujian.
They made a lot of money, but were unwilling to pay even a tael of silver in taxes to the court.
This was something Chongzhen could not tolerate.
To this end, he decided to declare war on these businessmen.
However, the merchants from Fujian and Guangdong were not fighting alone. They had the protection of their clans, as well as the support of gentry and local officials behind them.
Chongzhen's imperial power posed no threat to them.
He originally wanted to defeat these businessmen through business war and then get a piece of the pie.
But he underestimated the financial resources of Fujian businessmen!
In particular, the pirate group headed by Zheng Zhilong would easily give out millions or even tens of millions of taels of silver to help each other.
In their counterattack, the Jiangxi merchants led by Zhang Tongchang suffered a crushing defeat.
Not only did they lose hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, but they also destroyed the confidence of Jiangxi merchants.
So Chongzhen began to change his tactics.
Since we cannot defeat the opponent in the commercial war on land, let's move the battlefield to the ocean.
At that time, the main targets of Ming Dynasty's foreign trade were East Asia and Southeast Asia, and the secondary targets were West Asia.
The East is mainly Japan.
According to records, Japan accounted for 30 to 40 percent of the Ming Dynasty's foreign trade at that time.
And this 30% to 40% share was monopolized by Zheng Zhilong's Fujian Merchants Group.
Chongzhen wants to break this monopoly!
This time he was not fighting alone, but was pulling businessmen together to make money and share the pie.
We make money together and bear the consequences together when problems arise!
On the morning of the first day of August in the twenty-second year of Chongzhen, all the ministers gathered in the main hall for the morning court.
"Your Majesty," Fan Jingwen was the first to step out, "Zhejiang Tang News!"
"Seven days ago, four villages in Ningbo Prefecture, Zhejiang Province were attacked one after another. Not only did the villagers suffer more than a hundred casualties, but they also lost a large amount of property and food! It was a heavy loss!"
"Four villages were attacked one after another?" Chongzhen frowned. "Japanese pirates?"
"It shouldn't be!" Fan Jingwen paused for a moment and looked at the Minister of War Wang Jiayan for confirmation again.
This report was sent by the local government to the Ministry of War, which then passed it to the Cabinet, and finally the chief minister of the Cabinet read it out at the morning court.
Wang Jiayan nodded vigorously towards Fan Jingwen, indicating that the contents of the Tangbao were correct.
After receiving the response, Fan Jingwen coughed lightly and continued reading: "According to the villagers who were attacked, the gang of bandits wore the uniforms of the Eight Banners soldiers, had pigtails on their heads, and spoke with mixed accents. Some spoke the Central Plains dialect, some spoke with a Liaodong accent, and some spoke what seemed to be Manchu."
"The Jiannu?" Chongzhen stood up with his hands behind his back. "Didn't the imperial court order the Denglai Governor Yuan Shu to constantly harass southern Liaoning (Liaodong Peninsula)? How could the Jiannu navy still have the energy to go to Zhejiang to rob money and kill people?"
"Your Majesty, calm down!" Fan Jingwen hurriedly explained, "Yuan Shu and Huang Fei have indeed been harassing southern Liaoning, but in the past two months, the number of naval forces dispatched by the Jiannu has been increasing each time."
"The Jiannu navy is fully capable of sending troops south to harass Zhejiang."
Upon hearing this, Chongzhen's eyes first brightened and then dimmed.
The increase in the number of Jiannu navy warships showed that they had fallen into a trap and were caught up in an arms race with the Ming Dynasty.
But corresponding troubles also came.
Their navy attacked Zhejiang. How should the Ming Dynasty respond?
Send navy to guard the coast?
Unrealistic.
The coastline is too long, and the number of warships needed to defend it would be astronomical.
Send the navy to search for the other side’s navy?
The ocean is so vast that trying to find each other on the surface is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Even if you find it, the opponent can choose to escape, make a detour and attack again!
"Everyone," Chongzhen looked at the ministers, "Zhejiang is an important tax collection area for the imperial court. We will never allow the Jiannu to set foot there. Can you think of any countermeasures?"
Everyone immediately began to discuss in a low voice.
"If it were you, I'd just send the navy to patrol the coast, and I don't believe we won't find the Jiannu warships!"
"So what if they find it? The Jiannu can just run away! Our navy can only chase after them! If they catch up, it's good, but if they don't, it's all in vain!"
"What should we do then?"
"It's definitely not enough to rely on the navy alone. We have to mobilize the garrisons from all over the place!"
......
Inside the hall, the voices of the crowd were growing louder and louder.
After listening for a while, Chongzhen could no longer bear it. He said loudly, "It's just a few Jiannu warships. Why mobilize the garrisons from all over the country... Is it necessary to make such a big fuss?"
"Your Majesty, what do you mean...?" Fan Jingwen asked.
"Mobilize the power of the people! Post notices to have the fishermen along the coast look for Jiannu warships on the ocean. Once they find them, report them immediately, and then send out the navy to search and destroy them. Under the human wave tactics, Jiannu warships can hide for a while, but not forever. It is only a matter of time before they are discovered!"
"Of course, we can't let the fishermen search in vain. After confirming that the information is correct, we must give them a certain amount of reward!"
Everyone was shocked and bowed at the same time: "Your Majesty is wise!"
After everyone else fell silent, Fan Jingwen stepped out again and asked, "Which navy does Your Majesty intend to send to destroy the Jiannu?"
Chongzhen thought for a moment, "The navy of Denglai cannot be moved. Not only do they have to guard Shandong, but they also have to contain the main force of the Jiannu navy!"
"Give orders to the Fujian Navy, and order Zheng Chenggong to lead 5,000 Fujian Navy officers and soldiers to Zhejiang to wipe out the Jiannu bandits."
"I obey the order."
Fan Jingwen quickly wrote down the information and said, "Your Majesty, there has been a rumor in the capital recently that the court is going to build a new port in Nanzhili to develop maritime trade."
"This false news has caused panic among the people of the capital. Your Majesty, please send the Royal Guards to investigate this matter thoroughly."
Chongzhen did not respond to Fan Jingwen's request, but asked: "Do you think it is necessary to add a new port in Nanzhili?"
The hall suddenly became quiet.
No one spoke.
They were guessing what Chongzhen meant.
If Chongzhen did not want to add more ports, he would definitely send the Jinyiwei to conduct a thorough investigation.
Now Chongzhen not only had no intention of conducting a thorough investigation, but instead asked about their attitude.
The meaning is self-evident.
In addition, merchants from all over the country had informed them of the news in advance, so no civil or military official in the court objected at the first time.
After a moment, Fan Jingwen bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I think whether to add a port depends on the needs of the court and the pros and cons that arise from it."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
