Chapter 668 He Silang, Qingcheng County
Simply piling up goods in warehouses, dumping milk into rivers, and letting vegetables and fruits rot in the fields is regarded as a problem of human greed, which is itself a disservice. The shirk of responsibility is that because human nature is evil, it is reasonable for these things to exist. This is irresponsible.
This is a comprehensive issue of cost, risk, profit, supply, demand, and social resource regulation. Simply attributing it to the evil nature of human nature cannot solve this stubborn problem. We need to face it and admit it. existence, and then find ways to alleviate it, or even solve it.
Wang Yi'e put two teacups on the table, took a teapot and said: "I don't know about other shipping companies, but this is indeed the case for the Michigan Shipping Department. Since the shipping company Since the establishment of the company, the industries formed around Michigan have been dominated by foreign trade. This has been the case for the past twelve years. "
"They have long been overly dependent on overseas profits for survival. There is no interest in selling it during the Ming Dynasty because the profit is too low."
Wang Yi'e picked up the teapot and poured it into a teacup. Even if it overflowed, he did not pour it into another teacup. water.
"Then if we take away this foreign trade teacup, the water in the teapot can be poured into this teacup? That's not the case." Wang Yi'e took away the teacup representing foreign trade, and there was no He stopped and poured all the water in the teapot directly outside.
Wang Yi'e then said: "Business is profit-driven. If there is no profit, there will be no driving force."
Why would you rather pour out the water in the teapot than What about price cuts? Why can’t the Ming Dynasty’s economy take away a teacup anyway?
Wang Yi'e thought for a moment and continued: "Give a simple example."
"He Silang in Qingcheng County is the biggest right-hand man in Qingcheng County. He has a workshop that hires people from all over the country to work and produce a variety of goods, covering all aspects of people's clothing, food, housing and transportation. He Silang Obviously it is not a good deed. In this way, when there is only one teapot, there will be problems that cannot be solved no matter what."
"If all the goods produced are worth 1 million silver, then He Silang will take away 200,000. Of the profits, the remaining 800,000 will be distributed downwards. This is already the most ideal situation. Under normal circumstances, He Silang will take 900,000 and distribute 100,000 downwards."
"Even the most ideal situation. At eighty-two points, the poor coolies only have 800,000 silver in their hands. They can't buy goods worth 1 million silver anyway. Moreover, He Silang will not spend all the 200,000 in his hands. At this time, how many The 200,000 yuan of goods is a surplus. "
"This is true for Qingcheng County, and it is also true for Daming."
The surplus is not because people don't need the goods, but because of distribution. , the total market demand is less than supply, which is caused by problems in production, profit, distribution, and transactions. If we can only rely on domestic demand, we will inevitably fall into an infinite loop.
Because profit is the leading factor, there will definitely be a surplus, which means that the market supply exceeds demand. The workshop will reduce production, reduce supply and maintain profits, and lay off employees. The layoffs will lead to a more sluggish market demand. Step by step towards the abyss.
Wang Yi'e used the story of He Silang in Qingcheng County to tell His Majesty that the ultimate goal of seclusion is to subjugate the country. From an economic model point of view, this is the inevitable result.
Hearing this, Zhang Juzheng said to His Majesty very solemnly: "Seclusion and sea ban are impossible. The affairs of the world can only be summarized in four words. Benefit comes and goes, and foreign trade requires huge profits. ”
“The problem now is that excess leads to waste.” Zhu Yijun returned to the beginning of the problem. It is impossible to close the country and open up the sea. Many new challenges need to be solved in every possible way.
"Actually, there is a good way." Wang Yi'e thought for a moment and said: "Outsiders can't afford Ming Dynasty's goods. Ming Dynasty issued treasury bonds, raised funds, began to expand its army, and then conquered foreign cities and territories, eating North Korea, If it is not enough for the Japanese and Annan states, they will continue to expand their army. If it is not enough for the Taungu, Mughal, Dashi, and Heifan states, they will continue to expand. Anyway, no one can stop the Ming army. "
A simple and crude way to expand demand is military conquest.
The Ming Dynasty issued a total of one special treasury bond, with a five-year term of 10 million silver, specifically for the construction of Suiyuan Chi Road and mining. However, treasury bonds, this method of raising funds, were soon replaced by The conservatives of Ming Dynasty were suppressed to death.
The Ministry of Household Affairs, headed by Wang Guoguang and Zhang Xueyan, believes that debt is a radical financial policy and a scourge. Even debt backed by physical assets is a scourge!
The first issue of 10 million silver treasury bonds was a helpless move due to insufficient funds after the Ming Dynasty attacked Suiyuan. It was a special case and could not be used as a common method.
Any liability requires interest payments, which is a losing business!
In addition, there is now a mountain of silver in domestic and national funds, and there is no need to raise funds, so national bonds have not been issued again.
Gun in hand, follow me, grab, grab, grab! If it is not enough, continue to expand, continue to rob, expand external circulation, expand demand, and resolutely use force to promote free trade until the day it completely collapses.
The Ming Dynasty seems to have done the same. Japan, Liaodong, Suiyuan, Xiyu, Toungoo, the Ming Dynasty fought on all sides and continued to expand externally. However, the Ming Dynasty did not issue treasury bonds to expand its armed forces.
“People have two legs, and so does the economy. We must use powerful means to adjust internal distribution, and we must also find ways to expand external demand. Both of these legs Only by being strong can we support the Ming Dynasty." Wang Yi'e summed up the first question he raised.
Walking on two legs, expanding domestic demand also requires expanding external demand. To expand domestic demand, we need to work hard on distribution issues, and to expand external demand, we need to develop, develop, develop.
Insufficient demand was the first bottleneck encountered by Ming Kai Hai.
Wang Yi'e took a sip of water before continuing: "Your Majesty's second bottleneck is the inflow of silver from overseas. It has not grown rapidly for many years."
"The inflow of silver is huge. There are three main routes. The first route is the Japanese country, which costs about four million silver per year. The second route is the large sailing trade, which totals only six million silver. The third route is the Ming Dynasty's own ocean-going caravan, with Liu Ji as the captain. The ocean caravans bring back three million taels of silver every year. Due to various relationships, the annual silver inflow is about 10 million taels to 14 million taels."
"Sometimes it is more, sometimes more. "
"On the contrary, due to the twelve copper towns in Luzon, the amount of red copper is still increasing rapidly, from 11 million jin in the ninth year of Wanli to Last year, it was 19 million kilograms, and Ming Dynasty’s exports to Luzon also continued to increase with the inflow of red copper. The growth rate of scale is roughly equal to the growth rate of the inflow of red copper.”
Silver. The inflow is not only a problem of too slow growth, but also a problem of sudden increase and sudden decrease. Unlike red copper, it is always growing and will continue to grow in the foreseeable future.
The inflow of silver will fluctuate, causing shocks, which will lead to speculation and various social conflicts. For the extremely conservative Ming Dynasty, instability is worse than no stability.
Wang Yi'e started from the Bureau of Shipping in Mizhou City and talked about the second contradiction, which is also an extremely complicated one.
A very interesting fact is that due to the management of Guo Zhengmao, production in Luzon is increasing, and demand is also increasing, and the growth rate is completely positively correlated.
Luzon is a vivid example. If you want to solve foreign demand, you still need the traditional performing arts of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Hua.
Wang Yi'e really wants to criticize the great voyage of the West. The great voyage of the West seems to have brought nothing but guns, germs, and war and plunder to the world. Those colonized places have only tragedy. Tragedy, there is nothing but death. More than 130 years have passed since the great voyage to the West, and it has not increased the world's needs.
In the twelfth year since the Ming Dynasty opened the sea, Luzon was created, which can be called a miracle.
Manila City has transformed from a city with a perimeter of five miles and a gathering of 90,000 people to a dazzling pearl in Southeast Asia. The population exceeded 100 for the first time in the Dingkou census at the end of the twelfth year of Wanli. With thousands of people, the port is still expanding rapidly, from four berths to 40 berths, which still cannot meet the demand. The seawall has grown from 0 miles to more than 700 miles.
The big crocodiles and orangutans grinning everywhere have slowly disappeared.
Luzon has coking steel, coal and iron plants, as well as twelve large copper plants with an annual output of more than one million kilograms of red copper. Each of these twelve copper plants has a production base of more than 100,000 people. The towns at the entrance had roads, bridges, ditches, and even schools.
Da Ming and Taixi both went to sea to plunder. Their initial motivations were the same, but the final results were completely different.
Wang Yi'e originally wanted to criticize Taixi's great voyage, but later he felt that this was discussing the internal problems of the Ming Dynasty. It was completely unnecessary to criticize others for promoting themselves, so he didn't say more.
This is one of the eight virtues of the Ming Emperor: humility.
"Your Majesty, for this second bottleneck, I think that treasure banknotes are needed overseas, and the Ming Dynasty uses treasure banknotes overseas." Wang Yi'e is not a bag of opinions. He only needs to look at the phenomenon, find the problem, and analyze the reasons. He provided A solution.
Wang Yi'e further said: "Luzon's overseas currency notes are quite stable. I think we can continue to expand the issuance of treasure banknotes. Even if there is a possibility that treasure banknotes will flow back, they should start from every year. One million strings increased to five million strings, or even ten million strings.”
"At least it is necessary to provide treasure banknotes that are approximately equivalent to the inflow of red copper. This is very important for Luzon."
Wang Yi'e has no intention of running away quickly. The policy pilot is in Luzon, and the scale is The expansion from the experimental one million to five million may seem like a big step, but in fact it is almost the same as the inflow of red copper.
"Good." Zhang Juzheng quite agreed.
The Ming Dynasty did not practice banknote laws, but only money laws. The conservative in this matter was the Ming Emperor. The Ming Emperor was always worried about the return of treasure banknotes, and his attitude towards this matter was too conservative, which led to the Ming Dynasty Banknote Law. It has never been released on a large scale except in Japan.
"Luzon also needs treasure banknotes. The Ming Dynasty took away the red copper. What will Luzon use to trade it? Either withhold part of the red copper, intercept part of the silver flowing into the Ming Dynasty, or rely on the money issued by the Ming Dynasty. As long as the Ming Dynasty does not fall, the treasure banknotes on the ground in Luzon will remain strong." Zhang Juzheng further explained why he agreed.
The emperor gave priority to the hinterland, but he also had to consider the actual needs of Luzon. With the establishment of the copper factory, Luzon began to develop and was no longer a completely barbaric place. The demand for currency was also Extremely vigorous.
Bao Chao is the best solution, and there is no need to worry about depreciation, because as long as Ming Dynasty is around, Bao Chao will have its place.
“Your Majesty, the inflow of silver cannot be disordered. Without the inflow of silver, you will starve to death. If there is too much silver inflow, it will be blocked. However, before the Ming Dynasty, there was a lack of valves to regulate the inflow of silver, and overseas currency notes were that valve. If you want more silver, you can issue more treasure banknotes. If you want to reduce the inflow of silver, you can reduce or even withdraw the treasure banknotes and reduce the silver dam." Zhang Juzheng further elaborated on his reasons.
The speed of silver inflow needs to be independent and controllable.
Although the emperor did not say anything, the amount of silver piled up in the internal funds and carrying such a large barrier lake put a lot of pressure on His Majesty. The uncontrolled inflow of silver will also cause many problems. It would be much better if there was a valve.
Just like a steam engine, the steam engine centrifugal speed regulator can effectively adjust the flow of steam, allowing the steam engine to have a relatively stable output. You can have as much power as you want. "Well, Governor Wang has written a memorial and I will approve it and send it to the capital for implementation." Zhu Yijun thought about it again and again and decided to agree with Wang Yi'e's idea.
This is a method to solve the problem of silver inflow speed. Whether it is useful or not requires practice, but it is better than nothing.
The Ming Dynasty was in a state of money shortage, and the whole world was also in a state of money shortage. The scholars of the Ming Dynasty always liked to criticize the court, especially all kinds of iron money, which were regarded as the evil among the evils. From the Han Dynasty In the beginning, iron money and flying money were the targets of criticism.
But except for the Central Plains, which can use iron to cast money luxuriously, there is not even a country in the world that can cast iron money on a large scale. Daming ironware is sold overseas and has firmly ranked second in bulk commodities, even It is challenging the No. 1 position in cotton bulk commodities.
There is no blast furnace iron smelting technology in the world, and there are no iron smelting institutes in any country.
The money shortage in the West was gradually alleviated in the Age of Discovery, and plundering everywhere gradually eased. However, it was only in the West, and the entire world was still in an absolute money shortage. As long as the Ming Dynasty could complete the exploration of the banknote method, only The Banknote Law alone was enough to sustain the Ming Dynasty for decades or even hundreds of years.
The Ming Dynasty's overseas currency notes will form a stable general equivalent and will be used everywhere, in Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Thailand, Africa, big food countries, Mughals, etc.
"In this case, doesn't it mean that the Japanese country will become an isolated island in terms of currency?" Zhu Yijun thought briefly and came to a conclusion that made people laugh or cry. When the Japanese country turned around again in the Ming Dynasty, Suffered an unreasonable disaster.
Because the currency of the Japanese country is the currency of the Japanese country, which is different from the overseas currency of the Ming Dynasty. The currency of the Japanese country does not contain abaca. Abaca is produced in Luzon and is an excellent product. The hard fiber has the characteristics of strong tensile strength, salt resistance, immersion resistance, corrosion resistance, etc. The Japanese currency is specially made and does not contain abaca.
The Japanese country wanted to communicate with the world for trade, and without a currency widely recognized by everyone, trade would be impossible.
Wang Chonggu heard this and said with a smile: "There is nothing we can do about it. The Ming Dynasty itself does not have enough treasure money, just like rice."
The Ming Dynasty treasure money is destined to return to the Ming Dynasty as money. As a supplement to the law, it is not enough. Naturally, we cannot sacrifice our own interests to replace the treasure banknotes for the Japanese country.
“The third bottleneck encountered in opening up the sea is that in addition to insufficient overseas demand and rising and falling silver inflows, there is also a huge challenge, which is the problem of pirates. Within the Strait of Malacca, the Ming Dynasty The fleet can pass freely, but outside the Strait of Malacca, pirates are rampant." Wang Yi'e talked about the third bottleneck.
Everything is universally connected, and therefore universally contradictory. These three bottlenecks are interrelated.
The merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty cannot leave the Strait of Malacca. Regarding the pirates, within the radiation range of the Ming Dynasty, the pirates have ceased because the origin of the pirates, the Japanese country, has been built by the Ming Dynasty. High walls, this The high wall refers to Tsushima Island, Nagasaki Governor's Palace and Ryukyu. The high wall in the physical sense firmly trapped the Japanese pirates in the Japanese country.
If Felipe II could build a high wall against England, the pirates in the West would be reduced by more than half. After all, privateering permission is really too bad.
“Why do you say that Ming merchant ships are less and less fond of going out of the Strait of Malacca? Even if you have incredible wealth, you are not willing to go out. The reason why you say this is because of the sales volume of Ming’s five-masted ships. It did not grow significantly after liberalization, and it was mainly purchased by the imperial court and the five major ocean-going trading houses. "Wang Yi'e is not talking nonsense. The number of five-masted ocean-going ships stopped by the Michigan Shipping Department is relatively fixed, and there are several five-masted shipyards. Sales of ocean-going ships were also relatively weak.
“If the Mediterranean Sea is a calm bathtub, then the current radiation range of the Ming Dynasty Navy is just a man-made bathtub. Compared with the terrifying and changeable celestial phenomena, people still have some observation methods to avoid them, but Malacca, Outside Davao City in Mindanao, there is a place where pirates are rampant and man-made disasters are rampant." Wang Chonggu looked at the figures Wang Yi'e showed and found that Ming maritime merchants were not very interested in five-masted transoceanic ships because there was no demand.
The number of ivory from the Black Country has also been decreasing over the years.
In short, the maritime merchants of the Ming Dynasty have been spoiled by His Majesty's powerful navy. Maritime merchants will not go to places that are not accessible to the navy of the Ming Dynasty. Whoever wants to go can go. The business environment in those places is too bad.
The Ming Dynasty Navy had just reached the Bay of Bengal and Taungoo City. Maritime merchants followed the navy and made a lot of money. On the maritime merchants, everyone saw the Big Dipper flag and the The existence of the Ming Dynasty Dragon Flag brings complete peace of mind.
The Ming Navy does not rob merchant ships. This has been a clear military rule since Yu Dayou established the navy. Military discipline is equal to combat effectiveness. Without strict military discipline, there will be no invincible Ming army. This is the greatest damage to military discipline.
Taiwan, the country’s navy is also a pirate, this is a typical moral vacuum, and the Ming navy did not rob merchant ships, which was also considered by Legaz as a type of high moral inferiority of the Ming Dynasty. It could not rob merchant ships, and maintained The cost of navy is simply too expensive.
Merchants are profit-seeking. If someone is robbed, not only will there be no profit, but all costs will be incurred.
Zhu Yijun shook his head and said: "This problem cannot be solved by allowing armed merchant ships. Any policy that promotes a privateering license will be seen as making the complex and ever-changing ocean more dangerous."< br>
"So the solution is for the Navy to expand its army." Zhang Juzheng thought about it and couldn't think of any way. Expanding the army became the only solution.
But the cost of maintaining a well-disciplined navy is too expensive. Now these 100,000 people are the limit of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty's military expenditure has accounted for nearly half of the Ming court's annual income.
The four major governor-general offices all maintain a certain scale of tooth soldiers, and the Ming court can at most send some guest soldiers. This is the result of the serious lack of military strength of the Ming Navy.
Expanding the army requires money, and Ming Dynasty is very poor. There are too many places where money is needed. How to choose is a test of political wisdom.
In fact, there is a ready-made way to solve this problem, but no one present mentioned it.
That is to condone the self-expansion of the four overseas governor's offices. The navy in the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty has a high moral disadvantage, but this problem does not exist in the governor's office. Which of the governor's offices of Spain and Portugal all over the world is not a robber?
But the Ming Dynasty was a highly centralized feudal monarchy. This was the bottleneck that Wang Yi'e wanted to say but didn't say and didn't dare to say.
The political system of the Ming Dynasty itself was in fundamental contradiction with external expansion. The four governor-general offices, a product between the feudal system and the county system, were already the biggest compromise between the emperor and the court.
The high concentration of power under the imperial system and the decentralization of power in overseas governor's offices are insoluble contradictions.
Antonio and Felipe II could calmly accept the high degree of autonomy of the overseas governor-general, but the Ming Emperor could not accept it no matter what. Not only the emperor, but also Yin Zhengmao, Zhang Yuanxun, Chen Lin, Xu Wei It is also difficult for these overseas governors to accept that Chen Lin is the governor of Ryukyu, but he is also the chief military officer of the Ming Dynasty Navy. Throughout the year, Chen Lin only goes to Naha Port in Shuri Prefecture once during an armed patrol.
"Your Majesty, on this southern tour, are you going to donate some beauties to places along the way?" Zhang Juzheng came up with a genius idea!
Have many concubines and have many children. Your Majesty has not even completed the nine concubines system established by Emperor Sejong. Now the palace is full of concubines including the queen, concubines Liu Concubine and Li Concubine at the wedding. Concubine Zhou De and Concubine Ran Shu, who were promoted to the throne due to the birth of a son in the eighth year of Wanli, the heroic Guo Yunyao who entered the palace in the tenth year of Wanli, and the gentle and gentle Water King Xiyue, are also on the list of retinue.
Guo Yunyao and Wang Xiyue have not been pregnant until they entered the palace. Wang Yaozhuo took special care of them when confirming the list of entourage. In fact, His Majesty prefers the Yunnan lady Ran Shufei. After all, Both her appearance and figure indicated that the family was uneasy, but Concubine Ran Shu gave birth to Zhu Changchao and had children, but Guo Yunyao and Wang Xiyue did not.
Having more children and entrusting them overseas is the only way Zhang Juzheng can think of. For the great event of opening up the sea in the Ming Dynasty, please work harder on your Majesty's waist.
Zhu Yijun shook his head and said: "I don't want to disturb the place."
Because Emperor Wu Zong had no children, one of his favorite things to do during his southern tour was to ask the place to donate beauties in an attempt to give birth to a child. Come, but never.
Zhu Yijun had no such concerns, so he took the queen and two concubines south together.
To create man, we must create man, but how can we eat from a bowl and look at the pot?
“How about we ask the Mizhou City Bureau to donate some Korean girls and Japanese female courtesans?” Wang Yi’e put forward his own idea. Sometimes, no matter how much he likes to eat, he will Niwai, there has been no good news from the palace in the past two years. If your majesty is tired of eating delicacies from mountains and seas, Mizhou can provide some overseas flavor.
Feng Bao, the flower and bird envoy, is already ready to make a move! It's good to change the taste occasionally. Your majesty, the Golden and Red-haired Pancakes in the West, don't like the taste, but the Korean Oiran is delicious and must be tasted.
"Stop, stop!" Zhu Yijun said angrily: "This is talking about the opening of the sea, how come it is related to the concubines, talking about things."
Imperial centralization and the governor In the unsolvable contradiction of the separation of the government, it is very rare for Zhang Juzheng to come up with a way to break the situation that is acceptable to everyone, but it requires His Majesty's cooperation.
“Your Majesty, I personally believe that there is still a dilemma in opening up the sea, and that is the unbalanced development between the north and the south. North of the Qinling Mountains and the Yellow River, there is only one shipping company in Mizhou, and its scale is the same as Songjiang Xingang and Ningbo. Yueyu, Fujian Yuegang, and Guangzhou Dianbai are completely incomparable. His Majesty wants to open up sea investment, and the Mizhou Shipping Department is also an option. "Wang Yi'e's map of the Yan Kingdom is a bit long, and the final map is very short. He talked about him. The main motivation for this interview.
Just like Wang Chonggu was eyeing His Majesty's money that was about to be released from the flood, Wang Yi'e hoped that the Ming Emperor would also consider the Mizhou Shipping Company when investing in sea development.
His Majesty's main investments are concentrated in Songjiang Prefecture and Guangzhou Prefecture, not in the north. The south is originally rich, but because of the existence of the Yangtze River, there are also geographical advantages. Coupled with your majesty's investment tilt, the scale of the Mizhou Shipping Company is completely out of reach. Other shipping companies are comparable.
Wang Yi'e hoped that the Ming Emperor would give Shandong a chance. Shandong would prove that it was also a coastal province.
Jiaozhou Bay is also a natural harbor, and it is an ice-free harbor. For the Ming Dynasty, this is also the best harbor in the north. Although there is no big river in the north, there is a Chidao in the north, and the Chidao has been built. Mizhou City Ship Division, due to many historical reasons, the Ming Emperor was quite afraid of Jinan Prefecture and was also quite dissatisfied with Yanzhou Yan Shenggong, so he did not devote much power to Shandong.
The result of the excessive difference between the north and the south is that the top will be light and the foot will be heavy, but the tail will not be big.
Wang Yi'e hopes that His Majesty will take it seriously.
"Everyone is keeping an eye on the little money I have in my fund. Shen Shixing wants it, Li Le wants it, Wang Jiaping wants it, and now Governor Wang wants it too." Zhu Yijun said with a smile: "This is planned The memorial should be sent to the imperial court for discussion. "
Zhu Yijun did not agree, not because he did not forgive Shandong, but because investment can never be decided with a slap on the head. Investment requires a certain rate of return. Whether to increase investment in the Michigan Shipping Company needs to be studied and decided.
(End of this chapter)