Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 794 Innate Deficiency
Kang Youfu's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard this, and he nodded repeatedly in agreement.

But Zhu Shenzhui hadn't finished his words yet. He said calmly: "Not only Korea, but also Liaodong, it would be good if we can trade with them."

"Regent...this..." Kang Youfu was shocked. He didn't expect Zhu Shenzui to say such a thing.

Trade with Liaodong? Isn't that the same as trading with Jiannu? The Ming Dynasty and Jiannu are mortal enemies! Zhu Shencui has always been tough on Jiannu. The two sides just fought a battle in Liaodong. Now he wants to trade with Jiannu. Kang Youfu is shocked and doesn't understand Zhu Shencui's intention.

"Haha, do you think I want to use maritime trade to support the enemy? Do you think I am not in my right mind?"

"I dare not. I have absolutely no such intention. The Regent is a man of great talent and vision. I just don't understand the purpose of the Regent's move. I hope the Regent will enlighten me..." Kang Youfu quickly stood up and knelt, looking terrified.

"You, you, why are you kneeling down again when you were talking so peacefully? Get up, get up..." Zhu Shenzhui raised his hand and said.

Kang Youfu stood up nervously, but did not dare to sit back. He stood there with his hands hanging down and listened to Zhu Shenzhu's lecture.

Zhu Shenzhui saw that he was not concerned and asked immediately, "Does Liaodong produce anything?"

"Return to the Regent, yes!"

"What are the products of Liaodong? Can we make a profit if we transport them to the interior?"

"To the Regent, according to what I know, Liaodong produces ginseng, sable fur, fungus, tussah silk and other items, in addition to rare items such as eastern pearls. These are not valuable in Liaodong, but are hot commodities when transported into the interior. The profit can be several times or even dozens of times after a single resale..." Kang Youfu is a qualified businessman, how could he not know about the production situation of Liaodong?
What's more, Liaodong not only has these things, but also various other minerals. For example, there are a lot of iron ore in Liaodong. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, an iron industry organization was set up in Liaodong, which was specifically used for mining and iron smelting. But now it is no longer very prosperous due to the destruction of Nurhaci.

In addition, Liaodong also had a salt industry and was able to grow rice and other crops. These industries reached their peak in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, otherwise there would not have been so many Liao people living in Liaodong at that time.

Zhu Shenzhui nodded slightly. Kang Youfu was right about the production situation in Liaodong. He waited for Kang Youfu to finish and then said, "Since Liaodong has these products, it is profitable. You should know about the previous auction in Shandong. Merchants from all over the country competed for these goods, which made Shandong and the army profit greatly."

"If that's the case, why can't we trade? Besides, the trade I mentioned is not without restrictions. Salt, iron and grain are naturally not allowed to be sold to Liaodong, but other goods can be sold. In addition, when purchasing materials from Liaodong, they must be purchased with silver bills issued by the Royal Bank. The flow of gold and silver into Liaodong is restricted, but the flow into Ming is not restricted. Apart from these two points, you can figure out how to do it and how to contact them. You can discuss it with Li Xin when you go to Shandong."

Seeing Kang Youfu in deep thought, Zhu Shenzhui reminded him, "Smuggling among the people has been banned repeatedly because the imperial court banned foreign trade. Merchants pursue profits without official channels and can only take risks. You have been in business for many years, so you should understand this."

"When Dayu controlled the flood, it was better to drain it than to block it. This truth was understood by the ancients thousands of years ago, but people today do not understand it. In addition to making profits for the country and alleviating the financial burden, I am opening up foreign trade to promote commerce and unblock it. I am taking this opportunity to reset the commerce of our Ming Dynasty. As the saying goes, there is no stability without agriculture, and there is no prosperity without commerce."

"Once the sea trade is opened, the government will not be able to control it even if it forces it. It is better to open a small hole to allow it to flow. Besides, as long as we control the flow of salt, iron, grain and other goods into Liaodong, and add the use of silver bills, it will not be harmful to our Ming Dynasty."

"But Regent, the Jiannu are not stupid. If that's the case, Huang Taiji..." Kang Youfu understood a little, but he thought of a question and couldn't help asking.

"Huang Taiji... hehe." Zhu Shenzhui chuckled. "Although Huang Taiji is not a simple man, he cannot completely control the Eight Banners. If he could centralize power, the Zhenglan Banner incident would not have happened. There have always been people within the Eight Banners who oppose Huang Taiji. Moreover, the Jiannu regime was established based on the Eight Banners. This system has great flaws and is completely different from the Ming Dynasty system."

"Huang Taiji understood these problems after he ascended the throne. That's why he couldn't wait to reform the Eight Banners system after he became emperor and introduced our Ming system to supplement the Eight Banners. But this would inevitably affect the internal affairs of the Eight Banners, create conflicts, and weaken the rights of each banner. The Jurchens are not a monolithic entity. The more power Huang Taiji has, the less power others have. The owners of the Eight Banners and the nobles will inevitably complain." "This is the case with foreign tribes. It was the same with Liao and Jin back then, and it was also the case with the Yuan Dynasty. The barbarians are born with deficiencies. They want to copy others but have to take into account the basics. This has led to their downfall." Zhu Shenzhui said this with a hint of sarcasm at the corners of his mouth. The fact is just as he said. The Eight Banners system was originally a loose tribal union system. Nurhaci used his appeal and force to forcibly merge the tribes together. Although such a system can gather strength in a short period of time, burst out with powerful combat effectiveness, and effectively rule and command, the problem is that this system is born with deficiencies and is not suitable as the foundation of a country.

You have to know that the Han people's system has undergone continuous changes over thousands of years, from the initial slavery to the later feudal system, and then to the county system after Qin Shihuang unified the world, and then implemented centralized power until today.

Although the Qin Dynasty perished in the second generation, the Han Dynasty actually implemented the Qin system. Especially after the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms that broke out during the reign of Emperor Jing of Han, the feudal system was directly broken. After the Enfeoffment Order during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, the centralized system was completely consolidated. After thousands of years of changes of dynasties and additions and adjustments to the system, the current system of the Ming Dynasty was finally formed.

It's not that the Ming Dynasty's system was so good. Every system has its advantages and disadvantages. There is absolutely no perfect system in the world, even hundreds of years later.

But compared to foreigners, the Han system is much more complete and runs much more stably. Foreigners' systems came out of nowhere and have inherent deficiencies that have great hidden dangers. They may not be a big problem in the short term, but as time goes by, the serious consequences of these systems will continue to be exposed, thus affecting the regime.

Huang Taiji's Qing Dynasty is now facing this problem. The Eight Banners system was founded by Nurhaci and is also the foundation of the Jurchen nation. But now the Eight Banners system has become a serious obstacle to the development of the Jurchens, because the system itself has defects. Huang Taiji, the so-called emperor, cannot achieve true centralization at all, because the Eight Banners system is doomed to disperse power and internal compromise.

The rebellion of the Zhenglan Banner was due to this reason, and the attitudes of other banners towards Huang Taiji also stemmed from these problems. Huang Taiji certainly understood the shortcomings of the Eight Banners system, but as the leader of the Jurchens and the current Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Huang Taiji could not change the Eight Banners system, or even start over.

This is absolutely impossible, because if he did so, the backlash would be huge. If the Eight Banners system was overthrown, then the banner owners, including the Jurchen nobles, would lose their privileges, and their rule would be completely unprotected. Even a figure like Huang Taiji did not dare to do so. If he did so, the consequences would be extremely serious, and he might even lose his position, let alone become the emperor of the Qing Dynasty.

In desperation, Huang Taiji could only make some repairs to the original Eight Banners system, trying to maintain the Eight Banners system while changing the shortcomings of the entire system. But it was difficult for Huang Taiji to do this, even if he had someone like Fan Wencheng to help him.

Historically, the reason why Huang Taiji was able to successfully repair and improve the shortcomings of the Eight Banners system, and after the Qing Dynasty entered the Pass, he conquered the world and finally implemented a dual structure to rule the world was because Huang Taiji obtained a rare talent, this person was Hong Chengchou.

Although Fan Wencheng was capable, he was just a poor scholar. Before he defected to the Later Jin Dynasty, Fan Wencheng had never been an official. Everything he knew was from books. Compared with the Jurchens who could even recognize a few big characters, Fan Wencheng was certainly a "cultured man", but in the Ming Dynasty, there were countless people like him.

Just like in a remote village, a junior high school student among a group of illiterate mud legs can be regarded as a cultured person, but in the whole world, what does a junior high school student count for? Not to mention junior high school students, even college students, master students and even doctoral students are the same, they are simply as numerous as cattle hairs. It is simply a joke to say that you are a cultured person. Even if you want to squeeze into the cultural circle, you are not qualified to carry shoes for those big guys.

But Hong Chengchou was different. Not only was he a genuine Jinshi who had fought his way out of the imperial examination, but he had also been an official, both a minor one and a high-ranking one.

Even now, Hong Chengchou has long been a local official, holding a high position. How can such a person be compared with Fan Wencheng? His knowledge, vision and ability are all ranked first in the world. It is precisely because of his surrender to the Qing Dynasty that Huang Taiji finally had a strong person to assist him, which is why he was able to improve and adjust the system without affecting the fundamentals of the Eight Banners.

But even Hong Chengchou could not change the shortcomings of the Eight Banners. All he could do was to try his best to repair them. So with his assistance, the adjusted Eight Banners system was combined with the original system of the Ming Dynasty to form a special dual system. This system seemed to be fine on the surface, and it also laid the foundation for the stability of the Qing Dynasty for more than 200 years. However, this system still had great hidden dangers. In addition, the rule of foreign races made the Qing Dynasty in history reverse history in order to stabilize its regime after entering the Central Plains, and eventually made China slip step by step from its original leading position in the world, and eventually became the object of arbitrary bullying by foreigners.

Now Hong Chengchou is still busy suppressing bandits in the Central Plains, and the siege of Jinzhou is over. Hong Chengchou, who has never been to Liaodong, naturally could not be captured by Huang Taiji, so it is even more impossible for him to help Huang Taiji to improve the so-called Eight Banners system.

This change in the situation destined Huang Taiji to have a more difficult time than in history, especially in terms of controlling the Eight Banners and consolidating his own rule. Even if he solved the problem of the Zhenglan Banner, it would not change the situation, unless he could control all the Eight Banners in his own hands. But how could other Jurchen nobles let Huang Taiji do this? So the ending could not be changed.

(End of this chapter)