Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 277 Anyone who kills a native can pay a cow as compensation (two in one)

No matter what, the route from Macau to Goa, India, was finally controlled by the Ming Dynasty from then on.

Therefore, Indian goods such as pepper, hematite, ivory, sandalwood, etc. could be continuously transported to Ming Dynasty via Ming Dynasty merchant ships, and then through currency exchange, Indian goods such as raw silk, silk, glass, soap, high-carbon steel, etc. could be obtained, which were then transported to Japan by Ming Dynasty merchant ships and exchanged for silver.

The entire route from Japan to India was controlled by Ming merchant ships, and the profits from transportation and the price difference during transactions all flowed into the hands of Ming merchants.

In this way, the commercial prosperity of the Ming Dynasty can be effectively promoted, and the Ming government can also obtain a large amount of income by collecting taxes.

Of course, this is only a long-term benefit.

In the short term, the most obvious benefit is that the Ming Dynasty can directly seize the capital that Portugal has plundered in India for many years.

After the Ming Dynasty's expeditionary fleet occupied the Portuguese colony of Goa, the first batch of looted capital it brought back was worth as much as eight million taels of silver!
In the early years of the Zhengde reign, the annual income of the Ming Dynasty's Taicang granary was only about two million taels of silver.

This batch of capital allowed the Ming Dynasty to earn annual income that was four times what it was at the time.

Although the way of obtaining this capital is a bit cruel, it can indeed allow the Ming Dynasty to gain more wealth in a short period of time.

The Empire Maritime Trade Corporation also caused the price of government bonds to rise again because of the acquisition of this batch of silver!
Upon seeing this, Zhu Houzhao simply ordered the Ming Stock Exchange to convert the public bonds originally raised to establish the Imperial Maritime Trade Corporation into stocks, and allowed all kinds of state-owned and private trading companies in the Ming Dynasty to be listed on the Ming Stock Exchange after accumulating a certain amount of capital and passing the assessment of the Ming Stock Exchange.

then.

Many large commercial banks, such as Shanxi Commercial Bank, Huizhou Commercial Bank, Yangzhou Commercial Bank, Jiao's Commercial Bank, etc., all requested to go public, hoping to raise large amounts of funds by selling stocks on the stock exchange.

After a rigorous review, quite a few banks' requests to go public were approved.

Because of the opening of new shipping routes in the Ming Dynasty, the profits of these trading companies have increased, and the stocks on the Ming Stock Exchange have almost continued to rise, reflecting the good economic situation in the Ming Dynasty.

The middle and upper class gentry in the private sector actively invested their money in stocks, and the governments of Guangdong and Guangxi also used more private capital in infrastructure construction. Therefore, the Guangdong Provincial Government decided to build a cement highway between Haojing and Guangzhou Prefecture. Combined with the construction of Guangzhou Port, this would make the water and land transportation from Guangzhou to Haojing become very developed.

Zhu Houzhao also used the assets he had recently earned to build a royal sea view villa in Haojing. Now, he is lying on a rattan chair on the beach and doing shameless things with several of his concubines and selected ladies.

But just after he enjoyed his life as an emperor, Zhou Yao, the Minister of Finance of Nanjing, who had returned to his hometown to visit his relatives, rushed from Guangzhou to seek a meeting with Zhu Houzhao because he knew that Zhu Houzhao was in Haojing.

Ever since the news of the Ming Emperor Zhu Houzhao's appearance in Guangzhou Prefecture spread like wildfire, many officials and gentry came to ask to see Zhu Houzhao. Zhu Houzhao did not refuse the meeting. He knew that in this era of Confucian rule when people were not enlightened, these gentry had strong ability to organize and control the people at the local level.

After all, historical experience shows that at the end of a dynasty, peasant uprisings were successful because they united the gentry, and they failed because they did not unite the gentry.

Zhu Houzhao is now touring Guangdong and Guangxi in casual clothes. Unlike the last time he went to Jiangnan and brought the Royal Guards with him so he could have a tense relationship with the Jiangnan gentry, now that he is in Guangdong, he naturally cannot use force against the Guangdong gentry.

Of course, he had no need to confront the Guangdong gentry in a tough manner. After all, Guangdong was still a remote place in that era and was not as important as Jiangnan, which had always been an important place for money and grain taxes in the Ming Dynasty.

of course.

Zhu Houzhao believed that with the development of maritime trade, Guangdong, especially Guangzhou Prefecture, would inevitably become an important source of tax revenue for the Ming Dynasty in the future. Therefore, he also felt that it was necessary for him, as the emperor, to understand the thoughts of these Guangdong gentry.

"I have the audacity to meet Your Majesty for no other reason than to hear that the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Wang Hong, has allowed his troops to plunder and massacre the people of Goa. I believe that the rule of the world should be based on the rule of the king at home and the saints abroad. Goa is a wild land, and our country of China should not take it for itself. If we do so, the natives of Goa will frequently rebel, and the dynasty will have to increase military affairs and waste money and grain, just like the incident in Jiaozhi.

Therefore, I think that Your Majesty should follow the good governance of Emperor Xuanzong, abandon the land of Goa, allow its natives to establish their own vassal state and pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty, and at the same time punish Wang Hong for his lax military management! "

After Zhou Yao finished speaking, Zhu Houzhao's face darkened. He didn't expect that Zhou Yao came to see him to impeach Wang Hong and persuade him to give up the city of Goa that he had just occupied.

"If we give up Goa, it will be retaken by the Portuguese. Then, the route from Macau to Goa established by our Ming Dynasty will be interrupted. The Empire Maritime Trade Corporation will no longer have a profit of more than millions of silver dollars a year. Not only the Empire Maritime Trade Corporation, but also other major commercial companies will suffer. At that time, the stocks in the hands of the people will become a piece of waste paper. Minister Zhou, have you ever thought about what the consequences will be?"

When Zhu Houzhao asked this, Zhou Yao didn't know how to answer for a moment. He was born into a large landowner family and was a relatively traditional scholar-official. What he worried most was that the court would frequently use military force because of the occupation of Goa, which would lead to national hardship and poverty for the people. However, he did not expect that the trade income and colonial income from Goa City to Haojing were now related to the interests of the entire Guangdong and Guangxi people.

Zhou Yao himself was a large landowner and not a businessman, and he was not very enthusiastic about the newly emerging trend of making profits by buying government bonds and stocks, but this did not mean that he did not understand it. Therefore, after Zhu Houzhao said this, he realized that His Majesty the Emperor had tied the interests of the entire people together with the colonial and trade interests of the Ming Dynasty.

"Yes, but Your Majesty, a good government that is both a king and a saint is the key to a peaceful world. If the Ming Dynasty were to rashly start a war and seize other countries' territories to enrich itself, it would only lead to the loss of justice in the world, and make it an enemy of all nations. It would only lead to more military troubles, empty the treasury, and cause the world to wither!"

Zhou Yao still expressed his concerns, even though he now knew that giving up Goa seemed unrealistic.

"What a king at home and a saint abroad. He is strict with his own people but kind to foreign barbarians. Is this what you mean?" Zhu Houzhao asked coldly.

Zhou Yao sensed Zhu Houzhao's bad tone and hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, I am thinking about the country and people of our Ming Dynasty!" "Water can carry a boat but can also overturn it. Since you are aware of the threat posed by the foreign tribes who are bullied by our Ming Dynasty and rebel, you should also understand the consequences if the people of our Ming Dynasty are dissatisfied with me and the entire court and even despair. If the foreign tribes make trouble, we will only recognize their independence. But if the people of our Ming Dynasty make trouble or even revolt, it will truly lead to the destruction of our country and people!"

Zhu Houzhao's voice became louder and louder, while Zhou Yao bowed in panic and said:

"Your Majesty's words made me realize that I was too ignorant. But Your Majesty, since our Great Ming has to seize foreign lands for the benefit of all people, why not treat these foreign people well? Since their lands are our Chinese lands, why not accept their people as Chinese people? In this way, all people are equal, united and friendly, and perhaps these foreign people will not rebel because of injustice. We can even treat them more leniently, so that even if the Han people are temporarily living in foreign lands, they should follow the local customs instead of using Han customs, and forgive the laws and give them a break, so that they can be grateful for the kindness of China and not rebel because of it!"

Zhou Yao said.

"According to what you mean, you want the Han people of the Ming Dynasty to be inferior to the naturalized foreigners? I admit that my Ming Dynasty is a great country, not just a country of Han people, but also a country of Hu people and Miao people. It is a multi-ethnic empire. But as long as they are loyal to the Ming Dynasty and have paid taxes or made contributions to the Ming Dynasty, they can all become citizens of the Ming Dynasty. But the Han people are also citizens of the Ming Dynasty, and they are our race. If you were a Hu person, I could understand if you said this, but you are also a Han person, but you also say this, I am very disappointed!"

Zhu Houzhao then said, "You are the Minister of Finance of Nanjing, not a cabinet minister. You have no right to discuss politics. Not only are you talking about politics recklessly, which is suspected of usurping power, but you are also making irresponsible remarks. You really don't know the rules!"

"Your Majesty, I beg you to forgive me. I just don't want to see my Great Ming doing such a robbery that goes against the words of the saints! At least not for killing innocent people! Even if Your Majesty executes me today, I have to say that my country of China has always been respected by the world for the etiquette of the saints. Since Your Majesty wants to be its master, you should naturally educate it with the etiquette of the saints. Etiquette is reason, and you should advocate reason and preach to them, instead of using the butcher knife! Your Majesty!"

Zhou Yao said.

"Enough! Since you want to preach the truth to the foreigners so much, I will help you. I hereby decree that Zhou Yao, who has been making irresponsible remarks on state affairs and disrupting the government, will be demoted to the position of Ceuta's teacher! You must leave immediately after three days and are not allowed to stay!"

After Zhu Houzhao said this, Zhou Yao couldn't help but feel cold in his heart. He knew where Ceuta was and that it was much farther away from the Ming Dynasty than Goa. Going there would mean that he would never be able to return to the Ming Dynasty in this lifetime. He couldn't help but burst into tears: "Your Majesty, I am old and weak, and I am afraid I can't do the job!"

"You can choose not to go, but then I will say that I ordered the military commanders to brutalize the natives, not because I was cruel, but because civil officials like Zhou Yao were unwilling to spread the doctrine of benevolence to the foreign tribes. Therefore, I used tyranny to prevent the foreign tribes from causing chaos!"

Zhu Houzhao's words made Zhou Yao realize that Emperor Zhu Houzhao wanted a civil official like him to take the blame for his plan to massacre foreign tribes, so he had no choice but to agree: "I obey your order!"

Zhou Yao walked back in disgrace. He could only think of a line from Han Yu's poem: "A letter was sent to the emperor in the morning, and I was demoted to Chaozhou in the evening, a journey of eight thousand miles!"

“Your Majesty, banishing the Neo-Confucian officials to the colonies is a good way to educate the natives, but I am worried that these Neo-Confucian officials will only seek to appease the locals, despise the Han people and fear the locals. Han officials have always dared to bully Han people, and these Neo-Confucian officials are naturally even more so.
Therefore, I believe that laws should be enacted in the colonies, and the purpose of the laws is to protect the interests of the people of our Ming Dynasty, not the interests of the natives. Once the ruling officials violate the laws and execute them arbitrarily, they will be punished for the crime of intending to secede and establish their own regime! "

Xia Yan came over at this time and said that although he advocated that the governance of the country should be based on Neo-Confucianism and the use of sage learning, he was also a nationalist and knew some pedantry of Neo-Confucian Confucian officials. Therefore, at this time, he was worried that the Neo-Confucian officials would despise the Han people and respect the natives in the colonies.

Zhu Houzhao nodded and said, "You are right. The idea of ​​being a king inside and a saint outside is in the bones of these Confucian officials. They are lenient to the outside and strict to the inside. They would rather harm the interests of their own people than have the bad reputation of bullying foreign people. I also think that the places where the Ming Dynasty has colonized should establish laws. The fundamental purpose of the law is to protect the interests of the people of the Ming Dynasty and try to gain more benefits from the natives!"

"At present, the Ming Dynasty has several colonies, and there will be more in the future. The official system of these places must also be established. I have decided to establish a system of itinerant officials, imitating the politics of the inland provinces, with governors or governors in charge of military and political affairs, and responsible to the central court. The Commanding General, the Provincial Supervision General, and the Provincial Administration General are responsible for military affairs, judicial investigation, and maintaining public order and administration respectively! The Inspector General is responsible for supervision!"

Zhu Houzhao then said, "In addition, it is about establishing laws. The laws of these colonies are naturally not the same as those of the provinces of our Great Ming Central Empire, but the governors and governors of the colonies must follow my instructions to establish colonial laws and regulations, and must put the interests of our Great Ming people first."

"As you command!" Xia Yan responded, and then said, "However, Your Majesty, we cannot fail to fully protect these natives in the colonies. I believe that they will still be needed to do things that benefit our Ming Dynasty in the future. After all, they are also considered labor. Just like the Yuan Dynasty decided not to kill our Han people because they were worried that if they killed the Han people, no one would pay taxes to them and work for them. Now, if our Ming Dynasty kills all these Turks, it will be the same."

"The value of these natives is equivalent to a cow in the homes of the people of our Daming. A cow that can work. In this case, in order to avoid the indiscriminate killing of natives and barbarians, let's pass down the decree. If the people of Daming are suspected of deliberately killing natives, at most they will only have to pay with a cow. If the natives kill the people of Daming, they will be beheaded! Otherwise, the governor or governor will be directly dismissed!"

After Zhu Houzhao said this, Xia Yan hurriedly bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise!" He couldn't help but think that he had also fought for some rights and interests for the natives in the colonies. In the future, these natives would surely be grateful to me, Xia Yan, just as some Han people were grateful to Yelu Chucai. After all, at least I, Xia Yan, made their value equivalent to that of a cow, instead of allowing them to be killed at will by the people of the Ming Dynasty like grass.

Zhu Houzhao also knew that now was not the time to talk about equality for all. After all, he now found that even if he promoted equality for all among the people of his own Ming Dynasty, he did not gain the recognition and response of the majority of the people. If he forced the Ming people to be equal to the natives, it would only make the Ming people dissatisfied and make the natives arrogant and attempt to gain independence.

What's more, exploitation exists in society. If I want to make the people of Ming Dynasty prosperous, I must exploit the natives so that the people of Ming Dynasty can obtain more wealth. What's more, as the emperor, I and the powerful bureaucrats who support me are the predators of this era. If I don't exploit the interests of the natives, I can only exploit the interests of the people of Ming Dynasty. In that case, it will be even more difficult for me to let the people of Ming Dynasty obtain the rights of freedom and equality.

Because people instinctively pursue equality, and only when they are rich enough and have the ability to compete with those in power can they obtain equal rights. Otherwise, those in power will never grant you equal rights. They will exploit you for 70% of their interests, but will never exploit you for only 60%.

If Zhu Houzhao wanted to enlighten the people of the Ming Dynasty, make them aware of the pursuit of their own rights, and have the awareness of being citizens and masters of the country, he had to first make the people of the Ming Dynasty wealthy, wealthy enough that they could receive more education, better ideas, and have more wealth without worrying about survival.

And this will definitely come at the expense of the interests of the natives, otherwise how can the people of the Ming Dynasty quickly acquire wealth.

……

“Goa Community School has opened. Native children will be given priority in admission and can live in better hostels!”

However, Han Wen took the lead in launching the strategy of giving priority to the right of the indigenous people to education in Goa City with the purpose of encouraging more indigenous people to accept Sinicization. On the first day after he opened the community school, he directly gave priority to teaching the children of the indigenous people, and thus established such community school rules.

Only two chapters will be updated today, and more will be released after the free period ends tomorrow. Thank you book friend 160831235517739 for the 100 starting coins reward. Thank you book friend Xinghuo for the 500 starting coins reward. Thank you book friend O Level 0 Great Storm 100O for the starting coins reward.

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(End of this chapter)