My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 198 The Proposal for Another Voyage to the West
After reading Su Ze's memorial, Shen Yiguan looked at Su Ze and asked:
"Brother Zilin, this memorial of yours is likely to cause controversy in the court and among the public again. Should we consult with the Grand Secretaries before submitting it?"

Su Ze's memorial to the throne began with "ancestral rules" again.

"To uphold ancestral rules, expand the sacred teachings, and foster harmonious relations with vassal states."

"'The wise king was virtuous and cautious, and all the barbarians paid tribute.' Therefore, when Emperor Chengzu received the imperial edict and decree, he dispatched imperial envoys to tour the eight directions. Zheng He made seven voyages to the Western Ocean, issuing edicts to more than thirty countries. Coral and hawksbill turtle shells filled the court as tribute. This was truly the glorious and prosperous time of China."

"Now Your Majesty has inherited the throne and is in power, and your virtue extends far and wide. I have noticed that the post roads of various foreign tribes are gradually becoming less frequent, and tributes are arriving less often. Even the hereditary tributary states, such as the Kuwu, have stopped paying tribute for a hundred years."

"I humbly request Your Majesty to examine the old regulations of the Yongle era, clarify the system of all nations paying tribute, take stock of the vassal states, and once again demonstrate the Holy Dynasty's policy of pacifying distant lands."

Upon seeing this, Shen Yiguan felt a chill run down his spine. Wang Shizhen's Court of State Ceremonies and his own Ministry of State Affairs were about to get busy again.

As expected, Su Ze did not spare the Court of State Ceremonial.

"I beseech the Ministry of Rites, together with the Court of State Ceremonies, to revise the 'Regulations for Tribute by Foreign Tribes.' Following the precedent of the Kuwu tribes annually paying tribute of two hundred giant logs and being granted a thousand dan of salt and iron, each tribe should be divided into three categories—annual tribute, periodic tribute, and special tribute—based on the distance of the journey and the abundance of local products."

"Your Majesty, following in the footsteps of Emperor Yongle, has ordered envoys to travel far and wide, and to embark on another voyage to the Western Ocean!"

After reading this, Shen Yiguan looked at Su Ze again and couldn't help but say:
"Brother Zilin, it seems there's another discussion about Liu Daxia in the court!"

Su Ze nodded, understanding the resistance this memorial would face.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty had discussed the idea of ​​"going to Southeast Asia again".

This brings us to the story of Liu Daxia burning Zheng He's nautical charts during the Chenghua era.

During the Chenghua era, a eunuch close to the emperor suggested restarting Zheng He's voyages to the Western Ocean.

So the emperor sent eunuchs to the Ministry of War to search for "Zheng He's Maritime Charts", but they were blocked by Liu Daxia, the then director of the Ministry of War's Chariot and Carriage Department.

Liu Daxia's reasoning was, "Sanbao's voyages to the Western Ocean cost hundreds of thousands in money and grain, and tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians died. Even if he returned with rare treasures, what benefit would it bring to the country? This is a flawed policy that ministers should earnestly remonstrate against. Although the old case still exists, it should be destroyed to eradicate its root cause. Why bother investigating whether it exists or not!"

Liu Daxia then hid the nautical charts and blueprints of Zheng He's voyages to the South Seas and insisted on not handing them over to the eunuchs.

Afterwards, Liu Daxia burned the nautical charts, and Zheng He's nautical charts were lost forever.

Ironically, Liu Daxia's act of hiding and burning Zheng He's nautical charts was used as a typical example of admonishing the emperor during the Ming Dynasty.

Later, Liu Daxia rose to the position of Minister of War, which people at the time believed was due to his advice to the emperor.

"Even if we obtain a rare treasure and return home, what benefit will it bring to the country?"

This statement also became one of the reasons for the Ming Dynasty's insistence on a maritime ban in the mid-Ming period.

Of course, the sea ban has now been lifted, but there are still many ministers in the court who oppose it, let alone forming a fleet to sail to the Western Ocean again.

Shen Yiguan could already foresee the terrifying opposition from both the court and the public.

Su Ze tapped his fingers lightly on the desk and said:
"Zheng Gong's voyages to the Western Ocean are clear evidence of Emperor Chengzu's achievements and a sacred act of benevolent rule that allowed the surrounding vassal states to be bathed in the emperor's influence. Why should we oppose them?"

Shen Yiguan, seeing Su Ze feigning ignorance, continued:

"However, voyages to the Western Ocean are extremely costly."

Su Ze shook his head and said, "It costs a lot of money, but the profits from maritime trade are substantial, as both the Ministry of Revenue and the Maritime Trade Office have seen."

"Even ordinary people who do business know to invest capital first and then reap the profits."

"Furthermore, the voyages to the Western Ocean should proceed gradually, starting with the nearest and then moving to the farthest. The first voyage will be to the countries of Southeast Asia. In the subsequent voyages, we can first get the countries of Southeast Asia to send tribute and envoys, and then proceed slowly."

"Besides, with all nations paying tribute, how can this be considered a mere business transaction? How can it be calculated in terms of profit and loss?"

Shen Yiguan shook his head and said, "Brother Zilin, we both know these principles, but that doesn't stop some people from opposing you."

Su Ze said:

"That is why I am writing to the court, requesting His Majesty and the Grand Secretaries to consider this matter."

"But in my opinion, the voyages to the Western Ocean were all beneficial."

Shen Yiguan knew Su Ze's style of doing things, so he picked up his pen and said:
“Brother Zilin, the Directorate of Guests is in charge of etiquette and receiving foreign guests. This matter is also related to me, so I am also signing off on it.”

“Brother Jianwu, this…”

Shen Yiguan said:
"During this mission to the grasslands, I, Shen, also saw the world. Trade and mutual exchange are beneficial to the country and the people. I signed this memorial because I agree with Brother Zilin's memorial."

The benefits of opening up trade and the seas are obvious, but Shen Yiguan is only worried that the conservatives in the court have too much to say.

However, Su Ze insisted on submitting a memorial, and Shen Yiguan did not hesitate to stand on Su Ze's side.

Su Ze also realized that this time Shen Yiguan's signature was not out of friendship, but because he genuinely agreed with his opinion.

Having traveled through time, Su Ze has finally cultivated a progressive group within the imperial court.

This group may be small in strength now, but as times change, this progressive group will surely gain greater strength.
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Yang Sizhong, the Vice Commissioner of the Court of State Affairs, brought Su Ze's memorial to the cabinet.

Gao Gong was the first to finish reading Su Ze's memorial.

In fact, Su Ze had already met with Gao Gong before submitting the memorial, and Gao Gong was not confident about it either.

Opening a port and organizing a fleet to sail to the Western Ocean are two completely different concepts.

After the Japanese pirate raids were quelled, insightful officials in the imperial court realized that the maritime ban was unsustainable, so opening ports was almost an inevitable choice.

After the Japanese pirate raids, the coastal defense system was destroyed, and the imperial court was simply unable to stop smuggling. Under such circumstances, it was better to guide than to block, so opening up the sea naturally became a consensus.

In other words, the opening of the sea in the Ming Dynasty was driven by some stakeholders, but more importantly, it was forced by the current situation.

Therefore, Longqing Switch chose the awkward location of Yuegang in Zhangzhou.

Su Ze requested the opening of the ports of Dengzhou and Laizhou, as well as the opening of the ports for direct sales, which the courtiers reluctantly accepted.

After the ports opened, they did indeed bring in a lot of wealth, which gradually softened the attitude of North Korea and China towards the opening of the ports.

However, organizing a fleet to sail to the Western Ocean is a different story.

The sea was risky, and voyages to the Western Ocean would cost money, and the ministers saw no benefit in it.

On this point, Su Ze did not criticize the ministers for their narrow-mindedness.

Chinese civilization has always been a land-based power, and it has been highly self-sufficient in terms of resources.

In this context, the profits from overseas colonization are far less than those from domestic development.

The scholar-officials also advocated a political approach of advising the monarch to practice moderation, believing that the emperor's pursuit of wealth and fame would bring disastrous consequences to the country.

This is also why Liu Daxia, despite burning Zheng He's nautical charts, earned the respect of the literati.

Therefore, Gao Gong was unsure of the ministers' reaction to Su Ze's memorial.

However, many conservative scholars would certainly consider Su Ze to be a sycophantic minister who flattered the emperor.

Gao Gong is a pragmatic person.

The benefits of opening ports in Dengzhou and Laizhou are obvious. The tribute mission from Kuwu solved the timber problem for shipbuilding in Dengzhou and Laizhou, and also allowed Gao Gong to see the benefits of overseas trade. In Gao Gong's view, opening the seas was a good thing for the Ming Dynasty, and organizing a fleet to sail to the Western Ocean again and restore the tribute missions of the Western countries seemed like a good option as well.

Therefore, after reading Su Ze's memorial, Gao Gong still wrote down his positive draft opinion, which can be regarded as supporting Su Ze's proposal.

The memorial was delivered to Zhang Juzheng.

Su Ze could not possibly have a secret discussion with Zhang Juzheng, as doing so would violate the tacit political agreement.

After carefully reading Su Ze's memorial, Zhang Juzheng had to admit that Su Ze was very good at seizing opportunities.

When Su Ze proposed "returning to Southeast Asia" during the tribute mission to Kuwu, he was already no less adept at understanding the emperor's thoughts than the Grand Secretary.

But Zhang Juzheng was thinking about something else.

As the Grand Secretary in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, Zhang Juzheng's first thought was: Where will the money come from, and what will be the size of the first fleet?
The opening of the port of Dengzhou, Laizhou, and Zhigu had already shown Zhang Juzheng the benefits of maritime trade.

Whether it was the profits from minting coins at the port, the large influx of silver, or even the transportation cost savings from the Dengzhou-Laizhou sea route, Zhang Juzheng had become a staunch advocate of maritime trade.

Su Ze proposed to resume voyages to the Western Ocean, reconnect with the tributary states that had lost their tribute, and rebuild the order in the South Seas under the leadership of the Ming Dynasty. Zhang Juzheng naturally supported this proposal.

However, as the Minister of Revenue, Zhang Juzheng also had to keep track of accounts.

Zheng He's voyages to the Western Ocean were extremely costly, which is why they have been criticized by later generations.

Although the national treasury is currently full, there may be war with the grasslands next year, and there are also disturbances in the southwest, so there are many places to spend money.

If, like Zheng He's voyages to the Western Ocean, a fleet of dozens of treasure ships and tens of thousands of people were organized, the national treasury certainly could not afford it.

According to the Ministry of Revenue archives, the cost of one of Zheng He's voyages to the Western Ocean was approximately two million taels of silver, which accounted for almost one-tenth of the imperial court's annual revenue.

What if the emperor wanted to build such a large fleet?
Where does the money come from?
Secondly, is there the capability to rebuild such a fleet?
In the early years of the Yongle reign, there were still many forests in the North China Plain. However, Emperor Yongle moved the capital to build the Forbidden City and made several voyages to the Western Ocean, which resulted in the complete deforestation of these forests.

Even with the Kuwugongmu (a type of timber), assembling such a massive fleet would be no easy task.

In addition, there is a lack of experienced sailors.

Zhang Juzheng wrote down his concerns on the draft proposal and then handed the memorial to Zhao Zhenji.

After reading Su Ze's memorial, Zhao Zhenji thought about military matters.

The Portuguese and Spanish fleets entered the South Seas, but the Ming Dynasty had no idea what the situation was like there.

The Ming Dynasty had already witnessed the sturdiness of these Western barbarians' ships during the Battle of Tuen Mun.

One of the key reasons why the Ming Dynasty was able to win the Battle of Tuen Mun was that it used fire-attack ships that were capable of fighting in coastal waters. What would have happened if they had encountered the fleets of these Western barbarians at sea?
The Wokou raids in the southeast have just been quelled. If further unrest is triggered along the coast, Zhao Zhenji will not be able to bear the responsibility.

Zhao Zhenji wrote down his proposed suggestions, requesting the court to consider the matter carefully and first order the naval offices in Guangdong and Fujian to gather intelligence on the South Seas and ascertain the strength of the Western barbarians before dispatching a fleet south.

After the three Grand Secretaries had drafted their opinions, the memorial was sent to the Directorate of Ceremonial.

The three heads of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs arrived at the Emperor's study with memorials in hand.

When Emperor Longqing heard Li Fang read the memorial, he was also filled with excitement and wished he could immediately follow Emperor Chengzu's example and send a fleet south.

However, after reviewing the draft opinions of the three cabinet ministers, he hesitated again.

Emperor Longqing gradually calmed down and realized that Zhang Juzheng and Zhao Zhenji's concerns were valid.

However, upon reading Su Ze's memorial, the emperor felt somewhat reluctant to part with it.

Emperor Longqing then recalled the edict left by Emperor Chengzu.

"What does the Imperial Household Department think?"

Feng Bao and Chen Hong both lowered their heads. Li Fang couldn't avoid it any longer, so she could only say:

"Your Majesty, this is a matter of great importance. Let us discuss it together with the Nine Ministers."

There was no other way; any eunuch who encouraged the emperor to go to Southeast Asia would be branded a treacherous official. Even Li Fang dared not get involved in this matter and could only pass the buck to the outer court.

After listening, the Longqing Emperor also found it reasonable, and he said:

"Then let the Nine Ministers discuss it together."

Immediately afterwards, the Longqing Emperor took Su Ze's memorial, read it carefully twice, and then asked:

"Su Ze submitted a memorial?"

Li Fang nodded, and the Longqing Emperor said:
"This isn't Su Ze's style."

"Every time this fellow submits a memorial, he calculates things clearly. Why is it that this memorial is just empty talk, without even a plan for re-entering Southeast Asia?"

Li Fang also realized that Su Ze's style of writing memorials was distinctive; he would not only raise questions, but also list solutions to those questions.

However, this time Su Ze's memorial only mentioned his trip to Southeast Asia, without mentioning any specific details.

Emperor Longqing thought for a moment and said to Li Fang:
“Su Ze is being dishonest; there’s still something he hasn’t said.”

Is it something that's inconvenient to say in a memorial to the emperor?

Or was Su Ze's memorial a way of testing the waters and probing the political climate at court?
The Longqing Emperor quickly realized what was happening. He had a sudden inspiration and came up with a good idea. He said to Li Fang:

"Let Su Ze debate in front of the Nine Ministers!"

This left Li Fang completely bewildered. He looked at the Longqing Emperor in confusion, wondering what this Nine Ministers' Debate was.
"Court debate" has existed since ancient times, referring to ministers engaging in public debates in the imperial court.

During the Song Dynasty, civil officials frequently requested to debate in court before the emperor, trying to persuade the emperor and other officials to support their political views.

The Ming Dynasty's political system gradually transformed into a system of governance based on official documents. Court assemblies also gradually became more symbolic and ritualistic. Debates in the court generally only occurred in various government departments, where officials would express their opinions and debate specific matters.

The Longqing Emperor, having clarified his thoughts, said:

"Let Su Ze debate in front of the Nine Ministers, recounting his proposal to go to Southeast Asia again, and then record the debate to form a memorial to the throne."

Now Li Fang understood that this was because Su Ze had clearly explained his proposal to "go to Southeast Asia again" to the Nine Ministers, and the Emperor was considering whether to approve his memorial.
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When Su Ze received the emperor's order to debate in front of the Nine Ministers, he looked at Li Fang in surprise.

He never expected that the Longqing Emperor would be so creative as to come up with the "Nine Ministers' Court Debate".

This time, Su Ze did not use the "Portable Ming Dynasty Court" simulation when submitting his memorial.

The reason is quite simple: Su Ze's memorial was intended to test the waters.

Su Ze planned to use this memorial to draw out all the opposing opinions, then submit another memorial to refute them one by one, and finally propose a reliable plan in his memorial.

This would also persuade some ministers to support him, greatly reducing the consumption of prestige points.

But Su Ze never expected that the Longqing Emperor would come up with a way to make him debate in front of the Nine Ministers.

Me? Su Ze, debating with the Nine Ministers?

(End of this chapter)