The two chatted for a while, and the sunlight outside the window became brighter, and they knew that it was not early, so they got up.
Because Xia Xun's status is respected, he occupies a complete courtyard in the pavilion, and outsiders cannot enter without permission, so it is equivalent to his own private house, Xia Xun washed and stopped, and only wore a very casual Yanju regular clothes to the living room, at this time Qiaoyun had already prepared a meal, and was talking and laughing with Tang Sai'er in the hall, waiting for him to arrive.
In fact, there are chefs in the pavilion, and because the emperor toured the north, he brought a large number of civil and military officials, most of whom stayed in the pavilion, so the chef also tried his best to hire famous chefs who were good at making various dishes, but Qiaoyun always felt that it was not as meticulous as his own home.
Ming'er has been taught by her since she was a child, and her daughter's skills such as meals and female red must be learned, but the little county lord is the daughter of the sky, and the family is as spoiled as a pearl in the palm of her hand, although the food and cooking have been taught by a famous teacher, but imagine that the little county lord is holding a kitchen knife and carrying a big spoon The stove is blazing here, the boiling oil is boiling there, and the oil smoke is everywhere, Ming'er "plays" with relish, and the family is scared, crowded at the kitchen door at any time waiting to rush in to bandage the wound and splash the soil to extinguish the fire, which is tantamount to a kind of torture.
So later, Ming'er actually learned the same thing, and it was her personal girl Qiaoyun who really learned this cooking skill.
Anyway, she has accompanied Miss since she was a child, and she is destined to be a dowry girl in the future, and she will be equivalent to the Ming'er Little County Lord's Association.
Qiaoyun is now Xia Xun's woman, Xia Xun has never made her family have a clear hierarchy, wife, side room, concubine, and roommate, with strict barriers.
Although he is famous to the outside world, he always downplays this at home, and cares for Qiaoyun like him, but Qiaoyun never treats himself as a young grandmother.
When she came to Yanjing, she came to wait for the lord according to her wife's instructions, and the lord's food, drink, and living were naturally regarded by her as her responsibility.
Now she has been pregnant for a few months, but she has been diligent since she was a child, and she can't be idle at all, and she still makes this breakfast by herself.
Breakfast is relatively simple, a casserole, stewed with steaming fragrant and delicious japonica chicken porridge, blue and white porcelain plate is filled with green and appetizing white boiled vegetables, as well as a few small snacks, a few small pickles, plus a plate of Gaoyou salted duck eggs, a plate of pepper braised beef.
As soon as Xia Xun arrived, the family sat down to eat, chatting while eating, and suddenly someone reported, saying that there was news from the palace, calling the Fuguo Gong to see the palace at three o'clock, Xia Xun has no permanent position in the court, and has not been in the court for several days.
Xia Xun had a concern, so he didn't dare to delay, hurriedly ate breakfast, and Qiaoyun and Sakura waited for him to wash his face, put on his clothes and boots, tie his waist with a leather belt, comb his hair and trim his crown, and after everything was ready, he hurried out of the pavilion and rode a horse straight to the palace.
Xia Xun rushed to the front of the palace hall, only to see two little eunuchs standing at the entrance of the palace, and when he looked at it, the one on the right was Mu Si's henchman, so he said to the little eunuch on the left: "Yang Xu is ordered to see the driver, and he is tired and tired."
Seeing that it was the Duke of Fuguo who arrived, the little chamberlain didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly turned around and went in, Xia Xun took the opportunity to ask Mu Si's henchman: "Why is the emperor in such a hurry?"
The little chamberlain coughed and hurriedly replied: "Zheng He's father-in-law has come from Nanjing, and the emperor wants to go to the West again, and all the officials are against it."
"Oh" Xia Xun suddenly nodded his head slightly, and at this time, the little eunuch who had gone in had already come out, stood in front of the steps, and said in a loud voice: "The emperor has a decree, Yang Xu will see you" Xia Xun was busy dressed and stepped into the hall.
On the top of the main hall, the civil and military officials gathered together, arguing fiercely, Xia Xun came in, did not interrupt their heated debate, Xia Xun saluted the emperor, and then stood in the class, suddenly felt that someone looked at him, looked at him, it turned out to be Zheng He, Zheng He smiled and nodded to him, Xia Xun also nodded busily, and the two stood still and did not mention it.
Zheng He's last trip to the West was a great success, not only bringing envoys from many countries to make a pilgrimage to the Son of Heaven, but also buying a large number of exotic goods, one in and one out, and the results were amazing, which can be described as fame and fortune, which made Zhu Di very happy.
Since then, Zheng He has remained in Nanjing, focusing on managing the construction of ships and improving all aspects of navigation technology in light of the problems exposed during the last voyage to the West.
At that time, the civil and military officials already knew that the emperor still had the intention of going to the West, but at that time, Timur was violent, the Western army had just retreated, Zhu Di himself had a great success in crusading against the Tatars, Arutai surrendered to the Ming Dynasty and became a vassal, and the Yongle Emperor had great martial arts, and he was majestic for a while, and the matter of going to the West was not mentioned for a while, so the civil and military officials did not touch his head.
Now, Zheng He is ready to go to the West again, he is confident that this time he can go further, explore more unknown worlds, understand what countries and races, species, and cultures are in the broader world, and come to Yanjing to report excitedly, Zhu Di was overjoyed when he heard this, and wanted to make an order to go to sea again.
As a result, as soon as the news spread, the civil and military officials who accompanied the northward and the officials of the Yanjing Department blew up the nest.
Since Yanjing has been designated as the national capital, more and more officials have moved to Yanjing one after another, which is also a kind of preparation for moving the capital Therefore, the six departments of Nanjing and the various departments have successively sent officials to Yanjing, Zhu Di's northern tour, but also brought many officials, and now the total number of officials in Yanjing has accounted for more than half of the court officials, these people are opposed, almost equivalent to the attitude of all officials in the entire court.
Su Qian, the right attendant of the household department, interrupted his speech because Xia Xun went to the palace to see him, and when Xia Xun returned to the class, he picked up the topic again, and said angrily: "I went to the West before, if it was said that it was to appease the countries, it had achieved its goal, and now it was a short time apart, why do you need to go to the West again, the trip to the West cost hundreds of thousands of dollars of food, due to illness and wind, waves and tsunamis, the soldiers and civilians died and thousands of people, even if you get a treasure, what is the benefit to the country?"
Zheng He refuted: "Master Su, there are hundreds of treasure ships in my imperial court, all of which are as huge as a city, and they have traveled thousands of miles, just to purchase some rare treasures, how many rare treasures do it take to fill this giant ship like a city, and I returned from a westward trip last time, and purchased nearly 200 kinds of goods, 29 kinds of spices, 23 kinds of treasures, 22 kinds of medicinal materials, 17 kinds of hardware, 51 kinds of cloth, 21 kinds of animals, 8 kinds of pigments, 3 kinds of food, 3 kinds of wood, 8 kinds of cloth and other miscellaneous goods, the so-called only buy rare treasures, Don't you think this is nonsense?"
Zheng He went to the West, and the import and export of various commodities were purchased by him, and he said clearly, and said: "Among the goods purchased, such as pepper, the purchase price in Sumatra, Kezhi and other countries is always 100 catties, and the market price in my Daming is at least 20 catties and 100 catties, and the profit is more than 20 times."
My Daming treasure ship is as wide as a city, but to transport a boatload of pepper back, this alone is so amazing."
Pepper is a very popular commodity in the Ming Dynasty, up to the court, down to the rich gentry, pepper must be put as a condiment in the diet, at the same time, it is also a very common spice, when Li Bottler wants to remarry, when she describes how many private rooms she has, she mentioned that there are "forty catties of agarwood, two hundred catties of ash, two jars of mercury, eighty catties of pepper".
Although this book was written in the Song Dynasty, the author was a native of the Ming Dynasty, he just substituted the folk customs of the time into this Song Dynasty story, reflecting the market customs of the Ming Dynasty at that time, this pepper is a very scarce commodity, but the output in the Central Plains is very small, mainly relying on imports, the transportation cost of private imports is extremely high, and the price is constantly going up, so it has become a hard currency for value preservation.
Zheng He said: "There is also Su Mu, the difference between the purchase price in a foreign country and the selling price in my Daming is also more than 20 times, my Daming treasure ship comes back, and the profit from Su Mu alone is more than 10 million."
At this time, the price is not high, so the profit is only more than 20 times, in the original history, with the rise in prices and the cessation of the West caused by the imbalance between supply and demand, to the Xuande period, the price of a pound of sumu has risen to 50 times the purchase price.
Later, the imperial court used pepper and sumu to pay salaries on behalf of others, and some people who did not know the truth criticized this as deducting officials' salaries, but they did not know that in the early Ming Dynasty, they often replaced salaries in kind, and even later there were direct distribution of rice and cloth.
Therefore, it was a normal practice to use in-kind goods instead of treasure money to pay salaries, and it was cost-effective to use pepper and sumacin as the in-kind goods for paying salaries in kind when the market was in short supply at that time.
At that time, it was not only the civil and military officials who issued the money with pepper and sumu, but also a large number of sergeants, if it was a deductible behavior to use pepper and sumu, then the emperor almost offended all the civil officials, military generals, and sergeants, and offended all the power groups, and even did not have a single army mutiny, is it possible At that time, these things were in demand, and it was a disguised way to increase everyone's income.
Just a few decades later, Magellan returned from sailing, and when the pepper loaded was sold, the price was more than 10,000 times that of the place where it was purchased, so the pepper and sumu that Zheng He bought back were simply a warehouse of treasures that were constantly appreciating.
It is true that when going to the West seven times in a row, the large import of pepper has caused its high market price to drop sharply, which is the inevitability of supply relations, and it is good or bad for these commodities to enter the homes of ordinary people When the market is saturated and unprofitable, people will naturally reduce the import of this commodity.
In the 80s, color TVs were in short supply, and many families begged relatives and friends to get one, and merchants could import as much as they could, ensuring that they would make a lot of money and not worry about sales.
Do you run and tell him that in thirty years this thing will be all over the streets, don't go in, lest there be a backlog?
This is a reason to attack the West, how shameless it is to say, and how stupid it is to believe.
Zheng He said: "Besides, when our treasure ship goes to sea, it also carries a large number of goods, taking porcelain as an example, the purchase price is only a few tens of Wen, a few hundred, the best is only a few, dozens of Wen, but the price is in a foreign land, blue and white porcelain plates are 500 Guan each, bowls are 300 Guan each, bottles are 500 Guan each, and the wine sea is 1,500 Guan each. ”。
Zheng He smiled slightly and said: "Master Su, if we sell 10,000 bowls, we will earn at least three or five million yuan, how can this be a loss of money for the people and money?"
"This" Zheng He's words were reasonable and well-founded, and they could not be refuted at all, and Su Shilang was speechless for a while.
The rest of the officials were helpful, but in the face of the examples cited by Zheng He, they were speechless for a while.
Xia Xun smiled slightly when he heard this, and said: "Gonggong Zheng's words are fallacious" "Ahh When Zheng He saw that it was Xia Xun who came out of class to refute, he couldn't help but be stunned.
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Zhu Di sat on the top and was also a little dazed, he knew that Xia Xun had always supported the West, seeing Zheng He being besieged, verbal and written, but in fact pointing at himself, Zhu Di was annoyed in his heart, Xia Xun was secretly happy when he arrived, hoping that Xia Xun could stand on his side to refute the ministers, but Xia Xun actually objected, and some couldn't react for a while.
When the officials saw that the Auxiliary Guogong objected, they were overjoyed, and Hu Wenlong, the senator of the Yanjing Executive Department, couldn't help but say: "I don't know what the Auxiliary Guogong has high opinions, and the lower officials are willing to hear the details."
Other officials responded one after another, and said in a loud voice: "Yes, yes, I also ask the Auxiliary State Duke to explain the benefits to the emperor."
Xia Xun arched his hand to Zhu Di and said, "Your Majesty, what Gonggong Zheng just said is only concerned about the interests of goods exchanges, and this end alone is really nothing." ” All the officials responded: "Yes, yes, I am a heavenly kingdom, the land is vast, and there are everything, so why should I communicate with the barbarians and compete for their interests."
Xia Xun smiled slightly and said: "The minister thinks that the pros and cons of going to the West, if you only care about the gains and losses of this transaction, then you will fall behind, depending on whether it is beneficial or unprofitable, from the following aspects."
Zhu Di's face was elongated, and it was about to turn into a shoehorn face, and he forced his displeasure and said, "You speak" "Yes" Xia Xun didn't see Zhu Di's expression, and said loudly: "First of all, coastal cities, such as Changle, Ningbo, Taicang, Quanzhou and other places, are rich and prosperous, and businessmen gather, the reason is because of the sea market, if there is no sea market, these coastal cities, how to talk about prosperity to go to the West, and drive the comprehensive development of culture, economy and people's livelihood in coastal cities, this is an incalculable benefit." ” "Hmm" The civil and military officials were stunned, and Zheng He reacted first: "It turns out that the Duke of Fuguo is talking to me."
Zhu Di also reacted, but he didn't show obvious joy like Zheng He, but glared at Xia Xun fiercely, and said with a straight face: "Go on" "It's another one, the treasure ship goes to the West, and it is necessary to purchase a large number of Central Plains items for trade, such as the porcelain that Zheng Gonggong just said, if it is not used for Western trade, the celadon of Jingdezhen, the white porcelain of Dehua, Fujian, how can the sales of Foshan be so big Originally, it was just a lonely village, a few foundries, if it were not for the beginning of the Fanbo set, the north and the south lost hugely, and Aneng developed into a huge city from a few workshops" At this time, all the civil and military officials knew that Xia Xun was actually on Zheng He's side, and they were not annoyed, Xia Xun didn't pay attention to it, and continued: "As a result, the porcelain in Jingdezhen, the silk weaving in Suzhou, the cotton weaving in Songjiang, the printing in Wuhu, and the tea industry in Hangzhou have driven the development of the local area Extending further, iron smelting, forging, shipbuilding, navigation, astronomy, in the process, how much technological development has been bringed, not to mention the transportation of the West, how many species will be brought in, how many cultural exchanges will be brought."
"Go to the West, in addition to making my Ming prestige spread far and wide, the four Yi guests, my Ming goods are popular in all countries, and all the people in the four seas are honored to use my Ming things, but also to make their hearts to the Heavenly Empire.
Moreover, even if it is a barbarian, it is also long, I went to the West in the Ming Dynasty, and exchanged the length for the short, which is both Zhang Guowei and enough for the country, fame and fortune, what is not good?"
Lin Chengyi, the secretary of Taichang Temple, couldn't help but retorted: "What Fu Guogong said seems to be reasonable.
But the Duke of the Kingdom knows that since Zheng He returned from going to the West, Fanbang paid tribute frequently, and his tribute ships arrived, and whenever they were transported, they were all dispatched by the local government, and the cost of civil power was uncountable.
For example, when it is transported from Guangdong to Beijing, because the boat is not passable, it is often necessary to cross the mountains and mountains, and the people are miserable.
In addition, there is no regular time for overseas countries to pay tribute, and if they come at the time of agricultural busyness, it will be more harmful to the local area.
The army and civilians delivered one mile, and no less than thirty or forty people were forced to serve as officials, and when they were menstruating, they had already abandoned their agricultural work.
When the Nagong envoy returned to China, he purchased a large number of goods from our country, and all the companies along the road had to go out to carry them on their behalf, ranging from dozens of vehicles to more than 100 vehicles, and there were not enough men, and even women had to serve.
Wherever the envoys went, the momentum was like wind and fire, insulting the post officials and whipping the people, which was not uncommon.
What is the reason why the imperial court beckons people from afar, but increases the worries of people who are near?"
When he said this, Hu Wenlong, the senator of the executive department, also came to the momentum, and said: "The tributary envoys often have hundreds of people, and those who enter Beijing with the tribute, only a few of the main and deputy tributary envoys, and the rest of the people will stay in the pavilions and posts of the coastal cities.
In the past, there were Ryukyu tribute envoys who robbed sea ships, killed officers and soldiers, beat lieutenant officers, and robbed them of their clothes.
Later, there were Javanese tribute envoys who drank and drank rampantly in Puyang, killed several people with knives and then committed suicide, which had a bad impact on the places where these tribute envoys often made chickens and dogs restless, and even said that the Bengong envoys took advantage of the famine in Shandong to steal and buy the children of the homeless people, and went away with a full load, harming the people and losing the country, which was painful and hateful. ” Su Qian, the right attendant of the household department, also refuted loudly: "Not only that, these tributes and tributes are mostly for the sake of profit, and their tributes are not necessary whether you need them or not, just transport them in large quantities, if you don't accept them, they will be entangled, and all kinds of scoundrels are under the guise of tribute, how can my Celestial Dynasty care about the thickness of the tribute, so that it is repeatedly multiplied." ” Jin Youzi, a cabinet scholar who came with him, said: "There are even some Fanguo, when the tribute envoy arrives, the tribute ship immediately unloads and returns, and then loads another shipload of freight, because the tribute envoy has not returned, all of them are used as tribute, and I want my court to receive it."
Either their goods are not needed by the people, or they are not used by the state, or they are shoddy and tattered, or they are not worth a penny, but they demand a high price, and such a calamity to the country and the people is not a good thing."
To be continued: