Chapter 489

Zhu Yijun deeply knew the evil consequences of complete monopoly from beginning to end. Selling a catty of coal for two hundred wen in the Northern Song Dynasty was the final form of the Great Ming state-run factories. Therefore, he affirmed part of the Absolute Freedom School's arguments, that is, the hand of the Great Ming imperial court cannot reach too far or too deep, otherwise the final result will inevitably be the same as the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties—all trade is monopolized by the imperial court, and the Great Ming will be a pool of stagnant water.

Therefore, Zhu Yijun has never restored complete official ships and official trade; therefore, the Great Ming has five major ocean-going merchant firms to promote the activity of maritime trade; therefore, there are trading houses and the "everyone is a shipowner" plan; therefore, there is the expansion of trading houses, incorporating the Suiyuan post road and Suiyuan mining industry into the ticket system; therefore, there is the development of the Yuanxu Islands, the country of a thousand islands; therefore, there is the emergence of pioneering titles; therefore, there is only coal and steel monopoly, not salt, tea, wine, yeast, and alum monopoly.

Complete monopoly has been proven to be unfeasible. The Northern and Southern Song Dynasties proved the deformity of this complete monopoly operation with two destructions.

In a world without competition, there is only infinite rigidity, infinite bloating, and infinite exploitation. Without competition, there is no vitality. This has been universally proven.

But at present, in the current situation where small-scale peasant economy prevails and the powerful and wealthy families only know how to dig for food in the soil, the imperial court can only take the lead, let more powerful and wealthy families abandon the output of farmland, abandon the production relations of forced personal dependency, abandon the thinking of collecting rent, and invest in the process of the Great Ming's transformation into a commodity economy, completing the transformation of the small-scale peasant economy.

The establishment of large-scale free employment production relations is the prerequisite for the transformation of the commodity economy.

The captain of Paulino Franco's last ship, Antonio, originally let Paulino Franco be the captain, but last time, when crossing the Atlantic, the new captain suffered from scurvy, his condition deteriorated rapidly, and he unfortunately passed away when he arrived in the City of Freedom.

"Ugly!"

Like the violent driving of the Scots by the English, it is simpler and saves money.

"You don't even understand the word 'production,' and you are still here pointing fingers at the Great Ming's new policies. Are you worthy? You say you are envoys, aren't you just here to beg for food? You don't even know how to respect the master when begging for food. Can you get food?"

"This is my honor. My broken Chinese was learned from the Minister of State Affairs, Xu Fan." Solon's attitude was still respectful.

Zhu Yijun sneered and said: "Stop learning the skill of flattery from Great Ming scholars; you can't compare to them."

"Although I don't understand, I am greatly shocked." Zhu Yijun whispered.

Shah Mahomet is a special envoy of the Mughal Empire, Li Yashi is a Spanish special envoy, and Diego de Madelin is the son of the Marquis of Santa Cruz, the father of Spanish soldiers, and also a hostage in the Great Ming. These three people gathered together because they were special envoys who had been in the Great Ming for a long time, so they had common topics. They communicated with each other in Chinese to prevent others from understanding what they were discussing.

Solon opened the travelogue and looked at it for a long time. After closing it, he said: "Respected Emperor, this is indeed not suitable to be brought back to the West."

The two envoys from the Netherlands remained silent. They didn't want to provoke Solon. They came to the Great Ming this time hoping to get the Emperor's approval to clear the political obstacles to trade. They didn't want to cause more trouble.

Li Yashi mentioned the chaotic upper-class life in his travelogue more than once. The chaos was not only because of various mistresses, but also because of the difficult-to-figure-out blood relationships. For example, the child born to a niece and an uncle could become the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and really became the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, namely Ferdinand II.

Such disposal, however, made Solon call it incredible. The autocratic Great Ming Emperor did not suppress it cruelly. It was this appeasement that led to the Great Ming being too free.

Zhu Yijun handed the Latin version of the travelogue in his hand to Feng Bao and said: "Solon, you cannot say that Li Yashi is a traitor to the West. He has always loved the land that raised him deeply, but because of various reasons, he could not bring it back."

According to Solon's understanding of the Great Ming, the output of coal and steel in the Great Ming is still growing at a terrifying speed. Even if it has far exceeded the total of all countries except the Great Ming, it is still increasing rapidly.

Feng Bao and Zhang Hong looked at each other, both helpless. The two imperial attendants could not distinguish which sentence of the Great Ming Emperor was true and which was false. The only thing they could be sure of was that the Great Ming Emperor really wanted to sell ships.

Zhu Yijun shook his head and said: "This one is not for sale. Philip II can try to build it himself."

Gao Qiyu thought the Emperor had looked around and was going to ask some important question, but it turned out to be gossip!

Gao Qiyu whispered: "Your Majesty, the West is like this. Ferdinand's sister, Maria Anna, married her own uncle, Archduke Karl II of Austria. In this way, the son born can become the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire."

The Retainer slave rebellion has really become "astonishment from friendly nations."

Almost all the envoys expressed their inability to understand the Great Ming's decree to abolish the lowly servant status. This is a decree that does more harm than good, and everyone very consistently did not look favorably on the implementation of this decree. While increasing administrative costs, it destroyed the original stability, giving the illusion that the Great Ming was going against the world.

The Latin version is longer, mainly containing Li Yashi's thinking on the Western feudal system. The Western feudal system has come to an end and must make changes. Li Yashi did not betray, but Spain could not tolerate a heretic like him.

It is better to have orders chasing the shipyard than to have the shipyard waiting for orders.

"Then maintain the original order scale." Solon said with great disappointment. The fast sailing ship is a good thing. He took a look at it from afar in the shipyard and fell deeply in love with it, and he was convinced that the fast sailing ship would be a sharp weapon to change the situation at sea.

And the initiator of this bad idea is the Great Ming Emperor. (Chapter 415, Emperor and Zhang Juzheng's memorial discussion.)

Relying solely on Philip II, he cannot do it.

The English envoy George Weymouth believes that this is the Great Ming Emperor trying to obtain more cheap craftsmen. In George's view, the Great Ming's development of overseas colonies requires population, state-run factory cooperatives require a large number of craftsmen, and military conquests also require population. In order to obtain population, it is necessary to abolish the contracts of sale to obtain more free people. George also felt that it was completely unnecessary.

"In terms of openness and inclusiveness, His Highness Philip is far inferior to the Great Ming Emperor. Even if I am a barbarian, if I scold the Great Ming Emperor, as long as what I say is the truth, the Great Ming Emperor will not blame me excessively."

"Do you understand? The secular core of the Great Ming culture and the religious core of Western culture are completely different."

And these people also brought their partners, making the scene even more chaotic and noisy.

Li Yashi was startled, and the heart that had been in his throat finally fell back. He didn't know why, but the Great Ming Emperor suddenly broke in. He understood the Emperor's meaning and immediately bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty, how could my little things be hidden from Your Majesty, whose eyes are like torches and who sees through fire?"

"Not bad, you have a bit of submissiveness." Zhu Yijun didn't mind words like stingy and greedy, because they were facts. Even words like violent, bloody executioner were not impossible, but Li Yashi's travelogue didn't have these and was very objective.

In Zhu Yijun's view, Western wine parties and Great Ming banquets are much the same. They are all for social interaction, not for eating. It's just that one is a buffet and the other is a separate banquet. It seems that Western wine parties are more chaotic.

After being completely suppressed, the civil uprising quickly spread from Fujian to Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Guangdong, and the Southern Metropolitan Area, with great momentum, claiming to have a million troops.

Zhu Yijun's face turned black, and he regretted coming to watch the fun.

"Ridiculous!"

"Curiously ask, does the West have the ability to build five-masted galleons itself now?" Zhu Yijun knew that Philip II had dismantled a five-masted galleon, and Philip had a need to produce five-masted galleons himself to face the independence of the Netherlands and the influence of England, the troublemaker, on the ocean.

"Is that Ferdinand? I heard his sister married her own uncle. Is that true?" Zhu Yijun tilted his head and whispered to the Junior Minister of the Court of Ceremonial, Gao Qiyu.

The two envoys from the Kingdom of the Netherlands stood behind George. One came from the Southern Alliance, the Arras Alliance (Belgium), and was a golden-haired barbarian named Thomas de Ville. He was dressed extremely luxuriously. Even in such hot weather, he was wearing a dark red silk velvet coat, and his hat was inlaid with four strips of sable fur, like a peacock opening its tail.

The "Analects" says: "Take the top, get the middle; take the middle, get the bottom."

Interpreted in politics, it means that the execution and practice of a government decree will definitely be discounted and will appear as flexible execution that compromises with reality. Therefore, government decrees like "all in the Great Ming are the King's people" will definitely become: as long as there is a trace of unwillingness to recognize the Great Ming, they will be sent to the mines to mine.

"Is the Great Ming producing so much steel to conquer the world?" Solon asked with great concern.

Recently, the Queen of England executed Mary I, Queen of Scots.

The Great Ming's land is temporarily enough to plant. When it is not enough, going out to rob is also robbing land.

The wine party at the Hall of Foreign Envoys was divided into distinct small circles, talking in low voices. Zhu Yijun's appearance did not attract anyone's attention. Zhu Yijun came to a hidden corner, sat down quietly, and looked around.

And the slave rebellion in Jiangnan, in the eyes of Shah Mahomet, was a completely unnecessary act. Isn't this looking for trouble for yourself?

Solon's words made the obviously chaotic topic of the wine party turn to the Great Ming's recent abolition of the lowly servant status, and the discussion immediately became heated.

"Your Majesty, His Highness Philip hopes to obtain enough coarse wool and cotton cloth to dump them on England." Solon was also a bit confused. He didn't know much about the Great Ming, but it was true that the Great Ming liked farming very much. Who knew whether the Emperor's words were true or false?

On the 14th day of the sixth month of the tenth year of Wanli, the most inconspicuous carriage of Zhu Yijun arrived at the private house outside the Hall of Foreign Envoys. The Great Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun, wearing a top and trousers, jumped out of the carriage, walked into the private house, turned seven corners and eight turns, and walked into the Hall of Foreign Envoys.

"Spanish envoy Solon, pays homage to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty, long live, long live." Solon had been trained by the Ministry of Rites and knew how to perform the salute.

And Rui de Pereira was a special envoy of the Goa Governor Meneses. This time he came to the capital to talk about surrender and the ownership of the Strait of Ma Liujia. The 30-jin cannon transported by the Great Ming Emperor had arrived at the Jiugang Governor's Office. It seemed that he intended to take Ma Liujia City in one fell swoop.

Matteo Ricci's preaching was not going well, because he was now addicted to the Daoist Canon and could not extricate himself.

Li Yashi finally couldn't hold back his voice and said angrily: "You don't understand the Great Ming at all. Do you think that coming once or twice, or the Great Ming you learned from those travelogues, is the whole of the Great Ming? For a great country like the Great Ming, this is a necessary step! It is a huge effort made to change production relations!"

They are called special envoys, but talking about the certainty of trade—isn't that begging for food? Begging for food without knowing how to be respectful, pointing fingers, and making wild remarks.

A large-scale civil uprising was finally completely pacified by the Marquis of Ningyang, Chen Mao, and the Minister of Revenue, Jin Lian, who led 40,000 Capital Garrison troops south, using both suppression and support.

The Great Ming needs more ships for export to quickly recover costs and further expand the scale of the shipyards. Only by having sufficient scale can we promote the technological progress of shipbuilding. The "Youlong" and "Feiyun" are proof.

Li Yashi translated it into Latin, and he translated every article, but the translations couldn't even get out of the Great Ming. Now Solon blamed him instead.

Zhu Yijun was also surprised to learn that Li Yashi had a Latin travelogue. Daring to record rebellious remarks—immediately castrate him!

Just like Zhu Yijun couldn't understand the Elector system and incestuous marriage, Solon couldn't understand why the Great Ming didn't suppress it cruelly.

"Your Majesty, Spanish envoy Solon is here." The little yellow-gate eunuch hurriedly entered to report.

These Western envoys will never understand the word "scholar," because the four words "great ambition and heart for the world" are a cultural desert in the West. The West has no concept of "the world."

Li Yashi started from the beginning of the world, while the mainstream of the West is that God created everything. One is opening up in chaos, working hard to start the mountain forest, and the other is that everything is God's gift and God's omnipotence. These are two different cultural cores. It would be strange if they could bring them back.

Gao Qiyu agreed very much and said: "I was also greatly shocked when I heard it for the first time."

Solon was curious about how Li Yashi viewed the Retainer slave rebellion. Was it the failed policy of that young Great Ming Emperor?

"It's just an inevitable price." Li Yashi said this in Chinese. Most people present didn't understand. He left the wine party. Shah Mahomet spread his hands and also chose to leave. He didn't like state affairs; he preferred throwing silver and listening to storytelling at the front gate tower.

"Exempt from the salute." Zhu Yijun looked at Solon's white beard and pointed hat, and said with a smile: "I know you. The special envoy to the West, Xu Fan, once mentioned your affairs."

This is the Great Ming. Zhu Yijun has the power to enter any place.

Lin Fucheng said Hou Yuzhao was ruthless because Hou Yuzhao was really ruthless.

"At least 200,000 pieces of coarse wool and 300,000 pieces of cotton cloth are needed every year to do it." Solon reported an astronomical figure he thought.

Productivity is not enough, and forced production has no results. Just that main mast is not something Philip II can handle.

"Manufacturing farm tools and machinery?" Solon's face was uncertain. No one cheats like this! Are you fooling a ghost?

Sword Saint Marcus became the captain again and Antonio's special envoy to the Great Ming.

Undoubtedly, whether it is the West or the Mughal Empire, as long as they buy ships, they are friendly nations.

The Great Ming is establishing a set of theories based on production to explain the infinite principles of all things and solve problems, and it is far ahead. These special envoys don't know what this means at all. Even Li Yashi, who is in the midst of great changes, can't help but tremble every time he imagines the future. What the Great Ming Emperor wants to create is a brand new world!

Zhu Yijun shook his head and said: "No, it's just for manufacturing farm tools and machinery. The Great Ming has no interest in conquering the world, because it simply can't manage it."

Any government decree will encounter various difficulties. Difficulties are like a traveler encountering a high mountain that cannot be climbed. If the traveler says in despair that he can never climb over it, the moment he turns back, he will never be able to climb over the high mountain again.

"Absurd!"

Li Yashi finished speaking, flicked his sleeves, and left in anger. Li Yashi had been in the Great Ming for too long, so long that he was so unfamiliar with these faces and had no understanding of the Great Ming's situation, yet he judged it at will. This was not based on the foundation of honesty.

But this kind of sharp weapon is only possessed by the Great Ming, and it is not for sale to outsiders.

Rui de Pereira's expression was gloomy, sitting alone in the corner. Obviously, he knew very well that this mission would not go smoothly, and he could not achieve any of his goals.

The Falanxi special envoy was a woman, a special envoy of the Falanxi Queen Mother Catherine, Gillian Robert. She was a tall, thin woman with a hint of ruthlessness in her eyes. According to the content of the state letter, this woman was a close attendant of the Queen Mother. She looked a bit indifferent, standing there quietly, not talking to anyone.

Zhu Yijun sat in the corner, and no one noticed him, because the wine party scene was really a bit chaotic. From the different banquets, one could also see the different paths. The Great Ming banquets were distinct in primary and secondary, symbolizing autocracy, while Western wine parties were multi-headed, just like the Holy Roman Empire had seven electors.

Because a large number of cheap laborers are needed to open up mines, the Great Ming Capital Garrison captured so many prisoners of war in Suiyuan, and the mines completely digested them, and even needed more.

Lin Fucheng clearly understood that the implementation of necessity must compromise with reality. Therefore, Hou Yuzhao is really ruthless. Perhaps this is a common feature of Great Ming officials: what they say is better than what they sing, but what they do is more ruthless than the devil.

Solon was stunned, and realized that things were not simple. Li Yashi was so solemn.

"Coarse wool is only forty feet a piece, but twelve taels of silver. Twenty thousand pieces of coarse wool are only 2.4 million taels of silver. A piece of cotton cloth is only two taels of silver. Thirty thousand pieces are only 600,000 taels of silver. Adding them up, it's only 3 million taels of goods."

Zhu Yijun waved his hand indifferently and said: "Exempt from the salute."

"Your Majesty, please ask how Saint Cindy is doing?" Solon saw that the business was finished and asked about a person, Cindy.

Zhu Yijun finished choosing the beauties and began to read the memorials. Two of them caught Zhu Yijun's attention. One was from the Governor of Shandong and Henan, Ling Yunyi, talking about the Henan problem: land survey, census, abolition of lowly servant status, formation of engineering corps, establishment of state-run factories, and return of land. This is a complete set of combination punches. Ling Yunyi met moves with moves and continued to implement the government decrees. After the Ten-Prince City was built, he could expand it to the whole province.

The Shaanxi Governor Shi Mao Hua asked in a secret memorial whether the Great Ming Emperor intended to reopen the Western Regions.

Philip II has no other choice, because he can't find a second supplier.

If you dare to steal things from the Great Ming, then be prepared to die.

Queen Wang has a pure heart, but is Queen Wang really easy to deal with? Feng Bao doesn't think so.

Isn't it just to influence the Emperor subtly by blowing pillow talk, allowing the Emperor to allow Western missionaries to preach, collect intelligence, translate Great Ming books, and increase the influence of the Holy See?

These works can be established, all depending on the position of the people who read these books.

Zhu Yijun said with great emotion: "But Master Li, have you ever thought that these things, you feel useful in the Great Ming, but if you are in the West, besides being labeled as heretics and burned to ashes, what else are they useful for?"

"If you want to buy coarse wool, it's not impossible." Zhu Yijun saw that Solon didn't agree immediately, and he wasn't in a hurry. He wasn't in a hurry either. If it really didn't work, he would send the navy on an expedition, set up cannons on the coastline, and fight for guaranteed free trade.

Zhu Yijun never thought about banning these social science works, because all social science works only have positions. This is the essence of social science—studying problems from a certain position.

Li Yashi's enthusiasm was all in vain.

The last imperial letter from the Great Ming Emperor threatened Philip II not to annex Portugal, otherwise he would impose punitive tariffs. This was also one of the reasons why Philip II was no longer obsessed with annexing Portugal.

The Great Ming's wool and cotton production will grow at a terrifying speed, because the Great Ming has just recovered the Hetao. Similarly, the Great Ming has opened up the Strait of Ma Liujia, and cheap cotton from the Mughal Empire will continue to pour into the Great Ming.

The Great Ming Emperor finally did something an Emperor should do!

"I accept part of what you said, sir, but I do not accept your criticism of Shen Shixing. He did nothing wrong."

The Great Ming has plenty of places to settle these servants: Suiyuan, Liaodong, Nagasaki, Keelung, Luzon, the Yuanxu Islands, and Jiugang. These places can all settle them. Going to these places is indeed very bitter, but they can live.

The feudal system and the slave system are almost tied together. The farmers under the feudal system are actually serfs, but there are a small number of self-cultivating farmers.

Gillian, a cold beauty, appeared in front of the Emperor in full dress, lifted her skirt, bowed five times and kowtowed three times, and said in broken Chinese: "Pay homage to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty, long live, long live."

(Hami Guard, Turpan Khanate of the Seven Guards of Guanxi)

In Lin Fucheng's theory of freedom, he first proposed that scale is an advantage. Larger scale gives birth to more mature industrial chains and more efficient transportation efficiency, meaning lower costs and higher profits, and more profits are commodity advantages.

"In my opinion, this is a fire, a fire that lights up the darkness. Regardless of whether it is useful or not, as a Westerner, I should bring it back and try to illuminate it." Li Yashi replied very confidently.

Zhu Yijun made a proposal very seriously, like a devil's whisper.

Words that can't even be read, even if brought back to the West, are just thrown into the trash.

"Nonsense!" Zhu Yijun waved his hand, signaling Feng Bao to take away the portraits of the beauties of all nations.

Feng Bao whispered quickly in the Emperor's ear: Cindy Celia, now a laundry maid, has been washing clothes in the Laundry Bureau for two years...

Hong Chengchou, as a first-rank official of the Great Ming, a Regional Commander, surrendered to the Qing. Later, after the Qing unified the country, they didn't give Hong Chengchou any good face, and directly scolded him in the "Biographies of Traitors." Even when Hong Chengchou persuaded Jiangnan to surrender during the Qing's conquest of Jiangnan.

"These sisters are excellent, but I thought about it and forget it. Sisters are of one heart. If they have ambition, the girl's mind is pure, I'm afraid it's difficult to deal with." Zhu Yijun looked at the twins of "flowers blooming on the same branch" first.

Zhu Yijun quickly flashed a few figures in his mind, all of whom were special envoys sent by the West. After searching, he shook his head and asked: "Who is Cindy?"

"Administrative power is not omnipotent. These descriptions of yours are exaggerated." Zhu Yijun gave important instructions on the translation, saying it could be translated, but the Emperor's role was exaggerated.

These translated books are ironclad proof!

Zhao Mengyou's figure flashed, and he snatched the translated text into his hands.

"A monstrous wave of cotton cloth pouring into England, crushing all of England's hand workshops!"

Solon looked at these books very seriously, but after reading a few pages, he showed sincere confusion. What is the existence of contradiction and unity? What is all this stuff?!

Seeing Solon's appearance, Li Yashi finally sighed, knowing that the Emperor was right. This stuff is born on the cultural foundation of the Great Ming. What can the West do with it?

"I never said you couldn't translate these." Zhu Yijun held the books in his hand and said: "You can translate them. Originally, these are all publicly printed books."

"If you want to choose beauties of all nations, there are 72 here." Feng Bao pointed to another stack of paintings, everything is available, choose as you like.