Chapter 339: Reform and Opening-Up

The Chongzhen Emperor had once again guessed his son's thoughts wrong — which was only natural. Zhu Cilang's mind was far too devious for an honest emperor like him to fathom.

Zhu Cilang had brought Chongzhen, along with the princes, dukes, and high ministers in the capital, to this Hall of Reflection at the Xiao Mausoleum — not to force an abdication, not to reflect on past errors, and certainly not to beg Zhu Yuanzhang's forgiveness, but to convene a conference on the great matters of the Ming dynasty's reform and opening-up!

Reform and opening-up, of course, required a "Conference of Princes, Dukes, and High Ministers" to plan and drive it forward. At the same time, Zhu Cilang had to unify the thinking of the Grand Secretariat, the Marshal's Office, and the princes, dukes, and high ministers.

Only once their thinking was unified could reform and opening-up be pushed forward with great fanfare!

Moreover, only by taking the path of reform and opening-up could the Ming's military and economy get onto the fast track of development.

Otherwise, the fifteen non-conquered nations established by old Emperor Zhu, the suzerain-tributary system, and the maritime prohibition policy would all become stumbling blocks blocking the Ming from going out to sea and drawing strength from the ocean.

To say nothing of other matters — even establishing the "Shanghai Special Zone" and setting up formal, equal diplomatic relations with Holland, Portugal, and Japan would be impossible to carry out. Let alone dispatching envoys and exchange students to the various countries of Europe.

Without formal and equal diplomatic relations, even if the Ming wanted to systematically introduce Western scientific and military technology, it would not be impossible, but it would be beset with difficulties.

Furthermore, if the Ming wished to expand at sea, then the restrictions of the fifteen non-conquered nations would have to be broken. Otherwise, if this one cannot be conquered and that one cannot be conquered, where would expansion go?

The first to second Zhu Cilang's motion was, of course, the "Zhang Juzheng-style reformer" Wei Zaode — a man destined to go down in history! In the future, the Biography of Wei Zaode would be written in the manner of the Biography of Zhuge Liang.

He said: "Thousand Years is right. The ancestral institutions are old methods from over two hundred years ago, and they no longer suit the times — so must they not be changed? In the time of the Great Ancestor, the Exalted Emperor, no one knew the earth was round, nor that Western merchant ships would come over the seas carrying silver in by the boatload! Since there is great profit at sea, how can we prohibit it? Besides, the maritime ban simply cannot be enforced! Ban after ban, all it does is block the court's sea routes, causing smuggling to flourish and the coastal frontiers to slip out of control."

"But Emperor Muzong already issued an edict opening the seas," the Chongzhen Emperor interjected in a low voice.

"Imperial Father," Zhu Cilang said with a smile, "the opening of the seas under Longqing was still too small a step. This time we must throw open the maritime ban with great strides. Guard Commander Huang, tell us your views."

Huang Binqing was the chief Guard Commander of the Naval Guard, so he had the standing to speak on the matter of opening the seas.

"The Longqing opening did not open the ports to foreign merchant ships coming in, but rather permitted Ming merchant ships to go out," Huang Binqing explained. "This dynasty has always allowed foreign ships to come into port. In earlier years, three ports were opened — Guangzhou, Ningbo, and Quanzhou — trading respectively with the Southern Seas, Japan, and Ryukyu. Later, when the maritime ban was imposed, only the single port of Guangzhou remained open, and during the Longqing era, the port of Yuepu in Zhangzhou was added.

But the two ports of Guangzhou and Yuepu have long been unable to meet the needs of trade with both the Eastern and Western Oceans, and moreover, both ports are too far from Nanjing to be easily managed. So quite a number of maritime merchants have proposed opening yet another port at the mouth of the Yangtze!"

"Open one at the mouth of the Yangtze?" The Chongzhen Emperor frowned deeply. "Are we not afraid the Japanese will probe our strengths and weaknesses and invade up the Yangtze?"

Zhu Cilang laughed: "Imperial Father worries too much. The Japanese closed their country and locked their gates back in the early years of Chongzhen. Moreover, their navy has never recovered since its defeat in the Imjin War, and today it is no match at all for the Zheng family's fleet. How could it cross the seas to come here?"

In the era of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's rule, Japan did possess a considerable naval force — otherwise it could not have invaded Joseon. But after the Battle of Sekigahara, many of the western daimyo who had placed importance on naval power suffered devastating losses, and Japan's naval strength never recovered. On the Ming side, because Zheng Zhilong — that pirate king who had absorbed so much Western navigational technology — had submitted to the dynasty, the Ming had suddenly come to possess the strongest naval power in East Asia — capable of challenging even the Dutch East India Company's fleet in coastal waters! The Japanese shogunate's navy and the navies of the southwestern domains were, to the Zheng family's fleet, nothing more than a light snack!

Moreover, because of the Tokugawa shogunate's policy of national seclusion, and because Japan's location had always been at the tail end of the East-West trade routes, it had never had many maritime merchants to begin with — and after seclusion, even less so. In this age, without maritime merchants, how could there be a navy? A navy requires a developed shipbuilding industry and a large number of sailors capable of long voyages as its foundation, and both shipbuilding and the training of sailors require a large community of maritime merchants.

"Now it is not the Japanese pirates coming to us, but us going to them!" Zhu Cilang said with a smile. "And to go to Japan, we must change the ancestral institutions of the suzerain-tributary system and the fifteen non-conquered nations. Otherwise, what would we be going for? To give money away to Japanese pirates?"

The Ming's suzerain-tributary system, combined with the fifteen non-conquered nations, produced the result of paying out money for empty applause — if you stop beating people, why would they pay you tribute? It was all "thin tribute in, thick rewards out." Zhu Cilang had no interest in subsidizing others at a loss.

Zhu Cilang continued: "Even from the standpoint of coastal defense, the court should open a port at the mouth of the Yangtze, where it can maintain firm control! Only by opening a port will maritime merchants from all quarters gather. And when maritime merchants gather, that will in turn drive the flourishing of shipbuilding at the mouth of the Yangtze, while also making it easier to recruit sailors and build a navy.

This Yangtze port should not only permit maritime merchants to come and go, but should also allow merchants of the Eastern and Western Oceans to come ashore and reside, establish industries, and open schools of Western learning.

Therefore, the Yangtze port should occupy as large an area as possible, and should adopt special institutions that encourage industry, commerce, and trade. It should also be isolated from the regions outside the port, perhaps enclosed by a long wall. Within the long wall, commerce and industry may be emphasized, with trade as the foundation."

This was clearly an outward-opening Shanghai Special Zone!

No — not merely a special zone, but something of even greater importance! The Ming navy would also depend on this special zone — in this age, the true maritime powers relied either on pirates or on maritime merchants, and in the final analysis, all of them needed developed commercial and industrial cities as their foundation. Otherwise, how could shipbuilding develop, and how could a vast community of sailors be trained?

Zhu Cilang paused, then continued: "In addition, a Foreign Affairs and Trade Office may be established within this port at the mouth of the Yangtze, responsible for managing port affairs and for dealings with the various countries of the Eastern and Western Oceans."

This was, in effect, a combined foreign ministry and trade ministry, and at the same time the government of the city of Shanghai. Placing such an office in Shanghai was, of course, the result of careful deliberation.

After all, the Ming had been closed and locked for over two hundred years, and the conservative forces were not to be underestimated. It would likely be very hard for them to accept the sight of foreign devils strolling everywhere within the city of Nanjing.

So placing the foreign ministry and trade ministry inside the walled-off Shanghai port would, after all, make it somewhat easier for people to accept.

"Thousand Years, the matter of establishing the port — you shall decide it," said the Prince of Heng, who had followed Zhu Cilang from Shandong all the way to Nanjing and was one of the thirty-three princes. He spoke up at just the right moment. "This subject has only one matter he does not understand: once this port is opened, should we strictly levy import and export duties and commercial taxes?"

"Heh heh heh," Zhu Cilang laughed. "What do you all think — should we collect them or not?"

(End of Chapter)