Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 184: The Wish Is Not Courageous

Tan Changyuan never thought that one day he would be able to meet the crown prince.

After discussing the source of goods with Master Wen, he planned to stay in Huating City for a few days until the war outside subsided before returning.

By then, all matters related to the voyage had been settled, so he stayed in the city and visited several families in order to expand his network and build relationships.

But who would have thought that this peace only lasted for a little over a day, and then came the news that the Qing army had been defeated.

God have mercy on them, that’s 40,000 strong troops.

Even though they were surrounded, who could have imagined that in just two or three days, the unstoppable army that had fought hundreds of battles would not only end up being completely wiped out, but even the Heshuo Beile of the Qing Dynasty would die in this battle.

The sudden reversal of the situation may not have much impact on others, but for Tan Changyuan it means that he may need to re-arrange the key points in his journey.

However, this matter itself is not a big deal. After all, they have much more connections in the Ming court than in the Qing court.

If it were in the past, he would only have to wait for the imperial court's appointment and then handle everything according to that appointment.

But it's already July, and the time suitable for going out to sea is just around the corner. If we really wait like this, we may miss the time and have to wait until next year.

Under such circumstances, he had no choice but to go to the center of the confrontation between the Ming and Qing armies.

Finally, by chance, he appeared in the military tent of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the Regent of the Ming Dynasty.

"Student Tan Changyuan pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. May His Royal Highness the Crown Prince..."

"Forget it. Tell me about your trip to the sea."

Tan Changyuan entered the military tent trembling with fear, not daring to look up at anyone. He took only one step and then performed the great ceremony as he had known in the past.

He was naturally curious about what the Crown Prince, who had defeated the Tartars, looked like, but court regulations did not allow a person like him to look up at the Crown Prince. So he could only focus all his attention on the great ceremony that he had practiced many times in his mind.

However, the thoughts of those in higher positions were always hard to predict. He had just bowed here when he heard the voice of His Highness there.

If the person in front of him was a chancellor or a minister, Tan Changyuan would have stood up and answered the question accordingly.

Even if a certain elder were in front of him, he would be confident that he could answer questions fluently.

But the Crown Prince sitting in the tent now is a figure like General Tiance. He not only turned the tide, but also turned the situation around through repeated battles.

Even if Tan Changyuan had every confidence, how could he use it in front of him?

As a result, when the rules in his mind were disrupted, he stood there at a loss, until Zhu Guobi gently reminded him and he reacted.

"Your Highness, the Duke once told me that your Highness..."

"Don't mention anything else, just talk about maritime trade."

According to the original words, the purpose of Tan Changyuan's words was to implicitly let His Royal Highness the Crown Prince know the relationship between the 200,000 and the Duke of Baoguo.

But he was interrupted by His Highness just when he had started, which made him feel helpless.

However, this time he was not as at a loss as before. After all, it involved matters that he had studied for many years. He just organized himself briefly and began to speak in the most concise language.

"Your Highness, our Ming Dynasty is rich in resources and our people are ingenious. No matter what we produce, it is what the barbarians need. Therefore, the barbarians come from thousands of miles away to ask for it."

Hearing this, Zhu Cilang felt helpless.

Of course he knew all this. If we only talk about the big picture, he knew more about Ming Dynasty's maritime trade than anyone else alive.

Big things are of course extremely useful. Not only can they serve as guidance at the strategic level, but they can also help people easily see through complex situations.

To be frank, Zhu Cilang was able to save the situation because he saw the Qing army's flaws on the big picture.

Although the general things are useful, they require support at a lower level. If they are taken out separately, they are probably of no use at all except as topics for chatting.

Take the time when he first arrived in this area for example. If he did not have the support of the soldiers and clerks, how could he have resisted the surprise attack that night even if he knew that the Qing army would not attack a big city like Yingtian with all their strength?

Therefore, when Tan Changyuan put the same rhetoric he usually used to entertain officials and powerful people to Zhu Cilang, it naturally did not have the same effect as before.

"Tell me more details."

"Your Highness, the Ming Dynasty's maritime trade routes are divided into the East, South, and West. Each route is very different. If I were to report every detail to you, it would take several days."

When he first entered the army, Tan Changyuan lost his usual composure and calmness because of the huge difference in status and the Crown Prince's amazing record.

But now it comes to the field he is good at, and even though his aura is still suppressed, his thinking is much more agile than before.

"Tell me about the changes in recent years."

Hearing this, Zhu Guobi did not react, but Tan Changyuan seemed to be shocked and raised his head to look at the young man.

Variety.

Anyone with a little common sense knows that things are constantly changing, but for maritime trade, the changes in recent years have been so earth-shaking that it is almost impossible for an old businessman like him to adapt.

But for the entire Ming Dynasty, although they were deeply affected by this change, no one paid attention to this aspect.

Under such circumstances, when such questions were asked by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, how could Tan Changyuan not be surprised?
"presumptuous!"

"It's okay. There are not so many rules here in this palace." Zhu Guobi just scolded, and Zhu Cilang waved his hand. When he saw the person kneeling in the tent prostrated himself on the ground again, he said kindly: "Mr. Tan, stand up and answer."

What are the benefits?

For Tan Changyuan, being able to stand in front of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and answer was a great honor. Even though he had met many dignitaries and used all kinds of rare treasures, when he heard the words "stand up and answer", he couldn't help but feel excited.

"Thank you, Your Highness," after thanking loudly, Tan Changyuan stood up. There was no tension on his face at this moment, only solemnity and dignity. It was obvious that he regarded the following response as a way of "repaying the emperor's favor."

"In recent years, all the oceans have been in turmoil, and the trade routes have not been very smooth."

With this as his opening remark, Tan Changyuan then detailed the "changes" he had learned about.

In the early years, maritime trade was truly a profitable business. As long as the goods could be transported to a certain place, silver could be brought back that was worth more than the goods themselves.

But the situation has taken a sharp turn for the worse in recent years.

The trade routes in the West and South Oceans were blocked due to the fighting between the Red-haired Devils and the French, and the East Ocean simply cut off trade with the Ming Dynasty.

Under such circumstances, maritime trade became increasingly difficult. If not for the fact that every place needed a certain amount of Ming goods to maintain the minimum demand, I am afraid that Ming's foreign trade routes would be completely cut off. After a while, Tan Changyuan briefly talked about the current situation of Ming's foreign trade, and Zhu Cilang finally connected all the things with what he knew.

It is actually quite simple to talk about the East. Now their so-called "Warring States" era has ended, and it is the time when the Tokugawa shogunate is in power.

With the end of the war, the consumption of materials would naturally decrease. In addition, Omoto was worried about the Catholicism brought by Westerners, so the Tokugawa shogunate simply issued a seclusion order and strictly restricted foreign trade.

The situation in the West is much more complicated than what Tan Changyuan said.

This was the final stage of the Spanish maritime hegemony, and both the Dutch, known as the Coachmen of the Sea, and the future British Empire were constantly challenging it.

The most direct result of this was naturally that the trade between both sides and the Ming Dynasty suffered a severe impact, but if we look at it from the perspective of future generations, the impact of such events on the Ming Dynasty was far more than just the severance of trade routes.

Since ancient times, China has focused on land, so the exploration of the sea has basically remained at the folk stage. Although the Ming Dynasty's seven voyages to the West were quite effective, they were only a flash in the pan because they failed to form a stable chain of interests.

So when the whole world was closely connected due to the expansion of sea routes, China never developed the so-called "globalization" consciousness.

As a result, no one could understand what role the cessation of silver inflow due to the interruption of trade routes played in the collapse of the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, China is short of gold and silver.

For a long time, successive Chinese dynasties have used copper as the main currency. During the Qin and Han dynasties, the "gold" used to be spent lavishly was actually brass, not real gold.

After maritime trade prospered, huge amounts of silver flowed into China from all over the world.

Due to its various advantages and certain scarcity, it naturally gained the favor of the court and the people, and the status of copper coins was truly replaced by silver after Zhang Juzheng's reform.

This could be considered as taking advantage of the situation, but due to lack of vision, the Ming court overlooked the huge disadvantages.

That is, the right to mint coins was not in the hands of the imperial court, and the economic rise and fall was controlled by others.

If silver could no longer flow in as before, the Ming Dynasty would be out of money, and the social economy would experience deflation, leading to a serious economic crisis.

If it were a modern country, it would probably try every possible means to hedge against the crisis, but how could the Ming Dynasty court at that time have the ability to deal with such a crisis?

The economic collapse is natural and understandable.

But for Zhu Cilang now, even if he knew, what would it matter? Even if he understood, what could he do?

Does he have the ability to send troops overseas before the internal enemies are pacified?

Therefore, when he completed his investigation of Tan Changyuan in front of him, he revealed his true purpose.

"I heard that Annan and Siam are rich in rice. If we buy it in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, I wonder how much it will cost?"

Before coming here, Zhu Cilang would never have thought that he would say such words.

A land of fish and rice, a land of fish and rice, naturally there must be fish and rice.

However, since the rise of maritime trade, crops grown in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas have changed from grain to economic crops such as mulberry and cotton.

Not to mention that after the opening of the port during the Longqing period, even during the Jiajing period, water had to be transferred from other places to fill the gap.

Not to mention at this time, due to the war, a decrease in grain production is foreseeable.

Other places have not yet clearly expressed their attitude towards the small court, and there is no hope of transfer of funds.

In this situation, if he wanted to avoid a large-scale famine in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, what other solution did he have except to turn his attention overseas?
"Your Highness, the grain prices in those places are indeed much cheaper than those in the Ming Dynasty, but I still need to carefully calculate how much it will cost to transport it to the inland areas."

After hearing what Tan Changyuan said, Zhu Cilang nodded slowly, obviously satisfied with this answer.

As for business, one naturally has to calculate the costs and benefits. If the costs are too high, he does not have the financial resources to transport grain from overseas on a large scale.

"This matter needs to be handled quickly. If it is done well, I will not begrudge you any official title or position."

"I will definitely live up to your highness' trust!"

After making a wish, Tan Changyuan was naturally grateful, but Zhu Guobi poured a basin of cold water on him after he left the tent.

"Your Highness, Zheng Family"

Although he did not say it directly, the meaning was not as obscure as before.

When the Tartars attacked the city before, Zheng Hongkui kidnapped the kings onto his own boat. Although they have sailed the boat back now, they are just like Zhang Yinli did before, neither advancing nor retreating.

In this situation, who can't see what they are thinking?
So after hearing about the Crown Prince's plan on maritime trade, Zhu Guobi couldn't help but worry that the Zheng family was playing tricks on the matter.

"Someone, go to the riverside and ask him whether the Zheng family has the will to be independent."

"Your Highness! No way."

After hearing the Crown Prince's words that clearly indicated he was going to break off relations with the Zheng family, Zhu Guobi displayed his class weakness to the fullest.

"What are you standing there for? Just go and ask."

"Order."

Seeing the soldier turn around and leave, the usually calm Zhu Guobi was suddenly at a loss. For a moment, he didn't know whether he should persuade His Highness first or hold the soldier back.

"Your Highness, don't alert the enemy. If Zheng Hongkui really brings all the princes back to Fujian, it will cause endless harm!"

Is there anything wrong with this?
The Zheng family had soldiers and generals, money and power, and even local Fujian forces like Huang Daozhou could not compete with them.

If he really serves a certain prince as his leader and competes with Zhu Cilang, it is possible that the governors and governors-general in various places, whose attitudes are already unclear, will openly question the legitimacy of Zhu Cilang.

By then, the situation in the Ming Dynasty will be completely different, and this small court will completely become a local government.

just
"There are many people who have evil intentions," Zhu Cilang glanced at the nervous Zhu Guobi intentionally or unintentionally, and then said, "How many people have the courage to commit evil?"

Zhu Guobi felt a little depressed after hearing this, but then he heard the voice of His Highness again.

"If it weren't for me, they might have dared to drag down the careers of some civil officials or Cao Cao, but now... Humph!"

Zhu Cilang said this with great confidence, but his words were not without purpose.

If the Zheng family really had the courage to establish their own independence, shouldn't they have just brought a prince back to Fujian when the rebel king was preparing to surrender to the Qing? Why would they still be hesitating and staying on the Qiantang River at this time?
To put it bluntly, without the support of the civil servants, the Zheng family, who came from pirate backgrounds, can at best be considered as having the desire but not the courage to commit crimes.

Zhu Cilang could be completely sure of this!
(End of this chapter)