Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Zhang Shikang knew that some areas along the southeastern coast of the Ming Dynasty had begun to grow new crops such as potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn.

However, none of the fruits, including chili peppers, received attention or promotion from the imperial court. For example, chili peppers were initially seen as ornamental plants in the gardens of wealthy people.

Promoting new crops requires a lot of manpower and money. The imperial court was extremely poor before and had no money at all.

Although they have money now, they have no time to take care of it as the Donglin Party is at the doorstep.

Even if we start now, it will take more than a year or two to resolve the issue. People's acceptance of new crops is also a problem.

Faced with this dilemma, the only solution in a short period of time was to purchase grain from overseas, and Zheng Zhilong was the only one in the world who could do so in such a large quantity.

"The pirate leader from before? I know this person.

He has accepted the imperial court's offer of amnesty, and I have even conferred upon him the title of General of the Five Tiger Guerrillas." Emperor Chongzhen said without taking it seriously.

"Your Majesty, you are looking down on us." Zhang Shikang said helplessly.

Just from the tone of Brother Chongzhen's voice, one can hear his disdain for the identity of pirates.

In fact, after the middle of the Ming Dynasty, successive emperors of the Ming Dynasty hated Japanese pirates.

The title of Five Tiger Guerrilla Generals sounds cool, but in fact it is still just a guerrilla general. Above him there are a series of senior titles such as lieutenant general, deputy general, general, governor, governor-general, and commander-in-chief.

Assigning this official position to Zheng Zhilong only shows that the court did not trust and value Zheng Zhilong.

"Hmph, just a pirate. As the emperor, should I rely on a pirate leader as my right-hand man?" Emperor Chongzhen glanced at Zhang Shikang and said.

In fact, at this time, Emperor Chongzhen lacked trust in court officials except Zhang Shikang.

As the saying goes, once bitten by a snake, one will be afraid of ropes for ten years. After Zhang Shikang got used to them, people like Sun Weifan and Lu Xiangsheng, no matter how much Zhang Shikang praised them in front of him, were just excuses for Zhang Shikang to be lazy in the eyes of Emperor Chongzhen.

From the perspective of Emperor Chongzhen, if these people were really powerful, why was the court like that before?

Zhang Shikang had no intention of attacking the arrogance of Brother Chongzhen, but just said quietly:

"Your Majesty, a person can collect tens of millions of taels of silver in a year just for protection fees."

There is so much that even Zhang Shikang didn’t say, how much money is there in your treasury?

Today, Zheng Zhilong has defeated the Dutch red-haired devils twice and dominated the entire Southeast Asia.

Including all smugglers and normal merchants of the Ming Dynasty, as well as all maritime merchants from Japan, Southeast Asia and other places passing through the South China Sea, they must fly the flag of the Zheng family in order to sail safely.

The flag is not raised for nothing. A ship costs three thousand taels, and there is no cheating. Even the Dutch ships have to pay Zheng Zhilong, otherwise we will rob you without any negotiation.

You look down on them, but it is no exaggeration to say that they are rich enough to rival a country. If you count the silver stored in the Ming Dynasty's treasury, their net income is enough to rival that of dozens or hundreds of countries.

Zhang Shikang probably knew what Chongzhen was thinking. He looked down on Zheng Zhilong, but at the same time he wanted to rely on Zheng Zhilong to solve the maritime threat.

Emperor Chongzhen frowned when he heard this.

“How can it be so exaggerated?

I've heard you say that maritime trade is profitable, why don't you listen to other court officials? "

"It's up to you, Your Majesty, to believe it or not, and besides, why should I tell you this?

It would be great to make money quietly, but how can they make money once they tell you?

If the imperial court earned this money, how would Zheng Zhilong collect protection fees? "Zhang Shikang said speechlessly.

Sometimes Zhang Shikang was speechless about Brother Chongzhen. Not only was his ability in handling government affairs average, but he was also confused about maritime trade, military affairs, etc. He knew the facts but not the reasons behind them.

They used a lot of strength, but almost none of it was used in the right place.

Any modern person can figure out this stupid question, and the coastal officials also knew it, but they all joined forces to cheat the mascot in the palace.

Sometimes Zhang Shikang doesn’t know whether to be funny or pathetic.

The Ming Dynasty's maritime ban policy was also tightened step by step under the strong support of most officials.

They exaggerated the destructiveness of Japanese pirates and carried out the slogan that a maritime ban would reduce losses and bring benefits to the people living along the coast. Thus, they gradually destroyed the tariffs that the Ming Dynasty should have had.

The opening of the sea trade during the Longqing reign was just an accident. Emperor Longqing learned the truth about maritime trade from someone unknown, and then he worked hard for it, overcoming all objections and opening a gap in the original maritime ban.

Emperor Longqing wanted to incorporate tariffs into national taxes, so he died soon after.

The so-called Longqing Opening was nothing more than an extremely twisted reform. Only a small gap was opened for maritime trade, and only Yuegang in Haicheng, Fujian was designated as the only open special zone.

After Emperor Longqing died, officials quickly blocked this loophole. All merchant ships engaged in foreign trade along the coast had to go to Yuegang to go through extremely cumbersome procedures before they could go out to sea.

Later, they even implemented total quantity control on the construction and operation of seagoing ships, with a limit of 40 ships each in the East and South Seas, and cross-border trade between the two was strictly prohibited. Those who failed to return after the deadline after going out to sea would still be charged with collaborating with Japan, even if they had all the necessary documents.

By now, Yuegang, the so-called special economic zone, has become a joke.

Zhang Shikang could figure out with his prostate why officials tried so hard to stop maritime trade.

Poor brother Chongzhen, he is still kept in the dark.

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, his face immediately turned red.

According to Zhang Shikang's understanding of Emperor Chongzhen, he was waiting for Chongzhen to clench his fist, slam the table, and get furious.

But he waited for a long time and Emperor Chongzhen did not say anything, which surprised Zhang Shikang a little.

"How long will it take to kill all the Donglin Party members?"

"If we just want to arrest him, today is enough, but it will be troublesome to search his house.

As for killing them all, no matter how urgent it is, you have to at least pretend to examine them, right?

If we include the two capitals and thirteen provinces, it would probably take at least three months.

However, the imperial prison is almost full. This batch in the capital will take at least three days.

Your Majesty, you are impatient again." Zhang Shikang advised.

"After we kill them all, we will also engage in maritime trade." Emperor Chongzhen said very seriously. After learning that he had been deceived, Emperor Chongzhen no longer had the worries he had before.

"Yeah, let's do it." Zhang Shikang replied casually.

"We also need to buy food. The court has silver. I will give Zheng Zhilong a higher title and he will agree to help."

"Yeah, buy it."

"For those high-yield crops, we also need to collect seeds and promote their planting as soon as possible."

"Yeah, push."

"I leave all this to you."

Zhang Shikang: “…”

Emperor Chongzhen finally stopped being angry.

At this time, Liu Wenbing suddenly came in with a letter in his hand.

"Your Majesty, I have found two letters from Zheng Sanjun's house. I have read the contents of the letters and I think it is necessary to present them to Your Majesty and the Commander."

As he spoke, Liu Wenbing handed over the letter.

Emperor Chongzhen took the letter, read it briefly, and handed it to Zhang Shikang.

There were two letters, one was signed by Zhang Shenyan, the Minister of Personnel of Nanjing, and the other was signed by the predecessor-previous-previous Minister of Rites who was also dismissed by Chongzhen.

The Donglin boss - Qian Qianyi.

……

PS: Sorry for the slow update today. I’m not in good shape, feeling sore and weak, and having a dizzy mind. I just went downstairs to buy two cans of Red Bull. I must finish the five updates tonight. Hurry, go watch the commercials and give me some energy.