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

"Your Excellency the Commander, this year a total of three countries came to pay tribute, namely Ryukyu, Annan, Siam and U-Tsang." Xinle Hou Liu Wenbing replied.

"Do you know what tribute they brought and what rewards His Majesty gave them?" Zhang Shikang asked again.

Ryukyu is a small island country in the northeastern waters of Dongfan Island, and Siam is the predecessor of later Thailand.

Annan was located in the central part of later Vietnam, and U-Tsang was naturally the Tibet region of later times.

However, U-Tsang only occupied the southwestern part of the entire Ksitigarbha region, while the northeastern part was ruled by several Dogans Xuanwei Si, King Zanshen and his descendants.

"Siam and Annam are similar, both have ivory, gold and silver objects, gems, corals, crystals, pearls, etc., and four elephants.

Most of the treasures in U-Tsang are agate, dzi beads, swords, and a dozen yaks.

As for your majesty's return gift, in addition to the king's golden seal, royal robes, calendars, banknotes, and silk fabrics, there is gold and silver. "

Liu Wenbing didn't know why the commander asked this, but he still reported what he knew truthfully.

"So do you think we made a loss or a profit?" Zhang Shikang asked again.

If this was said in the imperial court, some civil servants would inevitably sneer at it. How could the Celestial Empire, a country like China, declare its national prestige by measuring its losses and profits?

But Liu Wenbing knew Zhang Shikang's temper, and gave his opinion without changing his expression.

“Your Excellency the Commander, of course it is a loss.

Although some of the tributes from these small countries are indeed rare, such as corals, pearls, and even elephants and yaks, they are of no help to our court.

But our dynasty's return gifts, not to mention the gold, silver, court robes, calendars, etc. given to those kings, the gold and silver alone were more than twice their tribute.

This is the ancestral system of our Ming Dynasty. Emperor Taizu and Emperor Chengzu followed the principle of "giving more and receiving less", and their gifts were often more valuable than tribute, in order to demonstrate the generosity of the emperors. "

Liu Wenbing's answer was extremely detailed. As he spoke, he asked one of his men to fetch the detailed records of this part and show them to Zhang Shikang.

Zhang Shikang then checked carefully, and when he saw that Brother Chongzhen gave 40,000 rewards to Annan, 30,000 to Ryukyu, 20,000 to U-Tsang, and 30,000 to Siam, Zhang Shikang felt very upset.

A reward of one hundred and twenty thousand taels, damn it!

My money!

Those were all obtained after I spent a year confiscating people’s property!

When he set up a General Manufacturing Bureau, the Ministry of Revenue complained that he spent too much money. When he set up a navy, everyone said he spent too much money. But after all, Zhang Shikang spent the money in the right places.

But this tribute thing is obviously a loss-making business, but the Ministry of Revenue is very happy to pay. After all, this is a rare opportunity for the emperor and his ministers in the Ming Dynasty to show off together.

"I remember that in addition to the main tribute, there is also a supplementary tribute. Do you know what the current situation is?" Zhang Shikang asked again.

"Sir, this old servant knows." Fang Zhenghua replied.

The so-called tribute refers to the trade of items brought in as tribute, and the trade of goods brought by the members of the tribute delegation.

This part of the goods was called "foreign goods" or "attached goods" by the Ming court. They originally accounted for a large proportion and could be traded in the Huitongguan in the capital and the Shibosi respectively.

The Ming Dynasty handled imported items from different countries differently in different periods.

Generally speaking, the court would pay for some of the goods, and the rest would be allowed to be traded freely.

But this free trade is also in quotation marks and has many conditions.

First, transactions must be conducted at designated locations and within a limited time, and must be presided over by special officials sent by the court. Transactions are usually conducted at the Maritime Customs Office or the Huitongguan. Foreign merchants and Chinese military and civilians are not allowed to trade privately outside designated locations.

Second, foreign businessmen are not allowed to purchase prohibited items. According to the provisions of the "Great Ming Law", the so-called prohibited items include horses and cattle, military supplies, iron goods, copper coins, satin, silk, silk and cotton, etc.

Anyone who is a soldier or civilian in or outside the Huitong Hall and buys prohibited goods on behalf of the foreigners will be punished, put in shackles for one month, and sent to the border guards as exile.

Of course, there are other cumbersome conditions such as the third and fourth conditions, which will not be elaborated here.

“A few years ago, I accompanied the officials of the Ministry of Rites to receive foreign envoys. Although these tributary states also brought some tributes, they were not many and were basically common sundries in their countries. It was just a perfunctory trip.

The reason for this situation is mainly because these small foreign vassal states prefer to purchase satin, silk, cotton and other items from our Ming Dynasty, but the Ming Dynasty laws set these as prohibited items.

The commodities in their country had no appeal to our Ming Dynasty, and the ones they brought with them were all worthless. No one bought them at the Maritime Customs, so they were brought to the Huitongguan in the capital, and the court bought them all.

The imperial court would not pay a high price for these sundries, it was just to save face for these vassal states.”

Fang Zhenghua told Zhang Shikang about his experience in general, and Zhang Shikang nodded when he heard it.

That’s true. If you don’t allow people to sell this and you don’t allow people to sell that, what are they going to trade with you for?

However, Zhang Shikang was still a little unhappy about the court's concern for face, so he brought a bunch of useless junk, and the court accepted all of it in order to allow the vassal state to report back.

Daming, you are so damn good!

Moreover, according to what Zhang Shikang has learned in the past two years, the reason why the imperial court has never opened up to foreign trade is actually related to tribute.

The so-called tribute trade must be based on tribute. There can be no trade without tribute. Tribute comes first and then trade. Without tribute, no trade is allowed.

As far as foreign countries are concerned, paying tribute is for the purpose of trade with China. If there is no trade, there will be no tribute. Both sides have conditions for each other.

This meant that if the imperial court lifted the maritime ban and traded with foreign countries, it would not only violate the ancestral system of maritime ban, but also the ancestral system of tribute trade, not to mention the obstruction from the bureaucracy and gentry at the time.

No, we must never do this losing business again.

Even if they do it, they can't do it like this. They will be the ones who lose money.

After all, as tributary states of the Ming Dynasty, in theory, if these small countries were attacked by other countries, the Ming Dynasty, as the suzerain state, would avenge its younger brothers.

For example, during the Wanli period, Japan attacked Goryeo, and Goryeo was almost destroyed. In the end, the big brother tightened his belt and helped Goryeo drive away Japan.

The Ming Dynasty paid a lot of money for paying tribute and paid even more money for helping its younger brothers.

When the Ming Dynasty was in trouble, none of the younger brothers came to help the big brother, and Goryeo simply surrendered to the enemy.

This is so fucking stupid.

There was a young man who broke jars and once described Japan as a country that fears power but not virtue, knows small etiquette but not great righteousness, and is particular about small details but not great virtue. Zhang Shikang thought it was very appropriate.

Moreover, Zhang Shikang felt that for a small country, fear of power was enough.

Who cares whether they have moral integrity or not?

Would a great country care whether a small country is virtuous?

Just a big fist will do!

Do you think my fist is big?

Why don't you come and pay tribute quickly?

What? You dare to ask for a reward? Are you trying to taste my fist-sized sandbag?

Thinking of this, Zhang Shikang asked again:

"Next year, which vassal states will come to pay tribute?"