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

Zhang Shikang remembered that the Ming Dynasty had clear regulations on the frequency and number of tributes from all tributary states.

This was mainly because some tributary states frequently came to the Ming Dynasty to pay tribute in order to obtain rewards, and their number was increasing, making it difficult for Big Brother to cope with it.

Therefore, strict frequency and number of people were stipulated for the surrounding tributary states. For example, Siam and Annan could only pay tribute once every three years, and the number of people could not exceed one hundred; Japan could only pay tribute once every ten years, and the number of people could not exceed one hundred and fifty.

The Goryeo Kingdom was the most favorable, with only two hundred people per year.

There are also some small countries that are relatively far away, and the basic regulation is that the number of people is within ten.

Due to the inconvenient transportation and extremely low communication efficiency at that time, the imperial court generally did not know which countries would come to pay tribute next year.

The reason why Zhang Shikang asked was just to try his luck and see if Fang Zhenghua and Liu Wenbing could guess something based on their experience.

But unexpectedly, Fang Zhenghua and Liu Wenbing gave very precise answers.

"Commander-in-chief, the four tributary states that came this year will most likely come again next year," said Liu Wenbing.

"Your Majesty is right. We also think that they will definitely come next year." Fang Zhenghua seconded and also explained the reason.

It turned out that in recent years, due to internal and external troubles, the Ming Dynasty had been in a fiscal deficit and had no choice but to reduce the rewards to the tributary states.

As a result, many tributary states stopped coming, and the reasons they gave were very straightforward: the Ming Dynasty was always at war, there were brutal Tartars outside the Great Wall and brutal bandits inside the Great Wall, and the delegations were always robbed, leaving the imperial court speechless.

Because of the war decades ago, Japan simply never came to pay tribute again.

It is because several small countries such as Siam and Annan are relatively close to the Ming Dynasty that they will occasionally come to try their luck.

And apparently, they have hit the jackpot this year.

When the national treasury was at its peak, it had nearly 200 million taels of silver in deposits. Even Brother Chongzhen had never been so rich, so he was very generous in giving out rewards.

These small countries have tasted the benefits, so why wouldn’t they continue to come?

"Didn't our dynasty stipulate the frequency and number of tribute payments to tributary states?" Zhang Shikang frowned.

"Sir, our dynasty does have specific regulations, but the actual situation is not like this," Liu Wenbing replied.

According to Liu Wenbing, although the regulations were very strict, not only stipulating the frequency and number of people, the court even stipulated which route the tributary states should take, but the enforcement was very lax.

For example, during the Wanli period, it was stipulated that Goryeo should pay tribute by land, but due to the convenience of sea routes, tribute envoys often traveled by sea.

As for the frequency of tribute, the implementation was also very poor. Take Ryukyu as an example. Although the regulations stipulated that tribute should be paid every two years, it often paid more than one tribute in a year.

In the 13th year of Yongle alone, there were three tribute payments in March, April and August.

This was even more true for Japan, which not only paid tribute frequently, but also broke the court's regulations in many aspects.

In the ninth year of Yongle, Japan sent envoys to pay tribute and first arrived in Ningbo. Because they carried swords and other weapons, they violated the laws of the Ming Dynasty.

Li Zhigang, the Minister of Rites, believed that the law stipulated that foreign tribute envoys could not carry weapons, let alone sell them privately to the people. Therefore, the swords carried by the Japanese delegation should be confiscated and sent to the capital.

However, Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di, believed that "foreigners admire China and come to pay tribute. They cross the dangerous sea and travel thousands of miles. The roads are long and the expenses are high... Should they be restricted by all prohibitions?"

So Chengzu ordered the government to pay for the weapons carried by Japan, and Japan made a huge profit with tears.

The Goryeo Kingdom was also very exaggerated. Before it surrendered to the enemy, no matter how poor the Ming Dynasty was, they came every year, and the number of envoys was increasing.

"Fuck you... they are taking advantage of our imperial court!" Zhang Shikang couldn't help but cursed.

He has always been the one who fleeced others, but now he feels like he is being fleeced.

It turns out that being fleeced by others is so unpleasant!

"When they arrive in the capital next year, if I am in the capital, please be sure to notify me and I will receive them personally!" Zhang Shikang ordered the two men.

"I obey your command!" Liu Wenbing bowed.

He roughly guessed what his commander was going to do. Not only him, but Fang Zhenghua also guessed it.

However, both of them obeyed the order tacitly. After all, they knew very well that no matter what the Duke of Zhenguo did, His Majesty would not care.

After finalizing the matter, Zhang Shikang left the Jinyiwei Yamen.

After the financial meeting, Zhang Shikang had a leisurely time for the next few days, after all, it was the New Year.

He hadn't been with his wife and children for a whole year. He stayed at home honestly and hardly went out. It was a pity that the child was too young and couldn't call him dad yet.

Zhang Shikang informed his wives, including Liu Rushi, that the court was planning to officially open the Ming Money House next year, and told them that if anyone was interested, they could participate, as he had already informed his brother Chongzhen and the cabinet ministers.

This news made Liu Rushi and other girls particularly happy, as they had been sold as singers before because of their family's decline or poverty.

But women such as Liu Rushi, Gu Hengbo and Kou Baimen have written many poems, expressing their desire to serve the country but being unable to do so because of their female status.

Now that this idea has been realized by their husbands, they certainly have reason to be happy.

Kou Baimen was the most excited, and even felt that they had not studied hard enough the economic and financial knowledge that Zhang Shikang had dictated to them.

So Kou Baimen begged Zhang Shikang to give her extra lessons. Of course, the lessons were not in vain. Zhang Shikang often gave lectures while doing import and export trade, thinking that this was quite interesting.

Thousands of words can be summed up in one sentence: Baimen is really good.

The Chinese New Year was just two days away, and Zhang Shikang thought he could finally have a few days of peace and quiet. However, on the afternoon of the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhang Shikang received a letter from Quanzhou.

The letter was naturally written by Zheng Zhilong, the Earl of Haiqing. Zheng Zhilong was not well educated, but the wording in the letter was very meticulous, and it was obvious that it was written by his subordinates.

The opening is a compliment to Zhang Shikang, and the words are very exaggerated. Zhang Shikang knew that when ancient people wrote letters, especially letters mixed with vested interests, there was no need to read the opening, as it was all nonsense.

So he started reading directly from the middle part of the letter and found that Zheng Zhilong was indeed worried about the thirty galleons that suddenly appeared on Dongfan Island.

In his letter, Zheng Zhilong speculated that the red-haired barbarians were challenging his bottom line by doing so.

He also said that as long as the thirty Galleon warships dared to leave the port, he would lead the Zheng family navy to sink all those ships.

This is not the point. The point is that Zheng Zhilong promised Zhang Shikang more than once in the letter, telling him not to worry, that he, Zheng Zhilong, could definitely protect the court's coastal defense security, and asked him not to have any other thoughts.

Zhang Shikang laughed after reading it.

He realized that Zheng Zhilong might have realized that these ships belonged to the imperial court.

After all, Zheng Zhilong monopolized three shipping routes and had many spies on the Dongfan Islands.

Although Zheng Zhilong seemed to be saying that the red-haired barbarians were challenging his bottom line, it would be more accurate to say that he was warning the imperial court and Zhang Shikang not to challenge his bottom line.

Damn it, do you really think you’re that important?

……