After broadcasting the ancient times live, I handed the system over to the state.

The maritime ban was an unavoidable topic for the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang and his colleagues did not expect that Chen Mingliang would approach the topic of silver from the perspective of the maritime ban.

"The maritime ban means prohibiting private overseas trade. Before the Song and Yuan dynasties, government officials and private individuals frequently engaged in maritime exchanges with foreign countries," Chen Mingliang said.

Standing on the podium, he can take in all the expressions of the people below. His lecturing style is not radical, and he is currently progressing slowly.

"However, by the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng still had many remnants of their forces entrenched on the surrounding islands. In addition, Japanese pirates were harassing the coastal people in another island nation, and the Yuan people in the north urgently needed to quell a rebellion. Zhu Yuanzhang, who could not spare any resources, chose to ban the sea."

"First, let's focus our current efforts on the remnants of the Yuan dynasty in the north."

As he spoke, a map of the early Ming Dynasty appeared on the PowerPoint presentation. The map was surrounded by swords and fire, letting the people below know that the Ming Dynasty at that time was far from peaceful.

"It weakened the anti-Ming forces to some extent, but it also disrupted normal foreign trade relations. In order to strengthen this trade control, the rulers at the time invented a system called tribute trade, which was the main system for foreign trade in the Ming Dynasty for a long time."

"In the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, the West began to colonize many places, foreign trade intensified, the Ming Dynasty's economy was unstable, and the Ming government had to open up some maritime trade."

"Even so, China's overseas trade did not develop significantly due to years of suppression, and it lost its first-mover advantage. Therefore, even though overseas trade was opened up at the end of the Ming Dynasty, Chinese merchants still did not occupy a very important opportunity or position in the maritime economy."

"It was from this time that China began to fall behind in the global economic market."

"However, we absolutely cannot understand the Ming Dynasty's maritime ban in such a simplistic way. There are complex and tortuous historical reasons and geographical factors involved over hundreds of years."

Chen Mingliang spoke in a gentle voice, using some body language, and the people below listened attentively, drawn into his conversation by his body language.

Chen Mingliang first analyzed why the Chinese people have historically not valued the ocean.

Because we have sufficient resources, unlike the small European countries that lack resources, they can only develop by looking outwards.

In addition, our biggest threats have always been the north, west and other places.

A brief analysis, considering historical reasons, geopolitical conflicts, and ideological factors, explains why people who adopted a more conservative mindset after the Ming Dynasty did not show much interest in exploring the ocean.

Aside from those who know that maritime trade is very profitable, they will not tell others about their ways of making money.

(Zhuge Liang of the Han Dynasty: In fact, maritime trade has been recorded since the Han Dynasty, as recorded in the Book of Han.)

(Empress Dugu of the Sui Dynasty: There was also such a system in the Sui Dynasty, and in later generations, a "Market Supervision Bureau" was established in the Yanbian region.)

Later, people from the Tang Dynasty also came forward and said that the Maritime Trade Office had been established in Guangzhou during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. It levied a 10% tax and even confiscated items that were prohibited from entering the country.

During the reign of Emperor Wenzong, places like Fujian, Yangzhou, and Lingnan began to receive many visitors from outside the region.

During the Song Dynasty, maritime trade flourished, especially during the Northern and Southern Song periods. The north was controlled by ethnic minorities for a long time, which hindered land trade. Therefore, the Song government had to devote more energy to maritime trade.

Therefore, shipbuilding technology was greatly improved at this time, and even the compass was frequently used on voyages.

It was precisely for this reason that the Song Dynasty increased its control over maritime trade.

……

The people on the screen were talking amongst themselves, creating a free and unrestrained atmosphere in conjunction with Chen Mingliang's words. Those who had some influence would boast to their companions that they had also spoken with the big shots on the screen, while those who didn't felt envious.

If they lived during the Zhenguan or Hongwu reigns, they could choose to work and earn wages. They could also choose to exchange their wages for points, but the amount was limited.

People from these two dynasties were not only expected to do things that could benefit or influence Chinese civilization. Many scholars have found that they could earn points by protecting ancient books, translating and organizing classics and materials, as long as it could expand the influence of Chinese civilization.

If you don't know any of these, then you can only wait for Zhu Qinggu to launch a prize-winning guessing game. If you guess correctly, you can get 1-3 points.

Many people used to get points this way, and then post comments. Their comments were judged to have an impact on the outside world, and they would occasionally get one or two points, or maybe none at all.

Whether you get it or not depends on your own efforts.

……

"Due to the devaluation of paper money, coupled with various other reasons, silver became the common currency in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty. The demand for silver in the whole society was huge. Once the maritime ban was lifted, everyone would seek silver from abroad."

"The development of overseas trade and trade with many Western countries led to a continuous outflow of Chinese goods and a continuous inflow of silver from overseas."

"We have previously discussed the historical reasons for and impact of the maritime ban. With the lifting of the ban, the Ming Dynasty was like a patient with lung damage taking a deep breath. We don't know if there will be any subsequent damage. Right now, we need to stay alive."

"This is a table of silver tax revenue in the Ming Dynasty. By the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, the national silver output was no more than 12 taels. Can you all see from this that there was a serious shortage of silver?"

Chen Mingliang released the table, and the next item was the amount of silver needed during this period. Everyone below gasped in shock.

They knew the gap was huge, but the data made it clear to them.

"In the early Ming Dynasty, tribute trade was the only source of silver revenue. However, in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, it could no longer meet the domestic demand for silver. After the Chenghua or Hongzhi periods, many families in the southeastern coastal areas broke through the barriers of the maritime ban and began to develop private trade. Some families even owned hundreds of large ships..."

"Private trade facilitated the export of Chinese silk, porcelain, and tea overseas, while the availability of silver overseas inspired people to brave the dangers of the sea to travel to the mainland..."

As Chen Mingliang recounted the story, everyone seemed to conjure up that magnificent scene.

Different races, different countries, different languages, goods and money are constantly flowing back and forth, and on that map of the earth, the sea areas on display are marked with one shipping route after another by the passing ships.