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

“After the mid-Ming Dynasty, the international environment changed. Western countries began to explore the seas, and many people longed for the mysterious Eastern power, believing that it was full of gold.”

"Finally, one after another, people came here to do business with China. At first, the Portuguese were even expelled, but later they took the risk of doing business in southeastern China, and gradually overseas trade took root here."

"At this time, the Ming Dynasty's finances were deteriorating, and the Ming government realized this and began to adjust its fiscal policies. Finally, in the thirty-second year of the Jiajing reign, the Portuguese were allowed to trade with China."

"After three years of development, Macau became Guangzhou's outer port. Thereafter, the Portuguese used Macau as an important foothold to actively develop trade, shipping Chinese goods to Japan, Europe, and the Spanish colonies in the Americas..."

Zhu Yuanzhang gritted his teeth, "These Portuguese people really know how to do business!"

Especially when you look at those routes on the map, you can not only do business, but also travel around.

"And what was the historical context at this time? The Japanese pirate raids had been almost completely eradicated, the environment along the southeast coast was almost stable, and the time was ripe to lift the maritime ban."

"After the lifting of the maritime ban, Chinese goods were sold overseas in large quantities, and a large amount of silver was brought back from overseas. Japan was an important destination for overseas silver in the late Ming Dynasty. At that time, Japan had a great demand for silk products."

"It wasn't just Portugal; countries like Britain and Spain also discovered that silk could be exchanged for a lot of silver in Japan, and they all joined this trade game."

"Besides Japan, there was also the Americas. The Spanish accidentally discovered silver mines in the Americas, and they quickly realized that the Chinese needed silver, while the upper classes in Europe and the Americas needed silk, spices, porcelain, and tea. So trade between China and Spain developed rapidly."

No one present dared to underestimate what Chen Mingliang was saying. He was not just talking about history, but about broadening their horizons and expanding their knowledge.

Many people have also realized that they have really overlooked a lot of things, while later generations are used to analyzing things from the perspective of the international situation, and the international situation also affects many things.

For example, how can we say that the inflow of silver into the Ming Dynasty was not influenced by the international situation?

"According to a foreign scholar's research, from the 18th year of the Wanli reign to the 17th year of the Chongzhen reign, 75% of the silver in the Americas flowed into Europe, and of that 75%, 60% flowed into China. This is a very large amount."

"It is estimated to be 480 million kilograms."

Those below were also shocked, and even those under the canopy were calculating the ratio. Some had already calculated it quickly.

It was approximately 9600 million taels.

The annual fiscal revenue of the Ming Dynasty varied. According to the History of Ming, it averaged about three million taels of silver. Of course, many taxes were not based on cash revenue but on in-kind taxes. After conversion and adding some currency, it was roughly this price.

During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, the fiscal revenue was more than two million taels of silver per year.

More than 96 million taels of silver—that's an astronomical figure!

Many officials began to whisper and discuss the matter quietly.

Chen Mingliang did not stop him, but continued, "In the late Ming Dynasty, the active commodity economy and China's huge demand for silver promoted the initial formation of the world market. Maritime trade routes connected the three continents of Europe, Asia and the Americas, forming a global trade network, in which China played a pivotal role."

"At that time, China did not have a proper understanding of itself. It was prosperous in terms of economy, but its economic structure remained basically unchanged, so the prosperity was short-lived."

"At that time, the needs of the Chinese people had begun to diversify, and adjustments to the economic structure were needed to meet the needs of the people or trade."

Chen Mingliang pressed a button on the PowerPoint presentation, and a large character for "agriculture" appeared on it.

Whether it was Li Shimin or Zhu Yuanzhang, or people from various dynasties under the heavens, they all focused on the word 'agriculture'.

This character has been a constant throughout China's five-thousand-year history. Seeing this character immediately brings to mind hunger, hunger, and more hunger.

Land, sun, sweat, water... these are all related to this word. If you delve deeper, these related images will emerge.

This is a deep-seated obsession within the Chinese people: to fill their stomachs. Only when people have food can they survive and do more.

Zhu Yuanzhang's emphasis on agriculture stemmed from his own experience of food shortages and witnessing the hoarding and speculation of merchants. People today often criticize him from a later perspective, but how could Zhu Yuanzhang, in his own time, have known that everything in the world would develop so rapidly?

"In my view, the entire Ming Dynasty was basically dominated by agriculture. Even if there was a rapid development of handicrafts and commerce, it was only localized and spontaneous, and did not form a large scale. So if we look at the Ming Dynasty, and even the later Qing Dynasty, do people's lifestyles still not much different from those of five hundred years ago? A thousand years ago?"

Chen Mingliang asked the people sitting below, and at the same time, he was asking the people under the sky.

The vast difference between their lifestyles and those of later generations remains an issue that cannot be ignored.

The fact that Miss Zhu used to always mention "small-scale peasant economy" has reminded them of it again.

The continuation of this small-scale peasant economy also had complex political factors involved; even the emperor was afraid of rebellion!

For example, Zhu Yuanzhang called agriculture "fundamental" and commerce and handicrafts "secondary," believing that "if we value the fundamental and fear the secondary, the national economy can be stable and prosperous."

But now, through the celestial screen, they also know that a country's strength is not only economic, but also ideological. Who would dare to take that step easily? If the people know more, wouldn't they question whether the monarch's existence is justified?

Now we have him, Li Shimin!

Li Shimin took the first step; he has never been wary or afraid of these things happening.

The power of the Tang Dynasty was not only due to its national strength, but also to an invisible influence: people's thoughts!

Therefore, the first time period chosen by later think tanks was the Tang Dynasty, not any other.

The influence of the Tang Dynasty has spanned a thousand years, and people in later generations still sing its praises.

The fact that there are Chinatowns everywhere already says a lot.