Li Biao and Huang Liji were terrified of the lifting of the sea ban.
It wasn't that they were afraid of death, but that the aristocrats along the coast had already formed a powerful political force, and had even become the official trading force of the Ming Empire.
Pirates were the trump card of this force. If the imperial court did not agree, they would open up maritime trade and set import and export taxes.
Then the Great Ming's sea border would never be peaceful!
They knew it clearly, so they didn't dare to act rashly.
At the very least, before the Imperial Court was fully prepared, they could not shake the interests of the sea merchants.
Zhu Youjian understood, but he didn't want to implement it now. He wanted to cancel the ban.
As for setting up a customs office to collect import and export taxes for overseas trade, without three years of preparation, it would be impossible to complete this task.
The reason why Li Biao and Huang Liji proposed to cancel the ban on the sea was that Zhu Youjian wanted to open an opening.
Currently, the Empire could only collect five to six million to ten million taels of silver in taxes within a year.
As for the sea merchants along the coast, he did not have the ability to shake them now. At least, he did not have the confidence and energy to deal with them.
After all, Slave Jian in the north was eyeing them covetously. Next year, he would go south to attack Ming.
He had to deal with Slave Jian first, then he could reorganize the dynasty's navy and take on the responsibility of guarding the dynasty's sea territory.
As for the minister of the navy of the Imperium, it was none other than Yuan Keli!
This old man was swift and decisive in his work. He had set up a shipyard at Tianjin Wei Port.
This was an important naval base in the north of Great Ming. Making use of the Tianjin Guards and the Tianjin Navy would be an important step for Great Ming to march into the sea.
Seeing Zhu Youjian looking at them with bright eyes, Huang Liji and Li Biao gritted their teeth and immediately took out the memorials they had prepared beforehand and handed them over.
Zhu Youjian didn't look at the memorial, but looked at the two ministers and said indifferently,""It doesn't matter if you say it. I know that the Empire currently doesn't have the ability to deal with it, but we must complete the initial goal now.”
Li Biao and Huang Liji understood!
It wasn't that Tian Zi didn't understand the difficulty of lifting the ban on the sea, nor did he not know the serious consequences of doing so.
What the emperor wanted now was for the imperial court to pass a resolution to cancel the ban on the sea!
What Tian Zi wanted was an opening, an opening for the empire's sea trade.
In this way, when the dynasty had the strength and confidence, they would be able to achieve their goal in one step.
Since Tian Zi wasn't going to open the sea to set up customs, what were they worried about?
" Your Majesty," Li Biao said," according to my and the chief assistant's investigation, the Empire's sea ban is only in name. It's better to cancel it!"”
"What…"
All the ministers were shocked!
Cancel the ban on the sea?
Isn't this a little funny?
Didn't they know that the previous generations of emperors couldn't do it and all died without a cause?
Zhu Youjian ignored the shock and horror of the ministers and said calmly,""Zhen knows that the Sea Restriction Order exists in name only!
Since that was the case, why not cancel the Sea Restriction Order!
He would no longer be monopolized by the coastal areas, but he would also give all the merchants in the world a way out.
After all, the empire is going to raise the business tax, and I have no choice…"
The ministers smiled bitterly in their hearts. Did His Majesty not know that the consequences of lifting the ban on the sea far exceeded the mine tax and salt tax?
The Tianqi Emperor was poisoned to death because he increased the mine and salt taxes!
The Ming Empire's world had already been swallowed up by the sea merchants and local tyrants. They were the real executors of the Ming Empire's sea trade?
Once the Empire shook their interests, pirates would once again plunder the coastal areas.
During the Jiajing period, the Japanese pirates were quelled and the truth was traced back to the sea merchants, pirates and Japanese pirates colluding.
Because of this, Jiajing paid a huge price to quell this turmoil.
Now, the emperor wanted to reopen the customs and cancel the ban on the sea!
This was not an action that would benefit the country and the people. Instead, it would drag down the dynasty and make it busy. It would be a waste of the dynasty's manpower and money.
Who didn't know that the profits from sea trade were huge?
However, after a hundred years in the Ming Empire, not a single emperor had reversed this disadvantage!
This was a bitter drama, and Zhu Youjian had to cooperate with the ministers to continue acting.
He told the political forces represented by the merchants and the gentry:
I don't really want to get the import and export tax on the sea trade, but I want to give the merchants of the world a fair chance to compete. The empire has no intention of participating.
The purpose of throwing out the ban on the sea was to increase the internal business tax!
This was the only thing Zhu Youjian could do so far!
At the same time, Zhu Youjian also told the world that he had no intention of trading with the sea. However, you can't stop the Empire from increasing the commercial tax and salt mine tax!
It could be said that Zhu Youjian was using maritime trade as a deal! First, he had to stabilize the benefits that were currently being realized.
When the empire became strong and resolved the huge threat of the Northern Slaves, Zhu Youjian would then have the energy to deal with these wealthy merchants and the forces they represented.
He knew very well that the nobles left behind in Jinling had long been in cahoots with the wealthy merchants along the coast.
As long as these wealthy merchants and nobles were dealt with, the other problems of the empire would be easily solved.
" Yes," Huang Liji said respectfully." Since the Sea Restriction Order exists in name only, why don't we cancel it?"
It was a form of compensation for the huge losses suffered by the mainland merchants due to the increase in commercial taxes! Most of the merchants were very grateful to the heavens.”
Since Tian Zi wasn't acting recklessly, then he would ask for a status. This wasn't a problem. They still had the courage and ability to do so.
Zhu Youjian said," It is necessary to cancel the ban on the sea. The empire cannot be treated as a joke by the foreign countries." It's better to be open than blocked. It's been like this since ancient times."
He knew very well that among the ministers in the court, there were definitely some who were the representatives of the people who had gained benefits from the sea trade.
Hearing the emperor's explanation, it was only the lifting of the ban on the sea, and there was no actual outcome. It would not affect the interests of those who had already gained benefits from the sea trade.
Currently, the empire had not really implemented it. From this, it could be seen that this was the emperor covering his ears and stealing the bell.
After Li Biao and Huang Liji's explanation, the ministers did not continue to stop them.
If he didn't even give such a request, then he wouldn't be giving Tian Zi face.
If he didn't give face to Tian Zi, who knew what else this Tian Zi could do.
The ministers thought to themselves that they could only explain the mystery to the wealthy merchants after the court session.
Now that the emperor was angry, he couldn't learn from Dong Lin and anger the emperor, which would result in both sides suffering.
"Your Majesty is wise! We agree!"
The ministers all agreed and passed the resolution smoothly!
However, Zhu Youjian's heart sank. Killing Dong Lin would only scare some people.
For those wealthy merchants and nobles, who dared to shake their interests, even the emperor, was their enemy.
After the court meeting, Zhu Youjian's face was gloomy. Wang Chengen and Wei Zhongxian followed him to the Palace of Heavenly Purity in silence.
"Your Majesty, this old servant is incompetent and has disgraced Your Majesty!”
Wei Zhongxian directly asked Zhu Youjian for forgiveness!
Zhu Youjian took a deep breath and said in a deep voice,""This matter has nothing to do with you.”
After saying that, Zhu Youjian looked at the sky where the dark clouds had dispersed and sighed,""Great Ming has accumulated too much and is difficult to return. It is difficult to treat a long-term illness.”
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