"Summon him in." Zhu Houzhao said casually.
"Summon Wang Hong, the provincial judge of Guangdong, to the palace.”
After Wang Hong entered the capital, he took a bath and changed his clothes. After resting for a night, he waited for the imperial edict outside the noon gate early in the morning.
Wang Hong was the judge of Guangdong Province. He was a third-grade official and was mainly responsible for coastal defense and fighting pirates.
Since the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a ban on the sea.
Zhu Yuanzhang's ban on the sea was a military act. When Zhu Yuanzhang founded the country, Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen's two armed forces fled to the island or neighboring sea countries, becoming a threat to Zhu Yuanzhang after he ascended the throne.
However, for the Ming government, the main threat at that time came from the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty placed the focus of its military forces on the northern border, paying equal attention to defense and pursuit.
As for the coastal areas, the Ming Dynasty patrolled the customs. In order to prevent the coastal residents from colluding with the "rebels" who were unwilling to submit, they implemented a military policy of not going to the sea to prevent the political situation in the south from becoming unstable and concentrate their forces on dealing with the fleeing Yuan and Meng remnants.
Twenty years later, during the Zhu Di period, the situation in the north was stable. Yuan and Meng were unable to counterattack, and the Ming Dynasty quickly became powerful. The ban on the sea that prevented anyone from entering the sea also ceased to exist in name only. Zheng He led the Ming Dynasty navy to the west seven times, causing the Ming Dynasty's foreign trade to reach its peak.
However, most of the trade at this time went into the private pockets of the sea merchants, and the Ming Empire's national treasury did not increase.
The sea merchants also began to rise rapidly from this period. Because Zhu Di did not set up a perfect business tax, he was unable to effectively control the sea merchants. Later, the financial resources of the Ming Dynasty's sea merchants were so strong that they could arm themselves...
After Zhu Di's death, the ban on the sea was once again raised. The established sea merchants began to smuggle and turned into pirates...
There are merchants, there are no thieves.
In Zhu Houzhao's opinion, if he had perfected the business tax during Zheng He's voyage to the West and imposed high customs duties on these sea merchants, he could have completely controlled these sea merchants, making them unable to develop into pirates.
……
After Wang Hong entered the Xuanzheng Hall, he bowed and said,"I, Wang Hong, the provincial judge of Guangdong Province, pay my respects to Your Majesty…"
"Rise."
Zhu Houzhao sat on the dragon throne and sized up Wang Hong, who was standing in the hall. Wang Hong was forty years old this year, with a strong figure and dark skin.
Because he had been patrolling the customs all year round, there were traces of wind and frost on his face.
Although Wang Hong was a military general, he had also participated in the imperial examination and entered the official career. Wang Hong's Hong character was given to him by his grandfather, and it implied grandeur.
Wang Hong was good at swimming. It was said that he could swim underwater for an hour without breathing.
However, in the court of the Ming Empire, other than Cao Zhengchun of the East Chamber and Yu Huatian of the West Chamber who had peerless martial arts, only the imperial guards had real martial arts.
Although Wang Hong was a general, he didn't know any profound martial arts. His martial arts could only deal with a dozen soldiers. He couldn't go deep into the 300,000-strong Tartar camp and take the head of the Tartar King like Zhu Budian.
Not to mention Wang Hong, even the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, Qi Jingtong, could not do it.
Wang Hong was excited.
This was his first time entering the palace to meet the Emperor.
"Wang Hong!"
"Your subject is here!"
"Zhen asks you, is the Great Ming Navy exhausted now?”
Zhu Houzhao asked very directly. Ever since Zheng He, the Ming Navy had been on a decline.
"Your Majesty, I have a memorial for you.”
Wang Hong lifted the memorial, and the eunuch took it and placed it on the Dragon's desk.
Zhu Houzhao opened the memorial.
" Your Majesty," Wang Hong said loudly in the hall," the Great Ming has a coastline of 20,000 miles. The Great Ming Navy has a total of 390 patrol ships and 37,000 soldiers…"
Zhu Houzhao looked at Wang Hong's memorial and asked,""How many cannons?"
" Your Majesty, there are a total of 180 cannons and warships…But most of them are small ships…There are only 20 large ships…"
Wang Hong reported truthfully.
Zhu Houzhao looked at the memorial that Wang Hong had submitted and frowned.
Although the Great Ming Navy had a lot of people, the number of artillery warships was not much. It was not that the Great Ming Navy was unwilling to expand the number of warships, but because the maintenance of the warships cost money.
During the Hongzhi period, the Ming Navy only had 300,000 taels of silver a year, of which 200,000 taels of silver were the salaries of the navy officers…The amount of silver that could be used on the warships was less than 100,000 taels…"
All the officials listened and watched quietly.
Wang Hong's presence in court was related to the construction of the Ming Navy, so they all wanted to see the Emperor's intentions.
Zhu Houzhao put down the memorial and said,""The Great Ming Navy has actually declined to such an extent? Does the Great Ming Navy still have large ships?"
As soon as Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, Wang Hong cupped his hands and said,"" Your Majesty, when I went to Tanggu this time, I saw Zheng He's treasure ship and Zheng He's ships that went to the West. These ships are bigger than the current warships and have more firepower. They are braving the wind and breaking the waves to travel to the West..."
Zhu Houzhao stared at Wang Hong and asked,""If you want these ships to go to sea, how much silver do you need?”
" Your Majesty, Your Majesty only needs to allocate 500,000 taels of silver, and I can get the craftsmen to repair these ships. Within a month, they will be ready to go to sea. These ships are all large ships, and their cannons are all huge cannons. The smallest ship is 180 feet long…The largest is Zheng Hebao, and his captain is 44 feet long…"
Currently, the ships of the Ming Navy were all ten zhang warships, which were not comparable to the ships of a hundred years ago.
However, these ships were lighter, faster, and cheaper.
Wang Hong's eyes flashed with desire. The ships of the Ming Navy were too small and lacked firepower. He longed for big ships and huge cannons...
However, Wang Hong was also very clear that the maintenance costs of these large ships were very high, so high that the current Ming Navy could not afford it...
Zhu Houzhao looked at Wang Hong's passionate gaze and did not ask the Ministry of Revenue to allocate funds directly. Instead, he continued,"If I want to restore the glory of my ancestors and recreate the grand occasion of Zheng He's voyage to the West, how much silver do I need?”
"Your Majesty, we need two million taels of silver!" Wang Hong immediately cupped his fists and said.”
"How is the firepower of the cannons on Zheng He's treasured ship?”
" Your Majesty, the cannons on Zheng He's treasured ship are still the bronze cannons from a hundred years ago. Their firepower is far inferior to the cannons of today…"
"If we replace these cannons, how many tens of thousands of taels of silver would we need?”
"Your Majesty, that requires an additional 300,000 taels of silver. I need 2,300,000 taels of silver. I can restore the glory of Zheng He's voyage to the West…"
Zhu Houzhao heard Wang Hong's solemn promise and suddenly stood up. He said loudly,""Two million taels is far from enough! I want the Ming Navy that will shock the world! I want the Ming Navy that can flatten the four seas! Wang Hong received the decree! I'll appoint you as the commander of the Ming Navy! Rank Two Official, 10 million taels of silver. I want you to build a navy that can sweep the world within a year! A year later! If you can't do it! Death by a thousand cuts!"
Zhu Houzhao's words stunned the entire court.
They could not believe their ears!
Ten million taels of silver!
Heavens!
What kind of navy was His Majesty trying to build?
Wang Hong knelt on the ground excitedly and shouted,"This subject obeys the decree! I will give Your Majesty a navy that can conquer the world within a year! I can't do it! This subject is willing to die!"
Wang Hong's passion surged!
Ten million taels of silver was an astronomical figure.
The navy of the Ming Dynasty only had a yearly budget of 300,000 taels of silver. Now that His Majesty had spent 10,000,000 taels of silver, it was equivalent to 30 years of budget for the navy of the Ming Dynasty!
In the court, there were people laughing and crying.
When Liang Chu, the Minister of Revenue, heard that the Emperor had allocated ten million taels of silver to build the navy, he almost vomited blood and fell in the court.
"Your Majesty, is it easy for the Ministry of Revenue to save some money? The moment you open your mouth, you've already allocated ten million taels of silver. Two days ago, we've already allocated five million taels of silver for the construction of the border town, Zhennu Pass. Now, the Ministry of Revenue has less than four million taels of silver left. The Ministry of Revenue is so poor that they're just short of selling their pants.
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