pappabearbooks Chapter 89: Ten Thousand Ships Set Sail, All Nations Pay Tribute!
Chapter 89: Ten Thousand Ships Set Sail, All Nations Pay Tribute!
In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, during the reigns of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong, the Ming navy was undoubtedly the world's number one navy.
The Ming Dynasty's navy was so powerful that it stood out from the rest of the world!
But for the same reason, due to the smuggling needs of the southern gentry group, during the Xuande era, when the Three Yangs were in power, the Three Yangs almost rendered the Ming navy useless.
The Ming Dynasty navy at that time had no money, no ships, and not even enough people. It could not go out to sea at all and could only escort transport ships in places such as the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal. Its official title was "Admiral of the Ming Dynasty Navy".
Now, Zhu Houzhao's goal is to use the extermination of the Japanese pirates as an opportunity to rebuild an invincible Ming Dynasty navy!
……
After the court session ended, Qi Jingtong went to the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works as quickly as possible to collect the money, grain, and supplies allocated to him by Zhu Houzhao.
Subsequently, Qi Jingtong arrived at Jinmenwei and saw the three steel steamships that had already been built at the port of Jinmenwei.
Although it was called a small boat, it was eighteen zhang long and eight zhang wide, and could accommodate five or six hundred fully armed soldiers and thirty heavy cannons.
The three ships are entirely covered in steel and still retain sails, making it convenient to sail with the wind after setting out to sea.
In addition, each ship was equipped with a steam engine, which could propel the warships by burning coal, thus increasing the speed of travel and freeing up manpower.
Looking at the three warships covered entirely in steel, Qi Jingtong felt a surge of pride.
It's hard to imagine the destructive power such a steel monster could cause once it's launched into the sea.
If it were to be equipped with breech-loading cannons, it would be a devastating blow to other warships.
At the port, Qi Jingtong also saw a large steel ship under construction, which was 44 zhang long and 18 zhang wide.
This large ship can easily carry more than 1,500 fully armed soldiers and 100 heavy cannons.
Even though it was only half-built, the sheer size of the structure still left Qi Jingtong speechless with astonishment.
At this moment, the large ship, like a steel behemoth, was quietly docked in the harbor.
When he sets sail, he will surely shock the whole world!
Qi Jingtong longed to board this great ship immediately, set sail, and spread the prestige of the Ming Dynasty throughout the world!
Qi Jingtong believed that this moment would not be long before he arrived!
After everything was ready, Qi Jingtong boarded one of the three small boats and then waved his hand to give the order: "Raise the sails and set sail!"
Qi Jingtong took one last lingering look at the large ship under construction, then led three warships and sailed towards Dengzhou Guard.
There, Qi Jingtong will immediately begin retraining the Ming Dynasty navy, determined to revive the grandeur of the Yongle era, when thousands of ships sailed the seas and all nations paid tribute!
On the other hand, after the court session ended, Zhu Houzhao took a rare stroll around the West Garden.
After making some requests regarding the Leopard House, which was under expansion, Zhu Houzhao returned to the Cining Palace.
Inside the Cining Palace, Zhu Houzhao was reviewing the summer tax collection details submitted by the Ministry of Revenue.
Although Zhu Houzhao already knew the specific amount of summer tax collected this year, he still wanted to know exactly how much land was in various parts of the Ming Dynasty and how much tax was collected.
Zhu Houzhao had to be fully aware of these important matters.
But as he looked at it, Zhu Houzhao frowned, feeling very displeased.
Despite Zhu Houzhao's repeated orders that everyone must pay taxes, only he himself was exempt from taxes.
However, this year's summer tax season still saw millions of acres of land not paying taxes.
This vast amount of land was not the official land of the gentry, nor the fiefdom of the local princes, nor the private land bought by wealthy merchants.
Rather, it refers to the temple lands owned by the numerous temples scattered throughout the Ming Dynasty.
Since the introduction of Buddhism into the Central Plains at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, various dynasties, in order to support and win over religions, allocated land to temples by granting them land and exempting them from taxes in exchange for religious support to stabilize the court's rule.
The Buddhist concept of reincarnation, where one suffers in this life and enjoys happiness in the next, is perfectly suited for ruling over the suffering masses at the bottom of society.
Once the foolish masses believe in this, no matter how much they are exploited, oppressed, or squeezed to death, they will never think of resisting again.
Instead, they felt that as long as they suffered enough in this life, they could enjoy a life of luxury in the next.
For the ruling class, is there any religious ideology more suitable for governing?
They didn't even need to lift a finger; the exploited and oppressed people at the bottom of society convinced themselves. Isn't that amazing?
This is why Buddhism, like Confucianism, flourished in this land with the support of the ruling class, and has endured for over a thousand years.
However, the prevalence of Buddhism and the imperial court's support for Buddhist temples also brought about enormous social problems.
Firstly, because the temple lands were never taxed, this led to a reduction in the imperial court's tax revenue.
Furthermore, because the monks in the temples only chanted scriptures every day and did not engage in production, but instead hired people to farm for the temples, the imperial court would lose a large number of laborers.
Not only did the monks lose their labor force, but the tenant farmers who farmed for the temples also lost their labor force, so the imperial court could no longer exploit them.
The most crucial point is that local landlords and peasants would donate their land to temples and use the temples' tax-exempt privileges to evade taxes, which would result in huge tax revenue losses for the imperial court.
Therefore, when the land owned by these temples expanded to a certain extent, it would attract strong crackdowns from the imperial court.
Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty suppressed Buddhism!
Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou persecuted Buddhism!
Emperor Wuzong of Tang persecuted Buddhism!
Emperor Shizong of the Later Zhou Dynasty persecuted Buddhism!
These are the four infamous anti-Buddhist movements in history, known as the Three Wu and One Zong Anti-Buddhist Movements!
Among them, Emperor Wuzong of Tang's anti-Buddhist campaign was the most thorough, demolishing more than 46,000 temples in one go, forcing 260,000 monks and nuns to return to secular life, freeing 150,000 temple slaves, and recovering more than 3 million mu of temple land!
Even in the present dynasty, after Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang founded the Ming Dynasty, he still treated temples with preferential treatment in terms of policy in order to stabilize his rule.
However, the control over Buddhism was extremely strict, with the establishment of the Sangha Registry and the Sangha Administration, and the implementation of the ordination certificate system.
While monastic officials were appointed by the imperial court, the private ordination of monks was strictly prohibited, and the number of monks was strictly controlled.
Furthermore, the amount of tax-exempt temple land for major temples is strictly controlled.
Today, however, these restrictions have long been destroyed and are practically useless.
Therefore, the existence of temples has seriously affected the overall national strength of the Ming Dynasty.
What Zhu Houzhao needed were honest working people who paid their taxes on time, not a group of bald monks who only knew how to chant scriptures and meditate.
Zhu Houzhao put down the memorial and coldly ordered, "Summon Zhou Jing to me!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Liu Jin accepted the order and immediately went to summon Zhou Jing, the Minister of Revenue!