introduction
The year 1368 AD, that is, the twenty-eighth year of the Yuan Shun Emperor to Zheng, that is, the first year of the Ming Taizu Hongwu.
According to the Ming Tongjian, "Spring, The First Moon, Nongshen Shuo, Four Days, Yi Hai, Taizu Sacrifice Heaven and Earth in the Southern Suburbs, that is, the Emperor's Throne." There must be the name of the world, Jianyuan Hongwu.
Also in July of this year, the Ming army attacked the Capital of Yuan (i.e., Beijing), and The Shun Emperor's Son, Jin Tou Timu'er, fled north to the Mongolian plateau, still taking Dayuan as the national name, which historians call northern Yuan. At this point, Daming's rule in Huaxia was finally established after Dayuan.
- This is the introduction.
Until the time of the Ming Dynasty, China has always been in the leading position in the world, of course, this leadership is also reflected in its openness to the outside world. As early as the Qin and Han Dynasties, when the distant camel bell sounded, a large number of merchants sold our silk and porcelain to Europe through the Silk Road.
After the Tang and Song dynasties, maritime trade gradually arose, and the imperial court also began to set up a "city shipping division", according to the record of the "Song Hui's Compilation of Manuscripts and Officials Fourth", the Southern Song Dynasty Emperor Gaozong Zhao Shuo once said triumphantly, "The benefits of the city are the thickest, if the measures are appropriate, the income is millions, is it not better to take from the people?" Therefore, we should pay attention to this, and we can be less lenient than the people's ears", which shows that the profits brought by maritime trade at that time were of great significance to the national finances.
However, in the fourth year of Hongwu after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang began to issue a series of edicts and implement a policy of sea prohibition, which had to be puzzling.
Press it carefully, in fact, it is quite meaningful.
First, it is for military necessity;
From the above introduction, we have learned that the founding of the Ming Dynasty did not completely eliminate the remnants of the former dynasty (that is, the Great Yuan), retreated to the Northern Yuan of the Mongolian Plateau, the military strength can not be underestimated, and the Daming was in a state of confrontation for a long historical period, always threatening the rule of the Ming Dynasty, which is unique in our thousands of years of ancient history.
For example, Ming Yingzong's "Northern Hunting" can well reflect the threat given to the Ming court by this confrontation.
In addition, the remnants of Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen were not completely eradicated, but were exiled to the sea, and they often colluded with the Japanese ronin to form a militaryly powerful Wokou, which frequently invaded the interior, which is known as the Wokou in the southeast coastal area.
According to the Records of the Ming Dynasty and the Records of the Ming Dynasty, from 1368 to 1374, the large-scale Invasion of the Daming Coast was as many as twelve or three times in the seven years from 1368 to 1374.
It is precisely because of the military pressure in the above two aspects that in order to avoid the Wukou taking advantage of the confrontation between Daming and the Northern Yuan, taking advantage of the fire and looting, or the Northern Yuan going south at the time of the Ming Dynasty, the "forbidden sea" is quite important.
Second, it is motivated by political necessity;
At this point, we must also start from the introduction above: at the beginning of the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, it was not only the Northern Yuan who fled north to the Mongolian plateau, but it seemed that the vassal states scattered in the South China Sea and the former Great Yuan were also staring at this new Ming regime. In this "international environment", Zhu Yuanzhang always felt like a thorn in his back.
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang was even more urgently in need of hope, to win over the many vassal states that had originally paid tribute to the Yuan court, on the one hand, to strengthen his own prestige, on the other hand, to achieve the political goal of isolating the Northern Yuan.
However, Zhu Yuanzhang's military strength was not very powerful, even the remnants of Zhang Shicheng, Fang Guozhen, and Beiyuan had already given him a headache, and the only way to do it was through economic means.
According to the "Literature Examination" volume 31 , "Municipal Examination", at that time, the imperial court had a clear decree, "In the matter of present-day tribute to the city, all those who pay tribute to foreign countries will set up a municipal shipping department to lead them, allow other things, set up teeth shops by officials, and trade with the people, which is called mutual market, that is, there is a mutual market if there is a tribute, and it is not allowed to be mutually marketed unless it is paid."
In other words, if you want to trade with Daming, you must first pay tribute to Daming and recognize its status as a suzerainty.
Therefore, diplomatic activities in the early Ming Dynasty were very frequent. According to the history books, the Ming court sent envoys to East And Southeast Asian countries more than thirty times to hold canonization ceremonies and invite overseas countries to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty. The well-known Zheng He's voyage to the West occurred under such background conditions.
It can be seen that the Ming Court's "sea ban" policy is quite politically significant.
Finally, and most importantly, in order to consolidate the tributary trade and obtain huge revenues;
In our usual cognition, "Zheng He went to the West" is just to promote national prestige and go around the world to scatter silver.
If we think that Ming Chengzu Zhu Di only ascended to the throne after the four-year Battle of Jingnan, and that only two years later, that is, three years after Yongle, he formed a huge fleet of ships and began to sail the Western Ocean, we have to worry about his money bag. Of course, during this period, due to Zhu Di's improper access to the throne, he had to start a series of major projects, including compiling the Yongle Canon, building the Yongle Bell, moving the capital to Beijing, and conquering the remnants of the Mongol Yuan forces in the North, which were no less expensive than Hongwu Zhong's great wall.
Therefore, the concept of "tributary trade" has attracted more and more attention from experts and scholars in recent years. That is to say, Zheng He's voyage to the West was not to go around the world to sprinkle silver, but to take the initiative to carry out overseas trade. In the vassal states through which Zheng He passed, while rewarding them with political significance, they also purchased spices and treasures and paid tribute.
When they came to China to pay tribute, they would be accompanied by a large number of merchants, and in addition to the tribute, they would also bring a large number of goods. When the emissaries paid tribute, under the control of the imperial court, the government first purchased their bulk commodities, such as spices, and then allowed them to "exchange markets". The "mutual market" is often limited by time and place. In this way, the proportion of government purchases is also increasing.
The bulk commodities purchased by the government were actually the same as the spices and treasures purchased by Zheng He from the West, and in addition to satisfying the use of the imperial court, they also opened a "treasury market" and allowed merchants to "buy" or "fold money" and distribute them to officials. The so-called "treasury market" was opened for the government to clean up the goods in the warehouse and sold directly to ordinary citizens; while the merchant's "bo buy" was sold to the merchant at a high price by the imperial court, and then flowed into the people through the hands of the merchant.
From this point of view, the Ming Dynasty's "sea ban" seems to have another deeper motive, that is, it hopes to crack down on non-governmental trade through the "sea ban", to take the overseas trade rights with other countries into the hands of the government, to implement monopoly, and to directly collect high profits to the central finance, thereby alleviating the dilemma of the central finance.
epilogue
To sum up, the harsh sea ban imposed by the Ming Court is not as simple as the "closed country" that we usually think, there are many military and political factors, and there is also a game of overseas trade between the imperial court and the people, so that when the private smuggling trade of the people rises, the Ming court has to lift the sea ban during the Longqing period.