Zheng Zhihu had even forgotten the anger he had just felt at Liu Peng, and shouted at Chongzhen: "Of course not, Your Majesty." I am willing to wash away this shame for Your Majesty, as the first person in the Ming Dynasty to complete the circumnavigation of the world. ”

Although the delegates all felt their blood boiling, they had not yet reached Zheng Zhihu's excitement, after all, no matter how high the title was, it still needed to be alive to receive it.

Some smart people are starting to think about how to hire a Western navigator or captain to complete this great voyage safely and quickly.

Zhu Youzhen nodded at Zheng Zhihu and glanced at him approvingly before continuing: "Whoever is the first captain to complete the circumnavigation of the world, I will not only reward him with a knighthood, but I will also record his name in the history books. The people of the Hereafter may not remember who I am, but there will be one of you whose name will be immortalized by it. ”

"How is this possible?" This was the first reaction in the hearts of the delegates present, and everyone instantly fell silent.

However, Chongzhen's face was solemn, and he didn't seem to be fooling them at all. The name of the history, a word that seemed to have nothing to do with them before, suddenly appeared in front of them.

The delegates present have temporarily lost the ability to speak, and since the Taishi Gong wrote "Historical Records", it has become the dream of famous ministers and wise men to leave a name in history.

In this brief moment, the delegates in the room lost all their careful calculations and thought only about the question of who could receive such an honor.

A merchant representative asked Chongzhen with a dry mouth: "Your Majesty, this honor is only given, is it the first person among the delegates here to complete the round-the-world voyage?" ”

Zhu Youzhen quickly vetoed: "No, it is the first Ming man to lead a ship to complete the circumnavigation of the world, but now that you have received this news ahead of others, will you still be left behind?" ”

"Of course not, I will definitely be the first Ming man to complete the circumnavigation of the world." Zheng Zhihu said categorically.

Whether it is Liu Peng, Xu Xinsu and others, they all disagree with Zheng Zhihu's words, if they can conquer the sea by swearing, then the exploration of the round-the-world voyage will be completed by the Ming Dynasty.

Looking at the atmosphere in the venue that suddenly became a little tense, Zhu Youzhen smiled, walked back to the speaker's seat, and said to the delegates below with his hands on the table.

"The two tasks I just mentioned seem to be difficult and cannot be completed in a short period of time. Now I'm going to talk about the simpler tasks.

I have heard that there are many borderless lands overseas, so I will give you a chance, as long as you can occupy a piece of land overseas, and immigrate 1,000 Ming people, and operate for more than 3 years, I will give you a knighthood. ”

Li Kuiqi was the first to react, and he asked cautiously: "Your Majesty, what kind of land is called Borderland?" ”

Zhu Youzhen replied: "The subject countries that have a suzerain-vassal relationship with the Ming Dynasty are naturally not considered, and the overseas territories of Western countries with the ability to sail across the ocean are naturally not called borderless lands before the Ming Dynasty declares war with them. Other than that, there's the Borderlands.

Before that, I would like to reiterate once again that if you have any disputes in overseas trade and land development, you must refer them to the Maritime Arbitration Tribunal established under the Foreign Trade Association for mediation.

Any delegate who dares to privately order his own ships to attack the ships of other chambers of commerce will be deprived of his status by the maritime congress at the first time and reduce the trade share of the chamber of commerce to which he belongs. ”

Some representatives of the Chamber of Commerce suddenly asked with some surprise, "Your Majesty, after this conference is over, do you still want to retain the identity of this representative?" ”

Zhu Youzhen replied without hesitation: "Of course, this overseas trade matter is also the first time that the imperial court has begun to manage it, how can you expect to formulate perfect rules at one time?" To make a law and then expect it to last a lifetime is undoubtedly asking for a sword, and we must not do such a stupid thing.

Every year from October to November is the intermittent period of the monsoon, and I thought that I could use these two months as a time for meetings. In addition, I intend to give you a small benefit, as long as you do not commit a criminal case of rape or homicide during your tenure as a representative, you have the right not to be detained in prison, and you have the right to request a trial from me in a different place. ”

Most of the maritime merchants were still more interested in the power given by Chongzhen, which was equivalent to giving them the same treatment as the local gentry, or even better.

After all, the local gentry could only receive this unspoken treatment in their hometown, and the emperor gave them privileged treatment under the entire Ming Dynasty.

Lin Guangtai couldn't help asking: "Then Your Majesty, is this representative status for life?" Can it be passed on to future generations? ”

"Of course not, each representative is elected for a term of six years, and half of the seats are re-elected every three years. Okay delegates, let's continue with the canonization ceremony of Zheng Guji, and after that, we will have the last day of the meeting. Zhu Youzhen clapped his hands and said.

Obviously, Chongzhen threw out too much shocking news, so that the delegates had no intention of paying attention to Zheng Zhilong's canonization ceremony.

At the beginning, the knighthood ceremony was solemn, but at the end, it was a little hasty, which made Zheng Zhilong strictly prohibit his subordinates from talking about the situation when he was knighted for the first time in the days to come.

Most of the rules governing overseas trade, the way in which maritime disputes are arbitrated, the selection of arbitral tribunals, etc., have been established in the previous bumpy quarrels. As the last day of the conference, it was just a discussion of unimportant details.

In a period of more than a month, 62 maritime representatives drafted 374 laws and regulations, but when the deputies were about to go to the table to sign according to Chongzhen's instructions, Zhu Youzhen suddenly put down the pen he was about to sign.

"Guys, I think we seem to have one less thing to discuss."

"What's missing? Your Majesty. Several maritime merchants asked.

Zhu Youzhen looked at the delegates who stopped in front of him and said: "We have discussed the share of overseas trade of each chamber of commerce for the current year, but there seems to be a lack of regulations on how to adjust the share of overseas trade for the next year. ”

"Your Majesty, shouldn't it be continued according to the previous year's share?" Some impatient maritime merchants suddenly said.

Zhu Youzhen struck the gavel again, and after the delegates quieted down, he said calmly: "Overseas trade itself is a very risky way of trade, and maybe some people don't want to continue overseas trade when they make money;

Perhaps some maritime merchants were unlucky, and were shipwrecked and bankrupt, and could no longer continue their overseas trade; More likely, some people have changed their share of the trade and sit at home for a commission and do not go to sea.

Don't you think that if this happens, it would be unfair to other maritime merchants who are trying to trade overseas, but who are resting because of the lack of a share of trade? ”

"Your Majesty is right, if someone occupies the pit and does not, his share should be cut and handed over to other merchants." A maritime representative beside Xu Xinsu suddenly shouted.

Whether it was the Zhangzhou maritime merchants around Xu Xinsu or the pirates of Shibazhi, they all knew that these imperial merchants in the north had no experience in overseas trade before, and wanted to take the opportunity to reap some benefits.

Seeing that most of the deputies agreed with his opinion, Zhu Youzhen said: "In this case, I propose that if the trade quota of the current year does not reach more than 90% of the trade share, the trade share of the next year should be reduced by 10%.

Of course, I'm talking about Japan and Manila, and there are no trade quotas elsewhere unless more than two-thirds of the delegates agree.

As for how it is distributed, the extra share of trade is based on the amount of grain imported by the chambers of commerce. ”

A maritime representative from Guangdong couldn't help but say with some doubts: "But Your Majesty, even Manila has to import grain to Guangdong, and this overseas grain may not be cheaper than Daming." ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at him and said very calmly: "When the goods of the Ming Dynasty are shipped out, they should be exchanged for materials from other countries." I don't care where you get your food, even if you go overseas to cultivate the fields yourself, but importing food and other resources is a national policy and must not be changed.

After all, the resources produced in the land of the Ming Dynasty are limited, and gold and silver can neither be eaten nor protected from the cold, which can be described as the most useless thing in the world.

When I take raw silk, porcelain, and tea out, I have to exchange it for food and other materials. Otherwise, a large amount of silver will continue to flow in, which will only cause domestic goods to be expensive and silver to be cheap, and if the people can't even eat, will you be able to continue to trade overseas? ”

Zheng Zhilong only thought for a moment, and then said simply: "Your Majesty's words are reasonable, and the minister thinks that it is better to set a grain import quota for each chamber of commerce, and if it cannot be reached, the trade quota of this chamber of commerce should also be reduced." ”

The other delegates were a little puzzled as to why Zheng Zhilong agreed to this seemingly unprofitable proposal.

However, some maritime representatives immediately remembered that this person was holding a large area of land in Taiwan, which could be used to grow rice, and compared with others, the Zheng family had an innate advantage.

After a heated debate, Zhu Youzhen and the deputies reached a temporary clause for a trial period of three years.

This clause stipulates that the ratio of the value of the goods exported by the chambers of commerce to the value of the grain imported must not be less than 3:1, otherwise the associations will reduce the share of the chambers of commerce in the following year.

At the insistence of several timber merchants, one-third of the value of imported grain could be exchanged for large timber for the construction of ships, and one-half of the price.

With the end of the discussion of this article, the First Maritime Congress is finally coming to an end.

The 62 maritime representatives, including Chongzhen, all signed the document and swore to jointly uphold the authority of the document.

Since many of the maritime representatives were illiterate, they could only draw circles on the names written by the eunuchs. Many representatives have a strong Fujian-Cantonese accent, which leads to the writing of many names by the eunuchs.

Later generations have examined the representatives on this document, and they have actually supported many experts. For example, Liu Xiang's descendants asked experts to study the evidence, and Liu Xiang was one of the representative members who signed the document.