Soon after Zhu Youzhen returned to the Qianqing Palace, Lü Qi came to report, and Xu Guangqi, the secretary of the ministry, asked to be received.

After instructing Lu Qi to take Xu Guangqi into the upper study, Zhu Youzhen let Lu Qi have lunch in the morning and invited Xu Guangqi to have lunch together.

Xu Guangqi is a little used to this kind of comfortable way of communicating with Chongzhen. Xu Guangqi had to give up the habit of "not saying anything when you eat and don't say anything when you sleep".

After thinking for a long time, Xu Guangqi asked Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, it is not the right way to use the rebellion of the Wenxiang Sect to attack the opponents of the new policy. The officials of the DPRK and China will finally understand what His Majesty is doing today.

I am afraid that in a hundred years, His Majesty's name will be ruined by everyone. The minister hopes that His Majesty will hand over this matter to the minister, and the minister will do his best to persuade Wen Wenqi and others to stop opposing the new policy, and also to avoid another political dispute between the DPRK and China..."

Zhu Youzhen put down the dishes and chopsticks, took a glass of water from Wang Chengen's hand and rinsed his mouth, and then said to Xu Guangqi: "Mr. Xu is really confident that he can convince Wen Wenqi of these people?" Or does Mr. Xu really have the time and energy to convince these idle officials?

Mr. Xu, you will manage the Royal Academy of Sciences, prepare the new astronomical observatory of the Ming Dynasty, formulate weights and measures standards, translate Western books, and take care of the affairs of the Ministry of Officials and Yenching University. And Wen Wenqi these people, in addition to blaming other people's shortcomings and talking about morality and righteousness every day, what else will they do?

That's why I haven't allowed you to get caught up in the arguments of the court and court, because I don't want you to waste your time and energy on these meaningless battles of words, Mr. Xu. Mr. Xu, you are the executor of the entire New Deal, as for how to promote the New Deal, you should leave it to me to deal with this kind of matter. ”

Xu Guangqi was silent, in less than a month, what he had done had exceeded the amount of work that he could do in the past year.

This kind of busy life that can't stop every day not only did not make him feel tired, but made the 65-year-old feel energetic.

Xu Guangqi knew that this was not because his ability to do things had suddenly increased, but because the strength that had pulled his hind legs in the past had suddenly weakened.

The official position of the official secretary made it difficult for him to do things, no matter which department the officials were, they were not willing to exchange their official hats for boycotts, those new things that did not conform to the old rules.

The new policy advocated by Chongzhen and the cabinet blocked Xu Guangqi and others behind them, and let those officials who opposed the new things point the finger at the cabinet.

But this time, the joint counterattack of these officials who oppose the new thing silenced the cabinet, and Chongzhen could only tear his face and jump to the front by himself.

Xu Guangqi thought about it for a long time, but still felt that it was not a good thing for Chongzhen to go on like this.

"Your Majesty, the old minister is already in his last years, and he doesn't have many days to see the first emperor. Your Majesty still has a long way to go, and it is more suitable to leave this kind of offending matter to the old minister. ”

Zhu Youzhen smiled and said, "Mr. Xu's kindness, I appreciate it. But because of this, Mr. Xu's precious time cannot be easily wasted. Doing everything requires division of labor and cooperation, so let's leave it to us young people..."

Under Zhu Youzhen's persuasion, Xu Guangqi was finally convinced, and he still stood by and watched what happened next in the court.

In the afternoon of the same day, the blood stains of the Jiale Hall had not yet been cleaned up, Zheng Zhilong and other eighteen Zhi pirate leaders, Xu Xinsu and other Fujian maritime merchants, as well as the merchants who had to become the northern overseas trade representatives because of the arrears of the three major halls, a total of 62 representatives, officially met in the venue of the Jiale Palace.

Zhu Youjian stood on the rostrum, and the rostrum was divided into two positions, the higher one was equipped with a high-backed chair, and the lower one was only a smaller table with no chairs.

Zhu Youzhen sat on the high-backed chair, looked at the empty table in front of him, and then looked down.

The fan-shaped seats are symmetrical, and in the middle of the seats is a passage leading to the main door.

The staircase-style seats are divided into three tiers, with seats on each side for 45 people, and enough seats for 90 people underneath.

At the beginning, Lu Jiude promised to give 10 delegates to Shibazhi, but there were 22 people in Beijing.

Zhu Youzhen not only recognized the 10 deputies, but the other 12 also gave the name of the deputies. Zheng Zhilong and 22 others sat on the high seat of Zhu Youzhen's left-hand side steps.

Xu Xinsu and 12 other businessmen from southern Fujian sat on the high seat of Zhu Youzhen's right-hand side steps, facing Zheng Zhilong and others.

From the moment they entered the hall, the people on both sides of Xu Xinsu and Zheng Zhilong were full of hostility. In the past two years of fighting, both sides have killed and injured many relatives and friends, so this feud is not so easy to resolve.

On the way from Fujian to Tianjin, the two sides almost clashed several times. Now that the two sides are in such close contact, they can't help but be angry. However, when Chongzhen walked into the venue, they finally looked away for the time being.

On the lower seats on either side were a group of merchants who had been forcibly brought in by Chongzhen, who knew nothing about overseas trade. Knowing that overseas trade is very profitable, but also very risky, these merchants prefer to do their familiar inland trade.

However, with the bait of Changlu Salt Farm, these merchants still avoided the difficulty of injecting capital into Chongzhen, a foreign trade firm, of course, with the debts of the three major halls, and there were about 25 of these merchants.

There are also 5 people who are relatives of the eunuchs in the palace, and they are representatives who directly participate in foreign trade business on behalf of the palace.

After Zhu Youzhen glanced at the representatives on the left and right, he reached out and took the wooden mallet on the table and knocked on the wooden cushion block on the table.

After watching the silence in the venue, Zhu Youzhen spoke: "I am very happy to see everyone sitting together and discussing matters related to overseas trade. I think it would be beneficial for everyone here to establish a rule for the overseas trade of the Ming Dynasty.

Overseas trade is lucrative, but the risks are just as great. I hope to formulate the rules of overseas trade, that is, I hope that the merchants of the Ming Dynasty can compete in an orderly manner when trading overseas, so as to reduce risks and obtain the maximum profits. ”

When Zhu Youzhen paused, Li Kuiqi asked curiously: "Your Majesty, what does this orderly competition mean?" ”

"Orderly competition means that you can't run off someone else's business at a malicious price. For example, this representative has already negotiated with a Dutch merchant the price of 150 taels of silver for a load of raw silk, but another representative proposes a price of 140 taels per load of raw silk to this Dutch businessman, which is malicious competition.

Or, if you learn that another representative has robbed you of your business, you have gathered men to rob his merchant ships at sea, which is also disorderly competition. Please think about it, this kind of competition will only weaken the power of our Ming merchants, but it gives those foreign merchants a chance to take advantage of, doesn't it? ”

Zhu Youzhen's words made Xu Xinsu and other businessmen very recognized, but they were not very convincing to Zheng Zhilong and other pirates.

For the Eighteen Zhi, the rules of the sea are the king of the victors, and it is a matter of course for them that the robberies of the weak maritime merchants are also the only way to ensure that these pirate merchants monopolize the trade routes.

Liu Peng couldn't help but object: "Your Majesty, the rule on the sea is that big fish eat small fish, and small fish eat dried shrimp." If competition is restricted, then the amount of goods that can be sold in the East and West every year is so much, it makes no sense for us to let those weak maritime merchants forcibly occupy the profits we should have. ”

"Big fish eat small fish, and small fish eat dried shrimp. There's nothing wrong with this rule, but do you think you're a big fish or a small fish? When Zheng He went to the Western Ocean, the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty could reach a distance farther than the Indian Ocean, but today the only places that the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty can go are Japan and Manila.

In a few decades, will even the coast of the Ming Dynasty be filled with merchant ships of Western Fan? You think you are big fish, and in my opinion, you are just a bunch of small fish sitting in a well and watching the sky. ”

Chongzhen's rhetorical question made some pirates nod their heads again and again. Zhu Youzhen then asked another question, "I would like to ask you, how many years will it take for a captain who is familiar with sea routes and a group of sailors who are familiar with the wind and waves of the sea to be trained?" ”

Zheng Zhilong seemed to understand Chongzhen's intentions, and he replied in a clear voice: "Your Majesty, it takes about 3-5 years for an ordinary sailor, and more than 10 years for an experienced old sailor.

As for the captain, it can't be trained without 20 years. Moreover, a good captain, even if he has a lot of sailing experience, may not be useful, and he also needs a certain amount of knowledge. ”

Zhu Youzhen bowed slightly at Zheng Zhilong, and then said: "If you want the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty to sail to all corners of the world and open up new markets, then you need an endless stream of sailors and experienced captains.

Can you train so many sailors and captains on your own? Or is it that your dream is just to play in the pond at the door of the Ming Dynasty, and you have never thought that, like Zheng He, you will lead a fleet to see and see, those places of people flowing with silver and gold? ”

As a royal wood merchant, Su Yue did not care about the windfall profits of overseas trade, and the profits of timber trade were equally amazing.

Sitting in this hall was also because his uncle wanted him to be appreciated by the emperor and specially let him come. Su Yue regarded this conference as a teahouse to listen to overseas anecdotes.

At this time, after hearing what Chongzhen said, the land of Fanren flowing with silver and gold, he couldn't help but ask with some suspicion: "Your Majesty, is there really a treasure land flowing with silver and gold overseas?" ”

Zhu Youzhen smiled and said: "Of course, anyone who has experience in overseas trade knows that Fanren has no goods to sell to the merchants of the Ming Dynasty, and they are all goods bought by the Ming Dynasty with real money." If there are no mountains of gold and silver, how can they spend endless silver every year to buy the goods of the Ming Dynasty? Speaking of which, the leaders of the Eighteen Zhi should know better, right? ”