Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang once ordered that the sails should not go into the sea, which caused great difficulties to the lives of the coastal people. Although the sea ban was gradually relaxed later, after all, suppression measures were taken against private trade.

Until the Chongzhen period, maritime trade was still sluggish. Civil smuggling was rampant and the coastal areas were in chaos. Even the people on the coast could not survive and could only gather crowds to rebel.

In the third year of Hongwu, the court "destroyed the Huangdu Maritime Warriors Office of Taicang". In the seventh year of Hongwu, the court ordered the abolition of the three Maritime Warriors Offices of Fujian Quanzhou, Zhejiang, and Guangzhou, which had existed since the Tang Dynasty and were responsible for overseas trade. In the fourth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang "was because the Japanese pirates still did not restrain their footprints, and ordered the ban on coastal people from igniting foreign countries."

Since then, even Southeast Asian countries with the Ming Dynasty were not able to come to China for trade and cultural exchanges. In the 23rd year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang once again issued the "Order to ban foreign vassals' transportation". In the 27th year of Hongwu, in order to completely ban overseas trade, the people were banned from the use and sale of imported fan incense and foreign goods. In the 30th year of Hongwu, he issued another order to prohibit the Ming people from going to China to open foreign countries.

Zhu Cilang's approach is wrong.

In order to prevent coastal people from entering the sea to trade, the Ming Dynasty law stipulated a severe punishment method: "If a tyrant and the military and civilians want to build large ships with three masts, they will take illegal goods into the sea, go to foreign countries for trading, secretly engage in pirates, gather together, and rob good people for guides, the criminals will be executed according to their own laws, and still beheaded and displayed on the public. The whole family will be sent to the front line for the army. Those who build the sea ships in the front line, sell them with the barbarians to seek profit, and those who are the generals will go into the sea according to the military rules, and those who are the leader will be executed, and those who are the followers will be expelled from the military rules."

At the same time, the court did not let the residents involved in the sale of foreign goods. "If you dare to trade privately, you must pay attention to the law. Any foreign incense and foreign goods are not allowed to be sold. The existing ones are limited to three months of sales."

Under the strict maritime ban policy, private overseas trade was regarded as illegal practices and was forced to embark on the path of abnormal development, that is, they were forced to turn to smuggling and armed smuggling, and some large maritime armed smuggling groups emerged. During the Jiajing period, Wang Zhi, the leader of the largest armed smuggling group, became the recognized leader of many smuggling groups. "The barbarians of the thirty-six islands all obeyed the command", with hundreds of thousands of people, first called "King of Jinghai", then "King Hui", and even "Orphans to the south".

The Japanese pirate rebellion was actually the inevitable result of the policy of strictly prohibiting the overseas trade of the people, and it was a ban and anti-ban struggle. The Japanese pirate rebellion was constantly fought, and even the more it was more severe the attack, which caused the Ming Dynasty to consume a large amount of troops and material resources and was exhausted to deal with it, which became a big trouble.

It was not until the first year of Longqing that Emperor Longqing discovered the disadvantages of the sea ban. He then announced the lifting of the sea ban, adjusting overseas trade policies, and allowing private private individuals to trade east-west and west.

From then on, private overseas trade gained legal status, and private overseas trade in various parts of the southeast coast entered a new era. A comprehensive opening-up situation emerged in the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, countless silver flowed into the Ming Dynasty, causing a brief increase in the Ming Dynasty's treasury. However, the Longqing switch has its limitations after all.

The Longqing switch is a hesitant reform. Maritime trade only opened a small gap. Only Yue Port in Haicheng, Fujian is used as the only open "special zone". All merchant ships with foreign trade along the coast must go here to go through cumbersome procedures, load and leave from here to port for inspection. All ships must apply for "shipping by", and "commerce quotations" are also called "cultural quotations", so that they can go to sea.

Later, this system even implemented a total control over the construction and operation of ships to sea. "The East and West and West each limited 44 ships" and strictly prohibited cross-border trafficking between them. Those who did not return after going to sea after going to sea, even if the documents were complete, "still be punished by the Japanese crime."

Therefore, the first thing Zhu Cixuan did when he came to power was to directly and completely lift the maritime ban. Not only did he relax the maritime ban, but the court also vigorously encouraged private trade.

Only when trade is rising can the economy be revitalized. If the Ming Dynasty, which is based on agriculture, wants to develop, it is an inevitable choice to lift the maritime ban.

Although this move caused quite a stir in the court, many old ministers in the court stood up and cried.

"Long live, it's absolutely not good. The maritime ban is a national policy formulated by Emperor Taizu. It is not conducive to the country's foundation without authorization."

"Yes, long live the sea ban, must not be released. Otherwise, it will cause the Japanese pirates to be rampant."

Zhu Cilang was not angry. It is a good thing that the ministers were able to express different opinions. Only by focusing on ideas can we find a way to govern the country.

"Li Yan, what do you have to say?" Zhu Cixuan, who was sitting on the dragon throne, looked at Li Yan in the lower head.

At this time, Li Yan had already had children with Hong Niangzi. Li Yan, who was already middle-aged, still maintained a gentle and elegant style. It seemed that he was becoming more and more mature.

After Zhu Cilang ascended the throne, Li Yan was promoted to the chief minister of the cabinet. As the saying goes, once the emperor is the emperor and once the minister is the emperor, Zhu Cilang ascended the throne naturally needs to allocate some of his own power.

Li Yan stood up with a tablet in his arms, thought for a while and said, "I think it is the general trend to release the sea ban, and this is not the same. It was right that Emperor Taizu banned the national policy of going to sea. However, nowadays, it can only cause the people of the coastal areas to worry about their livelihoods. In addition, the Japanese pirates chasing the coastal areas, which has caused many profiteers to collude with Japanese pirates, which has caused great hidden dangers to coastal security. The reason why Emperor Taizu formulated his national policy was not to make future generations rigid and conservative. Instead, it was used to use spiritual words, and the same was true for the ancestral system. If Emperor Taizu had spirits in heaven, he would definitely support it strongly."

As the chief minister of the cabinet of the dynasty, Li Yan was very smart. He did not say that Zhu Yuanzhang's policy of maritime ban was wrong, but instead praised it vigorously. He said that Zhu Yuanzhang's maritime ban was for the national policy of the Ming Dynasty, but this time was not the same. All government orders should be used in spiritual language, but the maritime ban at the beginning of the founding of the country is not applicable now. If Zhu Yuanzhang had spirits in the sky, he would definitely strongly support the liberalization of maritime ban.

In this way, the ministers who opposed him would not catch the handle. For a moment, the ministers immediately became speechless. Importantly, Song Xiance also expressed his support.

Zhu Cilang looked at Li Yan with great appreciation. It seemed that he had chosen the right person to be the chief minister of the cabinet: "Well, what Li Aiqing said is reasonable. The maritime ban must be fully liberalized so that foreign countries can see the prosperity of our Ming Dynasty. At the same time, we should also learn something useful to others. For example, the sweet potatoes and corn you eat today were introduced from overseas foreign countries back then. If the maritime ban continued, how could you have these foods to save the thousands of people of our Ming Dynasty?"
Chapter completed!