Chapter 182: Trade and tribute are like a long-distance relationship

Whips may fall short, that’s true, but when it comes to disciplining, there’s no need to always stick to using whips.

We also have firearms, cannons, and powerful crossbows. If the whip doesn’t reach, we can always use something else…

Controlling overseas territories, the most challenging aspect is not the issue of whips or cannons but people.

In this day and age, if a place is hundreds of miles away from the capital, it can be said ‘The sky is high and the emperor is far away.’ But if it’s thousands of miles away from the Great Ming, wouldn’t it become a self-proclaimed king, raising a big flag and declaring oneself an emperor?

Anyone who goes there might have ambitions. If the place is too far, even if there’s a rebellion, by the time the Great Ming gets wind of it and reacts, that person might have been playing emperor for a year or two. Even if they die, they’ll have something to brag about. When they meet the King of Hell, they can say:

‘Back in the day, I was an emperor, you better show some respect.’

Only by addressing the issues of distance and ambition, making sure those who go there listen obediently, can we completely control Palembang and that crucially important narrow sea passage!

After the audience with Zheng Bo, Zhu Yunwen summoned Yao Guangxiao, Xie Jin, Ru Chang, Xu Huizu, and the naval lieutenant Zhu Neng, who escorted Zheng Bo back to the capital.

After Xie Jin read the letter from Liang Daoming, he sat back down.

Zhu Yunwen was straightforward and asked, “How do you view Liang Daoming’s request? Ru Chang, as the Minister of War, express your thoughts first.”

Ru Chang stood up and cautiously said, “Your Majesty, Liang Daoming’s letter carries a hint of luring us into a trap. Our Great Ming Navy is not familiar with the waters near Palembang. If we rashly agree to Liang Daoming’s proposal, acknowledging Srivijaya as part of the Great Ming territory, wouldn’t it raise concerns among the South Seas countries?”

“Places like Annam, Champa, Siam, Luzon, Brunei, Malacca Sultanate, and Majapahit—what if they perceive it as a major invasion by the Great Ming? If they unite to resist us, how should we handle it? In my humble opinion, we can establish a pacification office in Palembang to show Great Ming’s territorial claim, but without stationing troops to avoid alarming neighboring countries.”

Zhu Yunwen gazed at Ru Chang, his eyes filled with disappointment.

He was a diligent and responsible minister. He would get the job done when assigned to him, but his style of doing things was too cautious, excessively prudent, and always considering every detail.

It seemed like it was time to bring back Tie Xuan.

Seeing that Zhu Yunwen looked at him, Zhu Neng took out a map of the various countries in the South Seas from his sleeve and said, “Your Majesty, though Lord Ru’s concerns are reasonable, he may not fully understand the dynamics among the South Seas countries. The relationships among these countries are not friendly; rather, conflicts persist. Annam and Champa are arch-enemies, while Majapahit is in conflict with Malacca, Brunei, and Srivijaya. There are also disputes between Siam and Champa and Annam.”

“Our Great Ming navy, holding the letter of credence from Liang Daoming, can legitimately enter the South Seas. It serves a dual purpose – eliminating Chen Zuyi and other pirates to pacify the seas and protecting Srivijaya from the threat of Majapahit. As long as our Great Ming navy does not attack other countries, standing in South Seas is not difficult.”

Xie Jin, Xu Huizu, and others stood up, carefully examining the map of the South Seas countries. Xu Huizu addressed Zhu Yunwen, saying, “Your Majesty, I advocate for entering South Seas. Observing the map, Srivijaya and Palembang are at the heart of the East-West maritime route. If we can control Sanfotsai, it will be the best strategy for communication in South Seas and distant voyages to the West in the future.”

“I second that,” Xie Jin added. “Occupying Srivijaya, whether for opening sea routes or eliminating sea bandits, is advantageous for Great Ming. Although it will be costly, the stability it brings to the South Seas and the prevention of maritime threats make it worthwhile.”

Zhu Yunwen nodded slightly and turned his gaze to Yao Guangxiao, who had been carefully examining the letter of credence. He asked, “Master Yao, is there any issue with this letter of credence?”

Yao Guangxiao placed the national letter on the table, looked up at Zhu Yunwen, and, while fiddling with the Buddhist beads in his left hand, softly said, “Your Majesty, there is no issue with the letter of credence. However, there is one part that I find puzzling.”

“Which part is that?”

Zhu Yunwen inquired.

Xie Jin glanced at Yao Guangxiao, his gaze filled with some confusion. He had read the letter of credence himself and didn’t find any issues.

This old monk could actually detect a problem?

Yao Guangxiao calmly said, “In the letter of credence the description of Srivijaya is ‘abundant in resources, connected in all directions.’ I was thinking, can its abundant resources be utilized by our Great Ming.”

A sharp light flashed in Zhu Yunwen’s eyes. He asked, “Are you suggesting trade and tribute?”

Yao Guangxiao nodded and said, “It’s just a fleeting thought.”

Ru Chang hastily added, “Your Majesty, matters of trade and tribute require careful consideration. In the thirteenth year of Hongwu, there was a spy incident related to Srivijaya that caused a stir in the South Seas. Emperor Taizu then issued strict investigations and bans. Later, explicitly prohibiting the setting sail of ships and prohibiting the sale of goods from the South Seas.”

Zhu Yunwen’s expression turned serious. The spy incident in Srivijaya and the issues of trade and tribute needed to be recounted from the beginning.

As early as the Qin and Han dynasties, or perhaps even earlier, coastal residents had started exchanges with neighboring maritime regions. Of course, these exchanges were very limited, not frequent, and the distances traveled were not great—usually just drifting on the sea for two or three days.

It wasn’t until the Three Kingdoms period, in the year 230 AD, that Sun Quan dispatched ten thousand soldiers to “Yizhou,” which is present-day Taiwan. During Emperor Yang of Sui’s reign, expeditions were sent under the pretext of “investigating foreign customs” and “comforting and appeasing.” Three groups were sent for a subsidized vacation, enjoying good food, drink, and entertainment before returning.

Between the Tang and Song dynasties, over five to six hundred years, the coastal residents, especially those in Quanzhou and Zhangzhou in Fujian, had to run to the sea to escape frequent wars and military disasters, eventually reaching Penghu and Liuqiu.

However, just because people went out, settled in other places, and established households didn’t mean they had engaged in trade relations with the Han Chinese.

Before the establishment of trade relations, there had to be a meeting between residents of these areas and the Han Chinese military and civilians. They needed to have a meal together, get acquainted, and only after that could they shake hands, stroll around, and buy each other gifts.

After cultivating this relationship for a few hundred years, a long-distance relationship was finally established in the late Southern Song period. You on one side, me on the other. This month, I bring gifts to your place and stay for a few days, and next month, you bring gifts to my place and stay for a few days.

Trade and commerce began to take shape during this period, and the Yuan Dynasty showed relative openness to trade issues. They didn’t oppose long-distance relationships but also didn’t allow people to engage in amorous adventures everywhere. Thus, in Guangdong’s Guangzhou, Fujian’s Quanzhou, and Zhejiang’s Mingzhou, three maritime trade offices were established, manned by officials specifically responsible for boat travel, trade, and taxation.

Zhu Yuanzhang realized early on that overseas trade was profitable. After all, if you just set up a place, arrange a few officials, and collect commercial taxes, why not?

Before the Ming Dynasty was fully established, old Zhu, wearing the helmet of the King of Wu, was already working on the construction site in Huangdu Town, Taicang Prefecture.

The Maritime Trade office was established, and Old Zhu wrote a decree:

“Foster goodwill with nations, transfer goods of abundance or scarcity.”

The Maritime Trade office, as the customs department, managed foreign trade at that time, divided into two categories: trade and tribute.

Trade involved regular trade activities, where merchants brought goods for display, engaged in matchmaking, found potential partners, and sold their merchandise.

The officials of the Maritime Office, in regard to these traders, would also board the ships, inspect your goods, assess their value, and then, in accordance with a set percentage, levy taxes. After this process, you were free to sell your goods as you pleased.

What you ate, drank, or whether you slept on land or aboard the ship was your own concern.

Certainly, if you wanted to engage in imports after selling your goods, the same rules applied. Taxes were levied based on the value of the goods, and once the payment was made, you were free to return.

This system was referred to as “reporting to the officials and sharing the profits” during that time.

When it comes to “Tribute,” although it also has the nature of trade, its target is not this tycoon or that wealthy farmer, but the imperial court.

Since it is about presenting gifts to the imperial court, it naturally cannot be neglected.

Officials of the Maritime Trade office need to inspect the ships and goods. If these people feel that sleeping on the ship is not comfortable, they should be taken to an inn for accommodation. If they want to taste local specialties, it needs to be provided for them. If they want to visit the capital, you also need to make arrangements for them.

The goods brought by the Tribute, are referred to as “Offerings”.

If the overseas envoys of this group offer cardamom, agarwood, sandalwood, rhinoceros horn, peacock feathers, ivory, or even bring lions and elephants directly, then the court would need to assess the value of these items and then “return the favor” with goods.

Of course, mighty nations are all about face. Even if someone clearly offered a thousand taels worth of goods, when it comes to “returning the favor,” it’s often increased to fifteen hundred taels, two thousand taels, and sometimes even several times more…

By the way, considering that they’ve come all the way to visit Ming, it’s only fair to give them some rewards, right? Thirty taels per person should be reasonable, don’t you think?

Eating, drinking, having fun—all recorded in the official accounts, no problem, right?

Even if what they offer isn’t anything special, like bringing a bunch of rice, sea snails, and turtles, you still have to accept it with a smile and say: “We’ll take it this time, but next time, don’t bring the turtles…”

No matter what they bring, as long as they make the trip, there will always be significant benefits.

Old Zhu enjoyed the limelight a few times, but after a few years, he felt that something was amiss.

How come these foreign envoys are idle, running to Ming every day? Yesterday, there were ten people, and today there are five hundred. It’s not right for them to take advantage like this, is it?

The consequence of Old Zhu’s frustration was to limit the frequency of trade and tribute, stating, “Frequent tributes are laborious and costly; I do not desire it. Command adherence to the classics, do not bother frequently; inform other countries through diplomatic communication.”

Of course, trade and tribute often led to disputes. If someone brought a turtle, which was a thousand years old and worth at least a thousand taels, and Ming China offered only two hundred taels, was it fair?

Because of such pricing issues, fights even broke out.

For instance, Annam expressed dissatisfaction several times, harassing the southern borders of the Ming Dynasty and, along with relatively friendly Champa.

Another example is the Tumu Crisis; the initial cause of the conflict was a disagreement over the price of horses. The Tatars insisted a horse was worth three hundred taels, while Ming argued it was only worth a hundred taels.

When negotiations failed, they resorted to warfare. Then, the “War God” Zhu Qizhen emerged on the scene and, in a single battle, created the mythical achievement of annihilating the three major camps.

Tribute, involved foreign envoys coming to Ming China to present gifts. China would purchase the gifts and then open a trading market, allowing the envoys to sell the remaining goods.

If Ming admired the peacocks from a particular country, but the envoys from that country didn’t visit for several years and the peacocks at home died, what could be done?

Not to worry, Ming had a solution and initiated “bestowal trade.”

It means that instead of waiting for them to come to Ming on their own, Ming would send an official with an imperial decree, carrying gifts, directly to the envoy’s country. The decree would clearly state that Ming China desired peacocks and hoped for their active cooperation in capturing some for the officials to bring back.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, there wasn’t a clearly defined maritime prohibition policy.

But as time passed, occasional reports from provinces like Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang indicated that some people were going out to sea and, in some cases, colluding with Japanese pirates, leading to various tragedies.

There were also rumors that the remnants of Fang Guozhen’s forces were thriving on various overseas islands. If not dealt with promptly, there was a significant risk of them collaborating with external forces and launching a counterattack against Ming.

So, just three years later, Zhu Yuanzhang decided to dismantle the construction project in Huangdu Town, Taicang Prefecture. The reason was that the location was too close to Nanjing, what if a bad guy sneaks in, wouldn’t it be very dangerous for me, Old Zhu?

Without Huangdu Town, there were still Guangzhou, Quanzhou, and Mingzhou, so business could still be conducted.

However, Old Zhu was very greedy, truly greedy. Seeing how profitable private maritime trade was, and considering the frequent security risks of people going abroad, he decided to put an end to private maritime trade, impose restrictions, do the business himself, doing business on my own, wouldn’t I make money?

In a nutshell:

I, Old Zhu wants all the profits.

Author PS:

Regarding Taiwan in our country, during the Han and Three Kingdoms periods, it was called “Yizhou”; during the Sui and Tang dynasties, it was referred to as “Liuqiu”; in the Song dynasty, it was called “Liuqiu” or “Ryukyu”; during the Yuan dynasty, it was termed “Ryukyu” or “Liuqiu”; during the Ming dynasty’s Hongwu era, it was known as “Xiao Liuqiu” or “Liuqiu.” This is not a mistake in the text.