Chapter 213 Binding
"The information gap can also explain the decline of martial arts. The secret books are still there, but if the master dies, the students will not be able to restore the secrets by practicing martial arts." Shi Qiang sighed and said: "And there are many contradictions in the Ming Dynasty now. Just banning The sea and the sea are very repetitive. There are conflicts between the imperial court and local governments. If the imperial court cannot collect money, it will naturally be unable to carry out infrastructure construction, and there will be more natural disasters."
Take the Yellow River for example. If there is no money to manage it, the Yellow River will flood more and more often. If you have money, you can comb the rivers and many disasters can be avoided in advance.
Droughts and floods can be reduced. But once the court runs out of money, it will be very bad.
But the imperial court relies on the sea ban to make money and restricts trade between the local area and the outside world, and the local area will not be happy. However, the amount of trade was only so large, and it could not satisfy the appetite of the court and the localities at the same time, so the game was repeated over and over again.
However, even if there is a game, trade is still necessary. Many foreigners will drive ships, bring white silver to coastal cities, load the goods and leave.
It is not easy to make money, so Shi Qiang plans to form his own caravan, go sailing and do business, and also go abroad to learn foreign martial arts knowledge, which can also be regarded as strengthening martial arts exchanges.
After returning to the capital and arranging classes for Qu Feiyan, Shi Qiang devoted himself to new work, first publishing "History of Martial Arts Culture" [Introducing the relationship between Shixia Martial Arts, cultural customs, and artistic criticism.
It also made warriors very happy, and also attracted the attention of many literati.
Even the emperor knew that there was a folk scholar named Qiang who wrote a history book on martial arts, with extensive quotations and extensive content. Therefore, Shi Qiang got to know many imperial officials, and his reputation became more and more famous.
Regarding the construction of the caravan, it was more difficult. Shi Qiang originally wanted to restore Zheng He's treasure ship. It's a pity that those craftsmen have long since aged, and the new craftsmen have no way to restore it according to the design drawings.
Then the only option is to redesign a new ship.
In the coastal cities in the south, there are many foreign ships.
"The ships of the Ming Dynasty were not suitable for going ocean-going. They sailed along the coastal area. After eating the food, they just arrived at the next trading point. Unlike foreign sailing ships that need to drift on the sea for a long time, going ocean-going means that there are not enough trading points and no supplies for a long time. , there will be sepsis." Shi Qiang knew very well that Ming Dynasty only had to walk along the Maritime Silk Road. The trading points had been developed and it was convenient to stop ships for supplies.
Whether foreigners were going to the New World or going around the Cape of Good Hope, there were almost no trading points along these two routes. The first thing the West developed was the Mediterranean trade network. There were many supply points in the Mediterranean and it was busy very early.
The maritime trade network in the East was also developed very early. By the Ming Dynasty, it was very mature and even extended to the African continent (bcfe).
In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there were monks returning to the Central Plains from Tianzhu by water. By the Ming Dynasty, it had been a thousand years and it had developed very maturely. People in the inland are definitely more familiar with the Overland Silk Road, which is the road taken by Zhang Qian and Tang Seng, first to the Middle East and then south to Tianzhu.
Shi Qiang knew that the Ming Dynasty had no interest in the New World, because he went to the New World to make money, and he could make money at home. The colonists robbed gold and silver from the New World and transported them to the Ming Dynasty to exchange for goods. Daming went directly to the New World, but it required greater costs.
However, the colonists opened up global trade, and the West dominated the trade initiative for hundreds of years. Whether it is the influence of sea coachmen on ocean supply points or the global voice of the Empire on which the sun never sets, they were all established by the great voyage.
Although the Ming Dynasty had an advantage in East Asia, it lost its advantage in the global system. The Ming's vassals all sought the global market to gain energy [which in turn surpassed the Ming's.
"This is just like martial arts. Ming's military protection and trade support for subordinate countries have been replaced by global trade and colonists, so naturally everyone no longer needs Ming, so Ming has to change itself and re-improve its military and trade capabilities. , but also to develop its own new Ability.”
If martial arts falls behind in killing and rescuing people, they will be eliminated. There is only one way to revive, which is to be needed by everyone again and return to the world stage.
"Now Ming is needed by everyone, so there is no sense of crisis at all." Shi Qiang sighed. This is a paradox. When he is needed, he has no motivation to progress [only after being abandoned will he strive to save his own life.
"Martial arts, court, and shipbuilding are all the same. When you are not needed, you will work hard to improve yourself; when you are needed, you will slack off until you are abandoned, and then improve yourself again, spiraling up." Shi Qiang looked at the new According to the design drawing, this ship has the function of going to the ocean. Even if it does not go to the New World, it is still necessary to consolidate the trading points.
At the same time, Shi Qiang encouraged warriors to go to the two Silk Roads. Although the land Silk Road is now monopolized by the Ottoman Empire, even if there are middlemen, business still needs to be done.
It was because the Ottoman Empire monopolized the Silk Road that the West had to seek new trade routes, and the Ottoman Empire embarked on a great voyage.
The Eastern Roman Empire was forced to move its development direction from the east to the west. The Eastern Roman Empire cooperated with the Habsburgs and launched a great voyage.
Eastern Rome occupies the middle passage of the Eurasian continent, so it has been surviving. However, when Eastern Rome faced the Ottoman Empire, it had no choice but to turn.
The shift of the economic center reflects the rise and fall of history to a certain extent. The economy is determined by geographical location and degree of development: if the geographical conditions are not good, the economy will be poor; if the degree of development is low, the economy will be poor, and vice versa.
What do you mean by good geographical conditions? Naturally, it is located on a traffic thoroughfare. For example, ancient Greece was an important distribution center for the Mediterranean trade network at the beginning, such as the Apennine Peninsula, ancient Egypt, and Canaan. These were all important areas on the Mediterranean trade network and important nodes of the ancient economy. They even play a role in modern times. important role.
The east is the Central Plains, and the Central Plains is the crossroads. You need to pass through the Central Plains to walk around, so the Yin Shang Dynasty finally decided to settle in the Central Plains after migrating many times.
This is the same as the Jews leaving Egypt. They did not find Canaan immediately. Instead, they migrated for a long time and finally decided to settle in Canaan because of its geographical environment.
This place is one of the connecting points from the Middle East to Europe and Africa. You can enter the Mediterranean in Canaan, you can also go to Egypt, or you can enter the East.
In short, the ancients attached great importance to the geographical environment of settlements. Only by occupying transportation arteries can they make money, develop civilization, and eat milk and honey. The absolute price is that in the land of four battles, you have to fight.
Why can you occupy a good place? Good places are naturally occupied by those who are able, so we must fight, and we must fight until rivers of blood flow. Therefore, the history of civilization is also a history of blood and tears. After all, we cannot win every battle.
In addition to geography, there is also the degree of development. Some of the land is covered with rainforests and mountains. There is no way to cultivate the land and develop industry, so naturally there is no money.
"Trade and martial arts are also closely related. If martial arts can help trade, the spread of martial arts will be wider and faster. Martial arts will be passed down through trade, and trade will be promoted through martial arts. The major issues of the country lie in sacrifice and military affairs. "Sacrifice is the economy, and I am the military. If martial arts can strengthen the military and economy, a large number of people will learn internal strength, forming a virtuous cycle." Shi Qiang also constantly adjusted the direction, and finally determined that the revival of martial arts must be related to trade. Just hook it up.
"It is definitely important to simplify the internal force and diversify the function, otherwise trade can choose technology instead of martial arts." Shi Qiang knows very well that trade can choose a path by itself, not necessarily martial arts.
Shi Qiang also directly published his research in newspapers for everyone to see. His goal is to make martial arts the second imperial examination and allow more people to change their lives through martial arts.