Chapter 1182 - The Debate on Abolishing Canal for Sea Transport

Zhao Yingong now deployed the full array of arguments he had previously presented when meeting Zhang Pu. Shen Tingyang had long studied this issue, and Zhao Yingong's eloquent discourse—drawing on classics and historical precedents—left him inwardly impressed. This Manager Zhao truly possessed "learning of practical application"!

Throughout history, grain tribute transport had always been a major state affair—expensive, inefficient, and often intimately connected with water management. Whether it was the Tang Dynasty transporting grain from Guandong to Guanzhong, the Song Dynasty shipping grain via the Yellow River to Kaifeng, the Yuan Dynasty's sea transport, or the Ming Dynasty's canal transport... each represented an extraordinarily complex systems engineering project, touching on countless aspects. Thus from ancient times there had existed a specialized field of study called "tribute administration." Without being both capable and willing to research deeply, ordinary scholars found it extremely difficult to master.

That this Manager Zhao could discourse so eloquently, with insights far deeper than the book-learned knowledge of ordinary scholars—this was truly remarkable.

"Sir's insights are incisive indeed," Shen Tingyang said, studying him. "However, although converting grain tribute to sea transport offers many advantages, the court may not be pleased to see it happen."

Zhao Yingong nodded. "What you say is true."

Shen Tingyang stroked the armrest of his official's chair and sighed. "Sea transport has all manner of advantages, but there are three great difficulties that can never be spoken of loudly at court."

"Please enlighten me."

Shen Tingyang nodded and raised one finger. "First, waiting for favorable winds is difficult, so time savings are minimal."

Sea transport was not like canal transport, where one could row or scull. Especially for large seagoing grain ships—sailing depended entirely on wind and currents. The ancients' summaries on this were limited, relying mostly on experience. So once they encountered calm or contrary winds, they had to wait. This would not ordinarily pose a major problem, but late Ming nautical technology had regressed considerably. Navigation relied on coastal landmarks; ships could not sail directly across open sea but often had to follow winding routes along coastlines or island chains. The wind-waiting problem was therefore even more complex.

"Second, wind and waves at sea are unpredictable. Once storms hit, ships are damaged and cargo lost. Currently, the sea transport of grain and military supplies from Dengzhou and Tianjin to Guanning has suffered enormous losses. Court discussions have long criticized this."

Zhao Yingong's face showed a dismissive expression. Wind and waves at sea, backward ships and sailors—shipwrecks and cargo losses during navigation were normal enough. But to suffer such enormous losses in the Bohai Sea—an almost completely enclosed inland sea—that was plainly chicanery.

Shen Tingyang noticed his reaction but did not pursue the point. Instead, he moved directly to the third difficulty. "Third, sea transport of grain requires many people and ships. Large numbers of civilian laborers and transport workers gathered together—over time, they may cause trouble. This differs from tribute boatmen, who are soldiers under military garrison control."

Rather than directly commenting on these three difficulties, Zhao Yingong asked instead: "What does Sir think of these three points?"

Shen Tingyang smiled slightly. "Exaggeration—nothing but nonsense!"

Zhao Yingong had not expected such directness. His favorable impression of the man increased greatly. He nodded. "What you say is true." He thought for a moment. He had prepared point-by-point rebuttals, but now they seemed unnecessary. After some consideration, he said: "The so-called difficulty of sea transport ultimately comes down to obstruction by vested interest groups."

"Vested interest groups?" This new term piqued Shen Tingyang's interest.

"That's right—vested interest groups," Zhao Yingong nodded. "Along the canal from south to north, from high officials to tribute boatmen and lock keepers, those who take openly, those who steal secretly... countless people feed off the canal. How could they willingly watch the court abolish canal for sea transport?"

Zhao Yingong then discussed in detail the various abuses along the canal—background material he had memorized from research papers compiled by the Great Library. A boat of tribute grain, whether passing customs or locks, "crossing the Huai"... at every official checkpoint there were customary fees; red packets required everywhere. By the time they reached Tongzhou to file documents and unload tribute rice into warehouses, the hands reaching for money were beyond counting.

These were merely the official benefits. Beyond this, tribute boatmen, transport captains, escorting minor officials, even the porters carrying grain—every one of them took their cut from the tribute rice on the boats. Some from greed, some from necessity. The "losses" along the way often amounted to several times the official quota.

As for expenses maintaining canal transport—dredging and repairing canal facilities, building and maintaining tribute boats—these costs were incalculable. All of this had created an enormous vested interest group.

To confront such a massive interest bloc, the court would not attempt it unless absolutely forced. And even by the precarious twelfth year of Chongzhen, after Shen Tingyang's successful sea transport experiment, they still had not converted from canal to sea. Though he personally achieved major career advancement, he still failed to provide any benefit to the collapsing Great Ming.

At this moment, Shen Tingyang did not yet know his efforts would yield such results. In recent years, he had devoted great effort to researching canal-to-sea conversion. He was not entirely ignorant of court resistance, but he had not imagined he would face such a behemoth. He could not help feeling a wave of discouragement.

Zhao Yingong saw his expression grow somewhat despondent and knew his words had taken effect. If Shen Tingyang had been brimming with confidence and momentum, whether to get involved would have remained a significant question. Now that he felt discouraged, he would feel powerless.

Feeling powerless yet unwilling to abandon his ideals—he would seek help.

"Sir need not be discouraged. Among those at court, there are surely those who can discern right from wrong and what's at stake," Zhao Yingong said. "As long as we can gain their support, even if abolishing canal for sea cannot be implemented immediately, it can still be implemented in stages."

He began to mention Zhang Pu's efforts regarding Taicang white grain transport to the capital. Zhang Pu had been promoting this—after his long conversation with Zhao Yingong, Zhang Pu had developed great interest in abolishing canal for sea transport, and had corresponded with Zhao Yingong multiple times about specific implementation methods. So Zhao Yingong knew Zhang Pu was already using his political influence to advocate for this cause.

When Shen Tingyang heard that Zhang Pu harbored similar ideas, his eyebrows rose. "What? Tianru also has such thoughts?"

"Indeed. Tianru wishes to relieve the white grain burden on Taicang's people—abolishing canal for sea is the best strategy!" Zhao Yingong said. "It's just that many at court, at the mere mention of sea transport, can only shake their heads. The best response is merely to say they must 'proceed with caution'..."

Shen Tingyang thought this was true: many at court were armchair theorists who either knew nothing about practical matters or pretended to know. They spoke only absolutely correct platitudes, preferring that nothing change—just muddling along in the old ways—with no sense of impending crisis. He could not help spreading his hands. "How truly frustrating!"

"So for this matter, besides Tianru's efforts, we also need Master Shen's assistance..." Zhao Yingong then outlined the specific plan.

Specifically, Shen Tingyang would compile his research findings and sea charts into a book, then have an acquainted official memorialize the throne suggesting a trial of sea transport for Taicang white grain—small-scale reforms would face less resistance than sweeping changes.

"Once Taicang white grain sea transport to the capital succeeds, the next step can be to undertake grain and supply transport to Liaodong—this is the court's most pressing concern. Do this well, and the court will naturally view sea transport in a new light. Then discussing abolishing canal for sea will be a natural progression."

In history, it was Shen Tingyang himself who memorialized the emperor requesting a trial of grain tribute sea transport. But at this point, he was not yet a Grand Secretariat secretary. As a National University student, he could of course memorialize the emperor, but this would inevitably create an impression of "arrogant presumption"—bureaucratic organizations most disliked those who did not play by the rules. If he did this, the memorial might well go unread.

Shen Tingyang naturally understood this reasoning. He nodded repeatedly. "But the choice of who memorializes is crucial."

Shen Tingyang had plenty of friends at court, but once this succeeded, his family's shipping business would naturally become the contractor for tribute grain sea transport—the interests involved were enormous. It would be best to have an official with no connection to his family submit the memorial.

However, since Tianru was invested in this matter, the Donglin-Revival Society had plenty of candidates they could deploy. With this, the chances of success increased considerably...

Thinking this, Shen Tingyang could not help feeling secretly excited. His gaze touched the smile of the young man before him, and he suddenly experienced an "epiphany"—he had been foolish! This Manager Zhao kept mentioning "Tianru" this and that, but he himself was surely one of Elder Xu's people!

Elder Xu's family was right here in Shanghai. Presumably this Elder's family was also interested in grain tribute sea transport. If Elder Xu became involved in this matter...

Shen Tingyang could no longer contain his joy. He immediately ordered: "Tell the kitchen to prepare a banquet table, set up in the flower hall! I want to have a proper conversation with Manager Zhao!"

The servant had just acknowledged and was about to leave when he was called back: "Tell the Third Concubine to personally prepare a few of her specialty dishes. And bring the good wine from the outer study."

Zhao Yingong gladly accepted the warm hospitality—his initial impression of Shen was quite favorable, and seeing him so forthright, he felt quite inclined to cultivate this friendship.

The two moved to the flower hall, where a banquet was already arranged. The Shen family was wealthy; preparing a banquet on short notice was a trifling matter. The table was set with appetizers, fresh fruits, and dried delicacies. Servants brought out wine, and host and guest sat facing each other, first toasting each other a cup.

Once a cup of wine was down, their relationship was no longer ordinary. Zhao Yingong steered the conversation toward maritime navigation. The Shens were a great Jiangnan clan, and Shen Tingyang's family operated sand junk shipping from Chongming Island. They specialized in the Northern Ocean route, transporting southern goods from Jiangnan to Tianjin, then northern goods from Tianjin back to Shanghai. They had even once done business all the way to Liaodong—business had been booming.

However, since the fall of Shenyang, the Shen family's Northern Ocean trade had suffered considerable losses. Nanjing silks in particular, once hot commodities sold to Liaodong, now had greatly reduced markets; Liaodong goods too had been cut off. The Shens' ships now only traded as far as Tianjin.

(End of Chapter)