prosperous age

Chapter 1054 Divide the World

"Shuanglin, just because we have different political views, it won't lead to life or death."

Hearing Feng Bao's words about helping him vent his anger and deal with those disobedient officials, Zhang Juzheng shook his head and said, "But what Shandai did is what worries me the most.

When the war started, the imperial court's money and grain were spent like water."

Wei Guangde narrowed his eyes and glanced at Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao casually.

Something was strange here today. Wei Guangde didn't know if it was a trick played by Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao.

"Shan Dai, you should be able to imagine that implementing new policies and rectifying the administration of officials both require a peaceful environment.

In fact, when I first saw Liaodong expanding its territory, I was very supportive. However, after returning home at night, I regretted it a little bit. I felt that it was too rash.

But later, seeing that you fully supported it and the Ministry of War was also actively preparing, I didn’t dare to say it. ”

Zhang Juzheng opened his sleepy eyes and looked at Wei Guangde and said.

"But it worked out pretty well, didn't it?"

Wei Guangde also pretended to be drunk and replied.

In fact, he was really drunk, but he was still rational.

Wei Guangde was not sure whether Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao were in the same state at the moment. He wanted to remember every word they said and think about it carefully when he returned.

But I was drunk at that time, so I couldn’t say how much I would remember when I went back.

Wei Guangde had never tested his memory after getting drunk, but it was said that drinking would cause trouble, so this should be true.

"But what about later? You planned to restore the Old Port, but you didn't do anything about the Old Port, and you took the initiative to attack Luzon. Now the situation in Burma is also very critical, and I'm afraid that the war is not far away.

Given the current situation in the court, it would be fine if we could win the battle. Even if the losses are greater, it would be understandable.

Do you know what I fear most?

If the war goes badly, it will be the most fatal to the stability of the imperial court.

I admit that you can choose good generals.

Whether it is Ma Fang or Yu Dayou whom you recommended, they are both good fighters.

The same goes for Qi Jiguang. I am actually very optimistic about him because he is good at training troops, which is exactly the kind of general the court needs.

But you should also know how much taxes Yu Dayou's Jiangnan Navy took away from the southeast.

Ma Fang's Xuanda cavalry took away many military horses and firearms that should have belonged to other military towns.

Their achievements were all made with money from the imperial court."

Zhang Juzheng complained: "The Ministry of Revenue, although the issuance of Ming silver dollars has earned a million taels of silver, there will be continuous silver income in the future.

Whether it is silver dollars or silver corners, the people are now very accepting of them, but I feel uneasy that the court's silver cannot be saved and is spent like water."

People say that money makes heroes brave. In fact, in the imperial court, when a war breaks out, the biggest worry is the lack of money and food aid.

In fact, the ideas of war in ancient times were very clear. What was fought was not only people, but also money and food.

But in the current Ming Dynasty court, the Ministry of Revenue has no savings. Although there is the Changying Treasury to provide a backup, that is money that can only be used in extremely critical situations and is almost beyond the management of the court.

If the cabinet can influence anything about Changyingku, it may be the right to verify.

Just as Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, Feng Bao suddenly interrupted and said, "Uncle, don't fool me with this. You are not trying to attract the attention of Yuegang tax silver by saying this, right? No way."

Wei Guangde looked at Feng Bao. His situation at this time was similar to Zhang Juzheng's.

"The Ministry of Revenue will have to give the inner court the same amount of silver it gave in previous years, and don't expect the Ministry of Revenue to give you more silver.

Life in the inner palace has been hard these years. When the late emperor was alive, you all said that the court was running short of money. When the late emperor wanted the Ministry of Revenue to give some money to purchase things for the palace servants, you obstructed it in every possible way.

After so many years of debt, the Queen Mother in the palace is still thinking about buying some things when the Yuegang tax silver arrives."

Obviously, Wei Guangde was confused by what Zhang Juzheng said. He didn't know whether it was said for him or for Feng Bao.

"There are too many people in the palace. Some of the older ones should be allowed to leave the palace, which will save the palace some expenses.

  And there is so much tax silver in Yuegang, how can you use it all?

Let’s not discuss this matter today, we’ll talk about it later.

Since there are three of us here today, let's have a frank talk.

Shandai is smart and the Ministry of Revenue appears to be looking good on the surface, but in reality the internal finances are quite tight.

Shandai, let me ask you, do you have any other way to enrich the treasury?"

Zhang Juzheng glanced at Feng Bao and did not respond to his words. Instead, he asked Wei Guangde if he had any other ways to make money for the court.

"Brother Uncle, why are you suddenly so concerned about money?"

Wei Guangde didn't know why Zhang Juzheng said that. Was he planning for him to launch the nationwide commercial tax collection through the pawnshops in advance?

However, Wei Guangde did not think that now was the right time to bring this up, so he chose to play dumb and not answer directly, but to test his bottom line.

"In the past two days, I have reviewed the memorials about the barbarians over the years and found that there are indeed more and more barbarians active around our Ming Dynasty.

These barbarians initially wanted to defeat the Ming Dynasty with their firearms, and only after failing did they start doing business.

However, they did not seem to calm down because of this, and instead continued to attack cities and seize territory in foreign countries outside of the Ming Dynasty."

Zhang Juzheng lowered his head slightly and said in a heavy tone: "Although I don't like military affairs, the more I think about it, the more horrified I feel.

If we allow them to continue, I am afraid that the foreign countries around the Ming Dynasty will be occupied by them sooner or later.

By then, the Ming Dynasty would still not be able to escape from fighting them again.

At that time, they will have more places to rely on, and they can continue to fight with our Ming Dynasty.

If the imperial court does not have sufficient silver reserves, it will be in danger."

"Tsk, I thought you were worried about something, it turns out it was because of those barbarians."

Feng Bao laughed disdainfully.

"Shuanglin, you don't know. Just ask Shandai about Luzon. How many troops did the Spanish use to occupy it?"

Zhang Juzheng became serious and looked at Feng Bao seriously.

At this moment, Zhang Juzheng's eyes were clear.

"I'm not drunk after all."

Wei Guangde smiled bitterly in his heart, "This wine is really not that delicious"

“Shandai, what is the situation in Luzon? You should know more from the Ministry of War. Tell me.

Look at how powerful the barbarians are. Even Prime Minister Zhang is a little worried. "

Feng Bao spoke up.

"About two or three hundred people. Now the number has increased. There may be nearly a thousand Spaniards in Luzon."

Wei Guangde said.

Deng Zilong learned this news from the local Chinese when he went to Manila.

When they occupied Manila Bay, there were not many Spaniards, only about two or three hundred.

As for occupying the entire Luzon, it took the Spaniards more than half a year.

In fact, many of the Luzon people on the island did not obey Spain, but they had no choice. If they did not surrender, they would be attacked by the Spanish army.

Because some tribes were exterminated, the remaining people of Luzon, whether they were willing or not, at least chose to surrender on the surface.

"How many people are there in Luzon?"

When Feng Bao heard Wei Guangde say that there were only a few hundred barbarians occupying Luzon, he asked in surprise.

"A few hundred thousand people, maybe around a million."

Yu Dayou actually did not mention this population data. When the Spanish occupied there, they should have conducted a survey, but the data would definitely not be shared with the Ming people.

Wei Guangde was just guessing, but there should be hundreds of thousands of people.

Feng Bao frowned slightly at this time, and the drunken look from before had disappeared.

"What other places in Nanyang are occupied by the barbarians?"

Feng Bao asked again.

"Mancijia, just opposite the Old Port."

Wei Guangde replied.

"How many troops did the Yi people use?"

Feng Bao asked curiously.

"I don't know, maybe a few hundred people."

Wei Guangde certainly didn't know about the full-time increase, after all, it happened many years ago.

However, he continued: "The people who occupied Mancijia were the Portuguese, who were from the same country as the Yi people on the other side of the trench.

The Portuguese population active around the Ming Dynasty should be more than the Spanish. One of them came from the west, that is, the Portuguese, and the other came from the east, that is, the Spanish. "

"Aren't the barbarian countries together?"

Hearing that the barbarians came from the east and west, Feng Bao asked curiously again.

In fact, Zhang Juzheng also had the same question.

Neither of them was illiterate. On the contrary, they were both cultural figures of the Ming Dynasty during this period and intellectuals with their own ideas.

However, they don't know much about overseas.

Perhaps Wei Guangde was the first person in the Ming Dynasty to open his eyes and see the world. After all, he was a "highly educated talent" who had received nine years of compulsory education and seven years of further study.

Wei Guangde thought about it and realized that although no one in the Ming Dynasty had proposed that the earth was round during this period, this theory had actually become popular in Europe and had been verified.

The two people in front of him were the most powerful people in the Ming Dynasty, so it didn't seem like a bad thing to let them know some modern knowledge.

So, Wei Guangde thought about it, then picked up the wine glass and said: "I heard some things from the Yi people merchants earlier, some of which subverted our understanding.

That is to say, the earth beneath our feet is a sphere."

At this point, Wei Guangde raised his glass and said, "According to the barbarians, this is like the Ming Dynasty."

As he spoke, Wei Guangde pointed to the pattern on the wine glass, then pointed to the back and continued, “This is the country of the Yi people.

No matter whether they go from east to west or from west to east, they will eventually arrive here, which is our Ming Dynasty.

Then there is what I said before, the Spanish came from the east and the Portuguese came from the west.”

Wei Guangde's words had a great impact on the two of them. They both stared at Wei Guangde with wide eyes.

“Don’t look at me like that, I didn’t believe it at first, but after multiple people confirmed it many times, I realized that’s really how they came here.

The Portuguese came and passed through the countries that the eunuch Sanbao passed through in the past and arrived at the Ming Dynasty. The Spanish were lucky to discover a vast continent to the east of our Ming Dynasty, a land that was larger than our Ming Dynasty.

Spain is a stronger country than Portugal, but fewer people came to Ming from Spain because they sent all their people there. "

Speaking of this, Wei Guangde's heart moved.

Although the Ming Dynasty did not have the ability to launch an expedition to America, it seemed like a good idea to instill some ideas appropriately.

Along the coastline, the Ming Dynasty could extend its sphere of influence westward.

It’s a pity that the transportation and communication restrictions of this era were too severe to extend directly to Europe.

Staring at the wine glass in Wei Guangde's hand, both of them were shocked by his words.

But if you think about it carefully, it seems to make sense.

Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao had heard before that the barbarians came from both the east and the west, but they had never thought about it together.

Wei Guangde's metaphor of holding the teacup was very vivid and immediately made them understand the actual situation.

Zhang Juzheng picked up his wine glass and looked at it for a moment before asking: "I remember that the Portuguese arrived in Ming Dynasty first. Does that mean that going west will make it easier to reach the barbarian country?"

Wei Guangde smiled and nodded, "Indeed."

"Why don't they come together from the west? Also, is there really a continent in the east?"

Feng Bao also asked at this time.

"The barbarians have an uncrowned king in religion, and they seem to call him the Pope.

Spain and Portugal were great powers among the barbarian nations, and their Pope seemed to have authorized them to divide the world.

One's division is toward the east, and the other's is toward the west, so they will come from the east and the west."

Wei Guangde told Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao about his impression that Spain and Portugal divided the world, which shocked them again.

"The Pope? Divide the world?"

Zhang Juzheng looked at Wei Guangde suspiciously, curious about where he got the information.

“The Pope is a religious monarch and has no secular rights.

All secular power is in the hands of the king of the barbarian country.

Spain and Portugal, which reached the Ming Dynasty, were the two most powerful countries among the barbarians.

I heard that because their war for colonies was too brutal, the Pope intervened, mediated, and decided on a way to divide the world.

So when the Portuguese arrived in the Ming Dynasty, they first went to war, and only when they were defeated did they start trading honestly.

Because such actions are authorized by religion, and they can rob everything they see.”

Wei Guangde explained.

"What can the Pope get from them?"

Feng Bao asked doubtfully.

“The kings of the two countries paid tribute of gold and silver to the Pope and also provided convenience for the missionaries under the Pope to preach.

Uncle, do you remember the memorial submitted by Fujian and Guangdong in the early years, saying that there were foreign missionaries who wanted to preach in Ming Dynasty?"

Wei Guangde spoke up to remind him.

"Yes. I remember that they were allowed to preach in the trading ports, but they were not allowed to spread the religion outside."

Zhang Juzheng naturally knew about this, so he nodded.

In fact, missionaries at that time often arrived in various countries around the world on Spanish and Portuguese colonial warships to spread the teachings of the European Church.

"Everything they can grab is theirs? How can this pope have so much power?"

Feng Bao was still a little confused. Such power was probably no less than that of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

But unfortunately, it is a kind of religious right that overrides secular rights, which inevitably makes Feng Bao think too much.

“The Pope’s power is only in the church, but as more and more people believe in religion, the secular world will naturally have an impact.

In order to maintain their rule, their kings had to maintain good relations with the church, and some of them were even faithful believers of the church.

Therefore, the Pope holds a supreme position in the barbarian country. "

At this point, Wei Guangde sneered and said, "Even without the Pope's authorization, they will not give up the territory they have seized.

The eastern continent is said to be full of gold and silver mines. All the silver they obtained from the Ming Dynasty for trade came from the eastern continent."

Wei Guangde once again made remarks that shocked them.