I'm really not doing business

Chapter 622 If we continue to use corrupt officials, the Ming Dynasty will be destroyed!
The Ming Dynasty killed its envoy again, including Solon, the special envoy sent by Philip II to the Ming Dynasty. The court officials did not object too much.

Even in the Ministry of Rites, no one jumped out to oppose on the grounds of being gentle to foreigners. Li Yashi also kept silent and did not plead for Solon through the Ministry of Rites, because Fan Yingqi's example was bloody and left all the court officials and literati with lingering fears.

According to the classification of the official class by Yan Shixuan, the former Shanghai magistrate, Fan Yingqi had the Jin Party as his background in the court and the legacy of his teacher Ge Shouli. Fan Yingqi was definitely a heavenly man among the official class. His future was bright and his official career would be like an outing in a garden in March, and he would rise to the top quickly.

But now Fan Yingqi can only hide in the dissection yard and not come out, because Fan Yingqi thinks donkey dung balls look like opium balls.

His Majesty's decision to kill people made Ming Dynasty and Luzon closer. From Luzon's point of view, it meant: His Majesty has me in his heart.

For all the people of Luzon, this decision was made because His Majesty had me in mind, so he ignored the urgent need for silver inflows in the Ming Dynasty and killed Sauron, allowing the anti-drug war on the ground in Luzon to receive strong support from the court.

If the emperor decides not to kill Solon, Yin Zhengmao will have to kill Solon for the sake of the war on drugs, because there are really many drug addicts in Luzon. By then, the court and Luzon will drift further and further apart, and the lowly scholars in the court will take the opportunity to stand up and wave flags and shout, saying that the lords who were enfeoffed overseas are disobeying His Majesty's imperial edict, and are disloyal and unfilial, and everyone can kill them!
The people of Luzon also had to consider a question: Did the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty really regard the Ming people in Luzon as his compatriots?
If the ruler treats his subjects like dogs and horses, then the subjects will treat the ruler like a fellow countryman.
If the ruler treats his subjects like dirt, then the subjects will treat the ruler like an enemy.

The barriers and cultural differences caused by the ocean will become like an unhealable wound, getting bigger and bigger, and eventually drifting apart. This is also the reason why the Central Plains has not carried out overseas expansion throughout the ages, as it is too easy to fall out of rule.

Li Yashi brought good wine and food to the prison of the Northern Pacification Office, ready to send Sauron off again. After all, they were old acquaintances. Li Yashi was a two-faced man and a special envoy of Taixi who received two salaries. Li Yashi and Sauron were colleagues.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for being a magnanimous person. I can see you for the last time without any psychological burden. Thank you, Your Majesty, for your mercy." Li Yashi had reported his visit to Sauron. As the Chief Justice, Chen Mo stood quietly by. A prison visit was naturally not a private meeting.

Wang Jiaping also went to visit Fan Yingqi when he returned to Beijing. Because of His Majesty's magnanimity, it was no longer taboo for a friend to see him for the last time.

"You are already a bureaucrat of the Ming Dynasty. You betrayed the West, Spain, and His Highness Felipe!" Soren looked at Legazpi and said angrily, "Isn't it because of the continuous outflow of silver that I am worried? The Ming Dynasty does not want any goods from the West, only silver!"

"You're talking nonsense." Li Yashi said calmly, "The West is not completely inferior in goods. It also has advantages. For example, the red dragon blood tree from Brazil is a high-grade dye that can be used to dye silk. It is extremely expensive. The Ming emperor has tried to grow it many times but with little success. For example, the high-quality saltpeter from Peru, palm oil from West Africa, and cotton from India are all urgently needed by the Ming Dynasty."

"And at the beginning, we in Spain also had an advantage in shipbuilding. Now that the Ming Dynasty's fast sailing ships have been mass-produced, where are our Spanish five-masted ocean-going ships? Have they been imitated?"

In the early years of the Wanli reign, when the Ming Dynasty had just opened its doors to the sea, it actually did not possess a wide range of commodity advantages. Shipbuilding was one, wool was one, and the sophisticated glass technology of the West was another.

"The commodity advantage of the Ming Dynasty was built up bit by bit. It can even be said that Your Majesty earned it bit by bit at the cost of his life." Li Yashi saw how the Ming Dynasty built up its commodity advantage. The Ming Dynasty was reborn from the ashes. In the early years, the situation was very bad. Even the greatest nobleman in the world, the emperor, was on the verge of death. The Ming Dynasty was big, but not strong enough.

"Soren, you are His Highness Felipe's secretary and his close aide. Let me ask you, when Antonio had just gained his foothold, His Highness negotiated peace with Portugal and killed a group of nobles in order to concentrate power. Why didn't he continue?" Legazpi asked a question that was not easy to answer.

Felipe II was very envious of the Ming Emperor's almost unlimited power. When he was defeated and the opposition was clamoring, he launched a night of killing, killing many nobles. Legazpi had been waiting for news, but he didn't get it. It seemed that the matter ended here.

Centralization is only half done. Is that centralization?

"The resistance is too great." Soren muttered to himself. Felipe II not only envied the unlimited power of the Ming Emperor, but also envied the Ming's ability to concentrate its efforts on getting things done. This was a way to resolve social contradictions, but Felipe II ultimately failed to do it.

"Do you think there was no resistance to the Wanli Reform in the Ming Dynasty? On the contrary, the resistance was enormous. Your Majesty, who was only 22 years old, experienced four life-and-death crises. Your Majesty was only 22 years old, and he experienced four times, all for the sake of making the Ming Dynasty great again. Then how many times did our Prince Felipe experience? Once? Twice?" Legashi asked with a sigh.

"No." Soran closed his eyes and said with a little pain.

Under the feudal system, the rise and fall of a country is closely related to the personal relationship of the king. When the rise and fall depends on one person, it is naturally an extremely dangerous political situation.

The Ming Dynasty was a great Eastern power, and Spain was the first Western empire on which the sun never set. The monarchs of the two countries had many similarities. They were both very diligent, had great ambitions, and were quite perseverant, and they worked day after day for years. However, Philip II was ultimately slightly inferior.

"Just because of a few words from the mistress, some complaints from the governors in official documents, and some opposition from the nobles, they stopped the action. There is an old Chinese saying, 'Be consistent, either don't do it, or do it to the end. Giving up halfway is a sign of weakness and dissatisfaction.'" Li Yashi looked at Soran and spread his hands and said, "So it's no surprise that the Ming Dynasty has an advantage in the national competition."

"Instead of trying to persuade His Highness, you resorted to some schemes and tricks in an attempt to gain a competitive advantage in the short term. Let me ask you, even if the three coastal defense inspectors really let them pass, and you established a channel and sent the 120 boxes of opium to the Ming Dynasty, what would happen?"

"If the amount is small, it won't work. If the amount is large, it will be inspected. More than 10,000 kilograms at a time will only affect more than 10,000 people, and they are all powerful and wealthy. Will it really have an impact on the national strength of the Ming Dynasty?"

Soran waved his hands and said, "You are looking too superficially, too close. The competition between the two countries is not ten or twenty years, but fifty or a hundred years. This is not a short-term advantage, but a long-term advantage. Haven't you seen the poisonous insects in Davao, Cebu, and Luzon? They are everywhere. This is a Pandora's box. Once it is opened, the devil will be released."

Li Yashi sneered, and then burst into laughter. As he laughed, he said with a sad face, "My view is shallow? It's just that you don't understand Ming Dynasty, you don't understand China."

"If opium really becomes the pain in the heart of the Ming Dynasty, it will be corrected. This correction may come from the court, which will punish severely. If the court cannot do it, it can just change the court. The dynasties in the Central Plains, every reincarnation, must actually solve some crises that endanger the world before they can sit firmly on the throne."

"This land has never been ruled by one family or one surname. You just don't understand the Ming Dynasty, not that I am shallow."

"You mentioned the poisonous insects in Luzon. The King has already issued an order that poisonous insects should be shot wherever they are seen, and beheaded wherever they are caught. How long do you think it will take the Luzon Governor's Office to deal with these problems?"

Li Yashi laughed at Sauron's lack of understanding of the Ming Dynasty, and he was also laughing at the cultural differences. The Ming Dynasty had a deep-rooted sense of world peace, which was a by-product of high morality. The Ming Dynasty's terrible power to correct mistakes destined this land to always stand tall in the world and occupy an important position.

Li Yashi, who lived in the Wanli Reform era, would naturally come to this conclusion. But if Li Yashi had come earlier, such as in the late Jiajing period, he would probably have come to a completely different conclusion, that is, the Ming Dynasty was a broken house that would collapse with a kick.

"The problem of poisonous insects is impossible to solve!" Soran said loudly.

Li Yashi said sternly: "The Emperor is using your head as a sacrifice, Soran, you are His Highness's think tank, but with such wisdom, how can you assist His Highness? His Majesty is using your head as a sacrifice to the flag of the war against drugs, don't you see?"

"Your Majesty has brought you to the capital and beheaded you in public. This is to tell the world and Luzon that the war against drugs must be won. With your head as a guide, we will start a war against drugs and catch all those who refuse to obey the king in Luzon."

"This..." Soran looked at Li Yashi dully. He finally understood the meaning of Yin Zhengmao's last words to him.

"Let's talk about business. As for you, go peacefully. If His Majesty is merciful, I will bring your ashes back to Taixi. Of course, as a criminal, you may not have the right to collect your body. It is very likely that a monument will be erected specifically for you, and your bones will be suppressed under the monument to tell the world why you were executed." Li Yashi looked at Soran and said with some sadness: "Go peacefully."

"Can't you save me?" Soran was like a drowning man grabbing the last straw, hoping that Li Yashi would save him.

Li Yashi smiled but did not answer. He turned around and left. This was his final farewell.

Li Yashi did not return to Huitongguan Inn, but went to Tonghe Palace. Walking on the streets of Daming, Li Yashi looked at everything familiar around him: the rows of shops, the constant shouting, the dazzling array of commercial goods, the endless quarrels among neighbors, all of this was so familiar. Li Yashi looked down at his official robe. He had become accustomed to the comfortable life in Daming.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was indeed in the Imperial Study in Tonghe Palace, reviewing memorials to the emperor. All matters of the empire needed to be handled by the emperor.

Li Yashi walked into the imperial study smoothly. Zhu Yijun thought that Li Yashi came to plead for mercy. The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty thought it necessary to meet him and explain clearly the reason why the Ming Dynasty killed people. Sauron was indeed a messenger, but he was first and foremost a criminal.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. Long live Your Majesty. Long, long live Your Majesty." Li Ya performed a grand audience with the emperor.

"Sit down and talk. If you want to plead for Sauron, forget it. You know what he did. I cannot pardon him privately, otherwise the harm will be endless. The Ming Dynasty has its own national conditions." Zhu Yijun motioned Li Yashi to sit down and talk.

Li Yashi had long ago learned the ways of the lowly Confucian, crying, making a fuss, and even threatening to hang himself. It was so ugly. If Li Yashi really begged for mercy, he would have to die with Sauron.

"If I don't plead for him, he deserves to die." Li Yashi shook his head. In this matter, Li Yashi had the position but no reason to plead for mercy.

Li Yashi said hesitantly, "Your Majesty, I am here to say goodbye. I plan to return to the West."

"Hmm?" Zhu Yijun frowned and said, "You made a solemn vow before God that you would never marry and would serve God for the rest of your life. Later, you broke your vow and returned to Taixi. You will die. The Inquisition will put you on the stake and burn you alive."

"Don't think that Felipe II will protect you. You know better than me that religion, as one of the elements of Spain's national construction, is an extremely important centripetal force and cohesion. Why do you think that Felipe II will offend the Holy See for you?"

Legazpi said helplessly: "Your Majesty, Solon has committed such an unforgivable crime. If I don't go back, the Ming Dynasty will break off diplomatic relations with Spain. In the galleon trade, it is Spain that cannot do without the Ming Dynasty, not the Ming Dynasty that cannot do without Spain."

"Once diplomatic relations are severed, the Ming Dynasty can still obtain a large amount of silver from Japan, Womagang, the West, ocean trade, and Spanish smugglers. But without the galleon trade, Spain will lose one of the cornerstones of the Ming Dynasty: the circulation of silver."

"I am your Majesty's subject, Felipe's subject, and a Spaniard. I must go back."

Zhu Yijun frowned, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the table. He looked at Li Yashi and said, "I am assessing the risks and considering whether to kill you. Just say that Sauron and you planned this together. The Great Ming Lord was not born a red-haired foreigner, so no one will plead for you."

"You have been in the Ming Dynasty for twelve years. You know a lot. Moreover, you have passed the exams many times with top grades. You are a very capable person."

The reason why Li Yashi could not be promoted in the Ming Dynasty was that he was a red-haired foreigner and a Tartar official. Therefore, Li Yashi and Gao Qiyu became brothers in distress in the Honglu Temple. They performed at the top of the exams every year and were on the draft list, but their names were not found in the basic register. Gao Qiyu and Li Yashi were both crossed out by Zhang Juzheng himself.

"Your Majesty will not do that. Your Majesty is a good man and has always been upright." Legasi was the least worried about this problem because His Majesty was upright. Legasi really understood the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty because he could look at problems from an outsider's perspective and often had more different understandings. He knew very well that His Majesty did not have much discrimination against the barbarians. Unlike the Confucian scholars who argued about the difference between Chinese and barbarians, His Majesty liked Western works, especially mathematics, while the Confucian scholars believed that the barbarians were useless and their knowledge was garbage.

Your Majesty is an upright person and never wrongly accuses anyone.

"If you want to go back, then go back. I'm just afraid that you will be killed without doing anything." Zhu Yijun valued talent and felt sorry for Li Yashi. He knew it was a fire pit, but he still jumped into it. Even if you say he is stupid, he is doing it for the public interest of Spain, not for his own personal desires.

"So I want to ask for an imperial decree to appoint me as a special envoy to the West. This way I will be safe. Your Highness Felipe cannot protect me, but Your Majesty can." Legashi said with a smile, "This way I will have an identity and can explain the reason. The two countries will not completely break off diplomatic relations. My family will stay in Ming Dynasty."

As an envoy of the Ming Dynasty, there would be no problem going to the West. Killing the envoy of the Ming Dynasty would incur the wrath of God. Even if the Inquisition was crazy, Spain could not bear the consequences of becoming completely hostile to the Ming Dynasty, so safety was absolutely guaranteed.

"Are you kidding? You were a special envoy from the West to the Ming Dynasty, and suddenly you became a special envoy from the Ming Dynasty to the West?" Zhu Yijun looked at Li Yashi blankly and said, as expected, Li Yashi had learned all those things from the lowly scholar! He was really good at bullying people by taking advantage of his power.

"I was originally an official of the Honglu Temple. Tongshi is also an official, so he has an official status." Li Yashi said as a matter of course: "In the pre-Qin period, there was a kind of people called the School of Diplomacy, a school of thought that mainly engaged in political and diplomatic activities. Some people scolded them for being fickle, unsteady, and mean. Here, mean refers to people with corrupt morals."

"After the Qin Dynasty unified the country, although the art of diplomacy declined, there were still some, such as Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions, Su Wu, and Ban Chao. In the Ming Dynasty, there were also Fu An, Zheng He and others. They were all mainly engaged in political and diplomatic activities, so they cannot be considered lost."

"We always need people like this to serve as envoys to communicate about state affairs and prevent conflicts from further escalating due to misunderstandings. The Ming Dynasty will always do business with Spain. After all, the rich silver mines are in your hands."

Rich silver mines, with silver grades exceeding 60%, were the largest producers of silver in the era without electrolytic aluminum.

By adjusting the voltage and current of electrolytic aluminum, silver can be electrolyzed to produce silver. In later generations, the silver output of the great Eastern country was 2.48 tons a year, which is about 7.1 million taels. In the era without electrolytic aluminum, silver was a more important monetary standard precious metal than gold. Many merchants in the Ming Dynasty did not even want gold, but only silver.

Indeed, the Ming Dynasty still had to do business with Felipe II, and the Ming Dynasty navy did not have the ability to cross the Pacific Ocean to attack the rich silver mines. The Ming Dynasty did not have the ability to deploy in the ocean, or in other words, the Ming Dynasty navy was still not strong enough and needed to continue to strengthen.

"Okay, then let's submit a memorial to the Ministry of Rites for discussion and draft an edict." Zhu Yijun did not object. It would be better for Li Yashi, a Westerner, to go back and talk about this matter than to send a Ming person to take the risk.

Zhu Yijun granted Li Yashi's request and continued to deal with the memorials that he had not finished reviewing. As he read, Zhu Yijun became happy.

"Haha, this Confucian scholar is a little confused." The memorial in Zhu Yijun's hand was written by Sun Zhanwu, a newly-minted Jinshi in the 11th year of Wanli.

Sun Zhanwu believed that in March, when people went out to gardens for an outing, every family would bring along girls, many of whom were prostitutes. This was really detrimental to public morals, and that acts of licentiousness and comparison were common. Moreover, most of the places where people gathered to chat were now in Taibai Tower, not in schools, which was extremely disrespectful.

Taibai Tower is a brothel. There are reasons why all the gatherings are held there. Many of the gatherings are held in the name of gatherings, but their purpose is to visit brothels!
Sun Zhanwu meant that it should be forbidden to bring female companions to gardens for outings, and in order to prevent the trend from further deteriorating, the place for gatherings and conversations should also be in the school.

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and replied: [You imitate the sound of a fox, he goes to buy a fish, my heart and my behavior are as clear as a mirror, everything I do is righteous.]

The Fox's Howl and Buying a Fish is the Fox's Howl and Fish Book, which is actually about the Chen Sheng and Wu Guang Uprising. Going outing without women may attract the attention of the Tiqi. These men gathered together, and what if one of the idea kings said: The people are suffering, and so are everyone's families!

Wouldn't that cause a huge mess?

Zhu Yijun saw a lot of strange remarks every day, and Sun Zhanwu’s remarks were not considered excessive.

"Is Wang Ci Fu not in the cabinet?" Zhu Yijun asked with a frown, holding a memorial.

Feng Bao thought for a moment and said, "Wang Ci Fu has never worked in the cabinet. I really don't want to see you. I can't afford to offend you, but I can afford to avoid you."

These are Wang Chonggu's original words. He couldn't afford to offend Zhang Juzheng, so he had to hide and not hang around Zhang Juzheng. Otherwise, Zhang Juzheng would be annoyed by him every day and want to beat him, but he couldn't win. Who could he go to for justice?
"Submit this memorial to the cabinet and give it to Wang Ci Fu for disposal." Zhu Yijun handed a memorial with red ink to Feng Bao and said.

The content of the memorial was about the Xishan Coal Bureau.

Wang Qian reminded the Ming Emperor in Yanxing Tower that someone had set his sights on the shipyard. To Zhu Yijun's surprise, the first wave of attacks did not hit the shipyard, but the Xishan Coal Bureau.

As a government-run factory, Xishan Coal Bureau recently took control of the coal market. This is indeed competing with the people for profits. After all, the government-run factories in the Ming Dynasty really cannot produce honeycomb coal with 30% loess.

This was like stirring up a hornet's nest. Voices criticizing Wang Chonggu for hoarding wealth rang out again, and Zhu Yijun was also scolded.

In the Ming Dynasty, there were too many people who cursed the emperor.

When a ruler loses the support of the people, it often starts with his greed. If the ruler likes to gain, the ministers who seek profit will certainly cater to his wishes and exploit the people. This is why people are resentful and rebellious, and the whole country is in poverty. If the ruler uses hatred to gain control over the people, the people will certainly hate him. This is the inevitable result of the natural order.

Only corrupt officials are used to benefit the upper class at the expense of the lower class, corrupt the government and bring disaster to the people. As for corrupt officials, they are obedient and submissive, and they are united in evil and help each other. Therefore, the people are living in misery, there are many starving people, and they are exhausted and have no one to turn to.

Zhu Yijun also learned a word from the Confucian scholars: "掊克之臣".

That is to say, people who will do anything to amass money and have no morals, no kindness, no virtue, and no conscience.

This word comes from the Book of Songs, and it is also said in Mencius' Gaozi: When the old and virtuous are no longer around, and the people in power are overthrown, then there will be some concessions.

If people with virtue cannot hold high positions and corrupt officials who are greedy for money are in the court, the monarch may lose his country.

If Wang Chonggu had been used again, the Ming Dynasty would have been destroyed. That’s roughly what it means.

It was the Jin Party that attacked Wang Chonggu. Zhu Yijun sent a decree to the cabinet, asking Wang Chonggu to handle the matter, in order to let Wang Chonggu clean up the situation.

"These lowly scholars are right in what they say, but if you ignore the facts, you and Wang Ci Fu are desperately trying to stop us from giving the government-owned factories more power. The coal market is a helpless move. After all, firewood is the most important thing. After Wang Ci Fu took charge of the Xizhimen coal market, the price was stable, and the 30% of yellow coal that was used as inferior products was completely eliminated."

"Who is actually oppressing the common people by squeezing them dry?" Zhu Yijun strongly disagreed with this memorial.

The reasoning was all right, and Zhu Yijun fully agreed with it. After the Northern Song Dynasty monopolized coal, a pound of coal cost 200 wen, which was indeed a ruthless act, but was Wang Chonggu a corrupt official? The coal in the capital of the Ming Dynasty cost 6 wen a pound, and the price had not increased for twelve years. Compared with the previous rainy and snowy days, when the price increased by ten or twenty times, the Xishan Coal Bureau did not collect money.

But these despicable scholars always ignore the facts. After reading the memorials, they are very reasonable, except for the lack of facts.

Zhu Yijun continued, "Is this Xishan Coal Bureau Wang Ci Fu's private property? In the past, the woolen cloth factory gave 10% of the profits to the Wang family. Later, the dividends were too much, and Wang Ci Fu didn't dare to take them. Too much money was too hot to handle. At the beginning, Wang Ci Fu gave all the dividends to the craftsmen."

"If the Woolen Cloth Factory and Xishan Coal Bureau are all private property of Wang Ci Fu, and Wang Ci Fu's son marries a concubine, I will have to go and congratulate him in person!"

"Even this Xishan Coal Bureau is not my private property, but the public property of the country."

Originally, the Xishan Coal Bureau was only in charge of the Xishan coal mines, but now the state-owned coal factories in Shengzhou, Womagang, Liuzhi in Yunnan, Ma'anshan in Nanya, Jianghuai and other places are all under the management of the Xishan Coal Bureau. If the Coal Bureau is really Wang Chonggu's private property, when his son Wang Qian marries a concubine, the emperor will have to come to congratulate him and all the wise men will come.

This huge fortune belongs to an individual and is truly rich enough to rival a country.

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said, "The government-run factory is too big now. Let Wang Cifu work in the cabinet from now on. Only if he doesn't put a fake note on the memorials, these cheap scholars will dare to look down on him."

"I guess Wang Ci Fu is unwilling." Feng Bao shook his head and said, "Wang Ci Fu's absence from the cabinet is an attitude."

Not sitting in the office is Wang Chonggu's attitude and action that he no longer wants to be a rebel. Since he does not sit in the office, he naturally cannot interfere with the general direction of His Majesty's Wanli Reform.

The next morning, Zhu Yijun once again came to the Wenhua Hall to preside over the court meeting. For twelve years, Zhu Yijun had never missed a court meeting except when he was sick. As a result, the court officials during the Wanli period took it for granted that the emperor should appear in the Wenhua Hall at this time.

But starting from the 21st year of Jiajing, it became difficult for even the cabinet ministers to see the emperor, let alone the court officials.

"I think the coal market should not be opened." Wang Chonggu, as the second assistant, first talked about the memorial submitted by His Majesty to the cabinet yesterday. He said very solemnly: "Even if it is to be government-run, it cannot be under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Works, but should belong to the Ministry of Revenue."

As an emperor, Zhu Yijun could only kill the lowly Confucian scholar, but Wang Chonggu could make people suffer a fate worse than death. As a powerful and wealthy man, Wang Chonggu had at least nine ways to make people mentally ill, but Wang Chonggu did not do so. Instead, he agreed with the accusations in the memorial and chose to spit out what he had eaten. He also separated the coal market from the government-run factories and handed over the work of the Ministry of Revenue even if it was state-run.

Although the Hydra-like yamen is rigid, it is stable and will not pose a threat to imperial power.

(End of this chapter)