Daming: Apocalypse of Longevity

Chapter 226 "Ming" flag

So how effective can this "Ming" flag be?

The "Ming" flag was naturally not that magical at the beginning. If you go to the East China Sea and the South China Sea to do business, it won't even be as deterrent as the "Zheng" flag. After all, compared to the "Zheng" flag, The "Ming" flag can only be regarded as a newcomer, and I'm afraid no one will take it seriously.

Of course, the "Ming" flags that Zhu Tianqi gave to Mascara Road would definitely be useful if they were used to scare Mao Wenlong. After all, Zhu Tianqi had already greeted Mao Wenlong, and Mao Wenlong saw the "Ming" flags. ships will no longer attack and pillage it.

However, it will take some time for the "Ming" flag to truly form a deterrent effect and have the effect of protecting merchant ships at sea.

The Ming Dynasty needs to actually send a naval fleet to escort in the nearby waters and severely attack the pirates who dare to attack and rob merchant ships with the "Ming" flag. As time goes by and the reputation is built, the "Ming" flag will be Really stood still!

With the reform of the Municipal Shipping Department within the Ming Dynasty and the opening of the maritime ban, the attitude towards the Taixi people also changed.

In the past, the Ming Dynasty did not take the Taixi people seriously, and it also ignored the territories occupied by the Taixi people. For example, Haojingao occupied by the Franji people was not even a sesame seed on the map. Naturally, the Ming Emperor would not take the place seriously and allowed local officials to accept bribes and "rent" the place to the Franji people.

But now that Zhu Tianqi has become the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, it is different. He is very sensitive to matters like national territory. Territory involves the sovereignty and dignity of the country, so no matter how big or small the place is, he must not give up an inch of land!

Apart from Haojingao, there are still many coastal areas and islands that are "leased" by the Westerners. Although they did not blatantly occupy Haojingao like the Franji people, and even stationed troops and governors, they will The territory they occupied became a settlement for the Westerners, monopolizing the local maritime trade, which was detrimental to the foreign trade of Ming merchants.

Therefore, Zhu Tianqi decided to completely change this status quo. All these territories occupied by the Westerners must be taken back and managed by the Ming court or the local government, so as to prevent the actual "invasion" by the Westerners in the name of "lease". If something like this happens again, the officials involved who accepted bribes from the Thai people will be severely punished.

Of course, Zhu Tianqi is still open to foreign trade. He wants to take back the territory of the Ming Dynasty, which does not mean that he wants to expel the Taixi people. The Ming Dynasty still welcomes the Taixi people to come to the Ming Dynasty for trade activities. They can stay in inns and live in the Ming Dynasty. Restaurants, and even the imperial court could open post houses and commercial hotels specifically to receive foreign businessmen.

But they are absolutely not allowed to enclose territory in the Ming Dynasty, establish special zones, engage in autonomy, bully the people of the Ming Dynasty, and enjoy privileges. The greatest respect that the Ming Dynasty can give them is to allow them to enjoy the same rights as the people of the Ming Dynasty.

Although Zhu Tianqi had made up his mind, Zhu Tianqi did not push forward the matter in advance, because before that, he had to make a lot of money from the Thai and Western people, so now Zhu Tianqi gives money to those who have a large number of Thai and Western businessmen. The main task arranged by the gathered coastal state officials was to sell the "Ming" flag to the Thai people.

The selling price of this "Ming" flag at 1 taels of silver per year is not low. It is quite a heavy burden for some small merchants from Europe and the West. After all, they have traveled across the ocean from Europe to do business in the Ming Dynasty. The flags they want to buy and the fees they need to pay are There are countless "protection fees". They are already under a lot of pressure, and now they have to bear an additional cost of 1 taels of silver every year. They really can't bear it.

Therefore, the "Ming" flag did not sell well at the beginning. Most Thai and Western businessmen still took chances. If you go close to the sea near Japan, there will be no problem.

However, the strange thing is that even though they were extra careful and almost always sailed along the coast of the Ming Dynasty, they were still inevitably plundered by Mao Wenlong. What was even more egregious was that sometimes the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were clearly watching from the shore. When Mao Wenlong's pirate ship was plundering the Taixi merchant ship, they seemed to not see it and stood aside.

What's even more outrageous is that sometimes the Ming Dynasty Navy patrolling nearby waters happened to bump into the robbery scene, but the Ming Dynasty Navy turned around and left just because the robbed Taixi merchant ship did not have the "Ming" flag. Mao Wenlong His subordinates did not conflict with the Ming Navy. When they saw the ships of the Ming Navy leaving, they continued to work...

The Thai and Western people have figured it out. If you want to live here, you have to buy this "Ming" flag. You can't save these 1 taels of silver. Otherwise, if your money is robbed, it's still a good thing. Get a boat. It is not impossible to destroy people.

After a period of time, the sales of "Ming" flags began to rise linearly. Even though this year's "Ming" flags are only valid for less than half a year, and a flag can only be sold for a few thousand taels of silver, but after all There were no less than a thousand Thai and Western merchant ships doing business in the Ming Dynasty. In this way, the Ming Dynasty earned millions of taels of silver just from selling flags.

Seeing millions of white money being transferred into the national treasury, those officials who were originally very resistant to Zhu Tianqi's massive reform of the Municipal Shipping Department and the opening of maritime bans also changed their views on the Ming Dynasty's maritime construction. After tasting the benefits, , everyone had to start to admire Zhu Tianqi's foresight. The sea was indeed a "gold mine"!

In a blink of an eye, it is time for the annual imperial examination again. This year is the third year of the new imperial examination, and also the second year that the imperial court has fully opened the three-level scientific examination. It has to be doubled ten times.

And the number of people who finally passed the exam was much higher than last year. The passing rate of the government exam increased from one-fifth last year to one-third, a total of 3 to [-] people.

The number of candidates who passed the provincial examination has also increased from less than one-tenth last year to more than one-tenth this year. A total of more than 5000 candidates signed up to take the provincial examination, and more than 600 people finally passed the examination.

However, although the number of people who passed the provincial examination has increased, unlike last year, not all candidates who passed the provincial examination this year chose to enter Ming Shuntianfu University to continue their studies. Instead, nearly half of the candidates chose to become officials.

Because what is different from the past is that in the Ming Dynasty, even if you were qualified to be an official if you were admitted to the Juren Examination, there were no suitable positions. But now it coincides with the maritime reform, and many new positions have appeared after the Municipal Shipping Department was changed to Customs. , and these positions are difficult for many former officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Municipal Shipping Department to fill.

These new candidates who have passed the new provincial examination have stronger mathematical abilities and can be qualified for customs positions after simple self-study and training.After all, the purpose of most scholars taking the scientific examination is to become an official, so it is reasonable for nearly half of the candidates to give up going to university and directly choose to become an official. Even if they work in the customs, the official position and grade are not high. But after all, you are an official, and now the salary level of officials in the Ming Dynasty has also been raised. As an official, you can have a stable income!
However, in just three years, candidates who can complete the three levels of elementary school, junior high school and high school and pass the provincial examination, in addition to being extremely talented, most of them are also from well-to-do families. After all, these days, Only those who live a worry-free life and have enough food and clothing can concentrate more on studying and studying.

Among them, those from ordinary families naturally want to seize the opportunity to be an official after being elected, and get a part-time job as soon as possible. From then on, they can have an income, support themselves, and start a family as soon as possible.

On the other hand, some children from wealthy families have greater ideals and ambitions. The families behind them have also fully understood and studied the new imperial examination policy. They know that if they want to become high officials, they must enter Shuntianfu University of the Ming Dynasty for further study. Learning is the only way to go, so they will naturally choose to continue studying in college.

Xu Guangqi reported to Zhu Tianqi before releasing the results: "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness King Xin took the provincial exam again this year, but unfortunately, he still missed the exam by more than ten points and failed to pass. Your Majesty, look..."

Zhu Tianqi couldn't help but feel a little regretful after hearing this, but he still said: "Since he failed to pass the exam by more than ten points, let him take the exam again next year. I can't just let him take the exam just because he is my younger brother. Are you taking the lead in practicing favoritism? The most important thing in this imperial examination is the word 'fairness'. As the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, I should abide by it!"

"Your Majesty is wise!" Xu Guangqi saluted, and then said: "In addition to His Royal Highness King Xin, there are many royal children who took part in the provincial examination this year, and many of them achieved good results, but those who were able to pass the examination still did not. "

Zhu Tianqi couldn't help but nodded slowly after hearing this. It seems that with Zhu Youjian taking the lead in participating in the imperial examination, and his hints to the vassals from all over the Ming Dynasty, many smart people have noticed that the limelight is coming, and they have begun to work hard for the imperial examination. son.

"This is a good sign. Let them continue the exam. They have to work hard to fight for their own future. They will never know how to cherish what I reward them. Only when they work hard for it will they know how hard it is!"

In this regard, Xu Guangqi naturally did not dare to make any comments, so he could only stand silently.

After Zhu Tianqi finished talking about this, he remembered that he had thought about Xu Guangqi's retirement before, so he brought it up: "Xu Aiqing, how expensive are you this year?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Guangqi hurriedly saluted and replied: "Your Majesty, I am seventy years old this year, which is the age of seventy years!"

Zhu Tianqi nodded slowly and said: "Speaking of which, you are one year older than my teacher Sun Chengzong. Now that the teacher has returned to his hometown to take care of his old age, I still let you, Xu Aiqing, work hard in the court. My I really can’t bear it!”

Xu Guangqi couldn't help but be stunned after hearing this. After all, it is generally not a good thing for such words to come from the emperor. Most of the time, the emperor starts to be dissatisfied with the ministers and wants to find a reason to fire them. .

But Xu Guangqi looked at the emperor with a very sincere expression. It seemed that the emperor was not dissatisfied with him, but actually pitied himself for his old age, so Xu Guangqi hurriedly saluted and said: "Although I am older, I have served the imperial court and have not felt any hardship. I hope the emperor doesn’t have to worry about it.”

Zhu Tianqi shook his head and smiled, and said: "Xu Aiqing, it is not enough to be disobedient. You have worked hard all your life for the Ming Dynasty. If I can't even let you live a long life and enjoy family happiness, wouldn't it be a shame to me?" The heart of the Ming Dynasty courtiers?
I have thought about this matter carefully before, and now I will tell you my thoughts. My dear, you can choose to stay or go on your own. "

Xu Guangqi saluted and nodded.

Zhu Tianqi then said: "If Xu Aiqing wants to continue doing research and learning, I can appoint Aiqing to be the president of Shuntianfu University in the Ming Dynasty. From now on, Xu Aiqing will live in Shuntianfu University and study whatever he likes." What, if it is like writing a book, you can continue, if you like teaching, you can teach, if you are too lazy to teach, you can ignore it.

Of course, there is a second option besides this, which is to go directly back to your hometown to take care of your old age and return to your roots. No matter which one you choose, Xu Aiqing, the court will continue to pay you a salary according to your current grade. In addition, your eldest son and eldest grandson Xu Erjue can He will go directly to Sunchonbu University for further study. After completing his studies, I will also use him. "

Hearing this, Xu Guangqi couldn't help but burst into tears of gratitude. He cried, he knelt down slowly, kowtowed to Zhu Tianqi, and said, "Your Majesty treats me so kindly. I can't repay you for being broken to pieces!"

Zhu Tianqi slowly walked forward, helped Xu Guangqi up, and said with some sadness: "Xu Aiqing, you are my right-hand man, and I am quite reluctant to leave you when I think of you leaving me. But, I can't help but be unkind and let you waste all your efforts for the imperial court.

You have dedicated your life to the imperial court and worked hard. This is the only compensation I can give you. You don’t have to have any psychological burden, you deserve these! "

Xu Guangqi did not think much about it and decisively chose to stay at Shuntianfu University and serve as the president of Shuntianfu University. Firstly, he wanted to use the rest of his life to do something for the court and the Ming Dynasty. Secondly, he did still have a lot to complete. Research and writings need to be continued.

Afterwards, Zhu Tianqi convened a cabinet meeting and explained to the cabinet ministers that Xu Guangqi had been transferred to the position of president of Shuntianfu University and would no longer serve as the minister of rites and the chief assistant of the cabinet. He also appointed Sun Yuanhua, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, as the new president. Chief Assistant to the Cabinet.

Regarding this matter, Qian Longxi and Liu Hongxun could no longer get excited, because at this time the emperor was already the absolute master, and it was no longer important whether they supported it or not, so they could only follow the emperor's arrangements and deal with the vacancy in the Ministry of Rites. They didn't even think about the post of Minister.

The one who was more affected by this incident was Lai Zongdao. He saw that even Xu Guangqi, the emperor's right-hand man, had been "released" by the emperor, so he, an "idler", should also be able to retire and return to his hometown, right?
(End of this chapter)