Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 557 The Situation of All Parties

"Woo!"

"Crackling——"

A year later, the sound of firecrackers rang out, and the calendars in people's homes changed from "Xin Hai, the 14th year of Hongxi in the Ming Dynasty" to "Ren Zi, the 15th year of Hongxi in the Ming Dynasty".

Although it was New Year's Day, the Tianjin Port was crowded with people, and there was no sign of people celebrating the New Year at home.

What they were looking at was a ship on the sea, and this ship was the "Hongxi Xinhai" jointly built by the Ming Imperial College and Tianjin Shipyard.

"The Xin Hai is 143 feet long, 21 feet wide, has a displacement of 2,600 tons, a draft of 12 feet, a crew of 120, a speed of 35 miles per hour, and a range of 1,600 miles when fully loaded with coal and water..."

On a seven-story building in Tianjin Port, Zhu Gaoxu was looking at the Xinhai on the sea with a telescope, feeling very satisfied.

Although the speed was very slow at only 35 miles per hour and the cruising range was very short at 1,600 miles, it was after all the second steamship launched in the Ming Dynasty.

Compared with the "Hongxihao" of the eleventh year of Hongxi, this Xinhaihao has made greater progress, and it only took four years of the Ming Dynasty.

As basic education continues to become more popular and the educated population continues to increase, basic science has been making continuous research breakthroughs along the topics given by Zhu Gaoxu.

After laying a solid foundation in mathematics, physics and chemistry, it became even more impossible for other countries to catch up with the Ming Dynasty.

"Are there any other defects in this ship?"

Zhu Gaoxu put down the telescope and handed it to Zhu Di next to him.

Standing beside him were Zhu Di, Zhu Zhanqi, Zhu Qiyue and others.

Zhu Di took the telescope and looked at the Xin Hai, and Kuai Che, a shipwright from Tianjin Shipyard, bowed and said:

"It does have some shortcomings. Its thermal efficiency is too low, and 420 miles a day is already its limit."

"Besides that, there are many minor problems, just like the boilers on trains a few years ago, which often break down due to minor problems."

"However, we are confident that we can continue to improve thermal efficiency and solve these minor problems in the future. We just need Your Majesty to be patient..."

Kuai Che spoke carefully, and Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said, "I am already very happy that you can figure it out."

Zhu Gaoxu looked out the glass window at the Xinhai cruising on the sea, and felt very satisfied.

With steam ships and trains, the Ming Dynasty's maritime borders and inland areas will become very stable.

Now there are only two problems left for him. One is that the message transmission is too slow, and the other is that the speed of Chinese localization is too slow.

The world that Zhu Gaoxu mentioned did not only refer to the two capitals and 18 provincial governments, but also referred to the speed of global sinicization.

Majapahit in Southeast Asia has been destroyed, which means that the last country in Southeast Asia that believed in other religions and did not introduce Chinese culture has completely disappeared.

The Chinese culture in Southeast Asia has begun to spread. What we need to do next is to proceed step by step, consolidating the Sinicization of Southeast Asia while promoting the Sinicization of India.

Only culture could make these countries become part of the Ming Dynasty without them realizing it. If it were just a butcher's knife, the Ming Dynasty and Zhu Gaoxu would not have the energy to destroy so many countries and kill so many people.

"If this ship is equipped with iron armor and explosive shells as you said, then all the seas below will become the territory of the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Di put away the telescope, with a hint of envy in his eyes.

He envied his children and grandchildren for being able to see the ironclad ships, and also envied them for being able to see the world decades later.

Zhu Di had seen many models of Zhu Gaoxu in the Imperial College, including some models of "future cities".

He didn't know whether these could be achieved, but judging from the progress made over the years, it didn't seem far away.

"Unfortunately, I can't see it..."

Zhu Di sighed in his heart, while Zhu Gaoxu chatted with Kuai Che about other things.

Steam-powered ships will not be mass-produced for the time being, but will have to wait until the technology matures.

In addition, according to the information currently available to the court, the world's sea vessels will be retired one after another in about 20 years. At that time, it will be critical to decide whether to mass-produce steam-powered ships based on the research progress.

After discussing all matters concerning the steamship and its future direction, Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Di walked down the building and went to the train station to take a train back to Beijing.

The New Year's Day court meeting was presided over by Zhu Zhanhe. As he entered his thirties, he was no longer as naive as before and became much more cautious and conservative.

Zhu Gaoxu was happy to see this change in his behavior.

After returning to Beijing, he gradually handed over the affairs of state to Zhu Zhanhe, allowing Zhu Qiyue to take care of his high school studies while going to Wuying Palace to study after school.

As for Zhu Gaoxu himself, he devoted himself to the work of "editing books".

As time passed, truckloads of supplies were transported to the northwest, and ships full of supplies docked in Dagula and Jiaozhi.

Whether in the northwest or southwest, the Ming Dynasty made great moves.

At the same time, news from Kunlun Continent also reached Beijing.

The rebel Qian Liao was tied up by his soldiers and sent to the army. Zheng He and Yang Zhan were already on their way to escort him back.

Qi Sheng of the Kunlun Xuanwei Office signed trade terms with the Franco-Kingdom, but the Franco-Kingdom did not recognize the Ming Dynasty as its suzerain.

Zhu Gaoxu had already told them not to force it, after all, he didn't care about the resources in Xizhou.

After the affairs of Kunlunzhou came to an end, prefectures and counties were successively established in various parts of Dongzhou and Beizhou.

On the second day of February, King Song Zhu Zhanqi and his two guards boarded a boat to Jinghai Prefecture in Dongzhou to take up their fiefdom.

On the first day of March, with the allocation of money and grain from the Ministry of Revenue to various places, the railways, light and heavy industries, and agricultural economy flourished.

For a time, the wages throughout the Ming Dynasty seemed to have increased a lot, and there were smiles on the faces of the people.

"The price is forty cents?!"

“This is taller than Suzhou City!”

"You don't even have to leave the hospital to suffer!"

"It's a good thing to kill these corrupt officials. If we don't kill them, we won't be able to live a good life."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Inside the teahouse, some people were reading the local government newspaper and were shocked by the conditions and wages of the court employees.

Afterwards, they attributed the court's wage increase to corrupt officials exploiting the south of the Yangtze River.

As for why they thought so, it was mainly because the imperial court said so.

Over the past year, the four issues published by "Da Ming Daily" have repeatedly explained one issue, that is, the Gengxu corruption case in Jiangnan.

In the newspapers, the court attributed the delay in implementing the people-friendly policies to the officials and clerks who were arrested in the case, as well as the businessmen who colluded with the officials.

The content of the newspaper was that it was not that the imperial court did not allocate money to build projects in Jiangnan, but because corrupt officials colluded with business gangs to obstruct them, these projects could not be implemented and the people could not get high-paying jobs.

These explanations, which are close to vernacular, allow every literate citizen to understand the situation.

They lived in the information cocoon woven for them by Zhu Gaoxu, and made inferences based on the information they could grasp, not realizing that all their self-analysis was actually the result of Zhu Gaoxu's guidance.

All that they had guessed was also seen by Yu Qian, who was inspecting the people's conditions in Jiangnan.

"newspaper……"

Yu Qian had a complicated expression on his face. He felt that the emperor using these methods to guide public opinion was not what a wise monarch should do.

He was very conflicted at the moment. He received traditional Confucian education. It was not until he was about to take the imperial examination that he was exposed to the new learning.

The Confucian education in him told him that the emperor's behavior was not that of a wise ruler.

The side of him that accepted new learning told him that the emperor's approach could actually bring peace to the world.

It is better for the court to have the right to speak and public opinion in its hands than in the hands of the literati...

Faced with these two thoughts, Yu Qian picked up the wine glass and took a sip depressedly.

He had to admit that the world was moving forward just as Jiang Huai had told him.

Your Majesty has indeed brought about major cases, and has indeed handled many unjust, false and wrongful convictions.

However, these unjust, false and wrong cases were based on a small number of beneficiaries, and after the cases, the people who benefited were the entire Jiangnan area and even the people of the whole world.

In practical terms, the people have indeed benefited.

But if they just keep on creating major cases, how can such a court last long?
One cup after another, Yu Qian gradually fell on the table, no longer sober.

What he learned is useful, but not entirely applicable to the present.

Compared to him, Wang Hui, Xu Shuo and Jiang Huai are the ones who can adapt to the current situation.

“The sulfuric acid plant needs to be built far away from towns, so special attention should be paid to this.”

"Flour mills also need to be careful. If they encounter open flames, they will explode. We cannot be careless."

"The sulfuric acid plant should not be too far from the phosphate fertilizer plant so that..."

Inside the Ministry of Revenue in Beijing, Wang Hui was methodically formulating an economic reform plan for the north. He even compiled a book of many things that needed attention and sent it to the officials who were going to carry out the reform, as well as the local prefects and county magistrates.

Whether the North can turn things around depends on this battle.

If the war is won, the North will no longer have to rely on the South, and the South will no longer complain about allocating money and grain to the North every year.

Only when the economy is equal can the relationship between the two sides be equal. The economy is one of the root causes of the North-South conflict.

"This is the case. When you go to the local areas, you are not allowed to show off your status as Beijing officials. Do you understand?"

"Your Majesty, take your orders!"

Standing in front of hundreds of officials from the Ministry of Revenue, Wang Hui lectured them with a cold face, and they bowed in response.

"go"

Following Wang Hui's order, everyone bowed and left, and Wang Hui also returned to his study.

Such scenes exist not only in the Ministry of Revenue, but also in the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Rites.

The difference is that Xu Shuo and Yang Shiqi could not directly intervene in the affairs of the local government offices, but could only control and adjust the local provincial governments through the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue. In terms of directness alone, the two were one step slower than Wang Hui, who was in the Ministry of Revenue.

"Your Majesty, everything is in operation..."

In the Qianqing Palace, Yishiha, who had been recuperating for more than a year, returned to the palace to work and reported to Zhu Gaoxu on the changes in the world.

Zhu Gaoxu seemed to be deaf to all this, but he knew everything that was happening in the world.

He can interfere and interrupt these policies at any time if he wants.

"Things have just started, and we haven't seen any results yet. Don't worry..."

Zhu Gaoxu kept his head down while writing a book and never looked up from beginning to end.

He has more experience and understanding of economic transformation than many people of this era.

Wang Hui and others judged that it would be ten years, but in fact ten years is far from enough.

Zhu Gaoxu would not blame them for this, because just because he had experience, it did not mean that Wang Hui and others had experience.

For Zhu Gaoxu, he could move forward by following the original history, but Wang Hui and others could not.

Therefore, Zhu Gaoxu did not expect to see the day when the economic transformation would be completed. It was enough for him to see the practical benefits brought about by the economic transformation.

Not only did he think so in his mind, but he also wrote so with the pen in his hand.

[This dynasty is different from all previous dynasties, and the path it is taking is also different from all previous dynasties. The previous economic system is no longer viable, and it has seriously hindered the development of this dynasty.]

[The territory of our dynasty is vast, but the population is sparse compared to the territory, so we need to liberate productivity and reform the economic system from agriculture to industry. ]

[Regarding this journey, the ministers below all submitted memorials in which they believed that it would take ten years to complete, but they misjudged the time.]

[In my opinion, there are still many problems in our dynasty. If these problems are not solved, it will not work if we just build factories and railways.]

[They will encounter obstacles on the road to reform and will solve them. Therefore, I envision this economic system reform as a ten-year period, and expect it to be completed in five periods of fifty years...]

Zhu Gaoxu kept writing, from the current economic reform to the problems that the court might encounter in the future, and what kind of concessions the royal family should make in a certain period of time.

What are the consequences of concessions, and what are the consequences of not concessions...

The more he wrote these things, the more excited he became, and his thoughts became clearer and clearer.

It was not until he put down the red pen and stretched his sore wrist that he realized it was already dusk.

"Your Majesty, there is urgent news!"

"You are in a hurry. His Majesty is busy. Any urgent news will have to wait a little longer."

When Wang Tao's voice sounded, Yishiha was worried that he would make the emperor angry, so he pretended to scold him.

"No problem, present it."

Zhu Gaoxu signaled Wang Tao to present it. Wang Tao presented it upon seeing this, and explained: "As expected, the Western Tartars in Turpan sent troops to stop the imperial court from building the railway, and also injured many soldiers and civilians."

"Hmm..." Unlike Wang Tao's excitement, Zhu Gaoxu responded calmly and continued:

"Publish these things in the newspaper. You should know what to do. Also, recall the ambassadors and soldiers of the Ministry of Rites stationed in Yilibali."

"I know!" Seeing the emperor nod, Wang Tao immediately bowed and retreated.

Before going to war, it is natural to make sufficient preparations for public opinion. The newspapers under the Ming Newspaper Agency not only cover the Ming Dynasty itself, but also include vassal states such as Japan, Korea, and Siam.

In addition, the Da Ming Pao was also circulated in Central Asia, West Asia and other places.

Since the intelligence published by the Daming Daily on local affairs of various countries is very accurate, reading the Daming Daily has become something that officials and leaders of various countries do every quarter.

"The Japanese pirates introduced the Celestial Empire's military training and firearms, which caused our army to suffer a defeat in Kunlun Continent. If we do not pursue innovation now, I am afraid that the next war will not only break out in Kunlun Continent, Your Majesty!"

In Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, North Korea, Kim Jong-seo, who had just returned from Kunlun Continent, knelt in the palace and kept giving advice to the obese Yi Seong-ri, who was sitting in a high position.

Faced with his advice, Li Yu also calmly considered it.

Since acquiring the land of Kunlun Continent, the Kingdom of Korea has passed the economic bottleneck period of lack of gold and silver, and entered the stage of maintaining profits and success.

For more than ten years, Li Chen worked diligently and conscientiously on government affairs. He got up at four o'clock every morning, went to court at dawn, handled government affairs, summoned ministers, held imperial lectures, and finally went to the palace to read until late at night. He never slacked off and made personal decisions on even the most trivial matters.

The reason for this is that both sides of North Korea are entities that North Korea cannot afford to offend.

Today, North Korea's population has reached five million due to the import of grain from the Ming Dynasty. The domestic pressure is very great, and it can only transfer the population to Kunlun Continent.

However, due to its weak national strength, over a decade, Korea relied on the Ming Dynasty's fleet to migrate less than 30,000 people to Kunlun Continent.

Now, these 30,000 people had not yet settled down, and most of them were massacred because of the war with Japan.

Although Japan agreed to pay gold as compensation, they have been dragging their feet and are unwilling to pay the money.

All this made Li Yan realize one thing, that is, even if he had the support of the Ming Dynasty, if he himself was not strong, he would still be bullied by the Japanese pirates.

Thinking of this, he took the initiative to speak: "North Korea is weak and short of money and food. It is undoubtedly difficult to reform."

"Even so, we should seek reform, Your Majesty!" Kim Jong-seo prostrated himself on the ground, while Lee Seong-hyun looked grim.

He wanted Jin Zongrui to talk about reforming the tax system, but Jin Zongrui was obviously unwilling to do such an offensive thing.

Without tax reform, there will be no money in the treasury to promote reform.

Kim Jong-seo's meaning was very clear, which was to let Lee Seol use his private treasury.

However, knowing his own situation, Li Wei knew very well how much gold and silver was in his private treasury. That amount of gold and silver was not enough to promote the reform of a country.

Thinking of this, Li Yu waved his hand and said, "You can leave first."

"Your Majesty!" Jin Zongrui looked at Li Yan anxiously, and Li Yan said impatiently:
"I will take care of this matter myself. Are you going to teach me how to be a king now?"

"I dare not. I will take my leave..."

Seeing Yi Seong's tough attitude, Kim Jong-seo had no choice but to leave the palace in disgrace.

After he left, Li Yu rubbed his temples hard.

Over the years, Li Wei has been troubled by various diseases due to obesity.

When he was living in Siyi Pavilion in Beijing, he invited a doctor from a Beijing hospital to take his pulse, but he learned that he was suffering from diabetes, which could also cause blindness.

He knew about diabetes. The emperor of the Celestial Empire's brother seemed to have suffered from diabetes, but he died at the age of over 50.

Although he is only in his thirties now, he does not want to die of illness in his fifties, not to mention that he does not have as good medical conditions as that person.

Thinking of this, Li Yu ordered the eunuch beside him to call his eldest son Li Rong to come.

Li Yi is now sixteen years old. He has a decent appearance and a well-proportioned figure, which is why he was named the Crown Prince by the Ming Dynasty.

Seeing Li Yan coming, Li Yan also spoke directly:

"The court needs reform, but the yangban guys are unwilling to reform the tax system."

"It seems that in the end, we will have to seek help from the Celestial Empire for this matter."

"I hope you can go to the Celestial Empire with my will and ask His Majesty the Emperor to help us resolve the situation."

Li Yu knew very well that the Ming Dynasty had the power to destroy Korea long ago. The reason why it did not destroy Korea was not only because Korea did not make any extraordinary moves, but also because the Ming Dynasty was not sure of swallowing Japan.

Before being sure of swallowing up Japan, the Ming Dynasty needed Korea to stand in front of Liaodong as a strategic buffer zone.

The incident in Kunlun Island made Li Chen lose face and also made the Ming Dynasty feel some pressure.

If North Korea does not show any activeness at this time, then it will lose its value and will only face the fate of being annexed.

Li Yu believed that the Celestial Empire would continue to support Korea to balance Japan and prevent Japan from affecting the Celestial Empire's plans to attack other places.

"My son, take your orders!"

Li Yi didn't know how to solve the current problem, but he knew that since his father said this to him, it meant that his father was confident enough.

"I will send someone to go with you and teach you how to speak. Now go back to the palace and pack your things and set off today."

"Your son obeys your command..."

At Li Yu's instruction, Li Rong slowly bowed and left the palace.

When Li Yan made the changes, Ashikaga Yoshitsugu of Japan also met Kajii Yoshitsugu who had returned from Kunlun Continent.

He sat in the main seat of the Golden Pavilion, wearing the dragon robe of a prince from the Ming Dynasty. He was only thirty-seven years old, in the prime of his life.

Facing him, Yoshishun Kajii respectfully explained what he had done in Kunlunzhou. Ashikaga Yoshitsugu did not take the lead in scolding him for starting a war without authorization, but instead praised him for teaching Korea a lesson:
"Well done. This has tested North Korea's strengths and also demonstrated our military power to those guys in Kanto."

"Yes!" Kajii Yoshishun nodded, but then said something shocking: "But the difference between us and the Heavenly Army..."

"Shut up!" Ashikaga Yoshitsugu scolded Kajii Yoshimitsu for discussing the Heavenly Army without permission.

"I'm sorry." Kajii Yoshitsugu lowered his head, while Ashikaga Yoshitsugu kept his temper and spoke after a while:

"The Celestial Empire is a huge and invincible existence to us. The reason I wrote to reprimand you for your actions in Kunlun Continent is not because you started a war without authorization, but because you disobeyed Qi Sheng's orders."

Ashikaga Yoshitsugu said solemnly: "There will be no punishment for going to war with Korea, but if we disobey the orders of the Celestial Empire, Japan will be in danger of being destroyed."

"I praise you because you defeated North Korea and made China see the potential of Japan."

"The Celestial Empire is invincible, but we can be the first vassal state under the Celestial Empire, rather than having such an important position occupied by North Korea."

"Yes!" Kajii Yoshitsugu bowed his head and responded. Seeing this, Ashikaga Yoshitsugu said:

"This matter was caused by you, so I have taken out three thousand taels of gold from the treasury and prepared enough sumac."

"In three months, you will pay tribute to the Celestial Empire. This time, you will go in person and explain your actions to the Emperor."

"Don't worry, His Majesty the Emperor is happy to see us fight North Korea."

Ashikaga Yoshitsugu clicked his tongue a few times, and Kajii Yoshitsugu clenched his fists upon hearing this, with a slightly unwilling tone in his voice: "Balanced..."

(End of this chapter)