Chapter 480: Squeezing and Exploiting the Foreigners

After the meal and drinks, Zhu Youxiao had Guo Jingju and the others escorted out.

Then, the smile on Zhu Youxiao's face vanished in an instant.

Glancing at Wei Chao who had walked in, Zhu Youxiao asked, "Is something the matter?"

"Your Majesty, Xu Guangqi, Grand Secretary Xu, requests an audience." Wei Chao said hurriedly.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youxiao furrowed his brow.

He understood why Xu Guangqi had come — in plain terms, to ask him not to make things too difficult for those foreign missionaries.

It seemed their friendship ran quite deep.

Zhu Youxiao gave a cold snort and said, "I won't see him. Tell him to leave."

Zhu Youxiao truly did not want to see Xu Guangqi; he was in a bad mood.

These civil officials being on good terms with foreign missionaries was not a good thing at all.

When a country's officials stop believing in what they ought to believe and instead turn to believing in other things, that is trouble. Just like in later generations — when officials stopped believing in Marxism-Leninism and started embracing the Western way of doing things, it was a disaster for the country.

Moreover, in the Great Ming, officials had another function — they were academic authorities. Whatever they said, many people would believe, and their influence was far greater than that of the public intellectuals of later generations. If these officials made everyone outside believe in these foreign things, the trouble would be enormous.

So Zhu Youxiao decided to suppress them — this was only the beginning.

"Yes, Your Majesty. This servant will give the order at once." Wei Chao quickly agreed.

Zhu Youxiao sat on the dragon throne quietly thinking, and Wei Chao walked back in from outside — clearly the message had already been delivered.

Zhu Youxiao looked at Wei Chao and said directly, "There's a task I want you to handle. I wonder if you can do it well."

Upon hearing this, Wei Chao was so excited he nearly jumped up.

You see, since the Emperor had ascended the throne, Wei Chao's position had not improved much. Looking at how quickly the other eunuchs who served at the Emperor's side had risen, Wei Chao's eyes were red with jealousy.

Wei Zhongxian's status went without saying, and Chen Hong's position was also very high. Only he, Wei Chao, had been sent to Liaodong to endure several years of hardship — what kind of nonsense was that?

Now that he had returned to His Majesty's side, he was still being squeezed out by Chen Hong, holding virtually no power or influence in his hands.

Under such circumstances, how could Wei Chao be satisfied in his heart? He too wanted to gain His Majesty's favor, he too wanted to rise to prominence.

Now hearing that His Majesty had a task for him, how could he not be excited?

For Wei Chao, this was an opportunity — an opportunity to rise to prominence!

This was the opportunity he had long awaited, and at this moment he naturally could not say he was incapable.

Wei Chao knelt directly on the ground and said with absolute certainty, "Rest assured, Your Majesty, this servant will definitely get the job done!"

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "It's good that you have such confidence. This task is extremely important. Besides doing it well, you must also keep it secret — you absolutely must not let any information leak out. If word gets out, you know what the consequences will be."

"Rest assured, Your Majesty, this servant will not let anything leak." Wei Chao quickly agreed.

As for His Majesty's orders, Wei Chao had no intention of slacking off in the slightest — he would work hard to accomplish this task.

As for leaking information, that was even more impossible.

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "They will soon be establishing a library, and they will also build a church. I want you to oversee them."

Upon hearing this, Wei Chao was stunned.

What kind of task was this?

Logically speaking, this was not something he should be doing. No matter what was being built there, he had no need to manage it. Such matters were not important — even a minor clerk could handle them.

Wei Chao hesitated, not knowing what to say.

"This is only the surface." Zhu Youxiao looked at Wei Chao and continued, "On the surface, you are to cooperate with them, coordinate relations between the government offices and various parties, and help them get things done. In reality, there are other matters."

Upon hearing this, Wei Chao breathed a sigh of relief.

So there was a secret mission.

That was good.

Secret missions were very important for people like them, because only if you could carry out secret missions for the Emperor did it mean you were his trusted confidant. If you had never done dirty work for the Emperor, how could you have the face to call yourself his confidant?

"I have already agreed to let them build a church — but I only agreed." Zhu Youxiao looked at Wei Chao and said directly.

This statement, Zhu Youxiao only said here to Wei Chao; later he would absolutely not tell anyone else, and if someone asked, he would not admit it.

After all, the Emperor's word must count — the Son of Heaven, whose every word carries the weight of nine tripods. Such matters of saying one thing earlier and not honoring it later absolutely could not be spread abroad.

If this news leaked, Wei Chao would come to no good end.

Upon hearing this, Wei Chao lowered his head and paid it no mind.

For Wei Chao, whatever His Majesty said was right. A bunch of foreigners — what difference did it make whether they were agreed to or not? What could they possibly do, jumping up and down?

Zhu Youxiao looked at Wei Chao, very satisfied with his performance. Zhu Youxiao continued, "The library must be built first. Tell them the library is to be funded by themselves — I will not pay a single coin for them. This library must be built large, large enough."

Wei Chao listened while silently calculating in his mind just how large this library would need to be built. Would building it as large as an official's mansion be enough?

Zhu Youxiao did not bother checking whether Wei Chao was taking it in, and continued, "Besides the books they bring themselves, the Great Ming's own books must also be collected and catalogued by category. When the time comes, I will give you a blueprint, and the library will be built according to that blueprint — the money will come from them. As for how grand the library project should be, build it to the standard of an imperial mausoleum."

Upon hearing this, Wei Chao was so shocked his mouth could fit an egg.

The current Emperor had always been extremely frugal; after ascending the throne he had even halted construction within the palace, and for the mausoleums of the two previous emperors, he had saved wherever possible.

But even with the savings, they were still imperial mausoleums — their cost was enough to be frightening.

If the library were built to such a standard, how much money would it cost?

Even if those foreigners were rich, this was no way to spend money!

Wei Chao finally understood — His Majesty wanted to squeeze every last drop out of those people's money, and then build a grand repository of books for the Great Ming.

"Yes, Your Majesty. This servant knows what to do." Wei Chao quickly agreed. "For the first phase of the project, I plan to build for ten years first; if ten years is not enough, then build for another ten years."

Zhu Youxiao shot Wei Chao an appreciative glance.

Very good — he could grasp his intentions. Excellent!

"This library will be built in the new city. I will set aside a plot of land beside the Confucian Temple, specifically for building this library. You need not worry about anything else."

"Once the foreigners from various regions arrive in the capital, I will have residences prepared for them there, and they will all move in. Your task is to keep an eye on them and make them translate all the books they have brought into the language of the Great Ming."

In this era, although the Great Ming had not fallen far behind other countries in the world, it had already begun to lag in the natural sciences. Especially in various aspects, it was even more backward in ideology and thought, and its pursuit of science was also lagging behind.

This batch of books was truly, enormously important to the Great Ming. If not for these books, Zhu Youxiao wouldn't have bothered to humor these foreigners at all.

Moreover, as time went on, more and more foreigners would come to the Great Ming. Zhu Youxiao wanted to use these people to set an example — he would have word spread later to attract even more Westerners.

As for these foreigners once they arrived in the capital, naturally they would be put to work translating books and conducting research. Zhu Youxiao would have some of them work at the Hundred Crafts Institute, researching alongside its staff.

In short, it was about knowing people and assigning them according to their strengths — whatever they were good at, that's what they would do.

If they wanted to preach, they would have to wait. The Great Ming's faith could not be left to their chaotic, scrambling, jumping-around style of proselytizing.

Preach what, exactly?

Zhu Youxiao would restrict these foreigners' range of contact, not letting them run wild.

As for how to make these foreigners give up — very simple. Make them revise their doctrines, and then the Great Ming would sow discord among them, getting them to split into two sects and fight each other for a while first.

Beyond that, construction of the church would be dragged out — in any case, if the library wasn't finished, the church wouldn't be built.

In one sentence: work, work, work!

But these thoughts, Zhu Youxiao would never share with anyone.

Once these foreigners were gathered together, Zhu Youxiao would plant a large number of spies among them to monitor them at all times, seeing who was dangerous and who held radical ideas.

Such dangerous people were like a single rotten mouse dropping in the soup — unworthy of remaining in our great Celestial Dynasty, and should simply be eliminated.

There was no need to say any of this to Wei Chao either. Wei Chao's task was simply to build the library and have these foreigners translate books.

Wei Chao listened seriously to Zhu Youxiao's words. Though he could piece together some of the meaning in his heart, he was still far from grasping it all. But he knew that as long as he did the task before him well, there would be no problem.

Wei Chao bowed respectfully and said, "Your Majesty can rest assured — this servant will see the matter done properly!"

"Good, I trust you!" Zhu Youxiao smiled warmly and harmlessly, his words brimming with confidence.

The news spread quickly.

His Majesty was going to build a massive library in the new city to house all manner of texts and classics, including some of the foreigners' books. This came as quite a surprise to people.

For a time, opinions were divided, but the majority of voices were supportive.

After all, building such a library — or rather, a repository of books — was something that only happened in prosperous eras. Everyone present was a scholar; there was no reason not to support it.

As for the matter of the foreigners, Xu Guangqi had roughly learned of it as well, and felt somewhat relieved in his heart.

For a time, the atmosphere in the capital actually turned harmonious. Fewer people bothered to make an issue of what Zhu Youxiao had done in Mongolia.

Still, some kept watching, and routine memorials of impeachment continued to be sent into the palace.

Zhu Youxiao simply stayed inside the palace and refused to come out.

Those who impeached Zhu Youxiao quietly left the capital one by one. The reasons varied — some were transferred, some were dismissed, and some were even promoted.

Only, the places those promoted people were sent to were all posts that ordinary people were reluctant to take.

As time passed, such memorials grew fewer and fewer.

And at this moment, the Emperor released word that he would be selecting new Grand Secretaries for the Grand Secretariat.

Zhu Youxiao's move served two purposes: on the one hand, to divert attention; on the other, to deal with those who raised problems.

The matter of Mongolia soon died down.

Zhu Youxiao had holed up in the palace for over two months, and had finally recovered, regaining some vigor and spirit.

At last, he walked out of the palace.