Chapter 1071: On the Solitary Ruler

Chen Jingyi was extremely respectful toward Sun Kehong; "respectful" was not even enough to describe it—it was more like filial piety.

Even Sun Kehong sometimes could not tell if Chen Jingyi was sincere or feigning affection. This kind of filial piety left Sun Kehong, a man who had spent his entire life struggling in the business world, somewhat confused.

Watching Sun Kehong's shifting expression, Chen Jingyi smiled and said, "Master gave the position of Merchant Chief to me; this is my good fortune. Master need not explain. I know that the Merchant Chief is appointed by the Imperial Court, and Master has no power to appoint one. Of course, I also know the Court does not like to be offended. These things, Master has taught me for half a lifetime; they have long been carved into my heart."

"When Master left office, His Majesty personally summoned you. This is Imperial favor. With this favor, the Songjiang Dai Fuya, as a major shareholder, must consider Master's opinion. Master's recommendation carries immense weight."

"Why did Master choose to recommend me?"

Sun Kehong said very bluntly, "I have worked hard my whole life, and only the Songjiang Ocean Trading Firm is worth showing off. It can be considered a contribution to the Great Ming's state and society. I cannot let it be ruined in the hands of Sun Chengzhi."

"He had a huge argument with me at home today. The firm took 800,000 silver to plant trees in Shaanxi, Gansu, and Sui. He is unhappy; he thinks that is all his money, and he made a scene with me."

Sun Kehong looked out the window, somewhat distracted, and said, "My father once transported salt from Yangzhou to Datong Prefecture, exchanged it for salt permits in Datong, and returned to Yangzhou. At that time, my father told me that the Great Ming might face the disaster of collapse, because along those six thousand li he traveled, ten mountains were nine barren—all bald mountains."

"Trees and fragrant grasses can reveal the rise and fall of a nation; this is no empty talk."

"In the twenty-ninth year of Jiajing, there was the barbarian invasion, coupled with a great drought in Shaanxi, Gansu, and Sui. The people of Shanxi and Shaanxi had nowhere to turn and could only become refugees. These refugees flooded into Henan, Huguang, and other places. At that time, the Grand Secretary and Imperial Tutor Zhang Taiyue was living in leisure at home and saw those refugees, which was why he made up his mind to return to the Court and save the heavens from tilting."

"The refugees entered Henan and Huguang and caused many disturbances; even the various prefectures of the Southern Yamen could not be spared. As these refugees walked, those who lived to reach Nanjing City were all desperate outlaws."

"The Great Ming is a whole. Sun Chengzhi cannot even understand the 'Treatise on Public and Private,' nor does he understand the saying, 'When the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact.' He talks incessantly about the money our Sun family earned and asks why we should give it away for free to people far away whom we will never see in our lives."

"Sigh."

Sun Kehong had a sense of patriotism. After reading the "Treatise on Public and Private," he suddenly saw the light. The Sun family had everything they had now because the Great Ming was changing for the better. The Sun Kehong and Sun Keyi brothers had seized the opportunities of the Wanli Reform to achieve all this. With the Japanese pirates and sea bandits raging so fiercely, how could their family business have grown so large?

But Sun Chengzhi did not understand. He had himself and the Sun family in his heart, but he lacked the concept of "public." He never knew that without a country, there is no home.

The Sun family did not worry about food or clothing, nor did they lack for anything. Furthermore, because of Imperial favor, they had never once been troubled by the Imperial Court.

But Sun Chengzhi felt the Court was too controlling. When the Court cracked down on the Extreme Joy Sect, the Sun family had to stop their most profitable business—the pleasure boat trade. Sun Chengzhi felt the Court's decrees were delaying his family from making money.

Sun Kehong had explained the logic ten thousand times, but Sun Chengzhi could not listen, nor could he understand.

If Sun Chengzhi really became the Merchant Chief of the Ocean Trading Firm, their Sun family would truly become a laughingstock of the world, and even leave a bad name for ten thousand years. History would have to record that about their family. This was the reason Sun Kehong finally made up his mind to recommend Chen Jingyi; the children were simply too disappointing.

Chen Jingyi sat closer to Sun Kehong, his face full of smiles, and said brightly, "Since Master recommended me to be Merchant Chief, in the future, I cannot recommend my son to be Merchant Chief. Master obviously did not think of this layer; let me share my thoughts."

"Because if I were to recommend my son as Merchant Chief, I would have to face a problem: Master's son did not become Merchant Chief, so why should I engage in 'father dies, son inherits'? Am I stronger than Master, who built the Ocean Trading Firm from nothing? I cannot answer this question, so I cannot achieve 'father dies, son inherits'."

"Master, Duke Wencheng did not give the Official Factory to his son Wang Qian. Vice Minister Ling could not give the Official Factory to his son; it could only be returned to the Court."

"Vice Minister Ling also has to answer this question: Are his achievements and merits in the Official Factory truly greater than those of Duke Wencheng? As long as someone feels they are not great enough and disagrees, there will always be people refuting him, and his son will not be able to control the Official Factory."

"That barbarian Lu Song said that the Great Ming is a Heavenly Dynasty. I have been there three or five times, and he is very right. Order is something invisible and untouchable, but if I do not respect it, it will punish me, because it violates the consensus."

Ling Yunyi's lifelong reputation was sold for tens of thousands of taels of silver because his son cheated in the imperial examinations. Although His Majesty used the 'Eight Deliberations' to gloss over the matter, Ling Yunyi could not pass it on even if he wanted to.

If the Official Factory cannot have 'father dies, son inherits,' then under Sun Kehong's active abdication, the merchant groups and firms of the people, and in the future the ocean trading firms of the five Maritime Trade Offices, cannot have 'father dies, son inherits.' This establishes new rules and new order.

Chen Jingyi would not really do anything to Sun Chengzhi; instead, he would discipline them well and let them live a life of wealth. This is also establishing rules and building a new order. The next Merchant Chief will not exterminate his descendants, otherwise, it would violate the order.

"Eh? That Western barbarian Lu Song actually sees things so accurately?" Sun Kehong immediately understood what Chen Jingyi was saying, and also understood that even if he died, whether it was true feeling or false intent, Chen Jingyi would remain consistent and continue to be this 'filial.'

Public order, good customs, and order are invisible and untouchable, yet they have far-reaching influence.

This is conducive to the long-term stability of the five ocean trading firms. The five firms were originally a compromise by the Court. The scholar-officials of the Court are actually very unskilled at doing business, and direct management of goods by the Yamen would inevitably lead to rigidity.

Under the general situation of opening the seas, letting merchants manage commercial goods while the Court manages the merchants is this kind of compromise. If the five ocean trading firms can truly become public firms or companies, the significance will be completely different.

This means that the five firms can survive for a long time, achieving long-term stability. All shareholders will benefit greatly, and these people will spontaneously maintain the survival of the firms.

"Therefore, Master need not worry about so many things. Even if the sixth son changes, even if his heart is covered by lard, what heaven-defying, people-resenting major event could he possibly commit?" Chen Jingyi told Sun Kehong to set his mind at ease.

Sun Kehong frowned and said, "If it can really be done, these five firms might coexist with the nation. Truly, I have done a great thing inadvertently."

"The owners of the five firms are almost all pioneering nobles. Although the Great Ming hinterland does not recognize this pioneering nobility, they can be considered pioneering heroes. Coexisting with the nation is not such a strange thing." Chen Jingyi tactfully reminded Sun Kehong again that Sun Kehong still held the status of a Third-Class Count of Yuanxu; this was an official status, a protective talisman.

"Indeed." Sun Kehong nodded repeatedly. This heart-to-heart talk had thoroughly broken down and shredded the problem to make it clear.

Chen Jingyi was a smart man. His current status and power were all given by the old man before him. To maintain his status and power, he would not make any excessive moves. If he really rebelled against the heavens, he would lose the foundation of his foothold.

In the game of life, one can only have no regrets after making a move.

The things that happened between Sun Kehong and Chen Jingyi were all small matters, but they were both among the top powerful and wealthy families in Songjiang Prefecture. Whatever happened, the Songjiang Yamen knew about it. Hu Junde treated the two like father and son and was happy to see it happen.

Even if it was an act, for the sake of the Great Ming's great cause of opening the seas, it had to be acted out to the end.

Hu Junde was currently launching a verbal attack on Wang Qian!

Duke Wencheng was gone, yet Wang Qian actually relied on his personal friendship with His Majesty to demand that the 6 million guan of treasure notes that should have been given to Luzon be sent to Luzon. Is that Luzon's treasure note that you are demanding? Do you think Duke Wencheng is still here?

Hu Junde dug out all the memorials from when Wang Qian intercepted the Luzon treasure notes and copied them to Wang Qian without changing a word.

"Unless Governor Wang can persuade His Majesty to increase issuance, not a single guan of the treasure notes that belong to Songjiang Prefecture will reach Luzon. Give him 2 million guan, and he should be content! Luzon is short of money, but is Songjiang Prefecture not short of money?" Hu Junde finished writing the letter and blew the ink dry. Using someone else's words to block their own mouth—this feeling was indeed very satisfying.

The private secretary whispered, "Will Prefect Hu be too hurtful to Governor Wang by saying this?"

Was there any more vicious method than returning words to the other party without changing a word? The literary battles between scholar-officials were relatively refined; if they fought directly, it would be somewhat disgraceful.

"Hurt him? I have no way to promise him. If I promise him, how will the powerful and wealthy families of Songjiang Prefecture look at me? If they have no treasure notes to use, they will probably point at my nose at the public meeting and curse me for being incompetent. If you can do it, do it; if you can't, get out!" Hu Junde waved his hands repeatedly. In his position, he must seek his own administration. Sitting in the position of Prefect of Songjiang, he had to fight for the interests of Songjiang Prefecture.

Songjiang Prefecture is a thoroughfare for nine provinces. No matter how much money is poured in, it is as if nothing was poured in. It is severely short of money. The money famine and silver congestion exist simultaneously. The local experts in Songjiang had long ago studied it clearly; it is a very normal economic phenomenon.

"Should this article by Chen Zhun be sent to the Imperial Court? Our Songjiang Prefecture knows about this social sentiment, but it is a bit difficult not to report it to the Court. Reporting it to the Court is a bit presumptuous." The private secretary asked, somewhat unsure, as he placed a miscellaneous newspaper on the table.

"Report it. His Majesty most resents knowing but not reporting. If one's ability is insufficient, His Majesty is willing to lend a helping hand and willing to give help to capable officials who do things. But knowing and not reporting is cutting oneself off from the Court. Just report it up." Hu Junde memorialized the events happening in Songjiang Prefecture to the Imperial Court.

When Zhu Yijun received the memorial, it was already the eighteenth day of the twelfth lunar month. He looked at the miscellaneous newspaper in front of him, and then at the memorials from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites.

The Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War jointly memorialized to request that before the Emperor's southern tour and stay in Songjiang Prefecture every March, a spring review be held in Shuntian Prefecture—that is, a grand review of troops and horses in front of the Meridian Gate; in September, when the Emperor returns to the capital, a fleet review be held in Songjiang Prefecture. This is considered to have determined the tour rites, and it will be done this way in the future.

And the miscellaneous newspaper presented by Hu Junde was highly relevant to this matter.

The author of this miscellaneous newspaper was named Chen Zhun, a teacher at the Shanghai University. Previously, when Shen Shixing conducted a loyalty screening at the university, this Chen Zhun was found to have accepted benefits and written articles criticizing the Court's decrees.

Zhu Yijun specifically pardoned Chen Zhun, because among the many articles he wrote, seven stood on the side of the poor and suffering, and one, "The Back Basket," was even reprinted by the Emperor in the Court Gazette and published to the world.

Since being pardoned, Chen Zhun no longer accepted silver to write articles, and the sharpness of his pen became even more incisive. Collecting social sentiment from various places and sending it to the Imperial presence is considered part of the "Gongche Minister" (scholars submitting memorials) since ancient times, and also part of the institutional construction of the "Langmiao" (Court) policy discussion.

This article by Chen Zhun was quite bold, titled "On the Solitary Ruler."

"The Emperor of the Great Ming is different from the emperors of past dynasties. The Emperor of the Great Ming has no solid supporters and is a true solitary ruler in the long history." Zhu Yijun read the first sentence and felt that this guy was becoming bolder and bolder.

Shang and Zhou shared the same origin. The Shang kings and Zhou kings sacrificed to heaven and earth to the same ancestors, which meant that they were essentially one family. Therefore, the Shang kings' firm political allies were very clear—they were the feudal lords of the same bloodline who were enfeoffed throughout the world. The solid supporters of Shang and Zhou were also these enfeoffed feudal lords.

The firm allies of the Great Qin royal family were the old Qin people under the Shang Yang Reform and the system of military merit and noble titles. The old Qin people were very good at fighting, but as the First Emperor swallowed the world and failed to fulfill his promises to the old Qin people, the old Qin people chose Liu Bang.

The political allies of the Western Han and Eastern Han were two completely different groups of people. The Western Han relied on maternal relatives; whether it was Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, or Huo Guang, these were all maternal relative groups. Unfortunately, with the Witchcraft Disaster at the end of Emperor Wu of Han's reign, the Liu family and the maternal relatives grew further and further apart.

In the Eastern Han, the great clans were the firm political allies of imperial power. Of course, as the great clans grew in power, usurpation became inevitable.

After the Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Guanlong military merit group gradually became the firm allies of the Sui and Tang. With the corruption of the Guanlong group and the Fubing system, the Tang royal family, having lost its firm allies, began the situation of the Son of Heaven moving the capital nine times and falling six times, and the pattern of regional warlords.

The firmest allies of the Song Dynasty were naturally the scholar-officials who "governed the world with scholar-officials." Although they were not good at military affairs, they were prosperous in culture. Despite losing battle after battle in wars, the cultural prosperity was considered stable.

The firmest allies of the Yuan royal family were the Han lords who followed Kublai to pacify Helin and Longcheng. As the Han lords' dissatisfaction with the Yuan nobles grew, they eventually parted ways. The Yuan Dynasty lasted for a hundred years, then died, and fled to the Mobei.

The Great Ming has no political allies or interest groups highly bound to the royal family. This is the core content of Chen Zhun's article. The Emperor of the Great Ming is truly a solitary ruler.

In this system, theoretically, the Emperor is the possessor of the highest power, the dictator, and the decision-maker. On the surface, this system has many benefits. Without a highly bound interest group, it means no collective has the ability to challenge imperial power.

The political ecology is highly stable, and the struggles of bureaucrats will not be as tragic as in the two Song dynasties, nor will there be regional warlordism. It can also use administrative power to reduce bureaucratic institutional corruption and moral decline, among other benefits.

But in the actual execution process, it is not so, because of the lack of supporters, the Emperor's decisions often cannot be implemented;

Because imperial power lacks supporters, bureaucrats as a whole have the ability to actually challenge imperial power (Yang Tinghe, Yang Shen);

Politics is indeed stable, but rigidity and bloat are visible to everyone, and bureaucratic struggles are also very tragic. Hu Zongxian died in the heavenly prison, and bureaucratic institutional corruption and moral decline were also the focus of the Wanli Reform.

After this system has been running for more than two hundred years, the lack of a firm political alliance and interest group bound to imperial power has become the most fatal loophole in the Great Ming Dynasty.

So, in the Wanli Reform, has the Great Ming Emperor found his firm allies?

When Chen Zhun concluded, it was a question, not a conclusion. He dared not continue, because in Chen Zhun's view, the Wanli Reform did not solve this fundamental problem. Great Ming imperial power still lacks firm supporters and political allies.

"He still knows a bit of awe and did not say everything he wanted to say! Next chapter, Songjiang Prefecture, after the New Year, let him squat in the Songjiang Prefecture Zhenfusi Yamen for ten days, and let Hou Yuzhao collect his meal money and room money!" Zhu Yijun flipped through the miscellaneous newspaper and decided to arrest him, lock him up for ten days, and give him a slight punishment.

The charge is "pointing at the imperial carriage," which means pointing at the Emperor's carriage and cursing. Discussing the drawbacks of imperial power is "great disrespect." This punishment is really very, very light.

Lu Song has been locked up so many times and nothing happened. If this were a few decades later, a single sentence of "the breeze flips the books" would involve the nine clans.

Letting Chen Zhun squat in prison for ten days is to maintain rites and laws; meal money and room money is not to waste the national treasury and inner treasury; only squatting for ten days without other punishments is because Chen Zhun is right.

The collective of Great Ming bureaucrats has been working against the Emperor openly and secretly since the founding of the Great Ming, and emperors of past dynasties often only had two choices.

First, overwork, being so diligent that everything is handled personally, just like the current Majesty, to firmly grasp the power of government;

Second, heavily use the factory and guards, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Eastern Depot's agents—these secret agents—relying on them to firmly grasp power when negligent. The harm of this is known to everyone.

Zhu Yijun grasps both hands, and both hands are hard. On one hand, his diligence is seen by everyone; on the other hand, the notorious Tax Collection Institute is important proof that the Emperor is a tyrant.

The topic he raised, although sharp, was not nonsense. Since the Wanli Reform, imperial power still has not found its firm supporters, political allies, or a collective with highly bound interests.

The Beijing Camp certainly counts, but it can only count as His Majesty's supporters, not the Great Ming's supporters. Chen Zhun discussed this briefly in the miscellaneous newspaper. Everyone understands that before the Great Ming Yiwei military system is completed, the Beijing Camp is only His Majesty's personal supporters, not imperial power's supporters.

The craftsmen in the official factories certainly count, but the collective of resident craftsmen is not stable enough, and they currently lack sufficient strength; only when the number of *jinshi* who come from a craftsman background grows to over thirty percent can they be considered stable and solid supporters.

Chen Zhun mentioned an unexpected group: the Zhejiang commoners after the land return. These people can be considered the Emperor's supporters, but they are neither powerful nor stable enough.

To put Chen Zhun's words as clearly as possible: the Emperor needs to cultivate a privileged class that guards imperial power to ensure he is not offended, rather than continuing to be a lonely, isolated ruler.

Actually, in the design of the Hongwu system, there was such a group of people: the Ming imperial clan. But as the policy of banning the feudal princes tightened after the Jingnan Campaign, the imperial clan became prisoners rather than firm allies. The Jingnan Campaign itself also demonstrated the unreliability of the imperial clan; there have been countless imperial clansmen who rebelled throughout the dynasties. They are so close to the throne that they inevitably breed greed.

In the design of the Yongle system, there was also such a group of people: the Ming military nobility. But as the Ming Emperor Yingzong was young and the state was suspicious, and after the head of the military nobility, Duke of Ying Zhang Fu, was forced out of court, the Emperor also lost the military nobility as supporters.

Since the Zheng-tong era, the Emperor finally became a lonely, isolated ruler.

The Ming is currently utilizing land return, official factories, camp soldiers, and engineer corps to establish a batch of new supporters. Land return produces sufficient agricultural surplus to support the resident craftsmen in official factories; the capital camps and border camps select sufficiently good soldiers from the resident craftsmen of official factories and military colonies; and after the camp soldiers retire, they go to the engineer corps or take up local posts to maintain the Emperor's rule.

Once this set of systems can be fully implemented, direct and realistic violence will ensure that the fruits of the Wanli Reform are not stolen by others.

"I want to live well until the sixtieth year of Wanli." Zhu Yijun took a deep breath. Chen Zhun had mentioned a strange but reasonable standard: the Emperor's lifespan.

This set of institutional construction will take about thirty years to become a semi-finished product, with the danger of being reversed and liquidated. Counting from the tenth year of Wanli, when the Wanli Reform first had results, fifty years would be enough for it to reach full fruition.

The reason it is counted from the tenth year of Wanli is that the first ten years were all under Zhang Juzheng's regency, laying the foundation for the Wanli Reform. Before that, it could only be called the Zhang Juzheng Reform; now, it can be collectively referred to as the Wanli Reform.

This calculation method was first proposed by Zhu Yijun, and afterwards, everyone followed this basic logic.

Zhu Yijun once intended to give Zhang Juzheng the temple name of "Ming She Zong." He has not given up on this idea even now. If Zhang Juzheng passes away and someone really insists on reversing and liquidating Zhang Juzheng, feeling that Zhang Juzheng does not deserve the posthumous title of "Wenzheng," "Ming She Zong" is a card in Zhu Yijun's hand.

History is the history of the ruthless triumphing over the mindless.

Isn't it just a competition to see who is crazier? Let's see who the real madman is.

Zhu Yijun's craziest plan was that if the Wanli Reform really caused the whole world to rebel, he would lead the capital camps to conquer the world again. Unfortunately, the Ming's powerful and influential families did not give Zhu Yijun the chance to go crazy.

Chen Zhun proposed a strange quantitative standard: for Zhu Yijun, this Emperor, to live until the sixtieth year of Wanli would be the great success of the Wanli Reform. This standard is so intuitive and clear.

Even if the sixtieth year of Wanli arrives and His Majesty still hasn't built the "five-room large tile-roofed house," it doesn't matter, because the things left behind by His Majesty's Wanli Reform will eventually build the five-room large tile-roofed house well.

Politics possesses extremely powerful inertia; this inertia is sufficient to ripen everything.

Zhu Yijun gave his vermilion approval to the joint memorial from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War, approving the adjustment of the time for the spring and autumn reviews. He began to grind away again, processing various memorials. The first thing was to lavishly reward a large group of Ming civil officials and military generals stationed in Korea and Japan.

Among them, the Korean military generals were led by the father and son Du Qiaolin and Du Shizhong. Du Qiaolin was also one of the 132 star generals of the Eastern Expedition, remaining in Korea to guard it. After Ling Yunyi left Korea, Du Qiaolin became the Viceroy of Korea, overseeing all affairs of Korea.

Recently, Du Qiaolin established fourteen military colony guards in Korea. For this military merit, the imperial court granted him the title of Earl of Qingning.

As for the civil officials stationed in Japan, they were led by the Viceroy of Iwami, Zhu Zheng. Zhu Zheng was a *jinshi* of the fifth year of Longqing, traveling from Yanzhou Prefecture in Shandong to the Iwami Silver Mine. When Xiong Tingbi was at the Iwami Silver Mine, Zhu Zheng was the Viceroy of Military Affairs.

Although this person is a civil *jinshi*, his martial arts are not bad. He lacks initiative but has more than enough ability to hold his ground. Guarding the Iwami Silver Mine is equivalent to guarding the Ming's purse.

The Ministry of Rites memorialized one thing: the imperial examination is to be held next spring. This is also the first time for Korean scholars to enter the imperial court for the grace examination. The imperial court also attaches great importance to it, but because they have to compete with Zhejiang for the quota of *jinshi*, it makes the Korean scholars very troubled.

The Korean scholars, who have just recovered from the Japanese scourge, are simply no match for the scholars of Zhejiang.

The meaning of the Grand Minister of Rites, Shen Li, is that since there was an imperial decree in the thirteenth year of Wanli, it is better not to change it at will. Zhejiang's literary education is extremely prosperous; if a quota is taken away by Korean scholars, it would be Zhejiang's loss. It is better to give the Zhejiang literati some pressure.

Zhu Yijun gave his vermilion approval to this memorial and set the rules. How can there be a reason to change imperial orders from morning to evening? Even if Zhejiang's land return is a great success, he has not forgotten the great fire in Renhe County, Hangzhou.

Only punishment that is executed in place is punishment. Land return is for the prosperity of the Ming, and the reduction of the *jinshi* quota is the true punishment Zhu Yijun uses to maintain the authority of imperial power.

The Minister of Justice and Grand Minister of Justice, Wang Jiaping, memorialized an interesting event in Guangzhou Prefecture: a group of Indians, after landing at Dianbai Port in Guangzhou Prefecture, were directly detained by the soldiers of the Maritime Trade Office, and then transferred to the Guangzhou Ocean Trading Firm to be repatriated to the Mughal Empire.

The ruling class of the Mughal Empire is Turkicized Mughals, while the ruled are Indians. This term is a Sanskrit transliteration from the Sui and Tang dynasties, which is to say, people of Tian Zhu. This group of people was arrested as soon as they got off the boat, and the reason for the arrest was unauthorized entry into the Ming, to be repatriated according to the law.

In the "Articles on Unauthorized Entry of Overseas Barbarians," there are very strict requirements for barbarians entering the Ming.

If they are staying in the City of Ten Thousand Nations for a short time, they must have a boat ticket to leave, and the person must leave with the boat; they are not allowed to stay beyond the time limit. If there is no clear return date, they are directly expelled and repatriated. Moreover, entering a Ming port requires carrying sufficient wealth, and only goods worth more than fourteen silver will be allowed entry.

This group of Tian Zhu people, 121 people on one boat, only had goods worth 1,400 *qian*, which converted to only two silver. They also did not have a boat ticket to leave. The naval soldiers immediately took them down according to the regulations and transferred them to the Guangzhou Dai Fuya. After the Guangzhou Dai Fuya made a ruling, they transferred them to the Ocean Trading Firm to execute the repatriation.

"I'm afraid they were directly castrated and sent to the Nanyang plantations." Zhu Yijun frowned. The Maritime Trade Office and Guangzhou Prefecture strictly executed the imperial court's regulations; there was no problem with this point, and the Yamen was very law-abiding. But letting the Ocean Trading Firm execute the repatriation was a bit strange.

Zhang Hong said very sincerely: "Your Majesty is wise."

"Did they really do that?" Zhu Yijun was startled. He was just saying it casually, and it hit the mark.

Zhang Hong said definitely: "Yes, Eunuch Li sent back news from Guangzhou Prefecture that they did indeed do that. They were all sent to the Nanyang plantations; they are severely lacking people there."