Chapter 174: Sustainable Humiliation

At the same time the Great Ming's outer court began to investigate the evils of corruption and bribery, the inner court also began to investigate the evils of corruption and bribery.

Investigating eunuch corruption was extremely magical.

It was so magical that when Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at Feng Bao's memorial, he thought he had misread it. Just as prostitutes have many lovers, eunuch corruption had been taken for granted since ancient times.

Zhu Zhu Yijun told Feng Bao that the Great Ming ship was leaking from the top, mainly regarding the miscellaneous affairs of the Imperial Palace. Regarding eunuch corruption, Zhu Zhu Yijun held a reserved opinion. Reserved meant not opposing, and not opposing meant that as long as you didn't go too far, I would pretend not to know.

Feng Bao knew the Emperor's attitude very well, but the problem was that Zhang Hong was eyeing him covetously, wanting to oust him, the "Old Ancestor." Corruption and indulgence in the palace were even more serious.

Feng Bao had no choice but to investigate eunuch corruption because it had already affected the normal operation of the inner court.

Jin Cheng, the Imperial Attendant of the Nanjing Directorate of Ceremonial, and a group of Nanjing eunuchs embezzled a total of 324,000 taels of silver for the repair of the Nanjing Imperial Palace. They were sentenced to be beheaded.

Chen Bao, the eunuch in charge of weaving in Suzhou and Hangzhou, and a group of weaving eunuchs embezzled a total of 35,000 bolts of silk, including nearly 3,000 bolts of imperial satin. They were sentenced to be beheaded.

Jin Cheng was Feng Bao's man, and Chen Bao was Zhang Hong's man. Both were sentenced to be beheaded at the same time. They were not sentenced to be beheaded because of how much silver they embezzled, but because they had stretched their hands where they shouldn't have.

First was the repair of the Nanjing Imperial Palace. The Emperor indeed did not live in the Southern Capital, but this money could not be taken, especially when the central axis of the Northern Capital Imperial Palace had been burned clean. And they actually dared to embezzle 3,000 bolts of imperial satin—the imperial satin was exclusively for the royal family, and only 5,000 bolts were sent to the capital each year!

"Grand Attendant Zhang, do you have any objections? There are your people here too." Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at Feng Bao's memorial and asked for Zhang Hong's opinion.

"Don't beat the diligent, don't beat the lazy, just beat the blind. The national treasury and the inner treasury are empty. They don't think of His Majesty or the Lord, only of themselves. This is what deserves death." Zhang Hong did not oppose Feng Bao's plan to kill the style of corruption and bribery. If the inner court really wanted to kill this style, in the physical sense, they should be beheaded directly.

Zhang Hong believed that both groups of people deserved to die. Eunuchs, whether they were the "Old Ancestor's" or the "Second Ancestor's" people, were first and foremost His Majesty's people. Stretching their hands where they shouldn't have meant they deserved to die.

Zhu Zhu Yijun pondered for a moment, and while reviewing, said, "Then let them be poisoned to death. Leave them a whole corpse."

This was Zhu Zhu Yijun's greatest mercy.

The biting in the palace was more direct and bloody than in the outer court. According to palace rules, these eunuchs should have been sliced into a thousand pieces, but Zhu Zhu Yijun still gave them their final dignity.

The weaving eunuch who succeeded in Suzhou and Hangzhou was named Sun Long.

Zhu Zhu Yijun reviewed the memorials in the side hall of the Hall of Literary Brilliance. Originally, it should have been in the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, but the Palace of Earthly Tranquility had been lit. Zhu Zhu Yijun said to send them to the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility for review, but Zhang Zhang Juzheng disagreed. The reason for the disagreement was very strange: Zhang Zhang Juzheng said it was inconvenient because official documents had to be passed through the construction site, making them easy to lose.

Later, Zhu Zhu Yijun discovered that Zhang Zhang Juzheng's real reason was not that it was inconvenient, but that he truly didn't trust anyone.

This palace fire made Zhang Zhang Juzheng suspect that Empress Dowager Li was one of the masterminds, with the goal of continuing to monopolize the court.

The fire occurred after Empress Dowager Li moved to the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility. After the fire, Zhu Zhu Yijun moved to the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility to stay temporarily. Before moving, Empress Dowager Li held the power to review memorials in the Palace of Earthly Tranquility. In order not to let the power slip from her hands, she colluded with people outside the palace to start the fire and burn the palace. It was within reason.

Moreover, the Earl of Wuqing, Li Wei, had business dealings with the clan faction, especially Zhang Zhang Siwei.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng expressed it very vaguely. He talked about history, about the power struggle between Song Renzong and Empress Dowager Liu, about the battle between the Shizong Emperor and Empress Dowager Zhang, about Empress Lu in the early Han Dynasty, about Empress Wu Wu Zetian in the early Tang Dynasty, about the strange death of Emperor Jingtai Emperor's son Zhu Zhu Jianji, about Emperor Jingtai Emperor having no sons, and about the "Seizing the Gate" incident.

The death of Emperor Jingtai Emperor's son, Crown Prince Zhu Zhu Jianji, even in the national history records, only had the word "died" (hong). It didn't say he died of illness, it didn't say he died of a sudden disease, only the word "died," which made people think wildly.

Power makes people look ugly, power makes people unable to stop, power is the ultimate poison of the human heart. Zhang Zhang Juzheng was afraid that the top level of the Great Ming would tear itself apart and cause chaos.

Zhu Zhu Yijun silenced Zhang Zhang Juzheng with one sentence: Since the third month of the second year of Emperor Wanli, because the Earl of Wuqing, Li Wei, asked for 4,000 silver to repair his house, which caused the nobles to request repairs for their houses, the memorials sent to the Palace of Earthly Tranquility were no longer read by the Holy Mother. They were all personally reviewed by him.

Empress Dowager Li's relinquishing of power was much earlier than the court officials thought. After the Earl of Wuqing, Li Wei, caused a little trouble, Empress Dowager Li stopped reading memorials. Anyway, the young Emperor could understand them and handle them properly. Why should Empress Dowager Li bother?

Recently, there was more silver in the palace. The Emperor rewarded the Earl of Wuqing, Li Wei, during festivals. Sometimes it was 500 or 1,000 taels, and sometimes it was 100 or 200 taels. He got about 10,000 taels a year.

After Zhang Zhang Juzheng was "seconded" by the little Emperor, he was stunned for a long time before saying: "The Holy Mother's virtue matches the Earth, containing all things and nurturing them; Your Majesty's path is as grand as the Heavens, bringing the four seas to peace."

It was very normal for Zhang Zhang Juzheng to have such a misunderstanding.

According to general practice, the conflict between the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, who were at the peak of power, was contradictory and unified. Since ancient times, they would produce conflicts, and they would be very intense. Just like that, she lightly relinquished power?

It was just that she lightly relinquished power.

Zhu Zhu Yijun still agreed to review memorials in the side hall of the Hall of Literary Brilliance. Zhang Zhang Juzheng didn't trust people's hearts; he only looked at the results of things.

The fire burned for more than half a month. Empress Dowager Li's focus was entirely on cleaning up the palace. She never thought about the memorials at all...

Finally, Zhang Zhang Juzheng was convinced that Empress Dowager Li really wasn't interested in power.

"The Earl of Marquis Ningyuan advanced 130 li from the Pinglu Fort, killed 320 thieves, and forced the invading Tuman tribes to retreat from Qinglong Fort before returning to the pass." Zhu Zhu Yijun took out a memorial. This was the memorial submitted by Zhang Zhang Xueyan and Hou Hou Yuzhao requesting merit for Li Li Chengliang.

This was the benefit of the existence of the Marquis Ningyuan Guard. Last year, the Khalkha five tribes of Tuman, Suobahai, invaded Liaodong. The Marquis Ningyuan Guard advanced to attack the enemy's must-save point, and Suobahai retreated. This spring, Tuman invaded the Marquis Ningyuan Guard, and Liaodong sent troops from Pinglu Fort to attack the enemy's must-save point, and Tuman had to retreat.

This was the pincer movement of attacking and defending.

Tuman Khan had good fortune, being served in turns by two newly promoted Great Ming military nobles, Qi in the south and Li in the north. How much good fortune did Tuman Khan have?

Zhu Zhu Yijun studied the official screen and gave his vermilion approval to this memorial.

The military value, economic value, and political value of the Marquis Ningyuan Guard were beyond doubt. Zhu Zhu Yijun would rather let Zhang Zhang Siwei, this base person, jump around for two more days than lose his footing in the Marquis Ningyuan Guard.

Zhu Zhu Yijun specifically ordered five bottles of "National Cellar" sweet potato liquor to be sent to Li Li Chengliang as a reward and thanks. It was also to thank him. The war did not happen in the Liaodong jurisdiction, and Li Li Chengliang could have stayed put, but Li Li Chengliang moved and forced Tuman Khan not to dare to move at will. In this way, everyone had their dignity. This was a good thing.

Even the Earl of Marquis Ningyuan himself was worried about Liaodong becoming a complete military governor's territory.

Zhu Zhu Yijun picked up another memorial. "The Censor of Yunnan, Guo Tingwu, said: In the early years of the dynasty, the capital had the Bao Yuan Bureau, and each province had a currency bureau. Since the Emperor Jiajing years, the provincial bureaus have been abolished, and the people's use is exhausted. Moreover, Yunnan produces copper but does not cast coins, instead buying them from overseas at high prices. Is this fattening others and damaging oneself? Who benefits and who suffers?"

This paragraph by the Yunnan Censor was very interesting. It talked about the Great Ming's currency system design, the time and reason for the corruption of the currency system, and also clamored for casting coins, while criticizing the court for buying copper from outside instead of developing it at home.

Now Yunnan wanted to keep the business of casting coins in Yunnan, while the court now had silver and wanted to cast coins at one of the three great ports, Chenglingji, which was the Yueyang river port. They wanted to invest five years of time, and all the profits from casting coins would be used to dredge the Yangtze River waterway and strengthen the communication between Yunnan and the hinterland.

Yunnan, of course, wanted to keep the business of casting coins in Yunnan. If done well, it would be a pillar industry, a vital interest, just like the Northwest wanting to put the wool official factories in the Northwest instead of the Yongding River bank twenty li from the capital.

The will of the Yunnan Censor to keep the business of casting coins in Yunnan was extremely firm. He changed his usual style of being in a remote border area and not participating in court party struggles, directly impeaching Zhang Zhang Juzheng for seeking profit for his hometown, saying that Zhang Zhang Juzheng was the leader of the Chu Party and a person from Huguang, and that setting the place for casting coins in Yueyang was for the benefit of his hometown!

And the court's idea was to practice reality. Casting coins in Yunnan would inevitably form a bottleneck of copper coins in Yunnan. History had already proven this.

Zhu Zhu Yijun gave his vermilion approval to this memorial, still casting coins in Yueyang.

But he also promised that after five years, the local Yunnan area could cast copper coins and compete with the hinterland's casting.

How could there be so many dilemmas that couldn't be solved? Everyone was having a hard time, so just try your best.

Yueyang casting had the first-mover advantage, and Yunnan casting had the production area advantage. Whoever cast more coins and cast better coins would be the leader.

Fighting crickets was a passive skill of the Great Ming Emperor. The Emperor Xuande Emperor liked fighting crickets very much.

The Criminal Censor Hao Weiqiao submitted a memorial opposing the Tax Inspection Room's tax inspection, saying that governing the country should prioritize the people, and prioritizing the people should prioritize the corvee silver and taxes. The Tax Inspection Room's tax inspection was extortionate, and the complaints were endless, etc. Zhu Zhu Yijun directly drew an 'X'. This was not based on the basic principles of tax inspection. Taxing the common people was not enough to cover the cost.

The court inspects taxes, and the powerful families shift them downwards. If the court doesn't inspect taxes, will the powerful families not annex land, not exploit the people, and not extort them?

Therefore, tax inspection must not only be done, but must be armed.

Shu Ao of Two Huai'an Prefecture submitted a memorial saying that on the tenth day of the first month, on the beach of Dongzou Mountain in Two Huai'an Prefecture, he saw twenty-two men with strange shapes and strange clothes. When asked, they all shook their heads and didn't speak. One person held a splint official document, which read: "Going to Jizhou for tribute and other items." The accent was unintelligible, and they could only write words like "East Wind Water." They were sent under guard to the Ministry.

The barbarians from Jizhoudao came to pay tribute. The boat of these twenty-two envoys was a small single-masted boat. When they set off, there were more than two hundred people, but when they arrived at the Great Ming, there were only twenty-two left. This fully interpreted how dangerous sea transport was.

This was a tribute envoy, hoping that the Great Ming could open a shipping route to Jizhoudao.

Zhu Zhu Yijun gave his vermilion approval to the Ministry of Rites to handle it well. The geographical location of Jizhoudao was extremely important. It could deter Korea and advance on Japan. If handled properly, it would be a springboard for the Great Ming on the sea.

The third batch of envoys was Li Li Houbai and Yin Yin Genshou from Korea. These two envoys requested the court to correct errors. The Great Ming wanted to compile the "Great Ming Collected Statutes," but the records of the ancestors of the Li Dynasty in the "Great Ming Collected Statutes" were wrong, and they requested corrections.

Since the "Great Ming Collected Statutes" were printed and published in the Hongzhi years, Korean envoys had been submitting memorials, saying that the Great Ming had compiled it wrong. The Great Ming recorded the founding monarch of the Li Dynasty, Li Li Chenggui, as the son of Li Li Renren.

This mistake happened during the Emperor Hongwu years, and Li Li Chenggui himself submitted a memorial, saying that he was not the son of Li Li Renren.

During the Yongle years, this mistake was finally corrected.

But in the Hongzhi years, this mistake appeared again in the "Great Ming Collected Statutes." Hearing that the court had plans to compile the "Great Ming Collected Statutes," and had appointed a chief editor, deputy chief editor, and opened a compilation office, they hurriedly sent envoys, hoping that it would not be wrong again this time.

Li Li Houbai and Yin Yin Genshou, these two people, were stunned when they entered the Meridian Gate. They were directly shocked!

The Emperor was receiving foreign envoys on the bare foundation. This was the first time in two hundred years that the vassal state envoys had been received. The Emperor received foreign envoys on the foundation, which was even more shabby than Korea.

During the first year of Emperor Wanli, when they came to congratulate the new Emperor on his ascension, there was so much magnificence in the Hall of Supreme Extremity. Now it was so shabby and shocking.

The Great Ming is the Great Ming. Even the party struggle is so magnificent!

The magnificent central axis buildings were all burned down in one fire.

Zhu Zhu Yijun agreed to Li Li Houbai and Yin Yin Genshou's request. The "Veritable Records of Taizu" also recorded this line: Li Li Chenggui said at the time that his father was not Li Li Renren. At that time, the Gao Emperor did not issue an edict to change it. The "Veritable Records of Taizong" also recorded this line: the bright edict changed this wrong point.

It was indeed wrong.

But in the Hongzhi years, under the public opinion of Neo-Confucianism and Mind-Learning, there were few people who studied history. Even the fact that the Literary Emperor personally issued an edict to correct the mistake was not known by many people. The mistake that had already been corrected was written into the "Great Ming Collected Statutes."

It is said that during the Hongzhi years of the Filial Emperor, literature and education were prosperous. But compiling the national statutes, even the fact that the Yongle Emperor personally issued an edict to correct the mistake could be omitted. Can this be considered prosperous literature and education?

Zhu Zhu Yijun had read the national history once and knew about it. Were those scholar-officials compiling the national statutes while lying on women's stomachs?

Li Li Houbai and Yin Yin Genshou were moved to tears when they saw the Emperor agree. The father of the founding monarch had been misremembered by the suzerain state, and now it was finally corrected in the new national statutes.

The fourth batch of envoys was from Ryukyu. The Ryukyu envoys presented fish oil and other items, bitterly scolded Japan, and requested the Great Ming navy to patrol Ryukyu, wipe out the Japanese pirates, and return peace to Ryukyu. Zhu Zhu Yijun expressed that the Great Ming was currently unable to reach them, but the Great Ming was invigorating its navy, and in a few years, they would inevitably go.

The Ryukyu envoys cried bitterly. How many years had it been? The Great Ming court had never loosened its mouth, and today they finally got a promise that could be considered a promise.

The fifth batch of envoys to enter the hall was Li Li Yashi. He could be considered an old acquaintance. Li Li Yashi had already had an audience with the Emperor twice, and this was his third audience.

After Li Li Yashi paid his respects respectfully, he looked at the empty foundation and couldn't help but sigh: "Wise, wise, invincible, supreme, and great Emperor, this humble outsider has some doubts. Has this magnificent and tall Hall of Supreme Extremity been burned down like this? Is this the wealth of the Great Ming?"

The Emperor had already begun to investigate the arson case in the palace. It was man-made, not a natural disaster. The rumors had long been spreading in the streets, and naturally, they had reached the ears of Li Li Yashi, who was in the capital.

"I always thought the stupid Francisco was the biggest fool on earth. He said it only took forty people to conquer the Great Ming, and later added it to 20,000 people. But now it seems he wasn't that stupid." Li Li Yashi used an aria-like tone and broken Chinese to mock the Great Ming Emperor.

If you don't get angry at this, Great Ming Emperor, you might as well not be Emperor in the future.

"Do you think 20,000 people are really enough?" Zhu Zhu Yijun asked calmly.

Li Li Yashi was "friend-nation astonished" for a moment, then hurriedly said respectfully: "Francisco is a fool. I am here, and I think 2 million people are not enough. The subjects loyal to the great Emperor and the subjects loyal to the Great Ming are the silent majority."

"Turning those loyal to the Emperor and the country into traitors is a mistake that shouldn't happen, although it always happens."

Using the burning of the Imperial Palace to mock him a few times and be astonished was enough. If he pushed his nose to his face, he would really be thrown into the Taiye Pool by the Great Ming Emperor to feed the fish.

"Are you here to join the fun, or do you have something to say?" Zhu Zhu Yijun asked. Today he was receiving envoys in a concentrated manner. Since Li Li Yashi also said he wanted an audience, he would just see him together.

Li Li Yashi smiled and said: "Actually, it's a small matter. Can the war in Luzon be paused? Or can it be peaceful? The Great Ming has been launching attacks on Mindanao, and I received a letter saying the situation is already very bad." Li Li Yashi said with great difficulty: "Conflict affects trade."

Zhu Zhu Yijun said with a bitter face: "Foreign envoy, you have also seen that I am at this age and have not yet personally governed. Even if I promise you, it won't count. Luzon is too far. Indeed, they have submitted to me, but Envoy Li Li Yashi, I cannot effectively restrain them, just as Philip II cannot effectively restrain the New World."

Zhang Zhang Juzheng looked up at His Majesty after hearing this. The Emperor accepted Li Li Yashi's gift but didn't do anything for him. Who did he learn this style of doing things from? Zhang Zhang Juzheng's student, Li Le.

Li Le was the first to start the precedent of accepting silver without doing things, followed by Fan Fan Yingqi and Wang Wang Jiaping. Now the young Emperor was like this too!

The young Emperor also said with a bitter face that Yin Yin Zhengmao, Zhang Zhang Yuanxun, and Deng Deng Zilong did not obey the court's orders. Is that possible? The Great Ming's first five-masted ocean-going ship was to be given to Yin Yin Zhengmao! Ask Yin Yin Zhengmao himself if he listens to the court's orders!

It was clearly the Emperor who issued the decree to continue expelling the red-haired barbarians!

Acting, keep acting!

"I kowtow and thank the imperial grace." After Xu Xu Wenbi thanked him, he left happily with the reward.

"Respectfully thank you for the holy grace." Li Li Yashi was exceptionally happy. Sending this back would completely satisfy Philip II's vanity. Philip II had been seeking marriage with the English Queen Elizabeth, but Elizabeth had been refusing to agree.

Spain had a long tradition of marriage and opening up territory.

Li Li Yashi left, and Zhu Zhu Yijun took the gold egg in his hand and observed it carefully, saying: "Grand Secretary, this is a precision machine. If any line is not precise enough, it will make the error larger. Small errors accumulated will make the time inaccurate. The people of the West use it for navigation, using time to measure their longitude."

"It is not shameful to admit that one is inferior to others. The Great Ming does not have the craftsmanship to make watches."

As Zhu Zhu Yijun said this, he stood up and went to the side hall of the Hall of Literary Brilliance, with Zhang Zhang Juzheng following closely behind.

In the side hall of the Hall of Literary Brilliance, the Great Ming Royal Laboratory, Zhu Zhu Yijun sat in front of the grand master's chair, carefully removed the hour hand, and then pried open the gold egg, revealing the movement inside.

Zhu Zhu Yijun observed the movement carefully: the mainspring, the escapement device, and the fusee. The mainspring provided power, the escapement device provided reciprocating motion, and the fusee compensated for the tension changes of the mainspring.

The escapement device was actually easy to understand, but the fusee was very difficult.

It was a conical disk with a raised spiral. The chain was wound on this disk and connected to the mainspring. When winding, the smaller the spiral diameter—the tighter the mainspring, the force at the end of the chain did not increase, outputting stably to the escapement device.

Zhu Zhu Yijun began to dismantle the device, took out the fusee, aimed it at the sunlight, and asked: "Grand Secretary, look at this line, is it very familiar?"

"Hmm?" Zhang Zhang Juzheng looked at it for a long time, took out a sheet from a stack of boards, and said: "Is it this mapping?"

The longitudinal section of the conical disk was actually a hyperbola of a cone, and its chain's performance on the fusee was a kind of spiral.

"The one from the West is not regular." Zhang Zhang Juzheng checked it carefully and said quite certainly. The Great Ming had the ability to make it more precise because the Great Ming possessed mathematical tools.

This was the benefit brought by the "Degree-Number Through-Pass" (Du Shu Pang Tong).

Zhu Zhu Yijun smiled and said: "Start by imitating this egg. First, we need spring steel, steel sheets with excellent elasticity, and then we need to manufacture gears. After imitating it, we still need to understand the function of these gears. Finally, we will make the Great Ming's egg."

"Precision machinery is not so easy to make. We need some patience."

"Leave it to you, Grand Secretary."

Zhu Zhu Yijun dismantled every part, drew the diagrams, and handed them to Zhang Zhang Juzheng to imitate. Imitation was very easy for the Great Ming, but it would take a long time to figure out the specific function of every gear.

Zhu Zhu Yijun was still young; he could wait.

And Zhu Zhu Yijun believed in the Great Ming's craftsmen; they could figure out the meaning of all the gears, then improve them and make them more accurate.

On the Hall of Literary Brilliance stood the official screen, and in the middle of the official screen was a world map, but its proportions were seriously out of balance, with a serious flattening. Sextants and watches could make this map more precise.

Wang Wang Chonggu and the Three Ladies' business negotiations ended in mid-May, and Wang Wang Chonggu sent the results to the imperial presence. Wang Wang Chonggu was the supervisor of the Yongding Wool Official Factory, not his own business. Of course, he was also a shareholder, eating 10% of the profit share.

When the results were sent to the Emperor, Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at them and looked at Zhang Hong in a daze, saying: "Are the minds of scholars so dirty?"

"Your Majesty, the minds of scholars have always been this dirty." Zhang Hong looked at the results, his expression complex, and said.

(End of chapter)

Only the Hall of Supreme Harmony had no hall.

"King Prince Shunyi's consort, Lady Lady Zhongshun, Qiragut Nayan Chu Zhonggen Khatun, pays respects to the Emperor of the Great Ming. Long live Your Majesty, long live, long live!" San San Niangzi's etiquette had nothing to be picky about. Lady Lady Zhongshun was the title given to San San Niangzi by the Great Ming court after Altan's enfeoffment. This long string of names was San San Niangzi's original name, but no one called her that anymore.

Zhu Zhu Yijun nodded and said, "Exempt from etiquette."

When San San Niangzi stood up, she still couldn't believe it. She confirmed a basic fact: the Emperor of the Great Ming and the Grand Secretary were both ruthless people among the ruthless. Such noble people didn't even want face; what they wanted was self-evident.

Zhu Zhu Yijun was very, very surprised when he saw San San Niangzi.

First, he was surprised by San San Niangzi's level of Chinese and etiquette; second, he was surprised by San San Niangzi's age. Zhu Zhu Yijun thought the woman who had usurped Altan Khan was already forty or fifty years old, but the person in front of him looked only twenty-five or twenty-six.

The reason for this surprise was twofold. When the enfeoffment took place in the fifth year of Emperor Longqing, the court discussion reached a conclusion through various inferences: "The direction of the Northwest barbarian situation is half tied to San San Niangzi."

According to the Veritable Records of Shizong, the exact time San San Niangzi married Altan Khan was the thirty-eighth year of Emperor Jiajing. Fifteen or sixteen years had passed. So how old was San San Niangzi when she married Altan Khan?

Eight or nine years old.

"You came from afar; what is the matter?" Zhu Zhu Yijun asked.

San San Niangzi said quite confidently, "Wool. Can the court share more profits from this business with the grasslands?"

San San Niangzi was straightforward and got straight to the point. She didn't exchange pleasantries with the Emperor; she just asked if more profits could be shared to appease the people from afar.

Zhu Zhu Yijun shook his head and said, "No. The imperial manor has official factory records. If Lady Lady Zhongshun thinks the grasslands can do it, then go ahead and do it."

"We can't do it." San San Niangzi pondered for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, sharing profits with the grasslands has several benefits."

"First, the court will have no worries behind it. At present, the Great Ming is using troops in the Northeast. If the Northwest is filled with the smoke of war, it will certainly not be conducive to the campaign;"

"Second, there will be no warning of southern grazing for the cavalry. The grassland people also have fathers, mothers, wives, and children. If the horses go south to graze and hunt in the Central Plains, the Central Plains are dangerous, and the grasslands are also dangerous;"

"Third, there will be no slaughter of border people. There are many displaced people and villains in the border regions. If the Great Ming and the grasslands are on good terms, they can capture big thieves from each other, and the border people will be stable;"

"Fourth, there will be no labor of mobilizing troops. The imperial army's entry and exit cost millions in silver and grain. To campaign into the grasslands like this is not worth the loss. The grasslands are good at archery and horses; if the imperial army advances, the grasslands retreat; if the imperial army retreats, the grasslands advance. This has been repeated for more than two hundred years."

"Fifth..."

San San Niangzi did not say the fifth point immediately, but hesitated for a moment before saying, "Fifth, the Great Ming will have no worries about border incidents. As Your Majesty has seen, the people of the grasslands admire the royal transformation. For two hundred years, they have been in constant contact, and the grasslands have long lost their language and script. Looking around, everything is in Chinese."

"If the barbarians enter China, they become Chinese; if China enters the barbarians, they become barbarians. Since ancient times, it has been no more than this. Today, King Prince Shunyi has received the favor of the late Emperor, and the border is peaceful."

"If the court allows trade, exchanging what one has for what one lacks, then the friendship can last long, and both China and the barbarians will benefit. In a few years, can the grasslands and the Central Plains be distinguished? They will be one body."

Everyone looks the same, and the culture is gradually becoming the same. With mutual exchange, after a long time, where will there be any distinction between China and the barbarians? They will all be Great Ming people.

This is the reason San San Niangzi gave, the reason for asking the Emperor for a reward. She entered the capital to ask the Emperor for some profit so that she could explain it to everyone when she returned.

"Worthy of being San San Niangzi, sharp-tongued indeed." Ma Ma Ziqiang shook his head after hearing San San Niangzi's words and said, "It sounds good, like falling flowers, but isn't it just that the Northern Barbarians can't fight anymore? If they could fight, why come to talk? They would have gone south to plunder long ago. Being obedient and doing business—isn't it just because they can't bite anymore?"

Ma Ma Ziqiang told a joke: the Northern Barbarians are honest and obediently doing business. If they could rob, they would never be obedient. The reason they are willing to enter the capital for an audience and pay respects as subjects—isn't it just because they can't fight?

Just by using one's mouth, you want the court to make concessions?

"The grasslands can raise more sheep and fewer horses." San San Niangzi bowed her head again.

Under normal circumstances, if there are no accidents and no special instructions, there will be two updates a day, more than 14,000 words. Ask for monthly tickets, awoo!!!!!!

(End of chapter)