Chapter 614: The Great Ming

If we continue to employ officials who are mere tax-gatherers, will the Great Ming fall?

It is hard to say.

But if we do not employ such officials, the Great Ming will truly be poor to the point of death.

The Wanli Emperor had no real talent; when he ran out of money, he did not think of rectifying the administration, expanding the tax base, or redistributing the means of production. Instead, he enabled countless mining supervisors, draining the pond to catch all the fish, which led to the total atrophy of the Great Ming's tax base. The Great Ming's fiscal revenue became like water without a source, a tree without roots.

Wang Chonggu was very clear about his own function—he was a tax-gathering official—but on the matter of whether to expand the power of the government factories, Wang Chonggu and Zhang Juzheng's attitudes were highly aligned. Even if it meant creating a rigid Hydra, they did not want to create a behemoth that would inevitably become too large to control.

That would be truly too dangerous.

Whether for the Great Ming or for Wang Chonggu himself, it was very dangerous.

Wang Guoguang and Zhang Xueyan of the Ministry of Revenue whispered to each other for a while, and finally determined that after the Xizhimen coal market was reclaimed for government use, it would fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue. This was an expansion of the Ministry of Revenue's power, but it also meant responsibility.

Zhu Yijun had originally intended for Wang Chonggu to clean house; he had stated it very clearly in his vermilion rescript that the "base scholars" were just farting. But when the court officials reached a consensus, Zhu Yijun chose to agree, affixed his seal to the floating slip of the memorial, and passed the content of this court deliberation.

This is court deliberation. Zhu Yijun's opinion is important, and the opinions of the court officials are also important. On the premise of ensuring the direction is correct, the decision-making process tries to consider the endurance of all social classes, formulating policies that are not perfect, but can be implemented.

"The Western envoy Li Ya is reporting that he wants to return to the West. Your Majesty, I do not favor this; it would be better not to let him go," Wan Shihe said, bringing up another matter. Li Ya, the Western envoy in the twelfth year of the Great Ming, wanted to go home because Solon had committed a grave crime and was to be beheaded, and someone was needed to mediate slightly.

Li Ya was certainly a suitable candidate, but he would die. As an interpreter for the Court of State Ceremonial, Li Ya was Wan Shihe's subordinate. Knowing it was a situation of certain death, Wan Shihe could not bring himself to send Li Ya.

"Li Ya feels that my imperial edict can protect him, thinking that as the Great Ming's special envoy to the West, he can survive. This is an illusion—an illusion born from staying in the Great Ming too long," Zhu Yijun said, looking at Wan Shihe with great certainty.

The effectiveness of the Great Ming Emperor's edict is only valid within the Great Ming heartland. Once outside the heartland, reaching the Nagasaki Governor's Office or the Luzon Governor's Office, it is all a matter of discussing things with the locally enfeoffed governors. The area radiated by the Great Ming navy is the area where the imperial edict is effective.

The West is governed by God; the imperial edict is of no use there.

"But this is Li Ya's personal choice. I can only wish him good luck," Zhu Yijun also said with some helplessness. "Actually, Li Ya himself knows it too. Requesting my imperial edict is merely to convince himself."

"The West has the legend of the fire-thief. Prometheus stole fire from the gods for humanity and was bound by the gods with chains on Mount Caucasus, forever unable to sleep, his knees unable to bend, with a diamond nail in his chest, torturing him day and night. Every day, an eagle would peck at his liver, enduring the cycle of suffering as his body was pecked and regenerated."

"Li Ya is not stupid; he is just deceiving himself."

"I obey the imperial decree." Wan Shihe pondered for a long time and finally chose to let Li Ya return. Solon accused Li Ya of being a traitor, and Li Ya used his own practical actions to prove that he had never betrayed the land that raised him, nor his monarch.

No matter the culture, traitors, turncoats, and disloyal subjects are never respected.

Actually, if one carefully evaluates the risk, even if Li Ya really stole things to take back, he couldn't steal much. So many five-masted ocean-going ships have been sold, and Spain's shipbuilding industry is not weak, yet they have been slow to replicate them. This is the result: whatever Li Ya brings back, there is no foundation for realization. Moreover, Li Ya is not a master craftsman and is not familiar with technical matters.

Zhu Yijun decided to let Li Ya return.

"The promotion of cowpox has encountered resistance. Currently, very few are willing to be vaccinated voluntarily. However, the common people in the capital are all waiting for the experimental results from Suiyuan. If the effect is good, I think promotion will not be difficult," said Minister of Revenue Zhang Xueyan, reporting on the promotion of cowpox. In an era where one does not study science and magic is everywhere, the promotion of the cowpox method is very difficult.

This was expected. The Academy of Dissection had anticipated this long ago. Pang Xian going to Suiyuan was also because he would inevitably be questioned.

This is normal. In this era, there are still people who specifically capture foreigners to sell their meat, at twenty wen per catty, and boil the meat into oil, also at twenty wen per tael, claiming it can cure diseases. The government issued prohibitions, but the people did not follow them. The court strictly prohibited foreign meat, foreign oil, and foreign paste, yet it was still opposed by the people, and it was only implemented forcefully in the end.

Therefore, it is a normal phenomenon that the cowpox method would be viewed as a kind of "magic" and resisted by the court scholars.

There are simply too many "magics" in this day and age.

"The Mughal envoy Shah Mahomet has presented a state letter. King Akbar of the Mughal Empire sends his greetings to Your Majesty, mainly to inquire about the cotton business and the Toungoo battlefield," said Minister of Rites Shen Li, speaking of Shah Mahomet. Shah Mahomet, who likes throwing money bags, is not listening to storytelling at the Qianmen tower all day doing nothing. Presenting a state letter is something that must be done, after all, he is a special envoy.

But if he can work twice a year and put in four hours, that is remarkable.

The business between the Great Ming and the Mughal Empire mainly consists of the Great Ming importing cotton and exporting cotton cloth, and importing saltpeter and exporting gunpowder. These are the two biggest businesses between the Great Ming and the Mughal Empire. In every state letter, Akbar thanks the Great Ming Emperor for his generosity and benevolence, his words extremely flattering, after all, Akbar has truly made a fortune as a middleman.

And this time, Akbar expressed concern about the Toungoo battlefield in his state letter.

Mang Yali and Yue Feng joined forces with the raw Miao of Yunnan to brazenly launch an attack on the Great Ming, even breaking through the passes and pressing directly on Dali. After the Great Ming began its counterattack, the battlefield advancement was very slow, but firm enough to cause Mang Yali's prestige in Toungoo to plummet. Furthermore, due to the various contradictions brought about by years of war and militarism, they erupted directly following the defeat.

Weapons are inauspicious tools, to be used only when unavoidable.

Victory and defeat are common matters for soldiers; no one can win forever. The result of militarism is that one can only keep winning. As long as one loses once, the internal contradictions covered up by victory will erupt collectively. Therefore, as long as a war is launched, one must go all out to achieve victory, staking everything.

The Great Ming has not yet reached Toungoo City, but Toungoo City itself has fallen into chaos.

There have been seven relatively large-scale upheavals in Toungoo City, among which there were three armed coups, and four instances of ordinary civilians who could not survive rising up in robbery and arson. Moreover, the unrest triggered by Toungoo City has a trend of expanding to the entire Toungoo region.

Akbar is no saint; he is a Turkicized Mongol. In his eyes, there have never been any commoners. He is mainly worried that such intensifying unrest will affect the Mughal Empire. Most importantly, it must not affect the planting of cotton, as this is pure silver.

Therefore, Akbar wrote a state letter asking the Great Ming Emperor when the fighting would end, to directly advance with heavenly troops and destroy Toungoo. Akbar is worried about the impact of the Toungoo unrest, but even more worried about affecting the cotton cloth business.

The Great Ming will not change its established strategy because of Akbar's inquiry about Toungoo. The Ministry of Rites has also drafted a state letter to reply.

The court deliberation continues. The envoys from the West are still Solon of Spain, Marcus of Portugal, while England has changed to a man named John Henry. The Falanxi envoy is a male favorite of Henry III, which makes the Ministry of Rites very dissatisfied, but there is no other way; Falanxi really has no one else to send.

"Your Majesty, the Chahan Khan of the Tsardom of Russia has sent a state letter," Shen Li said, speaking of a new envoy, greetings from the Tsar of Russia.

"Luo Sha" is the current Great Ming translation for Russia. Since knowing of the existence of the Grand Prince of Russia during the Yuan Dynasty, various translations have emerged one after another: Luo Sha, Luoche, Luo Sha, Luo Si, etc., all are the Great Ming's names for Russia. And the term "Chahan Khan" is also a term from the Yuan Dynasty, meaning the Khan of the white people.

The Great Ming is not familiar with Russia.

These are all Great Ming translations for Russia. In fact, Russia claims to be the successor of Rome, and the translation of "Chahan Khan" is also inaccurate; it should be "Triumphant General and Autocrat." The one who sent the state letter was Ivan IV, who was also the first Tsar of Russia.

Zhu Yijun opened a copy of the five-part state letter, which had been translated from Russian into Latin, Spanish, and Italian vernacular, and then translated from Latin into Chinese.

This is a state letter, but also an obituary. When Ivan IV made up his mind to send an envoy to the Great Ming, he was already seriously ill. When the state letter was carried by the envoy to the Roman Curia, Ivan IV was already bedridden. In other words, the content of the state letter is actually not important.

No one can control matters after death, no matter how great they were in life.

The state letter used exaggerated language to describe the achievements of Ivan IV's life.

"This title is longer than mine!" Zhu Yijun read a page, and it was all titles.

There are five titles for Autocrat, eleven titles for Tsar, five titles for Grand Prince, fourteen titles for Prince, eleven titles for Monarch of all the North; eight titles for Lord; eight titles for Duke.

Just the first page of this state letter was filled with titles.

Zhu Yijun's title is much simpler. In all state letters, Zhu Yijun's title is just one: Great Ming Emperor.

These four characters are enough; these four characters are enough to earn the respect of everyone.

Russia piling up so many fancy things together can only be said to show extreme insecurity, hoping to use such fancy and substantial titles to gain the respect of the Great Ming court.

Zhu Yijun finished reading the state letter and did not bother to come up with an equivalent title to respond, but instead made a reply with the Great Ming Emperor as the subject.

If he wanted to, Zhu Yijun could do the same, but it would just appear very childish. Back when the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu could do nothing to each other, they competed on titles, each one longer than the last, insisting on pressing the other side, just like farmers building houses, insisting on being one brick higher than the neighbor's house.

Zhu Yijun is not keen on this kind of childish play that is almost like a grudge.

The court deliberation is long. Some important matters need to be discussed seriously, while others are brushed over. Not every matter that reaches the Wenhua Hall needs the painstaking handling of the ministers.

After the court deliberation, the Great Ming Emperor went to the Northern Camp to inspect the troops. Li Rusong was still the vanguard, arriving at Tonghe Palace to pick up His Majesty to the Northern Camp. Ever since Qi Jiguang was enfeoffed, it has always been Li Rusong who came to Tonghe Palace to receive the imperial carriage.

Qi Jiguang held a Pingyi musket in his hand, but this Pingyi musket was a brand-new model.

"This Pingyi musket has spiral rifling, uses six qian of gunpowder, adopts a flintlock mechanism, and has a twenty-fold sight. Indoors, it can hit targets over 120 paces away, and outdoors it is 100 paces, because there is wind outdoors." Qi Jiguang briefly introduced the new Pingyi musket. In addition to the sight, it also had a front bipod, and the firing method was divided into three types: prone, semi-kneeling, and standing.

The front bipod is used when in the prone position, making it more accurate.

And there is a safety catch on the gun mechanism. Before the safety catch is pulled out, it cannot be fired, ensuring the safety of marching while loaded to the greatest extent.

Range, accuracy, armor penetration, and many other aspects have been greatly improved. The bullets for this Pingyi musket are sharp copper bullets, completely different from the lead pellets of the past.

Copper bullets are the best projectiles, but the Great Ming lacks copper, so they can only choose lead or iron.

Qi Jiguang did not talk much nonsense and demonstrated it in the standing position. At a distance of 120 paces, every shot hit the bullseye. And because it was indoors, a total of ten shots were fired, each hitting the bullseye of the human-shaped target. Afterward, Qi Jiguang removed the sight and fired using the three-point-one-line mechanical sight, and still, all ten shots hit the bullseye.

Qi Jiguang packed up the Pingyi musket before standing up. Respecting military equipment is respecting one's own life.

Qi Jiguang said with a smile: "A well-trained elite soldier, holding this kind of Pingyi musket, even without carrying a sight, can accurately hit the enemy."

"For a ten-man squad, one Pingyi musket is enough, because on the battlefield, there is more saturation fire from bird muskets to deal with enemy charges. Of course, when clearing high-value targets, the Pingyi musket will also exert miraculous effects."

The reason Qi Jiguang removed the sight was to show the Emperor the stability and reliability of the Pingyi musket. The sight is actually very inconvenient to carry because it is quite precious. The hardness of glass is actually not very high, much lower than sand and gravel. Without protection, the sight is easily scratched and is not suitable for long-term use on the battlefield.

But the mechanical sight is different: simple, reliable, widely applicable, and equally accurate. This is Qi Jiguang's pursuit of military equipment.

"General Li, do you see?" Zhu Yijun patted the Pingyi musket and said: "If the enemy had this stuff, and you led your men to charge, once the banner fell, would you fight that battle or not?"

Li Jinglong, the God of War of the Jianwen era, the number one traitor of the Jingnan Campaign, a dog born to a tiger, and the captain of the Jingnan transport corps, was the son of Li Wenzhong. Li Wenzhong was Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew; although he was a blood nephew, his lifelong military record could be described as fierce. Li Wenzhong fought south and north throughout his life and achieved illustrious military merits. When Yuan Shundi fled to Yingchang, it was Li Wenzhong who led troops in a surprise attack, beating Yuan Shundi until he continued his flight north.

But the performance of Li Wenzhong's son, Li Jinglong, in the Jingnan Campaign can be called a disaster.

To put it bluntly, without Li Jinglong's delivery, whether Prince Yan Zhu Di could have succeeded in the Jingnan Campaign is an unknown.

In the key battle, the Battle of Baigou River, the government troops led by Li Jinglong were fighting steadily and were about to repel the southward-moving Yan army. As a result, a gust of wind rose, the banner was snapped by the wind, and the battle situation immediately became one-sided. Everyone thought Li Jinglong had been killed by the Prince of Yan, and the morale of the army immediately dissipated.

There are various opinions on how the banner fell.

For example, Zhu Di once told others that he personally led troops to cut down the banner, but in fact, Zhu Di was in a bitter battle at that time. His horse was injured, even the long sword used for close combat had its blade broken and was unusable. When he drove his horse to retreat, he was blocked by a dam and could not retreat further. Li Jinglong's general, Qu Neng, almost caught up with Zhu Di.

For example, Li Jinglong told everyone he met that it was the work of a spy. If not for this, the Prince of Yan would have been killed under his horse, and the outcome of the battle would have been uncertain. Zhu Di heard this, and because of his criticism of the monarch, he was stripped of his title by Zhu Di and placed under house arrest at home.

Zhu Di did not like hearing this, because what Li Jinglong said was wrong. In the Battle of Baigou River, even if the banner had not fallen, Qu Neng and Qu Liangcai would not have been able to capture or kill Zhu Di, because the Prince of Han, Zhu Gaoxu, had already arrived with troops, repelling Qu Neng and Qu Liangcai's forces, and Zhu Gaoxu personally cut Qu Neng down from his horse. At dusk, Zhu Gaoxu's forces even killed Qu Neng's son, Qu Tao.

The banner being blown down by the wind became the only conclusion. In this way, it conforms to Zhu Di's mandate of heaven to ascend the throne.

Li Rusong likes to charge at the front when fighting, like a martial maniac. Zhu Yijun also reminded Li Rusong not to be impulsive. As a rising military star of the empire and the future commander of the Jingying, Li Rusong must be steady. As a Regional Commander, he is a high-value target.

"Looking around, under the heavens, only the Great Ming has such divine weapons. What is there to fear?" Li Rusong said stubbornly.

"Li Rusong, an arrogant army will surely be defeated!" Qi Jiguang looked at Li Rusong angrily and lectured him. Li Rusong had changed a lot, but he still couldn't change this unsteady image. How could he be a Great General of the Great Ming, how could he let His Majesty rest assured!

"General Qi, no need to be angry. General Li could have used a cliché like 'I respectfully obey the imperial instruction' to fool me, but he says what he thinks—this is sincerity. If all Great Ming officials were like General Li, then I could sleep soundly in the palace every day," Zhu Yijun said with a full face of smiles.

Zhu Yijun likes Li Rusong's personality very much—he speaks his mind. He is a military man. If he played the same empty games as the civil officials, hiding everything in his heart, Zhu Yijun would have to reflect on himself. As a monarch who goes to the Northern Camp every day to inspect the troops, if the generals under his command have things to say but dare not say them, or cannot say them, then there is a problem.

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said: "Because of the rise of the Desert Eagle Saladin, the West lost Jerusalem, the permanent holy land."

"In the second year of Chunxi of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Western Curia decided to launch the Third Crusade. This crusade was led by the Holy Roman Emperor Redbeard Barbarossa, England's Lionheart King Richard, and the Falanxi King Philip the Crafty. It was a grand crusade, recruiting over 300,000 crusaders, including an elite force composed of 70,000 knights."

"The Desert Eagle Saladin had no more than ten thousand men."

"Among them, the Holy Roman Emperor Barbarossa led 30,000 knights and 70,000 attendants. When the news spread, Saladin, who had occupied the holy city of Jerusalem, was very nervous. Barbarossa led the army to march personally. When they reached the Saleph River, the ministers advised Barbarossa not to cross the river on horseback. At this time, Barbarossa was already sixty-eight years old. Crossing the river on horseback could easily lead to problems."

"But Barbarossa did not listen, still stubbornly wanting to cross the river on horseback to prove his bravery remained. As a result, the horse stumbled, he fell onto the rocks, and drowned in the river."

"Philip the Crafty withdrew from the crusade. Only Lionheart King Richard continued to advance. At this time, the crusading army had only eight thousand men left. And Richard's crusade did not last long before he had to return home to quell a rebellion by his brother. In the end, the Desert Eagle Saladin obtained the holy city."

The holy city holds an extremely lofty status in the West. The Third Crusade was grand in scale but ended with such an outcome, which is sigh-inducing.

There is a lot of contingency in history, with far-reaching influence.

As a high-value target, one must have the awareness of a high-value target. Li Rusong is not a fierce general from the border, but one of the pillars of the empire. Zhu Yijun does not understand military affairs, but Qi Jiguang ordered that no one above the rank of battalion commander should charge into battle. The reason for such a prohibition is that personally leading troops to charge is very common.

"Alright, Your Majesty, I have actually changed a lot." Li Rusong was helpless. When the war drums beat and the horns blew, and the horses were armored, not being able to personally charge into battle was indeed a torture for Li Rusong. For this kind of martial maniac, he actually does not value his own life. Green hills are everywhere to bury loyal bones; dying on the battlefield with one's horse hide as a shroud has never been a shame.

While the Emperor was inspecting the troops and sweating profusely, the envoys from the Western countries arrived at the Yuan Siyi Hall. In the Yuan Siyi Hall, where the envoys gathered, the routine cocktail party began. To prevent lewd and indulgent behavior, the presence of Embroidered Uniform Guards at the scene was much greater than in previous years. Drinking and toasting were fine, and playing with "red-haired barbarians" or "golden-haired barbarians" was also no problem, but in public, it was not allowed.

Even if it was behind closed doors.

The mood of the envoys from various countries at the party was very low, because the wise man Solon had been beheaded by the Emperor at Caishikou. The Great Ming did not even let the Minister of Justice supervise the execution, but let a Vice Minister go to verify his identity. More than 127 people were beheaded and displayed in public at once. All sailors involved in transporting opium were also beheaded by the Great Ming Emperor.

"Once you reach the territory of the Great Ming, you must abide by the laws of the Great Ming. Those who refuse to abide by the laws of the Great Ming are not envoys, but enemies. Every envoy should know this fact. In the territory of the Great Ming, one should abide by the laws of the Great Ming," Gao Qiyu stood in the middle of the party and said to all sides.

John Henry asked loudly: "Then what if the Great Ming envoy violates our laws?"

"Naturally, the laws of the Great Ming shall prevail," Gao Qiyu said as a matter of course. "Any mistakes made by the Great Ming envoy sent to the West should be held accountable by His Majesty. Any act of daring to attack, detain, or threaten the Great Ming envoy will be regarded as a provocation and will have to bear the wrath of the Great Ming."

"In the territory of the Great Ming, one must abide by the laws of the Great Ming, and if the Great Ming envoy violates our laws, must it also be based on the laws of the Great Ming?" John said angrily: "The Great Ming's way of doing things is far too overbearing!"

Gao Qiyu shook his head and said: "This is not a question of being overbearing, but according to moral standards, the laws of the Great Ming are far stricter than the laws of England. At least the Great Ming will not come up with laws like privateering licenses that are abandoned by both man and god. London, whether in terms of environment or morality, is foul-smelling. John, what do you say?"

"Hahaha!"

Li Ya took the lead and laughed loudly. Gao Qiyu's Latin was very standard, and the envoys sent were all proficient in Latin, so it immediately caused an uproar of laughter. Gao Qiyu's answer was also a fact; the laws of the Great Ming were indeed stricter than the laws of England.

There is actually a pun here. The meaning of "John" in Latin is: toilet.

So Gao Qiyu's one sentence had three layers of meaning. This sentence scolded John, the envoy himself, scolded the foul smell of London, and also scolded the low morality of England as being as foul as a toilet.

"I..." John was a bit stunned by the scolding. This diplomat's mouth was simply too powerful.

Li Ya knew that, actually, in private, Gao Qiyu scolded even more fiercely. Gao Qiyu had personally been to London, and for the evaluation of London, Gao Qiyu had only two words: foul-smelling.

Gao Qiyu had been to so many cities in the West, and London was the foulest...

Although John kept saying that his name came from the Bible, it did not arouse people's pity.

Gao Qiyu did not stay too long. He just warned the envoys of various countries to abide by the laws of the Great Ming, and then left immediately. This was not the occasion for speaking and negotiating. Gao Qiyu did not want to drink and toast with them. Marcus, because of his extremely special relationship with the Great Ming, also left with Gao Qiyu.

There is a distinction between close and distant.

"Thanks to the meticulous investigation of the Great Ming Embroidered Uniform Guards, the truth was investigated clearly, and the real culprit was found. Otherwise, even if I jumped into the Yellow River, I wouldn't be able to wash myself clean." Marcus expressed his gratitude to the Embroidered Uniform Guards. The guards who investigated the case were very professional, peeling back the layers to find Solon, the real culprit behind the scenes, clearing Marcus of suspicion.

The West indeed had a net outflow of silver to the Great Ming, a trade deficit, but as a middleman, Portugal made a fortune.

"I want to introduce someone to Assistant Minister Gao. He is the Governor of Brazil, Paes de João," Marcus said very sincerely. "We have many colonies in Brazil. This Paes de is a friend of Prince Antonio."

"It seems that Antonio is not doing very smoothly as a king," Gao Qiyu frowned, put down his teacup, and said meaningfully.

"It is truly that nothing can escape Assistant Minister Gao's discerning eyes. It is indeed so," Marcus said sincerely.

This Paes de was indeed the Governor of Brazil, but he had always not supported or recognized King Antonio's status. Among the governors of Portugal's overseas colonies, he was the most opposed to Antonio being king. And this time, Paes de coming as a deputy envoy was also Antonio's compromise to the domestic nobles.

"Why does Paes de want to reconcile with Antonio? Isn't it because he saw the Great Ming goods being distributed in Lisbon, so he chose to support him? Marcus, you and Antonio must keep your eyes open. This kind of person, like a poisonous snake, will bite back at any time. They are not loyal to beliefs, morality, or monarchs, but loyal to money," Gao Qiyu reminded Marcus very solemnly.

Just the fact that Marcus and Antonio brought so many seeds to the Great Ming was enough for Gao Qiyu to respect them, even if it was flattering the Emperor, but as a traditional agricultural country, the Great Ming still considered farming and mulberry as its main duty.

"Just a fickle villain, not worth trusting, but in this world, there are the most people like this," Marcus agreed very much with Gao Qiyu's reminder.

"Then let's meet," Gao Qiyu said with a calm expression. ===== CHAPTER 615 =====