Chapter 615: This sounds bold, but it is not wise at all

The political line of militarism is very, very dangerous, and the Great Ming is running wildly on this road.

The Great Ming is already old. The Great Ming Dynasty, over two hundred years old, is already so old that even its bones have begun to rot. If it wants to regain its vitality, it must take heavy measures to rectify it.

The Great Ming perished in Wanli; a centipede dies but does not stiffen, it just struggled a few more times.

A decaying dynasty means that the means of production are highly concentrated, means that deeply rooted political forces have formed, means that the relations of production have become so solid that they are almost impossible to change, and means that the "transcendent" power of the court has lost all ability to regulate.

At this point, either be reborn through fire or slide into the abyss in endless internal strife; there is no other choice.

Zhu Yijun's alias for walking among the people is Young Master Huang of the Great General's Mansion. Even though countless court officials guessed that Young Master Huang was the Emperor, they still tacitly accepted this relationship, because whether it was Young Master Huang or the Emperor, they were indeed acting recklessly by relying on the prestige of the Duke of Fengguo, Qi Jiguang.

The 100,000-strong Jingying and the 100,000-strong navy are enough to pacify the world.

The Jingying is like a sharp blade, suspended over everyone's head, including the Emperor's.

And every time a social problem is solved, Zhu Yijun will stir up a major case, killing people like hemp. The Puzhou Zhangs, Yanzhou Kongs, Xindu Yangs, and Songjiang Xus were all major cases involving the execution of entire clans, and the Yanzhou Kong case even reached the point of "dog execution."

Under this sharp blade, all living beings are equal, including the Emperor.

If Qi Jiguang were to raise his arms like Sima Yi, could he make the Emperor a rich man without descendants?

Qi Jiguang could not do it; it was Qi Jiguang himself who kept himself from doing it, not because there was no historical process.

It was a big gamble, and the Great Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun won. Human hearts will change. In history, Qi Jiguang chose loyalty, but if the Jingying elite troops, who directly threatened the safety of the capital, were handed over to Qi Jiguang, would he really not change?

Zhang Juzheng once told Zhu Yijun with the bloody example of Yang Bo: those with great power will be destroyed, those with great achievements will be ruined.

When the Emperor's prestige had not yet been established, Qi Jiguang's Jingying had Ma Fang, Ma Gui, and Li Rusong—generals from the northeast, northwest, and southeast directions checking and balancing each other. Only when the Emperor's prestige was established did Qi Jiguang become the Duke of Fengguo.

The holy warriors loyal to their beliefs have a loyalty to their beliefs that is higher than their loyalty to the monarch. Once the Emperor's personal morality is very limited, the holy warriors become a burden, redundant and useless. They need to be expelled, slandered, and denied. For example, Qi Jiguang in the torrent of history was impeached and banished for a random reason, and later dismissed and persecuted.

This is the final chapter of the Paladin that Li Ya knows, and it may also be the final chapter of the holy warriors.

The reason Qi Jiguang did not have to turn himself into a martial man who violated the law with force is also related to the Great Ming Emperor maintaining lofty morality. Qi Jiguang had never seen Zhu Yuanzhang or Zhu Di, but Qi Jiguang had truly seen the Daoist master and the late Emperor. His Majesty was the holiest Emperor with the loftiest morality that Qi Jiguang had ever seen.

Because of the loftiness of his morality, His Majesty integrated himself with his beliefs, so the Jingying elite troops loyal to their beliefs also had their own place to settle down.

This loftiness of morality, His Majesty maintained as always.

Gao Qiyu met Paes de. From the surname "de," one could tell that this Governor of Brazil was a noble with a fief, unlike those commoners who forcibly climbed up to relatives and changed their surnames to "de."

Gao Qiyu and Paes talked happily, but Gao Qiyu did not give any substantive promises. Matters of vassal states were all decided by His Majesty the Emperor. Even Emperor Zhu Gaochi, who had been the executive vice-emperor for nearly twenty years, never had the right to dispose of matters of vassal states.

In the sixth year of Yongle, when Zhu Di went on a northern expedition, it was clearly stipulated what matters must be sent by letter thousands of miles to the army for Zhu Di to dispose of personally, and among them were matters of vassal states.

"Your Majesty, Marcus and Paes de are waiting outside the hall, waiting for an audience," a little eunuch whispered after His Majesty returned to the imperial study in Tonghe Palace.

There is a distinction between close and distant. As the Great Ming's only vassal state in the West, Portugal always had some special preferential treatment. Everyone was a special envoy, but only the Portuguese envoy could have a separate audience in Tonghe Palace.

"I already know the background of this Paes de. Let our Sword Saint have a separate audience," Zhu Yijun sat up straight and began to receive the foreign envoys.

"I, Marcus, pay respects to Your Majesty. Long live, long live, long live Your Majesty." Marcus performed the great ritual of audience, very respectfully, with extremely complete etiquette.

"Exempt from ritual," Zhu Yijun said with a smile. "Sit down and speak."

"Marcus, would it be more beneficial to Antonio if this Paes de were killed?" Zhu Yijun asked calmly, leaning to the side.

"Ah? No, let me think slowly." Marcus became sluggish. He couldn't turn his brain around.

In the eyes of an outsider like Li Ya, the Great Ming's biggest problems are its high moral disadvantage and its love for face. When the envoy of the Goa Governor's Office, Rui de, roared in the Wenhua Hall, in order to show his generosity and for the sake of face, His Majesty let Rui de go. Later, when Rui de died for the Malacca City in the capital of the Great Ming, His Majesty even specially sent people to build a tomb and set up a stele.

In short, he did enough face-saving projects, so that even the extremely picky base scholars could not say that the Great Ming Emperor did not have a heart for cherishing distant people. But the barbarians always climbed up the nose, forcing His Majesty to counterattack with thunderous means.

Rui de's "de" surname was something he pasted on his own face to make himself look good. He was not a noble because he had no fief, but Paes de was indeed a noble.

The Great Ming indeed loves face, Marcus agreed very much, but His Majesty's meaning now is to kill Paes de in the Great Ming to make Antonio, this king, sit more securely. This is trading the Great Ming Emperor's face for Antonio's substance.

Marcus crashed on the spot.

"The Portuguese King is doing very well, and I am very satisfied. What I am most satisfied with personally is that after he sat firmly on the throne, he still did not forget why he set out, building a large number of workshops to find a way for the commoners to live. I am very gratified." Zhu Yijun explained why he would do this.

Antonio, this Portuguese King, did not forget why he set out. This is worthy of affirmation.

In this era where morality is generally collapsing due to the increase in silver and the arrival of the Great Age of Discovery, the Great Ming can provide more help to people like Antonio.

"Your Majesty, I am deeply grateful," Marcus shook his head and said: "If according to the theory of contradictions, the contradiction between His Highness and the Governor of Brazil has not intensified to the point of needing to get rid of the Governor of Brazil. Paes de's allegiance is more beneficial to His Highness."

"Oh, supreme Majesty, not everyone can be a monarch like Your Majesty. This requires great courage and perseverance. His Highness Antonio does not intend to concentrate power too much, because it is really impossible to do so. Portugal is not the Great Ming and does not have those conditions."

Portugal's national conditions do not support Antonio's autocratic rule, and Antonio's personal ability does not support autocratic rule. If it weren't for the help of the Minister of State Affairs, Xu Fan, Antonio wouldn't even be able to govern the mainland of Portugal.

Solon was right: Antonio's ability is just that of a captain, definitely not a king. This is also the reason why Antonio is generally questioned. Philip II won everyone's recognition with his long-term governance.

"Alright," Zhu Yijun nodded and said: "If you need help, just speak up. Last year, sweet potatoes had another bumper harvest. Just in my imperial manor, there were 780,000 mu planted, and more than 170,000 qing in the world were planted with sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are indeed not delicious; eating too much causes bloating and acid reflux, but eating too much is itself a luxury."

Sweet potatoes are not delicious, and the national cellar wine is not good to drink. What good taste can a sweet potato burn have? But it is precisely because it is not delicious and not good to drink that sweet potatoes have become a true famine-relief food. Because of the promotion and planting of sweet potatoes, how many thousands and tens of thousands of lives has the Great Ming saved?

Ten mu of sweet potato land can support one household.

Zhu Yijun is very grateful for the various plant seeds sent by Antonio every year. Antonio doesn't know what the Emperor needs, but he is looking for them every year.

Catering to preferences, politics is achieved through bribery.

Marcus hurriedly said: "I came here this time and brought twelve kinds of pasture seeds. Among them, four kinds were smuggled from England and Spain. The Shepherd Mesta Association controls Spain's animal husbandry and wool, and also controls pastures and grazing land. These twelve kinds of pasture seeds are forty jin each."

"His Highness heard that the Great Ming envoy was looking for these pasture seeds, which would be very helpful for the Great Ming's actions on the grassland. His Highness, far away, couldn't help much, so he could only scrape together some pasture seeds."

"I have already handed them over to the Assistant Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial to be transferred to the Baoqi Department."

"It is not scraping, it is collecting," Zhu Yijun corrected some of the errors in the Chinese expression of Marcus, this Westerner.

Twelve kinds of pasture seeds are indeed, truly, and certainly things that the Great Ming urgently needs. In the Great Ming's means of civilizing Suiyuan, fixed grazing is the most important way to change the mode of production and life, and fixed grazing and pen-raising require a large amount of high-quality pasture.

"Taste the coffee from Yunnan. I asked someone to add a little sugar and milk. I prefer tea," Zhu Yijun asked Zhang Hong to serve a cup of Yunnan coffee beans. Refreshing drinks are a highly profitable market. The planting of local Yunnan coffee beans has already succeeded.

It is not that there is a problem with the coffee planted by Yunnan farmers, but that Zhu Yijun is more accustomed to drinking tea. Once a habit is formed, it is difficult to change.

"I don't really like this taste either. Thanks to His Highness being enfeoffed by Your Majesty, I have tea to drink," Marcus tasted it. Even with sugar and milk added, the taste was still a bit different.

"Does the Portuguese King need silver? I have a lot here and can lend him some at a low interest rate," Zhu Yijun asked with a smile, deciding to lend money to Antonio.

Lending money to Antonio at a low interest rate is a kind of help, a reward for Antonio's dedicated collection of crop seeds.

"His Highness does indeed need some silver. I don't know how much Your Majesty can lend? What is the interest rate? Thank you for your generosity," Marcus is not a person who cannot distinguish good from bad. Antonio invested in many workshops when he became king, and now he really doesn't have much silver. Being able to lend money to Portugal at this time is benevolence and help. One must know how to be grateful, even if one pays a lot of interest.

"I currently have 27 million silver in my inner treasury. Let's calculate the interest at an annual rate of 3.3%. How much can Portugal take?" Zhu Yijun asked with a smile.

"27 million silver?!" Marcus said blankly: "I knew Your Majesty was rich, but I didn't expect Your Majesty to be so rich."

"My pressure is also very great. When currency is not circulating, no matter how much silver there is, it is not currency, right? So much silver is piled up in the inner treasury," Zhu Yijun said with some helplessness: "It is very painful to have no money, and it is also painful to have too much money."

Marcus hurriedly said: "This is truly a happy trouble, but Portugal is a small country with weak strength. It would be completely enough to borrow 2 million silver from Your Majesty."

Antonio asked Marcus to tactfully express some borrowing needs to the Emperor. If His Majesty did not respond, that would be it. If His Majesty was still willing to lend money to him, Antonio and the Princess thought that 1.5 million silver would be enough.

Marcus borrowed an extra 500,000 silver, naturally to purchase more goods to distribute in the West, in order to plunder silver and repay His Majesty's war loan.

Zhu Yijun and Marcus confirmed the various details of the loan before finally establishing the loan agreement.

"Summon that Governor of Brazil for an audience," Zhu Yijun finished talking with Marcus about many domestic matters before summoning Paes de.

Paes de came to Tonghe Palace for the first time, looking around, curious about everything. Being able to come to the Great Ming personally was actually an attitude of reconciliation with Antonio. Who would have trouble with silver?

When Antonio became king, the Great Ming immediately stopped the 30% punitive tariff on Portugal. This is profit. At that time, Paes de already intended to recognize Antonio.

Furthermore, Antonio could distribute Great Ming goods, and finally, Paes de leaned towards Antonio. Originally, Paes de and Ranuccio Farnese were both firm supporters of Philip II as the King of Portugal, but now Paes supports Antonio.

Human hearts change. There has never been a position that cannot be changed. No change was made only because the chips were not enough.

"Pay respects to the supreme, God-crowned, great and peaceful guardian, God's walker and spokesperson on earth, glorious victor, constant pioneer of the empire, the Emperor of the Qin people with a chest as broad as the ocean." Paes de used a long string of words that were almost flowery to pay respects.

The Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial trained Paes de's etiquette, but Paes de felt that the Great Ming Ministry of Rites really did not respect the Great Ming Emperor!

Possessing such vast and prosperous territory, possessing such a fierce army, the Great Ming Ministry of Rites actually uses "long live, long live, long live" to fool the Emperor all day long. It is simply devoid of any loyalty!

"Exempt from ritual. I am not crowned by God, and even less am I God's walker and spokesperson on earth. The Great Ming and the West have many differences. You say I am God's envoy. If the Ministry of Rites finds out, they will pick on your mistakes, thinking you are scolding the Emperor. There is a special crime called 'pointing at the imperial carriage,' which is punishable by death. Don't say this in the future," Zhu Yijun corrected the obvious errors in Paes's words in Latin.

"Pointing at the imperial carriage" means pointing at the Emperor's carriage and scolding in the street. This is the crime of great disrespect punishable by death.

"Ah?" Paes was a bit dazed.

There is a cultural difference here. If you say the Great Ming Emperor is crowned by God, the Great Ming Emperor will only give you a big slap, because in the Great Ming, God is enfeoffed by the Emperor. But in Paes de's mind, God's walker on earth is the most supreme vocabulary Paes de could think of.

The Great Ming enfeoffs gods. For example, Yue Fei's divine title is "Three Realms Demon-Pacifying Great Emperor, Loyal and Filial Temple Dharma Yuanshi Yuanshi Tianzun Yue Saint Emperor Lord."

The Great Ming does not set up civil and military temples, but during the Hongwu years, Zhu Yuanzhang believed that Yue Fei was pure and unbent, and his writing was like his person, so he posthumously enfeoffed Yue Fei as the Martial Saint and set up official sacrifices. At that time, Yue Fei's divine title was only "Demon-Pacifying Great Emperor." The long string behind it was all added by the Ming Dynasty. For example, the Jingtai Emperor added words like "Three Realms" and "Loyal and Filial Yuanshi Yuanshi Tianzun," and during the Wanli years, the Wanli Emperor added "Yue Saint Emperor Lord."

"Listen to me, Paes, in the Great Ming, the Emperor is God," Marcus thought for a moment and explained Paes de's mistake concisely.

It is very troublesome to explain the cultural differences clearly, requiring long-term understanding, so Marcus chose a simpler and more direct method. Marcus's words were not correct, but they were not wrong.

The Great Ming never plays the trick of "divine right of kings." The power possessed by His Majesty is God himself in the Western context.

The Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in the West needs to be enfeoffed by the Curia, and the Curia is God's servant on earth. This is where the cultural difference lies. Paes de had no intention of blaspheming the Emperor.

Zhu Yijun and Paes de communicated about the distribution of goods in Brazil, mainly establishing the import of Brazilian redwood, which is the dragon blood tree. The dragon blood tree is a perennial redwood that is not easy to grow. Spain and Portugal launched a protracted war around redwood, and Paes de's biggest demand is the hope of obtaining five-masted ocean-going ships from the Great Ming.

"If you want to obtain five-masted ocean-going ships, you can only obtain them from the Portuguese King. If he gives them to you, you can possess them. If he is unwilling to give them to you, I will not sell them to you," Zhu Yijun clearly refused Paes de. He further said: "Antonio is the Portuguese King enfeoffed by me. Even according to the rules of the West, my vassal's vassal is not my vassal. You and I have no direct connection."

Paes de coming to the Great Ming personally, with Antonio's consent, is actually recognizing that Paes de should be treated equally with the Goa Governor's Office and the Diu Governor's Office in His Majesty's presence, as an independent Governor's Office.

Antonio, this local Portuguese King, does not interfere with the diplomatic power of the major Governor's Offices.

But Zhu Yijun refused. From the perspective of safeguarding the Great Ming's interests, the decision made is that the current empire on which the sun never sets is still Spain, not the Great Ming or Portugal. The Great Ming needs to unite with Portugal to confront Spain's maritime hegemony.

Paes de still belongs to Portugal. This point remains unchanged in terms of ownership.

"Excessive morality, when colonizing and plundering, always lacks flexibility and has many limitations. This is self-imposed restriction," Marcus said sincerely: "His Highness will definitely be grateful for His Majesty's kindness."

Zhu Yijun smiled, chatted a few words with Marcus, the Sword Saint, and asked Feng Bao to send the two away.

High moral disadvantage? According to Marcus's view, it is indeed so. That is Western culture.

In Great Ming culture, since Portugal is a vassal state of the Great Ming, then the Brazil Governor's Office also belongs to the Great Ming. This is legal principle. In the future, if discussed, it is also the Great Ming's since ancient times. High morality has never been a disadvantage. In the long run, it is an advantage.

"Is this Falanxi Queen Mother sick! Is she sick!" Zhu Yijun opened the Ministry of Rites' memorial, read two lines, and his anger meter was full!

When Zhu Yijun refused Catherine's daughter, Catherine thought the Emperor didn't like women, so she sent the Falanxi King's favorite handsome male favorite to the Great Ming.

It is simply outrageous!

When the beauty trap failed, she used the male beauty trap. As a natural noble, the threshold for emotions is high, and liking some strange things and taking a different path is not a strange thing.

But Zhu Yijun, as an emperor who is male and loves women, felt unparalleled humiliation.

"Since this Queen Mother is so capable, why didn't she come herself!" Zhu Yijun said in a rage.

"Your Majesty, do you want her to come? With Falanxi's current situation, the Queen Mother might really cross the ocean to seek a comeback," Feng Bao was stunned. If His Majesty really requested it, Catherine might really come.

"Come my ass! Angry words, these are angry words!" Zhu Yijun gave a vermilion rescript to the Ministry of Rites' memorial, driving this Falanxi King's male favorite back to the ship, not allowed to have an audience.

The status of the Falanxi royal family is precarious. In order to survive, they are willing to think of any tricks and use any tricks. This is a dead end.

Zhu Yijun calmed his mood. The current Falanxi is a cesspool, a cesspool that even England, this arch-enemy, is unwilling to touch.

"The English still refuse to abandon the privateering license." Zhu Yijun finished reading Philip II's state letter, his brows furrowed: "Give the West more cotton cloth this year to continue to impact England's handicraft industry. If they still refuse to abandon the privateering license policy, then add more until they abandon it before stopping the dumping."

"There are too many unstable factors in the ocean; we cannot have any more legal pirates."

Philip II's life in these few years can be described as scorched-headed and rotten-browed. Even though he tried his best to cover it up in the state letter, one could see his exhaustion from between the lines. If he hadn't rented a Portuguese port during the peace talks and deployed his navy in the Atlantic, the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain's lifeline, would probably no longer belong to Spain.

Of course, it would not belong to England either, but would be a masterless land for pirates.

When pirates were rampant, Philip II could attack from both sides, so that the pirates in Gibraltar did not become so rampant that they could not pass through.

Philip II purchased a total of fifty five-masted ocean-going ships from the Great Ming, and these fifty ships had all been delivered. And now Philip wanted another twenty five-masted ocean-going ships, not to attack Portugal again, but to launch a comprehensive attack on England.

Cotton cloth dumping is effective, but it is simply too slow. Philip II could no longer wait; he wanted to solve the problem once and for all.

"This sounds bold, but it is not a wise choice. Philip II is gambling with the country's fate." Zhu Yijun's fingers kept tapping on the table, his brows furrowed: "This battle will surely be defeated."

Spain can obtain 147,000 taels of gold and 6.6 million taels of silver from overseas every year. In the current world's precious metal mining, 64% is obtained by Spain. This is the reason why silver can become the cornerstone of Spain's national construction.

In order to safeguard the maritime traffic lines and overseas interests, Spain formed the Invincible Armada, composed of over a hundred large warships, over a thousand warships, over three thousand cannons, and hundreds of thousands of navies, which was invincible in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.

Zhu Yijun does not favor Philip II's expedition to England, because traveling long distances and not understanding the local hydrology will inevitably lead to failure.

In the original history, Philip II launched a total of five expeditions to England, none of which succeeded. The first, fourth, and fifth were all encountered with severe storms and suffered heavy damage before landing. The second and third were encountered with violent storms in the Bay of Biscay.

Five expeditions were fruitless, eventually causing all of Philip II's plans to fall through. Staking all his chips one after another, he lost to the celestial phenomena. In the end, Spain had to swallow all the evil consequences and had to carry out strategic contraction. Until the new century, the Strait of Gibraltar at Spain's doorstep was still actually controlled by the British.

A long-distance expedition, sending an ocean-going expedition of tens of thousands of people, requires an extreme understanding of hydrology to succeed.

Not even studying the hydrology and celestial phenomena of the Bay of Biscay, let alone the English Channel, is extremely irrational.

The Mediterranean is a calm big bathtub, while England's marine climate is the violent storms of the Atlantic.

Zhu Yijun pondered again and again, wrote a reply in his own hand, advising Philip II to focus on suppressing bandits and not to easily attack England's mainland, hoping that he would fully consider the threat of weather and should further study hydrology and geography before making plans. Whether he listens to the advice or not, Zhu Yijun has advised him.

In the state letter, Zhu Yijun once again clarified that the Great Ming's cotton cloth dumping policy on England remains unchanged. The state letter does not involve the disposal of Solon. If Spain really wants to tear its face with the Great Ming because of a criminal, Zhu Yijun does not care. If he doesn't come, the Great Ming can go.

In handling diplomatic affairs, Zhu Yijun prioritizes the Great Ming's interests above all else.

"When Antonio begged me like a stray dog, I didn't expect him to become the visible hand for the Great Ming to exert influence in the West." Zhu Yijun's investment in Antonio at the beginning was a casual move, but this casual move fought for itself and became one of the Great Ming's important overseas fulcrums.

Sometimes, personal effort is certainly important, but one must also consider the importance of the historical process. When the time comes, heaven and earth work together; when the luck is gone, the hero is not free.

When luck comes, even heaven is helping you; when luck is gone, even the closest people will go away.

Zhu Yijun happily handled the memorials. The memorial from the Nagasaki Governor's Office was sent to the capital again. Oda Nobunaga reluctantly agreed to the "Treaty of Bai Yin and Sulfur" and its subsidiary clauses. The compensation of over 15 million taels of silver made Japan, which was already in deficit, even worse.

Oda Nobunaga could only agree. The Great Ming navy had already blocked the Nagasaki Row-Governor's Office and the Osaka Bay Garrison Battalion Commander's Office. As long as Oda Nobunaga said "no," the Great Ming navy could not destroy Japan now, but destroying his Azuchi Shogunate would be more than enough.

"He also wants me to promise not to attack Japan. It's really like an old lady crawling into a quilt, making me laugh." Zhu Yijun looked at the memorial and denied Oda Nobunaga's request. The Great Ming Emperor's word is worth a thousand gold. Oda Nobunaga still wants to bargain with the Great Ming. This is absolutely impossible.

Destroying Japan is the final strategy. Although conditions are not mature due to hydrology, there will absolutely be no promises.

"Issue an order to the Ministry of War to establish a Garrison Battalion Commander's Office on Tsushima Island. Don't need too many, a garrison of a thousand people is enough to blockade Japan," Zhu Yijun approved the memorial and issued an order to the Ministry of War. ===== CHAPTER 616 =====