Chapter 704: The Dilemma of Extremism

Everyone must read more books to prevent being deceived by scholars. Shen Shixing's image has always been very gentle, appearing in the appearance of a master of balancing water. This gentle appearance is very deceptive. In the matter of taking advantage of others' danger and falling into the well, Shen Shixing showed the consistent viciousness of scholars.

Taking advantage of the liquidity crisis of money shops and ticket numbers, Shen Shixing robbed the fire and asked them to hand over the last land to cash out.

The liquidity crisis is not that there is no money, but because the debt has not been recovered, resulting in the inability to exchange all the silver notes. The trust crisis is very fatal to these money shops and ticket numbers. These money shops and ticket numbers are not insurance villas gathering and cheating. Once they lose their reputation, they lose everything, and they can only act according to the rules drawn by Shen Shixing.

Shen Shixing is tirelessly promoting the new policy in Songjiang Prefecture, because he knows very well that with the navy on the side, the powerful gentry in Songjiang Prefecture cannot do anything to him.

The Great Ming Emperor announced that he would conduct a fleet review in Songjiang Prefecture. The Great Ming has the Spring and Autumn Grand Review and the Fleet Review. The purpose of these two types of military exercises is to let everyone know that the Great Ming Emperor still possesses military power and possesses the final right of interpretation for the use of military power.

Great Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun handled a batch of memorials. The road from Kaifeng to Jiayu Pass has been divided into sections, undertaken by the engineering regiments of Henan and Shaanxi, and construction has begun; the canal from Hangzhou, Zhejiang to Ningbo has also begun construction, and the roads from Hangzhou to the Southern Yamen and from Hangzhou to Suzhou Prefecture have also begun preliminary mapping, which requires design of height, slope, curves, etc., and planning has begun.

And the Ministry of Revenue told His Majesty the Emperor that large-scale road construction cannot be carried out recently. Whether it is the inner treasury or the national treasury, there is only silver to maintain the operation of the country, and more silver is needed to further invest in infrastructure.

The Great Ming Emperor and Finance Minister Wang Guoguang have saved silver for these years, and they have all been scattered. And there are still many, many roads that the Great Ming needs to build, from Mizhou to Songjiang Prefecture, from Kaifeng to Mizhou, from Kaifeng to Wuchang Prefecture, from Wuchang Prefecture to Guangzhou Prefecture, and from Jilin to the Yongning Temple in the Nurgan Regional Military Commission.

The ministers of the Great Ming country present an extreme conservative faction. In the eyes of the extreme conservative faction, the Jimi areas, vassal states, and even the Governor's Mansion are not the territory of the Great Ming. Only where the road reaches can it be barely considered the territory of the Great Ming. If it can complete the king's transformation, it is the real land county.

If it cannot be fully controlled, map-opening territory is as ridiculous as only spitting on people in the room.

"Poor, have to live a few bitter days, and save some money." Zhu Yijun said helplessly.

This kind of poverty is a relative statement. Compared with the Great Ming country, which had an annual revenue of no more than 600,000 to 700,000 taels of silver before the Wanli Reform, the Great Ming's finance is still very healthy, can maintain basic operation, does not need to owe military pay on the frontier, does not need ministers to only receive 30% of their salary and can only receive it for three months, and the Ministry of Revenue's financial planning is also done for the whole year instead of three months.

"The silver just turned into assets, changed a way, and stayed by His Majesty's side." Feng Bao said with a smile.

These silver were distributed downward through the extensive construction of the Great Ming, and honestly, this distribution method looks a bit stupid, but it did realize the distribution. The silver flowing from overseas continuously flowed into the hinterland through the construction of roads and mines, effectively increasing the circulation of goods in the Great Ming.

No one can blame His Majesty for not doing well, only that His Majesty did not do well enough.

"The Grand Secretary says there is actually a way to solve this once and for all, and that is to implement the currency system," Zhu Yijun said, looking at the memorial in his hands with a beaming smile.

Because the right to mint coins was not in their hands, the Ministry of Revenue could not stop thinking about the currency system. The copper furnaces for minting coins were in the hands of the Ministry of Works' Baoyuan Bureau, the silver coin stamping was in the hands of the Ministry of War and the Inner Treasury's Armory Bureau, and the acceptance bills of the Huitong Hall were in the hands of the Ministry of War. Only the treasure notes for circulation in Japan and overseas were in the hands of the Ministry of Revenue, but theoretically, these two types of treasure notes could not circulate within the Great Ming—though, of course, that was only theoretically.

Therefore, the Ministry of Revenue could not stop thinking about the currency system, but unfortunately, His Majesty the Emperor's attitude toward it was even more conservative than that of the extreme conservatives.

"The Grand Secretary also wrote in the memorial that implementing a currency system without first completing the accumulation of silver is a lazy policy that harms the country and the people." Feng Bao spoke a good word for Wang Guoguang. Wang Guoguang knew very well the standard for implementing a currency system in the Great Ming; now was not the time. To be precise, a silver-standard treasure note required more silver as a base and more primitive accumulation.

After Zhu Yijun handled a batch of memorials, he picked up the miscellaneous newspaper on the table and read it, but to his disappointment, no one scolded the Emperor for destroying the business environment. Instead, the miscellaneous newspaper gave high affirmation to the Emperor's barbaric and unreasonable military handling of the Wan Long Villa debt market. Of course, these pen-holders still hoped that His Majesty's means could be gentler. If he could change beheading to sinking into the sea, it would be elegant.

"Is this the Grand Master Wan Shihe exerting his strength?" Zhu Yijun was a bit strange about the evaluation of these miscellaneous newspapers.

Feng Bao said very definitely: "The minister asked, the Grand Master is busy collecting overseas barbarian records and has no time to deal with them. This kind of wind is actually normal. After all, the Wan Long Villa debt market has a high threshold, and most pen-holders don't know."

"In fact, pen-holders are also confused. The Yangtze River connects nine provinces, and the goods of the world are gathered and dispersed in Songjiang Prefecture. Overseas silver flows into Songjiang Prefecture. Obviously, everything in Songjiang Prefecture is prosperous, and the speed of development is obvious to all. But this life is getting worse and worse. Firewood, rice, oil, and salt are getting more and more expensive. In places of wind, flowers, snow, and moon, it costs hundreds of taels of silver. Why is life getting worse and worse, and the resentment in the heart is getting more and more?"

"Everyone has a doubt in their heart: where did the silver go?"

"These pen-holders are also confused. It wasn't until the Wan Long Villa debt market was investigated by His Majesty that the pen-holders understood that the fruitful results of development were all snatched by these people."

Pen-holders are also Great Ming people. They also have to live. It is no problem to live barely, but if they want to do something, such as buying property, buying favorite gold, stone, calligraphy, painting, silk, and satin, they have to borrow money. After understanding the play of these masters, the pen-holders naturally have to attack the Wan Long Villa debt market.

The things taken away by the Emperor and the court are counted. His Majesty has a small temper, and after taking the silver away, he didn't waste it himself, and didn't leave the silver in the inner treasury to grow hair, but took it to build roads.

No one can blame His Majesty for not doing well, only that His Majesty did not do well enough. But these powerful gentry in Songjiang Prefecture stealing the fruits of the new policy caused public anger.

Many pen-holders themselves are also victims of debt.

"This article is not bad. Ask this Ma Jinglun, can the court copy it to the official gazette? Of course, the signature is still his." Zhu Yijun took out a miscellaneous newspaper, nodded after reading it, and said.

Ma Jinglun is also an opinionated troublemaker. Compared with Lin Fucheng's rebellion and Li Zhi's arrogance, Ma Jinglun is more about debating classics.

Ma Jinglun believes that the opposite of conservative is reform, and the opposite of extreme is rational. The whole article is discussing the contradictions of conservative, reform, extreme, and rational, and then arguing the inevitable law of the development of all things, circulating back and forth.

Reformists, or any rational reformists who label themselves, cannot achieve self-internal metabolism, because they need more extreme reformist concepts to complete self-reform.

The long history of the Central Plains tells everyone that any collective cannot achieve self-internal metabolism, history will repeat itself again and again, and reformists naturally lack the ability of self-correction and will fall into the dilemma of extremism.

Once falling into the dilemma of extremism, it will be widely opposed and eventually fail.

"From the Shang Yang Reform in the pre-Qin period to the Wanli Reform today, it is no exception. In the end, it fell into a dilemma of being unable to self-correct. Even if the teacher focuses on governance and hopes to get rid of this dilemma, it eventually fell into the dilemma of extremism." Zhu Yijun looked at Ma Jinglun's discussion on this matter and felt a sense of fate that could not be shaken off.

In history, Zhang Juzheng's new policy became more and more radical after the 7th year of Wanli, and even became extreme, especially the national implementation of the Single Whip Law. It is strange that it did not fail without sufficient silver. Of course, the Wanli Emperor is not a thing, digging his own grave, but the dilemma of extremism of reformists is also a dilemma that Zhu Yijun, the host of the new policy, must get rid of.

Extreme is irrational. Rational reformists will eventually become irrational reformists, enter the dilemma of extremism, and be unable to extricate themselves. At this time, the conservative faction began to enter the hall and began comprehensive opposition and correction, which became inevitable.

In some cases, both conservative and reformist factions must face the same problem, the dilemma of extremism.

Extreme conservative factions will also be widely opposed, and rational reformists will begin to appear, circulating back and forth like this.

But the problem is, how many times can the Great Ming go through such tossing? Let alone the Great Ming, even the sages and sages of the pre-three generations, who are praised by the cheap Confucian scholars, can go through such tossing a few times?

In recent years, Zhang Juzheng has become more and more conservative. He opposes the Land Return Order he proposed, he refuses to write the third and fourth volumes of the Class Theory he compiled, he opposes the national implementation of the Single Whip Law, and he even opposes excessive martial arts.

Obviously, this change in Zhang Juzheng is to suppress the extreme transformation of the reformists.

"This article looks like a very boring debating article, and it doesn't even make much waves in the literati circles, but I think the dilemma he raised is a dilemma that I must experience and face." Zhu Yijun carefully considered this miscellaneous newspaper in front of him. It was written well, but no one wanted to read it.

Theory is something that few people like.

In the current Great Ming, talented scholars and beautiful women are good stories and are widely sought after. This kind of pure debating article really has no market and will

In the current Great Ming, stories of talented scholars and beautiful women were the popular talk and were widely sought after. This kind of purely argumentative article really had no market and would not attract anyone's attention.

Ma Jinglun personally believed that the entry of the nine Zhejiang battalions into the city to suppress bandits, the spreading bank runs in Songjiang Prefecture, the artisans in Chongde Ward taking up arms to demand their wages, and the servants taking up arms to demand their contracts when the status of "base slaves" was abolished were all irrational. However, these irrational acts of struggle were not meaningless; it was precisely these irrational acts of struggle and reform that held up the bottom line of consensus.

And the current Great Ming was just right: while striving for reform, a portion of extreme conservatives was retained in the court. The existence of these extreme conservatives suppressed the extreme progress of the reformists.

In the original historical timeline, Zhang Juzheng was unable to retain a portion of the extreme conservatives. Anyone who opposed his reforms would be thoroughly struck down by him. Without the support of imperial power, Zhang Juzheng could only act as a regent and constantly accelerate, because after the seventh year of Wanli, the Wanli Emperor, who had his own ideas, did not support Zhang Juzheng's reforms.

Ma Jinglun felt that the current Great Ming was just right; enough conservatives must be retained in the court. As for how many to retain, that was not something Ma Jinglun needed to worry about. The degree of this required a summary of long-term practice, and Ma Jinglun did not have such practical experience.

"I will have someone ask to see if Ma Jinglun is willing. If he is not, we will use a pen name or an alias for him." Feng Bao received the order. In his view, this kind of argumentative article had no meaning at all. No matter how well the principles were explained, it was His Majesty who did the work, and His Majesty's will was above all else.

On the 20th day of the eighth month of the thirteenth year of Wanli, the Heavens finally showed favor and gave the Great Ming Emperor some face. The sky was clear, visibility was extremely high, and even on that golden autumn morning, there was no morning mist. Under the presiding of Wan Shihe, the Great Ming Dynasty's fleet review was held at the new port of Songjiang Prefecture.

Sun Kehong was also on his way to the new port. He had been invited to attend the imperial grand fleet review. The person who delivered the invitation was Zhang Cheng, the eunuch and Provincial Military Commander of Songjiang. Zhang Cheng very clearly told Sun Kehong that this invitation was personally designated by the Great Ming Emperor, specifically commending the Songjiang Ocean Trading Company, which had been a pillar of strength during this bank run crisis.

This was a personal affirmation from His Majesty the Emperor.

But Sun Kehong's mood was a mixture of complex emotions. He rarely attended public occasions like poetry gatherings or banquets because his leg was broken; no matter where he went, he had to be pushed. This disability made him very resistant to such public occasions, but because His Majesty had personally invited him to attend, he was very excited—at least His Majesty could see what he had done.

Sun Kehong's submission was extremely thorough; in fact, it was out of gratitude. Xu Jie had been personally executed by His Majesty, and everything the Sun family had now was only possible after His Majesty liquidated Xu Jie and they caught the east wind of opening the seas.

Once separated from this land of the Great Ming, he, Sun Kehong, would be nothing more than "Sun the Cripple."

"Your subject pays respects to Your Majesty. Long live, long live, long live Your Majesty." Sun Kehong wanted to crawl down from his swivel chair to perform the grand ritual of five kowtows and three prostrations to His Majesty. This was very undignified and extremely wretched. For Sun Kehong, who was a hegemon of Songjiang Prefecture, he wanted to avoid this wretched appearance being seen by others at all costs.

Sun Kehong was a Juren and also the General Manager of the Ocean Trading Company appointed by the imperial court. This position was not an official rank but a clerical one, yet he could still call himself a subject.

Before Sun Kehong could move, he was stopped by Feng Bao. Feng Bao smiled and said, "His Majesty has an edict: since General Manager Sun is physically inconvenienced, the kneeling ritual is waived for all audiences and meetings."

Sun Kehong froze for a moment, then bowed his head and said, "Your subject kowtows in gratitude for the imperial grace."

"General Manager Sun, there is no need to be nervous. The fleet review has not started yet. I thought that since we were idle, I would summon you over to talk. The land of Songjiang Prefecture should thank you, General Manager Sun. I heard from the Duke of Wei, Xu Bangrui, that some time ago, you, General Manager Sun, took out 50,000 silver to promote the cowpox method. This is a great deed of merit." Zhu Yijun talked about past events with Sun Kehong to ease his nervous mood.

The price of goods in Songjiang Prefecture was relatively high, with eggs costing 24 wen per jin. This meant that Sun Kehong had bought nearly 1.5 million jin of eggs and placed them in the Huimin Pharmacy; for every cowpox vaccination, one jin of eggs was given away. Only then was the cowpox vaccination method in Songjiang Prefecture thoroughly popularized.

"It was all silver saved by the proprietors of the trading company; it was not taken out by me personally. This cowpox method is truly powerful. In June, a smallpox outbreak occurred in Taicang, Suzhou Prefecture, but because they had also been vaccinated with cowpox, it did not spread," Sun Kehong said sincerely.

The mobility of people in Songjiang Prefecture was extremely high, even greater than that of the Northern Yamen. For example, merchants from Sichuan would take boats downstream to Songjiang Prefecture to do business, and overseas ships also docked in Songjiang Prefecture. With a population of 2.7 million in Songjiang Prefecture, if a smallpox outbreak really occurred, Sun Kehong dared not even imagine the consequences.

"Your Majesty, every time a smallpox outbreak occurs, many people die, but this year it has rarely been heard of. It all relies on your holy virtue," Sun Kehong said quite earnestly.

For Songjiang Prefecture, was the Great Ming Emperor's kindness only the opening of the seas? No, there was also the cowpox method.

Zhu Yijun and Sun Kehong talked about many things. Sun Kehong was quite talkative and could talk about many things, such as the impact of overseas grain imports on grain prices in Songjiang Prefecture, the scale of the cotton cloth business, the demand of sea merchants for berths in Songjiang Prefecture's ports, and the fact that Songjiang Prefecture had built a new port on Yangshan Island overseas, and so on.

"Regarding the situation of this Yangshan Port, the imperial court has failed the land of Songjiang," Zhu Yijun said with some apology regarding the construction of Yangshan Port.

In the ninth year of Wanli, when Wang Daokun was still in Songjiang Prefecture, he suggested building a Yangshan Port for the Great Ming sea ships to dock. At that time, the imperial court's opinion was that it was not possible because the Suiyuan post road was about to be built and the court had no money. Wang Guoguang told Songjiang Prefecture at the time that if they wanted to build it, they should build it themselves; the court had not a single penny left, and borrowing money from the people was already shameful enough.

Songjiang Prefecture had an urgent need because the port of Songjiang Prefecture was already congested with ships.

Later, Songjiang Prefecture built it itself. The court had no money, but Songjiang Prefecture did. Songjiang Prefecture took 1.2 million silver and started construction directly. Now, Yangshan Port and Yangshan Town had been built. Facts also proved that Yangshan Port was truly very necessary, because after it was built, Yangshan Port was also overcrowded. The tiny Yangshan Island actually had more than 200,000 people, more than a county in the hinterland, and the sails could be said to cover the sky and the sun.

At that time, the imperial court was worried that Yangshan Port would become a gathering place for sea pirates like Shuangyu, so they made a conservative decision. As it turned out, the court had overthought it completely. Yangshan Port did not become a gathering place for sea pirates; instead, it greatly increased the sea trade throughput of Songjiang Prefecture and injected new vitality into the Great Ming economy.

The Yangshan Maritime Customs Office and the Military Provisions Office, which were under the Songjiang Maritime Customs Office, could provide the court with over 400,000 silver in tax revenue each year. The court did not spend a single penny, which was equivalent to the court getting a free ride on Songjiang Prefecture's Yangshan Port.

"Your Majesty, the national policy is to develop both land and sea. We cannot just watch Suiyuan be conquered and then be unable to defend it. Songjiang Prefecture also needs the coal and soda ash from Suiyuan; these are goods that cannot be imported from overseas," Sun Kehong did not think the court had done anything wrong. Under the whole heaven, all is the King's land; it would be a pity to abandon Suiyuan after conquering it.

The uncertainty of these overseas imports was extremely high; how could they be as stable as the raw materials supplied from the interior?

"Then are there any difficulties for the merchants in their business?" Zhu Yijun asked about the demands of the merchants. Scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants were all pillars of the country and the people, and pillars of the dynasty. In the Great Ming, where the culture of belittling merchants was serious, the opinions of merchants were difficult to reach the Emperor's ears smoothly.

"Yes, the Great Ming Navy must expand its army. At the very least, it needs another 100,000 naval troops to be barely enough," Sun Kehong said with a pained expression: "Your Majesty, the most dangerous part of the road for the Ocean Trading Company is from the Old Port Xuanweisi of Malacca to the Western Ocean. The Portuguese Governor's Office of Diu and the Governor's Office of Goa are always attacking the Great Ming merchant fleets."

"But going to the Mughal Empire to transport cotton and saltpeter is a necessary path. It is truly miserable. If the Governor's Offices of Goa and Diu are eliminated, the Great Ming merchant ships can pass through smoothly."

"Expand the army?" Zhu Yijun was amazed. The biggest demand of the Great Ming sea merchants was actually to expand the army to ensure the free trade of Great Ming merchant ships. This did not sound hard to understand and was logically correct, but it just made Zhu Yijun feel a bit strange.

"Sooner or later, the army must be expanded, so it is better to expand it early," Sun Kehong said very affirmatively. His demand was very simple, a very small goal: eliminate the Governor's Offices of Diu and Goa.

Armed merchant ships were of course somewhat useful, but no matter how armed they were, they were not warships. Facing the two Governor's Offices established by the Portuguese, they were still a bit stretched.

Also, the amount of customs duties lost every year made Sun Kehong extremely heartbroken. All that silver went to the foreigners; was that not a sin? It would be better to give it to the naval soldiers and let them tidy up the business environment in the Western Ocean.

The management of the Great Ming Maritime Customs Office was extremely strict. Of course, there were officials in the Military Provisions Office who demanded bribes, but the situation was by no means as vicious as that of the foreigners. Compared with the business environment within the Great Ming's territorial waters, the environment outside the Great Ming's territorial waters was truly too poor and urgently needed the Great Ming Navy to demonstrate its power.

Sun Kehong truly described with tears in his eyes the scene of being extorted by foreigners; that face was truly insatiable.

"I will keep it in mind." Zhu Yijun did not give a promise; whether to expand the army still needed careful study.

After Sun Kehong left, Shen Shiying said with amazement: "Your Majesty, you must not be deceived by General Manager Sun. Look at him, tearful and looking as if he had suffered a great grievance. A few days ago, the Governor of the Goa Governor's Office sent an envoy to lodge a complaint against General Manager Sun, saying that the trading company's ships, relying on their large size and many cannons, were running rampant in the Western Ocean."

"This..." Zhu Yijun was stunned. He really did not know about this situation. Just listening to Sun Kehong, it seemed as if the sea merchants had suffered great grievances in the Western Ocean, but looking at Shen Shiying's statement, it seemed that the facts were not so.

Who is robbing whom? This is a question.

In the Western Ocean, everyone is doing business with swords in hand, which is a comparison of background. Undoubtedly, the Great Ming's weapons were cheaper and there were more people. Who suffered grievances was really not certain. The Goa Governor's Office hoped that the Great Ming could restrain the Great Ming sea merchants.

"Your Majesty, the ivory coming from Mombasa has been increasing year by year, more and more each year." Shen Shiying always felt that Sun Kehong was overly obedient in front of the imperial court. The Songjiang sea merchants' obedience to Sun Kehong was not purely out of conviction, but to a large extent out of fear, because Sun Kehong was essentially a Zhoushan cobra, extremely vicious.

"That is also because our Great Ming has been bullied. Even if there is robbing, it can only be the Great Ming robbing them; they cannot fight back," Zhu Yijun pondered for a moment, shook his head and said. His basic view on this issue was that the Great Ming sea merchants were robbed outside, which was a fact, and that was being bullied.

As for the robbery of the red-haired foreigners' merchant ships, what did that have to do with him, the Great Ming Emperor?

"Your Majesty is wise." Shen Shiying thought for a moment, bowed his head and said. What His Majesty said made great sense. Regardless of what the situation in the Western Ocean was, it was right that the Great Ming's ships could not be bullied. Fairness and justice were things only talked about within the Great Ming; foreigners were not people anyway.

Zhu Yijun included the expansion of the army in the agenda. Just as Sun Kehong said, it had to be expanded sooner or later, so it was better to expand early than late.

The fleet review began. At the port of Songjiang Prefecture's new port, the sounds of drums, horns, and cannons rose one after another. Staying on the distant sea surface, the fleet, which could not be seen at a glance, began to hoist sails, and the sails covered the entire port like clouds.

The first to appear were four hot air balloons. In this day and age, hot air balloons were made of silk, and their price was so expensive that even the wealthy navy only had four in total. They were only brought out for a stroll during fleet reviews. They were easy to use, but the excessively high cost of construction could not even be borne by the navy. Only when there was a breakthrough in materials could hot air balloons possibly be widely used.

Hot air balloons were actually unreliable because they moved with the wind, and the uncertainty was too great.

But when these four hot air balloons, dragging huge vermilion banners, slowly glided across the sea, everyone still looked up. After all, these were weapons flying in the sky, which was truly shocking.

The fleet review was almost no different in process from the previous Tianjin Port fleet review. The only difference was that the scale of the navy participating in this fleet review was even larger, and this batch of naval forces was only a part of the Great Ming Navy.

The *Youlong*, the flagship that did not undertake combat missions, appeared first, mainly as a political symbol. Its performance was actually not as good as the fast sailing ships produced later. The *Feiyun* represented exploration, even though the *Feiyun* was a failed product in every respect. A failed exploration did not mean that the path of exploration was wrong. It absolutely had the qualifications to participate in the fleet review; this was a sign of the Great Ming's exploration of ship design.

Five-masted ocean-crossing ships, three-masted clipper ships, and command ships sailed past the sea surface one after another. Every time a ship appeared, Zhu Yijun would stare at it for a long, long time. It was a pity that he would never be able to sail on a ship in his life. Going to sea was not his fate. Being able to board a ship at the port and take a look was already the limit for the Great Ming Emperor.

After the fleet review, Zhu Yijun rewarded the naval soldiers, and the end of the fleet review meant that the Great Ming Emperor, this living Yama, had finally completed his southern tour and was returning to the capital!

Regarding this, the powerful and wealthy families in the south of the Yangtze River all had only one attitude, and that was: may the Emperor never tour the south again!