Chapter 1364: The Shun's Western Affairs

The question Liu Zongmin raised was indeed crucial!

Although the Shun state had long since opened its eyes and begun plundering India, it had not, like the Great Ming, managed foreign affairs as a major state matter or established a dedicated foreign ministry.

Before Li Jicheng ascended the throne as emperor, the Shun's dealings with Westerners and its enterprise of robbing the rich to aid the poor in India had all been overseen by Crown Prince Li Jicheng — more like Li Jicheng's private undertaking. Now that Li Jicheng had become emperor, he could no longer treat foreign affairs as private dealings as before; a dedicated department had to be established to handle dealings with Westerners.

Li Jicheng smiled and nodded. "The Prince of Han speaks truly. We also feel there should be an office devoted to Western affairs. What do you all think this office should be called?"

"Your Majesty, why not call it the Foreign Affairs Bureau!" Gu Junen, who had long overseen intelligence work and knew the Great Ming's situation very well, proposed establishing a foreign ministry. "The remnant Ming has a ready-made foreign ministry. Our dynasty's Foreign Affairs Bureau could take the remnant Ming's foreign ministry as its model and extract its essence for our own use."

"No good, no good," Chief Strategist Song Xiance shook his head repeatedly. "What His Majesty spoke of is Western affairs, not foreign affairs. They are not the same."

"How are they different?" Gu Junen asked. "Is it not all dealing with Westerners?"

Song Xiance's son Song Yaowen was a close minister of Li Jicheng and had participated in "Western affairs," so the Chief Strategist was no stranger to the Shun's Western affairs. He said at once: "The remnant Ming's foreign affairs mainly handle dealings with foreign courts, and also manage a bit of the comings and goings of foreigners through the borders. But they do not directly manage trade with foreigners. Over there they do not suppress commerce; apart from certain areas designated as closed, foreign merchants may freely come and go in the rest of the territory, doing whatever business they like, with basically no one overseeing them.

As for introducing Western learning and crafts, the remnant Ming's foreign ministry does not concern itself with that either. It is overseen by the Ministry of Rites, the Imperial Academy, the Capital Academy, and such offices or official schools — and in truth the oversight is not strict at all; it is very lax.

There is also the matter of the foreign religion. Westerners all like to spread their Christianity. The remnant Ming is quite strict in this regard, and it is managed by the Duke for Fulfilling the Sage's office. We must not relax on this front either, lest the people's hearts be beguiled by them."

The Great Ming's degree of opening to the outside world was now very high. In particular, the core southeastern eight provinces were almost completely open, apart from a few restricted zones and religious affairs. Foreigners and people from tributary states could obtain passports at the customs houses and then freely work, study, and do business anywhere in the southeastern eight provinces.

As for import and export management, it was even more lax — to the point of only collecting taxes and minding nothing else. The handicraft industry of the Great Ming's southeastern eight provinces was already extremely strong, and after being pushed for more than twenty years by Zhu Cilang's policies emphasizing industry and commerce, it had crossed the threshold of capitalism. Though it had not yet reached industrialization, it had developed to the peak of workshop handicraft production and had no need for trade protection at all. The same free-trade policy was of course unsuitable for the Shun, which had only the two undeveloped territories of Burma and Yunnan left.

Moreover, the Shun was not a state that valued industry and commerce. After losing densely populated Sichuan, even if the Shun Empire wanted to develop industry and commerce, it was no longer possible.

Li Jicheng nodded. "The Chief Strategist has thought it through well. We cannot learn from the remnant Ming and split Western affairs into bits and pieces, creating a pile of offices to manage them. It is better to have one office in overall charge of these matters; that way, if errors occur, it is easy to fix responsibility!"

"Your Majesty is wise." Song Xiance, having scored a point before Li Jicheng, was greatly encouraged and continued offering counsel. "Your Majesty, this subject suggests that the office in overall charge of Western affairs be called the Western Affairs Bureau, with its chief officer also a Minister, equal in rank to the Ministers of the Six Ministries. Henceforth there will be Seven Ministries."

"Not Seven Ministries, but Eight Ministries!" Li Jicheng said. "We also intend to establish a Naval Bureau to oversee shipbuilding and naval affairs! If we are going to India to rob the rich and aid the poor, we cannot do without the sea route, and without a navy it will not do!"

In one stroke there were two ministry-level offices, and offices rich in both profit and power! The princes, marquises, generals, and ministers in the great hall who had not yet been assigned posts all felt their hearts burn with eagerness!

The Shun had lost so much territory and so many military households that many high officials of Military Governor rank had naturally lost their posts. These men had now all come to Kunming, where every day, apart from attending court in the morning and leaving court in the evening, they had nothing to do, and their incomes had plummeted. Were it not that most high Shun officials owned estates in Yunnan, these high officials probably could not even have made ends meet. But how long could these Yunnan estates last? Once the Ming army entered Yunnan and everyone fled again to Burma, they would truly be left with empty hands.

Li Jicheng swept his gaze over these faces yearning for appointment, then said with a smile: "The Minister and Vice Ministers of the Western Affairs Bureau must surely be versed in Western affairs, must they not? To be versed in Western affairs, one must make a trip to the West, must one not? The same goes for the officials of the Naval Bureau. To run a navy, one must learn from the West. Among the world's navies today, the Dutch, the English, and the remnant Ming are the three strongest. We cannot very well send people to study with the remnant Ming, can we?"

Of course they could not go! If they went, they would be seized and have their heads chopped off.

"Gentlemen," Li Jicheng said with a smile, "all who have served as Military Governor, Prefect of a capital, Minister or Vice Minister of the Six Ministries may volunteer to go abroad. After returning from abroad, We shall select capable officials from among them to serve as Ministers, Vice Ministers, Bureau Directors, Vice Bureau Directors, and Bureau Secretaries of the Western Affairs Bureau and the Naval Bureau.

In addition, the navy will establish a Western Fleet, shipyards, garrison commands, a naval academy, and other offices. Under the Western Affairs Bureau will also be established port markets, customs houses, Western-affairs workshops, and other offices. The chief and deputy officials of all these offices must also have credentials of having gone abroad on inspection tours.

Gentlemen, is there anyone now willing to cross the seas and make such a journey?"

Li Jicheng really was quite good at putting people through the wringer!

A bunch of old roving bandits who from childhood to old age had barely ever been on a boat were now being asked to volunteer for overseas inspection tours — once they set out, it would be tens of thousands of li of high winds and perilous waves. Could they even come back alive?

Not going? Then keep sitting at home eating old rice!

In truth, Li Jicheng had no intention of re-employing this batch of old-timers left over from Li Zicheng's era. It was said that a new emperor brings new ministers — and this was already the fourth emperor, so why had the ministers still not been replaced?

"Your Majesty! This subject is willing to make a voyage across the sea!"

There really was an old minister who did not want to be replaced, and he stepped forward to lead the way. Li Jicheng looked — it was Song Xiance. The old man was already past sixty and still unwilling to retire. Truly not easy.

"Strategist, you are already so advanced in years," Li Jicheng asked. "Crossing tens of thousands of li of ocean — can you manage it?"

Song Xiance laughed. "Though this old subject is advanced in years, his constitution is still sound. Moreover, this old subject is well versed in the arts of divination. Going west this time, I can just happen to inspect the royal tomb geomancy of the Western nations, and also read the faces of the Western Louis King, the Grand Speaker, the Lord Protector, the Sultan King, and that Roman Pope. Know the enemy and know yourself, and you need not fear the result of a hundred battles!"

Hearing this, Li Jicheng felt there was some sense in it, so he asked: "Are the Westerners' methods of face-reading and geomancy the same as ours?"

Song Xiance said: "As long as they are human, their faces can be read. As for geomancy — the mountains and rivers of the world all follow the same principles, so it should be possible to read them. Once this subject has read the geomancy, he will know the future national fortunes of those countries, and when we deal with them, we will have something to refer to.

It is only that the Westerners' eight characters of birth are different from ours, so they are not easy to calculate."

Li Jicheng nodded. "The Westerners use a different calendar from ours. They reckon years from the birth of Christ. One must first convert it to the sexagenary calendar before it can be calculated, right?"

"Your Majesty is sagacious," Song Xiance said with a smile. "Calendar conversion is rather troublesome. If it is off by a day or two, the calculation will be inaccurate."

Li Jicheng said: "Indeed so. But the Chief Strategist must still do his utmost to calculate them! Especially the eight characters of that Western French Louis King and the Ottoman Sultan King — those must be properly calculated."

"This old subject will surely strive to do so!"

Li Jicheng nodded and smiled. "The Strategist may go on a journey to the West! Who else is willing to go together with the Strategist?"

(End of Chapter)