Chapter 222: Riding the wind and breaking the waves, fame flies above the clouds

"Rehabilitate Wang Zhi?"

"What wrong does Wang Zhi have that can be rehabilitated!?"

Before the Emperor in the chair could speak, there were already successive questions.

Zhu Yijun looked as if he were an outsider, reaching out to pick his ear, watching Li Zaiting with great interest—with someone standing in front, he wasn't in a hurry to state his position.

Each generation has its own wrongs to rehabilitate.

Wang Zhi was a sea pirate during the Jiajing reign, "numbering a hundred thousand, possessing a thousand large and small pirate ships, dominating ten thousand miles of sea, acting without restraint."

Of course, this was the typical exaggeration of literati, but in any case, the leader of the pirates since the Ming dynasty was definitely none other than Wang Zhi.

He had the way of a thief but accepted subordinates, gathered pirates to occupy islands, and quite valued trust, setting up private markets.

The most critical thing was that Wang Zhi was different from other pirates; he focused entirely on doing business, not only did he not rob houses, but he would also actively cooperate with the government to wipe out pirates who destroyed the business environment—"When Lu Qi and Shen Jiu lured the Japanese to invade, suddenly attacking Qiantang, the Zhejiang Maritime Defense Vice Commissioner Ding Zhan and others moved to order Wang Zhi and others to capture the thieves and present them, allowing mutual trade, and Wang Zhi threatened the Japanese to capture Lu Qi and others and present them."

The so-called changing the native chieftain system to the flow official system is to abolish the hereditary system of native chieftains, establish prefectures and counties, and appoint flow officials.

Around the thirtieth year of Jiajing.

Wang Zhi relied on Maritime Defense Vice Commissioner Ding Zhan, accepted many fugitives, completely controlled the sea route for the Portuguese to enter the dynasty, and frequently traded with Japan; the Portuguese matchlock gun was pivoted by him, and Japan imitated it.

Wang Zhi even opened strongholds in Suzhou and Hangzhou to operate mutual trade—"Foreign ships entered and exited, customs had no inspections, and merchants were scattered in Suzhou and Hangzhou, acting openly without restraint."

Of course, Wang Zhi's power was so great that the level of Zhejiang Maritime Defense Vice Commissioner was not enough to look at.

A fat sheep, naturally, would be struck hard.

In the thirty-second year of Jiajing, Yu Dayou ambushed Likang, Wang Zhi was defeated, and fled to Japan.

With no tiger in the mountains, once Wang Zhi entered Japan, his life reached another peak, "Occupying Matsuura Port in Satsuma, usurping the title of 'Jing', calling himself the 'Hui King', deploying officials with famous titles, controlling the key points, and the barbarians of the thirty-six islands were all directed by him."

He was impressively acting as the Pirate King.

Until the thirty-sixth year of Jiajing, the Zhejiang-Zhili Viceroy Hu Zongxian promised to "open mutual trade" to pacify Wang Zhi; the latter focused entirely on doing business, which was why he actively returned to the country.

Of course, Hu Zongxian, a mere Viceroy, had no qualifications to decide whether such a rebel who claimed kingship could be pacified.

The older Emperor Shizong got, the more he tabooed rebels.

Thus, in the thirty-eighth year of Jiajing, Wang Zhi, who had been in prison for more than a year, was executed in Zhejiang.

Until his death, Wang Zhi was still pleading in prison, stating that he had never done evil in his life, living for mutual trade and dying for mutual trade, hoping the court would forgive him, to "exert the meager labor of a dog or horse, wishing to pacify the sea frontiers for the court."

It had only been twenty years since then, not yet to the point where memories were blurred, and the court officials were equally clear about Wang Zhi's situation.

And precisely because of this, Zhang Han, who was just preparing to retire, had the most intense emotions: "Wang Zhi usurped the title of 'Song', calling himself the 'Hui King'; such a claim of kingship and establishment of a system, could it be that he was wronged?"

Zhang Han had the most right to speak on whether Wang Zhi should be killed—in the thirty-seventh year of Jiajing, during the court deliberation on this matter, Zhang Han, as Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, truly spoke.

Li Zaiting's expression was calm, facing the dissatisfaction of this Minister of Justice.

Zhang Han's attitude was truly expected.

Unlike Wang Anshi, that was after all the rights and wrongs of the former Song, and everyone could at least say a fair word while watching from the other side of the river.

Wang Zhi was different; Zhang Han had explicitly made a comment on the Ministry of War's files, saying that he "harmed national policy above, and left poison for the living below."

If Wang Zhi were rehabilitated, Minister Zhang's face wouldn't look good either.

And Li Zaiting, facing this questioning, only nodded solemnly: "Wronged means bent; originally the court promised Wang Zhihe would not die, but after he was lured back to the country, he was executed; isn't that bent?"

This statement had many loopholes and was immediately seized by Minister of Rites Wang Zongyi: "Minister Li, do not blur your words; it was clearly Hu Zongxian who used a trick, promising Wang Zhihe would not die; how can you say it as if the hub had promised it?"

At this time, Wang Shizhen, who usually didn't discuss politics, suddenly interjected: "Viceroy is Viceroy, overseeing everything; Hu Zongxian controlled the size of affairs in Nanzhili, Zhejiang, Fujian, and other places; could it be that he couldn't represent the court in front of sea pirates?"

The scene was split in two, and Zhu Yijun couldn't help but marvel.

This old pedant Wang Zongyi held a simple disgust for someone like Wang Zhi who fled abroad and usurped kingship; this reaction was not surprising.

And Wang Shizhen, who had run around for more than ten years to clear his father's name, had no taboos about rehabilitation.

Furthermore, Wang Shizhen wrote the "Records of the Japanese," and had long ago sharply commented on this matter.

Of course, he didn't dare to say the court was unkind, only throwing the pot on Hu Zongxian, hating him for not explaining the situation to the hub—"Zongxian reported the situation to the Emperor, but dared not tell the whole truth."

And he implicitly indicated that Wang Zhi's wrongful death caused "the world to be in turmoil, and the marrow of the southeast to be exhausted."

History being too close is like this; it's hard to comment, everyone has their own accounts, everyone has their own stance, and naturally, there's no fair word to be said.

Zhu Yijun caught a glimpse of Zhang Han's hidden anger, looking ready to strike.

Seeing this, he hurriedly performed his duty of controlling the scene, coughed lightly: "National affairs, whether wronged or not, are not suitable for discussion here; Minister Li, might as well speak directly, what is the relationship between the Wang Zhi case and maritime transport?"

Politics, after all, putting value on things should be put aside; stating the pros and cons is the proper meaning of the topic.

Zhang Han's words were choked back, and Wang Shizhen also silently shut his mouth.

Li Zaiting took the thread: "Reporting to Your Majesty, this matter is a long story."

He paused, weighing his words to keep it short: "I was ordered to prepare for the establishment of the Fujian Maritime Trade Office; now, affairs such as the yamen, ports, routes, foreign vassals, and sea merchants are all complete."

"Following the ancestral laws, for coastal areas, ships going to sea are issued number tickets and documents by the Maritime Trade Office, allowing them to go abroad."

"Following the old precedent of the twelfth year of Zhengde, merchant ships going to sea, as well as foreign tribute ships and ships carrying goods, are taxed at two-tenths."

The sea ban had lasted two hundred years, and the varieties and purposes were very different; any ancestral law could be found.

In the early Ming dynasty, during the Taizu reign, the sea ban was mostly out of defense against the Japanese.

It was mostly temporary policies like "forbidding people from fishing at sea to prevent the Japanese" and "all foreign incense and goods are not allowed to be sold; those who have them are limited to selling them out within three months."

After the Japanese pirates subsided, the written order only forbade "building large ships with three masts or more in violation of the style, carrying prohibited goods to sea, and going to foreign countries for trade."

The prohibited goods here had a list in the Great Ming Code, only including "horses, cattle, military supplies, iron goods, copper coins, satin, silk, and cotton."

Clearly, it was only out of national security considerations; at the very least, ships with less than three masts and goods outside the prohibited list were allowed for trade.

The basic attitude was: I don't know what maritime trade is, anyway, I have to prevent the Japanese.

During the Yongle reign, they began to "issue tickets," which meant registering and issuing permits, before ships were allowed to go to sea for trade.

For example, Fujian managed tribute and sea merchant trade separately—"The Fujian Maritime Trade Office was exclusively under Fuzhou; only Ryukyu tribute was reported there, while maritime trade was entirely handled by Zhang and Quan, based on the documents issued by the prefecture."

And small merchants who didn't get the ticket number couldn't even own long-distance ships, all changed to flat-bottomed boats that couldn't go long-distance.

By this point, it was essentially suppressing private sea merchants, and the main purpose was very clear: to make way for government-run trade and engage in monopoly.

The basic attitude was: I know maritime transport is good, so only I can do it.

Precisely because of this, Zheng He's activities were in full swing during the same period, and government ships went to sea frequently.

But after Zheng He, the wind of maritime trade turned sharply downward.

Some said this matter attracted Japanese pirates and violated border defense; some said maritime trade was a losing business, wasting manpower and money; there were even claims that the court paid taxes in kind, and maritime trade disrupted the tax base.

Thus, from Emperor Xuanzong downwards, they truly believed these remonstrances.

Even government-run maritime trade was no longer mentioned, and they could only wait for foreign tribute and trade.

By the Chenghua reign, when Emperor Xianzong wanted to engage in maritime trade to gather wealth, there was immediately a surge of court debate.

Minister of War Liu Daxia simply said that Zheng He's voyages to the Western Ocean killed tens of thousands of people—"Zheng He's voyages to the Western Ocean cost hundreds of thousands in money and grain, and tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians died; even if they brought back treasures, what benefit was it to the nation?"

At this time, the court's basic attitude had changed to: maritime transport is very bad, no one should do it.

Of course, it was also at this time that the smuggling by nobles and officials flourished.

Guangdong Regional Commander Liu Jing packed up the sulfur and saltpeter stored for military use and sold them to Vietnam.

The Duke of Wei's mansion in Nanzhili, in collusion with the Zhejiang Maritime Defense Hai Yushi, misappropriated "official salt with surplus price" and ran off to exchange it for spices with the Franks.

This situation, where the hub wanted to do it but said it was a loss, while court officials secretly flocked to it, lasted until Emperor Wuzong ruled.

In the third year of Zhengde, there was a turning point for maritime trade, and a grand and long-lasting "dispute over prohibition and communication" naturally began.

First, Maritime Trade Office Eunuch Xiong Xuan changed his appearance of "waiting by the tree and doing nothing," actively welcoming foreign ships at times other than tribute, and memorialized to allow foreign ships to land after paying taxes.

The Ministry of Rites gave him a blow, scolding him for "arrogantly seizing power, order him to return to Nanjing to manage affairs."

But the so-called "one falls, another rises," the successor Eunuch Bi Zhen again memorialized to seize power, "According to old precedents, all ships crossing the sea are exclusively managed by the Maritime Trade Office; recently, local officials and the three commissioners have been allowed to manage them concurrently; I request to follow the old convenience."

Of course, this motive of the inner court to gather wealth was immediately met by the Censorate with "not allowed to communicate, private trade is not allowed; if foreign ships are not in the tribute year, drive them away."

Once the fire was lit, it couldn't be stopped.

Once this precedent was set, local officials, the hub, and the southeast coast all entered the fray, fighting until their heads were broken and blood flowed.

Guangdong Right Administration Commissioner Wu Tingju memorialized to allow ships to navigate and implemented the method of tax extraction for passing ships; Guangdong Right Assistant Administration Commissioner Chen Boxian immediately submitted a memorial to impeach his superior Wu Tingju, saying this move "makes thousands of cunning people build giant ships, privately place weapons, and roam the sea, becoming a disaster for the local area."

Regarding this, the Ministry of Rites agreed with the latter's approach, "ordering the pacification and inspection officials to forbid foreign ships"; while Guangdong Provincial Governor Lin Tingxuan and others ignored the Ministry of Rites' orders, "continuing without stopping."

Zhejiang wealthy family, son of former Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince He Zhao, Hai Yushi He Ao, held high the theory of foreign threat, saying foreign lands "drove large ships to suddenly advance under Guangping Province, the sound of guns and cannons shaking the city walls"; while the then Guangdong Hai Yushi-in-Chief Chen Jin retorted, "Maritime trade opens sources to prepare for military expenses; we can imitate the manufacture of guns and cannons."

This struggle lasted for more than ten years.

From the third year of Zhengde, the two factions bit each other constantly, and policies swayed back and forth.

Until the sixteenth year of Zhengde, Emperor Wuzong died at the Leopard House.

The day after the Emperor died, Grand Secretary Yang Tinghe ordered the expulsion of foreign vassals in the capital—"Foreigners from Hami, Turpan, the Franks, and other places who came to pay tribute, all give rewards and order them to return to their countries."

The Guangdong local area also finally ended its swaying, implementing searches for the Franks, even triggering the shocking Guangdong Tuen Mun Naval Battle, declaring the end of the Zhengde Maritime Struggle in a grand manner.

Of course, the goose leaves a trace; although the Zhengde opening of the sea failed, it at least left some historical documents behind.

Which was the ancestral law in Li Zaiting's mouth today.

"Taxed at two-tenths!?"

This tax rate was a bit frighteningly high.

It made Wang Guoguang turn his head suddenly, staring tightly at Li Zaiting.

Shen Shixing also showed a surprised expression; how did Li Zaiting maneuver in Fujian to calmly tax at two-tenths!?

Precedent is precedent; it's impossible to use it just by taking it; the former Song used to have sea taxes of a million taels a year.

Today is different from the past.

You must know that the Longqing opening of the sea presided over by Gao Gong had heavy resistance, only opening one Quanzhou Moon Harbor, not only entrusting tax collection to the local area as military expenses, but even the annual tax revenue was only "ten thousand taels," which was no different from dismissing a beggar.

After opening for two years, the number of foreign tribute ships increased, and customs duties collected more.

The Fujian local area immediately memorialized, saying "military expenses suddenly overflowed to twenty-nine thousand taels, truly draining the pond to catch fish," and since then it had stayed at the number of thirty thousand taels.

Compared to this, two-tenths is truly a large sum of money.

In the early dynasty, Taizu only collected six-tenths tax on maritime trade, and sea taxes were never lower than 170,000 taels.

Li Zaiting nodded calmly: "Foreign vassals, as well as sea merchants... I mean civil merchants, seek mutual trade day and night but cannot get it; even two-tenths is a rush."

"The matter of tax extraction, I have already reached a consensus with the various merchant firms and vassals in Fujian."

He explained slightly, and then continued: "Now their only concern is the court's attitude."

"They are afraid that the court is indecisive, acting and then abolishing, or even luring the snake out of the hole."

"Added to the clamor of those with intentions, the folk song in Fujian of 'rather believe in smuggling than believe in the Maritime Trade Office' has almost been sung."

"Even if I personally come forward to guarantee, they are afraid that I am the second Hu Zongxian." "Getting to the root of the matter, this affair still needs the hub's support..."

Speaking to this point, the meaning was already very clear.

The initiator, will there be no descendants?

Wang Zhi lived for mutual trade and died for mutual trade; even his last words were running around and calling for mutual trade, "Communicating customs and paying taxes will inevitably make the coast prosperous."

Since he was executed twenty years ago, foreign pirates have been indignant, Zhejiang and Fujian sea merchants have all thought it was a wrong, and the people of the southeast want to rehabilitate his wrong.

It can be said that Wang Zhi has almost become the spiritual symbol of coastal mutual trade.

And while luring and killing Wang Zhi was a momentary pleasure, the price was the credibility of the frontier officials, the prestige of the hub, and the credibility of the court's opening of mutual trade.

Why has "moving the wood to establish trust" been praised to this day? After the business environment is destroyed, it's not as simple as calling people back with empty words.

Now Li Zaiting has done everything a frontier official can do.

What remains is the attitude the court needs to express.

Not a single mistake, not a single omission, look at it all!

Zhang Han was displeased: "How can the court bend its back for them!"

Wang Shizhen lowered his eyes: "Then don't think about extracting people's taxes; it's better to think about how to arrest smuggling."

After Wang Zhi died, the Japanese pirates rebelled again, and the number of government soldiers and civilians who fought and were captured and died was no less than hundreds of thousands.

This pot, in Wang Shizhen's history books, had long been implicitly buckled onto Emperor Shizong and the group of court officials at the time.

At this time, Alliance Leader Wang also rarely threw a face.

Wang Guoguang came forward to smooth things over: "Maritime trade is a major plan for financial opening; you have all tolerated each other for the country for many years, don't hurt the harmony."

It can be seen that the Minister of Revenue really wants to extract taxes.

He hesitated and looked at Li Zaiting: "Minister Li, if coastal trade is opened, I don't know how much the sea tax will be?"

Don't ask what the hub can do for you; first say how much tax revenue you can bring to the hub.

Whether Wang Zhi is rehabilitated or not, the key is not whether he is wronged or not, but mainly depends on how much money the court can get by admitting its mistake to Emperor Shizong.

Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue leaned forward in unison, looking seriously at Li Zaiting.

Li Zaiting pondered for a moment: "If I govern Fujian, after two years, it will be no less than a million taels per year."

He didn't say what would happen after he left Fujian.

Just like the Zhengde maritime ban dispute, Provincial Governor Lin Tingxuan could ignore the Ministry of Rites' ban; if the local area and the hub were out of step later, it was not impossible for sea taxes to return to thirty thousand taels a year.

Outsiders naturally ignored these details, only hearing the number in his mouth, a million taels a year...

Wang Zongyi couldn't help but twitch his eyelids, casting a questioning look at this former Viceroy of Liangguang beside him.

Yin Zhengmao hesitated for a moment and replied in a low voice: "It should be about right; in the twenty-sixth year of Jiajing, after our army wiped out the Japanese pirates and captured the Shuangyu Island stronghold, in May and June of the same year, more than 1,200 large and small ships that hadn't received the news went to smuggle as usual."

Wang Zongyi nodded thoughtfully.

This statement was a bit general; after all, there must be sea people on a single sampan.

But even so, according to this trade scale, taxing at two-tenths, a million a year is truly not bragging.

He implicitly looked at Zhang Han; with over a million taels of tax revenue, it might not be impossible to change...

Although Yin Zhengmao's words were low, everyone in the hall heard them.

After confirming that Li Zaiting hadn't exaggerated, the officials all had their own judgments.

Wang Xijue was very straightforward, speaking directly: "Your Majesty's benevolence is clear; I believe we can slightly forgive Wang Zhi to comfort the hearts of sea merchants."

Shen Shixing didn't look at Zhang Han's eyes, turned his head to the Emperor: "Your Majesty, Hu Zongxian failed Wang Zhi, deceived the holy wisdom, causing him to be wronged for twenty years; now that the truth is out, the court should set things right."

Grand Secretary Shen was much more mature, at least knowing to give Emperor Shizong a step down.

It could also avoid the Emperor ruining the substance of sea taxes for the sake of his grandfather's face.

As for shifting the blame to Hu Zongxian, this was a tacit understanding; Wang Shizhen had done it long ago, even saying Hu Zongxian did it deliberately to "get the title of Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince."

Subsequently, Wang Zongyi, Yin Zhengmao, Personnel Wen Chun, and others expressed their agreement one after another, fearing the Emperor wouldn't agree.

Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Han, whose expression was uncertain, secretly sympathizing, and cast a comforting look.

The Emperor hadn't stated his position—after all, it couldn't be that everything needed the Emperor to suppress it to get it done, right?

Bringing into play the subjective initiative of the Grand Secretariat and the Six Ministries was a very important topic.

Seeing that the assembled officials had reached a consensus, Zhu Yijun finally spoke with reluctance: "At that time, the maritime ban was a national policy. That person proclaimed himself king, established a system, and attempted to force the imperial court to lift the ban, interfering with national policy and violating state law. According to the statutes, he should rightfully be executed."

No matter what, Wang Zhi established a country and called himself Song; cutting him down certainly had no problems.

Zhang Han's expression eased.

Shen Shixing opened his mouth to speak.

Zhu Yijun spoke again: "Now the late Emperor has slightly opened the sea ban, and I have also carried it forward; the so-called times are different, and the people of the southeast hope that I will forgive him slightly at this time, which can be considered the consensus of the people."

In the background of the feudal ruling class, Wang Zhi should be killed, but since we are trying to engage in the sprouts of capitalism, it is not impossible to jump out of the historical background of the Jiajing reign and objectively evaluate him.

This had a bit of a muddying flavor, but both sides in the hall heard this and finally ceased their fighting: "Your Majesty is wise!"

Li Zaiting achieved his goal and was also satisfied: "Your Majesty is wise!"

Zhu Yijun continued: "Earl of Ding'an once told me that the Japanese pirates were the result of the strict implementation of the sea ban, which affected the daily survival of the coastal people."

This was the consensus basis for Gao Gong's all-out promotion of the Longqing opening of the sea; the Japanese pirate disaster was caused by the sea ban; if the sea ban is not abolished for one day, the Japanese pirate disaster will not be peaceful for one day.

The officials were all from the Longqing reign, so they naturally had no objections to this statement.

The Emperor was rehabilitating Wang Zhi—he was a good person, forced by the environment, and violating national law was also pitiful and regrettable.

"I heard that back then, Hu Zongxian let Wang Zhi's son write to his father in Japan, and Wang Zhi replied, 'Son, how foolish! If your father is here, he will favor you; if your father comes, the whole family will die.'"

"But even so, once the promise of mutual trade was made, Wang Zhi still laid down his arms and surrendered with courtesy."

"Even in prison, he was still speaking to the Imperial Ancestor, saying if he were mercifully forgiven, he could exert the meager labor of a dog or horse, and ports like Dinghai and Changtu in Zhejiang could still be like the Guangdong example, communicating customs and paying taxes, and not missing the tribute period, etc."

Wang Zhi spent his whole life trying to realize his ideal of mutual trade.

If you jump out of that period of history, Wang Zhi represented advanced productive forces and was a pioneer of capitalism trying to develop during the Jiajing reign.

Of course, thinking is thinking; Zhu Yijun wouldn't say that.

He paused and concluded: "The so-called dying in his place, I will temporarily, for the sake of urging the national dynasty, communicating customs and paying taxes, posthumously title Wang Zhi as the 'Five-Ship Son'!"

As soon as the words fell, Zhang Han let out a muffled groan, feeling like he was about to suffer internal injuries.

Li Zaiting intimately followed up: "Your Majesty, should we let his son inherit it?"

Zhu Yijun was stunned, then waved his hand to reject it: "Let his descendants live in peace."

Doing things for show, there's no need to set up his descendants.

Otherwise, Hu Zongxian doesn't lack descendants either; who can stand it if we keep rehabilitating back and forth?

Zhu Yijun looked at Zhu Heng: "Minister Zhu has also seen it; Fujian is about to navigate, followed by following Zheng He's old affairs; I don't know when the Ministry of Works can deliver the large ships?"

There is no reason for the government to just watch after opening private operation.

Imperial merchants must also join this non-fully competitive market!

Zhu Heng heard this and immediately got into the spirit: "Your Majesty, there will be several near-sea test voyages after the beginning of spring, empty, full, half-loaded; if there are no problems, it is expected to be delivered by the turn of spring and summer."

Zhu Yijun was still very reassured about Zhu Heng and followed up: "Where will it be launched?"

Zhu Heng nodded: "The treasure ship is fifteen zhang long, two zhang six chi wide, and one zhang three chi deep; the canal cannot take the ship, so it can only be assembled and launched in the seaport factory."

"Currently, it is set at Huai'an Port, which can go north to Tianjin Port and south to Fujian Port; after a round trip test is no problem, it can go to sea for long-distance voyages."

Zhu Yijun heard Zhu Heng's words and secretly felt a bit sorry.

If the long-distance treasure ship were launched at Tianjin Port, he could have forced his way through the crowd and gone to cut the ribbon to join the fun; Huai'an Port was still too far.

He had to wave his hand and skip this matter: "Let's talk about the candidates for long-distance voyages and the routes together."

Yin Zhengmao heard this and immediately inserted himself, taking the opportunity to speak: "Your Majesty, when I was Viceroy of Liangguang, I recruited several battalions, deeply familiar with water and sea conditions, and can..."

Wang Zongyi interrupted Yin Zhengmao without giving any face: "The Minister of War has always had a reputation for integrity in Liangguang; it is better not to recommend people for such trade matters."

Yin Zhengmao froze.

He was famous for corruption in the streets, and now being told the opposite to his face, he was truly choked.

He wanted to argue, but it was inconvenient to speak, so he just muttered a complaint: "If you don't ruin your family to gather wealth, how can you pay the soldiers? It's easy to talk standing up."

"Cough, cough."

Zhu Yijun coughed lightly: "Alright, this matter will be headed by Sun Long of the Directorate of Ceremonial, with Earl of Jinghai Zhu Shitai escorting."

As soon as the words fell, Sun Long on the side showed ecstasy, and white gas even emerged from under his nasal cavity in the middle of winter.

Shen Shixing glanced at him; these eunuchs dreamed of learning from Zheng He, and now having this opportunity, it was truly a blessing cultivated for eight lifetimes.

He shook his head and threw out his extra thoughts: "Your Majesty, regarding the routes, the last court deliberation preliminarily decided to go from Tianjin Port to Korea, travel by Japan, return to the isolated islands, and pass through the Ten Thousand Mile Stone Pond to Fujian."

The Ten Thousand Mile Stone Pond is the South China Sea.

Long-distance voyages all carry tasks; whether the first trip makes money can be secondary, but showing off power is definitely indispensable; no matter what, they must pass through it.

Zhu Yijun naturally had no objections; as long as they go to Japan, it's enough.

As for the errand, he would naturally leave secret letters for Sun Long and Zhu Shitai—Zhu Yijun didn't quite remember where the Japanese silver mines were; he had to explore them.

No matter what, tax reform will come after the land survey.

Tax reform cannot do without capital; no matter what, the Japanese silver mines must be mined as soon as possible.

"Then let it be as such."

Zhu Yijun waved his hand, and after instructing Zhu Heng on the filing of the case files, he ended this topic.

While everyone was discussing, the sun gradually rose.

By the time the maritime transport matter was discussed, it was already steadily hanging in the middle of the sky.

As the officials' stomachs rumbled, it was naturally time to combine work and rest, so as not to exhaust the old men.

A simple imperial meal arrived as scheduled.

Having lunch together at the annual meeting had also become a small tradition; the officials didn't decline, chatting while eating.

Without wasting much time, everyone quickly had a simple meal and then returned to their respective places to continue discussing national affairs.

"What do the ministers say about the matter of changing the native chieftain system to the flow official system in Guizhou, Liangguang, and other places?" Zhu Yijun drank the post-meal tea in one gulp, clearing his stomach.

"Native" is the native chieftain, "flow" is the flow official.

The so-called "replacing the native chieftain system with appointed officials" means replacing the hereditary system of native chieftains by establishing prefectures and counties and appointing officials from the central government.

Of course, clearing up household registration, measuring land, and verifying taxes were also the proper meaning of the topic.

Speaking of this, Personnel Wen Chun suddenly rose: "Your Majesty, the Tian and Yang of Sibo, the Cen and Huang of Liangguang, they have been hereditary for hundreds of years and have become too big to be controlled."

"Now that the national treasury is increasingly full, changing the native chieftain system to the flow official system is imperative!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 223 =====