1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3811

Yue Shizong secretly brought his family to Hangzhou. If the court knew about this, it would definitely be suspected of being a sign of treason. Losing office would probably be considered a light punishment. The Jinyiwei might even be sent directly to Hangzhou to arrest him.

But in order to ensure the safety of his family, Yue Shizong could not care less. If the court intended to investigate, he was ready to take responsibility.

Although Yue Shizong had no intention of betraying the Ming Dynasty and joining Hai Han, he had already considered Hai Han a safer and more reliable place. He knew that only here could his family live a truly stable life and even have better development prospects.

As a genuine civil servant who entered the official career through the imperial examination, Yue Shizong was actually somewhat envious of Hai Han's education system. Not only did it advocate full enrollment of children, but the content of their education was not limited to classics such as Confucian classics, history, and literature. The scope was much broader than the teaching content of Ming Dynasty educational institutions.

Judging from the education situation of local school-age children in Hangzhou that Yue Shizong came into contact with, these children were not only required to be able to write and count, but also to learn various common sense such as astronomy, geography, industry, agriculture, commerce, and the military. The information they were exposed to even included various national affairs.

These children may not be as good as the literati of the Ming Dynasty in memorizing the Four Books and Five Classics and writing eight-part essays, but in terms of the breadth of knowledge, they are probably much better than the literati of the Ming Dynasty today.

Moreover, the way out for Hai Han children is not just the imperial examination. Hai Han has a wide variety of vocational training institutions. If they do not plan to become officials, they can transfer to such institutions after receiving basic education and learn a skill that can be used as a job.

Of course, there are also a large number of children who regard joining the army as their life goal. Yue Shizong can understand this. After all, joining the army in Hai Han is a very glorious mission. Every year during the conscription season, a large number of young and strong people voluntarily sign up for service, which is completely different from the situation in Ming Dynasty.

After Yue Shizong broadened his horizons in Hangzhou, he did not want his descendants to become nerds who were only good at talking about generalities but not doing practical work. Gradually, he came up with the idea of ​​bringing his children to Hangzhou to let them receive Hai Han education.

Yue Shizong was not the only one who had this idea. In fact, as far as he knew, among the foreign students studying in Hangzhou, there were also teenagers from the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, these teenagers often came from wealthy or noble backgrounds, and some even had royal relatives who forged fake identities.

Yue Shizong had no idea whether these people were sent to Hangzhou as hostages or used as pawns by the bigwigs behind them to test the waters.

But since others can do it, why can't Yue Shizong do the same?

The worst that could happen is that we could ask the Hai Han officials for a little help, disguise the identities of our children, and then find a suitable academy to arrange them into.

As for whether to stay in Hai Han to develop in the future or return to serve the Ming Dynasty, Yue Shizong was not in a hurry to make a specific plan. Now he was just taking things one step at a time. Who could predict what would happen in a few years?

By the time my children graduate from Hai Han’s academy, the Ming Dynasty might no longer exist.

After he expressed his thoughts, Mrs. Yue expressed her concern but also her understanding and support for him.

After all, Yue Shizong's move was not for himself, but to secure a stable future for his children. Although there were certain risks, now that everyone was in Hai Han territory, the most difficult hurdle had actually been passed.

But Madam Yue still had one thing that worried her: "If the court decides to punish you regardless of the consequences, what will my husband do?"

Even if Yue Shizong's ability in the field of diplomacy cannot be replaced for the time being, the court may still abandon him for other reasons. This is indeed a hidden danger that cannot be completely eliminated. Yue Shizong said sadly: "If that day comes, I can only settle you properly first, and then return to the country to confess my crime!"

Madam Yue asked, “Can’t you…stay in Hai Han with us?”

Yue Shizong certainly understood what she meant. He smiled bitterly and replied, "It is my duty to be loyal to my emperor. If the court thinks that I have failed to do my job well, I have no problem punishing you. You are civilians, so it's fine for you to stay in Hai Han. But as an official appointed by the court, if I stay in Hai Han and don't return, wouldn't that really be considered a defector to the enemy country?"

Madam Yue just sighed when she heard this, and did not try to persuade him again. She knew that her husband seemed to be indifferent in some aspects, but was extremely principled in other aspects and would not budge at all. Even if he secretly settled his family in Hai Han, he was still unwilling to completely abandon his homeland.

Yue Shizong rarely had a few days of free time in a year, and he didn't want to talk about any more boring official business, so he asked his servants to prepare a family dinner and talked about his farewell with his family.

But even if the embassy is closed, there are still people who don't want him to have so much free time.

His subordinate presented a secret letter to Yue Shizong. When Yue Shizong saw the mark on the envelope, he knew it was a secret order from the court. He had no choice but to get up and say goodbye to his family and go to the study alone to open the letter and check the contents.

After reading the secret decree, Yue Shizong felt very upset. This was because the secret decree was not to reward him for his hard work this year, but to blame him for why there was not much information about Hai Han’s military deployment on the border between the two countries in his recent reports.

"It is your duty to spy on the enemy and observe their changes. If you make a mistake and conceal the truth, you will be punished."

What this means is that it is your duty, Yue Shizong, to gather intelligence on the enemy's military situation and to understand their movements. If you miss any intelligence, or fail to report it when you know about it, it will be a serious dereliction of duty and you will need to bear the blame and responsibility.

The tone of the secret decree was quite harsh, and it was obviously meant to blame him for his incompetence.

But Yue Shizong had his grievances unspeakable. From what he had learned, Hai Han had indeed made no changes in its military deployment against the Ming Dynasty over the past six months. There was really nothing to report, so he did not write any of this in his report. He did not expect that he would be suspected by the court because of this.

If I had known this earlier, I would have just made up a few paragraphs to get the job done, so as not to be misunderstood by the court.

The requirements put forward in the secret decree were also very simple. He was asked to continue to buy buffer time for the Ming Dynasty and closely monitor Hai Han’s military movements to ensure that the court could anticipate the enemy and grasp Hai Han’s offensive plan in advance.

At the same time, he was also asked to collect information on Ming officials who had ties with Hai Han in Hangzhou, especially those who had already transferred their property and family members to Hai Han, so that the Jinyiwei could capture these traitors before they escape.

It seems that some officials have secretly defected to Hai Han in recent times, which has made the imperial court so angry.

Yue Shizong was also very helpless when he saw this order. If measured by this standard, he would be the first target to be captured by the Jinyiwei.