prosperous age

Wei Guangde's words revealed an important thing, which was the right and wrong of Emperor Yongle.

We can't allow people today to point out that the reason for the Yellow River floods was that Emperor Yongle widened the Grand Canal in order to move the capital, which led to the Yellow River floods that lasted for more than a hundred years.

Even if this is the truth, it cannot be said openly in public. Zhang Juzheng directly interrupted Wei Guangde.

The three of them ignored each other, nodded slightly, then turned around and got into their respective sedans.

Four sedan chairs were lifted up and quickly headed towards the palace.

The four entered the palace and soon separated.

Feng Bao was going back to Ciqing Palace to report what happened today, while Zhang Juzheng took Wei Guangde and others back to the cabinet to continue their work.

Wei Guangde didn't know whether Feng Bao would tell the palace what they talked about outside the Ministry of Industry, but if this situation was revealed, it seemed that neither the inner court nor Zhang Juzheng would have the idea of ​​stopping sea transportation and promoting river transportation.

In fact, Wei Guangde did not make up this reason to support shipping, but he really looked at the issue in this way.

Don't say that the Yellow River bursting its banks will cause devastation to all lives. Any normal person can clearly tell the difference between the pain of one time and the pain of years.

However, because of the Grand Canal, the imperial court had to prevent such a thing from happening.

Later that day, Wei Guangde indeed received a note from Feng Bao, inviting him to his outer house for a drink later.

There are tens of thousands of eunuchs and maids serving in the palace, so naturally they have a place to stay.

However, outsiders may not know that although the imperial city is large, the area reserved for eunuchs to live in is indeed rows of low and narrow rooms.

Feng Bao was known as the Prime Minister. Did he think that his house in the palace should be a big one?

This is not the case at all.

Feng Bao's house was a low house built within the wall of the Qianqing Palace.

There are four rooms in a row, where several eunuchs who serve Emperor Wanli lived.

When entering the room, Feng Bao and others had to bow their heads slightly, which was also a reminder that their place in the palace was to serve others and not to think about anything else.

However, the palace maids who serve the nobles in the palace can often live in the palace with their masters, but they have to get up quickly to serve at the slightest noise, and cannot sleep well at night.

The living conditions of high-ranking eunuchs are like this, and the living conditions of eunuchs who are not of high rank are naturally worse.

This is also the reason why eunuchs with a certain status in the palace, in addition to being on duty, would look for another house in the city.

At the very least, here they are the masters of this house and the bosses.

Feng Bao's house was in Baodafang outside Donghuamen. The master he served lived on the east side of the imperial city, so it was convenient for him to come in and out here.

After Wei Guangde finished his office, he went home, changed his clothes, said goodbye to his wife, and took a sedan chair to Feng Bao's mansion.

As soon as I got off the sedan, I saw Xu Jue walking quickly towards me to greet me.

"Master Wei, you are honored to visit our humble home. The master has already given instructions. Please come in."

Xu Jue did not act as arrogant as others did in daily life. He understood such simple principles as saying the right thing to the right person.

Otherwise, Feng Bao would have thrown it into some corner.

"Haha, Butler Xu, Brother Shuanglin hasn't come back yet? It seems I'm here too early."

Wei Guangde smiled.

"No, no, my master should have come back a long time ago, but unfortunately, when he was about to leave the palace, he was called back by Empress Li. So he had no choice but to pass the message to you and welcome Lord Wei here."

Xu Jue still had a flattering smile on his face.

Wei Guangde had heard Zhang Ji talk about this guy. He acted like a big shot outside and didn't take anyone seriously.

Xu Jue did not even respond to any of the nobles in the capital who held titles.

As for the officials, those below the fourth rank had to take the initiative to salute and greet him, and those above the fourth rank, he mostly just did it in a perfunctory manner.

Of course, he also knew what was right and wrong when it came to cabinet ministers. After all, being in the cabinet meant he could compete with his master, so he would naturally be polite and not bossy.

As for the others, even the posts from the six ministers, they seemed to be useless in front of him.

The reason why Zhang Ji had a conflict with him was because the Feng family's large-scale purchasing business fell into the hands of a merchant from Jiangxi.

This was originally a good thing, but Xu Jue was too greedy. He relied on Feng Bao's name and wanted to take everything away from him.

Naturally, the shop owner searched all his connections in Beijing and was finally led to Wei Mansion, where Zhang Ji was.

Now, Lord Xu is only polite to the cabinet ministers and a few dukes.

So Zhang Ji stepped in and the matter was settled, but people also heard about the past behavior of this great Mr. Xu.

Wei Guangde was too lazy to ask about Feng Bao's family affairs.

Some things are hard to be kept in the dark about, and it's not certain whether Feng Baozhi knows about them or not.

When beating a dog, look at its owner. Feng Bao didn't care, and Wei Guangde was too lazy to say anything. He didn't believe that Feng Bao was completely unaware of the character of his subordinates.

Xu Jue led Wei Guangde into the flower hall to rest, and sent someone to bring him fine tea and snacks.

"Brother Shuanglin, has this house been renovated?"

Wei Guangde sat on a chair, looking at the carved patterns and paintings around the flower hall and asked with a smile.

"Lord Wei has a good eye. He just renovated this flower hall last month. The master said it's old."

Xu Jue smiled.

"Probably less than two years."

This house was actually purchased by Feng Bao two years ago. During the Longqing period, Feng Bao's house was not here. It was on the west side and was much smaller than the current house.

However, as he was the internal minister, and a minister with great power, naturally there were more people who fawned on him.

No one knows whether he bought it or it was given to him by someone, but Feng Bao has the house he has now.

When we first moved in, Wei Guangde came over to drink with us, as a way of congratulating us on our new home.

As far as he could remember, Feng Bao had moved in less than two years ago.

At this moment, a servant came in and whispered something in Xu Jue's ear. Xu Jue immediately bowed and said, "Master Wei, please wait here for a moment. Master Zhang is here. I will go out to greet him now."

"Go and do your work."

Wei Guangde waved his hand casually and let him go.

Xu Jue called two family members to serve him in the house, and walked quickly towards the door.

Wei Guangde reached out and picked up a piece of dessert and tasted it. It should be said that the chef hired by the Feng family was quite skilled and the food tasted delicious.

This is actually a major hobby of officials in the capital, and that is that it tastes good.

At first, of course, it is not conscious.

However, as they gained a foothold in the old city, communication between officials became inevitable.

In addition to drinking and eating in restaurants outside, it is also common to invite people to the house.

Therefore, if there was only an ordinary cook in the mansion, he would naturally not be able to perform well.

In the past two years, Zhang Ji was busy looking for a suitable chef for two months before he finally found one.

In fact, he was just afraid that the chef would not be chosen well and he would lose face.

Moreover, the chefs in the mansions of major princes and ministers now are actually similar to those in later generations. There is definitely not just one cook, but a team, each with his own unique skills.

Wei Guangde also compared the dim sum he prepared with that prepared by the chef in his own residence. They were equally good, and it was hard to tell which was better. "Brother Uncle, you are a step behind me."

After Xu Jue brought Zhang Juzheng in, Wei Guangde stood up, bowed and said with a smile.

"Hey, I went back home and was delayed for a while."

Zhang Juzheng stroked his beard and smiled.

"Brother, you should build the house in the inner city. Although the mansion in the outer city can be built bigger, it is too far away and inconvenient."

Zhang Juzheng's house was not in the inner city, which was different from many officials.

Perhaps because the emperor rarely attended court early in recent years, officials used to flock to the inner city to buy houses and property, but now they can be found everywhere in both the inner and outer cities.

"I'm used to it. The houses in the inner city are too compact and uncomfortable to live in."

Zhang Juzheng sat down next to Wei Guangde and explained with a smile.

"Xu Jue, what has delayed your master? Why hasn't he come yet?"

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Zhang Juzheng asked Xu Jue again.

He was called back with the same excuse as before before leaving the palace and was only told to receive the two of them well.

Zhang Juzheng immediately waved his hand and asked them to leave.

After everyone in the room left and Xu Jue also left, Zhang Juzheng whispered: "I guess the palace is still hesitating about this matter. The canal is a big deal."

Wei Guangde nodded slightly and said with a wry smile: "This is also the reason why I didn't want to say it at the beginning. When it involves Emperor Chengzu, a small matter will become a big matter."

Zhang Juzheng nodded in agreement and sighed, "But this kind of thing cannot be concealed. Sooner or later, it will be revealed to the world."

"The court gradually reduced its reliance on grain transport, using the excuse that grain transport was too expensive and that it should be transported by sea instead.

The Yellow River will change its course sooner or later. Whether the canal can still be used by then depends on God’s will.”

Wei Guangde lowered his voice and spoke to Zhang Juzheng.

Zhang Juzheng opened his mouth slightly, but finally just shook his head, "So, the promotion of the Denglai Navy to the East China Sea Navy must be decided as soon as possible.

Otherwise, the security of grain supply will not be guaranteed.

Although there are fewer Japanese pirates at sea now, they still exist.”

“When Yu Dayou returns from Burma, we will transfer warships from the South China Sea Navy to the East China Sea. However, I’m afraid the Ministry of Revenue will have to pay more money.

This time, the South China Sea Navy will not only support the East China Sea Navy's warships, but will also send a part of it to reside in Myanmar. I plan to form the West China Sea Navy there.

With the Burmese navy, the southwest of our Ming Dynasty will have an outlet to the sea, and we can ship southwest goods to Daqin, which can more or less change the inherent impression that the southwest is a remote and poor place. "

Wei Guangde said.

The "Da Qin" mentioned by Wei Guangde is naturally not the "Da Qin Empire" established by Qin Shihuang when he unified China, but the name given by ancient China to the Middle East region in the west.

As early as more than 2,000 years ago, the Chinese already had some understanding of West Asia and Europe, and knew that there was an ancient civilization called Daqin in the far northwest of China.

From Sima Qian's "Records of the Grand Historian" in the Western Han Dynasty to the "Book of Liang" which records the history of the Southern Dynasties, historical records have recorded the Qin Dynasty in great detail for nearly a thousand years.

Most Chinese historians believe that Daqin is Rome or the Roman Empire, but some believe that the original Daqin should refer to Greece.

The historical books in ancient China that mentioned Daqin mainly include "Records of the Grand Historian", "Book of Han", "Book of the Later Han", "Wei Lue", "Book of Jin", "Book of Wei", "History of Liang", etc. If we compare these records together, we can find that the ancient Chinese people's understanding of the scope of Daqin was rather vague.

Other names for Daqin include Lixuan, Fulin, Alexander, etc. From a geographical perspective, Daqin is also called Haixi.

Except Haixi, the rest are small place names, using small place names to represent large areas.

Judging from Haixi, this is one of the reasons why some people believe that Greece is the Qin Dynasty.

However, according to the "Book of the Later Han":

"The king had always wanted to send envoys to the Han Dynasty. In the ninth year of Emperor Huan's reign (166 AD), the King of Daqin, Andun, sent envoys from Rinan to offer elephant ivory, rhinoceros horn, and tortoise shells. Only then did they start to trade with the Han Dynasty."

That is, in 166 AD, King Anton of the Great Qin sent envoys to China to meet with Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty. After checking the lists of kings of Greece, Macedonia, Sparta and Rome, only the name and time of the Roman Emperor Anton matched.

However, when Wei Guangde mentioned Daqin, he actually included the entire Middle East and Europe.

The so-called Silk Road starts in China and ends on the Mediterranean coast. It was called Daqin in ancient times.

"West Sea."

When Zhang Juzheng heard Wei Guangde say this word to him for the first time, he was stunned for a moment.

Well, in his mind, the West Sea should actually be a large lake like the sea to the west of Mobei.

Of course, some people say that the West Sea refers to the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean, or the Caspian Sea.

In short, there are different statements in different periods, but they all definitely refer to a vast body of water in the west.

Zhang Juzheng was slightly moved when Wei Guangde said this, and then he smiled and said, "Shandai, my Ming Dynasty will have navies in the East China Sea, South China Sea and West China Sea by then. Is the North China Sea naval force also in your plan?"

"Of course."

Wei Guangde smiled slightly and said, "The North Sea Navy is naturally in the North. The sea area where the Nurgandusi of the Ming Dynasty is located is the North Sea."

Wei Guangde said frankly that this was his plan, and since we were talking about this now, Wei Guangde would just say it out loud.

If you keep it in your heart, you will never feel comfortable.

"Nurgan Dusi."

When Zhang Juzheng heard Wei Guangde mention this place name, he was moved again.

Although Nurgandusi was an administrative region designated by the Ming Dynasty court, it had actually been abolished long ago.

After all, the few guards and horses that were available were all transferred south to the Liaodong Military Region. Although the Ming Dynasty did not explicitly abandon the Nurgan Military Region, it had actually lost control of the area.

It’s still the same thing. It was decided by our ancestors. Nurgandusi is the same as U-Tsangdusi, Dogandusi, etc. Regardless of whether the imperial court can control those areas, the administrative units are still there, even if they are still the land of the Ming Dynasty.

"Do you plan to send troops to Nurgandusi again?"

Zhang Juzheng asked after a moment's hesitation.

"Who wants to send troops to the Nurgandusi?"

Feng Bao's voice suddenly appeared and reached the ears of the two.

"Brother Shuanglin, you are such a big boss. We guests have been waiting for you for a long time."

Wei Guangde was the first to react and immediately stood up and smiled.

"That's right. Shuanglin is now a dignified internal minister, a man whose words are law."

Zhang Juzheng also said, "It's not time for Yu Ju now. You can have wine and tea with us when you have time."

"It's unfair, I should have left the palace earlier, but I was called back. I kept you waiting for a long time. How about I drink three cups of wine as punishment at the banquet later?"

Feng Bao said with a smile, but the smile only lasted for a moment before he stopped smiling and asked, "Just now I heard Uncle Da talking about restoring the Nurgan Dusi. Is it Shandai's plan or is there some news that I don't know about?"

"Shan Dai said, he has already arranged for the Ming Dynasty to have naval forces in all four directions."

Zhang Juzheng continued with a smile.

"Appreciate further details."

Feng Bao looked at Wei Guangde and said seriously. (End of this chapter)