prosperous age

The two Empress Dowagers handed over all matters to the two cabinet ministers, which made them feel relatively relieved.

However, the young emperor Zhu Yijun on the side had a very bright look on his face at this moment. Perhaps it was because he was thinking about his upcoming wedding, his face was flushed with excitement.

Of course, the current emperor is already seventeen years old, so he naturally understands this. When he turns eighteen shortly after his wedding, he can take over the government.

For the emperor, taking charge of the government is just the beginning of his career. How could he not be excited?

However, at this time, both Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde were paying attention to the two empresses dowagers and did not notice the little emperor's reaction.

"My dear ministers, please go back and ask the Ministry of Rites to present the agenda as soon as possible. Since Emperor Shizong, our Ming Dynasty has not held such a ceremony for fifty years. We must strictly abide by the ancestral system to determine the various steps of your majesty's wedding, so as not to make a fool of ourselves."

Empress Dowager Li finally spoke.

Since the emperor's wedding ceremony was held in the sixth year of Jiajing, Emperor Longqing got married when he was in seclusion, which was naturally not the etiquette of the emperor's wedding.

Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty had a special system for preserving documents and archives, so it was possible to find the wedding agendas of all the emperors from Yingzong to the present. With these as references, we also had the wedding agenda for Emperor Wanli.

Although it looks simple, the Queen Mother did not dare to take it lightly, for fear that the people below would be careless and make a fool of themselves.

Therefore, he urged the two cabinet ministers with words to handle the matter with all their heart and avoid any omissions.

Just as Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde were about to leave after talking about today's events, the young emperor Zhu Yijun suddenly asked, "Master Zhang, Master Wei, you said before that after the foreign envoys arrived, you would hold a grand review outside the capital."

Hearing the young emperor's question, Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde looked at each other, and then Zhang Juzheng took a half step forward and bowed, saying: "Your Majesty, our dynasty has always had the custom of holding a grand review after the arrival of foreign envoys, in order to publicize the military power of our Ming Dynasty and prevent the surrounding vassal states from acting rashly.

On the way here, I discussed with Elder Wei that it had been many years since our dynasty had such a grand occasion of all nations coming to pay tribute, so we could use this opportunity to publicize the military might of our Ming Dynasty to the world.'

"Great, I will personally inspect it then."

The little emperor got a definite answer and said happily.

The agenda of the emperor's wedding was the Ministry of Rites' business. If there was any mistake, although they would not suffer any good consequences, the Minister of Rites would still be punished.

It’s just that holding a grand review before the wedding to show off the military power is not a standard procedure for a wedding, so Zhang Juzheng mentioned this when he introduced it just now. I don’t know if the two Empress Dowagers noticed it.

However, with this memorial, I have been listed in the palace.

However, neither Zhang Juzheng nor Wei Guangde had expected that Emperor Wanli was so concerned about military affairs that his interest was aroused by just a simple mention.

Empress Dowager Chen and Empress Dowager Li, who were the focus of Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng at this time, frowned slightly, but did not say anything.

"I have read the archives of the Longqing Grand Review. At that time, the troops from the Beijing Camp, Jizhen, Xuanda and Baoding Prefectures were mobilized to participate in the review. What about this time?
I remember that the last time I participated in the performance, the commander-in-chief was Qi Jiguang, the current commander-in-chief of Liaodong. Who does the court plan to appoint to this position this time?

Also, in addition to the Beijing camp, I also hope to see officers and soldiers from Liaodong, Jizhen and Xuanfu.

The soldiers of the three towns have just won a victory in Liaodong, and their military power is at its peak. If the three divisions are mobilized to come to Beijing for inspection, it will surely boost the military power of our Ming Dynasty.

In addition, I also hope to meet the Burmese soldiers from the south. After all, they have just helped the Ming Dynasty to quell the rebellion and have made great contributions. "

Emperor Wanli's words shocked everyone in the room.

No one expected that the little emperor, who usually rarely interrupted others, would suddenly make such a request.

Yes, usually when they entered the palace to discuss matters, they mainly listened to the opinions of the two Empress Dowagers, and the Emperor basically did not speak.

This is also related to the fact that he did not rule the country himself. He was only the emperor in name but not in reality.

It’s not that other people didn’t listen to him, but the Wanli Emperor was still being treated like a child by the two palaces, so naturally they didn’t pay much attention to him.

Then, two pairs of eyes moved from top to bottom, first falling on Zhang Juzheng and then on Wei Guangde.

Being stared at, Wei Guangde instantly came to his senses.

He was the one who taught Emperor Wanli most of the military knowledge.

According to Zhang Juzheng's request, he only needed to be instilled with basic military knowledge. The court did not want to cultivate another incompetent Emperor Wuzong.

It’s not that Emperor Wuzong was a bad person, it’s mainly because he was too troublesome and ended up ruining himself.

Although their family was able to sit in this position thanks to Wuzong's bad habits, it does not mean that they want to repeat the same mistakes.

But now it seems that the little emperor is also extremely fanatical about military affairs. This is all Wei Guangde's fault.

Even Zhang Juzheng glanced back vaguely.

Wei Guangde knew that he was the only one who could speak at this time.

Support or oppose?
In an instant, several thoughts appeared in Wei Guangde's mind.

After a quick weighing of the pros and cons, Wei Guangde decided to take the risk.

The Ming Dynasty now needs a strong army. Continuing to suppress the military is actually not conducive to the current era.

Taking a step forward, Wei Guangde bowed and said, "Your Majesty cares about the soldiers who shed blood for the country. I, along with millions of Ming soldiers, would like to thank Your Majesty.

As for Your Majesty's wish to transfer meritorious soldiers from border towns to Beijing for inspection, I also agree.

However, Xuanda and Liaodong in the north are fine, but the journey from the southwest to the capital is too long for the Burmese army.

Therefore, I suggest that they select their best troops to form a thousand-household unit and send it north to the capital for inspection.

In fact, our Great Ming also has elite soldiers and generals in the two capitals in the north and the south and the thirteen provinces to ensure the stability of our Great Ming.

In order to avoid disappointing the officers and soldiers, it would be better to have the Ministry of War order each province to send a thousand households to Beijing to receive the emperor's grace. This would also allow for a comparison of the soldiers of each province, and the results would be included in the performance evaluation of each military department."

Just a few border towns being able to fight cannot represent the military strength of the Ming Dynasty. Wei Guangde simply used this as an excuse to have all provinces mobilize troops to the capital.

With the help of this Xuanwu, all provinces can see what a strong army is, and thus urge each military commander to train their troops.

As for the two palaces being worried that the emperor would be overly obsessed with military affairs and that they would find an opportunity to explain things to the two palaces later, that was just the nature of youth.

After watching the martial arts performance, you may still be crazy about it for a while.

But after His Majesty's wedding, his interest will probably shift, so there's no need to worry too much.

"Okay, I also want to see what the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty look like, and whether they are as brave as the border troops."

Emperor Wanli had already started clapping and cheering, not noticing the expressions of the two Empress Dowagers beside him at all.

Wei Guangde took a look and then sighed inwardly.

Before, Wei Guangde had taught the little emperor countless times that he should not show his emotions on his face, and should not be quick to express his opinions when encountering things.

As the saying goes, the more you do, the more mistakes you make; the less you do, the fewer mistakes you make; and if you do nothing, you make no mistakes.

Based on the little emperor's earlier performance, Wei Guangde thought the emperor had listened to him.

But unexpectedly, those things did not touch the little emperor's sensitivity, so he could still remember his words.

But when it comes to military affairs, the little emperor is obviously a little fanatical.

Think about future generations, most young people will be like this, after more than ten years, they will no longer have the passion they have now.

We will have to talk to him later. Even if he wants to do something, he can come down and talk about it. Anyway, when Zhang Juzheng reported it before, both palaces objected, which showed that they were not calm enough.

Wei Guangde expressed his support, and neither the two Empress Dowagers nor the Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng said anything to refute him, unless they were extremely dissatisfied.

Zhang Juzheng just twitched the corner of his mouth, but didn't say much.

After they left Ciqing Palace, Zhang Juzheng gradually slowed down his pace on the road and whispered to Wei Guangde, "Shandai, the two palaces had not thought too much about the review, but since your majesty has made a fuss, I'm afraid there will be twists and turns in this matter.

You too, didn't you see what the two palaces meant at the critical moment? You actually agreed with His Majesty. "

"Brother Uncle, I know the two palaces may be dissatisfied with this matter, but don't forget the age of His Majesty.

After the wedding, military affairs will no longer be his concern. "

Wei Guangde smiled and answered in a low voice.

"But."

Zhang Juzheng was still a little hesitant.

“I think Feng Bao will come to me later, and I will explain the matter then.

What's more, the southern soldiers have rarely trained, so this incident is a good opportunity to make all the commanders pay attention to military affairs.

In my opinion, this is not a bad thing.

I think my uncle also knows about the earlier news from overseas. The Western barbarians are conquering cities and seizing territories everywhere, and their ambitions are obvious.

If the Ming navy had not taken the initiative to go out, I don’t know whether the Western barbarians would have set their sights on the Ming Dynasty.

This time, both Western and Eastern Yi countries have delegations coming, which is a good opportunity for them to see the might of our Ming army. This way, they will know what to do in Southeast Asia and other places, and there will be less trouble. "

Wei Guangde continued to explain.

Of course Zhang Juzheng understood and wanted to show off his muscles in front of the Spaniards and Portuguese.

These two countries are now too powerful. Although Wei Guangde has always been indifferent to these two countries, saying that their national strength is not great, they just took advantage of their strong ships and powerful guns.

However, the Ming Dynasty was no longer in a state of isolation, and the navy reported the size of the Spanish fleet to Luzon on many occasions.

The Pacific route had just been opened, so each Spanish fleet coming from America was extremely large, with three large sailing ships that were larger than tribute ships, and more than a dozen escort warships accompanying them.

Although this combat capability is still inferior to that of the Ming Dynasty's South China Sea Navy, we must remember that it is just a fleet.

The Spanish Navy has deployed a large number of warships all over the world, totaling more than a thousand ships. How could this not attract Zhang Juzheng's attention?

The real strength of the Spanish Navy at this time was still unmatched even by the Ming Dynasty after its military expansion.

Of course, it doesn’t matter if they can’t win overall, because in the waters of East Asia, the Spaniards are still no match for the Ming Dynasty.

After all, Spain was deploying its military forces all over the world at that time. It not only had to maintain a strong naval fleet in Europe, but also had to maintain a fairly strong force in the Americas. Therefore, the naval power that could be projected to Asia was not very strong.

You know, Spain is now actually addicted to Mexico's gold and silver. The massive amount of gold and silver contained in the huge mines has completely poisoned them.

At this time, Spain actually no longer had the desire to expand its territory overseas as actively as before.

Therefore, after Manila reported the Ming Dynasty's movements, the Governor-General of Mexico did not choose to use force to retake the Philippine Islands, but chose to adopt a defensive stance and just keep the southern Philippines.

Spices from Southeast Asia and handicrafts from the Ming Dynasty were also luxury decorations that Spain urgently needed.

Wei Guangde’s purpose was to let the Spaniards and Portuguese truly understand the military strength of the Ming Dynasty through military performances.

Of course, Western countries are also one of his targets.

The South China Sea Fleet and the East China Sea Fleet were built to show them that the Ming Dynasty was a powerful country with expeditionary capabilities.

"Okay, you discuss the review with the Ministry of War first, and I'll take a look after you've decided on the rules.

In the palace and to Eunuch Feng, I will speak according to your wishes.

This Wanli Grand Review is of great importance and we must not take it lightly or anything goes wrong.”

Zhang Juzheng nodded and did not continue speaking. In fact, he was somewhat worried about the soldiers from the southern military commissions and was afraid of making a fool of himself.

Songjiang Prefecture will open to the sea after the new year, and all departments of the Ming Dynasty court and provinces will benefit from it.

A large number of ships going out to sea do need strong protection from the imperial court.

The Portuguese had already agreed in Goa that they would send an envoy to the Ming Dynasty to watch the ceremony after reporting back to the king.

The Spaniards were the first to be invited. After Yin Zhengmao's fleet arrived in Luzon, they extended an invitation to the Governor-General of the Philippines.

In fact, a year later, the news might have just reached Spain, but the Governor-General of Mexico had already decided to let the Governor-General of the Philippines represent Spain at the wedding of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

This is also a kind of Western diplomatic etiquette. Invitations from non-hostile countries will generally be accepted with pleasure, otherwise it will be regarded as hostility.

Therefore, the King of Spain would not object to this matter.

However, up to now, no delegation has arrived from the UK, and it is not known whether they are still on the way.

In fact, Wei Guangde didn't care whether Britain was involved or not. He was just trying to catch rabbits by raking straw, hoping to have more contact with European countries.

After all, Britain's reputation became well-known in later generations, so it was hard not to pay attention to it.

Just as he thought, the British Queen's special envoy had just rounded the Cape of Good Hope in Africa and entered the waters of the Indian Ocean.

Thanks to the Indian Ocean chart obtained from Jiugang, the delegation was riding on the large sailing ship Jesse, which was cutting through the waves and rushing towards the Ming Dynasty.

The HMS Jessie was the largest caravel in Britain, with a displacement of nine hundred tons. It once served as the flagship of the British Navy.

The Jesse is a representative work of Britain's naval development and was purchased from the Hamburg shipyard more than ten years ago.

At this time, Britain not only had economic deficiencies compared to European countries, but its shipbuilding industry also lagged far behind other European countries.

The reason for sending the country's strongest warship to visit the East was not only to consider the safety of the delegation, but also because of the hope to obtain more goods from the Ming Dynasty.

The huge amount of gold and gems that Drake brought back to Britain not only shocked the British high-level officials, but the exquisite handicrafts produced in the Ming Dynasty also made the entire upper class of England fall in love with him.

In the past, they could only get these things from mainland countries at high prices.

Although Drake's selling price is not cheap, it is still much cheaper than before. How can it not make people crazy?

To this end, the largest ships were sent to the East, not only to watch the ceremony, but also to transport back more products of the Ming Dynasty.

According to the logic of the British government, not only will the kingdom not lose money on this mission, but it will definitely make a lot of money.

Therefore, it was only natural to send out the largest warship.

Once this transaction is completed and diplomatic relations are established, the British government has planned to send a fleet to the Eastern Ming Kingdom every year to trade and stabilize this trade channel. (End of this chapter)