prosperous age

“Indeed, on the first day of each week, they go to church for religious services, so it is a day of rest; the rest of the time they have to work.”

Shen Shixing spoke up.

"So, they have four or five days off a month there."

Wei Guangde hadn't expected the delegation to even know that Europeans went to church for worship; otherwise, why would anyone call Sunday "the day of worship"? But he still said it.

"Ah."

Shen Shixing looked down at the document in his hand again and nodded.

"The imperial court abolished the ten-day rest system in earlier years, and now there are only two rest days left each month."

The Europeans, whom we consider barbarians, grant their subjects four or five days of rest each month.

Wei Guangde stopped talking after saying that, but his gaze swept over the others.

A moment later, he saw Zhang Juzheng shake his head slightly and say with a wry smile, "Even if the imperial court issues such a decree, do you think the people can actually implement it?"
All that's possible is for the people in the government offices; for the common people, they still have to work endlessly, and there's no rest except during the off-season.

Zhang Juzheng's words were very practical, leaving Wei Guangde momentarily at a loss for words.

Indeed, policy is policy, but whether or not it is implemented at the local level is another matter.

Even if you stipulate that those who do not comply will be punished, people will always find ways to circumvent the rules.

This is a classic case of "where there's a policy, there's a countermeasure," and "the devil is always one step ahead of the saint."

After a moment, Wei Guangde spoke up, saying, "Even so, the imperial court can still do some things."

Wei Guangde planned to adopt a tactical retreat and not pursue the goal of catching up with Europe in one step. "I think the court can restore the system of rest days every ten days, so that at least one more day off can be provided every month."

Following the example set by the imperial court, workshops and merchants in the city were instructed to provide workers with three days of rest each month.

As for the countryside

Wei Guangde also shook his head. In the countryside, everything is seasonal. During the busy farming season, people won't rest even if you pay them. They have to rush to prepare the fields before the season. During the slack season, when there's nothing to do, they just rest.

As for those who go to the city to work without resting, that's another matter, and the imperial court can't manage that.

"Just do whatever you want in the countryside. After all, rural areas are all about the seasons, so there's no way to set rules."

But at the very least, restoring the ten-day weekend is a way to narrow the gap with Europe, and it also has a tradition in China.

Actually, the concept of days of the week didn't exist in ancient China; it was introduced in the late Qing Dynasty, especially after the Republic of China implemented a six-day work week, which was then promoted nationwide.

Normally, there is a ten-day weekend, and three festivals, including New Year's Day, are designated as statutory holidays. There are also spontaneous holidays among the people, such as Qingming Festival, so it seems that there are quite a few holidays.

Zhang Juzheng squinted at Wei Guangde for a moment, not understanding why he would make this suggestion.

But thinking about it, it seems to be beneficial for officials. They get an extra day off every month, which their subordinates should be very happy about.

Therefore, Zhang Juzheng did not intend to oppose this matter, although he did not care about the attitude of lower-level officials.

What are your opinions?

Zhang Juzheng looked at Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing, both of whom had already figured out the pros and cons. In fact, it was Emperor Jiajing who first abolished the ten-day rest period and reduced the rest by one day per month.

Perhaps he felt that the officials were too idle, and were even meddling in his harem's cultivation affairs.

For officials, taking a few days off is actually insignificant. Even if they don't take a day off, they can simply go to the yamen to show up and find an excuse to go out. It's very easy for them.

As long as you don't attract the attention of the censors, it's fine.

However, the censors weren't just bored and looking for trouble. As long as they didn't provoke them, or if their positions were attractive enough to arouse others' interest, they would be fine.

For most censors, it was really just a matter of doing the bare minimum and getting by.

Impeachment is only carried out when there is a clear objective.

Few censors are driven by either fame or fortune, and few truly take the fate of the nation as their responsibility.

"Ziwei has no objection to restoring the ten-day rest period."

Zhang Siwei readily expressed his support, saying that having an extra nominal day off was actually quite good.

When it came to Shen Shixing, he naturally didn't object and immediately nodded in agreement.

"In that case, let's give the Ministry of Rites a heads-up and get them to submit a memorial so the cabinet can approve it."

Zhang Juzheng laughed nonchalantly.

It's not appropriate for the cabinet to submit such a memorial; it's best for the Ministry of Rites to submit it instead.

Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing both nodded. They were the last to join the cabinet and had many colleagues in the Ministry of Rites. Once the message was sent out, they would know what to do.

The cabinet's greatest strength is not its power, but its influence over the six ministries.

Without the authority to influence the Six Ministries, there's no point in being a cabinet minister, because the cabinet has no real power, only the power to advise; all orders still have to be issued through the Six Ministries.

This is also why Zhang Juzheng held tight control over the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue, and why Wei Guangde controlled the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works.

The Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Justice were the battlefields they set out for Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing to fight.

As expected, both of them made moves to compete with the Ministry of Rites.

As for the Ministry of Justice, although Wei Guangde could not command it, Wei Shiliang, who served as the Vice Minister of Justice, still wielded considerable influence.

"Then let's continue."

With this matter settled, Zhang Juzheng immediately summoned Shen Shixing to begin the next topic.

Soon, it was finally revealed that the mission had discovered the hidden war clouds over Europe.

Nominally, it was merely the Kingdom of Spain's intention to become King of Portugal, thereby completing the annexation of Portugal as a kingdom. However, the memorial also contained many reports on the relationships between various European countries and the Pope.

To be honest, this was something Wei Guangde hadn't expected, because he had no idea about these things at all.

The Holy Roman War, also known as the Thirty Years' War, is considered the first international war. It only broke out in Europe because it did not extend to other continents; otherwise, it might have become a true World War I.

Although the war broke out twenty years later, the grievances between European countries had already begun to accumulate by then.

The most important groups involved are the Habsenburg dynasty, the Roman Catholic Church and Protestants, as well as various traditional European kingdoms.

In the early 17th century, the Kingdom of Germany under the Holy Roman Empire was in a state of chaos.

The decline of imperial power gave the princes within Germany an opportunity to seize power and establish their own independent regimes.

This situation led to the fragmentation of the Kingdom of Germany, with each state operating independently and lacking unified leadership and coordination.

Against this backdrop, the feudal lords constantly clashed and waged wars in their struggle for territory and resources.

What truly caught the attention of the Ming delegation was not the internal strife in the German Confederation. In the eyes of the Ming people, domestic riots were not worth worrying about. Did the Ming Dynasty have few riots of its own?

What truly alarmed them was the extent of the influence of European religions on various kingdoms, which they found somewhat shocking.

Not to mention the Pope, even archbishops could express their opinions on secular governments and even exert control over them. Therefore, Protestantism, which evolved from the Catholic Reformation, received support from many secular governments and flourished on this continent.

When they learned that the European countries were gradually splitting into two forces due to the "Protestant Union" and the "Catholic Union," they keenly sensed the impending war.

Two tigers cannot share one mountain. It's already strange enough that so many kingdoms exist on such a small piece of land, but now two forces have formed, and it's only a matter of time before they vie for hegemony.

In addition, there is another very important external factor affecting the power struggle between the two, namely the Kingdom of Rumi, which is one of the missions of their mission.

It seems that the entire European kingdoms fear their westward expansion, so whenever they attempt to expand westward, the European nations unite to resist them.

Only then did the situation in Europe appear in slightly more detail on the desks of the cabinet ministers of the Ming Dynasty.

Shen Shixing spoke at length, giving a general overview of the situation in Europe.

In fact, apart from Wei Guangde who only saw the outline, the other two had already read the complete memorial. They were originally scheduled to go to the Qianqing Palace, but the young emperor Zhu Yijun was very curious about what was happening thousands of miles away and wanted to go there to study it carefully.

Of course, this is also what Zhang Juzheng hoped to see.

As emperor, Zhang Juzheng naturally hoped that his son would develop the habit of thinking more, rather than blindly following others.

Two days ago, Shen Shixing mentioned it briefly after the banquet, but Wei Guangde didn't think much about it at the time. So today, he learned more about the actual situation in Europe.

It would be a lie to say he wasn't surprised, otherwise he wouldn't have been worried about the Ming Dynasty's foreign trade business.

After all, in Wei Guangde's view, the wealthy people in Europe were mainly from Spain and Portugal, and the main market for Ming Dynasty goods sold in Europe was also there.

Other countries hadn't even started overseas colonization, so they didn't have any money to spare.

Because of Britain's attitude, he guessed that European countries would oppose Spain's annexation of Portugal, and even foresaw the possibility of war. But he never expected that even if Spain did not annex Portugal, a European war would still be inevitable.

Yes, judging from what Shen Shixing said, a European war is inevitable.

For example, if a conflict breaks out between the Protestant Union and the Catholic Union, countries within both unions may be drawn into the conflict and inevitably participate in the war.

The core supporters of the Catholic League were Germans, Spanish, and Polish nobles.

Other traditional European kingdoms, perhaps also wary of the Papacy, chose to openly or covertly support the Protestant alliance.

The kings also did not want to be told what to do or have their secular power interfered with by the priests, as this was too terrible for the nobles who held power.

They were fed up with being bossed around by the Pope and constantly worried that a single decree from him could strip them of everything they owned.

In the Middle Ages, the Pope could indeed influence the selection of a kingdom's king, so almost all nobles had no choice but to grovel before the Papacy.

"I have instructed the South China Sea Fleet to keep an eye on the Philippines, Temasek, and Haojing to prevent them from having a conflict over the Spanish-Portuguese dispute, which could affect the interests of our Ming Dynasty's maritime merchants."

Wei Guangde then spoke up.

"Indeed, the South Seas are the oceans of our Great Ming Dynasty, and we cannot let them be affected by the dirty deeds of the barbarians."

Zhang Juzheng acknowledged this.

"I had previously realized that conflict might break out in Europe. Angleia clearly did not support Spain's annexation of Portugal, and I thought that other European kingdoms would do the same, thus triggering conflict between Spain and other European countries."

Therefore, I went to Nanjing, visited the imperial arsenal there, inspected the production of various firearms, and learned about the advantages and disadvantages of Ming Dynasty firearms compared to those of foreigners.”

"Ok?"

Just as Wei Guangde finished speaking, he heard Zhang Juzheng's surprised voice.

"Good loan, what do you mean by this?"
Could it be that they intend to involve my Great Ming Dynasty as well?

That place is thousands of miles away; it would take the mission more than half a year to get there.

When Zhang Juzheng heard that Wei Guangde had gone to Nanjing to inspect military preparations, he subconsciously assumed that Wei had plans to send troops to Europe and hurriedly reminded him.

He's a warmonger.

Although the term no longer exists, Wei Guangde's warlike nature left a deep impression on Zhang Juzheng.

"No no no."

Wei Guangde hurriedly shook his head, feeling very displeased. What kind of person did Zhang Juzheng take him for?

However, Wei Guangde still needs to explain himself properly.

So he looked at Zhang Juzheng and said with a smile: "Although the Ministry of Works in Beijing cast a large number of cannons to supply the northern border towns, the cannons cast by the Ministry of Works in Nanjing are used in large quantities in the southern garrisons and the navy, and they also have a better understanding of the performance of foreign firearms."

It was there that I learned that the barbarians were said to be very good at casting cannons, especially heavy cannons.

As for artillery used in field battles, they are not so good. Our Ming Dynasty's field guns are made of iron, which are much lighter and more powerful than theirs.

Wei Guangde mentioned that he had learned about the large stockpile of firearms in the armory, and also mentioned his plan to pilot a fully firearms-equipped army in the Liao army, while the navy would also establish a department specifically responsible for firearms.

"Equipping yourselves with muskets and field guns, are you perhaps planning to sell your firearms over there?"

In a short while, Zhang Juzheng had guessed Wei Guangde's thoughts, but he could hardly believe it.

Although the Song Dynasty saw the emergence of fire lances and the early Ming Dynasty also equipped its troops with firearms in large numbers, accounting for about 10% of the total military force, to be honest, Western firearms were indeed powerful.

You don't see that almost all the firearms cast by the Ming Dynasty are imitations of Western ones.

"The fiercer the fighting over there, the better our firearms will sell."

Wei Guangde chuckled and said, "They are still casting bronze cannons. Those things are so expensive that even our Great Ming Dynasty has a hard time affording them."

As for light cannons, our Ming Dynasty craftsmen are already skilled at casting iron cannons.

Although iron cannons did not last as long as bronze cannons due to their materials, they were cheaper and could be mass-produced.

We can deliver large quantities of firearms ship by ship, letting them go back and fight; the fighting can rage on and on, but it won't concern us.

Wei Guangde laughed dismissively, then his expression suddenly turned serious as he said, “Have you all considered that if this war breaks out, they will inevitably devote most of their money to the war effort, which will significantly reduce our Ming Dynasty’s maritime trade?”

Without sufficient tax revenue, the imperial court would face dire straits.

However, if the cannons manufactured by the Ministry of Works could fetch a good price, it could offset this portion of the court's losses, and might even generate a substantial profit.

Before the three could process the information in Wei Guangde's words, Wei Guangde continued, "So in the future, I will have the Embroidered Uniform Guard keep a close eye on the intelligence over there, especially the development of their latest firearms, and promptly improve the Ming Dynasty's firearms casting."

At the same time, the Embroidered Uniform Guard would be instructed to strengthen security measures at the Ministry of Works' workshops to prevent the secrets of cannon casting from being leaked.

Wei Guangde continued.

They got their current heavy artillery by secretly learning it from the trenches.

Although they only had the technology for small cannons, the Ming Dynasty craftsmen used this information to deduce the method for casting heavy cannons, thus enabling them to cast a large number of heavy cannons for the navy.

Although the methods may differ, the Ming Dynasty was indeed capable of casting practical heavy cannons.

"Is it against the principles of sages to sell them firearms to fight wars?"

Zhang Siwei uttered half a sentence before abruptly shutting up. (End of Chapter)