prosperous age

"Uncle, oh, Shandai is here too."

Feng Bao had complete freedom when he went to Zhang Juzheng's office, just like when he returned to the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs; he could enter directly without waiting for the clerk to announce his arrival.

In fact, when Feng Bao arrived with his men, all the officials passing by outside bowed to him.

Although Feng Bao was a despicable eunuch, he held a high position.

Eunuchs were notoriously stingy. While others couldn't touch the Grand Secretary, a mere minor official like the Secretary of the Imperial Secretariat could be dealt with with a single word.

In the government offices of the Ming Dynasty, the Grand Secretariat was undoubtedly a good place. Just as ministers looked down on eunuchs, they also envied the eunuchs for being able to stay by the emperor's side at all times.

The secretaries in the cabinet are always by the side of the Grand Secretary, so they naturally have the opportunity to showcase their talents.

Therefore, they were all genuinely cautious in dealing with the Inner Minister, fearing that they might do something inappropriate that would displease him and cause him to be expelled from the cabinet.

It would be difficult for a lowly official like them; I doubt many ministers would be willing to stand up and speak for them.

"The Cabinet has discussed a major matter. The proposal for the loan has been drafted, but before submitting it, we would like to inform you, the Minister of the Interior, to see if there are any issues so that we can make revisions in advance."

Zhang Juzheng was always very polite to Feng Bao, after all, Feng had been helping him all along.

Feng Bao's support was his greatest asset in securing his position as Grand Secretary and exerting his authority over all officials.

Zhang Juzheng led Feng Bao inside and offered him tea. He then explained the purpose of his visit.

Subsequently, Wei Guangde handed the rewritten memorial to Feng Bao.

"You've only just returned from your loan business, and there's already an important matter for the cabinet to review. You've truly devoted yourself to the court."

Feng Bao had already guessed that the content of this memorial was most likely proposed by Wei Guangde. Otherwise, Zhang Juzheng would not have needed to wait for Wei Guangde to return to the capital to discuss it. Moreover, if it was Zhang Juzheng's intention, there would have been no need to invite Wei Guangde to be present as well.

His presence here can only mean that the idea was proposed by Wei Guangde, and that Zhang Juzheng did not object, and may even have expressed some support; otherwise, he would not have chosen to meet him here.

"You flatter me. It is our duty as subjects to be loyal to the emperor while receiving his salary."

Wei Guangde smiled and said something, then picked up the fragrant tea on the coffee table and took a sip, while Feng Bao also turned his attention to the document.

However, his brows soon visibly furrowed.

Although the proposal had already outlined its advantages and disadvantages, selling weapons abroad still touched a nerve that the Ming Dynasty had always been sensitive about.

"Korea is one thing, since there are precedents, but Ryukyu and Sulu have no precedents."

As for the countries of Europe, they are far enough away, tsk tsk.

As Feng Bao read, he read aloud, clearly indicating that he also had many concerns.

Ultimately, the Ming Dynasty mostly followed precedents in handling affairs; if there were no precedents, it seemed like things were extremely difficult.

"Hehe, the first time the Chenghua Emperor sold weapons to Korea, there was no precedent, but Emperor Xianzong still approved it."

Zhang Juzheng then interjected, "Actually, this can be seen as a precedent."

Since the Ming Dynasty can sell weapons to a subjugated Korea, why can't the Ryukyu and Sulu kingdoms do the same, given their similar subservience?

Feng Bao looked up at Zhang Juzheng, then at Wei Guangde, before chuckling, "It seems that Shandai has convinced Uncle Da. Hmm, Ryukyu and Sulu are quite compliant. If they want to buy, the court will find it difficult to refuse."

But these barbarians.

Clearly, whether it was Spain, Portugal, or Angleia, they had only recently come into contact with the Ming Dynasty, so they could not be considered respectful.

Earlier, they had a fierce dispute with the Ministry of Rites over the conclusion of an agreement, placing themselves on an equal footing with the Ming Dynasty, which had already displeased the top officials in the court.

However, since they were guests from afar and had come specifically to celebrate the emperor's wedding, the officials couldn't say anything at the time.

Furthermore, they are all wealthy young men who have traveled thousands of miles to the Ming Dynasty to spend money. The court has been making money off them for years and will continue to do so in the future, so it's not easy to cause trouble.

"Brother Shuanglin, I wonder if you have seen the secret reports from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, especially the secret reports after the grand review."

Wei Guangde had no choice but to repeat the same old story and bring up what had happened before.

"Ok?"

Feng Bao looked at him with some surprise, whether he had forgotten or not.

Therefore, Wei Guangde had no choice but to recount the information that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had gathered at the time, and finally concluded: "The most advanced firearms that our Great Ming Dynasty introduced at that time were nothing more than that in the eyes of the barbarians, which shows that the barbarians' firearms technology was very advanced thousands of miles away."

I still remember the firearms that I borrowed from the palace through Brother Shuanglin; they were all for the Ministry of Works to research and replicate.

The briefing sent back by the mission also mentioned the heavy firearms of the barbarians. All the countries had heavy cannons that our Great Ming did not have, which were used specifically to attack cities and fortresses.

The largest was the cannon from the Kingdom of Rumi; its barrel was large enough to fit a person inside.

The Ming Dynasty delegation entered the Mediterranean and, after visiting the Pope, went to the Kingdom of Rumi and met its Sultan Murad III.

To demonstrate the strength of the Ottoman Empire to the Ming Dynasty, Murad III brought out the Urban Cannon for the Ming envoys to see.

Of course, the purpose is not only to show off military power, but also to demonstrate force.

In fact, when Murad III met with the Ming delegation, he proposed that the Ming Dynasty send troops from east to west to attack the Persian Empire together with the Ottoman Empire, and that the two countries share the territory of the Persian Empire equally.

Such a big matter was something the mission naturally dared not agree to, and could only temporarily decline under the pretext of returning home to report.

The detailed account can be found in the memorials sent back by the mission.

The war that Yin Zhengmao and Yu Dayou's mission encountered when they entered the Red Sea was actually a prelude to the Ottoman Empire's war against the Persian Empire, as the Ottoman Empire was eliminating forces supporting the Persian Empire.

Meanwhile, the Ottoman army has already clashed with the Persian Empire on the border, but the situation remains unclear.

"I haven't read the memorial carefully yet. I was thinking of reading it in detail when someone returns."

Feng Bao also admitted that with so many memorials sent to the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs every day, he couldn't possibly read every single one; he would only pick out the important ones.

To be honest, most officials in the Ming Dynasty were indifferent to overseas affairs these days.

In their view, no matter how strong the foreign barbarians are, how strong can they be?
Could it possibly surpass the Ming Dynasty?

It is precisely for this reason that although the Ming Dynasty was the first to come into contact with Westerners, it missed an opportunity to understand the world because it did not engage in detailed communication.

Well, not all of them did not notice; at least Xu Guangqi and his students, such as Sun Yuanhua, who were influenced by him, did.

However, the Ming Dynasty was already in a precarious state at that time and had no intention of opening its eyes to the world.

Two hundred years later, foreigners, with their powerful ships and cannons, forced open the gates of this ancient Chinese empire, and the Chinese people endured a century of humiliation.

In fact, Wei Guangde's descendants saw online that Westerners didn't understand the Chinese perspective on that humiliating period of history, and at first they didn't understand it either.

After all, isn't it humiliating for an independent country to be reduced to a semi-colony and semi-feudal state?
However, as some Western netizens have said, although China has signed some "unequal" treaties, the country has never been destroyed.

In the West, wars often resulted in the subjugation of nations.

Even a powerful nation like France once groveled at the feet of Germany, while Germany itself has been defeated countless times.

The Soviet Union, at the beginning of its existence, was also forced to cede large tracts of land by the European coalition forces.
All of this, in the grand scheme of history, seems insignificant compared to the broader historical trend. Wei Guangde pondered for a long time before realizing that perhaps the reason why the Chinese people are so deeply troubled by that dark period of history is ultimately due to the influence of the power of the central empire flowing in their blood for thousands of years.

Perhaps, no one can accept that the Central Empire would be bullied by foreigners, and therefore they cannot let go of it.

As an ancient empire that had been a world leader since before the Song Dynasty, it simply could not tolerate the history of being bullied by barbarians.

We still feel proud of this country deep down, which is why we can't swallow this insult.

Looking at the steak, the root cause is the education system. History courses in primary and secondary schools have been repeatedly compressed, preventing people from truly understanding the greatness of this country's history from a young age.

If people don't understand their own country's history, only have a superficial understanding, and then think that everything foreign is better, wouldn't that eventually create a generation of idiots?

Wei Guangde was only momentarily distracted before regaining his composure and began earnestly explaining to Feng Bao the gap between Eastern and Western technologies.

Of course, the focus is on firearms. Now, whether in the East or the West, firearms have gradually come to dominate the battlefield.

The Ming army was no longer as brave as before, and relied more on its powerful firearms in battle.

"So, Western firearms technology is so advanced? I've heard you mention it before, but I'm not knowledgeable about these things. Let's take a look at the firearms that the barbarians sent to the palace."
"Oh no, it seems the Emperor left that firearm in the Qianqing Palace."

Just then, Feng Bao suddenly slapped his thigh and said.

"It is not a bad thing that Your Majesty is paying attention to firearms. War is a matter of great importance to the state, a matter of life and death, a road to survival or destruction, and it is imperative to examine it carefully."

Wei Guangde laughed.

His purpose in sending toys to the young emperor was precisely to attract the emperor's attention and encourage him to focus on the development of Ming Dynasty weaponry.

Well, those are toys specially made by master shipbuilders and cannon makers. They are exactly the same as the real thing, except that they are smaller and cannot be driven into the battlefield.

Those cannon models could fire gunpowder and launch projectiles.

"You are you."

Just then, Feng Bao seemed to realize something, "Shan Dai, you've been plotting this all along, sending the Emperor so many cannon toys."

"When I sent the Fujian ship model before, His Majesty asked me what equipment was on the ship."

The crossbows on that ship were really complicated and difficult to manufacture, but the small cannons were easy to cast.

I was merely trying to please His Majesty. You can call me sycophantic, I admit it, but as for scheming or anything like that, I won't admit it."

Wei Guangde immediately said.

"Although it was a clever trick, the model was really good, exactly the same as the real ship."

During His Majesty's last trip to Tianjin, he demonstrated a great understanding of ships, which was also thanks to the generous loan program.

Zhang Juzheng did say something fair. Wei Guangde's gift of toys was indeed opportunistic, but those toys were different from real toys, and they still had an educational value.

"It takes almost a year to travel by ship from the Ming Dynasty to that place called Europe?"

Feng Baogang's reaction was merely a sudden recollection of the gifts Wei Guangde had given to the emperor a few years ago, which included toy cannons. He also recalled the emperor's decision to collect firearms presented as tribute by foreigners into the Qianqing Palace.

However, as Zhang and Wei said, although the emperor was high above, he could not be completely ignorant of the equipment and combat strength of the government troops.

At this point, he was considering the feasibility of selling weapons through the petition.

"What if we sell this to them and they turn around and attack us?"

Feng Bao did not feel that he could rest easy just because it was thousands of miles away, after all, it was only a year.

It took about a year to load the cannons and people onto ships and transport them over.

If they use the cannons that the Ming Dynasty sold to attack the Ming Dynasty, wouldn't that be troublesome?

"We have more and better cannons, and we can even forge them ourselves."

If they really dared to come, the Luzon army would dare to directly seize Manila, and the Burmese government forces would advance westward all the way to Goa.

Wei Guangde didn't care about foreigners at all. In the eyes of the Chinese, Spain and Portugal were not considered major powers; they were just minor players.

What is there to worry about in a kingdom whose decline was already destined in history?

However, modern China, by occupying Turtle City and Myanmar, has already acquired the ability to continue its expansion outwards.

However, this expansion was consciously controlled by Wei Guangde for fear of indigestion.

The Yuan Dynasty nominally had a vast territory, stretching from the Pacific Ocean in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west, but it quickly fragmented into several khanates.

The country is too big to be ruled.

Moreover, China's centralized system made it impossible for the emperor to delegate power to the governors of the colonies like European monarchies, allowing them to handle affairs within their jurisdictions and become de facto local emperors.

As for the idea of ​​granting fiefdoms overseas in some novels, that would only be possible if the emperor agreed.

Why grant these places to relatives of the royal family who cannot freely leave the city when I can completely control them?

To ask them to grant them military and political power and actually assume their fiefdoms is utter nonsense.

That's all because they knew these places weren't Chinese territory, so they fantasized about it and allowed Chinese people to occupy them for a long time.

Knowing that communication conditions were limited at the time and that the central court could hardly take care of these places, the central court sent members of the imperial family to these areas to develop and defend those territories themselves.

From the emperor's perspective, he would have preferred to keep them in the city rather than let them go back to the mountains.

Wei Guangde had only briefly considered the matter on a whim, but he quickly calmed down and never mentioned it in the cabinet.

Therefore, his top priority was to figure out how to consolidate his existing territory. He not only left Li Chengliang and his son to guard Burma, but also brought Luzon and Palembang under the command of the South China Sea Fleet, which was currently the strongest military group in the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, the military strength of the Ming Dynasty is now far superior to that of the two countries on the Iberian Peninsula.

When Wei Guangde's words reached Feng Bao's ears, he naturally took them as gospel.

"Shan Dai's words are not wrong. Our great Ming Dynasty is not afraid of any threat."

Feng Bao had no interest in Manila or Goa, but it was enough that the government troops had this ambition to dominate the world.

“Selling these firearms can also alleviate the problem of insufficient funds in the imperial court, which is actually a very good solution.”

Zhang Juzheng continued.

"Alright, I think this proposal is fine. Whether to submit it as is or not is up to you."

"If that's the case, then I'll just take it and deliver it to His Majesty in a little while."

Feng Bao spoke up.

Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde exchanged a glance and nodded. "Then please have Brother Shuanglin deliver it to His Majesty." (End of Chapter)