prosperous age

In the side hall of the Qianqing Palace in the Forbidden City, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Wanli received his cabinet ministers today.

After the routine greetings were completed, the Wanli Emperor looked at the five cabinet ministers with great interest and asked, "My dear ministers, have you come here today because of urgent military news from the front lines of the eastern expedition?"

Tomorrow is New Year's Day, and various preparations are being made in the Qianqing Palace, especially the ceremonial robes.

In fact, Emperor Wanli did not like celebrating the New Year's Day, because there were too many rituals, and he had to go out early in the morning to worship his ancestors and heaven and earth.

In the past, when he was young, he could entrust dukes and marquises to attend ceremonies on his behalf. Now that he has come of age and is in power, he naturally cannot send someone to act on his behalf and must go in person.

The interests of the royal family are complex and intertwined. Even for the emperor, who has a leg ailment, it is extremely painful to participate in the entire process like a puppet, not to mention that these ceremonies are too tedious.

In short, during these two years, Emperor Wanli did not experience any benefits of being emperor.

Although he held absolute power, it didn't mean he actually did everything; he was just the one who made the final decisions.

During Zhang Juzheng's reign, even if Emperor Wanli had ideas, he often had to keep them to himself and dared not express them at all.

Now that Wei Guangde is the Grand Secretary, he is given power, and often the government even helps him analyze the pros and cons so that he can make a decision.

However, after a detailed analysis, he ultimately realized with some helplessness that the cabinet had seemingly considered everything comprehensively, and he didn't actually need to understand it all; he could simply follow the cabinet's advice.

Therefore, generally speaking, when a cabinet minister comes to him, it is usually because something big has happened, either to inform him or to obtain his approval.

"Your Majesty, here is a report from Zhao Yongxian, a senior official in the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing. Officials in the six counties of Huizhou Prefecture have openly violated the laws of the court by privately adding miscellaneous taxes to the court's tax collection, thus increasing the burden on the people. They have truly failed to live up to the imperial mandate."

After speaking, Wei Guangde held up the memorial in his hands with both hands. Liu Ruoyu quickly stepped out from beside the emperor, took the memorial, turned around and handed it to the emperor.

"I remember that the court has promulgated a tax law that allows local areas to apply to the court for additional taxes if they are insufficient."

"Huizhou Prefecture, shouldn't that be reported to Nanjing?"

Emperor Wanli said in surprise.

It should be noted that this is a serious charge. If it is proven true, it's not just a matter of demotion; generally, the only outcome would be dismissal from office.

Today they dare to disobey the imperial court's orders, and tomorrow they might raise the flag of rebellion. This is no small matter.

Although this happened many years ago, when Emperor Wanli had just assumed power, Zhang Juzheng had compiled the tax laws and submitted them to him, but Emperor Wanli was actually quite dismissive of them.

After all, it was just a reorganization and adjustment of the existing tax items of the imperial court, and in principle, it did not increase the burden on the people.

However, after Wei Guangde explained the contents in detail, especially that local officials were prohibited from imposing additional taxes on the people in addition to the poll tax, and that any additional taxes had to be reported and approved, he finally understood the significance of the tax law.

It can be said that strictly enforcing the tax laws promulgated by the imperial court can greatly control official corruption, because it directly cuts off the water source.

Of course, the imperial court also increased the salaries of all officials nationwide to quell the discontent among lower-level officials.

Unexpectedly, in just three years, some officials have become so bold as to openly challenge this imperial decree.

Emperor Wanli carefully examined the memorial in his hand, and his brows furrowed.

"Master Wei, what kind of tax is this 'fire loss'?"

Although the Wanli Emperor held power, he was not clear about all tax items, and frankly, without knowing the details, he really couldn't understand the name.

The main reason is that the imperial court had promulgated the "Money Law" since the Wanli reign, which completely abolished the fire loss tax, so he had no way of knowing that there were places that had collected this tax silver before.

"The imperial court levies taxes on the whole country, and in addition to taxes, it also levies silver. At that time, the gold and silver circulating in the local areas were mixed and different, and the government had to remelt and recast them into official silver.

However, this is all ancient history. Since the Ministry of Revenue began casting Wanli Tongbao coins from silver, there has been no need to mint official silver anymore, so the fire loss fee has been eliminated.

Unexpectedly, the Huizhou government has set its sights on this money again.

Previously, Huizhou Prefecture had a silk and silver tax, and now a fire loss surcharge is levied instead.

Wei Guangde also explained the origin of the silver levy in Huizhou Prefecture, letting the emperor know that Huizhou Prefecture had indeed levied a fire loss tax in the past, but this additional tax had long been abolished.

"What is the Cabinet's opinion?"

The Wanli Emperor already knew the ins and outs of the matter, but he remembered Wei Guangde's teachings and did not express his opinion directly. Instead, he first asked the cabinet for their opinion.

If it were a typical young person, they would probably be eager to express their opinion at this point.

"The Censorate will lead an investigation into the Huizhou Prefecture. Lord Zhao has already sent people to seal the Huizhou Prefecture's account books. All we need to do is send people down to verify that the local officials did indeed collect this silver, and then the case can be closed."

There's no need to discuss the handling of this now; the Censorate will propose its own handling measures once they have the results of their investigation.

The most urgent task is to find out the situation so that everyone, from top to bottom, has nothing to say.

"The Cabinet drafted an edict, and the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs conveyed the edict to the Censorate, ordering censors to go to Huizhou Prefecture to investigate the case."

At this point, Emperor Wanli's eyes were already on Xu Guo. Without a doubt, he had already thought of Xu Guo, the cabinet minister who came from Huizhou Prefecture.

"Grand Secretary Xu, are you aware of this matter?"

This kind of thing is actually not a big deal; the cabinet can just submit the draft proposal to the Directorate of Ceremonial.

But Wei Guangde deliberately brought people here, which clearly shows that there are other voices within the cabinet.

"Your Majesty, although I come from Huizhou, I have not returned to my hometown for more than ten years since I came to the capital, and I am unaware of the inside story."

Regarding this matter, I also believe that we should investigate the situation first before making a decision.

Xu Guo stepped forward and bowed in reply.

"Grand Secretary Xu's words make sense. I also think it's best to investigate the situation before taking any action."

Emperor Wanli didn't say anything more, but when he saw the memorial in his hand, he inexplicably thought of that person again.

"Master Wei, you should communicate this matter in detail with Censor Chen of the Censorate, and send someone south to Huizhou to thoroughly investigate and understand the local reaction after the implementation of the new tax law."

When the cabinet discussed and decided on this law, I felt that it was a very well thought out.

But in just a few years, someone has already broken the law. I think the reasons for this must be thoroughly investigated.

The Wanli Emperor's tone changed somewhat, though it was rather puzzling.

It doesn't seem like they're protecting Huizhou Prefecture.

However, while it's true that they weren't biased, their words seemed to express some concerns about the new tax law implemented by the imperial court.

Wei Guangde was actually a little confused by the Wanli Emperor's attitude at this time, but he still replied, "I understand. I will discuss this matter with Imperial Censor Chen later."

In addition, the provincial inspectors were instructed to submit detailed reports on the local situation.

"Then I can rest assured."

Emperor Wanli then laughed and said, "Besides this incident today, is there anything else?"
"If you have nothing else to do, feel free to rest here. Someone, bring tea."

Why weren't they received in the main hall? It's because the weather was too cold.

The side hall of the Qianqing Palace is actually a heated pavilion. Heated pavilions are a unique spatial form in traditional Chinese architecture, referring to small rooms that are separated from and connected to the main house. They are usually equipped with heating stoves and combine practical functions with architectural aesthetics.

Many period dramas depict palaces with braziers or similar items, but in reality, charcoal braziers were not the optimal way for emperors to keep warm.

When the palace was built, heating was taken into consideration, so that the emperors would not suffer from the cold.

Many palaces in the imperial palace have specially designed warm chambers for the emperor, and these facilities are hidden in the walls or underground.

First of all, the walls of the heated room are important; they are hollow walls with double layers, which provide insulation. Using double-layered walls can better retain heat.

The core feature of the heated room is the "fire channel" under the floor tiles. This fire channel leads all the way to a stove more than 3 feet deep under the corridor. In winter, a fire is lit outside, making the heated room warm and cozy.

In fact, a large amount of gold and silver was discovered in the Prince Gong Mansion in the new century.

These gold and silver ingots are said to include ten gold ingots weighing several hundred taels each, and the other silver ingots are not the common silver ingots of a few taels or a dozen taels in later generations, but large silver ingots weighing over a hundred taels each.

Analysis suggests that the gold and silver were not originally hidden by Prince Gong, but were most likely part of the ill-gotten gains of Heshen that went undiscovered when Heshen's home was searched.

The reason they went undiscovered was that the gold and silver were hidden in the "fire tunnel" and "hollow walls".

These places are usually ignored because they are part of the houses and do not leave coal ash, so they do not need to be cleaned. They are only used for heating and air circulation, so they are preserved. Even the starving soldiers sent by the emperor did not find them.

So, for the rest of the time, Wei Guangde and other cabinet ministers were kept here by Emperor Wanli for casual conversation, and even got a free imperial meal at noon.

To be honest, relaxing in the warm pavilion is definitely more comfortable than going back to the inner cabinet.

Even with a few braziers of charcoal burning in the cabinet, the indoor temperature couldn't compare to this place; it truly embodies the sentiment, "People suffer from the short winter days, but I love the long winter nights."

By the afternoon, Wei Guangde and his men no longer needed to wait for the end of the official business.

Since no other memorials came in, they chatted idly in their duty rooms for a while before leaving the palace to go home.

As soon as he entered the mansion, Wei Guangde asked the servant beside him, "Has the madam returned?"

"Reporting to Master, Madam has only recently returned to the manor."

The servant hurriedly replied.

"Ah."

Wei Guangde nodded and went directly to the backyard.

Given the current transportation conditions, Wei Guangde doesn't think it's appropriate to spend two days traveling back and forth just to soak in a hot spring.

He's going to Tangshan, and he'll have to stay there for at least a few days to make the trip worthwhile.

That evening, Wei Guangde's residence was naturally bustling with activity. Fireworks and firecrackers were set off continuously in the backyard garden before and after the New Year's Eve dinner.

The next day was the first day of the Lunar New Year. Wei Guangde and his wife got up early and dressed in their finest clothes, as they were going to the palace to participate in various ceremonies.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles to the east, there was clearly no need to set off firecrackers on the first day of the Lunar New Year; instead, gunfire and cannons roared from the city walls.

At that time, Japan had not yet adopted the Gregorian calendar, so their New Year was actually similar to that of China, except that they made modifications and supplements, changing the Xia calendar into a lunisolar calendar.

The Xia calendar, along with the Yellow Emperor calendar, the Zhuanxu calendar, the Yin calendar, the Zhou calendar, and the Lu calendar, are collectively known as the Six Ancient Calendars.

Legend has it that this calendar was created during the Xia Dynasty. The original rules of the calendar have been lost, and we can only learn about some of its contents from ancient books.

The Chinese lunar calendar uses the moon's orbit around the Earth as a month, that is, the synodic month is used as the basis for determining the calendar month, and a month is called a "synodic month".

The first day of each month is called the new moon, and the fifteenth day is called the full moon. The "synodic month" is the average cycle of the phases of the moon.

In addition to reflecting the phases of the moon, the Chinese lunar calendar also reflects tidal phenomena.

The lunisolar calendar is a calendar system that takes into account both the moon's orbit around the Earth and the Earth's orbit around the sun. It uses the synodic month as the calendar month base and adds leap months to make the average length of the calendar year close to the tropical year. Its months correspond to the phases of the moon, and its years correspond to the changing seasons.

Of course, after the Meiji Restoration, Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar to record time, so the Lunar New Year became January of the Gregorian calendar and the traditional Chinese Lunar New Year was no longer celebrated.

Therefore, many Chinese people in later generations went there during the Spring Festival, hoping to experience the New Year atmosphere. In fact, they were overthinking it, as most of their Spring Festivals were over in Japan during the New Year.

At the foot of Ota Castle, a group of Japanese officials and daimyo gazed at the castle walls from afar, their faces filled with helplessness.

"My lord, the Ming people's firearms are still as sharp as they were a few days ago."

"Yes, if this continues, it will be difficult to break through Datianzhuang."

After yet another failed siege, several defeated officers returned to report.

"Lord Hideyoshi, I think our initial predictions were flawed."

The Ming Dynasty was, after all, a vast and resource-rich land, and their gunpowder might have been more abundant than we imagine.

Moreover, even if it were truly scarce, as long as they maintained contact with foreign merchants, they could acquire saltpeter from Southeast Asia and quickly manufacture large quantities of gunpowder.

At this moment, Takakage Kobayakawa stepped forward and spoke.

"What should we do?
The Ming army did not provide large-scale support to Datianzhuang, and no signs of Ming army mobilization were found in other castles; all were heavily guarded.

"Are you planning to bring up the main force and launch a full-scale attack on Datianzhuang?"

At this moment, Hideyoshi Hashiba frowned and looked at Takakage Kobayakawa, asking seriously.

In fact, they had made two plans: one was to attack Datianzhuang, because of its strategic location.

After capturing Ota-sho, the Japanese pirates would have three directions to continue their attack. If they attacked Tsuda-go and continued along the way, they could directly reach the Iwami region.

However, the Japanese daimyo was not betting everything on this. In their plan, if the Ming Dynasty reinforced its troops at Datianzhuang, they could mobilize their remaining forces to attack other towns and fortresses, making it difficult for the Ming army to defend both ends.

To their disappointment, the Ming army had deployed a large number of firearms on the walls of Datianzhuang, and their firepower remained formidable even after a half-month siege.

They all found the enemy quite formidable.

In fact, although Japan deployed firearms on the battlefield very early on, it was only in the last ten years or so that the large-scale and concentrated use of firearms truly began.

Because casting firearms was very complicated, Japan's production of them was not high.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi spent a great deal of money, with the help of the Sado Gold Mine, to assemble a 3,000-man arquebusier unit. They did not disappoint Nobunaga, once defeating the Hojo cavalry with the help of a palisade, and made great contributions to the Oda clan's unification of northern Japan.

Prior to this, Japanese arquebusiers were mostly deployed in small groups on the battlefield and could not truly influence the course of the war.

Influenced by the great victories of the arquebusiers, Japanese firearms have made great progress in the last decade, with various daimyo spending huge sums of money to purchase firearms.

Even so, the gunpowder in the hands of the Japanese daimyo could only support his firearms troops in one or two large-scale wars before running out of ammunition and supplies.

Although Japan has only deployed over 100,000 troops for a light siege, the consumption of gunpowder is enormous, and the Japanese frontline gunpowder reserves can only last for a few days.

"Dividing our forces will allow the Ming army to defeat them one by one. Only by concentrating our forces can we have a chance to defeat them head-on. What do you think?"

Hideyoshi Hashiba looked at the others and asked. (End of Chapter)