prosperous age

The Forbidden City, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, the Qianqing Palace.

"Your Majesty, I cannot say for sure when Governor Li and his men will arrive in the Eastern Continent."

According to their previous nautical logs, it took them at least seven months to reach the destination.

Of course, at that time they were still exploring the waterway, so their movements were relatively slow and they had to stop from time to time.

Now, news of two shipping routes has emerged. Previously, the Ministry of War had also studied the matter and chosen the safest route.

"Expected"

At this point, Wei Guangde looked up at the Wanli Emperor before continuing, "It is estimated that it will take six months to reach the Eastern Continent."

Once the waterway is confirmed, I will instruct the Ministry of War to find suitable locations along the route to establish naval fortifications, facilitating the movement of ships.

Ships departing from the Ming Dynasty needed to take advantage of the southwest monsoon to travel north, and then travel eastward along the Kuroshio Current in the North Pacific, covering a distance of over 10,000 nautical miles.

Wei Guangde had heard about this route from officials in the Ministry of War who were knowledgeable in maritime affairs long ago.

They believed that only in this way could they successfully travel east and find that land.

The news brought back from the Eastern Continent only confirmed this matter.

Furthermore, the approximate location at which to turn east after sailing north, following two slightly different routes, was also roughly estimated.

It can be said that the unexpected success of the two expedition fleets has enabled the Ming Dynasty to obtain the sea route it needed to reach the Eastern Continent.

Sailing from west to east takes half a year, but returning is much easier.

As long as they sail south into the equatorial trade winds and return with the wind, they can reach the waters near Luzon in three or four months.

According to the return log, Wei Guangde also intended to establish an overseas base for the Ming Dynasty on equatorial islands.

However, after discussion, the Ministry of War believed that the risk was too great.

The main reason is that the ships passing through this route were not only from the Ming Dynasty, but also Spanish warships.

If a conflict breaks out, it will be difficult to leave any survivors in the water village.

Moreover, even if the Ming Dynasty ignores the Spanish's explanation, does that mean it should really go to war with the Spanish because of this?
Well, in the eyes of the Ministry of War officials, if the Ming Dynasty's water fortresses on the equator were attacked, it could only have been done by the Spanish.

No evidence is needed.

If I think it is, then it is.

Therefore, the Ministry of War was in a precarious position at that time.

If war doesn't break out, the Ministry of War will have its offices demolished by its colleagues from the other five ministries.

To avoid trouble, the Ministry of War refused to build naval fortresses on islands near the equator to facilitate the navy's travel to and from the eastern mainland.

Even though Wei Guangde thought the matter was actually quite simple, it was just that the Luzon navy was heading out into the central Pacific to find islands.

Of course, what made Wei Guangde concede was the Ministry of War's statement that the navy's warships could not advance eastward on a large scale.

Unless it's a centipede boat, but that would require a large number of oarsmen, and the transportation costs would be very high.

Wei Guangde was present when the Ministry of War discussed these matters, so he naturally knew about them.

Now, Emperor Wanli, remembering Li Chengliang, suddenly inquired about the situation of the eastern expeditionary army after handling state affairs, and Wei Guangde could only tell him the truth.

"Six months, half a year? That long?"

The Wanli Emperor looked shocked. He could hardly imagine that it would take half a year for the army to arrive in the east. How far must that be?

I used to only know that it was far away, thousands of miles apart, but I didn't have a clear concept of it.

Now they have it, but it will take them six months to arrive.

"That's why so many ships were mobilized, mainly to provide the supplies and provisions needed by the expansion troops."

Wei Guangde immediately replied.

More than 3,000 people went there, and the drinks alone took up a lot of space for the six months' worth of supplies.

It's worth noting that along the way, they could hardly find any fresh water resources other than rainwater.

This is also the biggest difficulty that has been repeatedly mentioned in the travel log.

"After a few years, once we are familiar with the waterway, I intend to have the Ministry of War establish ports and wharves along the route to provide supplies for ships sailing on the route."

That would be much more convenient.

Wei Guangde then brought up his original idea of ​​setting up supply ports along the route.

Although the Ministry of War did not approve it, Wei Guangde felt it was still necessary to proceed.

In fact, Wei Guangde was well aware that the Ministry of War's reasons for refusing were impeccable.

However, if the Ming Dynasty were to establish a port there and station a small number of personnel, then North America could essentially be considered Ming territory.

That vast area remained untouched for a long time, a region perpetually frozen.

Even centuries later, the Americans haven't really developed Alaska, a place with an area of ​​170 million square kilometers and a permanent population of only 70.

In fact, the current Ming Dynasty's "Map of the World" only marked less than half of Alaska's area. It was based on hearsay by Matteo Ricci and roughly depicted the shape of the American continent.

The landmass extending westward from the mainland is short, leaving behind the vast Bering Strait.

Wei Guangde didn't offer any reminders, since so far, no one in the Ming Dynasty had actually been to that place.

It would be wrong of him to point out the error.

Master Wei

Emperor Wanli wanted to ask Wei Guangde whether launching an eastern expedition to the mainland under these circumstances would be a case of more harm than good.

However, considering that several thousand people had already set off, he didn't say anything discouraging. Instead, he said, "I'll leave this matter to Master Wei and the Ministry of War."

The officers and soldiers have traveled thousands of miles through hardship; if we can provide better conditions, then we should do our best.

After all, there will be a fleet making the round trip every year from now on.

Upon hearing Emperor Wanli's words, Wei Guangde hurriedly bowed and obeyed the decree.

"I am tired. Master Wei, take this memorial from the Ministry of Justice and the Censorate back directly and have Zhang Hong affix his seal. Let's do it that way."

The Wanli Emperor finally spoke.

The main reason he was summoned to the Qianqing Palace for an audience was because the Ministry of Justice and the Censorate had submitted a long list of corrupt officials in local government offices that they had recently been purging.

More than 300 clerks and officials were to be punished, and about 500 others would be disciplined, though without imprisonment or exile.

This purge of local government offices was originally intended to target the resurgence of the White Lotus Religion.

However, as it progressed, Wei Guangde gradually transformed it into a local anti-corruption storm.

In addition to punishing clerks and officials, the Ministry of Personnel is also cooperating with the Censorate to investigate officials, which has already involved more than 20 local officials.

As for how to punish him, several government departments need to discuss the matter thoroughly before reporting it to the palace.

This nationwide purge differed from the imperial court's past inspections.

Local examinations and the investigations of officials in the capital, although involving the official hats of government officials, generally did not lead to major imprisonments; at most, officials would lose their hats.

But this purge truly investigated every official, down to the lowest clerk, who had committed numerous misdeeds in the local area.

While we can't say we'll catch them all, we'll definitely pull the worst offenders into the net.

Even if some escaped the net, they should be living in constant fear and trepidation.

In the short term, these people should not dare to do evil again. After leaving the Qianqing Palace, Wei Guangde went to the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs. After Zhang Hong marked the memorial with red ink and affixed his seal, he took it directly back to the Cabinet.

"Go and invite Censor Zhao, Minister Zeng of the Ministry of Justice, Minister Yang of the Ministry of Personnel, and Lord Sun of the Court of Judicial Review to come over."

Before even entering the guardhouse, Wei Guangde gave instructions to Lu Bu, who was standing respectfully at the door.

Before long, Zhao Jin, Yang Wei, and Sun Delu entered the duty room. Only the Ministry of Justice was a little far from the Cabinet, and Zeng Shengwu had not yet arrived.

"This is the memorial submitted by the three ministries requesting the punishment of the clerks, which His Majesty has already approved."

His Majesty was very displeased after reading the memorial. He couldn't believe that such wicked people could still commit such evil deeds within the government of our Great Ming Dynasty.

Wei Guangde then looked at the three of them.

The three remained expressionless, perhaps because they were prepared.

After all, the people on the list have absolutely no connection to them.

Those who have been able to commit evil deeds until now must have someone protecting them.

And this person is often someone in the officialdom.

This net doesn't just trap one person, or a group of people, but almost all of them.

However, this time, because the focus was on the clerks and officials, they were brought to the surface.

In the past, the imperial court would leave the handling of these people to the local provincial inspectors and circuit inspectors, so when it came to investigating, it was always a case of local protection.

Seeing their reaction, Wei Guangde sighed inwardly and had no choice but to continue, "His Majesty is very displeased. After ordering the Chengdu Censorate to conduct a purge every five years, he will severely punish corrupt officials and demote those who neglect their duties by one grade in the performance evaluation."

This matter was actually deliberately stirred up by Wei Guangde.

The Wanli Emperor was merely dissatisfied with local officials, believing they had failed to fulfill their duties as regents.

Therefore, downgrading the performance evaluation is necessary in the event of such an incident.

However, Wei Guangde immediately realized that if he acted in this way, local officials would probably do their best to protect these people to prevent them from making mistakes during their term of office.

In that case, not only will it fail to prevent problems from escalating, but it may also embolden those below to act even more recklessly.

Aside from mistakes, local officials didn't think about punishing the clerks; instead, they covered them up and tried to resolve the issues themselves to avoid affecting their own performance evaluations.

Officials in the capital would also help, so as not to be implicated and dragged down during the capital inspection.

To this end, he simply extended the assessment of officials directly to the level of clerks and officials, and made the Censorate responsible for contacting the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review every five years to carry out a purge of clerks and officials in various places and punish those who committed many evils.

Turn occasional purges into long-term operations, once every five years. Those who do too many bad things at the grassroots level will eventually be discovered by inspection officials and exposed.

If local authorities want to avoid being implicated, the sooner they deal with the situation, the better, lest they get burned.

While this method cannot eliminate all the misdeeds of clerks, it does have a deterrent effect, at least instilling a sense of awe in people's hearts.

With a little guidance from Wei Guangde, Emperor Wanli understood the crux of the matter, which led to his current gathering of people.

Upon hearing that the palace would regularly launch purges targeting low-ranking officials, the three were taken aback, but quickly understood the implications and nodded slightly.

This is something you can't oppose; it will only ruin your reputation if it gets out.

The court's decision to punish corrupt officials is certainly a good policy.

If we oppose it, we'll be seen as accomplices of these corrupt officials, and to the common people, we'll be seen as bad people.

Soon, Zeng Shengwu arrived, and he briefly explained the situation before asking for their opinions.

What other opinions could there be? The Grand Secretary was pushing for it, the Wanli Emperor was supporting it, and it was also a campaign to clean up official corruption. It seemed impossible for anyone to oppose it.

Apart from Zhao Jin, who inquired about the extent of the crackdown and had a general idea of ​​the situation, the others remained silent.

Simply put, if anyone was killed, the clerk would definitely be severely punished.

Those who bully ordinary people or use their power to oppress others will most likely only be punished by the local authorities.

It's hard to say how serious it is, but nobody cares.

Because Wei Guangde knew that if such a clerk fell into the hands of local officials, things might actually be even worse.

Because they affect his official position and performance evaluation, it's tantamount to cutting off his path to promotion.

Unless a sufficient price is paid, they will definitely die a horrible death.

This was also something they tacitly agreed not to mention.

It's like leaving a scrap of soup for those below, a way to skin and rip off these clerks.

Wei Guangde had already blocked many ways for lower-level officials to make money, but he couldn't go too far.

Leaving some room for them to operate is a way to make up for some of the financial deficit.

Wei Guangde sometimes felt that he was too amazing. As the chief minister, he was able to treat everyone equally, which was really not easy.

This incident only caused a stir in the officialdom of the capital, and went almost unnoticed by the general public.

At this moment, the people all focused their attention on the sign at the entrance of the Daming Money Shop. The sign contained very simple information: the interest rate for depositing silver in the money shop and some basic rules.

Even those who are semi-literate can roughly understand the content.

If you deposit one tael of silver, you can earn more than one mace of silver a year.

Even if you leave it for a month, you can still earn ten or so copper coins.

Ten copper coins can't buy much in the capital, but they can buy a meal.

If you put it in for a year, the interest for that year would be enough to buy a chicken.

The key point is that money held in your own hands will not earn interest, but if you put it in the Ming Dynasty Money Exchange, the money exchange will make it generate interest.

As for why money shops offer interest, they explained that they lend out the money to earn more interest.

As for the little money they have, which boss would lend it to them?
Only by pooling the surplus money of many people can the needs of those bosses be met, and only then will they be willing to lend money and pay interest.

The business that Daming Qianzhuang did was to make money from money, just like usury, except that the interest was charged according to the imperial court’s regulations, at a rate of three percent per month.

That's how they understood.

The money shops collected their money and lent it out at interest rates several times or even dozens of times higher than the rates they paid, making a profit from the difference.

As for whether the money they lent out was safe or not, they didn't need to worry about it, because the major shareholder of the money shop was the emperor.

Never owe money to the emperor, no matter who you are; that could cost you your head.

As a result, more and more people began to deposit their money in money shops.

Although it wasn't much, most people only saved a few taels of silver and that was it, but after all, most of the people in the capital started going to money shops and sending money to them.

Within days of the new regulations being announced, the money exchange had absorbed nearly ten thousand taels of silver.

It may not seem like much, but the one-month and three-month deposits are quite substantial.

Many people are still watching and waiting to see if they can get the money out of the bank when it matures.

Wei Guangde could already foresee that a month later, those people who had received their principal and interest would take all their savings to the Daming Money Shop to deposit and earn interest for them.

For ordinary people who had no connections, the Daming Money Shop provided them with a way to acquire wealth and a reliable method for making money.

As for later scholars who believed that interest rates should be lowered to stimulate consumption, Wei Guangde felt nothing but contempt.

If you can raise interest rates so that people can get higher interest from banks, see if they dare to use the interest for consumption.

Especially money that arrives daily in services like Yu'ebao and Lingqiantong. (End of Chapter)