prosperous age

Chapter 404 Chapter 403
"So, after Oirat becomes stronger, it needs more materials from Ming Dynasty to support its development, but what about the imperial court at this time?
It should be said that the court officials at that time had already realized Oala's attempt to pay a large number of horses to the court, but they were helpless in the face of the rising Oara.

Because at that time, the Ming court should no longer have the military strength of the Chengzu period, and could launch a major war to weaken Oara's strength again, so they adopted the safest method, which was to reduce Oara's tribute.

On the one hand, I hope to reduce the increasing tribute and restore it to the previous scale, and on the other hand, I want to lower the price of tribute horses, so that I can get more horses while maintaining the original scale.”

Outside the study room of King Yu's mansion, Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng stood outside the window, listening to Wei Guangde pointing to the huge map of the north to give a lecture to King Yu Zhu Zaijie.

Wu Shan's memorial was sent to the palace, and was approved by Emperor Jiajing the next day. Wei Guangde also became a lecturer in Prince Yu's mansion, and Zhang Juzheng was with him.

After receiving the decree, Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng went to Yuwang Mansion together, on the one hand to meet Yuwang, and on the other hand to discuss their work arrangements with Yin Shizhen.

Since he is a lecturer, it is natural to give lessons to His Royal Highness King Yu, but he needs to discuss with Yin Shizhen what kind of lessons to take.

In fact, King Yu's curriculum was set long ago. The main courses are "Shangshu", "Great Learning", "Zizhi Tongjian", "Ming Huidian" and other books, as well as knowledge of arithmetic and astronomy.

Obviously, the courses for the collection of classics and history mainly fell on Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng, and Wei Guangde was assigned relatively few courses. However, according to the eunuch's intention and the Emperor Jiajing's intention, Wei Guangde would also like to teach His Royal Highness King Yu and the north. Knowledge about the Mongols.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the northern nomads have always been regarded as the biggest hidden danger of the empire, and they are always on guard against their comeback. As the crown prince, Emperor Jiajing naturally hopes that King Yu Zhu Zaiyi will have a deeper understanding of this, so as to help him make correct decisions , instead of simply echoing what others said, everyone said that the Tartars threatened the Han people in the Central Plains, and that was a threat.

For this reason, Wei Guangde searched for documents related to the northern Mongols in the Ming Dynasty in the collection of the Imperial Academy and the documents of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War, as materials for teaching Yu Wang.

Although Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng took more courses, most of them were based on the scriptures. The point is that they need to carefully explain the content of the scriptures to King Yu, while Wei Guangde's courses need to find information by himself, so in fact he has to do more work than Yin and Zhang have even more.

Under Gao Gong's professor, King Yu had completed basic education a long time ago, so Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng's teaching pressure is much less now, and what Wei Guangde teaches has never appeared before, which makes King Yu feel a little novel.

In fact, in private, Yu Wang also discussed some current affairs with Gao Gong and others, especially the danger from the north and the Japanese pirates on the coast, but they were not as rigorous as Wei Guangde's lectures.

As for Wei Guangde, after confirming Emperor Jiajing's intention, he was naturally very concerned about it.

He who comes from later generations naturally knows what kind of era he is in now.

I didn’t know it when I was in Pengze, but after arriving in the capital, I started to come into contact with more things, especially the news from the Shibo Department. Wei Guangde has realized that the current period of the Ming Dynasty is the "Great Navigation Era". .

The Age of Discovery is also known as the Great Geographical Discovery.

It is one of the most important histories in the history of human civilization that the Europeans opened up a new route across the Atlantic to reach the Americas, bypass the southern tip of Africa to reach India, and the first successful circumnavigation around the world.

Regarding this period of history, Wei Guangde only knew a little bit about it, but not in detail, but he could make a judgment from the news sent back from the Shipbuilding Department, that is, it is now at the end of the era of great navigation.

In the past, when Wei Guangde heard and saw Franco cannons and arquebus guns, he thought it was Europeans coming from Africa and sailing along the coastline to Asia, but it was reported that there were large barbarian ships from Shibosi. Came thousands of miles from the east.

From the eyes of other officials of the Ming Dynasty, these news came from Japan and other places, but Wei Guangde guessed that they might have already occupied the American continent, and the barbarian ships might be full of looted ships from the Americas. Jinyin went to the vicinity of Daming to buy supplies from Daming.

Because it is very simple, if the gold and silver plundered in America is to be transported back to Europe, they should choose to take the Atlantic route, and it is unlikely that they will travel to Daming.

The Age of Discovery, this word represents the New World and wealth. In addition to its vast land, the New World also has rich products and huge gold and silver on these lands.

Don't blame Wei Guangde for discovering this fact at this time, it's not because of the game.

In Wei Guangde's impression, there are not many courses on the era of great navigation in domestic books, the content is very thin, and the limited knowledge taught is only a general idea. It is the game that really reminds him of this era.

However, for that game, there are not many things that Wei Guangde can use up to now, because everyone who has played knows that the main map area of ​​​​"The Great Voyage Age" game is actually in the Mediterranean Sea. At first I really didn't realize this problem.

But for him now, even knowing the impact of the current period on the history of later generations is futile. The most valuable things have been discovered and robbed by Westerners. Unless a war is launched, those benefits will never be lost. Spit it out easily.

And does the current Ming Dynasty have this strength?
of course not.

Threats from the north are somewhat helpless, and they are still struggling with the Japanese pirates raging along the coast, what to use to participate in the feast of carve up the world.

But from this, Wei Guangde found out what he wanted to teach Yu Wang, that is, to instill some things from later generations into Yu Wang's mind.

Now is the period when international trade was taking shape, and Europeans looted enormous wealth from the American continent, and much of this wealth seems to have ended up in China.

The Opium War was the western world's reaction to the huge and intolerable trade deficit.

Although Wei Guangde hasn't figured out what to tell Yu Wang specifically, he still needs to think about it, but the most basic thing that Emperor Jiajing wants is to tell Yu Wang the relationship between the Ming Empire and the northern nomads, so he still has time to think about it. question.

In the study room, Wei Guangde was still talking to King Yu. What he was talking about now was the period of Ming Yingzong, the course on the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and northern Mongolia, and then he naturally mentioned "Civil Fortress" and a series of subsequent ones. event.

At this moment, Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng outside the window frowned slightly.

Of course, Wei Guangde would not say at this time that the "Tumu Fort Incident" on the Internet is a conspiracy theory. This is definitely unfriendly to him as a civil servant. After all, everything he enjoys now comes from this.

Moreover, this kind of conspiracy theory itself is based on conclusions, and it still lacks factual basis.

In his lectures to King Yu, he mainly mentioned that the Tumu Fort incident, which was also commanded by the leader of Wala, captured Ming Yingzong. Imagine the result.

There is a huge gap between this and the main thinking of the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty at this time. They believed that they would attack the Ming army first, and their goal was to directly point out Yingzong, and wanted to gain more benefits through Ming Yingzong.

If Ming Yingzong hadn't been successfully restored through the "Change of Seizing the Gate", perhaps he would have criticized Ming Yingzong for his ignorance and blind trust in eunuchs, why not trust the loyal ones? What about civil servants?
Look, after the Tumu Fortress, the land and mountains of the Ming Dynasty were preserved by the civil servants who sacrificed their lives.

Therefore, the emperor treats the eunuchs around him as domestic slaves, who can be used but not trusted, and he still has to rely on civil officials to govern the country.

The civil servants hoped to tell the following emperors through this incident that their identities are different, and they cannot go into danger personally. Many enemies outside the palace are staring at them. It is best for all emperors to live in the Forbidden City for the rest of their lives. up.

As for the latter, Wei Guangde even put forward the theory that "professional things should be done by professional people". If there is a specialization in the art industry, such as fighting, it should be handled by officials who can fight. The emperor only needs to choose the appropriate general. Soldiers and officials are fine, don't command blindly.

This is also what Wei Guangde decided to say after carefully observing the military deployment and action routes of the Ming army in the Tumu Fort incident. Ming Yingzong's command did have problems.

Wei Guangde thought about explaining all this to King Yu, maybe King Yu understood it before, but Wei Guangde still planned to explain it emperor by emperor according to his own ideas.

After the Northern Tatars finished speaking, they talked about the private goods they had prepared, and the background of the current Ming Dynasty, hoping to change something after King Yu ascended the throne, and strive to end the Ming Dynasty's national policy of "forbidden sea".

The ban on the sea in the Ming Dynasty actually prohibited non-governmental foreign trade, and the government-led tribute trade was not prohibited. This was also the root cause of the "tributary dispute" among the Japanese daimyos in the early years of Jiajing.

If you come to Daming to pay tribute, you can get more rewards than tribute items, and you can also run trade between the two countries, which is profitable, so it is not surprising that they compete to pretend to be tribute envoys.

Wei Guangde intends to sort out the relevant information of the Shipbuilding Department of the next city, and he needs to analyze it carefully to try his best to let King Yu, the future ruler of the Ming Empire, understand the importance of international trade, especially the impact of the Ming Dynasty on the international situation during this period. influence.

The Ming Dynasty in this era is undoubtedly a superpower in this world. Although its own strength is limited, this is due to many reasons, not because of its lack of national strength.

Moreover, Wei Guangde also hoped that King Yu and his descendants would understand this, so Wei Guangde recorded everything he said in detail.

Unintentionally, Wei Guangde actually started compiling books in the Ming Dynasty.

Wei Guangde has not planned to push these things to the scholars now, because the scholars in this period still insisted on Confucianism. From the perspective of the high-ranking officials of the imperial court to the common people at the bottom, the country should be based on agriculture, emphasizing agriculture and suppressing Merchants, businessmen value profit and neglect justice. Now talk about lifting the sea ban and engaging in international trade for them, I am afraid that they will be sprayed to death directly.

Of course, Wei Guangde would not be a rebel of Confucianism, and chose to be spurned by scholars. There are some things that can be secretly planned, but he must not let himself stand in front of the stage, let alone expose it prematurely.

Having been here for many years, Wei Guangde sometimes thinks about what he should do?
From the beginning when I was in Bengshanbao, I thought about being able to live in a big city, and when I was successful in my studies, I wanted to pass the imperial examination and become an official. When I became a high-ranking official, I also enjoyed the luxury of having three wives and four concubines. Life.

Now that he is an official, although his official position is humble, he still needs to work hard to climb up, but after all he is a little confused.

In the Yan Mansion, Wei Guangde saw the life of the rich and powerful in this era.

To be honest, it was in line with his original yearning for the future life.

However, it was only when he actually came here that he realized that petty officials could actually enjoy this kind of life, but it would be slightly worse than rich and powerful, but it seemed safer.

And according to my imagination, to be a high-ranking official and enjoy a more luxurious life, but when you sit in that position, you are looked up to by countless people below, and they are actually thinking about how to overthrow you and replace you all the time.

Yan Shifan can enjoy such a life because his father gave him a good foundation, but can he live like this forever?

Not to mention anything else, as far as they are thinking about in Prince Yu's Mansion, don't they just want to bring him down?
King Baoyu came to power not only to maintain the system, but also for their glory and wealth. If they want to get it, they have to climb up and get rid of those who occupy the seat.

Wei Guangde was a little scared. After he really climbed to a high position, he started to enjoy himself. There are countless pairs of hostile eyes watching him, looking for opportunities to replace him at any time. Can this enjoyment be comfortable?

After receiving the order, Wei Guangde seemed to have finally found his purpose of coming here, to make Daming, a decaying machine, run again, at least not to be so dull anymore.

Restraining some enjoyment, drinking flowers and wine with colleagues is harmless, let alone living a life of extravagance, he wants to be famous forever and not want to be infamous for thousands of years.

Why is Zhang Juzheng so famous in later generations, isn't it because he is a tragic hero?

His reforms were considered effective, but not thorough enough, and the deadly premature decree was eventually overturned.

Although Wei Guangde already regarded Zhang Juzheng as a political opponent at this time, Wei Guangde chose to hide himself, first see what Zhang Juzheng wants to do, what the reforms are, and then learn from it himself, and bring Yongzheng's tricks to Daming try.

Even if he fails at that time, his reputation in future generations will probably be even greater than that of Zhang Juzheng.

Is King Yu the Wanli Emperor?
I remember that what I saw was that Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao teamed up to bully Xiao Wanli, although it seemed that King Yu and Xiaozi had nothing to do with each other.

Forget it, let's wait and see, and we will know when King Yu ascends the throne to determine the year.

(End of this chapter)