prosperous age

Chapter 550 549 Liaodong Issue
"Shan Loan, take a look, what should come is finally here."

On this day, Wei Guangde had just entered Yu Wang's mansion and saw Yin Shizhen, Yin Shizhen handed him a copy of the memorabilia in his hand.

Wei Guangde took it with his hand and glanced at it. It was the memorabilia of Zhang Jian, governor of Shandong.

He's from Shandong, so he knows what's going on at a glance.

This time the officials banned Liao ships from shipping, the Hedao Yamen and the Shandong side were able to bear it, and it took almost a year to make a move.

In fact, thinking about it, it’s no wonder people are cautious. After all, the original proposal came from Prince Yu’s Mansion, and no one wanted to offend the future emperor for nothing.

It has been in operation for such a long time, one is to contact more officials in the DPRK and China, so that they can get as much support as possible when they make a move.

Second, of course, I also want to see the reaction of Prince Yu's Mansion. If the reaction of Prince Yu's Mansion is fierce, they will of course use some means, or lobby, or buy.

It's just that what they didn't expect was that King Yu's Mansion didn't obstruct it after they knew about it, and of course they didn't mean to let it go.

At least Wei Guangde, Zhang Juzheng, and even Gao Gong expressed their opposition to the ban on Liao ships in private.

After procrastinating until now, they finally couldn't help but do it. Perhaps they felt that the power they had now was enough to affect the one in the palace.

Wei Guangde carefully read Zhang Jian's memorials, and he was still thinking about coastal defense, so he asked the emperor to ban the Liao ships from shipping again.

Of course, the memorial also said at the end that if major public conditions such as famine occur again in Liaodong, it is also feasible to resume shipping to Liaodong. After all, shipping to Liaodong can indeed solve the problem of material shortage in Liaodong.

In short, the memorials are written in a smooth and stable way, so that people can't see where they are going wrong.

"Even the governor of Liaodong is on their side, so what else?"

Regarding this, Wei Guangde just said with a wry smile.

In order to deal with this matter, even if it was just a symbolic objection, Wei Guangde also had contact with Liaodong governor Wang Zhigao through Xu Jie's relationship, hoping that the Liaodong side would put forward difficulties to stop it.

Speaking of which, the situation in Liaodong is really chaotic.

Regarding the shipping of the Liao ships, the Liaodong generals and other soldiers were enshrined by the merchants, so they all supported it, but the attitude of the governor was completely opposite.

Wang Zhigao encountered a catastrophe when he entered Liaodong. Naturally, the first thing he did was to vigorously cultivate the land, hoping to overcome the difficulties on his own. However, shipping to Liaodong was only a temporary measure to save the people, and it would not last long.

Even, in Wang Zhigao's letter to Wei Guangde, he said that if the sea transportation to Liaodong continues for a long time, it will inevitably make the Liao people feel lazy and unwilling to work hard. In the long run, Liaodong will be completely useless.

To this, Wei Guangde didn't know how to refute.

"Then, let Li Fang contact those people to refute the matter according to the previous discussion?"

At the beginning, when they were discussing, Wei Guangde did not suggest fierce opposition, but expressed his intentions appropriately.

You must know that the other party is too powerful, and before they have the real right to speak, the consequences of strong opposition are unpredictable.

Regardless of the fact that King Jing is already a feudal vassal in Anlu, he is the son of Emperor Jiajing after all.

In other words, the battle for the emperor's heir has not really ended.

However, for now, Emperor Jiajing has acquiesced to King Yu.

At this time, if Prince Yu's Mansion erupts with too much powerful influence in the court, it will inevitably make Emperor Jiajing suspicious and dissatisfied with King Yu.

That position is always what they, the people in the palace, are nervous about.

As for the relationship between Prince Yu's Mansion and the general army of the foreign town, it is actually not as important as most people think.

Whether it was Ma Fang, the chief soldier of the Xuan Mansion, Yu Dayou, the new general soldier of Guangdong, or Dong Yikui, the general soldier of Shanxi Town, they were all general soldiers of other towns after all, and they were still far away from the capital.

Wei Guangde did not strongly support Ma Fang's going out of Ji Town, in fact, it was to prevent Emperor Jiajing from becoming suspicious.

For Jingying and Jizhen, which can really influence the situation in the capital, Yuwang Mansion has never dared to reach out.

How much King Yu hoped that Ma Fang would go out of Ji Town to relieve his worries, but after Wei Guangde said that this might be the limit that Emperor Jiajing could bear, he could only give up.

Of course, nothing can be done, so let some low-level officials come forward.

It can not only express the opposition of Prince Yu's mansion, but also show the influence on the court is enough to reassure Emperor Jiajing.

In fact, the more you know about Liaodong Shipping, the more you will feel that there are a lot of mysteries in it. The most fundamental thing is the omission of the Ming Dynasty's chief minister division, or it's time for reform.

Liaodong was an important area in the northern defense system of the Ming Dynasty, and its chaos was directly related to the rise and fall of the Ming Dynasty.

Due to its location in the northeast corner, communication between Liaodong and the mainland in the Ming Dynasty could only be carried out through two roads.

One is a land route via Shanhaiguan and the West Liaoning Corridor, and the other is a sea route from Dengzhou and Laizhou in the northern part of the Shandong Peninsula to the Liaodong Peninsula via the Bohai Strait.

At the beginning of the Hong Dynasty, the Ming army crossed the sea from the Denglai area to the north, defeated the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty, and brought the Liaodong area under the rule of the Ming Dynasty. At that time, the food, cloth and other logistics materials needed by the Liaodong garrison also had to pass through the sea route between Deng and Liao. Transshipment obtained.

On the basis of this close connection, the civil affairs and judicial affairs of Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty were placed under the jurisdiction of the Liaohai Dongning sub-shoudao under the Shandong chief administrative department, and the Liaohai Dongning sub-xundao under the Shandong inspection department, thus forming a "Liaodong belongs to Shandong" is a special geographical phenomenon of the administrative region.

This division of administrative geography is the only one in Chinese history.

The civil affairs of the entire territory of Liaodong were all brought under the jurisdiction of Shandong. When the sea transport was in progress, merchants gathered in parallel, and trade goods flowed in Jin and Fujian. That's why Liaodong is called the Promised Land.

However, after that, Liaodong shipping was abandoned very soon. Although most of them are considered to be used by Liu Jin during the Zhengde period, the damaged ships were not repaired, and the price of materials was dry. The original color of Shandong was changed. Waste related.

But in fact, the root cause is still the game of interest struggle between the two places.

In the early days, the supplies from Shandong to Liaodong were mainly grain, cloth, cotton, etc. However, after the fertile soil in Liaodong was reclaimed, the food could be barely self-sufficient, and there were many mountains in Liaodong.

In the Denglai area of ​​Shandong, wood cotton was preferred and grains were scarce. Since then, the trade between Shandong and Liaodong has gradually changed to cloth and cotton.

At this time, the Dengliao shipping is no longer a national coercive action in a state of war, but a step-by-step fixed procedure in peacetime.

With the passage of time, many detailed contradictions arose in maritime affairs, and the conflict of regional interests between Liaodong and Shandong gradually emerged.

Although the civil and judicial affairs of Liaodong were nominally under the jurisdiction of Shandong, the Liaodong capital in charge of Liaodong affairs was independent from Shandong's jurisdiction.

For example, in the freight transfer link, according to the original regulations, the Shandong shipper should first transport the cotton cloth to Liaodong, and the Liaodong officials will check the quantity and quality, and then return after confirming the receipt.

Similar to what happened to the Cao army in the canal's malpractice, Liaodong officials often ordered the transshipment person to compensate for the crime of ignorance, so that many people broke their families.

Because Liaodong military officers blackmailed Shandong's transshipment ships, at the suggestion of Shandong officials, the cotton cloth handover procedure was changed to Shandong.

Liaodong sent officers to Shandong to inspect the quantity and quality of the cotton cloth, and after passing the test, it was shipped and shipped. The Liaodong military officer who "took household cloth, banknotes, etc. from Dengzhou Prefecture" was also demoted and punished.

The problem seemed to be resolved, but new situations emerged.

After the handover of goods was changed to Shandong, the Shandong officials who possessed a favorable location began to shoddy and shoddy goods for personal gain.

However, since Liaodong sent to Shandong to hand over the goods were officials under the Shoudao and Xundao in Dongning, Liaohai, and were under the jurisdiction of the Chief Secretary and the Procuratorate of Shandong, it was difficult to raise objections to the quality and quantity of the goods.

In the end, the extortion party changed from Liaodong officials to Shandong officials. In fact, the problem has not been resolved.

In order to protect the rights and interests of the sergeants in Liaodong, the general officer of Liaodong requested to change the delivery location back to Liaodong. These conflicts of interest and contradictions directly affected the enthusiasm of Shandong to transport cloth and flowers, so they became slack or even resistant to shipping affairs.

After all, there is no benefit, and the risk of shipping has to be borne. In the end, under the coordination of the cabinet, Shandong cloth flowers were transported to Liaodong from Shanhaiguan by land instead of Dengliao seaway. Many have changed from real objects to folding colors, that is, silver coins instead of real objects.

Since then, Liao ship shipping has been completely abandoned, and the ships of various guards have been in disrepair for many years, and it has become a common practice not to open seaways unless necessary.

"Has His Highness discussed that matter with you in private?"

Wei Guangde looked at Yin Shixuan and nodded, and suddenly leaned over and asked in a low voice.

"What's the matter?"

Yin Shizhen was puzzled, not knowing what Wei Guangde was talking about.

"It is to change Liaodong's sub-shoudao and sub-xundao into chief ministers and inspectors, and raise the administrative level of Liaodong to a province."

Wei Guangde said directly.

Only by completely separating Liaodong from Shandong can it be possible to re-establish a healthy trade relationship between the two places.

Just kidding, in one world, the two places almost completely cut off contact because of their interests, which is really ridiculous.

For Shandong officials, it is really abhorrent that they can't take advantage of their subordinates, and they will naturally retaliate.

But in fact, who in the two capitals and thirteen provinces in China will block traffic because of this?
In Wei Guangde's view, as long as the administrative level of the Liaodong region can be raised and it becomes the No. 14 province of the Ming Dynasty, Shandong officials will face up to this matter, get out of the feeling of revenge because they want to take advantage of it, and support the restoration of the two provinces. land trade.

At that time, who would think that this is a matter of sea transportation, and it is all transportation between provinces within the empire.

In fact, as long as there is no gap between Shandong and Liaodong, there will be no chance for the river government to make trouble.

When Yin Shizhen heard what Wei Guangde said, he was slightly taken aback, and then he understood that it was Wei Guangde who brought up the matter.

"No wonder."

Yin Shizhen stretched out his hand and nodded Wei Guangde: "I'm still wondering why Your Highness suddenly had such an idea, so it's because of you."

"Hehe, it was just a whim at the beginning. You know, the administration of Liaodong was transferred to Shandong in the early years. Now Liaodong is no longer the sparsely populated situation in the past, and it can be independent long ago."

Wei Guangde explained with a smile.

"I'm afraid that this matter will not work. I opposed the change of the old rules at the time. No matter who proposes it, there will be great resistance."

Yin Shizhen shook his head and said.

Seeing Wei Guangde's dissatisfied eyes, Yin Shizhen had no choice but to explain: "Do you know the situation in Liaodong?

Although I have never been to Liaodong, I also know that the land is vast and sparsely populated. Except for the Han people in the south near the Liaohai Sea, there are very few Han people in the north, and most of them are local natives. It's all left to them to manage.

According to what you mean, the direct establishment of the chief envoy will inevitably have an impact on the succession of those chieftains and patriarchs. At that time, I am afraid that the northeastern part of Liaodong will be the same as the southwest, and there will be local rebellions from time to time. "

"'Using the barbarians to control the barbarians', you are talking about the slave Gandusi, a Dusi Yamen that has existed in name only."

Wei Guangde still shook his head lightly and said: "To tell you the truth, I did have the idea of ​​reforming the land and returning to the local people, including restoring control over the Nuer Gandu Division, but it is no longer a separate division, but the Liaodong Capital Division is directly responsible."

"In that case, there will inevitably be wars with the local Mongols, Jurchens, etc. Why do you want to do this?"

When Yin Shizhen heard what Wei Guangde said, his heart skipped a beat.

The civil servants of the Ming Dynasty actually hated war naturally, not only because the Ming Dynasty treasury was unable to support such military expenditures, but also because they could not see anything worthy of their investment.

It's not that they don't have ambitions to open up territories and don't want to be famous in history, but because they have absolute trust in the strength of Ming Dynasty.

Around Daming, except for Mongolia, which suffers from scabies, no country can attract their attention.

Although Wei Guangde knew that there was a former Xuanweisi in the southeast that would become a trouble for Daming in the future, but he didn't see much about this place, no matter from the documents of various ministries or the Imperial Academy. Record.

This is the Myanmar Propaganda Department.

The most he could find were actually some records from the early Ming Dynasty, but they were very complicated, which troubled him a lot.

However, although the records are limited, in the past [-] years or so, Daming has received intermittent letters asking for help from many small southwestern countries and chieftains, saying that the Toungoo Dynasty is attacking them and asking Daming to send troops to rescue them.

Regardless of whether it was the chief envoy of Yunnan or the Beijing court who received the request for help, they thought it was just an attack between small Burmese states, so they ignored it.

Wei Guangde's historical knowledge is also limited, so he naturally didn't know that the Burmese Toungoo Dynasty mentioned in these documents was the Burmese dynasty that had caused troubles for China in his impression, so he didn't take it seriously.

Because civil servants are overconfident in their own country's strength, in their view, as long as the country needs it, they can easily take over the surrounding land by mobilizing a large army. Naturally, there is no need for actual control and cultivation and development.

In order to save military expenses and appease their dissatisfaction, the Ming army of Nuergandusi easily let them withdraw to the south, thus completely giving up control of that piece of land, and instead supported the local tribes to control it.

People of later generations look at the problem from the perspective of the future, and think that these actions of the Ming Dynasty were seriously wrong, but they don't know that in the present, it may not be a good strategy, a good strategy to save national power.

(End of this chapter)