I'm really not doing business

Chapter 1080 On the Lonely and Powerful

Chen Jingyi had great respect for Sun Kehong; in fact, it wasn't just "respect" that described it, but rather "filial piety."

Even Sun Kehong sometimes couldn't tell whether Chen Jingyi was sincere or feigning. This kind of filial piety made it difficult for Sun Kehong, who had spent his whole life in the business world, to distinguish between them.

Seeing Sun Kehong's uncertain expression, Chen Jingyi smiled and said, "Master gave me the position of General Manager of the Commerce Bureau. This is my blessing. Master doesn't need to explain. I know that General Manager of the Commerce Bureau is appointed by the court. Master has no power to appoint. Of course, I also know that the court does not like to be offended. Master has taught me these things for half my life, and they are already engraved in my heart."

"When Master left office, His Majesty personally summoned him. This is the Emperor's favor. With this Emperor's favor, Songjiang Prefecture, as a major shareholder, has no choice but to consider Master's opinion. Master's recommendation carries great weight."

Why did Master recommend me?

Sun Kehong said very frankly, "I have worked hard all my life and the only thing I can still be proud of is the Songjiang Ocean Trading Company. It has made some contribution to the Ming Dynasty. I cannot let it be ruined by Sun Chengzhi."

“He had a huge fight with me at home today. The business took 800,000 taels of silver to plant trees in Shaanxi, Gansu and Suiyuan, but he was unhappy about it. He felt that it was all his money, so he made a big fuss with me.”

Sun Kehong looked out the window, somewhat lost in thought, and said, “My father once transported salt from Yangzhou to Datong Prefecture. He exchanged the salt permits in Datong and returned to Yangzhou. At that time, my father told me that the Ming Dynasty was likely to be overthrown, because along his six thousand li journey, nine out of ten mountains were barren and bald.”

"The rise and fall of trees and grasses can be seen from their rise and fall; this is by no means an exaggeration."

"In the 29th year of the Jiajing reign, there was a mutiny by the barbarians. In addition, there was a severe drought in Shaanxi, Gansu and Suiyuan that year. The people of Shanxi and Shaanxi had nowhere to go and could only become refugees. These refugees poured into Henan, Huguang and other places. At that time, Zhang Taiyue, the Grand Tutor and Imperial Tutor, was staying at home. He saw those refugees and made up his mind to return to the court to save the day."

"The refugees caused a lot of trouble in Henan and Huguang, and even the southern government offices were not spared. Those refugees who made it to Nanjing alive were all desperate criminals."

“The Ming Dynasty is a whole. Sun Chengzhi can’t even understand the difference between public and private matters. He doesn’t even understand the saying that when the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact. He keeps saying that the money our Sun family earned should be given to someone who is far away and will never be seen again.”

"Hey."

Sun Kehong had a strong sense of national responsibility. After reading "On Public and Private Affairs," he suddenly realized that the Sun family's current success was due to the improvement of the Ming Dynasty. The two brothers, Sun Kehong and Sun Keyi, seized the opportunities presented by the Wanli Reforms, which led to all of this. If the Japanese pirates and sea raiders had been rampant, how could their family's business have grown so large?
But Sun Chengzhi didn't understand. He had himself and the Sun family in his heart, but he had no thought of the public good. He never knew the concept that without the country, there is no family.

The Sun family had no worries about food and clothing, and because of the emperor's favor, they were never troubled by the court.

However, Sun Chengzhi felt that the imperial court was interfering too much. The Sun family's most profitable business, the pleasure boat business, was shut down by the imperial court's crackdown on the Blissful Religion. Sun Chengzhi felt that the imperial court's decree was hindering his family's ability to make money.

Sun Kehong explained the reasoning a thousand times, but Sun Chengzhi couldn't listen or understand it.

If Sun Chengzhi really became the general manager of the Ocean Merchants Bank, the Sun family would truly become a laughing stock, and would even be infamous for eternity. History would have to record a chapter about their family. This is why Sun Kehong finally decided to recommend Chen Jingyi. His children were too disappointing.

Chen Jingyi sat down next to Sun Kehong, his face beaming with a bright smile, and said, "My master recommended me to be the general manager of the business. In the future, I will not be able to recommend my son to be the general manager of the business. My master obviously did not think of this. Let me tell you my thoughts."

“Because I want to recommend my son to be the general manager of the company, I have to face a problem: my master’s son has not become the general manager of the company, so why should I succeed him? Am I better than my master who built the ocean trading company from scratch? If I can’t answer this question, I can’t succeed him.”

“Master, since Duke Wencheng did not give the official factory to his son Wang Qian, Vice Minister Ling cannot give it to his son either; he can only return it to the court.”

"The Vice Minister Ling also needs to answer this question: Is his work and achievements at the Guanchang really greater than those of Duke Wencheng? As long as someone feels that his achievements are not great enough and disagrees, there will always be people who refute him, and his son will not be able to control the Guanchang."

“That barbarian Li Yashi talked about why the Ming Dynasty is the Celestial Empire. I’ve been there three or five times. What he said is very true. Order is something that cannot be seen or touched, but if I don’t respect it, it will punish me because I have violated the consensus.”

Ling Yunyi's lifelong reputation was ruined because his son cheated on the imperial examination and was sold for tens of thousands of taels of silver. Although His Majesty managed to gloss over the matter with the Eight Deliberations and Eight Rectifications, Ling Yunyi could no longer pass on his good name.

Since official factories would not be passed down from father to son, the merchant guilds and trading companies in the civilian areas, after Sun Kehong voluntarily relinquished his position, would no longer be allowed to have their overseas trading companies run by father to son. This established new rules and a new order.

Chen Jingyi really won't do anything to Sun Chengzhi. On the contrary, he will discipline them well and let them live a life of wealth and honor. This is also to establish rules and create a new order. The next Shang Zong will not kill off his descendants, otherwise it would be a violation of the order.

"Huh? This Western barbarian, Li Yashi, actually saw things so accurately?" Sun Kehong immediately understood what Chen Jingyi was talking about, and he also understood that even if he died, whether it was true or false, Chen Jingyi would remain consistent and continue to be so 'filial'.

Public order and good morals, and social order, are things that are invisible and intangible, yet have a profound impact.

This is beneficial to the long-term stability of the five overseas trading companies. The five trading companies were originally a compromise of the imperial court. The court officials were actually not very good at doing business, and the direct management of goods by the government inevitably led to rigidity.

Under the overall framework of opening up the seas, the compromise of letting merchants manage goods and the court manage merchants was a compromise. If the five overseas trading companies could really become guilds or companies, the significance would be completely different.

This means that the five businesses can survive for a long time, ensuring long-term stability and prosperity. All shareholders will benefit greatly, and these people will then spontaneously maintain the businesses' existence.

"So, Master, there's no need to worry about so many things. Even if Liu Zi changes, even if he's blinded by greed, what kind of outrageous things could he possibly do that would anger the world?" Chen Jingyi told Sun Kehong to relax.

Sun Kehong frowned and said, "If it can really be done, these five trading companies will probably be on the same side as the country. They have unintentionally accomplished a great thing."

"The owners of the five trading companies are almost all pioneering marquises. Although the Ming Dynasty does not recognize the title of pioneering marquis, they are still considered pioneers and meritorious officials. It is not too surprising that they share the fate of the country." Chen Jingyi reminded Sun Kehong again in a subtle way. Sun Kehong also had the title of third-class Yuanxu Earl, which was his official status and a talisman.

“I see.” Sun Kehong nodded repeatedly. This heart-to-heart talk had thoroughly broken down the issue and made it clear.

Chen Jingyi is a smart man. His current status and power are all given to him by this old man. In order to maintain his status and power, he will not do anything excessive. If he really rebels against the Heavenly Gang, he will lose his foundation.

In the game of life, once a move is made, there's no going back.

The incidents between Sun Kehong and Chen Jingyi were minor, but they were both influential figures in Songjiang Prefecture. Any incidents that occurred would be known to the Songjiang government. Hu Junde treated the two like father and son, and was happy to see things go smoothly.

Even if it's just acting, for the sake of the Ming Dynasty's great cause of opening up the seas, we must keep acting.

Hu Junde is launching a verbal and written attack on Wang Qian!

After Duke Wencheng passed away, Wang Qian actually relied on his personal relationship with His Majesty to demand that all six million strings of cash that should have been given to Luzon be sent to Luzon. Is that Luzon's cash? Why do you want it? What if Duke Wencheng were still alive?
Hu Junde retrieved all of Wang Qian's memorials from years ago regarding the interception of Luzon's precious paper money and copied them verbatim for Wang Qian.

“Unless Governor Wang can persuade His Majesty to issue more currency, the money that should be in Songjiang Prefecture will not even reach Luzon. Give him two million strings of cash, and he should be content! Luzon is short of money, but does Songjiang Prefecture not?” Hu Junde finished writing the letter, blew on the ink to dry it, and used other people’s words to shut them up. It felt really good.

The clerk said in a low voice, "Won't Prefect Hu's words be too offensive to Governor Wang?"

Is there an even more ruthless tactic of returning the words verbatim to the other party? The literary debates among scholars and officials were quite refined; to resort to violence would be a disgrace to their culture.

"Hurt him? I can't agree to that. If I do, what will the powerful and influential people in Songjiang Prefecture think of me? They have no money to spare, and they'll probably point their fingers at me in the council and call me incompetent, saying if I can't do it, I should get out!" Hu Junde waved his hands repeatedly. He was in a position to do his job. As the prefect of Songjiang, he had to fight for the interests of Songjiang Prefecture.

Songjiang Prefecture is a transportation hub connecting nine provinces. No matter how much money is poured in, it's as if nothing has been done. There is a severe shortage of money, with both a money shortage and a silver damming up. The local officials in Songjiang have long understood this to be a very normal economic phenomenon.

"Should we send Chen Zhun's article to the imperial court? Songjiang Prefecture knows about this public opinion, and it's a bit difficult not to report it to the court, but reporting it would be presumptuous." The clerk asked, placing a miscellaneous newspaper on the table with some uncertainty.

"Report it. His Majesty is most disgusted by those who do not report what they know. If one is unable to do so, His Majesty is willing to lend a helping hand and assist the honest officials. However, to know something and not report it is to cut oneself off from the court. Just report it." Hu Junde reported the events that had occurred in Songjiang Prefecture to the court.

When Zhu Yijun received the memorial, it was already the eighteenth day of the twelfth lunar month. He looked at the miscellaneous report in front of him, and then at the memorials from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites.

The Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War jointly submitted a memorial requesting that, every March, before the emperor's southern tour and stay in Songjiang Prefecture, a spring review of troops be held in Shuntian Prefecture, which would be a grand review of the army in front of the Meridian Gate; and in September, when the emperor returned to the capital, a naval review be held in Songjiang Prefecture. This established the ceremonial procedures for the imperial tour, and these procedures would be followed thereafter.

The miscellaneous newspaper submitted by Hu Junde was highly relevant to this matter.

The editor of this newspaper was named Chen Zhun, an academic advisor from Shanghai University. Previously, when Shen Shixing was conducting loyalty screening at the university, Chen Zhun was found to have accepted bribes and written articles criticizing the government's policies.

Zhu Yijun was particularly lenient with Chen Zhun because seven of his many articles were written from the perspective of the poor and laborers, and one of them, "The Back Basket," was even reprinted by the emperor in the official gazette and published throughout the country.

Since being pardoned, Chen Zhun has stopped accepting money to write articles, and his writing style has become even more incisive. He collects public opinions from various places and sends them to the emperor, which is part of the ancient practice of petitioning the emperor and the institutional construction of the court's system of seeking advice from the emperor.

Chen Zhun's article is quite bold; it is titled "On the Lonely and Powerful Man".

“The emperors of the Ming Dynasty were different from emperors of previous dynasties. They did not have a solid following and were truly isolated figures in the long history of the dynasty.” Zhu Yijun read the first sentence and felt that this guy was getting bolder and bolder.

The Shang and Zhou dynasties shared a common origin. Both the Shang kings and the Zhou kings worshipped the same ancestor when offering sacrifices to Heaven and Earth. This meant that they were essentially one family. Therefore, it was clear that the Shang kings' steadfast political allies were the feudal lords who shared the same bloodline and were enfeoffed across the land. The staunch supporters of both the Shang and Zhou dynasties were these feudal lords.

The Qin royal family's staunch ally was the Qin people who had completed Shang Yang's reforms and implemented the military merit system of land grants. The Qin people were very capable fighters, but as the First Emperor was conquering the world and failing to fulfill his promises to the Qin people, they chose Liu Bang.

The political allies of the Western Han and Eastern Han dynasties were two completely different groups of people. In the Western Han dynasty, they were maternal relatives. Whether it was Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, or Huo Guang, they were all members of the maternal relatives group. Unfortunately, with the witchcraft accusations at the end of Emperor Wu of Han's reign, the Liu family and the maternal relatives drifted further and further apart.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, powerful families were staunch political allies of the imperial power. Of course, as these families grew in power, usurpation of authority became inevitable.

After the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Guanzhong military clique gradually became a staunch ally of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. With the decline of the Guanzhong clique and the Fubing system (a military system based on local militia), the Tang imperial family, having lost its strong allies, began a period of frequent capital relocations and the fall of the capital, marked by the rise of regional military governors. The Song Dynasty's most steadfast ally was naturally the scholar-officials who "governed the country together with the scholar-officials." Although militarily weak, they flourished culturally. Despite repeated defeats in war, their cultural prosperity contributed to a relatively stable period.

The most steadfast ally of the Yuan Dynasty royal family was Han Shihou, who followed Kublai Khan in conquering Karakorum. As Han Shihou's dissatisfaction with the Yuan nobles intensified, they eventually parted ways. The Yuan Dynasty lasted for a hundred years before its demise, and Han Shihou fled to the northern deserts.

The core message of Chen Zhun's article is that the Ming Dynasty had no political allies or interest groups closely tied to the imperial family; the Ming emperor was truly a lonely figure.

In theory, the emperor is the supreme holder of power, the dictator, and the decision-maker in this system. On the surface, this system has many advantages. Without a highly bound interest group, there is no collective that has the ability to challenge the imperial power.

The political environment is highly stable, and the struggles among officials are not as fierce as those in the Song Dynasty, nor are there any regional warlordism. The administrative power can also be used to reduce systemic corruption and moral decline in the bureaucracy, among other benefits.

However, in practice, this is not the case, because the emperor's decisions often fail to be implemented due to a lack of supporters.

Because the imperial power lacked supporters, the bureaucracy as a whole possessed the ability to challenge the imperial power in practice (Yang Tinghe, Yang Shen).

While the political situation was indeed stable, it was also rigid and bloated, as everyone could see. The infighting among officials was also extremely fierce, with Hu Zongxian dying in prison. Systemic corruption and moral decline within the bureaucracy were also key aspects of the Wanli Reforms.

After more than two hundred years of operation, the lack of a firm political alliance and a group of vested interests that bound the imperial power together had become the most fatal flaw of the Ming Dynasty.

So, during the Wanli Reforms, did the Ming emperors find their solid allies?

When Chen Zhun concluded, he used a question rather than a conclusion. He dared not continue, because in his view, the Wanli Reforms had not solved the fundamental problem: the Ming imperial power still lacked solid supporters and political allies.

"He still has some sense of respect and didn't finish what he wanted to say! Next, after the New Year, send him to the Songjiang Prefecture Garrison Office for ten days. Let Hou Yuzhao collect his food and room fees!" Zhu Yijun flipped through the miscellaneous newspapers and decided to arrest him, lock him up for ten days, and give him a light punishment.

The crime was to criticize the imperial carriage, that is, to point at the emperor's carriage and scold him, and to discuss the flaws of imperial power, which was considered extremely disrespectful. This punishment was really very, very light.

Li Yashi has been imprisoned so many times and nothing has happened to him. But if this were decades later, a mere whisper of a breeze turning the pages of a book could cost his entire family, including nine generations of his relatives, their lives.

Sending Chen Zhun to jail for ten days was to uphold the law and etiquette; the money for food and room fees was to avoid wasting national and private funds; and the fact that he only served ten days with no other punishment was correct, as Chen Zhun had said.

The bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty, from the founding of the dynasty to the present day, have always openly and covertly opposed the emperor, and the emperors of each dynasty have often only had two choices.

First, overwork. Being so diligent that one attends to every detail and does everything personally, just like His Majesty the present, is the only way to firmly grasp the power of government.

Secondly, the heavy reliance on agents from the Eastern Depot, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Eastern Depot allowed them to maintain a firm grip on power even when these agents were lax in their duties, and the dangers of this were well-known.

Zhu Yijun was adept at managing both aspects. On the one hand, his diligence was evident to all; on the other hand, the infamous Tax Bureau was a significant testament to the emperor's tyranny.

Although the topic he raised was pointed, he did not speak nonsense. Since the Wanli Reforms, the imperial power has still not found its own solid supporters, political allies, or a group with highly intertwined interests.

The Beijing Garrison certainly counts, but it can only be considered a supporter of His Majesty, not a supporter of the Ming Dynasty. Chen Zhun briefly touched on this point in a miscellaneous report, and everyone understands that before the Ming Dynasty's military system was completed in 1895, the Beijing Garrison was merely a supporter of His Majesty personally, not a supporter of imperial power.

The artisans in the official workshops certainly count, but the group of artisans living in the workshops is not stable enough and does not have enough strength at present. Only when the number of people who passed the imperial examinations and became artisans can increase to more than 30% can they be considered stable and solid supporters.

Chen Zhun mentioned an unexpected group: the people of Zhejiang after the land was returned to the people. These people were considered supporters of His Majesty, but they were neither powerful nor stable enough.

To put Chen Zhun's words more plainly, the emperor needed to cultivate a privileged class to protect his imperial power, so as to ensure that he would not be offended, rather than continuing to be a lonely ruler.

In fact, the Hongwu system included a group of people, namely the Ming imperial family. However, after the Jingnan Rebellion, the policy of restricting the vassal states was tightened, and the imperial family became prisoners instead of staunch allies. The Jingnan Rebellion itself also demonstrated the unreliability of the imperial family. Countless members of the imperial family rebelled throughout history. They were very close to the throne, which fostered greed.

In the Yongle system design, there was also a group of people, namely the Ming Dynasty's military merits. However, as Emperor Yingzong of Ming was young and the country was in turmoil, Zhang Fu, the Duke of Yingguo, who was the head of the military merits, was forced to stop attending court. As a result, the emperor also lost the support of the military merits.

After the establishment of the Zhengtong era, the emperor finally became a lonely figure.

The Ming Dynasty is using land reclamation, official factories, military camps, and engineering corps to build a new group of supporters. Land reclamation produces enough agricultural surplus to support the artisans residing in official factories, the capital garrison, and the border garrisons. Sufficient good soldiers are selected from the artisans residing in official factories and military garrisons. After retiring, the soldiers go to engineering corps or local posts to maintain the emperor's rule.

Once this system is fully implemented, direct and real violence will ensure that the fruits of the Wanli Reforms are not stolen.

"I want to live to the sixtieth year of the Wanli reign." Zhu Yijun took a deep breath. Chen Zhun mentioned a strange but reasonable standard: the emperor's lifespan.

It would take about thirty years to build a semi-finished system, which would be at risk of being counterattacked and retaliated against. If we start counting from the tenth year of the Wanli reign when the reforms began to show results, it would take fifty years to complete the system.

The reason for starting from the tenth year of the Wanli reign is that Zhang Juzheng was in power for the first ten years, laying the foundation for the Wanli Reforms. Before that, it could only be called the Zhang Juzheng Reforms, but now it can be collectively referred to as the Wanli Reforms.

This algorithm was first proposed by Zhu Yijun, and everyone has followed this basic logic since then.

Zhu Yijun once planned to give Zhang Juzheng the temple name Ming Shezong, and he has not given up on this idea to this day. After Zhang Juzheng passed away, some people really wanted to retaliate against Zhang Juzheng, feeling that Zhang Juzheng was not worthy of the posthumous title of Wenzheng. Ming Shezong is a card in Zhu Yijun's hand.

History is a history of the ruthless triumphing over the mindless.

Isn't it just a competition to see who's crazier? Let's see who's the real lunatic.

Zhu Yijun's most outrageous plan was that if the Wanli Reforms really caused a nationwide rebellion, he would lead the Beijing Garrison to conquer the country again. Unfortunately, the powerful and influential families of the Ming Dynasty did not give Zhu Yijun the chance to go crazy.

Chen Zhun proposed a strange quantitative standard: if Emperor Zhu Yijun lived to the 60th year of the Wanli reign, it would be a great success for the Wanli Reforms. This standard was so intuitive and clear.

Even if His Majesty still hasn't built the 'Five-Room Tile House' by the 60th year of the Wanli Emperor's reign, it doesn't matter, because His Majesty's Wanli Reforms will eventually lead to the completion of the Five-Room Tile House.

Politics possesses an extremely strong inertia, which is enough to accelerate everything.

Zhu Yijun approved the joint memorial submitted by the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War, and approved the adjustment of the time for reviewing the memorials in spring and autumn. He then continued to process various memorials, and his first priority was to lavishly reward a large number of Ming Dynasty civil and military officials stationed in Korea and Japan.

Among the Korean military commanders, Du Qiaolin and his son Du Shizhong were the leaders. Du Qiaolin was also one of the 132 generals of the Eastern Expedition. He stayed in Korea to guard the country. After Ling Yunyi left Korea, Du Qiaolin became the governor of Korea and took charge of all affairs in Korea.

Recently, Du Qiaolin established fourteen military garrisons in Korea. For this military achievement, the court bestowed upon him the title of Earl of Qingning.

The civil officials stationed in Japan were led by Zhu Zheng, the governor of Iwami. Zhu Zheng was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the fifth year of the Longqing reign. He went to Iwami Ginzan from Yanzhou Prefecture in Shandong. When Xiong Tingbi was in Iwami Ginzan, Zhu Zheng was the governor in charge of military affairs.

Although this man was a scholar who passed the imperial examination, he was also quite skilled in martial arts. He lacked ambition but was good at maintaining the status quo. By protecting the Iwami Silver Mine, he was essentially protecting the Ming Dynasty's purse strings.

The Ministry of Rites reported that the imperial examinations would be held next spring, marking the first time Korean candidates would be invited to take the special examinations in the capital. The court attached great importance to this, but the competition with Zhejiang for the number of successful candidates made it very difficult for the Korean candidates.

The Korean scholars, who had just recovered from the Japanese invasion, were no match for the Zhejiang students.

Grand Minister Shen Li meant that since there was an imperial edict in the thirteenth year of the Wanli reign, it would be better not to change it arbitrarily. Zhejiang's culture and education were extremely prosperous, but a quota was taken away by a Korean candidate. It was all Zhejiang's loss, so it would be better to put some pressure on the scholars of Zhejiang.

Zhu Yijun approved this memorial and established the rules. How could he change them so easily? Even though the land reclamation project in Zhejiang was a great success, he had not forgotten the fire in Renhe County, Hangzhou.

Only punishment that is carried out effectively is true punishment. Returning land to the people was for the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty, while the reduction in the number of Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) was Zhu Yijun's real punishment to maintain imperial authority.

Wang Jiaping, Minister of Justice and Grand Minister of Justice, reported an interesting incident in Guangzhou Prefecture: a group of Indians landed at Dianbai Port in Guangzhou Prefecture and were immediately detained by officers and soldiers of the Maritime Trade Office. They were then handed over to the Guangzhou Ocean Merchant Guild and sent back to the Mughal Empire.

The ruling class of the Mughal Empire was the Turkicized Mughals, while the ruled were the Sindhu people, a transliteration of Sanskrit from the Sui and Tang dynasties, meaning Indians. These people were arrested as soon as they disembarked, for the reason of entering Ming without a permit, and were punished and sent back.

The "Regulations on the Entry of Foreign Barbarians" set very strict requirements for foreigners entering the Ming Dynasty.

If you are only staying in Wanguo City for a short time, you must have a ticket to leave by ship. You must go with the ship and you cannot stay beyond the permitted period. If you do not have a clear return date, you will be directly deported. Moreover, you must bring enough money to enter the ports of the Ming Dynasty. Only goods with a value of more than fourteen taels of silver will be allowed to enter.

This group of Indians, consisting of 121 people and only 1,400 coins worth of goods (equivalent to a mere two taels of silver), also lacked departure tickets. The naval forces immediately seized them according to regulations and handed them over to the Guangzhou government. After a ruling by the Guangzhou government, the goods were transferred to the Ocean Merchant Guild for repatriation.

"I'm afraid they just castrated him and sent him to a plantation in Southeast Asia." Zhu Yijun frowned. The Maritime Trade Office and Guangzhou Prefecture strictly followed the regulations of the imperial court, so there was no problem with that. The government was very disciplined. But it was a bit strange that they let the overseas trading companies carry out the repatriation.

Zhang Hong said very sincerely, "Your Majesty is wise."

"You really did that?" Zhu Yijun was taken aback. He had just said it casually, but it hit the nail on the head.

Zhang Hong confirmed, "Yes, Li Da Dang is in Guangzhou Prefecture. He sent back news that this is indeed what they did. They've sent them all to plantations in Southeast Asia, where there's a severe shortage of manpower."

(End of this chapter)