I'm really not doing business

Chapter 572: "The Roots Are Flourishing, the Branches Are Endlessly Prosperous"

The treaty that the Ming Dynasty asked Oda Nobunaga to sign was very harsh.

Each of the six items is extremely fatal to Japan, including the three chapters and seventeen articles prohibiting pirates, unlimited right to declare war, actual garrison of the Ming Navy, a prohibited list of goods, recognition of the legitimacy of the Nagasaki Governor-General's Office, cession of Sakai City, and an annual subsidy of 300,000 silver coins for military expenses. The Qing Dynasty would be shocked when seeing such a treaty!
But from pursuing the rule of the world, to becoming the Shogun of the Azuchi shogunate, to being assassinated and arousing suspicion, to the recent defeat in Osaka Bay, Oda Nobunaga had no choice. The first thing he had to consider was survival. Only by surviving could he talk about the future. This is also what Oda Ichi said to the emperor: Only the Central Plains should be responsible for history, Oda Nobunaga had no such concept at all.

The top meat-eaters in the Central Plains are responsible for the course of history. This is a typical feature of the Central Plains, because when the granaries are full, people know etiquette, and when they have enough food and clothing, they know honor and disgrace. Without abundant material, there is no culture, and without culture there is no civilization. Without a mature civilization, there is no need to be responsible for the course of history, because living in fear of one's future is the norm.

Oda Nobunaga had to find a way to survive. No matter how harsh the conditions of the Ming Dynasty were, he had to agree to them first. With the help of the Ming Dynasty's influence, he could complete his turn and unite the people's hearts before he could fight. When the country lost its credibility and the people's hearts became suspicious, using force would be tantamount to sending himself to the guillotine. He would die if defeated in the war, in internal strife, or if assassinated by an ambitious person.

Oda Nobunaga had no choice.

Sanniangzi was very clear about this much-talked-about treaty, which was commonly known as the Seventeen-Article Treaty, because the contents of the treaty were published in the Ming Dynasty's official gazettes, the people's gazettes, and many miscellaneous newspapers, especially each article, which gave extremely detailed explanations of why it was done. For example, the purpose of stationing troops was to suppress the Japanese on the spot, rather than waiting until the Japanese threat ravaged the southeast before fighting against them; and the military expenses would not be shipped back to Beijing, but would remain in the Nagasaki Xingdusi as a reward for the soldiers on the long journey, etc.

After this treaty was drafted, it was made public, and the reasons for each clause were explained very clearly.

Sanniang was still in shock. When the emperor was young, Sanniang thought that he would take revenge. Now she has really learned something new. He is simply heartless! Sanniang was very glad that the Northern Tartars could reconcile with the Ming Dynasty. It was really a blessing from heaven!
Zhu Yijun's kindness to the grassland was actually based on practical considerations. After all, they were all eating from the same pot. Zhu Di, the emperor who was about to seize the world, personally went in and out of the grassland five times, armed to the teeth, but in the end he failed to pacify the desert forever. Only 24 years later, the Oirat people made a comeback. In order not to repeat the same mistake, the focus of the Ming Dynasty was still on opening up the sea. There was no other way.

The Japanese are different. They are short and you can tell at a glance that they are not of our race and must have ulterior motives.

Zhu Yijun watched Li Yashi, who was wearing a Confucian robe, walk into the Wenhua Hall. Li Yashi looked around curiously. This was the power center of the Ming Empire. How could Li Yashi not be curious? All the new policies of the Wanli Restoration came from here.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. Long live Your Majesty." Li Yashi bowed five times and kowtowed three times in a loud voice.

Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "Stand up. You didn't come when the envoys from the West came to see me last time. But now you come to join in the fun. What's the logic behind this?"

"I am both the special envoy of His Highness Felipe and a minister of the Ming Dynasty. I must learn to avoid suspicion." Legashi stood up and explained with a smile why he did not follow the envoys from Taixi to the audience. Avoiding suspicion was inevitable as Legashi still had to live in the Ming Dynasty.

It was impossible for him to go back. He had broken his promise to remain single and serve God all his life. If he returned to Thailand, he would be burned at the stake as a heretic.

The Ming Dynasty was really too polite to heretics. Those Lama temples on the grassland had been clearly identified as heretics by the Ming Dynasty, but they were allowed to return to secular life. The Ming Emperor was really a kind-hearted person. If he let the West go, this would be a situation where there would be no end until one side died.

"You didn't bring any letter of credence to the audience this time. What's the point? Are you trying to tease me? I will get mad!" Zhu Yijun raised his eyebrows and said cheerfully. Li Yashi would suffer the consequences if he wasted the Ming Emperor's time!

Li Yashi smiled and said, "I do have a memorial to make. I have seen that the Ming Dynasty has unified the world, its influence has spread throughout the region, and its power has dominated the world. It has expanded its territory without seeking to expand its territory. All the places that the Qin Emperor could not conquer and the Han Emperor could not subjugate have been included in its territory. This is what we call far greater prosperity than the Han and Tang dynasties."

"For example, in the south and west of Yunnan, the aboriginal system was changed to Han system, and culture and education flourished. It has been more than 200 years since then. Yunnan and Guizhou have been integrated into the hinterland of the four directions, and there is no longer a sign of separation. This is something that the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty could not achieve. Why is that?"

"build……"

"Stop! Special Envoy Li, you are a Westerner, could you please not be so flowery? You speak in classical Chinese all the time, are you going to take the imperial examination? Do you think it is appropriate for a Westerner like you to be so pedantic?" Zhu Yijun interrupted Li Yashi's chattering. This guy has been in Ming Dynasty for so long that he even uses classical Chinese, and he is quite methodical in it. All the good things of Ming Dynasty have been learned by this red-haired foreigner.

Using classical Chinese to flatter someone is a core skill of the Ming Dynasty literati, and Li Yashi has learned it all!
Li Yashi smiled and shook his head and said, "At my age, I'd rather not do that. I am already satisfied with being an interpreter."

"Is Special Envoy Li fifty this year? He still looks very young. An old horse in the stable still has a thousand miles to go, and a martyr in his old age still has great ambitions." Zhu Yijun looked at Li Yashi and said with a smile.

"I will be fifty in another 128 months..." Li Yashi's face was filled with black lines! He just looks a little anxious, he is only thirty-nine years old! What are you talking about, what do you mean by fifty? ! Is it his fault that he looks anxious? He looked like this ten years ago!

"Thirty-nine." Zhu Yijun knew from Feng Bao's slight nod that Li Yashi had not lied to the emperor and he was really thirty-nine.

"The Ming Dynasty is far superior to the Han and Tang Dynasties. It is not appropriate to discuss it now." Zhu Yijun looked at the geomancy map and said, "I don't even know when I can reopen the Western Regions. It is too early to be so arrogant."

Legashi said with certainty: "Your Majesty, what you said is wrong. Some time ago, the newly established Gansu Province summoned scholars and officials for the third time, and many responded. It seems that going there is to suffer, but it is also a way to make merit. Promotions in Gansu are faster than in other places, and there are merits to be gained. The scholars and officials who were summoned in the first two times only left unwillingly due to injuries and illnesses, and no weak ones fled back to the hinterland."

"This is what people want. Reopening the Western Regions won't be far away."

"That's true. This time, the Confucian scholars of the Ming Dynasty have made me look at them with new eyes." Zhu Yijun said sincerely.

The lowly Confucian scholars of the Ming Dynasty would cry for their parents when they encountered a little difficulty, and would run to Suiyuan, a central place, to be officials. They were all unwilling to do so, as if their lives were in danger. However, this trip to Gansu surprised Zhu Yijun greatly, as there was not so much noise.

No one despised Jiayuguan as a dilapidated city in the Gobi Desert, and no one thought of themselves as slaves sold by the emperor and exiled to Gansu. No one shouted that they sold their freedom and soul just for the opportunity of promotion.

Once the Western Regions are reopened, it will be a tremendous achievement.

The Ming Dynasty talked about reopening the Western Regions from the Hongwu period to the Wanli period, but it was never realized. In order to have such an opportunity to leave their names in history and to make speeches at the forefront of history, the Confucian scholars exercised their subjective initiative to take action.

Li Yashi said confidently: "Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty has been very successful in governing southern Yunnan and western Yunnan for two hundred years. Why did the Ming Dynasty do better than the Han and Tang dynasties in Yunnan? In fact, the feudal system was adopted at the top and the county system was adopted at the bottom. The feudal system means great virtue, and the county system means superior system. From ancient times to the present, for thousands of years, the Ming Dynasty has both virtue and good system, and its merits and virtues are great. It is truly unprecedented among the saints since the beginning of human history!"

"We all look up to the Holy Emperor who is in power..."

"Stop! If you continue like this, I will throw you outside the Meridian Gate and beat you with a stick." Zhu Yijun signaled Li Yashi to calm down. He was really too aggressive. Li Yashi didn't feel embarrassed, but Zhu Yijun, who was being praised, felt so embarrassed that he could even be taken out of the Tonghe Palace. The main reason was that Li Yashi had the face of a red-haired foreigner and the way he quibbled about words was really out of place.

"Okay, what was I talking about just now? Ah, it's all thanks to Your Majesty." Li Yashi said briefly and thought for a moment before saying, "I'll just say it straight. The fundamental reason is just eight words: flourishing and flourishing, just as it should be."

"More people means more power, and more people means more strength."

"This time, Duke Mu Changzuo of Qian was tricked by both the naive and the accustomed Miao, and was almost invaded by the Burmese bandits! How did Duke Mu Changzuo of Qian fight off the bandits? He relied on the Han army, the military garrisons, and the support of Liu Jing, the general of Sichuan. Therefore, the name of this memorial I am writing today is "A Memorial for a Prosperous Country with Endless Peace and Prosperity."

Li Yashi presented his memorial to the emperor. This was also his first memorial written in classical Chinese, and it took him a long time to write.

Zhu Yijun opened it and read it for a long time. He found no problem in the choice of words and sentences, and Legashi's entry point was the fall of Rome.

After the fall of Rome, all kinds of ghosts and monsters came out. After the fall of Rome, Rome was everywhere. If the Ming civilization was cut off, then the barbarians and small countries around the Ming Dynasty would all mistakenly claim China as the legitimate country.

The demise of Rome was caused by a sharp decline in the main population, that is, the Romans, which eventually led to the complete demise of Rome.

There are many different opinions about the fall of Rome, each with its own reasoning, but Legazpi believed that without the Romans, Rome would naturally fall.

"Your Majesty, just like this huge Wenhua Palace, the pillars are the ones that bear the brunt of the weight, and the majority of the population are these big pillars. Once these pillars fall down, the whole house will collapse." Li Yashi narrated his memorial in full.

"Is Felipe's current state of anxiety sudden? No, there were actually signs. After Felipe found the rich silver mine in Peru, the largest silver mine in the world, Spain changed. After a large amount of silver flowed in, people began to discriminate against the craftsmen who worked hard in the workshops and the herdsmen who worked in the pastures in the wind and rain, under the temptation of money."

"This trend began to spread rapidly throughout Spain. People no longer wanted to work hard and only wanted to become rich overnight. England was a remote place and they didn't have any workshops before. They made a living by exporting wool every year because they couldn't sell the woolen cloth they made."

"The woolen trade is controlled by Spain. England can't even sell its woolen goods. How can it accumulate wealth?"

"It was the atmosphere in Spain where everyone was pursuing empty things and everyone wanted to be rich that caused the Spanish handicraft industry to die out quickly and its scale was reduced day by day, which gave England an opportunity to take advantage of it."

"So, today's result is yesterday's cause, and His Highness Felipe can only reap what he sows."

"Scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans are the four pillars of a country."

What Le Ya Shi said was not that people are the foundation of the country and that the country will be peaceful if the foundation is solid. What he said was the alienation of money from people, from their spirits, and from society.

Zhu Yijun looked through Li Yashi's memorial again and said with certainty: "You and Li Zhi must have a lot to say. He is studying the alienation of power and money to people."

The topic turned from light-hearted to serious. As an interpreter of the Honglu Temple, Le Ya Shi was paid by the Ming Dynasty's emperor. In addition to translating Western documents, he also had to actively offer suggestions and contribute to the Ming Dynasty's revival. He talked about the phenomenon in Spain, hoping that Your Majesty would be vigilant and not let such a thing happen again.

History is a mirror that can help us understand the rise and fall of nations. Legazpi elaborated on the arguments and evidence in his memorial, especially the fall of the Roman Empire, which Legazpi sincerely felt was a pity. Moreover, the entire Western world no longer had the basis for a lightning comeback, and Rome was truly destroyed.

Legazpi used the changes in Spanish handicrafts to illustrate his thoughts on Spain.

"Your Majesty, in fact, His Royal Highness Felipe has really tried his best. He wants to defeat England. He wants the silver not to pile up in Spain, but to have a place to dredge it. So he would rather suffer more grievances than offend the Ming Dynasty. Because if he offends the Ming Dynasty, the silver piled up in Spain will continue to pile up." Legashi said in summary.

In his communications with the Ming Dynasty, Felipe was wronged from the very beginning. The Governor-General's Office of Luzon was captured by the Ming Dynasty, Portugal was canonized by the Ming Dynasty, and even the Ming Dynasty's large sailing ships arrived in the West and completed global trade. Felipe II could only open the door because the silver that was blocked by Spain needed a place to drain.

In Legazpi's heart, Felipe was a very good king, the same type of person as His Majesty, both were very diligent, and loved their country more than themselves.

After Legashi left, the Ming Emperor received envoys from Korea, Annan and Siam. These envoys were stationed in the capital all year round, mainly to pay tribute. Zhu Yijun was very busy. After meeting with the envoys, he immediately set off for Beidaying and began his daily review of the troops and horses. When he arrived at the place, the diligent Ming Emperor remembered that today was a day off.

Zhu Yijun strolled around the Beidaying, taught a few new recruits a lesson, encouraged the sentries on duty, and watched the Ming Dynasty's Yulin Infantry in the Wuying Tower before returning to Tonghe Palace with satisfaction.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the weather gradually turned cooler. Zhu Yijun put on a cloak and began to review memorials every day.

The Ministry of Rites has already drafted the letter in accordance with the instructions of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. After Your Majesty has reviewed and revised it, it will be sent to various countries. Memorials from the Ming Dynasty do not need to be submitted overnight, so the replies from various ministries are exceptionally fast and the administrative efficiency is extremely high.

"The Ministry of Rites has a good idea. The Ming Dynasty will not indulge him. The letter from Japan must be sealed by the Japanese emperor to prevent the Japanese pirates from cheating." Zhu Yijun approved Wan Shihe's memorial. Wan Shihe said that the letter should be exchanged three times and sent back to the Ming Dynasty after the Japanese emperor used the seal.

In other words, three copies will be sent to Japan after the previous one is received, and eventually all three treaties will be returned to the Ministry of Rites of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty will review the three treaties prohibiting piracy again to prevent Japan from playing the trick of replacing the prince with a cat.

It is never too early to be on guard against the Japanese.

"Just approve the things mentioned in the memorial by Shen Yikuan, the chancellor of Shuntian Prefecture." Zhu Yijun looked at the contents of Shen Yikuan's memorial. There were more and more people in Shuntian Prefecture, and city management was becoming more and more troublesome. Extremely obvious traffic jams had already begun to appear. Rickshaws, trains, carts, and sedan chairs and carriages of powerful and wealthy young men were mixed together. The entire capital was in a mess, and even the newspapers were congested.

In order to solve this problem, the city gates need to be expanded, the roads need to be expanded, the sidewalks need to be regulated, the size of vehicles needs to be comprehensively regulated, and the curfew time needs to be revised. This is a very complicated matter, and Shen Yiquan has tried his best to ensure its smooth and stable implementation.

And the emperor had to issue an edict to require everyone to obey traffic regulations.

The capital is a place where one brick can hit six famous scholars, four of whom are officials, so it is bound to be difficult to manage. The only thing we can do is to ask the emperor for an order.

In the Ming Dynasty, only the emperor can call the wind and rain!
Zhu Yijun approved Shen Yiquan's request. With the increase in population, if the traffic in Beijing was not managed, even the emperor would be stuck in the palace and unable to move.

Zhu Yijun frowned as he looked at a memorial. This was a memorial submitted by Wang Qian, which contained an unreviewed draft of a new edition of Xiaoyao Yiwen, waiting for the emperor's approval.

The liberal leaders Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi, who were the standard-bearers of open challenge to bureaucratic autocracy, jointly published The Alienation of Power to People, systematically expounding the process of this alienation. This was the first time that the liberals had truly openly challenged bureaucratic autocracy, and the content was extremely detailed.

Lin Fucheng mixed in some elements of officials forcing the people to rebel, making the whole article full of impact.

Let me start with the travelogue. It tells the story of a squad leader in Qingyuan County, who was the head of the yamen runners. His surname was Li and his name was Ben. Li Ben, the squad leader, had always had a good reputation. Runners rarely had a good reputation among the people. After all, yamen runners would grab a handful of food as they passed by, and eating from you was a sign of face, not to mention paying them. Li Ben's brother was a hereditary thousand households, and after Li Ben became the squad leader, he gave the yamen runners a good beating, and eventually they stopped disturbing the people.

Of course, the yamen runners also had a good life, because Li Ben relied on his brother's power and took the yamen runners to fight bandits everywhere. If they couldn't win, he would let his brother come to support them. After defeating the bandits, they would send them to the Baoding Prefecture Inspection Office to receive rewards. Although their life could not be said to be carefree and happy, everyone had a way to survive.

Li Ben married a beautiful bride. Li Ben was out suppressing bandits all day long. This beautiful bride couldn't resist and hooked up with someone. At first, no one mentioned it and Li Ben never thought about it that way. As a result, this beautiful bride cheated Li Ben of his money and people. She emptied Li Ben and ran away with that thief.

They could have just run away, but this pair of bastards took refuge in the home of a powerful and wealthy man in Qingyuan County.

Naturally Li Ben was unhappy, so he reported it to the authorities. The county magistrate did not want to intervene, because the squad leader was a subordinate who could be managed by him, while the powerful and wealthy man might have connections everywhere, and he was also one of the major taxpayers in the prefecture. The county magistrate did not intervene, and Li Ben could only swallow his anger.

Li Ben did not look for trouble with the couple, but they came to his house to ask for the dowry. Li Ben wanted to report to the police, but he found that the police would report to his place. He made up his mind and killed the couple, one by one. The servants who came with them did not even dare to look at them.

According to the "Great Ming Code·Criminal Law·Human Life": Anyone who wants to commit adultery with someone, and the husband personally catches the adulterer and the adulteress in the act and kills them immediately, shall be punished without penalty.

Li Ben was a military household and according to the rules, he should be under the jurisdiction of the Zhenfu Division of the guard. The local authorities had no right to judge him. However, the county magistrate and the legal advisor, who had pretended to be confused before, took immediate action and ordered the yamen runners to arrest Li Ben. These yamen runners were all Li Ben's men in the past, and they wanted to arrest their immediate superior. Moreover, because of such a mess, they immediately split into two factions, one to arrest and the other to protect him.

The commotion caused by these yamen runners was exactly the situation that the county magistrate saw in the county government. Li Ben was too disobedient on weekdays. Whenever he was asked to do some errands, especially some shameful ones, he would make excuses and refuse to do them. This was exactly the situation that the county magistrate wanted.

During the scuffle, a yamen runner was pushed to the ground by Li Ben. As luck would have it, he hit a rock and died.

This murder case is not like the previous one involving a couple. If they die, they die. The Ming Dynasty law stipulates that the person should be executed immediately, no matter what. But this person is a yamen runner. If he dies like this, the situation will get out of control immediately.

Li Ben was left with nowhere else to go, so he had to become a bandit. He took a dozen yamen runners with him, occupied the mountains and became the king, gathering in the forests.

The story does not end here. Li Ben sneaked into the county government office with a few people, took off the head of the county magistrate, hung it in front of the gate of the county government office, and left. At this point, the rebellion had to be pacified. The one who pacified Li Ben's stronghold was Li Ben's brother. The two brothers met, hugged each other and cried. In the end, Li Ben drew his sword and committed suicide in full view of everyone.

After Lin Fucheng finished telling the story, it was Li Zhi's turn. Li Zhi began to analyze the alienation of power to people starting from the county magistrate.

Just because Li Ben was not obedient, the county magistrate was dissatisfied. This was unkind, unforgiving, and angry. When Li Ben first reported to the police, the county magistrate, as a judge, not only did not uphold justice, but instead felt that his subordinates were easy to bully. This was unrighteous, disloyal, and infatuated. He did not distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil, and acted only based on his likes and dislikes. This was stupid.
It was the county magistrate's deliberate indulgence that led to the adulterers coming to his house to humiliate him. This was unwise. They went to his house even though they knew the conflict was extremely deep. The adulterers did not consider whether the servants they brought with them were Li Ben's opponents. This was unwise. After hearing the news, the first thing the county magistrate did was not to notify the garrison to arrest the criminals, but to step in and have the yamen runners arrest them. This showed that his hands were too long and he did not trust others. He was also arrogant and thought he was very smart and looked down on others.

Being unkind, unjust, unwise, untrustworthy, and rude, as well as being unfilial and unfraternal, will eventually lead to brothers killing each other.

This is the alienation of power on people. During the whole process, the county magistrate, because of the power in his hands, turned into a heart of the five poisons of greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt.

After discussing the existence and phenomenon of alienation, Li Zhi analyzed the causes of alienation.

Because the censors of the Ming Dynasty, the most important force for correcting mistakes, had failed, the Censorate became a place for fame, and reputation determined promotion. The censors held up the banner of propriety and law, but turned against the will of heaven and committed treason. The impeachment of Tan Lun for coughing in the early years of the Wanli period was the most typical example of the failure of the force for correcting mistakes. The censors depended on the Ming officials for their existence, and they became the minions of power. When power lost its supervision, alienation became inevitable.

"Why did Li Zhi imitate Lin Fucheng? He only finished speaking halfway?" Zhu Yijun flipped through the memorial and was very angry. At this point, Li Zhi chose to leave a blank.

The last time Li Zhi was still pointing fingers at the Ming Dynasty court's decrees, his look of being the only sober person while the whole world was drunk was deeply memorable. Now he has begun to learn Lin Fucheng's behavior. I just point fingers but don't offer any solutions.

After Li Zhi and Lin Fucheng communicated, the discussion stopped there. How to restore the most important force for correcting mistakes in the Ming Dynasty was a problem that the wise officials in the court should be concerned about, but Li Zhi chose to avoid talking about it.

Feng Bao whispered, "In fact, they don't have any good solutions. The fact that they can analyze the cause so clearly shows that the two of them are working together and have done their best."

"Allow it to be published." Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and decided to publish it without changing a single word.

A strange situation is that the liberals who challenged the Ming emperor's autocracy had to rely on him to survive, while the emperor, who should have been stubborn and repented only when he was beheaded, was the biggest supporter of the liberals.

"Another severe test." Zhu Yijun looked at the first draft of the book in his hand and said with a complicated expression, "I can't think of any good solution. How can we save the Censorate, which can cause so many problems just by carrying water?"

If Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi shut up, they would have some free time, but the problem would be completely hidden beneath the surface, with undercurrents surging, making it even more dangerous.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty had already taken many measures to deal with the situation. For example, the censors of the Censorate must have experience in local government positions, the Ming Dynasty's constitutional law on false accusations and retaliation was implemented in depth, and the Ming Emperor personally issued an edict to make things difficult.

"This kind of despicable scholar really never disappoints people when it comes to disappointing others." Several solutions flashed through Zhu Yijun's mind, but none of them were perfect.

The top-down method included supervision by the Imperial Guards, but the Imperial Guards had many inconveniences. They faced many difficulties in handling cases in local areas, and if they served in local areas for a long time, they could easily become part of a group. There was also a bottom-up method, which was supervision by the people. However, for the Ming Dynasty, supervision by the people was too advanced. It could easily become the gossip of the powerful and wealthy, and party struggles would spread from the court to the people.

"I will submit this memorial to the cabinet and give you some headaches." Zhu Yijun closed the memorial and said to Feng Bao with a smile.

(End of this chapter)