I'm really not doing business

Chapter 726: This hatred is endless, and I am unworthy of being a human being if I don’t take revenge
The greatest respect that the Ming Emperor had for war was spending money on games. In the eyes of Zhu Yijun, an emperor who was not very good at military affairs, losing the war would mean the collapse of the world. He was really afraid of losing and only wanted to win, so he spent a lot of money on games, which completely affected the balance of the battlefield.

Originally, Japan could have fought against the Ming army. After all, they were able to capture Seoul in 19 days, and their morale was high. The Japanese pirates also had firearms, although they only had a small number of iron cannons (Japanese muskets). It would not be a problem for them to fight against the Ming army and kill each other. After all, the number of Japanese foot soldiers who landed in Korea exceeded 150,000.

There were a total of 150,000 actual warriors, but the combat troops that the Ming Dynasty sent to Korea were only 40,000 in total, which is a difference in order of magnitude.

However, the development of the war situation was beyond Qi Jiguang's expectations. A casualty ratio of 120 to 0 was very terrifying in the eyes of outsiders, but in Qi Jiguang's eyes, the most terrifying thing was that there were only 240 people from the Ming side participating in the battle, which meant that one head was awarded for every two soldiers in the vanguard battalions. This was the record of an encounter battle, which was the most dangerous war mode that tested coordination, organization, and combat effectiveness.

Qi Jiguang once spoke highly of the Battle of Yingzhou by Emperor Wuzong of Ming, because the Battle of Yingzhou was the most dangerous encounter. Although the number of casualties did not seem to be large, battle reports would lie but the battle lines would not. The little prince did not dare to go south for decades afterwards.

In Qi Jiguang's view, the Ming cavalry battalion can now be so domineering on the battlefield that they can go wherever they want.

"Your Majesty, if we deploy the troops and fight a decisive battle, the 40,000 troops of the Ming army can defeat the 150,000 Japanese pirates within an hour, with casualties exceeding 10%. Considering the current situation of the Japanese pirates with many internal contradictions, they will inevitably suffer a great defeat, and then the cavalry battalion will pursue and kill them." Qi Jiguang knew that Your Majesty had no intuitive feeling about the fighting power of the Ming army, so he described the powerful fighting power of the Ming army in more detail.

Konishi Yukinaga and Kato Kiyomasa were able to quarrel among themselves at such an important moment as the attack on Imjin. Once the losses were huge, the Japanese pirates would have to disband and divide their luggage.

Qi Jiguang stood up, stood in front of the geomancy map, and said to the emperor and the Ming court officials: "After the Ming army reaches Pyongyang, it will begin to advance steadily. We can surround and attack the enemy's reinforcements in any place such as Kaesong, Imjin, and Seoul. Once the enemy's army exceeds five, we can launch a decisive battle."

"General Qi, wait a minute, shouldn't we be considering Pyongyang now? Kaesong has been lost and Lee Sun has escaped. Can Pyongyang be defended? How come we jumped to a decisive battle all of a sudden?" Zhu Yijun stretched out his hand and interrupted Qi Jiguang. He didn't quite understand. The span was a bit too big. Zhu Yijun was still worried about the fall of Pyongyang.

Qi Jiguang was silent for a moment, then bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, the vanguard battalion has arrived, and the remaining two cavalry battalions have also arrived at Jiuliancheng. The 10,000-man cavalry battalion is in Pyongyang. The outcome of the Battle of Pyongyang has nothing to do with the Korean defenders, or even the Japanese pirates. It all depends on whether the Ming Dynasty wants to do it."

Your Majesty only knows that the Ming army is powerful, but you don't know to what extent. With this kind of casualty ratio, the Japanese pirates who are really fighting on the front line will inevitably be afraid of fighting. War is very complicated, and there are many factors that affect victory or defeat, but if morale, that is, harmony among people, is gone, there is no way to fight.

"Oh, okay." Zhu Yijun still held a cautiously optimistic attitude.

Qi Jiguang briefly outlined the strategy for the Korean War and sat down without saying much. He was about to set off. He would give His Majesty a satisfactory answer and let His Majesty know the rewards that could be obtained from the terrible investment.

"Your Majesty, I have a memorial to make." The Minister of Revenue Zhang Xueyan took out a memorial, and then took out a long scroll from the table and hung it on the feng shui map. This was a chart with a lot of data that Zhang Xueyan needed to explain.

"Your Majesty, I think our Ming merchants are really strange." Zhang Xueyan said solemnly, "Ming local cotton is slightly weaker than sea island cotton, but stronger than Mongolian cotton. Sea island cotton is 16 wen per pound because it is of the best quality and is mainly used to make banknotes. However, Mongolian cotton is 10 wen per pound, and local cotton can only be sold for 7 wen per pound."

"It's really a strange story."

The local cotton of the Ming Dynasty is actually sea island cotton. It was brought to the Ming Dynasty by Antonio in the third year of Wanli and bred by Baoqisi. It was first promoted in Shandong and then planted in large quantities in Henan, Shaanxi and Gansu. Gansu's breeding industry is now developing rapidly. The latest long-staple No. 3 cotton has long fibers, is tensile-resistant, and not easy to break, and its yield has also increased.

However, the local cotton is made of sea island cotton as the male parent and kapok cotton as the female parent, and its fineness and fiber strength cannot reach the level of sea island cotton.

Sea island cotton is mainly used to make various banknotes, overseas banknotes, salt vouchers, acceptance bills, etc. The main producing areas of sea island cotton are Luzon and Yuanxu Islands, and the output is limited.

Although the local cotton of the Ming Dynasty is not as good as the sea island cotton, it is definitely more than one level better than the Mongolian cotton. However, Mongolian cotton is now 42% more expensive than the local cotton of the Ming Dynasty, which has attracted the attention of the court.

"Is it because there is too much local cotton and too little Mongolian cotton that there is such a price difference in supply and demand?" Zhu Yijun was stunned. He was a farmer and knew a little about farming. Supply and demand could easily cause price differences, and it was not necessarily a man-made disaster.

Zhang Xueyan bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, I thought so at first. I thought that there was too much cotton in the Ming Dynasty, which caused such a price difference. It was obviously good quality, but it couldn't be sold at a high price. But I learned from Songjiang Governor Shen Shixing that there is an overall shortage of cotton in the Ming Dynasty. The price difference is not caused by oversupply. There is less cotton and more cotton spinning."

"That means someone is manipulating the cotton price." Zhu Yijun said immediately, tapping his fingers on the table.

"Your Majesty is wise!" Zhang Xueyan said hurriedly. This is what happened. Someone is manipulating the price of local cotton to make huge profits.

Zhu Yijun's fingers did not stop moving, and he continued, "Let me guess, this kind of widespread price reduction is definitely not something that merchants can do on their own. There must be our officials backing them up, otherwise it would not be possible. In addition to officials and merchants, there must be a group of people who are helping the tyrants to commit evil and acting as accomplices to the tigers. These people act as thugs and even force purchases and sales."

"Your Majesty is wise." Zhang Xueyan looked up at His Majesty, with some surprise in his eyes, but more of it was taken for granted, as it should be.

Your Majesty should be so wise. Before he even mentioned the specific problem, Your Majesty had already guessed it almost exactly. Due to your long-term diligence, Your Majesty has a very deep and thorough understanding of the contradictions among all social classes.

The quality is obviously better, and the Ming Dynasty’s workshop is obviously short of raw materials, but the price cannot be sold at a high enough price. There must be something fishy going on.

Qi Jiguang sometimes felt that God had closed a window for His Majesty, and that his military talent was not high, but had opened a door, and that His Majesty's political talent was directly maximized, so he could guess most of the things just by listening to the beginning.

"Who is it?" Zhu Yijun asked with a frown.

"It was Chen Junyong, the Censor of the Songjiang Canal. He was a Jinshi in the second year of Longqing's reign and a native of Huguang. In the fourth year of Longqing's reign, he was appointed as the magistrate of Songjiang Prefecture. In the third year of Wanli's reign, he was promoted to the Censor of the Canal. In the ninth year of Wanli's reign, Chen Junyong ordered the customs to seize all the Ming cotton that arrived in Songjiang Prefecture, with a price limit of seven cents per catty. This led to this strange phenomenon." Zhang Xueyan answered His Majesty's question. His Majesty was asking about who the traitor was in the Ming bureaucracy.

"How much money did he get for this?" Zhu Yijun's tone turned cold.

"He didn't take a penny." Zhang Xueyan said hurriedly, "He thinks that cheap grain harms the people, and expensive grain also harms the people. The price of cotton is high, so how can the poor people get the chance to grow it? Therefore, he capped the price to allow more people to grow it. For the local gentry, the powerful and the wealthy, this kind of cotton has become a chicken rib that is tasteless to eat and a pity to throw away."

"He also thinks that if cotton prices are high, there will be fewer cotton mills, which means less demand. If cotton prices fluctuate drastically, it will harm the people. For farmers, stability is above all else. Even if you make less money in one year, over the next eight or ten years, stable returns are more important than anything else."

"Ordinary people cannot afford any risk. The sharp fluctuations in cotton prices are a murderous knife."

"Because of this decree, the Nan Ya Cotton Mill Merchants took the opportunity to lower the price and buy cotton from farmers. The price was only four cents per pound. The yield of cotton fields was less than 500 pounds per mu. After deducting the cost of seeds, fertilizer, water, and labor, the income of one mu of land was not much. The farmers were not happy with the four cents per pound, so some ruffians became cotton gangs and forced them to buy and sell cotton everywhere."

“This order should be rescinded.”

Zhang Xueyan believes that this is a very typical tragedy caused by the wishful thinking of meat-eaters. The abuse of power led to the booming cotton spinning industry in the Ming Dynasty, but cotton farmers were unable to benefit widely. Sometimes, the harm caused by the decisions made by meat-eaters on the spur of the moment is even greater than that caused by corrupt officials.

Zhu Yijun narrowed his eyes, shook his head and said, "I don't believe that he didn't take a penny. He has a lot of reasons. I think he is seeking huge profits. I ordered the Songjiang Prefecture Taxation Office to check Chen Junyong's relatives and friends. Just because he didn't take money doesn't mean that his family didn't profit from it."

"I don't know anything else, but I know very well that the lowly scholars of the Ming Dynasty never treat poor laborers as human beings."

It makes sense logically, but Zhu Yijun doesn't believe it. If there is nothing wrong with Chen Junyong, Zhu Yijun will eat the dragon throne in the Wenhua Hall!
Don't look at what the lowly Confucians say, but look at what they do. Once the lowly Confucians loudly say that they are doing this for the good of the people, the emperor should be alert. The more rigorous and complete the logic is, the more twists and turns there are behind it. If they shout that the dilemma will be solved by itself, then the emperor should be fully alert to deal with it.

The cheap Confucians will not sympathize with the poor and laboring people. When the cheap Confucians keep talking about the people, they are definitely using the people as a cover.

This is Zhu Yijun's stereotype. He has a great prejudice against Confucian scholars. This prejudice of presumption of guilt seems outrageous, but it comes true every time and deepens the emperor's stereotype, eventually forming a vicious circle. The emperor's prejudice against lowly Confucian scholars is an unsolvable knot.

Zhang Juzheng had tried to resolve this deadlock before, but later he found that it was all in vain. Whenever the emperor had a better impression of the civil officials and Confucian scholars, the despicable Confucian scholars would make some noise to correct the impression, without exception.

"Zhongxian Hai, I'll hand this matter over to you, my dear minister. You have always been upright and just. You can check whether he has any problems or not. It can also be regarded as an internal correction of the Censorate." Zhu Yijun handed the case over to the Censorate of the Outer Court instead of the Imperial Guards. If he handed it over to the Imperial Guards, the Imperial Guards could make a guilty verdict out of an innocent person. Everything depended on the emperor's will.

"I obey your command." Hai Rui bowed his head and accepted the order. Fighting corruption was Hai Rui's forte. When the normal way didn't work, he let Wang Qian take an unusual way. The normal and the unusual way complement each other.

"Your Majesty, the Luzon Governor's Office has reported that they want to transport 500,000 dan of rice, 3 million jin of red copper, and 100,000 jin of gunpowder to Tanggu, Tianjin Prefecture, to help the Ming army defeat the Japanese." The Minister of Revenue Wang Guoguang said with a strange look on his face: "Guo Xing Zhengmao said that as long as we fight against the Japanese pirates, he must help. If he can't send people, he will send money and food."

"There are also Songjiang and Zhejiang Governor Shen Shixing, Shandong Governor Wang Yi'e, Guangdong and Guangxi Governor Wang Jiaping, Fujian Governor Jia Daiwen and others who reported that the local gentry and powerful people in their jurisdictions were willing to donate and pay silver when they heard that the court was going to the court to quell the Japanese invasion. Some were willing to donate 10,000 taels of silver, while some were willing to donate 1,000 taels of silver. A total of 1.7 million silver and 2 million shi of grain were collected."

"How much?!" Zhu Yijun sat up suddenly and asked in surprise.

"Except for the Luzon Governor's Office, there are 1.7 million silver and 2 million shi of grain." Wang Guoguang repeated.

"Ah, this is beyond my expectation." Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Juzheng blankly and said, "I don't remember issuing an order to ask the powerful and wealthy to donate."

"It was Shen Shixing who first did it in Songjiang Prefecture. He asked the shipowners of Songjiang Ocean Trading Company to come to the prefecture and told them that the court was going to use troops against the Japanese pirates, and the battlefield was in Korea. His Majesty had spent all the money and grain on the highway, the canal, and the investment in opening the sea. He hoped that the shipowners would show some appreciation, so as to tide over the difficulties together and win this battle." Zhang Juzheng hurriedly explained. Shen Shixing was the initiator, and Shen Shixing asked them to show some appreciation, but he did not say how much.

Even Zhu Zaiyu, who was indifferent to worldly affairs in the royal institute, knew that the emperor had no money and was willing to take out 500,000 silver coins from the institute for Your Majesty to use. Shen Shixing was very clear about the finances of the Ming Dynasty. This time when he entered the court, he was prepared to take out the silver in the old treasury. That was the last property that Wang Guoguang had saved for the Ming Dynasty.

"Shen Shixing asked the ship owners to donate, and Sun Kehong asked, are you really going to fight the Japanese pirates? Sun Kehong was also afraid that the court was making up a pretext."

"At that time, Li Rusong had already led the cavalry battalion to Liaodong. When he saw that he was really going to fight the Japanese pirates, he accumulated 760,000 silver coins and 1 million dan of grain in Shanghai in just five days. This money and grain were sent to the Mizhou Maritime Customs before the New Year. Now that the ice on the Bohai Sea has melted, the money and grain have arrived at Tianjin Tanggu and have been inspected." Zhang Juzheng described the whole incident in detail.

The Songjiang Prefecture collected money and grain for a total of five days. If Shen Shixing had not stopped, the amount would have been even greater. Because many people did not know about this, the Songjiang Prefecture government directly raised enough grain and grass.

"Why?" Zhu Yijun had never expected the help to appear suddenly.

The silver deposits in the old treasury have been checked and are ready to be moved out. It seems that there is no need to move it out for the time being. The money and grain are enough for the Ming army to use for a year. Korea has not provided grain and fodder to the Ming, and the Ming is determined to get the grain and fodder from the wealthy and powerful.

Zhang Juzheng sighed and said, "Your Majesty, the Japanese invasion since the 27th year of Jiajing has plagued the southeast. To use the words of the powerful and wealthy in Songjiang Prefecture, this hatred is endless, and I would be unworthy of being a man if I don't take revenge!"

The Songjiang Sun family was already a prominent and wealthy family, but under the invasion of the Japanese pirates, only the two brothers were left in their family. Other families were not much better off. If Luo Gongchen had not come to the rescue at night, Songjiang Prefecture would have been destroyed. All the powerful and wealthy people, local celebrities and gentry in Songjiang Prefecture would have been killed by the Japanese pirates.

The Ming Dynasty government wants to destroy the Japanese pirates. The southeastern provinces that have been plagued by the Japanese pirates use real gold, silver, food and other supplies to support the court in destroying the Japanese pirates. Your Majesty the Emperor can do it boldly. The bill for aiding Korea in destroying the Japanese pirates will be paid by the powerful and wealthy people on the southeast coast!
Thirteen years after the full opening of the sea, a group of new interest entities have been formed. These interest entities are the ocean-going trading companies of the five major maritime customs offices. Songjiang Ocean-going Trading Company is the strongest, and they are all upstarts. The term "upstarts" is a name given to them in contrast to the old wealthy southeastern maritime merchants who used to be mainly engaged in smuggling.

The new rich were not opposed to paying tribute. Was the Japanese invasion just the court's business? The court was far away in the northern government, and the emperor was in the palace. When the Japanese invasion started, it was still the southeastern coast that suffered. The common people could not escape, and neither could the powerful and wealthy. No matter what the emperor wanted to do, if he really wanted to destroy the Japanese, the new rich would really pay.

Just like the saying goes: This hatred is endless, and I would not be worthy of being a human being if I don’t avenge my blood feud!

During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, there was no decree prohibiting anti-Japanese education or controlling anti-Japanese speech. Zhu Yijun was more in favor of limited freedom and did not even pay much attention to anti-imperialist speech. It was only when Taifu Zhang could no longer stand it that he introduced censorship.

A traitor like Lin Fucheng even shouted out such treasonous words as "Wanli Wanli, the Wan family is all indignant". Yet, he went to Luzon to investigate the plantations with the super identity of a fifth-rank doctor of the Five Classics.

"It can be considered an unexpected surprise. The silver in the national treasury should not be touched if we can. It is the silver at the bottom of the box." Wang Guoguang smiled happily. It was great that he could destroy the Japanese and save money at the same time!

The money in the old warehouse moves a little bit, and it becomes less and less. I don’t know when it will be available again.

What surprised Wang Guoguang the most was that Yin Zhengmao was actually willing to provide support in the name of the Governor's Office.

Yin Zhengmao's help was not to cheer and build up momentum, but to support food, red copper, and gunpowder. The Governor-General's Office of Luzon was deeply favored by the emperor, and it was the only place in Southeast Asia of the Ming Dynasty that could produce its own brown gunpowder. One hundred thousand kilograms of gunpowder was already the last stock of the Governor-General's Office of Luzon. The Governor-General's Offices of Toungoo Mangyingli, Gua'a, and Diu could all be put aside. The Japanese pirates must die.

The Japanese invasion in Guangzhou was quelled under Yin Zhengmao. Back then, the late emperor gave Yin Zhengmao the power to act as he pleased and let him do whatever he wanted as long as the Japanese invasion could be eliminated. The tragedy that happened in Korea today also happened under Yin Zhengmao's nose during the Longqing period. Yin Zhengmao dared not think back to those tragedies.

Bullshit about appeasing the foreigners, bullshit about winning people over with virtue, bullshit about rationality! To take swift and lasting revenge on the Japanese pirates is not irrational, but the only rational path.

How can we call ourselves the Celestial Empire if we don't take revenge after being bullied by the Japanese pirates?
Zhu Yijun really didn't think about fundraising. The story of 'I really have a cow' was always repeated. Shen Shixing didn't expect there would be so many. There was even a threshold for donations. He found out too late and was not even qualified to donate. He actually just wanted the ship owners in Songjiang to show their appreciation. After all, His Majesty's money was spent on the Nan Ya's sea operations.

As a result, all the money and food for the army's one-year operation had arrived at Tanggu, Tianjin Prefecture.

On the tenth day of February in the fourteenth year of the Wanli reign, the imperial examination began. On the thirteenth day, the Ming army set out. Unlike Ma Lin's trip to Liaodong and then to Jiuliancheng and Yizhou, this time, all ten regiments of the Beijing camp arrived at Tanggu, Tianjin Prefecture, by car. On the fifteenth day, they took a boat in Tanggu and headed for Yizhou.

(Brief sketch of the march)

The infantry battalion of the Ming Dynasty's capital camp did not have to walk to Korea, but chose to take carriages and ships. Compared with a long-distance march, the fatigue of carriages and ships was almost non-existent. Along with the Ming Dynasty's capital camp, there was also the favor of the Ming Emperor, 200,000 silver coins worth, nearly 400,000 dan of grain, 200,000 bundles of fodder, 30,000 dan of cotton cloth, and 1,000 boxes of fertilizer.

On the same day that Qi Jiguang set out for Yizhou, the investigation into Chen Junyong, the Censor of Songjiang River Canal, also produced preliminary results.

"So, Chen Junyong really didn't embezzle a penny." Zhu Yijun met Hai Rui beside the Dragon Pool in Tonghe Palace. After reading the memorial, he said to Hai Rui.

Hai Rui said calmly: "That's right, he didn't embezzle money, but it's more hateful than corruption."

"His younger brother is the head of the Nan Ya Cotton Merchants' Gang. His relatives are all in the merchant companies. His uncle is the largest cotton spinner in Nan Ya. His eldest uncle owns 57 cotton spinners in Jiangzuo and Jiangyou. The lower the local cotton price, the more his family earns. According to the tax account books I found in the Songjiang Prefecture Taxation Office, it is conservatively estimated that his family earned more than 700,000 silver coins because of Chen Junyong's decree."

At this moment, Hai Rui completely understood why three clans had to be exterminated, nine clans had to be punished, and Chen Junyong seemed clean and well-known for his integrity. It would be useless to investigate him personally. Once his family was investigated, they would know that they had a vested interest in the matter. He had gained such terrible profits for his family.

The emperor guessed correctly that Chen Junyong was not a clean person and was pursuing personal gain under the guise of serving the poor.

Hai Rui continued, "Your Majesty, it was only after Songjiang Governor Shen Shixing made a careful investigation that we understood what Chen Junyong had done and why the Mongolian cotton in Songjiang Prefecture was of poor quality but still sold for twelve cents."

"Sea island cotton is 16 wen, and the actual price of Ming local cotton is 14 wen. Forty percent of all the cotton transported to the various prefectures in the Southern Court, especially to Songjiang Prefecture, must be stored in their private warehouses, and then the price of selling from the private warehouses is 14 wen."

"I charge 7 wen per pound from the merchants and sell it for 14 wen. I have doubled my profit by doing this. If I weave it myself, I can make more money. This is really a good way to make money!"

"In addition to Chen Junyong, there are Zhao Canlu, Nanjing Ministry of Revenue Left Vice Minister Zhou Bokai and a total of 14 people involved."

"Know how to make money? Order Songjiang Prefecture to arrest people, let the Southern Court Ti cavalry search their homes, dig three feet into the ground, and only give them water but no food. Let them starve for six days, then give them a full meal, and then starve for another six days. I want to see if they can bear it. Make them vomit out whatever they have eaten." Zhu Yijun picked up the memorial and wrote in red.

Is it because the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is cruel and merciless, torturing these powerful and wealthy people in various ways? Hai Rui felt that it was not His Majesty's fault. The cotton textile business was a major trade, the flagship product of the Ming Dynasty's maritime trade, and an industry that His Majesty cared about very much and benefited the people. During the rapid development of this industry, termites appeared.

For these things, if we don't give the feudal iron fist a few bangs, these guys will definitely become more and more aggressive. The Ming Dynasty's great cause of opening up the seas will be over before it even began.

Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "There are 100 million people, and only Jinshi candidates can be selected every year. The examination is held every three years, and there are only Jinshi candidates for each subject. Which of these Jinshi candidates is not the best among the best? Which one is not one in a million? Which one is not well-read? Don't these know that if something goes wrong, they will be punished by me? They know it, and they are not afraid, they just think that the court will not find out."

"Indeed, from experience, the court never cared about these things before."

The imperial court didn’t care before, but it has been the fourteenth year of the Wanli Reform and they are still living in the past. If he doesn’t die, who will?

Hai Rui said very seriously: "Your Majesty, I think this is inevitable on the road to a new policy. It is not a big deal. Just find the problem and solve it. Your Majesty, there is no need to get angry about this or get angry with the lowly scholars. There will be no end to your anger."

"I am not disappointed. It is normal to have problems. The Ming Dynasty is so big. If there were no problems at all, I should reflect on whether the channels for speech are completely blocked and everyone is speechless. There will always be bumps on the road to development." Zhu Yijun knew that Hai Rui was worried that he had learned from the Taoist priest to give up, so he comforted Hai Rui and asked him to be at ease.

It was just a few rough patches on the road to Ming Dynasty's greatness again.

The 14th year of the Wanli reign marked the beginning of the Wanli Emperor's negligence in government affairs. The manifestations of his negligence were: no suburban sacrifices, no sacrifices were held, even the three dukes and high priests were stopped; no temples, no sacrifices were made to the Taimiao during major festivals; no court meetings, no court meetings, not even attending the court meetings in the Wenhua Hall; no visits, the assistant ministers and court officials knelt in the Huangji Hall for several days without seeing the emperor; no approval, no review of any memorials to the emperor's memorials; no appointments, no dismissals of officials.

From the 14th year of the Wanli reign until the 47th year of the Wanli reign, it was not until the disastrous defeat at Sarhu that Emperor Wanli ended his slackness and began to deal with state affairs. The 33 years of slackness had exhausted the last breath of the Ming Dynasty, and the world was already in danger of collapse.

Zhu Yijun said solemnly, "Hai Zongxian, you are an old man who has served three dynasties and is also known for your stubbornness. Hai Zongxian, do you think that there are any major problems in the Ming Dynasty that I have not noticed?"

"Yes." Hai Rui said with certainty, "Your Majesty, the sea merchants who donated money and grain this time are different from the landlords who used to be buried up to their necks in the dirt. They are now very active. With money and grain, they will definitely try every means to seek political power. I think we should be cautious with them. If they are training scholars to enter the government normally, we should not interfere too much. Otherwise, we should give them a good beating."

"For example, this Chen Junyong, he is not from a local gentry, nor a powerful and wealthy family, but a new merchant family."

Hai Rui didn't want the emperor to only see the positive side of the upstarts and ignore their other side. As part of the Ming Dynasty, it was fine for them to seek political power, but if they wanted to gain privileges through unfair means, then don't blame the court for being ruthless.

(End of this chapter)