I'm really not doing business

Chapter 745: It is easy to plan for a strong country, but difficult to plan for a weak and chaotic country

The Royal Institute of Technology's mapping telescope was provided by the Institute of Physical Science and is a precision-made optical instrument.

At first, this thing was extremely expensive. It was only in the past two years, as more glass-grinding craftsmen appeared, that it was provided to students of the Polytechnic Institute for practical use. Before that, it was all kept by a dedicated person, and it took three people together to take it out and put it away.

A surveying telescope cost as much as two hundred silver coins to buy even in the 14th year of Wanli. There were only thirty telescopes in the Institute of Technology, shared by nearly 4,000 students. They treated the instrument like a precious treasure, and when it was knocked over by a student of the Imperial College, the student became furious and started a fight with the student.

“Your Majesty, these students from the Imperial Academy often humiliate the students from the Institute of Technology. Whenever they meet them, they will insult them, accusing them of betraying the ways of the ancient kings and their benevolence and righteousness. The students must show sarcasm and mockery to show their resistance to those who do not follow the right path and are different. They claim that they are benevolent and righteous people who love the world and do not associate with these impatient people.” Feng Bao told the emperor that this was not the first conflict, but a long-standing contradiction.

A group of unproductive Confucian scholars look down on the science and engineering students who are studying the infinite principles of all things.

Feng Bao continued, "If it was just a verbal conflict, the students of the Polytechnic Institute would just feel inferior and ignore it, but this time the supervisor pushed down their equipment, and their original anger turned into action."

In this conflict between the old and new schools of thought, the students in the academy were the weaker party and always tried to avoid direct conflict with the students in charge of the Imperial College. It was very simple: the students in charge of the Imperial College had honors, while the students in the academy did not. If a conflict really broke out, it would be somewhat like an insubordination.

But this time, the students pushed over the instrument.

Zhu Yijun nodded and said, "So it was the students who made the mistake first. Because of their status as officials, they were used to being arrogant and bullied the students who endured the humiliation even more severely, which led to this conflict."

"The students are scholars. If we abolish their official titles and privileges, we will be resisted by all the scholars. It will be difficult to do so."

"Then we should do the opposite and give our Royal Institute of Technology students the same honors as scholars."

Zhu Yijun took sides in this matter and did not punish the science and engineering students who had beaten others. He even raised the social status of the students and gave them honors, giving them the same treatment as students of the Imperial Academy. This way, when they faced the issue again in the future, these students would not be at a disadvantage.

"You talk about benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, trustworthiness, gentleness, courtesy, frugality and modesty, but I don't see any of these ten words in this incident!"

"They claim to be Confucian scholars, but they have no moral integrity. These students are still very young, and their knowledge of everything comes from their teachers. This arrogant attitude is probably the result of their teachers' words and deeds."

"The next chapter is to be sent to the Imperial Academy to ask: If the youth are ambitious, the country will be ambitious; if the youth are prosperous, the country will be prosperous. I have entrusted the youth of the whole country to the Imperial Academy, so why are there such rebellious people?"

Zhu Yijun narrowed his eyes and chose to deal with it seriously, holding the leaders of the Hanlin Academy and the Imperial College accountable. Is this how they educate students? Can the emperor still be assured of handing over the Imperial College to them?
Feng Bao told the emperor that this was a counterattack by the students of the Academy of Science and Technology who had reached the end of their patience. If the precious instruments had not been knocked over, they would have continued to endure until the entire Ming Dynasty realized the importance of science and technology, and only then would the labels of "lowly", "unprofessional" and "strange and lewd skills" be removed from them.

Feng Bao said with a serious expression: "What if these students are making trouble? Or, what if the academicians and registrars of the Imperial College are still instigating the students to make trouble? After all, the students were beaten this time. They were unreasonable and made trouble every day. Now they have suffered a loss and they will definitely not swallow this anger."

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said, "I have already made arrangements, but they still refuse to listen. This is disloyalty. So send them to Liaodong. There are schools in Liaodong, but they are short of teachers. Let them go to Liaodong for three years of education before returning to the capital. From students to chief priests, send them all."

The feudal monarchy had its limitations and was based on the emperor's likes and dislikes, which meant it was completely ruled by man.

When Zhu Yijun heard about this, the first thing he asked was whether anyone had died. If it was a murder case, it would be very troublesome, but fortunately no one was killed. The emperor had complete discretion in the matter. If there was any more trouble, the emperor would send all the people to Liaodong to support the construction of education on the border!
If three years is not enough, then six or nine years will be used. This is a warning to teach them a lesson.

"I obey the order." Feng Bao obeyed the leader's order.

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said, "Oh, yes, let the Imperial College compensate for the broken telescope. The price is 500 silver coins, and let the Imperial College's chief priest send it to the Polytechnic Institute before sunset."

The internal price of the surveying telescope was two hundred silver coins per unit, but the selling price was five hundred silver coins, so the emperor demanded five hundred silver coins in compensation and required the Imperial College to deliver it within a time limit.

"I obey your order." Feng Bao bowed his head again and said.

The eunuch delivered the memorials reviewed by the emperor to Wenyuan Pavilion. Wang Chonggu, who had been working in Wenyuan Pavilion for a long time, opened the memorial and read it for a long time. After reading it, he glanced several times at Zhang Juzheng who was sitting upright.

"If Wang Ci Fu has any objections to your majesty's handling of the matter, he can just write a floating note to refute it himself. Why are you looking at me all the time? I agree with your majesty's handling of the matter." Zhang Juzheng put down his pen and looked at Wang Chonggu.

Obviously, Zhang Juzheng noticed the second assistant's little trick.

Wang Chonggu waved his hands and said, "Of course I have no objection to your Majesty's decision. They are just a bunch of lowly scholars. Why should I support them? I am the leader of the Labour Party. The future of the Labour Party lies in this Polytechnic Institute. We need geographers to explore mineral veins, architects to build universities, cartographers to repair bridges and roads, naval architects to design ships, etc. Each of them is a treasure of our Labour Party."

"Your Majesty is taking sides, and I agree with you wholeheartedly."

Every cartographer who drew the overall map of the Ming Dynasty geomancy was extremely valuable, and they were extremely good at mathematics.

It is not easy to train a cartographer, mainly because it is very difficult to learn. One has to master the six skills, namely proportion, direction, distance, terrain, inclination, and straightness. Straightness refers to the winding straightness of roads, rivers, and mountains. Each one is very difficult to learn.

There were less than fifty cartographer apprentices in the Institute of Technology. It was not that the Institute of Technology did not want to expand enrollment. Wang Chonggu was eager to build a big house in the Royal Institute of Technology. In the hope of attracting phoenixes by planting phoenix trees, the third phase of the Royal Institute of Technology has been fully completed.

It is difficult to recruit students for a polytechnic college. Those with a little talent all aim to take the imperial examinations to become officials. Mapping and surveying require a strong talent for mathematics, and if you don't know mathematics, you just can't do it. There are only a few cartographer apprentices like this.

"Then what are you looking at me doing?" Zhang Juzheng frowned.

"It's nothing. I just found it a little strange that His Majesty asked the Imperial College to pay compensation." Wang Chonggu said calmly.

Zhang Juzheng smiled and ignored Wang Chonggu. The experienced official immediately understood Wang Chonggu's sarcasm.

First of all, when have these scholars and officials in the Imperial College ever suffered such a loss? Your Majesty made such a decision;

Secondly, the emperor could see even five hundred silver coins and specifically emphasized it, which showed that he lived up to his reputation of being frugal.

In the minds of the Ming Dynasty scholars and officials, those who made such decisions and advocated frugality were all freaks educated by Zhang Juzheng. But in fact, Zhang Juzheng knew very well that it was not his teaching but the emperor's own temperament.

"The Ministry of Rites reported that the next imperial examination will be on Han Fei Zi. The annotated Han Fei Zi has already been sent to the Imperial College. What do you think, Wang Ci Fu?" Zhang Juzheng asked Wang Chonggu for his opinion.

"It is a great kindness." Wang Chonggu said with certainty, "But Han Feizi has reproduced the entire article without any omissions. I am afraid these Confucian scholars will think it is an insult to them. Alas."

"Is the Second Prime Minister worried about the Five Vermin Chapter?" Zhang Juzheng asked after thinking for a moment.

Wang Chonggu nodded and said, "Yes, Han Feizi named and scolded them in the Five Vermin."

Zhang Juzheng thought for a moment and replied, "Han Feizi was also scolding the inferior Confucian scholars, not all Confucian scholars. Whoever is jumping up and down is just putting the hat of inferior Confucian scholars on his head, right? That's good, the inferior Confucian scholars jumped out on their own."

"Besides, even if they jump up and down, they can't change anything. This is inevitable."

"What Yuanfu said makes sense." Wang Chonggu agreed with Zhang Juzheng's idea and stamped his seal on the ticket. The next imperial examination would be on "Han Feizi".

Nowadays, the examination for Juren requires mathematics, and the examination for Jinshi requires many things to be tested. The original weight of Confucianism is gradually decreasing.

Promoting culture and education and strengthening military affairs are important cultural parts of the Wanli Reform. Using the imperial examination as a guide to reform education is the general trend. Even if these despicable Confucian scholars are dissatisfied, they can only hold it in while Your Majesty is alive.

If you have the guts, kill the emperor. If you don't have the courage and ability, you can only endure this humiliation.

The specific issue discussed by Zhang Juzheng and Wang Chonggu was an article in Han Feizi called "Five Vermin", which talked about five kinds of pests that had to be eliminated in the dynasty. The first pest was the despicable Confucian scholars who liked to follow the laws of the Three Dynasties.

Han Fei was a Legalist, and what he hated most were these conservative Confucian scholars.

In the words of Han Feizi: The social customs of ancient and modern times are different, and the new and old government orders are naturally different. If one blindly pursues lenient and gentle policies to govern the people in an era of great change, it would be as ridiculous as trying to control a wild horse without reins or whips. This is an unwise disaster.

In ancient times, why didn’t the people fight? Because there were few people, and even if they didn’t farm, hunting and gathering were enough.

The so-called lenient policies before the Three Dynasties are in themselves illusory and cannot withstand scrutiny and verification. Regardless of whether they are true or false, the ancients despised wealth, not because of benevolence and righteousness, but because they had a lot of wealth; people today fight with each other, not because they are mean, but because they have little wealth.

(Thus, the reason why people in ancient times exchanged wealth was not because of benevolence, but because of the abundance of wealth; the reason why people now compete for wealth is not because of meanness, but because of the scarcity of wealth.)
Why do people in today's anxious world fight over things? Because there are so many of them.

Five children is not a lot for a family, and five children have five more children. Before my grandfather died, he already had twenty-five grandchildren.

How many people were there in the past three generations? Now, there are many people but little wealth. Even if we work hard, we still cannot support so many people. Therefore, all the people are fighting for their livelihood. If they don’t fight, they will starve and freeze. The imperial court’s decrees double the rewards and constantly punish, but the result is still inevitable chaos.

(Therefore, the population is large but the wealth is small; the work is hard but the support is meager; therefore, the people quarrel; even if the rewards are doubled and the punishments are increased, chaos cannot be avoided.)
At this time, these Confucian scholars only know how to foolishly praise the ways of the ancient kings, preach benevolence, righteousness and morality, pay attention to the beauty of clothing, use sophistry, clever arguments and words to criticize today's policies, use the laws of the previous kings to disrupt today's laws and shake the king's determination.

(Scholars, on the other hand, praise the ways of the ancient kings and use them as a reference to benevolence and righteousness, dress in finery and embellish their arguments in order to cast doubt on the laws of the time and so discredit the ruler.)
This is the first termite criticized by Han Fei, scholars.

The second type of pests criticized by Han Feizi, speaking in ancient times, are those who seek personal gain under the guise of the diplomats, who engage in fraud, call a horse a zebra, and confuse right and wrong. They use foreign forces to achieve their personal goals, give up the interests of the majority of people and the country, and encourage others to give up their collective interests, disrupting the public order and good customs of the country.

(The ancients used to make false claims and borrow external forces to achieve their own selfish ends, while neglecting the interests of the country.)
It is no wonder that a country will perish if the five kinds of pests are not eliminated.

Xunzi, the great sage of Confucianism, scolded the cheap Confucians, and Han Feizi also scolded the cheap Confucians. In fact, these cheap Confucians really made people hate them. For example, the censor Li Zhi was dissatisfied with the policy of the International City of Ming Dynasty and requested to relax it to show the magnanimity of the Celestial Empire, but was rejected by the emperor in the Huangji Hall. Magnanimity? This kind of thing really cannot be described as the magnanimity of the Celestial Empire. The Southern Song Dynasty talked about this magnanimity. Later, the Pu family of Quanzhou killed most of the relatives of the old Zhao family and sent the rest to Kublai Khan. It was Zhu Yuanzhang who avenged the old Zhao family with the crime of "leading the Yuan Dynasty to overthrow the Song Dynasty".

The Pu family from Quanzhou were Hui merchants who came here by boat, and they were genuine foreigners.

The Ming Dynasty had the laws established by its ancestors, so it was absolutely impossible for it to make such a move.

The extreme conservatives, conservatives and retro-styled people are completely different factions. The retro-styled people and the retro-styled people are not more conservative than the conservatives, but they are definitely more extreme than the extreme conservatives.

He was a pest of the country that Xunzi and Han Feizi criticized thousands of years ago.

In May of the fourteenth year of the Wanli reign, amid the aroma of wine from the Kaigu Dianjian, the Ming Dynasty welcomed the annual Wine Festival. Although it was not yet time for the big evaluation at the end of the month, countless wine merchants brought their own fine wines to the Beiya to participate in the event, hoping to win a good ranking.

In the aroma of wine in midsummer, the large sailing ship from the West also arrived smoothly at the new port of Songjiang Prefecture. After the envoys from the West stayed in Tongzhou and reported the news, they stayed in the Siyi Pavilion.

"Why is there only two million taels of silver this year? In previous years, there were six million taels of silver. I haven't heard of any sailboat sinking on this voyage." Chen Xuehui frowned as he asked the Westerner in front of him, Pedro Fernandez, the court secretary of Felipe II.

Pedro has black eyes and well-groomed brown hair. He wears a ruff around his neck. The ruff is an indispensable ornament for Western nobles. The reason is: by wearing a ruff, one forces oneself to show a proud, tall, noble, and domineering posture. We never bow our heads.

"A riot occurred in the rich silver mines, and the silver production was seriously insufficient last year. Therefore, we only had two million taels of silver for maritime trade. We only learned about this situation after arriving in Peru." Pedro said calmly.

Of course Pedro could not say that prices in Spain had stabilized and that there was no need for so many Ming Dynasty goods. This would seem extremely barbaric. The Ming Dynasty was the Celestial Empire and could not be offended easily, so this time the sailing fleet found a reasonable excuse.

Being tactful is not just a characteristic of the Ming Dynasty. Only barbarians would expose their intentions without any disguise.

Chen Xuehui said slowly, "This year, the Ming Dynasty's ocean-going merchant ships have already set out, carrying about seven million silver coins worth of goods. If what the envoy said is true, then shouldn't the Ming Dynasty bring the goods back?"

The Western sailing ships and the Ming Dynasty's ocean-going merchant fleets would bring in 9.5 million taels of silver to the Ming Dynasty every year. This time the sailing ships brought a little less, which happened to be the case as the Ming Dynasty's ocean-going merchant fleet brought a little more.

"Wouldn't that be a waste of the ship's capacity?" Pedro's expression changed, and he seemed concerned, but actually said it reluctantly.

When the galleons failed to bring the silver, Daming went to get it himself with the goods.

Chen Xuehui said calmly, "It shouldn't be. If Spain and Portugal cannot consume enough goods, I think France, the Netherlands and England will be very happy to consume these goods. You know very well that Ming goods are very popular and have no problem selling them. Lisbon distributes goods and gathers many merchants, including the Ottomans."

“Capacity is not wasted.”

The Ming Dynasty also had some bases in the West. The distribution of goods in Lisbon would always attract merchants from all over the world, including the Ottoman Empire, Spain's mortal enemy.

Chen Xuehui is reminding the Spanish envoys not to compete with the Ming Dynasty!

If the silver is honestly brought to Ming Dynasty, it will be good for us and everyone. But if someone insists on withholding the silver and refuses to give it to Ming Dynasty, Ming Dynasty has plenty of ways to deal with it.

Pedro thought for a moment and said, "Because the Queen of England issued a privateering license, there are now more than ten times more pirates on the sea than before, and the environment at sea has become worse."

"Many ships appear to be merchant ships, but they could also be pirates. The Ming merchant ships have traveled thousands of miles to reach the west, but they could also be harassed by these pirates. My king apologizes for not creating a stable environment, but the storm in the Atlantic has stopped my king from conquering."

It is true that privateering licenses undermine the business environment, but there is a very clear threat in Pedro's words. If Chen Xuehui can't even understand this, he should not be the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

Spain refused to give, so Ming took the initiative to send merchant ships there. If anything unexpected happened, don't blame their king. These pirates may have occupied the island and become kings. They may be pirates from England or Spain. Who can say for sure?

The Spanish Navy also has pirates. Although Pedro didn't say a single sarcastic word, every word he said was a threat.

Gao Qiyu, who had been listening for a long time, smiled when he heard this. He sat up straight, thought for a while and said, "I have a story here, about Special Envoy Yu."

"About 170 years ago, the Ming Dynasty sent a special envoy, Zheng He, to the West. He led the Ming fleet to stop in Ceylon. The King of Ceylon, Arikunayar, coveted the goods of our Ming merchant fleet and invited the special envoy Zheng He to go ashore. However, the king ordered his son to besiege our Ming ships with the intention of robbing the goods."

"The king, as the ruler of a country, mobilized an army of more than 50,000 soldiers, while my fleet only had less than 2,000 people. Guess what the result was?"

Pedro frowned and asked in confusion: "What's the result?"

"It was precisely these two thousand Ming soldiers who raided the Ceylon royal city under the cover of night, captured the king and his family alive, and brought them back to the Ming Dynasty to present them to the palace." Gao Qiyu looked at Pedro and said, "The bravery of Emperor Chengzu and the elegance of Emperor Yongle are not as good as they are today, but the ocean-going merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty are also engaged in business with swords, and will not lose the prestige of their ancestors."

"Don't bother the messenger to worry."

Threaten the Ming Dynasty? Ask the 36-jin naval gun on the ship if they agree!
“There is an old Chinese saying: It is easy to plan for a strong country, but difficult to plan for a weak and chaotic country.”

"What this sentence means is that when the dynasty is stable and strong, it is particularly easy to succeed no matter what you plan; but when the dynasty is weak and chaotic, even the best plans cannot be realized. Since the Wanli Reform, your majesty has worked hard and the ministers have devoted themselves to the cause, and the Ming Dynasty has become stronger and stronger, so all your plans have been accomplished." Chen Xuehui's words were also very impolite, and even had a tone of teaching.

The Ming Dynasty was the Celestial Empire and treated envoys from other countries as its grandsons. According to the "Notes on the Rituals of the Vassal States" during the Yongle period, when Ming envoys traveled to various directions, the kings had to kneel down and make statements to the envoys. In other words, His Majesty repeatedly told the Ming Dynasty, both high and low, that they must not be arrogant. Only then did Chen Xuehui and Gao Qiyu restrain themselves a little.

When Pedro heard this, he wanted to refute it, but he still said solemnly: "I will definitely take note of what the Foreign Minister said."

"On the way to Ming, I heard that some Ming merchant ships have appeared in Guayaquil. My king did not give these merchant ships permission, and they should not appear in these places to trade."

Guayaquil is what the Ming Dynasty called Pengju Port. Apparently, Pedro knew that the Ming Dynasty had opened up this route, and the fact that Ming merchant ships had arrived at Pengju Port could not be hidden from Pedro.

After all, as long as Pedro arrived at Pengju Port, he could see the goods of the Ming Dynasty, the merchants of the Ming Dynasty, and even the treasure banknotes issued by the Ming Dynasty for overseas circulation.

To hide the fact that the Ming merchant caravan had opened up the shipping route was like an elephant hiding behind a small tree; it was impossible to hide.

"Our caravan did not use artillery to blow up the sluice gates, but entered the port very smoothly and completed the transaction. I don't know what the envoy is accusing us of. If the port of Guayaquil does not allow it, our fleet would not be able to enter." Chen Xuehui pushed the issue back.

Blame the Ming merchant fleet? The Ming did not use cannons to open the sluice gates. It was a legal transaction. If Pedro really wanted to blame them and really did not allow the Ming fleet to go, shouldn’t he have restricted the Governor of Guayaquil?
What's the point of crying to the Ming Dynasty? Go kill the Governor of Guayaquil.

"This is illegal! I will naturally ask the king to admonish and strictly prohibit unlicensed trade!" Pedro said loudly.

Chen Xuehui said as a matter of course: "Okay, if the Port of Guayaquil is unwilling to trade, then we can just drive the ship back."

"But Spain is so disregarding the needs of the Governor's Office and violently and arbitrarily interfering with the Governor's Office's free trade. In the short term, the Governor's Office will comply, but over time, I'm afraid the decree will be meaningless."

"According to the views of our Ming Dynasty liberals, all parts of the world should strive to produce goods that are low-cost and high-efficiency for themselves, in exchange for goods that cannot be produced at low cost. This is mutually beneficial and is the most rational choice."

The Chen Society raised the banner of free trade. Felipe II's tyrannical interference in the Governor's Office's trade was probably not worth the cost. He could not ban trade and it was easy to cause disunity.

"This is a fallacy!" Pedro took a deep breath and firmly opposed the theory of free trade.

Even though this theory was so perfect and had almost no flaws, he still opposed it because the Ming Dynasty had absolute commodity advantages, while Spain did not. Believing in this would be like believing in nonsense.

The Ming Dynasty had a very complete free trade theory, which was based on the division of labor in production. The division of labor could improve workers' proficiency in their own division of labor, that is, practice makes perfect, and improve work efficiency; the division of labor was conducive to workers inventing, creating, and improving production tools, that is, ingenuity leads to excellence; and international trade would naturally give rise to regional division of labor.

It seems that as long as we follow this theorem of regional division of labor, we can improve labor efficiency.

Reducing barriers to trade, lowering tariffs, reducing bans on goods, and increasing the speed of goods turnover will benefit all trading countries.

On the surface, this theory does not have any logical traps, but a problem arises. The Ming Dynasty can produce everything on its own, and except for silver and raw materials, it has almost no demand. If it really opens its doors to free trade, it will only completely destroy its fragile handicraft workshops.

The Ming Dynasty has absolute production and cost advantages. The Spanish must be crazy to believe in this theory of free trade.

"We are going to raise tariffs! We are going to impose a 60% tariff on goods from the Ming Dynasty!" Pedro stood up and said, "If we don't raise tariffs, the few remaining handicraft workshops in Spain will collapse under the impact of goods from the Ming Dynasty, so we are going to ban Ming cotton cloth from entering Spain."

Pedro is a nobleman of the Mesta Association, an association composed of shepherds. The Ming Dynasty's cotton cloth obviously impacted the interests of the Mesta Association.

Gao Qiyu said very seriously: "If you want to impose tariffs, these tariffs will only be levied on the Spanish civilians, not the merchants of the Ming Dynasty. Cheap cotton cloth cannot be widely used, and it is the Spanish civilians who are left with no clothes."

"What you said is like you stabbed yourself twice with great force, making it bloody. But from Daming's point of view, it is really very strange, isn't it?"

In Daming's view, the theory of free trade is like Qin Shihuang looking in the mirror, a win-win situation.

Gao Qiyu was just pretending to be ignorant even though he knew the truth. The Ming Dynasty banned the trade of raw silk in the early years of the Wanli period, and the ban on raw silk has not been lifted until now.

(End of this chapter)