I'm really not doing business

Chapter 751: Echo Wall Dilemma

Japan brazenly launched the war of aggression against Korea in order to drive the samurai to the Korean battlefield and let them find ways to eat instead of staying in Japan and eating expensive rice. The presence of these samurai in Japan also affected the farming of Japanese civilians.

150,000 warriors were sent to Korea, and they achieved impressive results. In just over a month, these Japanese pirates swept across Korea and reached Pyongyang. In the Battle of Pyongyang, they tasted the power of line formations for the first time, and the Japanese pirates suffered a great defeat.

After Kaesong, the royal capital of Goryeo, was recaptured by the Ming Dynasty, the war came to the most critical place, Incheon.

Oda Nobunaga had not sent his own direct subordinates before, but this time for Incheon, Hashiba Hideyoshi led 30,000 troops to rush to Incheon for support. Obviously, Oda Nobunaga hoped that Japan could achieve a great victory in Incheon just like the Ming Dynasty achieved a great victory in Pyongyang.

Arrange the formation in advance, deal a heavy blow to the Ming army, and achieve your own goal, consume the warriors' manpower to the maximum extent. At the same time, divide the river with the Ming Dynasty, with the area north of the Imjin River belonging to the Ming Dynasty and the area south of the Imjin River belonging to Japan, thus dividing Korea.

"But only firearms can fight against firearms." Zhu Yijun looked at the newspaper and said calmly.

In Incheon, there is no difference whether there are 30,000 Japanese pirates or 60,000 Japanese pirates. This is Zhu Yijun's favorite blood bar battle.

To put it simply, the current situation on the Korean battlefield is: Three shots will destroy the Yamato dream. Sir, I am Korean.

The Ming Dynasty's Beijing camp's combat method was a coordinated operation of artillery, blunderbuss, flintlock blunderbuss, heavy and light cavalry. It crushed the Japanese pirates who mainly used cold weapons, and this could not be changed by human will.

"Your Majesty, Zhang Wei, the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, requests to see you." After Feng Bao had a low conversation with the eunuch, he reported to His Majesty.

"What are you here for?" Zhu Yijun looked at his schedule and did not ask to see the chief priest.

Feng Bao bowed his head and said, "Some time ago, Your Majesty issued an edict to ask: If the youth have aspirations, the country will have aspirations; if the youth prosper, the country will prosper. I entrusted the youth of the whole country to the Imperial Academy, so why are there such rebellious people?"

"That time, Zhang Jijiu got very angry at the Imperial College. He dealt with some academicians who deliberately instigated the incident, and personally went to the Polytechnic Institute to compensate the Polytechnic Institute with 500 silver coins to buy back the broken mapping telescope. This time, he came to report back."

Zhu Yijun heard this and nodded, saying, "Go ahead."

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was concerned about the follow-up of this incident. Under the premise that the emperor took sides, the Institute of Technology did not bully others and insisted on doing something to the Imperial College. After all, the students of the Institute of Technology beat up the students of the Imperial College, so they were a little in the wrong.

The chief academic officer of the Imperial College personally apologized. The dispute between the new and old learning did not end, but just came to a conclusion.

The students of the Royal Institute of Technology obtained the status of scholars in this conflict, and from then on they were on equal footing with the students of the Imperial College.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. Long live Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty." Zhang Wei greeted him respectfully. He was a typical old scholar in his fifties, who devoted himself to studying. This time, because of the conflict between the Imperial College and the Polytechnic Institute, Zhang Wei really lost face!
Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Wei, thought for a moment and said, "In the first year of Wanli, Zhang Jijiu and you had a disagreement on the implementation of the performance evaluation system. You insisted, but Zhang Jijiu refused. You thought you were too hasty and might cause trouble, so I wanted to dismiss you. You said to me: If officials are dismissed for being upright, who would be willing to serve the emperor? I thought the performance evaluation system was a big deal, so I demoted you to Xuzhou as a co-governor."

"In the third year of the Wanli reign, the teacher recommended you again, and you returned to the capital. After nine years, you were promoted to the position of chief priest and lecturer of the imperial lectures."

"I ask you again today: I entrusted the youth of the whole country to the Imperial College, so why are there such rebellious people?"

"Your Majesty, I have a memorial to the emperor." Zhang Wei did not have to come to report. The bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty were the typical type that would not move unless ordered to do so and would only move if whipped. As long as the emperor had carried out the order, he could do it, and the emperor could not make things too difficult for him.

Since Zhang Wei is here, he naturally has something to say.

"Present it." Zhu Yijun took the memorial and read it. After reading it, he nodded and said, "I agree with the views in your memorial. Although your memorial is not respectful, I still like it very much."

"I am guilty." Zhang Wei bowed again. His memorial was a bit bold and indeed did not contain much respect.

"No need to formality, just sit down." Zhu Yijun asked Zhang Wei to sit down, which meant that in his heart, Zhang Wei had been expelled from the list of lowly Confucian scholars and had become a normal minister.

Zhang Wei’s memorial was very interesting, he told a story.

This year, Shaanxi reported a severe drought, and the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty went to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests to reflect on himself. After the emperor left, the students of the Imperial Academy went to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests to pray for blessings.

Zhang Wei brought nearly a hundred students to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. After the prayer, the students were free to move around. They came to the Echo Wall and stood in front of the Hall of Imperial Vault of Heaven and spoke. The echo of the Echo Wall was very noisy. The voices of the students became louder and louder, and an interesting phenomenon occurred.

Only the one who speaks the loudest can be heard clearly.

So does the student who spoke the loudest really represent the opinions of all the other students? Obviously, it is impossible, but because of his loud voice, everyone gradually accepted his words.

Zhang Wei found this scene very magical. Although everyone held different opinions, just because this person spoke loudly, he gained recognition. This triggered Zhang Wei's thinking.

Zhang Wei calls it the echo wall dilemma.

Every student is covered with a layer of Confucian scholar's skin. They are people in a shell. This Confucian scholar's skin firmly imprisons the students in the Confucian scholar's environment. All the news they hear and know is the result of the Confucian scholar's constant discipline.

This kind of confinement, this kind of lack of freedom, has produced a very scary phenomenon, that is, all Confucian scholars are not actually living in a real world, but in a false narrative world constructed by Confucian scholars based on their interpretation of classics and historical books.

In this closed environment, all Confucian scholars will inevitably fall into the dilemma of an echo wall.

In a closed environment, some voices with similar opinions will be repeated constantly, and in the process of repetition, these opinions will continue to be distorted, exaggerated, expanded, and extreme. Most people in such a closed environment will gradually converge on these repeatedly distorted, exaggerated, expanded, and extreme voices.

The students of the Imperial College were trapped in this dilemma of an echo wall in the closed environment of the Imperial College.

The students of the Royal Institute of Technology do not eat the rice of the supervisors, but because of the closed discipline, the supervisors still believe that the students of the Institute of Technology are lowly, idle, and use strange and lewd skills to deceive the emperor.

In the echo wall of the Imperial College, the voice of the academicians was obviously the loudest, and the arrogant prejudice of the students was caused by the education given by the academicians.

"Your Majesty, there is a problem with the education in the Imperial College. We are cultivating a group of absolute and sophisticated egoists. In other words, we are not cultivating Confucian scholars, but even one-sided Yang Zhu students who would not even bother plucking a single hair to benefit the world. They regard the material and interests of their personal senses as above all else." Zhang Wei explained his memorial with a serious expression.

Judging from the dilemma of the Echo Wall, there was a big problem in the education of the Ming Dynasty. The schools that trained Confucian scholars only produced students of Yang Zhu. Moreover, they were selfish people who would not even think of "taking a tiny bit and harming the whole world", and they were not even students of Yang Zhu.

The so-called absolute means only benefiting oneself, and harming others to benefit oneself.

"The so-called refinement, Your Majesty, this needs detailed explanation." Zhang Wei summed up many phenomena in the word refinement.

"These egoists are good at speaking and they are all very smart, they have good teachers, and they are even very well educated. Everything they do is reasonable and legal, and their manners are impeccable. They are sophisticated and experienced, and they can make a gesture of loyalty, saying one thing to one person and another to another."

"They know how to use the power of rules to achieve their goals. This is their sophistication."

Zhang Wei explained the word "exquisite" clearly. After His Majesty's thunderous rage, he thought for a long time and expressed his thoughts clearly in extremely concise words.

"What you said seems a bit alarmist. What you said implies that the education system in Ming Dynasty has collapsed." Zhu Yijun said with a strange expression as he looked at the memorial in his hand.

Zhang Wei said anxiously, "Your Majesty, this is not alarmist! The current education system in the Ming Dynasty is to cultivate absolutely sophisticated egoists! Your Majesty, the Prime Minister once said: Those who are not broad-minded and resolute are traitors to the country."

"The various actions of the students of the Imperial College are a true reflection of this sentence!"

"Once they take control of power, the harm to the country and the nation will be even greater than the harm done to the country by Wang Ci Fu and other sycophants. Your Majesty, anyone who cultivates such sophisticated egoists is not committing a dereliction of duty, but a crime!"

"Ahem, Zhang Jijiu, be careful with your words, be careful with your words." Zhu Yijun reminded Zhang Wei to speak softly. Wang Ci Fu heard this. Wang Ci Fu, an eighty-year-old man, was afraid that he wanted to challenge Zhang Wei, a young man in his fifties, to a duel.

Wang Chonggu was clearly a rebel, not a treacherous official.

"What you said makes sense. Since the Wanli Reform, we have been trying to make changes, but the results have not been good." Zhu Yijun talked about the problem mentioned by Zhang Wei.

The Emperor and Prime Ministers of the Ming Dynasty naturally noticed this problem. When Zhu Yijun was ten years old and Zhang Juzheng mentioned the two words "Hongyi", they noticed it. However, in the past fourteen years, the Ming Dynasty needed to focus its main energy on the four words "reinvigorate the military" and "enrich the country", and there was indeed some lack of reform in culture and education.

"Your Majesty, I am guilty." Zhang Wei said with his head bowed.

Faced with this dilemma, Zhang Wei chose an unconventional approach. He copied the emperor's homework and conducted a comprehensive review of the emperor's growth experience. Finally, he came up with a solution, which was farming.

This is where Zhang Wei is disrespectful and even audacious.

The emperor is a noble among nobles, the best among men, but he is always born in the deep palace and raised by women. Except for the kings who founded the country and worked hard to build their own foundation, most of the kings are actually arrogant, extravagant, and indulgent, and empty talkers who bring disaster to the country.

The emperor is so wise today, definitely not simply because of Zhang Juzheng’s good teaching.

Zhang Juzheng was actually quite bad at teaching and educating people. Many of his disciples drifted away from him and even opposed him.

The Ming Dynasty had a period of time when the ruler was young and the country was in turmoil. Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty also received education from the literati. If he had relied solely on the education from the literati, he would not have become a wise ruler, and he might even have been a foolish ruler.

Your Majesty is so wise because of his participation in labor and production. This is the conclusion Zhang Wei came to after a comprehensive review of the emperor's growth experience.

"Your Majesty, even His Royal Highness Prince Lu knows how much rice and coal are, and knows when to plant seeds and when to water the crops. When His Royal Highness Prince Lu was regent, there were many things that His Royal Highness knew that the ministers did not know." Zhang Wei talked about the devil Zhu Yiliu.

Zhu Yiliu was a troublemaker and caused a lot of trouble in the capital, but many of his decisions were very down-to-earth and not wishful thinking.

It was well known that Empress Dowager Li doted on Prince Lu. Empress Dowager Li herself knew that a loving mother often spoils her son. When Zhu Yiliu was very young, he had always been following the emperor. Therefore, Prince Lu also knew what the emperor knew. Prince Lu's style of doing things was very similar to that of the emperor.

Zhang Wei said earnestly, "Your Majesty, if you don't know the five grains, how can you know the world?"

"Is this why you took the students to farm?" Zhu Yijun said with a strange look on his face. Zhang Wei not only saw the phenomenon of the Echo Wall dilemma, but also analyzed the problem from the phenomenon. If he continued to train like this, all the students in the Ming Dynasty would be absolutely sophisticated egoists, and he found the reason from the problem.

After finding the cause, Zhang Wei also gave a specific solution: to farm.

Zhang Wei said confidently: "The effect is excellent. We should plant it not only this year, but also next year and in the future."

"I'm afraid these students will poke you in the spine and scold you in the most unpleasant way possible," Zhu Yijun said with a smile.

Zhang Wei thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, since I went to the water pit to fetch water, I have discovered that the censors of the Censorate are no longer so fond of talking nonsense."

"That's indeed the case." Zhu Yijun was stunned and found that it was indeed the case.

A major event happened in the Ming Dynasty a few days ago, that is, the tax increase. These censors did not submit a series of memorials to oppose it. It was a long time ago that Wang Chonggu set up a government-owned factory and was scolded as a corrupt official who accumulated wealth.

"I am indeed under pressure, so I came to Tonghe Palace." Zhang Wei bowed his head again and stated the purpose of this trip: to take advantage of the situation.

He took advantage of the emperor's power and the Wanli Reform to carry out his own reforms on Ming Dynasty education.

If you don't know the five grains, how can you know the world? This is the general principle of this reform.

"No problem." Zhu Yijun nodded immediately and said, "You want to do something, but you are afraid that if you fail to do it, you will get yourself into trouble. This is human nature. But since you are willing to come here and ask me for help, I will keep your memorial. I will persuade the ministers to pass the court discussion."

Zhu Yijun was very happy to support Zhang Wei, because this was what he did as an emperor. It was impossible for him to manage such a big empire by himself.

"I bow my head and thank the emperor for his grace." Zhang Wei quickly knelt on the ground to express his gratitude.

Zhu Yijun did not make Zhang Wei wait too long. He brought the memorial to the court the next day. After being discussed by the ministers, it was successfully passed. The Imperial College tried it out with good results. The prefectures, counties and schools all arranged for some farming, even if it was only symbolic labor for a day or two. The students knew that rice did not grow on the shelves of rice shops. The educational effect was excellent.

Gao Qiyu was promoted to the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, which was a big event for him. Before this, due to old circumstances, there were no guests in his house.

Now that Gao Qiyu was promoted, his restaurant became very busy. After seeing off the guests who came to congratulate him with a slightly tired look, he thought again and again, took the prepared Shichimi-liu and Wuchang fish ingredients, and went to the Quan Chu Guild Hall.

Zhang Juzheng particularly liked to eat Wuchang fish with seven flavors, which are yellow tea, water chestnuts, lotus seeds, yam, polygonatum, jujubes, and wolfberries. The Wuchang fish was cut into sections, marinated with chopped ginger and cooking wine to remove the fishy smell, and then the seven flavors were added into a pot with cold water to make soup. After it was boiled thoroughly, the processed Wuchang fish can be steamed or boiled. However, since the emperor banned chili peppers, Zhang Juzheng could no longer eat spicy food, and the taste was greatly reduced.

Gao Qiyu was a student of Zhang Juzheng and knew his teacher's preferences. These things were not expensive and only cost two cents of silver to buy.

"Teacher said, put down the things and let people in." You Shouli knew what Gao Qiyu mentioned, but Zhang Juzheng refused to accept even such a small thing. The Ming Dynasty was a society based on personal relationships, and welcoming and seeing off guests was human nature. Even Hai Rui would not judge this little bit of supplementary material as a bribe. He refused to accept it only because the friendship between teacher and student was broken.

"Okay." Gao Qiyu looked at the seven ingredients in his hand, placed them next to the door, and sighed softly. At least now he was allowed to come in, which was great news for him.

Gao Qiyu bowed his head and said, "Teacher."

"Sit down, Gao Sike. Our relationship as master and apprentice has ended. From now on, you don't need to call me teacher. Just call me Prime Minister." Zhang Juzheng put down his teacup and motioned Gao Qiyu to sit down and talk. He said calmly, "From now on, you will be considered a wise official. You must be extremely careful in what you do and say. There are countless eyes watching your every word and action, waiting for you to make a mistake."

No matter how heartless Zhang Juzheng was, Gao Qiyu had already climbed to the position of a wise official, so he should be reminded. No one could save him because he had fallen into such a big mistake before and still did not repent.

"I will take your advice." Gao Qiyu bowed his head again and kept these words in his heart. At least now Zhang Juzheng is still willing to talk to him, right? This is already the best result.

"Mr. Yuan Fu, when I was serving as a guest to foreign envoys, I heard something. King Felipe of Spain sent envoys everywhere, even to England, hoping to persuade the princes of various countries to give up driving pirates, pacify pirates of various countries, end disputes, lower tariffs, exchange what they have, and then compete with the goods of the Ming Dynasty."

Zhang Juzheng sat up straight and said, "Oh? Tell me in detail."

Gao Qiyu told Zhang Juzheng everything he knew.

This time it was not Legazpi's idea, but Felipe's own plan. He sent envoys to Portugal, France, England, Denmark, Sweden, and Poland, hoping that these countries could withdraw their privateering licenses and work together to create a good business environment.

The entire Western world is in chaos, and this is still a long way to go. It is difficult for Ming Dynasty goods to reach the Western world. If Ming Dynasty continues to open sea, it will not be long before Ming Dynasty goods will sweep across the entire Western world like a tsunami.

This plan was very feasible because Spain controlled rich silver mines and the largest inflow of silver; the Viceroyalties of Mexico, Peru, Chile, and Brazil provided a steady supply of raw materials; and the Netherlands had the largest number of handicraft workshops in the West, with a prosperous handicraft industry;

"In order to reach this agreement, Felipe was willing to recognize the justice of the resistance in the Netherlands, open up the ports of various governorates, allow English merchant ships to pass freely, recognize Antonio as the king of Portugal, and so on. Felipe's promise is still very effective in the West." Gao Qiyu talked about the price Felipe had to pay.

"This seems to be a very good idea." Zhang Juzheng's expression became serious.

Felipe was actually willing to give up some of his core interests in the West in exchange for a stable maritime trade environment, recognize the justice of the Netherlands' resistance, de facto recognize the independence of the Netherlands, and grant permission for ports to the governors-general of various countries. This way, English adventurers no longer had to engage in maritime trade in a sneaky manner.

Giving up core interests is to safeguard the most core interests, the status of the British Empire.

If this framework can be built, the West will be able to form a loose trade alliance and compete with Ming Dynasty goods, with raw materials, workshops, technology and silver.

"It's very feasible. I have to say that Felipe is indeed a heroic leader, but I have a question: where will the food come from?" After Zhang Juzheng calculated the feasibility of this alliance, he discovered the fundamental problem: food.

Food is the foundation of everything. Without food, all these are illusions. People have entered the handicraft workshops, and they have to eat for the horses. They cannot survive without food. Even with the millions of hectares of land in the Ming Dynasty, at its current scale, it is still necessary to raise tariffs to alleviate the problem of insufficient handicraft population.

"Mr. Yuanfu, envoys from Russia came to Ming Dynasty twice. Felipe also sent envoys to Russia and reached some agreements with Russia. For example, Spanish merchants can go to Russia to sell grain. Kiev, the birthplace of Russia, has vast tracts of land for producing grain." Gao Qiyu said immediately.

Zhang Juzheng didn't know much about Russia, but he heard that the land in Kiev was extremely fertile. He said solemnly, "Then he really has a chance to succeed."

It is not a wishful thinking. No matter from which angle you look at it, it is possible to achieve. Felipe has given up too many interests. The pie he painted is really delicious.

In fact, Felipe keenly sensed that if Ming continued to open up the sea in this way, the status of the British Empire would sooner or later fall into the hands of Ming. Felipe had to judge whether this was the only chance for the West to prevent Ming from becoming the British Empire.

"But Felipe failed." Gao Qiyu said with emotion: "The food from the Kiev granary cannot be transported to the Western countries at a low price."

"The cheapest way is undoubtedly sea transportation, but the Ottomans occupied Constantinople. Russia and Spain were both enemies of the Ottomans. The Ottoman Sultan would never allow the grain ships to enter the Mediterranean from the Black Sea."

It has been more than 140 years since Constantinople was renamed Istanbul, but the Western countries still insist on calling it Constantinople. This is because of religious conflicts and geography. The Black Sea Strait is really too important.

The Crusades were a war between sects, but the throat of the war was ultimately firmly controlled by the Muslims.

Zhang Juzheng's expression changed from solemn to relaxed. He said, "This is indeed a big problem. Take the Ming Dynasty as an example. The cost of land transportation is unaffordable, so there is the Grand Canal. But even so, the price of river transport is still a huge burden for the Ming Dynasty. Since the Yongle period, they have been thinking about using sea transport instead."

“Can’t the issue of the Black Sea Straits be resolved through diplomatic relations?”

Even if the problem was solved through diplomacy, if the Western countries did not take back Constantinople, this trade alliance would always be strangled. When the Ottomans wanted money, they would have to use some force and the Western countries would have to roll their eyes.

Gao Qiyu replied: "Felipe sent people to negotiate, but the Ottoman Sultan killed Felipe's envoy and sent his head back to Madrid."

"Uh..." Zhang Juzheng said in confusion, "Doesn't the Ottoman Sultan want to make money? How could he be so rude? Not only did he refuse, but he also killed the envoy."

Gao Qiyu also said with a tense face: "Maybe the religious conflicts in the West are more acute."

This is the cultural difference. For the Ming Dynasty, such a good trade framework could not be established simply because of religious conflicts.

But envoys such as Legazpi, Pedro, and Ivan all told the officials of the Honglu Temple that in the West, religious wars were more important than anything else.

Gao Qiyu continued, "Apart from the Ottomans, there are Sweden and Poland. For Sweden and Poland, it is impossible for them to allow Russia to join this trade alliance."

"The Swedes told Philip II's envoys directly that without Sweden's permission, the enemy, the Russian state, could not sail to the sea. In the name of God, the Russian state would never be able to trade freely in the Baltic Sea."

The logic behind Sweden and Poland's actions is that they refuse to participate in anything that is beneficial to Russia, but they firmly support any action against Russia and want to lend a hand no matter what.

"So, there is no food." Zhang Juzheng still felt that this trade framework was feasible. There was just no food. At worst, they could just carry out the enclosure movement. England had been doing it for hundreds of years without any major problems. The hard labor of the poor was part of the price everywhere.

"But England disagrees. England does not need a united Spain." Gao Qiyu gave the result. Philip II's attempt failed again.

England has its own national policy. The English will have trouble sleeping if they see a united West.

This is what happened in England. As long as the war in the West continues and there is no unity, England can continue to make profits. This is why they are willing to promote privateering licenses, to muddy the waters thoroughly. The more chaotic the better, and it is also their way of survival.

"It's a pity that such a good idea cannot be realized." Zhang Juzheng heard this and knew that this trade alliance could not be achieved at all, so he said with a smile.

Is it a pity? Not at all!
If Felipe really succeeds, the Ming Dynasty will face a strong enemy.

"Yes, what a pity." Gao Qiyu also expressed his regret quite calmly. He said solemnly: "The Ming Dynasty has its own England, and that is Japan."

"What you said makes sense." Zhang Juzheng agreed.

Gao Qiyu is the new Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and he wants to tell Yuan Fu about his foreign policy as the Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

(End of this chapter)