I'm really not doing business

Chapter 753 Let’s go to Liaodong to fill the big water bubble!
Zhang Wei's education reform was very conservative. He did not intend to let the literati work on the fields like farmers all year round. He just wanted them to participate in the production process, have a basic understanding of the facts of the world, break through the dilemma of the echo wall, and return to reality from the fictional world.

But even such a minor change has caused opposition that is no less than the opposition when Yang Shen forced the emperor to abdicate. In this era when everything is inferior except for education, scholars are superior. Letting students participate in the production process is disrespectful to intellectuals. The Central Plains dynasty has been around for thousands of years. Can you bully those who have studied?
With such noise, the intention is very obvious. Don't even think about bullying!
"Then the students of the Polytechnic Institute have to work for a year in the Armoury Bureau, the Woolen Factory, the Xishan Coal Bureau, and the Baitu Factory before they even graduate. Why haven't I heard the students of the Polytechnic Institute say that this is disgraceful?" As a person who sticks to etiquette, Wan Shihe found it difficult to understand these people's thoughts.

Students from the Institute of Science and Technology are all scholars too. If they want to graduate, they have to work for a year, combining theory with practice. But when it comes to the scholar-officials' turn, they are not allowed to do this or that. Even touching a hoe is a humiliation.

Zhang Wei ran to Tonghe Palace to ask for an audience. In fact, he had made a great determination because he knew that something like this would happen.

"Back then, the scholars and officials opposed Your Majesty's personal involvement in farming and sericulture, in order to nip the problem in the bud. But they have been preventing it for so long, and now it has been passed down to the lower levels." Wang Guoguang spoke of the events of the past with a bit of gloating.

In the first year of the Wanli reign, His Majesty, who was not even as tall as a hoe, wanted to plant sweet potatoes and potatoes himself. The literati and officials even brought up Mencius's refutation of agronomy to stop him, but they were ultimately unsuccessful in defeating the emperor.

After all, the fact that the emperor was farming personally was somewhat like the emperor having nothing to do and having to endure hardship. Everyone thought that children were naturally impetuous and would stop playing after a few days. At that time, it did look like he was playing, after all, Prince Lu followed His Majesty around all day long, peeing and playing in the mud.

Unexpectedly, His Majesty persisted and turned Baoqisi into a temple of agronomy.

The Royal Institute of Technology and the Royal Academy of Sciences trained many agricultural scientists, who gradually became one of the foundations of the Reform Party.

The emperor was willing to plant the seeds, but the literati were so opposed to it. The literati, who were in the minority, made a huge voice.

"He is using the mourning period to raise his own status." Zhang Juzheng's expression was very ugly and he seemed very angry.

The Confucian scholars wrote memorials criticizing Zhang Wei because Zhang Wei was insulting civility. How were the Confucian scholars insulted? The emperor, the court, and the head of the Imperial Academy actually asked the Confucian scholars to do the work that only farmers would do!
What about farmers? They have been doing this for thousands of years.

This is the most fundamental logic. People are indeed of different classes, but they are all human beings in essence.

Zhang Wei believed that the education in the Ming Dynasty was not inaction but a crime. It was constantly cultivating groups of absolutely sophisticated egoists. Once they were allowed to completely grasp power, it would be a disaster that would lead to the downfall of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhang Wei’s judgment was correct, because in the original historical line, there would be a political group that would come onto the stage of history, and that was the Donglin Party.

"Your Majesty, I think you should send them to Liaodong. The Korean battlefield will continue for some time. These 210 people should be sent to Liaodong to reclaim wasteland." Zhang Juzheng gave a seemingly milder treatment, sending them to Liaodong to reclaim wasteland, but in fact it was not mild at all.

Unlike the Northeast of China in later generations, which was a granary of China, the Northeast at that time was just a large swamp due to climatic reasons, the Great Northern Wilderness.

The Songnen Plain and the Sanjiang Plain are not natural contiguous arable land at all. The entire northeast direction is covered with endless "big water bubbles". These big water bubbles crisscross each other, turning the land into wasteland with no farming value.

If you want to farm, you have to eliminate the big water bubbles, which requires manpower. The climate in Northeast China is minus 30 to 40 degrees Celsius in winter. Whether it is flat land or big water bubbles, there is thick snow and frozen soil. Not to mention manpower, even machines may not work well.

In the summer, the Songhua River and the Nen River begin to flood again, replenishing water for these large water pools.

Only in spring, during a short window of time, can we repair river embankments and earth dams and drain and fill large water bubbles. A large water bubble may take three to five years to eliminate.

The land of Liao is cut off.

Liaodong was called Liaojue in the Ming Dynasty. The men who went to Liaodong to reclaim wasteland were all those who had nowhere else to go in the hinterland and went to Liaodong for a desperate gamble. The success of the land reclamation over the past decade has made Liaodong popular.

"Then send him to Liaodong and let Ningyuan Hou deal with him." Zhu Yijun agreed to this idea. Sending the lowly Confucian scholars to Liaodong was a good way for Li Chengliang to deal with lowly Confucian scholars. Or it could be said that the cruel and harsh natural environment in the Northeast at that time had an excellent effect on correcting the lowly Confucian scholars.

If they are not down to earth, just bury them in the soil.

Zhou Liangyin was originally a lowly scholar, but now he has become the vanguard of the Wanli Reform, the vanguard who dares to cut off redundant officials and clerks! The effect is very good.

The Northeast is a great medicine, which is naturally a good remedy. Of course, we must also be wary of the increase in centrifugal force. The roaring iron horses on the road are the best centripetal force.

"Wang Xiyuan, the chancellor of Shuntian Prefecture, has reported to the court that the customs in the capital have become corrupt recently, with brokers and evil people gathering at good homes to hold banquets for beautiful women, and this has become a common practice. I request that the court punish severely these people in order to correct the customs." Zhang Juzheng was talking about the memorial submitted by his students.

"I have heard about this a long time ago." Zhu Yijun sat up straight and said, "I will mobilize three infantry battalions to the Nine Gates the day after tomorrow, and then mobilize the Imperial Cavalry Battalion to cooperate, close the gates, put up large fences to block traffic, and give Wang Xiyuan one day to eliminate the poison."

With the continuous influx of silver, silver began to accumulate in wealthy areas of the capital. There were constant rumors that prostitutes had climbed into high positions, making people uneasy and excited. Countless good families hung up "Yan Yue" signs in front of their doors, hoping to win the heart of a noble man and write a touching story of a talented man and a beautiful woman.

The "Yan Yue Pai" is the signboard of a brothel. If a decent family hangs up the "Yan Yue Pai" signboard, it means they are receiving customers.

But the capital is the best place to live. Hai Rui, a man of integrity and impartiality, led the censors in plain clothes to fight corruption everywhere. For a time, all the civil and military officials in the court were afraid to go out to eat and drink in this world of fireworks.

All of a sudden, there are more wolves than meat, and people who yearn for a luxurious life emerge in large numbers.

There are more prostitutes, but not much meat. Although some of them have climbed up the ladder, entered the deep mansions and flew to the top, more prostitutes need to rely on lowering their prices to stand out.

What the capital city lacks the least are brokers and middlemen. These brokers began to set up jade banquets with these brothel girls. As the name suggests, this jade banquet is a group of brothel girls serving one or two guests. The brothel girls are naturally willing to do so. Even if they are not favored by the guests, they will have a good meal and drink. If they have a good relationship with the guests, they will naturally be rich for a while.

If one is capable enough, he can become a concubine in a wealthy mansion and live a life of ease and comfort.

Originally, these brokers just wanted to get some prostitutes to set up the game, but the wealthy businessmen who were able to get involved were all shrewd people. They knew that these enchantress-like women were all ruthless and could eat people without leaving any bones, so they just wanted to play with them.

No one knows when, but a broker suddenly brought the good girls to the bureau. These good girls were completely different from the people in the entertainment venues. They were all fidgeting while sitting at the table. However, these wealthy guests liked these good girls very much because they were simple-minded.

In order to meet the needs of wealthy customers, brokers began to force decent families to join the game.

The idiom "forcing good women into prostitution" began to take shape in the capital. These brokers had to find ways to force good families into prostitution, because without good families, they could not even hire these wealthy customers. These brokers also had competition, and the competitive pressure was extremely high, and the entertainment industry was ruthless.

The main means of forcing women into prostitution was naturally borrowing money, and borrowing money could force a middle-class family into bankruptcy. Selling daughters and wives became the main source of income for good families, but why would the head of a middle-class family go to a bank to borrow money? Gambling houses sprang up like mushrooms after rain.

The second method is cheating.

Once a good woman climbs up the social ladder and creates the legend of a pheasant turning into a phoenix, countless imitators will immediately appear. Brokers will write mythological stories about pheasants turning into phoenixes. Once a good woman enters the door of a brothel, she can never think of getting out.

This person saw the lights, wine, and women in the brothel, and even if he left, his soul must still be there, and he would do anything to return to "heaven".

In addition to forcing and deceiving, the other method is to use human traffickers to buy them.

Zhu Yijun looked at all the officials and said solemnly, "A few days ago, Ningyuan Hou made a memorial with tears in his eyes. Recently, the imperial guards have been going to Liaodong to arrest people. If the border residents are not careful, their children will be abducted and taken away. I am ashamed and speechless."

Li Chengliang's memorial was written in a very sad tone. In the past, there were very few children in Northeast China. It was not that no children were born, but that too many died young. With great difficulty, there has been some improvement in recent years, with children running around on the streets. However, these good days lasted only a few years before human traffickers from the capital came.

Last year, there were more than 500 reported cases of missing children in Liaodong. In the barracks of Liaodong reclamation, more than 500 children were lost. It was definitely not tigers, leopards, jackals or wolves, as tigers, leopards, jackals and wolves could not enter the barracks. It could only be humans, and the largest number of them were human traffickers from the capital, accounting for more than 90%.

Zhu Yijun continued, "Why did the human traffickers choose to go to Liaodong? Because there are not so many judicial officials in Liaodong, and even checking the travel permit is difficult. Liaodong is a vast land, and they can just take the victim away, which is less dangerous for human traffickers."

"Human traffickers feel safer committing crimes in Liaodong, but I won't let them be safe! The Ministry of Justice has been informed. From today on, human traffickers in border areas such as Liaodong and Suiyuan who kidnap and sell people will be beaten to death without mercy."

"go to hell!"

Zhu Yijun's last words, "Just die," were sincere.

Firstly, the emperor was deeply embarrassed in front of Ningyuan Hou Li Chengliang. After all, 90% of the captured human traffickers were from the capital. Secondly, the situation in Liaodong was created with great difficulty, and the actions of these human traffickers were hollowing out the foundation of Ming Dynasty's rule in Liaodong.

If this situation is allowed to continue, these Han people who came to Liao to open up wasteland will sooner or later become Liao people, become alienated from the imperial court, and then become a serious threat to the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yijun brought up a very violent crime, that the human trafficker was beaten to death, and as long as he was caught in the act, he deserved to be beaten to death.

"Your Majesty, extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures. I think there is no problem. If it works well in Liaodong, we can implement this method throughout the Ming Dynasty." Wang Chonggu expressed his agreement. If we want to eliminate human traffickers, we can't catch them all with the few people in the imperial court.

"I think it is a good thing." Zhang Juzheng approved of the emperor's violence. No matter what laws or illegalities, he should first eliminate the human traffickers on a large scale before discussing other things.

The Ming Dynasty is in dire need of manpower now, and people are needed everywhere.

Dinggong Dajian now has a total of 24 engineering corps battalions, but they are all stretched to the limit. Even the sections of the Kailongchi Road (Kaifeng Jiayuguan) have been integrated into several, and the construction is slow without people. The major government factories and private workshops are in great need of craftsmen, and even the iron smelting factory has female furnace workers. The court cannot recruit people from the land, and no one is farming. The lack of food is even more dangerous.

Under such circumstances, human traffickers were still kidnapping children everywhere, which was something the imperial court could not accept in any way.

The emperor proposed it, the first and second chancellors of the cabinet agreed, and the leaders of the Reform Party and the Labour Party supported it. This provision that anyone who kidnaps or sells human beings should be killed without mercy was immediately passed.

The Ming Dynasty law itself stipulates that the punishment for human trafficking is 100 strokes of the cane and exile 3,000 miles away. It requires going through the procedures, but once you go through the procedures, it becomes very slow. It is better to just beat the person to death, which is direct and effective, and there is no need to even rush it.

This is a typical harsh law, but the Minister of Justice and the Supreme Court did not object, so this extraordinary law was passed by the court and became a written law. Now if you go to Liaodong to steal a child, you will be beaten to death and you will not be held accountable.

"This is in accordance with Zhouli." Wan Shihe emphasized again, and he said with great certainty: "Zhouli says: Anyone who kills someone for justice should not be held responsible, and if he is held responsible, he should be put to death. The commentary says: If the person is harmed by mistake and the original cause is not his fault, he should be pardoned."

This is the legitimate defense in Zhou Li, which means that if someone kills someone and it is morally right, the relatives of the killed person are not allowed to take revenge. If they want to take revenge, they will be sentenced to death. If the harm is caused by unlawful infringement and negligence, it is misfortune. If the criminal law is violated because of misfortune, the sentence should be reduced or the person should be released simply depending on the circumstances.

For example, Zhao Ji, the Zhao Laoqi of Caihuying, was a murderer of this kind. The court gave him a light sentence and exiled him to Daning Guard as a soldier, which was a lenient punishment.

Even the lowly Confucian scholar who was about to be exiled could not find any reason to complain, as the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan had already brought up the Zhou rites.

However, kidnapping and trafficking of human beings, even beating to death, is a serious illegal infringement that needs to be lenient. These days, people live for their children. These Han people who went to Liaodong to reclaim wasteland worked so hard, but their children were stolen. It was like the sky falling and the earth collapsing.

The court discussion was still going on. The new policies of the Ming Dynasty were improved and perfected in the court discussions. For example, the selection of officials added the content of agricultural science. The policy of relocating rich households was reduced in scale. Landlords with more than 1,000 hectares of land, that is, 100,000 mu of land, would continue to be relocated. After ten years, this number would be reduced to 100 hectares, forcing the landlords to return the land.

The main methods of returning land in the Ming Dynasty were returning land by boat, returning land by rent reduction, returning land by household relocation, and returning land by seven orders.

The destruction of the old production relations was a gradual process, and the Ming Dynasty's order to return land was carried out in an orderly manner.

After the court meeting, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty received another envoy from the West, the Sword Saint Marcus.

Marcus repaid part of the loan, including the principal and interest for the whole year, and informed the Emperor of the current situation in Portugal.

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Because of the distribution of Ming Dynasty goods, reprocessing of the goods from Ming Dynasty became the main livelihood of the Lisbon workshop.

For example, cotton cloth is turned into ready-made clothes; after tea bricks are disassembled, the best parts are picked out and sold at high prices, and the rest are chopped into tea foam; silk and mohair are made into exquisite silk buttons and sold at high prices to the British who are very obsessed with silk, and so on.

The streets of Lisbon were filled with long brick sheds and small workshops. After a terrible fire, Xu Fan finally demolished all the brick sheds and moved the workshops into masonry houses. He also managed the warehouses and storage more meticulously, thus avoiding more fires.

"So, Portugal is going to build a 1,400-mile-long highway, and plans to use this north-south highway to build four east-west highways within 30 years, covering the entire Portugal?" After reading the letter, Zhu Yijun looked at Marcus and said with a little doubt.

The Kailong Highway alone is 3,000 miles long. The length of the highways in the Ming Dynasty is increasing rapidly. With the scale of Portugal, can it really sustain such a long road?

"Your Majesty, this will not affect Portugal's repayment of the debt to the Ming Dynasty. Now the Secretary of State feels that it is necessary to build such official roads and post roads, just like the roads built by Rome in the past. Your Majesty, the fast road in the memorial is not the Chidao, but the more accurate translation is the official road and post road." Marcus hurriedly explained the problem.

Unlike the Ming Dynasty's highway with hardened road surface, railroad tracks next to it, horses running on the tracks, and even expansion plans, what Portugal wants to build is more similar to the official roads and post roads before the Ming Dynasty.

Every time Marcus arrived in Ming Dynasty, he was shocked by the iron cavalry.

Marcus bowed his head again and said, "Your Majesty, there are no official roads in the West as defined by the Ming Dynasty. They are all formed naturally. When more people walk on them, they become roads. When it rains, they are too muddy to pass through."

"The foundation has been consolidated, the slope has been reduced, the road surface has been leveled with cement, and trees have been planted on both sides of the road to stabilize the road and prevent pedestrians from breaking in. Portugal has never had such an official road. Admittedly, this seems a bit ambitious, but this is the way His Royal Highness Antonio will fulfill his promise."

In the battle for the Portuguese throne, Antonio only got the support of the common people. Religion and the nobility abandoned him and chose Felipe. At the beginning, he promised to bring wealth and well-being to the common people. He didn't know what to do. He knew that his wisdom was probably just that of a captain, so he handed the matter over to the Secretary of State.

This was a wise decision, and Antonio found a way to fulfill his promise by building roads, or creating public infrastructure.

"Well, I just think that this project is too huge and will consume some of the national strength that has just been restored. After all, this is a big project. The Portuguese royal family and government do not have enough money to complete it. The Governor's Office under Portugal has gradually slipped out of Portugal's control." Zhu Yijun expressed his concerns.

"The Minister of State said to Your Highness: If the people are prosperous, how can the king not be prosperous? But if the people are not prosperous, the king will lose his throne. This sentence comes from the Analects of Confucius, Yan Yuan. Your Majesty knows that I am just a sailor and cannot fully understand these, but Portugal is small." Marcus said with a smile.

Portugal is small, with a small population, and its land is not barren. It is located on the coast and has many ports. In addition, it now has the support of the Ming Dynasty, so many things are not as difficult as Your Majesty imagines.

If Jiangsu Province in Jiangyou is taken out alone, building a 1,300-mile official road and post road is not a big deal. For example, Zhejiang can build a Zhejiang East Canal on its own to open up the waterway between Ningbo and Hangzhou, and the construction progress is very fast.

"Can the name of this road be changed? Tonghe Avenue..." Zhu Yijun put forward his own opinion, you Portugal should build it then, why do you have to call it Tonghe Avenue!

Tonghe of Tonghe Palace!

In Zou Ji's advice to King Qi to accept advice, Zou Ji said to King Wei of Qi: My guests who want to ask something of me all praise me as better than Xu Gong.

Zhu Yijun instinctively felt that Portugal's almost flattering way of expression meant that it had something to ask of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty could not make a decision that would harm the interests of the Ming Dynasty and satisfy Portugal's needs just because of such praise.

Marcus insisted, "Your Majesty, past wisdom tells us that development and opportunity are as precious and rare as miracles. If you don't remember them deeply, you will lose them."

"Your Majesty, the Viceroyalty of Dakar occupied West Africa for 120 years, the Viceroyalty of Goa occupied the Strait of Malacca for 60 years, and the Viceroyalty of Peru occupied the rich silver mines for 80 years. These places have churches, but there is still no gospel. In the visible and invisible future years, there will still be no gospel."

"Many things that are taken for granted by the people of the Ming Dynasty are, in most places, unattainable luxuries."

Marcus felt that he had made himself clear, but His Majesty always gave people a sense of crisis. He thought for a moment and said, "If the Ming Dynasty is willing to lower the interest rate, that would be great."

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

"How can we lower the agreed interest rate? If I lower the interest rate, wouldn't that mean I'm breaking my word? A man stands on his word, and I cannot go back on my word. You can build that road if you want. It's your business to call it whatever you want." Zhu Yijun waved his hands repeatedly. It was impossible to lower the interest rate as this was an investment with lucrative returns.

Marcus could understand the Ming Emperor's sense of crisis, which was probably the sense of crisis that 'there are always villains who want to harm me'. This sense of crisis was not a persecution delusion, but a real experience of His Majesty since he was ten years old. What His Majesty was doing was very dangerous. If His Majesty did not have this sense of crisis, he would have died long ago.

"Your Majesty, I have something to report. Felipe's ambitions have been disrupted by the English." Marcus told His Majesty about the trade alliance proposed by Felipe.

The more Zhu Yijun listened, the more surprised he was. Zhu Yijun learned about the failure of the trade alliance through Gao Qiyu's memorial, but he did not expect that there were some unknown details in it.

The Queen of England was very tempted by the conditions proposed by Felipe. Recognizing the independence of the Netherlands and the docking permission for all colonial ports were just these two things that England had always dreamed of. All she had to pay was to withdraw the privateering license and eliminate the pirates.

The English Parliament was divided into two distinct factions, one that believed it could be agreed to, while the other was strongly opposed. The gentlemen quarreled and even took off their shoes and threw them at each other, which showed their differences.

The English were hesitant at first, but Antonio secretly gave the Queen of England a trade license for the Portuguese colony, which made the English determined to reject Felipe.

Agreeing to Philip II would undoubtedly be courting disaster. Everyone knew that Philip was a war enthusiast. If they waited a few years, the Spanish Invincible Armada would enter the Thames.

"Spain's power cannot be too strong, otherwise the first thing it will do is to annex Portugal." Marcus said very affirmatively.

Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "I don't really want to see such a trade alliance formed."

The nail that the Ming Dynasty hammered into the West played some role.

"I, your humble subject, have reported all the news that I need to report to Your Majesty. I will take my leave now." Marcus solemnly performed a strange salute. He clenched his right fist and placed it on his chest, and said sincerely: "May wisdom always be with Your Majesty."

This is the etiquette of the Great Light Church. The influence of the Great Light Church in the West exceeded Zhu Yijun's expectations. There is even a House of Wise Men in Sweden, and believers have spread throughout the West. The Great Light Church, which spread along the maritime trade, has demonstrated an unparalleled speed of spread.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty drew up a list, and more than 210 officials, censors, and imperial scholars were on the list. They were forced to go to Liaodong to reclaim wasteland, and they could not return until three years later. When this news came out, it immediately caused an uproar.

Zhu Yijun sat on the Chaoyang Gate and watched the farewell scene under the city gate. These 210 lowly Confucian scholars were exiled, and their families came here to see them off. There were cries all day long, and the children and wives hugged their husbands and wailed.

"I know this is a tyranny, but I am such an inhuman person." Zhu Yijun leaned back in his chair, looked at the literati below, and said to Feng Bao.

"It's all your own fault." Feng Bao said confidently, "Your Majesty, the important officials in the court are all ministers who have survived the invasion of the northern barbarians and the Japanese invasion. If you don't take action on culture and education, and get a group of people who are not magnanimous and resolute in the court, Your Majesty will have nothing to do and can only play tricks on them all day long."

The ministers who have survived the invasions of the barbarians and Japanese invaders are now the backbone of the Ming Dynasty court. However, after this group of ministers leave, the emperor may be left with no one to use. He will not be able to allow the culture and education of the Ming Dynasty to continue to cultivate absolutely sophisticated egoists.

The 210 exiled people wanted to resist when they heard that the emperor had convicted them for their words. However, when they saw the imperial guards appear at home, they knew that the emperor had made up his mind. Some of them resisted fiercely and even wanted to resign.

It’s okay that I don’t want you to be an official for the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty anymore!

Zhu Yijun’s answer was no. Even if he resigned, he would still have to serve three years of hard labor. These three years of hard labor were the emperor’s punishment. He had to serve three years of hard labor in Liaodong before he could return to Beijing or leave.

"Tyrant! Unjust tyrant!" A scholar-official who was put into a prison van, with disheveled hair, stood in the van and shouted at the top of his lungs as he was stuffed into the van.

Zhu Yijun didn't care. He stood up and had the armchair carried back to the Wufeng Tower so that he could use it next time he came.

"A man walking at night may not do evil, but he cannot stop a dog from barking." Zhu Yijun knew very well that in the future his grave would be covered with garbage, and the wind would blow it away.

(End of this chapter)