I'm really not doing business

Chapter 825: The future Ming Dynasty will not thank His Majesty

Song Shanyong is a teacher, and he has been a teacher for more than ten years. It is actually worthy for the Labour Party to gather together and have such a serious discussion.

History tells us all not to underestimate any private salt dealer, postman or teacher. These three seemingly ordinary professional groups often burst out with amazing power to change the times at historical turning points.

These three professions have several common characteristics: they are born in poverty, private salt dealers walk on the edge of the law, postmen are at the end of the system, and teachers are based in the cultural cracks;
They all controlled key social resources. Salt merchants controlled the economic lifeline of salt, postmen monopolized information channels, and teachers dominated the education system and had many disciples.

And most importantly, they all possessed strong organizational skills. Selling private salt was a risky business; postmen dispatched goods and delivered messages; and the teachers were teachers themselves, literate and sensible, who could constantly sum up experiences and lessons in the movement and correct the limitations of the peasant movement.

In times of crisis, they can all gather scattered forces and turn them into the torrent of the times.

Anyone who possesses such special qualities should be taken seriously. This is the historical experience and lesson of the Ming Dynasty, such as Hai Rui, the teacher of Nanping Academy, Shen Shiqing of Nanhu Academy, and Song Shanyong of Tianxiong Academy.

The reason why the leaders of the Labor Party attach importance to Song Shanyong is more importantly his connection. The Ming Dynasty is carrying out reforms and is implementing the Dinghai school system and the civil service examination system. Song Shanyong's connection will expand again at this time of changing circumstances.

But it was not the Labour Party's turn to win him over, as the emperor had already appointed him as the chief academic officer of the Imperial University of Peking. If he was good at cultivating talents, he should be the one to cultivate talents.

In the sixteenth year of the Wanli reign, firecrackers were set off to bid farewell to the old year and usher in the new year, while red lanterns were hung high to bring good luck and wish good health.

The new year arrived with the sound of firecrackers. To the surprise of the people of the capital, the usually frugal emperor took out a huge sum of 20,000 silver coins and organized a huge fireworks display in Beidaying.

The entire fireworks display lasted for a full hour and a half.

The people who went to watch the ceremony surrounded the site so tightly that no one could get in or out. In order to maintain law and order at the scene, the soldiers of the Beijing camp temporarily acted as yamen runners to maintain order at the scene. A group of fully armored imperial cavalry stood there majestically, intimidating all pickpockets and human traffickers. If a pickpocket was caught, he would be sent to Java to plant cinchona trees, and if a human trafficker was caught, he would be publicly tried and then beheaded in public.

The wealthy families in Xitu City also took out a lot of money to participate in this fireworks event, which is why the fireworks lasted for an hour and a half. It must be profitable for them to pay.

Not everyone can donate to the Beidaying Fireworks Festival. The threshold is very high because it is not only a fireworks festival, but also a large number of stalls displaying their own goods.

Every household tried their best to get a stall for the fireworks display, but Shuntian Prefecture and the Ministry of Rites still had to examine the qualifications of each household.

The theme of this fireworks display was to celebrate the Ming army's six victories in Korea and the great victory in Tsushima Island, so it was held in Beidaying.

Wang Xiyuan, the chancellor of Shuntian Prefecture, found that the annual ban on fireworks could not be enforced, so he chose another way, which was to set off fireworks in a centralized manner in the small squares of each district.

The ban on fireworks is mainly for fire prevention. After all, wooden structures are very prone to fire. With the north wind howling, once a fire breaks out, it will spread out in large areas, causing extremely heavy losses. Setting off fireworks in a concentrated manner can not only allow the people to get rid of the old and welcome the new, but also prevent the occurrence of fires. This was approved by His Majesty the Emperor.

On the third day of the first lunar month in the sixteenth year of the Wanli reign, Gao Qiyu packed his bags and headed for Japan. He was going to Japan on behalf of the Ming Dynasty to force Japan to hand over all mining rights. This might involve the security of the maritime borders for decades or even hundreds of years to come, and the Ming Dynasty attached great importance to it.

The itinerary this time was to follow the Chidao route to Mizhou, then go out to sea in Jiaozhou Bay, arrive at the Nagasaki Governor's Office, and then go to Kyoto, Japan.

"The people of the Ming Dynasty have been deceived by you. They have no idea what is happening in Japan! If the people of the Ming Dynasty knew, they would never approve of your behavior! The Japanese slaves, the Nanyang sisters, the Japanese women, the Ming Dynasty, are committing heinous crimes!" Oda Ichi finally met the Minister of Rites.

Since the Battle of Incheon in Seoul, Oda City has approached the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple countless times to ask the Ming Dynasty to negotiate peace, but was turned down every time.

During this trip, she finally met the real culprit, and immediately, like a nagging woman, she accused the Ming Dynasty of committing numerous evil deeds in Japan at the top of her voice.

Gao Qiyu was quite calm and motioned Oda City to sit down and talk. He looked out the window and heard the sound of a train whistle. Even though he had seen it many times, Gao Qiyu still found it magical.

The Iron Horse is truly magical. As long as it has coal and water, it can keep running day and night without stopping.

The emergence of the Chidao allowed the Ming Dynasty to finally actually own Suiyuan and Liaodong. Otherwise, Hetao, Daningwei and Liaodong would have been lost in any way they could have developed.

The train pulled by Shengping No. 5 iron horse drove out of the station with clanging metal sounds. Outside the window, there was a vast expanse of white. Suddenly, a golden light appeared on the eastern horizon. It was the rising sun that illuminated the clouds in the sky. The molten gold glow spread over the continuous snow hills like water, dyeing the entire snowfield into glittering amber, dazzling and colorful.

The steam and the morning light intertwined into a light mist, the snow on both sides of the tracks sparkled with golden light, and the train rolled forward amid the long neighing of the iron horses.

"I didn't say goodbye to His Majesty, nor did I say goodbye to my teacher. Although my teacher no longer recognizes me, maybe this time when I come back, he will at least let me kowtow to him during the New Year. It has been fourteen years, and my teacher has not allowed me to pay New Year's greetings."

"Maybe I can't come back. Who knows?" Gao Qiyu finally came to his senses and answered Oda City's question without any hesitation.

Oda City said angrily: "The Great Ming Lord no longer has the courage to face the numerous crimes he has committed. The Japanese slaves who died in the plantations, the Nanyang sisters and Japanese women who sold their bodies, the Great Honglu was ready to turn a blind eye, or was timid and began to look around and talk about other things!"

According to the etiquette and morals of the Ming Dynasty, these things should not happen. These are things that only the uncivilized barbarians in the West would do!
"You are right. Because of some deliberate blockades, most of the people in the Ming Dynasty know that they have won the war, but they know nothing about other things. Even if there are some rumors, they cannot be believed." Gao Qiyu smiled and said, "Your Majesty even blackened the number of Japanese slaves who went to Southeast Asia every year, and took all the blame on himself."

"If there really are wronged souls in this world, they should go find His Majesty."

Whenever the emperor has something to do, he will really go there. He will never enjoy the glory alone and will bear all the sins.

In the Spring and Autumn Annals, the Emperor's blackening and red markings made all crimes have a common target of criticism. The blackening and red markings proved that all actions came from the Emperor's instructions.

"Your Majesty? You, the ministers, should have advised against it." Oda City said with a somewhat painful expression, "Things shouldn't be like this. The Ming Dynasty suffered from the Japanese invasion, and Japan also suffered from the Japanese invasion. These wandering samurai and pirates are all because of the chaos of the Warring States period."

"As long as the chaos ends, everything will be fine."

Gao Qiyu shook his head again and said, "Do you think that Ming aid to Korea can be avoided? As long as Japan ends the civil war, will the threat of Japanese pirates be over? What about those samurai who only know how to fight? If we don't find a place to kill them all, will they obey the order of the shogun to put down their swords and pick up hoes?"

"Stop dreaming."

"If Japan stops the civil war, it will invade Korea, no matter whether the shogun is Oda Nobunaga, Hashiba Hideyoshi, or Tokugawa Ieyasu."

"Japan has been calling for the conquest of Tang for many years, but the Ming Dynasty knows nothing about it?"

Gao Qiyu told Oda City that the Ming Dynasty had been preparing for this war for a long time. It was a matter of time. As Japan went from chaos to order, these Japanese warriors would have to die.

"Even without the elite soldiers of the Beijing camp, the Liaodong army can still push the 150,000 Japanese pirates into the sea. It's just that the losses will be a bit heavy. Japan's defeat is inevitable." Gao Qiyu said further.

Oda City was disheartened. Only then did she realize that the Ming Dynasty had been prepared for fifteen years.

"Your Majesty is a good man, at least to the people of Ming Dynasty." Gao Qiyu stretched out his left and right hands and said, "Look, the left hand is Ming Dynasty, and the right hand is overseas. These are the two ends of the seesaw, and the five major Maritime Customs Offices are the fulcrum."

"The Ming Dynasty is too old, more than 200 years old, and is riddled with diseases. If we want to cure them, we have to pay a huge price, either by the people of the Ming Dynasty or by the foreigners overseas, whether they are Japanese pirates or the foreigners from Southeast Asia."

"The paradox theory tells me that everything is like the front and back of a silver coin, two sides of the same coin. Everything has a price, which is also the fundamental reason why reforms in every dynasty have failed."

"The country cannot afford the cost of reform, and opposition to reform will become a consensus."

“When the cost is bearable, especially when you don’t have to bear it yourself, support for reform will become a consensus.”

Someone had to pay the blood price of the Wanli Reform. If the sea was not opened, the burden would have to be borne by the poor and hardworking people of the Ming Dynasty, and the already precarious national situation of the Ming Dynasty would become even more unstable.

"We've taken all the benefits and thrown all the burdens overseas. Is this the morality of the Ming Dynasty for thousands of years?!" Oda Ichi was a little crazy, and her pretty face, which still retained its charm, was a little distorted.

Gao Qiyu said with a smile on his face: "No, this is not the morality of the Ming Dynasty. Didn't I say it? Your Majesty took responsibility for everything."

"Legas said: Your Majesty's great figure has taken on all of this, especially the criticism of these crimes by the Spring and Autumn Annals. Your Majesty will not let morality judge your people and officials."

"It was all caused by the Emperor's ostentation, just as the scholars and officials in Jiangnan are still being sarcastic towards Emperor Taizu Gao and Emperor Chengzu Wen. It was clearly the common choice of everyone at the time."

“Perhaps, in the future, the people of the world will not thank Your Majesty, but I live in the present, and I know.”

Gao Qiyu looked at the eunuch beside him, an eunuch from the palace named Huang Bin. He was the chief eunuch for this diplomatic mission to Japan and one of His Majesty's sparring partners. He had been working at the Dongjishi Factory, specializing in investigating all kinds of illegalities by civil officials and military generals. He was a eunuch.

Gao Qiyu was not afraid that his words would reach His Majesty's ears, because many of the words in them were said by His Majesty himself.

The future Ming Dynasty will not thank Your Majesty. This may be the outcome after Your Majesty passes away, and Your Majesty is well aware of this.

Gao Qiyu looked at Oda City with a sharp gaze and said, "In fact, do you think it is the Ming Dynasty that is hiding all kinds of evil from the people instead of suppressing the boiling public opinion? Do you know how many petitions His Majesty has received from people willing to pay donations? I tell you, one hundred and eighty-four!"

"These powerful and wealthy businessmen like to go against your Majesty the most. They don't fight, scold, or move, but they pretend to obey and secretly seek personal gain. The only thing they are willing to do is to destroy the Japanese."

"In the southeast, there are tens of millions of families, and every family is in mourning because of blood feuds. There are no cowards in the array of arrows and the forest of swords."

Oda City's face changed drastically. She found that she had overlooked a problem: when it comes to destroying Japan, is the imperial court more proactive or is public opinion more overwhelming?

The answer to this question is obvious: public opinion is even more overwhelming.

Oda City's hands were shaking, and he asked in a low voice: "Why did the Ming Dynasty send envoys to negotiate peace? Since there is still strength left, then just continue the fight!"

Gao Qiyu sighed and said, "Because Your Majesty does not want the soldiers in the Beijing camp to have a moral crisis. They are all carefully trained by Your Majesty. They were born to protect the Ming Dynasty, not to kill;"

"Because Your Majesty does not want the overall morality of the Ming Dynasty to decline. After all, the advantage of high morality within the Ming Dynasty is that there are loyal people in the Han Dynasty, and the disadvantage is only reflected in the opening of the sea."

"Your Majesty thinks that it is best for you to do it alone when it comes to moral corruption."

Oda City finally understood the emperor's true intention and fell silent. The long whistle and clanging sounds drowned out the entire carriage.

It is not impossible to destroy the Japanese pirates, and it can be done with all one's efforts, but the emperor loves the soldiers in the capital camp, the people of the Ming Dynasty, and the beautiful mountains and rivers.

"Your Majesty is really lucky, with both the Prime Minister and the General." Oda Ichi said sadly. In comparison, Oda Nobunaga was really fighting alone, and his retainers all had ulterior motives. "It's not luck." Gao Qiyu said calmly.

The Wanli Reform has come to this day not because of luck but because of your Majesty’s hard work. When he left Beijing, he left behind a poem. If he could not return, this would be his last poem.

The iron cavalry carries the clouds out of the imperial capital, the golden swords are sharpened by the sun in the east sea; the bones of the guilty are like a mountain and the moon is white, the benevolent hearts are like water and a thousand lamps are bright.

The Nieshan dares to bear the pen of the ages, and the benevolent flag will be raised for eternity; don’t say that mending the sky is easy, the golden bowl can be repaired with the help of my loyalty.

The Wanli Reform had reached its current state not because of luck, but because of the successive efforts of countless people with lofty ideals. Behind Zhang Juzheng stood the honest officials in the officialdom who wanted to mend the cracks in the sky; behind Qi Jiguang stood 100,000 elite soldiers from the Beijing camp and 130,000 naval troops.

Your Majesty, you never fight alone.

Gao Qiyu walked very quickly, and 22 days later, he arrived at the Nagasaki Governor's Office. In the first month of the year, there was still a thin layer of ice on the sea surface of Nagasaki Port, but it did not affect the navigation of ships.

Both the warming and cooling of water require a large amount of heat. The closer to the water body, the smaller the impact of the small glacier climate. Nagasaki and Busan are still ice-free ports, and thin ice does not affect navigation.

Governor-General Xu Wei, Maritime Customs Commissioner Sun Hongyi, Nagasaki Commander Li Chengli, Maritime Customs Eunuch Wang Chao, and Inspector Luo Yinghe went to the port to welcome Gao Qiyu.

The Nagasaki Governor's Office covers an area of ​​180 acres, and outside the Governor's Office there are 3,000 acres of official residences to perform the functions of the Governor's Office. Outside the 3,000 acres of official residences are large townhouses with a circumference of more than 20 miles. This is the area where the Han people live. There are brick and stone walls, moats, large gentle slopes, and mortar positions built on irregular corners extending from the city walls.

Outside the city wall, the area where the Japanese were supposed to be active was gradually reduced in number in the Nagasaki Governor-General's Office over the years, and the Han people's territory has gradually expanded to the entire Kyushu Island.

The human minerals of Japanese slaves and Japanese women are one of the important mineral resources of Japan.

"What is the situation in Japan?" Gao Qiyu asked Governor Xu Wei about the latest developments in Japan.

Xu Wei said solemnly: "The rapid fall of Tsushima Island has caused panic among the Japanese. Food shortages and soaring food prices have become Japan's top problem. As more and more people are hoarding food, the Japanese are afraid that the Ming army will continue to attack, so hoarding food has become everyone's choice."

"Even in Hiroshima, a coastal city, people have begun to starve to death. There have been several robberies of grain stores, but there is no food in the grain stores."

"Oda Nobunaga issued an order to hold out, intending to resist to the end."

Gao Qiyu said in surprise: "He intends to resist to the end?"

Sun Keyi explained: "This is also the consensus of the Japanese daimyos. Kublai Khan's two attacks on Japan were both unsuccessful. If the main battlefield takes place on the Japanese mainland, they believe that Japan can win."

"The Ming Dynasty needs to rely entirely on long-distance supplies. The sky is high and the water is long. It is easy for Japan to snipe the long supply line, which brings logistical problems to the Ming army."

"At the same time, Japan's mountain fortresses are also the basis of their confidence. Japan's mountain fortresses are completely different from the temporary mountain fortresses built by Korea. Some mountain fortresses have been built for hundreds of years, with tortuous roads and more stringent defenses. The artillery that the Ming Dynasty relied on to break the city was limited by transportation and logistics and could not exert its power in Japan."

"Moreover, the Japanese daimyo believed that the Ming army's attack would not be too swift. The Ming was in a period of rapid change and had various internal problems. Qi Jiguang needed to return to guard the Ming. Qi Jiguang had been away from the Ming for two years. If he did not return, the emperor's authority would be challenged."

These are the three reasons why the Japanese daimyos were prepared to hold their ground: the sky was high and the water was long, the home ground was advantageous, and the Beijing camp could not fight for long.

"Uh, why do these Japanese like to judge others by themselves? They like to overthrow their superiors. Do they think that Your Majesty is completely dependent on Qi Jiguang's personal prestige?" Gao Qiyu was stunned and shook his head repeatedly.

In the eyes of the Japanese, Qi Jiguang had been away for too long. Three years was the limit. If it was longer, the rebels within the Ming Dynasty would probably come up with other ideas.

This is obviously applying the relationship between the Shogun and the Emperor of Japan to the Ming Dynasty.

"No, many daimyos in Japan think that Zhang Juzheng and Qi Jiguang have teamed up to undermine Your Majesty. All current decisions are made by Zhang Juzheng and Qi Jiguang using the emperor to control the princes." Xu Wei said with a strange look on his face.

This idea is not only held in Japan, but also by many people in the Ming Dynasty. Xu Wei and Sun Keyi were also asked about this.

"It's simply nonsense." Gao Qiyu had mixed feelings and his face was filled with indescribable expression. Compared with Your Majesty, Qi Jiguang and Zhang Juzheng were both extreme conservatives!

Your Majesty is the leader of the Young and Strong faction! Many of the Young and Strong faction think that the officials in the court are too old, afraid of wolves in front and tigers behind, and are hesitant in doing things.

The third volume on struggle was written by Your Majesty, but Zhang Juzheng has been trying to stop it.

Gao Qiyu never felt that Qi Jiguang's departure from the capital affected the emperor's prestige. On the contrary, all officials in the Ming Dynasty capital were looking forward to Qi Jiguang's early return.

If Qi Jiguang were still alive, he could at least persuade His Majesty not to flip the table all the time! The table is there, everyone is eating at the table, if there is anything, they can talk about it, why would you flip the table just because of a disagreement?
"But one thing is right, there are quite a few traitors in our country," added the Inspector General Luo Yinghe.

Gao Qiyu also agreed and said, "That's true."

It is a consensus that His Majesty has never done things easily and simply. There are many cases of lip service and sometimes even annoy His Majesty.

"Apart from the price of food, the most frightening thing is the spread of the Paradise Cult." Xu Wei's face was even a little frightened. He shook his head and said, "A bunch of lunatics."

"Let me tell you about it." The Inspector General Luo Yinghe talked about the terrifying speed at which the Paradise Cult spread in Japan.

The evil cult of Paradise always takes advantage of times when people's hearts are in turmoil to grow wildly, and because of the war, the Japanese government has no ability to prune its branches. The entire growth process is full of disorder and chaos, and all kinds of vicious incidents occur rapidly throughout Japan.

The East Asian trade system dominated by the Ming Dynasty has been formed. Due to various reasons, Japan has become a marginal economy, which has led to dependent development of Japan's economic model, that is, its port towns have become centers for the export of raw materials and extremely primary processing.

This single economic structure will inevitably lead to abnormal population concentration.

The geographical limitations of the Japanese archipelago and the lack of depth have exacerbated the abnormal population concentration and led to a complete imbalance between Japan's urban and rural populations.

The Japanese gradually discovered that when the expected benefits of fulfilling traditional obligations, such as marriage and childbirth, bringing honor to the family, and achieving success in a career, were far lower than the cost of living in the moment, living in the moment became the only spiritual compensation in this terrible world.

Even the most basic biological instinct of reproduction would be eliminated by rational calculations, which created an excellent breeding ground for the crazy spread of the Paradise Cult.

"He abandoned his wife and went to the harem, not because he did not want to get married, but because it was extremely difficult to get a wife with money; he abandoned his official position and indulged in gambling, not because he did not want to be rich, but because he was blocked from the imperial examinations; his desire was not really lost, but because he was desperate and had no choice but to pretend to be free."

"It is true. If people don't get married or work as officials, their passions will be half gone. If people don't have food and clothing, the relationship between ruler and subject will cease." Luo Yinghe said in amazement.

The destruction of Japan by Japan is happening now, and is intensifying.

Luo Yinghe listed many scenarios.

If prostitutes on the corridors accidentally get pregnant, they will just drown the baby in a basin of water, rest for a few days, and then start to receive customers again. If they have some money, they will spend it like water in the world of debauchery and extravagance. The market is always designed so cleverly to squeeze all your money just right.

The boatmen on the docks work hard all day to earn a little money, and then they go to the verandas and get drunk. They live a life of drunkenness and dreams, not knowing what to do tomorrow, and they enjoy themselves day by day.
Young men go to sea for profit, while the elderly stay in the fields. The old people wait day and night for news, but it is usually only bad news. Few people come back, or simply die outside.

Children who should have been protected were forced to work at the age of five or six. They either crawled through chimneys in workshops, or had their legs broken and were forced to beg on the streets, or they stole from various taverns. If they were caught, they would be beaten, and if they were beaten severely, they would probably die in a corner where no one cared.

All these things are shocking and horrific.

Order in Japan is rapidly collapsing.

"Under such internal and external troubles, Oda Nobunaga still issued an order to defend the country." Gao Qiyu frowned and said, "I understand. He plans to use the powerful external force of the Ming Dynasty to completely unite Japan, instead of leaving it as a pile of scattered sand as before, and complete the construction of the country."

"Brothers quarrel within the walls, but when foreign aggression comes, they stand shoulder to shoulder to resist; states quarrel within, but when enemy danger comes, they join forces to resist; external pressure is like a whetstone, but internal cohesion is like a jade, and the common hatred of the enemy is like this."

Sharing a common hatred for a common enemy is also a way to unite a country, and it is very effective.

In the process of building a dynasty, using hatred or hostility to establish a common enemy to strengthen internal cohesion and shape consensus can certainly be a good and very effective way to transfer internal contradictions into external contradictions and ease the crisis of legitimacy of rule.

The essence of this high-risk strategy is to cover up structural problems by creating confrontation, which only treats the symptoms but not the root causes.

Only by turning the knife inward, facing up to internal contradictions and resolving these endogenous contradictions can we achieve long-term stability.

Gao Qiyu understood Oda Nobunaga's strategy. Faced with the Ming Dynasty's aggressive stance, Oda Nobunaga chose a narrative of hatred. This was of course very risky, but if successful, the benefits would be even greater.

"So, he absolutely refuses to surrender, and even uses a tougher attitude to face the arrival of the Ming envoy." Gao Qiyu looked at Xu Wei and said, "It seems that my trip is really in danger."

"How about this, the Grand Herald will stay at the Nagasaki Governor's Office and report the situation to the court instead of going on the mission. Oda Nobunaga is sharpening his sword, and if the Grand Herald arrives, his life might be in danger." Xu Wei said confidently, "Grand Herald, I will report the situation to the court."

"I came here on the orders of the Emperor. I won't give up halfway." Gao Qiyu said nonchalantly, "They'd better kill me. The Japanese didn't know what would happen if they killed the Han envoy, but they will know soon."

"I sacrifice my blood for the Xuanyuan clan, and I dare to let my loyalty and courage be recorded in history."

This is your Majesty's solemn promise to the people of the Ming Dynasty. Your Majesty said it and did it. This is also the life creed that Gao Qiyu believes in.

Given Your Majesty's temperament, if he really died in Japan, you would probably sink Japan and bury him with him. And you don't have to worry about your own affairs after death. In the future, the history books will open a page for him to discuss his merits and demerits, so that his name will live forever and be recorded in history.

"I led 1,500 soldiers from the Osaka Bay Garrison to accompany the Grand Herald on this trip. If I hadn't saved Oda Nobunaga's life, he would have been burned to death in Honnoji Temple. Let's see how he does it." Li Chengli, the commander of the Nagasaki Military Governorate, said immediately.

After the Honnoji Incident, Oda Nobunaga owed Li Chengli a life. If Oda Nobunaga really wanted to ambush the swordsmen, Li Chengli would fight his way out and send Gao Qiyu back to the Ming Dynasty.

If even his savior is to be killed, Oda Nobunaga will no longer be able to serve as the shogun. All his retainers will become suspicious and may even take the initiative to kill him.

(End of this chapter)