I'm really not doing business

Chapter 861 Even the livestock on the grassland should be grateful
Shen Shixing lived under the care of others since he was a child. His life as a dependent was full of bitterness and pain. His uncle was good to him, but the people in his uncle's family were not necessarily the same. However, he still passed the imperial examination and received a complete education.

Therefore, Shen Shixing's view of the world is full of kindness. This kindness makes him a little restrained in dealing with these local gentry who have formed a bandit group.

But Hou Yuzhao was different. After he passed the imperial examination, he started to go against the enemy, and when he arrived in Liaodong, he faced the bandit chief directly.

They destroyed the farmland that had been reclaimed with great difficulty and stole all the food that had been produced with a year's hard work. Hou Yuzhao had only one attitude towards these bandits: turn the bandits into compost.

When Hou Yuzhao went to Zhejiang to return the land, he would separate those people who destroyed agricultural production from the identities of Ming people and treat them as bandit chieftains. Once their identities were changed, it would be very simple to deal with them.

In the Ming Dynasty, all were subjects of the king. If they did not obey the king's rule and orders, they were not subjects of the king, but enemies. This slightly strange logic of thinking was the mindset that Hou Yuzhao developed after presiding over the return of farmland in the border areas for a long time. Although it was strange, it was very reasonable and very conducive to the return of farmland.

When Shen Shixing was in charge of returning land to Zhejiang, he always thought that these were his own people and that he had to enforce the law, make compromises, and understand their demands. However, the local gentry who formed the returning land bandit group were already enemies.

When internal contradictions turn into contradictions between ourselves and the enemy, it becomes very simple, clear and obvious.

Zhu Yijun and Shen Yikuan discussed the breeding matter in Gansu. The breeding situation in Gansu was better than Zhu Yijun expected. Now the Daming Agricultural College has been formed to develop new crops, and Gansu Farming is responsible for expanding the seedlings and eventually spreading them along the highway to the hinterland. This path is very important.

The construction of Longkaichi Road will undoubtedly accelerate the speed of this spread.

The Longkaichi Road had been under construction for four years, and some sections had already been opened, but the problem was also very obvious, that is, there were not enough locomotives. There were still too few small, high-horsepower, and high-efficiency steam engines. Not only was the production insufficient, but the distribution was also insufficient. If the Shanghai County Iron Horse Factory had not been successfully put into production and the court had not reduced the allocation of iron horses to the Jiangnan region, the gap in iron horses in the mainland would have been even greater.

"Marquis Ningyuan has arrived at Jiayuguan. Does Minister Shen think that Marquis Ningyuan can replicate the development of Liaodong?" Zhu Yijun talked about Li Chengliang's appointment as the commander of the Seven Guards of Guanxi.

"Ningyuan... Marquis, of course you can. Although the Western Regions are a bit barren, the highway that has been opened up has reached Hami Wei. With the highway opened up, it won't be a problem." Shen Yikuan stumbled when he answered. It was not because Shen Yikuan had no confidence in Li Chengliang, but because of his identity.

Li Chengliang was the Earl of Ningyuan, not the Marquis of Ningyuan. Li Chengliang was stripped of one level of title because he killed someone in the street, but Your Majesty seems to have forgotten it.

Did Zhu Yijun really forget? Of course not, because the imperial edict to restore his title had already been written.

When Li Rusong returned from Japan, he would announce to the world that Li Chengliang had taken all of his own foreign soldiers to the Western Regions. Li Chengliang had never lost the emperor's favor or his title, and even the Seal and Ribbon Office did not have a new seal engraved.

Shen Yikuan was very optimistic about Li Chengliang, but he did not want to partner with Li Chengliang. This man was famous for his weird temper and could not get along with anyone. Over the years, only Hou Yuzhao, with his weird temper, could get along well with Li Chengliang. When he arrived in the Western Regions, Li Chengliang was like a wild horse that had broken free from its reins, and the people in the Western Regions suffered.

"Minister Wang, do you still want to return to Shandong?" Zhu Yijun asked Wang Yi'e with a smile.

Wang Yi'e said with certainty: "Your Majesty, it would be great if we could go back. Now we have to plant kelp. The delicious kelp is fresh salt. Shanghai is cultivating bacteria and fermenting fresh salt. I haven't finished this work yet, and I am afraid that I will fail."

Wang Yi'e's body was brought to the capital, but his soul is still in the Haitian Salt Field in Shandong.

"Then Minister Wang can't go back either. The court has already made a decision." Zhu Yijun said with a smile: "I will pay attention to Shandong."

"I obey your command." Wang Yi'e bowed his head again and accepted the order. He was unable to resist and his arms were powerless against his thighs.

When he was in the capital, he could also work hard for the interests of the people of Shandong, such as building a few more highways, adding a few more coastal defense inspectors, and redeveloping Jiaozhou Bay. It would be best if he could build the strongest port in the north. There is only one ice-free port in such a vast north. As long as it is managed well, Shandong will not be poor.

After the three new ministers left the Wenhua Hall, Zhu Yijun began to read the Records of the Eastern Expedition carefully. The more he read, the more he felt something was wrong.

"Huh, sir, you actually ambushed me for so long!" After reading it, Zhu Yijun smiled and shook his head.

The beginning of each article of the Nine Victories of the Eastern Expedition is the emperor's edict. Sometimes, if the order of some events is swapped, the results will be completely different. Zhu Yijun has seen this many times.

This time, the Ministry of Rites put the emperor's edict in the front and made a long speech, as if Zhu Yijun had super hearing and super vision, and could always give key instructions on the battlefield, which was of great significance.

The key point is that many of these imperial edicts were issued after the war, that is, the emperor issued edicts after the war was over to confirm the results of the battle on the front line.

Most of these imperial edicts were drafted by the cabinet.

Most of the imperial edicts written by the Ming emperor himself were in colloquial language, and most of the flowery ones were drafted by the cabinet, revised and copied by the Silijian, and finally stamped by the emperor.

How could an official document like an imperial edict be written by the emperor himself?

Therefore, Zhang Juzheng had already started preparing before the Ming army entered the court.

"Gao Gong, Yang Bo, Wang Chonggu and others deserved their defeat. I didn't expect your plan." Zhu Yijun did not make any instructions to revise it. He did not agree with the narrative of favor, but he would not object, otherwise generals like Qi Jiguang would feel uncomfortable.

The reason why there was no Yingxue before the Ming Dynasty was because the curse of being too successful to be respected by the ruler had always plagued this land. To build a Yingxue based on facts, the emperor had to be praised highly again. Otherwise, people in the world would only know General Qi but not the emperor, and that would be a big disaster.

Since the nine victories of the Eastern Expedition and the brave warriors were to be publicized, the emperor had to gain fame as well. General Qi and other generals completed the Eastern Expedition under the wise leadership of the emperor.

Zhu Yijun does not advocate it and he himself will not promote this kind of narrative of gratitude, but if the situation requires it, he will cooperate.

"Your Majesty, some soy milk to wake you up." Feng Bao brought a cup of tea and said with a smile, "The Duke of Qian sent it. He said it was made from ground coffee, with milk and sugar added. It's very delicious."

Coffee beans are beans, soybeans are also beans, soy milk is made from grinding soybeans, and refreshing soy milk is the soy milk made from grinding coffee.

"It's okay." Zhu Yijun actually prefers Mingqian Longjing, but in order to support the development of Yunnan's agriculture, he designated 13 acres of land in Yunnan as tribute fields, and all the coffee grown in the fields were tribute. In this way, if the emperor likes to drink it, there will always be people willing to try it.

A series of stories about the emperor's love of drinking, tribute, mother tree, etc. were told all at once.

Yunnan has told the story perfectly, and the story has spread.

It was said that His Majesty's most beloved Queen Wang was ill and no doctor could cure her. Long Qilei, a student from Yunnan, came to Beijing to take the imperial examination and sent the coffee he brought with him to the Jiekuyuan. Unexpectedly, after the Queen drank it, her health gradually improved. The Emperor was overjoyed and designated a piece of land as tribute field.

If the story is told well, the industry will naturally develop rapidly. Tea is a global commodity, and if coffee is carefully cultivated and expanded, it will also become a global commodity. Every additional global commodity can bring in more silver to fill the bottomless pit of the Dinghai school system.

The reason why many things are popular is not because of how good the thing is or how much technology it has, but because of how well it tells a story. As long as the story is told in a mysterious way, the more people believe in it, the better it will sell. Of course, once the core of the story begins to collapse, no one will believe in the story anymore, and it will be ruined.

"Your Majesty, in fact, tobacco can also become a global commodity. It has great potential." Feng Bao reminded His Majesty that the Ming Dynasty court had a monopoly on the tobacco business, which was lucrative and had a large output. The production was simple, and if it was promoted and the story was told well, it could become a global commodity.

"The Luzon Governor's Office and the Old Port Governor's Office are already pushing forward the plan." Zhu Yijun did not deny that tobacco is still very harmful, but in today's society, many people simply cannot live to see the harm.

The median life expectancy of miners in the rich silver mines of the New World was sixteen years old, while the median life expectancy of Japanese slaves in the Ming Dynasty's Nanyang plantations was twenty-nine years old.

"Mrs. Zhongshun, the governor of Suiyuan, has submitted a memorial of thanks." Feng Bao spread out a memorial in front of His Majesty. This memorial was written by Mrs. Sanniang herself. Her level of classical Chinese was not even as good as that of a child, and the whole memorial was written in plain language.

In recent years, the Ming Dynasty has not continued to tilt its policies towards Suiyuan. This memorial of thanks is somewhat puzzling. Even if Sanniang cooperated with the court to promote the narrative of gratitude in Suiyuan, it should be based on facts rather than false fabrications. That is not victory, that is a pretense of victory.

"Tsk tsk." After reading the memorial, Zhu Yijun finally understood why the Third Lady suddenly expressed her gratitude. This was truly a favor, without a doubt, and based on facts.

The Shandong Salt Field produced a large number of salt bricks, most of which were leftovers that the salt field could not sell. These salt bricks were what Sanniangzi wanted to express her gratitude for.

Before the Ming Dynasty recovered Suiyuan, there was a long-term shortage of salt in Suiyuan. People had no salt to eat, and the livestock raised by the grassland people had even less salt to eat. If people did not eat salt, they would feel weak and dizzy. If animals did not eat salt, they would even have difficulty eating grass and would die.

Before Shandong salt bricks were sent to Suiyuan in batches, the grassland people would collect their urine and pour it into the troughs. The source of salt for Suiyuan's livestock was from licking these troughs. When grazing, there was no need to worry if some cattle and sheep got lost, because they would come back on their own as long as they were not killed by hunters, because there was no salt to be obtained in the wild.

That's it. Only domestic animals can lick the trough. Wild animals have no chance of licking it.

Some wild wolves will lick these troughs when their owners are away.

And now the livestock on the grassland are finally licking the salt bricks.

The shortage of salt caused the deterioration of the Suiyuan grassland. Without sufficient salt, the animals would die, so the herders could only let the livestock reproduce. Most of the livestock died before they were ready to be slaughtered, which caused a huge waste of water and grass resources. Ultimately, it became an endless vicious cycle, causing the grassland to become desertified and life to become even more difficult.

The Shandong salt bricks were transported from Xuanfu to Guihua City, and then distributed from Guihua City to livestock farms, solving this vicious cycle.

Judging from Sanniang's memorial, humans are really a very luxurious animal. All human secretions contain salt, including saliva, sweat, excrement, etc. Humans also have a very developed sweat gland system, which uses salt to dissipate heat and solve the problem of rising body temperature due to continuous exercise. This is also the most primitive way of hunting for humans, chasing.

But most animals do not have sweat glands and cannot excrete precious salt from their bodies.

Sanniangzi said in her memorial that when she was a child, she lived in Walahelin. At that time, when the children there were grazing, the cattle and sheep would eat the entire area, even the soil, when they urinated.

Suiyuan is very suitable for narratives of gratitude. Even the livestock on the grassland are grateful. Without Your Majesty's rule, the livestock would still lick their troughs and eat soil to replenish salt.

Zhu Yijun reviewed Sanniangzi's memorial, which consisted of several hundred words, and answered some of Sanniangzi's questions that were of great concern to her. Sanniangzi's memorial was not only to express her gratitude to the emperor, but also to inquire about the production and manufacturing of down.

The more intricately the ropes of economic bondage are linked together, the more Ming Dynasty and the grassland can be completely reconciled and inseparable.

The Ming Dynasty still could not solve the problem of mass production. It was really difficult to separate feathers and down. The down production was really low, and there were a lot of impurities. Feathers and down were mixed, and simply sewn clothes and quilts smelled very bad, and the problem of feather production was very serious.

The weavers of Yongding Woolen Factory brainstormed and invented several crisscross quilting techniques and spiral techniques, which solved some of the problems, but the separation of feathers and down was still a challenge. This problem is being solved. Doctors of the Institute of Gewu had a headache about this for a long time. Huang Zifu once went to the Agricultural College to meet with Xu Zhenming, the Minister of Agriculture. Xu Zhenming proposed a solution, which is the windmill in the farmer's home.

When the grain windmill rotates, it generates very high wind pressure. By opening the damper, weeds, chaff and other things can be blown out, and the grain can slide out from the outlet.

Huang Zifu saw hope. The first ironwood wool-raising vehicle already had a prototype, and doctors from the Institute of Physical Science were still working overtime on the mechanical design and improving the wool-inlet door, air blower, brush and panel door, striving to put the first usable wool-raising vehicle into mass production before the end of the year.

If the down and feathers can be separated, the low efficiency of manual production can be eliminated. From fully manual to semi-mechanical, and then to fully mechanical, once the down-lifting machines are put into mass production, the down industry will flourish.

The first batch of 500 dodo breeding birds were ready to be sent to Suiyuan. The dodo cannot fly, it is a little fat, and its wings are degenerate. If people don't take care of it, it will become extinct.

The dodo is a congenital fowl saint.

After breeding, with sufficient food and a suitable environment, the dodo can lay 80 eggs a year. It has high reproductive capacity, fast growth rate, high feed conversion ratio, the ability to digest a variety of foods and is not picky about food, and is docile and easy to manage. Its feather and down production is comparable to that of a goose.

"These Paradise followers always come up with something unexpected to disgust people." Zhu Yijun finished reading a memorial from Nagasaki with a look of disgust on his face.

The Paradise Cult created a very scary story called "Mrs. Mu Guang", which praises love and is completely fictional.

There was a soldier named Zheng Hong who was stationed in the Osaka Bay Garrison of the Ming Dynasty. He was tall, strong, handsome and elegant. He was stationed in Kyoto for a long time and met and fell in love with Mrs. Mu Guang, a famous Kyoto geisha.

The soldier named Zheng Hong was not serious about this marriage and was just doing it for fun.

However, Mrs. Mu Guang fell deeply in love with Zheng Hong, and the two spent a short but sweet time together in a small cottage in Kyoto.

Three years later, Zheng Hong's term of office expired, he left Kyoto and returned to Zhejiang, and never contacted Mrs. Mu Guang again.

Mrs. Mu Guang remained loyal and waited for Zheng Hong's arrival and raised their children.

Mrs. Mu Guang insisted on waiting. She hoped that Zheng Hong would return to Kyoto to renew their relationship, and she rejected the pursuit of many people.

Mrs. Mu Guang did not wait for Zheng Hong in the end. Instead, she received a letter handed to her by the Osaka Bay Garrison Thousand Households Office, which stated that Zheng Hong was already married and was going to take the child away.

In extreme shock and despair, Mrs. Mu Guang handed her child to the commander of the Osaka Bay garrison, and used the musket left by Zheng Hong for her to protect herself. She committed suicide in their hut, leaving behind a suicide note:
Moths are good at flying around lamps, one is a spark, the other is attracted by the light. Death is higher than shamelessness.

This story was so widely circulated that the Osaka Bay Garrison Headquarters conducted a self-inspection. This was a serious violation of military regulations, so of course they had to conduct a self-inspection. During the self-inspection, they found that there was no one named Zheng Hong.

Soon, the self-inspection was extended to the entire Nagasaki Governor-General's Office. Among the soldiers of the Nagasaki Governor-General's Office, there was not a single soldier named Zheng Hong, not even one with a similar pronunciation.

Most of the soldiers in the Ming Dynasty came from poor backgrounds, and their names were such as Zhao Laoqi, Chen Dazhuang, Liu Bi, Zhang Mei, and Gou Sheng. After joining the army, the names they changed to were mainly three-character names, after all, they wanted to avoid having the same name as much as possible.

Finally, the Nagasaki Governor's Office found Zheng Hong, a sea merchant from Zhejiang. When the Ningbo government found Zheng Hong to verify the situation, Zheng Hong was confused. He didn't know Madam Mu Guang at all. After thinking for a long time, he remembered that he had met Madam Mu Guang once when he went to Japan to do business, and they didn't even have a casual romance.

The reason why this story had such a wide impact, even alarming the Nagasaki Governor-General's Office and being sent to the emperor, was entirely because it was completely inconsistent with the Ming people's style of doing things. They already had a child, and even if they took her back to be a concubine, it would be impossible for them to be so irresponsible and just walk away.

The most important thing is that the Ming army is stationing troops in Japan's mining areas, not just Iwami Silver Mine. If the Ming army is stationed in Japan for just a few months and is so irresponsible, how can the Ming army perform its functions and protect your majesty's mining areas?

Therefore, comprehensive verification is needed to ultimately disprove it.

"Your Majesty, this story perfectly fits with Master Wan's theory that the barbarians always win." Feng Bao read it for a long time and said sincerely.

Zhu Yijun frowned and said, "Well, Madam Mu Guang is dead, how can the Jile Cult win? It just praises love, but Madam Mu Guang didn't get love, and even lost her life."

Feng Bao pointed out the end of the story and said, "Your Majesty, the other shore of the Paradise believers is in the Ming Dynasty, not the Kingdom of God. Although Madam Mu Guang is dead, her children have become citizens of the Ming Dynasty. This is a victory!"

Zhu Yijun couldn't understand it at all and shook his head, saying, "What a victory! Who will take care of a child without a mother? Wouldn't everyone bully him? It's worse than death, how can I win?"

Feng Bao hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, that's not what I meant. This first victory was won because of Madam Mu Guang's child. I helped her reach the other side, so it can be considered as reaching the other side."

It is indeed difficult for a man like Your Majesty to understand this kind of bizarre religious logic.

Wang Qian asked Zhang Juzheng what people feared most. Zhang Juzheng immediately replied: Ambitions are difficult to achieve. This was Zhang Juzheng's true thought, and Your Majesty is such a man. Feng Bao never doubted that Your Majesty was willing to sacrifice his life for the success of the Wanli Reform.

The Heyi group attacked and killed Zhang Juzheng at the Yicheng Marquis Mansion in Xishan. The emperor, armed with sharp weapons, killed seven assassins with his own hands, because at that time, Zhang Juzheng was still the core of the Wanli Reform. When Zhang Juzheng died, the emperor, whose wings were not yet fully grown, could not support the Wanli Reform at all.

The Ming Dynasty practiced the Mahayana school of thought which was based on reality, while the barbarians practiced the Hinayana school of thought which was based on false narratives. It would be strange if the Ming emperor could understand this.

"Absurd." Zhu Yijun's mouth twitched and he shook his head repeatedly. It made sense logically, but he simply couldn't understand it. The child had lost his mother and was a fool. Even if he really entered the Ming Dynasty, his fate would be worse than death.

Feng Bao continued, "Your Majesty, Madam Mu Guang is a lowly Japanese, but her child is a noble Ming person. This is a leap in status. In this story, Madam Mu Guang rejected so many suitors, including Japanese nobles and daimyo. Madam Mu Guang was able to reject them because she had a child from a garrison commander."

"Madam Mu Guang has achieved a leap in status. She can even ignore the nobles and daimyo and stick to Zheng Hong for her whole life."

"This provides a way for the followers of Paradise to achieve a leap in status. It is the second victory for the followers of Paradise and can provide them with a practical path to the other side. This shows the deceptive nature of this sect."

Buddhism, Hui people, Catholicism and Protestantism cannot provide the way to the other shore while we are alive, but the Pure Land religion has found it!

Zhu Yijun read the full text of the story again and found that what Feng Bao said about the second victory was true. For example, in Pyongyang, some naughty children who had obtained Ming identity made the children who had not obtained Ming identity kneel down.

"With such a story, they can win twice?" Zhu Yijun was amazed and had a new understanding of the saying that barbarians always win. This thing is really difficult to deal with, but they can still win.

Feng Bao also said with great emotion: "Your Majesty, there is a third victory in this, which is the last sentence, the moth is good at brushing against the lamp. Madam Mu Guang's suicide is the greatest sublimation of the whole story. She was martyred."

Zhu Yijun asked in amazement: "What kind of Tao is this? Being played around like a fool, raising a child for someone else, and then ending up committing suicide. I don't even know if the child can survive. What kind of Tao is this? Is it the Tao of an animal?"

"Love." Feng Bao said with great confidence: "The Paradise Religion is very strange. The followers must completely sever all relationships with their parents, relatives, and close friends. But people cannot live without any emotions, so they regard love as a noble thing."

“This is the third victory. Love becomes the supreme existence that can abandon all other emotions. After rationalizing it, people become martyrs for love and sacrifice their lives to pursue love. This is so tragic and worthy of such praise.”

Zhu Yijun recalled two articles, "The Peacock Flies Southeast" from the Han Dynasty and "Butterfly Lovers" from the Eastern Jin Dynasty. These two stories are also about love and both are about suicide for love, but the stories in these two articles are extremely reasonable.

In The Peacock Flies Southeast, Jiao Zhongqing and Liu Lanzhi were forced to separate, but agreed to meet in the underworld and both committed suicide, thus not letting each other down.
Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, Liang Shanbo died of depression due to being rejected, and Zhu Yingtai was thrown into a tomb and turned into a colorful butterfly.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with singing praises of love. You love me, I love you, this is love. Because of various obstacles, we cannot be together, but we must be together even if we die. This is a sacrifice of love.

In the story of Madam Mu Guang, Zhu Yijun did not see the noun "Zheng Hongyouai" at all, he only saw the verb.

"It's hard to understand." Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and finally chose to compromise. If he couldn't understand it, then he didn't understand it.

Feng Bao said in amazement, "These three victories are the reason why the followers of Paradise have sung this story so widely. And, Your Majesty, this story may be sung in different forms."

The reason why Feng Bao could understand it was that he had no worldly desires. He could look at the problem with the mentality of an outsider. Combined with what he had learned, he immediately realized why this story was so widely circulated.

Moreover, as long as the Ming Dynasty continues to expand, similar ugly stories will continue to emerge in different forms from time to time and disgust the Ming Dynasty.

"In the next chapter, the Nagasaki Governor's Office will set strict restrictions and prohibit all Pure Land believers from leaving Japan. This thing is too evil, even more evil than the Korean war reports that Oda Nobunaga received." Zhu Yijun chose to crack down severely.

The Nagasaki Governor-General's Office has a question book, and every Japanese citizen will be asked questions, which is the application of conditional probability. Twenty seemingly unrelated questions can screen out the followers of Paradise.

Preventing the spread of Paradise Cult was one of the responsibilities of the Nagasaki Governor-General's Office.

The Ming Dynasty was actively preparing for the triumphal ceremony of the Ming army. Zhu Yijun would go to Tanggu Port in Tianjin Prefecture on the third day of March to personally welcome the triumphal army. The emperor's personal welcome was in line with the traditional etiquette of the Ming Dynasty, and the Minister of Rites took the lead in inviting the emperor to go.

Among the five military ceremonies, the demotion to suburban labor is a rank reduction ceremony.

When the emperor ordered a general to lead the troops to war, pushing off the wheel was a departure ceremony. When the general returned victoriously, the emperor personally led all officials out of the city to the suburbs to welcome him as a sign of consolation. This was called "reducing the steps to the suburbs to comfort him" and a suburban comfort platform would be built to show his grace and honor.

It was an important war when the emperor personally led all the officials to welcome the enemy. Normally, the emperor would send an official to welcome the enemy.

If the army returned from a battle with a defeat, it was called the division's failure and the army's worry, and the emperor would have to wear mourning clothes and a mourning hat to mourn the dead soldiers and visit the wounded (hang the dead and visit the wounded).

Entering the DPRK to fight against the Japanese pirates and winning nine victories in the Eastern Expedition were undoubtedly major events of the Ming Dynasty, and they met the standards for inviting the emperor to personally come out to welcome them.

The importance of this matter even overshadowed the imperial examination to be held in February.

(End of this chapter)