I'm really not doing business

Chapter 947: Attacking the Core Interests of the British Empire
If Le Gasi had not translated those 150 Western works on mathematics and astronomy, had not translated "On the New Stars", and had not invited those Western mathematicians and astronomers to the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yijun would not have sent the case back for retrial, and even the case would not have come before the emperor.

Legazpi would end up like the Portuguese envoy, Yasano the Flame, before him, with his head and body separated.

It was impossible for the Imperial Guards to mobilize a large number of troops and ask the sixth-rank officials such as the Ministry of Rites to review the evidence again, because the chain of evidence was too sufficient. It included a very simple network of interpersonal relationships, long-term economic dealings, abuse of power and betrayal of the emperor's grace. The entire chain of evidence was too complete.

Even Legashi himself had given up struggling.

The emperor's request to send the case back for retrial is itself an attitude, hoping that the case will be handled more carefully and that an unjust case will not be made.

In fact, when the interpreter of the Ministry of Rites translated these "personal letters" of Li Yashi for the first time, he had already noticed the problem, but Zhang Chaoduan, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, did not dare to express his opinion. This was a serious crime of collaborating with the Japanese, and any word he said might put him in an inescapable vortex.

The former Minister of the Honglu Temple, Chen Xuehui, caused quite a bit of trouble because he had an affair with Sanniangzi's sister. The crime of collaborating with the Japanese was even greater than collaborating with the Tuyuhun.

When he reviewed the evidence for the second time and heard the chief judge say that His Majesty wanted the truth, Zhang Chaoduan finally spoke his mind and said that the letters were forged.

Moreover, Zhang Chaoduan guessed that His Majesty might have noticed the problem.

Your Majesty can speak Latin, and all the officials in the Honglu Temple are well aware of this. This may be a test of loyalty and whether the Honglu Temple will mistake a black cat for a white cat.

Of course, this is not because the Ti cavalry are incompetent. Everyone knows that the Ti cavalry have strong ability to investigate cases. This is mainly because the Ti cavalry come from the distant marquis and coastal defense inspectors, while most of the people in these two scout regiments are poor laborers. They do not have the material foundation to learn these extra useless things.

Latin was redundant and useless to them. Chen Mo started to read and learn to read only after he became a Tiqi. He read books all the time in his spare time and gradually acquired some knowledge. Even though he was very studious, he did not know Latin.

However, as the Ming Dynasty continued to open up its seas, Latin had to be put on the learning agenda. At least a group of Latin talents had to be trained for the Tiqi Yamen to facilitate response to the increasingly complex national security situation.

The crimes committed by foreigners also began to threaten the national security of the Ming Dynasty, especially the supply of saltpeter to Japan.

The problem is very clear. There is no Ming-style Latin in these letters. Legashi used Ming-style Latin accustomed to it, so it is impossible that there is no trace of it.

In the eyes of the people of the Ming Dynasty, in Latin, grapes, raisins, grape juice, and wine are four completely unrelated phrases. This kind of writing is inconvenient to use and too troublesome. Latin needs to be logically modified to make it easier to use.

Chen Mo did not release Le Gasi immediately, nor did he hold a second trial, nor did he rush to Tonghe Palace to report to the emperor. Instead, he took in the criminal, Nicola Ranchilot, the president of the Sao Paulo Public College in Peru.

After receiving the criminal in Tongzhou, Chen Mo immediately sent Lancilotte to the interrogation hospital.

The purpose was not to perform an autopsy immediately, but to show his power and intimidate Lancilot so that he would tell the truth.

In the past, the Ti cavalry would use the killing stick, which would mean beating people without any explanation. However, a beating is a big memory recovery technique, but it is not as scary as visiting the Jiekui Temple.

Lancilotte was an old man of nearly sixty years old. He was wearing prison clothes. His hair was quite sparse, red and white. He looked haggard, extremely exhausted and in a very miserable state because he had not washed for a long time.

However, what surprised Chen Mo was that Lancilot's eyes were quite peaceful, and he even looked at the Ming Dynasty's imperial guards and people with some pity.

This compassion stems from Lancilot's faith in the Lord. In his opinion, there are too many unbelievers in the Ming Dynasty who will be nailed to the Wall of Unbelievers after death, and will never be freed for the rest of their lives.

Chen Mo didn't like this kind of look. He always felt that religion was for believers to believe in what they believed in. But if they kept pestering me to preach, saying that I didn't believe it was blasphemy and that I was guilty of original sin, this kind of coercion was a form of exploitation.

Lin Fucheng is the leader of the liberal faction. He believes that the antonym of freedom is coercion, and all behaviors that are coercive in nature are exploitation.

This kind of missionary work is a form of exploitation of non-believers by believers.

"My faith in the Lord is as pure as diamond and as firm as basalt. The punishment imposed on me is a test for me. I pray devoutly, hoping that the light of the Lord can shine upon the land of the East, bringing here the mercy of the dawn, so that all the lost lambs can be bathed in endless warmth and light."

"Amen." Lancilot's Chinese was surprisingly good. His voice was not loud, but every word he said was very affirmative. Unlike the traitor Legashi, Lancilot was a fanatic.

Sometimes, Chen Mo really couldn't understand the logic of religion. Any universal religion advocated sincerity, kindness, beauty, and noble morality. But fanatics like Lancilotte used conspiracy and tricks to defeat their competitors and still felt that they were pious and that God would protect them.

For these believers, it seems that as long as the act of serving God is sincere enough, all other sins will be forgiven and pardoned.

Just like it is now.

Chen Mo once again confirmed the wisdom of His Majesty. Any Western Christians who came to the Ming Dynasty were not allowed to preach. Once discovered, they would be sent back to their country at the very least, or killed at the worst. This strict defense saved the Ming Dynasty from the harm of religion.

Not everyone has the ability to discern the purpose of missionaries. The Songjiang Prefecture soul-calling case also caused a sensation. The conservative policy of not allowing missionaries to preach before the Dinghai school system was completed was a responsibility and protection to the people of the Ming Dynasty.

Just look at Lancilotte. This fanatic, who is nearly sixty years old, is thinking about spreading the gospel every moment, but he doesn't care whether the so-called gospel is a blessing or a curse.

The detention cells in the Ming Dynasty were more uncomfortable than prisons.

Lancilotte endured all kinds of memory recovery techniques performed by the Songjiang government office. In addition to various torture instruments, there was also a small dark room, a room so cramped that it was difficult to turn around, and there was no light source. He was locked up for seven days.

In addition, there is a standing cage, which is also a means of making things difficult for people. The criminal's head is stuck on the top of the standing cage in a very high wooden box, and the whole person is hung in the standing cage with several bricks under his feet. The criminal must stretch his feet with all his strength so that his toes can touch the bricks.

Lancilotte withstood such tests and withstood all kinds of bizarre punishments with his faith in the Lord as pure as a diamond.

The Ming Dynasty's punishments did not pry open Lancilot's mouth, and this guy still used his devout faith to resist the punishments.

When Chen Mo was serving as Duntai Yuanhou, he was also harassed by the northern barbarians using a similar standing cage, except that it was not a wooden box but a rope around the neck.

As long as he couldn't hold on, he would die. He was hung for seven whole days. These northern barbarians kept him hanging like this just for fun. They wanted to see him struggle, beg for mercy, and kneel down.

Chen Mo was released and locked in a sheepfold, but he escaped. Later, he spent a full seven months killing all 123 people in that small tribe.

The standing cage used in Songjiang Prefecture was invented by Chen Mo.

Chen Mo has a very clear understanding of himself. He is neither a good person nor a bad person. He is a knife in the hand of His Majesty, a very sharp blade that can make anyone surrender no matter who he attacks.

The officials in the capital were not very afraid of the chief marshal Zhao Mengyou, because Zhao Mengyou was also on the list of court officials in Wenhua Palace. Zhao Mengyou was reasonable, but most of the court officials did not want to fall into Chen Mo's hands.

Chen Mo is unreasonable. He has only one principle when handling cases: the emperor's will is the basis.

Chen Mo has self-knowledge, because the Four Books and Five Classics he read were annotated by Your Majesty, and Your Majesty has a unique understanding of Confucianism on self-cultivation and moral cultivation, which is to figure out who I am. Chen Mo has figured out this problem.

Lancilotte was a fanatic and extremely devout. If the execution grounds could not break his devotion, he would have to resort to punishments that had not been used for a long time.

"Are you here?" Fan Wuqi appeared at the small gate of Mi Lane in the eastern suburbs, looked at Chen Mo and said with a smile.

Chen Mo signaled the Tiqi to hand Lanqilote over to Fan Wuqi, and then he said, "This is the criminal of today's case, a missionary who speaks fluent Chinese and is very pious."

"Oh? Pious?" Fan Wuqi's eyes lit up and he looked at Lancilotte as if he had seen something rare. Would the body structure of a fanatic be different from that of an ordinary person?

The Ming Dynasty lacked specimens of such fanatics.

"Doctor Fan, this is a criminal, not a dissected criminal, and the trial has not yet begun." Chen Mo's eyes twitched slightly, and he reminded Fan Wuqi not to act recklessly.

"Will it be handed over?" Fan Wuqi asked somewhat disappointedly.

"Maybe, maybe not." Chen Mo shook his head and said, it depends on the emperor's will.

"Okay." Fan Wuqi took Lancilotte away with two apprentices, and the small door closed slowly. In order to prevent the Tiqi from suffering too much mental pressure, the Tiqi would generally not enter the dissection yard when handing over the criminals.

"Commander, is this Doctor Fan the same Fan Yingqi as before?" A Tiqi who came to the Jiekuyuan for the first time asked curiously.

Chen Mo nodded and said, "Yes, because of opium addiction, Fan Wuqi locked himself up in the prison and refused to come out."

Fan Wuqi was the name given by His Majesty. His Majesty often talked about him. This man lost everything because of toothache and opium addiction. He was originally one of the two most powerful generals of the Jin Party. If all went well, Fan Wuqi should have been in a high position like Wang Jiaping.

"Since he has already quit drugs, why doesn't he want to come out? He looks scary." For some reason, the Tiqi felt that Fan Wuqi was a little scary. He didn't talk much and was very gentle, but he was very scary. There seemed to be a vague murderous aura about him.

Chen Mo closed his eyes and thought for a while, then whispered, "Fan Wuqi is now a... pervert. He should stay inside. The outside world is not suitable for him. Everyone he sees is a specimen."

The way Fan Wuqi looks at people is a bit like the way a butcher looks at pigs, looking them up and down, studying which part is the most valuable.

Fan Yingqi turned all his desire for fame, wealth and power, his desire and disgust for opium, and his reckoning with his past life into a love of dissection. The most powerful knife in the entire dissection hospital was Fan Wuqi.

Fan Wuqi further perfected the profound theory of dissection, not missing any trace of flesh and blood, and used his own painting skills to draw the appearance of various organs.

Less than a quarter of an hour later, Lancilotte was carried out and lay on the ground. His lips were pale and his whole body was shaking irregularly. He was still mumbling something in his mouth. It was not Latin or Chinese because it was totally incoherent.

Lancilotte was so frightened that he was speechless.

"Nothing more than that." Fan Wuqi was a little disappointed and shook his head at Lancilotte.

Fan Wuqi was very disappointed. He thought that the fanatics' body structure would be different, and at least they would perform better than ordinary people when facing great terror.

If the fanatics can really withstand the great terror, then they can use their faith to resist their craving for opium, and he, Fan Wuqi, can leave the prison. Fan Wuqi can consider joining the church and use his faith to fight his craving for opium.

But fanatics are nothing more than that.

Since it is useless, Fan Wuqi is too lazy to keep this religion. Like other religions, it is just a tool to cheat people of their money and rule.

What was so scary about a room full of dissected people? He had made all those specimens himself, and Lancilotte couldn't even handle this bit of terror.

"Tsk tsk." The new Tiqi looked at this scene in surprise. He was a little curious about what the criminal saw that scared him so much.

Chen Mo had a complicated expression. He had been in there several times. Fan Wuqi had completely dissected a Japanese man. All the organs, flesh, tendons, bones, etc. were soaked in a somewhat yellowish liquid. The bottles and jars filled the entire room.

Chen Mo swore that he would rather work as a marquis on the grassland for another five years than go to the Jiekuyuan and see these things.

Lancilotte's faith was completely shattered, and he was not normal at all. The Tiqi had to coax him for two days before he calmed down. Lancilotte confessed everything, and only asked for a peaceful death, rather than being thrown into hell and dismembered by Satan.

Yes, Lancilotte believes that Fan Wuqi is actually Satan and Jiekuin is hell.

Fan Wuqi stood in front of those bottles and jars, enthusiastically introducing those specimens, how he dissected them, how they were made, how they were preserved, and what Fan Wuqi would do if Lancilote was sent to the autopsy hospital, etc.

Compared with Satan and Fan Wuqi, both seem kind.

When faced with these great terrors, fanatics are less able to resist than ordinary people, because entering the gate of the Liberation Army proves that hell really exists.

No one knows whether the Kingdom of God exists or not, but Hell does exist. This completely undermines Lancilot's will to resist. He chose to surrender and begged the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty not to send him to the torture chamber. He would tell the court everything he knew.

Chen Mo finally presented the case file without any doubt to the emperor.

"The originals of Legashi's letters have been found. Therefore, Legashi was not involved in the case of smuggling saltpeter into Japan. It is great that he can get rid of the charges. However, Lancilot gave Legashi a full 700,000 silver coins. All of this silver must be recovered." Zhu Yijun first sentenced Legashi.

The death penalty can be avoided, but the living punishment cannot be escaped, and all illegal gains must be recovered.

Seven hundred thousand silvers were enough to empty all of Legashi's savings, and he would never receive any salary from Taisi again. Before, it was not just the gods who abandoned him, but now even his king had completely abandoned him.

Lancilotte explained why he wanted to bite Legazpi, because he was Legazpi's leash. Once Legazpi betrayed Spain, Lancilotte would find ways to kill Legazpi to punish this betrayal.

The sale of saltpeter to Japan had been going on for eight years, but it had not been smooth at the beginning. Even with a ship's guide, it was still subject to very strict inspection. The help that Legashi provided could only help with legal goods.

It was not until last year that Lancilot bribed the coastal defense inspector of Naha Port in the Ryukyu Islands, and the saltpeter was successfully transported.

It took less than a year for the Ming Dynasty to discover clues, and even reported them to the emperor.

"The two coastal defense inspectors from the Coastal Defense Inspection Office have been arrested and brought to justice. Ryukyu is the sea bridge of all nations, and Naha Port belongs to Matsue Prefecture. It is considered the hinterland and has the most stringent inspections. If there were no problems with the coastal defense inspectors, saltpeter would never have been able to reach Japan." Chen Mo expressed his opinion as the presiding judge.

Chen Mo thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, the coastal defense inspectors are also human beings. There are good people and bad people among them. They rely on the mountains to make a living and rely on the sea to make a living. In the past two years, there have been several cases in which the coastal defense inspectors condoned opium in Luzon, Ryukyu, and Ming Dynasty."

The coastal defense inspectors went through several rounds of screening and selected those with strong wills, but they are still human after all, and as long as they are human, they will make mistakes.

And compared with the number of coastal defense inspections, this is an isolated case.

"Investigate carefully. We cannot wrongly accuse good people, nor let bad people go. Otherwise, it would be unfair to good people. If it is proven that these two coastal defense inspection offices are corrupt, they will be dealt with according to the military regulations of the Ming Dynasty." Zhu Yijun rubbed his brows and made a decision.

According to the military regulations of the Ming Dynasty, those who colluded with the Japanese would be beheaded, and their five generations would be banned from working in the government, and their three generations would be banned from joining the army.

"I obey your order." Chen Mo bowed his head and accepted the order.

Even the most resolute-willed soldier can be seduced by money, beauty, rare treasures, etc. Zhu Yijun did not pardon the crime of colluding with the Japanese pirates because they were coastal defense inspectors, because these coastal defense inspectors should have known better about the harm posed by the Japanese pirates.

"Felipe is so brave. Since he sold saltpeter to Japan, I can't blame him." Zhu Yijun tapped his fingers on the table. After a brief thought, he came up with a solution.

It is not a reciprocal retaliation. The Ming Dynasty should support England. If the Ming Dynasty supports England and also supplies iron and steel fire feathers to England, wouldn't the Ming Dynasty become a barbarian like Spain?
Zhu Yijun planned to steal someone's girlfriend.

When he was on his southern tour to Songjiang Prefecture, he met with the envoy of the Viceroy's Office of Peru and reached a secret agreement. Ming Dynasty would continue to supply the Viceroy's Office of Peru and transport the goods to Mingguan in Lima City. Ming Dynasty did not have to worry about other matters. Even the high tariff of 30% before the tax increase was reduced to 13% in exchange for the supply of Ming Dynasty goods.

The conclusion of this secret agreement means that the city of Lima will become a distribution center for Ming Dynasty goods in the entire South America, becoming the most dazzling pearl in the Pacific Ocean, and ushering in rapid development just like Lisbon, Portugal.

Zhu Yijun said to Feng Bao: "The next chapter is to be sent to the Minister of the Honglu Temple, Zhang Chaorui, to plan an envoy to go to Lima via the Pacific route to invite the Governor-General of Peru to visit the Ming Dynasty."

"Will the Governor-General of Peru come?" Feng Bao understood His Majesty's plan, but he always felt that it was a bit presumptuous to let the Governor-General of Peru so blatantly surrender to the Ming Dynasty?

Although the Viceroyalty of Peru and the Ming Dynasty were secretly colluding, how could the Governor of Peru do such a blatant betrayal?

Doing business secretly and raising the flag of rebellion are two completely different things.

"I can provide security for Peru." Zhu Yijun looked at the geomancy map and said, "This is something that Felipe cannot give Peru now."

"Your Majesty is wise." Feng Bao thought about it for a moment and understood His Majesty's considerations.

The fundamental reason why the Viceroyalty of Peru dared to collude secretly with the Ming Dynasty to evade Felipe's unreasonable tax increase was that Felipe's expedition to England failed, the Invincible Fleet was no longer invincible, and its main force was severely damaged.

Because of the hostility between Spain and the Ming Dynasty, if a five-masted ocean-going ship, a main battleship, sank, it would be one less. The Invincible Fleet could no longer guarantee the safety of the Viceroyalty of Peru.

The Invincible Armada couldn't even protect the safety of the Spanish mainland.

If the Viceroyalty of Peru lost support from the mainland, it would not be able to maintain its rule.

The things that the Western colonists did in South America were extremely evil, and the local indigenous peoples resisted one wave after another without interruption. Because of the strong cities and the large sailing ships that came every year to provide supplies, the colonists were able to continue their brutal rule with harsh means.

The Governor-General of Peru had to come even if he didn't want to.

In the Thirty Years' Anglo-Spanish War, Spain eventually won the war, but also lost the ocean. During the war, Spain's overseas colonies, either openly or secretly, broke away from Spain's colonial rule.

There is no doubt that the emperor's dispatch of envoys to Lima, Peru, to invite the Viceroyalty of Peru to come to the Ming Dynasty accelerated the split between Spain and the colonies.

Spain’s core interest is the British Empire, which is the most important thing for Spain, just as important as the core interest of the Ming Dynasty.

Felipe's smuggling of saltpeter to Japan was a minor incident and could not harm the core interests of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Emperor chose the most brutal revenge and took heart-to-heart action against Spain's colonies, an important component of the British Empire.

It doesn’t matter whether the Governor of Peru comes or not, as long as the envoy of the Ming Dynasty arrives in Lima, the seeds of doubt will be planted, take root, sprout, blossom and bear fruit.

After Zhu Yijun handled the case, he picked up two memorials from Ling Yunyi. This second assistant who returned to Beijing to put out the fire had his own views on the future direction of the Ming Dynasty. His first memorial was about strengthening the ban on firearms and preventing the proliferation of firearms among the people.

There are a large number of firearms among the people. After all, there are still many tigers these days, and incidents of wild boars and brown bears injuring people are endless.

In Ling Yunyi's view, condoning the proliferation of firearms was a sign of inaction and tyranny by the court, not a benevolent policy. Tolerating firearms would become a universal excuse for the court to carry out a bloody suppression of dissidents.

No matter how powerful ordinary people are, they are always at a disadvantage compared to the imperial court in terms of weapons. But once the common people have "lethal firepower", it means that they have automatically given up their status as weak, and the status of weak is an absolute weapon protected by wind, public opinion and law.

The archers of the Patrol Inspection Office and the elite soldiers of the Beijing Camp harmed unarmed civilians. What a horrible word!

But when the bailiff shot and killed a man with a musket during law enforcement, everything immediately became better.

As a senior official in the Ministry of Justice, Ling Yunyi believed that the court's previous ban on firearms had invisibly expanded the scope of the court's legitimate use of violence.

Ling Yunyi did not intend to completely ban firearms immediately. He believed that the ban on firearms should be completed in metropolitan areas with a population of over one million.

The small peasant economy is disintegrating, the population is rapidly concentrating around industries, and the urban management of metropolises is a huge challenge that the Ming Dynasty must face.

Cases of large-scale fights between criminal gangs in metropolitan areas have become more and more frequent in recent years. Public security issues are within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice.

If in a few years, a farce occurred in which gangs and riots broke out and attacked the government offices, the Ming Dynasty, the Celestial Empire, would become a laughing stock.

Zhu Yijun reviewed Ling Yunyi's first memorial and stated that it was impossible to completely ban firearms in counties and villages due to the Ming Dynasty court's execution capability. However, it was still possible to do so in these big cities.

Ling Yunyi's second memorial was about the management of government-owned factories. Starting with the Xishan Coal Bureau and the Yongding Woolen Factory, Zhou Liangyin was in charge of clearing out redundant staff in the two most representative government-owned factories of the Ming Dynasty.

Wang Chonggu’s management is full of human touch.

This management style certainly has its advantages, as the craftsmen regard the factory as their home, have a strong sense of belonging, and are extremely motivated to produce. But it also has disadvantages, and these disadvantages are also very fatal, including nepotism and redundant staff, low production efficiency, ineffective production, extravagance and waste, loss of materials, etc.

This kind of management style with a strong human touch is not suitable for the current rapid expansion of state-owned factories.

In order to cope with natural disasters, the Ming Dynasty planned to build fifty government factories in the first five years. With such rapid expansion and the use of personal relationships in management, it might get out of the control of the court.

"People are not worried about scarcity but inequality. The problems in government-owned factories are indeed very serious and have actually affected production." After reading the memorial, Zhu Yijun was very resentful of the craftsmen.

Of the twenty resident craftsmen in a shift, only fifteen came to work, and the remaining five were absent for a long time for various reasons. Moreover, among these fifteen resident craftsmen, five or six were substitutes.

Substitute shifts mean that craftsmen live in the factory instead of going to work, and people are hired from outside at less than half the salary to work in the official factory.

The resident craftsmen are skilled craftsmen, while these substitute workers are basically apprentices, which has affected production.

In addition to long-term absences and substitute shifts due to reasons, there is also no punishment for mistakes.

The Legal Affairs Office of the government-run factory initially found many minor mistakes made by craftsmen, but there was no punishment after they were reported. Later, as human touch became more and more intense, the work of the Legal Affairs Office became increasingly difficult and people disliked it. The craftsmen felt that the Legal Affairs Office was just looking for trouble.

Since the fifteenth year of Wanli, the legal records are filled with nothing to do today.

Theft, fighting, embezzlement, extortion and other incidents began to occur in government-owned factories and became increasingly serious.

All these things led to a general consensus that quickly formed among the craftsmen in the government-run factories: in government-run factories, the more honest you are, the more you will suffer. It's not that you can't get any advantage, but that you will suffer losses.

It’s just that because the state-owned factories are engaged in monopoly business with huge profits, and they can afford to support so many rentiers, these ills have not erupted in a concentrated manner.

Zhou Liangyin used this sharp sword to rectify government-owned factories before he even started to eliminate officials.

Ling Yunyi waited until Wang Chonggu's affairs were settled before he started to rectify the situation. He was not denying Wang Chonggu. When the state-owned factory was first established, there was nothing except policies and 100,000 taels of silver. Wang Chonggu had no way to take action against those old guys.

This purge marks the Labour Party's maturity.

(End of this chapter)