I'm really not doing business

Chapter 952 Weakness and cowardice will only bring humiliation.

Could a letter from the Ming emperor, far across the ocean, truly stop Felipe from going mad? Having become completely deaf to all advice, would Felipe, upon seeing such a didactic letter, rationally heed its arguments, or would he become even more enraged?
Hard to say.

It's really hard to say.

Because while Felipe was indeed a tyrant, he was not a fool. In his old age, Felipe might actually have briefly regained his senses after seeing the imperial edict from the Ming emperor and analyzed the pros and cons of the expedition.

As Pedro said, His Highness Felipe greatly admired the Ming emperor and longed for the Ming system.

For a long time, the power and wealth of the Ming Dynasty, through the constant embellishment by missionaries and merchants, created a false image of the Ming Dynasty in the minds of Westerners that was many times more powerful than the Ming Dynasty itself.

Even the Ming Dynasty itself could not defeat this fictional Ming Dynasty. The distant East was full of gold, prosperous and peaceful, and even the rivers flowed with honey. There are too many stories to list.

The glazed pagoda of the Great Bao'en Temple in Nanya was built by Zhu Di for his mother, Empress Ma, but envoys, merchants, and missionaries from the West all went there to visit it as if on a pilgrimage.

Even though Zhu Yijun repeatedly corrected this erroneous perception, and the Ming Dynasty had all sorts of problems, this stereotype is still deepening.

This led to the Ming emperor's opinion that no matter how crazy Felipe was, he still had to consult him.

Therefore, Pedro hoped that the Ming Emperor could write a letter to wake Felipe up. He was getting old, but the emergence of the Pacific Rim Business Alliance, coupled with the Emperor's decree, could calm Felipe down and make him think things through.

However, the Ming emperor explicitly refused.

Zhu Yijun looked at Pedro. Pedro was braver than he had imagined. He knew that the emperor's extremely impolite letter might lead to his death, but Pedro still did it. That was very brave.

Perhaps, as Pedro and Gao Qiyu said, the Spain that was reborn from the ashes of the Reconquest Movement was indeed quite different from those barbarian states in the West. At least Spain completed a part of the construction of its own state.

"There has been some turmoil in the French royal family, and His Highness Felipe intends to intervene militarily. I don't understand why we would launch a major war on land when the navy is on a naval expedition against England."

"It is truly a pity that His Majesty refuses to issue an imperial edict to persuade him." Pedro held back for a long time, but in the end he did not make any further requests. The Ming Dynasty had already been quite polite. If the Ming people were to smuggle saltpeter into England, Spain's response would probably be much more drastic.

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and added, "I had advised him before, but Felipe obviously did not heed my advice."

“Pedro, if your prince isn’t so confused that he can’t distinguish right from wrong, he would already know clearly when he sees the words ‘Pacific Rim Business Alliance’ that the expedition cannot continue.”

"If he has become so confused that he cannot distinguish between what is important and what is urgent, then my letter is meaningless."

"Your Majesty, we respectfully see you off." Gao Qiyu, along with his officials, respectfully saw His Majesty off as he departed.

Zhu Yijun returned to Tonghe Palace and personally wrote the plaque for Zhang Xinhe's first-class merit award. He then wrote the details of the case on the back of the merit plaque. Each merit plaque of the Ming Dynasty had the reason for the award written on the back.

First-class meritorious service, awarded with a plaque that illustrious achievements shine like the sun;

Second-class merit, awarded a plaque to honor the ancestors;
He was awarded the title of First Merit (Third Class) and bestowed with a plaque recognizing his outstanding merit.
Fourth-class cooperative service, awarded the plaque of "Loyal and Safeguarding the Frontier";
He was awarded the title of Fifth Grader for his diligent efforts and was bestowed with a plaque recognizing his dedication and integrity.

Zhu Yijun thought about it and felt that something was still missing, so he added eight more characters to the explanation of the Qigong plaque: "Sacrifice one's life for righteousness, and achieve benevolence through righteousness."

Having upheld the principles of righteousness and reached the other shore of benevolence, Zhang Xinhe, though unable to write the eight-legged essay and less well-read than the literati, surpassed the vast majority of them in his practice of benevolence and righteousness.

"How's the investigation going?" Zhu Yijun asked Zhao Mengyou, the head of the special forces, whether the drowning incident was truly an accident.

"The case involved a quarrel between a husband and wife. Grinding tofu is the hardest part of the process, and the argument stemmed from the work of adding the coagulant. As a result, the wife jumped into the water, and the husband went in to rescue her. The three men who went in to rescue her were all local residents. There was nothing unusual about the case, except that all five of them were non-swimmers." Zhao Mengyou had indeed investigated the cause and effect very carefully.

It wasn't a deliberate arrangement, nor was it a trap set for the Beijing garrison commander, nor was it a scheme orchestrated by Zhang Xinhe for promotion or to pass on his long-cherished title of First-Class Merit to his family; it was simply an accident.

Zhang Xinhe was truly exhausted; his act of saving the fifth person was a gamble with his life.

The three greatest hardships in life are blacksmithing, boat rowing, and tofu grinding.

Making tofu is the hardest job. This couple had been married for less than three years. They had no savings and didn't even have a donkey to pull the millstone. Every day at midnight, they had to get up to cook the beans and pull the millstone. The woman's hands were more steady when adding brine and stirring.

When a poor couple faces hardship, they quarrel over making brine, which eventually led to this situation.

"Then let's wait until the plaque is ready, and have the Ministry of Rites send it over with gongs and drums, making a big fuss so everyone can see it." Zhu Yijun had finished reviewing all the case files. The Imperial Guards had investigated very thoroughly. Zhang Xinhe did not know these four people, and they had no connection or relationship with them in their lives.

The more unexpected something is, the more precious it becomes. In that brief moment, Zhang Xinhe's decision was not based on weighing the pros and cons; it was an instinctive act.

The 100,000 elite soldiers of the Ming Dynasty's capital garrison were truly holy warriors.

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and then said to Feng Bao, "I will also bestow upon General Qi and Li Rusong a python-patterned overcoat, two hundred taels of silver, three layers of silk fabric, one thousand strings of cash, five tables of tea and meals, three sheep and one cow, and five pieces of Guojiao liquor. This is to show them some favor, and they need not refuse. So be it."

"Your subject obeys the decree." Feng Bao bowed his head and accepted the order. He could tell that the emperor was truly pleased. His daily visits to the capital garrison to inspect the troops and horses, despite all the hard work, had ultimately paid off.

The Ming Dynasty's capital garrison has grown into the form His Majesty desired.

When Qi Jiguang first proposed the idea of ​​reporting to the emperor and saving the common people, no one paid attention, and some even took it as a joke.

All the scholar-officials believed that the strict military discipline of the Beijing garrison was maintained entirely by the annual military pay of eighteen taels of silver. But today, the fact that Captain Zhang Xinhe knelt down to save his mother represents that this military spirit has been fully formed.

Even the most foolish scholar-official could not utter the words "promote civil affairs and overthrow military affairs" to such an army.

Promoting both civil and military power has its rationale, after all, no one can bear the cost of uncontrolled violence, but now this proposition can no longer be voiced under any circumstances.

Zhu Yijun processed many memorials. The Liaodong Agricultural Reclamation Bureau submitted a memorial inquiring about the land tax issue. The Ministry of Revenue decided to continue the old system, collecting three liters of rice per mu as tax, and determined that it should not exceed three liters. Moreover, these three liters of tax would not go into the national treasury, but would remain with the Liaodong Agricultural Reclamation Bureau to reward land reclamation.

Land reclamation in Liaodong was extremely difficult, and the swamps were very difficult to deal with because they were not only marshes but also had ridges.

For scholar-officials who did not farm, it was difficult for them to understand the obstacles that the headman was taking to land reclamation.

Tatou is a mound-like structure formed by the long-term entanglement of grass roots and soil. It usually takes decades or even hundreds of years to grow. Its root system extends one to two feet into the ground. The ponds in Liaodong are full of these tatou.

For land reclamation, this thing is even more difficult to deal with than old tree roots, making land reclamation in Liaodong quite difficult.

The imperial court provided the greatest policy support for land reclamation in Liaodong. Land taxes were not paid into the national treasury and were even exempted from taxation. Each household was exempted from taxation on 20 mu of land.

Having nowhere else to turn, Chen, who was wandering around with his elderly mother on his back, heard about the policy and went to Liaodong to reclaim wasteland. He reclaimed wasteland for five years and obtained 45 mu of land. He was exempt from taxes for the first three years, and after five years of cultivation, the land deeds belonged to him.

If Chen is not married and his elderly mother is still alive five years later, then the forty mu will be exempt from tax, and only five mu will be subject to tax.
If Mr. Chen marries without children, his 60 mu of land will be exempt from taxation. After that, for each additional child, his land will be exempt from taxation on an additional 20 mu. The more children he has, the more he will be exempt from taxation.

Land tax exemptions were calculated based entirely on the number of people in the household, including children. Even if a child died young, there was a three-year grace period for a replacement.

These are all legacies left to Liaodong by Hou Yuzhao, and are part of the original five-point plan for military farming.

These methods greatly encouraged Han people to go to Liaodong to reclaim wasteland. However, these methods were not created by Hou Yu Zhao. The detailed policies on military farming were all copied by Hou Yu Zhao from the military farming laws of Cao Wei.

Cao Wei's forced abdication of Emperor Xian of Han was indeed unjust, but Cao Wei's military-agricultural settlement program was very successful. At that time, the Central Plains was a place where "famous cities were empty and no one lived there, and there were countless places where people lived for hundreds of miles without a population." The military-agricultural settlement program, which exempted people from taxes and corvée labor and encouraged production, greatly restored the vitality of the region after years of war.

However, after Sima Zhao usurped the throne, he hastily abolished the military-agricultural system and launched a campaign to appease the Five Barbarian tribes and relocate the barbarians to the interior. The Xiongnu alone relocated 80 people to the interior. The Sima family was truly audacious to dare to relocate barbarians to the interior in this way. In the end, they reaped the bitter fruits of their actions and ended up with the southward migration of the elite.

If the Central Plains remain in such a state of disarray, it will be time for the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties.

The Sima family is universally condemned, not only because he usurped the throne, but also because of the misdeeds of his family.

In the Central Plains, everything is ultimately judged by the two words: merit and demerit.

This is actually the difference between historical accounts and religious accounts. In historical accounts, the emperor is a living person who can be killed or captured, but in religious accounts, who judges the gods?

Once the establishment of a dynasty is complete, the civilization will possess sufficient resilience, and even during a brief period of decline and hardship, there will still be a possibility of recovery.

"Oh, Wang Jiaping has given houses to the craftsmen at the Foshan Iron Pot Factory again." Zhu Yijun looked at the memorials submitted by Ling Yunyi, Wang Jiaping, and Zhou Liangyin.

Nothing else, just distributing houses.

Foshan Iron Pot Factory specializes in producing iron pots for export, and its profits are substantial. With so much money in its hands, the government at all levels in Guangdong is watching closely. The general manager of the iron pot factory submitted a memorial to the emperor, proposing to build a government compound for 10,000 households around the factory, which skilled craftsmen with more than five years of experience could apply for.

The Xishan Coal Bureau and the Yongding Woolen Mill also had two official residences for ten thousand households. Providing houses was not unusual for government-owned factories.

"It's good to provide houses, they should be provided. It's good to have wealth within a certain scale, they should be stored away." Zhu Yijun approved this memorial and gave a clear instruction: there must be no shoddy workmanship, no shoddy workmanship. When Wang Chonggu was alive, the quality of the official residences was extremely high. We cannot give the craftsmen houses after Wang Chonggu's death just because they are perfunctory.

If any quality issues arise, the emperor will hold those responsible accountable.

The fact that wealth was hidden within the scale of the factory actually reflected the dissatisfaction of officials at all levels in the Ming Dynasty with the government factories.

When local government offices encounter financial difficulties, they will dismantle government factories. As for when the money will be repaid? It's already a favor if the various levels of government offices acknowledge the debt; as for repayment, the power is in the hands of the government offices.

In order to deal with this kind of exploitation by government officials, various factories devised a method to conceal their wealth within their scale.

It means spending all the remaining profits to repair official residences, schools, pharmacies, orphanages, expand workshops, etc. Basically, even if the government comes to borrow money, I don't have a single penny in my account!
The struggles arising from various contradictions eventually led to order through continuous compromise.

Officials at all levels hoped that the court would stop building official residences, but the emperor continued to approve the construction of official factories and residences for thousands of households.

In fact, it also costs money for government factories to acquire land. The land around government factories is not cheap. This can be seen as a way to deal with the government's attempts to extort money.

The money can be given, but your government office can't just take it for free.

The diligence of the Ming emperors was as commonplace as the daily sunrise.

On June 26, the envoys from the West all had an audience with His Majesty the Emperor. Even the envoy from England was granted special permission this year to come to the capital to meet the Emperor.

The Ministry of Rites meant that it hoped to maintain communication and contact, and that if it really came to a last resort, the Ming Dynasty would not mind increasing the intensity of the attack on Spain.

Communication between Zhu Yijun and the English envoy was not smooth. The English envoy was eloquent and persuasive, constantly arguing the inevitability of implementing the license to privateer, attributing everything to the barbarity of Spain. After the English envoy left, the Ming emperor specifically instructed the Ministry of Rites: as long as the license to privateer is still in effect, no English envoy is allowed to enter the capital.

Not enough words to speculate.

"So, has the Great Brightness Cult begun to go astray?" Zhu Yijun looked at the Portuguese envoy Paulino Franco in front of him. This was Paulino's third mission to the Ming Dynasty. He had once served as Antonio's second mate.

Paulino exhaled a breath of stale air and said, "As Your Majesty knows, the Great Light Cult has become increasingly fanatical and dangerous."

In Zhu Yijun's memory, the Great Brightness Sect was very inclusive. You could believe in other sects, but when you encountered problems that you couldn't solve, you could seek help from the House of Wise Men to resolve the conflict.

As time goes by and the Great Light Cult expands, this inclusiveness is transforming into exclusivity.

The city of Great Light does not allow its residents to follow any other religion, not even Protestants. Wherever the Free Knights conquer, they do not allow their people to follow any other religion, and they even destroy all the churches.

Paulino said with a complicated expression, "But we can't blame Patriarch Marion. This exclusivity is also a form of retaliation. The Protestants and the Vatican are joining forces to strangle the Church of the Great Light."

The intolerance of the Great Illumination Church stems from the fact that Western sects do not allow the spread of the Great Illumination Church, and a religious war is brewing.

The exclusivity of the Great Light Cult was largely for self-preservation. The Ming Dynasty was unfamiliar with religion, and many fanatical believers secretly infiltrated the Great Light City, intending to assassinate the Great Light Cult's Patriarch.

In just three years, Marion and her father faced 36 assassination attempts, seven of which nearly succeeded when the assassins reached Marion.

The Free Knights' advance was also intended to demonstrate their toughness in the face of this encirclement.

Paulino, his brow furrowed, said, "Patriarch Marion said that while she was listening to Hadith, she heard His Majesty say:"

"A wise person is free from doubt because they understand the principles of things; because they have wisdom, they know right from wrong, good from evil, and thus they have morality. A moral person will not worry because of confusion; when life is no longer confusing, one will gain courage and no longer fear any difficulties."

"I dare to ask, is she conveying the sacred teachings incorrectly?"

Paulino was somewhat suspicious that Marion was forging an imperial edict.

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said with a smile, "What Ma Li'ang said is true. The wise are not perplexed, the benevolent are not worried, and the brave are not afraid. This comes from the Analects of Confucius, Book 19, Chapter 12. Ma Li'ang once asked me how one can persevere when feeling lost, and I told her this principle."

"And he warned her not to be indecisive or waver. As a leader, if you yourself are not sure about your own path, your subordinates will not know what to do and will sway with the wind, which will only make it impossible for people to unite."

Paulino's expression was extremely complicated. He thought for a long time before saying, "Marion's way of spreading the Hadith is somewhat vulgar."

“Marianne said to the saints: Our enemies have given us two paths: to be whipped a hundred times or to eat excrement. If we choose to be whipped, we cannot change our minds and eat excrement because we are afraid of the pain; if we choose to eat excrement, we cannot change our minds and eat excrement because we find it unpalatable.”

"Otherwise, the end result of such hesitation will be that you get whipped and eaten shit."

Paulino felt that Marion's teachings were somewhat distorted because of this vulgar story.

Zhu Yijun's lips twitched slightly upon hearing this, and he looked at Paulino with an extremely complicated expression.

Marion met with the saint twice. Marion once asked about the difficulties of missionary work. One of them was how to explain the doctrines to the poor and laborers. It was really difficult to explain the doctrines to believers who were illiterate and did not understand the principles.

If the Great Light Cult only preached to nobles, it wouldn't have this concern.

Zhu Yijun's reply at the time was concise and to the point, and he spoke in plain language.

It's about explaining complex concepts in a simple and easy-to-understand way, instead of making them so obscure that the audience has to guess.

When Marion spoke very bluntly, Zhu Yijun could only say that it was indeed too blunt and too crude.

But the principle is indeed very clear: whether you choose to surrender or to fight to the end, once you make a decision, you should never waver. Otherwise, if you hesitate, you will only become a laughing stock.

“She also said…” Paulino carefully organized his words before speaking, “If the king is a mouse, then his people are mice; if the king is a lion, then his people are lions.”

This sentence is already a refined version by Paulino; Marion's original words were:
If the king is a rat, his people will only dig holes and steal. Everyone will avoid this foul-smelling creature for fear of being tainted by misfortune, weakness, and cowardice, which will only bring shame.

Therefore, the Great Light Cult chose to fight back. Marion was fulfilling her promise; she would use her life to ignite the path for those who came after her.

"The saints are willing to follow her? The power of the Roman Catholic Church cannot be described in a few words." Zhu Yijun asked with a frown.

Paulino then said, "Your Majesty, that's why I feel they are becoming increasingly fanatical, and the saints are willing to follow Marion."

"Perhaps it's because of that phrase they often mention: We yearn, in the darkest of times, to find the dawn, and may wisdom be the guiding star in the darkest of times, enlightening us all!"

"Perhaps Marion and the others are right, and we are wrong."

"His Majesty has written a letter of state to His Highness Antonio, and we request His Majesty's instruction."

Paulino was not a follower of the Church of the Great Light; he was a Protestant. He felt that his faith was firm enough, but faced with the widespread prophecies of the Church of the Great Light, he expressed his approval and even felt that he was wrong.

On his way to the Ming Dynasty, Paulino was very conflicted. He pondered the matter repeatedly but ultimately had no answer. He hoped that the Ming Dynasty, as the suzerain state, would point him in the right direction.

The question that puzzled him was why King António of Portugal chose to remain silent in the face of Felipe's assassination attempt.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty expressed his understanding, but was His Highness Antonio's choice really the right one?
"I can understand Antonio's concerns, but he chose to be patient this time. He will need to be patient every time from now on."

“I am not sure what Antonio is thinking. Perhaps, Marcus is an outsider, and Antonio thinks the Sword Saint can be sacrificed, but what about next time? What about his wife, his son, and himself? I understand his choice, but I do not approve of it.” Zhu Yijun did not hide his true thoughts.

The Ming Dynasty's instigation of Portugal to retaliate against Spain in kind for the assassination was irresponsible, because the Ming Dynasty was unaware of the situation in Spain, let alone Antonio's predicament, and was unclear about the balance of power between the two sides, making direct military intervention even more difficult.

While Zhu Yijun was understanding, he did not believe that such forbearance could earn him dignity; it was merely a delaying tactic.

The more Felipe suffers repeated defeats on his expeditions against England, the more likely he is to turn against Portugal, as Felipe desperately needs victory to consolidate his authority.

"Your Majesty's teachings will be obeyed." Paulino remained silent for a long time before bowing again and choosing to leave. He already had his answer in his heart.

Antonio earned his throne through hard work, not through Felipe's charity. Perhaps Marion was right after all.

As Zhu Yijun watched Paulino's departing figure, he suddenly realized that Antonio was no longer the penniless man he once was, willing to gamble everything; he was now the king.

The story of a dragon slayer who becomes a dragon himself.

"This year, the Portuguese envoy did not bring any seeds. Last year, when Marcus came, he told me that he had heard of a type of corn in Mexico that grew very well and wanted to bring some to me for breeding." Zhu Yijun said with a hint of emotion. This time, the Portuguese envoy did not bring any seeds from afar.

The Ming Dynasty merchant ships could collect seeds themselves, making them more efficient. They even collected soil from various places.

The Portuguese bringing seeds to the Ming Dynasty was more like a customary custom, but with the passing of the sword saint Marcus, this custom was slowly forgotten.

Feng Bao said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, the envoy from the Mexican Governor's Office has also arrived. Moreover, having heard that Your Majesty is fond of agriculture, he has brought many local specialties. This envoy is staying next door to Pedro."

"Oh? Lives next door? Does Pedro know?" Zhu Yijun once again acknowledged the Ming Dynasty scholars' ability to nitpick and criticize.

Feng Bao explained, "The envoy from the Mexican Governor's Office came on a Ming Dynasty merchant ship. He had just finished learning etiquette and was heading to the capital when, by some twist of fate, he came to the capital with Pedro. Pedro found out as soon as he arrived in the capital."

"Oh, what a coincidence, isn't it?" Zhu Yijun asked with a smile.

"What a coincidence."

Zhu Yijun received the envoy from the Mexican Governor's Office and accepted the various kinds of seeds. In addition to the seeds, there were also all sorts of strange livestock calves, both male and female. Agriculture and animal husbandry were not separated. The Ming Dynasty bred both crops and livestock, so the envoy brought them along.

The envoy's purpose was simple: to see what the Ming Dynasty needed and then expand the industrial park accordingly.

The Mexican Viceroyalty did not have enough gold and silver. If they wanted goods from the Ming Dynasty, they would have to find a way to develop their own industries. Relying solely on smuggling from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean would not last.

"I have heard that Mexico also has silver mines. The production and quality of the Saucito silver mine are renowned. The Ming Dynasty is very interested in silver." Zhu Yijun had heard of the silver mines in Mexico, located at the foot of the Mesquite Mountains, whose quality and production were in no way inferior to those of the rich silver mines.

But Zhu Yijun sensed the envoy's anxiety.

"Your Majesty, with your vast knowledge and wisdom, the Sausito silver mine is no less than that of the rich silver mines, but the silver there has never belonged to Mexico." The envoy's face fell, and he explained why the Governor's Office wanted to plant chili peppers, cocoa, and cinchona trees for the Ming Dynasty.

Control of the Sausito silver mine was in the hands of Francisco de Murgia, a Spanish nobleman of the Plain Lion Banner, and the mine was guarded by his private army.

The silver mined from the silver mines was transported directly to ports on the Atlantic Ocean and shipped back to Spain, instead of being left in Lima to be minted into silver coins, as was the case with the rich silver mines.

The silver in Sausito has nothing to do with Sausito, and even less to do with Mexico.

"In that case, let's plant some chili peppers and cocoa. The Ming Dynasty has a great demand for these two things." Zhu Yijun still permitted Mexico to plant chili peppers and cocoa.

The variety of chili peppers in the Ming Dynasty is not as rich as in Mexico. Mexico has so many varieties of chili peppers that they could fill a museum, while the Ming Dynasty has just completed trial cultivation of cocoa.

Zhu Yijun also extended a very sincere invitation to the Governor-General of Mexico, hoping that the Governor-General could come to the Ming Dynasty and personally sign the trade agreement.

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty." The envoy knelt on the ground and kowtowed several times before happily leaving the Wenhua Hall.

Zhu Yijun concluded his meeting with the envoys; the Mexican envoy was the last one.

The emperor pondered for a moment before shaking his head and saying, "Even without the support of the Ming Dynasty, these governorates would gradually become alienated from the Spanish mainland."

In the past, they had no choice, but now these colonists in the governor's mansion also want to live like human beings.

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(End of this chapter)