I'm really not doing business

Chapter 986 I Participate, I Supervise, I Revise

When legal system is not in use, it is indeed useless, much like toilet paper. But when it comes to establishing a country, without legal system, no one will recognize it, and this thing becomes extremely important.

The Xianbei Khan wanted to establish his own state, the Xianbei State, and therefore needed a legal system.

However, he did not have enough power to persuade his people to conquer all the tribes, nor did he have the power to persuade other countries to recognize his Xianbei state. Therefore, he needed to leverage external forces.

Without a doubt, it is better to rely on the power of the Ming Dynasty than on the power of the Rus' Kingdom.

The Rus' Kingdom was rife with atrocities, burning, killing, and looting. The Ming Dynasty's adventure teams brought roads and caravans, allowing them to purchase goods at fairer prices. The Ming Dynasty was more moderate, and being farther away, it posed no fatal threat to the Xianbei Kingdom.

The Xianbei Plain was very poor, and the Ming Dynasty had no reason to launch an attack on it. The Ming Dynasty also had little interest in occupying the Xianbei Plain.

Legal legitimacy is sometimes really important.

Felipe fought against the Ottomans and the French, expanding his territory overseas and establishing countless colonies, achieving the success of the British Empire. He longed to be emperor and the ruler of the West, but his father did not pass the throne to him, so he could only be a king.

Felipe's previous pursuit of a loose business alliance with the West may well have been a step in the right direction.

Once you become a king, you want to be an emperor; once you become an emperor, you want to live forever. Human desires are endless and can never be fully satisfied.

Later, England's powerful ships and cannons spread across the oceans, but England could only obtain the imperial throne from the Mughal Empire and call itself the British Empire. However, this stolen imperial throne was not widely recognized, and slowly, the British Empire became the Kingdom of England.

Fundamentally, legitimacy is something that is earned through struggle; as long as you are strong enough in a fight, you can gain recognition.

The thrones of the Roman Empire, the Russian Tsars, the Ottoman Empire, and Napoleon of France were all won through war, not bestowed upon them by others.

The Ottoman Empire was recognized by conquering Constantinople; the Russian Empire was won through conquest of Eastern Europe and the Qing Dynasty.

Napoleon's throne was only gained after he nearly unified the West during his struggle.

Clearly, the Xianbei people on the Xianbei Plain are now facing a crisis of survival.

The Xianbei people were no match for the Rus' Kingdom. If it weren't for the Ming Dynasty's adventure team, they would have been wiped out by the Rus' and Cossacks. Even during internal strife, when a group of a thousand Japanese pirates fled, the Ulhan Khan couldn't subdue them and had to rely on the Ming Dynasty's Duntai Yuanhou adventure team.

Unable to establish a legitimate legal system, we can only pray for a legal system bestowed by the Ming Dynasty.

After careful consideration, Zhu Yijun shook his head and said, "It is not a problem for me to confer the title of Khan on Ulhan, but whether he can hold onto it is the problem. It is too far away, and the Ming Dynasty cannot reach it and will not provide any assistance."

Zhu Yijun could bestow titles, which was simple—just an imperial edict. But what happened after the bestowal?

The Rus' Kingdom had four Cossack legions, but only one of them was raiding the Xianbei steppe for furs. If Ulhan had established the Xianbei Kingdom, the Rus' Kingdom would have definitely used a much larger force to destroy it, instead of engaging in such minor skirmishes.

The Ming Dynasty could bestow titles and provide some assistance, but the Ming Dynasty was simply too far away from the Xianbei Kingdom.

Three hundred adventure teams led by distant marquises of the watchtowers may sound like a lot, but in reality, they only number about 1500 people. Each adventure team consists of one distant marquis of the watchtower, one interpreter, two Ming Dynasty guards, and one Oirat.

The people of the forest and the seven tribes of the northern desert, all the young and strong Oirat people, were absorbed by the adventure team of Duntai Yuanhou.

Even after the adventure team enters the Xianbei Plain, they will add three to five more Xianbei people to act as henchmen, but the team's strength is still very weak.

Faced with well-organized Cossack legions, these adventurous teams could not be the decisive force in the battle.

The Ming Dynasty had no reason to send a large-scale army to help the Xianbei people establish a state and resist the invasion of the Rus' Kingdom. Zhu Yijun was never a benevolent person; he only wanted to be a good emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The Xianbei people had to prove themselves; if they didn't, the Ming Dynasty couldn't help them much.

"That's why His Majesty needs to bestow this title." Wendu is a commander of ten thousand households. The officials of the Ministry of Rites had already told him these things many times. He understood that if the Xianbei wanted to exist, they had to rely on their own efforts.

With the emperor's investiture, it would be easier to unite the people and resist the invasion of the Rus' Kingdom.

"Then let the cabinet draft the decree." Zhu Yijun finally decided to grant an official title. If it succeeded, it would naturally stop the eastward expansion of the Rus' Kingdom and at least make the northwestern border of the Ming Dynasty more stable. If it failed, it would just be a matter of issuing an imperial decree.

Despite the investiture ceremony, the Ming Dynasty would not provide any assistance. Zhu Yijun made it very clear to Wendu, the Xianbei commander, not to expect any help from the Ming Dynasty.

If the Xianbei people think that having an imperial edict allows them to use that favor to their advantage and expect the Ming Dynasty to help them unconditionally, then they are overthinking it.

Emperor Zhu Yijun of the Ming Dynasty was really not concerned with saving face; if it succeeded, great, if not, so be it.

The Ming Dynasty didn't actually have much profit on the Xianbei Plain, just some furs and rye. The adventure teams mainly explored for minerals, but gold and silver mines weren't easy to find, and transportation was a problem due to the distance. The Womagang mining area was enough for the Ming Dynasty to mine for many years.

The adventure team's primary responsibility is to increase the buffer zone in the northwest.

Zhu Yijun received the envoy from the West.

The messenger from the Grande Luminaire in France brought some bad news: the plan to march on Paris had encountered great resistance and could not continue. The Grande Luminaire had suffered three consecutive defeats and was now in dire straits.

These three defeats were: first, due to overly aggressive tactics, which allowed the Duke of Guise, Henry, to devour the vanguard; second, because of the gullibility of trusting the surrender of Parisian nobles, which led to being attacked from both sides; and third, because the Protestant leader, Henry Navarre, who succeeded as Duke of Anjou, successfully attacked the supply lines.

All the cities that the Great Brightness Cult had previously attacked were lost, and they retreated completely into Great Brightness City, not knowing where to go. In other words, Duke Gis and Duke Anjou were unsure of the Ming Dynasty's attitude, so they did not attack Great Brightness City.

This battle for the French throne is also known as the Battle of the Three Henrys, because there were three Henrys involved.

First, there was Henry III, who was fond of men. Queen Mother Catherine had tried her best, but Henry III was still completely incompetent and had no ability to be king. Two years ago, in the seventeenth year of the Wanli reign, Henry III was assassinated.

The second Henry was the Duke of Guise. The power behind this Henry was the Holy League, which was the Roman Catholic Church led by Spain. After the Duke of Guise drove out Marion's father, he became the de facto ruler of Paris.

The third was Henri Navarre, a Bourbon nobleman. He was a Protestant and a Protestant leader, but Henri Navarre's faith was very flexible. Since Protestants made up less than 10% of the French population, Henri Navarre converted to Catholicism to gain the approval of Catholics.

The Ming Dynasty always believed that religion was a tool for ruling from below, but there were always people who said that God really existed and spread the gospel.

If God truly exists, shouldn't Henry Navarre's act of switching allegiance be punished by divine retribution?
Originally, Marion's father and the Great Light Cult led by Marion were also strong contenders for the throne, but three consecutive defeats completely shattered the cohesion of the Great Light Cult, and all the previously conquered territories were lost again, thus losing the strength to compete for the throne.

Zhu Yijun inquired in detail about the ins and outs of these three battles. He pointed out that the three blows were due to recklessness, gullibility, and lax defense. These three setbacks were the biggest setbacks since the founding of the Great Brightness Church. Even the priests were filled with doubts about the future of the Great Brightness Church.

Now, the Great City of Light no longer forbids other believers from entering, and it is even going to revert to its original name, Saint Nazar.

“The followers of the Great Light Cult have lost their courage and no longer believe that they can complete their path to salvation through their own strength.” After listening to the Great Light Cult’s narration, Zhu Yijun said with certainty, “If they no longer believe in themselves, then there is no need for the followers to gather. The Great Light City can be renamed back to its original name.”

The core doctrine of the Great Light Sect is that wisdom comes from the universe, and only by understanding the infinite principles of the universe can one attain wisdom.

The core doctrine is that humans are human beings, and there is no such thing as a vague or ethereal god. Success, failure, sin, right and wrong are all borne by the individual, and there is no vague or ethereal god to bear all of these responsibilities.

To some extent, the founding and spread of the Great Light Church was somewhat similar to the separation of heaven and earth in the past, but the religion's power was extremely strong in the West.

"Patriarch Marion is willing to bear all the blame and take responsibility for all the mistakes. If the Prophet issues a decree, Marion is willing to pay the price of his life for defeat," the messenger said firmly, taking a deep breath.

Marion is not afraid of death, but she is afraid of being lost and not knowing where the road leads. It can be said that this is the most dangerous moment for the Great Brightness Cult.

Zhu Yijun immediately said, "No, no, no, Marion was wrong, and you were wrong too. Is this the attitude of taking responsibility for mistakes? To just die?"

"What about the believers? What about those who risked their lives for freedom? What did their sacrifices amount to? Was their blood shed in vain? If death can atone for sins, then what is the meaning of sin in the world?"

"Failure is not shameful; losing courage is unforgivable."

"The War of the Three Henrys is nearing its end. After Henry Navarre converted, he gained more support, and the Duke of Gifford suffered defeat after defeat. It really seems that he has no chance of seizing the throne."

"But the throne is not everything."

"If the Catholic Church of the Roman Catholic Church truly enjoyed widespread acceptance among the French people, then why did Protestantism exist? Why did the religious wars last for more than a decade occur? If that were the case, France might as well have been annexed by Spain."

Zhu Yijun was not optimistic about Marion's foray into Paris from the very beginning. In his view, there was only one outcome for this foray: failure.

But Zhu Yijun never expected that Ma Li'ang would be so devastated by this defeat, preparing to atone with death—the cheapest and most useless way to apologize. The best way to atone is to win back what she lost!
But the Battle of the Three Henrys was slowly coming to an end, and Marion and his Great Light Cult had lost their chance to fish in troubled waters.

"Please, Prophet, show the way for the lost sheep." The messenger understood His Majesty's words, but not entirely. What exactly did the Prophet want Marion to do to save the Great Light Cult from its dire straits?

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said, "The founding of the Great Light Church was an accident. It was because the Portuguese Minister of State, Xu Fan, caused social unrest by King Antonio's hasty expulsion of the cardinals, that the House of Wise Men, which was previously responsible for gathering intelligence, took over the work of the priests, presiding over weddings and funerals and blessing newborn children."

“When Marion traveled to Lisbon, she came into contact with the Church of the Great Light. When she came to the Ming Dynasty, her initial idea was very simple: she discovered that even without religion, one could still live well, or even better, and that without the taxes of the Papacy, life would be much easier.”

“Marie wanted to liberate those trapped in the cruel rule of religion; this was her initial idea and the most basic interpretation of freedom.”

"But everything changed when Marion's father helped her establish the Order of the Free Knights. Marion's goal no longer seemed to be to save these suffering people, but to seek the throne. In my opinion, this is a complete misguided path. She has forgotten why she started this journey." "Perhaps, returning to her original idea will yield a better result."

When the Knights of Freedom were established at an unimaginable speed, Zhu Yijun knew that Marion had gone astray. Now, the continuous failures seemed to be correcting her fate and bringing her back to the original path.

But the process of correction was extremely painful; at least Marion considered ending her life to end her sinful existence.

The Knights of Freedom suffered heavy losses. Of the original 30,000 knights, less than 3,000 remain. After three defeats, many were killed, wounded, or fled. The remaining 3,000 could be described as fanatical believers.

“I understand.” The messenger immediately understood the prophet’s message and said with a solemn expression, “Perhaps it is a better choice to stop focusing on big cities and instead look to the wider countryside, where they have suffered more.”

Zhu Yijun was stunned. Was that what he meant? He clearly meant that the throne was not important; what mattered was remembering why he had set out in the first place.

But the envoy's understanding seems to be correct as well.

In any case, neither the Duke of Gifford nor Henri Navarre would be fixated on attacking the Great Bright City, because Ming Dynasty goods were still being distributed there. It was just a small town, and as long as Ming Dynasty goods could still flow smoothly into France, that was enough.

Taking a rural route seems like a good choice indeed.

The Three Henri Wars in France, though seemingly exciting, were actually concentrated in the central region—the Loire Valley, the Paris area. Vast stretches of countryside remained untouched, with no one paying attention to the lives of ordinary people.

"May wisdom always be with you." After receiving the prophet's message, the messenger of the Great Light Church left joyfully.

Zhu Yijun did not give any further instructions. The Great Brightness Sect was just a side move to enhance the influence of the Ming Dynasty. It was an attempt to create a long-distance animal husbandry industry. Success would be great, but failure would not matter.

Long-distance livestock farming is a way to harvest the world; when developed to its fullest extent, it can yield a vast number of ocean-going livestock without the need for the military.

The Portuguese envoy brought a notice of death: the Portuguese Minister of State, Xu Fan, had passed away in July of the eighteenth year of the Wanli reign (1589) at the age of sixty-two. The envoy requested His Majesty to grant a memorial service as a sign of imperial favor.

When Xu Fan served as Minister of State, he rescued Lisbon from its filth and transformed it into the jewel of the West, known as the City of Flowers. It can be said that without the Minister of State, Antonio would not have been able to reign as king peacefully. Due to the heavy burden of state affairs, Xu Fan fell ill from overwork.

Zhu Yijun's imperial edict bestowing honors upon Xu Fan was an affirmation of his contributions to expanding the Ming Dynasty's influence. Without Xu Fan's presence in Portugal, the enormous war debts Portugal owed would have been impossible to repay.

"Who will succeed him as Minister of State?" Zhu Yijun asked with some curiosity.

"The Han Chinese scholars will jointly decide," said the Portuguese envoy Paulino with a strange expression. "His Highness Antonio does not trust any particular person and has ordered that eighty-eight apostles of the Great Light Church be selected from among the Han Chinese scholars exiled to the West to jointly decide the resolution."

Antonio chose a popular method and set up a very magical government, similar to the House of Lords in England and the Netherlands, or the Council of State in Spain. However, Antonio did not trust any particular person, so he brought out eighty-eight apostles of the Church of Light to vote on the bill.

These eighty-eight apostles were divided into four groups of twenty-two each: Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow. The members of each group changed once a year, either by eliminating or exchanging members, with each group eliminating or exchanging at least eight members.

After each group reaches a resolution, it is submitted to the royal palace for His Majesty the King to make a decision. The role is somewhat similar to that of a court secretary.

"Just don't mess things up, Antonio." Zhu Yijun said with a smile after hearing this. "These Han gentry are not easy to deal with. Don't let Antonio be sidelined and come to me crying his eyes out. The West is so far away, I can't do anything about it."

“The Secretary of State is a specific individual, and he can be dealt with, but with this kind of joint decision-making, no one will take responsibility.”

“His Highness Antonio is also helpless. He cannot find a trustworthy minister of state and has implored His Majesty to send one, but the journey to the West is long and arduous, and I’m afraid no one is willing to go.” Paulino said with some helplessness.

In fact, Antonio's order was for Paulino to plead with His Majesty, no matter what, to send a minister of state to Lisbon. If that was not possible, he was to go to the Imperial Academy and the National Academy and do everything in his power, no matter how much money he had to spend, to find a scholar-official qualified to serve as a minister of state to go to Lisbon.

As an envoy of Portugal, a vassal state, Paulino was free to move about in the Ming Dynasty, but his lobbying efforts failed, and the scholars of the Hanlin Academy and the Imperial Academy remained unmoved.

It wasn't a matter of money; the problem was that they simply wouldn't see this Western envoy.

In the end, Paulino did not make any unreasonable request to His Majesty, and could only temporarily appease him by voting on state affairs together and then slowly looking for a candidate for Minister of State.

Antonio was somewhat isolated and helpless. The local nobles in Portugal did not trust him and would not help him make any decisions. Antonio could not even follow Felipe's example and have representatives from each region select to form a council to discuss matters. Those nobles simply ignored him.

During Felipe's attack on Lisbon, almost all the nobles remained on the sidelines and showed no intention of helping Antonio.

“He’s a really boring king. He’s brought a lot of benefits to Portugal, but these nobles are still fixated on his status as an illegitimate son and refuse to acknowledge him. They might as well just kill all those nobles.” Zhu Yijun was fully aware of the situation Antonio was facing.

After the assassination of the Sword Saint Marcus, Antonio found it increasingly difficult to control the nobles. The nobles, who were previously terrified of Marcus's fighting prowess and dared not express their opinions, no longer bothered to pretend.

Paulino bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise. His Highness Antonio thinks the same way, so he is killing those hateful nobles bit by bit. Any noble who did not send troops in the national war will be executed for treason!"

"Huh?" Zhu Yijun was taken aback. He finally understood why Antonio had gone to Madrid in such a grand manner to seek peace—it was all for the purpose of carrying out an internal purge! And the methods he used seemed extremely ruthless.

Zhu Yijun asked doubtfully, "Is it possible?"

“His Highness Antonio’s military talent, while not as great as Marcus’s, is more than enough to deal with these inexperienced nobles.” Paulino was very confident in this. Antonio was quite capable in Portugal, and as long as Felipe was appeased, there would be no danger.

"Better safe than sorry." Zhu Yijun did not interfere too much in Portugal's national policy, but simply wished Antonio good safety.

The Ming emperor received almost all the envoys, but the English envoy was still not allowed to have an audience.

After the grand court assembly, Zhu Yijun changed into his everyday clothes and, with a troop of imperial guards, headed towards Xizhimen. There, he transferred to a small train to go to the Xishan Coal Bureau.

Today is the first trade union conference after the Xishan Coal Bureau's shareholding system reform. All craftsmen who own shares, that is, craftsmen with more than three years of service, will attend this trade union conference.

The main topics of this labor union conference are threefold: announcing the establishment of the labor union, announcing the basic operating mechanism of the labor union, and announcing the responsibilities of the labor union.

After the last incident of the artisans coming down from the mountain, everyone witnessed the horror of the artisan uprising. A significant portion of the imperial court's annual revenue came from the profits handed over by the official factories. If the Ming Dynasty government indiscriminately suppressed any artisan movement, it would definitely trigger an even larger artisan movement.

The purpose of the Trade Union Alliance was to resolve conflicts, involve artisans in the management of government factories, supervise the behavior of government factory officials, and amend unreasonable laws in government factories.

The main responsibility of the Trade Union is to allow all artisans to 'participate in, supervise, and modify' the reform of government-run factories.

The factory-wide union congress is held every six months, while the union congresses of each workshop are held every three months.

Each workshop, led by its head craftsman, was responsible for collecting the craftsmen's opinions on "participation, supervision, and modification" every month. They were also responsible for comprehensive supervision of the officials managing the official factories, providing clues about officials' violations of official regulations, and summarizing these opinions at the workshop's general assembly, which would then be handed over to the master craftsman.

The master craftsman was responsible for negotiating with the general manager of the official factory, and the issue would ultimately be resolved at the semi-annual workers' union conference.

Furthermore, the minutes of the Confederation of Trade Unions' congresses, held every six months at the end of June and December, are all submitted to the Emperor for review.

If we don't want to escalate the matter to His Majesty's attention, then we should resolve it within the official factory. This resolution process requires the satisfaction of both the craftsmen, represented by the chief craftsman, and the officials of the official factory, represented by the general manager.

Overall, the Trade Union Alliance did not have a physical entity, but it did have a general meeting, and the evaluation of master craftsmen was extremely rigorous. Of the nearly 30,000 craftsmen in the Xishan Coal Bureau, there were only twelve master craftsmen. Each of them brought about tremendous changes and made great contributions to the technological innovation of the official factory.

When Zhu Yijun, as the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, appeared at the official factory workers' conference, he was greeted with thunderous cheers and shouts of "Long live the Emperor!"

The imperial guards finally managed to calm the artisans down, and the first workers' union conference was successfully held.

Zhu Yijun stayed at the official factory for a long time and communicated with Wang Ji, the head of the factory, for a long time. Wang Ji was from Ruicheng, Shanxi, and could be considered half a member of the Jin Party because he had never gone to the Quan Jin Guild Hall to seek refuge with Wang Chonggu. He had some relationship with Wang Guoguang.

He was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the second year of the Wanli reign. The following year, he was appointed as the Prefect of Chizhou and then served as the Circuit Intendant of Baoding. Later, in the ninth year of the Wanli reign, he went to Shengzhou Factory and participated in its construction.

He stayed there for nine years. In the eighteenth year of the Wanli reign, he returned to the capital and served as the director of the Xishan Coal Mine, holding the rank of fifth-grade official in the Ministry of Works.

Wang Ji had extensive experience in managing official factories. When the emperor asked him questions, Wang Ji answered fluently. In particular, he had his own views on the reform of the laws governing official factories.

Zhu Yijun was very satisfied with Wang Ji. After inspecting the official factories again, he arrived at the water and fertilizer plant. After listening to the master craftsman Wei Youshan's improvement on the water and fertilizer production process, he left the Xishan Coal Bureau.

The Ming emperor's carriage went directly to the Beida Camp to inspect the troops. When he returned to Tonghe Palace, it was already late. Zhu Yijun turned on the lime torch and began to process the memorials of the day. There was no longer a strict rule that memorials should not be left overnight, but the emperor still habitually processed all the memorials before he felt at ease.

"Your Majesty, the chief physician of the Imperial Physician's Office has delivered a memorial." Feng Bao placed the last memorial in front of His Majesty. Wang Guoguang's condition suddenly worsened yesterday, and after the chief physician's emergency treatment, Wang Guoguang was already somewhat unable to recognize people.

According to the chief physician's assessment, Wang Guoguang was still in relatively good health and had not yet reached the terminal stage, but he was starting to become a little confused.

This was terrible news. Wang Guoguang, one of the heroes of the Wanli Reforms, was in increasingly poor health. After reading the memorial, Zhu Yijun issued an edict to remove him from the Custody Office and ensure Wang Guoguang's quality of life.

"Your Majesty, there is good news! The Empress is blessed with great fortune and is pregnant again. When Empress Dowager Li heard the news, she bestowed favors upon the palace servants." Feng Bao quickly announced the good news. In addition to the Empress, Consort Gu Meisheng, who entered the palace two years ago, was also confirmed to be pregnant by the chief physician Wu Lian the day before yesterday.

Zhu Yijun calculated that there would be two more imperial heirs in January of the following year. After Zhu Yiliu was enfeoffed, Empress Dowager Li fell ill and felt a bit lonely. Now that the Empress's belly was showing signs of pregnancy, Empress Dowager Li was naturally willing to bestow some favors upon her.

This is probably life, with its joys and sorrows, its reunions and separations.

(End of this chapter)