The world of film and television starts from the flow of money

As soon as the Xuanhua Department was established, it demonstrated unprecedented efficiency and pragmatism, and its spearhead was first directed at the newly pacified Dongying Province.

The first Minister of the Ministry of Education was Zhao Nanxing, who was highly respected and advocated "practical application of knowledge". Although he was old, he volunteered to take the position to set an example. The fifty selected Hanlin editors, doctors of the Imperial Academy, and principals of local academies were all the best of the time. They boarded the ship to Nagasaki with a sense of mission to "educate the barbarians" and the ideal of "practicing sacred learning".

After arriving in Japan, the Xuanhua Department worked closely with the Provincial Administration Commissioner's Office and the Military Command Commissioner's Office.

The first priority is to establish an education network covering the prefecture, county, and township levels!
Abandoned shrines, temples, and even some samurai residences were forcibly requisitioned and rebuilt into "Da Ming Community Schools"*. Zhao Nanxing personally supervised the production of teaching materials:
"Huang Ming Dongying Xun Meng Ji": With pictures and texts, it teaches loyalty to the emperor and patriotism (loyalty to the Ming emperor), basic etiquette (kneeling, bowing), daily language, and agricultural knowledge in simple Chinese. The opening sentence is: "Wherever the sun and the moon shine, it is Ming land; the virtue of the holy emperor has benefited Dongying."

"The Sacred Edicts (Japanese Simplified Version)" explains Zhu Yuanzhang's "Six-Word Sacred Edict" and Yi Huawei's instructions on "the unity of knowledge and action" in the simplest Japanese and Chinese versions.

"Summary of Laws and Regulations": Extracts the core provisions of "The Great Ming Code" with illustrations (such as chopping off hands for stealing, life for murder, etc.), which serve both deterrence and education.

The Provincial Administration Commissioner issued a strict order that all children aged six to twelve in the East Japan Province (regardless of gender) must attend the nearest community school and receive five years of Chinese language and sacred teachings education! Parents who obstructed would be punished with hard labor; local officials who failed to implement the order would be dismissed and punished! A "brainwashing" storm centered on the Chinese language and loyalty to the emperor swept across the archipelago.

The Ministry of Propaganda and Education established the "Toyo Education Department" in Kagoshima (tentative provincial capital), Toyo Prefecture (Edo), and Kyoto, which were responsible for organizing the imperial examinations.

Tongsheng Examination (county examination): focuses on the recitation and comprehension of Xunmeng Ji and Shengyu Guangxun, as well as simple Chinese reading and writing, and mathematics.

Student exam (provincial exam): additional test of excerpts from The Analects and Mencius (in bilingual), focusing on the understanding and explanation of "filial piety, brotherhood, loyalty and trustworthiness" and "the relationship between knowledge and action". Policy essay topics are closely related to the reality of Japan, such as "On the importance of persuading the new provinces to engage in agriculture and sericulture", "How to resolve the doubts of the newly annexed people and make them return to the king's rule", etc.

Provincial examination: held in Kagoshima. In addition to the traditional classics (which are less difficult), policy essays are given a lot of weight. The questions are all formulated by the Ministry of Culture in combination with the difficulties of governance in Japan, such as "On the management of mining laborers" and "On the implementation of the Baojia system in accordance with local conditions", etc., requiring candidates to propose practical and feasible plans. Wang Yangming's ideas of "unity of knowledge and action" and "training in practice" have become the core concept support and bonus items for answering questions.

The scholars and juren who passed the examinations in Dongying Province were given priority to fill the positions of clerks and teachers in the provincial government and county offices. Those with excellent results could be recommended to work in the local institutions of the Ministry of Propaganda or be selected by the Provincial Administration Commissioner to study in the Imperial Academy in Beijing (this was a very small number). This move was aimed at cultivating a group of "naturalized elites" who identified with the Ming Dynasty, were familiar with local conditions, and had certain abilities, and became the cornerstone of the rule.

In addition, the Ministry of Propaganda and Culture promulgated the "Detailed Rules for the Order to Change Customs in Japan", which was enforced by local government offices and garrisons:

Except for specially authorized auxiliary troops and government servants, civilians were strictly prohibited from carrying any knives (including wakizashi and short swords), and violators were severely punished. The confiscated knives were melted down and made into farm tools or weapons.

The Ming hairstyle (male hair tied up, no shaving) and clothing (cloth shorts, no kimono and hakama) were enforced. A three-year transition period was set, during which those who wore Japanese clothing had to pay a "different clothing tax". After three years, those who still did not change were considered to be disobedient to the king's rule and their property was confiscated.

It was strictly forbidden to commit seppuku and commit suicide; all old class titles and privileges such as those of court nobles, samurai, etc. were abolished; wedding and funeral ceremonies were standardized, shrine worship activities were banned, and people were guided to turn to the worship of "Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Parents, and Teachers" and local sages (for example, Zheng Zhilong began to be worshipped in shrines in various places in Japan).

In Kagoshima, Toyofu, Kyoto and other places, the government funded the establishment of "model neighborhoods". Japanese civilians who surrendered were recruited to live there. They built houses and operated shops in accordance with the model of the Jiangnan towns in the Ming Dynasty. They wore Hanfu and spoke Chinese, and enjoyed certain tax exemptions. This was used as a model of "kingly rule" to attract and demonstrate.

Yi Huawei established the Ministry of Propaganda and promoted the imperial edicts of "five years of external appointment" and "unity of knowledge and action", which was like throwing a huge rock into the seemingly calm court and the literati circle, causing a thousand waves.

For the first time, the noble Hanlin scholars were faced with the rigid requirement of being “demoted” to the wilderness. Some resigned due to illness, some used connections to stay in Beijing, but more ambitious young Hanlin scholars, such as Huang Daozhou and Ni Yuanlu, saw this as an excellent opportunity to realize their ideals and make achievements, and took the initiative to join the second batch of the Xuanhua Department’s list of appointments, with their goal of going directly to Japan or Annan.

When they left Beijing, their colleagues saw them off with complicated looks, including sympathy, confusion, and hidden admiration.

The emperor advocated "unity of knowledge and action" and Wangxue (although not exclusively official, its status was significantly improved), which changed the atmosphere in academies across the country. The trend of empty talk about nature and reason decreased slightly, and the study of "practical achievements" and "practice" began to be valued. Some academies even took the initiative to offer practical courses such as "geography", "barbarian sentiment", "mathematics", and "agricultural policy" to prepare students for possible future appointments to foreign posts or participation in the governance of new provinces.

Official mouthpieces such as the Beijing News began to report in a series of articles on the progress of the construction of the Dongying Social School, the voices of the naturalized children reciting the Xunmeng Ji, and the "touching deeds" of the officials of the Ministry of Education who went deep into the mines and the countryside to promote the new agricultural and sericulture methods. They emphasized their spirit of "practicing the sacred learning" in difficult environments. The previous voices against the conquest of Japan were completely drowned out by the grand narrative of "expanding the territory for thousands of miles and educating the barbarians."

Forbidden City, West Warm Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace.

Yi Huawei looked at Qiu Chengyun's secret report on the progress of the promotion of community schools in Japan, as well as the Ministry of Culture's memorial on the response to the first batch of "model neighborhoods", and his fingertips ran over the newly marked red dots of "community schools" on the map. He picked up the red pen and wrote on the memorial:
"The way of education is to moisten things silently, and the key is perseverance. Gold and silver can silence the mouths of mediocre people, but only the sound of reading can be the foundation for melting people's hearts and consolidating the border forever! The officials of the Ministry of Culture should deeply understand my holy intention of 'unity of knowledge and action', follow the way of saints and sages on the new land, and usher in eternal peace!"

He put down his pen and looked out the window.

The autumn sun shines brightly on the golden glazed tiles of the Forbidden City. This light is shining across the waves, shining in front of the community school in Kagoshima, and also shining on the Japanese children wearing newly-collared Chinese costumes and reciting "Wherever the sun and the moon shine, it is the land of the Ming Dynasty."

A grand project that uses culture as a sword and education as a melting pot, aimed at thoroughly forging the newly annexed territories into the body of the empire, is now rumbling forward with unprecedented force and depth across the Japanese archipelago and even into the more distant future territories, accompanied by the guidance of the imperial decree and the flow of gold and silver.

After being conquered by swords, the frontiers of the empire are being reshaped and solidified by another more resilient force: writing, language, clothing and ideas.

………………

The eighth year of Zhaowu (1605).

The glazed tiles of the Forbidden City glow with golden light in the spring.

In the western warm room of the Qianqing Palace, Yi Huawei's eyes slowly swept over the latest yellow book presented by the Ministry of Revenue. When the number "183,670,000 people" came into view, the emperor who conquered Japan with an iron fist and managed the world with a grand vision and strategy finally raised a smile.

Since the first year of Zhaowu, Yi Huawei, against all odds, personally tried to grow potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes in the imperial fields.

After verifying its characteristics of tolerance to barrenness, high yield and easy storage, the imperial court issued the "Order to Encourage Reclamation of New Grain":
Anyone who reclaims "non-good land" such as hillsides, riverbanks, and sandy land to plant new crops will be exempted from land tax for five years.

Each prefecture and county government set up an "agricultural promotion office" to loan potato and corn seeds for free or at a low price, and sent agricultural officials to provide guidance on planting and storage (such as storing potatoes in cellars and threshing and drying corn).

Sweet potatoes were designated as the "first grain for famine preparedness" and were strictly ordered to be widely planted in drought-prone counties in the north and the newly opened Toyo Province. Its characteristics of "vines can keep people alive and tubers can fill the stomach" saved countless lives during local droughts and floods in the following years. After the former samurai estates in the newly established Toyo Province were confiscated, large tracts of land were designated as official fields, and potatoes and corn were planted on a large scale by conscripting laborers. Sweet potatoes, because of their extremely low soil requirements, quickly spread in the hilly areas of Kyushu and Shikoku. In just three years, Toyo went from a potential granary to a real exporter of surplus grain.

传统稻麦亩产（江南熟田）约2-3石（约300-450斤）。而土豆、番薯在中等田亩产可达20-30石（鲜重，折合口粮约5-7石），玉米在北方旱地亩产也达4-6石，且不占主粮田！

This "potato and corn revolution" completely changed the empire's grain map: the northern dry plateau, the southern hills, and the newly opened border areas, large tracts of land that could not be effectively utilized in the past became fertile land.

The total grain output increased by more than 40% in three years, the storage was full, and the Taicang and Changping warehouses were packed.

Abundant and cheap food (especially potatoes) became the first cornerstone to support the population explosion. The poor who were originally struggling to make ends meet and the "hidden households" who lived in the mountains and forests saw the hope of feeding more children.

After the granaries were full, Yi Huawei implemented the population growth policy with unprecedented force to release the labor force constrained by the old system.

By issuing the "Zhaowu Population Exemption Order", the fertility burden was directly reduced and the desire of the lower classes to have children was stimulated.

The decree stipulated that any household with three or more sons who survived to the age of ten would be rewarded with 20 taels of silver by the county government and be given a plaque reading "A Family of Good Deeds"; if the household had five or more sons, it would be rewarded with 50 taels of silver and one adult male of the household would be exempted from corvée service. * The real money reward turned the concept of "more children, more blessings" into a real benefit.

Each prefecture and county set up a "Child Relief Bureau" to adopt abandoned babies (especially baby girls) and hire wet nurses to feed them. Surviving abandoned babies were given priority to be incorporated into government-run workshops or immigrated to the border when they grew up. This measure effectively curbed the phenomenon of infanticide (especially baby girls) caused by poverty.

In the early Ming Dynasty and the early Wanli period, land annexation was serious and taxes and labor service were heavy, which led to a large number of farmers seeking shelter under the powerful and becoming "hidden households" (not included in the official yellow book) or fleeing to mountains, forests and lakes to avoid taxes. Yi Huawei took the opportunity of conquering Japan and implementing a new tax system (such as the pilot of Japan's "One Whip Law") to take a two-pronged approach:
The "Order for Self-surrendering and Hiding People" was promulgated, and past cases were forgiven. Hiding people were encouraged to register with the government and be granted unowned wasteland (with priority for new crops) or resettled in government-run mines. At the same time, powerful landlords who continued to hide their population and land were severely punished, with the light punishment of confiscation of property and the heavy punishment of exile to the mines in Japan!
In the province of Dongying and several northern provinces, land surveying (fish scale book) was vigorously implemented, and the "tax on land" was piloted - part of the head tax (ding silver) was distributed into the land tax. The burden on those who had no land or little land was greatly reduced, which fundamentally weakened the motivation of the people to become hidden households.

This policy has achieved amazing results. In the past three years, more than 40 million of the newly registered population in the Yellow Book were "hidden households" and their families! A large number of young and strong laborers were released from the private fields and mountains of the powerful and became the new force for land reclamation, industry, mining, and construction.

The huge population base and abundant resources (especially gold, silver, copper, iron and sulfur from Japan), under the intentional guidance of the imperial court, ignited the spark of handicrafts and early industrialization.

Nanjing Longjiang Baochuan Factory was fully restored and expanded, and imported high-quality Japanese wood (such as cypress) and Nanyang hardwood. Nagasaki Port, relying on its deep-water port and Japanese wood and iron ore resources, established the "Toyo Shipbuilding Promotion Department", which was even larger than Longjiang.

Drawing on Western (Portuguese and Dutch) techniques, it adopted a multi-layer through-deck, with 40 heavy red-haired cannons (lower deck), 30 Portuguese rapid-fire cannons (middle deck), and four rotating turrets improved by the technology of the Dafa gunboat (upper deck). The first ship, Ding Dongying, was launched, with an estimated displacement of 2,500 tons, becoming the dominant force at sea in East Asia.

There is also the "Feiting-class" high-speed cruiser, which is slender and fully sailed (a combination of hard sails and Western soft sails), equipped with two hundred "Thunder Gun" flintlock infantry and "Hundred Tigers Running" rocket launchers, and is dedicated to escort, reconnaissance, and disrupting commerce.

The two major shipyards can launch 20 warships with a capacity of more than 1,000 tons and 50 large merchant ships each year. The imperial navy is the largest in the world, and the shipping capacity of the Maritime Silk Road has increased threefold.

The output of Sado Gold Mine and Iwami Silver Mine was stable at more than 3 million taels of silver per year! The high-quality copper mines of Besshi Copper Mine (Shikoku) and Ashio Copper Mine (Kanto) supported the minting of imperial coins ("Shobu Tsūho" copper coins) and the manufacture of firearms. Sulfur mines in various parts of Japan ensured the supply of gunpowder.

Improve the reliability of the flintlock mechanism, add a simple scale, and improve the accuracy of medium and long distances. The Ministry of Industry set up three major military equipment bureaus in Tianjin, Guangzhou, and Dongying Prefecture (Edo), with an annual production capacity of 100,000 guns!
Drawing on the advantages of the Red Cannon and the Portuguese Cannon, the gun barrel was made of cast steel (improved by the steel pouring method) and had a double-gun structure, which resulted in a faster firing rate and lighter weight. It became the main force of the army in attacking cities and capturing strongholds.

The Ministry of Industry established the "Genwu Gunpowder Bureau", which was composed of Taoist priests, alchemists, and craftsmen. Under Yi Huawei's instruction to "test it with facts", they continued to experiment with saltpeter purification, sulfur refining, and charcoal ratio. Granulated black powder became standard equipment, and the detonation speed and power increased by 50%! The more secretive "fulminate of mercury firing powder" research has made a breakthrough.

Yi Huawei ordered the establishment of a royal research institute in Suzhou, which brought together skilled craftsmen from all over the world. In the seventh year of Zhaowu, with huge capital investment and the practical spirit of "unity of knowledge and action", the first hydraulic-driven "Dragon Girl" spinning machine with 32 spindles was successfully developed! The efficiency is 30 times that of traditional spinning wheels! Although it has not been promoted on a large scale, the dawn has already appeared.

Cotton planting was vigorously promoted in the north (Hebei and Shandong), Huguang, and Japan (Kanto Plain). The cotton cloth workshops in Songjiang (Shanghai) and Suzhou were unprecedented in scale, using division of labor and cooperation (spinning, weaving, dyeing, and styling are separated), with an annual output of millions of pieces. "Songjiang cloth" was sold in Southeast Asia, India, and even exported to Europe through Portuguese merchants.

Official kilns and private kilns flourished, and blue-and-white, multicolored, and doucai porcelains were innovated under the "Zhaowu" aesthetic (a fusion of court splendor and Japanese wabi-sabi elements). Japanese Arita ware technicians were introduced for exchange. Porcelain, silk, and cotton cloth formed the three pillars of the empire's exports, and silver flowed in.

Of the 180 million people in the empire, nearly half are teenagers under the age of 15! Yi Huawei knows very well that their brains are the biggest gold mine for the empire's future.

Under the strong promotion of the Ministry of Culture, the "Da Ming Community School" has covered all counties and towns across the country and all prefectures in Japan. The enrollment rate of children over seven years old exceeds 50% (even higher in urban areas), and the recitation of "Xun Meng Ji" and "Sheng Yu Guang Xun" has become the background sound of the times.

In addition to traditional Confucian academies, "Gezhi Academy", "Mathematical Academy" and "Geography Hall" funded by the imperial court and founded by local wise men emerged in major cities in the north and south. Courses covered basic mathematics, simple geometry, domestic and foreign geography, agricultural and industrial foundations, and even basic physics (mechanics, optics). Wang Yangming's "unity of knowledge and action" was the core concept, emphasizing the application of knowledge.

The imperial examination system in Dongying Province had been in operation for three years, and had produced hundreds of scholars and dozens of juren. They were assigned to grassroots clerks, tax officials, and community school teachers, becoming an extension of the imperial rule in the local areas. Their pragmatic suggestions on "mine management", "promoting new grain", and "appeasing naturalized people" were often adopted by the court.

The "five-year posting abroad" of the Xuanhua Department became a golden channel for the promotion of scholars. A group of officials who returned from the "new lands" and "border areas" such as Japan, Annan, Yunnan and Guizhou returned to the central government or served as local officials with rich practical experience and broad vision. Their pragmatic and daring style impacted the old bureaucratic habits.

The imperial court organized the "Bo Wen Lang" system: young Hanlin and outstanding students from the academy were selected, led by officials from the Honglu Temple and the Shibosi, to travel to Ryukyu, Nanyang (Luzon, Siam), Goa in India (Portuguese occupation), and even traveled with the fleet to record local customs, products, trade, and sea routes. After returning to China, their records became an important reference for the court to formulate diplomatic and trade policies.

The Beiyang Fleet Headquarters was established in Tianjin. Zheng Sen (Zheng Chenggong), the eldest son of Zheng Zhilong, at the age of 20, commanded ten new "Zhenhai-class" warships, patrolled the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea, intimidated Korea and the Jurchens, and guarded the maritime gateway of the capital.

The Nanyang Protectorate (temporarily stationed in Manila, Luzon) was established. Backed by a powerful navy, the Kingdom of Sulu, Brunei, and Malacca were forced to reaffirm their tributary relationship, ensuring smooth shipping routes for spices, tin mines, and rice. The Portuguese retreated to Macau and Goa, and the Dutch East India Company's reach was strictly restricted.

The secret report of the Ministry of Industry's "Gunpowder Bureau" on "fulminate of mercury" and "power of steam" lay quietly on Yi Huawei's desk. More "experts" were sent to the West. In a secret decree to Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Sen, Yi Huawei wrote: "The benefits of naval guns will eventually be exhausted. Only by studying things and gaining knowledge, and surpassing the ingenuity of nature, can we lay the foundation for eternity. The gold of Japan should be used to build a ship of exploration!"

One hundred and eighty million mouths in need of land and opportunities are both pressure and motivation! The policy of migrating to the fertile northeast (Liaohe Plain and Songnen Plain) has begun to be formulated. As a mature immigration receiving area, Dongying Province continues to absorb the surplus population in the mainland. The legend of the more distant "New World" began to spread among some brave sea merchants and landless farmers.

With sufficient fuel (food, population, gold and silver) and sophisticated structure (improved bureaucracy, emerging technology), the imperial machine roared and ran at unprecedented power.

(End of this chapter)