I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 616: Lu Tong, try to get Xiaobenzi to build a statue for you
Lu Tong's voice made the room extremely quiet.

Everyone turned to look at Zhu Yijun, whose face was flushed.

What happened to make our emperor so angry?
Although our emperor is young, he is extremely calm and steady in doing things, and he never shows any emotion. It must be a big deal that he was so angry today that he lost his composure.

"Eastern Japanese bastards! Are you making fun of the Ming Dynasty?

When they were hurt by the beating, they quickly knelt down and surrendered. When the scars healed a little, they started jumping up and down again. Are they cheap? A bunch of uncivilized, shameless island monkeys! "

Zhu Yijun cursed loudly.

It turned out to be the small country of East Wo, which angered the emperor again.

Ever since the Japanese invasion of the Ming Dynasty, the Eastern Japanese have been on the blacklist of the Ming military and civilians, especially in the southeastern coastal areas.

Although everyone knows what the Japanese invasion is, the Japanese pirates are the knives in their hands and are the most brutal. The bloody debt has already been settled with those in the southeast who colluded with foreign invaders and brought in the Japanese pirates.

Now everyone is only thinking about settling the score with Eastern Japan.

Ever since the three Japanese islands became the "large shooting range" of the Ming Navy, they have been entangled with the Ming Dynasty.

Just as the emperor said, when he was hurt by the beating, he called for his daddy and cried bitterly; when he felt a little better, he forgot the pain and started crying again.

I guess it was the same this time, which made the emperor very angry.

However, what threat does your doing, Eastern Japan, pose to the Ming Dynasty? The key point is that it is not very harmful but extremely insulting.

When has the emperor ever been so humiliated?
Zhu Yijun continued to scold.

"A few days ago, we sent envoys to seek peace with great respect. Suddenly, the warriors in Jiegang fought over the goods of our Ming merchants and injured five of our Ming merchants, causing two of them to die from their injuries.

What do you want to do? You want to get close to me?
Riding on your neck and having dry stools doesn’t count, but you also want to have loose stools?”

Listening to the words the emperor cursed, he was really angry.

"What's going on in Jiegang? Lu Tong, tell me!"

“Your Majesty, you issued an imperial decree that the three Japanese islands should be bombarded and the sea should be closed, but business should still be done, so we kept the three ports of Kaiko, Hakata and Hirado.

Hirado Port is now under the protection of the North Sea Navy of the Ming Dynasty and is completely managed by the Ming Dynasty's agent. Hakata is in the hands of the local lord, the Mori family. The six major Japanese merchants form a maintenance association to manage Kaiko. "

"Maintain the meeting, maintain the hell!" Zhu Yijun cursed, his face straightened, and he said with his head held high, "I have issued an order!"

Lu Tong fell to his knees.

Zhang Juzheng, Zhang Xueyan, Hu Rugong and others hurriedly left their seats, knelt on the ground in an orderly manner, held their breath and waited for Zhu Yijun's order.

Qi Yan was writing beside him and listening attentively.

"The little thieves of East Japan are cunning by nature and refuse to obey the king. They are no different from animals. They are fickle and treat the majesty of the Celestial Empire as nothing. I have decided to give Japan 100,000 rockets. If 100,000 is not enough, then 200,000 or 300,000."

Zhu Yijun pointed at Lu Tong and said, "Lu Tong, take the navy and these 100,000 imperially granted rockets to Hakata Port first and reward them with 10,000 rockets, then go to Jie Port and reward them with 20,000 rockets.

The Marine Division went ashore, escorting 20,000 rockets to Kyoto as a reward to their rulers and generals, and to those nobles and generals who refused to listen to advice.

Then, Odawara, Sunpu, Tsu, Himeji, and all the castles and castle towns close to the sea will be rewarded with rockets, 5,000 for large castles and 3,000 for small castles."

Lu Tong's scalp tingled when he heard this.

In the past two or three years, the North Sea Navy has used 30,000 rockets in Japan, North Korea and other countries, and knows how powerful they actually are.

But before, the emperor only ordered a blockade of the Japanese coast, so the North Sea Navy mostly used rockets to directly burn coastal fields, salt fields, shipyards, ports, and a few stubborn cities.

There had never been such a large-scale deployment of troops into Japanese cities and castle towns.

Lu Tong knew the real situation in Japan. Most of the houses in the cities and castle towns there were made of wood, and they were stacked layer upon layer, so densely packed that a small spark could burn a large area.

Now we are directly launching tens of thousands of rockets, including the naval version of rockets that are famous for their burning ability. The burning will be too brutal, it will be like hell on earth.

When Zhu Yijun paused in his oral instructions, Lu Tong asked hurriedly.

"Your Majesty, we will not do business with Japan anymore?"

"What kind of business? I don't want this disrespectful, incorrigible vassal state of East Japan anymore. Let it be destroyed! Lu Tong, use rockets to clean up the land in Japan. First, attack the Jiegang and Hakata Ports, then go ashore and advance to Kyoto and burn it as much as possible.

One hundred thousand are not enough, two hundred thousand. Burn them as much as you can and let the Japanese erect a full-body statue of you! Since they are no different from beasts, burn them back to the animal world!"

Lu Tong was a little confused. The emperor wanted me to burn Japan with rockets and burn them back to the animal world. I understand. But why did they erect a full-body statue of me?
If this is true, then what is wrong with these people?
Lu Tong did not dare to ask and listened to Zhu Yijun's oral instructions with his head down.

"Okay, that's all for the oral instructions. Qi Yan is writing it down. Once everything is sorted out and I sign the seal, Lu Qing will immediately follow it."

"According to the order!"

After Lu Tong left as ordered, Zhu Yijun slowly regained his composure and turned to Zhang Juzheng, Zhang Xueyan and Hu Rugong and said.

"These bastards are so angry. They used to be leeches and hyenas, but were led by others to bring disaster to the Ming Dynasty.

We beat them back to their hometown, but they became like maggots in a cesspool, disgusting us.

I have no thoughts about them anymore, destroy them quickly."

Zhu Yijun waved his hand, "Okay, let's not talk about the disgusting things. There was an urgent report from the capital, eight hundred miles away, and another one from Huguang, Wang Yi'e's urgent report.

Master Zhang, take a look. "

After Zhang Juzheng took it and read it, his expression changed slightly.

"Huguang is in turmoil again."

"Some people are always restless." Zhu Yijun turned around and asked, "Are Feng Bao, Yin Zhengmao, and Ling Yunyi still waiting in the capital to resign?"

"Yes, Sichuan Governor Yin Zhengmao and Hunan Governor Ling Yunyi have already received the license documents from the Ministry of Personnel, and the Advisory Bureau has also talked to them as usual.

Now I am waiting for the Emperor to return to the capital. The memorial of thanks and resignation has been submitted to the Imperial Household Department."

Hearing Feng Bao's answer with his head down and brows lowered, Zhang Juzheng felt a little excited.

Feng Bao took over the power of the Imperial Household Department as soon as he came back. Listening to his answer, it means that he has regained control of the Imperial Household Department. Great, my uncle Zhang is no longer fighting alone, I also have people in the inner court.

"Summon Yin Zhengmao and Ling Yunyi to Tianjin City. I am waiting for them there. After you bid farewell to me, they will go directly south to take up their posts."

"According to the order."

Feng Bao took the urgent report handed back by Zhang Juzheng. The two men's eyes met in the air and they smiled knowingly. Everything was said without words.

Feng Bao went to draft the decree himself. Zhu Yijun pointed at Hu Rugong and said, "Master Zhang, your local reform is just right for a pilot in Zhili. The Zhili boss is here. This is his territory. You can consult him first on everything."

Zhang Juzheng smiled and replied, "Your Majesty is wise. He immediately showed me a clear path."

Hu Rugong smiled and replied, "The emperor has spoken, so Prime Minister Zhang has to speak. But I can only listen first. I will have to go back and discuss with the three officials on what to do."

There was a very tactful meaning in his words. "Zhang Xiang, I have to take a look at what you have instructed me to do first. If it is suitable, I will support it. If it is not suitable, we can talk about it later."

Zhang Juzheng felt a little unhappy, but there was nothing he could do.

He could give orders to the Zhili Provincial Government and discipline the Provincial Governor and the left and right councilors like his grandsons, because he held the official hats of these people in his hands.

He could also give orders to the Censorate and the Military Preparations Department.

If you don't listen to him, he can go to the Censorate and the military government to argue with you. Zhao Zhenji and Hu Zongxian will most likely consider his face and give a lecture to their subordinates, the Censorate and the Military Preparations Department, to save the face of the Prime Minister Zhang Xiang.

Because everyone's purse is in his hands, we have to give him some face.

The Rong government is better off, as it has the Shaofujian internal treasury as external aid, which can provide some relief.

The Censorate relies entirely on funding from the national treasury and on "finance" for its survival. The censors can be very proud, but once they are hungry, they will become weak and powerless!
The governor-general is different from the governor-general. He reports directly to the emperor and his memorials are directly submitted to the Imperial Household Department. His official hat is not his responsibility. His office is small and there are not many staff members. The annual expenses can be scraped out from anywhere.

Besides, your own son, the Chief Secretary, is still in his hands. Do you want to keep your achievements and future?
Ask yourself, do you dare to deduct his funds?

Therefore, the governor and the governor-general could be polite to the Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng, but it was impossible to expect them to obey your orders and do whatever you said.

Zhang Juzheng elaborated on the reform plan for the local official system in detail. He would abolish the various local circuit commissioners, defense commissioners, and military commissioners. He would completely abolish the circuit censors and transfer them from the jurisdiction of the Censorate and the Inspection Office of the Governor's Office.

Hu Rugong was delighted when he heard these two points. "Well, those provincial governors should have been abolished long ago. They set up posts for specific matters, and there are redundant officials and posts. These provincial governors, military governors, and military preparation governors are all just keeping idle people.

And those inspectors and censors, they are guys who do nothing but make trouble and argue with him. They know nothing but pretend to know everything and want to give orders on everything.

When they arrive at a place, they do not do their job properly, but only know how to find faults with local officials, extort money from them, suppress them and scold them. They do not ask about your actual political achievements, but first ask who you are a disciple of.

I have long wanted to fire such an inspector, who doesn't distinguish between right and wrong but between schools of thought first. "

Zhang Juzheng smiled and said, "It is a good thing that Governor Hu supports us. The next thing is to close down the garrisons."

The most important thing Hu Zongxian did when he was in charge of the military government was to abolish and merge the military garrisons.

In fact, from the 45th year of Jiajing to the Longqing period, all the available officers and soldiers in the country's garrisons were withdrawn in the name of training a new army and incorporated into the army and navy.

As early as the first year of the Longqing reign, the twenty-one Dusi were transferred to the Bingbeisi, and Dusi became the name used to gather border troops and prepare for an expedition. For example, when Qi Jiguang went to war against the Tumed tribe, he formed the Yanbei Duzhishisi and Yanbei Dusi.

The two garrison offices, Zhongdu Garrison Office was changed to Fengyang Imperial Mausoleum Garrison Office, and Xingdu Garrison Office was changed to Anlu Imperial Mausoleum Garrison Office. They were responsible for the protection of the mausoleums and the daily maintenance and repair of the two imperial mausoleums.

There were 493 internal and external guards and 359 thousand-household guards for guarding farms and herding. By the second year of the Longqing reign, they had all become empty shells. This year, they were all abolished.

The hereditary officers such as small flags, general flags, centurions, thousand-men, and commanders passed down from Taizu and Chengzu, who were able to fight were basically transferred out and their names were included in the roster of the 26th Army or the navy.

Then the hereditary military positions, those above the rank of centurion, were recognized by the imperial court, but they could be changed.

The Hundred Households and Trial Hundred Households were merged into Hundred Households, the Chief and Deputy Thousand Households were merged into Thousand Households, the Garrison Pacification, the Assistant Commander and the Associate Commander, and the Commander were merged into the Assistant Commander, the Associate Commander and the Commander, for a total of five levels.

All of them were transferred to the Left and Right Qianniu Guards and they continued to receive their salaries.

But how could Zhu Yijun allow them to continue to take advantage?

Military law stipulates that one of the sons of a hereditary military officer must be admitted to the army or navy non-commissioned officer or officer school and serve as a non-commissioned officer or officer for more than three years before he is eligible to continue the inheritance.

If your military merits are sufficient, you can be promoted to another level.

Since then, one of the rewards for soldiers who fought for the Ming Dynasty was hereditary official titles.

The lowest is the fifth-level hereditary military officer position, and the middle is the sixth-level lord, which is similar to the previous hereditary military officer positions above the rank of deputy commander-in-chief.

Above that are the five nobility titles of duke, marquis, earl, viscount and baron.

The titles conferred for military merit are hereditary, which means that as long as he does not commit suicide, the title will be passed down and become one with the country.

Lords and hereditary military officers need to work hard generation after generation, and their children must join the army and serve the country in order to continue this preferential treatment and honor.

Zhu Yijun's intention of maintaining the hereditary military officer system was to continue to retain an "excellent source" of active military officers. Most of the senior generals of the Ming Dynasty's navy and army, such as Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou, and Li Chao, were hereditary military officers.

We must carry forward this tradition and allow these hereditary military officers, together with the lords who have been conferred titles for their military merits, to become Eastern knights and military families, who can continuously provide a steady supply of outstanding officers for the Ming navy and army, and at the same time become an important cornerstone for guaranteeing the foundation of the Ming Dynasty and the imperial power.

As for the small flags, general flags and soldiers retained by the various guards, they will all be transferred to the Ministry of War. If you are not good at fighting, then you should just be farmers or workers.

A group of these people were selected by many factories, another group was transferred to the Railway Engineering Corps, and the rest could only become farmers.

"The cabinet said that all the land and population of the garrisons transferred from the Rong government should be converted into farms and pastures."

“Farms and ranches?”

"Yes, a few years ago, when Gao Gong was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, he surveyed the land, with a focus on investigating the land that had been occupied by the garrisons. In the garrisons of Datong, Jizhou, Xuanfu, Liaodong, Ningxia, and Gansu, a total of 28.1 million mu of land was surveyed.

Many of the fields in Jizhou and Xuanfu are under your jurisdiction. Some of them have been converted into farms, and some have been converted into pastures. They will all be under your jurisdiction in the future.”

Zhu Yijun then interjected, "The imperial farm has 3,759,546 mu of official land, and the farms or occupied lands of the various princes and clans total 21.6 million mu. In addition to returning them to the garrisons and the people, 2,190,000 mu of land was confiscated by the princes and became official land, and 2,560,000 mu of land continued to be used as farms by the various princes.

These 8.5 million mu of land will all be converted into government land and I will hand them over to the Shaofu Supervisor for management. I will set up two or three agricultural reclamation companies, which will be divided into several farms and ranches, and then operate them under the contract responsibility system."

Hu Rugong asked in surprise: "Household contract responsibility system?"

(End of this chapter)