I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 756 Construction of Spiritual Civilization
The scarlet-robed official laughed and said, "Mr. Leon, we meet again."

"Yes, I didn't expect to see you in Shanghai." Leon answered happily, and introduced to Marcelo, "Mr. Marquis, this is Mr. Li Sanjiang, the first magistrate of Shanghai County.

At that time, I went north to the capital for negotiations and passed through Shanghai Port. At that time, Lord Li was the prefect of Songjiang Prefecture and he hosted a banquet for me. "

Qu Jinxian added: "Now Lord Li is the academician of the Ming Dynasty and the governor of Huzhou."

Marcelo and Leon were not sure about the true meaning of these two titles, but from Qu Jinxian's solemn introduction and the respectful attitude of the people around him, they guessed that he must be a high-ranking official of the Ming Dynasty.

I felt quite happy that I finally met an old acquaintance who had a fairly high status. It would be great if he could help mediate between the two.

Li Sanjiang made a false request, "Mr. Marquis Marcelo, Mr. Baron Leon, please take a seat."

He sat down in the main seat at the top, picked up the teacup and took two sips, then put the cup down and got straight to the point.

"The Ming Dynasty's Foreign Affairs and Protocol Regulations stipulate that provincial governors and prefecture officials stationed at trading ports should host banquets to receive foreign guests to demonstrate that the country is a country of etiquette.

The two envoys have come from afar and traveled thousands of miles for the friendship between Ming and Portugal. They have worked really hard. "

After listening to the interpreter's translation, Marcelo and Leon were a little confused.

friendship?

The friendship between Ming Dynasty and Portugal?
When did the friendship come about? Was it a friendship forged through fighting?
The elegant and confident Li Sanjiang continued to ask: "Two envoys, did you have a smooth journey eastward?"

Leon had explained to the Ming officials and quickly replied, "Everything is going well."

"The east and west coastlines of Kunzhou, which are your West Africa and East Africa, are infested with pirates. Did your envoys encounter any harassment when they came to the east?"

"We encountered two groups of pirates on the Angolan coastline, but we were safe. Portugal has a fleet stationed in Sao Tome, cruising in the waters south of Cape St. Augustine, so these pirates dare not show off too much."

"Oh, that's good. Have you encountered any pirates in the eastern waters of Kunzhou? Several of our Shanghai caravans have encountered pirates there."

"In East Africa, in the waters of Mozambique, Mombasa and other places, we had a safe journey."

"That's good. In the past two or three years, Ming merchant ships have been repeatedly attacked by pirates there. The emperor was furious, and the Advisory Bureau issued an edict to the Rong government in accordance with the emperor's will.

In the fourth year of the Wanli reign, the White Tiger Navy's Second Fleet was formed and sailed westward to pacify the eastern waters of Kunzhou, which seemed to be quite effective.

Leon answered carefully: "We stayed in Sofala and Mozambique Island for a few days and heard about the might of the Ming navy. People in that sea area said that the navy flying the white tiger flag brought peace and tranquility to the area."

There is also blood and slaughter!

Leon muttered to himself.

The Ming Dynasty's White Tiger Fleet pacified the eastern waters of Kunzhou. A few simple words meant that hundreds of ships sank to the bottom of the sea and thousands of sailors died at sea.

The Ming Navy’s standard for identifying pirates was simple and crude. If a ship could produce a paper showing that it was moored at a Ming trading port, it would be considered a merchant ship; if it could not, it would be suspected of being a pirate ship.

No matter which country's official or civilian ship you claim to be, you must be inspected and screened by the Dabaihu Navy. Anyone who dares to escape or resist will be treated as a pirate ship.

Those who resisted stubbornly were all sunk. All the ships that surrendered were tried by temporary military courts, and those who were masted were hanged, those who were beheaded were beheaded, and those who were confiscated were confiscated.

Arabs and Persians had been operating in the East African waters for hundreds of years. The Portuguese, relying on their tyrannical strength, seized several strongholds centered on Mozambique and coexisted peacefully with the Arabs and Persians.

The Ming people came to this sea area with great momentum and started to fight indiscriminately. The Arabs and Persians, who were unaware of the situation, suffered the heaviest losses. Their ships were sunk or captured, their castles were destroyed, and their ports were blocked.

Hundreds of Arab and Persian merchant ships in the East African waters suffered an unexpected disaster and were wiped out by the Ming Dynasty's White Tiger Navy!

On the contrary, the Portuguese, who had dealt with the Ming people in India and Malacca, knew how powerful they were. When they saw the flag raised, they knelt down with a thud.

Some took out mooring papers for trading ports such as Longkou and Xiangjiang, or ports controlled by the Ming people such as Aden, Oman, Diu, Goa and Cochin; those who could not produce mooring papers simply squatted aside with their hands on their heads.

You have many cannons on your ship, you are the boss! You can inspect however you want.

Those who obey will prosper, those who resist will perish!

This is the tranquility and peace of the Ming people.

Li Sanjiang continued, "Our Great Ming is a country of etiquette. We use reason to convince others and value peace. A few years ago, the Great Ming and your country had a conflict due to some minor misunderstandings."

You really do convince people with reason, and your reason is so great that we have to accept it!
Small misunderstanding?
We really misunderstood you. We thought you were gentle and polite, and easy to bully. We never expected that you were so cruel in fighting and so ruthless in your actions.

We really misunderstood you.

"But we didn't know each other until we fought! Now that the misunderstandings have been cleared up and the words have been made clear, let's get along well. Your Excellency, don't you agree?"

Marcelo and Leon looked at each other and nodded helplessly, yes, yes.

Li Sanjiang changed the subject, "The Ottoman envoy said that the Spanish had won a great victory in the Mediterranean and were very arrogant. They said that Portugal and Spain are neighbors and have a very good relationship.

Mr. Leon, you and I are old acquaintances and have some friendship. I sincerely advise you that Spain is a tiger, tyrannical, cruel and greedy. Portugal is next to the tiger, so it is better to be careful.

People have no intention to harm tigers, but tigers have the intention to hurt people. "

After listening to the interpreter's translation, Marcelo and Leon's faces changed slightly, and the corners of their mouths and eyes twitched involuntarily.

The Ming people’s intelligence network is so tight, how do they know everything?
Li Sanjiang saw the two people's subconscious reaction. He stroked his beard and laughed: "Since the two distinguished envoys are here, the friendship between our Ming Dynasty and Portugal will definitely be further enhanced.

We in the Ming Dynasty gnashed our teeth at our enemies, but we were sincere and loyal to our friends."

Li Sanjiang chatted with Marcelo and Leon about this and that. After half an hour, when they had talked about everything, they stood up and said goodbye.

"My two envoys, I am truly sorry that I have some official business to attend to and cannot accompany you. Please forgive me. There will be a banquet at the Huzhou Government Office tonight, and we will have a couple of drinks then.

Goodbye, sorry! "

Li Sanjiang returned to the signing room, where Hai Rui, a scholar of the Advisory Bureau and the governor of Jiangsu, was sitting inside, drinking tea, wearing reading glasses, and reading a thread-bound book.

Li Sanjiang came in, put down his book, took off his reading glasses, and asked, "Yuanjiang, are you done talking?"

"Mr. Gangfeng, we are done talking."

"Have you figured out the purpose of the Portuguese's visit this time?"

"We have found some. I will write an urgent report and send it back to the capital as soon as possible."

This is an undisclosed item in the "Foreign Affairs and Protocol Regulations". When the administrative chief of a trading port receives and entertains foreign envoys, he must quietly find out their purpose, the current situation of their country and other information, and then report it urgently to the Cabinet and the Honglu Temple as reference for formal negotiations.

"We drove Portugal out of the South China Sea a few years ago, and then we defeated them in the South China Sea, taking away their ports in India and the Arab world, such as Goa, Cochin, and Aden. To put it bluntly, we have a deep blood feud.

Now they have sent envoys to negotiate with the Ming Dynasty. I guess they are not at peace at home. Just like Spain, we have won victory after victory in Genxunzhou and wiped out their strongholds and forces on the west coast. I originally thought that Spain was known as the most powerful country in Europe and had the best navy in Europe, but it was a false reputation. When the Ottoman envoys came, I learned that they were entangled with the Ottomans in the Mediterranean and fought fiercely, so they could not extricate themselves and fully respond to our attack in Genxunzhou.

The same may be true for Portugal.”

Hai Rui talked eloquently about world affairs. If his fellow students and old friends saw him, they would definitely be shocked.

However, Li Sanjiang, who was also a scholar of the Advisory Bureau, was used to it.

If you join the Council of State as a scholar, you will become a member of the highest decision-making body of the Ming Dynasty.

But this enviable identity is not easy to obtain, nor is it easy to hold.

Often requires learning.

If you don’t study for a day, you will not be able to keep up with the new era.

Even if you are a scholar in the local Advisory Bureau, the Imperial Household Department and the Ministry of Public Security will regularly distribute information, and you must submit a learning report after studying. If you fail to meet the requirements, you will be criticized.

If you criticize too much, your title of Advisor will be revoked.

The information issued concerns domestic civil affairs, industry and commerce, agriculture, animal husbandry, economic development, judicial construction, individual cases, as well as scientific research, diplomacy and other aspects, covering a very wide range.

It is more of a headache to learn than the Four Books and Five Classics.

After such study, the knowledge of the advisors will naturally improve by leaps and bounds.

"Yuan Jiang, the case that the Shanghai Municipal Court will hear tomorrow was originally just an ordinary economic dispute case, but because a woman was involved in the case, it was spread as a case of small cabbage being eaten by sheep and dogs.

The people only see the romance, Yuan Jiang, the inside story behind this case is complicated and the water is deep, you have to be careful."

Li Sanjiang replied: "Mr. Gangfeng, I know what is going on, so I have negotiated with the Court of Justice and urged them to hold a public trial tomorrow. I hope that the case will be solved before Mr. Gangfeng and I set off to the north in three days.

If the emperor asks, I will have an explanation when I report back."

Hai Rui nodded and suddenly asked, "Has Lu Yong stood up yet?"

"In reply to Lord Gangfeng, Lord Lu took a boat to Guazhou two days ago, where he transferred to a passenger ship and sailed north along the canal."

"He runs fast."

"Eunuch Lu also knew that the water was too deep and muddy, and he was afraid of getting his shoes wet."

Hai Rui sighed, "Now that the old party is dying and the new party is flourishing, the struggle between the old and the new has become a struggle within the new party. Why can't everyone put aside their desire for power and profit and devote themselves wholeheartedly to the country and the people?"

Li Sanjiang bowed and said, "Mr. Gangfeng, how many people in the world are as dedicated to the public as you are?"

Hai Rui waved his hands, "Yuan Jiang, please stop praising me. I am obsessed with my appearance, but I am also selfish. Over the years, I have been scheming and trying every possible means to get projects for Jiangsu.

To put it nicely, it is for the benefit of the people of Jiangsu. To put it bluntly, it is for my own political achievements.”

Li Sanjiang couldn't help but laugh. Hai Rui was the only one in the world who said this, and others wouldn't think he was pretentious.

"As the governor of Jiangsu, Mr. Gangfeng should make decisions according to his position. Some people say that Mr. Gangfeng is famous for his frank criticism, but they don't know that Mr. Gangfeng is also a capable minister in governing the country and caring for the people.

It is convenient for both the public and private sectors, and everyone gets what they want.”

Hai Rui stroked his beard and laughed, with a look of complacency on his face that everyone could see.

After leaving the Huzhou Government Office, Hai Rui got on the carriage. Just as he sat down, the door was opened again and Shu Youliang rushed in.

He sat down opposite her, breathing heavily.

"What happened? Chased by a dog?"

"Master, what you said is true. I am the most important follower of Hai Qingtian. Which dog dares to chase me away? I am afraid I will be beaten and stewed in hot pot.

I went around the Huzhou government office and heard that the master was leaving, so I hurried over. Once you left in the carriage, I had to walk. Mochou Pavilion is more than ten miles away. "

"You can take a taxi."

"Haha, sir, you know how much I am paid every month. You also know how expensive carriage fares are in Shanghai."

The carriage started slowly, and the master and servant continued to "argument".

"You've taken a tour of the government office. What do you think of the Huzhou government office compared to the Yangzhou government office?"

"There's no comparison. This place is full of life and energy. From the governor to the governor, and then to the provincial governor, every government office in Yangzhou is dead and lifeless. Officials go to government offices like they go to their graves."

Hai Rui had long been immune to Shu Youliang's sarcastic remarks. He stroked his beard and said, "Uncle Zhang is quite capable. The performance evaluation system has been implemented from the central government to the local governments, correcting the official style and officialism.

There are fewer corrupt and tyrannical officials and cunning clerks at the central and local levels, and fewer cases of buck-passing, idleness, and dereliction of duty.”

Shu Youliang poured cold water on the other side, "Master, there are many corrupt officials, but they have temporarily restrained themselves under the sword of Zhang Xiang's performance evaluation law."

Hai Rui stroked his beard and said, "Restraint is a good thing. The purpose of the law is not to turn bad people into good people, but to stop bad people from doing bad things and protect the rights and interests of good people.

It is the responsibility of education to turn bad people into good people.

Only by combining education and criminal law, one civil and one military, and hardness and softness, can the world be governed and peaceful. "

Shu Youliang looked outside from the car window. There were trees on both sides of the street, and at intervals there was a large wooden barrel with the word "trash can" written on it.

From time to time, a man in his forties or fifties, wearing an orange vest, would walk a distance dragging a cart and stop, sweeping the sidewalk with a bamboo broom.

Fruit peels, residues, leaves, and cigarette butts were swept into a pile and shoveled into the cart with a dustpan.

After leaving a clean section of the road, we dragged the cart forward and passed a sign that read: "Strive to become the first batch of sanitary and civilized cities!"

"Master, I think Zhang Siwei is also a powerful figure."

Hai Rui's expression changed. "Zhang Siwei?"

"Yes. Mr. Zhang Siwei, the director of the Spiritual Civilization Construction Committee."

"You have mentioned him several times in front of me. What makes you praise him so highly?"

(End of this chapter)