My father is Jiajing

The first year of the Longqing reign was both a new and fleeting year for Zhu Zaiji.

Autumn has arrived in the blink of an eye, and early winter is just around the corner.

Moreover, the maritime situation, which was supposed to be restructured during this period, had to be abandoned due to the impact of several typhoons during the transition from summer to autumn.

Now that it's late autumn, the typhoon has subsided.

The calm sea began to stir.

For example, the Strait of Malacca, far away in the South China Sea, is not particularly peaceful right now.

This strait has a long history. During the Yongle reign, Emperor Chengzu dispatched the Grand Eunuch Zheng He as the chief envoy to deliver imperial edicts to various Western countries and bestowed upon the kings gold, brocade, and colored silks of varying degrees, thus establishing the Ming Dynasty's political status as the suzerain state of the countries along the route.

After Zheng He's fleet arrived in Malacca, Sumatra, they discovered the importance of this strait.

They also built wells and established a port here, making it an important place for the Ming Dynasty fleet to transit between Southeast Asia and the Western Ocean.

Now, more than a hundred years have passed, and since the officials of the Yingzong era advised against sending voyages to the Western Ocean, the Ming Dynasty's naval ships have never appeared in this area again.

Over the past hundred years, these Southeast Asian countries that had once submitted to the Ming Dynasty have gradually come to regard the Ming Dynasty as a legend, and some have even forgotten what the Ming Dynasty was.

Therefore, Yu Dayou is now in charge of reassuring the Ming Dynasty envoys to the countries of Southeast Asia. After driving out the Dutch red-haired barbarians in Taiwan with Yu Dayou, he was ordered to govern Southeast Asia and also felt that the relationship in this place was complicated!

Although Yu Dayou could disregard these small countries, ships needed fixed docking and resupply points to navigate the vast ocean unimpeded.

These rest stops and supply points certainly didn't fall from the sky; they couldn't have been easily taken down with a few punches and kicks.

Therefore, in order to establish effective naval anchorages and supply points in these places, it is necessary to emulate the Grand Eunuch Zheng He of that time and use both kindness and force here.

This will allow the people here to experience the power of the Ming Dynasty once again, and also to have a heartfelt desire to submit. Only in this way can we ensure that when the naval ships come to this area for patrol and duty in the future, they will have a solid and reliable rear.

Otherwise, these small Southeast Asian countries would be outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant, unwilling to cooperate with the Ming Dynasty navy's mission and failing to provide the navy with sufficient safe water, food, and other crucial supplies.

Even if the Ming Dynasty's navy had the power to overwhelm the countries of Southeast Asia, it would not be able to maintain its influence and power there for long.

Therefore, Yu Dayou's work these past few months has been quite arduous. In addition to joining forces with Qi Jiguang to defend against the Japanese pirates and the secret alliance between the Dutch and the foreigners, he also had to re-establish his authority among the Southeast Asian countries and announce the return of the Ming Dynasty.

It's fair to say that Yu Dayou has had an incredibly tough time during this period.

Of course, his hard work paid off.

Just yesterday, an imperial edict was delivered to Fubo City, officially renaming the naval fleet he led as the "Nanyang Navy," and Fubo City was also established as Fubo Guard under the jurisdiction of the Nanyang Navy.

Then the imperial court issued an edict to establish the Sanshawei, a large archipelago near Qiongzhou Island known as "Qianli Changsha" and "Wanli Shitang".

This archipelago, designated as the Sanshawei, was divided into three parts, named the Yongle Islands, the Xuande Islands, and the Jiajing Islands.
The reason for adding the Jiajing Islands was not due to Zhu Zaiji's perverse sense of humor.

This was mainly because the Jiajing Emperor liked to draw parallels with the Yongle Emperor.

Therefore, Zhu Zaiji ordered the cabinet, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of War to organize the nautical charts drawn during Zheng He's time, as well as those constantly verified and compared by Yu Dayou, Wang Zhi, and others.

With a wave of his hand, he renamed the three island groups that were originally named "XSQD", "Zhongsha Islands" and "NSQD" in history as "Yongle Islands", "Xuande Islands" and "Jiajing Islands" respectively, to show the consistent importance that the Yongle, Xuande and Jiajing emperors attached to the maritime frontier.

Strictly speaking, Zhu Zaiji's current emphasis on the maritime frontier can actually be traced back to the reign of the Jiajing Emperor.

So, whether it was to strengthen the importance that the imperial court and the people placed on the coastal areas and the old territories of Southeast Asia, or to please the Jiajing Emperor.

Zhu Zaiji could not claim all the credit for opening up the sea; he had to share the credit.

Moreover, Zhu Zaiji did not care about these empty achievements. What he cared about was whether the Ming Dynasty could regain the glory of the Yongle era and once again demonstrate the power of the Ming Dynasty to the world.

And achieve victory in the struggle for colonial development in this era!

After all, with the development of shipbuilding technology over the past century and the emergence of various chosen adventurers (pirates), ocean voyages in this era are no longer simply about diplomacy and business.

Instead, it turned into a fight for territory and resources!

So, since it's all about grabbing, whoever has more people will definitely benefit!

The total population of the Ming Dynasty is now greater than that of the rest of the world.

With such a large population, if they could catch the colonial express train of geographical discovery...

I dare not say much else, but at least more than half of the world's major interests will be seized by the Ming Dynasty.

At that time, Zhu Zaiji will follow the example of Qin Shi Huang and the emperors who expanded the territory throughout history, and implement the basic national policy of "standardizing the width of carts and the written language".

If the places occupied by the Ming Dynasty were all turned into lands where Chinese is spoken, then if future children wanted to learn other languages, it might really just be out of interest or for archaeological purposes.

Of course, it would be inaccurate to say that the Ming Dynasty wanted to "colonize".

Colonialism is a description of a relatively small population plundering a relatively large population.

What the Ming Dynasty has in abundance is people. As long as the propaganda is effective, more ordinary people will be willing to go to sea to seek wealth and fortune in the future.

Then, with the addition of the population that the court guided or forced to migrate, the new continents that the Ming Dynasty discovered and occupied in the future would naturally transform the Ming Dynasty, which was originally in a population disadvantaged position, into the dominant force in terms of the regional population.

As a result, the population of the Ming Dynasty increased while the population of other groups decreased relatively, so the concept of "colonization" could no longer be used to describe it.

A more fitting adjective would be to use, such as "feudalism" implemented in the Western Zhou Dynasty!
After all, even if these places become lands in the future with the population of the Ming Dynasty, they will still be limited by geographical and transportation conditions, as well as by certain old and new ideas in human traditional thought.

These places will inevitably break away from the center one day and become independent systems. Just like the British Empire's hard-won colonial rule for hundreds of years, in the first few decades, these colonists, who were originally mainly of their own ethnicity, developed a strong sense of local identity after several decades of reproduction and growth.

With this mindset in place, it would certainly be problematic to forcefully resolve the issue of colonial ownership through various means and military force.

After all, no one wants their descendants to be second-class citizens compared to those who have always lived in the suzerain state.

Therefore, even if Zhu Zaiji were still alive and trying to mediate the conflict of interest between the native people of the Ming Dynasty and the second-generation immigrants who had colonized various parts of the world, he probably wouldn't have been able to resolve it after a certain period.

After all, that's how people are; they're unlikely to so easily give up their own interests to agree to be a "master" who might ride roughshod over them and exploit them.

Therefore, one day in the future, after the vassal states that Zhu Zaiji enfeoffed had multiplied and thrived for decades or even centuries, they began to govern themselves like the states of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, ignoring the orders of the imperial court.

That's an inevitable development of ideology, and there's nothing to be surprised about.

If such a situation exists, it would require that transportation conditions develop to the point where global travel is possible within a single day, before the sense of unfamiliarity caused by geographical separation can be eliminated.

Unfortunately, given the current technological conditions, Zhu Zaiji was well aware that it was almost impossible for him to see it in his lifetime, and even a hundred years later it was hard to say whether it would be possible.

Therefore, if one day in the future Zhu Zaiji were to be enfeoffed as a vassal state in one of the four oceans and gradually "awaken" to protect his own interests and confront the former central court, Zhu Zaiji would not be surprised at all.

That's human nature, after all, and there's no way to change it!

Unless there are more benefits that can satisfy the interests of all places, all regions, and all people.

Otherwise, there really is no solution!
Even so, Zhu Zaiji was not afraid of this division!
Because before such a division occurs, he can achieve universal harmony and transform the languages ​​and scripts of all parts of the world into a unified mainstream script.

So even if one day in the future, after a long period of growth and development and the awakening of their own interests, these vassal states that were once divided will eventually unite!
When that time truly comes, the world may indeed be unified, and there may only be one script left in the world that can transmit civilization and history.

Therefore, even though he foresaw the unsolvable competition problems he might encounter in the future, Zhu Zaiji did not care.

Even if the Ming Dynasty he is currently in is surpassed by some vassal state that was later established, Zhu Zaiji will not feel any regret.

He would even be very pleased that those vassal kings who were sent out did not fear the difficulties and storms, and continued to carry forward and maintain their fighting spirit!

Therefore, as long as this spirit exists, the nation that will dominate the world and lead this planet towards even more distant stars and seas will still be the nation that writes Chinese characters and speaks the Chinese language.

Then all of this will have been worth it!
Zhu Zaiji, far away in the capital, once again climbed Yuquan Mountain on the western outskirts of Beijing.

However, accusations that His Majesty the Emperor was not "diligent in governing" and loved to travel have almost disappeared.

Only when one encounters a few censors with unknown motives or officials in obscure government offices or impoverished areas will they occasionally submit a memorial advising the emperor to be diligent in his duties and to urge Zhu Zaiji not to neglect state affairs and indulge in pleasure.

When Zhu Zaiji saw these memorials, he neither rebuked nor refuted them, nor did he dismiss or arrest anyone.

In Zhu Zaiji's view, these people were motivated by loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, or by a desire to gain fame and profit.

Zhu Zaiji would ignore them, simply keeping all the memorials in the central government and then ordering the Ministry of Personnel to review and examine their work performance and attitude during their tenure.

Those who performed well and were capable would be carefully selected by the Ministry of Personnel, given a better opportunity and platform to realize their ambitions.

If someone's abilities are average but their work attitude is acceptable, Zhu Zaiji would arrange for them to be sent to the Hanlin Academy or the Imperial Academy.

After all, there is a real shortage of meticulous people who can carefully copy and correct errors in order to revise the "Yongle Encyclopedia: Jiajing Edition" for the Jiajing Emperor.

If these people can shine in this great cultural project, that would be the best reward for them.

Moreover, compiling books is one of the most cherished honors among scholars. If these people find compiling books tedious and unworthy of their duties after arriving at the Hanlin Academy and the Imperial Academy, they will be in a difficult position.

So what awaits them may be a lifetime of being sidelined, and Zhu Zaiji certainly won't let these people with average abilities take on other important positions again.

As for those who lack work ability and attitude, and also have minor flaws such as embezzlement and dereliction of duty, then don't blame Zhu Zaiji for being ruthless.

After all, Chen Hong also needs to demonstrate his worth to Zhu Zaiji through his work performance.

After all, Chen Hong was already incredibly fearful and uneasy about being spared, worried that he might be punished later.

Therefore, Chen Hong is now working extremely hard at the Eastern Depot!
Almost without exception, any official he targeted who had problems suffered greatly, even if they didn't die!

It is evident how proactive and earnest Chen Hong is in demonstrating his ability and loyalty.

Moreover, as Chen Hong's work deepened and as Zhu Zaiji's administrative needs increased, Zhu Zaiji was also considering reorganizing the scope of responsibilities of the Censorate during this period.

When there are no conflicts of interest, this government office is considered reliable and fair. However, once a conflict of interest arises, these censors tend to see things in black and white, thus accelerating the intensification of factional struggles.

Factional strife, regardless of the era, has always been a synonym for "corruption of the government."

If left unchecked, these censors will be allowed to act recklessly for the interests they represent.

In the end, the ones who will suffer will certainly be Zhu Zaiji himself, as well as the interests of ordinary people who have been harmed and ignored by them.

Therefore, Zhu Zaiji has been thinking about how to limit the scope of authority of the Hanlin Academy and how to reform its functions.

Therefore, Zhu Zaiji also considered and referenced many anti-corruption agencies that appeared in later generations, thinking of reorganizing the current Censorate into something similar to the "ICAC" in Hong Kong, as well as a disciplinary committee specifically responsible for investigating official corruption.

However, these two reference institutions seem to be a bit too advanced and not suitable for the needs of the Ming Dynasty at present. Therefore, Zhu Zaiji was also somewhat conflicted and troubled, unable to make up his mind.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

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