Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 468 The Master

If the Kong family can be killed, which family can’t be killed?

If the princes can be killed, what are the nobles and relatives?
Shandong, which is under martial law, has to start a "difficult" ending: as the title of Yanshenggong has been basically confirmed to be revoked, what will happen to so many sacrificial fields and Kong family farmlands?

In addition, there are the land and shops of the wealthy officials and gentry in Shandong who were implicated in the assassination case.

When a whale falls, all things are born.

The reason why this end is difficult is that the land involved is large in area and widely distributed.

Many sacrificial fields and farmlands are distributed in 37 counties in Shandong, Henan, Hebei, Huaiyang and other provinces. Over the years, Kong Shangxian has actively responded to the policies to strengthen the border areas, and the Kong family has purchased a lot of land in Chengde Prefecture, Liaoning Province and other places.

Of course, the various industries cannot be generalized. But at least the sacrificial land previously allocated by the emperor and the land of several branches involved in the case must be redistributed.

Another thing is the extra benefits of the Four Schools.

The lineage of Duke Yansheng enjoyed many privileges in Shandong Province, not just the hereditary right to offer sacrifices to the land and to be the magistrate of Qufu. In terms of culture and education, the Confucius family school, the Confucius temple school, and the Four Schools named after the descendants of the four Confucian sages Confucius, Yan, Zeng, and Meng had some special privileges in the past.

On the one hand, there are school fields specially provided by the government, and on the other hand, there are special quotas for students on government stipends, tribute students and even for the Shandong provincial examinations.

These were all historical issues, and Zhu Changluo had never touched them, both because there was no need to start a war for the time being and because Kong Shangxian had been very well behaved before.

Now all of this needs to be changed.

When the emperor endorsed the use of force, when the ministers in the court decided together to maintain the reformed central power structure, and when the old forces, who were "at the end of their rope" but unwilling to give up, came up with the excuse of assassinating the crown prince, the absolute pressure from the court was clearly felt in the local area this time.

The situation in which vassal kings rebelled, foreign enemies took the opportunity to cause trouble on the border, and the imperial court was stretched thin due to external campaigns and internal garrisons did not occur as some people expected.

Zhu Changhao brought his son Zhu Youqi, and Mu Changzuo brought his great-grandson Mu Tianbo, who was just over one year old, to Beijing to express their gratitude.

Only half a year had passed, and Myanmar was in a state of non-stop activity, with only Mu Rui and his son Mu Qiyuan left in Myanmar to take charge of the situation.

They travelled north so respectfully, with the ceremonial guards being the rulers of foreign vassal states, princes and dukes. This was of course their gesture: the officials and gentry of the Ming Dynasty were all taking good note, and as long as the southwest was safe, Prince Rui and Duke Mian'an had only gratitude towards the Ming Dynasty.

When they met in Nanjing, the clan leader Wang Bing was still there to suppress the other kings; when they met in Yangzhou, three vassal kings were being tried; passing Huai'an and arriving in Shandong, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was governing a county and distributing land to encourage people to cultivate it.

On a hot summer day, Zhu Changluo met his fifth brother whom he had not seen for a long time.

"Why does the old Duke do this?"

He first spoke to Mu Changzuo, then looked at the young Mu Tianbo: "The prince is young, and the journey is long..."

"I am a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty. Now that the situation in Outer Yunnan has been settled, I am willing to return to my roots." Mu Changzuo knelt in front of him, "I pray to God for grace again, hoping that this child can be educated in the Ming Dynasty and become both loyal and virtuous in the future."

"You are too young." Zhu Changluo sighed, "I understand your painstaking efforts. It is good for the old Duke to return to his hometown and enjoy a peaceful life in Beijing. As for the two children..."

He looked at his fifth brother and said, "I know that although you have been planning with the Prince of Mian'an for many years, the ministers under your command are a mixed bag after all. It is inevitable that there will be some mistakes in the early days of the new dynasty, so there is no need to do this. Now that Burma has been decided, Kunming must pay attention to culture and education, so you can send him to Yunnan University to study hard."

"I thank your majesty for your kindness. I have come here in person to express my gratitude. First, I cannot express my gratitude without this. Second, we have captured many prisoners, which we should present to the emperor to repay the emperor's help. Third, I am here to express my feelings and seek advice, hoping that you can help me again."

He is obviously just an insignificant fifth brother of the emperor. If nothing changes, how can he have the actual power of the ruler of a country in this life?

Zhu Changhao has a clear understanding of his elder brother's kindness and skills.

This time, there were mistakes and omissions. In the expedition to Burma, apart from him and the Mu family, the quality of the team was complicated. Someone found some points that could be exploited and set up a trap, so of course he had to take responsibility.

Going to Beijing in person to express his gratitude was an attitude of accepting punishment, indicating that everything he had was given by the Ming Dynasty and the emperor could take it away at any time.

But since Zhu Changluo had given him this opportunity, how could he easily deprive him of it?
So it was just a show of cooperation.

Zhu Changluo looked at him approvingly: "Fifth brother has been through many years of training and has made a lot of progress in these years. I have already seen the gift list of Myanmar. Gems are not important, and food is not urgent. You need it to stabilize Myanmar. Those gold, silver and refined copper..."

"I have received the guidance of General Sun, and I firmly believe that the country will not make things difficult for Myanmar."

The so-called General Sun is the newly established General Sun Chuanting of the Outer Yunnan Department of the Lifanyuan.

Since he accompanied the emperor on his southern tour, Sun Chuanting has been active in the south. Malacca, Jiaozhi, Nguyen Zheng... the foreign companies behind them, the foreign inspection office, and the embassies set up by the Lifanyuan in Johor and other countries, all these forces have Sun Chuanting's influence.

As the Nguyen family of Jiaozhi was already discussing future strategies with the Ming Dynasty, Sun Chuanting was transferred to be the chief director of the Yunnan Division of the Lifanyuan.

Zhu Changluo thought about the amount of gold, silver and refined copper presented by Zhu Changhao, and could not help but say to him: "Did you plunder all the gold, silver and copper vessels from the Buddhist temples and the wealthy families over there and re-melt them? There are many people over there who believe in Buddhism, so you should make a long-term plan."

"Your Majesty," Zhu Changhao said respectfully, "I know the pros and cons of this. Toungoo has plundered for many years and has a lot of savings. I have not plundered all of it, nor have I destroyed temples and Buddha statues. It's just that there are many things to be rebuilt, so I set up Changmian on the pretext of border trade, and these gold, silver and copper are the capital."

"I see." Zhu Changluo laughed, "Then I'll do this business with you. You said I'd like to lend you a helping hand. Besides these supplies, what else do you need?"

"People." Zhu Changhao knew that it was best to be honest. "The copper mine under my jurisdiction, if mined properly, would greatly increase Myanmar's finances. The Burmese people do not know how to farm properly, and water conservancy is not well developed. In terms of culture and education, my brother also lacks great talents. I will set up many schools to teach and promote talents..."

It is said to be an offering, but in fact it is just expressing one's attitude.

But he was able to provide the Ming Dynasty with a large amount of gold, silver and copper at a critical moment, which was naturally helping the Ming Dynasty to implement the new currency system, and he also saw the opportunity for the Ming Dynasty to stabilize the southwest and obtain more sources of precious metals.

Of course, the emperor gave him the opportunity to become the ruler of Outer Yunnan in order to help him develop Myanmar: a stable source of precious metals and a stable external granary.

So it is called a contribution, but in fact it is a large-scale trade.

Under the guidance of Sun Chuanting and against the background of "concealed concerns about internal and external treason", Zhu Changhao simply advanced the full amount to conduct this trade.

Zhu Changluo thought for a moment and said, "As for materials, we will discuss it in detail with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology later. As for talents..."

After a moment of silence, he let Zhu Changhao speak first: "You said petition, first talk about the current situation under Myanmar. Due to geography, climate, ethnic groups and system, Myanmar really needs a long-term solution and naturalization."

"Yes. Then I will start with the tribe..."

The Ming Dynasty has a military advantage. Since Zhu Changluo began planning his southern tour, the Ming Dynasty has spent so many years to steadily advance during the dry season and quickly achieve the current situation with its absolute firepower advantage. However, Outer Yunnan has always been a self-contained system under the management of different dynasties and local forces. The next step is the most difficult.

There are rainforests, mountains and plains mixed together. Because of the distinction between rainy and dry seasons and the influence of the mountains and rivers, ethnic groups in different places have relatively stable space for activities, and differentiated lives gradually create different ethnic groups.

During the earlier Pagan Dynasty, there was a situation in which the Burmese, Pyus and Arakanese peoples were in a three-way balance of power.

The approach now adopted by the Ming Dynasty is still the chieftain system that is more in line with local conditions, and it mainly supports the chieftains in Outer Yunnan who were previously suppressed by the Burmese, and makes use of the Ming chieftains from Yunnan and Guizhou who followed the army out of Yunnan.

This approach will be more effective at present, but will still be relatively loose in the long run.

"Besides Ahmudan, there is also Ahtai..."

Zhu Changhao continued to introduce to the emperor. Unlike the Ming Dynasty, Outer Yunnan was truly feudal at this time, and many local chieftains or city-states were feudal lords recognized by the core royal family.

Within their ranks, there is not only the concept of caste, but also an organizational system that is different from that of the Ming Dynasty.

Among them, Ahmudan and Ata are two very important concepts. The so-called Ahmudan is a secondary organization or caste directly controlled by the royal family or local chieftains or city-states. This is a bit like the Fubing system. Each Ahmudan village usually has fixed military or economic obligations. They usually farm and work, and when necessary, they prepare their own weapons and food, and form certain arms with the Ahmudan village as a unit to accompany the battle.

The status of the Atai is relatively lower, and they are usually non-Burmese villages. In terms of military obligations, they usually only provide weaker light infantry, but in terms of economic obligations, they provide more.

And of course there were slaves.

From the Pagan Dynasty to the Toungoo Dynasty, the general trend was that the royal family tried to establish more Ahmutan villages and Atai villages, and sent more governors to the chieftains or city-states of other subordinate ethnic groups.

Under this system, there is also a context in which the king must be tied to religion to reduce costs, so pagodas are everywhere.

In Myanmar today, monasteries still almost monopolize educational channels and own huge amounts of land and labor that do not pay rent or taxes.

Zhu Changluo was worried that much of the large amount of gold, silver and copper that Zhu Changhao took out had been looted from temples, and he was afraid that Zhu Changhao would go to extremes in order to dispel Zhu Changhao's suspicion of him.

However, if Myanmar is to contribute enough wealth and materials to the Ming Dynasty in the future, the economic problems of the temples there must also be solved.

After listening to him and Mu Changzuo's supplement, Zhu Changluo said: "In the final analysis, one is that the princes and nobles were extravagant and levied heavy taxes; the other is that monks are helpful for governance and stability, and the common people can be protected by becoming monks."

Looking at his brother, Zhu Changluo said meaningfully: "If you want to survive for a long time, you and your descendants must have another source of income, and you must live in harmony with the people and reduce taxes. Only when you win the hearts of the people can you talk about moving the temples."

"I have discussed with the king and others for a long time, but it is hard to find a good solution. I sincerely ask Your Majesty to give me some advice." Zhu Changhao said sincerely, "I am not only building a foundation for future generations, but also expanding the territory and educating foreign vassals for the Ming Dynasty. I dare not be undutiful."

"The source of wealth is minerals." Zhu Changluo pondered, "Food... you should keep it to feed the common people first. If the common people don't have to be slaves, their livelihood will be much better, and they naturally don't have to live in temples. If they are well fed, Ming ironware and cloth will become cheaper in the future. But if you want to reduce the flow of these things into the temples, you have to think of some ways. Fortunately, you are my younger brother, and you are a noble king in a superior country, so you should naturally do something different. At present, are there any unusual movements among the Burmese monks?"

"He took in many refugees and made them monks. Besides, he was still trying to persuade his ministers and brothers to make Buddhism the state religion of the new dynasty."

Zhu Changluo laughed, "After all, they know that the monks of the upper country are far inferior to them, and they are just mortals. Just be afraid, and you can focus on governing the country and keeping the people safe. The culture and education of the upper country cannot compare with their Buddhism, and you are stubborn. Take it step by step, first learn the management method of the certificate of ordination. Those who are willing to be disciplined will still have privileges for the time being; those who are unwilling to be disciplined will be punished. In addition, when opening a school, your government will provide land for the school to support it, and compete with the temples for the way out for the poor people."

"Brother, we are in need of talented people."

Zhu Changluo sneered, "Don't worry, there won't be a shortage. When you return to Burma, there will be many children of noble families who will be convicted and exiled. They hate me, and whether you can use them well depends on your ability. If you can't win against me, can you win against the monks in Burma?"

Zhu Changhao was stunned for a moment, then shuddered: "Your Majesty, this..."

"Except for them, the other sons of the Three Feudatories who were convicted, except for the princes, can all go with you to Burma. Let's go together. If they are determined to avenge this, I would like to see them gain a foothold in Burma. To gain a foothold, they must fight those monks and win the hearts of the people. You know what's going on, just sit on the throne and reap the fruits."

Zhu Changhao thought to himself, this is really giving me a big problem.

"How easy is it to govern a country?" Zhu Changluo looked at him deeply. "I hope you can educate them, rather than being taught by them. How to do it depends on whether you will indulge in comfort from now on, or whether you can really take root. Fighting against monks is a long-term and arduous task, and cannot be done with weapons alone. Those gentry and wealthy families in the Ming Dynasty who only know how to annex land, if you use them well, they will be more powerful than weapons. As for the Ming Dynasty, I am not going to kill them all. The foreign vassal states in the future will have their own fertile land and countless common people. Even the old system of the Ming Dynasty before the Taichang Dynasty was much better than the foreign vassal states today."

"I understand." Zhu Changhao looked at him and asked, "I have established a country and have countless royal fields. Can I choose a place in Ming Dynasty to sell them?"

"What a good idea." Zhu Changluo laughed. "You can sell them. You can sell them all the way to the capital, Tongzhou, Linqing, Huai'an. In addition, I have allowed some noble relatives to go to the outer vassal states. You are short of people. Although their talents are limited, they are loyal and can be used. They will all go back to Burma with you. You can discuss with the old Duke what positions they should be given and what they should do."

Myanmar is a vast ocean. The chieftains of Outer Yunnan and those who followed the Ming Dynasty out of Yunnan naturally followed the old system and guarded the periphery with a high degree of autonomy. However, as long as there are enough people in the core areas, they can slowly turn to the direction of counties. I don't know how many opportunities there are.

Zhu Changluo now has benefits to offer to his old relatives.

Under the current "white terror" of the Ming Dynasty, if the convicted and unwilling officials, gentry and wealthy families cannot stand the future Ming Dynasty, they will go to foreign vassal states where the systems are more in line with their habits to rebuild their careers.

No, it cannot be said to be a complete overhaul. As long as you dare to go, you will be the superior person under the rule of the new king of Myanmar.

Zhu Changhao sold the land in Burma in Ming Dynasty. Did he bring back the gold, silver and copper coins he collected from the land in Burma? Of course, he continued to purchase the necessary materials in Ming Dynasty.

The Lifanyuan became even busier for a while, helping Zhu Changhao formulate a new land system and registration regulations for Myanmar.

Afterwards, the inspection team, provincial governors and the three ministers who were still expanding the assassination case were killing each other, and the Burmese king sincerely recruited his subjects and sold Myanmar's fertile land.

The tribute of Burma, including gold, silver, copper, gems, ivory, etc., carried by Shunchanghang arrived at the Dongdu Shipyard and then entered the river and went north along the canal. They were thinking about the rewards that would be brought by their share of this huge trade, and looked at those old stubborn people who were still entangled in preferential treatment and exemption and land output with disdain.

What era is this? If you want to exploit the output of the common people, the best fertile ground now is Southeast Asia and foreign vassal states.

The common people there, who were like slaves, did not know how to rise up like the people of the Ming Dynasty. There, the powerful always took the lead, and the common people would only follow and work hard.

"Is the monthly salary clear?" Chen Ahfu of Shunchang Bank has become a giant in Nanyang since he went to Malacca with the Nanyang Fleet. "If you can read, have a diploma, and are willing to go to Nanyang with your family, go back and recruit them."

When the fleet returns, they won't need so many people to continue heading north.

Chen Ahfu's eyes were full of brilliance. "People are in a panic right now, so I'm sure many people would like to give it a try. Don't mention that the natives there are fierce and the heat is unbearable. Tell them that there is not much miasma, tell them that the girls from Southeast Asia are pretty, tell them how they can make a fortune besides the monthly salary! There is a shortage of people in Luzon, Java, and everywhere. If you follow us to Shunchang, you will be the best of the best!"

"Don't worry, Dong Weng, we all know how to comfort him!"

"What nonsense! I am telling the truth!" Chen Ahfu said sincerely, "The emperor's grace is so great, but there are always people who don't understand!"

(End of this chapter)