Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 480: Brilliance without End (Complete Book)
Since he had to go to Beijing to attend the meeting, Zhu Youjian would of course arrive in Beijing before the Emperor's Birthday.

The Crown Prince's southern tour on behalf of the Emperor only went as far as Shandong, and he has stayed there ever since.

Now the most dangerous time for implementing the new currency law has long passed, and the prince has been a county magistrate for three years. When he returned to Beijing to see the emperor, he simply replied to the decree.

"Go meet your mother first."

Zhu Changluo looked at his son who seemed smart, capable and calmer. He was satisfied in his heart, but there was no smile on his face.

He knew that his son was most concerned about two things at the moment, but he didn't need to tell them now, and he had to ask Lu Xiangsheng and others.

Seeing Zhu Youjian going to Kunning Palace, Zhu Changluo looked at Lu Xiangsheng.

"How was the trip?"

As a disciple of the emperor, Lu Xiangsheng did not have a long time to learn from the emperor.

However, he was originally gifted, and now that he had been taught by the emperor himself and had gained several years of experience, his demeanor had become even calmer.

"In reply to your Majesty. When I was in Nandu, Xu Butang and Song Tixue helped me a lot..."

Lu Xiangsheng first began to briefly describe his experiences over the years.

He knew that the emperor had two expectations of him. One was that he hoped he would learn more about knowledge and the ways of the world, and the other was that he hoped he would discover some ambitious young peers.

Since he had not stayed in Nando for a long time, he quickly talked about Yanzhou Prefecture and Teng County.

People come and go along the canal, and as Zhu Youjian's advisor, Lu Xiangsheng has also experienced a lot in the past two years.

"...Let alone the success or failure of your administration, I believe that your Highness is now proficient in county affairs and familiar with the details of a county's civil affairs."

Lu Xiangsheng ended with this, and Zhu Changluo did not comment, and then asked another question: "The three women reported by the prince..."

"…One is the daughter of a lecturer at Teng County Primary School. Your Highness strongly advocated the re-establishment of the Kong family branch, and later devoted a lot of effort to culture and education. The second is the daughter of a farmer in Teng County. At that time, there was a county examination, and Your Highness met the girl outside the examination hall when she was sending her brother to take the exam. The third is a lawsuit. There was a dispute over the property in the girl's family, and in order to protect her younger brother…"

While listening to him, Zhu Changluo compared the information he found with that from the Duzhijian.

Zhu Youjian would soon be twenty years old, and was indeed old enough to get married.

Of course, Zhu Youjian was very nervous about flirting with the third sister for three years. However, he took the initiative to report it and brought it back to Beijing for his parents to see, which was also a frank performance.

Zhu Youjian was also concerned about another point: "Tell me the truth, besides these three women, does the prince have any other..."

"That's a very honest person." Lu Xiangsheng said immediately, "Your Highness knows the importance of the matter and doesn't dare to overstep the line."

Zhu Changluo nodded: "That's good."

After saying that, he looked at Lu Xiangsheng and then smiled: "It's hard for you. Let's get married this year. Go meet Runling, she is in the Yangxin Palace."

"……Yes."

Lu Xiangsheng was a little embarrassed.

What did the emperor say to make things difficult for him?
He was two years older than the crown prince, and during these three years he was also a young man full of vigor and vitality. But since he had been designated as the emperor's son-in-law, he did not dare to flirt with other women, even though he had plenty of opportunities outside.

On the contrary, the prince, although he did not dare to do anything beyond the rules, had three good marriages in a row.

When Zhu Changluo finished dealing with today's affairs and returned to Kunning Palace, Guo Lanzhi had already met the three women.

"how?"

When Guo Lanzhi heard his question, she complained, "Your Majesty asked the prince to be a county magistrate. Now that he has been so careless and found a relationship, he cannot let it ruin those three women..."

"No one that satisfies you?"

Guo Lanzhi sighed: "Only the daughter of the county school lecturer is more polite and steady..."

"Then let her be."

"…Selecting a crown princess is such a big deal, Your Majesty, You Jian is really too bold."

"You said that you might have misled others." Zhu Changluo didn't care. "The Crown Princess must be chosen, but I don't blame Youjian for being brave enough to take responsibility. After all, he has grown up. If he wants to work outside, should he be a monk forever? He can hold on to the last step, which shows that he has enough determination. Has everyone been checked and found to be innocent?"

Naturally, these matters are arranged by the Queen.

The three women have now been placed in the Prince's Eastern Palace. Before in Teng County, they were all maids. If they were really to be chosen as the Crown Princess, Zhu Youjian would never dare to touch them first. If they were pregnant, it would be a huge scandal. If they were not brought into the palace, would they remain among the people in the future? If they were brought into the palace, they would have to be examined to see if they were virgins.

Zhu Changluo was a little impressed by the fact that this guy saw them all the time and actually developed feelings for them.

Except for the one who came forward to fight for the family property for the two siblings because of the death of their parents, the other two had elders. The farmer's family was okay, the county school lecturer was willing to let his daughter be a maid first... Although the other party was the prince, Zhu Changluo felt that this was a bit bad.

However, the Ming Dynasty also had institutional constraints on relatives by marriage, and Zhu Changluo just felt that the other party did not insist too much on etiquette considerations - it was human nature, after all, he was the prince.

The matter was tentatively settled. As Lu Xiangsheng had guessed before, the emperor probably still thought this was a test.

Of course, Zhu Changluo himself would be more open-minded.

For example, he already knew that Erzhuzi was flirting with a niece of Wang Zheng's family, but that was nothing.

After the matter was settled, Zhu Changluo couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

In the blink of an eye, my son and daughter are about to get married.

In two or three years, you will be a grandfather, right?

Just as his bloodline continued to multiply, the many ideas he brought to the Ming Dynasty also bore fruit.

On the birthday of the emperor, he finally received congratulations from all over the Ming Dynasty. In addition to the congratulatory message, which county or state did not present a gift?

Although all of this was done in the name of the localities expressing gratitude to the emperor for his love for the people and his benevolent rule, Zhu Changluo was also very clear that this was also a large-scale attempt to run for office.

This major political conference will also be accompanied by a major change of leadership.

Those who were able to become local chief officials during the implementation of the new currency law in the past few years are those who have made up their minds to follow the new policy. Those who were chief officials before and have spent the past few years steadily should of course be promoted next; those who were not in their current positions before but were appointed as chief officials also have expectations.

At present, there are still a large number of officials at the local level who are not in prominent positions but have high ranks. They can all be transferred.

Those who should retire can retire, and those who should go to less important positions can go.

The Ming officialdom has been cleaned up over and over again in the past twenty years, one term after another. The emperor has been persistent in implementing new policies, and the result is that after twenty years, the government is almost entirely dominated by the "New Party".

……

In Quanzhou, Fujian, the Zhiyuan ship slowly docked at the dock.

It was just dropping off the prisoners here, and then it would go to the naval port shipyard of the Oriental Fleet for care and maintenance.

Shen Yourong did not come back, and it was Pingyi Earl Chen Jiuzu who escorted the usurper emperor of Japan back on Shen Yourong's behalf.

After he got ashore, he handed the person over to the Fujian Provincial Government.

From this day on, it was natural that he would "go around and get scolded".

Everyone in the government and the public knew that the reason why the current Prime Minister Ye Xiang was "born into the toilet" was because of the Japanese invasion.

In the more than two hundred years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, although there were times when it was unclear whether they were real pirates or fake ones, many families along the entire coastal area had a blood feud with the Japanese pirates.

Now, the imperial court has finally captured the Japanese king alive after an expedition to Japan. Ordinary people don't know that the Japanese king has no real power, but since it is indeed the usurper emperor of Japan, they just think that the officers and soldiers have won a great victory.

On the one hand, they were proud of the great power of the Ming Dynasty, but on the other hand, they were venting their resentment for many years towards the usurper emperor of Japan and other captives.

In addition to the parade, there are naturally memorial ceremonies held in various places.

Such a ceremony would start from Fujian, pass through Zhejiang, Dongdu, Jiangning, Huaiyang to Shandong, and finally present the captives to the emperor, who would decide how to deal with them.

This journey will take at least three or four months.

After the Zhiyuan ship arrived at the shipyard, Chen Jiuzu determined the time for maintenance with Zou Jin, an engineer and academician, and then set off for Beijing with a small entourage.

He was in a very excited mood.

It is true that Shen Yourong, the Marquis of Fubo, led the Zhiyuan ship to the meeting and displayed his prowess in Naruto, but it was also crucial that he led the Oriental Fleet to annihilate the Edo Ashigaru navy, which was directly under the shogunate, in Shodoshima.

After this battle, the shogunate's naval power could be ignored.

Although they might build some warships in the future, it would not be easy to train skilled sailors and generals and soldiers who were good at naval warfare.

Besides, their opponent is the Ming Dynasty.

In this way, even if the shogunate's main land forces did not suffer heavy losses, they were no longer a cause for concern.

The Ming Dynasty could have firmly occupied the western half of Japan, while continuously harassing Kanto from the sea and even attacking Edo Bay.

In other words, the Eastern Expedition can be said to have been decided.

He came back this time because he had plenty of time to take care of the Zhiyuan before going to Japan for the decisive battle. He also wanted to receive the reward in front of the emperor and ask the emperor and the court to make a decision: should we first establish a vassal state to rectify the status?

He returned to Ming from the south because the usurper emperor of Japan was to be paraded through the streets starting from Fujian.

At this moment in Dagu Port, the first batch of supplies obtained from Japan also arrived in Ming Dynasty on cargo ships.

Reporting is even earlier.

The Wanshou Festival had passed, and all the ministers and Wang Heng, the director of the Ming Dynasty Bank, were in the imperial presence.

"I didn't expect that Japan is so wealthy." Ye Xianggao looked quite excited. "Your Majesty, Japan is not short of gold, silver and copper now, but it lacks food and cloth..."

"With this batch of gold, silver and copper, the mint will not have to worry for the time being." Zhu Changluo was also very happy, "I was wondering why Xizhi hadn't shipped these here yet, it turns out that he was melting them into ingots."

In fact, it's more than just this.

The Eastern Expedition was funded by the Ming Dynasty, the feudal lords, and the nobles. The initial military funds and food were a heavy burden for the three years of waiting for the Eastern Fleet to be built on Tsushima Island. Even with the help provided by Takumi Tuanlian & Co. in advance through trade, the Ming Dynasty still had a heavy burden.

After taking Kyushu Island and Iwami Ginzan last autumn, the Eastern Expedition Army should have made some contributions.

But on the one hand, the war was progressing smoothly, and on the other hand, Tian Le might have needed to use the local looted property to reward the soldiers on the spot in order to reassure the soldiers, so it was not until today, a year later, that the property captured from Japan was transported to Ming Dynasty.

Of course, it is impossible to transport all of them here. Fortunately, what the Ming Dynasty needs is not other things from there. Gold, silver and copper are the best.

This time, Tian Le transported more than 430,000 taels of gold, more than 6,370,000 taels of silver, and a large amount of copper in one go.

Of course, the Ming Dynasty could not just take these for free, at least not all of them.

If Zhu Changluo wanted to operate in Japan for a long time, he had to provide enough supplies to help his cousin and two younger brothers gain a foothold there.

"Except for some noble relatives who can go there, what do you think of the request from Prince Lu and my two younger brothers?"

Fang Congzhe first asked Yuan Keli: "According to the Privy Councilor, how will the war go from now on? If we issue an edict to allow him to establish a country and enthrone it, how long will it take for the shogunate army to conquer Japan if they are resisting stubbornly?"

Yuan Keli said, "They have lost their courage. Lord Xizhi is old, and the morale of the officers and soldiers is high. As long as food and military supplies are not a problem, they can wipe out the enemy in one or two years. On the contrary, the Japanese chieftain hopes that the royal army will be unstable in the rear. Allowing them to establish a country and enthroning it can calm the people."

Fang Congzhe nodded, and then said: "Your Majesty, now there is a problem. Previously, it was proposed to set up one country on Honshu Island, and two other countries on Kyushu Island and Shikoku Island. The two princes are somewhat unwilling to accept this."

"Lu Wang's family has indeed contributed more." Zhu Changluo said while thinking, "But their Honshu Island is indeed much larger than the other two islands. What does Lu Wang say?"

"Prince Lu is young, but he will thank you for what you said and will listen to your wise decision."

Zhu Changluo nodded: "The shogunate has come up with this trick. Since the western half of Honshu Island is now easy to get, let Prince Lu rest assured. According to their old custom, Kanto and Kansai are the boundaries. West Honshu will be set up as Fanghu Kingdom, East Honshu will be set up as Penghu Kingdom, and Kyushu and Shikoku will be set up as Yingzhou Kingdom. Chang Ying is young, he can wait a little longer."

In this way, Japan is really named after the three sacred mountains on the sea.

"Then King Fang Hu..." Fang Congzhe hesitated for a moment, "I am worried that even though he has accepted the order, it is different from what he promised before, and the Korean people are unwilling to relocate..."

"Then let them reorganize the Fanghu army and fight with the army. From now on, they don't have to present the gains to the great country, let them get more." Zhu Changluo did not question, "The purpose of setting up three kingdoms is to let them guard the sea borders for the Ming Dynasty. For the long term, balance is the best."

Everyone was silent.

Now that Empress Dowager Li has passed away, the emperor no longer needs to be too lenient towards Prince Lu's lineage.

Although the future ruler of Fanghu would not say anything, he would still think about the land that he should have taken. However, with the emperor's two brothers on the south and east, it was difficult for him to have any other thoughts.

That's fine.

"The Ministry of Industry and Information should also give some guidance." Zhu Changluo said to Wang Dewan, "If we must conquer Japan, the same principle applies to Outer Yunnan. Although these two places are prone to disasters, they have a lot of minerals. With these two places, the supply of gold, silver and copper will not be a problem in the future."

"I understand."

"At the grand political meeting, we must have a big picture." Zhu Changluo said to the ministers, "Now that the outline of the Great Ming's territory has begun to take shape, tax reform should focus more on the benefits of agriculture, industry, and commerce in the future. Grain is the foundation. If there are natural disasters in the future, we cannot rely on harsh policies or vassal states to fill our stomachs. Let farmers be motivated and have access to water conservancy to cultivate the land intensively. This is the foundation of the stability of the Great Ming. Instead of collecting more from farmers, it is better to let it circulate and collect more from grain merchants. Although merchants' pursuit of profit should be taken seriously and allowed to participate in national affairs through the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, they should shoulder corresponding responsibilities."

At this point, what Zhu Changluo had originally wanted to achieve, "officials and gentry paying taxes together, and all industries being represented in the court", was finally being slowly realized through tax reform.

The outline of the imaginary territory of the Ming Dynasty has already been outlined. It has initially shut out Western countries. The Eastern world with the Ming Dynasty as its overlord will have a huge internal economic circle and will be able to maintain trade with the West.

With the King of Toungoo presenting captives to the emperor and the so-called eternal dynasty of Japan being eradicated, the vassal states around the Ming Dynasty will return to the era when they must be decreed by the Ming Dynasty and establish a new type of vassal relationship under the leadership of the Lifanyuan.

As the saying goes, all the people in the world are the king's subjects.

He was just forty years old, and his son had also begun his training. The light of the Ming Dynasty was growing brighter and brighter, with no signs of fading for the time being. Instead, it was illuminating a larger Ming Dynasty.

There is still a long way to go, but the Ming Dynasty already had the Academy of Research, the theory of investigating things and seeking knowledge, and a more sophisticated education system.

Most importantly, the civil officials had a more anticipated goal: one day, they would be able to establish a national constitution, so that the relationship between the emperor and his officials would be institutionally established, and every official would have the hope of sharing the emperor's advice and the country's reality.

Even if it means becoming the emperor's ally.

Having said that, achieving universal peace is indeed a supreme achievement that is destined to go down in history.

To this end, why not walk with the emperor?
On the eve of the grand political meeting, Zhu Changluo was serious and meticulous, and all the ministers felt the emperor's long-term feelings for the Ming Dynasty.

Come to think of it, this feeling has lasted for more than 20 years.

Although the Taichang Dynasty had achieved such great success in both civil and military affairs, he still did not seem to feel that this was the Ming Dynasty he had in mind.

The sage monarch is like a gift from heaven, and his heart remains unchanged.

To what level will he lead the Ming Dynasty?

(End of the book)

(End of this chapter)