The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 345: Has an intelligence officer become a cabinet minister?
After listening to the three strategies of the Ming Dynasty's troops to defend the country, the Persian monarch Fatah was undecided for a while.

He asked all the ministers to leave. He thought about it over and over again for three days, but in the end he did not have the courage to adopt the best strategy.

Fatah does not feel that there is a need to take the initiative to submit to the Ming Dynasty at the moment.

Nor did they have the courage to adopt a middle policy, nor did they have the guts to clearly and openly reject the Ottoman Empire, Russia, and Shun State at the same time.

In the end, we had to resort to the most compromising and last resort strategy.

However, even if it was a bad option, there was an arrangement to proactively inform the Ming Dynasty, which was much better than the initial option of directly accepting the Ottoman request.

After Ma Weiguo learned about it, he took the initiative to persuade Fatah again, and at the same time, he also put the blame on himself again:

"Your Majesty, although the worst strategy can barely stabilize both Ming and Oshun'e at the same time, it will not establish any good relations with Ming.

“It is still very likely that we will be regarded as an enemy by the Ming Dynasty, but it will not be as strong as if we simply do not contact the Ming Dynasty.

"Persia's future will be full of uncertainty. If we meet Ming on the battlefield in the future, don't blame me for not reminding you."

Fatah had no courage and could only sigh to show that he understood:
"I know, I understand what you mean, this is my own choice, I will never blame you in the future.

“But please help me, sir, and explain Persia’s difficulties to the Ming Dynasty as much as possible.

"Sir, are you willing to go on a diplomatic mission to the Ming Dynasty for me?"

Ma Weiguo was originally from the Western Factory, so returning to the Ming Dynasty was of course a piece of cake for him and he could go back directly to report on his work.

Besides, the Chinese New Year is coming soon. If you start preparing now, you can go back home before the New Year.

In addition, Ma Weiguo was not the only person from the Western Factory in the Persian court. Even if he left the Persian court and returned to the Ming Dynasty, this intelligence line would not be cut off directly.

So Ma Weiguo agreed directly:
"Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty. I will do my best."

Fatah was overjoyed:
"Thank you sir."

Fatah immediately asked his servants to prepare gifts, one batch as a thank-you gift to Ma Weiguo himself, one batch for Ma Weiguo to use in his activities in the Ming Dynasty, and one batch directly presented to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

During the ten days that Fatah was preparing the gift, Ma Weiguo first used the West Factory communication line to send the relevant information back to the West Factory headquarters in Ming Dynasty.

In normal times, intelligence from overseas countries like Persia would not need to be sent directly to the emperor unless the emperor specifically asked for it.

But this time, the intelligence from Persia involved Shun State, Ottoman Empire and Russia, which is the intelligence that the West Factory is currently focusing on.

Therefore, the news about Ma Weiguo was specially sent to Zhu Jianxuan.

After reading the report, Zhu Jianxuan was not too surprised about the information that the three Ottoman countries were contacting Persia.

Persia is surrounded by the Ming Dynasty, Shun State, the Ottoman Empire, and Russia, especially sandwiched between Shun State and the Ottoman Empire, which makes it very important to both countries.

It would be abnormal if the two countries did not want Persia to join them at all.

The Ming Privy Council had been mentally prepared and had already considered the possibility of Persia joining the Triple Alliance in its combat strategy.

Persia will not easily take the initiative to directly submit to the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty did not have to spend energy and money to win over Persia, but instead prepared to kill Persia together.

Persia's position is rather special, and it would not be a good thing if it were to remain intact in the future.

If we want to actively win over Persia, we cannot just split it up now. A direct war will solve the problem more thoroughly.

At the same time, Zhu Jianxuan was a little surprised by Ma Weiguo. After looking at his general situation, he muttered in his heart:
“Being able to speak directly to the King of Persia, this must be the level of a court minister!
"This guy is quite capable. He has become an intelligence officer and even entered the cabinet!

“When you come back, you don’t have to continue being a spy. You can work in the Honglu Temple.

“Diplomats are intelligence agents, but their working methods are different from those of professional spies who conceal their identities.

"This guy is obviously more suitable to be a diplomat."

The spies of the Western Factory originally belonged to the military officer system, but Ma Weiguo, a military officer, became a top civil servant of another country while overseas.

Zhu Jianxuan was impressed by Ma Weiguo, a spy from the Western Factory, and planned to transfer him to the Honglu Department after his mission in Persia was completed.

Considering that the report stated that he would come to Ming Dynasty as an envoy of the King of Persia in the near future, he forwarded the report to the Honglu Temple.

Not long after, Ma Weiguo himself was ready. He took a few personal servants arranged by Fatah and boarded the Ming passenger ship booked by Fatah and set off for Shuntian Prefecture.

In mid-December of the 17th year of Tiangong, Ma Weiguo rushed to Shuntian Prefecture. In the name of a Persian envoy, he took Fatah's servants to the Honglu Temple to ask for an audience.

According to the current rules of the Ming Dynasty, Persia is an overseas barbarian country that does not pay tribute and has no direct relationship with the Ming Dynasty court.

However, the two sides were not completely without any contact. The Ming Dynasty's Honglu Temple also allowed overseas countries to come and deal with them.

It’s just that they must put themselves in the position of subordinates, not equals.

In fact, the countries that have this mentality towards the Shenzhou Dynasty are the modern European countries in history.

When Britain and France dealt with the Qing Dynasty in history, they both placed their monarchs on the same footing as the Qing emperors.

For this reason, in the early Qing Dynasty, envoys from European countries were absolutely not allowed to stay directly in Beijing.

Persia had frequent exchanges with Shenzhou, and the monarchs and envoys could actively accept a status lower than that of the emperor of Shenzhou, so there would naturally be no conflicts in their contacts with the Ming Dynasty.

After Ma Weiguo paid a visit to the Minister of Honglu Temple of the Ming Dynasty, he played the role of a Persian envoy very seriously, which illustrates Fatah's mentality and hope.

"Persia is small and weak, unable to resist the combined pressure of the Ottomans and Shun, so it can only compromise.

"Persia has absolutely no intention of being an enemy of the Celestial Empire. We beg His Majesty to forgive our small country for its actions."

The Minister of the Honglu Temple of the Ming Dynasty already knew that Ma Weiguo was actually a member of the Western Factory. It was a bit strange to see this spy from the Western Factory telling stories here.

I have to say this guy acted the role really well, he really looks like a Ming Dynasty businessman who is an official in Persia.

If there weren't two Persians following him, who might be confidants directly arranged by the Persian Kingdom, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites would really want to ask this guy how he did it.

Now the Great Ming Dynasty's elegant language is used all over the world, and most of the confidants arranged by the Persian king can understand the Great Ming Dynasty's elegant language, so there is no way to "encrypt communication" in front of them.

The Minister of the Honglu Temple could only listen patiently to Ma Weiguo's "confession", and then deliberately pointed out the Persian king's little thoughts in a tone of warning:
"Since Persia is already in a situation where it is surrounded by powerful enemies on both the east and west sides, why doesn't it just formally pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty?
"As a vassal of the Ming Emperor, what can Shun and the Ottoman Empire do to Persia?
"The King of Persia is still wavering at this time. Perhaps he is still hoping that he will not offend either side?

"Since you are from the Ming Dynasty, you should make it clear to the King of Persia. Shenzhou has a very long history, and we can find a parallel for what they did.

"He cannot gain the full trust of the Ming Dynasty by doing this."

The two Persian king's confidants around Ma Weiguo could indeed understand the elegant language of the Ming Dynasty, so they were a little panicked when they heard the warning from the Minister of the Ming Dynasty's Ministry of Rites.

Both of them subconsciously looked at Ma Weiguo, hoping that Ma Weiguo could explain it well.

Ma Weiguo also smiled bitterly and bowed to the Minister of Honglu Temple and said:

"Please forgive me, old sir. I have already explained everything to the King of Persia at the beginning. I also analyzed the current situation for him and gave him three strategies: the best, the middle and the worst.

“The best strategy is to directly pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty and cooperate with the Ming Dynasty to eliminate Shun State and the Ottoman Empire.

“The Central Strategy is to maintain absolute neutrality, not allow the Ottoman and Shun armies to enter the country, and seek help from the Ming Dynasty if attacked by them.

"This is the worst option. I hope I can avoid offending both sides and continue to make do with this.

"The King of Persia did not actively want to please both sides and seek benefits from both the Ming Dynasty and the Ottoman Empire. He really did not have the courage and determination to adopt the upper and middle strategies.

"Ordinary monarchs of small countries like them usually have such an indecisive mentality. They have too many concerns..." The Minister of the Ministry of Rites looked at the three people in front of him with a scrutinizing look:
"Really?"

Ma Weiguo quickly said:

"Indeed, I swear to heaven that everything I said is true."

The two close confidants of the Persian king beside him also quickly nodded.

The Minister of the Ministry of Rites certainly believed Ma Weiguo, because he already knew that he was one of their own.

So at this time, I sighed helplessly:
"Okay, I understand. I will report the situation to His Majesty. You guys wait in the post house for a while to see if His Majesty will give a special reply."

Ma Weiguo quickly stood up and bowed to express his gratitude:

"Thank you, old man..."

The Minister of the Ministry of Rites waved his hand gently, then picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip.

Ma Weiguo bowed again and took his leave, then returned to the inn with his two Persian followers to rest.

After there were no "outsiders" around, the two Persian kings quickly asked Ma Weiguo:

"Mr. Ma, in your opinion, can the ministers and emperor of the Ming Dynasty believe what we say?"

Ma Weiguo smiled and said to the two:

"I believe it with a high probability. I am 60 to 70 percent sure.

"I will go and try my luck in the next couple of days. I will visit some Ming officials in private and look for former local partners.

"With a little bit of multi-party collaboration, we should have an 80% to 90% chance of success.

“It’s a rare opportunity for me to return to China, and I want to go around and visit old friends.

"You two can go around and experience the prosperity of the best place in the Celestial Empire. When you are done, you can return home together."

The two Persian king's confidants agreed happily:

"Then I'll trouble you, sir."

Ma Weiguo said goodbye to the two confidants of the Persian king and left the inn alone, under the pretext that he was going to build relationships, look for ways, and meet up with old friends.

Ma Weiguo walked around the streets many times and made sure that no one was following him before he followed the internal contact information and slipped into the West Factory Yamen through a remote back door.

Ma Weiguo confirmed his identity with the officials of the Western Factory headquarters, went directly to the admiral of the Western Factory, and handed over the intelligence summary he had prepared.

The governor of the Western Factory flipped through Ma Weiguo's report and found that it was no different from the one sent back by telegram before, except that the details were more complete.

Then he looked Ma Weiguo up and down for several times, and said with emotion:
"You are quite capable, my Lord, I heard that you became a minister in Persia, so I am a little interested in you.

"You will stay here for the next two days. Wait for my notification and join me in the attack to see the emperor."

Ma Weiguo was stunned after hearing this:
"Ah... Your Majesty... wants to see me?"

Ma Weiguo's surprise and excitement did not last long. The next day, he received a notice and went to the new palace in Beiyuan with the commander-in-chief of the Western Factory.

I met the Ming Emperor Zhu Jianxuan in the courtyard on the Shichahai Peninsula.

After the two of them exchanged greetings, Zhu Jianxuan looked Ma Weiguo up and down, and then said in an encouraging tone:
“You have done well in Persia. You have become a minister in the Persian king’s court and represented the king of Persia as an envoy to the Ming Dynasty. This shows that you are really capable.

“After this mission, leave the Persian court and return to Ming before the end of next year.

"Whether the Persian king really has no courage or is just trying to please both sides, the Ming Dynasty cannot allow them to maintain this attitude.

“However, the Ming Dynasty would not force Persia to take sides before coming into direct conflict with Shun State and the Ottoman Empire.

"You just have to leave before the war breaks out."

Ma Weiguo was flattered. He didn't expect that he would attract the emperor's attention for this reason.

This is definitely a good thing for any official.

The emperor has an impression of me, and when he needs someone to do something in the future, he may think of me.

The emperor often needed to appoint a large number of people to official positions.

In fact, the emperor did not know many middle-level officials, and often made his choices from the long list reported by the Ministry of Personnel.

At most, we can screen them based on their resumes.

Officials who impressed the emperor could be replaced at any time when the emperor was dissatisfied with a certain official.

This kind of person will be promoted very quickly.

Ma Weiguo was so excited that he quickly accepted the order and expressed his gratitude respectfully.

Ma Weiguo then went on to ask the emperor about his attitude towards Persia:

"Your Majesty, the Western Factory's intelligence network in Persia, I and several of my colleagues from the Western Factory, a few real Ming merchants, have some influence in the Persian court and among the people.

"Should we mobilize our forces in the future to force the King of Persia to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty?"

Zhu Jianxuan hesitated for a few seconds:
“You can try, but you don’t need to take risks, pursue success, or make any clear commitments.

"In front of the armed forces of the Ming Dynasty, the Persian army is just a mob.

“We could easily crush them on the battlefield, completely conquer Persia and then break it up.

"If we use other means to force the Persian king to surrender, we must promise to retain some of his authority and interests.

"That's not the best outcome for Ming Dynasty. Do you understand this?"

Ma Weiguo certainly understood, and also understood that the emperor wanted to seize it head-on and did not want to compromise:

"I understand. Thank you for your teachings, Your Majesty."

Zhu Jianxuan arranged another sentence:
"When you come back next time, you will report to the Honglu Temple and serve as the Right Prime Minister of the Honglu Temple."

Before the Chongzhen period, the chief official of the Honglu Temple, the Honglu Temple Qing, was a fourth-rank official, his assistant official, the Honglu Temple Shaoqing, was a fifth-rank official, and the Honglu Temple Zuoyoucheng and Zuoyoucheng were sixth-rank officials.

After the Chongzhen Dynasty, the status of the Honglu Temple was raised. The Honglu Temple Minister became the second rank like other Shangshu, the Shaoqing was promoted to the third rank, and the Zuo and Zuo Cheng were the fourth rank.

After Zhu Jianxuan combined the official systems of the Wu Kingdom and the Ming Dynasty to rebuild the bureaucratic system of the new Ming Dynasty, the Minister of the Honglu Temple was demoted to the third rank along with the heads of other departments.

The Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple was demoted to the fourth rank, on the same level as the Councillor of the Provincial Administration Council, and the Zuoyoucheng were demoted to the fifth rank, on the same level as the prefect.

Now the rank of civil servants in the Ming Dynasty has become extremely valuable. The highest rank for regular officials is the third rank, and the fifth rank can be considered a senior bureaucrat.

The rank system of military officers is more relaxed. The division commander is of the third rank, the commander-in-chief is of the second rank, and the governor-general is of the first rank.

Ma Weiguo now holds the rank of fifth rank. It seems that he is still fifth rank after the transfer, but in fact he has been promoted, at least equivalent to jumping two levels.

Ma Weiguo was very satisfied with this rank, but it was really shocking that he changed from a military officer system to a civil servant.

Ma Weiguo was stunned for at least three seconds before he reacted and quickly bowed to express his gratitude.

(End of this chapter)