Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 288 Reform requires an iron fist, the emperor represents the will of the people!

"late!"

Yang Yiqing shouted.

"If you want to tell me about our ancestral rules, I will tell you about them now!"

"Don't ask me to show you mercy. If you want mercy, go and ask Taizu to show you mercy!"

talking.

Yang Yiqing sneered.

Du Qingze closed his eyes and kowtowed, gritting his teeth and saying, "Lord, we are all scholars, why do we have to do this? Besides, you will return to your hometown in the future, do you also want to wait for the people in power to haggle over every penny with you?"

"I will never let myself be harassed by the officials!"

"Otherwise, I would not have been able to enter the cabinet and serve as a ruler."

Yang Yiqing replied coldly.

After hearing this, Du Qing did not say another word until he was dragged out by Yu Dayou and his men.

But this scene gave a great shock to Yu Dayou, who was only in his twenties.

He really didn't expect that Lord Yang from the capital would use such drastic measures. He thought to himself that after all, he was a Grand Secretary from the capital and a frontier official who had made military achievements in the border town. He really had an iron fist!
When Du Qing was dragged out, he was spotted by Fujian Governor Fan Jizu, Admiral of Coastal Defense Wang Hong and other Fujian dignitaries who were waiting outside.

Fan Jizu hurriedly stopped Yu Dayou and asked about the situation.

Yu Dayou took out the imperial letter given to him by Yang Yiqing and explained the situation.

After hearing this, Fan Jizu, Wang Hong and others hurried over to Yang Yiqing.

After all, Du Qing was a retired civil official who belonged to the same scholar-official class as them, and was also a local official. They would often interact with each other, so it was natural for them to plead for him.

"Lord, what did Lord Du say that made you want to kill him for colluding with the barbarians?"

Fan Jizu asked this question the first time he saw Yang Yiqing.

Yang Yiqing narrowed his eyes and asked Fan Jizu in return: "What do you think is more important, killing him or establishing the Naval Academy?"

"I understand."

Fan Jizu replied with one sentence and said nothing more.

Yang Yiqing stood up and patted his protruding belly: "Many times, people have to die to get things done. Without them, nothing can be done! You are officials sent here by the court, so you must understand who gave you your official hats."

"But as a parent official, you can't ignore the public opinion, right?"

The Left Governor Zhang You responded at this time.

"well said!"

Yang Yiqing smiled, then looked at Zhang You coldly.

Zhang You shuddered at this, lowered his head, and bowed hurriedly: "Excuse me, your humble subordinate!"

"It's just that Du Qing can't represent public opinion."

"In addition, each county has its own public opinion, each prefecture has its own public opinion, and each chief minister has his own public opinion."

"And the entire imperial court also represents the public opinion of the entire world."

"I am here on behalf of the emperor to supervise all matters concerning the shipbuilding industry, so naturally I can only listen to the opinions of the people."

"So, I cannot use the public opinion of one place to represent the public opinion of the whole world; nor can I use the small account of one place to settle the big account of the court."

"It is understandable that you care, but remember, when you can't have both, you should follow the will of the world and yield to the local, otherwise you won't be able to stay in office for long!"

Yang Yiqing waved his hand and then said something.

Then, Yang Yiqing walked away.

The bureaucrats watched this scene for a long time without saying a word.

Wang Hong followed and caught up with Yang Yiqing, saying:

"What you just said enlightened me. In my humble opinion, according to what you said, is it true that the emperor is the will of the people? And the reason why the emperor no longer defends the interior but neglects the exterior is because the will of the people has changed?"

Yang Yiqing stopped to listen to what Wang Hong said, then nodded and smiled.

"Thank you, Lord, for clearing up my confusion!"

"At present, the officials and gentry of Fujian and Guangdong are indeed quite wary of the Portuguese! But I think that since the Western barbarians can come from thousands of miles away, if they are not here for profit, they will not have such perseverance!"

"Therefore, I have always been aware of their ships, firearms, geography and customs, as well as military preparations and defenses. I also believe that strengthening our navy is urgent and necessary to make them obedient and harmonious. Otherwise, these Portuguese will show their fangs and bully us Han people!"

After Wang Hong said this, Yang Yiqing looked at him and said, "If the deputy commander can think this way, it means that your good fortune is more than this."

Wang Hong bowed and said, "Your Excellency is too kind. You worry about the world before you worry about yourself, and you enjoy the world after you enjoy yourself. As a minister of the emperor, I should focus on the long-term, and not be like the local officials who are only confused by the immediate benefits."

"to this end……"

"I have something I would like to ask you, Lord."

After Wang Hong said this, he bowed to Yang Yiqing.

Yang Yiqing supported him: "But please speak frankly."

"I would like to submit a petition to recruit coastal pirates to join the navy, so as to expand the navy as soon as possible."

"First, at present, in the sea, it is more important to guard against foreign invaders than to guard against domestic invaders. Therefore, we should mainly pacify domestic invaders and mainly suppress foreign invaders!"

"Secondly, most of the people of our country who went out to sea to become pirates were forced to do so by the officials and gentry. It does not necessarily mean that they have lost their loyalty. If they are recruited as soldiers and strictly disciplined, they may be transformed into loyal and brave soldiers. "

"Third, the officers and soldiers of the garrisons are already corrupt and most of them are not used to naval warfare, and they are not even familiar with the water. The officers have become gentry or married into the gentry, and the military households can only farm and most of them are unusable for the time being. The bandits of our country roaming around in various seas are mostly boatmen, who are very good at sailing and can endure hardships. They are suitable for recruitment and training as new troops, and can also check and balance the unethical people in the garrisons."

"I wonder what you think, Lord?"

Wang Hong asked.

Recruiting pirates is an idea that can easily lead to criticism.

Because the majority of civil servants in the Ming Dynasty advocated defending the interior and weakening the exterior, the Ming Dynasty always emphasized suppressing the invaders in the country with force, and being gentle and benevolent to foreign invaders, mainly driving them away.

Therefore, Wang Hong did not dare to submit a memorial on his own, but he felt that the wind direction seemed to be changing after the new emperor ascended the throne, so he boldly raised it to Yang Yiqing.

Yang Yiqing nodded after hearing this: "This is a proper strategy. You may as well draft a memorial and I will submit it with you jointly." "Yes!"

Wang Hong was overjoyed after hearing this and quickly bowed in response.

That's what he wanted.

With a ruling leader like Yang Yiqing taking the lead in submitting memorials, even if something goes wrong, there will be ruling elders who will take responsibility for them, which naturally reduces the risk.

At this time.

The sound of horse hooves came from the bluestone road ahead.

"There is an imperial decree!"

Yang Yiqing, Wang Hong, and other bureaucrats including Fan Jizu who came with them knelt down hurriedly after hearing this.

"Imperial edict: In the past, when Taizu punished the people, it was to change the customs and habits and correct the people's manners, not to let the people bear the burden of being lowly and exploited by the powerful, so that they left their hometowns and ancestors and wandered around the world... Now, the country has been established for 150 years, and the people's manners have changed greatly. I also want to show benevolence and virtue to the people, so how can I prevent those who have been turned into low-class people from changing their careers and becoming good people? Therefore, all those who have followed the customs and cannot be improved in the world should be given the way to reform themselves. All low-class people will be removed from the list of low-class people, and boat households can live on land, and they can also study and change their careers... This is to encourage integrity and promote morality, and to preserve the virtues of Taizu!"

After Laiqi finished reading the imperial edict, he handed it to Yang Yiqing: "Your Majesty has spoken the edict. Please accept the edict and let everyone know."

Yang Yiqing's eyes were already filled with tears, and he said: "Your Majesty is as benevolent as the heaven. I, an old minister, am deeply impressed and I shed tears for all the people!"

talking.

Yang Yiqing stood up and took the imperial edict.

Then, Yang Yiqing turned to Fan Jizu, Wang Hong and other officials and said, "Go and convey the imperial edict!"

The officials agreed.

In this way, all the officials understood that the emperor would fully support Yang Yiqing's work in Fuzhou, and would even actively cooperate to abolish the slave system.

Wang Hong was even more delighted that his statement just now was not in vain. The cabinet ministers from the capital indeed understood the emperor's intention better.

It’s just that Du Qing was unlucky. If he had heard the imperial edict earlier, this wouldn’t have happened.

But now, he had been taken to the city gate market, and was beheaded on the spot in public, with his blood directly staining the bluestone slabs red.

Wang Hong drafted the petition to recruit the pirates overnight and asked Yang Yiqing to review it.

After Yang Yiqing made some slight corrections, he jointly submitted this memorial with him.

At the same time, the boat dwellers along the coast burst into tears when they learned that the emperor had granted them the status of good citizens and allowed them to live on land and study and change their careers.

Huang Mu, a boatman from Haicheng, carried his mother Luo on his back and went ashore. He said to her, "Mother, the county government announced that the emperor has abolished the status of slaves and allowed us to go ashore. You can find a comfortable place on land to recuperate!"

Luo smiled and said, "That's great! I didn't expect that even though I'm old and sick, I could still meet such a good emperor!"

Like Huang Mu, many boat people came ashore for this reason, and even some boat people who were pirates came back on their own initiative to find work on shore.

Let’s talk about the hot summer season in the fourth year of Jiajing.

Zhu Houcong, who was eating iced watermelon in the imperial study, learned from Fei Hong and Wang Qiong about Yang Yiqing and Wang Shang's memorial on recruiting the pirates.

"This memorial is extraordinary!"

"This means that the court must make a major change in how it treats foreign invaders and domestic invaders."

Zhu Houcong spoke up, and then looked at Wang Qiong: "Wang Gelao, you are now in charge of the Ministry of War, what do you say?"

Wang Qiong hurriedly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I think we can recruit them, but we can't give them military status directly. Instead, we should organize them into a naval battalion, so that only those who have made contributions can be enlisted in the military."

"Because sometimes the imperial court cannot bestow too much favor, otherwise it will make the person despise the imperial court's favor, just like not wanting to bestow a famous vessel indiscriminately!"

"Moreover, since Your Majesty is interested in the military status of the nobles, you should carefully give the most noble status to those who have been newly recruited and those who have been released from low status."

"rational!"

"Then let Yang Yiqing and Wang Hong know that they can be recruited, but they will only be assigned to the Navy's Sea Reserve Battalion first. Those who have made contributions will be transferred to the Navy's Regular Battalion."

Zhu Houcong ordered.

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

Next.

Zhu Houcong asked again: "Have the Korean envoys arrived?"

In order to develop the iron mines in the northern border of Korea, Zhu Houcong sent a special minister to convey an order to Korea, ordering it to send an envoy with full authority to represent its king to China.

Now that everything on the coast is ready, all that's left is waiting for the navy to be trained. Naturally, he would pay attention to the north and ask about the Korean envoys.

Fei Hong replied at this time: "The Ministry of Rites reported that it has arrived in Jizhou."

Zhu Houcong nodded after hearing this.

at this time.

Yang Yingfeng, the deputy military envoy of Jizhou, was entertaining more than 30 people including Zheng Yunqian, the minister sent by King Yi of Joseon, and asked, "Do you know why your majesty summoned your envoys?"

Zheng Yunqian understood, and immediately stood up and bowed, saying, "I was just about to ask Bingxian to help me with this!"

talking.

Zheng Yunqian handed a gift list to Yang Yingfeng's entourage.

Yang Yingfeng smiled and said, "You are too polite! I am not venting my anger on you for these things, but for the sake of my Ming Dynasty not to have any resentment towards the vassal states!"

"Your Majesty summoned you this time because he wants to open a mine in your country. The Marquis of Zhenyuan was sent to replace Xi Yong to guard Liaodong for this purpose!"

Yang Yingfeng said.

Zheng Yunqian and others were shocked after hearing this and started talking about it.

Finally, after these people calmed down, Yang Yingfeng said to Zheng Yunqian: "I think you all know what to do!"

"Know!"

"Of course, we should take the initiative to ask the country to send people to North Korea to open mines and benefit the people!"

After hearing this, Yang Yingfeng's face darkened in surprise.

(End of this chapter)