Jiajing Chengming

Xie Qian was very familiar with the Japanese situation and the conditions along the coast.

After all, his family used to be a big smuggling family in the world.

Because of this, his family was wiped out by a wealthy family along the coastal area.

But precisely because the Xie family was wiped out, Xie Qian, after careful reflection, decided to be a staunch conservative. He would no longer be like before, claiming to follow the ancestral system in name but always violating it in private.

Therefore, Xie Qian now also advocates continuing the strict ban on the sea, and only agrees with the court to conduct official trade with the Japanese based on the example of Emperor Taizong's voyage to the West, and prohibits private trade.

When Lin Jun heard Xie Qian say this, he couldn't help but clench his teeth even tighter, and the unhappiness in his heart became even stronger!

He really wanted to grab Xie Qian's collar and ask him, "Since your Xie family cannot smuggle and cannot benefit from maritime trade, why don't you just prevent all the big families along the coast from benefiting from maritime trade, instead of just focusing on gaining a good reputation for being loyal to the ancestral system?"

Of course, Lin Jun naturally didn't dare to do this in front of the emperor.

But he did not insist on arguing any further.

Because he had to admit that the price that the Japanese daimyo Niko clan was willing to pay to purchase Ming firearms had already tempted many court officials, making it impossible to stop the sale of firearms to the Japanese.

Undoubtedly, the scale of official trade will only grow further as a result!
It is not known when the opening of the sea will be possible.

"Since most of the nobles support selling firearms to the Japanese, I will also follow public opinion and allow the sale of firearms to the Niko clan. I will send someone to negotiate with them!"

"However, although you can sell firearms, you must be cautious. The high-quality firearms that are equipped to the elite troops of the Ming Dynasty cannot be sold."

"In addition, those that are currently under development cannot be sold. Only the bird guns and ordinary sub-gun cannons currently in use by ordinary government troops can be sold. However, after these firearms are sold, the Military Equipment Bureau must design more powerful firearms as soon as possible!"

“The sale is still handled by the Ministry of Industry.”

After Zhu Houcong said this, Wu Wendi, the Minister of Works who was in charge of the manufacture and sale of military equipment, stepped forward and nodded in agreement.

then.

Zhu Houcong said: "Let's also discuss whether the Japanese land servants in Zhitong District can be given a sword with a surname."

After that.

Zhu Houcong couldn't help but feel a little happy in his heart.

Because he had to admit that he, the Jiajing Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was finally able to take care of the affairs of Japan.

"Your Majesty, although our country is different from Japan, even if the people of our country are common people, they can have surnames and study to gain fame, but the reality of Japan is different from that of our country after all, and we should not be too hasty to change customs. I think we should first consider the reality of Japan, and not allow all Japanese to carry swords with their surnames. We should only allow those Japanese who are willing to work for the Ming Dynasty, willing to accept the king's rule, and willing to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty to carry swords with their surnames, so that they can be respected in front of other Japanese first, so that other Japanese can see the benefits of accepting the king's rule and learning the teachings of sages!"

Yang Yiqing then put forward his own views.

Zhang Cong also echoed and said: "Your Majesty, I agree with Yuan Fu's words. The number of officers and soldiers in Japan is limited, and we need to use Japan to control Japan! But at the same time, whether you can bear the surname and carry a sword and become an official, you must also accept the examination!"

Next, other ministers and officials who participated in the court discussion also followed suit.

On this point, they were very consistent. They were unwilling to treat all Japanese the same as the Han Chinese in their own country. Instead, they only allowed some privileges to those Japanese who were willing to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty, work for the Ming Dynasty, and accept assimilation. However, they also had to undergo assessments in order to achieve the goal of dividing the Japanese and letting them know that if they wanted to become the best, they could only accept assimilation.

Zhu Houcong also agreed with this.

then.

The cabinet then issued an imperial decree to Xu Jie in accordance with Zhu Houcong's oral instructions, asking him to convey to the Nizi clan that the court would appoint imperial merchants to contact him about the sale of firearms.

Simultaneously.

The cabinet also issued an edict to Xu Jie in response to Zhu Houcong's oral instructions, allowing him to only grant surnames and swords to Japanese local servants who were willing to accept the king's rule, and that they must first be examined before being given the status and appointment of surnames and swords. Xu Jie was also told that in order to solve the current problem of urgent need for personnel, he could, based on actual conditions, first give concentrated royal education to the Japanese local servants who had surrendered for a period of time, and then decide which ones could be selected to have surnames and swords.

Thus.

The Ming Dynasty undoubtedly officially began to sell arms to foreign countries for profit and to train Ming court lackeys.

Lin Jun was very sad about this.

He knew that these big coastal companies would undoubtedly suffer heavy losses as a result.

Not only did the imperial court reap all the benefits of maritime trade, it also took this opportunity to strengthen its control over Japan in the East, and there was a tendency that it would completely annex the country in the future and achieve further unification of the world.

"Early on, before the imperial merchant system came into being, I urged you to advocate opening the seas, and stop shouting about closing the seas in the name of the ancestral system that cannot be violated!"

"In the end, you didn't listen, and you hoped that Your Majesty would back down because of the various conspiracies and intrigues of the internal traitors and foreign barbarians, and give up the strict ban on the sea, thinking that in this way, we, the big coastal families, can continue to monopolize the profits of maritime trade."

"But the result is what it is now. Not only have many nobles begun to continue to support the maritime ban, but even Wang Zhenze and Xie Yuyao are advocating for a maritime ban!"

For this reason, after the court was dismissed, Lin Jun specially called a group of Fujian officials who were close to him to his side and reprimanded them.

These Fujian officials all came from wealthy families along the coastal areas.

They are all discouraged now.

When Lin Jun reprimanded them, they just lowered their heads and listened obediently.

Because they themselves are also very upset.

Especially after knowing that the Japanese daimyo is now willing to buy Ming Dynasty firearms at ten times the price.

Many of them couldn't help but secretly think, it would be great if the firearms trade could continue to be smuggled by our big coastal companies!

But now they can only think about it, and can only watch the court earn more and more maritime trade income. "Haven't we already called for the opening of the sea?"

"It's not just officials in Fujian, officials in Zhejiang and Guangdong and Guangxi have already started calling for the opening of the sea."

Huang Wan, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, spoke first at this time and said a few words that his attitude had changed.

Lin Xiyuan, the Junior Official of the Guanglu Temple, followed with a sigh and said, "That's true, but it's too late. It's the lower officials who advocate opening the sea, while the really important officials in power are the ones who advocate closing the sea."

then.

Lin Xiyuan said to Lin Jun again: "However, you don't have to worry too much, Grand Lord. Although the court still bans the sea, the voices advocating the opening of the sea are getting louder and louder. In my hometown, many scholars have also begun to petition the court to open the sea under the call of the gentry and wise men! We believe that in the near future, the court will open the sea!"

Huang Wan nodded, "That's right. Your Majesty is virtuous and loves the people like his own children. He also wants to achieve the rule of Yao and Shun and has the heart to enrich the people. He will definitely not let the landless people along the coast rely on working to make a living, nor will he really let the big families along the coast have to annex land after losing the sea benefits. Sooner or later, the ban will be lifted! It's just that now, the ruling court is greedy for the huge profits that will be brought by the exclusive use of maritime trade by the court. They want to see the national treasury increase dramatically every year, and let people in the future generations see how well they manage their finances. That's why they don't care about the lives of us coastal scholars and people, and only want the court to control maritime trade and reap the benefits alone."

Lin Xiyuan nodded and said, "That's right. Otherwise, His Majesty would not have allowed the voices calling for the opening of the sea to be so rampant in the court and the country!"

"As long as all of us coastal bigwigs agree to give up the exclusive benefits of maritime trade and are willing to take only the share of the benefits granted to us by Your Majesty, I believe Your Majesty will be willing to open the sea."

"It's good that you understand. Unfortunately, I may not be able to wait for this day."

As Lin Jun spoke, he began to cough violently, and his face became paler.

Recently, he felt that his health was not as good as before, and he had to force himself to attend the court meetings before.

Now, the sea-opening project has not been completed, and Lin Jun is becoming more and more depressed, and naturally his illness has become more severe.

"Father!"

Lin Jun's son Lin Da saw this and hurriedly helped Lin Jun lie down on the couch, and then hurriedly went to ask the doctor to come.

Lin Xiyuan, Huang Wan and others also came closer with concerned looks on their faces.

"Zongxian, Maozhen!"

Lin Jun weakly called out to Huang Wan and Lin Xiyuan.

Huang Wan and Lin Xiyuan both bowed and replied, "I am here!"

Lin Junze continued, "We must promote the opening of the sea! While the emperor is a benevolent ruler who truly loves the people!"

After Lin Jun finished speaking, he became more and more breathless, his face gradually turned pale, and he died at home that night.

The Lin family naturally hurried to report the death to the palace.

Lin Da also asked for permission to resign and carry the coffin back home.

When Zhu Houcong heard the news, he was deeply saddened.

Although Lin Jun was a ritualist at first, he did not make the wrong choice in the face of major issues. He also dealt a fatal blow to the big families in Fujian who attempted to swallow up the Donglai gold mine, and was the first to advocate the opening of the sea.

However, times have changed. Not all the big coastal businesses have the long-term vision like him. Most of them have short-sightedness. So when he advocated opening the sea, some people still followed suit and said to close the sea, which made him seem alone.

Now that Lin Jun has passed away, it undoubtedly means that there is one less wise person among the wealthy families along the coast.

However, Zhu Houcong knew that Lin Jun had not been advocating for the opening of the sea for so long in vain. After all, under his influence, the voices advocating the opening of the sea were getting louder and louder.

However, the anti-sea faction still controlled the imperial court, and Zhu Houcong still needed the support of the anti-sea faction to achieve the goal of completing economic reforms and establishing sufficient external hegemony.

Because now the sea is open, only the wealthy can go out to sea. And after these wealthy people go out to sea, because the court's ruling power abroad is not strong enough, they will only collude with foreigners overseas to enslave the common people of the country who go out to sea, and will not really benefit the people.

Zhu Houcong was well aware of the nature of the wealthy families in his country who went out to sea to do business. Due to the large gap between the rich and the poor, the people in his country were neither rich nor hardworking, so they had no motivation to enslave foreigners. However, they had a strong motivation to enslave their compatriots abroad.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong needed to first establish sufficient hegemony abroad with national power, and also needed to make the people as a whole more prosperous and improve their intelligence before he could open up the sea. In this way, after going out to sea, the rich and the small, the rich would not dare to enslave the small people too much overseas for fear of the authority of the court and domestic criticism.

Regarding Lin Jun's death, Zhu Houcong symbolically stopped attending court for one day to express his grief. He also ordered the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel to discuss posthumous titles for him, and naturally approved Lin Da's request to carry his coffin back to his hometown.

Although Lin Jun died with regret, because he was a member of the ritualist faction and was the first to propose the opening of the sea, many officials from wealthy families in the coastal areas had changed their attitudes and began to support the opening of the sea. Therefore, when Lin Da carried his father's coffin back to his hometown, many officials from the court came to see him off.

The scene was quite grand.

The death of Lin Jun also made the seriously ill Wang Ao grief-stricken. He had someone carry him to the outside of Chaoyang Gate and watched Lin Jun go from afar.

He and Lin Jun were both Jinshi during the Chenghua period and had been good friends for many years, but their later political choices were different.

Although Lin Jun left with regret, he still received the expectations of scholars all over the world.

Wang Ao, because he did not want His Majesty to personally overturn the table and create a more terrifying atmosphere for the ministers, chose to overturn the table himself and no longer protect each other. This made the upright civil servants dare not run around and engage in bribery at will, which greatly disappointed the scholars.

At the same time, as the Minister of the Imperial Study, Wang Ao was unwilling to speak for the wealthy when he knew that more and more wealthy families were advocating the opening of the sea. Instead, he continued to support the ban on the sea just to please the emperor and increase the national treasury, which naturally made him lose the hope of scholars all over the world.

This also meant that Wang Ao was now deserted. Even though the emperor often sent eunuchs and imperial physicians to see him, very few scholars came to see him.

Therefore, when Wang Ao said goodbye to Lin Jun, he could not help but sigh to his son-in-law Xu Jin, "Another old minister of four dynasties has passed away. I am afraid I will not live long. I just don't know how many people will come to see me off when you help me return home."

"Don't worry, old man. In my humble opinion, His Majesty will not let you live in loneliness after you grow old."

Xu Jin came to comfort Wang Ao. (End of this chapter)