Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 258 The Sun Never Sets

At this moment.

Even seasoned officials like Bi Ziyan, Wen Tiren, and Wei Zhongxian, who had spent their lives navigating the treacherous waters of officialdom, were like inexperienced youths, their mouths agape, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

Divide and conquer, and use the interlocking teeth of your forces – this is the art of rulership.

But the emperor's words, "go with the flow, adapt to local conditions, and seek the best results," are truly groundbreaking and revolutionary!

The younger generation, including Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou, were utterly devastated, and then an indescribable fervor surged within them.

After an unknown amount of time, the emperor's calm voice rang out again, rousing everyone from their daze.

"Once the blueprint is set, it still needs skilled craftsmen. Having grand strategies is nothing but empty talk if there are no people to overcome obstacles."

Zhu Youjian put down his charcoal pencil, his gaze sharp as he swept over the several trusted ministers standing before him. His gaze held scrutiny, but also expectation.

"Today, right here in this room, I will appoint the new... border-guarding minister of my Great Ming!"

As soon as the words were spoken, everyone except a few veteran officials instinctively straightened their backs, held their breath, and awaited the appointment that would determine their future.

……

The emperor's first appointment was to Sun Chuanting, the former governor of Shaanxi, who had a cold face and a body like a javelin!

Sun Chuanting can be said to be an old acquaintance whom the emperor personally promoted during times of crisis. When Shaanxi suffered a great disaster and the land was barren, the emperor thought of him first among his thousands of officials!
This time, he was promoted directly from that desolate and cold land of yellow sand to Yingtian Province, which is about to become the heart of the wealth of the entire Ming Dynasty. The favor and trust shown by this move can not be described by the word "importance" alone!
"Sun Chuanting, heed the imperial decree!"

“Your subject is here!” Sun Chuanting stepped forward, knelt on both knees, and spoke in a voice as firm as metal and stone.

The emperor's gaze sharpened, and he said in a deep voice, "Yingtian Province is the core of my three-part Southern Zhili! This place will be the most prosperous part of my Great Ming, but it is also the den of dragons and tigers in the implementation of the new policies! Salt merchants, textile manufacturers, canal gangs, gentry... countless interest groups are deeply entrenched, and the accumulated problems have lasted for three hundred years. They cannot be swept away without thunderous means!"

"I have observed that you, Sun Chuanting, have handled everything in Shaanxi with the same efficiency and ruthlessness as an iron plow, never hesitating or dragging your feet! You are not afraid of what others say or what officials say; you only have the imperial decree and the law in your eyes!"
This Yingtian Province is like fertile soil riddled with festering sores. I don't need a mediocre minister to mend the mess here; I need a skilled butcher with a steel knife to remove all the tumors and surgically remove the poison!

"I order you to rectify the salt administration of Lianghuai with thunderous force, bringing the salt merchants completely under the control of the court! Use swift and decisive action to thoroughly investigate the Jiangnan Textile Bureau, wiping out those corrupt officials who have embezzled imperial property! Furthermore, I order you to use this as a foundation to first implement my new policies, such as the unified tax collection system and the integration of land tax and poll tax, here! Who dares to obstruct, who dares to criticize, who dares to outwardly comply but inwardly defy—"

The emperor's voice suddenly turned cold, filled with murderous intent!
"I still grant you the right to execute first and report later! Within Yingtian Prefecture, from officials to commoners, anyone who disobeys may be executed first, and then I will be informed!"

Upon hearing this, a terrifying glint flashed in Sun Chuanting's eyes. Without the slightest hesitation, he kowtowed heavily: "Your subject, Sun Chuanting, obeys the decree! I will certainly not fail Your Majesty's trust! If there is even one person in Yingtian Province who does not abide by the new laws, I will offer my head to you!"

The emperor nodded, his gaze turning to the composed former Vice Minister of War.

"Xiong Mingyu, heed the imperial decree!"

“Your old minister is here!” Xiong Mingyu stepped forward and knelt respectfully.

"Anqing Province is a newly established province by me, and it has three responsibilities." The emperor's tone softened slightly, becoming both calm and solemn.
"First, appease the local people and rebuild the capital, so that the people of Fengyang, Luzhou, Huizhou and other places can quickly return to the new province and live in peace and prosperity. Second, integrate the military resources of southern Anhui and the Jianghuai region, train the new army, and make it a strategic barrier to protect Nanjing and suppress the Jianghuai region. Third, keep an eye on the 'Huizhou merchants'! After separating them from Jiangnan, how to make them serve the country with peace of mind, rather than harboring resentment, is of paramount importance."

"Minister Xiong, you have long served in the central government and are experienced in officialdom. You are prudent and well-versed in the ways of governance. Anqing is not like Yingtian; it does not require harsh policies but rather the gentle and persuasive approach of spring rain. I need you, this ballast stone, to stabilize this western barrier protecting the capital."

"I don't need you to accomplish any earth-shattering feats immediately, but I want you to transform Anqing within three years into a place where the people are stable, the army is well-resourced, and trade routes are unimpeded—a model for the entire realm! Can you do it?"

A hint of excitement appeared on Xiong Mingyu's aged face, and he quickly kowtowed, saying, "Your old minister Xiong Mingyu obeys the decree! I will devote myself wholeheartedly to building an impregnable Anqing for Your Majesty!"

stable!
With this man by his side, Xiong Ming felt completely secure! With him in charge of Anqing, there was no need to worry about the west!
Then, the emperor's gaze fell on Hong Chengchou, who appeared weak but whose eyes gleamed with shrewdness.

"Hong Chengchou, heed the imperial decree!"

"Your Highness, I'm here!"

"Zhejiang! It is closely connected to the newly established Yingtian Province of my Ming Dynasty, and is also an important town for opening up the sea in our Great Ming Dynasty!"

The Emperor's voice sharpened again, "However, the problem with Zhejiang lies in its excessive literary atmosphere. The remnants of the Donglin Party and members of the Fushe Party are deeply rooted here! They preach benevolence and morality, but behind the scenes they are thieves and prostitutes. They are best at using public opinion to oppose the court and bewitch people! At the same time, Zhejiang is a developed commercial province with countless maritime merchants and wealthy businessmen. How to ensure that their profits are used for the country's benefit, rather than supporting the enemy and fostering bandits, is also a difficult problem!"

"Hong Chengchou, you are quick-witted and resourceful, possessing both swift and decisive action and a knack for appeasement. I want you to go to Zhejiang to do two things! First, discipline the gentry! Be ruthless and decisive with those stubborn remnants of the Donglin Party, let them know that the pen can never defeat the sword! As for those who are willing to submit to the court, use them and appease them, let them cheer for the new policies!"
Secondly, revitalize commerce! I order you to vigorously develop ports like Ningbo and encourage maritime trade, but all customs duties must remit a single penny to the imperial court! You must transform the wealth of Zhejiang into the wealth of my Great Ming Dynasty!

Hong Chengchou felt a surge of heat rush to his brain, and his eyes instantly turned bloodshot!

Keep in mind that he was previously just a grain supervisor in Shaanxi!
Although he had learned of the young emperor's extraordinary talent from Sun Chuanting on their journey south together, and the signs tonight made him even more certain that he would be given an important position, he never expected that the word "important position" would be so earth-shattering!
He skipped countless ranks, rose from a local government position to become the governor of one of the richest and most complex provinces in the entire Ming Dynasty!
This is beyond description; it is a life-saving grace!
Hong Chengchou suddenly bowed down, his body trembling slightly from extreme excitement, his voice choked with emotion: "Your subject... Your subject Hong Chengchou, accepts the decree!"

"I will make sure that the gentry of Zhejiang know the majesty of the imperial power; and that the maritime trade of Zhejiang will become part of Your Majesty's imperial treasury!"

At this moment, all thoughts of political ups and downs, and weighing the pros and cons, were cast aside. Only one line of poetry echoed wildly in his mind: "To repay your kindness on the golden platform, I will wield the jade dragon and die for you!"

……

The emperor was very satisfied with Hong Chengchou's attitude. After a moment of calm, he turned his gaze to Chen Qiyu, who was also young and exuded a sharp spirit.

"Chen Qiyu, heed the imperial decree!"

"Your Highness, I'm here!"

"Fujian has many mountains and little arable land, a large population and limited land, and its people have relied on the sea for their livelihood since ancient times!" The emperor's voice rose again, filled with the vastness of the ocean and his heroic spirit. "This place will be the springboard for my Great Ming Dynasty's conquest of the South China Sea, and also the front line for my recovery of the Eastern Barbarians!"

"Chen Qiyu, you are young, energetic, and ambitious! I do not want you to go to Fujian to be a mere administrator!"

"I have three things I want you to do in Fujian!"

"Shipbuilding! My Royal Navy's main fleet is being built in Tianjin, aiming for the ability to engage in decisive battles on the high seas. And you, I want you to build patrol warships and merchant ships for me in Fuzhou and Quanzhou! What I need are fast ships with high speed and powerful firepower, suitable for shuttling between coastal waters and islands! I will allocate silver from the Imperial Treasury and transfer craftsmen from the Beijing Garrison to you. You must make the shipyards in Fujian the cradle of my Great Ming's fast ship navy!"

"Secondly, the management of people!" The emperor's tone suddenly turned serious, becoming meaningful. "Although Zheng Zhilong has submitted, his power is deeply entrenched. Although nominally an imperial army, he is in reality a maritime behemoth. This is a double-edged sword. If used properly, it can help me expand my territory; if used improperly, it will become a major threat to my Great Ming!"

"I demand that you gradually transform the Zheng family's people, ships, and shipping routes into assets for the court! I do not want a maritime warlord entrenched in Fujian; I want a maritime governor dedicated to the nation! This is far more difficult and important than shipbuilding!"

"Finally, open the ports! Open ports such as Yuegang and Xiamen, and vigorously develop maritime trade!"

The emperor's gaze was intense, like two sharp swords piercing straight into the depths of Chen Qiyu's heart.

"Remember your ultimate goal, there is only one!" The emperor's gaze drifted to the small island in the southeast corner of the map. "Drive out the red-haired barbarians who are entrenched in the East! Reclaim the territory of my Great Ming!"

Chen Qiyu felt his blood boiling!

Shipbuilding, managing people, and expanding territory—any one of these achievements is enough to make one's name in history!

His voice trembled with excitement as he kowtowed heavily: "Your subject Chen Qiyu obeys the decree! If the Eastern Barbarians cannot be recovered, I will gladly go to the East China Sea and fill the waves!"

……

Finally, the emperor's gaze fell upon Lu Xiang-sheng, the youngest and most dashing man.

"Lu Xiang-sheng, heed the imperial decree!"

"Your subject is here!" Lu Xiang-sheng's voice was filled with youthful passion and loyalty.

"Guangdong, Guangzhou Prefecture, is the southern gateway to our Great Ming Dynasty and a crucial town for opening up the sea!" The emperor's appointment seemed no different from the others.

"But the clans in Guangdong are powerful, the local garrisons are corrupt, they collude with pirates, and smuggling is rampant. Lu Xiang-sheng, although you are young, your loyalty and bravery are unparalleled in the army, I trust you!" "I will give you two thousand elite soldiers from the Beijing Garrison and another two thousand iron cavalry from Xuanfu and Datong to accompany you south!" Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked. To grant a civil official governor such a powerful force of elite Beijing and border troops was an unprecedented favor!
But the emperor had not finished speaking!

"I hereby grant you, Sun Chuanting, the special privileges in Shaanxi and Yingtian—to execute first and report later, a privilege granted by imperial authority! In Guangdong, your words are my words! Do not be soft-hearted, do not be afraid of implicating others. Anyone who dares to obstruct your efforts to rectify officialdom, suppress pirates, and reorganize the Maritime Trade Office, no matter who they are or who is behind them, shall be executed!"

The final word "kill" seemed to lower the temperature of the entire room.

Lu Xiang-sheng felt a surge of heroic spirit rush to the top of his head. His eyes turned bloodshot, and he kowtowed heavily.
"Your subject Lu Xiang-sheng obeys the decree! I will certainly live up to Your Majesty's high expectations, and wipe out the villains in Lingnan and rebuild Guangdong!"

"Excellent!" the emperor exclaimed.

Just as Lu Xiang-sheng was kowtowing in gratitude for the emperor's grace and preparing to return to his place, the emperor called him back again.

"That's not enough."

The calm words froze Lu Xiang-sheng, who had just straightened up halfway.

The Emperor's voice rang out again, "I have secretly ordered the Governor of Guangxi to select the most valiant and fierce wolf soldiers within his jurisdiction. They will soon be deployed to Guangdong and await your command! I want you to use these two thousand Imperial Guards as the backbone, two thousand Iron Cavalry as the vanguard, and the Guangxi wolf soldiers and local Guangdong elites as the flesh and blood, to train for me a force within two or three years..."

The emperor held up four fingers, his tone calm, but the words he spoke were earth-shattering!
"A fierce and powerful army of 40,000 men!"

These words instantly ignited the shock brought about by the various privileges previously granted!

Everyone present, including Lu Xiang-sheng himself, gasped in shock!
Forty thousand! And the requirement is to train them into a ferocious and ruthless army!
This is no longer a force that a mere governor can command; it is enough to launch a war that would destroy a nation!
For the sake of the administration and coastal defense of Guangdong, such terrifying power had to be mobilized?

A huge cloud of doubt and horror rose in everyone's hearts!
Seeing the surprised and uncertain expressions on everyone's faces, the emperor slowly walked up to Lu Xiang-sheng, as if he could see through everyone's confusion.

"Xiang Sheng, in your eyes, what is the world?"

Before Lu Xiang-sheng could answer, the emperor had already answered his own question. His voice suddenly rose, filled with an air of domineering arrogance!

"Is it these mere thirteen provinces in the Central Plains? Is it the dying Jurchens, or the bandits in the southwest? No! This is merely my own courtyard!"

The emperor suddenly flicked his sleeve, as if to erase the map before him!
"I will tell you the very reason why these 40,000 troops were trained!"

"What I see is an endless ocean, and those barbarian kingdoms that have declared themselves kings but are ignorant of their own limitations!"

His voice was filled with disdain and greed, the kind of look one would give someone looking at their own ranch.

"Siam? Annam? Champa? I don't want their tribute. I want their lands to become the granaries and spice gardens of my Great Ming! I don't care what their kings' names are, because within my territory, there can only be one emperor!"

"I want all that the sun and moon shine upon, all that rivers flow to, to be the land of the Great Ming! I want the dragon flag of my Great Ming to be planted on every inch of this planet! From the glaciers of the North Sea to the warm currents of the South Sea, I want to establish a dynasty that is unprecedented and unparalleled..."

The emperor paused here, smiled slightly, and clapped his hands.

"Wang Chengen".

"The little one is here."

Wang Chengen, who was standing to the side, bowed and understood. A moment later, he and another eunuch carefully carried in an object covered with bright yellow silk and gently placed it in the center of the room.

Amidst the curious gazes of the crowd, the emperor stepped forward personally and unveiled the silk!
It was an unprecedented and wondrous object!
The entire structure is made of rosewood with a copper axle, supporting an enormous glass sphere.

The sphere is painted with vibrant colors, depicting blue oceans, brown mountains, and green plains with unprecedented precision, interspersed even with miniature cities and shipping routes. The entire sphere can slowly rotate around a copper axis, shimmering with light and exquisite beauty.

Everyone present was stunned and bewildered.

The emperor's fingers gently pressed against the enormous glass sphere, slowly stroking it, and he spoke in a voice so calm it was chilling:
"This is what I was just about to talk about. This is what we stand on, what we see... the entire world."

His words were like a thunderclap from a clear sky!

"what?!"

"Ball... sphere?"

Everyone stared wide-eyed, their minds blank!
The world... is a sphere? How is that possible! Heaven is round and earth is square! This is a truth that has been passed down for thousands of years since Pangu separated heaven and earth!

How could a person stand on a ball? Wouldn't everyone in the south fall headfirst?!
Before they could recover from this earth-shattering shock, the emperor's voice rang out again.

In a simple yet profoundly truthful tone, he explained to these top minds of the Ming Dynasty the mysteries of "the warp and weft of heaven and earth" and "the rotation of the universe"—why humans stand on a sphere without falling, and why the sun, moon, and stars rise in the east and set in the west.

Every word was like a thunderbolt, striking the foundation of their understanding of "heaven is round and earth is square," built up over decades of studying the classics!
Everyone was utterly horrified!
Even Sun Chuanting, who had already learned from the emperor about the vast continents overseas, turned pale at this moment.

In the next fifteen minutes, an unbelievable scene unfolded in the Imperial Study.

Several high-ranking officials and regional governors of the Ming Dynasty, like children in a classroom, trembled as they asked one absurd question after another to the glass ball, and the emperor answered them one by one.

When the last question was answered, and everyone fell silent, watching the slowly turning world, they had to accept this unbelievable fact.

Because it was the emperor who spoke all of this!

If the emperor hadn't said it himself, they would never have believed it, even if they were beaten to death!

At this moment, everyone's breathing was extremely heavy. Their worldview had been completely shattered and then rebuilt by the emperor himself.

The emperor's gaze then returned to Lu Xiang-sheng. He lightly traced a line on the glass ball with his finger, sending it across the ocean from the Ming Dynasty to the distant southern continent.

"Now, Jiandou, do you understand?"

"I want you to train troops, not for the sake of Annam and Siam. What I want is to follow the footsteps of the sun and plant the dragon flag of my Great Ming in every corner of this sphere! So that whenever the sun rises, the first ray of light will shine on the territory of my Great Ming!"

The emperor's voice was resolute!
"This is what you call... the sun never sets!"

The words "The Sun Never Sets" resonated deeply in everyone's hearts, like the sound of a morning bell and evening drum.
In an instant, everything was silent.

The Qin Emperor unified the six kingdoms, Emperor Wu of Han drove out the Xiongnu, and Emperor Taizong of Tang shone upon the four barbarians... These were the great achievements they admired throughout their lives, which they believed to be the pinnacle of human endeavor. But at this moment, in the face of the words "the sun never sets," they seemed so... insignificant.

A major transformation unprecedented in thousands of years?

This is an ambition unprecedented in thousands of years!

A kind of greed that even gods and demons dare not easily utter!

Everyone felt their scalp tingle and their whole body tremble.

As they gazed at the imposing figure before them, an utterly absurd thought surfaced in their minds—

What the First Emperor sought was the unification of the world.

The emperor before us wants the sky to have no boundaries and the earth to have no end!

(End of this chapter)