prosperous age

Chapter 617 Chapter 616
Jia En's will was not a sudden act of Emperor Longqing, but was made after communicating with cabinet ministers and six ministers.

For the original officials of King Yu's mansion, they should have been promoted after King Yu ascended the throne, which is why so many officials are obsessed with Conglong's achievements.

Not only is there an opportunity to close the relationship with Xindi, but there are also real benefits.

It's just that for Wei Guangde, before the copy of "Yongle Dadian" was completed, his yamen was still in the school record office, and he just went to visit Yang Bo, took a look at his valet room in the official department, and left .

The transcription work must be completed before the end of March. Using the statistical method of later generations, Wei Guangde has directly assigned the task to every Confucian writer.

Correspondingly, each branch school officer also assigned the number of manuscripts to be reviewed according to the previous review speed.

The entire school record room is running like a precision machine, and the operator is Wei Guangde.

If there is no accident, Wei Guangde at this time is still confident to complete the project at the last time, but he was directly assigned an errand, and after the specific amount is accurate, the workload of writing Confucian scholars below will increase.

In fact, Wei Guangde did not increase their workload, and the pressure he felt was mainly due to the heavy pressure on his body.

Whoever wakes up in the morning and thinks of how many words to copy today will not feel pressured.

Perhaps it was also because of the important matter of transcribing the grand ceremony. Ever since Emperor Longqing sent Li Fang to ask questions at home that day, no one has been sent to come.

Anyway, we must ensure that Emperor Jiajing is buried in Yongling at the end of March. Besides, this is also the top priority of the current court.

The Ministry of Rituals is the busiest. The day before, the Empress’s Ritual Note was registered, and after two days, three Ritual Notes were added. , Qian Xiaoke Empress Dowager's funeral and the Lord's return to Beijing to serve Anyi Notes.

Emperor Jiajing conferred three empresses in his life, but after Zhang Fei, he later abolished the Leng Palace, so it cannot be counted.

As for the last empress conferred by Emperor Jiajing, Empress Xiaolie had been buried in Yongling and did not need to be relocated. She just paid respects to her original spouse, Empress Xiaojiesu. Empress Dowager Xiaoke was conferred by Emperor Longqing because she was the emperor's biological mother.

The mother is more expensive than the son, and the son becomes the emperor. Naturally, the mother must be the empress dowager and must also be buried in Yongling.

All the officials in the court were busy again, and Wei Guangde's normal plan was also disrupted.

Just kidding, the establishment of a queen is only a royal matter, but it is also a national event.

When the book was established, the empress had to kneel down five times and kowtow three times. Of course, Wei Guangde had no choice but to hide behind.

These etiquette, no one can escape, must go.

The queen's canonization ceremony began on the ninth day of February, and the imperial edict was issued on the thirteenth day of February. It was also on this day that the Chen family of Prince Yu's Mansion entered the palace through the Daming Gate and became a queen, mother of the world.

Five days later, it was the ceremony for Zhu Yijun to bestow the prince's name.

After the Emperor Longqing told the Fengxian Palace and the Emperor Daxing several feasts, the Emperor Longqing was seated in the Imperial Palace wearing a winged crown, and the concubine was dressed in the attire for an audience. After the four salutes, the concubine stood in the east, and Fu Mu brought the prince Kneeling in front of the emperor, holding the name given by the prince's right hand, and ordering him to resign, the imperial concubine accepted the decree, and Fu Mu brought the prince back to bed, and the imperial concubine returned to the palace after four salutes.

At the time of the day, Emperor Longqing, Emperor Xuanzhi, descended from the sect of Emperor Xuanzhi, in the name of Prince Rui, and sent an order to the Ministry of Rites, Xingzong Renfu, on the Jade Letter of Enlightenment.

In the next two days, the wet nurse Chai was appointed as the Holy Lady, and her husband, Yu Bao, was appointed as the Commander of the Jinyi Guards. Afterwards, the Ministry of Rites ordered that the prince's second daughter was born to the Li family, and they could be canonized as imperial concubine, and Jiang's family could be canonized as virtuous. Concubine, with the intention of saluting on the 27th.

It can be said that Emperor Longqing was performing filial piety in January, and began to reward the original people in Prince Yu's mansion in February.

It's just that Wei Guangde only went to attend a few ceremonies. Although he had to work overtime a few times for nothing, there was nothing he could do about it. Being an official in the court involved many activities.

As a person with vested interests, he can only suffer and be happy.

By this time, Wei Guangde was finally rejoicing. Fortunately, Emperor Longqing appointed him in the Ministry of Officials at the beginning. See Yin Shizhen who went to the Ministry of Rites. He is as busy as his grandson these days.

After busying with the appointment of the people in the palace, Emperor Longqing decreed that according to the old system, the posthumous concubine Li of the Yuan Dynasty would be named Empress Xiaoyi, Prince Yu would be Prince Xianhuai, King Lantian would be King Jingmour, the eldest daughter would be named Princess Penglai, and the second daughter would be named Princess Taihe
These activities are naturally the affairs of the Ministry of Rites, and in the end most of them fall on Yin Shizhen's head.

Concubine Li of the Yuan Dynasty was the concubine chosen by Emperor Jiajing for King Yu, and she died after giving birth to Prince Xianhuai.

Although he is gone, he is still the main wife of Emperor Longqing, so naturally it should be named after the empress, and the current empress Chen is just the second wife.

Time passed day by day while Wei Guangde was busy, and the earth seemed to be unaware of the return of spring.

"Master, Governor Tu has replied."

On this day, Wei Guangde dragged his tired body back to the mansion, and when he entered the door, he took the letter from Tu Zemin, governor of Fujian, from Zhang Ji.

For no reason, Wei Guangde felt uneasy.

In the correspondence with several governors before, Wei Guangde gradually valued this person, and felt that his ability and knowledge were not bad, at least he did not discriminate against Haimao.

In the several letters with Wei Guangde, Wei Guangde only intentionally or unintentionally suggested in the first two letters that the opening of sea trade might allow coastal people to do business instead of joining Japanese pirates.

Tu Zemin got his affirmation in his reply letter. After all, he was in Fujian, and he saw the real situation of the so-called Japanese pirates.

Who are they?

Except for a few vicious people who are wanted by the government, most of them are boat people who just want to eat.

The government banned the sea, and these boat people had no way to survive, so they could only collude with Japanese pirates in order to survive.

If they were really given titles and allowed them to go to sea for trade, naturally no one would do such crimes as Japanese pirates.

In the previous letter, Wei Guangde had already proposed to conduct a trial in one place in Fujian, allowing it to open the sea ban, and allowing the people to ship goods and sail overseas after this trade.

I just don't know how Tu Zemin will choose this proposal in the end.

For officials in this era, most of them will follow the concept of "do more and make more mistakes, do less and make less mistakes" for things that are not sure. Do it yourself.

How would Tu Zemin choose?

Wei Guangde was not sure. He was worried that in the letter, Tu Zemin would push this matter to Zhejiang or Guangdong. After all, the two places still have the foundation of the Shibo Department, so it is naturally much more convenient to do this matter.

Wei Guangde didn't open the letter immediately to reveal the doubts in his heart. Wei Guangde just put the letter in his arms or went back to the backyard to visit his mother, wife and children as usual, and then went to the study after changing into normal clothes.

In an uneasy mood, Wei Guangde opened the letter, and he immediately felt relieved when he saw the two paragraphs.

At the beginning of the letter, Tu Zemin expressed his support for Wei Guangde's idea, that is, "if the market is open, the bandits will turn into merchants, and if the market is banned, the merchants will turn into bandits."

With this idea as a foundation, Wei Guangde is of course not worried.

Afterwards, Tu Zemin analyzed the situation in Fujian in detail, citing the views of the former governor of Fujian Tan Lun extensively. What came out of it...why not follow suit and be cited as a thief."

It seems that this Tu Zemin is not a pedantic person, he understands the principle of flexibility.

In fact, most people who can be officials in the court know how to be flexible, but many people put their minds on other things, such as how to blatantly earn money, and seldom devote their minds to handling government affairs.

Faced with various situations that occurred in various places in Ming Dynasty, most of them chose to search for previous examples to deal with them, thinking that by doing so, they would be stable and there would be no mistakes.

Little do they know that times are changing, and policies that were suitable for the past may not be effective today, or the effect will be greatly reduced until they will completely fail in the future.

However, Wei Guangde is most concerned about the important matter, or the suggestion he mentioned last time to try to open a sea trade in a good port in Fujian, but the answer in Tu Zemin's letter made Wei Guangde frown.

Tu Zemin did not object to choosing a port to try, but he did not think that a good port should be selected for the pilot project, and almost directly rejected Wei Guangde's idea of ​​opening the sea in Quanzhou.

We all know that if a country or group wants to develop, it cannot do things behind closed doors.

Contacting the outside world and exchanging technical experience with others is the best way to learn, and it is also a necessary factor for a country to remain strong.

In fact, most dynasties in ancient times knew how to communicate with foreign countries.

The Silk Road formed in the Western Han Dynasty, the envoys sent from many countries to the Tang Dynasty in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, the establishment of a shipping department in the Song Dynasty to develop overseas trade, and Zheng He's voyages to the West in the Ming Dynasty have all demonstrated this truth time and time again.

According to "Huainanzi" records, after the Qin Emperor Yingzheng unified the world, he sent people to the south of the Five Ridges many times, because the local "rhinoceros horns, horn teeth, jadeite, and pearls" were all he needed.

According to the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty": "The old Jiaozhi soil is rich in treasures, and the genus of Mingxian, Cuiyu, Rhinoceros, Qimao, Yixiang, and beautiful wood all come out of their own accord. The history of assassination before and after, many of them have no clear deeds, and they are inherited from the dignitaries. , accumulating private compensation, financial planning surplus to give, always seeking to see the relocation."

It is not difficult to find that one of the main reasons for the prosperity of overseas trade is that the unique goods imported from overseas have successfully been favored by wealthy families.

It is precisely because of their pursuit that these "imported goods" have become rare objects that symbolize the status of the aristocratic class.

By the time of the Three Kingdoms, China's navigation industry had developed rapidly.

Although the Yellow River Basin is still very important and is still the loyalty of the whole country, the strategic position of the Yangtze River has become even more important.

Sun Quan formulated the strategy of "protecting Jiangdong according to the Yangtze River", and spared no expense to vigorously develop Soochow's shipbuilding industry.

Soochow's powerful shipbuilding technology was also used by Sun Quan in the navigation industry.

After regaining Jiaozhou, Sun Quan sent people south many times, and the size of his fleet even reached tens of thousands of people. The form was similar to that of Zheng He's fleet, and they all had national attributes.

The records about Taiwan actually first appeared in the books of Soochow.

The maritime industry of Soochow was very prosperous. It had arrived in Rome, Japan, Vietnam, North Korea, Cambodia and other places, and started trade with these regions. The silk fabrics and ceramics produced in Jiangsu and Zhejiang were even sold overseas. Synonymous with China.

In the Tang Dynasty, maritime trade dominated by private traders gradually flourished, replacing the original form of state-led maritime trade.

Businessmen earn profits, and the taxes they pay increase accordingly.

For this reason, the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty specially established the Shibo Department system.

However, it was the Northern Song Dynasty that really allowed the Shibosi to flourish, and the system was relatively perfect, which continued to the Yuan and Ming dynasties.

After the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Southern Song Dynasty, which was established by the remaining forces, paid more attention to the benefits of maritime trade.

Due to geographical reasons, Quanzhou's status gradually became prominent, and gradually formed the world ocean business center in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, becoming the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road.

The reason why history chose Quanzhou is also because Quanzhou is located on the southeast coast, facing the sea, backed by mountains, and the land is barren, but the population is large, and the natural conditions seriously restrict the development of agriculture. Material basis.

It was also because of these records that when Emperor Longqing wanted to open the sea, the first thing Wei Guangde thought of was Quanzhou. He really couldn't find a more superior seaport than here.

Of course, according to the knowledge of later generations, Wei Guangde also considered Songjiang Mansion, that is, the place in Shanghai, to develop maritime trade relying on the strong transportation capacity of the Yangtze River waterway.

But all of this can only stay on paper for the time being, after all, no one knows the result after opening the sea, Wei Guangde knows that, in terms of bickering, it is no match for colleagues, especially with the big stick of ancestral system.

King Yu supports him, but in fact he hopes that Kaihai can eradicate the soil where Japanese pirates live.

In the past 20 years of the Ming Dynasty, it was really exhausted by the Japanese pirates, or the rebellion in Fujian and Guangdong was so fierce, wave after wave.

Among the two famous generals in the south of the Yangtze River, Qi Jiguang is alright, mainly in the fight against the Japanese, occasionally taking action to teach the rebels a lesson, while Yu Dayou is constantly running back and forth on the battlefield of suppressing the Japanese and suppressing the bandits.

Negating Wei Guangde's intention to use Quanzhou to open the sea, Tu Zemin certainly does not mean that there is no alternative target, and that is Yuegang.

Yuegang belonged to Zhangzhou Prefecture in Fujian Province. During the Jingtai Dynasty, Xie Qian, the magistrate of Zhangzhou, ordered the implementation of the Baojia system in view of the fact that there were many people in Yuegang, Haicang, and Haicheng areas, but the effect was basically ineffective.

The reason why it is difficult to manage is firstly that these three places are more than [-] miles away from Zhangcheng, the state capital, which meant more than one day's journey at that time, and it was difficult for the state capital to effectively directly govern it.

Secondly, the "inland relocation" left Zhangzhou Prefecture with no administrative system in these three places. They are usually under the jurisdiction of Longxi County in Zhangzhou Prefecture, but dozens of people in the county government have no spare power to supervise these three places. Therefore, the promotion of Baojia can only rely on The local wealthy and village elders.

On the one hand, there is a lack of supervision from the local government. On the other hand, many of these wealthy families and village elders are also involved in smuggling for profit. In addition, they are unwilling to block people's money and offend their neighbors. Therefore, they are passive and perfunctory towards Baojia. One can imagine things.

Of course, the Zhangzhou region did not think of a solution at all, and proposed to move the official office of the Xunhai Road to Haicang, Zhangzhou, or even set up a county in Haicheng, but the court refused because it felt that it was losing money.

So Tu Zemin proposed to Wei Guangde that the pilot site for opening the sea is actually an area where smuggling is prevalent and the government is almost indoors.

However, Tu Zemin didn't want to throw the burden on Wei Guangde, but he felt that since this place itself has become a place for smuggling by sea merchants, if it can be used directly, with a little management, wouldn't it become an ideal place to open up the sea?
(End of this chapter)