Rule over Ming Dynasty

Chapter 315 The First Step of the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets

This……

Liu Jin always thought that smallpox was a natural disaster and that the smallpox virus was accidentally brought into the palace in early spring, but he did not expect that Zhu Youtang suspected that it was a man-made disaster.

As soon as he thought about this, he couldn't help but secretly observe Zhu Youtang.

Fortunately, he hasn't said anything he shouldn't have said recently, nor has he participated in such a conspiracy. His position should still be preserved.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me for not being able to answer this question. Judging from the current investigation results, natural disasters or man-made disasters are possible, but I believe that as long as the source of the smallpox disease is found, everything will be traceable and traceable. After all, the truth will be revealed by then!" Song Cheng was not a person who liked to speculate randomly, and immediately pointed out the most critical point.

source?

Although Zhu Youtang was not satisfied with this answer, Song Cheng undoubtedly provided a good idea. This matter can indeed uncover the person behind the scenes by tracing the source.

Until now, I have always been in a passive situation, and even my life has been seriously threatened. Now it is really time to use this traceable infectious disease to turn against guests.

Zhu Youtang touched his chin, which had only a few stray hairs, and said decisively: "Even so, I will give you another three days to find the source of infection in the palace!"

"I accept the decree!" Song Cheng faintly felt the overwhelming pressure exerted by the emperor, but he still chose to face the challenge and salute.

Although there is no substantive evidence of crime, he has observed the spread of the epidemic in various places in Beijing, especially the palace where the epidemic was first discovered, and he seriously suspects that the epidemic is a man-made disaster.

With such an unreasonable communication route, it is more likely that someone is directing all this, just like when Wynn was inexplicably poisoned to death in Fusi Prison in Beizhen.

Liu Jin watched Song Cheng retire and couldn't help but silently turned to look at his emperor. In the end, it was this dark-faced young man who took everything on his shoulders.

Perhaps the emperor did not realize that he had already regarded the Shuntian Prefecture Yin as a royal investigating officer.

Today is a cloudy day. Due to the epidemic prevention period, the entire Xiyuan seems very quiet, leaving only the shivering cold wind.

The cold wind is blowing from east to west, welcoming the team coming from the West Palace.

Zhu Youtang was sitting on the dragon chariot, feeling the cold wind in winter. When passing the Jin'ao Yuju Bridge, he saw Yi Kexi and other concubines enjoying the scenery at Tingchao Pavilion from a distance.

He did not abandon his concubines, but chose to take them to Xiyuan to escape the epidemic, but tried not to have direct contact with them.Empress Dowager Zhou and Empress Dowager Wang also arranged to leave the Forbidden City, and he sent them both to Tang Ling Palace.

It's just that the Forbidden City needs someone to take control of the overall situation. The Queen insists on staying in Kunning Palace, while Qingyue and Fan Jinling choose to accompany Chang Yourong to stay in the Forbidden City.

Zhu Youtang noticed that Yikesi had seen him and was waving excitedly towards him, so he smiled and raised his hand in response.

Since the last time she lost two thousand cotton-padded clothes to the Mongolian headquarters, this woman has not only become more proactive, but also obviously more and more attached to herself.

If it weren't for an extraordinary period, he would definitely let the other party learn about his waist strength.

"Your Majesty, we're here!" Liu Jin directed the dragon chariot to land, then stepped forward and reminded him respectfully.

Zhu Youtang raised his head and looked at the Yangxin Hall in front of him, but he couldn't be happy at all.

The rebellion in southern Jiangxi the year before last, the Yellow River bursting its banks last year, and the smallpox epidemic this year. Even his own safety could not be guaranteed, which made him feel a deep sense of exhaustion.

But he knew in his heart that the territory of this empire was too vast, and there was a high probability that some major disaster would occur every year.As for hoping for good weather every year, it can only be in the world of novels. The real world must be tiring and tiring.

Zhu Youtang is not a blaming character. Thinking about everything he has now, after adjusting his mood, he starts to deal with the current work.

The epidemic situation in the palace is now under investigation by Song Cheng, and the epidemic situation in Beijing is under the joint responsibility of the six ministries, so his eyes immediately focus on overseas.

If an empire only wants to be glorious for hundreds of years, being a tinker is actually enough. But if you want to become an empire on which the sun never sets, you can only seize overseas resources.

Although the Ming Dynasty had fewer gold and silver mines, rulers of all dynasties could not escape the fate of excessive currency issuance, which led to the collapse of the currency and credit of the dynasty.

Nowadays, the Ming Dynasty, let alone the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes that are like waste paper, even the copper coins issued by the government have changed from the original one tael of silver to one thousand copper coins to nearly two thousand.

Zhu Youtang naturally knew that gold and silver had no substantial value, but the monetary system that Ming Dynasty wanted to rebuild would only force the people to rebel by relying solely on imperial power, but it needed sufficient gold and silver support.

Compared with plundering domestic gold and silver, it is undoubtedly easier to mine overseas gold and silver.

Now the Ming Dynasty is a dominant power and the nominal suzerain, so it is not too much to get some gold and silver mines overseas, and the reserves of overseas gold and silver mines are actually more considerable.

Although the island of Luzon is barren, it has amazing gold reserves and is undoubtedly a good place for gold mining.

"To the Ministry of Officials: Discuss the candidate for the governor of Luzon and establish the governor's office on Luzon Island."

"To the Ministry of War: Discuss the selection of the commander of the Luzon garrison and establish the Nanyang Luzon Guard Station on Luzon Island."

"To the Ministry of Works, send capable officials to lead the craftsmen south to build the Ming Dynasty Luzon City on the chosen location on Luzon Island!"

……

After Zhu Youtang made up his mind to obtain gold and silver, he immediately issued several decrees to various government offices to officially launch the Ming Dynasty's plan to settle in Luzon.

Different from the situation in later generations, the population of this era was restricted by food, so the population of Luzon Island was small and its power was scattered throughout the country.

Now depriving the Marani Kingdom of the title of King of Luzon is the first step. The next step is naturally to divide the various forces, so that Luzon Island will form a situation of six countries.

Although there is no problem with Ming Dynasty's overall strategy, the most important thing is actually the selection of people. Only by selecting the right people can things become twice the result with half the effort.

After more than two years and his continuous observation and training, he now does have some useful talents on hand.

"Slave Huang Pan pays homage to Your Majesty, long live my emperor!" Huang Pan hurried in from outside and knelt down respectfully.

He was an old member of the East Palace. His performance in the East Palace was not outstanding, but he was suddenly reused a few days before the emperor ascended the throne, and he became one of his early confidants.

It's just that although he has enough loyalty, his knowledge and talents are not outstanding. He was sent to the inner study hall for further study in his early days, and last year he studied business with Wei Qi.

After such a long period of training, he has become a manager who can act independently. At least recently, he has managed the Royal Weaving Factory in an orderly manner.

Zhu Youtang looked at the fair and fat young eunuch in front of him, and nodded lightly with great satisfaction: "Huang Pan, although you have only been with me for three years, I can feel your loyalty!" "This slave is stupid, but fortunately I Your Majesty will not give up, and this servant is proud to serve Your Majesty!" Huang Pan's eyes turned slightly red, and he immediately kowtowed solemnly to show his loyalty.

Zhu Youtang's eyes flashed with reluctance, but he still followed the plan and said: "Today I want to establish a Royal Mining Company. This company will search for gold and silver mines in Nanyang and transport the mined gold and silver back to the country. Wei Juan said that you have You have business acumen, you are quite talented in management, and you are loyal enough to me and Ming Dynasty, but I wonder if you dare to take on this job?"

"Your Majesty, this servant is willing to die for Your Majesty, but..." Huang Pan expressed his stance immediately, but seemed to have some scruples.

Zhu Youtang knew that anyone who really wanted to do something would have questions, so he asked calmly: "What's the matter?"

"I am not shirk-shielding, and I am very willing to serve Your Majesty. However, there are many seas and few lands in Nanyang. I am afraid that it will be difficult to find gold and silver mines, thus disappointing Your Majesty!" Huang Pan already knew about the situation in Nanyang in the study hall, and immediately felt scruples. typical.

In his opinion, the larger the land, the more likely it is that gold and silver mines will appear. This is a matter of probability.On the contrary, Nanyang has more seas and less land, with a vast sea in the middle and islands to the east and south.

Because of this, he felt that if he really wanted to find gold and silver mines, it would be better to go to the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty, and going to Nanyang seemed like he had made the mistake of neglecting the basics.

Zhu Youtang had no intention of correcting Huang Pan's misconception that "there is a lot of land and a lot of gold." He looked serious and said: "You don't need to be afraid of not finding gold and silver mines. When I sorted out the royal collection last year, I actually made a big harvest. When you arrive, At that time, we only need to send craftsmen to search specific areas on Luzon Island. As my confidant, do you dare to take on this job and help me solve my gold and silver problem?"

"This slave will definitely live up to His Majesty's expectations and will dig up all the gold and silver for Your Majesty and the Ming Dynasty!" Huang Pan's eyes were firm and he expressed his position with certainty.

The corners of Zhu Youtang's mouth twitched slightly. Not to mention other places, the gold reserves of Luzon Island alone have been ranked third in the world in later generations. Even if Huang Pan spends several lifetimes to dig it out, he will not be able to finish it.

As Huang Pan took over the job, the Royal Mining Company was officially established, and the journey of overseas gold mining began.

Huang Pan had just left when a young eunuch reported through Liu Jin: "Doctor Cui is here!"

"Then let's get started!" Zhu Youtang said calmly with the corners of his mouth raised slightly.

Although smallpox is indeed an incurable disease in this era, who allows himself to have the memory of future generations?
The best way to deal with this infectious disease is to take the initiative to have indirect contact with people who are slightly infected, and actively get infected through this kind of variola vaccination, so that your body can produce antibodies.

Although the ancestors of China did not understand the principles of immunology, they discovered through years of practice that anyone who had suffered from smallpox would not be infected with smallpox again.

In view of this, if you take the initiative to contract smallpox with mild symptoms, choose to take the initiative if you can't beat it. This can effectively avoid the violent storm of smallpox. The methods summarized are: pox clothing method, pox pulp method, drought seedling method and The water seedling method is also commonly known as the "variolation method".

Of course, the most effective method was the cowpox prevention of smallpox by Edward Jenner, the father of immunology.

Cowpox and smallpox can produce the same antibodies, and the method of variolation has a mortality rate of 2%, but variolation will not kill people, so actively contracting vaccinia is the safest way.

Earlier, a large ox with cowpox on its body was successfully brought into Xiyuan.

The sky was overcast and it looked like it was going to snow.

Due to the epidemic, the cabinet is now moved back to Wenyuan Pavilion.

As an investigating officer, Song Cheng was also temporarily assigned a value room, but his face was very dark at this time, without any expression on his face, and he even frowned slightly.

The current matter is no longer a matter of one person and one family, but a matter of millions of people in the capital. Although he does not understand medical treatment, he knows the importance of finding out the mastermind behind the scenes.

It was just that the epidemic was getting more and more serious, but he couldn't let him relax even a little bit, so he hurried to Donghua Gate after leaving Xiyuan, planning to start the investigation again on Chu Chun.

He still believed in his own judgment. Uiharu was not the one who brought the virus back to the palace. The place of infection for Uiharu should be within the palace.

"no?"

"no?"

"Nor?"

……

Song Cheng re-checked the palace maids and eunuchs Chuchun had contact with through records, and even found out the eunuch who had sex with Chuchun, but still found nothing.

At this point, the investigation has reached a deadlock.

"Is it rare that smallpox was contracted outside the palace in early spring?" Song Cheng looked at the list in his hand and began to doubt himself.

Bang!
Song Cheng's eyes were still fixed on the list, and he reached out to pick up the tea cup, but accidentally knocked over the hot tea with the back of his hand, which immediately made him avoid it.

While he was busy trying to save the roster, his eyes suddenly fell on a name that happened to be wet, and a bright light flashed in his mind.

Liu Ji walked out of his room and saw Song Cheng leaving in a hurry and asked curiously: "Xuan'an, where are you going?"

Song Cheng seemed to have entered his own world, completely ignoring Liu Ji, the second minister of the cabinet who called him from behind, and hurriedly left along the courtyard road.

"Master Cifu, this man is really arrogant because of your majesty's favor!" The cabinet minister accompanying Liu Ji looked at Song Cheng's leaving figure and said angrily.

Liu Ji looked at Song Cheng who was leaving thoughtfully, turned around and scolded: "Don't talk nonsense here, Song Cheng was just concentrating on handling the case for His Majesty and didn't hear it. He is obviously a loyal minister!"

"Master Cifu has taught you a lesson!" the cabinet official said with a sense of dismay when he knew that his flattery was slapped on the horse's leg.

Liu Ji looked at the direction where Song Cheng disappeared again, and guessed uncertainly: "Broken?"

The number of infected eunuchs and maids in the palace has exceeded 200. This group of people was arranged to be quarantined, and all personnel were arranged in the palace next to Donghua Gate.

If there are dead people, these people will be pulled out through Donghua Gate, and then the bodies will be burned directly.

There were people on duty outside the palace. Facing Song Cheng who asked to meet Chuchun, he shook his head gently and said, "Sir Song, you are late. Chuchun just died!"

"Dead?" Song Cheng couldn't help but stare when he heard this.

The guard knew that Song Cheng was in charge of investigating the case, so he pointed to a corpse covered with white cloth in the courtyard and said, "Master Song, the corpse is right there!"

Song Cheng vaguely felt that the incident was too coincidental, so he immediately put on a mask and stepped forward to pull open the shroud. He saw the palace maid Chuchun whose face was covered in red rash, but his eyes quickly locked on the neck of the palace maid Chuchun.

(End of this chapter)