Rule over Ming Dynasty

The room was filled with red light, the light was bright and steaming, like fire but not fire.

While the maids and eunuchs in the Qianqing Palace were shocked by these visions of heaven and earth, they immediately knelt down and worshiped on the ground as if they had suddenly thought of something.

It has been widely circulated in the past that "the emperor's heirs are in trouble, and when there are two queens, Zhang is like Qin, and he always starts anew." As Emperor Hongzhi has been unable to have children, more and more people believe in this proverb.

Even if they, as people around the emperor, saw that the emperor was plowing the altar every night, but the queen and several concubines did not have any movement in their stomachs, they inevitably began to believe the proverb.

But now when the emperor and the empress were rejoicing, an emperor-like vision descended from heaven and earth, which undoubtedly meant that the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was about to come to the world.

As for the earlier "Emperor's Succession Tribulation, when the second queen meets, Zhang is like Qin, Chang Congxin" proves that it is indeed a deceptive trick of the Jianghu people, and Dongfang Dao is probably going to be beheaded.

"Congratulations to the emperor and congratulations to the queen!"

When Liu Jin and other eunuchs saw the celestial phenomenon disappear, they also congratulated in unison.

Zhu Youtang's head just felt a dull pain, and he felt that something was about to happen, but he heard strange movements from the palace people outside.

After questioning, he finally found out what had just happened.

woohoo...

After Queen Chang learned about the vision, she suddenly cried with joy.

She has always been under the most pressure.

As a descendant of the founding hero, the entire family had been demoted by the imperial court, but she actually became the new empress of the Ming Dynasty in the draft. This was undoubtedly a great favor from the emperor.

It would be okay if the emperor didn't favor her, but the emperor was a very considerate man, a man who made her desperate, so she also hoped that Zhu Youtang could have endless children.

It just so happened that the emperor had no heirs in these years. Instead, the Eastern gods in the capital spread a proverb: "The emperor's heir is in trouble, and when there are two queens, Zhang is like Qin, and he always starts anew."

For this reason, she also planned to voluntarily give up her position as queen. Even if it could only continue for one generation, it would not allow the emperor to have no heirs now.

But who would have thought that the battle in the imperial court was more dangerous than anyone else's. Concubine Shu was suddenly poisoned and killed, and the emperor's way out was cut off by the gangsters.

Now, things have taken a turn for the worse. When she was having fun with the emperor, a vision came from the sky in Qianqing Palace, and this time she felt something was obviously different, as if she was really pregnant with a dragon seed.

Only then did Zhu Youtang remember that when he was happiest just now, the surrounding walls did glow red. He thought he was dazzled for a while, but he didn't want a strange celestial phenomenon to really occur.

"Your Majesty, I am familiar with history books. This is the first sign that the emperor's son has appeared!" The old palace maid in charge of recording Zhu Youtang's sexual affairs seemed very sure.

Zhu Youtang now believes in both science and metaphysics, but he made a very decisive decision: "Everyone in Qianqing Palace will reward you with a monthly salary, but what happened tonight must not be spread to outsiders, otherwise it will be treated as disrespectful!"

It's not that he doesn't want to share this joy, it's just that his current situation is far from absolutely safe, so why put Empress Chang and the most likely emperor's son in crisis.

The best thing to do now is to keep a low profile and wait until the queen's belly is really happy, then it will not be too late to announce it to the world.

"According to the order!" Liu Jin did not speculate on why the emperor issued this order, but he took it very seriously.

Almost all the maids and eunuchs in the Qianqing Palace were up. Although they were banned from speaking, they were happy to receive a month's salary.

Now they have money that they can't spend all their money, and their personal identity and status are closely connected with Zhu Youtang, so they are naturally unconditionally loyal to the emperor.

Queen Chang cuddled tightly next to Zhu Youtang. She was originally worried that it was a sweet dream and did not dare to sleep. However, her body had just experienced a wonderful moment and she finally couldn't help but fall asleep with a happy smile on her lips.

Zhu Youtang gently hugged the beauty in his arms, feeling equally excited.

Whether he has an heir or not is really crucial to him. It is not only related to his subsequent rise to power, but also to the continuity of his policies.

Nowadays, although there is no moral integrity, he has achieved self-liberation by killing Jiajing, and seems to have successfully avoided the considerable fate of losing his heir.

The October sea breeze turned the island on the coast of the East China Sea yellow.

The roots of Daming City are deeply rooted here. Now it has not only become the most prosperous place on the island, but also has the largest harbor, and has also become the administrative center of the island.

After driving the overestimated Jeju Army from the island, officials from those two counties immediately came to surrender and voluntarily joined the Ming Dynasty's establishment.

Now the Donghai Governor's Mansion in Daming City has completely replaced the status of Jeju Mu, and through the co-management of the other two counties, it has become the real manager of the island.

However, the characteristic of Jeju Island is that it is vast and sparsely populated, so it is naturally difficult for management to cover the entire island, so governance and autonomy are mainly used.

Like the Hu Mu gang on Halla Mountain, Xu Shiying only wanted them to obey the transfer of the Donghai Governor's Office, but criminal and civil matters were resolved internally by them.

Due to the intervention of the Donghai Governor's Office, corresponding territories were divided for them, which actually allowed the Nanshan tribe, Hu Mu and North Korean residents to avoid conflicts.

Now all the forces are united under the command of the East China Sea Governor's Palace. All the forces are working hard to develop the agriculture and animal husbandry economy, but they are showing a prosperous appearance.

Donghai Governor-General Xu Shiying sat on the governor's throne, listening to the reports of the two magistrates, and also encouraged: "You just need to work hard! When you retire in the future, you can enjoy the treatment of retired officials of the Ming Dynasty when you return to the capital. From now on, you will be a member of Ming Dynasty!"

"Thank you, Governor, for taking care of me!" the two North Korean magistrates secretly rejoiced and said respectfully.

Zhu Shiying was no longer worried about the interior of Jeju Island, but when he saw the map of Japan marked on the map, he couldn't help but frowned.

He knew that Emperor Hongzhi placed him here not just to open the trade window in the East China Sea, but also to have plans for Japan, a neighboring country.

Although Japan is an island country, it is not without its merits. It is rich in seafood and has a certain agricultural foundation.

Of course, since the Ming Dynasty's silver coins require enough silver to be exchanged, their more important task now is to mine the Iwami Silver Mine.

However, regarding the most critical silver mine issue, the preliminary work of mining was originally very smooth, but recently it has frequently encountered some troubles.

First, the Ouchi family, who is the guardian of Iwami, suddenly became passive and cooperative, and then the Nizi family was eyeing the Iwami silver mine. Everything seemed so abnormal.

The world is full of goodwill, and the world is all good.

Japan's currency was influenced by China, so the earliest copper coins minted were imitations of the Tang Dynasty's "Kaiyuan Tongbao" and the main currency "Dynasty Twelve Coins" was launched.

Although they followed the same path as North Korea and the "Dynasty Twelve Coins" they issued were gradually disliked, they took a different monetary path from North Korea.

Because a large amount of high-quality copper coins from China flowed into Japan, Japan's official currency was in complete decline, and the entire society entered the era of "bringing money".

In this dynasty, the situation was almost the same. Japanese envoys who went to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty every three years all hoped to obtain copper coins from the Ming Dynasty to meet their country's currency needs.

Although the Ming Dynasty entered the Silver Age, and Japan also had abundant silver mines, they lost the technology to mine silver mines and naturally could not keep up with the pace of the Ming Dynasty.

Unfortunately, the domestic demand for silverware in Japan was not strong, and the Japanese Nizi family, which lacked sufficient mining technology support, actually came up with the idea of ​​​​Iwami Silver Mine.

Even though the Iwami Silver Mine has a certain economic value, everything depends on gains and losses, and the actions of the Nizi family are obviously not worth the gains.

Xu Shiying vaguely felt that there must be another reason for this unreasonable behavior, but the interest earned now is limited, so it is difficult to make a judgment easily.

For some unknown reason, the special emperor recently asked his East China Sea Governor's Mansion to restrain its aggressiveness.

However, in his report to the emperor, he still told the whole story, believing that the wise emperor would clear away the layers of fog and guide them forward.

"Governor, there is a dispute over at the dock, and I'm afraid you have to come forward in person!" A guard captain came over in a hurry and informed anxiously.

Although the Governor's Office of the East China Sea was established by the imperial court to take over the power of the entire East China Sea, there were many bastards in the shallow water, and many related households did not take the several adults of the Qianhu family seriously, and some even dared to slam the table on the Governor. Xu Shiying frowned slightly, but asked lightly: "Are they those dandies from Jiangnan again?"

"Exactly!" the guard captain said bitterly.

Xu Shiying's face was cold. Some of the playboys were used to being uncles in the Ming Dynasty and had developed lawless tempers.

On the pier of the port, a merchant ship returning from Japan was parked.

Although the East China Sea Governor's Mansion is not a customs, it is still an important part of the customs. All merchant ships bound for Japan need to be inspected here.

For some special commodities, the East China Sea Governor's Office chose to ban exports, especially sales to Japan.

"Haha... Only the state officials are allowed to set fires, but the people are not allowed to light lamps?" Wang Yanao said sarcastically when faced with the found contraband.

Huo Hai ignored the other party's ridicule, but emphasized businesslikely: "I don't know how you passed the inspection by the Shanghai Shipping Department, but non-essential ironware is not allowed to be exported. This has always been a rule!"

"As long as you sell knives, we just sell some shovels and farm tools. Which national law are you violating?" Hou Haotian stood with his hands behind his hands and asked coldly.

Huo Hai knew that the two men in front of him were eunuchs' children, but he stood firm and said: "This kind of agricultural tools are not allowed to be sold to Japan. This is the principle of our East China Sea Governor's Mansion!"

"Bullshit principles! You are obviously deliberately trying to get benefits from us, but you don't even know who I am. I have no one in the court. It's easy to kill a small family like yours!" Cheng Tang did the same thing this time. Participating in it, he was so angry that he gritted his teeth.

In this farming era, due to the unique geographical advantages of Jiangnan, not only the north relied on Jiangnan for food, but Jiangnan was also the area with the most prosperous handicraft industry.

Although the Ming Dynasty had moved its capital, its wealth actually stayed in Jiangnan.

Jiangnan certainly has noble families, the most typical of which is the Xu family of Wei Guogong, who was the head of the public officials with an annual salary of 5000 shi in the early Ming Dynasty.

The second is the family of officials, such as Gao Gu, the original chief minister of Yangzhou, who became famous because of Gao Gu and became a big local family in one fell swoop.

However, the most numerous families are those who are officials and businessmen. These people are businessmen who become officials or officials who are businessmen, so they can have wealth and power. Among them, Wang Ao is a typical representative family in Jiangnan who came from merchants and became officials.

The Dongshan area of ​​Dongting has a large population due to its narrow land. Most of the residents make a living by doing business, and Wang Ao's grandfather Wang Yanxiang made his fortune in business.

Wang Yanxiang gave birth to five sons, many of whom were good at business, so they became a prominent family in Dongshan, Dongting.

Wang Yanxiang's son Wang Kui was the most outstanding one. The eldest son Wang Zhang went out to do business, the second son Wang Wei stayed at home to take care of the housework, and the third son Wang Wan concentrated on his studies.

Although Wang Wan did not obtain the title of Jinshi, he received support from his family and studied at the Imperial Academy in Beijing, and then entered the official career, eventually becoming the magistrate of Guanghua County.

Wang Wan's son, Wang Ao, finally made a major breakthrough in the imperial examination and entered the Hanlin Academy as a top candidate. Now he has become a lecturer of the Hanlin Academy.

Finally, there are the typical famous families whose inheritance can withstand the test of time. For example, the Xishan Qin family produced more than thirty Jinshi in the Ming and Qing Dynasties alone.

As for the famous Zheng family, the first in Jiangnan, it has been hundreds of years since the Song Dynasty. Even Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang deliberately treated the Zheng family favorably to show favor to other families.

With the full opening of trade in the East China Sea, and more and more maritime merchants making a lot of money, various types of families in the south of the Yangtze River have set sail to the sea, all wanting to send their idle children to Japan for gold mining.

Although they had actually been stealing this cake and even thought of preventing the Ming Dynasty from opening the sea, their previous actions had to be sneaky after all, and the scale was still much different.

Now that the Ming Dynasty court has given permission, they naturally do not need to worry too much, but can conduct maritime trade with Japan in large quantities.

It's just that the imperial control naturally brought some disadvantages. Firstly, there were more competitors, and secondly, there were restrictions on goods, such as ironware, which was contraband.

The restriction on the export of agricultural tools this time made the three yameni who went out to sea together to pan for gold very unhappy, and also directly threatened this small thousand households.

If you are in Jiangnan, let alone a small thousand households, even if you are the commander of a guard station, you must treat them respectfully, even if you talk to them like this.

"Mr. Hou, this kind of farm equipment is really not allowed to be sold to Japan, so please don't embarrass my subordinates!" Xu Shiying knew that the other party was the son of Hou Zan, the left minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs in Nanjing, so he explained angrily.

Hou Haotian's face was gloomy, and he asked indifferently: "Governor Xu, what's wrong with such ordinary agricultural tools? I don't know that even if the farm tools can be sold, I still have to give an explanation!"

"Iron-containing agricultural tools can easily be used as weapons, and may also be smelted into weapons by the Japanese, so they are not allowed to be sold to Japan!" Xu Shiying explained patiently.

Wang Yanao's eyes flashed with joy, but he pointed to the iron pot on the ground and said: "Governor Xu, you don't care! Isn't the iron content of this iron pot higher? Why can the iron pot be sold to Japan, and iron plows are not allowed, why don’t you say that iron plows can be used as weapons?”

Hou Haotian and Cheng Xin looked at Xu Shiying proudly when they saw Wang Yanao being so eager.

"This matter cannot be confused! If you want to engage in Japanese trade, you must abide by the regulations of the East China Sea Governor's Mansion. The sale of iron pots is indeed allowed!" Xu Shiying realized that he was giving too much face to these people, so he emphasized with a cold face.

Although there are indeed some things that people don't understand here, the ban on agricultural tools actually bans Japanese agriculture and restricts Japan's productivity.

It's just that these conspiracies cannot be explained directly, but it is impossible to have fun with Japan on the one hand, and on the other hand, it is publicly stated that it wants to choke you and restrict agricultural development.

That’s why the export of farm tools is now banned. Farm tools are used as weapons to hurt people and people are worried about Japan’s melting iron to make weapons, but they don’t want these people to always want to export farm tools for profit.

Hou Haotian was the eldest of the three. He coughed at the other two companions who were still trying to argue, and then said with a smile: "Since Governor Xu has spoken, this face must be given, then I will arrange a boat to pull the farm tools." go back!"

Wang Yanao and Cheng Xin exchanged silent glances, but looked at Hou Haotian in confusion.

"Mr. Hou, when you go to Japan to accept the settlement of silver transactions this time, the settlement amount must be less than 20%!" Xu Shiying warned seriously when he saw that the matter had been resolved.

Originally there was no such requirement, but as Ming Dynasty issued a new currency system, new requirements were also made.

In fact, the court's plan was to ban it completely, but considering the need to give maritime merchants enough time to adapt, a special agreement was made.

Wang Yanao's eyes widened and he said very absurdly: "Governor Xu, this silver has been flowing freely in the southeastern provinces, why do you require our silver transaction settlement to be less than 20%!"

"This is the latest ban from the imperial court!" Xu Shiying said with a cold face when she realized that these yamen were really difficult to discipline.

Cheng Xin was suspicious and asked directly: "Governor Xu, we have not received such a ban. I wonder where the official document from the court is?"

"The East China Sea Governor's Mansion represents the imperial court!" Xu Shiying naturally could not show the emperor's letter, and immediately emphasized the status of the East China Sea Governor's Mansion with a cold face.

When Huo Hai saw these three young masters looking so aggressive, he was also exuding murderous intent at this moment.

Cheng Xin believed that he was from a military family and did not take Huo Hai's murderous intentions seriously: "As far as I know, if there are no regulations from the court, we, the people of the Ming Dynasty, don't have to abide by them, right?"

"You can give it a try!" Xu Shiying said coldly, feeling that the other party was provoking the authority of the East China Sea Governor's Mansion.

If you are in the mainland, you do need an official document from the court. It's just that they are overseas now, and they are doing it under the emperor's instructions. Now that these officials and officials dare to disobey, he doesn't mind sending them to see the King of Hell personally.

Wang Yanao is no stranger to officialdom, and he also threatened: "You abuse your private power so much, aren't you afraid of impeachment?"

"You can try! But I've already told you that if you dare to disobey the government order, don't blame me for being ruthless!" Xu Shiying was naturally not afraid of impeachment, but warned coldly.

Hou Haotian rolled his eyes, but smiled and said, "I will definitely do as you are told! Lord Governor, let's take our leave first!"

Xu Shiying looked at the son of the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing. Although he was smiling all over his face, he had a vague feeling that this son and his father were both smiling tigers.

Huo Hai followed Xu Shiying back to Daming City, but he was very worried and said: "Mr. Governor, will they really encourage their fathers to impeach you?"

"Our emperor is a once-in-a-century wise king. If you dare to interfere, I am seeking death!" Xu Shiying replied lightly, but continued to warn: "Intensify maritime patrols immediately to prevent our agricultural tools and looms from flowing into Japan. !”

Originally, the opening of maritime trade in the East China Sea was a move that benefited the country and the people. However, more and more unscrupulous maritime traders not only directly bypassed the East China Sea Governor's Palace, but some even wanted to give shuttle looms to the Japanese. (End of chapter)