Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 203: National Confidence of Ming Dynasty Scholars
After Wang Hong recaptured Tuen Mun Island, he did not destroy the facilities and firearms manufacturing base built by the Portuguese on Tuen Mun Island. Instead, he directly built Tuen Mun into the Ming Navy base in accordance with Zhu Houzhao's order.

The Ming Dynasty stationed a hundred households in Tuen Mun, where the fourth-class sailing battleship "Baoding" was anchored.

At the same time, the craftsmen who made firearms for the Portuguese were all re-employed by the Ming government to continue making firearms for the Ming Dynasty.

It can be said that the Portuguese occupation of Tuen Mun Island was a great help to the Ming Dynasty, allowing the Ming Navy to easily add a naval base at the mouth of the Pearl River.

Not only that, the Jinyiwei has now been ordered to successfully receive the envoy of Malacca Prince Bintang Prince Muhammad into the capital, which makes it clear that the Ming Dynasty wants to interfere in the event of Malacca being destroyed by the Portuguese.

And this time, the Ming Dynasty will take the initiative to interfere in the destruction of Malacca, and take this opportunity to regain Ming Dynasty's control over shipping in Southeast Asia!

Since Zheng He's voyages to the West, the Ming Dynasty implemented a strict maritime ban policy and voluntarily gave up its control over shipping in the South China Sea. This was also the time when the civil service group began to take power. It can be said that it was the foolish literati who turned the Ming Dynasty into a closed empire and caused the Ming Dynasty to lose control of the sea routes from the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean and even the Red Sea.

If not for this, Malacca would not have been easily destroyed by the Portuguese.

Of course, although the destruction of Malacca affected the imperial interests of the Ming Dynasty, it does not deserve sympathy.

Because after establishing Malacca, Malacca's Sultan Bayrimi had been trying to get rid of the Ming Dynasty's control over him. He did not even choose the Confucian model of establishing a country, but instead Islamicized his country. He even called himself a sultan instead of a king, and was more respectful to the Persians. This was one of the reasons why Ming Dynasty merchants helped the Portuguese occupy Malacca.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao's decision to let the Ming Dynasty intervene in the destruction of Malacca was not only to regain control of shipping in Southeast Asia, but also to re-establish the Eastern civilization order. He wanted to transform Confucian Neo-Confucianism from domestic sales to exports.

"Your Majesty, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty! The Portuguese from the West are a group of robbers. They ignore the dignity of the Celestial Empire and only know how to burn, kill, and plunder. They have slaughtered countless of our people. I beg Your Majesty to help us!"

As soon as Han Mode saw Zhu Houzhao in the main hall, he burst into tears and recounted every word of the Portuguese atrocities in Malacca.

Zhu Houzhao naturally already knew about the atrocities committed by the Portuguese in Malacca through the Jinyiwei system, so he was not very excited when he heard what Mu Hanmed said. But for the court officials present, it was extremely shocking, because it was the first time they knew about the atrocities of Western colonists. In the eyes of these scholars and officials who lived in the prosperous Ming Dynasty, the behavior of the Portuguese was simply intolerable brutality.

Therefore, at this time, Liu Yu, the Minister of War who had entered the cabinet, could not help but express his opinion first: "Your Majesty! This Portuguese country is just a mustard country, but it has repeatedly challenged the majesty of our Celestial Empire, and now it has even destroyed our vassal states of the Ming Dynasty. It can be said that they have the heart of a snake and a scorpion. If we do not punish them, it will not be enough to show the prestige of our great country!"

"I also think that the Portuguese should be punished. This barbarian country has no etiquette and only knows how to kill and burn. Moreover, it is not a country that pays tribute to the Ming Dynasty, so it should not be respected! However, Your Majesty intends to recruit the king's envoys to serve as officials of the Ming Dynasty. I think this is really not possible. Now the Malacca incident has shown that the Portuguese country should be severed! The envoys sent by the Portuguese should also be detained as hostages to force the Portuguese to return the Malacca territory. Otherwise, the Ming Dynasty, as the suzerain country, should execute these Portuguese bandits on behalf of Malacca!"

The Minister of Justice Hong Zhong said at this time.

Zhu Houzhao could see that many of the literati in the Ming Dynasty were people with raised eyebrows. Having not experienced a century of humiliation, they had a disdainful attitude towards foreign countries, and it was a disdain deep in their bones!
So much so that when people hear about the atrocities committed by the Portuguese in Malacca today, they don’t think about how the Portuguese, as a Western country, could have made an expedition to Malacca and destroyed it, and thus feel a sense of crisis and pay attention to the Portuguese. Instead, they despise the Portuguese’s primitive capital plundering behavior, and even directly clamor for punishment of the Portuguese.

"Report! The Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Lin Tingxuan, has made an urgent report of eight hundred miles. The Deputy Provincial Commissioner of Guangdong has been ordered to lead a part of the Guangdong and Guangxi navy to recapture Tuen Mun and capture 231 Portuguese! There were no casualties in the navy! They have also been ordered to be incorporated into the service of the Ming Maritime Trade Company. The captured warships and firearms and artillery have all been shipped back to Beijing!"

At this time, the battle report from Guangdong and Guangxi came in. Zhu Houzhao could not help but be overjoyed and ordered: "The record officer, record this moment. The Ming Dynasty did not lose the first battle against the Western colonizers, but won a great victory! Therefore, in the face of the invasion of Western civilization, the Ming Dynasty is not vulnerable! It is not even weak!"

Zhu Houzhao was very happy, because although the military significance of the Battle of Tunmen was not great, its political and historical significance was actually very great. He had to record it, and record it in a way that the central court attached great importance to, in order to tell future generations that the Ming Dynasty was not lagging behind the world!
However, the literati at that time obviously did not understand why His Majesty the Emperor attached so much importance to this victory. In their view, the victory of retaking Tuen Mun was not worth mentioning at all.

"Your Majesty, although the Portuguese were able to destroy Malacca, they were no more than pirates. I think that our Celestial Empire's victory over them was just like suppressing bandits, and it should not be a major event to be remembered!"

At this time, Bian Gong, the president of the Hanlin Academy, stood up and made a speech.

"I think the Portuguese are just barbarians. How can their military strength compare with that of the Ming Dynasty? Recapturing Tunmen is not a big deal. Why should we report it urgently over a distance of 800 miles?" Tang Ren, the chief official of the Ministry of Personnel, also made this report.

Zhu Houzhao knew that these civil servants of the Ming Dynasty did not promote martial arts for their own selfish reasons, but he had to admit that this was also related to the fact that these civil servants did not know what kind of situation they were facing. These civil servants were not time travelers and had no memories of future generations. Naturally, they did not know what kind of existence the Western colonists would be in the next few hundred years. Therefore, these civil servants were confident at this moment and were still immersed in the beautiful dream that they were the Celestial Empire.

Therefore, when the news of the victory of retaking Tuen Mun reached their ears, these civil servants were not very happy, nor did they realize the significance of it.

Zhu Houzhao also felt that the civil servants and literati of this era were very happy. They were so happy that they had no idea how stupid they were. Instead, they thought they were the wisest people who had made the most contributions to the empire.

"Pride brings harm, humility brings benefit. Although the Ming Dynasty is the strongest in the world, it is still only a small part of the world. Although the Portuguese country is only a small mustard country, and is far to the west of the ocean, it can destroy Malacca and even invade the Ming Dynasty. Let me ask you, how can we underestimate such a barbarian? Does the Ming Dynasty have the ability to do so?"

Zhu Houzhao had a feeling that he was a clown who worshipped foreigners and fawned on foreigners, and that the civil servants in front of him were the real patriots, because it was he who had always been promoting the ambition of the Portuguese and destroying the prestige of the Ming Dynasty, and these civil servants happened to be destroying the prestige of the Portuguese and promoting the ambition of the Ming Dynasty.

Although, Zhu Houzhao's purpose was only to remind people of that era that Western colonizers were not foreign forces that could be underestimated.

"Your Majesty! The Ming Dynasty has sailed across the oceans to more than just destroy one country. In the past, Eunuch Sanbao sailed to the West seven times and suppressed countless rebellions by various tribes along the coast! Now the Ming Zhijiang Shipyard has been rebuilt, and there are countless skilled shipwrights. All it needs is one more voyage to the West!"

At this time, the Minister of Works Ye Heng stepped forward and responded in a very tactless manner.

"Moreover, our Great Ming sailed to the West with virtue and morality, and all countries admired us! But now these Portuguese are nothing but bandits, slaughtering and plundering, destroying the politics of other countries, making people hate them, and they are extremely barbaric! How can they be compared with the benevolent and righteous army of our Celestial Empire!"

Zhu Houzhao was speechless for a moment. He found that he could not use any argument to dispel the cultural confidence and national confidence of the Ming people of that era. Even if he threw out the most impressive maritime achievements of the West, these Ming Dynasty scholars could refute it with the glorious achievements of their own dynasty.

"The Ming Dynasty can do this, but can the Yuan Dynasty do it? If a tribe that knows only fishing, hunting, riding and shooting seizes the world in the future, can they sail across the world like the Ming Dynasty? If the Portuguese have already occupied the entire earth through their advantage at sea, will the Ming Dynasty be their opponent?"

Zhu Houzhao asked, he couldn't directly say what would happen if the Qing Dynasty destroyed the Ming Dynasty in the future, so he just gave an analogy.

"Your Majesty, please do not worry so much. How could the Ming Dynasty perish at the hands of a foreign race? The remnant of the Yuan Dynasty is weak and has already become a vassal of the Ming Dynasty! The outstanding peoples of the surrounding countries dare not have any intention of disobeying them!"

Since Jiao Fang and Xu Jin had retired, Wang Hua took over as the chief minister of the cabinet. Seeing that Zhu Houzhao mentioned the danger of foreign races, Wang Hua was afraid that the emperor would raise troops in Mobei again, so he hurriedly took over the conversation, trying to dissuade Zhu Houzhao from this idea.

Zhu Houzhao also understood the purpose of Wang Hua's words, but he said these not to personally lead an expedition to Mobei to kill all the foreign races. That was unrealistic and would also be very costly for the country. Zhu Houzhao would not start a war that would not bring him any benefit. But he said these today to use the historical event of the rise of the Qing Dynasty to give some warning to the meat-eaters of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao said again: "If the world is in a state of misery, with rebels rebelling internally, killing officials and plundering people's property, and foreign races rising up externally, and Confucian scholars and Han officials help to establish a kingly rule, and even claim to be the Mandate of Heaven, then what choice should you make as scholars and officials? Will you help the rebels to destroy the Ming Dynasty, or help the captives to destroy the Ming Dynasty?"

When Zhu Houzhao said this, all the ministers were shocked. They did not expect that His Majesty the Emperor would suddenly say such a hypothesis, but they had to answer the Emperor's question, and they instinctively began to think about what choice they should make if it really came to that.

"Your Majesty! How can the Ming Dynasty perish with a wise ruler and virtuous ministers? Even if the country is to perish, I dare to say that only those who respect scholars and officials can obtain the Mandate of Heaven, because scholars are the ones who govern the people. Those who win the hearts of the people obtain the Mandate of Heaven. And if you want to win the hearts of the people, you must first win the hearts of the scholars!"

At this time, Bian Gong, the president of the Hanlin Academy, boldly stood up and answered Zhu Houzhao's questions truthfully. The implication of his words was also to advise Emperor Zhu Houzhao to respect the gentry in order to preserve the Ming Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)