Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 359 Military and political affairs cannot be separated from the emperor

Shuangyu Island, a originally unknown small island in the southeast of the Ming Dynasty, has now become a distribution center and trade center for smuggling trade.

Many smugglers gathered here, and there were even residents who specialized in various professions living here. There were also a considerable number of Portuguese from the West and Japanese from the East.

In addition, there are countless merchants living on Shuangyu Island and engaging in smuggling trade. Many of these merchants are relatives of wealthy aristocratic families in the southern coastal areas or people who have secretly allied with them.

Min Zhou was a representative of the Min Jiajia family, a wealthy family in the eastern coastal area of ​​Zhejiang, who was stationed on Shuangyu Island. At that time, he had just brought a batch of raw silk to Shuangyu Island and sold it to the Portuguese in order to evade customs duties.

The Portuguese were also willing to purchase cheaper raw silk on Shuangyu Island, and therefore, they were also very active in doing the business of smuggling raw silk with these big coastal households on Shuangyu Island.

The Portuguese even settled on the island for a long time, built churches, spread Western culture, and even established a town hall, in an effort to turn this place into a Portuguese territory and manage it in a non-war way.

Of course, these Portuguese people did not know at this moment that their Portuguese country had been destroyed by the Ming Dynasty.

After Zhu Wan was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Fujian and Zhejiang military affairs and was responsible for combating smuggling, he was shocked to find that it was not civilians who were rampant in Ming Dynasty. Because Ming Dynasty had opened its seas, civilians did not have sufficient connections and energy to dare to participate in smuggling or have the opportunity to engage in smuggling, nor was there any need to engage in smuggling when there was no pressure to survive.

Zhu Wan discovered that these rampant smugglers all had backgrounds in local wealthy families. For this reason, he did not hesitate to send out spies to investigate for a long time and found out that Shuangyu Island was the gathering place of these smugglers.

Therefore, Zhu Wan submitted a memorial, deciding to clear out the smuggling pirates on Shuangyu Island.

On the surface, Shuangyu Island was just a gathering place for pirates to engage in smuggling trade, but in fact, the interests of the gentry class on the southern coast were involved.

Therefore, Zhu Wan's decision was bound to cause great shock in the court and the country.

However, Zhu Houzhao did not know at this time that Zhu Wan would decide to clear out Shuangyu Island, but he knew that Zhu Wan's crackdown on smuggling in the south would definitely offend many aristocratic families in the south.

But there was no way around it. The Ming Empire was not an empire that only covered the southern half, so it naturally could not only care about the interests of the southern gentry.

In order to maintain national stability, the most important thing the court should do is to crack down on the southern gentry and prevent them from excessively occupying social wealth.

According to the system of governors and governors-general, such matters involving military actions naturally had to be reported to the emperor for approval. Although Zhu Wan could prepare in advance, he still had to follow the necessary procedures.

The current Emperor of the Ming Dynasty has become Zhu Zailei, so this matter is naturally handled by Zhu Zailei. In fact, Zhu Zailei did not attach much importance to the matter of clearing out the pirates on Shuangyu Island.

After all, with the current national strength of the Ming Dynasty, not to mention the pirates on Shuangyu Island, even ten pirates on Shuangyu Island can be wiped out.

But this was Zhu Zailei's first time on the throne, and this matter involved military action, so Zhu Zailei decided to convene the ministers to discuss it.

Zhu Zailei did not let the Imperial Guards make the decision directly like Zhu Houzhao did, but put it to the Council of State. Naturally, he wanted to consider whether Shuangyu Island should be cleared out militarily from the perspective of the entire country, not just the military level.

After all, the people on Shuangyu Island could be said to be pirates or a group of people doing business on the island. They were not the kind of pure military force that could really intimidate the empire.

Of course, what Zhu Zaile did was also the first time that he allowed the Council of State to decide on military actions in addition to the appointment of important officials, which was considered to be expanding the decision-making authority of the Council of State.

In any case, these have nothing to do with Zhu Houzhao, who is now visiting famous mountains and ancient temples.

For Zhu Houzhao, he is now enjoying his leisure time. Moreover, since he is not high above the clouds at the moment, he cannot see some of the hidden worries of the empire for the time being. What he sees now is only the prosperity of the empire after years of peaceful development.

But for Emperor Zhu Zailei and the ministers who are still governing the Ming Dynasty, how to better handle military and political affairs and be responsible for the Ming Dynasty is their unshirkable responsibility at this time.

The chief minister of the cabinet, Xia Yan, looked at Zhu Zailei sitting on the throne, and in his mind he would more or less compare him with Zhu Houzhao, but no matter what, as a court official, he had to express his opinions dutifully no matter who the emperor became.

"Your Majesty, I think Shuangyu Island should be cleared out. Regardless of whether the people on these islands are citizens of the Ming Dynasty or foreigners, they are all pirates and smugglers. In order to uphold the law and protect the imperial customs, the pirates on Shuangyu Island should be cleared out and their smuggling proceeds should be confiscated to deter other smugglers!"

Xia Yan was a firm believer in strict law enforcement, and he even believed in his heart that there was no need to hold a meeting of the Council of State for such matters. After all, this was a military matter, and the General Staff of the Guards should have provided decision-making advice to the emperor. There was no need for himself, the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, and other non-military officials to be involved in this issue.

Xia Yan even thought that if Emperor Zhengde had not abdicated, given Emperor Zhengde's decisiveness, he would have already approved Zhu Wan's order to clear out Shuangyu Island, and even provided a series of instructions after the clearing out of Shuangyu Island.

"I think Shuangyu Island is not a mainland island, so it is inappropriate to mobilize the army without authorization. In addition, the rampant smuggling along the coast is closely related to the coastal noble families. They have deep roots in the local area, and many of their family members hold important positions in the court. If we use pirates to directly clear Shuangyu Island, I am afraid that these southern noble families will take the opportunity to cause trouble. Now that Your Majesty has just ascended the throne, it is not appropriate to cause chaos. You can first order Zhu Wan to persuade the noble families in the mainland to stop smuggling. If they don't listen, it will not be too late to resort to force!"

The first thing that the Minister of Personnel Wen Yuan considered was the interests of Emperor Zhu Zailei. After all, he had always supported Zhu Zailei as the crown prince.

Therefore, now, compared with the loss of interests caused to the Ming Dynasty by the southern gentry due to collusion with pirates to engage in smuggling, Wen Yuan believes that maintaining the new emperor Zhu Zailei is more important to the stable rule of the Ming Dynasty.

After all, Emperor Zhu Zailei had just ascended the throne, and the world still doubted Zhu Zailei's ability, and Zhu Zailei himself had no prestige in the world.

Therefore, Wen Yuan believed that if the new emperor adopted a tough policy as soon as he ascended the throne, it would easily cause chaos, causing the southern gentry to take risks and allowing the recently abdicated Emperor Zhu Houzhao to regain the throne.

Moreover, in Wen Yuan's opinion, with the current financial resources of the Ming Dynasty and the gradually expanding scale of its commodity economy, even if the growth rate of tariffs decreases, it is at least still increasing.

In other words, the empire will not face a financial crisis in the short term, so there is no need to increase the instability of the new emperor's rule over the Ming Dynasty for the sake of a possible crisis in the future. "Your Majesty, I think the court should not take into account the power of the locals and dare not resort to war. In order to reform and eliminate malpractices, the interests of the southern gentry have been touched more than once, and even led to rebellions by the princes, but in the end it did not harm the country, and this reform means that some of the beneficiaries will be dissatisfied. Now that the court's military preparations in the south have not been in battle for a long time, even if the elimination of Shuangyu Island causes chaos in the south, it is just the right time to train the southern army! Moreover, Your Majesty has just ascended the throne, and this is the best time to establish your authority."

As a military official, Yu Dayou naturally preferred to use force to clear out Shuangyu Island. In his opinion, he did not think the consequences of clearing out Shuangyu Island would be so serious.

At this time, Xu Jie stood up. As a representative of the Jiangnan gentry and a close confidant of Emperor Zhu Zaile, he naturally did not want the court to use troops to clear out Shuangyu Island at this time, thus causing chaos. After all, the new emperor had just ascended the throne and his foundation was not stable.

"Your Majesty, I think it is not possible. After all, Shuangyu Island is located in Jiangnan, and Jiangnan is still an important financial and tax base of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, I think Jiangnan should be stable rather than chaotic. Moreover, although the people on the island are smuggling and breaking the law, they are not pirates who rob and plunder. Therefore, we should first send an official to Shuangyu Island to inform the people on the island to return to the government and pay the customs duties they owe. If they refuse to listen, it will not be too late to clear them out!"

What Xu Jie said was pertinent, and he was not considering his own Jiangnan gentry. After all, he still advocated paying the additional customs duties.

Of course, it is not known whether this can be regarded as wishful thinking on the part of Xu Jie, an official far away in the imperial court.

Zhu Zailei saw that Yuan and Xu Jie opposed Zhu Wan's clearing of Shuangyu Island, while Xia Yan and Yu Dayou supported the clearing of Shuangyu Island. In other words, the opponents and supporters each had two votes. He was unable to make a decision for the time being and could not help but ask Zhang Rong:
"Duke of England, please tell me what you think. You are in charge of the Guards, so you should have your own opinion on this kind of military affairs."

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I am stupid and don't know how to make the decision. But as long as the court decides to fight and sends me, I am willing to go through fire and water for the Ming Dynasty. So, I will give up my power." Zhang Rong expressed his loyalty and then announced his giving up his power. Although doing so was a bit of a waste of his power as a military official who had the rare opportunity to participate in the decision-making of the court, it was also an act of self-preservation.

After all, on one side, the Emperor's cronies opposed the clearing out of Shuangyu Island, while on the other side, the Prime Minister and military officials in his own camp demanded the clearing out of Shuangyu Island, so it would be better to give up and pass the buck to others.

When Zhu Zailei first ascended the throne, he was thin-skinned and did not want to blame an old minister like Zhang Rong, so he could only suppress his anger and continue to question Yan Song. Yan Song was as cunning as Zhang Rong and also expressed his intention to abstain.

For Yan Song, now that he is the second prime minister, he naturally does not need to follow Xia Yan's ass anymore. He is now just waiting for Xia Yan to step down and see if there is a chance for him to become the first prime minister of the Ming Dynasty in his last years.

Zhu Zailei was depressed for a moment. He didn't expect that the meeting on clearing out Shuangyu Island would not produce any result.

Seeing this, Xia Yan couldn't help but suggest: "Your Majesty, I think that since this is the case, you might as well ask the emperor for advice. Besides, since it involves military affairs, you can't fail to ask the emperor for advice on all military matters."

Xia Yan's words essentially had no other meaning. He just saw that the new emperor seemed to be still afraid to make a big decision after ascending the throne. For a moment, he couldn't help but think of the former emperor Zhu Houzhao, so he made such a suggestion. In Xia Yan's view, although Zhengde abdicated, as the emperor's father, he couldn't be too idle. He was supported by the people of the world, and he should continue to train the new emperor. After all, this was also a responsibility to the people of the world. Otherwise, why would the people of the world let your son be the emperor?

Moreover, the military power is still in the hands of you, the Emperor. If you don't hand over the tiger talisman, it means that we have to consult you when we encounter military matters.

But Zhu Zailei was not happy to hear this. After all, it seemed to mean that the chief minister of the cabinet, Xia Yan, still valued his father more, and his own prestige did not seem to be enough.

But the real power of the army is still in the hands of Zhu Houzhao, so Zhu Zailei cannot directly refute Xia Yan's wrong words. Moreover, he does not dare to make a decision directly now, for fear that the retired emperor Zhu Houzhao will say that his decision was not a good one and depose him.

Therefore, Zhu Zailei nodded and said: "Let's follow what Yuanfu said. Since the ministers cannot reach a consensus, we should send an urgent document directly to the emperor. Please make a decision and adjourn the court."

Yan Song saw all of this, and he seemed to see his chance to replace Xia Yan, but he was just thinking about it. He also knew that sometimes opportunities require waiting.

……

Zhu Houzhao was sitting in an ordinary Ming citizen's home at that time, and he had no idea that there would be disagreements in the court over the issue of Shuangyu Island.

Although the local government had already come to this family to greet and deal with the situation in advance, Zhu Houzhao could tell from the expressions of these people that they still respected him. Their smiles were bright, and they were obviously tall and not skinny.

Zhu Houzhao could guess that ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty at least had enough food and clothing, and their quality of life was good.

Zhu Houzhao now seemed to be summing up his achievements over the past few decades. He could see his achievements from the mental outlook of the people, from the steam locomotives that stretched from the rapeseed fields to the horizon, from the steel bridges that spanned the rivers, and from the ironclad ships with their whistles roaring.

In addition, Zhu Houzhao could still see the houses with flowing water and small bridges, the garden with white walls and black tiles and Taihu stones, and the Han Dynasty clothes with Luoshang.

Zhu Houzhao himself did not expect that one day he would make the Ming Dynasty look civilized and progressive while also leaving behind a mark of Chinese civilization.

Of course, Zhu Houzhao also saw this cruel scene.

For example, at this time, when he was going upstream along the Yangtze River to Chongqing Prefecture, he needed boatmen because he was going upstream. The pleasure-indulgent Emperor Zhu Houzhao asked the local government of Huguang to mobilize 100,000 white slaves to serve as boatmen for him. Hundreds of white slaves were exhausted to death just for Emperor Zhu Houzhao to travel through the Three Gorges.

He also saw poor, sick and helpless foreign slaves in some factories, but now he could only turn a blind eye.

Because as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, although he knew that all this was caused by him, he also knew that if he did not do this, in the future, it would be the Han people who would become these people, and they would also be called "piglets."

Zhu Houzhao originally thought that he could have such leisure time to use the labor of the foreign slaves to complete a national tour and then show kindness to the people of the empire. However, he did not expect that the empire still needed him on major military and political affairs, and he had to make the decision on whether to fight for Shuangyu Island.

"Shuangyu Island already has a Portuguese city hall and some Japanese pirate armies, which shows that Shuangyu Island is not a non-military smuggling base. This is already an invasion of the empire by the Japanese and Portuguese, and therefore, it must be wiped out!

Send someone to tell Zhu Wan first, then send a letter to the Imperial Guards to immediately clear out Shuangyu Island!"

Zhu Houzhao ordered.

(End of this chapter)