Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 368 An Everlasting Backing! Spreading Civilization in the Ming Dynasty! Impeachment!

"I'm waiting for the order!"

A group of ministers of state and military affairs stepped forward in an orderly fashion, knelt respectfully to receive the imperial decree, and their loud and unified voices echoed in the empty court hall.

Zhu Yunwen nodded slightly, his gaze firm, and then spoke again, his voice steady and powerful: "When I encouraged the nobles and wealthy merchants to go to sea, I personally promised them that they could just go out to sea and make their way in the world."

"If you encounter serious difficulties in those wild and uncivilized places overseas and are bullied by the local natives, you may seek help from the imperial court."

"The Ming Dynasty court is their strongest support and their eternal backing!"

He paused slightly, his gaze slowly sweeping over each minister in the court.

He then raised his voice and said firmly, "Today, before all the civil and military officials, I solemnly say this again to you, and to all my subjects throughout the land."

"All citizens of the Great Ming Dynasty must remember that no matter where you are, you must always remember that you are citizens of the Great Ming Dynasty."

"The people of a superior country do not bow to the ruler of a inferior country."

"The people of a superior nation cannot tolerate the humiliation inflicted by a inferior nation!"

"Behind you, there will always stand a mighty Ming Dynasty!"

"Your Majesty is wise!" the ministers shouted in unison, their voices resounding throughout the court with a magnificent momentum.

Zhu Yunwen took a deep breath, his expression softening slightly, and then said, "I have already issued an edict that our Great Ming Dynasty bears the heavy responsibility of educating the barbarians of the world and rescuing all barbarian people."

"Wherever the sun and moon can shine, wherever rivers can flow, the royal banner of my Great Ming shall be planted, so that all barbarians may be bathed in the boundless imperial grace of my Great Ming."

"But if even the safety and interests of the people of the Great Ming Dynasty overseas cannot be guaranteed, what else is there to talk about?"

"I'm afraid that in the end, we'll only become a laughing stock for the world!"

At this point, his tone suddenly turned serious, and his eyes revealed an undeniable authority: "As the leader of the world, our Great Ming should uphold fairness and justice in all directions."

"The government offices of my Great Ming Dynasty shall adjudicate all cases in the land."

"By imperial decree, from this day forward, any citizen of the Great Ming Dynasty who encounters criminals while at sea may report the incident to the relevant government office in the place of their household registration."

"Local government offices shall not refuse to accept or shirk their responsibilities for any reason."

"Once a case has been adjudicated by the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Justice, or any other legal institution at any level, all departments of the imperial court must fully support its execution!"

Zhu Yunwen had long harbored a deep plan for this.

If the Ming Dynasty wanted to expand its territory, it had to reform its existing laws.

Simply put, the laws of the Ming Dynasty must have "long-arm jurisdiction"!
Only in this way can the interests of the people of the Ming Dynasty be truly protected, allowing them to go to sea without any worries, while also safeguarding the interests of the Ming Dynasty from infringement.

Otherwise, going to sea is like handing yourself over to the chopping block of foreign barbarians, leaving you at their mercy.

Allowing ordinary people to file lawsuits directly in the Ming Dynasty government offices, instead of having them "argue" under someone else's rules overseas, was a crucial step.

After all, if you were to litigate in the territory of barbarians, you would certainly be no match for the local native gentry, officials, and nobles.

They make the laws, and they hold the power of reason.

They have a million ways to manipulate the people of the Ming Dynasty at will.

Only by having the Ministry of Justice of the Ming Dynasty manage the affairs and having officials of the Ming Dynasty conduct the trials can true fairness and justice be achieved!

In the future, this can be used as a reason to negotiate with those barbarian countries, thus ensuring that the cause of the war is justified!
"I'm waiting for the order!"

The ministers knelt down again and loudly accepted the order.

At this moment, they had different thoughts. Some secretly admired His Majesty's foresight and wisdom, while others had doubts about these decisions.

However, His Majesty had just issued an edict in a fit of rage, and even though many ministers had different opinions, they all knew that it was not appropriate to contradict His Majesty at this time.

They thought that if they wanted to offer advice, they should wait until His Majesty's anger subsided before submitting their memorial.

With such thoughts in mind, not a single person in the court raised any objections.

Zhu Yunwen paced slowly on the high platform in front of the dragon throne, and soon continued to give instructions: "In order to safeguard the interests of the Great Ming overseas and protect the people of the Great Ming who go to sea from the harm of villains, the Great Ming will send envoys to various countries from today onwards."

"The selection of envoys to foreign countries shall be carefully made by the Ministry of Rites, submitted to the Office of State Affairs for review, and finally submitted to me for approval."

"The specific implementation plan can refer to the precedent of previous deployments to Japan."

"The envoys should be stationed in the country for an extended period."

"Ambassadors stationed abroad bear a great mission: to do everything in their power to protect the people of the Ming Dynasty overseas."

"When they encounter difficulties, we should lend a helping hand in a timely manner."

"When they are bullied, negotiate with the barbarians to ensure that the interests of the people of our Great Ming are not violated."

"So that the people of our Great Ming can stand tall and proud in the lands of barbarians overseas, without fearing any villains, and without having to bow and scrape to the people of other countries, thus humiliating the dignity of our Great Ming."

"Ambassadors stationed abroad must also shoulder the important responsibility of maintaining the friendship between the Ming Dynasty and foreign countries, actively promoting trade between the Ming Dynasty and foreign countries, exchanging goods and resources, and achieving mutual benefit."

"Embassies stationed abroad should spread the civilization of our Great Ming Dynasty and educate the barbarians overseas."

At this point, Zhu Yunwen seemed to suddenly remember something, his tone abruptly changed, and his expression became serious: "The science I advocate is a skill for doing things, and should not be spread to foreign countries at will."

"On the contrary, it should be strictly ordered that it be spread only within the territory of the Ming Dynasty."

"Anyone who recklessly spreads this information overseas is in violation of the law and must be severely punished."

"What the barbaric countries lack is not science, but etiquette, morality, and the teachings of sages."

“Ambassadors stationed abroad should share these ideas with them more often.”

"If there is an opportunity, we should also teach our people who go to sea about etiquette and morality, and tell them that these are the foundation of their lives, the foundation of their country, and the basis for the prosperity of our Great Ming."

After he finished speaking, the officials knelt down again to receive the decree.

Then, Wen Yuanliu, the Duke of Wei, stepped forward and said:

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

"Science, created by Your Majesty, is the sharpest sword in the world."

"However, a sword can save lives, but it can also kill."

"It is hard to predict whether this sword will be used for good or become a tool for evil."

He paused slightly, his gaze sweeping across the court: "If the sword of science is in the hands of righteous people, it will surely safeguard fairness and justice in the world and bring blessings to all people."

"On the contrary, if it falls into the hands of a wicked person, it will inevitably cause enormous destruction and bring unprecedented disaster to all living beings."

"Our Great Ming Dynasty has inherited the Chinese civilization for thousands of years and has been taught by sages for generations. Most of the people of our Great Ming Dynasty are compassionate and benevolent, and Your Majesty is a wise ruler who is rare in all of history."

"Only when the sword of science is in the hands of our Great Ming can we maintain peace in the world and bring benefits to hundreds of millions of people."

"Not only will the people of our Great Ming Dynasty benefit, but even the barbarians overseas can also profit from it."

"Only in this way can we benefit the country and the people, and live up to His Majesty's painstaking efforts in spreading science on behalf of Heaven."

"If any wicked person were to arbitrarily impart science to foreign barbarians for personal gain, the consequences would be unimaginable."

“Those barbarians have never been taught by sages, and they cannot distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong.”

"Once they learn science and use its power to create advanced firearms, cannons, and other deadly weapons, they will inevitably rely on these weapons to wreak havoc on the world."

"At that time, there will truly be endless troubles."

His tone grew increasingly heavy, and his expression became serious: "Therefore, anyone who does such a thing is a traitor to our Great Ming." "Such treacherous individuals are not only intolerable under the laws of the Great Ming, but also deserve divine retribution and earthly punishment. All citizens of our Great Ming are ready to join together to condemn and kill them!"

Wen Yuanliu was a Duke and also served as the Vice President of the Imperial University of Peking.

Although Peking University is still actively recruiting teachers and students and has not yet officially started classes, the preliminary preparations are complicated and numerous.

There are many things that require coordination among the various departments of the imperial court.

Therefore, he had a lot of dealings with officials.

The officials in the imperial court gradually became familiar with him.

In order to prepare for the establishment of the Imperial University of Peking, Zhu Yunwen summoned him several times. This man was capable and the overall progress of the work was quite smooth.

Wen Yuanliu had attended court a few times, but unlike his eloquent conversations with the emperor in private, he remained silent and listened quietly to the opinions of all sides in court.

This was his first time stepping forward to speak.

Zhu Yunwen nodded slightly, a hint of approval flashing in his eyes.

It must be said that Wen Yuanliu's supplement was to the point and extremely important.

This argument is based on morality, clearly explaining why the teachings of sages can only be spread to foreign barbarians, and scientific knowledge must never be taught to them!

It should be noted that in this era, people's legal awareness is relatively weak, but they have an extremely strong and simple "moral outlook".

When faced with a problem, their first consideration was not the laws of the court, but the moral standards that had been formed over thousands of years.

They would use this simple standard to judge in their hearts and decide whether or not to do it.

Society will also spontaneously constrain people's behavior based on this standard.

Moreover, this social constraint is far more effective and has a stronger binding force than the laws of the imperial court.

This is the great significance of Wen Yuanliu's explanation.

His remarks not only enlightened the ministers in the court, enabling them to better understand Zhu Yunwen's good intentions, but also guided the people to view the matter correctly when they reached the common people.

Its effect was far greater than that of the Ming Dynasty simply issuing a ban.

After all, throughout history, there has never been a shortage of self-righteous "gentlemen" who believe they should practice the "way of the sages" and wholeheartedly want to help the "barbarians" without reservation.

These people are likely to follow their own so-called "moral guidance," disregard the laws of the court, and privately impart scientific and technological knowledge to barbarians, and may even firmly believe that their actions are without fault.

Therefore, cultivating the public's correct understanding of this matter is far more important than simply relying on the law to punish it.

This is because it can encourage people to consciously restrain their behavior.

At the same time, strong public opinion will create pressure, prompting people to actively monitor their relatives and friends.

They were warned not to commit such treasonous and harmful acts.

Wen Yuanliu was not only proficient in scientific knowledge.

His expertise in mathematics and physics is profound.

But he is by no means the kind of "bookworm" who only knows how to bury himself in professional books and knowledge.

In the field of "social sciences," Wen Yuanliu also possesses an extremely high level of expertise.

As Zhu Yuntong listened to Wen Yuanliu's discourse, he couldn't help but feel a surge of emotions, and his thoughts involuntarily drifted to Sir Isaac Newton, the man whose scientific achievements he had overtaken.

Throughout history, Lord Niu was also such a figure.

His ability in political struggles was top-notch, while his scientific pursuits seemed more like a casual pastime when he had nothing else to do.

What Sir Niu was truly interested in was engaging in political struggles to defeat others, studying alchemy, and making money in the stock market.

As for universal gravitation, Newton's three laws of motion, calculus...

These were just things he would casually fiddle with when he was full and bored, to pass the time.

Wen Yuanliu and Lord Niu do bear a slight resemblance.

"What Minister Wen said is absolutely right. I issued the ban precisely because of this consideration."

Zhu Yunwen’s voice was clear and resonant in the hall: “The case of the Ming people being tricked into becoming slaves in Siam and Bagan by villains shall be carried out according to the plan just agreed upon.”

"My esteemed ministers, is there anything else you would like to add?"

Upon hearing this, Ge Song, who had been waiting for an opportunity, suddenly stepped forward, as if a taut bowstring had finally been released.

He was originally just a minor official of the sixth rank. Today's grand court assembly had attracted a large number of officials, but the hall had limited space and could only accommodate a small number of people.

Not to mention his rank, many officials of much higher rank could only wait outside the palace.

However, the status of the censor is quite different from that of ordinary officials.

Who can enter the main hall and who can only remain outside is not entirely determined by rank.

The actual position held is often more important than the rank.

Like the sixth-rank imperial censors, the sixth-rank supervising officials, despite their low rank, were both officials who were explicitly designated by the court to enter the palace to participate in discussions.

After all, censors bear the heavy responsibility of impeaching officials and exposing illegal acts.

Only when one is inside the palace can one offer advice to the emperor face to face.

However, compared to the bigwigs in the imperial court, Ge Song's rank was far too low.

Therefore, although he was able to enter the palace as an imperial censor, he could only stand at the very back.

So much so that when he stepped forward, the eunuchs in the hall did not even notice.

Seeing that Zhu Yunwen had spoken and none of the officials responded, the eunuch shouted, "Speak if you have something to say, otherwise the court is adjourned!"

At this point, according to convention, the court assembly is basically over.

Just as the officials were preparing to kneel and pay their respects before leaving the court, Ge Song suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs, "Your humble servant, Inspector Ge Song, has something to report!"

In an instant, the previously somewhat noisy court fell silent.

The officials' gazes seemed to be drawn by an invisible force, all turning towards Ge Song.

Ge Song stood ramrod straight, like a javelin, and strode forward from the back towards the front of the main hall.

Their aura was like that of warriors heading to the battlefield, carrying a resolute determination to die for their cause.

After reaching the center of the main hall, he flicked his sleeves and performed a deep bowing ceremony with a loud and firm voice:

"Censor Ge Song impeaches Yang Shiqi, Minister of State Affairs and Left Censor-in-Chief, for abusing his power for personal gain, protecting unscrupulous scholars, slandering His Majesty, blaspheming the sage, spreading heresy, and plotting rebellion!"

"boom!"

These words were like a bombshell, exploding in the minds of all the officials in the court.

Everyone's faces were filled with disbelief, and some could hardly believe their ears.

They all stared intently at Ge Song, as if he were a "monster" that had fallen from the sky.

……

(End of this chapter)