The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 789 You Dog Emperor

What is happening in Singapore and Malaysia is also happening in Rinan (South Vietnam + Cambodia) in Southeast Asia.
Thai Ping (not Siam in northern Thailand)

Emperor Jiaqing (Kalimantan Island)

Xinglong (West Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia)

South Jai (Java, Kadong, Sumatra)
The events occurred almost simultaneously in all prefectures and counties of the six provinces of Hanchuan (south of Mandalay in Lower Myanmar).

This also means that after 25 years of development, the institutionalized management of the Dayu Dynasty in Southeast Asia is finally about to begin.

Prior to this, apart from Quang Nam Province (north of Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam), which was incorporated into Lingnan, at most Nich Nam Province and parts of Thai Binh Province could be included. In addition, the important cities in each province were under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, while the rest of the area was basically left to its own devices.

In these places, either a large vassal lord had smaller vassals, and local affairs were decided by these military officers.

Either the town is the center of a major trading hub, with surrounding manors as secondary facilities, interspersed with the agricultural cooperative model established by Mozibu in Southeast Asia, implementing self-governance by the colonists.

The prefects and magistrates dispatched by the imperial court were only responsible for collecting land taxes and commercial taxes in the city, stationing troops to monitor the local powerful families, preventing them from turning the Han Chinese who went to Southeast Asia into slaves, and coordinating and helping them deal with the natives.

This system was beneficial in its initial stages, as it could fully motivate the people, flexibly allocate resources at the lowest possible cost of governance, quickly seize strategic waterways and fertile territories, separate the indigenous people from the Chinese, and protect their interests.

But by this time, with the number of Chinese in Southeast Asia exceeding 70 million, it seemed out of place.

Under this model, a large amount of governance power was seized by local powerful clans and large estate owners. The administrative power that originally belonged to the state was transformed into black power, or to put it bluntly, a mafia-style rule.

This not only made Southeast Asia a moral and legal vacuum in the country at that time, but also made being an official in Southeast Asia a difficult job.

Officials in China viewed going to Southeast Asia to take up their posts as exile. There were even cases where county magistrates appointed by the imperial court would not go any further than Guangzhou, abandoning their official seals and running away, or delaying their arrival for several months or even a year.

Many sons of prominent families in Southeast Asia were unwilling to study at the Imperial Academy there, let alone return to contribute to the development of Southeast Asia after completing their studies.

This has reached a point where it absolutely must be addressed.

. . . .

"Governor-General Hong Liangji, Prefect of Singapore and Malaysia Li Luanxuan, and Prefect of Hongxing (Jakarta) Wang Guoyuan are all doing a good job. They really have the skills."

In the Taishang Qinghui Palace in Shunde County, Guangzhou Prefecture, Nandu, Mo Zibu was looking through the documents about Southeast Asia sent back by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, one by one.

Taishang Qinghui Palace is the Qinghui Garden in Shunde. After Mo Zibu returned from his campaign, Long Yingshi, a native of Daliang, Shunde, who was a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), donated the Qinghui Garden, which was then called Longjiayuan.

Mo Zibu then expanded the garden and gave it to his father, Mo Tianci, calling it the Supreme Qinghui Palace.

Now that his father, Mo Tianci, has passed away, the palace has become the residence of his mother, Chen. Mo Zibu would come once or twice a year to visit his mother and take care of some business in Southeast Asia.

After all, for the Nanyang region, Guangzhou was the number one city in their hearts, much higher than Beijing Shuntian Prefecture and Nanjing Yingtian Prefecture. Guangzhou was the most convenient place to govern Nanyang.

Upon hearing the emperor's words, Zhang Wentao, who had succeeded Zheng Jinshui as Assistant Grand Secretary (Second Grand Secretary), understood that the emperor was actually somewhat dissatisfied.

Because apart from these few people who did a good job, the rest did a very average job, or even a terrible one.

"In His Majesty's words, the South Seas have been managed in a rough and haphazard way for more than twenty years. Take Sun Wukong for example, if you suddenly put a tight headband on him, it is only natural that he would struggle repeatedly." Zhang Wentao carefully organized his thoughts before answering.

He was neither a member of the Lingnan noble group nor a close associate of the emperor, so he dared not say anything in front of the emperor.

Moreover, even the emperor's close associates, namely those from Mingxiang and western Guangdong who primarily spoke Minnan dialect with Cantonese as a secondary language, could be demoted at will.

Well, currently, most people in the court view Zheng Jinshui's promotion from Assistant Grand Secretary (Second Grand Secretary) to Prime Minister of the Eastern Seas Envoy as a demotion.

That's not really a problem. If Zheng Jinshui wasn't essentially Mo Zibu's adopted son, then it would truly be considered a derogatory remark.

"Currently, although the land acquisition target has been completed by less than 30%, there has not been much unrest. If the court continues to introduce new policies, I believe that the major families and large estate owners in Southeast Asia will soon accept the reality."

Moreover, if we wait until this matter is completed, and the officials of the six provinces under the Nanyang Envoyage are trained, our Great Yu will have dozens or even hundreds more capable and talented individuals, which will greatly benefit the future development of the country!

"Does the Grand Secretary mean that I should send more elite troops to Southeast Asia?" Mo Zibu asked Zhang Wentao with a smile.

"I believe this is the proper course of action. Since the Song Dynasty, China has not seen such a large-scale action to suppress powerful clans for hundreds of years. This will be a considerable test of the abilities of officials."

In my opinion, not only should another batch of officials be transferred, but also mid- to low-ranking officials from the central government and students who have not yet graduated from the top ten Imperial Academies should be selected to assist in implementing the government's policies, giving them all valuable experience.

In fact, before the large-scale operation, Mo Zibu had already transferred a group of officials, but it seems that it is indeed not enough.

“These are wise words from an experienced strategist, so you shall handle this matter.” Mo Zibu agreed to Zhang Wentao’s suggestion and then nodded over Li Luanxuan’s name.

“This Li Boxuan seems to have a lot of personality and his methods are quite good. I think once this matter is settled, he can be qualified to serve as the Xinglong Provincial Governor. We can also give him the title of Vice Minister and have him come to the inner and outer courts of the central government for an apprenticeship every year.”

Zhang Wentao immediately took out his notebook and wrote down what the emperor said. The reason he made a point of writing it down was because the path that Li Luanxuan, the prefect of Xinma, was being cultivated was directly aimed at becoming a minister or even a prime minister.

The promotion of high-ranking officials in the central government of the Great Yu Dynasty, especially the assistant ministers, was very different from that in the Great Ming Dynasty.

The Hanlin Academy was used as a training ground for assistant ministers in the Ming Dynasty. Once you entered the Hanlin Academy, you would basically never be sent to a local area.

The advantage of doing this is that it allows the prospective ministers of the state to become quite familiar with the workings of the court.

In this way, no matter who is promoted to the position of regent, they can take over smoothly and naturally, and cooperate more seamlessly with the eunuchs who hold the power of approving imperial edicts. This ensures that the operation of the state machinery will not be affected by changes in the cabinet regents.

However, the drawbacks are also obvious: whether it is the chief minister, the second minister, or other ministers, they can only manage people and are not good at doing things.

They were familiar with how the imperial court operated and could easily control the central officials in Beijing, but when it came to governing the country, things were often bizarre and unpredictable. Many policies were simply conceived on a whim and were completely impossible to implement below.

Secondly, they have absolutely no concept of local governance, making it difficult for them to monitor local officials and repair loopholes in the local official system.

The rapid decline in salt and customs taxes during the Ming Dynasty from its founding to its demise was largely due to the fact that the cabinet ministers had no understanding of local affairs.

Therefore, the Great Yu Dynasty has made a compromise: the selection of cabinet ministers will certainly require them to serve in the central government for a long time, but the premise is that they must be selected from the local areas.

Even the top scholar, unless he is highly specialized, such as being proficient in finance or water conservancy, must start from the bottom as a local official.

The path was similar to Li Luanxuan's path to promotion: serving in local government, taking time to gain experience in the central government, becoming familiar with the central government, and then being promoted from a local official to the central government.

“Zhang Wentao, you are in charge of the Ministry of Personnel. Select some experienced officials to work as partners with Li Luanxuan and teach them more in certain areas.”

In fact, for Mo Zibu, Li Luanxuan's abilities were still far from those of a regent, but he had to focus on cultivating him.

Because by this time, the education and culture of the North were already unable to compete with the South, which was mainly in the Jiangnan region, in many aspects. By the time of the Great Yu Dynasty, the gap had become even more obvious.

Because south of Jiangnan lies Lingnan, the ancestral home of the emperor, and south of Lingnan lies Nanyang, the birthplace of the emperor. All three regions were quite wealthy, and their economic activities were even more prosperous. The existence of the latter two further widened the gap between the North and the South.

Li Luanxuan's abilities can only be described as above average, but among officials from the north, he is already considered one of the best. In order to balance the north and south, Mo Zibu must promote him.

In recent years, Mo Zibu has been intentionally promoting more officials from northern regions, increasing the proportion of northern officials from top to bottom.

After discussing the matter, Mo Zibu took out Chen Lian's memorial again. "Look, my Duke of Yue has come to complain again. He doesn't say that he can't do this well. He only says that the South Seas are hot and his athlete's foot is hard to cure. He hopes to go to the dry northern region for a few years."

With Prime Minister Lin Qiaoyin remaining in Nanjing, Zhang Wentao knew that these matters could only be discussed with him, the Assistant Minister (Second Grand Secretary). However, for him, a Sichuan native who was not a confidant of the emperor, these issues were still too heavy a burden.

Therefore, Zhang Wentao carefully examined the memorial submitted by Duke Chen Lian of Yue, confirming that the emperor was indeed seeking his opinion before cautiously speaking:
"The Duke of Yue has long been involved in military affairs. Although he has done a good job as the Prime Minister of the Southern Seas Commissioner in recent years, he has also submitted many memorials to the throne to discuss various difficulties."

In my opinion, this is not mere complaining. The situation is complex; the Duke of Yue is advanced in years, and the climate in Southeast Asia is hot. He may indeed be willing but unable to continue.

While Chen Lian, the Duke of Yue, did a good job as the Prime Minister of the Southern Seas Envoy, he was simply mediocre at it.

Of the old brothers who helped Emperor Mo rise to power, apart from Xia Wang Li Xianwen, who came from a family with a strong academic background and was indeed capable in both literature and martial arts, Chen Guangyao and Chen Lian were both from poor backgrounds who had not received much education. They were good at fighting, but not so good at governing.

In the Northeast, Chen Guangyao needed capable officials like Li Huang and Heshen to share the burden, or even directly shoulder the pressure of civil administration, so as not to make a mess of things.

Chen Lian, while in Southeast Asia, treated the Prime Minister of the Southeast Asian Mission as if he were the head of the Southeast Asian branch of the Heaven and Earth Society.

Before Mo Zibu started making big moves in Southeast Asia, he could manage to do things so-so. But now that he's making big moves, Chen Lian is suddenly finding himself unable to keep up and is almost completely overwhelmed.

But once Chen Lian leaves, who will continue to serve as the Prime Minister of Nanyang?
Mo Zi Bu had several options among his most trusted confidants, but unfortunately, Phya Phiburi Cheng Min Cheng only lived to be thirty-nine and passed away early. Huang Zhen, who helped Mo Zi Bu to oversee Tanah Salim, also only lived to be over fifty and passed away six years ago.

My own nephews are capable of being high-ranking officials in a province, but they can't handle being the Prime Minister of the Southeast Asia Envoy Office, which covers more than 3 million square kilometers.

We can't let the fourth prince, Mo Zhouzhe, do it. That kid will be going to Hanchuan to take up his fiefdom in the future. Letting him be the Prime Minister of the Southern Seas Commissioner's Office might cause problems.

"Secondary Minister, do you have anyone you would recommend?" Mo Zibu thought for a moment and did have someone in mind, but he didn't feel comfortable suggesting it himself.

'You damned emperor, I'll curse you to the heavens!'

When Zhang Wentao saw the emperor staring intently at him, a cold sweat broke out on his back, and he was already cursing in his native dialect in his mind.

These past few days, the emperor has been subtly and overtly hinting at things, and now he's steering the conversation in this direction again. It's quite obvious who he wants to use.

That was Lin Tong, the Duke of Guangxin, who had served as a Privy Councilor in the Inner Court and a Grand Secretary in the Outer Court, and came from a servant family of the Mo family.

This man is skilled in both literature and martial arts, adept at social maneuvering, and deeply trusted by the emperor. He is more than capable of serving as the Prime Minister of the Southeast Asian Envoy, let alone returning to serve as the Prime Minister.

But how did Lin Tong fall from power and get dismissed back then?

That was because all the civil officials were afraid that the emperor would control both the inner and outer courts, and that the Great Yu Dynasty would also have a Hongwu Emperor who made officials go to work in shackles, leaving home in the morning and not knowing if they would return alive at night. So they all worked together to trip up Lin Tong and get rid of him.

Therefore, once Lin Tong was dismissed, his political life was essentially over.

Who would dare to reinstate such a person now? What if he comes back seeking revenge? Given his abilities and his relationship with the emperor, how many of those who plotted against him back then wouldn't be terrified?

Therefore, even if the emperor wanted to use Lin Tong, he didn't dare to say it directly and had to find someone to take the blame.

Zhang Wentao appeared calm on the surface, but inside he was about to cry. This was no ordinary case; it was a huge black pot that had offended most of the civil officials in the world!

However, Zhang Wentao dared not refuse directly. The emperor had already handed him the ladder from upstairs, and if he refused to climb it no matter what, how could the emperor be happy?

For a moment, Zhang Wentao, sandwiched between two cheese buns, transformed into a single-line Hakimi, and in the midst of a huge crisis, his brain completely shut down.

He didn't even look at the emperor, but stared blankly at Chen Lian's memorial, his eyes seemingly glued to it.

The person remained completely still, without blinking an eye.

Seeing Zhang Wentao's attitude, Mo Zibu knew that without making any promises, no matter how great the benefits, Zhang Wentao wouldn't take the blame.

As for why he wanted to use Lin Tong, the reason is quite simple.

Eight years ago, Lin Tong was dismissed, partly to appease the civil service and make concessions in exchange for economic reforms and the implementation of a republican parliamentary system.

Secondly, his sons were young at the time, and Zheng Jinshui had also married Lin Tong's sister. Both of them held great power, and countless people depended on them. It was equivalent to Li Wenzhong or Mu Ying marrying Li Shanchang's daughter in the Ming Dynasty.

This is unacceptable. No matter how much Mo Zibu trusts these two, one of them must leave.

Now, Mo Zibu's sons have grown up and are able to wield power to share his burdens, and his eldest son, Asen, has a very stable position.

Meanwhile, after Chancellor Luo Fangbai requested to retire, the new Chancellor was Lin Qiaoyin from Fuzhou, and Zheng Jinshui went to serve as the Prime Minister of the Eastern Seas Envoy, far away from the court.

Lin Tong, who was a year younger than him and was almost sick from having nothing to do, was the best candidate for Prime Minister of the Nanyang Envoy.

More importantly, Lin Tong was originally a servant in the royal household, and Nanyang was basically Mo Zibu's private territory.

If other court officials were to do the work, many things would not go as Mo Zibu's wishes, nor would they take into account Mo Zibu's interests. They would not cooperate with many plans that would benefit future generations.

Only by letting Lin Tong do the job can we both protect Mo Zibu's interests and take into account the governance of the imperial court.

If Lin Tong were to manage the affairs of Southeast Asia for five or six years and things were running smoothly, the Southeast Asia Mission could be fully brought under the formal management of the imperial court.

"The Duke of Guangxin was born in Nanyang and is well aware of the situation in and around Nanyang. He originally did not want to come out of retirement, but I insisted that he come to share the burden of the country."

Mo Zibu said calmly, "Besides, his health isn't very good. He can only work for five more years at most before he'll have to retire like Marquis Luo of Changle."

Upon hearing the emperor's words, Zhang Wentao seemed to have suddenly disconnected and reconnected. If he had only served as the Prime Minister of the Southern Seas Commission for five years, things would have been much easier.

Compared to the benefits the emperor could offer in various ways, taking the blame for this wouldn't be a problem.

As for the emperor breaking his word, that will be his downfall, one he cannot escape.

"Has Your Majesty forgotten one person? He is the best candidate to serve as the Prime Minister of the Southern Seas Envoy."

"Oh, who is it? Tell me, Zhang Aiqing."

"I recommend Lin Tong, the Duke of Guangxin. He was born and raised in Southeast Asia and will surely be able to serve as the Prime Minister of the Southeast Asia Envoy and implement the court's new policies in Southeast Asia."

"Yes," Zhang Wentao said in a serious tone, as if he hadn't heard the emperor mention Lin Tong by name at all, and even his reason was something he had just picked up from the emperor.

(End of this chapter)