Di Ming

Chapter 394 Hai Rui carried a coffin into the capital!

Upon hearing Xu Wei's words, Zhu Yin revealed a meaningful smile.

In fact, he was already preparing a plan to annex Goryeo. The first step was to win over the hearts and minds of the already weakened Goryeo people and to do everything possible to undermine the loyalty of the Yi family and the Goryeo royal court.

Through this national crisis, the Goryeo people were incited to hate the royal court, and the rebels were organized, funded, and controlled to oppose the royal court, causing Goryeo to fall into disintegration and completely ending the reign of the Yi dynasty.

Tiger Fang has found a descendant of the royal family of Goryeo. In fact, the main line of the Wang clan was wiped out by Yi Seong-gye two hundred years ago. What Tiger Fang found was only a distant branch of the Wang clan. Whether they are even related or not is unknown. But does that matter?

When the time is right, the Ming Dynasty will step in to clean up the mess. The goal is not merely to recover the lost territories of the four Han commanderies, but to completely annex the entire Goryeo kingdom.

How can you allow others to snore on the side of the bed?

As a time traveler from the future, Zhu Yin was well aware of the importance of the Korean Peninsula. If he were to abandon Goryeo again on the grounds of "barren land and insufficient arable land," he would be a great fool.

Is the importance of a piece of land determined solely by its arable land area?

This is the mindset of a pedantic scholar.

Whether a piece of land is important or not, we don't consider its strategic location, access to the sea, mineral resources, forest resources, or marine resources; we only consider its arable land.

The Korean Peninsula is rich in mineral resources and connects to the sea in the depths of the northeastern mainland. Strategically, it controls Japan to the west and Liaodong to the east. It is a giant anchor for the East Asian mainland to reach into the Pacific Ocean, and its location is extremely important.

Now that we have entered the maritime age, Goryeo's importance will become even more prominent.

Goryeo has more forest resources than the four provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, and Zhejiang combined, and more marine resources than the four provinces of Liaoning, Hebei, Shandong, and Jiangsu combined.

Not to mention, although the Korean Peninsula doesn't have much arable land, it still exceeds that of provinces like Zhejiang, Fujian, Guizhou, and Gansu. It's actually quite a lot, it just depends on what you're comparing it to. You can't really compare it to Northeast China, the Central Plains, or the Guanzhong Plain, can you?

How barren could a place that could support tens of millions of people in the feudal agricultural era be?

Therefore, Zhu Yin must seize this land whenever he has the opportunity.

He had already arranged for Huya to secretly carry out many preparations. From the perspective of the vast majority of Goryeo people, becoming subjects of the Ming Dynasty would be more beneficial. Commoners and lowly people oppressed by the Yangban nobles would certainly be better off; only the nobles and royalty would benefit.

This is for the public good. Zhu Yin also had private interests.

In her second letter, Caiwei mentioned her plan to control Goryeo's commerce. Caiwei had a keen business sense; the Japanese pirates had destroyed the already powerful Song and Wan merchants of Goryeo, presenting a golden opportunity to seize the moment and establish a monopoly. How could she let this chance pass?
Before the war in Goryeo was even over, she proposed in her letter to get involved in Goryeo's profitable businesses such as ginseng, pearl harvesting, coal mining, sulfur, timber, fishing grounds, and money lending.

She has already dispatched key members of the Ningyin Trading Company, posing as Goryeo maritime merchants, with a large amount of cash to Goryeo to scavenge for bargains. The group she sent to Goryeo should be arriving soon.

The methods were nothing more than using the guise of Goryeo merchants to bribe Goryeo ministers, gain the trust of the Goryeo king, and accept business at low prices.

This was Zhu Yin's personal gain in Goryeo.

In addition, as the envoy to Goryeo, he did not take a single needle or thread from Korea. Instead, he used the name of the Ming Dynasty and his own name to provide relief to Goryeo refugees and win over the hearts of the Goryeo people.

Once Ningyin Trading Company monopolizes the commercial lifeline of Goryeo, it will not only be doing business, but will also cooperate with Huya to become the behind-the-scenes force that overthrows the Goryeo royal court and removes obstacles to the annexation of Goryeo.

From this perspective, Caiwei's business in Goryeo was ultimately not for personal gain, but for the Ming Dynasty and for China.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yin couldn't help but think of Ning Caiwei. This woman had taken money from the Qin Prince's mansion; her wealth must be among the top in the world.

What is she doing in Guanzhong right now? Is she dealing with those Qin merchants?

Zhu Yin's thoughts flew to the distant Guanzhong Plain, where he seemed to see the capital of the Han and Tang dynasties, the bustling Silk Road with its caravans, and the spring breeze and willows of Ba Bridge.

.........

In April, the Guanzhong Plain is picturesque. The houses in Xi'an are clean and elegant, while outside the city, the greenery is like clouds and the willow catkins are like snow.

Inside the Ningyin Trading Company's Xinqi Hall on Xiangzi Temple Street, Ning Caiwei was sitting by the window, practicing calligraphy with complete focus.

However, he was copying Lady Wei's "Famous Concubine's Calligraphy". His small regular script with flowers in the style of hairpins was already quite skillful, and it was written very beautifully and elegantly.

Ning Caiwei wore a jacquard gauze dress that reached her chest, and her hair was simply tied into a round bun with a red ribbon, making her look both refreshing and beautiful.

The girl was completely absorbed in her work, her beautiful eyes fixed on the tip of the pen, and a slight sheen of sweat appeared on her delicate nose.

Over the years, she has made it a point to practice calligraphy and the zither every day without fail, and her calligraphy and zither skills have surpassed those of scholarly women such as Zhuang Yan and Tang Rong, making her a rising star.

More than a month has passed since the Qin Prince's mansion was destroyed, and the imperial edict on its handling of the matter has not yet reached Guanzhong, but she has already received the news ahead of time.

The emperor was furious about the rebellion in Xi'an and the loss of his personal vassal state, but because Xu Gui, the eunuch in charge of Xi'an, sent silver to the palace, the rebellion was suppressed in time and the leader of the rebellion was executed. In addition, it was Prince Qin himself who caused the rebellion. Therefore, Emperor Baijin did not punish Xu Gui and others, but instead issued an edict to reprimand them.

The imperial edict issued a strict order to apprehend the remaining members of the remnant faction and to recover the gold and silver from the Prince of Qin's residence.

It is evident that the emperor was very concerned about the gold and silver in the Prince of Qin's mansion, truly deserving of his reputation as a gold-worshipping emperor.

Zhang Jing's secret police and imperial guards had all sent men to Guanzhong to investigate the Prince of Qin's gold and silver. Fortunately, Ma Shouying and other remnants of the Hui tribe, burdened with the blame for stealing the gold and silver, had already escaped Guanzhong.

Given Ma Shouying's shrewdness, it will be very difficult for the Imperial Guards to catch him. If they can't catch him, he will become the scapegoat and shield.

She did it flawlessly; no one knew that the Qin Prince's vast fortune was in her hands.

Ning Caiwei calmly finished copying the text once, then put down her pen, rubbed her wrist, and said, "Alright, Hongxiu, you can speak now." She then stood up and leaned against the daybed.

"Yes." Gu Hongxiu, dressed in a white silk blouse and pleated skirt, entered carrying a book. She sat directly on a stool in front of the desk, opened the book, and said:

"The tea, horse, and cloth trade of Qin and Jin merchants on Xiangzi Temple Street used to exceed 800,000 taels annually. In the first three months of this year, it's nearly 300,000 taels..."

"Wait a minute." Ning Caiwei immediately sat up. "How could there be so much? There shouldn't be nearly 300,000 taels of business in the first three months. There must be something wrong."

Gu Hongxiu said, "There is indeed a problem, because in the past few months, there has been a significant increase in business on Xiangzi Temple Street, mainly in iron pots. But the inside story is unknown."

Ning Caiwei frowned slightly, then suddenly exclaimed, "Kangxi and Qianlong!"

"Madam!" Kangxi and Qianlong immediately came to the front of the hall. "Please give your instructions, Madam."

Ning Caiwei said, "Relay my message: have Huya thoroughly investigate the iron pot business on Xiangzi Temple Street. Who are all those iron pots being sold to? Iron pots are goods that the imperial court controls when they leave the country."

"Yes!" Kangxi and Qianlong immediately accepted the order and withdrew.

Gu Hongxiu continued, "The Western Region Hui merchants who traveled to the mosque in Huajue Lane of Daxuexi Lane transported more than 1,200 camel caravans of jade and spices every year, and the transactions amounted to at least 300,000 taels."

“There are more than three thousand Western Region Semu immigrants in the city, most of whom are Hu merchants.”

"The livestock, furs and other goods from the Western Regions on the northwest street of the Drum Tower and Bell Tower also amount to 400,000 to 500,000 taels of silver annually. The square of the South Gate Market, where the Four Treasures of the Study, books and medicinal herbs are traded, has a turnover of more than 200,000 taels of silver annually."

"The grain market in Chang Le Fang, Dongguan, sees annual grain transactions exceeding 150,000 taels. The Tea and Horse Bureau's horse trading within the West Gate barbican involves over 12,000 horses annually..."

"The night market at Beiyuanmen and the east and west streets of the Inspectorate, with its businesses selling snacks, lanterns, and daily necessities, generated approximately 180,000 taels of silver in transactions annually..."

"...All in all, the annual volume of major business in Xi'an is about 2.3 million taels of silver, accounting for 30% of Shaanxi's total."

"Of these, our family's business accounts for 20% in Xi'an and about 10% in the entire Northwest. The rest is divided among Qin merchants, Jin merchants, Hu merchants, Hui merchants, and others."

"Among them, the Qin merchants were the main force, accounting for half of the Shaanxi market, with annual transactions of about four million taels. Among the Qin merchants, the Zhang, Zhou, and Wen families were the most financially powerful. Their businesses were no less successful than ours in the Northwest."

“These companies also have businesses in Jiangnan, Huguang, and the Central Plains. For example, Zhou’s Qin cloth sells well in Jiangnan, with 400,000 pieces sold annually in Jiangnan alone.”

"The Wen family of Sanyuan monopolized the tea-horse trade in Ganzhou and Suzhou, and monopolized 12,000 tea permits." "The Zhang family monopolized military supplies in the Northwest and Sichuan, and also established a merchant escort battalion of 2,000 men. The government recognized the Zhang family's escort flags."

"These three families all have a long history of bad deeds. The Zhou family of Jingyang owns 90,000 mu of cotton fields, accounting for 30% of the land in Jingyang County. That's not a big deal, but the Zhou family has taken advantage of the drought in Guanzhong several times to buy land at low prices for cotton planting, and then lent money at exorbitant interest rates, causing many people to lose their fortunes and then sell themselves into slavery and be enslaved by the Zhou family. The Zhou family's backer is the Prince of Qin's mansion, and the head of the family, Zhou Ying, is the sister of the Prince of Qin's Crown Princess."

"It's an open secret that the Zhang family is smuggling iron pots through the Tumed tribe's passage to various Mongol tribes. According to the law, they should have been brought to justice long ago, but the Zhang family remains unscathed. The Zhang family's backer is also the Prince of Qin's Mansion, and they are cousins ​​of the Prince of Qin's Mansion."

"The Wen family's backer is still the Prince of Qin's mansion, and they are related to the Prince of Qin by marriage. These three largest Qin merchants are all wealthy merchants from the Prince of Qin's lineage."

...

After listening to the latest report, Ning Caiwei narrowed her eyes and said, "We can secure 20% of the business in Jiangnan and Fujian and Guangdong, which are so strong that we can't get any. I don't believe that now that the Qin Prince's Mansion has fallen, I can't secure 20% of the business in the Northwest."

"Don't rush. Without their backing, others will make their move first. We'll strike when they're desperate. I want to take 30% of the business in the Northwest this year! Anyone who gets in our way will be bankrupted."

"Spread the word that I, the wife of the top scholar and Lady of Jiangning, will be hosting a grand banquet at Qujiang on the 19th of this month, a banquet unprecedented in centuries. All business associates who have received invitations are welcome to attend and discuss important matters!"

Just as Ning Caiwei finished speaking, a clear voice rang out: "Aunt Wei is going to do something big again, that's great."

Before she could finish speaking, the dashing Ding Hongying walked in, followed by the graceful Wu You.

Ding Hongying picked up a cup of cold tea and drank it all in one gulp, then took out a wax pill. "Aunt Wei, this is intelligence we received from the South."

Ning Caiwei opened it and her expression changed slightly.

“Old Man Hai Rui went north,” Ning Caiwei said. “He heard that the emperor had sent a large number of eunuchs to amass wealth everywhere, heavily relied on the secret police to suppress officials, and enfeoffed three kings at the same time. In a fit of anger, he left Qiongzhou and went north despite being eighty years old.”

"He carried a coffin northward, and has now arrived in Nanjing!"

"What?" Ding Hongying and the others were all surprised.

Hai Rui, who was eighty years old and had retired from office for several years, angrily carried his coffin northward.
Ning Caiwei sighed, "Your Uncle Hu is fighting the Japanese in Korea and can't handle this kind of thing, so I have to take care of it. Pass on my message: immediately send someone to take good care of Old Man Hai along the way!"

“Hongying, you arrange this matter personally. I will go to the Tian residence to tell my uncle.”

……

Hai Rui heads north to Beijing!

The news caused a sensation throughout Nanjing.

It turned out that in mid-February, news of the events in the capital was spread to Hainan by maritime merchants. Hai Rui, who was spending his later years in Hainan in seclusion, was furious when he heard about it.

His Majesty is incompetent! His ministers are utterly useless!
They actually sent thirty-six eunuchs to wreak havoc on the world! How innocent the common people are! From this day forward, the golden age is over!

The emperor lacked any sense of public duty as a ruler, acting solely for his own selfish interests. He heavily relied on eunuchs, indulged the secret police, fabricated numerous unjust cases, suppressed officials, stifled speech, and acted perversely.

How can this continue? I fear that in just a few years, the Ming Dynasty will be in danger of collapse.

Hai Rui was already eighty years old. He had been in officialdom for decades and had experienced many changes. How could he not know that the emperor's current actions were detrimental to the country and the people?
Hai Rui was extremely disappointed with the emperor. After repeatedly confirming the dramatic changes in the capital, he immediately set off north, first by sea to Songjiang, then to Nanjing, preparing to travel along the Grand Canal to the capital to remonstrate with the emperor to the death!
This trip to Beijing is my last; I, Hai Rui, will never be able to return to my hometown again. But what does it matter? For the sake of the country, I am willing to die.

When Hai Rui arrived in Nanjing, the scholars from Jiangnan, who were already indignant, and tens of thousands of ordinary people were overjoyed, as if they were children seeing their parents. Many people couldn't help but burst into tears when they saw Hai Rui, who was white-haired and old.

"Grand Tutor! If the Grand Tutor were in power, how could the affairs of the state be in such a state!"

"Old Master Gangfeng! The world is no longer what it used to be!"

"Hai Qingtian! Lord Hai!"

"Lord Hai! At such an advanced age, how could you have come to this? How could you have come to this!"

Not only scholars and common people, but also most of the officials in Nanjing came to greet them, each with tears in their eyes.

"Mr. Gangfeng!"

"Hai Gong!"

Dressed in white mourning clothes, like Hai Rui in mourning attire, his head full of silver hair held up by a single wooden hairpin, he held a wooden cane, yet his body remained ramrod straight, like a withered but upright ancient pine tree.

Behind him, a black lacquered coffin was carried on a carriage. Several old servants stood supporting the coffin with sorrowful expressions.

Hai Rui, his expression sorrowful yet his gaze resolute, looked around at the crowd and said:
"I am but a man clinging to life, already a withered skeleton in a grave. With the nation in peril, how dare I cherish my decaying body? Your Majesty has gone astray, the Ming Dynasty has fallen into ruin, the foundation of the nation is treated like a child's game, and treacherous officials have wreaked havoc on the world. I can only offer my death as remonstrance to warn the emperor and father in the worst possible way."

"Let's go! Let's go!" Many scholars shouted, their arms raised and tears welling in their eyes. "For the sake of the country, we are willing to die! We are willing to follow Lord Hai!"

"A true man should die for his principles, what is there to fear in sacrificing his life! I will go to the capital with Lord Hai, and remonstrate with the emperor to the death, what fear is there of blood staining the palace gates!"

"The nation has nurtured scholars for two hundred years; the day is now to save the country! What is there to fear in death! I will follow Lord Hai to the capital!"

The scholars were indignant and wanted to go north to petition for their lives, but there was no respected person to lead them.

Now that Hai Rui has arrived, and with his reputation as a man, they immediately have no more scruples!

Hai Rui didn't say another word; any words would be superfluous at this point. He simply nodded and boarded the carriage.

"Let's go!" A large group of passionate scholars, who disregarded their own lives and fortunes, crowded around Hai Rui's carriage and headed north!

When they arrived in Yangzhou, a large number of scholars joined them again.

Upon arriving in Huai'an, a large number of scholars joined him. Many scholars from Southern Zhili and Henan even sought to follow Hai Rui and join his ranks.

When they arrived in Shandong, the number of scholars who followed Hai Rui to the capital exceeded two thousand! They formed a vast and imposing army, like a great corps! And more scholars continued to join them.

Along the way, many local officials deliberately gave students from county, prefectural, and state schools holidays so that they could follow Hai Rui northward!
The entire Jiangnan region and the Central Plains were alarmed. Officials, scholars, and common people across the land, upon hearing the news, all gazed at the aged figure resolutely heading north.

The incompetence of the Embroidered Uniform Guard in intelligence operations was once again exposed. It wasn't until Hai Rui led two or three thousand scholars to Shandong that Zhang Jing received this startling news.

Even Zhang Jing, the powerful and influential eunuch who had been holding immense power during this period, was struck dumb upon hearing the news.

For the first time, he felt a sense of fear.

Hai Rui has arrived!

Upon receiving the news, Zhang Jing immediately put aside his most important task and rushed to the palace to report.

"Grandpa! Reporting to Grandpa, Hai Rui has gone to the capital. He has already arrived in Shandong, accompanied by nearly three thousand scholars. Hai Rui is going to the capital to remonstrate with the emperor to the death..."

"What?!" The emperor, who was smoking opium, sat up abruptly from his couch in shock. "You dog of a servant, what did you say?!"

Zhang Jing was so frightened that he didn't dare to breathe, fearing that the emperor would suddenly lash out at him. He could only grit his teeth and recount the events.

Such a big matter was something he dared not hide, could not hide, and dared not act on his own initiative.

"Quickly! Send men to stop Hai Rui! Stop Hai Rui! Don't let him enter the capital!" the emperor roared. "Under no circumstances can Hai Gangfeng be allowed to enter the capital!"

...

P.S.: That's all for today. Do you guys think Hai Rui will die? Thank you, goodnight! Please vote with your monthly tickets!
(End of this chapter)