Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

Is it feasible to turn Shuangyu Port into such a special administrative region?

Lu Chen stood up and slowly walked to the window.

Following the experience of another dimension, a special economic zone model was adopted in Shuangyu Port, where locals would manage the area themselves instead of having officials appointed by the imperial court.

Because no taxes are paid to the national treasury, the problem of most of the tax revenue being embezzled by officials can indeed be prevented.

However, new problems also need to be solved.

Lu Chen felt that if he were to directly announce the establishment of such a special administrative region in Shuangyu Port, he would undoubtedly face opposition from almost all the court officials.

If one insists on going one's own way, it will only lead to endless infighting in the court.

Never underestimate the stubbornness and persistence of the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty.

We can't force this; we have to find a way around it.

There are still solutions!

Why don't we just avoid having the imperial court intervene to offer amnesty?

Let everything remain submerged beneath the surface!

Without a target, what are those civil officials in the court attacking?

Is it an attack on Xie Pi for being lawless and having absolute power in Zhejiang?

If they want to attack, let them attack all they want!

Being scolded by the censors won't cost Lord Xie anything.

Moreover, Xie Qian had only been dead for about ten years, and many of his former students and officials were still serving in the court.

Xie Pi was not a lone minister without any support base; if someone attacked him, someone else would come forward to protect him.

Moreover, he could instruct Yan Song to support Xie Pi in court.

Anyway, Xie Pi was recommended by Yan Song, so he was definitely a member of Yan Song's faction.

As for himself, he was always "deceived" by Yan Song.

As long as he doesn't directly show his support, Xie Pi won't need to face the wrath of the censors, no matter what he does in Zhejiang in private.

. . .

Ten days later at the court meeting, Yan Song indeed stepped forward to submit a memorial recommending Xie Pi, the former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel who was still claiming illness and staying at home after the mourning period had ended, to be appointed as the Governor of Zhejiang and to strictly investigate the Japanese pirates.

As expected, many ministers jumped out to oppose it.

Xie Pi's qualifications were naturally impeccable, and the reason these people objected was the ancestral rule that people from the same province could not serve as local officials in the same province.

Faced with these questions, Yan Song immediately delivered his prepared response.

It is claimed that the two "Japanese pirate raids" that broke out in Zhejiang were due to the collusion between local wealthy people and "Japanese pirates," who provided them with shelter and intelligence support.

Xie Pi was from Yuyao and was very familiar with the situation in Zhejiang. Appointing him as the governor of Zhejiang would allow him to understand the situation and eliminate the problems, making him more suitable than an official from outside the region.

As for the issue of violating ancestral rules, Xie Pi can be sent to the capital first to serve as the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief.

He then went to Hangzhou as the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief, and was appointed Imperial Commissioner to oversee military affairs in Zhejiang and concurrently act as Governor.

In this way, Xie Pi's trip to Zhejiang was as a government official from the capital on official business. The position of governor of Zhejiang was only temporarily held, and he was not officially appointed governor of Zhejiang.

Once the affairs in Zhejiang are settled, the imperial court will summon Xie Pi back to the capital.

As soon as these words were spoken, the dissenting voices immediately diminished considerably.

At the same time, several civil officials stepped forward to express their support for Xie Pi's temporary appointment as the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief to act as the Governor of Zhejiang.

These people may have been arranged by Yan Song, or they may have been connections left behind by Xie Qian.

Since there was no longer unanimous opposition in the court, Lu Chen went with the flow and agreed to Yan Song's request. He immediately issued an edict ordering someone to go to Yuyao and summon Xie Pi to the capital.

After the court session, Lu Chen summoned a trusted confidant from the Imperial Guard of the Prince of Ying's residence, who had come from the Linqing Jinyiwei Thousand-Household Office, and asked him to set off immediately for Ningbo Prefecture.

In the 16th century, Shuangyu Port was about to begin an institutional experiment that imitated an alternate dimension.

If possible, Lu Chen even considered going to Ningbo Prefecture in person and setting foot on Liuhang Island once again.

Lu Chen was not at all at ease entrusting such a complex system to Xie Pi alone.

Although Lu Chen wasn't worried about Xie Pi's stance, he was, after all, a civil official of the Ming Dynasty, and had some deeply ingrained ideas that weren't so easy to change.

Unfortunately, the round trip from the capital to Ningbo took far too long.

Even if Lu Chen traveled incognito, day and night, it would still take him more than a month to make the round trip.

Lu Chen is now the Crown Prince and regent, and he has a large number of memorials to deal with every day. One or two days is fine, but such a long time is really too much to bear.

Since that's the case, we have no choice but to settle for second best and have the person we want to see come to the capital!

. . .

East China Sea, waters around the Shengsi Islands.

Two large 400-ton ships were slowly sailing toward an unnamed island. The ships were drafting deep, and the cabins were clearly full of cargo.

The sea was relatively calm at this time, the sky was blue, there was a breeze but not a strong one, and the Fujian ship sailed very smoothly.

Many sailors came to the deck to sunbathe and enjoy the sea breeze.

Chen Shixian also came out of the cabin and onto the deck.

When Chen Shixian was suddenly attacked by thieves on the Yangtze River that day, he immediately realized something was wrong.

Indeed, river bandits frequently roam the Yangtze River, plundering passing ships.

However, no group of audacious thieves had ever dared to target the official ships used by the Embroidered Uniform Guard to transport prisoners.

The only possibility is that Xia Yan's men sent him to kill him and silence him.

The wealthy steward set up a trap on a pleasure boat on West Lake, but was killed by two boatmen. If Xia Yan's men make a move again, they will certainly not be careless.

Choosing to intercept and kill the Jinyiwei escorting their official ship on the Yangtze River must have been based on an assessment of the relative strengths of both sides.

Chen Shixian was almost certain that the eleven Imperial Guards on the ship were no match for the bandits.

We can't rely on the Embroidered Uniform Guard; we must find a way to save ourselves!

At that time, the official boat was in the middle of the river. If they wanted to escape, there was only one way: to jump into the river!

If someone couldn't swim, this path would be impossible, but Chen Shixian grew up in Fuzhou and swam in the Minjiang River when he was young, so he was a fairly good swimmer.

I'm fairly confident that I can escape by jumping into the river.

However, Chen Shixian knew very well that even if he were to jump into the river, he couldn't just jump like that.

The bandits' goal was to kill him to silence him; even if he jumped into the river, they would continue to pursue him.

The best way is to have someone else impersonate you and distract the thieves.

Therefore, Chen Shixian proposed to Deng Xiaoqi, a member of the Imperial Guard, that he exchange clothes with a boatman of similar build and age.

Sure enough, after a moment's consideration, Deng Xiaoqi agreed to his plan, had the two exchange clothes, and instructed the boatman that if the bandits boarded the official boat, they should jump into the river to escape.

Whether they can escape or not is up to fate.

Although neither of them said it outright, they both knew that if the boatman in prison clothes jumped into the river, it would inevitably attract the thieves' attention.

This will create an opportunity for others to escape.

Unfortunately, man proposes, God disposes!