Chapter 336: Confessing the King Overseas
Zhu Houzhao did not do what the cunning rabbit would do, but forcefully let Zhang Cong enjoy honors after his death.
This also caused Xia Yan to continue to stick to Zhang Cong's line.
For the conservatives in the empire, they seemed to be more convinced that the death of Zhang Cong would not change anything, because the one who really insisted on all this in Ming Dynasty was His Majesty the Emperor.
Of course, everyone understands this truth, but the emperor cannot be dismissed if you want to. Of course, there are a few bold people who want to kill the emperor.
But it's just a thought, because not to mention the lessons of rebellion before, just that the supporters behind His Majesty the Emperor are not simple now.
The several major families that control various industries in the empire are all vassals of His Majesty the current emperor.
Even the emperor himself controls the largest capital. Once the emperor abdicates or dies, it means that the empire's capital will be reshuffled, so several major families are unwilling to let the emperor encounter any danger.
The Royal Guards composed of the children of these families have been loyal to the emperor since they were young. They only want to be the sword in His Majesty's hand. Let alone murdering His Majesty, even if they are slightly disrespectful to His Majesty, these people dare to kill first and then report.
Zhu Houzhao was not worried about his own safety, because he knew that he had shared the world's interests with a few loyal ministers and slaves, making himself a representative of bureaucratic capitalists, and these bureaucratic capitalists would have to protect themselves for their own interests.
But Zhu Houzhao also knew that with the development of the imperial commodity economy and capitalism and the rise of a large number of bourgeoisie, these former gentry would awaken as fighters of the bourgeoisie.
In fact, the current Ming Dynasty has begun to have the idea of limiting monarchical power, and even the idea of democracy has emerged. This kind of thinking did not appear until the late Ming Dynasty in history many years earlier. After all, the Ming Dynasty opened the sea relatively early in this era.
Of course, the civil servants of the empire, that is, the middle class, have always tried to use etiquette and law to limit the monarch's power, but they have not yet explicitly proposed restrictions on the monarch's power. But now this class has become stronger and stronger with the development of the empire, and has begun to explicitly propose restrictions on the monarch's power.
For example, Luo Qin of Jiangxi began to make the shocking statement that since the king is elected by the people, he can also be dismissed by the people.
Zhu Houzhao did not take action directly, so the local governor took Luo Qinshun into prison. There was no way, in this era when everyone had just accepted that the divine right of kings was actually the right of kings and the people, you Luo Qinshun proposed that the king should be elected by the people and can be dismissed by the people. What do you want to do? Do you want to provide ideological weapons to the ambitious people in the world?
Therefore, because of this, even the conservatives who are dissatisfied with Zhu Houzhao's rule also demand severe punishment for Luo Qinshun. Needless to say, the bureaucratic capitalists who support Zhu Houzhao want to kill Luo Qinshun, because if the emperor can be dismissed by the people at will, then they themselves Is it not possible for people to be deposed by the people at will?
Zhu Houzhao himself was actually not that disgusted with Luo Qinshun's ideas. After all, he was a time traveler. He knew that according to later generations, Luo Qinshun's ideas were a kind of progress.
Therefore, he even wanted to save the thinker, but all the ruling classes were unwilling. They even directly retorted with the reason "How can the son depose the father?" and demanded that the rebellious Luo Qinshun be killed and severely punished. .
The suggestion given by the Ministry of Punishment was to go directly to Ling Chi, and it was Ling Chi’s 3,600 dollars.
"It's too much! He just put forward an idea and did not really want to rebel." Not long after Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, Huo Tao, the Minister of Punishment, came to report: "Your Majesty, the Luo thief has been punished today." Suicide, everyone in the world will be happy to hear about it!”
Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but stood up in shock. He didn't know whether Luo Qinshun really committed suicide or was killed by others, but he knew that people like Luo Qinshun would only be given justice by future generations. In this era, he was not only disobedient. Not only himself, the emperor, but also all the vested interests in this world.
But because of this incident, Zhu Houzhao discovered that he was able to secure the position of emperor, not because of how powerful he was, nor because of his good luck, but because the ruling class needed to give themselves an emperor master for their own benefit. Even if they, the emperor and their master, are a tyrant, most people would not dare to really overthrow themselves except complaining about their bad luck.
Zhu Houzhao didn't know whether he should be grateful for this discovery, but he admitted that some of the gentry who called for restrictions on monarchy and democracy were not really asking for help from the people.
Because the people have been silently working and farming, saving money to buy houses and buy women from Cochin and the West. Whether it is the emperor or the chief minister, whoever wants to be whoever wants to be, does not care about it.
Some of the gentry represented the bourgeoisie. After gaining wealth, they wanted to occupy more political power, and this demand became increasingly intense.
When the newly-established Ministry of Commerce's Department of Commerce gave orders, Wu Zuqian proposed that the imperial court ban the eight-hour work system and allow people to arrange their own working hours, thereby giving people the freedom to make money.
Zhu Houzhao was not stupid. He knew that Wu Zuqian wanted the court to let the people make more money on the surface, but in fact he wanted the capitalists to let the people work overtime at will to increase the exploitation of the people.
Therefore, Zhu Houzhao did not let Xia Yan agree to Wu Zuqian's proposal, and asked the local government to increase severe punishment on factories and workshops that violated regulations and increased people's work costs.
Chen Kan, the young minister of Guanglu Temple, reduced the amount of medical insurance and ordered each factory to increase wages for workers.
Zhu Houzhao also rejected this. Letting factories and workshops take the initiative to raise wages for workers as medical funds will undoubtedly increase the opportunities for factories and workshops to exploit workers, and reduce the operating costs of factories and workshops, because it is more difficult to expect capitalists to increase wages than to expect to win the jackpot in the lottery. , the latter at least has some hope, the former has no hope at all.
In order to consider national interests and national stability, members of the Zhongjun Society such as Zhu Houzhao and Xia Yan naturally could not comply with the wishes of these bourgeoisie in everything.
But because of this, these middle- and lower-class civil servants and gentry who represent the bourgeoisie are becoming more and more dissatisfied. As the children of imperial merchants, they rely on the wealth accumulated by their families to work hard to gain fame and become officials. What is their purpose? Is it to better serve their families? Endorsement can earn more political voice for the family.
But now, it is naturally extremely uncomfortable for them not to have more political voice.
As a result, this led to more and more people criticizing the court, and representatives of the business class even established various associations.
Of course, Zhu Houzhao and other big bureaucrats and big capitalists also secretly supported many children from aristocratic families and students from poor families to establish various groups to safeguard the interests of the country and the nation for the sake of national interests and the interests of their own empire. trend.
In the court, the focus of this phenomenon still involves the determination of storage positions.
Whether it is expanding externally and exploiting foreign slave labor, or opening up internally at the expense of peasants, the final decision-maker is the emperor.
We have no way to remove this emperor, we can only hope for the next generation of emperors.
However, Emperor Zhu Houzhao has been unwilling to confirm the candidate for the crown prince, so that the liberals who advocate external expansion and the conservative parties who advocate internal development cannot give up.
But no one dared to force Emperor Zhu Houzhao anymore, because everyone knew that the current emperor could not agree if you forced him.
However, some people still did this thing that touched the dragon's scales.
"Asshole!"
Although the momentum of Ming Dynasty's external expansion is clear, the domestic situation is becoming more and more complicated. Coupled with Zhu Houzhao's inner confusion, he is becoming more and more irritable. Therefore, the memorial of the third prince Zhu Zaiyi directly caused his backlog. The long-standing anger completely broke out.
Zhu Houzhao threw the memorial to the ground, pointed at Qi Jingtong, and shouted: "Bring the third prince Zhu Zaibin to me and bring him to the front of the palace!"
Qi Jingtong hadn't seen Emperor Zhu Houzhao lose such a temper for a long time. He was so frightened that he quickly led people to escort the third prince Zhu Zaibun. At the same time, he also thought uneasily in his heart: "Why did the third prince anger your majesty?"< br>
Not long after Qi Jingtong left, Zhu Houzhao also calmed down a little. At this time, Xia Yan happened to come in to play something. Zhu Houzhao did not mention what the third prince had said, but asked Xia Yan: "What's the matter?"
"Henry VIII, King of England and Ireland, has now sent an envoy and twenty young people to visit. They are currently staying in Haojing. I have found out clearly that they are here because the Spanish Armada is attacking Ceuta of the Ming Dynasty, and they are also here. There was a feud with Spain, so their king wanted to In order to cooperate with the Ming Dynasty, he is willing to send troops to help the Ming Dynasty attack Spain, but the Ming Dynasty needs to provide military assistance and technical assistance, and hopes that the Ming Dynasty can allow them to send students to the Ming Dynasty every year to learn the cultural knowledge and science and technology of the Eastern Kingdom. "< br>
After Xia Yan finished speaking, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but ponder, thinking that he had never expected that Britain would one day send people all the way to visit the Ming Dynasty, and also send overseas students to the Ming Dynasty. It seems that after the Ming Dynasty took the initiative to participate in global trade, the number of The whole world pays attention to Ming Dynasty.
However, Zhu Houzhao cannot yet make a decision on whether to cooperate with Britain and allow Britain to send international students to Ming Dynasty, that is, whether Ming Dynasty is willing to recruit foreign students, because to be honest, Ming Dynasty does not seem to need to accept students.
But Zhu Houzhao asked Xia Yan: "What do you think of this matter?"
"Back to Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty is far away from the Western Ocean. It would be a good idea to have an ally to threaten the Spanish rear. As for whether to allow Britain to send overseas students to the Ming Dynasty, I think it is allowed;
Because even if we don't allow it, the knowledge and technology we have will inevitably flow into the UK. As far as I know, the UK has hired our people to build flintlock guns and sailing battleships, but many technical problems have not been broken through. And if Our Ming Dynasty can allow it to send overseas students to China, and we can also send students to its country. This will allow our Ming Dynasty to understand the development of its country in more detail, and we can also control the development of its country and make it dependent on our country! ”
Xia Yan expressed his opinion, and Zhu Houzhao also felt that it was reasonable. Instead of letting the British learn from the Ming Dynasty secretly, it is indeed better to teach it himself, which would provide better control. However, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but said: "They sent foreign students to our Ming Dynasty. You can’t learn it in vain.”
"The royal families of England and Ireland will provide funding of two million silver dollars to the Ming Dynasty School every year! In addition, the expenses of each international student in Ming Dynasty will also be fully borne by the British royal family," Xia Yan replied. "This Henry VIII was a character, and he was really willing to spend a lot of money."
Zhu Houzhao cursed.
But Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but remember that a few generations after Henry VIII, his daughter Elizabeth I became the Queen of England. During her reign, this Queen of England brought Britain to its peak. She was a very powerful queen, and this queen She never married and was a virgin queen.
In order to prevent Elizabeth from becoming the Queen of England, Zhu Houzhao said:
"You tell them that I can allow the British royal family to send overseas students to the Ming Dynasty, but the British royal family needs to marry me. I heard that the king's daughter Elizabeth is quite smart. If the royal family is willing to let her marry far away from the Ming Dynasty, I will agree to them sending people. When studying abroad in the Ming Dynasty, they would first go to the Imperial College to study for ten years and learn Chinese and Eight-part essays. If they could pass the Jinshi exam, they would be allowed to enter the university!”
According to Zhu Houzhao's memory, Queen Elizabeth I was quite beautiful in photos when she was young, so she was married to him now, so she was not at a disadvantage.
As for the arrangements for these international students, Zhu Houzhao is deliberately making it more difficult for British people to study in China. After all, it is difficult enough for a British person to learn Chinese, and they also have to write eight-part essays. If they are not good enough to write eight-part essays, they have to pass the Jinshi exam. You know, even if It is difficult for Han people to pass the Jinshi examination, let alone British people. In this way, it is undoubtedly impossible for them to achieve academic success without studying abroad for more than twenty years, and they may even become a Han Confucian completely.
"I understand!"
After Xia Yan nodded in agreement, he added: "Your Majesty, the Papal State has also sent envoys, expressing the hope that it can send foreign students to Ming Dynasty to learn military technology, and hopes that Ming Dynasty, as the suzerainty of the Papal State, can help the Holy See punish those who break away from Rome. The British Crown in the Holy See”
"Since it has agreed to the British royal family, it is also a good thing that the Holy See also agrees to let them fight with each other."
As Zhu Houzhao was talking, he accidentally stepped on the memorial of the third prince Zhu Houzhen. Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but think of the third prince Zhu Houbin's request for him to establish a prince early. He couldn't help but pick up the memorial and threw it to Xia Yan:
"Look, this is from the third prince. He actually suggested that I should make the eldest son the crown prince. He is more worried than the officials of the Ministry of Rites."
Xia Yan smiled slightly, then opened the memorial and read it.
At this time, Qi Jingtong also happened to escort the third prince Zhu Zaibian back.
Zhu Houzhao looked at Zhu Zaijun and asked directly: "You are more anxious than your elder brother, anxious to make him the prince!"
"The emperor's brother is the eldest son. According to Confucian etiquette, he should be the emperor. Father, I don't understand why you are dragging your feet. This has made the court very upset because of this matter. Everyone has their own ulterior motives and refuses to say anything. , and therefore the world will not Well, if you really think that your eldest brother is not capable of being an emperor, you can just choose a good prince, but you don’t choose one; it shows that you yourself also want to appoint someone as the prince, so instead of doing this, it is better to follow the etiquette and law!"
The increasingly complicated situation and the increasingly uneasy people made Zhu Zaijun truly feel how detrimental the instability of the reserve was to himself, the entire empire, and even his father, so in the end he couldn't bear it. Zhu wrote a memorial and suggested that Zhu Houzhao make Zhu Zailei the prince. This was considered to be in line with the rules and at the same time it complied with the hearts of most people.
But Zhu Houzhao knew that once the crown prince was established, it meant that he had to decentralize power, which meant that someone would use the name of the prince to oppose him. Moreover, Zhu Houzhao had not yet decided who should be his successor, and whether he should Before the successor was determined, he established some systems to limit the monarch's power, so he never established a prince.
Now, Zhu Zaibin's actions naturally made Zhu Houzhao very angry: "Don't use your elder brother to block the gun. Don't think that I don't know that you want to be the prince!"
"I want to be the prince! But I don't care if I don't become the prince! I sincerely suggest that you let your eldest brother be the prince! Otherwise, if this matter is not established, the world will be unstable! Father! ! ”
As he spoke, Zhu Zaibin became excited for a moment and said: "Moreover, the emperor is right. Even if his son cannot become a prince, he will go overseas to establish a kingdom and become a king in the future. Who cares to stay here and fight for the position of a prince?" ! The man's ambitions are everywhere. If you hadn't been able to establish the crown prince and arrange the future for your sons and ministers, they would have gone out to make great achievements! Why bother to be a fool in the Forbidden City? "
< br>
Zhu Houzhao didn't expect that Zhu Zaibin would dare to contradict him like this. Perhaps this was different from the way he had taught his son as a time traveler since he was a child, which made Zhu Zaibin's rebellious character more obvious. But because of this, Zhu Houzhao became even more angry and couldn't help but He said to Xia Yan: "Xia Aiqing, listen, according to this third child's opinion, it's my fault!"
"Your Majesty, calm down! Although it is not your Majesty's fault, I think it is not impossible to seal the king overseas!"
Xia Yan continued: "Nowadays, countries such as Spain and Portugal started colonization earlier than our Ming Dynasty, and the United Kingdom has also begun to take the initiative to learn from our Ming Dynasty. According to the information provided by Jin Yiwei, Japan is gradually becoming unified, and even the northern Muscovy, the Ottoman Empire in the West, etc. , I am afraid that the Ming Dynasty will inevitably not have strong enemies in the future, and before these strong enemies appear, letting the princes go to various continents to anoint the wealthy places to establish a country will undoubtedly become a good assistant to the Ming Dynasty in the future. After all, it is difficult for the central court of the Ming Dynasty to make a country Control the world! ”
What Zhu Houcheng and Bai Xiayan meant was to let these clan descendants go to the world to establish more Han countries, so that they can better resist other civilized countries in the future.
Zhu Houzhao also felt that what Xia Yan said made sense. Due to the influence of geographical isolation and inconvenient communication methods, it would be difficult for the Ming Central Empire to colonize the world. It would be better to establish several more Han national systems to carve up global interests and realize Chinese civilization. Unify the world.
So, Zhu Houzhao said to Zhu Houzhen with a hint of anger: "Very good, you have ambitions. In this case, I will give you the opportunity now to make the king overseas, pass the decree, and then make the third prince Zhu Houbian the permanent king. Just the vassal..."
Zhu Houzhao didn't know which place to give the three princes for a while, so he hurriedly shouted: "Bring me the map!"
Soon, the chamberlain brought the map to Zhu Houzhao. Zhu Houzhao glanced at it and directly drew the area on the map from east of the Mississippi River to today's west of the Appalachian Mountains: "This area is yours. The fief, Chang Guo, will give you three million silver dollars, and you can purchase your own arms and recruit troops!”
"Your Majesty, we originally moved a group of Tatars to this area. Now this area is relatively chaotic. Tatars and Westerners are fighting with each other here. Isn't it inappropriate for the Third Prince to go down here and establish a vassal state?"
Xia Yan couldn't help but remind him.
"What's inappropriate? When I came to the throne, I faced a much stronger Tatar force. Whether it was nomadic people or Western forces, it was a challenge to him. If he could not establish his ideal state there, If the Han people come, then come back and be treated like trash!”
After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, he couldn't help but look at Zhu Zaibin: "Why, you dare not accept the order to thank me? Didn't you say that I won't give you the opportunity to build a country overseas? Now that I have given you the opportunity, why are you shrinking back?!"
"Why don't you dare? I would like to express my gratitude to my father for your kindness! Please give me three million silver dollars, please cash it in immediately!"
Zhu Zaijun replied.
Zhu Houzhao waved his sleeve angrily: "Send Xu Jing to come! Give this traitor three million!"
As he spoke, Zhu Houzhao felt that he was not angry anymore, so he couldn't help but ask again: "Who is the uncle you are talking about?"
Zhu Zaijun secretly regretted that he had let slip that he had betrayed his imperial uncle Zhu Houcong, but at this time, he could only lower his head and reply: "Yes, it's Uncle Xing Wang."
"Well, it seems that he Zhu Houcong is also ambitious. According to the decree, Zhu Houcong instigated the prince, alienated the royal family, demoted him to the county king, changed his title to King of Hanyang, and made him a vassal here. This place is now named New Hanyang." Zhu Houzhao pointed to a place in Brazil and said.
……
"Your Highness, this is the latest information brought back by the Jin Yiwei. The New Chahar tribe of Tatars has now occupied the entire upper reaches of the Mississippi River to the Missouri River. They are still nomadic and mainly rob Indians. In the Gulf of Mexico area in the south, mainly The Spanish colonists, and a little to the south, is now the area occupied by the new Indian leader Yu Chen Dexin and the governor Tang Kekuan. If you want to establish your own vassal state here, you have to deal with the Tatars and the Western Fans. A force! ”
Gui E, Minister of the Ministry of War, introduced the latest situation of his fiefdom to Zhu Zaiyi in detail. Immediately, Gui E also said to Zhu Houcong: "As for King Hanyang, most of your new fiefdom is a jungle, an inaccessible jungle, and the local Most of the indigenous people are barbarians who eat hair and drink blood, so it will be more difficult for you, King Hanyang, to establish a vassal state.”
Zhu Houcong couldn't help but look embarrassed.
Zhu Zaijun also looked at Zhu Houcong with shame: "Uncle, I'm sorry, my nephew should not be so impulsive, and now he has brought trouble to you. Otherwise, you should simply give up the title of king and go to my fief with me. It’s not an uninhabited wilderness by any stretch of the imagination.”
"The emperor's order cannot be violated. Besides, a wild land is a wild land. There is nothing wrong with it. Since there are many giant trees and beasts, it is a good time to build a Taoist temple to refine the elixir!"
Zhu Houcong said with a wry smile.
After Zhu Houzhao learned about the performance of the two people from Gui E, he couldn't help but sneered: "What's there to be dissatisfied about? These two places, one is the seat of a superpower in later generations, and the other is one of the BRIC countries. If it weren't for the Pacific Ocean, Kuan, I don’t want to seal it out yet!”
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(End of chapter)