Dominate the Country

In recent years, the power of industry and commerce has been growing and developing in China and abroad, and Liu Wenwei is worried to death.

Seeing that countless scholars are no longer running for the sake of saving the world and the people, but for entering companies and getting high salaries after graduating from college, Liu Wenwei feels that the climate of the whole society is suffocating him.

For the old Confucianists, the class of industry and commerce should die now! Only the "industry and commerce" that kneel before them is the good "industry and commerce". And the "industry and commerce" that intend to stand shoulder to shoulder with them are not worth dying for.

The current businessmen, these businessmen who have broken free from the shackles of the old rules, are undoubtedly the most hated existence of the old Confucianists.

Especially these foreign trade merchants in the port.

The latter do not farm or work, but they can always make a lot of money. Living a luxurious life, living a luxurious life, extravagant waste, fighting for wealth, and extravagance are all the source of evil that cause changes in social customs and people's hearts.

What's more hateful is that they still hold newspapers in their hands.

Newspapers, in the eyes of old Confucian scholars, newspapers should be sacred. But "advertising" has given newspapers all over the world an extra layer of money.

This is simply a taint.

Moreover, these businessmen have now learned to manipulate newspapers to attack the old Confucian school.

Every interest group has an innate sense of self-defense. It is unreasonable to allow only the old Confucian to criticize the industry and commerce in newspapers, while the industry and commerce cannot fight back, right? Many industries and commerce are mixed with the new Confucianism, and the latter's methods are not just to take a beating without fighting back.

Therefore, there is no good thing in the industry and commerce. Liu Wenwei agrees with this!

Since taking office as the governor of Zhejiang, Liu Wenwei has discovered many disturbances caused by the children of sea merchants fighting for wealth in the past archives. For example, the racecourse outside Ningbo City.

After the son of a sea merchant named Wang brought a good horse from India, this triggered a fight. As a result, in just three years, Arabian horses and European horses appeared in Ningbo Racecourse one after another, and the price of a BMW was often tens of thousands of yuan.

Now the scale of horse racing at Ningbo Racecourse is expanding day by day, and even many ordinary people have the habit of buying a bet. In Liu Wenwei's eyes, this is a cancer, a social cancer that he wants to get rid of as soon as possible.

And the Ye family is one of the shareholders of the racecourse.

So the entire Ningbo business group is regarded as a thorn in Liu Wenwei's eyes.

But Liu Wenwei knows that he has the will but not the ability to save this society where the atmosphere is getting worse and worse and the smell of money is everywhere, because this is allowed by the emperor and it is a mighty tide. He can be a Qu Yuan who is "everyone is drunk and I am the only one awake", and a loyal minister like Hai Rui, but just like Hai Rui can't save the increasingly corrupt officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, and can't save the Ming Dynasty from its decline, I think Liu Wenwei can't save the great trend of social change in China.

But Liu Wenwei is willing to seize the opportunity to give the object he hates the heaviest blow. Even if the backlash afterwards can make him lose his official position.

It's just losing his official position, what's so scary? The dozens of acres of land at home were enough to make a living. Without an official position, he could just join the newspaper industry and write the articles he had wanted to say and write without any scruples. He could even go to Annan, where he could survive.

So the first awakening of the power of the Chinese industrial and commercial class was the wrong use of power.

Liu Wenwei could not accept the current society, and he was no longer afraid. So would he still be afraid of the decline of commercial trade in Zhejiang Province?

These ultimately hit the Ningbo sea merchants and the Ningbo traders, who were the thorns in Liu Wenwei's eyes.

So, why would Liu Wenwei be afraid?

The market was depressed and trade was stagnant, which might be bad news for other senior officials in Zhejiang.

But for a true believer of the old Confucianism, what is the business community for? It would be best if they all died!

Liu Wenwei was willing to lose his job if he could deal a heavy blow to the industrial and commercial class.

So the Ningbo Merchants Group was originally united to fight against the government, and the purpose was of course to make Liu Wenwei, the hungry wolf, have a hard time, but who knew it would be like this.

Of course, judging from the government's reaction, this "awakening of asset power" is still effective to a certain extent, because Nanjing directly issued a notice: "Slave Control Regulations".

Once again reiterated the court's resolute crackdown on "Chinese slaves".

At first glance, it seems to have nothing to do with the affairs of the Ningbo Ye family, but in fact it is "instructing" the Ye family's Chinese slaves, and unilaterally eliminating the factor of "behind-the-scenes mastermind".

In the exchanges between Shen Guozhen and the Ningbo Merchants, it can be known that the court cannot tolerate this kind of "behind-the-scenes mastermind" and must resolutely suppress it. This can also be said to be an explanation to the Ningbo Merchants.

Unfortunately...

Liu Wenwei sighed. The game he played at the cost of his official position can only hurt the Ningbo Merchants so much. If he wants to continue, he may not be able to do so!

Hangzhou has received an urgent order from the Nanjing Cabinet, ordering the provincial government to restore the prosperity of Zhejiang's economy and trade as soon as possible.

For Liu Wenwei, it was all over.

When the news reached his ears, the governor of Zhejiang had already convened a meeting of officials above the fourth rank in the provincial capital, and the fifth rank officials from the propaganda department, the Industrial and Commercial Bureau, the Light Industry Bureau, etc. were also present.

The tide has changed. Newspapers have begun to publicize the importance of trade to the people's livelihood in Zhejiang.

The Supervisory Council also had to obey this order, but Liu Wenwei still held the title of Zhejiang Supervisory Censor. Liu Wenwei's plan was very simple. He sent subordinates to Ningbo, Wenzhou and other places to supervise the implementation of government orders.

If anyone dared to disobey, or had ulterior motives, or acted insincerely, they would all be disobeying the imperial order. This would give him an excuse to arrest and punish them.

…

Nanjing, Qianqing Palace.

Chen Ming was holding the memorial in his hand, and he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Since the Ye family was in trouble, Chen Ming used the cabinet to issue an order to officials all over the world, requiring local governments to carefully inspect the industrial and commercial owners with benevolence, integrity and wealth under their jurisdiction, verify their behavior, and submit a list to the cabinet.

The cabinet would then verify this list, and then select a group of people from it to form the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, referred to as the Federation of Industry and Commerce, which was affiliated to the Administration of Industry and Commerce and the cabinet, and placed under the dual leadership of both.

The purpose is to be a bridge and link between the court and various groups and chambers of commerce in the business community, an assistant to the government in managing and communicating with business owners across the country, an important means for the government to promote the development of industry and commerce across the country, and an important channel for the government's top leaders to listen to the voices of business owners across the country.

This is actually a comfort to the business community.

In this era, such an organization is just a cover and is useless.

But after this matter spread, it seemed to be out of control. Many people seemed to have misunderstood Chen Ming's thoughts, because this so-called member of the Federation of Industry and Commerce would go to Beijing to accept Chen Ming's reception. This would be nothing in other dynasties, but it was extraordinary in the Qing Dynasty. Who let the emperor Kang Mazi hold two banquets for thousands of old men?

In the third month of the lunar calendar in the 52nd year of Kangxi (1713), Kang Mazi celebrated his 60th birthday and held the first banquet for thousands of old men in Changchun Garden to entertain the old people who came from all over the world to the capital to celebrate his birthday.

In the first month of the lunar calendar in the sixty-first year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi (1722), Emperor Kangxi was sixty-nine years old. In order to celebrate his seventieth birthday in advance, he held the second Banquet for Thousand Old Men in the Qianqing Palace.

If history had not changed, Emperor Qianlong would have held it twice in his later years, and a total of four times in the entire history of China.

Because Chinese society respects the royal family and the emperor, all participants in the Banquet for Thousand Old Men feel extremely honored, and their families also have the honor.

At the first Banquet for Thousand Old Men, all the princes, grandsons, and descendants of the royal family aged 10 to 20 years old came out to toast the elderly and distribute food, and helped the elderly over 80 years old to drink in front of Emperor Kangxi to show his favor, and rewarded the elderly from other provinces with varying amounts of silver.

This was an honor that many people dared not even think about when the emperor was the Son of Heaven.

So I don’t know what the officials think. It’s obviously a simple matter, but they want to complicate it when Chen Ming doesn’t know. This time, the Federation of Industry and Commerce became a banquet for thousands of old men. Many local wealthy people even donated a lot of money to local governments in order to see the emperor.

Many people dared not accept bribes, but they were generous in giving money to the government.

They seemed to have never seen the definition of the "Federation of Industry and Commerce". For some wealthy people, they were willing to spend money to see the emperor.

In the second half of April, under the sudden rise of the three words "Federation of Industry and Commerce", the commercial economy, which had been stagnant in the first half of the month, suddenly moved rapidly.

This change made Chen Ming a little ridiculous, but in general, the evolution of the matter did not deviate from his outline. Chen Ming was counting on this comfort to reassure the business owners across the country. Although this matter had some variations, it was finally as he wished.

The noble group, which had stopped because of the Ye family's affairs, also followed the trend and re-entered high-speed operation. They recruited retired elites under the banner of forming an overseas security team, together with some people they already had in their hands. In the training ground designated by Chen Ming for them, Chongming Island, forty or fifty teams were still opened in a short period of time.

"Haha, this is the influence of the Chinese emperor."

In Qixia Villa, Rodoni smiled and entertained Eusebio Mendes, the Portuguese plenipotentiary who had just arrived in China six days ago, and Luis Paulo Ribeiro, who served as Mendes' deputy.

This man who chose to return to Portugal at the beginning, although he lost the opportunity to make a fortune in the East, Lisbon after the earthquake is also a good place. Twenty-five years ago, a super earthquake struck the heart of Portugal. The damage caused by the earthquake, coupled with the tsunami and fire that followed, razed the entire Lisbon to the ground. This disaster was an impact that the Portuguese economy could not bear at the time. Fortunately, everything is recovering now.

The loss of Macau was a tragic defeat for Portugal, but it was not as heartbreaking as Manila was for the Spanish Empire.

Many Portuguese now talk about the unsteady resistance of the Portuguese army in Macau, and have changed their tone of admiration to praise the wisdom of the decision-makers in Macau. They withdrew from the Macau region peacefully, at least making the Portuguese people in Macau safe. Of course, there are still people who insist that they were just a group of cowards at the time.

Poor Sadanye died early without waiting for this moment.

But Luis Paulo Ribeiro, who was in his forties, was still full of energy. This time they were going to sign a formal agreement with Nanjing. Portugal promised to formally transfer all its colonies in the South Seas to China, and in future sailing trade, Chinese merchant ships could freely enter Portuguese ports for anchorage.

But at the same time, within China's sphere of influence, the Portuguese also had fair trade rights.

China agreed.

Eusebio Mendes and Luis Paulo Ribeiro talked to Rodoni about the changes in the two countries. They said they could accept China's development because it was a powerful country and they would think anything that happened was natural.

For Luis Paulo Ribeiro, a Portuguese who knew Chinese culture better, he was more surprised by the huge and greedy appetite of the Chinese. There was a new map of China in Rodoni's reception room. This was a map that had just been printed and was produced in March of the sixth year of Chengtian.

Red represented the land of China, which was so huge, beyond his imagination.

The Chinese are still grabbing more land. This kind of "greed" is more like his impression of Russia in Louis' mind, but now it belongs to China.

Portugal has also undergone tremendous changes in recent years.

Portugal has changed its king. King José I of the Braganza Dynasty died, and his daughter succeeded to the throne.

She is Maria I, a woman who married her uncle because her husband is actually the brother of her father D. José.

This is a more courageous woman. She took over the throne three years ago, and as soon as she came to power, she dismissed the Prime Minister, the Marquis of Pombal.

Maria I's father is a person who is not good at government affairs. The actions of José I, the so-called "reformer", and those reform measures were not from his handwriting. The king prefers hunting, listening to songs, watching plays, traveling, and dancing to live his life compared to state affairs. The one who really holds the power is the Prime Minister, the Marquis of Pombal.

This is a very complicated person. More than 200 years later, the Portuguese still have difficulty in making a final judgment on him. They are clearly divided into two factions. Some people particularly support the Marquis of Pombal, saying that he has contributed to the progress of Portugal, while others particularly oppose him, saying that he is a ruthless tyrant.

Anyway, the reforms of this true reformer did not achieve real success. Under his rule, Portugal experienced a series of changes, but they cannot be said to be good. Although he tends to be democratic enlightenment.

"The current queen adopts a more tolerant, more flexible and more pragmatic approach to governing the country."

"She is keen on social charity."

"She also signed a trade agreement with Russia; built roads and encouraged mining."

"In terms of culture, she opened a series of new schools, such as the Royal Naval School, the Royal Army School, the Royal Academy of Sciences, etc., and also opened the Lisbon Public Library."

"Her Majesty has mentioned you more than once, saying that you are a legendary success."

"I think if you can return to Lisbon, you will be warmly welcomed by Her Majesty."

Now that Britain, France and Spain are in a mess, and the Dutch are also ready to move, where will the Portuguese go?

No one can deny that the distant Eastern Empire has become a powerful force that determines the trend of the European pattern. Every move of the powerful China can already cause a lot of waves in Europe.

Compared with the alliance with Russia and joining the armed neutrality alliance, many Portuguese are more interested in the East.

"Dear Rodoni, the influence of the Chinese emperor is by no means limited to China, even in distant Europe. It is also effective."