Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

At this time, three days had passed since Jiang Xinghuo's last lecture, and Zhu Di returned to Nanjing from Suzhou that night.

Therefore, the edict signed with the emperor's seal had been delivered to Ma He at the Quanzhou Shipyard after two and a half days of expedited delivery at the inn.

The emperor gave him two new tasks and a reward.

Why do you say again?

Because the first job Ma He was assigned was to supervise the construction of a large number of ships for the voyage to the West.

This job was one of the tasks that Ma He received. At the same time, there were other palace eunuch-level eunuchs and several princes who performed it in many shipyards in the south. It did not mean that Ma He was allowed to supervise all the work in Quanzhou Shipyard. Ships sailing to the Western Ocean.

In terms of task difficulty, there is nothing difficult.

Thanks to the accumulation of policies of the Hongwu Dynasty, a considerable number of large timbers that could be used for ocean-going ships had been accumulated in the southwest governors. After these large timbers traveled south along the Yangtze River and Pearl River, they were gathered in various shipyards along the coast. .

Although the Ming Dynasty clearly regarded sea ban as a national policy, the shipbuilding technology of various shipyards that had been manufacturing warships for the navy since the Song Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty was still there. In the Hongwu era, they had been responsible for building ships for the Ming Dynasty navy, and the shipbuilding industry There is no shortage of craftsmen.

Therefore, Ma He lived a relatively leisurely life in Quanzhou. He went to the shipyard every day to check on the progress and was responsible for coordinating the needs of all parties in his own capacity.

And soon, I don't know why the emperor wanted to attack Japan. So as the emperor's confidant, Ma He received the second order, which was to cooperate with the navy to clean up the Japanese pirates along the coasts of Fujian and Zhejiang. Yes, they were Japanese pirates.

The Japanese pirates were not the bankrupt samurai who evolved from the ronin that appeared in the shogunate era, but appeared as early as the confrontation between the Northern and Southern Dynasties in Japan. They traveled across the ocean and hooked up with the pirates of the Ming Dynasty.

The emperor's second order was no surprise, which was to capture as many Japanese pirates as possible and collect domestic intelligence in Japan, including daimyo, terrain, military strength, interpersonal relationships, social customs, etc.

As a result, the Japanese pirates along the southeast coast suffered disaster.

Ma He and the navy generals went to sea and wiped out all the known Japanese pirate strongholds, and captured a considerable number of Japanese ronin among the Japanese pirates.

By sifting through the miscellaneous confessions of these ronin, we can also get a rough understanding of the domestic situation in Japan at this time.

First of all, there are the Japanese pirates along the coast of the Ming Dynasty. They are composed of Han pirates, untouchables and drifters on the Korean Peninsula, the remnants of Fang Guozhen who retreated overseas, and Japanese ronin caused by the civil war between the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

Secondly, there is the domestic situation in Japan. Before the Ming Dynasty, the people who communicated with each other were the Southern Dynasties of Japan, that is, the "Dajue Temple System". Prince Huai Liang, the general who conquered the west at that time, pretended to be the king of Japan. Zhu Di had already known this before. The winner was the Northern Dynasty, also known as the "Chiming Yuan Tui".

The person who is talking about his words in Japan right now is Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third general of the Muromachi shogunate who conquered the barbarians.

It was Ashikaga Yoshimitsu who led the army to reunify Japan. Under huge military pressure, Emperor Gogeyama of the Southern Dynasty returned to Kyoto and performed a ceding ceremony to Emperor Gokomatsu of the Northern Dynasty, awarded the artifact, and realized the unification of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. This is how the Muromachi Shogunate Become a unified political power that dominates the country.

Ten years ago, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu had handed over the title of General of the Conqueror to his son Ashikaga Yoshimochi and became a monk himself. However, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, who combined the power of the public samurai family, still essentially rules Japan. .

In the same year that the Ming Dynasty's Jingnan War began between the Northern and Southern armies, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu subdued Ouchi Hiroki, the last powerful daimyo in Japan who opposed him, and his authority increased infinitely. In terms of economy, in addition to prospering the country's commodity trade, he also worked hard to develop tomorrow's trade.

Last year, the third year of Jianbun (AD 1401), Ashikaga Yoshimitsu sent envoys Zua and Hito to the Ming Dynasty. They named the Ming Dynasty as Zhengshuo in the certificate of credence, proclaimed themselves ministers and paid tribute to Emperor Jianbun, and established tomorrow's trade relations.

This year the new emperor ascended the throne and did not come to continue to claim vassalage and pay tribute, so he became what Zhu Di called "a country of disloyalty."

In addition, it is Japan’s domestic temple economic information at this time.

In the temple, the Muromachi shogunate of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu established "guardians" and "landlords" in various countries. On the one hand, they had the power to adjudicate lawsuits, deal with unowned fields, collect taxes, and urge military service. At the same time, they continued to embezzle manors and command the country's The people of the country have become their own retainers, and now after four generations of shoguns, they have evolved into the 'guardian daimyo'. Because of the fundamental contradiction between the central and local governments, they have become increasingly alienated from the Muromachi shogunate and have become independent.

Economically, since the Muromachi shogunate's power over the guardian daimyo is relatively limited, its economy mainly comes from the "gosyosho" directly under the jurisdiction of about 200 places scattered in various places, which are managed by the shogun's close ministers, who are responsible for conquering the year. "Gong rice" and "annual tribute money" serve as the living expenses of the shogun's family and the salary of the person in charge.

Although the shogunate would also levy taxes on the guardian daimyo of various countries when they needed money, they would only obey orders selectively. Therefore, they had to set up "checkpoints" on the transportation thoroughfares in the Gyeonggi Province to collect "customs money" ( Tolls), or collect 'jinli' (tariffs) at the ferry, and levy miscellaneous taxes on 'tsukura' (pawn shops) and 'sakeya' (wine shops) in and outside Kyoto.

If the general who conquered the barbarians really couldn't get rid of the problem, or if he was in urgent need of military funds, he would borrow money from "virtuous people" (rich people).

When Zhu Di learns the news, he will definitely sigh that for the same general, those across the sea are faring much worse than him.

It was precisely because the finances of the Muromachi shogunate were unstable from beginning to end. In order to solve the problem of economic constraints, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu sent his envoys Zua and Hito to the Ming Dynasty. Even if they paid tribute, they still had to explore and trade with the Ming Dynasty. If they did not go out, Unexpectedly, this will gradually become one of the important financial resources of the shogunate.

But now it's obvious.

If nothing else happens, something will happen to Ming Dynasty and Japan soon.

Zhu Di has already conceived how to use military force to severely damage the main force of the Muromachi shogunate and at the same time completely defeat it. First occupy Sado Island and the "China" area of ​​Japan, while maintaining the reluctant rule of the Muromachi shogunate in Japan as a puppet regime of the Ming Dynasty, or perhaps Simply let Japan return to the Northern and Southern Dynasties era that just ended ten years ago.

So today, Ma He actually just returned from the sea and completed the second task assigned to him by Zhu Di. He felt that it was done, breathed a sigh of relief, and just continued to supervise the shipbuilding.

In the evening, the emperor's new edict arrived.

This meant that Ma He could no longer breathe and had to continue working.

Of course, Zhu Di also considered that Ma He had a heavier burden on his shoulders recently, so while giving him an extra burden, he also gave him a sweet date.

His Majesty the Emperor thought of Ma He's outstanding contributions during the Battle of Zhengcunba, so he gave the surname Zheng to commemorate him.

From now on, you will have a new name given by the emperor. Your name will be Zheng He!

Although in the eyes of outsiders, this was just a favored imperial edict, in the eyes of Ma He, ah no, Zheng He, he himself was still very grateful.

His Majesty the Emperor has not forgotten his contribution. This new surname is also his glory and will accompany him throughout his life.

With this feeling of gratitude and the excitement that followed, Zheng He accepted the other two imperial edicts.

The first imperial edict was to dig out bird droppings in a stone pond thousands of miles away.

Zheng He's excitement disappeared.

The second imperial edict is to go to Lusong Island to check the rice planting situation.

Zheng He's excitement completely disappeared.

Zheng He stood alone on the beach, watching the waves hitting the rocks in the night, stirring up strings of white foam, and fell into deep thought.

Why do you get these increasingly weird tasks in a row?

Go to the Wanli Stone Pond to dig out bird droppings.

Could it be that His Majesty the Emperor is dissatisfied with himself, so he wants to demote himself? Or was it because he had been away from the palace for some time and other eunuchs were jealous of him and said bad things about him in front of His Majesty the Emperor?

That's not right. In his second imperial edict, His Majesty the Emperor also clearly stated that these two matters were of great importance. He must determine the locations of several guano islands in Wanli Stone Pond before continuing south to explore Luzon. Rice cultivation situation.

The imperial edicts are all written in Zhu Di's highly personal colloquial style and cannot be faked.

The emperor's tone in the imperial edict obviously attached great importance to this, but what exactly does it mean to dig out bird droppings in a stone pond thousands of miles away?

Zheng He had a question mark on his face.

Inexplicably, Zheng He remembered why he left Nanjing.

It was because His Majesty the Emperor took him to eavesdrop on a lecture given by a prisoner named Jiang Xinghuo in the prison.

That lesson talked about how to use the method of sailing to the West to bind the interests of the royal family and the vassals and nobles together, so as to achieve the purpose of peacefully reducing the vassals and supporting the vassals.

According to common sense, if there is no special reason.

His Majesty the Emperor should not be tempted to decide to attack Japan.

Japan is not an easy country to fight. This country has a population of nearly 10 million. Even if it is invincible like the Mongols, with the remaining power of destroying the Song Dynasty, they gathered the Korean Navy and the former Southern Song Navy, and a hundred thousand troops floated into the sea. The expedition still ended in failure.

And since His Majesty the Emperor has made this unreasonable decision.

So Zheng He now naturally thought that someone must have suggested that His Majesty the Emperor do this.

So who is this person?

Most likely it was still Jiang Xinghuo.

Therefore, if nothing unexpected happened, it should have been Jiang Xinghuo's idea to go to Wanli Stone Pond to dig out guano and go to Luzon to see the growth of rice.

After the encirclement and suppression of Japanese pirates was over, Zheng He returned to Quanzhou Port exhausted. He closed his eyes in the night, and the sea breeze blew past and whistled in his ears.

Walking out of the shipyard, this is not a good time to leave the factory.

Zheng He gritted his teeth and said to the air in front of him.

"Jiang Xinghuo, thank you!"

Well, if Zheng He would know, once he completes these tasks in a few months and returns to Nanjing with all his hard work and hard work, he will be thrown into prison by Zhu Di to learn navigation-related theories with Jiang Xinghuo. , Zheng He must have thanked Jiang Xinghuo more heartily at this time.

The joys and sorrows in the world are not the same.

On the stage before the curtain rises, each character has a different expression.

On the same night, Li Jinglong and Zhu Gaoxu in prison were thinking about the future, Zheng He in Quanzhou Shipyard was cursing at the sea breeze, and Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Household Affairs, was busy preparing for another thing.

It's not the fertilizer elixir that Zhu Di decided to demonstrate in public at tomorrow's sacrificial ceremony with Zhu Di's consent.

That matter has already been arranged, or rather, there is nothing to arrange.

It is the issuance of "Ming Dynasty National Bonds".

Jiang Xinghuo moved his mouth, Zheng He broke his leg while running, and Xia Yuanji burned out his lungs.

The cup of tea in his hand now is already the first one tonight, but even if he pours it into his mouth, his hoarse voice and burning lungs are still reminding Xia Yuanji to try not to speak.

But not talking, no.

Xia Yuanji personally sat in the lobby of the Ministry of Revenue and gave instructions. All the relevant files of the Ministry of Revenue had been collected. The ministers, doctors, Yuanwailang and more than ten old officials of the Ministry of Revenue were nervously counting the Ming Dynasty treasures in various places. The amount of investment by the Chief Envoys, as well as the actual exchange ratio of Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes for copper coins in each Chief Envoys department.

In addition, there are also the prosperity of each chief minister and even each government, several forms of Ming Dynasty treasury bonds, specific interest rates, etc.

These are the basis for the issuance of Ming Dynasty treasury bonds by the Thirteen Chief Envoys across the country.

The first batch of Ming Dynasty treasury bonds was limited in quantity. It was necessary not only to ensure that the credibility of the "South Gate Standing Tree" would not cause the embarrassment of no one buying it, but also to ensure that the rush to buy after the credibility was established was properly met.

Of course, the first batch of Ming Dynasty treasury bonds must be issued first in Nanjing.

The above-mentioned decisions all required verbal instructions from Xia Yuanji himself.

After one day and one night, Xia Yuanji's lungs were even more burning and uncomfortable than running ten miles.

However, Xia Yuanji felt that it was all worth it, especially when his subordinates inadvertently praised the genius design of the Ming Dynasty's national debt.

Xia Yuanji's face was filled with reserved pride.

A group of bumpkins who have never listened to Master Jiang’s lectures and have never seen the future trend of economics. If I let you know what an interest rate inversion is, wouldn’t your jaw drop?

It was gradually entering the early morning in the brightly lit household, and at this moment, the third prince Zhu Gaosui suddenly broke in and shook the imperial edict in his hand.

"Xia Shangshu, Your Majesty has an urgent decree. Please come to the palace to see him as soon as possible."