I'm really not the carpenter emperor

Anyone who refuses to accept it can call back.

But they also know that it is easy to fight back, but it is troublesome to deal with Da Ming's more violent counterattack.

Under various balances, countries such as Great Britain, France, and even countries like Ottomans began to let their merchant ships pay tariffs to Manila.

Otherwise, the seventeenth century was an era of great voyages, and a Manila tariff would have made Zhu Youxiao laugh.

In addition, Manila, as well as the two colonies of Brunei and Sanfa in the north of Borneo ceded by the Dutch, also had Ming troops stationed there one after another.

Although these two places are not big, they have a lot of spice resources. After the Ming army took over these two colonies, they are negotiating with the local Chinese leaders.

The Ming army planned to hire local Chinese to exploit the scarce resources of these two colonies on a large scale, the most important of which was rubber.

As for what the rubber was used for, the Ming army didn't know yet, and it was the first time they knew about it.

With the mining activities of the Ming army in Borneo and Manila, a large number of goods that were originally unheard of in the mainland but circulated around the world began to flow into Daming.

The Ordnance Department is working overtime, trying to apply some novel mineral resources such as rare earths to various fields.

Tin ore has excellent rust resistance, and can also be combined with copper to form bronze. Some minerals can even be used in artillery and muskets to improve power and stability.

After receiving the benefits, Zhu Youxiao realized the various benefits of overseas expansion, and it was even more impossible to let go of Manila.

……

The apricot blossoms are lightly raining, and the willows are green.

Since ancient times, literati have preferred spring rain in the north, because they like that it can moisten the soil that has dried up in the winter just right, and it can be stopped in time, so that it comes clean and goes away neatly.

In contrast, the rain in the south is endless all day long, and it always seems that the tip of a pen dipped in ink is too wet, and the rice paper is wet and torn, which makes people feel uneasy.

A few days ago, the first rain in the spring of the sixth year of Apocalypse fell in Shandong.

This time, it should have been the same as in the past. The water vapor condensed in the air, entrusting the people's hope of a good harvest, and landed in the dust and dissipated on the clouds.

But when the rain fell, there were wailing wailing in the air.

The spring rain stained the clothes, the locusts filled the puddles, and the bones were starved to death everywhere. For the whole year of the sixth year of the apocalypse, it was somewhat ominous and a sign of disaster.

Jinan Prefecture, Licheng.

"Good brother, wake up quickly." In an earthen house, a little girl was shaking a teenage boy who hadn't had enough to eat for a few days, her eyes were full of moisture.

"It's raining in spring, good brother, wake up quickly..."

But no matter how she shook, the boy lying on the dry yellow kang kept his eyes tightly closed and made no sound.

A few days ago, their parents starved to death one after another. In order to protect his sister, the younger brother had to go out to beg and give her all the food.

However, in this catastrophic year, the six prefectures in Shandong had no crops.

Although the imperial court made great efforts to provide disaster relief, human beings could not overcome the sky after all, and a large number of people still starved to death and migrated every day.

After all, this "good brother" closed his eyes forever last night, and the only thing left in his heart was his younger sister who was still alive.

After shaking for a while, the girl seemed to realize something, and lay on top of her good brother's body, weeping silently.

And just outside the house, there are groups of skinny and hungry people passing by.

A man silently glanced into the room, then walked away with a blank expression on his increasingly heavy legs.

Chapter 700 Wen Tiren Joins the Cabinet

"The locusts are gone—"

"The locusts are gone—!"

At this time, an official was riding a fast horse, raising his whip, running along the official road and shouting: "The official yamen is giving out porridge!"

"Don't run around if you're still hungry, go get some porridge!"

The words of the officials quickly dissipated in the open field, while the homeless victims stood there in a daze, at a loss for what to do.

"real……?"

"The locust plague has subsided, and the government's disaster relief food has been distributed to Licheng!"

"It's true, let's go to the Yamen to get porridge!"

Hearing the happy cheers from the people around him, the man's eyes lit up a lot just now, and then he ran back with the last of his strength as if he suddenly thought of something.

Soon, he came to an earthen room out of breath, and looked at the little girl lying motionless on the boy's body, his heart skipped a beat, feeling bad.

He walked forward with some limping legs, gritted his teeth, and slowly patted the little girl's weak shoulder with trembling hands, his lips trembling:

"child……?"

The little girl raised her eyes, looked at the uncle in front of her vigilantly, with tears on her face, and then plunged in:

"Uncle Three!"

"My parents are dead, and my elder brother is also starving to death!"

Seeing this, the man breathed a sigh of relief.

"Your family can be regarded as leaving a seed."

"Let's go."

The little girl looked at the rough hands of the man, and asked sensiblely: "Let's leave like this, don't we bury my brother?"

The man touched his belly and said with a smile:

"Let's go, let's go to the government office. The locust plague has receded. The imperial court is giving porridge to the victims. The hard days are coming to an end."

……

Licheng government office.

Standing here, Wen Tiren looked at the long line of disaster victims, even several miles outside the city, with deep helplessness in his eyes.

After half a year of controlling locusts, it is finally seeing results.

"Congratulations, my lord, for your great achievements in controlling the locusts. Presumably when the news reaches the capital, His Majesty will call you into the cabinet." The county magistrate stood aside and complimented with a smile.

Wen Tiren looked at the miserable conditions of the people around him in ragged clothes, but he couldn't be happy in his heart. He shook his head and sighed sadly:

"What credit?"

"I have warmed my body and benevolently and received the great grace of the emperor. I spent half a year controlling the locusts and spent nearly [-] million yuan. However, more than [-] people died, and countless families were destroyed and people migrated and exiled."

"It's a blessing that I have no faults, how dare I ask for credit..."

Wen Tiren has practiced at the grassroots level for these years, and he can be regarded as seeing the sufferings of the people at the grassroots level. In the second year of the Apocalypse, there was a major earthquake in three provinces, and in the fifth year of the Apocalypse, there was a severe locust disaster.

The imperial court was well prepared to provide disaster relief in time, but it still seemed powerless when it was fighting against the law of heaven.

Wen Tiren now has only deep self-blame.

If, if my ability is stronger, will I save one more family and save a few more children?

This locust plague, which was rare in a century, finally ended in the spring of the sixth year of Tianqi. For this, the imperial court used hundreds of thousands of manpower and a large amount of supplies.

The total cost is estimated to be nearly ten million taels!

Fortunately, this war without gunpowder is finally over!

In this disaster, although the people in the six prefectures of Shandong suffered heavy losses, none of them hated the court.

Because all of them have seen the court's efforts in this disaster relief, the court is not doing nothing, on the contrary, Emperor Tianqi has never been stingy with any money for disaster relief.

Even the majestic factory guards, in addition to monitoring the relief money and food during the disaster relief period, also contributed vigorously.

How can such a court be remembered and hated?

If you want to hate, you can only hate this troubled world. Who knows whether such disasters will happen again in the apocalypse.

Wen Tiren was standing in front of the victims, arranging for post-disaster reconstruction and policies to improve people's livelihood, but the movements around him seemed to gradually stop.

The spring rain has gradually stopped, and the sound of horseshoes stepping on the dirt can be clearly heard in the distance.

A big inner eunuch in a python robe led three Tiqi from afar, held up a yellow scroll, and sang:

"Wen Tiren, chief locust control officer in Shandong, accepts the order!"

Wen Tiren, the county magistrate, the surrounding yamen servants, factory guards, and the people waiting for the porridge all fell to their knees at once.

The outside of the yamen, which was still as noisy as a market just now, was completely silent in the blink of an eye.

The eunuch spread out the edict and read aloud:

"Fengtian Chengyun Emperor, the imperial edict said:

Wen Tiren successively dealt with earthquake disasters and locust plagues, which benefited the people and made great contributions to the court.Today, counting all the merits together, he was promoted to be the right minister of the Ministry of officials, a bachelor of the Jinwu Yingdian University, joined the cabinet to assist the government, and participated in confidential matters.

In addition, with the addition of the crown prince Shao Fu, Wang Qing can still do his best to benefit the people and ensure the safety of the country!This is it. "

After saying that, the eunuch in charge of ceremonies delivered the imperial edict and said with a smile:

"Congratulations to Elder Wen Ge, accept the order."

There was no emotion on Wen Tiren's face, and he hurriedly shouted: "Chen Wen Tiren, thank you for your grace, long live long live—!"

Seeing Wen Tiren accepting the imperial edict solemnly, everyone got up one after another.

The county magistrate smiled and cupped his hands and said again: "Your Majesty is just saying something. Your Excellency has made great achievements. Sooner or later, His Majesty will be called into the cabinet by His Majesty to assist in the administration."

"Right now, the Eunuch Party is in power in the court, and adults need to check and balance it!"

Holding the imperial decree in his hand, Wen Tiren stared at the Forbidden City in the distance. His heart was far less calm than his face.

He didn't know how long he had been waiting for this day.

……

Wen Tiren entered the cabinet with his merits in controlling locusts in Shandong, and the government and the public were ebullient. Congratulations and applause were heard endlessly.

Over the years, Wen Tirenke has accumulated a lot of contacts and reputation in the local area.

This will be of great benefit to his development after joining the cabinet.

And Wen Tiren succeeded in controlling locusts in Shandong, so he was favored by the emperor, and the news of joining the cabinet to assist the government soon spread throughout the states and governments.

All of a sudden, Zhejiang party officials went to the memorial one after another, and the memorials flew to the Qianqing Palace like pieces of paper. The eunuchs also knew that a strong opponent was coming.

After several years of accumulation, the Zhejiang Party has completely established its momentum. With Wen Tiren entering the cabinet, it seems that it is only a matter of time before they return to the court.

Above the imperial court, the situation where the Eunuch family dominates is about to change after more than a year since the Donglin Party was completely wiped out.

This is good news for Zhu Youxiao.

And Wei Zhongxian didn't mean to show his teeth, on the contrary, his heart was extremely peaceful, because he had expected this day long ago.

If there is no opponent, then the existence of the eunuch party is enough to threaten the imperial power, and this emperor is obviously not someone who rubs sand in his eyes.

The rise of the Zhejiang Party is a great thing, no matter for Zhu Youxiao's control of the court, or for everyone in the Eunuch Party. Everyone can rest assured.

The Zhejiang Party made up for the vacuum in Donglin, and the government gradually entered a stable period.

Wen Tiren's entry into the cabinet is actually what everyone expects. In addition, the locust plague was properly managed and ended earlier than in history. Zhu Youxiao was also very satisfied, and he did not hesitate to praise him in the imperial decree.

The government and the opposition are full of praise and applause, and few people will go to court for impeachment at this time.

Chapter 7 and One

"When Wen Tiren joins the cabinet, the Zhejiang Party will replace us sooner or later. In this court, there is almost no room for us..."

In the Wei Mansion, several officials were sitting around the round table, sighing.

The current chief assistant Wei Guangwei's status is very delicate. At first, because his father Wei Yunzhen was a veteran of Donglin, he was regarded as an accomplice by the Donglin scholars in the ruling and opposition parties.

But Wei Guangwei was treacherous by nature, and he didn't care about the so-called reputation at all. He rebelled against Donglin and treated Wei Zhongxian like his father in order to smooth his official career, so he became famous all over the world.

At that time when Zhu Youxiao had just succeeded to the throne and the court was in chaos, a villain like Wei Guangwei was exactly what the court needed.

Wei Guangwei was quickly valued by Wei Zhongxian, his official career was prosperous, and he was promoted step by step. During the key campaign for the chief assistant, he even rebelled against the eunuch party again.

After Ye Xianggao was killed, everyone in the court was in danger, but Wei Guangwei did not hesitate to break with Wei Zhongxian and expressed his determination to Zhu Youxiao.

Because of this, Zhu Youxiao took a fancy to him and appointed him as the court assistant.

It is precisely because of Wei Guangwei's unscrupulous methods to climb the ladder step by step, not only the Donglin Party and the Eunuch Party sneered at him, but the rest of the Kun Party, Qi Party, Chu Party and other factions also kept them at a respectful distance.

Except for a few confidantes, Wei Guangwei is almost alone.