Except for the emperor himself, no one in the court is willing to lift the sea ban. No one is willing to let go of such huge benefits. Lifting the sea ban is equivalent to cutting off the flesh of those who can benefit again.
It has always been easier to cut flesh from others than it is to cut flesh from yourself. This is why in the middle and late stages of a dynasty, those who want to reform rarely succeed.
"What's going on at the Duke of Wei's mansion?"
On a flower boat sailing on the Qinhuai River, two men, an old man and a young man, were sitting. It was the older man who spoke.
The young man said respectfully: "Teacher, don't worry. After all, Wei Guogong is also a distinguished member of the imperial court. It will not do him any good to help the tiger thief."
"Hmph, these nobles are no longer what they were like in the days of Taizu and Taizong. Each one of them can only sit back and enjoy the shadow of their ancestors. They have become worms in our Ming Dynasty. Today's nobles' descendants may not even be able to lift a sword. ." The older man snorted with contempt.
The young man smiled and said: "The teacher is right, the Ming Dynasty still relies on scholars to govern the world, and those nobles cannot be counted on."
"Well, you're right. The world must be governed by scholars." The older man picked up the wine cup on the table, brought it to his lips and took a sip.
On the flower boat, in addition to a table and a few chairs placed where they were sitting, behind a curtain separated by fine gauze on the opposite side, there was a young woman playing a pipa and singing a ditty in her arms.
The young man glanced at the singing girl behind the gauze curtain with lustful eyes, then turned to the older man and said: "Teacher, are the people in the capital reliable? What if the tiger thief's ship returns to Damuan Island from Liaodong? Things are likely to be impacted.”
"Tell your father, keep your heart in your stomach. The court will not let the tiger thief stay in Lushun. The tiger thief's ship will never be able to return to Taiyuan Island." The older man twirled his beard.
The young man picked up the wine glass in front of him and said respectfully: "Teacher, student, I would like to toast you another glass."
The older man raised his glass and took a sip with him.
After putting down the glass, he asked: "Is there any movement from the Tiger Thief these days?"
"There has been no movement at all. Ever since the tiger thieves' warehouse was robbed, it has been empty enough for rats to escape, and the students have arranged for people to keep an eye on it. As long as a new warehouse appears in Nanjing City, or someone purchases a large amount of goods from the sea trade, The goods will be told to the students immediately." The young man said proudly.
He was the one who caused the Tiger Flag to be robbed from its warehouse in Nanjing. This incident made him very proud.
The elder nodded with satisfaction and said: "You have done a good job in this matter, and because you took the lead in leading those scholars, it has greatly helped your reputation among the scholars. It is very likely that the next provincial examination will be held accordingly. Things are on the list.”
The young man is a scholar.
In Jiangnan, it is not easy to be a scholar, and it is even more difficult to pass the imperial examination. It is even easier to pass the imperial examination in the capital than in the rural examination in Jiangnan.
Things like reputation can be helpful to some students in the provincial examination.
For ordinary people, the actions of several forces in Nanjing City are nothing more than something to talk about after dinner.
The troubles caused by the Tiger Character Banner in the north of the Ming Dynasty seemed to have nothing to do with Jiangnan. Jiangnan was still living the life they should have lived.
The phrase "life in dreams and death in drunkenness" is absolutely no exaggeration.
The Ming Dynasty fought slaves and traitors to death in Liaodong. What does it have to do with Jiangnan? Jiangnan is still a paradise for literati, and even the imperial power is far less effective here than in the northern provinces.
Ships that go out to sea can't come back in a day or two, or ten days and a half. Once they leave, it can take at least half a year or several months.
The gentry and nobles in Nanjing all believed that they could make more profits without the Tiger Flag's intervention in maritime trade.
For this reason, each company has increased its maritime trade efforts and added more ships to go to sea, just to be the first to grab a share of the Tiger Flag.
On the grassland.
The Chahar tribe led by Hutuktu Khan, facing the alliance army of the Puppet Jin and Horqin tribes, voluntarily abandoned their pastures and moved further west to the Mongolian right wing.
He did not dare to confront the puppet-golden coalition head-on, even if he was the nominal Mongolian Khan of the grassland. He would rather give up his own pasture in the Chahar tribe than dare to turn around to face the enemy.
However, he thought of a good reason for himself.
That is, as the Great Khan of Mongolia, he wants to integrate all the Mongolian ministries and confront the pseudo-gold head-on. His concessions now are concessions made in order to conquer the various ministries.
Sooner or later he will come back to take revenge on the counterfeit gold.
As for what others think, he doesn't know, but that's what he thinks anyway, so he never thinks that his leaving is a concession.
However, except for the Chahar headquarters of Hutuktu Khan and several tribes that surrendered to Chahar, other tribes basically chose to join the pseudo-gold.
No one wants to respect a steppe khan who can only run for his life.
The grasslands believe in the strong, and only the strong are qualified to lead the grassland tribes. Hutuktu Khan, who can only run away, is no longer worthy of being the common leader of the grasslands in the hearts of many tribes.
"Report!"
A Mongolian cavalry galloped on the grassland and arrived outside Hutuktu Khan's tent.
In the sweat tent, there were only Hutuktu Khan and several of his wives.
A roasted whole lamb was placed in the middle of the tent. A maid put the meat sliced from the lamb on a plate and presented it to Hutuktu Khan and several other ladies.
In addition to the mutton, Hutuktu Khan placed a golden bottle in front of him, which contained sorghum wine from the Tiger Flag.
Mongolians love wine, especially spirits.
Hutuktu Khan fell in love with this kind of strong liquor after drinking sorghum wine from the Tiger Character Banner. He would drink sorghum wine at every banquet and drank until he was drunk.
"Great Khan, the people sent to Qingcheng are back." One of Hutuktu Khan's personal guards came in to report.
Hutuktu Khan put down the gold bottle in his hand and said, "Bring the people in."
Knowing the priorities of the matter, he asked his personal guards to bring the people in.
"Great Khan!" As soon as the visitor entered the sweat tent, he saluted Hutuktu Khan on the big seat.
Hutuktu Khan looked at him and asked: "How? What do the people in the Tiger Flag say?"
"Reporting to the Great Khan, my subordinates met an official named Zhao from the Tiger Banner in Qingcheng. He said that if the Great Khan fought against the fake gold, the Tiger Banner would be willing to send troops to assist the Great Khan in dealing with the fake gold," the messenger said.
Hutuktu Khan's face immediately darkened when he heard this, and he said: "This Khan wants to return to the ancestral land of the Chahar tribe, not to fight against the fake gold. Didn't you make it clear what I said? "
"The official named Zhao said they can help us deal with counterfeit gold, but we are not allowed to get close to Qingcheng," the messenger said.
Snapped!
Khutuktu Khan raised his hand and slapped the low table in front of him hard.
