The third stop of ocean trade, after leaving Nanyang, will continue to the Tianzhu area where Duan Gong is located.
Ming merchants sold tea, porcelain, medicine and other commodities here, and then filled them with various spices and gems produced in Tianzhu.
Finally, they went to the area around the Persian Protectorate.
The Persians were already in disarray, and the Ming Dynasty easily established a commercial and colonial rule here.
All kinds of spices and gems, porcelain, medicines, rhubarb, etc. were all sold here, replaced with female slaves, good horses, saffron and other commodities from Persian merchants, and then returned all the way.
Such a trade route allowed Ming merchants to make a lot of money within two years, and the Ming Shipping Department also collected more taxes.
The various kingdoms in Tianzhu were naturally jealous.
They supported the pirates one by one and raided and looted in the middle.
Ming Dynasty naturally cannot let them be arrogant.
In addition to the navy, the main combat forces in this fleet also include merchant marine personnel and sailors.
The merchant ships are loaded with a large amount of goods, as well as the navy. They will accompany the Ming fleet to annihilate the feudal states in the Tianzhu area.
Once the feudal states of Tianzhu were completely wiped out, the remaining states would obediently surrender to the Ming Dynasty.
Although the climate in southern Tianzhu is a bit too hot, it is fertile and rich in products, and the soil is also very suitable for farming.
...
Ming Dynasty, Yingtian Mansion.
Inside the palace
"Your Majesty, please read this memorial!"
In the imperial study room, Li Shanchang handed a memorial to the emperor who was standing aside.
"Um?"
Zhu Yuanzhang took the memorial and browsed it quickly. The more he read, the uglier his face became and his brows furrowed.
"Whoever wrote this is so audacious!"
Zhu Yuanzhang's voice was full of anger.
The content of this memorial is about the issue of the imperial examinations in the Ming Dynasty. It states that the new Confucianism that the Ming Dynasty currently promotes is pseudo-study, not the true knowledge of the saints. The simple system of the Four Books and Five Classics should be restored to prevent the imperial examinations in the Ming Dynasty from going astray. .
"Your Majesty, this is written by Hou Fang, the Inspector of Schools in Zhejiang!" Li Shanchang said carefully.
"Zhejiang Superintendent Hou Fang? This old guy actually dares to mention this matter?"
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed angrily: "Who does he think he is?"
"Your Majesty, calm down!"
Li Shanchang quickly advised: "Zhejiang Superintendent Hou Fang is Kong Mingde's uncle. He has been an official in Zhejiang for decades and has high prestige in Zhejiang. As far as I know, in this Zhejiang imperial examination, many Confucian disciples did not During the examination, Zhejiang scholars were quite critical of this, and Hou Fang’s memorial must have been written because of this incident!”
"Huh, he does know how to find reasons!" Zhu Yuanzhang sneered.
The current imperial examination system in the Ming Dynasty, after Zhu Han's careful improvement, has given many poor scholars a way to advance.
For many reading families in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the Four Books and Five Classics skills they have accumulated over hundreds of years have all become outdated knowledge and have no use. Naturally, they are full of resentment.
Hou Fang was related to the Nan Kong family, and he might have known something about Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Han's forgery of Confucianism, which led to this memorial.
"I think this old guy is crazy!" Zhu Yuanzhang said disdainfully.
"Your Majesty, this memorial still needs to be dealt with." Li Shanchang suggested in a low voice: "However, Hou Fang, the inspector of Zhejiang Province, has a lot of power in the court. It would be inappropriate if he is pushed into a hurry."
"That's all!" Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said, "Since he wants to make a fuss, I will play with him."
With that said, Zhu Yuanzhang picked up the brush and began to review the memorial.
...
Zhejiang, Hangzhou City.
Hangzhou is an important town in the Jianghuai River and has an excellent geographical location.
In the center of a lake in the north of Hangzhou near Hangzhou Bay, it is the most prosperous place in Hangzhou.
The weather has been hot these days, and the streets of Hangzhou are bustling with pedestrians.
There are two large cars parked in front of the gate of Fucheng, Hangzhou.
The door of one of the carriages was pushed open, and a middle-aged scribe in purple robes stepped out of the carriage.
Next to him was an old man wearing gray clothes and a goatee, holding a cloth bag in his hand.
"Master Hou, you are here very early. Let's wait at the Hangzhou government office first."
"Um!"
Hou Fang nodded, and then walked towards the Hangzhou government office with the old man.
At the Hangzhou government office, two guards in black were guarding the door.
After seeing Hou Fang and the old man with the goatee, they quickly knelt down and saluted.
"No gift!"
Hou Fangdan waved his hand to signal them to get up, and then walked towards the Hangzhou government office.
"Master Hou, please wait a moment!"
At this time, a boy wearing a green shirt ran out from the backyard of the Hangzhou government office.
He had been working in the government office in Hangzhou, so he naturally knew Hou Fang and the old man with the goatee.
After seeing them, the boy quickly shouted: "Master Hou, please come inside."
In the Hangzhou government office, Zhang Hong, the prefect of Hangzhou, was discussing matters with several senior officials.
These officials are the prefect of Hangzhou and the chief envoy of Zhejiang, and they are all powerful figures in Hangzhou.
"This matter has been decided, and enrollment will begin in the spring of next year."
"But I think we need to be careful with the enrollment this time!"
"Mr. Zhang, you are right to worry. This enrollment must be strictly controlled," Hou Fang said.
Zhang Hong looked sad and said: "To be honest, sir, this enrollment is not an ordinary difficulty!"
After he finished speaking, he said to a middle-aged man behind him: "Master Liu, tell me!"
The man surnamed Liu is Liu Fulin. He is the cousin of Liu Yongping in Pingzhang, Zhejiang province before the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty. He is also a well-established big shot in Hangzhou. He is quite prestigious in Zhejiang.
Hou Fang, Zhang Hong, Liu Fulin and others all came from Confucian families in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Nowadays, the imperial court's new academic examinations have given them almost no advantage in family education.
Therefore, Hou Fang reported to the court, attacking the new learning as pseudo-learning and the Four Books and Five Classics as the true sacred learning, in order to restore the advantages of their Confucian family.
After all, in this year's imperial examination, few children from Confucian families like them were successful.
They planned to find another way to establish a Dongshan College in Hangzhou to recruit traditional scholars, and then use their strong influence to create prestigious connections for these traditional Confucian scholars, thereby forming a group of Confucian scholars from Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
As the saying goes, there is strength in numbers, which in turn influenced the imperial examination to re-emphasize the Four Books and Five Classics of Confucianism.
As long as they have enough reputation, their influence can radiate throughout Zhejiang and even surrounding provinces.
Chapter 474 Confucianism in Jiangsu and Zhejiang
"Master Hou, I wonder how you would arrange this?"
Zhang Hong asked Hou Fang.
"Sir Zhang, there are many Confucian scholars in Zhejiang now, and they are very critical of the imperial examination."
Having said this, Hou Fang paused and continued: "So this time, I want to organize an academy, select some outstanding scholars from various places to enroll, and promote it in various provinces."
"Lord Hou is wise!"
Zhang Hong quickly flattered him.
"Haha!" Hou Fang smiled slightly, then looked at Liu Fulin and said, "However, during the process of establishing the college, you must pay attention to safety. The water depth in Zhejiang is not comparable to that in ordinary places."
These officials were not very afraid of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.
After all, because of Zhu Han's existence, Ming Dynasty often solved some troubles without using any thunderous means.
Hou Fang, Liu Hong and others thought that by virtue of their status as officials and scholars, they could create their own 'Dongshan School' and influence the situation of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Yuanzhang was really angry at these people!
After discussing with Zhu Han, Zhu Yuanzhang decided not to alert the enemy, but sent Jin Yiwei to secretly follow and investigate, hoping to see what amazing things these Jiangsu and Zhejiang Confucian families could do.
Hou Fang, a group of people in the officialdom, has always thought that he is very smart.
The changes in the imperial examinations in the Ming Dynasty made Hou Fang and others feel a profound sense of crisis.
He felt that he should no longer tolerate it as before and must resist.
Therefore, he planned to draw officials from his own department into the alliance camp to jointly overthrow the Ming Dynasty's new academic examination and restore the situation of sharing the world with the scholar-bureaucrats.
. . . .
Yingtian, the Imperial City, inside the Huangji Hall.
Zhu Yuanzhang raised the throne high, his eyes were slightly closed, he held a memorial in his right hand, and he clapped his left palm repeatedly. His emotions and anger could not be clearly seen on his face.
Under His Majesty Dan, Zhu Han was sitting, and standing behind him were Li Shanchang, Song Lian, Liu Bowen, Tang He and other close civil and military ministers.
In the center of the hall, Mao Xiang, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, was reporting loudly the results of the Jinyi Guards' investigation into the Jiangsu and Zhejiang aristocratic families headed by Hou Fang, the governor of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Zhang Hong, the prefect of Hangzhou, and Liu Fulin, the chief envoy of Zhejiang.
"According to the reports from hundreds of households in Jinyiwei's Zhejiang Health Center, Hou Fang, Zhang Hong, and Liu Fulin have been found to have embezzled people's land wantonly, allowed their families to oppress good people, and bewitched local scholars to fight against the imperial court..."
"On the fourth day of the fifth lunar month, Hou Fang's son attempted to rape a common girl. He became so angry that he destroyed his entire family and left. Hou Fang then discussed privately with Zhang Hong, the prefect of Hangzhou, and the matter was settled..."
"On May 12, Zhang Hong conspired with Zhejiang Chief Minister Liu Fulin to lie about Zhejiang's taxed grains that year, and privately sold half of the taxed grains at high prices to disaster areas in Shanxi and Henan, earning 300,000 taels of silver..."
"On the third day of May, Hou Fangyin gathered Zhang Hong, Liu Fulin and a group of former scholars and said..."
At this point, Mao Xiang couldn't help but swallowed his saliva: "I said that King Zhu Han of England has spread rumors to confuse the public and deceive the emperor. His Majesty is stupid... stupid and unkind, and condones treacherous people. He is not a blessing to the world..."
At this moment, the atmosphere was filled with silence, mixed with a sense of depression.
Especially the last one reported by Mao Xiang made many people tremble with fear.
Zhu Han didn't care, since he already knew these things.
Song Lian, Liu Bowen and other officials from Jiangsu and Zhejiang were worried. If they had known that they would be sick today, they would not be able to come.
Although this matter has nothing to do with them, no one wants to be involved.
As for Kong Mingde, the descendant of the Ming Dynasty, and others, they were already fighting with each other at this moment, and they were sweating.
They are all from Zhejiang, and they are almost the recognized representatives of Zhejiang scholars in the court.
They have countless disciples, and they have nothing to do with Zhang Hong, Liu Fulin, and Hou Fang. That is simply impossible!
As for Li Shanchang, he was also panicked.
Two days ago, when Li Shanchang presented Hou Fang's memorial to Zhu Yuanzhang, he wanted Zhu Yuanzhang to use some gentle means...
At this moment, listening to Mao Xiang's report, Li Shanchang couldn't help but slap himself in the face. He just thought that Hou Fangxiang was seeking some benefits in the court by resuming the imperial examination. Who knew that he had done such great things? !
Especially when scholars gather to criticize the emperor, this is obviously an old man who is eating arsenic and seeking death!
As for other officials who had various relationships with Hou Fang and the other three, they also looked panic-stricken at this time.
In fact, when Mao Xiang mentioned the previous charges, they were still willing to argue for Hou Fang and the others, but they had to be careful about criticizing the Holy One.
Not to mention how frightened the three Li Shanchang and many civil servants were, Mao Xiang finally began to unleash his ultimate move.
So much so that his voice trembled a little when he spoke: "On the second day of June, a fortune teller told Liu Fulin that the tomb of the ancestor of the Jun family had...dragon energy!"
boom!
Li Shanchang and the other three felt like a thunderbolt had exploded in their heads!
Plop!
Almost in unison, officials from Jiangsu and Zhejiang knelt on the ground without saying a word, kowtowing crazily without saying a word.
It would be a big mistake to just listen to such rebellious words.
The civil servants who were preparing to remonstrate before were also in the same appearance, and the sound of kowtowing could not be heard.
What can be said?
At this moment, their life and death depended on Zhu Yuanzhang's thoughts.
Not to mention those who are related to Hou Fang and Liu Fulin.
The so-called dragon energy in someone's ancestral grave is a big deal...
Unless the emperor is extremely generous, and if he doesn't care, a warlock's lie will pass. But if the emperor is serious, it will be considered treason!
If you have even the slightest connection with rebellion, you deserve to be punished by all nine clans.
At this moment, apart from the military generals, almost half of the civil servants in Huangji Hall were kneeling, but the other half were just frowning and their eyes were flickering.
Commander Mao Xiang secretly raised his head and glanced at His Royal Highness, who was at the head of the civil and military squads.
When he saw His Royal Highness nodded calmly, he breathed a sigh of relief.
The warlock who said that the Liu Fulin family's ancestral tomb had dragon energy was Mao Xiang who took Zhu Han's hint and found a Jinyiwei primary school to disguise himself. This can be regarded as fishing for law enforcement!
Looking at the civil servants standing or kneeling in front of him, Zhu Han just smiled coldly.
This group of civil servants, from the bottom of their hearts, still more or less look down on their brother, who was born as a cowherd boy.
Now it’s time to knock them on the knees and let them understand that this world belongs to Zhu. Put away all the tricks of the former Yuan court in Hunong!
Suddenly, an old and angry voice came: "Your Majesty! Mao Xiang, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, has slandered the ministers of the imperial court. He is very serious. Please punish Mao Xiang and abolish the Jinyi Guards!"
Zhu Han was startled, there really are some people who are not afraid of death.
Looking up, it was immediately clear that it was Zuo Tongzheng and Huang Jiuyan.
This person is the son and daughter-in-law of Liu Fulin, the governor of Zhejiang Province, and he himself is also one of the veterans of the former Yuan Dynasty.
After Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, in order to stabilize the hearts and minds of officials in various places, officials from the former Yuan Dynasty who did not have any serious misdeeds were not refused, and at worst they were given official positions.
This sent a wrong message to many veterans of the former Yuan Dynasty. They believed that this reckless emperor did not dare to offend his own people and expected them to govern the world for him.
This kind of mysterious self-confidence gave them a lot of arrogant confidence.
Later, when Zhu Han suggested that Zhu Yuanzhang reform the imperial examination, Huang Jiuyan was very dissatisfied and even led a group of ministers to protest against it.
Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to deal with him at that time, but the time was not yet ripe, so he let him go lightly.
Unexpectedly, Huang Jiuyan only thought that Zhu Yuanzhang was regressing, which further strengthened his opposition to the reform of the imperial examination.
Even this time Hou Fang, Zhang Hong, and Liu Fulin planned to form "Dongshan College", and it was Huang Jiuyan who encouraged them from behind, which gave them the confidence.
Huang Jiuyan's information flashed through Zhu Han's mind, and the sneer on his lips became thicker.
On the throne, elder brother Zhu Yuanzhang's face was equally cold.
