The fall of Manila is a subject of endless research by historians of later generations. Because starting from the fall of this city, Western civilization, which had grown barbarically since the Age of Discovery, suffered its first head-on attack. This beating was different from the minor setbacks the Native Americans gave them in the colonization process, but a real defeat.
The well-defended city of Manila had a heavy army, but it was captured by the Ming Dynasty navy with strong ships and powerful artillery. It was like the colonial attack on the indigenous people.
On the third day of August in the fifteenth year of Wanli, at the imperial meeting in the Huangji Hall, Xiao and Xie, sent by the envoy Sulu, sent a memorial to Kaiwen and sent it to the Forbidden City.
This Lubu Feijie was the first good news delivered across the sea by the Ming Dynasty. The victory was announced three days after taking the city of Manila, and they set off on a fast boat, arriving in Guangzhou in six days and nights. From Guangzhou Guangbao, it was directly transmitted to Nanjing. Through Nanjing, it was transmitted to the Capital Guangbao Station, where it was transcribed and sent to the Forbidden City.
Due to the serious military and state affairs, all urgent documents from 800 miles away must be sent directly to the emperor, and good news is no exception. When all the ministers who were attending court saw the good news coming thousands of miles away, they all rejoiced and chanted in unison.
Some say that His Majesty's reforms are so successful that he is so powerful that he can expand the territory with just a few ships. Some say that when the Holy Emperor is on the throne, Xiao and Xie both have the merits of heaven, and they are the captives of thousands of miles. Others say It is said that my emperor has far-sighted plans and has made outstanding achievements in the political affairs hall, so that all barbarians can be intimidated. Everyone is afraid of earthquakes.
As the saying goes, in front of the royal gate, great music plays the glory of triumphal songs; under His Majesty Dan, flattery surges like a great tide. Although Zhu Yijun was secretly vigilant, the timing of the good news was quite coincidental and it really boosted morale. Therefore, Long Yan was very happy and accepted all the flattery.
Unexpectedly, among the crowd of people who were shaking their heads and wagging their tails, there was also someone who was a nuisance. The cabinet minister Luo Wanhua waited for the chanting saint's voice to fade slightly and stepped out of the crowd: "I don't know if Xiao and Xie conquered the city of Manila. Is it His Majesty's wish? Or the Political Affairs Hall What’s your fate?”
As soon as he yelled out, the humming voice of the saint chanting in the Huangji Palace suddenly dropped, and everyone was embarrassed and silent. Zhu Yijun looked at Luo Wanhua, who was over fifty years old, with a slightly gloomy expression.
Although a little unhappy, after many years of being an emperor, his performance of humbly accepting advice has become perfect. At this moment, his eyes were bright and he looked at Luo Wanhua and said, "Mr. Kangzhou, continue."
Luo Wanhua said with emotion: "Your Majesty, Spain controls the east-west trade route at this time. There are colonies on both sides of Hezhou (note: later Africa). Merchant ships must rely on it for supplies. And I, the Ming Dynasty, want to use tea, silk, and porcelain. This trade route is crucial when we are able to gain the benefits of gold and silver from Europe and the North and South Xuanzhou (note: Xuanzhou is later America, now called New Spain)."
Zhu Yijun heard what Luo Wanhua was referring to and nodded slowly. Luo Wanhua was not displeased when he saw Long Yan, and plucked up the courage to continue: "In the old days, during the temple reckoning, Your Majesty wanted to encourage England and Spain to compete in Europe. We supported the weak England and weakened the strong West. After both sides were defeated, the benefits of business were Shared with the English family.”
"Now that the city of Manila has been conquered by the First World War, the east-west trade routes will be cut off. What was originally a situation where England was fighting for our benefit has become a situation where we are competing with Spain and Britain is taking advantage - and every year millions of gold and silver are used on the trade routes. The losses will be calculated separately.”
"In addition, there is still a sealing fleet heading to Europe at this time, waiting for it to pick up Xu Guangqi and others who have returned home. After the Battle of Manila, dangerous places thousands of miles away may lose supplies or be under siege. I would like to ask you, how should we deal with it?"
After Luo Wanhua's analysis, some of the ministers in Huangji Palace heard such a military strategy for the first time, and some were convinced by Luo Wanhua's words, and all of them were speechless.
The ministers bowed their heads, not daring to look at the emperor's face on the throne. Luo Wanhua fired the cannon and returned to work with a low eyebrow. A needle could be heard in the hall. Only some officials below the fourth rank outside the royal gate were still talking in low voices.
The ministers in the palace waited for a long time, but no one came out to relieve the emperor. Zhu Yijun was embarrassed on the throne for a while, then stood up and left his seat. The ministers only heard the sound of footsteps, and Wei Chao immediately shouted: "Retreat!"
Because of the sudden "good news" in Manila, the DPRK meeting on August 3rd broke up in the middle of the meeting. Soon after the emperor returned to the palace, an internal eunuch came out to send a message, summoning the ministers of the Political Affairs Hall and the ministers of the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to the Wuying Hall to discuss matters.
Today, the cabinet is still headed by Zhang Siwei. Beginning in the fifteenth year of Wanli, he experienced the death of his father, his stepmother, Mrs. Hu, and his two younger brothers. He went back and forth for funerals, and his body gradually became unable to support him.
Although after Zhang Juzheng, the imperial court abolished the Ding You system. But precisely because of this, Zhang Siwei has been traveling back and forth between the capital and Puzhou in the past six months, and he has become more and more out of shape.
When Zhang Juzheng was seriously ill and unable to serve as director the year before last, Zhu Yijun expanded the cabinet and formed three factions in order to maintain the continuation of the reform and the stability of the court - one faction was headed by Zhang Siwei, the other faction was Pan Sheng, Luo Wanhua, and Liang Menglong were the backbone of the reform. Shen Shixing and Xu Guo of the other faction split Zhang Dang, headed by Pan Sheng, and their stance was more conservative, and the three parties stood together.
As a result, Zhang Siwei, as the first assistant, could not monopolize the power like Zhang Juzheng. He acted like a powerful minister. However, he developed a ruling style of "ministers do not interfere with each other, matters are handled by the ministries, and words are returned to the platform for advice." However, it is more powerful. Normal conservative system.
However, maintaining success is not what Zhu Yijun wants. The Great Reform began in the second year of Wanli, was fully rolled out in the seventh year of Wanli, and was in full swing in the thirteenth year of Wanli. New situations and new problems caused by the reform have emerged one after another, and it is necessary to constantly break the shackles and innovate - this ability Zhang Siwei does not have.
After Zhu Yijun worked with him for half a year, he understood why Zhang Siwei's reign in the original time and space was short, but it laid the political foundation for the liquidation of Zhang Juzheng. The fundamental reason is that the two have different views, which lead to different political opinions and even more different governing styles.
Zhang Juzheng was a politician who had the ideals of Jun, Yao and Shun in mind. His governance is result-oriented and he does not care about means, but only seeks to achieve his goals. Be ruthless to political opponents, or use harsh punishments to intimidate those who pass the examination. As a result, there was a lot of resentment in the officialdom. In addition, he took countless scapegoats for the emperor, and in the end he really worked hard and even ignored the matters behind him.
Zhang Siwei is not like that. He has no lofty political ambitions in his heart, so he regards the position of Prime Minister as the honor of being a highly respected minister rather than as a means to achieve a certain political goal. He will not hold grudges against the world in order to implement his political opinions - he does not have any outstanding political opinions.
After he confirmed Zhang Juzheng's posthumous title, the first thing he did was to activate Xu Yuanchun, sending a political signal to the world that he would act leniently. At that time, Zhu Yijun also believed that Zhang Juzheng had severely threatened the officialdom and that the so-called civil and military principles were relaxed, so he agreed with Zhang Siwei's leniency.
However, reform is a undertaking that later generations call rolling stones uphill, and there is no room for those in power to breathe a sigh of relief before moving forward. After that, Zhu Yijun successively proposed three major tasks: political reform, financial reform and tax law reform. However, Zhang Siwei agreed well, but he was afraid of difficulties and had no actual results. In the two years since I took office, apart from some research and pilot work, there have not been many bright spots.
Because the progress of the reform has not been significantly disrupted in the past two years, Zhang Siwei's handling of major events such as the Shanxi disaster was quite satisfactory. Although Zhu Yijun was dissatisfied with Zhang Siwei's ability level, he never made up his mind to change his position.
When Zhu Yijun felt that Zhang Siwei was becoming more and more arrogant, his family experienced great changes again. Since the 15th year of Wanli, Pan Sheng had been acting as prime minister in the political affairs hall. However, Xiao and Xie's Meng Lang move in Manila was unexpected. It shows that Pan Sheng does not have the ability and care to control important military affairs.
