When Zhang Siwei was helped by Zhongshu into the large conference room of Wuying Hall, the cabinet ministers, palace ministers, ministers and others were already sitting on the lamp hanging chairs or on the pillars under the throne. When they saw him coming in, they all stood up. He bowed his hands and said, "I've met the Prime Minister."
After the reform, the Ming Dynasty greatly changed the ancestral system in all aspects of politics and economy, but partially restored the ancestral system in the etiquette system: that is, the "officials and the people bowed and worshiped". The so-called "yi" means to hold hands as a courtesy. "Bowling" means kneeling down and worshiping. There are nine types of bowing, such as bowing one's head, pausing one's head, emptying one's head, and vibrating one's head. They are used in different occasions.
The etiquette for ministers to see the emperor has not changed much. The "Da Ming Huidian" stipulates: "The chief minister bows his head five times and bows five times. This is the etiquette for ministers to see the emperor. All officials kneel when they are doing something, and rise as soon as there is an order." It is very detailed, but Zhu Yijun gave more favors to sit or avoid kneeling, and all the ministers gradually got used to it.
The biggest changes were between officials and common people. The "Officials and People Bowing and Bowing Ceremony" implemented in the early Ming Dynasty was established by Zhu Yuanzhang. The main purpose was to abolish the "Hu Ceremony" of the Yuan Dynasty. People in the Yuan Dynasty mostly used kneeling to worship, but Zhu Yuanzhang, in order to boost the morale of the people, stipulated that officials within four ranks of each other could use the hand-over salute. People are not allowed to kneel down and worship when they see an official in the inner chamber, but they can only do so in the court hall.
However, as time goes by, this kind of "obeisance ceremony between officials and people" gradually becomes less popular. Similar to the effect of "bad money drives out good money", there are many weak-kneed people around prominent figures - whether in official circles or among the people.
Of course, there are also tough ones. Hai Rui got the nickname "Hai Bijie" because he abided by the ancestral rules.
In recent years, the imperial court has repeatedly issued orders and caught some examples of non-observance of etiquette. Only then has it become popular again for officials and people to bow to each other, especially in the Forbidden City, where all ministers are dignified.
When Zhang Siwei saw the ministers cupping their hands in greeting, he also tremblingly cupped his hands in return. Wang Guoguang, who was standing opposite him, saw his panting look and laughed secretly in his heart: "He is still in love with you like this, this thief is really good at power."
Zhang Siwei sat at the top of the table closest to the throne. Opposite him was the British minister Zhang Yuangong. The emperor had not entered the palace. This is also the proper meaning. The emperor cannot be allowed to wait for his ministers.
After sitting down, the quiet whip was fired three times, and the ministers stopped whispering to each other. They all sat upright and looked ahead. There was a sound of footsteps, and a prisoner shouted: "Your Majesty is here!"
So everyone left their seats, lined up behind the chairs on both sides and knelt down, chanting long live the mountain. Zhu Yijun walked to the throne, looked down at the ministers, and then raised his hand.
The eunuch then shouted: "If you are flat, please give me a seat!" Then everyone from Zhang Siwei to Zhang Yuangong thanked him and returned to his seat, and Zhu Yijun also sat upright on the throne.
Then he said: "Yifu." Luo Wanhua was startled, stood up and bowed: "I am here."
Luo Wanhua has a thin appearance and is fifty-five years old. For a politician, he is in his prime. Hearing that the emperor rarely called him "Yifu" instead of "Mr. Kangzhou", his heart was pounding.
Zhu Yijun asked: "Yifu has been in Myanmar for many years and has had many contacts with the Spaniards. How do you think they will react after the Battle of Manila?"
Luo Wanhua pondered for a moment and then played back loudly: "After Spain annexed Portugal, Felipe II was so complacent that he thought his martial arts was unparalleled in the world and could not accept defeat. Now that Manila has fallen into the hands of the imperial court, its people There were many casualties, and I thought he had no other choice but to fight."
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun was silent for a while and asked, "What should the court do?" After hearing this, the ministers all looked at Wang Guoguang, Pan Sheng and others in surprise - the emperor should have accepted the question. Luo Wanhua expressed his views in the Huangji Palace.
Luo Wanhua had already suspected it, and immediately responded: "Although Xiao and Xie took Manila without purpose, since they have already done it, the court has no reason to return it to Spain. I suggest five measures to respond."
"First, urgently send a large army to help stabilize the situation in Luzon, uproot Spanish forces in Cebu and other places, and pocket the victory." Zhu Yijun nodded after hearing this, and the ministers also felt that since the war had begun, this one belonged to As it should be.
"Both, if the city of Manila falls, the Western merchants will be unable to move forward, and our maritime merchants may not dare to trade with Manchuria and Goa. The triangular trade between Goa-Manila-Manila will inevitably come to a halt. The imperial court should order Linhai The provinces must be on guard, firstly to prevent pirate attacks, and secondly, to take the initiative to stop trade to prevent maritime merchants from leaving without ever returning. Three."
After pondering for a moment, Luo Wanhua said: "Send someone to Manchuria urgently to find a way to send a message to the European mission to make them prepared, or to suggest that Lord Xu seek refuge in England."
After he finished speaking the first three points, all the ministers in the palace nodded involuntarily, feeling that he had covered everything and was worthy of being a cabinet minister in charge of foreign affairs. Waiting quietly for him to say the last two words.
Luo Wanhua coughed lightly, his voice became deeper, and then said: "I think that after the whole territory of Luzon is captured, the navy should be dispatched immediately to capture Malacca and Goa - since we and Spain are bound to If war breaks out, it would be better to take all the Chinese colonies."
"Finally, the navy should be expanded to prepare to compete with Spain for the colonies in Hezhou - until Yang Fan sails off the coast of Europe." As soon as these words came out, the needles could be heard in Wuying Palace.
Since he ascended the throne today, he has worked hard for fifteen years and his national strength has been increasing day by day. But there were only two real wars where money was spent: one was the Northeast War in the second year of Wanli. At that time, the national treasury was empty, and Zhang Juzheng worked hard to ensure the logistics. The hole was filled before and after the salt policy reform.
Starting from the attack on Japan, the war entered a healthy development track. Ling Yunyi conquered Japan. Because the temple was unparalleled, he only fought one battle at Tachibanayama Castle and settled the situation. Later, he made some money by supporting the king's policy of stopping the war.
When they attacked Burma and Annam, the formal reforms had already begun, and the clan reform was also launched at the same time. Although the expedition of the new army was expensive, the southwestern provinces had been at war with Burma for many years and were well prepared in terms of food and grass. In addition to spending a lot of money to transport new troops, the central government The army participated in the war in the past, and the money spent elsewhere was not much.
After taking over Burma and Annan, Ming Dynasty almost always made money during the war by auctioning mineral land. Especially in Myanmar, Gong Xian and Deng Zilong fought hard by supporting agents and reselling military supplies. The entire transaction chain made huge profits, almost draining Myanmar, and laid the foundation for the subsequent return to the country.
The second costly war was the Western Expedition plus the Northern Expedition. Although the vast land under the jurisdiction of the Western Region Governor's Office has a lot of output, the land transportation line is long, and the transportation of horses, jade and other items to the Central Plains is already sky-high - the market audience is small, and the gains are a drop in the bucket for the huge logistics.
But the Great Reform had already begun, and the imperial court was able to support the Western Expedition. Lord Ma lived up to Zhu Yijun's expectations, restored all his homeland of the Han and Tang Dynasties, and painted the emperor's golden body with a layer of never-fading gold powder.
After the end of the Western Expedition, the Luo Wilderness Raiders also began immediately. This ongoing war also required staggering costs for logistical support. In order to encourage the soldiers of the Northern Expedition, the imperial court took no money from the aegis, and all the massive logistics were provided by the imperial court.
As a result, although the imperial court's military expenditures were huge, there was already a "sea-land dispute" in the direction of expenditures. Although the navy spent more than the Northern Expedition, its gains were much higher than its expenditures because of the boom in maritime trade. The "returnee faction" represented by Luo Wanhua, Ling Yunyi and others tends to transfer more resources to the navy.
The "Nine-Border Faction" headed by Zhang Siwei, Liang Menglong and others, together with representatives of military and landowners, made huge profits from the Mongolian-Han trade and the Western Region trade. From the initial resistance to the Northern Expedition to their full support later, they naturally formed the " The "local faction" competes or even conflicts with the "returnee faction" - this kind of factional division is not subject to human will and is an inevitable political phenomenon.
As the emperor, Zhu Yijun certainly knew this well. However, his policy of "advancing simultaneously by land and sea" is not obviously biased, and he is happy to see the two sides fighting over military spending.
Now, taking advantage of Xiao and Xie's success in Manila, Luo Wanhua proposed a comprehensive seaward strategy in the last two of the five strategies. In order to tie Ming Dynasty to the chariot of the vastly expanded navy, he naturally had to invade the "local faction" The interests of the people - as soon as his words fell, the ministers knew clearly that a big fight was about to take place.
(End of chapter)
