Now judging from the news about Jin Zidian, the Ming Dynasty is not strong at all now. The barbarians who originated from the white mountains and black waters defeated the Ming Dynasty, and they even ascended the throne and proclaimed themselves emperor.
Nowadays, North Korea is a terra incognita. If the Japanese country can occupy this terra incognita, it will be the easiest thing. The Ming Dynasty only had a Dongjiang Army of less than 10,000 troops here, and it mainly dealt with the Liaodong rebellion.
As for the land route, it would be even more impossible for the Ming Dynasty to invade North Korea. No matter what, the rebellion in Liaodong must be defeated first!
With that in mind, Tokugawa Iemitsu felt that this was a God-given opportunity to become the first and most outstanding general in the history of Japan, which meant that Japan would have a piece of mainland land!
To be honest, Tokugawa Iemitsu was excited. However, he was also rational and did not dare to make a rash decision to send troops to North Korea.
After some secret deliberations, Tokugawa Iemitsu decided, first, to send people to North Korea to verify the situation; second, to have Daimufu Kaga Tadasumi step up efforts to verify various daimyo. If Japan sent troops to Korea, how would these famous people react?
The original duty of the Daimufu of Japan was to monitor the senior officials of the shogunate, especially the various daimyo, which was somewhat similar to the Jinyiwei of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, Tokugawa Iemitsu would give this task to Kagazumi Tadazumi.
On the side of Lao Naka Matsudaira Nobutsuna, he began to make secret preparations for the annexation of North Korea. After all, annexing North Korea is a major event. Whether it is the mobilization of food and supplies, the mobilization of soldiers, or the relocation of Japanese people, it will take a long time to prepare.
Naturally, Emperor Chongzhen still didn't know about this matter. At this time, he was also looking at the end of the year and began to summarize this year's situation.
Generally speaking, there were no major disasters during the Ming Dynasty. There was only an earth dragon turning over, which did not have a big impact on farming. In this way, the food problem in the coming year will be greatly alleviated. This made Emperor Chongzhen feel that the Little Ice Age was about to pass, right? If that’s the case, that would be great!
At the end of last year, we won the battle of Guihua City, clearing away the Mongolian forces outside the Great Wall from Gansu to Shanxi in the Ming Dynasty in one fell swoop, so that the people at the border of the Ming Dynasty no longer suffered from military disasters.
Next, there is the reform of the Beijing camp, eliminating the weak and retaining the strong, and enriching the elite soldiers of Jiubian. This can be regarded as an achievement in the army.
In terms of economy, the glass factory has been officially expanded, and each province has set up one. The auction of shares has already fetched astronomical figures in the capital, and it is expected to be similar in other provinces.
In addition, Jianlu destroyed Korea. Although Emperor Chongzhen was a little surprised by this, he was not sad. The destruction of North Korea was a good thing for the Ming Dynasty. In the future, it could become the North Korea Province of the Ming Dynasty and be directly brought under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty. After all, that place was considered a relatively important place.
Ming Dynasty and Jianlu also fought two wars. The first time, the slave chief Huang Taiji was angry to death. The death of this tycoon who founded the captives would be very beneficial to the Ming Dynasty.
In the second war, the Ming Dynasty cleared away the influence of the Mongolian tribes in the east, accepted the Aohan tribe, and went to the far north to declare sovereignty for the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, it also cut off Jianlu's largest military alliance, which also created obstacles for Jianlu and increased the food pressure on Jianlu.
Looking back on all this, Emperor Chongzhen was generally very satisfied. According to the plan, Jianlu is being weakened step by step, and at the same time, he is strengthening himself step by step. At least at this time, Emperor Chongzhen no longer worried about the pay for the border troops.
The promotion of sweet potatoes continued for another year and became the staple food in many places in the Ming Dynasty, preventing the possibility of famine. This can also be regarded as a success in farming. Going forward, the agricultural department will have more and more achievements in the breeding of sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn. Historical experience has proven that these crops can be cultivated to produce high-yielding seeds and become high-yielding crops. In this way, the lives of the people of Ming Dynasty will become better and better.
Nearly a year has passed, and according to night-time inspections at the border, there are no new Mongolian tribes to occupy the Hetao Plain. There are some fugitives who went there to avoid taxes.
In this regard, Emperor Chongzhen decided that he would no longer use this piece of fat to hang the Mongols. It was time to send an edict to Zheng Chongjian, the governor of the three sides, and Chen Qiyu, the governor of Xuanda, asking them to organize manpower to move to the Hetao Plain to build the Guihua City. , set up counties to open up wasteland and cultivate fields to make up for the shortage of cultivated fields in the pass.
After thinking about these things for a while, Emperor Chongzhen focused his attention on military affairs again. The innovation in Jingying has been effective. This can be seen from this battle on the grassland. After continuing to train, there shouldn't be many problems if I want to use it next year.
In addition, those who are eliminated from the Beijing camp and cannot be used as combat soldiers are prepared to be used in local engineering troops. Although they are only used for disaster prevention and disaster prevention, building roads and bridges, etc., they must also be rewarded based on their merits and given some Hope for promotion. Then, next year we will carry out reform of the military system of the guard station on a larger scale.
By the way, there is also the war in Yunnan. Although it is far away from the capital, it has been many years and cannot be delayed forever.
Ma Xianglin has Class A eavesdropping seeds on his body. Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen knew that due to the terrain and environment of Yunnan, although the coalition forces of the Baigan Army and other chieftains had no problem defeating the rebels, they had been unable to exterminate them.
In response, Emperor Chongzhen decided to send an imperial edict to Mu Tianbo in Yunnan, asking Mu Tianbo to speed up the time to resolve the rebellion, otherwise, he would be unhappy!
This is a threat, asking Mu Tianbo to spend some of the money he has accumulated over hundreds of years. As long as the money is thrown out, Emperor Chongzhen doesn't believe that the traitors can't be exterminated, so why is he delaying it like this!
After thinking about things for a while, Emperor Chongzhen was suddenly brought back to his senses by the sound. When he heard it, it was the sound of "cracking" firecrackers coming from outside the Forbidden City.
"Another year is about to pass!" After hearing this, he stood up, stretched, and said with a smile.
When the eunuch on duty Fang Zhenghua heard this, he immediately responded with a smile: "Your Majesty is wise and powerful, and the people's life has become much easier. The sound of firecrackers has already started a few days ago! Listen, slave, My heart is filled with joy!”
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, his heart suddenly moved, and he said with a smile: "Oh, it's rare for me to have some free time. Let's go and follow me out of the palace to see how my people are living."
Upon hearing this, Fang Zhenghua couldn't help but feel stupid. If he had known that this would happen, he would not have said such words.
Although Fang Zhenghua was in the palace and was regarded as a man of great skill, it is said that he was the prototype of Dongfang Bubai in later generations. But no matter what, it is a big event for the emperor to leave the palace. For them, if they can avoid leaving the palace, it is of course best not to leave the palace.
But now that the emperor had opened his mouth, he did not dare to disobey, so he agreed and gave urgent instructions to prepare for the emperor to leave the palace.
Not long after, Emperor Chongzhen left the palace incognito, and began to walk around the streets of the capital under the protection of the plainclothes guards.
When he first crossed over, Emperor Chongzhen also went out of the palace incognito to check on the public sentiment. At that time, Jianlu was still raging in the capital, and the streets were deserted, with refugees and so on. It could be said that the legendary prosperity of the Ming capital really made him a little disappointed.
But this time, after Emperor Chongzhen left the palace, he found that what he saw and heard was completely different from before.
The New Year is approaching, and the streets and alleys of Ming Dynasty are full of people. Well, most of the people I see are beaming with joy and laughter. They can be seen everywhere.
In order to attract customers, many merchants also put up lights and colorful decorations, which gives off a festive atmosphere. The shopkeepers are shouting, and goods from all over the world can be seen.
Emperor Chongzhen noticed that firecrackers would be set off in any mansion with a slight appearance. As soon as the crackling sound was heard, a group of children came over, laughing and joking!
…
Emperor Chongzhen was very pleased with these situations. The Ming Dynasty should have such people's sentiments. If it were like before, it would be derelict to be the emperor.
Seeing the smile between the emperor's brows, Fang Zhenghua, who was waiting at the side, complimented with a smile: "Sir, the scenes of the prosperous times recorded in the history books are nothing more than this!"
Emperor Chongzhen accepted this flattery gladly, but on the surface, he said lightly: "I think there is still a gap between me and the master! Look, most people can't afford to wear silk and satin!"
"..." Fang Zhenghua and the surrounding Jinyi guards were speechless when they heard this. They were thinking, Your Majesty, you want all the people to wear silk and satin. How is this possible?
With this thought in mind, no one would be stupid enough to spoil the emperor's interest. Naturally, they did not dare to deny it in person. Instead, they responded perfunctorily and kept saying yes.
Emperor Chongzhen also noticed this, but he didn't care. Most of the people wear silk and satin, so what's so strange about it? As long as productivity is improved, materials are enriched, and the people are rich, wearing silk and satin is nothing!
With this thought in mind, he walked forward smoothly and continued to look at the joyful scene in front of him. On some streets, there were juggling and other performances, and he would stop and watch them for a while. If he thought they were good, he would naturally reward them and be generous, which often attracted a lot of attention.
After watching a monkey show and enjoying the feeling of a rich man for a while, he just turned to leave and was about to move forward when someone suddenly stopped in front of him. When the Jin Yiwei who was pretending to be a servant saw him, he immediately stepped forward to stop him.
"Sir, I am the envoy of the Western God. I see that your noble family seems to be losing money in the coming year, so I am here to resolve it."
When Emperor Chongzhen heard the sound, he saw a man dressed as a Western missionary, staring at him with a serious face, and was stunned for a moment. In later generations, this would have been common, but in the Ming Dynasty, it was still a bit rare.
What this person said is a bit alarmist, but if it were an ordinary rich person, hearing this, they would rather believe it or not, and would always ask to find out the situation. In this way, the purpose of this person saying this was achieved.
Emperor Chongzhen knew this trick well and couldn't help but sneer, do you know who I am and how dare you fool me?
But at this time, he was in a good mood and didn't want to pay attention to this kind of person. He raised his legs and left, preparing to continue to see the next place.
When the man saw Emperor Chongzhen ignoring him, he immediately became anxious. According to their practice of preaching, they usually target officials and wealthy households first.
As for the officials, this person is not qualified yet, but he is a rich man, so he can try his luck.
At this time, seeing that the big fat sheep that he had been staring at for a long time seemed to be uninterested and about to leave, he quickly raised his voice and said: "Is this benefactor interested in the magic of turning stone into gold?"
The Midas touch? When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he stopped and turned to look at the man, thinking to himself, who are you fooling? You dare to say that the Midas turns into gold? Believe it or not, I have done more chemical experiments than all of you combined. need more!
Seeing Emperor Chongzhen standing still, the man couldn't help but feel happy. It seems that rich people are really interested in the money. So, he quickly seized the opportunity, immediately turned into a mysterious expression, and tried to get close to Emperor Chongzhen, but was still stopped by the plainclothes guards, so he had to say to Emperor Chongzhen from a distance: "This benefactor is the Midas Stone of our Western God. The art of turning stone into gold is well-known. If you are sincere and can be accepted by the Divine Envoy, you can teach me the art of turning stone into gold!"
As expected, scaremongering or exaggeration is all for the purpose of attracting people to Christianity.
In this era, most people of the Ming Dynasty still believed in Buddhism and Taoism. Among them, most of the Ming emperors believed in Taoism. The most famous one was naturally the Jiajing Emperor who wanted to live forever and practiced in the palace all day long.
This Western religion, Emperor Chongzhen also remembered, the missionary Tang Ruowang tried every means to get close to the original Emperor Chongzhen, using Western things as a stepping stone, and was eventually appointed as an official in the Qintian Prison, translating almanacs for the Ming Dynasty, and promoting astronomy , making instruments. He also cast cannons for the Ming Dynasty, and for this credit, he also asked the original Emperor Chongzhen to bestow the four words "Qin Praise for Tianxue" and make plaques for hanging in churches around the world.
Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen felt a little unhappy. His vision, of course, is not like the people of Ming Dynasty, who are limited to what they see. But according to the records of later generations, we know that the Western missionaries of this era were more of a kind of Western expansion, spiritual expansion, combined with Western colonization with guns and artillery.
Does it contribute to the world? Yes, for example, it spreads Western science and culture, but more importantly, it brings blood and fire! Even in the Ming Dynasty, it was the same at the beginning. It was just that he was beaten down by the Ming Dynasty and did not dare to use force anymore.
Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen frowned, feeling unhappy, and turned around and left, leaving the man very disappointed. I feel that over the years, the lives of the people of Ming Dynasty have become better and better, and the missionary work has become more and more difficult. In this case, when will I learn the art of turning stone into gold?
Emperor Chongzhen didn't care and continued shopping for a while. Suddenly, Fang Zhenghua approached him and whispered: "Master, an acquaintance is here."
Miaoshuwu
