Chongzhen Chat Group

Chapter 1308 Moving the Capital

After exiting the chat group, Wen Tiren looked at the categorized memorials placed on his desk, looked up at his colleagues, and suddenly sighed: "Look, most of the memorials nowadays are from the south. This southern thing, There are so many!”

After hearing this, Zhu Xieyuan, the newly appointed minister, stopped working, put down his brush, and said with a smile: "The Mongols and Jianlu in the north have been pacified by my Ming Dynasty, so naturally there are fewer things to do! And in the south, There are so many vassal states in Nanyang, just in terms of trade, there are so many things to do, this is simply incomparable!"

Xue Guoguan listened and joined in the fun and said: "Here in the north, the land is vast and sparsely populated. As long as there is food, everyone is safe. The south is different. There are more people, more troubles, and disasters such as hurricanes, tsunamis, and heavy rains. Too many.”

Another assistant minister, Zhang Zhifa, did not suspect anything and said about this matter: "Now that our Ming Dynasty does a lot of overseas trade, naturally there are more things going on in the south."

After hearing this, Wen Tiren nodded with a smile on his face and said: "Even the treasury's income is mostly related to that place, related to sea trade. There are many benefits, and things are indeed inevitable. If you can work nearby, Our Ming Dynasty’s work efficiency can be improved a lot!”

As soon as these words were spoken, the cabinet fell silent!

They were not fools, and they immediately understood the meaning of Wen Tiren's words. No wonder the first assistant suddenly expressed such emotion, the emotion was because of this! However, the Ming Dynasty has had its capital in the capital for hundreds of years. Would it be too big a deal to move the capital?

In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, made Jiqing the capital and changed its name to Yingtianfu, which is Nanjing.

In 1421, which was the 19th year of Yongle, Zhu Di moved the capital to Shuntian Mansion, making it the capital today.

After the death of Ming Chengzu, Ming Renzong ascended the throne. Ming Renzong was the fat Zhu Gaochi. He had been supervising the country in Nanjing as the prince for a long time. After taking the throne, he faced the dilapidated Peking Palace and immediately planned to return the capital to Nanjing and ordered the Nanjing palace to be repaired. Moreover, the original seal of the Six Ministries of Peking was withdrawn, and the new seal was again printed with "Xing Zai", which was equivalent to abolishing Peking's status as the capital.

However, Ming Renzong's reign was short-lived and he died in less than a year. At this time, the actual action of returning the capital had not yet begun. Although Renzong's edict strongly expressed his wish to return the capital, his son did not comply because his son, Ming Xuanzong, lived mostly in Beijing and had a very good relationship with his grandfather Zhu Di and did not want to return to Nanjing.

By the time of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, this matter was confirmed and the capital would no longer be moved.

But no one expected that hundreds of years later, the chief assistant would actually provoke this matter again. For a moment, the cabinet was very quiet.

After a moment of silence, Zhang Zhifa, an assistant minister from Shandong, immediately admonished: "There has been no change for hundreds of years. How can An Neng mention this matter again? Moreover, moving the capital is of great importance and will waste people and money. And the national affairs of the Ming Dynasty have just improved, so we must not do it." Interrupt!"

However, several other ministers in the cabinet had their own thoughts. They did not think that the chief minister would mention this matter for no reason. Thinking of the personnel changes in the past year, and the fact that the chief minister always followed the emperor's orders, many of them suddenly realized that it was not the emperor who had the idea of ​​moving the capital!

Just as they were thinking this, Wen Tiren spread his hands and said to Zhang Zhifa with a smile: "I never said anything about moving the capital. Xiansong said this. If you think about it carefully, it seems that if Ming Dynasty moves the capital back to Nanjing, it will really be a big deal. What a great idea!”

"..." Zhang Zhifa was speechless upon hearing this. Does he have to shoulder the blame? But what you just said, didn’t you mean to move the capital?

Wen Tiren ignored him and still looked at his colleagues with a smile, and continued: "To be honest, the Ming Dynasty is far from the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and the emergence of steamships has made water transportation and sea transportation the main means of travel in the future. Nanjing has the convenience of the Yangtze River. Whether it is to contact the southeast, northwest, or many vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, it will be very convenient! Judging from various causes and effects, Nanjing is now the capital of the Ming Dynasty. Xiansong’s proposal is very good. I am very I agree. What do your colleagues think?"

In fact, it was the Ming Dynasty that regarded Peiping as its capital. Other Central Plains dynasties generally chose Guanzhong or cities in the Central Plains as their capitals. In the original Peiping, it was only thanks to Zhu Di's forcible relocation of wealthy businessmen from Jiangnan, Shanxi and other places that the capital slowly became prosperous.

If it was said before that Peiping had "majestic terrain, solid mountains and rivers, and all the countries in the four directions, and the roads are well-balanced", if the capital was moved here, it would not only be able to resist the threat of Mongolia, but also occupy favorable terrain and control various parts of the south. Then this situation is in today's Ming Dynasty North Korea, in fact, is no longer applicable.

When Zhu Xieyuan and others among the assistant ministers heard this, they immediately agreed. As southerners, they naturally liked returning all to Nanjing.

But among the auxiliary ministers, Xue Guoguan was also from the north, and he was also from Shaanxi. Seeing that Zhang Zhifa was being abused by Wen Tiren, he hesitated a little, but he couldn't do it silently, so he still objected: "Now the north is attacking Tsarist Russia. The war is about to break out and there are many things to do. I think it is inappropriate to move the capital to Nanjing!"

When Zhu Xieyuan heard this, he immediately retorted: "What does Tsarist Russia have to worry about? A seventeen-year-old boy can return with a great victory with only 800 cavalry. Not to mention, our Ming Dynasty has already done so in Tian Province Enough preparation.”

At this point, he paused and then said: "Besides, there is war in the north, isn't there in the south? No matter what, the Mughal Dynasty is still very powerful today and is always ready to go. Also, Most of the Western Yi came from the sea. If my prediction is correct, the future wars of the Ming Dynasty will have to rely on naval battles. And for many things, if the Ming Dynasty moves its capital to Nanjing, it will be more advantageous. Furthermore..."

From a military perspective, Zhu Xieyuan has been leading troops abroad for a long time, and he is more capable than Xue Guoguan. He was talking so eloquently that Xue Guoguan had no room to interrupt.

Zhu Xieyuan finally finished his long speech. Before Xue Guoguan could refute, Wen Tiren said first: "Okay, okay, since Xiansong proposed to move the capital and everyone was discussing it so enthusiastically, we might as well write to the emperor and make the matter public. In the end, It is ultimately up to the emperor to decide whether to move the capital or not.”

Zhang Zhifa never had a chance to speak. At this time, he heard Wen Tiren throwing the blame on him again. When he really wanted to speak, Zhu Xieyuan laughed loudly and snatched his words away: "Okay, this is a good suggestion from the chief minister. No matter what, we are ministers after all, and the emperor still has the final say as to where the capital will be!"

As soon as he said this, Zhang Zhifa held it back. Everyone had already pointed out that ministers have no right to make decisions. Do they still want to object and go beyond their duties as ministers?

Wen Tiren naturally understood the frustration in Zhang Zhifa's heart, so he heard him say with a smile: "What Heng Yue said makes sense! Let's just write down all the reasons why we should move the capital or not, and submit them all to the emperor, and the emperor will decide!"

In fact, the best thing is to just pretend it never happened. But if it were brought up, there were originally more officials from the south in the DPRK. Needless to say, the matter of moving the capital would definitely cause a big fuss even if the emperor did not agree. If the relocation of the capital is successful, Wen Tiren may not be able to escape because of his insistence on Zhang Zhifa's initiative.

No matter what, now we can only hope that the emperor is not willing to go through trouble.

However, what Zhang Zhifa didn't know was that as soon as Emperor Chongzhen saw the memorial sent to him, he knew that Wen Tiren had done a good job!

In fact, it was Emperor Chongzhen's idea to move the capital. Based on the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, in his opinion, moving the capital to Nanjing would be more beneficial to the control of the Ming Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty's global expansion. Transportation in the capital was too inconvenient without water conservancy.

Since the national policy after the Ming Dynasty was to globalize, sea routes were the most important one. The Yangtze River connects to the sea. No matter where you go, it will be much more convenient if you have a steamer without having to worry about the wind direction!

Another point is that Jiangnan has always been the fashion of the Ming Dynasty and the economic center of the Ming Dynasty. If you sit there, you will definitely be able to promote science and technology knowledge more easily.

In other words, whether it is military, political or cultural, Nanjing will be more suitable than the capital!

Therefore, as soon as the memorial came out, Emperor Chongzhen asked his ministers to discuss it openly. This made the southern officials very happy, and they all said, this is the emperor's New Year's gift!

Of course, the officials in the north strongly opposed it, but their numbers were pitifully small among senior officials such as the Eight Ministries, Nine Ministers, and Cabinet Auxiliary Ministers. Even though Sun Chengzong, who went home to retire, wrote a letter to express his opposition, he could not stop the approval of most officials. The most important thing is that the emperor's will also goes south.

Therefore, in the last few days before the New Year, Emperor Chongzhen made the decision to return the capital to Nanjing next year.

This news is also very bad news for the people of the capital. However, they could not influence the court's decision-making. They could only scold those who proposed moving the capital. As a result, Zhang Zhifa would be in dire straits!

After the decree to return the capital to Nanjing came down, Zhang Zhifa wrote one after another to resign. However, Emperor Chongzhen disagreed and instead sent him to Nanjing to prepare for the return of the capital.

Compared with the capital, Yingtian Mansion celebrated more joyfully. Firecrackers were sold several times more than before during the New Year. Many people even rushed to Yingtian Mansion to buy houses. The house prices are rising steadily. Before the specific plan for returning to the capital has been released, the housing prices in Yingtian Mansion have already doubled.

After the New Year, it is the eleventh year of Chongzhen. Since the beginning of the new year, the biggest topic of discussion is the matter of returning to Nanjing.

Of course, although there are accompanying people to relocate the capital, there are so many things to do, involving all aspects, that it won't be possible to move for a while. At the same time, in other places, what should be done is still done.

For example, from the Japanese side, a large number of warships were bound for their bases in the Americas. And Goa has been conquered. In addition to keeping the people in check, there must also be a considerable garrison to prevent the Mughal dynasty from taking advantage of the chaos. Even the vassal kings of Goa are also in the bidding.

One thing that made Emperor Chongzhen more depressed was that Sveira ran away again. The Portuguese who caught him said that he seemed to have gone back to Portugal. Emperor Chongzhen still felt a little regretful about this.

But when I think about it again, Chongzhen doesn't matter anymore. This is also beneficial. If we go back to Portugal, we will have a good reputation!

Thinking of this, another fugitive who is also slippery cannot be escaped this time. If he runs away again, he might cause harm to many overseas Ming people!

With this in mind, he sent a message to Wu Sangui who had arrived in America through the chat group. When the war against Mexico begins, Liu Xiang cannot be allowed to run away no matter what.

At the same time, the British envoys who had been lobbying in Europe had returned to England and reported the situation to Charles I.

For Charles I, things were not as good as expected. Whether it is friendly cooperation with them or forcing them to bow their heads, the greatest benefit of trade with the big Eastern countries is that Eastern commodities can be monopolized in Europe, so that huge profits can be made.

Therefore, each country had its own plan, and they did not agree as soon as they lobbied, as Charles I thought.

For example, the Portuguese had a plan to occupy the Lion Kingdom and block the road to the East, so they were not enthusiastic about forming an alliance to deal with the great powers in the East. In particular, the plan to capture the entire Lion Kingdom went smoothly, and the Governor of Colombo, Shivella, also shipped back boatloads of wealth, which made the Portuguese feel that this move was the most appropriate.

As for the Spaniards, they already know that Luzon has been snatched away by the Eastern powers, but they are now more focused on the Americas. You other countries are still snatching his treasure ships. It is strange that they can cooperate!

France currently has no colonies in the East, and is not very willing to form alliances and confront Eastern powers. More importantly, they wanted to colonize North Africa.

It was the Netherlands that responded to Charles I's request for an alliance. It was because the Dutch East India Company suffered too many losses. Not only was the Batavia base robbed, but even the huge fleet sent to the Far East was wiped out, which made the Dutch realize that The rise of the great Eastern powers on the sea posed a serious threat to the Dutch maritime hegemony.

All in all, as far as the current European continent is concerned, Charles I only received a response from the Dutch. Most other countries were just evading, or perfunctory, or simply wanted to be a fisherman, thinking about the good things of snipe and clam fighting.

Charles I was very angry about this and said: "They are all a group of short-sighted and incompetent people. The Ming Dynasty is so big and has abundant products. Once it starts to pay attention to the outside world, it will be like a lion waking up. Who can rival it? While the Ming Dynasty is so big, it is like a lion waking up. The Ming Dynasty just started to pay attention to the sea, and it was profitable to fight them back at once. Don't they understand?"

When he heard about China's huge fleet, he knew that all European countries must unite to fight against that eastern power!

When Charles I was angry, someone came outside to report that Captain Wedell was back and brought good news. This surprised him a little, and he quickly issued an order to summon him.

Thanks to 0886449 for the 200 starting coin reward! Thanks tommy815 for the tip!

ps: This book, as everyone should have noticed, is almost over. However, the new book is still just an idea, and some joints have not been thought through, let alone the beginning. I promised to finish it all at the beginning of the month, so I have to hurry up with the new book. This old book will not be updated. If there are still more that meet the requirements, it will be added to the new book.

In addition, friends who are soliciting for the name of the protagonist of the new book, or the late Ming Dynasty, can provide one, and other names can be used as supporting characters as long as they are suitable.

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