The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Shuanglin, even if we have different political views, we will not live or die."

After hearing Feng Bao's words to help him vent his anger and deal with those disobedient officials, Zhang Juzheng shook his head and said, "But what worries me the most is what Shandai did.

With this war going on, the court's money and food will be spent like a flowing stream."

Wei Guangde squinted his eyes and inadvertently glanced at Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao.

There is something strange here today. Wei Guangde wonders if it is a play jointly performed by Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao for him.

"Shaloan, you should be able to imagine that implementing the New Deal and rectifying the administration require a peaceful environment.

In fact, when I first saw Liaodong expanding its territory, I was very supportive of it. However, after returning home in the evening, I regretted it. I felt it was too reckless.

But after seeing your full support and the Ministry of War's active preparations, I felt embarrassed to say it. "

Zhang Juzheng looked at Wei Guangde with his sleepy eyes and said.

"But it turned out well, didn't it?"

Wei Guangde also pretended to be drunk and replied.

In fact, he was really drunk, but his reason was still there.

Wei Guangde was not sure whether Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao were in the same state at this time. He wanted to remember every word they said and think about it carefully when he went back.

But in my drunken state at this time, I really can’t say how much I will remember when I go back.

Wei Guangde had never tested his memory when he was drunk, but they all said that drinking can ruin things, so I thought this was true.

"But after that, you were planning to restore Old Port, but Old Port didn't take action and attacked Luzon first. Now the situation in Myanmar is also very critical. I'm afraid the war is not far away.

The current situation in the imperial court, if we win everything, it can be said that even if the losses are bigger, it will still be justified.

Do you know what I'm most afraid of?

If the war is not going well, this is the most fatal to the stability of the court.

You can choose generals well, I admit that.

Whether it's Ma Fang or Yu Dayou that you recommend, they are both very capable.

The same goes for Qi Jiguang. I am actually very optimistic about him because he can train troops. This is exactly the general the court needs.

But you should also know how much taxes Yu Dayou's Jiangnan Navy took away from the southeast.

Ma Fang's Xuan cavalry took away many horses and firearms that should belong to other military towns.

Their achievements were mostly made with money from the imperial court. "

Zhang Juzheng complained: "At the Ministry of Household Affairs, although the Ming Dynasty silver dollar issuance has earned one million taels of silver, there will be continued silver income in the future.

Whether it is silver dollars or silver horns, now the people are very accepting of it, but the court's money cannot be saved, and it is just spent like a flowing stream, which makes me feel uneasy. "

Folks say that money makes heroes brave. In fact, in the imperial court, when a war breaks out, the biggest worry is that money and food will not be provided.

In fact, it is also very clear that wars in ancient times were fought not only with people, but also with money and food.

The current Ming Dynasty court has no savings at all in the Household Department. Although it has Chang Ying's treasury to cover the money, it can only be used in very critical situations and is almost outside the scope of the court's management.

If there is anything that the cabinet can affect Chang Yingku, it may be the right of inspection.

Just as Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, Feng Bao suddenly interrupted and said, "Uncle, don't fool me with these words. Are you saying this because you want to attract the attention of Yuegang Tax Bank? No way."

Wei Guangde looked at Feng Bao. At this time, his situation was similar to that of Zhang Juzheng.

"How much money the Ministry of Revenue gave to the inner court in the past years will still have to be given in the future. Don't expect the Ministry of Revenue to get more money.

The past few years have been difficult in the palace. When the late emperor was here, you said that the court could not make ends meet. The late emperor wanted the Ministry of Household Affairs to provide some money to purchase things for the palace people, but you blocked it in every possible way.

After so many years of debt, the Queen Mother in the palace still wanted to wait for the Hong Kong tax money to arrive and buy some things. "

Obviously, Wei Guangde was confused by what Zhang Juzheng said. He didn't know whether he was talking to him or Feng Bao.

"There are too many people in the palace, some of the older ones should be let out of the palace, and the palace can also save a lot of expenses.

Moreover, there are so many monthly Hong Kong tax credits, how can you use them all?

We won’t discuss this matter today, we’ll talk about it later.

Since the three of us are here today, we might as well have a frank talk.

Shandai has a bright mind and the household department looks bright on the outside, but in fact some internal finances are tight.

Shandai, let me ask you, do you have any other ways to enrich your treasury? "

Zhang Juzheng glanced at Feng Bao and did not answer his question, but asked Wei Guangde if he had any other ways to make money for the court.

"Uncle, why are you suddenly so interested in money?"

Wei Guangde didn't know why Zhang Juzheng said that. Was it because he was planning to use Yahang to collect commercial taxes nationwide in advance?

However, Wei Guangde didn't think that now was the opportunity to bring this up, so he chose to play dumb and not answer directly, but to explore his background.

"In the past two days, I have reviewed the memorials about the Yi people over the years, and found that there are indeed more and more Yi people active around my Ming Dynasty.

These Yi people initially wanted to defeat the Ming Dynasty with their firearms, and only after failure did they start doing business.

However, they didn't seem to calm down because of this. Instead, they continued to attack cities and plunder territories in foreign countries outside our Ming Dynasty. "

Zhang Juzheng lowered his head slightly and said in a very serious tone: "Although I don't like military affairs, the more I think about it, the more horrified I feel.

If they are allowed to continue, I am afraid that all the countries around my Ming Dynasty will be occupied by them sooner or later.

By then, Ming still cannot escape from fighting with them again.

At that time, they have more places to rely on, and they can continue to spend time with me.

If the imperial court does not have enough money reserves, it may be in danger. "

"I thought you were worried about something, but it turned out to be about those barbarians."

Feng Bao smiled disdainfully.

"Shuanglin, you don't know. Just ask Shandai how many troops the Spaniards used to occupy Luzon."

Zhang Juzheng became serious, looked at Feng Bao and said seriously.

At this time, Zhang Juzheng's eyes were filled with clarity.

"Sure enough, I'm not drunk."

Wei Guangde smiled bitterly in his heart, "This wine is really not that delicious."

"Shandai, you should know more about the situation in Luzon from the Ministry of War. Please tell me.

Seeing how powerful the Yi people were, even Zhang Da and his assistant were a little worried. "

Feng Baoshi said.

"Two to three hundred people. Now there are more people. There may be nearly a thousand Spaniards in Luzon."

Wei Guangde said.

This news was learned by Deng Zilong from the local Chinese during his previous trip to Manila.

When they occupied Manila Bay, there were not many Spanish people, about two to three hundred.

As for occupying the entire Luzon, it took the Spanish more than half a year.

In fact, many Luzon people on the island do not obey Spain, but there is no way. If they do not surrender, they will be attacked by the Spanish army.

Because some tribes were exterminated, the remaining Luzon people, whether willing or not, at least ostensibly chose to surrender.

"How many people are there in Luzon?"

Feng Bao asked in surprise when he heard Wei Guangde say that the barbarians occupied Luzon with only a few hundred people.

"Several hundred thousand people, maybe around a million."

In fact, Yu Dayou did not mention this population data. There should have been an investigation on the Spanish occupation there.

But the data will definitely not be told to the people of Ming Dynasty.

Wei Guangde only guessed that there should still be hundreds of thousands of people.

Feng Bao frowned slightly at this time, and his previous drunken look had disappeared.

"Are there any other places in Nanyang occupied by barbarians?"

Feng Bao asked again.

"Manchujia, just across the sea from the old port."

Wei Guangde replied.

"How many troops did the Yi people use?"

Feng Bao asked curiously.

"I don't know, probably a few hundred people."

Of course Wei Guangde didn't know about the full situation, after all, it had been many years.

However, he continued: "The people who occupied Manchijia were the Portuguese, who were from the same country as the barbarians over at Haojing.

The Portuguese active population around Daming should be more than the Spanish. One of them came from the west, the Portuguese, and the other came from the east, the Spanish. "

“Aren’t the Yi people countries together?”

Hearing that the Yi people came from the east and west directions, Feng Bao asked curiously.

At the same time, there was actually Zhang Juzheng who had this question.

Neither of them were illiterate, on the contrary, they were both cultural figures of the Ming Dynasty during this period, intellectuals with their own ideas.

But they really don’t know much about overseas.

Perhaps Wei Guangde was the first person to open his eyes to the world in the Ming Dynasty. After all, he received nine years of compulsory education and seven years of further study as a "highly educated talent."

Wei Guangde thought for a while. Although no one in the Ming Dynasty proposed the idea that the earth was round during this period, it was actually popular in Europe and has been verified.

The two people in front of them are considered to be the most powerful people in the Ming Dynasty. It doesn't seem like a bad thing to let them know some modern knowledge.

So, Wei Guangde thought about it, then picked up the wine glass and said: "I heard some things from the Yi merchants earlier, which somewhat subverted our understanding.

That is to say, the earth beneath our feet is a sphere. "

At this point, Wei Guangde raised his glass and said, "According to the Yi people, it's like this is the Ming Dynasty."

As he spoke, Wei Guangde pointed to the pattern on the wine glass, then pointed to the back and continued: "This is the country of the barbarians.

No matter they go from east to west or from west to east, they will eventually reach here, which is our Ming Dynasty.

Then as I said before, the Spanish came from the east and the Portuguese came from the west. "

Wei Guangde's words had a great impact on the two of them. They all looked at Wei Guangde with wide eyes.

“Don’t look at me like that, I didn’t believe it at first, but after many confirmations from many people, this is really how they came.

The Portuguese came over and arrived at the Ming Dynasty through the countries that the Sanbao eunuch passed through. The Spaniards were lucky enough to find a vast continent to the east of our Ming Dynasty, a land larger than our Ming Dynasty.

The Spanish country is more powerful than Portugal, but fewer people from Spain come to the Ming Dynasty because they sent all their people there. "

Speaking of this, Wei Guangde's heart moved.

Although the Ming Dynasty did not have the ability to expedition to America, it seemed good to instill some appropriate ideas.

Along the coastline, the Ming Dynasty could extend its sphere of influence to the west.

It is a pity that the transportation and communication restrictions in this era are too great to directly extend to Europe.

Staring at the wine glass in Wei Guangde's hand, both of them were shocked by his words.

But if you think about it carefully, it seems to make sense.

Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao had heard the statement before that the Yi people came from the east and west, but they had never thought about it together.

Wei Guangde's metaphor of holding a tea cup was very vivid, and it immediately made them understand the actual situation.

Zhang Juzheng picked up his wine glass and looked at it for a moment before asking: "I remember it seems that the Portuguese reached the Ming Dynasty first. Does that mean that it is easier to reach the country of the Yi people by going west?" ’

Wei Guangde smiled and nodded, "That's true."

"Why don't they come from the west together? Also, is there really a continent to the east?"

Feng Bao also asked at this time.

“There is an uncrowned king over there among the Yi people, who is religious, and they seem to call him the Pope.

Spain and Portugal were big countries among the barbarians, and their pope seemed to have authorized them to carve up the world.

One's partition range is to the east and the other is to the west, so they have to come from the east and west. "

Wei Guangde once again shocked Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao when he revealed his impression of the Spanish and Portuguese carving up the world.

"Pope? Divide the world?"

Zhang Juzheng looked at Wei Guangde suspiciously, wondering where his news came from.

“The Pope is a religious imperial power and has no secular rights.

All secular power is in the hands of the king of the barbarian country.

Spain and Portugal, which reached the Ming Dynasty, were the two most powerful countries among the barbarians.

It is said that because their war for the colonies was too brutal, the Pope intervened, mediated, and decided on a way to divide the world.

Therefore, when the Portuguese arrived in the Ming Dynasty, they first went to war. If they couldn't win, they started to trade honestly.

Because such actions are permitted by the religious level, they can rob everything they see. "

Wei Guangde explained.

"What can the Pope gain from them?"

Feng Bao asked doubtfully.

“The kings of the two countries paid tribute of gold and silver to the Pope, and also facilitated the missionaries under the Pope.

Uncle, do you still remember the memorials sent by Fujian and Guangdong in the early years, saying that there were Yi missionaries who wanted to preach in the Ming Dynasty? "

Wei Guangde reminded him.

"Yes, I remember that they were allowed to preach in the trading ports, but they were not allowed to spread the religion outside."

Zhang Juzheng naturally knew this, so he nodded.

In fact, missionaries at this time often arrived in various countries around the world on Spanish and Portuguese colonial warships to spread the teachings of the European church to them.

"Everything they can grab belongs to them? How can this pope have such great power?"

Feng Bao was still a little confused. Such power was probably even more generous than the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

However, it is also a kind of religious right, something that overrides secular rights, so it is inevitable that Feng Bao should not think too much about it.

“The power of the Pope only lies in the church, but as more people believe in religion, the secular world will naturally have an influence.

In order to maintain their rule, their kings could only maintain good relations with the church, and even those kings were loyal believers of the church.

Therefore, the pope has a transcendent status in the barbarian country. "

Speaking of this, Wei Guangde sneered: "Even without the Pope's authorization, they will naturally not spit out the territory they grabbed.

The continent to the east is said to be full of gold and silver mines. The silver they got from the Ming Dynasty was all produced in the continent to the east. "

Wei Guangde once again made remarks that shocked them.