The Rise of the European Emperor

"Ma Aiqing, why do you ask for doctors and craftsmen?" After reading the notes on Marin, Zhengde summoned Marin in the Leopard Room in the northwest of the imperial city. As for the observers, there were three cabinet ministers, Li Dongyang, Yang Tinghe and Liang Chu.

After Cao Yuan, Liu Jin's party member, resigned, the courtiers strongly recommended Liu Zhong to join the cabinet so that he could get a deputy state-level treatment for him to retire. But Zhengdeji hated Liu Zhong's leadership in forcing the palace to knock down the palace, so he resolutely refused to promote Liu Zhong to the cabinet, but chose Liang Chu, who had less seniority, to join the cabinet. The ministers wanted to collectively write a letter to force Zhengde to submit, but Zhengde was furious and burned all the memorials of the day, no matter how big or small. Moreover, Zhengde claimed that as long as there is a document recommending Liu Zhong to join the cabinet, all the memorials will be burned that day. Seeing that Zhengde was so decisive, Liu Zhong didn't want the monarch and his ministers to break up completely, so he voluntarily withdrew, so that the matter didn't get out of hand.

Seeing that Liu Zhong was acquainted with each other, Zhengde didn't pursue it any further, and gave Liu Zhong an essay rank and salary. Of course, if you join the cabinet, you don't have to talk about it. This is Zhengde's warning to the officials.

Seeing Zhengde's question, and the three cabinet bosses on the side also looked over one after another, Marin immediately cried:

"Your Majesty, you don't know something! In Europe, medical skills are outrageously backward! For example, when people get sick, shouldn't they take medicine?"

Zhengde and the three elders nodded together, and what Marin said next made the tea in their mouths spit out...

"But in our place, people don't take medicine when they are sick, and those quack doctors who are like witch doctors just give blood...Your Majesty, the three old elders, think about it, how weak people are when they are sick? In the end, those quack doctors still want to drink blood. Stabbing and bleeding...isn't that similar to murder?"

The four bosses wiped off the tea they spouted, and nodded in agreement with Marin's words. And Zhengde looked at Marin with a distressed expression:

"Ma Aiqing, you have suffered. Since childhood, how many times have you been spared blood?"

This time it was Marin's turn to spray tea, but he thought about it seriously and said:

"It seems to be only once..." According to the memory of this body's predecessor, it seems that when he was 13 years old, he fell ill once, and the Hoffman family specially invited a doctor from Bochum to bleed Marin... As for other times... mainly because Hoffman Manor is located in the countryside, and even if you want to find a terrible "witch doctor" who can do bloodletting treatment...

Thanks to the remote location of Hoffman Manor, there are not many "witch doctors" who know the "advanced medical skills" of "bloodletting treatment". He was hanged by bloodletting a long time ago...

When Ma Lin explained the reason that "the country is poor, and you can't even find a quack doctor who can do bloodletting treatment", Zhengde and Sange both had an expression of "you are so lucky".

"Ma Aiqing,

I didn't expect you to have such a miserable life...Master Li, how many doctors do you think are suitable for him? "Master Li is Li Dongyang. Li Dongyang once served as the teacher of Emperor Hongzhi and Zhengde. Zhengde also respected him very much and called him "Master". It should be pointed out that the master here is different from the master, the emperor. It is not allowed to call people father casually. In addition, Sangong and Sangu have the official positions of "Taishi", "Taibao", "Taifu" and "Shaoshi", "Shaobao" and "Shaofu", so the emperor The prince and the prince often called the emperor or the prince the master "Master", or "Shi Bao" or "Bao Fu". Of course, sometimes it was used to refer to the monks. After liberation, the master was used to refer to the craftsmen.

Li Dongyang stroked his goatee, thought for a while, and said:

"It's okay to give it to the chief doctor of the Ma Kingdom, but the imperial doctor of the imperial hospital cannot give it..."

"Why?" Zhengde was puzzled.

"Ahem..." Li Dongyang pretended to cough, and said to himself—why are you so stupid, kid? The imperial doctor was given to Marin, what should we do?

Speaking of which, Li Dongyang is also unlucky. His own sons all died, so he had to adopt a nephew as his son. He is the old man, and some nephews are willing to adopt him, but after all, he was not born by himself. Therefore, Marin did not dare to mention the topic of pediatricians and premature death, so as not to hurt Li Dongyang's heart.

Seeing Li Dongyang winking at him, Zhengde also reacted—yes, imperial physicians treat the royal family and ministers, so how can they give away people at will. So, he changed his words:

"Ma Aiqing, look, the imperial physicians are all people with official positions. I can't just give away officials from Ming Dynasty..."

Li Dongyang, Yang Tinghe, and Liang Chu immediately praised it in private, shouting "666" in their hearts, applauding the reason Zhengde found...

Li Dongyang answered at this time:

"That's how it is, the old man will order that people choose a doctor with excellent medical skills from among the non-official doctors..."

"Wait..." Marin stood up and asked:

"Your Majesty and the three elders mean that the imperial physicians with official status can't give it, but those without official status can do it?"

Li Dongyang thought for a while and said:

"That's true, but we can't force doctors who don't want to go too hard..."

"What if it's a criminal?"

"What do you mean?" Li Dongyang was taken aback, but quickly realized:

"You mean, those eunuchs who cling to Liu Jin?"

Marin clapped his hands and said:

"It's them! Anyway, they are wearing the body of a crime and have no official status. Wouldn't it be nice to give it to the minister and take it to the Beihai Kingdom? Anyway, in Daming, because they are eunuchs, they don't even have an amnesty, and they have nothing to do in the future." Count on it!"

Li Dongyang thought about it, discussed with Zhengde, Yang Tinghe and Liang Chu, and agreed to Ma Lin's request. As for the thoughts of those former imperial physicians? As a person who wears a crime, where to go is only a word from the court...

In this way, Marin easily found 200 doctors from various disciplines including 5 former imperial physicians from the Ming court, which made Marin happy.

...

Then, there is the artisan problem. In fact, craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty, especially shipbuilders, were not so strong as European craftsmen. But the problem is that European craftsmen are all uncles, not to mention high salaries, and they often make revolutions... The most revolutionary citizen class in Europe is dominated by craftsmen...

Although Marin is also training craftsmen, it is a pity that the time is too late. For example, shipbuilding craftsmen can't train highly skilled craftsmen in a few years, and at most they can train barely qualified craftsmen.

The craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty were different. These craftsmen were born as craftsmen, and they had to learn their crafts since they were young. Generally, a middle-aged craftsman has more than ten years of craftsmanship.

Even if the shipbuilding techniques in the East are different from those in Europe, the level of craftsmanship of those Ming craftsmen is there. As long as you learn the European shipbuilding ideas, shipbuilding is still very simple.

Therefore, Marin opened his mouth directly, wanting many, many shipbuilders of the Ming Dynasty...

...

However, Emperor Zhengde hesitated...

Because of Marin, the young Masanori suddenly became interested in sailing. After dismissing Marin in the name of "we need to discuss", Zhengde expressed to Li Dongyang and others that he also intends to engage in navigation...

Marin didn't know, because the actions of the shipbuilders he wanted almost made Zhengde join the great voyage...

...

God bless Marlin, though. At this critical juncture, an important person came out, saved Marin, and also destroyed the hope of the Ming Dynasty to develop a great navigation...

This man is the legendary Comrade Liu Daxia who burned Zheng He's nautical chart...

...

There is no need to say much about Liu Daxia's background. Speaking of great voyages, one cannot avoid this "great loyal minister" who burned the hopes of Ming Dynasty...

Although historians of later generations have mixed praises and criticisms for his work, at present, Liu Daxia is an outstanding representative of a loyal minister, Qingliu's leader...

Coincidentally, Liu Daxia had already retired and returned to his hometown. However, because he offended Liu Jin, he was fined to go to Suzhou (Jiuquan, Gansu Province in later generations) to serve as an army.

When Yang Yiqing was in charge of going to Qingyang, Gansu to appease the public opinion after King Anhua's rebellion, he quietly brought Liu Daxia back to Beijing by the way, and hid in Yang Yiqing's mansion.

After Liu Jin fell from power, Liu Daxia made public appearances. But because Liu Jin's frame-up had not been vindicated, he still stayed in the capital and continued to live in Yang Yiqing's mansion.

It should be pointed out that Liu Daxia, Yang Yiqing and Li Dongyang once studied under the great Confucian Li Chun when they were young. Therefore, the three of them are brothers of the same school. Moreover, Liu Daxia is still the "big brother" among the three.

Because he didn't reply to Ma Lin immediately, Li Dongyang happened to be a guest at Yang Yiqing's house after returning home at night, so he talked about it. Obviously, Zhengde doesn't want to give Marin many shipbuilders, and plans to do a great voyage by himself...

...

"Bang—" Hearing Li Dongyang's words, Liu Daxia slammed the table and roared angrily:

"Binzhi, His Majesty must not let the idea of ​​a great voyage come into being! Daming, I can't bear the toss of voyage!"

If it was in later generations, it is estimated that someone would stand up and criticize Liu Daxia. However, this is the Ming Dynasty, and the Confucian scholars in the Ming Dynasty all agreed with Liu Daxia's words...

Li Dongyang and Yang Yiqing nodded together after listening to Liu Daxia's words. Then, Li Dongyang asked:

"Brother, do you think how to stop His Majesty from engaging in sailing?"

Liu Daxia thought for a while and said:

"I burned the shipbuilding blueprints left by Zheng He at that time, but those shipbuilders are probably still passing down shipbuilding skills from generation to generation. The descendants of those craftsmen who can build treasure ships are probably concentrated in the Jiangnan area. And the treasure ships are mainly produced. From the Longjiang Treasure Shipyard in Nanjing, two junior brothers, go check the files and see where the descendants of those craftsmen who know the craft of making Treasure Ships are distributed. Then, give them to Lord Ma..."

"Give it all to Lord Ma? Senior brother, how many thousand craftsmen built the treasure ship back then? It has been handed down, and it is estimated that there are tens of thousands of people. Counting the family members, it is estimated that there are more than 20,000 to 30,000 people... Could it be that they are all given to Lord Ma?" ?” Li Dongyang asked in surprise.

Liu Daxia said with a ruthless face:

"Binzhi, this is the only way to stop His Majesty's desire to go to the West again! Think about when Taizong (Emperor Yongle) was in power, he almost exhausted the national treasury for going to the West. In order to maintain expenses, Taizong had to Issuing precious banknotes indiscriminately. But Binzhi (Li Dongyang) and Ying Ning (Yang Yiqing), you see, almost no one recognizes the precious banknotes now, and no one buys them if they want to issue them indiscriminately. Are you willing to watch Daming’s treasury being used again? Wasting it for?"

"So, we want to give all the descendants of craftsmen who know how to build treasure ships to Lord Ma, so that His Majesty's desire to resume voyages to the West will be quenched!" Liu Daxia said impassionedly.

If Ma Lin had been there, he would have jumped up excitedly and kissed Liu Daxia's old face—you are really my lucky star!

Of course, for Marin, Liu Daxia is a lucky star. But for Daming, Liu Daxia is the standard nautical terminator... Burning the design of the treasure ship once is not counted, but this time he wants to give away all the craftsmen who can build treasure ships...