The Ming Dynasty was not short of money, and the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was not short of money. But the limitations of this era do not allow the emperor to openly spend money to encourage the great voyages.
The ministers will never allow their emperor to be so ungrateful.
~~~
"Is everything done?"
In the pavilion of the Imperial Garden, Zhu Yunxi was sitting leaning against the railing, eating melon seeds, and said to Li Jinglong.
"I'm doing my job, long live my lord, don't worry!" Li Jinglong said with a smile, "With packages of gold sand exposed on the pier, I'm not afraid they won't take the bait!"
Yes, that drama on the pier. The director behind the scenes is Li Jinglong, and the planner and producer is Zhu Yunxi.
People always stubbornly believe what they see and hear.
So Zhu Yunxi and Li Jinglong created this illusion for some people.
"Hey, let me ask you!" Zhu Yunxi hooked his hands and asked Li Jinglong to get closer, "Those golden sands? Did you really bring them back from Luzon?"
"Absolutely not!" Li Jinglong said hurriedly, "Long live my lord, Lu Song brought back some gold sand, but I sent someone directly to the inner treasury of Da Nei! It was taken out for others to see at the dock, but I don't know the wealth of my family.
ah!"
"My father conquered Shangdu in the Yuan Dynasty, captured the Tatar's youngest son, and took away the Northern Yuan Emperor's military expenses..."
"Okay, okay!" Zhu Yunxi quickly waved his hand, "Looking at how scared you are, I don't want to fight against the autumn wind!"
As he said that, he suddenly smiled evilly and said, "However, the matter of you, Li Jinglong, bringing the golden sand from Luzon must have been confirmed. If I don't ask you to fight against the autumn wind, others can..."
Li Jinglong's face suddenly became dull for a moment, "No way! No one lacks this..." As he said this, he himself lost confidence.
Indeed, no one is short of these things. The key is that they are greedy and irritating.
Zhu Yunxi threw away the melon seeds in his hand and clapped his hands, "It stands to reason that these old..."
Before he finished speaking, Wang Shai came over with small steps, "Long live my Lord, Duke Feng Sheng of the Song Dynasty..."
It’s really here!
Zhu Yunxi picked up the teacup, blew the tea leaves inside, and said, "Just tell them to wait for me to hear what Cao Guogong Li Jinglong said about Nanyang again!"
"My slave obeys the order!"
Zhu Yunxi wanted to let them dry first.
It can't be said that it is left to dry, but it is silently placed on the fire.
Now is the time for them to get anxious.
Zhu Yunxi then said to Li Jinglong, "Since there is a seaport in Luzon, it is absolutely necessary not to set up official positions. I intend to set up a Luzon resettlement envoy, and the official position will be temporarily designated as the fifth rank."
When Li Jinglong heard this, his mind was working rapidly.
"The resettlement envoy is an official, and he will probably be in charge of immigration and trade matters there in the future. The fifth rank is equivalent to a prefect of a city, no, no, since it is an overseas official position, he is in charge of both the people and the military.
This arrangement means that although the control is not great, if you put it in Luzon, you will be the emperor of the country!"
"Since you intend to run the business there, whether it is trade, farming, building forts or garrisoning troops, it must be managed by someone. I said yesterday that I wanted you to be the governor. It was a joke. Think about it, is there anyone you can recommend?"
Zhu Yunxi said again.
Li Jinglong must deal with this problem carefully.
Whenever a monarch asks his ministers to recommend him for any official position, Chengdu is a trap.
What would the emperor think if he, Li Jinglong, recommended someone without hesitation?
Hey, you, Li Jinglong, have a lot of connections! Can you easily recommend officials to the imperial court?
And if the recommended person fails to perform well in the future, the recommender will also be jointly and severally liable!
"I am in a hurry, and I don't have many candidates. Your Majesty, you know me. I am a solitary minister, and I have never interacted with the courtiers. Besides, if I recommend a military general, how many people can I name, but the official...
."
His little thoughts seemed to be clear to Zhu Yunxi.
"You said that the Chinese businessmen in Luzon have aspirations for the Celestial Empire, so can Xu Chai be of great use?" Zhu Yunxi asked again.
"I am rather... optimistic about this person!" For the sake of the future sugar factory, Li Jinglong gritted his teeth and said, "This person has a good character. Although he is overseas, he never forgets his homeland and always treats the people of the Heavenly Kingdom.
Self-proclaimed.”
"Since you are the guarantee, let's give him a try!" Zhu Yunxi said with a smile.
Li Jinglong cried out in his heart, "When did I become a guarantee?"
In fact, Zhu Yunxi had already seen through his little thoughts. During Li Jinglong's trip to Luzon in South Asia, he and Xu Chailao secretly planned to open a sugar factory in the future, and someone had reported it to Zhu Yunxi last night to do the cane sugar business.
What does Jin Yiwei do?
What are blue eyes for?
The reason why Zhu Yunxi was unwilling to tell the truth was because he knew that the people above had to eat meat and those below had to drink soup. The great voyage benefited the entire country, and in this era, trying to isolate officials and businessmen was simply a fool's errand.
Furthermore, great voyages are driven by profit.
Li Jinglong worked so hard to help Zhu Yunxi advocate the benefits of navigation, wasn't he about to get huge benefits?
These big businessmen and big bureaucrats have made huge profits in those overseas places. Naturally, they have to fight tooth and nail to maintain their interests, maintain law and order, and export. It can be said that at this stage, their pursuit of profits and the empire's pursuit of territory are fundamentally different.
are consistent.
Even, in the future age of navigation, they will complement each other.
"Later, you write a letter to Mr. Xu Chai and tell him that you will be his guarantor in front of me. On my side, I will give him the official position of resettlement envoy." Zhu Yunxi said.
Li Jinglong thought about it, "Your Majesty, the position of placement envoy is of great importance..."
"He has been there for many years and is familiar with the local situation, so why not give him an official position?" Zhu Yunxi said with a smile, "Besides, I said I would give him a resettlement envoy, but I did not say I would leave everything to him. Other resettlement immigrants,
Officials in charge of commerce, military garrison, etc. are all selected from the DPRK!"
After saying this, Li Jinglong understood.
"Long live the Holy Ming!" Li Jinglong said with a smile.
Although the official position of resettlement was given to Xu Chailao, if the people below who hold the real power do not cooperate, then he is just a clay Bodhisattva and will not become big at all.
The people in power below are each responsible for a part, restricting each other, cooperating with each other, but at the same time monitoring each other. In this way, there will never be a local emperor in the overseas lands of the Ming Dynasty.
"Give you a favor!" Zhu Yunxi said again, "Please nominate someone for the garrison military attache!" He said with a smile, "I know that the benefits you get in Luzon are not just those you bring back, right?
"
Hearing this, Li Jinglong was overjoyed and said, "Long live Lord, I am thinking of you!" He said, a little embarrassed, "I can't even hide my unsatisfactory thoughts from Lord Long live!"
There are some things that both monarch and ministers know very well.
~~~
On the edge of the imperial garden, a group of old military princes could faintly be seen not far away. The emperor and Li Jinglong were sitting together, talking and laughing.
Although the distance is not far, no one dares to go there without the emperor's order.
A group of old men were so anxious that some even grinned.
"Fourth brother, what do you think the emperor said to Li Jinglong?" Cao Zhen, the Marquis of Jingchuan, said to Guo Ying, the Marquis of Wuding.
"Where do I know where to go?" Guo Ying rolled her eyes at him angrily, and then looked at Song Guogong Feng Sheng, "Second brother, when you meet the emperor, you always have to speak first!"
"What should I say first?" Feng Sheng was stunned for a moment, and then said angrily, "That's not what everyone said before coming here. Didn't you say that we should all talk to the emperor together? Why did you let me come first when you entered the palace? Oh, take me
Be the raft and let me take the lead, right?"
"Second brother, what do you think you are saying?" Someone behind him muttered, "You have the highest title and the most senior qualifications. Don't we let you say it first because we regard you as our backbone?"
Seeing that a group of old military princes were about to start a quarrel, a young eunuch came over.
"Fellow military lords, the Emperor is here, please come with your servants!"
