Xie Qian was extremely unwilling to admit it in his heart.
He was born in traditional Confucianism and was knowledgeable, so he naturally believed deeply in Confucianism.
But as a cabinet minister, he clearly knew everything that Ming Dynasty had experienced over the years.
In the previous Ming Dynasty, Emperor Hongzhi did indeed follow the instructions of the civil servants. He was very diligent, loved the people like a son, and was close to virtuous ministers and far away from treacherous sycophants. He was much better than his father Ming Xianzong.
However, the Ming Dynasty was still the same Ming Dynasty. It was not much stronger than the Ming Xianzong, but it became even weaker.
During the reign of Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, at least the border defense was guaranteed. The Tatars could not go south to rob the border people every year. The emperor could sleep well during the Chinese New Year. When there was a famine, the court had money and food to provide relief.
However, in the Hongzhi Dynasty, the food needs were paid instead of silver. The food needs of the border troops could not be guaranteed, and the border defenses were empty. The Tatars went south to plunder and block the customs every year.
When there was a famine, the imperial court had no money or food to provide relief, so the land was filled with hungry people, people were bartering for food, and bandits broke out everywhere.
The Japanese pirates on the southeast coast repeatedly invaded the border, and the chieftains in the southwest were very dishonest, which could be described as internal and external troubles. However, everyone still wanted to praise Emperor Hongzhi and praise the so-called Hongzhi ZTE.
Look at the Ming Dynasty now. It has long been free from all worries. The vast grasslands in the north have become the horse farms and meat warehouses of the Ming Dynasty. The grassland people who make people talk about it have become good at singing and dancing, and are hospitable.
The people are rich, the court is rich, the Ming army is strong and sweeping across the four directions, all nations come to court, and the rich lands in all directions belong to our Ming Dynasty and become the cradle of our Chinese descendants.
Such a huge contrast and contrast also made Xie Qian often think about what went wrong?
Why did the set of things that I had always believed in not only fail to achieve the effect of enriching the country and strengthening the people, but it was the set of things that Liu Jin implemented that made the Ming Dynasty rich and powerful, unprecedentedly powerful and wealthy.
"It's time to go home and retire."
Xie Qian sighed and retracted his thoughts.
"Father~"
At this time, Xie Qian's sons Xie Zheng and Xie Pi came in.
"Is there any news?"
Xie Qian looked at his two sons. Xie Qian had six sons in his life. All six sons were very promising, especially the second son Xie Pi.
There are only four cases. The first one is Wang Hua, Wang Shouren and his son.
"Father, I have inquired clearly. Today, the Holy Father summoned the cabinet minister Liu, Mr. Li Erge, the British Duke Zhang Mao, and the Ministry of Personnel Minister Liu Jin to come together incognito for a private visit."
Xie Zheng replied.
"Alas~"
"It seems that if you don't want to go home to retire, you have to go home to retire."
Xie Qian sighed after hearing this and said helplessly.
"Father, you are also the current cabinet minister after all. How could the Holy One treat you like this~"
Xie Pi looked very angry. Xie Qian was still the elder of the pavilion. If anything happened in the past, Emperor Hongzhi would always take Xie Qian with him. It would be indispensable.
Whether it was a small meeting in the Chancery's study room or a private visit with Emperor Hongzhi, Xie Qian was always by his side. This had been a habit for many years.
This has been the case since Xie Qian was appointed as a lecturer in the early years of Hongzhi, and it has never changed.
But now, Emperor Hongzhi went out for a private visit incognito. Three cabinet ministers brought two of them with him, as well as Zhang Mao and Liu Jin, but he did not bring you Xie Qian. This embarrassed Xie Qian.
"I can't blame His Majesty. It's me who let Him down."
Xie Qian shook his head slightly, he knew clearly why Emperor Hongzhi didn't take him.
"The way of governing the country that I have always believed in is completely contrary to the path taken by the Ming Dynasty today. If I am out of tune, it is only a matter of time that I will not be welcomed by the emperor."
"But fortunately you are all still young. As long as you study hard and do well, you may not be able to leave a name in history in the future."
Looking at his son, Xie Qian was rarely pleased.
All of his six sons are very promising.
Historically, his eldest son Xie Zhengguan was appointed as a member of the Ministry of Rites, Wailang, and his second son, Xie Pi, was appointed as Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Personnel, and was awarded the title of Minister of the Ministry of Rites.
The third son, Xie Dou, was promoted to the left assistant minister of Dali Temple. The fourth son, Xie Gen, was adopted by his younger brother Xie Di. Xie Di was appointed as the chief envoy to Guangdong and became a feudal official. Xie Gen later also became the military governor.
The fifth son joined the Zuojun of the Metropolitan Administration, and the fifth son went to Wuding Prefecture, Shandong Province to be a judge, and the sixth son went to Jiaozhou, Shandong Province to be a magistrate.
It can be said that the Xie family is a real official family, extremely noble, and all their children are very promising, and there are no dogs in the tiger gate.
In comparison, Li Dongyang was in a much worse situation. After giving birth to several sons, they all died in infancy. He had to adopt sons from his own brothers. As for Liu Jian's sons, they were all useless. The eldest son relied on the family to get a son.
Zhongshu Shelang, his second son died early, his third son failed to achieve anything, and even his grandsons did not become successful.
So looking at his son, Xie Qian felt that he was still stronger than Liu Jian and Li Dongyang. Not only was he the number one scholar, his son was also much better than them.
My only regret is that I probably have no hope of going any further, and now I have to resign and return to my hometown to retire.
It's just a pity in life that he went home to take care of himself when he was only over 60 years old and could not go any further.
"My son must remember~"
When Xie Zheng and Xie Pi heard this, they quickly said seriously.
"Is there any news about Xie Zhi overseas?"
Xie Qian nodded with satisfaction and randomly asked about his fifth son.
The fifth son had no intention of studying literature since he was a child, so he simply asked him to learn martial arts. With the Ming Dynasty's overseas expansion and the rapid development of colonialism, the Xie family, as an obviously noble family, naturally wanted to develop overseas, so the fifth son, Xie Zhi,
I simply resigned and went to work overseas.
"Father, the fifth brother just received a letter. He has seized a colony in West Africa, but the situation in West Africa is turbulent."
"The Spanish, the Koreans, and the Ottoman Empire are constantly at war, seizing colonies. At the same time, pirates are rampant and extremely arrogant. The Japanese are also colluding with the Spanish, stirring up the situation in the entire West Africa."
"In addition, King Xing in West Africa, the Xingguo established by the emperor's younger brother, is also expanding aggressively, and seems to be facing the Spanish."
"This has caused the Spaniards, who originally did not offend our Ming Dynasty, to start targeting our Ming Dynasty people, so our colony is now in danger."
"He hopes that we can support him with more manpower, ships, weapons and equipment, and he also needs more funds to run the colony."
Xie Zheng took out a letter and handed it to Xie Qian, explaining in detail Xie Zhi's situation overseas.
"It was too late for us to go overseas. All the good places were occupied by others. Now we can only compete for a small colony in West Africa, and we have to deal with a complicated situation."
Xie Qian read it quickly and sighed.
"How much money do you have left at home?"
"There are less than five hundred thousand taels of silver left."
"Only five hundred thousand taels of silver left?"
"Yes, father, last year our family and some big families from Jiangnan opened a bicycle factory here in Songhu. Who knew that this bicycle factory had a huge investment, and because of the lack of rubber, our bicycle factory has never been able to
It can be profitable, but a large amount of money invested will not be recovered in a short time.”
"In addition, the plantations in Nanyang have been converted to rubber, and a lot of money has been invested in purchasing rubber saplings. This is also a huge investment. Now our family really doesn't have much money."
Xie Zheng answered quickly, listing major expenditures in detail.
"Fifty thousand taels of silver is too little. There are too many places to spend money overseas, and weapons and equipment are very expensive, not to mention buying a ship."
After hearing this, Xie Qian also frowned.
Like other big bosses, the Xie family also participated in the interest of capitalism and started textile factories, cement factories, etc., making a lot of money, and then invested in new factories, firms, and plantations.
Manors, colonies, etc.
After the stall opened, there was a shortage of money, and money was needed in all aspects.
"We can only send the five hundred thousand taels of silver first, and then we can find a way to raise money."
Xie Pi thought for a while and said: "Now workers' wages are paid monthly. Otherwise, we can still easily raise hundreds of thousands of taels of silver."
"That's all I can do. I write to Xie Zhi and tell him to find ways to be self-sufficient as much as possible. In addition, I will write to the Governor of South Africa, Taiping Marquis Du Mingen, and ask him to take care of me."
Xie Qian nodded slightly. He couldn't raise enough money in a short time, so he could only let Xie Zhi find a way first.
"Tomorrow morning I am going to court to ask the emperor to return home to retire. From now on, you must be more careful and cautious when doing things in the court."
Then Xie Qian took out the resignation letter he had written and said to his son.
"Father, has it really come to this?"
When Xie Pi heard this, he quickly asked.
Although he had known for a long time that his father intended to retire, he had never reached the point where he had to retire, so he could still continue.
Moreover, with the big tree of Xie Qian, it would be even smoother for the brothers to serve as officials in the court.
Now that Xie Qian is going back to his hometown to live in seclusion, this means that Xie Qian is no longer there to protect them from the wind and rain, and it will not be so easy to get promoted in the future.
Although there are still many old friends of Xie Qian's, all over the government and the public, who doesn't know the reason why people take tea to cool down?
"Yes, father, please think twice. You are only in your early sixties and your body is very healthy. You can definitely continue to do this. You are expected to make further progress."
Xie Zheng also said anxiously.
"There is no room for maneuver. I just asked you to inquire for confirmation. This has lost the trust of the Holy One. As a cabinet minister, there is no need for me to continue to do this."
"I've made up my mind, don't try to persuade me anymore."