Historically, Li Zicheng invaded Beijing in 1644, and the Ming Dynasty was declared destroyed.
However, 1644 was not the coldest time yet, and the Little Ice Age continued to exert its influence. The temperature dropped to the bottom around the time of the San Francisco Rebellion, and it was not until 1680 that it began to warm up significantly.
…
The nineteenth year of Yanjia, 1644 AD.
In the same year, the Ming Dynasty not only did not perish, but became stronger again.
At least, it looks very powerful on the surface.
"Taiping Yulan": "The emperor is virtuous and belongs to the four seas, so he will be born in Yanjia." Emperor Zhu Cizhen of Yanjia had high hopes when he came to the throne. The civil and military officials of the entire dynasty expected him to be of great virtue to the four seas.
His great-grandfather, Zhu Yiju, had been in power for ten years, but he had more than enough to defend the country but not enough to develop.
His grandfather, Zhu Changdan, reigned for sixteen years. He was greedy for pleasure, extremely stupid, appointed treacherous people, and completely ruined the government.
His father, Zhu Youzhen, reigned for seventeen years. At the beginning, he worked hard to clean up the bad governance of the court, but his absurd nature was soon exposed. He was a replica of Emperor Wu Zhu Houzhao, and he indeed regarded Zhu Houzhao as his idol, and clamored to complete the work of his ancestors.
My unfulfilled last wish is to personally drive a giant boat and sail thousands of miles across the sea.
Zhu Youzhen successfully went to sea twice, once to Luzon and then to the coast of Tianzhu. He stayed in Weida Port of Tianzhu for a year due to illness. After recovering from the illness, Jin Yiwei, who was scared to death, coaxed and deceived him and hurried back to Beijing. The second time
The next time he went to sea, he was even more mischievous. Because he was blocked, he didn't take any followers with him. He deceived the eunuchs and Jin Yiwei and ran to Yinzhou alone.
After four years of absence, when he came back, he had a few more followers and brought back a mixed-race woman and a prince.
All the civil and military officials were driven crazy. During this period, they made many noises to establish a new emperor because the emperor disappeared and there was no news for several years.
The reason why a new emperor was not established was because the powerful ministers and eunuchs were in charge. The powerful ministers and eunuchs colluded with each other. Their power came from the emperor. If a new emperor was established, he would probably be liquidated. In the past four years, the government has been in a mess. In addition,
Natural disasters became more frequent, and a peasant uprising involving hundreds of thousands of people broke out in the northwest.
After Zhu Youzhen returned to the country, he was also frightened because an uprising also broke out in Gyeonggi Province, and he was almost coerced into becoming a rebel. The first thing he did when he returned to the court was to make the mixed-race woman brought back from Yinzhou a concubine; the second
In this matter, by appointing a concubine and showing stupidity, the powerful ministers and eunuchs were easily brought into trouble.
After finally being wise, he appointed good ministers to quell the civil unrest, and reduced taxes to provide relief to the victims. After the world started to improve a little, Zhu Youzhen began to commit suicide again.
Ignoring the dissuasion of hundreds of officials, this guy insisted on conquering Qinghai in person to quell the Mongolian and Tibetan rebellion.
During the decisive battle, Zhu Youzhen led the cavalry charge and was hit by a stray bullet flying from nowhere. The wound infection worsened and the high fever persisted. He died before returning to Beijing. It was for Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty and Emperor Xiang.
Emperor Zhu Cizhen of Yanjia ascended the throne at the age of thirteen. Due to the accidental death of his father, the government was controlled by eunuchs and powerful officials.
Zhu Cizhen took charge of the government at the age of fifteen, and at the age of eighteen he cut off the powerful ministers, appointed talented people, neglected corvee and paid little in taxes, opened up territory and expanded the territory, and returned the world to its heart.
However, the climate was getting colder and colder, there were more and more natural disasters, and most of the civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty were the children of merchants. Emperor Yanjia's efforts to govern would inevitably harm the interests of merchants, and he would have disagreements with ministers every now and then.
The Ming Dynasty only stipulated that officials were not allowed to engage in business and did not prohibit the children of businessmen from participating in the imperial examination.
The so-called merchant status does not discriminate against businessmen, but makes it easier for businessmen’s children to take exams!
The first bomb Zhu Cizheng dropped was to cancel the merchant registration. As a result, the children of merchants across the country were no longer allowed to live in other places to take the provincial examination, which was equivalent to a legal ban on "college entrance examination immigration" for merchants.
Immediately afterwards, six cabinet ministers with business backgrounds were dismissed one after another, and officials with clean backgrounds were vigorously appointed.
So the party struggle began.
Although many officials came from humble backgrounds, most of their business masters, seat masters, and house masters had merchant backgrounds. Or, because they became famous at a young age, they had received financial support from businessmen before they had won the election.
Let these officials turn against merchants?
Absolutely impossible!
Gradually, the officials in the DPRK and the Central Government were divided into the Lu Party, the Zhe Party, the Jin Party and the Bai Party.
The Lu Party represents the interests of the cotton industry, the Jin Party represents the interests of the wool textile industry, the Zhejiang Party represents the interests of the silk weaving industry, ceramics industry, tea and rice industry, and the White Party is, to put it bluntly, the imperial party.
Faced with the emperor's increasing pressure, the Lu Party, the Zhejiang Party, and the Jin Party joined forces to form a public opinion offensive in both the government and the opposition, madly criticizing the White Party as treacherous.
Although the White Party has a very shallow foundation, it has the support of the emperor and gradually controls the cabinet's voice.
However, Ke Dao Yan Guan, the six ministers and below, obeyed and violated the orders of the emperor and the cabinet. No matter what policies were introduced to benefit the people, they would be deformed when they reached the local level and become a new excuse for merchants to make profits.
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Tianjin, seaport.
A black-haired scribe was bidding farewell to a red-haired scribe.
The black-haired scribe clasped his fists and said, "Brother Zhicai, you must take care of your health before traveling across vast seas, and keep a useful body. It will bring back the demonic atmosphere every day!"
The red-haired scribe cupped his hands and said, "Brother Meng Jian, please take care of yourself. See you in five years!"
The red-haired scribe's name was Zhang Mei, also known as Zhicai.
His mother's ancestors were Spanish. When Zhu Hai, the explorer of the sea, returned to China, he and his family settled in the Ming Dynasty as an attaché.
After several generations of intermarriage, Zhang Mei's mother already had black hair and married a pure Han Chinese. Unexpectedly, Zhang Mei was seriously atavistic. Not only was she born with red hair, but she also had a distinctly European appearance.
Although she was ridiculed since childhood, Zhang Mei considers herself to be a descendant of the Yan and Huang Dynasties and was admitted as a Tanhualang at the age of nineteen.
Even though the administration of officials is extremely corrupt nowadays, the tradition left by Wang Yuan still exists, at least in form. Cabinet ministers must originate from prefectures and counties.
As a junior high school student, Zhang Mei served in the cabinet for three months and was promoted to magistrate. He was quickly promoted due to his ability to quell civil unrest. After being appreciated by the emperor, he was promoted to the third level in two years and became the right minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs in his early thirties.
Such a kind encounter made Zhang Mei wish he could die serving the emperor.
Just last year, the emperor wanted to crack down on local wealthy merchants. Zhang Mei served as the governor-general of Zhejiang as the right minister, and brought a group of royal guards personally selected by the emperor to take office. The Xu family in Hangzhou was uprooted, and the Hangzhou Shipping Department was demoted from top to bottom. Zhejiang
Several officials from the third division were also dismissed.
The trap was big enough, and fearing that the emperor would continue to act recklessly, the Zhejiang Party first expressed its submission and began to cooperate with the cabinet on minor issues.
However, Zhang Mei, who was in charge of the affairs, was impeached wildly.
Emperor Zhu Ci of Yanjia cleverly demoted Zhang Mei to the New World as magistrate, in order to calm the anger of the government and business forces. When Zhang Mei was demoted, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, the left and right minister of the Ministry of Industry, and the minister of railways of the Ministry of Industry, who were in close collusion with the government and businessmen,
Zhong Ye was finished, and they all became Zhang Mei's burial objects. The emperor took the opportunity to take back the power of water conservancy and railways.
In the Ming Dynasty's political system, as long as the emperor was serious about it, no one could resist openly. At most, he would only cause trouble secretly.
The minister of the Ministry of Industry was directly beheaded, the ministers on the left and right were assigned to Laos, and the minister of the railway department was assigned to Taiwan. No one in the court dared to talk nonsense anymore.
Zhang Mei did not take his wife and children with him this time, but only took a concubine and two servants to go to sea.
He stood on the deck blowing the sea breeze. He did not complain about his future, but felt deeply worried about the state affairs of the Ming Dynasty. The emperor did control the court, but the place was already rotten. Every year, 70% of the money used for disaster relief was spent.
The pockets of corrupt officials and profiteers.
The Ming Dynasty's treasury still has money, and the central government is still willing to provide disaster relief, but the lives of the victims are still so difficult.
Oh, God, your Majesty is clearly the Holy Lord, why do you keep bringing disasters?
Zhang Mei has read the records of Qin Tianjian. When Emperor Cheng (Zhu Zaiyi) and Wang Taishi (Wang Yuan) were in harmony, the Ming Dynasty was in good weather. How could it be so cold in winter? How could there be floods, droughts, and locust plagues all over the country?
Some people say that it was Emperor Cheng who conferred the title of Imperial Master Wang to Tianzhu and expelled the virtuous ministers through the ages. As a result, God sent disasters and punishments. In the later years of Emperor Cheng's life, the temperature dropped sharply and disasters occurred frequently. This situation continues to this day!
Zhang Mei didn't believe this argument, but he couldn't explain the celestial phenomena.
According to the temperature records of Qintianjian, in the past few decades, the average temperature and the minimum temperature have dropped year by year. Now the south of the Yangtze River is covered with snow.
Back in the cabin, Zhang Mei took out "The Biography of Grand Master Wang", which was written by Xu Hongzu.
Before writing the book, Xu Hongzu not only consulted historical materials, but also personally traveled to Guizhou and Tianzhu, and also paid homage to the tomb of the Grand Master of Luzon.
Zhang Mei read this book when he was a boy and turned over every chapter. However, when he encountered setbacks, he would always read it again and use the deeds of the sages to encourage himself.
Zhang Mei casually opened one of the pages and read for half an hour before starting to meditate.
He is a disciple of the Taizhou School. He practices mind studies spiritually and physics intellectually. He also practices martial arts at the same time, taking it as his own duty to support the country and the world.
The Taizhou School has been divided into three.
The leftists are crazy Confucians and crazy Zen people, while the rightists are purely academic.
Zhang Mei's sect claims to be orthodox, respecting Wang Yangming and Wang Yuan as their ancestors, Wang Gen and Wang Xiang as protectors, and Wang Su, Wang Xun, Tang Shunzhi and Zhang Baigui as sages. But the requirements are too high. They must learn the art of war and martial arts, as well as the Four Books and Five Classics.
You need to learn physics, chemistry, astronomy, and geography.
After meditating, Zhang Mei picked up a sword and practiced martial arts again. He had lived by the sea since he was a child and was not afraid of the rough seas.
After practicing so hard that he was sweating profusely, Zhang Mei sat down to adjust his breathing for a while, and then took out Xu Hongzu's "Continuation of the Classic of Mountains and Seas".
"There is a continent in the far east, which is Yinzhou. From Japan in the east, it can be reached in two months with smooth winds and smooth water."
"There is a bay to the east, called Fuwan. It is calm and has a good harbor... There is also a hill, named Fushan... Where Fushan is close to the sea, there is a large lake, named Mazu Lake..."
"Crossing Fuwan, there are woods, all oak, named Oak Bay..."
"Going north along Oak Bay, there is another large bay, Mingwangjin Bay... Going east of Wangjin Bay, there is a river valley, Mingwangjin Valley... Across the river valley there is a large lake, named Xixiang Lake."
"Two rivers merge into the lake, one is the Flowing Gold River, and the other is the Sparkling Gold River. There is a lot of gold sand in the river, and you can grab it with your hands, but now it's all gone..."
It takes two months to reach Beiyinzhou. That was an old saying. Now it takes one and a half months to reach Beiyinzhou from Japan.
If you take the Navy's clipper ship, you can even get there in a month.