Chapter 632 Chapter 631 Xu Jie's Suggestions

Supporters on both sides have made their stance clear. There are not many people standing around at this time. Only Zhang Juzheng is left in the cabinet. He turned slightly sideways and frowned slightly as he looked at the current situation.

To be honest, it was a bit beyond his imagination.

Judging from the memorials of the past two days, the voices of North Korea and China opposing the opening of the sea are far louder than those of supporters. Although this is still the case now, the ratio between the two sides is very close.

After thinking about it for a while, he realized that many of the people who later came out to support the opening of the sea actually had no immediate interests. These officials also did not participate in the previous memorial movement.

Looking at Chen Yiqin, Gao Gong and others kneeling next to him, Zhang Juzheng felt that he was truly opposed to them.

Yu Zhuan was an old man, so was he, but he couldn't stand up to support him.

It was obvious that Emperor Longqing supported the opening of the sea, otherwise they would not all come forward.

Gao Gong, you must go down, otherwise you and your teacher may have to leave the court. Today, I will let you be arrogant for the time being.

Zhang Juzheng thought in his mind, but he did not express his support or objection, he just stood there quietly.

He is from Huguang, and the gentlemen along the coast have no influence on him.

As for the teacher Xu Jie, it is true that many people have come to him during this period. As the first assistant, Xu Jie knows what things can be done and what things cannot be done.

His every move is of great importance, and he will never disregard the stability of the court for a small gain.

The overall situation, this is what the first assistant must consider.

At this time, Emperor Longqing seemed to be in a dilemma. He looked at the supporters and the opponents, and seemed to be comparing which side had more people.

Considering the current situation, there are definitely more important ministers who support the opening of the sea. However, these are all high-level officials in the court. If the people outside the palace are included, it is estimated that there will be more officials who support the ban on the sea.

Fortunately, although there were many people outside, they were unable to participate in this debate.

Emperor Longqing first glanced to the right, where the nobles and military ministers were.

They have no interest in getting involved in the current situation. It is a dog-eat-dog fight between civil servants. Opening and banning seas has little benefit to them.

At least at this moment, that's what Xungui and Wuchen thought.

Opening up the sea might be of interest to those who stayed in Nanjing, but for those in Beijing, what they valued more was land and salt.

The embezzlement of military pay, which was regarded by later generations as an important reason for the demise of the Ming Dynasty, was actually something that was regarded as a treasure by the clansmen who had little status in the palace to the people standing in the palace.

To them, that little bit of military pay was worth tens of thousands of taels of silver a month, and there were countless families to share it with.

The Duke of Cheng, Zhu Xizhong, and the British Duke, Zhang Rong, were all watching the scene happening in the palace coldly. The Duke of Ding, Xu Yande, was old and looked trembling as he stood there.

It is said that Duke Dingguo has been in poor health since he participated in the funeral of Emperor Sejong. It is estimated that he is too lazy to care about such matters at this time, even if he saw his niece-in-law Wei Guangde also expressed his stance.

For nobles like them, there is no need to grab any merit from the dragon. It is risky, and their own level has already reached the top.

It is also necessary to faithfully implement the emperor's orders after issuing them. The royal family will not be able to make any mistakes. It is enough that they will be favored if they do well.

Therefore, the nobles are now waiting for Emperor Longqing to make a decision. Once the emperor speaks, they will support it as soon as possible.

Emperor Longqing shifted his gaze to the left, where the ministers were standing. Standing alone in front of him was Zhang Juzheng, who was very conspicuous.

Of the next six ministers, only Yang Bo, the minister of official affairs, and Gao Yao, the minister of household affairs, have not moved. The others have already chosen their supporters.

After that, there are the five temples and the first level of minister. To be honest, Emperor Longqing has an impression of some of them, while there are others who have little contact with them and the impression is not deep. He just knows their names.

"Uncle, Xu Aiqing did not arrive at the court meeting today due to health reasons. I wonder if I told you anything yesterday?"

Xu Jie was present during the cabinet discussion yesterday. After that, the emperor did not approve Shangshu's begging return, so now he said to Zhang Juzheng, let's see how their master and apprentice discussed this matter.

"His Majesty."

At this time, Zhang Juzheng also walked out of the train and knelt down and said: "After the cabinet meeting yesterday, Mr. Xu Ge was also thinking about the livelihood of the people in Fujian, but the ancestral system cannot be violated. As the chief minister, he cannot make this opening, so he is worried about becoming ill."

Zhang Juzheng didn't speak much, but Xu Jie's attitude was still very clear. He was still opposed to the opening of the sea, but he also missed the Fujian people in his heart, so he became ill.

"Your Majesty, the ancestral system cannot be violated."

Grohe shouted at the right moment.

"His Majesty."

As Gao Yi shouted, the supporters behind him also cried like this.

It can only be said that Zhu Yuanzhang was really too lenient. Before his death, he added a lock to the system he formulated, and the standard was modified by his descendants. Little did he know that the rule he added became the legal basis for future officials to restrict imperial power.

The Ming Dynasty classic "Huang Ming Ancestral Instructions" compiled under the supervision of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, contains Zhu Yuanzhang's instructions to his descendants in order to consolidate Zhu Ming's imperial power.

There are thirteen chapters in the book. The first four chapters describe the strict regulations on the ban on torture and the ban on the appointment of the prime minister. The following chapters discuss in detail the treatment of the criminal relatives of the emperor and the policies for the four countries. Finally, It is about rules on issues such as respecting heaven and ancestors, and talks a lot about rules and regulations.

He also made strict regulations in this regard. Not a word of this classic is allowed to be changed, and all must be implemented.

Unfortunately, when Zhu Yuanzhang died, none of his descendants took his words seriously.

From the moment he passed the throne to his grandson Zhu Yunwen, he began to reduce the power of the vassal states. First, he overturned the system established by Zhu Yuanzhang, forcing Prince of Yan Zhu Di to choose a path of rebellion.

After Zhu Di succeeded in his rebellion, he ignored the provisions of the "Huang Ming Zuxun" and used extreme punishments on a large number of civil and military officials loyal to the Jianwen court, such as Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng, and Fang Xiaoru, which seriously violated the provisions of the ancestral precepts set by Zhu Yuanzhang that "torture is prohibited."

Zhu Yuanzhang set strict ancestral precepts, but few of his descendants followed them. The root cause was that Zhu Yuanzhang's upper beam was not straight, and the lower beam was crooked.

Zhu Yuanzhang himself was a typical example of decisive killing. Hu Weiyong, who was executed by slow slicing, and Lan Yu, who was skinned daylily, also had achievements during their lifetime, but he did not follow the system he established.

Especially in the matter of choosing the crown prince Zhu Yunwen to inherit the throne, there was a complete lack of consideration, because if Zhu Yunwen followed the inheritance system established in the ancestral precepts, he would never get this position.

This thing that was reduced to waste paper at the beginning has always been a yoke on the heads of the Ming Dynasty emperors. Officials often use the "Huang Ming Zuxun" to guide the emperor's actions.

The emperors of the Ming Dynasty also knew this, but they were powerless to refute it.

Of course, for a strong monarch, the ancestral system is just like that. If it needs to be changed, they will try their best to modify it. For example, Emperor Jiajing secretly changed some systems to save the country in a roundabout way.

After that, he turned a blind eye to the advice of the officials, and finally even stopped the court meeting. Everyone turned a blind eye.

When it came to Emperor Longqing, the only way to change the "sea ban" ancestral system was to negotiate with the officials and find a way to pass it.

It is difficult to force the move, and it is easy to provoke a stronger counterattack from officials, and even the decree was rejected by the cabinet, because the most important cabinet ministers, the first and second ministers, did not dare to publicly express their support for opening the sea.

It was as good as saying nothing, and Xu Jie also earned a reputation of sympathizing with the people, which was certainly not what Emperor Longqing wanted.

Frowning, Emperor Longqing continued to ask: "Does the first minister have a way to solve this issue?"

Now the two factions of support and opposition have already confronted each other, and a large number of them knelt down in the Huangji Hall.

What the cabinet does is to give the emperor ideas to solve problems.

Now that the problem has come out, as the first minister, should he also come up with a solution, instead of simply supporting or opposing and making his attitude clear?

According to Wei Guangde's previous opinion, today is almost the end. The emperor will not make a decision at the court meeting, but let everyone submit their own solutions.

Afterwards, naturally someone will mention that the sea ban will remain, but Fujian will be given the privilege of trading in the East and West Oceans to solve the livelihood problem of the people of Fujian.

In this way, the ban on sea trade in most coastal prefectures and counties in the country will remain unchanged, but it will be easier for everyone to accept the opening of the sea to solve the practical difficulties of the people in Fujian.

With such a memorial, it should be passed for discussion. Even if there is still opposition, it must be forced to go ahead.

Emperor Longqing did not care whether the people of Fujian really couldn't survive, nor did he care how much income the opening of Fujian to the sea could increase for the inner treasury, but he cared whether the opening of the sea could weaken the power of the Japanese pirates and let the Ming Dynasty get rid of the Japanese invasion.

"Your Majesty, the Prime Minister has indeed been troubled by this matter during this period. He has a preliminary idea, but it is not mature yet."

Zhang Juzheng replied.

"Tell me about it."

Emperor Longqing became interested. He wanted to know what Xu Jie would think.

"The Prime Minister believes that the livelihood of the people of Fujian must be taken care of, and the ancestral precepts cannot be violated. The policy of "sea ban" can be continued, and only one port can be developed in Fujian. The government will impose strict restrictions on ships coming and going.

As Governor Tu approved, private merchants should be allowed to trade in the East and West Oceans, and trade with the Japanese should be prohibited.

All merchant ships engaged in foreign trade along the coast must go to Yuegang to go through formalities, and load and inspect goods when leaving and entering the port.

All ships must apply for "ship permits" or "business permits" and other certificates before they can go to sea. There are strict restrictions on the time of going to sea. If they do not return to the country after the time limit, they will be dealt with as "collaborating with the Japanese."

It is strictly forbidden to carry saltpeter, copper, iron and other items to sea."

As soon as Zhang Juzheng opened his mouth, he and Xu Jie discussed and said one by one the terms that they thought should be restricted.

At this time, saltpeter, copper and other materials were extremely scarce in the Ming Dynasty. Saltpeter can be used to refine gunpowder and is a strategic material, while copper is a material for making weapons and copper coins. The Ming Dynasty has always been troubled by the shortage of copper mines.

As for iron, although the output is huge, it is also a strategic material under control.

From the very beginning, the Ming Dynasty had a clear understanding of these strategic materials and knew that under the premise of insufficient domestic supply, it should be prohibited to smuggle them out.

However, after all, the court officials lacked vision. They did not know that such resources, which were in short supply in the Ming Dynasty, were inexhaustible in foreign countries. They could exchange these scarce raw materials in large quantities with the exquisite handicrafts of the Ming Dynasty.

As for the sea merchants who engaged in foreign trade privately, they naturally knew about it, but they regarded these news as a trick to make a fortune, and kept it very secret, and would not leak any of it.

Those who knew these things in the court were also people whose families were engaged in maritime trade, and of course they would not be stupid enough to spread the news.

And those officials who were paid to do things were kept in the dark by them.

In later generations, many people only focused on how many billions of taels of silver were brought back to China by the "Longqing Opening", and few people considered letting the Ming Dynasty use maritime trade to bring back scarce materials from overseas to solve the problem of insufficient resources encountered in domestic development.

This is not a few ships or dozens of ships. Only when the Chinese people truly realize that there are endless resources overseas, will the awareness of sea power have a chance to rise and make them think about going out to grab resources.

Wei Guangde came to the Ming Dynasty, read a lot of books, and had his own views on the prosperous times.

The so-called clean and honest administration is a joke. Many wise kings in the past dynasties could not solve this problem. Even in the future, the continuous improvement of the system cannot eliminate it.

For the people, the prosperity of the dynasty has nothing to do with the officials. They only calculate the money in their pockets.

As long as the people are rich and have enough food, it is a prosperous age for them.

For the dynasty, the people's peaceful and happy life is not enough to support the name of "prosperous age". You must also have enough external influence.

The Ming Dynasty was originally the sovereign state in the East, and all foreign vassals could only be vassals, so there had to be a stronger voice externally, and the will of the Ming Emperor and the policies of the Ming court could influence the surrounding vassal states and all vassal states related to the Ming Dynasty.

Only when both internally and externally reach this level can it be called a "prosperous age".

In Wei Guangde's view, since land annexation is inevitable, let the landless peasants move into the city.

Enter factories and workshops to promote the urbanization of the Ming Dynasty.

Let them no longer continue to dig for food from the land, but work with their hands and solve their livelihood problems with labor.

The Ming Dynasty had the best handicrafts in the world, and there was no fear of not being able to monopolize global trade.

Equalizing land was what the founding emperor did.

Use force to seize the resources left over from the previous dynasty to win the hearts of the people so that he could sit firmly on the throne.

Longqing was just a conservative emperor, and he did not need to make a so-called reform to stabilize his throne.

Because once the land ownership is changed again, it can indeed prolong the life of the dynasty, but it will affect the interests of all vested interests, including Wei Guangde.

His family is no longer a hundred households of the Ming Dynasty's Bengshan Baihu Suo, but a large landlord with vast fertile land in Jiangxi.

Zhang Juzheng was still kneeling in front and constantly telling about the decision he had discussed with Xu Jie. Emperor Longqing on the dragon throne had already sat up straight, staring at him with wide eyes, and his heart was also in turmoil.

What Wei Guangde had studied for several years was understood by Xu Jie in such a short time.

Yes, these things proposed by Xu Jie almost covered all that Wei Guangde could think of, and even many things that Wei Guangde had not thought of.

For example, banning trade with Japan, Wei Guangde had never proposed it.