When Zhang Siwei was helped by Zhongshu into the large conference room of Wuying Hall, the cabinet ministers, palace ministers, ministers and others were already sitting on the lamp hanging chairs or on the piers under the throne. When they saw him coming in, they all stood up.
He bowed his hands and said, "I've met the Prime Minister."
After the reform of the Ming Dynasty, the ancestral system was greatly changed in all aspects of politics and economy, but the ancestral system was partially restored in the etiquette system: that is, the "officials and the people bowed and worshiped". The so-called "bowing" meant that the hands were bowed. "Bowing"
There are nine types of kneeling, bowing, bowing, emptying the head, vibrating, etc., which are used in different situations.
The etiquette for ministers to see the emperor has not changed much. The "Da Ming Huidian" stipulates: "The minister bows his head five times and bows five times, which is the etiquette for ministers to see their emperor... All officials will kneel when they are doing something, and they will rise as soon as there is an order.
"It's very detailed, but Zhu Yijun added more favors such as sitting or kneeling, and all the ministers gradually got used to it.
The biggest changes were between officials and the common people. The "Officials and People Bowing and Bowing Ceremony" implemented in the early Ming Dynasty was established by Zhu Yuanzhang. The main purpose was to abolish the "Hu Li" of the Yuan Dynasty. People in the Yuan Dynasty mostly used kneeling to worship, but Zhu Yuanzhang, in order to boost the morale of the people,
It is stipulated that officials who are within four ranks of each other can use the hand-over salute. People are not allowed to kneel down and worship when they see an official in the inner room, and they can only do it in the court hall.
However, as time goes by, this kind of "official and civilian bowing to each other" gradually becomes less popular. Similar to the effect of "bad money drives out good money", there are many weak-kneed people around prominent figures - whether in official circles or among the people.
Of course, there are also those with strong bones. Hai Rui got the nickname "Hai Bi Zhi" because he abided by the ancestral system.
In recent years, the imperial court has repeatedly issued orders and caught some examples of non-observance of etiquette. Only then has it become popular again for officials and people to bow and bow, especially in the Forbidden City, where all ministers are respectful.
When Zhang Siwei saw the ministers cupping their hands in greeting, he tremblingly cupped his hands in return. Wang Guoguang, who was standing opposite him, saw his breathing and breathing, and secretly laughed in his heart: "He is still in love like this, this thief is really good at power."
..."
Zhang Siwei sat at the top of the table closest to the throne. Opposite him was the British minister Zhang Yuangong. The emperor had not entered the palace. This was the proper intention. The emperor could not be allowed to wait for his ministers.
After sitting down, the quiet whip was fired three times, and the ministers stopped talking to each other. They all sat upright and looked ahead. There was only a sound of footsteps, and an eunuch shouted: "Your Majesty is here!"
So everyone left their seats, lined up behind the chairs on both sides and knelt down, chanting long live the mountains. Zhu Yijun walked to the throne and looked down at the ministers, and then raised his hands.
The eunuch then shouted: "If you are flat, please give me a seat!" Then Zhang Siwei, Zhang Yuangong and below all thanked him and returned to their seats, and Zhu Yijun also sat upright on the throne.
Then he said loudly: "Yifu." Luo Wanhua was taken aback, quickly stood up and bowed and said: "I am here."
Luo Wanhua has a delicate appearance and is fifty-five years old. For a politician, he is in his prime years. Hearing that the emperor rarely called him "Yifu" instead of "Mr. Kangzhou", he felt in his heart
Beating wildly.
Zhu Yijun asked: "Yifu has been in Myanmar for many years and has had many contacts with the Spaniards. How do you think they will react after the Battle of Manila?"
Luo Wanhua pondered for a moment and then played back loudly: "After Spain annexed Portugal, Felipe II was so complacent that he thought his martial arts was unparalleled in the world and could not accept defeat. Now that Manila has fallen into the hands of the imperial court, its people
There were many casualties, and I thought he had no other choice but to fight."
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun was silent for a while and asked: "What should the court do?" After hearing this, the ministers all looked at Wang Guoguang, Pan Sheng and others in surprise. The emperor should have accepted the question.
Luo Wanhua gave a speech in the Huangji Palace.
Luo Wanhua had already suspected it, and immediately responded: "Although Xiao and Xie took Manila without purpose, since they have already done it, the imperial court has no reason to return it to Spain. I suggest five measures to deal with it."
"First, urgently send a large army to help stabilize the situation in Luzon, uproot Spanish forces in Cebu and other places, and pocket the victory." Zhu Yijun nodded after hearing this, and the ministers also felt that since the war had begun, this one belonged to
As it should be.
"Both, if the city of Manila falls, the Western merchants will be unable to move forward, and our maritime merchants may not dare to trade with Manchuria and Goa. The triangular trade between Goa-Manila-Manila will inevitably come to a halt. The imperial court should issue an edict to the sea.
The provinces are on guard, firstly to prevent pirate attacks, and secondly, to proactively stop trade to prevent maritime merchants from leaving without ever returning. The three..."
After pondering for a while, Luo Wanhua said: "Send someone to Manchuria urgently to try to find a way to send a message to the European mission to make them prepared, or to suggest that Sir Xu seek refuge in England."
After he said the first three items, all the ministers in the palace nodded involuntarily, feeling that he had covered everything and was worthy of being a cabinet minister in charge of foreign affairs. They waited quietly for him to say the last two items.
Luo Wanhua coughed slightly, his voice became deeper, and then said: "I think that after the whole territory of Luzon is captured, the navy should be dispatched immediately to capture Malacca and Goa - since we and Spain are bound to
If war breaks out, it would be better to take all the Chinese colonies."
"Finally, the navy should be expanded to prepare to compete with Spain for the colonies in Hezhou - until Yang Fan sails off the coast of Europe." As soon as these words came out, the needles could be heard in Wuying Palace.
Since Jinshang ascended the throne, he has worked hard to govern for fifteen years, and the national strength has been booming. However, there are only two wars where he really spent money on wars: one was the Northeast War in the second year of Wanli. At that time, the national treasury was empty, and Zhang Juzheng worked hard to ensure the logistics. Before and after the salt policy reform
The hole was then filled.
Starting from the conquest of Japan, the war entered a healthy development track. When Ling Yunyi conquered Japan, because the temple was unparalleled, he only fought one battle at Tachibanayama Castle and settled the situation. Later, he made some money by supporting the king's policy of stopping the war.
When they attacked Burma and Annam, the formal reforms had already begun, and the clan reform was also launched at the same time. Although the expedition of the new army was expensive, the southwestern provinces had been at odds with Burma for many years and were well prepared in terms of food and grass. In addition to spending a lot of money to transport new troops, the central government
The army participated in the war in the past, and the money spent elsewhere was not much.
After capturing Burma and Annan, the Ming Dynasty almost always made money by auctioning mineral land. Especially in Burma, Gong Xian and Deng Zilong fought hard by supporting agents and reselling military supplies. The entire transaction chain was huge.
Making a lot of money almost wiped out Myanmar, and also laid the foundation for the subsequent reform and return.
The second expensive war was the Western Expedition plus the Northern Expedition. Although the vast land under the jurisdiction of the Western Region Governor's Office produced a lot of products, the land transportation line was long, and the transportation of horses, jade and other items to the Central Plains was already sky-high - the market audience was small, so
It is a drop in the bucket for the huge logistics.
But at that time, the Great Reform had already begun, and the imperial court was able to support the Western Expedition. Prince Ma also lived up to Zhu Yijun's expectations, restored all the homeland of the Han and Tang Dynasties, and gave the emperor's indomitable golden body a layer of gold powder that would never fade.
After the end of the Western Expedition, the Luo Wilderness Raiders also began immediately. This ongoing war also required staggering costs for logistical support. In order to encourage the soldiers of the Northern Expedition, the imperial court did not take any of the gains from the ambush, and all the massive logistics were provided by the imperial court.
As a result, although the imperial court's military expenditures were huge, there was already a "sea-land dispute" in the direction of expenditures. Although the navy spent more than the Northern Expedition, its gains were much higher than its expenditures because of the boom in maritime trade.
The "returnees" represented by Luo Wanhua, Ling Yunyi and others tend to transfer more resources to the navy.
The "Nine-Border Faction" headed by Zhang Siwei, Liang Menglong and others, together with representatives of military and landowners, made huge profits from the Mongolian-Han trade and the Western Region trade. From the initial resistance to the Northern Expedition to their full support later, they naturally formed the "
The "local faction" competes or even conflicts with the "returnee faction" - this kind of factional division is not subject to human will and is an inevitable political phenomenon.
As the emperor, Zhu Yijun was certainly aware of this. However, his policy of "advancing simultaneously by sea and land" was not obviously biased, and he was happy to see the two sides fighting over military spending.
Now Luo Wanhua took advantage of Xiao and Xie's Manila victory, and proposed a comprehensive seaward strategy in the last two of the five strategies. In order to tie Ming Dynasty to the chariot of the vastly expanded navy, he naturally had to invade the "local faction"
The interests of the people - as soon as his words fell, the ministers knew clearly that a big fight was about to take place.