There was no record of this joint meeting between the board of directors and the Chinese Army in the first month of the 43rd year of Wanli. None of Yin Feng's three secretaries at that time: Chen Dong, Zeng Shan, and Xu Hongji were able to enter the venue.
Afterwards, most of the people present at the meeting were tight-lipped about the meeting. Only Lu Shitou revealed one sentence to a historian, his youngest son, on one day: "... Damn, the ship owner was alone all day long. Talking..."
Yin Feng felt that he had never spoken so much in his life.
Yin Feng always felt that he was very unfortunate. He traveled to the end of the world in the late Ming Dynasty. Everything had to be done by himself. Now, he found that his mastery of historical knowledge gave him an opportunity to defy the odds. The power of the mainland was only half a year old. Time, however, has confirmed that Yin Feng's memory of historical knowledge is not biased; of course, this refers to the knowledge Yin Feng obtained from a large number of Ming Dynasty notes and private history records of later generations, rather than the rigid arguments of official history books. Yin Feng has a deep understanding of this period of history - for him now, this is the social reality -. The biggest advantage is that he can observe problems from the perspective of people in the future. He can also come into contact with a large number of Westerners' views on China. observation records.
The narratives of those Europeans who traveled to China from the late 16th century and early 17th century, or who had a brief observation of China from Taiwan or Macao, can be understood. The Ming Dynasty - the Chinese Empire was considered a well-arranged unity. But it cannot Stop numerous illegal activities and widespread corruption in its administrative agencies. At that time, those foreign visitors often compared Taiwan with the mainland. They were deeply impressed by the wide variety of goods produced in this country. They had a unanimous opinion. : That is, the mainland of China was very rich but weak. In this era of great voyages and great discoveries, this situation provided an irresistible temptation for military conquest. In fact, due to the fervent entreaties from the secular and Catholic churches, Philip II of Spain Shi Yi was repeatedly encouraged to send an expedition to conquer China. The former Governor of the Philippines, Dasmarinas, believed that as long as 10,000 Spanish regular troops plus tens of thousands of Japanese and Malay auxiliary troops could open China by force. If this suggestion is realized .predates the Opium War by about two and a half centuries.
With Manila being occupied by the Chinese Company, of course, this proposal had no results. Due to the sudden appearance of the Chinese Company, the decision made by Madrid was a wise one.
That is to say, the Western powers have not yet gained the advantage of their technology. Only after they have achieved this will they be able to maintain a force necessary to bring China's imperial system to an end. The armed forces of the China United Company were less powerful than the Ming Dynasty. As far as the mainland is concerned, it has already occupied a great technological advantage.
The Ming Dynasty in the late Wanli period presented a paradoxical situation: its weakness had been exposed to Europe. It was also exposed to its own ambitions. However, it could withstand attacks from both internal and external parties. This situation is not nothing The effectiveness of the "Mandate of Destiny" is not that the Chinese people are born with a greater tolerance for political corruption and poor governance. It is that the Ming Dynasty was a society with a small peasant economic system. Scattered farmers were under the control of equally dispersed bureaucrats. Unless the gentry and bureaucracy agree or are forced to change their loyalties, dynastic change will not occur.
In other words, the Ming Dynasty did not rely on its strength, but on its uncompetitive status. Scattered farmers could not quickly gather organized power. The absence of strong competitors was enough to ensure the existence of dynastic rule.
None of those crises and uprisings were able to overthrow the Ming regime. Although they caused enough problems and sometimes worries. The main reason is that these popular uprisings were sporadic. They did not pose a serious threat to the national system: no A group manages to establish a logistical base or manages to acquire enough territory to support further development.
In order to establish a logistics base, this rebel group needs the support of the people and scholars. If a rebel insurrectionist cannot unite the local gentry as the backing of his cause, his mission as a savior can only provide relief in the next life. If A minority leader who cannot recruit enough collaborators to create a country according to traditional patterns (as Anda once tried to do, and as Nurhaci and his descendants actually did later) cannot hope to establish a dynasty in China.
These examples were combined with Yin Feng's own observations. He understood this: at this stage, alternatives to traditional ideology did not exist in China. The failure of the Ming Empire can be attributed to its success: the political system conceived by Zhu Yuanzhang made the Ming Dynasty The court could rely firmly on dynastic orders; as long as the situation of the bureaucratic gentry class and scattered small farmers still existed, the people could only endure the administrative management of the court. Therefore, it was rigid and unable to renew itself. In the end, it collapsed completely.
The reason why the Ming Dynasty still exists today is because its opponents are weaker than it: internal resistance is still unorganized and scattered. None of the ethnic minorities has yet developed into as powerful as the Liao, Jin and Mongolia. In a word: There are no tigers or monkeys in the mountains. Called the king.
To subvert this weak behemoth, if we still follow the traditional old routine of conquering the world, this is not in line with Yin Feng's ambition: since it is going against nature, then we must give this traditional empire system that has been running for thousands of years enough big Only with its impact can it shake this traditional culture, causing reflection among the traditional gentry elite, and ultimately change the path of historical development.
Therefore, Yin Feng decided on the development plan of China United Company for the next four years at the high-level joint meeting in the first month of the 43rd year of Wanli:
1. The Great Immigration Plan continued to be implemented. The "territory distribution order" began to be implemented in the occupied areas of Ryukyu, Luzon, West Borneo, and Java.
Second, now the company has defeated the Dutch and turned the Portuguese into business partners. The next step is to cross Malacca and expand the trade scope westward to India and the Turkic-dominated areas, as well as the coast of Africa. It strives to open up the China-Europe route. Departing from Guam, the Chinese company will try to open up the Pacific route from Asia to the Americas and conduct direct trade with the Americas.
Third, declare war on sporadic pirate and bandit gangs in coastal areas. Completely eliminate and integrate these gangs. Put all control of China's coastal areas in the hands of Chinese companies.
Fourth, begin to seize the coastal islands of the Ming Dynasty. Occupy all the major coastal islands of Fujian, Zhejiang, and Guangdong. Use them to arrange immigration or as a springboard for attacking land.
Fifth, once again dispatch a merchant fleet to Europe. Attract more Western European technical personnel to Taiwan; at the same time, train its own technical personnel and devote all its energy to the development of various new weapons.
Sixth, gradually reduce the export of grain to the mainland. Start hoarding grain and grass. Especially on coastal islands close to the mainland, establish a series of logistics bases.
7. Expand the infantry and naval forces, build more ships, and strive to build five more Feizi main battleships within four years.
Eighth, dispatch more spies to the Chief Secretaries of the Mainland. Use commercial activities as a cover to collect extensive intelligence. In particular, the situation of the Yangtze River waterway and the Bohai Sea waterway must be clarified.
"...In short, the next four years are the critical four years for our company; if we are prepared within these four years, then
Then we will have the strength to compete for the world." Yin Feng finished explaining his plan, but found that everyone seemed a little disappointed.
Everyone was looking at him. Their faces were full of doubts and confusion. Many people were thinking about the time and place when he could propose "making himself king" by himself. Yin Feng nodded and said: "I know what everyone is doubting...please pay attention." Think about it. These eight plans I proposed are actually long-term plans for our future."
Zeng Qi smiled bitterly and said: "Actually, these plans of yours are all about accumulating food and slowly becoming king. It is similar to the strategy of Taizu of this dynasty to fight for the world. If you want to gain a foothold in the world, you have to rely on manpower and material resources. And the people's hearts. Although we have a population of more than 2.2 million under our direct jurisdiction. Including those allied indigenous tribes and Western immigrants, the total mobilizable population has reached 3 million. However, this is just the population of a few prefectures of the imperial court. In sum, if we want to build a country, we still need more people."
Yin Feng nodded gratefully to him: "My father-in-law Mingjian. That's what I meant."
Han Ping suddenly said: "Mr. Zeng said so. We are suddenly enlightened...but, Lord shipowner, why did you set the time as four years?"
Yin Feng smiled: "When I went to Liaodong this time, I saw that the Jurchen tribe in Jianzhou has become too big to lose. Its strength has grown to a point that cannot be underestimated. I think that within four to five years, the Jurchen tribe will definitely become a big problem in Liaodong. And Liaodong If there is chaos, the capital will definitely be affected. This is our opportunity to start an uprising."
Everyone looked at each other and didn't quite believe what he said. Yin Feng then said: "I have another proposal: Taiwan must also set up a town government agency to separate the company's commercial management department and administrative department."
Zeng Qi immediately understood what Yin Feng meant. Others did not understand Yin Feng's meaning for a while. In fact, this was Yin Feng's attempt to establish political institutions. The administrative, taxation and security agencies were separated from the China United Company. The separation makes the area occupied by the China Company more like a government agency. In Zeng Qi’s view, after these judicial administration, taxation, public security, civil affairs, etc. are separated from the company agency, they must be under the full control of Yin Feng. That is, This means that Yin Feng's personal autocratic power is more unchecked. In fact, even in the board of directors with a majority of veto power, due to Yin Feng's personal influence, it is rare to veto Yin Feng's decisions.
Han Ping thought for a while and immediately understood what Yin Feng meant. He stood up and asked, "So, what is the relationship between the town guard and the company."
Yin Feng nodded: The Han family and his son are not economical. They immediately grasped the crux of the problem.
He thought for a while and said: "There is no doubt that we, the China United Company, are the owners, and those officials in the garrison are our employees, man."
Han Ping and Han Jing looked at each other, smiled knowingly, and sat down.