The Prosperous Era of Longwan

“In the Battle of Mikatahara, Takeda Shingen won, while Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobunaga were defeated and retreated.

In May, Takeda Shingen died of a recurrence of his old injuries. Oda Nobunaga once again launched an army to attack the Muromachi shogunate in Kyoto in an attempt to overthrow the rule of Ashikaga Yoshiaki."

Wei Guangde was in the study, looking at the information sent by Fujian.

Yes, Wei Guangde's caravan in Yuegang not only makes money for him, but also undertakes the task of collecting intelligence about surrounding countries for him. For the Japanese country with the city of treasure island, it is naturally the primary target.

But before that, Wei Guangde knew that the Japanese island was currently in chaos through the information obtained from previous merchant ships and other smugglers, and there were constant battles between various princes.

And the information he has now is about the war that took place in Japan in the first half of this year.

As the main strength of Japan today, Oda Nobunaga is naturally the target of Wei Guangde's focus.

No way, Wei Guangde had played "Nobunaga's Ambition" before he came here, so he naturally had a little knowledge of Japanese history.

Oda Nobunaga was originally a daimyo of the Owari Kingdom. He became famous throughout the country after defeating Imagawa Yoshimoto's army in the Battle of Okehazama. Later, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the last general who supported the Muromachi shogunate, took advantage of the situation to go to Luo and gradually controlled Kyoto, and then formally proposed The program of "distribution of arms throughout the world" takes the unification of all Japan as its goal.

Because he was worried that Oda Nobunaga's power would rise too quickly, he entered Kyoto with the help of Oda Nobunaga and became the 15th generation general of the Muromachi Shogunate. As Oda Nobunaga expanded his power and restricted Ashikaga Yoshiaki's behavior, Ashikaga Yoshiaki then joined forces with Takeda Shingen, Motori Motonari, Uesugi Kenshin, Asakura Yoshikage, Asai Nagamasa, Honganji Kenjo and other daimyo to counter Oda Nobunaga, forming a network surrounding Oda Nobunaga.

The Battle of Mikatahara mentioned in the intelligence was also an extremely important battle and the last encirclement and suppression battle of the Anti-Nobunaga Alliance.

Although this battle was a victory against Oda Nobunaga on the battlefield, due to Takeda Shingen's death from illness, the siege network against Oda Nobunaga actually existed in name only, because the remaining daimyo no longer had any binding force on Oda Nobunaga.

After learning that Takeda Shingen died of illness, Oda Nobunaga immediately sent troops to Kyoto again, which is evidence of this.

Through the information in hand, Wei Guangde has roughly matched the time in the game, that is, this year, Oda Nobunaga will abolish Ashikaga Yoshiaki's title of "Conquering the Barbarian General", exile him, and then launch a campaign to unify Japan. war.

During this period, Oda Nobunaga solved the financial difficulties of the imperial family by providing donations to the then Emperor of Japan. In subsequent unification wars, he also received the support of the orders of the then Japanese Emperor Masachimachi and obtained legal basis.

On the eve of Oda Nobunaga's unification of the country, he was betrayed and committed suicide by his close retainer Akechi Mitsuhide during the "Honnoji Incident" in Kyoto.

After his death, the general Toyotomi Hideyoshi and his ally Tokugawa Ieyasu completed the great cause of unifying the country based on the foundation he laid.

Wei Guangde had little interest in this famous figure who almost unified Japan. At first, he paid attention to him not only for playing games, but also because he accidentally found out that this figure, known as one of the "Three Heroes of the Warring States Period in Japan", was actually a cross-dressing boss. .

In fact, before this, Wei Guangde had never heard of women's clothing.

Well, maybe because of his lack of knowledge, before Wei Guangde knew about Oda Nobunaga, he didn't know that there was such a hobby of cross-dressing.

Judging from the information found by Wei Guangde at that time, it is probably true that Oda Nobunaga occasionally liked to dance in women's clothing when he was a teenager.

"Nobunaga Koki" also has a record of Oda Nobunaga wearing women's clothing and dancing "Celestial Dance" during the shrine ceremony. Once he won a battle, all the generals celebrated their victory and drank and entertained. At this time, Nobunaga was not seen, so everyone I thought Nobunaga wouldn't come.

Halfway through the drink, a woman in costume suddenly walked in outside. It wasn't until the woman sat down on Oda Nobunaga's seat that everyone realized that she was actually Oda Nobunaga's costume.

There are also records that Oda Nobunaga once walked outside the city wearing women's clothing, attracting many young samurai to follow him.

"well"

Wei Guangde was relieved of the information in his hand and sighed.

Wei Guangde is still worried about the combat power of the Ming Dynasty's army today, and he does not dare to rashly launch an offensive against Japan.

If it was stated that he was going to Japan to grab gold and silver, perhaps the governor's office and the commander-in-chief of the military town below would be very interested, but among the courtiers, there would definitely be overwhelming opposition to him.

This is not only preceded by Zhu Yuanzhang's edict not to conquer the country, but also followed by the principles of a gentleman "not to be greedy for money, not to be cunning, not to seek fame, and not to be arrogant".

Unless the Japanese country is allowed to launch a war against the Ming Dynasty, the current situation of the Ming Dynasty makes it absolutely impossible for the Ming Dynasty to initiate a foreign war.

Putting aside his greed for the gold and silver produced by Japan, Wei Guangde couldn't help but think of what he heard today. In the morning, Zhang Juzheng gave a class to Wanli's young emperor Zhu Yijun, talking about the importance of grains and the people's hearts. He couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head.

Today, Zhang Juzheng, the chief minister of the cabinet, explained the "Emperor's Pictures and Pictures" to Shenzong in the Wenhua Hall. When Zhang Juzheng mentioned that Song Renzong did not like beads, the young emperor Zhu Yijun said, "A wise minister is a treasure, so what are the benefits of beads and jade?"

Zhang Juzheng said that all the wise kings in the past dynasties valued grains but despised pearls and jade. The "Book" said: "Do not use things that are of no benefit or harm, and do not value foreign objects but despise useful things."

The little emperor immediately said, "Yes, the palace people like to dress up, so I want them to pay attention to economy."

Zhang Juzheng immediately said that it is the happiness of the country and the people that the emperor can cherish property like this.

Later, Emperor Wanli Zhu Yijun asked again, Qin Shihuang disarmed weapons, but people holding wooden sticks can still hurt people. What's the difference?

Zhang Juzheng replied: A ruler cultivates his political integrity, benevolent and righteous, and win the hearts of the people. The weather is not as good as the right place, and the right place is not as good as the harmony.

The little emperor finally nodded, but Wei Guangde didn't think it was right to educate the emperor in this way.

You know, when Zhu Yijun grows up, once he takes charge, the first headache he will have is the despised pearls and jade. Without these things, the court will not be stable.

The Ming Dynasty was affected by financial shortages from beginning to end, even in the early Ming Dynasty.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to cultivate the people's strength, and it was right to implement a light tax system, which could allow the people to quickly recover from the trauma of the war.

After that, the people remained unchanged even after they became wealthy, which resulted in the current financial embarrassment of the imperial court.

If you don’t have money, you can’t do anything.

At this time, it had been a month since the last meeting at Ciqing Palace to discuss the clan issue. Naturally, there would be no results at that time. In fact, the charter proposed by Wei Guangde was barely feasible, but Wei Guangde also said later that the charter was actually not feasible. It can only be solved temporarily but not forever.

If we really want to completely solve the clan problem, we must directly separate from the middle and lower clans, and let the princes separate from them when they reach adulthood and become completely independent.

In fact, the title does not matter, but the prohibitions on the four professions of the clan members must be abolished and let them support themselves instead of waiting for the imperial court to distribute Lumi.

From now on, the imperial court will only recognize Jinzhi, the prince and prince of the feudal lord from various places, and will not recognize anyone else. If there is any problem, they will be asked to go directly to the master's family, that is, the prince's palace in each place.

This kind of idea would definitely not be recognized by the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces and Zhang Juzheng in the first place.

The changes to the ancestral system are too big to make a decisive decision.

As for the system of Lumi Yongfu, although Wei Guangde said at the beginning that it could only be dealt with for a while, as the throne was passed down from generation to generation, the newly canonized princes and the resulting princes would still be under huge pressure, but after all, that It's a matter of generations later.

For Empress Dowager Chen and Empress Dowager Zhang, as long as they can solve the immediate troubles, let the emperor solve the future matters later.

Therefore, the charter has now been sent to the Ministry of Rites for discussion, and the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Metropolitan Procuratorate should be involved in formulating the details later.

"Come here, hold the lamp."

Wei Guangde put down the note in his hand and picked up another note on the table to read, but it was already dark and he couldn't see the words clearly, so he shouted outside the room.

"Yes, sir."

Following his shout, the door was pushed open as soon as it was opened. Two maids came into the room with two candlesticks. They lit the candles on them neatly and stretched the light cord to make the light shine brighter.

In ancient times, folk night lighting mainly relied on oil lamps, candles and torches.

Outdoors, naturally, torches are the main ones, because the area illuminated is large enough and you can see things slightly farther away.

Indoors, ordinary people mostly choose oil lamps. Because the fuels they use, such as animal oil, rapeseed oil, soybean oil, etc., are relatively low-priced and easy to obtain, they have become a popular lighting tool.

However, for wealthy gentry who are not short of money, they naturally look down on oil lamps. They all use candles that have better lighting effects, are cleaner, and have no odor.

Moreover, adding spices during the candle making process can also add a refreshing fragrance.

Therefore, at this time in the Ming Dynasty, the homes of dignitaries used candles, and only the servants used oil lamps for lighting.

The study room was filled with light. Wei Guangde looked at the note again. Now he could see the words clearly, and nodded with satisfaction, "Okay, you guys go down."

After Wei Guangde and others went out, he continued to read the note on the desk.

These notes were provided by businessmen in Northeast China and Jiangxi, and included some domestic and foreign information.

Let’s call it intelligence, but it’s actually some novel things happening in various places.

Wei Guangde was interested in this, so he asked them to collect information in this area and send it to him.

"Nicholas St. Antis."

Wei Guangde looked at the content of the note below and murmured something.

This note was sent by a Jiangxi businessman who was doing business in Yuegang. He said that two months ago, a barbarian ship came to Yuegang, which was full of silver.

The reason for calling at Moon Harbor is naturally for trading.

A shipload of silver, with such amazing purchasing power, wiped out most of the goods accumulated in Yuegang.

After all, most of the goods left in the port at this time are leftovers picked up by previous owners of sea-going ships.

The sailing season for sea-going ships depends on the wind season. It is no longer suitable for sea-going ships to go out to sea in the short term. Therefore, the Dafu ships docked in the port have either returned from a long voyage, or they have delayed the sea-going season for some reasons and have given up going to sea this year. Remain in port for maintenance.

In fact, maritime merchants often have more ships than ships. The ships can take turns to rest, but ships will not be empty.

The arrival of the Yi people activated the already deserted Yuegang market, and it suddenly became prosperous in a short period of time.

The Yi people traded many items, mainly raw silk and porcelain.

The note in Wei Guangde's hand not only contained a description of the arrival of the Yi ship, but also a record of their transactions.

Bundles of raw silk, including high-quality double-stranded silk, other coarse-quality silk, fine loose silk, white silk, and silk of various colors, are all wrapped into small handfuls. It is easy to make a deal with the Yi people. Turned into silver at a slightly higher price than the market price.

There are a large number of velvets, some are pure colors, some are embroidered with various patterns, colors and styles, some are inlaid with gold and embroidered with gold, as well as various fabrics and brocades, added to silks of various colors and patterns. Gold and silver threads woven into large quantities and wound into small bundles, dark damask, single-sided satin, corrugated silk and other cloths of various colors, and even dyed and undyed white cotton, these Yi people will also buy in large quantities.

As for porcelain, they are relatively picky. They choose porcelain with exquisite workmanship and shape.

This made Wei Guangde couldn't help but guess whether the West could also make porcelain at this time. My memory seems to suggest that the West also had ceramics, but their porcelain production level was very low-end, and they were mainly made of pottery.

When Ming porcelain was shipped to Europe, it was synonymous with high-end products.

Well, who would have thought that a few hundred years later, this situation would be reversed, and Western things would become more high-end.

Anyway, at this time, all high-end products came from Ming Dynasty, or rather from China.

After reading several notes, Wei Guangde picked up the last letter. This was a letter from his hometown in Jiangxi, and it was also a letter from home.

Wei Guangde opened it and saw that it was written by his wife Xu Jianglan. First, he told him that they should arrive in Beijing next month.

There is another thing, and that is a packet of corn seeds that Wei Guangde sent home this year.

In fact, this batch of seeds has already missed the planting time in the capital. The Xiyuan side of the capital is mostly planted in February and March and harvested in June and July.

However, Wei Guangde took into account the different climates between the north and the south. After getting corn seeds from Xiyuan, he immediately sent some to his family and asked them to choose Bengshanbao and other mountainous areas for trial planting.

According to what Xu Jianglan said in his letter, a lot of these seeds have been planted. According to the farmers, they will know whether there is a harvest and how big the harvest will be by the end of October.

Wei Guangde naturally didn't care about this.

Corn was originally meant to be grown in mountains. After all, the staple foods of the Han people are rice and wheat, and these two crops are not suitable for planting in mountains. It is another matter that later generations of experts came up with the "rice up the mountain" method.

When he saw the mention of corn in the letter, Wei Guangde thought of the Agriculture Department and planned to ask after returning to the cabinet tomorrow to see what the situation was like there and whether he had started trying to plant corn.

After Wei Guangde entered the cabinet the next day, not long after he sat down, the chief assistant sent him a copy of the charter for him to review.

Although it was a little strange, Wei Guangde began to open it and read it carefully.

"Recently, there have been many chapters and memorials, and there are no empty days for all the yamen's inscriptions.

However, although the chapters were diligent, they were mostly perfunctory and had little actual effect.

Please, from now on, please complete the examination according to the situation, and everything should be limited to the size and urgency of the matter, and those who make mistakes will be punished."

Seeing the beginning of the memorial, Wei Guangde read out a sentence for no reason: "Take the test."