My father is Jiajing

Huang Jin had a hearty meal at Zhu Zai's place, listened to Zhu Zai's explanation, and finally went back feeling full of food and drink.

When he returned, Chen Hong was still standing at the door of the monastery, looking inside the monastery, where Emperor Jiajing was in seclusion.

But unfortunately, after such a long time, Emperor Jiajing didn't call anyone once, which made Chen Hong very anxious.

He wanted to make his presence felt in front of Emperor Jiajing.

But this time, Emperor Jiajing seemed to have forgotten the time during his practice, which was really frustrating.

Chen Hong wanted to go in and see what was going on, but he didn't have the courage.

After all, Emperor Jiajing is currently in seclusion. Anyone who dares to disturb his practice at this time will surely suffer the consequences.

Therefore, no matter how anxious Chen Hong was, or how aggrieved and unwilling he felt, he could only guard the door of the abode and dared not take a step beyond Lei Ting.

When Huang Jin came back and saw Chen Hong still guarding the door of the temple, a look of admiration appeared in his eyes.

Huang Jin slightly beckoned, and after seeing Chen Hong's gesture, no matter how unwilling and reluctant he felt, he still walked towards Huang Jin with small steps with an attentive look on his face.

"Ancestor."

Chen Hong bowed respectfully and greeted Huang Jin.

Huang Jin immediately hushed, "Keep your voice down. What if you disturb the Emperor's retreat?"

Chen Hong was so frightened by these words that his neck shrank. He lowered his voice and begged for mercy: "Grandfather, please forgive me, Grandfather, please forgive me."

Huang Jin looked at Chen Hong, who had a good attitude, and gave him another approving look.

Huang Jin asked, "Has the Emperor sent you any orders during this period?"

Chen Hong felt very nervous when he heard this, but he couldn't show it.

"The Emperor didn't call me."

Huang Jin said, "Thank you for your hard work. Go down and have a rest first. I will take care of this."

Chen Hong bowed to Huang Jin reluctantly and said, "Son, I'm leaving."

Looking at Chen Hong's back, he was unwilling but still obediently retreated.

Huang Jin couldn't help but wonder whether he should give Chen Hong more opportunities and let him get familiar with Prince Yu. After all, he also came from Prince Yu's mansion.

I have been serving in Xiyuan for these years and have become quite unfamiliar with Prince Yu's Mansion.

If one day in the future Emperor Jiajing were to ascend to heaven through cultivation, leaving them, a group of ordinary people, alone in the Xiyuan Palace, and if they lost Prince Yu's protection and trust, their later years would surely be very miserable.

Huang Jin also knew that he was not young anymore. Even if he could hold on a little longer, when the time came, he would just be an old man.

It was a great reward from heaven that Prince Yu could remember their old friendship and give him a decent old age.

Therefore, sometimes Huang Jin couldn't help but think about the people around him who were serving Emperor Jiajing.

After all, in Huang Jin's view, they are all incomplete people. If they cannot care for each other and help each other, then who will take care of them?

After thinking about all this, Huang Jin sighed slightly, then put away these emotional thoughts, and finally walked into the temple lightly.

Just as he entered, Emperor Jiajing, who had been meditating for a long time, suddenly opened his eyes.

Emperor Jiajing stretched his stiff body, waved his sleeves, and a faint voice sounded.

"came back?"

Huang Jin heard the sudden voice of Emperor Jiajing and stopped in her tracks. She turned around and bowed to him, "Your Majesty is truly a god. You could even hear my light footsteps. I was thinking of making the bed for you and then coming over to serve you."

Emperor Jiajing chuckled and said, "You don't have the aura of a fairy. Your footsteps are too heavy. I could sense you the moment you came in."

Huang Jin smiled again and said, "Yes, this servant is really too stupid. I have been serving the Emperor for so long, but I still don't have any spiritual energy. It seems that this servant has no luck and spiritual roots."

Emperor Jiajing smiled again and said, "It's okay, I'm here to help. When I become an immortal, I will enlighten you as well. Then we can ascend to heaven together, and it will be a legendary story."

Huang Jin immediately bowed excitedly again: "Thank you for your enlightenment, Your Majesty. I am willing to serve you forever."

After saying these words to Huang Jin, Emperor Jiajing felt better.

He asked Huang Jin about other things.

Emperor Jiajing asked, "What did San'er say?"

Although Emperor Jiajing also firmly believed that he could achieve enlightenment through cultivating immortals, he would not shy away from practical problems and would still devote his time to thinking and analyzing them. Otherwise, how could he hold on to the power in his hands?

Huang Jin said: "I mentioned this to Prince Yu, and he said that we can use the Japanese navy to conduct a test first."

Emperor Jiajing nodded. Although the Dongyang Navy was established not long ago, it is still the only naval force that the Ming Dynasty can rely on so far.

Moreover, when the Dongyang Navy was first established, the intention was to use it to control the peace of thousands of miles of sea borders along the Ming Dynasty coast.

Now that the Oriental Navy has been established for some time, it must be brought out for a spin.

Otherwise, it would be hard to convince them if they were allowed to stay at sea and collect salaries without doing anything.

Emperor Jiajing said, "San'er's idea is good, but how is he going to test it? If he simply fights one or two victories of mutual attrition without any real benefits, and only talks about strategic benefits, it will be hard to convince people."

"After all, the foundation of our Ming Dynasty is on the two capitals and thirteen provinces. If the benefits from the sea cannot be self-sufficient and cannot feed back to the two capitals and thirteen provinces, but instead consume the financial, material and human resources of the two capitals and thirteen provinces, then even I will not be able to explain it."

What Emperor Jiajing said is also realistic.

In the current Ming Dynasty, all taxation and expenditure issues must be solved by relying on the basic foundation of the two capitals and thirteen provinces.

Moreover, because the two capitals and thirteen provinces were so huge, there were always some places suffering from drought, floods, plague or other disasters.

For the imperial court, these disasters also required money and materials to solve.

Therefore, even the financial taxes of the Ming Dynasty in recent years have improved due to the Beijing Special District and the Ming Federal Reserve.

But the extent of this improvement is limited.

If at this time a huge navy that has been working for nothing and acting like a money-eating beast was docked in the open sea, it would be unacceptable to the imperial court.

After all, this era is not yet an industrialized society with developed commerce like in later generations.

Ships could sail on the sea for a month or several months and bring back tens of thousands of tons of goods or other natural resources. Even if the current large ships are running at full power and the wind is smooth, it will take more than a year to complete a barely adequate east-west trade.

Moreover, the materials and goods that this ship can transport are probably only a dozen or twenty tons at most, which is not even as much as a 60-ton centralized container in later generations.

Therefore, if there are really no compelling benefits to be brought out, and you just bring back some flashy luxury consumer goods such as spices, ivory, gems, etc., you will definitely lose everything.

After all, there aren’t many people in the entire Ming Dynasty who can afford these things.

Moreover, this thing does not retain its value. The more you get of it, the cheaper it becomes.

What if a large number of envoys from small countries come back on the ship to pay tribute? Will the imperial court look at these barbarians and reward them?

After all, as the Celestial Empire, we must not lose face in such a face-saving matter.

But if you don't want to lose face, you will have to lose substance.

But the inside is really painful.

Therefore, if there are really no reliable and tangible benefits to be gained from the sea, we can only engage in some flashy luxury goods, not to mention that the ministers will object.

Even the emperor himself could not withstand it.

Therefore, in the ancient tributary system, in order to maintain relative stability and interests, the central dynasty strictly restricted the number of times tributary states came to pay tribute and the size of the tribute delegations.

The purpose and reason for doing this is to prevent some small countries from coming to the Central Plains dynasty to ask for money under the banner of paying tribute to the superior country.

After all, the landlord doesn’t have any grain in stock!
Huang Jin looked at the serious-looking Emperor Jiajing and replied, "I have also told His Majesty about these problems and concerns. His Majesty also listened to them very seriously."

"So at the end, the prince wanted the Japanese navy to go to Luzon first to see if the red-haired barbarians who traveled thousands of miles across the ocean had gained any benefits at sea."

"If we verify that they have indeed gained benefits at sea that our Ming Dynasty has never seen, we will negotiate with them to see if they are willing to pay tribute to the Celestial Empire."

"If they want to take all the benefits for themselves, my Heavenly Kingdom soldiers can punish them on behalf of Heaven and make these red-haired barbarians who don't know the majesty of Heaven understand the unpredictable power of Heaven!"

After hearing this, Emperor Jiajing was also a little confused.

Emperor Jiajing said, "This, this, this, isn't this robbing someone? How can this be possible? How can San'er think like this?"

Huang Jin replied: "I thought so at first, but Prince Yu said that the benefits of the world are the same as the benefits of the sea, and it is originally for those with virtue to occupy it."

"As the Celestial Empire, our Ming Dynasty governs the world on behalf of God, and matters at sea are also our responsibility given to us by God."

"If we sit back and do nothing and let those red-haired barbarians, in the name of false gods, usurp the power and responsibility that was originally given to our Ming Dynasty by Heaven, wouldn't that be going against Heaven's will and abandoning the loyalty and filial piety of those in the sea who once regarded our Ming Dynasty as their suzerain?"

"So, whether it is out of protection for the small states that originally regarded the Ming Dynasty as their suzerain, or to fulfill the responsibility of governing the world given to the Ming Dynasty by God, we are obliged to redistribute those benefits and interests."

After hearing what Huang Jin said, Emperor Jiajing's eyes suddenly lit up.

That's the truth.

The Ming Dynasty was the same as all the previous central dynasties, and emperors of all dynasties also shepherded the people of the world under the banner of being the sons of heaven.

Now, if there are really red-haired barbarians who, after gaining benefits, do not think of paying tribute to the Celestial Empire, but instead think of relying on these benefits that do not originally belong to them to bully those small countries that once regarded the Ming Dynasty as their suzerain.

Then where would the Ming Dynasty put its face?
Therefore, in order to protect the former vassal state and to fulfill the obligations of the Ming Dynasty as the suzerain state.

The Ming Dynasty really has reason to go to the sea to seek justice.

Of course, the premise is that the benefits of upholding justice must be great.

If the cost outweighs the gain, that is another matter.

Emperor Jiajing nodded in agreement, "San'er's views and arguments are indeed good. Since our Ming Dynasty is the Celestial Empire and I am the Son of Heaven, I should uphold justice for the people of the world."

"So, whether on land or on the sea, I will, as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, respect the way of heaven and enforce the king's law. I will never allow any country or person who dares to usurp the throne to commit rebellion in the name of heaven."

After Huang Jin heard what Emperor Jiajing said, he immediately bowed, "Your Majesty is wise and holy!"

Then, when Emperor Jiajing was in a good mood, Huang Jin said another sentence.

Huang Jin said: "Prince Yu said that when he was reading the Yongle Encyclopedia, he seemed to have seen in a certain volume that the Japanese pirates had silver mountains everywhere, but due to the backward mining technology and the lack of food and people in Japan."

"So these silver mountains are dormant on the main island of Japan. Even the people of Japan today have only scratched the surface of mining and utilizing these silver mines."

"So what Prince Yu meant is that if our Dongyang Navy can control the ships of the Japanese pirates traveling on the sea and the ships of the red-haired barbarians roaming on the ocean."

"We can first send some eloquent envoys to Japan to learn about its internal affairs, and then send some professionals who are good at geomancy and drawing to draw a rough map of Japan."

"This will be very meaningful whether it is for the purpose of preparing to completely wipe out the threat of Japanese pirates in the future or for the purpose of finding and mining the vast silver mountains in Japan."

After hearing this, Emperor Jiajing nodded seriously.

Emperor Jiajing said: "This matter is indeed important, let San'er take care of it, but you must remember one thing, don't act rashly. After all, there is an ocean of unknown depth between Japan and our Ming Dynasty. Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty, suffered a great loss when he wanted to conquer Japan."

"So if we want to do something like this, we must not repeat the mistakes of Kublai Khan. Otherwise, not only will we not find the silver mountain, but we will also lose a lot of people and ships, which will be a huge loss."

The fact that Emperor Jiajing could say these words shows that he was still very rational and was not blinded by the temptation of Japan's silver mountains.

He also understood that those silver mountains were separated by an ocean, and if there was no safe and proper way to travel freely between Japan and the Ming Dynasty across the ocean.

Then no matter how great the benefits of those silver mountains are, they are not worth mentioning.

It feels like people in later generations saying that there are such and such resources on the moon, but the cost of mining is far higher than the cost of space travel.

So even if the moon is a planet made of gold, it is impossible for humans on Earth to be so stupid as to wander around the moon regardless of the cost.

So even if you want to get benefits, it has to be realistic, otherwise it would be bullshit, right?

Huang Jin replied: "Your Majesty is right. If I have time to go to Prince Yu tomorrow, I will definitely convey your message."

Emperor Jiajing hummed, "Okay, go make the bed, it's time for me to rest."

After saying this, Emperor Jiajing stood up and stretched, sweeping away the fatigue from a day of seclusion and cultivation.

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