My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 439 Who is not a member of the Su Party?

November 23rd.

Zhu Juntang stepped off the Woyin Company's ship and onto the land of Laizhou, his mind reeling.

We've finally returned to the Ming Dynasty!
After being shipwrecked and drifting to Japan, Zhu Juntang and Huang Wenbin experienced a series of fantastical adventures, managing to survive in Japan thanks to their wisdom and courage.

His mentor, Su Ze, petitioned to establish the Japanese Office of General Affairs, with Huang Wenbin as the chief director and himself as the deputy director.

The two men gradually gained a foothold in the Shimazu family by relying on the saltpeter trade of the Japanese Silver Company.

Two months ago, Huang Wenbin proposed to set up a trading post in Sakai Port to help the Shimazu family trade in firearms.

Shimazu Takahisa, the head of the Shimazu family, finally agreed to Huang Wenbin's proposal and allowed the two to leave the Shimazu family's territory and go to Sakai Port to open a trading post.

Of course, the Shimazu family still dispatched their most loyal samurai to "escort" the two to Sakai Port. Shimazu Takahisa also had his own merchants handle the specific accounts, while Huang Wenbin and Zhu Juntang were only responsible for negotiating business with the merchants from the Ming Dynasty.

Even so, the two of them are much freer now. At least they can move around in Sakai Port, unlike in the Shimazu family territory where their lives are in danger at any moment.

Huang Wenbin was adept at social maneuvering and, through connections with local businessmen in Sakai Port, managed to meet with Li Wenquan.

Knowing Huang Wenbin's appointment as the head of the Japanese Ministry of Communications, Li Wenquan immediately left Huang Wenbin a large sum of gold and silver after confirming Huang Wenbin's identity, instructing him to gather intelligence in Japan.

After receiving the money, Huang Wenbin quickly bribed the Shimazu samurai around him.

Of course, the families of these Shimazu samurai were all in Shimazu territory and could not possibly betray the Shimazu family, but they could be given more freedom and their actions could be turned a blind eye.

Later, Li Wenquan came to Sakai Port twice more. Following Su Ze's instructions, he handed the "Flying Pigeon Message" to Huang Wenbin.

With this, the Japanese Ministry of Communications was finally able to reliably transmit intelligence to the Ming Dynasty.

Next, following Su Ze's instructions, Li Wenquan began to build momentum for Huang Wenbin.

The Wa-Yin Company was wealthy and powerful, and it almost monopolized the Ming Dynasty's trade with Japan. It was also possible to buy cannons and gunpowder from them, so they naturally became a guest of honor for the merchants of Sakai Port.

Every time Li Wenquan visited Sakai Port, he would bring Huang Wenbin and Zhu Juntang to banquets, and he would appoint Huang Wenbin as the trading representative of the Japanese Silver Company in Sakai Port.

Huang Wenbin became famous in Sakai and became a distinguished guest at banquets for Sakai businessmen.

After Huang Wenbin became famous, he began to win over Chinese businessmen living in Sakai.

In fact, before the Southeast Anti-Japanese War, many Ming Dynasty merchants were engaged in smuggling trade, and many Chinese merchants settled in Japan.

Wang Zhi, a notorious Japanese pirate who caused immense destruction along the southeastern coast during the Jiajing era, once established the Wufeng Trading Company in Japan, recruiting wandering samurai to form a pirate group, and becoming a major pirate force that roamed East Asia.

After the Ming Dynasty opened its sea routes, many Ming merchants also came to Japan to establish trading posts.

These Chinese merchants were a mixed bag, including remnants of Japanese pirates from the Jiajing era.

Huang Wenbin also demonstrated exceptional organizational skills, organizing the originally disorganized Chinese businessmen and actually creating a force in Sakai.

In fact, there are quite a lot of Chinese businessmen in Japan.

However, these Chinese merchants mostly operated independently or formed cliques based on their place of origin, resulting in a relatively small overall presence, and they were sometimes even bullied by the Japanese.

Even the Westerners who came to Japan later, despite being fewer in number than the Chinese merchants, were far more united.

The most typical example is the Portuguese.

The Portuguese not only organized merchant groups to trade with Japan, but also had a large number of Jesuit missionaries preaching in Sakai Port.

Today, many churches have been built in Sakai Port, and it is said that there are tens of thousands of believers in Sakai Port.

The Portuguese merchants and the Jesuit missionaries formed a church-business alliance that wielded more influence in Sakai than the larger Chinese merchants.

For example, it was rumored that Imai Munehisa, the leader of the Thirty-Three of Sakai Port, had converted to Catholicism, and many Japanese merchants in Sakai Port would go to church to worship.

Huang Wenbin used various means to integrate Chinese businessmen in Sakai Port and established the Chinese Business Association in a high-profile manner. He was elected as the president by Chinese businessmen in Japan.

With the establishment of the Chinese Business Association, Huang Wenbin became an even more frequent guest among Sakai businessmen.

By this time, the Shimazu family also realized that Huang Wenbin was no longer under their control.

Shimazu Takahisa was also flexible and adaptable. After discovering that Huang Wenbin had escaped his control, he immediately sent people to deliver gifts of apology, and then sent the families of the Japanese samurai around Huang Wenbin to Sakai Port, ordering these samurai to pledge allegiance to Huang Wenbin.

Huang Wenbin had no intention of falling out with the Shimazu family. Instead, he gladly accepted Shimazu Takahisa's gift and sent a batch of newly purchased Ming Dynasty firearms to the Shimazu family.

Only then did Huang Wenbin and Zhu Juntang gain their freedom, and the Japanese Office of General Affairs was officially established.

Huang Wenbin wanted to stay in Sakai Port to gather intelligence, so he asked Zhu Juntang to return to the Ming Dynasty under the pretext of trade and personally deliver the intelligence on Japan that they had compiled back to the court.

Upon setting foot on the land of Laizhou Port, Zhu Juntang finally shed tears. He had thought he would die far from home, but now he had finally returned to his motherland!

Traveling with Zhu Juntang was a captain from a Japanese silver company named Lu Xi. He said to Zhu Juntang:
“Mr. Zhu, we are a foreign ship arriving at the port. We need to be observed in the port area for three days. We can only leave the port area after the Baosheng Medical Bureau confirms that there is no disease.”

Zhu Juntang nodded. The medical field in the Ming Dynasty was developing rapidly, and research on epidemic diseases was of paramount importance.

Diseases can be transmitted in many ways, and different regions have different land, climate, and lifestyles, resulting in different diseases.

To prevent other countries from bringing diseases back to the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty's ports generally have such quarantine measures.

As for the Baosheng Medical Bureau, Zhu Juntang knew from the name that it was probably a newly established medical institution in the Ming Dynasty.

When Zhu Juntang traveled to Penghu, he stopped at Laizhou. Compared to then, Laizhou Port was much more prosperous. He remarked with emotion:
"Laizhou Port is becoming more and more lively."

Lu Xi said with a smile:

"Mr. Zhu missed the bustling times. Last month, when the Zheng He and Faxian set sail, Laizhou Port was bustling with activity!"

"The Zheng He and Faxian ships?"

Lu Xi nodded and said:

"For the competition to measure longitude, the Royal Society of Practical Learning funded two exploration projects: Huang Shaoshi's lunar angular distance celestial clock method and the master craftsman Zhang Bi's nautical clock method."

"The two lords organized a fleet in Laizhou. Lord Huang named his flagship Zheng He and Master Zhang named his flagship Faxian. Both set sail last month to search for Nanzhou."

Lu Xi looked on with a nostalgic expression: "Laizhou Port was so lively back then! Many naval officers joined the fleet, and our Ming Dynasty naval admiral personally saw them off at the port!"

After listening to Lu Xi's description, Zhu Juntang could almost imagine the grand occasion and was captivated.

As the captain, Lu Xi had read some books, but he wasn't exactly a scholar. He asked:

"Mr. Zhu, everyone knows Zheng He, and it's understandable that Master Huang named his work after Zheng He. But why did Master Zhang name his work after Faxian? Who was Faxian?"

Zhu Juntang explained:
"Faxian was a prominent monk of the Jin Dynasty who traveled to the Western Regions and later returned to the Central Plains by ship, bringing back a large number of Buddhist scriptures," Zhu Juntang added.

"This Master Faxian entered India by land and later returned to China by sea."

"We encountered countless dangers along the way, and almost capsized several times. Finally, we were blown to land by a strong wind and returned to our homeland."

After listening, Captain Lu said loudly:

"I see! Then the name Faxian is so auspicious!"

Zhu Juntang looked at the captain with a puzzled expression.

Captain Lu said:
"For those of us who make a living at sea, surviving is the greatest fortune. The name 'Faxian' is well-chosen!"

Zhu Juntang thought of himself; hadn't he also survived a shipwreck by sheer luck?

Although he didn't like the position of Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices in Japan, at least he survived.

Standing in the ever-changing Laizhou Port, Zhu Juntang became even more determined to survive no matter what!
A short while later, several more people dressed in white robes and wearing strange masks arrived in front of Zhu Juntang's boat.

Accompanying these people was an official from the Maritime Trade Office.

The Japanese silver company frequently dealt with the Maritime Trade Office, so they naturally recognized this official, and Captain Lu quickly stepped forward to greet him.

The official from the Maritime Trade Office bowed to Lu Xi and said, "Captain Lu, these gentlemen are from the Baosheng Medical Bureau. They are here to vaccinate the entire ship against smallpox."

"Cowpox?"

When smallpox broke out in Zhigu, and Li Shizhen was fighting the epidemic, Captain Lu was still in Japan and did not know about the smallpox vaccination program.

The official from the Maritime Trade Office gave a brief introduction, and Zhu Juntang exclaimed in surprise:
"The imperial court can even cure smallpox?"

The head physician of the Baosheng Medical Bureau corrected him:

"It's not about treating smallpox, but rather that after being vaccinated against smallpox, you won't get smallpox again."

Zhu Juntang was a member of the Shanxi imperial family. During the Jiajing era, Shanxi experienced a large-scale smallpox outbreak.

Zhu Juntang has vivid memories of this; he still remembers the scene of his father leading him to escape the city to avoid the epidemic.

After that smallpox outbreak, half of the children in Datong died, and almost every family was holding a funeral.

Zhu Juntang narrowly escaped smallpox, but developed a great fear of it.

In fact, as more foreigners entered Japan, smallpox also spread there.

Many nobles in Japan believed that the plague was brought by foreigners.

The medical officers from the Baosheng Medical Bureau acted quickly; everyone on the ship was vaccinated against smallpox. Then, the officials from the Maritime Trade Office bid farewell to Lu Xi and led the medical officers to the next ship.
-
Over the next two days, Zhu Juntang felt a slight fever, but quickly recovered.

He has been staying on the ship in quarantine these days, but people have been bringing him food and water. Zhu Juntang has also paid some of his own money, and several copies of the latest newspapers have been delivered to the ship, which has made his quarantine life less boring.

The biggest news in the Yuefu Xinbao was the establishment of the five offices under the Zhongshu Menxia (Secretariat and Secretariat).

Seeing his teacher Su Ze appointed as the Chief Censor of the Secretariat, Zhu Juntang simply felt it was only natural.

The great changes that have taken place in the Ming Dynasty are all related to my mentor. With my mentor taking on such an important position, he is one step closer to becoming a Grand Secretary. The Ming Dynasty will only get better and better.

Luo Wanhua, the editor-in-chief of Yuefu Xinbao, resigned and was succeeded by Zhang Wei, the former Datong Mazheng Tongzhi, who was also a member of the Hanlin Academy.

Zhu Juntang seemed to have heard the name Zhang Wei somewhere before.

He recalled that he had once gone to Penghu for help, and the Penghu magistrate, Wang Jiaping, had mentioned this name. Zhang Wei, like that magistrate Wang, was the same age as his mentor, Su Ze.

All three editors-in-chief of the Yuefu Xinbao were Hanlin scholars, so this position could only be held by Hanlin scholars in the future, and a new political tradition emerged.

After Luo Wanhua left office, the overall style of Yuefu Xinbao did not change much, and it seems that the new editor-in-chief has no intention of making a large-scale redesign.

The sales of Yuefu Xinbao remained the highest among the five major newspapers, and in addition to coastal cities and cities along the canal, Yuefu Xinbao also penetrated into inland provinces along the Yangtze River.

Zhu Juntang saw that the circulation of the Yuefu Xinbao in Sichuan had reached 1,000 copies per month. These newspapers had to be transported upstream from the Yangtze River into Sichuan.

Of course, Zhang Wei, the new editor-in-chief, also implemented certain reforms to the newspaper.

The direction of the reform is to establish branches in each province and set up local supplements in newspapers to specifically report local news.

For example, this Shandong-based newspaper, "Yuefu Xinbao," had several pages of news from the imperial court, but the last two pages were printed by the local Shandong editorial department and featured local news from Shandong.

The biggest news in Shandong is the Laiji Railway project.

The newly appointed governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou, Cheng Ziwen, who was formerly the provincial governor of Guangxi, began a large-scale construction project after arriving in Laizhou.

Back when he was in Guangxi, Cheng Ziwen had the authority of a provincial governor, but he had neither people nor money. Even when he was repairing a river, he had to plunder the local chieftain.

When Cheng Ziwen took office as the governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou, he realized what a huge political legacy his predecessor, Tu Zemin, had left him.

The treasury of the governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou contained more silver dollars than the entire treasury of Guangxi province!
Meanwhile, with the investment of Li Wenquan, chairman of the Woyin Company, a large number of new factories were built in Laizhou Port, which brought a lot of commercial tax to Laizhou every year.

This also meant that the governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou had plenty of funds.

Including port construction, the previous Tu Zemin had already completed all of these projects. Tu Zemin had also finished repairing the roads and water conservancy projects in Dengzhou and Laizhou!

When Cheng Ziwen took over the inspection, he looked like he was about to cry!

I remember how miserable my life was back in Guangxi!
After assessing the financial situation of Dengzhou and Laizhou, Cheng Ziwen promptly submitted a memorial requesting the construction of the Laizhou-Jizhou Railway.

This railway project was ambitious, stretching from the ports of Dengzhou and Laizhou all the way to Damingfu (Jinan)!
This massive road construction plan caused a sensation in Shandong.

The railway from Zhigu to the capital is nearing completion.

Extensive reports in major newspapers made everyone understand the benefits of building railways.

Once the Laizhou-Jizhou Railway is completed, goods from the ports of Laizhou and Dengzhou can be directly transported to Daming Prefecture and then sold along the canal!

Zhu Juntang was also deeply moved after reading it, feeling incredibly lucky to have been born in this great era.

Rumors from the port suggest that the newly appointed governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou is also a member of the Soviet Party.
The people of Laizhou Port say that the fact that two consecutive governors of Dengzhou and Laizhou were from the Su faction means that the people of Laizhou are really lucky and are now living a good life.

Why are so many people Soviet?

Does that include myself?
(End of this chapter)