My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 97: The National Destiny Increases (Sixth Update)
When the news that the cabinet recommended Wang Yongji as the inspector of Shanxi reached the Censorate, Luo Zun sat in his chair in despair.

It's over, it's over.

Shen Sixiao rushed into the public housing and said to Luo Zun:

"Wang Guoguang voluntarily resigned from the court recommendation, unwilling to compete with Wang Yongji for the patrol case!"

Luo Zun lowered his head, he knew he had lost.

Shen Sixiao came close to Luo Zun and whispered:
"The only solution now is to put more pressure on King Dai."

Luo Zun looked at Shen Sixiao in astonishment and said:
"Are you going to let the King of Dai do that?"

Luo Zun quickly shook his head and said:
"No, absolutely not!"

For Luo Zun, there is a bottom line to the struggle. If he incites King Dai to rebel, that would be too much.

Shen Sixiao didn't say much, but there was a gleam in his eyes.

The King of Dai must have spies in the capital. Once he knew that the court had sent Wang Yongji to Datong, he would definitely not sit idly by.

Once Datong falls into chaos, he can persuade the censor to write a letter to continue impeaching Su Ze!
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On October 5, Wang Yongji, the former prefect of Huai'an, arrived in the capital. He received an appointment from the Ministry of Personnel as soon as he arrived in the capital. He was directly promoted to the position of Chief Censor-in-Chief and inspected Shanxi, specifically handling the case in which Zhu Juntang, a member of the royal family, sued the King of Dai.

The official from the Ministry of Transport, who had come to deliver the message, smiled and asked, "Inspector Wang, the cabinet's order requires you to arrive in Shanxi by the 15th day. You still have plenty of time. The transport officer has arranged accommodations for you in Beijing. You must have had a hard journey. Please rest for a few days in the capital."

Unexpectedly, Wang Yongji frowned and said:
"On my way to the capital, I heard about the Daifan case. This case is extraordinary and of great importance. I will not stay in the capital."

"Left and right, head straight to Datong!"

When the officials of the Ministry of Transport saw Wang Yongji, they jumped on their horses directly. The attendants on his left and right came up to take the official robes, official seals and appointment documents sent by the Ministry of Transport, and then headed towards Shanxi.
-
On October 5th, Su Ze had just arrived at the newspaper office when the settlement report popped up on the system.

The "Memorial Requesting the Abolition of the Daifan System" was carried out. On October 5th, Wang Yongji was appointed as the inspector of Shanxi. Upon receiving the imperial decree, he immediately went to Shanxi.

On October 10th, the desperate King of Dai contacted General Zheng Nian of Datong and prepared to gather troops for rebellion.

Before raising his army, Qi Jiguang, with his personal guards as the backbone, led the soldiers recruited from Xuanfu and immediately attacked the city of Datong.

On October 11th, centurion Zhao Cheng opened the city gates and surrendered to the imperial court, putting down the rebellion of the King of Dai.

[Ming Dynasty +5]

[Host prestige +100]

Oh my goodness, the King of Dai really rebelled?

Should I remind Lord Zhao and ask him to warn Qi Jiguang?

It seems not necessary.

According to the simulation results, King Dai was still plotting to gather troops for rebellion on the tenth day, but Qi Jiguang arrived on the eleventh, which shows that Qi Jiguang had been prepared for this.

Moreover, Qi Jiguang must have obtained authorization from the Ministry of War to recruit soldiers in Xuanfu, and the cabinet must have made a contingency plan long ago.

It turns out that these important cabinet ministers of the Longqing Dynasty are not pushovers.

Besides, with the reputation of King Dai in Datong and the weak strength of the Datong Guard, even though Qi Jiguang only recruited soldiers temporarily, he could still capture the city in one day.

In fact, this is normal. In this era, whether in the East or the West, the most important thing for generals is the elite troops around them.

These elite soldiers are the spearhead of the entire army and also the seeds of officers. As long as the trusted subordinates are still there, they can expand into an elite army by recruiting some people.

Qi Jiguang did not travel north alone. With his elite troops by his side, it would be easy for him to quell the hasty rebellion of the King of Dai. He would wait until the rebellion of the King of Dai was quelled, and then submit a memorial to the Emperor proposing to ban the restoration of border garrisons.

But Su Ze didn't expect that just by reducing the power of one vassal state, the Ming Dynasty would be extended by 5 years?
My goodness, if all the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty were eliminated, wouldn’t the country’s life span be extended by a hundred years?

But after thinking about it carefully, Su Ze found it difficult.

The King of Dai committed a crime himself, and then he rebelled out of desperation, so he was stripped of his title.

If the other princes did not rebel, the emperor would probably not have the courage to reduce their power.

Not to mention the emperor, I'm afraid even the cabinet would not support me.

The prestige consumed would be too great.

Su Ze felt that it was a waste to use prestige points and opportunities to submit petitions to do such a thing.

However, the King of Dai's reduction of the feudal fiefdoms can be used as an example, and this method should be used against all members of the royal family who committed crimes.

But what's the point of reducing the power of the vassal states?

Su Ze recalled that in history, Emperor Wanli granted his favorite son, Prince Fu, an embassy in Luoyang, Henan, and granted him 20,000 hectares of land!

This happened in Henan Province, where the population was exploding. Even after searching the entire Henan Province, they couldn't find so much land. They had to take fertile land from Shandong Province and Huguang Province to make up the difference.

No matter how hard you try to reduce the power of the feudal lords, it is not as good as the emperor's conferring of titles!

By the way, when I teach Zhu Yijun in the future, I must talk to him about the issue of vassal kings and ask him not to give his son such a large fiefdom in the future!
Su Ze then remembered that he had been suspended from his lecturer qualification because of his nonsense in the imperial lecture last time.
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October 14th.

These days, Su Ze quietly waited for the news of Prince Dai's rebellion to reach the capital, while he continued to edit the newspaper.

Luo Wanhua picked up a letter and said to Su Ze:

"Brother Zilin, regarding your last article, 'Haiguo Ji,' I received a letter from an official who had served in Fujian, saying that he had spoken with the Red Barbarian merchants of Yuegang and that they did indeed know that there was a Nanhuangzhou, and that the Red Barbarians were colonizing the land there."

Su Ze quickly opened the letter and looked at the signature. It turned out to be from Tu Zemin, the former governor of Fujian.

Tu Zemin!
Su Ze then remembered that this was the censor who had submitted a memorial requesting the lifting of the maritime ban at the beginning of Emperor Longqing's reign!

In the first year of the Longqing reign, less than a month after ascending the throne, Emperor Longqing issued an edict to his ministers, saying: "If there are any inconveniences in the previous dynasty's decrees, you may submit a petition to amend them."

Afterwards, Fujian Governor and Chief Censor Tu Zemin wrote a letter saying: "Please open the maritime trade and change private trade into public trade."

Emperor Longqing immediately agreed to Tu Zemin's memorial and agreed to lift the maritime ban.

Of course, the opening of the maritime ban here is not quite what most people think.

The opening of the sea in the first year of the Longqing reign maintained the general direction of the maritime ban policy, but opened a small port in Yuegang, Zhangzhou Prefecture, Fujian, allowing Chinese and foreign ships to dock and trade.

Yuegang was a famous smuggling port during the Jiajing period, but friends who often engage in smuggling should know that the port chosen for smuggling must be hidden. Yuegang is located at the mouth of the Jiulong River. Because its harbor channel is "a moat in the water, surrounded like a crescent moon", it is named Yuegang.

A water cut means that this port is winding and deep, which makes it convenient for smuggling ships to hide. But in fact, the port conditions of Yuegang are not good. The winding waterway cannot accommodate large ships. When encountering large sea ships, they have to stop at sea to unload and transfer small boats to enter the port, which is very inconvenient.

Therefore, the opening of the ports during the Longqing reign did not mean the complete lifting of the maritime ban, but rather the opening of a special zone to allow maritime trade to take place within a very small area.

Su Ze quickly asked:

"What is the current position of this Mr. Tu?"

(End of this chapter)