The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Shandai, look at it, what is supposed to come will eventually come."

On this day, as soon as Wei Guangde entered Prince Yu's Mansion and saw Yin Shizhen, Yin Shizhen handed him a copied memorial in his hand.

Wei Guangde reached out to take it and glanced at it. It was a memorial from Zhang Jian, the governor of Shandong.

Coming from Shandong, it was clear to him what was going on.

This time, Hedao Yamen and Shandong Province were able to tolerate the officials' ban on Liao shipping. They planned for almost a year before taking action.

In fact, thinking about it, it's no wonder that people are cautious. After all, the original proposal came from Prince Yu's palace, and no one wanted to offend the future emperor for nothing.

The first reason for operating for such a long time is to contact more officials in North Korea and China so that they can get as much support as possible when they take action.

Secondly, of course they also want to see the reaction of Prince Yu's Palace. If Prince Yu's Palace reacts violently, they will of course use some means, such as lobbying or bribery. In short, they will always find a way to get Prince Yu's Palace to agree on this matter.

But what they didn't expect was that after Prince Yu's Mansion knew about it, they didn't stop it, and of course they had no intention of letting it go.

At least Wei Guangde, Zhang Juzheng, and even Gao Gong all expressed their opposition to the ban on Liao shipping in private.

After procrastinating until now, they finally couldn't help but take action. Maybe they felt that the power they had in the court was enough to influence the one in the palace.

Wei Guangde read Zhang Jian's memorial carefully and found out that for the sake of coastal defense, he asked the emperor to ban Liao ships from shipping again.

Of course, the memorial also said at the end that if famine and other major public sentiments occurred again in Liaodong, it would be feasible to resume shipping to Liaoning. After all, shipping to Liaoning could indeed solve the problem of material shortage in Liaodong.

In short, the memorial is written so smoothly that no one can see any mistakes.

"Even the governor of Liaodong is on their side, so what else can they do?"

In this regard, Wei Guangde just said with a wry smile.

In order to deal with this matter, even if it was just a symbolic objection, Wei Guangde had contacted Wang Zhigao, the governor of Liaodong through Xu Jie's relationship, hoping that Liaodong would put forward the difficulties they faced to stop it.

Speaking of which, the situation in Liaodong is really chaotic.

Regarding the Liao ship shipping, the Liaodong generals and other generals were enshrined by the merchants, so they fully supported it. However, the attitude of the governor was completely opposite.

When Wang Zhigao entered Liaodong, he encountered a major disaster. Naturally, the first thing he did was to vigorously cultivate the fields, hoping to survive the difficulties on his own. Shipping to Liaodong could only be a temporary solution to save the people, but it would not last long.

Wang Zhigao even said in his letter to Wei Guangde that if the sea transportation to Liaoning continues for a long time, it will inevitably make the people of Liao become lazy and unwilling to work hard in production. In the long run, Liaodong will be completely ruined.

Wei Guangde didn't know how to refute this.

"Then, let Li Fang contact those people to submit a report to refute this matter according to what was discussed before?"

From the beginning, when they were discussing, Wei Guangde did not recommend violent opposition, but just expressed his opinions appropriately.

You must know that the other party is too powerful. Before it has the real right to speak, the consequences of strong opposition will be unpredictable.

Even though King Jing had already settled in Fan'anlu, he was the son of Emperor Jiajing after all.

In other words, the battle for imperial heirs has not really ended.

However, for now, Emperor Jiajing has given his acquiescence to King Yu.

At this time, if Prince Yu's palace exerts too much powerful influence in the court, it will inevitably make Emperor Jiajing suspicious and dissatisfied with Prince Yu.

That position was always what they, the people in the palace, were nervous about.

As for the relationship between Prince Yu's Mansion and the General Soldier of Outer Town, it is actually not as important as most people think.

Whether it is Ma Fang, the commander-in-chief of Xuanfu, Yu Dayou, the new commander-in-chief of Guangdong, or Dong Yikui, the commander-in-chief of Shanxi Town, after all, they are all commander-in-chief of other towns, and they are still far away from the capital.

Wei Guangde did not strongly support Ma Fang's departure from Jizhen, actually to prevent Emperor Jiajing from becoming suspicious.

Prince Yu's Mansion has never dared to reach out to Jingying and Jizhen, which can really influence the situation in the capital.

King Yu had hoped that Ma Fang would leave Jizhen to relieve his worries, but he had no choice but to give up after Wei Guangde said that this might be the limit that Emperor Jiajing could endure.

Of course, doing nothing will not work, so just let some low-level officials come forward to report.

It can not only express the opposition of Prince Yu's palace, but also show enough influence on the court to reassure Emperor Jiajing.

In fact, the more detailed you understand the matter of Liaodong Shipping, the more you will feel that there are many mysteries in it. The most fundamental one is the omission of the Ming Dynasty's division of chief envoys, or it is time for reform.

Liaodong was an important area in the northern defense system of the Ming Dynasty, and its chaos situation was directly related to the rise and fall of the Ming Dynasty.

Due to its location in the northeast corner, exchanges between Liaodong and the mainland in the Ming Dynasty could only be carried out through two roads.

One is the land route through Shanhaiguan and the Liaoxi Corridor, and the other is the sea route from Dengzhou and Laizhou in the northern Shandong Peninsula to the Liaodong Peninsula via the Bohai Strait.

At the beginning of the Hong Dynasty, the Ming army crossed the sea from the Denglai area and went northward, defeated the residual Yuan forces, and brought the Liaodong area under the rule of the Ming Dynasty. At that time, the food, cloth and other logistical materials needed by the Liaodong garrison also had to pass through the sea route between Denglai and Liao. Transfer obtained.

On the basis of this close connection, the civil affairs and judicial affairs of Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty were placed under the jurisdiction of the Liaohai Dongning Branch Guard Road under the Shandong Chief Secretary and the Liaohai Dongning Branch Patrol Road under the Shandong Ancha Division, thus forming a "Liaodong is subordinate to Shandong" is a special administrative region geographical phenomenon.

This kind of administrative geographical division is the only one in Chinese history.

All civil affairs in Liaodong were brought under the jurisdiction of Shandong. When shipping was available, merchants gathered in parallel, and trade and goods flowed between Jin and Fu. Liaodong was also called the paradise.

However, after this, Liaodong shipping was abandoned soon. Although it is mostly considered to be the same as when Liu Jin used it during the Zhengde period, the ships were damaged and were not repaired, and the price of materials disappeared. Waste related.

But in fact, the fundamental reason is still the conflict of interests between the two places.

In the early days, the materials exported from Shandong to Liaodong were mainly grain, cloth, cotton, etc. However, after the fertile soil of Liaodong was reclaimed, grain could barely be self-sufficient. Liaodong had many mountains and the disadvantages of kunai cloth became apparent, requiring external support.

The Denglai area of ​​Shandong Province is suitable for cotton and lacks grains. Since then, the trade between Shandong and Liaodong has gradually changed to cloth and cotton.

At this time, the Dengliao shipping was no longer a state-mandated action in a state of war, but a step-by-step fixed procedure in peacetime.

As time went by, many detailed conflicts arose in shipping affairs, and the conflicts of regional interests between Liaodong and Shandong gradually emerged.

Although the civil affairs and judicial affairs of Liaodong were nominally under the jurisdiction of Shandong, the Liaodong Dusi in charge of Liaodong affairs was independent of Shandong's jurisdiction. This made the status of the two places relatively equal, and therefore they were even more unwilling to give in to each other when conflicts of interest occurred.

For example, in the freight handover process, according to the original regulations, Shandong shipping ships should first transport cotton cloth to Liaodong, and Liaodong officials will check the quantity and quality, and then return after confirming receipt.

Just like what happened to the Cao army during the canal's shortcomings, Liaodong officials often ordered those who transshipped the goods to pay compensation on the charge of being careless and narrow, thus ruining their families.

Because Liaodong officers blackmailed Shandong transshipment ships, at the suggestion of Shandong officials, the cotton handover procedure was changed to Shandong.

Liaodong sent personnel to Shandong to inspect the quantity and quality of cotton cloth. Once it passed the standard, it would be shipped and shipped. The Liaodong officer who "took cloth, banknotes and other items from Dengzhou Prefecture" was also demoted.

The problem seems to be solved, but new situations arise.

After the handover of goods was moved to Shandong, officials in Shandong, which had a favorable geographical location, began to embezzle goods for personal gain and pass off inferior goods as good goods.

However, since the officials sent by Liaodong to Shandong to hand over the goods were officials from the Liaohai Dongning Branch Guarding Road and the Branch Patrol Road, and were under the jurisdiction of the Shandong Chief Secretary and the Inspectorate, it was difficult to raise objections to the quality and quantity of the goods.

In the end, the extortion party changed from Liaodong officials to Shandong officials, but the problem was still not resolved.

In order to protect the rights and interests of Liaodong sergeants, the general military officer of Liaodong requested that the delivery location be changed back to Liaodong. These conflicts of interests and contradictions directly affected Shandong's enthusiasm for transporting cloth flowers, which resulted in slackness and even resistance to shipping matters.

After all, there was no profit, and we had to bear the risk of shipping. In the end, under the coordination of the cabinet, it was adjusted to transport Shandong cloth flowers to Liaodong from Shanhaiguan overland instead of Dengliao Sea Road. Of course, the final amount is unknown. We must know the financial center of the Ming Dynasty at this time. Many of them have been changed from physical objects to discounts, that is, using money instead of physical objects.

Since then, Liao ship shipping has been completely abandoned, and all the ships have been in disrepair for many years. It has become a common practice not to open sea lanes unless necessary.

"Has His Highness discussed this matter with you in private?"

Wei Guangde looked at Yin Shizhen and nodded, then suddenly leaned over and asked softly.

"What's the matter?"

Yin Shizhen was confused and didn't know what Wei Guangde was talking about.

"That is to change the Liaodong Branch Guard Road and the Branch Patrol Road into the Chief Envoy Department and the Inspector Envoy Department, and raise the administrative level of Liaodong to a province."

Wei Guangde said directly.

Only by completely separating Liaodong from Shandong can it be possible to re-establish healthy trade exchanges between the two places.

Just kidding, it is ridiculous that two places in one world have almost completely severed ties because of their own interests.

For Shandong officials, it is disgusting that they cannot take advantage of their subordinates, so they naturally want to retaliate.

But in fact, who among the two capitals and thirteen provinces in China would block traffic because of this?

In Wei Guangde's view, as long as the administrative level of the Liaodong region can be raised and turned into the fourteenth province of the Ming Dynasty, Shandong officials will face the matter squarely, get rid of the revengeful mood of wanting to take advantage, and support the restoration of the Ming Dynasty. Trade between the two places.

At that time, who would think that this was a matter of maritime transport? It was all transportation between provinces within the empire.

In fact, as long as there is no rift between Shandong and Liaodong, there will be no chance for Hedao Yamen to cause trouble.

When Yin Shizhen heard what Wei Guangde said, he was slightly stunned, and then he realized that it was Wei Guangde who brought up the matter.

"No wonder."

Yin Shizhen reached out and tapped Wei Guangde and said, "I'm still wondering why His Highness suddenly had such an idea. It turns out it's because of you."

"Haha, it was just a sudden idea at the beginning. You must know that the administration of Liaodong was transferred to Shandong in the early years. Now Liaodong is no longer the sparsely populated situation in the past, and it has long been able to become independent."

Wei Guangde explained with a smile.

"I'm afraid this matter won't work. I opposed this change to the old rule at the time. No matter who proposed it, I'm afraid there will be great resistance."

Yin Shizhen shook his head and said.

Seeing Wei Guangde's dissatisfied look, Yin Shizhen had no choice but to explain: "Do you know the situation in Liaodong?

Although I have never been to Liaodong, I know that the place is vast and sparsely populated. Except for the Han people in the area near the Liaohai Sea in the south, there are very few Han people in the north. Most of them are local natives. They "use barbarians to control barbarians". It's all left to them to manage.

According to your opinion, directly establishing the Chief Envoy will inevitably have an impact on the succession of the chieftains and clan chiefs. By then, I am afraid that the northeastern part of Liaoning will be like the southwest, with local rebellions from time to time. "

"'Using barbarians to control barbarians', you are talking about Nu'ergan Dusi, a Dusi Yamen that has ceased to exist in name only."

Wei Guangde still shook his head slightly and said: "To tell you the truth, I did have the idea of ​​​​returning to the throne, including regaining control of Nuergan Dusi, but I no longer established the division alone, but the Liaodong Dusi was directly responsible."

"In that case, there will inevitably be a war with the local Mongols, Jurchens, etc. Why do you want to do this?"

When Yin Shizhen heard what Wei Guangde said, his heart skipped a beat.

The civil servants of the Ming Dynasty actually naturally hated war, not only because the Ming Dynasty's treasury was unable to support such military expenditures, but also because they could not see anything worthy of their investment.

It's not that they have no ambition to expand their territory and don't want to leave a name in history, but because they have absolute trust in the strength of the Ming Dynasty.

Around the Ming Dynasty, except for Mongolia, which suffered from scabies, no country could attract their attention.

Although Wei Guangde knew that there was another former Xuanwei Division in the southeast that would become a trouble for the Ming Dynasty in the future, he did not see much about this place from the documents of various ministries or the Imperial Academy and other places. Record.

This is the Myanmar Propaganda Department.

The ones he could find the most were actually some records from the early Ming Dynasty, but they were very complicated and made him very troubled.

However, although the records are limited, the Ming Dynasty has received intermittently many letters for help from small southwestern countries and chieftains in the past twenty years, saying that the Toungoo Dynasty was attacking them and requesting the Ming Dynasty to send troops for rescue.

Both the Chief Envoy of Yunnan and the imperial court in Beijing who received the letter asking for help thought it was just an attack between small Burmese states, so they ignored it.

Wei Guangde also had limited historical knowledge. Naturally, he did not know that the Toungoo Dynasty of Myanmar mentioned in these documents was the Myanmar dynasty that had caused trouble to China in his impression, so he did not take it seriously.

Because the civil servants are overconfident in their country's strength, they believe that the surrounding land can be easily captured by launching a large army as long as the country needs it. Naturally, there is no need for actual control and cultivation and development.

In order to save military expenses and appease their dissatisfaction, the Ming army of Nurgandusi easily allowed them to withdraw south, thus completely giving up control of that land and instead supporting local tribes to control it.

Later generations look at problems from a future perspective and mostly think that these actions of the Ming Dynasty were serious mistakes. However, they do not know that they may not be a good policy at present and a good policy to save national power.