The island nation was poor, and the conquest was across the sea. Even if there were silver mountains, the cost of occupation and operation would be very high.

At least before the Ming Empire survived a major disaster, the emperor had no intention of invading Japan.

Moreover, how to use the opponent's force to counter the opponent's force, how to seize the opportunity, and achieve the greatest benefit at the lowest cost is still the emperor's first choice.

Were there any disturbances during the Tokugawa Shogunate?

The emperor thought for a long time and remembered that there seemed to be a guy named Amakusa Shiro and that the shogunate was closing the country.

Well, if we want to start a war, an excuse is not a problem. If you close your country and affect trade, I will black ship and sign a treaty!

The emperor gently stroked the cat's head and looked at Wang Tigan's face with a questioning look.

Wang Tigan hurriedly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Meng Honglue has been summoned to an audience and is waiting outside the palace."

The emperor nodded, turned and walked towards the main hall, saying, "Announce."

Meng Honglue is the 67th generation grandson of Mencius. His father Meng Chengguang died while leading local militia to resist the rebellion of Xu Hongru.

The court had already provided him with relief, but he did not expect that several years later, the emperor would summon him to the capital again for this reason.

Of course, he didn't know what the emperor was planning. If he knew, he would probably be so scared that he wouldn't dare to come.

The emperor has already prepared rewards. In addition to adding the title of Prince's Guardian, he will also grant the Meng family ten generations of merit.

You must know that the arrangement of characters in the genealogies of Confucius and Mencius was granted by the emperor. At the very least, one had to ask for the emperor's approval before the characters and generation numbers could be established.

Of course, the emperor also wanted to discuss with this descendant of Mencius the true meaning of "dying for the sake of benevolence and sacrificing one's life for righteousness."

Although Mencius was the second sage and also the founder of Confucianism, the emperor still respected him more and praised him more than Confucius.

He was able to say "Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it", put forward the idea that the people are more important than the monarch, and said "If the monarch makes a serious mistake, the ministers should advise him, and if he does not listen, his position can be replaced." No wonder his status has always been lower than that of Confucius.

Zhu Baba, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, compiled "Mencius Excerpts", deleting chapters and sentences from "Mencius", such as "The people are the most important, the country is second, and the king is the least important", "A cruel and treacherous person is called a tyrant. I have heard of the execution of the tyrant Zhou, but I have never heard of the regicide", etc.

Not only did Taizu delete it, he also announced to the world that many of Mencius' remarks were "not suitable for a minister to say" and ordered Mencius to be expelled from the Confucian Temple.

Later, the emperor restored Mencius's status in the Confucian Temple after his ministers submitted a petition to dissuade him. However, he still said to his ministers, "If this old man were alive today, would he be spared?"

All we can say is that Meng Sheng died early, otherwise, he would have been killed by Taizu.

The emperor not only wanted to elevate the Meng family, but also wanted to publish the uncensored version of Meng Sheng's theory. He wanted to build a people-oriented country and society, and the theory that the people were more important than the emperor was right on the mark.

If the descendants are not up to the task, the emperor would rather the people overthrow the dynasty than have the country destroyed by foreign races.

……………….

The conclusion that the royal family is rich is increasingly recognized by people.

The reason is very simple. The gold and silver have not been collected for several years, the Shaoying Academy has been expanded, and the construction of the library has received royal investment.

Of course, no matter what the emperor wants to do, there will always be people who respond enthusiastically and contribute money and effort.

In the past few years, the most outstanding performance has been the major chambers of commerce. Of course, they also benefited from the court's policies or the emperor's favor and made a lot of money.

Similarly, the rapid development of the Chamber of Commerce also increased fiscal revenue from commercial taxes, enabling the emperor's fiscal transformation to proceed smoothly and achieve great results.

This mutually reinforcing development model was extremely rare throughout the dynasties. Either agriculture was prioritized over commerce, or donations were forced. The richer one was, the more likely they were to be targeted by the imperial court.