Chapter 76 Be Careful with Your Words
Zhu Biao had been the crown prince for about ten years, and he was particularly caring towards the crown prince.
After Zhu Biao ascended the throne of the crown prince, he specifically asked the Minister of Personnel, Zhan Tong, to refer to the official system of the crown prince's Eastern Palace in past dynasties and select officials with outstanding merits and mature morals to hold part-time positions in the Eastern Palace. The purpose was to assist the crown prince and allow Zhu Biao to adapt to the life of the emperor in advance.
Among them were the then Left Prime Minister Li Shanchang, Right Prime Minister Xu Da, Zhongshu Pingzhang Recorder of Military and National Affairs Chang Yuchun, Right Governor-General Feng Sheng, Zhongshu Pingzhang Political Affairs Hu Mei, Liao Yongzhong, Li Bosheng and others.
The purpose was that when Zhu Yuanzhang was away on a campaign or tour, the Crown Prince would govern the country, making it easier for the ministers to assist him.
Therefore, in such an environment, it was impossible for Zhu Biao not to understand the court affairs and the current political development of the Ming Dynasty.
Similarly, when Zhu Chong traveled to this world, he also studied the current Ming Dynasty officialdom in his spare time. The more he studied, the more he found that the Ming Dynasty official system was very strange, or in other words, both the officialdom and politics seemed very deformed.
To put it simply, it is like a commoner becoming a nouveau riche, wanting to do everything well but unable to do anything well.
Just like Zhu Yuanzhang, he has always kept his eyes on the northern border and pursued the Mongols relentlessly, but it is a thankless task and a waste of money and manpower. He does not care much about the real recuperation of the people and the key economic development.
So just like the issue of the Japanese pirates, to put it bluntly, the imperial court did not take it seriously at all, and did not even understand the origin and background of the Japanese pirates.
However, Zhu Chong knew very well that the Hongwu period was the period when Japan entered the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the feudal lords in the country were divided and attacked each other for power and profit, and the wars were endless.
In order to make up for their losses and develop their own strength, some feudal lords of the Southern Dynasty of Japan who were defeated in the war organized samurai, merchants and ronin to go to the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty to engage in armed smuggling and more direct pirate activities such as burning, killing, looting, etc.
After Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed himself emperor, he actually sent envoys to Japan, hoping that the Japanese leader could take care of the matter. However, due to the complicated internal situation in Japan, several envoys returned empty-handed.
As a result, the invasions of Japanese pirates became increasingly frequent. From Qi and Lu in the north to Haixi in the south, Japanese pirates who made a living by looting could be seen everywhere.
But even so, the imperial court still felt that the Japanese pirates in the southeast were not a concern. The real enemy of the Ming Dynasty was the former Yuan Mongols who fled north. As a result, the threat of the Japanese pirates in the southeast gradually grew in scale.
At first, there were only sporadic rebellions by Japanese pirates, but when the pirates grew in size and the southeastern troops were short of resources, they were even chased and beaten by the pirates, and the situation became worse.
During this period, a large number of desperate merchant families emerged within the Ming Dynasty, colluding with Japanese pirates to plunder the wealth of the southeastern region of the Ming Dynasty.
A large amount of wealth flowed into the pockets of bureaucrats and businessmen who colluded with the Japanese pirates, while the common people in the southeastern region of the Ming Dynasty fell into dire straits.
Of course, the situation is still under control at this time under Zhu Yuanzhang, but a few decades later when the Japanese pirates are rampant during the Jiajing period, the situation will be countless times worse than it is now.
According to historical records, more than fifty Japanese pirates at that time were able to chase and kill thousands of imperial officials and soldiers from eastern Zhejiang all the way to Nanjing Prefecture in Southern Zhili.
So when Zhu Biao asked Zhu Chong for advice, Zhu Chong felt it necessary to talk to Zhu Biao about it. Regardless of whether Zhu Biao could successfully ascend the throne in the future, the threat of Japanese pirates should be nipped in the bud before the merchants and bureaucrats in the southeast become collusive with the pirates.
Lifting the sea ban has become the most effective, simplest and most direct method at present, no doubt about it!
As long as the Ming Dynasty could lift the maritime ban, the government would have to develop the navy, and then trade directly with overseas countries so that the people could go to sea. At that time, it would be a thankless task for merchants to smuggle for profit.
Without the profit chain of smuggling, the Japanese pirates would be like water without a source. Once the Ming Dynasty's navy appeared on the southeast coast, wouldn't it be easy to deal with a group of Japanese pirates who only had sampans?
However, the prerequisite for achieving all this is that Zhu Yuanzhang agrees to open the sea. After all, Zhu Biao is only the crown prince now. Although he has the right to make suggestions, Zhu Yuanzhang may not be willing to listen.
Even though Zhu Yuanzhang had already become the emperor, had experienced countless years of hardship, and had witnessed countless conspiracies and intrigues, his vision was the worst among all the founding emperors in history, bar none!
It was precisely because he did not set a good example for the Ming Dynasty that the successive emperors of the Ming Dynasty made irreparable and even catastrophic mistakes in the formulation of national policies, which led to the Qing Dynasty's invasion of the pass.
Zhu Biao felt a little embarrassed at this time, with sweat running down his back. He vaguely felt that he was too anxious to ask Zhu Chong for advice today, and he seemed to have let his brother down!
However, he still wanted to do his best to smooth things over. "Second brother, lifting the maritime ban is a serious matter and will bring certain harm to the court. Not to mention, there are pirates..."
"Brother, I don't like what you're saying." Zhu Chong picked up the wine glass in front of him, drank it in one gulp, and then sneered, "The Southern Song Dynasty, Liao, Jin, and Mongolia were three powerful enemies that were able to confront each other for hundreds of years. How do you think they could hold out for so long?"
"Warfare relies on money and food, right? Even a weak dynasty like the Southern Song knew how to keep wealth among the people, relying on the benefits of the sea to enrich the treasury and defend against foreign enemies. Why is it that it becomes a threat here?"
"This..." Zhu Biao broke out in a sweat, but Zhu Chong became more and more excited as he spoke.
"Brother, the purpose of lifting the maritime ban we just mentioned is to eliminate the threat of Japanese pirates. The reason why the Japanese pirates are so difficult to fight now is, firstly, because of the maritime ban, and secondly, because there are treacherous people within our ranks who are secretly colluding with them and exploiting the people of our Ming Dynasty!"
"So a maritime ban is absolutely unacceptable. It's like trying to cover up one's own faults, deceiving oneself by pinching one's nose. It's treating the benefits right in front of one's eyes as dregs. It's the most foolish act imaginable."
"Let me be frank. Are all the Japanese pirates fools? They are all madmen born to love to burn, kill, and plunder. Why would they come to our Ming Dynasty if there is no profit to be made? Is it fun to kill all the people along the coast of our Ming Dynasty?"
"To be honest, my father is so shortsighted and self-righteous. He calls the Emperor a joke. Doesn't the Emperor make mistakes? Why did Emperor Wu and Emperor Wen of Han issue edicts of self-criticism? It shows that what the Emperor says may not be entirely right!"
"Zhu Chong, be careful with your words!" Zhu Biao's face changed color furiously. This was really getting more and more outrageous. The key point was that it was okay to say this to himself, but the problem was that there were more than just the two of them!
Zhu Biao and Zhu Chong were arguing in the front hall. In the side room in the back hall, old Zhu, who was dressed in plain clothes, frowned tightly, his face stretched long, and his whole body was trembling after hearing what Zhu Chong said to Zhu Biao. He almost rushed out to start a fight.
Because Zhu Chong's suggestions, to a certain extent, almost completely negated Zhu's previous decisions, and almost blatantly believed that Zhu was completely wrong in formulating the Ming Dynasty's foreign policy.
How could Zhu Yuanzhang tolerate this? He had always believed that his national policy was flawless and could lay a solid foundation for future generations. But in Zhu Chong's mouth, it was almost worthless. How could he not be angry?
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