Jane is playing in the emperor’s heart carriage

Author: tx Cheng Zhi

Jane is playing in the emperor’s heart carriage

Chapter 185

No permanent friends, only permanent interests.

This is true between people, and it is also true between countries.

Just like the Ming Dynasty, which spared no effort to support the Korean War, the Korean War, one of Emperor Wanli's three major campaigns, emptied the treasury and indirectly left a mess for Emperor Tianqi and Chongzhen.

But the question is, is Ming really selfless?

To put it bluntly, it is also for the national interest.

Once Xiaori occupied North Korea, it would be like putting a knife on the waist of Ming Dynasty. Xiaori snored while sleeping in North Korea, and the emperors in Beijing could not sleep.

Therefore, Emperor Wanli could only fight. No matter whether he could not fight or couldn't afford to fight, he had to fight. This principle was the same as Yang Guang's three expeditions to Goguryeo and the Tang Dynasty's attack on Goguryeo.

How can one allow others to sleep soundly on the side of the couch?

The seven-year Wanli Korean War emptied the Ming Dynasty's treasury and lost tens of thousands of elite troops. However, it had to be fought for the sake of national interests.

In fact, there is no pure friendship between countries, there are only interests.

As the second-in-line heir of the Contarini family, Catherine considers issues from the perspective of political logic, and she hits the nail on the head and directly points out the key point: "Show our value!"

Giovanni was an outstanding member of the Corona family, so he naturally understood what Catherine meant: "You mean, let us sell out Venice's interests?"

"What did you say?"

Catherine said seriously: "We are just cooperating. In the words of His Excellency Duke Cheng, this is called win-win cooperation."

"win-win?"

Catherine smiled faintly and said: "Our Venetian city-state republic in Europe can be said to be the enemy of the whole world. The Holy Roman Empire attacks us, the Ottoman Empire attacks us, the French Empire, the Netherlands, and the Spanish Empire all attack us. Is it because of us Venetians?

Are you disobeying God?"

"Actually, we all know that they attacked our Venice because they were targeting the wealth that our Venice has accumulated for hundreds of years!"

"That's the problem!"

Catherine pointed to the steel ingots loaded on the big ship: "We have no friends in Europe. Even if we have money, we can't buy what we want. But the territory under the rule of a governor in the Ming Dynasty can far exceed what all the countries in Europe produce.

Steel, with steel we can build more artillery, well-made armor, sharp swords, and we can better guard our Venice!"

Giovanni suddenly realized: "You mean we want to open a maritime trade route with the Ming Dynasty? This can be done. The products of the Ming Dynasty are so rich, their tea, tea leaves, white sugar, silk, porcelain..."

Venice is a country of commerce. As long as business is mentioned, Giovanni becomes interested.

"These things are very precious, but they are not of much help to our city-state. What we need most is something that can make our Venice stronger!"

When Catherine said this, Giovanni said excitedly: "I understand, do you want their artillery?"

Giovanni worked as a skilled worker in a factory under the Gun Bureau for more than six months, and his hands were covered with blood blisters. During this time, he first saw the flying thunder cannons and three-inch cannons cast by Ning Haijun.

, he was deeply impressed by the power of the blooming shell.

Catherine said: "Yes, it is their extremely powerful artillery!"

"This is the Ming Empire's powerful weapon to control the country!"

Catherine smiled and said: "There is nothing that cannot be sold. The only reason is that the price is not enough!"

As Luo Yonghao said in a speech: "In the eyes of prostitutes, there is no woman in the world who is not for sale. The upper limit of their understanding of a rumor that a woman is not for sale is whether the price cannot be negotiated? This

This is the upper limit of their understanding of not selling.

Catherine is a noble from a merchant country and a typical businessman. Catherine, who has a business mind, absolutely does not believe that Ming Dynasty will not sell artillery. The only possibility is that the money given is too little. If the money is given enough, she will definitely do it.

Sell.

Catherine has seen too many chaste women who will become shameless in the face of money, but in the same way, greedy officials will sell everything they can sell.

"Duke Cheng seems...very rich and not easy to bribe!"

"That's not enough money!"

Catherine smiled and said: "For money, he is willing to sell grain to their hostile merchants, and for money, he will also sell artillery to us Venice. Our Venice poses no threat to them!"

Catherine is very confident, but it is a pity that she will definitely be disappointed. Cheng Shijie is not a businessman at heart. He is just a civilian, a civilian with bottom lines and principles. There are certain things that he will definitely do, whether making money or losing money, some

Things he will definitely not do.

When Cheng Shijie led Ning Haijun's triumphant army to Tianjin Port, he was truly shocked. The three guards of Tianjin, thousands of "elites" who could be considered old acquaintances of Cheng Shijie, and tens of thousands of ordinary people gathered at the Tianjin Port pier.

The cheers soared into the sky.

What Cheng Shijie didn't expect was that there was a Huang Luogai Umbrella in the crowd.

Umbrellas are a symbol of the power of emperors, generals, and dignitaries. In ancient China, where hierarchy was strict, the material, color, and size of umbrellas were just like the black gauze on the head and the court clothes on the body. They were also used to distinguish official positions and status.

This symbol. Yellow represents the royal family. Could it be that Emperor Chongzhen is here...

In fact, not only the emperor, but also all civil and military officials came.

While Cheng Shijie was stunned, Fu Zonglong, Fan Jingwen, Sun Chengzong and others had already run away, especially Sun Chengzong, who was kneeling so sincerely that his knees hurt when he heard the voice.

Cheng Shijie thought to himself: "When did you no longer have to kneel when you meet the emperor?"

Cheng Shijie was about to salute. Emperor Chongzhen seemed to be like an agile monkey, taking three steps and two steps at a time, bypassing Fu Zonglong, Fan Jingwen and other officials, came to Cheng Shijie, held Cheng Shijie's arm with both hands: "Cheng Qing is exempt from the ceremony!

"

"How virtuous and capable I am, that your Majesty is allowed to..."

At this point, Cheng Shijie's eyes turned red. He shed more tears and his tear glands became more developed. He could cry whenever he wanted and stop whenever he wanted. He could send and receive tears freely.

Emperor Chongzhen smiled and said: "I originally wanted to go to Liaoyang to see what the former capital of the slaves was like and what Shengjing is like now, but... it was just that the civil and military ministers strongly opposed it and had to use it. I came to Tianjin.

Going out to greet him in person can be considered as compensation for Cheng Qing, right?"

"It's a shame for a minor minister, it's a shame for a minor minister!"

Emperor Chongzhen smiled and said: "I owe you, I owe you so much!"

Cheng Shijie didn't have much reaction to this matter. He thought it was natural. But the problem was that the civil servants were so unhappy. Since the Jingnan period, no military generals could be granted the title of marquis, not to mention military generals, and there were no civil servants either!

Since the Jingnan period, there has been no military general in the Ming Dynasty who can be granted the title of marquis, not one! Qi Shaobao’s contribution is great enough, right? No title; Li Chengliang’s military exploits are much more prominent than Qi Shaobao, but he only made Ning Yuanbo!

The pattern of civil servants controlling military officers has lasted for nearly two hundred years. You suddenly emerged a duke from among the generals, overwhelming all civilian officials at once. The pattern of civilian officials suppressing military generals has been completely destroyed.

No, absolutely not!

The civil servants collectively opposed it, but the problem was that Emperor Chongzhen was surprisingly stubborn this time, and Cheng Shijie's military exploits were too outstanding. A title of duke was more than enough. If they insist on using the ancestral teachings or something, the people in the capital will slobber.

Can drown them!

The clever civil servant had an idea and suggested that Lu Xiangsheng should also be granted the title of marquis instead of the title of marquis. Anyway, the military generals could not be allowed to dominate the family! Although Lu Xiangsheng was invincible in charging into battle, he was still a civil servant in essence. If he was also granted the title of marquis, what would happen to the growing number of generals?

Power is also a kind of check and balance.

So, Lu Xiangsheng picked up a marquis, and he was a champion marquis.

Well, Lu Xiangsheng is indeed worthy of the Marquis of Champion. He is indeed a brave champion of the three armies. At least he will not have a problem in defeating seven or eight people like Cheng Shijie. Cheng Shijie is really no match for Lu Xiangsheng without using his gun.

Emperor Chongzhen smiled and said: "Cheng Qing, what are you thinking about?"

"I am wondering if Your Majesty is tired of staying in the palace and wants to go out for a walk!"

"Why does Cheng Qing have such thoughts?"

"Since ancient times, there has been no example of an emperor going out of the capital to meet his ministers for more than 200 miles. If you weren't in a hurry, you wouldn't have left the capital!"

"Do you really think so?"

"Other than that, I really can't think of any other reason."

Of course, Chongzhen didn't just run out to play by himself. He couldn't handle the daily state affairs. He was not the Zhengde Emperor. Emperor Chongzhen actually didn't like to play. He wanted to inspire the martial spirit of the Ming Dynasty.

This time, after traveling more than 200 miles from the capital, I finally saw clearly what the 200,000 elite troops in the capital camp were like.

This time, Chongzhen was not wearing a dragon robe, but a golden armor. In order to take care of Emperor Chongzhen's small body, although his armor looked glittering, in fact, it was just a piece of paper armor, painted gold.

.

Of course, the Ming Dynasty did need a martial spirit.

The Ming Dynasty's economic downturn in recent years was not only affected by the Little Glacier weather, but also mainly due to military expenditures. In fact, if it had not been for the rebellion of the slaves and the rebellion of the rogue bandits, the Ming Dynasty would have been able to recover in three to five years at most.

It's just a pity that in order to defeat the establishment of slaves, we can only increase taxes on the common people. Because of the increased taxes, countless common people cannot survive and have no choice but to rebel.

Since then, a vicious cycle has been formed. For the sake of Liaodong, the only option is to expand the army, but the army costs money. The more troops are expanded, the more battles are fought, the more we lose, and there are more and more places of rebellion.

As Ning Haijun began to disembark slowly, the sound of neat footsteps drowned out the discussion of the crowd on the pier. As more and more Ning Haijun soldiers disembarked, they felt that they were in a neat formation.

Different from the troops in the Liaoyang period, the equipment of the Ning Navy has returned to its original appearance, with spearmen as the main force, sword and shield soldiers, and the artillery has also been replaced by Folangji-type two-wheeled artillery. When the more than two thousand cavalry of the Ning Navy,

More than a thousand artillery and seven to eight thousand infantry began to complete the formation, and the entire dock of Tianjin Port became audible.

Watching Ning Haijun lined up in silence, during this period, Cheng Shijie did not issue a single order. Everything was completed by Ning Haijun under the command of their respective officers.
To be continued...