Wei Bao smiled slightly, and said to Gu Bingqian: "Master Gu don't have to be nervous, I'm kidding, although I, Wei Bao, am not talented, but who is good to me, or has been good to me, I remember it in my heart, but who is bad to me, I often don't remember, it's okay, I'm leaving." Lord Wei, Lord Ding, Lord Huang, Lord Feng, I'm leaving. ”

Gu Bingqian, Wei Guangwei, Huang Liji, Feng Quan and Ding Shaoshi hurriedly got up to send each other.

Wei Bao spoke very realistically, and there was no routine, but it made them feel that Wei Bao was very unfathomable.

Wei Bao's political skills are a bit back to basics.

"This person is too powerful, we helped Wei Bao play the book before, but he didn't necessarily go the wrong way." Huang Liji whispered to Gu Bingqian and Wei Guangwei.

Wei Guangwei nodded, "It's really amazing, Wei Bao's every word seems to have hidden mysteries, no matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like a person who has just entered the career for less than a year." ”

"It's just too cunning, at such a young age, more cunning than us old men, it's hard to get benefits from him." Gu Bingqian said.

Feng Quan smiled slightly: "That's not necessarily, Wei Bao is used to attracting people's hearts, you can see his purge of various yamen, and what he kept is the children of the original yamen, you can see that everyone who goes up from Wei Bao's hands has spent a lot of money, and he is grateful to Wei Bao." Now Wei Bao has just entered the official career, and he must focus on self-preservation. ”

Gu Bingqian nodded, didn't say anything, secretly thought that if he said this, he helped Wei Bao to play the book before, and it was not a bad thing to take care of the reorganization of all the sailors of the Ming Dynasty and the opening of treaty ports, it was very likely to benefit future generations, and it was not a trivial matter, if it could really be passed, maybe it would be able to leave a name in history.

Wei Guangwei and Huang Liji also have this kind of thinking.

Gu Bingqian, Wei Guangwei and Huang Liji were originally in a very depressed mood, but now they are much better, as long as Wei Baoken shows up and does not shrink his head as a turtle, they can see hope.

"Wei Bao is advancing by retreating, he has heavy troops in his hands, how can he give up, this is showing weakness to the nine thousand years old, what I am most afraid of is that Wei Bao is in a hurry, and he will admonish the soldiers." Huang Liji lowered his voice.

Wei Guangwei, Gu Bingqian, and Feng Quan were shocked when they heard this, and the three of them had thought of this, but no one dared to say it.

"Unlikely, can't the soldiers become a rebellion? Even if Wei Bao has accumulated some strength, you are really at the mercy of those soldiers? Will obey Yu Weibao's orders and attack the capital? His father-in-law, the British duke, was the first to refuse. Feng Quan said.

"Don't talk about this, this is all something Your Majesty and Nine Thousand Years Old have to think about, and it has nothing to do with us." Gu Bingqian persuaded and dispersed.

I was in a relaxed mood, but I was a little looking forward to Wei Bao, but I was nervous unconsciously.

The career is full of dangers, who knows what will happen tomorrow?

Wei Bao's step-by-step development, everyone is optimistic about Wei Bao's future, but if Wei Bao takes risks, it is difficult to say, plus Wei Bao is only fifteen years old, who knows what Wei Bao thinks.

Everyone didn't know what Wei Bao thought, and no one knew what Wei Zhongxian and the emperor thought.

Not only the cabinet ministers can't help but speculate, but the entire Beijing officialdom will speculate, and if there is suspicion, there will be fear.

In this way, Kyoshi was surrounded by an atmosphere of terror.

Dongchang and Jinyiwei sent a large number of detectives to constantly convey the dynamics of the Liaodong Border Army and the Shandong Army.

The surveillance of Wei Bao is even more all-round.

Wei Bao left the cabinet and really went to find Wei Zhongxian.

It was not easy to find Wei Zhongxian, so he had to wait outside the palace.

Wei Bao didn't let people go to Wei Zhongxian's private house to deliver the message, and went directly to the palace gate to find Wei Zhongxian, this was a way not to go dark, and he planned to be open.

It means to tell Wei Zhongxian that the proposal to reorganize all the sailors of the Ming Dynasty and open the treaty ports is for the Ming court, not for me Wei Bao personally, you can do whatever you like, since you are suspicious of me, I will leave.

Wei Zhongxian soon got a report from the little eunuch that Wei Bao was looking for him.

This made Wei Zhongxian frown, Wei Bao came to look for him, he was not surprised, but he didn't expect that Wei Bao didn't let people go to the private house to deliver the message, but came directly to the palace to find himself.

It must be known that the foreign ministers and internal ministers of the Ming Dynasty are not allowed to have private contact.

Even if Wei Bao looked for Wei Zhongxian, he was looking for the emperor.

"He came alone?" Wei Zhongxian asked.

Li Yongzhen nodded hurriedly: "Just Wei Bao alone, saying that he is asking to see His Majesty and wants to return to his hometown to recuperate." ”

Wei Zhongxian snorted, "What kind of illness can he have, he has just entered his career, and he is as smooth as an old fritter!" Returned to him, no! Said that His Majesty is not available. ”

Li Yongzhen said in a low voice: "Wei Bao's matter, nine thousand years old still have to talk to Wei Bao in person, Wei Bao has hard wings, it is not easy to deal with the relationship between the British government alone, and now Wei Bao also controls tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in Liaodong and Shandong, and even the old slaves of Jiannu can be pressed underground, and they must be guarded against." ”

Li Yongzhen had already said it very vaguely, but Wei Zhongxian immediately understood it all.

Wei Zhongxian frowned, "You are right, our family didn't expect that things would come to this point so quickly, our family didn't expect Shandong and Denglai to be so unscrupulous, Wei Bao went to sweep them all in less than a month, let alone the people in Liaodong who were so unhelpful, Wei Bao went, and they were swept away in less than half a month." Wei Bao said at first that our family would be happy to reduce the number of troops, and it would be good to be able to spend less on military salaries, but he didn't expect that he could really do it. If it's done, it's done, and the power is in your hands. It's less than two months in total, so fast! It's so fast! It's horrible. ”

Li Yongzhen nodded, it is indeed like this, it is really too fast, Wei Bao's ability is terrifying.

"Now that Wei Bao is in power, and there is the British Government as a backer, Your Majesty has always favored Wei Bao, are you stupid to be Wei Bao? Where is he willing to really resign, these are all for our family to see! Wei Zhongxian analyzed.

Wei Zhongxian's analysis is quite accurate, maybe Wei Zhongxian does not have much culture, but it does not affect Wei Zhongxian's high political ability.

"Nine thousand years old, it's better to push the boat down the river, if he wants to resign himself, he will tell the truth to His Majesty, and persuade His Majesty to remove Wei Bao from all his duties and let Wei Bao return to his hometown." Li Yongzhen said.

Wei Zhongxian knew that so far, he had not informed the emperor of Wei Bao's request for resignation, which had been reported by the cabinet.

In the past two days, Emperor Zhu Youxiao of the Apocalypse originally wanted to find Wei Bao, but he was dragged by Wei Zhongxian with a novel carpenter's work, so that the emperor could not take care of other things for the time being.

In fact, it's not that he can't take care of it, many times, Zhu Youxiao also knows that Wei Zhongxian is obstructing it, and probably knows what Wei Zhongxian and Kebaba are doing.

But Zhu Youxiao trusted the two of them, and knew that he personally presided over the political situation, and he was not necessarily better than Wei Zhongxian helping him to preside over it, so he was still willing to let Wei Zhongxian do it.

No matter how much Zhu Youxiao trusts Wei Bao, after all, he still can't catch up with Wei Zhongxian's trust more.

"No, if only it were that simple." Wei Zhongxian sighed and said: "If Your Majesty knows that Wei Bao wants to pick a son, if it is not good, he will find Wei Bao to talk deeply, and when the time comes, with Wei Bao's eloquence, the dead can be said to be alive, and our family is afraid that Your Majesty and Wei Bao will talk alone, understand?" ”

"So what now? Wei Bao is clamoring to leave, the paper can't hold the fire, if Wei Bao really wants to leave Beijing and return to his hometown, His Majesty will have to see Wei Bao one day, if he can't be summoned, he will definitely be exposed. Li Yongzhen reminded.

"yes, it's not easy." Wei Zhongxian rubbed his hands in embarrassment, "If others are okay, they will be charged with a crime, go to Zhaojiao, and kill them in a few days, Wei Bao can't do it, he can't move, not to mention that Wei Bao has an army in his hands, even if his father-in-law's Beijing camp makes trouble, we may not be able to bear it." Do you have any good ideas? ”

"This matter has to be discussed with Mrs. Fengsheng at the age of nine thousand, and it is difficult to say that it is small." Li Yongzhen hurriedly said.

"If you say it, you can say it, and our family will naturally discuss it with Mrs. Fengsheng." Wei Zhongxian said impatiently: "You are from our family, let's not make those roundabouts between us." ”

"The little one will say a few words. The little one thinks that since the paper can't hold the fire, it is better to follow Wei Bao's wishes, Wei Bao wants to take the power, let Wei Bao take it, and now the top priority is to get eight million taels of silver, which solves the urgent need! Wei Bao proposed to open the treaty port and unify and reorganize all the naval divisions of the Ming Dynasty, which were not as troublesome as the Liaodong Border Army and the Shandong Army controlled by Wei Bao, as well as the Beijing camp controlled by the British government! It is better to ascend and descend secretly, hand over the Yamen of the Governor of Haiphong to Wei Bao, give Wei Bao a governor of the three products, and transfer the Shandong Army back, which is still under the jurisdiction of the governor of Denglai! The Yamen, the governor of Haiphong, was only in charge of one part of Hejian Prefecture, and Shandong and Denglai were still under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Shandong and Denglai, and the Cangzhou Mansion was reassigned to the jurisdiction of Beizhili. In this way, the Shandong army has nothing to do with Wei Bao. The situation in Liaodong is now stable, and the authority of Wei Bao's Liaodong supervision army is relieved, although the Wu family is Wei Bao's father-in-law, but after all, they are two surnames, the Wu family has its own son, and it is impossible for the soldiers and horses in Shanhaiguan to listen to him Wei Bao. As for the Beijing camp, the Beijing camp is a bunch of wine bags and rice bags, and the old, weak, sick and disabled who eat empty salaries are not worried. If the battalion officers under Zhang Weixian are well controlled, the Beijing battalion will not all listen to the British government. Li Yongzhen planned.

Wei Zhongxian listened to what Li Yongzhen said, his brows relaxed, in fact, what Li Yongzhen thought was similar to what he thought, listening to Li Yongzhen say this, it made Wei Zhongxian more confident, "Well, that's right, it's good, but I don't know if Wei Baoken refuses to let go of power, and it's difficult to make people vomit what he eats in his stomach." Shandong Army and Liaodong Border Army, Wei Bao will at least keep one side. ”

"It depends on how the nine thousand years old talked to Wei Bao, according to the small point of view, Wei Bao is unlikely to insist on supporting the army and self-respect, Wei Bao is a trader, and the trader values silver more! Isn't the opening of treaty ports just for the sake of silver? The unified reorganization of all the sailors of the Ming Dynasty is also to ensure the control of maritime trade, not for silver. Since he is in charge of the water division, he can't hold on to the infantry anymore, right? If he insists on supporting the army and respecting himself, then he can conclude that Wei Bao has the ambition to usurp the throne, so he can directly explain it to His Majesty! No matter how much Your Majesty favors Wei Bao, he can't tolerate someone who has the ambition to usurp the throne, right? Li Yongzhen said.

When Wei Zhongxian heard this, he nodded again and again, feeling that what Li Yongzhen said was very reasonable, and praised Li Yongzhen's words, "Not bad! Just do as you say, you will work hard, go and talk to Wei Bao for our family, it is not convenient for our family to come forward, then Wei Bao's eloquence is too good, wait and then go around our family. ”

"Nine thousand years old, it's not that the little one refuses to contribute to the nine thousand years old, the little one is afraid that the little one will come forward, Wei Bao doubts the sincerity of the nine thousand years old, and he won't take the little one to heart. Besides, even if the nine thousand years old negotiated with Wei Bao, Wei Bao agreed to the conditions that Xiao just said, and wanted to open the treaty port and open the sea trade to do business with foreigners, it would not be easy to do, and it would not be easy for His Majesty to make a holy decree. Li Yongzhen said.

Wei Zhongxian thought about it and felt that what Li Yongzhen said was good, and he really wanted to meet and talk to Wei Bao by himself, and he couldn't hide, "Okay, you explain your meaning to Wei Bao first, let's see Wei Bao together, is this okay?" ”

"Obey the Nine Thousand Years Order." Li Yongzhen hurriedly said.

Wei Zhongxian was there, and he went to say that Li Yongzhen thought it was okay.

Wei Zhongxian and Li Yongzhen then went to see Wei Bao.

Wei Zhongxian sat in the sedan chair and rubbed his temples, a little tired.

Wei Zhongxian knew that even if he had agreed with Wei Bao, the sea ban would still not be easy to open, and it was not something he could control alone.

Since the Sui and Tang dynasties, they have been endowed with the wealth of the southeast to support the horses in the northwest, the Tang Dynasty Tianzi heard that the father and son came to the Cao boat and cried against each other, the Song Tianzi was still short of food with his back to Heluo, and the Ming and Qing Dynasty emperors also regarded the canal as their lifeblood.

However, there are always a few far-sighted people, and most of the people in the southeast are unwilling to pay money to raise soldiers and horses in the northwest "for nothing", and if there is a strong army and horses in the southeast, the situation will be different.

Therefore, since the Sui and Tang dynasties, the military affairs have been heavy on the north and light on the south, in order to prevent changes.

If they could not use the wealth of the southeast to support the horses of the northwest, in the end, the nomadic marauders from the grasslands would drive straight in, coerce the Han people in the north to swallow mountains and rivers, and the southerners would be reduced to the last servants.

Why was the Japanese army so overwhelmed in the Battle of Imjin Korea?

Because the main force of North Korea was guarding against the Jurchens on the Yalu River in the northwest, they did not have the spare financial resources to support more soldiers and horses.

Why did the coastal defense in the middle of the Ming and Qing dynasties become useless?

Because the main force is also guarding the northern frontier, because they dare not raise a strong army in the southeast, especially the southeast coast is conducive to secession, and they do not want a strong maritime force to appear in the southeast.

Most of the maritime merchants before the twentieth century were both merchants and thieves.

Before the Industrial Revolution, China was one of the richest countries in the world, and the Son of Heaven was rich and did not have much desire to expand, nor did he have a vision beyond the times.

The Ming Dynasty's maritime ban was a traditional policy, the Ming Dynasty's maritime ban policy was the Yuan Dynasty of learning, and the Yuan Dynasty was the Song Dynasty of learning, and the Song Dynasty did not have a maritime ban policy before.

Why did the Song Dynasty ban the sea, because the imperial court wanted to monopolize the profits of the sea trade, just as it monopolized the wine-making industry, salt industry and other businesses; The Yuan Dynasty was relatively loose, but that was because its ruling ability was too poor to manage.

On the one hand, the Ming Dynasty inherited the system of the previous dynasty, and on the other hand, the problem of the Japanese in the early Ming Dynasty was indeed quite serious.

Japan was in the era of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and many Japanese robbers took advantage of the war in the Central Plains to rob.

The Ming Dynasty's maritime ban was bad because during the Ming Dynasty, private industry and commerce had already surpassed the government-run, and the continued maritime ban hindered the development of productive forces.

Why was there no maritime ban before the Song Dynasty, because in those years only the clan clans and Arab merchants had the ability to conduct ocean trade; Before the Ming Dynasty, the private sea trade was far inferior to the imperial court.

The Ming Dynasty's maritime ban was not the same as closing the country.

To put it bluntly, the sea ban is sea trade, this thing is easy to make money, and the Ming court wants to swallow it alone!

In the early Ming Dynasty, it maintained a strong navy and sent Zheng He to the Western Ocean.

The Ming Dynasty was a tributary trade, and Zheng He went to scatter money to establish a tributary relationship.

The Qing Dynasty's sea ban was no longer just a sea ban, but a closed country.

The navy of the Qing Dynasty was not comparable to that of the Ming Dynasty at all, and as a court established by a nomadic tribe, it instinctively disliked sailors and navies.

Secondly, the Qing Dynasty was quite inactive in foreign trade, and even only allowed maritime trade at the port of Guangzhou.

Moreover, the Ming Dynasty's maritime ban policy was gradually relaxed, except for the Jiajing period, which was the most fierce time for the Japanese Warring States to fight, and the Japanese were more serious.

The Qing Dynasty became stricter and stricter, except after the Opium War, when the country was forcibly opened by foreign countries.

In addition to making money and coastal defense, the Ming Dynasty's maritime ban had other purposes in addition to monopolizing maritime trade and preventing Japanese invaders.

First of all, when the Ming Dynasty was founded, the population was very small, only 60 million, you must know that China had a population of 60 million in the Western Han Dynasty, and the Yuan Dynasty's discrimination against southerners made the southeast coast appear in the southeast coast of the migration to Southeast Asia, and the sea ban in the early Ming Dynasty was also to limit the outflow of population.

Secondly, the Ming Dynasty used silver as the main currency, and it happened that Europeans found a lot of gold and silver mines in the Americas, and there were also many silver mines in Japan, and not restricting the inflow of silver could easily lead to inflation.

Moreover, at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, it was necessary to curb industry and commerce to restore agriculture.

China's absolutist centralized system since the Qin period had come to an end, and the Yuan Dynasty had already seen a trend of big merchants threatening imperial power.

Don't underestimate the monarchs of the Ming and Qing dynasties, although they didn't understand what capitalism was, they could see the potential threat of the emerging bourgeoisie to the impact of the imperial power.

Wei Zhongxian was able to make up his mind to agree with Li Yongzhen's statement, but in fact, he was already very weak-hearted and made considerable concessions!

Wei Zhongxian can do it as long as the Jingshi is stable, as for whether Wei Bao will form a separatist force in the southeast of the Ming Dynasty after having a water master, the nine-thousand-year-old Wei Zhongxian doesn't want to think about it now, and he doesn't have the heart to bother.

Wei Bao soon met Li Yongzhen and Wei Zhongxian.

A few people met on the edge of the Forbidden City, and the other eunuchs were far away, and in such an open environment, it was more suitable for conversation.

Lord Wei still respects the nine thousand years old very much as always, bows deeply, and then says respectfully: "Nine thousand years old." ”

Wei Bao then saluted Li Yongzhen: "Father-in-law Li." ”

Li Yongzhen smiled: "Don't be polite, sir, the old slave can't afford it." ”

Wei Zhongxian smiled weirdly and kept staring at Wei Bao.