Cabinet!

For the Wenchen of the Ming Dynasty, being able to enter the cabinet and become an auxiliary minister of the dynasty is undoubtedly the lifelong pursuit of many of them.

For Zhou Chang, who was a state official and had relied on the Qing Dynasty as his coat, the reason why he became a cabinet minister was also due to fate, although he had some stains on his body, but he skillfully "modified" his own stains.

For the outside world, when he was attached to the past of the Manchu magnates, he was forcibly taken captive as a coat, and it is precisely because of this that on many occasions, he will show his bitter hatred for the Qing captives.

People always need to take a stand.

Zhou Chang's position is very simple, it is nothing more than to show the world that he has always had an unforgettable hatred for the Manchus and traitors. When Fang Yizhi advocated rescue, he was naturally the first to stand up and oppose it, of course, what he opposed was not to rescue the expatriates, but to help Pseudo Zhou.

"Pseudo-Zhou, how can we send troops to Pseudo-Zhou? Your Majesty! ”

Facing Fang Yizhi's insistence, Zhou Chang said with a smile:

"Your Majesty, who built the pseudo-Zhou? It's Wu Sangui, maybe he has died, although now the puppet king has been replaced by someone else, but they are traitors after all, they fled to a foreign land, and they have not been punished so far, they are already extrajudicial favors, and now they have to send troops to protect them? Joke, is this a joke? ”

Shaking his head, Zhou Chang sneered.

"If it gets out, it's no longer a joke, it's a shame! When the time comes, the world will definitely ask, when did my Ming become so magnanimous and can actually raise troops to support the puppet dynasty of the traitors! ”

"Not to support them, but to protect the diaspora!"

Fang Yizhi squinted his eyes and said.

"Now it is the expatriates asking for help, if the expatriates ask for help and the court ignores it, when the time comes, how will we explain to them."

After a deep discussion with Liang Tong, he has basically become inclined to agree with Liang Tong's opinion, which is why he insists on this view here.

"What Shoufu said is extremely true, this time Aurangzeb asked the Ming expatriates to release the slaves and maids they bought, otherwise they will definitely send troops to rescue, if they are allowed to succeed, not only will the expatriates lose no less than 10 million, but it may also lead to a setback in the prestige of our country, since they can now ask the expatriates in the puppet Zhou to hand over the slaves and maids, then it is possible to reprimand me in the future, how to deal with it?"

Zhang Huangyan is naturally the same as in the past, completely on Fang Yizhi's side. However, if there is a conflict between the emperor and the cabinet, he will inevitably side with the emperor, after all, he is a minister, and the lord must be loyal to the royal family, after all, only a lord can rest with the country.

Moreover, he also knew that his role in the cabinet was to achieve a balance between civil servants and lords. Most of the time, however, he will maintain consistency with Fang Yizhi to achieve stability within the cabinet.

"Hmph, how to deal with it, to put it mildly, it's just a slave."

Saying that, he turned to His Majesty, and then said.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the slave trade must be stopped, since the court does not allow the Ming people to sell themselves as slaves, and the Ming people are not allowed to be slaves and maids, then the Tianzhu maids, Nanyang maids, Semu maids, Western maids, etc., should also be stopped, Zhuxia slaves have been shameful, today, if I am the slave of the Ming people, and resolutely raise troops to support it, wouldn't it be to help the abuse?"

When speaking, Zhou Chang looked righteous and awe-inspiring, in fact, on the issue of using slaves and maids, the government and the opposition have always been controversial, "Da Ming Law" prohibits the Ming people from selling themselves as slaves, and it is also forbidden to use the Ming people as slaves. This led directly to the creation of a huge overseas slave trade, which is now intensifying.

In the face of the continuous influx of millions of slaves and maids into the Ming Dynasty in the past twenty years, their sources are diverse, but it is certain that many of them are plundered. Many people called for the cessation of this trade, and in his opinion, perhaps the Ming did not plunder directly, but the attitude of the Ming on trade directly gave birth to all this.

"Your Majesty, the minister heard that the so-called "Tianzhu maid" is the income of the rebellious people in the south of Tianzhu through war and plunder, and the men are often sold in the pseudo-Zhou Dynasty for cultivation as coolies, and the women are probably sold to the Celestial Empire, so over time, my reputation will be damaged, and I ask Your Majesty to make a decision as soon as possible, strictly prohibiting ......"

Glancing at Zhou Chang, Zhu Mingzhong shook his head decisively and said.

"This issue is not covered by this issue, and this discussion will be discussed at another date."

Regarding the current domestic controversy over the use of overseas slaves and maids, Zhu Mingzhong has always scoffed in his heart, and they are all pretending to be moral gentlemen there, and they feel that the use of overseas slaves and maids seems to be a heinous thing, but when they abused domestic slaves and their own people in the past, none of them were soft.

The Ming Dynasty could abolish domestic slavery and prohibit the cultivation of people as slaves. That's because there are overseas slaves and maids who can be replaced, maybe only female ** maids are allowed to enter the Ming Dynasty, but at least there are people who can be replaced, if the import of overseas slaves and maids is prohibited today, it is guaranteed that tomorrow those people will do everything possible to accept their own people as slaves.

People have always been easy and hardworking, and who doesn't like to be served, especially those who are used to being served.

But Zhu Mingzhong only thought about this in his heart, just like in another time and space, the reason why many people ostensibly support political correct resolution is because political correct solution does reflect personal morality to a certain extent.

The so-called "political correctness" is actually to stand on the moral high ground to accuse other people, and to a certain extent, this is indeed unassailable, after all, the vast majority of people always have some scruples, even Zhu Mingzhong himself, but also to be afraid of the conclusions of later historians about themselves. So I can only hide my inner thoughts.

We'll talk about it another day...... Talk about yarn!

Looking at Zhou Chang coldly, Zhu Mingzhong even secretly wondered if he should change someone, he always thought that the most annoying thing was those moral gentlemen, could it be that after so many years, they really thought that the so-called "moral articles" could convince me?

In fact, at least in this matter, Zhu Mingzhong really misunderstood Zhou Chang, he has never been a moral gentleman, and the reason why he talks about it from a moral perspective is entirely because in his opinion, rescuing the expatriates is a great righteousness, and this righteousness is irrefutable, but the places where those expatriates stay are really unacceptable, and it will make the imperial court fall into continuous trouble.

The easiest way to fight back against righteousness is to fight back with righteousness.

The interests of the expatriates are a great righteousness, and so is the freedom of slaves and maids. Of course, what is the most important thing? It's a personal stand!

As an individual, Zhou Chang must be clear about his position, only in this way will the stain on his body not be pointed out by others. Sometimes, a stain can be a tool for others to attack you, and of course, it can also be used as a weapon to show attitude.

He must let everyone know that he Zhou Chang became a coat back then, not willingly, he was forced, and until now, he can't forget the shame that those people brought him.

Stance matters.

It's just that Zhou Chang obviously miscalculated the situation today, and he didn't notice the attitude of the emperor himself.

"Minister, minister obeys."

Zhou Chang, who knew that His Majesty had misunderstood him, secretly cried bitterly, and Zhu Daxian, who was on the side, said again.

"Actually, if Pei Gong wants to return those slaves and maids, he might as well start from himself, I remember the last time I went to your house, the dancing posture of the women in your house was extremely beautiful, it was better to be happy alone than to be happy, if you let them back their freedom, maybe they will perform in public, and they can also entertain the public, right?"

Hearing Zhu Daxian's sarcasm, Zhou Chang's even more wry smile, among the ministers in the court, there are few overseas slaves and maids at home, and now when someone says this, he can only smile bitterly, and at the same time divert the topic.

"The minister thinks that it is absolutely impossible to send troops to pseudo-Zhou!"

Since it cannot be stopped with righteousness, let it be stopped directly.

"Your Majesty, this pseudo-Zhou is indeed not suitable to send troops, otherwise it will be difficult to explain to the people of the world. After all, sending troops to Pseudo-Zhou now is equivalent to sending troops to rescue them, so how can rescuing a princely state built by traitors convince the people of the world? ”

"But if you don't send troops, how can you explain to the people of the world?"

Zhu Mingzhong did not make a decision on their disputes, and in many cases, this is the case, when the cabinet ministers are in dispute, they will throw the problem to themselves and ask for a "holy ruling", not because they are not responsible, but because some issues are indeed not something they can decide.

Zhu Mingzhong, who was sitting on the dragon chair, thought for a moment, and then asked directly to the point.

"Actually, this matter, in the final analysis, is still related to Wu Zhou, if you send troops to protect the expatriates, it is equivalent to indirectly protecting Wu Zhou, right?"

"Back to Your Majesty, that's exactly the case."

Zhou Chang replied respectfully. However, His Majesty's words made him realize that His Majesty's attitude towards Pseudo Zhou seemed to have undergone some changes, and he was not called "Pseudo Zhou", but "Wu Zhou", could it be said that His Majesty had other plans for there.

"Well, that's true, if we send troops, it is indeed possible to cause misunderstanding from the outside world, and they will misunderstand that we are going to protect Wu Zhou and protect them from the invasion of the Delhi side."

Zhu Mingzhong said with a smile.

"Actually, they're thinking too much!"

waved his hand casually, and then Zhu Mingzhong said again.

"Why don't they know that I sent troops over to let that "Wu Zhou" remove the national name, to reprimand them, this soldier sent over, not just to protect the expatriates! In order to teach those people a lesson, for so many years, the people of the Wu family have been there for many years, can I forget the sins committed by Wu Sangui back then? I won't forget, and Daming won't forget, of course, I don't care about whipping corpses, but there are some things that I will never forget......"

Zhu Mingzhong, who originally intended to make some changes on Wu Zhou's issue, thought for a moment before saying.

"The overseas Chinese must be protected, this is an unshakable principle, since the interests of the overseas Chinese have been harmed, then, the Ming must take action, and the Delhi side ......"

After pondering for a moment, Zhu Mingzhong ordered the attendant on the side.

"Spread the Governor's Mansion of the five armies today, order them to make a plan to transfer a fleet from Nantianmen, if the Delhi side does not understand the reason, then find a way to make them understand, some people, if they don't teach them a lesson, they don't know that the sky is high and the earth is thick!"

The holy judgment has been made, even if there are various opinions, as ministers, everyone can only choose to obey, for this result, Fang Yizhi does not feel any surprise, he has followed His Majesty for many years, he knows very well that His Majesty is an extremely protective person, and will never tolerate any country bullying the Ming Dynasty.

No troops?

It's almost impossible!

"Your Majesty, there are still a few matters of draft legislation for Your Majesty to read......"

As he spoke, he got up, took out a fold from his sleeve, and handed it over.

Zhu Mingzhong took it and saw that it was a draft of the Poor Law. According to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty, any decree must be submitted in the form of a draft before it is promulgated, and then it needs to be publicized for three months, although there is no so-called review process, but it must be discussed by the cabinet, and finally approved by the emperor, before it can become a written decree.

On the issue of legislation, Zhu Mingzhong has hardly ever intervened, unless, of course, there are some issues of principle. However, today's draft made Zhu Mingzhong feel a little embarrassed.

Helping the poor, Da Ming has always had a system of helping the poor, but on the other hand, the Ming Dynasty also has a decree prohibiting begging, and the poor are limited to those who are unable to work, this "Poor Law" has been controversial since the beginning of its promulgation, and the core of the controversy is begging.

The Ming Dynasty forbade begging and exiled beggars overseas in order to enrich overseas colonies and Zhuxia, which is a well-known thing. However, the Poor Law allowed beggars to beg in certain areas, which was undoubtedly in contradiction with the prohibition of begging.

In front of the ministers, Zhu Mingzhong briefly flipped through the draft, and he supported most of the contents mentioned in the draft, after all, promoting poverty relief in the form of laws and regulations is itself a kind of progress, and Zhu Mingzhong will not reject progress itself.

Still, he took out the clauses in the draft and asked for questions.

"Ladies and gentlemen, did you make a mistake in writing this article?"

Asking His Majesty such a question, Fang Yizhi and the others hurriedly stepped forward and took a closer look, and replied in an extremely positive tone.

"Back to Your Majesty, there is nothing wrong with this clause."

"Nothing wrong? And what about the decrees issued by the imperial court before? ”

Zhu Mingzhong pointed to one of the draft articles and asked in a mocking tone.

"Accurate people begging? Have you forgotten that the court decreed that the people were forbidden to beg? ”