After sending Li Hongyuan away, Zhu Youzhen returned to the inner room as if nothing happened, and after sitting back in his seat, he smiled at Ye Yuxuan and said, "Okay, let's continue to talk..."

This conversation talked about the twilight, Zhu Youzhen did not let Ye Yuxuan leave, but instructed Wang Chengen beside him to prepare some simple food, as if he had something to say to Ye Yuxuan.

After Wang Chengen left, Zhu Youzhen spoke: "Whether it is Choshu, Satsuma or other feudal states of Japan, the firearms they want can be sold to them except those that are restricted for export. Of course, ships are not good yet, and now our country itself lacks them. ”

Ye Yuxuan agreed, and continued to listen quietly, he always felt that the emperor must have other important things to tell him if he left him, so he didn't dare to interrupt Chongzhen's train of thought.

Ye Yuxuan, who came from a humble background, is still good at observing words and feelings, as he guessed, Zhu Youzhen sent Wang Chengen out, and he was alone with him, and he really wanted to say something inhumane.

Although Chongzhen is the son of the Great Tomorrow, the courtiers who have sworn allegiance to him are as countless as the sand on the beach. But the real subordinates with simple family backgrounds probably don't have more than one hand, and Ye Yuxuan is one of them.

After two years of observation of Ye Yuxuan, Zhu Youzhen felt that he should give him something to explain, lest this person be assimilated by the bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty.

After thinking about it for a while, Zhu Youzhen finally changed the topic and said: "The content of your report today is very detailed, which shows that you have done a good job in the East China Sea Patrol Mansion for more than a year.

But what I want to tell you today is that I sent you to the East China Sea Patrol Mansion not only to guard against Dongjiang Town, monitor Xu Xinsu, and expand the sphere of influence of the East China Sea Patrol Mansion.

What I would like to see is that you can form a vigorous organizational system in the East China Sea Patrol Mansion, rather than establishing a copy of the dull Ming officialdom overseas. ”

Ye Yuxuan looked up at Chongzhen in confusion, he didn't know how to answer the emperor's expectations at all, after all, he didn't know what a vigorous organizational system was.

Looking at Ye Yuxuan's dazed expression, Zhu Youzhen thought about it and explained: "You grew up in Huangzhuang since you were a child, and you must be very familiar with the life of the people at the bottom of my Ming Dynasty. Let's talk about it, in the eyes of these low-level people, what is the image of the officials of the Ming Dynasty? ”

Ye Yuxuan hesitated for a moment before cautiously looking at Chongzhen and asked, "Your Majesty, can the minister tell the truth?" ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at him with an unchanged face and said, "Of course you have to be honest, now there are only the two of us in this inner room, are you still afraid of being listened to by others?" ”

Ye Yuxuan lowered his head and thought for a moment before he resolutely replied: "To be honest, in the eyes of the ministers in the past, the officials in this yamen were man-eating tigers, the scribes in the yamen were foxes and jackals, and the errand servants who went to the countryside to do errands were vicious dogs that could never be fed. If it weren't for the fact that after His Majesty ascended the throne, he promoted the advantages and eliminated the disadvantages, and rectified the imperial village and the government, I am afraid that the ministers would have left their hometowns and fled the famine. ”

Although Ye Yuxuan had the courage to open his mouth, the corner of his eye was also closely observing Chongzhen, for fear that his words would stimulate the emperor too much. In the past, Ye Qi had nothing, naturally he was not afraid of heaven and earth, he was really forced to be anxious, it was nothing more than a walk, the world is so big, where is there no place for him to stay.

But today's Ye Yuxuan has not only become a high-ranking official he never thought of, but also has a charming and lovely fiancée, and he is quite favored by the emperor, so he is naturally unwilling to lose all this. Therefore, in front of Chongzhen, his heart was full of awe.

To his relief, the emperor was not angry by his words, but sighed deeply and said, "Yes, even the yamen near Gyeonggi is like this in the eyes of the people. It is conceivable how far my Ming officialdom has been.

Although I have always wanted to rectify the rule of officials since I ascended the throne, it is not easy to reinvent myself within such a corrupted system.

So I've been thinking, if the rectification of the officials fails, and the ** of the Ming officialdom loses control, then what should I do then? What should the people of the Ming Dynasty do? I'm afraid I'll have to sit back and wait for the time for a new revolution.

In order to avoid this worst-case scenario, I set up the Prime Minister's Yamen and the East China Sea Patrol Office, hoping to make a backup outside of the existing Ming bureaucracy. If, one day, domestic affairs are irretrievable, then the Prime Minister's Yamen and the Donghai Patrol Office should be ready to take over domestic affairs. ”

Ye Yuxuan was suddenly frightened, he couldn't help but straighten his back, but his mind was in chaos, and he said incoherently: "Minister, the minister is shallow, I'm afraid it will be difficult to complete such a heavy task." ”

Zhu Youzhen's body leaned back, waved his hand at him, and said relaxedly: "Don't be so nervous, I said, this is just a precautionary measure, and it may not really work." What's more, I don't intend for you to operate this matter alone, and with the current scale of the East China Sea Patrol Mansion and the Prime Minister's Yamen, it is far from being able to meet the requirements I just said.

So, now you just have to do what I ask you to do with peace of mind, and don't think too far. Of course, what I just told you can be remembered by heart. ”

Under the emperor's appeasement, Ye Yuxuan finally came back to his senses, and asked Chongzhen tremblingly: "Dare to ask Your Majesty, what should the minister do now?" ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at him for a while before he spoke again: "The East China Sea Patrol Mansion now has jurisdiction over the Jeju Island Governor's Office, Vladivostok's Town Guard's Mansion, Miaojie Town's Guard's Mansion, and Sakhalin's Town's Guard's Mansion. ”

Ye Yuxuan nodded and replied: "Your Majesty clearly sees that the Jeju Island Government is fine, because there are domestic exiled officials and people, and many of them are well-versed in literature and ink, so there are still people to drive." However, most of the other three towns and garrisons were bitterly cold places, and except for the garrison generals and prisoners, no people voluntarily went to settle down, so they could only implement military management policies. ”

Zhu Youzhen immediately said: "Starting this year, the first batch of students from Yenching University and Jinling University will graduate, except for those students who are determined to take the imperial examination, there will probably be no less than five or six hundred college students graduating every year in the future." Most of these people are planned to be arranged in the Prime Minister's Yamen and overseas inspection offices to serve as a talent reserve for the imperial court.

Of course, not everyone can endure the hardships of life abroad. But if they can endure overseas and learn how to handle administrative matters, then they will definitely become the talents that the Ming Dynasty needs. Therefore, what I want you to do is to train them in their ability to do things, and make sure that they do not get into the corrupt style of officialdom as much as possible.

The Tokai Patrol Mansion is located overseas, and it is difficult for those in power in the court to interfere in the affairs of the Patrol Palace, so you can do whatever you want, and report any problems directly to me. I hope that the East China Sea Patrol Office can make a difference, so as to stimulate changes in the domestic bureaucracy..."

The emperor's ardent expectation made Ye Yuxuan panic and moved. Although he did not have a complete education, he always knew very well that his current status was entirely dependent on the emperor's promotion of him.

In the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, he did not have the protection of his classmates and teachers, nor did he have the help of his family friends, even if he was on the side of his future father-in-law, it was just that people took a fancy to the future that he was favored by the emperor. Therefore, although Chongzhen did not say it explicitly, Ye Yuxuan already regarded himself as the emperor's eagle dog. Without that, he won't be able to find himself a sense of security.

After Ye Yuxuan accompanied Chongzhen to dinner, he left the Forbidden City in the bright moonlight, accompanied by an attendant. Not long after Ye Yuxuan left, Zhu Youzhen also returned to the Qianqing Palace with Wang Chengen and others.

Under such a good moonlight, the stone bricks in the palace square were a little whitish, and even without the light from the glass lamp, Zhu Youzhen could see far away. The long talk with Ye Yuxuan not only made Ye Yuxuan feel panicked and nervous, but even Zhu Youzhen himself was a little excited.

With the graduation of batches of college students, these overseas officials, who entered the ranks outside the imperial examination and were isolated from mainland officialdom, naturally formed their own circles. As long as they can thrive, then in order to defend their interests, they will inevitably reject the imperial examination method and favor the academic education system from primary school to university.

In the entire Ming officialdom, there are roughly more than 20,000 officials from the imperial examination, and once the academic education system of primary school, middle school and university is formed, the graduates provided within ten years will probably be equivalent to those from the imperial examination. As long as there are enough overseas colonies of the Ming Dynasty, enough jobs can be provided for these academic educators.

When the number of officials on both sides is equal, academic education, which is easier to obtain the opportunity to enter the office, will inevitably defeat the imperial examination. As long as state-run primary and secondary schools attract a sufficient number of school-age students, the traditional teaching method of Confucianism in private schools will not be able to absorb new blood and will decline. This is what Chongzhen racked his brains to come up with, and he drew salary from the bottom of the kettle for the imperial examination.

At about the same time, in the Huitong Hall in the capital, the Ryukyu Governor Zheng Taixian was facing the Ryukyu King's son Shangxian and said in an unhappy tone: "Shizi, you were ordered by the king to come to the court to ask for tribute, so naturally you should think about the future of the king and the Ryukyu Kingdom.

Now that the imperial court has known the fact that our country surrendered to Japan back then, the prince should take responsibility and give an explanation to the imperial court, how can he delay and pass the buck? ”

"This, this Zheng Changshi, what happened back then has nothing to do with me. Although I was appointed to act as an envoy for the king, I am not a king after all, so how can I give an explanation to the court on behalf of the king? Wang Shizi Shangxian said as he gave his uncle Mao Taijiu a hard look and motioned for him to come out and turn around.

Mao Taijiu was silent for a long time, and found that he couldn't hide, so he hesitated and said, "What the prince said still has some truth..."

For Wang Shizi Shangxian, Zheng Taixian still had some etiquette, but for this enemy who defected to the Satsuma Domain and killed his grandfather that day, he immediately reprimanded unceremoniously: "Mao Pressi, is this still remembering that the Satsuma Domain is coming out for you?" Do you know that if it weren't for Lord Xu's order, you, a traitorous thief, would have been punished a long time ago. ”

was reprimanded by Zheng Taixian, Mao Taijiu let it go, he glared at Zheng Taixian and said word by word: "I mean, the prince is not a king after all, even if he gives an explanation to the court, it is just an empty word."

Now that we have the protection of the imperial army, we will be able to gain independence from the Satsuma domain. But once the Imperial Army retreats, will our country alone be able to stop the invasion of the Satsuma Domain?

So, I mean, since we have come to this point, it is better to let the prince of the world dedicate the land instead of the king, so that my Ryukyu will become the overseas land of the Ming Dynasty from an overseas domain. This not only allows us to get the protection of the imperial court, but also saves the king from giving an account to the imperial court. ”

Mrs. Zheng stared at Mao Tai for a long time, and then softened her face and said, "I didn't expect you to be smart today, so I think that's what I can do." You prepare the attached documents for the prince, and I will go and ask Lord Feng for instructions. ”

The two decided the future of the Ryukyu Kingdom in just a few words, and they didn't take the Ryukyu king on the side in their eyes. Sang-hyun tried to open his mouth several times, but in the end he fell silent.