In the Nanjing Imperial Palace, in the Qianqing Palace, Liu Dezhao, the current cabinet chief, is reporting to Chen Ming.

It's just that most of the content of this work comes from the Military Intelligence Agency, and the location of this 'work' is also in that far away South America.

As mentioned above, Chen Ming has a lot of 'things' to deal with every day, and they come from all sides. He couldn't focus his gaze on one point for long, because that would make him lose sight of one or the other.

Because of this, the emperor must be assisted by ministers, and the latter must have certain rights, which is really necessary.

In the history of China, such a phenomenon made the early emperors ponder how to suppress the power of the prime minister all the time. In the Han and Tang dynasties, it seemed that everyone could completely control the prime minister. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty even opened a precedent for putting Cheng into a wooden statue.

And the source of the emperor's jealousy of Xiangquan, Wang Mang and Yang Jian, who plotted to usurp the throne, are the best interpretation.

The struggle between the emperor and the prime minister continued until the Zhu Hongwu era, and the position of prime minister was completely abolished. The first assistant of the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty and the foreman of the military aircraft department of the Manchu Qing Dynasty are still very different from the 'prime ministers' in history.

Although the authority of the cabinet in the middle and late Ming Dynasty was increasing, and there was a tendency to surpass the prime ministers of the Han and Tang dynasties, the power to approve the red was firmly in the hands of the celebrant supervisor, so the decision-making power could not be fully grasped. In the final analysis, there is the fact of the prime minister, but there is no name of the prime minister, because there is no name of the prime minister, so the power of the prime minister cannot be fully exercised.

And don't look at it separately from the cabinet and the imperial power.

The cabinet was more like an extension of imperial power. Because after the Ming Dynasty abolished the Zhongshu Province, in fact, the previous imperial power and the phase power have been merged into a new imperial power. This new imperial power had to be split up because there were too many things, so there was a cabinet. The cabinet, on the other hand, was the remnant of the power that had been left after the new imperial power was dominant, and the cabinet did not leave the imperial power and held its own power alone. Therefore, after the split of Zhongshu Province, the power was divided, but Shoufu was not necessarily able to seize much power from the emperor, but more like how much the emperor gave out.

You see that the Longqing Dynasty has many cows, and the Wanli Dynasty said that if it doesn't give you power, it won't give you power.

As for the military aircraft department of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, not to mention, it was just a group of minions.

Therefore, the concept of 'prime minister' has disappeared in Chinese history for more than 300 years. That is, Chen Ming slipped it out of the abyss.

Of course, Chen Ming is now absolutely powerful, although he is really increasing the power of the cabinet little by little, especially the power position of the cabinet chief assistant. But just like the rights of the first assistant in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, this right was given to the cabinet by Chen Ming, and he could take it back anytime and anywhere. Therefore, today's Chen Han's cabinet chief assistant is still not the prime minister.

As for when the first and auxiliary ministers of the cabinet can become the logical 'prime minister', even Chen Ming's qualifications are uncertain.

You must know that Chen Han's next cabinet chief assistant is very likely to be Wang Huizu.

This is not a strong man, either.

In addition, Chen Cong before and Liu Dezhao are not strong figures now, because they both have their own scruples. King Song was afraid of becoming a powerful minister, because he was born in a royal family and his status was high enough, and it was very likely that he would commit taboos and cross the red line when he became a powerful minister. And if you commit a taboo and cross the red line, you may lose your head.

As for Liu Dezhao, his own grandson is the current prince, and he has been faintly competing for the throne with the eldest son of the emperor over the years, and has participated in the most cruel battle for the royal family.

And the three first and auxiliary ministers of the cabinet are not strong masters, which also confirms Chen Ming's own strength in a certain aspect.

So are there any strong people under Chen Ming?

Like a master like Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng?

Seriously, no.

The important ministers under him are all very well-behaved. Even if he is strong, such as Pang Zhenkun, he was strong when he was in the local government, and he slipped away when he arrived at the central government.

The root of all this is, in the final analysis, that is, Chen Ming's power is supreme, and Chen Ming himself is too strong.

The prime minister is a person who assists the emperor in managing all military affairs, that is, the so-called "Son of Heaven in charge, assistant Wanji".

In the Western Han Dynasty, the prime minister was responsible for managing military plans or important state affairs, and assisted the emperor in handling everything. Whenever there is an important matter, the emperor can convene the minister, the two thousand stones, and the doctor to discuss in front of the emperor to avoid arbitrariness. General government affairs can be implemented by the decision of the prime minister. When the emperor has something to do, he often consults with the prime minister, and the prime minister can also refute the edict to express reservations about the emperor's orders.

The specific functions and powers of the prime minister are: appointing officials, or recommending talents to the emperor; For magistrates, they have the power to examine and depose and reward; in charge of laws, orders and related prison matters; If there is a riot or other thing in the local area, the prime minister will send his subordinate officials to suppress it; There is also some responsibility in the military or border guards; The archives of the whole country, such as books and various picture books, are kept by the Prime Minister's Office. So much so that the Western Han Dynasty had to set up a royal historian to assist the prime minister, with roughly the same duties, and at the same time dispersed part of the prime minister's rights.

If Chen Han's cabinet ministers can achieve the rights of prime minister in the Western Han Dynasty, then China's virtual monarch system can be regarded as the first step.

It's a really long step.

It's just that Chen Ming's personality is strong, so he can't tolerate being restrained, but this is also his biggest contradiction.

On the one hand, he knew that it was necessary for a hypocrite to establish a constitution, and on the other hand, he would not tolerate the restraint of others, let alone hand over the supreme imperial power.

"Your Majesty, the contradictions between the Ucho and the Spaniards are indeed not small. They are of mixed European and Indian descent, and there may also be whites, blacks, or blacks and whites in between. Nomadic for a living.

Fifty years ago, when merchants from Britain, the Netherlands, France, Portugal and other countries were engaged in the lucrative smuggling of leather and tallow in the border area around Buenos Aires [the capital and largest city of post-Argentina, located on the south bank of the Río de la Plata, on the southeast coast of South America, and opposite Uruguay (East)], the Ucho people began to hunt large herds of cattle and horses that had escaped. In the Pemba steppes of Argentina and Uruguay, these cattle and horses have been swimming around, miraculously breeding and thriving, and their populations are growing day by day. They had previously roamed the vast Pemba savannah, unhunted.

Until fifty years ago.

It was probably the happiest time for the Ucho people, who exchanged their cattle and horses for a great deal of wealth and lived a rich and abundant life.

But now this is no longer the case, and the Spaniards have begun to legally take possession of these semi-wild livestock in the Pemba grasslands and employ cowboys for grazing. This greatly touched the interests of the Ucho people.

But a dozen years ago, Spain had just conquered Uruguay once and for all. The Charuya there were subjected to mass massacres and brutal oppression. The Ucho people dare to be angry but dare not speak.

It should not be easy to mobilize them to rebel. Some of the Ucho people that the MIA came into contact with did not have this determination.

If the Spaniards could take the initiative to alleviate their conflicts with the Ucio, for example, by hiring the Ucio to herd their cattle and give them a certain space to live, these people would not have rebelled against the Spanish in arms. ”

"Among the Indians of South America, the Mapuche people in Chile are definitely one of the most rebellious and contradictory ethnic groups with the Spanish spirit. They are the largest Indian tribe in Chile and Argentina and live in south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina.

The Spanish began their conquest of Chile very early. The Piquinche, the northern tribe of the Mapuche people, were quickly conquered and assimilated, but the Mapuche people in the south put up a long and stubborn resistance to the Spanish colonizers. Two hundred and forty years ago, the Mapuche people, led by their leader Lautaro, defeated the Spanish expeditionary force and killed Valdivia, the leader of the expeditionary force known to the Spaniards as the "Chilean Conquistador", the founder of the city of Santiago.

The war between the two lasted for hundreds of years, and the Spaniards were unable to conquer the Mapuche by force, and the long-term maintenance of the war required enormous manpower, material and financial resources. In the middle of the last century, the Spaniards signed the Treaty of Killing with the Mapuche people, formally recognizing the independence of the Mapuche and their independent autonomy over the lands south of the Biobio River.

But for the next 150 years, wars between them continued to occur.

The Mapuche people still maintain their language, living traditions, religious beliefs, etc.

And the population is about three or four hundred thousand. There is a certain social order. Although the Spaniards gave up the military conquest of the Mapuche people, the Spaniards turned to cultural aggression, and it has indeed achieved great results over the years, but the Mapuche people still maintain their independence and national characteristics in the main body.

It's just that the Mapuche have a great alliance of tribes, their leader is not a fool, and although the Spaniards are mired in the war against France in Europe, their power in the Americas is by no means something that the small Mapuche can provoke.

Red Russia cannot conquer Afghanistan, but small Afghanistan cannot be counted against Red Russia's counteroffensive. The same is true of the Mapuche people.

"Wars are provoked. How can you see the weakening of the Spaniards without fighting? Chen Ming was silent for a while, and then said, "The Mapuche people can make long-term contacts, and the Ucho people are the same. ”

Liu Dezhao respectfully said yes, and then he looked up and continued to talk about his work. Liu Dezhao knew very well what Emperor Chen meant, and after Emperor Chen saw that the Spaniards were caught in the quagmire of the anti-French alliance, he couldn't wait to eat the fat of the Spaniards.

He wanted chaos in South America to pave the way for another war between the Wehrmacht and Central America.

"And the Charua people of Uruguay. This is the majority ethnic group of Uruguay, and at its peak, it had a population of more than half a million. It would be nice to have 200,000 left. In addition to the Charuayans, Uruguay also has the Chana, the Jaro, the Boane and the Gnoa. The indigenous Indian population was about three or four hundred thousand.

These people hated the Spaniards and the Portuguese.

After the complete conquest of Uruguay by Spain, the Indians were constantly suppressed and slaughtered. It can be said that if you add a spark, a raging fire will immediately ignite there. ”

Chen Ming heard it, the Ucho people and Mapuche people before Uruguay, that was the introduction, and this Charuya talent was the focus.

Chen Ming took out a map of South America from the shelf on the side, Uruguay!

It was a territory that was between Brazil and Argentina, and has now been completely annexed by the Spanish to the Viceroyalty of La Plata.

This place is located in the southeast of South America, on the east bank of the Uruguay and La Plata rivers. The area of the whole territory is a little larger than that of the Central Plains Province. It is bordered by the South Atlantic Ocean, Brazil to the north, Argentina to the west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast.

The terrain of the territory is mostly flat, and the south is an undulating plain; There are a few low mountains in the north and east; The southwest is fertile; The southeast is mostly sloping meadows. There are certain mineral resources in it, rich in amethyst stone, agate, milky white stone and so on. Forestry and fisheries are abundant, with topaz, squid and cod abundant.

Overall, it's a land of fish and rice.

It only takes a little management, and it's a land of abundance.

"Your Majesty, if the flames of war are ignited from here, it will spread not only to Argentina, but also to Brazil. As soon as the Mapuche people in southern Chile see an opportunity, and they make another move, the whole southern part of South America will be completely shaken......"

"And Uruguay is close to the Atlantic Ocean, although it is not as easy to support as the Mapuche people, but it is not difficult."

Back in the year of the armistice of the Sino-Spanish War, Chinese expedition ships crossed the Strait of Magellan. At present, there are quite a few Chinese merchant ships active on the east coast of North and South America.

You must know that the victory in the Sino-Spanish War still allowed China to gain some coastline in the Gulf of Mexico.

Emperor Chen now wants to provoke the South American war, let the war become more and more intense, and let the Spaniards scramble.

Let Madrid be too greedy!?

The stupid Carlos IV had no idea of his father, and the power of Spain was now completely in the hands of his wife, Princess María Luisa of Parma, and her lover Manuel de Godoy. Instigated by Godoy and other favored courtiers, Carlos IV embroiled Spain in a disastrous war against revolutionary France.

Perhaps Godoy's group of people was bought off by British money, or perhaps this ignorant politician coveted the French colonies in the Americas, such as Louisiana, for example, in the Caribbean, but the disastrous consequences would only make the whole of Spain pay.

Chen Ming will not let go of a great opportunity in vain.

The First Anti-French Coalition was crushed by Napoleon in Italy in the Plane of Time and Space. Spain, after suffering a crushing defeat for its own army, quickly turned to France, even though Carlos IV was subject to their blood enemies of the Bourbons. Because Spain had no choice, in the original plane of time and space, the victorious French army soon began to counterattack Spain, a vassal state for more than a hundred years, and Madrid could not bear the pressure of war, so they could only defect.

And in the end, let's not talk about the fall of Spain, but only say that after Spain defected to France, it greatly sinned the British, the bearers of Europe. The whole country was treated in the same way as France - blockaded by sea.

If the current European War, Napoleon, who rose as expected, can crush the anti-French allies on the Italian battlefield as expected in the future, then Spain's defection is inevitable.

The Paris regime in this plane will not change much from the original plane, and the Paris regime in the original plane can immediately counterattack Spain, and the current plane can also do it.

Chen Ming could not afford to miss this opportunity.

And even if Napoleon went to the Italian battlefield in the future, would he be able to continue to defeat the anti-French allies on the Italian battlefield? This possibility is still very big in Chen Ming's eyes, at least much more likely than Napoleon's rise in the Battle of Toulon.

Maybe Napoleon would have been killed by a bullet in the next war, but it was a gamble, a gamble that Chen Ming felt he had won with great certainty.