“How will the cabinet vote?”
After listening to Huang Jin's description, Emperor Jiajing closed his eyes for a moment. It was impossible to tell what emotion he had from his face. He asked the question in a normal manner.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Cabinet has different opinions, and I agree with the disagreement. One is that the maritime ban is an ancient system that must not be violated. Fishermen and woodcutters can go to the lakes and rivers inland, but not even a sail can go to the sea. Moreover, the Japanese pirates are a disaster to the market, so the maritime ban must not be relaxed.
Another said: The rise of Japanese pirates was not caused by the closure of the maritime trade, but because the people of Fujian and Zhejiang went to sea to trade with foreigners and made a lot of money, so they gathered a large number of followers and started to plot wildly. In the past, they only invaded the coastal areas, but since the closure of the maritime trade, they have penetrated into various places. According to reports, the number of real Japanese pirates is less than a thousand, and they are all led by pirates near Zhangzhou and Wenzhou, just like the northern barbarians led us. If the maritime ban is relaxed, the residents of the coastal areas can participate in the overseas trade of the maritime trade, and the former "sea pirates" can also turn into sea merchants, and there will be no more chaos, and the national treasury can be enriched several times. It is true that some of the Japanese pirates are full-time pirates, and they will not be tolerated, and they will be punished with thunder and lightning. "
This was not the first time that the cabinet had different opinions. According to past practice, if the cabinet did not agree, all opinions would be listed at the end, and Emperor Jiajing would make the final decision.
"What is Wei Zhong's opinion?" Emperor Jiajing asked again after hearing this.
Weizhong is Yan Song's courtesy name. Emperor Jiajing used Yan Song's courtesy name to refer to Yan Song, indicating that Yan Song still had great importance in Emperor Jiajing's heart. At this time, Yan Song and Emperor Jiajing were still in their honeymoon period, and the relationship between the monarch and his subjects was still harmonious.
In the eyes of Emperor Jiajing, Yan Song, who was loyal, diligent, intelligent, timid and cautious, was much more obedient than Zhang Cong and Xia Yan, who were tough and would bang the table and blow their beards at any time. Such obedient, capable and willing servants were the good servants he needed.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, Lord Yan said: Strict maritime ban is reasonable, and loose maritime ban is also good. I am confused and I hope Your Majesty will decide the right and wrong of this matter." Huang Jin read out Yan Song's opinion word by word.
"Haha, this old guy is so cunning..." Emperor Jiajing cursed with a smile.
This is Yan Song's style. Yan Song is a timid and cautious person. In such a matter that has drawn fire to himself, Yan Song's timid nature is undoubtedly exposed. He does not want to offend either opinion, nor does he support it openly. Instead, he puts the blame on Emperor Jiajing. Of course, he is also very skillful in shirking the blame, saying that I am in a mess, and Emperor Jiajing, you are wise, so you should make the decision. That is, he shirked the responsibility and flattered the emperor without leaving any trace.
This is also Yan Song's ability, he understood the preferences of Emperor Jiajing and shirked his responsibilities without making the leader angry.
“Huang Ban, order the cabinet ministers, the ministers of the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Works, and the left and right vice ministers... to come to the palace for an audience.” Emperor Jiajing thought for a moment, then ordered Huang Jin to send someone to notify the above-mentioned people to come to the palace for an audience.
"I obey your command." After Huang Jin bowed, he stood up and ordered the eunuch to send someone to notify the above ministers to enter the palace.
The issue of whether the maritime ban should be strict or not has been discussed for several years in the court and the public, but there is still no conclusion. It seems that Emperor Jiajing wants to resolve this issue on this day.
Soon, several eunuchs holding Buddhist whisks hurried out of the West Garden.
Not long after, bigwigs came into the West Garden from various government offices one after another, and the eunuchs led them to a hall to wait.
After all the big guys gathered in the hall, they were divided into two groups, one led by Li Mo, the Minister of Personnel, and the other led by Yan Song and his son. Another interesting thing was that Xu Jie and Yan Shifan had been in a hot relationship, and the two were talking and laughing quietly in the hall.
Li Mo looked at Xu Jie with disdain. He had thought that Xu Jie could stand on the same team with him and fight against Yan Song together. He was optimistic that he could even defeat Yan Song if he tried harder. But he didn't expect that Xu Jie, a coward without balls, would actually go to flatter Yan Song.
What Li Mo despised the most was that Yan Shifan had recently married a concubine, and Xu Jie, despite his status as the Minister of Rites, rushed to give gifts. He even said that Yan Shifan's two-year-old son was very talented, and he intended to marry his granddaughter to Yan Shifan's son. When Yan Shifan said that his two-year-old son had already been engaged, Xu Jie, the shameless man, actually said that his granddaughter would be a concubine in the future...
I was blind at first and thought Xu Jie was a man of integrity, but I didn't expect him to be a cowardly, sycophantic coward!
And you're still kneeling and licking!
What a shameless old man!
Li Mo glanced at Xu Jie and snorted coldly. He then stood at the front of his group with his head held high, his back straight, in stark contrast to the old and frail Yan Song who could not even straighten his back.
After the eunuch reported to Emperor Jiajing that all the ministers had arrived, Emperor Jiajing still left these ministers alone for a long time, sitting in meditation for several cycles without changing his posture, before he slowly ended his meditation, drank a cup of tea, and leisurely went to the palace.
Taming these ministers is like training a hawk...
This is the style of Emperor Jiajing, a self-taught master of psychology.
"Your Majesty, we are here to greet you. Long live the emperor. Long live the emperor. Long live the emperor." The ministers, who had been waiting until their mouths were dry, knelt down hurriedly to pay their respects to the late Emperor Jiajing, looking tired.
"Huang Ban, pass the memorial to him." After Emperor Jiajing sat high on the dragon throne, he looked at the ministers below who were in low spirits and nodded with satisfaction, and ordered Huang Jin to pass the memorial to him.
Huang Jin had already copied the memorial several times. After hearing the Emperor Jiajing's instructions, he walked down from the platform and distributed the memorial in his hand to the ministers waiting in the hall.
The memorial that the ministers received was the one submitted by Dong Wei, the censor of Zhejiang Province, requesting the relaxation of the maritime ban to facilitate fishing and woodcutting and to enrich the national tax revenue.
Yan Song had expected this memorial, and the Yan Party had been reminded by Yan Song and had prepared for it. However, Li Mo and others just knew that the court meeting today was to discuss the maritime ban, but it didn't matter, the maritime ban had been discussed for several years, and Li Mo and others were familiar with it, so they were not at a big disadvantage.
"Express your opinions and do not hide anything. I will not pursue any of what was discussed today and will not punish you for your words. You are all my loyal ministers, so please speak freely and I will listen." Emperor Jiajing sat on the dragon throne and asked the ministers below to express their opinions on Dong Wei's request to relax the maritime ban.
After Emperor Jiajing spoke, all the ministers bowed and said they obeyed his orders.
"Your Majesty's grace is great. We should be grateful to you and share your worries. The maritime ban has a long history and involves many people. I hope you will do your best and start the discussion." After paying respect to Emperor Jiajing, Yan Song looked at the court officials slowly, set the tone for the discussion, and then looked at Li Mo and said, "Lord Li, do you have any profound ideas? Please speak up."
As soon as Yan Song finished speaking, Li Mo raised his head and said, "The maritime ban is an ancestral system. The laws of our ancestors cannot be changed. The Japanese invasion is a clear proof of this. The maritime ban should be strict, not lenient. We should abolish the ferry, strictly enforce the militia, hunt down the treacherous people, and not allow a single sail to enter the sea. The Maritime Customs Office must not be reopened. It is a great rebellion to ask for a relaxation of the maritime ban. Dong Wei and his followers should also be severely punished."
After Li Mo finished speaking, Zhao Wenhua, one of Yan Song's followers, raised a rebuttal, "Lord Li said that the Japanese invasion began with the relaxation of the maritime ban. Please forgive me for not agreeing with this. When the maritime ban was strict, the Japanese pirates were already rampant. I think Lord Li implemented the militia to search for treacherous people, and he also learned that the so-called Japanese pirates were less than a thousand in number, and they were all gangs of pirates near Zhangzhou and Wenzhou. The Japanese pirates' rebellion was not caused by the closure of the maritime trade, but because the people of Fujian and Zhejiang went to sea to trade with foreigners and gained benefits, so they gathered a large number of followers and started crazy plots."
At this point, Zhao Wenhua summed it up with one sentence: "When the market is open, the bandits will turn into merchants; when the market is closed, the merchants will turn into bandits."
Hearing this, Yan Song nodded with satisfaction.
Li Mo's followers were not willing to be outdone, and soon refuted the argument again with the example of Taizu's order of maritime ban. For a while, there was endless debate in the hall.
From maritime bans and Japanese pirates, it gradually developed to the point where they cited classics to attack each other.
Looking at the ministers in the court who were citing scriptures to refute their own opinions, Emperor Jiajing remained calm and listened with interest to the ministers' speculation.
This is the time to show your strength and skills!
These ministers quoted from classics and made arguments. In order to overwhelm the other side, they brought out all the knowledge they had hidden in their boxes. The classics they quoted became more and more biased, and many classics that had hardly been heard of were also brought out.
In the end, the debate seemed to have become a remote and classic sword-fighting arena.
Emperor Jiajing was very interested in what he heard and found that several of the classics were ones he had never heard of before. So he wrote a small note and asked the eunuch to pass it to the Hanlin Academy, asking the Hanlin Academy to present the classics on the note from the library to the Western Garden.
When the note was passed to the Hanlin Academy, everyone in the Hanlin Academy looked at the obscure classics on the note and couldn't help cursing. The court was in turmoil, and the Hanlin Academy was affected. (To be continued.)