ps: This chapter... is still a placeholder. I am currently working hard to revise the previous placeholder chapters. I have revised up to chapter 528 and am gradually catching up.
Even though they are rulers of their respective countries, rulers are not all the same.
As the lord of the倭国, Guangge Jianren could only truly control the capital region and a few nearby friendly feudal lords. Investigating the leper situation across the entire 倭国 was as difficult as ascending to heaven.
However, once Emperor Zhu decided to have local officials investigate the leper situation, the local officials immediately sprang into action. The yamen runners in the government brought the news directly to the local farmers' associations, and then the local officials compiled the information and fed it back to the cabinet.
The feedback, however, left Emperor Zhu bewildered.
Did the Great Ming have leprosy?
Yes.
But compared to 倭国, where it spread widely in just a few days, the leper situation in the Great Ming was very puzzling.
The population density of the Great Ming homeland was indeed not high. After all, there were only a little over 500 million people occupying an area of over 20 million square kilometers, which could be described as vast and sparsely populated. It was understandable that leprosy could not spread easily.
However, the key problem was that the population mobility in the Great Ming far surpassed that of 倭国.
With the gradual popularization of railways and highways, the mobility of the Great Ming people increased. Especially since the Great Ming abolished the travel permit system, this further enhanced population mobility. High population mobility, in turn, often meant an increase in the transmission speed of leprosy.
Calculated based on the current population mobility of the Great Ming, it was truly miraculous that leprosy, which was highly contagious, had not spread widely.
It was only after cross-referencing the memorials from the local governments with the situation reported by the Imperial Guard that Emperor Zhu finally understood the crux of the problem.
Thanks to Emperor Zhu's habit of learning from the rabbits, local governments, upon discovering the presence of lepers within their jurisdiction, would immediately seal off the village. Doctors, medicines, and food that could be mobilized from nearby areas would be sent in, and the blockade would only be lifted after all lepers were cured. Naturally, leprosy could not spread.
More importantly, the living conditions of the Great Ming people were vastly superior to those of the Great Qing.
The superiority in living conditions referred not only to food reserves but encompassed all aspects.
For example, clothing. In the rural areas during the Great Qing Dynasty, let alone everyone having new clothes, it was a dream for a family of five to find a few intact pieces of clothing. Shoes were mainly made of straw, and many people chose to go barefoot when working in the fields, making it normal to be scratched by grass or pricked by stones.
As for food, during the Great Qing Dynasty, not a bit of oil was seen throughout the year, and salt was a prohibitively expensive strategic material. The people were in a state of prolonged oil deficiency. Even if a family had a hen, its eggs would be exchanged for other daily necessities, so their physical resistance naturally couldn't be high.
The current 倭国 was in such a stage. They were often scratched, and their physical resistance was low. If leper contagion occurred, it would naturally spread widely. Although the Great Ming people were still far from a life where everyone could wear silk and satin and eat meat until they were tired of it, they were living a life where everyone had clothes to wear and could occasionally eat meat, so their physical resistance was naturally much higher. It is well known that leprosy is called a "poverty disease" not only because it can drain a patient's family fortune but also because its prevalence in impoverished areas is a significant reason for this moniker.
Once they encountered a situation like the Great Ming, where the people had better living conditions and the government was unreasonably stubborn and liked to spend money on doctors and medicine, leprosy couldn't spread quickly even if it wanted to.
I am also in this state – not sleeping enough, sweating profusely, my brain not working well, and even typing on the keyboard makes my head dizzy and my fingers ache. Is this just a common cold???
Also, a new variant is coming soon, so everyone should try to prepare some diarrhea medicine, or at least some plastic bags...
Tokugawa Ienari's face immediately darkened.
What could the shogunate do now that the good and bad people of 倭国 were hiding around the Great Ming merchants?
If they angered those Great Ming merchants and caused them to draw their swords and confront the shogunate, the shogunate would be the one to suffer in the end!
Thinking about it, Tokugawa Ienari became increasingly conflicted, so he frowned and asked, "Have there been any negotiations with those Ming merchants? Aren't they afraid of contracting leprosy?"
Tokugawa Ienari asked with a bewildered look, "Don't they know how contagious leprosy is? Or do they have a way to deal with leprosy?"
Tokugawa Ienari was completely numb – caring yet not taking it seriously, what kind of attitude was this?
Seeing that Tokugawa Ienari was completely in a daze, Watanabe Uemon tentatively asked again, "Your Excellency the Shogun, do we still need to prepare some medicine for those Great Ming merchants?"
Tokugawa Ienari couldn't help but frown, his face filled with conflict.
As he spoke, Tokugawa Ienari suddenly sighed again, "Our 倭国, after all, still has to rely on the Great Ming. 倭国 must do business with the Great Ming."
Watanabe Uemon also fell silent.
Watanabe Uemon suddenly recalled a dish he had eaten before.
Garrison Stew.
This was a dish first created by the 倭国 people and quickly spread. Apart from the Great Ming and France, this dish had spread throughout the world with the footsteps of the 倭国 auxiliary troops.
For the humble 倭国, neglecting its own good and bad citizens and spending some effort to prepare medicine for the Great Ming merchants was not unreasonable.
...
As a Great Ming merchant, Qi Feng had been cultivating the 倭国 medicinal market for nearly ten years.
In these ten years, Qi Feng's thoughts had gradually shifted from making money to enjoying life.
In the era of widespread "gǔngǔ yāzāi" (滚着叽歪 - a derogatory term for certain types of patients) in later generations, the dogs raised by the "silly eagle" (傻贼鹰 - a derogatory nickname for the United States) always brought up "this country why, the system asks" (这国怎，定体问).
The problem was that Emperor Zhu himself was caught in the "Ding Ti" (定体 - a specific phrase used in the original text) dilemma.
Change it to the so-called "separation of powers" system of Europe?
In fact, such an idea could only be thought of. If this model were implemented in the Central Plains, it would be courting death.
Analyzing the specific reasons in depth would be too complicated, but in the final analysis, it all came down to the word "interest."
This was actually why Europeans and the "silly eagle" barbarians were generally bold. Because Europe had never had a truly unified dynasty, and the barbarians were accustomed to the mentality of small states and small populations, they were also accustomed to small court systems.
Russia was similar – were the Bolsheviks good? Yes! The key was that human beings have desires!
This approach was naturally fine under normal circumstances, as even the people in the Central Plains seemed to be the same, and there appeared to be no difference.
However, once disasters occurred frequently, such as during the Little Ice Age, or when the people were truly unable to survive, the difference between large and small courts would emerge.
The "silly eagle" was not much better than Europe, otherwise, Comrade Bai Zhenhua would not have ascended to the throne, nor would the embarrassing joke of the internal conflict starting with the "second bird" (二毛 - a derogatory nickname for Ukraine) have occurred.
However, even the Bolsheviks, with their same large court system, might not necessarily work when directly transplanted.
Directly copying the Bolshevik model had a huge hidden danger, which was that the Great Ming did not have the environment for that set of theories to survive.
How long ago did the Great Qing fall?
Of course, it could not be said that this theory was wrong, because all countries in the world propagated it.
Was it not better to gain the merit of "riding the dragon and destroying the贼" (从龙灭贼之功) than to wholeheartedly serve those mud-legged people?
At that time, the Central Plains had not yet experienced the pain of impending complete national destruction and extermination.
Then, the Great Ming became what it is today – the Great Ming had an emperor, and Emperor Zhu was the kind of founding emperor who could not be restrained by anyone. However, the Great Ming also had a cabinet, and the cabinet's power was no less than the emperor's.
Especially when the emperor gradually delegated power, the cabinet could even directly replace the emperor's role.
This was because Emperor Zhu had directly clarified the cabinet's status.
However, in terms of power, although the cabinet elders who led the six ministries were not of high rank, their leadership of the six ministries was neither legitimate nor proper. Moreover, they were also constrained by the Directorate of Ceremonial.
Now, Emperor Zhu had clarified the cabinet's rank and responsibilities, with the Grand Secretary being of the first rank and the other Grand Secretaries being of the first rank below the first rank. The ministers of the various ministries were set at the second rank.
Correspondingly, the original six ministries of the Great Ming, as well as the later additions like the Ministry of Poverty and the Ministry of Railways, which was upgraded from the Railway Directorate, and many other ministries were clearly placed under the management of the cabinet. Besides the Grand Secretary, the remaining six Grand Secretaries were each responsible for a specific area, with responsibilities clearly assigned to individuals.
Parallel to the cabinet was the Five Chief Military Commissions. The Grand Secretary of the cabinet could inquire about matters of the military commissions, but only inquire – they could ask, but they had no decision-making power. The decision-making power of the military commissions rested with the Grand Marshal of the military commissions.
The Censorate was self-explanatory; their main responsibility was to criticize. The emperor and all civil and military officials were targets they had to monitor.
However, the Censorate was not managed by the cabinet. The true authority over the Censorate was the Office of the Censor, and alongside it was the Court of Judicial Review. These two offices were not managed by the cabinet but reported directly to the emperor. Among the Office of the Censor, some censors in the capital were responsible for criticism, while the rest were responsible for investigation. The Court of Judicial Review was responsible for both trial and judgment.
The final interpretation of the Great Ming Law, however, rested with the Ministry of Justice.
In short, there were all sorts of departments, with clear responsibilities. They had to support each other while also restraining each other.
Essentially, it was a system where the emperor had little practical use, but the absence of an emperor was also not feasible. Emperor Zhu, for instance, could directly bypass the cabinet ministries and even the Five Chief Military Commissions to do whatever he wanted. However, future emperors of the Great Ming, apart from supervising and having the power to change the Grand Secretary, would basically be unable to interfere in state affairs.
Trying to regain power by changing the Grand Secretary?
First, the Imperial Guard had to find evidence of the Grand Secretary's crime, then the Censorate had to initiate impeachment, and the Court of Judicial Review had to convict. Only after completing this entire process could the Grand Secretary be changed. If even one step of this process could not be completed, the Grand Secretary could not be changed.
Moreover, the tenure of the Grand Secretary and the cabinet elders was fixed, calculated from the date of their entry into the cabinet. They could serve a maximum of two five-year terms, which was a rigid rule established by Emperor Zhu and absolutely not allowed to be changed.
In addition, the Great Ming Law emphasized that anything not explicitly prohibited was permissible. It also laid down a large number of policies to suppress clans and wealthy merchants. The protection of ordinary people was reflected not only in the law but also partly undertaken by the farmers' associations.
This placed the Great Ming's political system in a very delicate state: it appeared to be very good, almost a model of a symbolic monarch, and apart from the existence of an emperor, everything else could be considered democratic and free, even operating with near-perfect precision.
This placed the Great Ming's political system in a very delicate state: it appeared to be very good, almost a model of a symbolic monarch, and apart from the existence of an emperor, everything else could be considered democratic and free, even operating with near-perfect precision.
However, Emperor Zhu knew very well that such perfection was essentially nonsense.
Even the system of the rabbit was not flawless!
Whether it was the tearful execution of two Ma Su's in the past, or the later prioritization of wealth without willingness to uplift the poor and even attempting to extend their reach to the court, these were objective realities!
This was why Emperor Zhu continued to delegate power to the court but never relaxed the grip on the Imperial Guard, the Eastern Depot, and the censors – the officials of the Great Ming did not have that high a level of awareness! If they were slightly relaxed, they could create huge problems!
Thinking of this, Emperor Zhu couldn't help but laugh at himself.
No matter how hard he tried, he was not a god, so how could he possibly solve those long-standing problems?
"And those officials who are jumping out to court death, do I need to say more about how to deal with them?"
Of course, Emperor Zhu did not need to say more, because Emperor Zhu had used the word "朕" (Zhen - the imperial pronoun "I").
Once Emperor Zhu had the killing intent...
After Zeng Cheng and Liu Heming, along with a group of other big shots, bowed and acknowledged, Emperor Zhu then turned his gaze to Zeng Cheng: "Minister Zeng, you have been in office as Prime Minister for almost thirty years now, haven't you?"
Of course, the Great Ming had always treated its meritorious officials well. Although he was no longer the Grand Secretary, he would still receive all the treatment of a Grand Secretary, and perhaps even a noble title.
Now that Emperor Zhu was suddenly mentioning that he had been Grand Secretary for nearly thirty years, did he intend to let him go?
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Heavenly Emperor's Noble Lineage reminds you: Remember to collect after reading.