Looking at the pale faces of the bureaucrats below, Zhu Youxiao smiled while sitting on the Dragon Throne. Bureaucrats are like tops. They have to be whipped from time to time so that they can exercise without forgetting their duties.

.

Seeing the Greater Metropolitan Procuratorate and Dali Temple playing a huge role, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but think, "When the chief minister and cabinet are changed next time, the grades of these two people can be upgraded, and a complete constraint on the cabinet will be formed.

, forming the government’s troika!”

After Cao Yubian went down, almost everyone around him was empty. Except for the people from Dali Temple, other subordinate departments of the cabinet were deployed. Those who also received such treatment were people from the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Obviously, from today on,

, these two departments and other officials are clearly different from each other, and they are not the same people.

This is different from the merit examinations of the Ministry of Personnel. The most serious examinations are for official positions. At most, they are soft knives such as not allowing future generations to take the imperial examination. But the Metropolitan Procuratorate is different from the Dali Temple. They represent the law. Once violated,

It will directly affect the officials themselves. No matter who you are, you will be jailed.

Moreover, these two departments are relatively independent. Except for the highest official position in the central government, at the local level, they have the same grade as the local civil servants, and the finances are allocated by the central government, directly from the Ministry of Finance to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and then to the local governments.

Moreover, their promotion, appointment and dismissal do not go through the hands of local officials. It can be said that except for exerting pressure from the central government, local officials have nothing to do with these two departments.

Financial independence, personnel independence, no direct leadership, and direct jurisdiction by the emperor gave the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Dali Temple a transcendent status.

Perhaps other officials did not see this, but Xu Guangqi was vaguely aware that it was the emperor's way of checking and balancing the cabinet, not only the Metropolitan Governor's Office, but also the Dali Temple's Metropolitan Procuratorate.

This is the so-called emperor's art, the way of balance. Otherwise, the power of the cabinet will be too great. All government affairs belong to the cabinet. If it gets out of control, the consequences will be disastrous.

After the three people finished their summary report, it was time for the other countries to pay tribute. Of course, it was okay to collect protection fees.

"Greetings to His Majesty the Ming Emperor, may my emperor live long live!" Champa, Chenla, Siam, Guangnan, Annam, Caoping, a series of small countries in the Indochina Peninsula.

Of course, the things they presented were still the same as last year, including rice, beautiful women, mountains and trees, gold and silver, etc. However, among these envoys, there was another completely different country mixed in, which Zhu Youxiao could see at a glance.

"Who is that next to Envoy Annan?" Zhu Youxiao asked curiously.

"The envoys of the Satsuma Domain are attending His Majesty the Great Emperor." The Japanese in kimono knelt down. When the other party said this, Zhu Youxiao suddenly came over. No wonder he looked familiar to the other party's clothes. It turned out to be a kimono. After a long time, he would be familiar with it.

Something that made him forget a little bit.

"Satsuma Domain, isn't it the name of the Japanese country that Zheng Zhilong and the others fought against back then?" Zhu Youxiao has also heard of the name of Satsuma Domain, but only the name and the ruling family. It seems that the main family is called Shimazu?

"You are here, what are you talking about?" Zhu Youxiao asked. It seems that during the Winter Solstice the year before last, the Shimazu family also took photos of the world and came to pay tribute. After arriving, the tribute was not much, but they had to pay tribute again.

They also want support, and they also ask Ming Dynasty to restrain their pirates and so on.

It really made Zhu Youxiao angry, so when he asked questions, he didn't have a good tone.

The envoy also heard that the Ming Emperor's tone was not kind, and secretly complained in his heart that this was really a hard job. However, he still suppressed the slight panic in his heart, knelt down and said, "The small country of Fanbang implores the Ming Emperor to send troops to help."

At this time, the Satsuma Domain had just been established, and the first lord was Shimazu Tadahashi. In 1609, he sent his subordinate Kutaka Kayamayama to occupy the Ryukyu Islands and included them in the Shimadzu family territory.

Subsequently, Ryukyu was under the control of Japan until later generations. However, in this era, the Shimadzu family's plan fell short due to an unexpected rebellion.

During the South Zhili Rebellion two years ago, Wang Siyuan appeared. He unified the Fujian pirates, but he died before they were of much use. The pirate force he left behind was divided into three, and one remained silent.

In Penghu, one stayed in Dayuan, while the other fell in love with Ryukyu and settled there.

The Satsuma Domain was first established. Although it was strong, it was only on the road and not at sea. It had long lost the maritime power it had when it wreaked havoc on the southeast during the Jiajing period. It was easily defeated by Xu Xinsu and driven out of Ryukyu.

After that, these three people, known as the Three Kings of the East China Sea, blocked shipping routes, did business with Westerners, and fell in love with the wealth of the Japanese country. They looted one after another and even logged in to fight in order to obtain a base.

In this case, Satsuma Domain, which is closest to Ryukyu, was in serious trouble and became the first target. It was attacked the most times by the combined forces of the three. But fortunately, pirates are pirates. Although they can dominate the sea, they are not very powerful on land.

, even though the Three Kings of the East China Sea had a large number of people, they were still evenly matched by the Satsuma Domain.

After suffering heavy losses, the two were in a stalemate and felt a little bit like giving up. To this, Shimazu Tadahashi was naturally willing and would not provoke a dispute.

Later, they lived in peace, guarding their own territory, recuperating and accumulating strength. However, the three kings of the East China Sea saw that this bone was too hard, so they stopped chewing and moved to other places to plunder and occupy.

It's just that their fighting power on the road was too poor and they never succeeded. After a while, Zheng Zhilong and Yan Siqi were recovered by the Ming Dynasty, and Xu Xinsu was beheaded. Naturally, the Satsuma clan knew about such changes immediately, and then they were concerned about it again.

Ryukyu.

And the good news is that King Shangfeng of Ryukyu was killed in the melee. There was no obstacle for them to rule Ryukyu, so they were naturally happy. However, they did not expect that in the end, the navy of the Ming Dynasty arrived and stationed directly on the main island of Ryukyu.

and built fortifications. Finally, a large number of immigrants were transported from the mainland and occupied this place.

Well, since Ming Dynasty wants it, then I won’t covet it and live a good life. However, the Satsuma clan wants to live a good life, but some people don’t let it. The Tokugawa shogunate directly labeled it as colluding with foreign enemies and plotting evil intentions.

, and sent troops to conquer.

Well, actually, it was because the Satsuma clan had suffered a huge loss of troops, and it was a sign of weakness. Of course, the reason why we chose to send troops to conquer the Satsuma clan at this time was also because of the transfer of power in the Tokugawa shogunate.

Just this year, the third year of the Apocalypse, 1623 AD, Tokugawa Hidetada passed the position of general of the conquest of barbarians to his son Tokugawa Iemitsu, and moved to the Imperial Palace himself, starting the dual politics of the Tokugawa shogunate.

Of course, the real power was still in the hands of Tokugawa Hidetada, and as a general, Tokugawa Iemitsu had nothing to do, and on the other hand, he launched a war against the Satsuma Domain in order to establish his prestige.

Nagasaki on Kyushu Island is a place directly under the jurisdiction of the shogunate and an important trading port. Korea, Ming Dynasty and Westerners trade here. Ships come and go frequently here, so the shogunate sent troops to enter, but it did not attract the attention of the Shimadzu family.

Until the outbreak of war.

The Shimazu family's envoy told the whole story one by one, allowing Zhu Youxiao to understand the whole story.

However, Zhu Youxiao was not interested at all in Japan's civil war. Similar to Annan, Japan had formed its own culture, its own writing, and its own language. The upper class did not value Ming Dynasty Mandarin and writing.

This is completely different from North Korea.

North Korea is basically a small China. It speaks Chinese, learns Hanzi, and still reads the Analects of Confucius, Zhu Zi and Wang Yangming. Therefore, it is not difficult to directly rule North Korea, as long as North Korea's own language and writing are not allowed to spread. But Japan is different.

, unable to occupy and rule at all.

Zhu Youxiao has never had much interest in the land that cannot be occupied. The most he can do is ask Japan to surrender, sign a tributary agreement, and open the treaty ports for business. The handling method is similar to Annan and Guangnan.

Therefore, he yawned without interest and refused, "Envoy Satsuma, I am afraid you have picked the wrong person. I am not interested in Japan's internal affairs."

After saying that, he waved his hand to let the envoy go down. As for the tribute paid by the other party, I'm sorry, Zhu Youxiao never had the habit of spitting it out when it was in his pocket.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty." The Satsuma envoy shouted anxiously, for fear of being driven out. The Satsuma Domain really suffered heavy losses this time. Although it would not be destroyed, the loss of one or two vassal territories was inevitable.

At this time, the Shimazu family ruled three feudal kingdoms, Satsuma, Hyuga, and Osumi. If they were defeated and defeated, both Hyuga and Osumi would be taken away.

"Your Majesty, His Majesty the Great Emperor, Japan..." The envoy was impatient for a moment and couldn't think of anything in the country that could attract the Ming Dynasty. Finally, he had a flash of inspiration and thought of the silver coins currently in circulation in the Ming Dynasty and minted a large number of exquisite silver coins.

, presumably the Ming Dynasty was short of silver.

"Your Majesty, Japan has a large amount of silver, especially Iwami Ginzan, which produces millions of taels of silver annually. The Shimadzu family is willing to help His Majesty the Great Emperor obtain these." The envoy made a random wish. You must know that Iwami Ginzan is here.

Honshu Island is beyond the reach of the Shimazu family in Kyushu. How could he help Zhu Youxiao obtain it?

"Wait a minute." However, after hearing what he said, Zhu Youxiao's eyes lit up and he stopped the etiquette personnel who were about to drive away the Satsuma envoy.

Seeing this scene, countless officials couldn't bear to look at it and closed their eyes. They knew the emperor well and knew that his majesty understood the merchant's heart, just like last year when he acquiesced to the other party's coup under the inducement of the Annan Zheng family, this

He was also impressed by the large amount of silver provided by the Satsuma envoy.

"Is your Iwami Silver Mountain still being mined?" Zhu Youxiao asked with great interest. He had also heard of Iwami Silver Mountain's name. It was said that the mining volume at that time accounted for one-third of the world's silver production.

I didn’t expect that this mountain of silver would be produced again.

Of course, what he didn't know was that the silver mountain's production had reached its end.
Chapter completed!