Chapter 115 I Want Maritime Trade Rights

The six ministries of Daning hold real power, unlike the three officials who, despite their high status, do not have much real power.

However, among the six ministries, four were in favor of peace, including the extremely important Ministry of Personnel, Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Revenue.

Although the Ministry of Rites is relatively unimportant, it represents the face of the Daning Dynasty. Its importance in foreign affairs is unquestionable, and Daning often needs to deal with the outside world.

Therefore, the Ministry of Rites basically acted as an accomplice of the peace faction, and many decisions that were humiliating and detrimental to the country were made by the Ministry of Rites.

Even though Lu Changjing has taken down the Minister of Revenue Jin Longyu, there are still three ministries that belong to the peace party. Although it cannot be said to be omnipotent, it can still be called a behemoth.

In the future, we must find ways to continue to weaken the strength of the peace faction. Lu Changjing does not want to be a weak emperor, like Ning Tianbao and Ning Zhongyu, who were bullied like grandsons by the surrounding barbarians, natives, dynasties, and imperial families...

Even if his strength had not yet grown, he would not be able to do such a thing.

After the issue of the Sakura tribe's attacks on the coastal areas was resolved, the rest were minor matters, and most of them were handled directly by Lu Changjing without any delay.

Such a decisive and efficient style of action once again surprised all the civil and military officials in the court, but compared with what they had experienced before, this was nothing.

"Retreat!"

Seeing that there was nothing more to discuss, Lu Changjing simply adjourned the court session without wasting everyone's time.

Even after Lu Changjing had left for a long time, many court officials were still unable to react.

"Your Majesty has really changed. He has changed a lot compared to before."

"Isn't it good that you've changed? Isn't this better than the previous timid and submissive state? I like this kind of Majesty."

"It turns out that the matter of the Mountain Barbarians was not an exception. However, the matter of the Mountain Barbarians still helped those barbarians. Unlike this time, they actually went to war directly with the natives of the Stinky Tribe. Your Majesty was amazing this time."

……

Unlike the neutrals and the war faction, the peace faction was looking worried.

"Your Majesty, are you crazy? You just went to war with the Blood Barbarians a while ago, and now you want to go to war with the Sakura Tribe again. Are you afraid that our Daning Dynasty will make too many enemies?"

"The peace talks policy left by the late emperor is about to be destroyed by Your Majesty. We must find a way to persuade Your Majesty."

"The royal secret treasury and the national treasury are empty. How can we in Daning afford to fight a war? Your Majesty is confused."

……

Although he has already grasped the real power of the court, it will still take some time and effort to truly achieve unity between the upper and lower levels and make the people below obey him obediently.

Not to mention anything else, the peace faction that has existed for two dynasties is the biggest obstacle at present.

Could it be that I should find an opportunity to enslave all the leaders of the peace faction later? This thought came to Lu Changjing's mind, and he felt that it was more and more feasible.

After all, he didn't want to waste time on taming these guys. Given the crimes they had committed before, it was not worth Lu Changjing's time to waste too much time on them.

It would be better to just take them down like we did with Jin Longyu and Cao Wenzheng, and when they are no longer useful, chop them all down to commemorate the millions of people of Daning who were killed by them. In recent years, the peacemakers have been doing business with barbarians, natives, surrounding countries, demons and monsters for their own selfish interests. Although most of the resources and treasures obtained from the transactions went to Ning Tianbao and Ning Zhongyu, these guys also gained a lot.

They sold out the common people of the Daning Dynasty in exchange for their own promotion and resources, and it would not be wrong even if they killed them all.

After returning to the imperial study, Lu Changjing immediately sent another secret letter to Qi Pinghai of Donghai Prefecture, who was also the first person to fight against the Sakura bandits.

Although the Pinghai Navy led by him is not well-known, even Cao Wenzhen knows that it is definitely a powerful naval force and the only legion that can fight against the Sakura Pirates.

If it weren't for the pressure from the two emperors in these years, the Pinghai Army would have defeated the Ying pirates long ago and they would never dare to invade the Daning Dynasty again.

Unfortunately, Ning Tianbao and Ning Zhongyu are too cowardly, even though they know that the Pinghai Army is quite strong and they are very confident that they can defeat Yingkou.

However, for the sake of his own practice, he did not want any accidents to happen, so he kept suppressing Qi Pinghai and his Pinghai Army.

Even in this situation, Qi Pinghai quietly established the Qi Family Gang. Relying on the strength of just a gang, he managed to curb the invasion of the Sakura Bandits. You can imagine how capable this man is.

Therefore, Lu Changjing just needs to give him enough power and trust, and the Lord Qi will definitely not let him down.

In this secret letter, Lu Changjing mainly elaborated on three things.

The first is that the attitude of the Daning Dynasty towards the Yingkou will no longer be based on appeasement, but on iron and blood. The Yingkou will be eliminated as much as possible, or all captured and used as slaves to open mines and build walls for the Daning Dynasty.

The second is that although the imperial court did not give support openly, the Tan Trading Company would secretly provide them with a large amount of money and food so that they did not have to worry about supply problems.

The third was to ask Qi Pinghai to seize as much trading rights as possible in the East China Sea, and to devote all his efforts to developing maritime trade in the future. One tenth of the resources and wealth earned could be given to the East China Sea Prefecture, and the rest would belong to him.

……

Yes, in addition to taking revenge on Yingkou, Lu Changjing’s most important goal is to gain control of the trade rights in the East China Sea.

Lu Changjing, who had traveled through time, knew very well how profitable maritime trade was, but both Daning and Yingkou had not made good use of the East China Sea. If not, Yingkou would not have been targeting the villages and towns in the coastal area of ​​Daning.

If maritime trade could be developed, the slight profit would far exceed the resources and wealth brought by plundering. Ultimately, these natives are too narrow-minded.

Since there is such a good opportunity in front of Lu Changjing, Lu Changjing will naturally not let it go easily. Of course, he must seize the trading rights in the East China Sea.

As the largest prefecture bordering the East China Sea, Donghai Prefecture is naturally Lu Changjing's main focus. It just so happens that the Pinghai Navy here is strong enough to serve as a backing for maritime trade.

After writing this secret letter, he stamped it with the imperial seal and immediately sent it to Donghai Prefecture.

The speed at which this secret letter arrived at Donghai Prefecture was even faster than the imperial edict.

After receiving this secret letter, Qi Pinghai's face changed. Could it be that the Qi family's gang's affairs were exposed, so His Majesty sent a secret letter to warn and reprimand him, telling him not to fight against the Yingkou again.

If this is the case, what will happen to the people in the coastal areas? What should they do in Donghai Prefecture? They can't just let the Sakura bandits wreak havoc forever. If this continues for a long time, Donghai Prefecture will be finished.

With a nervous mood, Qi Pinghai carefully opened the secret letter. After confirming that it was indeed a secret letter from His Majesty the Emperor, he looked at the contents inside.

(End of this chapter)