ps: This chapter... is still a placeholder. I am currently working hard to revise the previous placeholder chapters, having reached chapter 528 and am slowly catching up.
Even as the ruler of a nation, there are differences between one ruler and another.
As the lord of Wa, Guang Ge Jian Ren truly controlled only the capital region of Wa and a few close vassals. The difficulty of investigating the leper situation across the entire Wa was no less than ascending to heaven.
However, once the Zhu Emperor decided to have the local governments investigate the leper situation, the local officials immediately sprang into action. The yamen runners of the government directly delivered the news to the local farmers' associations. Subsequently, the local officials integrated the information and fed it back to the cabinet.
But the feedback received left the Zhu Emperor quite bewildered.
Did Great Ming have leprosy?
Yes.
However, compared to Wa, where it spread widely within a few days, the situation in Great Ming was truly puzzling.
The population density of Great Ming's mainland was indeed not high, as it only had over five hundred million people spread across more than twenty million square kilometers, truly a case of vast territory and sparse population. It was understandable that leprosy could not spread easily.
Yet, the crucial point was that Great Ming’s population mobility far surpassed that of Wa.
With the gradual popularization of railways and highways, the mobility of Great Ming's people increased. Especially since Great Ming had abolished the travel permit system, it further enhanced population mobility. High population mobility often meant an increase in the spread of leprosy.
Calculating based on Great Ming's current population mobility, it was truly miraculous that leprosy, which was highly contagious, had not spread widely.
Only when the memorials from the local governments were cross-referenced with the intelligence from the Embroidered Uniform Guard did the Zhu Emperor finally understand the crux of the problem.
Thanks to the Zhu Emperor's habit of learning from the rabbits, local governments, upon discovering the appearance of lepers within their jurisdiction, would immediately resort to blockading villages. Available doctors, medicinal materials, and food were directly allocated to these areas until the lepers were cured and the blockade was lifted, naturally preventing the spread of leprosy.
More importantly, the living conditions of Great Ming's populace were vastly superior to those of the Great Qing.
The superiority in living conditions was not merely in terms of food reserves, but encompassed all aspects.
For example, clothing. In the villages of the Great Qing era, let alone everyone having new clothes, it was a dream for a family of five to find even a few intact pieces of clothing. Footwear was primarily straw sandals, and many people worked in the fields barefoot. Being scratched by grass or pricked by stones was an everyday occurrence.
Then there was food. In the Great Qing era, one rarely saw any oily or fatty food throughout the year, and salt was a prohibitively expensive strategic commodity. The populace suffered from a long-term deficiency in oil. Even if a family had a hen, the eggs would be exchanged for other daily necessities, thus their bodies' resistance was naturally not high.
The current Wa was in such a state—frequently getting scratched, with low bodily resistance. If leprosy were to spread, it would naturally infect many. Although Great Ming's populace was still far from living a life where everyone wore silk and ate meat to their fill every meal, they had achieved a life where everyone had clothes to wear and could occasionally eat meat. Their bodily resistance was naturally much higher.
As is well known, leprosy is called a disease of poverty not only because it can drain a patient's fortune but also because its prevalence in impoverished regions is a significant reason for its name.
Once it encounters a situation like Great Ming, where the people have better living conditions and the government is unreasonable enough to spend money on doctors and medicine, even if leprosy wanted to spread rapidly, it couldn't.
I am also in this state—not sleeping enough, sweating profusely, my brain not working, and even typing makes my head feel dizzy and my fingers ache. This is a common cold???
Additionally, a new variant is coming soon. Everyone should try to prepare some anti-diarrheal medication, or at least some plastic bags…
Tokugawa Ienari's face immediately darkened.
What could the shogunate do now that the good and low-born people of Wa were hiding around Great Ming merchants?
If they angered those Great Ming merchants, causing them to draw their swords and resist the shogunate, it would ultimately be the shogunate that suffered!
Thinking more and more confusedly, Tokugawa Ienari finally asked with a frown, "Have there been any negotiations with those Ming merchants? Aren't they afraid of contracting leprosy?"
Tokugawa Ienari asked, utterly bewildered, "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 Tokugawa Ienari completely lost in thought, Watanabe Uemon tentatively asked again, "Your Excellency the Shogun, do we still need to prepare some medicinal materials for those Great Ming merchants?"
Tokugawa Ienari couldn't help but frown, his face etched with indecision.
As he spoke, Tokugawa Ienari suddenly sighed again, "Our Wa, after all, must still rely on Great Ming. Wa must still do business with Great Ming."
Watanabe Uemon also fell silent.
Watanabe Uemon suddenly remembered a dish he had eaten before.
Garrison Stew.
This was a dish first created by the people of Wa and quickly popularized. Apart from in Great Ming and France, this dish had spread throughout the world with the footsteps of Wa auxiliary troops.
Could it be that the humble Wa, disregarding their own good and low-born people and spending some effort to prepare medicinal materials for the Great Ming merchant lords, was not reasonable?
...
As a Great Ming merchant, Qi Feng had been deeply involved in Wa's medicinal market for nearly ten years.
Over these ten years, Qi Feng's thoughts had gradually shifted from making money to enjoying life.
In later generations, during the era when the sickened patients of the Eagle Tribe were rampant, the dogs raised by the Eagle Tribe always used "This country is like this, who to blame?" to argue.
The problem was that the Zhu Emperor himself fell into the question of "who to blame."
Should it be changed to the so-called tripartite division of power and freedom system of Europe?
In fact, such an idea could only be imagined. If this system were implemented in the Central Plains, it would be courting death.
To deeply analyze the specific reasons behind this would be too complex, but in the final analysis, it all boils down to the word "interest."
In fact, this is also why the barbarians of Europe and the Eagle Tribe generally have broad minds. Because Europe never had a truly unified dynasty, and the barbarians were accustomed to the mentality of small populations in small states, and also accustomed to the system of small courts.
Russia was similar—Bolshevism, good! Good! The key is that human beings have desires!
This approach was fine in normal times, as it seemed to be the case with the common people in the Central Plains, and there seemed to be no difference.
However, once disasters become frequent, like during a mini ice age, or when the common people are truly struggling to survive, the difference between large and small courts becomes apparent.
The Eagle Tribe was not much better than Europe, otherwise, classmate Bai Zhenhua would not have ascended to the throne, nor would there have been the huge joke of internal conflict in the Eagle Tribe starting with the second generation of troops.
However, even the Bolshevik system, adopted directly, might not work.
There was a huge hidden danger in directly copying the Bolshevik system, which was that Great Ming did not currently have the environmental conditions for that set of theories to survive.
How many years had the Great Qing fallen?
Of course, it cannot be said that this theory is wrong, because all countries in the world promote it.
Is it not better to strive for the merit of assisting the dragon and destroying the thieves than to wholeheartedly serve those lowly peasants?
At that time, the Central Plains had not yet experienced the pain of impending complete national annihilation.
Then, Great Ming became what it is today—Great Ming has an Emperor, and the Zhu Emperor is the founding ruler who cannot be restrained by anyone. However, Great Ming also has a Cabinet, and the Cabinet's power is no less than the Emperor's.
Especially when the Emperor gradually delegated power, the Cabinet could even directly replace the Emperor.
This was because the Zhu Emperor directly clarified the status of the Cabinet in the world.
But power was power. In reality, the Grand Secretaries who could lead the Six Ministries did not hold high ranks. The so-called leadership of the Six Ministries was also not legitimate. Furthermore, they were subject to the supervision of the Directorate of Ceremonial.
Now, the Zhu Emperor had clarified the ranks and responsibilities of the Cabinet. The Grand Secretary of the Cabinet was ranked as first rank, while the ranks of the other Grand Secretaries were set as second rank, and the Ministers of the various ministries were set as second rank.
Correspondingly, Great Ming's original Six Ministries, as well as the later added Ministry of the Poor Scholars, the Ministry of Railways upgraded from the Railway Department, and many other ministries, were clearly placed under the management of the Cabinet. In addition to 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 Grand Military Command. The Grand Secretary of the Cabinet could inquire about matters of the Military Command, but only inquire—they could ask, but had no decision-making power. The decision-making power of the Military Command rested with the Grand Commander of the Military Command.
There was little to say about the Censorate; 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 under the Cabinet's jurisdiction. The authority that could truly manage the Censorate was the Censorate Bureau, which was on par with the Court of Judicial Review. Both of these agencies were not under the Cabinet but reported directly to the Emperor. Among the Censorate Bureau, some censors stationed in the capital were responsible for criticism, while the rest undertook the duty of investigation. The Court of Judicial Review was responsible for both trial and judgment.
And the final interpretation of the Great Ming Law rested with the Ministry of Justice.
In short, there were all sorts of departments, with clear responsibilities, and they had to support each other while also restraining each other.
It can be basically said that the Emperor was useless, but without the Emperor, it would not work. Someone like the Zhu Emperor could directly bypass the Cabinet ministries and even the Grand Military Command to do whatever he wanted. However, future emperors of Great Ming, apart from supervising and having the right to replace the Grand Secretaries, would basically be unable to interfere in government affairs.
Want to regain power by replacing the Grand Secretaries?
First, the Embroidered Uniform Guard would have to find evidence of the Grand Secretary's crimes, then the Censorate would have to impeach, and the Court of Judicial Review would have to convict. Only after completing this process could the Grand Secretary be replaced. If any part of this process failed, the Grand Secretary could not be replaced.
And the term of office for the Grand Secretary and the Cabinet Grand Secretaries was fixed, starting from the day they entered the Cabinet, with five years per term, and a maximum of two terms. This was a strict law set by the Zhu Emperor and was absolutely not allowed to be changed.
In addition, the Great Ming Law emphasized that anything not prohibited by law was permitted. Coupled with this, a large number of policies were established to suppress clans and wealthy merchants. The protection of ordinary people was reflected not only in the laws but also in the fact that the farmers' associations also undertook some responsibilities.
This placed Great Ming's national system in a very delicate state: it appeared beautiful, almost a model of a nominal monarch, and apart from the existence of an Emperor, the rest could be considered democratic and free, even operating in an almost perfect manner.
This placed Great Ming's national system in a very delicate state: it appeared beautiful, almost a model of a nominal monarch, and apart from the existence of an Emperor, the rest could be considered democratic and free, even operating in an almost perfect manner.
However, the Zhu Emperor knew very well that this kind of perfection was basically nonsense.
Even the system of the rabbit was not flawless!
Whether it was shedding tears to execute two Ma Su, or later getting rich first but not wanting to help the poor and even wanting to extend their influence into the imperial court, these were objective facts!
This was precisely why the Zhu Emperor kept delegating power to the imperial court but never relaxed the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Eastern Depot, and the Censorate—Great Ming's officials did not have that high a level of awareness! If they were relaxed even a little, they would create immense problems!
Thinking of this, the Zhu Emperor couldn't help but laugh at himself.
No matter how hard he tried, he was not a god, how could he possibly solve those long-standing problems?
"And those officials who jumped out to court death, I don't need to say how to deal with them, right?"
Of course, the Zhu Emperor did not need to say more, because the Zhu Emperor had already used the word "朕" (zhen, imperial pronoun).
Once the Zhu Emperor harbored murderous intent…
After Zeng Cheng, Liu Heming, and other senior officials bowed in assent, the Zhu Emperor turned his gaze to Zeng Cheng, "Minister Zeng, you have been Prime Minister for almost thirty years now, haven't you?"
Of course, Great Ming always treated meritorious officials well. Although he was no longer the Grand Secretary, all his treatment would still be in accordance with that of a Grand Secretary, and he might even receive a noble title.
Now that the Zhu Emperor had suddenly mentioned that he had been Grand Secretary for almost thirty years, did he want him to step down?
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Heavenly Emperor's Noble Lineage reminds you: Remember to collect after reading.