He Became King Sejong’s Lifelong Prime Minister - Chapter 71

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Japanese Pirates Can Be Useful Too (9)

No matter how much times change, there are truths that never change.

The saying that a person who couldn’t be made into a decent human being even by their parents can never be reformed is one of them.

No matter how much time passed, a person who couldn’t be made decent even by their parents, no, Soda Uemontaro who was addicted to piracy, could not stop his piracy.

“Haha, at this rate we’ll reach Ningbo soon! Jiro, how much further until we arrive!”

“Looking at the North Star last night, I think we’ll arrive this evening.”

“This evening, that’s very good. We can have our fill of swordplay in the evening, then drink some Ming Dynasty alcohol at night before returning.”

The Ming Dynasty only focused on blocking the northern Mongolia and Jurchen tribes, and was extremely negligent in dealing with the southern Japanese Pirates.

This was because the cost of blocking the northern barbarians was extremely high, so they didn’t have enough resources to invest sufficiently in preparing for the southern Japanese Pirates.

The barbarians had the power to potentially destroy the Ming Dynasty if things went wrong, but the Japanese at most could only kill a few thousand Ming Dynasty coastal people – they weren’t a disaster capable of destroying the country.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty was relatively negligent in defending against Japanese Pirates. For the sake of efficient budget usage.

“I met a royal bastard doing maritime raiding on Iki Island and heard that those Ming Dynasty idiots just drive pine stakes into their shipyards and don’t even build warships.”

“Is that true?”

“Not just me, but Chiyoda, Takasugi, and Tanaka who go out to the deep sea with me for piracy all said they’ve never seen Ming Dynasty naval forces appear. At most, if you penetrate too deep, Ming Dynasty soldiers swarm like ants to catch you.”

During Zheng He’s great expeditions, over 2,000 ships were built in a single Beijing shipyard over a period of just over 10 years.

But the Ming Dynasty said ‘Yeah, we’re only going to worry about Mongolia!’ and really managed those warships carelessly, and their navy was practically non-existent.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty’s Japanese Pirates suppression was similar to sending firefighters to put out fires.

When reports of severe Japanese Pirates damage reached units stationed in the local provinces, only then would they dispatch to put out the fire.

“Damn, the maritime ban made it easier to land and do maritime raiding. But I don’t see any profitable Ming Dynasty merchant ships.”

“That’s right.”

“Still, if we sell Ming Dynasty people as slaves to Jeongui County on Jeju Island, the income will be quite decent, so let’s quickly go to a nearby fishing village.”

“Yes, understood.”

While the Ming Dynasty people were casual about defending coastal villages, they stationed a considerable number of troops in cities.

So if you got caught robbing rich houses in cities hoping to steal lots of luxury goods, you’d die.

Soda Uemontaro was about to spend another meaningful day pondering how to safely and efficiently obtain income and sip some alcohol, but…

“I can see a village over there!”

It was a signal to begin their maritime self-sufficiency activities – generating income through the relocation of Ming Dynasty people.

As soon as they heard those words, the Japanese Pirates put on their shabby but functional armor, and all the sailors quickly armed themselves.

“We must capture even one more person and interrogate them to find out if there are any fishing villages or wealthy houses worth raiding nearby!”

Soda Uemontaro was a Samurai equipped with the wisdom of Tsushima Island, having engaged in piracy against both Joseon and Ming Dynasty without discrimination.

Naturally, his expertise was on a different level from novice pirates.

“Put down your bows and only take swords and clubs! Each one of those bastards is money and rice!”

“Yes, understood!”

“For the next week, exactly one week, we’ll raid big and then return to Tsushima Island!”

If they stayed in Ming Dynasty territory for more than a week, the Ming Dynasty military might appear.

What would be the point of coming to Ming Dynasty to make money only to die there?

“Just do what we’ve always done, charge!”

Soda Uemontaro succeeded in capturing 121 Ming Dynasty Common People who had been ‘illegally residing’ in the Ming Dynasty coastline area.

Combined with other Wokou Pirates who had the same idea, over 1,500 Ming Dynasty fishermen were kidnapped.

This news naturally reached the Ming Dynasty emperor as well.

**

Emperor Hongxi scolded his Ministers in Pyeonjeon Hall of the Forbidden City.

“What exactly have you all been doing until now?”

No one dared to refute those words.

Even if the emperor’s anger wasn’t justified, offering honest counsel like they do in Joseon would result in immediately losing the head attached to one’s shoulders – that was Ming Dynasty’s beautiful tradition…

But the criticism he was making now was even valid.

In this situation, protesting or presenting dissenting opinions would undoubtedly transform a minister into what used to be a minister’s corpse.

“Forty-five fishing villages near Ningbo in Fujian Province were attacked by Japanese Pirates, and now nearly 2,000 Ming Dynasty Common People have been kidnapped or killed! What exactly were the Provincial Administration Commissioner and Regional Military Commissioner of Fujian Province doing!”

“We are deeply sorry, Your Majesty.”

“Does being sorry solve the problem! Does it solve it!”

Emperor Hongxi was so furious that he tried to rise from his seat.

However, since moving around was inconvenient without a cart, and it was difficult for him to lift his body, he simply gave up.

“Emperor Hongwu said that Japanese Pirates swarm because the Common People engage in private trade, freely giving Ming Dynasty’s precious goods to the Japanese enemies, and the Japanese who see these goods develop evil intentions and want to plunder them easily.”

Emperor Hongwu Zhu Yuanzhang was a fellow who extremely hated commerce.

How much must he have hated Merchants to issue a maritime ban and prohibit maritime trade itself?

Furthermore, claiming that private civilian artisans making goods made the Common People luxurious, he forced all artisans to work for the government at extremely low wages, causing the ruin of artisans working in the private sector.

It was the result of an ignorant fool who knew little about Confucianism having wrong beliefs.

“The Great Ming is the center of the world, and within the Great Ming are all the materials the nation needs… If private trade stimulates the greed of Japanese Pirates, it’s natural for them to become Japanese enemies.”

Someone once said.

When Ming Dynasty emperors led Zheng He’s great expeditions, if they had pursued commercial profits, the Age of Exploration might have started in Ming Dynasty rather than Europe.

However, Emperor Yongle of Ming Dynasty, heavily intoxicated by the drug called Sinocentrism, expanded beyond India to Africa, but folded the business saying it was sufficient to have received ‘some unusual goods’ to strengthen his royal authority.

“Emperor Hongwu said that to prevent Japanese enemies from swarming, the Common People living in coastal areas must be moved inland. Thus, there should be no one living in coastal areas, but Local Provinces officials are not sincere and are not properly implementing the population relocation.”

Of course, there were complex circumstances here too. Not engaging in trade immediately wouldn’t pose a big problem for Ming Dynasty’s survival.

They could find the method of smuggling to secretly bring in foreign luxury goods, and Ming Dynasty was so vast that it had all kinds of goods.

However, if Common People living in fishing villages were suddenly relocated inland, they would have no way to make a living.

It would be fortunate if Common People with no way to make a living would obediently starve to death, but humans are as resilient as weeds, so they too become bandits to survive.

So Ming Dynasty Local Provinces officials also pretended not to know about fishing villages to prevent the disaster of bandits rapidly increasing during their terms.

“Minister of War.”

“Yes, His Majesty.”

“Minister of War, immediately command all provincial administration commissioners and regional military commissioners nationwide to relocate all Common People living in coastal areas inland.”

“However, His Majesty… those living in fishing villages are much poorer than those who farm for a living. If you suddenly tell such people to move inland…”

“I know well what the Minister of War is concerned about. Those with no way to make a living are likely to become Mountain bandits, are they not? However, I have a clever plan.”

Emperor Hongxi, though he may have been very fat, was not a foolish emperor.

If Common People were recklessly driven from their livelihoods, wouldn’t they destabilize Ming Dynasty’s public order, whether they became Mountain bandits or whatever else?

“We will make them all into military households, having them cultivate fields while performing military service. Didn’t the Liaodong Commissioner just submit a petition asking for help because he lacks soldiers to use?”

“His Majesty’s imperial grace is as vast as the ocean. Those who broke the law should all be executed according to the original law, but Your Majesty bestows imperial grace and provides them a way to live. They will all shout long live.”

Living as illegal residents in a fishing village is hard, but living as military households is even more terrible.

Not only do you never know when or where you might be called to ‘distant remote lands’ to perform military service, but while they gave land in the early days of implementing the system…

Now there isn’t even land to give to military households, so they give them wasteland and order them to clear it.

Having to clear wasteland, never knowing when the head of household might be dragged away for military service, and being told to provide your own military equipment that the Military uses…

‘It’s unreasonable, but…’

However, the Minister of War valued his own life more.

“I will turn all the Common People living in the coastal area into military households.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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