Dominate the Country

In the Palace of Heavenly Purity in Nanjing, the current cabinet chief Liu Dezhao is reporting to Chen Ming on his work.

However, most of the content of this work comes from the Military Intelligence Bureau, and the location of this "work" is also in that distant South America.

As mentioned in the previous article, Chen Ming has to deal with a lot of "things" every day, and they come from all sides. He can't focus on one point for a long time, because this will make him lose sight of the other.

Because of this, the emperor must have ministers to assist him, and the latter must have certain rights, which is really necessary.

In Chinese history, such a phenomenon made the early emperors think about how to suppress the power of the prime minister all the time. In the wise rulers of the Han and Tang dynasties, it seemed that everyone could completely control the prime minister. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty even set a precedent for treating the prime minister as a clay statue.

The source of the emperor's fear of the power of the prime minister is best explained by Wang Mang and Yang Jian, who attempted to usurp the throne.

The struggle between the emperor and the prime minister continued until the Hongwu era of Zhu, when the position of the prime minister was completely abolished. The chief minister of the cabinet in the Ming Dynasty and the leading minister of the Military Affairs Office in the Qing Dynasty are still very different from the "prime minister" in history.

First of all, the chief minister of the cabinet does not have a legal recognition. Although the power of the cabinet in the middle and late Ming Dynasty has been increasing, and there is a tendency to surpass the prime ministers of the Han and Tang Dynasties, the power of approval is firmly in the hands of the Silijian, so the decision-making power cannot be fully mastered. In the final analysis, there is the reality of the prime minister, but not the name of the prime minister. Because there is no prime minister's name, the power that the prime minister should have cannot be fully exercised.

And don't separate the cabinet from the imperial power.

The cabinet is more like an extension of the imperial power. Because after the abolition of the Zhongshu Province in the Ming Dynasty, in fact, the previous imperial power and prime minister's power have been merged into a new imperial power. This new imperial power had to be split because there were too many things, so there was a cabinet. Under the leadership of the new imperial power, the cabinet gradually eroded the residual prime minister's power retained by the six ministries after the abolition of the Zhongshu Province. The cabinet did not leave the imperial power and hold its own power alone. Therefore, after the split of the Secretariat, the power of the prime minister was divided, but the prime minister could not necessarily take much power from the emperor, but it was more like the emperor gave it out.

Look at how powerful the prime minister was in the Longqing Dynasty, and the Wanli Dynasty said that he would not give you power, and he would not give you power.

As for the Military Affairs Office of the Qing Dynasty, it was even more of a group of slaves.

Therefore, the concept of "prime minister" has disappeared in Chinese history for more than 300 years. It was Chen Ming who pulled it out of the abyss.

Of course, Chen Ming is now in absolute power, although he is really increasing the power of the cabinet little by little, especially the power status of the prime minister of the cabinet. But just like the power of the prime minister in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, this power was "given" to the cabinet by Chen Ming, and he could take it back anytime and anywhere. Therefore, Chen Han's cabinet prime minister today is still not the prime minister.

As for when the cabinet prime minister can become the "prime minister" in a logical way, even Chen Ming is not qualified to say.

You should know that the next cabinet chief minister of Chen Han is most likely to be Wang Huizu.

This is not a strong person either.

In addition, the previous Chen Cong and the current Liu Dezhao are not strong people either, because they each have their own concerns. King Song is afraid of being a powerful minister, because he is from the royal family and his status is already high enough. If he becomes a powerful minister, he is very likely to violate taboos and cross the red line. And if he violates taboos and crosses the red line, he may lose his head.

As for Liu Dezhao, his grandson is the current prince, and he has been secretly competing with the eldest prince for the throne in recent years, and has participated in the most brutal battle for the throne of the royal family. If he dares to be strong, he may also touch the red line, so Liu Dezhao is not strong.

And the three cabinet chief ministers in a row are not strong people, which in a way also proves Chen Ming's own strength.

So does Chen Ming have strong people under him?

Like Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng?

To be honest, no.

All the important ministers under him are very well-behaved. Even if they are strong, such as Pang Zhenkun, they were strong when they were in local positions, and they just followed the crowd when they were in the central government.

The root of all this is that Chen Ming's power is supreme, and Chen Ming himself is too strong.

The prime minister is the person who assists the emperor in managing all military and national affairs, that is, the so-called "the prime minister of the emperor, assisting all affairs".

In the Western Han Dynasty, the prime minister was responsible for managing military plans or national affairs, and assisting the emperor in handling all matters. When there are important matters, the emperor can summon the ministers, two thousand stones, and doctors to discuss in front of the emperor to avoid arbitrary decisions. For general government affairs, the prime minister can decide and implement them. When the emperor has something to do, he often consults the prime minister, and the prime minister can also seal and refute the edict to express his reservations about the emperor's orders.

The specific powers of the prime minister are: appointing officials or recommending talents to the emperor; having the power to examine and demote local officials, punish and reward; being in charge of laws, orders and related criminal justice affairs; if there are riots in the local area, the prime minister will send his subordinates to suppress them; he also bears certain responsibilities in military or border defense; the national records and various maps and other archives are kept by the prime minister's office. As a result, the Western Han Dynasty had to set up the Imperial Censor to assist the prime minister, with roughly the same duties, and at the same time, it also dispersed some of the prime minister's power.

If the cabinet chief minister of Chen Han could achieve the power of the prime minister in the Western Han Dynasty, then China's virtual monarch system would have truly taken the first step.

This is really a long step.

It's just that Chen Ming's personality is strong, so he can't tolerate being restrained, which is also his biggest contradiction.

——On the one hand, they knew that it was necessary to establish a constitutional monarchy, but on the other hand, they would not tolerate being constrained, let alone surrender the supreme imperial power.

"Your Majesty, the conflict between the Uchos and the Spaniards is indeed not small. They are the mixed-race descendants of Europeans and Indians, and there may be whites, blacks, or mixed-race descendants of blacks and whites. They make a living by nomadism.

Fifty years ago, when merchants from Britain, the Netherlands, France, Portugal and other countries were engaged in the lucrative leather and tallow smuggling business in the border areas around Buenos Aires [later the capital and largest city of Argentina, located on the south bank of the La Plata River, the southeast coast of South America, and Uruguay (East) on the opposite bank], the Uchos began to hunt the fleeing herds of cattle and horses. In the Pampa grasslands of Argentina and Uruguay, these cattle and horses have been roaming around, miraculously breeding and growing in population. They used to roam safely in the vast Pampa grasslands without being hunted.

Until fifty years ago .

That period should have been the happiest time for the Ucho people. They exchanged the cattle and horses they captured for a lot of wealth and lived a rich and abundant life.

But now it is different. The Spanish began to legally occupy these semi-wild livestock on the Pampa grasslands and hired cowboys to graze them. This greatly affected the interests of the Ucho people.

But more than a decade ago, Spain had just completely conquered Uruguay. The Charruya people there suffered large-scale massacres and brutal suppression. The Ucho people dared to be angry but dared not speak.

It should be very difficult to persuade them to rebel. Some of the Ucho people contacted by the Military Intelligence Agency did not have this determination.

If the Spanish could take the initiative to ease their conflicts with the Ucho people, such as hiring the Ucho people to graze for themselves and giving them certain Living space, these people will not arm themselves against Spain. "

"Among the Indians in South America, the most rebellious and conflicting group with the Spaniards is definitely the Mapuche in Chile. They are the largest Indian tribe in Chile and Argentina, living in central and southern Chile and southwestern Argentina.

The Spanish began their conquest of Chile very early. The Picunche, a northern branch of the Mapuche, were quickly conquered and assimilated, but the Mapuche in the south put up a long and tenacious resistance against the Spanish colonists. Two hundred and forty years ago, the Mapuche, led by their leader Lautaro, once defeated the Spanish expeditionary force and killed Valdivia, the founder of Santiago and the leader of the expeditionary force known as the "Chilean Conqueror" by the Spanish.

The war between the two lasted for hundreds of years, and the Spanish The Spanish could not conquer the Mapuche by force, and maintaining a long-term war would cost huge manpower, material resources and financial resources. In the middle of the last century, the Spanish signed the "Killin Treaty" with the Mapuche, formally recognizing the independence of the Mapuche and their independent autonomy over the land south of the Biobío River.

But in the next 150 years, wars between them still occurred from time to time.

The Mapuche still maintain their own language, living traditions, religious beliefs, etc.

And the population is about 300,000 to 400,000. There is a certain social order. "Although the Spanish gave up the armed conquest of the Mapuche, they turned to cultural aggression, which has indeed achieved considerable results over the years, but the Mapuche still maintains independence and their own national characteristics.

It's just that the Mapuche have a tribal alliance, and their leaders are not fools. Although the Spanish are stuck in the quagmire of the anti-French war in Europe, their power in the Americas is by no means something that the small Mapuche can provoke.

The Red Russia cannot conquer Afghanistan, but the small Afghanistan cannot counterattack the Red Russia. The Mapuche people also think the same.

"Wars are provoked. If there is no war, how can we see the Spanish weakening?" Chen Ming was silent for a while, and said: "The Mapuche people can make long-term contacts, and the same is true for the Ucho people."

Liu Dezhao respectfully said yes, then he looked up and continued to talk about his work. Liu Dezhao knew what Emperor Chen meant very well. After seeing that the Spanish were trapped in the quagmire of the anti-French alliance, Emperor Chen was a little impatient to eat the fat meat of the Spanish.

He wanted South America to be in chaos, laying the groundwork for the National Defense Army's another Central and Western American war.

"There are also the Charruya people in Uruguay. This is the main ethnic group in Uruguay. In its heyday, the population exceeded 500,000. Now it's good to have 200,000 left. In addition to the Charruya people, Uruguay also has the Chana people, the Yaro people, the Boaner people and the Genoa people. The native Indian population is about 300,000 to 400,000.

These people hate the Spaniards and the Portuguese very much.

After Uruguay was completely conquered by Spain, the Indians were constantly suppressed and massacred. It can be said that as long as a spark is added, a raging fire can immediately burn there."

Chen Ming heard that the Uchos and Mapuches before Uruguay were all the initiators, and the Charruya people were the focus.

Chen Ming took out a map of South America from a shelf nearby, Uruguay!

This is a territory between Brazil and Argentina, and it has now been completely incorporated into the Viceroyalty of La Plata by the Spanish.

This place is located in the southeast of South America, on the east bank of the Uruguay River and the La Plata River. The entire territory is slightly larger than the Central Plains Province. It borders the South Atlantic Ocean, Brazil to the north, Argentina to the west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast.

Most of the territory is flat, with undulating plains in the south; there are a few low mountains in the north and east; the land in the southwest is fertile; there are many sloping grasslands in the southeast. There are certain mineral resources in it, rich in amethyst, agate, opal, etc. There are rich forestry and fishery resources, rich in topaz, squid and cod.

In general, this is a land of fish and rice.

It only needs a little management, and it will be a fertile land.

"Your Majesty, if the war starts here, it will not only spread to Argentina, but also to Brazil. As long as the Mapuche people in southern Chile see the opportunity, they will move again, and the entire southern South America will be completely shaken..."

"And Uruguay is close to the Atlantic Ocean. Although it is not as easy to support as the Mapuche, it is not difficult."

As early as the year of the armistice of the Sino-Spanish War, China's exploration ship crossed the Strait of Magellan. Now, there are already many Chinese merchant ships active on the east coast of North and South America.

You must know that the victory of the Sino-Spanish War still allowed China to gain some coastline of the Gulf of Mexico.

Emperor Chen is now trying to provoke the South American war, making the war more and more intense and making the Spanish flustered.

Madrid is too greedy! ?

The stupid Carlos IV has no brains like his father. The power of Spain has now completely fallen into the hands of his wife, Princess Maria Luisa of Parma, and her lover Manuel de Godoy. Instigated by Godoy and other favorites, Carlos IV dragged Spain into a disastrous war against revolutionary France.

Perhaps Godoy and his group were bought by the British money, or perhaps this ignorant politician coveted France's colonies in the Americas, such as Louisiana and the Caribbean colonies, but the disastrous consequences would only make the whole of Spain pay for it.

Chen Ming would not let such a great opportunity go to waste.

The First Anti-French Alliance was crushed by Napoleon in Italy in the original time and space plane. After the Spanish army suffered a disastrous defeat, they quickly turned to France, even though Carlos IV was going to surrender to the blood feud of their Bourbon family. Because Spain had no choice, in the original time and space, the victorious French army quickly began to counterattack Spain, a vassal state for a hundred years. Madrid could not bear the pressure of the war, so they had to turn against it.

Let’s not talk about the final fall of Spain. After Spain turned against France, it greatly offended the leader of Europe, the British. The whole country received the same treatment as France - being blockaded by the sea.

If Napoleon, who rose as expected in the current European war, could crush the anti-French coalition forces as expected on the Italian battlefield in the future, then Spain’s defection would be inevitable.

The Paris regime in this time and space will not change much from the original time and space. The Paris regime in the original time and space could immediately counterattack Spain, and the current time and space can also.

Chen Ming must not miss this opportunity.

Even if Napoleon went to the Italian battlefield in the future, could he continue to defeat the anti-French coalition forces on the Italian battlefield? This possibility was still very high in Chen Ming's eyes, at least much greater than the possibility of Napoleon's rise in the Battle of Toulon.

Or maybe Napoleon would be killed by a bullet in the next war, but this was a gamble, a gamble that Chen Ming felt he had a good chance of winning.