138 Boundaries and Beyond
by the Board of Rites urging that the frequency of tribute missions be
βixed in order to reduce the βinancial burden of receiving them.^178
As he once said about himself, in the early years of his long reign,
the Jianjing Emperor was diligent in the governance of the state.^179 His
primary concern was security problems along the borders. In fact, there
was a consensus among the Court ofβicials about the need for strong
defense policies. Supervising Secretary Xia Yan, who later rose to become
the highest-ranked Grand Secretary, was among the hardliners in matters
to do with national defense. It is recorded in the Ming shilu, under the
entry of January 2, 1524, that he suggested sending a Supervising Censor
to rectify the laxity in the coastal defense. The situation was revealed
in the course of disturbances caused by the two rival Japanese tribute
missions in 1523.^180 His prompting led to the temporary suspension of
the Maritime Trade and Shipping Supervisorates,^181 but this move only
aggravated the problem of coastal defense. The measure, ironically, also
contradicted the traditional concept of tributary relations and the true
spirit of the sea prohibition that disallowed private, but not tributary
trade. Both the tributary relations and the sea prohibition had been
upheld concurrently, though often rather βlexibly, since the early days of
the Ming era.
Meanwhile, debate among the Court ofβicials continued after
Guangzhou was reopened to tributary trade on Lin Fu’s recommendation
in 1529. For example, in 1530 Supervising Secretary Wang Xiwen argued
that tribute missions did not beneβit the country at all and should be
totally banned. He added that, for security reasons, the βine example of
former Guangdong Coastal Surveillance Vice-Commissioner Wang Hong,
who expelled the Folangji from Guangzhou a few years earlier, should
be emulated.^182 Nevertheless, after deliberation, the Court agreed with
- Ibid., 4: 10b‒11a.
- Ibid., 280: 1a.
- Ibid., 33: 6b‒7a.
- Ming shi jishi ben-mo, 55: 8a‒b, in WYGSKQS, Vol. 364, p. 683. In response to any
further breakdowns of law and order in the coastal provinces in 1529, Xia Yan
also recommended the appointment of an Itinerant Inspector-General (xunshi
巡視) for Zhejiang and its vicinity, with the rank of Censor-in-Chief (tuyushi 都
御史), who would be given authority over military affairs. However, the position
was βilled only brieβly. See MSL: SZ, 103: 8b; and Higgins, “Piracy”, pp. 126‒32. - Wang Hong, who was rising fast in his career during the early years of the new
reign, was now an inβluential Court ofβicial and was promoted again in 1532 to
assume the most prestigious position on the Six Boards, that of the head of the
Board of Personnel. MSL: SZ, 142: 2b.
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