A sketch of Malacca, most remote outpost of the ailing Portuguese colonial empire
The year that the Europeans call 1641 begins in a most bright and cheerful way. Well, except in the Philippines, where a volcanic eruption on the southern tip of Mindanao showers the land with ash.[1] This doesn’t affect the Spanish much, who are still trying and failing to suppress the Moro sultanates on the island, volcano or no volcano. The colonial government in Manila has established outposts on Mindanao, but most of the island is still independent of their rule. Turns out people don’t really like being colonized.
Going a little bit to the side, the Dutch and the Portuguese are still fighting (when are they not?), this time over control of Malacca. It is a miserable place, albeit extremely well-fortified. The Portuguese had learnt the necessity of fortifications. Their seizure of Malacca more than a century ago had led to war with the Ming (who were furious at the deposition of the sultan), war with their neighbors (the successor states of the old sultanate), and war with pirates (who were very happy to take advantage of any chaos).
Having expended so much blood and sweat to take Malacca, the Portuguese are determined to keep it. And the Dutch East India Company is more than willing to expend blood and sweat to take Malacca from the Portuguese, on the principle that Portugal does not deserve nice things.[2]
The siege does not go well. It doesn’t help that the Dutch keep dying from disease -- their commander died several months into the siege, to be replaced by his second-in-command who died a couple months later, to be replaced yet again by one Minne Caertekoe who spends most of his time in command debilitated by illness.[3] Morale is pretty much at rock-bottom, and when rumors spread that Admiral Zheng is headed this way with a fleet of ships and reinforcements for the Portuguese (mostly adventurers from Ming-controlled parts of Dongshan), the Dutch pack up and return to Batavia.[4]
(The rumors the Dutch heard were mostly true. Admiral Zheng was, in fact, on his way, although less out of the usual desire for profit and more out of the principle that the Dutch East India Company does not deserve nice things.)
Anyways, the whole area around Malacca has been terribly damaged by war and a lot of people are dead. Because of the fighting, obviously, and also disease. Some of the disease is the usual tropical illness that tears through colonial forces operating in southeast Asia. Some of it -- well. The plague is here. In full force, now.
As an epidemic disease, the plague never really went away, but simply wandered off to ravage an untouched population or incubated quietly in its natural hosts. It has been simmering in China for years. However, a combination of increased internal travel, plus the occasional bit of foreign adventuring, means that the plague is now a big fucking deal. By 1641, the plague has reached Beijing.[5]
Now, in some counties and villages, huge swathes of the population die. That is the nature of an epidemic; urban or rural, anyone unlucky enough to get sick either recovers or dies. And a lot of people are unlucky.
Fortunately, most of the imperial court is fine. Princess Yining, the emperor’s daughter and youngest child, falls ill with a high fever but recovers; it’s uncertain whether she got the plague or a less serious disease. Han Yu, Minister of Personnel, falls ill and dies. So now it’s time for another reshuffling in the bureaucracy.
Cai Maode, Minister of Revenue, is moved to replace the late Minister Han. He, in turn, is replaced by Zhou Qiyuan, who until now has been Minister of Justice. (Reportedly, the emperor was thinking of promoting someone else, but Minister Zhou specifically requested his new portfolio, and he gets it.) His spot is eventually filled by Jiang Dejing (蔣德璟, born 1593) who becomes the new Minister of Justice.[6]
So, after this bit of musical chairs, we have our new slate of ministers.[7] The emperor is happy with the line-up -- rather than rapidly rotating through a series of (often ineffectual) bureaucrats, he’s got some decently competent scholar-officials who are accustomed to their respective departments and who are building the kind of institutional knowledge that will prove useful. In other words, they're becoming professionals. Not everybody is happy with this state of affairs -- lower bureaucrats who see the ministerial posts as the natural next step in their career are displeased. That being said, as far as the Tianqi Emperor is concerned, any development that lets his subordinates deal with things -- without bothering him! -- is a positive one. And it leaves him more time for big-picture stuff, like playing with his kids, or woodworking.
Gao Xuan, the hardworking lad from Kaifeng, arrives in Beijing. The recommendation of Qin Liangyu gets him an audience, although his lack of any advanced degree (he has a basic education) hinders him. Eventually, he’s pawned off on Zhou Qiyuan at the Ministry of Revenue. Minister Zhou is skeptical, at first, but eventually warms to his new secretary. The kid’s got guts -- and, at least, he’s not a
Christian!
Footnotes
[1] Yes, another volcano. This is OTL. Ring of Fire, remember.
[2] IOTL the Dutch and Portuguese signed a peace treaty in 1641 that was supposed to guarantee peace for ten years but which in effect only applied to Europe, since their colonial proxies kept fighting each other.
[3] This is exactly what happened IOTL.
[4] IOTL the Dutch made one last push and managed to storm the citadel. Here, they give up a bit earlier.
[5] This was about when the plague arrived in Beijing IOTL. I figure that even without population displacements caused by large bandit armies, people would still be circulating around -- maybe for more positive reasons ITTL but nevertheless still moving from province to province, bringing with them the plague.
[6] Jiang Dejing is a scholar who IOTL and ITTL was initially sidelined after a conflict with Wei Zhongxian. IOTL he actually made it to Grand Secretary around this time -- although to be fair, IOTL the state was collapsing in the face of the Qing invasion, and so was in completely different circumstances. But he’s a bright fellow, so I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect him to head a ministry in more peaceful times.
[7] The ministers who remain in their positions are Kong Zhenyun at Rites, Wang Zheng at War, Dong Kewei at Works, and Qian Qianyi as Grand Secretary.
