Chapter 109 The plan to conquer Japan
(Notice, I started working on the second day of the first lunar month, and until yesterday, it was finally my turn to go home and rest after my shift change. I will update one chapter today, and I will update the next chapter when I go to work next Friday. I have to go home and rest. I am really too tired. Sorry, I will stop updating for a few days, please understand...)
"I think my uncle will not easily let me become the senior official of the new army. I have an unkind request."
In the study, Chen Cao, Sun Chuanting and Lu Xiangsheng sat opposite each other.
Chen Cao knocked on the desk and said, "Uncle I know what you two are thinking. How about you let me tell you a story first?"
"Uncle please..."
"In the 11th year of the Yuan Dynasty and the 18th year of the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan launched a total of two wars against the Japanese. However, both times ended in failure because when he landed in the Japanese country twice, there were strong winds on the sea. , making it impossible for the Yuan army to effectively carry out the cavalry battle they were best at during the landing, and just like that, it made those arrogant Japanese people talk nonsense, saying that they were protected by the "divine wind";
Of course, now, the Yuan army suffered losses from its guides and ships. At that time, many of the Song Dynasty generals were dissatisfied with the Mongolian and Yuan rule. The Korean guides only knew how to attack from the direction of Tsushima Island. Stormy weather often occurred in the strait, and the Song Dynasty's sea-going shipbuilding was not large at that time. The largest ships ran away to the territory of Tianfang Kingdom, causing the first Japanese expedition to be defeated.
In the 18th year of the Yuan Dynasty, they finally landed, but by that time the Japanese had already taken precautions and built high walls along the coast where they landed. Using muskets and bows and arrows as defense, the Japanese defeated the Yuan army that landed and were defeated with great difficulty. More than a thousand people rushed up, but do you know how many Japanese were waiting for them on the shore? "
Sun Chuanting and Lu Xiangsheng listened intently and shook their heads at the same time.
Chen Cao gestured with his hands: "There were a hundred thousand people, but there were only more than 30,000 people on the shore at that time. Even so, the Yuan army still broke out with amazing fighting power. In the end, because they were outnumbered, they retreated one after another. Commander Fan Wenhu and others Seeing that the situation was not good, we withdrew again.”
"It was destiny for Emperor Taizu to defeat Bao Yuan..." Sun Chuanting said unconsciously after hearing this.
Chen Cao quickly shook his head and said: "What I am talking about is not how rubbish the Yuan Dynasty was, but about the Japanese state. The Japanese state at that time was in the Warring States Period. Their so-called Warring States Period was like our Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period at that time, but the difference is that, Their country has a small population and military strength, with the largest number being only 40,000 to 50,000 people, and the smallest country having only 2,000 or 3,000 soldiers. In our country, where 4,500,000 people can easily participate in a war, their Warring States period is like a village. It’s just a fight with the village.”
"Puch..." Zhao Xin, who was standing by the study door, couldn't help but laugh.
Lu Xiangsheng frowned, and then asked: "Uncle, do you mean that although the Japanese people are small, they have strong fighting ability and strong cohesion?"
"That's right," Chen Cao nodded: "That's what I mean, and the focus of this time is to tell you that although the Japanese country seems to have strong combat effectiveness and strong cohesion, it is not indivisible;
They had just gone through a regime change, which lasted only twenty years at most. The cohesion of the various vassal states in the country was not strong because some of them still wanted to move forward. "
Sun Chuanting raised his brows, stared at Chen Cao for a long time, and finally asked: "Uncle, you have told so many stories, don't you just tell some stories to the two of us."
Chen Cao pawed: "I told you two before that the Ming Dynasty has reached a critical moment. If we don't reform, I don't know how long it can last."
"My uncle's words are a bit alarmist," Sun Chuanting immediately refuted Chen Cao's words: "The princes in the court have handled the government affairs properly and the people live in peace, so why is there such a crisis?"
"Hmph..." Chen Cao sneered: "If that's the case, if Sarhu is defeated and Guangning is captured, the Donglin Party will be in charge of major events... There are civil unrests, severe droughts, and countless refugees in various places. The key is that , the court has no money.”
"Didn't the imperial court distribute three million taels for disaster relief this time?" Sun Chuanting said immediately.
"Haha..." Chen Cao raised his head and laughed: "I got that money from your Donglin Party. I turned over 10 million taels of silver to the national treasury. If not, Li Changgeng would still be complaining to the Ministry of Household Affairs A poor person can live in a house with tens of thousands of rats.”
Sun Chuanting's expression changed, and then he hesitated and didn't know what to say.
Seeing this, Chen Cao immediately asked Xin Zhao to send each of them a copy of the collected things: "This is a secret report from Shandong Jinyiwei. You two, please take a look first."
The two opened it and read it carefully. From time to time, their faces turned from red to livid. Chen Cao then smiled and said: "Your Majesty ordered the Ministry of Household Affairs to allocate three million taels of cash, and then allocated money from the internal funds." One million taels were used for disaster relief in Shandong. As a result, when the disaster relief money arrived in Shandong, only three million taels were left. In other words, the one million taels of silver were eaten by the person who handled it as soon as it left the household department. Uncle Ben did not dare to say whether Li Changgeng took the money. Just talking about how much his men ate would prove that the people in the Ministry of Revenue were unclean;
Then, after the disaster relief money arrived at the Shandong Chief Envoy Si Yamen and the Shandong Governor Yamen, the disaster relief money became two million taels." Chen Cao said and laughed: "To be honest, I feel that these so-called Officials who are clean and tidy, do not compete with the people for profit, and think about the people in everything are ridiculous;
The feudal kings in Shandong first complained to His Majesty and obtained a lot of salt from the Ministry of Revenue to supplement their palaces. Then they put pressure on the Chief Envoy Si Yamen and the Governor Yamen to provide relief to the state capitals with fiefdoms first. The two million taels were circulated around the various palaces, and only 700,000 taels of silver were left;
Judging from the news sent back by Jinyiwei, the money allocated to the victims in the wealthy Yanzhou Prefecture was only 9,000 taels, and they were exploited at all levels. Even the government servants responsible for guarding the porridge sheds made a lot of money. I wonder, , how can this kind of bureaucratic class be retained? Can they protect our Ming Dynasty for thousands of years? "
Sun Chuanting was so ashamed by Chen Cao's words that he suddenly felt that what he had learned could not help the people at all, but instead it was the nobles who led others to learn from him who were causing trouble in the court.
Thinking of this, Sun Chuanting could no longer sit still. He stood up and knelt down towards Chen Cao. He saluted and said: "I was ignorant before, but now I have been enlightened by my uncle. I suddenly realized that what I have learned in my life is to abandon myself. I would like to follow my uncle from now on and ask him to be magnanimous."
Chen Cao quickly stood up and helped Sun Chuanting up. According to etiquette, he, an earl, could make civil servants kneel down. However, due to the late period of the dynasty, this etiquette was abandoned. But now Sun Chuanting has become Chen Cao's subordinate again. Naturally, you can give this great gift: "What I said is only based on the facts. You two can think about it carefully. The court is providing disaster relief, officials are exploiting each other, and the people cannot be rescued. As long as they are taken advantage of by those who are interested, it will be another disaster." Rebellion, once there is rebellion, it must be countered, and counter-insurgency requires money. If the money cannot be obtained and cannot be distributed, the rebellion will increase, and the prestige of the court will be greatly reduced in the hearts of the people. In the end, they only have one thought... ."
Chen Cao said as he stared at the two men: "Overthrow the Ming Dynasty, establish a new dynasty, and let the new king rescue them."
The two of them took a deep breath. What Chen Cao said was reasonable and not a joke. The two frowned and nodded. Chen Cao added: "Now His Majesty can also feel the crisis, but he is still focused on playing. This is not my fault. Your Majesty, you two must have heard of His Majesty’s gossip.”
The two nodded slightly, and Chen Cao said: "This is not gossip, but a fact spread from the palace. Don't forget that I am an eunuch."
As he spoke, he continued: "Uncle Ben has always insisted on one idea. Whether it is the Eunuch Party or the Donglin Party, as long as it can bring benefits to the people, it is a good party. If they only know how to exploit the people, hahaha ..."
Chen Cao said and looked at the two of them: "Why don't I tell you a joke? After the defeat of Saarhu, the court was short of money and food. Fang Congzhe, then the chief minister and leader of the Zhejiang Party, suggested adding business to the merchants. However, even such a good suggestion was taken by the Donglin Party as evidence to attack Fang Congzhe, causing him to request his withdrawal. After that, Guangning fell, the court had no money, and His Majesty had no money. Regarding money, the suggestion given by the Donglin Party’s elites was to increase the trilateral tax, and this money would be used to increase revenue from the people in all parts of Shaanxi. Liao’s wages were the straw that ultimately killed the people, otherwise Shaanxi would not have been prone to civil unrest;
And all of this is caused by those senior Donglin Party officials who claim to be noble and do not compete with the people for profit, but secretly have fornications with businessmen. Do you think this is a joke? "
The two of them looked embarrassed, Chen Cao held his stomach and smiled, and then continued: "When the Zhejiang incident happened, the Donglin Party gave me money one after another to let me settle the matter. I thought that Your Majesty was short of money, so I agreed to their conditions. Otherwise, how could you think that the Zhejiang civil unrest could be resolved so quickly?
Although our eunuchs are a little extreme in their actions, Eunuch Wei never targets the common people. He takes money from whoever has money, and most of the money he makes is given to the people. In this comparison, the two of you, Would you rather be a member of the Eunuch Party or a Donglin Party? "
The two of them bowed their heads in silence, and for a long time Lu Xiangsheng said: "Uncle, I am willing to work with my uncle. I would rather become an eunuch who is hated by people in the officialdom, than become one of those so-called 'clean streamers'."
"The same goes for lower officials." Sun Chuanting agreed.
"Well," Chen Cao nodded: "So, His Majesty suggested to me that we decided to help the former Japanese general conquer the Japanese..."
The two of them stared at each other and saw that they really had a purpose. Sun Chuanting was the first to say: "Uncle, Taizu has made it clear that Japan is a country without conquests."
"Who said that our Ming Dynasty is going to conquer the Japanese country?" Chen Cao asked back: "Our Dingwu Army was requested by the former general to conquer the barbarians to help him put down the rebellion and return to the Japanese country. This does not conflict with the ancestral system..."
"So that's it..." Lu Xiangsheng sighed: "It is said that my uncle is not sloppy in his work. This official is here to see you. He is indeed well-deserved."
"The Dingwu Army will set out to conquer Japan in July this year. We will go together then. The main thing for you two now is to train with the Dingwu Army and coordinate the dispatch of the troops."
"As commanded..."
