On the morning of the ninth day of the first lunar month in the thirty-fourth year of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Jingyuan once again took his father's car to go to the Yamen to work.
Like yesterday, Zhu Jianyan asked the driver to go to Honglu Temple first, and Zhu Jingyuan followed curiously into his theoretical workplace.
When the official on the night shift at Honglu Temple saw Zhu Jianyan coming in, he immediately handed over the important telegram documents he had packed and reported very solemnly:
"Your Highness, we received an invitation for peace talks from Xiyi last night. It has been on hold for nine hours. Do we want to reply to them?"
"oh?"
Zhu Jianyan and his son showed curious expressions at the same time, and looked at the telegram handed to them by the other side. Xiyi's invitation to peace talks was placed at the top.
After reading this, Zhu Jianyan laughed and shook his head:
"You are still being stubborn. You are just inviting peace talks, not unilaterally asking for peace. No need to reply for now. We will talk about it when we come back in the morning. You can go and rest first."
Zhu Jianyan flipped through the other telegrams and found nothing that was particularly important that needed to be mentioned in court, so he went out with the telegram inviting Xi Yi to negotiate for peace.
After Zhu Jingyuan thought about it for a while, he followed his father into the car and told the driver:
"I won't go to the Ministry of Industry. There is no need to park at the entrance of the Ministry of Industry. I will go to court with my father today."
Zhu Jianyan was stunned when he heard this voice:
"Why? If you don't design a battleship, what do you want to do when you go to court?"
Zhu Jingyuan said of course:
"Xi Yi has officially proposed peace talks. It's time for me to officially reveal my identity as the prince and take over the position of Acting Minister of Honglu Temple. Peace talks are my official job..."
Zhu Jianyan fell silent immediately.
What this child said seems to be true. He is the theoretical minister of Honglu Temple, and he has actually been dismissed.
Zhu Jianyan entered the palace with his son with a rather complicated mood and walked into the Wenhua Palace together.
The ministers who got off the car together subconsciously wanted to say hello to Zhu Jianyan, but they saw Zhu Jingyuan next to him.
Then everyone's mood suddenly became less pleasant, and the greetings turned into ceremonial nods and smiles.
When the old emperor entered the palace, he looked up and saw Zhu Jingyuan, the youngest person present. He immediately blew his beard subconsciously:
"Why did you come to court? Is the battleship design ready?"
After Zhu Jingyuan saluted with the princes and ministers, he casually replied to the old emperor:
"Grandpa Qi, the design direction of the battleship has been basically determined. Only the final information and data are left to be sorted out. It should be almost done this morning.
"Sun Chen came here today because my father saw the telegram from Xiyi requesting peace talks and felt that he should start performing his official duties."
Upon hearing the news of Xi Yi's request for peace talks, the surrounding ministers breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, after a brief moment of confusion, he quickly realized what Zhu Jingyuan meant by fulfilling his duties.
This child's current official position...is actually Acting Minister of Honglu Temple!
The old emperor also went through a similar mental journey, then nodded slightly and sat down in his seat:
"Everyone, please sit down. Let's start with the peace negotiation today. Second brother, you tell me first, how should we respond?"
Zhu Jianyan bowed his hands and said:
"To inform my father, Xiyi is still inviting peace talks for the time being, speaking from a position of equality with Ming Dynasty, rather than seeking peace from Ming Dynasty.
"So I think we should continue to show them off, at least reject them twice, or not respond at all."
Zhu Jianyan's suggestion made some ministers nod slightly, and also made some ministers frown slightly.
But no one stood up to oppose, no one expressed approval, and no one was willing to speak on such a sensitive topic.
The old emperor was noncommittal, his eyes swept over the faces of the surrounding ministers, and finally landed on the face of Zhu Jingyuan, who had never sat down:
"Jingyuan, since you are standing and it is your duty, then let's talk about it."
When the ministers heard that the old emperor named Zhu Jingyuan, they immediately felt like yesterday had reappeared and had a bad premonition.
Zhu Jingyuan immediately bowed, then stood up straight and said:
"Sun Chen believes that although the Western barbarians must unite to pose a threat to the Ming Dynasty, we cannot let them clearly understand and solidify this kind of thinking.
"We should stop as soon as they are ready, and then flatter and kill them, divide and dismantle the anti-Ming alliance, penetrate into the enemy's interior, and then defeat them one by one."
This was obviously just the beginning, and the ministers were a little confused. The old emperor subconsciously asked directly:
"Tell me carefully, what does it mean to give up when something is good, how to praise and kill someone, and what does it mean to penetrate into the enemy's interior?"
Zhu Jingyuan continued to explain:
“To accept it as soon as possible means to make a request that is not particularly high, and if the other party agrees, then accept the invitation and officially start peace talks.
"For example, if the Western Barbarians withdraw from the territory they currently occupy that was once occupied by the Ming Dynasty, and withdraw from the territories of the Anxi Three Kingdoms, as a prerequisite for peace talks, this should be achievable.
“If the Ming Dynasty excessively persecutes and suppresses them, it may objectively push the Thai and Western countries to remain united, and even continue to maintain the anti-Ming alliance after the peace talks.
"At the very least, when the Ming Dynasty takes action against any European and Western countries in the future, they may immediately form a new anti-Ming alliance.
"To kill means to elevate all the major countries in the anti-Ming alliance to the same level as the Ming Dynasty. From now on, the Ming Dynasty will treat all European and Western countries as equals in name.
“This gives the countries of Europe and the West an exorbitant status, which makes them proud and gradually inflated, and then they despise the existence of their allies and the Ming Dynasty.
“Then we catalyzed the nationalist sentiments in each country, allowing them to be independent or even fight each other, thereby preventing them from uniting against the Ming Dynasty again.
"Penetrating into the enemy means that our Ming Dynasty will also join the alliance formed by the Taixi people, or form a common new alliance together.
"Then Ming Dynasty used its absolute advantage to lead and control the order of this alliance, manage and mediate conflicts between countries.
“Prevent them from going behind Ming’s back and form an alliance against Ming again, and avoid the integration of the Western and Eastern continents.
"This alliance, which includes the Ming Dynasty, is also a platform to achieve victory over the European and Western countries."
Many ministers nodded secretly, but they were not in agreement with Zhu Jingyuan's idea.
Instead, he confirmed that the bad premonition had indeed come true, and recalled the feeling of Zhu Jingyuan meddling in government affairs.
This kid always breaks out of common logic and plays tricks out of routine, and contributes from an unexpected angle.
But after a little analysis, I feel that his point of view is actually quite reasonable.
Now Zhu Jingyuan's strategies of quitting when things are good, flattering and alienating are all common strategies.
It is too weird to actively join the enemy's alliance against oneself and find ways to dominate this alliance.
But if it can really be done, it can indeed solve the threat of Xiyi once and for all.
And it does need to be coordinated with the previous steps of quitting, flattering and alienating.
Just to elevate Xiyi to the status of the Ming Dynasty, almost all ministers could not accept it.
After a brief silence, Huang Yue, the Minister of Rites, who was most suitable to speak, took the initiative to stand up and object:
"I think it is inappropriate to give the same status to all the Western Yi and Ming Dynasties. It is really inconsistent with etiquette, let alone reality.
“How can the kings of countries like the Netherlands and Sardinia compare with my Majesty the Ming Emperor?
“Their province only has one county of my Ming Dynasty, how can they be ranked with the chief envoy of my Ming Dynasty?
"In terms of national strength and heritage, even Lucia and Britain are far from the Ming Dynasty. Your Majesty, please think twice..."
Huang Yue's words are not the arrogance of traditional central dynasty bureaucrats, but a natural view formed after seeing the reality of the world clearly.
In fact, in another world line, that is, in modern society, all countries are nominally equal.
From ancient times until World War II, the status and relationships between countries were directly determined by national strength.
Huang Yue's words were unanimously approved by the princes and ministers. Zhu Jingyuan did not argue anything, but immediately continued to ask:
"That is to say, in addition to giving the same status to Xiyi, does the eldest uncle agree with all other opinions about late students?"
