Hu Weiyong's words can be said to make Zhu Yuanzhang extremely happy.
Just when he was about to praise Hu Weiyong, Song Lian next to him objected:
"Your Majesty, I think Mr. Hu is obviously talking nonsense."
"My Ming Dynasty is a huge country, how can we care about the land on the Japanese island?"
"The Japanese island has been isolated from the world for thousands of years. I'm afraid the people on it are still living a life of eating hair and drinking blood."
"In addition, the Japanese island is surrounded by the sea, and the land on it is even more unsuitable for farming. What is the use of our Ming Dynasty coming here?"
"Your Majesty, we must not damage the image of our great country tomorrow just because of some small profits."
Song Lian cried blood every sentence. It seemed that he was determined to let Zhu Yuanzhang take back his life today.
Song Lian supported the efforts to put down the civil strife on the Japanese island, but he refused to take advantage of the situation and blackmail the monarch on the Japanese island.
Because many years of Confucianism told him that doing so was shameful, unethical, not sustainable, and would bring disaster.
"Ignorant rotten fool!!!"
Zhu Yuanzhang could no longer bear it and rebuked angrily:
"I usually talk about benevolence, justice and morality, but I don't understand the slightest bit about national affairs."
"The land you talk about as barren as Japan is actually filled with gold and silver."
"You think that people are still eating hair and drinking blood, but you don't know that the level of their people is almost catching up with our Ming Dynasty."
"We really shouldn't have let a rotten guy like you come here, you're so stubborn."
Zhu Biao saw Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly angry and quickly bowed and begged:
"Father, please calm down. Master Song is also thinking about our Ming Dynasty. Please don't blame him."
"Huh, are you thinking about our Daming? I think he will only think about Japan!!"
Zhu Yuanzhang was still angry. Fei Qing, who had just come out before, was executed by him.
As a result, seeing Song Lian's appearance now, Zhu Yuanzhang felt as if he had found the source of the problem, and these etiquette parts were obviously the same.
It seems that reading has made these people stupid. They only know how to be benevolent, righteous and moral, and treat other countries with such benevolence, justice and kindness.
Even if the interests of their own country are harmed, these officials of the Ministry of Rites seem to think it is acceptable.
The Ming Dynasty crossed the sea to help the Japanese islands quell the chaos. They spent countless manpower and material resources on the expedition, and spent countless money. The result, in Song Lian's mouth, turned out to be a matter of course.
Even asking Japan to pay military expenses was a mistake.
Ridiculous, these Confucian scholars are a joke! !
Everyone present did not expect that Zhu Yuanzhang would suddenly become angry, and they all stepped forward to speak for Song Lian.
No matter what, Song Lian was highly respected and the leader of the literary world in the Ming Dynasty. He made an indelible contribution to the development of the cultural undertakings of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Yuanzhang saw Liu Bowen, Hu Weiyong and Li Shanchang speaking one after another. He suppressed the anger in his heart and ordered to Song Lian:
"Your Rites Department has a big problem, so I'll give you a chance to redeem yourself."
"Starting from today, you will select a few more people as special envoys, and we will send these people to various places in Japan."
"I hope that this time, your etiquette department won't let us down again, otherwise, you won't be able to bear the consequences."
Song Lian opened his mouth to say more, but when he looked up and saw Zhu Yuanzhang's cold eyes, the murderous intent contained in them made Song Lian break into a cold sweat.
Not daring to talk nonsense anymore, Song Lian silently bowed in agreement.
Then Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said:
"You go down first and make good arrangements for this mission. We don't want any more trouble."
Song Lian finally left the study room, his gray hair trembling a little. As a Confucian, he still couldn't accept Zhu Yuanzhang's approach.
But Song Lian had already seen Zhu Yuanzhang's determination, and knew that if he continued talking, he might not be able to protect himself.
With a long sigh, Song Lian walked slowly towards Honglu Temple. Everything came from Honglu Temple. He wanted to see what Li Jin from Honglu Temple was capable of?
After Song Lian left, Zhu Yuanzhang and others continued the topic and said to Liu Bowen:
"Bowen, can't we just take over the entire Japanese island?"
"Why are we still nibbling away step by step? You know, my Ming Dynasty has millions of soldiers. If I want to capture a small Japanese island, wouldn't it be easy to capture it?"
Liu Bowen shook his head and said:
"The conquest of Japan can be done slowly but not urgently."
"Back when Emperor Shizu of the Yuan Dynasty sent troops from the Korean Peninsula, all such close-range attacks failed in vain."
"Now we set out from Shanghu County. If the people on the Japanese island are wary of our army, I'm afraid the result will not be better than the previous one."
"We must first capture a place as a foothold for the Ming Dynasty's army. After three years of gathering, three years of accumulation, three years of patience, and ten years, the Japanese island will be captured by our army."
"So please, Your Majesty, please don't act too hastily, otherwise I'm afraid you'll be trying to draw water from a bamboo basket and everything will be in vain."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. When it comes to marching and fighting, after all, Liu Bowen is more professional in this kind of thing.
After all, Liu Bowen's previous record has proven that Liu Bowen's ability is definitely among the best in the world, and he is no less competitive than himself.
Li Shanchang is more suitable to stay at the rear and arrange food and grass.
Hu Weiyong was a sharp blade in Zhu Yuanzhang's hand, used to clean up the court for Zhu Yuanzhang.
Each of the three has its own characteristics and complements each other. This is also Zhu Yuanzhang's plan for the future.
The previous Ming Dynasty unified the world, so Liu Bowen did not have much time to be useful, so Liu Bowen's power became weaker and weaker.
Now that the Ming Dynasty is on the march again, Liu Bowen is destined to gradually rise, just as he was indispensable when Zhu Yuanzhang started his business.
Zhu Yuanzhang could clearly feel the changes in Liu Bowen, but he was only happy in his heart, because only when Liu Bowen and Li Shanchang fought with each other could he become the Hongwu Emperor who completely controlled the situation of the court.
Afterwards, Zhu Yuanzhang and His Highness discussed how to infiltrate the Japanese islands next, and then distributed a message so that Ming Dynasty could legitimately send troops to the Japanese islands.
It was not until late at night that Zhu Yuanzhang returned the three people to his mansion. Before leaving, Zhu Yuanzhang once again emphasized to several people that he would never allow the opening of the sea to be leaked, otherwise Zhu Yuanzhang would go on a killing spree.
The three of them nodded in agreement, and then gradually exited the study room.
As soon as he walked out of the palace, Li Shanchang slowly came to Liu Bowen's side and said softly:
"Liu Zhongcheng is very resourceful. I didn't expect that he even knew about the opening of the sea in advance. I admire him."
Liu Bowen kept walking and answered casually:
"I thought Prime Minister Li, as the emperor's prime minister, had known about this for a long time."
"It seems that Prime Minister Li has neglected his duty. He doesn't even know about this kind of thing. He must be concerned about it in the future."
Li Shanchang heard Liu Bowen's irony, but he was not angry. Instead, he said with a smile:
"Yes, I am getting old. It may not be long before I can retire and return to my hometown."
"When the time comes, only Liu Zhongcheng will be qualified to take over my position as prime minister."
"I just don't know if Liu Zhongcheng will be able to return to his hometown safely and take care of himself like me."
Li Shanchang meant something, Liu Bowen finally stopped, looked at Li Shanchang with complicated eyes, and then turned and left without saying a word.
Hu Weiyong had been standing aside. Hearing Li Shanchang's words, his heart suddenly suddenly opened and he wanted to ask. However, after seeing Liu Bowen's reaction, Hu Weiyong was thoughtful and finally kept silent.
...
After Song Lian left the palace, he took a sedan chair directly to Honglu Temple.
When Song Lian came to Honglu Temple again, the scene inside shocked Song Lian.
I saw rows of wooden shelves placed everywhere at the entrance of the Japanese Embassy.
The shelves were filled with all kinds of dark metal utensils.
Some of them were whips with twisted metal wires, and the ferocious barbs on them made people shudder.
There are also large pots like copper stoves, high-backed chairs full of knife holes, and large things like wrenches.
Some of these torture instruments were still dripping with blood, which looked extremely oozing.
After Song Lian saw these torture instruments, he twitched a little and didn't know if he should go any further.
At this moment, the door of the Japanese Embassy opened, and some officials from Honglu Temple slowly walked out of the door. After seeing Song Lian, these people seemed to have seen their reborn parents. They all rushed in front of Song Lian and cried loudly:
"Master Song, make the decision for us!"
