The friendship between Zhu Yijun and Gao Pragmatic is indeed not something that ordinary monarchs and ministers can have, so they speak very directly, especially when talking about these simple government affairs issues, they are even more unabashed.
After saying this, Zhu Yijun's attitude has become very clear: I not only want to fight, but also want to teach Burma a good lesson. However, at the moment, I can't get enough of the fight and the golden hairpin for wine. I have paid to fight this war, so you see, I am also very miserable.
Gao Pingshi pondered for a moment and said slowly: "Your Majesty, there are some things I have to ask first."
"What are you talking about?" Zhu Yijun looked at him and said, "If you have any questions, just ask them."
Gao Pangshi said sternly: "Has your Majesty ever thought of letting me, the Ming Dynasty, directly occupy Burma?"
"Occupy Burma? Do you mean like what was done in Annan during the Yongle period?" Zhu Yijun shook his head: "I don't have this idea."
Gao pragmatically asked: "May I ask why?"
Zhu Yijun said in surprise: "This is obvious. During the Yongle period, the Ming Dynasty was extremely powerful. It occupied a small area of Annan and caused no peace for so many years. We fought back and forth several times but failed to stabilize the place. We dragged it all the way to Xuan Temple. At this time, I finally felt that I could not continue this loss-making business, so I simply withdrew my troops and came back. The results of so many years of battle must not be given up...
Being pragmatic, it’s just you and me here, no outsiders are present, and I’m not covering up anything. I felt that the situation at that time was simply a waste of money. And now our focus is also very clear, that is, the Mongolian left wing and the Chahar Department. Any other things must be compromised with this goal. I... I must accomplish this great thing that all ancestors have not been able to accomplish! Be pragmatic, you have to help me. "
Gao pragmatic looked at Zhu Yijun's extremely expectant eyes, nodded vigorously, and said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, this is not the ambition of the Emperor alone, but also the ambition of the minister. I will do my best to assist the Emperor in achieving this great cause. "
Speaking of which, this was the first time that Gao Pragmatic understood Zhu Yijun's ideals as an emperor so clearly.
But everyone always has ideals.
Ordinary people's ideals are nothing more than food and clothing, and having descendants; scholars' ideals are either to honor their ancestors, or to dominate the world; even relatives and nobles have ideals, such as not losing their family reputation and being rich and powerful for a long time.
Only the ideal of the king of a country is the most difficult to judge. Some emperors' ideals are peace and prosperity for the country and people, some emperors' ideals are immortality, some emperors' ideals are to conquer everything, and of course some emperors' ideals are just to enjoy themselves for the rest of their lives.
Gao Jingshi knew that Zhu Yijun's ideal when he was a prince was a very broad concept, which was "to be a good emperor in the future" - this ideal was instilled in him by the late Emperor Long Qing and others;
After he ascended the throne and before he took office, his ideals were pragmatic and pragmatic, which was "the peace of the country and the people, and the emperor's image forever shining" - this ideal was instilled in him by civil servants, including Gao Gong and Guo Pu, two veterans of the Yuan Dynasty.
However, as Zhu Yijun grew older, especially during the period before and after he officially took office, he became obviously confused, so much so that during the Gengchen Palace Examination, he personally wrote a policy essay that was hundreds of words long. .
"It has been more than eight years that I have been on the road to conquer the world. On this evening, I am alert to the rising of the morning, and I will always cherish the truth. However, the discipline and order are followed by the officials, the fields are cultivated, and the people are poor, the schools are solemn, and the soldiers are stealing, and the soldiers are in peace. There is chaos, the supervision is strict and thefts are spreading, where is the blame? How could it be that I have not been benevolent enough to do something wrong, and I have failed to do something wrong when I have the opportunity to do it?"
Everyone has a period of confusion in their lives, and most people will "doubt everything" during that period. Although Zhu Yijun is an emperor, he is also a human being. During that time, he would suddenly feel: Why is this world not what I imagined? Why do I do so much but nothing works? what do I do?
Particularly troubling was the conflict between his education and his presentation.
Officials told him that if the official conduct is not upright, discipline should be strictly enforced. However, the fact is that no matter how much he emphasizes, the official conduct has not improved significantly. Officials who were dismissed from office and held accountable for their crimes still came forward one after another.
Officials told him: If the people are poor, they should be encouraged to teach farming and cultivate intensively. However, the fact is that very few fields in the world are abandoned and most of them are properly taken care of. However, the people are still so poor that they are living in poverty and worry about whether they will be able to survive tomorrow. What to eat.
The lecturers told him: The deterioration of academic ethics should be started from an early age in schools (social studies, county schools, etc.). However, the school's purges have been ongoing, but the academic ethics is still getting worse. Many students are not keen on studying. They get carried away every time they pass the student examination or pass the exam. They think they have become a member of the upper class. They go to the land of fireworks and make friends with rich people. Who still thinks about harmonizing the family, ruling the country and bringing peace to the world?
Officials told him that frequent mutinies by the border troops were the main reason for the unrest on the border, but he found that even where the border troops did not mutiny, their performance would still be poor once foreign enemies invaded. Either let the enemy plunder and then retreat voluntarily, but fight hard to repel the intruders as shown in the table above; or else fail in the battle and collapse at the first touch. If it weren't for the fair performance of Jiliao Xuanda and other towns near Gyeonggi, Zhu Yijun would have been scolded as "a loser" and "incompetent" in private every time he received side comments.
Officials told him that when gangs of thieves broke out, local authorities should be urged to intensify arrests and enforce strict laws and regulations. However, Zhu Yijun himself now knew that there was a problem with this, because he had already learned that the Jinghua Trading Company under Gao Pragmatic was originally a group of thieves. The thieves who recruited security are now actually border trade giants and large taxpayers. It can be seen that the root cause of "groups of thieves are everywhere" is definitely not a lack of arrests.
In a word, Zhu Yijun felt that nothing was right during that time. Although the words said by the officials seemed reasonable, they were not consistent with the actual situation at all.
However, one person changed everything.
This person is highly pragmatic.
Gao Pragmatic first attributed all the problems raised by Zhu Yijun to one factor in his policy discussion: poverty.
It is precisely because of poverty that the above problems become particularly glaring and why they cannot be truly solved.
At the same time, Gao Pragmatic also pointed out that in solving the problem of "poverty", the past dynasties have always placed too much emphasis on reducing expenditures and neglecting to increase revenue. Occasionally, some individuals engaged in increasing revenue, and they only knew how to increase taxes, increase taxes, increase taxes, which caused public dissatisfaction. They started going around, eventually causing a big mess that was out of control.
The views he raised aroused controversy at the time, but fortunately his background limited the controversy to a certain level - he came from a sect of practical learning. Although this attitude seemed a bit radical, it was not unlike that of some members of the Comparative Heart School. For some people, it is not too outrageous, because there are also radical elements in the Xin School who propose some kind of ***, even without a king or a father. Those people are living well, and obviously being pragmatic will not lead to death. sweet potato
But at this time, the impact of high pragmatism is only at the "theoretical level" and there is not much practical demonstration. It was not until the two battles between Annan and Dingbei that his influence suddenly increased significantly, and even became the decisive factor in Zhu Yijun's change of mentality.
Why? Because the victory of the two wars of Annan and Dingbei directly helped Zhu Yijun greatly improve his political prestige, and successfully grasped the real power of the court.
In the original history, Zhu Yijun gained real power by liquidating Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao, especially the liquidation of Zhang Juzheng, which was the top priority.
But now Zhu Yijun has no reason to liquidate anyone. If Gao Pragmatic, as a well-known "emperor's classmate", had not given him two major victories in Annan and Dingbei, how could Zhu Yijun have established his prestige so easily?
Therefore, these two big wins had a great impact on Zhu Yijun, especially two of the most critical points.
First, after Zhu Yijun gained huge benefits from these two wars, he felt deeply about the benefits of "victory in foreign wars", which made his desire for victory in foreign wars stronger, which in turn inspired the "I This is the feeling that we must accomplish this great thing that our ancestors have never been able to accomplish.”
When I was a child, I was ignorant about "becoming a good emperor", but now I have a direct goal: to surpass my ancestors!
Secondly, his "expectations" for highly pragmatic individuals have become higher and more urgent, so he continues to think of ways to improve Gao Pragmatic's position, and even today, he simply takes action. Helping Gao Pragmatic build a team - this certainly strengthens Gao Pragmatic, but in the final analysis it serves Zhu Yijun's own ideals.
In Zhu Yijun's eyes, Gao Pragmatic was originally the future figure left to him by his father. He had grown up with him since childhood. He was truly a confidant among his confidants and a confidant among his confidants. In terms of loyalty, no one could match him.
And Gao pragmatism also perfectly fulfilled Zhu Yijun's various expectations with outstanding performances such as Six Number One Scholar, Annan and Dingbei. At this time, if Zhu Yijun wants to achieve the great cause of the emperor in his mind, who doesn't need Gao pragmatism?
At least in Zhu Yijun's mind at this time, Gao Pragmatic was not just a minister, but even a partner, his most important partner on the road to "greatness".
These words were quite long, but in Gao Pragmatic's mind, it was like a bright light suddenly lighting up, and he suddenly understood. He understood Zhu Yijun's mood at this moment in an instant.
The biggest trouble facing Zhu Yijun now is that he hopes that all "foreign wars" can be won, and even preferably a complete victory, but at the same time, the reality of the court is in front of him. If he can't get money, he can't get money. It was useless even if everyone from top to bottom of the household department was forced to death.
And without money... you can't fight. After all, there is an old saying: The emperor is always hungry.
Zhu Yijun looked at Gao Jingshi's still calm face, and suddenly felt a lot more relaxed, and said: "Pragmatic, I only feel relaxed when you are by my side. You are far away in Liaodong, so you may not know what's going on right now." Situation - everyone in the court was debating this matter. Some said that we should fight, some said that we should not fight, some said that we should fight violently, some said that we only need to fight back, and some even talked about the war in Burma. The reason for the invasion was because the imperial court was too strict with the Southwest Xuanwei (the so-called Three Xuanxuan and Sixth Xuanwei)..."
When he said this, he let out a long breath and sighed: "You have never experienced this kind of pain. It's like a person who is terribly sleepy and just wants to have a good sleep, but there are a lot of people around him. I have to drag you to make irresponsible remarks and ask questions, but you can't speak harshly to these people, because when it comes down to it, they are all 'for your own good'."
Gao Pingshi laughed, shook his head and said: "Everyone in the world says that gods are good, and gods have a lot of troubles. Your Majesty, even I, the minister, can't help you with this kind of trouble."
"No, you can still help." Zhu Yijun said quickly: "Continue what you just said... Well, you asked me if I want to occupy Myanmar. I have already answered that I don't want Myanmar. What do you think? The Ming Dynasty has taken over Yunnan for nearly two hundred years. There are still a lot of chieftains in Yunnan, and the Mu family will be used to permanently control Yunnan. If I take over Myanmar, who should I send to permanently control Myanmar? It's another Annan, with no benefits at all, and only the boring words like 'wasting millions and losing troops' are all that's left."
Gao pragmatic nodded slightly and asked: "In other words, the emperor just wants to teach Burma a lesson to stabilize the southwest border. As for other things, it is not that important?"
Zhu Yijun thought about it and said: "Well... Myanmar is different from Mongolia. Mongolia is too close to the capital and the threat is too great, so it must be completely grasped. Even if we have to take it step by step now, the goal is certain. And Myanmar is too far away They are far away, and the threat is not that big, as long as they are defeated and they become honest."
Gao pragmatic did not follow his words, but continued to ask: "But the treasury is empty now, so the emperor hopes to obtain this victory at the minimum cost?"
Although Zhu Yijun felt that this sentence sounded a bit awkward, as if he had made a very unreasonable request, but now that was the fact, he had no choice but to cough lightly and replied: "Of course, the less it costs, the better."
Unexpectedly, Gao Pragmatic didn't seem to think it was unreasonable. Instead, he nodded and said, "I have three strategies that may help relieve the emperor's worries."
Zhu Yijun's eyes widened when he heard this, and he asked blankly: "Three...three strategies? I mean, you can come up with three strategies for this?"
Gao Pragmatic looked self-deprecating and said: "Even the emperor is so surprised. It seems that after Gengchen's policies were announced, some people outside said that I'm prone to making shocking remarks. It's not nonsense."
Zhu Yijun said hurriedly: "Hey, do you care about those people who talk nonsense? Those people don't have the ability themselves, so they think that others will definitely not have the ability, so don't care about them."
Gao pragmatic smiled and said: "What the emperor said is absolutely true. In fact, I will not pay attention to them... Well, I can't understand them, so I have to pretend that I didn't hear them."
"That's right! Summer insects can't talk about ice. How can sparrows know the ambitions of swans?" Zhu Yijun said with a smile: "Please tell me these three strategies quickly. I have been so worried that my hair has turned gray during this period of time." .”
Gao pragmatic glanced at him and thought: If you want to say you are worried, it's not that I don't believe you. After all, you, the emperor, do have a lot of troubles. But judging from your increasingly prosperous figure, your belt is getting wider and wider overnight. Whiteheads and the like... should be avoided, right?
However, after thinking about it, Gao pragmatically explained his three strategies.
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