Soon, only the monarch, his ministers and several eunuchs were left in the main hall of Wenhua Palace. Zhu Yijun stood up, waved his hand to Chen Ju beside him, and said, "Get out of here and wait outside the hall."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Ju bowed and took three steps back, waved to several eunuchs, and quickly exited the hall.
Zhu Yijun waved to Gao Pragmatic and said, "It's inconvenient for the main hall, let's go to the side hall."
Gao pragmatically knew that if Zhu Yijun wanted to stay in the Wenhua Hall and speak, he would definitely choose to speak in the side hall, because the side hall was where they were "classmates" in the early years. It was easy to touch the scene when talking there, and both sides would subconsciously take into account each other's feelings and the effect of communication. optimal.
Thinking of this, Gao Pragmatic suddenly had some enlightenment: It seems that the emperor may have to talk to him about some "private matters" today, and it may be related to power.
While they were thinking about it, the monarch and his ministers had already arrived at the side hall, with Zhu Yijun in front and Gao Pinggong behind. Zhu Yijun habitually walked to the desk where he studied and sat down, and Gao Pragmatic naturally sat down where he had been. Zhu Yijun occupies the main position, and Gao Wuzhen is next to him and to the south.
It seemed that Zhu Yijun was particularly relaxed as soon as he arrived here, so he spoke very directly: "Rixin, Jin Yiwei came to report yesterday and talked about some situations related to North Korea. One of them I think is quite strange, but I think you may know it. I know the inside story, so I’ll leave it to you to inquire.”
Gao Pragmatic has been busy dealing with disasters across the country recently, and he really hasn't paid much attention to the situation in North Korea. But after hearing what the emperor said, he had no choice but to reply: "Excuse me, Your Majesty."
"The move of the Jurchens to North Korea was your proposal. Gyeongsang Province was divided into two parts, north and south, and were divided between the two Ye He brothers. This was your direct arrangement. Logically speaking, Ye He brothers are still related to you by marriage, so they should be the most cautious governor. That's right. However, Jinyiwei said yesterday that Gyeongsang Province has no distinction between north and south. Recently, they have been training soldiers and horses, hoarding weapons and food, and they seem to have evil intentions... What do you say to this? "
Gao Pragmatic was startled at first, and then suddenly said: "Oh, it turns out that's what happened. I really know the inside story about this matter."
"Oh?" Zhu Yijun narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at him with a half-smile: "It's a good thing you didn't let others hear what you said. Otherwise, it would be a label of 'a minister conniving with his generals and concealing military information without reporting it' , but it will be held on your head."
Gao Pragmatic didn't seem to care, instead he chuckled, shook his head and said, "If the emperor is not someone who doesn't know soldiers, how could he not know the situation of the military garrison in various parts of North Korea, and even the hidden secrets of the intrigues between the various forces?
Thinking about the Ye He brothers, they could only gather about 40,000 troops with all their combined efforts. Their territory was surrounded by Jurchen tribes from Jeolla, Chungcheong, Gangwon and other places. The relationship between these people was also indescribably harmonious. Even if Ye He really has other intentions, these Jurchens must be the first to bear the brunt. If they want to be anxious, they should be anxious first.
What's more, the heavenly soldiers of our imperial court are stationed in Seoul and Pyongyang, and they are overwhelming the Jurchen tribes in the south. Unless brother Ye He thinks that he has a long life, how dare he make any changes? Since there is no evil intention, why should I add insult to injury? "
This is of course the truth, otherwise why would Zhu Yijun be so relaxed? However, Zhu Yijun still had to ask: "So, why are they preparing for war? Is it possible that the Jurchen tribes have just completed the transfer of towns, and conflicts will break out between them? Since North Korea wants to establish a province, they cannot be allowed to do so. People who live in Liaodong generally do their own thing."
Zhu Yijun's "raw land" here refers to the land outside the Liaodong border wall. Those places were also Mingtu in name, but in fact the imperial court did not really have jurisdiction over them, and there were not many Han people there. On the contrary, what is within the Liaodong border wall is "cooked land".
"That's not true." Gao Pingshi sighed and said, "This matter has to start with the inconvenience of the imperial court to go to Japan."
"Japan? Well, tell me what happened." Even though Zhu Yijun said this, he didn't seem very surprised. He even seemed to have expected it.
"I have already mentioned the benefits of conquering the Japanese country before, so I won't go into details again. But the court has more important things to deal with at the moment. In addition, Emperor Taizu's rule of 'no conquest of the country' is indeed very important to the government and the opposition. It had an impact, so it was decided not to send a large army to conquer the Japanese country in the previous period.
However, according to the officials who sent people to inquire, the Japanese country has a population of more than ten million, and its territory is slightly larger than that of Nanzhili. It is not a "small country" as many people call it. Judging from its victory over North Korea a few years ago, we can see that the country's strength is quite strong. Although we have been defeated by the Celestial Empire now, if we sit back and watch it lick its wounds, I am afraid that it will bring disaster to China again in a few years. Therefore, I thought that something must be done to ensure that he would not become rebellious again. "
Zhu Yijun raised his eyebrows slightly and asked: "Then what are you going to do? It is inconvenient for the imperial army to go out, so you are going to let Ye He go to conquer the Japanese country? You just said that Ye Heman's full force can only be counted as 40,000 soldiers, even if they all go out, , I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do to stop the Japanese country, right?”
"Ye He alone is naturally not enough." Gao pragmatically said: "If you want to conquer the Japanese country, you must first eliminate the difficulties of a cross-sea expedition..."
Zhu Yijun suddenly smiled and interrupted: "Cross-sea expeditions have never been easy. I know this, but for today's Beijing, it doesn't seem too difficult, right? Why, a land as big as Southern Xinjiang and Luzon It’s not enough for Jinghua to bother you, but Japan has also been listed as one of the targets?”
Gao Pingshi's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he suddenly became alert. Although the emperor said this with a smile on his face, the meaning behind his words could not be said to be too "peaceful"... Could it be that he felt that Jinghua's hands were too long, or that my hands were too long?
But the problem is, even if Jinghua did not directly send troops to capture Japan, Japan's trade was almost completely controlled by the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance. It has always been the sphere of influence of the "Pan-Jinghua Clan"! I have never seen the emperor have any opinions on this before. Why does he seem to be dissatisfied now?
"If the emperor wants to ask this, then I can only answer: As far as Jinghua is concerned, the Japanese country can be conquered but not necessary." Gao pragmatic pondered for a moment and answered seriously.
"Oh?" Zhu Yijun raised his eyebrows slightly and asked, "Why is this?"
Gao Pragmatic raised a finger and said: "The enemy is the enemy. The Japanese sent troops to Korea and lost their troops twice, which resulted in a great loss of national power. The various places of the Japanese paid more tribute during their conquests, but received nothing after the war. As a result, domestic conflicts intensified.
Now, the traitor Toyotomi Hideyoshi is dead, and his subordinates are divided into two factions, one is the arbitrary faction, and the other is the obedient faction. The emperor can understand that the local vassals and central court officials are divided into different factions..."
"So the Toyotomi family wants to reduce the vassal status?" Zhu Yijun asked subconsciously.
This is obviously a question that can only be asked by someone who is too "Chinese" in thinking, because Japan's center, no matter the emperor's era or the shogunate's era, has not completed the true centralization of power like China. The reduction of vassals is almost a castle in the air. There is no society. There is no basis for public opinion and no support from high-level institutions.
Gao Pingshi briefly introduced the emperor, and then said: "Therefore, it is very difficult to reduce the vassal status in the Japanese country. Unless the Toyotomi Central Committee determines that a certain vassal violates its system and is disobedient to discipline, then it can be conquered. After victory, it can be reduced." A vassal state is eliminated or a feudal state is reduced.
But the current problem of the Japanese country is that the five elders do not completely represent the Toyotomi court. Instead, the five elders have the highest power to assist the government. However, the so-called five elders are actually the five largest feudal towns. "
"Oh, then I understand. These people themselves are the largest vassal town. Even if they have various internal conflicts, they will not be willing to shake the foundation of the feudal system. And since they have control of the Toyotomi court, they are bound to harm the public and enrich themselves. , pulling the food of the Toyotomi family into his own bowl. In this way, the conflict with the five monks will definitely continue to deepen... Sooner or later, they will definitely fight. "
"Your Majesty, that's it." Gao Pragmatic was very pleased. The emperor already understood what stood behind the power. Therefore, as long as he analyzed the current situation in Japan to him, he could immediately draw a conclusion and know that Japan Sooner or later there will be a battle between the two factions. This classmate of his thirty years ago is already a mature emperor.
"You said that for Jinghua, it is 'the enemy can be defeated', which means that they have such internal contradictions and there will be a battle sooner or later, so Jinghua can take the opportunity to attack it?" Zhu Yijun thought about it: "Then, what does it mean that there is no need to attack? "
"I don't have to cut it down." Gao pragmatically said: "Jinghua has been operating the Japanese trade for twenty years, and it has become a monopoly. Even if the Westerners come from across the sea, they will not be able to enter the Japanese trade without Jinghua's permission. Therefore, The advantage of the Japanese country seems to lie with Toyotomi, but in fact it lies with Jinghua - in this case, why does Jinghua have to use swords and soldiers to conquer the Japanese country?"
Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and then said: "You mean, we can treat the Japanese country like Tumut. If I control their trade, they will surely surrender in the long run?"
"It could have been like this." Gao Pragmatic nodded and replied.
"Obviously, that means you didn't choose this way in the end? What's the reason?" Zhu Yijun asked.
"Among the five elders, Tokugawa Ieyasu is the strongest and the most skillful in his methods. If I do not interfere, although a war will definitely break out between the dogmatic faction and the observant faction, in the end the battle will end with Tokugawa's victory , and... it is likely to be a short and one-sided war, which is not good."
"Why is this bad?" Zhu Yijun didn't understand.
Gao pragmatically said: "Tokugawa Ieyasu is an old fox. If he unifies Japan, he will inevitably strengthen the centralization of power, remove the party that opposes him from the country and reduce their seals, and ultimately firmly control the real power of Japan. No other vassal town can challenge his Tokugawa family. In this way Once established, the Japanese state will become more stable than during the Toyotomi Hideyoshi era, and once it becomes stable, it will greatly affect Jinghua’s trade monopoly..."
"Why is this?" It seems that although Zhu Yijun has a good understanding of the operation of power, he has not thought much about the relationship between power and trade.
Gao Pragmatic thought for a moment and said, "I'll make an assumption: I want to buy fans today, and there are ten merchants selling fans in the market. Can I ask each of them for the price, and then lower the price respectively, and finally buy the lowest price?" At what price did you buy this fan?
Let’s change this: these ten merchants selling fans are all from the same owner, and this owner has set a minimum selling price. No matter how eloquent I am, the ten merchants insist that they cannot change the owner's decision, so can I still get the lowest price fan? "
"Oh...I understand." Zhu Yijun reacted immediately and nodded: "If this Tokugawa Ieyasu successfully unifies the Japanese country, and holds the power, and no one dares to resist, then Jinghua's business will be difficult to do, and its purchase of Japanese products The price could rise significantly, rendering it unprofitable."
"Your Majesty is wise, so I, Daming, may not need to send troops to the Japanese country. I only need to deal with the Japanese country with the same method as Tumut, and I will be able to control its life and death in the long run. However, Jinghua - or the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance, is actually in charge of this. The person who does things.
From the perspective of the Maritime Trade Alliance, in order to complete the emperor's errand, Tokugawa Ieyasu must not be allowed to easily unify Japan. Even if it had to be done in name, the strength of the local vassal towns must be maintained, so that there would be many people in each vassal town who did not obey his orders. Only in this way will the Japanese trade be controlled by our Ming Dynasty, and the interests of the Japanese country will continue to flow into our Ming Dynasty. "
Zhu Yijun took a deep breath and felt that Gao Pragmatic's words were very reasonable. Because of Emperor Taizu's "country without conquest", there were too many people in the world who couldn't turn around because they were so determined that they couldn't violate the ancestral system.
But if we follow Gao Pragmatic's idea and turn the Japanese country into another Tumut, they will be inseparable from our Ming Dynasty's trade imports in a few years. By then, if we think of some way, we might not be able to send another Anda to pay tribute, or even North Korea included. In this way, wouldn't the possible future threat from Japan be completely eliminated? What a wonderful idea, it is indeed my new one!
Zhu Yijun's eyes lit up, but he didn't notice Gao Jingzhi's clever concept transfer in what he just said. Originally, his highly pragmatic intervention in Japan was only his personal matter - at most, it was his Beijing matter.
However, after one transfer, it became a matter for the Beiyang Sea Trade Alliance. What is the Sea Trade Alliance? It was an interest alliance between the Jingnan nobles and the foundation of the imperial power, so the emperor would not object, and even just listened to it without thinking it was a threat at all.
Then, Gao pragmatically transferred the concept for the second time, saying that the interests of trade with Japan were controlled by the Sea Trade Alliance, saying that "the interests of the Japanese country continued to flow into our Ming Dynasty." Completed "Jinghua = Sea Trade Alliance" and "Sea Trade Alliance = Ming Dynasty" ” transformation.
If you want to say this is wrong, it is indeed true. After all, the profits from trade with Japan entering the pockets of the Sea Trade Alliance are indeed "flowing into the Ming Dynasty". The emperor will not be sensitive enough to notice the difference - after all, he is the emperor, and in the In his mind, as long as he entered the Ming Dynasty, it would be enough, not to mention that the noble forces of the Jingnan faction behind the Sea Trade Alliance were still an important power base for him.
"In other words, you plan to intervene to a limited extent in the upcoming war in Japan, so you let the Ye He brothers secretly gather strength?" Zhu Yijun returned to the previous topic.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Gao Pangshi could admit it bluntly this time.
"Is it enough for Ye He's family?" Zhu Yijun asked again.
"Of course it's not enough. I will have to put in some effort myself."
"Okay, I'll thank you for that. As long as I, the Ming Dynasty, can maintain the profits from sea trade with Japan, you can take care of Japan's affairs yourself, and I won't have to worry about it."
This is the first time Zhu Yijun calls "I" in this conversation, which means that this sentence is the final decision.
"I obey the decree." Gao Pingshi stood up and bowed, officially taking over this "errand". He also added a question by the way: "If the emperor needs to canonize some people in the end..."
Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said: "I will leave it to you if I tell you. As long as you think it should be canonized, I will canonize them."
——
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(End of chapter)
