Chapter 449: Secret Letter from the Japanese Emperor
Feng Sheng never imagined that he would receive a secret letter from the Emperor of Japan.
Of course, this secret message is not the key, the key lies in the content inside.
According to the Japanese emperor, as long as the Ming Dynasty was willing to cooperate with the borrowing of troops, and the two sides combined to defeat the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the Japanese side was willing to pay a huge price.
"Cheng'er, what kind of price does the Emperor of Japan want to pay for asking us to cooperate with him? Could it be that he wants to divide Kyushu Island into the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty?"
"Do they still expect us to let all power be in the hands of the emperor in the future?"
Feng Sheng asked his nephew Feng Cheng next to him.
It seems like a very ridiculous thing. I have already called to your house, but you suddenly greeted me with a heavy heart.
After all, for the emperor, the current Japanese state is completely controlled by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and he can do whatever he wants.
Emperor Gokomatsu already knew that once the construction of the emperor's residence, which symbolizes authority, was completed, the next step would be to force him to abdicate.
Emperor Gokomatsu knew clearly that for the Ming Dynasty, Japan was no different from a place of exile. There were desolate scenes everywhere, not to mention that war was about to begin.
The Ming Dynasty looked down upon the Japanese country at all, and if they were forcibly brought in, it would add a huge burden to the Ming Dynasty.
"Uncle, I don't think it's a fraud. Ashikaga Yoshimitsu has great power in both the government and the public. It's quite normal for the emperor to seek help from the outside world."
"No matter what happens, as long as you are careful, nothing will go wrong." Feng Cheng analyzed and said.
Feng Sheng nodded after listening.
The emperor of the Japanese country could be said to worship the Japanese people. It is unlikely that there is fraud in this kind of thing.
"Just have fun with them, and you will know when the time comes."
...
Yao Guangxiao also suffered heavy losses after experiencing the hurricane.
The loss of more than 20,000 people is a figure that has never been thought of.
The Goryeo army was weak to begin with, but with this situation, its morale was completely dissipated.
"Wei Guang, do you think we should, like King Yan and others, gather our troops and start a conquest?"
Listening to Yao Guangxiao's words, Wei Guang frowned and said, "The general feels that now is not a good time."
"After the hurricane, many farmlands have been completely destroyed, and food is the next big problem."
"If there is not enough food, no matter how much territory there is, it will still be a burden and cannot be fed."
Yao Guangxiao nodded, indeed he did not want to grab the territory now.
How to find reliable food is the key now.
"There is not enough food now, and it is hard to get money. The poor monk still remembers that there seemed to be merchants who went to sea before, and they seemed to want to trade." Yao Guangxiao asked.
Wei Guang nodded: "That's true. There were many people who wanted to buy the goods we got at low prices, but they were all driven away by the general."
Yao Guang Xiao said: "Gather them all back, and then inform all the soldiers to take out all their trophies and see if there is any way to transport some food."
Wei Guang was stunned for a moment, and then realized: "Master, what a great idea."
Businessmen are the most selfish, and most businessmen are like this.
This kind of selfishness has no national boundaries, whether it is the Ming Dynasty or the Japanese country.
So Yao Guangxiao planned to contact the Japanese merchants. As long as he gave enough money, he would not be afraid that there would be no food shipped. For the current Goryeo army, it was true that the property should be put aside first and the stomach filled.
...
Daming Dynasty, Kunning Palace.
Zhu Ying saw Zhu Gaochi in front of him and said with a smile: "We haven't seen you for a long time. Brother Chi seems to have gained a lot of weight recently."
Zhu Gaochi was still a little nervous at first, wondering if there had been any changes in Zhu Ying's place.
After all, his father went to Japan, and some things were far from being as simple as they seemed on the surface, which made Zhu Gaochi himself very embarrassed.
But with such a simple sentence, the relationship between the two was quickly drawn into it.
"Thank you for your concern, brother. I have eaten well and slept well in the palace recently, and I have gained weight again without knowing it." Zhu Gaochi said with a self-deprecating smile.
He didn't even know how fat he would become in the future.
After some pleasantries, Zhu Ying started to get to the point.
Because of the war between the Ming Dynasty and the Japanese state, the forces in neighboring countries are now experiencing great turmoil.
Not much to say about the grassland. Although the current chaos is showing signs of ending, it does not mean that it will be completely calmed down in a short time.
Mainly manifested in countries in Southeast Asia and other regions.
The information passed from Annan is now beginning to become confusing.
Mainly manifested in the mutual suspicion and competition between countries in Southeast Asia.
Now the two largest countries in Southeast Asia, Java and Siam, are becoming stronger and stronger. After having sufficient military strength, they will naturally expand externally.
They oppressed some surrounding countries, threatening Manchuria, Sumatra, Champa, Chenla, and even in Srivijaya, killing Ming envoys and intercepting tribute envoys to the Ming Dynasty.
From a certain perspective, they are no longer a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.
Although they had bowed to the Ming Dynasty before, there was no trust between countries in things like contracts.
Once again, pirates are rampant in Southeast Asia and the South Asian seas. They are very arrogant and there is no security guarantee for maritime communication lines.
Zhu Ying is now vigorously developing shipbuilding, basically to start to eliminate these restless forces.
These unstable factors, on the one hand, directly affected the security of southern Ming Dynasty, on the other hand, they greatly affected the image of the Ming Dynasty as a great power, which was not conducive to the stability and development of the Ming Dynasty.
Under this situation, the Ming Dynasty currently adopts the foreign policy of "securing China internally, pacifying the barbarians externally, treating all people equally, and sharing peace."
Build a powerful fleet, just like Zheng He's voyages to the Western Ocean in history, mediate and ease conflicts between countries through various means, and maintain maritime traffic safety.
This will link the stability and development of the Ming Dynasty with its surrounding areas, establish a long-term and stable trade environment, and enhance the prestige of the Ming Dynasty.
Zheng He's voyages to the West in history also had a strong purpose: to develop overseas trade and spread Chinese civilization.
Just like Zheng He's voyages to the West, the current mission is mainly for political purposes, but also has certain economic purposes. When the country implements such a large strategic action, it takes many aspects into consideration.
Historically, Zheng He's fleet carried out many trade activities during its voyages to the Western Ocean, mainly in three forms:
The first type of tributary trade was the basic form of Zheng He’s trade activities in the West and had the nature of a feudal suzerainty.
In this way, it obtained the recognition of the Ming Dynasty's suzerain status from these small countries, which was the political purpose of tribute trade.
At present, all countries are actively paying tribute to the Ming Dynasty. On the one hand, they have received protection from the Ming Dynasty, and on the other hand, they have received generous rewards.
According to statistics, during the twenty-two years of Yongle's reign, envoys from Asian and African countries related to Zheng He's voyages to the West came to China a total of 318 times, an average of fifteen times a year, which was an unprecedented event.
In addition, seven kings from the four countries of Wenlai, Managa, Sulu, and Kumalalang came in person to lead delegations. At most, eighteen countries' tribute missions came to China at the same time, and three kings were visiting.
During this period, he died of illness in the Ming Dynasty, and their will was to bury him in China.
In the Ming Dynasty, people were buried according to royal treatment.
The second type of official trade was an important part of Zheng He's voyages to the West. It was transactions with local merchants under the official auspices of both sides, and was an important way for the Ming Dynasty to expand overseas trade.
In addition to gifts for rewards, Zheng He's fleet also carried goods from the Ming Dynasty, such as copper coins, silk, porcelain, ironware, etc.
This kind of trade can be bought and sold with Ming Dynasty copper coins, and most of them are bartered.
The most influential is the high-five pricing method.
In Guri, India, after the Ming Dynasty fleet arrived, the local agent was responsible for the transaction and brought the goods to the trading place. The two parties negotiated and set the price face to face under the auspices of officials. Once the decision was made, there would be no regrets.
Both parties high-fived each other to signify the deal.
This friendly trade method has become a good talk among local people.
During Zheng He's voyages to the West, especially during the subsequent voyages, the scale of trade expanded, and the principles of equality, voluntariness, and equal exchange were followed, and some basic principles of international trade were followed.
The third type is private trade, which emerged to a certain extent driven by Zheng He's overseas trade activities.
It is not carried out through the government, but is carried out spontaneously by businessmen or private individuals.
Zheng He's voyages to the West eliminated pirates, maintained maritime security, opened up shipping routes, and promoted and stimulated private trade.
These are all essential and the simplest and fastest.
Therefore, Zhu Ying's current plan is to build Zheng He's fleet in advance and start traveling around the world.
The Ming Dynasty is almost going to start a war between the two sides. If all small countries in Southeast Asia and many small countries in the Western Regions are involved.
For today's Ming Dynasty, this is very unfriendly.
Therefore, developing business is now a main direction.
And in this, it doesn't mean that you can just think about it casually, the key is that someone has to implement it.
"What does the eldest brother mean by asking the foolish brother to take charge of Liaodong's logistics and shipbuilding matters?"
"No, this won't work. With my foolish brother's ability, I can't do one of them at all, let alone two at the same time. This is definitely not possible."
Zhu Gaochi guessed that this time his eldest brother summoned him, and he was likely to be reused.
This time, it must have been too heavy. After listening to his elder brother's thoughts, Zhu Gaochi immediately felt a mountain of pressure, and his head shook like a rattle.
"As a brother, I naturally believe in Chi Di. In my heart, Chi Di must have this ability and can completely handle these two things."
"Of course, it doesn't mean that it will be done completely at once. There is a process, and Chidi also needs to learn while implementing it."
Zhu Ying said with a smile.
Being able to supervise the country since the Battle of Jingnan, and support Zhu Di on several personal expeditions, shows that Zhu Gaochi has a strong talent in management.
Now we are just peeling off two small pieces. Compared with the Supervisor State, they are not at the same level at all. So there is nothing that can't be done.
"Brother, don't make fun of me, stupid brother." Zhu Gaochi bowed his hands and said with a wry smile.
Zhu Ying said seriously: "I'm not joking with you. If others don't know your talent, how can I not know it?"
"In Brother Wei's opinion, Brother Chi can absolutely trust these two things. Could it be that Brother Chi doesn't want to help Brother Wei share his worries?"
Having said this, there is no possibility that Zhu Gaochi could refuse.
I could only agree with a forced smile.
After Zhu Gaochi left, Zhu Ying felt more and more that she lacked capable ministers around her.
It is difficult to control everything by yourself alone.
But for now, Zhu Ying's time is indeed too short.
It has only been a year since entering the palace.
Looking back on the events of this year, Zhu Ying found that there were very few things that she really controlled.
In many cases, the suggestions are provided directly to the old man, who then arranges for people to implement them.
As for the officials in the court, except for a few ministers, even the minister was somewhat unfamiliar.
However, it is not the emperor himself who truly implements the power to govern the world, but the ministers who tremble under the majesty of the old man in the Fengtian Palace every morning.
This aspect has always been ignored by Zhu Ying.
This is a kind of subconscious neglect, because Zhu Ying herself does not like this kind of tedious communication, and her main idea is to achieve high efficiency.
Limited by the speed of information dissemination, Zhu Ying's idea is obviously difficult to realize.
After looking at the sky and thinking about it, Zhu Ying decided to talk to Zhan Hui, the Minister of Civil Affairs.
As a person who controls a series of important personnel transfers such as the appointment and dismissal, promotion, and demotion of officials all over the world, Zhan Hui has been doing this for so many years, and he should be very familiar with these things.
It was already time for the officials to get off work, so Zhu Ying called for a carriage and went directly to the home of Zhan Hui, the Minister of Civil Affairs.
....
The Office of the Minister of Civil Affairs.
This is a large house with five entrances. In today's capital, every inch of land is of great value.
However, the Shangshu Mansion is not fixed, but is only provided for the current Shangshu. Once he becomes an official, it means that he has no right to continue living there.
"Master, why are you looking so sad?"
A beautiful young woman walked up to Zhan Hui who was drinking in the pavilion and asked.
Zhan Hui picked up the wine glass and put it down again: "Now His Royal Highness Taisun has returned. According to His Majesty's wishes, he is going to Liaodong and other bitter and cold places for some experience."
"I checked the files today and found that His Highness Taisun seems to have no officials of his own. Going to Liaodong naturally requires a large number of officials."
"I am the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Your Highness Taisun wants to know some details about you as an official, so he will naturally come to me."
"This is an offending job. What's the difference between a bitter cold place and exile? Wherever there are officials willing to go, they will evade it as fast as rabbits."
The young woman was Zhan Hui's side chamber. After hearing this, she thought for a moment and said, "Master, I think this is a good opportunity."
"This is the best time for me to contact His Majesty the Grand Sun."
Zhan Hui shook his head: "His Royal Highness Taisun is no better than ordinary people. He has a pair of sharp eyes and can easily see flaws."
"Besides, it may not be a good thing to defect to His Highness the Grand Sun too early."