Chapter 1336. Driving away tigers and devouring wolves.
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"Xuan Ye Great Khan, you betrayed your trust and tore up the alliance! Just now you paid tribute to me, the Ming Dynasty, and now you are brazenly attacking me again, invading my Ming Dynasty territory, and plundering my Ming Dynasty people. I really thought that I, the Holy Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, would not have the wrath of thunder.
?"
After Zhao Junchen strode into the awning, he immediately pointed at Xuan Ye's nose and accused him angrily.
"Zhao Gechen, you stir up trouble, stir up trouble, set up a trap to fool the world, manipulate all parties, start a war just for your own selfish interests, and ruin countless lives. Do you really think you are the only smart person in this world?"
Almost at the same time, Xuan Ye also slapped the table gum hard, with a cold expression, and asked sternly.
For a moment, it was difficult to tell clearly which of the two was trying to make a fuss, and who was telling the truth.
But as both sides shouted questions at the same time, the negotiation was already tit-for-tat and tense before it even started.
The guards on both sides standing behind Zhao Junchen and Xuan Ye also tensed their bodies, holding the handles of knives at their waists, ready to flip over the table at any time.
However, Zhao Junchen and Xuan Ye just glared at each other and neither of them made any further statement.
After a long stalemate, Xuan Ye suddenly raised his hand to the table opposite him: "Zhao Gechen, please sit down and talk."
Zhao Junchen also had a smile on his face: "Xuan Ye is sweating profusely, long time no see!"
In an instant, the tense atmosphere quickly eased, as if the mutual accusations and confrontation just now had never happened at all.
Xuan Ye and Zhao Junchen are both realists, and they both know that it is meaningless to say who is right and who is wrong under the current circumstances. The key point is how to end this war with dignity for both sides.
From a certain perspective, the reason why wars occur in this world is because all parties involved in the war claim to be righteous, and moral accusations are of no use in the face of reality.
After Zhao Junchen sat down, Xuan Ye did not mention the war in Liaodong again, but asked slowly and concernedly: "Chen Zhao, I heard that there have been a lot of changes in the Han Dynasty recently. Not only the six tribes in Nanjing have been in trouble, but also the prince and the vassal king.
There are also conflicts between them... Ben Khan also heard that civil unrest also broke out in Xingzhou? In this chaotic situation, a pillar of the country like Zhao Gechen cannot sit in the center, but has been stranded in Liaodong. I'm afraid
Is there something wrong?"
Zhao Junchen smiled and replied: "My Ming Dynasty is a huge country with countless talented people. There are not many more than one pavilion, and there are not many few of the few pavilions. There is also a sage king on the throne who knows people well and makes good use of them. Therefore,
Even if I stay in Liaodong for a while, it will not affect the overall situation...compared to the center of the capital, I still pay more attention to the border troubles in Liaodong."
Xuan Ye's "concerned" inquiry can be translated as "The political situation in the temples of the Ming Dynasty is currently undergoing drastic changes, and many interests will be redistributed. If you, Zhao Junchen, cannot end this negotiation quickly, you can return to the capital in time to plan for yourself."
, it will inevitably allow people to take advantage of the situation, so it is better to compromise as soon as possible in this negotiation."
The implication of Zhao Junchen's answer was, "I still have many loyal talents under my command, at least I can protect myself without worries. What's more, Emperor Deqing will not give up on me for the time being, as long as I can successfully solve the border troubles in Liaodong."
If you do something, you may gain more, so I will never give in during the negotiation."
The next moment, Zhao Junchen began to take the initiative, with the same meaningful expression and a concerned expression, and asked: "Xuan Ye is sweating, I heard that the Jurchen territory in Jianzhou is experiencing a serious food shortage, but I don't know what the current situation is? Alas!
The Jurchen tribe in Jianzhou originally had a limited number of people. If the famine was too serious and too many people starved to death, wouldn't it be a serious loss of vitality? Khan, you are also familiar with my Han history books. You should know that civil strife will inevitably break out under famine.
Ambitious people from all sides will also be ready to take action, so you must be on guard!"
Xuan Ye nodded calmly and admitted: "The food shortage is indeed serious. If it cannot be solved smoothly, then in order to stabilize the overall situation, I will have to use the old method to solve the matter!"
What Zhao Junchen means is that you Jianzhou Jurchen does not have much capital and insufficient foundation. If you use all the food for war during the food shortage, a large number of people will starve to death, and your vitality will be severely damaged, and you will be unable to recover.
!Can you Jianzhou Jurchen afford to lose? What's more, if the situation worsens, can you Xuan Ye still suppress the Eight Banners leader and secure the position of Great Khan?
And Xuan Ye's response was also very direct - if the food shortage cannot be solved smoothly, he will simply break up with the Ming Dynasty and let this war continue for a long time. The final result may be to plunder a sufficient number of people from the Han territory.
Food, or letting a sufficient number of Jianzhou Jurchens die in battle or starve to death, no matter which outcome, the food shortage can be successfully solved!
This is the old method of the Jianzhou Jurchens, and they have not recovered from the fall. They will be able to recover in a few decades. If the tribe has suffered too many losses, they will capture the wild Jurchens. Those who are barefoot are not afraid of wearing shoes, but your Han court has
Do you have the guts to accompany the Jianzhou Jurchens in this huge gamble?
In this way, the two sides went back and forth. After several rounds of seemingly ordinary verbal exchanges, Zhao Junchen and Xuan Ye, while bluffing, gradually figured out each other's trump cards and ascertained each other's bottom line.
Zhao Junchen and Xuan Ye's trump cards are very similar. They both vowed that they are not afraid of protracting this war - at least that's how they openly scare each other.
As for the bottom line of negotiations between Zhao Junchen and Xuan Ye, they seem to be exactly the same, but in fact they are worlds apart.
Zhao Junchen wanted to gain as much political capital as possible, so his bottom line was that Jianzhou Jurchen must unconditionally withdraw its troops and cease the war, and also submit a memorial to Emperor Deqing to plead guilty;
Xuan Ye was willing to withdraw his troops and cease the war, and he was also willing to bow his head to Emperor Deqing and apologize, but the prerequisite was that Zhao Junchen must give the Jianzhou Jurchens a sufficient amount of food and grass compensation to help the Jianzhou Jurchens tide over the current difficulties.
It seems that there is not much difference in the conditions between the two parties, and Xuan Ye is very sincere. As long as Zhao Junchen is willing to hand over a large amount of food and grass to the Jianzhou Jurchens, the peace talks will be successfully concluded.
However, Zhao Junchen was unwilling to agree to this condition in any case, otherwise he would not only be breeding tigers, but also be seized on by political opponents in the DPRK and China, and criticized by all parties in the government and the opposition. The most important thing is that the Ming Dynasty is also currently facing a serious crisis.
If there is a shortage of food, they will soon encounter the dilemma of food shortage, and they will not be able to provide more food and grass to the Jianzhou Jurchens.
In this matter, Zhao Junchen had no room for compromise at all.
As a result, the negotiations between the two parties will be unable to continue, and the negotiations are about to break down.
But what Zhao Junchen is best at is finding idle resources and creating more benefits out of thin air to satisfy all parties.
This is also the case at this time.
After Xuan Ye discovered that Zhao Junchen would never agree to his conditions, he quickly lost his patience in negotiations, his expression became colder and gloomier, and his threats were no longer just bluffs.
At this time, Zhao Junchen suddenly proposed: "Xuan Ye Khan, I have a new proposal that can properly resolve the dispute between the two parties, but the specific content is somewhat sensitive and it is not convenient for too many people to know the details, but I don't know...whether...
Can we withdraw and let you and I discuss it alone?"
Xuan Ye's eyes flickered, but he quickly nodded in agreement.
A thin and weak scholar like Zhao Junchen could defeat ten by himself, so he had no worries about encountering any danger when the two of them were negotiating alone.
After the guards from both sides left one after another, Xuan Ye asked with interest: "But I don't know, what is Zhao Gechen's proposal specifically? With Zhao Gechen's wisdom and knowledge, if a proposal is called 'sensitive', it must be something very serious.
I am very interested and willing to listen."
Zhao Junchen smiled half-heartedly and asked a seemingly unrelated question: "Xuan Ye Khan, I heard that the Jurchens in Jianzhou and the Li Dynasty of North Korea have formed a 'country of brothers', but I don't know what the specific situation is?"
When asking, a hint of sarcasm flashed across Zhao Junchen's expression.
Because Zhao Junchen knew very well that the so-called "country of brothers" actually meant that North Korea had become a Jurchen puppet in Jianzhou.
When Xuan Ye heard Zhao Junchen suddenly mention North Korea, he suddenly became wary.
*
Before Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, the historical development trajectory of this world was completely consistent with the historical knowledge that Zhao Junchen was familiar with. After Nurhaci unified the Jurchen tribes, he established the "Da Jin", also known as the "Later Jin", and was aggressive on the battlefield in Liaodong.
He once broke through the Liaoshen defense line, but with the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Ningyuan, Houjin's vitality was severely damaged, and Nurhaci soon died with hatred, and then Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne.
In order to retaliate against North Korea for assisting the Ming Dynasty during the Battle of Ningyuan, Huang Taiji immediately sent 30,000 cavalry to attack North Korea after taking the throne. At that time, Emperor Zhu Youxiao of the Apocalypse accidentally fell into the water and died, and Emperor Chongzhen had just ascended the throne and was making every effort to reorganize the court.
, so the Ming Dynasty had no time to send troops to support North Korea, so North Korea only resisted for three months before being forced to sign an alliance under the city, completely becoming a puppet of Jianzhou Jurchen.
But after Emperor Chongzhen secured his throne, the historical trajectory of the world became completely different.
The Emperor Chongzhen of this world is a fully qualified emperor, and he has also formulated a completely correct strategy for Liaodong. He is no longer anxious for a temporary victory, but relies on the stronger national power of the Ming Dynasty, the residual power of the Ningyuan victory, and the supply line of Houjin.
The disadvantage of being too long and constantly using various methods to consume Houjin's national power is that it is expected that Houjin cannot afford to consume it at all.
This strategy was indeed effective. In just a few years, Houjin Mountain was depleted, the people were impoverished and the army was exhausted, and countless people starved to death and froze to death. Huang Taiji was forced to choose a last-ditch battle with the Ming Dynasty due to insufficient preparations.
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Finally, under Jinzhou City, after a bitter battle that was worthy of being remembered in history, and after the Ming Dynasty also paid a heavy price, it finally ushered in a complete strategic victory. Not only did it severely damage the Hou Jin army, Huang Taiji himself also died in the rebellion.
Among the troops, the banner leaders of Hou Jin quickly fell into civil strife in order to compete for the throne of Khan. The Ming Dynasty took the opportunity to regain the Liao-Chen defense line, and even forced Hou Jin to withdraw the title of "Da Jin".
The title of "Jianzhou Jurchen" was restored again.
Unfortunately, after achieving this step, the Ming Dynasty has reached its limit and exhausted all its remaining resources. Not only has its central finances deteriorated rapidly, but its national power has become increasingly declining. It is unable to further expand its results, and it is even less able to help North Korea regain its independence.
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But whether it was the former Emperor Chongzhen or the current Emperor Deqing, they have been making small moves over the years. From time to time, they would secretly collude with North Korea and constantly encourage North Korea to actively resist the control of Jianzhou Jurchen.
Under such circumstances, when Xuan Ye saw Zhao Junchen suddenly mentioning North Korea, he thought that Zhao Junchen wanted to poach the Jurchens in Jianzhou again, so he was naturally extremely sensitive and secretly vigilant.
*
"Jianzhou Jurchen and North Korea are indeed brotherly countries, and their relationship has always been stable... What? Is Zhao Gechen interested in North Korea?"
During the inquiry, Xuan Ye stared closely at the changes in Zhao Junchen's expression.
Zhao Junchen smiled softly, shook his head and said: "Don't get me wrong, Khan. I have no interest in North Korea, but I am somewhat interested in the neighboring island country across the sea from North Korea!"
Xuan Ye couldn't help being stunned and asked: "Japan? Tokugawa Shogunate?"
Zhao Junchen nodded and said: "I heard that after the Tokugawa shogunate took control of Japan, it has been recuperating and recuperating in isolation in recent decades. However, it has gradually become richer. The population has reached nearly 30 million, and the Japanese nobles
All of them are still misers who extort excessive taxes. Although the peasants under their rule are miserable, the nobles' food stocks are full of grain...
I also heard that the Tokugawa shogunate was based on the "shogunate" system, with the central shogunate and the local vassals. The shogunate directly governed one-third of the country's land, and the remaining land was enfeoffed to two to three hundred people of varying sizes.
Each feudal lord is a feudal lord, and the central shogunate has the commanding status and accepts tribute from the local vassals, but also allows each vassal to govern itself... This enfeoffment system is somewhat similar to the Zhou rites."
At this point, Zhao Junchen's expression was meaningful: "With Xuan Ye's wisdom, he naturally understands what this situation means!"
Xuan Ye was silent, but his eyes were flickering.
Of course he understood what Zhao Junchen said exactly what he meant!
Japan has a population of about 30 million. Based on this data alone, it can be inferred that the food production in Japan is not low, otherwise it would not be enough to feed such a large population!
The Japanese nobles are all misers who extort excessive taxes, which means that the grain production in Japan is highly concentrated. If you want to rob grain and grass, there is no need to waste time and disperse your troops to rob ordinary people. You only need to concentrate your troops to defeat Japan.
The feudal lords from all over the territory can quickly harvest a large amount of food and grass!
Japan's shogunate system means that the strength of the feudal lords in various parts of Japan is very limited. They are wary of each other and cannot support each other in time. They can easily defeat each other one by one and achieve a quick victory.
Combining this information, it is obvious that Zhao Junchen's intention is to encourage the Jurchens in Jianzhou to send troops to attack Japan and plunder grain and grass in Japan!
Compared with the hard core of the Ming Dynasty, Japan in this period was undoubtedly a soft persimmon, and it was also a better choice for the Jurchens in Jianzhou to solve their own food shortage dilemma.
After understanding what Zhao Junchen meant, Xuan Ye was thoughtful and seemed a little moved, but he quickly shook his head and said: "I have also heard about the situation of the Tokugawa shogunate... but I suggest
The Jurchens in Zhou are all land cavalry and lack a sufficient number of warships, so they are unable to travel far to Japan to collect food."
At this point, Xuan Ye stared at Zhao Junchen and warned: "I heard that the southeastern parts of the Ming Dynasty were often plundered by Japanese pirates. They were also a serious concern of the Han court. But Zhao Junchen, you don't think that you can drive away tigers with just a few words of your own."
If you swallow the wolf, the fisherman will benefit, right?"
"Driving the tiger to devour the wolf? The fisherman will benefit?" Zhao Junchen also shook his head in denial: "No! That's not the case! The prerequisite for driving the tiger to devour the wolf and the fisherman benefiting from it is to stay out of it, and this time... I really hope that
The Jurchens of Jianzhou sent troops to Japan to collect food, but the Ming court, or rather this court, did not intend to stay out of the matter, but would directly participate in it!"
After a pause, Zhao Junchen smiled and said: "For example, although the Jurchens in Jianzhou lack sea ships, we can provide them! If necessary, we can also bring in the Zheng family of Taiwan and some Nanyang pirates to cooperate! Of course
, this pavilion is only responsible for providing sea ships and will not directly send troops, but we will share 50% of all the grain and grass that the Jianzhou Jurchens plundered from Japan!"
Xuan Ye's eyes flashed again, and he was unknowingly aroused by Zhao Junchen's proposal and seriously thought about the feasibility of this proposal.
But after thinking for a moment, Xuan Ye still believed that this proposal was not realistic at all, and raised doubts again.
