prosperous age

In many people's impressions, the relationship between the Ming Dynasty, Korea and the Jurchens was very clear.

The Ming Dynasty was the boss, Korea was a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, and the Jurchens were subjects of the Ming Dynasty. However, from the perspective of real history, the relationship between these three is not that simple.

After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, the situation in the Northeast region also changed accordingly.

The Goryeo Dynasty on the Korean Peninsula sent troops to provoke the Ming Dynasty because it was dissatisfied with the establishment of Tieling Guard in the northeast. As a result, the Goryeo general Lee Seong-gye, who knew that he could not be an enemy of the Ming Dynasty, launched a military coup to seize the throne, overthrew the old master, and established the Joseon Dynasty.

After that, Korea quickly restored its vassal relationship with the Ming Dynasty and became a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.

However, although Korea was a vassal state, it was not weak in its competition with the suzerain Ming Dynasty in the northeast region.

At that time, there were many Jurchen tribes of various sizes living in the Northeast region. Among them, the Jianzhou Jurchens living in Mudanjiang, Suifenhe, and Changbai Mountain areas became the focus of contention between the Ming Empire and Korea because they were sandwiched between the two sides.

Before the Ming Dynasty gained influence in the Northeast, the Jurchens recognized Korea's suzerainty. They sent envoys to the Korean court to pay tribute and accept titles from the Korean king.

In the first year of Yongle, Ahachu, the leader of the Huligai tribe of the Jianzhou Jurchens, accepted the title conferred by the Ming emperor and became the commander of the Jianzhou Guard.

Korea was afraid that the Ming Dynasty's growing influence in the northeast would endanger its own security, so in the second year it conferred the title of "Wadoli Wanhu Chang" on Mengge Timur, the leader of the Wudoli tribe of the Jianzhou Jurchens, hoping to use Mengge Timur's power to offset the influence of Ahachu.

From this we can see that at this time the Ming Dynasty and Korea were both competing for control of the Northeast region.

However, Mengge Timur soon realized that it was obviously more reliable to rely on the Ming Dynasty than on Korea. After all, anyone who wants to find a backer always hopes to find a more powerful one.

So in the third year of Yongle, he accepted the Ming Dynasty's enthronement and became the commander of the Left Guard of Jianzhou.

Mengge Timur's defection soon triggered a chain reaction, and other Jurchen tribal leaders in the northeast region also went to Nanjing to receive their gifts and titles.

Therefore, the struggle between Korea and the Ming Dynasty for influence in the Northeast region was soon decided, and eventually the Korean rulers were forced to shift their strategic focus to conventional military defense.

Of course, the Jurchens’ choice was tantamount to betrayal for North Korea, so naturally they would not treat it well.

Before the Ming Dynasty's power infiltrated into the Northeast, these Jurchens all obeyed their orders.

Although, this was also a submission achieved through war.

During the Goryeo period, with the support of the Liao Kingdom, the Goryeo Dynasty expanded to the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. After annexing land from the Jurchens, it built cities and established government offices. It eventually occupied Hamgyong Province, where the Jurchens were in the majority, and completely controlled the Korean Peninsula.

In addition, the war between the Jurchen tribes also caused dissatisfaction in Korea, because some Jurchen tribes chose to completely submit to Korea. They were attacked by the Jianzhou Jurchens and naturally received support from Korea's troops.

Therefore, the relationship between the parties was very delicate, just like the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and the Jurchens. Some Jurchen tribes still paid tribute to Korea, but there were also Jurchen tribes that fought with Korea. In fact, they were all fighting for interests.

Of course, there was also secret support from Liaodong.

In the early Ming Dynasty, after completely occupying the Korean Peninsula, Korea once expanded towards the Tumen River Basin, but was strongly blocked by the Ming Dynasty.

Now, Wei Guangde plans to play the Jurchen card.

If the King of Korea did not return Jeju Island, Wei Guangde would have to consider whether to support the Jurchen tribes to form a coalition to attack Hamhung, Hamgyong and other northern Korean regions.

After all, that place was once inhabited by the Jurchens.

Zhang Juzheng was surprised by Wei Guangde's meaning, but soon fell silent.

This is actually a possible method, and it will have the least impact on the court.

Of course, it is a good idea to be able to defeat the enemy without fighting.

As for Tsushima Island, it can only be occupied by force.

However, although there were many voices of opposition in the court to declaring war on Japan, overall it was not a big deal.

After all, there were many officials from Jiangnan in the court who hated the Japanese pirates who looted the wealth of Jiangnan.

If the imperial court's navy is strong enough to crush the Japanese pirates, they should not mind supporting the imperial court in sending troops to teach them a severe lesson.

As for the mountains of gold and silver, thinking of this, Zhang Juzheng whispered to Wei Guangde: "The matter about the Japanese mineral deposits will be kept secret for the time being.

After we decide to send troops, we will slowly make arrangements and make sure to bring the main gold and silver mines into the hands of the court to make up for the financial shortfall."

Without mentioning the matter of Jeju Island or Tsushima Island, Zhang Juzheng's attitude had already made it clear that he would support the Ministry of War's war against Japan.

Zhang Juzheng, the prime minister, has always regarded enriching the country and strengthening the military as his responsibility.

If a rich country can obtain it from outside, he would not mind taking this approach, let alone if it is a hostile country.

Wei Guangde did not talk about whether those mines should be taken back by the court. It was too early to say that now.

However, Wei Guangde had to pay attention to the affairs of the gunpowder bureau.

So, next, Wei Guangde told Zhang Juzheng about the situation in Wanggongchang.

"Neither the Ministry of Works nor the Ministry of War knows exactly how much gunpowder is stored in Wang Gongchang, but it is estimated to be at least 200,000 to 300,000 kilograms, or even 500,000 to 600,000 kilograms. After all, the consumption of gunpowder in the Nine Frontiers has decreased a lot in recent years, which means that Liaodong, Jizhen and the navy have consumed more for training."

When Wei Guangde talked about the situation at the gunpowder bureau, Zhang Juzheng actually didn't understand why Wei Guangde was thinking about this.

After all, the Gunpowder Bureau was not under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, but was an office of the inner court.

Seeing Zhang Juzheng's puzzled look, Wei Guangde had to directly point out: "Brother, don't you think it is dangerous to store hundreds of thousands of kilograms of gunpowder in the city?
The capital has a large population, and if there is any mishap with the gunpowder depot, the entire southwest city will be in danger.

There are a large number of civilians living nearby, and the consequences are unthinkable, not to mention disturbing the palace."

"Not that much."

Hearing Wei Guangde's words, Zhang Juzheng hesitated and said, "This Wanggongchang has been around for many years and has never had any problems."

“It’s precisely because nothing went wrong that I became more worried.

Except for the Huangce Library on Xuanwu Lake, all other important places in the Ming Dynasty court have been burned. "

Wei Guangde interrupted Zhang Juzheng and said.

After hearing what he said, Zhang Juzheng also understood.

When something happens, we are always afraid of the worst. Just because there has never been any mistake before, we will inevitably become lazy over time, and then accidents are more likely to happen.

There were warnings everywhere in the Ming Dynasty at all times, and now there were night watchmen in every city, but fires still occurred from time to time.

"Then what do you mean?"

Zhang Juzheng asked.

"We can build a separate acropolis outside the city to store gunpowder, and we can choose the direction of Tongzhou to transport it conveniently and quickly by water.

It always feels unsafe to store hundreds of thousands of kilograms of gunpowder in the city.

In addition, the stock of gunpowder must also be strictly controlled. Once it reaches a certain standard, it must either be sent to various places or its production must be controlled.

In short, you can’t store too much in the warehouse.”

Wei Guangde expressed his idea to build a separate city for storage and strictly control the gunpowder reserves in the city.

If the gunpowder bureau stored 200,000 or 300,000 kilograms of gunpowder, that would be equivalent to 150 tons of gunpowder in later generations.

Even though the power was insufficient due to the gunpowder formula of that era, you can still imagine how terrifying the force of an explosion of hundreds of tons would be.

No wonder the Apocalypse explosion shook the entire capital city. How could it not be shocked?
"But the imperial court's current finances simply don't allow for the money to build an acropolis to store gunpowder."

Zhang Juzheng looked embarrassed and said.

"Brother Uncle, I didn't say that we would start work right away.

At this time, even if the Ministry of Industry were asked to build a large-scale project, it would not be possible.

What I am thinking is to have the Ministry of Works work with the Ministry of War to select a site near the capital, and once the government's finances have recovered in two years, we can start construction immediately and move the gunpowder bureau out as soon as possible, leaving only a certain amount of gunpowder in the city."

At this moment, the court was busy preparing for the emperor's wedding, so how could they spare the energy to build the city? "Wait two years."

Zhang Juzheng understood the meaning of Wei Guangde's words and wondered if he was planning to wait two years until he made a fortune from Japan before doing this.

If we could really take over the Iwami Silver Mine and deposit two million taels of silver into the warehouse every year, we would be able to build the Acropolis.

Even the three city walls on the east, west and north sides of the capital that had been shelved during the Jiajing period could be rebuilt.

Wei Guangde actually didn't think about building a large city wall. If he had the spare time, he might as well spend money on building the army, allowing the Ming army's border troops to re-equip themselves on a large scale and establish armed forces in each town according to Qi Jiguang's chariot camp. In this way, the Ming army would still be able to fight even if they left the protection of the city.

Wei Guangde even thought of carrying out a large-scale transformation of the Beijing Camp, reducing it to ten camps, setting up left and right cavalry camps and five infantry camps in front, middle, rear, left and right, as well as two carriage camps and one baggage camp, so that the Beijing Camp would have a certain ability to go on expeditions, at least to carry out a certain offensive capability near the capital.

Wei Guangde was not in a position to, and did not dare to, manage the armed forces at the Imperial Stables, but he still had a say over the Beijing camp and the imperial court.

Not to mention that the Beijing Camp is controlled by nobles, the actual power lies in the hands of the Vice Minister of War and the military affairs of the Beijing Camp.

Zeng Shengwu is currently in charge of the military affairs of the Beijing Camp, and Zhang Ke is not allowed to interfere.

Neither Zhang Juzheng nor Wei Guangde elaborated on the matter and only reached a superficial agreement.

They all needed Japan's mountains of gold and silver to supplement the Ming Dynasty's finances.

"The East China Sea Navy needs to be strengthened."

Zhang Juzheng just said this to Wei Guangde indifferently.

"After the delegation arrives in Beijing, the South China Sea Fleet will transfer some of its elite troops to stay in the East China Sea Fleet."

Wei Guangde also spoke out his ideas, which were naturally approved by Zhang Juzheng.

"By the way, this time the delegation arrived in Beijing, I discussed with Minister Tan about the grand review, and I have an idea."

Wei Guangde thought of the naval review in Tianjin, so he mentioned it to Zhang Juzheng.

“Your Majesty is young, and I’m afraid that except for the time in Zhaoling, he has never left the city.

Tianjin is holding a naval review. I think the cabinet should accompany His Majesty to take a look, so that he can also see that in addition to the powerful land forces, the Ming Dynasty also has an invincible navy. "

Even though he knew that the Spanish navy was powerful at that time, Wei Guangde still praised the Ming navy highly.

At least, it is impossible for Spain to transfer its entire navy to the Far East to confront the Ming Dynasty.

Even if he really did so, Wei Guangde believed that he was capable of replicating the British example of defeating the Invincible Armada and completely destroying the Spanish Navy.

"The two places are more than 200 miles apart. Isn't that a bit far?"

When Zhang Juzheng heard that Wei Guangde planned to let the emperor go to Tianjin to inspect the navy, he frowned slightly and said.

"It will only take half a month to go back and forth. With the support of the cabinet and Duke Dingguo, it should be no problem."

Wei Guangde spoke to comfort her.

Your Majesty, when you go to Tianjin, it is certainly impossible for you to ride a fast horse there and back.

With the emperor's procession, they could only travel forty miles a day.

So just getting there would take five or six days.

But speaking of it, the distance of 200 miles between the two places is really very close at this time.

As for official business, there will be no delay. A fast horse can go back and forth in a day.

"Ah."

Zhang Juzheng finally agreed. After all, it was near the capital and surrounded by heavy troops, so nothing would go wrong.

After the court was dismissed in the evening, Tan Lun and Jiang Zhi arrived at Wei Guangde's house one after another.

In the study, a red charcoal fire has been lit, making the room warm.

"The Prime Minister has agreed to move the gunpowder bureau out of the city, but the court has no money, so we need to wait for the right time."

Wei Guangde explained the situation, "The Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works can choose a location and make preparations after the new year. I don't think it will take too long, and construction will begin in three to four years."

After Tan Lun and Jiang Zhi nodded slightly, Wei Guangde continued, "The navy review has basically been decided. At that time, perhaps His Majesty will personally review the navy. The Prime Minister has no objection.

Later, when the Ministry of War submits the agenda for the grand review, you can mention it, and the Prime Minister and I will go to the palace to explain it.”

"That's easy. I will keep an eye on this matter. The Ministry of War will send out notices to various places in the next few days."

Tan Lun nodded. In fact, when he returned to the government office today to arrange for the issuance of the document, the Ministry of War had already known the news of the Tianjin Navy Review.

This is the first time for the Ming Dynasty, and the party is discussing internally what to do.

"The main reason I called you here today is because I have something to tell you first."

After Wei Guangde finished telling them the results of his conversation with Zhang Juzheng today, he took out the intelligence that Liu Shouyou had given them and handed it to them, saying, "Please take a look at this document. The court intends to take back Jeju Island and forcibly occupy Tsushima Island."

Hearing that Wei Guangde was going to declare war again, Tan Lun couldn't help but twitch his eyebrows.

As you get older, you naturally don’t want to fight and kill all day long and hope for stability.

However, from what Wei Guangde said, it seemed that the Prime Minister had already approved of this matter, so he took the document and started to look at it.

Wei Guangde considerately moved two candles to make the light brighter.

"This is."

After just a moment, Tan Lun and Jiang Zhi both looked up in surprise.

The above is not military intelligence, but information about Japan's gold and silver mines.

The two of them knew what it meant to go to war for money.

“There is a sea map at the back, and Jeju Island is originally an island of our Ming Dynasty. After it is taken back, the Ministry of War will have an extra horse farm, and the East China Sea Navy will also have a naval port.

As for Tsushima Island, it was a punishment for Japan.

When the Japanese pirates were rampant in Jiangnan, they turned a blind eye and even called the Japanese king the emperor among their own people, which was really an act of usurpation. "

It is very easy to find reasons to declare war on Japan.

“Just keep this to yourself, don’t spread it outside.

The cabinet will make arrangements for each ministry, and the earliest it will be launched is the year after next.”

Wei Guangde reminded.

Tan Lun carefully looked at the records of Japan's gold and silver mine production, looked at Jiang Zhi for a moment, and nodded slightly.

Now it has been confirmed that Wei Guangde had ambitions towards Japan long ago. When rumors about the Treasure Island were circulating in the court and the public, Wei Guangde never denied it.

After seeing the two off, Wei Guangde asked Zhang Ji in a low voice, "Didn't Eunuch Feng come?"

"No."

Zhang Ji answered in a low voice.

"Send a message to Yuegang and ask them to increase trade with Japan next year. I'm afraid we will have to suspend it the year after."

Wei Guangde gave a warning. (End of this chapter)