prosperous age

Chapter 969 1058 will be outside

Whether Wei Guangde was right or not, we can only say that he was really wrong.

Ethnic relations in Myanmar are complicated. The king of Myanmar only rules over the plain areas, while ethnic minorities in the mountainous areas implement the chieftain system.

The British retained this system and adopted a divide-and-rule policy, using mercenaries recruited from ethnic minorities to suppress resistance.

The political structure of ancient Myanmar is like a budding flower, loose and elegant. Except for the capital and suburban areas, which bloom under the careful care of Bamar nobles and officials, the "chieftain system" is mainly practiced in remote ethnic minority areas.

Like petals with their own characteristics, they bloom independently under the rule of local chiefs. They maintain an aloof vassal relationship with the central government through tribute, intermarriage, or provision of soldiers.

When the British set foot in Burma, their purpose was not just to strengthen colonial rule and weaken local forces, but to consciously incite confrontation among various ethnic groups, which, like a gust of evil wind, made the originally harmonious ethnic relations precarious.

The British-Burmese governor not only retained the original chieftain system of the mountainous ethnic minorities, but also adopted a "divide and rule" policy, skillfully recruiting mercenaries among ethnic minorities and using these troops to suppress resistance from the Burmese or other ethnic groups.

In the process of suppressing the ethnic minorities in the mountainous areas, the British gradually discovered that the people here were tough and unruly, like untamed wild horses, only obeying the original chieftain.

This discovery seemed to open a door to British colonial rule.

In 1886, colonial officials wrote in a letter to the British Secretary of State for India: “The Shan, Kachin and other mountain tribes live under the rule of hereditary chiefs, whose authority is sufficient to maintain their order.

There there is no need to deal with scattered masses, but only with individual rulers who are highly organized, governed by ethics and administration.

If we gain the loyalty of these rulers, we will achieve our goals as quickly as possible, and all indications are that this will not be a difficult task. "

During this period, the British also brought poppy seeds to Myanmar.

Shan State and Kachin State in northern Myanmar are like a mysterious paradise and one of the best opium production areas in the world. The soil here seems to be particularly suitable for the growth of poppy.

After the local forces discovered this opportunity to make a fortune, they quickly expanded poppy cultivation and established a powerful armed army, "using the army to protect the poison and using the poison to support the army."

This opium kingdom has gradually evolved into the largest drug manufacturing and trafficking area in the "Golden Triangle". Like an unbreakable curse, the Burmese people have fallen into an endless abyss.

"Divide and rule" is a very old governing policy. Historically, the Roman Empire, Egypt, the Persian Empire, and France during the Napoleonic period all implemented this policy.

Britain is a typical maritime power. Its basic geographical feature is that its territory is limited and far away from the mainland. Its economy and commerce mainly rely on maritime channels to connect its disconnected territories.

This gave Britain an inherent tendency to break up Eurasian countries into smaller units - because the smaller the country, the more dependent it was on powerful powers, and the smaller the country, the easier it was to control.

The British rulers clearly proposed the "divide and rule" policy after the great national uprising in India. Lieutenant Colonel Joan Kirk, commander of the Moradabad local garrison, wrote in a document: "Our attitude is to try our best to maintain the existing religious and religious traditions. "Dividing races, not integrating them, divide and rule should be the principle of the Indian government."

Elphinston, the governor of Bombay, greatly appreciated this view. He wrote in a memorandum: "Divide and conquer was the motto of ancient Rome, and it should be our motto."

As a result, Britain "divided itself into each colony, using one part against the other."

This was the "divide and rule" policy that Britain used in its colonial rule, and this rule was also extended to other British colonies.

It is worth noting that after World War II, issues such as the partition of India and Pakistan, racial issues in South Africa, Singapore and Malaysia, territorial disputes in the Middle East, and ethnic conflicts that emerged after the British Empire carefully retreated from its colonies were to some extent related to British colonial rule. The traces are not irrelevant.

Whether the Ming Dynasty has the ability to colonize these places, it certainly does not have this ability at the moment. The most it can do is to establish some strongholds along the coast through leapfrog methods and connect them to each other through naval routes.

However, the current communication conditions are limited. For areas that are too far away, it is better to appoint a full-power governor to command the military and political power of the area.

If such a feudal official wants to win a stable ruling environment, he naturally cannot do without the deterrence behind the Ming Dynasty.

The reason why the previous Ming Dynasty shrunk its overseas expansion in order to so-called save national power after Zheng He's great success in his voyages to the West was because no one realized the huge benefits.

But Wei Guangde came from a later generation and naturally knew the huge benefits.

Spain, a country in the middle of Europe, gained countless wealth in the Americas by virtue of its pioneering exploration in the Age of Discovery, and became the most powerful country in Europe. It even had the courage to challenge other European countries and launch the so-called holy war.

Wei Guangde did not intend to hand the paper on the desk to Zhang Juzheng and others now for them to participate in discussions. He wanted to wait for feedback from Li Chengliang.

Let’s see if veterans like Li Chengliang have other ways to solve the problem of Myanmar’s rule.

In any case, Li Chengliang had been the commander-in-chief of Liaodong for several years, and he must have many ways to appease the Jurchen tribes.

Just when Wei Guangde was making notes and preparing to put them away first, Lu Bu came in from outside with a document in his hand.

He walked to the opposite side of Wei Guangde's desk, bowed and whispered, "Sir, Mr. Tan from the Ministry of War sent someone to deliver a document. He handed it directly to me and asked me to give it to you."

"Ok?"

Wei Guangde was stunned, then reached out and took the document from Lu Bu's hand.

This document should be said to belong to the Ministry of War. If it has not been registered by the Supervisor of Ceremonies and then transferred to the cabinet, it is not officially submitted.

In the past, things like this were discussed in private with a few people face to face, but there was no case where the documents were handed over but the normal process was not followed.

After getting it in his hand, Wei Guangde quickly opened it and looked through it, and then he understood.

The document in his hand is a copy, which is a strategy for governing Liaodong written by Qi Jiguang after he took over as the chief military officer of Liaodong.

Regarding Liaodong, after understanding the situation in Liaodong, Qi Jiguang felt that the original divide and conquer strategy was right, so he did not say much. Moreover, he was the chief military officer, and the person in charge of the Jurchen tribes was the governor of Liaodong. He was in charge of how to fight the war. , naturally they will not take the initiative to get involved.

Even though Liaodong has always implemented military control, the biggest one in Liaodong is the governor of Liaodong.

The main content of his document is actually how the Ming army wiped out the remnants of Wang Gao after capturing Wang Gao.

Although Wang Gao had been consecrated, Wang Gao's two sons were still there. When the Ming army pressed on, one of the two sons was hiding in Chahar, and the other disappeared, completely hidden in the vast mountains of Liaodong.

The terrain in the northeast is complex. In addition to the familiar Greater and Lesser Khingan Mountains, Changbai Mountains, and the Outer Khingan Mountains, etc., strictly speaking, they are all under the control of the Ming Dynasty.

Because the Jurchen tribes living in these areas are still surrendered to the Ming Dynasty in principle, the places they occupy are naturally the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

But this time, the official document Qi Jiguang sent back to the Ministry of War contained his thoughts on how to execute Wang Gao's two sons and the remaining troops.

Wang Gao had already been executed in the capital. After so much time, the two sons he left behind also resurfaced and began to gather his old troops to make a comeback.

In any case, the Wang Gao family can be regarded as a prominent family in the Jurchen tribe. After the Ming army destroyed Gule Village, they also carried out siege and suppression of several other fortresses. However, when the Ming army arrived, many of Wang Gao's remaining members had already fled into The mountains and forests hid, and the Ming army did not achieve much later. Now Wang Gao's sons Atai and Ahai have emerged. Atai returned to Gule City, which was burned down by the Ming army, while Ahai went to Shaji City and raised the flag again.

In Liaodong, opinions have now been divided into two groups. One is that Wang Gao's remnants should be wiped out as soon as possible while they are still young, and the other is Qi Jiguang's plan, which is to let Atai and Ahai go and wait until they gather their old troops before taking action.

At the same time, leaving Atai and Ahai behind can also take the opportunity to find out how many people in various Jurchen tribes are still secretly colluding with Wang Gao, so that the court can catch them all.

Qi Jiguang supported the second faction, and since he did not send troops to encircle and suppress them, he was naturally unavoidable from being attacked by the other faction.

During this period, the military and political officials in Liaodong were quarreling over this matter, and Zhang Xueyan, the governor of Liaodong, was still unable to make up his mind.

Qi Jiguang had seen how powerful civil servants were, and it was no exaggeration to say that his pen was as good as his sword.

Think about it, Yu Dayou, who was still suppressing the Japanese, was directly removed from his position as the chief military officer of Zhejiang just because some people rumored that he had treason with the Japanese.

If it weren't for Yu Dayoufu's great fortune and someone in the capital protecting him, the grass on his grave would be three feet high now.

No one in Zhejiang at that time would believe it, except for those few, that Yu Dayou was a master of Japanese pirates. Because Yu Dayou was around, Japanese pirates did not dare to cause trouble in Zhejiang.

Because he had learned from the past, Qi Jiguang immediately chose to report the matter to the Ministry of War when faced with the dispute with civilian officials.

Obviously, he supported the second opinion, while most of the civil officials in Liaodong, from the Food Supervisor to the Censor, supported the first opinion and demanded that the remnants of Wang Gao be wiped out as soon as possible without leaving any hint.

This may be another small civil and military dispute in Liaodong.

To be on the safe side, Qi Jiguang brought his differences to the Ministry of War and waited for instructions from the Ministry of War.

When the time comes, with the endorsement from the Ministry of War, no matter which one you choose, there will be no trouble finding him afterwards.

This may be the tragedy of the military generals of the Ming Dynasty who have no independent rights at all. They can only act according to the wishes of the civil servants and cannot think about problems purely from a military perspective.

After Wei Guangde read the document, he thought for a moment and asked, "Are the people from the Ministry of War waiting outside?"

"Yes, the clerk is from Tan Shang's study and is still waiting outside the palace."

Lu Bu whispered.

Taking out a piece of paper for the ticket, Wei Guangde took up a pen and wrote the words "will be outside" on it, then put down the pen, picked up the paper and blew lightly on it to make the water stains on it dry faster.

After that, he folded the note and handed it into Lu Bu's hand and said, "Take it and ask him to give it to Tan Shangshu."

"Yes."

Lu Bu agreed, took the note and turned around to go out.

Wei Guangde put the documents and the records he had written previously into a box next to him for his personal belongings.

He chose to support Qi Jiguang. Although this period of history was brand new and Wei Guangde was not sure whether it was right or wrong to do so, he chose to support him.

As early as after the end of the Liaodong war, Qi Jiguang conveyed the news to the capital that Gule City and Wang Gao's entourage had all been killed, leaving no one alive.

Those Jurchens who did not die in Liaodong were also executed in the capital, and no one was spared.

For the historical idiot Wei Guangde, in his eyes, Nurhaci, who later became the all-powerful man in Liaodong, should be dead.

After Nurhachi died and Li Chengliang left Liaodong, the rise of the Jurchens became completely impossible to repeat.

However, the Ming Dynasty still had to carry out the plan to weaken the Jurchens. There must never be a force as powerful as Wang Gao who dared to fight against the imperial court.

Therefore, using Wang Gao's sons Atai and Ahai to find the Jurchen tribes that opposed the imperial court for the Ming Dynasty was more beneficial to Wei Guangde than killing them.

Who would believe that Atai and Ahai hated the Ming court? As long as they were in constant contact with each other, Wei Guangde believed that they were the remnants of the Jurchen tribe who opposed the imperial court.

Therefore, in Wei Guangde's opinion, giving Qi Jiguang the right to encircle and suppress them, and letting him judge the time to encircle and suppress them, was the best choice.

After clearing up his mood, Wei Guangde started to deal with the memorial again. These were his official duties and they must be dealt with as soon as possible.

Off the coast of Yuegang, Fujian, three big fortune ships were driven by the sails and sailed towards the port quickly. Standing on the high platform of the fortune ships, you could already see the outline of the mainland in the distance.

"Almost there, land is in sight."

On the ship's upper floor, the crew member responsible for the lookout shouted excitedly to the people below.

When the crew on the deck heard the shouts from above, many people ran to the bow of the ship excitedly and looked ahead.

On the bow of the boat, a sun and moon flag fluttered in the wind.

The Ming Dynasty did not have a national flag. All ships leaving the Moon Harbor would receive a "Sun and Moon Flag", which was a pictographic version of the Ming Dynasty's national title.

Yes, in ancient China, the country name was usually used to facilitate written records, but the national flag was ignored.

The flag with the name of the country written on it can actually be understood as the national flag, but it is not very particular, so it cannot be regarded as the national flag in the true sense.

The concept of a flag first appeared in Europe. The first recognized official flag is said to be the Danish flag, which appeared in 1219.

Legend has it that in this year, the King of Denmark sent troops to conquer Estonia. During a difficult battle, a red cloth with a white cross pattern appeared in the hands of the Danes. I don't know who said that as long as they followed this flag, they could win. .

Using this flag as a guide, the Danish army achieved an incredible victory in the war, so the cloth was considered a sacred object and was brought back to Denmark.

The Danes believed it had divine power, so the white cross and the red cloth became the symbol of Denmark, leading the Danes forward.

Before this, European countries used flags with family crests printed on them.

The Yi people's ships coming and going in Yuegang brought their national flags, so the Fujian government made this kind of flag as a sign for open ships.

(End of this chapter)