prosperous age

"But now, Luzon seems to have fallen into the hands of the barbarians."

Empress Dowager Chen finally spoke.

Empress Dowager Chen listened to Wei Guangde's words and accepted his proposition, that is, Luzon should be taken back.

However, as a woman, it is natural and instinctive for me to avoid war.

Since the barbarians have just occupied Luzon, it would be difficult to ask them to give it up now, so the only option is to fight.

"I am also worried about the unrest on the border at this time, so I am considering seizing half of Luzon, and when the right time comes, I will take back the land including Sulu."

Wei Guangde immediately responded.

When talking with Zhang Juzheng, Ge Shouli and others, they could naturally think of what the empress dowager could think of, so Wei Guangde already had a response.

The current Ming Dynasty seems very powerful and is still the undisputed boss of East Asia.

But only a few people in the court knew that the Mongols in the north were only temporarily suppressed. No matter what, Altan Khan's majesty remained and no one dared to openly resist.

In other words, the barbarians were unwilling to submit, but because they were located in the border area, Altan Khan was too lazy to pay attention to them.

Moreover, the hostility of the Tuman towards the Ming Dynasty is actually a good thing for the Tumed people. It lets the Ming Dynasty know their importance and can give them more supplies.

In addition, the Jurchen tribe became much more obedient after the incident with Wang Gao, except for Wang Gao's sons Ahai and Atai, who were still secretly accumulating strength to seek revenge.

However, with Qi Jiguang in charge of Liaodong, the imperial court naturally had nothing to worry about.

As for the Burmese state in the southwest, although the two Empress Dowagers did not oppose the court's restoration of order there, it was a major war after all. Even if Wei Guangde dispatched Li Chengliang, the former commander-in-chief of Liaodong, to support the cause, they were still a little worried.

Well, it was still influenced by "The Three Kingdoms". In the eyes of most people in the Ming Dynasty at that time, the southwest was a place full of miasma that would kill people if they smelled it, not to mention the high mountains and dense forests.

There were few officials from the southwest. Even if there was a so-called "passing list", most of them were from Sichuan. There were even fewer from places like Yunnan, so naturally no one could tell the real situation there.

Relatively speaking, Empress Dowager Chen and Empress Dowager Li trusted Yu Dayou, who had experience in wars in the southwest, to command there.

However, since the court had already chosen Li Chengliang, it was naturally difficult for them to object.

It can be said that the current Ming Dynasty gives the people in power the feeling of being a big sieve with leaks everywhere.

Coupled with Wei Guangde's ambitions for Old Port and Luzon, the situation naturally looks even worse.

Even Zhang Juzheng, who had always maintained a stable mentality, had privately spoken to Wei Guangde several times, believing that it would be better to proceed slowly with the issue of the South China Sea, and that the court should give priority to resolving the issue of the southwest.

As for how Wei Guangde finally convinced Zhang Juzheng, it was naturally by expressing his ideas.

That is, even if Li Chengliang could not control the situation in Yunnan, it would still be no problem for the Ming Dynasty to stabilize the southwest.

At that time, the South China Sea navy will be mobilized in full force, and head south through Mancijia to attack the Toungoo Dynasty of Myanmar from the south, and on the way, recover the Old Port and surrender the remaining troops of Zhang Lian near the Old Port.

Since they want to serve the court, they naturally need a token of their loyalty.

Myanmar is exactly where they accumulated their merits.

In other words, Wei Guangde intended to use them as cannon fodder to attack the Toungoo Dynasty from the rear.

If there are those who survive, the imperial court will have reason to pardon them after the war based on their military achievements.

Otherwise, if they rebel just because they think about it, and surrender when they cannot win, and the court does not punish them, the world will be in chaos.

After hearing Wei Guangde's combination of punches, Zhang Juzheng finally fully agreed with this matter.

All I can say is that although it looks very dangerous and the Ming Dynasty is fighting everywhere, it will indeed be beneficial to the Ming Dynasty if the timing is grasped accurately and the operations are done properly.

Moreover, using Zhang Lian's remaining troops to attack Myanmar can minimize the losses to the court, which is a good idea.

If the two Empress Dowagers didn't ask about these things, Wei Guangde would naturally not take the initiative to talk about them.

After a long while, Empress Dowager Chen glanced at the young emperor Zhu Yijun beside her and slowly said, "What if the barbarians go to war with our Ming Dynasty because of this?

By then, it is possible that the Ming Dynasty will face the unfavorable situation of wars in the southwest and southeast at the same time."

"My Queen Mother, I believe this will never happen."

Wei Guangde pretended to be confident and answered with his head held high: "As far as I know, the number of troops of the barbarians in Nanyang will not exceed a thousand.

All they relied on were their dozen or so armed merchant ships and the various firearms on board.

With such an armed force, they would naturally have a great chance of success against the small countries in Southeast Asia.

But if they were to go to war with the Ming Dynasty, they probably wouldn’t have the guts to do so.”

Wei Guangde had reasons to say this, as the Spaniards knew the results of the two wars between the Portuguese and the Ming Dynasty decades ago.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty navy defeated the Portuguese by relying on its ancient and primitive naval warfare tactics. The Ming Dynasty today is no longer what it used to be. Although it does not have the strong ships and powerful guns of the Western style, the gap is not that big.

With the combination of new and old tactics, Wei Guangde believed that defeating Spain should not be a problem.

If we are still defeated after all this, then Yu Dayou will be of no value.

Yes, during these years when he was in the position of Deputy Prime Minister, he did little else, but he had a lot of private transactions with Zhang Juzheng, Lu Diaoyang and others.

Well, he also increasingly understood that politics is actually an exchange of interests.

In the eyes of politicians, only interests are eternal. Without interests, they lose their value and can naturally be abandoned.

"The barbarians came to Southeast Asia from afar just for trade and to gain the benefits they wanted, not to fight with the Ming Dynasty.

If the northern part of Luzon is occupied by the Ming Dynasty, our Ming merchants will naturally come and they will be able to trade nearby.

No matter how I look at it, it seems that the barbarians have not suffered any loss."

Wei Guangde continued.

In fact, although Europe had already begun colonization at this time, it had not yet formed a thorough colonial consciousness.

What they valued was not the land of the colonies, but the output there, which could bring in endless wealth.

In Wei Guangde's opinion, if part of the land is exchanged for trading opportunities, it should be acceptable to them.

As for the mineral resources on the Philippine island, there are actually not many.

At least, not as many as in Japan.

The place only produces some spices, which the barbarians like very much.

However, there are plenty of such spices on the islands in Southeast Asia, so they are not very attractive at all.

The most failed point of the Ming Dynasty's policy toward Southeast Asia, or its policy toward vassal states, was that it did not participate in their development and construction to gain greater wealth from it.

Perhaps it was because they thought it was too troublesome, or perhaps it was because they could not see the huge benefits of developing the vassal state.

Anyway, the Ming Dynasty never helped the vassal states develop their economy from beginning to end, and just let them fend for themselves.

Such a policy naturally made the vassal states feel ambivalent about the Ming Dynasty.

When the Ming Dynasty was still strong and had the ability to send a large fleet south for patrols, everyone naturally chose to surrender.

And when the Ming Dynasty no longer came, they naturally no longer took the Ming Dynasty seriously.

As for what Wei Guangde said just now, it was actually half true and half false.

Although the Spanish regular army only had about a thousand people, don't forget the more than ten armed merchant ships active in the East Asian waters. The sailors on the armed merchant ships alone could gather more than two thousand people.

To call them sailors is actually giving them a compliment. They are essentially not much different from Lin Feng's pirate group and they also live on the edge of a knife.

Because the employer pays a lot, I have no scruples anymore.

Of course, there are also honest people among them, but even if there are such people, after spending a few years at sea, they have changed more or less and are no longer the same as when they lived in Europe.

It can be said that if the Spaniards gathered all their forces, they would be able to muster more than 3,000 men in East Asia at this time.

In addition, support could be obtained from Mexico to the east and other Spaniards in the Indian Ocean to the west.

As for the Portuguese, although they are all natives from Europe, they dislike each other.

Relying on its huge size, Spain has always suppressed Portugal, not only seizing Portuguese colonies and materials, but also coveting the Portuguese throne.

Although it has not been successful yet, it has already made the entire Kingdom of Portugal nervous.

If the Ming and Spain went to war in East Asia at this time, it would be good if the Portuguese did not attack secretly.

Of course, Wei Guangde was not aware of these situations.

He only knew that the barbarians referred to by the Ming Dynasty were actually the Spanish and Portuguese, and the later red barbarians referred to the Dutch.

However, intelligence from the Royal Guards and the South China Sea Navy also mentioned that there seemed to be discord among the barbarians.

For example, the barbarians in Haojing seemed to belong to a different faction from the barbarians in Manila. Although they did not fight each other as soon as they met, hostility was certain.

In fact, the Haojing Yi people have always wanted to build a seaward artillery position.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty was a powerful country. Although the Portuguese wanted to build a fort facing the mainland, the Guangdong government would never agree.

Building seaward artillery batteries can not only defend against pirates, but also provide firepower support to the mainland, which is also a good solution.

After all, the area of ​​the trench leased by the Portuguese was small.

As long as the location is chosen well, you can naturally take both ends into consideration.

Because the Portuguese have fewer people in East Asia than the Spanish.

Wei Guangde lowered his head at this moment, but he could still hear the whispering of voices in his ears.

But the voice was very soft. Perhaps if he took a few steps forward and got closer to the two empresses dowagers, he could still barely hear it.

However, this is Ciqing Palace after all, the residence of the Empress Dowager, and Wei Guangde did not dare to behave in any disrespectful manner.

Otherwise, you may lose your official position because of this.

Perhaps the two queen dowagers are also discussing this matter.

In fact, this makes sense.

After all, the Ming Dynasty had just sent troops to Liaodong, and was now preparing to send troops to the southwest.

When did the Ming Dynasty have such intensive military operations? Not only the harem, but even many officials of the previous dynasty felt uneasy after learning about this.

Although Sun Tzu said, "War is a matter of great importance to a state, a matter of life and death, a matter of survival or destruction; it must be carefully considered," there are still some stories about militarism and the destruction of a powerful army.

The term "warmongering" is used more frequently in later generations and is easy to understand based on the literal meaning.

However, the theory that a strong army will be destroyed rarely occurs, and many people find it difficult to accept such a theory.

A strong army will be destroyed. In fact, it means that when an army becomes too powerful, it may become complacent, lack of caution and other problems, leading to failure or destruction.

This idiom reminds people to remain humble and cautious when handling things, and not to be too arrogant.

This idiom comes from "Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of the Princes of Wei".

At that time, Prince Lie of Wei was proud of his strong military force. He believed that he had a powerful army and could conquer other countries.

However, the result was that his army was defeated by the enemy in a war, which eventually led to the demise of the Wei State.

The idiom "a strong army will be destroyed" comes from the lesson in this story. In fact, it is somewhat similar to the meaning of "an arrogant army will be defeated."

"Lord Wei, since the cabinet has reached a consensus, I naturally cannot say anything more.

However, I want to remind you that if this war does not start, then it is fine. If it does happen, the Ming Dynasty must win, otherwise..."

"I will immediately submit my resignation and take full responsibility."

Without waiting for Empress Dowager Chen to finish her words, Wei Guangde spoke loudly.

  Is this a military order?

maybe.

But so what? I really thought that once I submitted my petition for retirement, the Empress Dowager would approve it.

Although Zhang Juzheng, the Prime Minister of the court, seemed loyal and honest, it is hard to know what the situation would have been like without the constraint of Wei Guangde.

Although, in history when Wei Guangde did not appear, Zhang Juzheng would have devoted his life to the Ming Dynasty until his death just like Zhuge Kongming, but who can guarantee something that did not happen?

Wei Guangde dared to say this because he was sure that what the two Empress Dowagers wanted was an attitude, an attitude that the Ming Dynasty must win, so that they could feel at ease in the harem.

Wei Guangde bet that the two Empress Dowagers did not dare to gamble, so he spoke in a decisive manner.

"You are too kind, old man."

Queen Mother Chen may not have seen through Wei Guangde's thoughts, and immediately said: "I want to remind you that this matter is of great importance, and you must think twice before acting.

If you are not sure, you must not act rashly.

After all, although Luzon has long been the territory of our Ming Dynasty, our ancestors have already abandoned it, otherwise we would not have gone for such a long time without sending a new governor.

Now that the elder intends to take it back, it is naturally a good thing, but you must be cautious and act after careful consideration to ensure that there is no room for error."

"I will obey your order."

Wei Guangde bowed his head and said.

Wei Guangde left Ciqing Palace, and in the main hall, Empress Dowager Li spoke up, "Sister, do you think that Lord Wei is so martial? Is he good at times and bad at times?"

"Hard to say."

Empress Dowager Chen shook her head slightly and said with a wry smile, "I have had someone look up the palace archives these past two days, and it is indeed as he said, Emperor Chengzu and Emperor Taizong were once appointed Governor-General of Luzon and controlled all power there.

Speaking of which, it is also the territory of our Ming Dynasty.

However, after all, Luzon is thousands of miles away from our Ming Dynasty, so it has never been mentioned again. Perhaps the officials in the court have already forgotten it.

It was only when they reached Old Port that they sent people to recall the troops, but it seemed that they never completed the final journey.

In fact, these two places are indeed the territory of our Ming Dynasty. It would be a great blessing if we could take them back when the emperor is in power."

Having said this, Empress Dowager Chen touched the little emperor Zhu Yijun's head lovingly.

Although not everyone could touch the emperor, it didn't matter who they were. Empress Dowager Chen was his stepmother, and Empress Dowager Li was his biological mother, so naturally it was nothing.

“I just hope that the Buddha will bless me and everything will go well.”

Queen Mother Li also knew that taking back the two places was a great achievement and would bring great benefits to her son, so she did not hesitate and just hoped that everything would go smoothly. (End of this chapter)