I'm really not doing business

Chapter 923: The treacherous minister is treacherous, not stupid!

Empress Dowager Li knew very well that the Ming Dynasty had opened up many governor-general's offices overseas when it opened up the sea. These territories needed to be digested, and the subsequent policy would definitely be to enfeoff members of the royal family, because this was the only solution.

If even the royal family does not set an example, these overseas governor-general offices will ultimately be nothing but illusions.

Empress Dowager Li knew that if she met the emperor or Prince Lu, she would definitely be persuaded. The righteous cause of the country was at the forefront, and Empress Dowager Li could not say anything, so she simply chose not to meet them.

As long as you don't see it, you won't be convinced.

"What do the court officials think about the issue of becoming a vassal?" Zhu Yijun asked about the court officials' attitudes. If the court officials were divided into two factions due to differences at the top level and got caught up in a party struggle similar to the "struggle for the foundation of the country", that would not be the situation Zhu Yijun wanted to see.

In the original historical line, it was not that after Zhang Juzheng was liquidated, the Ming Dynasty immediately turned into a party-based struggle, with people fighting without distinguishing right from wrong in order to defeat their opponents. Instead, it was the long, fifteen-year-long struggle for the foundation of the country that caused the Ming Dynasty to fall into complete division.

If the Ming Dynasty court, the ruling bureaucrats, and the scholar-official class were fighting over the issue of vassalage, Zhu Yijun could choose to compromise. Empress Dowager Li was reluctant to give up her son, but Empress Wang was willing to do so.

"The court officials have no objection." Wang Chonggu immediately expressed his opinion on behalf of the bureaucrats.

You, the emperor, have to overcome the internal conflicts in your family by yourselves. The court officials can wait, but Zhu Yiliu can't. Your Majesty still has five princes and four princesses, which is more than enough.

This was bound to happen sooner or later. Empress Dowager Li could certainly refuse to agree, but in fact it was Zhu Yiliu who would pay the price in the end. Prince Lu could only become a vassal king confined within a circle, no different from the vassal kings in the Ten Princes' Palaces. He would become a complete waste. The vassal restrictions would completely alienate people.

In other words, Wang Chonggu, relying on his old age and contributions to the country, dared to mention Empress Dowager Li. Others did not even dare to mention her. Your emperor's knife is so sharp. It is not a wise choice to get involved in the emperor's family affairs.

The emperor really didn't have any good way to deal with Empress Dowager Li, but he was very good at dealing with court officials!
Any minister who is so blind as to dare to wade into this muddy water would be like an old man hanging himself because he thinks his life is too long.

"Let's discuss it again. I'll think of another solution." After hearing what Wang Chonggu said, Zhu Yijun glanced at Zhang Juzheng and nodded.

The Jie Ku Yuan recently published a 16-volume book titled "Rehabilitation Book", which is a medical book based on research conducted by court officials headed by Zhang Juzheng.

The Rehabilitation Book is divided into 16 chapters, including teeth, intestines, liver, kidneys, bladder, stomach, lungs, etc. It discusses how to carry out comprehensive rehabilitation and restore the body to its best condition through changes in exercise, diet, work and rest, medication, etc.

Zhang Juzheng was actually in very poor health. Years of hard work and dedication to state affairs had caused problems for his health in all aspects.

In the ninth year of Wanli, before Zhang Juzheng had surgery, they really had to fight. Zhang Juzheng really couldn't beat Wang Chonggu. Zhang Juzheng was ten years younger than Wang Chonggu, but in terms of physical health or physical fitness, Zhang Juzheng was not as healthy as Wang Chonggu at that time.

Wang Chonggu could carry a seven-pound seven-star ring-handled sword and run three streets to hunt down his rebellious son Wang Qian. This had been witnessed many times throughout the capital.

But Zhang Juzheng had already shown signs of aging at that time, such as waking up in the middle of the night, waking up suddenly not long after falling asleep, with a rapid heartbeat, chest tightness and shortness of breath, and repeated insomnia; his reaction and memory declined, and his ability to speak fluently became weaker; he had dizziness and deafness, and his eyes would occasionally become blurred for a long time, accompanied by frequent tinnitus and other signs.

After undergoing surgery in the ninth year of Wanli, Zhang Juzheng's surgical problems were indeed gone, but he had to undergo internal medicine treatment for eight years.

After eight years of chili attack and defense in the Chu Guild Hall, Zhang Juzheng's body has recovered to the best condition at this age.

The chief physician of the Jieku Hospital wrote a book called "Rehabilitation Book" about Zhang Juzheng's rehabilitation process.

Zhang Juzheng was a typical authoritarian figure, and his words were his final words. In the court, unless he wanted to stir up factional strife, no one would dare to make comments on the emperor's family affairs.

The issue of Prince Lu's enfeoffment will not completely tear the Ming Dynasty apart like the dispute over the foundation of the country.

"Your Majesty, what did the Ningyuan Marquis promise that made the Governor of Shaanxi dissatisfied?" Zhang Juzheng asked about the conflict between Li Chengliang and Shi Xingyan.

The reason why Li Chengliang was ambushed was that Shi Xingyan did not fulfill the promise Li Chengliang made to the slave chiefs. This was very similar to what happened during the Xingwen and Sanwu periods.

The soldiers were fighting to the death, while the civil officials were desperately holding them back.

Zhang Juzheng, who accepted bribes from military generals and was devoted to strengthening the military, thought that Li Chengliang needed Shi Xingyan's logistics, so he did not dare to cause trouble or pursue the matter too much. Naturally, he had to ask about the specific situation.

Shi Xingyan was impeached not entirely because he was at odds with the emperor. The surprise attack on Li Chengliang was the main reason for the impeachment.

"It's nothing. Marquis Ningyuan was in the wrong and made a boast. Shi Xingyan is not to blame." Zhu Yijun had already burned the secret memorial. The matter was over. As long as there was no need to mention it again, Li Chengliang would accuse the chief of being ungrateful and not even saying thank you.

The specific content of the secret memorial was actually very simple. Li Chengliang promised trade. As long as the slave chief was willing to surrender, the tribes in the Western Regions could obtain sufficient food from the trade.

The important thing is the word "sufficient".

This strategy can be implemented in Liaodong, thanks to the good farming methods of Hou Yuzhao and the natural endowment. After all, Liaodong has no shortage of water resources, one harvest a year, and enough food for Li Chengliang to recruit and fight in batches.

The problem is that the grain self-sufficiency rate in Shaanxi and Gansu is less than 80%, and the rest needs to be obtained from Sichuan, Henan, Suiyuan and Shanxi. This is also the fundamental reason why people will starve to death in Shaanxi and Gansu if there is a slight drought.

There was not even a stone of grain in the trade, let alone sufficient food.

Zhu Yijun did not explain clearly because he naturally wanted to save face for Li Chengliang. It had nothing to do with the conflict between civil and military officials. Shi Xingyan had sufficient supply of the food and grass that Li Chengliang needed, but if he gave more to the trade, there would really be nothing left.

Zhang Juzheng did not ask any more questions. In terms of the determination to strengthen the army, His Majesty was even more resolute than he, Zhang Juzheng. His Majesty said that Li Chengliang was in the wrong, which was obviously true, and it was not good to get angry.

The emperor ordered the execution of 32 officials from Pingliang Prefecture. This matter was successfully passed in the court. The decision was finally made after the Ministry of Justice sentenced him and the Dali Temple reviewed him.

In addition, several corruption cases were also discussed in court. The biggest feature of these corruption cases was that the descendants were unfilial, or in layman's terms, they were cheating their fathers.

Routine bribery, embezzlement of public funds, abuse of power for personal gain, cheating in the imperial examinations, collusion between power and money, etc. were common manifestations of corruption in the Ming Dynasty officialdom.

In Lingshou County of Zhending Prefecture in Northern Zhili, there was a county magistrate named Geng Jingshi. He came from a powerful and wealthy family in the local area, and was also a juren from Zhending Prefecture. Geng Jingshi failed to pass the imperial examination and became a jinshi in three joint examinations. In the second year of Longqing, the 42-year-old Geng Jingshi was appointed an official by the Ministry of Personnel and returned to Lingshou County to serve as county magistrate.

Geng Jingshi had no hope for a future, so he devoted himself to seeking benefits for his descendants. Every year, he collected salaries from four gentry families in Lingshou County, one thousand and two taels of silver from each family. If anyone sued the four families, Geng Jingshi would be responsible for settling the case.

Every year during the academy examination, he sold all the places for scholars from Lingshou County.

Geng Jingshi served as the county magistrate of Lingshou County for twenty years. He pocketed all the silver in the Lingshou County treasury in various ways.

In the third year of Wanli, a bridge was built in Lingshou County. Seven thousand silvers were not enough, so in the end fourteen thousand silvers were spent, of which eleven thousand silvers were taken by Geng Jingshi alone.

At the end of the 14th year of Wanli, Geng Jingshi, who was already 60 years old, retired, but the entire Lingshou County government was filled with his students and former officials. After all, almost all the scholars were the ones he sold their positions to. These scholars controlled all the power in the county government, and several county magistrates were unable to do anything about Geng Jingshi.

The newly appointed county magistrate also had to visit Geng Jingshi in order to do his job smoothly. Otherwise, Geng Jingshi had no ability to do things but was extremely good at doing bad things.

Originally, Geng Jingshi had already retired after achieving success, and his Geng family had become the largest and most luxurious family in Lingshou County. However, Geng Jingshi's grandson caused a big mess and was eventually targeted by the imperial censors.

Geng Jingshi failed to pass the imperial examination in his lifetime, so he placed his hopes on his son. However, his son was also a blockhead. Geng Jingshi almost broke his legs after several reprimands, but his son still achieved nothing.

Geng Jingshi has a little grandson who is quite talented.

Power means long-term glory of a family. Geng Jingshi sent his grandson Geng Yuchun to study at Bai Lu Dong Academy in Jiujiang Prefecture.

This student from a small county in the north was not welcome in the Bai Lu Dong Academy. In order to maintain the relationship between his classmates, Geng Yuchun spent money lavishly. He paid for all the expenses of his classmates, including wine and women in brothels, traveling, poetry gatherings, outings, etc.!
All his classmates thought that Geng Yuchun was from a wealthy and powerful family in the north, and they flattered him in every way.

But Liang Zuling, the governor of Jiangxi, happened to be from Zhending. He knew very well that the Geng family of Lingshou was not a noble family. The luxurious display of beautiful women and carriages attracted Liang Zuling's attention.

Originally, the censor Liang Zuling was just suspicious, but Geng Yuchun started competing for wealth with others because of jealousy over a prostitute in Jiujiang Prefecture, and the censor immediately determined that this was an indicator of promotion!
In the end, Geng Jingshi was thrown into prison at the age of 63. According to the Ming Dynasty's system of collective punishment, Geng Yuchun had no chance to take the imperial examination. Being exiled to Southeast Asia was already a lenient treatment.

There are a total of six similar cases, either the sons or the grandsons, cheating their fathers and grandfathers.

Zhu Yijun approved the handling results of these six cases. There was no beheading, but confiscation of property was inevitable. Most of the rich and powerful children in the family were exiled to Southeast Asia.

Zhu Yijun frowned and said, "In Wang Ci Fu's book Self-cultivation, there are four pieces of advice. Wang Ci Fu explained the matter so clearly. Could it be that they didn't read it?"

Wang Chonggu even wrote a book on how to be a treacherous minister, and he wanted to teach it personally. But the result is that the treacherous ministers in the world are really a bit embarrassed. Treacherous ministers are treacherous, not stupid!

Wang Chonggu's four pieces of advice are: keep personal relationships a secret, don't show off your wealth, don't say nonsense, and don't argue.

There are only sixteen words in total, and it is very easy to understand.

Personal relationships are confidential. No matter how good the relationship is, you should keep the secret to yourself and never tell anyone, otherwise you will bring disaster to the benefactor who helped you.

The matter may be small, but your benefactor may have been promoted step by step and held a high position. This small matter will become a sharp knife in the hands of political enemies, stabbing the benefactor in the vital point at the critical moment.

For example, the cases in which Shen Shixing and Wang Jiaping were impeached and demoted three levels were not big matters, but once they were exposed at the critical moment of promotion, their careers would be ruined.

The censors impeached Shen Shixing and Wang Jiaping not to put them to death, but to prevent them from going too far during the emperor's southern tour.

It is very easy to understand that one should not show off wealth. If one's background, family situation, the source of money in one's family, etc. are all clean, one should still be modest and cautious. Do not show off one's financial resources easily to avoid being targeted and attracting scammers and robbers.

If you are not clean, you must be more humble, otherwise you will bring disaster to your family.

Geng Yuchun brought great disaster to his grandfather, which attracted the attention of the Censorate and even attracted the attention of the emperor.

Don’t speak of absurd things. If you have done something absurd, never tell anyone. Keep your mouth shut and keep the secret to yourself. Otherwise, it is not scary if these absurd things become a laughing stock. What is scary is that they will become a handle and you will be blackmailed by others, and eventually you will slide into the abyss and there will be no recovery.

Not arguing means not to quarrel with others, let alone to threaten, intimidate, or show off the secrets you know just for the sake of a few words. Don't brag or talk nonsense, otherwise you will cause criticism and be weighed down.

These four pieces of advice are the four most important self-cultivation in "The Five-Step Snake's Self-cultivation".

Zhu Yijun liked this book very much. He read it over and over again, and gained new insights every time. They were all about how to protect oneself in the officialdom, the world's greatest place of fame and fortune.

Treacherous ministers must protect themselves, and loyal and wise ministers must protect themselves even more.

The Ming Emperor also believed that every Ming official must have a copy of the book and study it day and night to remind themselves not to make mistakes.

But it seems that this is not the case. Similar cases keep happening one after another.

They seemed to look down on the experience of Wang Chonggu, the treacherous minister.

"Your Majesty, I can't hold it back. I have to show off. If I don't show off my ability to break the rules, how can I show that I am different from ordinary people?" Zhang Juzheng put the six corruption cases impeached by the Censorate together and said sincerely. Showing off secrets, wealth, family background, and absurdity are essentially showing off the process of breaking the rules without being punished, so that you can appear very special and superior to others.

Perhaps some old-timers in officialdom can endure it, but their descendants may not have such patience.

This kind of showing off is illegal in public and unworthy of one's position in private, and it may even cause trouble.

After hearing Zhang Juzheng's answer, Zhu Yijun thought for a while and said with emotion: "The black bear demon was taken in by the Bodhisattva as the guardian god of Luojia Mountain. He asked the Bodhisattva: They say that this monk has severed his worldly ties and his golden sea has dried up. Why can't Elder Jinchi let go of his robes?"

"The Bodhisattva said: If I do not put on this cassock, how will sentient beings know that my earthly ties have been severed and the golden sea has dried up?"

"That's true."

Humans are not rational animals, and it is extremely difficult to expect human rationality.

That robe, or the obsession to show off one's superiority, is so important that one would never be content without putting it on.

Geng Yuchun was a good student. He could have won recognition from others by passing imperial examinations, but he didn't. He just wanted people to know that he was rich. He felt that living in a foreign land would not bring trouble to his family.

Zhang Juzheng, Wang Chonggu, Qi Jiguang, Zhang Xueyan, Shen Li and many other court officials looked at each other. They did not remember such a passage in Journey to the West, but the truth was easy to understand.

If you don't let him show off, it would be more painful than killing him.

"You have brought this upon yourself." Zhu Yijun signed his seal, announcing the final outcome of the six corruption cases.

These six corruption cases are not the end. Such cases happen today and will happen tomorrow. The most important thing about an effective supervision system is how to maintain it. The Ming Dynasty must persist in fighting corruption and cracking down on the scale and impact of corruption.

"Your Majesty, Dao Lansheng has requested an audience with you three times and has kowtowed in the Ministry of Rites for three days. Do you want to be allowed to see you?" Shen Li said with embarrassment. Ever since your Majesty brought him back to the capital, Dao Lansheng has been living and eating in the Ministry of Rites, clamoring to see your Majesty.

The crying was like that his own son Dao Shigong had died, instead of Laos having won.

"Feng Daban, let the eunuch bring Dao Lanshengxuan over. It's not decent for you to cry all day long." Zhu Yijun said with a smile.

The Ming Dynasty had been preventing Dao Lansheng from meeting the emperor because it was also unclear what had happened in the Battle of Vientiane.

Although the battle report was very clear, the Ming Dynasty, both inside and outside of the country, remained cautious and carefully confirmed the results of the battle. Only after they were sure that it was correct did they announce their victory.

The fact is very clear that it was the 1,200 troops who repelled the 20,000 vanguards of the Toungoo Burmese bandits and Annan.

Qi Jiguang once told the Emperor that the real situation on the battlefield would go through four stages: chaos, rectification, twists and turns, and the dust settling.

When the war just ended, there would always be all kinds of true and false news appearing, and then certain news would be reported back to the capital, but this news was not necessarily true, and one had to wait for a turning point or further confirmation before the dust finally settled.

This process is repeatedly reflected in the battle reports.

In fact, Daming was not sure whether it had really won or how it had won. Only after it figured it out did it announce its victory.

"Your Majesty, I, the Southern Chief Dao Lansheng, pay my respects to His Majesty. Long live Your Majesty. Long, long live Your Majesty! I am deeply grateful." Dao Lansheng knelt as soon as he entered the Wenhua Hall. He was extremely respectful and obedient. He did not dare to make any flaws in his etiquette, for fear of displeasing the emperor.

"Master Dao's Chinese is much more fluent than before. Please don't be polite." Zhu Yijun said with a smile, "Sit down."

"I received the news of victory in Songjiang Prefecture, but I dared not confirm it. Subsequent battle reports came in one after another, and I was convinced that it was true, so I summoned Dao Tongzhi. Here is Dao Shigong's handwritten memorial, Dao Tongzhi can take a look."

Zhu Yijun finally confirmed the battle situation after receiving Dao Shigong's memorial.

"I am terrified!" Dao Lansheng's eyes darkened when he opened the memorial. His son's Chinese studies were not very good, and his handwriting was extremely ugly. There were copies from the Ministry of Rites next to it to prevent Your Majesty from admitting mistakes.

“Being able to write memorials in Chinese shows your respect. Laos has not heard of the king’s rule for 170 years. It has only been a few years. I am very pleased that you can write in Chinese. What is important is the content of the letter.” Zhu Yijun waved his hand. He didn’t care. As long as they were willing to use Chinese, within a few decades, Laos would be a prefecture of the Ming Dynasty.

As an eyewitness to the battlefield, what Dao Shigong wrote was indeed a bit exaggerated. In his memorials, the Ming army was like heavenly soldiers and generals who knew magic. The barrage of bullets was like a raging dragon pouncing on the enemy formation, and the raging dragon was tumbling in the enemy formation, and every swing of its tail resulted in the deaths of dozens of people.

Zhu Yijun watched for a long time before he realized that Dao Shigong was talking about the scene of artillery shells exploding.

To Dao Shigong, cannons, muskets, and linear formations were no different from the magic spells of heavenly soldiers and generals.

Dao Lansheng stood up from his chair again, knelt on the ground, and said sincerely: "This time it is really very critical. Laos is struggling in the cracks. In fact, it is a tacit understanding between Toungoo and Annan. They don't want to border directly, otherwise there will be endless disputes."

"This time, the two of them attacked together to kill our people. Fortunately, the heavenly soldiers arrived and the two thieves dared not to attack."

Dao Lansheng had been the leader of the South for a long time, and he had suffered a lot of humiliation. He knew very well the purpose of Toungoo and Annan. Keeping Laos was to prevent direct conflict between the two countries.

The buffer zone of Laos has become meaningless under the relentless pressure of the Ming Dynasty.

"This time Siam just stood by and watched, refusing to accept the fleeing Laotian people." Zhu Yijun mentioned a detail in the war situation. Siam's role was not glorious either. It was not that Zhu Yijun used coercion, inducement, and intimidation to make Laotian follow the Ming Dynasty wholeheartedly.

Naresuan, the Black Prince of Siam, was a very ambitious king.

In the fourth year of the Longqing reign, the Toungoo King Mang Yinglong attacked Siam, broke into the city of Dacheng, captured Naresuan and the seal bestowed by the Ming Dynasty on the King of Siam.

Narexuan fled back to Siam the following year and led the Siamese army and civilians to resist Mang Yingli. During the Wanli period, Mang Yingli provoked the Ming Dynasty and was beaten up by the Ming Dynasty. Narexuan finally recovered the old capital, recaptured Dacheng City, and even sent troops to attack Zhenla (now Cambodia), biting off a piece of meat.

This time, the King of Toungoo, Mang Yingli, and the four Annan clans attacked Laos. Wouldn't the King of Siam, Naresuan, have to settle both old and new grudges and send troops to Laos to help it repel the enemy?

But Naresuan did not, and Siam rejected the fleeing Laotian people.

Obviously, the Ming Dynasty's aggressive offensive in Indochina aroused Narexuan's fear, and Narexuan did not want the Ming Dynasty to continue to expand its direct influence in Indochina.

"This situation is much more dangerous than I thought." Dao Lansheng bowed again. He was still a little scared when he thought about it now.

The emperor never lied. The handwritten letter from Dao Shigong, which was so ugly that it could not be shown to anyone, was filled with gratitude to His Majesty the Emperor and hatred for Siam's betrayal.

When Siam was defeated by Toungoo, Dao Lansheng took in the fleeing people of Siam and the people of the two major families of Lu and Li. Laos was very poor, but it still provided them with food and clothing. This led to the follow-up of Naresuan leading the Siamese army and civilians to resist, and the restoration of Siam.

Even if Siam did not directly send troops to help Laos resist the enemy, it would be a bit unkind to add insult to injury at this time.

"Fortunately, the Ming army was powerful and defeated the invading enemy. Of course, your son Dao Shigong performed well. He led the soldiers to charge into the battlefield personally and covered the front battlefield from the flank. Otherwise, the outcome would be unknown." Zhu Yijun praised Dao Shigong.

Dao Shigong wanted to die for his country.

These are what Dao Shigong said in person to the Ming army and the people of Vientiane. At the most critical moment, he did not ask the Ming army to protect him and escape safely, but instead wanted to live and die together with the Laos.

He not only said it, he also did it, with only thirty elephants on both wings, preventing the enemy from attacking from both sides.

There were 200 soldiers from the Ming Dynasty's capital camp and 1,000 Han soldiers from Yunnan. Everyone had firearms and they had plenty of gunpowder, but they lacked the cover of light cavalry and the support of heavy cavalry, so they were not so invincible.

The enemy is swarming in and the possibility of defeat is extremely high.

The line formation is not just about musketeers, but also artillery, light cavalry and heavy cavalry, none of which can be missing. This is a complete system. The one that fought in Vientiane was just a simplified version of a simplified version.

What Dao Shigong did was to set an example by taking the lead in the charge, wearing armor and holding sharp weapons himself. He did not leave the battlefield for twelve days and provided cover for the musketeers.

Zhu Yijun said very seriously: "Only by strengthening oneself can there be a new life. If Laos does not strengthen itself, and keeps wavering, looking back and forth, and being indecisive, no matter how powerful the Ming army is, it will be of no use."

"The King of Joseon was defeated in one month, and the Japanese pirates swept through Joseon in one month, covering a distance of 1,800 miles. This is a typical example."

Korea and Laos were both vassal states of the Ming Dynasty and faced the same bad situation, with both being invaded by powerful enemies. However, their performances were completely different. King Yi Sun of Korea was afraid of death and even wanted to make peace with the Japanese pirates. Dao Shigong was aiming to die for his country from beginning to end, and yet he lost nothing.

The ending was completely opposite.

"I will follow your Majesty's instructions." Upon hearing this, Dao Lansheng bowed again to express his gratitude. In fact, he did not understand what His Majesty meant, but it did not matter. As long as he followed the pace of the Ming Dynasty, he would do whatever His Majesty asked him to do. As for the things like reason, the Ming Dynasty was sure of them.

Dao Lansheng bowed again and left the Cultural Hall. He had nothing to offer to thank His Majesty for his grace. Anyway, after this battle, no powerful ruler in Laos would oppose joining the Ming Dynasty.

After Dao Lansheng left, Shen Li spoke up, "Siam pays tribute every year and is very respectful, but now it seems that the King of Siam is somewhat dissatisfied with the Ming's expansion in the southwest."

"We can consider importing some grain from Siam."

Shen Li didn't finish his words. Was it really just a little imported food? The specialty of Siam was the foreign slaves.

Siam paid tribute every year, including 30 elephants, 60 foreign slaves, and 170,000 kilograms of sumac, pepper, and agarwood.

Siam has always wanted to sell its specialty foreign slaves, but Ming merchants rarely went to Siam, so this market has never been opened.

According to statistics from the Malacca City Shipping Company, every year the red-haired foreign merchant ships would sell one to two thousand strong and healthy foreign slaves to the Diu Governor's Office and the Mozambique Governor's Office.

The soil of Siam was barren and unsuitable for farming, but the land of Rahu was flat and fertile, and the crops were very productive. Rahu became strong and annexed Siam, thus calling itself the Kingdom of Siam Rahu.

Siam's grain production was mainly concentrated in the Luohu area. During the Yuan Dynasty, Luohu became increasingly powerful and annexed Siam, which led to the establishment of Siam.

Siam's grain production was not very high. When merchants from the Ming Dynasty went to Siam, their warehouses would grow imported grain as well as foreign slaves.

"Okay." Zhu Yijun did not object.

When Wan Shihe was alive, he always said that when the Ming Dynasty had dealings with foreign countries, it should abandon those roundabout and high-brow language and instead use words that the barbarians could understand. In other words, if the barbarians did not obey, it would just need to slap them in the face and they would understand.

This proposition, which is not in line with the Nine Classics of the State and is about being accommodating to distant people, has actually never been recognized by the literati, but reality has repeatedly proved the correctness of this statement.

(End of this chapter)