Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The conversation between Zhu Youjian and Huang Liji was quickly leaked by those with ulterior motives.

The Koreans in the capital were relieved, believing their scheme had succeeded.

However, the ministers in the court were even more worried when they learned of this.

"Does His Majesty really intend to attack Japan?"

"Does this mean we really have to take action, or just talk?"

Grand Secretary Han Kuang exclaimed in surprise.

He dared to propose attacking Korea because he knew the emperor wouldn't actually take action; what he wanted was the four northern territories, separated from Korea.

Moreover, North Korea is a weak country, so even if a real war breaks out, it would be easy to destroy North Korea.

Japan was different; it was a large country with a population of twenty to thirty million, and it was separated from the Ming Dynasty by an ocean. To destroy this country, it would require mobilizing the entire nation's resources and entering a full-scale wartime state.

Han Kuang felt a headache coming on when he thought about how the Grand Chancellor had been in power during the war last year.

If this kind of thing happens a few more times, he doesn't know how much authority he, as the chief minister, will still have.

Cheng Jiming nodded in confirmation, and then said:
"It's not just Japan. I think His Majesty's attitude is to attack all the neighboring countries that may threaten the Ming Dynasty."

“Annam, Japan, Cambodia, Siam… even the least threatening and most submissive Korea, must be weakened.”

“These are all countries that should not be conquered, which violates the ancestral teachings of the founding emperor.”

Han Kuang didn't care much whether the ancestral precepts were violated.

Few of the sacred precepts left by the founding emperor are truly followed; otherwise, the current emperor would not be able to recreate the rites and music.

Han Kuang was surprised by the emperor's attitude and understood why Liu Zongzhou had angrily scolded him:
"His Majesty has completely disregarded his reputation; the Ming Dynasty is about to face many troubles!"

"If even the ancestral precept of not conquering a country is disregarded, what else can restrain the emperor?"

An emperor who has no scruples is terrifying.

In particular, this emperor held power, and his new army, equipped with modern firearms, was able to suppress all resistance forces.

The thought of the Jiajing Emperor's arbitrary use of corporal punishment after his falling out with Yang Tinghe sent chills down Han Kuang's spine. He also understood why Liu Zongzhou had been so angry and scolded him.

If the emperor is made to take the blame and his reputation is tarnished, he will completely abandon the constraints of benevolence and morality.

Without this constraint, what other way could they restrain the emperor?
Han Kuang couldn't help but slap himself twice, regretting that he had ignored these things for the sake of his personal reputation.

In particular, his reputation is unlikely to be preserved in the future. Given that other vassal states use slaves, he will most likely use slaves after he establishes his own vassal state.

Future generations will surely laugh at him for being a hypocrite, unwilling to take the blame but enjoying the benefits.

People might laugh at him now because he still has servants in his household.

For a moment, Han Kuang beat his chest and stamped his feet, deeply regretting his previous actions:

"I regret it!"

"I should have memorized this."

"What should we do now? How can we persuade His Majesty?"

Cheng Jiming was also helpless. He only realized the danger of the emperor abandoning his restraints after Liu Zongzhou cursed him and the emperor considered attacking Japan.

What they need to do now is to quickly create a new framework for the emperor, so that he won't act recklessly and without restraint.

pondering the emperor's actions, Cheng Ji said:

"Lord Liu has already gone to Annam to help His Majesty restore his reputation. We should stay in the capital and try our best to stall His Majesty." "Now that His Majesty is concerned about the affairs of the vassal states, let's trouble him with those matters."

"We must formulate etiquette and laws for the Court of Colonial Affairs and bring all the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty into the new order."

“This matter will take a long time, and it will also provide a legal basis for the affairs of the vassal states, preventing the emperor from acting arbitrarily.”

This was the emperor's idea for reforming the rites and music system. Han Kuang nodded in agreement.
"It should be so!"

"Although His Majesty controls the affairs of the Court of Colonial Affairs, there must be rules and regulations to govern the vassal states."

"The affairs of the Court of Colonial Affairs should not affect the court. The matter of launching a war should be discussed jointly by the Cabinet and the Five Houses."

Cheng Jiming shared this idea, adding:
"It will not only involve the cabinet and the ministers of the five houses of parliament, but also the council of advisors, the council of nobles, and the future parliament."

"War against vassal states is a major event, and we cannot allow the emperor to issue an edict under any pretext."

"Whether or not we go to war with Japan is irrelevant; the key is to conform to the established etiquette."

Han Kuang nodded in agreement and, together with Cheng Jiming, lobbied the ministers to propose the establishment of a set of rules and regulations concerning the vassal states.
-
This task of re-establishing rites and music was previously proposed either by Zhu Youjian or Liu Zongzhou.

Now that Cheng Jiming has made this suggestion, Zhu Youjian is quite satisfied with him:

"It's reassuring to hand over the Committee on Rites and Music Education to Cheng Jiming."

“Wen Tiren didn’t have this understanding and never made such a suggestion.”

Zhu Youjian was not very satisfied with Wen Tiren's work over the past few years.

He had assumed that this man, who could leave a lasting legacy as a treacherous minister, must have some ability.

However, after observing for several years, he found that apart from being good at political maneuvering, Wen Tiren was mostly methodical in other matters and rarely offered any new ideas.

Such a Grand Secretary might be able to control the court, but he is completely unreliable when it comes to getting things done.

Therefore, he always used Yang Jingchen to keep Wen Tiren in check, and did not treat him specially in the cabinet.

Now that Ji Ming has taken over the committee on rites and music education, things have indeed gone more smoothly.

However, he did not know that Cheng Jiming was worried that he would go too far after crossing the line, so he wanted to use etiquette to restrain his behavior.

He'll probably laugh when he finds out, because while he may not be a saint in terms of morality, he's not that bad either.

He was one thing to be domineering towards foreign powers, but he always acted as a sage ruler domestically.

To him, being a sage ruler was useless—Li Shimin became the Heavenly Khan, but few barbarian tribes remembered him. His current reputation was built on the support of the Han people.

As long as he stood on the side of the Han people and held onto his core support, Zhu Youjian felt that even if his reputation was ruined, it wouldn't be too bad.

At a time when the Ming Dynasty was suffering internal strife and needed external support, he chose to expand outwards, shifting internal conflicts elsewhere:
Imperialism is parasitic and decadent; when internal contradictions become irreconcilable, it will inevitably resort to waging war abroad to divert attention from these contradictions.

"I never imagined I'd end up on this path. I hope the Ming Dynasty can successfully navigate the path of imperialism."

"To prevent retaliation from foreign powers, we need to deprive them of the ability to retaliate."

Therefore, Zhu Youjian decided to clean up the area surrounding the Ming Dynasty to ensure that no single vassal state possessed more than one-tenth the strength of the Ming Dynasty.

Even if the Ming Dynasty weakens in the future, it can still crush them with its size advantage.

Even if vassal states like Annam and Japan weren't completely conquered, they would still be divided up and partitioned.

Therefore, he accepted Cheng Jiming's advice and formulated laws and regulations concerning vassal states, distinguishing between various vassal states and foreign countries, and establishing the power to wage war. (End of Chapter)