The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

Chapter 1066

Upon entering the capital, Pan Yun parted ways with them.

The third prince, noticing that Miaozhen was also missing, asked Miaohe, "Where is your senior sister?"

Miaohe: "Senior sister has her own things to do. You only asked me and senior brother to be your translators. She is not your subordinate."

The third prince frowned slightly. He didn't understand why his elder brother didn't ask the more intelligent Miaozhen to be the translator, but instead asked Miaohe and Tao Yanbai.
He looked around and saw the bustling city of Beijing, and he couldn't help but feel envious.

He thought Chang'an and Luoyang were already prosperous enough, but he didn't expect the capital to be even more prosperous than the two places. With carved beams and painted rafters, crowds of people, and a dazzling array of goods, most of which he didn't recognize.

No wonder Esen was determined to move south and restore the glory of the former Yuan Dynasty; those Golden Families also longed to unify the world and restore their former glory.

The areas occupied by the Ming Dynasty were incredibly prosperous and rich in resources.

People from the Court of State Ceremonial came to pick them up.

Recently, envoys from various tribes on the grasslands have been arriving one after another. They are very skilled at receiving guests and take them directly to the post station.

This year's celebration of the Imperial Preceptor's birthday was even more lively than the last time the Emperor's birthday was celebrated, so the Court of State Ceremonial prepared several additional residences to serve as post stations.

The people from the various tribes on the grassland were arranged in two adjacent houses, guarded by imperial guards outside the gates and with low-ranking officials from the Court of State Ceremonies stationed inside, in order to prevent them from causing trouble.

The eighteen tribes of the grassland sent envoys, each with twenty envoys. Among them, the tribal chiefs of seven tribes came in person, while the sons of the chiefs of the eleven tribes, namely the princes, brought their envoys.

The imperial court summoned them specifically to celebrate the Grand Preceptor's birthday, but the main purpose was to intimidate and appease them, to make them behave and not cause trouble for the court.

The relationship between the two sides is not what it used to be, the Ming Dynasty is not the Ming Dynasty it used to be, and the emperor is not the emperor he used to be. Both sides should be more sensible.
The above is deterrence.

The reassurance is that the grasslands are bitterly cold, and the herders suffer every time there is a severe blizzard.

Under heaven, all land belongs to the emperor; within the borders, all people are his subjects. The emperor also cares deeply for his people. Therefore, if everyone's common goal is the well-being of the grassland people, they should cooperate for mutual benefit.

As long as they listen to him, the emperor will ensure they are well-fed and clothed, and they will not freeze or starve to death even in the face of wind and snow.

Once all the envoys from the grassland tribes had arrived, the emperor first gathered them together for a talk.

Afterwards, the emperor held a court meeting to discuss the development of the grasslands, inviting the envoys to participate, and then finalized several measures for the grasslands.

The envoys didn't really understand much, but they knew that the imperial court not only opened up trade, allowing goods from the grasslands to enter the Central Plains, but also allowing goods from the Central Plains to enter the grasslands.
Even more so, they wanted to open community schools, veterinary stations, and workshops on the grasslands.

"Open a workshop on the grassland?"

The emperor smiled and nodded, saying, "There are many cattle and sheep on the grasslands. Not only is their meat edible, but their fur also has other uses. In addition, there are various minerals and medicinal herbs, all of which can be mined."

"Of course, iron and copper mines throughout the land belong to the state and are mined by the imperial court. However, mining also requires manpower. At that time, the surplus labor force on the grasslands can work in the workshops, and the money earned can offset some of the risks of natural disasters encountered while herding."

One of the tribal chiefs couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Iron ore? Grasslands?"

He chuckled and said, "Your Majesty, what kind of joke are you making? There's only grass and water on the grasslands, where would you find iron ore?"

If there were iron ore on the grasslands, would they need to go to the trouble of smuggling iron tools from the Central Plains?
The Emperor said, “Whether we have it or not, so what? That’s the Ministry of Works’ business. Now that the borders of the three northern tributary prefectures have been demarcated, I hope you can cooperate with the court to do your duty and work with Kuangye to build up the grasslands. One day, the grasslands will be as prosperous as the Central Plains.”

How is that possible?

The tribal leaders thought to themselves, there are only a few plots of land on the grassland suitable for planting. They need to exchange cattle and sheep with people from the Central Plains for grain, tea, salt and cloth. How many cattle and sheep would they need to raise to be enough?

They felt that unless they moved to the Central Plains, they would never be as wealthy as the Central Plains.

However, since they were under someone else's roof, they had no choice but to comply, so they decided to agree first.

Indeed, what they had seen after entering the Central Plains these past few days was far beyond their expectations.

The wealth and power of the Central Plains also exceeded their expectations.

In fact, even at this point, the envoys from various tribes were still very puzzled as to how the Ming Dynasty had lost to Esen back then.
They also sent troops to participate in that battle back then, and even most of the envoys who came today participated in that battle.

They themselves were completely confused.

"How exactly did Esen win that battle and capture the Ming emperor back then?"

"Who knows? It was the central route that did it. I was in the western route army at the time."

"I was on the East Road at the time, and I was completely stunned when I received the news. The East Road is not easy to play on; I had lost three games in a row..."

"The western route was also difficult, strangely enough. Only the central route, facing hundreds of thousands of reinforcements from the imperial court, not only won but also captured the late emperor."

"Shh, stop talking, there are palace servants secretly watching us."

One of the well-informed messengers glanced at the scene and lowered his voice, saying, "That's someone from the Empress Dowager's palace. We killed her son; will she seek revenge?"

"Empress Dowager? Isn't the Empress Dowager's son the Emperor?"

"Tsk, fool, the royal family has two empress dowagers, one of whom is the late emperor's mother."

"I was also very scared before I came. I was worried that the emperor would avenge his brother. I thought that this was a trap, but the three-day meeting seemed to indicate that the emperor was genuinely trying to win us over. Under these circumstances, he would definitely not kill us."

The third prince was young, and Tieliangut was located in the far west, a small city and a small place, so he had barely spoken for the past three days, only listening. At this moment, he couldn't help but speak up, saying, "That's right, I also think the court doesn't want to kill us."

He paused for a moment and then said in a low voice, "I don't think we can beat them either. Do you know that the imperial court has a kind of telegraph machine that can transmit messages over long distances?"

"I know! I've been there, but I don't know if it's true or not."

Some people doubted it was fake: "How could such a thing exist in this world? Maybe they're just creating a smokescreen to scare us."

“From the moment we entered the country, we saw people queuing up in an orderly fashion to send and receive mail at every stop. How could this be fake?”

"Why is it impossible? There are so many people in the Ming Dynasty. They can just find a dozen or twenty people anywhere and put on a show for us, just like a play. The Han people are very cunning and complicated. We can't be careless."

The envoy's suspicions quickly aroused doubts in everyone's hearts. They looked at each other and began to have doubts.

Just then, the Ministry of War in the capital city received an urgent telegram.

The telegraph operator immediately delivered the translated telegram, and the Left Vice Minister of War rushed into the palace, interrupting the small court assembly: "Your Majesty, an urgent report from Jianzhou Guard: Japan has invaded Korea, and Korea has lost three cities in succession. King Yi Do of Korea has submitted a petition for aid, and Jianzhou Guard has relayed the message!"

Zhu Qiyu frowned upon hearing this: "Why is Japan invading our neighboring country again?" The cabinet ministers were also somewhat angry and began to whisper among themselves: "The Japanese are unruly and truly despicable. They have repeatedly invaded our southeastern coast. In the past two years, due to the strength of our Ming Dynasty's navy, they have rarely invaded. Unexpectedly, they have set their sights on Korea again."

Some officials have suggested that Japan should be given a stern warning and ordered to withdraw from Korea.

Zhu Qiyu said irritably, "If I tell them to leave, will they obediently leave?"

In front of numerous envoys from the grasslands, Zhu Qiyu showed no respect for himself, and said with a stern face: "If my words were so effective, the Japanese pirate problem along the southeast coast would not have remained unresolved to this day. In my opinion, instead of wasting time warning and warning again, we should directly send troops to aid Korea, drive the Japanese out, and make them realize that if they are hurt, they will know to restrain themselves and that it will hurt if they extend their reach too far."

As he spoke, the emperor's gaze swept over the grassland envoys.

Many princes could not understand Chinese, or could only understand simple Chinese, but the officials in the procession could, and they translated for their masters in hushed tones.

Miaohe, who mingled with the envoys and entered the palace to serve as the third prince's translator, had bright eyes and translated for the prince word by word.

The third prince glanced at the emperor on the dragon throne in surprise.

For the past three days, the emperor had been very amiable and had a somewhat mild temper. Most of the tough talk came from Yu Qian, the man with the black beard. When he spoke, it was always to appease them. They thought he had no temper at all, but unexpectedly, his temper suddenly flared up and he became quite assertive.

The third prince was somewhat uneasy.

Many people share his anxiety.

Is the emperor using this as a warning to others, making an example of someone?

No, they have already been defeated.

Before they could figure it out, Yu Qian stepped forward and agreed with the emperor, believing that a large army could be sent to aid Korea immediately.

“Li Song, the general of Liaodong, is brave in battle. He can be ordered to lead 5,000 troops into Korea,” Yu Qian thought quickly, then added, “The Five Military Commissions once sent Pan Yu, a military advisor, to inspect Liaodong and Nurgan. He is still in the Northeast. He can be appointed as the vanguard to assist Li Song in driving out the Japanese pirates.”

Zhu Qiyu sat up straight: "Pan Yu?"

"Yes, Pan Yu, Military Advisor of the Five Armies Commandery."

Zhu Qiyu: "Is he the Imperial Advisor's elder brother?"

Yu Qian nodded with a serious face: "That's right, he is indeed the Imperial Preceptor's second elder brother."

Zhu Qiyu gave Yu Qian a meaningful look, and after a moment's thought, he agreed to his proposal and immediately ordered the Ministry of War to issue orders to Jianzhou Guard and Pan Yu.

The Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War immediately accepted the order and left.

The other ministers exchanged glances, some frowning, but none of them said a word in front of these grassland envoys.

But after the court session ended, they went out for a walk and then came back, blocking Yu Qian at the entrance of the main hall and criticizing him: "How can you be so careless about matters of state?"

Yu Qian: "Speed ​​is of the essence in war. Li Tao is a man of great talent. The fact that he lost three cities in a row and had to ask the Ming Dynasty for help shows how critical the situation is. At this time, it is better to send troops quickly than slowly. It is best to make a decision as soon as possible."

"But we just finished fighting the Oirat Tatars, and it is precisely the time for us to recuperate. How can we rush to send troops?"

"The Japanese took advantage of this opportunity to attack Korea because they knew exactly what was wrong with them." Yu Qian had three most wicked people in his life. The first was corrupt officials, the second was the Northern Hu (a nomadic tribe), but now that the Northern Hu had been pacified and a tributary state had been established, this evil was eliminated; the third was the Japanese pirates.

He said, “The Japanese are wolfish and ambitious. When the late emperor was alive, they kept attacking our southeast coast. The most serious time, they took the heavy gifts from our court and then slaughtered and plundered all the way from Quanzhou to the sea. They treated human life as worthless and their nature was like that of livestock. Once we are tainted by them, I am afraid the situation will be even worse than the invasion of the Northern Barbarians.”

"In the past two years, thanks to the navy's diligent training and the Ministry of War's provision of dozens of cannons, the Japanese pirates have been largely wiped out. Seeing that they could not land on the southeast coast, they turned to attack Korea," Yu Qian said. "Not to mention that Korea has always been respectful to our Great Ming, for the sake of our Great Ming's safety, we cannot allow the Japanese pirates to set foot in Korea."

Cao Nai frowned: "Are you worried that the Japanese pirates will land in Korea and invade Jianzhou Guard?"

Yu Qian nodded: "North of Liaodong is the Nurgan Regional Military Commission, which is also a tributary state with a complex situation. If the Japanese pirates are allowed to land there, the consequences will be endless."

Chen Xun wiped his face in distress and gritted his teeth, saying, "Fight! If we're going to fight, let's fight while the Ming Dynasty still has its prestige. Let's strike while the momentum is still there and end the war for the next five years. That way, the Ming Dynasty can focus on developing its people's livelihood and economy."

Yu Qian shared this view: "This time, we must give them a good beating and let all the tribes of the grasslands see the might of our Great Ming!"

Minister of Works Hu Cheng suddenly said, "Our Ministry of Works tested the Red Coat Cannon last month. Its range and power have increased, and its weight has been reduced by eighty-nine catties, so it can be placed on the ship."

Yu Qian's eyes lit up, and he asked, "How many doors are there?"

"Three gates".

Yu Qian: "Send it to them! Tell Li Song to give them a good beating, make sure they get their way back, preferably..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but everyone understood what he meant.

Hu Ying stroked his beard and said, "We have quite a few people in Japan. Since we're going to fight, let's inform them in advance and send a telegram to them, asking them to immediately send an envoy to inform Japan and order them to withdraw their troops from Korea immediately."

That's right, it's a notification.

As the suzerain state, the Ming Dynasty had this right!
Yu Qian agreed to his proposal.

So, without the emperor or entering the cabinet, they simply stood at the entrance of the main hall and discussed how to handle the war.

Within a quarter of an hour, all six ministries had taken on their respective tasks, and even officials from the Court of State Ceremonial were dragged out to work at the Ministry of Rites.

They needed to use a telegram to discuss with the Chinese officials in Japan how to inform Japan about this matter.

Jianzhou Guard soon received the imperial order.

Li Song, the general of Liaodong, was in Jianzhouwei at the time. When he saw the newly translated telegram, he was stunned for a moment before he came to his senses: "Gather five thousand troops and prepare three days' worth of provisions. We will set out for Korea early tomorrow morning, with two thousand cavalry going first."

The adjutant responded.

"Where is Pan Yu? Is he still in Jianzhou Garrison?"

“Yes,” the adjutant said, twitching his lips. “This morning he was still clamoring that his wounds were healed and that he wanted to return to the Nurgan Regional Military Commission, so I sent men to stop him.”

“Good for him. Tell him that he is leading a cavalry vanguard and will set off immediately.”

The adjutant acknowledged the order and then passed it on, before asking in bewilderment, "General, why is the imperial order issued so quickly? His Majesty is being far too kind to Korea."

"What do you know?" Li Song said, "Our Great Ming has always been generous and kind. If someone treats us with respect, we will repay them tenfold. Among these vassal states, apart from Ryukyu, Korea is the most respectful to our Great Ming. Whether it is to prevent Japanese pirates from entering our Great Ming through Korea, or for the sake of Korea itself, this war must be fought, and it must be fought well!"

(End of this chapter)