I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 211: Repaying Kindness with Kindness and Repaying Evil with Justice

Shen Yiqian and Zheng Renhong got off the sedan chair in front of Xi'an Gate.

The gate here is a two-story building with a glazed tile roof and carved beams and painted rafters. It looks very ordinary, far less majestic than the Meridian Gate, and even less tall and majestic than Gyeongbokgung Palace.

But the two of them felt an inexplicable sense of oppression.

Walking through this door is the power center of the Ming Dynasty.

A word or a piece of paper spoken from here will create waves across the vast country and change the fate of hundreds of millions of people.

He followed Fang Fengshi and Song Yingxing, had his badge checked, and was searched in the gatehouse next door. Led by a eunuch and four guards, he walked into the West Garden trembling with fear.

Walking in from the gate, you can see two large lakes, the Zhonghai Lake on the left and the Nanhai Lake on the right. Ziguang Pavilion is somewhere between the two lakes.

Walking along the corridors and tree-lined avenues, you can see soldiers from the Jinyiwei Military Academy and the Warrior Battalion everywhere.

Entering another door, it was guarded by Jingjun and young military students aged thirteen or fourteen.

It is said that these young military students are the guard camp of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. They are selected from the orphans of officers who died in the southeastern suppression of Japanese pirates and the nine borders. They studied in Yinian Hall for two years, received training, and then were selected to serve in the Western Garden.

He wore a yisa robe, a big hat, and an embroidered spring sword on his waist.

People with bad intentions said that these young military students were the prince’s imperial guards.

They all had a long red pheasant tail feather stuck on their big hats, which looked very majestic and beautiful.

Approaching a loft building, Song Yingxing turned around and whispered, "The Purple Light Pavilion is ahead. We are almost there. The two foreign envoys, please pay attention."

Shen Yiqian and Zheng Renhong were shocked.

Ziguang Pavilion, I heard that the front house is the Silijian, and the main pavilion in the back is where His Royal Highness the Crown Prince handles state affairs, and he often summons ministers here.

Entering from the side door, you will see a five-room attic house with a hip roof and a gable roof on the right. It should be the famous Silijian.

On the left hand side is a two-story attic with a single-eaved hip roof and green glazed tiles with yellow trim, which is seven rooms wide.

The eunuch led the four people to the outermost room, told Shen Yiqian and Zheng Renhong to wait there, and took Fang Fengshi and Song Yingxing into the inner room.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince is greeted by your Highness, the Minister of Rites and the Minister of the Court of Colonial Affairs, Fang Fengshi, and your Highness Song Yingxing, the Director of the Eastern Bureau of Rites of the Court of Colonial Affairs."

Shen Yiqian and Zheng Renhong heard the clear voices of Fang and Song coming from inside, and then a voice that was slightly youthful but very mature.

"Stand up. Minister Fang, Director Song, have the chief and deputy envoys from Korea arrived?"

"To reply to your Highness, I will wait outside."

"Qi Yan, go call him in."

"Yes."

A eunuch who looked no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing a bullfighting suit, a steel fork hat on his head, and holding a whisk in his right hand, walked in and asked with a smile.

"Are you Shen Yiqian and Zheng Renhong, the two envoys of North Korea who are requesting to be appointed as the chief and deputy envoys?"

The two men quickly bowed and replied, "It is us."

"Your Highness the Crown Prince wants to be called. Come in."

Shen Yiqian and Zheng Renhong followed Qi Yan inside and saw a man standing at the top. He was wearing a vermilion dragon robe and a winged crown on his head. He looked to be about fourteen or fifteen years old, but his figure was strong and not much different from that of an ordinary adult.

The two men took a few steps forward, knelt down, and chanted, "Foreign ministers, the scholar of the Hongwenguan of the Joseon Dynasty, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, and the chief envoy of the Ming Dynasty, Shen Yiqian; foreign ministers, the vice envoy of the Joseon State Constitutional Office, Zheng Renhong, pay their respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Yijun raised his right hand and said, "No need to be polite, stand up!"

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

"Qi Yan, give the four of you a seat."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Fang Fengshi and Song Yingxing sat opposite each other a little higher, while Shen Yiqian and Zheng Renhong sat opposite each other a little lower.

Zhu Yijun put his hands in his sleeves and walked back and forth at the top. In the eyes of Shen Yiqian and Zheng Renhong, it seemed that he was just a young man who couldn't settle down.

"I have read Minister Fang's memorial and I think it makes some sense. But there are some things that I must clarify with you in person." As soon as Zhu Yijun opened his mouth, Shen Yiqian and Zheng Renhong immediately calmed down and listened.

"The dignity of the Ming Dynasty was earned by our ancestors and thousands of soldiers who shed their blood and sacrificed their lives. If the northern barbarians disturb the border, we will kill them without mercy! If the Jurchens invade the city, we will destroy their tribe.

The great power of the Ming Dynasty is sacred and inviolable!" Zhu Yijun's voice was powerful and he emphasized every word, leaving no room for doubt.

Fang Fengshi and Song Yingxing, who were sitting in the front, lowered their heads, respectful and obedient.

Shen Yiqian and Zheng Renhong were shocked.

I heard that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, who is three years younger than the king, is stationed in the Western Garden, presiding over the affairs of the Ming Dynasty, and handling them in an orderly manner.

When I saw his true face, he looked young, but he was so majestic that I couldn't face him.

In contrast, their own king was completely dependent on the power of Queen Insun, and the officials were fighting openly and secretly, not taking the new king seriously at all.

"Now, your country's petty official Cui has actually led troops to invade the border, wantonly trampling on the majesty of the Ming Dynasty. If you don't punish me severely, how can I worship my ancestors, how can I meet the soldiers and civilians of the world, and how can I pacify the vassal states?"

Shen Yiqian and Zheng Renhong fell to their knees, kowtowed and said, "We are ignorant officials of our country. We have acted recklessly and offended the holy majesty of the Heavenly Dynasty. We know our crimes. Please have mercy on our country and show the benevolence and forgiveness of the Holy King, and forgive our crimes."

Zhu Yijun tilted his head and looked at the two people: "The virtue of benevolence and forgiveness of a sage king should be practiced by good people. Confucius said, 'How to repay kindness? Repay evil with justice, and repay kindness with kindness.'"

The Ming Dynasty used both kindness and force. Japan had evil ambitions and allowed its soldiers to become pirates, causing trouble in our southeast. The Ming Dynasty raised troops and killed tens of thousands of pirates. Now the Ming Dynasty has a navy that is scheduled to be dispatched every year, taking turns to bombard Japanese ports and coastal towns twice a year.

It has been more than three years. All industries along the coast of Japan have withered, farmland has become barren, and the population is sparse. This is just a way of repaying a grievance!
Korea has been very respectful to Ming, and our Ming has seen it and kept it in mind. For two hundred years, we have been generous and caring. In the past two years, pirates in your country were rampant, especially Japanese pirates. They could not get any advantage in our Ming, so they all ran to your coastal areas to cause trouble.

Our Ming navy brought their own dry food and fought from the west coast to the east coast, killing tens of thousands of pirates and Japanese pirates. Now your country's sea borders are safe, and the soldiers and civilians along the coast enjoy peace. This is repaying kindness with kindness."

Zhu Yijun raised his chin, tilted his head slightly, and said in a grim tone: "Your country has no intention of repaying the favor, but instead wants to take advantage of the chaos to raise troops and invade the border, occupy the land, and trample on the majesty of heaven. Do you want our Ming Dynasty to repay you with justice?"

Shen Yiqian and Zheng Renhong were horrified!
They had heard about the tragic situation in Japan while in North Korea.

The Ming navy went there twice a year, once in the first half of the year and once in the second half of the year, bombarding Japanese ports. First, the prosperous ports were bombarded into ruins, and then the remote ports were not spared.

Later, when all the ports were destroyed, they opened fire on the coastal towns.

Nowadays, even going out to sea to fish in various places in Japan involves huge risks.

Not to mention the Nanman and Korean merchants, apart from the Ming Dynasty merchants who regularly went to the ports of Hirado and Hakata, even the whales were frightened by the sound of cannons and flew around the Japanese islands.

There were only two ports left for foreign trade, Hirado and Hakata, and the fishing industry was almost completely destroyed. It was equivalent to a forced maritime ban on the entire country of Japan.

Even if Japan has mines, it can't withstand this kind of approach.

The shogunate and local lords desperately begged for mercy from the Ming merchants in Hirado and Hakata ports, asking them to inform the Ming Dynasty that Japan knew it was wrong and was willing to repent and make amends, and only asked for forgiveness.

But the Ming court never gave in.

If the Ming Dynasty really did the same thing to Korea, who would be able to bear it?

Seeing Shen Yiqian and Zheng Renhong kowtow and beg for mercy, Zhu Yijun said, "Well, if I wanted to fight you, I would have done it a long time ago. If you hadn't been so respectful in state affairs over the past two hundred years and had accumulated such good character, the Ming navy would have been dispatched long ago.

All right, stand up and sit down to talk. How can you talk while you are kneeling on the ground and kowtowing? "

"Yes."

Shen Yiqian and Zheng Renhong quickly stood up and sat down on the stools.

Zhu Yijun has no time to care about North Korea now.

The Ming Dynasty now has a lot of internal problems to deal with. It will take more than ten years and a lot of effort to revitalize the Northeast alone.

Only when the Northeast is revitalized and becomes a powerful right wing of the Ming Dynasty to control the south and north of the desert, will he have the energy to manage Korea.

Besides, Korea is different from Japan. It also likes internal fighting, but it is not the kind of armed fighting between local lords like in Japan. Instead, it is the internal fighting between civil officials. They fight to the death, but it will not endanger the Ming Dynasty.

"In my opinion, this kind of thing happened because the border between Ming and Korea was not clearly demarcated. It was a mess to know what was Ming and what was Korea, so it gave the villain an opportunity to take advantage of it."

Shen Yiqian and Zheng Renhong nodded repeatedly, saying that what the Crown Prince said made sense.

As long as the border between Ming and Korea is clearly demarcated, Korea will definitely send heavy troops to guard the border. If anyone violates the power of Ming, you don't need to do anything, we will enforce the family law and chop them all off!
Zhu Yijun looked at Fang Fengshi and said, "The Lifanyuan took the lead in this matter, and together with the Surveying and Mapping Bureau of the Supervisory Office, the Ji-Liao Governor's Office, the Liaodong Governor, and other offices, they conducted on-site surveys with Korea, determined the borders one by one, erected boundary stones, and drew maps for customization."

At this point, Zhu Yijun turned to Shen Yiqian and Zheng Renhong and said, "You must give up the land you occupied in the past. What is the basis for the survey? When you survey the border, you should send capable officials to discuss and survey together.

It's settled. Ask your king to sign the map and documents and stamp them with the national seal."

Shen Yiqian and Zheng Renhong listened obediently, not daring to say a word in rebuttal.

(End of this chapter)