Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 274: Transcendent Justice

When going from Zunhua to Tianjin, the imperial carriage passed through Fengrun County and then went southeast from Liangcheng. At this moment, it was stationed in Lutai.

"This is where Emperor Taizong of Tang swore an oath to his army before his eastern expedition to Goryeo. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Lulong Army stayed behind to build Liangcheng. They also built Haikou Town and stationed a Lutai Army here, hence the name."

There were many successful candidates in the Privy Council, and they knew historical stories at will.

What stories happened here between Zhou Dewei and Li Cunxu during the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties? How the Liao and Song dynasties confronted each other here in Lutai in the past are all old stories.

Now it is also prosperous.

The Changlu Salt Field also had a salt pond here. Merchants who traveled north via the canal to Tianjin Weicheng and wanted to go to Liaodong had to pass through here to Shanhaiguan at the eastern end of Yongping Prefecture, where the official road passed.

"The place where Emperor Taizong of Tang swore his oath to conquer Goryeo?" Zhu Changluo smiled as he looked at the wine presented by the locals. "If this goes smoothly, we can drink this Lutaichun when celebrating. Let's go back to the palace first and discuss Nurhaci's reply."

It was a rare trip out, and there was nothing else to do on the way, so Zhu Changluo had the opportunity to look around.

News has arrived from outside Fushun Pass. As a key figure in the future strategy for the Northeast, Nurhaci's reaction is certainly worth careful consideration.

When they arrived at the temporary hall set up in the house purchased by Changminghao in this important trade town, Yuan Keli, Sun Chengzong and other minor officials from the Military Strategy Hall who stayed there were also called over.

They listened to the news brought back by the envoys sent to the Jianzhou Jurchens.

Nurhaci's people are not in Hetuala City and are currently attacking the Ula tribe.

The person in charge who stayed in Hetuala City directly expressed on Nurhaci's behalf that he would obey the order. At the same time, he began to prepare gifts for the pilgrimage, and requested to present Nurhaci's four daughters as maids, and requested to allow more sons to study in Beijing, expressing his full obedience and desire to be ruled by the king.

"Li Qing, Fei Bai, and Ji Bo, Ru Qi, you have either been in Liaodong for a long time or are familiar with Nurhaci. Tell us your judgments one by one."

Zhu Changluo looked at Yuan Keli, Xiong Tingbi, Xing Jie and Li Chengliang, especially Li Chengliang.

The emperor said it in order, so Yuan Keli thought for a while and said one thing first: "Nurhaci must have known the news in advance. The Ula tribe is asking for the great Mingzhi Jianzhou Jurchens' crimes, not in danger of survival. Since the Jianzhou Jurchens were unified, there has been no war to annihilate the tribe, and Nurhaci no longer needs to lead the army in person, and has always only sent his generals to go."

"It's not surprising. I asked them to trade directly in the border market, so it was expected that there would be many spies."

"It seems that the Jianzhou Jurchens are deeply afraid of being punished by the Ming Dynasty. They offered their own daughter as a maid, requested to send their own son to the capital, and even said that they are loyal to the king..." Yuan Keli looked at Xiong Tingbi, "Fei Bai, what do you think?"

He didn't want to express all his opinions in one breath and wanted to leave the opportunity to the younger Xiong Tingbi.

"Nurhaci wanted to unify the Jurchens and establish a kingdom. This is known to everyone inside and outside the border." Xiong Tingbi cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, although I have only been in Liaodong for a short time, everyone in the border army says so."

Zhu Changluo nodded and said, "We have learned from the Liao and Jin dynasties. If the Jurchens were unified, it would be a serious threat to the Ming Dynasty. The border troops are saying this because they hope that the court will make a decision soon and send troops to eliminate the Jianzhou Jurchens while they are still weak. Continue."

"Yes. Nurhaci probably thought so too. After all, the Ula tribe impeached him first, and His Majesty ordered them to bring all the imperial edicts to the court. Nurhaci was naturally afraid that the Ming Dynasty would find an excuse to unite with the Yehe and Ula tribes to attack the Jianzhou Jurchens. What Yuan Youcan said is also what I think. Without Nurhaci's personal approval, how dare his subordinates make decisions for him? Now it is his test."

"Testing what?"

"To test whether Your Majesty would allow him to unify the Jurchen tribes, and to ask whether Your Majesty would enthrone him as the king."

The phrase "heart toward the king" should not be used indiscriminately.

What is the rule of the king? Nurhaci must have known it. Learning the knowledge of the Celestial Empire and using its ceremonial system and clothing is what is called the rule of the king.

Becoming a king comes first, educating and governing comes later.

The weak and "barbaric" tribes can submit to the king, and the vassal states near the border towns of the Ming Dynasty must do so even more.

Today, the Jianzhou Jurchens are just a "weak" and "barbaric" tribe, but its ambitions are known to everyone.

"If that's the case, he knew that the Ming emperor and his ministers knew that he avoided the Ming envoy after hearing the news, and instead took this opportunity to attack the Ula tribe. Isn't he afraid of having another reason to be questioned? And he agreed to come to the court in person. Isn't he afraid that I will take care of him when he arrives?"

We are all smart, what are you trying to do?
Xiong Tingbi bowed to Li Chengliang and said, "Marquis Ningyuan, you are familiar with this man's temperament, can you explain my doubts?"

Li Chengliang narrowed his eyes and looked at him.

Xiong Tingbi is now the governor of Liaodong. Li Chengliang's generals still have influence in Liaodong, and this cannot be completely eradicated after Ma Gui has been there for two years.

Xiong Tingbi's words that Li Chengliang knew Nurhaci's temperament well were meaningful, and they might have been intended to confirm his attitude.

"Your Majesty, this boy is tenacious." Li Chengliang saluted Zhu Changluo, then looked at Xiong Tingbi and said, "He said he wanted to go to the pass with the imperial envoy to pay homage, which means he has to wait for your Majesty's approval. Whether the Ming Dynasty confers the title on him or not, he can't stop. If my prediction is correct, he will take advantage of this period to destroy the Ula and Huifa tribes in one fell swoop. If your Majesty does not agree, he will hide far away and attack Korea in the south, Yehe or Tatars in the west, it's all fine."

"Marquis Ningyuan is saying that he is ready to become an enemy of the Ming Dynasty?"

"He naturally doesn't want to be an enemy of the Ming Dynasty now. But after I helped him in the past and fostered his ambition, many blood feuds have been formed between the Jurchen tribes. They are relatives today, and enemies tomorrow. The more tribes Nurhaci conquers, the more mountains, forests, grasslands, and rivers he needs to distribute to the tribes. He is naturally well aware of this. It should be said that he has been preparing to be an enemy of the Ming Dynasty."

"Since Ningyuan Hou said so, if I agree to his request, does Ningyuan Hou think he will come to pay homage in person?"

Li Chengliang thought for a moment, then said, "That depends on how Your Majesty responds to him. Your Majesty is wise, he knows a lot about the Ming Dynasty's etiquette. I think that unless Your Majesty grants permission and issues an edict to confer the title of consort on his daughter, he will certainly use an excuse to send another son to the court with an imperial edict. Your Majesty conferred the title of consort according to the rules and etiquette, how could the emperor use this as an excuse to kill a relative of the emperor?"

"If Your Majesty does not grant this permission, he will certainly find excuses to punish him. He has only lost two sons, and the imperial edict will be useless in the future. He will live a harder life, and he will not have to worry about the Ming Dynasty interfering. If the Ming Dynasty sends troops to attack Yehe, or conquer Hamgyong Province in Korea, and plunder the border towns of Liaodong, he will do his best to deal with it. In short, at least he has done enough to beg for mercy. This time he said that the Ula tribe robbed and killed the Jianzhou Jurchens first, so they have the moral right."

Zhu Changluo looked at Xing Jie who had been silent.

"Master Xi, in your opinion, should I do as Ningyuan Hou said and confer the title of consort on his daughter?"

Xing Jie knew the emperor's future arrangements for the Jurchen and Tatar tribes.

"I know that Your Majesty wants to use this man. However, as Ningyuan Hou said, this man's ambition is obvious. I am afraid that he will become a troublesome person and will not obey Your Majesty's orders in the future."

After several people expressed their opinions, Zhu Changluo asked Tian Le, "What does Xizhi think?"

"The Jianzhou Jurchens are eyeing them covetously, and the Haixi tribes are still governing themselves." Tian Le said, "If Your Majesty has no intention of managing outside the border, then you should use this incident to strengthen the momentum of the Yehe and other tribes. As long as the Ming Dynasty does not send troops, the Jianzhou Jurchens have already established their power, and the Haixi Jurchen tribes will eventually be unable to resist. Now that Your Majesty intends to conquer the northern border in one fell swoop, you can grant it. Although this boy has ambitions, the Ming Dynasty also has strong soldiers. As long as the military prestige is not lost, with Your Majesty's heroic status, Nurhaci will not dare to rebel! What's more, he is almost fifty years old and has been fighting for many years. When he is old and weak, Your Majesty is still in his prime."

It sounded like flattery, but everyone had just come out of the Military Industrial Park and knew what he meant.

Even if Nurhaci was a powerful hero and the Jianzhou Jurchens had elite soldiers who had fought in hundreds of battles, did the Ming Dynasty need to be so wary of him becoming a serious threat after he founded a country and became king?
The most important difference is Zhu Changluo's age advantage. He has initially demonstrated his ability to integrate the national strength of the Ming Dynasty in the past few years.

Even if the Jurchen tribes were unified, how could they compare with the Ming Dynasty in terms of national strength?

"That's right!" Zhu Changluo laughed. "Since we can see his fear from his reaction, that's enough. If he is afraid now, even if he unifies the Jurchen tribes in the future, he will only be more afraid of the future Ming Dynasty! What's more, I will not give him the opportunity to completely unify the Jurchens. I will drive him south! Li Qing, Fei Bai, you said before that the disputes among the Jurchen tribes in recent years were caused by an old woman from the Yehe tribe?"

Yuan Keli understood the emperor's meaning and replied with a smile: "Although it is just an excuse for the disputes among the tribes, the old woman of Yehe is indeed a good opportunity. The Jurchen tribes often rely on marriage to form alliances and reconcile. Your Majesty, do you want to publicize your decree?"

"Then Nurhaci will have to cooperate. If his daughter wants to enter the palace as a concubine, and if she wants to have more imperial edicts in the future, she must bring more gifts to the court in order to obtain the emperor's favor. The Yehe tribe has always wanted to use this opportunity to find strong reinforcements and vanguards. Although the Ming Dynasty will not be a strong reinforcement for them, if the Ming Dynasty becomes a strong reinforcement for the Jianzhou Jurchens, wouldn't the Yehe tribe be unable to sleep or eat? If they don't follow the example of the Jianzhou Jurchens, how can I legitimately protect the Yehe tribe?"

Stories like the one about the old woman of Yehe are most likely to be spread vividly inside and outside the border. With the emperor's explicit requests for the civil and military officials of Liaodong over the years, how could they not find out such well-known information?

Now the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is above all other tribes. It all depends on what choice the Ming Dynasty will make.

It was a matter of one thought whether to believe the accusation of the Ula tribe and use it as an excuse to suppress the Jianzhou Jurchens, or to believe the Jianzhou Jurchens' defense and punish the Ula tribe who robbed and killed the Jianzhou Jurchens.

"There doesn't need to be so many forces in the northern border!" Zhu Changluo made a decision. "Fewer forces means stronger internal control, which will help the Ming Dynasty maintain stability in the northern border. Satisfy Nurhaci's ambition, keep the Yehe tribe and make them stronger, and after getting rid of the Kalaqin Wanhu, help the weak Khanate take in the remnants of the right wing who were driven away, and then use border trade to make them feel at ease in the northern desert."

The Ming Emperor outlined the future of the northern border in a few words, and then looked at Xiong Tingbi: "Whether the Yehe tribe is willing to replace the original position of the three guards of Doyan or even go further depends on how they decide. You should go back to Liaodong first and do your best."

"I accept the decree!"

"Changji, you will stay in Dagu for the next two months." Zhu Changluo looked at Zhao Shizhen again, "The Mingwei cannon is inconvenient to move, so the best option is to put it on a warship. When Nurhaci leads his men into Shanhaiguan in July, the warship will test the cannon there!"

"I accept the decree!"

Zhu Changluo wanted to put an end to Nurhaci's idea of ​​unifying the Jurchen tribes, but he would allow him the Jurchen tribes except the Yehe tribe, and the areas of Hamgyong Province in Korea.

He wanted to keep the more powerful Jianzhou Jurchens on one side of the Yehe tribe, and the Khanate with the help of the Ming Dynasty on the other side, but he would also grant him the status of one of the Three Guards of Doyan.

With further development of firearms, Zhu Changluo believed that in the future they would be content with the wealth and food brought by border trade, and with being able to sing and dance well.

Since the range of Ming Dynasty's artillery and muskets was longer and the caliber was larger, the truth represented by Ming Dynasty and the justice it upheld should naturally radiate farther.

The Ming Dynasty never had a more professional diplomacy with the outside world, but it now has sufficient strength to back it up and an emperor who does not regard them as mere barbarians.

For them, whether this is a blessing or a curse depends on their thoughts!
(End of this chapter)