The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 529 Jianghua Peace Talks
"Good! Well said! What a great way to destroy a famous city and recruit heroes!"

Liu Zhaosun was no stranger to the tactics employed by Qin Shi Huang over two thousand years ago. The First Emperor's short reign over the six kingdoms was largely due to these brutal tactics. In his view, the Qin dynasty's fall in the second generation stemmed from the failure to fully implement certain policies.

If you want to completely occupy a place like North Korea, military strikes and the stationing of troops and farmland are far from enough. You must destroy North Korea’s original political ecology from within (of course, it is not easy to destroy such a civilization).

Based on the limited social life experience before traveling through time, when a problem cannot be solved, it is often more effective to directly solve the person who created the problem.

Since the assimilation problem cannot be solved in a short period of time, the only option is to destroy all the backbone forces in the occupied areas.

After listening to Sun Chuanting's detailed account of the plan to relocate wealthy Korean families to Junzhou, Emperor Wuding slammed the table and praised it.

"As expected of my trusted and trusted minister, times of chaos call for harsh punishments. Joseon is fickle and cannot be trusted. Li Jong has deceived me twice, and I don't want to be deceived a third time. I think it's better to kill than to capture them. If we take the wealthy families back to Junzhou, we will have to kill them sooner or later. It's better to save some energy and kill them here in one go, so there's no need to take them back to the interior."

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. They thought Sun Chuanting was ruthless enough, but they didn't expect that the emperor would kill everyone and cut off their support, leaving no chance for his opponent to survive.

Emperor Wuding's behavior immediately reminded several civil servants of the historical lesson of Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty's expedition to Annan.

The Ming army's brutal slaughter of Annan led to the dispatch of officials of questionable quality, many of whom were even demoted. Vietnam was swarming with tribute students from Guangdong, Guangxi, and Yunnan, officials who had failed imperial examinations, and numerous convicted officials exiled from the interior (Emperor Renzong of the Ming Dynasty once transferred 119 officials, including Wang Feng, the Tongzhi of Fengyang, to Vietnam to serve as county officials). Even if these individuals were willing to govern, they lacked the legal system and knew how to govern. The Vietnamese "suffered from heavy taxes and levies, leaving them destitute," and "the burden of taxes and labor service in the prefectures and villages was so severe that even the barns and groves were completely depleted."

When these people arrived in Annan, they were extremely cruel and did everything they could to exploit the local people. In the end, the Ming Dynasty's rule in Annan lasted only twenty years before it came to an end.

Hou Xun had been in charge of the peace talks with the King of Korea. Seeing the Supreme Emperor act in this way, he was worried that Da Qi would repeat the mistakes of the Ming Dynasty in managing Annan. Seeing that no one spoke, he had no choice but to stand up and say:

"Your Majesty, the claims of breaking the alliance, burying prisoners, destroying Pyongyang, and slaughtering heroes are nothing but nonsense from the Legalists! Our army has been gathering in Korea for six months now. Such a long and arduous expedition is feared by military strategists. The thieves of the Great Qi are not only in Korea..."

Liu Zhaosun listened to Hou Xun's words with a pleasant expression, and waved his hands several times to stop Sun Chuanting from refuting. Vice Prime Minister Sun's face turned pale, and he looked at Hou Xun with hatred. However, the Grand Secretary did not care at all and continued to talk incessantly:

"The small eastern vassal states are no match for the Celestial Empire. Their people appear compliant, but in reality, they are stubborn and unteachable. In the past, the Sui and Tang dynasties failed to conquer Goguryeo, wasting their manpower and wealth and becoming a laughing stock. More recently, Kublai Khan launched nine campaigns against Goguryeo without achieving complete victory, wasting national strength. Your Majesty is wise and valiant, conquering Pyeongan and Hamgyong Provinces in a single battle, your military prowess rivaling that of the Qin Emperor and Han Emperor. However, conquering a kingdom is easy on the head, but ruling it from the ground is difficult. Excessive pressure on the local people will only backfire. Your Majesty, are you aware of what happened in Annan? Killing captives is a bad omen. If you wantonly slaughter and impose heavy taxes, you will incite popular unrest, further draining the nation's military might and resources. Therefore, I believe that towards Joseon, we should prioritize appeasement, supplemented by suppression. Give Yi Jong a glimmer of hope, give the Koreans hope. That way, no one will fight to the death with our Great Qi. We can lure the rebels in Pyeongan and Hamgyong Provinces back inside the Great Wall, where we can then deal with them and avenge Governor Yuan..."

Listening to your words is better than speaking them alone, Sun Chuanting retorted loudly.

"Your Majesty! This is the opinion of a corrupt scholar, misleading the emperor and the country! Your Majesty must not believe it..."

The highly respected Ginni Ge came out and said, "Your Majesty, the wise and sagacious Emperor, I must remind you that there are still three to five thousand believers in God in Pyongyang, many of whom also have the most devout faith in the God of Zhenwu. I believe that Your Majesty should not send these people to the mines or to hell. They are of greater value to the Empire."

"Is this true?"

Emperor Wu Ding looked back at the spy chief Liu Xingzuo, who immediately nodded, confirming that what the Portuguese missionaries said was true.

"No wonder the Tokugawa shogunate banned Christianity. There are so many believers in Pyongyang alone. It's terrifying. European infiltration is terrifying!"

After carefully thinking about what Ginni said, I felt that there was some truth in it.

Killing was only a means, not an end in itself. What he wanted was for the people in this land to remain loyal to the Great Qi (of course, only loyalty under certain conditions), rather than really killing them all. Moreover, Liu Zhaosun had no interest in massacring the city.

"While there is value in united front work, we cannot massacre the city."

Although everyone didn't know what this "united front value" was, from the tone of the retired emperor just now, everyone had already sensed the emperor Wu Ding's hesitation. The high priest struck while the iron was hot and said:

"Your Majesty, the Heavenly Pig Cult has spread widely in Korea. I believe there is no need to harm these believers." "Okay."

The next expedition to Japan in the east and Annan in the south will inevitably involve dealing with the Tianzhu Sect. This group of people is stubborn and if their brothers and sisters are slaughtered like this, the subsequent expansion of the empire will be even more difficult.

One more enemy is worse than one more friend.

Liu Zhaosun returned to the throne, glanced at Jin Yuji, and said to everyone in the tent.

"Well, God is merciful, and I am kind by nature. I will spare half of the captives and send them to the Liaodong mines. I will not kill the heroes either. I will follow Prime Minister Sun's wishes and send them back to Junzhou in batches. However, I will take possession of the two northern provinces and Busan. I will also take the annual tribute and hostages."

While Emperor Wu Ding was speaking, Liu Xingzuo quickly walked to the door of the tent, took a copy of the Tangbao from a straw raincoat guard, and handed it to Dongfang Zhu.

Liu Zhaosun unfolded the newspaper and glanced through it:
"Okay, I just received news from the navy that Li Zong is begging for a ceasefire and wants to talk to me."

Everyone was excited when they heard the news.

The fish is already on the chopping board. How to cut it next depends on the mood of the king and his ministers.

"It's not easy."

Liu Zhaosun placed the newspaper stand on the table and recalled the scene of returning home with Jin Yuji and boating on the Han River in the first year of Taichang.

It seemed like it was right in front of us. I thought I could firmly control North Korea from then on, but I didn't expect to experience so many changes later.

Thinking of this, he whispered to Empress Dowager Cisheng, "Now I have the chance to go boating on the Han River with you again."

Jin Yuji smiled and said, "Thunderous methods reveal a compassionate heart. No matter what, my husband should do good deeds and not kill innocent people."

Liu Zhaosun remained silent.

Do more good deeds and kill fewer people.

Emperor Wuding loudly declared:
"Five days from now, we will be negotiating with North Korea on Ganghwa Island. Who is willing to go there for me?"

Knowing that he was in the wrong, Li Zong did not dare to go north and set the location for the peace talks at his old nest - which was also the final destination of all the fallen kings of Korea - Ganghwa Island, not far from Seoul.

Sun Chuanting said loudly:

"I am willing to go through fire and water for the Great Qi."

Hou Xun was unwilling to be outdone. As a member of Ma Shiying's faction, he certainly could not sit idly by and watch Sun Chuanting gain power, so he also followed suit:

"I am willing to go to Ganghwa Island and negotiate peace with Korea, and I will not disgrace the Emperor's order!"

Emperor Wu Ding laughed and said, "Very well, going through fire and water is not the right thing to do. Go ahead boldly. If Li Jong dares to touch a hair on your head, I will immediately massacre the entire city of Seoul."

(End of this chapter)