Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 247: Every sentence doesn't mention him, yet every sentence is about him.

"Urgent dispatch!" (600-li express)

"Urgent dispatch!" (600-li express)

In the Ming Dynasty, regular urgent dispatches were divided into three levels: "300 li", "400 li" and "600 li". The "800 li urgent dispatch" often mentioned in movies and TV dramas was extremely rare in reality. Generally speaking, even when military reports were transmitted from the front lines, it was only double the normal 300 li.

After all, the most urgent communication requirement in the Tang Dynasty was 500 li per day. The next 600 li was the limit, and 800 li was impossible to achieve. Even if you forced the post station workers to their deaths, you still couldn't achieve that speed.

When the courier shouted that the message was urgent and rushed into the capital, the people and soldiers along the way were already used to the frequent battle reports and were no longer surprised.

But this time it's completely different.

The battle report first arrived at the Ministry of War, was quickly sent to the Cabinet Office, and then immediately arrived at the desk in the Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Houcong held the battle report and read it over and over again before raising his head and slowly looking at the four Grand Secretaries who had come before him.

Zhang Cong, Yan Song, Zhai Luan, and Li Shi.

Yes, Yan Song had already reached the rank of Second Grand Secretary, both in terms of real power and prestige.

Despite having more seniority, Zhai Luan and Li Shi stepped aside without resistance, allowing him to stand naturally beside Zhang Cong.

These two senior officials, who already had a low profile, became even more invisible.

"Now that you gentlemen have all seen it, what are your comments?"

When Zhu Houcong's voice came, the two men immediately lowered their heads. Then they heard Zhang Cong's old and solemn voice: "Thanks to the might of Heaven, the royal army has won a great victory! Our army has utterly defeated the rebel elephant formation at Lang Son, killing seven generals, including the rebel chief. The rebel army is in complete disarray. The remaining rebels were intercepted and killed by the old troops of the Li family while they were fleeing. They are already on the verge of collapse!"

Lang Son was a strategically important military location in Jiaozhi (Vietnam) and a bulwark for Thang Long (Hanoi), the capital of Annam. Beyond Lang Son lay flat plains.

Historically, whenever the Central Plains dynasties waged war against Jiaozhi, they would first capture Lang Son. Once Lang Son was captured, Jiaozhi would no longer be a threat. This was also the case in the later Sino-Vietnamese War.

Now that the Ming army has captured Lang Son and defeated Mo Dengyong's most elite elephant cavalry, it has indeed gained an overwhelming advantage.

Therefore, Zhang Cong's tone was filled with genuine joy.

"Oh?"

Zhu Houcong's voice, however, revealed little joy: "Grand Tutor Luo Shan believes this battle was a great victory?"

When dealing with Zhang Cong, Jiajing generally did not call him by his given name, but instead addressed him with the respectful title of Junior Tutor Luoshan. The emperor and his subject also frequently exchanged letters, with more than two hundred letters going back and forth.

Normally, Zhang Cong would cherish this unique affection, but at this moment, he could hear the Emperor's anger. He sighed inwardly, lowered his head, and dared not utter a sound.

As expected, the emperor's tone then turned extremely cold and stern: "The cabinet has repeatedly urged us to achieve a quick victory, which has led to restlessness among the troops!"

"Marquis Xianning, Qiu Luan, advanced recklessly and was ambushed by an elephant formation. He was lifted up by an elephant's trunk and thrown into the chaos of the army. He was rescued by his personal guards at the cost of their lives, but his three thousand soldiers were routed!"

"Marquis Liu Xun of Anyuan was reckless and was shot to death by the Mo army with a poisoned arrow. His body was rotten like mud, and two thousand of his soldiers were also killed!"

"The Imperial Inspector Lu Bing repeatedly warned them, but he still couldn't save these two fools who were greedy for merit and acted rashly!"

"Fortunately, Lu Bing forced Zhang Jing to return to reinforce, and the cannons broke through the elephant formation, which narrowly reversed the decline, allowed them to regroup and launch a counterattack, and decisively defeated the enemy army!"

Lu Bing's promotion speed this time is unprecedented. He was first promoted to deputy commander of a thousand households based on his military merits, then to commander of a thousand households, and now he is the inspector commander of a thousand households, with the real power of supervising the army.

Zhu Houcong's praise at this time was not really for the sake of his brother who was being treated well. Lu Bing was indeed capable of turning the tide. Even so, he could not stop those arrogant and fierce generals who were eager to claim credit. Fortunately, due to the timely troop deployment, the situation was salvaged and the overall situation of the Ming army was not ruined by the recklessness of some soldiers.

Of course, Lu Bing did his best to hold back the overly aggressive Ming army, preventing the Annamese army from turning the tide on the main battlefield, but he also inevitably dragged the war into a stalemate.

Therefore, the key was the supply of grain and fodder from the Jiangnan canal, which gave the soldiers at the front the confidence to fight a protracted war. Otherwise, with empty supplies, they would have had no choice but to advance rashly, and how could they have achieved the result of planning carefully before acting, breaking through the enemy's lines in one fell swoop, and defeating Mo Dengyong's main force?

Zhu Houcong then turned to another Grand Secretary: "Minister Yan, your recommendations this time were very effective, and the people you appointed have all made great contributions!"

Yan Song suppressed his inner elation and said in an extremely sincere tone, "Your Majesty's wisdom shines brightly, penetrating all corners of the world, like the sun and moon in court, bathing even the grass and trees in your radiance. We, your subjects, are merely following your orders, like a drop of water on the ocean, or a firefly looking up at the morning sun. How dare we presume to claim such a small contribution?"

"Ah!"

Zhu Houcong smiled slightly and waved his hand, "Minister Yan is too modest!"

Realizing the emperor wasn't truly angry, Zhai Luan and Li Shi quickly began to flatter him: "Heaven blesses the Ming Dynasty, and the Holy Emperor is bringing about a revival! Your Majesty is divinely gifted and your conquest of Jiaozhi is truly an unprecedented feat!"

"In the past, when Hongwu founded the country, he drove out the barbarians. Now, Your Majesty is leading a southern expedition to restore the Han territory. Jiaozhi has been barbarized for a hundred years. Wherever the royal army goes, the rebel chieftains are beheaded. This is to continue the ambition of the Taizu Emperor to restore the old territory of China!" Zhu Houcong could not suppress the smile on his face.

Considering that the 600-li express courier service would take a month to reach the capital from Annam, the capital, Thang Long, must already be flying the flag of the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, this does not mean that the Ming Dynasty recovered Jiaozhi.

After all, Mo Dengyong has not yet been executed, and other forces within Annam have also been fluctuating.

Considering that the Yongle Emperor had also destroyed the Annam regime, but was later overwhelmed by rebellions in various places, and after struggling to maintain his rule for twelve years, he was eventually forced to withdraw, Zhu Houcong was naturally unwilling to repeat the same mistake.

So the emperor did something.

Take out a copy of the memorial.

The four Grand Secretaries, including Yan Song, all focused their gazes.

Because what His Majesty presented was none other than the "Nine Strategies for Pacifying the Borders," which had been the subject of much discussion in the court recently.

Zhu Houcong turned to a passage and said loudly: "During the Yongle reign, when our Great Ming army was conquering Annam, it used the pretext of relieving the people and punishing the guilty, and restoring the ancestral rites of the Chen clan. This indeed stirred up the hearts of the people of Annam, and many were disgusted with the harsh rule of the Hu clan and had no will to fight. This was a great help to the smooth advance of the Heavenly Army. However, the promise to restore the Chen clan was not fulfilled afterward, and coupled with the mismanagement, it eventually led to the boiling of public resentment and fierce resistance."

"Upon closer examination, to win the hearts of the people, we must first provide them with tangible benefits. Jiaozhi has just been annexed, and everything is in need of rebuilding. If we want to implement benevolent governance, we not only need officials who are both virtuous and capable, but also the continuous attention of the court."

"It is a pity that those sent to Jiaozhi are mostly exiled officials, some lacking in talent, others harboring resentment, leading to corruption and widespread suffering among the people. If these people are corrupt and harmful to the people even in the Central Plains, how can we expect them to implement good policies and stabilize the people's hearts in the newly annexed land?"

"I humbly believe that in governing newly annexed territories, we should carefully select good officials, provide them with generous salaries, strictly enforce performance evaluations, and the court should also frequently supervise and inspect them to prevent remote areas from becoming places where corrupt officials run rampant."

"If the people can live and work in peace and contentment, then the so-called old stories of the Chen family will naturally be forgotten; if the government is not well-governed, then even with a thousand reasons, it will be difficult to quell the people's grievances. This is the essence of governing a country and must be carefully considered."

Zhai Luan and Li Shi had only read this chapter, while Zhang Cong and Yan Song knew it by heart and agreed with it.

They also knew that these were just preludes, and that the so-called "careful selection of good officials, generous salaries, strict performance evaluation, and rigorous supervision" were just empty platitudes that had to be said, not the real solutions.

The real solution in "Nine Strategies for Pacifying the Border" can be summarized in four words.

The Great Enfeoffed Chieftain.

The Jiaozhi Province must be established, and the three Jiaozhi offices—the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration Commission, the Provincial Command Commission, and the Provincial Judicial Commission—must be staffed with a number of capable officials.

However, it was simply unrealistic to send such a large number of capable officials to the fifteen prefectures, forty-one states, and numerous counties under its jurisdiction.

Therefore, in local areas, the Ming Dynasty did not need to forcibly send officials to govern, but instead entrusted local powerful families to govern themselves through local laws and regulations.

In particular, the officials of the Later Le Dynasty who had now gained power, such as Vu Van Nguyen, Nguyen Nhan Lien, and Le Canh Meu, who held military power and could confront the Mạc Dương Dương regime, were all enfeoffed and made their own chieftains in the name of Tusi (chieftains), with hereditary governorships. At the same time, they were ordered by the Ming Dynasty to suppress the remaining Mạc faction.

This would undoubtedly increase the difficulty of future rule, but it was also a stopgap measure and the only way to rule Jiaozhi in the long term.

Don't underestimate Jiaozhi. Due to the mature development of the Red River Delta, its agriculture was advanced and its population was dense. According to statistics after the Yongle Emperor conquered Annam, the population of this province was more than ten times that of Yunnan at the same time.

It is no exaggeration to say that Annam's fifteen prefectures and forty-one counties are equivalent to the combined total of Guangdong, Guangxi, and Shaanxi. Moreover, their independent consciousness and geographical conditions make them difficult to assimilate in a short period of time. The Tusi system is the only solution at this stage.

As for the future reform of the chieftain system, once the chieftains in Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan are dealt with, the local forces in Jiaozhi will naturally be gradually eliminated. Only then will it be the time for true submission and complete return to the Central Plains.

Even if the Ming Dynasty were not weak, this process would take a century and the efforts of several generations; it cannot be rushed.

That's the logic, given the current situation in the Ming Dynasty, we have no choice but to compromise, but we can't put it that way.

So Zhu Houcong first read out the standard remarks before calmly saying, "In the past, Emperor Wu of Han expanded the borders but depleted the national treasury, and Emperor Taizong of Tang conquered Goguryeo but impoverished the people. I intend to use a strategy of both suppression and appeasement to demonstrate the might of Heaven, save the people's strength, recover the entire Yue territory, and achieve the effect of subduing the enemy without fighting. What do you gentlemen think?"

Zhang Cong and Yan Song said almost simultaneously, "Your Majesty is wise!"

Zhai Luan and Li Shi deliberately lag behind, but they were shocked. The strategy of pacifying the border was accepted in its entirety. Such an achievement was unprecedented among the newly appointed Hanlin scholars. Even they, as important ministers who had entered the cabinet, couldn't help but feel a little envious.

And that's not the end.

"As for the candidates to go to the frontier..."

Zhu Houcong then took out another list and said with a tone full of satisfaction: "Officials in the capital should have the ambition to save the world and understand the suffering of the people. The scholars of the Hanlin Academy are also willing to go to the frontier to serve the court. Such loyalty to the emperor and the country truly makes me feel very gratified!"

(End of this chapter)