The Ming Dynasty's Five Hundred Years

Chapter 169 No one can stop the Ming Dynasty from obtaining the silver mine (Fourth update)

The secret letter Zheng He sent back was neither too long nor too short, and the cabinet members quickly finished reading it.

After reading this, you'll understand why the emperor frowned.

If Japan's attitude is extremely arrogant, then the majesty of the Celestial Empire cannot be insulted, and the majesty of His Majesty the present is even more inviolable. The only course of action will be to launch a large-scale military campaign against them.

Japan's stance, however tough, only suppressed one point: "We want to close our country off and not interact with the outside world."

Throughout history, except for the Tang Dynasty, the Central Plains dynasties have always followed the principle of voluntary tribute in their interactions with foreign vassal states. They were welcome to come, but it was not a big deal if they did not. This was a completely non-coercive behavior.

The Tang Dynasty was different. It actually established a military alliance system similar to NATO today. The Heavenly Khan had the right to mediate conflicts between countries and to arbitrarily mobilize troops from various countries.

But the Ming Dynasty was different.

The fact that Zhu Yuanzhang designated fifteen countries as non-conquerable demonstrates that the Ming Dynasty's tributary system was quite civilized and conservative, emphasizing non-aggression and each country managing its own affairs.

To be honest, if Annam had not been murdered, and then the Ming Dynasty envoy had not been killed, the Ming Dynasty would not have launched a campaign against Annam.

Apart from the Mongol tribes on the grasslands, the Ming Dynasty avoided resorting to force against other countries whenever possible. This was the political and military principle of the Ming Dynasty after the Hongwu Emperor unified the country, which is why the Xuande Emperor's abandonment of Annam was so smooth.

"Now that you've finished reading, let's share your thoughts."

"His Majesty!"

While everyone was frowning and pondering, Li Xianmu spoke up. No one expected him to have an idea so quickly. Zhu Di also looked over in surprise and heard Li Xianmu say decisively, "Your Majesty, I will not say how to handle this matter yet."

Your Majesty and the entire court should first clarify your attitude toward Zheng Zhangyin's mission to Japan to search for silver mines.

It is optional and will be abandoned due to Japan's rejection.

Regardless of Japan's attitude, we must find them, even at the cost of war!

Your humble servant declares first that no person, organization, or country can stop the Great Ming from searching for silver mines. This matter of life and death for the Great Ming is one that your humble servant believes is not open to discussion!
Japan won't allow investigation?

No.

We must visit the Iwami Silver Mine; we must find the vast silver mine.

Japan is preventing mining?
No.

Even if it's their territory, it doesn't matter. Things that concern the survival of our Great Ming must be in our hands.

If they won't give it to you, then we'll fight!

Keep hitting them until they agree!
This is my stance.

Everyone in the hall gaped in astonishment, even Zhu Di was shocked by Li Xianmu's completely unreasonable and domineering statement.

“Mingda, isn’t this a bit too…” Yang Shiqi hesitated, and the others shared the same opinion. This was too contrary to the usual thinking of the Ming Dynasty.

Li Qi shook his head slightly. The Han people and Confucian culture are too civilized, from top to bottom. Although there are many bad people and evil people, they are not the mainstream. This can be seen from the saying "A ruler's words are not to be taken lightly". Confucianism has a whole set of rules between countries.

This set of rules is naturally very civilized and very effective, and can be called an outstanding essence that transcends its time.

The problem is that foreigners don't play this game with you. Not to mention the current barbaric era of foreign culture, even in the 21st century, the president of a superpower can take back what he said in the morning in the afternoon. To the Chinese, it's like a joke.

If a Chinese politician did that, they would lose all prestige and even power in just three days.

Not to mention in ancient times, these barbarians were utterly devoid of integrity.

Being trustworthy is good, but it's unnecessary to be bound by it.

Li Xianmu said with emotion: "If the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun were not in the hands of our Great Ming, would this be something we could tolerate?"
Of course not. Without the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, the Song Dynasty would have suffered the same fate, being wantonly ravaged by the Northern Dynasties.

For a dynasty like the Ming Dynasty, the loss of certain things could jeopardize the state, and the silver mine was no exception.

If tens of millions of taels of silver were to flow into the Ming Dynasty every year, and if the court held a silver mine with abundant reserves, it could mint currency at a very low cost to meet the needs of all the people and completely eliminate the paper money. Surely Your Majesty and all of you know how important minting currency is and how corrupt paper money is to the nation, right?

Officials are dissatisfied, scholars are dissatisfied, the common people are dissatisfied; everyone hates the paper money, but the court can't afford to mint copper coins, so it has to use paper money. If we had silver, we wouldn't have to worry about this anymore! Each word, each cry, resonated in Zhu Di's ears, stirring his blood. He slammed his hand on the table, a clear sound echoing in the hall. "Xianmu is right. Some things cannot be compromised. The silver mines must be controlled by the Ming Dynasty. Whether Japan agrees or not, the Ming Dynasty cannot back down."

Once you've set the tone and confirmed the attitude before doing anything, things will be much easier.

For example, in war, if the advocates for war and peace start arguing, everything will be ruined. If the advocates for war or peace are decided first, the subsequent progress will be very fast. It's just a matter of the degree of advocacy.

While the other cabinet ministers were still in a daze, the emperor had already set the tone, instantly shattering everything in their minds.

If the bottom line is to start a war, then the plan is completely different.

"Japan is, after all, a populous country. If the Ming Dynasty were to fight across the sea, it would inevitably suffer huge losses. It is best to avoid war if possible."

A moment of silence fell over the hall. Emperor Zhu Di and the cabinet ministers looked at Li Xianmu with some speechlessness. You were the one who said you were willing to fight, and now you're the one saying you won't fight. What do you mean by this?
Li Xianmu calmly replied, “Your Majesty, the Sima Fa states, ‘Even a large country will perish if it loves war; even if the world is at peace, it will be in danger if it forgets war.’ My humble opinion that we are not afraid of war is that we hope you will not forget this last resort. We will never back down!”
Your humble servant said that the desire to avoid war is to do so as much as possible, since war depletes national strength, and these are not contradictory.

This argument convinced Zhu Di, who then said, "Xianmu, tell me how we should handle what Zheng He mentioned in his letter."

Li Xianmu frowned and slowly said, "In the letter from Minister Zheng, it was said that the attitude of the Japanese King Minamoto no Yoshimochi is still quite good, and he has no intention of making an enemy of our Great Ming. Since that is the case, it is naturally inconvenient to start fighting right away."

Moreover, as I just mentioned, fighting across the sea to Japan is no easy feat. Your Majesty is the strongest general of our time; what are your chances of victory?

Zhu Di pondered for a moment and said, "If it is a field battle, on the plains, I will personally lead the army, and victory will not be difficult."

However, if we're talking about occupying territory and conquering cities, there's basically no chance of victory, especially since we know absolutely nothing about Japan's mountains and geography. A slight misstep could lead to an ambush. I can say with certainty that there's no chance of winning.”

The cabinet members were not surprised. Warfare is all about timing, location, and people. Among these, location is the most important. In addition to the art of troop deployment, as recorded in Qi Jiguang's "New Book of Military Tactics," another very important thing passed down in military families is the study of geography.

Prince Dan of Yan sent Jing Ke to assassinate Qin Shi Huang, using Fan Yuqi's head and a map. Qin Shi Huang believed that with that map, he could conquer the Yan state.

At present, the Ming Dynasty is completely ignorant of Japan's situation. In addition, the sea area between the Ming Dynasty and Japan is plagued by storms for more than half the year, making it impossible to travel. Otherwise, Zheng He's letters would not have been sent back so late. With logistics disrupted, sending a large army would be suicidal.

Li Qi recalled the war of resistance against Japan and aid to Korea during the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, in which the Ming Dynasty ultimately won. This battle was known as "the most valuable of the three great campaigns of the Wanli era".

From the perspective of both sides in the war, the strength of Japan during the Toyotomi Hideyoshi era was not much different from that of the present day. Both countries had only recently been unified and were in a period of strong military power, with a population of over ten million.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi brought an army of approximately 150,000 to 200,000 to the Korean Peninsula. This was a considerable number for a cross-sea expedition, considering that Zhu Di led an army of 500,000, and Zhu Qizhen led an army of 500,000, but in reality, they numbered less than 200,000.

The Ming Dynasty was naturally much stronger now than it was during the Wanli era, but it was not weak then either. After Zhang Juzheng's ten-year reforms, both the border troops and the finances were at their strongest in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty.

Both sides then fought in Korea, far from their homeland. Ultimately, the Ming Dynasty defeated Japan. If the war had been fought in Korea during the Yongle era, Japan would have lost every time.

However, if they went to the Japanese mainland, as Zhu Di said, facing an agricultural country with a population of tens of millions, they would basically have no chance.

To give an example, Goguryeo, a powerful enemy in the northeast of the Sui and Tang dynasties, was conquered by Emperor Yang of Sui and was not destroyed until the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang. It was also an agricultural civilization, and at its peak, it had only three to five million people!
Less than half of Japan's!
Although Goguryeo was difficult to conquer due to its mountain fortresses, it was roughly comparable to Japan's advantages of the sea and the long distance it was far from conquered.

Conquering Japan would take a very long time without a technological advantage.

The hero sees the same.

Zhu Di pondered for a moment and said, "If we want to conquer Japan, relying on the navy is not an option."

The only way is to pass through Korea, then cross the calm strait to land on the northern coast of Japan, capture a few cities to give the army a place to stay, and then learn about the geography of Japan.

Only in this way can we gain an equal footing in field battles, increase our chances of winning later battles, and then win over the local people so that they can provide food and supplies for the army.

Only in this way can the army gain a foothold. After that, it is necessary to ensure that the supply route from Ming Dynasty to Japan is smooth and that supplies are continuously transported from Ming Dynasty to Japan. We cannot rely solely on the local area, otherwise disaster will inevitably occur. If the supply line is cut off, or if someone betrays us, then everyone will die a violent death in a foreign land.

Winning a war is not difficult, but ruling is extremely difficult.

Zhu Di's lament resonated with the crowd, immediately eliciting a chorus of agreement: ruling was indeed incredibly difficult.

The Ming Dynasty had brought Yunnan under its rule for forty years.

However, there were rebellions in 33 out of those 40 years, and the Duke of Mu's mansion never stopped suppressing them. They were truly risking their lives to guard Yunnan for the Ming Dynasty!

(End of this chapter)