Wanli 1592

Chapter 1199 Improving the Chinese Tributary System
On March 29, the second year of Longwu, the Tokugawa clan and the Toyotomi clan confronted each other in Iwami.

When the great war was about to break out, Xiao Ruxun got accurate information in Beijing that Toyotomi and Tokugawa had won and lost each other.

This information is very important to Xiao Ruxun. He can believe that a small battle with hundreds of casualties between the two sides is a scam or a temptation, but a large-scale battle with tens of thousands of casualties is definitely not a deception. The real fire that neither Tokugawa Ieyasu can master.

And this is exactly the effect that Xiao Ruxun needs. When they fight together, it means they can't control their own destiny. When they start to act at this moment, they don't have the time to react and join forces to resist anyway.

And from the start of this battle, Xiao Ruxun didn't intend to let Daqin fight alone. He wanted to improve the Chinese tributary system. He couldn't let Daqin become a free protectorate for neighboring countries, and he couldn't allow them to close their doors and become emperors themselves.

As a younger brother, he must be prepared to charge behind his elder brother. There is no such thing as a free meal if you don't work.

The traditional Chinese tributary system is mainly based on decency and decency. Promoting national prestige is the most important thing. The celestial kingdom needs to maintain a decency, but it has no interest in its internal affairs and diplomacy.

Of course, it would be biased to say that this is brain damage. Chinese people who have experienced modern international struggles all know the importance of public opinion, and in that era, the Central Plains Empire was the pinnacle of public opinion.

Suzerainty is not just for fun, it is a real thing. If your king is not recognized by the Chinese emperor, it is illegal, and he has no righteous name.

Whatever the Great Emperor says, public opinion in your country will fall somewhere. As long as the Central Plains Empire maintains superficial peace and prosperity without major turmoil, the suzerainty of this highland of public opinion will be stable and unshakable.

This is the greatest meaning of suzerainty.

But in many cases, suzerainty is not so easy to use. It is limited to the fact that the political power of some countries changes too quickly. The people in power and the original king do not have the same thinking, and there are often troubles. The Central Plains Empire has no powerful means to deter them.

That's why Xiao Ruxun also announced in the edict announced in the second year of Longwu that he would strengthen Daqin's control over the nominal vassal states around it.

What Xiao Ruxun meant was to actualize and strengthen the suzerainty. This point has been clarified to the kings of the vassal states by the ambassadors sent out after the Chinese New Year in the second year of Longwu.

Daqin is not your free protectorate, you have to respect Daqin enough, obey Daqin's orders, and obey orders when Daqin needs you, so that when you are in danger, Daqin will "help you in every difficulty".

If you act obediently and disobediently, obey on the surface, but secretly disobey His Majesty's orders, conquer each other without permission, or even violate the interests of the suzerain, then don't complain when the Great Qin is angry and launches a crusade against you.

All kinds of situations showed the strong desire of Qin Emperor Xiao Ruxun to control, and the monarchs of the vassal states realized the difference between Great Qin and Ming.

Of course, when Xiao Ruxun was guarding Burma, they had a full experience of this difference through the powerful Zhennan Army.

Right now, the Zhennan Army has become the Great Qin Empire Army, and its military power has expanded unprecedentedly. Under such a threat, even Siam King Na Ruixuan, who has always dominated Southeast Asia with a strong military force, feels anxious.

Facing Daqin's strong demands, they were in a dilemma.

Lu Song was the first to respond to the call of the Great Qin. Although in fact Lu Song was already the territory of the Great Qin, and even the Prime Minister of Lu Song was appointed by the Great Qin government, but Lu Song still maintained the dignity of a country on the surface.

The guy who got lucky and was named the king of Luzon is still alive and well, living a life like a pig.

And the reason why Xiao Ruxun kept the airs of the Luzon government was to make Luzon an answering voice under such circumstances, and to exert strong political pressure and public opinion pressure on other countries that dare not agree, forcing them to follow.

With Lu Song's response, North Korea suddenly realized that its status as the most loyal dog in the Great Qin Dynasty was not guaranteed.

North Korea, which has just experienced the Jurchen Rebellion, now really has no power at all.

At the end of the Jurchen Rebellion, the North Korean government had almost lost the power to maintain the country's existence. It was difficult to guarantee the life of the North Korean king Li Yan, and Xiao Ruxun needed money to maintain his dignity.

Xiao Ruxun ordered Liao Zhong, the commander of the Liaodong Corps, and Liang Menglong, the governor of Liaodong, to help the North Korean government survive, and use the power of the Daqin army to frighten the younger generation, so that the North Korean government can tide over the difficulties and retrain the central army to maintain the existence of the central government.

Then Xiao Ruxun ordered the imperial merchants controlled by the inner palace to enter North Korea to buy local specialties in North Korea, such as ginseng and animal fur, and encouraged the private merchants in Jiangnan to bravely go to North Korea to do business, saying that North Korea is now in need Daqin merchants went to activate the economy.

Then Xiao Ruxun ordered the North Korean government to collect business taxes according to the rules of Daqin, and not to torture Daqin merchants privately. Any violations of laws and disciplines of Daqin merchants must be interrogated by the Daqin embassy in North Korea. North Koreans can only listen in.

North Korea must give maximum preferential treatment to Daqin merchants, and any Daqin citizen should enjoy the most favorable treatment from North Korea and extraterritoriality.

In addition, Xiao Ruxun also allowed North Korea to borrow low-interest loans from Daqin in the name of the central government to overcome economic difficulties, and pay them back in installments when they have money, or use national mineral resources to pay off debts, such as food, timber, and metals mineral.

Or Daqin "leases" some strategically located ports from North Korea to use as Daqin's military ports, and the Daqin government pays some fees to the North Korean government, or uses loans to offset them. Anyway, the North Korean government can think of any way, and they can propose it to Daqin. , Daqin is willing to discuss with North Korea.

Anyway, after this battle, the North Korean government basically lost control of the place. If it wants to recover, it must have the help of Daqin. In order to maintain the rule, Li Yan is willing to do anything, so he began to realize that there are so many things in North Korea that can be exchanged for money. .

He is gone forever on the road of exchanging money.

After a lot of tossing, a large number of Daqin businessmen who were courageous went to North Korea to make a lot of money. After a few months, they really stabilized and started doing business in the Gyeonggi area of ​​North Korea. The business was doing well, and North Korea’s economy slowly has improved.

At the same time, several mineral deposits in North Korea were sold to the Great Qin Emperor Merchant, and the eunuch in charge of the palace sent people to prepare for the mining.

It can be said that North Korea’s economy has been slowly controlled by Daqin, so even the country’s income has to rely on Daqin merchants to do business. They collect business taxes to barely maintain. If they lose the status of Daqin’s most loyal dog, can the North Korean government continue to maintain It's hard to go down.

After figuring this out, King Li Yan of Joseon almost sent someone to drive the envoy to the capital to show his loyalty to Xiao Ruxun, saying that North Korea was willing to obey Daqin's order.

With the first comes the second, with the second comes the third, and then the fourth, the fifth and the sixth.

Many vassal states expressed their willingness to follow the orders of the Great Qin, unite around the Great Qin, regard the Emperor of the Great Qin as the supreme leader, and especially put an end to such things as attacking each other, which instantly gave hope to some small countries that were in distress.

Following Luzon and North Korea are these small countries with weak national strength and whose sovereignty is threatened by other countries. They hurriedly recognized the suzerainty of the Great Qin Emperor and announced that they would follow in the footsteps of the Great Qin Empire.

Of course, there are still many vassal states who are hesitating, or don't plan to agree at all. Xiao Ruxun will take care of these people slowly.

He wants to leave Daqin with a rich family background and a place where domestic pressure can be passed on in times of crisis.

(End of this chapter)