Chapter 316: Being a co-owner is not that easy

Zhu Youtang celebrated the most meaningful Longevity Festival since he ascended the throne.

Not to mention coming from all over the world, even Huo Si, who was once the arrogant man on the grassland and competed with the little Tatar prince Batu Meng for supremacy, bowed his head and submitted. At the same time, he also got Zhang Zhou and Wang Shouren. News about the troops patrolling Weininghai and offering sacrifices to heaven in Weininghai.

So much so that a saying began to arise around the capital, saying that Zhu Youtang was the most accomplished king in martial arts after Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty.

If it weren’t for the fact that Zhu Youtang could not surpass the two emperors who were great in martial arts at the founding of the country, some people might just say that Zhu Youtang was comparable to the Qin Emperor and the Han Dynasty. This would be considered relatively restrained.

Of course, Zhu Youtang has to pay a price for being the leader of the world.

Those vassal states that came to Beijing to congratulate each other were all seeking benefits from the Ming Dynasty, especially Huoshii. In addition to the more than 10,000 prisoners that the Huoshii asked the Ming to capture, there were also nearly In addition to returning all the 100,000 cattle and sheep, he also proposed to build a city in the Hetao with the Ming Dynasty, and from now on the land of the Hetao would be awarded to him, and he would be given a large amount of silk, tea, ironware, etc.

In fact, he also wanted Ming's artillery technology. Of course, he also knew that he could not gain Ming's complete trust now.

I kept this request in my stomach for now.

On this matter, Zhu Youtang was quite calm.

You have already pretended, even if you want to spread some benefits to those vassal countries, there is no need to bleed a lot, just give them some meaning.

Finally, Tang Yin went to the fire screen to convey Daming's message: "The land of Hetao was temporarily given to you as a place to stay by the Holy Spirit because of the plight of your Mengoljin tribe with nowhere to graze. The land must belong to the Ming Dynasty, and the cities within it must be built by the people of your tribe. Three tributes will be paid in three years."

"If your tribe is invaded, the Ming Dynasty will judge the situation and decide whether to send troops to help. When the Ming Dynasty encounters bandits at the border, you must send troops in a timely manner, otherwise it will be regarded as betrayal. The next time the Ming Dynasty sends troops, your tribe will be completely destroyed."

"As for your captured tribesmen, In the next five years, a portion will be given back every year, first to the old and the weak, to be raised by you to fulfill your filial duty, and then to women and children. As for cattle, horses, camels, sheep, etc., they are all trophies of the Ming Dynasty, except for a few members. Apart from giving it to you, don’t think about the rest."

Huo Si originally thought that he had received a lot of rewards from Daming and could go back in glory.

After listening to Tang Yin's words, he realized that Ming Dynasty couldn't even call it borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha. It was simply robbing us of things and giving us a little to show the grace and power of Ming Dynasty.

Compared to the looted people, animals and property I took back, how much is there

If it cannot be returned to me, then I will be embarrassed and come to the Ming Dynasty to become a submissive citizen. Why should I directly fight with you, the Ming Dynasty?

Tang Yin finally expressed his sympathy for Huo Si's experience. He said, "The Holy One has treated you with utmost benevolence and righteousness, but after all, he did not let you move to Guan."The southern land still gives you enough land and pasture, and also promises to send troops to protect your safety as appropriate. This is a great favor from the emperor. After receiving it, go back early. ”

Let’s just say that our Ming Dynasty did not tie them down or kill you all. It is necessary to keep some hostages.

If you want to rebel again, you can do it. You come.

But next time you may not have to endure Wang Boan or Zhu Zhijie. If Zhang Banxian comes in person, I will ask you if you are afraid of the fire sieve

The fire sieve They got the necessary rewards from the Ming Dynasty and returned to the northwest.

As for the North Korean side, they also got what they wanted, which was to give the eldest son of Lord Yanshan the crown prince, which is equivalent to this of Lord Yanshan. The son has been recognized by the Ming Dynasty. Of course, up to now, Li's position as king has also been recognized by the Ming Dynasty. He is even regarded as the leader of the Ming Dynasty in North Korea.

And North Korea has another important purpose, that is. In order to cooperate with Li's "Western Expedition"

In May of the twelfth year of Hongzhi, the Jianzhou Jurchens invaded North Korea and kidnapped a large number of people. Li followed the advice of the hardline minister Li Kejun and decided to personally conquer Jianzhou. The Jurchens, with Cheng Jun as their capital marshal and Li Kejun as their deputy marshal, began to make preparations. However, due to drought in the country and the decline in national strength, the expedition was postponed until the 13th year of Hongzhi.

In the first month of the thirteenth year of Hongzhi, Li ordered the cancellation of the Western Expedition.

Later, the Korean monarchs and ministers discussed building the Great Wall on Ping'an Road to prevent the Jurchens, but this time it failed due to various difficulties. Jin Shoutong came to the Ming Dynasty as an envoy to win the Ming Dynasty's legal support for North Korea's western expedition. After all, Jianzhou Jurchen was also a vassal of the Ming Dynasty in name.

The Ming Dynasty did not care about this.

This was also the Ming Dynasty's consistent approach to treating the Di Yi in the north. It was not about favoring anyone, but whether the two sides were helping each other. It was best to watch your dog bite the dog and both sides would suffer, unless there was an invasion by a foreign enemy, such as During the Wanli period, the Ming Dynasty sent troops to North Korea twice in the name of the suzerainty, helping North Korea twice defeat the Japanese invading troops.

It was August in the blink of an eye. p>Zhang Zhou lived a happy life in the northwest. Basically, the Ming Dynasty frontier army was able to complete daily patrols within a hundred miles north of the border pass, and could advance the distance of the grassland at night. It was less than thirty miles, and now it can reach two hundred to four or five hundred miles.

The Tatars seemed to have stopped for a while.

Dayan Khan once tried to report. He requested to continue to pay tribute and trade with the Ming Dynasty, but Zhu Youtang clearly refused.

As for Zhang Zhou's mining in the northwest, it is advancing very quickly. In addition to the coal mines in Shanxi that have begun production, even Zhangjiakou Fort and others. The iron ore in the north of the Ming Dynasty also began to be mined. In addition to farming, the northwest of the Ming Dynasty was focused on production. The smelting workshops formed an industrial chain from the capital of the Ming Dynasty to Xishan, to Zhangjiakou in the Xuanfu, and then to Datong, Shanxi Province. .

It’s just that Zhang Zhou is still not satisfied with the quality of the northwest iron ore.He had already told Zhu Youtang that he was planning to open up a new iron mine around Tangshan in later generations, which is now around Yongping Prefecture in Beizhili.

And in the capital.

Zhu Youtang seems to be in poor health recently

He has not been to court for several days in a row.

It’s not that he was really sick, but that he gradually began to slack off in court affairs. Sometimes he would not go to court if he felt slightly unwell. This was also what happened to Zhu Youtang in the middle and later stages of his rule. Historically, he often did not attend court meetings since the 14th year of Hongzhi.

But because Zhang Zhou was here, he felt as if he didn't need to do anything personally, which was why he had this mentality.

The ministers felt that this was because of an awesome "birthday party" that made the emperor's heart empty. The emperor of the Ming Dynasty thought that he was the Mingjun and the Holy Lord, and it was inevitable that he would flatter him too much. result.

But at this time, a "preface" from the north made Zhu Youtang regain his composure. However, because he told outsiders that he was sick, he did not hold a court meeting and just took advantage of noon. At that time, several important ministers from the court were asked to go to the Qianqing Palace to hold an inner court meeting in the Qianqing Palace.

In addition to the three ministers in the cabinet, the ministers who were summoned also included the six ministers, the censor of Zuodu, and Wang Hao, the Hanlin scholar in charge.

Wu Xun summoned no one. Obviously, this matter involves decision-making.

The four eunuchs, Secretary Li, are all here.

After several ministers arrived, and after a brief greeting, Zhu Youtang had someone give them a seat, and at the same time, he distributed a "memorial" transcribed in multiple copies to each attending minister. superior.

After the minister saw it, he realized that the situation was a bit unusual.

"Ahem." Zhu Youtang coughed twice, setting the tone for this inner court meeting. "The three guards of Duoyan, said to be the little Tatar prince Batu Meng, led 200,000 troops to To the north of Ji Liao, they wanted to annex them. So they petitioned the imperial court to send troops. "

The emperor still seemed very weak.

Whether he was really sick or not, the ministers present did not care. Anyway, it seemed that the emperor was in good spirits and spoke with great energy.

Li Dongyang said, "This is a good thing, because the effect of the fire sifting is showing."

Several people present were surprised.

The emperor's heart is already empty at this time. You Li Dongyang are actually helping to flatter the emperor. Or do you think you are going to take a big breath? After you say the words of praise, you should say something depressing and pour a pot on the emperor's head. Let’s get cold water

Unexpectedly, Li Dongyang finished his sentence without saying anything further.

This made the ministers present even more incredible.

According to their thinking, the attitude of the cabinet now should be His Majesty. This is the consequence of the fire sifting into the capital to see the emperor. Let’s see if their grassland tribes have taken the Ming Dynasty as their scapegoat. Is there any trouble? Ming Dynasty sent troops

"Yes." Zhu Youtang was very satisfied with Li Dongyang's statement. He nodded and said,"Gentlemen, do you think Ming Dynasty should send troops at this time?"

The ministers present were very embarrassed.

This kind of question

This was last year. Without Zhang Zhou in the court, the emperor would probably not have to ask. Of course, the Duoyan and other tribes at that time would not be able to shamelessly ask the Ming Dynasty. The troops are sent because it is a stipulation. You grassland tribes are killing each other. It has nothing to do with our Ming Dynasty

It is best that you die together, and the Ming Dynasty sends troops to help you clean up the mess.

But now

The ministers present felt that the emperor was addicted to thinking that he was the leader of the world. It was clear that the affairs of Duoyan and the three guards had nothing to do with the Ming Dynasty, but the emperor actually bothered to discuss whether to send troops

Xie Qian asked, "Your Majesty, I wonder if anyone in the northwest is aware of this matter and has any intention of sending troops from the northwest?"

Everyone couldn't help but ponder Xie Qian's words.

This means to suggest that Zhang Zhou should take the initiative to send troops to the grassland again. Last time, he took advantage of the Dayan tribe and Huoshai's fight to raid Huoshi's lair. This time, Zhang Zhou will not be asked to raid. The Dayan tribe's lair

Zhu Youtang said calmly, "I know what you mean by Xie Qing's family. Although Bingkuan has not been consulted on this matter, he mentioned it to me earlier. Most of the tribesmen and horses of the little Tatar prince are located north of Guanshan, and their whereabouts are uncertain. Even if the Shangge tribe on the grassland is annexed in the future, the tribesmen will definitely be brought within fifty or sixty miles of the former soldiers and horses."

"If you want to harass him from behind, I'm afraid it will be difficult to find the previous opportunity."

The emperor is very rational.

If you know the trick of sneak attack, you only need to do it once. If you want to do it again, you will have to treat the Tatars as fools.

We all know that you, the Ming Dynasty, have a magic stick who can pinch and calculate, and even knows where our tribe’s men and horses are. We can be found wherever we hide, so we might as well go with our families and all our troops when we go to war in the future.

Don’t feel burdened either.

Anyway, other tribes also have this idea. In the future, before fighting in groups, they will drag their families with them.

A sneak attack on Weininghai planned by Zhang Zhou changed the grassland. The strategy of dispatching troops that has been formulated over the past ten years still seems ridiculous to these ministers when they think about it.

I think Wang Yue also made a sneak attack on Weininghai and took Yisi Mayin's lair at that time, but later the Tatars did not wake up because of this. Maybe it was because Zhang Zhou's appearance was too buggy. Zhang Zhou sometimes does not have that ability, and others will imagine that he has this ability.

This is what troubles the grassland tribes and the officials of the Ming Dynasty.

"Everyone, I'm just asking you if you want to send troops to assist the Duoyan Three Guards. You don't have to make insinuations and test others. Ahem." Zhu Youtang was coughing again after he said it, but this time it seemed It made him anxious.

These ministers present can be regarded as the top civil servants of the Ming Dynasty.

But at this moment, they didn’t know how to characterize this matter.

Logically speaking, this should not be discussed, just reject Duoyan Sanwei’s request to present the report. You must know that Duoyan Sanwei isDon't think that Batu Munch has mobilized 200,000 soldiers and horses, but it is bluffing by the Duoyan Three Guards or Batu Munch.

Batu Monk was able to unify the grasslands in a short period of time, not by words, nor by repeated surprise victories, nor by his reputation as a great khan.

But in the past few generations, Batu Munch has accumulated a large number of people and livestock, and has the qualifications to unify other kings with different surnames.

Why is Huoshai so brave and good at fighting? In the end, he united with the Yibula, Mandu Lai Agulhu and other tribes, but lost in the end

In terms of individual combat capabilities, the grassland tribes The gap between them is not very big. The key is that Batu Mengke's Chahar tribe has a large number of people, and there are at least hundreds of thousands of troops at one time. This is not something that small and medium-sized tribes can withstand.

Now the emperor has also said that Dayan Khan is now afraid that Zhang Zhou will send troops to take over his hometown. Since the Duoyan Three Guards are going to send troops to Eastern Mongolia, they must also bring their family with them.

Is it an exaggeration to say that they have 200,000 troops?

Seeing that everyone was silent, Liu Jian had to come out and express his attitude: "Your Majesty, you should not send troops, and for this reason And it wastes people and money."

Xu Qiong on the side immediately objected, "What's the point of summoning the fire sieve before?"

They didn't speak before, but when they spoke, the two of them spoke together.

Immediately, two distinct viewpoints were formed: sending troops and not sending troops, each with its representative figures.

But for them to distinguish who supports sending troops and who does not support sending troops is really not as clear as when they debated with Zhang Zhou before, because this time it is a conflict within their civil servants.

They don’t even know what Zhu Youtang’s intentions are.

According to their speculation, the emperor might be inclined to send troops to maintain his image as the leader of the world, but that would be 200,000 Tatar soldiers and horses, and the three Duoyan guards might rebel at any time. , how many troops must the Ming Dynasty send to fight with it?

Wouldn’t it become a nationwide war?

Previously, they had agreed to prepare for the war in the northwest for a few years, but now because of the Duoyan Three Guards They asked Ming Dynasty to send troops, but Ming Dynasty gave up its previously established national policy

So it was difficult for them to judge the emperor's attitude.

It is probably the kind of situation where you want to send troops, but you know that sending troops is not possible, and you have to hold on for the sake of face.

Xie Qian had a clear mind and asked for instructions, "I wonder if your Majesty thinks that troops should be sent."

We civil servants can't reach an agreement here, so I'll ask your opinion first.

Zhu Youtang sighed, "I actually don't want to stand by and watch, but I also know that the three guards of Duoyan are also ambitious. They only thought of using the Ming Dynasty to send troops when they encountered the tribe's crisis. Even if the Ming Dynasty really wanted to do it in the end. It is impossible to send out troops now, but to wait until both of them are defeated.” That’s the best result.”

Oops.

Everyone couldn’t help but look at Xie Qian.

Thank you, Yu Qiao, for your cleverness, and you can actually open up a third way in this black-and-white position.

Send troops to scare the enemy away

How come you, Xie Yuqiao, are like that Zhang Bingkuan? Why don’t you go to heaven?

Xu Qiong said, “Mr. The intention of sending troops was to retreat easily. They sent troops to Duoyan Sanwei. It must have been planned. "

They are more unprincipled than Fire Sieve, right?"

Xu Qiong did not reply.

I feel like I can’t talk to Xie Qian. Xie Qian is the kind of person who is good at sophistry.

Xu Qiong would naturally not be fooled and follow Xie Qian's lead in arguing.

Zhu Youtang raised his hand and said, "My lords, I actually understand what you mean. The Ming Dynasty's national prestige needs to be demonstrated. Then why not discuss sending troops to the grassland and let this matter go?"

I won’t agree or deny it.

Shelving the issue

Is this the emperor’s fourth option?

Zhu Youtang then added, “Bingkuan’s affairs in the northwest have basically been completed, I have decided I sent someone to summon him back to the capital in the past two days. After he returns to the capital as soon as possible, we will discuss with him whether to send troops. What do you think?"

Damn

I originally thought The emperor has changed his gender and only listens to the opinions of our ministers and not to Zhang Zhou.

Now I know that the purpose of the emperor shelving the issue was to listen to Zhang Zhou's opinion

You might as well not listen to us and make your own decision

Zhu Youtang said curiously, "Mr. Liu Ge, earlier Don't you support sending troops?"

"What I want to say is to strengthen the defense of the border areas and give them appropriate hope so that the three guards of Duoyan will not surrender." Liu Jian was embarrassed by his words. explain.

Zhu Youtang shook his head and said, "Ignoring it is the best way I can think of at the moment, but it cannot damage the principles of the Ming Dynasty Border Town. Why don't you wait for something that you are not sure about? After I go back and think it over carefully, I will wait until Bingkuan comes back before making a decision." Please remember to bookmark it, the latest and fastest website for free reading without anti-theft