Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1945 The Temptation of "Eternal"
Zhu Yijun first recounted this statement to the five elders.As the chief assistant, Wang Jiaping was obviously moved by this. He was neither an official of the School of Reality nor an official of the School of Mind, but a typical supporter of traditional Neo-Confucianism, and he was happy to look at issues from the perspective of traditional "safety thinking".

According to Gao Yushi's words relayed by the emperor, North Korea is the guarantee of Liaodong, Liaodong is the guarantee of the capital, and the capital is the guarantee of North China... And then there is no doubt that North China is the guarantee of the Central Plains, etc., which can be deduced in turn .

So to put it simply, the Ming Dynasty directly governs North Korea, which will greatly improve the overall security of the country.As a traditional official, the country's security must be the first consideration of the dynasty, so Wang Jiaping was naturally very moved.

Moreover, traditional officials also have a characteristic, that is, once they feel that something is very important, they are often willing to invest huge national costs for it.

For example, in Daming, where the flooding of the Yellow River was becoming more and more serious, when water transport was not as good as sea transport, it had become very realistic, but the imperial court was still unable to firmly change the will to change water transport to sea transport because of "millions of water workers' clothing and food", and it went through many twists and turns. Back, the reforms of Gao Gong and Gao Yushi's nephew and uncle were not over.

Although Wang Jiaping was moved, but because he had paid little attention to North Korea before, he couldn't help doubting whether this statement was true or not, or how much of it was true, so he raised a question: "Your Majesty, the Nanning Hou's statement Is there any more evidence to prove it?"

Not only did he say that, but the other four elders also looked at Zhu Yijun, obviously concerned about it.This is not surprising. If there is evidence to support it, it will be easy to convince other officials in the outer court. This is very important to the cabinet.

Zhu Yijun smiled and said: "Here is the attachment of Rixin's secret melody before he went to North Korea. It writes very thoroughly about the various connections between Liaodong and North Korea. You can read it. Oh, yes, Rixin There is also a new word here, which is called geostructure.”

As he spoke, he got up and looked through the bookshelf, found a thin booklet, and motioned Liu Ping, who was waiting by his side, to pass it to Wang Jiaping.Wang Jiaping got up and took it with both hands, and looked at it immediately.The words in this thin volume are not too many, after Wang Jiaping read it, he handed it to Liang Menglong, and then circulated among several cabinet ministers one by one.

In the "attachment" to Gao Yushi's secret memorial, at the beginning, he talked about the geographical structure of the Changbai Mountains, the main mountain ranges of the Korean Peninsula and the Northeast Plain. [Note: Gao Yu explained the concept of "Northeast Plain" here. ]
For a mountain range, the ancients often named a certain section of their perspective separately.Based on the development of technology, people of later generations will find that these mountains with complicated names and continuous relationship with each other are actually part of a group of large mountains.And the main vein located in it often radiates some mountains that seem to exist alone.

The "mountain" referred to by later generations is often only the main vein, and those extended mountains often have separate names in official documents.

For example, the Zhongtiao Mountains, Wutai Mountains, and Hengshan Mountains are all extensions of the main vein of the Taihang Mountains in different directions.As far as the Taihang Mountains are concerned, if these branches are not included, it can be called the "narrow" Taihang Mountains; if these branches are included, it belongs to the "broad sense" Taihang Mountains.

Since it is impossible for Gao Pragmatism to show any satellite images in the Ming Dynasty, the concept of mountains can only be ignored by "according to the exploration and discovery of Jinghua Mining".Fortunately, no one in Daming would doubt Jinghua's exploration capabilities, so it can be justified.

This situation also exists in the Changbai Mountains that he analyzed in the article.He analyzed in the article that if you look at it from a broad perspective, "Changbai Mountains" is a collective name for the mountains that lie across the northeast of the entire Northeast region.In fact, the north reaches the Sanjiang Plain (the northernmost mountain is "Wanda Mountain"), and the south runs through the Liaodong Peninsula and connects with the Bohai Sea (the southernmost mountain is the "Qianshan Mountains").

Since the Changbai Mountains well shelter the eastern border of the Northeast Plain, it is often considered the geographical dividing line between the Northeast Plain and the Korean Peninsula.In fact, the problem is not so simple.

This is because when the main vein of the Changbai Mountains extended southward to the middle of the border between China and North Korea in later generations, it did not simply extend to the Liaodong Peninsula in the southwest, but also extended to the southeast to the Korean Peninsula.

In other words, the mountains in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula and the Changbai Mountains can be regarded as a whole.And if the perspective is extended to the Korean Peninsula, the mountains covering the entire northeast corner of the East Asian continent appear as a "herringbone" shape as a whole. The mountains of the Liaodong Peninsula and the Korean Peninsula are actually two branches of it.

In fact, if you judge where the main vein of this mountain is from the height, the mountains in northern North Korea with the Gaima Plateau as the core at an average altitude of 1200 meters are more qualified to become the entire mountain than the mountains in Daming (average altitude: 800 meters). the backbone.

[Note: The word "altitude" was first proposed by Guo Shoujing, a scientist in the Yuan Dynasty in my country; the unit of length "meter" has been popularized by scholars and businessmen in the book because of its wide-scale use in Jinghua. ]
After explaining the branches and heights of mountain ranges, Gao Yushi went on to write that from the perspective of human survival, lower altitudes often mean more living space.The high altitude in the northeastern part of the Korean peninsula has caused a serious shortage of arable land in the entire northern part of the Korean peninsula.

It is precisely because the mountains in the northeastern part of the Korean Peninsula are too high and the density is too high, so that even the fishing and hunting peoples who started from the Songnen Plain in the past found that when they penetrated the Korean Peninsula, they bypassed the Liaohe Plain and crossed the lower altitudes. The Liaodong hills and the route across the Yalu River from the lower reaches of the Yalu River are the most feasible routes.

For the Chinese farming peoples who started from the North China Plain on the southern line, they would feel that there was no reason to touch the high mountains in the northeast of the Korean Peninsula.

This is because the route along the Lower Liaohe Plain, the coastal corridor on the southern edge of the Liaodong Peninsula, into the western lowlands of the Korean Peninsula, in addition to the gentle terrain, will not make these ethnic groups from the North China Plain uncomfortable in terms of climate (North China Plain The northern part, the southern part of the Liaodong Peninsula, and the northwestern part of the Korean Peninsula are in the same latitude interval and have the same elevation).

If the Korean peninsula has sufficient strategic depth and uses it to confront the entire central country, perhaps the current geographical dividing line between the two sides will be established on the main line of the Changbai Mountains-Liaodong Hills (the main line of the Qianshan Mountains).The problem is that in terms of the strategic depth of the Korean peninsula, they are even unable to fight alone with the fishermen and hunters on the Northeast Plain.

Therefore, in history, it has been shown that there are basically no cases of infiltration from the Korean Peninsula to the Northeast Plain—unless they can form an alliance with the main Chinese ethnic groups on the East Asian continent by sea.A typical case of this is Goguryeo.From a geographical point of view, Goguryeo is actually a typical regime that was upgraded from the northeast fishing and hunting people.

Due to the barrier of the Yanshan Mountains, the Chinese nation's control over the Lower Liaohe Plain has always been unstable.In other words, the control of the Lower Liaohe Plain has always been alternately in the hands of the northeast fishing and hunting peoples and the Huaxia farming peoples - the most recent example of this is actually the fierce game between the Houjin regime at the end of the Ming Dynasty and the central court of the Ming Dynasty. To give this example, we have to take Liao's suppression of Jurchen and Jin's defeat of Liao as examples.

The Goguryeo regime was the first Northeast fishing and hunting nation to successfully enter the Lower Liaohe Plain.Of course, this "earliest" is relative, because before the Huaxia nation entered the Lower Liaohe Plain, it was originally the territory of the fishing and hunting people.

It's just that the Goguryeo people took the lead in absorbing advanced experience (including organizational forms and production methods) from the Huaxia people in the Lower Liaohe Plain during their continuous contact with the Huaxia people in the Lower Liaohe Plain (Warring States to Han and Tang Dynasties), and stood out among the Northeast fishing and hunting peoples. The form of the state emerges on the geopolitical arena.

In this sense, Gao Wu said in the article that he believed that Goguryeo was actually a representative of the entire Northeast fishing and hunting people, and it was similar to the birth process of Zhongshan Kingdom.

After occupying the Lower Liaohe Plain, the northeast fishing and hunting people represented by Goguryeo, the most tempting choice is of course to cross the Yanshan Mountains and enter the North China Plain.It's just that with the geographical potential of the Northeast Plain, it is difficult to directly confront the core area of ​​the entire central country.Therefore, after achieving this step, what the Northeast fishing and hunting ethnic regimes often do is to first expand the sphere of influence to the east and west.

Based on the comparison of strength, the nomadic peoples on the Mongolian plateau often adopt alliances, while for the long and narrow Korean peninsula, military conquest is the most common method.

If the three geographical forces of the Mongolian Plateau, the Northeast Plain, and the Korean Peninsula can be integrated, these northern fringe ethnic groups will have the ability to confront the Chinese nation on an equal footing.

Based on this method of calculation, the most successful one in history is of course the Manchurian regime established by Nurhachi. Of course, the person who really realized this concept was Huang Taiji—but because Meng Gu Zhezhe had already become a highly pragmatic concubine , Huang Taiji reckoned that he had no chance to be born.

Therefore, Gao Wu gave a counterexample in the article: He believed that the reason why the Jin State only got half of China in the end was that the Jin State could neither win the entire Korean Peninsula nor actually control the Mongolian grassland (Jin State vs. Mongolia The control of China is basically similar to China's prison system), so not only is it lacking in national strength, but it is also easy to be subverted in terms of geographical structure.

Gao Yushi believes that after occupying the pivotal area of ​​the "Lower Liaohe Plain", the fishing and hunting peoples in Northeast China will not necessarily change the agricultural attributes of this area, such as changing to fishing and hunting.Because the geographical potential stimulated by agricultural production is visible to everyone.

Therefore, the Lower Liaohe Plain will not only become a bridgehead for the southward advance, but also provide the main source of food for the fishing and hunting regimes, and enable the fishing and hunting regimes to stabilize in accordance with the organizational form of the Chinese nation.

This point is similar to that if the Chinese nation wants to gain an advantage in the war against the Mongolian plateau, it must first occupy several geographical units (such as Hetao) that can become good pastures.

Of course, the war horse used by Gao Yushi to pacify Mongolia itself came from Mongolia (Tumed), which was caused by the fact that Mongolia itself split, and one of them was caused by the special conditions caused by Ming's control of the economy through tribute.

Of course, no matter whether they are fishermen, hunters or nomads, they are very clear in their hearts that even if they occupy the Lower Liaohe Plain, they still cannot compete with the core area of ​​the entire central country.The advantage they have lies in their own mode of production, which can provide military power with a higher quality and proportion than farming nations.

Therefore, in terms of organizational structure, these horse people are more willing to use their own advantages to control a sufficient number of agricultural populations, thinking that they operate these cultivated lands. to this end.

Of course, what Gao Yushi actually wanted to say in his heart was that Huang Taiji wantonly plundered people from Daming.On the one hand, it maintains its own advantages through paramilitary actions such as hunting; on the other hand, it prohibits banner people from engaging in agricultural production through administrative means.As the pinnacle work under the "feudal" system, the Qing Dynasty has a long enough history as a reference, whether it is in controlling the administrative methods of the central state, or in promoting strengths and avoiding weaknesses, and stabilizing the dominance of the Manchurian regime.

From Goguryeo's perspective, they did not pose a substantial threat to the Middle Kingdom.Because in his 700-year history, he has been working hard to integrate the Korean peninsula and failed to reach a real alliance with the nomads of the Mongolian plateau.

The reason why Goguryeo has such a great reputation in history is not only that the ethnic groups on the Korean Peninsula hope to cling to this ethnic group that is obviously different from its geographical attributes, but also because it is the first regime that unified the geographic power of the entire Northeast Plain. , and based on this, occupied the hub area of ​​the Lower Liaohe Plain.

Gao Wushi wrote here that the reason why Sui Wen, Emperor Yang, Tang Tai, and Gao Erzong went forward and continued to destroy Goguryeo is that if Goguryeo develops again, it will definitely form a huge impact on the Central Plains in the future. threatened, so I had to do it.

In fact, before this, the Huaxia nation had already relied on its strong geographical influence to infiltrate the Lower Liaohe Plain, and even the Liaodong Peninsula and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula (from the late Warring States period to the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty).After that, in addition to dealing with the geopolitical pressure from the Mongolian Plateau, the Huaxia nation also had to pay attention to the pressure from the Northeast Plain.

After the Yan people became the first Huaxia people to enter the Lower Liaohe Plain, the hilly area of ​​the Liaodong Peninsula naturally became the control area of ​​the Yan people.However, the Liaodong Peninsula is dominated by hilly terrain, and the coastal areas are troubled by sea immersion.Therefore, after the Yan people crossed the Liaodong Peninsula, they hoped to penetrate into the Korean Peninsula.

Although the northeastern part of the Korean peninsula is densely mountainous, the terrain has leveled off when it extends south to the western part of the Korean peninsula, which is the coast of the Yellow Sea.With the joint efforts of the rivers originating in the mountains of the Northeast, stretches of alluvial plains have been filled between the low and gentle hills.Among them, Datong River played the greatest role.

If one were to find a mother river for future generations of North Korea, it would definitely be the Daedong River.The necessary condition for a river to become a mother river is that its downstream area can provide a sufficient area of ​​alluvial plain, and this plain occupies a central position in the geographical unit in which it is located.From this point of view, the Taedong River is most capable of becoming the mother river in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula.

Gao Yushi attached a map of North Korea drawn by Jinghua here, and explained it with reference to this map: Observing the outline of the northern part of the Korean Peninsula, you will find that there is a triangular bulge on its west side near the Yellow Sea.The skeleton of this triangle is formed by the hills extending from the mountains in the northeast, and the plains filled in between are mainly the function of the Datong River system.

This triangular-shaped plain-hilly area has become the area with the most geographical potential in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula, and of course it has become the geographical core of the northern part of the peninsula.Therefore, if the Yan people want to make a difference on the Korean Peninsula, their strategic goal is to occupy this geographical core area.

As for the mountains in the northeast, they did not arouse the interest of the farming peoples.After all, in that era, occupying the core plain of an area could be considered as controlling the surrounding mountains.

Although, these plain regimes are not even interested in sending officials there symbolically (unless there are major traffic arteries), and if the marginalized peoples living in the mountains, as long as their lives are not affected too much, they can often accept it. This kind of leadership in name, after all, many necessities of life need to be exchanged with the residents of the plains.

The plain area where the lower reaches of the Datong River is located has been the geographical core of the northern peninsula for more than 3000 years of history.During this period, the ethnic groups who arrived here chose to establish their own political centers in the northern part of this triangle.

This choice was made because, on the one hand, the main stream of the Datong River is in the north of this triangle (the south is formed by the alluvial flow of the Zaining River as the main tributary of the Datong River); on the other hand, the geopolitical pressure on the Korean Peninsula mainly comes from the north. , that is, the direction of the Liaodong Peninsula.

Therefore, it is necessary to concentrate the main resources on the northern front in order to maintain its own war potential.Otherwise, whether it is the Huaxia ethnic group or the northeast fishing and hunting ethnic group, they may quickly break through the Datong River defense line.In other words, with the strategic depth of the lower reaches of the Datong River, it is impossible to engage in level-by-level resistance, and it is necessary to put on a decisive battle posture at the first time.

The political center on the side of the Taedong River is naturally Pyongyang. Therefore, this geographic unit, which is interspersed with hills and whose area and flatness are not even as good as the "Xia Liaohe Plain", is also called the "Pyongyang Plain" by Gao Yushi in his article.However, Gao Wushi explained that the name "Pyongyang" actually has a long history and was not created by North Korea itself.

When the Yan people entered the Korean peninsula, it was named "Wang Dangerous City".And since it is called a "city", of course it means that there is already a mature regime, which is one step ahead of the Yan people.

This regime and the ethnic groups it belonged to were no strangers to the Ming emperor and the five elders. It was the "Jizi North Korea" established by the survivors of the Shang clan who did not want to belong to the Zhou Dynasty.

Gao Yushi explained here why the Zhou people feudalized the Yan Kingdom in the northern part of the North China Plain.In fact, the strategic purpose of Yan State's feudalism was largely to prevent merchants from entering the North China Plain again.In order to achieve this goal, the Yan people need to take the entire area south of Yanshan Mountain as their own, and use the Yanshan Mountains as a natural line of defense. This is enough to ensure the geographical security of the Zhou Dynasty.

It is also because of this that after the integration of the south of Yanshan, the Yan people had no idea of ​​​​going north for a long time. It was not until the late Warring States period that they were forced by the geopolitical pressure on the southern line and hoped to find a new strategic depth north of Yanshan. Infiltrate north.

Then Gao Wushi continued to analyze why Jizi did not choose the lower Liaohe Plain as his base, but bypassed the Liaodong Peninsula and entered the Korean Peninsula.He believes that this is of course related to the sensitive location of the Lower Liaohe Plain. If you choose to establish a foothold in such a hub area, even if you don’t feel the geopolitical pressure of the North China Plain for the time being, the nomads moving eastward along the West Liaohe River and the people in the hinterland of the Northeast Plain Fishermen and hunters will not make them feel safe.

Therefore, the Pyongyang Plain in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula has become a paradise for merchants to live in peace.Jizi and his descendants have indeed lived and worked in peace and contentment for hundreds of years, until one day, the Yan people appeared at their doorstep.

After analyzing these, Gao Wushi has enough reasons to present his opinion to the emperor: Although North Korea is now a vassal state of Ming Dynasty, Jurchen is a vassal state of Ming Dynasty, half of Mongolia is directly administered by Ming Dynasty and the other half has also become a vassal state, but considering their They all have their own languages, and they are not completely integrated with Ming Dynasty. If there is an incident in the Central Plains in the future, and a strongman appears in the three places to take the opportunity to unify them, then Da Ming will face huge defense pressure and fall into passive strategically.

Therefore, as the master of ZTE, the emperor must also have the spirit of "not worrying about future generations" and completely bring North Korea under his rule. In the future, he will gradually Sinicize these three places and expand the strategic buffer zone for the core farming area of ​​Ming Dynasty.

Only in this way can we "determine the foundation of eternity" and become an eternal emperor on par with the first emperor!
As the five pavilion elders read the high-level and practical reports one by one, the entire Xinuang Pavilion fell silent, and even the sound of breathing could be heard clearly.

It is self-evident how attractive this title is to the emperor Wanli who is now at the peak of martial arts.Moreover, not only is there such an attraction to Zhu Yijun, don't all the elders here feel emotional?Of course not, they were excited too!
Isn't the assistant minister of the emperor of the ages worthy of being recorded in the annals of history and be famous forever?
Thinking that such a grand blueprint now only lacks North Korea, and the follow-up will only be subtle and slowly Sinicization of the local people, the five elders couldn't help but look forward to it: So long as the old man expresses his approval of North Korea's attachment now, it will be possible in the future. Will be regarded as one of the famous ministers through the ages...

There are such good things in the world!
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PS: This point is still coded at night... After all, most people haven’t woken up yet, right?
(End of this chapter)