Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2280 Economics and Party Struggle () Persuasion

The key to persuading the emperor to resolutely determine the Western expedition was to convince him that the matter had sufficient political urgency and economic necessity, but therein lies the problem.

Just like the previous analysis of why the Ming Dynasty had no intention to conquer the West when its national power was strong in the early years of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the national conditions faced by the Ming Dynasty today are actually not fundamentally different from those back then.

Politically speaking, not to mention that the capital of the Ming Dynasty is now as stable as Mount Tai. Even in the northwest, as long as Jiayuguan is guarded, the entire Guanzhong plain will be as stable as a rock.

As for guarding the Guanzhong flank... isn't Gansu in the hands of the Ming Dynasty? There is no danger on the Guanzhong flank! So to a certain extent, the current situation can even be called "advance to attack, retreat to defend", which is simply wonderful!

Gao Pangshi stood up at this moment, stretched out his hand to the emperor, and said: "Your Majesty, please take a look at this map." After saying that, he walked to the side of the check-in room, opened the curtain, and a huge map of the entire Ming Dynasty was revealed on the wall. ——No, it should be said that it is a large map that mainly focuses on the entire Ming Dynasty, but also includes the entire East Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia.

Of course, due to the different difficulties in surveying and mapping, the Ming Dynasty including North Korea, Tumut, Ordos and other places were mapped in the most detail, followed by the land parts of southern Xinjiang and Japan, followed by Nanyang Islands and Taiwan, and Central Asia (Western Regions) , South Asia (Indian subcontinent) is second. But in any case, this should be the most detailed map of Ming Dynasty and surrounding areas that the emperor has ever seen.

This map still has a background color for each part according to the style specified by Gao pragmatism. The Ming Dynasty used vermilion as the background color, which looks particularly eye-catching. Not only that, this map also tried its best to depict the situation of mountains, rivers and rivers. Although it is far less intuitive to Gao Pragmatic than the satellite maps of later generations, it is already a dimensionality reduction blow compared to other maps of this era.

Zhu Yijun's eyes lit up when he saw this picture. He was about to speak when he heard Gao Pingshi said: "This picture is the total results of exploration and drawing in various places in the past ten years compiled by Jinghua. The version the emperor saw is a trial version." There are still some details of the painting plate that have not yet been completed... I originally planned to be the first to present it to the Emperor after it is all completed, but today I have no choice but to give it up and use this picture as a reference to explain to the Emperor the importance of our country's recovery of the Western Regions. "

In fact, when the map was shown, Gao Pragmatic had already thought about how to speak. After all, in this era, things like national topographic maps are not something that will be available on the streets in later generations. This is a real secret of the imperial court. If you don't make it clear that this map is still a "trial version" and that the official map will be presented to the emperor first, then...he might be guilty of having evil intentions.

Sure enough, Zhu Yijun's face relaxed after hearing this, and he smiled and said: "It's really difficult for you, Rixin. I am very relieved to have such a loyal minister. If you have anything to say to me, just tell me."

Gao pragmatic nodded, walked to the side and picked up the pointer, pointed at the Gansu area, which is usually the Hexi Corridor, and said: "What the emperor heard, probably someone said that the Hexi Corridor is in my hands, and the north It connects Mongolia to the west, the Western Regions to the west, and Qinghai to the south, and can divide the above three major regions.

At the same time, since it is a division, once our army becomes stronger, if our army goes north and turns east, it can surround Mongolia with Guanzhong, Shanxi, Gyeonggi and other places; if it goes west, it can attack the Western Regions; if it goes south, it can threaten Qinghai-Tibet. From this point of view, our Chaotian soldiers can attack on three sides. At the same time, because it is not far from Guanzhong, food, wages and weapons are well supplied, and the financial pressure is not too great. I think we can attack when we advance and defend when we retreat, right? "

Zhu Yijun nodded in agreement and said: "What Rixin said is absolutely true. That's what the person who suggested it said."

Gao pragmatic sneered: "The movement of the Tao is the opposite, and the use of the Tao is the weak. When our dynasty is strong, we can naturally face threats from three sides. However, once our dynasty is slightly turbulent... it may not even be necessary to turmoil. As long as a certain governor of Gansu uses If you get the wrong person, the Hexi Corridor will not be an advanced base, but a place facing enemies on three sides. If you are not careful, it will be a crisis in Guanzhong.

What's more, now nine out of ten Han people in the Hexi Corridor are Han, and the area has long been consolidated by the imperial court. As long as the imperial court has spare power, why not expand the surrounding areas to form a Han territory? If the surrounding areas are under control, why should our country have to worry about the Hexi Corridor being easily plundered by captives, resulting in the loss of both human and financial resources? "

Zhu Yijun pondered, but did not speak, so Gao Pragmatic added: "This is just like the Japanese invaders before. If North Korea is not in front, the Japanese pirates will point directly at Liaodong. If the battlefield is in Liaodong, our country will lose more than what it is now. Like? The loss in terms of people and property may be more than ten times."

Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said: "Of course I understand this truth. In your words in the past, it is to expand some buffer zones to the core of the imperial court. Although these areas are remote, they can usually bring a small amount of revenue to the imperial court, and More importantly, even if a foreign enemy invades and suffers losses in these places, it will not cause any damage to the imperial court. Instead, it will delay the imperial court in mobilizing troops to fight back. "

"That's true." Gao Pragmatic nodded happily. It seemed that the emperor still remembered what he said. Then he continued what he was talking about: "Since the emperor also affirms the importance of the buffer zone, I will not expand on this point. What I want to say next is another benefit of conquering and recovering the Western Regions."

Zhu Yijun nodded and said, "You say."

Gao pragmatically said: "Recovering the Western Regions is not just for the so-called 'Vega Four Seas', but like the Han Dynasty, we want to capture the grasslands of the Western Regions and obtain good horses. Perhaps the emperor feels that now that Tumut has surrendered, the court has also gained something. Originally, some of the pastures in the Chahar tribe seemed to be enough for the imperial court, so it is not that important whether the Western Region is in my hands... But what I want to say is that there are only three holes in the cunning rabbit, not to mention the source of the good horses of the Celestial Dynasty. " Zhu Yijun frowned slightly and asked thoughtfully: "Do you think the pastures of Eastern Mongolia are not stable?" He shook his head again and said: "As you said, Tumut is now inseparable from my Ming Dynasty's material supply. , and the Nen Horqin and Sheng Nvzhen tribes are weak and will not pose a threat to the court at all." [Note: Zhu Yijun's so-called Sheng Nvzhen here refers to the savage Jurchens and others in later history books. He did not mention Ye He, Jianzhou and other tribes. Because they have been "moved" to North Korea. ]

Gao pragmatic shook his head and said: "During the secret war between Song and Liao, who could have thought of the Jurchens' military power in the future? During the war between Song and Jin, who could have thought of the rise of Mongolia? Your Majesty, from my perspective on the grasslands of Middle Earth, other Although a nation 'rises and dies suddenly', the Huns, Turks, Khitans, etc. who once spanned thousands of miles have disappeared in the long river of history, but on the other hand...when they 'prospered' , but the harm to Middle-earth is so great!

Therefore, I believe that it is better to prevent the slightest change than to remedy the situation after it has been lost. Of course, this does not mean that I want to suggest that the emperor kill all the grassland people - this is impossible, goes against the law of heaven, and is something that a benevolent king cannot do. But at least, the imperial court should not put the only pasture in the 'ant nest', but should share the risks and create at least three major pastures to ensure that the imperial cavalry never worries about the supply of horses. "

Zhu Yijun asked in surprise: "How come there are three places?" Yes, even if you go by what Gao Yuanfu said, there is Chahar grassland now, and there will be a Western Region grassland in the future, aren't there only two places?

Gao pragmatic shook his head and said: "Has the emperor forgotten what I said last time? The Ordos tribe will be moved westward to Qihe, and the vacant land in the Hetao will be another pasture."

"Ah, I forgot for a moment." Zhu Yijun slapped his forehead and said: "Yes, it is indeed three places." But after a pause, he felt that it was a bit unreasonable to be convinced so quickly, and then said: " I also know that according to your assumptions, they are all good, but right now...

You are a local official, and you also know that this battle will cost a lot, and I heard from your previous suggestions that it seems that even if we win this Western Region, it will require a lot of initial investment. Not to mention anything else, if you want to use the Ili Valley to build the Western Region Jiangnan, the expenses will be overwhelming.

You see, this not only requires thousands of miles of migration for an unknown number of people, but also provides them with many materials such as agricultural tools, seeds, and cloth in the early stage, and even directly provides them with food in the first few years... How much does the cave here cost? Can it be filled in? Does the imperial court really have such spare power? "

Having said this, he suddenly remembered that he had just talked about "eating the feudal king" with Gao Jingshi, and suddenly opened his eyes wide and said: "Ah! You don't want to use the feudal princes' money to fill this big hole, right? "

Gao Pingshi smiled dryly and said: "Your Majesty remembers many of my words, and I have deep feelings for you. However, does your Majesty still remember my other words - 'take it from the people and use it for the people'?"

The muscles on Zhu Yijun's face twitched, and he smiled dryly: "I remember it, but this amount of money...such a big sum of money...can't fill it all in, right?"

Gao pragmatic raised his eyebrows and said: "What are you talking about, Your Majesty? As the saying goes, if you don't want to let go of your children, you can't trap the wolf. When doing business, you must first invest before you can get a return. This money is the initial investment. Your Majesty, this is like what we wanted back then. To reorganize the Liaonan Saltworks, we must first clearly distinguish the relationship between people and land in the past, then buy the land and hire people, and then we can do things. And buying land and hiring people always costs money... You think so Isn’t that true?”

Zhu Yijun didn't understand, so he shook his head and said: "How can these two things be the same? Immigration is obviously a national policy, and the court has made it clear that it is a money-losing business. How can there be any investment and income?"

Gao Pragmatic shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, your words are wrong!"

"What's the difference?" Zhu Yijun obviously didn't believe it: "Tell me, how can there be any profit here?"

Gao pragmatic sighed: "If nothing else, let me tell you something simple first...whose land belongs to the Western Region that we conquered?"

Zhu Yijun was stunned and said curiously: "Of course it belongs to the imperial court - it is my land."

"Isn't that it?" Gao Pingshi spread his hands: "Selling land is such a simple matter, does the emperor still want me to explain it in detail?"
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