Daming talker

What is the use of Chapter 718?

After clarifying Tianshuai's ideas and future plans, Yin Zhuoran also roughly understood his own position.

It is similar to the system of the Han Dynasty in the Central Plains, where the imperial court sent people to the vassal states to serve as prime ministers in order to control the vassal states.

Today, the Sixth Prince Shunhejun is equivalent to the princes enfeoffed by Tianshuai, and I am equivalent to the prime minister sent by Tianshuai to the vassal state.

As Yin Zhuoran gradually got into the role, his thinking became more comprehensive and in-depth.

Then he pointed upwards and asked Lin Tailai, "Will His Majesty the Emperor allow Tianshuai to do this?"

Lin Tailai replied with certainty: "Don't worry! The emperor will definitely support me!
As long as it is not a blatant annexation of vassal territory and the emperor can save face, everything will be fine."

Nothing could stop Emperor Wanli's obsession with opening a copper mine. After all, the copper mine happened to be located on the border, so close to the Ming Dynasty.

However, the matter of the copper mine has only been told to Yang Dengshan, the commander of the garrison in Hamgyong Province, and is still kept secret from most other people.

Yin Zhuoran did not doubt Lin Tianshuai's strength, or rather, having served as an angel of the North Korean angel twice, he understood Lin Tianshuai's strength better than any other North Korean.

But he still had a doubt that he couldn't figure out until now. Now that he had talked about it with Tian Shuai, he might as well ask him all at once.

"There are many mountains and few plains in our country, and even fewer plains in the north. Most of the population and the essence of money and grain are in the south.

So what is Tianshuai's purpose in separatist regime in the north? The Ming Dynasty would not be interested in such a small amount of land, population, money and grain, right?
Otherwise, the Ming Dynasty would not have given up northern my country and retreated back to Liaodong 150 years ago."

Lin Tailai said disdainfully: "Even if you add the money and grain from the south of your country, my Ming Dynasty still doesn't look down on it.

Your country's annual tax grain is at most 300,000 dan? It's roughly equivalent to a county in Suzhou Prefecture!"

Yin Zhuoran was speechless. Only someone like him who had been to the Ming Dynasty could understand how big the gap was between the Ming Dynasty and the Kingdom of Korea.

People hundreds of years later may feel that the living standards were similar everywhere in ancient times, with men farming and women weaving, and there was no essential difference, especially with the beautification of Korean drama filters.

But this is not true. In the ancient productivity environment, there were still huge gaps between different places.

Although Korea is also known as Little China and considers itself a powerful country in the East, its living standards are several levels lower than those in the Ming Dynasty.

At that time, there was no currency in daily life on the peninsula, and there was almost no business. It was so poor that the Ming Dynasty officials and troops who came to the court were completely unable to adapt, and they had no place to spend the silver.

Border towns were considered poor places in the Ming Dynasty, but when the border troops arrived in Korea, they discovered that life in the border towns was actually very comfortable.

A Ming official who asked, "Why don't you eat meat?" asked a Joseon official, "Your country doesn't mine silver, doesn't use money, doesn't raise chickens and pigs, so how do you have currency? How do you eat meat?"

Another minister who entered the court wrote helplessly in his memorial: "Since our army entered Korea, we have found a completely different world. We cannot speak the language, we do not use money, there are no pig slaughterhouses or wine shops, and the Japanese invaders have burned and looted, leaving all the houses empty."

There was also a Chinese poem in the Joseon Dynasty during this period, which said: "There is no meat on the table, so we are happy with vegetarian food; there is no firewood at the stove, so we suffer disaster; the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law eat from the same bowl of rice, and the father and son change into one pair of pants."

Knowing this background, you can understand why Zhu Yuanzhang listed Korea as a country that would not be conquered. Besides the fact that it was separated by mountains and rivers, the reason was that the place was too poor.

Yin Zhuoran also understood this truth, so he asked in depth: "Our people are poor and our country is weak, and we don't have enough money and food. Apart from being submissive to the Ming Dynasty, there is not much benefit.

So what is the purpose of our country that could cause Tianshuai to have the desire to secede? It can't be to draw a new map, right? "

After a little thought, Lin Tailai decided not to hide it from Yin Zhuoran and told him the truth: "In fact, what I want is minerals, especially copper mines, and most of your country's minerals are in the north, which is why you only want to control the three northern provinces.

As for the south of your country, apart from a few harbors, I am not very interested in it."

Yin Zhuoran was inexplicably surprised and said incomprehensibly: "Such a big fuss? Just to open a mine?"

Lin Tailai said leisurely: "According to my rough estimate, Jiashan County alone can at least double the amount of copper produced in Ming Dynasty. Do you think it is worth it?"

Yin Zhuoran: “.”

Copper mines, like silver mines, are equivalent to money for the Ming Dynasty, which has abundant resources. They are currency!
How did you know this when even he, the "quasi-minister of the Ministry of Revenue" of the Kingdom of Korea, didn't know it? Did you calculate it with your fingers? Or did you dream about it?

No wonder many people say that Tianshuai is a god who has descended to earth. The more you come into contact with him, the more you can feel the mysterious power of Tianshuai.

After talking with Yin Zhuoran, I let him digest it on his own.

At this time, Yang Dengshan, the commander of the garrison in Hamgyong Province, happened to send a secret letter to report on the exploration.

"According to the instructions of the General, a copper mine has indeed been discovered in Huishanli, northeast of Jiashan County.

This place is located at the southern foot of Mount Paektu, on the upper reaches of the Yalu River, only 20 miles from the river bank, and does have the potential for water transport. "

If the above are all good news, then the following are probably complaints, and Lin Tailai can only continue to watch.

“But if we want to build roads, construct docks, and gather people to open mines, we need to store a lot of food in advance.

Hamgyong Province is already extremely poor and unable to raise funds locally, so it still needs to rely on the governor to allocate funds. "

Lin Tailai looked at the secret revelation and sighed deeply. Food is the people's first necessity and grain is their lifeline.

Even if we captured Japanese pirates and forced them to work as slaves, we still need to provide them with food, right? We can't let the slaves starve to death, right? So they still need food.

There was no other choice but to formulate a new fundraising and transportation plan to support the mining project in Hamgyong Province.

In the final analysis, it’s all because North Korea is too poor and can hardly provide much support in terms of supplies and food.

Most of the materials had to be transported thousands of miles from the Ming mainland. If the large copper mine was not developed, the Ming treasury was doomed to suffer huge losses.

In this case, how can the rulers and ministers of the Li Dynasty still have the face to cry and shout to return to their country? Returning to their country is useless except adding more burdens to the Ming Dynasty. They should just stay in Kuandian Fort in Liaodong!
At the end of the secret disclosure, Yang Dengshan also asked whether there was any preparation for mining for the discovery of another iron ore mine in Hamgyong Province.
This was directly rejected by Lin Tianshuai, as iron ore is not needed for the time being.

The current pig iron production of the Ming Dynasty's officials and craftsmen is relatively overflowing, and the court often has so much pig iron that it cannot be used up and has to be stored in the warehouse. Therefore, they will not develop iron mines for the time being, but will concentrate their efforts on the extremely profitable copper mines.

On the other side, Cui Wukui sent Yin Zhuoran out and was responsible for helping Yin Zhuoran, who had just arrived, arrange food and accommodation in Sungkyunkwan.

After finishing all this, Cui Wukui went to report to Lin Tianshuai, and then met Shen Weijing at the door of the back hall. This was the Shen Weijing who was said to be proficient in Japanese, familiar with Japanese affairs, and determined to be a mediation ambassador.

Considering that this big liar in history was indeed proficient in Japanese and could be considered a professional, Tianshuai kept Shen Weijing in the Jinglüe Shogunate to serve as a translator.

Logically speaking, the functions of Shen Weijing and Cui Wukui should be similar, one is a Japanese translator and the other is a Korean translator, just in different directions.

As a result, the actual status between the two is now very different.

In front of outsiders, especially Koreans, Cui Wukui was like the spokesperson of Tianshuai and was respected the most.

As of now, Shen Weijing's main task seems to be to chat with the few Japanese captives every day. Shen Weijing is not very convinced of the current situation, thinking that it is not that he is not as good as Cui Wukui, but that he is unlucky.

Cui Wukui's status rose because Tianshuai often communicated with the Koreans, so Cui Wukui naturally became important.

However, Tianshuai did not communicate with the Japanese, nor was he interested in listening to what they said. His attitude towards the Japanese was basically to kill them again and again. So how could Shen Weijing play a role?

Speaking of it, the only time Tianshuai had a direct and in-depth communication with the Japanese was when he tore Kato Kiyomasa apart with his bare hands. However, Shen Weijing, who was not very trusted at the time, was still guarding the Japanese prisoners in the rear of Shun'an.

However, no matter how unwilling he was in his heart, when Shen Weijing saw Cui Wukui, he had to put on a smile and take the initiative to talk to him. As the saying goes, the situation is stronger than the person.

"What are you doing here?" Cui Wukui asked Shen Weijing with a frown.

There is also a chain of contempt between people. Cui Wukui used to be an interpreter at the Siyi Pavilion and a messenger at the Ministry of Travel. Although his rank was that of a miscellaneous official, he was still within the system.

Shen Weijing was a person who got in through a self-taught means and he didn't show much outstanding qualities, so naturally he was not highly regarded by Cui Wukui.

Shen Weijing put himself in a very humble position and replied respectfully: "I have something to ask you to see the governor, please ask Cui Xingren to report it on my behalf."

Cui Wukui didn't ask any more questions. He just nodded and went into the back hall.

After hearing this, Lin Tailai felt that he hadn't seen Shen Weijing since the New Year party. Thinking that he had some free time today, he called Shen Weijing in.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

"What's the urgent matter?" Lin Tailai asked.

Shen Weijing replied, "Since mid-October, the Japanese general Konishi Yukinaga has been detained. How will he be dealt with? Please let us know."

Lin Tailai was slightly stunned, "The headquarters almost forgot that we still have Konishi Yukinaga as a prisoner."

Shen Weijing: “.”

Shit, are you serious? Konishi Yukinaga is a general of the Japanese army, a feudal lord, how can you not take him seriously?
Lin Tailai then casually asked, "Is he still alive and well? Did he not commit suicide or get sick?"

Shen Weijing suddenly felt that his work was meaningless, and numbly replied: "He's still alive and healthy."

Lin Tailai thought for a moment and said, "I have nothing to do today, so let's bring Konishi Yukinaga over to see us."

Soon, several soldiers from the standard camp escorted Konishi Yukinaga into the hall to pay homage to the Heavenly Marshal, with Shen Weijing serving as the translator.

Lin Tailai looked at Konishi Yukinaga for a few times, compared his impression with his own, and asked curiously, "You seem to have gained weight? You were not so plump when you were captured."

Konishi Yukinaga: “.”

What kind of words are these? If someone were someone with a strong temper, they would have asked to perform suicide right then and there, right?
Lin Tailai sighed, "You Japanese people's food is really bad. I heard that even a daimyo can only eat rice with soup, dried radish and small dried fish.

Kato Kiyomasa was known as a tiger general in your country of Japan, famous for his height and strength. However, he was killed by me with three punches in actual combat, because his meat intake was much lower than mine.

Konishi Yukinaga, you have been a prisoner in my Ming Dynasty military camp for more than three months, but you have gained weight. It seems that the people below treat you with courtesy.

By the way, I heard that you Japanese have the custom of night climbing. Is this true? Please tell me in detail. Is it really possible to do it so casually? "

Maybe Lin Tianshuai was really bored today, talking nonsense and his thoughts jumped very quickly.

In the first few sentences, he was still lamenting the poor food of the Japanese daimyo, but in the following sentences he jumped directly to the curious customs.

This simply silenced Konishi Yukinaga. He had originally wanted to have a conversation with Tianshuai, but now he didn't want to answer anymore.

Shen Weijing was speechless after finishing the translation. He knew that Jinglüe Gongping usually didn't respect others, but he didn't expect him to be so disrespectful. Did he treat the other person as a human being?
Finally, Shen Weijing couldn't help but say, "If it really doesn't work, let's give Konishi Yukinaga a quick death."

Even if it was just a knife cut, it would be more humane than this kind of mental torture.

After a brief thought, Lin Tailai said casually, "Forget it, let Konishi Yukinaga go."

It's really useless to keep this guy in my hands, and I have to spend food to feed him. It's better to let him go and let him spread defeatism among the pirates and undermine their morale.

In history, although Konishi Yukinaga was not captured, he seemed to be frightened after escaping from Pyongyang. He desperately promoted the combat effectiveness of the heavenly soldiers and strongly advocated withdrawal. In this time and space, the situation is probably even worse.

Release him directly? Shen Weijing was shocked. Why did the governor suddenly become so merciful?
After the translation, Konishi Yukinaga suddenly became excited and shouted something loudly.

"What is he shouting?" Lin Tailai asked Shen Weijing.

Shen Weijing translated: "He doesn't want to leave, he said he can't go back like this!

If he goes back without any reason, he will not have an easy time. He will be held responsible for the defeat and will be suspected!

So we need to give him some tasks, or use him to do something, otherwise it is better to leave him as a prisoner."

Lin Tailai said helplessly: "But what use is he really now? I really can't think of what I can do with him."

If it was about peace talks or prisoner exchange, Konishi Yukinaga could still be of some use, but that is obviously not possible at the moment.

Not to mention that Lin Tailai had no subjective intention to negotiate peace. Even objectively speaking, the situation was very favorable, the results were brilliant, and food and fodder were still available, so there was no room for peace talks.

Under such a winning situation, anyone from top to bottom who dares to talk about peace talks will be considered a collaborator with the Japanese.

Besides, both Princes Shun and Prince Jun of Linhai were rescued. As for the remaining Korean officials captured by the Japanese pirates, it didn’t matter whether they lived or died. Jinglie had no interest in exchanging or rescuing them.

In addition, since entering the court, Lin Tianshuai has climbed the mountain first twice, beheaded a general once, and killed 37,000 enemies. He does not need to use Konishi Yukinaga to show off his achievements.

Therefore, Konishi Yukinaga is really useless in Lin Tianshuai's hands. It would be better to send him back to Seoul and let him go back to spread defeatist sentiment and undermine the morale of the Japanese army.

It would be even better if we could arouse internal strife and suspicion among the Japanese troops in Seoul.

After all, judging from the sides in the Battle of Sekigahara, Konishi Yukinaga was in the same group as the Japanese general Ukita Hideie and the chief magistrate Ishida Mitsunari, while he was an enemy of powerful figures such as the commander of the Third Corps Kuroda Nagamasa and the commander of the Fifth Corps Fukushima Masanori (originally in history, there was also Kato Kiyomasa).

Letting Konishi Yukinaga go back might potentially become the fuse for internal strife among the Japanese army in Seoul.

Lin Tailai pointed at Konishi Yukinaga and said to Shen Weijing: "This is the situation, tell him the truth!

Our department really has no use for him. If he knows what's good for him, he should just leave!

When you return, spread the word about our mighty Heavenly Soldiers, and that will be your way of repaying the grace of the headquarters for saving your life!"

Konishi Yukinaga said nothing, and thought quickly and unconvincedly about a question: what use could he be?

(End of this chapter)