Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 107 Meeting with Japan in the Conference Hall

"Gollum..."

In the main hall, as the kettle on the tea stove boils, a hand lifts it down and pours it into two tureens.

The boiling water washes and brews the bright and uniform tea leaves. The tea soup is clear and bright, and there is a faint fragrance in the air.

Unlike some modern tea fragrances with added flavored tea leaves, this tea fragrance is a long-lasting fragrance.

In such a scene, even an inexperienced person can tell that the quality of this tea is not low.

"This is Xin'an Songluo. Try it and see if it's different from what you drink on weekdays."

When Li Jinglong's voice sounded, Zhu Gaoxu also picked up the tureen and smelled it.

He had also drank Xin'an's Usnea tea from his leader in his previous life, but the aroma of the tea was completely different from this one.

Just by smelling the aroma of the tea, Zhu Gaoxu knew that this tea must be extraordinary without even having to take it into his mouth, not to mention that this tea was brought by Li Jinglong.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu also asked: "Is this Ruoshe's usnea tea?"

Ruo She's Usnea, Wu's Tiger Hill, Qiantang's Dragon Well... these are the three tribute teas that Zhu Yuanzhang liked to drink most, and because he required high quality, the quantity that could be brought into the palace was very small.

Among them, the Usnea tea offered by Xin'an Ruoshe was Zhu Yuanzhang's favorite, and it was difficult for Zhu Gaoxu and others to drink it when they were dealing with memorials in Wuying Palace.

For Zhu Gaoxu, who took tribute tea and drank water at Wuying Hall every day, this was the only good tea he had never tasted.

"It tastes good to you. You can tell the origin of this tea just by smelling it."

Li Jinglong opened his mouth with a smile and picked up the bowl himself, sniffing the faint fragrance like a tiger sniffing roses.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't care so much. He just blew it and took a sip without expressing any thoughts. Instead, he asked Li Jinglong directly: "Do you have Grandpa's permission for Cao Guogong to come to my place?"

His question is very critical. After all, apart from Zhu Yuanzhang's favored people, the only ones left here are brothers from hundreds of households with the subtitle Xu.

If Li Jinglong did not obtain Zhu Yuanzhang's permission, not only would he be punished, but Zhu Gaoxu and Wang Jian would also be punished.

Zhu Gaoxu was not worried about being punished. After all, that was the punishment Lao Zhu had for his descendants. He was worried about Wang Jian and his brothers with the name Xu Baihu.

If Li Jinglong hadn't suddenly appeared, he would still be reading in the study.

"Of course I have your Majesty's permission, otherwise how could I dare to come looking for you." Li Jinglong chuckled. He was able to gain Zhu Yuanzhang's trust not only because of his bloodline and background, but also because of his conduct and ability.

For Zhu Gaoxu, who seems to be a hot potato at the moment, Li Jinglong knows very well that the so-called grounding is just a good show staged by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Others may not know it yet, but who among the civil and military officials above the fourth rank of Zhongzheng do not know that the two articles "Currency Law" and "Using Currency to Deduct Taxes" came from Zhu Gaoxu's mouth.

If Zhu Gaoxu is allowed to walk outside and show off, should the credit be given to him or to the East Palace?

Zhu Gaoxu is like a touchstone in the hands of the emperor. As for who the emperor uses him to test, it is self-evident...

However, despite this, Li Jinglong still favors Zhu Gaoxu.

Taking a closer look at the past and present, there are very few people who can comment on the military and interfere in national affairs at his age.

People such as Gan Luo, Huo Qubing, Zhu Wenzheng and others only made achievements in military and political aspects. Although he was not as good as the above people in a single direction, he was better than all-rounders.

"Did Mr. Cao Guo come to ask me about the prevention of Japanese pirates?"

Zhu Gaoxu learned from Wang Jian and Lin Wuliu that Li Jinglong was taking over the Japanese affairs, so he could naturally guess his intention.

Li Jinglong did not deny this, but nodded and admitted:
"I have been dealing with the northern invaders in the north and the southwestern barbarians in the southwest all year round. I really don't know much about the Japanese pirates."

"When Wei Guogong was in office before, Yang Wenneng made quite a lot of achievements. I guess he got some advice from you."

"Today, the Liaodong capital's Jinzhou Zhongzuo Station sent news that the Zuo Station was invaded by Japanese invaders and that the whole place was massacred and plundered, leaving only a white field."

"Although the number of Japanese pirates this time was several times that of the officers and soldiers of Zhongzuo Station, it can be seen that Japanese pirates are different from ordinary bandits."

"Wei Guogong Zhuyu is in front, and naturally I don't want to be left behind, so I came here to ask His Highness for details on how to deal with Japan."

Li Jinglong raised his hands and bowed, talking to Zhu Gaoxu as a peer.

In fact, the two are of the same generation, or even cousins, but there are too many third-generation men in Lao Zhu's family, and the age gap with Li Jinglong is too big, so except for Zhu Biao's lineage, the other third-generation descendants are all related to Li Jinglong. Not familiar with.

Zhu Gaoxu also felt very sorry for Li Jinglong. After all, he knew about Li Jinglong's previous record.

Let's not mention that he trained troops from all over the world. When he was young and young, he accompanied Feng Sheng, Lan Yu and others to fight in all directions. After Zhu Yunzhen reduced the vassal, he raided Kaifeng and surrendered the military power of Zhou King Zhu Xi to show his ability.

Zhu Gaoxu had known his fifth uncle. Although he had been taught a lesson by Zhu Yuanzhang, he still had military power in his hands.

Li Jinglong raided Kaifeng lightly and directly surrendered his military power. In the process, Zhu Ru had almost no chance to resist.

If Zhu Yunwen had used the same technique on Zhu Di from the beginning, Jingnan would have ended before it even started. After all, no one would have thought that Zhu Yunwen would dare to do this to his biological father.

As for the battle of Jingnan, Zhu Gaoxu has reviewed it many times, but he can't guarantee that he can defeat Li Jinglong like his father.

It's a pity that people like him were targeted during the Yongle period because Jingnan fought against the Yan army and caused too many casualties to the Yan army.

The general who was trained by Lao Zhu and left to Zhu Yunwen was impeached many times during the Yongle period and had to take refuge at home. He did not die of illness until the end of Yongle.

Such people should have been used to expand territories...

"Second Highness?"

Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu didn't speak for a long time, Li Jinglong thought that Zhu Gaoxu didn't want to tell him how to deal with the Japanese pirates.

It was his inquiry that brought Zhu Gaoxu back to reality. After he simply sorted out his thoughts, he said:

"Now the Japanese pirates in Zhejiang are overwhelmed by Yang Wen's encirclement and suppression. The Zhejiang Japanese pirates are divided into two groups and flee. One group goes south to Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi and Luzon, and the other group attacks north to Liaodong."

"The situation along the northern coast is relatively simple. As long as North Korea blocks the sea line from Jeju Island to Tsushima Island and Gangnam, it will be enough to close the door and beat the dog."

Zhu Gaoxu said, and Li Jinglong also nodded in agreement.

Navigation in the fourteenth century was not the kind of situation that later generations could enter and exit the deep sea at will. Before the seventeenth century, both merchants and pirates had to follow the proven routes.

With current navigation technology, it is extremely dangerous to go directly from Songjiang Shanghai County to Jeju Island. Even the largest ship currently manufactured by Longjiang Shipyard cannot guarantee that it will reach Jeju Island safely.

The Ming Dynasty’s highest level of sailing craftsmanship cannot be guaranteed, let alone the group of Japanese ships that escaped from Japan.

Therefore, most of them travel near the main waterways, basically sailing along the coast.

There are not many islands along the coast of the Ming Dynasty. Instead, there are islands of various sizes along the thousand-mile waterway from Jeolla Province in North Korea to the Yalu River in the north and then to Jinzhou in Liaodong.

Come to think of it, the Japanese pirates who committed this crime were hiding on these islands.

In his previous life, Zhu Gaoxu remembered that Jinzhou was invaded by Japanese pirates. However, in his previous life, this incident was very serious. The Japanese pirates not only massacred the Zhongzuo Institute, but also caused several bloody incidents in various parts of Jinzhou.

Looking at it today, it seems that my reminder worked. The Japanese pirates just left after massacring the Zhongzuo Institute. I think there were many casualties.

However, judging from the current situation, there are definitely some Japanese pirates in Zhejiang who cannot bear the pressure and flee north. When the time comes, there will be more and more Japanese pirates in the north, so preparations must be made in advance.

After analyzing everything, Zhu Gaoxu continued to give suggestions: "As long as we can block these two sea routes, and then focus on searching in the offshore areas of Jeolla, North Korea and Jinzhou, Liaodong, we will surely gain something soon."

"As for the south, it is actually true to what I said in the "Pinging Japanese Theory" before. As long as we follow the steps, we can clear out the Japanese pirates in Fujian, Zhejiang and Guangdong and Guangxi. However, the Japanese pirates in Nanyang have not been eliminated for a day, and Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian will not be safe."

"Therefore, it is necessary to build larger ships, equip them with more artillery, and reset the Penghu Inspection Department, so that the Penghu Inspection Department can carry out daily inspections."

Zhu Gaoxu explained the affairs of Pingwo clearly in a few words. The credit for this was that he had a rough map in his mind.

In his previous life, whether he was on a business trip or driving, using maps was the norm after all, and he preferred to use satellite maps.

When he was bored, he liked to look around with his fingers, so he could remember the general situation.

But he didn't expect that this interest in his spare time would become his weapon in life in this world.

"His Royal Highness is indeed aware of the situation in China and foreign countries as reported in the palace."

After listening to Zhu Gaoxu's suggestions, Li Jinglong had to sigh that Zhu Gaoxu could explain the situation in North Korea and the Liaodong coast so clearly.

You must know that even though he travels all over the country, he only understands the offshore situation in the east of Liaodong.

For example, whether there are islands off the coast of Goryeo, even he needs explanations from officials of the Ministry of Rites to understand.

Now after listening to Zhu Gaoxu's words, Li Jinglong has thought of how to pacify the Japanese, but he still has some problems in pacifying the Japanese.

"If we follow what His Highness said, we will have to lead troops to the offshore waters of North Korea. But if this happens, North Korea will probably be very wary of us."

"That's true..." Zhu Gaoxu nodded calmly. He knew very well what the situation in North Korea was like today.

North Korea in the early Ming Dynasty was not the waste that it was during the late Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty. In fact, after experiencing military affairs and the intervention of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty, as well as various wars to encircle and suppress the Red Turban Army, North Korea under Li Chenggui was still able to fight.

North Korea, with a population of 300 million, can also field [-] cavalry and tens of thousands of horse infantry. Due to North Korea's terrain problems, operations deep into North Korea must face severe logistical problems.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Liaodong still needed constant blood transfusions from Jiangnan to maintain the situation. It was very difficult to continue to develop.

Because the Ming Dynasty was very weak in Liaodong, even if Li Chenggui seized power and became king, there were still voices within him that wanted to seize Liaodong and start a war with the Ming Dynasty.

This may sound like a joke in later generations, but in the current situation, it makes people laugh.

Even now, North Korea is still expanding to the northeast, passing through the Tielingwei direction, and constantly encroaching on the Jurchens in the East China Sea.Under such a situation, Ming Dynasty suddenly said that it would encircle and suppress Japanese pirates, and would also lead troops to encircle and suppress Japanese pirates in the offshore area to the west of North Korea.

If this news reaches North Korea, I am afraid that Li Chenggui and others will think that Ming Dynasty is here to deal with them.

"I will discuss this matter with His Majesty before we discuss it. I would like to thank His Majesty for your advice today."

Li Jinglong stood up and bowed, not intending to talk to Zhu Gaoxu about matters other than peace and security, but this was not surprising. After all, there were too many noble and civil servants who fell down because of their closeness to the vassal king.

If it weren't for Zhu Gaoxu's high opinion of Pingbo, Li Jinglong probably wouldn't have anything to do with him.

"Mr. Cao Guo, walk slowly."

Zhu Gaoxu stood up and returned the gift, and at the same time sent Li Jinglong out of the yard.

The two of them did not exchange a word of greeting. It was not until Li Jinglong walked out of the courtyard that Zhu Gaoxu turned around and returned to the courtyard.

When he came back, Lin Wuliu, who had been squatting there, also walked out of the penthouse, holding a small box in his hand.

"Your Highness, this is something Duke Cao Guo asked someone to force upon you."

Lin Wuliu looked innocent, but Zhu Gaoxu rolled his eyes at him: "I'm afraid you are not willing to give it."

After that, he opened the small box and saw ten gold bars as thick as his thumb placed inside.

When Lin Wuliu saw the ten gold bars placed inside, his eyes were as wide as those of a cow. He immediately took out one and took a bite, then weighed it and said:
"Oh my God...these ten sticks must weigh at least a pound."

In the Ming Dynasty, a catty weighed 16 taels. According to Lin Wuliu's estimate, there were at least 16 taels of gold here. The market price of gold was worth more than 300 taels.

"Another income."

Looking at the more than 300 guan of money, Zhu Gaoxu smiled from ear to ear. He felt that if he stayed in Nanjing for a few more months, he might be able to return to the north with several thousand guan of money, which would make his father jealous.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu took the small box from Lin Wuliu and carried it back to the study.

After putting it away, Zhu Gaoxu also ordered Lin Wuliu from the window: "Let the Youchang Street Restaurant deliver three more meat dishes today!"

"Yes!" After hearing that there would be extra food today, Lin Wuliu also rubbed his hands and walked out of the yard, telling his brothers to go get the food.

Not to mention Zhu Gaoxu, but that after Li Jinglong left in the car, he did not return directly to Cao Guogong's mansion in Beijing, but drove to the Forbidden City.

In just half an hour, he got off the bus at Xihuamen and walked to Wuying Hall.

"Cao Guogong Li Jinglong asks to see His Majesty..."

As the Yishiha singing ceremony sounded at the entrance of Wuying Hall, everyone in the hall stopped moving and looked at the door. Only Zhu Yuanzhang responded softly: "Summon"

"Summon Duke Cao Guo Li Jinglong into the palace~" The eunuch who accompanied him immediately sang and summoned Li Jinglong after receiving the permission.

Li Jinglong, who was outside the hall, heard the sound and entered the hall. After walking into the main hall, he turned into the side hall. After entering the hall, he bowed five times and kowtowed three times, bowing and singing: "Your Majesty, Duke Cao Li Jinglong, pays homage to your Majesty. May your Majesty be blessed with good health."

"Jiujiang, get up. You don't need to be so polite in front of your family."

Facing Li Jinglong, Zhu Yuanzhang also showed his affection for his family, but Li Jinglong did not stand up immediately. Instead, he respectfully saluted Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Jixi and others before standing up.

Looking at him, Lao Zhu was happy from the bottom of his heart. After all, this was the good general he left to Zhu Yunwen to defend the country. Although his ability was not as good as that of his father Li Wenzhong, he was enough to protect Zhu Yunwen.

"Give me a seat." Lao Zhu turned his head and told the accompanying eunuch, and soon a chair appeared behind Li Jinglong.

He bowed repeatedly before taking his seat. Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang also smiled and asked, "How is it?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's question was very vague, which made Zhu Yunwen have a guess. On the contrary, Zhu Jixi, Zhu Shangbing and Zhu Gaochi were more confused.

As the person involved, Li Jinglong knew who the emperor was talking about, so he nodded: "I just came back from there and gained something."

"As long as it's rewarding." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, but he caught the hesitation on Li Jinglong's face in the next second, and gradually put away the smile on his face.

"Your Majesty, minister..." Li Jinglong truthfully told him what Zhu Gaoxu said to him. When the three words 'Zhu Gaoxu' appeared in Wuying Hall, Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Gaochi looked at Zhu Yuanzhang.

The last three people were confused, but Zhu Yunwen knew very well that if Li Jinglong could mention Zhu Gaoxu's name in Wuying Hall, it was expected that Zhu Gaoxu would be lifted from the ban soon.

This was not beyond his expectation. After all, in his original estimate, Zhu Gaojiu would be grounded for at most one month, because some of the previous vassal kings who were more excessive than him were only grounded for one month, and he should not be able to do so. exception.

But he didn't expect that Zhu Gaoxu had been grounded for almost a month and a half before his grandfather relented and showed his attitude of lifting his grounding.

Such an attitude release made Zhu Yunwen a little shaken.

"Perhaps Gao Xu is not that important to grandpa..."

Zhu Yunwen was still guessing, but Zhu Yuanzhang said after Li Jinglong finished relaying Zhu Gaoxu's words:

"His views on Pingbo are becoming more and more sophisticated." Zhu Yuanzhang praised Zhu Gaoxu for the first time in a month and a half.

In this case, Zhu Gaochi, who was sitting in the hall, was overjoyed. Even Zhu Jixi and Zhu Shangbing felt that Zhu Gaoxu's lifting of the ban might not be far away.

"Your Majesty, although His Highness's words are correct, they involve North Korea. I am worried that North Korea will think that the imperial court wants to use the excuse of pacifying Japan to attack them."

Li Jinglong expressed his opinion, which was also everyone's first reaction after hearing Zhu Gaoxu's suggestion.

Li Chenggui was indeed very respectful to Ming Dynasty, but this was under the condition that Ming Dynasty did not affect his interests.

For example, in northern Korea, the territory that originally belonged to the Yuan Dynasty has been occupied by Li Chenggui. Apart from returning some Han people, Li Chenggui had no intention of spitting out this land.

Not only that, he also crossed the Yalu River and allowed the Korean army to continuously attack the Jurchen tribes in the East China Sea who had nominally submitted to the Ming Dynasty.

It can be said that in the northeastern part of Liaodong, the contest between Ming Dynasty and North Korea has never stopped.

Under such a situation, Ming suddenly said that it would encircle and suppress Japanese pirates in the coastal waters of the west coast of Korea. It was really a problem for the North Korean monarchs and ministers to believe Ming's words.

North Korea will reject Ming's request, and if Ming insists on having its own way, I am afraid that Li Chenggui will eventually meet Ming's swordsmen.

However, if the Ming Dynasty did not encircle and suppress the Japanese pirates on the west coast of Korea, the eastern front of the Liaodong Peninsula would always be at risk of being invaded by Japanese invaders.

After much thought, Zhu Yuanzhang was still prepared to be polite first and then attack: "Let the people from the Ministry of Rites tell Li Chenggui about Jinzhou and the Japanese pirates' escape to the north, and tell Li Chenggui that if North Korea is not willing to send troops to encircle and suppress the Japanese pirates, then let them send their own naval troops to encircle and suppress the Japanese pirates." "

"I just want him to remember it for me. If the Jinzhou incident happens again because of his disobedience, then I will have no choice but to send troops."

Zhu Yuanzhang showed his tough side. He was not afraid of breaking up with North Korea, and he didn't think North Korea's Li Chenggui would be that stupid.

Once the Japanese pirates that the Ming army encircled and suppressed in Zhejiang fled north, more and more Japanese pirates would gather in the west of North Korea. Even if he did not speak, Li Chenggui would find a way to deal with these Japanese pirates who threatened North Korea.

Speaking of which, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Li Jinglong and said, "I'll leave it to you to handle the Penghu Inspection Department. Just move [-] families from Fujian to the area. Anyway, there are houses on the island."

"I accept the order..." Li Jinglong bowed in agreement, and then said: "Your Majesty asked me to supervise the affairs of pacifying the Japanese. Naturally, I was furious. However, it is already winter, and I am worried about what will happen to the Qiang and Fan people in Gansu and Xining." Rebellion.”

"Do you have anyone to recommend?" After hearing what Li Jinglong said, Zhu Yuanzhang already knew that he wanted to recommend someone and asked specifically.

"Please order Pingqiang General Ning Zheng to lead his troops to Xining to prepare for the frontier fortress." Li Jinglong recommended the veteran general Ning Zheng who was the founding hero of the country. Zhu Yuanzhang also nodded with great satisfaction and turned to give instructions to the eunuchs beside him.

Not long after, His Highness Wuying issued the imperial edict that Ningzheng be in charge of Xining.

Seeing that the imperial edict was issued, Zhu Yuanzhang also specifically asked about Zhu Gaoxu: "When you went to that courtyard, did Yan's second son Xu repent?"

Those words lifted everyone's hearts to their throats.

Faced with this problem, Li Jinglong did not sugarcoat it too much, and bluntly informed Zhu Yuanzhang of the situation in the courtyard he saw.

"When I went to His Highness the Second Prince's residence, he was reading in the study. The courtyard was relatively quiet, and his words and deeds during the conversation with me were also in order. I thought His Highness must have repented."

After Li Jinglong finished speaking, Zhu Gaochi next to him felt relieved, and Zhu Yunwen across from him had already thought of Zhu Yuanzhang's oral order to lift Zhu Gaoxu's grounding.

However, if Zhu Yuanzhang's thoughts can be easily guessed by them, then he is not Zhu Yuanzhang.

"I think he might just be pretending and will do it again when he comes out."

Zhu Yuanzhang spoke with a calm face, and said to the eunuch beside him: "Send someone to the front guard square of the government army to deliver the oral instructions, ordering Yan's second son Xu to start fasting from today on, without any mistake."

"My slave, take your orders..." The eunuch who accompanied him agreed without hesitation, but just as he agreed, Zhu Gaochi quickly stood up and bowed:
"Grandpa Huang, Gao Xu..."

"It's noon, let's all go down and rest!"

Before Zhu Gaochi could finish speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang interrupted him, stood up and walked out.

Everyone was stunned by his move, and when he passed by Li Jinglong, he said: "Jiujiang, follow me for a walk outside Wuying Palace."

"I accept your order..." Li Jinglong was not surprised for long. After subconsciously complying with Zhu Yuanzhang's words, he stood up and followed Zhu Yuanzhang out.

After they disappeared into the hall, Zhu Yunwen slowly stood up and glanced at Zhu Gaochi.

Zhu Gaochi stood there with his head lowered, while Zhu Shangbing and Zhu Jixi cautiously stood up and bowed to Zhu Yunwen before leaving.

"Gao Chi, you don't have to worry too much. I think grandpa will lift the ban soon."

Zhu Yunwen briefly comforted Zhu Gaochi, then turned and left the hall, going to the side hall next door to rest.

In the end, only Zhu Gaochi was left in the side hall of Wuying Hall.

(End of this chapter)