The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 205 Chen Jingke’s Growth

Chen Jingke's analysis successfully convinced Zhu Yuanzhang and others.

As a first appearance, it was quite perfect and won unanimous praise from the distinguished guests present.

Especially with the strong support of Xu Da and Lan Yu, coupled with his "big ambition", he can create many opportunities to make military achievements.

It also made him recognized by many people, who regarded him as one of their own.

Of course, this also has something to do with him marrying a princess.

The emperor is the most meritorious leader. If he marries her daughter, he is naturally a person of meritorious status.

At least that's the case for now.

Chen Jingke was also very excited. He did not expect that Lao Zhu would advance his debut so far.

According to his idea, at least he would have to wait until Zhu Xiongying grew up and step onto the stage as Taisun's aide.

Although I don’t know what Lao Zhu thinks, he will naturally seize the opportunity when it comes.

In fact, he was also very nervous.

Different from the previous lectures, he used to state what happened from a historical perspective.

So you can be confident.

But in his previous life, he didn't know much about the history of Goryeo, he only knew that there was such a country.

I don’t know what happened to this country or when it perished.

To be precise, he knew the history of Goguryeo relatively well.

The Tang Dynasty destroyed Goguryeo and finally allowed Silla to take advantage and become the master of the peninsula.

He knew basically nothing about the history after the peninsula.

The only thing he knew was that during the three great campaigns of Wanli, Goryeo had been renamed North Korea.

The royal family of North Korea is surnamed Li, not Wang.

Based on this difference, he could judge that Goryeo was destroyed by a person named Li.

The country founded by the man named Li is called North Korea.

As for who this person named Li was, and when Goryeo was destroyed, we have no idea at all.

But by studying the court situation in Goryeo, Chen Jingke found some clues.

Although Goryeo also studied Confucianism, it did not implement an imperial examination system, and the country still practiced aristocratic politics.

If officials do not make mistakes, their positions can be passed on to future generations.

The son of the prime minister becomes prime minister, the son of a minor official becomes a minor official, and the son of a commoner becomes a commoner.

Under this political system, ordinary people have no chance to rebel.

So the person who replaced the Wang family of Goryeo and established the Lee family of North Korea must also be the nobles of Goryeo.

They are still the kind of great nobles who hold military and political power.

And now there is such a person in Goryeo, Li Chenggui.

After going through hundreds of battles, he relied on his military exploits to become a general.

Then he entered politics and took charge of financial power, and became prime minister.

His life is legendary.

It is no exaggeration to say that he is the current Goryeo God of War.

However, Li Chenggui was a minister promoted by the previous King Gongmin, and he was quite indifferent to the current King of Goryeo.

His political leanings were also different from those of the King of Korea.

Seeing him reminded Chen Jingke of Goguryeo's powerful official Yeon Gaesumun.

At that time, Chen Jingke believed that it was the Wang family's regime in Goryeo that was destroyed and the Lee family's regime in Korea was established.

Even if he is not Li Chenggui, he is still his descendant.

Based on this speculation, Chen Jingke made various conclusions.

Therefore, he shoots the arrow first and then draws the target.

And the more he deduced, the more likely he felt that Li Chenggui would rebel.

It is said that the current King of Goryeo is not the biological son of King Gongmin, and his legitimacy has been questioned.

Because he was more pro-Northern Yuan Dynasty, he was disliked by scholars and civil servants.

The reason why he can still be king is entirely due to Bei Yuan's support.

If the Ming Dynasty captured Liaodong, it would cut off the connection between Beiyuan and Goryeo.

The King of Korea will lose his only support.

When the time comes, Li Chenggui, the general, prime minister, and finance minister, will have a hundred ways to change the dynasty.

After this was accomplished, he only had to pledge his allegiance to the Ming Dynasty to gain recognition from scholars and civil servants.

Zhu Yuanzhang had no other choice but to accept his allegiance and then canonize him as king.

Xu Da has already said before that Goguryeo has a population of 2.5 million, a standing army of 100,000, and can mobilize more than 500,000 people in a war situation.

Waiting for work, it would be too difficult for Ming Dynasty to win over them.

But the chaos in Goryeo is both an opportunity for Li Chenggui and an opportunity for Ming Dynasty. It depends on who is more skilled.

And obviously, Daming's advantage is much greater than Li Chenggui.

But for Daming, there is only this chance.

If you miss this opportunity and want to capture Goryeo, there will be no chance at all.

You have to pay ten times and a hundred times the price.

In the end, Chen Jingke decided to persuade Zhu Yuanzhang to postpone the attack on Liaodong and plan for Goryeo.

When the time is right, Liaodong and Korea will be captured in one go.

All of the above were deduced by him based on the information at hand, rather than being familiar with history and then stating the facts.

The only conclusive information that his past life memories can provide him is that the Wang family of Goryeo was overthrown by the Lee family of Joseon.

But this information is too vague to be used as a valid basis.

Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that he deduced all of this based on the information at hand and his own wisdom.

This is how he traveled through more than ten years and entered the Ming Palace for three and a half years.

Learn from a series of big names such as Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, Xu Da, Li Shanchang, etc. and gain great growth.

At this time, he is no longer an ordinary doctor who can only rely on the memory of his previous life, and is slowly transforming into a mature political figure.

After all, it was his first time to analyze the situation with his knowledge and wisdom, especially when he had to convince so many people, so he would inevitably feel nervous.

Fortunately, the final performance was quite perfect.

And this also gave Chen Jingke more confidence.

With his intervention, history has gradually deviated, and the experience of the time traveler will one day be used up.

How should he deal with it then?

Now there is an answer.

Zhu Yuanzhang's group was very efficient and soon had preliminary policies.

In the morning court a few days later, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the use of troops against Bei Yuan, first attacking Liaodong and cutting off one of Bei Yuan's arms.

Naturally, the ministers had no objections to this. Defeating Beiyuan could be said to be the Ming Dynasty's top priority.

Even the most conservative people know that the Ming Dynasty cannot be considered stable unless Beiyuan is completely defeated.

The difference is that everyone has different opinions on the way to attack.

But attacking Liaodong is indeed the safest way.

The main force of the Northern Yuan Dynasty was on the grassland. The Ming Dynasty's army attacked them, but they could not escape.

But Liaodong and the others had no place to run, so they had to go head-to-head with Ming Dynasty.

Conquering cities and territories is what the Ming army is best at.

Therefore, attacking Liaodong was a strategy that both civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty agreed with.

Just when the plan was about to pass, an accident occurred.

Xu Da stood up and raised doubts: "The king of Goryeo has two sides, and he is more inclined to the Northern Yuan Dynasty."

"What if when we attack Nahachu (the prime minister of Liaodong in the Northern Yuan Dynasty), Goryeo sends troops to help?"

Then many people stood up and agreed, saying that this possibility could not be ruled out.

The civil service group was also confused at this time. They didn't know much about military affairs and didn't know whether this was possible.

But this question was raised by Xu Da, and it was endorsed by so many generals, which shows that this possibility is not impossible.

When they thought about the possibility of Gao Li being stabbed in the back, everyone was a little confused as to what to do. Are you going to stand up and vouch for Gao Li?

Don't be kidding, the nine tribes of my family are not wholesalers. Whoever is full and full will guarantee them.

But Liaodong has to fight, what should we do?

After discussion, the ministers made a decision to send an envoy to Goryeo to test the attitude of the King of Goryeo.

Goryeo admired Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, and the imperial court decided to do what he wanted and sent some scholars to Goryeo for academic exchanges.

Everyone knows that this team is there to lobby for the Korean scholar and civil servant groups.

Although I feel that the suzerain country is a bit low-key by doing this, it seems that Ming Dynasty is begging Goryeo in turn.

But if you think about it carefully, it is indeed the most appropriate way.

If Goryeo could be appeased by lobbying, it would be equivalent to saving hundreds of thousands of troops.

So the imperial court quickly formed an envoy of more than 300 people, including officials, followers and scholars.

But Zhu Yuanzhang was still dissatisfied and called on talented scholars among the people to exchange knowledge.

However, few responded.

Some disdain to communicate with barbarians, thinking it is a derogation of themselves.

Some cherish their lives.

If Ming Dynasty takes such a high-profile action, will Bei Yuanhui take any measures?

When the time comes, someone will assassinate you in the street, and your death will be in vain.

So it's better not to go.

This made Zhu Yuanzhang very angry and completely disappointed with Cheng Zhu's disciples.

Although Chen Jingke had been belittling Cheng Zhu's disciples before, Zhu Yuanzhang was still skeptical.

After all, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was too in line with the needs of the ruling class.

But now he finally knows what it means to be a moral pacesetter.

Relying on these people to govern the country, Ming Dynasty's achievements will be just like that.

If he had not seen the world described by Chen Jingke, he might regard Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism as his guide.

Now...that's all, Daming wants to go his own way.

But there are always people who will stand up and be the rebels and become that ray of light. This time Fang Xiaoru stood up again.

and published an article.

This time he didn’t criticize anyone, he just described in detail how Confucianism became a prominent school and how it became the only official school.

Confucius recruited disciples without distinction, taught countless students, and traveled around the world to spread knowledge.

Countless ancestors have overcome thorns and thorns to become the nobles of Confucianism...

The Confucian scholars in the past were able to fight when they mounted their horses, but they could rule the country when they dismounted...

As disciples of Confucianism, we should imitate the teachings of our ancestors...

Finally, he said that he would go to Goryeo in person to practice the way of a saint.

As soon as this article came out, except for a few people who accused him of seeking fame and reputation, most Confucian people remained silent.

Soon afterwards, the number of Confucian scholars who went to Honglu Temple to register began to increase.

A month later the number reached more than 600.

Seeing this list, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled happily:

"Confucianism has flourished for thousands of years, but it has still produced some bloody men."

"After these people come back, they will all be given official positions and put in important positions."

Chen Jingke also echoed: "Confucianism has never lacked people with lofty ideals, otherwise it would not have been valued by the past dynasties."

"The Beiyuan people will definitely not sit idly by and look for ways to protect the people in the envoy."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "I gave the King of Korea a strict order to protect the people in the envoy."

Chen Jingke said: "It is of little use. The King of Goryeo dare not disobey the orders of the Beiyuan people. It is better to find Li Chenggui than to find him."

"Tell Li Chenggui directly that if something happens to someone in the envoy, Ming Dynasty will take advantage of him."

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned slightly: "Will this push Li Chenggui towards Bei Yuan?"

Chen Jingke shook his head and said confidently:

"No, Li Chenggui is very smart. He knows that Bei Yuan is at the end of his strength."

"Even if there is support from Korea, it will only last for two more years."

"I will definitely not risk my life and fortune on Beiyuan to create a miracle."

"And he is an ambitious man. Following Bei Yuan, he will always be a minister of the King of Goryeo."

"Only when the Ming Dynasty recaptures Liaodong can he have the chance to become the lord of Korea through military reform."

"And we can go further and drive a wedge between him and the King of Korea."

Zhu Yuanzhang asked: "Oh, how to separate?"

Chen Jingke showed a sad smile:

"Aren't we going to spread the news in private that the King of Goryeo is not of King Gongmin's blood?"

"After spreading the rumors, I will put the blame on Li Chenggui."

"It's just that he wanted to rebel, so he spread the rumor deliberately to shake the position of the King of Goryeo."

"At that time, Li Chenggui can only hug Daming's thigh tightly."

"If you ask him to protect the envoy, he will not dare to neglect it."

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said: "Haha, you are so insidious. You want to put Li Chenggui on the fire."

Chen Jingke smiled and said: "He is sitting in the crater of the volcano. Who else would he roast?"

An envoy of more than a thousand people was formed.

The Ming court gave them two tasks. The first was to communicate with Korean scholars and promote Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism.

The second is to promote "A Brief History of China" and reiterate the suzerain-vassal relationship between Ming Dynasty and Goryeo.

The envoy will sail to Qingzhou, Shandong, where they will board a naval warship to go to Goryeo.

Before departure, Chen Jingke went to see Fang Xiaoru.

"Brother Fang, you must also understand the purpose of this trip. I won't go into details. Take care along the way."

Fang Xiaoru smiled and said: "I know, from now on I will be Cheng Zhu's disciple, and I guarantee that I will not be able to ruin any major affairs of the imperial court."

Having said this, he said solemnly: "I also want to tell you something. I hope you can find a way to solve it."

Chen Jingke said seriously: "Please tell me."

Fang Xiaoru said solemnly: "People have been martyred. People have been martyred. I hope you can lobby His Majesty to abolish this tyranny."

Chen Jingke was a little surprised: "Human sacrifice, hasn't it been abolished long ago? How come it still exists?"

"And human sacrifice can only be used by the royal family and the powerful. How dare anyone among the people do this?"

Fang Xiaoru shook his head and said: "No, there is no explicit prohibition on human sacrifice. It's just that some dynasties have made it a custom not to use human sacrifice."

"For example, during the Han and Tang Dynasties, the burial system was promoted. Ministers trusted by the emperor died and were buried in the imperial mausoleum."

"Although among the people, private use of human victims is becoming less and less common, it still happens from time to time."

"It's just that they were all private actions and were not recorded in history."

"Liao, Jin, and Yuan were barbarians who founded the country and maintained the system of human sacrifice. Their actions revived the trend of human sacrifice."

"The Ming Dynasty also inherited this behavior. The crown prince died and all the maids and eunuchs who served her were buried."

"King Qi passed away, and more than thirty of his wives, concubines, slaves and maidservants were buried..."

"What is good at the top must be good at the bottom. If the royal family is like this, naturally there will be many imitators among the people."

"When some wealthy families die, their concubines and slaves will be buried in the grave."

"There are also some who buy slaves and children to be buried..."

"By my count, thousands of people die tragically from this every year."

Chen Jingke was in a very heavy heart. He naturally knew that the Crown Princess Lu died suddenly and the palace maids and eunuchs were buried with her.

But he thought that Zhu Yuanzhang was just killing people to silence others, and did not think about human sacrifice.

As for King Zhu Su of Qi, because the funeral was held in his fiefdom, Chen Jingke did not attend and did not know about it.

Only now did he know that Ming Dynasty still had such a bad government.

Thousands of people every year may not seem like a lot, but the way they die is unacceptable.

Thinking of this, he said with a solemn expression: "Don't worry, I will definitely advise His Majesty on this matter."

"This kind of bad government will not be allowed to remain in Ming Dynasty."

(End of this chapter)