Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

"If there is a rebellion in Korea, will the Ming Dynasty send troops to suppress it?"

Jin Zizhong asked with some anticipation. He thought that if the Ming Dynasty agreed to this, it would be easier to persuade the monarch to submit.

Kong Zhenyun affirmed this:

"If Joseon becomes a vassal state, it will have a seat in the Council of Nobles."

"His status is naturally guaranteed by the Ming Dynasty court and cannot be taken away at will."

"If there is civil unrest in Korea and the monarch requests troops, the Ming will naturally send troops to quell the rebellion."

Jin Zizhong was overjoyed when he heard this, and asked hesitantly:
"What if the monarch dies and there is a succession dispute?"

"Which side will the Ming Dynasty help? Which side will it regard as a rebel?"

Kong Zhenyun smiled when he heard this, knowing why Jin Zizhong came to ask about the conditions for surrender:

It turned out that he came on behalf of the Crown Prince of Joseon, who was worried that his succession to the throne was not certain.

This made him and Huang Liji smile at each other, stroking his beard and saying:

"If Korea and Ming Dynasty unify rituals and music, Ming Dynasty will naturally support the successor according to the succession rituals and laws."

"When necessary, the Ming Dynasty will take the initiative to send troops to suppress the rebellion and maintain the ritual and music order."

Jin Zizhong nodded repeatedly, then opened his eyes wide and asked:
"Is the unification of ritual and music also included in the six unifications?"

"We, Korea, have always respected etiquette and will certainly abide by the rituals and music of the Ming Dynasty."

Kong Zhenyun said to him:
“Although unified rituals and music are included in the six principles, they are not mandatory.”

"The three conditions of unified chronology, unified ideology, and unified camp are what all vassal states must abide by."

"The remaining issues of unified rituals and music, unified culture, and unified economy are open to discussion because they contain too much content."

"For example, in terms of inheritance etiquette, the Ming Dynasty did not require that all vassal states and vassal states must follow the primogeniture system."

This made Jin Zizhong a little anxious, and he said:
"The Ming Dynasty has implemented the system of primogeniture, so why not force all vassal states to follow the same system?"

"If it is an external vassal state, does that mean it is not an internal vassal state of the Ming Dynasty?"

Kong Zhenyun explained:

"The inner and outer vassal states of the Ming Dynasty are of course not exactly the same as the inner vassal states, otherwise they would not have to be separated out separately."

"The Ming Dynasty and the inner vassal states practiced the system of primogeniture. There is no doubt about that."

"But some places on the grasslands have customs such as the youngest son guarding the stove and levirate marriage. The Ming Dynasty cannot force them to implement the eldest son's inheritance system."

"In U-Tsang, there is even a system of succession such as reincarnation. The Ming Dynasty will agree on other inheritance rules with them."

This was initially decided when the officials of the Lifanyuan discussed with the emperor. It was impossible for the Ming Dynasty to require all vassal states to be completely consistent with the Ming Dynasty. That was an unrealistic idea and would only cause disputes between the Ming Dynasty and the internal and external vassal states.

Moreover, the customs and systems of these places are different from those of the Ming Dynasty. Forcing them to inherit according to the Ming Dynasty's etiquette and laws will only cause internal chaos.

This was done for the sake of stability of the internal and external vassal states, and also showed respect for the autonomy of the internal and external vassal states, but Jin Zizhong was very unhappy about this.

Because his, or the Crown Prince of Korea behind him's, biggest demand is to stabilize the order of succession according to the system of primogeniture.

So Jin Zizhong said:
"Korea has always followed the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty. We implore your country to insist that Korea follow the system of primogeniture when signing the treaty and determine the order of succession according to the Ming Dynasty Succession Etiquette."

"I will be very grateful for this and will definitely do my best to make North Korea submit to China."

Kong Zhenyun hesitated for a moment, and Huang Liji said in an official tone:
"Whether to implement the primogeniture system is up to you, Korea, not our Ming Dynasty."

"One of the protections that the Ming Dynasty provides to its vassal states is to allow the heirs of the vassal states to succeed to the throne according to the agreed succession rules, so as to avoid civil unrest."

"If Korea and Ming agree to abide by the Ming Succession Etiquette, Ming will naturally follow the eldest son's inheritance system and uphold the etiquette and rules."

This made Jin Zizhong understand that they needed to take the initiative to propose it before the Ming Dynasty would include this clause in the treaty.

This made him decide to let the prince mobilize his forces and push this matter forward with all his strength after returning.

Then he put forward his own opinions on the issue of unified culture:
"Mr. Kong said that culture is mainly about writing and language, and we should use the correct characters and pronunciations of the Ming Dynasty."

"It's OK to use the Ming Dynasty's correct characters, but the Ming Dynasty's correct pronunciation is too difficult."

"How can an ignorant person in the countryside speak the correct pronunciation of the Great Ming Dynasty?"

Kong Zhenyun expressed his understanding and said:

"So the point of unifying culture is also debatable."

"North Korea can use its own pronunciation, but the written records must be in Ming Dynasty script."

"All treaties and official documents are based on the Ming language."

"Also, in the academy, we need to teach the correct characters and pronunciations of the Ming Dynasty."

Jin Zizhong was very pleased with Kong Zhenyun's understanding, and mentioned something that made him very unhappy, saying:
"Can the Foreign Language School of the Lifanyuan and Taichang Temple Translation Bureau be renamed?"

"We, North Korea, are a vassal state, never a foreign country."

"It would be better to change it to a translation school and not use the word foreign."

Kong Zhenyun smiled at this, but still promised him that he would report it to the court.

The name of the Foreign Languages ​​School was decided by the emperor, so if one wanted to change the name, one naturally had to submit a petition to the emperor.
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Kong Zhenyun explained the last point about the unified economy:

"The word economy originally meant to manage the country and benefit the people."

"Your Majesty has refined it to refer specifically to financial matters."

"In other words, it refers specifically to agriculture, industry, commerce and trade."

Jin Zizhong nodded and expressed his understanding. Because the Finance and Economics Committee of the Ming Cabinet was responsible for these things. It was known as one of the most powerful institutions in the Ming Dynasty, and Jin Zizhong certainly understood it. After Kong Zhenyun understood it, he continued:
"First of all, in terms of trade, the free trade zone established by the Ming Dynasty in Japan, Jin Sheng should know about it, right?"

"North Korea is also going to establish a free trade zone, and the two locations that have been initially confirmed are Incheon and Busan."

"If Gwanghae-ryeong, Donggang-ryeong and other territories want to establish free trade zones, North Korea must not block them."

This was basically agreed upon during the previous treaty negotiations, and Jin Zizhong agreed without hesitation:

"Since Japan has agreed to establish a free trade zone, North Korea will naturally agree."

"If the territories want to establish free trade zones, the monarch should agree."

Kong Zhenyun nodded and continued:
"In order to facilitate trade, the Ming Dynasty and foreign vassal states such as Japan have agreed to negotiate tariffs in the future."

"For a vassal state like North Korea, we require that more than 80% of goods be exempt from tariffs."

"For the remaining 20% ​​of goods, only low tariffs of less than 10% can be levied."

"If the tax rate exceeds this, special approval from the Ming Dynasty is required."

This is modeled after the imperial preferential system implemented between Britain and its dominions and colonies. There is special reciprocity in tariffs on trade between the Ming Dynasty and the inner vassal states.

The purpose was to occupy the markets of the inner vassal states and the outer vassal states and exclude the goods from other countries.

Zhu Youjian even planned to abolish the tariffs between the Ming Dynasty and the inner vassal states in one go.

However, in consideration of the supervision of commercial activities and preventing certain vassal states from using their superior goods to impact the market, it is still allowed to impose tariffs on 20% of the types of goods.

Jin Zizhong didn't know the seriousness of this statement and agreed to it without knowing the consequences.

Then Kong Zhenyun mentioned the need for a unified currency:

"The currency issued by Ming Dynasty should also be allowed to circulate in Korea."

"The banks, money houses, insurance companies and other institutions of the Ming Dynasty can operate in North Korea."

This is to strengthen financial control over North Korea while obtaining seigniorage from North Korea.

Although Jin Zizhong was also somewhat confused about this, he still argued:

"Will North Korea still be able to mint money in the future?"

"Coins minted by North Korea should also be allowed to circulate."

Kong Zhenyun responded:

"North Korea's currency can be circulated in the country, and the exchange rate must be determined with Ming Dynasty currency."

"In the future, the Gold Reserve and the Metal Exchange will open branches in North Korea to determine these matters."

"The royal family and nobles of Korea can join the chapter."

Tie North Korea's dignitaries to the chariot of the Financial Reserves Board and share the benefits.

This made Jin Zizhong feel that it should be a good idea and he had no other objections.

Then Kong Zhenyun proposed:

"Korea must unify its weights and measures with Ming and correspond to the metric system."

"Where the measurement system differs from that of the Ming dynasty, the word 'Korea' must be added, such as 'Korea chi' and 'Korea li'."

"When trading goods, the Ming dynasty's weights and measures shall prevail."

"When dividing the fiefdom, we must adopt the Great Ming Li."

This was enthusiastically supported by Jin Zizhong, because someone in the Jin family also wanted to own a fiefdom. Of course, it had to be measured according to the Ming Dynasty's measurement system, not the li used by North Korea.

He also asked expectantly:

“Should the titles of North Korea be changed as well?”

"Should we change it to Gong, Hou, Bo, Zi, and Nan?"

Kong Zhenyun said affirmatively:
"Of course it needs to be revised, just like the tribal dignitaries such as King Sunryeo and King Sunyi."

"However, the Ming Dynasty will discuss with the King of Korea on how to confer the title, and will first confer the title of Shuntian on the King of Korea."

"If the King of Korea is willing to give away the land, Ming Dynasty will also agree to grant dukes."

"But if the fiefdom is not large enough, then the title will be lowered."

After conferring titles on some dukes, marquises and earls on the grassland, Kong Zhenyun felt that giving them high titles was too disadvantageous, so he proposed strict requirements on fiefdoms and household registration to avoid the proliferation of titles.

Jin Zizhong happily agreed and decided to write a letter to ask the Jin family and other families to make efforts to encourage North Korea to submit. After all, which family does not want to have a fiefdom?
As long as Korea submits to the Ming Dynasty, it will have seats in the Council of Nobles, and the inheritance of their titles will also be guaranteed by the Ming Dynasty.

With this in mind, he also readily agreed to Kong Zhenyun's proposal to unify industry standards, firearm calibers, wheel gauges, ship containers, etc.

He almost completely accepted the unified economic conditions proposed by the Ming Dynasty.

After agreeing on these conditions, Huang Liji and Kong Zhenyun ordered the clerk to copy a copy of the minutes of the meeting and send it to the Joseon court as a memorandum.

Subsequent treaties between the two countries will be negotiated on this basis and approved by the monarchs of the two countries.

Finally, Kong Zhenyun also sent several invitations to Jin Zizhong, asking him to invite the Crown Prince of Korea to participate in the state banquet dish selection held by Guanglu Temple.

This was held by the Emperor at the order of the Guanglu Temple after the harvest in August, to select representative folk dishes and include them in the court banquet.

This event was very popular in the capital, attracting many chefs and scholars to participate.

There were also many reports on this in newspapers, describing the deliciousness of the participating dishes.

Jin Zizhong was quite curious about this and decided to persuade his own son to attend this event. (End of this chapter)