Ming Dynasty man

Chapter 403
Lin Yuji was 61 years old at the time, and his official career has been ups and downs for many years. He is used to the ups and downs in the officialdom. In addition, he is already old, and he has basically given up on official career. He just wants to stay in his current position for a few more years and then go home to retire .

However, Lin Yuji never expected that Li Jing would suddenly appoint him as the deputy minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Although Li Jing gave him a relatively low rank, Lin Yuji was very clear about what this appointment meant. It meant that he would re-enter the center of the imperial court. level.

Although Lin Yuji no longer pursues progress, it doesn't mean he doesn't care about the court situation or understand what's going on in the court.

Lin Yuji knew that Li Jing paid attention to practical matters in employing people, and he didn't think highly of officials like him who relied on the imperial examination. It could even be said that Li Jing had some prejudice against scholars like him.

Lin Yuji really couldn't understand why Li Jing was suddenly promoted to him, so after hearing Zhou Hengchen's appointment to him, Lin Yuji didn't wake up for a long time.

Under Zhou Hengchen's repeated urging, Lin Yuji finally knew that this appointment was true, and that Li Jing was going to see him now.

When Lin Yuji came to Dongnang Pavilion in a nervous mood, Li Jing was chatting with Zhu Youjian.

Seeing Li Jing and Zhu Youjian chatting happily, Lin Yuji couldn't believe his eyes.

Didn't Li Jing make the emperor stand up?Why can't Zhu Youjian feel helpless when he speaks?

After thinking for a while, Lin Yuji stepped forward and knelt down to salute, "My humble minister Lin Yuji sees the emperor."

After kowtowing three times to Zhu Youjian, Lin Yuji got up and bowed to Li Jing, "I pay my respects to the Duke."

Li Jing smiled, pointed to the chair beside him and said, "Master Lin, please sit down."

Seeing that Li Jing's expression remained unchanged, and his attitude was very friendly, it was obvious that he didn't care about the etiquette just now.Lin Yuji sighed inwardly, no matter it was true or not, just this calmness could tell that Li Jing was indeed a character.

This person seems to be only 35 years old this year, right?At such an age, he is already in charge of the highest power in the Ming Dynasty. At this age, he seems to have just passed the Jinshi and was working as an editor in the Imperial Academy.

When Lin Yuji looked at Li Jing, Li Jing was also observing Lin Yuji.

Although Lin Yuji's temples were already grey, but his body was strong and his spirit was very hale and hearty, especially his eyes were piercing, he did not look like an old man in his early sixties.

Sighing lightly, Li Jing thought to himself: It would be great if I could be 20 years younger.

After pouring a cup of tea for Lin Yuji, Li Jing stretched out his hand and made a gesture of invitation, and then said: "Master Lin, I like to speak straightforwardly. This time, Master Lin was appointed as the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Come to negotiate a peace, I don't have any candidates with work experience in this field, so I asked Mr. Lin to take up the position and be responsible for negotiating with Donglu."

Lin Yuji was startled, and casually followed, "Donglu sent envoys to discuss peace? The Duke agrees to negotiate peace with Donglu?"

Li Jing smiled and nodded.

"My lord, according to the opinion of my subordinates, it is absolutely impossible to negotiate peace with Donglu right now?" Lin Yuji asked urgently.

Li Jingxiao asked: "Why can't we negotiate peace with Donglu?"

Lin Yuji cupped his fists and said, "My lord, in the last battle of Gyeonggi, the Eastern Barbarians were defeated and returned. They lost more than [-] people, and they were already devastated. The Eastern Barbarians sent envoys to negotiate a peace this time was just a way to delay the army and to recuperate. .

Donglu is ambitious and has coveted our Daming country for many years. When Donglu calms down, he will definitely invade our Daming territory again.I, Ming, should take advantage of the great loss of Donglu's vitality to take advantage of the victory and pursue it. How can I negotiate peace with Donglu at this time and let him recover his vitality? "

Li Jing looked at Lin Yuji, shook his head and sighed lightly: "The treasury has no money, and the military pay is almost gone, so how can we fight a war!"

Lin Yuji hurriedly said: "My lord, the so-called opportunity cannot be lost, and it will never come again. Although the treasury is empty, we should grit our teeth, tighten our belts, and send out a large army to pursue the situation. If we can win another battle like that in Gyeonggi, Dong The prisoner will never be able to turn over again. Lord, the peace negotiation is of great importance, you must think twice!"

Li Jing heard the words and slapped the table hard: "Okay! Insightful!"

Turning his head to look at Zhu Youjian, Li Jing smiled and said, "Your Majesty, Mr. Lin can guess Donglu's intentions just by listening to a few words, and at the same time point out what we should do next. He is really a rare talent!"

Zhu Youjian nodded with a smile and said: "Shiji (Lin Yuji's word) is indeed a rare talent, and one can see the powerful relationship among them at a glance."

"Your majesty, my lord, this is..." Lin Yuji didn't understand why for a while.

Li Jing smiled and said: "Master Lin, I have already ordered Cao Wenzhao to make preparations. As long as the weather is slightly warmer, I will send troops to Liaodong and wipe out the Eastern captives in one fell swoop."

"Then why are you still negotiating peace?" Lin Yuji asked doubtfully.

Li Jing shook his head and said with a smile: "The so-called soldiers never tire of deceit. Donglu is in urgent need of population, food and supplies, and wants to send troops to North Korea, but he is worried that we will take the opportunity to attack Liaodong, so he wants to delay us by negotiating a peace and buy time for them to attack North Korea.

OK!Since they want to hold us back, I will give them a reassurance and let them send troops to North Korea with peace of mind. I don’t think the North Korean affairs will be over in two or three months. Donglu’s domestic troops are insufficient, and the weather will be warm by then. Cao Wen It doesn't take so much effort to send troops to attack Donglu. "

Lin Yuji was stunned when he heard the words: "The Duke of the State was planning to use peace talks to confuse the Eastern captives, so that they can send troops to North Korea with peace of mind."

Li Jingjing nodded and continued: "From a military perspective, the purpose of negotiating peace with Donglu is indeed to confuse them, but if you can say that Donglu voluntarily surrendered during the peace negotiation, then we can save a lot of money."

Lin Yuji pondered for a while and said, "I don't know what the Duke's criteria for Donglu's surrender are. I don't want to be fooled by Donglu's fake surrender."

"Hahaha, Mr. Lin is really shrewd, just to say what you said just now, Donglu wants to fool you, he has found the wrong person." Li Jing laughed loudly.

After a pause, Li Jing suddenly said solemnly: "Although the Jurchens are not of my race, they are also subjects of our Ming Dynasty. After all, they have been subject to Daming for nearly 300 years, and they have treated our Ming Dynasty as well as they have done in these years." responsibility, so I don't want to kill them all.

But the premise is that the Jurchen must give up the title of the country, Huang Taiji must give up the throne, and at the same time give up the army, and return to my Ming Dynasty.

If they can do this, I will treat Jurchens and Han people equally, but if they can't do these three points, then I, Li Jing, will never be ambiguous when killing people.

Li Jing will not hesitate to kill anyone who dares to tear apart the territory of our Great Ming, even if they are utterly wiped out. "

Hearing Li Jing's murderous words, Lin Yuji couldn't help feeling awe-inspiring.

Clasping fists at Li Jing, Lin Yuji said solemnly, "These three points are the Duke's request to Donglu, right?"

Li Jingzheng nodded emphatically.

Lin Yuji pondered for a while and said, "My lord, to tell you the truth, with the current situation, it is almost impossible for Huang Taiji to give up the title of the country, the throne and the army. Unless we can get Huang Taiji and his The subordinates are completely defeated, let them know that if they don't surrender, there is only a dead end, and only then will they consider surrendering to Ming Dynasty."

Li Jing shook his head and said with a sneer: "I don't want them to surrender. What does surrender mean? Only when a country is defeated will it surrender to another country. Liaodong was originally our Ming's territory, and the Eastern Captives have no right to be in our Ming Dynasty." The territory of the country is called Wang Liguo. Surrender with me? I have to accept it!
Master Lin, you have to understand, even if the peace talks are scored, who is the target, for example, Donglu sent envoys to negotiate this time, I will not come forward to talk with them in person, Donglu's envoys are not high enough to hold peace talks with me.I'm not being arrogant, but thinking at the national level.The Qing Dynasty is an independent country that is not recognized by our Ming Dynasty. He sent an envoy to negotiate peace with our Ming Dynasty. If I came forward, it would be like losing face to Daming.

Do you know why I suppress your grade?To put it bluntly, I just don't want to elevate Donglu's status.Hehe, the envoy of Donglu this time is Fan Wencheng, who is a first-rank official in the Qing Dynasty, but in my eyes, it is in line with our status to send a third-rank official to negotiate peace with him. "

Lin Yuji thought about Li Jing's words, and after a while he said: "I understand, in the eyes of the Duke, the head of the Qing Dynasty is equivalent to the chieftain or chieftain of our Ming Dynasty, and the peace talks with the chieftain's subordinates, it seems The official ranks of the third rank and lower ranks are a bit high, and it is more appropriate to start from the third rank or the fourth rank."

Li Jing smiled and said: "It's not equivalent to chieftains, they are chieftains in my eyes. As for your grade, I think it's more appropriate to be a third grade. If it is lower, it seems that I don't take chieftains seriously. inside."

Lin Yuji smiled and said, "Hehe, what is the chieftain in the eyes of the Duke? If the Duke puts them in his eyes, he will be too flattering to them."

Li Jing waved his hands and said with a smile: "Master Lin, don't praise me."

After a pause, Li Jing continued: "Lord Lin, what you said just now is correct. In the current situation, Huang Taiji will not give up the title of the country, the throne and the army. He really wants to beat them severely. , beat them to pieces, beat them until they can never turn over, they will seriously consider my proposal.

In addition, let me tell you something, when you go out to negotiate with people, our Daming army is your strongest backing, it doesn’t matter if you fail to negotiate, I will let the army beat them to agree to our conditions, let them kneel down and beg you to agree our conditions.

Let me also tell you a word, when you negotiate with other countries in the future, the army will always be your backing.If you think you can't reach an agreement, I will send troops to fight for you until you reach an agreement. "

Hearing that Li Jing was so heroic, Lin Yuji only felt his blood boil.

"Master Guo, with your words, the lower official's waist will harden. The lower official will also tell you something from the heart. In the future, the Duke of the country will come forward for military matters, and you can leave the negotiations to the lower official. Daming If you lose one point of benefit, you will be dismissed from office." Lin Yuji said solemnly.

"Okay, what I want is your words!" Li Jing said happily.

After speaking, Li Jing waved his hand to signal Lin Yuji to drink tea, and he took a sip from the teacup himself.

(End of this chapter)