Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

It's September and the weather is getting cooler.

Autumn in Jiangnan is also relatively comfortable and pleasant, but the recent nights have made people feel a bit chilly.

"Cuckoo!"

In the early morning, when the white fish belly appears in the east, the silence of the night is broken.

On the flagpole outside the inn, several gray pigeons were parked on the ground and jumped up.

Several military horses in the distance followed the official road south and arrived here.

A seventy-year-old general jumped off his horse. The powerful soldiers around him immediately supported him, but the old general pushed him several steps away with a wave of his hand.

Obviously, this old general with no flag on his back is no showman. He is extremely strong despite his advanced age.

This person is the general of Zhennan in the Hongwu Dynasty, the military minister of Fengtian Yiyun and sincere Xuanli, and the Marquis of Zhenyuan Gu Cheng.

When he was young, Gu Cheng followed Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the world. He was a boatman in the Jianghuai River. He was born tall and tall, good at making horses and had tattoos all over his back, just like Gan Ning during the Three Kingdoms.

Needless to say, he was brave. Once, Zhu Yuanzhang's ferry ran aground on the beach. In an emergency, his pursuers were very close. Gu Cheng actually carried the boat directly on his back, walking as fast as flying. When he was young, his physical strength was definitely not inferior to that of Zhu Gaoxu.

To be more precise, Gu Cheng is the ultimate evolved version of Zhu Gaoxu.

Because in the following years, Gu Cheng developed excellent commanding skills and ability as a coach. After Zhending was defeated and captured, King Zhu Di of Yan even staged the drama of "explaining Gu Cheng". From then on, Gu Cheng As the actual commander-in-chief of Peiping, Cheng Bian commanded the city's defense and dispatched and blocked Li Jinglong's fierce attack regardless of the cost.

Hmm. Every time Jingnan is mentioned, Li Jinglong is the backdrop.

The old general looked up into the distance with a somewhat nostalgic expression.

"I haven't been back for many years."

After finishing speaking, the old general Gu Cheng strode towards the inn.

Behind him, a group of personal guards followed.

"General Gu? You are back!"

When the Yi Cheng behind the door saw the old general, he suddenly showed a look of surprise. He was obviously an acquaintance.

"Um!"

Gu Cheng nodded, and then told the guards beside him: "You guys go to the guest room to rest for a while, and then add some beans to the horse."

Seeing that several people had made arrangements, Yi Chengfang dared to interrupt and said: "I sent you on an expedition four years ago, and I haven't heard from you for a long time."

"It's just floating in the sea."

Gu Cheng seemed to be a little worried and didn't want to say anything. He said to the shopkeeper.

"Prepare breakfast for them, and we will leave after eating."

"clear!"

Yi Cheng took the order and left.

Gu Cheng took a step forward, climbed the stairs and walked towards the familiar house. After a while, he opened the window of his room and opened the door to look at the scenery in the distance.

Although I haven’t been to Jiangnan for a long time, Jiangnan still maintains its beauty and style.

Especially in autumn, it is even more moving.

"well--"

Suddenly, Gu Cheng sighed, with a confused expression on his face.

"Taiye hibiscus, the color is not the same as that of the old days. I once remembered the spring breeze and dew, the jade tower and the golden tower. In the back of the famous concubine Lan Xin, the dizzy lotus face was on the side of the king. Suddenly, there was a sound of drums and drums lifting the sky, and the prosperity stopped.

The dragons and tigers are scattered, the wind and clouds are gone. Eternal hatred, who can say that. Facing mountains and rivers, tears fill my skin with blood. The guest house is full of dusty dreams at night, and the palace carriage rolls over the mountains and the moon at dawn. Ask Chang'e, are you willing to take it easy on me? "

At the same time, another sound of horse hooves sounded outside the inn.

"Good words, General Gu!"

A pleasant female voice sounded, and Gu Cheng turned around in surprise, only to see two people who surprised him.

Zhu Di was ascending the steps with Queen Xu in hunting attire.

"Your Majesty, the Queen."

Gu Cheng quickly came out to greet him, but was stopped by Zhu Di taking two quick steps.

During the fourth year of the reign of Emperor Jingnan, Zhu Di and his wife established a deep friendship with this old general with a loyal character. Although Gu Cheng was always unwilling to officially serve for the Yan army, he always used his experienced military experience to formulate strategic plans for Zhu Di. , campaign design.

Gu Cheng is the veritable chief of general staff of the Yan Army.

Gu Cheng insisted on saluting: "I want to return to Nanjing to hand over my errands to His Majesty, but His Majesty comes out of the city to greet me. This really makes me feel uneasy."

"This doesn't have to be the case between General Gu and me."

Zhu Di said with a smile: "What's more, the queen and I grew up under the watch of General Gu. We were originally as close as one family. General Gu came back from traveling thousands of miles from Peking, and there is nothing we can't get away from today. Is there any reason not to go out of the city to welcome him?"

The two sides chatted for a while, and matters such as debriefing and exchange of duties, which naturally had to be discussed in a formal meeting between the monarch and his ministers, Gu Cheng mentioned another matter.

"I heard that Duke Cao Guo is going to Japan as an envoy?"

Zhu Di nodded.

Gu Cheng didn't save any face for the younger generation Li Jinglong and said directly.

"Your Majesty, aren't you afraid that Duke Cao will ruin national affairs? Even if you are not afraid, it would still be a scandal if the Duke of Ming Dynasty dies in a foreign country, right?"

The sun was shining brightly at noon in the prison.

But Li Jinglong looked pale, like an old corpse that had just been dug out of the ground.

Regarding Japan, it is okay for you to ask Li Jinglong to talk about it on paper, but if you ask him to actually do it, Li Jinglong will be unwilling to do so.

Although Japan seemed quite submissive in the past few years, Li Jinglong clearly remembered that it had detained and killed envoys of the Ming Dynasty.

Not to mention that the Ming Dynasty’s dukes were not dared to be killed. Who knows what the Japanese shogun’s mentality was like?

Maybe the "General who conquered the barbarians" thought it would be more exciting to kill a high-ranking official of the Ming Dynasty to sacrifice the flag?

Li Jinglong looked around and saw that he was alone and had no one to turn to for help.

There was no way, the civil servants left behind in the Jianwen Dynasty didn't want to see him, the founding nobles of Huaixi felt that he was embarrassed, and the new nobles of Jingnan looked down on him as a defeated general.

In addition, Zhu Di appointed him. I don't know if he wanted to use a borrowed knife to kill people, or if he really wanted to give him a chance to use his talents, or both.

Li Jinglong sighed and thought helplessly: "You are jealous of being handsome."

And Jiang Xinghuo came over in a daze at this time, sober and awake. He has been sleeping longer than before recently. He has nothing to do anyway, and he only gets up at three o'clock in the morning.

Jiang Xinghuo yawned and greeted the restless people under the new crooked neck tree.

"Morning."

The moment Li Jinglong saw Jiang Xinghuo, his eyes widened slightly and he shouted.

"Jiang Lang, save me!"

"Um?"

Jiang Xinghuo was slightly stunned when he heard what the other party said. Then he smiled and said, "What are you trying to save me for? You are not living well."

Li Jinglong smiled bitterly. He couldn't reveal his identity now, nor could he tell Jiang Xinghuo about the changes in the outside world. He really didn't know how to describe his predicament.

Just as he was thinking about it, Zhu Gaoxu came in from the prison area on the other side carrying two bags of things.

The three of them met under the tree.

"This is?"

Looking at what the bearded man was carrying, Jiang Xinghuo asked curiously.

"Practice it for him." Zhu Gaoxu nuzzled at Li Jinglong.

Immediately, Zhu Gaoxu explained to Jiang Xinghuo: "He spent money to find connections in the palace. He wanted to find a job, so he said that he could be released from prison early. But the eunuchs in the palace were unreliable, and the job he finally found was to go to Ryukyu. The country declares a decree and informs the King of Ryukyu Kingdom that His Majesty has ascended the throne, and he must come quickly to pay tribute."

Li Jinglong was stunned. He didn't expect that Zhu Gaoxu was getting smarter and smarter, and he actually thought of a decent excuse for him in advance.

"Isn't it just to go to Ryukyu to declare an edict? What's the point?"

Jiang Xinghuo didn't know much about Ryukyu at this time. He finally came to his senses after an explanation from Zhu Gaoxu, who he didn't know who to ask for help.

The so-called Ryukyu came from the Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, when he ordered Yuqiu Lieutenant Zhu Kuan to visit the territory of the country to find out the customs. He first arrived at the border of the country. Looking at it from a distance among the waves, it looked like a winding snake floating in the water, so it was named Liuqiu. Later, it was named Liuqiu. To avoid taboo, it was changed to Ryukyu.

The Ryukyu Kingdom is located between China's Treasure Island and Japan's Kyushu Island. The island chain under its jurisdiction winds for two thousand miles. Due to its special geographical location, it has become a trade transit point between China, Japan, North Korea and Annan, Champa and other countries. Commercial trade is developed. It is known as the "Jinliang of All Nations".

The complicated thing here is that the Ryukyu Kingdom at that time was not one kingdom, but three!

The Ryukyu Kingdom is the common self-proclaimed name of the three kingdoms of Shannan, Zhongshan and Shanbei. In the fifth year of Hongwu, due to poor information, King Chadu of Zhongshan first received the imperial edict and sent his younger brother to come back with the Ming envoy to pay tribute. The Ming Dynasty was confused. Ryukyu was regarded as a kingdom.

Although the Shannan King Chengchadu and the Shanbei King Pannizhi learned the news the next year, they both sent people to pay tribute, but the Ming Dynasty did not mention this matter and continued to use Ryukyu as a unified name, and granted There are three camel buttons with gold-plated silver seals.

In short, the Ryukyu Kingdom had three kings here in the Ming Dynasty. I don’t know whether the officials of the Ministry of Rites of the Hongwu Dynasty planned to make mistakes or to divide and rule. The former is more likely.

The trouble now is that as time goes by, the three kingdoms each have their own thoughts and interests, so the three Ryukyu kingdoms go to war.

Li Jinglong listened to this rhetoric together and couldn't help but be a little surprised. Ryukyu was close to Japan and not eye-catching. He cleverly explained the difficulties he faced to Jiang Xinghuo.

In this way, Jiang Xinghuo can be questioned without letting him directly realize that he is being kept secret.

Has Zhu Gaoxu become so smart now?

Moreover, it was obvious at first sight that he was well prepared, and that he had a clear understanding of the historical origins and domestic conditions.

Thinking of this, Li Jinglong couldn't help but feel a little moved.

They are worthy of being good brothers who went to school together.

Although behind bars.

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at Li Jinglong proudly, and asked his third son for information to study together for half a night. Wasn't he looking for the effect at this moment?

Damn it, I have to do it.

"Then what do you think about sending an envoy to Ryukyu to announce the decree?"

Jiang Xinghuo pondered for a moment and asked.

Li Jinglong took on the role and said with a grimace: "I don't want to go. I spent money to buy connections and just got such an errand. It's better to just sit in prison."

"Besides, I have never been an envoy." Li Jinglong admitted honestly, "How to promote the great power of tomorrow while ensuring my own safety, the scale here is really not good."

Just like the Han Dynasty, when they went to the Western Regions to serve as envoys, since some people drew their swords to kill the Huns, naturally there were also people who drew their swords and were killed by the Huns.

Therefore, how to handle the relationship between the parties and how to make prompt decisions is indeed a big question.

Zhu Gaoxu interjected again: "When we go to Ryukyu, on the one hand, there are endless melees there, and on the other hand, there are Japanese pirates on the road!"

Speaking of the word "Japanese pirate", Zhu Gaoxu winked at Li Jinglong.

——Understood in seconds.

When Li Jinglong heard this, he was stunned and seemed to hesitate: "Are there really Japanese pirates?"

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said: "There are indeed Japanese pirates, but they are not usually seen at sea. If you go to Ryukyu, you will probably encounter the Japanese pirate fleet, which is very dangerous. But if you take a boat to Dengzhou That sea route is actually safe."

"I heard that Ryukyu is very close to Japan. Hey, what can I do? What can I do?"

Li Jinglong sighed and hinted wildly at Jiang Xinghuo.

Jiang Xinghuo was naturally interested in the distress of his close inmates. After patiently listening to the conversation between the two, he basically understood the information, so he said.

"So, the reason why you don't want to leave the prison to go on a mission to Ryukyu is nothing more than the two reasons he said. The first is that you are afraid of encountering Japanese pirates at sea, and the second is that you are worried about the chaos in the other country's country. If you can't handle it well, According to the standard, as an envoy it is easy to be detained or killed, is this what you mean?"

"This" Li Jinglong was silent for a few breaths, and finally shook his head and sighed.

"That's it. I'm afraid I'll come back dead if I go."

Li Jinglong knew very well that although he was talking about the Ryukyu Kingdom on the surface, he was actually talking about Japan, and the situation in Japan was even more chaotic.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the previous generation of generals who controlled the country's affairs, was similar to a "little Dong Zhuo", and he was short-lived.

He is not surprised by what the other party can do.

If I went to Japan this time, I would probably come back dead.

Although Li Jinglong was not as good at fighting as the world's famous generals, he was still very flexible. He knew that if he went to that kind of environment, he would definitely die inexplicably. It's better to stay in the prison and be comfortable, have everything you need to eat, drink, and gamble. You can also listen to lectures and learn some knowledge after a while. Even being a prisoner is better than going to die.

And Li Jinglong believed that Zhu Di would definitely let him go.

Thinking from a dark perspective, maybe Zhu Di was waiting for Cao Guogong, the leader of the Ming Dynasty officials, to die in Japan, and then launched a crusade justifiably.

Mr. Cao Guogong is my brother, my dearest relative and friend.

What a great excuse.

As for how Cao Guogong died, it doesn't matter.

Thinking of this, Li Jinglong couldn't help but decide that he must bring more generals from Cao Guogong's mansion, so as to ensure that he would not be stabbed in the back by "one of his own" in the mission.

Who knows if they have a secret order from Zhu Di to kill him?

"Actually, these two points are not a problem."

Jiang Xinghuo thought for a while and said: "The first point, regarding the Japanese pirates, you just need to ask the court to send more navy to protect them. There is nothing to say about this. The Japanese pirates are not as powerful as you think. Their The ship is completely incomparable to the regular ships of the Ming Navy."

"As for the second point."

Jiang Xinghuo cleared his throat and said, "Before we say goodbye, for your safety, I will temporarily change the class schedule."

"Today we will switch to the second volume of "On National Destiny", which is about geographical temples and national characteristics."

"As a continuation of the content of the first volume of "The Theory of National Destiny", in the second volume, we will not be limited to the perspective of one dynasty, but will use the countries around China as examples to explore the formation and development of their countries one by one. and even the emergence, similarities and differences of national characteristics.”

"At the same time, this is also another perspective to tell the history and evolution of situations between countries. Only through this perspective can you understand that a country never exists in isolation, but is in an overall environment, and needs to look at problems as a whole. , rather than analyzing it in isolation.”

Hearing this, Li Jinglong and Zhu Gaoxu were both a little surprised.

They originally thought that "On the Destiny of the Nation" had finished explaining the dynastic periodicity and how to deal with the dynastic periodicity from the three perspectives of corvee, grain, cattle and seeds. "On the Destiny of the Nation" would be considered a graduation.

Unexpectedly, there is a second volume of "On National Destiny".

Moreover, judging from Jiang Xinghuo's words, this second volume seems to be not only about one country, but many countries.

This is very interesting.

According to the concept of the high-level officials of the Ming Dynasty in the past, the Ming Dynasty was a celestial kingdom with barbarians everywhere.

No one has ever suggested that countries need to look at their historical evolution and actual situation development holistically.

This new perspective was refreshing to them.

Jiang Xinghuo continued: "If you can deeply understand the content of this lesson, then I believe that it will be useful for you to go abroad as ambassadors and understand how their attitude towards the Ming Dynasty was formed and what their national characteristics are. This is very helpful in formulating your external communication strategy.”

"After all, this is the so-called knowing yourself and your enemy, and you can win a hundred battles. Know yourself and your enemy here. You must not only know what is happening, that is, know what the situation is in the other side's country, but also know why it is, that is, know what the situation in the other side's country is like. Why it happened, that’s what matters most.”

Li Jinglong and Zhu Gaoxu nodded at the same time.

This is exactly the same as the principle in Sun Tzu's Art of War.

In other words, the truth in the world is like this, everything is clear.

And Li Jinglong also suddenly understood why he was extremely afraid of going to Japan as an envoy.

The reason why people are afraid is that the source is unknown.

And this kind of unknown, as Jiang Xinghuo said, does not mean knowing some brief information about the other party, it means already knowing it.

The real unknown is ignorance of the origin of things.

The lesson Jiang Xinghuo taught him before leaving today was to tell him clearly how the surrounding countries came to be, how history evolved, what was the relationship between them, and how they related to the Ming Dynasty. Completely different national characteristics.

Understanding these is equivalent to Li Jinglong seeing through the other party's underwear and psychology when playing games with him. In this way, he can naturally grasp the corresponding scale easily.

Know what conditions the other party can accept, and what conditions you originally thought were natural but have touched the other party's inverse scale.

Jiang Xinghuo said after roughly finishing the brief summary of the second volume.

"The second volume will also be divided into several parts. The first part is 'Geographic Determinism'. This is also related to the lesson we taught before, but it is also very different."

"Now, we will officially start."

Thanks to the two readers "Super God Seiya" and "Cat Who Can't Program" for joining us! Special thanks to "Super God Seiya" for the reward given to Xiao Jiang and the old monk. The author kowtows to you while pressing Xiao Jiang!