Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

"There are two main ways to restrain enemy countries without falling into a vicious cycle. Let's talk about the first one first, which is to say that the country is not strong enough to threaten its own country, but its own country is not sure of it militarily. In other words, An enemy country whose own country’s military power is difficult to influence.”

"This first method is called geographical balance of power."

Jiang Xinghuo started writing and drawing on the ground again.

But this time it was written in Chinese characters and symbols, not numbers.

After Zhu Gaoxu took a glance, he breathed a sigh of relief.

When he talked about "Barro-Ricardo Equivalence" last time, the string of weird numbers and symbols were so complicated that he would dream about them when he went to sleep at night. He really didn't want to go through it again.

Considering the students' acceptance level, what Jiang Xinghuo wants to talk about is not too complicated.

In fact, it is just the most basic balance of power theory in international relations. If we trace it back to its origins, it is not essentially different from the stuff used by politicians during the Warring States Period. It is just more systematic and theoretical, and easier for ordinary people to learn and master.

In geopolitical and diplomatic theory, it is the most common strategy.

"We said before that the reason why a country feels insecure is that, just like the prisoner game of Japanese pirates, in order to gain security, the country will be forced to seize more and more power and expand its armaments to avoid the power of other countries. Shock, to gain safety.”

“The geopolitical balance of power is to transfer this insecurity to other countries.”

"In other words, the object of the game is shifted from oneself and the enemy to the enemy and other people."

"That is to say, a country uses its own or alliance's power to check and balance its opponents and achieve a balance of power, thereby achieving the purpose of maintaining national security, which is geopolitical balance diplomacy."

——————

"diplomatic."

Zhu Di chewed on these two words.

In Zhu Di's heart, what is more important and inspiring is the "balance of power."

This can't help but remind Zhu Di of the problem that has been troubling him recently, well, it's not the Timur Khanate, but the prince.

"I remember it was mentioned in "Dongguan Hanji·Zheng Zhongzhuan", right?" Zhu Di frowned slightly and just said: "This is not a good word."

Hearing this, Zhu Gaochi felt a little on pins and needles.

There is no other reason. In the book mentioned by my father, the original text is "The prince and prince have no diplomatic relations, the Han Dynasty has old defenses, and the kings are not suitable for visiting." The "diplomacy" here refers to the prince or the vassal king, and Intercourse with foreign ministers.

And if you think about it further, this word has a worse meaning, that is, having connections with foreign countries and having private interactions with foreign countries.

"Han Feizi · Youdu" has "forgetting the master's diplomacy in order to advance with him", and "Historical Records·Biography of Su Qin" also has "The husband is a minister, ceding the land of his master for the sake of diplomacy, stealing temporary achievements without caring about what happens next." ".

Thinking of this, not knowing whether his father did it intentionally or not, Zhu Gaochi struggled to get up again.

And everyone in the secret room who didn't know this statement naturally held their breath.

I don’t know why the emperor took the opportunity to hit the eldest prince at this time.

Just when Zhu Gaochi wanted to get up, Dao Yan beside him held him down.

Daoyan said with a dry voice: ""Guoyu·Jinyu8" says: If the other party does not dare and flees far away, then it is better to favor his diplomacy and encourage him to repay his kindness? The so-called diplomacy extends to What it means at the national level is the foreign exchanges between countries.”

"Is it such an allusion?"

Zhu Di laughed for a moment: "Master is knowledgeable about the past and the present, but I am ignorant."

As soon as Zhu Di said this, the atmosphere in the secret room suddenly relaxed a lot.

In fact, as the most sensitive topic today, the stormy waves that are about to arise in the battle to establish the throne are already a future that everyone can see.

It is true that Zhu Gaochi is the crown prince of King Yan, and it is true that Zhu Gaochi has excellent ability to handle government affairs. If it were another emperor, Zhu Gaochi would have been a stable crown prince for a long time. Even if he was not in good health, wouldn't he still have good saints and grandsons?

But as his opponent for the throne, the second prince Zhu Gaoxu happened to be someone who could compete with him.

Zhu Gaoxu was brave enough to win the three armies, and he had great prestige among the Yan army and won the hearts of the troops. The reason why Zhu Di was able to ascend to the throne was because of the brave and skillful Yan army. Therefore, the noble military ministers in the army had a great influence on Zhu Di, far and wide. It surpassed the civil service system inherited from Jianwen's old ministers.

These noble military ministers abandoned their families and careers and put their heads in their belts to rebel against Zhu Di and do big things, which were high-risk and high-reward. Now they are respectively controlling the army for Zhu Di. For Zhu Di, no matter from an emotional or practical perspective, This is a force that cannot be ignored.

Compared with his elder brother, Zhu Gaoxu has another advantage: he is in ridiculously good health.

From another perspective, Zhu Di had just secured the throne and was consolidating imperial power, so Zhu Di was not in a hurry to establish a prince.

Isn't it true that establishing a prince is dividing one's own imperial power?

Again, "reality" is different from "name". You should do the work for me. Only if you do well will I consider giving you this "name".

But Zhu Di also had to consider that if the battle for the crown prince caused too much trouble, it would also be a threat to his imperial power.

Have you not seen the story of Tang Gaozu Li Yuan?

Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin criticized each other and tried to win over the courtiers and generals. However, in the end, the number of people loyal to the emperor was reduced, which directly weakened Li Yuan's imperial power.

Zhu Di himself started out as a rebel, so he naturally took a warning.

The word "diplomacy" was just a hook used by Zhu Di to criticize Zhu Gaochi, intentionally or unintentionally.

The deeper meaning is how Zhu Di plans to handle and balance the relationship between Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaoxu after he is released from prison.

A balance of power is needed between countries, but doesn’t it need to be between princes?

Originally, Zhu Di was the only one who thought about this kind of problem.

Even Dao Yan couldn't say much.

In fact, before coming to prison, Zhu Di had not yet thought about how to deal with the dispute between Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaoxu.

From the bottom of his heart, Zhu Di did not intend to repeat the events of the early Tang Dynasty.

In other words, neither Zhu Gaochi nor Zhu Gaoxu should touch the red line of the military!

It was precisely for this reason that Zhu Di refuted Zhu Gaoxu's request to lead the army to obliterate the Jurchens. Zhu Di had no intention of letting his sons obtain military power.

But in this way, Zhu Gaochi, who did not lead troops to fight in the first place, did not suffer a loss, but Zhu Gaoxu, the most powerful general in the world, undoubtedly suffered a loss, and a big loss!

It was precisely for this reason that Zhu Di deliberately handed over the tax guard to Zhu Gaoxu as some kind of compensation.

But since Zhu Di was not allowed to touch the army and he did not intend to threaten his imperial power by establishing a prince too early, the two would inevitably start a dispute.

Generally speaking, the courtiers took different sides, and then the parties fought together and opposed each other, bickering, stumbling, and criticizing endlessly.

And this will actually affect Zhu Di's consolidation of imperial power.

After all, the Jingyan crisis has just ended. What Zhu Di needs is an efficient ruling machine to restore people's livelihood and implement administrative orders, not a ruling machine that undermines each other.

So Zhu Di was in trouble. How could he let the two sons compete with each other for the position of crown prince without touching the army and interfering with the government? As the emperor, he could check and balance them?

Jiang Xinghuo's words today inspired Zhu Di a lot.

The first one is naturally the separation of the emperor and the prince. After Zhu Di thought about it, an idea flashed. This set of things does not necessarily require the emperor and the prince to be separated. Wouldn't it solve his problem if Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaoxu were separated? Yet?

One goes to Beijing and the other stays in Nanjing, neither of them can touch the military power.

As for how to compete?

In Beijing, schools are tested based on new policies such as restoring people's livelihood, resisting Mongolia, and implementing new policies such as rural labor service. The same is true in Nanjing. However, because the development levels of the north and the south are different, there must be a trade-off. As for the specifics, Zhu Di didn't think about how to weigh it.

The second one is the balance of power method.

Jiang Xinghuo hasn't talked about this yet, but Zhu Di believes that if he learns these methods and practices them directly on his two sons, they should be very effective.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di, who had solved the long-standing problem of competing for the reserve, suddenly felt better.

Turn your insecurities onto others.

Not bad.

——————

"Geo-balance diplomacy, let's talk about diplomacy first. I have a more personal or straightforward definition."

Jiang Xinghuo said: "It is the activities of handling international relations openly by sending envoys, submitting letters of credence, negotiating, forming or breaking alliances, declaring war or truce, and secretly by spying on intelligence, breaking up dissensions, instigating rebellion, etc. .”

Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but said: "The Ming Dynasty's diplomacy does not seem to cover all the contents here."

"The Ming Dynasty's Ministry of Etiquette is still too shameless."

Jiang Xinghuo said with a smile: "There are only eternal interests between countries, but no eternal friends, let alone eternal vassal states."

"When the Han Dynasty was strong, they paid tribute to the Han Dynasty, and when the Tang Dynasty was strong, they paid tribute to the Tang Dynasty. The vision of the Central Plains dynasty was always limited to a small corner of China, which was indeed quite big, and could not see the outside world, so it was natural to use It’s still the same old rules.”

Zheng He was thoughtful.

After seeing the vastness of the ocean and the boundlessness of the world, Zheng He's horizons were broadened. It was precisely because of this personal experience that Zheng He became more determined to sail to the West.

When going to the Western Ocean, we naturally have to face an inevitable problem.

How to deal with relations with countries outside the tribute system?

This problem is unprecedented.

The safest way is, of course, to spend a lot of money.

Every time he went to a country, he gave rewards and favors, so he would be welcomed by all the countries along the way. He would write a letter of credence to the Ming Emperor and send envoys to follow him back, and all the countries would come to court to make the emperor happy.

But the question is, what is the purpose of going to the West?

Of course it’s about making money!

Since Zhu Di wants to send Zheng He to get money, then throwing money really becomes big money.

But if you don't do this, what should you do?

No one knows, and no dynasty has ever given the answer.

Everyone lives behind closed doors in the small circle of China and has never traveled far. This is the first time for Zheng He.

Therefore, Zheng He has been troubled by this.

But today, Jiang Xinghuo seems to be giving a feasible answer.

"We will discuss the issue of diplomacy later. Here we will briefly talk about the meaning of diplomacy. The focus is still on the geopolitical balance of power."

After hearing Jiang Xinghuo's words, Zheng He almost lost his breath.

"Hoho~"

"Are you OK?"

Zhu Gaoxu kindly patted Zheng He on the back with his big hands that could pull out trees, almost knocking out Zheng He's internal organs along his throat.

Seeing that he stopped coughing, Jiang Xinghuo felt relieved and continued to preach.

"Come on, you two clap your fists and strike a pose first."

Zhu Gaoxu and Zheng He followed Jiang Xinghuo's guidance, crossed their fists and put their wrists together.

Jiang Xinghuo saw that the positions were basically balanced, and then said: "You guys will compete with 30% of your strength first."

The two began to compete with each other, and the skin on their hands turned red.

It may be that the 30% strength is not easy to measure, or it may be that Zhu Gaoxu is really powerful. Even though Zheng He is also a general who went to the battlefield, he still clearly fell into a disadvantage after a few breaths, and just managed to avoid being completely overwhelmed. This may be because Zhu Gaoxu let go. The result of water.

Jiang Xinghuo nodded with satisfaction. If the two of them were evenly matched, it would be difficult for him to explain.

Jiang Xinghuo stretched out his hand, put it on the fist on the disadvantaged side, and said: "This is the principle of geographical balance. You see, now he is at a disadvantage, so I want to help him fight against you."

After saying that, Jiang Xinghuo exerted force with one hand.

Not moving at all.

Jiang Xinghuo exerted force with both hands.

Not moving at all.

Jiang Xinghuo kicked the ground with his feet and exerted all his strength.

Not moving at all.

Jiang Xinghuo gave up.

"You see, this is the result of being weak and trying to play with geopolitical balance."

"You have to have four taels to make a thousand pounds. This is a wrong example."

Jiang Xinghuo continued without blushing and his heart skipping a beat.

"You can finish this."

Zhu Gaoxu and Zheng He unclenched their fists.

Jiang Xinghuo dusted off the non-existent dust on his body to hide his embarrassment.

"The geopolitical balance can be achieved in two ways, one is to reduce the party with greater power, and the other is to increase the party with less power. I am not talking nonsense."

"Based on these two methods, geopolitical balance has given birth to five strategies that can be used for thousands of years."

"Divide and conquer, cut and control, balance armaments, unite vertical and horizontal forces, and support the weak."

——————

"etc."

Zhu Di suddenly raised his hand weakly.

"Li Shangshu."

Li Zhigang felt a little uneasy when he heard that the emperor's name was not Li Qing.

"I'm here."

Zhu Di asked something confusing: "Tell me what your Rites Department usually does. The more specific the better."

The emperor still doesn't know what the six departments are doing?

Li Zhigang didn't know why, so he could only say cautiously: "The normal work of the Ministry of Rites is divided into four departments, namely ritual system, temple sacrifices, host and guest, and refined meals."

Yes, the Ministry of Etiquette is very complex. The Department of Ceremonies is mainly responsible for the agenda arrangement, organization and preparation of various celebrations and daily activities, meetings, etc. of the imperial court, as well as the issuance of various letters of appointment, seals and ribbons, etc.

The Host and Guest Department is actually mainly about diplomatic work, mainly dealing with the management of foreign countries and foreign envoys, including some entry and exit management and translation.

The Fine Dining Department is mainly responsible for managing meals, hosting banquets, and managing the entire process from meal to meal.

The priests of the temple are responsible for matters related to sacrifices, such as going to the large sacrificial altar in the eastern suburbs to worship the "Fertilizer Immortal".

Oh, by the way, the Fertilizer Immortal actually has a name in the Ministry of Rites.

It's just that according to the ancient Chinese way of naming gods, it's a little bit longer.

"The Immortal of Chemical Fertilizer who relieves disasters, relieves suffering, and brings prosperity to the country and the people" is referred to as "The Immortal of Chemical Fertilizer".

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di gave some key instructions.

"From now on, Li Shangshu's main focus will be on foreign exchanges."

Zhu Di said slowly: "What countries are there in the world outside the Ming Dynasty? What are their situations? What benefits can the Ming Dynasty obtain from them? In other words, which countries can threaten the Ming Dynasty? What kind of foreign policies does the Ming Dynasty adopt towards these countries? Aren’t they all things you have to consider, Li Shangshu? Don’t just focus on ordinary things like organizing banquets and sacrifices every day, look outside more!”

When Li Zhigang heard this, he was not surprised but happy.

What is it that a man like him longs for most?

authority!

But how could the Ministry of Rites actually have such authority?

Issuing a letter of appointment with a seal is just a matter of stamping, and the decision-making power is in the hands of the officials; holding banquets and sacrifices is a matter without power; receiving envoys from foreign countries to pay tribute has no power at all.

But now, the emperor's intention is obvious, to increase the authority of the Ministry of Rites.

The Ministry of Rites could send envoys to foreign countries on behalf of the Ming Dynasty to understand the situation. It could also formulate foreign strategies for the emperor, study what kind of benefits the Ming Dynasty could obtain overseas, and what enemies overseas the Ming Dynasty needed to contain through alliances.

This authority is much greater than before!

Don’t you see that Su Qin has signed the seal of the Six Kingdoms?

At this time, Zhu Gaoxu's voice came from next door.

"Mr. Jiang, can you give a specific example of this geopolitical balance?"

"Which country do you want to use as an example?"

"Uh Japan?"