Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

"A boiling frog in warm water is a good metaphor."

Zhu Di clapped his hands gently, with admiration in his eyes.

"With Mr. Jiang's advice, I already have some ideas on how to deal with Japan."

Instigate a civil war in Japan, carve up the shogunate, maintain the balance of power, instigate betrayal to each other, and support the weak to infiltrate the Ming Dynasty and continuously encroach on the power of the Ming Dynasty!

"In the past, Jia Xu made plans to cause chaos in Chang'an, and now Mr. Jiang has made plans to cause trouble in Japan."

Xia Yuanji also said sincerely: "Mr. Jiang's plan is no less generous than Wen He and Chao Wu!"

"I didn't expect Mr. Jiang to know the art of political strategism!"

Zhu Gaochi sighed for a moment.

It should be known that the political strategist originated from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and declined during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Pei Ju designed to drive a wedge between the Western Turkic tribes, commanded the Shekui Khan to attack the Nipu Chuluo Khan, and dismantled hundreds of thousands of people who controlled the strings while talking and laughing. The great country of thousands of miles is almost the last afterglow of Zonghengshu.

In the Tang Dynasty, although some people used them, because the Tang army was too powerful, their role was far less brilliant than that of their predecessors.

As for the Song Dynasty.

Pooh!

Although the Chanyuan Alliance was aggrieved, it still brought about a hundred years of peace. What will happen in the future?

In the Iron-Blooded Song Dynasty, the Maritime Alliance allied with the Jin Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty, destroying the buffer zone that had been peaceful for hundreds of years; in the middle of the Song Dynasty, the Shaoxing Peace Conference killed Yue Fei, and legally "southern from south, north from north" He lost the hearts of the people in the north; later Duanping entered Luo, and wanted to use the Jin Kingdom's "secure the pass and guard the river" to seize the unoccupied areas of Henan into his own hands. As a result, he neglected logistics and military strength and used 60,000 Huaixi troops to make gold. What could only be accomplished by the country's 200,000 armored elites was accomplished by the Mongols.

Therefore, since the Song Dynasty, almost no one can understand Zonghengshu.

The Yuan Dynasty didn't need it, and the Ming Dynasty didn't play much.

So much so that in this era of the Battle of Jingnan, the Northern and Southern armies made very few moves outside the battlefield. Zhu Di's thousands of miles to attack Daning and kidnap King Ning became the only highlight moment of both sides' moves outside the battlefield.

As for Emperor Jianwen's clumsy plan to negotiate peace by crossing a river, even a three-year-old child wouldn't believe it.

Therefore, with the lack of partners to join vertically and horizontally, and no one to take care of this business, the Ministry of Rites of the Ming Dynasty naturally became a sealing yamen, which was also inevitable.

However, this situation gradually began to change as the vision of the upper echelons of the Ming Empire gradually expanded to the wider world.

Zhu Di was an ambitious emperor. His eyes were not limited to the remnants of the Northern Yuan Dynasty who were sent back to their hometown and huddled in Mobei, but also looked at Japan, Annan, Nanyang, and even the more distant countries of Tianzhu and Taixi.

After Jiang Xinghuo's persistent teaching, the senior officials of the Ming Empire now have a broader "international vision."

In other words, the Ming Empire is no longer like the previous dynasties, which only knew how to wage wars in the mainland to grab land. Instead, it began to pay attention to the surrounding situation and actively participate in affairs in other directions... Including interfering in the affairs of neighboring countries to obtain benefits for Ming Dynasty.

"By the way, Li Shangshu, what happened to the envoy sent by the Ministry of Rites to North Korea? Did he get any news back?"

The emperor's casual question made Li Zhigang suddenly worried.

"Reply to Your Majesty, not yet."

For Li Zhigang and Li Shangshu, he received a very important job given to him by the emperor a while ago: to intimidate Li's North Korea and claim back Jeju Island, which was supposed to be legally inherited from the Yuan Dynasty.

Of course, this kind of thing is not too troublesome.

The Ming Dynasty can be said to be the undisputed strongest country in the traditional tribute system. Let alone Li's Korea, even if the surrounding countries are combined together, they are still no match for the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, in the eyes of other Ming Dynasty officials, the matter of "reclaiming Jeju Island" is very easy and pleasant, and does not even require any cost.

Regardless of whether Li's Korea is sincerely surrendering or falsely flattering, in short, Li's Korea wants to contribute to the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Di is not the kind of king who can fool him with just a few good words. Once Zhu Di decides to attack Japan, then the entire Li's Korea North Korea will all be tied to Ming Dynasty's chariot.

So is the Li family really as respectful to the Ming Dynasty as they serve their emperor and father?

not necessarily.

Li Chenggui's secret operation to push North Korea's actual control area northward has never stopped.

Since the Battle of Jingnan started and the Ming Dynasty had no time to look eastward, Li Chenggui has been working hard to build castles on the east and south banks of the middle and upper reaches of the Yalu River. Up to now, 11 large cities and 18 small forts have been built, and from North Korea Various provinces in the south forcibly relocated a large number of residents to settle in the area, gradually implementing effective control over the northern area.

After completing actual control, Li Chenggui planned to formally establish Northwest West County as a formal administrative division bordering the Ming Dynasty on the Yalu River.

In the direction of Tumen River, Li Chenggui was not idle either.

Li Chenggui used Gongwei Town as a demarcation requirement in several border disputes with the Ming Dynasty on the pretext of guarding against the invasion of Timur, the fierce Jurchen tribe in Jianzhou. However, in fact, the vast area from the north of Gongwei Town to the Tumen River The region was gradually encroached by North Korea. Ming Dynasty basically did not react violently because it was busy fighting civil war.

And through the Li family's North Korea's vigorous appeasement of the Jurchens in this area, most of the Jurchens in the Helan Prefecture of the Yuan Dynasty have attached themselves to North Korea, such as Sansan Meng'an Gulu Doulan Timur, Haiyang Meng'an Kuo'er The tooth fire lost Timur, Jiazhou Meng An Yun Gangkuo, Hong Ken Meng An Kuoer's teeth were difficult, Vulu Wu Meng An Jia Wen Buhua, mediation and Meng An Xitan Xue Lie.

Well, the Jurchens are still using Meng'an Mouk's trick.

As a result, Li's Korea controlled the southeastern coast of the Tumen River and successively established several small strongholds. Li Chenggui even planned to imitate the "Six Towns of the Northern Wei Dynasty" in the future and also set up six armies composed of Jurchens and Koreans. The town served as an outpost to resist the Ming Dynasty in the direction of the Tumen River.

In other words, North Korea's method of fighting against the Jurchen tribes, which were loosely organized but powerful in combat, still relied on the method learned from China to use barbarians to control barbarians. This set of things has been tried and tested by the Central Plains dynasty since the Western Han Dynasty supported the Southern Xiongnu.

Knowing this situation, Li Zhigang was vaguely worried when he sent officials from the Ministry of Rites to Li's North Korea as an envoy. If he failed to complete the tasks assigned by the emperor, he would not care about the outcome of North Korea, but his own outcome. Most likely it will be the third trip to prison.

Because of this, Li Zhi was so scared when he entered the imperial prison today.

However, Li Zhigang did not know that at this time in North Korea, thousands of miles away, officials from the Ministry of Rites of the Ming Dynasty received warm hospitality from Li Chenggui. This time the Ming Empire took away Jeju Island, but Li Chenggui did not seem to express dissatisfaction, but instead showed a Submissive gesture.

The officials from the Ministry of Rites of the Ming Dynasty who were sent as envoys only felt that after all, Li Chenggui was already sixty-seven years old, and in this era, most of his body was buried in the loess. Even if he was unwilling, what could be done.

But the actual situation is that Li Chenggui himself has a guilty conscience.

Li Chenggui already knew the news that Gu Cheng, the veteran general of the Ming Dynasty, led the army to gather in the direction of Liaodong. Combined with the actions of Li's North Korea to push the actual control area to the north, Li Chenggui thought that Ming Teng had offended the Ming Dynasty and ended the civil war. Take action to attack him.

In this way, when the Ming Dynasty came to ask for Jeju Island, it seemed to Li Chenggui that they were naturally looking for an excuse to declare war. All the great dynasties like to have a good reputation.

Therefore, Li Chenggui would never give the Ming Dynasty the "name" of declaring war. In Li Chenggui's heart, not to mention Jeju Island, all the islands along the coast could be taken away by the Ming Dynasty.

Due to such a mistake, Ming Dynasty was originally going to take action against Tamerlane, the fierce brother of the Jurchen tribe in Liaodong, but unexpectedly intimidated North Korea.

Otherwise, in the past, when it was the same Jeju Island matter, during the Hongwu Dynasty, North Korea would have had to argue with the Ming Dynasty many times.

They did not directly contradict the Ming Dynasty, but repeatedly complained about the misfortune and how pitiful the small country was.

——————

Zheng He asked after thinking for a few moments.

"Then how does Mr. Jiang think this balance of power should be accomplished? I always feel that something is missing."

Zhu Gaoxu also realized this, and he said: "There are fewer people to execute it!"

"Yes, it seems that there is no one in Ming Dynasty to do this."

"This is simple."

Jiang Xinghuo said calmly: "We only need to set up Ming's angels and consulates on the land where Ming's diplomatic targets are based on different levels."

According to the understanding of Zheng He and Zhu Gaoxu, the Angel Hall, as the name suggests, is the residence of the Ming Dynasty's envoys, that is, the residence of the personnel sent by the Ming Dynasty to places where diplomacy is needed and the residence.

Zheng He suddenly felt that Jiang Xinghuo's proposal could perfectly solve many of his problems.

For example, how to communicate with other countries after sailing to the West?

You can't just communicate with Ming Dynasty's fleet once, right?

Secondly, what procedures should be followed regarding systems, etiquette, commerce, etc.?

It seems that these problems can be solved through "angels and consulates".

Since it would be helpful for his future voyages to the West, Zheng He naturally wanted to inquire a little bit, so he asked more questions.

“What’s the difference between an embassy and a consulate that day?”

Jiang Xinghuo glanced at the strangely dressed man and asked with a hint of temptation in his heart.

"What difference do you think should make?"

Zheng He only said his first reaction: "The levels should be different."

"Indeed."

Jiang Xinghuo explained: "Angel embassies and consulates have different levels. Angel embassies are the highest diplomatic institutions of the Ming Dynasty in other countries and are built in the other country's capital; while consulates are institutions stationed by the Ming Dynasty to perform diplomatic missions in important areas."

"In addition, due to the inconvenience of transportation, the embassy represents the interests of the entire Ming Dynasty and is fully responsible for the relations between the two countries. It should have the power to deal with random matters. The consulate can only handle some of the interests of the Ming Dynasty and only has the power to handle some areas and affairs. This is here He said that the consulate can never represent Ming Dynasty and can only serve as a liaison and communication function."

"Whether it is an angel embassy or a consulate, military attachés can be stationed there."

As soon as these intriguing words were spoken, Zheng He and Zhu Gaoxu understood them immediately.

To put it bluntly, the Ming Dynasty’s consulate was used to deflect blame.

According to such a high-sounding statement, combined with the previous definition of "diplomacy", the division of responsibilities between the Daming Embassy and the Daming Consulate is very clear.

The so-called diplomacy refers to 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 discord, instigating rebellion, etc.

So who is the face on the bright side? Naturally, it is the Ming Dynasty Embassy representing His Majesty the Ming Emperor.

Who is the secret lizi? Naturally, it was the Ming Consulate that was used to do the dirty work and take the blame.

——————

In the secret room.

"Why didn't we think of this before? We used to send envoys once and for all. There were never permanent envoys. It was so inconvenient to do things. What an angel embassy! What a consulate! How wonderful!"

It can be seen that Zhu Di is really in a good mood today.

Because what I heard in this class is all practical information that can be learned and used now.

Whether it was to change the methods of South Beijing and apply them to his two sons, or how to dismember and balance Japan, or this "angel house, consulate" method, it all perfectly met Zhu Di's needs.

"Li Shangshu."

"I'm here."

Different from the uneasiness he felt when he was called by the emperor last time, this time Li Zhigang was extremely pleasantly surprised.

Because Li Zhigang guessed that the emperor would probably hand over the "angel hall and consulate" system to the Ministry of Rites to build and run it.

Because foreign exchanges have been the errands of the Ministry of Rites since ancient times, but now the scope has only expanded beyond the traditional tribute system.

However, it is very difficult to fully implement such a huge system as "angels and consulates" that will be stationed in dozens of countries and hundreds of regions in the future.

Because there are so many aspects involved, at least one, someone from your etiquette department needs to be an angel and consul, right?

So is there any need for training and education for angels, consuls and related personnel stationed abroad? Do you need to keep up with relevant standards and requirements?

In addition to the most basic personnel matters, there are other interests involved. For example, how to evaluate the Ming Dynasty’s angels and consuls stationed abroad, how to promote and demote officials in the overseas system, how to allocate funds, etc. Once these things are implemented, many problems will inevitably arise.

But no matter what, this is a fat mistake!

It’s better to have something to do than nothing to do, and it’s better to have court funds than nothing before!

But now, the emperor has put this system under his own responsibility. For Li Zhigang, who originally only did such trivial things as stamping, eating, and offering sacrifices, it was like pie in the sky.

As a result, the authority of the Ministry of Rites will be greatly increased!

This is equivalent to an increase in the number of middle and low-level officials from a dozen to dozens of people, and a considerable increase in the court's funding allocation!

"I plan to hand over this system to Li Qing, and I hope Li Qing will do his best."

Li Zhigang's face was filled with sincerity and fear, but also with a bit of determination.

"I will do my best and die for His Majesty!"

When Li Zhigang sat back on the chair, even though he had been in official circles for many years, he still felt a sense of disbelief.

Such a great authority, such a fat job, fell on himself.

Looking at this strange wall again, Li Zhigang still didn't know that the opportunity he had today was brought about by the man named "Jiang Xinghuo" on the other side of the wall.

"Jiang Xinghuo"

Li Shangshu silently recited this unfamiliar name several times in his heart.

Unlike other visitors to the secret room, Li Shangshu is a more practical person. His character in other aspects, such as honesty and integrity, is not very good. However, the simple values ​​of repaying kindness and revenge have always been reflected in his "the more prisons, the more gains" life.

"Today's kindness will be repaid in the future!"