Bright Spring

There were several performances of music and dancing, during which the officials made speeches, and the etiquette was carried out several times.Zhan He, who was wearing a small red robe, was sitting next to Zhu Gaoxu, but the child seemed to be unable to sit still, and the nearby eunuchs kept trying to persuade him and correct his sitting posture.

At this moment, the officials of Honglu Temple bowed and stepped forward, saying: "I ask the Holy One to give you an instruction." The eunuch who supervised the ceremonies walked to Zhu Gaoxu's side, bent down and said: "The emperor just said to the guards, Pass it on to those who own Jinyiwei."

Zhu Gaoxu looked at the Jinyiwei soldiers standing at a distance on the school grounds, and understood that this was like delivering an imperial decree in Fengtian Temple; people would repeat the decree and pass it on one by one.

But Zhu Gaoxu didn't say a word. After a while, he clapped his hands on the armrest, stood up, and walked straight to the edge of the dance performance stage.All civil and military officials looked sideways, but no one stopped the emperor.

The soldiers on the school grounds looked up, most of these Beijing soldiers were officers and soldiers who followed Zhu Gaoxu in the civil war, and occasionally saw a few familiar people.

Looking back at his surroundings, Zhu Gaoxu said loudly, "When Emperor Shun, one of the Five Emperors, was in power, there were tribes of Miao who refused to accept the central government and raised troops to provoke them. Yu, the crown prince chosen by Emperor Shun, suggested sending troops to crusade"

After he said something, he paused for a while, waiting for the officers and soldiers of Jin Yiwei in the distance to repeat his words.

"At this time Shun said, no, it is not righteous for a monarch to launch a war without first cultivating virtue. So Shun asked the Huaxia soldiers to take their weapons and dance in the place occupied by the seedlings. So there was no bloody sacrifice, You Miao retreated and surrendered to Shun. Han Feizi, Wubei

In the early years of Yongle, the Hu family from Annan usurped power and implemented tyranny in Annan, killing innocent people indiscriminately, invading Guangxi and other places, and the people were in dire straits.Annan scholars and people went to Beijing to ask for orders, and Wang Shi was invited to enter Annan to quell the riots.My Emperor Taizong was kind and merciful, and sent troops to fight against rebellion; the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty fought for justice, how many people's bones did not survive?

After the Hu family was destroyed, there were Chen Jikuo from Annan, who forged the identity of the clan, raised troops and rebelled, killing innocent people every day.Some ministers advised me to use troops to attack, and I thought of Shun's virtue, so I sent envoys to invite peace talks to avoid fighting.

But Chen Ji expanded his party, trampled on my good intentions, and almost slaughtered the envoys and his party for no reason, only Liu Ming survived alone! "

The school ground gradually became noisy, and soon there were shouts everywhere, and all the soldiers were filled with righteous indignation.How could the mighty Central Dynasty and the mighty Ming Empire be so wronged?The soldiers couldn't bear it.

In fact, Emperor Taizong felt that God had given him a good opportunity and wanted to take the opportunity to open up territories. Zhu Gaoxu was also very interested in the fertile soil and food on the Annan Plain. Of course, these were not the key points.After all, in the Ming Dynasty, morality and righteousness were paramount.

Zhu Gaoxu raised his hand to signal downward, and the noise before and after gradually subsided.

He continued to say loudly: "The imperial court established ethics, benevolence, righteousness and loyalty, but now they are being trampled on. We should ensure that these rules are effective, and we should try the crimes of those rebels, and seek justice for the innocent soldiers who were killed and loyal to the country! Justice! God will help!"

Countless soldiers shouted excitedly again, and led by some generals, they formed shouts one after another, "Justice!" The shouts of "Justice and God" seemed to resound through the capital.The people who were watching from a distance were also affected, and many people were vaguely waving their arms and making noise.

Zhu Gaoxu turned around and walked to his seat. He found that all the civil servants were silent.Although his rhetoric can be recognized by the army and the people, it seems that it cannot influence the judgment of the officials, and most of them know it in their hearts.

However, the call for war has obviously been recognized by countless soldiers and civilians, and it is difficult for the courtiers to change the public opinion. They should all agree with Zhu Gaoxu's decision.

Zhu Gaoxu turned his head and said to the officials standing on both sides of the throne: "When we consider our own needs and interests, we must also have a truly convincing morality."

All the ministers bowed in agreement.

Unexpectedly, at this time Zhu Zhanhe suddenly asked in a childish voice: "Father, which one should you choose between benefits and morality?"

Zhu Gaoxu was very surprised and froze for a moment.The officials also looked sideways at Zhan He, and many of them were very interested in waiting for Zhu Gaoxu's answer.Even Queen Chen turned her head.

But there are some things that cannot be said in public. If you say it, you will slap yourself in the face.The boy really asked a question.

Zhu Gaoxu pondered for a moment, and said kindly to Zhan He: "The needs of our Ming Dynasty are moral in themselves."

Zhan He raised his head and said, "Why?"

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Because our monarchs and ministers all have a correct character, what we want to do is always righteous. Zhan He will understand when he grows up."

Zhan He stared, finally nodded and said: "Yes, Father."

Chapter 731 A Warlord Must Die

The imperial court had decided to march south again, but Zhu Gaoxu was not moved by it.

The military industry and transportation system he envisioned have not been established at all, and the actual profits obtained from overseas have not been seen so far; the haze of various wars has quickly appeared in front of him.

The national treasury is short of cash for the time being, and the millions of dollars in cash and annual income, if used for war, it is estimated that it will be exhausted in two battles, and there is no need to pay official salaries and military salaries.Therefore, if Zhu Gaoxu wants to go to war, he can only rely on the original ruling system, which means adding a heavy burden to the people and military households of the guards everywhere.

Under the ruling system dominated by corvee and land taxes, foreign wars cannot divert domestic and internal conflicts at all, and will only have a counterproductive effect. What happened at the end of the Qin Dynasty and the end of the Sui Dynasty is a lesson from the past.It is not entirely unreasonable for civil officials to oppose the use of troops abroad.

Zhu Gaoxu was still determined to take revenge on Chen Jikuo, but he was really forced to do so.In this day and age, without the use of force, it seems that no national policy can be carried out to the outside world. Only dead bodies are scattered in the fields to have a good discussion.Back then, the Annanguo Hu family provoked the imperial court and was just wiped out by the Ming army a few years ago; Chen Jikuo couldn't talk anymore. (Sooner or later, Chen Jikuo will understand that if he has some strength, he will always pay a price if he is smug and ignores the suzerain.)

And Zhu Gaoxu also understood: the long-term strategy conceived before seems a bit idealistic, and various problems soon appeared, and it seems to be more difficult to realize than imagined...

All civil and military affairs were discussed in the Hall of Rouyi, and Zhu Gaoxu proposed the intention of this southern expedition: first, to make a quick decision, and to end the Annan War before the rainy season next year.Second, the purpose of the campaign is to disintegrate the offensive of the rebels going northward, and focus on counterattacking Chen Jikuo, Ruan Shuai, and Li Libu; after severely punishing the culprits, withdraw troops in time.

The nobles believed that the Annan Kingdom (only including the northern and southern regions of today's Vietnam) was small and could wipe out the entire territory.

Zhu Gaoxu immediately denied: "The Ming Dynasty has a vast territory, but the national power that can be used for foreign conquests is limited. The current battle can only be based on achieving the necessary goals, which is to maintain the majesty and rules of the Ming court. Chen Jikuo and others killed our soldiers, It must be punished. The rest of the matter will be discussed in the future; otherwise, we will have to conquer Tsushima Island, and I am afraid that there will be more problems."

Xia Yuanji, Minister of the Ministry of Finance, heard this, his eyes widened immediately, and he asked immediately without regard to etiquette: "My lord, do you still want to start a war in Japan?"

It was also the first time for all the civil and military personnel to hear Zhu Gaoxu talk about this matter. Seeing that Xia Yuanji had already stepped forward to ask, they all remained silent and waited for the next sentence.

Zhu Gaoxu had no choice but to explain: "Japan owns gold, silver, copper, sulfur and other minerals, and it is convenient for sea transportation, which is exactly what the court urgently needs. I also want to obtain it through expanding trade, but the Japanese shogunate has rejected diplomatic relations; at this time, we have to think Ways to open trade routes.

Tsushima Island is a very good base camp against Japan, and the guardian daimyo there sheltered the Japanese pirates, but the shogunate ignored our dynasty’s request to ban the Japanese pirates; we happened to have morality and reasons to take Tsushima Island as our own.

King Li Fangyuan of North Korea has written a letter, ready to send troops to attack Tsushima Island.If North Korea occupies this place first, we will go to ask for it, and we will inevitably not compensate Li Fangyuan in other ways, otherwise it will appear greedy and unreasonable.

Now the relationship between North Korea and the Ming court is the best, and Hou Xian has received courtesy in Geoje County; unless we have to, we should try our best to maintain this relationship.It is easier for Ming to occupy Tsushima Island than to occupy Jeju Island. "

"Alas..." Xia Yuanji frowned, and sighed unabashedly.

Zhu Gaoxu couldn't communicate with him too deeply. It was really hard to change the concept of many ministers, the idea that gold and silver can't be eaten.

Zhu Gaoxu had no choice but to comfort him with kind words: "Xia Butang doesn't have to worry too much, I know what I can do, and I will do what I can. Didn't I just say that in the crusade against the Annan rebels, you can't rush for quick success, but accept it when you see it. In order to save costs."

"Warrior will die, the Holy One will see clearly." Xie Jin suddenly clasped his fists and said.

Zhu Gaoxu: "..."

At this moment, Zhang Fu, the Marquis of Xincheng, took the lead, clasped his fists and said, "I am advising on the wise and general strategy of the Holy Majesty, and please lead the army Annan to share the worries of the Holy Majesty."

In the first battle of conquering Annan Kingdom, Zhang Fu was the left deputy general of Zhengyi. He performed well in combat and had experience in fighting in Annan Kingdom.Now that Zhang Fu supported Zhu Gaoxu's strategy, Zhu Gaoxu stopped hesitating and slapped the table lightly and said, "The Marquis of Xincheng will be the main general of this Southern Expedition."

After hearing this, Zhang Fu was overjoyed, and immediately bowed, "Your minister receives the decree!"

The rest of the princes were silent at this time.Zhang Fu, a marquis, has already obtained the emperor's promise, so the dukes can no longer be deputy generals.

Liu Sheng said anxiously: "My lord, I would like to be the deputy general."

Although this Liu Sheng was the one who surrendered from the deposed prince, he performed well in the great battle of Huhu, and he was very good at fighting. He was also very skillful in using firearms during the Northern Expedition to Tatar.

Zhu Gaoxu pondered for a while, and began to decide on the candidates on the spot: "For this campaign, Liu Sheng will be appointed as the left deputy general, Yin Desheng will be the right deputy general (the direct descendant of the old Han dynasty), and Chen Xuan will be the commander of the navy. Xue Yan, Minister of the Ministry of Punishments, and Pei Youzhen, Minister of the Ministry of War , received the imperial decree, and restrained the deployment of military supplies in Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, and Huguang."

Civil and military officials who mentioned their names came to the table one after another, kowtowed and accepted orders together.

Zhu Gaoxu beckoned everyone to excuse him, then turned his head to look at Hou Hai, the left envoy of the guard, and said, "Hou Zuo envoy, I want to send you an errand, are you willing to go to An Nanguo?"

Hou Hai hurriedly stood up and said, "Your Majesty, please give me your orders."

Zhu Gaoxu said: "The duty of the North Office of the Imperial Guard is to collect news from foreign countries. You take Jin Shitou to An Nanguo to do propaganda. Collect the bad things done by Chen Jikuo, Ruan Shuai, Li Li and others, and let them The officials and people in Annan understand their evil deeds; whenever the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty go to a place, you still have to publicize the benevolence and righteousness of the officers and soldiers."

Hou Haidao: "I obey the order."