The Ming Dynasty's Spokesperson

After clarifying Tianshuai's ideas and future plans, Yin Zhuoran roughly understood his position.

It is similar to the system of the Han Dynasty in the Central Plains, where the court sent people to the vassal states to serve as prime ministers to control the vassal states.

Today, the sixth prince Shunhejun is equivalent to the vassal enfeoffed by Tianshuai, and he is equivalent to the prime minister sent by Tianshuai to the vassal states.

Gradually substituting this role, Yin Zhuoran's thinking became more comprehensive and in-depth.

Then he pointed upward and asked Lin Tailai: "Will His Majesty the Emperor allow Tianshuai to do this?"

Lin Tailai answered very affirmatively: "You can rest assured! The emperor will definitely support me!

As long as it is not a blatant annexation of vassal land, so that the emperor can save face, everything will be fine."

Nothing can stop Emperor Wanli's obsession with opening a copper mine. Who made the copper mine happen to be located on the border, so close to the Ming Dynasty?

But the copper mine has only been told to Yang Dengshan, the commander of the Hamgyong Province garrison, and it is still kept secret from most other people.

Yin Zhuoran did not doubt Lin Tianshuai's strength, or rather, he, who had served as the angel of the court twice, understood Lin Tianshuai's strength better than all the Koreans.

But he still had a doubt, which he had not figured out until now. Now that he had talked to Tianshuai, he simply asked him all at once.

"There are many mountains and few plains in our country, and even fewer plains in the north. Most of the population and money and grain are in the south.

So what is Tianshuai thinking about in the future to split the north? The Ming Dynasty would not look down on this little land, population, and money and grain, right?

Otherwise, the Ming Dynasty would not have given up the north of our country and retreated back to Liaodong 150 years ago."

Lin Tailai said disdainfully: "Even if you add the money and grain in the south of your country, my Ming Dynasty would still look down on it.

Is your country's tax grain 300,000 shi a year at most? It is just equivalent to a county in our Suzhou Prefecture!"

Yin Zhuoran was speechless. Only people like him who had been to the Ming Dynasty could understand how big the gap between the Ming Dynasty and the Korean Kingdom was.

People in the future hundreds of years later may think that the living standards in ancient times were similar everywhere, with men farming and women weaving, and there was no essential difference, especially with the Korean drama filter beautification.

But it is not true. In the ancient productivity environment, there were huge gaps between different places.

Although Korea also called itself Little China and regarded itself as a powerful country in the East, its living standards were several versions worse than those in the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, there was no currency in the daily life of the peninsula, and there was almost no business. It was so poor that the Ming Dynasty officials and soldiers who entered Korea could not adapt at all, and they had no place to use the silver.

The border town was already a poor place in the Ming Dynasty, but the border troops found that life in the border town was also very comfortable when they arrived in Korea.

A Ming official who asked "Why don't you eat meat porridge" asked a Korean official: "Your country does not collect silver, does not use money, does not raise chickens and pigs, how can you have currency? How can you eat meat?"

There was also a minister who wrote helplessly in his memorial: "Since our army entered Korea, it has been a different world. We don't speak the language, we don't use silver and money, there are no pig slaughterhouses or wine shops, and the Japanese slaves have burned and looted, leaving all the houses empty."

There was also a Chinese poem about Korea in this era, which said: "There is no meat on the table, so we are happy with vegetarian food, there is no firewood fence at the stove, we suffer, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law eat the same bowl of rice, and the father and son wear the same pair of pants."

Knowing this background, we can understand why Zhu Yuanzhang listed Korea as a country that should not be conquered. In addition to the factors of mountains and rivers, the land was too poor.

Yin Zhuoran also understood this truth, so he asked in depth: "Our people are poor and weak, and we don't have enough money and food. Apart from being submissive to the Ming Dynasty, we have little benefit.

So what is the use of our country that can cause Tianshuai to have the desire to secede? It can't be to draw a new map, right?"

After a little thought, Lin Tailai decided not to hide it from Yin Zhuoran, and said truthfully: "In fact, I just want minerals, especially copper mines, and most of your minerals are in the north, which is why I only want to secede the northern three roads.

As for the south of your country, except for a few ports, I don't have much interest."

Yin Zhuoran was inexplicably surprised and said incomprehensibly: "Such a big fuss? Just to open a mine?"

Lin Tailai said leisurely: "According to my rough estimate, Jiashan County alone can at least double the amount of copper produced in the Ming Dynasty. Do you think it's worth it?"

Yin Zhuoran: ""

Copper mines are like silver mines. They are equivalent to money for the Ming Dynasty with abundant materials. They are currency!

How did you know about this situation, Tianshuai, when even he, the "quasi-minister of the Ministry of Revenue" of the Kingdom of Korea, didn't know about it? Did you calculate it with your fingers? Or did you dream about it?

No wonder many people say that Tianshuai is a god who has descended to earth. The more you get in touch with him, the more you can feel the mysterious power of Tianshuai.

After talking with Yin Zhuoran, he let him digest it himself.

At this time, Yang Dengshan, the commander of the garrison in Hamgyong Province, happened to send a secret letter to report on the exploration.

"According to the instructions of the General, copper mines have indeed been explored in Huishanli, northeast of Jiashan County City.

This place is located at the southern foot of Baekdu Mountain, on the upper reaches of the Yalu River, only 20 miles away from the river bank, and it does have the potential for water transportation."

If the above are all good news, then the following are probably complaints, and Lin Tailai can only continue to watch.

"But if we want to build roads, docks, and gather people to open mines, we need to reserve a large amount of food in advance.

The local area of ​​Hamgyong Province is already extremely poor, unable to raise funds locally, and still needs to rely on the governor to allocate."

Lin Tailai looked at the secret disclosure and sighed deeply. Food is the first necessity of the people, and grain is the lifeblood.

Even if we capture Japanese pirates and make them slaves, we still need to provide them with food, right? We can't let the slaves starve to death, right? So we still need food.

There is no other way but to formulate a new fundraising and transportation plan to support the mining industry in Hamgyong Province.

All said and done, it's all because North Korea is too poor and can hardly provide much strong support in terms of materials and food.

Most of the materials had to be transported thousands of miles from the mainland of the Ming Dynasty. If the large copper mines were not recovered, the Ming Dynasty's treasury was destined to suffer huge losses.

In this way, how could the monarchs and ministers of the Li Dynasty still have the nerve to return home crying? Returning to China will serve no purpose other than adding more burdens to Ming Dynasty. Just stay in Kuandian Fort, Liaodong!

At the end of the secret revelation, Yang Dengshan also asked if another iron ore was found in Hamgyong Province and was it ready to be mined?

This was directly rejected by Lin Tianshuai. There is no need for iron ore at the moment.

The current pig iron output of the official craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty is relatively overflowing. The imperial pig iron is often too much to be used up and stored in the warehouse. Therefore, iron ore is not being developed for the time being, and it is better to concentrate on the extremely profitable copper mine first.

On the other side, Cui Wukui sent Yin Zhuoran out and was responsible for helping Yin Zhuoran, who had just arrived, arrange food and accommodation in the Sungkyun Hall.

After finishing these tasks, Cui Wukui went to reply to Lin Tianshuai, and then met Shen Weijing at the door of the back hall, the same Shen Weijing who claimed to be proficient in Japanese language, familiar with Japanese affairs, and determined to be a mediating ambassador.

Thinking that this big liar in the original history was indeed proficient in Japanese and considered a professional, Tianshuai kept Shen Weijing in the shogunate to serve as a translator.

Logically speaking, Shen Weijing and Cui Wukui should have similar functions. One is a Japanese translator and the other is a Korean translator, but in different directions.

As a result, until now, the actual status between the two is very different.

In front of outsiders, especially Koreans, Cui Wukui was like Tianshuai's spokesperson and received the greatest respect.

As of now, Shen Weijing's most important task seems to be chatting with the few Japanese prisoners every day.

Shen Weijing was not convinced by the current situation in his heart. He felt that it was not that he was inferior to Cui Wukui, but that his luck was not good.

Cui Wukui's rise in status was because Tianshuai often communicated with North Koreans, so Cui Wukui naturally became important.

But Tianshuai did not communicate with the Japanese, and he was not interested in listening to what the Japanese had to say. His attitude towards the Japanese was basically to kill them again and again. So how could he, Shen Weijing, play his role?

Speaking of which, the only time Tianshuai had a face-to-face and in-depth communication with the Japanese was when he tore Kato Kiyomasa into pieces. However, Shen Weijing, who was not very trusted at the time, was still guarding the Japanese prisoners in the rear area of ​​Shun'an.

But no matter how unconvinced he was, when Shen Weijing saw Cui Wukui, he still had to chat with his smiling face. As the saying goes, the situation is stronger than the person.

"What are you doing here?" Cui Wukui asked Shen Weijing with a frown.

There is also a chain of contempt between people. Cui Wukui used to be the general secretary of Siyi Pavilion and a traveler. Although his character is classified as a miscellaneous official, he is still within the system after all.

As for Shen Weijing, he just sneaked in without showing much merit, so Cui Wukui naturally didn't think highly of him.

Shen Weijing kept his posture very low and replied respectfully: "I have something to ask of the Duke, and I would like to ask Cui Xingren to report it on my behalf."

Cui Wukui didn't ask any further questions, nodded and entered the back hall first.

After Lin Tailai heard about it, he felt that he had not seen Shen Weijing since the New Year's reunion. He also thought he had some free time today, so he called Shen Weijing in.

"What's important to you?" Lin Tailai asked.

Shen Weijing replied: "Since mid-October, the Japanese general Konishi Governor has been detained. How to deal with it, please let me know."

Lin Tailai was stunned for a moment, "The headquarters almost forgot that we still have Governor Konishi as a prisoner in our hands."

Shen Weijing: ""

Damn it, Mr. Jinglue, are you serious? After all, Governor Konishi is also a Japanese general and a feudal lord daimyo. How little do you think of him?

Lin Tailai asked casually: "Is he still alive and healthy? Didn't he commit suicide or get sick?"

Shen Weijing suddenly felt that his work was meaningless, and replied numbly: "Still alive and healthy."

Lin Tailai thought for a while and then said: "There is nothing to do today. Let's bring Mr. Xiaoxi here to take a look."

Not long after, several Biaoying officers and soldiers escorted President Xiaoxi into the hall to pay homage to Tianshuai. Shen Weijing was responsible for translating beside him.

Lin Tailai looked at Governor Konishi for a few times, compared it with his own impression, and then asked curiously: "You seem to have gained weight? You were not so round when you were captured."

President Konishi: ""

What are these words? If you were a person with a strong temper, you could ask for a staged suicide on the spot, right?

Lin Tailai lamented: "The food of you Japanese people is really poor. I heard that even a daimyo is very poor, and often he can only eat soup rice, dried radish, and dried fish.

Nagato Kiyomasa was known as a tiger general in your Japanese country and was famous for being tall and strong. However, he was beaten to death by three punches by me in actual combat because his meat intake was much worse than me.

Mr. Konishi, you have gained a lot of weight after being a prisoner in our army camp for more than three months. It seems that the people below treat you with courtesy.

By the way, I heard that you Japanese people have the custom of crawling at night. Is this true? Please talk to me in detail. Are you really allowed to act so casually? "

Maybe Lin Tianshuai was really bored today, talking ramblingly and thinking very fast.

In the first few sentences, I was still lamenting the poor food supply of Japanese famous people, and then jumped directly to the pursuit of customs and novelties.

He immediately silenced Governor Konishi. He originally wanted to communicate with Tianshuai, but now he no longer wanted to answer.

Shen Weijing was speechless after translating. He knew that Jinglüe Gong usually didn't respect others, but he didn't expect that he could be so disrespectful. Did he treat the other party as a human being?

Finally, Shen Weijing couldn't help but say: "If it doesn't work, just give Konishi Yukinaga a quick death."

Even if it's just a chop, it's more humane than such mental torture.

After thinking for a while, Lin Tailai said casually: "Forget it, let Konishi Yukinaga go."

It's really useless to keep this man in his hands, and he has to spend food to feed him in vain. It's better to let him go and let him spread defeatism among the Japanese pirates and hit the morale of the Japanese pirates.

In history, although Konishi Yukinaga was not captured, he seemed to be scared after escaping from Pyongyang. He desperately advocated the combat effectiveness of the heavenly soldiers and tried his best to advocate retreat. In this time and space, the situation is probably even worse.

Release him directly? Shen Weijing was shocked. Why did Jinglüe Gong suddenly become so kind?

After the translation, Konishi Yukinaga suddenly became excited and shouted something loudly.

"What is he shouting?" Lin Tailai asked Shen Weijing.

Shen Weijing translated: "He doesn't want to leave, he said he can't go back like this!

If he goes back for no reason like this, he won't be easy, he will be blamed for the defeat and be suspected!

So we have to give him some tasks, or use him to do something, otherwise he would rather stay as a prisoner."

Lin Tailai said helplessly: "But what use is he really now, I really can't think of what to do with him."

If it is peace talks or prisoner exchange, Konishi Yukinaga is still a little useful, but it is obviously impossible at present.

Not to mention that Lin Tailai has no intention of peace talks subjectively, even objectively speaking, the situation is very favorable, the results are brilliant, and the food and grass can still be supplied, there is no room for peace talks.

In this victory, whoever dares to talk about peace talks from top to bottom is collaborating with the Japanese.

Besides, both Princes Jun Shun and Jun of Linhai were rescued. As for the remaining Korean officials captured by the Japanese pirates, whether they were alive or dead, Lin Jinglue was not interested in exchanging or rescuing them.

In addition, since Lin Tianshuai entered the court, he had already climbed the first two times, killed a general once, and killed 37,000 enemies, so there was no need to use Konishi Yukinaga to show off his achievements.

So Konishi Yukinaga was really useless in Lin Tianshuai's hands. It would be better to release him back to Seoul and let him go back to spread defeatism and hit the morale of the Japanese army.

If it could arouse suspicion of internal strife among the Japanese army in Seoul, it would be even better.

After all, judging from the team situation in the later Battle of Sekigahara, Konishi Yukinaga was in the same group with Ukita Hideie, the general general of the Korean Japanese army, and Ishida Mitsunari, the general magistrate, and was an enemy of powerful people such as Kuroda Nagamasa, the commander of the Third Corps, and Fukushima Masanori, the commander of the Fifth Corps (originally in history, there was also Kato Kiyomasa).

Letting Konishi Yukinaga go back may have the potential to become the fuse of the internal conflict of the Japanese army in Seoul.

Lin Tailai pointed at Konishi Yukinaga and said to Shen Weijing: "This is the situation, tell him the truth!

The headquarters really has no use for him. If he knows what's good for him, he should leave quickly!

After returning, spread the word about the might of our heavenly soldiers, which will be considered as repaying the headquarters for saving his life!"

Konishi Yukinaga said nothing, and thought about a question quickly and unconvincedly, what use could he have?