Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 979 The Way of Heaven
As a descendant of a saint, Kong Zhenyun despised this kind of behavior the most in his life. How could he have any sympathy for North Korea? In his opinion, North Korea deserved it because of its own fault. The life and death of North Korea was none of the Ming Dynasty's business. He wished that the whole of North Korea would be harmed by the Jiannu army to vent his hatred.

"Mr. Kong, your surname is Kong. Although the Kingdom of Korea is at fault, its people are not innocent," Fan Fucui said with a smile.

Kong Zhenyun snorted coldly and said, "The saints said, repay grievances with virtue, how to repay virtue? Repay grievances with justice, repay virtue with virtue! There is also a saying: villains are not ashamed of being unkind, not afraid of injustice, do not persuade without benefit, and do not punish without power. Small punishment and big warning, this is the blessing of villains! Our Great Ming did not punish their country, which is a kindness. The country's difficulties today are destined by cause and effect. There is a cause and a result, and every drink and every bite has its own way of heaven!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone laughed.

Kong Zhenyun's words were well-founded and true. North Korea had fallen to this point because of its own faults, and no one else was to blame. If North Korea had been able to stand on the side of the Ming Dynasty, how could it have ended up like this?
Zhu Shenzhui laughed a few times and looked at Wang Jinwu. Wang Jinwu had not spoken so far, but just listened to everyone's discussion quietly. But this matter involved military affairs. As the representative of the military in the cabinet, Wang Jinwu's attitude was extremely important. Moreover, Zhu Shenzhui was a little entangled in the matter of North Korea. Although he had some ideas, he didn't know whether to do it or not.

Thinking of this, Zhu Shenzhui directly called Wang Jinwu's name and asked him what he thought about this matter.

When Zhu Shenzhui asked Wang Jinwu, everyone else present subconsciously looked at Wang Jinwu. After all, as a cabinet elder and military representative, Wang Jinwu's opinion was extremely important, and everyone wanted to hear his views.

Wang Jinwu bowed to Zhu Shenzhui and asked, "I agree with what you said just now. The reason why Korea is doing this is indeed because it is seeking the skin of a tiger. Moreover, our Ming Dynasty has never done anything to let Korea down. Instead, it is Korea that has let our Ming Dynasty down."

"From this point of view, even if Korea is in chaos, even if the entire country is massacred by the Jiannu, it is nothing to our Ming Dynasty. You must know that since Korea surrendered to the Jiannu, it is actually no longer a vassal state of our Ming Dynasty. The ancestral precept of not conquering the country established by Taizu no longer exists. Since Korea has stood on the side of the Jiannu, it is the enemy of our Ming Dynasty!"

"Furthermore, Lord Kong just mentioned that during the siege of Jinzhou, Korea joined forces with the Jiannu to fight against our Ming Dynasty. This shows that Korea is courting its own destruction. Today's incident is entirely its own fault. But I also have a different opinion. Judging from the reports of the Shandong Navy and the Jinyiwei on the changes in Korea, the main reason for the current chaos in Korea is that the Jiannu have been plundering supplies in Korea, especially food and grass. The food of the Korean people has been plundered by the Jiannu, and the king and ministers of the country have aided and abetted the tyrant, which has led to the turmoil."

At this point, Wang Jinwu paused, looked at everyone and said, "I am a military general, so I naturally look at things from a military perspective. Since the Jiannu acted like this in Korea, why? I think the answer is very simple. It is because the Jiannu lacks supplies at home. The Prime Minister also mentioned this just now."

Wen Tiren stroked his beard and nodded slightly. This was obvious. If Jiannu had not been short of supplies due to the economic and military blockade of the Ming Dynasty, how could they have plundered Korea in this way? Jiannu was not stupid. Korea was already a vassal state of Jiannu. The people of Korea had long since submitted to it. Moreover, Jiannu had troops stationed in Seoul, the capital of Korea, and almost controlled the actual government of Korea. In this case, a sound and stable Korea would be more useful to Jiannu than a chaotic Korea.

No matter how small the country is and how weak its army is, it is still a country after all! In terms of land area, it is equivalent to a province of the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, the population of Korea is not small. Even if the army's combat effectiveness is poor, it can still be used on the battlefield. In addition, the resources produced by Korea can also make up for some of the needs of the Jiannu.

In this case, as long as the rule of North Korea is consolidated and replenishment is continuously obtained from North Korea, this is a long-term source of materials and manpower. But now Jiannu has adopted a method of drinking poison to quench thirst, using such tyrannical means to plunder materials without regard to North Korea's ability to bear, thus provoking civil unrest. There is something to be said about this.

From this point of view, it also proves that the shortage of materials on the Jiannu side has reached an extremely serious level, or that the Jiannu side needs a large amount of materials to make some military preparations. As for the direction of the Jiannu's military actions, it is clear that apart from Mongolia, there is only the Ming Dynasty.

Wang Jinwu continued, "I have received news before that the Mongolian Tumed tribe is heading eastwards towards Chahar. Shunning King Agudamu has led his troops into the western and central areas of Chahar. They will continue eastwards and eventually unify Chahar."

Zhu Shencui nodded slightly without comment. He was of course well aware of Agudamu's military actions. The Tenger brothers were his sons, and the plan in Mongolia was arranged by Zhu Shencui. Chahar was the most important grassland in Mongolia south of the desert. Once Chahar was controlled, the northern border of the Ming Dynasty would no longer have to worry about anything. Moreover, after gaining a foothold in Chahar, Agudamu could also march towards Khorchin and other tribes, and even directly threaten the Jiannu in Liaodong.

This is an extremely important part of Zhu Shenzui's military plan in the north. At present, the two sides in Liaodong are in a stalemate and the Ming Dynasty has not yet fully grasped the victory of the decisive battle with the Jiannu. The military action of Agudamu occupying Chahar can cooperate with the Ming Dynasty to take the initiative from the Mongolian direction.

As the top person in the military, Wang Jinwu was also one of the participants in this plan, so it was not surprising that he mentioned this matter.

Wang Jinwu continued, "Just as Chahar changed, this happened in Korea. It is easy to imagine why Jiannu did this. It was nothing more than to raise supplies to deal with the Mongolian change, or to continue the war in Liaodong to break the blockade of the Ming Dynasty and reverse the situation." "Except for these two results, I can't think of any other possible reasons why Jiannu would force Korea like this. If this is the case, then Jiannu will definitely not be soft on Korea for its own sake, and Hauge, who is currently in Korea, is doing just that. He led his troops to suppress the Korean people by force and did not regard the Korean people as human beings at all."

"Although I understand what Lord Wang said, I am still a little confused. Lord Wang, please help me solve my doubts." Fan Fucui said to Wang Jinwu.

Wang Jinwu smiled and asked him what he was confused about. Fan Fucui said, "Lord Wang's analysis just now is indeed reasonable, but it is all about the analysis of the Jiannu. Although it can make us understand why the Jiannu would force North Korea so much, what we are discussing today is the state affairs of North Korea. What do you think about this, Lord Wang?"

Wang Jinwu smiled and said, "Just now, the gentlemen have actually formed their own opinions. North Korea has brought this upon itself. It is their own fault. Whether we save North Korea or wait and see what happens, it actually does not matter. The key lies in how the Ming Dynasty deals with North Korea. This is particularly important."

"Disposal? Lord Wang means..." Fan Fucui was slightly startled and asked tentatively as if thinking about something.

Wang Jinwu nodded: "Of course we should deal with it. Since Korea, which sold out its fatherland for glory, is no longer a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, it has become an enemy country since it colluded with the Jiannu. Of course, it is an enemy country, so shouldn't we deal with it?"

"Lord Wang, are you suggesting that we use military force against Korea?" Wen Tiren asked.

Wang Jinwu asked back: "Why not?"

"Yes! Why not?" Kong Zhenyun took over Wang Jinwu's words and asked the same question. He was particularly dissatisfied with Korea and would be more willing to see the complete destruction of Korea. Moreover, the fundamental reason why the Ming Dynasty had decades of difficulties was Korea. If there had not been the Korean War, how could the Ming Dynasty have allowed the Jiannu to rise, and it would have been impossible to cause internal and external troubles and almost collapse.

If Zhu Shenzhu had not entered the capital as a member of the royal family to quell the rebellion, and then taken charge of the government, and now ascended the throne as emperor, given the situation at the time and Chongzhen's methods of governing the country, the Ming Dynasty might have already ceased to exist.

This is not Kong Zhenyun's fantasy, but the fact is that in real history, the Ming Dynasty was indeed nominally destroyed at this time. Due to the inability to quell internal and external troubles, the Ming Dynasty went from bad to worse and eventually reached a point where it was out of control. The bandits became bigger and bigger, especially Li Zicheng, who grew rapidly after Gao Yingxiang's death and was invincible in his campaigns. The Ming army was short of military pay and food, and with the reckless command of Emperor Chongzhen, they were defeated again and again, leading to the enemy at the gates of the city.

The desperate Emperor Chongzhen eventually hanged himself on the crooked tree on Coal Hill, and with his suicide, the Ming Dynasty actually fell. After Li Zicheng entered Beijing, he continued to be a bandit, causing chaos in the capital. He also indulged his subordinates in lusting after beauty, forcing Wu Sangui, who had already surrendered, to rebel, which led to Wu Sangui's move to lead the Qing army into the pass.

What happened next is all recorded in history books. Half of the north fell, and the Southern Ming Dynasty struggled for decades before finally collapsing. The Chinese nation was no longer in glory, and from then on China entered a period of darkness and suffering that lasted for three hundred years.

The reason for all this is the Korean War. The Ming Dynasty paid so much for Korea but got such a result. How can it not make people feel disheartened?
Kong Zhenyun wished that a country like Korea would be destroyed, and he fully agreed with Wang Jinwu's intention against Korea. In his opinion, there was no need for such a shameless small country to exist, so it should be destroyed. Moreover, destroying Korea would not only not harm the Ming Dynasty, but would benefit it.

Since the Jiannu intended to obtain supplies from Korea, once the Ming Dynasty controlled Korea, the last link of the Jiannu's external source of supplies would be plugged. From then on, the Jiannu would no longer be able to obtain any supplies from Korea. In this way, it would be impossible for the Jiannu to meet their needs on their own. In order to maintain their rule, they could only launch a war against the Ming Dynasty and break the blockade.

The Ming Dynasty is no longer what it used to be. Even if the Liaodong army is not as strong as the Jiannu in field battles, the Jiannu can still fight against the Ming Dynasty as long as the cities are well defended. In the long run, there is no need to fight a decisive battle with the Jiannu. The Jiannu can be trapped to death.

When Kong Zhenyun put forward his own opinion, everyone could not help but be moved. If they could conquer Korea and finally win the Liaodong battlefield and completely solve the Jiannu problem, it would be a great achievement! As ministers, they have all reached the top level of the Ming Dynasty. The status of the cabinet elders is incomparable to ordinary officials. But even so, once this is done, everyone can leave their names in history. Such a temptation is irresistible to everyone, even Wen Tiren, the chief minister.

(End of this chapter)