Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 151 Ask Chen Ce
Why?

Isn't this hard to understand? Two thousand taels of silver had to go through the formalities, and only one thousand taels were left in the northwest, which was considered merciful by the Ming Dynasty officials.

The Hami issue must be resolved eventually. We cannot continue to be mired in war, which would consume too much of our national strength.

Chen Ce asked Zhu Houzhao to sit down first, and then analyzed to Zhu Houzhao: "Master Zhu, what path do you think Hami should take in the future?"

Zhu Houzhao scratched his head and said, "This..."

Chen Ce knew that he couldn't answer it, so he didn't force him. In fact, after Wang Yue's death, Chen Ce had been thinking about the issue of Hami.

If Wang Yue were still alive, Hami could have been defended to the death and the Turpan people would not have been able to invade.

But now Wang Yue is gone, and the court is short of young military talent. Wang Shouren is capable, but he has not yet attained enlightenment. Chen Ce cannot delay the enlightenment of this half-sage.

So Hami needs to take another path.

Chen Ce didn’t know how long he could hold on. The Ming Dynasty still had many problems, and he couldn’t focus all his energy on Hami.

Hami should also have a conclusion to let Zhu Houzhao know what the future direction of Hami should be.

Without waiting for Zhu Houzhao to speak, Chen Ce said, "To clarify this issue, we need to look at the demands of the people of Turpan."

“Why do they keep attacking Hami?”

"The reason is that the people of Turpan want to resume tribute trade with the Ming court."

As we all know, Turpan people live in the hinterland of the northwest and are short of resources, especially tea, porcelain, silk and other items. Since the Hongwu period, the tribute system of the Ming Dynasty has always been that foreign countries pay tribute, and the Ming Dynasty gives more trade subsidies.

It doesn't matter whether the tribute is paid in large or small amounts, as long as the amount given is large or small; therefore, in the tribute system, foreign countries have the upper hand.

But during the Hongzhi period, the Ming Dynasty stopped exchanging tribute with the Turpan people.

The Ming court believed that "the imperial edict had been issued before, and if it is issued again, it will damage the dignity of the country, so it is better to order Hai and others to send people to persuade them." They sent envoys from Turpan back to "inform their master and ask them to return the invaded land." In the seventh year of Hongzhi, they even issued an edict to "expel their tribute envoys and close Jiayuguan Pass," completely cutting off the possibility of Turpan forces paying tribute.

That is why people from Turpan invaded Hami repeatedly.

The Ming court had its own concerns. It was afraid that once tribute payments with Turpan were opened, the Tatars would take advantage of the situation to rob. Therefore, in the second year of the Hongzhi reign, Ma Wensheng, then Minister of War, suggested closing the Northwest Exchange Channel.

As a result, the people of Turpan invaded Hami many times.

"It is better to ease the situation than to block it. Restoring the tribute exchange policy between the people of Turpan and the Ming Dynasty will certainly cause the court to suffer a loss, but compared to the repeated border wars, this loss is completely within the tolerable range."

Zhu Houzhao was not completely ignorant of these matters. He asked Chen Ce in return: "If we start the tribute exchange, won't the whole of Hami be exposed to the eyes of the Turpan people?"

"They come and go as they please. What should we do if they take advantage of our misfortune and rob us?"

Chen Ce waved his hand and said, "That's not what I meant. I meant to use barbarians to control barbarians."

Zhu Houzhao: “Ah?”

Chen Ce said: "Let the Turpan people move into Hami, the Ming court will focus on defending the six guards in Guanxi, and resume tribute trade with the Turpan people."

"In this way, the people of Turpan will definitely guarantee the safety of Hami, because only in this way can they guarantee trade with the Ming Dynasty in a relatively stable and peaceful environment."

"If the Tatars invade, the people of Turpan will probably be more cautious than the Ming Dynasty, because if Hami is lost, they will lose the basis of their tribute to the Ming Dynasty."

Since the beginning of the Zhengtong period, the Ming Dynasty and Hami have been fighting for half a century, but no one has been able to really find the root cause of the Hami problem.

It was not until the Jiajing period that Wang Qiong, the Minister of War and Right Censor-in-Chief, clarified the root of the Hami problem, prescribed the right remedy, and proposed this policy, which ensured the stability and peace of the northwest in the future. After experiencing this long war, Hami really no longer had the need to continue to waste people's money and send troops to garrison. Why not let Hami be managed by the many tribes of Turpan, and whoever can make Hami stronger will pay tribute. In this way, any other problems will be the business of the Turpan forces. The Ming Dynasty only needs to accept the tribute of the Turpan tribe.

Chen Ce told Zhu Houzhao about Hami's future path, but he did not expect the court to listen to his suggestions now.

It would be enough as long as Zhu Houzhao listened to it.

He couldn't change the current situation in the court, but he could instill his own ideas into the crown prince.

Chen Ce concluded: "If we continue to hold on, the Ming Dynasty will become increasingly passive. After Wang Yue's death, the Ming Dynasty will only suffer more defeats than victories in the future. Hami will continue to be occupied, recovered, and occupied endlessly. This vicious cycle will consume national strength and financial resources."

Yes, before his death, Wang Yue advised Emperor Hongzhi that Hami must not be lost.

But this does not contradict the concept proposed by Chen Ce. Hami was not lost, but simply became a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. It is still the territory of the Ming Dynasty, but it is administered by Turpan.

As time goes by, Han culture will gradually assimilate the Turpan people.

Chen Ce's topic today was a bit deep. He did not force Zhu Houzhao to accept it all at once, but let Zhu Houzhao think about it slowly.

The first priority is to deliver the silver to the Hami soldiers.

Zhu Houzhao felt a little dizzy after listening to this, but he still absorbed a lot and nodded, "I think I know what you mean."

Chen Ce hummed and said, "Don't worry, let the Jinyiwei send the silver to the northwest first."

"it is good!"

After watching Zhu Houzhao leave, Chen Ce returned to his study and crossed out the Hami issue from the book.

The Northwest issue should have come to an end. Chen Ce found a way for Zhu Houzhao to stabilize the Northwest, and at least planted a seed in his heart.

If he could live to that time, he would help Zhu Houzhao run the business, but time waits for no one, and Chen Ce cannot continue to waste time on this.

Zhu Houzhao went to the Jinyiwei, found Li Zhen, and asked him to go to Hami in person to deliver the silver.

Li Zhen would certainly not go against the Crown Prince's wishes, but he had to be cautious in this task. However, Li Zhen did not know whether there would be any danger in rewarding Hami soldiers directly in the name of the Eastern Palace through the Ministry of War.

The civil servants in the Ministry of War will naturally not make things difficult for the Crown Prince, but they will definitely make things difficult for the Embroidered Uniform Guards!
After all, the civil servants and the factory guards have never gotten along.

The first person Li Zhen thought of was the monster in Huaihua Hutong.

The monster who he thought shouldn't interfere but still did and successfully solved Tang Yin's fraud case!

In fact, after Cheng Minzheng and Tang Yin were released, Li Zhen knew that the person behind the scenes was most likely Chen Ce.

It's just that he has no evidence. But this matter must be related to Chen Ce.

Whenever Li Zhen thought of this, he shuddered!

……

In the evening, the sky is dotted with stars.

Li Zhen found Chen Ce with a worried look on his face and said with a wry smile, "Brother Chen, I have to ask you for advice again."

Chen Ce certainly knew the purpose of Li Zhen's visit, but he still pretended not to know and said, "Master Li, please feel free to speak."

(End of this chapter)