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

Chapter 358 I figured out what you were going to do!

The Japanese pirates in the southeast were gradually showing signs of an outbreak. When the six ministries and the Censorate of the Cabinet gathered, the Right Censor-in-Chief Liu Daxia bowed and stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, this is one of the reasons why I have always opposed opening the sea."

"The Japanese pirates in the southeast are already so rampant even before the maritime ban is lifted. If the maritime ban is lifted, the Japanese pirates in the southeast will surely become a disaster!"

Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly, but he was not concerned about the issue of opening the sea now. Hong Zhong came to report that Japanese pirates from the southeast had attacked several coastal villages of the Ming Dynasty, causing hundreds of casualties among the sea dwellers. The court could not pretend to see nothing about these things.

The chief minister of the cabinet stepped out and questioned Ma Wensheng, "Did the Southeastern Anti-Japanese Command Post give you any advice on the Ministry of War?"

"The imperial court set up a Japanese command post in the southeast, with more than 2,000 troops stationed there. It was so difficult to deal with a small coastal Japanese pirate, and they even let the Japanese invaders land in the inland of our Ming Dynasty?"

Minister of War Ma Wensheng stepped out and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, the situation in the southeast is a bit complicated. These pirates come and go without a trace, and the Japanese preparation command post is always one step behind when it comes to reinforcements, so there is no chance of fighting at all."

"I ask the Ministry of War to reinforce our forces, and I also ask the Ministry of Rites to hold diplomatic negotiations with the rulers of the Japanese island."

If the problem of the Japanese invaders in the southeast can be solved by diplomatic means, it will definitely be more cost-effective than sending troops. If additional troops are sent to the southeast, the Ministry of Revenue will definitely have to increase its financial budget. Not only will fighting a war cost money, but preparing for war will also cost money.

The Japanese pirates in the southeast are at least still within the controllable range. If we can use diplomatic means to prevent the Japanese from raiding the southeast, that will undoubtedly be the least costly.

Emperor Hongzhi nodded and said to the Minister of Rites: "You, the Minister of Rites, please draft an imperial edict for me and send it to the Japanese island and give it to their emperor. If they don't restrain the Japanese slaves, I will follow the example of Taizu and raise an army to attack them!"

This was the Ming Dynasty’s policy towards Korea in the past. With a little threat, the Koreans would be obedient. The Japanese were not as developed as Korea, so they would probably be afraid of the Ming Dynasty’s majesty.

……

In fact, the Ming Dynasty court has not yet figured out the real reason why the Japanese invaders are rampant in the southeast. The interest groups in the southeast do not want the Japanese invaders to disappear in the southeast. On the contrary, they hope that the Japanese invaders will create greater chaos and killing in the southeast.

Only in this way will the people and merchants along the southeast coast be afraid of the Japanese invaders like a tiger, and then no one will dare to go out to sea to do business.

This is exactly the result that the interest groups in the Southeast hope to see. They don't want more people to go into business and share profits with them. The more people reap the benefits overseas, the more their interests will be divided. That's why they want to portray overseas as a place full of wolves and tigers that people should avoid.

There was certainly nothing wrong with Fu Yuan’s response, and his methods were very clever, but he overlooked one problem, which was the greed of the Japanese themselves.

When the Japanese pirates tasted the sweetness of robbery on the southeastern coast, after they returned to the Japanese island, they would inevitably send more ronin warriors and others across the sea to the southeastern cities.

The four islands of Chen, Qian and Daqu can not only replenish fresh water resources for the Japanese, but also defend against attacks by the Ming army, making them truly capable of both offense and defense. In this way, the Japanese will smell the sweetness and will surely continue to invade the southeast of the Ming Dynasty.

The Japanese invasion that was supposed to occur decades later during the Jiajing period seemed to have arrived earlier than expected.

Hong Zhong's days in the southeast were not easy either. When he was patrolling the southeast, he increasingly discovered that the trouble in the southeast was not just the Japanese invaders, but many of the bandits were actually Han people in disguise.

After capturing these people, Hong Zhong killed them immediately. Officials in the southeast impeached Hong Zhong for killing innocent people in the southeast and beheading Han people to consolidate his authority.

Some people in the court also impeached Hong Zhong, saying that Hong Zhong wanted to establish his authority in the southeast, so he started killing people indiscriminately. This move undoubtedly added obstacles to the negotiations between the Ministry of Rites and the Japanese.

Then more voices emerged, and some even said that Hong Zhong was the protector of the Japanese and deliberately did not want the Ministry of Rites to negotiate with the Japanese.

Some people also impeached Hong Zhong for having several private residences in the southeast, and the voices impeaching Hong Zhong became more and more numerous and louder.

Hong Zhong did find out some land and private residences in the southeast, but he had no idea who put all this wealth under his name, which made him speechless and filled with indignation.

...In early November of the thirteenth year of the Hongzhi reign.

Peking was getting colder and colder, and the snowflakes were falling heavier and heavier. The letter that Xu Jing had sent to Chen Ce more than a month ago had only just been delivered to Chen Ce.

Xu Jing told Chen Ce that Hong Zhong was having a hard time in the southeast and the entire officialdom in the southeast was working together to deal with Hong Zhong and forcing him to express his position. He knew that it would take a long time for this letter to reach Chen Ce, so he told Chen Ce about his plan.

When Chen Ce sent him to the southeast, he told Xu Jing that if he encountered things that required constant decisions, he should try his best to stabilize his position in the southeast.

So Xu Jing chose to impeach Hong Zhong together with the southeastern officials, even though he knew that Hong Zhong was wronged.

Chen Ce nodded secretly, Xu Jing did a good job.

The snow outside was getting heavier and heavier. Chen Ce did not go to the Finance Bureau today. He burned Xu Jing's letter, looked up at the snowflakes outside, and then went to the kitchen with his hands behind his back to boil medicine.

The situation in the southeast was the same as he had predicted. The Japanese invasion during the Jiajing period would arrive ahead of schedule. Fu Yuan was the fuse of all this and was also Chen Cebu's biggest chess piece in the southwest.

As the situation in the southeast got out of control, the negotiations between the Ministry of Rites and the Japanese invaders were bound to produce no results. At that time, it was unknown whether Emperor Hongzhi would take the initiative to send troops to attack the Japanese invaders.

Even if Emperor Hongzhi did not send troops, once Zhu Houzhao ascended the throne four years later, according to Zhu Houzhao's temperament, he would definitely send troops to attack the Japanese.

The Japanese were not as powerful as imagined. As long as the Ming Dynasty was willing to send troops and train a navy, it would not be difficult to destroy the Japanese.

southeast.

There was also a heavy snowfall in Hangzhou today.

Fu Yuan stood in the pavilion in the garden with his hands behind his back. Several businessmen told Fu Yuan about the current situation. Hong Zhong would be transferred back soon and would most likely be dismissed from his post.

In addition, there are more and more real Japanese in the southeast. Previously, they were just a mixture of fake Japanese and Han bandits, but now there are more and more real Japanese landing in the southeast.

This was a situation that Fu Yuan had not expected.

He waved his hand to let several businessmen leave, and sat in the pavilion drinking tea. The cold wind around him kept blowing his clothes.

His mind was spinning rapidly, from the time when Chen Ce suggested that he come to the southeast, to the time when silk cloth could not be sold in the southeast, to his own smuggling, to the time when he led the entire southeast merchants to form a profit group to smuggle, and to the time when the Japanese invaders attacked the southeast inland...

These clues gradually connected into a line in his mind. Suddenly, the teacup in Fu Yuan's hand fell to the ground. His eyes suddenly widened and his expression became extremely complicated.

"Hahahaha!"

He seemed to be crazy and laughed out loud: "I understand! I understand!"

"I know what you're going to do!"

"You can predict all of this. All your plans are aimed at... the Japanese!"

"You want to destroy their country! You are using me! Chen Chunjian, humph, I finally figured it out!"

(End of this chapter)