Ming Dynasty: The Jingnan Rebellion has just been successful, and Zhu Yuanzhang has been resurrected

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, somewhat puzzled by Zhu Yunwen's meaning.

Although the Ming Dynasty is very powerful, if the Ming Dynasty were to occupy Annam now, Annam would definitely resist, without a doubt.

Even the weakest dynasty, once occupied by another country, will rise up in resistance.

Zhu Yunwen looked at Zhu Yuanzhang quietly, showing no intention of explaining further.

Zhu Yuanzhang could no longer contain himself and said, "Under normal circumstances, Annam would resist."

Zhu Yunwen nodded and said, "Yes, Annam will resist. The Ming Dynasty is at a critical juncture of development. If Annam gets involved, it will be greatly affected."

Annam is a decent place to use as a blood bank, but if you invest a lot of energy in it, there is a high probability that you will end up losing more than you gain. After all, Annam's resources are very limited. Moreover, Zhu Yunwen's purpose in stationing troops in Annam can also achieve most of his objectives, and he can also transfer hatred to the Annam royal family and ministers.

Of course, this is only from the perspective of interests. From a strategic point of view, it would obviously be better to directly occupy Annam, but this would involve the current development of the Ming Dynasty.

This is a trade-off. Zhu Yunwen chose to temporarily exclude Annam from the territory of the Ming Dynasty. In this way, in addition to Annam not belonging to the Ming Dynasty, he reaped all kinds of benefits, obtaining the greatest advantage with the least amount of profit.

Another issue is that although the Ming Dynasty did not directly occupy Annam, due to the presence of troops, Annam and the surrounding dynasties were bound to be affected by the Ming Dynasty to some extent, given the Ming Dynasty's military strength.

Once the garrison begins, anyone wanting to start a war in the area surrounding Annam will have to wait and see what the Ming Dynasty thinks. Wherever war breaks out, the Ming Dynasty can extend its reach.

Some people may think this is a bit domineering, but that's the reality then. If you're not happy about it, just keep quiet!

Upon hearing Zhu Yunwen's words, Zhu Yuanzhang's face showed a hint of understanding. He couldn't fully grasp the meaning of Zhu Yunwen's words, but he could understand some of them.

To put it bluntly, Zhu Yunwen wants to gain benefits in Annam, but at the same time, he is unwilling to provoke the hostility of the Annamite people. After all, if the Annamite people become hostile, the Ming Dynasty will suffer great losses. Moreover, Annam may very well drag the Ming Dynasty into a quagmire.

No one would willingly accept a situation where they gain little benefit but suffer enormous losses.

The reason he initially listed Annam as a country not to be conquered was because he felt that the situation in Annam was very complicated. He had previously wanted to persuade Zhu Yunwen to be more cautious in the matter of Annam. Now he understood that Zhu Yunwen was much smarter than him and had found a solution that he had never thought of before.

Of course, it wasn't entirely his fault. When he was emperor, his military strength was inferior to Zhu Yunwen's, and his control over the Ming Dynasty was also inferior. Under such circumstances, some plans were doomed from the start, and he wouldn't even consider them, since thinking about them would be completely useless.

"Hmm? That's not right. How did Yunhu manage to use imperial tactics in Annam?" Suddenly, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression froze, and he looked at Zhu Yunhu with an extremely strange expression.

By using the King and court officials of Annam to provoke the anger of the Annamite people, the Ming Dynasty can reap all the benefits without incurring any consequences. Even if the Annamite people know that the Ming Dynasty is exploiting Annam, they will only blame the Annamite ruling class for incompetence.

This tactic is too similar to the art of ruling a monarch!

Although he cared about the people and basically did nothing that would anger the people, as an emperor, he was also very familiar with the art of rulership. At first, he did not think in this direction, but now that he has sorted it out, isn't Zhu Yunwen's plan in Annam just an evolution of the art of rulership?

Of course, there are differences, but the general meaning is correct.

"Good lad, we thought we had overestimated him enough, but we still underestimated him!" Zhu Yuanzhang thought to himself with great emotion.

The art of rulership has been applied to such an extent that even he is somewhat unable to keep up. Moreover, the most terrifying thing about Zhu Yunwen is that everything is too smooth. Yes, smooth, a smoothness that is so perfect that even he, who once sat on the throne, almost did not notice it.

Even he couldn't see it, so most others probably couldn't possibly see how shrewd Zhu Yunwen's methods were!
"Hoo," Zhu Yuanzhang took a deep breath, looked at Zhu Yunwen with a complicated expression, and said, "Since you have thought it through, then go ahead and do it boldly. If there is anything you need our help with, just ask."

Zhu Yunwen's excellence once again shocked him. He was both pleased and gave Zhu Yunwen unconditional support. Originally, he had some concerns about the Ming Dynasty's intervention in Annam, but after seeing Zhu Yunwen's methods, he was completely relieved.

"Huh? What's going on?" Zhu Yunwen looked at Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance and was taken aback.

He could sense that Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to dissuade him from sending troops to Annam, and he was prepared to talk to Zhu Yuanzhang about it. However, something went wrong at some point, and Zhu Yuanzhang changed his attitude and unconditionally supported him.

"Annam is a quagmire, don't you intend to persuade me?" Zhu Yunwen frowned and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Yunwen's expression, smiled slightly, and shook his head, saying, "No!"

At this moment, he felt a surge of smugness. Judging from Zhu Yuntong's expression and reaction, he had seen through Zhu Yuntong's plan. This surprised Zhu Yuntong greatly, and Zhu Yuntong had no idea that he had seen through it. This situation made him feel secretly pleased.

Since Zhu Yunwen raised his army, Zhu Yuanzhang has been constantly shocked by him, which has gradually eroded his pride. Now it is finally his turn to turn the tables!
Of course, normally his emotions might fluctuate a bit, but the fluctuations wouldn't be too great. But today he drank a lot of alcohol, and although he tried his best to stay calm, the alcohol still numbed his senses.

"Strange, what exactly went wrong!" Zhu Yunwen looked at Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance and became even more puzzled, unable to figure it out.

As a time traveler, he knew very well that Zhu Yuanzhang had long ago defined Annam as a country that should not be conquered. Yet now that he wanted to send troops to Annam, Zhu Yuanzhang was giving him unconditional support.

That's bizarre, absolutely bizarre!

“I remember you listed Annam as a country that would not be conquered!” Zhu Yunwen said again.

He wanted to find out exactly what went wrong. He also knew that because of his strong personal abilities, Zhu Yuanzhang deeply regretted throwing him to the high walls of Fengyang back then. However, he clearly understood that Zhu Yuanzhang was definitely not an impulsive person.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang might choose to help him out of guilt, he would definitely ask questions before helping him, and he would never let him do whatever he wanted.

However, it seems that Zhu Yuanzhang has suddenly become irrational and has unconditionally chosen to help him, which is obviously very abnormal and very strange.

"Not bad!" Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, looking at Zhu Yunwen, who looked puzzled and wanted to find the answer. Zhu Yuanzhang rediscovered a trace of his former feelings. Under the influence of alcohol, he did not reveal the truth. He wanted to wait until the very end to tell Zhu Yunwen the whole truth.

Zhu Yunwen looked at Zhu Yuanzhang, who was beaming with pride, and was taken aback: "Wait, what is Old Zhu so proud of?"

Although Zhu Yuanzhang concealed it very well, Zhu Yunwen still accurately captured the hint of smugness in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart, which made him smile bitterly.

"What exactly is the reason for Old Zhu's change?" Zhu Yunwen was also getting angry and wanted to find out the reason for the changes in Zhu Yuanzhang.

"I am now going to intervene in Annam's affairs and send troops to fight Annam!" Zhu Yunwen said.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded: "Yes, I know. Although I am old now, I am not deaf or forgetful!"

Zhu Yunwen looked at Zhu Yuanzhang, pondering carefully, but he didn't understand Zhu Yuanzhang's thoughts: "My actions disrupted your plans for Annam, and now you want to support me unconditionally?"

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled broadly and said, "That's right, we think you're right!"

Zhu Yunwen met Zhu Yuanzhang's gaze, utterly bewildered. He didn't know what was going on with Zhu Yuanzhang: "Could it be that Old Zhu is really feeling guilty? Is that it?"

"Hehe, it seems this kid still didn't expect that we guessed his plan!" Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Yunwen's appearance and was extremely excited.

Under the influence of alcohol, he was extremely excited.

Zhu Yunwen looked at Zhu Yuanzhang, but he really didn't know what the old man was thinking, so he simply stopped guessing.

There was a long silence.

Zhu Yunwen finally couldn't hold back any longer and asked, "Why?"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Yunwen and grinned: "You little rascal, even you have moments you can't predict?"

Before Zhu Yunwen could answer, he continued, "Actually, it's nothing, it's just that you're too outstanding!"

"Am I too outstanding?" Zhu Yunwen was stunned when he heard Zhu Yuanzhang's answer. What kind of answer was that?
He racked his brains for a long time, but still couldn't figure out the reason. Then Zhu Yuanzhang told him that it was because he was too outstanding.
This situation made him even more puzzled.

"You lad, you're even more capable than we imagined. Don't think we couldn't see it. You used your imperial skills in the Annam affair, which truly surprised us. However, you can fool others, but you can't fool us. Don't forget, I once sat on the throne." Zhu Yuanzhang's expression was extremely smug.

"Using imperial tactics in the Annam affair? What the hell?" Zhu Yunwen's eyes widened in astonishment upon hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's words.

At that moment, he suddenly realized something: had there been a misunderstanding between him and Zhu Yuanzhang?

Because of a misunderstanding, Zhu Yuanzhang chose to support him unconditionally, while he, because of Zhu Yuanzhang's misunderstanding, made wild guesses for a long time.

He felt a surge of frustration. It all started because of a misunderstanding, so there was no way he could have guessed what was going on!
Zhu Yuanzhang, unaware of Zhu Yunwen's thoughts, said to himself, "You are indeed very capable, applying imperial techniques to the Annam affair. I must say, that's terrifying. Even I never thought of such a thing back then. However, you certainly have the ability to do so. Although I founded the Ming Dynasty single-handedly, my strength was indeed inferior to yours."

The existence of the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry and the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry directly established Zhu Yunwen's invincibility. Starting from Fengyang, he fought his way into Yingtian Prefecture. While Zhu Yunwen's status was certainly a factor, the most significant factor was the terrifyingly powerful combat strength of these two cavalry units.

With two such troops at his disposal, he would likely be even more domineering than Zhu Yunwen.

Having sat on the throne, he knew very well that even an emperor could not act solely on personal whims; there were many checks and balances. And the current Zhu Yunwen, however, was wielding the power that an emperor should have.

Zhu Yunwen shook his head, not intending to say anything more to Zhu Yuanzhang on this matter.

After Zhu Yuanzhang spoke excitedly, he looked at Zhu Yunwen and said, "Go ahead and do it. Although we may not be able to help you much, if you need help, just send someone to let us know."

Zhu Yunwen glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang, said nothing more, stood up, paused briefly, and then walked away.

"This kid, he's truly the best gift God has given us, the best gift God has given to the Ming Dynasty!" Zhu Yuanzhang exclaimed, his face beaming with undisguised joy.

Then he got up and walked towards the bed not far away. Sweet dreams tonight!

"Your Majesty!" At this moment, Jiang Huan stepped forward.

Zhu Yuanzhang had just lain down when he saw Jiang Huan approaching. He paused, then asked, "Is there something you need?"

He was puzzled. Zhu Yunwen had just left, so why was Jiang Huan coming to see him at this time?

His intuition told him that the matter might be related to Zhu Yunwen!

Jiang Huan took a deep breath and slowly said, "Your Majesty, the grandson of the Emperor Yun Tong said that you should find some time to return to the palace."

Upon hearing Jiang Huan's words, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression immediately changed, and then his eyes became incredibly complex.

Back in the palace—can he really go back? (End of Chapter)