Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 297 Who to Choose as a Dog for the Ming Dynasty

"The Japanese pirates have come after all..."

Haiyue still reads her younger brother Hairui's letters first.

The content was as expected, but it was indeed bad news.

Along the coast of Zhejiang, organized and large-scale Japanese pirates have emerged, harassing and plundering the local area.

If the northern barbarians were a hidden danger left by previous emperors and their growth could not be entirely blamed on Jiajing, then the southern barbarians were entirely his fault.

The sweeping policy following the Ningbo Rebellion ensured that the previously ineffective maritime ban was truly implemented during the Jiajing reign.

The ban on private overseas trade deprived coastal fishermen and merchants of their livelihoods, forcing them into smuggling, guiding the real Japanese pirates, and even transforming themselves into pirates.

This decision by the imperial court goes against market principles. If the country were strong enough to control the situation, it would be fine.

The key issue is that the local troops stationed there have long been rendered ineffective due to officer exploitation, food and pay shortages, and soldier desertion, resulting in extremely low combat effectiveness.

Under such circumstances of a maritime ban, Japanese pirates naturally rampaged along the coast and became uncontrollable.

There were even absurd instances of fifty Japanese pirates "sweeping across" three provinces.

Specifically, fifty-three Japanese pirates landed in Zhejiang, fought across three thousand miles, killed or wounded more than four thousand Ming soldiers, and even approached Jiangling.

That sounds incredible.

In reality, it replicates the situation at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, where the real Song Jiang, with only thirty-six brothers, roamed freely in the Qi and Wei regions, facing tens of thousands of government troops, yet no one dared to confront him.

It wasn't that these people were all truly peerless martial artists, each capable of taking on a hundred men; it was simply that the local garrison was completely rotten.

The southeastern part of the Ming Dynasty is basically following that trend now.

During the campaign against Annam, wealthy merchants from Jiangnan were caught red-handed and forced to provide supplies to the front lines, which fueled their resentment. The premature outbreak of Japanese pirates is undoubtedly their doing.

After all, the southeast is a major tax-generating area, and the slightest misstep could destabilize the entire country, not to mention that they are now preparing to take back the Hetao region and drive the Mongol Tartars back to the grasslands.

"A single hair can affect the whole situation!"

"Luckily, we were prepared..."

Haiyue sighed slightly, but remained calm and composed.

The situation had already changed, so he naturally didn't think that the real outbreak of Japanese pirates would happen twenty years later.

In fact, the decision to assign Hai Rui and other members of the Yixin Society to focus on defense in coastal areas of Zhejiang was made for the sake of today.

The stability of agrarian dynasties was too strong; to put it more elegantly, they were like giant ships sailing on a slow current, only changing course when they hit a reef.

To put it bluntly, they won't shed a tear until they see the coffin.

Every reform and restructuring occurs when things have reached a point where change is unavoidable, or the company will perish.

The same is true.

Even though Haiyue foresaw the threat of Japanese pirates in the southeast early on, the imperial court still did not give it real importance.

Now, memorials are being submitted one after another, and the threat of the Japanese pirates is right before our eyes. It has finally come to the point where we have no choice but to discuss this matter.

After putting down Hai Rui's letter, Hai Yue pondered for a moment, composed herself, and then opened Yan Shifan's letter.

After failing the imperial examination for the second time, and finding that his personal weighing was ineffective, Yan Shifan entered officialdom as a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial examination) and went to Taiyuan.

It was met with almost unanimous opposition at the time.

Yan Song was very uneasy, worried that the boy might be instigated by others and fall into the villains' trap.

Haiyue actually shares a similar view.

But he knew that Yan Shifan was not the type to be content with a life of hardship. His resolute departure from the capital for Shanxi must have been because he had sensed an incredible opportunity, and he could not stop him by simply trying to stop him.

Everyone has their own ambitions; once you've chosen a dangerous peak, you should climb that cliff yourself.

Every year thereafter, Yan Shifan would send letters back, the contents of which were just ordinary reports of peace and greetings, without mentioning politics.

Until this letter.

Completely different.

"Brother Mingwei, it's as if we've met in person—"

"After four years on the frontier, I began to understand the difficulties of border affairs."

“The other day when I met the envoy of Anda, I saw greed, ferocity and fear in his eyes, and he seemed to be disloyal.”

"I humbly believe that we should follow Emperor Chengzu's strategy of using barbarians to control barbarians, and allow Anda to pay tribute and trade, so that he can compete with other tribes."

"The Hetao region can be pacified."

"However, if this proposal were initiated by a border general, it would likely be criticized as 'pardoning the barbarian chieftain'."

"Therefore, I request that you, as a member of the Hanlin Academy, submit a memorial entitled 'Request to Open the Horse Market' to the Emperor."

"Enclosed with this letter is a record of the long-standing feuds among the various Tatar tribes, in which the key points of interest can be used for memorials to the throne."

"If this strategy is implemented, it will not only relieve the troubles on the nine borders, but also establish peace for the country for ten thousand generations."

……

The letter was quite long, and it took up a whole stack of pages.

It's much more than what's mentioned above.

However, this is roughly what has been extracted.

Haiyue looked thoughtful.

Yan Shifan actually wanted to facilitate the establishment of a tributary relationship with Anda.

The historical Altan Khan tribute agreement was a forced peace negotiation. Both sides were exhausted from fighting and could no longer continue, so it ended with each side getting what they wanted.

Despite the various embellishments from later generations, the Ming Dynasty at the time absolutely had to accept it reluctantly.

The Ming Dynasty is currently in an absolutely superior position, and the opportunities it grants to the Mongol tribes for tribute are always from a position of great power and influence.

For example, before Altan Khan, there were indeed Mongol tribes that had the opportunity to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty, such as the Oirat tribe during the Yongle reign.

In order to divide the Mongol forces, Zhu Di allowed the Oirat Mongols of the West to pay tribute, but rejected the requests of the Tatar Mongols of the East.

Did this strategy of sowing discord succeed?

It succeeded, and it didn't.

In the struggle for supremacy with the Mongol heartland, the Oirat Mongols were indeed at a disadvantage, suffering defeats at the hands of Arughtai several times. However, the Oirat Mongols knew that the Ming Dynasty would not tolerate Arughtai's dominance, so they sincerely expressed their friendship to the Ming Dynasty, humbly submitting and being granted the title of Prince of Shun Ning.

Zhu Di's three northern expeditions in his later years did indeed inflict a major defeat on Arughtai's tribe, but the real beneficiaries were actually the Oirats.

In the summer of the twenty-first year of the Yongle reign, the Oirat leader Toghon took advantage of the Ming army's offensive and sent troops to Eastern Mongolia, inflicting a great defeat on Arughtai and "plundering almost all of their people, horses, camels, and sheep," thus greatly increasing his prestige.

Later, the Ming Dynasty realized something was wrong and turned its attention to the Oirat Mongols, appointing Arughtai as the Prince of Hening. However, the Oirat Mongols eventually gained more power.

This led to Esen of the Oirat Mongols sending Baozong abroad to study.

At the same time, there were also the Uriyangkhai Three Guards.

Zhu Di settled the Doyan Three Guards, also known as the Uriyangkhai tribe, who supported him during the Jingnan Campaign, in the Daning region as a barrier between the Ming Dynasty and the powerful Mongol tribes, and allowed them to pay tribute on a limited basis.

There were also tribes from the Western Regions such as Hami. During the Yongle and Xuande periods, the Ming Dynasty opened up tribute to tribes such as Hami and Turpan, but only to the Western Regions.

According to ancestral traditions, paying tribute was not impossible. However, the Ming Dynasty now demands that the Mongol tribes that have come to submit first, showing absolute servility.

To put it bluntly, it means accepting them as dogs.

Historically, when Anda first requested tribute, the Ming Dynasty refused on the grounds that he had not submitted a memorial to acknowledge his vassalage.

They don't want to take this dog.

Anda's response was to declare war.

While repeatedly invading and plundering the borders, they continued to petition the authorities, and after the Gengxu Incident, trade was still allowed to resume.

With Haiyue around, the Gengxu Incident will never happen.

However, regardless of the situation on the Mongolian steppe, the growing power and threat posed by Altan Khan remained unavoidable.

This is also why he made the strategic proposal to take over the Hetao region his first goal in governing Yan Song.

As a result, Yan Song is now proceeding cautiously in the process of taking over the Hetao region, and the first five-year plan is about to be successfully completed.

His son, Yan Shifan, however, wanted to encourage Altan Khan to pay tribute, thereby sowing discord among the Mongol tribes.

Haiyue pondered for a moment and took out the old letters.

It comes from Lu Bing and Yu Dayou.

Yu Dayou went to Hetao three years ago.

This martial arts champion achieved great success in the campaign to pacify Annam, suppressing several local rebellions, stabilizing the government of Jiaozhi Province, and establishing a illustrious reputation among the younger generation.

However, relationships within the military are complex and intertwined. Without a powerful backer, even the most capable person must endure hardship.

When Yu Dayou first arrived in Hetao, he had no room to make his mark until Lu Bing was transferred.

Lu Bing was his close friend and superior in officialdom. With Lu Bing's arrival in the Hetao region, Yu Dayou gained confidence in the army and repeatedly led his troops to attack, defeating the Mongol tribes that were raiding the border areas.

The only setback was encountering the Anda Department.

"Anda and his brother Gunbilik fought in the south and the north. In the second year of Jiajing, they attacked Datong to plunder people, livestock and supplies."

"In the fifth year of the Jiajing reign, they invaded Jingping."

"In the sixth year of the Jiajing reign, they invaded Geyu."

"In the eighth year of the Jiajing reign, they ventured deep into Shuozhou."

"In the twelfth year of the Jiajing reign, they came to the aid of the Datong mutiny."

……

"My brother Anda has won many military victories and annexed a large number of people and pastures. Now he has 100,000 elite troops, which is second to none and the strongest in terms of military strength."

"However, the Mongol tribes temporarily avoided their advance, but were truly dissatisfied."

"When he was galloping across the grasslands, Anda was eager to trade with the Ming Dynasty, not for money, but to use the majesty of the Celestial Empire to subdue the various tribes."

"It is absolutely forbidden to allow them to pay tribute."

"If we allow them to integrate the grasslands, we fear a repeat of the disaster caused by Esen Taishi. At that time, the flames of war on the nine borders will be far greater than they are today!"

This is the judgment jointly made by Lu Bing and Yu Dayou.

It's absolutely impossible to get a powerful figure like Anda to submit to the Ming Dynasty and become its dog.

Paying tribute is tantamount to aiding the enemy. If we are not careful, we could see the rise of the Oirat Mongols again and create another Esen.

The best course of action now is to reject Anda's repeated requests, reclaim the Hetao region, and build a strong defense.

If Altan Khan wants to lead his cavalry south in the future, it will be difficult for him to do so. Let him run rampant on the grasslands.

Not treating the root cause.

But this is only a temporary solution.

Haiyue was not optimistic about this.

Because the situation changes rapidly.

In particular, Empress Dowager Jiang's health was deteriorating rapidly, and her days were numbered.

Once this empress dowager, who was able to keep the emperor in check, passed away, no one knew what kind of person Zhu Houcong would become.

and so.

The strategic plan to recover the Hetao region should be implemented as soon as possible.

At the same time, we must take precautions to prevent problems from occurring.

We should also make arrangements in advance to deal with the targeting of Mongolian tribes.

After a moment's thought, he picked up his pen and wrote a letter.

Compared to Yan Shifan's thick stack of letters, brimming with longing, his letters were much shorter and more concise, just like during their school days:
"Seeing this letter from the East Tower is like seeing you in person—"

"Your letter describes the situation of the northern barbarians with remarkable clarity, and can serve as a guide for the nation's overall strategy."

“Although Anda is strong, his power was not achieved by his own strength alone. Gunbilik is his elder brother. If we only enfeoff the younger brother and not the elder brother, it will not only violate the order of seniority among barbarians, but also lose the dignity of our Celestial Dynasty’s etiquette.”

“I intend to grant Gunbilik the opportunity to pay tribute, so that he may understand.”

"Only by being respectful and loyal can we secure a place on the grasslands and, in the future, recover the Hetao region, thus serving as a bulwark for the Ming Dynasty."

"Awaiting your reply."

(End of this chapter)