My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 68 Ping Rong Ce (additional update)

Then, Su Ze wrote about what it meant to "retreat to seek peace."

Seeing this, Zhang Juzheng relaxed his brows and smiled. This Su Yishu was indeed extraordinary. He came up and criticized both current viewpoints!
Zhang Juzheng just felt inexplicably relieved!
Then, Su Ze quoted from the classics:
"Shuo Yuan says, 'Weapons should not be played with, for if played with, they lose their authority; they should not be abandoned, for if abandoned, they invite invaders.'"

"Some court officials want to buy favors and tribute to stop the fighting, while others advocate relocating borders and restricting borders to avoid disaster. These are all methods of cutting flesh to heal a wound, not the way to long-term peace and stability."

"The policy of tribute seems to be a conciliatory policy, but in reality it shows weakness to the enemy. After the Gengxu humiliation, Altan Khan received the imperial edict and became even more arrogant. If we repeat the same trick now, the jackals will know that our treasury is empty and our border defenses are lax, and they will surely covet us."

"The proposal to relocate the border will only harm the livelihoods of border residents and cut off the source of profit from trade. It is like adding fuel to a fire and will ultimately reduce everything inside and outside the border wall to scorched earth."

Zhang Juzheng was very satisfied with Su Ze's two paragraphs.

He did not express his agreement with the tribute because he felt that the time was not ripe. If the Ming court agreed to open the border just because Han Naji invaded, then what would be the deterrent power of the nine important border towns?
Moreover, these barbarians from the grasslands are fickle. They may agree to pay tribute today, but will become more demanding and ask for more tomorrow.

However, Zhang Juzheng was even more opposed to the policy of relocating the border and closing the border.

If the Ming Dynasty court had the money and grain to implement the border relocation and border ban, it would be better for it to listen to Su Ze and fight a battle with the grasslands. Maybe it would cost less money!

How can it be justified to injure 800 enemies at the cost of 10,000 of one's own losses?

Quoting from classics, Su Ze also talked about the laws of his ancestors.

"I implore Your Majesty to emulate the heroic strategy of Emperor Taizu in driving the Mongols north, and follow the example of Emperor Chengzu's five expeditions to the northern desert. Order your border officials to strictly guard the borders, select generals and train the troops, and wait for the autumn when the horses are fat and strong, then you can defeat the enemy in the wild with a magnificent battle. Doing so will frighten the nine borders, and Altan will be intimidated, ensuring ten years of peace."

Seeing this, Zhang Juzheng was almost convinced by Su Ze.

But then, Su Ze began to reason again.

After reading this passage, Zhang Juzheng's expression became even more admiring.

This paragraph by Su Ze talks about the reasons why Altan Khan's tribe repeatedly violated the border and acted capriciously.

Other officials submitted memorials, basically saying that these barbarians from the grasslands were all barbarians and beasts, and were fickle and did not understand the teachings of the sages, which was why they were like this.

But Su Ze analyzed it from another perspective.

In his memorial, Su Ze said that the people of the grassland are also human beings, all born and raised by their parents, and are actually no different from the people of the Central Plains.

But people live in different places with different climate and conditions, and the way of life on the grassland is different from that in the Central Plains.

The people of the grassland live by following the grass, and their most important means of production is livestock. Once they encounter snow disasters or droughts, all the livestock will die. Unlike farming people, losing their livestock is a disaster for the people of the grassland.

Therefore, every time a major disaster occurred on the grassland, the nomads who could not survive would invade southwards. For example, the Gengxu Incident during the Jiajing period was caused by a white disaster (snow disaster) on the grassland.

The instability of the grassland is the reason why nomadic peoples often move south. Then Su Ze began to discuss why the Altan tribe was always capricious and treacherous.

Su Ze's argument is also very simple. The Altan tribe is different from the Central Plains, and the rule of the grassland is loose.

Although the Altan tribe was nominally the overlord of the grassland, it did not have absolute control over its tribes like the emperor of the Central Plains.

When a disaster occurred, Altan Khan was lucky enough to provide relief to his own tribe, but he had no way of taking care of other small and medium-sized tribes outside.

Therefore, even if the imperial court and Alda Khan established tribute and trade relations, if some of his tribes could not survive, they would still attack the Ming Dynasty against Alda Khan's wishes.

The horse market opened during the Jiajing period was because a small tribe of Altan Khan was dissatisfied with the market prices and allowed their soldiers to plunder the people, which eventually destroyed the market.

Therefore, Su Ze concluded that even paying tribute to Altan Khan would not completely prevent border conflicts. Some marginal tribes might even feel they were being exploited by both the Ming Dynasty and Altan Khan's horde, thus inciting even more intense border conflicts. Zhang Juzheng, upon seeing this, completely agreed with Su Ze's view. This analysis, without any extraneous arguments, was entirely grounded in human nature, incorporating the system of Altan Khan's horde to explain the unrest on the northern border. It was a convincing and well-reasoned explanation.

Su Ze then continued to write:

"I propose the strategy of 'ending war with war'. If Altan's tribe plunders one village of our border inhabitants, our army will go out of the border to attack one of their tribes. If Altan's tribe plunders one bushel of rice from our people, our army will go out of the border to seize one head of their livestock!"

"And before every march, we must list their crimes and have a legitimate reason!"

"If this continues, the border tribesmen will either surrender or flee far away, and the border will be safe."

"At this time, the debate between the savage and cultivated tribes in Hehuang during the Song Dynasty will be repeated, and those who are respectful and obedient will be allowed to trade with each other."

Seeing this, Zhang Juzheng was about to applaud!

The allusion Su Ze used here was the trade strategy for the Western Xia region when the Hehuang border was opened up during the Song Dynasty.

At that time, the main product of Western Xia was blue and white salt. At the beginning, the Song Dynasty adopted a salt ban law, prohibiting the blue and white salt of Western Xia from flowing into the Central Plains, hoping to use a trade war to bring down Western Xia.

However, doing so pushed the naturalized Qiang tribes in the northwest region, who had originally stood on the side of the Song Dynasty, to the side of Western Xia, which in turn exacerbated the unrest on the border.

Later, the Song Dynasty changed the salt law, allowing trade with obedient foreigners and prohibiting trade with Western Xia caravans. Although re-export trade was unavoidable, it stabilized the situation on the border. Later, with the help of these foreigners, the Song Dynasty achieved the result of opening up the border to Hehuang.

Su Ze's method can be said to have taken all aspects into consideration, with both carrots and sticks. In name, it was to use military force against Altan's tribe, but in reality it was to divide and disintegrate the grassland.

But Zhang Juzheng frowned again. This set of skills required extremely sophisticated techniques. With the current military strength of the nine borders, it seemed that they could not accomplish such a task.

Soon, Su Ze proposed his own solution in a memorial.

"In the past, when the southeastern region resisted the Japanese pirates, there was Tan Lun in literature and Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang in military affairs. They were all masters of their time. Now that the border is in crisis, the court can dispatch troops from the south to the north, and the nine borders can be pacified!"

Seeing this, Zhang Juzheng took out a piece of paper, wrote down his agreement, and handed it to Zhao Zhenji beside him.

Zhao Zhenji read it three times and became more and more impressed with Su Ze's strategy. He looked at Gao Gong again and a jealous expression appeared on his face.

Zhao Zhenji didn't know why he had such a thought: "He is obviously my subordinate, why did he defect to Gao Gong?"

Zhao Zhenji quickly shook his head. For such a memorial, Zhao Zhenji could only write down his approval opinion.
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Su Ze looked at the simulation in the [Handheld Imperial Court] and saw the same thing as he thought:
——[Simulation Start]——

A day later, the "Memorial on Pacificating the Rong" was sent to the cabinet, and all three ministers in the cabinet voted in favor of it.

The memorial to pacify the enemy was urgently brought to the palace. Emperor Longqing hesitated and submitted it to his ministers for public discussion. However, the memorial was rejected due to opposition from the officials of the Ministry of Rites.

——[Simulation End]——

These censors are indeed a drag on the team.

But fortunately I have a cheat!

More, more

There is a typo in the title. It’s wrong. The title cannot be changed. Sorry, I wrote it and posted it in a hurry.

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(End of this chapter)