Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 242 The Ming Dynasty's Naval Base on Tsushima Island, Japan

Xu Guangqi nodded, neither arguing nor asking why. Perhaps that's why he was so popular.

In fact, he had never seriously considered these things. He knew very well that fighting was not his forte. He only said that to get the ball rolling.

Everyone present was a Minister, except for him, who was only a third-rank Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. The position of Left Vice Minister was only below that of Minister. A third-rank official was already a high position that most officials in the court could only dream of, but it also depended on who he was compared to.

Xu Guangqi was a year older than Sun Chengzong. The youngest among them was Bi Ziyan, who was only sixty-two years old, so young that it made people envious!

Although stepping down from the cabinet is a very abstract matter, Xiao Bi was still a former Grand Secretary, so Xu Guangqi felt a slight sense of imbalance, though it wasn't exactly jealousy.

His research was haphazard and superficial; he had a wide range of interests; and his life was not just about being an official. Power was merely a tool for him to realize his life's ideals and ambitions!
After these two newcomers finished their performances, it was Zhu De and Sun Yat-sen's turn. One of them was a famous strategist who had led the reconstruction of the Liaodong defense line and reversed the defeat in Liaodong; the other was a tactical mastermind who quelled a ten-year rebellion in the southwest.

For Zhu Youjian, both sides were equally dear to him, and he didn't want them to quarrel again. So he interjected first: "What the Grand Secretary means is that we don't need to dwell on the difficulty of defending the territory. We should know that 'if we lose the land but preserve the people, we will preserve both the land and the people; if we preserve the land but lose the people, we will lose both the land and the people.'"

Our first priority is to preserve the people of Korea, select the strongest and most capable from among them to train into a new army, provide them with military equipment, and lead the Korean people and soldiers to resist the Jurchens with our elite troops as the backbone.

We must not abandon or give up on the people of North Korea. We must never stand idly by and watch the people of North Korea become slaves to others. We must unite the national spirit of Gija Joseon and be willing to die for honor rather than live in dishonor.

We can build naval bases in Busan, Jeju Island, and Tsushima Island, and relocate the population to the southern coast, allowing them to settle and cultivate land on Jeju Island. These three locations will form a strategic triangle and support each other with Deungju Garrison.

The Korean navy is quite large and should be incorporated into the army without any omissions. As for the navy controlled by the Jurchens, we can try to persuade them to surrender. If they do not surrender, we should kill them!
As for King Injo of Joseon, let's not kill him for now. With his cooperation, it will be much smoother to recruit and accept those who have defected. We can send some Joseon officials over to serve him.

"I believe that the yangban aristocratic system in Korea is detrimental to unity, and we should dismantle it. Alternatively, we could send them to Tsushima Island and let them fight amongst themselves with the royal family."

Sun Chengzong was stunned again. Did he really say these words? Who will speak up for him?
The four old men stared at each other for a long time. Zhu Xieyuan thought to himself, "So the emperor had already planned this all along. He likes to ask for the opinions of these old ministers and respects them, but he may not listen to them completely. The emperor is too fond of hiding his abilities. In fact, he is not as incompetent as he seems!"

"Your Majesty is farsighted, and I believe this plan is feasible!" Zhu Xieyuan said. Zhu Youjian breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that the old man thought there was no problem. He was really afraid of saying the wrong thing and being looked down upon by these old men, even though he was indeed a good-for-nothing!

Sun Chengzong originally wanted to clarify, but felt it was inappropriate, so he could only cup his hands and say, "Your Majesty is wise, I second that opinion!"

Bi Ziyan was very shrewd when it came to accounting, but sometimes he was quite clueless. He asked in bewilderment, "Isn't the Tsushima Domain a vassal state of Japan?!"

Zhu Xieyuan, who clearly had a better understanding of military history, explained to Bi Ziyan: "In the seventeenth year of the Yongle reign, Korea launched an eastern expedition against Tsushima Island. The two sides negotiated peace, and the Tsushima Domain became a vassal state of Korea, but it did not break away from Japan. Therefore, the Tsushima Domain is now a vassal state of both Japan and Korea."

Zhu Youjian nodded and said in plain language, "Since his clan already has two fathers, it's no big deal to recognize another one. There are so many people eager to be sons of our Great Ming Dynasty but haven't even had the chance yet!"

"The words may be rough, but the meaning is sound. However, your words are just too crude!" The old men were speechless.

In order to win over these old men, Zhu Youjian knew that old men of this age were most fond of teaching, so he catered to their interests and often sought their advice.

They may seem annoyed by the emperor's constant chatter, but they are actually quite pleased with it. In fact, these men are the emperor's teachers. So, who exactly taught the emperor to be such a reckless and unruly person?

“The Japanese won’t agree, will they?” Bi Ziyan said with some worry. “The Jurchens have no navy, so we are naturally fearless, but if the Japanese intervene in the war, we will be attacked from both sides and we will probably be exhausted from dealing with them. The maritime trade relations that our dynasty has just established with them will probably come to an end.”

“Minister Bi, you’re overthinking it. You’re reluctant to give up the trade profits with Japan, and Tokugawa Hidetada is even more reluctant. We don’t necessarily want to fight. Tsushima Island is also negotiable.” “Tsushima Island is strategically important. I’m afraid Tokugawa Hidetada won’t easily cede it to us,” Zhu Xieyuan said in a deep voice.

"There's no need to cede it; we can just lease it. Let's lease it for ninety-nine years first, so that we can give them a way out."

Send the Dengzhou-Laizhou navy and Zheng Zhilong to visit Japan. Tell them you suspect one of our grain transport ships has been hijacked by Japanese pirates, and ask them to open Kyoto and Edo so we can search them.

"I'm sure by then, the Tokugawa family won't refuse our win-win cooperation proposal!" Zhu Youjian said with a strange smile.

"Hiss, what a scoundrel! What a shameless scoundrel!" Everyone grinned at the emperor's innocent-looking face.

During the Wanli era, the Tokugawa Shogunate issued the "Large Ship Construction Prohibition Law," which prohibited the construction of any warship with a capacity of 500 koku or more. Japan's navy had long been abolished, and it's hard to say whether the entire Japanese navy now has even three thousand men.

Attacking the Japanese mainland might be difficult, but blockading their coastline and preventing them from doing business is a piece of cake.

Suddenly, everyone realized that if they were confined to the domestic borders and relied on traditional infantry and cavalry, it would be very difficult to deal with the Jurchens, quell rebellions, or even extend their influence to other foreign tribes; but by developing the navy and going abroad, everything became clear.

Land forces are too inflexible. A force of hundreds of thousands would need to be divided into a dozen or so units to garrison various locations, which would be insufficient for any given area. A single naval force, however, can roam freely, exerting influence over vast distances. Although naval ships are more expensive, a careful calculation reveals they are far more cost-effective! One naval force is far superior to six!

Previously, it was hard for many people to understand why the emperor would go to great lengths to build a navy, even at the cost of selling everything he owned. But now, it's starting to become clear.

Previously, the Ming Dynasty was tormented to the point of near death by Japanese pirates, but now it can bully the Japanese pirates right at their doorstep. It can truly be said that "if the pirates can go there, so can we!"
Of course, the language used in small meetings is rough, but in actual operations, it can't be so straightforward; it always needs to be embellished.

For example, when using Koreans, you can't openly say that you want them to go to their deaths, but you have to beautify it. How can this be called deception? Their own land should be protected by their own people. You can't always rely on the Ming army stationed in Korea.

For example, the Japanese are quite neurotic and adept at inciting conflict. You can use them, but you can't directly slap them in the face; you have to go along with them and smooth things over.

Since it was the beginning of the year, envoys from various countries came to attend the New Year's Day grand court assembly. These people were really something; when we told them not to send women, they really didn't!

The Japanese envoy, Naotaka Ii, has not yet returned home. The Japanese are quite adept at social etiquette; this year they sent over several more "something-something-children," but they never mentioned beauties, instead saying they were palace maids for the emperor, merely lowly servants.

Ah, that's very polite. Zhu Youjian happily accepted the gifts and returned the favor by giving them several black slaves.

As for the black slaves, they were a gift from Zheng Zhilong. Zheng Zhilong liked to use Japanese samurai and black slave musketeers as his bodyguards; he thought they were good things and naturally assumed the emperor would like them too.

They hadn't even been castrated, so how could Zhu Youjian like them? He was speechless at Zheng Zhilong's antics and hurriedly ordered the black slaves to be locked up, not knowing what to do with them!

Killing them directly seems a bit too much, but we can't let them run around. If their skin gets stained black, it won't be white again for two hundred years!
Ii Naotaka was the "Daio" of the Tokugawa Shogunate, equivalent to the Grand Secretary. He was the guardian appointed by Tokugawa Hidetada to Tokugawa Iemitsu. The Shogunate was currently in a sensitive period of succession between the old and new Shoguns. Tokugawa Hidetada had already passed the position of Shogun to Tokugawa Iemitsu, but he still held power tightly in his own hands.

Therefore, Ii Naotaka had a high level of authority and was an effective envoy, much better than those Western merchants who used false identities! Ii Naotaka was the first foreign envoy to be summoned alone by the Chongzhen Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, which made him feel flattered.

How should a subject meet the Emperor? Ii Naotaka pondered deeply but could not find an answer. This was very important to him because it concerned the etiquette for his upcoming audience with the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty. He did not want to be manipulated by the Ming people, but he also did not want to be ridiculed for being rude.

(End of this chapter)