Ming Dynasty: I, Yan Maoqing, am truly radiating auspicious energy!

Chapter 241 When two nations interact, magnanimity is essential. [Seeking monthly votes]

"Oh, General Zhou! General Zhou!"

Duke Guo Xun followed closely behind, but he was still a step too late. He looked helplessly at Yan Maoqing.

“Shouchang, General Zhou is still vigorous and agile in his old age. His men dare not and cannot stop him. I rushed here after hearing the news, but I still couldn’t catch up.”

Since Yan Maoqing has Guo Xun as his adoptive father.

After arriving in Datong, they naturally moved directly into Guo Xun's residence, where Guo Xun's people took care of their food and lodging.

Therefore, Zhou Shangwen came directly here when he came to find Yan Maoqing.

How could he not see that the person who could play a decisive role in this matter was Yan Maoqing?

Don't let Yan Maoqing's youthful appearance fool you; if it weren't for his imminent arrival in Datong, those two old fogies, Guo Xun and Yan Song, would probably still be slacking off, and the matter of establishing a tributary relationship could certainly have been postponed indefinitely.

The results are better now.

Upon learning that Yan Maoqing was about to arrive, the two old men suddenly became motivated and joined forces to commit evil deeds.

In just a few days, he dealt with a group of officials, powerful figures, and merchants who had openly or secretly sabotaged the tribute system, allowing Yan Maoqing to reap a great reward as soon as he entered the city.

To be honest, Zhou Shangwen really couldn't understand the relationship between Yan Maoqing and those two old men.

Logically speaking, even if Yan Maoqing took drastic measures in Taiyuan, Guo Xun was still his godfather, and Yan Song was still related to him by marriage.

Could Yan Maoqing possibly be so righteous as to turn against his own family and harm those two?
I have no idea what these two old men are afraid of. Why are they acting so obsequiously towards Yan Maoqing? Anyone who didn't know better would think they were Yan Maoqing's lackeys, and that Yan Maoqing was their godfather...

However, there's a saying that goes something like this.

The trouble should end it!
It was Yan Maoqing who facilitated the establishment of the tribute system in the first place, and now, Guo Xun and Yan Song are clearly listening to Yan Maoqing on this matter as well.

Therefore, if he wanted to resist the tribute system and prevent a repeat of the story of the farmer and the snake, the most appropriate course of action would be to go directly to Yan Maoqing...

"General Zhou, please sit down. Godfather, please sit down as well. Let me take a look at the signal arrow first."

Yan Maoqing grinned, ignoring Zhou Shangwen's veiled accusation of "selling out the country and aiding the enemy," and took the folded letter, which had been rolled into a tube, and slowly unfolded it to examine it.

The content is concise, consisting of only three sentences:

[You are given three days to resume the trade of coal.]

Otherwise, my iron cavalry will plunder the southern garrisons of Shanxi, cross the passes, and march straight to the capital.

[At that time, the people will suffer terribly, all because the Ming court brought this disaster upon itself!]

Seeing that Yan Maoqing had finished reading, Zhou Shangwen continued angrily and loudly:

"I have just submitted another memorial, strongly advising Your Majesty to refuse the tribute agreement and not to listen to the Tartars' deceitful words!"

"Oh dear, General Zhou, this matter concerns national policy; you should prioritize the greater good..."

Guo Xun continued to offer kind words of advice, and as he spoke, he took out a family letter that he didn't want to show anyone, and handed it to Zhou Shangwen, saying with a rather helpless tone,

"Now the Emperor has made a tough decision. Zhai Luan, the Grand Secretary who had close ties with Shanxi, Zhang Zan, the Minister of War, and Yang Bo have all been implicated in the Taiyuan incident and have been imprisoned."

"Shanxi has no one left in the court who can speak on its behalf. This news will soon reach everyone, and all officials, powerful families, and merchants will be silenced."

"At this point, you are already outnumbered and unable to fight back. If you insist on submitting a memorial to oppose it, you may anger the emperor and end up getting yourself into trouble."

"General Zhou, if it were anyone else, I would have stood by and watched with indifference."

“But General Zhou is highly respected and has made great contributions. I really don’t want to see General Zhou suffer because of this. So I have to persuade him. Please bear with my good intentions.”

Zhou Shangwen took the letter, glanced at it, then slammed it on the table and continued, his neck stiff, "..."
"I appreciate Duke Yi's good intentions, but on such a grave matter of betraying the country and aiding the enemy, I will never back down, even if it means my death!"

"At worst, the Emperor will listen to the slander of petty men, and that will only cost me my old life!"

"At that time, I will also follow the example of Wu Zixu, gouge out my eyes and hang them on the city gate, and see with my own eyes whether the Tatars, after becoming rich from paying tribute, will still break their promises and invade our land as before!"

"In the future, the world will know whether I was right or wrong!"

When talking about "selling out the country and aiding the enemy" and "petty people," Zhou Shangwen deliberately glanced at Yan Maoqing a couple more times.

This is no longer a veiled attack; it's practically a direct insult directed at Yan Maoqing.

"Ugh……"

Guo Xun felt increasingly helpless at this moment.

In the past few days, he delegated authority to Yan Song to investigate and crack down on the disruption of the tribute system, arresting a large number of Datong officials, powerful figures, and merchants, but he did not take any action against Zhou Shangwen.

Firstly, although Zhou Shangwen was already a first-rank official, taking action against him would have too great an impact.

Secondly, it was because Zhou Shangwen, apart from constantly hurling insults and making arguments, and constantly submitting memorials to the emperor to advise him, had never participated in any of those crimes, embezzlement, or other illegal activities. On the contrary, he was very honest and upright, making Guo Xun and Yan Song feel ashamed of themselves.

Then Yan Maoqing took over the conversation, smiling as he asked:

"General Zhou, if I'm not mistaken, you've already submitted quite a few memorials advising against this matter, but the Emperor hasn't paid any attention to them at all, has he?"

"?"

Zhou Shangwen was taken aback upon hearing this, then became even more furious, gritting his teeth as he said, "So what? From this day forward, I will submit a memorial every day, offering advice to the Emperor once a day, until the Emperor comes to his senses!"

"What's the use of that? The Emperor could keep the imperial edicts from being issued before, and he can keep them from being issued in the future. You're just wasting some ink and paper. It's the messenger who suffers. He'll definitely curse you in private after being tormented like this."

Yan Maoqing was still smiling, giving off a sly and cheeky vibe.

"you!"

Zhou Shangwen was speechless. He had never seen anyone speak so vulgarly in his life. It was as if they were tearing at his sore spot and mocking him relentlessly.

"puff!"

Guo Xun couldn't help but chuckle out loud.

This is the extent of his abilities as an adopted son; it's just basic stuff.

Others may not want to provoke Zhou Shangwen, nor dare to provoke him, but that doesn't mean Yan Maoqing wouldn't dare. Besides being possessive of his food, this kid's greatest strength is that he never suffers a loss, even a verbal one.

Then Yan Maoqing grinned again and asked with a smile:
"However, speaking of which... I also dislike Altan Khan's attitude. Paying tribute is a win-win situation for both countries, but he threatened to start another war, which is really not in accordance with diplomatic etiquette."

"General Zhou, if I'm not mistaken, I must have urged the tribute exchange today with an attitude that is quite inconsistent with diplomatic protocol, right?"

If Zhou Shangwen hadn't come with this letter today, Yan Maoqing wouldn't have known that Anda was already plotting something.

After all, neither in Beijing nor recently in Shanxi had anyone mentioned this to him.

If he had known this earlier, he wouldn't have had to rack his brains to come up with a "just cause" for his campaign, and he wouldn't have even had to threaten Yan Song.

Because this is a ready-made "legitimate cause" that can be directly utilized.

But it's not too late to know now!

Zhou Shangwen didn't quite understand why Yan Maoqing had brought up such trivial matters as diplomatic etiquette, feeling that he was trying to downplay the issue. So, he said in his usual irritable tone:

"I could produce a whole bunch of similar letters!"

"very good!"

Yan Maoqing immediately slammed his fist on the table and stood up.

"When two countries interact, they should be magnanimous. If anyone does not follow diplomatic etiquette, we should win them over with virtue in order to demonstrate the magnanimity of a great power."

"Since Anda only gave us three days, although it's a bit tight, three days is fine!"

"Three days what?"

Zhou Shangwen's face darkened upon hearing this.

When Yan Maoqing slammed his hand on the table, he thought Yan Maoqing had suddenly become assertive.

After hearing Yan Maoqing's words, he instantly regarded him as a servile, weak, incompetent, and humiliating villain.

After all, these words sounded like a surrender to Anda, a desire to follow Anda's instructions and formally begin coal trade within three days.

What "great nation's magnanimity" and "winning people over with virtue"? They're just nice words; all they're really doing is groveling and compromising with Anda.
In Zhou Shangwen's mind, this was simply a classic skill of traditional civil officials.

They're no good at fighting and resisting the invaders, but they're experts at distorting the truth and calling a deer a horse. They can make something out of nothing, and they're always right...

"..."

Upon hearing this, Guo Xun felt a strange, inexplicable sense of disappointment.

Let's call it "disappointment" for now.

Perhaps it was because of past events that he had too high expectations of Yan Maoqing. Seeing him compromise with Anda so easily, he felt that something was missing.

Even if Yan Maoqing were to demand another 400,000 taels of silver from Anda...

Then Yan Maoqing continued:
"General Zhou, the first thing Anda needs to consider when starting a coal trade with the Ming Dynasty is the transportation issue."

"Coal is quite heavy, and this trade is not a one-off transaction, so the issue of roads cannot be ignored."

"If I'm not mistaken, Anda should have already opened up a road connecting Datong, Fengzhoutan, and the Langjuxushan mine in the last few months, right?"

"Even if not... there were no roads in the world to begin with, but as more people walk on them, they become roads. In the past six months, they must have mined a lot of coal, and the ruts from the passing carts must have created a clear path, right?"

"..."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Shangwen immediately felt that something was amiss.

What does this mean? Aren't we talking about the tribute system right now? What does it have to do with the road the Tatars used to transport coal?
However, after a moment's hesitation, he still answered the question directly:

"Now Anda has indeed opened up a road connecting Datong and Fengzhoutan ahead of schedule. As for whether this road also connects to the Langjuxu Mountain mine, I don't know."

"This……"

A chill suddenly welled up in Guo Xun's heart.

But I wasn't heartbroken for him, I was heartbroken for Anda...

(End of this chapter)