After Fan Wencheng left, Huang Taiji glanced at Ganglin and Xifu on the side, and continued to instruct: "Xifu stays, I still have to discuss the details of North Korean affairs with you, Ganglin, you go down and do your own business first." ”

Although Ganglin was a little jealous of Xifu's favor, he could only retreat honestly. When only Huang Taiji and Xifu were left in the room, Xifu waited for Huang Taiji's command with bated breath. But he waited for a long time, and he didn't see Huang Taiji make a sound, so he couldn't help but subconsciously raise his eyelids slightly to observe.

Huang Taiji didn't have any accidents, just holding his cheek with one hand, leaning on the arm of the chair and thinking about something. Xifu looked at the frowning appearance of the Great Khan, and realized that Huang Taiji was probably really encountering some problem. He was a little nervous for a moment, a question that even the Great Khan found difficult, and once the Great Khan asked him, how should he answer.

Xifu knew in his heart that the Inner Three Courts seemed to be handling the daily government affairs for the Great Khan, but in fact they were just the Great Khan's text assistants, and the planning framework of the Inner Three Courts was formulated by the Great Khan himself, and everyone was just sitting on some work to check and fill in the gaps. And even if it is the work of checking and filling in the gaps, it is the Han scholars who share most of it, and the Manchu scholars only play a leading role, after all, the Manchus are more reliable politically.

If Huang Taiji had given the task and asked him to run an errand, Xifu would have no problem. But if the Great Khan asked him to give advice on a problem that he couldn't even be sure of, Xifu felt a little drumming in his heart.

Just when Xifu was a little panicked in his heart, Huang Taiji finally broke the silence, "You are in charge of North Korean affairs this time, in addition to contacting the Korean scholars to launch a coup d'état to assassinate the prince of Joseon, and then select some clever young people from the two yellow flags and two blue flags, and let them learn Chinese, Korean, and Japanese."

Once the situation in North Korea changes, let them blend into North Korea, and then set out from North Korea to go overseas to learn about overseas geography, people, customs, and the power of the Ming Dynasty in neighboring countries..."

After listening to Huang Taiji's explanation, Xifu looked up at him in some surprise, and couldn't help but say: "Master, if you want to do these things that the master explained, the manpower and material resources transferred are not a small amount.

And it's not too easy for me to pick a few of my people to go into battle and kill the enemy. But it is more difficult to pick out those who can read and write, and who are proficient in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese, than to pick a thousand miles from a herd. Even if there really is such a talent, it would be too much of a waste of talent to send it to overseas adventures instead of leaving it in the country to fill the six ministries and the three inner courts.

The slave thinks that it is better to select the talents needed by the master from the Han army banner, such people are more common among the Han people. Even if these people run into any danger overseas, it won't make me feel broken. ”

Huang Taiji felt that his heart was a little panicked, but he also knew that in the three inner courts, except for those treacherous Han officials who figured out their thoughts all day long and could understand their own hints, the Manchu ministers, who were known for their upright personalities, were really not so active in their minds.

"If it's Fan Wencheng in front of you, I guess I already know what I want to do." Such a thought flashed through Huang Taiji's mind, but he still nodded to Xifu out loud, "What Tuna said just now, didn't you feel anything?" ”

Xi Fulen paused for a moment, but still shook his head and replied honestly: "Back to the master, the slave is stupid, and he really doesn't understand what Tuna said." ”

Huang Taiji looked at him for a long time, and then he let out a long sigh and said: "Over the years, I have focused most of my energy on the country, on the reconciliation of relations within the Eight Banners, which has caused me to miss some things and missee some problems. Let me ask you first, what kind of monarch is the current emperor of the Southern Dynasty? ”

Xifu was stunned for a moment, lowered his head and thought for a long time, before he replied to Huang Taiji: "Back to the master, with the knowledge of a slave, although he is not as good as the Heavenly Mandate Khan and the Khan King, he can be regarded as a wise and decisive master. ”

"Huh." Huang Taiji suddenly sneered a few times, and then said, "Is it just a wise and decisive master?" If this is the case, why should our country be in the predicament it is in.

I had always thought that the little emperor of the Southern Dynasty was only out of prudence before taking a military garrison against our country and launching a political and economic attack. In this way, it is also worthy of this wise and decisive judgment.

But after listening to Tuna's statement today, I realized that my previous judgment was still wrong. The little emperor of the Southern Dynasty was armed, but it was just an illusion. The real backhand lies in the great changes within the Ming Kingdom.

From the very beginning, he did not set his sights on restoring the whole Liao, but was competing with my country for the short and long of the two countries. I am invincible, but the enemy is invincible. He did understand the meaning of this sentence.

The momentum of the royal road is mighty, those who go along with it prosper, and those who go against it die. As long as Ming is given some more time, Ming's economy, politics, and military will inevitably show a trend of comprehensively overwhelming our country. At that time, I will have no way to retreat from the Qing Dynasty, and I will be powdered by the general trend of the Ming Kingdom.

Therefore, I asked you to choose the handsome sea among the Manchurians, firstly, to know what the Ming people were doing overseas, and whether there were allies around the Ming that we could use; This second... I also want to find a way out overseas for my Manchurians. ”

Hearing that Huang Taiji spoke so highly of the emperor of the Southern Dynasty, Xifu was also a little dumbfounded, and it took a long time to react, and he muttered: "No, is the master overestimating the emperor of the Southern Dynasty." I have only suffered a few setbacks at the moment, and the Ming people have not been able to cross the Liaoshui to threaten Shengjing, how can the situation deteriorate to that extent all of a sudden? With the master's talent, he saw through the plan of the emperor of the Southern Dynasty, can't he break the situation? ”

Huang Taiji was silent for a long time, and then said with a wry smile: "It's too late, Chongzhen has been on the throne for more than ten years, and his position is already stable, unless he makes some stupid moves in a row, causing chaos in the country, or some irresistible civil strife in the Ming Kingdom, then we still have a chance to fight."

But in a year like last year, the Ming Kingdom still resisted the past, which shows that the Mandate of Heaven is no longer in my Qing Dynasty. In the final analysis, it is because our country has been established for too short a time, the foundation is not thick, the population is insufficient, and the national strength is not strong. Once the Ming people wake up, diligently cultivate internal affairs, and force them to be forced, our country will immediately have the upper hand. This is like playing Go, how can those who are in a corner of peace have a deeper foundation than those who occupy the Central Plains?

As for you saying that you chose Han people to go to sea, in order to survive, this generation even turned their backs on the tombs of their ancestors, how could they be loyal and observant when my Qing Dynasty was at a disadvantage? This matter of going to sea to find a way back is related to the last retreat of our Manchurians, how can it be handed over to those Han people who are greedy for life and afraid of death..."

When Xifu withdrew from the inner hall, although he tried his best to remain calm, there was always a lingering sorrow hidden between his eyebrows. Although the Khan said very well that looking for a retreat overseas is just in case, the Great Khan, who has always been deep and wise, has begun to look for a retreat for the Manchurians, which shows that the Khan is really not very optimistic about the future of the Qing Dynasty. This made Xifu, who had always admired Huang Taiji, suddenly a little flustered.

And Huang Taiji, who was alone in the inner hall, also felt a little tired at this time, and he also thought silently in his heart, if he knew that Chongzhen was such a monarch, then he would not be eager to attack the other three Baylors, thus destroying the balance within the Eight Banners and giving Chongzhen so much time to integrate the interior of the Ming Kingdom.

But soon Huang Taiji collected his emotions and didn't let himself be depressed anymore. No matter how bleak the future of the Qing Dynasty is, at least the current Qing Dynasty is still much stronger than when the Heavenly Mandate Khan raised his army, and Huang Taiji feels that he may still have a chance to break through the situation in front of him.

While Huang Taiji was sitting in the palace thinking about the future of the Qing Dynasty, a war finally came to an end on the Japanese archipelago 2,000 miles away from him.

In the first month of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, after the Kyushu Front of the Osaka Shogunate and the Chinese Front cooperated to encircle and eliminate the main force of the Choshu Domain, the representative of the Ming Sihai Trading Company in Changzhou and the East China Sea Patrol Office made Xu Xinsu finally unable to sit still.

For them, it was clearly detrimental to their interests that the Osaka shogunate would completely eliminate the power of the local feudal lords and thus unite western Japan. After lobbying the Osaka Governor's Office, three Ming forces announced that they would mediate the conflict between the Osaka Shogunate and the local feudal domains.

Although some middle- and lower-class Shogunate officers and soldiers were dissatisfied with this, the local feudal lords who participated in the Shogunate side expressed their support. Kosuke Yoshikawa chose to accept mediation after judging the situation, but asked the Osaka Governor's Office to be the main party responsible for mediation, and stipulated the time and place required for mediation.

Kosuke Yoshikawa and Kanese Noyama skillfully exploited the contradictions between the Osaka Governor's Office, the Tokai Patrol Office, and the Damei Shikai Trading Company, and used their superb diplomatic skills to force most of the feudal lords to agree to the plan proposed by the shogunate, and finally forced Choshu, Satsuma and other feudal domains to sign the peace plan proposed by the shogunate.

Although the Choshu and Satsuma feudal domains retained their administrative and military powers, the Osaka shogunate formally withdrew the power of customs and unified taxation within the feudal domains from the feudal domains, and transferred the allegiance of the standing army from the feudal lords to the shogunate. In addition, the shogunate was given the power to direct the internal affairs of the feudal domains to ensure that these feudal lords could no longer establish independent kingdoms.

In general, the Osaka shogunate used this war to establish a framework for the integration of western Japan. The next thing Yoshikawa Kosuke and others were thinking about was the reform of the internal system of the Osaka shogunate. Obviously, these Japanese elites have become intolerable, and the five elders representing the power of the feudal lords continue to ride on their heads.

Therefore, after the peace agreement was concluded, Yoshikawa Kosuke claimed to report the agreement to Toyotomi Taiko, and formed a mission to Daming. Yoshikawa hoped to gain support for the shogunate's reforms from Beijing, so that he could avoid obstacles from home.

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