If there is anything that excites Zhu Di more than making contributions and expanding the territory, it is estimated that he will make a fortune, especially this kind of business of millions of taels a year, which makes Zhu Di's heart pound.

But when he saw what Xu Jingchang took out, he frowned again.

"You let me admit that the Hu clan usurped power, how can this work?"

Xu Jingchang said: "Your Majesty, Annan is just a change of lord, as long as he still listens to us, what's not to do?" ”

Zhu Di snorted: "The lord of Annan was canonized by the kingdom, and if they change the lord at will, they are disrespectful to the kingdom, and I must send troops to fight against it." ”

Xu Jingchang frowned, he really couldn't understand Zhu Di's train of thought.

"Your Majesty, the minister has the courage to ask for advice, who are you going to fight against Annan?"

"Naturally, it is the Hu clan who usurped the country."

"Then you destroy the Hu clan, who will Annan hand over?"

"Give it to Chen Tianping, I want to help him restore the country."

"What about after the restoration? Will he be able to secure the throne? Xu Jingchang asked again.

Zhu Di was speechless, if the Chen family could sit on the throne, it would not be overthrown by the Hu family, and now there is only a little cub left, and it is impossible to expect him to sit on the throne.

"I can send troops to help Chen Tianping and stabilize the situation in Annan."

Xu Jingchang smiled faintly, "Your Majesty, are you going to intervene in Annan's internal affairs?" Nachen can ask who your opponent is at this time? ”

Zhu Di frowned, pondered for a long time, and then said, "You make it clear." ”

Xu Jingchang said: "If Your Majesty wants to garrison Annam, it is inevitable that there will be conflicts with the locals. In the eyes of these people, the Ming soldiers and horses are the villains who invaded their homes, and they will definitely provoke their resistance, I admit that the Ming soldiers and horses are very strong, head-to-head, and they are not afraid of them at all, but the continuous and continuous attacks can the Ming Dynasty withstand it? At that time, hundreds of thousands of troops of the Yuan Dynasty conquered Annam, and they were repeatedly defeated and suffered heavy losses. It's a lesson from the past. Because the monarchs and ministers of the Yuan Dynasty didn't think clearly at all, who they were fighting against! ”

Zhu Di snorted: "Tell me, who are you fighting with?" ”

Xu Jingchang took a deep breath, "Your Majesty, please allow me to bring up Annan's map." ”

Zhu Di nodded, and not long after, a eunuch brought up the map of Annan, and the monarchs and ministers surrounded him.

Xu Jingchang began to explain that Annam was the northern part of Vietnam in the future, bordering Guangxi and Yunnan in the Ming Dynasty...... The bordering part of the mountains is undulating and densely forested, and it is a traditional land of smoke miasma, and it belongs to the kind of ghost place where you don't need to fight, just passing through, you can peel off a layer of skin.

The best part of Annam is around the capital city of Thang Long Province and the flat area that extends to the south. The water and heat conditions here are excellent, and the grain is harvested three times a year.

Faced with this map, Xu Jingchang is easy to say.

"Your Majesty, please see, in the north and west of Annam, between the mountains and mountains, there are many tribes, similar to our Tusi, perhaps much looser. They relied on geographical advantages and refused to submit to the king. Not to mention the people of the Ming Dynasty, even if it is the Annan Imperial Court, they don't care. Whoever enters their territory will be attacked. How to deal with such an enemy? ”

Zhu Di's eyebrows were twisted into Sichuan characters, he didn't know that the Ming Dynasty had a lot of toast in the southwest, how powerful do you say these toast soldiers and horses are?

That's not necessarily, if you pull them out, maybe the 100,000 army can't beat the elite of the Ming army.

But once they are scattered in the rugged mountains, relying on the terrain to shelter, they are elusive, so that you can't catch them, you can't hit them, and things will be in trouble.

The imperial army was logistically burdened, and the mountainous land was barren and could not support the consumption of the army, so it had to be transported from outside, and the rugged terrain in turn restricted the transportation efficiency.

One hundred stone of grain, labor and money were sent to the front line, and it is estimated that there are not even ten stones left.

The supply of soldiers and horses could not keep up, and the soldiers were prone to contracting diseases due to the summer heat, and the non-combat attrition was serious.

Militarily speaking, it is absolutely not cost-effective to attack such a place.

Zhu Di groaned: "Even if what you say is reasonable, I arranged for soldiers and horses, passed through the way, and only fought the Hu rebels, isn't it okay?" ”

Xu Jingchang shook his head, "Your Majesty, Annan only became self-reliant from the Central Plains at the end of the Tang Dynasty, and it didn't take long. There are many families in the country, and there are many local tribes. Any court in this kind of place is far less stable than the Central Plains Dynasty. His Majesty sent troops over to kill the Hu clan, and the local forces that had lost their suppression were bound to be chaotic. When the time comes, if you want to go, you can't go, you can only keep throwing yourself into it, and if you can't support the Chen Dynasty, Annan will become an ulcer of the Ming Dynasty, bleeding endlessly, consuming wealth and soldiers, and definitely outweighing the losses. ”

Zhu Di weighed it in his heart, what Xu Jingchang said was that Annan was not only a Hu Dynasty, but also a large number of local forces, which were intricately intertwined, and it was not possible to solve the problem by solving the Hu Dynasty.

This shocked Zhu Di deeply.

Secondly, sending troops over, it is difficult to get out, and it will become an ulcer of the Ming Dynasty, which also makes Zhu Di worried.

"You said you can't send troops, so can your method work?"

Xu Jingchang said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that to deal with a place like Annan, it is not about who the king is, the real key is to have the final say and establish order." We traded with the Hu, gave them benefits, helped them train talents, gave them weapons, and helped them devour the scattered tribes and establish a truly unified government. At this point, we can directly annex the Hu Dynasty to have hope. ”

Zhu Di said: "Listen to what you mean, are you going to help the Hu Dynasty?" ”

"It's not." Xu Jingchang said again: "What the minister means, the first step is to get silver from Annan, to make money, no matter what you do, you can't pay for it!" ”

Xu Jingchang picked up his draft contract again.

Annam has nothing else, but grain is still abundant, especially in the coastal plains, which are even more abundant.

As long as the Ming Dynasty gets a port and establishes a trade route, it can get a steady stream of grain, which can be sent back to the Ming Dynasty in addition to supplying the fleet to the Western Ocean.

"Your Majesty, in fact, Annan's national conditions determine that the Hu clan can't control the overall situation, as long as we go in. You can take advantage of their internal contradictions, vertical and horizontal, and make a big profit. Even if the Hu clan is unwilling to trade with us and feels that it is a loss to sell grain to us, they can't stop it. After all, if they get in the way of those families' wealth, these people will rise up, overthrow the Hu Dynasty, and change the king. ”

"And as long as we control a stronghold, we can build a strong castle with the sea at our back, as long as we arrange one or two thousand people, defend the city to the death, tens of thousands of Annam soldiers and horses, and don't think about breaking it. We can send reinforcements by sea at any time. At that time, it will be the main force of Annam attacking us, not our hundreds of thousands of troops going all over the mountains and fields to find the Annamite people. Especially crucially, the money for these constructions and raising troops can be earned from Annan. Not only does it not need to use the treasury, but it can also provide a lot of food to the Ming Dynasty to enrich the Ming Dynasty's treasury. ”

Xu Jingchang introduced this, and Zhu Di couldn't help but be moved.

Zhu Gaochi next to him is even more devastated, and his cousin's hand is really beautiful, and it is simply impeccable.

In fact, it is not that the past dynasties have not thought about including Annan in the territory, nor have they not sent troops to fight, and the problem is never how to enter it, but how to hold it and how to use the lower cost to control the territory.

With great fanfare, an army of 100,000 will fight over, and that will not work in any case.

Xu Jingchang's thinking, one of the most basic things, is not to burden the Ming treasury, and there is no need to invest too many soldiers and horses.

Focusing on commerce and trade, making money first, and then dripping through the stones, swallowing and encroaching, the most important one is to use the local contradictions to cultivate forces close to the Ming Dynasty.

"Father, the son thinks that what the prince of Dingguo said, it is the right thing to seek the country. Those ministers who were in charge of the war did not take into account the national conditions of Annam at all, nor did they sympathize with the difficulties of the national treasury, and they turned their backs on the ideas of the past, and only blindly belligerent. I really don't know what the intention is? ”

Zhu Gaochi did not hesitate to launch an impeachment against several ministers of the main battle.

Liu Jun, the secretary of the military department, was also full of embarrassment...... He originally thought that Zhu Di would be the main battle, and if he wanted to expand his territory and cater to the Son of Heaven, he would definitely succeed. But in any case, he didn't expect that Xu Jingchang would make a move and come up with a complete plan...... It can not only make a fortune, but also be able to swallow Annam.

Not to mention whether you can do it in the end, but it's always right to make some money first.

After all, the Ming Dynasty is not rich, Zhu Di wants to use troops, but he wants to use troops in the north, completely cut off the threat of the Mongolian tribes, and use troops in Annam and other places.

"Your Majesty, the Hu clan usurped the country, and Chen Tianping cried and begged for mercy from the kingdom and help restore the country. Instead of helping the Chen family, Da Ming helped the Hu family's rebels, and the ministers were afraid that they would lose people's hearts! ”

Zhu Di frowned, and suddenly shouted angrily, "Who said that the Hu family is a thief?" When did I say that? Could it be that you Liu Shangshu meant? ”

Liu Jun was so frightened that he trembled, and his face became too fast, "Your Majesty, the minister doesn't dare, the minister doesn't mean this, please forgive Your Majesty." ”

Saying that, Liu Jun knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

He was really frightened, he offended the prince, not to mention, even His Majesty turned his face, and now he is thinking about resigning from the old man as soon as possible.

Zhu Di pondered for a moment and didn't continue to say anything, after all, he was also one of the main fighters.

"Send a message to the Duke of Qianguo, let him hand over a copy of Annan's situation, it must be detailed and careful."

Zhu Di issued an edict, and the ministers dispersed.

Zhu Gaochi caught up with Xu Jingchang with joy, "Brother Xian, what you said this time is too good, if you listen to them, not to mention the loss of labor and money, it is easy to lose the army, these things keep talking, cherish fame and fortune, and benevolent and kingly...... As a result, when things happen, they always add to the chaos, which is simply misleading the country and the people. ”

Xu Jingchang said with a smile: "That's right, how to deal with the vassal country, you can't listen to these rotten Confucians." Because we put the interests of the Ming Dynasty first, when necessary, we need to deal with villains, and we have to abandon some good people who are not cooperative and have no value, which is something that their heads cannot understand. Therefore, in the future, it is necessary to avoid involving them in specific external affairs. It is enough for them to know who is good and who is bad. Of course, that's what we're going to do. ”

(End of chapter)