It's September, and the weather is getting cooler.

Autumn in Jiangnan is also relatively comfortable and pleasant, but the recent nights have made people feel a little chilly.

"Goo-goo!"

In the early morning, when the east is just white, the silence of the night is broken.

On the flagpole outside the post station, a few gray pigeons were parked and scurried up.

In the distance, a few military horses went south along the official road and came all the way here.

A septuagenarian general jumped off his horse, and the powerful soldiers around him immediately supported him, but the old general waved his hand casually and pushed him several steps away.

Obviously, this old general who did not have a flag on his back is not a showman, he is old but his body is extremely tough.

This person is the general of Zhennan of the Hongwu Dynasty, Fengtian Yiyun pushes Cheng Xuanli Wuchen, and Zhenyuan Marquis Gu Cheng.

Gu Cheng followed Zhu Yuanzhang to fight the world when he was young, but he was born a burly and majestic man, and he was good at making Ma Lance full of tattoos, just like Gan Ning in the Three Kingdoms.

Needless to say, Zhu Yuanzhang's ferry was stranded on the beach, and the situation was very close to the chasing, Gu Cheng actually went directly on his back, walking like flying, and his strength was definitely not inferior to Zhu Gaochu when he was young.

To be more precise, Gu Chengcheng is the ultimate evolved version of Zhu Gaoxu.

Because in the following years, Gu Cheng exercised excellent command ability and ability as the commander, after the defeat of Zhending and captured, Zhu Di, the king of Yan, staged the drama of "interpreting Gu Cheng", and from then on, Gu Cheng was the chief general of Beiping in the actual sense, commanding the city defense dispatch and blocking Li Jinglong's onslaught at any cost.

Well. Every time Jing Nan is mentioned, Li Jinglong is the background board.

The old general looked up into the distance with a somewhat nostalgic expression.

"I haven't been back in years."

After finishing speaking, the old general Gu Cheng strode towards the post station.

Behind him, a group of guards followed.

"Old General Gu? You're back! ”

When the post man behind the door saw the old general, he immediately showed a look of surprise, obviously an acquaintance.

"Hmm!"

Gu Cheng nodded, and then instructed the guards beside him: "A few of you go to the guest room to rest for a while, and then add some beans to the horse." ”

Seeing that a few people had made good arrangements, Yi Chengfang dared to interject: "I sent you out on an expedition four years ago, and I haven't heard from you for a long time. ”

"It's just floating in the sea."

Gu Cheng's heart seemed to be a little heavy, and he didn't want to say more, he said to the shopkeeper.

"Prepare breakfast for them, and we'll leave when we're done."

"Understood!"

The post man took the order and left.

Gu Cheng took a step, climbed the stairs and walked towards the familiar house, and after a while, he pushed open the window in his room, opening the door to look at the scenery in the distance.

Although it has been a long time since I came to Gangnam, Gangnam still maintains its beauty and style.

Especially in autumn like this, it is even more moving.

"Ahh

Suddenly, Gu Cheng sighed, with a melancholy expression on his face.

"Too liquid hibiscus, not the same, the color of the old times. I remembered, the spring breeze and rain dew, the jade building Jinque. After the famous Lan Xin concubine, the side of the king with a faint tide lotus face. Suddenly, the drum opened the sky, and the prosperity rested.

The dragon and tiger are scattered, and the wind and clouds are extinguished. Hate through the ages, who can say. To the mountains and rivers one hundred and two, tears and blood. The inn is a night terror and a dusty dream, and the palace car is running through the mountains and moons. Ask Chang'e, am I willing to be calm, and the same circle is lacking? ”

At the same time, there was another sound of horses' hooves outside the inn.

"Old General Gu's good words!"

A pleasant female voice sounded, and Gu Cheng turned around in surprise, but saw two people who surprised him a little.

Zhu Di and Queen Xu, who was dressed in hunting clothes, were climbing the stairs.

"Your Majesty, Queen Mother."

Gu Cheng hurriedly came out to greet him, but was stopped by Zhu Di taking two steps.

Although Gu Cheng has always refused to officially serve the Yan army, he will always give full play to his veteran military experience and formulate strategic planning and campaign design for Zhu Di.

Gu Cheng is the veritable chief of general staff of the Yan Army.

Gu Cheng insisted on saluting: "The minister wants to return to Nanjing to report to His Majesty on his errand, but His Majesty went out of the city to greet him, which really made the minister feel uneasy. ”

"There is no need for this between Old General Gu and me."

Zhu Di said with a smile: "What's more, I and the queen were both grown up under the watchful eyes of General Gu, they were originally like a family, General Gu came back from Beiping thousands of miles away, and there is nothing that cannot be separated today, how can there be a reason not to go out of the city to greet him?" ”

The two sides exchanged pleasantries for a while, and things like debriefing and handing over errands naturally had to be discussed by formal monarchs and ministers on the right occasion, and Gu Cheng talked about another thing.

"I heard that Cao Guogong is going to Japan?"

Zhu Di nodded.

Gu Cheng didn't save any face for Li Jinglong, a junior child, and said directly.

"Your Majesty, isn't it afraid that Cao Guogong will spoil a major national event? Even if you are not afraid, the death of the Duke of Daming in a foreign country is always a scandal, right? ”

At noon in the Imperial Prison, the sun was shining.

But Li Jinglong's face was pale, like an old corpse that had just been dug out of the ground.

Regarding the matter of Japan, it is no problem for you to let Li Jinglong talk on paper, but if you let him really do it, Li Jinglong is a million unwilling.

Although Japan seemed to be quite deferential in the past few years, counting back a few years, Li Jinglong clearly remembered that it was the envoy of the Ming Dynasty who had detained and killed him.

Don't say that the Ming family doesn't dare to kill, who knows what kind of psychology the Japanese shogun is?

Maybe the "General Zhengyi" thinks it is more exciting to kill a high-ranking official of the Ming Kingdom to sacrifice the flag?

Li Jinglong raised his eyes and looked around, but he was like a lonely man with no one to ask for help.

There is no way, the civil officials left behind by the Jianwen Dynasty do not want to see him, the Huaixi founding nobles feel that he is ashamed, and the upstarts in Jingnan even look down on him as a defeated general in their hearts.

In addition, Zhu Di handpicked him, I don't know whether he wants to borrow a knife to kill, or really wants to give him a chance to play his strengths, or both.

Li Jinglong sighed, and thought helplessly: "To be handsome is to be jealous." ”

And Jiang Xinghuo came over in a daze at this time, sober and sober, he has slept longer than before recently, anyway, there is nothing to do, he only gets up at three o'clock in the morning.

Jiang Xinghuo yawned and greeted the restless man under the newly crooked neck tree.

"Morning."

The moment Li Jinglong saw Jiang Xinghuo, his eyes widened slightly, and he shouted directly.

"Jiang Lang save me!"

"Huh?"

Jiang Xinghuo listened to the other party's words, was slightly stunned, and then smiled: "What to save?" You're not alive and well. ”

Li Jinglong smiled bitterly, he can't reveal his identity now, and he can't tell Jiang Xinghuo about the changes in the outside world, he really doesn't know how to describe his predicament.

Just thinking about it, Zhu Gaoxu slipped two bags of things into the prison area on the other side.

The three of them converged under a tree.

"What is this?"

Looking at the things that the bearded man was carrying, Jiang Xinghuo asked curiously.

"Give him practice." Zhu Gaoxu mouthed at Li Jinglong.

Immediately, Zhu Gaoxu explained to Jiang Xinghuo: "He spent money to find a relationship in the palace, and if he wanted to find an errand, he said that he could get out of prison early, but the eunuchs in the palace were unreliable, and the last errand he found was to go to the Ryukyu Kingdom to announce the decree and inform the King of the Ryukyu Kingdom that His Majesty had ascended the throne and hurried to pay tribute." ”

Li Jinglong was stunned, but he didn't expect Zhu Gaoxu to become more and more intelligent, and he actually thought of a decent statement for him in advance.

"Isn't it just going to the Ryukyus to make a decree? What's in it? ”

Jiang Xinghuo didn't know much about Ryukyu at this time, and it was only after Zhu Gaoxu, who didn't know who he had to do his homework, that he came to his senses.

The so-called Ryukyu is the Sui Yang Emperor's seasonal feather cavalry captain Zhu Kuan to visit the strange customs, starting from the border of this country, looking at it from afar between the waves, the pan swirls and meanders, if it floats in the water, so because of the name of Ryukyu also, later in order to avoid it, it was changed to Ryukyu.

The Ryukyu Kingdom is located between China's treasure island and Japan's Kyushu Island, and its island chain winds for 2,000 miles.

And the complicated thing is that the Ryukyu Kingdom at that time was not one kingdom, but three!

The Ryukyu Kingdom, is Shannan, Zhongshan, Shanbei three kingdoms common to the outside world, Hongwu five years, because of poor information, Zhongshan King Chadu first received the edict and sent the royal brother with the Ming envoy back to pay tribute, the Ming Ming confused Ryukyu as a kingdom.

Although the king of Shannan, who learned the news in the second year, and the king of Shanbei, who was afraid of Nizhi, sent people to pay tribute, the Ming Dynasty did not mention this matter next, and continued to use Ryukyu as a unified name, and gave three camel buttons gilded silver seals.

In short, the Ryukyu Kingdom had three kings in the Ming Dynasty, and it is not known whether the officials of the Ministry of Rites of the Hongwu Dynasty planned to make mistakes or had the intention of dividing and conquering, and the former is more likely.

The trouble at the moment is that as time passed, the three kingdoms had their own minds and different interests, so the three Ryukyu kingdoms went to war.

Li Jinglong listened to this set of rhetoric together, and couldn't help but be a little surprised, Ryukyu was close to Japan, and it was not eye-catching, and he skillfully explained to Jiang Xinghuo the problem he faced.

In this way, he can not only ask Jiang Xinghuo about his plan, but also not let him directly realize that he is being hidden.

Zhu Gaoxu has become so smart now?

Moreover, people came prepared at a glance, and the historical origin and domestic situation were clearly understood.

Thinking of this, Li Jinglong couldn't help but be a little moved.

is worthy of being a good brother who has been in the same window together.

Although it is behind bars.

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at Li Jinglong proudly, and asked the third child for information and studied it together for half a night, isn't it the effect of this moment?

Scumbag, I have to come.

"What do you think about the envoy to the Ryukyus?"

Jiang Xinghuo asked after a moment of silence.

Li Jinglong brought in the role, and said with a bitter face: "I don't want to go, I spent money to buy the relationship, and I got such an errand, it is better to squat in the edict prison honestly." ”

"And I really haven't been an envoy either." Li Jinglong honestly admitted, "How can we ensure our own safety while promoting the prestige of the great tomorrow, and the scale of this is not good." ”

Just like the Han Dynasty, when he went to the Western Regions as an envoy, since there were those who drew their swords to behead the Huns, there were naturally those who drew their swords and were beheaded by the Huns.

Therefore, how to deal with the relationship between all parties and how to make a decision at the right time is really a university question.

Zhu Gaoxu interjected again: "When I go to Ryukyu, one is that there is already a scuffle there, and the other is that there are Japanese robbers on the road!" ”

Speaking of the word "Japanese Kou", Zhu Gaoxu glanced at Li Jinglong.

- Understood in seconds.

When Li Jinglong heard this, he was stunned for a moment, and seemed to hesitate a little: "Is there really a wolf?" ”

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said: "There are really Japanese pirates, but they can't see them on weekdays at sea, and if you go to the Ryukyus side, it is estimated that you will encounter the fleet of Japanese pirates, which is very dangerous." But if you take the sea route of Dengzhou by boat, it is safe. ”

"I heard that Ryukyu is very close to Japan, hey, what can I do, what can I do!"

Li Jinglong sighed at Jiang Xinghuo, hinting frantically.

Jiang Xinghuo naturally had a snack on the distress of his close inmates, and after patiently listening to the conversation between the two, he basically understood the information in it, so he said.

"So, the reason why you don't want to leave the Imperial Prison to send an envoy to Ryukyu is nothing more than the two reasons he said, the first is that you are afraid of encountering Japanese pirates at sea, and the second is that you are worried that the other party's domestic situation will be chaotic.

"This" Li Jinglong was silent for a few breaths, and finally shook his head and sighed.

"That's it, I'm afraid that if I go, I won't be able to come back."

Li Jinglong knew very well that although he was talking about the Ryukyu Kingdom on the surface, he was actually talking about Japan, and the situation in Japan was even more chaotic.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the last generation of generals who controlled the country's affairs, is similar to a "little Dong Zhuo" character, and he is also the kind that will die soon.

He is not surprised by what the other party can do.

If I go to Japan this time, I guess I won't be able to come back.

Although Li Jinglong is not very good at fighting compared with the world's famous generals, his head is still very flexible, and he knows that if he goes to that kind of environment, he will definitely die inexplicably. It's still comfortable to stay in the edict prison, eat, drink and gamble, and you can still listen to lectures and learn some knowledge every once in a while, even if you are a prisoner, it is better than going to die.

And Li Jinglong believes that Zhu Di is absolutely willing to give him up.

From a dark point of view, maybe Zhu Di will wait for Cao Guogong, the head of the hundred officials of the Ming Dynasty, to die in Japan, and then justifiably raise a division to fight against it.

Cao Guogong is my sibling brother and dear relatives and friends.

What a good excuse.

As for how Cao Guogong died, it doesn't matter.

Thinking of this, Li Jinglong couldn't help but decide that he must bring more generals from the Cao Guogong Mansion, so as to ensure that he would not be stabbed in the back by "his own people" in the mission.

Who knows if they have a secret decree from Zhu Di to kill him?

"Actually, these two points are not a problem."

Jiang Xinghuo thought for a while and said: "The first point, about the problem of the Japanese Invaders, you only need to ask the imperial court to send more sailors to protect it, there is nothing to say about this, the combat effectiveness of the Japanese Invaders is not as strong as you think, and their ships are completely incomparable with the regular ships of the Ming Naval Division." ”

"As for the second point."

Jiang Xinghuo cleared his throat and said, "On the occasion of parting, for your safety, let's temporarily change the class schedule." ”

"Today, let's move on to the second volume of "The Fortune of the Country", geopolitics and national characteristics."

"As a continuation of the content of the dynastic cyclical law in the first volume of the "Treatise on the Fortune of the Country", in the second volume, we will not only be limited to the perspective of a dynasty, but take the countries around China as examples, and explore the formation and development of their countries, as well as the emergence and similarities and differences of national characteristics."

"At the same time, this is another perspective to tell the history and evolution of the situation between countries, through this perspective, you can understand that countries never exist in isolation, they are in a holistic environment, and they need to be viewed as a whole, rather than analyzed in isolation."

Hearing this, Li Jinglong and Zhu Gaoxu were a little surprised.

They originally thought that "The Theory of National Fortune" had finished talking about the periodic law of the dynasty, and how to solve the periodic law of the dynasty through the three perspectives of forced labor, grain, ploughing cattle and seeds, and "The Theory of National Fortune" would be regarded as a graduation.

Unexpectedly, there was a second volume of "The Theory of National Fortune".

Moreover, judging from Jiang Xinghuo's words, it seems that this second volume is not only about one country, but about many countries.

That's a lot of fun.

According to the concept of the high-level Ming Dynasty in the past, the Ming Dynasty was the upper kingdom of the Celestial Empire, and all the barbarians in the four seas were barbarians.

No one has ever suggested that countries need to look at their historical evolution and current situation as a whole.

This new perspective is refreshing to them.

Jiang Xinghuo continued: "If you can deeply understand the content of this lesson, then I believe that it will be very helpful for you to go overseas, to understand how their attitude towards the Ming Dynasty was formed, and what their national characteristics are, so as to formulate your foreign communication strategy." ”

"After all, this is the so-called knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent in a hundred battles, knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent here, not only to know what it is, that is, to know what the situation in the other party's country is like, but also to know why, that is, to know what is the cause of this situation in the other party's country, which is the most important thing."

Li Jinglong and Zhu Gaoxu nodded at the same time.

This is exactly the same as the truth in Sun Tzu's Art of War.

In other words, the truth under the world is like this, everything is clear.

And Li Jinglong was also a little surprised, why he was extremely afraid of going to Japan.

The source of man's fear is unknown.

And this kind of unknown, as Jiang Xinghuo said, is by no means knowing some brief information about the other party, even if it is already known.

The real unknown is ignorance of the root of things.

And Jiang Xinghuo gave him this lesson before parting today is to tell him clearly how these surrounding countries came to be, how history evolved, what is the relationship between each other, and what are the national characteristics that are completely different from those of the Ming Dynasty.

And figuring out these is tantamount to Li Jinglong seeing through the opponent's underwear and psychology when he is playing with the other party, so that he can naturally easily grasp the corresponding scale.

Knowing what conditions the other party can accept, and what conditions I originally thought were taken for granted, but I touched the other party's scales.

Jiang Xinghuo probably finished the brief overview of the second volume, and then said.

"The second volume is also divided into several parts, and the first part is 'Geographical Determinism', which is also related to the lesson we talked about before, but it is also very different."

"Now, let's get started."

Thank you to "Super God Seiya" and "Cat Who Can't Program" for the alliance of the two readers! Especially thanks to the "Super God Seiya" for the reward to Xiao Jiang and the old monk, the author Jun kowtowed to you according to Xiao Jiang!

(End of chapter)