"There are two main ways to restrain the enemy country without falling into a vicious circle, let's talk about the first one, that is, the enemy country whose strength is not enough to threaten its own country, but the country is not sure of it militarily, that is, it is difficult for its military power to influence the enemy country."

"This first method is called geopolitical balance."

Jiang Xinghuo began to write and draw again on the ground.

But this time, it was written in Chinese characters and symbols, and there were no numbers.

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at it and breathed a sigh of relief.

The last time he talked about "Barrow-Ricardo equivalence", the string of weird numbers and symbols that was so complicated that he would dream up when he slept at night really didn't want to go through it again.

Considering the level of acceptance of the students, what Jiang Xinghuo wants to talk about is not too complicated.

In fact, it is only the most basic theory of balance of power in international relations, and if this thing is traced back to its roots, it is not fundamentally different from the set of things of the Zongheng family during the Warring States period, but it is more systematic and theoretical, and it is easy for ordinary people to learn and master.

In geopolitical and diplomatic theory, it is one of the most common strategies.

"As we said before, the reason why the country feels insecure is that, like the prisoner game of the Japanese invaders, in order to obtain security, the state will be forced to seize more and more power and expand its armament to avoid the impact of power in other countries and obtain security."

"And the geopolitical balance is to transfer this sense of insecurity to other countries."

"In other words, transfer the object of the game from oneself and the enemy to the enemy and others."

"In other words, the country balances its opponents through its own or allied forces, and achieves a balance of power, so as to achieve the purpose of safeguarding national security, that is, geopolitical balance of power diplomacy."

——————

"Diplomacy."

Zhu Di chewed on these two words.

In Zhu Di's heart, what is more important and more inspired is the "balance of power".

This not only reminded Zhu Di of the problem that has been bothering him recently, well, it is not the Timurid Khanate, but the Lichu.

"I remember that it was mentioned in "Dongguan Hanji: The Biography of Zheng Zhong", right?" Zhu Di frowned slightly, but said, "This is not a good word." ”

Hearing this, Zhu Gaochi was a little on pins and needles.

There is no other reason, in the book that my father said, the original text is "the prince and the prince have no diplomatic righteousness, the Han has old defenses, and the kings are not suitable for visitors", and the "diplomacy" in this refers to the prince or vassal king, and the interaction with foreign ministers.

And if you think about it further, there is a worse meaning of this word, that is, to communicate with foreign countries and to interact privately with foreign countries.

"Han Feizi Youdu" has "forgetting the master diplomacy in order to enter the relationship", and "Historical Records: The Biography of Su Qin Lie" also has "The husband is a minister, cutting off his lord's land for diplomacy, stealing a momentary success and ignoring the aftermath".

Thinking of this, he didn't know whether his father was intentional or unintentional, so Zhu Gaochi struggled to get up again.

And in the secret room, who didn't know such a statement, they all held their breath.

I don't know why the emperor took the opportunity to beat the eldest prince at this time.

Just when Zhu Gaochi wanted to get up, Dao Yan beside him held him down.

Dao Yan said in a dry voice: "There is a cloud in "Chinese Jin Yu VIII": if he does not dare to flee away, he will be reluctant to be diplomatic and reluctant to repay his virtue, right? The so-called diplomacy extends to the meaning of the national level, the foreign exchanges between countries. ”

"Is that such an allusion?"

Zhu Di laughed for a while: "The master is familiar with the past and the present, but I am lonely and unheard." ”

As soon as Zhu Di said this, the atmosphere in the secret room suddenly relaxed a lot.

In fact, as the most sensitive topic today, the stormy waves that are about to be rolled up in the dispute between the establishment and reserve are already a future that everyone can see.

It is true that Zhu Gaochi is the son of King Yan, and it is not false that Zhu Gaochi has excellent ability to handle government affairs, if he is replaced by the emperor next to him, Zhu Gaochi, the prince, will already be stable, even if he is not in good health, isn't there still a good saint grandson?

But as his opponent for the crown prince, the second prince Zhu Gaoxu is a person who can compete with him.

Zhu Gaoxu bravely crowned the three armies, had outstanding prestige in the Yan army, and won the hearts of the army, and the reason why Zhu Di was able to ascend the throne was because of the brave and warlike Yan army, so the influence of the noble military ministers in the army on Zhu Di was great, far exceeding the civilian system inherited from the old ministers of Jianwen.

These noble military ministers, abandoning their families and careers to pin their heads to the waistband of their trousers to rebel against Zhu Di and do big things, are high-risk and high-reward, and now they are controlling the army for Zhu Di, for Zhu Di, whether from an emotional or practical point of view, this is a force that cannot be ignored.

Compared with his eldest brother, Zhu Gaoxu also has the advantage that his physical health is outrageous.

From another point of view, Zhu Di has just sat on the throne, and it is when he is consolidating the imperial power, so Zhu Di is not in a hurry to establish a prince.

Isn't the establishment of the crown prince to divide his own imperial power?

Again, "real" is not the same as "name", you should work for me, and I will consider giving you this "name" if you do a good job.

But Zhu Di also has to consider that if the dispute between the princes and the prince makes too many waves, it will also be a threat to his imperial power.

Don't you see the story of Tang Gaozu Li Yuan?

Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin attacked each other and won over the courtiers and generals to stand in line, but in the end, the power loyal to the emperor was much less, which directly weakened Li Yuan's imperial power.

Zhu Di himself started a rebellion, so he naturally took it as a warning.

The word "diplomacy" is just an introduction that Zhu Di intentionally or unintentionally used to knock Zhu Gaochi.

The deeper meaning is how Zhu Di intends to deal with and balance the relationship between Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaochu after he was released from prison.

There is a need for a balance of power between countries, and there is no need for princes and princes?

Originally, this kind of problem was only thought about by Zhu Di alone.

Even Dao Yan didn't say much.

In fact, before coming to the edict, Zhu Di had not yet thought about how to deal with the dispute between Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaochu.

From the point of view of his heart, Zhu Di does not plan to repeat the old things of the early Tang Dynasty.

In other words, the red line of the army, whether it is Zhu Gaochi or Zhu Gaoxu, don't touch it!

It is precisely because of this that Zhu Di refuted Zhu Gaoxu's request to apply to lead the army to erase the Jurchens, and Zhu Di did not plan to let his sons get military power at all.

But in this way, Zhu Gaochi, who did not lead troops to fight, did not suffer a loss, but Zhu Gaochi, as the world's number one fierce general, undoubtedly suffered a loss, and a big loss!

It is precisely because of this that Zhu Di deliberately handed over the tax police corps to Zhu Gaoxu, which was regarded as some kind of compensation.

But since he was not allowed to touch the army, and Zhu Di did not plan to set up a prince too early to threaten his imperial power, then the two would inevitably have a dispute.

Generally speaking, it means that the courtiers stand in line separately, and then the party fights with each other, fights with words, stumbles, and attacks endlessly.

And this, in fact, will also affect Zhu Di to consolidate the imperial power.

After all, now that the Jingjing disaster has just ended, what Zhu Di needs is an efficient ruling machine to restore people's livelihood and push administrative orders, rather than a ruling machine that demolishes each other.

So Zhu Di made a difficulty, how could he let these two sons compete with each other for the position of prince without touching the army and not interfering with the government, and he would be the emperor on it?

Jiang Xinghuo's words today gave Zhu Di a lot of inspiration.

The first one, naturally, is the separation of the two capitals of the 'emperor and the prince', after Zhu Di pondered, a flash of inspiration, this set of things is not necessarily to separate the emperor and the prince, wouldn't letting Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaochu separate solve his problem?

One goes to Beijing, the other stays in Nanjing, and neither of them can touch the military power.

As for how to compete?

In Beijing, the school is tested according to the new policies such as restoring people's livelihood, resisting Mongolia, and implementing the apportionment into the mu, which is almost the same in Nanjing, but because the development level of the north and the south is different, there must be a trade-off, as for how to weigh it, Zhu Di didn't think about it.

The second is the method of balance of power.

Jiang Xinghuo has not talked about this yet, but Zhu Di believes that these methods, if he learns them, and directly practice them on his two sons, it should also be very effective.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di, who had solved the long-standing problem of competing for storage, suddenly felt better.

Turn your insecurity on someone else.

Not bad.

——————

"Balance of power diplomacy, first of all, the so-called diplomacy, I have a more personal, or more straightforward definition."

Jiang Xinghuo said: "It is the activity of handling international relations with foreign countries by sending envoys, submitting credentials, negotiating, forming or destroying alliances, declaring war or truce, and secretly conducting activities by means of spying on intelligence, sowing discord, and plotting rebellion. ”

Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but say: "The diplomacy of the Ming Dynasty does not seem to cover all the content here. ”

"Daming's etiquette department is still too face-saving."

Jiang Xinghuo said with a smile: "Between countries, there are only eternal interests, no eternal friends, let alone eternal vassal states. ”

"When the Han Dynasty was strong, they paid tribute to the Han Dynasty, and when the Tang Dynasty was strong, they paid tribute to the Tang Dynasty, and the vision of the Central Plains Dynasty was always limited to a large corner of China, and they couldn't see the outside world, so they naturally used the same old set of rules."

Zheng He was thoughtful.

Since seeing the vastness of the ocean and the vastness of the world, Zheng He has opened his horizons, and it is precisely because of this personal experience that Zheng He has become more and more determined to go to the West.

When going to the West, it is inevitable to face an inevitable problem.

How to deal with relations with countries outside the tributary system?

This problem can be said to be unprecedented.

The safest way to do this is to throw a lot of coins.

Every country to give rewards, give favors, that must be along the way all countries welcome, to the Ming Emperor to write a letter of state to send a messenger back, all countries to the emperor to coax the emperor happy.

But the question is, what is the purpose of going to the West?

Of course, it's money!

Since Zhu Di wants to send Zheng He to make money, then the big coin will really become a big coin.

But if not, how?

No one knows, and no dynasty has ever given an answer.

Everyone lives in the small circle of Huaxia behind closed doors, and has never been far away, Zheng He This is the first time.

Therefore, Zheng He has been distressed by this.

But today, Jiang Xinghuo seems to be about to give a feasible answer.

"The question of how to diplomacy will be discussed later, but here is just a brief talk about the meaning of diplomacy, and the focus is still on the geopolitical balance of power."

Hearing Jiang Xinghuo's words, Zheng He almost didn't catch his breath.

"Ho ho~"

"Are you alright?"

Zhu Gaoxu kindly patted Zheng He's back with his big hand that could pull out a tree, and almost slapped Zheng He's internal organs down the throat.

Jiang Xinghuo saw that he didn't cough anymore, so he put his mind at ease and continued to preach.

"Come, you two break your fists and strike a pose first."

Zhu Gaoxu and Zheng He followed Jiang Xinghuo's guidance, and their fists crossed and their wrists were together.

Jiang Xinghuo looked at the position and saw that it was basically balanced, so he said, "Let's use Sancheng strength to compete first." ”

The two of them began to fight, and the skin on their hands turned red.

It may be that Sancheng's strength is not easy to measure, or it may be that Zhu Gaochu is indeed powerful, even if Zheng He is also a military general who went to the battlefield to fight, or after a few breaths, he obviously fell into a disadvantage, and only maintained not to be completely overwhelmed, which may be the result of Zhu Gaochu letting go of the water.

Jiang Xinghuo nodded with satisfaction, if the two were evenly matched, it would be difficult for him to explain.

Jiang Xinghuo stretched out his hand, put it on the fist on the side of the disadvantage, and said: "This is the principle of the geographical balance, you see, now that he has fallen into the disadvantage, I want to help him fight against you." ”

After that, Jiang Xinghuo exerted his strength with one hand.

The thread remained untouched.

Jiang Xinghuo exerted his strength with both hands.

The thread remained untouched.

Jiang Xinghuo kicked the ground with his feet and exerted his whole body.

The thread remained untouched.

Jiang Xinghuo gave up his strength.

"You see, this is the end of a weak force and a desire to play the balance of power."

"Four taels of thousands of pounds, there must be four taels, this is a wrong demonstration."

Jiang Xinghuo's face was not red and his heart was not beating, and he continued.

"You can finish."

Zhu Gaoxu and Zheng He released their fists.

Jiang Xinghuo dusted off the dust that didn't exist on his body to hide his embarrassment.

"The balance of power can be accomplished in two ways, one is to reduce the side with more power and the other is to increase the side with less power. I'm not talking nonsense. ”

"Based on these two approaches, the balance of power has given birth to five strategies that have been available for thousands of years."

"Divide and rule, cut the flesh, balance the armaments, unite vertically and horizontally, and support the weak."

——————

"Wait."

Zhu Di suddenly raised his hand in vain.

"Li Shangshu."

As soon as he heard that the emperor did not call Li Qing, Li Zhigang was a little apprehensive in his heart.

"The minister is here."

Zhu Di asked a puzzling sentence: "Tell me what your Ministry of Rites usually does, the more specific the better." ”

Can the emperor not know what the six are doing?

Li Zhigang didn't know why, so he could only say cautiously: "The usual work of the Ministry of Rites is divided into four divisions, ceremonies, ancestral sacrifices, hosts and guests, and fine meals. ”

Yes, the Ministry of Rites is very miscellaneous, and the Department of Ceremonies is mainly responsible for the agenda, organization and preparation of various celebrations and daily activities and meetings of the imperial court, as well as the issuance of various letters of appointment, ribbons, etc.

In fact, the main thing is diplomatic work, mainly for the management of foreign countries and foreign envoys, including part of the entry and exit management and translation.

The fine catering department is mainly to manage the whole process of eating, holding banquets, and eating from the whole process.

The priest of the ancestral hall is responsible for matters related to sacrifices, such as going to the altar in the eastern suburbs to worship the "fertilizer immortals".

Oh, by the way, the Fertilizer Immortal actually has a name here in the Ministry of Rites.

It's just that according to the ancient Chinese way of naming immortals, it is a little bit longer.

"Transforming and relieving disasters, relieving hardships, helping the people, enriching the sea, and fertilizing the immortals", referred to as "fertilizer immortals".

When Zhu Di heard this, he gave a key comment.

"In the future, Li Shangshu's main energy will be more on foreign exchanges."

Zhu Di said slowly: "What countries are in the world outside the Ming Dynasty, what are the conditions, what benefits can the Ming Dynasty get from it, or which countries can threaten the Ming Dynasty, and what kind of foreign strategy the Ming Dynasty adopts against these countries, aren't these things Li Shangshu have to consider?" Don't just focus on ordinary things like banquets and sacrifices every day, look outside! ”

When Li Zhigang heard this, he was not surprised.

What is the most desired thing for someone like him?

Authority!

But the Ministry of Rites could have had the authority of a fart?

Giving people a seal and issuing a letter of appointment is a stamping job, and the decision is in the hands of the officials; Holding banquets and sacrifices is a powerless thing; Receiving foreign emissaries for tribute, there is no power to speak of.

And now, the emperor's intention is obvious, to increase the authority of the Ministry of Rites.

The Ministry of Rites can send envoys to foreign countries on behalf of the Ming Dynasty to understand the situation, and can also formulate foreign strategies for the emperor, study what kind of benefits the Ming can obtain overseas, and what enemies overseas need to be contained by the Ming Dynasty through joint efforts.

This authority is so much greater than before!

Don't you see Su Qin hanging the seal of the six countries?

At this time, Zhu Gaoxu's voice also came from next door.

"Mr. Jiang, can you give a specific example of this geographical balance?"

"Which country would you like to take as an example?"

"Uh, Japan?"

(End of chapter)