"Boiling a frog in warm water is a good analogy."

Zhu Di clapped his hands gently, and his eyes showed a look of appreciation.

"Thanks to Mr. Jiang's strategy, I already have some ideas about how to deal with Japan."

Instigated the Japanese Civil War, carved up the shogunate, maintained the balance of power, provoked mutual betrayal, and supported the weak to infiltrate the Ming Dynasty and constantly encroach!

"In the past, Jia Xu decided to plot to disrupt Chang'an, and now Mr. Jiang is determined to disrupt Japan."

Xia Yuanji also said sincerely: "Mr. Jiang's plan is not much better than Zhiwen and Chaowu!" ”

"I didn't expect Mr. Jiang to understand the art of the Zongheng family!"

Zhu Gaochi sighed for a while.

It must be known that the Zongheng family started from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and declined in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Pei Ju designed to divide the Western Turkic tribes, instructed the Khan to attack Luo Khan in the mud, and dismantled the hundreds of thousands of thousands of miles of people who controlled the strings in a laughing and laughing way, which was almost the last afterglow of the Zongheng technique.

In the Tang Dynasty, although it was also used, because the Tang army was too strong, the role it played was far less brilliant than that of its ancestors.

As for the Song Dynasty.

Bah!

Although the alliance of the abyss is aggrieved, it has brought a hundred years of peace, and what will it be like to be united in the future?

The iron-blooded Great Song Dynasty first had the alliance of the sea to destroy Liao, and the buffer zone that had been peaceful for a hundred years was destroyed; There is Shaoxing and the negotiation to kill Yue Fei, and from the legal point of view, "the south is from the south, and the north is from the north" to lose the hearts of the people in the north; Later, Duan Ping entered Luo, and he also wanted to engage in the Jin State's set of "guarding the river" and take the unoccupied area of Henan into his own hands, but he ignored the logistics and troops, and used 60,000 Huaixi troops to do what the 200,000 elite with armor of the Jin State could do, and was served by the Mongols.

Therefore, since the Song Dynasty, no one has been able to use the vertical and horizontal technique.

The Yuan Dynasty didn't need it, and the Ming Dynasty didn't play it much.

So that in this era of the Battle of Jingyan, the moves of the northern and southern armies outside the battlefield were really rare, and Zhu Di rushed thousands of miles to attack Daning and coerce King Ning, which became the only highlight moment for both sides to move outside the battlefield.

As for Emperor Jianwen's clumsy peace talks, the three-year-old child didn't believe it.

Therefore, with the lack of objects that are vertical and horizontal, and no one cares about this mess, the Ministry of Rites of the Ming Dynasty has naturally become a sealed yamen, which is also an inevitability.

However, this situation has gradually begun to change as the vision of the high-level of the Ming Empire gradually expands to the wider world.

Zhu Di was an ambitious emperor, and his gaze was not limited to the remnants of the Northern Yuan Dynasty that was beaten back to his hometown and curled up in Mobei, but also looked at Japan, Annam, Nanyang, and even the more distant countries of Tianzhu and Taixi.

After Jiang Xinghuo's persistent teaching, the high-level people of the Ming Empire now have a broader "international vision".

In other words, at this time, the Ming Empire was no longer like the previous dynasties, which only knew how to wage wars in the interior to grab land, but began to pay attention to the surrounding forms and actively participate in affairs in other directions...... Including, meddling in the affairs of neighboring countries to obtain benefits for the Ming Dynasty.

"By the way, Li Shangshu, how is the envoy sent to North Korea by the Ministry of Rites? Did you send the message back? ”

The emperor's casual question made Li Zhigang suddenly worry.

"Back to Your Majesty, not yet."

For Li Zhigang and Li Shangshu, a while ago he received a very important task from the emperor: to intimidate the Li dynasty and claim back Jeju Island, which was supposed to be legally inherited from the Yuan Dynasty.

Of course, this kind of thing is not too troublesome.

The Ming Dynasty is the undisputed number one power in the traditional tributary system, not to mention the Li Dynasty, even if the surrounding countries are tied together, it is not the opponent of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, in the eyes of other Ming officials, the matter of "reclaiming Jeju Island" is very easy and pleasant, and there is no need to pay any price.

Regardless of whether the Li dynasty is sincerely surrendered or pretended to flatter, in short, the Li dynasty is going to contribute to the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di is not the kind of king who can fool the past by saying two good words, once Zhu Di decides to fight Japan, then the entire Li dynasty will be tied to the chariot of the Ming dynasty.

So is the Lee Joseon really as deferential to the Ming as if he were serving his father?

Not necessarily.

Lee Sung-gye's covert operation of pushing the area under the actual control of the DPRK to the north has never stopped.

Since the beginning of the Battle of Jingyan and the Ming Dynasty had no time to look eastward, Li Chenggui has been working hard to build castles on the east and south banks of the middle and upper reaches of the Yalu River, and up to now, 11 large cities and 18 small forts have been built, and a large number of residents have been forcibly relocated from various provinces in the south of Korea to settle in the area, and gradually implement effective control over the northern region.

After completing the actual control, Li Chenggui planned to formally establish the Northwest West County as a formal administrative division bordering the Ming Dynasty on the Yalu River.

In the direction of the Tumen River, Li Chenggui was not idle.

Under the pretext of guarding against the invasion of Timur, the fierce brother of the Jurchen tribe of Jianzhou, Li Chenggui used Gongyu Town as a demarcation requirement in several border disputes with the Ming Dynasty, but in fact, the vast area from the north of Gongyu Town to the Tumen River was gradually encroached upon by Korea, and the Ming Dynasty basically did not react violently to this because he was busy fighting a civil war.

Through the vigorous appeasement of the Jurchens in this area, most of the Jurchens in the jurisdiction of Helan Prefecture in the Yuan Dynasty have been attached to Korea, such as Sansan Meng'an Gu on Doulan Timur, Haiyang Meng'an Kuo'er Tooth Fire Lost Timur, Jiazhou Meng'an Yungangkuo, Hongken Meng'an Kuo'er Tooth Martyrdom, Ballu Wu Meng'an Jiawen Buhua, and Meng'an Xitan Xue Lie.

Well, the Jurchens are still using Meng'an to overcome that set.

As a result, Lee's Joseon controlled the southeast coast of the Tumen River, and successively set up several small strongholds, and Li Chenggui planned to imitate the "Six Towns of the Northern Wei Dynasty" in the future, and also set up six military towns composed of Jurchens and Koreans, as an outpost to resist the Ming Dynasty in the direction of the Tumen River.

In other words, Korea's method of confronting the loosely organized but fierce Jurchen tribes was still learned from China to defeat the Jurchens, which had been tried and tested by the Central Plains Dynasty since the Western Han Dynasty supported the Southern Xiongnu.

It is precisely knowing this situation that Li Zhigang was vaguely worried when he sent officials from the Ministry of Rites to Li Korea as an envoy, if he could not complete the task assigned by the emperor, he didn't care what would happen to North Korea, but his own ending was most likely the third prison trip.

Because of this, Li Zhi was so frightened when he was imprisoned today.

However, Li Zhigang didn't know that at this time, thousands of miles away in North Korea, the officials of the Ming Rite Department received Li Chenggui's warm hospitality, and this time the Ming Empire took Jeju Island, but Li Chenggui did not seem to express dissatisfaction, but showed a submissive posture.

The officials of the Daming Rites Department who sent the envoy only felt that after all, Li Chenggui was sixty-seven years old, and in this era, he was a person who had buried most of his body in the loess, even if he was unwilling, what could he do.

But the actual situation is that Li Chenggui is a thief himself.

The news that Gu Cheng, a veteran general of the Ming Dynasty, led the army to assemble in the direction of Liaodong, Li Chenggui already knew, combined with the move of Li's North Korea to push the actual control area to the north, Li Chenggui thought that he had provoked the Ming Dynasty and ended the civil war with the Ming Dynasty freeing up his hands to do something against him.

In this way, when the Ming Dynasty came to ask for Jeju Island, in Li Chenggui's view, it was naturally looking for an excuse to declare war, and the Celestial Empire likes to be famous.

Therefore, Li Chenggui will never give Daming the "name" of declaring war, in Li Chenggui's heart, not to mention a Jeju Island, that is, all the islands along the coast, Daming can take it if he wants.

Under such a mistake, the Ming Dynasty originally wanted to make a move against Timur, the fierce brother of the Jurchen Department in Liaodong, but unexpectedly intimidated North Korea.

Otherwise, before the same Jeju Island, during the Hongwu Dynasty, North Korea had to argue with the Ming Dynasty many times.

People don't directly contradict the Ming Dynasty, but they just repeatedly complain about the misery and misery, how pitiful a small country is.

——————

Zheng He asked after thinking for a few breaths.

So how does Mr. Jiang think this balance of power should be accomplished? I always feel like there's something missing. ”

Zhu Gaoxu also realized this, and he said: "There are fewer people to execute!" ”

"Yes, it seems that Da Ming didn't do it."

"It's easy."

Jiang Xinghuo said lightly: "It is only necessary to set up an embassy and consulate of the Ming Dynasty in the land of the Ming diplomatic target according to the different levels." ”

The embassy, according to the understanding of Zheng He and Zhu Gaoxu, as the name suggests, is the pavilion of the Ming envoys, that is, the personnel and garrisons sent by the Ming Dynasty to places where diplomacy is needed.

Zheng He suddenly felt that Jiang Xinghuo's proposal seemed to be a perfect solution to many of his troubles.

For example, after going to the West, how to communicate with other countries?

You can't only communicate once with the Ming fleet, right?

Secondly, what rules should be followed in terms of systems, etiquette, trade, etc.?

It seems that these problems can be solved through "embassies and consulates".

Since it was helpful for going to the West in the future, Zheng He naturally had a little intention of inquiring, so he asked more.

"And what's the difference between an embassy and a consulate?"

Jiang Xinghuo glanced at the strangely dressed person, and asked rhetorically with a little temptation in his heart.

"What do you think should be the difference?"

Zheng He only said his first reaction: "The level should be different." ”

"That's true."

Jiang Xinghuo explained: "The embassy and the consulate are different levels, the embassy is the highest diplomatic institution of the Ming Dynasty in other countries, and it should be built in the capital of the other party; The consulate is the institution of the Ming Dynasty to carry out diplomatic missions in important areas. ”

"In addition, due to the inconvenience of transportation, the embassy represents the interests of the entire Ming Dynasty and is fully responsible for the relations between the two countries, and should have the power to dispose of it randomly. The consulate can only handle part of the interests of the Ming Dynasty, and only has the power to deal with some regions and affairs, which means that the consulate can never represent the Ming Dynasty, but can only play the role of liaison and communication. ”

"And whether it is an embassy or a consulate, military attachés can be stationed"

As soon as this intriguing sentence was spoken, Zheng He and Zhu Gaoxu immediately understood it.

To put it bluntly, the consulate of Daming is used to shake the pot.

According to such a high-sounding statement, in fact, combined with the previous definition of "diplomacy", the division of responsibilities between the Ming Embassy and the Ming Consulate is also very clear.

The so-called diplomacy refers to the activities of handling international relations with foreign countries through sending envoys, presenting credentials, negotiating, forming or destroying alliances, declaring war or truce, and secretly conducting activities in handling international relations by means of spying on intelligence, sowing discord, and plotting rebellion.

So who is the face on the surface? Naturally, it is the Ming Embassy on behalf of His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Who is the secret lizi? Naturally, it is the Daming Consulate that is used to do dirty work.

——————

In the Chamber of Secrets.

"Why didn't we think of it before? In the past, it was a one-time dispatch of envoys, and there was never a resident envoy, so it was inconvenient to do things. What an embassy! What a consulate! Wonderful! ”

It can be seen that Zhu Di is really in a good mood today.

Because what I heard in this class is dry goods that can be learned and used.

Whether it is to change the method of southern Beijing to his two sons, or how to dismember and balance Japan, or this set of "embassies and consulates", they all perfectly meet Zhu Di's needs.

"Li Shangshu."

"The minister is here."

Unlike the last time he was named by the emperor, Li Zhigang's heart was extremely pleasantly surprised this time.

Because Li Zhigang guessed that the emperor was likely to hand over the system of "embassies and consulates" to the Ministry of Rites to build and operate.

Because the matter of foreign exchanges, which has been an errand of the Ministry of Rites since ancient times, has now only expanded its scope and surpassed the traditional tributary system.

However, it is very difficult to implement such a huge system as "embassies and consulates" in dozens of countries and hundreds of regions in the future.

Because there are so many things involved, at least one, you have to have someone from the Ministry of Rites to be an ambassador and consul, right?

So do ambassadors, consuls and relevant personnel need to be trained and educated? Do you want to keep up with the relevant standards and requirements?

In addition to the most basic personnel, there are other interests involved. For example, how to evaluate the ambassadors and consuls of the Ming Dynasty abroad, how to promote and promote the officials of the foreign system, how to allocate funds, etc., once these things are implemented, then there will inevitably be many problems.

But in any case, it's all fat poor!

It's better to have something to do than nothing to do, and it's better to have court funds than nothing!

And now, the emperor has entrusted this system to himself, which is like pie in the sky for Li Zhigang, who was originally only responsible for stamping the seal, eating and sacrificing these things.

In this way, the authority of the Ministry of Rites has directly increased!

It is equivalent to increasing the establishment of more than a dozen to dozens of middle and low-level officials, and increasing a considerable amount of imperial court funds!

"I plan to hand over this system to Li Qing, and I hope that Li Qing will do his best."

Li Zhigang's face was honestly frightened, but also a little resolute.

"The minister will do his best to bow down and die for His Majesty!"

When Li Zhigang sat back in his chair, Rao was still a little unbelievable at this time, and he still had a sense of disbelief like falling into the clouds.

Such a great authority, such a fat difference, fell on himself.

Looking at this strange wall again, Li Zhigang didn't know that the opportunity he had today was brought by the person named "Jiang Xinghuo" on the other side of the wall.

"Ginger Spark"

Li Shangshu silently read it over and over a few times in his heart, this somewhat unfamiliar name.

Unlike other secret room visitors, Li Shangshu is a more practical person, such as honesty and integrity, and other aspects of character are not good, but the simple values of repaying kindness and revenge have always run through his life of "more prisons and more gains".

"Today's kindness will be repaid on the next day!"

(End of chapter)