Chapter 236 Can the sound be louder than the sound of swords and axes? !
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said: "We can't be deceived so easily, but what this person said makes sense to us. He told us that military is a part of politics, and the military as a whole is for "Political service."
"What do you think of this sentence?"
Tang He's eyes narrowed slightly, and he thought about it in his heart, and said slowly: "I am stupid. However, this sentence seems to make some sense, but I don’t know much about it, so I don’t dare to judge or speculate.” It must be implemented.”
"Otherwise it's all empty talk."
"Haha." Zhu Yuanzhang laughed, very satisfied with Tang He's words, and said: "We think so too, those scholars sometimes tell us something , The words are so exciting that it makes people feel a little arrogant, and the result is that they are just talking about it, but this time it is a little different."
"The main reason why we came here to ask you is about the Northern Expedition."
“But I want to postpone the Northern Expedition.”
“The Northern Expedition is very important, and destroying the remnants of the old Yuan Dynasty is crucial to the Ming Dynasty.”
"We know this very well."
"But sometimes we have to consider one thing, that is, we have spent so much effort on the Northern Expedition, what is the final result? What if we just destroyed Beiyuan? , and then let Bei Yuan split into several parts, and the border troubles still cannot be solved, then why do we spend so much effort?”
“Just to prove that our country is orthodox?”
"How can we value this?"
Zhu Yuanzhang sneered, with a look of disapproval.
Whether it is orthodox or not, this thing is for others to listen to. In the final analysis, it still depends on who is stronger.
Whoever is strong is the orthodox.
It’s all for publicity purposes.
Zhu Yuanzhang continued: "In fact, we have never thought of giving up the Northern Expedition before. We have even had the same idea as you before, that is, don't worry about those who have and don't have. We must destroy Beiyuan and let The north will stop for a while, but it will last for decades. "
"And if Beiyuan is destroyed, those scholars in the north will stop. "
"The world will be at peace."
"In a few decades, our Ming Dynasty has been enough to make the northerners return. But this year, our views have gradually loosened, because long-term solutions to the northern border troubles seem to There is indeed such a possibility."
Tang He still looked unbelieving.
He couldn't believe it.
He has seen the world and crawled out from the dead. He knows what the world is like. He also knows the hatred between Bei Yuan and Ming. There is no room for relaxation between the two, and they are attacking each other. It has been cutting for so long and it is impossible to stop.
This is a life and death struggle.
The area north of the Great Wall has been occupied by barbarians most of the time since ancient times.
These people are uneducated and do not understand etiquette. They are just a group of barbarians. Once they seize the opportunity of the Central Plains Dynasty, they will step forward to bite them. Moreover, the tribes on the grassland have their own beliefs and will not easily Be assimilated.
So whether the grassland is strong or the Central Plains dynasty is strong, the two will fight to the death, which is related to the survival of the race.
In his opinion, the best thing for the Ming Dynasty is to completely destroy the Northern Yuan Dynasty, so that the scholars in the north completely lose their place of sustenance in their hearts, and can only rely on the imperial court, without those scholars standing in the way. , after more than ten years of governance, the people in the north will be completely integrated into China again.
Although the north will not completely disappear, after the fall of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty can at least gain peace for a few decades, and if the court handles it properly, it can last longer.
This is very rare.
And this is also the best result Tang He can think of.
As for completely solving the border troubles.
He didn’t believe it.
That's what's impossible to do.
Tang He said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, you have been deceived."
"This is simply impossible."
"We have been fighting for a lifetime. Don't you know the situation of the war? The barbarians in the north all have hidden evil intentions. How can they remain obedient? Your Majesty, don't listen to these nonsense."
Tang He's voice was a little anxious, as if he wanted to persuade Zhu Yuanzhang to return. .
Zhu Yuanzhang chuckled, reached out and patted Tang He on the shoulder: "Let me tell you, why are you still in a hurry?"
"But."
"We are indeed serious. I've thought about it."
"We recently sent someone to the north to check out the situation at Xia Zhibai's iron smelting factory. He did create a lot of things there, including some of them. "Steel-making," but it is different from the usual method of using hundreds of steel-making, he chose to use these hundreds of steel-making for firearms."
"Although it is still in the development stage, from the information we have. , the range and power of the 'muskets' and 'artillery' he created are much longer than those of the muskets and artillery used by our Ming army, and they are safer and even more convenient to load gunpowder."
"Besides."
"He also coaxed a lot of engineers from our sons. Now these engineers are assigned to study steam engines. He seems to really want to do that. The steam engine is used in making cars, and we want to make a 'train' that can travel thousands of miles."
"We just got the news a few days ago."
"It seems that the steam engine has been made in Peiping. It has made some achievements and can barely drive on the ground. It is said that it can carry many people."
"Tang and you think about it."
"If the soldiers of our Ming Dynasty are equipped with high-quality firearms in the future, they can hit the enemy with one shot from dozens of meters away, bombard them with artillery from several miles away, and even use this steam engine to transport people, our Ming Dynasty Is it easy to completely suppress Bei Yuan? "What are the Mongols good at?"
"It's not just archery, riding, and bullying us." The Ming Dynasty has few horses.”
“But with the steam engine train, our Ming Dynasty does not need to use horses. Their horses are made of flesh and blood, and our Ming Dynasty’s horses are made of iron. We are iron and are afraid of their flesh. As long as our Ming Dynasty’s firearms and artillery can continue to improve, Beiyuan may no longer be a threat to our Ming Dynasty.”
“As long as they dare to think of going south, we can directly send people to march in. Destroy the royal court!”
"Besides that."
"Xia Zhibai also told us one thing."
"It is to control Beiyuan economically and prevent Beiyuan from complete degradation. "Nomads."
"From ancient times to the present, the Han and Tang Dynasties have dealt with these nomads, and it has always been difficult to take advantage of them. The most important thing is that the nomads run away after they are beaten. Even if the Central Plains Dynasty wants to pursue them, they can't. It's beyond the reach of the whip, but now the Northern Yuan Dynasty has a capital, and these Mongolians who fled north still retain the habits of the Central Plains."
"They can't escape!"
"But if Bei Yuan is gone, then they can run away."
"Bei Yuan's threat is overt, but the threat after Bei Yuan's destruction is in the dark. "
"So we have been thinking about whether we should change our strategy towards the north during this period, from destroying the Northern Yuan Dynasty in the past, to using force to deter, and then using the business methods proposed by Xia Zhibai to control the north. Economy, the great grassland in the north was indirectly used by the Ming Dynasty."
"We are short of cattle in the Ming Dynasty."
"If the Mongols are willing to use the grassland to raise cattle, or to raise other things besides 'war horses', can we, the Ming Dynasty, suffer some losses and maintain normal commercial relations with them for a period of time, so as to control salt and tea leaves?" , food, etc., strangle the throat of Beiyuan's survival."
"And then make it difficult for Beiyuan to have the idea of going south!"
"What do you think of our idea?"< br>
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Tang He expectantly.
Tang He looked confused at this moment. He was shocked by Zhu Yuanzhang's words.
After being at a loss for a while, Tang He gradually regained his energy. He reminded in a serious voice: "Your Majesty, do you really mean what you said? Don't be deceived by Xia Zhibai. This is related to the future of the Ming Dynasty, so you have to be cautious. Ah."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "You don't know what we are doing?"
"We did send someone to check."
"If it wasn't true. If these things come out, we really wouldn’t believe it.”
“Now that these are obviously true, or very likely to come true, I, the emperor, naturally have to think more about it.”
Tanghe nodded.
He covered his mouth and stroked his beard, meditated for a while, nodded and said: "If this is really the case, what Your Majesty said is not bad, but is there really such a thing in the world? I still don't dare to believe it."
Tang He smiled bitterly, still not convinced.
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said in a condensed voice: "We know you don't believe it, but you know the steam engine. With Xia Zhibai's actions, the entire south is now in chaos. The main reason for all this On this steam engine.”
“We didn’t understand it at first.”
"Why did Tian Jing suddenly stand up and ask us to change the Ming Dynasty's salt policy?"
"It's just that we gradually figured out something later."
"Because it is integrated. "
"The steam engine has changed the world a lot. It has made such a big difference in salt production alone. If Xia Zhibai's words are true, it can make a train that can travel thousands of miles a day. The impact on the world will be even greater."
"If the court continues to maintain the old situation, I am afraid that more and more situations will occur like this salt policy."
"So it must be fundamentally changed."
"This is related to taxes!"
"It's just that what needs to be changed is not just a little bit, but a lot, the entire steam mechanism salt, and the follow-up Steam engine trains, etc., will have a lot of impact on the military and people's livelihood of the Ming Dynasty, and will definitely cause a lot of chaos."
"If the court cannot prevent these chaos in time, these benefits will be reversed. Disrupt the Ming Dynasty."
"So we want to put the military aside first."
"Concentrate your energy and sort out the taxation of our Ming Dynasty."
"When everything is straightened out and everything is settled, we can then deal with the matter of Beiyuan."
>Hear the words.
Tang He showed a hint of struggle.
He looked Zhu Yuanzhang up and down, hesitated for a while, and nodded: "If this is really the case, it is indeed the best choice to resolve the possible internal troubles first. At the same time, with the changes in the salt policy, It is also a good idea to observe other aspects, but in this case, the voice of dissatisfaction in the DPRK will be loud.”
"I am a little worried."
Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly and said: "Louder than their voices? When have we ever been afraid?"
"No matter how loud their voices are, they can be louder than the sound of swords and axes! ”
(End of this chapter)