Chapter 995 1086 Bodhisattva Blessing

Chapter 995 1086 Bodhisattva Blessing

"It's just that now, Luzon seems to have fallen into the hands of the barbarians."

Empress Dowager Chen finally said.

Empress Dowager Chen listened to Wei Guangde's words and accepted his proposition, that is, Luzon should be taken back.

However, as a woman, she naturally wanted to avoid war instinctively.

Since the barbarians had just seized Luzon, it would be difficult to ask them to give it up now, so there was only one way to go.

"I am also worried that the border will be in turmoil at this time, so I am considering seizing half of Luzon, and when the right time comes, I will take back the land including Sulu."

Wei Guangde immediately replied.

When talking with Zhang Juzheng, Ge Shouli and others, what the empress dowager could think of, they could also think of, so Wei Guangde already had a response.

The current Ming Dynasty seems to be very powerful, and it is still the undisputed boss of East Asia.

But only a few people in the court knew that the Mongolia in the north was only temporarily suppressed. No matter what, the majesty of Altan Khan was still there, and no one dared to resist openly.

That is to say, the Tuman people were not convinced, but because they were in the border area, Altan Khan was too lazy to pay attention to them.

Moreover, the hostility of the Tuman people towards the Ming Dynasty was actually a good thing for the Tumed people, letting the Ming Dynasty know their importance and giving them more supplies.

In addition, the Jurchen tribes became much more honest after the incident with Wang Gao, and only Wang Gao's son Ahai Atai was still secretly accumulating strength to take revenge.

However, with Qi Jiguang in Liaodong, the court naturally did not have to worry about anything.

Even for the Burmese state in the southwest, although the two empress dowagers did not oppose the court's restoration of order in the local area, it was a war after all. Even if Wei Guangde dispatched Li Chengliang, the former general of Liaodong, to support the battle, they were still a little worried.

Well, it was still influenced by "Three Kingdoms". In the eyes of most people in the Ming Dynasty at this time, the southwest was a place full of miasma, and people would die if they smelled it, not to mention the high mountains and dense forests.

There were few officials from the southwest. Even if there was a so-called "passing the exam", most of them were from Sichuan. There were even fewer places like Yunnan, so naturally no one could tell the real situation there.

Relatively speaking, Empress Dowager Chen and Empress Dowager Li trusted Yu Dayou, who had experience in the southwest war, to go there to command.

However, since the court had already chosen Li Chengliang, they naturally could not object.

It can be said that the current Ming Dynasty gave the people in power the feeling that it was like a big sieve with leaks everywhere.

In addition, Wei Guangde's ambitions for Jiugang and Luzon naturally made the situation look even worse.

Even Zhang Juzheng, who had always been very stable, had privately told Wei Guangde several times that he thought it was better to take things slowly in the South China Sea, and the court should give priority to solving the southwest.

As for how Wei Guangde finally persuaded Zhang Juzheng, it was naturally to tell his thoughts.

That is, even if Li Chengliang could not suppress the situation in Yunnan, it would be no problem for the Ming Dynasty to stabilize the southwest.

At that time, the South China Sea Navy will be dispatched in full force, and will go south through Mancijia to attack the Toungoo Dynasty in Myanmar from the south, and restore the old port and surrender the remaining troops of Zhang Lian near the old port.

Since they want to serve the court, they naturally need to have a pledge of surrender.

Myanmar is just the place where they have accumulated merits.

In other words, Wei Guangde intends to use them as cannon fodder to attack the Toungoo Dynasty from the rear.

If they survive, the court will have a reason to pardon them based on their military merits after the war.

Otherwise, if they rebel just thinking about it, and surrender when they can't win, and the court doesn't punish them, the world will be in chaos.

After hearing Wei Guangde's combination punch, Zhang Juzheng completely agreed with this matter.

It can only be said that although it looks very dangerous and the Ming Dynasty is fighting everywhere, if the timing is accurate and the operation is proper, it will be very beneficial to the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, using the remaining troops of Zhang Lian to attack Myanmar can also minimize the losses of the court, which is a good way.

If the two Empress Dowagers did not ask about these things, Wei Guangde would not take the initiative to talk about them.

After a long time, Empress Dowager Chen glanced at the little emperor Zhu Yijun next to her and slowly said: "What if the barbarians go to war with my Ming Dynasty because of this?

At that time, it is possible that my Ming Dynasty will face the unfavorable situation of simultaneous wars in the southwest and southeast."

"Empress Dowager, I think this will never happen."

Wei Guangde pretended to be confident at this time, raised his head and answered: "As far as I know, the barbarians' military strength in Nanyang will not exceed a thousand people.

All they rely on is their more than ten armed merchant ships and various firearms on the ships.

Such armed forces are naturally very confident against small countries in Nanyang.

But if they go to war with my Ming Dynasty, they should not have the courage."

Wei Guangde's words were also based on facts. The Spaniards knew the results of the two wars between Portugal and Ming Dynasty decades ago.

At that time, the Ming navy defeated the Portuguese with the ancient and primitive naval warfare tactics. The current Ming is also very different from the past. Although it does not have strong Western ships and powerful guns, the gap is not very big.

With the combination of new and old tactics, many ants can kill elephants. Wei Guangde believes that defeating Spain should not be a problem.

If he can still be defeated in this way, then Yu Dayou will have no value.

Yes, he has been sitting down for so many years, doing less other things, but he has made many private transactions with Zhang Juzheng, Lu Diaoyang and others.

Well, he also understands more and more that politics is actually an exchange of interests.

In the eyes of politicians, only interests are eternal. Without interests, they lose value and can naturally be abandoned.

"The barbarians came to Nanyang from afar just for trade and to get the benefits they want, not to fight with our Ming Dynasty.

If the northern part of Luzon is occupied by our Ming Dynasty, our Ming Dynasty merchants will naturally come with it, and they can also trade nearby.

No matter how I look at it, it seems that the barbarians have not suffered any loss."

Wei Guangde continued.

In fact, although Europe had already begun colonization at this time, it had not formed a thorough colonial consciousness.

What they valued was not the land of the colony, but the output there, which could bring endless wealth.

If part of the land was exchanged for the opportunity to trade, in Wei Guangde's opinion, it should be acceptable to them.

As for the mineral resources on the Philippine Island, there are actually not many.

At least, not as many as Japan.

There are only some spices produced there, which make the barbarians like it very much.

However, there are still many such spices on the islands in Nanyang, so there is not much attraction at all.

The most failed point of Ming Dynasty's policy towards Nanyang, or its policy towards the vassal states, is that it did not participate in their development and construction to gain greater wealth from it.

Maybe it was too much trouble, or maybe it was because they could not see the huge benefits of the development of the vassal state.

Anyway, the Ming Dynasty never helped the vassal state develop its economy from the beginning to the end, and let it fend for itself.

Such a policy naturally made the vassal state feel distant from the Ming Dynasty.

When the Ming Dynasty was still strong and had the ability to send a large fleet to the south for patrol, they naturally chose to surrender.

And when the Ming Dynasty no longer came, they naturally did not take the Ming Dynasty seriously.

As for what Wei Guangde said just now, it was actually half true and half false.

If it is said that the regular army of Spain is indeed only about a thousand people, don't forget the more than ten armed merchant ships active in the East Asian waters.

The sailors on the armed merchant ships alone can gather more than 2,000 people.

Saying that they are sailors is actually a promotion for them. They are essentially not much different from Lin Feng's pirate group, and they also live a life of licking blood on the edge of a knife.

Because the employer pays a lot of money, there is no scruple.

Of course, there are also honest people among them, but even if there are such people, they have changed more or less after a few years at sea, and they are no longer the same as they were in Europe.

It can be said that if the Spanish gathered all their forces, they could gather more than 3,000 people in East Asia at this time.

In addition, they can also get support from Mexico in the east and other Spaniards in the Indian Ocean in the west.

As for the Portuguese, although they are all natives from Europe, they don’t like each other.

With its huge size, Spain has been suppressing Portugal, seizing the Portuguese colonies and materials, and coveting the throne of Portugal.

Although it has not succeeded at this time, it has made the whole Kingdom of Portugal nervous.

If the Ming Dynasty and the Spanish went to war in East Asia at this time, it would be good if the Portuguese did not secretly attack.

Of course, Wei Guangde was not clear about these situations.

He only knew that the barbarians called by the Ming Dynasty were actually Spaniards and Portuguese, and the later red barbarians referred to the Dutch.

However, the intelligence from the Jinyiwei and the Nanhai Navy also mentioned that there seemed to be discord among the barbarians.

For example, the barbarians in Haojing seemed to belong to different factions from the barbarians in Manila. Although they did not fight each other when they met, hostility was certain.

In fact, the barbarians in Haojing had always wanted to build a seaside artillery fort.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty was strong. Although the Portuguese wanted to build an artillery fort facing the mainland, the Guangdong government would never agree.

And building a seaside artillery fort can not only resist pirates, but also provide firepower support to the mainland, which is also a solution.

After all, the area of ​​Haojing leased by the Portuguese is small.

As long as the location is well chosen, both ends can be taken into account.

Because the Portuguese have fewer people in East Asia than the Spanish.

Wei Guangde lowered his head at this time, but he still heard the rustling voice in his ears.

It's just that the voice is very small. Perhaps if he takes a few steps forward and gets closer to the two queen mothers, he can barely hear it clearly.

However, this is Ciqing Palace, the residence of the empress dowager, and Wei Guangde dared not behave in a disrespectful manner.

Otherwise, he could lose his official position.

Perhaps, the two empress dowagers were also discussing this matter.

In fact, this is reasonable.

After all, the Ming Dynasty had just used troops in Liaodong, and now it was preparing to use troops in the southwest.

When did the Ming Dynasty have such intensive military operations? Not only the harem, but also many officials of the previous dynasty were somewhat uneasy after knowing this.

Although Sun Tzu said that "the military is a major event of the state, a place of life and death, and a way of survival and destruction, it must be carefully observed", there are still allusions to "excessive military aggression" and "the strong army will be destroyed".

Excessive military aggression is more commonly used in later generations, and it is easy to understand according to the word.

However, the strong army will be destroyed rarely appears, and many people's logic finds it difficult to accept such a theory.

When an army becomes too strong, it may suffer from problems such as complacency and lack of caution, which may lead to failure or destruction.

This idiom reminds people to be humble and cautious when dealing with things, and not to be too arrogant.

This idiom comes from "Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of Princes of Wei".

At that time, Prince Lie of Wei was proud of his strong military force. He believed that he had a strong army and could conquer other countries.

However, the result was that his army was defeated by the enemy in a war, which ultimately led to the demise of Wei.

The idiom "a strong army will be destroyed" comes from the lesson in this story. In fact, it has a similar meaning to the meaning that a arrogant army will be defeated.

"Mr. Wei Ge, since the cabinet has reached an agreement, it's natural that the Ai family can't say anything more.

However, the Ai family would like to remind Mr. Ge that if this battle is not launched, if it does happen, the Ming Dynasty must win, otherwise"

"I should submit my resignation immediately and bear everything."

Before Queen Mother Chen could finish speaking, Wei Guangde immediately spoke loudly.

Is this considered a military order?

maybe.

But so what, I really thought that when I submitted the petition for rest, the Queen Mother would dare to actually approve it.

Although Zhang Juzheng, the chief minister of the DPRK, seems to be loyal and honest, it is unknown what the situation would have been like without the constraint of Wei Guangde.

Although, in the history without the appearance of Wei Guangde, Zhang Juzheng, like Zhuge Kongming, dedicated his life to the Ming Dynasty and died, but who can guarantee that what did not happen?

Wei Guangde dared to say this because he was actually determined that what the two empress dowagers wanted was an attitude, an attitude of victory in the Ming Dynasty, so that they could feel at ease in the harem.

Wei Guangde did not dare to bet that the Queen Mother of the two palaces would gamble, so he spoke firmly.

"Lao Ge's words are serious."

Queen Mother Chen, perhaps not seeing through Wei Guangde's thoughts, immediately said: "The Ai family would like to remind Mr. Ge that this matter is of great importance and you must think twice before acting.

If you are not sure, you must not act rashly.

After all, although Luzon has long been our Ming Dynasty territory, our ancestors have already given it up, otherwise we would definitely not have not sent a new governor for such a long time.

Now that the elder Ge intends to take it back, it is naturally a good thing, but he must be cautious, plan before making any move, and be foolproof. "

"I sincerely obey Yi's decree."

Wei Guangde lowered his head and cupped his hands.

Wei Guangde left Ciqing Palace, and in the main hall, Queen Mother Li said: "Sister, do you think Mr. Wei Ge is so martial, is he good or bad?"

"Hard to say."

Empress Dowager Chen shook her head slightly and said with a wry smile: "In the past two days, the Ai family asked someone to search for the files left in the palace. It is indeed as he said. Emperor Chengzu Taizong was appointed governor of Luzon and controlled all the power there.

Speaking of which, it can be regarded as my Ming Dynasty’s territory.

However, after all, Luzon is thousands of miles away from me, the Ming Dynasty, so it was never mentioned again. Perhaps the adults in the court had long forgotten it.

It was only in the old port that people were sent to recall the manpower, but it seemed that the final journey was not completed in the end.

Speaking of which, these two places are indeed the lands of my Ming Dynasty. It would be a great blessing if we could take them back when the emperor is in power. "

Having said this, Empress Dowager Chen lovingly touched the head of the little emperor Zhu Yijun.

Although not everyone can touch the emperor, it doesn't matter who they are. Queen Mother Chen is his aunt and Queen Mother Li is his biological mother.

"I just hope that Bodhisattva will bless me and everything will go well."

Empress Dowager Li also knew that taking back the two places was a great achievement and would bring huge benefits to her son, so she didn't worry about it and just hoped that everything would go as she wished. (End of chapter)