jdhmnovel Chapter 1174 What did the Prince Consort teach them?
Chapter 1174 What did the Prince Consort teach them?
From a purely military and war perspective, Zhu Laosi (the fourth son of Zhu) perfectly inherited some of the characteristics of Emperor Zhu.
For example, in addition to urging Liao Yongzhong and Yu Tongyuan to build a large mound of jingguan (a type of human pyramid) at Bago Port in Bubeqiang, Zhu Laosi also left a letter for the ministers of the Bago Kingdom court before leaving.
"The clothing and headwear shall be in accordance with the Ming system. Foreign clothing, foreign language and foreign names are prohibited. Men and women are not allowed to cut their hair. Women shall wear long clothes and skirts. They are allowed to marry into Chinese families, but are not allowed to marry into their own kind. Those who violate this rule shall have their property confiscated and be taken into the government as slaves."
In order to have a deterrent and intimidating effect, Zhu Laosi also had more than 20,000 able-bodied men from the Pegu Kingdom arrested.
Then, Yu Tongyuan set his sights on these 20,000-plus young men.
"If all 20,000 able-bodied men were sent to Dengzhou to build roads, it would mean that there would be 20,000 or more able-bodied men from the Ming Dynasty available for deployment."
"If we send another 20,000 or so able-bodied men from the Ming Dynasty to the Dengzhou shipyard..."
Yu Tongyuan said, almost drooling, "The warships that were drawn from the Dengzhou Fleet can be replenished quickly, and the East China Sea Fleet can also replenish its warships as quickly as possible."
"This deal is worthwhile."
"It's much more cost-effective than sending it to Liaodong!"
After careful consideration, Yu Tongyuan simply looked at Zhu Laosi and said, "Your Highness, there is a shortage of laborers in Liaodong and Dengzhou. These 20,000 or so able-bodied men from Bago..."
Zhu Laosi shook his head slightly and said, "We don't have the final say on the whereabouts of these 20,000 young men. The Grand General's Office and the Cabinet have to decide who goes first before we can determine their destination."
After a slight pause, Zhu Laosi continued, "Besides the Grand General's Office and the Cabinet, there are two other problems facing us now."
"First, how do we transport these able-bodied men back? We only have a dozen or so warships when we came to Bago this time, which is not enough to carry more than 20,000 able-bodied men."
"Another issue is the relationship between the Pegu Kingdom and the Ava Kingdom."
“Ava was originally the Kingdom of Pagan. After the Yuan Dynasty destroyed it, it became the Burma-China Province of the Yuan Dynasty.”
"Theoretically speaking, this land now belongs to our Great Ming Dynasty."
"But as you know, the actual problem is that places like Pegu and Ava took advantage of the opportunity of the Hu Yuan's northward flight to establish themselves. Ava is now under the rule of Doming Paye, and like Pegu, it is just a chieftain who accepted the title of the Ming Dynasty."
“If we eliminate Pegu and turn it into the Pegu Pacification Commission, then Ava will become a problem.”
Eliminating Ava and turning it into a Pacification Commissioner's Office like Pegu, in preparation for the future conversion of native chieftains to centrally appointed officials and its complete transformation into a Provincial Administration Commissioner's Office, not only lacked a reliable pretext, but also meant needing to mobilize troops from the Ming mainland, while also requiring the cooperation of the Dengzhou fleet.
Then the problem is coming.
The Ming Dynasty's current focus is on eliminating Hu Yuan, while also dealing with a whole host of messy issues in the Fujian Provincial Administration Commission.
In order to achieve these two goals, the entire political and military power of the Ming Dynasty was tilted towards the Beiping Provincial Administration Commission and the Fujian Provincial Administration Commission. The Dengzhou Fleet also needed to assist in the defense of the Ming Dynasty's coast, so there was simply no extra power available for deployment.
There is an even more important problem: even if Ava could be easily wiped out, the Ming Dynasty does not have enough people to relocate.
In fact, now every provincial administration commissioner, and even every prefecture, state, and county, is frantically setting up workshops, and the demand for young and able-bodied laborers has reached a pathological level.
There are quite a few provincial governors who have lost all face, just like Hu Weiyong.
What if we ignore the Kingdom of Ava?
Zhu Laosi felt uneasy and worried about whether Luosuo Tuoli could handle the neighboring Ava Kingdom.
To put it bluntly, whether Rashadari lives or dies is not important; what is important is that the Pegu Pacification Commissioner's Office must not be affected.
Liao Yongzhong and Yu Tongyuan had also thought of these things.
Just as the three were deep in thought, Xu Yungong spoke up, saying, "If you want to kill Ava, you don't even need to find an excuse."
"Because the edict issued when he ascended the throne had clearly recognized the Hu Yuan dynasty."
"The provinces of Hu Yuan are the provinces of the Ming Dynasty, and the chieftains of Hu Yuan are the chieftains of the Ming Dynasty."
“It is only natural for the Ming Dynasty to establish the Myanmar-China Provincial Administration Commission.”
"but……"
Xu Yungong changed the subject and continued, "Keeping Ava alive is actually better than killing him."
Zhu Laosi, Liao Yongzhong, and Yu Tongyuan were all stunned for a moment. Xu Yungong glanced at Zhu Laosi and asked, "May I ask Your Highness, what is the purpose of turning Bogu into the Bogu Pacification Commissioner's Office?"
Zhu Laosi tentatively asked, "Is this preparation for the future Pegu Provincial Administration Commission?"
Xu Yungong simply smiled and shook his head, saying, "Yes, but not entirely."
Before Zhu Laosi could ask any questions, Xu Yungong said directly, "Turning the Pegu Kingdom into the Pegu Pacification Commissioner's Office is certainly a preparation for the future Pegu Provincial Administration Commissioner's Office."
"But to achieve this goal, the Ming Dynasty only needs to wait patiently for a few years until the East China Sea Fleet and even the South China Sea Fleet are fully formed. Then, it can destroy Pegu in one battle. At that time, the people can be relocated here, and Pegu can directly become the Pegu Provincial Administration Commission. Everything will fall into place naturally."
"The reason why we didn't have the patience to wait a few years, but instead chose to spend more time and go through more procedures to eliminate Bago now and turn it into the Bago Pacification Commissioner's Office, was originally to 'deter the disobedient'."
"It is necessary to deter the vassal states surrounding the Ming Dynasty, and also to deter those maritime merchants."
"Including our own Ming Dynasty's maritime merchants, as well as those overseas vassal merchants, we will make them dare not act recklessly anymore, and dare not wantonly harm our Ming Dynasty's merchants and people."
After a slight pause, Xu Yungong lowered his voice and said, "Actually, there is another purpose, which is to deter certain people with ulterior motives and let them know that no matter how many backup plans they have prepared, no matter where they flee to, as long as the court is willing, it can bring them back to the Ming Dynasty to be punished."
As Xu Yungong finished speaking, Liao Yongzhong and Yu Tongyuan immediately gasped.
Yu Tongyuan, in particular, gave a rather self-deprecating laugh.
He had the nerve to mock Liao Yongzhong for being brainless before, but now it seems he's a brainless idiot himself!
After a moment's thought, Yu Tongyuan's expression changed again.
Xu Yungong's father was Xu Da.
Xu Da spent more time leading troops in battle and less time calmly instructing Xu Yungong.
To put it bluntly, we're all old brothers who fought alongside the leaders to build this empire. Who doesn't know who else? Who doesn't know the capabilities of everyone else's children?
Just what I just mentioned is already far beyond what Xu Yungong should be capable of!
The only variable was that Xu Yungong, like the Chang brothers, stayed on the farm in Ningyang County for about a year.
So, what did the prince consort teach them?
Is this something you can just teach haphazardly?