The court had decided to fight again, but Zhu Gaoxu was not excited.

The military industry and transportation system he envisioned were not established at all, and he had not seen the actual profits from overseas. However, the haze of various wars was soon placed in front of him.

The treasury is temporarily lacking in cash, and millions of yuan in cash are earned every year. If you use money to fight, you will probably have to spend all your money in two battles, and you won’t have to pay any official and military pay. Therefore, if Zhu Gaoxu wants to start a war, he can only rely on the original ruling system, which means adding load-bearing burden to the people and military households of various places.

Under the ruling system dominated by corvee and land tax, foreign wars cannot transfer domestic and internal conflicts at all, and will only have a counter-effect. The events at the end of the Qin and the Sui Dynasty are the lessons of the past. It is not completely unreasonable for civil officials to oppose foreign military use.

Zhu Gaoxu was still determined to retaliate against Chen Jikuo, but he was forced to do so. In this era, if he did not use force, he would seem to be unable to implement any national policy to the outside world. He had to have corpses everywhere before he could have a good talk. When the Hu family of Annan provoked the court and was wiped out by the Ming army for a few years; Chen Jikuo could not talk about it again. (Chen Jikuo will understand sooner or later, he will be arrogant when he has some strength. He will always pay a price for ignoring the sect leader.)

Zhu Gaoxu also understood: the long-term strategy I had imagined before seemed a bit ideal, and various problems soon arose, and it seemed that it was more difficult than imagined to achieve it...

The civil and military officials discussed affairs in the Rouyi Hall, and Zhu Gaoxu proposed the intention of this southern expedition: First, a quick battle will be decided, and the Annan War will be ended before the rainy season next year. Second, the purpose of the battle will be to dismantle the rebels' offensives from all directions, and focus on counterattacking Chen Jikuo, Ruan Shuai, and Li Li's troops; after severely punishing the culprits, withdraw troops in time.

However, the nobles believed that Annan (including only the current Vietnam-north and northern regions) were small and large enough to sweep the entire territory.

Zhu Gaoxu immediately denied: "The Ming Dynasty has a vast territory, but its national strength can be used for external expeditions. The current battle can only focus on achieving the necessary goals, which is to maintain the majesty and rules of the Ming court. Chen Jikuo and others will be punished if they kill our soldiers. The rest will be discussed in the future; otherwise, we will still have to conquer the Tsushima Island, for fear that there will be more problems."

When the Minister of Revenue Xia Yuanji heard this, his eyes suddenly widened. He almost ignored etiquette and immediately asked: "Master, do you still want to start a war in Japan?"

This was the first time that all the civil and military officials heard Zhu Gaoxu say this. When they saw that Xia Yuanji had already come forward to ask, they were silent and waiting for the following words.

Zhu Gaoxu had no choice but to explain: "The country has minerals such as gold, silver, copper, sulfur, and other materials, and it is convenient for shipping, which is something that the imperial court urgently needs. I also want to obtain by expanding trade, but the shogunate of Japan rejected diplomatic relations; at this time, we must find a way to open up the trade route.

Tsushima Island is a good base camp for Japan, and the guardian daimyo there covers up the Japanese pirates, but the shogunate ignores our request to ban the Japanese pirates. We just have morality and reason to take Tsushima Island for ourselves.

The King of Korea-Korean Li Fangyuan has written a letter to send troops to attack Tsushima Island. If the King-Korean occupies this place first, we will go and ask for it. We will inevitably compensate Li Fangyuan from other aspects, otherwise we will appear greedy and unreasonable.

Now the relationship between the Korean-Sheng Kingdom and the Ming Dynasty is the best, and Hou Xian has received courtesy in Juji County. We should try our best to maintain this relationship unless we have to. It is easier for the Ming Dynasty to occupy Tsushima Island than to occupy Jeju Island."

"Ah..." Xia Yuanji frowned and sighed without any concealment.

Zhu Gaoxu couldn't communicate too deeply with him, and he had to change the concept of many ministers. The idea that gold and silver could not be eaten is really hard.

Zhu Gaoxu had to comfort him with kind words: "The Xiamen Hall does not have to worry too much. I have a clear idea and will do it within my ability. I just said that in the battle to attack the Annan rebels, we should not be eager for quick success or instant benefits, but to stop when we see the best, just to save costs."

"If you are wary, you will die. The Lord will be clear." Xie Jin suddenly clasped his fists and spoke.

Zhu Gaoxu: “…”

At this moment, Zhang Fu, the Marquis of Xincheng, took the lead and said with his fists: "I will discuss the wise and wise rule of the emperor. I will lead troops to Annan to share the worries of the emperor."

In the first battle to conquer Annan, Zhang Fu was the deputy general of Yi Zuo. He performed well in combat and had experience in fighting in Annan. Now that Zhang Fu supported Zhu Gaoxu's strategy, Zhu Gaoxu no longer hesitated and slapped the table and said, "The Marquis of Xincheng is the main general of this southern expedition."

After hearing this, Zhang Fu was overjoyed and immediately said, "I will receive the order!"

The remaining dukes did not say anything at this time. Zhang Fu, a marquis, was the chief general, and had already received the emperor's promise, so the dukes could no longer be deputy generals.

Liu Sheng said anxiously: "Sir, I am willing to be the deputy general."

Although Liu Sheng was the one who surrendered from the deposed prince, he performed well in the Huguang War and was very capable of fighting. He also used firearms very skillfully during the Northern Expedition of Tatars.

Zhu Gaoxu thought for a while and began to decide on the candidates on the spot: "In this battle, Liu Sheng was called the left deputy general, Yin Desheng was appointed as the right deputy general (the direct line of the old Han royal palace). Chen Xuan was the chief general of the navy. Xue Yan, the Minister of Justice, and Pei Youzhen, the Minister of War, received the imperial edict and controlled the transfer of military supplies in Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong and Huguang."

The civil and military officials who mentioned their names walked to the table and kowtowed and received the orders together.

Zhu Gaoxu waved to everyone to avoid the gift, turned his head and looked at Hou Hai, the left envoy of the Guardian, and said, "Hou Zuo Envoy, I want to give you an errand, are you willing to go to Annan Kingdom?"

Hou Hai hurriedly stood up and said, "I ask the emperor to give me the order."

Zhu Gaoxu said: "The duty of guarding the Northern Department of the State Council was to collect Gentile information. You should take Jin Shitou to Annan to do propaganda. Collect the bad things done by Chen Jikuo, Ruan Shuai, Li Li and others, so that the Annan officials and people can understand their evil deeds. Whenever the Ming Dynasty official army goes to a place, you must also promote the benevolence and righteousness of the official army."

Hou Haidao: "I obey the order."

Zhu Gaoxu said to Zhang Fu again: "The army must also pay attention to public opinion. Let the Annan military and civilians understand that their poor life is all due to war; the culprits are the Hu family rioters, and the other is Chen Ji's expansion of the rebels. The Ming army is a good person to help them. Only by letting the legitimate descendants of the Chen family be kings can the ambitions avoid the unjust thoughts of the ambitions, end the war and let the people live and work in peace and contentment."

Zhang Fu clasped his fists and said, "The emperor is wise and powerful, and I will follow the will."

Zhu Gaoxu said: "I ordered Annan Governor's Office, soldiers, civil servants, and eunuchs to immediately stop plundering eunuchs and cutting off boys in Annan Kingdom, forbidden to seize civilian women, forbidden to present Annan jewelry to the palace, and forbidden to rob and rob. Those who disobey will be severely punished according to the Ming Dynasty's laws!"

All the ministers followed the rituals and accepted the order. Hu Guang from the Hanlin Academy reported that he would write the matters that he had made today into an imperial edict for the emperor to read.

At this moment, Liu Sheng stepped out again and bowed, "The rebels under Chen Jikuo are entrenched in Qinghua City. The nest of the rebellion is in Yi'an, not far southwest of it. I ask the elite troops of the Beijing camp and the 10,000 troops of the garrison, carry firearms, food and fodder, land on a boat from Majiang, and take Qinghua, Yi'an!"

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu buried his head in the big map on the table.

The surrounding civil and military officials whispered for a while, and then Zhang Fu advised: "The government army has occupied the Dongguan (Hanoi) and a large area in the north. The army attacked from the Dongguan. Advance can attack and retreat or defend. Why should General Liu take the risk to the south and turn into an isolated army?"

Zhang Fu's remarks are indeed a relatively safe statement.

At this time, large-scale military operations were still mainly on land and were more reliable. Therefore, the North Korean and Korean countries, which were connected to the land, have adjusted their national policies and tried to get along with the Central Plains as much as possible, otherwise they would trigger wars; while Annan countries were interfered with by the Central Plains dynasty more than once. Only Japan was isolated overseas and had never bought much in the Central Plains because there was no route of entry through land.

However, when Zhu Gaoxu heard Liu Sheng's bold idea, he immediately became very interested. Because using the navy to achieve military force delivery was a strategic progress; since Liu Sheng took the initiative to try, Zhu Gaoxu was moved for a moment.

However, the Yuan army had a lesson from the past. The failure of the Yuan army to use sea ships to send troops to Japan was a lesson. When Zhu Gaoxu thought of this, he was unwilling to make a decision immediately.

He said, "I'll discuss it later."

The ministers bowed and thanked each other and left the main hall of Rouyi Hall.

Zhu Gaoxu sent Cao Fu to invite Queen Chen and informed Chen that the government army would make a decision to march into Annan. He also asked Chen Zhengyuan to return to the country, inherit the throne, and also take the post of governor of the Annan Governor's Office.

He had already planned the post-war rule strategy of Annan Kingdom to support the Annan royal family close to the court and govern the country by themselves; the court stationed some troops in Annan Kingdom, to protect the power of the king supported by the court, and to influence the national policy of Annan Kingdom.

The military power of the troops stationed in the Annan Governor's Office. The governor was led by the king of Annan. In name, the king seemed to command the Ming army stationed at the same time to reduce the resistance of the Annan people; while the actual military power was controlled by the Deputy Governor and other Han people.

Zhu Gaoxu believed that "Jiazhi County" had been independent for too long since it left the Central Plains during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, and there were various local forces. If the court wanted to develop it through direct occupation, immigration and military households, etc., and imitating the Liaodong strategy, it would probably be too expensive to suppress the rebellion.

So after he ascended the throne, he changed his national policy during the Yongle period and prepared to control the upper class of Annan Kingdom first; should he assimilate and recover in the future and act at a glance? In short, it is too hasty and the cost is too high.

Chen should know more or less that Zhu Gaoxu's investment in Annan Kingdom must have had some plans, but she didn't care much; her husband had long lost his strength after he died, and she had also hid in Tibet and was used by various forces. Now, relying entirely on the power of the Ming Dynasty, she could allow her son to get the throne, so it seems that Chen is truly grateful to Zhu Gaoxu.

After a while of discussion, Zhu Gaoxu suddenly said that Chen Zhengyuan was protected by the Ming army and suggested that Chen did not have to return to the country.
Chapter completed!