Chapter 783 882 Proxy War

Wang Chonggu arrived in Datong and learned more about the complicated relationships on the grassland from Fang Fengshi. He also found that Fang Fengshi also intended to use Ba Hannaji to make a deal with Altan Khan, which was exactly what he wanted.

"No wonder he described Ba Hannaji as a 'rare commodity' in his letter. If you think about it carefully, it is really a good exchange commodity."

Wang Chonggu thought so, but he would not say it. Instead, he threw out the strategy he thought of according to the information he had on the road, and said: "I have thought a lot along the way. Now I summarize it into three strategies. Let's think about whether we can implement it."

"I am all ears."

When Fang Fengshi heard Wang Chonggu say that he had three strategies, he was shocked. He only thought about what benefits he could get from Altan Khan by using Ba Hannaji, but never thought about anything else, let alone three strategies.

Wang Chonggu began to speak softly at this time: "The best strategy is to give Bahan Naji a mansion and an official position, and to provide him with rich food and clothing. If Altan orders his troops to approach the border to demand it, then ask for Bansheng Zhaoquan and others to be captured alive and sent back, and all the looted people should be released back to the south. Then, we will establish a market with him to realize the tribute and mutual trade.

The middle strategy is that if Altan claims to take it by force, then we will strictly guard it. Leaving Bahan Naji will make Altan have some concerns, and then contain the Mongolian tribes, and the Ming Dynasty will gain the strategic initiative.

The worst strategy is that if Altan is stupid and rebellious, ignores his grandson, and abandons him, then we will provide him with generous support and cultivate Bahan Naji's power. After Altan dies, send him to the Ming Dynasty. Return to the native land, let him gather the remaining people, compete with Huang Taiji for the throne, and we will secretly send troops to help him, so that his internal divisions will fall apart. "

"Governor, I have no objection to this middle and lower strategy, which is indeed a good idea, but the upper strategy is to ask Altan Khan for Zhao Quan and other rebels, and to ask for the release of the looted people, but the tribute and trade are probably beyond our authority. If the court punishes us for this."

Fang Fengshi did not elaborate, but the meaning was very clear. He agreed with the first half of the upper strategy, but there was no imperial decree in the latter part. Even if he, the governor, ordered it, he, the governor, would not buy it.

"You and I are just discussing. Given the current situation on the grassland, is the upper strategy possible?

If you think it is possible, the court will naturally report the matter. Do you think I can bear such a big crime?"

Wang Chonggu just stroked his beard and smiled.

Hearing that Wang Chonggu only wanted him to analyze the feasibility, Fang Fengshi lowered his head and thought.

In fact, exchanging Zhao Quan and taking back the looted population were also within his consideration, and he naturally thought it was feasible, but mutual trade meant that he had to make peace with Mongolia.

It was hard to say whether he could make good relations with Mongolia.

Fortunately, Wang Chonggu also knew that adding the word "tribute" before mutual trade meant that Altan Khan had to pay tribute to the Ming Emperor, and Altan Khan might not agree.

As early as the eleventh year of Jiajing, Altan Khan had contacted the Ming Dynasty before he had pacified the grassland forces, and wanted to "pay tribute".

The so-called "tribute" was to establish trade relations and mutual trade with the Ming Dynasty, but the Ming Dynasty did not agree.

However, "tribute" was different. To be precise, it was born in the Song Dynasty. At that time, the Northern Song Dynasty court made Liao, Xixia and other countries vassal states and sent envoys to them to pay tribute. This form of tribute etiquette reflected the initial prototype of the tribute relationship to a certain extent.

The development of the feudal-tributary relationship was further developed and strengthened with the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty. The Yuan Dynasty used ceremonies such as Fengshan and Canonization to make various countries vassal states, requiring them to pay tribute to the Yuan Dynasty and hold tribute ceremonies.

After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang almost inherited most of the systems of the Yuan Dynasty, including the feudal-tributary model.

At the beginning of the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang sent envoys to issue an edict to inform the rulers of Annan, Champa, Goryeo, and Japan, conveying the message of the establishment of the new dynasty and the peace with them.

However, there are countless differences in the middle, which is not the reason for the succession of the Ming Dynasty, but the obstacles that the Ming Dynasty could not bypass at all.

In the Yuan Dynasty before the Ming Dynasty, because it and the four Mongolian Khanates occupied a vast territory, China's foreign trade at that time reached a new peak. Whether it was the international caravans on land passing through the Silk Road or the fleets sailing into the coastal ports of China from the vast sea, they reached an unprecedented scale.

However, after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, international trade shrank significantly.

This is also because the Mongolian Khanate controlled a large area from central Xinjiang to the Arab world, and they were hostile to the Ming Dynasty and cut off the Silk Road.

Under the influence of the Mongolian Khanate, the number of Arab merchant ships that dominated the Asian maritime trade also decreased significantly in the Ming Dynasty. This international trade dilemma directly led to a significant reduction in the international surplus when the Ming Dynasty was first established, making international trade of low financial importance to the Ming Dynasty.

When Zhu Yuanzhang devoted all his national strength to deal with the Northern Yuan Dynasty that retreated to the desert, the southeast coast was suddenly harassed by Japanese pirates.

At this time, the proportion of Japanese pirates was very high, and they were real Japanese pirates.

Zhu Yuanzhang was in no mood to pay attention to these small-scale Japanese pirates, but in order to prevent the Japanese pirates from becoming bigger, he still took some very extreme countermeasures.

That is, the sea was closed, the Ming people were prohibited from sailing, and overseas ships were prohibited from entering the port.

This simple and crude method of banning everything directly banned all China's foreign trade activities!

Because in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, the so-called international trade was just a small profit and was not worth mentioning at all. Of course, he could not have imagined the prosperity of the Yuan Dynasty.

After Zhu Yuanzhang's son Zhu Di ascended the throne through the Jingnan Campaign, he sent Zheng He on six voyages to the West for various purposes. The countries that came to pay tribute to China further expanded to West Asia, North Africa and other regions.

The countries that Zheng He passed through on his voyages to the West all wanted to trade with the Ming Dynasty, which posed a problem for Zhu Di.

Because it was Zhu Yuanzhang's will to ban the sea and seclusion, the moral banner that Zhu Di had always held high during the battle of Jingnan was that Emperor Jianwen changed Zhu Yuanzhang's established national policy.

Allowing other countries to trade with the Ming Dynasty was an act of changing Zhu Yuanzhang's established national policy. If he did this, wouldn't it be Zhu Di's own slap in the face?

So Zhu Di came up with a compromise - paying tribute!

Those who docked under the tribute were not caravans but envoys. After they landed at the place specified by the Ming Dynasty, they went directly to Beijing and would not engage in any commercial activities. After arriving in Beijing, they were not doing business, but envoys The group met with the Ming Dynasty Emperor and later the 'exchange of gifts' between the two countries.

Roughly speaking, "tribute" and "tribute" can be considered to refer to the same system, but strictly speaking, they are actually different.

The word "tribute" highlights the economic and trade functions of this system.

The tributary countries' tribute of objects and the heavenly dynasty's return of treasures and goods formed the so-called "thick to thin" tributary trade. In addition, private business travelers accompanying the tributary envoys from the tributary countries also engaged in certain trade activities during the process of paying tribute to China. .

"Tribute" more completely summarizes "canonization" and "tribute" - that is, the political and economic impact of this system.

Tribute envoys came to the DPRK not only to pay tribute, but also to "ask for a seal" for their country's rulers, that is, to request the Celestial Dynasty to canonize their country's rulers and award them with a treasure seal and ribbon.

Under the tribute system, the political significance of the canonization of the Celestial Dynasty as the suzerain state is to grant the rulers (royal families) of the vassal states the legitimacy of their rule and endorse them, and to use the political and military strength of the Celestial Dynasty to protect the stability of their regime and national security; on the other hand, the vassal states The succession or succession of the country's rulers must be recognized by the suzerain state through specific procedures under the tribute system. Otherwise, it violates the political ethics under the tribute system, and the suzerain state has the right to intervene forcefully.

Therefore, Wang Chonggu said in front of Fang Fengshi that the second half of the best strategy was to "confer tribute and trade with each other", which meant that Anda Khan had to accept the canonization of the Ming Emperor.

In fact, Wang Chonggu was not sure whether Anda Khan would bow his head to the Ming Emperor, and Fang Fengshi thought so even more.

I think back then, Anda Khan's soldiers and horses were at the foot of the capital. It is easy to imagine how difficult it would be for such a person to ask him to surrender to the Ming Emperor. Naturally, Fang Fengyang shook his head and said: "Your Majesty Governor, although if Anda Khan If you are willing to become a vassal, the imperial court may agree, but Anda Khan may not be willing.”

Here, there are actually two difficulties. One is whether the court is willing to canonize Anda Khan, and then whether Anda Khan is willing to become a minister.

"The difficulty is indeed here, but have you noticed that Anda Khan has always wanted to trade with me, the Ming Dynasty.

During the previous dynasty, envoys were sent to the Ming Dynasty more than ten times, hoping that the Ming Dynasty could exchange tribute and trade. However, they were unwilling to accept canonization, so the late emperor always refused this request and did not even see the envoys. "

Here, Wang Chonggu actually said it very tactfully. Not only did the Ming Dynasty not see the envoy, but the general directly killed the envoy and went back to report his merits.

A few years before Anda Khan launched the "Gengxu Rebellion", several groups of envoys were shot dead by the Ming army. Weng Wanda, the governor-general of Ming Xuan Dynasty, denounced this approach as "a huge disgrace and a huge provocation", and emphasized in Shangshu "A king should treat barbarians and Di without rejecting them when they come." I should accept the tribute envoys from Anda.

However, this proposition was not recognized by Emperor Jiajing.

In the twenty-eighth year of Jiajing, An Da and others led troops to Xuanfu, fought fiercely with the Ming army, and demanded tribute. In order to prevent the envoy from being killed again, he ordered the sergeant to bind the letter to Yatuan and shoot it into the Ming army camp. To show his sincerity, Returning the plundered people, he said, "I can't ask for tribute, so I have repeatedly robbed them. When I ask for tribute, I should restrain the tribes from violating the border." Finally, he warned the Ming Dynasty that if they did not agree to pay tribute, they would "come back in autumn, pass the border and rob the capital." .

Despite such a naked threat, the then Emperor Jiajing still rejected his request.

In fact, Wang Chonggu brought up "tribute" again at this time because he believed that survival on the grassland was difficult. Anda Khan wanted to trade with the Ming Dynasty in exchange for survival supplies, and the Hannaji in his hand was just a step up to Anda Khan, so that he could He bowed his head in the name of protecting his grandson.

Fang Fengshi had the intention to object, but he also thought that the current emperor was no longer the Jiajing he was back then, so he didn't even think about such a proposal at that time.

Now that he is the new emperor, Emperor Longqing may not be willing to use this method to eliminate the threat from the north.

Looking up at Wang Chonggu, Fang Fengshi finally nodded and said, "If the Governor has such a high opinion, he can report it to the capital and ask for His Majesty's sanction."

“No matter what the outcome is, it’s always good to give it a try.”

Wang Chonggu glanced at Fang Fengshi and said leisurely.

"Yes, the northern border towns have been invaded by the Mongols and have suffered a lot these years. If tribute and mutual trade can be realized, the relationship between the two sides can be eased and the people can live and work in peace and contentment. It will naturally be good."

Although Fang Fengshi was worried, he still agreed.

"Okay, I'll give you a memorandum here. Please help me think about it."

While he was talking, Wang Chonggu ordered his people to prepare pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and quickly wrote a memorial. He showed it to Fang Fengshi before the pen and ink were dry.

Fang Fengshi read it carefully and found that the writing was old-fashioned and there was nothing worth revising, so he immediately nodded his approval.

According to the format of the memorial, Wang Chonggu copied it again and confirmed his and Fang Fengshi's names. This memorial was the "Memorial on the Discussion of Matters for the Barbarian Chieftains". When the memorial was completed, he ordered people to deliver it to the capital at full speed.

At this time, the news had spread in Beijing. Everyone knew that Altan Khan's grandson had surrendered to the Ming Dynasty with his subordinates. For a time, many people praised the emperor for his wisdom.

After all, Altan Khan left a deep impression on the people of Beijing. They had not experienced war for many years, but this person threatened the safety of the capital several times, so the capital was under martial law.

In the past few days, the cabinet, led by Gao Gong, prevented cabinet ministers from analyzing the situation in Datong every day.

Of course, this was done at the instruction of Emperor Longqing, who naturally wanted to find the best way to solve the current situation.

Because of Zhang Juzheng's suggestion, the strategy of using Datong as a preset battlefield to fight Altan Khan was the most mentioned.

Although Wei Guangde still insisted that Altan Khan would not start a war for this, he had to seriously consider the implementation details and even began to contact the Ministry of War to let them select elite soldiers and generals from all over the world in case of emergency.

Inherited from the ideas of the Jiajing Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty had no idea of ​​trading with the Mongols. Naturally, whenever they had relations with the Mongols, the first thing they thought of was how to win the war.

This is also related to the fact that Altan Khan seemed to have given up the idea of ​​"tribute" with the Ming Dynasty in the past ten years, and no longer sent envoys to the Ming Dynasty to request mutual trade.

It was in this atmosphere that Wang Chonggu and Fang Fengshi discussed the "Memorial on the Matters of the Tribute to the Barbarians" and sent it to the capital and handed it over to Li Chunfang, the chief minister of the cabinet.

When Li Chunfang finished reading this memorial, he just frowned. The middle and lower strategies were consistent with the results of the cabinet's discussions in recent days.

Among them, the strategy of holding on to and supporting Bahanaji until Altan Khan passed away to help him control the grassland was proposed by Wei Guangde, which was actually influenced by the experience of "proxy war".

Wei Guangde thought of providing material assistance to the Ming Dynasty to help Bahanaji gain control of the grassland, let the grassland fight internally, weaken their power, and then make friends with the Ming Dynasty to restore peace on the border.

But just because of the influence of fighting with Altan Khan for many years, Wei Guangde did not think of having peace talks with Altan Khan to resolve the feud between the two.

"Come here, quickly ask Gao Gong, the second assistant, to come to me."

Li Chunfang opened his mouth to order, but as soon as the clerk walked to the door, he suddenly stopped him and said, "Call the other cabinet ministers."

Wang Chonggu and Fang Fengshi's strategy was not the best, this was Li Chunfang's opinion, because he did not think that "tribute" could be realized.

If "tribute" could not be achieved, Bahanaji would definitely not be able to exchange Zhao Quan and other rebels and looted people, which would be a real loss.

According to the "proxy war" model proposed by Wei Guangde, it is actually the most beneficial to the Ming Dynasty. This is the conclusion Li Chunfang reached after several days of discussion. (End of this chapter)