Chapter 784 883 Consensus

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

Although it is a bit incredible, if you really calculate it carefully, you will find that the Ming Dynasty only needs to pay some ironware and food to make the grassland forces attack each other, and finally they will be weakened.

Regardless of whether Han Naji or Xin Ai Huang Taiji won the final victory, the power of the Mongols has been greatly reduced, and the threat to the Ming Dynasty is naturally minimal.

Even if they do not get the support of the Ming Dynasty, when the new Khan appears on the grassland, I am afraid that even if they want to survive, they will have to look at the attitude of the Ming Dynasty.

Because the war has made them extremely weak, at that time they did not look for living space in the south, but thought about how to survive.

In fact, similar strategies were used in large quantities during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, as well as the Three Kingdoms and the Song Dynasty. In essence, it is a variation of the counter-espionage strategy.

However, when the Ming Dynasty monarchs and ministers did not know much about the internal situation of Mongolia, no one would think of doing so.

Moreover, there was really no place to start at that time.

But now that Han Naji surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, it brought an opportunity for the Ming Dynasty to understand Mongolian society, and Wei Guangde also thought of this way to weaken the strength of the Mongols.

Although it is difficult, as long as the operation is successful, huge benefits will be obtained.

However, because of the difficulty of operation, the cabinet did not support Wei Guangde's proposal. Only Yin Shizhen clearly supported it, and the others were very skeptical.

Accordingly, they were more willing to choose the plan proposed by Zhang Juzheng, to have a decisive battle with Altan Khan in Datong to completely weaken the threat from the northern grasslands.

But now the situation is different. The suggestions made by the governor and governor of Datong coincided with Wei Guangde's, which shows that this strategy is also feasible, otherwise the people below would never propose it.

You know, they are responsible for the implementation. If it is too difficult to achieve, they will never foolishly propose this plan.

Fighting may not win, but defense is fine. It has been so many years. As long as the border generals are ready, the Mongols can't get in.

As long as it takes a few years, when Altan Khan dies of old age, the grassland may fall into chaos, and the Ming Dynasty will benefit from it.

While Li Chunfang was still thinking, Gao Gong, the deputy assistant, had already walked in, greeted him casually, and sat down, waiting for his next words.

Li Chunfang also came back to his senses at this time, and handed the newly delivered memorial to Gao Gong, asking him to take a look first.

Li Chunfang was already used to Gao Gong's attitude, but he just didn't want to get entangled with him.

In fact, it was because of Gao Gong's attitude that Li Chunfang didn't want to quit politics so early.

As long as he sat in this position and didn't make mistakes, Gao Gong would have no way to deal with him.

If he dared to use force on him, as long as the news was spread, Gao Gong would find it difficult to get along in the court.

It's just a pity that Gao Gong never realized that his strong attitude towards Li Chunfang actually had the opposite effect. Not only did it not make him want to quit, but it made him more determined to stay in the court.

Gao Gong quickly finished reading Wang Chonggu's memorial and lowered his head to think.

His so-called three strategies, namely, the upper, middle and lower strategies, were actually strategies formulated according to the development of the situation. Rather than three strategies, it is better to say that there is only one strategy.

First, try to negotiate with Altan Khan and get what the Ming Dynasty wants, including Zhao Quan and other rebels and the looted population, and try to get Altan Khan to agree to tribute, as a condition, the Ming Dynasty agrees to trade with the Mongols.

If the conditions cannot be met, then the war will be fought, and the so-called second strategy will be entered. The Ming Dynasty will defend, withstand the attack of the Mongols, and insist on not letting go of Hanaji.

As for the three strategies, it is unknown when they can be implemented. After all, as long as Altan Khan is not dead, this strategy will not be possible.

Relatively speaking, Zhang Juzheng's proposal to fight a decisive battle with the Mongols in Datong is much simpler.

Although the Ming Dynasty will pay a considerable price for this, the Mongols will suffer greater losses.

"Haha. Wang Chonggu and Wei Guangde's opinions coincide with each other. They both plan to divide the grassland."

Gao Gong will skip the first one, of course. He still has to think about whether he can end the confrontation between the two sides through peace talks.

For the second and third points, Wei Guangde's thinking is actually similar to Wang Chonggu's. He will delay time until Altan Khan dies of old age, and then intervene in grassland affairs to mess him up. He avoids Zhang Juzheng's proposal from beginning to end and launches a war.

Let's not talk about whether Wang Chonggu and Fang Fengshi's plan is good or not. Gao Gong first considers the opinions of the cabinet ministers, which coincide with those of the foreign ministers. This makes him have to think more. Maybe Zhang Juzheng's decisive battle strategy is not appropriate, otherwise Datong will not completely ignore the matter of fighting.

The presence of Wei Guangde in the cabinet always makes Gao Gong a little restrained, because this person is too good at hiding.

When he was in Prince Yu's Mansion before, he only gave advice, and he and Li Fang did it for the outside world, or Chen Yiqin and others.

It was not until King Jing was enfeoffed that Wei Guangde began to publicly represent Prince Yu's Mansion in some activities.

In Gao Gong's eyes, Wei Guangde was a venomous snake that would strike at the right moment, so he was not as defensive against other cabinet ministers as against Wei Guangde.

At the beginning, Gao Gong had intentionally sent him out because he found that he was an official with ideas, but also had many small thoughts, so he could avoid him and not have to be on guard against him all the time.

But I didn't expect that fate would play tricks on people, and it didn't work out. Instead, the relationship between the two became estranged.

He could feel that since then, the two of them had been wary of each other.

But Wei Guangde is too young, and he can't think of dealing with Li Chunfang and the others like that.

Even if he survives to death, I'm afraid Wei Guangde will still be alive and active in the court.

I originally thought of a way to support Zhang Juzheng, and let Wei Guangde go out to supervise the army when the time came, and then find a way to prevent him from coming back, but I didn't expect that Datong actually gave such a memorial, and the possibility of war was reduced again.

Yes, Gao Gong is now obsessed with state affairs, but he also does not forget to eliminate dissidents in the court.

Having already suffered a big loss, he wanted to nip the threat in the bud, and Wei Guangde was what he regarded as the biggest threat, even more than Zhang Juzheng.

Zhang Juzheng's strength is there, but Wei Guangde is not.

The key point was that Emperor Longqing gave all the books in Li Fang's hands to Wei Guangde to expand his wings, which made him timid in taking action.

Because he was not sure what position Wei Guangde held in Emperor Longqing's heart.

"This is a topic for later. What we need to discuss now are the negotiation conditions proposed by Governor Wang and Governor Fang, such as whether it is feasible to pay tribute to Zhao Quan's traitors and plundered people."

Li Chunfang smiled at this time.

Gao Gong also withdrew his thoughts, knowing that this was the major matter to be discussed today, so he nodded and said: "Female tribute and mutual trade, this depends on His Majesty's wishes. Let's discuss it first and then talk to Your Majesty."

At this time, Gao Gong stopped thinking about Wei Guangde for the time being, and instead began to think about what the Ming Dynasty would do if there were peace talks with An Da Khan.

It should be said that Wang Chonggu's memorial included all the interests of Ming Dynasty, and there was nothing to add.

As for paying tribute and mutual trade, Gao Gong actually thinks it is feasible.

At the beginning, there was a lot of support between the DPRK and China for mutual trading, but Emperor Jiajing forcibly rejected the plan and did not argue with the courtiers at all.

Perhaps, this is related to the emperor's face, and he will insist on it until his death.

At this moment, Zhang Juzheng also walked into the first assistant's duty room. It was not surprising to see Gao Gong arriving first, but he just bowed his hands and saluted the two of them.

"Uncle, here are the memorials from Datong Governor Wang Chonggu and Governor Fang Fengshi. You can read them first before talking."

Li Chunfang spoke and handed the memorial that Gao Gong had just read to Zhang Juzheng.

While Zhang Juzheng was still reading the memorial, Wei Guangde and Yin Shizhen also entered the room together.

After everyone read the memorial, there was no heated discussion as expected, and the room fell into silence, as they all pondered the suggestions in the memorial.

Anda Khan's grandson comes to the Ming Dynasty. Will Anda Khan exchange it at all costs?

Wei Guangde expressed some doubts. At first, he didn't even think that he could even get a White Lotus cultist.

In Wei Guangde's mind, Anda Khan should ask the Ming Dynasty to release people, not to negotiate conditions, but to demand, otherwise he would go to war directly.

In addition to forceful coercion, Wei Guangde did not believe in the terms of Anda Khan's talks, so after seeing this memorial, his first reaction was that Wang Chonggu and Fang Feng were out of their minds.

However, when Wang Chonggu stated more about the grassland things that he learned from Han Naji and what happened before and after the "Gengxu Revolution", Wei Guangde was a little undecided again.

Mutual trading seems to be what Anda Khan has been pursuing. If he can't get it, he can only rob it.

Wang Chonggu even introduced in detail how Bian Wei killed the Mongolian envoys to cater to the Holy Heart before the "Gengxu Revolution" occurred.

"If the best strategy can be realized, it will naturally be the best. It can calm the war and even end the crisis of the nine sides."

Finally, Wei Guangde took the lead in speaking.

Yin Shizhen also echoed Wei Guangde's opinion. It's not that he has no opinion, but since it is the best policy, it naturally has merits.

Regardless of Zhang Juzheng's suggestion or Wang Chonggu's mid-range strategy, a war is bound to happen. It is naturally best if it can be avoided and Ming Dynasty can achieve its own goals.

Zhang Juzheng previously believed that Datong could fight decisively, but now after seeing this memorial, his attitude has changed.

Because he did not understand the actual situation on the border, he, like Wei Guangde, never thought that the matter could be resolved through negotiation.

"If we can take this as an opportunity to make peace with Anda Khan and allow him to become a minister on the condition of mutual trade, it will indeed be most beneficial to the court."

Zhang Juzheng finally said, "However, I am worried that after the news comes out, officials will oppose the reconciliation with Mongolia."

"Since the "Gengxu Incident", almost no one in the Ming Dynasty court officials talked about mutual trading, and it was also because of the late emperor's firm attitude.

But now and then, if we continue to be tough, it will actually be detrimental to the court.

If the nine-border crisis can be resolved, and at least the border villages are restored, the burden on the court will be greatly reduced. "

Yin Shizhen said, "So, don't worry about the objections of the officials. If there is opposition, there will definitely be support. The main thing is His Majesty's attitude."

Yin Shizhen's words hit the point exactly. As long as Emperor Longqing was willing to agree, it would be useless for all officials to object.

Of course, the premise is that the cabinet also supports it and is willing to fully promote this matter.

And Yin Shizhen also happened to say the greatest benefit brought by the peace talks, which could alleviate the embarrassing financial crisis of the Ming Dynasty.

If there was no threat from Mongolia, there would be no need for hundreds of thousands of guest troops to stay in Jiubian, which would save a lot of money on food and food expenses on Jiubian.

Because the Ming Dynasty's army was a military garrison system. Due to the war, the garrison garrison was almost abandoned, and it all relied on the imperial court to transport money and food.

"Does everyone think it's okay to talk?"

While Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng were talking, Gao Gong suddenly interrupted and asked.

Hearing his question, all three people nodded.

"Master Chief Assistant, now we can discuss the conditions proposed by Governor Wang."

Gao Gong saw the reaction of the three people and immediately turned to Li Chunfang and said.

Li Chunfang nodded when he heard this and said with a smile: "Actually, the conditions mentioned in Governor Wang's memorial are almost perfect. I have nothing to add. I just don't know what you think?"

Hearing this, Gao Gong looked at Wei Guangde and the others again, and saw that the three of them were shaking their heads after thinking about it, and immediately said: "In this case, the imperial court should send a message back to Datong.

First of all, treat Han Naji favorably, so that he will be rich and noble in China. I will use Ali Ge, the nanny who persuaded him to commit suicide, to assist Han Naji, and use the name I gave him to make him Ji dominated Mongolia and was finally used by me.

Secondly, when Anda came to ask for his grandson, on the one hand, he strengthened his defenses to prevent accidents, and at the same time sent people to inform Anda of his grandson's current situation, so as to carry out his planned plan.

Furthermore, for Bansheng Zhao Quan and others, in order for Anda to take the initiative, the intention should not be too obvious. It is best to ask others to come up with a plan. If Zhao Quan and others are tied up and sacrificed, then surrender will be successful and good luck will be obtained. If not, there will be no plan. "

What Gao Gong said now was actually how to implement it, and he had skipped the part of convincing Emperor Longqing. He seemed to be confident.

Wei Guangde heard it, but didn't say anything.

As long as the cabinet is unanimous, Wei Guangde knows that even if Emperor Longqing has an opinion, he will probably not insist on it.

After Gao Gong finished speaking, no one in the room answered. Seeing this, Gao Gong had no choice but to turn to Li Chunfang and ask, "What do you think, Lord Chief Assistant?"

Li Chunfang then said: "Qing Su's words are reasonable, but now is the time to convince your Majesty first.

If His Majesty agrees, he can naturally restore Datong in the name of the cabinet.

At the same time, after the news spreads, if most of the officials are opposed, the princes will have to find ways to deal with it. "

"If this matter comes to pass, it will be of great benefit to the court without any harm, and it will also be a great joy to the people of the border town. Your Majesty is a benevolent monarch, how can you not understand the reason? Your Excellency, the First Assistant, is overly worried."

Gao Gong's words seemed to be certain that Emperor Longqing would agree.

However, he looked at Li Chunfang's expression that had not changed at all, then looked at Zhang Juzheng, Wei Guangde and others, and asked: "Are all the ministers in my cabinet supportive?"

Seeing everyone nodding, he continued: "Since everyone agrees, we might as well go to Qianqing Palace to see His Majesty and talk about this matter.

If your majesty has concerns, we can explain it immediately so that your majesty can dispel your concerns and let this matter be implemented as soon as possible.

This matter is of great importance. The opportunity to control the captives is real and cannot be delayed. As long as His Majesty nods, the matter will be sent out urgently today, so that Governor Wang and others can have enough time to prepare. "