Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

"What he said is quite insightful."

Gu Cheng nodded and affirmed.

Obviously, the old general has rich life experience. Without any preconceived ideas, he got some inspiration after looking at Jiang Xinghuo's views from an unbiased perspective.

"That's a good point." Zhu Di thought for a while, "If we follow this idea, different sub-units in an overall geographical unit will obviously lead to the emergence of local separatism. This seems to have been verified in history."

Zhu Gaochi took the words and continued: "Just as many geographical sub-units in China will lead to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the Monan and Mobei of the Mongolian Plateau will also be determined by the rise and fall of the nomadic people. So does this inference explain? "

Several people's eyes lit up, and they understood what Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi meant at the same time.

Dao Yan made the point clear: "North Korea can be ruled by dividing the Han River, and Japan can divide the four islands and divide the main island into two halves according to the mountain range, and then instigate the independence of the forces in each small alluvial plain."

"That's right!" Zhu Di nodded, "For now, this is undoubtedly the best way!"

"As long as we control Jeju Island and Tsushima Island, it is equivalent to putting a sharp blade on Japan's head, which is enough to deter Japan's shogun."

Zhu Gaochi agreed with his father's idea, "As for other directions, we can use a gentle approach and slowly penetrate."

Gu Cheng frowned and said: "Although this method sounds feasible, it is far from the core area ruled by the Japanese shogun and does not have a strong enough deterrent effect."

"If your Majesty insists on conquering Japan, and the purpose is to seize the two mountains of gold and silver that your Majesty mentioned, I have an idea."

"Oh? General Gu, please tell me."

Zhu Di respected the vision of the Yan Army Chief of General Staff.

"Using water to move around, the islands lock the country away."

Gu Cheng explained: "Japan's navy is not strong. According to the intelligence given by Master Daoyan before, Japan happens to be blocked by several surrounding islands."

"That is, Jeju Island, Tsushima Island, Oki Island, Sado Island are connected in a line to the north, and the most critical Yakushima Island is to the southwest."

"I understand what Marquis Zhenyuan means." Dao Yan explained, "Just like Go, the sea around Japan is the boundary of the chessboard, and our Ming Dynasty only needs to move it to a few islands outward, like falling pieces in a row. If they are all occupied, Japan will be completely blocked."

"There is a prerequisite here, which is that the Ming Dynasty's navy must completely defeat the Japanese navy and cannot leave the harbor."

After that, Dao Yan used the air in front of him as a chessboard, holding non-existent chess pieces in his hand, and dropped them one by one.

●●●●

●Japan

Gu Cheng nodded and said: "That's what I mean. The reason why the old minister was opposed to the conquest of Japan was because Japan was said to have a population of tens of millions and had just experienced a unification war. The soldiers had quite a lot of combat experience. In addition, the two previous Yuan dynasties The conquest of Japan failed, so the veteran has some concerns about landing directly in Japan."

"Since there is a gold mountain on Sado Island, it is natural to take it easily." Gu Cheng continued, "But His Majesty said that the most important thing for the future of the Ming Dynasty is the Iwami Silver Mountain near the coast, so it would be difficult to land and occupy it directly. Once we land, we have to face Japanese troops surrounded from all sides. From a military perspective alone, it is difficult to gain a foothold."

"But if we just block Japan with the absolute strength of the navy, and use the temptation of the benefits of 'exploration trade' to force the unsuspecting Japan to cede this land, the veteran feels that not only is there no risk of rash landing, but it is very possible Success is achieved through coercion by these interests.”

"It would be easy to handle if Japan really allows this field to be released, or if there is a conflict between the shogunate and the guardian daimyo of this field and acquiesces to our army's landing. Our army will consolidate for a while after a successful landing and will not be If we attack halfway across the sea, it will be basically impossible to drive our troops into the sea."

What Gu Cheng was worried about before was that he would be pushed into the sea if the beachhead position was unstable like the Mongols.

After all, their own family knows their own affairs, and the Ming army is not good at cross-sea landing operations. This is the biggest risk.

And if we can first control the island chain and then blockade Japan, and then use the huge benefits of exploration and cooperation trade to lure and coerce the shogun, we may be able to defeat the enemy without a fight.

The Ming army only needs to safely survive the beach landing, and the subsequent troops, horses and baggage can be continuously transported up, and a complete defense line can be established. Then, no matter how many Japanese troops there are, it will not work.

Zhu Gaochi said with some joy: "In this way, we can obtain Japan's gold and silver mountains without spending a single soldier!"

Zhu Di's frown relaxed slightly.

Jiang Xinghuo was chatting under the tree.

"The so-called geographical environment determines the spiritual characteristics of a country. In fact, if we use our old saying, it is very easy to understand, that is, where the soil and water support the people."

"What does it mean to have enough water and soil to support a person?" Jiang Xinghuo asked a question and immediately gave the answer himself.

"This sentence not only explains the differences between people themselves. For example, people in cold northern areas must use more blood on their faces to supply blood and keep warm than people in hot and humid areas, so their faces are usually redder; at the same time, people in the north cannot farm and only They can raise animals, so the people there are usually stronger because of their meat-eating habits.”

"More importantly, the people raised in this field have different ways of thinking."

Li Jinglong and Zhu Gaoxu were a little confused.

"There are two more sentences. One is that people with practical skills know etiquette, and the other is that poor mountains and harsh waters lead to unruly people."

"Taking a single geographical environment as an example, some places are born with fertile fields and rich products, so people have a lot of leisure time to think about problems and study art; while some places have poor fields and few products, so they have to rely on mountains to eat. , rely on the water to draft, and try every means to earn a life. This is why people who are usually close to rivers and seas are more adventurous than people in the inland plains."

"Then let's zoom in from a region to a country and see how the geographical environment determines the spiritual characteristics of a country."

"We still take Chinese civilization as an example first."

Jiang Xinghuo cleared his throat and continued: "If we look at the birthplace of Chinese civilization, that is, the Yellow River Basin, in the era before the Spring and Autumn Period, due to the relatively low ability to grow food, there were still a lot of uncultivated fields in the wild. Therefore, the settlements based on agriculture are relatively scattered and isolated from each other. Transportation within each small geographical unit is inconvenient, and the economy and culture are self-contained. It is precisely because of this that during the Warring States Period, the feudal lords were all based on the The territory is calculated as a unit of 'city', because those inside the city are Chinese, while those outside the city are savages."

Zhu Gaoxu was a little surprised. Is this how the Chinese and the savages came to be?

"Then how did the difference between Chinese people and savages disappear?"

Jiang Xinghuo said: "It is also due to geographical factors, because the Yellow River Basin is relatively flat and lacks terrain that is sufficient to block communication between small geographical units. Therefore, as the population grows, communication among various regions quickly becomes more frequent."

"But this frequency has not led to the formation of large-scale commercial trade, nor has it cultivated people's mercantile habits. Guess why?"

Zhu Gaoxu guessed: "Is the Yellow River inconvenient for transportation?"

Li Jinglong said: "Maybe people don't like trade?"

"Yes and no." Jiang Xinghuo corrected, "The reason is actually derived from geographical conditions."

"The first reason why merchandising habits have not been cultivated is that the products are insufficient and not abundant enough to be exported on a large scale. The key point here is that the monsoon climate allows crops to grow well during the same period of rain and heat, but it is also Because of the monsoon climate, precipitation is unstable. In some years, there is too much precipitation, and in other years, there is too little precipitation. This will lead to frequent droughts and floods, making the average annual output of agricultural farming that depends on the weather maintain at barely enough food and clothing or a slight famine. The state of the country meets the needs of a self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy to a certain extent, but there is no accumulation of large amounts of surplus agricultural products. The lack of commodities means that large-scale commercial trade cannot be carried out, so people's mercantile habits cannot be cultivated. "

"Did you see it? It is precisely because of geographical factors such as soil, hydrology, and climate that people in the Yellow River Basin, the birthplace of China, have been trapped in the fields all year round in search of stability. In terms of spiritual characteristics, there can be no adventurous merchants. Habit."

After hearing this, the two nodded, as if what they said made sense.

They originally believed that the human spirit should be born with it, that brave people are brave and cowardly people are cowardly.

Now that I think about it carefully, even if a brave person is placed in a farming environment, his bravery may only be reflected in driving away wild beasts that eat crops. And as this stable environment lacks adventure for a long time, he also will become more conservative.

Jiang Xinghuo said when he saw that the two of them had realized something.

"The spiritual characteristics of the Yellow River Basin are actually the epitome of Chinese civilization, which is why the second reason appears."

"The second reason is that the degree of social organization caused by a stable life is too high."

Although some of the terms in Jiang Xinghuo's mouth were unfamiliar, it was not difficult for the two of them to understand them. It was just a matter of changing the usual words.

Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but ask: "Is it a bad thing if the level of social organization is too high?"

"Misfortune lies where blessings depend, and blessing lies where misfortune lies."

Jiang Xinghuo seemed to especially like to quote these short sayings today.

"Monsoon climate and river civilization complement each other. The Chinese civilization born in the Yellow River Basin is a typical river civilization. The combination of monsoon and rivers will inevitably lead to a result, that is, rivers will dry up or flood due to changes in monsoon precipitation."

"Natural rivers cannot avoid this problem, so we can only rely on artificial construction of water conservancy facilities. Otherwise, agricultural production will completely depend on the weather and be extremely unstable."

"The high degree of social organization of Chinese civilization originally came from people's voluntary or involuntary construction of the Yellow River."

At this point, Jiang Xinghuo glanced at the two of them with a half-smile.

When the two of them were playing the game, they were faced with the option of "whether to build the Yellow River", but they made the opposite choice.

Li Jinglong was thick-skinned and had no expression on his face, but Zhu Gaoxu didn't look proud at all.

Jiang Xinghuo just glanced at the two of them, and then continued: "The frequent droughts and floods in the monsoon climate have stimulated the construction of large-scale water conservancy facilities and the need for river flooding control."

“This requires a large number of laborers to work together and work together in an orderly manner. Obviously, in the face of natural disasters such as river flooding that threaten crop yields and even the lives of farmers at all times, Relative to a more inefficient consultative system, a more efficient centralized system can play the required role."

"It is precisely because of this that the centralized system has become the mainstream of Chinese civilization. In turn, the centralized system requires farmers to settle down and relocate and not move at will. Only in this way can the centralized system exert its greatest power. So it is not difficult to understand why. Among scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, businessmen were ranked last because businessmen were the least conducive to the stability of the centralized system."

Jiang Xinghuo made a brief summary.

"In short, the geographical environment determines the spiritual characteristics of the country. Taking China as an example, it is because the river civilization and the monsoon climate complement each other, and this combination is doomed to frequent floods and droughts. In the early stages of civilization, it was necessary to organize labor to build water conservancy projects, which promoted The emergence of a centralized system, which in turn allowed labor to settle in the fields, inhibited the emergence of mercantile habits.”

Zhu Gaoxu asked quickly: "Is there no way to crack it? Or will mercantile business definitely lead to the collapse of the centralized system?"

Zhu Gaoxu was still thinking about his plan to gain fame overseas and achieve immortal achievements.

This question also made several people in the secret room prick up their ears.

Zhu Di, for example, was very concerned about this issue.

Because they all know that things must have advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage of sailing to the West is that it can unite the nobles of the vassals and give them a new place to exert their efforts to compete for merit and wealth. At the same time, overseas trade can also bring massive wealth to the country.

With wealth and high ambition, Zhu Di had the foundation to realize his civil and martial arts and achieve his own prosperous age.

Otherwise, it would be really hard for a clever woman to make a meal without rice, and she would have to squeeze oil from the stone of the common people, and she would undoubtedly be digging her own grave.

Another point is that through his voyages to the West, Zhu Di was able to cultivate a new interest class that was born out of traditional forces. This new interest class was definitely under his control at the beginning and could strongly support him, which would help Zhu Di escape from The shackles of the civil servants and gentry class, mainly Jianwen's old ministers.

But Zhu Di also knew that there were so many benefits to going to the Western Seas that there could not be no disadvantages.

The disadvantage is that, as my second son said, voyages to the West will cultivate the formation of mercantile habits, and commercial trade always requires exchanges, which means that the traditional agricultural foundation of resettlement will be shaken, and the entire country will be shaken. Will the centralized system on which it is maintained also be shaken?

If that is really the case, it will affect the rule of their Lao Zhu family.

Zhu Di had previously imagined that only the royal family would come forward and sail to the West in the name of the royal family. But now that he has adopted Jiang Xinghuo's suggestion and kidnapped the feudal lords and other nobles to sail to the West together, then this snowball will definitely snowball. big.

Therefore, even if the issue of undermining the centralized system does not arise for the time being, it will arise in the future.

In some points, Zhu Di is exactly like his father Zhu Yuanzhang. He has never had the habit of counting on the wisdom of future generations. They both want to solve things themselves and set rules to prevent future generations from being too useless to solve the problem.

In other words, this is also a manifestation of "the stronger the ability, the greater the sense of responsibility".

Under the new crooked neck tree, Jiang Xinghuo thought for a moment and slowly spoke.

"Mercantilist habits will not necessarily lead to the collapse of a centralized system. We still discuss this from the same academic perspective."

"We learned before that the Chinese civilization originated in the Yellow River Basin, and the centralized system was also formed. It is for this reason that the great river civilization naturally regards the ocean as its boundary. Well, it is like Kyushu is a chessboard, with the desert to the north and the desert to the west. The plateau, the jungle to the south, and the ocean to the east are all the edges of this chessboard, so it’s impossible to play chess, right?”

Li Jinglong nodded slightly and agreed: "It is indeed true. If it is not defeated and has no choice, no force is willing to retreat to the sea."

"If the remnants of Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen could stand on land, they would not run to the sea. The vast sea is really difficult to find, but it is also difficult to survive." Zhu Gaoxu also added.

Jiang Xinghuo smiled and pointed at the map he had drawn on the ground.

"So, this is the limitation of the geographical environment, but what if we change a perspective that no one has ever imagined?"

"for example?"

Jiang Xinghuo didn't say what his new perspective was, but instead asked a question.

"Let me talk about another question first. What do you think is the basis of the centralized system?"

Li Jinglong thought for a while and then replied: "System."

Zhu Gaoxu gave another answer: "Force."

Several people in the secret room next door were also lost in thought.

"It's a limited per capita resource."

Jiang Xinghuo simply said: "The so-called centralized system is like a group of people living on an isolated island with limited resources. At the beginning, the resources on the island were quite sufficient, so everyone was relatively harmonious. Even if there was a conflict, they were polite and polite. , the kind that has been pointed out, such as the Spring and Autumn Period, these are the Chinese and savages I mentioned before. Isn’t it precisely because the field resources were not fully explored and developed at that time, and there were still many open spaces outside the city, that this situation occurred? ? And fields and food are the most important resources."

As soon as these words came out, the few people in the secret room next door suddenly felt as if they had understood something.

Before this, no one had ever told them that the centralized system of these high-level decision-makers of the Ming Empire was undoubtedly closely related to their own interests, but no one knew what was going on and what the core of this concept was.

Gu Cheng's eyes also became a little deeper.

To be fair, he began to truly believe that the man next door really had the power of an immortal.

One sentence reveals the secret of heaven, what is he but an immortal?

And Jiang Xinghuo's words continued.