Chapter 574: Policy Toward Joseon

Zhu Youxiao could more or less guess what these people below were thinking, but he didn't really care.

This matter still required his own consent. Marrying into an alliance now wasn't appropriate. If he truly wanted a marriage alliance, he'd have to wait until his son grew up.

As for them wanting him to marry off his daughters, that would have to wait until they all joined the Great Ming.

From start to finish, Zhu Youxiao's thinking had never changed—absorb them all, make every one of them a subject of the Great Ming.

Joseon, Liaodong, the Mongol grasslands—all of them, the same.

Not to mention anything else, at the very least he had to restore the territory of later generations, or even make it somewhat larger.

The world was this vast, this era this fine—not annexing a bit of land would truly be doing a disservice to the Great Ming in its current state of strength.

Zhu Youxiao simply wore a smile on his face, eating alongside these people.

The attitude of these people made Zhu Youxiao quite satisfied.

Tomorrow, they could discuss the real business.

Soon, the evening banquet dispersed, and Zhu Youxiao returned to his lodgings.

After mulling over what needed to be done tomorrow, Zhu Youxiao drifted off to sleep.

He was starting to grow weary of staying in this place and was preparing to return to the capital.

Once matters were settled, he'd withdraw—it shouldn't take more than a few days.

Early the next morning, after eating breakfast and practicing his boxing, Zhu Youxiao met with Sun Chengzong.

Sun Chengzong was sporting a pair of big dark circles under his eyes.

Clearly, he hadn't slept well last night—these past few days, Sun Chengzong should have been the busiest man. But his spirits were good, and it was plain to see he was excited.

The old man was single-mindedly devoted to making the Great Ming stronger and stronger, and now that there was finally hope of success, the excitement in his heart could barely be contained. Though his body was weary, his mental vigor was still running high.

"Your Majesty." After Sun Chengzong paid his respects to Zhu Youxiao, he stood respectfully to one side.

Glancing at Sun Chengzong, Zhu Youxiao said with some helplessness: "You look a bit worn out, don't you? No need to work yourself this hard. There's no major change in the situation—just let them develop slowly."

"But you may still have to be busy here for a few more days. Once we return to the capital, things will be better, and you can rest properly."

"It's no trouble, Your Majesty. Your subject is very happy right now, in excellent condition—better than ever." Sun Chengzong said this with a brilliant smile on his face, as if he saw nothing at all wrong with himself.

Zhu Youxiao said nothing more, merely nodding.

After all, ever since he himself had arrived in Liaodong, he'd been slacking off the whole time, handing everything over to Sun Chengzong to handle—it was only right that the man be a bit weary.

Though he wanted to let Sun Chengzong rest, it hadn't reached the point where he'd take all the matters into his own hands.

All along, Zhu Youxiao had placed great importance on his own health.

Nurturing one's life!

"Coming over this early today—is there something on your mind?" Zhu Youxiao looked at Sun Chengzong, directly shifting the topic to business.

The old man coming this early certainly couldn't be just to report that all was well—there was something going on.

Upon hearing these words, the expression on Sun Chengzong's face turned serious.

Looking at Zhu Youxiao, Sun Chengzong said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, your subject has come this time to speak about matters concerning the Mongols and Joseon."

"After the banquet dispersed last night, these people were all active in private. Quite a few formal invitations and routine memorials were sent over. Your subject feels the time is right."

In fact, Sun Chengzong had also been trying to avoid the commotion, but last night he hadn't managed to dodge it.

If he hadn't come here this morning, he'd probably have been entangled by countless people, and by then there'd be no escaping even if he wanted to run.

On the other hand, Sun Chengzong had come to consult with Zhu Youxiao, and even somewhat to keep an eye on him.

His Majesty, though wise and martial with the makings of a restorer of the dynasty, had ideas that couldn't be more unconstrained—one never knew when some unreliable notion might suddenly pop out. If he didn't keep a close watch, he simply couldn't rest easy.

Zhu Youxiao acted as if he hadn't caught the implication, merely nodding and saying: "That's certainly no problem."

"In fact, I have already summoned the King of Joseon. Once he arrives, we can discuss it. Last time I had originally wanted to talk, but in the end I simply lost interest. This time, I believe we can achieve a very good result."

"If so, then nothing could be better." Sun Chengzong hurriedly nodded in agreement.

For Zhu Youxiao, having Sun Chengzong along was fine too—he could help fill in any gaps and catch oversights.

Zhu Youxiao said nothing further, instead turning his head to glance at Wei Chao and asking directly: "Has the King of Joseon, Li Zong, arrived?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, this man has already arrived." Wei Chao quickly replied.

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said: "Then have him come in."

"Yes, Your Highness." After Wei Chao acknowledged the order, he turned and went out to find the man.

In fact, from Wei Chao's attitude alone, one could see that the ministers of the Great Ming had already elevated their own standing considerably. Especially after yesterday's military demonstration, their confidence was unprecedentedly strong.

To borrow a phrase from later generations—this was what you called getting swollen-headed.

But in Zhu Youxiao's heart, he wasn't swollen-headed like them. On the contrary, at this moment his mind was extremely clear, his attitude very definite, and he knew in his heart exactly what he wanted.

Zhu Youxiao didn't feel the slightest bit of arrogance.

The reason was also simple—in his previous life, there had been armies more powerful than his own country's, and they'd still been defeated. When there was a generational gap in weaponry, they'd been routed so thoroughly they couldn't even find their way north.

That country was the legendary Italy—and that was during World War II.

Though the Great Ming's army had very advanced weapons, compared to World War II Italy, it was far behind.

Their cannons, their guns, their airplanes—look at his own side, so far behind. If he were to stumble somewhere and get beaten down, how embarrassing would that be?

And it wasn't just a matter of embarrassment—wastefully consuming resources for nothing wasn't worth it.

Zhu Youxiao was calmer than ever before, and still felt his strength wasn't enough.

Sun Chengzong, however, didn't have such thoughts—he was already getting somewhat carried away.

Look at the Great Ming's army—this was confidence!

Sun Chengzong had already developed a sense of being from a celestial empire. He'd always harbored such thoughts; when strength was lacking he couldn't make waves, so now that he could, why not ride the wave?

The sovereign and his minister, harboring different thoughts, met together with the King of Joseon.

Compared to last time, the King of Joseon, Li Zong's, attitude had become even more deferential.

Last time his attitude had already been deferential enough; this time, amid the deference there was also more fear—it was practically fawning to the extreme.

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Li Zong, a brilliant smile still on his face.

Sun Chengzong, on the other hand, wore a grim expression, looking stern and unyielding.

King Li Zong of Joseon dared not say anything; when he looked at Sun Chengzong, there was also a smile on his face.

This grand minister of the Great Ming—he had dealt with him quite a lot. Over these days, he had come to understand his position in the Great Ming—teacher of the current Emperor, a staff minister in the advisory council, and formerly a Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat. One could say he held great power and influence.

Before such a man, he had to maintain sufficient respect. Otherwise, if he said one word against him, who knew how the Great Ming Emperor might treat him. If he could speak one good word on his behalf, that would be far more useful than ten or a hundred words from his own mouth.

As for his attitude toward the Great Ming Emperor, he dared not be the least bit negligent.

The last time, Zhu Youxiao had left Li Zong with a very deep impression. This Emperor of the Great Ming was extremely assertive—if you slipped up even slightly, he would simply stop negotiating with you. If they fell out again this time, there would be no next time.

Once everyone was seated, Zhu Youxiao looked at King Li Zong of Joseon and said, "About the matter from last time—have you given it any thought?"

Upon hearing this, King Li Zong of Joseon immediately perked up. Raising his head to look at Zhu Youxiao, he said in a deferential tone, "After returning and thinking it over, your subject felt that Your Majesty's words were reasonable, and that your subject was shortsighted. As long as the Imperial Ming army is willing to do something, your subject will cooperate with all his might!"

Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao nodded with satisfaction, a smile curling at the corners of his mouth as he said, "That's very good. Now we can discuss the specific details."

See—he had guessed right after all. As long as they were shown the military drill, everything became easy to discuss.

If he hadn't shown them, they would have kept thinking they had some weight to throw around, wanting to test themselves against him.

Now they had recognized their own place.

"The Great Ming will send troops against Japan, and you will cooperate—this is very good." Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "At the same time, I feel that the Great Ming and Joseon should increase their exchanges."

"I hear your country has many scholars and no shortage of talent. They can come to the Great Ming to study and learn the knowledge of the Great Ming. Then they can return and make Joseon a better place."

This was another one of Zhu Youxiao's policies.

Those who could come to the Great Ming to study would inevitably be sons of Joseon's powerful and noble families. They should be courted and won over—perhaps even given official posts in the Great Ming.

Once such a study-abroad craze took hold, the upper and lower ranks of Joseon would inevitably speak the language of the Great Ming and write the script of the Great Ming. This had a foundation in Joseon already.

Beyond that, while they came to study, he could also send people to Joseon—both sides increasing exchanges and exchanging officials.

Officials that Joseon sent to the Great Ming naturally would have no qualification to meddle in affairs; but officials the Great Ming sent to Joseon—that was a different matter entirely.

"This is excellent indeed." Li Zong hurriedly said.

Although he felt this matter was somewhat inappropriate, he dared not refuse.

When the Great Ming Emperor consulted you on a matter, if you refused, he probably wouldn't be consulting you anymore.

Seeing how assertive the Great Ming was, this was hard to handle.

Zhu Youxiao nodded in satisfaction once more and said, "Our communication has been very smooth."

Having said this, Zhu Youxiao turned to look at Wei Chao and said, "Have someone prepare food and wine. Once we finish our discussions, I'll have a drink with the Joseon sovereign."

"Yes, Your Highness." Wei Chao hurriedly acknowledged, then turned to have someone make the preparations.