Chapter 575: You Write the State Letter, I'll Affix the Imperial Jade Seal

After Wei Chao left, Zhu Youxiao turned his gaze back and said, "To ensure the smooth progress of this war, Joseon should open several ports to the Great Ming so that Ming warships can dock. This way, both sides can have better exchanges, and doing business will be more convenient."

This was something that absolutely had to be done, so Zhu Youxiao brought it up directly.

This was a disguised form of stationing troops — once they went in, they certainly wouldn't withdraw. If anything unusual happened, the Great Ming could also respond in time.

Now that the Great Ming had occupied all of Liaodong, once Japan was conquered in the future, Joseon would be caught in the crevice between the Great Ming and Japan. That kind of survival map would probably be very hard to climb out of.

When Li Zong heard these words, his heart skipped a beat and ran cold.

Let Ming troops into Joseon?

He didn't need to think to know this wasn't that simple. Li Zong could already see that the Great Ming intended to make a move not only against Japan, but against Joseon as well.

What should he do about this? Could he refuse?

Li Zong raised his head and looked at Sun Chengzong and Zhu Youxiao.

Sun Chengzong still wore a solemn face, with the air of "I'm not saying anything."

As for that emperor of the Great Ming, his face carried a brilliant smile, with the air of someone discussing things with you.

But Li Zong knew this was no discussion. If he didn't agree, then perhaps the Great Ming would turn its spearhead and strike his own country.

Li Zong hardened his heart, gritted his teeth, and said, "This is of course no problem — after all, this is a joint operation. Your subject will certainly cooperate with full effort; opening ports is no issue at all. Moreover, there is an island between Japan and Joseon that can be used by the Great Ming for stationing troops and docking."

Although Li Zong didn't know which island he would be ceding, a small one certainly wouldn't do.

Of the islands between Japan and Joseon, the one he was most interested in was what would later be called Jeju Island — that location was perfectly suited for the Great Ming, whether striking toward Japan or toward Joseon.

There was also another very important island — Tsushima Island, which in later generations was controlled by Japan. If he attacked this time, he would certainly need to take Tsushima Island.

But a better logistics base was needed, and Tsushima Island wasn't suitable. Rather, Jeju Island was more fitting for the Great Ming, allowing strikes in all directions.

No matter which island Li Zong offered, what he wanted was Jeju Island.

Zhu Youxiao smiled and nodded, saying, "Excellent. Then this matter is settled."

Li Zong nodded bitterly, maintaining a smile on his face as he said, "Everything shall be as Your Majesty commands."

Sun Chengzong on the side didn't mind either — since Li Zong had agreed, that was good enough.

As for His Majesty's designs on Japan, Sun Chengzong cared even less. Japan deserved a good lesson anyway; if they were to be fought, so be it.

After all, His Majesty had been spending money on the naval forces all along — this wasn't something that had just started a day or two ago.

Although it was now called the Great Ming Imperial Navy, in Sun Chengzong's view it was still the old naval fleet — only the warships were more numerous and larger than before, and all were equipped with new-style weapons. Fighting Japan shouldn't be much of a problem.

With the Great Ming's current national strength, fighting a war wasn't a big deal. As long as it wasn't the kind of war fought with a muddled head, there was nothing to worry about.

Besides, wasn't Joseon cooperating?

Nothing major should go wrong. Moreover, he still needed to return to the capital to continue his research, so Sun Chengzong said nothing.

"Very good." Zhu Youxiao was very satisfied with Li Zong's answer, and with a brilliant smile on his face said, "Then it's settled. Since the discussions are done, let's go have some drinks."

Zhu Youxiao said directly, "After you return, draft a state letter and submit it, and I will affix the imperial jade seal."

Between the Great Ming and Joseon, there was naturally no need for signing treaties.

Signing treaties was something between two equal nations. The Great Ming and Joseon had never been equal nations — Joseon had always been a tributary state of the Great Ming, so things like treaties simply didn't exist.

The way the two sides communicated was for Joseon to write a state letter, and then Zhu Youxiao would give his consent. This was a subject's memorial to his sovereign.

In this state letter, Joseon needed to bitterly recount the harm Japan had inflicted upon them, state clearly that they needed the Great Ming's help, and also list whatever price they were willing to pay.

Of everything just discussed, not a single item was a demand from the Great Ming — all of it was Joseon's own request. That point would never change. Even if it was the Great Ming's intention, even if it was Zhu Youxiao's intention.

Once the state letter was submitted, Zhu Youxiao would affix the jade seal and approve.

Li Zong felt helpless inside, but his strength did not permit him to resist the Great Ming, so he could only resign himself to fate. Still, there was one more thing he needed to bring up.

Li Zong had no face left to lose anyway, so he said directly, "Your Majesty, the Joseon army truly lacks the capability to coordinate with the Great Ming in combat. Our troops are too inferior and our weapons too outdated — I fear they will only cause delays and mistakes."

"Would it be possible to give us some of the Great Ming's weapons? We are willing to purchase them with money. As long as Your Majesty agrees, the price is negotiable."

Zhu Youxiao hadn't expected Li Zong to want to buy weapons.

To be honest, Zhu Youxiao originally had no intention of selling weapons, but hearing him say this suddenly sparked some ideas.

This money was free profit — no reason not to take it. The arms trade was inherently a business that made big money, and this was a deal worth doing.

So Zhu Youxiao stopped walking again and sat back down.

In fact, the Great Ming really did have weapons to sell — namely, the batch of equipment eliminated by the Imperial Guard Corps, including both cannons and muskets.

Only, the cannons were old cannons, and the muskets were old flintlocks.

Of course, Zhu Youxiao didn't want to sell those things to Li Zong.

Compared to the weapons he used himself, these things were indeed not advanced enough — in fact, they were already behind by more than an era. But to outsiders, these were still very advanced weapons.

What Zhu Youxiao wanted to sell to Joseon were the cannons used in the past — some even dating back to Qi Jiguang's era. Plus the eliminated firearms, such as things like tiger-crouch cannons. Aside from those, there were hand cannons and the old matchlock muskets — those were still in the warehouses.

Even if there weren't enough, they could be collected from various regions, replacing the equipment in those armies, and then sell all the old equipment that was swapped out to Joseon.

In this way, not only could they make a tidy profit, but they could also offload all that junk.

As for the Great Ming's own troops, Zhu Youxiao no longer had any intention of re-equipping them with flintlocks. That thing didn't have much significance; manufacturing them now would simply be a waste.

As for future arms sales, Zhu Youxiao hadn't thought about who he would need to sell weapons to. In this era, there really was no need to engage in trade.

If one truly wanted money or wanted something, then one used force to fight for it and take it. That had always been the way of this world — there were no messy rules to speak of.

Besides, after this batch of weapons was consumed, he didn't plan to manufacture more anyway.

Seeing that Zhu Youxiao seemed inclined to agree, a brilliant smile immediately appeared on Li Zong's face.

Finally, something to be happy about!

If the emperor of the Great Ming agreed to this, it would also be good news. At least his army would have decent weapons, suffer fewer casualties when fighting Japan, and be able to take more territory — perhaps even reap more benefits.

How could Li Zong not be happy about that?

He wanted to seize more territory in Japan to make up for his losses — that was a good idea.

When Sun Chengzong heard that Joseon wanted to buy weapons, he immediately furrowed his brow on the side.

He hadn't expected Li Zong to bring this up. Even more unexpected was that His Majesty actually seemed inclined to agree.

This was hardly good news. The Great Ming had struggled to produce all these things, and His Majesty had poured in so much money over the years—how could they just be sold off so casually?

In truth, Sun Chengzong did not know that these things could not be developed overnight. Nor was it a matter of simply selling you the weapons and you being able to replicate them.

This required the support of an entire nation's industrial foundation—whether it was the steel industry, machine tools, or forging, all aspects had to come together before one could achieve what the Great Ming had.

Given the level of technology in this era, no one could accomplish it. Never mind this era—even in later generations, how many countries could boast a complete weapons production line?

Most countries still had to rely on imports to buy such things, and there was nothing surprising about that.

"Your Majesty, your minister believes this matter can be discussed at a later time." Sun Chengzong said directly: "There has already been enough discussion today. Once today's matters are settled, there will be no rush in discussing the weapons trade. After all, launching an attack on Japan will still require a great deal of time to prepare."

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Sun Chengzong, understanding what he meant.

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Li Zong, feeling that dragging things out was not a bad idea either. Delaying would force Li Zong to spend more money, and such matters were also beneficial to negotiations.

Zhu Youxiao said directly: "What Teacher Sun says makes sense. Then let it be settled this way."

Having said that, Zhu Youxiao turned his gaze to Li Zong and said: "Let this matter be set aside for now. The earlier matters have already been settled between us. I am in a good mood right now—let's go have some drinks."

With that, Zhu Youxiao stood up once again, preparing to go eat, showing no intention of continuing the discussion.

Li Zong was somewhat embarrassed and wanted to say more. But when he saw Sun Chengzong glaring directly at him, he understood in his heart that this teacher of the Emperor did not wish to discuss the matter at this time.

Just a single sentence from Sun Chengzong had been enough to change the Great Ming Emperor's mind, which showed the standing he held in the Emperor's heart.

If he continued pressing on at this moment, he would likely offend this man, and then nothing would get done at all.

Li Zong could only swallow his words and say: "I shall follow all of Your Majesty's commands."