Chapter 625: The Template for External Annexation

Hearing this, Liu Xian was taken aback—not because he hadn't expected Zhu Youxiao to agree so readily.

He could see that His Majesty was very fond of this Joseon Crown Prince, but he also understood His Majesty.

The current Emperor was a man of grand vision and bold strategy; he would do anything that benefited the Great Ming, and personal preferences would never override the interests of the state.

This was also an important reason why many ministers admired the current Emperor. In this regard, the current Emperor was beyond reproach. Let alone a Joseon Crown Prince—even imperial relatives by marriage, he could lay his hands on them.

It was just that Liu Xian hadn't expected His Majesty to agree so quickly.

Wei Chao, standing nearby, had a thought stir in his mind. He stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, this matter can be entrusted to this servant."

"You'll handle it? How?" Zhu Youxiao was startled and looked at Wei Chao as he asked.

Seeing that His Majesty had asked, Wei Chao's heart immediately filled with delight.

Wei Zhongxian and Chen Hong were both absent, and there was no one by His Majesty's side who could handle such dirty work. He was willing to do it.

Wei Chao hurriedly said, "I heard that the Joseon Crown Prince is ill. This servant plans to bring the imperial physicians to take a look. When the time comes, I'm sure we'll find the cause of the illness and cure the Crown Prince."

Liu Xian, standing to the side, turned his head to look at Wei Chao, his expression quite colorful.

I originally thought you were a kindly-looking Eunuch Wei, but I never expected you to be so thick-skinned and black-hearted. What illness? We just saw him perfectly fine—there's simply no need for this.

And if he's sick and you're the one to examine him, he probably won't live much longer.

Liu Xian naturally understood Wei Chao's meaning. He turned to look at the Emperor, afraid that His Majesty might agree.

If His Majesty agreed to this, the trouble would be enormous. This couldn't be done.

Zhu Youxiao looked at Wei Chao with a strange expression, then walked up and gave him a kick, saying, "Get out of the way."

Wei Chao was very embarrassed.

Although His Majesty had kicked him, it didn't hurt—there was no force behind it at all.

He just couldn't understand: wasn't this plan good? Why was His Majesty dissatisfied?

Zhu Youxiao looked at Liu Xian and said, "Send someone to Joseon to inform the Joseon king of the matters discussed this time."

"As for the Joseon king's Crown Prince, tell the Joseon king to leave the Crown Prince by my side. This will strengthen communication between Joseon and the Great Ming, and make it easier to discuss matters when they arise."

"Additionally, some officials can be assigned to accompany this Crown Prince. I will allocate him a guest residence in the capital so he can reside permanently in the Great Ming. Tell the Joseon king that more such matters will occur in the future. Joseon is the first—the Great Ming holds Joseon in high regard."

"Yes, Your Majesty. Your servant understands." Liu Xian hurriedly agreed.

He glanced at Wei Chao. Liu Xian's gaze was somewhat strange.

Do you see, Eunuch? His Majesty's methods are the proper ones. That approach of wanting to kill someone outright is simply nonsensical.

First, keep the Joseon Crown Prince here. After a few years, he'll have stayed in the Great Ming so long he won't be able to leave even if he wants to. In any case, they can give him all sorts of titles. By the time the Joseon king dies, this Crown Prince will be the Joseon king.

As for Joseon itself—the new king is personally in the capital, fond of the Great Ming's splendor and unwilling to leave. Then let him not leave. The Great Ming Emperor is magnanimous; let the new king be a king in name only.

There's no need to worry about Joseon's governance—the Great Ming can send some ministers to assist you in governing. Moreover, after this matter, the Great Ming will station troops in Joseon and will also send scholars there to take the imperial examinations and to serve as officials in Joseon.

As an equal exchange, Joseon's students can also come to the Great Ming, study here, and then serve as officials in the Great Ming.

This way, both sides are on equal footing.

But Zhu Youxiao also understood that this was an unequal treaty, because of the disparity in size between the two sides.

If the Great Ming wanted to, it could send tens of thousands of scholars over. But how many could Joseon send?

In the Great Ming right now, scholars were nearly overflowing—if not quite at the point of being a glut. Of course, the level of education was still insufficient; literate people were not numerous.

The so-called scholars were those who wanted to be officials. These people studied and then wanted to hold office—there were far too many of them in the Great Ming.

Zhu Youxiao wanted to send these scholars who yearned for officialdom to Joseon, and they would be willing to go. They wouldn't go merely to be officials, nor to bring happiness to the Joseon people. Their only purpose was to co-opt, divide, and strike—to turn Joseon's officialdom into the Great Ming's officialdom, and ideally to be able to sway Joseon's political situation.

When the time was ripe, this Joseon king residing in the Great Ming would naturally abdicate and submit a memorial to the Great Ming court, requesting that Joseon be incorporated into the Great Ming.

Our Great Ming would naturally refuse—how could we possibly annex our own tributary state?

This is not our way of doing things. A country like ours would never do such a thing.

Then the Joseon king would petition again, and after nine or ten times it would be about right. During this period, a bit of tragic theater could be staged—for instance, the Joseon king kneeling at the palace gates to beg, and so on. In any case, the more pitiful the better: for the sake of Joseon's people, he voluntarily abdicates.

In the end, the Great Ming Emperor, moved by his sentiment, would enfeoff him with a higher rank of nobility, granting him treatment befitting a Great Ming Prince. And the Great Ming, for the sake of Joseon's people, would reluctantly accept Joseon into its fold.

If this plan succeeded, then from then on it would become the template for the Great Ming's external annexation.

The surrounding countries could be divided into three tiers.

The first tier would be tributary states similar to Joseon as it was now—allowed to trade, allowed to maintain a good relationship with the Great Ming.

The second tier would be having them send their heirs to the capital as ambassadors. At this stage, the relationship between the two sides would naturally advance further. Since your country already has an embassy in the Great Ming, your relationship with the Great Ming would be even better. Both sides could exchange officials and scholars, and ideally sign a free trade agreement with mutual tariff exemptions. It would be perfect dumping.

The third tier would be when a king ascends the throne but does not return to his country to inherit the crown. Such a country's relationship with the Great Ming would be even better—the Great Ming would grant you better treatment and provide appropriate economic assistance.

There is no fourth tier. Because by the fourth tier, these countries would already belong to the Great Ming.

Since they would already be one country, the relations between nations would naturally no longer apply. You would become newly incorporated territory of the Great Ming—once it's one country, everything is easy to manage.

Who should be entrusted with this matter?

It required someone extremely cunning, talented, and ruthless. Who was this person?

That person was Zhang Yu, Zhang Tuizhi.

Glancing at Liu Xian, Zhu Youxiao said, "For this trip to Joseon, let Zhang Yu go."

Hearing Zhu Youxiao's words, Liu Xian was somewhat surprised, then suddenly understood.

Previously, His Majesty had said that Zhang Yu had his own arrangements in store for him. Now it seemed this was the arrangement. It was plainly clear that Zhang Yu was being sent to Joseon to stir things up—and this matter likely had more to come.

The current Emperor always did things in an interlocking chain, one link after another, unbroken. What appeared to be a very simple beginning would surely conceal something enormously vast behind it.

Through His Majesty's use of Zhang Yu, Liu Xian could also infer a few things. After all, Zhang Yu was a man of even greater talent and ability than himself, and when he did things he rarely cared about the process—he usually only looked at results.

How could His Majesty's use of Zhang Yu possibly be as simple as just an embassy to Joseon?

"Oh, right—tell Zhang Yu that after he goes this time, he needn't return. He's to remain in Joseon for the time being." After thinking it over, Zhu Youxiao added, "They sent a Crown Prince over here, so we ought to send someone over there too."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Liu Xian hurriedly agreed.

I was right in my thinking—His Majesty indeed had plans. This was absolutely not a simple matter. It looked like it would be a long-term scheme.

After thinking further, Zhu Youxiao said, "Zhang Yu alone seems a bit thin on the ground. How about this—let Prince Fu make the trip. He has nothing to do in the capital anyway. It would do him good to get out and about this time."

Hearing this, Liu Xian truly hadn't expected that His Majesty would actually send the Prince of Fu.

One had to know that the Ming court's vigilance toward feudal princes was extremely severe—from the Emperor down to the civil officials, all were the same. Under such circumstances, feudal princes had never had anything to do. Who could have imagined that this time His Majesty would actually want to send the Prince of Fu to Joseon?

Although the Prince of Fu and the Crown Prince of Joseon were of equal status, was it really appropriate to have a member of the imperial family do such a thing?

But thinking about that place called Joseon, Liu Xian had nothing more to say.

Joseon couldn't do anything to the Prince of Fu anyway—surely they wouldn't dare rebel alongside the Prince of Fu?

They wouldn't even dare themselves.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Once your servant returns, I will immediately send word to the capital to have them make preparations, and we will depart soon." Liu Xian agreed once again.

"Very well, then go." Zhu Youxiao nodded and said.

In truth, the imperial family of the Ming dynasty ultimately had to do something.

There were simply too many of these people—if they all lay on the Ming dynasty sucking its blood, he really couldn't bear it.

Although a period of reform had made them all pay taxes, the stipends were still being given out. The imperial clan's population was simply too large; sooner or later there would come a day when he could no longer support them.

As for the solution, Zhu Youxiao had already thought it through long ago.

With such a huge burden, why must he carry it on his own back?

If he couldn't carry it, why not just toss it off?

Then he would be completely free and unburdened.

In the future, after annexing Joseon, directly dispatching officials to govern would be unrealistic—after all, the people there were all Joseon commoners, and assimilation would be difficult.

Tossing the feudal princes over there would, first, let them govern Joseon. After all, there were many of them and their families were wealthy. Have them hand over all their current lands and properties in exchange for replacements in Joseon, as their true fiefs, and let them manage things well themselves.

If the feudal princes managed things well, that would naturally be fine; if they managed poorly, then Joseon's people would be filled with complaints. At that point, the Ming court would step in to clean up the mess—dealing with the feudal princes, confiscating their property, reaping a windfall, and doing justice for the local people. Along the way, officials could directly move in and establish prefectures and counties.

If prefectures and counties were established directly, Joseon's people would be highly resistant, and some might even cause trouble. But after experiencing the cruel rule of the feudal princes, Joseon's people would come to see the establishment of prefectures and counties as a good thing, and the Ming as their savior.