Chapter 291: The Han Prince Replaces the Barbarian Prince

This was not the first time San Niangzi had sought such a solution. She had been constantly looking for Qi Jiguang, as in her eyes, he was the most suitable candidate; at this time, Qi Jiguang possessed the power to awe the grasslands.

Wan Shihe's transformation began with a single sentence: "The barbarians are wolf-hearted and beast-faced; they fear power but do not cherish virtue." This shift occurred after Yin Zhengmao drove the "Red-Haired Barbarians" (the Dutch) out of Guangdong. From the notes of the Red-Haired Barbarians, Wan Shihe had seen their wolfish ambitions. No matter how submissive or humble they appeared on the surface, whenever Wan Shihe recalled the words in those notes, he understood their true nature.

San Niangzi clearly knew that this statement was correct.

The people of the grasslands feared punishment more than they appreciated benevolence. There were fewer scholars on the grasslands than there were gyrfalcons; the concept of "promoting literature" simply did not exist. To the people of the grasslands, benevolence was synonymous with being easy to bully. This was a very common perception on the grasslands because the environment for survival was harsh. Everyone struggled and fought to survive, and they feared concrete, terrifying punishments all the more.

Qi Jiguang, who awed the grasslands, had spent ten consecutive years guarding the frontiers and defending the Jizhen Garrison—the northern gateway to the capital. Four consecutive years of continuous campaigns beyond the Great Wall had already earned Qi Jiguang an extremely high reputation in the borderlands. Compared to the unreachable Great Ming Emperor, who lived deep within the nine-fold palace, the people beyond the Great Wall were even more terrified of Qi Jiguang, who brought slaughter and terror.

San Niangzi's first attempt to find him had failed. Qi Jiguang did not need to turn himself into a political figure; he only needed to shelter under the Emperor's favor to unfold his inner ambitions. Now that he was the Marquis of Qian'an, Qi Jiguang did not need to "raise bandits to ensure his own importance" or "neglect defenses to appease the enemy" to live upright and tall in the imperial court; he did not need to be a lackey for anyone.

Qi Jiguang was like the wooden pillar in Shang Yang's "moving the wood to establish trust." As a role model, as long as he stood upright, the warriors of the Great Ming could stand upright too, without needing to bow and scrape before the powerful. This had positive significance for the revitalization of the Great Ming's martial spirit.

San Niangzi had once wanted to break this pillar. If the wood were gone, the imperial court would have no credibility to speak of. But after chatting briefly with her younger sister, San Niangzi completely abandoned this idea. Qi Jiguang was truly someone who could not be touched; even the lowly scholars of the Great Ming only dared to trouble Zhang Juzheng, not Qi Jiguang.

Armies were easily prone to losing control. If one troubled Qi Jiguang too much, it was because Qi Jiguang truly possessed violence. If Qi Jiguang hardened his heart and resorted to "physical communication," those lowly scholars would truly die a miserable death. Dong Zhuo, An Lushan, Shi Siming, and Huang Chao had all proven this with facts, even though Qi Jiguang had never overstepped his bounds by even half a step, and had even endured excessively.

San Niangzi set her sights on the more cold and ruthless Great Ming Emperor. By comparison, the Great Ming Emperor was a political machine—an imperial heir, a pacified border, a turning point for reconciliation, and a cycle that would free both sides from three hundred years of endless warfare.

Wang Chonggu, Wan Shihe, and Chen Shu looked at each other in dismay, while Chen Shu remained silent. He had a concubine who was San Niangzi's younger sister—a real sister. San Niangzi had used her to "throw a stone to ask the way" when she entered the capital, and Chen Shu had also allowed San Niangzi to enter the capital to completely dismantle the Jin Party's "raising bandits to ensure their own importance," which even led to an impeachment case that was suppressed by His Majesty.

"The Han Prince replacing the Barbarian Prince is not necessarily a bad solution," San Niangzi said, seeing the hesitation of the high officials, and summarized her reconciliation plan.

"The overall public opinion in the Great Ming is currently extremely pragmatic. This is a rare opportunity. I believe you gentlemen are well aware of how rare such pragmatic public opinion is! Even during the Longqing Peace Talks, it was not as pragmatic as it is now. At that time, the official in charge of communication, the Second Grand Secretary, preferred to speak in riddles. If I hadn't seen this pragmatism with my own eyes, I would not have spoken these words. Pragmatism is actually easy to understand: it means achieving the greatest benefit at the lowest cost."

If the Great Ming had a better solution, they could speak up directly. If the Great Ming did not, could they take another step forward with her reconciliation plan?

The opposition and unification of the enfeoffment system and the commandery-county system.

Since the First Emperor of Qin, the Central Plains had seen the enfeoffment system and the commandery-county system coexist; it was not as if the First Emperor of Qin said there should be a commandery-county system, and the world changed into one from then on.

It was a slow process of change, and it was a coexistence of two governance methods. The Han princes had their own fiefs; the Western Jin had the Rebellion of the Eight Princes; the mid-to-late Tang lost control over the military governors; the annual tribute the Northern Song gave to Western Xia, Liao, and Jin was a disgrace; the military leaders of the Southern Song were countless. By the time of the Great Ming, was the Qian State Duke's mansion in Yunnan not also an enfeoffment system?

The Great Ming's exploration of the enfeoffment system was both successful and failed. The Great Ming enfeoffed so many "Barbarian Princes" on the grasslands, yet they still fought for so many years. Therefore, moving from "Barbarian Prince" to "Han Prince" was an advancement of the enfeoffment system. After the "Han Prince," there would be integration, and after integration, there would be the commandery-county system.

This was San Niangzi's complete reconciliation plan.

The Han Prince would gradually replace the Barbarian Prince, then the commandery-county system would gradually replace the enfeoffment system, and finally, integration would be achieved, realizing complete unification in politics, military, economy, and culture.

"Why do you want to do this?" Wang Chonggu asked, his brows tightly furrowed.

"Perhaps so that the people of the grasslands can live in peace," San Niangzi said with a smile. His Majesty the Emperor scoffed at San Niangzi's political ambition to achieve complete reconciliation between the Great Ming and the Northern Barbarians, thinking San Niangzi was spouting high-sounding nonsense. But San Niangzi knew herself that she truly had this ambition.

The Great Ming high officials had political ambitions, Zhang Juzheng had political ambitions, the Emperor had political ambitions, and San Niangzi also had her own political ambitions—even if it were an ambition of self-deception.

If one applied the Great Ming's latest "manifest learning"—the theory of contradictions—to understand it, the primary contradiction of the grasslands was survival, and San Niangzi wanted to regulate this contradiction.

Wang Chonggu did not think this was feasible. He shook his head and said, "There are many other ways for the Han Prince to replace the Barbarian Prince. An imperial heir is absolutely impossible; His Majesty will never agree."

Wang Chonggu knew his monarch very well. Although this ruler rarely expressed his emotions, Wang Chonggu knew His Majesty's feelings for Empress Wang. Sending the Daoist Sujing to the Jiekuyuan (Dissection Institute) and personally overseeing the execution of over seven hundred people was not necessarily not an act of venting private anger. Of all the people the Daoist Sujing could have targeted, she had to target Empress Wang.

Wang Chonggu had personally handled the case before the grand wedding, precisely because he knew His Majesty had this knot in his heart.

"During the Yongle era, weren't there many Goryeo concubines in the Great Emperor's harem? If Goryeo concubines are acceptable, why not Hailaer? That is why I asked about the birth of the eldest imperial son." San Niangzi was slightly puzzled. The Great Ming clearly had this ancestral precedent—that one could take barbarian women into the harem. If it was acceptable during the Yongle era, why not during the Wanli era?

Back then, the Chengzu Emperor could use this method to put Korea completely at ease.

Wan Shihe smiled and said, "Madam, you are on the grasslands and do not understand our Great Ming. As for an imperial heir, don't even think about it."

When in doubt, blame cultural differences.

Wan Shihe saw this matter very clearly. Those Goryeo concubines from the Yongle era never had any offspring. The entry of Goryeo concubines into the harem was to stabilize the restless heart of Korea after the Jingnan Campaign. Since then, the Great Ming had never taken any barbarian women into the harem.

The Great Ancestor Zhu Yuanzhang only regarded his Empress, Empress Ma, as his family; Zhu Biao and Zhu Yunwen were family, while the others were imperial heirs. When Zhu Biao was Crown Prince, he even dared to say to Zhu Yuanzhang, "If I become Emperor, I shall practice the government of benevolence," arguing until his face turned red. And the Chengzu Emperor Zhu Di had four sons and five daughters, of whom three sons and four daughters were born to Empress Xu; the children not born to Empress Xu had unknown mothers.

The Xianzong Emperor doted solely on Noble Consort Wan. When Noble Consort Wan passed away, the Xianzong Emperor fell ill from grief not long after and passed away.

The Great Ming Emperors were sentimental. Empress Wang, Wang Yaozhuo, was a childhood sweetheart who grew up with His Majesty. Whether it was San Niangzi or Hailaer, trying to wedge themselves in had legal feasibility, but emotionally, it would be as difficult as ascending to heaven. As the greatest powerful family in the world, trying to force the Great Ming Emperor to drink water—that would be better than finding a rope to hang oneself.

His Majesty was a living being, a person, not a cold stone now. Preventing the Emperor from sliding from a tyrannical monarch into a stone was the duty of the court officials, because such a slide would be a great damage to the monarch's holy reputation and physical harm to the court officials.

"The Prince of Lu?" Wan Shihe suddenly raised his brows and asked, remembering the Emperor's younger brother who yawned in the Wenhua Hall.

"Barbarian Prince, Prince of Lu." Wang Chonggu's eyes lit up. An imperial heir was impossible, but there was no problem with a member of the imperial clan. The exploration of the Han Prince replacing the Barbarian Prince could proceed.

Wang Chonggu said with deep emotion, "Worthy of being the Grand Minister of Rites. It is still most appropriate for the Grand Minister Wan to be in the Ministry of Rites."

Wan Shihe was always good at compromise, but he was the Minister of Personnel. Ma Ziqiang was firm and actually very suitable for the Ministry of Personnel, but he was the Heavenly Official of the Ministry of Rites.

Do not let professionals manage what they are good at.

Because once professionals manage what they are good at, the people doing the actual work below have no "oil and water" to scrape, and they have no power, because their direct superior understands more than they do. And the first priority of bureaucrats is to protect and consolidate their own power.

"It is very good as it is now," Wan Shihe said, not seeking to return to the Ministry of Rites.

Why is it common for laymen to lead experts? Because everyone is an expert, and everyone is a layman. It is impossible for a person to be omniscient and omnipotent. Even someone like Qi Jiguang, who was proficient in all eighteen martial arts, was a layman in ten thousand other industries.

This question extended further to involve untouchable areas. Must the Emperor understand all ten thousand industries in the world, in every aspect? Actually, there is no need. "Listen to both sides and you will be enlightened; listen to one side and you will be benighted."

In the issue of laymen leading experts, people and matters must be viewed separately; for a public official, their role is more about managing people than managing matters.

The Great Ming had such an example. The Imperial Academy (Guozijian) was "de-administrative," and the Grand Secretaries were almost turning the Imperial Academy into their own independent kingdom. After the Imperial Academy was de-administrative, the students of the Imperial Academy were no different from slaves to their own teachers.

The teachers of Fan Yingqi and Wang Jiaping were clearly Yang Bo and then Ge Shouli. Zhang Siwei, as a nephew, dared to yell at the two Grand Secretaries and insult them at every turn. Of course, Fan Yingqi and Wang Jiaping also showed no mercy when they were "kicking someone while they were down."

Laymen leading experts does indeed cause some problems, and it also has certain benefits. This prevalent status quo is a compromise in the face of reality.

Blind de-administration means the failure of administrative management, while blindly increasing the proportion of administration causes inefficiency and abuse of power. How to control the scale depends on political wisdom.

"The Prince of Lu is also an excellent choice!" Upon hearing this, San Niangzi felt that even though she hadn't achieved her goal, she had still taken an extremely important step in the process of reconciliation. The high officials had formed a consensus; this was the best news since San Niangzi entered the capital.

Zhu Yijun was inspecting the troops at the Northern Great Camp. He did not mount his horse today; he knew his own state. He fired ten arrows in a row at the shooting range, all ten hitting the bullseye, drawing a round of cheers. The Great Ming Emperor was a warrior, and the Great Ming soldiers were all encouraged. No matter how poor the treatment of Great Ming generals and soldiers was, it would not be worse than during the Jiajing era.

Zhu Yijun put down the bow in his hand, and after washing his hands, said to Feng Bao and Zhang Hong, "Actually, I dare to use General Qi with confidence because I know one thing: the soldiers will not rebel. During the Jiajing era, there were conflicts in the Northwest and with the Northern Barbarians, and the Japanese pirates in the Southeast; the imperial court was empty and could not make ends meet, and the court owed heavy back pay, yet the soldiers did not rebel. General Qi will not, and the soldiers will not."

"For them, it is already extremely good now."

Uncontrolled violence absolutely subverts order, but the Great Ming's violence was still a hundred and eight thousand miles away from disorder. It was not until the end of the Chongzhen era, under the circumstances of consecutive years of drought, the imperial court using the name of "clearing out" to disband military colonies and postal stations, and consecutive years of back pay, that the Great Ming's violent organizations had to turn toward the rebel armies.

"It is still because Your Majesty comes diligently. Everyone in the Beijing Camp watches Your Majesty's martial spirit gradually unfold." Feng Bao felt exceptionally at ease when he arrived at the Beijing Camp. The immense security pressure would immediately dissipate upon entering the Beijing Camp. The Emperor coming to the Northern Great Camp to inspect the troops was when Feng Bao felt most at ease; this was His Majesty's old lair.

"You say, if the lowly scholars were to stir up some trouble while I am inspecting the troops, making me lose trust in the Beijing Camp soldiers, making the Beijing Camp soldiers panic and uneasy, wouldn't that be a very good trick?" Zhu Yijun said casually, "For example, falling off a horse, swords having no eyes, military horses being startled, or supplies sliding off?"

"Why don't they do it?"

Feng Bao and Zhang Hong looked at each other, their hearts in their throats, and then looked puzzled. That's right, such a good opportunity, yet the lowly scholars actually gave it up.

"Are the lowly scholars that bold? Daring to run wild in His Majesty's training ground?" Zhang Hong shook his head, always feeling that His Majesty was being too lenient in his assessment of the enemy. How much ability could the lowly scholars have to dare to come to the Beijing Camp to cause trouble?

Feng Bao said with great concern, "The lowly scholars have nothing else, but they are certainly bold enough."

"Could it be that they can't do it?" Zhang Hong pondered repeatedly and suggested a possibility.

How long had His Majesty been inspecting the troops? Since Zhang Juzheng gave that final push, the young Emperor had come to the camp almost every day. If they really wanted to do something, they should have done it long ago, instead of waiting until now without moving.

His Majesty was waiting for his prime, what were the lowly scholars waiting for? Waiting to die?

Excluding "not wanting to," it must be "cannot." The lowly scholars could not do it, it was not that they did not want to.

"Makes sense!" Feng Bao clapped his hands and said with great certainty. He was now very sure where his feeling of ease came from.

This place, the Great Ming Beijing Camp, was not a place the lowly scholars could touch, because they had to fight wars. Especially after the new policy of "Rites, Music, and Conquests come from the Son of Heaven" was clearly confirmed, the Beijing Camp would definitely fight wars. The Beijing Camp, where heads were tied to their belts to fight for their lives, was the place that valued practice the most, and the weakest point of the lowly scholars was practice.

Talking until the sky falls and the earth cracks, the ones not getting hit by the wolf-tooth clubs were not this group of lowly scholars. This was the fundamental reason why the lowly scholars could not find a way to start here.

This was also the reason why the Ministry of Revenue felt that the Great Ming could continue to revitalize its martial spirit. With money and grain, why would soldiers rebel? Without money and grain, violence would lose control. With money and grain, and strict military discipline, would soldiers risk their heads to snatch the grain from the bottom of the common people's jars?

The Ministry of Revenue supported the revitalization of martial spirit for the sake of the "public opinion of gathering wealth and promoting profit." The imperial court had to have money and grain; otherwise, the Ministry of Revenue would be a political depression where thousands stepped and ten thousand rode, and one had to look at others' faces when going out. During the Longqing era, what was the status of the Ministry of Revenue? At the beginning of the Wanli era, how glorious was the Ministry of Revenue in the court?

The first priority of officials was to protect and consolidate their own power. The Ministry of Revenue chose to continue revitalizing martial spirit.

Feng Bao explained his understanding, and Zhang Hong nodded repeatedly to supplement. The Great Ming's new policy and the revitalization of martial spirit had a strong, direct causal connection.

Zhu Yijun pondered for a moment, approved of the conversation between Feng Bao and Zhang Hong, and his smile became even more sunny and bright. Just as he was about to take out an arrow, a general in a red helmet delivered a report with great speed, presenting it to the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Zhao Mengyou, who then presented it to His Majesty.

Zhao Mengyou was someone who could directly present reports to His Majesty and walk within three zhang of His Majesty.

Zhu Yijun opened it, shook his head helplessly, and said, "This San Niangzi is truly a ruthless person."

There was a goose feather standard on the report, which represented the mark of the Night Scouts of the Duntai Far Marquis. The reason it was a goose feather was that wild geese represented homesickness—a subtle yet extremely intense emotion, a unique romance belonging to military life.

The content of the report was that Sengge had died. The eldest son of Altan Khan, the gyrfalcon under the Eternal Blue Sky, the Immovable King under the Buddha, known for his bravery, whose soldiers and horses were the best among all tribes, one of the Five Great Baturs of the Right Wing, Borjigin Sengge, had died. His horse stumbled, and he fell from the horse's back. By the afternoon, he was breathing more than he was inhaling, and by nightfall, he died in Altan Khan's arms. Altan Khan wailed incessantly.

Batur, the warrior of the grasslands, the hero, the invincible brave one.

Sengge's death seemed like an accident, but according to the investigation of the Night Scouts who went deep into the Barbarian camp, there was a seventy percent probability that this matter was something San Niangzi had arranged before she left. The pro-peace faction had to do something to tell Altan Khan that they did not want to fight, and the pro-war faction also needed someone to take responsibility for the defeat. And the Great Ming needed Sengge's death to calm its anger. Sengge's death was thus logical and natural.

"Didn't they say San Niangzi and this Sengge had an unclear relationship? San Niangzi also has a ruthless heart." Zhu Yijun closed the report. Sengge was dead, so Altan Khan's dispatch of troops this time could be considered accounted for. Even for the radical faction, the Emperor had something to say.

"Even if there was something, I reckon Lady Zhongshun would still take action. Lady Zhongshun is indeed that kind of person." Feng Bao had come into contact with San Niangzi and treated her as a political figure. If one did not view her as a woman, one could understand the behavioral logic of San Niangzi's actions. Even if, as rumored, San Niangzi's only son, Sengge, was truly his biological father, San Niangzi would never hesitate for half a moment when it was time to take action.

"Makes sense." Zhu Yijun agreed quite a bit. He looked to the north and said with slight emotion, "It's just hard on General Qi. In this freezing weather, he still has to suffer beyond the Great Wall."

Every day, Zhu Yijun would eat a "light cake," which was military rations. His excuse was to grind his teeth, but in reality, it represented sharing joys and sorrows with the soldiers, just like the Tang Taizong would divide the only sheep among the soldiers to eat together. Every time he ate the light cake, Zhu Yijun would mutter about Qi Jiguang's hardships.

Qi Jiguang was actually not as miserable as the Emperor imagined. With cold winds blowing and heavy snow falling, everyone huddled together shivering. This time, the Great Ming army went on an expedition with two sets of cotton clothes and three pairs of cotton shoes per person. It was cold, truly cold, but they were definitely not frozen to the point of being unable to move.

Compared to the prosperity of the capital, the borderlands were naturally bitter and cold, but it had not reached the point where people could not live or travel.

In Yingchang, Qi Jiguang had to go out hunting every day, hoping to find a white animal to present to His Majesty as an auspicious omen, to bring His Majesty a souvenir, to let His Majesty "see the object and think of the person." This was also one of the means for generals to protect themselves. Qi Jiguang did not find a white, or rather, albino animal, but he did find more than a dozen thousand-year-old wild ginseng roots.

These dozen thousand-year-old wild ginseng roots would cost tens of thousands of taels of silver in the capital, but in the Great Xianbei Mountains, they were just buried in the ground.

Qi Jiguang discovered the economic value here. This was not a barren land; there was some output that could be exchanged for the Great Ming's iron pots, salt, and tea.

Moreover, one could graze here, and wool was also a commodity the Great Ming needed. The Great Ming's wool business would be affected by Altan Khan's supply of raw materials. If the supply of raw materials was not timely, the tens of thousands of craftsmen in the Great Ming's official factories and the tens of thousands of common people nearby who maintained their livelihoods by doing wool business would be affected. Therefore, the stability of the supply of raw materials had important significance for the Great Ming.

"Reducing the population in spring, because after a winter, it is when the Northern Barbarians are at their weakest. Their lambs begin to be born, and attacking at this time, even if they don't die in war, they die of hunger and cold. 'The plan for the year lies in spring.' This is true for the common people of the Great Ming, and it is also true for the people of the grasslands." Qi Jiguang patted the dirt in his hand; this was also black soil.

Li Chengliang did not deceive His Majesty; the land here was much more fertile than in the hinterland.

The Han Wudi Emperor liked to campaign on the grasslands in the spring, and the days the Ming Chengzu Emperor spent on the grasslands after his expeditions were mostly in the spring. This was "reducing the population." Campaigning in the spring, even if the enemy fled a thousand miles, the scale of their livestock would decline to the point where they could not maintain the survival of the tribe.

Reducing the population was a cruel means of retaliation.

Chen Dacheng hesitated and said, "Should we spread the news that we are going to advance? If we add the movement of moving the camp, the grasslands will not be at peace."

"This is the significance of stationing troops in Yingchang," Qi Jiguang said with a full face of smiles. "Military restraint is not just something to be said with the mouth, but must be put into practice. Otherwise, the people of the grasslands, who fear power but do not cherish virtue, will not know fear. Scholars always use 'gentleness to distant people' to say they want to reform them. Without combining kindness and power, one will only gain humiliation."

"But as you said, we cannot do this yet. A trapped beast will still fight. We have won a great victory now, so we don't need to pursue excessively."

The people of the grasslands were now like birds startled by the mere twang of a bowstring. If there was the slightest movement, they would be frightened. Continuing to advance at this time would only make Tumen and Altan completely unite to deal with the Great Ming's extreme pressure. Extreme pressure also had to consider Tumen Khan's ability to withstand pressure. Otherwise, if Tumen Khan was truly forced into a corner, even a dog would jump over a wall, not to mention over a hundred thousand people.

"This subordinate obeys." Chen Dacheng thought seriously and bowed to obey.

He discovered that Qi Jiguang had changed. In the past, his own Commander was somewhat eager for quick success and instant benefits, always wanting to achieve the whole work in one battle and settle the North in one battle. Now, Qi Jiguang was very steady. To an outsider who was not familiar with Qi Jiguang, this was a performance of Qi Jiguang losing his ambition after obtaining the Marquis title. But Chen Dacheng clearly knew that Qi Jiguang had a bottom line in his heart and did not need to treat every campaign beyond the Great Wall as his last.

Just as Qi Jiguang said, the Great Ming was not in a hurry. Let Tumen Khan and Altan Khan bite each other first.

"His Majesty sent another letter yesterday, talking about the grand wedding. This grand wedding is even more tiring than campaigning. Those rituals, just looking at the names gives one a headache." Qi Jiguang mentioned the Emperor's letter. He could imagine His Majesty's annoyance. With so many cumbersome rituals, His Majesty must be impatient, but they had to be done, so he could only complain a few words in the letter.

"His Majesty is mighty." Chen Dacheng said with heartfelt admiration, "I saw the report from my hometown. On the day of His Majesty's grand wedding, he did not go to the Beijing Camp to inspect the troops, but he didn't miss a single day otherwise. His Majesty is mighty!"

Chen Dacheng and a group of generals called the Northern Great Camp their "old home," while Zhu Yijun viewed the Northern Great Camp as his "old lair." These both meant home. Even the grand wedding did not delay it. This was a concrete manifestation of His Majesty's might and the clearest signal that the Great Ming would continue to revitalize its martial spirit.

When on an expedition, the most feared thing was that the front line won a victory, but the public opinion in the rear changed, and winning a victory became a mistake, while losing a battle became a merit. Then what the hell is there to fight for!

It was not that such things had not happened in the Great Ming. The Zhejiang Provincial Governor Zhu Wan committed suicide to express his ambition. This was something Chen Dacheng and others had personally experienced.

"Actually, actually." Qi Jiguang was a bit hesitant. He looked left and right and said to Chen Dacheng, "His Majesty's heart is more inclined toward reconciliation, but not the kind of reconciliation of the Longqing Peace Talks, but a reconciliation achieved through struggle. Specifically, it means constantly increasing military restraint, and then increasing political restraint. San Niangzi, on the other hand, hopes more that the imperial court will increase political restraint and economic restraint, rather than increasing military restraint."

"This is His Majesty's path to reconciliation, and I think His Majesty's path is easier to walk. For the people of the grasslands, you cannot just talk about benevolence; you also have to talk about fists. In this way, it is good for everyone."

"The purpose of the Yongding Wool Official Factory is to make the grasslands raise fewer horses, not to make money. Of course, it is indeed very profitable."

Zhu Yijun also told Qi Jiguang about the large fluctuations in the capital's silk currency. This kind of fluctuation even made Zhu Yijun, the manipulator, feel confused when he saw it.

"General Qi understands His Majesty better indeed." Chen Dacheng seriously recalled His Majesty's actions and found that it was exactly as Qi Jiguang said. Achieve peace through struggle, which is good for everyone. The Great Ming had to show its powerful martial strength.

"General Qi! The envoy sent by Tumen Khan to give gifts has arrived. Should we let them approach?" A Night Scout rode over. After seeing Qi Jiguang, he dismounted and asked for the Commander's opinion.

"General Qi! Altan Khan has sent an envoy. Are they allowed to approach!" Another Night Scout also arrived immediately.

The envoys sent by Tumen Khan and Altan Khan to give gifts had arrived together.

Zhu Yuanzhang once let Zhu Di marry the daughter of Wanyan Ahachu, the Li family. A Jurchen woman married the fourth son as a secondary consort. Zhu Di must have been very envious of Zhu Biao. Zhu Biao was the father's son, while Zhu Di was only a Great Ming imperial prince. Begging for monthly tickets, Awoo!!!!!!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 292 =====