Chapter 1458: To the East Lies More Than Just Japan

"Your son certainly knows that Japan is an island nation, lying to the northeast of our country, reachable by crossing the sea from Goryeo." The Crown Prince quickly answered.

The Emperor had never been fond of Confucian learning. Under his personal supervision, the Crown Prince's education no longer followed the old path of drilling the Four Books and Five Classics. He was only taught a little literature, just enough to handle writing and poetry. Instead, subjects like mathematics and geography were taught extensively, some even by foreign missionaries in person. Thus, the Crown Prince was naturally not clueless about the surrounding countries.

"Your Father-Emperor has already decided. We will launch the campaign against Japan at the turn of summer and autumn next year." The Emperor continued to look at his son, a rather playful smile appearing on his face. "And you, at that time, will be stationed in Goryeo, taking overall command of the rear."

Stationed in Goryeo, taking overall command of the rear!

Although the Emperor spoke very calmly, to the Crown Prince, this was no less than a thunderclap out of a clear sky. He had never imagined his father would entrust him with such a monumental task.

"Father-Emperor…" The Crown Prince clicked his tongue, finding his mouth suddenly dry. "Is… is this really true?"

"Of course it's true. A monarch's word is no jest. Would I toy with you over such a matter?" The Emperor's smile deepened. Watching his son so astonished seemed to satisfy some mischievous streak in him. "You, ah, though still young, are after all the Crown Prince of a realm. How can you be so easily agitated? You must cultivate more composure! If you are like this, how can you go out to garrison the borders and overawe the tributary states?"

"Your son… acknowledges his fault." Urged by his father, the Crown Prince slowly regained his calm.

Yet even now, he still felt a strange sensation.

Father-Emperor intends to send me out to garrison the borders, to take overall command of the rear? And even dispatch me to Goryeo?

The Crown Prince did not ask why his father had decided to attack Japan, because he knew his father was supremely wise; any major decision he made surely had its own profound reasons—and sending him out to oversee the rear must also carry deep significance.

Perhaps, it was meant to let him gain some experience, laying the groundwork for learning to govern the realm in the future.

After the initial excitement faded, it was replaced by a sense of unease. Father-Emperor's task is so important—can I handle it well? If I fail and ruin Father-Emperor's grand strategy, what then!

"What's wrong? Unhappy? Feeling uneasy?" The Emperor still smiled, as if he could see right through the Crown Prince's thoughts. "Afraid?"

"Your son… your son is indeed somewhat apprehensive." The Crown Prince answered his father honestly. "Your son fears he is too young and lacking in ability, and might ruin Father-Emperor's grand strategy…"

"It's normal to be afraid. At your age, it would be strange not to be." The Emperor affectionately stroked the Crown Prince's hair again. "But, son, you are the Crown Prince, so you cannot be afraid. No matter how heavy the burden placed upon your shoulders, you cannot be afraid. You must grit your teeth and stand firm, forging ahead inch by inch against the wind and waves. Only then can you shoulder the burden of all under Heaven! When your Father-Emperor was your age, didn't I already begin to bear such burdens? Don't be afraid. You are my son. If I can bear it, so can you!"

"Don't be afraid. You are my son. If I can bear it, so can you!" This heartfelt encouragement once again jolted the Crown Prince's spirit.

Yes, he was the Emperor's son by the Empress, his most beloved son in whom he placed the greatest hopes. No one understood the Emperor's rise to power better than he did. From the mouths of his father and mother, he knew how his father had risen, step by step, from the most difficult circumstances back in Xuzhou, and finally, together with the brothers at his side, swept across the realm and founded the new dynasty. The hardships, the heroic spirit—how could they not make his heart yearn with admiration?

It could be said that he worshipped his father utterly, single-mindedly wanting to prove to his Father-Emperor that he was worthy of such profound love and worthy of becoming the successor to all under Heaven.

So, with such an opportunity before me, how can I shrink back? The Crown Prince thought to himself.

"Many thanks for Father-Emperor's guidance. Your son… your son knows his fault!" Thinking of this, the Crown Prince could not help but straighten his back. "Your son will certainly do his utmost to handle all affairs properly and ensure the smooth completion of Father-Emperor's grand strategy!"

"Good! That's the spirit you need. How can a child of our Zhao family lack such drive!" The Emperor laughed heartily again, heavily patting the Crown Prince on the shoulder. "But drive alone is not enough; you must still be methodical in doing things. I will assign some people to you. You just need to use them well. You are the Crown Prince; as long as you use the right people, there is no task you cannot accomplish."

Having said this, he seemed to recall some matters from his own past and let out a long sigh. "To think of me back then, who gave me any established team? Isolated and helpless, I could only rely on myself, fighting with spear and cudgel to win brothers, to build a team, and finally, step by step, to win this realm. Son, your future conditions are countless times better than mine were back then. You must cherish them!"

This earnest and weighty teaching, filled with both emotion and who knows how many expectations, made the Crown Prince's nose sting with emotion as he listened, but he forcefully held it back.

"Father-Emperor, your son understands your painstaking efforts. Your son will absolutely not betray Father-Emperor's expectations!" This youth, still not very tall, sat beside the Emperor and cried out with fervent passion.

"Good, good." The Emperor, his face wreathed in smiles, stood up and took a document from his desk, handing it to the Crown Prince. "This is a memorandum concerning the Goryeo monarch Yi Hon and some of his children and close ministers. Take it back and look it over; familiarize yourself with it. When you go to Goryeo next year, you will inevitably have to deal with the Goryeo people. Figuring out the situation early will make it easier to handle affairs when the time comes. I have also ordered the preparation of a similar memorandum on Japan. Once it is ready, you can take that to study as well. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles."

The Crown Prince respectfully accepted these memoranda and tucked them into his robes, planning to begin reading them when he had free time upon his return.

Because Goryeo was a neighboring tributary state, the Crown Prince already had some understanding of its situation. Ever since the sixteenth day of the seventh month of the twenty-fifth year of the Hongwu era, when the Goryeo general Yi Seong-gye deposed King Gongyang of Goryeo and ascended the throne at Suchang Palace in Songdo, Yi Seong-gye had subsequently submitted a memorial to the Ming court under the title of "acting regent." Thus, from its very founding, it became a tributary state of the Great Ming.

After Yi Seong-gye took the throne, his second son, Yi Bang-won, was enfeoffed as Prince Jeongan. After two Strife of Princes, he was named heir apparent in the second year of the Jianwen era, and on the thirteenth day of the eleventh month, he received the abdication of his elder brother at Suchang Palace in Songdo. At this time, the reigning Ming Emperor Yongle bestowed upon Yi Bang-won the royal patent of king and the nine-symbol ceremonial robes of a prince. His title was thus changed from his father's "acting regent" to king. From then on, every new Goryeo king's accession required confirmation from the Great Ming court.

For the next two hundred years, Goryeo consistently regarded itself as a tributary of the Great Ming and treated the Ming with great deference and obedience.

Then, during the Wanli era, the Taikō Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who dominated Japan, led his forces west across the sea and landed in Goryeo, vainly attempting to first swallow Goryeo and then advance into the mainland to seize the Great Ming's realm. Goryeo, its government corrupt and plagued by years of factional strife, had an army long devoid of fighting strength. It quickly collapsed at the first touch, its capital fell, and nearly its entire territory was occupied by the Japanese army. At that point, the Wanli Emperor dispatched troops into Goryeo. After years of bitter fighting, they finally drove the Japanese army out of Goryeo and returned the royal family to the capital. From then on, all of Goryeo, high and low, were deeply grateful to the Great Ming, cherishing the grace of their national salvation.

However, after the Jurchens rose to power, Goryeo initially joined the Great Ming in sending troops to attack them. But because the Jianzhou Jurchens repeatedly defeated the Goryeo and Ming armies, the reigning monarch Yi Hon began to waver and sit on the fence, no longer intervening in the war between the Jurchens and the Ming. And because Yi Hon had for years wantonly killed dissident ministers in Goryeo, he had long since lost the loyalty of his subjects. Thus, in the spring of the third year of the Tianqi era, his nephew Yi Jong, Prince Neungyang, who served at Yi Hon's side, saw that Yi Hon was ill and contacted outside supporters to launch a palace coup. He demoted Yi Hon to Prince Gwanghae and proclaimed himself the ruler of Goryeo. The day after the palace coup, on the morning of the thirteenth day of the third month, the twenty-eight-year-old Yi Jong, Prince Neungyang, ascended the throne in a side hall of Gyeongun Palace. The deposed Prince Gwanghae had his eyes burned blind with lime and was exiled to Gyodong on Ganghwa Island.

A few years later, the new dynasty was established. Goryeo again requested to submit as a tributary, but the new dynasty refused to accept Yi Jong's seizure of the throne by coup and demanded that Yi Jong return the throne to Yi Hon. Although Yi Jong pleaded in every way possible and finally even took desperate risks, wanting to resist by force, under the deterrence of the court's military might, not a single civil or military minister of Goryeo dared to oppose the court's will. Thus, another palace coup was launched, deposing Yi Jong and welcoming back Prince Gwanghae from his island exile.

Prince Gwanghae, now blind in both eyes, was reinstated as king. But after all, his blindness made him disabled, causing much inconvenience in governing, and he was also advanced in age. Therefore, after ordering the execution of Yi Jong and his family and kinsmen, he largely refrained from managing state affairs, instead entrusting them to his own ministers and the Great Han envoys stationed in Hanseong.

The system of legations stationed in tributary states was also an innovation of the Great Han. Dissatisfied with the Great Ming's approach of largely ignoring tributary states beyond matters of tribute and investiture, the Great Han had decided from the start to station legations in tributary states. On one hand, they proclaimed the court's will and exercised remote control over the tributary states; on the other, they ensured these states acted in greater alignment with the Great Han court. Of course, for now, this practice had only begun in a few tributaries like Goryeo and Ryukyu, and had not yet been extended to all surrounding countries.

Thus, the Great Han court's legation stationed in Goryeo already held a pivotal, manipulative position over Goryeo's state affairs. This situation was extremely advantageous for the Crown Prince's mission in Goryeo—without a doubt, when the time came, the legation in Hanseong would exhaust every means to compel the Goryeo people's cooperation in order to cater to the Crown Prince.

Moreover, they had already been stationed in Goryeo for quite some time and had gained some understanding of the affairs and specific circumstances throughout the country. After the Crown Prince arrived there, he could also exercise control over Goryeo through them. Not only could he effectively turn Goryeo into a base for attacking Japan during next year's campaign, but after the war ended, he could also more tightly integrate Goryeo into the Great Han's system.