Chapter 1489: Full Discretionary Authority

"Thirty million!" The moment the Emperor spoke these words, nearly everyone was stunned.

Though they were already the rulers of a vast, mighty nation and had weathered all manner of great storms over the years, this astronomical figure still left them speechless, exchanging silent glances. Thirty million taels—that was double what the assembled ministers had originally demanded.

Even the Grand Chancellor was left somewhat tense and unsettled by the Emperor's wildly ambitious declaration.

To be honest, in his heart of hearts, he did not oppose squeezing as much money as possible out of Japan—if such a sum could truly be extracted from them.

However, he was equally well aware that one could not simply wring whatever amount one wished from another country. For this reason, he resolved to fulfill his duty as a minister and remonstrate with the Emperor.

"Your Majesty's boldness of spirit fills your servants with the deepest admiration. And yet… and yet… would thirty million taels of silver not be somewhat too harsh a demand upon the Japanese? Your servants have heard that Japan is rich in gold and silver, but after all, it is a small country with a poor populace. The sums they can produce are not so vast, and they may well be unable to raise such an enormous amount within twenty years. If the terms we propose are too severe, the Shogunate might find them impossible to accept and thus drag out any intention of suing for peace, which would in the end prolong the war and cause unnecessary losses…"

The Grand Chancellor's misgiving was not that they were squeezing Japan too hard, but that the terms were so harsh no one in Japan would agree to them, artificially prolonging the war and wasting the nation's resources in vain. This concern was indeed quite reasonable, but the Emperor had no intention of changing his mind because of it.

"You lot—you are ministers of the Great Han, so why are you worrying on Japan's behalf?" The Emperor first cracked a joke, then burst into loud laughter. "The Japanese can afford this money! Besides, once we defeat the Shogunate, enemies from all sides will come out against them. In such a perilous, tottering situation, they would drink poison to quench their thirst and sue for peace with us. They will agree to any terms, no matter how harsh!"

The Emperor's words, though they sounded somewhat reasonable, still left the Grand Chancellor half-doubting, clearly holding reservations.

"But… even if the Shogunate were to agree, can they truly produce one and a half million taels of silver a year for twenty years? If they cannot, are we then to raise an army and launch a punitive expedition? And if we do not, and lower the price ourselves, would that not give the Japanese a sense of false hope, encouraging them to deliberately default on even more reparations? Furthermore… our dynasty, after all, raised its armies to uphold justice. If we plunder too much, I fear it may damage our lofty reputation…"

"The Great Han sits like a tiger in the Central Lands. The small states on our periphery are by their very nature beneath the Great Han. If we plunder, we plunder—so what? Why should we care so much about our reputation with them?" The Emperor frowned and spoke offhandedly. But perhaps feeling that these words were too blatant, he quickly amended his tone slightly. "However, Grand Chancellor, your concerns are not without merit. The Japanese Shogunate's governance is crude and slipshod; even if they agreed to reparations, they might not necessarily be able to pay. Therefore, after we defeat them, to ensure they can produce the funds, the Great Han shall dispatch personnel to remain stationed there, to supervise the mines and commercial customs, to monitor the flow of Japan's wealth, and to hold the mining taxes and maritime customs revenues firmly in our grasp. Furthermore, to guarantee the execution of the treaty, a portion of the army shall also remain stationed in Japan—the costs of this garrison, naturally, shall be borne by Japan as well."

In other words, the Emperor intended, after the war, to leave behind a civil and military apparatus in Japan to exercise indirect rule—the Grand Chancellor grasped this in an instant.

He did not, in fact, oppose this concept of the Emperor's. "What Your Majesty says is most wise. To ensure the Japanese pay their reparations, and to ensure that after the war Japan is utterly obedient to our nation, leaving behind some stationed agencies is an inevitable measure. Your servant also believes we should take this opportunity to bring Japan into our dynasty's system of tributary management, following the precedent of Goryeo in all respects. However… if the court intends to bridle and control Japan, then squeezing them too excessively will inevitably breed resentment in the hearts of the Japanese. That would make it difficult for them to docilely follow our dynasty's will, and would hinder our future control over them."

The Grand Chancellor's line of thinking was that since Japan would be turned into an external tributary state under the Great Han court's control after the war anyway, there was no rush to squeeze them dry within a few years or a decade. Instead, they should put on the banner of upholding justice and maintaining peace for the Japanese.

By conventional reasoning, his thinking was not wrong, for he was born of the self-assured Chinese scholar-official class. In this era, Chinese civilization still held an overwhelming superiority over the small surrounding states. Raised and steeped in such confidence, he simply could not comprehend the view of Japan and the desire for vengeance lingering in the heart of someone who had transmigrated from the twenty-first century, nor could he understand that in the Emperor's heart, Japan was not regarded as just another ordinary small state, but was viewed with the deepest wariness.

"You're afraid they'll hate us? Let them hate us if they want, let them be! What I want, they must hand over, not a cent less." The Emperor waved his hand, signaling that on this point he had no intention of yielding whatsoever. "In short, thirty million taels of silver is the bottom line, and we must squeeze it out of them. You say this will leave them destitute for a very long time—fine, then let them be destitute. What does it matter to me if Japan becomes a poor country? I am the Emperor of the Great Han, not the Emperor of Japan!"

Seeing the Emperor speak thus, the Grand Chancellor sighed inwardly and prepared to remonstrate no further. Though he still did not understand the Emperor's motive for such insistence, he knew that the Emperor's mind was clearly made up. Any further words from him would not only be useless, but would lead the assembled ministers to mistakenly believe that a rift had formed between the Emperor and the Grand Chancellor.

Since he could no longer question it, what he had to consider now was how to fulfill, to the greatest extent possible, this demand of the Emperor's that seemed to be asking for the impossible.

He steadied himself, then shifted his gaze to look at Zhou Pu. He was not particularly familiar with the situation in Japan; he would have to let this subordinate, who knew the conditions there, offer plans and strategies to the court.

The moment the Grand Chancellor looked at him, Zhou Pu understood in his heart that the speech he had just delivered in the hall had already established him, in the Grand Chancellor's mind, as the irreplaceable specialist official for handling Japanese affairs. And having spent several years tempering himself in the Great Han court, he naturally understood what the Grand Chancellor wanted him to do.

In all honesty, he too felt the Emperor's demand was somewhat excessive, but since the Emperor insisted on squeezing such a vast sum of money from Japan, he had to find a way to fulfill His Majesty's wish, not complain about the hardship. Only in this way could he prove worthy of the Emperor's profound grace and continue to earn His Majesty's esteem.

He understood that the Emperor was setting his mission in advance, stipulating the minimum terms for the peace negotiations.

Once the great army launched its campaign, with thousands of li of mountains and oceans separating the two nations and no means of instant communication, the Emperor could not possibly micromanage every affair from the capital. He would inevitably have to delegate authority to the military and civil officials on the ground to act as circumstances dictated. Therefore, he would certainly want to set a bottom line for negotiations with Japan beforehand, demanding that it be met in the peace talks, so that the officials below would not act recklessly for their own private gain. With the Emperor setting this bottom line, Zhou Pu could not return from Japan with anything less than that, or else he would be betraying the imperial trust. No matter how much he proclaimed his own great merit, the court would not acknowledge it.

This line of thinking could not be called wrong. Zhou Pu also knew that decades ago, in the early Wanli years, the Ming court had fought a bitter war against Japan under Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Goryeo, and the negotiating officials of both countries had exploited the information blackout between the two sides, each playing their own tricks in private, creating countless messes and adding even more difficulties to what was already a hard negotiation.

But… if he was to fulfill the Emperor's wish and wring tens of millions of taels of silver in wealth from Japan, he absolutely had to secure the cooperation of the Japanese. Otherwise, relying on a few thousand soldiers alone, merely suppressing rebellions across Japan would be enough to overwhelm them—how could they possibly extract the money in peace and stability?

This truly was a dilemma.

However, since the Grand Chancellor had already singled him out, Zhou Pu could not choose to remain silent.

"What Your Majesty says is most wise. Japan is indeed rich in gold and silver. When your servant was engaged in trade in Japan, he heard much of this. It is said that the great and wealthy houses of Japan have a tradition of hoarding gold and silver in their cellars, and over many years, the hidden gold in their homes has become incalculable. If we could take all this gold and silver, it would indeed be of immense benefit to our dynasty. On this mission to Japan, your servant shall certainly make it his goal to squeeze as much in reparations from Japan as possible; this goes without saying." Zhou Pu first carefully laid the groundwork before the Emperor, then spoke the words in his heart. "However, Japan's national circumstances are unique, and the character of its people is vastly different from that of China. They are cunning, crafty, and full of schemes. Defeating the Shogunate alone, I fear, will be insufficient to make them fully submit… Even if the Shogunate reluctantly agrees to our terms, if others do not cooperate, then it may… may not be so easy to obtain such a large sum in reparations…"

Though his words were phrased very tactfully, their true meaning still came through.

"Difficult. It is difficult—you are not wrong about that." The Emperor's gaze settled upon Zhou Pu, making the young man feel somewhat unsteady on his feet for a moment. "However, as a minister of the Great Han, how can you not do things that require pressing forward in the face of difficulty? Where there is a will, there is a way. With determination and diligence, even the hardest tasks can be accomplished! Everyone is here today; we can pool our wisdom and efforts. You too can think hard on a solution, see how to make the Japanese bow their heads and prick up their ears. As long as you can produce a good plan, we can, in any case, grant you full discretionary authority to handle this."

Full discretionary authority… Four casual words from the Emperor's lips, yet they represented a value beyond measure… Zhou Pu thought to himself. Though it was unlikely to be full discretionary authority over all military and civil affairs in Japan, he felt that as long as he satisfied the Emperor today, then at the very least, from this day forward, full discretionary authority over diplomatic affairs with Japan would be entrusted to him.

This temptation was one he could not refuse to take.

He racked his brains, striving to devise a plan that would satisfy the Emperor.