Tokugawa Ienari suddenly felt that Zheng Jiangfu was not a bad person. Although this fellow had been looking out for his own benefits, his guidance to him was sincere.
This man was reliable.
However, Tokuawa Ienari never expected that just after he and Zheng Jiangfu had discussed the matter of sending envoys to the Ming, Zheng Jiangfu would immediately report all the news to the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Zheng Jiangfu's apparent identity was that of Changyi Bo of the Great Ming, the seventh-generation grandnephew of Zhu Chenggong, the Prince of Yanping of the Great Ming. His actual identity was a hundred-household subordinate of the Left Thousand-Household Office of the Northern Commandery of the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Imperial Bodyguard.
Therefore, their conversation was heard word for word by Zhu Jinsong.
With a cold laugh, Zhu Jinsong instructed Ke Zhiming in front of him, "Continue to watch them until they return to their country."
"In addition, once the envoys to the Ming arrive in the Great Ming, the Heaven and Earth Society and the Embroidered Uniform Guard will send people to track and monitor them throughout. Any knowledge they are not supposed to access must absolutely not be allowed for them to come into contact with."
"If anyone attempts to steal information, deal with them discreetly. I don't care if they die in a traffic accident or how they die. In short, all related technologies must not be taken out of the Great Ming's borders by anyone."
Ke Zhiming immediately bowed and acknowledged, then reported another extremely infuriating piece of news: "The Embroidered Uniform Guard's informants in Joseon have reported that after the Joseon requested to be incorporated, they seem to have some intentions of reneging."
Zhu Jinsong hummed and asked, "What's going on?"
Ke Zhiming bowed and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, it is all due to the 'crushing of local bullies' and 'land equalization' policies. Although Joseon is small and sparsely populated compared to the Great Ming, most of the land in their country is concentrated in the hands of powerful merchants and local bullies of large surnames such as Kim, Lee, Park, Choi, Jeong, and Kang."
"When Japan requested to become a tributary state, they had already recalled the Japanese bandits who were attacking Joseon. Now that the Japanese bandits have retreated, those powerful merchants and local bullies are reluctant to give up their land."
Zhu Jinsong hummed again and continued to ask, "What about Lee Seong-gye?"
Ke Zhiming bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, Lee Seong-gye currently has no intention of reneging. The pseudo-king Lee Seong-gye had sent someone to contact Lee Seong-gye, expressing that as long as Lee Seong-gye was willing to surrender, Lee Seong-gye would not pursue the matter. However, Lee Seong-gye directly destroyed the letter and killed the envoy, demonstrating his determination to submit."
Only then did Zhu Jinsong nod.
It seemed that Joseon was not entirely composed of individuals with underdeveloped brains; there were at least one or two intelligent people among them.
Tapping the table with his finger, Zhu Jinsong simply instructed Ke Zhiming, "Send people to pay close attention to this Lee Seong-gye. If he remains firm, spare his life. If there is any change..."
Ke Zhiming bowed and acknowledged again, then continued to report other news.
Zhu Jinsong was also exasperated.
He looked at other transmigrators; what they did this year and what they did next year, everything seemed like a pre-arranged script, and they just had to follow it step by step.
But when it came to himself, problems popped up one day, and then more problems the next. He might have been considering how to deal with the populace one moment, and the next he had to consider bloodshed.
It was utterly preposterous!
Zhu Jinsong felt that this couldn't go on any longer. If he continued to deal with things haphazardly like this, he would surely become depressed as emperor sooner or later.
To prevent himself from becoming depressed, Zhu Jinsong quietly slipped away.
This left the newly chosen Empress of the Great Ming, along with a group of prominent court officials like Zeng Cheng, as well as military leaders like Zhu Erdan and Liu Heming, all of whom became depressed.
They knew very well that Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of the Great Ming, was definitely heading towards Zhili, and that he would surely visit Shenyang after touring Zhili. This tour would likely take one to two months or even half a year. But who could persuade him to return?
The current Empress?
The current Emperor had just fled. If the current Empress did not stay to oversee the nation but instead ran off to chase the Emperor, wouldn't that be a huge joke? How would historical records record it in the future?
The Prince of Jin, Zhu Erdan?
Although Zhu Erdan was quite skilled in leading troops, the problem was that Zhu Erdan had been beaten by the current Emperor since childhood. Upon hearing that he was asked to find the Emperor, Zhu Erdan kept shaking his head, stating that it was better for him to obey his elder brother's orders and remain in Jinan Prefecture.
Besides, if the Prince of Jin, who was currently leading troops to confront the old dog Qian, were also sent out, then this matter would be completely unresolvable – what did the Grand Secretariat intend to do?
Given the Emperor of the Great Ming's prestige among the common people, it was possible that a righteous army to protect the emperor would emerge from the populace and march to Jinan Prefecture to cause trouble for the Grand Secretariat.
The Grand Secretariat and the ministers of various departments?
With the Emperor's flight, all governmental affairs basically fell upon the heads of the Grand Secretariat and the ministers of various departments. The officials, who were already as busy as dogs, now became even busier. Who dared to be distracted at this time?
As a result, the Empress, Prince of Jin Zhu Erdan, and the Grand Secretariat and ministers of various departments discussed it at length, finally reaching a conclusion: it was good for the Emperor to go out and relax.
When he had relaxed enough, he would probably come back.
As for Zhu Jinsong's safety, Empress Li and the court officials did not worry.
Setting aside the fact that Emperor Zhu Jinsong of the Great Ming could mobilize the garrisons and personnel of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Eastern Depot, and the Heaven and Earth Society in various regions, the three hundred Solon Camp soldiers he had taken with him were more than enough to ensure Zhu Jinsong's safety.
...
It had to be admitted that money was indeed a good thing. Although money was not omnipotent, it could solve many troublesome problems.
For example, the Ferghana horses that Zhu Jinsong rode, and the Anglo-Saxon horses that the three hundred Solon Camp soldiers rode.
Relying on the Ferghana horses and the Anglo-Saxon horses, Zhu Jinsong, accompanied by the three hundred Solon Camp soldiers, traveled from Jinan Prefecture to the capital in just five days.
It was precisely these warhorses that greatly shocked the grassland princes who had come to the capital.
Although these grassland princes were not good at doing other things, they were all experts when it came to distinguishing the quality of warhorses.
These grassland princes were well aware of the value of Ferghana horses, could see the advantages of the three hundred Anglo-Saxon horses, and knew how rare such excellent warhorses were.
For these grassland princes, this was the strongest way to show off their wealth, bar none.
Fortunately, these grassland princes had some sense – their own armies couldn't even defeat the Qing banners, so facing the Ming army, which could beat the Qing banners into simpletons, wasn't that just asking for trouble!
In desperation, the grassland princes, filled with both fear and expectation, could only forcibly suppress the desire to take two horses back to improve their own breeds. Instead, they honestly requested an audience with Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of the Great Ming.
Fear was the instinctive reaction of the weak facing the strong.
For thousands of years, there had only been one order on the grasslands: the law of the jungle. Whether it was the Xiongnu, Turks, Tatars, or Oirats, this rule had never changed.
Just as Temüjin, with his powerful and overbearing methods, had united the originally warring and scattered nomadic tribes of the grasslands, such as the Qiyan tribe, Tatar, Onggirat, Kereyid, and Naiman tribes, at the cost of blood and fire, massacring all his opponents. Therefore, he was the Genghis Khan of the grasslands, and his family became the Golden Family of the grasslands.
If it weren't for the grievances with Temüjin, who else on the grasslands would remember Wang Khan and Jamukha?
Expectation, on the other hand, was that these grassland princes were truly impressed by Zhu Jinsong. If even the historically impoverished Solon tribe could now be equipped with such excellent warhorses, how rich must the Great Ming be?
If the Great Ming, as Jiang Xinlong had said at the Solon tribe, could treat the grassland nomads like subjects of the Great Ming, would the Great Ming then lift its trade restrictions on the grasslands? If the Great Ming could lift its trade restrictions on the grasslands, would the grassland nomads no longer have to worry about white disasters and black disasters?
Zhu Jinsong, who had successfully shown off and completely impressed the grassland princes, did not keep them waiting.
After receiving these grassland princes, Zhu Jinsong directly laid out his conditions: complete Sinicization, from government to commoners, from language to script, from clothing to customs.
The benefit was that the grasslands would be completely integrated into the Great Ming, and the grassland nomads would enjoy all the policies that the Great Ming subjects enjoyed, without the need for the troublesome processes experienced by Burma and Joseon.
The treatment of these grassland princes and the leaders of various tribes would also not be reduced.
The disadvantages were also obvious: the grasslands would no longer have their own script and language, the rights of these grassland princes and tribal leaders would be restricted, and private punishments would no longer be permitted.
Zhu Jinsong's direct and blunt attitude made these grassland princes feel somewhat at a loss.
Could the Ming Emperor truly deliver on his promises?
If the Ming Emperor could fulfill his promises, then the complete Sinicization of the grasslands would be acceptable.
If the Ming Emperor could not fulfill his promises, wouldn't the grasslands be tricked again?
More than 150 years ago, the grasslands had been tricked by the Qing, and the policy of population reduction had been implemented for more than 150 years, stifling the entire grassland.
But look at the Solon tribe...
In short, they were both covetous and worried.
After the princes and Taijisi exchanged glances for a long time, the Taiji of the Dörbet tribe was the first to step forward. Following the etiquette he had learned from Jiang Xinlong, he bowed to Zhu Jinsong and said, "Uult is willing to lead the thirty thousand subjects of the Dörbet tribe to submit to the sole supreme, great, and invincible Emperor of the Great Ming, the Heavenly Khan! From now on, wherever your blade points, that is the direction of the Dörbet tribe's advance!"
At this, the princes and Taijisi of the Lut tribe, Alzai tribe, Haojiot tribe, and Khalkha tribe became anxious – what, you alone? You're the fastest?
Then, these grassland princes and Taijisi all knelt and said, "We are willing to lead our tribes to submit to Your Majesty, the Heavenly Khan. May your glory shine forever upon the grasslands!"
Was it humiliating?
No, it was not.
For the survival of their tribes, kneeling before the strong was a common occurrence on the grasslands; there was nothing to be ashamed of.
For these princes and Taijisi of the various grassland tribes, ensuring the survival and continuation of their tribes was the most important thing. Face was simply worthless!
The imperial censor accompanying Zhu Jinsong quickly recorded: "In the 4488th year of the Yellow Emperor's calendar, the fifth year of the Holy Emperor, the Son of Heaven arrived in the capital. The Taijisi of the Dörbet and dozens of other tribes of the grasslands met His Majesty and presented their memorials, shouting the name of the Heavenly Khan."
However, Zhu Jinsong did not dwell on the title of Heavenly Khan. After a while, he spoke, "All of you may rise."
The princes and Taijisi, whose knees had gone numb from kneeling, then shouted "Long live" and slowly got up from the ground.
No one dared to reach out and rub their sore and numb knees. They only exchanged cautious glances with each other.
The Emperor of the Great Ming was truly young, but his aura was also incredibly powerful. Compared to this lord, the old dog Qian probably didn't even qualify to carry his shoes, right?
Just as the princes and Taijisi were lost in thought, Zhu Jinsong suddenly laughed heartily and said, "From this day forward, the grasslands and the Great Ming shall be indistinguishable. The grassland nomads are no different from the Han subjects. And all of you will never regret today's choice!"