Moreover, although the Mongol Yuan dynasty had been destroyed, the Oirat Mongols still held considerable influence in the northwest region. The Chagatai Khanate, one of the four major Mongol Khanates, also controlled the northwest.

Zhu Yunying was very concerned about the Western Regions, as it was a strategic stronghold that he had to control.

Moreover, Zhu Yunying was well aware that if it weren't for the previous arrangements made by his father, Zhu Yunying wouldn't have organized a "Northern Expedition" so soon after ascending the throne. The establishment of the Nurgan Regional Military Commission and the actual control of the Mongolian Plateau and Liaodong regions were only achieved in the last few years.

Zhu Yunying was extremely obsessed with land, especially sensitive areas. He was particularly concerned about strategic locations that he considered vital and would not let them slip by; he was determined to seize and completely control them.

Zhu Yunying's obsession with land sometimes made Zhu Yunying both amused and exasperated, and even caused him some concern.

Although in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, his beloved grandson was almost perfect, an absolute sage ruler who would surely govern the Ming Dynasty well, he also thought his grandson was far too fond of martial arts, and might just become a warlike Emperor Wu of Han.

After all, Zhu Yunying was well aware that Zhu Yunying had always been ambitious and wanted to take over some of the places surrounding the Ming Dynasty.

Perhaps, in Zhu Yuanzhang's view, if he followed his beloved grandson's wishes, the future territory of the Ming Dynasty might be comparable to that of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. Especially now, it seems that the Ming Dynasty is following some of the paths taken by the Mongol Yuan Dynasty.

After all, during the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols liked to establish khanates. The four famous khanates were indeed very powerful, and they still occupy a lot of land today, and at one time they could be said to be the most formidable force on the planet.

The Ming Dynasty is doing quite well now. It has recovered most of the ancient lands of China, expanded its territory to include new territories, and established vassal states.

This is definitely a good thing, but with Zhu Yunying's insatiable attitude, who knows if he might follow the path of a "powerful Han". After all, although the saying "nations often perish because of weakness, but Han alone perishes because of strength" has not been explicitly stated, many people already have some idea of ​​what is going on.

Little Zhu ran over excitedly, jumped onto a chair, and said, "Mom, we just went to see for a while, and our great-grandfather said that when we become emperor, we should enfeoff several vassal states and occupy all the surrounding areas."

Zhu Yunying couldn't hold back any longer and rolled her eyes at Little Zhu, saying, "Tell me yourself, if you were to establish a fiefdom, which places would you intend to grant?"

“Father, we won’t just give them all away,” Little Zhu said immediately. “We need to keep some territory, Annam or Jiaozhi. We definitely won’t let them leave the Northwest, and we’re thinking of taking Tibet sooner or later. No wonder my uncle is in Yunnan; that place is too important.”

Zhu Yunying couldn't help but laugh, and said proudly, "Remember this well: the world is so vast, our Great Ming can't occupy it all. The territory is too large, and there are many times when the court can't take care of everything. But there are some places that we must occupy, even if they haven't produced anything in recent years."

This is what Zhu Yunying needed to remind Zhu Yunying of, since Annam was originally occupied by the Ming Dynasty, but unfortunately someone gave it up voluntarily.

Because they always needed to govern and suppress, they felt that places like Annam had no value and did not realize the strategic significance of the Indochina Peninsula.

In fact, many people are not very clear that the Liaodong and Nurgan Regional Military Commission areas were only truly under the control of the Ming Dynasty for less than twenty years. It was either the Ming Dynasty's good emperors like Sun Quan who voluntarily abolished them, or the Ming Dynasty felt powerless after the Doyan Three Guards "rebelled again".

These rulers who maintained the status quo seemed to have created a golden age. However, it was precisely these rulers' actions that led the Ming Dynasty to voluntarily relinquish some key territories, giving surrounding tribes the opportunity to continuously grow stronger.

It seems that Little Zhu doesn't have much of a mind these days. Many of his views are actually just reciting from the book, simply repeating some of Zhu Yunying's intentions.

However, in Zhu Yunying's eyes, young Zhu's vision was quite good. It seemed that this young Zhu didn't actually intend to be a completely conservative ruler; he still had some ambitions.

This is definitely something that Zhu Yunying should be pleased about. As for the so-called benevolent emperor or the prosperous era as perceived by some Confucian scholars, Zhu Yunying didn't really care much about it, nor did he think it was a true prosperous era.

Zhu Yunying didn't really think much of the prosperous era as perceived by scholars, especially by some pedantic Confucianists. Even if some considered it a period of excessive military expansion, Zhu Yunying didn't care.

In fact, Zhu Yunying was well aware that in order to continuously conquer all directions, it was not enough for the Ming Dynasty to have a strong military. The strength of a dynasty was obviously not just about a powerful army; it also required a clean and efficient administration within the dynasty.

Internal affairs were of paramount importance, and Zhu Yunying never dared to be careless about them, even though he seemed to control the imperial power.

Zhu Yunying didn't think it was possible to sustain war through war. He also didn't believe that the current Ming Dynasty was the same as the 'military state system' of the Han Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty was no longer a huge war machine that could never stop.

Acting within one's means was naturally the right thing to do in Zhu Yunying's eyes. This is why, although Zhu Yunying was ambitious, he always planned things slowly and deliberately, rarely launching multiple wars or thinking about sweeping away one side.

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