Earlier, Lu's performance in the palace was considered to be quite normal, and she did not deliberately engage in intrigue or anything like that.

Because there is no need.

She was the Crown Princess, and Zhu Yunwen was the legitimate grandson, so the throne would either be in the hands of her husband or her son.

The position is solid.

Later, when Zhu Ying appeared, everything changed. Lu, who had been living a good life every day, felt the crisis and could only try her best to help Yunwen.

Now, she finally realized that her son was not as good as she had imagined.

It is undeniable that Zhu Yunwen was very talented, but his character was too shallow, he had no opinions of his own, and he was easily fooled by others.

For his own sake, Lu had no choice but to go into battle himself.

"There is not much hope for Yun Wen. It is already very good to be able to fight for a good place to be a vassal."

"As for the civil and military officials, I guess I can only rely on myself to win them over."

Thinking about it, Lu called a palace maid and asked her to deliver the message to her father.

Although his father was not a good official, he was a good businessman. Now he and Yunwen were faced with a situation where no one was available.

I think my father would also be willing to follow me to the new feudal state.

Thinking of this, Mrs. Lu felt a little regretful, because she had never considered this matter before, and she had a falling out with her father before, so her relationship with her mother's family was generally not very good.

In most people's minds, leaving the Ming Dynasty for an overseas vassal state is basically the same as exile, and they usually resist it in their hearts.

After much deliberation, Mrs. Lu finally set her sights on Concubine Ning.

She has a very good relationship with Concubine Ning. After all, the harem is very small, and the only ones who have some power are Concubine Ning and her.

There are many generals under the command of Guo Ying, Ning Fei's family. If Ning Fei is willing to say a few words and recruit some talented generals, there is still great hope.

…

Three days passed in a flash.

In Kunning Palace, Zhu Ying was looking at the map in front of him.

This map is very different from the maps of the Ming Dynasty and is more similar to maps of later generations.

Of course, the one who could draw it couldn't be Zhu Ying. If Zhu Ying drew it, I'm afraid he wouldn't understand anything.

He summoned the best court painters, and based on the current map of the Ming Dynasty and Zhu Ying's own memories of his past life, after dozens of drafts, it finally took shape.

At present, Zhu Ying is studying how to mobilize troops in Liaodong, Nurgan, and Japan.

Of course Zhu Ying was not alone, Ye Yueqing was also by his side.

It's cold now, and although the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce is busy, there are actually not many things to be responsible for.

There are basically very few memorials, so it is relatively less busy.

In the palace in front, the old man was summoning ministers and scholars from various ministries to discuss the issue of how to arrange grain for the coming year.

Including some new layouts, taxes, and so on.

As soon as the war begins, there must be no problems with logistics support. How to ensure the connection between the current treasury supply to the front-line army and the summer grain supply, these things may seem trivial, but they are extremely important.

"Your Highness, a letter came from Master Daoyan, saying that the food problem has been solved. Next year, we will invade Japan and serve as the vanguard to help the Ming Dynasty and tie up Japan's troops."

Ye Yueqing said.

Zhu Ying listened to this and asked with a little curiosity: "How did Daoyan solve the food problem?"

Ye Yueqing laughed when she heard this and said, "Master Daoyan didn't care about face and sent a letter to Lee Seong-gye directly, saying that if he didn't give him enough food, he would have to take his army back to the capital to celebrate the New Year."

"When Lee Seong-gye heard this, he was so frightened that he arranged for food supplies overnight. The first batch of food and wages had already started on the third day after receiving the message."

Zhu Ying also laughed when he heard this and said, "Daoyan doesn't care about people's livelihood, but only about victory or defeat. Lee Seong-gye is quite sensible. Otherwise, Daoyan would never have hesitated and forcibly mobilized troops back to the Goryeo capital."

"Lee Seong-gye knew that once Daoyan returned, a war would be inevitable. Regardless of winning or losing, given Daoyan's temperament, he would definitely plunder along the way."

"If that happens, even if Lee Seong-gye wins, the entire Goryeo Dynasty will be in tatters. Lee Seong-gye cannot afford this price."

To strike the snake at its most vulnerable part, Daoyan had grasped Lee Seong-gye's weakness.

Now Lee Seong-gye just wants to reap the benefits and he certainly cannot go against Do-yeon.

Now that the issue in Goryeo was resolved, Zhu Ying felt relieved, although he knew Daoyan would definitely find a way.

"Your Highness, there is intelligence coming from Japan. It seems that they have already received news about our expedition next year. Even now, they have already started recruiting soldiers."

"But the days in Japan are not easy right now. They have been at war for years and are short of soldiers. In addition, the winter is much colder than here."

Ye Yueqing briefly described the situation in Japan.

In the eyes of the Ming Dynasty, Japan is now in a state of panic.

After all, their population was not large to begin with, and they had only just recovered from the heavy losses caused by the civil war less than a year ago.

In reality, though, the common people of Japan did not talk about it, but the upper-class nobles were extremely excited.

They believed that with the blessing of God, the seemingly powerful Ming army would definitely be destroyed by the typhoon. As for Goryeo, Japan had never lost, so there was nothing to worry about.

On the contrary, many wandering warriors felt that this was an opportunity. In this war, they could not only plunder enough merit, but also invade the Ming Dynasty later and seize wealth.

Moreover, Zhu Ying never underestimated the strength of Japanese warriors.

It is not advisable to be blind. As the saying goes, poor mountains and bad waters produce unruly people. Because the islands where Japan is located are mostly volcanic eruption zones, all the Japanese have a sense of crisis in their hearts, as if the entire Japan will sink completely tomorrow.

In addition to various legends about gods and ghosts, basically there is a god worshipped in every village.

This led to the specialization of Japanese samurai, similar to the concept of European knights.

In addition, because Japan is isolated overseas, it has rarely had any dependent relationships in history.

Although Japan was influenced by the culture of the Central Plains dynasty, this influence was not imposed by the Central Plains dynasty but was sought by Japan itself.

Although they have always tried to regard the Central Plains Dynasty of the mainland as their suzerain state, due to the geographical location, this situation is rarely realized. It is just a name, and there is little actual contact.

It seems that in history, Japan has never been invaded. That is because in the eyes of the Central Plains dynasties, Japan is a completely barbaric land.

Moreover, Japan's location is very advantageous.

In ancient times, navigation technology was not well developed, so when going out to sea, one could basically sail in a vague direction.

For example, during the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, the most famous story was Jianzhen’s voyage to the East.

After being invited by the Japanese envoys to the Tang Dynasty, Puzhao and Rongrui, Jianzhen kept trying to go to Japan.

His first five voyages to the East all ended in failure.

At first he tried to set out from Yangzhou, but after failing, he moved to Fuzhou. However, the sea breeze blew their ship to Hainan, farther and farther away from Japan.

Later, the envoy Rong Rui who invited him to Tang Dynasty passed away, and Jianzhen was almost blind, but he still insisted on trying. Finally, his sixth voyage to the east finally succeeded in reaching Japan.

From this we can see that it is extremely difficult to travel from Ming Dynasty to Japan.

During the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, Japan was conquered. If it weren't for the iron chains connecting the ships, no one would have known where they had gone.

In fact, even if the Japanese wanted to return to Japan with supplies after looting from the Ming Dynasty, in many cases they still needed luck.

For the real Japanese pirates, it was a business where they risked their lives.

So in many cases, they are more ruthless.

It is this ruthless character that makes most Japanese warriors extremely resolute and has great growth in their personal martial arts.

"As the lesson from the previous Yuan Dynasty shows, even though the court seems to be in harmony now, no minister dares to say anything in front of the old man."

"But if the first round fails, then the voices of opposition will resound throughout the Fengtian Palace, with all kinds of persuasion and admonition."

"In this step of fighting Japan, we must be steady, not slack off in the slightest, and not be greedy for success and rush forward. We must first lay a solid foundation and drag the entire Japan into the quagmire of war."

"Let them fight on two fronts and be too busy to take care of themselves. This is a long war. The most important thing is to open up a stable route at sea, including the study of strong winds.

“If you find someone with special talents in a strong wind while sailing, you must treat him well and reward him generously.”

Zhu Ying frowned and spoke slowly.

In terms of overall military strength, the Ming Dynasty naturally crushes Japan.

However, most people in this world are resisting the idea of ​​invading Japan.

In everyone's opinion, what is the point of spending a lot of manpower and resources to conquer such a barbaric land?

By that time, we may have to ask the Ming Dynasty to frequently transport food and other supplies over. Wouldn't that be a burden to ourselves?

So, you can only win, not lose.

Now, relying on his father's reputation and the matter of the silver mountain, Zhu Ying forcibly launched the conquest of Japan.

It may seem calm, but the backlash later is also very uncomfortable.

Ye Yueqing frowned and said, "Your Highness, our spies in Japan have suffered a great blow because of this incident. Even many of those who have been bribed have begun to regret it."

Zhu Ying nodded. He was not surprised by this.

Because they have never had a clan relationship, the unity of the Japanese is actually stronger than that of the Ming Dynasty.

Although Japan was also often at war, the main middle class, the Japanese samurai, valued belief, or loyalty to the emperor, the most.

In Japan, committing suicide by seppuku is a kind of honor for samurai.

Under the current strong external pressure, they naturally began to stick together.

The Japanese pirates had spies hidden in the Ming Dynasty and even in Goryeo, so large-scale movements such as military mobilization and troop accumulation along the coast were naturally easy to detect.

Once we have conquered a piece of land in Japan, it will be much easier to collect intelligence then.

…

In Prince Yan's palace.

Zhu Di's face did not look good. During the morning court yesterday, his father once again confirmed the list of generals for the expedition against Japan, and he was on the list.

Doesn’t this mean that Nurgan in Liaodong has nothing to do with him?

Who wants to go to a place like Japan? There was no other way before, but being able to establish oneself as a king without any restrictions is pretty good.

But now, Zhu Di really wants to take a bite of the fat meat in Peking.

The point is, he is indeed the most qualified.

Zhu Di was very aware that his father had used vassal kings to divide the military power of the Huaixi nobles. Some of the generals under his command also belonged to the Huaixi nobles.

"Father, if you do this, aren't you worried that the old generals from Huaixi will become powerful? The emperor is far away there, how can you be at ease?"

Zhu Di said fiercely.

After saying that, he picked up the bottle of strong liquor on the table and drank it all in one gulp.

These liquors were distributed by Zhu Ying to all members of the royal family, and Zhu Di also got two large barrels.

At first he didn't care much and didn't even want to drink.

Until yesterday, this guy Zhu Gaoxu opened the wine barrel and was mesmerized by the aroma of the wine. After a few drinks, he passed out.

This made Zhu Di take it seriously.

After tasting the tea, Zhu Di’s final choice was naturally Zhenxiang.

After drinking a glass of strong liquor and feeling the warmth in his abdomen, Zhu Di's complexion eased a little.

The wine glass was a very small one. Xu Yihua, who was standing beside him, poured it for him and said, "Your Highness, there is no need to worry so much. In my opinion, this matter is not hopeless."

Zhu Di's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he asked, "Could it be that there is new news in the palace?"

Xu Yihua shook his head, and Zhu Di was a little disappointed.

Then he said: "In fact, the matter of conquering Japan is not too relevant to guarding Nurgan in Liaodong. Your Majesty has wanted to attack Japan for a long time. This time he finally succeeded. No one is worried about the lessons of the previous Yuan Dynasty."

"So if I am not mistaken, the troops that will invade Japan this time must be elite soldiers and generals."

Hearing this, Zhu Di nodded.

There were six armies in this expedition against Japan.

Let’s not talk about the navy along the way.

In addition to him, Zhu Gang and Zhu Gui, the other two were Feng Sheng and Fu Youde.

Letting these two people pass shows how much importance his father attaches to the conquest of Japan. They are famous veterans. In front of Feng Sheng and Fu Youde, he, Zhu Di, can only be a junior.

"According to what my beloved concubine meant, after the conquest of Japan, I may not be directly enfeoffed in Japan. Is there still a possibility of returning?"

Zhu Di asked after thinking for a while.

Xu Yihua nodded and replied, "The reclamation of Nurgan in Liaodong is different from fighting a war. It is a long-term operation."

"This involves civilians and millions of soldiers, but the grassland tribes are not so easy to talk to. Even if they cannot defeat them, they will often invade. I believe that the pressure on Peking will be reduced."

"As long as Your Highness wins a great victory in Japan and brings great merit, or if you become more influential in Japan than my third brother can be, then all of this will be reconsidered."

"When that time comes, Your Highness will naturally have the opportunity to come back and save the situation in Liaodong."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di nodded deeply.

There were almost no Huaixi nobles on the list of people going on the expedition, including the younger Lan Yu.

This fully demonstrates the emperor's fear of the Huaixi nobles.

Although Feng Sheng and Fu Youde were also top-notch men in Huaixi, they did not have much contact with Lan Yu's Huaixi noble group.