After Zhu Yuanzhang's imperial edict arrived at the grassland, Zhu Chong, Zhu Gang and Zhu Di obviously felt a lot of pressure.

Especially the news of the Japanese rebellion made the three of them extremely anxious.

Kyushu Island is now the property of the three kings. It is equivalent to Japan stealing their homeland. How can they not be anxious? If possible, they just want to return to Japan right now.

But the reality did not allow this, as their father's imperial decree clearly required them to completely pacify the remnant Yuan within one month.

He also assembled a large army and marched to Goryeo, first to pacify Goryeo and then to Japan.

Zhu Chong said with a gloomy face: "This old man Alutai is too good at running. If I hadn't been able to find his trace, I would have suspected that he had fled to the northern border."

"With so many people, they can still keep running. Where does the food come from? They can't just plant food today and harvest it tomorrow. Previously, we could see some boiled corpses, but now there is not even a bone to be seen."

"Could it be that they even ground the bones into powder and ate them?"

Zhu Gang continued, "It seems that someone has sent them food. We must investigate this thoroughly. If anyone dares to smuggle and sell food to them at this critical moment, I will kill all his clans."

"They should be wandering around the Wuliangha area now. There is no place to go east, and it is almost impossible to go north. We should work harder and get rid of them as soon as possible."

"Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, that bastard, actually dared to rebel and seize my domain. When I return, I will definitely take over the entire Honshu Island."

"Earlier, my father and the crown prince were concerned about launching a full-scale war with Japan, so they only asked for Kyushu Island. I think they won't stop us this time."

At this point, Zhu Gang paused for a moment, then stared at Zhu Di with a hawk-like gaze, sneering, "Speaking of which, I heard from you a while ago that you wanted to make some noise in Japan so that we can return to our vassal state in Japan."

"This time Japan suddenly rebelled, are you, the fourth brother, plotting something?"

"This is colluding with the Japanese. If you really do this, you will have to bear all the losses in my vassal state."

Zhu Di felt helpless.

He really wanted to use Japan to force himself to return to his domain in Kyushu Island, but before this plan was implemented, he was sent to the grassland to carry out the Northern Expedition.

Therefore, the matter of contacting Japan was put on hold for the time being.

He knew that if there was a real chaos, his father would not let him end the Northern Expedition, but would send another commander to quell the chaos.

This would make no sense to him.

Unexpectedly, Japan sent out troops on its own and joined forces with Goryeo.

The situations seem similar, but in fact they are very different.

"Don't talk nonsense. What good will it do for me to contact Japan now? Will my father send me to Japan to quell the rebellion now?"

"Compared to Japan, it is obvious that we in the Ming Dynasty care more about the grassland issue. Until the Northern Expedition is over, no matter how big the problem in Japan is, it will not be our turn to go back."

"As for Alutai, I guess they may be secretly colluding with Gaoli. Gaoli provided them with a lot of food and intelligence. Otherwise, how could they have survived? Normally, a large number of them would have starved to death by now."

Zhu Di did not argue with Zhu Gang about the issue of collusion with Japan. The more they talked about such things, the more trouble they would have. Zhu Di had a high level of political awareness and naturally understood this.

He immediately brought up the point that the remnant Yuan Dynasty was colluding with Goryeo to divert attention.

I have to say that it was quite successful in diverting Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang's attention.

Zhu Gang said in a muffled voice: "I suspected Goryeo earlier, but Goryeo had not yet rebelled against the Ming Dynasty. Now Goryeo's uprising is obviously not a plan for two or three days. It seems that the enemy we are facing is not just one of them, but a combination of the remnant Yuan, Goryeo, and Japan."

"It's not bad that these people are a bunch of snakes and rats. It saves us the trouble later. We can get rid of them all at once."

"We are now faced with the great problem of Wala. All these rats have gone into the forest. If we fight them, it may take until the end of the year to force them out."

"Perhaps we can put the matter of Wala aside for now and destroy the remnant Yuan and Goryeo first."

Zhu Di pondered for a moment and asked, "If the emperor blames me..."

Zhu Chong interrupted Zhu Di and said directly: "The third brother's suggestion is very good. If the emperor wants to blame me, let me, the second brother, take the blame."

"It may be possible to divide our forces to attack Wala, but this will add some twists and turns to our rapid conquest of the remnant Yuan and Goryeo."

"The city wall of Arshan has been built. It won't be easy for Wala to take advantage of the situation. As long as we destroy the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty, Wala alone won't be able to cause much trouble."

"If the problems with Goryeo and the remnant Yuan are not resolved soon, we will also be in big trouble in the vassal states of Japan. Apparently, my father also knows some of the situation and doesn't want to embarrass us, so he let the seventh brother go as the commander-in-chief to reinforce us this time."

"Old Seven is one of us. This is a hint from our father. If someone else finds out our secrets and tells our father's grandson, we won't feel good about it."

"Old Four, you have been in Peking for many years, and you have been to Wuliangha many times. This time you will be the vanguard. First, take control of the Wuliangha area. At least you have to cut off the connection between the remnant Yuan and Goryeo. It would be best if you can find their food supply route."

"The team you lead, Lao San, will go directly to the center of Wuliangha. If you can't find the remaining Yuan, try to force them to continue heading north."

"You two will each lead 100,000 cavalrymen. You must make a quick attack. Leave 50,000 cavalrymen in Arshan to suppress the grassland. I will lead 100,000 infantrymen and 50,000 cavalrymen, as well as enough siege equipment."

"If we can't find the remnant Yuan, we should attack Goryeo first. Goryeo will definitely ask for help from the remnant Yuan."

"Whether the remnant Yuan comes or not, it is a good thing for us. If Alutai does not support Goryeo at this time, then Goryeo will definitely not send food to Alutai in the future."

"Of course, it would be best if he came, so we can take care of them all at once."

After thinking for a while, Zhu Chong calmly arranged the battle situation.

After listening to it, Zhu Gang and Zhu Di felt that there was nothing to be done to correct the shortcomings, and they thought it was already very complete.

After finalizing the plan, Zhu Gang and Zhu Di each led 100,000 cavalrymen to march towards the Uriankhai area the next day.

Zhu Chong also completed his preparations on the third day and headed straight for Kaesong, Goryeo as the main siege force.

…

The issues between Japan and Goryeo were fermenting in the capital.

Zhu Yuanzhang also immediately issued an edict to impose a comprehensive blockade on Goryeo and Japan.

This included a ban on all trade and a prohibition on any personnel or ships from having contact with Goryeo and Japan during the war.

Anyone who has contact with them will be charged with treason.

In any era, there are always unscrupulous businessmen who profit from war, especially from high-profit smuggling.

At this time, the price of goods sold by smugglers is at least ten times higher, and many merchants like to take risks to make huge profits.

The Ming Dynasty would naturally crack down severely on such businessmen.

A group of people emerged in the coastal areas, competing with each other in wits and courage, but they were not worthy of being shown at the court level.

In fact, the embargo was effective on the grasslands, but it did not have such a good effect on Goryeo and Japan, which also had agricultural civilizations.

This embargo is mainly about attitude.

Because the influence of Japan and Goryeo was not small, especially for the current situation where the Ming Dynasty was at war everywhere, many ministers proposed to temporarily put aside the affairs of Siam and Majapahit and withdraw part of the troops to attack Japan or Goryeo.

It is easy to destroy Goryeo, but difficult to deal with Japan.

Japan's biggest trouble lies not in Kyushu Island, but in Honshu Island.

Just like the Wala people who lived in the mountains and forests, there are also large forests on the Honshu Island of Japan.

The reason why Zhu Ying and Zhu Yuanzhang did not invade Japan's Honshu Island was also because of this consideration.

As the main island of Japan, there are at least three million Japanese people living there. Even if the Japanese capital was captured at this time, they would still have to face a large number of uprisings and carry out years of suppression wars, which would not be worth the cost for the Ming Dynasty.

But now the problem is not so big. After pacifying the grassland, Ming can continuously raise grain from Southeast Asia and invest it in the war with Japan, and slowly and completely consume Japan.

Zhu Yuanzhang refused to mobilize military forces from Nanyang and Majapahit.

The expeditionary force led by Lan Yu in Southeast Asia did not need the support of the Ming Dynasty's treasury. Whether it was the remnants of Siam and Cambodia or the collection of grain in the current Southeast Asia region, it was more than enough to supply Lan Yu's army.

The situation of Majapahit was basically the same, and it also involved the Brunei Kingdom's surrender to the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang had previously promised to incorporate Brunei into the rule of the Ming Dynasty. Withdrawing troops at this time would be tantamount to damaging Zhu Yuanzhang's face and chilling the hearts of Han people such as Huang Senping in Brunei.

Moreover, as far as the current situation is concerned, it has not yet reached this level.

The situation around the Ming Dynasty was very tense, but there was no sign of war in the capital. In fact, because Siam, Cambodia, and Champa were incorporated into the Ming Dynasty's rule, more Southeast Asian merchants came to the Ming Dynasty.

Because in terms of identity, they are already members of the Ming Dynasty, and their purchase of goods has become the same as that of Ming Dynasty merchants.

Moreover, the South China Sea waters have been completely controlled by the Ming Dynasty, and the maritime trade of these merchants is more secure.

For many merchants in Cambodia and Siam, being destroyed by the Ming Dynasty was actually a good thing. They didn't care who was the ruler of this land as long as they could make enough money.

The atmosphere in the palace is relatively relaxed.

Zhu Yuanzhang asked his seventh son Zhu Gui to lead 200,000 troops to Kyushu Island in Japan. Not to mention counterattacking Honshu Island, Japan, but stabilizing the situation on Kyushu Island would not be a big problem.

Zhu Yu was the seventh son of Zhu Yuanzhang and was born four years before the establishment of the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, he cannot compare with the first-tier princes such as Zhu Chong, Zhu Gang, and Zhu Di, but whether in terms of military ability or experience in leading troops in battle, he is firmly at the top level of the second tier of the Ming Dynasty.

However, his character is similar to that of most princes who are good at fighting, and he is quite brutal.

In fact, the person who was originally chosen to lead the troops to Japan was not Zhu Gui. Zhu Yuanzhang intended to let the sixth son Zhu Zhen go.

The sixth prince Zhu Zhen was also one of the few who could lead troops to fight. However, because Zhu Zhen performed relatively well in Huguang, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Guangxi, and was not as cruel as other princes, he was very good at leading troops to fight and governing the local areas.

Local officials also praised it highly.

Zhu Yuanzhang also needed a prince like this to deal with issues related to Yunnan. He could not just leave all of Yunnan to Muchun.

Even though Zhu Zhen's vassal state was taken over due to changes in the vassal policy, Zhu Zhen still governed the local area as a prince.

The most important thing is that in the situation of unifying Nanyang, we cannot just rely on the route from the seaside, otherwise it will become very troublesome to extend the southern part of Nanyang.

The Hengduan Mountains blocked the way for troops from Annan to reach Lancang directly, so Yunnan's geographical location became very important.

After Siam, Yunnan will definitely have to step out and form a pincer attack to deal with the countries that split from the former Pagan Dynasty.

Another factor is the background information of several feudal lords in Japan.

When the sixth brother Zhu Zhen went to Japan, he was definitely going to be granted a fiefdom in Japan, and there was a high probability that he would uncover the past of his earlier brothers. It would also be troublesome if internal conflicts arose at that time. Some things are known to everyone, but cannot be put on the table.

Zhu Ying's mentality was still very relaxed, and he did not get angry because of the relationship between Japan and Goryeo.

After the court meeting, the grandfather and grandson talked about Lan Yu.

Zhu Ying said: "Duke Liang has already prepared his troops on the Siamese Peninsula. According to the current time, it will take a few days for the navy to cross Malacca and arrive, and then they will be ready to transport the army to India."

"The reason for the delay is that the spring ploughing in Southeast Asia is different from ours. The harvest in Zhenla and Siam is still very good this year. There is even a lot of rotten rice in the warehouses of many nobles."

"I don't know what these Nanyang nobles are thinking. They would rather let it go bad than share some with the people. However, this is still very beneficial to our rule. Obviously, there is almost no opposition from the lower-class people."

"The ones who are still causing trouble are none other than the nobles from the past. I have already given instructions that these nobles must be dealt with strictly, even if there are some hidden dangers."

The Ming Dynasty's external governance was relatively simple and crude. It was not like Yunnan, which implemented local chieftain autonomy, but was similar to later generations, beating the nobles, dividing the land, and uniting the lower-class people.

This will quickly gain the support of the grassroots people, which will have many benefits in both governance and taxation.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't really care about these things and just let his eldest grandson handle it.

Instead, I was very interested in some information about Tianzhu.

"Earlier, Da Sun said that he wanted Lan Yu and his army to conquer the entire Tianzhu. Are those Tianzhu soldiers really so useless?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was still very curious about this and felt a little bit unbelievable.