Shuangquan immediately knelt down, holding up the memorial, "Your Majesty, His Highness has approved the memorial."
Old Zhu snatched the document away and examined it carefully. To be honest, he really hadn't intended to test Zhu Xiong Ying. The plans he had just made were his true thoughts and ideas about this Northern Expedition.
After carefully reading the memorial, Old Zhu couldn't help but laugh. "Let the Crown Prince come over, and we'll talk to him."
Wang Chengen immediately scrambled to his feet and struggled to stand properly, mainly because his legs were numb. Watching Wang Chengen backtrack to the palace entrance before turning and leaving, Old Zhu couldn't help but laugh.
"He's a good servant, and he's easy to manage." Old Zhu smiled slightly and casually asked, "Does Wang Chengen still have anyone at home?"
Shuangquan immediately replied, "I also have a younger brother at home."
Old Zhu nodded slightly and said, "Send someone to deliver fifty taels of silver and grant ten acres of superior land."
Shuangquan couldn't help but feel envious. Although he seemed to be a high-ranking eunuch by the emperor's side, Shuangquan knew that his status was still somewhat different from Wang Chengen's.
The reason is simple: the current emperor doesn't actually care much about eunuchs. Even Shuangquan himself worked under Wang Chengen. Wang Chengen is a eunuch who serves the Crown Prince and will likely become the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial in the future. He also currently controls the Eastern Depot, which has considerable influence.
Zhu Xiong Ying rushed to the Qianqing Palace and asked directly, "Grandpa Emperor, did I say something wrong?"
"Nothing went wrong, it's just that we didn't think of the same thing." Old Zhu didn't hide anything and said to Zhu Xiong Ying, "What you were thinking was to have a small skirmish, just in Jingbian. What we were thinking was to teach those barbarians a lesson, to make them feel the pain."
Zhu Xiong Ying understood immediately and said, "Alright, if we are to send troops, it should be done as Grandfather said. I will have the Governor's Office draft a proposal, and the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue will also assist. I was originally planning to launch a northern expedition after I ascended the throne to earn some military merits."
Old Zhu laughed heartily. This was one of the reasons he liked Zhu Xiong Ying: he was never satisfied and always wanted the Ming Dynasty to become stronger.
"We're using troops this time because we haven't fought there in the last few years," Old Zhu said to Zhu Xiong Ying. "Those barbarians aren't exactly good, they're just uncivilized. Over the years, they've probably built up some strength, and we'll take them down."
That makes perfect sense; it's been almost ten years since the last large-scale military campaign in the north. Although some remnant Yuan tribes are still fighting amongst themselves and still don't produce ironware, they have accumulated some resources.
Giving them a hard thrashing at this point would indeed do no harm to the Ming Dynasty.
The grandfather and grandson had a good idea, and they were indeed serious about it. In fact, they were both very clear that throughout history, the external threats had basically come from the north, and this threat had always existed.
Since that's the case, let's be decisive and further weaken the northern nomadic tribes while they are still weak, ensuring they never recover. The Ming Dynasty has the confidence to do this, because it is powerful enough, and because it has been constantly waging war on all sides in recent years.
“Once the north is secured, I can then govern the southwest,” Zhu Xiong Ying said to Old Zhu. “Those chieftains also need to be dealt with, including those in Annam. We need to make them pay tribute, but they keep making excuses. Back in the Yuan Dynasty, those people wouldn’t have dared to do this.”
Speaking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang was quite angry. All those small countries in the Indochina Peninsula were the same. They were all very obedient during the Yuan Dynasty, but when they came to the Ming Dynasty, quite a few of them dared to disregard the emperor's rule, which made Zhu Yuanzhang very angry.
We've even dealt with the former Yuan dynasty, yet those barbarian tribes still think we wouldn't dare to wage war. They probably don't know how powerful we are!
As for those chieftains, they were basically local tyrants who controlled their own territories. Even those who seemed to submit to the imperial court were mostly just going through the motions, and none of them were easy to deal with; some even rebelled from time to time.
These are all issues that need to be addressed. Old Zhu feels he might not live to see that moment, but his grandson should also get these things treated.
In Zhu Yuanzhang's view, he had laid a solid foundation for the Ming Dynasty. If his grandson continued to be as wise and capable as he was now, the Ming Dynasty would undoubtedly become even stronger and surpass the Han and Tang dynasties!
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