Yue Tuo first scanned his surroundings to make sure no one was around before lowering his voice.
"Since Huang Taiji's death, there has been a lot of panic in Manchuria. Now is the perfect time to start a war with foreign powers."
"Not only can they plunder some grain and slaves, but they can also stabilize people's hearts."
Dai Shan nodded slightly: "What you said is correct, but what does it have to do with what you just said?"
Yue Tuo smiled and said, "Father, you see, if we're going to raid other countries, we certainly can't attack the Ming Dynasty, right?"
Dai Shan nodded.
"That's for sure. If we go to attack the Ming Dynasty now, let alone whether we can win, even if we win in the wild, we won't be able to break through the Ningjin defense line."
"Then you won't gain anything; it'll just be a waste of troops and supplies."
Yue Tuo quickly offered a compliment.
“Father, you’re right, that’s exactly right!”
"Therefore, we cannot attack the Ming Dynasty. The Mongols are also currently in an ambiguous relationship with the Ming Dynasty. If we attack rashly, we may get caught up in a protracted war."
"Therefore, the best target is still Goryeo in the south."
After hearing this, Dai Shan thought more highly of his son.
"He just returned from the Ming Dynasty, and he can analyze things so logically. He truly is my son!"
A smile appeared on his face, and he pressed on, "Then what's the point of attacking Goryeo?"
A cold smile appeared on Yue Tuo's face.
"Goryeo is a loyal dog of the Ming Dynasty. If we take action against Goryeo, how can the Ming Dynasty sit idly by?"
"They will definitely send people to Goryeo to help!"
"The Goryeo army is inherently weak and will likely not be able to withstand the Ming Dynasty's advance, but if we just do a little something..."
"Hehe, when Hauge is trapped in Goryeo, the Ming Dynasty will also have to spare its attention to support Goryeo. It's like two tigers fighting each other."
"We can then focus on building our business in Liaodong. When Hauge returns to Shengjing in a few years, who knows what will happen to Shengjing then!"
After hearing this plan, Dai Shan was overjoyed.
"Great! Great! Your plan is excellent!"
But when he heard Yue Tuo's last sentence, his smile vanished.
"What are you saying, you brat? Hauge and we are all from the Aisin Gioro clan. Even if we take power, Shengjing will never change its name!"
Yue Tuo then realized he had misspoke and quickly admitted his mistake: "Father, I misspoke."
Dai Shan waved his hand and said, "Alright, anyway, no outsiders have heard about this."
"You can go out now. I need to think about this matter carefully."
After Yue Tuo left, Dai Shan rubbed his chin, a glint of shrewdness in his eyes: "Goryeo, ah, it really is a good place."
"If it weren't for the war between the Ming Dynasty and Japan in Goryeo back then, we Manchus might not have had the opportunity to rise to power."
"Korea is truly our blessed land!"
In the blink of an eye, several months have passed.
On this day, Zhu Youjian was frowning and getting angry at Qian Qianyi and Zhou Yanru.
"Why are things always so bad in the Southeast!"
He slammed his fist on the table and roared, "The Southeast has been hit by a tsunami, which has swept away tens of thousands of people!"
"Was this a genuine natural disaster, or is someone using this as an excuse to settle scores?"
More than a year after his ascension to the throne, Zhu Youjian gradually became a qualified emperor.
He no longer thinks about problems in such a simplistic way.
"Zhou Yanru, after you left the southeast, did the local gentry rise up again, making a mountain out of a molehill under the pretext of natural disasters?"
"Those tens of thousands of people, could they have been nominally swept away by the tsunami, but actually become tenants on their private lands!"
Zhou Yanru instinctively knelt down and bowed: "Your Majesty, I will immediately send someone to investigate."
Seeing Zhou Yanru's timid appearance, Qian Qianyi sneered disdainfully.
But before he could say anything, he heard the emperor ask him a question again.
"Qian Qianyi, what exactly happened in this imperial examination?"
"Didn't I already appoint Shi Kefa as the top scholar and have him enter the palace to serve as a tutor?"
"Why hasn't the Ministry of Rites approved it yet?!"
Upon hearing this, Qian Qianyi's reaction was not much better than Zhou Yanru's.
He also knelt down and said:
"Your Majesty, I will go and urge the Ministry of Rites immediately."
Zhu Youjian saw their appearance, his face remained ashen, but he was very satisfied.
"Hmph, Master Gao told me that this technique is really useful."
"The way to deal with these ministers is to keep them from figuring out my intentions and make them think that I am capricious. That way, they will be afraid of me."
He casually replied, "Alright, then I'll await your good news!"
Zhou Yanru and Qian Qianyi finally breathed a sigh of relief.
After they left the main hall, they couldn't help but exchange a glance, and then exclaimed in unison:
"Our emperor has become more and more powerful these past few months!"
On Zhu Youjian's side, after dismissing the two ministers, he excitedly stood up.
Empress Zhou recently became pregnant, and he was about to become a father, so he was naturally in a good mood.
But before he could go back to find Empress Zhou, he saw Luo Yangxing rushing over.
His face was still full of panic.
Zhu Youjian frowned and said, "What's wrong with you? Why are you so flustered!"
"Could it be that the Jurchens have gone to attack Ningjin?"
Luo Yangxing quickly shook his head: "Your Majesty, if the Jurchens really want to go to Ningjin to seek their deaths, then I wouldn't be in such a hurry!"
After Zhu Youjian transferred Yuan Chonghuan back to the capital, based on Gao Qingyun's spoilers, he threw a bunch of reliable people, including Sun Chengzong, Sun Chuanting, and Lu Xiangshan, all into Ningjin.
In addition, they spent a lot of money on them to get them to control the local Liaodong troops.
With such a large group of people guarding Ningjin, if the Jurchens still dare to attack, they will truly be asking for trouble.
Luo Yangxing sighed, holding up the memorial in his hand, and said:
"Your Majesty, it is true that the Jurchens have made some unusual moves, but they are not coming to attack our Great Ming, but rather to attack Goryeo."
As he spoke, he handed the report to Zhu Youjian.
Zhu Youjian took a look and immediately understood what had happened.
It turns out that two months ago, Hauge suddenly led 30,000 troops south to attack Goryeo.
Not long ago, a Goryeo envoy dared to confront Yue Tuo and hurl insults in the street.
But the Goryeo army was completely made of paper.
They were almost powerless to resist the southward advance of the Jurchens.
However, for some reason, although Hauge's army advanced as if there were no one there, every hundred or two miles they would disperse their troops to plunder grain in various places.
This wastes a lot of time.
As a result, after the Jurchens occupied half of Goryeo, they ran out of steam.
This gave Goryeo time to send people to seek help from the Ming Dynasty.
After Zhu Youjian finished reading the memorial, Luo Yangxing spoke again: "Your Majesty, the Goryeo envoy is currently outside the palace, crying and sobbing. We don't know what he wants."
Zhu Youjian coldly replied, "What else can they do? They just want to imitate Shen Baoxu and come here to cry to the Qin court!"
"Crying at the Qin court?" Luo Yangxing clearly didn't know this allusion, but Zhu Youjian was too lazy to explain it to him.
"Alright, go tell that envoy that Goryeo is the first vassal state of our Great Ming, and I will not stand by and watch it die."
"But the imperial court needs time to mobilize troops, so tell him not to rush."
After Luo Yangxing left the palace to deal with the Goryeo envoy, Zhu Youjian frowned and turned to look at the map behind him.
"It doesn't really matter that the Jurchens went to attack Goryeo, but the question is whether the imperial court should go and help Goryeo?"
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