The ancestors of the Central Plains Hall, starting from a small tribe on the banks of the Yellow River, expanded their territory through constant gifts from other tribes and nations. Thus, the Central Plains Hall's territory historically stretched from Yin Di An in the east to the banks of the Rhine in the west, from Lake Baikal in the north to the Xuanweisi of Jiugang in the south.
For instance, Jiaozhi was land that had belonged to the Central Plains Hall since time immemorial – land that had been part of the Central Plains Hall since the era of the First Emperor, truly since time immemorial.
Nguyen Phuc Anh, that unlucky child, had neither received enfeoffment from Emperor Zhu Jinsong of the Great Ming nor actually occupied Jiaozhi. He had the audacity to demand enfeoffment using land that rightfully belonged to the Central Plains Hall. Furthermore, he requested that Zhu Jinsong, in the name of the Great Ming Emperor, abolish the Le Vi Chi puppet regime established by Bai Ziqi and, in addition, send troops to eliminate for him other leaders of the Tay Son army, Nguyen Hue, Nguyen Nhac, and Nguyen Lu, those rebellious traitors who also sought to seize Jiaozhi.
What was he thinking?
Zhu Jinsong stared grimly at Zeng Cheng and said, "Tell me, is this Nguyen Phuc Anh taking me for a fool?"
Zeng Cheng also felt a great deal of consternation.
Nguyen Phuc Anh, Nguyen Phuc Anh, it's one thing for you to have fled to Siam, but why did you stir up trouble with the Great Ming Emperor for no reason?
Is the Great Ming Emperor someone you can provoke?
After much agonizing, Zeng Cheng tentatively spoke, "Reporting to Your Majesty, this humble minister believes, perhaps, that we should publish an article in the 'Great Ming Newspaper' in the name of Your Majesty and the Great Ming, expressing deep sympathy for Nguyen Phuc Anh's plight?"
After thinking, Zeng Cheng shook his head and said, "No, Jiaozhi has been a vassal state of the Central Plains since ancient times. The succession of kings in its court must be sanctioned by our Central Plains Dynasty. If Your Majesty disregards Nguyen Phuc Anh's situation, it may be difficult to satisfy the expectations of the world."
Upon hearing Zeng Cheng's words, Zhu Jinsong, who had been planning to express "deep regret," couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.
This was a very vexing problem.
Many dimwits in later generations fail to distinguish between the tributary system's vassal state system and the Western territorial system. They even use the Western territorial system to discuss the tributary system, and the rules after 1840 to discuss the rules before 1840, without considering the differences between East and West at all.
According to the Western territorial system, Jiaozhi was a colony of the Central Plains Hall since time immemorial. Under the tributary system, the King of Joseon and the King of Annam were enfeoffed by the imperial court as outer vassals. Jiaozhi, including Joseon, were territories of Zhonghua Jia since time immemorial.
Even the much-maligned "abandonment of territory by Emperor Xuanzong," where Zhu Zhanji voluntarily gave up Jiaozhi, Nurgan Commandery, and other places, was based on the tributary system's vassal state system. It was entirely different in nature from the Qing Dynasty's constant ceding of land and payment of indemnities.
To put it this way, no matter how much land that fool Zhu Zhanji gave up, it was merely a reversion from direct garrisons and direct imperial administration to the outer vassal system. It did not involve the territorial concession of the Western territorial system after 1840, nor did it involve any indemnities.
Of course, the dimwits cannot see this, and it even gives rise to another problem.
The Manchu Qing's contribution to the territory of Zhonghua Jia.
Whenever the Manchu remnants talk about it, they say that the Manchu Qing laid the foundation for Zhonghua Jia's territory. When they talk about Us-Tsang and Dorgon, they mention that the Manchu Qing had garrisons there, achieving unprecedented direct rule.
However, such a statement is actually extremely shameless.
The Xuanweisi of the Great Ming also had garrisons. The Xuanweisi of Us-Tsang, the Xuanweisi of Dorgon, the Xuanweisi of Jiugang, and the Nurgan Commandery (including Lake Baikal) all had actual garrisons. The Manchu remnants simply choose to ignore this.
As for the so-called garrisons of the Manchu Qing... the garrisons were indeed stationed there, but the Manchu Qing's rule over the local areas actually relied on the princes of Us-Tsang, the princes of Mongolia, and the chiefs of Dorgon. Moreover, the Manchu Qing even once considered completely abandoning Us-Tsang.
Therefore, the Manchu Qing's contribution to the territory of Zhonghua Jia is pure nonsense. Even if Zhonghua Jia inherited territory, it inherited it from the baldies, not from the Manchu Qing!
Moreover, the Manchu Qing was constantly losing territory from beginning to end. How shameless does one have to be to use the word "contribution"?
Of course, it is certain that the Manchu remnants are shameless. After all, they are all bondservants from the start, and their innate subservience is something that normal people cannot possess.
To whitewash the Manchu Qing, the Manchu remnants even confuse the territorial system under the tributary system with the universally accepted territorial system after 1840. They completely disregard the fact that such distortion of facts will cause Zhonghua Jia to lose vast territories that have been ours since time immemorial.
Jiaozhi is such a case.
Although Jiaozhi is now called Annam, the King of Annam must receive formal enfeoffment from the Central Plains Hall to reign. Otherwise, the people of "Annam" would not recognize him.
Therefore, according to the territorial system under the tributary system, Annam is still a territory of the Central Plains Hall.
This means that if Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of the Great Ming, were to publish a perfunctory or even schadenfreude article in the newspaper, it would be tantamount to declaring a complete abandonment of Jiaozhi.
If such a situation were to occur, let alone Zhu Jinsong the Emperor of the Great Ming, even the common people of the sixteen provinces currently governed by the Great Ming would not tolerate it.
But what should be done now?
Directly sending troops to Jiaozhi would mean that the already not-so-wealthy treasury of the Great Ming would be completely empty, and Liu Huaiwen, the head of the financial system, would definitely ask Zhu Jinsong for money to buy cats.
If troops are not sent to Jiaozhi, the chaos in Annam cannot be resolved.
Of course, there is another solution – Zhu Jinsong can, under the banner of reviving a fallen dynasty and restoring the Le Dynasty, enfeoff Le Vi Chi as the King of Annam, and also enfeoff Bai Ziqi as the Grand General of Annam, allowing Bai Ziqi to legally conquer the entire Jiaozhi.
After careful consideration, Zhu Jinsong extinguished his cigarette with a forceful jab and instructed Ke Zhiming, "Send someone to contact Bai Ziqi. Tell him that I can enfeoff Le Vi Chi as the King of Annam and also enfeoff him as the Grand General of Annam."
"The condition is that the Le Dynasty must have no heirs when necessary, and Annam shall return to the control of the imperial court."
"As for Bai Ziqi, I can accept his surrender and enfeoff him as the Marquis of Anle."
Ke Zhiming immediately bowed and accepted. Zeng Cheng, however, furrowed his brow and asked, "Reporting to Your Majesty, this humble minister believes that the title of Marquis of Anle might be a bit too low?"
The title of Marquis of Anle is certainly not a good one, as Liu Shan was enfeoffed as the Duke of Anle after his surrender, and Marquis of Anle is one rank lower than Duke of Anle.
Zhu Jinsong chuckled and shook his head, saying, "Old Zeng, can you only be the prefect of Tai'an Prefecture, while Bai Ziqi can occupy the entire Guangxi?"
Without waiting for Zeng Cheng to ask, Zhu Jinsong directly said, "You cannot see it, but Bai Ziqi can – the title of Duke of Anle might be fatal, while the title of King of Annam is a death warrant. Instead, the humble title of Marquis of Anle, which is looked down upon, is safer."
Zeng Cheng did not refute this point, as His Majesty the Emperor himself rose from being a rebel, and Bai Ziqi is also a rebel. Perhaps these two, one great and one small, share a telepathic connection.
Besides, in the current situation in Jiaozhi, it is best if Bai Ziqi accepts this condition. Even if Bai Ziqi does not agree, it is not a big deal – at most, the military expenditure budget for the next year will increase by a portion, and the Great Ming will directly send troops, resolving the issues with the Le clan, the Nguyen clan, and Bai Ziqi all at once.
Seeing Zeng Cheng's enlightened expression, Zhu Jinsong looked at Ke Zhiming again and asked, "Have there been any reports from Pierre?"
Ke Zhiming bowed and replied, "Reporting to Your Majesty, there have been no important reports from Pierre for the time being. However, according to the reports from our spies, it seems that the Grand Academicians Holbach and Diderot among the French barbarians are deeply wary of our Great Ming, unlike nobles like Pierre."
Zhu Jinsong grunted and instructed, "There's no need to bother with them for now. Everything will proceed according to the original plan." xxs1
In this world, there are never a shortage of fools, nor are there ever a shortage of intelligent people.
Regarding what they saw and heard along the way, nobles like Pierre only saw what was advanced and what was civilized, while Holbach and Diderot saw the potential threat that the Great Ming posed to France and even all of Europe.
But it doesn't matter.
Tang Fengyu once said: "The betrayal of the desperate is often more thorough than the betrayal of ordinary people."
Even though Holbach and Diderot are still wary of the Great Ming, once the defensive line in their minds is completely broken, they will become even more fanatical than Pierre.
Wang Zhaoming is a typical example.
Coincidentally, Zhu Jinsong is very confident in the current Great Ming and is not afraid that Holbach and Diderot will not despair – if railways are not enough, then add cannons and artillery; if cannons and artillery are not enough, then add newer and more advanced things.
Completely break through their psychological defenses.
ps: Wishing all the silly netizens a Happy New Year!