Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 605 The Korean Mission and the Tributary System

Beginning in March of the 30th year of Chongzhen, before the new chief minister of the cabinet was confirmed, the new imperial court organization of the Ming Dynasty had begun a comprehensive reorganization.

The Ministry of Industry is subdivided into the Imperial Ministry of Industry, Agriculture, Water Resources, and Communications.

The Ministry of Households is subdivided into the Imperial Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and the Imperial Economic Reform Commission.

The Imperial Economic Reform Committee is an institution specially proposed by Zhu Youjian. The purpose is naturally to facilitate the imperial intervention in the market economy.

After all, even in the 21st century, the role of the government in the crisis of the market economy cannot be banned.

The person in charge of the committee naturally has the same official title as Shangshu.

The Ministry of Officials is subdivided into the Imperial Organization Department and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. The former is responsible for the promotion, appointment and dismissal of officials.

The latter is responsible for coordinating the manpower of the empire and arranging the benefits and obligations of citizens of all levels of the empire.

The Ministry of Rites is subdivided into the Imperial Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Ministry of War is subdivided into the Ministry of National Defense and the Police Headquarters. The former is responsible for national defense training, national defense education, and national defense force coordination.

The latter is responsible for local security management and criminal case detection.

As a result, the internal affairs departments managed by the imperial cabinet increased from five to twelve.

At the same time, several divisions had to be added within each ministry, and Zhu Youjian stipulated that there would be no limit to the number of ministers except for one minister.

However, cabinet ministers will no longer concurrently serve as ministers of various ministries, but one cabinet minister will be in charge of several ministries.

Of course, there are also times when the cabinet master only manages one ministry, and the specific division is determined by the cabinet chief assistant.

The central court increased departments, increased the number of officials, and increased administrative costs and administrative power.

Localities will naturally increase accordingly, from prefectures and counties to prefectures to provinces, all have increased specialized agencies, and even the division of labor between the main hall officials and assistant officials has also changed.

Overall, the number of imperial bureaucracies and officials increased dramatically.

This is very different from reforms in many countries.

After all, the Ming Dynasty was originally an empire with low-cost administrative management. Compared with the previous dynasty, the number of officials was too small. Compared with the previous increase in the cost of raising gentry, the increased administrative cost is much less. This is undoubtedly conducive to centralization. Replace the local gentry with more imperial officials to manage the place.

The Generalissimo's Mansion does not need to reform the organization, because it is the military command organization established by Zhu Youjian with reference to the modern military system.

"Although in terms of political strategy, the current main goal of Ming Dynasty is still to completely eradicate the remnants of Jianlu, but now the remnants of Jianlu are far away in the Western Regions, and there are still many political forces between the Western Regions and Daming, and there are even many powerful political forces. It is obviously not a cost-effective military strategy to go on an expedition to build captives, and it is a great waste of national power!"

"So, I think that the empire should continue to implement the general strategy of encroaching step by step, emigrating and building cities and roads, and the strategic direction is still north first and then south. The imperial army is undoubtedly more mature than the imperial navy. Whether it is tactics In terms of command or weapons and equipment and the quality of individual soldiers, expanding the land territory first is undoubtedly the most economical expansion!"

Li Yan, Chief of Staff of the Grand Marshal's Mansion of the Ming Empire, said this to Zhu Youjian and other senior generals of the Grand Marshal's Mansion at the military meeting.

But at this time, Liu Kongzhao, chief of the Navy Department of the Grand Marshal's Office of the Ming Empire, expressed a different opinion:

"Why is it still north and then south? The north has no economic significance except for its political significance. It is either a grassland or a desert. Not to mention the harsh climate, it is also difficult to develop, and the sea is full of fat, hotter at most, and there are even several roads. The powerful enemy who threatens my Ming Dynasty, the Zheng Group and the imperial court have always been inseparable, Hong Maofan, Flangji and the recently rising Britain are expanding everywhere, if we are one step late, the Imperial Navy will not be able to leave the Ming Dynasty!"

"It's a fact that the Imperial Navy is less mature than the Imperial Army," Li Yan retorted.

"Let me just say a few words, if we don't give the imperial navy a chance, can the imperial navy be mature? It will be like a transport team wandering around the four seas of Ming Dynasty all day long, and it will almost become a merchant fleet. How can it be mature if we don't pull it out to fight? In the school, I learned physics and chemistry so well that I almost went to be a half-professor in the Imperial University, but what's the use of it!"

After Zhu Youjian finished speaking, he walked to the north of the big sand table, took out a two-meter-long stick and pointed to the northeast area:

"Now Daming has established two Governor's Offices in the north, Monan and Northeast. The area of ​​these two Governor's Offices has covered hundreds of millions of acres of territory. Now five years have passed, and the construction of all the planned cities and cities has not yet been completed. Immigration projects for basic residents;

Therefore, in the next three years, Daming still needs to consolidate the entire Northeast and Monan, especially the Northeast.

Even though North Korea is a vassal state of our Ming Dynasty, we should not take it lightly, and the Xianping Mansion that originally belonged to China is still in the hands of North Korea. Even if Ming wants to consolidate the interests of the northern part of the mainland, North Korea and Japan must be eradicated!

Especially in Japan, the enmity of Sejong's period has not been avenged, so my strategic decision is to consolidate the interests of the northern end of the mainland first, the imperial army strengthens the military deployment along the Yalu River, and the strategy of Xianping Prefecture, which is ready to be occupied by North Korea!
The imperial navy first attacked the Japanese country and expanded the military interests in the North Korean ocean, and it was the next step to compete for global maritime interests. The imperial army cooperated with the imperial navy to attack the Japanese country. The core strategic goal was to expand the military interests in North Korea and completely eliminate the Japanese country!

My request is, how the Wa country treated the people of Ming Dynasty in the southeast of Ming Dynasty, how the imperial army treated the people of the Wa country, how could others be allowed to snore on the side of the couch, and this strategy must be completed within five years!

Five years later, Daming's iron-clad steamships should have been put into production, and by that time, I, Daming, will take back the overseas islands occupied by the Western Fans one by one! "

As soon as Zhu Youjian determined the strategic goal, the officials of the Generalissimo's Mansion quickly replied: "I will obey the order!"

Just when Zhu Youjian and the officials of the Grand Marshal’s Office had finalized the empire’s current military strategy, the newly formed minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Huang Zongxi and the chief assistant of the cabinet Ma Shiying hurriedly found Zhu Youjian:

"Your Majesty, the North Korean State sent Li Xuan, the Lord of Linping, to pay tribute to our court. Now the North Korean mission has arrived in Nanjing, and it is estimated that they will arrive in the capital in January."

"This is the first time I have come to pay tribute since the 17th year of Chongzhen. He is indeed very active in North Korea. I just mentioned him. How do you plan to arrange it?" Ma Shiying is the chief assistant of the cabinet. The prosecutor naturally asked Ma Shiying first.

"Paying tribute has always been a common practice for small countries to pay homage to big countries. They must come with a large amount of tribute. According to the past practice, we can pay back several times the value of the tribute. Generally speaking, the richer the country, the more prosperous the ceremony, and this is considered a big country. For the reward, I am planning to prepare the silver reward from the Ministry of Finance, and Huang Zongxi, Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will go to Nanjing to receive him in Beijing."

Zhu Youjian was stunned by Ma Shiying's words: "Absurd! Letting him pay tribute is already a gift to him, so what's the point of giving him several times the tribute!

This rule has to be changed. Since what he gave is a tribute, it is considered a gift to me, and the internal officials will confiscate it all, and there is no need to give money!

Thinking that North Korea contributed a lot in this Northern Expedition, I made an exception for you, the chief minister of the cabinet, to approach him, but instead of receiving him, let the right servant of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who stayed in Nanjing send him to Beijing. The real benefits are given to Daming, and I can give him the honorary title of "Strategic Partnership" with North Korea at that time. "

(End of this chapter)