Chapter 272: Ministers: Here it comes, thirty years’ year-end bonus!
Nanjing City, the garrison office.
The King of Siam, the King of Toungoo, and the King of Joseon had already arrived. They looked at the three chairs placed in the middle of the lobby, glanced at each other, and saw the nervousness in each other's eyes.
Obviously, this young cabinet minister wanted to intimidate them.
Subconsciously, the King of Siam, Narasuan Rama I, and the King of Toungoo, Menglaja II, looked at their think tank, the King of Korea, Yi Hun, and the meaning in their eyes was obvious.
Just one, we will depend on you later.
After looking around and receiving the eye signals from the two idiots, Li Hun just felt tired.
This morning, when Xian Gui arrived in Nanjing, they were taken to the government office.
They were completely unaware that the six ministries of the Ming Dynasty were sending letters to some ministers within their respective dynasties who were interested in defecting to the Ming Dynasty.
Li Hun and the other two were naturally unaware of this at this time.
"Things have come to this, let's wait..." Li Hun sighed and sat on the chair in the middle. Seeing this, Menghan Lazar and Naraxuan Lama also sat down.
Time passed minute by minute. The three of them waited from morning till afternoon, but the lobby of the retention department was still empty.
Well, apart from the servants who led them in at the beginning, they didn't see a single living person during the whole process. Not only that, Daming didn't even serve them a cup of tea.
Gradually, the expressions on Naraxuan Lama and Menghan Laza's faces changed from nervousness at the beginning to anger.
In their view, no matter what, they are the rulers of a country, so how could they endure such humiliation?
Someone in the Ming cabinet told them to get out of here with just one word. They knew they were wrong and their attitude was very sincere, but the Ming Dynasty still humiliated them like this. It was too much!
However, compared with Naraxuan Lama and Menghan Laza, Li Hun became more and more nervous at this moment.
As a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, he was very clear about the working style of Ming officials.
If it was just knocking, it would never be like this!
The Ming Dynasty has always been a supreme empire, and in its style of doing things, it has always insisted on having a legitimate reason and paying attention to decency.
Humiliating them now means that the Ming Dynasty no longer needs to show respect to their leaders.
Things might be worse than he expected!
For some unknown reason, Li Hun's mind recalled the former Japanese Kingdom, which has now been destroyed and even completely erased from history books, as if it had never appeared.
The Ming Dynasty at that time had not yet announced its practice of cultivating immortals to the outside world, but it still took only one month to destroy a country.
As for the current Ming Dynasty, it is only stronger than before, and their strength, even if it is stronger than the original Japan, is not much stronger, it is too easy to destroy them.
For a moment, a thin layer of sweat broke out on Li Hun's forehead.
"Thump, thump, thump." At this moment, a sound of unhurried footsteps suddenly came from the side hall.
Here they come! The three of them looked towards the side hall.
Yan Shifan, dressed in a scarlet official robe and a black gauze hat, walked over with his hands behind his back and an expressionless face.
Although Siam, Korea and Toungoo did not have spiritual networks, they still knew the appearance and portraits of the Ming Dynasty's top leaders. After all, the photo stone could be used normally even if it was not connected to the spiritual network through a wire, so the three of them knew Yan Shifan.
At this moment, looking at this young cabinet minister's cold face, my heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Even Naraxuan Lama and Menghan Laza, who were already impatient and dissatisfied with the Ming Dynasty, subconsciously licked their lips to relieve the tension in their hearts.
"I think you already know why I called you here." As Yan Shifan sat down and spoke, he raised his arm and waved it gently. Then, three letters from the credence appeared on the table. He picked up one of them at random.
"Yes, we already know about it." Li Hun spoke first, saying: "Regarding the spirit stone business, we..."
"My Great Ming has already investigated it thoroughly." However, before he could finish his words, Yan Shifan raised his hand to interrupt him and said, "The reason why you can cultivate immortality and have the opportunity to embark on the path of immortality is because of the Great Ming and the kindness of His Majesty the Emperor."
"What a pity! You guys took this kindness lightly."
"They are secretly developing an army of immortal cultivators and using the spiritual stone business in an attempt to infringe upon our Ming Dynasty. The evidence is irrefutable!" As he spoke, Yan Shifan swung his hand and threw three letters of credence at the feet of the three men.
"Sign this letter of credence and hand over the imperial seal. From now on, the three countries will be renamed as the Provincial Administration Commissioners' Office."
"As for you, the kings, from now on, you will be the governors, a second-rank official. Since you have already embarked on the path of cultivating immortals, you will also receive a fixed amount of immortal salary every month."
"……What?!"
After hearing what Yan Shifan said, all three of them, including Li Hun, who had already prepared to face the wrath of the Ming Dynasty, trembled, their eyes widened, and their faces were full of disbelief.
They never imagined that things would become so serious that their country would be destroyed!
"Young Lord, this, this..." Li Hun held the already drafted letter, stood up tremblingly, and said stumblingly, "Our country has always been a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty."
"I have never had the slightest rebellious intention. Just because of the spirit stone, the Ming Dynasty is unwilling to give me a chance to correct my mistakes?"
At this time, Li Hun had completely ignored the two teammates beside him. Thinking that North Korea was going to be destroyed by him, his first thought was that he would become a sinner for all eternity!
Then, there was anger rising from the bottom of my heart!
He felt that the Ming Dynasty had gone too far and done things too ruthlessly.
"Li Hun," Yan Shifan said coldly, "This is the grace of the court. Please don't make mistakes."
"Even if you don't know about the previous experience of Yingzhou Island, didn't your father and uncle warn future generations?"
According to Yan Shifan, Li Hun's uncle was the 13th monarch of Korea, Li He, who died in the 46th year of Jiajing.
As for Li Hun's father Li Sun, he was a cousin of Li Huan. After Li Huan died, he had no offspring. In addition, according to the Korean royal succession system, if there was no direct descendant, the throne would usually be inherited by a suitable candidate among the close relatives.
In addition, Li Yan's status was also extraordinary.
Lee Sun was the grandson of King Jungjong Yi Yi (yi), the seventh son of King Jungjong, and the legitimate son of Deokheung Daewongun Yi Tiao (tiao).
Although he was not a direct descendant of Yi He, when Yi He had no heir, he became the heir to the throne as a descendant of King Jungjong Yi Ye, with the right age and excellent qualifications.
After Lee Sun became emperor, thanks to the rise of the spiritual energy industry era and the opening of the spiritual stone trade, he was considered a lucky man and became an immortal cultivator.
Li Sun had two sons, the eldest son Li Ran and the second son Li Hun. The eldest son had bad conduct and was uneducated.
In contrast, Li Hun, the second son, has good character, is smart, studious, and frugal. Not only that, Li Hun is much better than Li Ran in cultivation.
Of course there are some off-field reasons as well.
For example, after the Ming Dynasty's Lingshi trade was opened, many officials from the Ministry of Works visited neighboring countries to investigate and arrange the construction of factories. Li Hun was appreciated by the then Yuwenlang of the Ministry of Works.
It was also because of these reasons that Li Hun was named the Crown Prince, which was a natural outcome.
Afterwards, Lee Sun abdicated in the 87th year of Jiajing and became a "Supreme King" who only focused on cultivation and did not care about state affairs.
(Note: In Korea, if a king abdicates, his successor will address him as "Shang Wang" or "Dae Wang Daebi (female)" to show respect for the previous monarch.)
"Boom!" When Li Hun heard Yan Shifan mention Yingzhou Prefecture, his brain buzzed and his whole body trembled.
He naturally knew what Yan Shifan meant by this.
If he does not sign this letter today and does not agree to hand over the national seal, then the Ming Dynasty will send troops to destroy the country!
Today, the Ming Dynasty has made up its mind to destroy the country. He has only two choices. Either accept the reward from the Ming Dynasty and choose a decent way to exit and be a governor in peace.
If he does not want this reward, then the Ming Dynasty will help him to be decent, and then it will bring disaster to the entire country.
"Buzz!" Just when Li Hun was at a loss, the photo stone in Yan Shifan's hand suddenly lit up.
Yan Shifan stroked his finger on the smooth photo stone, put the photo stone to his ear, and heard the voice of the other side talking.
"I have already known about this and sent you the photo." After saying this, Yan Shifan put down the photo stone, looked at Li Hun, and said, "Just now, your father Li Sun has handed over the national seal to the Ministry of Rites."
"What did you say? My father handed over the national seal!" Li Hun's face was full of disbelief when he heard Yan Shifan's words.
"Beep, beep." At this time, the photo stone that Yan Shifan placed on the table lit up, and a thumbnail-sized aperture flashed on it, which meant that the photo was being transmitted.
He picked up the image stone and gently swiped it with his thumb. A stream of light shot out and stopped in mid-air, then turned into an image.
Then, an old man wearing a red cloak, with white hair and beard, and a majestic look on his face appeared in the image. This man was none other than the current "Shang Wang" of North Korea, Yi Sun.
"Father!" Li Hun shouted subconsciously.
"Hun'er, I have handed over the national seal to the Ming Dynasty. You must sign the letter immediately." Li Sun said in an unquestionable tone.
"But father, if I sign the letter of credence, I will be a sinner of North Korea, I..." Li Hun wanted to argue for something, although he knew in his heart that it was meaningless to argue at this time.
But he still wanted to speak out what was in his heart.
At least by saying what you want to say, you can reduce the guilt in your heart.
However, in his excitement, he forgot that there was no spiritual network in North Korea. The reason why this video could be sent to him was because officials from the Ming Dynasty went to North Korea.
As the King, Lee Sun recorded what he was going to say on a photo stone in advance, and had it sent to Yan Shifan by an official from the Ming Dynasty.
"I know what you are thinking!" Li Cheng spoke directly as if he had guessed what Li Hui was going to say.
"I understand that in your opinion, if I sign the letter of credence and wait for treason, I will become a sinner of the entire country."
"But what you don't know is that if you don't sign the letter of credence, you will be the real sinner. You must understand that if you sign the letter of credence, the people of our dynasty will live a better life."
"Except for the cultivators who are currently using spirit stones for cultivation, all other children in the common people's families will be citizens of the Ming Dynasty."
"This also means that they can use normal character resources to practice and become a true immortal cultivator."
"In recent years, the people of the Ming Dynasty have lived a prosperous and happy life. Not only have we seen it, but the people of our dynasty have also seen it and are envious!"
“Don’t let your narrow-mindedness blind you to what the people really need.”
"You must accept this grace from the Ming Dynasty, otherwise I don't mind joining forces with other officials to abolish your throne. At that time, your brother will take over the post of Governor of Korea!"
After he finished speaking, the shadow stone went out. In the lobby, Li Hun stood there in a daze, his lips trembling, his eyes red, not knowing what to say.
His father's words were very clear, and the truth behind them was true, but he was the king after all, and he naturally understood many of the truths. They were not as simple and easy as he said.
Once he signs the letter of credence, he, as the last king of Korea, will have to bear historical responsibility!
Later, when the Ming Dynasty writes history, all Korean people will see that he is the king who lost his country.
He may even appear as a traitor.
If he signs the letter of credence today, even if the lives of the people will get better and better in the future, he, the king, will definitely be despised by all North Korean people.
In the eyes of these people, that was their king, who took the initiative to sell their country to the Ming Dynasty.
However, the meaning of his father Lee Sun's words was very clear. If he did not want to bear this historical responsibility, the next monarch of North Korea would be his brother Lee Ryeo.
Correspondingly, the Governor of Korea will also be Li Ran.
For Li Ran, he doesn't care what the untouchables think.
Not only will he be unable to change anything, he will even be punished for disobeying the will of the Ming Dynasty. His father may even execute him in order to surrender to the Ming Dynasty.
At this point he had no choice but to sell out his country!
Above, Yan Shifan looked at Li Hun below with a calm expression.
As for the King of Siam and the King of Toungoo next to him, he was too lazy to even look at them.
The reason why he was willing to say a few more words to Li Hun was because Korea had always been a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. Korea had always been very obedient, and the destruction of the country this time actually had nothing to do with him.
Firstly, the Ming Dynasty had indeed reached the point where it needed to expand its territory. Secondly, well, it just happened!
That's right, it just happened! Now, not to mention a small country like North Korea, all the small countries around the entire Ming Dynasty are now facing all the high-level officials of the entire Ming Dynasty!
The political achievement of expanding the territory for the court is tremendous!
This political achievement is now so great that it is worthy of personal action from officials of the cabinet and the six ministries.
You know, ever since the national policy of Lingshi trade was launched, all officials once thought that it would be impossible for Ming Dynasty to expand its territory in a short period of time, and they had long given up thinking about this.
The soldiers in the army, in particular, were so frustrated that they had to practice confrontations all day long, and would fight to the point of bloodshed for the slightest bit of "fat meat".
But now, the opportunity to expand territory has come so clearly, how can everyone not be excited?
For civil servants, the best thing is to defeat the enemy without fighting, and make all countries submit their political achievements in more than 20 days!
As for the military generals, they were praying in their hearts that the surrounding small countries would be a little tougher and not give in so quickly.
At this time, even Yan Song, and even Zhang Juzheng, who proposed to annex the surrounding countries, did not dare to stop.
An achievement of expanding the country's territory will be included in the distribution of year-end bonuses for the previous thirty years.
How much cultivation will be rewarded this time?
Some cultivators who are at the late stage of Qi training and the late stage of foundation building are just waiting for this shock.
When it comes to the path to immortality and immortality, the surrounding countries must disappear and become a heavy mark in their political achievements.
Whoever tries to stop me will die, the fight continues until death!
After a moment of silence, Li Hun shook his head and uttered a bitter laugh. Then he looked up at Yan Shifan and said, "Young Lord, will the people of our country really become the people of the Ming Dynasty in the future?"
"The future of our Ming Dynasty is that all creatures in the heavens and worlds, all races and races will become the subjects of our Ming Dynasty. What's the difficulty in accommodating a mere Korean citizen?" Yan Shifan said calmly.
If it were him decades ago, he would naturally always hold the mentality that those who are not of my race must have different hearts.
He would resort to extermination against the people of various countries, but after seeing the grand world of cultivating immortals, his mentality gradually changed. In the future, the Ming Dynasty was destined to be the same as all other races!
If we still hold on to the prejudice that each family in the Ming Dynasty is its own, it would be too narrow-minded.
The outer universe and the sea of stars.
A star is a world. If you encounter creatures from other star worlds, will you try to exterminate them?
As a supreme country in the Immortal Dynasty, it is natural that it must have the mind to embrace and rule over all races. In the future, there may even be spirit beasts that transform into humans, monsters, elves, etc., and all things may coexist.
If a tribe appears and is exterminated, and all living things are exterminated, isn't that a loss of resources?
It's not like the Ming Dynasty doesn't have the ability to rule and suppress all races. Why should we act like we're worried that they might change their minds, as if the Ming Dynasty is afraid?
"Okay, I signed it!"
After getting Yan Shifan's guarantee, Li Hun forced blood out of his fingertips and signed his name directly on the letter.
He decided to take all the blame for treason!
It is more important than anything else to suffer a little and bear the blame yourself and let the people live a good life!
In fact, he had to bear this infamy. In order to prevent the people from causing trouble and thus angering the Ming Dynasty, he had to be the only culprit.
In this way, the people's anger will be transferred to him, and they will not have any complaints about the Ming Dynasty.
"Li, the imperial court will divide Korea into prefectures, districts and counties. When you return to the Joseon Provincial Administration Office, you must govern well. The imperial court will evaluate you every year."
A smile finally appeared on Yan Shifan's face.
The Korean Provincial Administration? Hearing this, Li Hun felt extremely awkward.
But on second thought, the Japan back then is now just a prefecture, while their Korea is a provincial government.
In an instant, Li Hun felt a lot better. What's more, Japan was even more miserable. It was directly destroyed and wiped out in history books!
What is worrying is not the lack of wealth but the inequality. We cannot just look forward to everything. Sometimes, it is appropriate to look back and see those who are not as good as you. This can at least make you feel a lot more relaxed.
"Yes, I understand." Li Hun bowed.
"Yes," Yan Shifan nodded, then looked at the King of Siam and the King of Toungoo, Narasuan Rama and Menghan Lazar, who were completely stunned and standing there at a loss, and said:
"Sign or not, give me a definite answer."
Considering that Korea was previously a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty and the Lee Dynasty had always been well-behaved, Yan Shifan did not mind giving it a good face, but he was not in a good mood towards Siam and Toungoo.
Simply put, either sign or don’t sign.
It just so happens that if the two countries do not sign, he can still do the military a favor.
After all, those generals can't wait any longer.
Looking at the dozens of missed messages on his photo stone, even Yan Shifan felt a lot of pressure.
You know, there are people from the Five Military Commandery among them.
Well, he has no way to deal with these emperor's confidants.
At the beginning, Li Chengwu's incident caused such a big stir, but the Five Military Commandery was not affected at all? They even got the immortal method. Even Li Chengwu, who was demoted at the beginning, has been promoted now.
However, Naraxuan Lama and Menghan Laza were not stupid. They knew the consequences of not signing. Moreover, they saw that Li Hun gave up so quickly. They realized that they had neither the strength nor the brains. If they did not sign at this time, were they really waiting for the destruction of the Ming Dynasty?
Well, we are not stupid! Thinking of this, the two of them imitated Li Hui and signed their names in blood on the letter of credence!
Seeing this, Yan Shifan shook his head with some regret, and this scene further strengthened the determination of Narasuan Lama and Menghan Lhaza to sell out the country. They felt that their actions were very wise!
At this point, Korea, Siam and Toungoo handed in their national seals and were incorporated into the Ming Dynasty!
After sending off the three provincial governors, Yan Shifan did not delay and quickly reported the news to the cabinet.
Of course, for the cabinet and the six ministries that had already been prepared, they announced the news to the entire Ming Dynasty through the spiritual network almost immediately after receiving the delayed message.
Within one day, the Ming Dynasty once again added three provincial governments, and of course the people of the Ming Dynasty were also very excited.
Although no one knows what happened in between, the fact that the Ming Dynasty directly annexed three neighboring countries within one day must have shocked and excited the people of the Ming Dynasty!
Is there anything that could make one prouder than seeing one's own country annex other countries?
On this day, every citizen of the Ming Dynasty took to the streets, singing and dancing excitedly. Major businesses took this opportunity to start discounts and promotions. For a time, the whole Ming Dynasty was filled with cheers.
However, what the people don’t know is that there is much more to the story.
After Korea, Toungoo and Siam surrendered, the surrounding small countries chose to surrender without any further consideration.
Well, after all, the documents from the six ministries of the Ming Dynasty had already arrived in these small countries.
Over the past few decades, these small countries have become the spiritual energy factories of the Ming Dynasty. However, their populations are too small and they cut corners, so the number of spiritual energy factories is pitifully small.
Even the annual output is not as good as that of the Toungoo Dynasty.
At one time, there were countries like Ryukyu, Annan, Chenla, Champa, Luzon, Sulu, Hemaoguo, Meiluojuboro, Gumalalang, Fengjiashilan, Dieli, and Riluoxiazhi...
Sumatra, Suwendana, Srivijaya, Johor, Boonlangmasin, etc., a total of more than 60 countries and regions, have presented their national seals or written surrender.
Well, some of these things are simply not valued by the Ming Dynasty, or even unknown to the Ming Dynasty. However, the merchant families in these areas use this to advise the local families or the kings.
Although some self-sufficient countries were somewhat reluctant, they were overjoyed when they thought of the benefits of becoming citizens of the Ming Dynasty.
Some places that have not formed a country but are just regions that rely on a few local powerful families to dominate, such as pirate forces and gangs, all want to wash their hands and go ashore at this moment!
Becoming a citizen of the Great Ming Dynasty is something I've been dreaming of!
Not to mention, some of their local families and forces can take this opportunity to become a minor official.
For a time, there was only one will in the entire Southeast Asia, and that was the Ming Dynasty.
Surrender to the Ming Dynasty and live a decent life!
All of a sudden, documents, national seals, and tribute items poured into the Ming Dynasty, into the capital, and into the cabinet and the six ministries.
The six ministries and cabinet officials were so excited that they couldn't stop smiling, and all the countries surrendered.
Next, they only need to put pen to paper and write out the specific charter and the governance divisions of the various countries within the next twenty days.
Then, there will be a thick record in their political achievements book!
In this way, the entire high-level power of the Ming Dynasty began to operate at a high speed, and many scholars volunteered to go to Southeast Asia to serve as officials!
Nonsense, the fertile small countries in the Ming Dynasty and the surrounding areas have long been occupied by people with connections, so why are they waiting to grab these barren lands? Some chambers of commerce and immortal cultivation families have sent people there early.
For more than twenty days, the entire Ming Dynasty was excited.
Time flies by.
Finally, it was December 28th of the 99th year of Jiajing, the day before the Gaoyuan meeting.
On this day, auspicious snow fell on the Ming Dynasty, and all officials were looking forward to it!
Here it comes, the year-end bonus for 30 years!
"..."
(End of this chapter)
