Chapter 969 1058 Will Be Outside

Whether Wei Guangde was right or not, we can only say that he was really wrong.

Ethnic relations in Myanmar are complicated. The king of Myanmar only rules over the plain areas, while ethnic minorities in the mountainous areas implement the chieftain system.

The British retained this system and adopted a divide-and-rule policy, using mercenaries recruited from ethnic minorities to suppress resistance.

The political structure of ancient Myanmar is like a budding flower, loose and elegant. Except for the capital and suburban areas, which bloom under the careful care of Bamar nobles and officials, the "chieftain system" is mainly practiced in remote ethnic minority areas.

Like petals with their own characteristics, they bloom independently under the rule of local chiefs. They maintain an aloof vassal relationship with the central government through tribute, intermarriage, or provision of soldiers.

When the British set foot in Burma, their purpose was not just to strengthen colonial rule and weaken local forces, but to consciously incite hostility among various ethnic groups, which, like a gust of evil wind, made the originally harmonious ethnic relations precarious.

The British-Burmese governor not only retained the original chieftain system of the mountainous ethnic minorities, but also adopted a "divide and rule" policy, skillfully recruiting mercenaries among ethnic minorities and using these troops to suppress resistance from the Burmese or other ethnic groups.

In the process of suppressing the ethnic minorities in the mountainous areas, the British gradually discovered that the people here were tough and unruly, like untamed wild horses, only obeying the original chieftain.

This discovery seemed to open a door to British colonial rule.

In 1886, colonial officials wrote in a letter to the British Secretary of State for India: “The Shan, Kachin and other mountain tribes live under the rule of hereditary chiefs, whose authority is sufficient to maintain their order.

There there is no need to deal with scattered masses, but only with individual rulers who are highly organized, governed by ethics and administration.

If we gain the loyalty of these rulers, we will achieve our goals as quickly as possible, and all indications are that this will not be a difficult task. "

During this period, the British also brought poppy seeds to Myanmar.

Shan State and Kachin State in northern Myanmar are like a mysterious paradise and one of the best opium production areas in the world. The soil here seems to be particularly suitable for the growth of poppy.

After the local forces discovered this opportunity to make a fortune, they quickly expanded poppy cultivation and established a powerful armed army, "using the army to protect the poison and using the poison to support the army."

This opium kingdom has gradually evolved into the largest drug manufacturing and trafficking area in the "Golden Triangle". Like an unbreakable curse, the Burmese people have fallen into an endless abyss.

"Divide and rule" is a very old governing policy. Historically, the Roman Empire, Egypt, the Persian Empire, and Napoleonic France all implemented this policy.

Britain is a typical maritime power. Its basic geographical feature is that its territory is limited and far away from the mainland. Its economy and commerce mainly rely on maritime channels to connect its disconnected territories.

This gave Britain an inherent tendency to break up Eurasian countries into smaller units - because the smaller the country, the more dependent it is on powerful powers, and the smaller the country, the easier it is to control.

The British rulers clearly proposed the "divide and rule" policy after the great national uprising in India. Lieutenant Colonel Joan Kirk, commander of the Moradabad local garrison, wrote in a document: "Our attitude is to try our best to maintain the existing religious and religious traditions. "Dividing races, not integrating them, divide and rule should be the principle of the Indian government."

Elphinston, the governor of Bombay, greatly appreciated this view. He wrote in a memorandum: "Divide and conquer was the motto of ancient Rome, and it should be our motto."

As a result, Britain "divided itself into each colony, using one part against the other."

This was the "divide and rule" policy that Britain used in its colonial rule, and this rule was also extended to other British colonies.

It is worth noting that after World War II, issues such as the partition of India and Pakistan, racial issues in South Africa, Singapore and Malaysia, territorial disputes in the Middle East, and ethnic conflicts that emerged after the British Empire carefully retreated from its colonies are to some extent related to British colonial rule. The traces are not irrelevant.

Whether the Ming Dynasty has the ability to colonize these places, it certainly does not have this ability at the moment. The most it can do is to establish some strongholds along the coast through leap frog method and connect them to each other through naval routes.

However, the current communication conditions are limited. For areas that are too geographically far away, it is better to appoint a full-power governor to command the military and political power of the area.

If such a feudal official wants to win a stable ruling environment, he naturally cannot do without the deterrence behind the Ming Dynasty.

The reason why the previous Ming Dynasty shrunk its overseas expansion in order to so-called save national power after Zheng He's great success in his voyages to the West was because no one realized the huge benefits.

But Wei Guangde came from a later generation and naturally knew the huge benefits.

Spain, a country in the middle of Europe, gained countless wealth in the Americas by virtue of its pioneering exploration in the Age of Discovery, and became the most powerful country in Europe. It even had the courage to challenge other European countries and launch the so-called holy war.

Wei Guangde did not intend to hand the paper on the desk to Zhang Juzheng and others now for them to participate in discussions. He wanted to wait for feedback from Li Chengliang.

Let’s see if veterans like Li Chengliang have any other ways to solve the problem of Myanmar’s rule.

In any case, Li Chengliang had been the commander-in-chief of Liaodong for several years, and he must have many ways to appease the Jurchen tribes.

Just when Wei Guangde finished recording and was about to put it away, Lu Bu came in from outside with a document in his hand.

He walked to the opposite side of Wei Guangde's desk, bowed and whispered: "Master, the Minister Tan of the Ministry of War sent someone to deliver a document, and handed it directly to me, asking me to give it to you."

"Hmm?"

Wei Guangde was stunned for a moment, and reached out to take the document from Lu Bu.

This document should be said to be a document from the Ministry of War. If it is not registered by the Silijian and then transferred to the cabinet, it is not a formal memorial.

For such things, it used to be private, and several people talked about it in person, but there was no case of handing over documents without following the normal process.

After getting it in his hand, Wei Guangde quickly opened it and looked through it, and then he understood.

The document in his hand was a copy of a strategy for governing Liaodong after Qi Jiguang took over as the commander-in-chief of Liaodong.

As for Liaodong, after learning about the situation in Liaodong, Qi Jiguang felt that the original strategy of divide and rule was correct, so he did not say much. Moreover, he was the general commander, and the one in charge of the Jurchen tribes was the Liaodong governor. He was only in charge of how to fight, and naturally would not take the initiative to get involved.

Even though Liaodong has always been under military control, the most important person in Liaodong is still the Liaodong governor.

The main content of his document is actually how the Ming army wiped out the remnants of Wang Gao after capturing him.

Although Wang Gao had been beheaded, his two sons were still there. During the process of the Ming army's advance, one of the two sons hid in Chahar, and the other disappeared, completely hidden in the vast mountains of Liaodong.

The terrain in the northeast is complex. In addition to the familiar Greater and Lesser Khingan Mountains, Changbai Mountain, and Outer Khingan Mountains, etc., strictly speaking, they are all under the control of the Ming Dynasty at this time.

Because the Jurchen tribes living in these areas are still subject to the Ming Dynasty in principle, the places they occupy are naturally the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

This time, the official document Qi Jiguang sent back to the Ministry of War was his idea on how to execute Wang Gao's two sons and the remnants.

Wang Gao had been executed in the capital a long time ago. After so much time, his two sons have reappeared and started to gather old people to make a comeback.

In any case, Wang Gao's family is also a prominent family in the Jurchen tribe. After the Ming army destroyed Gule Village, they also encircled and suppressed several other fortresses. However, when the Ming army arrived, many of Wang Gao's remnants had fled into the mountains and forests to hide, and the Ming army did not achieve much afterwards.

Now Wang Gao's sons Atai and Ahai have emerged. Atai returned to Gule City, which was burned down by the Ming army, while Ahai went to Shaji City and raised the flag again.

In Liaodong, opinions have now been divided into two camps. One is that Wang Gao's remnants should be wiped out as soon as possible while they are still weak, and the other is Qi Jiguang's plan, which is to let Atai and Ahai go and wait for them to gather their old subordinates before taking action.

At the same time, leaving Atai and Ahai behind can also take the opportunity to find out how many people in the Jurchen tribes are still colluding with Wang Gao privately, so that the court can catch them all in one fell swoop.

Qi Jiguang supports the second faction, and he is naturally attacked by the other faction because he did not send troops to encircle and suppress.

During this period, Liaodong military and political officials quarreled over this matter, and Liaodong Governor Zhang Xueyan was hesitant to make up his mind.

Qi Jiguang has seen the power of civil officials, and it is not an exaggeration to say that the pen is like a knife.

Think about Yu Dayou, who was still suppressing the Japanese at the beginning, but he was directly removed from the position of Zhejiang General because some people rumored that he was in contact with the Japanese.

If it weren't for Yu Dayou's good fortune and someone in the capital to protect him, the grass on his grave would be three feet high now.

No one in Zhejiang at that time would believe that Yu Dayou was in contact with the Japanese pirates, except for those few people, because with Yu Dayou around, the Japanese pirates dared not to act rashly in Zhejiang.

Because of the previous experience, Qi Jiguang chose to report the matter to the Ministry of War first when facing the dispute with the civil officials this time.

Obviously, he supported the second opinion, while the civil officials in Liaodong, from the grain supervisor to the censor, mostly supported the first one, demanding that the remnants of Wang Gao be wiped out as soon as possible without leaving any hints.

This may be another small dispute between civil and military officials in Liaodong.

For insurance, Qi Jiguang brought the disagreement to the Ministry of War and waited for the instructions of the Ministry of War.

At that time, with the endorsement of the Ministry of War, no matter which one he chose, there would be no trouble for him afterwards.

There was no right to autonomy at all. This might be the sadness of the military commanders of the Ming Dynasty. They could only act according to the will of the civil officials, and could not think about the problem purely from a military perspective.

After reading the document, Wei Guangde thought for a while and asked, "Are the people from the Ministry of War waiting outside?"

"Yes, the clerk is from the office of Minister Tan, and he is still waiting outside the palace."

Lu Bu whispered.

Taking out a piece of paper with a draft, Wei Guangde wrote the three words "General is outside" on it, then put down the pen, picked up the paper and blew a few breaths to let the water on it dry quickly.

After that, he folded the paper in half and handed it to Lu Bu, saying, "Take it and let him give it to Minister Tan."

"Yes."

Lu Bu agreed, took the paper and turned to go out.

Wei Guangde put away the document and the record he had written before, and put it in a box for personal belongings next to him.

He chose to support Qi Jiguang. Although this period of history was brand new, Wei Guangde was not sure whether it was right or wrong to do so, but he chose to support him.

Qi Jiguang had sent a message to the capital long after the Liaodong war ended, that is, Gulecheng and Wang Gao's entourage had all been killed, leaving no one alive.

Those Jurchens who did not die in Liaodong were also executed in the capital, and no one was left alive.

For Wei Guangde, a history idiot, in his eyes, Nurhaci, who later dominated Liaodong, should have been dead.

Nurhaci died, Li Chengliang also left Liaodong, and the rise of the Jurchens became completely impossible to reappear.

However, the Ming Dynasty still had to carry out the plan to weaken the Jurchens, and there must never be a force as strong as Wang Gao who dared to confront the court.

Therefore, using Wang Gao's sons Ata and Ahai to find the Jurchen tribes that opposed the court for the Ming Dynasty was more advantageous than killing them in Wei Guangde's opinion.

Who would believe that Atai and Ahai hated the Ming court? As long as they were in frequent contact, Wei Guangde believed that they were the remnants of the Jurchen tribe who opposed the court.

Therefore, giving Qi Jiguang the right to encircle and suppress them and letting him judge the timing of the encirclement and suppression was the best choice in Wei Guangde's opinion.

After getting his mood in order, Wei Guangde began to deal with memorials again. These were his official duties and he had to deal with them as soon as possible.

Off the coast of Yuegang, Fujian, three large Fu ships were driven by sails and sailed quickly towards the port. At this time, standing on the high platform of the Fu ship, the outline of the continent could be seen from afar.

"We are almost there, we can see the land."

On the ship's deck, the crew in charge of lookout shouted excitedly to the people below.

When the crew on the deck heard the shouts from above, many of them ran to the bow excitedly and looked ahead.

On the bow, a sun and moon flag fluttered in the wind.

The Ming Dynasty did not have a national flag. All ships leaving Yuegang would receive a "sun and moon flag", which was a pictographic version of the Ming Dynasty's name.

Yes, in ancient China, the country name was usually used for easy written records, while the national flag was ignored.

The flag with the country name written on it can actually be understood as a national flag, but there is no particularity, so it cannot be regarded as a national flag in the true sense.

The concept of national flag first appeared in Europe. The first officially recognized national flag is said to be the Danish flag, which appeared in 1219.

Legend has it that in this year, the Danish king sent troops to conquer Estonia. In a difficult battle, a red cloth with a white cross pattern appeared in the hands of the Danes. Someone said that as long as they followed this flag, they would win.

With this flag as the leader, the Danish army won the war incredibly, so this piece of cloth was considered a sacred object and brought back to Denmark.

The Danes believed that it had divine power, so the white cross red cloth became the symbol of Denmark and led the Danes forward.

Before this, European countries all used flags with family emblems.

The Yi people's ships traveling to Yuegang brought their national flags, so the Fujian government made this flag as the logo of Ming ships.