Gao Qiqian had long been regarded by Zhu Youjian as the eunuch who understood military affairs the best.
The moment he opened his mouth, the emperor immediately turned his attention toward him.
"Gao Aiqing, speak freely. Let us hear your thoughts."
Gao Qiqian folded his sleeves calmly.
"Just now, Lord Lu mentioned that Pi Island has stabilized under the support of coastal commander Cao Wenzhao."
"However, everyone here knows that Pi Island sits isolated overseas and has never been very obedient to the court."
"There have been multiple rebellions there."
"A large number of traitors have come from that place."
"Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, Shang Kexi. Which one of them did not jump out from Pi Island?"
Zhu Youjian hesitated.
"Well... that is true."
Gao Qiqian continued smoothly.
"Pi Island is unreliable."
"And the King of Joseon is even less reliable."
"Joseon is weak and easily bullied."
"Even if they send troops to help us, what good would it do?"
"The Jianzhou could dispatch a single general and crush them in two or three moves."
"They would be of no real help at all."
Zhu Youjian nodded repeatedly.
"Yes, yes, that makes sense."
Gao Qiqian went on.
"As for the Mongols, we do not know what medicine they have taken recently that makes them harass the Jianzhou so frequently."
"But the Mongols have always been enemies of the Ming."
"They are like snakes and rats, swaying from side to side."
"How can we be certain they will truly help us?"
"Just opening border trade markets will win them over?"
"You are thinking too optimistically."
Lu Xiangsheng immediately replied.
"The horse markets I opened in Xuanfu and Datong have already traded with the Mongols many times."
"There have been no problems."
"They quite like it."
Gao Qiqian sneered.
"That is aiding the enemy."
"It is no different from the Shanxi merchants supplying goods to the Jianzhou."
"The Mongols buy salt, tea, and iron pots from you."
"Turn around and those very goods become weapons used against the Ming."
Lu Xiangsheng frowned.
"That is not the case."
"They have become our friends."
Gao Qiqian laughed coldly.
"The Mongols becoming friends with us?"
"That is impossible."
The argument between the two men made many ministers below the platform frown deeply.
Some officials who had served on the frontier began quietly pondering.
Can the Mongols really become allies?
Maybe yes.
Maybe no.
Hard to say.
Zhu Youjian himself was growing uneasy.
Compared to Lu Xiangsheng, he instinctively trusted the eunuch who had grown up beside him inside the palace.
So he could not help leaning toward Gao Qiqian.
"Gao Aiqing, are you saying we should not launch a counterattack?"
"Correct," Gao Qiqian replied calmly. "We should not counterattack."
The crowd erupted.
Lu Xiangsheng's face flushed with anger.
"If we do not counterattack, should we simply allow the Jianzhou to keep beating us?"
Gao Qiqian waved his hand.
"That is not what I mean."
"The Jianzhou are currently attacked on multiple fronts."
"This is precisely the best time to pacify them."
Lu Xiangsheng froze.
The ministers froze.
Pacify?
This required a bit of explanation.
When the Ming court dealt with roving rebels, they often used the word pacify.
The meaning was condescending.
A great power soothing rebellious peasants.
However things were different with the Manchu Jianzhou.
In truth, many officials in the capital knew perfectly well that Ming could not defeat them.
So the idea of "pacifying" them was nonsense.
What they actually meant was negotiating peace.
But openly saying peace negotiations would damage the dignity of the Celestial Empire.
How could the great Ming dynasty negotiate peace with a bunch of Jianzhou slaves and Tungusic forest hunters?
That sounded humiliating.
Therefore court officials preferred to use a nicer phrase.
Pacification.
So when Gao Qiqian said,
"Now is the time to pacify them,"
what he truly meant was,
Now is the time to negotiate peace.
When Lu Xiangsheng had earlier proposed war, the ministers had remained silent.
But the moment the word pacify appeared, everyone suddenly became energetic.
A senior official stood up immediately.
"Pacification is good!"
"Excellent!"
"After all, the Jianzhou are merely our Jianzhou slaves who rebelled."
"They are not very different from the bandits we already pacified."
"Since we have pacified so many rebels, why not pacify the Jianzhou as well?"
"Right now they are surrounded by enemies and suffering great difficulties."
"If we send envoys to negotiate peace, the results will surely be excellent."
"They will withdraw their troops obediently and cease invading our borders."
Lu Xiangsheng nearly exploded.
"The Jianzhou cannot be compared with bandits!"
"This is exactly the moment to strike while they are weak!"
"Why would we give them time to recover by negotiating peace?"
Another minister stood up and bowed.
"Your Majesty."
"We spent a great deal of money suppressing the rebels recently."
"The national treasury is still empty."
"If we now launch a campaign to retake Liaodong, the treasury will be under even greater strain."
"Why not pacify the Jianzhou during this opportunity?"
"Once the war stops, we can focus on governance and replenish the treasury."
Hearing this, Zhu Youjian felt deeply tempted.
Lu Xiangsheng shouted angrily.
"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!"
"If we miss it, once Joseon and the Mongols can no longer restrain the Jianzhou, they will invade again."
"At that time the Ming dynasty will be in grave danger!"
Gao Qiqian scoffed.
"Alarmist nonsense."
Lu Xiangsheng clenched his fists.
"Military opportunities cannot be missed."
"If lost, they will never return."
At this moment, Zhu Youjian had already made up his mind.
He would listen to Gao Qiqian.
After all, when it came down to it, he trusted eunuchs more.
Just as he was about to finalize the decision, something unexpected happened.
A senior eunuch who had remained silent the entire time suddenly spoke.
Cao Huachun.
"I believe Lord Lu is correct."
Before he spoke, every minister had been supporting Gao Qiqian.
The moment he spoke, the entire atmosphere froze.
A high official who had just supported Gao Qiqian suddenly changed sides.
"Ah... now that I think about it, Lord Lu actually makes some sense."
Another official stood up.
"After careful thought, I believe Lord Lu is correct."
"Military opportunity must not be missed."
"I support the counterattack."
Gao Qiqian was startled.
Why was Cao Huachun opposing him?
He turned and stared at the other eunuch.
Cao Huachun looked back.
Their eyes collided in midair.
For the first time, sparks flew between the two great palace eunuchs.
Gao Qiqian could not understand.
Why would Cao Huachun oppose him?
In truth, Cao Huachun himself felt surprised.
He had not expected to help an outside official.
But somehow he had spoken anyway.
Only when he saw Gao Qiqian's hostile glare did he realize something.
Deep inside his heart, he still possessed a tiny fragment of conscience.
He wanted the Ming dynasty to survive.
He did not want personal grudges to destroy the best opportunity the empire had.
At this moment, Cao Huachun was experiencing the brightest moment of his life.
Zhu Youjian had almost finalized the decision.
But the moment Cao Huachun spoke, his mind wavered again.
After all, Cao Huachun was also a eunuch he trusted.
On the left stood Gao Qiqian.
On the right stood Cao Huachun.
The flesh in his left palm.
The flesh in his right palm.
Both mattered.
So what was he supposed to do now?