The firearms drawings were handed over to Old Liu Tou, and Zhu Gaoxu was immediately relieved.

The wisdom of working people is endless.

It is not difficult for top craftsmen like the Bureau of Ordnance to successfully manufacture firearms such as blunderbuss after they obtain them.

Of course, this process is destined to be long. After all, this is an epoch-making improvement in firearms and cannot be completed overnight.

Just as Zhu Gaoxu and Xue Lu were bragging and joking, the imperial edict arrived suddenly and ordered them to attend the imperial meeting.

The two looked at each other and instantly understood the theme of this imperial meeting - the Northern Expedition to Wala!

It is now the end of November, and the New Year is approaching, with the Northern Expedition less than three months away.

As the saying goes, before the troops and horses move, food and grass go first.

Although Zhu Di was still in the imperial capital of Yingtian, the food and grass supplies had already been transported to the important town of Datong in Beiping.

Zhu Laosi convened an imperial meeting at this time, and any fool would know why.

However, Zhu Gaoxu was a little curious. Emperor Yongle's five northern expeditions to the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty were known as "Five Expeditions and Three Plows".

His five personal expeditions were all wars against the three remaining tribes of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, the Tatars, Oara and Ulliangha, who were entrenched in Mobei. This further weakened the remaining Mongolian forces and maintained peace on the border of the Ming Dynasty.

However, every time Zhu Laosi personally went on a military expedition, he always conducted it at the beginning of spring, which was completely inconsistent with the traditional custom of sending troops.

You must know that the time for ancient people to fight wars was usually after autumn.

Because all dynasties attached great importance to mulberry farming, spring plowing was required in spring, and war took away the family's labor force, which naturally delayed spring plowing, and the year's harvest was greatly reduced, which was obviously uneconomical.

In summer, because the food is not ripe, the army will not have enough food and grass to start a war at this time, so it will not go to war easily.

As for the weather in winter, it was too cold for marching. After marching, I would sweat all over, and then be blown by the cold wind and easily catch cold. In ancient times, typhoid was an incurable disease, and no one dared to take this risk.

Therefore, the ancients usually chose to fight after the autumn harvest when they fought. At that time, there was sufficient food and grass in the warehouse, and the clear autumn air was the most suitable season for marching and fighting. Therefore, all wars would be fought after the autumn harvest.

But Zhu Laosi did the opposite. Four of the five personal expeditions were in February or March of spring, and only one was in August of golden autumn.

Full of doubts, Zhu Gaoxu subconsciously asked Xue Lu.

The future Marquis of Yangwu looked at him in surprise.

However, Xue Lu thought that the King of Han had been seriously injured, so he didn't think much about it, and immediately explained: "My lord, have you forgotten? We are fighting the Mongolian Tatars, not the Central Plains army."

"During the Hongwu period, Emperor Taizu organized eight large-scale northern expeditions in order to eliminate the remaining forces of the Northern Yuan Dynasty!"

"The battle lasted intermittently for more than twenty years, completely crippling Beiyuan and its remaining forces. The former overlords of the grasslands were all beaten by my Ming army until they fled when they heard the hoofbeats of the Ming cavalry!"

"The Northern Yuan Dynasty was also reduced from the orthodox position of the previous dynasty to a grass-roots team, and it no longer poses a threat to our orthodox status of the Ming Dynasty."

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu just nodded, still puzzled.

What does the glorious deeds of Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang have to do with Zhu Laosi?

Seeing that he still didn't understand, Xue Lu simply made it clear: "The purpose of the Emperor's Northern Expedition is to make the Tatar and Oara tribes on the grassland submit to the Ming Dynasty, so as to achieve the goal once and for all, to eliminate the Ming's border troubles forever, and to leave a legacy to future generations.

Peace for all eternity."

"But for us Central Plains people, the Mobei grassland is really too cold. If we fight the Mongolian army in winter, we are destined to not be in the right place at the right time."

"In the eyes of Mongolians, there has always been a saying that 'Han people are city dwellers and cannot tolerate hard work.' This hard work means that the Central Plains people have no way to adapt to the severe cold of the Mobei grassland!"

"On the other hand, the Mongolian Tatars are completely different. They live in cold places like the Mobei grassland all year round. After adapting, they have evolved many cold-proof clothing such as furs, etc., and they have extremely rich experience in fighting in winter..."

At this point, Zhu Gaoxu finally understood.

It was not that Zhu Laosi was stupid and decided to launch the Northern Expedition in the spring at the risk of delaying spring plowing, but because there was really no other way.

If we go on an expedition in autumn and winter has already begun after marching out of the fortress, fighting the Mongolian Tatars in such a harsh environment and climate, isn't that just looking for abuse?

But when he thought of this, Zhu Gaoxu's eyes suddenly lit up.

In the final analysis, it was because the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty could not stand the bitter cold environment. It was difficult to survive, let alone fight.

In this case, what if we let the soldiers wear down jackets?

As he thought, a beautiful picture appeared in his mind.

The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty all wore large cotton-padded jackets and steel armors. They were so fierce in the ice and snow that they killed the Mongolian Tatars, leaving their helmets and armor behind and running away...

Down jackets can’t be made now, but sweaters are not that difficult!

As for the raw materials for making sweaters, aren’t the densely packed cattle and sheep on the grassland readily available?

The more Zhu Gaoxu thought about it, the more excited he became, and unknowingly he was outside Nuan Pavilion.

When he entered, he saw that the Nuan Pavilion was already full of people, all of whom were famous top warriors!

Zhu Yong, the Duke of Chengguo, Liu Sheng, the Marquis of Anyuan, Wang Tong, the Marquis of Chengshan, Chen Mao, the Marquis of Ningyang, Zheng Heng, the Marquis of Wu'an, Yu Ying, the Marquis of Baoding, Xu Heng, the Bo of Xing'an...

Everyone here is a hero and a famous general who followed Zhu Laosi and conquered the world. Just pick any one of them and he can stand alone.

Of course, this also includes Zhu Gaoxu, King of Han.

After all, the normal Zhu Gaoxu was famous all over the world for his bravery and proficiency in fighting.

"Second brother, are you here? I just have something to ask you."

Zhu Di pinched his eyebrows tiredly and leaned on the soft couch.

Zhu Yong stepped forward and explained it thoughtfully.

It turned out that the generals had started a heated discussion before Zhu Gaoxu and the two arrived.

How to find the main force of the Oara Army?

This is an unsolvable problem!

The superior tactical mobility of the nomads gives them a unique and huge advantage on the grasslands!

The Central Plains army went deep into the grasslands to fight. The right time, the right place, the right people, and nothing else meant that there was no possibility of victory.

Those grassland barbarians are not stupid. They know that the army of the Ming Dynasty is approaching. Even if they can't defeat it, why can't they run away?

No matter how powerful you are, I just won't fight you in a decisive battle and will just play in circles with you on the vast grassland.

As long as the logistics supplies of the Ming Dynasty King's Division cannot keep up, the Prairie Cavalry can even turn around and give you a knife!

The nomadic people live in grass, and as long as they can graze cattle and sheep, they can continue to compete with the Ming Dynasty for a long time.

However, the Ming Dynasty King’s Master really couldn’t afford it on the grassland!

Zhu Di also realized the seriousness of this problem. The last time he went on a personal expedition, if it weren't for the excellent intelligence work of the Jin Yiwei, he might not even be able to see the shadow of Arutai, and ultimately returned without success!

Although the Tatar tribe was successfully defeated last time and Arutai surrendered, the Ming Dynasty also spent countless money on food and equipment, most of which was wasted on the march.

This time the Northern Expedition to Wala will face the same problem.

But even if you know it, what can you do?

This is an unsolvable problem that all dynasties in the Central Plains have faced when attacking the grasslands.

Zhu Gaoxu stroked his beard and was also lost in thought.

How to find the main force of Wala is the problem.

But Zhu Gaoxu seemed to really remember where Wala would flee after learning that the Ming Dynasty had sent troops!
Chapter completed!