"The main purpose of the strategy of northward expansion can be summarized in sixteen words: expansion in summer and war in winter, step by step, business and war are coordinated, and the army and the people advance together. In summer, the main purpose is to build army forts and expand territory, and in winter, we must focus on war. Move forward step by step.
Push, don’t advance rashly, every step must be taken solidly. Fighting without business will not last long. Whether you are building a military fort or starting a war, you must take into account commercial interests and build an army based on business! A military fortress is a fortress in wartime, but it is a business in normal times.
Stack. Some people say that the grassland is barren and there is no business profit. I don’t think so. Everyone has seen wool cloth. It is a good cloth for making winter clothes. Because of wool, there is great business profit in the grassland. There are also many minerals in the grassland.
, as far as I know, there are a large number of copper mines, iron mines, coal mines, and even gold and silver mines in Mobei, which are all beneficial. The 51st Division is temporarily responsible for this matter. After it is fully launched, the Governor's Office will do more long-term work.
planning."
Zhu Youjian gave the final word to the matter, and then discussed with the generals how to carry out the plan smoothly in the next six months. With cement, the work of building the military fort became relatively simpler, unlike before, ramming earth to build the fort.
City, now we use trucks to pull a pile of stones, cement, and sand, and relatively few people can complete the work, even relying only on the 51st Division's engineering and transportation troops stationed in Gubei, plus the help of ordinary soldiers.
can be completed.
The fort made of stone and cement is still strong. If a few barbed wires and artillery are added, it will be enough for the enemy.
"Zhongfu, the border defense on the northern front currently depends on one of your divisions. The responsibility is heavy, so don't take it lightly! Also, the training and literacy work for the soldiers must not be relaxed. I found that the lieutenants of the army are not good at literacy.
Heart, this is absolutely not possible. You should know something about the shortage of students in the general school. This problem is difficult to solve in the short term and can only be alleviated by training military sergeants. Recruiting scholars into the school and other measures will not work. There are no officers.
, it will be impossible to expand the army and naturally it will be impossible to save the country from chaos. Soldiers, especially front-line generals, must understand this clearly."
"The student union strictly implements the principal's arrangements and cultivates talents suitable for the general school from the army." Mayu said it happily, but he was really worried about this matter. It is really not the work of human beings to educate a group of big soldiers.
For example, his old subordinate Wang Er, in terms of combat level, not to mention the platoon leader, even if he is a company commander, his military merit is enough, but he just can't read a few words, so he can only be transferred to his side by Mayu Liang to be himself.
Trainee platoon leader of the security platoon.
On the same day, Zhu Youjian returned to the barracks canteen, had a soldier's meal with the soldiers, and talked about many personal matters before ending his inspection of the frontline barracks.
On the second day after arriving at Gubeikou, the focus of the inspection was the Gubei forging market. Although the war some time ago had a great impact on border trade, the forging market had to be suspended. However, after the war, the recovery was quite fast.
Look, it seems like there is no war happening here at all.
People who listened to the discussion said that after the Qing army withdrew, the Mongolian tribes outside the country quickly migrated back. The opening of the market in Gubei attracted the Mongolian tribes more than anything else. Although the Ming army had moved towards the grassland in the past two years,
However, the Ming army was different from any other force making trouble on the grassland. They did not fight for the purpose of robbery. For this reason, there was no pressure on the Mongolian tribes to move back. At most, they would just be soft and not make trouble after they came over.
The opening of the Gubei Forging Field at this time was of greater significance to the Mongolian grassland than at any time in the past. The border trade that Li Zicheng occupied in the Datong area of Shanxi was in name only because he lost the transportation channel for southern goods. Theoretically,
It is said that the territory currently controlled by Li Zicheng has the conditions for north-south trade. However, the Chuang Army has not really made the determination to turn from chaos to governance. It is a mess under governance. Very few caravans take such a big risk to do this.
thing.
The Shaanxi-Gansu province controlled by Sun Chuanting is relatively stable, but the civil unrest in northern Shaanxi has not disappeared. The traffic environment in Gansu is really bad, and the amount of commercial activities that can be carried out is limited. In general, the grassland has limited access to supplies.
Only the Gubei entrance is open.
"Are there many goods from the South that come in by sea and go to the market?" Zhu Youjian asked the officials at the market to see if, in addition to local products, the market could benefit from the North-South trade.
"The situation has been quite good in the past month! Many businessmen go directly to Tianjin Port to purchase goods and ship them here to do business. I heard that as long as the goods arrive from Tianjin, they can be sold out within a day."
"Is the total shipment volume large?"
"It's quite big. Basically all the Mongolian tribes nearby have come to work as second-level traders. There are also many merchants from Xuanhua and Datong who have come here to do business."
"Shanxi merchants come here to do business? Do they have the duty to pay taxes? Many of these people are doing business with the Manchus."
"It's my duty to pay taxes, but I heard that a lot of exported goods were bought by them into the hands of the Manchus. The officials and others sent a memorial to the capital, asking for permission to ban the sale of some goods in the market, especially ironware! But!
The imperial court's answer is to maintain the status quo, and we are not in a position to make any decisions."
When the market was opened, because there were other borders for smuggling trade, Zhu Youjian gave instructions that all goods circulating among the people could be sold in the market. Now the situation has changed, and Gubei has almost become the only one.
The trade channel does have the conditions for a large-scale economic blockade. But Zhu Youjian hesitated. It was not that he was greedy for the little money he could make from the market, but that he had doubts about the meaning of an economic blockade.
In the long run, the Ming Dynasty has been doing something similar to an economic blockade. It has strictly limited the categories of border trade goods and prevented all items that would help improve the combat power of the grasslands from being transported. In terms of effect, it seems to have an effect. The combat power of the Mongolian tribes
It is an indisputable fact that the Ming Dynasty declined and the level of social production fell. But it also had a negative impact. Why could the Manchu and Qing Dynasties continue to strengthen their control over the grassland, and why did the grassland tribes increasingly resist the Ming Dynasty's move towards the Manchu and Qing Dynasty? It is because of the negative impact of these policies
.The Manchus also had certain industrial production capabilities, and some grassland tribes who were close to the Manchus could obtain some urgently needed materials.
The economic blockade is a double-edged sword, which does not only have advantages and disadvantages. In addition, Zhu Youjian also has doubts about the impact of banned goods, mainly iron products, on the grassland, which will have a greater impact on the Ming Dynasty's combat power in the future. Firearms and gunpowder will definitely not enter.
Trade system, and the Ming Dynasty's new army will definitely enter the era of hot weapons for all members in a short period of time. They sell iron products and melt the iron with them. At most, they can make swords and armors. At the worst, they can just cast some earthen cannons. It seems that they can't produce them.
What an impact.
"All border trade only sells finished products, semi-finished products and raw materials are strictly prohibited. Production machinery must be strictly controlled and as little as possible imported into the grassland. The inspection department of the Customs Administration strictly implements this order. In addition, private sales of