Chapter 194 Defend from the south and attack from the north
When Zhu Cihong received the memorial from the Red Lady, the most beautiful season in Jiangnan had passed, and it was April.
At this time, all the officials in the seven southern provinces have been assigned grades and have been adjusted. All the garrisons in each province have been put in place. The cabinet is planning to order each province to start measuring land and making statistics.
The propaganda efforts of the Propaganda Supervisory Committee are constantly increasing, and the influence of the Royal Dibao is recovering and spreading among the people.
Banks and royal stores are also spreading to remote states and counties.
Although the envoys sent to the two places have not yet returned to Nanjing, the Jinyiwei sent intelligence from various places to Beijing and also to Nanjing, so Zhu Cixiang also knew the situation in the southwest, northwest, and northeast very well.
Looking at the suggestions in the red lady's private message, Zhu Cixiang also frowned and began to analyze and weigh the pros and cons.
Based on the current situation, the Red Lady's strategy is undoubtedly the safest and most appropriate, which is to first make peace with the inside and then fight against the outside.
But the Tumut Department was very important in his future plans.
If the slaves were destroyed, it would mean that the Ming Dynasty would have no source of war horses and cavalry who were good at riding and shooting.
For a king who wants to defend his territory, this is nothing. All he needs to do is rely on the Great Wall for defense.
But Zhu Cixiang was not a conservative king. His desire to open up new territories and expand his territory was far greater than that of Emperor Qin and Han Dynasty.
In the future, if you want to expand your territory to the north and west, you cannot do without the Mongolian cavalry. Whether it is conquering Mobei, Moxi, or even further Central Asia and Tsarist Russia, relying solely on the Han people to conquer and attack would be too costly.
It's also too difficult.
What's more, if you want to completely wipe out the Jiannu, it would be difficult to do it without the help of the Mongolian cavalry. It's not that you can't win, but that you can't catch up if the opponent escapes.
So in the long run, the Tumut tribe must be preserved, otherwise what will be used to conquer the grassland tribes in the future?
After all, it would probably take at least ten years for the Han people to train their own cavalry and conquer all the grassland tribes.
He would never be able to accept such a long time.
Because the earth is too big, he cannot waste too much time on Mongolia and Jiannu.
In the end, Zhu Cixiang decided to defeat Jian Nu first, or delay Jian Nu until he retreated without a fight, and then deal with King Chuang and the Eight Kings.
After all, the Tumote tribe is scattered in various places and there is no city. It is impossible to defend the Tumote tribe.
The situation in the Ming Dynasty was different, especially in the relatively closed geographical areas of the Southwest and Northwest. Only a small number of soldiers and horses could rely on the city's strategic roads to secure the two major rebel kings, the Northwest and the Southwest.
With the current national and military strength of the Ming Dynasty, it is not a problem to delay it for a year or two, but whether it is establishing slaves or breaking into kings, the eight kings cannot support it.
Therefore, as long as the two major rebels are contained in the northwest and southwest, the Ming army can compete with Jiannu for attrition. After Jiannu cannot afford to retreat, it will not be too late to deal with the two major rebels.
After deciding on the big strategy, Zhu Cihong began to adjust the deployment of troops while replying to the red lady.
In fact, there is nothing to adjust, just let Liu Zeqing be stationed in Pingyang Mansion, Tang Tong be transferred to Xunyang Mansion, and Huang Degong's right army be transferred to Xuanfu, Shizhu, Henan, and Shanxi's troops and horses can be transferred from offense to defense.
In this way, Shizhu has the eighth and ninth towns of Qin Lihua and Li Dakai, with a total of 80,000 people, which is more than enough to defend Chongqing.
Xunyang Prefecture has Tang Tong’s sixth town, Nanyang has Zuo Menggeng’s seventh town, Luoyang Prefecture has Gao Jie’s second town, Pingyang Prefecture has Liu Zeqing’s first town, and Taiyuan has Liu Liangzuo’s third town. Basically, it has been
All avenues from the southwest, northwest and into the Central Plains, Huguang, and Shanxi were blocked.
As for sneak attacks on mountain roads, they are not within the scope of his consideration. Now it is no different than before. If King Chuang and the Eight Kings dared to lead their armies over the mountains and ridges for sneak attacks like before, they would definitely light a lantern in the toilet and fly into the flames.
perish.
In addition, Wu Sangui's former army is stationed in Luoyang, which is enough to ensure that nothing goes wrong.
After all, every town has been training according to the new organization and new training methods for nearly a year, and their combat effectiveness and morale are far from what they were before.
If it were not for the sake of safety and all the towns were united, they could take the initiative to attack the Chuangbawang, while the fifth army would be responsible for cleaning up the Jiannu.
Because in Zhu Cixiang's opinion, the overall strength of his five armies and ten towns is definitely greater than the overall strength of the Eight Kings, King Chuang and Jiannu.
As for comprehensive national strength, it is even more incomparable.
But after all, troops are unpredictable, water is unpredictable, and no one can be sure of war until it is over, so he chose the more conservative strategy of defending in the south and attacking in the north.
After the order was issued, Zhu Cihong could no longer stay in Nanjing with peace of mind, because it was no small matter for the army to fight outside the Great Wall. From a military point of view, there was a possibility of the entire army being annihilated.
Although this possibility is almost slim, as a king, he must also drive and conquer in person.
Zhu Cixiang is no longer worried about Jiangnan's government affairs and reforms.
The authority of Ma Shiying and the eight ministries of the cabinet has been completely established, and the New Deal can be advanced slowly without causing any major troubles.
But in terms of military affairs, Zhu Cihong was in trouble because there were no generals in Jiangnan.
Among the 30,000 people in the 10th Town, the middle and lower-ranking officers are all students of the Jiangwu Hall. The more than 10,000 Royal Forest Army are also led by Xu Lan. The military attaches stationed in various places are also the confidants of the Red Lady, so even if he leaves Nanjing, Zhang Yan
He could also firmly control these armies, but he had to consider some emergencies, and Zhang Yan was not equipped to deal with them.
"Hong'er, my uncle has a suitable candidate here. This person has been in battle for a long time and is able to deal with the emergencies that Hong'er mentioned."
Just as Zhu Cixiang was considering whether to transfer Duke Dingguo to Nanjing and temporarily serve as Zhang Yan's military advisor, Zhang Yan thought about it.
"Oh? Who is it?"
"Zuo Liangyu, what do you think of him?"
"Yes, why did I forget about this old guy, but I heard that he became seriously ill after arriving in Nanjing. How is his health now?"
Zhu Cixi's eyes lit up and he slapped his forehead.
I don’t know if King Chuang and Li Zicheng are not dead, but Zuo Liangyu is still alive and well.
After arriving in Nanjing, this guy was indeed seriously ill for a time. Zhang Yan sent the imperial doctor to visit him several times and prescribed some medicine. He gradually got better, but he always kept a very low profile.
This led Zhu Cixiang to ignore him.
As for whether this guy had second thoughts and whether he was loyal to the court or not, Zhu Cihong didn't care at all. What he cared about was this guy's ability and battle experience.
Compared with Zuo Liangyu, Wu Sangui, Liu Zeqing, and Liu Liangzuo, these guys are not reliable.
After all, in history, Zuo Liangyi never surrendered to the Manchus until his death, nor did he openly rebel.
"I heard from Dr. Hu that he is recovering well. I think he will be fine. I'll know when Xun'er summons him and sees him," Zhang Yan said slowly.
"Um!"
Zhu Cihong nodded, and immediately ordered Xuan Zuo Liangyi to come to the palace to see him.
When Zuo Liangyu learned that the emperor wanted to see her, she was both excited and anxious.
"My lord Ning Nanbo Zuo Liangyu, please bow to my emperor. Long live my emperor! Long live my emperor! Long live the queen! May I be blessed to the queen mother!"
"Zuo Aiqing is flat, please sit down!"
When Zuo Liangyu didn't die of illness, Zhu Cihong finally made him an earl. Firstly, it was because Zhang Yan personally presented the memorial, and secondly, his son Zuo Mengeng still had some troops in his hands.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Zuo Liangyu sat down on the stool carefully, and began to speculate in his mind the emperor's purpose of summoning him.
But the Queen Mother was also there, so she probably wasn't trying to deal with him. Besides, if the emperor really wanted to deal with him, he wouldn't summon him.
Seeing that he looked good, Zhu Cixiang nodded secretly. He should be able to put the waste to use, so he expressed concern: "Zuo Aiqing, I heard that you have been sick since you came to Nanjing. If you are physically sick, you may still feel unwell."
Where?"
"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am fine now!"
Zuo Liangyu quickly replied.
In fact, Zuo Liangyu still felt resentful towards the emperor Zhu Cihong, but on the contrary, he was full of gratitude towards Zhang Yan.
"Well, now that Aiqing's health is no longer serious, I can rest assured. Originally, I planned to let Zuo Aiqing take care of her old age, but now the imperial court is just employing people, and the Queen Mother strongly recommends you to me, calling you Zuo Liang.
Yu Neng is good at fighting and loyal to the country. I wonder if Zuo Aiqing is willing to continue to serve the country?"
Zhu Cixiang said slowly.
Obviously he also sensed that this guy had resentment towards him, so he didn't intend to win people's hearts in a pretentious manner and simply passed the favor on to Zhang Yan.
Sure enough, he heard that it was the Empress Dowager who recommended him again. Zuo Liangyu's eyes turned red with emotion, and she actually shed two old tears. She knelt on the ground and said sobbing: "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager values your trust. Even if this old minister is shattered to pieces, he will die."
Don’t give up!”
"I am so pleased that my beloved is so loyal!"
Zhu Cixi knew that his words were mostly directed at Zhang Yan, but he didn't care and nodded.
Then he was directly appointed as the governor of the capital, the governor of the capital, and the governor of the right, in order to coordinate and manage the hundreds of thousands of garrisons in nine southern provinces, and was awarded the rank of general.
The Du Si Jian of the Metropolitan Governor's Office, Zhu Cixiang, plans to be responsible for managing the garrisons all over the world in the future, and these soldiers and horses are collectively called guards and belong to the standing army.
Although it is not clear what kind of official position the right governor of the metropolitan governor's office holds, but with the rank of general and the ability to manage local military affairs in the nine southern provinces, it is definitely an important position.
This made Zuo Liangyu's still excited body tremble slightly when he left the palace.
"Auntie, after my child leaves, Ma Shiying and the cabinet will be responsible for government affairs. Just keep an eye on it. You can rely on Zuo Liangyu for military affairs. My child will leave you an edict in case something unexpected happens."
Zhu Cixiang said and handed her the prepared edict.
Zhang Yan took the edict and looked at it. She was shocked and said in a tearful tone: "Hong'er, don't scare me, okay? Otherwise, you'd better stay in Nanjing."
After saying that, she hugged his arm tightly, not wanting him to leave.
"Auntie, the child is just a precaution. That kind of situation is impossible, and the edict cannot be used. You can rest assured."
Seeing her reaction, Zhu Cixi comforted her with a wry smile.
"But…"
Although Zhang Yan understood that he was only preparing for the worst, looking at the edict in his hand, his face was still filled with tension and worry.
The content of the edict was actually simple, that is, if something happened to the emperor and the situation in the north collapsed, Princess Kunxing would succeed to the throne in Nanjing, and the Queen Mother would listen behind the curtain.