The imperial meeting in the Wenhua Palace did not reach an agreement. The emperor stopped the meeting on the grounds of fatigue and ordered the elders to return to the cabinet for further discussion. However, shortly after the elders returned to the cabinet, the palace sent an order to the Ministry of Household Affairs.
, the Ministry of War summoned two ministers to discuss matters. Gao Yong was pragmatic and Zhou Yong entered the palace according to the order.
However, there was not much to express during this meeting. Gao pragmatically moved the young emperor after analyzing the general trend. Especially the "Khan" hat he once wore on the head of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty made him wholeheartedly carry forward the Ming Dynasty.
His Majesty the Emperor, who expresses his sincere wishes to his ancestors, is extremely itchy.
According to Gao Pragmatic's statement, powerful force should be used like a retracted fist, so that it can be more deterrent. At the same time, it should be supplemented by flexible and powerful political and economic means to "control the captives and drive them to my advantage."
Then the great cause of "Khan of Heaven" is not far away.
As for the expenses, according to a highly pragmatic and deceptive calculation... Oh, a calculation, to the emperor's ears, it is almost a business where the left hand goes out and the right hand comes in. Even if it does not make money, at least it will not lose anything. The Ministry of Revenue is now fully able to afford it.
.
In addition, Gao Pragmatic also emphasized that since a war will be launched after the spring of next year, it is even more impossible to let these subordinate forces feel chilled before the war. Regarding this, the emperor deeply agreed. Then he asked Gao Pragmatic what he thought of Xiao Ruxun and others.
The performance of the generals in this battle.
Xiao Ruxun was actually the one who advocated for Gao Jingshi to be transferred to Liaodong at that time. Zhu Yijun had already "prepared the answer" when he asked Gao Jingshi, thinking that Gao Jingshi would definitely find various reasons for him to prove his merit. However, this underestimated Gao Situ.
, Gao Pragmatic's evaluation of Xiao Ruxun was "mediocre" and said that he had "neither special achievements nor major faults" in this battle.
This evaluation was originally the emperor's innermost thoughts, but no one in the cabinet just now held this view, which made the emperor extremely unhappy. There were three performances by the cabinet just now:
One group believed that Xiao Ruxun's performance was poor. With the most elite cavalry as the backbone and the "four coalition forces", he was actually led by the Chahar "partisan army" at first and failed to effectively attack this partial army. In the end, he almost failed.
After being successfully attacked by others, the results of the counter-attack were not satisfactory. They suffered more losses than the enemy. They were extremely incompetent. This faction obviously did not agree with Xiao Ruxun's statement of "seriously injuring more than 3,000 enemy troops."
.
The other faction is just the opposite. They believe that Xiao Ruxun's battle was the only large-scale active military dispatch against Mongolia in northern Xinjiang in decades by the Ming Dynasty, except for the Battle of Monan. Although we failed to fight a battle of annihilation, our officers and soldiers suffered very few casualties, so
The casualties suffered mainly from the "four coalition forces".
How can we blame Xiao Ruxun for the lack of combat power of the four coalition forces? Considering the limited strength of our army headquarters, it was a complete surprise to be able to fight like this. Moreover, he also completed the strategic goal of repelling Chahar, not only saving Horqin, but also
Stabilized Ye He. It can be seen that Xiao Ruxun not only has merit, but also has great merit and should be rewarded.
As for the third faction, this time it was even worse than usual. Even if the emperor asked by name, the answer he got was "I don't dare to disturb the saints because I don't serve in the army", which was obviously "we won't get involved in this matter".
Zhu Yijun was so angry that he wanted to roll his eyes on the spot.
After all, this old classmate was still very pragmatic and was willing to tell the truth. There was no black or white, either/or, and he gave a fair evaluation of "mediocre performance", which made Zhu Yijun nod his head in agreement.
However, "mediocre performance" is mediocre performance. When Zhu Yijun asked how to deal with the thorny issue of military merit, Gao Pragmatic firmly advocated "rewarding".
Zhu Yijun asked why this was happening, and Gao Pingshi explained: "The same reason for rewarding the four tribes is to buy a horse's bone for a thousand gold." The emperor was suddenly surprised when he heard this.
Yes, Xiao Ruxun's credit for this battle is not that big, but since there will be a war next spring, now giving a heavy reward to Xiao Ruxun, who has not made much credit, won't it inspire the generals of all parties who will participate in the war next year?
They will think: Xiao Ruxun received a heavy reward for fighting like this in this battle. If I really made a great contribution, then I should not be granted the title of marquis...er, be the governor? The pinnacle of life is right in front of me. If I don't work hard,
More to come!
So the emperor asked Zhou Benbing how to arrange the reward. How could Zhou Benbing himself dare to make any random ideas? Fortunately, he had already asked Gao Pragmatic on the way into the palace, so he could come up with a plan now. This plan is actually also
Nothing much. In addition to being given thirty taels of silver as usual, a son named Yin to guard thousands of households in royal robes, and being promoted to the governor of the Right Army Governor's Mansion, he was also given unicorn uniforms.
According to Xiao Ruxun's position as deputy commander-in-chief of Liaodong, it is not too unusual to receive the above rewards, but being given the Kirin suit is a bit out of the ordinary. It is obviously a generous reward. And in this way, Liaodong at this time has
In addition to Xiao Ruxun, the other one belonged to Li Rusong and was given to him after the final decisive victory in the Northwest Battle.
According to Zhou Yong, doing this was also a spur to Li Rusong, who had always been arrogant. The emperor thought it made sense, so the matter was roughly settled. After that, the emperor asked some questions about next year's war.
Zhou Yong answered all the matters in a pragmatic manner, and it was almost when the palace was about to be banned that they returned to their respective offices.
In the next two or three months, the Ming Dynasty rewarded Xiao Ruxun and his generals generously in accordance with Gao's pragmatic ideas, and generously rewarded Tumote, Horqin and the Manchu Tribe, allowing these subordinate forces to unite more closely under the Ming Dynasty's emperor Zhu Yijun.
His Majesty is the core of the Celestial Empire.
In the past two or three months, in addition to more intense and active preparations for war, several more important things have happened. Among them, there are two things in the Chinese affairs field.
The first thing was that Nurhachi, the commander of the Jianzhou Zuowei, sent his half-brother Mulhaqi as an envoy to come to Beijing to pay tribute on his behalf. As a tribute on this trip, the Jianzhou Zuowei presented 108 top-quality Dongzhu.
, a hundred catties of Laoshan parameters, a piece of white tiger skin and other treasures. The performance was extremely respectful and humble, and the flattering words to the emperor were not stingy and not disgusting at all.
Of course, at the end of the performance, Nurhachi asked the Ming Dynasty in a very respectful tone to allow the Jianzhou Zuowei to participate in the horse market at Crow Falcon Pass, or to go to Kuandian Fort.
The imperial court had another round of disputes over this matter. In the end, it was Gao's pragmatic suggestion that satisfied the emperor the most: allowing the left guard of Jianzhou to go to Kuandian to participate in the horse market, but requiring that the guard must "follow the order in the future" - that time
When I want to fight, you must send troops to accompany me.
Gao Pragmatic is betting on one thing: Nurhaci has not mastered the "blanching method" yet. Before the Ming Dynasty, after dividing Jianzhou into two, it cut off the horse market trade of Jianzhou Zuowei, so the ginseng in Nurhaci's hands cannot be sold.
It fell out, and there is no "blanching method" to preserve ginseng. It will only rot after it expires, resulting in heavy losses.
Although he relied on the success of the three expeditions to the Changbai Mountains - well, it was half successful (it was destroyed by Ye He and other troops, and the full success was not completed), he added a little strength, but it is obvious that he still cannot bear it in the long run, so he can only accept the Ming Dynasty
requirements.
In the end, the two sides agreed that once the Ming Dynasty had military operations in Liaodong and the surrounding areas of Liaodong, the Jianzhou Left Guards would be required to send 10% of the total number of troops sent by the Ming Dynasty to accompany the troops, but the maximum number of troops accompanying them would not exceed 5,000.
This is easy to understand. It means that if the Ming Dynasty sends 10,000 troops, Nurhachi must send 1,000 troops; if the Ming Dynasty sends 50,000 troops, Nurhaci must send 5,000 troops; but no matter how high it is, it is useless. Even if the Ming Dynasty sends 500,000 troops, Nurhaci will still
Send five thousand troops - because Nurhaci said that he only had so many troops in the left guard of Jianzhou, and he couldn't even bring in the old, weak, women and children to make up the number.
However, although Nurhachi agreed, there were still conditions. The main condition was on the economic level. He said that the area under the jurisdiction of Jianzhou Zuowei is extremely remote and extremely poor, so if the court really needs him to send troops,
He himself could only support a thousand men and horses, and the extra horses needed to be drafted would need to be provided by the court with military rations.
Although this may sound reasonable, it is actually not in line with the Ming Dynasty's conscription habits. As we all know, even the southwestern chieftains prepared their own dry food when they sent troops to accompany the conscripts, and the court was basically not responsible for logistical issues.
For example, when Jiangxi suppressed bandits, at least tens of thousands of Guangxi wolf soldiers were mobilized, but the food and grass provided to them by the court also had to be paid for. The reason was that the chieftains had to prepare their own soldiers and army rations during the expedition. The court only considered that it was inconvenient for them to carry them.
They were allowed to exchange money for food - in fact, the chieftains had no money, so most of them relied on earning silver rewards from wars and then using the reward money to buy military rations.
In short, the southwestern chieftains are definitely more "people of their own" than the Jurchens. None of them have received the treatment of "eating the royal grain". You, a mere Jianzhou left guard, actually want to make an exception?
However, Gao Situ, who controlled the world's financial power, agreed on the spot with a wave of his hand, saying that if that day comes, the court "will not starve to death even one person in your tribe." Nurhaci accepted it after learning that it was Gao Pragmatic who had personally agreed.
In fact, Gao pragmatically played a trick here. He only said, "I will not starve to death." He did not explain clearly what he would give them to eat, nor how full they would be. Gao pragmatically even said
This is a very "vicious" plan. Once the Jianzhou Zuowei will have up to four to five thousand soldiers and horses, and the place of expedition is far away from the old camp of the Jianzhou Zuowei... then if it is done correctly, maybe it can be conquered by military rations alone.
The person is firmly grasped in his hand.
Of course, these are just leaving a backdoor. It is hard to say whether it will be able to be used later, but having this backdoor is better than nothing, right?
The second incident happened in the southwest. Liu Wei was promoted to the chief military officer of Sichuan by the Ministry of War on the grounds that he had "served meritoriously in guarding Burma" and was stationed in Xuzhou.
I would like to explain here that the Sichuan General Army of the Ming Dynasty was often stationed neither in Chengdu nor in Chongqing, but in Xuzhou in the south. Although there is very little information explaining the reason in detail, it is not difficult to guess: Chengdu Defense
The focus is on the west, but the west has always been relatively honest and has little defense pressure. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty specially set up the "Sichuan Xingdu Command and Envoy Division" in western Sichuan, which is somewhat similar to the Deputy General of the Liaodong Army and is responsible for the defense of this area.
The commander-in-chief generally does not intervene and take charge;
There are two larger chieftains in the east of Chongqing Prefecture, namely Shili Xuanweisi and Youyang Xuanweisi. These two chieftains are not only honest, but also very obedient, and they are also particularly good at fighting. Among them, Shili Xuanweisi is the most famous - famous
This is the Qin Liangyu Department of the White Guards. For this reason, there is no pressure on Chongqing and there is no need for a general military officer to be stationed. Therefore, there is only one "deputy envoy to patrol Sichuan East Road to manage Chongqing and make Bozhou".
An important place named Bozhou appears here, and this Bozhou is very crucial - the Bozhou rebellion occurred here. Bozhou is south of Chongqing, and is nominally under the jurisdiction of the deputy envoy from Chongqing. However, Bozhou is a strong but not very powerful country.
It is an honest place, so Chongqing alone may not be able to see it, so a strong coercion is needed west of Bozhou.
This coercion is the Sichuan Chief Military Officer. In addition to his general duties covering the whole of Sichuan, his most important duty is to suppress Bozhou in the east and several chieftains in the south, such as Zhenxiong Mansion, Wumeng Military and Civilian Mansion, and Wusa Military and Civilian Mansion.
, Dongchuan Military and Civilian Mansion, etc. In addition, there is Zunyi Military and Civilian Mansion in the direction of Bozhou. Although there are Liuguan at the upper level, there are still a lot of small chieftains and chieftains at the bottom, and sometimes they are not very reliable.
In short, the Sichuan General Army is stationed in Xuzhou in the southeast of Sichuan. Its main duty area is also in the east and south of Sichuan. It even crosses the border to deter Guizhou. This is why the Jiu Si Man and Du Zhang Man rebellions were clearly located in Guizhou, but they were
But it was the governor of Sichuan who suggested that Liu Xian should be used as the commander-in-chief to send troops to annihilate the situation. At this time, Guizhou was dominated by chieftain forces, so if something went wrong, Sichuan would have to send troops to settle the matter.
Gao Yingshi had already considered sending Liu Wei to Sichuan before, but this time there is no doubt that the reason why he quickly transferred Liu Wei was because he would launch troops against Chahar next year. In the original history, Yang Yinglong launched the Bozhou Rebellion while taking advantage of the Ming Dynasty's aid.
The battle to aid Korea has not yet taken place, but the decisive battle with the Mongols is about to take place. Who knows if Yang Yinglong will have a seizure? Naturally, Liu Wei must be put in place first to avoid having to worry about something happening.
In fact, Gao Pingshi had an impulse earlier and wanted to deal with Yang Yinglong in advance. However, after planning the matter for a while, he found that it was not easy to handle. For an "orthodox" person, punishing someone without guilt is not a good idea.
If something is extremely taboo, it will greatly reduce the prestige of the court and be classified as a tyrant's tyranny.
Gao Jingshi also thought about making Yang Yinglong jump out, but although Yang Yinglong was arrogant, he was not that stupid. The Ming Dynasty had won various great victories in the southern and northern wars in the past few years. No matter how you look at it, he is full of martial virtue.
The Bozhou native emperor believed that he could not challenge the true emperor of the capital, and he believed that he would not mess around.
Since the method of luring the snake out of the cave didn't work, Gao Pragmatic had no choice but to fight stupidly. The purpose of transferring Liu Wei to Xuzhou was to frighten Yang Yinglong. As for whether Yang Yinglong would make a fuss after the imperial army left the Great Wall for the Northern Expedition next year, Gao Pragmatic really couldn't care less.
.Anyway, he was prepared for the worst. If Yang Yinglong really wanted to cause trouble, he would just let Liu Wei fight it.
In fact, Gao Pragmatic really hopes that Yang Yinglong will cause trouble. After all, there are too many chieftains in Guizhou and nearby areas. The imperial court always needs to station heavy troops nearby, which is a big burden in itself. If he can take advantage of the opportunity to wipe out Yang Yinglong,
It would actually be of great benefit to the court to "cut down the feudal vassalage" in Guizhou and return as many chieftains as possible to their native lands.
In addition to these two state affairs incidents, there were of course some private matters that occurred in the past two or three months, which were also relatively important.
----------
Thanks to book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your reward and support, thank you!
Thanks to book friends "Cao Mianzi", "snakedman", and "Chi Yujing Fengchen" for their monthly support, thank you!