Yan Song and Xu Jie knew that if they really spared no effort to implement this policy, they would inevitably attract endless infamy.
At that time, no matter whether they are current or former officials, they will not hesitate to exclude themselves from the gentry class.
But if you don't act according to the emperor's wishes, then what awaits you is death.
For a time, the two of them were in a dilemma!
After a long time, Yan Song seemed to have figured out something. He sighed and muttered to himself silently.
"Living is everything, everything is for living. If you lose your life, why do you still think about those things?"
"Let's follow His Majesty's wishes for now!"
Seeing that the matter had been settled, Jiajing nodded slightly to Lu Fang, and immediately began to focus on himself with his eyes closed to rest.
Seeing this, Lu Fang stood up immediately and said softly.
"The first matter discussed by the cabinet this time has been discussed. We will continue the discussion after a short break."
When Yan Song and Xu Jie, who were kneeling on the ground, heard this, they felt as if they had been granted amnesty. They stood up from the ground tremblingly and sat back down in their seats.
Time passed slowly like this, and the cabinet became extremely quiet. Everyone was cautious and did not dare to make any noise for fear of affecting the emperor's rest.
Immediately, Jiajing slowly opened his eyes. Seeing this, Lu Fang immediately stepped forward and said loudly.
"In this cabinet discussion, the first matter has been discussed, and now the second matter is discussed, which is the shift of the strategic focus of our Ming Dynasty!"
After Lu Fang finished speaking, everyone present cheered up. Immediately, Yan Song stood up from his seat tremblingly and reported to Jiajing.
"Your Majesty, I have my own personal report!"
"speak!"
Jiajing just glanced at Yan Song rather flatly and said.
After getting Jiajing's permission, Yan Song began to elaborate on his strategy.
"Your Majesty, the strategy adopted by the imperial court has always been to go south first and then north."
"Now, all the Japanese pirates entrenched in the southeastern coast have been wiped out. It's time to shift the strategic focus of the Ming Dynasty back to the Tatars in the north!"
"Your Majesty, here is a summary of the records of Tatar invasion of our border with the Ming Dynasty in recent years!"
After Yan Song finished speaking, he took out a memorial letter from his sleeve and raised it high above his head.
Seeing this, Lu Fang hurriedly stepped forward, took the memorial from Yan Song's hand, and respectfully delivered it to Jiajing's hand.
Jiajing took the memorial from Lu Fang and opened it. It clearly recorded the number of times the Tatars had invaded the Ming borderlands in recent years, as well as the records of the Ming army's battles with them. The victory or defeat of both sides, how many men and horses each lost, and what they captured. Wait, there are extremely detailed records in the memorials.
Jiajing read the contents of the memorial word for word, put it aside and said in a deep voice.
"Yan Song, keep talking!"
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
After Yan Song responded, he paused for a moment and then continued.
"Your Majesty, in recent years, Tatar intrusions on our Ming border have become more frequent, and most of the time they occur in the summer and autumn, when the water and grass are abundant and the enemy's combat effectiveness is at its strongest."
"Does Your Majesty still remember the Gengshu Revolution in the 29th year of Jiajing?"
After Yan Song finished speaking, everyone present looked suffocated. What they couldn't understand was why Yan Song would take the risk of offending His Majesty and bring up the past.
Unexpectedly, Jiajing looked calm, nodded, and said slowly.
"I remember that in June of that year, Anda Khan led an army to invade Datong. It seemed that Qiu Yue was guarding Datong at the beginning!"
When Jiajing mentioned Qiu Yue's name, he became furious, then slammed the table and cursed angrily.
"This trash, when Anda Khan led his army to invade Datong, Qiu Yue was immediately frightened and did not dare to fight with him. He bribed Anda Khan generously and begged him not to attack Datong and move to another place. As a result, he burned and looted freely outside the city, and only left after eight days!"
"Thinking about it this way, I really took advantage of him back then!"
After hearing this, everyone present except Yan Song lowered their heads in unison. They all knew very well that after Qiu Yue died, the emperor opened the coffin and slaughtered his body, and his end was tragic.
When Yan Song saw this situation, a strange look appeared on his face. After all, he had a share in this incident. Soon, Yan Song coughed twice, attracting everyone's attention to him.
"Your Majesty, what I want to say is that since the Gengshu Revolution in the 29th year of Jiajing, the Tatars have invaded our Ming border areas more and more frequently, and the people in the border areas are being ravaged!"
"Now that the Japanese pirates have been eliminated along the southeastern coast, the imperial court can finally free up its hands to concentrate on dealing with the Tatars."
"Therefore, I implore your majesty to take advantage of the enemy's strength to gather strength, and send troops north to catch them off guard, completely drive the Tatars out of the grasslands, and avenge the innocent people of the Ming Dynasty who have been killed and injured in recent years!"
"And I, Ming, can also take this opportunity to conduct experiments on the new weapons of the Arms Department."
After Yan Song finished speaking, he suddenly knelt down on the ground with a solemn expression.
As soon as Yan Song finished speaking, before Jiajing could reply, Xu Jie stood up and refuted.
"Your Majesty, no, Mr. Yan Ge's proposal is too risky!"
"Right now, although our Ming Dynasty's treasury is sufficient to support the war effort on the front line, the Tatars are nomadic people after all and can completely avoid fighting."
"And once the main force of our army is restrained by it, as time goes by, problems will inevitably arise in terms of baggage and food."
"At that time, once the food and supplies cannot be guaranteed, the combat effectiveness of the army will drop rapidly. In addition, our army does not know much about the local situation. Therefore, it will be easily divided and attacked, and the army will be trapped alive. On the grassland!”
"Right now, it's not the time for a decisive battle."
When Xu Jie said this, he turned his gaze to Yan Song, with a stern look on his face, and asked.
"Or, Mr. Yan Ge, can you shoulder this responsibility?"
Suddenly being questioned, the expression on Yan Song's face suddenly became ugly. Just when he was about to refute, Jiajing on the side spoke at the right time.
"Well, what Mr. Xu Ge said makes sense. It is extremely risky to rashly send an army to attack the Tatars!"
When Jiajing said this, he paused and then added.
"I don't want another Tumu Fortress incident!"
Seeing that the emperor had made a decision, Yan Song could only temporarily extinguish his inner thoughts and said respectfully.
"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"
Jiajing took in the expression on Yan Song's face, raised his eyebrows, and then gave instructions.
"However, if I, Ming, continue to defend like this, it will definitely encourage the enemy's arrogance!"
"Therefore, the local defenders can also go out to fight when the time is right, but they must not pursue them too deeply."
"I will ask the Weapons Department to transport the newly developed grenades and other new weapons to the border areas for testing, so that the soldiers can master their use as soon as possible and prepare for the next large-scale battle!"
"In addition, order Yang Xuan, governor of Jiliao, to seize the time to collect information about the Tatars and take strict precautions against possible invasions."
Xu Jie on the side heard this and thought to himself.
"It seems that His Majesty has already made up his mind to officially start a war with the Tatars, so as to wash away the shame caused by the Gengshu Revolution."
(End of chapter)
