"The recruitment of troops by the Ministry of War is going smoothly. There are about 100,000 strong men from all over the country. The Staff Department has selected 70%. They have been practicing for more than a month."
Zhu Yi has been in the General Staff Department for many years and is extremely qualified as Minister of War.
"This conscription cost a total of 500,000 silver dollars in money and food. The manpower dispatched went to Yiwu, Huizhou, Jiangxi, Tongling and other places in Zhejiang. The source of troops is pretty good."
These places are basically places with dense mineral resources and many miners.
As for Jiangxi, due to its abundant population, it naturally has sufficient sources of high-quality troops.
This was the first time in the Ming Dynasty that officials were directly sent to recruit troops.
The recruitment system began during the Jiajing period. Recruitment was often led by generals, and the court only needed to supervise and pay money and food.
"In other words, in more than a month, we can get 70,000 auxiliary troops?"
The emperor cheered up a little.
Even 70,000 civilians are of great use, not to mention auxiliary soldiers.
For example, the Qi family army only has Yiwu soldiers, and they only recognize Qi Jiguang and his descendants.
As a result, the problem of having a big tail that cannot be shaken off occurs.
An uncontrolled strong army will never be tolerated by the court, so once Qi Jiguang died, the Qi family army existed in name only.
"Soldiers are more valuable than more, not more."
Lu Daqi on the side couldn't help but said.
"The formation of the Beijing Camp is not yet complete!"
After some elimination, half of them will become a strong army.
"Your Majesty, these auxiliary soldiers who have never been on the battlefield should not place too much hope!"
Zhu Mou poured cold water on them: "If they are fighting against thieves, bandits, etc., they can be of some use, but for the Manchus, they can only wave flags and shout, and carry food and grass."
Although they have been practicing for more than three months, it is still too short after all. It has not yet formed combat effectiveness and has not been tested.
In this way, the combat capabilities of the firearms battalion and the guard battalion were diluted.
"Your Majesty, after all, the Huaihai Defense Line is well established and can be considered capable of fighting."
The emperor couldn't help but sigh.
The main responsibility of the Beijing camp, that is, the soldiers and horses led by the emperor, is to protect the capital.
There are mainly more than 20,000 people in the firearms camp and the personal barracks, and some Sichuan soldiers, Nan soldiers, and military households are integrated, which is about 50,000 people.
The reason why Hongguang was defeated at that time was that the Guazhou Navy surrendered and Zhenjiang Zheng Hongkui was defeated at the first touch, so Nanjing was captured.
The navy is the one who saves his life.
"It seems that the Manchu and Qing Dynasties are likely to move south this autumn."
Seeing the emperor's frown, Zhao Shu couldn't help but persuade him: "There are about a hundred thousand soldiers and horses in Huaihai, plus 50,000 soldiers and horses in Beijing. If the soldiers and horses from Henan are transferred to Nanjing, we can gather an army of 300,000."
"Even if there is disagreement, the Manchu and Qing Dynasties will not be able to cross the Yangtze River if there are thousands of Yangtze River navy ships."
Hearing this, Zhu Yixi breathed a sigh of relief.
Immediately, a large table was carried out, and a huge map of the thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty was displayed in front of everyone.
The huge map is divided into four parts. For better distinction, a simple line separates them.
Looking from north to south.
Lu Daqi shook his head, his expression ugly.
"Bring me the map!"
The emperor's expression changed slightly and he waved his hand.
Next, there is the northwest corner of Shaanxi, with Lanzhou in Lintao Prefecture as the node, including Shaanxi Xingdusi, with a population of about one million.
This is Li Zicheng’s shrunken version of Dashun.
Next, half of Shaanxi, Sichuan, Huguang, Jiangxi, half of Henan, South Zhili, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, and Guizhou.
The first is the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, Shanxi, Beizhili, Shandong, Liaodong, and Weihui.
Half of the Mongolian grassland, half of the Northeast.
If Liaodong is included, it is conservatively estimated that the ruling population is about eight million.
Sun Kewang, who occupies Yunnan, is in the southwest corner and has a population of only two to three million, which is not a big concern.
"Clear and clear! Even if a humble minister doesn't know the military affairs, he can still understand the general trend of the world."
Jiang Yueguang praised.
Even though Huguang suffered a military disaster, conservative estimates suggest that the population under the Ming Dynasty will still remain at more than 50 million.
If we look at population alone, there is no way Ming Dynasty will lose.
He walked forward without fear and pointed to the canal on the map:
"If the Manchus and Qing Dynasties went south, there were only three ways to go."
"If it is a long-term strategy, we will try our best to capture Shaanxi and then plot Henan."
"Zhu Shangshu, you are in charge of the Ministry of War, so you should have expected the Manchus to move south!"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, I just have a little guess!"
Zhu Mou raised his head, revealing a pair of bright eyes.
At this time, Gao Hongtu, the Minister of Rites, couldn't help but said: "The most important thing about the canal is not the ice, but the dry water."
"There is little water in the north in autumn and winter, but as soon as we reach the north of the Yangtze River, the water flow becomes abundant."
"The water volume of the Yellow River was okay last year."
"If it is a slow strategy, just like what was done in the first year of Hongguang, start from Henan, attack Huguang, capture Xiangyang and Wuchang, organize and train the navy, and then go down the river to capture Nanjing."
"The urgent solution lies in the canal. Food, grass and baggage come from north to south. It is convenient and fast, but it is easy to freeze in winter."
"If it freezes, you can break it!"
"The Manchu and Qing Dynasty's red-coated artillery can't defend the city no matter how strong it is."
The emperor said solemnly: "Either defeat them in the field, or cut off their food and grass. These are the only two ways."
Everyone sitting there was silent.
When the emperor heard this, he sighed and said: "Moreover, if the Yellow River seizes the Huaihe River and flows into the sea, no matter how bad it is, it is not a big deal even if it is hundreds of miles away and people are fighting horses."
"So, Your Majesty, the most important thing is along the canal, such as Suqian, Huai'an, Gaoyou and other places. As long as more nails are placed, it can be delayed a lot of time."
Feng Xianzong said.
But Zhao Shu stayed in the end.
Although the cabinet is a group-auxiliary system, the chief minister is the final word. Under the strong leadership of the chief minister, other ministers in the cabinet are just foils.
For example, during the periods of Zhang Juzheng, Yang Tinghe, Xu Jie, etc., other members of the cabinet were dim.
In terms of strength, no amount of tactics will help.
After a few hasty conversations, the meeting ended without any resolution.
However, it can be regarded as being mentally prepared in advance so as not to be caught off guard.
The emperor nodded and said softly: "But the Manchus also knew it, so they wanted a quick victory."
Zhao Shu thought for a while and couldn't help but said: "In this case, we can only try to enhance Nanjing's strength by replacing it."
The emperor probed his head and listened carefully.
"Your Majesty, the longer the current plan is delayed, the more beneficial it will be for Ming Dynasty."
Zhao Shuyan spoke concisely and comprehensively.
"Why didn't I know this?"
To put it bluntly, it means replacing new soldiers in Henan and Guizhou to form a defensive posture.
The replacement elite soldiers went to Nanjing.
"In this way, we can get more than 20,000 elites. If the enemy doesn't know it, he can be regarded as our secret hand."
The emperor smiled and added ""
"In addition to this, you can also encourage people to revolt in Shandong, Shanxi and other places, and you can also disrupt their steps and buy time."
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