The court meetings of the Hongxing Dynasty were different from those of previous dynasties. In addition to the ceremonial large court meetings, they were all small meetings. The small meetings were divided into four types: the court meeting of the two houses, the government meeting, the cabinet meeting, and the general meeting of the generalissimo. Among them, the two government meetings and the government affairs meeting were both regular meetings. If the emperor was in Yingtian, the two government meetings would be held at least twenty times a month, while the government affairs meeting would be held five times.
The Cabinet Meeting and the Generalissimo's Office Meeting are not regular meetings, but are held when encountering internal affairs or military problems - for example, when discussing major projects, disaster relief, or trade issues, the Generalissimo's Office does not need to participate (the army is in There is a Minister of War in the cabinet). When discussing military issues, a group of civil servants from the Cabinet Office do not need to attend the meeting. It is enough for the Minister of War to represent the cabinet... If there are too many people attending the meeting, not only will they talk a lot, but it will also be easy for information to leak.
Therefore, the military operations of the Hong Xing Dynasty were generally not discussed by the civil servants of the cabinet - they simply did not understand, so what other good ideas could they come up with?
Today, there is an additional "civilian official" in the court meeting of the Generalissimo's Mansion, namely Zheng Zhilong, Duke of Quan, the Minister of Household Affairs.
Although Zheng Zhilong knew military skills and had been a warlord, his appearance still surprised the generals of the Northern Army, including Wu Sanfu, Sun Fugui, Zhu Chunjie, Yan Yingyuan, Qi Yuanbi and the Minister of War Li Ruolian.
"All the gentlemen, please sit down!"
Seeing that all the ministers had finished bowing, Zhu Cixi waved his hand and asked them to take their seats. Nowadays, the ministers of the Ming Dynasty rarely kowtowed. Except for the great court gatherings, they only bowed and bowed. The reason for this is not that Zhu Cihong doesn't like people kowtow, but that Zhu Cihong likes to have a long conference table in the hall where various small court meetings are held. In this way, everyone can take notes while having a meeting, and ministers can also bring some documents to the meeting, making it look like a meeting. But once this long table is set up, it is inconvenient to kowtow, and it does not look solemn. It is a bit like drilling through the table. If everyone is asked to stand on the table and kowtow, it would be even more unsightly to climb up and down... They are all quite old ministers, and they are not children. What would it look like to climb up and down the table?
So Emperor Zhu simply asked everyone to stand at the table and bow down.
"I have already read the strategy submitted to the Generalissimo...the troops are divided into five groups, which is very good! It just looks a bit like the one in the 47th year of Wanli, which will not allow people to concentrate their troops. Defeat each one, right?"
Emperor Zhu also saw the problem - why does this plan look so like Saarhu? The 140,000 to 50,000 field troops were divided into five groups, and there seemed to be no way to respond!
Moreover, we are still fighting deep into the Donglu's firmly controlled area. With only ten or twenty thousand black gun and mule soldiers, there is probably no way to block the actions of the Five Route Army, right?
What will Donnie do when he comes up with the policy of "I'll only go one way"?
"Your Majesty," Wu Sanfu said, "the ten divisions are divided into five groups, each with two divisions. Counting various auxiliaries and temporarily attached troops, the number is close to 30,000... Donglu Even if 60,000 troops were concentrated, it would be impossible to win in a frontal battle. If the two divisions of new troops could seize favorable terrain in time and then launch positional defenses, they would be enough to withstand the successive onslaughts of 100,000 Donglu.
Therefore, there is nothing wrong with dividing the troops into five groups. "
"Then... how to coordinate the five armies, and who can serve as the coach?" Zhu Cixiang asked next.
Wu Sanfu said: "The current governor of Liaodong, Zhu Chunchen, has served in the army for a long time, has outstanding achievements, is mature and prudent, and can be the commander-in-chief of the five-way army."
What? Is Zhu Chunchen the coach? Zhu Cihong said in his heart: You are not joking, right? The battle plan was the same as that of the Battle of Sarhu, and Zhu Chunchen was appointed as the commander. Is this trying to summon the souls of the Qing Dynasty?
"Yan Yingyuan, what do you think?" Zhu Cixiang felt that Wu Sanfu's opinion was unreliable, so he turned to the Chief of Staff Yan Yingyuan for advice.
"Your Majesty, I think that Duke Cheng Guo can take on this important task." Yan Yingyuan said, "Since Jiashen moved the capital, Duke Cheng Guo has been serving as an official in the military, and has served as the general town or governor of Jingying, Fengyang, Henan, Shanxi and other places. He has served as an official in Liaodong since the ninth year of Hongxing. He is very familiar with the affairs of Liaodong and western Liaoning. If His Majesty wants to use troops this autumn, Cheng Guogong is the most suitable candidate to lead the army."
Zhu Cixiang frowned and was noncommittal.
After a while, he said again: "This time I am planning to go on a personal expedition, so I want to set up the Pingliao Palace!"
Personal expedition?
Do you want to set up Pingliao Palace?
What is this for?
The military bosses were all stunned.
Zheng Zhilong, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, smiled and said: "Thousands of miles of fertile wilderness outside the Pass, the products are extremely rich, no less rich than the American Gulf. And the coast of the Bohai Bay is the essence of the Pass. Once recovered by the imperial court, That’s another opportunity to make a fortune!”
Get rich?
Why is it all about getting rich?
Isn't this a military meeting? Just now we were talking about Pingliao Palace, why are we suddenly discussing making a fortune? So how do you make this money?
Zhu Cixiang smiled and said: "Pingliao is also a business! If it is done well, the court's taxes can be greatly increased, meritorious soldiers can be granted land, and the people of Liaodong, Youyan, and Shandong can live and work in peace and contentment, and everyone will be happy. If you don’t do it well... it will be difficult to control the vast territory for a long time, and it will be even harder to profit from it!"
You have to do business at a loss, but you must not do it at a loss in the fertile land outside the customs... If you can lose money, why go to the New World?
"I wonder how your Majesty plans to profit from the Battle of Pingliao?" Wu Sanfu asked.
Now, the military meeting has turned into an investment analysis meeting.
Zhu Cixiang thought deeply and said: "To develop Liaoning territory, the benefit of transportation should be given priority, and the benefit of transportation should be water transport. The first benefit of water transport is sea transport, and the second is river transport. At present, the navy of Liaodong and western Liaoning and the water transport of Liaohe River are not Connect them. Therefore, establishing a seaport at the mouth of the Liao River and establishing a hub for river and sea transportation should be the first priority in developing Liao Territory!"
The place he was talking about was Yingkou in the future. In later generations, I don’t know whether it was a third-tier or fourth-tier city...but now there are no giant ships of hundreds of thousands of tons, and there are no trains or railways. Therefore, the value of the Liaohe River and its tributaries in cargo transportation is extremely great! Because of Liao's products, apart from ginseng, deer antlers, furs, and Dongzhu, which are very expensive but have little impact on the overall economy, there are three products: grain, timber, and livestock.
The transportation costs of these three items are very high, and it will be a loss if transported by land to the customs!
If grain, timber, and livestock cannot be transported to the pass, it will be difficult for the economy of the Liaohe River Basin to achieve any major development. If the economy cannot develop, the Liaohe River Basin cannot afford a large-scale garrison. The cost of operating the Liao region in the Ming Dynasty will be It can become very expensive and unaffordable.
In addition, the inability to fully communicate and integrate the economy of Liaoning Province with the mainland will have another result, that is, Liaoning Province will become a relatively independent region economically.
This means that it is difficult for the central government to control Liaodi through economic and financial means...
Zhu Cixiang said: "The grain, livestock, and timber produced in Liao will be supplied to Hebei and Shandong in Guan in large quantities. The best route for transporting materials from Liao to Guan is from the mouth of the Liao River to Tianjin. Therefore, Tianjin will be the second largest city after Ping Liao. The city that benefits the most!
My Pingliao Palace is located in Tianjin! "
Judging from the map, the route between Dengzhou and Lushun seems to be the main route for external transportation of materials in Liaoning.
But the actual situation is not like this... There is no inland water transportation system behind Lushun and Dengzhou. Therefore, the radiation capacity is limited and is far less advantageous than the Liaohe River Estuary and Tianjin.
Zhu Cixiang added: "In the future, Tianjin will be upgraded to a prefecture, which will be the heart of the Northern Territory, and the mouth of the Liao River... I will name it Tianhe Prefecture, which will be the fundamental place of the Liao Territory!"
When Emperor Zhu said this, he paused and glanced at both sides of the conference table. Except for Zheng Zhilong, everyone else was immersed in recording - this is another opportunity to make a fortune! Hurry up and invest in a property in Tianjin... Be sure to only rent it, not sell it, and it can be passed on to your children and grandchildren in the future!
()
