In Li Guoyu's yamen of the Ministry of Rites, several cups of tea are exuding the delicate and ever-changing aroma. Li Guo, a great scholar and minister of the Ministry of Etiquette, was sitting at the head in a python robe and black gauze robes, and on both sides sat two other high-ranking officials in black gauze and python robes. One is Sun Chengzong, the censor of Zuodu, and the other is Xu Guangqi, who has just returned from Wenhua Palace. Xu Guangqi's good student Sun Yuanhua was also in the class, pulling up a chair and sitting next to the teacher.
The letter written in Latin that Zhu Youjian gave to Sun Yuanhua just now was now held in Sun Chengzong's hand. He looked left and right, but he just didn't recognize it... Then Mr. Sun, the emperor's scholar who was a scholar, actually had it. It's so embarrassing when you can't read.
Mr. Sun Da shook his head, collected the letter, put it in an envelope, and handed it back to Sun Yuanhua. Then he slowly said: "Xian Zi, are the Portuguese soldiers in Macau really reliable? They recruited four to five hundred at a time... ..Does it fit?"
Xu Guangqi was in favor of inviting foreign generals and soldiers. Hearing this, he smiled and said: "Brother Zhisheng, don't worry. The motherland of the Portuguese in Macau was annexed by neighboring Franconia decades ago, so the Portuguese in Macau They are already rootless and cannot become a serious problem. Moreover, the number of four to five hundred includes black slave soldiers. The real Portuguese soldiers are only forty or fifty, and most of them are gunners and artillerymen without cavalry. Isn’t the vast Northland at our disposal?”
Sun Yuanhua on the side also said: "The number of Portuguese people in Macau is limited, and most of them are merchants, but they can only serve as soldiers and generals. If half are divided and come north, there will be fewer Portuguese warriors left in Macau, which will be detrimental to Guangdong." On the contrary, it is beneficial.”
Sun Chengzong twirled his beard and thought for a while: "Since these Portuguese soldiers are not enough, why bother recruiting Beijing?"
Xu Guangqi said: "The Westerners' methods of using firearms are very sophisticated and are better than ours. Your Majesty invited Portuguese warriors to come north, probably because he wants to teach the troops in front of the tent how to use firearms."
Sun Yuanhua added: "The Holy One also wants to invite craftsmen from the Macau Cannon Factory to go north. He probably wants to cast the Hongyi cannon in Beijing."
Sun Chengzong turned to look at Li Guoyu, "Brother Yuanzhi, what do you think?"
Li Guo said with a smile: "The power of the Hongyi cannon has been fully demonstrated in the two battles of Ningyuan. Brother Zhisheng wants to build forts and restore Liaodong, and the help of the Hongyi cannon is indispensable!"
Sun Chengzong nodded: "That's right... It's just that His Majesty's thoughts are all on the army in front of the tent. It seems that he will not support the construction of forts in western Liaoning."
As he spoke, he just sighed.
The current emperor is no longer his good student Zhu Youxiao!
"That's not necessarily true," Xu Guangqi shook his head, "Didn't His Majesty decree the use of Yuan Yuan Yuan?"
Sun Chengzong said: "But the Holy One did not say that Yuan Yuan should be the manager of Liaodong!"
Sun Yuanhua smiled and said: "All the armies in Liaodong are the old friends of Zong Xian and Yuan Yuan. If the Holy Emperor wants to shrink in Liaodong, he will have to use you and Yuan Yuan!"
The current generals in the Liao Town Army, Man Gui, were promoted by Sun Chengzong, Zhao Lijiao and He Kegang were promoted by Yuan Chonghuan. Although Zu Dashou and Zhu Mei were old generals in Liaodong, they had both received favors from Sun Chengzong and Yuan Chonghuan. Especially the long-legged general Zu Dashou who escaped all the way to Juehua Island during the Battle of Guangning. If Sun Chengzong and Yuan Chonghuan weren't covering him, it's hard to say whether he could have saved his head!
In addition, after the Battle of Guangning, the surviving soldiers and civilians of Liaodong were taken into Shanhaiguan by Xiong Tingbi. The families of the generals in Liao Town also entered Shanhaiguan. Without Sun Chengzong and Yuan Chonghuan's efforts to use Liao people to defend Liao territory, and the mobilization of 300,000 Liao people to go out to work in the fields, the roots of the Liao Town warlords would have been lost.
The "fortress advance" advocated by Sun Chengzong and Yuan Chonghuan brought huge benefits to these Liaozhen warlords.
Therefore, the Liao Town warlord was indeed close to the Donglin generals Sun Chengzong, Yuan Chonghuan, and Sun Yuanhua.
Sun Yuanhua added: "General Xian, Yuan Yuan Yuan has a way. As long as he can be allowed to serve as Liaodong again, whether as governor or manager, there will definitely be a way."
Sun Chengzong nodded lightly: "That's right... The most important thing now is to let Yuan Yuan Yuan go to Liaodong! As long as he goes, the soldiers of Liaodong will have a backbone! By then no one will dare to give up the land of western Liaoning!"
Both of these two people only said half of what they said - the Liao army is a warlord, and defending the territory is a matter of great righteousness. If combined with the Donglin Party, which controls public opinion... whether Ningjin will be withdrawn from defense is not up to Zhu Youjian, The king is in Jin.
...
"Your Majesty, it is about four hundred miles from Shanhaiguan to Dalinghe Fort in Jinzhou. It sounds very big at first glance, but in fact it is just a long strip near the sea. Because the nearby mountains in western Liaoning are not in hand, it is difficult to defend. Moreover. The land opened was very limited. According to reports from the Liao army, it was only 5,000 hectares, with an annual harvest of 150,000 shi... The Liao army had a troop strength of 110,000, and its annual food and salary expenses were in the millions. What's the use of 150,000 stone tubes? Moreover, the biggest problem in western Liaoning is not the cost, but the difficulty of supply! Although western Liaoning is on the seaside, there are few good harbors, and we have to guard against the attack of Donglu cavalry, so there are only Juehua Island and Shanhaiguan Laolongtou is the two transshipment ports. The grain transported to Juehua Island has to be transported to Ningyuan by boat, and then sent by land to Jinzhou and Dalinghebao. It is very difficult! Therefore, it is difficult to store a large amount in Jinzhou area. Once Jinzhou and Dalinghe Fort are besieged, they will be in danger of running out of food.
Therefore, once Jinzhou is trapped, soldiers must be sent to rescue... It takes three to four hundred miles to go east from Shanhaiguan, and there is only one long and narrow passage. Once the Donglu sneaks over the mountains, the backup route will also be Cut off! Even if the Donglu block the way for my reinforcements, they can still take a detour to the Bashang Grassland to attack Jizhou, Xuanfu, and Datong..."
The old man Yang Hao was talking eloquently in the Wenhua Hall. Although he was not very good at fighting, he still had a lot of military experience. In his opinion, Sun Chengzong's layout in western Liaoning was completely self-inflicted!
The 110,000 troops (the real number is almost 60,000) set up a long snake formation of 400 miles. It was difficult to supply, and they were unable to continue to advance. What's worse is that the front lines of Jinzhou and Dalinghebao will be surrounded by Donglu soldiers at any time!
Due to the limited terrain, it is difficult to supply Jinzhou and Dalinghe Fort, so there will not be a lot of grain reserves and they will not be able to withstand a long-term siege.
And if they want to rescue Jinzhou and Dalinghebao... given the strength of the Liao army, they will definitely lose their lives. At that time, troops will have to be mobilized from Jizhou, Xuanfu, Datong, and even Shaanxi within the pass.
Jizhou, Xuanfu, and Datong have sent many elites to Liaodong to support them in recent years, which is a bit empty in itself. If we continue to send large troops to the east to aid, I am afraid that we will be unable to defend our own defense line... And once the Donglu detours around the dam and breaks through the three towns of Xuan, Da and Ji, Gyeonggi will become a battlefield.
Then the Ming Dynasty will be really sad!
Therefore, the defense in western Liaoning must be adjusted, and the defenses in Xuanfu, Jizhou, and Datong must be strengthened as soon as possible!
"Mr. Hong, what do you think?" Zhu Youjian waited for Yang Zhen to finish and suddenly called Hong Chengchou's name, "If Jinzhou is trapped, how will you rescue it?"
"This..." Hong Chengchou looked at a defense map of western Liaoning. The more he looked at it, the more headache he got - this won't work! Unless the Ming army is stronger than the Donglu in the field, they will not be able to defend it!
But the Ming army was stronger than the Eastern captives, so why did they still defend Liaoxi? Wouldn't it be better to go directly to Liaoyang and Shenyang?
"Your Majesty," Hong Chengchou shook his head repeatedly, "I have no choice. Jinzhou and Dalinghe Fort cannot be defended... The defense line in western Liaoning can only reach Ningyuan at most."
Zhu Youjian nodded and looked at Yang Hao: "Mr. Yang, can you withdraw the troops from Jinzhou?"
Yang Hao shook his head and said: "With three to four million yuan in food and salary a year...how can we withdraw at any time? If it doesn't happen, it will be a mutiny and military chaos!"
Zhu Youjian looked at Chen Qiyu and Lu Xiangsheng again.
Chen Qiyu said: "Let's wait until Sun Chuanting comes back with his troops. If there are 10,000 cavalry, maybe we can move to western Liaoning!"
Lu Xiangsheng also said: "Your Majesty, if you want to move western Liaoning, you must have southern Liaoning to cooperate... If you can't contain the Donglu, western Liaoning will not be able to move."
Zhu Youjian nodded lightly and said: "I plan to restore Yuan Chonghuan's position as governor of Liaodong and let Yuan Chonghuan and I go to western Liaoning together. What do you think?"
