"Su Aiqing, can your illness be cured?"
Above the court, Zhu Gaotian sat on the dragon chair, and beside him was Zhang Yingzhen, who listened to the government together.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, thanks to Your Majesty's visit to the humble residence yesterday, the illness in Wei Chen's home was dispersed, and Wei Chen recovered quickly!"
Su Wu bowed and Zhu Gaoyen laughed.
"Haha, okay, it will be good as soon as you recover. Our Ming Dynasty cannot be without a pillar like Mr. Su!"
"Thank you for your mercy, Your Majesty. I will naturally devote my whole life to the Ming Dynasty and die!"
The two of them sang and harmonized, and even Zhang Yingzhen couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"Your Majesty, just today, an urgent letter has been sent from the border. I would like to ask Your Majesty to read it!"
After Zhu Gaoyen and Su Wu exchanged greetings, a minister of the Ministry of War stepped forward and took out a letter from his sleeve.
"Urgent letter from the border area, hurry, bring it to me!"
Urgent letters from the frontier have always recorded various important events, and those that can reach the court are naturally the top priority.
Zhu Gaoying got the letter and opened the envelope. There were only a few words in it.
"In response to the internal response, the remnants of Waci are unwilling to accept it. They are uniting with Yuejie Farewell to the west and north, Chagatai in the east, and many Yumuler troops. They plan to concentrate their forces and march to the northwest of our Ming Dynasty territory, near the Liangzhou Guard!"
After reading it, Zhu Gaoyan's expression changed drastically!
"Your Majesty, what is recorded in this letter? How could it make you so shocked?"
The people in the hall were puzzled. Zhu Gaoying glanced at Yang Shiqi and Su Wu. The two of them said that they did not include this in their plan.
Northwest, northwest, Liangzhou Guard!
"Read it to them!"
Zhu Gaotian handed the letter to Zhang Yingzhen beside him, who was shocked after reading it.
"This is real?"
"I think the person who sent the letter probably doesn't have the guts to falsely convey military information!"
"What this letter says is that there are many powerful tribes in the west who plan to unite and enter the northwest of our Ming Dynasty territory, and the place where they plan to attack is the Liangzhou Guard!"
Zhu Gaoying remembered the territory of the Ming Dynasty. There was a relatively narrow area extending outward in the northwest region, and the place where Liangzhou Guard was located was the transportation artery connecting the western region and the Central Plains!
Once Liangzhou falls, Ming Dynasty will lose its right to speak in the northwest.
How could it happen so fast? There are no such things in history. Is it because of the butterfly effect of traveling through time?
This couldn't help but remind Zhu Gaoyan of what Yan Hao said, the Ming Dynasty was about to die soon, and there were many powerful forces looking at it.
But aren't they in western Sichuan? Why attack the northwest? Is it difficult to imagine that their base is in the northwest?
"Those foreign races really want to invade my Ming Dynasty territory?"
These nomadic peoples have always been brave and foolhardy, and they just do what they say. After receiving the news today, I believe that it will not be long before they gather a large army, and battle reports will be reported from the border within half a month.
"Haha, there is no peace every winter!"
"Your Majesty, what should we do? Do we need to gather our troops and transfer them to Liangzhou Guards?"
If it had been the past, Zhu Gaoxi would have quickly gathered his troops with a wave of his hand, quickly headed to the Western Regions with food and supplies, and killed all the invaders.
But now the treasury is empty, and the entire Ming Dynasty has reached its limit of external strength and internal strength, and can no longer use troops on a large scale!
Wait, this Liangzhou Guard seems to be the fiefdom of Prince Canglan?
"It is almost winter now, and it is about to enter severe cold weather. It is not suitable to mobilize troops on a large scale!"
Yang Shiqi spoke out. He believed that this battle should not be fought.
"But, are we going to watch them invade Liangzhou?"
"Do you know that the loss of Liangzhou Guard is equivalent to handing over a large area of land in the Western Regions to the Ming Dynasty and giving away control of the Western Regions!"
Many ministers of the Ministry of War objected. They believed that Liangzhou Guard was a strategic location and must be defended.
"Whose jurisdiction does Liangzhou Guard belong to? Is there any vassal king who has a fiefdom here?"
"Reporting to your Majesty, there is a Liangzhou Guard in Liangzhou, and the Liangzhou Guard belongs to the fiefdom of Canglan County Prince!"
Su Wu responded immediately.
"Okay, I now appoint Cang Lan as the King of Liangzhou!"
King of Liangzhou?
The meaning couldn’t be more obvious!
Although the ministers had already guessed, they did not expect that His Majesty would be so decisive and issue the order directly without discussing it with the ministers.
"From now on, the King of Liangzhou can command all the troops in Liangzhou, and everything in the territory is under his jurisdiction!"
This is really going to enfeoff the vassals. Although the territory of Liangzhou is only as big as a county, it is still a vassal state!
"The responsibility of the King of Liangzhou is to make the people in his territory live and work in peace and contentment, and to guard the land under his jurisdiction. Moreover, the King of Liangzhou has the power to expand the territory. All the land conquered by his troops will be included in the territory of the Ming Dynasty and returned to Liangzhou. The king governs!”
From then on, the first vassal king of the Ming Dynasty was born!
Although he was ordered in a critical situation, once the first one appears, countless others will surely appear after him!
"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"
Su Wu suddenly knelt on the ground and shouted long live.
"It's just that, Your Majesty, now that the King of Liangzhou is hastily forming an army, it may be difficult to resist the foreign army. I'm afraid..."
"Come here, bring me the territory map of the Ming Dynasty. I want to re-distribute the land!"
"Here, here, here, can be used as new fiefdoms for princes and kings!"
Zhu Gaoyang circled dots on the map and drew many pieces of land along the Daming River. These places were concentrated in the northwest and southwest, and a few were in the north.
"Take back all the fiefdoms of the current vassal kings, and this time to resist foreigners, in the battle of Liangzhou, I will reward them based on their merits, and let these vassal kings who participated in the war freely choose their land and become vassals!"
"If there are people who don't want to go, I can't understand it. It's just that they can only stay at the original ceiling, but it is much reduced, and they can't get any rights of the princes and kings!"
"In addition, send more military supplies to Liangzhou and ask them to strictly guard Liangzhou. When the ice and snow melt next spring, I will personally lead the army to drive out those barbarians!"
The materials consumed and the difficulty of getting together in winter will increase exponentially, which is not cost-effective for the current serious illness. As long as they can hold on to their winter offensive, they can lead multiple princes to counterattack in the next spring.
Zhu Gaoyan's own army can rest and recuperate within this year!
However, I don’t know how this foreign coalition offensive will go.
If they are determined to take Liangzhou, then Zhu Gaoyan must send out the army.
Because there is no room for failure in Liangzhou!
Otherwise, the entire Ming Dynasty would lose not only Liangzhou, but the entire Western Regions! (End of chapter)
