royal palace
"Your Majesty, if you want to leave the customs, you should march from Xuanda. The Chahar tribe has been jointly suppressed by the Horqin tribe and Lao Nu in recent years. The living space is getting smaller and smaller. Their tribe will only be close to our Ming Dynasty. After all, now We are still allies."
Zhu Youxiao stared at the map closely. He was discussing with Zhang Yu the marching route out of the customs. Although he had traveled through time, he was still unfamiliar with fighting, not to mention that he planned to fight in person this time.
"From our point of view, it is naturally most appropriate to march from Xuanda, but my idea this time is not to have a head-on confrontation with them. I want to imitate Huo Qubing's fighting method."
"From Lin Dan Khan's point of view, he will be more guarded against the Ming Dynasty. At the moment, he can still maintain the so-called alliance with us because of the situation. It is not the best route to use Xuan Da Ming to escape."
"I must try my best to avoid their main cavalry force. My Yulin Army only has a few thousand cavalry now, and Lin Dan Khan has tens of thousands of cavalry, so I can only use tricks and cannot be defeated. Once defeated, the Ming Dynasty will be even more doomed!" "
Zhang Yu glanced at the emperor in front of him with admiration. This refreshed his understanding. Since the Tang Dynasty, which dynasty did not require at least 100,000 troops to dare to leave the country? Even Emperor Chengzu was accompanied by hundreds of thousands of troops during his five expeditions to Mobei.
"Could it be that Your Majesty wants to use the Yulin Army cavalry battalion to leave the border? I think it is absolutely impossible. After all, the Yulin Army is your Majesty's newly trained army. It has not experienced battle formations, and the number is too small. I'm afraid~~!"
Zhu Youxiao turned around and smiled:
"What are you afraid of? I think that using five thousand cavalry as the main force is enough. The Mongols are not invincible, and I only use cavalry as the main force. Several other battalions are also going. I am not so arrogant."
"And the purpose of this battle is not to complete the so-called victory in one battle. I am going for the war horses and Mongolian men."
Zhang Yu listened with only a half-understanding. Didn't His Majesty personally conduct the expedition to defeat Lin Dan Khan?
"I'm brave, Your Majesty, can you clarify my doubts?"
"I very much agree with your strategy of dividing and attacking, but if you want to draw the Tumote tribe closer to the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty must show its true strength. It doesn't need to be more, just let them know that although the Ming Dynasty suffered a disastrous defeat in Sarhu, But it is more than enough to defeat them on the grassland. As long as Lin Danhan loses this battle, his prestige among the various ministries will drop rapidly."
"And I, the Ming Dynasty, can re-establish the national prestige of the Wanli period. I have a saying in my heart, and I have never said it before: A weak country has no diplomacy!"
A weak country has no diplomacy. Zhang Yu thought this sentence silently in his heart. After a moment of leaning, he suddenly realized.
"Your Majesty's words are truly a famous saying of the ages. The Song Dynasty successively professed its vassal status to the Khitan, Jurchen, and Mongolia in response to your Majesty's words!"
"May I ask where your Majesty wants to leave the quarantine?"
Zhu Youxiao smiled slightly and said three words slowly:
"Wait for the information!"
…
Suburbs of Beijing
An army was marching neatly on the official road. The old man on the carriage opened the curtain and looked outside, and asked doubtfully:
"Where are you soldiers? Where are you going?"
One sergeant replied:
"We are from Tongzhou, and we are going to the capital on the orders of His Majesty the Emperor."
Tongzhou?
"Is Xu Guangqi here?"
"Master Yushi is in front."
The old man hurriedly ordered the coachman to catch up. When he saw the carriage in front of him, he shouted:
"Zixian!"
"Prince? Stop it quickly."
When Xu Guangqi saw it was Wang Xiangqian, he quickly got out of the car and greeted him.
"Can you ride in the same car with me? I am also coming to Beijing according to your Majesty's order."
"good!"
"I came to the capital on His Majesty's orders, and I specifically asked you to bring the new soldiers from Tongzhou with you. I wonder what your Majesty's intentions are when the prince comes to the capital?"
"From my point of view, it should be for Liao affairs. I heard that your Majesty has newly trained a Linjun. It seems that His Majesty attaches great importance to military affairs."
Xu Guangqi also understood that the reason why His Majesty asked him to bring Tongzhou soldiers to Beijing was for training.
"I also heard in Tongzhou that His Majesty punished a large number of officials twice in succession in the court. Now the people are talking a lot, and Wei Zhongxian has come out to control the government."
Wang Xiangqian naturally knew these things, but he only knew it and did not want to ask. For him, whether there was a powerful eunuch or a political party in the court, he had already seen a lot. But as a Jinshi in the fourth year of Longqing's reign, what storms and waves have you not seen?
It can be said that Wang Xiangqian personally experienced the richest era of the Ming Dynasty, and watched the Ming Dynasty fall into the abyss. A powerful minister? No matter how powerful you are, you can still be more powerful than Grand Master Zhang?
"This matter is not for me, an idle old man, to investigate. Mr. Zi, I would like to advise you not to get involved in these things, otherwise you will be in catastrophe!"
"I will definitely take your prince's advice to heart!"
Then the two of them started chatting on the carriage. They were in perfect harmony and did not mention anything about the court affairs. They chatted about daily life for an hour.
"Two adults, the capital has arrived!"
Xu Guangqi got out of the car and told his entourage a few things, asking him to wait here and not to let the sergeants conflict. After saying that, he and Wang Xiangqian headed towards the palace.
"Your Majesty, Xu Guangqi and Wang Xiang have done it!"
"Li Yongzhen, change my clothes, Wang Chaofu, go and bring them in!"
Zhu Youxiao was wearing the Ming Dynasty version of casual clothes. Although he was the emperor, he couldn't be casual just because he was the emperor, especially in front of his ministers.
"You two dear ladies will be given a seat without any courtesy!"
"What, the two beauties came to Beijing together?"
Xu Guangqi stood up and bowed:
"Your Majesty, I met the prince by chance outside the city!"
Zhu Youxiao quickly waved for him to sit down.
"I can't believe how the two beauties were destined to be together. It seems that my decision was absolutely right."
Xu Guangqi and Wang Xiangqian listened in confusion. What decision?
"I have decided to appoint Wang Aiqing as the Prime Minister of the Cabinet and Xu Aiqing as the Assistant Minister of the Cabinet. What do the two Aiqings think?"
"Your Majesty, I am old and frail, and I am afraid that I will fail your Majesty."
Wang Xiangqian is indeed very old. He was a Jinshi scholar in the fourth year of Longqing's reign and is now seventy-five years old. If Zhu Youxiao remembers correctly, historically he seems to have died in the early years of Chongzhen, which is indeed not a few years ago.
"Your Majesty, I was just a royal censor before. I am afraid that I will not be able to take on this responsibility and let down the emperor's favor."
Xu Guangqi is confused now. This is a direct entry into the cabinet from the imperial censor. There is no precedent for this before the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Youxiao knew that Xu Guangqi was worried that he would not be able to convince the public if he joined the cabinet, but rules were meant to be broken.
"Xu Aiqing, there is no need to refuse. I believe in your talent and my grandfather's vision."
Xu Guangqi also knew that the emperor was determined to have him join the cabinet, and it was hard to push him away.
"Master Wang, I know your situation, but now Master Wang must be in charge of the cabinet. The Liao Dynasty is in danger, but now those officials are only fighting for power and profit. How can I rest assured that they will join the cabinet? Master Wang, don't worry, when the situation calms down, I will let him Master Wang has returned to his hometown to take care of himself, so please don’t refuse, Master Wang.”
What else can Wang Xiangqian do? His Majesty has already told him this. If he continues to argue with His Majesty, wouldn't it be a disgrace to His Majesty?
"Old minister, I obey the order!"
"Wang Banban, the edict is issued to all officials, and the court will be held in three days!"
