After chatting about business, a certain prince did not waste any more time with Yang Wenyue. He just rewarded the governor with three bowls of beef ramen. After he finished eating, he could go out of the city to digest food - watch the artillery drill of the Hu Dawei Department.
Anyone who has not seen it with their own eyes will never believe that an iron barrel can be used as a blunderbuss. Yang Wenyue, as an industry insider, is even more skeptical. He dare not deny the prince's golden words, so he can only believe it with his own eyes. .
This beef ramen is also a rare item. Currently, it can only be enjoyed by generals above the general level. Guerrilla and General Qian rarely have the opportunity to eat it because it is mainly used to supply the injured patients in the city. This is the only Some special treatment.
In addition, the amount required by the palace is not low, especially after a certain prince relaxed the ramen quota. The daily consumption of the inner court is hundreds of bowls. If there are more orders, the imperial chefs said that they really can't handle it...
Yang Wenyue had not finished all the grains of rice before entering the palace to meet the saint, and had not used them for two meals in a row. When he saw the noodles given by Yu, he naturally wanted to enjoy them, but after three bowls, he felt restless.
According to the instructions of a certain prince, anyone who eats three bowls, regardless of official position, is not allowed to sit for an hour, let alone engage in strenuous exercise, to avoid stomach pain or even vomiting.
So the Governor of Baoding awkwardly resigned to Yaoji and went out for a walk in the name of checking on the mortars under Hu Dawei's command. Otherwise, if he stayed in the palace any longer, burping and farting, he would be in trouble.
"Cao Min Jiexuan Kowtow..."
Yang Jinchao brought in a commoner scholar from outside. As the prince's companion, he didn't know why the prince valued this poor scholar so much. Judging from his appearance, he didn't have any peculiar features.
In order to avoid making a fool of himself, before taking him into the hospital, Yang Banban specifically told the boy to know what he should and should not say after entering.
"Hurry up and get free without any ceremony. I will reveal that I love you and win a hundred thousand soldiers!"
Yaoji was very happy. If he hadn't gone to Beijing to take the exam, he wouldn't have been able to catch him. It was really gratifying.
As a famous military theorist, mathematician, philosopher and astronomer in the late Ming Dynasty, Jiexuan was a rare compound talent.
Especially since this guy is only twenty-six this year. According to the original version, he will live to be eighty-two years old before dying. He can work for himself for a long, long, long time...
Regarding Jie Xuan, a certain prince believed that he was smart and studious, had extensive knowledge, had both military attainments and scientific works, and that he served the imperial court and was determined to serve the country. He was a top-level hidden NPC at the moment.
In addition to the most famous work "Jie Zi Bing Jing", there are also "The Book of Changes", "Star Map", "Book of Fire", "Yu Di", "Shui Zhu", etc., which belong to the collection of lottery, Everyone who combines fortune telling with acupuncture~!
"Your Highness, you are so complimentary. How virtuous and capable is Cao Min..."
Jiexuan thought he was talented and learned. Not only his family, but also his friends around him thought he was young and promising. However, the prince's evaluation was obviously higher than others, and Jiexuan felt a little embarrassed to praise him.
"I heard that Aiqing likes to talk about military affairs, and she has a master's style in giving advice and planning, and she is very familiar with military strategies. With such a talented person, I naturally want to put her to good use, but I wonder if Aiqing is interested in this?"
Yaoji has always wanted to find a talented assistant for Zhou Yuji, who is responsible for commanding the East Palace Guards. The two of them can train together, so that they can get twice the result with half the effort and train a king's division with stronger combat effectiveness than the Yongwei Battalion. .
And if Jiexuan is truly talented and knowledgeable, the East Palace Guards is just the starting point of his military career. In the future, there will be a larger platform for him to shine, which is the General Staff Headquarters to be formed.
The Ministry of War can only be equivalent to the Ministry of National Defense, which is the department that issues combat orders. As for the Fifth Army Governor's Office, it was just a decoration in the late Ming Dynasty. It is imperative to replace this garbage organization with the General Staff Headquarters.
"His Highness treats Cao Min so kindly, and Cao Min has nothing to repay, so he has no choice but to go to pieces to repay His Highness!"
Although the prince has not elaborated on the specific errands he will do, but now that the prince oversees the country and is well aware of his own advantages and characteristics, he will probably find a position in the Ministry of War.
Jiexuan's results in the imperial examination were quite satisfactory. He was among the top 300. According to regulations, he was to go to Shaanxi. He had no intention of rejecting that place, but if he couldn't apply what he had learned, he probably wouldn't be interested. .
If he could go to the northwest, Jiexuan planned to look for opportunities to learn some skills from Zuo Maodi, the governor of Shaanxi, or follow the Qin army commander Sun Chuanting to suppress the enemy.
But both expectations are just wishful thinking. The Jinshi admitted in this palace examination will be assigned jobs by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. It is impossible to refuse, and it is also difficult to adjust their positions.
Jiexuan was fortunate enough to be appreciated by the prince, so he was naturally extremely grateful to be able to meet the prince alone. However, few people of his generation had this one-in-a-million chance.
"Commander Zhou Yuji is now in charge of organizing and training the East Palace Guards. We are recruiting troops. More than a thousand people are already undergoing training. Ai Qing can be a staff officer next to Commander Zhou. The salary will be according to the standard of a battalion commander, with a monthly salary of forty taels."
The monthly salary of a battalion commander is equivalent to that of a seventh-grade civilian official. In terms of income, the initial official position and salary given to Jiexuan by a certain prince were not high, but the authority of the staff officer was much higher than that of ordinary battalion-level officers.
They have a certain say in daily training, combat planning, coordinated command, etc. They can also participate in meetings of senior generals, and their status in the East Palace Guards is no lower than that of deputy brigade commander.
This guy is still a bachelor and doesn't have to support his family. It's enough to feed himself. One tael of silver a day is enough for him to do everything except meet his physical needs.
In the army, food and housing are taken care of. Battalion-level officers can not only eat meat for lunch and dinner, but also chicken, duck, fish, meat and other meat dishes.
Pens, ink, paper, inkstones, and military uniforms and bedding are all provided free of charge. The actual treatment is much better than that of civilian officials, let alone serving as a direct line ace like the East Palace Guards.
The Brave Guard Battalion is the trump card, but it is the direct descendant of the scapegoat father. Because it was not established by a certain prince, the East Palace Guards must be used as a experimental field to train.
In the initial stage, whether it is wages, food, grass, ordnance and ammunition, everything is in sufficient supply. Only high standards can be strictly required. In order to eat meat every day, the animals will go all out.
"'Staff' is the abbreviation for participating in planning, and it is also a battalion-level official position. It is responsible for studying strategies and tactics, integrating relevant information, planning campaign ideas, and providing feasible suggestions to General Zhou, etc. You can participate in high-level meetings in the guard. You only need to Under Zhou Zongbing, he is responsible for one person and is at the same level as the brigade commanders and deputy generals. Each of them performs his own duties in peacetime. In wartime, he is under the unified command of Zhou Zongbing."
In ancient times, a military advisor was equivalent to a chief of staff. It is still unclear whether Jiexuan is qualified for the position of military advisor. Let him start as a staff officer first. If he has real ability, it will not be difficult to be promoted to chief of staff. I am afraid he will be like Zhao Kuo. on paper.
Zhao Kuo was also somewhat capable back then, but when he met Wang Jian, a famous general who had won many battles, he was completely defeated. If it had been someone else, the Qin army might not have been able to defeat Zhao Kuo.
"Your Highness, please be at ease. Cao Min will do his best to assist General Zhou!"
As soon as the prince explained this, Jiexuan understood this new position well. It coincided with the position he had hoped for before. If his colleagues did not deliberately hinder this young man, he would be like a fish in water.
In the past, when discussing military affairs with relatives and friends, even if Jiexuan's explanations were sound and logical, and there were corresponding articles to prove it, they were regarded as just talking on paper.
Jiexuan was naturally unconvinced by such an evaluation. If he could have a unit that he could train, within three years, it would definitely be trained into an elite unit that was brave and good at fighting.
"I wonder what Ai Qing thinks of the situation in western Liaoning today? Can you briefly explain it and give me a lesson or two? But it doesn't matter. If there is anything wrong, I won't blame you at all!"
Since this guy has been promised a good official position, we must take advantage of the opportunity to test his talents.
"Cao Min thinks that things in western Liaoning are becoming more and more difficult. The Eastern captives are aggressive, and the defenders are already outnumbered. Outside Shanhaiguan, we can only rely on Jinzhou and Ningyuan to hold on. This is definitely not a long-term solution. If the Eastern captives raise 100,000 troops to besiege the two cities, If our army goes out of the pass to rush for reinforcements, it will be attacked by the enemy halfway. Even if the army reaches the city and starts a decisive battle against the Eastern captives, there is not much chance of victory. Cao Min believes that if we use local generals and soldiers from western Liaoning to hold on, They must not want to make progress and live in an ignoble existence, with absolutely no intention of risking their lives to fight with the Eastern captives. With this arrangement, Liaodong will be recovered in an unknown year. For the current plan, we have to organize and train a new army and at the same time reorganize border affairs. If possible, we must Replace several generals in western Liaoning, use guest troops to fight in the field, and native troops to defend the city. This is the right strategy. Then mobilize naval warships, load a large number of soldiers, and disembark on the Jinzhou Peninsula to harass the Eastern captives here, leaving them beyond the reach of the enemy. If the enemy If the enemy's army is small, then our army will attack. If the enemy's army is large, then our army will retreat. In addition to winter, the coastal areas will continue to be invaded in spring, summer and autumn, making them miserable. This is a strange strategy. The art of war can only be done when the enemy is upright and unexpected. Cao Min thinks this is the enemy. Although this strategy cannot recover all parts of Liaodong in a short time, it can contain a large number of Eastern captives and prevent them from entering the pass to plunder."
Jiexuan was very pragmatic, and with Governor Yuan's lessons learned from the past, he couldn't bear to fool the young prince, so he eloquently stated that he was sure to take down Huang Taiji within ten years.
Judging from the current situation in western Liaoning, it would be good if they can hold it. If the opponent really intends to capture the cities of Ningyuan and Jinzhou, the Ming army will have no choice at all, because they will encounter a field battle if they go out.
Since his own side did not have any advantages in terms of military strength, morale, equipment, etc., Jie Xuan rationally believed that the Ming army had basically lost the ability to defeat the Qing army through field battles.
This is not pessimistic, it is also true. He assumed that Huang Taiji sent 100,000 troops to besiege Ningyuan or Jinzhou. If the Ming army wanted to go out for support, they would have to make a desperate move.
If there are too few reinforcements, not only will it be difficult to break the siege, but they will also be eaten up by the Qing army. If there are too many reinforcements, they will have to be dispatched. Even so, there is no guarantee of defeating the Qing army.
The Battle of Saarhu, the Battle of Liaoyang, and the Battle of Guangning were all very similar. Based on the strength comparison between the two sides, Jiexuan believed that if he wanted to deal with 100,000 Qing troops, he would have to use 250,000 Ming troops.
If it is less than this number, the Ming army will suffer a disastrous defeat, and even Shanhaiguan will not be protected. If you want to reach this number, you must vigorously train the new army to achieve it.
Ningyuan and Jinzhou have become isolated cities outside the pass. Jiexuan read the map many times and repeatedly weighed the pros and cons, and finally believed that these two cities were no longer safe.
If the imperial court tried to defend the two cities, it would lose 100,000 troops, repeating the outcome of the Battle of Guangning.
But if it is not guaranteed, Huang Taiji will definitely take Yu Yong and lead his troops directly towards Shanhaiguan.
If Shanhaiguan is lost, the capital will be in danger, so Shanhaiguan must not be lost.
If Baoshan Customs, Ningjin City is the bait to prevent Huangtaiji from entering the customs.
How to choose between them depends on the decision-making of the prince and the court.
With the current situation, it is extremely difficult for the Ming army to barely maintain the status quo.
Recovering Liaodong was an elusive thing, so Jiexuan just offered a containment plan to a certain prince.
While consolidating Shanhaiguan, the navy was mobilized to raid the peninsula area. Although it was not painful or itchy and could not harm the Donglu, it could still upset them.
If Huang Taiji sits idly by, he can increase the number of troops deployed and carry out large-scale attacks around the peninsula, which can start a prairie fire.
On the contrary, it just contained some of the Donglu troops, ranging from ten to twenty thousand to thirty to fifty thousand, weakening their ability to go south to enter the pass and plunder.
Since the time was not ripe, Jiexuan would never suggest that a certain prince launch a large-scale counterattack at this time.
Even if they succeed on the peninsula, it is just a feint attack. The most ideal result is to cut off the connection between Donglu and Kimchi Country.
If you want to take this opportunity to regain Liaodong, you still have to go back to the most critical factor, which is military strength.
The strength of the Ming army was the same as that of the Donglu. Without a significant numerical advantage, no matter where they launched an attack, the final result would be a disastrous defeat.
If we want to achieve a decisive victory and fundamentally reverse the current unfavorable situation, the only way is to desperately expand our troops, that's all.
It seems simple, but it involves the revenue issue that the court is more concerned about. Without the salary to support the expenditure of 250,000 or even 300,000 troops, all ideas of counterattack and even regaining Liaodong will be nothing more than a mirage.
Jie Xuan made some calculations. Based on the minimum per capita of forty taels per year, mobilizing an army of 250,000 would require ten million taels of silver. This expenditure far exceeded the current capacity of the court.
When the annual income of the imperial court is less than 15 million taels, it is an unacceptable condition for the emperor and the prince, so don't mention the counterattack lightly.
Without money, no plan can be realized. Although the containment strategy may seem a bit useless, it does not cost much at least. It is an economical strategy, which is most suitable for the current cash-strapped court.
If it is possible to send out a large army and defeat the Donglu in one fell swoop, it is possible to at least regain the lost land near Jinzhou, and this is only the first step to regain Liaodong.
Jiexuan could not sleep all night at the thought of regaining his homeland, but all his strategies were ultimately defeated by Yin Ding...
