Considering that it was already late autumn and the weather was getting colder, it was necessary to replenish everyone's health when hosting a banquet for foodies. A certain prince changed the stir-fry dishes to hot pot, which was prosperous, enjoyable and enjoyable to eat.
Due to this victory over Braid, the main course of the hot pot has been upgraded from mutton to beef, and everyone can enjoy the authentic beef hot pot, especially the Shabu-shabu tripe, which is one of the favorites of a certain prince.
The side dishes are the standard Wei Wei (vermicelli), one mushroom (Enoki mushroom), one ear (fungus), three vegetables (lettuce, spinach, Chinese cabbage), plus tripe and beef, which is exactly eight dishes.
While waiting for the food to arrive, the little fat man next to a certain prince stared with his eyes wide open. He only had to look at the hot pot once and he already knew it well. All he had to wait for was the Queen Mother's decree.
"My dear friends, I am very pleased that the king's army has achieved a great victory today, repelling the Eastern invaders and exalting the prestige of our Ming Dynasty. Such a great victory is inseparable from all my dear friends. I have specially arranged this banquet for this occasion. A treat!”
The beautiful biological mother made some remarks at the beginning, and then there was no need to go into details. The specific arrangements for the preparations for the next war were the eldest son's business. All she had to do was to appease the queen and prevent any trouble.
"Thank you, Queen! I will not give up even if I die!"
The battle was won by the East Palace Guards stationed at the top of the city, but everyone here can also share some credit. At least the Ministry of Finance had to allocate reward money, the Ministry of Personnel had to organize strong men, the Ministry of War had to prepare ordnance, and the Ministry of Medicine had to save lives and heal the wounded.
Even though the Ministry of Rites seemed to have nothing to do with the war, Feng Quan, the Minister of Rites, took the lead in charging into the enemy camp, and even licked his face to get back 22,000 taels of silver, which made people sit up and take notice.
To say that the one who deserves the greatest credit is the chief assistant Xue Guoguan. If the Donglu were repelled, the credit of the chief assistant cannot be ignored. However, most people can't really say what specific contribution Xue Guoguan has.
At present, the chief assistant and quasi-guozhan has turned his credit into appetite, and is simmering beef in the hot pot extremely hard. It is only natural that the future father-in-law eats the food of the future son-in-law...
These old men in their 40s and 50s do not eat much less than young men. A certain prince has long known the appetites of these foodies, and the better the taste of the royal meal, the larger the appetites of these foodies, which is a floating value that can be increased!
Fortunately, there were not many ministers in the Military Aircraft Department. If all the generals above the generals guarding the old city were summoned, these reckless men could eat a cow by making hot pot.
"Today's evening is neither cold nor hot. It's just right to enjoy hot pot. It complements the defeat that Donglu just had!"
A certain prince who was in a good mood expressed some emotion after eating a piece of tripe.
"The Queen has already prayed for her blessings, and Her Highness has been strategizing. In addition, General Zhou has commanded the army well and the three armies have used their lives. It is reasonable to defeat the Donglu!"
Xue Guoguan is always ready to flatter his prospective son-in-law. He may not be able to go to the enemy camp, but he must not give up his job, otherwise he will be overtaken by Feng Quan.
Although flattering is despised, it also requires experience and skills, especially at a banquet with the Queen in attendance. Even if you eat bloody meat, you cannot say words with the word "blood" or "corpse" in it.
For example, try to avoid words that are easy to associate with people, such as "bloody head" or "dead bodies everywhere", and instead say more positive and kind words.
It also depends on who is serving the dish. Now that the queen is here, she must not just flatter the prince. She must first flatter the queen, and then the prince.
Zhou Yuji, as the commander-in-chief of the East Palace Guards and the crown prince's favorite general, naturally made great contributions in repelling the East captives, which must be mentioned.
In one sentence, we must take care of everything that can be taken care of. Only in this way can it be considered comprehensive. At least on a large scale, no one can find faults.
"With the Empress praying for blessings, the magic spell cast by Your Highness will definitely appear. Although the Donglu troops are approaching the city, the end has come, and they are just struggling now. When they are defeated, they will be in decline. Your Highness will work hard to rectify the king's division. With time, they will be able to Recover our homeland in Liaodong and revive our Ming Dynasty!"
Feng Quan saw that Xue Guoguan had already spoken. As the second most powerful person in the dynasty (in the absence of Wu Di, the second assistant), of course he had to offer some kind words.
The East Palace Guards are certainly powerful, but the Immortal Magic is the sharpest weapon. It is the smallpox virus that scares everyone in the world, and it is by no means comparable to other mortal weapons.
Donglu doesn't know how to prevent smallpox, how can he be cured if he gets smallpox?
This is called death without a burial place!
If we could figure out a way to release the smallpox virus into the Donglu territory, I'm afraid that the Donglu would be dead without the need for the king's army to make a northern expedition!
"Although the immortal method is not as effective as artillery, one thing is that once it is attacked, it is difficult to cure it. Donglu can only resign himself to his fate. There are many immortal methods here in this palace, but this time only this one is enough to make Donglu The captives have suffered a lot. If the army in the capital persists for more than a month, the dawn of victory will be seen. The final victory of this war will definitely belong to the Ming Dynasty. From now on, the Eastern captives will be the Eastern slaves, and there will be no day for them to stand up again. The division must not only regain the entire Liaodong, but also control the northeast and join with the vassal king's troops going south, so that the entire northeastern region is under the control of our Ming Dynasty. In the future, the king's division will also go deep into Mobei to eliminate the troops allied with the Donglu Tribe. This is not the Northern Expedition like that of Emperor Chengzu, but the King's Division advancing northward along with the railway. Wherever the railway is built, the King's Division will fight. As long as there is a railway, the King's Division can maneuver through trains and rush for reinforcements quickly. , the Mobei tribe will no longer be able to escape the control of my Ming Dynasty."
The railway is the natural enemy of the nomadic gangs. Towns are built at the railway nodes, and bunkers and gun towers are built on both sides of the railway, continuously extending into the depths of the desert.
Those who live in tents will either kneel down and surrender, and later become the servant army of the Ming Dynasty King's army. Either go far away and never come back, or it's a dead end.
Recovering Liaodong cannot yet rely on railways because there are too many rivers involved along the way. There are no less than dozens of large and small rivers from the capital to Shanhaiguan alone.
How long does it take to repair the bridge? To transport coal from the Kailuan coal mine to the capital, first by sea and then by water, the relay method will be much cheaper than just transport by train.
There are relatively few rivers running from the capital to Monan in the north. Even if there are rivers, they run north-south and are easy to bypass when building railways. This is very beneficial to a certain prince's "iron network strategy".
Before the Barbarian Jurchens and Haixi Jurchens completely recaptured the Blackwater Basin, Huang Taiji's two major helpers were the Monan Menggu and the Han people in Liaodong.
It is difficult to snatch the Han people from Huang Taiji, but it is relatively easy to tease Monan Menggu, who puts interests first.
As long as you give them enough benefits and show your strong strength, the other party may take the bait.
Huang Taiji led his troops into the pass, and he had to distribute part of the looted property to his Menggu friends.
Meng Gu's friend doesn't value money, he is only interested in the goods produced by Ming Dynasty.
Because silver is not the universal currency on the grassland, salt is the thing that everyone recognizes.
The Ming Dynasty and Monan Menggu started bartering with each other again. The Menggu people could exchange cattle, sheep, and horses for the materials they needed.
This is much more stable than looting, and it won't pick up the junk left over by the Eight Banners master.
A certain prince thought about poaching the emperor's corner every day, and he could do it when the time was right.
Although it is not of much benefit to myself, it is just a channel to buy horses.
But as long as it can cause damage to Huang Taiji, it's worth trying!
The reason why I mention the railway is because I can't open my mouth and just talk about magic and smallpox.
During the meal, it would be very unfilial to use this thing to disgust my beautiful mother.
"Your Highness is wise, Monan Menggu has become a minion of Donglu. It would be great if we could alienate and eradicate him!" 139
Du Yinxi, the Minister of Civil Affairs, strongly agreed with the prince's strategy. With the railway, the king's division could get twice the result with half the effort when attacking the Monan area.
Without Monan Menggu to help the emperor, Huang Taiji only had less than 100,000 bannermen and Han people under his command, so the threat to the Ming Dynasty would be greatly reduced.
Since the prince had already performed his magic in public during the day, and everyone at the top of the city could clearly see Donglu's attack, it was only a matter of time before he was defeated and fled.
"After the Donglu were defeated and returned, Monan Menggu will definitely have lingering fears about continuing to cooperate with him. If I, the Ming Dynasty, can induce me at the right time, there may be an unexpected surprise!"
Zhang Guowei, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry and Censor of Youqiandu, knew the general attitude and opinion of a certain prince towards Menggu, so he dared to say this in public. If he replaced the previous one, Donglu and Menggu would have to be eliminated together, although it was only verbal. .
"What Zhang Aiqing said makes sense. At present, the Donglu are our number one enemy of the Ming Dynasty. When the enemy's allies cannot be eliminated quickly, we must adopt a strategy of disintegration and disintegration. As long as Monan Menggu is no longer an enemy of our Ming Dynasty, the court will naturally Both sides can be allowed to trade. The Ming Dynasty can live without Menggu’s livestock, but Menggu cannot live without the Ming Dynasty’s goods. Whatever Donglu can give them, I, Daming, can give them. Whatever Donglu can’t give them, I, Daming, can also give. In the future The gifts I, Ming, gave to Meng Gu are much more than what they saw, thought, and heard!"
On the surface, it was to bribe Menggu, but in fact it was to squeeze them. Daming made high value-added products. What could Menggu offer?
"Your Highness, will this move allow the Menggu tribes to develop and grow, and then allow some ambitious people to become Temujin's second best?"
The worry of Li Daiwen, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, is very realistic, because Lin Danhan is troublesome enough. If he hadn't died when he ran away, he might come back at any point and threaten the border security of the Ming Dynasty.
"No! Don't worry, today is different from the past. The technological gap between our Ming Dynasty and Menggu will become wider and wider in the future. Just talk about this airship, and even if they were given a hundred years, the Menggu people wouldn't be able to build it. . In the future, all units of the King's Division will be equipped with tanks one after another, which are invulnerable and not afraid of the Menggu cavalry charge. If the tanks reach a certain number, even if there are only a thousand, they will sweep away tens of thousands of Menggu cavalry. Like the current one Combat equipment such as horses, sailing boats, and matchlocks will gradually fade out of the military equipment. Future wars will be technological wars, which will be dominated by tanks, airships, and ironclads. And this is just the beginning. Ming’s technology will Achieve leapfrog development and reach a height that is difficult for any nomadic group to reach. Skyscrapers will be built in the capital, aircraft will fly in the sky, cars will be faster than war horses on the ground, and there will be 10,000-ton warships in the sea. Telephones and telegraphs are used to communicate with people. The Menggu people do not know and are not good at these. They can only raise horses, so they will only be reduced to the pastures of the Ming Dynasty in the future. The livestock they raise, Wang Shi None of them have the value of large-scale equipment. They are mostly used for people to eat or ride for fun. Is such a Menggu a threat to the Ming Dynasty? Not at all! Even if they are given a tank, they don't know how to drive it. If it breaks down , let alone how to repair it. What we have to do now is to seduce them with benefits, make them feel that it is better to go to Ming Dynasty, and get greater advantages, so that they will switch over willingly. When we destroy Dong After being captured, Monan Menggu has no backing. From now on, they can only obey orders, otherwise they will be the next ones to be destroyed! After taming Monan Menggu, we will clean up Mobei Menggu until the entire Menggu is completely destroyed. Digestion and absorption, this is a situation that has never happened before in the prosperous Tang Dynasty!"
Meng Gu?
It is no exaggeration to say that their strength is like their navy!
As long as Daming is not beaten to death by Braid, after he recovers, will Meng Gu still be a big deal?
We have entered the era of hot weapons, but you are still playing with cold weapons. Do you think you are all supermen?
Even Braid's army has a mixed mode of hot and cold. Without the red cannon, Braid can't even hit the Daling River.
"What His Highness said is very wise, but at present, troops are deployed everywhere and Taicang is in a tight situation..."
Li Shiwen doesn't want to complain, but you spent 3.5 million taels of silver in one day. Who can bear this?
Before the Donglu can be defeated, the imperial court will go bankrupt!
In your words, this is called insolvency!
You haven't even repelled the Donglu yet, but you are already planning to use troops against Menggu!
It's okay to use troops, but what about the money?
You can't let us conjure up tens of millions of taels of silver, right?
Just repelling Donglu would cost tens of millions of taels. If he ate the entire Menggu, would it cost hundreds of millions of taels?
If the situation continues like this, Taicang will almost be cleared.
As for the grand plan to annex Menggu, you can figure it out yourself!
"Don't worry, Li Aiqing, there will be money in Taicang. The Jinshan Mountains in Nanyang are far away, but the Jinshan Mountains in Menggu are close at hand. I know that there are two Jinshan Mountains in Menggu, one of which contains 30 million taels of gold and 190 million taels of gold." Ten million taels of silver and four thousand times the amount of copper, what does Li Aiqing want?"
This is the famous Oyu Tolgoi mine, less than a hundred kilometers away from the later border, and it is absolutely alluring.
Although my equipment is backward, there are many people under me!
If the machine doesn't work, let's dig with a shovel!
As long as there is a large amount of gold, silver, and copper hidden underneath, the common people will work hard!
"Ah??? Your Highness, are you serious?"
Li Shiwen couldn't help but be startled when he heard this. Nanyang is no less than ten thousand miles away from the mainland, but Menggu is so close. This is very thought-provoking.
Leaving aside the silver and copper at the back, there are 30 million taels of gold alone. Isn’t that equivalent to 300 million taels of silver?
"Let me take a look at the map! Well! It's far from the border of Ming Dynasty. To be precise, this gold mine should be less than 800 miles away from the capital!"
At this time, chicken blood must be injected enough.
When it comes to fighting, a certain prince is inferior to other time travellers.
But when it comes to mining, other time travelers are all younger brothers!
A certain prince's random mining technology is the best in the world, and he has more mining skills than the next nine people combined!
"ah???"
Now everyone at the meal, including the beautiful mother, was no longer calm.
Being seven hundred miles away from the capital city, doesn't it mean that God has given me a gold mine in Ming Dynasty?
"Your Highness, you can't make such a joke!"
Li Shiwen thought that the prince seemed to be deceiving him. How could such a good thing happen in the world?
"Then this mine has nothing to do with the Ministry of Household Affairs. I will mine it together with the Ministry of Industry, Honorable Lords and other investors. Anyway, the distance is very close. As long as we conquer Monan, we will be able to see the mining area. It is useless. You will see benefits within ten years!”
By then, I will even build the railway and station a large army around it, so no one can take away this gold mine.
"This...this...this...how can you do this? Taicang is short of money. Your Highness must involve the Ministry of Revenue in this!"
Li Shiwen suddenly felt that what the prince said was not a lie. It was so close and easy to mine and transport, so the household department could not be absent.
