In order to successfully cross the sea, Zhu Su made a lot of preparations.
In addition to building as large a ship as possible and hoarding supplies needed at sea, in order to prevent disorientation at sea, scurvy, etc., Zhu Su also introduced the concept of longitude and latitude in the Imperial College and taught Tie Xuan the method of estimating longitude and latitude. In order to produce cans that would last long enough, they even invested in a cannery together with businessmen.
After wandering at sea for too long, scurvy is undoubtedly one of the crew's most terrifying enemies. How to preserve fruits and vegetables that can prevent scurvy? Canning is already the easiest preservation method that Zhu Su can think of.
The several Thousand Materials Treasure Ships hardly carried much cargo for trading, and most of the cabins were filled with grain, cans, and medicinal materials. Most of the other cabins are filled with weapons, armor, cement for construction and other items. It can be said that as long as this fleet reaches America, it will be able to establish a Chinese foothold there in a short time.
After Zhu Su watched Tie Xuan and others leave Liujiagang, he returned to Yingtian by carriage. Although they are still newlyweds these days, many affairs in Ming Dynasty are still complicated, and Zhu Su cannot tolerate any slack.
Xu Miaoyun is also very busy, and Xu Da will go north immediately. He left his wife and the young Xu Miaojin and Xu Zengshou in the Xu Mansion in Yingtian, and in a short time he would take Xu Yungong and many other family properties north to Hala and Forest. The head of the family moved north, so the Xu Mansion naturally became a busy place. Although Xu Miaoyun was a newlywed daughter, the Xu family's property account books and other books were mostly in her hands. The Xu Mansion couldn't do without her even if it wanted to calculate the property.
In fact, Lao Zhu did not ask Xu Da to leave his family members in the Ming Dynasty, but maybe he wanted to let his children serve as hostages to reassure Lao Zhu, or maybe he was really reluctant to let his youngest son and daughter go to the bitter cold Harala and Lin. Xu Da still Yishin left them here. He is getting older. He went to run the Northern Desert for China and will probably not be able to come back. Therefore, the atmosphere in the Xu Mansion was very bleak, and there was a sense of separation between life and death.
Zhu Su also bid farewell to his two brothers Zhu Xi and Zhu Di. The two of them were in their prime, and they were much more heroic. After having a drink in a restaurant, they agreed to meet again someday. Zhu Fang formed a Lao Shizi gang, which became somewhat reckless. He didn't look like a prince when walking, sitting or lying, but he gradually became somewhat heroic. He patted his chest and wanted to do a great cause for the Ming Dynasty with his heroic friends. Zhu Di became much calmer, perhaps because of Xu Da's influence, perhaps because in the army, he saw too many separations between life and death. He patted Zhu Su on the shoulder and asked Zhu Su: "Fifth brother, there is a great struggle on the grassland, but our Ming Dynasty has ceased its activities at this time... Although Yesudie'er has become a sweat, his strength is not strong. . We just sit back and watch Wala grow stronger. Is this really good?"
Zhu Su poured Zhu Di a glass of wine and advised Zhu Di: "Fourth brother, war is a continuation of politics."
"Even if we want to send troops, we should determine our political intentions in advance, and war is only a means to realize our political intentions. Now what can we gain from sending troops to the grassland? Yesudie'er is not as strong as Bei Yuan in the past... But Bei Yuan is called the emperor, but Yesudier is called the Great Khan."
"What is the difference between the emperor and the Khan? The emperor inherited the Han system, and the Khan inherited the Mongolian system."
"The emperor has entrusted me with the Chinese orthodoxy, and he must protect the land and the people, and he must comply with the people's wishes... But Khan only needs to be a bandit to ensure that his tribe is always prosperous."
"Although Beiyuan fled to the grassland, he is an emperor after all. An emperor has an imperial capital. We can go straight to Huanglong and destroy his ancestral temple. The Taoist unity will be lost and Beiyuan will collapse. It can be called a khan, but it is not in the Mongolian system. What is the importance of the Khan's court? The so-called Khan's court only refers to the place where the Great Khan is stationed. It's not that Yesudier has no legs. As long as Yesudier cannot be chased, Oara will never be destroyed. And the so-called Great Khan Khan is just a bandit leader chosen by the Mongols to lead them to plunder. Even if we defeat these bandits a hundred times, even if it takes time and effort to catch Yesudier, the leaders of Oara can only hide in the north. What impact will it have if we establish a new khan? Are they still coming to rob us after a new year?"
"Why is it difficult for Li Guang to be sealed? Isn't it because he often misses the opportunity to encircle the Xiongnu? So what if he can win the battle? Even if he wins a hundred Xiongnu raids, he will miss the opportunity even once. The sin of running away from the main force of the Huns once was definitely not something that could be offset by a hundred victories. Because even if it repelled a hundred attacks on the Huns, it would not be painful, but every time Li Guang missed an opportunity, he would have to make every effort to defeat the Huns. The Lu Han Army's years of painstaking planning have come to nothing."
Zhu Di touched his short beard, thoughtfully. Zhu Su continued: "This is the reason why nomads are hard to get rid of. Their so-called Great Khans are actually similar in nature to our rogue bandits in the Central Plains. When there are few officers and soldiers, they rob, and when there are more officers and soldiers, they flee. The only difference is that Their combat power was often far superior to that of the rogues in the Central Plains, and the horses were just like the wind on the endless grassland. When the Han army eliminated the Xiongnu, the most difficult thing was not how to confront the Xiongnu, but how to outflank and attack the Xiongnu to force a decisive battle. "
"How to deal with such wandering bandits, the fourth brother naturally knows better than me. We shouldn't just send soldiers and generals to chase after them and eat ashes, right?"
"Of course it shouldn't be." Zhu Di said. "To deal with such rogue bandits, we should...step by step, encroaching on them, and driving them to a dead end bit by bit..."
"Yes." Zhu Su said. "Why couldn't our Central Plains dynasty take over the grassland before? Because Mobei was too bitter and cold, and we, the Central Plains people, couldn't get used to it. Even if we barely built a few cities, because there was no output and there was a lack of food and clothing, each city needed an extremely large amount of resources. A huge amount of national funds are used to support it. And because the grassland is so big, if we follow the method of dealing with bandits in the Central Plains and build a camp step by step, we still don't know how to build it until the year of the monkey and the month of the horse."
"If we send out elite troops for a decisive battle, even if Huo Qubing is as talented as him and successfully attacks the royal court, after the king's army returns south, won't this grassland still be dominated by nomadic people? Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty spent two generations of Wen and Jing on hoarding, and the grassland is truly stable. How many years? Twenty years or thirty years? Twenty or thirty years later, the nomads are still going south. But how can the Central Plains dynasty be governed by Wenjing from generation to generation? "
Zhu Di was silent. If this were said by a civil servant, he would definitely get up in arms and angrily accuse this person of being pedantic. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty wiped out the Huns, cut off their foundation, and averted the shame of the Han king being trapped on Baishan Mountain. Without Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's move, the Han people would not have a backbone, and strong men would not have prospered for hundreds of years. The value of this is by no means comparable to the cold numbers of money and food that were wasted. .
War cannot be calculated too clearly. If the calculation is too clear, it will be like the Southern Song Dynasty... Why bother to fight? Anyway, in a war, you may not be able to defeat the golden man and the meng man. Military pay, military rations, etc. are still huge expenses... It would be better to use these expenses as annual coins and give them to the Jinren and Mengren, pretend to be a coward and call them a minister, and continue to sing and dance in Lin'an after buying peace.
All in all, the annual coins given to the Jinren and Mengren are less than the military salary. The saved gold and silver can also add a few more beautiful girls to the line.
No one is a man, and the flowers in the backyard are still singing across the river.
Calculations are too clear, and you think you have a plan, but in fact it consumes the heritage and integrity accumulated by the nation over thousands of years. These accumulations are the real wealth of China. It was not until Lao Zhu expelled the Tartars that these precious possessions abandoned by the former Song Dynasty were truly picked up.
But Zhu Su was right. Although Yesudie'er was called the Great Khan, he was not worthy to be compared with the Xiongnu and Mengjin. It's not worth it to go to war for him and spend a lot of money.
The political purpose of the Ming Dynasty was not to destroy Yesudie'er, but to swallow up the grassland and even Yilibaili. Swallowed Timur's empire...
"What the fifth brother means is... Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's methods were too ineffective. Should we use the methods of the leveling bandits?" Zhu Di seemed to have some realization.
I'm feeling a little unwell...I'm sorry for the slow update.
(End of chapter)
