With Xie Qian's words as the basis, even Zhu Youtang seemed to feel that discussing the issue of whether to accept the war or not was meaningless.
Wasn't Wang Yue sent to Piantou Pass just to prepare for war?
When things come to a head, if the decree says to shrink back as much as possible, not to mention the king will become more depressed, even the emperor will feel very useless.
The court meeting is temporarily over.
However, the discussion about the war did not stop. There will be a closed-door meeting in the inner court later. The discussions involve issues such as defense deployment and troop dispatch. Many of them are confidential. Only a few officials such as the Ministry of War and the Cabinet are qualified to participate in this Qianqing Palace. s meeting.
On the way to Qianqing Palace.
Xiao Jing led the way, followed by several people.
Cabinet ministers Liu Jian and Xie Qian went to discuss and coordinate the response.
Ma Wensheng, the Minister of War, and Wang Zongyi, the Right Minister, were responsible for discussing the strategy and the response of the War Department.
The purpose of Zhou Jing, the Minister of Revenue, was to discuss the issue of grain and grass dispatch in the northwest.
As soon as they arrived outside Qianqing Palace, they saw someone who had arrived early and was standing there smiling at them.
British Duke Zhang Mao.
Xunchen did not participate in the previous court meeting, but the governor's office was obviously aware of the changes in the military situation in the northwest. When the emperor asked for the military opinion in the northwest, he did not call anyone else, but only Zhang Mao. This also showed that he attached great importance to Zhang Mao. Probably he also wanted to use Zhang Mao's maturity and prudentness to stabilize the morale of the army.
"Mr. British, you can still laugh now?" Xie Qian walked over and saluted after seeing him.
Zhang Mao replied: "Yu Qiao, you usually smile in the court, it's all for the court, why do you care about this situation?"
Xie Qian was startled.
Then he thought that when he teased Wang Yue in the court, didn't he say it with a half-smile like Zhang Mao?
"Several pavilion elders, please come in!"
After Xiao Jing passed the message, he came out and said to a few people.
…
…
In the Qianqing Palace.
Zhu Youtang had a lot of northwest battle reports in front of him. Before several important military and political officials arrived, Zhu Youtang seemed to be still studying these battle reports.
"...Early this morning, the news came here, and there are still more. At present, there is a roar of wind, cranes, and soldiers in places such as Piantou Pass."
Zhu Youtang pointed to Xiao Jing beside him, "Give me a seat!"
Several chairs were brought over at once.
When the ministers took a look, it seemed that this posture was going to be discussed for a long time. It is very likely that such closed-door meetings will be held frequently recently.
The emperor attached great importance to the war in the northwest.
After the ministers thanked each other and took their seats, Xiao Jing circulated the northwest battle report to everyone present. Everyone only had time to glance at each memorial.
Zhu Youtang said: "How many troops are currently stationed around Piantou Pass?"
Ma Wensheng put down a memorial in his hand, stood up and said, "Your Majesty, there are eight thousand infantry and cavalry stationed in Piantou Pass, 14,000 can be mobilized for preparation, inspection and service, and 3,000 troops and horses can be mobilized from the Beijing camp. If we want to fight head-on, we can dispatch less than 5,000 cavalry, and we can move less than 2,000 Shenji Camp firearms soldiers..."
"In addition, the troops stationed around Piantou Pass can rush to Piantou Pass within three days, especially the people and horses of the three passes. They may also dispatch about 5,000 cavalry..."
Zhu Youtang said: "That means that Wang Yue's available troops are only 20,000, right?"
Ma Wensheng did the math in his mind. He wanted to say, are there that many?
But he still handed it over and said, "Yes."
Zhu Youtang sighed: "The Tatars may send more than 20,000 troops this time!"
Ma Wensheng said: "Currently there is no clear report on the number of Di Yi soldiers and horses outside Pianguan..."
"Don't worry." Zhu Youtang said, "There will be a detailed report soon. If Wang Yue hadn't been at Piantou Pass, perhaps the intelligence collected would not have been so fast. He should have taken precautions as well. It’s quite sufficient.”
Ma Wensheng had to admit.
If Wang Yue is at the side of the head, it is indeed twice the result with half the effort. We cannot use common sense to speculate on the two situations of having Wang Yue and not having Wang Yue.
Because Wang Yue managed the army well, and the soldiers below were confident and expected to perform well, a group of weak soldiers could perform exceptionally well, not to mention that Wang Yue had mobilized all the elites around Taiyuan Town.
"If we fight, what are the chances of winning?"
Zhu Youtang asked a question that seemed very amateurish.
From this point, the ministers present also understood the tension in the emperor's heart, or the emperor's utilitarian mentality at a critical moment.
Not talking about the specific situation, just talking about the odds of winning, which is a bit of a gambling mentality.
Liu Jiandao: "If Wang Weining is stationed at a side pass and can't hold out and wait for reinforcements, the chance of winning is almost 10%. But if he leaves the city and fights behind the pass, the outcome is unpredictable."
"Mr. Liu Ge, let's not talk about letting Wang Yue stick to it for now. This is not his style." Zhu Youtang said, "If I don't use him, or place him somewhere else, let Piantou Guan stick to it." , there is nothing wrong with it. But in the current situation, any concession will make Di Yi worse, and I do not hope that there will always be wars in the northwest in the next few years. "
With the emperor's intention.
This battle should still be fought to build confidence.
Then Zhu Youtang winked at Dai Yi, meaning that Dai Yi would explain the situation around Biantou Guan.
Dai Yidao: "Dear elders, ministers, and princes, the use of troops in the northwest is now imminent. This is due to the rise of the little prince on the grassland. In the past few years, wars have continued in the grassland. I thought this could weaken the grassland tribes, and the border troops could reap the benefits. However, the grassland tribes are getting more and more frustrated. The internal annexation has not ended, and the crimes against our Ming Dynasty have not stopped. If the border troops give in in this battle, I am afraid that in the next few years, all the towns on the nine sides will suffer from the grassland one after another. The tribe’s bandits are harassing..."
This shows the necessity of this war.
After Dai Yi finished speaking, Zhu Youtang looked at Ma Wensheng and said, "Ma Shangshu, you know the situation in the towns in the northwest, but do you think there is some truth to this?"
Ma Wensheng said: "Returning to your majesty, I believe that even if the Tatars attack Pianguan with heavy troops this time, their purpose is still to plunder, and they may also submit a petition to open a horse market, etc."
Zhu Youtang nodded: "Actually, the Tatars' memorials about Kaibian City have not stopped since the end of the Helan Mountain War last year. But in this situation, if we trade with the Tatars, isn't it giving others a spear to attack me as a shield? If the Tatars wanted to invade and plunder, they would never do this. If they wanted to destroy the pass, they would confuse our Ming border guards and prevent our Ming soldiers from having time to visit the north. How dangerous and dangerous their intentions are!"
After listening to the emperor's words, Ma Wensheng stopped arguing.
As the emperor said.
At the critical moment when the main Tatar tribe, the Dayan tribe, wanted to annex the Mongolian right wing, the Tatars went out in full force to attack Piantou Pass. In addition to looting, their purpose was naturally to achieve some strategic results to ensure that the dynasty would not defeat them. Before the internal annexation is completed, there is room to send troops to the grassland.
Dai Yi continued: "Currently, the commander-in-chief Pingjiang Bo Chen Rui analyzed the enemy's situation and sent troops to the grassland headquarters at Piantou Pass, or it was the fire sieve that had been plundered many times before!"
Everyone present couldn't help but take a breath after hearing this name.
Although Dayan Khan is the nominal little prince of the grassland, this Huo Si... can be said to be Dayan Khan's "top horse". Dayan Khan and Huo Si are nominally monarchs and ministers, but in fact they are interdependent. , in Dayan Khan's battle to unify the grasslands, the fire sieve can be said to have made great contributions.
What's even more terrible is... the biggest feature of this fire screen is that it can go to the border of the Ming Dynasty to harass them, and it is very experienced in attacking.
You can always choose a place where Ming Dynasty's defenses are weak, grab a wave and leave without being reluctant to fight.
There will also be cases of looting hundreds of miles south from the border crossing...
Pingjiang Bo Chen Rui can be said to be the most experienced frontier general in the northwest. He said that the people coming this time were fire sieves, so he probably had the style right, and he should be right.
Xie Qian said coldly: "Uncle Ping Jiang? Aren't you afraid of Huo Si? If he were to lead the troops to fight, I'm afraid..."
Some words were not made very clear, but they already showed Xie Qian's contempt for Chen Rui.
As we all know, Chen Rui likes to drink cold wine. There are rumors in the army that the reason why Chen Rui does not drink hot wine is because he is afraid of the fire sieve, and he is afraid of provoking the fire sieve after drinking hot wine.
Chen Rui has been operating in the northwest for many years, and although he has made great achievements, he can basically remain blameless. However, only with Huo Si, he suffered a lot of losses. He even almost got trapped in a tight siege and was killed by Huo Si. From then on, the rumors that he was afraid of fire became more and more widespread.
Liu Jiandao: "If it is really a fire attack, the situation will be even worse for the border troops."
Zhu Youtang said: "This fire sieve has killed border people many times in the northwest and robbed the pass. This time, let him fight Wang Yue head-on. Isn't it a good opportunity to show off the power of the border army?"
Even Ma Wensheng was thinking, this is really easy to say.
Huo Si can become a figure on par with Dayan Khan in today's grasslands. Do you really think that his abilities are just blown away? Wang Yue is fine with beating others, but in a head-to-head confrontation with Huo Si, his chances of winning are probably not that high, right?
"Shang Shu Zhou, is the current supply of grain and grass in the northwest still sufficient?"
Zhu Youtang didn't want to listen to these people's suggestions about whether to fight or not to fight. This issue had already been discussed in the court. He was more concerned about the preparations for this war.
Zhou Jingdao: "Your Majesty, last year Liu Shiyong, the right minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, who was the governor of Xuanfu, had prepared more than 500,000 taels of military rations in the northwest. This year, more than 200,000 taels of silver from Beijing's reserves have been sent to Xuanda University. It is expected that... in the rations... There will be no deviation in purchasing supplies.”
In the past, the frontier army relied on food to advance to the center. The merchant villages in the northwest could achieve self-sufficiency, but the national treasury was empty.
Nowadays, the northwest uses money from the capital and lets the northwest buy it by itself. The area of farmland in the northwest's frontiers is also decreasing year by year.
Zhang Mao came forward and said: "Your Majesty, there are enemies everywhere on the nine sides. Please enforce martial law around the capital to prevent Tatar spies from sneaking into the hinterland of our capital. We will also send troops and horses to strengthen the defense at Juyong Pass and other places."
At this time, only Zhang Mao seemed to understand the emperor's intention to fight a tough battle.
What he mentioned was very pragmatic. No matter whether Wang Yue won or not at the Piantou Pass, at least the stability of the capital should be preserved first.
Zhu Youtang nodded and said: "I also have the same idea to strengthen the garrison at the three inner gates to ensure that the capital is safe. The Qing family should have no objections, right?"
Of course the people present had no objection.
Seeing that the matter was almost settled, Wang Zongyi, the right minister of the Ministry of War, asked: "Your Majesty, I dare to ask, who made the suggestion that Wang Yue, the left minister of the Ministry of War, go to Pianguan to guard?"
Everyone around looked at him with curious eyes.
As if to say.
This is a very inappropriate question for you to ask. Don’t you know by now that this is coming from an alchemist and scholar named Zhang Zhou?
(End of chapter)
