Datong Town.
As the governor of Xuanda, Wang Shouren is holding a meeting on building cities in Maoerzhuang and Weininghai.
The construction of the city in Maoerzhuang was decided early in the morning and was already being implemented. The construction of the city in Weininghai was entirely due to Dayan Khan's request that the Ming Dynasty grant him the land of the East and West Hetao, and the Ming Dynasty responded to it. .
"...Wang Zhitai, if he sends his servants from Xuanfu and Datong to raise money and food, he wants to build two forts at once, and they are both in places where transportation is inconvenient on grassland roads, I am afraid it will be difficult to accomplish. It is winter now, Should I ask the imperial court to allocate two hundred thousand taels of coins to build the city?"
Datong guerrilla general Hu Gui raised difficulties as a local.
The chief military officer of Datong on the side, Xiangcheng Bo Li Ao, said: "Even if we transfer 200,000 taels of silver, I'm afraid we won't be able to build a big city. Now the city of Mao'erzhuang can't be finished. It's only two miles away. Except for Besides being able to garrison troops, what other uses does it have?"
Two hundred thousand taels are not enough to build a city.
This is simply the construction of city walls, towers, gates and other fortifications. Even the laborers were recruited locally, which means that labor costs are free, and even rations and other items are brought by the laborers themselves.
Even so, not even a Maoer Village can be repaired, let alone Weininghai.
Wang Shouren was a good fighter, but for him to deal with the ministers, especially the people's livelihood... From Wang Shouren's perspective, this issue was a bit complicated.
War can be fought with passion, but to govern a country's people, passion alone is not enough. Money is needed everywhere, which is precisely what the northwest lacks.
…
…
After the military meeting.
Wang Shouren immediately wrote a memorial to Zhu Youtang, mentioning the inconvenience of building a city in Weininghai...
"...It is far from the Daming border, and there are no places to rest or supply along the way. The cost of building the city at Mao'erzhuang is already very high. If we consider building a city at Weininghai, it will only ruin the livelihood of the people on the front line of Xuanda. The pass still needs to send more people to repair and strengthen it..."
A set of difficulties was written down, but Wang Shouren did not sign his name.
He also realized that if he continued to report like this, the trust of the emperor and the court in him would be greatly reduced.
"Wang Zhitai, I wonder if I can come in because of my humble position?" Li Na's voice came from outside.
"Come in."
When Wang Shouren came to the northwest this time, he didn't even bring his family with him. He almost always ate and lived with the soldiers, and he never put on airs. This also quickly won him the favor of everyone in the army.
Li Ao walked in and did not approach Wang Shouren's desk. He cupped his fists and said, "Wang Zhitai, I heard that many Tatar tribes want to complete trade with the Ming Dynasty. Now the city of Mao'erzhuang has not been completed yet. If it is based on Mao'erzhuang, Do you think it’s feasible to come to Erzhuang to trade with the Tatars?”
Wang Shouren said: "This will definitely cause many Tatars to sneak into Maoerzhuang."
Li Nuo said: "Isn't this a compromise? Coal mines in Datong are in full swing, but I heard that they were all used by the imperial court and Cai Guogong, leaving nothing for us in Datong to build the city...not even the new salt fields of Hainingwei. , in exchange for salt bait, all the salt bait used are from three sides... You just have a reputation, but you still have many constraints in using troops."
Wang Shouren remained silent.
Just as he was talking, Wang Shouren's servant appeared at the door, but when he saw Wang Shouren meeting guests in the hall, the servant wisely stepped aside.
"I will consider this matter." Wang Shouren said, "Even if the border market is to be reopened in the northwest, it will still need the permission of the imperial court. Even if the border market is opened from Maoerzhuang, the harvest of the border market will be less than 20,000 taels a year. It is still not enough to build forts and so on... I will still propose to Your Majesty that we only complete the city in Maoerzhuang and send troops to patrol the Weining Sea."
If you don't have such a big head, don't wear such a tall hat.
Wang Shouren fully understood this, so he could only do his best to appeal. He just said that he wanted to build a city, but in the end he only built a city the size of a bullet. When the Tatars came, it could not even be used as a fortress. So what? It is better not to practice.
…
…
After Li Hao left, the Wang family's servants came in.
"The master has a letter from the capital." The servant was very excited.
After Wang Shouren arrived in the northwest, Wang Hua almost ignored his son. Recently, the servants of the Wang family could feel that their young master was worried about food, rice, oil and salt. Now Wang Hua, the most powerful person in the Wang family, finally extended an olive branch to his son. , will make the Wang family feel that this is the father and son working together to cut through the metal.
Wang Shouren did not look forward to Wang Hua's letter that much.
Because Wang Shouren knew that Wang Hua was just a lecturer at the Hanlin Academy. Even if he wanted to help him solve his troubles, his expertise was not appropriate.
Then Wang Shouren opened Wang Hua's letter.
"Master, what did the master say?" The servant was very concerned.
Wang Shouren did not answer, but carefully read all Wang Hua's letters, and then became slightly worried.
"My father said that he would try his best to help me with planning and management in the capital. He also mentioned that the position of Xuanda General System seemed to be high, and it might be better to stay in Nuergandusi to pacify the Jurchens. Although the latter was a bit harder, at least it was There is no need to worry about money and food arrangements." Wang Shouren did not tell the servant more details.
In fact, Wang Shouren's worries mainly came from his feeling that Wang Hua might have to make some "sacrifice" for him.
Wang Hua mentioned that the emperor wanted to increase the number of cabinet ministers. Although he did not explicitly mention the good intentions of Li Dongyang and others, Wang Shouren knew that once Wang Hua entered the cabinet, it would inevitably involve a dispute between Zhang Zhou and traditional civil servants.
Because he, Wang Shouren, was promoted by Zhang Zhou, Wang Hua entered the cabinet and entered the exclusive domain of traditional civil servants.
"Famous things don't matter anymore."
Wang Shouren immediately signed the memorial he had written previously, which was equivalent to completing the formal memorial, and handed it to his servant, "Let the post be passed to the capital."
The servant said: "Master, this was just written today, right? Do you want to wait for another two days and polish it again?"
"No need." Wang Shouren replied simply, "If I don't even have the courage to face difficulties, why should I stay in the northwest? Many difficulties are beyond my ability. When I raise them with the court, I also let them know that managing propaganda Major military affairs may not be suitable for me."
"yes."
The servant could hear the loneliness in Wang Shouren's words.
Although he has repeatedly won battles on the grassland, he has only just entered the government. Facing difficulties is actually facing his own shortcomings.
With Wang Shouren's arrogant heart, this requires great courage.
…
…
When Wang Shouren's memorial arrived in the capital, the Yanwu Hall had just opened, and artillery drills were still in full swing.
There are more than a dozen classes a day, and there are three artillery practice ranges, and the cannons are fired in turn. The artillery used is still the same as before, but it is like getting a professional artillery qualification certificate. Almost every general and noble who comes to learn has to do it in person. Go and light the artillery and learn how to aim it theoretically. You must also learn the art of war and know the advantages and disadvantages of artillery in various situations.
On this day, Zhang Zhou took Zhu Houzhao out of the city to inspect the artillery performance. This was the first time Zhu Houzhao was allowed to leave the city after the New Year. It was regarded as Zhu Youtang's reward for his son's hard work in studying later in the year.
After Zhu Houzhao returned to the palace, he felt much calmer than before. He had gone out to play wildly and had enough fun. After he came back, he could finally settle down and study... But after only studying for more than a month, he was already a little impatient and kept clamoring for more. Come out and play.
"Sir, I heard there are new cannons. Where are they?"
Zhu Houzhao arrived at the gun range. He had lost interest in traditional artillery and only wanted to see the new rifled artillery.
Zhang Zhou looked into the distance with a telescope and said casually: "New cannons are still being developed and are more dangerous. What is happening in front of you still can't satisfy you?"
Zhu Houzhao curled his lips.
He picked up the telescope and looked at it for a while, then put it down and said, "What's the point of this? The Tatars are probably familiar with the power of this artillery, and they will find tactics."
Zhang Zhou also put down his telescope and said, "If it were you, what tactics would you use?"
"Dispersion, and surprise attacks...didn't you say this yourself?" Zhu Houzhao looked disapproving. You have taught me everything, and you still come to test me?
Zhang Zhou smiled with disdain.
In the era of hot weapons, everyone knows the power of guns and artillery. The problem is that no matter how good the cavalry is and how they find tactics, will they still be defeated by guns and artillery? After the 20th century, cavalry has basically withdrawn from the war stage... This does not mean that you have the title of cold weapon heavy cavalry, and you are qualified to challenge the times.
Zhang Zhou said: "Artillery and fire muskets will definitely become the mainstream on the battlefield in the future. What I want to do is not only use the Shenji battalion as the offensive force, but also equip every soldier with flint muskets, and even eliminate swords and bows. Crossbows, etc., as for artillery, everyone needs to learn how to cooperate...Prince, are you here just to watch the fun?"
"If you don't watch the excitement, what are you watching? You don't want me to go up and light the cannons myself." Zhu Houzhao seemed to be using a provocation method.
He had long wanted to light the cannon fuse himself and try firing a cannon, but the danger was still there, and even Zhang Zhou would not take such a risk.
Zhang Zhou said coldly: "Whenever you think of it later, write a 500-word sentiment every time and give it to me later."
"What?"
Zhu Houzhao simply thought he heard wrong?
I came out to watch you perform. I did it to give you face and to relax. You actually asked me to write my "after-viewing"?
Zhang Zhou said: "Five hundred words is considered to give you face. I know you usually have a heavy workload and don't have time to write so much. If you argue again, just write a thousand words. If you can't write it, don't think about leaving the palace and the city next time." "
"Zhang, are you threatening me again?" Zhu Houzhao became angry when he heard this.
Even the title has been changed.
Liu Jin quickly grabbed Zhu Houzhao and said nothing, but winked at Zhu Houzhao.
It means, don't fight him. No matter how awesome you are, you can't beat him.
"Five hundred words...what should I write?" Zhu Houzhao didn't bother to watch the artillery demonstration. He ran directly to the back and sat down. He thought about it and muttered, "Should I just write about how far this artillery can hit? Or should I write about the training of those people?" What's the result? You have to give me a direction, right?"
Zhang Zhou ignored him.
At this time, Li Rong, the admiral of Dongchang, came up with Guo Ang, the envoy of Fusi Town in Jinyiweibei Town.
The two of them were supposed to escort Zhu Houzhao out of the palace, but they were actually at Zhang Zhou's disposal at any time.
"Sir, I just learned that Uncle Xinjian, who is in charge of the military affairs of Xuanda and other departments, sent a memorial to Your Majesty, mentioning the difficulties of building a city outside the Datong Pass. Here is the transcript. Please take a look."
Li Rong handed the copied copy of Guan Bai's memorial to Zhang Zhou.
As the Minister of War, Zhang Zhou took it and took a look at it, and he probably understood that Wang Shouren had suffered a lot recently in his position as the general secretary of Xuanda.
This kind of energy is not something that a general officer can inflict on him, but a lot of it is suppressed due to poor advancement.
To take things a step further...it is simply that the imperial court did not support the strategy of using troops in the northwest, and deliberately deducted the money and food used in various places in the northwest...The emperor was talking about policies, saying that he wanted to build cities, build artillery, and train troops, and the ministers below were talking about it. I didn’t object much, but I refused to cooperate with actual actions.
Want money or food?
Sorry, the imperial treasury is stretched thin and needs to be used in other places. People's livelihood cannot be guaranteed. How can we engage in those "military" things?
Li Rongdao: "How do you think about reporting this to His Majesty?"
What Li Rong showed to Zhang Zhou was equivalent to a task from the Listening Department.
A report from a northwest general was not only conveyed to the cabinet but also to the superiors. It was different from the cabinet writing a draft. Zhang Zhou’s opinions were directly communicated to Zhu Youtang.
Of course, ordinary small matters, such as local affairs, do not require Zhang Zhou to personally take action. Zhang Zhou is currently responsible for the deployment of troops and money and food in the towns of Jiubian, as well as the employment strategies involving Jiubian. .
"The proposal proposed by Uncle Xinjian to open a border market is very good, but it will only do business with some Tatar tourist merchants," Zhang Zhou said.
Li Rongdao: "In terms of execution, I'm afraid it will be difficult to complete. The little Tatar prince is very powerful on the grassland. Those Tatar traveling merchants, who knows who they will sell the ironware, silks, etc. they bought from us. ?”
Zhang Zhou combined Wang Shouren's memorial and wrote lightly: "It's just a statement. The main purpose of opening the border market is to ease the conflict with the Tatars first. This will facilitate the preparation of the Ming border army in the next few years."
First win on the battlefield, and then give the Tatars a sweet date to eat, and reopen the border market so that the grassland can complete the exchange of goods with the vast and abundant Central Plains.
This made the Tatars feel that there was no need to rob them, but in fact it was to ease the conflict and prepare for beating the Tatars to death with a stick in the future.
"Mr. Zhang, do you need to worry that the Tatars will also learn our cannon-casting technology from the border market trade? Even if the pig iron stored in the grassland is not much, as long as it is made, we can fight in the future. , you may not have all the advantages." Li Rong was still worried.
Zhang Zhou smiled and shook his head and said: "If our Ming Dynasty wants to cast cannons, I will mine mines, smelt iron, and cast them myself. If the Tatars can cast cannons on a large scale in three or two years, it will not cost much manpower and material resources." It's something they can't afford. What's more, as you said, the grasslands don't have that much resource rationing. Just do as I said, raise it with His Majesty, and if there is any trouble again, bring it up at the court meeting."
Li Rong cupped his hands and said: "Then our family will return to the city first. Your Highness, you will learn from Mr. Zhang first, and I will go back to the city to face the Holy Spirit first."
(End of chapter)
