China has been a country of etiquette since ancient times. Even if what Gao Pragmatic wanted to provoke was just a chieftain war, there still had to be a reason to cause trouble for Annan.
He recently checked the files and found that since Annan begged to surrender to Emperor Shizong, so far, he has only been short of formal tribute in the thirty-sixth and thirty-ninth years of Jiajing, and material tribute in the third and sixth years of Wanli. The rest, at least There isn't much to fault about etiquette.
However, the lack of tribute does not seem to be a reason to send troops to attack, because the imperial court has always allowed "paying tribute" in consideration of the "unclear calculations" and "difficult roads" in these foreign lands. This reason to beat up Annan seems to be a bit insufficient. I guess if you do this, there may be some idiots in the court gossiping.
Of course, Gao Pragmatism is not afraid of these gossips. As a Ming Dynasty civil servant with traditional Chinese characteristics, as long as the righteousness is not lost and private ethics are not criticized, it is not a critical matter if the specific governing and governance concepts are different.
His main concern is still the escalation of the war - not the escalation of the fighting situation, but the escalation of the name and specifications of the war.
If it is just a war at the chieftain level, for example, the court regards Annan as being on the same level as the chieftain, then the court's attitude can be very detached. Zhu Yijun can choose one side to help, or he can "fight twenty big things each". In short, he can not intervene at all. too deep.
In this case, it would be convenient for Gao Pragmatic to lure the power of the Cen and Huang families to Annan, allowing them to "change nests" and hand over western Guangxi and Guinan to the imperial court, while the Cen and Huang families would take control of Annan. Gao Pragmatic himself can take advantage of the situation to obtain the greatest benefit in Annan, and it is also the benefit with the highest degree of freedom, which is completely different from that at home.
But if the war is fought on the grounds that Annan owes tribute, no matter whether the reason is sufficient or not, the standard of the war will rise to the national level, and it will be a war for the superior country to teach the subordinate country. In this case, even if the battle is won, the right to distribute the spoils will be handed over to the court, and all the highly pragmatic plans will collapse.
So this excuse doesn’t work and you have to find another one.
Gao Jingshi thought of what Cen Ling told him before. At that time, Cen Ling said that the poison on Zhang Ren was caused by people sent by Mo Chao. It was difficult for Gao Jingshi to understand, but now he can't find a suitable war. It's an excuse, but I want to make something about this matter.
But after thinking about it, he felt that if this matter was taken seriously, it would still lead to a national-level war - the governor of a province was poisoned by human race poison, and the court could not say anything? Besides, what does this have to do with the chieftains? If the imperial court does not send troops, the chieftains have no obligation or reason to send troops to fight Annan for Zhang Ren.
Gao Pragmatic felt a little headache, so he had to turn his attention to the Huang family, who had the most connections with Mo Chao, and wondered if Huang Zhiting could find a way to cause some friction with Mo Chao on the border. Then he would learn from the German army in 1939. Leng said that the missing wolf soldiers at the border post were the fault of Mo Chao, and then gathered the chieftains to launch a war nominally aimed at "teaching a lesson".
Although this idea may make people feel that Guangxi local officials are too overbearing, it seems to be barely feasible.
At this time, all the chieftains were still in Nanning. After Gao pragmatic made up his mind, he was about to send someone to invite Huang Zhiting to see him. Suddenly, Cao Ke hurried in and reported: "Master, Xiangzhou sent someone to report urgently. Annan Mo Mao Mo Dunrang appointed the auxiliary king Mo Dunrang to the president and the army. Mo Dunrang was solely responsible for the military and political power. As soon as he took over the military power, he ordered the recruitment of soldiers and horses from all over the country. Mo Yulin and Ruan Juan, the famous generals of the Mo Dynasty, were appointed as deputy to personally command the army. We went south to conquer Li Dynasty in a large scale."
When Gao Pingshi heard the news, he was stunned for a moment and thought to himself: Is Mo Chao crazy? Mo Jingdian had just died. Mo Dunrang, who had always been in charge of internal affairs, actually went south on a large-scale expedition as soon as he got military power?
But after thinking about it, he realized that Mo Dunjang was not crazy. What he did was obviously a politician's thinking. It was precisely because he had never held military power before that he had to use war to establish his authority now. At the same time, there was only one Only victory can free Mo Chao from the low morale caused by Mo Jingdian's death.
However, what is politically correct may not be militarily correct. Gao Jingshi felt that Mo Dunjang had underestimated the cruelty of war and his second brother Mo Jingdian who had just died.
With Mo Jingdian's ability, he could only maintain a slight military advantage over the Hou Li Dynasty in the south, but could not turn it into an overwhelming offensive to destroy the south. Mo Dun allowed a novice in war to actually lead the main force in the expedition?
This third grandpa of Mo Maoqia seems to be more courageous and fatter than me...
You must know that the military advantage of the Mo Dynasty over the Later Li Dynasty was not great. To a certain extent, this advantage was purely established by Mo Jingdian personally.
After the Li Dynasty established its foothold in Qinghua, the Mo Dynasty launched two attacks on the Li Dynasty. After that, it was in a defensive position for a long time and was attacked by the Li army repeatedly. These were all military actions taken to force Zheng Jian to withdraw his troops.
After the economic and military strength of the Mo Dynasty was restored, Mo Jingdian took advantage of the civil strife in the Li Dynasty and decided to counterattack. In the autumn and August of the fourth year of Longqing, Duke Li Li saw the Zheng brothers fighting among themselves and led his troops to surrender to Mo. The Mo Dynasty conferred the title of Duke Xian and asked him to serve as a guide.
At that time, Mo Jingdian sent more than 100,000 troops and 700 warships to enter Thanh Hoa. King Ying Mo Dunrang and general Mo Tingke were left to guard Shenfu Haimen. Then the soldiers divided into six groups and attacked Zheng Hui first.
Zheng Hui was unable to survive, so he led Lai Shimei, Wu Shishuo, Ruan Shiyi, Zhang Guohua and his family to surrender to the Mo Dynasty. The remaining generals Huang Ting'ai, Li Keshen, Ruan Youliao, Fan Wenkuai and others retreated to Anchang Pass to join Zheng Song. The other generals, Hongjun Gong, returned to Yi'an and guarded their territory with Ruan Bo.
Faced with the powerful offensive of the Mo Dynasty, Hou Li's soldiers formed a united plan for survival. Li Yingzong also decreed that Zheng Song be granted the title of Chief Duke and control the water steps of the camps. So Zheng Song held a banquet for all the officers and men, including thirty-one generals Huang Ting'ai, Zheng Mo, Li Jidi, and twelve civil servants and ministers including Beijun Gong Ruan Qing. "They all swore to heaven to conspire and help."
The Li army divided its troops to guard various gates, fortified tree fences, and set up ambushes to defend the danger. In September, in order to disintegrate the morale of the Mo army, Li Jidi planned to "have the sergeants build an outer barrier at night, extending for more than ten miles, mostly covered with house walls, painted with soil, and put bamboo tips on top, and build a fake city overnight." become".
The next day, Mo Jingdian saw the city fortress built by the Li army overnight. He thought it was a real city and was frightened and did not dare to approach it. So he discussed with the generals and said: "I didn't expect that the Li army would be like this today. They would be very disciplined and have strict laws. If they built the city overnight and the fortresses were clear, many people would die in the service. Therefore, the speed of using power makes me feel uneasy." Ning, we will definitely not be able to succeed, and it will not be easy to pacify it. If we don’t fight and eliminate it quickly, it will be a trouble in the future.”
Mo Jingdian stepped up the siege with his troops, and He Xihou, who was guarding the Jinshui Aiba of Li Dynasty, also surrendered to Mo. The Li Dynasty did not retain much territory. However, at this time, the Mo army was at the end of its battle, and the two sides were in a stalemate. The Li army adopted the strategy of "holding firm during the day and plundering the camp at night" and rewarded the sergeants heavily. "For every thief's head captured, a reward of silver will be given to more soldiers to stand up."
The Mozambican army was unable to attack for a long time, its morale gradually declined, and some soldiers fled. Mo Jingdian ordered a blockade of the Lebanese army and strictly prohibited salt traders from entering the areas controlled by the Lebanese army, but some people still secretly carried salt into the fortress. At this time, the martial artist Shuo who surrendered to Mo sent a message to the Li army, wishing to return to the Li Dynasty.
After Li Yingzong received the letter from Shi Shuo, he gathered all the generals and led the troops on the left with Lai Shiqing, Li Jiedi and others. He named Zheng Song as the left prime minister and controlled the soldiers in the various camps.
Li Yingzong took himself as the capital general and led the army in the middle, while Huang Tingai, Deng Xun, Pan Gongji and others went out to the right. Yingzong received the martial arts master Shuo and led his troops to return, and gradually regained some lost territory.
By December, the remaining power of the Mo Dynasty was insufficient, and the supply of military supplies was gradually unsustainable. Mo Jingdian saw that he could not win, so he discussed: "It is already September to attack the powerful enemy, and we cannot succeed. Moreover, it is cold in winter, the rivers are drying up, and spring water is coming." , the miasma is about to arise, the soldiers are short of food, and people miss the old land. Who will work with me? Besides, my soldiers have been slacking off in bed, so why not return to the army temporarily, in order to advance later and win a complete victory? I want to stick to it. The ground may not be helpful to the situation and may be made fun of by the enemy." So the Mo army withdrew.
In this battle, the Mozambican army fought with all its strength, but in the end it failed to achieve its goal of exterminating Lebanon. Fortunately, the Mozambican army saw that the situation was unfavorable and was able to withdraw its troops in a timely manner, thus avoiding greater losses.
Thereafter, from the first year of Wanli to the first half of this year, the Mo Dynasty, led by Mo Jingdian, continuously attacked the Li Dynasty. In the end, they could only barely maintain the offensive and could not achieve any results.
However, Gao Jingshi recently checked the files about the Mo Dynasty in Guangxi, and found that there is one person in the Mo Dynasty who is worth noting, and that is Ruan Juan. Although Gao Jingshi has never met this person, judging from his achievements in recent years, this person He is expected to become a famous general - which means that this person may be an obstacle to Gao Pragmatic when he sends troops to Annan.
In the summer of the second year of Wanli, in June, Ruan Juan, who was then the general of Mo Chaonan, led an army to attack Nghe An, captured Ngong Jungong, the garrison of Ngong Province, and returned after a stalemate with Li Dynasty generals Pan Gongji and Zheng Mo for several months.
In the third year of Wanli, Mo Jingdian and Ruan Juan led their troops to attack Thanh Hoa and Nghe An. Among them, Mo Jingdian and Zheng Song fought in Thanh Hua. Ruan Juan and three generals of the Li Dynasty, Lai Shiqing, Zheng Mo and Pan Gongji, fought in Nghe An. Ruan Juan won every battle. He captured his general Pan Gongji and returned him.
In the fourth year of Wanli, the Mo army, led by Mo Jingdian, attacked Thanh Hoa and Nghe An. Ruan Juan fought with the Li Dynasty general Jinjun Gong Zheng Mo at Yushan in Qinghua, and captured Zheng Mo alive.
In other words, Ruan Juan attacked Nghe An three times for three consecutive years and captured General Hou Li three times. The file in Guangxi says, "Of course, Ruan Juan's prestige is rising day by day, and he is a famous general in Mo."
I just don’t know if Ruan Juan can gain the trust of Mo Dunrang even though he has gained a deputy position this time. If Mo Dunrang is willing to give up power to Ruan Juan, this southern expedition may also achieve some results.
Given Mo Chao's current situation, the result does not need to be great. As long as he can win, he can stabilize the domestic situation.
Gao pragmatic found that this was a good opportunity to send troops, a window period, Mo Chao's army marched south, regardless of whether they won or lost, at least their main force went south.
We must seize this opportunity to send troops. There is no excuse, and we will send troops even if we find excuses!
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