Zhu Yijun hoped that Burma would withdraw its troops early, of course because he did not want to see the Burmese army burning, killing, and looting on the land of the Ming Dynasty. This did not conflict with Liu Wei and Deng Zilong's sending troops south to attack Burma.
To achieve this, there is basically only one condition that needs to be met, and that is to make Mang Yingli feel the serious instability in the rear, which has even threatened his rule.
There are usually only two situations that threaten the rule: one is a palace coup and the throne is replaced; the other is an invasion by foreign enemies and troops coming to the city.
The path of palace coup is obviously unworkable. Not to mention that Ming Dynasty has no communication with high-level people in Myanmar. Even Gao Pragmatism can't figure out who the ministers are staying in the capital of Myanmar. They don't even know them and who they support. coup?
As for the possibility of a defeat at the front and a coup at the rear, it is hard to say that there is no such possibility, but the premise is obvious. If there was not an unprecedented defeat at the front, how could there be an inexplicable coup at the rear?
Therefore, the only way to prompt the Burmese army to withdraw southward is if the military pressure from the rear is too great and the Burmese mainland and even the capital of Burma are threatened with loss.
But this is actually very difficult to do.
Just look at the map and you will know that if we send troops from Annan and land in Siam, the closest area to Myanmar will be the Gulf of Siam. Calculated based on the straight-line distance from Ayutthaya (the capital of Siam) to Taungoo, the capital of Myanmar, it is more than 1,500 miles. How far is this distance? The distance from Kunming, Yunnan to Taungu City is basically the same.
What's more, marching operations cannot cover a straight distance. In fact, they may have to cover nearly two thousand miles.
Therefore, it is impossible for Siam to sneak attack the capital of Myanmar. Even the German troops from World War II would not be able to do it - because the terrain is poor and the roads are still bad, the German troops will not be able to carry out a blitzkrieg.
Zhu Yijun flipped through the Kantu map of Southern Xinjiang and thought of this factor. He couldn't help but be a little suspicious: "Is there really a way?"
Gao pragmatically said: "There is a way, but Annan Dutongsi will have to spend a lot of money to Beijing."
Zhu Yijun was stunned when he heard this, and asked inexplicably: "Where do you start talking about this?"
Gao pragmatically spread his hands and said: "Is this... To put it simply, the Annan Metropolitan Command paid Jinghua to send a fleet to the Motama Bay in Myanmar, landed elite troops near Bago, and then directly marched northward? , threatening Taungoo City, the capital of Myanmar, forcing the main force of the Myanmar Army to return to rescue as soon as possible."
Zhu Yijun looked at the map of Kanyu and frowned: "Where are these places you mentioned? I can only see the location of Toungu City here."
Gao pragmatic was stunned for a moment, then stood up and walked to Zhu Yijun to take a look, only to find that the map of Nanjiang Kan in Zhu Yijun's hand was extremely crude. Many places were not marked, and even the proportions of the map were not right. He drew it from memory when he was in junior high school. Maps of Southeast Asia drawn are ten times more accurate than this.
"Your Majesty's map... is a little out of date and not very accurate." Gao Pingshi coughed lightly and said, "During the Battle of Annan, I sent someone to draw a more detailed and accurate map of southern Xinjiang, but at that time, the map was not very accurate. After finishing this, I forgot about this incident. Fortunately, I still remember it in general. How about I simply draw a picture for the emperor? It will be more convenient for us to talk about things according to the picture. "
Zhu Yijun naturally agreed, but this matter was still very secret. He didn't plan to ask anyone to come in to help, so he simply found paper for Gao Jingshi to spread out, and Gao Jingshi polished the ink himself.
Zhu Yijun laid out paper and moistened his pen while jokingly saying: "In ancient times, there was Li Taibai, a powerful man taking off his boots, and a noble concubine holding an inkstone. Today, there is a high-minded emperor unrolling a scroll, and an emperor serving a pen, tsk tsk..."
Zhu Yijun could say this, but he was very pragmatic but couldn't help but react. He quickly took a step back and bowed: "I'll be punished by death. I'd better do it myself."
Zhu Yijun laughed, waved his hand and said, "It's just a joke, do you still take it seriously?"
Gao Pragmatic said with a solemn expression: "I don't know whether the emperor takes it seriously, and I don't dare to speculate on it, but I don't dare not to take it seriously."
Zhu Yijun was stunned for a moment, and then said thoughtfully: "Well... the comparison I just made was a bit wrong. You and Li Taibai were completely different. Poetry is a small thing, but you are writing for state affairs now. Since it is a state matter, I just unroll the scrolls and pens for you personally, so why not? In the past, there was a poem in the World Temple: "On the day of peace and waiting for the imperial edict to return, I will undress the general's war robe." That was for state affairs. Who would say that the World Temple Did it go wrong? Who would say that Mao Bowen was not worthy of that scene? The same is true today."
Before Gao Jingshi could say anything more, Zhu Yijun had already waved his hand and said: "Okay, okay, the truth has been explained. It's your fault if you shirk it anymore. If you treat me with respect and don't dare to go beyond the rules, sooner or later I will be bored." I'm sick... Let's draw a picture quickly, I have something else to talk about later."
Gao Jingshi had no choice but to say: "I have overstepped my bounds." Then he picked up the imperial brush, dipped it in ink, and drew a simplified map of Indochina on the paper laid out by Zhu Yijun.
It didn't take long to sketch out a simple map. Gao Pragmatic quickly finished it, marking and naming nearly twenty important places.
Zhu Yijun looked at the picture drawn by Gao Pingshi and felt a little uncomfortable. He said, "Does your small circle represent a city? What are these polylines? Mountains?"
It turns out that on the maps of the Ming Dynasty, cities were drawn in the shape of city walls, and mountains were drawn directly in the shape of mountains, so Zhu Yijun was a little uncomfortable looking at the highly pragmatic "modern style" maps.
Gao Pragmatic had to explain a little more, and then got back to the subject and said: "Look, Your Majesty, Annan originally sent troops to land from the Gulf of Siam. In this way, he only needed to walk along the coastline from Golden Port and bypass the peninsula in southern Cambodia. The risk is very small. But if you want to take a detour to Bago, you have to go directly through Nanyang, especially here..."
He pointed to the vicinity of the Strait of Malacca and said: "This is what our Ming Dynasty calls the Strait of Malacca. This strait is called the Strait of Malacca. Uh... I am more accustomed to calling it the Strait of Malacca. The situation here is different from the past. , has been occupied by the Folangji people, and Folangji is currently the maritime overlord in Nanyang and other regions. Jinghua's fleet will pass through the Strait of Malacca to Bago. It is difficult to say how the Folangji people will react, so Jinghua must Considering the possible losses, it is impossible for the Annan Metropolitan Division to send Jinghua out without spending money."
Zhu Yijun looked strange and said hesitantly: "Isn't Jinghua yours?"
"Yes, Jinghua naturally belongs to me." Gao pragmatic touched his nose and said with an innocent face: "But the Annan Metropolitan Commandery does not belong to me! How come the Annan Metropolitan Commandery can get such a big Cambodia once it wins this time? And I, Jinghua, have to work for him for free?"
Zhu Yijun was stunned for a long time, and finally coughed dryly: "Your logic is really... impeccable."
But after all, he thought in his heart: It seems that pragmatism only regards Annan as a place to make money under his control, and he has not thought about treating Annan as a fiefdom or territory. Liu Shouyou went over Chen Ju and reported that the pragmatic people in Annan were "more powerful than the generals and more polite than the emperor". He was really blind. Fortunately, I didn't believe his stupid words.
At this time, Gao Pragmatic was still in the mood to joke, and said with a cup of his hand: "Your Majesty has given me the reward. Although my expenses are not luxurious, I enjoy the process of making money. Since there are reasonable and legal opportunities to make money, why not make it? ?”12
Zhu Yijun's heart moved, and he asked with a haha: "Ah ha, yes, yes... Annan takes Cambodia, and you will have more opportunities to make money, right?"
Gao Pragmatic didn't seem to hear the profound meaning at all, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty clearly sees that if Annan takes Cambodia, the cultivated land area will be larger, and they will have more food left by then, so I can take advantage of this opportunity." We will buy more grain from Annan and transport it to Liaodong to replenish military supplies, so that we won’t have to worry about running out of grain and grass when we have a decisive battle with Tumen in the future.”
Is that what happened?
Zhu Yijun laughed from the bottom of his heart this time and said: "Okay, okay, I understand. This is what you have said many times before. Of course, the business must be done well, but if you can make some more money by the way, that will be even better." Okay—that’s what you mean, right?”
"The Emperor's Holy Might."
Zhu Yijun waved his hand: "Since Annan can provide food and grass to Liaodong, it is a well-deserved reward to get Cambodia. This is no problem, I am sure."
Gao Pragmatic smiled and cupped his hands: "On behalf of the soldiers and people of Liaodong, I would like to express my gratitude to the Emperor."
There is something artistic about this. He did not say that he thanked Zhu Yijun on behalf of Annan, but said that he thanked him on behalf of Liaodong.
Zhu Yijun waved his hands with a smile, and then said hesitantly: "Will this plan of a sea expedition of thousands of miles be a bit risky? What if the Fo Langji people refuse to let Jinghua's fleet pass through the Strait of Malacca..."
Gao Jingshi said calmly: "Then let's fight."
Zhu Yijun was stunned: "Are you sure? Didn't you say that Fo Langji is now the overlord of the Nanyang Sea?"
Gao Pragmatic couldn't explain it too clearly, so he just said: "The Nanyang Overlord is true, but the emperor also knows that those small countries in Nanyang do not have much strength, and they are a mess. It is not surprising that the Folangji people can overwhelm them. In addition, Folangji people are overwhelmed. Langji's homeland is far away from Nanyang, and Jinghua suddenly moves south in large numbers. They may not be able to concentrate their efforts immediately to deal with it. It is possible that they can get through it just by talking, but they may not necessarily fight."
After all, Zhu Yijun knew almost nothing about the situation in Nanyang. After hearing what Gao Pragmatic said, he believed it. He breathed a sigh of relief and said: "That's good. In this way, as long as Annan's troops and horses land, they can fight better." , it is best to raid Taungoo City in one fell swoop, then Myanmar will have to quickly withdraw its troops and return reinforcements."
Gao Pragmatic knew that there was actually another question here, which was how many people Annan sent to fight this landing raid. If it was more, could the logistics support be ensured? If it was less, could the effect of the raid be guaranteed. Even more crucially, once the Burmese army returns to support, how will these Annan troops withdraw?
But Zhu Yijun obviously didn't care about this. No matter how many Annan soldiers died, he would not be sad. And Gao Jingshi couldn't say it clearly, he could only arrange it privately - the court might not know that Annan's soldiers and horses were actually his soldiers and horses, not to mention that even if they knew, the court would probably want more Annan soldiers to die. .
This matter can only be arranged privately. It is a daydream to expect Zhu Yijun or the entire court to sincerely care about Annan's life and death.
Not to mention that Annan dispatched troops this time, they were drawn from the two major garrison forces. Most of them were Annan local soldiers. Only the middle and high-level officers were Ming Dynasty people (the members of the Gao family). Even if the troops dispatched were from the Cen and Huang families, The court did not necessarily cherish the chieftain's wolf soldiers very much. At most, they were worried that if the wolf soldiers were lost too much, the situation in Annan would be unstable.
Zhu Yijun didn't ask how much money Gao Jingshi planned to "blackmail" Annan Dutongsi. He skipped the second strategy and asked: "Let's finish the first two strategies. What is the third strategy?"
Gao Pingshi smiled and said: "The third strategy is to actually solve the problem of 'where does the military pay come from?'"
Zhu Yijun perked up after hearing this, breathed a long sigh of relief, and said: "I thought you had forgotten this... To tell you the truth, although the plans you just made are quite cost-effective, especially those in Annan, Siam, and Laos. By the way, it can be said that the court does not need to spend a penny, which is indeed a clever idea.
However, it is different in Yunnan. Although the court does not need to pay military salaries to mobilize the chieftains' troops, they still have to provide food and grass supplies. And the court now... I did a rough calculation. Even if we fight like this, two hundred thousand taels of silver will definitely be indispensable. .
In particular, the food supply in Yunnan and Guizhou is not sufficient. In this war with Burma, whether the military food enters Yunnan from Sichuan or Huguang, the distance is not close, and the road is difficult to travel, so there must be a lot of losses. This has further increased the burden on the court. I doubt that even 200,000 taels may be enough in the end. "
Gao pragmatically said: There is no need to doubt it, it is definitely not enough. Even if the number of Han soldiers is reduced, you must know that the military pay and rewards of those servants are not at the same level as those of the guards. The normal military salary of a servant is about the same as that of three guardsmen. In wartime, it is even more exaggerated, and it is not surprising that it reaches the level of five guardsmen.
In addition, the court had to bear the food and grass supplies for the soldiers. Although two hundred thousand taels sounds like a small amount, it is actually impossible to use. No matter how frugally this battle is fought, the cost will be at least three hundred thousand taels. above. If Liu Wei and Deng Zilong's servants suffered greater losses, it would be possible to spend 400,000 taels - if they could successfully pass on this loss to the court.
As for if the transfer is unfavorable, it may be the same as the original history. The military discipline of Liu Wei and Deng Zilong cannot be guaranteed, and they can only "recover their roots" by looting places. Although those places were the original territories of the external Xuanwei Division, they would still cause the Xuanwei Division to become alienated from the imperial court, and the imperial court would have to bear the final trouble.
Gao pragmatism pondered and said: "Your Majesty, Youdao is 'the most important thing of the country is to sacrifice and serve the army'. My consistent attitude is that the cost of war must not be saved. I would rather think of ways to raise money than to The soldiers and horses on the front line are starved, so I would like to be more generous with the amount of expenditure."
Zhu Yijun smiled bitterly and said, "Then how much do you think this battle will cost?"
"Double that, four hundred thousand taels." Gao pragmatically said.
Zhu Yijun's face twitched, as if he had a toothache, and his eyes widened: "That's doubled? Let me not say why there are still so many after the first two strategies, let me ask: Where will so much money come from? "
Gao Pragmatic smiled and said: "Your Majesty, don't be anxious, I have my own way."
Zhu Yijun stared: "Then what are you waiting for? Tell me!"
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Thanks to book friends "Mao Chi" and "Shen Domination 2" for their monthly support, thank you!
Thanks to book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your reward and support, thank you!
