In the Wenhua Hall, the emperor summoned the couple.
Cabinet Chief Assistant Shen Shixing, Second Assistant Xu Guo and Group Assistants Zhang Xueyan, Wu Dui, Wang Jiaping and Wang Xijue were the first to arrive. Shortly afterwards, Gao Pragmatic, the Minister of Hubu, who was summoned from outside the palace, and Liang Menglong, the Minister of War, also arrived together.
The two of them went forward to pay homage to the emperor and were given a seat. Since the other six were all elders of the pavilion, they had to sit at the end of the table.
Zhu Yijun wanted to see no one when the ministers shouted "Zhengguoben", and he didn't show much interest in this year's Dinghai imperial inspection. However, as soon as the news from Liaodong came, he immediately issued an order to summon them. It can be seen that in his In his heart, he has his own considerations for all matters, whether light, heavy, slow or urgent.
"Everyone has heard the news about Liaodong, so I won't repeat it again. What do you have to say about the current situation?" Zhu Yijun looked around and asked in a slightly lower tone.
In this situation, either Shen Shixing will speak first as the first assistant, or Liang Menglong will answer first as the person directly responsible. But Shen Shixing looked calm and looked at his nose and heart. He didn't seem to have any intention of speaking.
Liang Menglong glanced at it and had to stand up and salute Zhu Yijun: "Your Majesty, although Menggebulu's defeat in the first battle was slightly unexpected by the Ministry of War, the other situations were basically within the Ministry of War's previous expectations. Your Majesty, there is no need to Too worried.”
Zhu Yijun nodded slightly, but there was no emotional change on his face. He looked at Liang Menglong and asked, "What did the Ministry of War have in mind before?"
Liang Menglong bowed slightly, extended his hand towards Gao Pragmatic and pointed blankly, and said: "Before taking office, Da Sinong had some exchanges with his ministers about the situation in Liaodong. At that time, the imperial court only learned that Tumen was sending troops east to attack Ye He. . At that time, both ministers thought that Nurhaci would definitely send troops, and the most likely possibility was to go north to attack Hada."
Liang Menglong subconsciously stretched out his hand and gestured, and said: "The situation in Liaodong, if we look at the Jurchen range east of Kaiyuan, Yehe is in the north, Hada is in the middle, and Jianzhou is in the southeast. The rest are Su Wan, Wula and other tribes. It is not directly bordered by our Ming Dynasty, and must be connected through these three parts.
Therefore, at that time, Great Sinong had a judgment that Tumen and Nurhachi might have united before this battle. The purpose was probably that Tumen would occupy Yehe and Nurhachi would occupy Hada. The two parties would work together to cut off the direct connection between the Jurchen tribes and the Ming Dynasty. connect. "
Zhu Yijun frowned: "Ye He is also a Jurchen, why does Nurhachi care so little about the feelings of his fellow clan?"
Liang Menglong shook his head and said: "What do you think of the barbarians? The Jurchen tribes have always had constant disputes and wars. Yesterday they were allies, but now they are enemies. Moreover, when Da Sinong was serving as the governor of Liao, he deliberately provoked Ye The hatred between He and Jianzhou, and now there is actually a hatred between Ye He and Nurhaci for killing their father. It is not surprising that Nurhachi wants to use Tumen's hands to destroy Ye He."
Zhu Yijun asked: "Isn't he afraid that other Jurchens will scold him for inviting wolves into his house?"
"This is not his concern." Liang Menglong replied: "Jurchen tribes are also called countries, and they are not regarded as one. They are similar to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms of the Central Plains."
Zhu Yijun nodded, accepted this statement, and asked: "Now that Ye He is in danger, Hada seems to be unable to resist Nurhachi. If I, the Ming Dynasty, are indifferent, I am afraid their plot will be realized." At this point, he As if remembering something, he turned to Gao Pragmatic and asked: "To be honest, since you said that Tumen and Nurhachi want to separate Yehe and Hada, what is the reason for this? But they want to join forces to fight against me, the Ming Dynasty?"
Gao pragmatic also stood up and held his hands, saying: "What Tumen and Nurhaci did is actually the two passes between the north and the south."
The two passes in the north and south are the south pass and the north pass. People in the Ming Dynasty called Hada Nanguan and Yehe Beiguan. The "south and north" are centered on Kaiyuan. The "pass" in the North and South Passes actually does not refer to the pass or pass, but to the pass city.
In other words, in the eyes of Ming people, Hada and Yehe are just two trade markets, one in the south and the other in the north.
"For the sake of the North and South Passes?" Zhu Yijun asked in surprise: "They want to isolate Gongshi?"
"Of course it's not isolation, on the contrary, they want to connect with Damingong City." Gao Pragmatic said calmly.
Zhu Yijun was stunned for a moment, then immediately laughed angrily: "Hada, Yehe and Zhubeile are all officials conferred by the Ming Dynasty. No matter how they perform, they are at least generals who guard the border for the Ming Dynasty. Tumen and Nurhachi attacked our territory in vain. , deceived me into becoming an official, and are so rebellious and unethical, yet you still expect me, the Ming Dynasty, to grant tribute to you?"
Gao pragmatism said calmly: "I'm afraid that if the two pigs really succeed, it will be difficult for me, the Ming Dynasty, to deal with it. Maybe I will be coerced by them and allow them to be sold as tribute."
Zhu Yijun was greatly surprised: "Why is this?"
Gao Jingshi shook his head slightly and sighed: "If there is no North and South Guanbian City, where will the furs, Dongzhu and other things that I need come from? Does the Emperor know the key to this?"
Of course, Zhu Yijun was not very clear. He shook his head in confusion, then frowned and said, "Let me know and let's see how difficult it is."
Gao pragmatically nodded and said: "I would like to make a clear distinction for the emperor, and please listen to my explanation." So he introduced the situation of Kaiyuan Horse Market, that is, the North and South Passes, to the emperor.
After roughly the Chenghua period, the commodities traded in the Kaiyuan Horse Market no longer focused on basic living necessities such as rice, salt, horses and cattle, but switched to luxury goods trading mainly on mink, rat skin, and ginseng. At this time and later, the political situation of the Ming Dynasty was stable, the economy continued to develop, and the luxurious atmosphere of the capital court and the upper class brought huge consumer demand for fur products.
For example, the Ming Dynasty palace recorded in "Ziuzhongzhi" required more than 10,000 mink skins and more than 60,000 fox skins every year. Bureaucrats paid bribes, and mink fur was also an important gift.
Of course, the so-called palace demand is actually not just the palace's own consumption, because the imperial court has a system of granting minks to ministers. To this day, the imperial court purchases thousands of mink pelts directly from Kaiyuan every year.
What needs to be made clear is that these "thousands of mink pelts per year" were only purchased directly by the court in Kaiyuan. The amount purchased by the court from the private sector and the amount of trade transferred by the private sector were not calculated. If the private trade is included If you include them, this number will increase greatly, and it will even be impossible to calculate clearly.
The above is only talking about mink skin. Others such as sea otter, fox skin, tiger skin, rat skin (mink, green mouse, chinchilla, etc.), fungus, matsutake, Dongzhu, etc. are not included.
This is from the perspective of goods, and from the perspective of trade routes, the North and South Passes are also extremely important.
The trade between Liaodong and the Jurchen region in the Ming Dynasty centered on Kaiyuan, and there were two main trade routes: one started from the lower reaches of Heilongjiang, traced up to the Heilongjiang and Songhua Rivers, and then turned southwest through the vicinity of present-day Harbin to Kaiyuan; the other went from the south of Xianjing in North Korea The road goes northeast along the Tumen River, passes through Changbai Mountain around the upper reaches of the Songhua River, and goes southwest to Kaiyuan.
The Haixi Jurchen Hada tribe and the Yehe tribe built strongholds outside Guangshun Pass and Zhenbeiguan respectively, precisely to utilize and control these two trade routes. In addition, Kaiyuan also occupies the tunnel on the route from Mongolia to the back door of Korea.
"The reason why Xianji Road was so fertile with good horses before was that it was connected to the original road and was interbred with the Tatar horses. Now it is blocked from the original road. It has been fifty years since then and the Tatar horse breed has become extinct."
Because of this, this trade route from Mongolia and the Jurchen region to Kaiyuanma City is called the "Golden Road" by the Mongols and Jurchens in inland Asia.
Gao Pragmatic explained these two points to Zhu Yijun, and he roughly meant two things: First, if trade between the North and South Passes was cut off, many domestic furs and other luxury goods would soon be out of stock, which would cause economic fluctuations. Although this fluctuation will not affect the national economy and people's livelihood, it will also affect economic activity.
In particular, Gao Pragmatic also hinted that according to his plan, when the court levies comprehensive commercial taxes in the future, high taxes will be levied on "luxury goods" - cutting off this trade route will directly affect the court's income.
Secondly, if the north-south trade routes are cut off, although it will have a strong economic impact on the Jurchens or even the border regimes including the Mongolian left wing and even North Korea, at the same time, the imperial court's power to restrain them will also be greatly weakened. .
At the same time, the centripetal force towards the Ming court became weaker and weaker, such as Su Wan, Huifa, Wula and even the wild Jurchen. If things go on like this, it would not be surprising if these "territorialities" are completely lost.
Gao Pangshi made it very clear and even listed a lot of data. Zhu Yijun became more and more serious as he listened, and finally he was absolutely sure: cutting off the northern and southern Guanbian cities would not only damage the reputation, but sooner or later the face would also be lost.
Although Gao Pragmatic has made it clear that if the northern and southern Guanbian cities are really cut off, Tumen and Nurhaci’s troops will be 80% in vain, and only 20% will be considered real benefits - after all, the expanded sphere of influence - - But Zhu Yijun still feels that this "deal" is not worthwhile.
Especially the "luxury tax" hinted by Gao Jingshi. None of the cabinet ministers and Liang Menglong here knew about it, but he knew it. Gao Jingshi had already mentioned it to him. Gao Pragmatic even took the initiative to say that in the future, high-end soaps such as "Guoshi" and "Tianxiang" could be classified as luxury goods to show that he would lead by example and treat everyone equally.
According to highly pragmatic calculations, the "luxury tax" will be a very important item in the commercial tax in the future. If the whole country is added together, it will collect at least hundreds of thousands of taels of silver every year. How can there be any room for failure?
He didn’t know whether he was born like this or was led astray by his high pragmatism. As soon as Zhu Yijun figured out that this matter was linked to money, or even that it was so involved, he immediately made up his mind and said categorically: "In that case, these two Ye He and Hada, I The Ming Dynasty will never allow Tumen and Nurhachi to get involved! Look..."
He originally planned to ask Gao Wushi directly what to do next, but suddenly he remembered that Gao Wushi was no longer the Minister of Rongzheng, and that today there were also ministers and Liang Menglong, the minister of the Ministry of War, present, so he had to change his words temporarily: "Dear sirs, Gao The Qing family has just analyzed the pros and cons clearly enough, I doubt you all will object to preserving Ye He and Hada?"
His question was a bit "artistic". In addition, several cabinet elders could not find any reason to object to Gao Pangshi's statement just now, so they all agreed with the emperor's decision. However, Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue quietly looked at each other and saw deep worry in each other's eyes.
The worry is certain, because according to Gao Pragmatic's statement and the emperor's judgment, since Tumen and Nurhaci cannot be tolerated to get involved in Yehe and Hada, Ming's attitude is obviously very clear, and they can only be tough to the end.
To be tough in this era, it is definitely not enough to make a solemn statement or strong protest after entering a "civilized society". Ninety-nine percent of the time, it is to go to war directly.
If we want to start a war, then the problem arises.
Because Li Chengliang actually guarded western Liaoning, the Xinxue School's position on the Liaodong issue has always been that "Western Liaoning can be fought, and Liaodong must be reconciled." However, Kaiyuan is obviously under the jurisdiction of Liaodong and is mainly responsible for Cao Yun.
Cao Yu is a highly pragmatic person. Needless to say, Kaiyuan Shenjiang Ma Chengxun is also a highly pragmatic person. The same goes for other Liaonan military commander Ma Dong, Shenyang guerrilla Qi Jin and others. Almost all the main generals east of the Liaohe River have been replaced by high-pragmatic people from the practical school.
Once the war starts, even if Gao Pragmatic cannot go in person this time, isn't it still his stage?
Zhu Yijun didn't pay that much attention. He thought about it and asked: "How many soldiers do Tumen have in Yehe? Where is Nurhachi? In addition, how many soldiers do Cao Yu and other generals have now, and how many can they produce?"
Gao Pragmatic knows this question very well, but he is not in his position now and has no political agenda. He can only wait for Liang Menglong to answer.
Liang Menglong seemed to have heard clearly, and without any hesitation at the moment, he immediately said: "According to the current intelligence reports, Tumen sent about 20,000 troops this time, and Nurhaci sent about 4,000 to 5,000 troops. However, the previous time with Meng Gebulu In the battle, he only invested 3,000 men and won a great victory. The remaining more than 1,000 troops may have been dispersed elsewhere and were not detected.
As for our heavenly soldiers, as far as Kaiyuan alone is concerned, it has jurisdiction over Tieling, Thirty Thousand and Liaohai three guards. It has five cities and twenty side forts, with military buildings and more than 15,500 soldiers. If the entire east of the Liao River is included, tens of thousands of troops will be summoned. "
This was very uplifting, but because Gao Jingshi had been in charge of Liao Dynasty before, Zhu Yijun knew that Liang Menglong was playing tricks here.
Jiliao and Xuanda are the most elite border towns of the Ming Dynasty, but they have not reached full strength. On average, they have about 80% full strength. Therefore, Kaiyuan's military strength is only more than 12,000, less than 10,000. The number is thirteen thousand. Of course, the founding general is Ma Chengxun, and he must have elite Ma family soldiers in his hands, but it is said that the number is limited, at most three or four thousand. In total, Kaiyuan had about 13,000 soldiers.
As for the "tens of thousands of troops coming as soon as they are summoned" east of the Liao River, this is true. Gao Pragmatic also told him last year. However, these tens of thousands of troops cannot be moved at will. Not to mention that it is impossible for all the troops scattered in the Liaodong plains and Liaonan mountains to be evacuated. It is also impossible to say that all the current reserves in Liaodong can be used in Ye. He and Hada.
Liaodong does have strategic reserves, which were deliberately started to be stored by Gao Pinggong when he took office. However, these reserves are obviously made for launching a fatal blow to Tumen in the future. Spending them on Hada and Yehe is more of a trap.
Judging from what Liang Menglong just said, Tumen only sent 20,000 troops this time, and Liaodong did not seem to be making too much of a fuss.
At this moment, when it comes to saving, save it.
Zhu Yijun thought for a while and asked: "How to fight this battle? Does the Ministry of War have a plan?"
