As the emperor expected, Gao Pingshi not only learned the news in Cining Palace, but also guessed the meaning of what the emperor said to the Empress Dowager Cisheng at that time.
In Gao Pragmatic's view, the emperor has three most important and critical sentences.
"It is said that he will be the protector of the south. If he succeeds in conquering Mobei in the future and sealing the wolf as his subordinate, I will not be stingy with the reward of being a marquis and bestowing the country on him."
"If I really look at it from this assumption, I think it will be difficult for the land of Yun and Gui to stop him. But for ministers who have made meritorious deeds, I don't think they have to be punished for crimes they want to inflict."
"I believe that as long as the relationship between me and Da Situ is maintained, and both parties are 'lords and ministers', at least while I and he are still alive, these things will not happen."
Of these three sentences, the first sentence is relatively independent, and its meaning is very clear. It means to make a wish by appointing an official, and to put the rewards and rewards directly on the face. As long as you complete it, I will give it to you.
But this promise was not complete, because after he finished speaking, the Queen Mother immediately expressed doubts.
The Queen Mother believed that Gao Jingzhi's strength and influence in southern Xinjiang were different from those of other nobles in the two capitals of the north and south. The emperor's so-called "granting of the country" - that is, the title of a prince, could not be done by just giving a name like other princes. It is a "granting of a country" that can only truly tear the earth apart and seal the king.
Then what? Then the emperor just smiled and gave no further clear answer. This means that either the emperor has a plan in mind but it is not convenient to say it now, or the emperor has not yet decided in his heart, and there are many variables in the matter.
As for the second and third sentences, they are both the emperor's responses to the Queen Mother's suspicion that Gao Pingxi was too powerful in southern Xinjiang. They are essentially two responses to the same question.
The subtext of the first sentence is "I also know that he is very strong in southern Xinjiang", and the subtext of the next sentence is "I think he can grasp the degree of this."
What degree? There are two degrees: the strength of one's own strength and the attitude towards the emperor and the court.
In terms of attitude, the emperor seems to be more confident, so he clearly said "at least while I and he are still alive, these things will not happen"; however, in terms of the strength of Nanjiang Jinghua, the emperor only pointed out that Jinghua is indeed very strong. But instead of further confirming what Gao Pragmatic would do, he said a "but".
"But I don't think it's necessary to punish meritorious ministers with the crime they want to inflict."
In the so-called grammatical terms, the former is an imperative sentence, also called a command sentence, which expresses complete affirmation; the latter's "but" is not the same, because he not only uses "but", but also "doesn't think it must be done in this way". If you want to inflict a crime, you will be trapped" - that is to say, there is still a chance to "try to inflict a crime and you will be trapped".
As a grassroots cadre who was a secretary in his previous life, Gao Pragmatic's sensitivity to the "spirit of instructions" is by no means ordinary. It is said that there has been such a big change in the choice of words and sentences. Even if it is just a change of one word, he can accurately detect and Do your analysis quickly to ensure you don't catch the mistake.
The emperor's words meant that he was not sure whether Gao Jingyi's strength in southern Xinjiang, especially his military strength, would expand further, and the emperor was not very sure about how he would respond if there was a further expansion. Be sure: You might just have to "trap yourself with the crime you want to inflict".
For Gao Pragmatic, this is equivalent to a warning or even a red line. This red line is not very clear, that is, how many people are the red line of troops in southern Xinjiang - however, it must exist.
However, the emperor's last key words revealed another hidden message, that is, the emperor agreed with the Empress Dowager Cisheng's previous point of view: the key to the strength of Southern Xinjiang is that Gao pragmatism himself is strong. Once Gao pragmatism himself does not exist, then The threat to the imperial court from southern Xinjiang was greatly reduced.
It is not difficult to explain that the Empress Dowager Cisheng had such an understanding, and it was even reasonable for the emperor to agree with her. Because in this era, most people agree with the saying: "A thousand troops are easy to get, but a general is hard to find."
In addition to this sentence, China has also had a more popular expression since ancient times: "A soldier is in danger, and a general is in a nest." Therefore, the role of famous generals has been emphasized from ancient times to the present, and looking at military history, it seems that this sentence , the correctness of this idea.
However, in the current Ming Dynasty, at least two people "do not completely agree" with this view. Of these two people, one is Qi Jiguang and the other is Gao pragmatism.
The reasons behind the victory of a war are extremely diverse, and the coach's wisdom is just one of them. When recruiting talents, the monarch may use the saying "a thousand troops are easy to obtain, but a general is difficult to find" and highlight the importance of key talents, but a real war will never be that simple.
Unfortunately, this is said so much now that even the emperor or the ruling class himself completely believes it.
The stories of heroes and war gods are indeed attractive, so the saying "it's easy to make an army, it's difficult to general" is becoming more and more popular. It seems that all military confrontations are the stage for the gods of war and warrior saints to show their genius.
In short, as long as you have a God of War, your military operations will be smooth sailing and your army will be invincible. On the other hand, if you lose a battle, it must be because your generals are all idiots, or the enemy has a god of war who can crush your generals.
However, in Gao's pragmatic view, the main factor that determines the outcome of a war is logistics.
Sun Tzu said: Any method of using military force, including thousands of chariots, thousands of leather chariots, a hundred thousand armors, and food supplies for thousands of miles, requires a thousand gold per day for internal and external expenses, guests, glue and paint, and chariots and armor. Then a hundred thousand troops were raised.
During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing were able to beat the Xiongnu to screams. This was inseparable from their outstanding personal abilities, but the more important reason was that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was willing to spend money and had the money to burn.
If this "thousand army" is a slave driven by King Zhou, if it is a forbidden army of domestic pigs raised by the Song Dynasty, if it is a strong man brought by Kaishen Logistics, then it is naturally quite "easy to get". However, it is difficult to win the war because of this. The meat-eaters are not careful, but lament that the lack of famous generals leads to failure, as if Zhuge Liang falls from the sky and his side will win.
In the eyes of the vast majority of rulers and ruling classes at this time, soldiers were not living people at all, but just wild monsters caught in the fields and mountains. They were found all over the mountains and plains, so naturally it was "easy to get a thousand troops."
However, these thousands of troops are driven with whips and guarded like thieves, and at the same time they are expected to sacrifice their lives for themselves. What can happen if there are only one or two generals? Therefore, high-quality soldiers are actually very important, and in Gao's pragmatic eyes, this still belongs to the category of "logistics", and not only material support counts as logistics.
The soldiers on one side are strong and well-trained, while the soldiers on the other side are old, weak, sick, and a motley crew. In such a fight, does the victorious side really need a "god of war" to lead it?
But how do you get high-quality soldiers? Of course it is very simple on the surface, just strictly select the sources of troops and add scientific training.
When Wu Qi selected "martial soldiers" in Wei State, he was required to be fully armed, carry three days' rations, and run a hundred miles in half a day; when Malong in the Western Jin Dynasty selected soldiers to fight Xianbei, he was required to be able to pull thirty-six-jun crossbows and four-jun bows; Qi Jiguang's selection of troops in Yiwu raised the requirements even more. Not only must he be physically strong, but he must also be honest and obedient to orders.
With strong soldiers, rigorous training comes next. The tips for training soldiers are naturally more advanced, but they do not require genius. There are a lot of chapters about military training in the "Seven Books of Martial Arts", and Qi Jiguang also completed "Records of Military Training" a few years ago.
It stands to reason that even if you don't have Qi Jiguang's ability and can be "groundbreaking", it shouldn't be difficult to follow the script, right? But why couldn't later generals follow suit? Why are there still only a few military geniuses who can become tiger and wolf warriors?
Therefore, selecting and training soldiers seems simple, but in fact it is too difficult, because in addition to selecting soldiers according to standards, there are three key conditions behind them: the first is money; the second is also money; and the third is money. It’s still money!
Wu Qi, Ma Long, and Qi Jiguang were able to select thousands of troops despite such harsh conditions, so the number of people who signed up for the election must be at least tens of thousands.
Are these tens of thousands of candidates forced to run? Obviously not, it can only be voluntary. Because if he is forced, then he deliberately runs slower when running, and deliberately fails to draw the bow when he draws it. Wouldn't it be easy to be eliminated?
Of course it's difficult to get the top prize, but it can't be difficult to fail, right?
Moreover, although the "tiger and wolf division" are powerful in fighting, they also need more "rewards". As a monarch or commander, you must spend a large amount of money to maintain the operation of this "tiger and wolf division". For example, if you don't have enough money to support weapons and equipment, no matter how hard you make steel, it will degenerate into a soft thing.
But judging from today's conversation between the Queen Mother and the Emperor, the mother and son definitely had a high opinion of Gao Jingshi's military abilities - at least Gao Jingshi insisted on thinking so.
Let’s make the simplest assumption: if Gao Gong hadn’t accepted General Xuanda as his “direct lineage” in the early years, it would have facilitated Gao’s pragmatic command during the Battle of Monan; The shotguns were replaced with cannons, and they had enough firepower and bayonet formation system to control the cavalry on foot; if Gao Pragmatic had not been able to command several town border troops, and had the right to kill the town frontier troops under his command first and then report; if there had not been the "Longwan Reform" to strengthen the court's financial resources , so that the frontier army would not lose food and pay during the battle, and the ordnance could be exchanged; if I had not paid tribute for many years, Tumote would not be able to leave the Ming trade system at all...
Without all of this, would Gao Pragmatic take the lead and fight hundreds of thousands of cavalry in the Battle of Monan? You must know that during that battle, Xin Ai and Tumen fought with real fire, even at the cost of casualties. It was not the original hide-and-seek battle.
Therefore, Gao Pragmatic has always believed that although his record is dazzling, it is not because his personal talent really crushed anyone, but because his layout was early enough and comprehensive enough! What he is good at is always "internal strength" more than "external strength", and "strategy" is always better than "tactics".
However, the Empress Dowager Cisheng, who did not understand military affairs, did not see it that way, nor did the emperor, who suffered from "High Pragmatism Dependence". Both of them thought that the most powerful person was Gao Pragmatism, not those who were almost completely reborn. frontier soldiers.
Ridiculous? ridiculous.
Is it sad? It's also quite sad.
But the problem is, not only is things like this now, it is even inconvenient for Gao Pragmatic to explain, because the imperial court is opening the vassal ban.
With the whole country firmly believing that "a thousand troops are easy to come by, a general is hard to find", the imperial court needed Gao Pragmatic, "the best literary commander in the world", to sit at the center to deter vassals, clans and individual careerists from taking rash actions. .
How embarrassing! It's terrible! After raising Wang for so many years, I suddenly found that I had raised Wang too much!
In the small conference room, apart from Gao Pragmatic himself, the only people left after the meeting were Huang Zhiting, Liu Xin and Gao Mo. After listening to Gao Pragmatic's complaints, the three of them looked at each other.
Huang Zhiting is the one who most firmly disagrees with Gao Jingshi's "self-effacing". She believes that Gao Jingshi's "full preparation" itself is the most typical embodiment of "handsome talent". Think about it, at his early age, he was able to promote and lead such high-level and large-scale strategic preparations. If this is not a handsome talent, why should he be called a handsome talent?
Not only does she think so, Liu Xin and Gao Mo also hold this view, but if this is the case, it means that Gao Pragmatic, the "first general", is indeed very "hard to find", which cannot be said to be the concern of the Queen Mother and the Emperor. It doesn't make sense.
The three of them thought hard for a long time, and Liu Xin said with rare caution: "If... I mean if, if I don't direct the battle of Chahar, will there be a handsome man among the courtiers who can be as famous as the master? And then reduce the pressure on the master?"
Huang Zhiting frowned slightly, but didn't say anything; Gao Mo seemed a little moved and rolled his eyes. Both of them looked at Gao Qingshi at the same time.
Gao Pingshi thought for a moment, frowned and sighed, "I'm afraid this won't be easy."
"What aspect is difficult?" Liu Xin asked.
"It's not easy in all aspects." Gao Pragmatic shook his head slightly: "First of all, I have been pushing for the decisive battle in Chahar, and it was I who set the situation under the current conditions. Not only has the emperor made such preparations, Moreover, a consensus has been formed between the government and the opposition. If it changes suddenly, all parties may be at a loss as to what to do.
Secondly, although I don't think I'm really a famous commander or general, I can't belittle myself. At least in the current court, I really can't find a more suitable commander than me - unless the emperor personally conquers the army. It's a pity that even a three-year-old child knows that after the civil war in the Ming Dynasty, neither the government nor the public will agree to another personal conquest.
The last point is, if I really find an excuse to refuse to lead troops into battle, what will the emperor think? Would he think that I was trying to threaten him, or would he think that I had completely distrusted him and that once I made new achievements, he would kill the donkey and kill the rabbit? Based on my understanding of him, he might think that I am insulting him, which would make the trouble even greater. "
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