Zhu Yijun noticed that when Gao pragmatically mentioned the use of troops, he was not talking about Song Liangzuo's use of troops, but Liu Wei's use of troops. He couldn't help but feel moved, and asked tentatively: "Liu Wei is responsible for quelling the chaos in Bozhou?"
This sentence seems straightforward, but it is actually a bit cryptic. That is, according to tradition, Song Liangzuo, as "the governor of Sichuan and other places and the admiral of military affairs", is a veritable "Fujun". Among the provinces that sent troops to pacify Bozhou, Sichuan was the leader, so Song Liangzuo should be a veritable commander-in-chief. , why the pragmatic statement is not led by him, but by Liu Wei?
Zhu Yijun is aware of the relationship between Liu Xing and Gao Pragmatic. This includes the fact that Liu Xin, as the secretary-general of the Beijing Secretariat, has lived in Shangshu Gao's Mansion for a long time - oh, it should be called Nanning Houfu after today.
Zhu Yijun was not very concerned about whether there was a male-female relationship between Gao Jingshi and Liu Xin. Even if his sister, Princess Yongning, was related to Gao Jingshi, as an emperor, he would not care about such a thing. As the emperor, what he cared about was actually the intrinsic interest relationship between the "leader of the Real School" and the "important generals of the Southern Army".
Liu Wei and even his father Liu Xian have been among the disciples of the Shi School for many years, or more accurately, "the disciples of the Gao family". They can be regarded as Gao Jingshi's number one general in the Southern Army, so Gao Jingshi is willing to reuse him. Liu Wei's incident itself is not surprising. What the emperor was puzzled about was, could it be that Liu Wei's status in Gao Pingshi's mind was even higher than that of Song Liangzuo, who was also an important member of the Shi School?
Of course Gao Pragmatic could hear the emperor's question, but his answer came very quickly: "Liu Wei is responsible for the military strategy, and Song Shouzhong (Song Liangzuo, also known as Shouzhong) is responsible for the political and economic strategy, which is what Cai Chen and the emperor discussed, including Propaganda infiltration, economic blockade, etc. - Your Majesty, these matters are extremely important and can only be handled by Song Shouzhong. Liu Wei only knows how to fight, but he can't do these things."
"That guy" is usually a very polite way of saying it, but Gao Pragmatically used it in the emperor's dialogue to mean something else. It was intended not to deny his close relationship with Liu Wei, whether he was pretending to be magnanimous or sincere. It depends on how the emperor understands it.
Zhu Yijun's reaction was indeed as expected by Gao Pragmatic. He immediately expressed his understanding and said: "I see. You are right. Liu Wei has never been involved in these political and strategic matters, and it is not within his authority. Naturally. The governor has to do it himself."
After the emperor finished speaking, he pondered for a moment, and then added: "Do they have enough strength now? To be honest, the failure of the two previous campaigns made me a little doubtful of the capabilities of the Southern Army."
Well, the overall strength of the Southern Army is definitely not as good as that of the Northern Army. After all, most of the Northern Army is a frontier army. In the past two hundred years, it has been at war or on the verge of war for almost a long time, and it has been trained far better than the Southern Army.
The last highlight moment of the Southern Army, or in other words, the relatively sufficient moment, was probably the period when the Japanese pirate invasion was the most serious. Famous generals such as Yu Dayou, Qi Jiguang, and Liu Xian all gained prominence during this period, and at the same time they also trained several elite troops.
However, although these elite soldiers of the Southern Army are capable of fighting, they are not large in size due to their attributes as a vassal army. For example, Qi Jiguang's Qi Jiajun maintained at around 3,000 to 4,000 for a long time, and did not increase slightly until the northern transfer to Ji Town;
The Yu Jiajun's military strength fluctuates slightly. The main reason is that its composition is not as clear as the Qi Jiajun. It is not specialized in land warfare, but a force capable of both water and land. However, it is generally believed that it is no more than a few thousand at most;
On the contrary, the Liu Jiajun had the largest number. Only the famous surrendered Japanese army numbered more than 3,000 in the last period before Liu Xian resigned, and the whole army had about 7,000 to 8,000.
However, it is precisely because the total strength of the Liu Jiajun is large, and Liu Xian is a general who made his fortune purely by fighting, and does not receive the support of senior officials and nobles in Nanjing, so the Liu Jiajun has been accused of poor military discipline for a long time. At that time, the Liu Jiajun would plunder almost every battle and often conceal their seizures. It was not until they joined Gao Gong and Gao Pragmatic that things gradually improved.
In addition to these three elite soldiers, it does not mean that there are no more capable troops. But generally speaking, the remaining armies that can fight either have fewer troops, mostly only "more than a thousand" or even "hundreds", or they are not Han soldiers at all - such as Guangxi Wolf Soldiers, Guizhou and Xiangxi Miao Soldiers, etc.
In addition, Yunnan chieftains also have elite soldiers, but because the internal and external conditions in Yunnan are more complex, relatively few of their chieftain soldiers and horses are deployed from outside.
After such a calculation, excluding the chieftain soldiers, the number of elite soldiers in the Southern Army who were truly capable of fighting and had surnames did not exceed 30,000 to 40,000. This is too bad. You must know that the Northern Army at the same time had 40,000 elite members directly from the Li family army alone, and the number of generals far exceeded that of the Southern Army. If all the towns on the nine sides were added together, and all the generals, large and small, were counted, then the Northern Army's elite servants alone might have been around 200,000.
Under such circumstances, and in addition to the fact that the Southern Army's first two campaigns had failed miserably, it is not surprising that the Emperor suspected that the Southern Army was too weak.
Gao Pragmatic thought for a moment and said: "It stands to reason that the strength of the several armies should be sufficient now, not to mention that the strategy this time is different from the previous two, and we do not plan to advance together.
In this encirclement and suppression, the mission of the remaining groups is to stick to the main road and advance slowly, with stability first and control first. The main force is only Liu Wei's own group. Although the strength of this group is only about the same as that of Yang Yinglong's Bozhou Army, even in Bozhou After the army expands, it may still be at a disadvantage.
However, most of Liu Wei's troops are elite soldiers who have experienced hundreds of battles, and Han soldiers account for about half of them. The other half comes from two sources, one part is the famous Yiding who surrendered to Japan, and the other part is the Yiding from southern Xinjiang. Generally speaking, they are relatively tough. Not afraid of death..."
"Wait a minute." Zhu Yijun stretched out his hand to stop him, and interrupted: "I know that the Yidins who surrendered to Japan are fierce and not afraid of death, but the Yidins of southern Xinjiang are not the same, right? I think you attacked Annan back then, and later Yunnan During the Burma War, when Liu Wei, Deng Zilong and their wives attacked Burma, Siam and other countries, they were almost overwhelmingly powerful, which shows that the soldiers in southern Xinjiang were not very good at fighting."
"Whether soldiers can fight sometimes depends on who leads them and how they lead them." Gao Pingshi smiled and said: "Take Myanmar as an example. During the Mang Yinglong period, the White Elephant King of Jinlou not only swept across southern Xinjiang, but we also The Yunnan frontier troops and chieftain soldiers were almost suppressed and beaten by him.
However, during the Mang Yingli period, the combat effectiveness of the Burmese army declined significantly. Not only was it defeated by the elite counterattack of our heavenly soldiers, but it was even unable to defeat the Yunnan border troops and chieftain soldiers. "
"You mean, the combat effectiveness of these surrendered troops from southern Xinjiang has been greatly improved when they are in the hands of Liu Wei?" Zhu Yijun was a little curious and asked: "I know that Qi Jiguang is good at training troops, but I have never heard that Liu Wei is also good at training troops. , hasn’t he always been known as a tough guy?”
Gao pragmatic laughed dumbly and said: "Your Majesty, the bravery of a warrior is only a personal character, not a limitation of ability. Whether it's Liu Wei or his father Liu Xian, if they only had bravery, their troops would not be as prosperous as they are today.
But having said that, there is still a lot of gap between Liu Wei's military management ability and Qi Shuai's. What his troops gained was courage, but what they lost was generosity. If you want to compare them, they are probably similar to the Li Jiajun. "
Zhu Yijun was stunned when he heard this, thought for a while, nodded and said: "After you compare it like this, I will understand. Liu Wei and Li Rusong must be very similar in temperament. They are both the kind of guys who only want to win on the battlefield, right? ?”
Gao pragmatic laughed and said: "I think the emperor's guess is quite accurate."
"No wonder you like to use him. This kind of general is really easy to use." Zhu Yijun was very satisfied after hearing this and made up his mind, saying: "Then this matter has been decided. You can go back and explain it to Da Sima." Gao Pragmatically agreed.
Zhu Yijun took the initiative to clink glasses with Gao Pragmatic again, each took a sip, and then talked about the North Korea issue again: "The third question, North Korea. You seem to mean... don't worry yet?"
Gao pragmatically said: "It's not that we are not anxious, but we have just finished fighting Mongolia, and now the troops of various departments have not yet completed the callback, and the next deployment has not been in place. There is no rush, and it will only cause trouble or hidden dangers. Therefore, I think that for the time being, we can only You can first stabilize your position, and then make a decisive move after the deployment is in place and the preparations are complete."
"But before you return to Beijing, the imperial court has ordered Liaodong to select two elite troops to aid North Korea!" Zhu Yijun opened his eyes wide and said, "According to what you said, isn't that going to cause a problem?"
"Two elite soldiers?" Gao Pingshi frowned and asked: "When I received the imperial edict, Liaodong seemed to be very empty. Calculating the time, Xiao Ruxun's troops may have just returned to the town, or may not even have fully returned. Town, where can we find two elite troops to help North Korea? Also, how many troops are there in the two elite troops that the emperor mentioned?"
"Uh, well... the imperial court also knew the situation at that time, so it didn't say how many troops it would send. In fact, it was left to Jian Da and Gu Yangqian to take care of it."
Jianda and Gu Yangqian, one is the governor of Jiliao and the other is the governor of Liaodong. It was very common in the Ming Dynasty that the governor of Fengjiang could "manage" related border affairs by himself. Not to mention the governor, when Gao Pingshi was the patrol censor, he dared to "take care of it himself".
However, at this moment, Gao Pragmatic knew something was wrong as soon as he heard it. It seems that history may really have some inertia. This wave of aid to North Korea may be like the original history. As soon as the war starts, they will send a wave of heads to the other side.
The Japanese army sent 300,000 troops, and more than 200,000 have already entered the dynasty. However, the Ming army only entered the dynasty for the first time with 5,000 troops, and Zu Chengxun, who led the army, believed that he had always fought against the Mongols and Jurchens, and the combat effectiveness of his soldiers was Far superior to the Japanese army, it was just like playing to deal with the Japanese pirates.
In addition, North Korean officials, in order to get the Japanese soldiers into the battle as soon as possible, lied to him that the Japanese troops in Pyongyang were very few. Therefore, he was deceived and underestimated the enemy. He attacked Pyongyang with 5,000 troops. As expected, he returned with a huge defeat.
Gao pragmatic pondered for a moment and said: "Xiao Ruxun is known for his good defense. It is unlikely that Jian and Gu Ergong will order him to enter the court. Instead, he will be used to guard the border between us and North Korea and to intimidate the Jurchen tribes. In this way, the soldiers who enter the court will probably Most of them will still use the troops from Liaoxi.
However, Li Rusong's troops in western Liaoning returned to town after thousands of miles and had to take a rest before fighting again. Therefore, there would not be many troops and horses that could be sent to help, and the number of ministers would probably be only a few thousand.
Japanese soldiers entered the country in large numbers. The previous news was that Seoul had been lost, and I was afraid that between the news and the letter, Pyongyang might have been lost as well. So, after the Liaodong Army entered North Korea, what North Korea needed their help most urgently was probably to regain Pyongyang.
Pyongyang is an important town in northern North Korea, and its status is similar to that of Nanjing in our country. No matter who our reinforcements are, they are bound to compete for such great achievements. However, precisely because of Pyongyang's critical status, Japanese soldiers will definitely be stationed with heavy troops. As a result, there will be a big war in Pyongyang. "
The deep frown on Gao Jingshi's brow made Zhu Yijun a little nervous. He felt a little nervous and asked unconfidently: "Are you saying that our army... might be disadvantaged in this battle?"
Gao pragmatic did not answer this sentence immediately, but asked: "By the way, Your Majesty, it is now around the autumn harvest, and the local people in Liaodong must be busy collecting grain to supplement the consumption of the previous war against Yuan Dynasty. It must be difficult to transport enough food immediately." If necessary to aid North Korea, how are the supplies of these 'two elites' arranged in North Korea?"
Zhu Yijun was aware of this matter and said with a smile: "Our army entered the DPRK to help them fight against the Japanese pirates. Of course, we prepared our own troops, but the food and salary issues will naturally be borne by the DPRK. Li Hao also understood the truth and took the initiative to say that the issue of food and salary should be borne by the DPRK. The court will resolve the issue, so there is no need to worry too much about it."
Don't worry about it! What I'm worried about is that "the issue of food and salary will be solved by the North Korean court"!
The North Korean court, do you dare to trust this court? There is no lower limit to the level of corruption and incompetence in this court, okay? The result of their solution must be that the Ming army entered the court carelessly, were dumbfounded when they saw the supplies, and then went to war hungry. Do you believe it or not?
After hearing Gao Pragmatic's complaints and warnings, Zhu Yijun couldn't help but panic, and said at a loss: "It can't be so bad, right? Korea has been at peace for a hundred years, so we should have some savings. And if it is as you said, our army will enter this time The reinforcements are only a few thousand troops at most, so they can’t even provide food and wages for these troops?”
Gao pragmatic sighed: "It seems like this, but if the Joseon court is really capable, why are they so powerful that they are equal to the Japanese army attacking Korea, but they are easily defeated and slumped thousands of miles away?
Your Majesty, this is not just a matter of military incompetence, it must actually be caused by internal chaos. Because of this, when our army sends troops to aid North Korea, we must not expect the North Koreans to be of any help. We can only rely on ourselves for everything, including all kinds of Japanese military intelligence. We must not trust the North Koreans' rhetoric too easily. .
Chen thought about it and realized that the only way the North Koreans could possibly help was to provide information about mountains and terrain. "
Zhu Yijun was stunned and speechless. After a while, he added weakly: "Well, although North Korea is incompetent, I remember that they have a navy general named Li Hechen who performed well and has defeated the Japanese navy several times in a row."
"I have heard about these news, but... haha." Gao pragmatic curled his lips and said: "The Japanese pirate navy currently fighting with him is not the main force of the Japanese army. Their main force is still in Japan and has not been dispatched."
Zhu Yijun said in surprise: "No way. Since the Japanese pirates have entered Korea in large numbers, what are the main forces of the navy doing in Japan if they don't defeat the Korean navy?"
Gao Pangshi's expression darkened slightly, and he said slowly: "Because... a squadron from the Sea Trade Alliance is still stationed in Japan."
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Thanks to book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your reward and support, thank you!
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PS: The lack of central heating in the south is really fatal. When a cold snap comes, my paws are frozen even as I type.
