The fact that Gao Pragmatic is about to become the first assistant is not something that should be publicized now. Even after Wang Jiaping said those words publicly in the cabinet, even if the Real School did not leak it, the two assistant ministers of the Xin School would probably leak it. However, at least Gao Pragmatic himself cannot act like "I am the natural successor to the first assistant", but must keep a low profile.
Therefore, after Liu Xin was astonished and faced with the joy of his wives and concubines, Gao Pingshi seriously explained that they could not express anything about this, and then explained it to the servants and maids who were waiting for him today.
Afterwards, Gao pragmatically said: "This matter is beyond my expectation, and once I really take over as the chief assistant, I will obviously not be able to personally handle the war against Japan. In addition, there are other major events happening today. I am not talking about the emperor." The birth of the legitimate son was caused by the border of Burihatukou in Gansu.
The impact of this incident was extremely bad. The emperor was extremely angry that the Chahar tribe was dead and not dead. He had made it clear to me that this problem must be solved. If I take over as the chief minister, this matter must be a top priority at the moment. "As he said that, he briefly described the situation of Burihatukou's border with Gansu.
Huang Zhiting frowned and said: "According to what the master said, at least in the next one or two years, the imperial court will start a war on both sides of the east and west, and at this time, our southern Xinjiang will also march westward to Arakan , and may even go to war with the Mughal Empire, I feel quite uneasy."
The uneasiness is certain, and Gao Pragmatic can completely understand it. The material dispatching, troop mobilization and other capabilities of ancient dynasties are far from being comparable to those of later generations. Many big and powerful countries in later generations will try to avoid fighting on two fronts, not to mention the current Ming Dynasty?
As for Huang Zhiting's inclusion of the upcoming war in Southern Xinjiang, it is not because of the actual control relationship between the Ming Dynasty and Southern Xinjiang, but because even if the military and political affairs in Southern Xinjiang are not directly under the Ming Dynasty, the economic ties between the two sides It's actually very close.
In particular, Gao Pragmatic has always had a habit in the past, that is, he often asks Southern Xinjiang to cooperate with Ming Dynasty's actions and provide Ming Dynasty with economic support.
To give a recent example, during the war to aid Korea, the Ming army's food and grass came from two sources. One was transported from within the Ming Dynasty, and the other was transported directly from southern Xinjiang. Needless to say, the former is actually equivalent to selling grain directly to the Ming court in southern Xinjiang, but it is responsible for door-to-door delivery to North Korea, the unloading place designated by the Ming Dynasty.
It’s not that no one wants to impeach Gao Pragmatic for seeking power for personal gain, but Gao Pragmatic has done this kind of thing not once or twice. He has a mature way to deal with it, which can completely block anyone’s mouth. This method is very familiar to future generations. Public bidding.
The imperial court held a bidding meeting in the name of the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of War and clearly stated the bidding requirements. For example, how much food should be sent to North Korea every month, that is, the court does not care how much you float, I will only count it at the dock; which areas the food may be required to be sent to; what standards the quality of the food must meet; the time delay is the most How long should the time limit be? How to compensate if the time limit is exceeded or the transportation volume is insufficient, etc. There are nearly 20 various requirements in total.
In this case, no matter you are a wealthy family, a noble family, or even a relative of the emperor, you are all allowed to participate in the bidding. The only prerequisite is that you must provide a high deposit: five hundred thousand taels of silver.
This deposit amount can be said to be ridiculously high. In fact, it has largely driven away many people. After all, the deposit is not paid in vain. Once the task is not completed well, there are detailed terms to determine how much of the deposit will be deducted as compensation. The maximum limit can be Full buckle.
Of course, in order to avoid being said to be bullying others with their power and wealth, Gao Pragmatic also allowed various companies to jointly undertake this bidding task. But who has Jinghua’s advantages?
He has a huge granary in southern Xinjiang that increases production year by year. He has a Nanyang fleet that can deliver goods without any combat missions. He has strong financial resources that don't care about the 500,000 tael deposit. Who dares to start a price war with him? Even if you don't have to spend all your money to contribute to the imperial court.
Closer to home, it was precisely because of the economic and logistical backing of Southern Xinjiang during the war to aid Korea that Gao Pragmatism was able to gather hundreds of thousands of troops in Korea, far exceeding the size of the Ming army in the original history, and the final performance was better than in history. Much more.
But this time it’s different. Southern Xinjiang itself is going to war. Although from a temporary perspective, the first phase of the combat mission only plans to use the troops of two towns, theoretically it will not consume too much food stocks in southern Xinjiang, but who knows what the Mughal Empire will react next?
What if the Mughal Empire at its peak could not tolerate being provoked and launched an all-out war without saying a word, mobilizing an army of 200,000 to 300,000 to march eastward? Then Southern Xinjiang definitely cannot be trusted to deal with it with two towns with less than 15,000 people. It will inevitably mobilize a large army to deal with it, and the Nanyang Fleet must also take action.
As a result, supporting the Ming Dynasty will be difficult to handle.
What's even more troublesome here is that once Gao Pragmatic becomes the first assistant, no matter how much pressure the imperial court faces in fighting on both fronts, he will still be the first person responsible. And judging from his pragmatic style, he will definitely not shirk this responsibility.
What makes Huang Zhiting even more uneasy is that if she directs the battle in southern Xinjiang, it will be easier to handle. After all, she has been in southern Xinjiang for many years and has a good understanding of the strength of Arakan, Mughals and even Portugal. She will definitely find a way to minimize the pressure on Gao Pragmatism.
However, this time it was different. Gao Pragmatic had just decided to let Gao Yuan take charge of this matter. Gao Yuan is only thirteen years old after all! Before, everyone thought that he could be allowed to go. That was because there were many "veterans" in southern Xinjiang who could assist him. They were confident that no matter how bad the situation was, it would not get any worse and it would not be possible to get out of control.
But looking back now, Southern Xinjiang does not just need to keep the truth at this moment, but it is best to solve the Arakan problem at the minimum cost and in the shortest time. The rest is to prepare and wait for Gao Pragmatic's request for help that may be made at any time. Huang Zhiting has been doing this for many years.
Huang Zhiting even wanted to overturn Gao Pangshi's decision just now and ask Gao Yuan not to go to southern Xinjiang to take charge of the Arakan battle this time. She felt that it would be better to wait until the two wars on the east and west side of the court were over, and then there would be no need to worry about southern Xinjiang. Anyway, the Mughal Empire was quite large, and it was definitely not something that could be won in two or three years. Yuan'er established his prestige. There is no need to rush this matter, there will be many opportunities in the future.
But then she thought that it was not that Gao Pragmatic didn't know the current situation in the court. Since he knew, he still dared to let Yuan'er go to southern Xinjiang to preside over the Arakan war, which showed that he believed the situation was controllable. If he spoke out against it now, he would be questioning his intentions. As a result, Huang Zhiting hesitated again and did not speak again.
Liu Xin had a good relationship with Huang Zhiting, and she immediately noticed the latter's concerns. She thought about it and said, "Actually, there is no need to worry too much. Although it seems that we are about to face a three-front battle, if we look at it more specifically, in fact, these three fronts War may not start at the same time, and Japan may even be able to achieve its goals through other means without using force."
Having said that, Huang Zhiting advocated limited use of force on the Japanese issue. Hearing this, he immediately shook his head and said: "The nature of the Japanese pirates is to fear power but not to be moral. If I don't fight the Japanese, I think sooner or later the Japanese will be defeated. Something is wrong. We must find an opportunity to completely destroy the Japanese people's self-confidence, so that they will never dare to raise their heads and look at my Jinghua Book Sword Flag. Only then can we truly defeat the Japanese."
Liu Xin has known Huang Zhiting for many years and knows that although Huang Zhiting has a beautiful appearance, her personality and appearance have never matched and she is the biggest hardliner among the sisters in the family. For most strategic issues, Huang Zhiting seems to advocate the use of force or at least war to promote peace. I don't know if it is because of her background as a chieftain.
In fact, Liu Xin often felt that the use of force was the most direct way to solve problems in the early years. However, after becoming the Secretary-General of Jinghua and being with Gao Pragmatic for many years, she gradually became more inclined to seek non-military means to solve problems first.
As Gao Pragmatic said: If things can be solved by political means, there is no need to use military means; if things can be solved by economic means, there is no need to use political means.
"Whether a war is necessary to quell the Japanese depends on Sister Kai's methods. As for the Japanese being fearful of power and not immoral, that is certainly true, but it does not necessarily mean that we must fight them. Regarding this point, I think there are two ways. consider.
The first way is to take advantage of their defeat in North Korea and find a way to add fuel to the fire and find an opportunity to let them see how powerful our capital is. For example, we can mobilize a large army and hold a large naval and land parade somewhere in Japan. Or big drills.
During military parades or exercises, the navy should try to concentrate the two ocean fleets in an effort to deter the Japanese on a maximum scale. Thousands of large-caliber naval guns should be fired in one or two rounds to create a sensation of landslides and earth-shattering. .
What needs to be noted at this time is that an excellent viewing platform must be arranged in advance for the Japanese ministers and daimyo who come to observe the military power, so that they can see everything clearly.
Of course, it cannot just be the navy, the army must also handle it in accordance with the law. I think the Japanese are most afraid of the Ming Dynasty's cavalry and artillery armies, so they might as well focus on cavalry and artillery during military parades or exercises. With the same purpose of shocking people's hearts, they carried out a charge with equipped cavalry, a bombardment of plowing the fields with artillery fire, etc.
However, considering that it may be difficult to mobilize so many personnel and equipment to Japan in the next one or two years, we can also consider the second method: killing the chicken to scare the monkeys.
To put it simply, when we have roughly controlled Japan, but we still have doubts about the loyalty of the various daimyo, we can recruit some troops from the various daimyo to accompany the army, but the prerequisite is that the daimyo or heir must go in person and then transfer them. Go to the front line of southern Xinjiang and fight with the garrison against the Mughal Empire.
However, our purpose at this time is not to deliberately consume the strength of the Japanese, but to let them feel the power of our army, so it is best to choose a suitable time at that time to lead them to a great victory.
All in all, I think that only by letting them see the huge gap in strength between them and our army can they dare not have any unreasonable thoughts. "
After Liu Xin said this, she immediately received Gao Pragmatic's approval. He smiled and said, "Yes, I think both of these ideas are good. You can choose one based on the actual situation."
Huang Zhiting thought about it and thought it was good. He nodded and said: "It does sound feasible, but as the master said, we still need to wait and see which method to use. Master, does Sister Jia Fei have anything to say? ?”
"She should still be waiting for the opportunity at Kai Port." Gao pragmatically said, frowning slightly: "Tokugawa Ieyasu seems to be delaying time. I don't know what he is waiting for. However, no matter what he is waiting for, Kai people are in Japan. , what should be seen will always be seen, as long as I have the absolute advantage in strength, I am not afraid of what tricks Ieyasu will use."
Huang Zhiting pondered for a moment and said: "I thought I should talk to sister Kai, don't let Tokugawa Ieyasu delay too long. After all, I am about to succeed as the chief minister. If this news reaches the Japanese country, Tokugawa Ieyasu will naturally know about it. The master will not personally lead the troops to the Japanese country.
At that time, I don’t know if that guy will have other ideas. To avoid long nights and many dreams, I should advise Sister Kai to seize the opportunity, sooner rather than later. "
Gao Pragmatic agreed with this suggestion, so he nodded in agreement. Anyway, Jinghua has a lot of merchant ships going to Japan, so it’s not too troublesome to spread the news.
Even though the matter in Japan has been discussed for the time being, the matter in southern Xinjiang is already planned to be handed over to Gao Yuan. Even though Huang Zhiting still wants to talk to Gao pragmatically about how to ensure that his son can win the first battle, it is not convenient to talk about it in public. We can only wait to talk to Gao pragmatically in private.
So the topic shifted to Gansu.
As for Burihatu, Gao Pragmatic's opponent for many years, Huang Zhiting, Liu Xin, and even Meng Guzhezhe knew how powerful he was, but they really didn't expect that this man would run away with the remnants of Chahar. It had only been seven or eight years since he went to the Western Regions, but he had recovered his strength and was able to fight back against the Ming Dynasty border invaders.
Huang Zhiting said very unhappily: "These Mongols are really killing them like locusts. They have been driven out thousands of miles away, but they still can't stop their desire to peek into the Central Plains. They really deserve to be killed!"
Liu Xin had a bit of a different opinion, but although she dared to oppose Gao Pragmatic's views face to face, she would not face Huang Zhiting with this attitude, so she first agreed: "Yes, such a wildfire will never burn out, and the spring breeze will blow again." Life is not just a matter of time, we have to find a way to achieve long-term peace and stability."
Then he paused, turned to Gao pragmatically and said: "By the way, sir, do you think it is possible to use the same method used against Tumut against the current Chahar tribe?"
Gao pragmatic raised his eyebrows slightly and asked: "You mean paying tribute? That's not possible. As long as Chahar is still the so-called Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, there are no prerequisites for this matter to be implemented."
Liu Xin frowned and said: "But if we send troops to Gansu, or even to the Western Regions, it will cost too much money, food and grass. Moreover, the overland Silk Road has long lost its former glory. I don't know how long it will take to flourish again. , is the imperial court willing to spend at least tens of millions of taels of silver on such troops?"
Gao Pangshi did not answer immediately. Instead, Huang Zhiting asked worriedly: "Are we still going to send troops to the Western Regions? Then this battle is really difficult to fight. Not only is it difficult to fight, but the Han army is not nomadic, so it is so difficult to fight. If we start a war far away, it might be protracted, and that would be even worse."
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