Chapter 52 Qu Neng takes command to conquer the West
Another reason why He Xi attaches great importance to this battle is that this is the first complete major decision-making since the establishment of the Beijing government.
Previously, the Beijing government actually had no control over the military.
He Xi determined the strategy and relied on his own influence to ensure its execution. The Battle of the River, in particular, is essentially that. Many things are actually against the rules. Because there were no rules at all at that time.
He Xi didn't want this situation to continue.
Without him, He Xi would not have been the chief minister of the cabinet. He Xi also does not want his successor to have the power he has now. After all, He Xi actually knew that his power exceeded that of a chief assistant.
He Xi hopes to complete a system, just like the three provinces and six departments system, to become a central decision-making system. From proposing a matter, demonstrating, executing, checking, and evaluating, the entire process is performed in its own way.
Thus completing the grand strategy.
He Xi's caution and prudence in the northwest strategy, on the one hand, is that this matter is indeed important, and the other thing is whether there is any problem with the framework of the Ming Dynasty's thinking. Are there any problems with ministries executing their powers?
Are there any problems with the various meeting procedures and charters? etc.
However, now the entire process is actually completed.
I have almost thought about all kinds of issues.
It's time to start deciding.
After He Xi returned, he compiled a complete set of plans for conquering the West in the name of the cabinet, and then sent them to the palace, where Zhu Xiongying sealed them. He Xi began to implement this edict based on it.
First, He Xi called Zhang Youzhi over and approved the Shuozhou Iron Works plan.
Shanxi Bank raised 10 million taels, Zunhua Iron Works invested in technology, and local iron ore and coal mines also invested in the company. In the end, the local government shares of Zunhua Iron Works accounted for 51% of the shares, and Shanxi Bank and many other businessmen controlled 49% of the shares.
He Xi actually knew that Zhang Youzhi had only raised and borrowed 10 million taels immediately after King Yan captured Hami. Before, it was only around three million taels.
Lian Zining paid a special visit to He Xi to discuss the issue of Yan Kingdom's debt.
But He Xi gathered this matter on the grounds that the time was not ripe. But he was asked to change another approach, that is, he participated in the construction of Shuozhou Iron Works and assured these people that the Western Region would give priority to purchasing products from Shuozhou Iron Works.
As a result, the factory immediately faced the possibility of making a profit before even enclosing the land.
Only then did these people actively participate.
But they didn't know that with the money Lian Zining got, he immediately bought a batch of ironware from Shuozhou Iron Factory on credit. Once produced, they will be sent to the front lines of the Western Region immediately.
The next step is to hold a meeting of the Privy Council.
The General Staff proposed a combat plan at the meeting. All members of the Cabinet and Privy Council heard the plan.
This plan is extremely detailed. There are more than a dozen backup plans for A, B, C and D, and almost every possible decision of the Nanjing court has been carefully considered. Especially the research on Geng Bingwen, I don’t know how much there is here.
After all, there is a disconnect between the north and the south. There are quite a few people here in Beijing who are familiar with Geng Bingwen.
All aspects of the information are summarized to form this information.
Based on this information, various means were prepared against Geng Bingwen.
After hearing this, He Xi nodded secretly in her heart and said to herself: "This has a bit of the style of the staff department in my mind." As for how much style it has, He Xi doesn't know. After all, he is not a member of the military. I don’t know how the military staff works.
For He Xi, this level is just satisfaction. But for many people, it is a shock that cannot be expressed in words.
Such as Qu Neng.
As a veteran, Qu Neng fought with his father and Lan Yu. He had seen the combat styles of many generals, such as Lan Yu's. Such as Xu Da's. Fu Youde et al.'s etc. But no one is prepared to this point before fighting.
It's not that these veterans aren't prepared.
Many generals have their own habits
, even former enemy reconnaissance and so on. But there has never been such a systematic establishment of a set of combat plans. It cannot be described as a complete strategy at all, it is simply abnormal.
On the one hand, Qu Neng felt that doing so was too bookish. Because in war, no matter how sophisticated the plans are, it is normal for them to be scrapped as soon as the war begins. Many generals only have a general strategy before going to the battlefield, and the rest is based on improvising on the battlefield. Read the book
On the other hand, can Qu Neng say that these are useless? Although the battlefield situation will change, it remains the same, and it is almost impossible to make the enemy dance completely according to your baton. However, similar situations always occur on the battlefield, which are very inspiring to generals.
Then, Qu Neng suddenly felt that the war had become something he didn't recognize. He suddenly felt that he could no longer command and fight.
He Xi turned around and looked at Qu Neng, who was stunned, and said, "General Qu, what do you think?"
"Okay." Qu Neng's reaction was a little slow and he said, "Very good."
He Xi said, "Is there anything else you can add?"
Qu Neng pondered for a while and said, "No more. These guys have thought of almost everything that can be thought of, and I can't think of anything."
He Xi said: "Then let's ask Envoy Qu to implement this plan?"
Qu Neng was stunned and said, "Sir, what do you mean?"
He Xi said: "This is the holy will. In three days, a general ceremony will be held for General Qu. Please pay attention to General Qu."
Qu Neng, as the general of the Western Expedition, presided over this Western Expedition. He Xi and Zhu Xiongying already had a tacit understanding without saying it explicitly. Zhu Xiongying allowed Ye Chen to control the frontline military power, but he was determined not to allow all military power in the world to be in the hands of He Xi.
He must support a figure in the army who can rival Ye Chen, and this figure is Qu Neng.
And Qu Neng is also very familiar with the northwest.
In terms of combat itself, there are only so many senior generals in Beijing, and Qu Neng is considered the most suitable.
He Xi also knew that his tacit understanding with Zhu Xiongying was largely based on the fact that He Xi would retire. In this matter, He Xi absolutely cannot deceive Zhu Xiongying, and in politics whether deception depends on how it is done is not on how it is said.
If He Xi has been holding on to military power, he will not give in. How could Zhu Xiongying believe that He Xi would give up his power?
It is inevitable to allow Zhu Xiongying to cultivate forces in the military.
As for Qu Neng's general worship ceremony, Zhu Yuanzhang also presided over such a ceremony. It was none other than Xu Da. Xu Da paid tribute to the Northern Expedition. After that, very little.
This time today, it was Zhu Xiongying's idea. Zhu Xiongying wanted to give Qu Neng an honor and let Qu Neng return to his heart.
But He Xi hopes to reduce the mystery of monarchy. Want to make this ritual custom. From then on, the relationship between monarch and ministers was reversed to the Spring and Autumn Period, so naturally there was no stopping it.
Qu Neng didn't know.
Naturally, he also knew about Xu Da's general worship ceremony back then. When he could compare with Xu Da in one item, he couldn't help himself. Although Xu Da was no longer around, Xu Da was still the pinnacle in the eyes of the entire Ming army generals.
Insurmountable peaks.
Qu Neng was very excited and had the idea of helping Yulong die for the king.
A few days later, the ceremony of sealing the altar and paying homage to the general was, needless to say, very grand. Needless to say. After that, Beijing's Western Expedition was already imminent and had to be launched, and it was impossible to hide it. Two armies and tens of thousands of cavalry rolled towards the west, and the imperial court mobilized tens of thousands of civilians to follow. There is also a railway built behind,
With this posture, it is simply impossible for people not to know.
The whole world was in an uproar for a while. Countless messages were passed from Beijing to Nanjing.
Among them, the one who reacted the most was Geng Bingwen. Because Geng Bingwen knew very well what was going on in the northwest and what kind of situation he would encounter when his army went west, Geng Bingwen was so anxious that he wrote to the capital one after another.
Immediately, the army came out of Yanmen Pass. They did not dare to go too deep. They attacked just outside Yanmen Pass and relied on Yanmen Pass to allow the Northern Army to leave one army behind.
Only by confronting the Southern Army at Yanmen Pass can we ensure that the Shanxi Army will not attack Datong. This will greatly affect the westward advance plan.
However, this is also one of the plans of the General Staff. Geng Bingwen has no further authority until he has the order from Nanjing.
