Qi Jiguang was very confident in answering the question of a ten-year-old child based on his forty-four years of life experience, even if the answer was not so complete and correct.
Qi Jiguang bowed his head and said, "I will help your majesty clear up your doubts."
"I have three doubts. The first doubt is that when Qi Shuainan was pacifying the Japanese, all the Japanese pirates beheaded them in public and took no prisoners. However, during the twelve years of fierce fighting in Xuanfu Datong, Xuanfu Datong released many of the northern pirates. This is Why?" Zhu Yijun asked his first doubt.
"Killing prisoners is ominous, but killing Japanese pirates does not count. Japanese pirates are extremely vicious and must be punished, otherwise the Japanese plague will never be peaceful." Qi Jiguang first explained why he killed Japanese prisoners even if they captured them. Killing prisoners is generally considered unlucky, but Japanese pirates should be able to Kill them all.
Qi Jiguang further explained in detail: "Among the Japanese pirates, not all are Japanese. There are only ten or two Japanese. Most of these Japanese are wealthy smuggling merchants from the southeast who have secretly communicated with the Japanese country. They extradited samurai and ashigaru from the Japanese country. The Japanese pirates used Japanese people as bonds. There are water thieves in the grass, and only by killing the Japanese can we stop the Japanese trouble."
Qi Jiguang campaigned in the southeast, and fought one battle after another against the Japanese. Among the Japanese pirates, these Japanese were the backbone, and most of them colluded with the Southeast maritime merchants. Only by killing all the Japanese who came across the sea, the Japanese pirates would not have a core. They will not gather together to cause chaos.
"Among the Japanese pirates, are these Japanese generals equivalent to our Ming Dynasty?" Zhu Yijun tasted it carefully and then understood what Qi Jiguang meant.
During the Chongzhen period, Li Zicheng was defeated and defeated again and again. He kept rebelling and losing, until Emperor Chongzhen ordered the abolition of the three border guards, that is, the guards of the three towns of Yansui, Ningxia, and Gansu, and the generals of the three guards of the frontier army. (Grass-level officers) were desperate and recruited Li Zicheng's subordinates, and Li Zicheng began to win consecutive battles.
The Ming Dynasty's peasant army and green forest heroes all had their own limitations. One of these limitations was that they did not have the organizational capabilities of grassroots officers.
Obviously, Zhu Yijun understood that these Japanese were probably grassroots officers hired by wealthy merchants in the southeast. Only by killing all the Japanese could the Japanese invasion be completely quelled.
"Your Majesty is wise." Qi Jiguang nodded, Your Majesty understood very well.
Even if the Japanese are pacified, they can never be pacified. It is these Japanese who always cause trouble when the wind is favorable, and when the wind is adverse, they leave the others and run away early. Even if these Japanese are captured, the wealthy merchants and gentry in the southeast can bribe them a little. These Japanese will be released and cause trouble again.
Qi Jiguang also did not give the local gentry and wealthy businessmen a chance to bribe him. If he was caught on the boat, he would be tied with stones and thrown into the sea. If he was caught in the camp, he would be killed and beheaded in public. If he was caught in the manure pit, he would be pressed in and drowned alive. compost.
In short, by simplifying complex things and directly killing all the Japanese pirates, there will be no more Japanese troubles.
This is also the reason why Qi Jiguang has been disappointed many times. He refused to join in the troubles with the local Jin gentry. So the court officials who came from the Jin gentry had many ways to throw dirty water on Qi Jiguang. The emperor lived in the ninth level, how could he know about the danger of war? Aren't you just listening to the chatter of the messengers?
Hai Rui was demoted and forced to become an official because he investigated Xu Jie's corruption and ordered Xu Jie to return his land.
Xu Zhenming was impeached for carrying a bamboo strip book box to the capital while working in the fields, and Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou killed the Japanese.
"Qi Shuai is indeed brilliant!" Zhu Yijun couldn't help but nodded, approving Qi Jiguang's behavior.
"Then why did the Xuanfu fight in Datong and release the northern captives?" Zhu Yijun was a little strange. The battles in the north and the south even treated the prisoners differently.
Qi Jiguang said with great conviction: "Returning the northern captives is actually a kind of war. After the northern captives were captured and released, they had no intention of fighting. Even if they were coerced and forced to go south, it would only serve as a source of noise."
"The captives spent the rest of their lives back in Yibei. Even if they went south to fight, they would not fight all the way. They would also make noises in the army and lead others to cheat and cheat. From the 40th year of Jiajing, the northern captives could no longer go south. The war lasted for a long time, and the northern soldiers deserted countless soldiers. Later, the battle of Datong in Xuanfu fell into anxiety. "
In fact, this was a good opportunity to slander in front of the emperor, and it was extremely reasonable to describe the truth about the release of prisoners by the Northern Army as the conspiracy of the Jin Party to smuggle prisoners.
However, Qi Jiguang did not make any slanderous remarks, nor did he slander the border troops of Datong in Xuanfu of the Ming Dynasty.
The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were all good men, and their merits and demerits were both merits and demerits. Qi Jiguang was loyal to his heart and did not want to deceive the emperor. This tactic was not uncommon, and the effect was obvious. If it destroyed the organization, it would destroy the combat effectiveness.
"That's it." Zhu Yijun couldn't help but nodded. The doubts buried in his heart were finally explained. The treatment of prisoners all revolved around organization.
Zhu Yijun asked: "I have a second doubt. Most of the southern soldiers are volunteers, while most of the northern armies are guards. The southern soldiers are brave, and the northern armies are mostly defeated. Is this the case that recruiting soldiers is better than hereditary military households?"
"That's absolutely not the case!" Qi Jiguang gave a very firm answer. He waved his hands and said: "Your Majesty, Emperor Tang Ming abolished the military system in the palace, and the military system in the world is corrupted. The guard station is rotten, and it is also a guard station. It must not be abandoned lightly."
"I didn't mean that." Zhu Yijun explained patiently.
He just asked why the gap in combat power was so big, instead of planning to abolish the nine sides of the guard. Chongzhen abolished three sides and directly abolished his own throne. Zhu Yijun had nothing to do, so he abolished the nine sides of the military guard. He had nothing to do with it. You can take advantage of it, but if you abolish the military guards, you are courting death.
Qi Jiguang breathed a sigh of relief, he had somewhat overreacted.
The ministers in the court always looked at the military households, and their noses were not noses, and their eyes were not eyes. They were also afraid that the little emperor would be shrouded in the opinions of civil servants every day, and they would have the idea of abolishing the military guards. That would be the real ruin. All foundations have been lost.
Fortunately, Emperor Ming only asked why there was such a big gap in combat power.
Qi Jiguang thought for a while and said: "I am recruiting volunteers to train in the southeast. They are all miners. In fact, most of them are from the guards. The volunteers are selected from the guards. They are not engaged in farming and are more familiar with military affairs. But these None of them are the main reasons. The southern soldiers are good at fighting, mainly because they receive adequate pay. It can even be said that it is okay not to receive pay... as long as they can have enough food."
"Food and wages, food and wages, the word "liang" comes first."
"Can we fight after we have enough food?" Zhu Yijun was stunned, slightly confused.
Qi Jiguang nodded with confidence and said: "It should be said that only when you have a full meal can you be able to hold a hook and sickle, can you hold a blunderbuss, can you see the enemy clearly, and can you kill the enemy and win. When the Southern Army was first established, there were no weapons. Pay and silver, but as long as you have enough to eat, you can fight and defend."
"This battle at the four passes of Xifengkou was all carried out by the Northern Army, not the main force of the Southern Army. Most of the Southern Army was to suppress the formation. The Northern Army was well fed and invincible. Only the battle at Xifengkou was slightly more dangerous, and the Southern Army was responsible for the encirclement. Block it, and the Northern Army will win the rest!"
Qi Jiguang did not give credit to his direct descendants, the Southern soldiers. Whoever gets the credit deserves credit. The Northern Army can fight. If the Northern Army can't fight, it's because someone drinks the soldiers' blood and doesn't feed them.
"Sure enough, Qi Shuai is a master of troops. The Northern Army under Qi Shuai actually achieved such great military exploits." Zhu Yijun understood.
Looking at the ten acres of land he planted, he became a little more certain about what he was doing. He was not doing useless work. Eating too many sweet potatoes can cause stomach acid, but that is eating too much. We must first solve the problem of whether they have eaten it or not. .
It is undoubtedly a outrageous theory that you can win a war if you have enough food.
But what Qi Jiguang said was the truth. It was bitter cold outside the Great Wall, and the armaments were actually worse than those of the Ming Dynasty, and their fighting will was far from tenacious. So why were the Beibei able to go south and often break through?
The soldiers were hungry and couldn't even walk. Fighting? Even if you don't rebel, you can boast of being loyal and courageous.
"I understand, some people don't want the Ming army to win." Zhu Yijun tapped his fingers on the armrest, and the Baoqi Hall was quiet for a while.
Qi Jiguang can win if he leads his troops, but Ming Dynasty cannot win if he leads his troops.
Controlling the variables, it is self-evident what went wrong and who did not want the Ming army to win.
Qi Jiguang chose to be cautious in his words and deeds. How to solve the problem of drinking the blood of soldiers is a specific problem that requires summing up experience in practice rather than talking eloquently. He answered His Majesty because he hoped that Your Majesty would know the loyalty and bravery of the Ming Dynasty sergeants.
To be more precise, if the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were given stutters, they would be able to stabilize the country.
He didn't even give him anything to stutter, for fear of causing serious problems. He had been practicing martial arts for so long, and he couldn't continue to practice martial arts.
Zhu Yijun did not discuss specific issues in detail. He is not in charge of the government now. He gives orders randomly and does things according to his own wishes. That is nonsense and treating state affairs as a trivial matter. He smiled and said: "The emperor is not short of hungry soldiers."
"I have a third doubt. The southern army has strict military discipline, but the northern army has a sudden change in military discipline under Commander Qi's tent. Is there a secret to this?" Zhu Yijun asked his third question.
Qi Jiguang said very confidently: "This is actually simple. The general regards the soldiers as brothers and sisters, and the soldiers regard the general as their confidant; the general regards the soldiers as dogs and horses, then the soldiers regard the general as a countryman; the general regards the soldiers as earth and mustard, then the general The soldiers regard the general as a bandit."
"A general treats his soldiers as brothers and sisters. If the general's words are effective, he can give orders on the battlefield. If the soldiers regard the general as their confidant, the soldiers will naturally be obedient, and they can give orders and prohibitions on the battlefield."
Zhu Yijun suddenly nodded in agreement and said: "That's why the Xuanfu and Datong guards have poor military discipline and unorganized soldiers. When the northern captives come, they avoid fighting and huddle up and let the thieves plunder them. When the northern captives go, they run rampant and show off their power everywhere. That's it. Something’s wrong with someone.”
Qi Jiguang actually didn't want to offend anyone, but as far as he knew, it was indeed the case. He thought for a moment and said: "If the army is weak, only one person can listen. If the general is weak, the army will be weak."
Qi Jiguang was very good at talking. He didn't specifically name the people he cursed, but he still agreed with His Majesty's point of view, which was equivalent to scolding a lot of generals. As a general, Qi Jiguang was very qualified to criticize other generals. Pointing.
As far as he knew, the main reason for the laxity in military discipline was deliberate action. The reason why military discipline was deliberately lax was to encourage the bandits to respect themselves.
If you can't win, the people on the border will have no choice but to seek protection from the general. If you can't win, the general will be able to serve for a long time.
If you can't win, how can you make money if you win?
This is true in the northwest, southwest, southeast, and northeast. For example, Li Chengliang in the northeast is a typical example of supporting the invaders with self-respect and relaxing defenses to favor the enemy.
Qi Jiguang has already said too much, and any more in-depth discussion is not what he should say as a Qian'an Earl.
Zhu Yijun gained a lot from his interview with Qi Jiguang this time, at least it confirmed many things that he was not sure of before.
"Qi Shuai is going back to Jizhou tonight?" Zhu Yijun stood up. It was getting late. If he delayed any longer, he would miss Qi Jiguang's time to leave the city.
Qi Jiguang bowed his head and said: "I have the responsibility of guarding the border. I have already been delayed for two days. I can't delay any more."
"Then there won't be any more Qi Shuai." Zhu Yijun said with great pity. He still had many, many questions he wanted to ask, but Qi Jiguang was a busy man. He could only continue to ask Qi Jiguang to answer questions when Qi Jiguang returned to Beijing one day.
"I excuse myself." Qi Jiguang left Baoqi Hall and headed towards the military road.
"Qi Shuai, Mr. Yuan Fu has invited you." You Qi had been waiting for Qi Jiguang outside the Xuanwu Gate. Finally he saw him and hurriedly approached him.
Qi Jiguang handed the Quan Chu Guild Hall badge on his waist to You Qi and said, "I'm afraid I won't be able to go to the Quan Chu Guild Hall again in the future."
You Qi's expression changed dramatically!
