Capital, Wuying Palace.
Xu Huizu submitted the report from the Guangxi Dusi and said: "Zhang Fu has led his troops into Annan. Ailiu Pass and Jiling Pass did not bring much hindrance to the army's march. According to the date, Zhang Fu and Mu were Sheng Ying has joined forces outside Duobang City."
Zhu Yunwen looked at the document carefully and asked, "How about the food and grass supplies?"
The supply line is too long, which is the biggest problem for the Ming Dynasty in Annan. After all, there are 300,000 people, and the daily consumption is not a small number.
Xu Huizu said solemnly: "Zhang Fu also knew that supplies were difficult, so he arranged heavy troops to guard the rear. Nearly 50,000 soldiers were stationed in Liangshan Prefecture, Liangjiang Prefecture, and Beijiang Prefecture. At the same time, five granaries were set up in Beijiang Prefecture to truly reach many states. There are only 250,000 troops outside the city. More than 50,000 migrant workers have been recruited from Guangxi and Guangdong, and together with the transportation of sergeants themselves, they can support the needs of the front line."
Zhu Yunwen took out the map and looked at it, then nodded slightly: "It is right to set up a granary in Beijiang. It is not far from the front line and is outside Jiling Pass. It is not prone to accidents. How about in Annan?"
Xu Huizu shook his head slightly and said: "When the intelligence was sent, Zhang Fu was leaving Beijiang, and the news about the situation on the front line had not yet arrived. However, Yang Pu had already passed the documents of the Ming Dynasty to punish the people and the Hu family and his son through drifting wood. Go out, the specific effect is not yet known.”
Zhu Yunwen stared at the map and sighed: "The journey is too long. Even if we get the news, it will be news from fifteen to twenty days ago. All we can do now is to ensure the supply of food and grass so that they can fight at the front with peace of mind." .”
Xu Huizu smiled a little reluctantly. Indeed, at such a long distance, you can't interfere even if you want to. The strategy can be determined by the court, but tactical issues must be decided by Zhang Fu, Mu Sheng and others on the fly. They can remotely control and intervene everywhere. In this era, it is simply The conditions are not met.
"Your Majesty, documents from Datong..."
Xu Huizu asked.
Zhu Yunwen folded the map aside, picked up the memorial from Wuding Marquis Guo Ying, and ordered his chamberlain to summon the cabinet ministers, Zhu Di and others.
After everyone entered the palace, Zhu Yunwen said solemnly: "Yesterday, after receiving an urgent report from Datong, the leaders of the Oara tribe, Mahamu, Taiping, and Tupolo, sent envoys. After Wu Dinghou verified his credentials and national gifts, he was allowed to enter the customs. , what do you think?"
Xie Jin, Yu Xin and others were a little stunned.
Rujun frowned even more and said: "It was Mahamu and others who sent the envoys. Could it be that Hashiha has been killed, or maybe he was defeated and fled without a trace?"
Zhu Di explained the confusion on the side: "Since Mahamu sneaked into Harshha last year, the two tribes have started a war that lasted for nearly a year. It is too early to tell the winner at the moment, but what is certain is that Harshha Ha was frustrated in this war and was driven out of the traditional territory of Wala by the Mahamu three. As for whether Ha Shiha will rise again..."
"Reincarnation Paradise"
Zhu Yunwen was also worried about this matter. It was difficult to judge what happened on the grassland. Even though Hashiha seemed to be suffering a loss now, who was sure that he would never recover? Just because one person is still alive, it has happened before that a group of people can grow and become a country.
Yu Xin looked at the document with a solemn expression: "Now Mahamu has sent an envoy here. In name, he wants to surrender to our court and request for canonization. In fact, he wants to recuperate and strengthen the ethnic group through paying tribute."
Zhu Di smiled and said: "It's probably Song Sheng who brought a lot of pressure to Wala."
Everyone couldn't help but smile when they heard this.
Song Sheng is now known as "Crazy Song". The censor accused Song Sheng of acting arbitrarily and monopolizing the northwest military, and asked Zhu Yunwen to remove him from his post, but Zhu Yunwen did not agree.
It is very difficult to build a horse racing farm in the northwest without unified deployment and military deployment. After all, the Ming Dynasty did not have so many good horses. Song Sheng could only ask for them from the west. To the west of Hami, Yili was in the distance, and the west was not enough. We can only leave the customs and go to the north to find horses. Unfortunately, the north happens to be Wala's territory.
When the battle between Mahamu and Hashiha was in full swing, it was when Song Sheng went out to hunt for grass and valleys. Many small tribes that had fled for their lives were wiped out by Song Sheng. As for the war horses in the tribe, they were naturally sent to horse farms. .
As time passed, no one dared to go near the Great Wall.
Zhu Yunwen was also laughed at by Zhu Di: "Song Sheng now dares to leave the country for dozens of horses. He is very anxious. Now that Mahamu and others are sending envoys, I am afraid it has something to do with him."
Probably Mahamu didn't want to be wary of Song Sheng all day, he was too tired, so he simply lowered his head.
Xie Jin pondered for a moment and said: "Whether Mahamu wanted to avoid Song Sheng's sneak attack or to recuperate, he sent envoys here in the hope of being canonized by the Ming Dynasty to ease the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and Wala. According to my opinion, There is nothing wrong with canonizing Mahamu and others."
Chen Di threw up his sleeves and objected: "Mahamu's request for canonization and tribute is obviously a dormant strategy. When he becomes stronger, he will definitely point his sword at the Ming Dynasty. If raising tigers is a problem today, it will be a disaster tomorrow. The tiger is injured, and I believe that Mahamu’s canonization and tribute should be rejected.”
Ru Jin watched Xie Jin and Chen Di arguing with each other and quickly interjected: "I believe that the benefits outweigh the disadvantages of allowing Mahamu and others to be canonized and pay tribute."
Zhu Yunwen looked at Ru Yu, raised his hand and said, "Ruge might as well explain it carefully."
Rujun is worthy of being the person who has been in charge of the Ministry of War for many years. He said bluntly: "Although Wala seems strong now, after the war between Mahamu and Hashiha, it must have suffered a lot of losses and needs time to recuperate. However, our government also needs time. , especially when the racecourse was first built, it was not suitable for changes to occur. Furthermore, Oala lived outside the northwest and posed little threat to our country, while the Tatars lived in places such as the north of Shanxi and could threaten the border at any time. The court might as well support Mahamu and let them Confronting the Tatars, we stood aside."
Xu Huizu took out a map, pointed to the spheres of influence of Oara and the Tatars, and said: "From a location point of view, the Tatars occupy most of the central part of the grassland, and Oara is located in the northwest. Once the Tatars invade the border, the threat will indeed exceed Wara, and the Tatars are very peaceful this year..."
Zhu Yunwen knew clearly that what Xu Huizu meant was that the Tatars were also recuperating. If they were given more breathing time, the threat to the Ming Dynasty would be greater. After all, they were right at home.
"But if this is the case, Wala will be allowed to sit in the northwest. This is also a huge threat."
Zhu Yunwen frowned.
Zhu Di saw Zhu Yunwen's worries and said: "Your Majesty, since ancient times, it has been difficult to have the best of both worlds. If you want to divide and disintegrate Beiyuan and weaken the power of Beiyuan, the most appropriate thing at the moment is to select Mahamu and others, and let Wala sit in power and threaten Tatar, causing internal strife among them.”
Zhu Yunwen looked at Xie Jin and others. Xie Jin nodded slightly. Yu Xin and Ru Ru also agreed. Chen Di was still worried. Xu Huizu and Zhu Di both agreed. When things have reached this point, they can only weigh the pros and cons and choose to be slightly more beneficial to Ming Dynasty. a strategy.
"Then let the cabinet and the Ministry of Rites draw up the documents and receive them well."
Zhu Yunwen needed Beiyuan to cause chaos, and Mahamu was a very ambitious guy. He would not only encroach on the Tatar territory, but also eventually become the enemy of the Ming Dynasty. However, when he grew up enough to dare to call out the Ming Dynasty, he would not That's his hope.
The Second Artillery Bureau transported most of the divine machine guns to Guangxi. They should be outside Duobang City now, right?
The power of firearms will definitely make the world tremble, and the Ming Dynasty's army will gradually transform from an era where cold weapons are dominant to an era where cold and hot weapons coexist.
There is no need to worry too much about raising a wolf, as long as you have a shotgun in your hand.
Guangzhou, Yangjiang Shipyard.
In the former military governor's office, the old consort Li Jian looked at the approaching fleet with a look of relief.
Li Xing, Yan Yue and other naval fleets arrived. Li Jian stood at the dock and shouted to Li Xing and others who looked tired: "Five thousand, please give me a message. Everyone is a hero. You have worked hard."
Li Xing, Yan Yue and others got off the boat and saluted: "I don't dare to do it."
Li Jian knew that these people deserved to be greeted personally.
Li Jian and others were originally ordered to go to Nanyang with Zheng He for the second time. However, in order to sail westward, Zheng He left Li Xing and other fleets in Xuanwei Division, Jiugang, to escort the caravan back home.
Li Xing successfully completed the escort mission and sent the merchant ship to Taicang Prefecture, Suzhou in mid-August. He then led people into the capital in an emergency and asked to see Zhu Yunwen, hoping that the naval fleet could go south to help Zhang Fu conquer Annan and open up a second battlefield.
Zhu Yunwen considered that Li Jian had already brought three treasure ships and 30 great fortune ships to the south, and that Li Xing and other sergeants were on a long voyage and needed a period of rest, so he declined.
Unexpectedly, Li Xing did not give up. After returning, he produced a petition for war from 5,000 people. The bloody handprints became the most shocking "words". Zhu Yunwen was moved and ordered Xu Huizu to go to the navy to express condolences in person, and allowed Li Xing, Yan Yue and others led his troops south to meet up with Li Jian's fleet.
In Zhu Yunwen's combat strategy, in addition to marching from Yunnan and Guangxi, there was also a third line, that is, the Ming Navy marched from Guangdong through the Qiongzhou Strait.
Li Jian had been waiting for Li Xing, Yan Yue and others here for a long time. When he saw everyone arriving, in order to save time, he simply summoned all the officers and soldiers in the dock of the shipyard to arrange the battle strategy.
"According to the battle plan, Zhang Fu and Mu Sheng should have joined forces at Duobang City at this time. We need to set off immediately to go to Jiaochang Ocean to threaten Qinghua."
Li Jian pointed at the map and said seriously.
Li Xing looked at the map and frowned: "Even if we sail forward with full sail now, it will take half a month to reach the Cochin Ocean. By the time we arrive, the war in Duobang City will probably be over."
Li Jian smiled and said: "Our navy's mission is to finish in Duobang City, otherwise we wouldn't be here waiting for you to lead your troops and set off first."
Li Xing was a little puzzled, but Yan Yue seemed to understand and said: "The commander-in-chief means that on the day when Duobang City is destroyed, the Annan Hu family and his son will definitely mobilize all their forces to resist Zhang Fu's advance. And our navy will take advantage of this. Entering in vain and directly threatening Qinghua, preventing it from sending all its troops to Zhang Fu's troops?"
"That's right!"
Li Jian said seriously.
Li Xing pointed to the location of Qinghua on the map and said, "I heard that Qinghua is a fence city, not a stone city. How about we just take it away?"
Yan Yue laughed and supported Li Xing.
Li Jian waved his hand and said: "It's true that Qinghua is a fence city. Although it doesn't have much protection, don't underestimate Qinghua. It is Hu Jima's hometown, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of troops and heavily fenced. , it is very difficult to break in. Once you fall into the opponent's attack range, you will suffer heavy casualties."
"Does it mean we won't go to Thanh Hoa?"
Li Xing was a little depressed.
As a general, it is a very honorable thing to conquer the capital of a country and capture the princes and nobles. It seems that I have nothing to do with this honor...
Li Jian stared at the map carefully and said: "Not necessarily. If Qinghua is empty enough, we can also take a trip. But you must remember that no one is allowed to take anything in Qinghua city that does not belong to you... …”
"ah?"
Li Xing, Yan Yue and others looked at Li Jian doubtfully. After breaking the city, whoever wants to give some treasures would not be appropriate. It would not be appropriate to rely only on the rewards from the court...
Li Jian sighed: "The imperial court has sold the wealth of all the princes and nobles in Annan to merchants..."
