Daming Crazy Emperor

Chapter 491 A Different Way of Thinking
In the study room of the side hall, not long after Taichang sat down, Lu Xiangsheng hurried over.

Right now his task is to lead people to build the city, and he is also in the city, so naturally he will come quickly.

After paying respects to the monarchs and ministers, Taichang asked directly: "Jiandou, what do you think of training the young men of these tribes to deal with the European barbarians?"

When Lu Xiangsheng heard this, he was immediately stunned.

He really couldn't understand why the emperor put 40 soldiers from Shenji Battalion and Shenwu Battalion to build a city here, but instead wanted to train the young and strong native tribes here to deal with the European barbarians.

He was stunned for a while, but couldn't help asking: "Your Majesty, can it be said that with the strength of the Shenji Battalion and Shenwu Battalion, they can't beat those European barbarians?"

Who said you can't beat it?

This is not a question of whether you can beat or not.

Taichang thought for a while, and then explained: "After all, the European barbarians are different from Dongying and Donghu. They are also equipped with a lot of muskets and cannons. If we really fight against them on land, casualties are inevitable.

This is not the main problem. The main problem is that it is too far away from the mainland of Ming Dynasty, and the continent of Europe is farther away from the mainland of Ming Dynasty.

It's a big taboo for military strategists to attack far away.

If we were to mobilize many people to fight against others in the Americas or even in Europe, think about it, how many troops and horses would we have to dispatch, and how much food, grass, and luggage would have to be transported? "

Well, this is indeed a problem.

After all, fighting these days is no longer about fighting with swords and guns. Muskets and cannons consume ammunition, and the soldiers of Shenji Battalion and Shenwu Battalion also have to eat.

If you fight one or two battles, that's all. If you fight for one, two, or even several years, it's not enough to just transfer food, grass, and luggage.

Lu Xiangsheng thought for a while, but he was still a little unwilling and said: "Your Majesty, we can expand the territory here, and then send the guards over to grow food, and we can also directly open factories here to manufacture weapons and ammunition."

Don't you know how big it is?
Taichang shook his head helplessly, then got up in person, took out a "Complete Map of Kunyu and All Nations" from the bookcase at the back, unfolded it, pointed to the American continent and said, "Look, the width from east to west here is probably more than ten thousand miles. The distance is even tens of thousands of miles, if we want to completely occupy this continent, how many infantry and guards do we have to send in?"

Uh, such a large continent or two continents, not to mention how many infantry were dispatched to snatch it, even if it was defeated, it would be difficult to defend it well with two hundred guards.

When Lu Xiangsheng heard this, he didn't know how to deal with it.

Taichang then pointed to the central and western part of North America and said: "Now, the Indian tribes here have been compressed into the central part of North America by the European countries.

If we can help them defend this area, and even drive away all the European countries occupying the east coast, then we can take the northern area without much effort, and we don't even need to send any garrisons to guard it. Row.

Because the south is our ally Spain, and there are these tribes in the middle, other European countries cannot fight at all.

Even if other continental European countries want to fight, we just need to work a little harder and provide some help, and Spain in the south and these tribes in the middle can easily repel them. "

To be honest, at the beginning, his idea was to occupy as much territory as possible, and occupy as much space as possible.

Because at that time, the territory of Ming Dynasty was not big enough, and the food produced was not enough. In case of natural disasters, the common people might starve to death.

This situation has happened in many dynasties before the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, what he thought at the beginning was to expand the territory of Daming to the limit, occupying as much space as possible.

However, as the territory of Daming grew larger and larger, his thoughts gradually changed.

He discovered that the bigger the territory, the better.

Because the larger the territory, the more difficult it is to control it.

It is not a good thing if the territory occupied is too large to be controlled.

The empire on which the sun never sets in history is an obvious example.
No matter how many colonies they seized, they would be devastated as soon as they resisted.

Like an empire on which the sun never sets, greed and insufficiency will lead to decline sooner or later.

The Mongol Yuan Empire in history is also an obvious example.

No matter how big the territory is, if you can't control it, it's not a good thing.

The key to this world hegemony is to always maintain a strong strength. As for the territory and resources, enough is enough.

And at this moment, Daming's territory and resources are already sufficient, and even places like New Yangzhou Mansion and New Jingzhou Mansion are too late for them to develop.

If you crazily grab the territory again, it will become a burden.

Not only do they not have so much energy and so many people to develop, but they also have to consume a lot of garrison guards.

Therefore, as long as the territory is sufficient, the next focus is how to keep Da Ming strong, or in other words, prevent Da Ming's enemies from becoming strong.

Lu Xiangsheng was also preoccupied with expanding the territory.

However, he is not some reckless man who only knows how to fight.

After Taichang explained in detail, he still understood that he should not blindly be greedy for the big, how to maintain his own strength is the fundamental.

Obviously, if the tribes here can be cultivated, Da Ming will be able to add a great help, or in other words, Da Ming's strength will be even stronger.

If he blindly greedy the big and the big and insisted on seizing this continent, Daming's strength might be severely depleted.

Thinking of this, he nodded slowly and said, "Your Majesty is wise, next, we should really cultivate the tribes here so that they can deal with the European barbarians."

Well, as long as you can figure it out.

Taichang analyzed in detail: "Now, with our level of weapons and equipment, it is not difficult to make these tribes stronger.

The key is how we control them after we make them stronger.

If they can't control them after they are raised, and even turn their heads to bite us, then they are asking for trouble.

Also, we can't make them too strong, strong enough to threaten us, or even defeat us.

We are here to cultivate obedient vassals, not to cultivate powerful opponents. "

Hearing this, Lu Xiangsheng said thoughtfully: "Your Majesty, what do you mean, just let them stand up to the barbarians in Europe, don't you?"

Taichang thought for a while, then clicked North America, South America and South America on the map, and then seriously said: "Perhaps, we still have to let them have a certain attack power."

This means that they may have to beat Spain at that time.

In other words, the tribes here need to be cultivated to the extent that they can fight against the European countries.

However, it can't be cultivated to the extent that it can threaten Daming, and it can't cultivate a strong enemy for itself.

This seems to be very difficult. If you want to make people stronger, you can't become too strong, and you have to make them obedient.

How can this effect be achieved?
Lu Xiangsheng frowned and pondered for a while, then suddenly he had an idea: "Your Majesty, maybe we can change the system of the capital guards and apply it here."

Hearing this, Taichang couldn't help saying with great interest: "Oh, tell me, how to change it?"

Lu Xiangsheng pondered: "For example, we can use the method of arranging guards to move several tribes together, or let them form a tribal alliance with [-] to [-] young and strong, and teach them to build guards at key passes. City, and then send them some weapons, so that they can withstand the invasion of the European barbarians, and they will not become too strong."

Well, relying on the defense of the Acropolis is a good way.

The problem is that all European countries have guns and artillery.

Taichang couldn't help frowning and said: "We don't send them muskets and cannons, they seem to be unable to withstand the invasion of European barbarians.

It is even more impossible for them to unite to drive out the British, French and Dutch, or even beat Spain.

The question is, we equip them with guns and artillery, and they may pose a threat to us. How to deal with this problem properly? "

This is indeed a problem.

Lu Xiangsheng thought for a while, and then said carefully: "Perhaps, we can cast some red barbarian cannons for them and install them on the city walls, so that they can withstand the invasion of a small group of enemies without any problem.

If they encounter a large-scale invasion, we can send generals to mobilize the forces of other tribal alliances around, and send a certain number of soldiers of the Shenji Battalion to support them with muskets and artillery.

In this way, it will be impossible for them not to listen to us.

Because without our command and support, they still cannot defeat the European barbarians.

As for the war with the European countries, we only need to gather them together, put swords, shields and guns in front, and then send the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion to use artillery to disrupt the enemy's formation, and then command them to charge up. "

Great, that's a good idea.

(End of this chapter)