Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1336
Wenhua Palace, the imperial court called for a pair.

Shen Shixing, the chief assistant of the cabinet, and Xu Guo, the second assistant, and Zhang Xueyan, Wu Dui, Wang Jiaping, and Wang Xijue, the group assistants, arrived first.Soon afterwards, Gao Wushi, Minister of the Household Department, and Liang Menglong, Minister of the Ministry of War, who were summoned from outside the palace, also arrived hand in hand.

The two went up to salute the emperor and were given a seat. Since the other six were elders, the two of them had to respectfully accompany the last seat.

Zhu Yijun wished that no one would see him when the officials were clamoring for "rectification of the country", and he did not show much interest in this year's Dinghai Jingcha, but as soon as the news of Liaodong came, he immediately issued an order to call for a reunion, which can be seen in his In his heart, he has his own considerations for light, heavy, slow, and urgent matters.

"All the loves of Liaodong have already heard the news, so I won't repeat it. What do you say to the current situation?" Zhu Yijun looked around and asked in a slightly low tone.

In this situation, either Shen Shixing will speak first as the first assistant, or Liang Menglong will answer first as the person directly responsible.But Shen Shixing's face was calm, his eyes were on his nose, his nose was on his heart, and he didn't look like he planned to speak.

Liang Menglong glanced at it, and had no choice but to stand up and bow to Zhu Yijun: "Your Majesty, although Meng Gebulu's collapse in the first battle was slightly beyond the expectations of the Ministry of War, the other circumstances are basically within the expectations of the Ministry of War. Too worried."

Zhu Yijun nodded slightly, but there was no emotional change on his face. He looked at Liang Menglong and asked, "What did the Ministry of War expect before?"

Liang Menglong bowed slightly, pointed at Gao Wushi again, and said: "Before Da Si Nong took office, I had some exchanges with my ministers about the situation in Liaodong. At that time, the court only learned that Tumen was sending troops to attack Ye He At that time, the two ministers thought that Nurhachi would definitely send troops, and the most likely thing would be to go north to capture Hada."

Liang Menglong stretched out his hand subconsciously, and said: "The situation in Liaodong, if we only take the range of Jurchen to the east of Kaiyuan, Yehe is in the north, Hada is in the middle, and Jianzhou is in the southeast. The rest of Suwan, Wula and other departments It is not directly bordered by our Ming Dynasty, and must pass through these three parts to be connected.

Therefore, at that time, Da Si Nong had a judgment that Tumen and Nurhaci might have united before this battle. The purpose was probably that Tumen would occupy Yehe and Nurhachi would occupy Hada. connect. "

Zhu Yijun frowned: "Ye He is also a Jurchen, so Nurhachi is so disregarding the feelings of the same family?"

Liang Menglong shook his head and said, "Who are the barbarians talking about? The Jurchen ministries have always had constant disputes and wars. Yesterday they were allies, but now they are enemies everywhere. Besides, when Da Si Nong was in Liaofu, he deliberately provoked Ye The hatred between He and Jianzhou, and now Yehe Erbeile and Nurhachi really have a hatred for killing his father, and it is not surprising that Nurhachi wants to use the hands of Tumen to destroy Yehe."

Zhu Yijun asked: "Isn't he afraid that other Jurchens will scold him for leading wolves into the house?"

"That's not what he's concerned about." Liang Menglong replied: "The Jurchen tribes are also called countries, and they don't regard each other as one. They are similar to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms in the Central Plains."

Zhu Yijun nodded, accepted the statement, and asked again: "Now Ye He is in danger, and Hada seems to be unable to resist Nurhachi. If I, Daming, remain indifferent, their plan may come true." Speaking of this, he Seemingly remembering something, he turned his head and asked Gao Yushi: "Seeking the truth, since you said that Tumen and Nurhachi want to divide Yehe and Hada, what is the reason for this? But you want to join forces against me, Daming?"

Gao Wushi also got up and cupped his hands, saying: "What Tumen and Nurhachi have done is actually a north-south barrier."

The two passes in the north and the south are the South Pass and the North Pass.The Ming people called Hada the South Pass and Yehe the North Pass. The "south and north" were centered on Kaiyuan.The "pass" in the two passes of the north and the south actually does not mean the pass or the pass, but the pass city.

In other words, in the eyes of Ming people, Hada and Yehe are just two trade markets, one in the south and the other in the north.

"For the two passes?" Zhu Yijun asked in surprise, "They want to isolate Gongshi?"

"Of course it's not isolation, on the contrary, they want to make a contribution to Daming City." Gao Wushi said calmly.

Zhu Yijun was stunned for a moment, and then immediately laughed angrily: "Hata and Yehe Zhubeile are all officials who were conferred by our Ming Dynasty. No matter how they behave, they are at least generals who guard the border for our Ming Dynasty. Tumen and Nurhachi attacked our territory for nothing. , Bullying me to be an official, so rebellious, you still expect me to be allowed to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty?"

Gao Wushi said indifferently: "I'm afraid that if the two beasts really succeed, it will be difficult for me, Ming Dynasty, and maybe I will really be coerced by him and allow him to pay tribute to the city."

Zhu Yijun was very surprised: "Why?"

Gao Wushi shook his head slightly, and sighed: "If there is no border market in the North and South Passes, where will the furs, pearls and other things I need come from? Does the Emperor know the key points?"

Of course Zhu Yijun was not very clear, he shook his head in doubt, then frowned and said: "You tell me that I know, let's see how difficult it is."

Gao Wushi nodded and said: "I would like to make a clear distinction for the emperor, please listen to the minister's explanation." So he introduced the situation of the Kaiyuan horse market, that is, the two northern and southern passes, to the emperor.

After the Chenghua period, the goods traded in the Kaiyuan Horse Market were no longer based on basic daily necessities such as rice, salt, horses and cattle, but turned into luxury goods such as mink fur, rat skin and ginseng.At this time and later, the political situation of the Ming Dynasty was stable, the economy continued to develop, and the extravagant atmosphere of the palace and the upper class in the capital brought a huge consumer demand for fur products.

For example, it is recorded in Zhuo Zhong Zhi that the court of the Ming Dynasty needs more than [-] mink furs and more than [-] fox furs every year.The bureaucrats bribed and accepted bribes, and mink fur was also an important gift.

Of course, the so-called demand of the palace is not just the amount used by the palace itself, because the court has a system of giving ferrets to ministers.Up to now, the imperial court directly purchases thousands of mink furs in Kaiyuan every year.

Moreover, it needs to be made clear that the "thousands of mink furs per year" are only directly purchased by the imperial court in Kaiyuan, and the amount purchased by the imperial court from the private sector and the trade quota that the private sector circulates by themselves are not counted. Counting it in, this number will increase greatly, and it can't even be counted clearly.

The above is just talking about mink fur. Others such as sea otter, fox fur, tiger skin, mouse skin (mink, green mouse, chinchilla, etc.), fungus, matsutake, and east pearl are not included.

This is from the perspective of goods, and from the perspective of trade routes, the North and South Passes are also extremely important.

The trade between Liaodong and the Jurchen region in the Ming Dynasty centered on Kaiyuan, and there were two main trade routes: one from the lower reaches of Heilongjiang, going up Heilongjiang and Songhua River, and turning southwest to Kaiyuan, passing south near Harbin; The road goes northeast along the Tumen River, passes through the Changbai Mountains, circles the upper reaches of the Songhua River, and travels southwest to Kaiyuan.

The Hada and Yehe tribes of Haixi Jurchen built Guangshun Pass and Zhenbei Pass, respectively, in order to use and control these two trade routes.In addition, on the route from Mongolia to the back door of Korea, Kaiyuan also occupied the channel.

"The Daoliang horses in Xianji were prolific in the past, because the Kaiyuan road was connected to the Tatar horse farm, but now it is not connected to Kaiyuan. It has been 50 years, and the Tatar horse has become extinct."

Because of this, this trade route from Mongolia and Jurchens to Kaiyuanmashi is called the "Golden Road" by Mongolia and Jurchens in inland Asia.

Gao Wushi explained these two points to Zhu Yijun, and generally meant two things: First, if the North-South Pass trade is cut off, many kinds of furs and other luxury goods in the country will soon be out of stock, which will cause economic fluctuations. Although this fluctuation will not affect the national economy and people's livelihood, it will also hit economic activity.

In particular, Gao Yushi also hinted that according to his plan, when the imperial court comprehensively collects commercial taxes in the future, it will impose high taxes on "luxury goods" - cutting off this commercial route will directly affect the imperial court's income.

Second, if the north-south pass trade route is cut off, although it will have a strong economic impact on the Jurchen or even the regimes outside the border including the Mongolian left wing and even North Korea, but at the same time, the imperial court's restraint on them will also be greatly weakened. up.

At the same time, such as Su Wan, Huifa, Wula and even the barbarian Jurchen, etc., the centripetal force towards the Ming court became weaker and weaker.If things go on like this, it would not be surprising even if these "territories" are completely lost.

Gao Wushi made it very clear, and even listed a lot of data. The more Zhu Yijun listened, the more serious he became, and finally he was completely sure: cutting off the Beiguan Border City would not only damage the inside, but also lose face sooner or later.

Although Gao Pragmatism also made it clear that if the northern and southern Guanbian cities were really cut off, Tumen and Nurhachi's dispatch of troops this time would be regarded as [-]% for nothing, and only [-]% could be regarded as real benefits—after all, the expanded sphere of influence— — But Zhu Yijun still felt that this "sale" was not worth it.

Especially the "luxury tax" hinted at by Gao Yushi. The elders present here and Liang Menglong are not clear about this matter, but he is clear. Gao Yushi has already mentioned it to him.Gao Yushi even took the initiative to say that in the future, high-end soaps such as "Guoshi" and "Tianxiang" can be classified as luxury goods, in order to set an example and treat everyone equally.

According to a highly pragmatic calculation, the "luxury tax" will be a very important item in commercial taxation in the future. If the whole country is added together, it will be able to collect at least 10 taels of silver every year. How can there be any mistakes?

I don't know whether it's because of his nature or because he was led by high pragmatism. Once Zhu Yijun figured out that this matter was linked to money, and even involved so much, he immediately made up his mind and said firmly: "In this case, this Yehe and Hada two departments, I Daming will never allow Tumen and Nurhachi to get involved! Look..."

He was going to directly ask Gao Wushi what to do next, but he suddenly remembered that Gao Wushi is no longer the Minister of the Rongzheng, and there are also elders and Liang Menglong, Minister of the Ministry of War, present at the meeting today, so he changed his words temporarily: "My dearest ministers, Gao The Qing family has just analyzed the pros and cons clearly enough, presumably none of you will object to keeping Yehe and Hada two departments?"

His question was a bit "artistic", and several elders couldn't find any reason to object to Gao Yushi's statement just now, so they all agreed with the emperor's conclusion.However, Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue looked at each other quietly, and they both saw deep worry in each other's eyes.

Worry is for sure, because according to Gao Pragmatic's statement and the emperor's judgment, since Tumen and Nurhachi cannot tolerate Yehe and Hada, Ming's attitude is obviously very clear, and he can only be tough to the end.

In this era of toughness to the end, it is definitely not enough to make a solemn statement or a strong protest after entering a "civilized society".

If you want to go to war, then the problem will come.

Because of Li Chengliang's actual guarding of western Liaoning, the School of Mind's position on the Liaodong issue has always been "West Liao can be fought, and Liaodong must be reconciled." However, Kaiyuan is obviously the jurisdiction of Liaodong, and Cao Yu is mainly responsible.

Needless to say, Cao Yu is a highly pragmatic person, and Kaiyuan General Ma Chengxun is also a highly pragmatic person.The same goes for other Liaonan generals Ma Dong, Shenyang guerrilla Qi Jin, and others. The main generals in the entire east of the Liaohe River are now almost all replaced by the high-level pragmatic team of the Real School.

Once the war started, even if it was impossible for Gao Yushi to go in person this time, wouldn't it still be his stage?
Zhu Yijun didn't pay attention that much. After thinking for a while, he asked, "How many soldiers do Tumen have in Yehe, and where is Nurhachi? Besides, how many soldiers will Cao Yu and others have now, and how many can they produce?"

This question is very clear to Gao Pragmatic, but he is not in his position now, so he can only wait for Liang Menglong to answer.

Liang Menglong also seemed to hear clearly, without any hesitation at the moment, he immediately said: "According to the current news reports, Tumen sent about 3000 troops this time, and Nurhachi sent about [-] to [-] troops. In the battle, he only invested [-] people and won a big victory, and the remaining [-] people were divided into other places and were not detected.

As for our Heavenly Soldiers, as far as Kaiyuan alone is concerned, it governs Tieling, Sanwan and Liaohai Sanwei, owns five cities and twenty border forts, and has more than [-] soldiers and soldiers.If you count the entire east of the Liaohe River, tens of thousands of troops will come immediately. "

Hearing this was very encouraging, but because Gao Yushi had touched Liao before, Zhu Yijun knew that Liang Menglong was playing tricks here.

Jiliao and Xuanda are the most elite border towns in the Ming Dynasty, but they have not reached the point of being fully manned. On average, they can have 1% full manpower, so the strength of Kaiyuan is probably more than [-], less than Thirteen thousand.Of course, the Kaiyuan general was Ma Chengxun, and he must have elite Ma Jiada soldiers in his hands, but it is said that the number is limited, at most three or four thousand.Overall, Kaiyuan has about [-] soldiers.

As for the east of the Liaohe River, "tens of thousands of troops will come as soon as they are called", this is true. Gao Yushi also told him last year.However, these tens of thousands of troops are definitely not something that can be moved at will, not to mention that it is impossible to evacuate all the troops scattered in the Liaodong Plain and the Liaonan Mountains, and it is impossible to use all the current reserves of Liaodong. He and Hada.

Liaodong does have strategic reserves, which Gao Yu started to stockpile on purpose when he was in office, but these reserves are obviously made for a fatal blow to Tumen in the future, and spending on Hada and Yehe will be more pitiful.

Judging from what Liang Menglong said just now, Tumen only sent [-] troops this time, and it seems that the Liaodong side will not make too much fanfare.

At this moment, when you save, you save.

Zhu Yijun thought for a while and asked, "Does the Ministry of War have a plan for how to fight this battle?"

(End of this chapter)