Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 354
Zhu Youjian originally wanted to take advantage of the internal strife in western Liaoning to make a big fuss, take the opportunity to weaken Zu Dashou's strength and then slow down, but Sun Chuanting's words reminded him that there are still a few months before the start of next year's war. The most important thing to maintain is the stability of the situation, not to weaken yourself first without confronting the enemy.

Although the two families of Zu and Wu have been successfully divided, they are far away from disintegration. It is just that the strength of Western Liaoning has been weakened.

At this time, if one uses power to suppress others and force Zu to live too long, it may cause unforeseen disasters.

Maintaining the status quo is the best strategy.

Now Liaoxi has no intention of surrendering to the enemy. When the war starts next year, Jinzhou City will be used as a bait. The existence of Zu Dashou will at least attract part of Jianzhou's attention, so that the deployment of troops by the officers and soldiers can be more calm.

More importantly, Zhu Youjian suddenly understood a truth: as an emperor, one should act aboveboard instead of being obsessed with calculations.

What the lord of a country should possess most is a far-reaching vision and a broad mind, and he must be generous in everything he does, so that the courtiers don't have to worry about being framed and suspected by the king.

An emperor who likes to manipulate people's hearts like Emperor Jiajing is not a glorious character. He spends all his wisdom on playing tricks with his courtiers, so how can you govern the country?
All tactics are vulnerable to absolute strength. There is no need to manipulate tactics with the strength I have now. In the future, I only need to send upright teachers to deal with the ancestors. How to choose depends on their own choice.

If Jianzhou and Liaoxi are defeated one after another, then the major external threats facing Ming Dynasty will basically disappear.

The Mongolian tribes have been raided and plundered by Huang Taiji. The more powerful tribes have been relocated to Horqin and Chahan Mongolia near Jianzhou, and the rest are weak and poor tribes.

Next year Lu Xiangsheng will lead the army out of the fortress and will definitely take the method of covering the battlefield, which also means that more tribes will die out, so the north of Ming Dynasty will be very safe for at least 50 years.

When the northern border was completely stabilized, Zhu Youjian planned to form a Northwest Army Corps mainly composed of cavalry, sweeping all the way to the northwest, trying to restore the territory and territory of the Han and Tang Dynasties while opening up the traditional Silk Road.

According to the news sent back by Cao Wenzhao, who was guarding Lintao Mansion far away, the northern Shaanxi bandits who were beaten by Hong Chengchou seemed to be moving a little bit. From time to time, they entered the territory of Daming from the damaged side wall and broke down several small villages. After looting the population and materials, they escaped outside the wall.

Cao Wenzhao has already ordered one of his guerrilla generals to lead his troops north to strengthen the defense of the damaged side wall, and wait for an opportunity to surround and eliminate this gang of thieves.

However, since Cao Bianjiao had already taken most of the cavalry to the front line of Xuanda, and conducted joint training with other cavalry in advance, Cao Wenzhao's cavalry had only a few hundred cavalry, and their mobility dropped sharply. In [-], they were mainly cavalry, so now they can only adopt a defensive strategy, but it is very difficult to annihilate them.

Fortunately, the bandits seemed to have been scared out of their wits by the officers and soldiers. Every time they came and left in a hurry, they didn't dare to stay for too long.

Moreover, the thieves mainly looted food and supplies, and did not kill many people. It seems that their life outside the Great Wall was quite difficult.

After Zhu Youjian heard the news, he didn't take it seriously. This group of thieves must be Li Zicheng's gang. Judging from their current situation, they have been reduced to the same level as horse bandits. Nothing to worry about.

When the army returns to the west in the coming year, and the formation of the Northwest Army Corps is completed, Zhu Youjian will order Cao Bianjiao to lead the army out of the fortress. After finding the traces of Li Zicheng and his group, they will be oppressed to the northwest, forcing them to be pioneers, and then in the name of suppressing thieves. It's good to follow all the way, and then you will gain a good reputation as a teacher of benevolence and righteousness who rescued the alien race and the water and fire.

Such a strategy is not an exaggeration.

The banditry of Li Zicheng and others cannot be changed. They must still focus on killing and looting in the process of fleeing westward. The Ming government army followed them all the way, and appropriately sweetened the looted tribes. Their good reputation is easily lost. can spread the word.

The North and Northeast have settled down one after another, and the Northwest has taken an offensive. The land enemies of the Ming Dynasty have basically disappeared, and the rest is to form a fleet to attack and defend against threats from the sea.

From the current point of view, the South China Sea Navy needs to be established the most. The East China Sea and Dengzhou Navy can be placed behind. The human, financial and material resources must be tilted towards the South China Sea, and the formation of the South China Sea Navy cannot avoid the Zheng family.

It is undeniable that Zheng Zhilong has always been obedient and cooperative to the imperial court since he was proclaimed uncle, and has played a very important role in the resettlement of the victims of the disaster in the entire Ming Dynasty in the past few years. Zheng Zhilong has indeed achieved the ultimate, far surpassing other nobles.

But if one wanted to circumvent the Zheng family to form an imperial navy, this would have touched the bottom line of the Zheng family, and it was difficult to say what Zheng Zhilong's attitude would be.

It seems that we need to send someone to test Zheng Zhilong's attitude before adopting relevant strategies.

Wait until the war is over before proceeding with the integration of the army. Appropriate abolition of the combined forces is the only way. Except for the strong army stationed in Gyeonggi to defend the capital, there is no need to station troops in the Ming Dynasty.

Guards will no longer appear in Ming's army. Generals can have personal guards, and the number of personal guards will be reserved according to their rank, with a maximum of 200 personal soldiers.

The soldiers are not servants, and all the military salaries of the generals and soldiers are distributed to the soldiers by the military judge and the garrison Jinyiwei, so that the disadvantages of the soldiers will be completely eliminated.

In fact, this measure has already begun to be implemented in most of the army. Even if some army leaders are secretly dissatisfied, no one dares to speak out about it.

Jin Yiwei will take on the important task of internal guards to suppress possible riots in the country.

As long as the domestic political situation is stable and the people have no worries about food and clothing, large-scale rebellions are unlikely to occur again. Many soldiers who have been in active service for many years will be disarmed and returned to the field after receiving corresponding compensation. Although this will cost a lot of money in the short term, in the long run , the military expenditure will be greatly reduced.

"My lord, the imperial meal is ready, look..."

Having recovered his calm, Wang Chengen returned to Zhaoren Hall and bowed to Zhu Youjian for instructions.

"Well, let's eat first. Among the Qing family, only Sun Qing has eaten in the palace. It has been three years in the blink of an eye, ha ha!"

Zhu Youjian got up and walked down the imperial steps, talking and laughing while walking towards the side hall first.

After the emperor turned around the side door in the hall, Wen Tiren and others followed under the guidance of the young eunuch.

The side hall of Zhaoren Hall was changed into a dining room under Zhu Youjian's instruction. This is because he considered the convenience of Liu Zhongchen's meals.

At the back of the hall, Zhu Youjian changed into regular clothes with a round collar and straight gown. After cleaning his hands in the golden basin, he returned to the hall and sat on a cushioned grand master's chair behind a square table.

This is what he specifically ordered.

He really doesn't like the dragon chair (dragon bed) without armrests, and this kind of large Taishi chair is his favorite.

Wen Tiren and the others also cleaned their hands in the copper basins brought by the little eunuch, and after saluting Zhu Youjian, they sat down behind the smaller square table.

"Pass the meal!"

Following Wang Chengen's order, a row of young eunuchs came in with trays painted with gold and red lacquer in both hands, and then they lined up in a team of four in front of Zhu Youjian, bowing and holding up the trays for Zhu Youjian to order.

After Zhu Youjian left a piece of bird's nest soup and a piece of mutton with minced pepper, following Wang Chengen's instructions, the first row walked past Fang Jiqian and walked towards several important officials.

After more than forty dishes were served in this way, the imperial meal began.

There are eight dishes on the table in front of Zhu Youjian. In addition to bird's nest soup and mutton with minced pepper, there are two cooked fresh fish, garlic and vinegar white blood soup, spicy kidney paste with spicy vinegar, vegetarian rice juice, and a bowl of beans Chess noodles and a bowl of fragrant rice.

Wen Tiren and the others also ordered a few delicious-looking dishes and staple foods such as dim sum and fragrant rice. After seeing Zhu Youjian move their chopsticks, they began to eat with a little restraint.

Many people in later generations have an obvious misunderstanding about the imperial meal. They all think that the emperor's meal is cooked by the imperial dining room. In fact, this is just poisoned by the Qing palace opera.

There has never been such a place as the so-called imperial dining room in the imperial palace of the Ming Dynasty. The meals of the emperor of the Ming Dynasty and the meals enjoyed by the officials who gave banquets were all purchased, made and organized by Guanglu Temple.

It's just that what Zhu Youjian eats is cooked separately by Zhou Hou and the female officials and maids of Kunning Palace. For this reason, Zhu Youjian also specially ordered the expansion of the kitchen in the harem.

As Zhu Youjian, who has tasted the delicacies of later generations, he has no feeling for imperial cuisine, and he is also planning to reform Guanglu Temple at the right time.

Because the pig food made by Guanglu Temple is really hard to swallow. It is far from delicious. It is no different from the university canteens of later generations.

Under the condition that the conditions are already met, Zhu Youjian is not a person who opposes enjoyment. With so much money, how much can it cost for his family to enjoy while benefiting the people's livelihood?
After Zhu Youjian took the lead in stopping chopsticks to rinse his mouth, the imperial meal ended half an hour later. Wen Tiren and others saluted and said goodbye before leaving the palace for business.

　Thanks to the book friends for the reward that no one has used this account.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)