Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 200 Star falls in Taiyuan
On February 31, the [-]st year of Hongwu's reign, Qu Neng and He Fu led [-] troops across the dangerous Gaoligong Mountains and marched straight into Nandian City.

Since this day is the Dai New Year, the guard Daoming Meng only left a small number of troops in the city, while the rest of the large number of soldiers and civilians went out of the city to celebrate the festival.

Facing the Ming army, which was like a divine force descending from heaven, hundreds of thousands of civilians were in chaos. Daoming Meng tried to retreat into the city with his entire army, but Qu Neng grabbed his horse and charged into the formation, killing his men.

After Dao Ming Meng was killed, more than [-] civilians and nearly [-] Luchuan soldiers and horses were defeated. When the news reached Cuansong Pass, Dao Gan Meng was frightened. After leaving more than [-] soldiers and horses to defend the city, he led [-] soldiers back to the division for rescue. Nandian City.

Muchun, who discovered that the number of flags at Cuansongguan had decreased, immediately ordered the entire army to attack the city.

On that day, the Ming army's artillery fired stone cannons, and Cuansongguan was in danger.

The next day, He Fu and Qu Neng captured Nandian City, leaving Wang Zhao and 800 of his troops to defend the city, while the rest of the troops went to Cuansong Pass to kill.

On the afternoon of February [-], the Ming army and the Luchuan army encountered each other at the Nanggun River.

After the two armies met, Dao Ganmeng led the Luchuan Army to drive the war elephants into the formation.

Facing the charging formation of more than thirty war elephants, the Ming army lit torches to intimidate the war elephants.

However, after the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Dingbian, the Luchuan army had conducted rigorous training on the war elephants.

The brave war elephants were not afraid of the fire. Instead, they continued to attack the Ming army's main formation despite the Ming army's arrows.

Facing the impact of more than [-] war elephants, Qu Neng and his son led their troops into the battle, armed with strong bows and arrows, and used long spears to kill six war elephants, like gods.

At the critical moment, the Luchuan cavalry crossed the river to kill like sharp arrows.

It has to be said that Dao Ganmeng's response was truly astonishing.

Even if the elephant soldiers of the Chinese army suffer a loss, if they can win on both wings and then attack the center of the Ming army, they can still win.

It's just that he is not facing an unknown young general, but Qu Neng and He Fu, who have participated in the Northern Expedition and have experienced hundreds of battles.

Since the Luchuan cavalry fought with lances and were close-combat cavalry, and lacked armor due to the breed of horses, when they rushed into the formation, He Fu controlled the three armies. The pikemen of the army formed from the left and right wings and dispersed. Divided into two, cut and surrounded the Luchuan cavalry.

Two thousand Lucchuan cavalrymen were cut and surrounded by more than [-] Ming army infantry. People were constantly being killed and wounded in the formation, which made the Lucchuan army's chaos more and more intensified.

Unwilling to do so, Dao Ganmeng still wanted to fight against the trapped beast, so he ordered the elite warriors directly under his command to charge directly at the left army of the Ming army.

These warriors were in complete order among the rebellious army. They first launched their javelins with a very high hit rate and caused huge damage to the Ming army. Then they charged with their swords and the left wing of the Ming army was temporarily forced back.

At the critical moment, Muchun broke through Cuansong Pass, and Meng Daogan was afraid and led his army to retreat.

In this battle, the Ming army won a complete victory, beheading more than [-] people, capturing more than [-] civilians, and captured [-] war elephants.

After this battle, almost all the Luchuan war elephants in Dao Ganmeng's hands were lost. In addition to being killed and captured by the Ming army, more than half of the soldiers were lost due to illness and hunger on the way back. The dead were unknown for a while. Everywhere, there are dead bodies lying on the pillow.

"Good! Good!"

At the end of February, when the good news from Yunnan reached Yingtian, Zhu Yuanzhang in the Qianqing Palace looked even better.

He held the victory report in his hand and said ostentatiously to Zhu Yunwen who had sent him the victory report: "Mu Chun is worthy of being a member of my family. This battle against Dao Qianmeng has already caused heavy casualties and we will not be able to fight again in a short time."

"More importantly, the imperial court has captured Nandian, and now it can attack Mengla (Yingjiang) directly."

Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy and his complexion turned rosy.

Seeing that he was happy, Zhu Yunwen took the opportunity to hand over the promotion document he had written.

"After the war, Dao Ganmeng retreated to Mengla. Although he was still calling on the native chiefs from all over the world to resist the imperial court, he probably wouldn't be able to hold on for long."

"This is the promotion document written by my grandson based on his merits and demerits in this battle. Please have Grandpa read it."

Zhu Yunwen said what he thought was true, but Zhu Yuanzhang retorted softly when he took the brochure delivered by Zhu Yunwen's messenger:
"Although Dao Ganmeng suffered heavy losses, the local chiefs from all sides of Luchuan are not of the same mind as us. We must not underestimate them."

"Although this battle has been a great victory, for the Luchuan side, it was just the loss of one level and one city."

"Besides, the officers and soldiers are deep in the army and it is difficult to supply food, grass and baggage in the rear. Mu Chun, that kid, will not be able to launch an attack in a short time. It will probably take a few more months to go further."

He refuted Zhu Yunwen's optimism and gave his own opinion. At the same time, he looked at the promotion brochure written by Zhu Yunwen.

Originally, he was very satisfied, but when he saw a certain part, he frowned, put the booklet on the table, and asked Zhu Yunwen: "The three Wangs, father and son, should be the first to succeed in this battle. Why is it that only Wang Xuan has been promoted to one level?" ?”

"This..." Zhu Yunwen's heart tightened, and he quickly said what he had prepared earlier: "My grandson thought that if the three fathers and sons were promoted according to what the Marquis of Xiping said, the Wang family and his son would be allowed to further control western Yunnan. .”

"What's wrong?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked dissatisfiedly. This move let Zhu Yunwen know his current mood.

"My grandson just thinks that if he is cultivated into a strong man, I am afraid that it will be inconvenient for the imperial court to govern the western border of Yunnan in the future. What's more..."

"Okay!" Zhu Yuanzhang interrupted Zhu Yunwen. He pushed the album to the front and said in an unquestionable tone:

"You are the crown prince. If you can't even employ people without suspicion and use them without suspicion, how can you make all the officials in the temple obey?"

"Besides, if you are really so mean to Wang and his son, what will the military attachés think when they find out?"

He finished what he wanted to say, and finally tapped the table with his fingers: "Take this promotion manual back and revise it, and then give it to me after revising it."

"The three fathers and sons of the Wang family have meritorious service. Among them, Wang Xuan has made the greatest contribution. He was promoted to the commander of the capital of Yunnan. His father Wang Zhao was also promoted to the commander of the capital. In addition, his brother Wang Kui's merit is not obvious, but he can also be said to have merit. Promote him to the commander of Yongchang Guard."

"For the rest, you can weigh it yourself and don't look too stingy to the court."

"In addition, Cao Guogong obtained more than [-] horses from the Xifan tea horse trade. If these horses are well raised, many military horses will be selected in a few years. You need to send someone to treat them well."

Zhu Yuanzhang quickly changed the topic and did not give Zhu Yunwen a chance to continue.

In response, Zhu Yunwen could only bow in return.

Seeing that he was still a little unwilling, Zhu Yuanzhang was not very happy. He continued to tap his fingers: "Spring is about to begin over in Liaodong. Over at the Zuo Army Governor's Mansion, I have already called General Zengshou to organize this shipping."

"Last year, the three capitals made their own moves. Daning was already short of grain and grass. This time, 190 million shi were shipped from Shandong and Zhili, and 96 shi were shipped to Daning Dusi, 52 shi to Liaodong Dusi, and 54 shi were shipped to Jilin. stone."

Zhu Yuanzhang gave his own arrangements, but Zhu Yunwen frowned secretly, bowed slowly and asked: "Grandpa, is it too much to transport 54 shi to Jilin City?"

"Not much." Zhu Yuanzhang had his own arrangements. He and Zhu Yunwen explained: "Last year I ordered Gao Xu to choose a place to build a city between Sanwanwei and Jilinwei after the spring this year, so that the imperial court can control the outside of the pass in the future."

"In addition, although the Nawu Liangha tribes have been driven away by the government and the army for two consecutive years, they still have Hu Ting as support."

"After spring this year, I want your fourth uncle to lead the troops to patrol the north again. Since it is convenient for Gao Xu to send troops, I will let him be the vanguard to explore the road."

"As for the Liaodong Dusi, last year many combat troops from the four states of Liaodong were laid off and turned into garrison troops. Expenses have been reduced, so you don't have to worry."

Although he is older, Zhu Yuanzhang still makes no mistakes in grand strategy.

Zhu Gaoxu was asked to build the city in order to better control him.

The purpose of continuing to attack Wuliangha is to enable the troops stationed in Liaodong, Jilin, Daning and other places to engage in production properly.

If we don't send troops to attack them, we can only wait for them to recuperate and then go south to harvest grass in the valley.

Regularly sending troops to weaken the Hu soldiers was Zhu Yuanzhang's grand strategy.

If Yuan Ting hadn't fled to the west now, he might have asked Zhu Di to lead the troops and stage another "Victory in the Fishing Sea".

"We have given 54 shi of monthly and line rations. Do we still need to distribute cotton cloth, salary, and bean feed as usual?"

Zhu Yunwen wanted to ask for more details, but his little thoughts could not hide from Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes.

In response to his question, Zhu Yuanzhang raised his hand to stroke his beard and pondered for a moment before answering again: "Cotton cloth will be rationed according to the number of military households. As for the bean feed, the boy has so much land, he can grow his own bean feed to be self-sufficient."

After Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, he raised his hand and waved: "It's getting late. You should go back to the East Palace early and host the morning court tomorrow."

He signaled that Zhu Yunwen could leave, and the eunuch on duty also picked up the promotion document from the table and handed it to Zhu Yunwen.

When Zhu Yunwen saw this, he didn't say much. He just took the promotion book from the eunuch on duty respectfully, bowed in return, and exited the Qianqing Palace.

After he left, Zhu Yuanzhang looked aside dissatisfied.

In the corner, Song Zhongzheng, the commander of the Jinyiwei, was standing there. However, instead of waiting for Zhu Yuanzhang's errand, he came to question him.

"Who are you from?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's words made Song Zhong kneel on the ground in fright: "Of course he is your Majesty's man!"

"My people?" Zhu Yuanzhang narrowed his eyes and asked, "What is the background of the Wang family and his son?"

Song Zhong's heart tightened, but he still answered dutifully: "It is said that Wang Xuan and the King of Bohai lived together for several months in the early years. The promotion of Wang Zhao and his son was also authorized by Wei Guogong..."

Song Zhong told everything. Although he kept saying it was 'rumored', Zhu Yuanzhang thought of the twists and turns.

"You told your grandson about this, right?"

"Yes……"

After the two asked and answered questions, the matter was laid out in front of Zhu Yuanzhang.

Obviously, Zhu Yunwen did not behave so honestly, but when Zhu Yuanzhang found out, instead of blaming him, he simply ignored him: "This matter ends here. In addition, you should stop doing the Jinyiwei errand and go to Kaiping Zhongwei as the commander."

"My Lord, please..." Song Zhong's face turned pale. Although it was a neutral tone, the power of the commander of the Jinyi Guard and the commander of the Kaiping Central Guard could be said to be the same in heaven and earth.

He stood up dejectedly, bowed respectfully in return, and then exited the hall.

Looking at his back, Zhu Yuanzhang did not speak for a long time, and a figure also walked into the Hall of Cultivation of the Heart.

"Just skip it?"

A familiar voice came. When Zhu Yuanzhang looked up, he saw that the person coming was none other than Guo Ying, who had just returned from the rebellion.

Obviously, Guo Ying was also a little dissatisfied with Zhu Yunwen's move. After all, he was also a military attache. He must have felt uncomfortable when he saw that meritorious people were not rewarded.

As for whether the Wang father and son were Zhu Gaoxu's people, he didn't care at all.

One is in Jilin and the other is in Yunnan. The distance between them is too far to be of any use.

Of course he knew that the emperor could not punish the grandson, but he also wanted to know why the emperor did not punish Song Zhong further.

Zhu Yunwen cannot be punished, but he can kill chickens to scare monkeys.

"There is nothing wrong with what he did." Zhu Yuanzhang spoke softly and sighed at the same time: "To be able to achieve something, you must first have this scheming and ruthlessness." "In this regard, your grandson-in-law is far behind..."

Zhu Yuanzhang talked about Zhu Gaoxu, but Guo Ying kept silent after hearing this, as if he was not familiar with Zhu Gaoxu at all.

But he didn't speak, but Zhu Yuanzhang would answer himself. He sighed: "That kid Gao Xu is fine for marching and fighting, but he is still too indecisive when encountering big events."

"With his temperament, he won't accomplish anything big, so there's no need to worry about him."

His sigh seemed to be rejoicing, but also a bit disappointing.

"Such a temperament, compared with his position, is a good thing..."

Guo Ying finally spoke, obviously he was very satisfied with Zhu Gaoxu's character flaws.

Character can make things happen. Such an evaluation is not a good thing at the moment.

As far as he knew, the only person who was evaluated by Zhu Yuanzhang as being able to achieve success was Jin Wang Zhu Fan, and Zhu Fan's temperament and thoughts were already known to everyone.

"How is it?"

After walking out of the Qianqing Palace gate, Zhu Yunwen saw Li Quan, the eunuch in charge of the East Palace who had been waiting here for a long time.

Li Quan helped Zhu Yunwen get on the chariot, and instead of walking on the slightly cold palace road, he said cautiously: "Everything is almost done, and it should be effective soon."

"Okay..." After hearing Li Quan's answer, Zhu Yunwen leaned back on the chair as if he was relieved, with a smile on his lips. It was obvious that something good was going to happen.

Soon after he returned to the East Palace, Li Quan told him the latest news.

"Your Highness, Song Zhong has been transferred to Kaiping Central Guard as commander."

Li Quan whispered to Zhu Yunwen on the golden stage. Zhu Yunwen was calm after hearing this, as if he had already expected that Song Zhong would suffer like this.

"Tell him to wait at Kaiping Zhongwei. He will be useful in the future."

After giving Li Quan his answer without raising his head, Zhu Yunwen continued to deal with the memorial.

Upon seeing this, Li Quan also sent someone to send a message to Song Zhong.

However, not long after the message was sent, Huang Zicheng, Bao Zhao, and Qi Tai came looking for him.

After the scene of bowing and offering a seat, Zhu Yunwen put down the ink pen in his hand and reluctantly looked away from the memorial.

His Qi-nurturing Kungfu is much better than last year, but this is not because he is good at Kungfu, but because there are fewer and fewer things that bother him.

"How did the three thousand households who chose to go to Jilin do?"

Zhu Yunwen turned his attention to Huang Zicheng, and Qi Tai answered without hesitation: "We have already chosen, and we will start heading north in half a month."

"But after this time, Jilinwei's monthly and daily rations will be increased to 20 dan. With the addition of salt, cloth, cotton, etc., I'm afraid..."

He did not continue because Zhu Yunwen calmly told what happened in Qianqing Palace just now.

After learning that the Jilin Guards were going out again and had obtained 54 stones of monthly and traveling supplies, Huang Zicheng's face became a little solemn, while Qi Tai spoke more directly:
"Yang Bin, a businessman in the Bohai King's Palace, has been purchasing food in the customs in recent years, selling furs for the Bohai King, and conducting trade."

"I think there is already enough food in Jilin Wei's treasury."

"Now the imperial court has allocated another 54 shi to Jilin City. If Yang Bin is not restricted from purchasing food for the Bohai Sea, I am afraid that the Bohai Sea will soon be self-sufficient."

Qitai's concern was reasonable. After all, according to the information they obtained from Song Zhong, there were hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland in Jilin City.

If it is left unchecked and allowed to develop, Jilin City may be able to escape the control of the imperial court in a few years.

This is not conjecture, but something that could happen.

The focus of the imperial court's current control over the Bohai Sea is food. The reason why the food gap in the Bohai Sea is so large has something to do with the fact that Zhu Gaoxu has raised so many soldiers and horses.

If the imperial court restricts him and does not allocate military households to him to expand his army.

Judging from the speed of his farming in the past two years, and given the current size of the people in Jilin City, they will be self-sufficient in two or three years at most.

For Zhu Gaoxu, restrictions must be adopted because he already has a lot of troops.

"What do you three gentlemen think?"

Zhu Yunwen deeply agreed with Qitai's words, so he asked the three of them for their opinions.

When asked, Qitai answered without hesitation: "Bohai should be allowed to recruit Jurchens, and the Jurchens should be placed in Jilin City for control."

"With three thousand military households serving as informants, it is unlikely that the Jurchens who have been recruited will be trained as soldiers. This will only increase the burden on Jilin City."

"Only by making Jilin Guard more and more dependent on the imperial court can we better control the outside world."

As for Zhu Gaoxu, Qi Tai wanted to use food to contain him as always, and Zhu Yunwen also agreed very much.

After all, the net on King Jin's side has been laid out, and it only needs to be closed to solve the problem. After King Jin solves the problem, the only one who needs to choose is one of the kings of Zhou and Yan.

Among them, due to the sudden rise of Zhu Gaoxu, the power of the Yan Mansion has gone further. The number of troops directly under Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu alone exceeds 3.

Not only that, Zhu Di also had the military power to control the three capitals of Peking, Daning, and Liaodong.

Although this military power is very important, Zhu Di always has this military power.

In comparison, Zhou King Zhu Ju, who had only [-] bodyguards, did not appear to be such a threat.

The only thing that needs attention is Feng Sheng's old department in Henan, but it is easy to clean them up.

Therefore, no matter what, King Zhu Di of Yan is the most dangerous person after King Zhu Fan of Jin, while King Zhu Gaoxu of Bohai is his most powerful wing.

Adding sand to Zhu Gaoxu's Jilin Guard was a necessary move, and this move has now been completed.

Then the next thing to do is to wait step by step.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yunwen's thoughts gradually drifted north.

In the Palace of the Prince of Jin in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, Zhu Fan was looking pale at this moment and stretched out his hand to let the palace medical officer diagnose his pulse.

Looking at the solemn expression of the medical officer, Zhu Fan clenched his other hand and said gloomily: "How?"

"This..." The medical officer stood up and knelt down, bowing his head and bowing: "Excuse me for being incompetent. Your Highness's pulse condition is still a sign of physical weakness."

"I'm physically weak. You've been diagnosing me for several months and you've said that I'm weak. You've given me so many medicines to replenish my deficiency. Why are there no results?"

Zhu Fan impatiently rebuked the medical officer. The medical officer was also confused and hesitant to speak, looking at the man in anger: "Get out of here!"

"I retire..." After hearing Zhu Fan's words, the medical officer quickly exited the Chengyun Hall.

Watching him retreat, Zhu Fan couldn't stop coughing. The sound was so loud that even the medical officer who was exiting the palace could hear it from more than ten steps away.

This situation undoubtedly worries the entire Jin Mansion.

The late prince passed away at the age of 37. His symptoms before his death were physical and qi deficiency, but now...

Thinking of this, everyone in the Jin Mansion became busy. Some offered Zhu Fan medicinal materials to replenish Qi and body, while others offered elixirs. Even the cooks were busy making medicinal meals for him.

It's just that such busyness did not change Zhu Han's body, but instead made it worse.

On the second day of March, Zhu Fan decided to go out to inspect Dongsheng's pasture, despite the advice of his guards and subordinate officials.

However, before he led his troops out of the Biantou Pass, his condition worsened and he had to return to Taiyuan to recuperate.

As the days passed, Zhu Fan's originally tall figure gradually lost weight.

Gradually, Zhu Fan found it difficult to even handle the government affairs of the palace.

The medical officer made no progress in his diagnosis and treatment.

Since the sixth day of March, urgent reports have been sent to Yingtian.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who was far away in Yingtian, also sent his own medical officers to Taiyuan, hoping that Zhu Fan could recover.

However, Zhu Fan did not wait for the medical officer who came to Tai Hospital after all.

Late at night on March [-]th, his condition suddenly worsened, and his whole body was as thin as a withered bone.

Lying on the Babu bed in the Cunxin Hall of Prince Jin's Mansion, Zhu Fan looked at the top of the Babu bed. He didn't understand why his body had suddenly deteriorated to this point when he was only 40 years old.

In his ears, the cries of the royal concubines and subordinate officials made him irritable, but he could not do anything to stop them.

In this situation, a military attaché he was familiar with walked to Babu's bed and found his princess, Concubine Xie.

"How could he do this?!"

Concubine Xie seemed to have heard something humiliating. She asked the military attache anxiously. Seeing that the military attache could not hide the matter, he could only bite the bullet and return the favor: "At the moment, we can only wait for His Highness to recover before we can transfer the transferred people." Bring it back."

"Transfer away?" Zhu Fan heard these two words, and he didn't need to think too much to know that it was Zhu Yunwen, that little bastard, who took the opportunity to transfer away his cronies.

At this moment, he thought of the deaths of Fu Youde, Feng Sheng, Wang Bi, and Xie Cheng, and even more of the group of old men he had been transferred from.

"You little bastard, you are so cruel..."

His face turned red and eventually turned pale.

As if she noticed something, Concubine Xie looked at Zhu Fan, and at this time, tears fell from the corners of Zhu Fan's eyes.

"Your Highness?" Concubine Xie knelt in front of the Babu bed. While holding Zhu Han's wrist, she felt the stopped pulse.

"Your Highness!!"

Along with Concubine Xie's shouts, the sound of crying in Cunxin Hall reached its peak.

Soon, as Tangqi rushed out of Taiyuan City after a [-]-mile journey, the news of the death of Jin King Zhu Fan also spread to the south.

　"Records of Taizu of the Ming Dynasty" Wang Fan, who was not yet in the Jin Dynasty, was the third son, born to Empress Xiaoci. He was granted the title at the age of 13 and came to the country seven years later. He was smart and heroic, and studied under Song Lian, a Hanlin scholar. He studied calligraphy under Du Shilu. Also, he had tall eyebrows, beautiful beard and beard, Gu Yan had a majestic appearance and was very wise, so he died of illness.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)