Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 349 The End of the Hero

"There were only more than 400,000 people in the two prefectures and one state before the census, but now 620,000 people have been found."

"Previously, the cultivated land was only over 2.2 million acres, but now it has been found to be over 2.8 million acres."

"This is true for only two prefectures and one state. What is the situation like for the whole of Sichuan?"

At the end of the twelfth lunar month, looking at the contents of the memorial written by Jian Yi, Zhu Di in Wuying Hall was like gunpowder, as if it would explode in the next second.

In front of him, Zhu Gaoxu, Xia Yuanji, Guo Zi, and Huang Fu sat on chairs, waiting quietly for him to finish venting.

In the past half year, he had accumulated too many emotions, and it was good to be able to vent them.

"According to Jian Yi, this inventory will take at least a year and a half. It is conservatively estimated that the number of people in Sichuan will not be less than 2.6 million, and the cultivated land will not be less than 13 million acres."

Zhu Gaoxu calmly talked about the general situation in Sichuan: "Not counting the population that moved in due to the annihilation of the chieftains, the population in Sichuan increased by about 600,000, and the increase in cultivated land was at least two million acres."

"It can be seen that Sichuan's population growth was mainly due to the court's inability to manage the native people."

"In the southeastern Sichuan region, in the Qianzhong Road during the Tang and Song Dynasties, the only population that the imperial court can control now is the hundreds of thousands of military households under the jurisdiction of the guards."

Zhu Gaoxu stood up, unfolded the southwest map hanging in Wuying Hall, pointed at Guizhou with his command stick and said:

"Therefore, once the imperial court controls the Guizhou region, it will mean that it has a solid strategic fulcrum that can control the southwestern provinces, greatly shortening the supply distance, and being of great help in controlling and stabilizing the Sichuan, Yunnan and Guangxi regions."

Zhu Di had the same idea as Zhu Gaoxu, otherwise he would not have sent troops to deal with Tian's chieftain, the most powerful among the four chieftains.

"There is no problem in mobilizing twelve." Zhu Gaoxu replied, and Zhu Di and Guo Zi also made simple calculations.

“From a topographic point of view, the entire territory of Guizhou is covered with mountains and hills, with only a few plateau basins. The territory is crisscrossed by rivers such as the Wujiang River, Beipanjiang River, and Yachi River. It is known as “eight mountains, one water, and one farmland.” .”

"Right now, how many soldiers and horses in the world are equipped with firearms?"

"Twenty firearms guards, how many can participate in the battle?"

"Therefore, I believe that if you want to capture the area, you can increase the number of local health centers and increase the population to influence the situation."

Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaoxu. When Zhu Gaoxu heard this, he said without hesitation: "In recent years, the focus of the imperial court has been on the north, followed by the southwest, and finally the sea."

However, since the Firearms Guard is a full-service soldier, military pay and food are paid according to the Bohai Sea, so the maintenance cost is not low.

"Since the fourth year of Yongle, the imperial court has only been trying to convert the small and medium-sized chieftains to their native land, and the whole process has been going on until now. If it wants to attack the four major chieftains of An, Tian, ​​Song, and Yang now, it will probably plunge the local area into a long-term war."

When he was unable to march north, he would naturally choose to target the southwest. After all, there were famous Hongwu generals such as Muchun, Li Jinglong, Gu Cheng, Sheng Yong, He Fu, and Qu Neng in the southwest. As long as the artillery and firearms were rationed enough, There is no such thing as defeat.

"Establish three divisions in Guizhou, recruit officers and soldiers from Huguang, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangxi and other places at the same time, and then mobilize soldiers and horses directly from the Beijing camp to participate in the encirclement and suppression. I don't believe that the bones of these chieftains are so hard!"

"Right now, the imperial army is strong. If we don't deal with these four chieftains now, they will inevitably rebel in the future. Will the imperial court be able to suppress them by then?"

"The proportion of firearms in each guard station is different, but it is basically about 50%. The artillery of each guard on land is a fixed number of 20 field guns and five siege guns."

Zhu Gaoxu's meaning is very obvious, that is, the Guizhou area must be completely transformed from native land to rural areas, but the ministers also have their own worries about this.

"Whether it is a business envoy or an army, if they want to go south to Yunnan, without passing through the Guizhou area, they must either go straight to Yunnan through the Bashu area, cross Guangxi from the Huguang area, or go north from Annan by sea."

"In the past thousands of years, they were able to hold on here mainly because the stone fortress was enough to withstand thousands of troops. However, now that the court has field artillery and siege cannon, the chieftains' stone fortress is no longer as strong as before, so If you want to control the Guizhou area, the imperial court also has the advantage of the imperial court."

"There are twenty firearms guards in the north, sixteen in the capital, seven in the navy, twelve in Yunguichuan, and six in Annan."

"Even if we take over the area, how much population and farmland will the imperial court get?"

"If we want to conquer Guizhou Tusi, the number of firearms guards in the southwest must be increased to at least eight to twenty."

"Because the terrain is rugged and the indigenous people are large, a small amount of people moving in will not only fail to Chineseize the local area, but will instead be localized by the local indigenous people."

Upon hearing this, Guo Zi, the Minister of Household Affairs, stood up and bowed slowly: "What Your Highness said is reasonable, but if a comprehensive reform is to be carried out in the local area, it may cause rebellion among all the chieftains."

After all, Guo Zi is the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs. There is nothing wrong with him analyzing the situation from a financial and economic perspective alone, but this answer has a feeling of leaving the problem to future generations.

Taking the situation of the Sixth Army Governor's Mansion as an example, under the current guard system, maintaining at most fifty-six firearms guards is already the limit.

"I have calculated this distance. If we start from Wuchang, the northern route is 400 miles longer and the southern route is 700 miles longer."

"Enough!" Zhu Gaoxu nodded without thinking.

Although this would mean that the Sichuan Dusi's military camp seed grain income would disappear, at the same time the Ministry of Revenue also needed to allocate a fixed amount of money to the Sixth Army Dudu's Office.

At present, maintaining 61 firearms guards and nearly 350,000 professional troops makes it difficult to support the military crops of the Sixth Army Governor's Office, and requires additional funding from the Ministry of Household Affairs every year.

“Looking from the map, Guizhou is located in the northern part of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, bordering Huguang to the east, Sichuan to the north, Yunnan to the west, and Guangxi to the south. It can be said that it is an important passage from the two lakes areas to the southwest region.

"No!" Zhu Di interrupted Guo Zi when he heard this, and at the same time stroked his beard:

"When I look at the past dynasties, the military strength is always the strongest when the dynasty is strong, and the military strength becomes weaker as time goes by."

Fortunately, now that Sichuan Dusi is implementing the new policy, the original eleven guard stations will be abolished and replaced by six firearms guards.

Although the ordnance bureau outside the customs in recent years has mainly focused on naval guns and coastal defense artillery, an ordnance bureau has also emerged in Nanjing City, and its output can reach 500 artillery pieces per year.

"However, Guizhou's geographical environment and ethnic distribution determine that it is not easy to control and manage the Guizhou region."

"It is certainly possible to bypass Guizhou by taking these three routes, but except for the last sea route, the other two routes will lengthen the route and supply distance."

At this moment, Zhu Di was still worried about his sister Xu, and at the same time, he also wanted to do something to increase his achievements.

Now that Zhu Gaoxu has made up for the shortcomings of the Ming army's siege, and the stone fortress in the southwest can no longer form an absolute obstacle to the Ming army, Zhu Di will naturally take a big step and prepare to eliminate the four major chieftains in Guizhou in one fell swoop.

Zhu Gaoxu made suggestions based on the situation in the southwest. Zhu Di nodded after hearing this and asked: "How many artillery pieces are in stock? Can they be equipped with eight guards?"

Zhu Di knew that there was a lot of trouble on the Yunnan border and that the chieftains in each province also needed firearms guards to deter him, so he directly asked Zhu Gaoxu how many troops he could mobilize.

If it were not for the lack of siege capabilities, perhaps after Zhu Di had defeated the Tian chieftain in history, he would have sent troops to deal with the other three chieftains.

“Blindly allowing the Guizhou region to implement chieftain autonomy, although it saves the cost of local governance, actually increases local security risks and hinders the local economic and people’s livelihood development, so the court’s direct and unified management of the local area must be strengthened.

Twelve guards are 67,200 people, all of whom are soldiers.

If these 67,000 people participate in Guizhou's reform and return, unless the four major chieftains unite, they will really be unable to deal with them.

"Recruiting chieftains is mainly based on inducement."

Zhu Di stroked his beard, and Zhu Gaoxu also said: "According to their different strengths, they will be awarded the left and right pillars of the first rank respectively. Up to the casual rank of the fifth rank Xiaoqi Lieutenant, they can be hereditary and reduce the rank from generation to generation."

"For example, if the four chieftains are willing to accept recruitment, the imperial court can grant them the military honors of the Zhuguo Kingdom, which can be passed down to their descendants for at least fourteen generations."

Zhu Gaoxu's statement seemed to increase the burden on the court, but in fact it lightened the burden.

Calculated based on the annual salary of a first-class martial artist, which is 480 dan and 288 guan, even if it is hereditary for 300 years, it will be less than 150,000 dan or 90,000 guan.

But if the four chieftains' cavalry rebels, take Yang Yinglong's rebellion as an example, the money and food consumed will be enough to deal with dozens of chieftains.

"That alone may not be enough for them to accept recruitment."

Zhu Di frowned, and Zhu Gaoxu also added: "Of course it's not just that. In addition to hereditary military honors, they can keep half of their local acres and leave the rest to the court. The same is true for their military attachés."

"That's not bad, but we still have to see if they are willing to accept it." Zhu Di nodded.

In his opinion, it would be good to send out a large army and leave a hereditary military honor and half of the cultivated land for these chieftains.

Without the army, they can completely squander the output of their farmland every year, and their lives will be more comfortable than they are now.

However, Zhu Di also knew that for the chieftains who were used to being emperors, they would never give up everything they had easily. Unless they had no way out, they would never accept the offer.

Fortunately, Zhu Di did not expect them all to accept the recruitment. If they all accepted the recruitment, the situation in Guizhou would be ugly.

"Don't make any noise about this matter now. We'll wait until Sichuan's new policy is almost implemented, Yunguichuan's twenty firearms guards are ready, and the food and grass mobilization is completed before we take action."

"In addition, Huguang also trained three firearms guards to prevent the chieftains from entering Huguang territory."

Having said this, Zhu Di said to Guo Zi: "The money and food of the Sixth Army Governor's Mansion needs to be replenished and a balance of two million guan will be made every year."

"This year's Yellow Book Report will not be submitted for the time being. It will be put on hold for now."

"I accept your order." Guo Zi responded, and Zhu Gaoxu did not interrupt.

In his opinion, the data of all provinces in the Ming Dynasty are obviously distorted except for Guanwai and Shandong. Even if they are reported every year, it is estimated that there will not be much change. This can be seen from the situation last year.

Rather than doing this, it would be better to wait until the end of next year for Sichuan’s new policy to be on track, and then make a unified report.

Zhu Gaoxu was silent, but Zhu Di talked with Xia Yuanji, Huang Fu and others about the management of the Wusong River and the Yellow River.

Due to Zhu Gaoxu's intervention, the Wusong River was managed two years earlier than in history. Therefore, the Wusong River flood that should have occurred during the Yongle period did not occur, which indirectly saved the court millions of shi.

But even so, the governance of Wusongjiang is not that easy. At least judging from the reports of Huang Fu and Xia Yuanji, it will still consume the Ming Dynasty's money and food for several years.

"Your Majesty, Li Zhigang, the Minister of Rites, wants to see you." While everyone was discussing state affairs, the eunuch on duty at the door bowed and spoke, and Zhu Di responded: "Xuan"

"Li Zhigang, Minister of Rites, comes to see your Majesty. May your Majesty be blessed with good health..."

Not long after, Li Zhigang walked into the hall and bowed, and Zhu Di also got straight to the point: "Something has happened."

"Back to Your Majesty, Li Fangyuan, the state affairs minister of North Korea, has sent his companion Pu Shanyan to come to the court."

Li Zhigang stated the problem and then explained: "Pu Shanyan went to the court to close the trade with Japan, which caused many Korean businessmen to lose trading opportunities."

"In addition, in the northeastern part of the country, the Jurchens, the second guards of our dynasty in Jianzhou, are entrenched in the country's territory. Your Majesty, please transfer them away."

He explained the problems in North Korea clearly, but when Zhu Di heard this, he looked at Zhu Gaoxu.

He has never been involved in North Korea's affairs. Zhu Gaoxu is in charge, so naturally he is not prepared to intervene.

"The last time North Korea sent envoys, I told them that that place was our country's territory, not North Korea's territory."

"In addition, North Korean businessmen no longer have the opportunity to participate in trade. They can join the imperial court's private trade with the West. Now it is Japan that does not do business with North Korea, not the imperial court that does not allow Japan to do business with North Korea."

Facing North Korea, Zhu Gaoxu did not have a good look, otherwise he would not have allowed the two Jianzhou guards to take root in Helan Mansion, and at the same time stationed two firearms guards in Dingliao to monitor North Korea's actions.

As long as North Korea dares to attack the second guard of Jianzhou, the two firearms guards of Dingliao Mansion will immediately cross the Yalu River to let Li Fangyuan know how his father taught his unfilial son.

"Your Highness, the land in Helan Mansion is barren..."

"There is not an inch of excess land in China!"

Li Zhigang also wanted to persuade Zhu Gaoxu, but Zhu Gaoxu directly interrupted his dissuasion and continued:

"Just answer them this way. If they can find historical data that ruled this land earlier than the Celestial Empire, then the imperial court will give them this land."

"In three months, the imperial court will send Zheng He as an envoy to Kaicheng and ask them to welcome him well."

Zhu Gaoxu's categorical words forced Li Zhigang to do diplomatic work. When Zhu Di saw this, he also asked Li Zhigang:

"How are the preparations for the court's tribute banquet?"

The tribute banquet is a banquet that has been prepared since Zheng He's return last year.

It was said to be a banquet, but it was actually a grand military parade to show off the strength of the tributary countries.

"Five hundred acres of concrete square have been laid to the east of Qilin Gate, and a three-story, waning-moon-shaped viewing platform has been built that is two miles long, one foot high, and can accommodate 5,000 people to sit and watch."

Li Zhigang bowed respectfully in return and said at the same time: "The date has been set for the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month."

"There will be 267 native officials from 25 countries at home and abroad participating in the banquet."

Most of the twenty-five countries he mentioned were Southeast Asian countries. As for the native officials, they were mainly chieftains from the southwest and the Qinghai-Tibet region.

"This is the most..."

"His Majesty!"

Before Zhu Di finished speaking, there were excited shouts outside the palace, which attracted everyone's attention. At the same time, the eunuch on duty at the palace gate also bowed and said: "Your Majesty, Muyang Bo Hu Lun wants to see you."

"Send him to come in." Hearing that the person who came was Hu Lun, and his voice was so excited, Zhu Di couldn't help feeling a little nervous.

After the news of Timur's eastward invasion came at the beginning of the year, Zhu Di ordered Song Sheng to actively prepare the border.

A year has passed now, but there is no news, which makes him a little confused.

Hu Lun is in charge of the West Factory, mainly targeting foreign intelligence, so his arrival makes Zhu Di worried that something has gone wrong in the West.

"Your Majesty! Good news!"

Hu Lun entered Wuying Hall, bowed and shouted good news.

His expression made Zhu Gaoxu feel relieved, and Zhu Di also asked hurriedly: "What's the good news?"

"Brothers from the west escaped from Samarkand and returned to Beslopali. They have just arrived in the capital with the Beslopali envoy and brought news."

Hu Lun hurriedly took out a thick stack of letter paper from his sleeve, handed it to Wang Yan and said in an excited voice: "Timur contracted malaria on the road when he led his army to invade eastward, and Yu Yandala died of serious illness. .”

"After the incident, his subordinates secretly transported Timur's body back to Samarkand, blocked the news, and proclaimed Timur's grandson Khalil as Khan."

"After hearing the news, the brothers in the west wanted to send the news, but Ma Heima, the eldest grandson who was recognized by Timur during his lifetime, learned the news and led his army to fight for the throne. With the two parties fighting, our people had no way to escape."

"It wasn't until the intensity of the war eased in May that our people successfully escaped, brought the news to Besbali, and returned to the capital with the envoys from Besbali."

Hu Lun talked excitedly about the information he had obtained, while Zhu Di was stunned. He breathed a sigh of relief but also felt a little regretful.

Although he knew that Timur's goal was to lose Bali and Wala, he also hoped that Timur would be crazy and really lead troops to attack Gansu.

At that time, he can legitimately lead his army to Gansu to fight against the so-called crippled Khan and let him know what it means to be the common master of the world.

"I congratulate Your Majesty!"

When Li Zhi heard the news just now, he couldn't wait to congratulate Zhu Di, but Zhu Di was a little melancholy.

"Timur's death is a good thing for us, but it's also a bad thing."

With Zhu Gaoxu's explanation of the Eurasian steppes, Zhu Di naturally knew how good or bad Timur's death was for the Ming Dynasty.

"When Timur was alive, the Hu people in Hezhong and Mengchi were still able to stay there under his control. Now that the Hezhong area is in war, many Hu people will naturally move eastward back to Mobei in order to seek peace."

"If this matter is taken advantage of by Wala in Moxi and Beslopali in the Western Region, it may not be a good thing for us."

As Zhu Di explained, Li Zhigang and others also looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

However, at this moment, Zhu Di actually didn't know what to say more than they did.

After Zhu Gaoxu's explanation, he knew that the Ming Dynasty should seize the opportunity now and launch an offensive against the Tatars and Oara in Mobei before the Hu people moved eastward.

However, now that my sister Xu is sick, I really can't leave the south.

It would be fine if he ordered the general to mobilize all his troops and march westward, but he still felt uneasy.

"Back off first."

Zhu Di felt a little irritable, so he raised his hand to signal everyone to leave.

"I'll take my leave..."

Although they didn't understand why Zhu Di was suddenly irritable, the ministers still responded respectfully and then slowly exited Wuying Palace.

Zhu Gaoxu and Wang Yan were not among them, so after the officials left, Zhu Gaoxu bowed and said, "Is father worried about mother?"

"Well..." Facing his second son, Zhu Di had nothing to hide.

"Your mother is seriously ill and I can't leave her. But if Arutai and Mahamu in the north don't take this opportunity to clean things up, I'm afraid they won't be able to clean them up after they grow stronger in a few years."

"If father is worried, I am willing to go there for you." Seeing Zhu Di's hesitation, Zhu Gaoxu immediately bowed to express his willingness to fight on his behalf.

But when he said this, Zhu Di couldn't sit still immediately.

Although he did not think that Zhu Gaoxu's personal conquest could solve the Mongolian problem, Zhu Gaoxu left such a deep impression on people during the Jingnan Campaign that no one knew what the result of Zhu Gaoxu's personal conquest would be.

If he really takes care of Mobei, wouldn't it make him look useless?

Originally, he felt a bit like Li Yuan in government affairs. If Zhu Gaoxu continued to achieve more military exploits, he would really become Li Yuan.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di coughed a few times, waved his hands and said, "I still have to go to the expedition in person. The court cannot do without you."

"That's all, I'll think about this matter again. You can rejuvenate the palace first."

Zhu Di rushed Zhu Gaoxu to leave. Zhu Gaoxu didn't say anything when he saw this. He nodded and left with a bow.

It was after he left that Wang Yan, who had been silent for the whole time, tentatively said, "Why don't Your Majesty allow Your Highness to send troops? If Your Highness sends troops, then the Northern Expedition should be easy to grasp."

Facing Wang Yan's question, Zhu Di didn't know what to say. He couldn't say that he was worried that Zhu Gaoxu would clean up Mobei as soon as he took action, so that he would have to hunt rabbits in Mobei in the future.

The sequelae of the Battle of Jingnan have made Zhu Di worried to this day. Anyway, he can lead troops on expeditions, but not Zhu Gaoxu.

"You help me tell Zhu Neng, Meng Zhang, Wang Yi, and Qiu Fu to go south."

In the end, Zhu Di did not let Zhu Gaoxu go on his own expedition, but planned to ask Zhu Neng and others to go south to discuss the Northern Expedition.

"My slave takes orders."

Wang Yan guessed Zhu Di's thoughts and did not expose him. He just followed what he said and summoned Zhu Neng and others in the north.

(End of this chapter)