Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 53
"Boom...boom...boom..."

Perhaps time passed too fast. When the evening drum sounded again, Zhu Gaoxu also ushered in the day when he went to the Song Dynasty for the second time.

As usual, he took Chihuan to Yulinzuoweifang, met with Wang Jian and his brothers from Baihu, and soon arrived at Song Guogong's mansion.

But the difference this time was that this time he found that there were many more books in the back room where he was on duty, which was similar to that in Duke Ying's mansion.

At this moment, Zhu Gaoxu finally believed what his eldest brother said.

Perhaps Lao Zhu really wanted to learn some skills from his two seniors, Fu Youde and Feng Sheng.

But when he realized it, he felt uneasy in his heart.

In the middle of the night, candlelight drifts...

Zhu Gaoxu was sitting behind the window, but he couldn't see the "Zong Yibing Lu" in his hand.

This is the content of Feng Sheng's more than ten years of war in the north and south. If it had been written a few days ago, Zhu Gaoxu would have stayed up all night reading this book.

But after experiencing what happened at Duke Ying's mansion, he felt that there was a heavy burden on his shoulders.

If he didn't know anything, he might be able to enjoy the favor of Fu Youde and Feng Sheng without any pressure.

But he couldn't forget. He remembered very clearly that Fu Youde and Feng Sheng, as well as Dingyuan Marquis Wang Bi and others, would all die in the past two years.

There are many sources about how they died. Some said they were given death, some said they were forced to death by Zhu Yuanzhang, and some said they were imprisoned and died...

However, no matter how they died, there is no source saying that they died at the end of their lives.

Although Zhu Gaoxu has adapted to this era, he has not yet completely accepted many of the rules of this era.

Zhu Gaoxu couldn't do this if he was asked to accept the teachings of Fu Youde and Feng Sheng while watching them die.

He didn't know much about what happened to Fu Youde and Feng Sheng's family after their deaths. As Lao Zhu's son-in-law, Fu Zhong might have been treated better, but the others...

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu gradually couldn't stand the military book in his hand. After putting it down, he frowned and looked at the candlelight.

"Why, isn't it my military strategy?"

Suddenly, Feng Sheng's voice appeared in front of Zhu Gaoxu. He looked up and saw Feng Sheng standing in front of the window wearing a long gown, looking down at him.

"No!" Zhu Gaoxu responded subconsciously, then felt it was inappropriate and immediately stood up and bowed:
"It's not that there's something wrong with the Duke's military strategy, it's just that the boy is troubled by some things and doesn't know how to deal with them."

"Tell me about it..." Feng Sheng's eyes were very calm, with a calmness that could make people settle down.

Looking at him with such eyes, Zhu Gaoxu hesitated to speak.

Looking at his appearance, Feng Sheng shook his head: "If there are any difficulties, forget it."

"No..." Zhu Gaoxu hesitated again and again, then bowed and said:
"I just feel that Grandpa Huang has been a little too much towards you two."

After Zhu Gaoxu said what he said, the two Baihu soldiers guarding the courtyard for him swallowed their saliva. Even Feng Sheng was a little surprised.

He didn't expect Zhu Gaoxu to say such words, so he subconsciously looked around.

After a moment, he looked at Zhu Gaoxu with complicated eyes: "You kid, you don't even think about what you say."

"If you don't understand, of course you have to ask. It's just that I don't have the chance to meet Grandpa Huang." Zhu Gaoxu was a little helpless.

In fact, if he had a chance to meet Zhu Yuanzhang, he would definitely ask Zhu Yuanzhang to let him go back to the north.

In Zhu Gaoxu's view, it is a good thing that Fu Youde and Feng Sheng can teach him, but he cannot stay in Nanjing for too long. He must return to the north and form his own team.

Besides, if he returns to the north, he can also learn how to fight with his father Zhu Di.

Perhaps Zhu Di's personal record at the moment can only be regarded as the upper reaches of the Ming Dynasty, not the top.

But Zhu Gaoxu knew very well that Zhu Di would be forced out alive during the Jingnan Campaign.At the beginning, [-] guards defeated the hundreds of thousands of elites that Zhu Yuanzhang spent more than [-] years training. They also launched a large-scale interspersed annihilation battle when the opponent had the right time, place, people and firearms advantages.

As Zhu Gaoxu learned more and more about the history of the Ming Dynasty during the Hongwu period, he increasingly felt that the "Battle of Jingnan" might be the highest-level military battle after the early Tang Dynasty and before modern times.

The elite southern army, commanded by the founding soldiers, was completely different from the many officers and soldiers who collapsed at the end of the dynasty.

If Zhu Di had not won, Zhu Gaoxu would not have believed that anyone could defeat the current Ming army.

Because of this, he felt that his father was probably the most capable person at the moment.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but ask Feng Sheng: "My lord, do you think that if the northern invaders invade the south, can they defeat the current imperial court?"

"Win? Haha..." Feng Sheng couldn't help laughing:

"After all, you have stayed in the cathedral for such a long time and read a lot of military books at Duke Ying's Mansion. How can you believe that the Northern Captives can successfully invade the South?"

"Not to mention anything else, it is difficult for them to overcome just the three lines of defense of Qin, Jin, and Yan."

"You underestimate your father too much..."

Feng Sheng praised Zhu Di without hesitation, but Zhu Gaoxu smiled bitterly in his heart and could only bite the bullet and ask:
"What if..." Zhu Gaoxu wanted to ask, "What if Qin and Jin rebelled?", but after thinking about it, he couldn't say such a thing, so he could only change his tone:
"If the Xilu and the Northern Lu in the west unite, then there is no chance of winning?"

"No." Feng Sheng answered Zhu Gaoxu without hesitation, and said directly:
"Although the Beibei can still pull more than [-] soldiers and horses south, as long as your father controls the soldiers and horses of Peiping and Daning, it will be enough to repel them."

"Although the Western Barbarians are strong, the land west of Hexi is sparsely populated. It is difficult for them to overcome these thousands of miles. Even if they overcome it, it will be difficult to stop the joint efforts of Qin, Jin and other kings."

"Even if they can barely be repelled, the subsequent kings of Zhou, Xiang, Shu, and the commanders of Henan, Sichuan, Huguang and other places can quickly assemble their troops and march out of Longyou to repel the Western invaders."

Feng Sheng was very confident in the arrangement of Daming and Lao Zhu, but Zhu Gaoxu sounded a little desperate.

"Unless something goes wrong in Zhou, Chu, Hunan, Qi, and Lu, nothing will happen to the country, but even if something happens, it won't be a big deal."

After Feng Sheng said these words, Zhu Gaoxu breathed a sigh of relief.

He had no way to directly ask what he would do if one of the Yan, Jin, or Qin vassals reacted, and he also felt that Feng Sheng would not answer.

However, from Feng Sheng's words, he roughly confirmed several fatal points of Lao Zhu's defense line.

He was just skeptical before, but now he is basically convinced.

"You haven't fully answered my previous question. Why do you think His Majesty treats us too much?"

Feng Sheng looked at Zhu Gaoxu, his eyes seemed to see through Zhu Gaoxu.

Facing his question, Zhu Gaoxu felt no pressure because he knew that Zhu Yuanzhang would not criticize his children and grandchildren, not to mention that Zhu Yuanzhang probably knew that he would ask this question.

Therefore, he pondered for a moment, and then answered after a while:

"I think it doesn't make sense that the two of you granted me favors, and that all this was done by the emperor's grandfather, but the emperor also imprisoned the two of you..."

"..." Feng Sheng got the answer, but he was not very happy, but fell silent.

After a long time, he raised his head and looked at Zhu Gaoxu with complicated eyes:

"If you think this way, I'm afraid it will be difficult for you to achieve great things in the future."

After the words fell, Feng Sheng stopped talking to Zhu Gaoxu and turned around and walked towards the courtyard.

Looking at his back, Zhu Gaoxu could hear some helplessness from what he just said.

Obviously, Feng Sheng was also puzzled by Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude, but he could understand Zhu Yuanzhang.

The complex relationship between them is not something that Zhu Gaoxu, a "peaceful boy", can understand...

(End of this chapter)