Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

It was already November when Zhu Youjian received the memorial.

Seeing that the Joseon king and his ministers had submitted, they were willing to return the south bank of the Tuman River, and were willing to divide the land north of the Cheongcheon River and cut off ties with the Jianlu. He said several "good" words and praised Hong Chengchou endlessly.

Being able to accomplish this, Hong Chengchou's status in his heart rose sharply. Even if he still had doubts about this man's loyalty, it did not prevent him from using his abilities.

After the arrangements on the North Korean side were completed, the blockade line against the Jianlu that he planned last year had basically taken shape:
This blockade line was based on the defense lines in Xuanda, Jiliao and Shanhaiguan, with Ligdan Khan's Chahan tribe to the west and Dongjiang Town and Korea to the east.

Moreover, as far north as Heilongjiang River, they could follow the river to attack the Khorchin and other tribes that were allies of the Jianlu.

Under this blockade, the Jianlu's space for movement will become increasingly restricted. Even if they can break through one path, the Ming Dynasty can still rely on its abundant manpower and material resources to continue to fight it.

Jianlu's previous strategy of "No matter how many routes you come from, I will only go one way" is no longer effective in the face of this.

Even if the Jianlu could destroy one route, the Ming could replenish it with other routes or even rebuild it quickly.

It can be said that as long as the Great Wall in the areas of Xuanda, Jiliao and Shanhaiguan was not breached, the Ming Dynasty could maintain a long-term stalemate with the Jianlu. Even if it suffered occasional setbacks, it would not harm the overall situation.

However, if Jianlu failed once, it might face a catastrophic disaster.

It must win victory after victory to maintain its current power.

This was a strategic dilemma, and it was also what Zhu Youjian tried his best to create.

For more than a year, he did not seem to attack the Jianlu, but focused his energy on the southwest, northwest and southeast.

In fact, he asked Yuan Keli and others to try their best to build this blockade line, intending to trap the Jianlu inside.

Now that this blockade line was initially formed, Zhu Youjian happily invited Yuan Keli and other ministers to the Western Garden for a drink between the monarch and his subjects.

Yuan Keli was also very happy. Compared to the elimination of Shean's main force in which he did not participate much, the completion of this blockade line was his real great achievement.

With this achievement in hand, no one would be able to say anything when he took charge of the Privy Council in the future, because he had established a blockade line to encircle the Jianlu for the Ming Dynasty.

What's even better is that he heard an idea two days ago and thought it could be tried:

"Yang Sichang, the right councillor of the Ministry of Public Administration, proposed an idea."

"I think we can try a few things in the battle against the Jianlu next year."

Zhu Youjian was very surprised when he heard this. He didn't know what idea Yang Sichang had come up with, and even Yuan Keli proposed it specifically to him.

He remembered this person's name, so he nodded slightly and said:

"Since he has an idea, let him present it."

"After reading the memorial, I will adopt the strategy as appropriate."

Yuan Keli said:

"This is a matter of military secrets. I think Yang Sichang should explain it to Your Majesty in person."

"This person is extremely talented and can be cultivated."

He praised Yang Sichang highly, and his words implied that he wanted to bring him into the Privy Council.

The fact that he could hear Yang Sichang's idea was also related to Yang Sichang's intention to join the Privy Council.

After more than a month of discussion, both the government and the public agreed that the Executive Yuan and the Privy Council should be established.

Even students such as Huang Zongxi called for the restoration of the prime minister system, believing that the reason the Ming Dynasty could not be governed well was since Emperor Taizu Gaozu dismissed the prime minister.

These students were more adaptable to this new thing called newspapers, and their voices were very loud, influencing many officials.

It can be said that if a court meeting is held now, the establishment of the Executive Yuan and the Privy Council will undoubtedly be passed. However, Zhu Youjian has not yet determined the upper structure of the court and has been hesitating.

Now that the memorial from North Korea has arrived, the hesitation in his heart has disappeared. He has decided to make major adjustments to the overall structure of the court and establish the Executive Yuan and the Privy Council.

Whether it is to deal with the Jianlu or to handle overseas affairs, a special agency needs to be established.

The current government of the Ming Dynasty is no longer able to deal with these.

Zhu Youjian had not yet told his thoughts to the court officials. At this time, he asked Yuan Keli:
"What did Yang Sichang say to make Yuan Qing think so?"

Yuan Keli did not answer directly, but signaled the emperor to dismiss the people around him and said in a low voice:

"Yang Sichang saw from the memorials of the Ministry of Public Administration that the blockade was set up by your majesty's orders."

"And he turned from defense to offense and proposed a strategy to encircle and suppress the Jianlu."

"I think this strategy is quite feasible. Even if it fails, it will not harm the overall situation. We can try it once or twice."

The establishment of the blockade was a secret to all unrelated personnel. Even the overall strategic plan was only known to Zhu Youjian, Yuan Keli, Sun Chengzong and others.

As an official of the Tongzhengsi, Yang Sichang could not have known this. He was able to infer this from the memorials received by the Tongzhengsi, which shows that he was a genius in strategy.

What's even more rare is that this person took the blockade line a step further, not only using it to besiege the Jianlu, but also for attack.

This made Yuan Keli marvel at his talent and think that he was a natural-born staff officer.

The Privy Council is about to set up a staff and this person is necessary.

Zhu Youjian was also very curious about Yang Sichang's strategy, because in his impression, Yang Sichang was a talent in finance. He had read the "Diguan Collection" compiled by Yang Sichang in the Prince Xin's Palace.

So he originally planned to use Yang Sichang in the Ministry of Revenue in the future, but he did not expect that Yang Sichang would propose a plan to encircle and suppress the Jianlu at this time.

If it could be praised by Yuan Keli, it must be feasible. So Zhu Youjian nodded and said:
"Summon Yang Sichang to Wuying Palace."

"After the banquet, you and the Minister of War will go together."

Let the ministers continue to feast and talk about this year's victory.

After the banquet, Zhu Youjian and other ministers of the Ministry of War, including Yuan Keli, Min Mengde, Qin Shiwen, Li Banghua, Bi Maokang, Zhao Fu, and Chen Qiuyu, went to the Wuying Palace together.

Yang Sichang had been waiting in front of Wuying Palace for a long time. He was extremely excited when he received the emperor's oral order to summon him.

As the Right Counselor of the Ministry of Public Administration and in charge of the Ming News Agency, Yang Sichang was extremely well-informed. It can be said that there was little that he did not know about the affairs of the court.

While reading memorials and presiding over the publication of court bulletins, Yang Sichang keenly realized that the current emperor attached great importance to military merits and wanted to reward meritorious officials with fiefdoms.

Over the past six months, he not only saw the birth of three vassal states, but also saw many hereditary barons and hereditary knights being canonized.

Those pirates who had just been pacified were all conferred titles by the emperor.

So he was certainly unwilling to be a mere civil servant and miss the opportunity to be rewarded with a fiefdom for his meritorious service.

Therefore, when the Privy Council was about to be established, he proposed the strategy of encircling and suppressing the Jianlu to Yuan Keli, who was likely to be in charge of the Privy Council in the future.

As an official of the Ministry of Public Administration, although Yang Sichang was unaware of the blockade line discussed by the emperor and Yuan Keli and others, he keenly realized from the reports related to the Jianlu that an encirclement was being established.

Therefore, based on the strength of all parties, he proposed the strategy of "four sides and six corners, and a net spread out on ten sides", which was praised by Yuan Keli and he was invited by the emperor to the Wuying Palace to explain it.

This made him excited, and he determined to take advantage of this opportunity to become a minister in the court.

"The four directions and six corners are the four directions with strong military strength: the Great Wall, Liaodong, Liaonan, and Dongjiang."

"The six corners are the Andong Protectorate, Ningyuan Earldom, Jiangling Principality, the upper reaches of the Heilongjiang River, and the Chahan and Halashen tribes of the grasslands."

"Form a ten-sided network to encircle and suppress the Jian Lu together."

Pointing at the map hanging in the Wuying Hall, Yang Sichang talked freely.

(Schematic diagram of four sides and six corners, a net spread out in ten directions, and encircling and suppressing the Jianlu)

In Yang Sichang's plan, the Great Wall, Liaodong, Liaonan and Dongjiang were the four frontal battlefields. The Great Wall and Liaodong were dedicated to defense, and the most important thing was to prevent the Jianlu from attacking.

Liaonan and Dongjiang were responsible for the offensive, constantly mobilizing elite troops to attack the Jianlu.

Even if these two armies were defeated, the loss to the Ming Dynasty would not be great. The Jianlu could not cross the sea and threaten other areas.

The six corners were the side battlefields, and according to the strength of the troops they had, they would sometimes defend separately and sometimes cooperate to suppress the enemy, so that the Jianlu could not rest and could only fight continuously.

If the war continues like this, the Jianlu will inevitably become exhausted, and it will only take a few years for them to have the opportunity to pacify Liao.

Zhu Youjian was also amazed when he heard Yang Sichang's plan.

These things can be seen in various memorials to the court and connected together.

Yang Sichang had great talent in military affairs and was indeed a natural staff officer.

It is no wonder that after hearing this idea, Yuan Keli wanted to transfer him to the Privy Council.

Intent on testing this man, Zhu Youjian asked after Yang Sichang had explained his strategy:

"Yang Qing's plan is very imaginative and coincides with the blockade established by the court."

"So in Yang Qing's opinion, what are the flaws in this strategy?"

“How should this be resolved?”

Upon hearing this, Yang Sichang frowned and thought hard, wondering where the flaws in his strategy lay.

In his opinion, the strategy he had been thinking about for months was not perfect, but it also did not have any major flaws.

The emperor asked this specifically. Could it be that there was some defect that he had not noticed?

Staring at the map and thinking hard, Yang Sichang finally set his sights on Chahan and Harashen.

In his opinion, these two films are the most likely to have omissions.

Judging from the performance of Jianlu's Western Expedition this year, these two departments are not trustworthy.

So he responded to the emperor:
"Among the four corners and six corners, the most important are the Great Wall and the Liaodong defense line."

"This is the reason why my strategy is to focus on the defense of these two places."

"Even if the Chahan and Harashen tribes are lost, they cannot threaten the capital."

"After the two places are attacked, we can ask Liaonan and Dongjiang to support them and force the Jianlu to return to defend."

While talking about his plan, Yang Sichang pointed to other places and said:
"As long as Liaonan and Dongjiang can hold on to Lushun and Pidao, they can make a comeback even if they are temporarily defeated."

"In the areas of Andong, Ningyuan, Jiangling, and Heilongjiang, our Ming navy has the upper hand."

"Even if the Jianlu invade us, we can only divide our forces to defend."

"The Ming Dynasty can use its navy to establish another stronghold."

"If Jianlu divides its forces everywhere, it will be defeated even faster!"

Zhu Youjian agreed with this statement. Not to mention that they were still the Jianlu of the Later Jin Dynasty, even after the Qing Dynasty was established and entered the Central Plains, the Jianlu could not play a good navy.

Otherwise, they would not have been forced to move borders and close the sea when facing Zheng Chenggong.

With the manpower, material resources and technology available to the Jianlu at that time, it would have been even more difficult to face the Ming navy.

It can even be said that after the Ming fleet entered the inland river, it could not find any enemy at all.

Therefore, after the previous expedition team discovered the Khorchin tribe, Zhu Youjian quickly formulated a strategy to send troops from Heilongjiang to attack the Jianlu allies.

Seeing that Yang Sichang could not find any flaws in the Ten-Sided Net, he asked other ministers:
"What do you think of Yang Qing's strategy?"

“What’s the flaw?”

Yuan Keli and others frowned and thought hard, wondering what flaws the emperor had seen.

Chen Qiyu, the Minister of the Imperial Household Department, who had been repairing the road during this period, seemed to be thinking about something and said:

"Your Majesty, the flaw you mentioned is probably a problem of coordination among all parties?"

"In such a vast area, if the news cannot be delivered in time, there will be no talk of joint defense and suppression."

"Even the Jianlu will get the news before the Ming Dynasty because the distance of information transmission is short. Then they will take advantage of the Ming Dynasty's untimely information transmission to attack each party separately."

As he spoke, Chen Qiyu also mentioned last year's war, giving an example:
"Just like last year in the first month, the Jianlu launched the Dingmao Campaign against Dongjiang Town and Korea."

"If the message can be delivered quickly, the Ming Dynasty can attack from the Ningjin area and force the Jianlu to return to defend."

"But because the news was not delivered in time, the court did not receive the news until March, when Joseon had already reached a peace agreement with Jianlu."

"The Jianlu therefore calmly mobilized their troops and launched the Battle of Ningjin in May."

"If we want to implement the four-square and six-corner strategy, we must solve the problem of cooperation among all parties."

When Zhu Youjian heard that someone had finally noticed this, he nodded and agreed:

"Chen Qing is right. The most important thing in the coordination of the ten directions is information."

"If the message is not delivered in time, how can the court dispatch it?"

"Yang Qing, do you have any way to remedy this?"

It has been more than a year since he ascended the throne, and Zhu Youjian feels that the biggest inconvenience is that he cannot receive news from the local areas in time.

This meant that he had no idea how his policies were being implemented locally, and he could only grasp the general direction.

This is also the difficulty in establishing a general staff. Without timely information transmission, no matter how well the plan is made on the blueprint, it will be useless.

The imperial court had no idea what the situation was like on the front lines, and couldn't even confirm the outcome.

When Yang Sichang heard this question, he was speechless for a moment, because he didn't know how to solve this problem.

The solution he proposed was to delegate power to the front line and appoint commanders to be in charge of the overall situation.

Zhu Youjian shook his head, not thinking that setting up a commander-in-chief would solve the problem. Moreover, the capital was only a few hundred miles away from Shanhaiguan, and the Liaodong commander-in-chief was equally far away from Dongjiang and other places. When the time came, how to fight in Dongjiang and other places would still be up to them to judge for themselves.

So he didn't think this was a good idea, and the Ming Dynasty didn't have any outstanding talents who could take charge of the overall situation and see through the fog of the battlefield.

Yuan Keli and others also frowned on this, realizing that if this problem was not solved, the power of the Privy Council would be greatly limited.

They don't want the Privy Council to only be able to talk big in the court and completely delegate power to the front line when a war breaks out.

Min Mengde thought of the news that had been delivered by carrier pigeons from the southwest some time ago, and proposed using carrier pigeons in these places.

But unlike the south, there are more birds of prey in the northern sky, and the living environment for homing pigeons is much worse than in the south.

Moreover, the strategy of setting up a net on ten sides is to surround the Jianlu in the middle. If the pigeon flies over the Jianlu, it is possible that the Jianlu will arrange sharpshooters to shoot it.

Not only will the losses be huge, but the message may also be intercepted.

There is even a possibility of being misled and confused by fake news.

This makes pigeon communication an unreliable option.

Until now, the messages delivered by carrier pigeons can only be regarded as corroborative evidence, not official documents. (End of this chapter)