golden scales

In March of the third year of Longjing, the ice and snow in the capital had already melted, and the spring in the streets and alleys made this ancient capital full of vitality.

You Shiwei came out from the side door of the Governor's Mansion and boarded the carriage that had been waiting for a long time.

A gold dragon flag with a red background was hung on the left and right in front of the carriage, which was also an imperial national flag, proving that the carriage belonged to a public carriage.At the back of the carriage, there are a pair of "ears" folded up like wing-like crowns, which are two official plates: "Ming Dynasty Governor's Mansion" is written on the left, and "General Staff Headquarters" is written on the right.

You Shiwei is about to go to the Hall of Martial Arts to face the saint.

Although the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion and the cabinet seem to be juxtaposed, the office space is still inferior to the cabinet.

The moment the wheels turned, a figure in a red military uniform ran after him and shouted, "Wait a step!"

The coachman looked back in surprise, not sure if he should stop the carriage.

You Shiwei just opened the window of the car to dissipate the excessive heat in the car, when he heard someone chasing him, he tapped the wall of the car lightly with his saber and said, "Stop and see what's going on."

The coachman reined in the two draft horses pulling the cart, and the wheels that had just turned stopped again.

"General, this is the Lubu sent by Annan. Luo Yukun invaded Dongguan County, the capital of Jiaozhou. Annan's Zheng family set themselves on fire. King Li Weiqi of the Li family was captured and was on his way to the capital." The Annan military situation that arrived was handed over to You Shiwei.

You Shiwei took the victory report document with one hand, and signaled to go to the palace quickly.The emperor summoned us today to discuss Japan's strategy. As for this belated victory, it can only be regarded as a small consolation.

Zhu Cihong received the lamas and monks who came all the way from Uzang to pay tribute in the Wuying Hall.The last time they paid tribute was in the third year of Chongzhen. This time, because of Ming's use of troops in the north and northwest, they were reminded that it was time to pay tribute again.

Zhu Cihong didn't care much about the local specialties such as dzi beads and scriptures that they paid tribute to, and he didn't think it was necessary to give them gold and silver.Not to mention Ming's rule over Uzang.So Zhu Cilang decided to send a porcelain Buddha that could demonstrate China's cutting-edge craftsmanship, and therefore erected a monument in Lhasa, the new home of the Buddha statue, clearly stating that this place is an inalienable part of the Ming Empire.

When You Shiwei arrived.It just so happened that the monks and officials of Uzang withdrew from the Hall of Valor.He didn't wait for too long, Lu Suyao, who walked around His Majesty the Emperor all the year round, led him into a side hall.Close the door and back out.

In the middle of this side hall hangs a complete map of all the kingdoms of the world, which unabashedly reveals His Majesty's ambitions and expectations for the future heir to the throne.On the screens around the side hall, the names of important countries in the four directions are written all over, and there are simple comments on the side.

You Shiwei stepped forward slowly, made court salutes, and said loudly: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty."

"Xing." Wang Chengen sang loudly.

It wasn't long before Zhu Cihong arrived.He took a sip of tea from the teacup, but it turned out to be old tea found in the warehouse in the palace.

Originally, this kind of tea could only be used to boil eggs or drink for low-level fire-makers, but His Majesty the Emperor insisted that this aged tea paired with dried jasmine was also a good tea that could turn decay into magic, so it was offered to the imperial court.

But this tea is really refreshing, and the aroma of jasmine is strong, slightly sweet, and the taste is excellent.Not only did the emperor like to drink it, but many ministers now regard this kind of tea as a drink at work, so that the price of old tea in the capital actually went up against the trend when the new tea was about to be released.

"Tea." Zhu Cihong said.

Wang Chengen served tea to You Shiwei, and retreated sensibly.A few clay sculpture-like inner court guards and historians who only recorded the emperor's words and deeds were left behind.

"You Du, what's the layout of the East China Sea?" Zhu Cihong asked.

"Return to Your Majesty." You Shiwei said, "The Mori family has accepted the price I offered. In addition to silver, they also exchanged information for a big tube, and at the same time protected the technicians of the Staff Division and the Military Intelligence Division to draw maps across Japan. .”

Although the Mori family lost the territory of 120 million shi in the Ten Kingdoms, especially the world-famous Iwami Silver Mountain, the Nagato Kingdom Zhiyue Mountain itself is also a silver mountain rich in silver, but due to the supervision of the shogunate, it cannot be mined arbitrarily. .

The Ming Dynasty now regards silver as a reserve fund, and the amount of silver in stock directly determines the scale of printing banknotes.It also determines the domestic currency circulation of Daming, which has a direct impact on the economy.So Maori's arms purchases are of great benefit to the Ming economy.

As for intelligence, it is not inferior to silver.

There are Maori family as the internal response.There is hope in understanding the current situation in Japan.Moreover, in the Sekigahara battle that broke out in September of the [-]th year of Keicho, Terumoto, the master of the Mori family, as the general of the Western Army, was eventually defeated by the Eastern Army and let the Tokugawa clan sit in the world, but in Still influential among the daimyos of the Western Army.

Now that half a century has passed, the Tokugawa clan's rule in Japan has been very stable, and all the vassals of the Western Army have also been expelled or reduced due to defeat in the war, and it is difficult to pose a threat to the shogunate.Tokugawa's foreign daimyos also lowered their vigilance.Under such an environment, the alliance between the Maori family and Daming has not been noticed, and Daming can also obtain information from various places more easily under the cover of the Maori family.

"In the war of destroying the country, intelligence comes first." Zhu Cihong sighed, "Annan is an example."

You Shiwei hastily said: "Your Majesty, before entering the palace, I received Lu Bu's victory. On the [-]th of last month, Luo Yukun's tribe had invaded Dongguan County, the capital of Jiaozhou. The rebellious minister Zheng set himself on fire for fear of crime. King Li also Already on the way to Beijing."

Zhu Cihong breathed a sigh of relief, and said: "At the beginning, I thought that Annan would be flat in February and March, and I was counting on going to the south in winter. It turned out that it took so long."

You Shiwei bowed his head and admitted his mistake.At the beginning, the general staff was very optimistic about Annan's battle plan, and the development of the war was indeed as expected by the general staff. Luo Yukun and Lang Chengda used things to attack, and the Ruan family in Hue in the south and the Mo family in the north took advantage of the fire to rob the Zheng family. Caught in the land of four wars.

However, Zheng showed a strong spirit of resistance.However, the Mo Dynasty was not in the right position, and the people in Annan were more inclined to the Li Dynasty, so they assisted the Zheng family.Coupled with the bad impression left by the people of Annan on the Ming army during the "Northern Dependency period", they resisted the actions of the Ming army with all their strength, and even appeared "righteous soldiers" who spontaneously attacked the Ming army.

The West Road where Luo Yukun was located was quite tolerable due to its high terrain and few residents.The plain area Cheng Dayong faced was one of the grain-producing areas in Annan, and it was densely populated. In the early days, even its own camp was almost lost. Fortunately, the general staff took precautions and dispatched a whole firearms camp from Fujian to assist in the defense.

The climate in northern Annan is similar to that of Guangxi in winter, about ten degrees Celsius. Although it is not enough to freeze to death, winter clothes are still needed.This also caused the General Logistics Department to be overwhelmed for a while, especially the supply of Luo Yukun's department was extremely difficult, making Luo Yukun's generation of lucky generals inevitably sweating, and finally relied on the discipline of the army to persevere.

"With the lessons learned from Annan's past, the Ministry of Staff and others believe that Japan should focus on cannibalization." You Shiwei brought the topic back to Japan.

Zhu Cihong corrected: "It's not only Japan, but countries with established grammar and well-organized rituals and music should be more cautious."

"Yes." You Shiwei replied.

After months of debate in the newspapers about what constitutes a human being, the topic expanded to how to distinguish between nations and tribes.This issue also determines the definition of "human being". The mainstream understanding finally reached is: a country with ritual and music and grammar is a country, and its people are people; Waiting to be king; those who have no manners and music are tribes, and their people are not human beings.

Annan and Japan are both countries with complete rituals and music, and complete grammar.However, the Mongols in the west and north have been Huhua again, and there is no trace of Sinicization, so they are regarded as barbarian vassal states with ritual and music but no grammar.

"How is Chen De's progress?" Zhu Cihong asked.

You Shiwei said: "Chen De is making good progress in the construction of the base, but the General Staff believes that it is difficult for the North Korean garrison to undertake major military tasks."

"Do you want to mobilize the guards to fight in Japan?" Zhu Cihong asked.

Today, each of the three guards has a garrison area.The First Guards Army was divided into divisions and battalion-level units, from Tianjin in the north to Fujian in the south, and the coastal provinces were all within their defense range.The Second Guards Army is in charge of fighting in the entire north of Liaoning, where the land is vast and sparsely populated, and the offensive and defensive range has reached its limit.

The Third Guards Army is responsible for the defense of Gyeonggi. Because of the Northern Expedition strategy, it has been dispatched more and more in the direction of Xuanfu and Datong, and it is bound to be unable to spare troops to go to Japan.

Knowing that the emperor misunderstood, You Shiwei quickly said: "It is difficult for the three major guards to be transferred to Japan. The Ministry of Staff and others thought that in Japan, our army should avoid directly participating in the war. The best way is to provide weapons for the fallen vassals. , create differences, and finally let Japan fall back into the Warring States Conquest.”

Zhu Cilang nodded: "Now that I can't do it, that's all I can do."

"That's right," You Shiwei continued, "The General Staff also has a training plan for rural bravery. Complete the rural bravery system in the coastal provinces as soon as possible, and strengthen the combat effectiveness of the inspection department so that the First Guards Army can escape from the garrison. Whether it is sent to the north or Annan, it can play a greater role."

Zhu Cihong suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and said, "You Du, can Tian Ji's old trick of horse racing still be used?"

"Tian Ji horse racing?" You Shiwei was taken aback.

——Now take the horse under the king and the other horse, take the king's horse and the other horse, take the king's horse and the other horse.

Sacrifice local disadvantages to create oppressive advantages, and ultimately achieve overall victory, which is Sun Bin's core strategic thinking.

Now the first army, which is brave and capable of fighting, is stationed along the coast, just to deal with some pirates who are not convinced by the king.

"Thinking about it from another angle, the Korean soldiers are unbearable to fight, and they are the soldiers of our army, while the Japanese soldiers who have been fighting for a long time are worthy of the middle soldiers. Since the inferior soldiers and the other middle soldiers are unwise, why can't the Korean soldiers be transferred to Lu, Zhejiang, How about defending the various places in Fujian, and transfer to Japan with the First Guards Corps?"

You Shiwei looked at His Majesty the Emperor in astonishment, not knowing what to say for a moment. (to be continued)

ps: Ask for a monthly ticket, ask for a recommendation ticket!I have to go out to do some errands today, so I don't know if I'll have time to give the third update... Although many writers owe and don't pay back, Xiao Tang is not that kind of person!Xiaotang said that he will definitely make up for it, even if a new copy is added, he will not finish the book with debts!