Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Facing Eunuch Qin's exclamation, Wu Shigong replied with contempt. "So what if you stay here? Regardless of the supervisor, the governor, the army supervisor, or the military officer, they don't want to rescue them. They only dare to stay behind the city walls of Ningyuan and Shanhaiguan. Just looking at the north eagerly, you can put the flood in Songshan Will the governor and Jinzhou's Zongbing Zu look back? In Liaodong now, there are not many Runing troops if I have one more, and there are not many Runing troops if I am missing. It is better to go back to the Central Plains to suppress the Shan bandits."

After hearing this, the head of the Ministry of War was a little unhappy.The idea that Chinese is noble and military is cheap is quite ingrained in his mind, so he doesn't fear Wu Shigong that much.So Master Wang interjected from the side: "There is no purpose to deploy troops, isn't that a rebellion?"

Seeing Wu Shigong's face turn black all of a sudden, looking like he was about to explode, Eunuch Qin at the side hurriedly tried to persuade him, "Chang Jing! If you have something to say, please speak up. Don't the miscellaneous people come to Shanhaiguan just to listen to your ideas?"

Wu Shigong flicked his sleeves and ignored Mr. Wang's affairs.Then he clapped his hands and shouted outside the big tent: "Bring everything up!"

A group of personal soldiers carried two large tables into the big tent, and a large map was spread on each of the big tables.Wu Shigong stood up first, and respectfully invited everyone to come to the map.After that, he waved his hand and told the soldiers to retreat.

"This is a map of Liaodong." Wu Shigong first pointed to a map and explained, "This time, Governor Hong has lost troops and lost generals. The imperial court can no longer send so many soldiers to maintain the line from Shanhaiguan to Jinzhou. Therefore, we must shrink For troops, abandon Jinzhou, Songshan, Xingshan, and Tashan, and keep Ningyuan and Shanhaiguan, and use these two cities as corners to defend against the entry of Tartars here."

"Isn't this humiliating the country?" The king immediately exclaimed.

"What's the difference? Our Ming Dynasty can't defend these four cities anymore. Instead of wasting troops there, the Tatars have the opportunity to encircle Wei and save Zhao. It's better to preserve our strength first and focus on guarding the gates where the Tatars enter the customs." Wu Shigong It just made the reality clear.

Master Wang scratched his face.I understand that what Wu Shigong said is indeed true.But he knew that Emperor Chongzhen was a very face-saving person. Although the situation was unavoidable, whoever dared to make such a suggestion in the court would probably be hated by Emperor Chongzhen, and even more likely to be settled by Qiuhou afterwards, and his reputation would be ruined.Therefore, Mr. Wang was worried about how to persuade Emperor Chongzhen.

Seeing the struggle in Mr. Wang's heart, Eunuch Qin immediately said to Mr. Wang: "We are just spreading the word, and we don't know much about military affairs. It's all about long-term respect. We just need to play the truth."

Seeing Wu Shigong looking at him with deep meaning in his eyes, Eunuch Qin immediately gave Wu Shigong a wry smile apologetically, and said, "Chang Jing! Go ahead."

At this time, Wu Shigong is not willing to make more troubles, Eunuch Qin and Master Wang want to use him so he can use him!As long as it solves the problem.Wu Shigong is willing to bear this hidden danger for them.

"If we want to talk about Liaodong, we can't pay attention to Liaodong alone. We have to look at the general situation of the world. Now the Shaanxi bandits are rampant in the Central Plains. And the Tartars are rampant in Liaodong. With our great national strength, we can no longer fight on both sides. Therefore, one has to be chosen. The Shaanxi thieves are harming the rich and affluent lands of the Central Plains, while the Tartars are rampant outside the pass, which is a barren land. Therefore, to choose from any aspect, the Shaanxi thieves should be first and the Tartars second. Yes. The strategy I formulated is to attack the Shaanxi bandits and defend the Tartars."

Upon hearing this, Eunuch Qin nodded.This strategy is in line with Yang Sichang's strategy of "to fight against the outside world, we must first settle the inside", and it is in line with Emperor Chongzhen's wishes.therefore.As a servant, Eunuch Qin was not afraid that Emperor Chongzhen would criticize him, so he flattered Wu Shigong: "The miscellaneous family has always known about Chang Jing's family history, and is familiar with military affairs. What you said is really clever."

Wu Shigong smiled in response to Eunuch Qin's kindness.He went on to say: "Then since we have to defend the Tartars, we must actually defend the Ningjin line of defense built by Grand Master Sun. The purpose of the Ningjin line of defense is to prevent the Tartars from entering Shanhaiguan. So it is easy to have ten cities. Block the Tartars, but even if only one city is left to block the Tartars, the goal can be considered to be achieved. In this case, the four cities such as Jinzhou are not the most important, and if you give up, you will give up."

In fact, Wu Shigong played a trick in these remarks.Although from a defensive point of view, this statement is not wrong.However, when Sun Chengzong built the Ningjin line of defense, he defended the fortress and attacked until he strangled the living space of the Qing Dynasty.If the imperial court agreed to abandon Jinzhou and other four cities, the Ming army would completely lose its offensive ability in Liaodong and would not be able to threaten the Manchus at all.This also allowed the Manchu Qing to completely free up their hands and wantonly enter and plunder from the various passes of the Great Wall.

However, under the current situation, in fact, the Ming Dynasty could not keep Jinzhou and other four cities.So Wu Shigong didn't talk about it, and let Emperor Chongzhen and the ministers of the court face the reality!

Wu Shigong went on to say: "Furthermore, when the Tatars entered the customs several times, which one did they go through the Shanhai Pass? They all entered through the passes of the Great Wall. So it is a waste to keep the Liaodong troops. It is better to strengthen the defense of the Xuanda front line."

"Why? If Shanhaiguan doesn't leave any heavy soldiers, then this gate is useless. Instead, it gives the Tartars a shortcut. Isn't that even more dangerous?" Chief Wang immediately raised an objection.

"I'm not talking about not keeping heavy troops, but that there are too many soldiers here." Wu Shigong quickly explained, "Now there are 9 soldiers from Wu Sangui in Ningyuan, and [-] elite soldiers in Shanhaiguan. Seven thousand, Xingshan has another six thousand, plus my Runing Army's [-], there are more than [-] soldiers and horses. With such a large number of soldiers and horses, if we don't consider offense and only focus on defense, that's too much Some. In my opinion, forty or fifty thousand is enough."

Hearing this, Eunuch Qin began to ask questions for the first time.However, he was still cautious in his words: "Could this be the reason why Chang Jing wants to go back to Runing? Although the miscellaneous family doesn't know much about military affairs, they also know that the more troops defending the city, the better. Look at this How? If Chang Jing wants to stay, Zajia will tell Grandpa Huang to give you the title of admiral, let you sit on an equal footing with Wu Sangui and Wu admiral in Liaodong, and you two will each guard a city. If you want to go back to Runing, The Miscellaneous Family overstepped their power to make decisions here, and asked you to take five thousand soldiers back, and the rest of the soldiers and horses will stay in Liaodong, and Chang Jing will appoint the commander-in-chief. Isn’t it safer in this way?”

Wu Shigong shook his head with a smile and said: "Brother Qin! The way you said is to seek stability, but my Ming Dynasty is already terminally ill, and seeking stability is no longer enough. We must use strong medicine to treat it. So, if according to what you said, this This is still the case in the Ming Dynasty, and the best situation is to maintain the status quo. What I want is to gradually stabilize the situation in the Ming Dynasty, and strive to wipe out the two major enemies, the Shaanxi bandits and the Tartars, in the last ten years or so. "

"Oh!?" As soon as these words were said, Eunuch Qin and the others immediately gave a look of disbelief.Up to now, how many important ministers have given "good prescriptions" to calm the world, but it turns out that most of the "good prescriptions" they issued are lies and big talk. Not only did they fail to solve these two great enemies, but the chaos in the whole world On the contrary, the situation intensified.So today, after Eunuch Qin and the others heard Wu Shigong say the same thing again, they made Eunuch Qin and the others a little skeptical.

"Then please tell me! The miscellaneous family will listen to you."

"Then let me talk about Liaodong first. The imperial court allocated 1 troops from the Beijing camp, and then ordered Wu Sangui to give me 1. With [-] troops, I will attack Songshan within two months. Hong Dushi rescued the [-] officers and soldiers. Afterwards, we will adapt accordingly. If the Tartars are weak, I will lead the coalition forces to go north to rescue Jinzhou, and try to rescue the more than [-] Zongbing Zongbing in Jinzhou City. If the Tartars are really powerful, we can only let the Zu Zongbing in Jinzhou City resign themselves to fate. I will lead the coalition forces back to Tashan and Xingshan in turn, and then withdraw the officers and troops from these two cities to Ningyuan and Shanhaiguan to strengthen the defense of these two cities .”

"Mr. Wu! Although your courage is commendable, I have to say a word, so don't blame me for offending you!" Mr. Wang bowed his hands to Wu Shigong and said, "The soldiers and horses have not moved, and the food and grass go first. Don't say anything else, let's talk about what to do first." How to allocate grain and pay! Now the warehouse of the Ministry of Finance is poor, and it is absolutely impossible to adjust the grain and pay of [-] soldiers and horses in a short time."

"Master Wang is very concerned!" Wu Shigong nodded to Master Wang and said, "However, I have already learned about it in Shanhaiguan and Ningyuan. Both cities have enough food and grass for an army of [-] for two years, not to mention the people's grain storage. Yes. As long as one or two of them are allocated, it will be enough for this time."

"As for the salary, I will first approve a certain amount with the Ministry of War, and I will pay for it when I send out troops. When I return from this expedition, the imperial court will return the salary to this official within one year, or give me an equal amount of collateral. What do you say, how about this?" Wu Shigong asked.

After saying this, Eunuch Qin and the others were refreshed, and this first solved the biggest obstacle to sending troops.Just to be on the safe side, Master Wang asked again: "What kind of collateral does President Wu need?"

"We'll discuss it at that time! We'll talk about it when we return from victory."

This is beautiful, but it means: If Wu Shigong completes the rescue mission, the court will settle the bill; if it is unsuccessful, the court will not have to pay the salary.Therefore, Eunuch Qin and Master Wang leaned towards Wu Shigong in their hearts.

"Then Chang Jing needs those officers and soldiers?" Eunuch Qin asked again.

"Wu Sangui's [-] troops are indispensable. The Jingying will use the former Yu Shilang's Ruzhou Army! They have dealt with me in Henan, and they are relatively familiar with them. Of course, if the court is in trouble, they can also transfer [-] from the Jingying. Soldiers and horses, but Yu Shilang's Ruzhou Army is definitely indispensable." (To be continued...)