Ming Zhengzhi, I am Zheng Kezang

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, more than half a year has slipped away from people's eyes.Compared to the same period last year when the political and economic upheaval had begun to take shape, the first few months of Wu Cheng's 20 years were as dull as stagnant water.Could it be that Zheng Kezang stopped torturing?of course not.No, at the end of March, the Ministry of Military Affairs followed Zheng Kezang's will to make a new round of adjustments to the Xia army's establishment.

The most important part of this adjustment is to reduce the number of brigades under the jurisdiction of infantry divisions in field troops while increasing the strength of infantry regiments. Therefore, after adjustment, each infantry regiment will have six outposts, artillery posts, and center bases. One sentry post and one heavy post, plus a regiment command post of 30 people, the total strength of each infantry regiment will be expanded to 930 people; Throwing sentries, two heavy sentries and a brigade command post of 40 people, so each infantry brigade will have 100 officers and soldiers; two infantry brigades form an infantry division, and the division directly controls an old (six sentry) system The artillery regiment and the new (nine sentry) system's heavy corps, grenadier regiment, and center base regiment each, plus a division command post of 500 people, a middle military post, a division hospital, and a sick horse factory, so that each infantry The total strength of the military division is [-] people.

The Huaxia Army currently has a total of 24 infantry divisions. Based on the original calculation of 1000 troops per division, a total of 6 troops can be saved. Therefore, on the basis of the original independent heavy artillery regiment and independent siege artillery regiment, the Ministry of Military Affairs expanded Twelve artillery divisions.

Each artillery division has two heavy artillery brigades, a siege artillery regiment, a center base regiment, a supply regiment, a guard infantry regiment, a division command post, a central military post, a division hospital, and a sick horse factory; The heavy artillery brigade has two heavy artillery regiments, a brigade command post, two guard sentries, and two supply posts; both the heavy artillery regiment and the siege artillery regiment have four artillery posts, a middle base post, a supply post and a regiment Command post; accordingly, each artillery regiment has 630 troops and 700 artillery; each artillery brigade has 32 troops and 100 artillery; each artillery division has 64 troops, except infantry regiments equipped with light In addition to artillery, there are [-] large-caliber heavy artillery and [-] large-caliber siege guns.

In order to fill the gap of 5000 troops after the establishment of the Field Artillery Division, the Ministry of Military Affairs also re-planned the number of town troops in each province, and no longer made a one-size-fits-all arrangement according to the commander-in-chief and deputy commander-in-chief—considering that if each division According to the calculations of the Third Brigade and Nine Regiments, the field troops of the Xia Army actually lacked 240 brigades and 37 regiments, and the central bases, supplies, and cavalry departments directly under the provincial administration. Therefore, the total number of troops stationed in each province was finally determined to be [-]. Clarify the relationship between the town army and the field troops on a regular basis, and initially establish a rear division management area system for replenishing front-line troops after the war

The restructuring of the Xia Army had just been announced and had not yet been formally implemented. Siam then formally asked the Chinese envoys in Siam to send them on a pilgrimage in early April of that year. Because the matter was so important, the envoys in Siam did not dare to do so. Reported to Wuchang as soon as possible, and reported the Siamese request to the Chinese court.

"The crown prince of Siam is going to come to the court in person? It's a great thing to add to the country, protect the four barbarians, and obey the nations." Zheng Kezang commented slightly sarcastically. "Since the other country is so gracious, I don't want to ignore its loyalty and diligence. Forget it, I will send an order to Siam to allow him to enter the pilgrimage, and welcome him as the son of a county prince."

Pan Zheng, the new Governor-General’s Minister of the Yamen, reported with a wry smile: "Your Majesty, the Siamese prince's entry is certainly out of respect, but according to the imperial court's envoy in Siam, his visit is probably for the purpose of sending troops to Burma."

Siam and Burma are feuds, and it is normal for them to fight each other. Originally, there is no need to report to the Chinese court, but Siam specially sent the crown prince to China to report. First, it shows respect for the suzerain country. It must also be to seek help from China---this is not to say that Siam, which is not strong enough, deliberately wants to pull China into the water, but for the Siamese who have repeatedly defeated in the war with Burma, if they can make Xia with great martial arts If the army sends troops to help, then this war that originally only had a four-point chance of winning may have a more favorable ending for the Siamese. [

Zheng Kezang knowingly asked: "Has the vitality of Siam recovered? How dare you take the initiative to provoke a war with Burma?"

Pan Zheng's expression was a little grim: "My lord, Siam has benefited a lot from trade with the dynasty in the past two years, and has purchased nearly a hundred cannons from the court. Naturally, I feel that I have the confidence to fight Burma. However, Siam The reason why people intend to take the initiative to provoke wars is, in the final analysis, because of domestic problems.”

Pan Zheng's words are actually quite cryptic. The so-called domestic problems in Siam actually refer to the dissatisfaction of Siam's domestic lords and nobles with the shrinking land of Siam. The entire Malay Peninsula south of the Phetchaburi River and the surrounding area of ​​​​Ayutthaya Port were acquired. Chenla also obtained places such as the south of the Mon River and the east of the Basai River from Siam. Siam lost a large area of ​​southeast and south land. Thonburi retains a small piece of land along the Gulf of Siam --- although Siam also obtained Xayaburi Province from Laos as compensation, this is not enough to make up for the loss of Siam's territory, so Siam's domestic There has always been a saying that he has been fooled by Huaxia.

However, China's power is in full swing, and there are vassal states such as Annan, Vietnam, Chenla, and Champa to help. Once Siam, which is alone and alone, turns against China, Annan, Vietnam and other countries will happily cross over without Huaxia's own hands. The Mekong River has entered Siam, and the old enemy Burma will also pounce on a piece of the pie, so the rulers of the Ayutthaya Dynasty can only try to suppress domestic dissatisfaction in order to avoid provoking the Chinese court.

But the defense of the people is stronger than the defense of Sichuan. To truly dispel domestic dissatisfaction, the Siamese royal court can only step up its preparations for combat against Burma, hoping to obtain the lost land from Burma, and to compensate the domestic nobles in the southeast and south. loss of territory.

"Although Myanmar has not continued to oppress Siam to the east out of fear of its own dynasty in recent years, it is still wary of Siam's military operations, so it bought a lot of ordnance and artillery from the Thai and Western tribes such as Britain, France and the Netherlands. .” Pan Zheng continued. "Siam is also well aware of this, so they dare not invade easily, so they asked me to send troops to help. In addition, although the border between Myanmar and Siam is long, most of them are steep mountains, and the only road suitable for large troops to pass through In a certain section of the Thanyinthaung Mountains, between Kanchanaburi Province in Siam and Karen Province in Myanmar, this is also the main passage for Myanmar to invade Siam in the past.”

Xu knew that Zheng Kezang might not understand what he said, and Pan Zheng then presented a map: "Please look, my lord, what I said is near the Salween River, east of the city of Maolamian .”

Zheng Kezang searched on the map for a while, and easily found places such as Tanyinthaung Mountains, Salween River, Mawlamyine, Kanchanaburi, Karen Province, etc., so he praised: "The Governor The staff of the yamen have done a good job."

Regarding Zheng Kezang's praise, Pang Xi, who was serving as the Minister of Military Affairs next to Pan Zheng, was quite disapproving. One set, so the Staff Division of the Privy Council was handed over to the Ministry of War and later the Ministry of Military Affairs as a whole. In terms of intelligence collection capabilities, the Staff Division of the Ministry of Military Affairs far surpassed similar institutions in the Governor's Office, but this time It's no wonder he was a little bit dissatisfied that Pan Zheng won the lottery.

Zheng Kezang didn't care about Pang Xi's feelings, but he found something in the corner of the map: "Sixty (Xia) miles south of 'Mao' Llamyine is the southern Burmese tutelary fortress? If there is a war, the Burmese will be the first This is the place to deal with."

Zheng Kezang asked Pan Zheng, "Your opinion, should the imperial court accept the request of the Siamese?"

"The imperial court has benefited a lot from the Siamese over the years. If they don't agree to send troops to help the war, I'm afraid the Siamese will turn their anger on the imperial court." Pan Zheng's reply has a clear tendency. "Of course, the imperial court may not be afraid of the anger of the Siamese, but why should the imperial court discourage the loyalty of the Siamese king for the sake of the Burmese. Besides, the Thai and Western barbarians are quite active in Burma, or they may be detrimental to the imperial court. Their thoughts must be cut off That's good, so as not to leave a legacy."

According to the Governor’s Yamen’s consideration, expelling merchants from Britain, France, the Netherlands and other countries from Myanmar will have a consolidating effect on China’s control of the entire Indochina Peninsula and the East Indies, and making Siam a regional hegemon may not only calm Siam’s dissatisfaction with China , It can also make Siam and Myanmar permanently hostile because of territorial issues, which is more conducive to China's manipulation of the situation in the central and southern regions.

Zheng Kezang then asked Pang Xi, "What does the Ministry of Military Affairs think?"

"The Lu division is in the process of adjustment, and the military expenditure is quite high, so it is really inappropriate to use troops." Pang Xi replied calmly. "Besides, southern Yunnan and northern Burma are plagued by miasma, so it is not suitable to dispatch large troops. Yuan's expedition to Burma and Ming's expedition to Annan are lessons from the past." [

"Northern Myanmar is barren, and the victory is a waste of state money." Cai Tong, the servant of Duzhi, did not wait for Zheng Kezang to ask questions, and took a step forward to praise him. "If it is defeated, the southwest gate will be opened, and it may make the southwestern barbarians despise the power of the imperial court."

Zheng Kezang didn't say a word, and Lu Weijun, the former minister of the Governor's Office and then the Cabinet Counselor, had no choice but to help his old subordinates: "Myanmar invaded Yunnan in the Ming Dynasty and has not returned it. Since its inception, the Burmese ministers have been following the plan, how can they not be punished, and as for the war that wastes the country’s money, it can be used in the case of Annan and Vietnam, and the Siamese will pay for it.”

Pan Zheng also said: "If we can recapture the three declarations and six comforts, our dynasty can continue to southern Tibet, which will be more beneficial to the control of Tibet."

Zheng Kezang narrowed his eyes and thought about it for a while, before all the officials thought he was falling asleep and asked: "Pan Qing, inform Siam that its prince is allowed to enter the court, and ask about the Siamese's bottom line by the way?"

Before Pan Zheng responded, Zheng Kezang said again: "Go and ask the king of Arakan if he is willing to send troops together. As for the three announcements and six comforts, the imperial court should not control the mountains and mountains, so forget it. I just need to go to Burma. "

Looking at the dumbfounded courtiers, Zheng Kezang smiled coldly

〖∷Update fast∷∷Plain text∷〗