Good son-in-law of the Ming Dynasty

Even in broad daylight, candles were still lit in the Leopard House Abode, shining brightly on the gold bricks on the ground.

"Su Mu." Emperor Zhengde said.

"The minister is here." This was the first time Su Mu participated in such an imperial meeting on a formal occasion. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

"Give him back the booklet and read it." Emperor Zhengde pointed to Su Mu and said to the eunuch beside him.

An eunuch rushed to send Su Mu's booklet over, but Su Mu waved his hand, cleared his throat, and began to recite aloud.

His scriptures were not long at all, and they were well thought out, and every word in it had been memorized by heart.

For a moment, the room was full of his voice.

The other eleven family members in the house also listened carefully.

In a short while, Su Mu finished reciting the scriptures: "Your Majesty, please use troops against the Tatars, gather and wipe out all the ugly people, and cut off the troubles in the north of our Ming Dynasty."

Zhengde: "Then, let me ask you, how many troops should you use this time?"

Su Mu had already figured this out: "The imperial court can send a senior officer who is familiar with the military to be the supervisor, and call the Shanxi North Town Army nearby to fight the enemy. The Tatar clan invaded this time, with a total of more than [-] people. Everyone in the Tatars can handle bows and ride horses. Excluding the old, sick, women and children, according to Yichen, there should be [-] soldiers who can go into battle, and most of them are cavalry. However, most of our Daming frontier troops are infantry, and the number must be Only by outnumbering the enemy can we fight against it.”

"What I mean is to order the five towns of Datong, Yansui, Xuanfu, Ningxia, and Taiyuan to gather at the same time to form a large encirclement in the Yingzhou area, and to fight decisively with the enemy. There should be more than [-] soldiers in each town that can go to the battlefield. Five towns should have [-] giants."

To be honest, Su Mu didn't know whether each town could have more than [-] main soldiers who could go to the battlefield.The frontier army of the Ming Dynasty has long been corrupted. On the surface, it seems that there are many strong men, but in fact most of them are unusable auxiliary soldiers.It's okay to let them gather the number of people. If they really go to the battlefield, it's fine if they don't hold back.

Therefore, generals in the army generally gather the limited resources at hand to train elites. This is the so-called family system.

Generally speaking, for a team of more than [-] people, such elites are no more than a few hundred, or even less.

When they are on the battlefield, it is not bad if each town can gather a few thousand servants to go to the battlefield.

The reason why Su Mu said this was to reassure everyone.

After Zhengde heard this, his heart was shocked, and he thought: This Sumu actually went with me, this is a national war!However, he asked to send soldiers from five towns, while I wanted to send soldiers from six towns.I have been in power for so many years, and I am fond of martial arts. How can I let go of such a big excitement.

Of course, the Emperor Zhengde in this time and space is different from the impulsive Zhengde in real history.When I was in the East Palace, I heard Su Mu talk about the way of being a king every day, and it was subtle, but Zhengde's temperament was much calmer, and he was a little more political than in history.

Therefore, in the early court, he just threw Su Mu's book to the officials and asked them to discuss it, but he didn't say a word.In order to observe the attitude of the civilian officials towards this military operation, and to decide what to do next.

Sure enough, as he expected, the ministers were worried about the national war and spoke out to stop it.It is said that war must be fought, otherwise, if we allow the Tatars to invade, but we ignore it, it will not lose the face of the heavenly kingdom.However, it is not possible to fight a national war. Let the Datong Town Army send troops to drive the Tatars out of the country.

Zhengde knew that there were many people in the imperial court, and they couldn't discuss a result. The key lies in the cabinet.And Zhengde believed that he could not convince the ministers.If you blindly use force, I am afraid it will cause a lot of trouble.

After the dynasty was over, everyone in the cabinet and the supervisor of ceremonies was called together and asked Su Mu to debate with them.

In his heart, Zhengde had an inexplicable confidence in Su Mu's ability to persuade the cabinet.

Although he is still not very fond of Su Mu, Zhengde still believes in his abilities.

"The five towns have a total of [-] main forces occupying troops, and [-] auxiliary soldiers. The Tatars invaded from afar, and the food and fodder were not available. But my Ming Dynasty has a large number of troops and a large number of generals. This battle must be won." Su Mu ended his speech in good time.

As soon as the words were finished, Liang Chu, a minister of the cabinet, jumped out first and shouted: "Su Mu, where is there a battle that must be won in the world? Sun Tzu said: Before you count the victory, you count the defeat first. What if the battle is not victorious?"

Su Mu said politely: "Old Liang Ge, just now Su Mu has made it very clear in the booklet, even if our Ming Dynasty is defeated, it will still consume the vitality of the Tatars. The so-called killing one thousand enemies, Self-defeating [-]. The Tatars have lost their vitality, and they will definitely not be able to gain a foothold in Shanxi. Going north to Mongolia, there is a heavy snowstorm there. I don’t think the Tatars can survive this winter safely. If they really escape back to Mobei, they will also There is a dead end. Therefore, this time, as long as I send troops from the Ming Dynasty, I will win strategically."

Hearing Su Mu explain this truth thoroughly, Emperor Zhengde's eyes could not help but light up.

Even Li Dongyang, who had been sitting there leisurely, moved his body slightly, obviously paying attention.

Liang Chu sneered: "It's absurd, how can a defeat be a victory anyway, if it spreads out, won't the world laugh out loud?"

Jiang Mian and Liang Chu, who belonged to the same faction, also jumped out: "Su Mu's words are absurd and not absurd. Besides, since as long as the Tatars return north, it is considered a victory. Let me ask you, can't the Datong town army be allowed to attack and kill the Tatars?" When the people drive away the matter, why bother to mobilize the people and deploy the power of the five towns? In the past, the Tatars invaded, didn't the local border lords attack on their own?"

Su Mu felt like facing an idiot, and replied angrily: "Mr. Jiang Ge, today is different from the past. The Tatars came to Shanxi this time not to rob, but to spend the winter."

After being scolded by Su Mu, Jiang Mian knew that he had made a mistake, and his face blushed slightly, and he was a little annoyed: "Since the Tatars did not come to rob, but to live in the winter. Isn't this just emigration? Maybe we can appease them. Set up officials among the Tatars to make them naturalized. The so-called, all the people on the shore of the land are the king's subjects. After the Tatars are attached to the country, they can be educated, and after a hundred years, they will also be my subjects of the Ming Dynasty."

What he said was absurd, not only Su Mu, but also several other cabinet ministers shook their heads slightly.

Su Mu smiled: "Mr. Jiang Ge insisted on his words, and what he said made sense. However, it is not so easy to educate the barbarians. Wasn't the reason for the Anshi Rebellion back then also the result of the people's disobedience to Wang Hua?"

"You...you called me Li Linfu?" Jiang Mian's nose was crooked.

Not wanting to see everyone continue to quarrel, Zhengde said: "Look at the situation, Mr. Liang Ge and Mr. Jiang Ge are opposed to sending troops. How about you, Mr. Liu Ge?"

Another cabinet assistant, Liu Zhongdao: "Soldiers are fierce and dangerous. Soldiers are important national affairs. You must be cautious. When Emperor Xiaozong was there, he implemented a policy of resting with the people, and he focused on defense against the northern border troubles. Good at wielding swords and weapons. When the people mention the former emperor, they all say Hongzhi Zhongxing. In the eyes of the people all over the world, Emperor Xiaozong is the Wendi and Jingdi of our Ming Dynasty. Since the former emperor has the established strategy of flattening the border, His Majesty Xiao Guicao will follow suit. .”

This was very blunt. In Liu Zhong's mouth, Emperor Hongzhi was Emperor Wenwen and Emperor Han Jing, so his Zhengde would have become Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

Su Mu also sighed in his heart: Li Dongyang will definitely not express his position, and Yang Tinghe will definitely oppose the use of troops. The three cabinet ministers Jiang, Liu, and Liang have already expressed their attitude. In this imperial meeting, the peace faction has the absolute upper hand!

Zhengde's expression turned ugly, he held back his anger, and turned his gaze to Yang Yiqing: "Yang Yiqing, you have been in the trilateral administration, you are proficient in military affairs, and you have fought against the Tatars. Tell me about it."