Brocade clothing as the country

Chapter 914
Being good at initiating frontier provocations, these four words are big hats no matter when they are put, not to mention whether the fight is justified or not, wars with foreigners are matters at the national level, so it is natural to be cautious.

In all fairness, the memorandum presented by the member of the household department, Wailang, has nothing to do with the civil and military disputes, Wang Tong's power of attorney, and the mischievous things in the capital some time ago, it's just a worry.

This memorial from the heart of the public has a lot of influence in the current situation. At least the member of the household department, Uiro, is just talking about things, and he doesn't expect Beijing to pay any attention, but he went to After the memorandum, the minister in charge of him first asked him to go over and explain it in detail, and then the eunuch came to ask again in the palace.

After the palace and the court learned about the news in detail, it was brought up at the court meeting.

Discussions like this in court meetings used to be mixed with too much political controversy, with more attacks on individuals than the matter itself, but it is different now, everyone knows to restrain themselves.

".It was just a dispute between caravans and bandits, the entry and exit of thousands of taels of silver, the death and injury of dozens of people, and then the killing of thousands of people from the Tartar tribes, the looting of thousands of people and the return of a large amount of property, and then It was a battle of over [-] people, with thousands of deaths and injuries. The news from Guihua City has not come yet. Chahar is also a large part of the grassland. If there is another big war in the future, Guihua City may not be able to handle it. If there is any more involvement, it might turn into a national war similar to the conquest of the Alta Ministry, if so."

Bi Qiang, Minister of the Ministry of War, said carefully. He paused at the end and did not continue. Those who came up because of Yang Wei's political struggle are now living cautiously.

Emperor Wanli did not move them, and kept them to balance the inner court and Wang Tong, but it did not mean that they could stay in this position firmly, nor did it mean that they could attack Wang Tong, but this matter was the responsibility of the Ministry of War. Moreover, it is related to Wang Tong, so the words are not easy to grasp.

Seeing his hesitation, Wang Xijue, the second assistant to the cabinet, took the words and said:
"Although Da Ming has won all the conquests on the grassland in the past few years, it was a waste of people and money after all, and the military affairs are dangerous. No one is sure. Avoid it, if a large number of Tartars are recruited next time, and an important place like Guihua City cannot be given up at will, we can only send out a large army to rescue, and then there will be another national war."

Wang Xijue paused at this point, and said again:
"What I mean is not that it is not feasible to conquer the Tartars, but just for the meager profits of the profit-hungry merchants in Guihua City, which provoked the imperial court to dispatch a large army. This is too absurd, and the loss outweighs the gain."

Emperor Wanli sat in the middle and was also contemplating. He was actually very excited when he saw Yuanwailang's memorial for the first time. The brave and strong people in the Ming Dynasty are so capable of fighting. At the height of a person, one has to consider not only the trivial matters of victory and happiness.

The education that Emperor Wanli received since he was a child was all those sayings such as "do not use military force" and "peace is the most precious", because in history, the monarchs who liked to wage wars almost never ended well. Even if they won one by one, the money in the treasury was consumed. , as well as the consumption of manpower, will cause turmoil to the rule.

The meaning of Wang Xijue is almost the same. In fact, the cabinet secretary has already said it quite implicitly. Emperor Wanli can also hear the implicitness. If he provokes a national war with most of the Tartars without preparation , that is really a trouble for Jiangshan Sheji.

But Emperor Wanli vaguely felt that something was wrong, because after he ascended the throne, the world seemed to be very different from before, and some of the principles of the past may not be applicable now.

After being silent there for a while, Emperor Wanli turned to Wang Tong, who was on the side, and said:
"Wang Tong, what do you think about this matter?"

Wang Tong lived in Guihua City for a period of time. He established the current system there by himself, and he has the most say. After hearing this, Wang Tong went out to salute, and said in a deep voice:

"Your Majesty, please ask me a few questions first?"

Emperor Wanli nodded, and Wang Tong said in a deep voice:
"From the beginning of this year to this time, the capital has heard this kind of news four times. The reported figures of the Tartars being killed and wounded are all vague, but the total should be more than 7000 people. Caravan guards and naturalized The total number of deaths and injuries of the children near the city is no more than a thousand, may I ask, my lords, how many leaders of the frontier army have reported victories and meritorious deeds?"

Everyone looked at each other, this number is an important matter in the yamen, Bi Qiang was calculating in his mind, but Emperor Wanli turned his head and asked Zhang Cheng:
"Zhang Cheng, how much is it?"

"Going back to Lord Long Live, not counting Mr. Wang's several beheadings in the fortress wars, the total beheadings in the Northland in the past 20 years are 320."

After saying this, the court was quiet for a while, and the civil servants all had contemplative expressions on their faces, but they fell silent. Emperor Wanli also pondered for a moment, and said:
"Wang Tong, keep talking!"

"My lords, there are several major tribes of Tartars on the grassland, and how many cavalry can be mobilized by these major tribes. This year, the silent ones in Guihua City have already beheaded this number, and the rest have been piecemeal and have not been reported. Needless to say, my lords, Wang Tong would like to ask, since the establishment of Guihua City, how much food and salaries have been spent by the imperial court, and how many times have officers and soldiers been dispatched?"

Asked this question, the ministers were all silent, the debate reached this point, the chief assistant of the cabinet, Shen Shixing, could not be silent, he stepped forward and said:
"The imperial court did not spend food and salaries, and the garrison over there did not move."

After saying this, Shen Shixing himself shook his head. With such a court debate, everything was led away by Wang Tong's side, which was extremely awkward. Wang Tong said again:
"Your Majesty, when I came back from Guihua City, I had a good understanding of the situation in Guihua City. Not to mention the training of the folks in various manors, there can be more than five thousand caravan guards. These are based on The veterans of each army are the backbone, the well-equipped warrior team, and outside the city there are scattered people from the Ming Dynasty and various tribes in the grassland. There are also."

Speaking of this, he was interrupted by Emperor Wanli and asked:
"How many people will there be in the group training everywhere?"

"Returning to Your Majesty, there will be no less than [-] people in the farms in various farms who practice farming during farming and training during leisure time."

"How is the combat power?"

"Regiment training everywhere will not be inferior to frontier soldiers."

There was some commotion in the hall. Emperor Wanli nodded, with a satisfied expression on his face, and the courtiers also exchanged glances with each other. In this way, it is a force with nearly ten thousand cavalry at its core, with old soldiers as its backbone. , and with so many victories, the combat effectiveness is completely guaranteed.

"When Mr. Wang said that, didn't he mean that the area around Guihua City is equivalent to a border town?"

A minister couldn't help but asked aloud, Wang Tong replied with a smile:
"My lord, on the Nine Sides of the Ming Dynasty, how many places have this combat power?"

The other side is dumb again. Among the achievements of these years, except for Ji Town, which participated in the Battle of Guihua City, and then Liao Town launched the Battle of Duolun against Horqin, the rest of the border towns are already boasting of beheading hundreds of heads every year. Achievements, then there is such a "quiet" and "smooth" victory.

Having said that, Wang Tong can make a conclusion. He bowed to Emperor Wanli, turned his head, and said:
"Your Majesty and all the adults already know the level of combat power. Since the Ming Dynasty, the northern border of the Ming Dynasty has been on the defensive. Since the destruction of the Alda tribe and the occupation of Guihua City, the situation of the Ming Dynasty on the grassland has been reversed. Two wars, Daming is already on the offensive against the steppe Tartars."

Emperor Wanli already had a smile on his face. Whether it was the ministers of the six departments of the cabinet, the eunuchs in charge of ceremonies, or even the small eunuchs serving in the palace, all faces were full of vigor and vigor. After all, it was Daming who was proud and elated. Feel the light on the face.

"Now all the ministries on the grassland are inseparable from Guihua City. They need the supplies there, they need to rely on it to survive the cold winter, and they need the caravans of Guihua City to communicate with them. Those who are hostile to Guihua City, Guihua City The people of the Ming Dynasty will not be polite to them, rob them, kill them, kill one more caravan guards, and save a little effort for the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty in the future. It has been fighting for more than [-] years, and I will take advantage of the war to kill them all and seek a few hundred years of peace for the Ming Dynasty."

After Wang Tong finished speaking sonorously, the hall was silent. The ministers all stared at Wang Tong in astonishment, wondering if you were crazy when you said that. Tou, if you think about it carefully, that's really the case.

The previous Emperor Wanli also had the same idea. After being stunned at the beginning, he found that what Wang Tong said was extremely feasible. The changes in these years have been too fast and too much, and everyone's thinking patterns often cannot keep up with this change.

Emperor Wanli clapped his palms together and said with a smile:

"In such a situation, it's not arbitrarily provoking frontier quarrels, it's clearly consuming the enemy's strength. do it."

Shen Shixing was taken aback for a moment, stepped forward to salute and said:

"Your Majesty, if the imperial court finds a way to do such things and let everyone do it, it will hurt the dignity of the imperial court, and foreigners will laugh at the imperial court when they hear about it."

The faces of Emperor Wanli and Wang Tong were gloomy, thinking that Shen Ge was going to say something about sages, but they didn't expect Shen Shixing to change the subject and continued:

"There is no need for the imperial court to say anything. The next time something like this happens, order the local authorities to issue a document explaining that it was the Tartars who harassed the Ming caravan. If the Tartars do not restrain themselves, the imperial court will punish them. What do you think of this?"

"See you, Mr. Shen Ge!"
-
Near the city, it was actually a system of combining military and animal husbandry. The Tang Dynasty placed the immigrated tribes next to the military town, maintained their tribal organization, lightly taxed them, and ordered them to bring their own saddle horses during wartime.

It can be regarded as nomadic light cavalry attached to the cities of the Han people. As mentioned in this book, they are not only foreigners, but also the Han family in the north.
(End of this chapter)