Night.
Inside the Cabinet Room of the Royal Palace.
Li Dongyang is still burning the midnight oil to draft the votes. As the night watchman of the cabinet and a member of the newly established Shangshang Office, Li Dongyang is shouldering two errands at the same time, and he is not too worried about Shangshang. Take your errands seriously.
After midnight, there were footsteps outside, and the person from Zhongshushe who was responsible for serving tea and water came and knocked on the door.
"In the Cabinet Department, Eunuch Xiao, the Superintendent of Ceremonies, is here to visit."
Li Dongyang stood up, first added two pieces of charcoal to the brazier, and then went over to open the door.
Xiao Jing stood at the door with a respectful look on his face, but did not enter.
"Eunuch Xiao" Li Dongyang did not deliberately go to salute. It was impossible for Xiao Jing to visit casually in the evening. There must be something going on when he came.
Xiao Jingdao: "There is important military information, involving the march to Liaodong. Please come and see Mr. Li Ge."
"Has your majesty not gone to bed yet?" Li Dongyang didn't even want to Asked what happened in Liaodong, because from the previous sporadic news, it seemed that Lu Wan was marching rapidly on the grassland. The news was delayed for six or seven days before reaching the capital. The speed of news transmission was slower than the battle report on Ningxia West Road.
"Please." Xiao Jing didn't say much.
If you are asked to meet the Holy Spirit, you don’t have to worry about whether the emperor is asleep or not. You will definitely be able to see him when you go.
In the Qianqing Palace.
The lights were bright, and Zhu Youtang could not see clearly at night. In order to save money, he usually put candles in front of his eyes to illuminate, but that night, he used more than a dozen candles to illuminate the entire palace. To illuminate.
Dai Yi and Wei Bin were not there, but Chen Kuan was standing by.
"Your Majesty, Mr. Li Ge is here." Xiao Jing walked in front of Li Dongyang, and the two of them came in directly without announcing anything in advance.
Zhu Youtang looked up.
Li Dongyang hurriedly stepped forward to greet him.
Zhu Youtang asked, "Would it be too disturbing to let Bingkuan enter the palace at such a late hour?"
Li Dongyang thought, if the emperor has something important to do, he should approach his ministers. Don't worry about whether it's too late to discuss.
"Your Majesty, there is important military information," Li Dongyang asked.
Neither the General Affairs Department nor the cabinet saw it. The military information should have been passed directly to the emperor, and Li Dongyang was not surprised now.
Zhu Youtang sighed and said, "The news just came was from seven days ago. It snowed on the grassland. Lu Wan and Hou Ning, the governor of Liaodong, were leading troops to pursue the three guards of Duoyan. They were determined to be on the road. On the north bank of the water are the main parts of Taining and the small part of Duoyan. As for Fuyu and the main part of Duoyan, they follow another westward road forty to fifty miles north of Huangshui."
< p>While speaking, Zhu Youtang asked Chen Kuan, who was standing by the side, to hand over Lu Wan's performance to Li Dongyang.Li Dongyang took it over and looked at it, frowning.
Zhu Youtang said, "The area around Keshidan was originally the activity range of the Chahar tribe, where the little Tatar prince and the three Duoyan guards fought. This battle may have taken place here. According to Lu Wan's theory, Prediction, all the bestIf so, they will catch up with the troops retreating westward from Duoyan Sanwei South Road from the north bank of Huangshui River in two or three days. "
Li Dongyang quickly scanned the contents of the memorial and asked, "Your Majesty, I don't understand what the governor of Liaodong said about the ambush of the Ming Dynasty. "
"Is there anything unclear about this?" Zhu Youtang said, "Jizhou sent four thousand cavalry, led by Wang Xian and Peng Quan, and arrived at Huangshui early. This is Bingkuan's guess. He found out the route that Duoyan's three guards might take to move westward, and set up ambushes along the way. The artillery brought to the grassland from Jizhou blocked the westward advance of Duoyan's three guards. "
When Li Dongyang heard this, the horizontal wrinkles on his brows almost jumped out of his skin.
He said, "Your Majesty, this move is very risky. "
Zhu Youtang said, "The war is approaching, and it is useless to say this at this time. I can't sleep tonight, if everything goes well."
The emperor also seemed to have fallen into a "crazy" state.
Li Dongyang looked at Xiao Jinghe, who had his head lowered. Chen Kuan then said, "Once the situation of this battle changes, I am afraid that the morale of the Ming Ji Liao soldiers will not be able to recover within the year. "
Zhu Youtang nodded and said, "Of course I know the consequences of losing this battle, but there is no one who can survive a hundred battles on the battlefield."
Li Dongyang had mixed feelings in his heart after hearing this.
p>
It seems that the emperor is still rational.
He hopes to win, but he also knows that it is impossible to win forever.
"Li Qing's family, don't you think about it now. Is it already difficult to win with artillery and sky gunpowder?" Zhu Youtang started the topic first.
"Yes. "Li Dongyang handed over his hand.
It is obvious that the Ming Dynasty has new firearms, which can catch the Mongolian tribes by surprise once or twice.
But in the long run, if people are prepared, they will not Give me a chance.
Zhu Youtang said, "In the battle at Pianguan, it looked like a dangerous victory, but in fact it was just Wang Yue who wanted to show off his merits, deliberately created a dangerous situation, and counterattacked with a surprise force, killing him. The fire was caught off guard. "
"This battle, together with the subsequent battle at Ningyuan in Liaodong, was all about waiting for work, relying on Bingkuan's prophecy, and waiting for the Tatars to take the initiative to attack, which can be said to be effortless. "
"But when it came to the Battle of Weininghai, we had to take advantage of the situation on the grassland and travel long distances behind the Tatars to complete a surprise attack. Also after the Battle of Weininghai, no matter which tribe the Tatars belonged to, it was impossible for the Tatars to give the Ming Dynasty a chance to fight head-on, especially when the Ming Dynasty had complete artillery and troops. "
Li Dongyang said helplessly, "But Your Majesty, even so, there is no need to let the Ming soldiers go deep into the grassland. This will also give the Tatars a chance to counterattack. "
Zhu Youtang smiled and said, "I don't want to take risks, but if I don't take risks, I'm afraid I won't even have the chance to win in the future. ”
Li Dongyang wanted to say that not winning is not the key, losing is the key.
It is enough to take risks once or twice, and fight the battle of Weininghai. Now His Majesty and that Zhang Bingkuan is still addicted
Zhu Youtang said, "At present, it seems thatThe process went smoothly. The remaining tribesmen of the Duoyan Three Guards totaled perhaps thirty to forty thousand people, plus the men, women, and children of their tribe. Batu Meng's men don't seem to be in the East Grassland, so there is a high chance of winning this battle. "
Li Dongyang said, "But Your Majesty, it has snowed on the grassland now. In such bitter cold weather, let alone fighting, I am afraid that the soldiers' march will also suffer great losses, and it is very likely that they will never return. . "
Zhu Youtang smiled and said, "Does Mr. Li Ge have to be so alarmist?"
Li Dongyang lowered his head and said with a bit of annoyance, "I am just taking the worst case scenario. Do some analysis. ”
“Haha. "Zhu Youtang continued to smile, as if he had a conversation with Li Dongyang, and his mood relaxed a lot, "The grassland tribes have lived on the grassland for a thousand or two thousand years, and no matter how harsh the environment, they have not been completely destroyed. , is still a hidden danger to the Ming Dynasty. I know that bad weather will hinder Ming's march, but it will not lead to too bad results because of the weather. "
Li Dongyang no longer refutes.
" Mr. Li Ge, it is up to you to inform the people in the government and the public about Bingkuan's plan for this battle tomorrow. I am a little tired today. Tomorrow's court meeting will not pass. ”
Zhu Youtang was looking for reasons for not going to court.
Li Dongyang didn’t say anything, just cupped his hands, which probably meant that he knew.
Zhu Youtang stood up, but seemed to be unsteady on his feet. He held on to the table and spoke in a very slow tone, "I've been feeling restless recently. Everything has been going so smoothly since I joined Bingkuan. God is so kind to me. Even the use of troops, which I never dared to think about before, is so smooth. I am afraid that God will take back some of what he has given me. "
"Your Majesty" Li Dongyang wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Zhu Youtang's hand.
Zhu Youtang said, "This is the last battle of this year. In the spring of next year, unless the Tatars Come to invade, otherwise I will not take the initiative to use troops again. Now if we want to recall the soldiers and horses, we don't have enough time. Both Lu Wan and Wang Xian are people whom Bingkuan respects. I still have some confidence in them. Mr. Li Ge, please come back. "
Li Dongyang waited for Zhu Youtang to go towards Jiaotai Palace, and then he led the way out of the Qianqing Palace gate with Xiao Jing.
Xiao Jing said, "Tomorrow morning, Your Majesty If you don’t go to court, does Mr. Li Ge have anything else to ask?”
Li Dongyang raised his head and looked at Xiao Jing, and said doubtfully, “Zhang Zhou sent out troops with two groups, so Eunuch Xiao should have known about it for a long time.”< /p>
"It's not long, Mr. Li Ge, please don't misunderstand. Your Majesty won't let you talk." Xiao Jing quickly cleared himself up.
Xiao Jing still wanted to stand with the cabinet. In his opinion, after he was officially promoted to the position of Chief Priest of Ceremonies, it was better to have a good relationship with the cabinet than to have a good relationship with Zhang Zhou.
For the position of Chief Priest of Ceremonies, it was better to have a good relationship with Zhang Zhou. There is a direct conflict of interest, and there is actually an echo between the cabinet and the Chief of Ceremony.
Each one gets what he wants.
So he doesn't.He wanted to antagonize Li Dongyang and other cabinet ministers, but also didn't want them to think that he was on Zhang Zhou's side.
Li Dongyang walked in front, and Xiao Jing followed behind. Li Dongyang said, "Your Majesty knows that this battle may be a loss, but you still insist on listening to Zhang Zhou's way of running the army. If you have to rely on risky moves every time, In order to win, the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty's border army will also believe that in the future, they must take risks to achieve success, and the number of desperate risks will increase.
Xiao Jing said, "Mr. Ge, you are too worried. Our family does not dare to say these things, and we are not qualified to say them."
What is the main thing?
Xiao Jing thought explain.
Based on Zhang Zhou’s mood, if he said he would stick to it, he would stick to it, and if he said he would rashly advance, he would rashly advance.
If Zhang Zhou is allowed to keep winning battles, the emperor will not go against Zhang Zhou's wishes even if he has doubts in his heart. This is the reality.
Xiao Jing looked at Li Dongyang who was walking in front with a narrow look, and said in his heart, don’t you, Li, know this?
Li Dongyang said, "I am also afraid that troops will be used on the grassland in the future." The scale of the battle will increase day by day. Whether it is Pianguan, Ningyuan or Weininghai, they all win by cleverness. Now they are deep into the Horqin grassland and employ more than 40,000 troops. If there is a disturbance in this battle, no matter how much the previous gains were, they will not be as good as this one. "The battle is about losing."
Xiao Jing asked tentatively, "Does Mr. Ge think we will win or lose in this battle?"
"Probably we will win." Li Dongyang was helpless. Said.
When Xiao Jing heard this, he suddenly felt uncomfortable.
Shouldn’t you, Li Dongyang, be the devil’s advocate? Before, when you were in front of the emperor, even the emperor thought you were quite an alarmist. Why did you tend to believe Zhang Zhou when you were in front of me?
Li Dongyang or He also felt that what he said was inappropriate, and he said, "No matter how many soldiers were used by Emperor Qin and Han Dynasty, the people would never be able to live in a prosperous and prosperous country. The people's peaceful life did not rely on external military attack. It all depended on the king's benevolence and filial piety in governing the country." "
Xiao Jing said, "Mr. Ge, this kind of benevolence and filial piety can govern the country, but it can't govern your majesty's heart."
"Well"
Li Dongyang is no better." It was to express some emotion in front of Xiao Jing, to express the cabinet's central idea of governing the country to the future eunuch.
Who knew that Xiao Jing was not a meek person like Dai Yi.
Xiao Jing only looks kind, but he is actually very sinister, and Xiao Jing can see clearly the current situation.
The emperor used Zhang Zhou to govern the country. Don’t be kidding.
"Your Majesty uses Lai Guogong for personal reasons rather than official duties." Xiao Jing is letting the cabinet know his position and knowledge, which can be regarded as establishing authority for himself. "In matters of running the army, if Excessive military use is of no benefit to people's livelihood and well-being, but from the beginning of the year to now, has Ming Dynasty really spent more money this year than usual?"
Li Dongyang was silent for a moment.
Civil officials initially used Zhang Zhou's adventurism to attack him.
After discovering that Zhang Zhou had been winning, he changed toZhang Zhou ignored the lives of the people of Ming Dynasty and attacked with force.
But now Xiao Jing also made it clear that Zhang Zhou did not purely increase the consumption of the Ming Dynasty's treasury in terms of running the army, and pursued the principle of military priority, and the Ming Dynasty's treasury expenditure did not increase because of this.
In this way, people's livelihood was not affected, but they still achieved victory on the battlefield. This is called skill.
Xiao Jing said, "Your Majesty certainly wants to govern the people with benevolence and filial piety, but the hearts of the people also need the use of troops in the north to govern. If the Ming Dynasty repeatedly invades the border, and the border soldiers are unable to do anything but stand firm, then Proclaiming Yu Renxiao to the people will help educate your majesty. Sometimes, you have no choice." "Haha," Li Dongyang said with a smile, "Eunuch Xiao, you really admire Zhang Bingkuan."
Xiao Jing shook his head, "It would be okay if it was always like this. It's a pity. Since ancient times, our family has been afraid of any powerful official who didn't come from a capable minister."
Afraid. What, no need to say more.
Li Dongyang understood that if Xiao Jing wanted to stand on the emperor's side, he must find a force to check and balance Zhang Zhou, and cannot let Zhang Zhou's family dominate.
Li Dongyang understood what this meant.
Xiao Jing wanted to stand on the emperor's side and support what Zhang Zhou had done, but also to prevent Zhang Zhou from monopolizing power and affecting the stability of the Ming Dynasty.
"Yes." Li Dongyang nodded.
This conversation was an honest and frank conversation between the Internal and Foreign Ministers about Zhang Zhou, the most powerful minister in the Ming Dynasty, before Xiao Jing officially took over as Supervisor of Ceremonies.
It can’t be called an alliance. It’s more like clarifying one’s position and achieving win-win cooperation.
As for Zhang Zhou, he is already winning and does not need to cooperate with them.
Zhang Zhou did not enter the palace to meet Zhu Youtang until near noon the next morning.
Early in the morning that day, the details of the use of troops in Liaodong had been spread to both the government and the public. However, the ministers adhered to a principle, that is, not to criticize casually until there are results.
Or maybe Zhu Youtang asked for leave that day and did not go to court. They had no way to criticize him. Even if they wrote a memorial to advise the emperor, it would still be a process. The emperor could not approve such a memorial at any time. , everyone in Liuzhong was polite, and did not criticize others directly. This is called kindness to ministers.
"Your Majesty." Zhang Zhou met the emperor in the palace garden.
Zhu Youtang said, "I'm feeling uneasy today. I haven't had a good rest these past two days. I can't sleep at night and feel groggy during the day, so I came here for a walk."
Zhang Zhou said, "The imperial doctor didn't prescribe some soothing medicine for Your Majesty."
"It's useless." Zhu Youtang said, "I actually know that this is probably the case for ordinary people, unless they can find some sustenance, but Apart from this matter of governing the country, what else can I rely on?"
This question
Zhang Zhou felt that the emperor understood it very deeply.
As an emperor, in addition to governing the country, of course he can also manipulateFeelings are based on sensuality, or like your future nephew Zhu Houcong, you can devote yourself to Taoism and pursue immortality
"Bingkuan, you should know about the use of troops in the north. I am not too worried about whether this war will Can win, but another problem comes to mind. This battle is a coordinated battle between Jizhou and Liaozhen. Once there is a dispute over the division of military power, have you ever thought about how to resolve it? "As a king, Zhu Youtang's realm Zhang Zhou also thought it was quite high.
Before the war breaks out, don’t think about winning or losing, think about how to share the credit first.
Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "Isn't it a good thing to have disputes?"
Zhu Youtang smiled and said, "It's still a good thing."
Zhang Zhou sighed and said, "There is competition. If you send someone, you will get the credit, and the credit lies in the dispatch and not in the fighting. This is why I never want your Majesty to praise me too much."
"You are so proud of yourself. Get up." Zhu Youtang rolled his eyes at Zhang Zhou.
"The sending of troops by Jizhou and Liaodong was a last resort under the situation. No matter which side had more credit, if there was a dispute afterwards, it also gave the ministers of the DPRK and China the opportunity to favor and mediate. "Zhang Zhou said.
"How to say it?" Zhu Youtang became interested.
Zhang Zhoudao said, "In the past year, I have been using troops. I believe that all those used are those recommended by me. The ministers in the DPRK are quite critical of this, thinking that I am nepotistic."
"Yes. "Zhu Youtang nodded.
In fact, what Zhang Zhou said was not only what the ministers were worried about, but even the emperor would not say that he had no idea about it at all.
Whoever Zhang Zhou can use can be awesome. In the future, will these people listen to Zhang Zhou or the emperor?
Zhang Zhou said, "In fact, I also hope that there will be ministers who can establish the foundation on the battlefield." Merit is recommended by the ministers in the court. Now it is the minister who employs people, but when discussing merit, relatives and friends can be distinguished. At that time, the ministers will also make a choice between Wang Xian and Lu Wan, who to recruit and support. "
"You," Zhu Youtang frowned, "Bingkuan, whether you want to be so direct or not is the person you recommended, but you recommend it to the minister of the DPRK."
"There is no way, Your Majesty. Every time I want to use troops, my ministers think there is a problem and want to refuse. Then why not let me secretly plan for Your Majesty in the future, and let the ministers recommend the method of using troops and the candidates to use them?" Everyone is happy."
Zhang Zhou actually made it clear.
He deliberately created a dispute between Jizhou and Liaodong over the division of credit, so as to cause some disputes among the military generals and let the traditional civil servants choose one side to deal with the other.
Sounds like you are digging a hole for yourself.
But with Zhu Youtang’s status, how could he not know the balance between the DPRK and China? He used Zhang Zhou precisely because he wanted to use Zhang Zhou to balance the current situation of strong and weak DPRK and Chinese forces. Please remember to bookmark, the latest and fastest website is free to read without anti-theft