Chapter 798: Using yourself as bait

Noon on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

In the palace, a family banquet was going on. Zhu Youtang invited all Zhang Zhou’s family to the palace, including Zhang Zhou’s concubines Han Qing, Lin Yi, Wang Mingshan and Cui Ying. And invite.

There are also Zhang Zhou’s son and daughter. Because Zhang Zhou’s second son Zhang Lin was too young, he did not enter the palace.

But Zhang Zhou’s eldest son Zhang Jun and eldest daughter Suisui both entered the palace with their parents. Zhu Youtang even brought Zhu Houxuan, the son of the concubine Xian, with him, although he was still just a child. But for Zhu Youtang, it is also something to be proud of.

After all, they had one son and one daughter at first, but after a few years, he even has one more child than Zhang Zhou.

The luncheon was equivalent to a gift banquet. Women and children on both sides were present, and the monarch and his ministers could not let go. Zhu Youtang did not say much at the gift banquet. He just asked Zhang Zhou to sit next to him, but Still looking at Suisui.

As a father, he is obviously not ready to marry his daughter to another family, or he has not considered this issue so early... but he is already eyeing other people's daughters, preparing to marry him as his daughter-in-law. .

So much so that Suisui became the most noticed child at the dinner table. Even Zhu Houzhao would take a look from time to time because he learned from Gao Feng that the banquet was probably related to his marriage, so He also wants to see what his potential future "queen" looks like.

I have seen Suisui before, but I don’t remember her appearance. This time, I didn’t think Suisui was that good, but at least she wasn’t that bad.

"Still a little girl." Zhu Houzhao muttered.

Zhu Xiurong was like a veteran, and said with a smile: "Brother, why do you seem to be blushing?"

"Am I blushing?" Zhu Houzhao didn't know yet. My sister was teasing her, so she touched her face with her hand.

When he realized that his sister was teasing him, he pointed at Zhang Jun who was sitting across from him and eating listlessly and said: "What do you think of that? You're stupid, maybe He's your consort."

"Brother, have you learned how to fight back? My father doesn't mean that." Zhu Xiurong looked completely unaffected by Zhu Houzhao.

This made Zhu Houzhao very depressed.

Why can’t I be as good as this damn girl in handling the situation? Am I really inferior to her in many aspects?

......

......

After the banquet, Zhu Houzhao did not let Zhang Zhou's family leave immediately. Instead, he called Zhang Zhou alone to the outside of Kunning Palace. They talked in the palace, and specifically told Zhang Zhou’s family members to stay inside, communicate more with the queen and the concubine Xian, and build a relationship.

Even Zhu Houzhao was allowed to stay without going back to the East Palace.

"Bingkuan, speaking of which, your children have grown up, and we are about the same age. This child is also about the same age." Zhu Youtang almost revealed the engagement.

Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty should have a few more dragon heirs."

In Zhang Zhou's view, although there is one more Zhu Houxuan, he can indeed get a certain degree of protection on the issue of Zhu Youtang's successor.

But this layer of protection is still too weak, and Concubine Xian gave birth to a daughter for her second child, which actually made the future of Ming Dynasty full of uncertainty to a large extent.

What Zhang Zhou wants to pursue is the continuity of the Ming Dynasty's policies. After all, reforming the Ming Dynasty cannot be achieved overnight. It is basically impossible to achieve it in more than ten years. If the peace of the north is a start If so, wait until the Ming Dynasty is fully industrialized... It will probably be decades later, or even after Zhang Zhoudu passes away.

If problems arise in the continuation of the emperor's bloodline and his plans are thwarted, Zhang Zhou will not accept it.

Zhu Youtang smiled and said: "Sometimes, I work hard. In fact, it doesn't matter how many concubines I have. It's fine now. But who knows what it will be like in the future?"

Saying it means not saying it.

Zhang Zhou could also see that this emperor was indeed not very good at interpersonal communication, and he was even more timid when it came to getting along with women.

Now that he has a queen and a concubine who have given birth to children one after another, he is actually very good. Compared with Zhu Youtang in history, he has changed a lot.

Zhu Youtang added: "I just received a battle report from the northwest. It is the last report after Tang Yin sent troops to the grassland. It shows that he has penetrated more than one or two thousand miles into the grassland. It is estimated that now It will go deeper... Bingkuan, what do you think of this matter?"

Zhang Zhou said: "I also saw it. He also mentioned in the memorial that it has started to snow on the grassland, and there is heavy snow cover. The mountain means that it is very likely that we will not be able to evacuate in a short time. We must fight to support the war, and the survival of the soldiers will be a great test."

"Yes," Zhu Youtang said. , "Bingkuan, it was originally said that I would send troops to the grassland with you in the spring week of March. Do you think it should still be like this now? Tang Yin brought out seven or eight thousand soldiers and horses. That's all. Do you think that the elite of the Ming Dynasty can be left to their own devices and ignored?"

Zhang Zhou stood up and said respectfully: "I would like to ask your Majesty to mobilize three thousand troops and send troops to the grassland. Rush to help Tang Yin."

"Three thousand? Soldiers and horses?" Zhu Youtang was curious.

This request sounds very strange. Fortunately, there are no Chen Kuan, Yang Peng or others nearby, otherwise their reaction would be even greater than that of the emperor.

Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "Three thousand soldiers and horses are enough. With new weapons, we can crush them on the battlefield, so it doesn't matter how many soldiers and horses there are. My idea is to use three thousand soldiers and horses to bring enough The grain and baggage are brought into the grassland, and the actual fighting troops may only be a few hundred people."

Zhu Youtang nodded and said: "Do you think that if too many soldiers and horses are brought into the grassland, the Tatars will be defeated. People will avoid fighting, right?"

"Yes," Zhang Zhou admitted directly, "It is good to bring tens of thousands of troops into the grassland, but the Tatars will never fight a bloody battle with the Ming Dynasty. , but only by first arranging a group of people and horses to drive straight in, forming a formation on the grassland.The situation became a dilemma, which led the Tatars to think that they could capture this group of troops at all costs, and then send follow-up troops to reinforce them, which would be more effective. "

Zhu Youtang asked: "Then why not give elite weapons to Tang Yin from the beginning? After they are trapped, it is actually easier to perform, isn't it? ”

Zhang Zhou shook his head and said, “Your Majesty, I think this is not the case. "

"Tell me. "Zhu Youtang expressed great interest.

After all, what he is about to say is related to the national destiny of the Ming Dynasty in the next few decades, and even his lifelong dream, which is to see the future of Ming Dynasty in his lifetime. To the destruction of the grassland tribes, the Ming Dynasty completed its complete rule of the grassland.

Zhang Zhou said: "First of all, it is because the new weapons were just made last year, and they still need to be studied in terms of stability and equipped with more weapons. More machine tools and other things are used to make more weapons to achieve the purpose of equipping the army and relying on the army to win. ”

“Yeah. "Zhu Youtang nodded.

Others don't know, but he, Zhu Youtang, knows everything about the progress of the new weapon.

If Zhang Zhou wants to cause some kind of massacre If even the emperor doesn't know about it, then Zhang Zhou's motives will arouse suspicion... Although Zhu Youtang will not doubt him at the moment, but there are some things where three people become tigers, and Zhang Zhou will never give others an excuse.

If you want to do something, then do it openly and aboveboard. What is the new weapon, what is the meaning of the weapon, and how lethal it can be... From the beginning of the project, I made it clear to Zhu Youtang that this It also avoided subsequent troubles.

Zhang Zhou said again: "Furthermore, if Tang Yin directly brought new weapons into the grassland, the Tatars would still choose to avoid the battle after finding that they were unable to fight after the initial confrontation. At that time, the war will become a situation where you are running away from me and I am chasing you, and the war will still not be able to make better progress. "

Zhu Youtang smiled and said: "So first let them feel that if they pay a little more price, they can destroy Tang Yin's seven thousand elites, and then bring fewer troops to rush to rescue them. Use the big killer weapon you created, so that they can... Haha, that's good. It's just me..."

At this point, Zhu Youtang became a little depressed.

We agreed that when spring comes, the two of us will level the grassland together. , and now you only bring three thousand soldiers and horses into the grassland, do you want me, the emperor, to follow you?

Isn’t this child’s play when the emperor only brings three thousand soldiers and horses into the grassland? p>

Zhang Zhou said: "Your Majesty can completely follow the original plan and lead the army to Xuanfu or Datong, and march into the grassland with the army to enhance the reputation of his ministers. When the war comes, His Majesty may be able to come in person..."

In order to give the emperor a sense of participation in this battle, Zhang Zhou's plan was to make the emperor the mastermind of the war in the rear.< /p>

It is unrealistic for the emperor to personally go to the front line to take risks.

But Zhang Zhou’s battle plan does not have room for large group operations. After all, if you send three thousand troops, it is possible. All solvedThe question is, why send tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people into the grassland? At that time, too many soldiers and horses would be a drag due to problems such as food and grass supplies.

Not to mention relying on hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses to chase the Tatars and fight the Tatars decisively.

Zhu Youtang smiled and said: "Okay, I'm still a little worried about you charging forward personally. What do you think, let Uncle Xinxin go?"

"Your Majesty, you really Do you think sending someone else will make the Tatars want to fight decisively?" Zhang Zhou asked with a smile.

Zhu Youtang thought for a while and seemed to understand what was going on.

He said in surprise: "Bingkuan, do you want to use yourself as bait? This...this..."

Zhang Zhou said: "I led the troops into the grassland, but It is most reasonable and such a great contribution, I don’t want to let others do it. What do you think, Your Majesty? "

"Look at you... I know that you are definitely not doing it for any merit. , you have been on the stage for so many battles in the past, and I have always prevented you from going, because I was afraid that you would be in danger... If you say this now, do you think I will believe it, no matter what, even if you are here? As a commander in the capital, this merit must still be recorded on you."

Zhu Youtang is also very righteous.

And Zhu Youtang is reasonable. He knows very well who brought about the changes in the military and political affairs of the Ming Dynasty. If anyone wants to deny Zhang Zhou's first contribution, he will never agree.

Zhang Zhou sighed: "I know that your Majesty has always wanted to solve this problem personally, but you are the emperor after all, so I will let you complete all this on your behalf. Please give me this opportunity."

"Okay." Zhu Youtang said, "Then when are you going to send troops?"

Zhang Zhou said: "It will take a few days to prepare. I think it is most appropriate before the tenth day of the first lunar month."

"Why?" Zhu Youtang said, "Tang Yin led his troops on the grassland. It seems that he has not encountered the main Tatar force yet, but maybe he will encounter extreme forces at the end of the year and the beginning of the year. If you send troops into the grassland on the tenth day of the lunar month, will he be able to hold on despite the huge resistance?"

Zhang Zhou asked with a smile: "Does your Majesty hope that I will send troops earlier?"

Zhu Youtang is also a practical person.

Since you have said you are going, you cannot push back or hold back. If you set off before the tenth day of the lunar month, then I must go with you.

Otherwise everyone would know that I went to the northwest to be the coach of the rear. Wouldn’t it be embarrassing in terms of history?

Only by sending troops together and saying that you are the vanguard officer, others will feel that we are fighting an overall war... This is in line with the sense of participation I am pursuing.

Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "Then it's settled?"

"Okay." Zhu Youtang was also laughing, "Just inform the ministers and ministers of the court later. It's such a big deal." plan,There wasn’t much preparation time either. I am not afraid now that the Tatars will come out in force... The changes in the past few decades are really not easy. Speaking of it, I feel like it's a lifetime ago. You said that in the past few decades, Ming Dynasty's border affairs have taken so many detours... Why didn't you show up earlier? "

Zhang Zhou said: "I just care that I was born late? ”

“Yeah. Zhu Youtang smiled and nodded, "That's true. If you had been born a few years earlier, maybe nothing would have happened to me." So it also depends on luck. Ten years ago, this battle would not have been fought, but now... I can fully guarantee that you will lead the troops to fight. ”

Zhu Youtang is also in full bloom at this time.

When it comes to ten years ago and now, he himself is also very aware of the changes. Now he can dominate Government affairs.

Ten years ago, he was a timid young emperor, and it was not his turn to take charge of affairs in the court.

People in the court can no longer oppose him. The main reason for sending troops is because of the rise of Zhang Zhou, which caused the ministers to lose the basis of public opinion... After all, even an ordinary citizen can see the advantages of the northern battlefield. If those traditional civil servants continue to sing bad words, they are obviously rebelling against Tiangang.

...

...

The conversation between the monarch and his ministers ended, and it was time for the Zhang family to leave the palace.

"Pretty good. ”

As the mistress of the Zhang family, Jiang Pingyu showed her responsible side to Zhang Zhou when she left the palace.

After all, in the palace, she had to serve as Zhang Zhou’s Representatives of the family went to communicate with the Queen and the Concubine Xian, although most of the time it was Queen Zhang who was asking, and she was just the responder.

Zhang Zhou said: "In a few days, I will lead the troops to go on an expedition. . "

"So early? "Although Jiang Pingyu also knew that her husband might lead troops to go on an expedition, the sudden news still made her feel unacceptable.

Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "After several years of preparation, it is time to come to an end. ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Zhou is still a little uneasy.

After all, the ancients have concluded that when the birds are gone, the bows are hidden, the rabbits are cooked, and the dogs are cooked, when there is no foreign invasion from the north. After the pressure, will Zhu Youtang still trust him as much as he does today?

But if even Zhu Youtang is not trustworthy...

There are so many people in Chinese history. Emperor, who is more sincere than Zhu Youtang? The transcoding has been serious recently, which makes us more motivated and updates faster. Please use your little hand to exit the reading mode. Thank you