The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Wei Guangde and Xu Bangrui have exchanged letters every two or three months over the years, so Wei Guangde is relatively clear about the affairs of Duke Wei's Mansion in Nanjing.

On the emperor's side, Wei Guangde is still relatively confident that Emperor Longqing will not refute his face.

Although Xungui has no decision-making power on this matter, he does have the right to speak.

It is impossible for Xu Pengju to not have good relations with various noble families in the capital over the years. Wei Guangde needs important nobles to stand up and speak for Xu Bangrui at that time.

Although Xu Bangrui had an advantage in terms of "etiquette", after all, Xu Bangning's mother was named the Duke's Lady in the Jiajing Dynasty, and was not affected by Xu Jie's efforts to bring order to the chaos.

In this case, Xu Bangning really occupies the title of "direct", although the name is somewhat unfair.

Among the nobles in the capital, the one who has the most say in the Duke of Wei's government is naturally Duke Ding.

"By the way, Shandai, did you know? The Ministry of War and the cabinet seem to have reached an agreement to send Tan Lun north to oversee the military affairs of Ji Liao."

At this time, Chen Ju suddenly said again.

Wei Guangde nodded, "I heard someone say a few days ago that it was Huo Yi and Yang Bo's idea."

Although he really didn't want to do this, with the support of the two ministers of the Ministry of War and the tacit approval of Xu Jie, the chief minister of the cabinet, it was difficult for Chen Yiqin to object.

The most important thing is that there is no reason to object. Whether in Zhejiang or Fujian, and later in Shanxi and Guangdong and Guangxi, Tan Lun handled military affairs extremely well, whether it was suppressing Japanese invaders or counterinsurgency, and he has become a famous military and civilian official in the world.

As the Japanese pirates in the south were gradually eliminated, the court's attention returned to the threat from the Mongols in the north. Naturally, trained civil servants like Tan Lun had high hopes.

In fact, the people around Wei Guangde are more concerned about Tan Lun's scandal, because most of them know the situation in Guangdong and know that Yu Dayou's situation there is not very good.

Although he knew how to fight, his relationship with his colleagues was very unhappy. If he hadn't been concerned about the relationship with Prince Yu's palace, he would have been afraid that Yu Dayou would be dismissed after fighting a war, and then reinstated when there was a war.

"Then you don't plan to transfer Yu Dayou to the north?"

Chen Ju suggested at this time: "In the past two years, the Tatars have continuously invaded Xuanda. The Xuanfu is doing well. Although there are occasional defeats, most of them are victories. The emperor is relieved to let Ma Fang stay there, but you also know Datong and Shanxi have now become the weak points of our Ming Dynasty's border defense. If we tease Yu Dayou to guard Datong."

Having said this, Chen Ju stopped and looked at Wei Guangde with burning eyes, waiting for his reaction.

Well, this is a method that Chen Ju has been thinking about for a long time. After knowing that the imperial court planned to transfer Tan Lunqi away, he was considering it.

As for why he is so concerned about this matter, he naturally hopes that his idea will be favored by the emperor.

Teng Xiang, Meng Chong and others tried to flatter the emperor, but Chen Ju thought he couldn't do it, so he found another way.

I know that Emperor Longqing still attaches great importance to state affairs, but most of the time he seems careless. It is not because there are people in the court who help him come up with ideas and solutions.

All he needed to do was approve the memorial, and the ministers in the court would help him do it, and he could have fun in the harem without any worries.

For this reason, Chen Ju felt that instead of competing for favors with Teng Xiang and others, it was better to do some practical things like courtiers. As long as he could share the worries of Emperor Longqing, his status would naturally be guaranteed.

Border affairs were naturally of great importance to the emperors of the Ming Dynasty. As long as they recommended officials to stabilize the border defense, it would be a great achievement.

But he was also wondering why the news about Tan Lun had spread, but no one from Wei Guangde or Yin Shizhen proposed to transfer Yu Dayou.

Yin Shizhen had raised objections in the cabinet. Chen Ju knew about it, but he didn't know how Yu Zhuan's old people discussed it.

Today I came with Wei Guangde to announce the decree, so he naturally wanted to test it out.

"Brother Chen, you don't know something."

Wei Guangde didn't know that Chen Ju wanted to use this to improve his status in the palace. He just thought that he was concerned about his side, so he said: "Yu Dayou stayed in the south of the Yangtze River. He stayed there to command the navy of Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong in the future." of.

You know that the merchant ships from Yuegang have come out, and many merchant ships from the West will visit in the future.

Those barbarians came to our country as merchants, but when they arrived at sea, who could tell whether they were merchants or pirates?

Therefore, our Ming Dynasty needs to have a powerful naval fleet in the Jiangnan waters to escort the opening of the sea.

Looking at the generals in the Ming Dynasty who can command naval warships, it seems that he is the only one who is qualified for the position of naval admiral. "

Wei Guangde did not doubt his presence and directly told Chen Ju his thoughts.

Only then did Chen Ju know why no one had proposed transferring Yu Dayou to the north.

Think about it, when Yu Dayou was in Zhejiang and Fujian, he commanded waterways and suppressed Japanese pirates. He was one of the few generals in the DPRK who had experience in naval warfare.

"I understand when you say that."

Chen Ju nodded. Wei Guangde had this in mind, so naturally he couldn't tell the story of Yu Dayou from the North in front of Emperor Longqing, lest it ruin his plan.

Within two days, the palace's decree finally came from below, and Tan Lun, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, was transferred back to the court, promoted to the right minister of the Ministry of War, and temporarily took over the military affairs of Jizhen.

At this time, he was not immediately promoted to governor of Jiliao. Although he had the support of Xu Jie, Yang Bo and others, because Chen Yiqin had previously opposed it, the emperor only asked him to temporarily manage the military affairs of Jizhen.

It needs to be explained here that the full name of Governor Ji Liao in the true sense should be "Governor Ji Liao, Baoding and other military affairs, and also in charge of food and wages." In fact, Governor is the name everyone uses for this official position.

Governor Ji Liao controlled the three towns of Shuntian, Baoding and Liaodong, and the four towns of Jizhou, Changping, Liaodong and Baoding.

Jiliao is a geographical concept that refers to the area from today's Beijing, through Shanhaiguan to Jinzhou and to the Liaohe River.

It can be said that Governor Ji Liao must be the person who reassures the emperor, because all the troops around the capital, except the capital camp, are under his command, which is enough to affect the situation in the capital.

Because of this incident, Emperor Longqing, who was obsessed with enjoying the harem, suddenly thought about the northern border defense.

On the day after the decree of Tiao Tan Lun was issued, Wei Guangde received an oral order from the palace to enter the palace to see him.

In the Qianqing Palace, Wei Guangde met Emperor Longqing. After saluting, he was asked about strengthening the northern military.

"Last time I asked you to think about how to strengthen the military affairs in the north. I don't want to hear any more news about the Tatars plundering our land in the Ming Dynasty. Is there any way now?"

To Wei Guangde, Emperor Longqing was always straightforward and would not mince words.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of War has asked Tan Lun to go north. Mr. Tan is stationed in Ji Town. The northern defense line is impregnable, so you can rest assured."

Wei Guangde lowered his head and replied.

"But Jiliao and Xuanda are stable. What about Jiangxi, Yansui, and Ningxia?"

Emperor Longqing was not satisfied with Wei Guangde's words. What he wanted was for the entire northern defense line to be stable, and what he wanted was for the Shizhou incident to never happen again.

In this regard, Wei Guangde was somewhat silent.

The northern defense line of the Ming Dynasty is commonly known as the Nine Sides. You can imagine how long it was.

Even if the Ming Dynasty spent a huge amount of money on this line of defense and gathered millions of troops, it would actually be difficult to maintain a tight defense and not give the Tatars the slightest chance.

You know, the Tatars will only gather their troops at one point to break through, or they will look for weak points in defense.

Once broken, the entire line of defense loses its meaning.

For such a situation, there are not many solutions that future generations can give.

Whether it was the Maginot Line or the Soviet Union's Western Defense Line, they were useless in the face of the German attack.

The Maginot Line of Defense was directly bypassed. The Western Defense Line was very long and the Germans could not bypass it. They could directly break through and launch a rolling attack. The powerful Soviet troops along the entire defense line could not show their strength advantage. Many times, the front-line troops even The weak attacks and the strong resists.

The current situation of the Ming army is actually very similar to that of the Soviet army at that time, except that the opponent is much weaker and unable to achieve occupation.

Regarding this situation, the Soviet Union later learned from experience that the best defense is actually offense.

The defense is always passive, and the troops have to be divided. It is impossible to form a superior force for combat.

You can only attack and concentrate your strength on one point.

However, Wei Guangde understands this truth, but it seems to be of little use to the Mongolians who have no fixed residence.

During Zhu Di's period, there were several military expeditions. The Mongols actively resisted at the beginning, but later they were frightened and chose to escape to the grasslands.

If you can't find the enemy, how can you fight?

Even if Wei Guangde now proposes to concentrate the border troops to sweep the grassland, let alone whether the Ming Dynasty can afford this huge military expenditure, I am afraid that in addition to destroying the few cities on the grassland, there will be no more There was no gain at all.

Anda Khan is not a fool, he is very smart and knows his own strength.

The Tatar army is really strong enough to compete with the Ming army. They have already laid siege to Beijing.

Recapture the capital of the Yuan Dynasty and drink in the Central Plains has actually been the dream of the grassland people.

Seeing Wei Guangde's delay in responding, Emperor Longqing felt unhappy and said with a hint of anger: "Can it be that our Ming Dynasty can only be passively defensive like this all the time, and have to endure the plundering of cavalry every year?"

Wei Guangde knew that it would be impossible if he didn't say something.

In fact, he has also considered it during this period, but he is not yet mature enough. There are at least two things that need to be done.

Although immature, Wei Guangde could only reveal a little to Emperor Longqing at this time to avoid disappointing him.

The emperor was disappointed with him. Although his hope of joining the cabinet could not be dashed, the impact was too bad.

Then, Wei Guangde looked up at Emperor Longqing and said word for word: "As Sun Tzu said in the art of war, the way I use war is to put the whole country first, and to destroy the country second."

After hearing what Wei Guangde said, Emperor Longqing's face improved slightly, and he nodded slightly, indicating to Wei Guangde to continue.

One of the advantages of Emperor Longqing is that he can listen to others' advice. As long as you put forward your opinions, he will listen patiently to the end no matter what his mood is, without interrupting irritably.

"There is a saying: Therefore, winning a hundred battles is not a good thing; subduing the enemy's troops without fighting is a good thing."

Wei Guangde continued.

Finally, he said: "So, Sun Tzu said lastly, the first is to attack the enemy with the enemy, the second is to attack the enemy, the second is to attack the enemy, and the third is to attack the city."

It seems that Wei Guangde's words are clouded, but after all, Emperor Longqing was taught by Gaogong's nine-year compulsory education. The key points of the three paragraphs Wei Guangde said are: "the whole country is supreme", "conquer the enemy without fighting" and "Send troops to fight against the enemy".

Putting the whole country first refers to making the enemy's entire country surrender, rather than using force to defeat the enemy's country.

To subjugate an enemy without fighting literally means to surrender all enemies without fighting.

As for superior military action, it means that superior military action is to use strategy to defeat the enemy's strategic intentions or war actions.

"What strategy do you want to use?"

Wei Guangde's words successfully attracted the attention of Emperor Longqing, who asked with interest.

"For the Mongols, other methods are useless. I heard that the grassland people only respect the strong. Only by showing your strong strength and letting them know that they are invincible will they retreat in the face of difficulties, stop violating borders, and even bow to orders. .”

Wei Guangde replied.

"I also know this, but when I, the Ming Dynasty, fight against the Tatars, I will win half the battle, how can I make Anda Khan surrender?"

Emperor Longqing frowned and asked curiously.

"Show the might of the Ming Dynasty, the overwhelming military power, and let Anda Khan know that he can survive to this day, but our emperor is merciful and has not made up his mind to destroy them."

Wei Guangde said without hesitation.

"How do you want to do it?"

When he said this, Emperor Longqing felt unsure for no reason.

How could he not know the situation of the Ming army?

It's the Jingying. He often wandered around the capital when he was in Yuzhuan, so he naturally saw the strength of the Ming Dynasty's Jingjun.

If the Tatars really know the strength of the Ming army in Beijing, will they seduce the Tatars and kill them?

"Two points, at least two points must be achieved."

Wei Guangde said, it was not that he was being passive, but that he had not yet considered the order of the two, how to maximize the deterrence and achieve "conquering the enemy without fighting."

So, he went on to say: "First of all, let Anda Khan realize the combat power of our Ming army. Previously, when the Datong army raided Bansheng City, all the towns were inspired by this and took the initiative to fight.

However, after Datong's chief military officer Liu Han was convicted and demoted due to a failed raid on the grassland, the border towns no longer conducted such military operations and returned to their original defensive state. Only Ma Fang still went out for raids from time to time.

Your Majesty, we should encourage the soldiers of the border army to take the initiative and show the bravery of our soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. "

Emperor Longqing nodded slightly when he heard this.

After Liu Han was convicted, he was demoted from chief soldier to staff general. He knew about this, and it was only Yang Bo's intercession from Emperor Jiajing that prevented him from being beaten to the end.

"Victory and defeat are common matters for military strategists. The imperial court can do this."

Emperor Longqing immediately responded in the affirmative. As long as he dared to take the initiative to attack, even if he suffered a defeat, he could absolve the border town generals of their sins.

"Secondly, I remember that my ancestors had a grand parade, and I secretly thought that the important affairs of the country were in the army. Today's people are lazy and lazy. If I don't use the power of heaven to watch in person, it will not be enough to build up the weak spirit and inspire the hearts of the soldiers."

Wei Guangde continued.

"Grand Parade Ceremony?"

Emperor Longqing frowned.

The Grand Parade Ceremony seems to have not been held for a long time.

In the Ming Dynasty, military rituals were rich in form and content. “Personal expeditions were the first, followed by dispatching generals. Before leaving the army, there was the ritual of offering sacrifices. When they returned, there were the rituals of accepting surrender, presenting tributes to prisoners, and giving rewards based on their merits. In ordinary times, there were military parades and large-scale shooting. The etiquette of saving the sun and cutting drums are also similar."