Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 405, do not start the war lightly

In the imperial palace in the capital, Emperor Hongzhi was holding the latest issue of the Ming Morning Post, reading the newspaper while drinking tea.

"Bang~"

"Is the area in Gansu and Shaanxi really the same as what the newspapers say?"

Just after reading the most important piece of news, Emperor Hongzhi couldn't help but slapped heavily on the table, his whole person looked very energetic.

"Returning to Your Majesty, it's more or less the same. In fact, every time the Tatars go south to plunder, it's like locusts crossing the border. They don't leave a blade of grass. This is mostly the case in Gansu and Shaanxi."

Xiao Jing who was on the side was startled when he heard the loud noise. Hearing Emperor Hongzhi's question, he thought about it and replied.

"Then why didn't the report submitted before explain it in detail?"

After hearing this, Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly. He knew something about it, but the memorials presented by the ministers in the past did not focus on this aspect. For these ministers in the court, they focused more on describing If it is about repelling the Tartars, it is not about how many ordinary people were killed.

Repelling the Tartars would allow them to get promoted and get rich, but the life and death of the common people had no effect on them at all, so naturally, the memorials on Emperor Hongzhi's desk were basically described as raging wars and raging thieves and bandits.

In this description, although Emperor Hongzhi also knew that the Tatars would plunder when they went south, he did not have an intuitive concept of how the plunder was done, and the casualties of the Ming people. These did not have a specific number or detailed description.

But the Daming Morning Post is different. Because of Liu Jin's explanation, the Daming Morning Post has dedicated journalists to go to Gansu and Shaanxi.

When reporting on this incident, more emphasis was placed on describing the brutality of the Tartars. Wherever they passed, blood flowed into rivers and oars, how many people died, how many towns were slaughtered, and so on.

There was a huge and stark contrast between the two, which made Emperor Hongzhi know that the Tartars had committed many crimes in the south, killing many of my Han family's children, burning, killing and looting, and doing everything.

It is no longer as empty as the previous report, just a paragraph, a few words, so that people can't feel the brutal behavior of the Tartars, and there is no intuitive feeling.

"This…"

Hearing Emperor Hongzhi's question, Xiao Jing didn't know how to answer for a moment.

The reason why the ministers in the court wrote memorials in this way was actually that the main purpose was not to want the emperor to be belligerent. After all, the emperor was the emperor of Ming Dynasty and the emperor of all the people of Ming Dynasty.

If an emperor knew that his people were ruthlessly slaughtered by the Tartars, the emperor with a little blood would still have some temper, and to some extent he would give an explanation to the people of the world.

Once the emperor wants to fight, he will naturally reuse the military generals Xungui group, which is extremely unfavorable for civil officials to suppress the military generals Xungui group.

Moreover, the emperor is warlike and likes to use butcher knives to solve problems. The good days of these ministers are coming to an end. Look at Comrade Zhu Yuanzhang who founded the Ming Dynasty, and look at Comrade Zhu Di, the son of Zhu Yuanzhang. Both of them are warlike people. They all like to use butcher knives to solve problems.

Their butcher's knives are not only powerful against foreign races, but also against these ministers. I don't know how many ministers died in the hands of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di.

Therefore, no matter whether it is to suppress the military generals, or to prevent the emperor from being warlike, when writing this report, one must pay attention to those that are the key points, and those that must be mentioned in one stroke. These ministers in the court are very clear.

Whether it’s about the Tartars going south to plunder, or about disasters and the like, most of the time, it’s good news but not bad news. Try to make the emperor feel that the whole world is clean and the river is feasting. Put your mind on having fun, instead of becoming an emperor who likes to toss.

The emperor who likes to toss about, he is not easy to control, and it is not conducive to the interests of their civil official group, and it is easy to destroy the dominance of the civil official group that they have managed so hard to manage.

"Humph~"

Emperor Hongzhi snorted coldly, thought for a while and said, "Immediately call the cabinet ministers Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian, Minister of War Ma Wensheng, Minister of Housekeeping Zhou Jing, and British Duke Zhang Mao into the palace."

"Yes~"

When Xiao Jing heard this, he nodded quickly, and immediately cast a look at the little eunuch beside him, the other party understood, and immediately went to do it.

……

At the residence of Liu Jian, the chief minister of the cabinet, Liu Jian, who just came to court in the morning, was also eating breakfast and reading the newspaper.

"This Mingming Morning Post~"

Liu Jian frowned. The Ming Morning Post was still very good, but this first report on the Tartars going south made him feel very inappropriate.

"If such a report is made, the public will definitely be outraged, and it will be very difficult for the court to deal with it."

Liu Jian seems to have seen the scene of the crowd's anger. At that time, countless people will petition the emperor to send troops to avenge their hatred, and this matter will be really difficult.

As the chief minister of the cabinet, he is well aware of the current situation of Daming.

The current situation in Daming belongs to that kind. It is impossible to fight a war, because the combat effectiveness of the Ming army is very low, the level of fighting five scum, and it is not allowed financially. The treasury of the Ming court can starve to death. Where is the money to fight for the court.

So every time the Tartars went south to plunder, as long as the other party did not threaten the capital, the imperial court would just hide in the big city, and when the Tartars plundered, they would naturally retreat.

This is a typical herd mentality.

That is what to do in the face of a lion attack?
There is no need to do anything, just wait until the lion is full, and the lion will naturally be fine.

But it is different now, the Ming Dynasty Morning Post has exposed this matter, so that everyone in the entire Ming Dynasty clearly knows the various crimes committed by the Tartars. Naturally, the entire Ming Dynasty will be outraged.

At that time, even if the imperial court does not want to fight, it will fight, because public opinion is boiling, and everyone will demand revenge.

But can the imperial court fight the Tartars?

Even if you can fight, can you win?
Judging from the current situation of the Ming army, it is almost impossible. If you defend the city, you can still fight against the high wall built with cement. If you go out of the city, it is almost the meat of the grassland wolf Yes, the other party can eat whatever they want.

If they don't fight, the Ming army can still defend many big cities, but once it really fights with the grassland, the loss of soldiers and generals will be a trivial matter.

Once the loss of troops is too heavy, and some important cities are empty of troops, these Tartars are very likely to take advantage of the vacancy, and more people will die, and the loss will be even greater.

Even the Tartars are fighting more and more smoothly, and their ambitions are getting more and more aggressive. Maybe they will point their swords at the capital at that time, and then the government and the opposition will really be in turmoil.

This is why Liu Jian felt that the description in the Ming Morning Post was very inappropriate. He already seemed to see that a big change was coming.

"Master, someone from the palace will announce you into the palace~"

Liu Jian was still thinking about this matter, and the palace's order came.

"Ah~"

"This Liu Jin is really worrying, why don't you run a good newspaper."

Hearing what the butler said, Liu Jian couldn't help but sigh, he could almost guess why Emperor Hongzhi announced him to enter the palace.

Soon, Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian, Zhou Jing, Ma Wensheng, Zhang Mao and other important court officials all came to the temporary office of Emperor Hongzhi.

"Did everyone read the newspaper?"

Emperor Hongzhi's expression was very ugly, seeing that everyone was present, he spoke slowly.

"I've seen it~"

Everyone looked at each other and nodded.

"It's good to have read it, then you can tell me first, why the slaughtered areas and the number of people who died were not listed in detail in the report submitted from below. In the memorials I have seen, they are all mentioned in one stroke, without details. If it hadn’t been published by the Ming Morning Post, I would have thought not many people died.”

"You are the pillars of the country, the pillars of the country, everyone, look at it, this time the Tartars went south, in Gansu and Shaanxi, at least [-] people died. These are all bloody lives, and they are all children of our Han family. "

Emperor Hongzhi was very annoyed. Although his voice was not loud, it made all the ministers sweat on their foreheads. Everyone knew that Emperor Hongzhi, a good old man, was really angry this time.

Everyone was silent for a while, and they were silent to each other. Everyone knew the way to do this, but this kind of thing can't be said. Not sure how many more people will die.

"Why didn't you speak?"

"Liu Jian, tell me first."

Seeing that everyone was silent, Emperor Hongzhi said very dissatisfied, and then directly started roll call.

"Returning to Your Majesty, there are many memorials from various places that mention the brutality of the Tartars. It's just because these memorials have always paid attention to brief introductions, so there is no way to describe them in detail like this newspaper."

After thinking about it, Liu Jian could only bite the bullet and explain.

"Well, then, in the future, reports on wars and disasters must list the numbers and areas in detail, and they can't be vague."

Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly after listening, and did not continue to dwell on this matter. He had also read the memorial, and indeed mentioned the brutal acts of the Tartars. It cannot be said that the following people did not mention this matter.

"Yes~"

When everyone heard this, they quickly said yes, and at the same time they couldn't help but frown. The detailed numbers and areas should not be as vague as before, which means that it will not be so easy to fool the emperor in the future.

Sometimes some minor disasters and minor disasters can no longer be used to deceive the court for relief, and some major disasters are not so easy to conceal.

"The main reason for bringing everyone together today is to talk about whether our Ming Dynasty can defeat the Tartars. The Tartars go south every year, enter the customs and plunder every year, kill my people, and rob me of my money. The army can only watch helplessly, there is nothing they can do about it.”

"If things go on like this, won't my Ming Dynasty become the leeks of the Tartars, coming to harvest every year, one will grow and the other will grow, and it will eventually become a big problem."

"This time I went south and killed [-] of my people, and the next time I went south, I killed another [-] of my people. This bloody enmity, how can he sit idly by?"

Emperor Hongzhi thought for a while and said.

From the moment he saw the description on the Daming Morning Post and saw the bloody numbers, he decided that he must pay back. As the emperor of Ming Dynasty, he could not sit idly by and look at his people seriously. Indifferent to being slaughtered.

Hearing Emperor Hongzhi's words, the faces of Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian, Zhou Jing, Ma Wensheng and others turned ugly. Emperor Hongzhi was determined to fight the Tartars.

But they don't want to fight, because fighting will not only kill more people, but more importantly, it will shake the interests of the civilian group.

"Your Majesty, the Tartars went south to plunder supplies for the winter. As long as they plundered enough, they would naturally return to the grassland."

"Soldiers, the great affairs of the country, the place of death and life, the way of survival, if you start the war lightly, you may cause a catastrophe."

Zhou Jing was the first to stand up to express his opposition. His meaning was very clear, that is, there is nothing terrible about these prairie people. They just came to plunder supplies and wealth. It is necessary to fight with them, because fighting with them will only cause greater losses, and if one is not careful, it is very likely to shake the great Ming Dynasty.

"Yes, Your Majesty, don't talk about war lightly."

"This time the Tartars chose to go south from Gansu and Shaanxi, mainly because our Great Wall and cities in this area have not been consolidated and heightened with cement."

"In the past, the Tartars went south from Datong and Xuanfu, but since we used cement to heighten and consolidate the Great Wall, passes and cities, it is difficult for the Tartars to go south."

"That's why I thought that we only need to deploy more cement to Gansu and Shaanxi to repair the Great Wall and passes, and to strengthen and raise the city walls will be enough to stop the Tartars from going south, and then there will be no more troubles."

Xie Qian also stood up and expressed his views.

What he meant was even simpler, that is, this time the Tatars went south successfully, it was because the Great Wall and passes in Gansu and Shaanxi had not been repaired with cement, so the Tatars were able to go south successfully.

As long as cement is used to repair, consolidate, and heighten, the Tatars will rest in the south in the future, and cement can be used to build a strong line of defense. There is no need to fight these prairie people.

"Your Majesty, what Duke Li and Duke Zhou said is true."

"Our Ming army's armaments and training are slack, and its combat power is low. There is no way to compare with the grassland army. It is okay to rely on the city to defend the city. This field battle outside the city has no chance of winning at all."

Li Dongyang also followed suit, bluntly saying that the Ming army's combat power is low, and it is not suitable to fight recklessly with the prairie people. It is more wise to rely on cement to build a tall city wall.

Hearing these three people's words, Emperor Hongzhi's face turned ashen and livid. He asked them to come here to discuss how to deal with the grassland people, not to ask them to come here to oppose him.

　I read an analysis and said why the land of the Ming Dynasty became smaller and smaller. In fact, the most fundamental reason is that the literati were in power, and the civil servants lacked the enthusiasm to expand the territory~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)