The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Zhang Zhou submitted twelve memorials in a row.

All this happened within three days, and the frequency of submitting memorials was so high that people in the court and the public were surprised. After all, Zhang Zhou was known for occupying the toilet without doing anything.

This time, the memorial was submitted in an open manner, and the content of the memorial was about the military strategy for pacifying the north. All twelve memorials explained how to pacify the northern grasslands, especially how to pacify the northern grasslands by fighting with the Tatars after sending troops to the grasslands based on the Ming Dynasty's borders.

It is equivalent to an enhanced version of the previous discussion between Zhu Houzhao and Zhu Xiurong.

As soon as the memorial was submitted, the emperor, without saying a word, had dozens of copies of the memorial copied and sent to various government offices in the court, as if he wanted to openly discuss the issue of pacifying the grassland.

The new year has not even arrived yet, but those in power are already confused. They feel that their brains are not enough and they are forced to join in this discussion.

Cabinet value.

The cabinet ministers were the first to receive the military policy draft, and the three cabinet members started an internal discussion... Cheng Minzheng did not come. He has been ill recently. Liu Jian guessed that Cheng Minzheng might be intentionally focusing on his duties at the Supreme Court and did not want to get involved in cabinet affairs.

In any case, Cheng Minzheng did not participate in this meeting.

"...Look." Li Dongyang picked up the transcript and pointed, "Zhang Bingkuan stated in his memorial that he would send troops to the grassland after the beginning of spring next year, which is three months later. Before that, Tang Yin's troops may not withdraw from the grassland. In other words, this battle has actually begun now."

Wang Ao looked at the relevant content, but frowned and couldn't say a word.

Liu Jian said: "He clearly wants to eradicate the grassland threat once and for all next year and become a hero in pacifying the threat from the north."

Li Dongyang said in a joking tone: "He wants to be the best in the history."

The two of them sang in unison, making Wang Ao feel very uncomfortable.

He really wanted to say, if you have anything to discuss, just say it yourselves, why do you have to make me sit here and listen to you preaching to me unilaterally?
Although Zhang Bingkuan was chosen by me, it doesn’t mean that I will listen to him in everything, right?

Li Dongyang asked: "Jizhi, what do you think?"

Wang Ao said cautiously: "The plan is too grand and too vulgar. Local officials can submit hundreds of such military policies every year, but none of them can be implemented in detail."

"But this time it's different." Li Dongyang said, "The eight strategies and nine methods for pacifying the northwest presented by the local authorities are all unrealistic empty talk. But now Zhang Bingkuan is in charge of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue. He holds both military and political power and coordinates the transportation of the Ming Dynasty's treasury. If he wants to start a war, he has the strength to do so."

What I mean is that others are just talking nonsense.

And Zhang Bingkuan has the ability to do what he says, because he holds the privileges given by the emperor.

If he really wants to do it, he can do it, but whether he can succeed is another matter.

Liu Jian asked: "Does the Ming Dynasty need to go through so much trouble?"

Wang Ao asked: "If we really want to send troops, how many years of military pay will it take for the Ming Dynasty?"

One question made the situation very awkward.

The emperor has just received more than 10 million taels of silver from overseas, and immediately the Ming Dynasty has begun to purchase food and military supplies. Now the prices around the capital are rising... Perhaps everyone thinks that the court is a bastard if it does not spend the silver, and the emperor does not like to pile up the silver.

When the emperor has money, he has to consume it and spend it.

To the extent that silver is no longer considered silver, it may very well be spent as copper coins in the future.

But the problem is... these 10 million taels of silver, even if diluted, are enough to fight a war in the northwest.

"With 100,000 soldiers, does one person need 100 taels of silver?" Wang Ao said, pointing to one of the military strategies, "Zhang Bingkuan himself proposed to pacify the grassland with 100,000 soldiers, not a million... In other words, in his opinion, perhaps one person with 100 taels of silver could accomplish all this."

Li Dongyang laughed and said, "Jizhi, do you really believe that he can conquer the grassland with 100,000 soldiers? The troops that went to the grassland before were considered to have traveled a long way, right? They traveled thousands of miles, but didn't even fight a decent battle. Can Zhang Bingkuan succeed this time when he goes to the grassland?"

As he spoke, Li Dongyang seemed to think that Zhang Zhou was just talking big.

Wang Ao said: "If he can't do it, then why did he submit several memorials at this time? What's the point?"

Li Dongyang was unable to answer the question immediately, or rather, this question should not be answered by him, but should be faced by Liu Jian.

After all, Liu Jian was the nominal leader of the civil officials, and only Liu Jian could take the lead in persuading the emperor to change his mind.

"Because Your Majesty can't wait any longer." Liu Jian said with a gloomy face.

Wang Ao said, "Mr. Liu has hit the nail on the head. After Zhang Bingkuan made his report, His Majesty immediately asked the government offices to discuss the matter. This shows that His Majesty is more anxious than anyone else to pacify the grasslands. If this is the case, then all of this is just His Majesty's order. What does it have to do with Zhang Bingkuan?"

Li Dongyang frowned and said, "You can't say that. If it weren't for Zhang Bingkuan, would Your Majesty have such an urgent desire to pacify the grassland? In the past few decades, the Ming Dynasty and the grassland tribes have been in constant conflict, but it has never reached the point of life and death."

Wang Ao shook his head and said, "Sooner or later, there will be a severance between the grassland tribes and the Central Plains dynasties. No matter which dynasty it is, it is a symbol of the rise and fall of the dynasty! We can never keep a tiger as a threat."

Li Dongyang asked, "So you mean you support Zhang Bingkuan doing this?"

Wang Ao continued to shake his head and said, "It depends on your majesty's intention. If this battle can be done without any trouble and it is just a normal dispatch of troops, then there is not much difference between dispatching 10,000 or 20,000 troops and dispatching 100,000 troops. As long as it does not cause the disaster of Tumubao in the past, what do you think?"

"okay."

Liu Jian interrupted the argument and said seriously, "Whether it's because your majesty wants to pacify the grassland or because Zhang Bingkuan is instigating behind the scenes, this battle shouldn't have taken place, right?"

"What does Mr. Liu mean?" Wang Ao frowned and asked, "We won't fight this battle? Can you persuade him?"

Liu Jian said, "We have to persuade them even if we can't. A hundred thousand soldiers and horses will take months or even years to accomplish something, and it may not produce any results, but it will cost a lot of people's money. Even if the silver comes from overseas, the food and supplies must come from within the borders of the Ming Dynasty, right? It is really unnecessary to exchange silver for the food and supplies that the people of the Ming Dynasty rely on for survival."

Li Dongyang nodded and said, "I think that makes sense. We can fight, but the scale must not exceed that of the past. If this is really the basis, he can pacify the grassland, which is his ability."

Wang Ao stood up and said, "You two, do you know what you are talking about? Since we are going to start a war on the previous scale, what is the standard? Is it to send 10,000 troops? Or 50,000 troops? Or 60,000 or 70,000 troops? If 100,000 troops is what Zhang Bingkuan came up with after careful discussion, then what is the significance of sending 60,000 or 70,000 troops?"

"Jizhi, why are you so excited? You..."

Li Dongyang was speechless.

Why is Cheng Minzheng now slacking off and saying that he is sick, while you, Wang Jizhi, who have always been as gentle as a sheep, are so arrogant today?
Don't you know what your position is in the Cabinet?

Not to mention us, you are far from Cheng Keqin's reputation.

Wang Ao was still very emotional and said, "It is best to let Your Majesty discuss the issue of sending troops in the court. If there are any questions, you can also question Zhang Bingkuan in person. If we decide to send troops here, it will be useless and may even harm the border affairs of the Ming Dynasty."

Li Dongyang said, "Now a general of the three frontiers has brought thousands of soldiers into the grassland, what else can we do?" Liu Jian said, "I haven't heard much movement so far, it should be difficult for him to come out, right?"

It was almost as if Tang Yin was defeated in the grassland and could not come back.

Otherwise, how could it be possible that the troops have been dispatched for more than a month and there is still no specific battle report?
If we didn't think that Tang Bohu would never do anything treasonous, we would even think that he led his troops to surrender to the Tatars.

But this statement does not stand up to scrutiny, mainly because... the Ming Dynasty's military and political power still had the upper hand, after all, they had advanced firearms. But who knew if they encountered a war on the front line and were defeated, would Tang Yin be able to maintain his integrity?

Perhaps Zhang Bingkuan knew that Tang Yin encountered obstacles on the front line, and he was afraid that after the matter was exposed, he would be held accountable for recommending Tang Yin, or even be considered to be poorly managed military and political affairs.

So Zhang Bingkuan decided to "strike first" and proactively propose these twelve military strategies in order to divert attention and even make people think that he was capable of pacifying the grassland?

“The discussion has just begun.”

Wang Ao said, "It's better to take a long-term view."

……

……

Wang Ao did not give face to Liu Jian and Li Dongyang because Wang Ao could not stand it anymore.

The court is now completely divided into factions, which are so hostile to each other that it is no exaggeration to say that they are clearly divided.

Zhang Bingkuan proposed a military strategy to pacify the grasslands, but Liu Jian and Li Dongyang said it was a scourge to the country and the people. They also said that using 10 million taels of silver earned from overseas to fight a war in the northwest was a waste of the people's money...

How can this discussion continue?

The prejudice is so serious that we don't give Zhang Zhou any chance at all. It's like saying that whatever Zhang Zhou supports must be what we oppose. This is only about people, not things...

"Just calm down. Ahem... "

When Cheng Min went to the government office, Wang Ao used the excuse of coming to visit the patient as an excuse to directly tell him what had happened before.

Cheng Minzheng was very clear about the current situation in the court, and he turned around to comfort Wang Ao.

Wang Ao said, "I am not unaware of the current situation in the court. It is indeed a risky move for Zhang Bingkuan to send troops to the grasslands. I would have definitely opposed it a few years ago. But after the changes in the military and political situation in the north in the past few years, it is no longer the time when the Tatars could wreak havoc at will. Now that my Ming Dynasty is strong and powerful, proposing a plan to pacify the grasslands, whether it is appropriate or not, at least Zhang Bingkuan, as the Minister of War, did nothing wrong."

"Yes." Cheng Minzheng nodded and said, "If a minister of the Ministry of War does not take it as his responsibility to pacify the grassland, he will be ridiculed. Zhang Bingkuan has little experience in the front line, but we know that every battle was carefully designed and planned by him. He deserves the title of Minister of the Ministry of War."

Wang Ao frowned and said, "Brother Keqin, do you think this cannot be accomplished?"

Wang Ao was actually very puzzled as well.

You, Cheng Minzheng, are now here to advise me to stay calm. Does it mean that you are planning to turn the tables on this matter and stand with Liu Jian and the others?
Cheng Minzheng asked, "Do you know how Tang Yin is doing now?"

"I don't know." Wang Ao said, "After sending troops to the grassland, there was no movement. I thought that even if we didn't gain anything, we could at least get out safely, right?"

Cheng Minzheng shook his head and said, "I thought the same as you did. Since Tang Yin dared to lead the troops like this, and Pinglu Hou Ma Yi and others dared to accompany him, it shows that this battle was well planned. It was not until I read Tang Yin's secret report and learned some of the prerequisites for this battle that I realized that Tang Yin was playing with fire."

"What?" Wang Ao frowned.

It turns out that Tang Bohu is determined to die?
Cheng Minzheng said: "There may be some results, but I'm afraid I won't be able to bring them out. Lian Bingkuan also said so."

"That……"

Wang Ao also became cautious.

Cheng Minzheng sighed, "Think about the vast grasslands, from the south to the north, from the Hetao to the other Hetao, from Liaodong to Longxi Hami... The north is so vast, and the geographical advantage is not on our side. Why did Wang Bo'an return empty-handed after leading his troops into the grasslands, while Tang Yin did? Could it be that Tang Yin is more courageous than Wang Shouren?"

Wang Ao stood up and asked excitedly, "Is Bo Hu going to die?"

Cheng Minzheng shook his head and said, "Who can understand it? You have met Tang Yin. Do you know what kind of personality he has?"

"he……"

Wang Ao was speechless.

If Tang Yin was an ordinary person, it would be very easy to understand. He must have been a conservative Confucian scholar.

But in fact, Tang Yin was originally unruly and unrestrained. A few years ago, he was almost involved in the case of selling poems, which ruined his career...

It was even more exciting later.

He led his troops to fight alone in Duobi City for several months, and later he usurped the throne of the Joseon Kingdom with only a few hundred soldiers. Later, he led the Joseon troops to Liaodong and experienced a life-and-death struggle...

It is really difficult to guess what this kind of person is like using common sense.

"Jizhi, let me ask you this: do you think Tang Yin is afraid of death?" Cheng Minzheng asked.

Wang Ao shook his head this time: "There are many generals in the world who lead troops, but only a few can be compared with Tang Yin, who does not care about the retreat. In fact... there is no one who can surpass him."

"Haha." Cheng Minzheng smiled bitterly, as if his sick body was affected and his body seemed to be in great pain. He said, "Isn't this exactly what Your Majesty values ​​about Tang Yin? If there is anyone in the whole court who can resolutely implement the plan of sending troops, who else can do it except Tang Yin? Wang Bo'an?"

"Bo'an is not good enough." Wang Ao also told the truth.

Wang Shouren can be considered quite impressive, but in terms of recklessness, he is probably still a little behind Tang Yin.

In other words, Wang Shouren's bravery was rational. Even though Wang Ao said he would not leave any way out in the previous battles, he was actually confident or had a great expectation that he would be able to escape unscathed...

In other words, Wang Shouren would consider the benefits of the next battle and pursue the enemy at all costs.

Only when the gains outweigh the losses will you continue to do so.

As for Tang Yin, he was completely... reckless and didn't have any plans. He just acted recklessly without even considering political factors or factors inside or outside the battlefield.

It seems as if... Tang Yin is missing something in his brain.

He is not a military strategist, but a common man. (End of this chapter)