Optimus One Pillar of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 196 Chapter 190 Three To Those Ignorant Patriots

Unexpectedly, Zeng Mian talked to himself there, saying that he and Xia Yan were innocent.After Zeng Mian said he was happy and the shackles on his hands and feet were shaking, Wang Daoqiu said coldly: "Governor Zeng, you don't need to be excited. You told me so much, even if I believe you, then So what? You have to understand that this time the case between you and Xia Yan will be tried by the three law divisions, not by me, Wang Daoqiu. The mission the emperor gave me is to clean up the mess you left in Shaanxi..."

"What a mess, Wang Liangzhen, please stop talking nonsense. I took office as the governor of the three sides for nearly two years. I attacked those hereditary dandy officers internally, promoted a large number of truly talented officers, and fought against the southern Tatar invasion externally. To put it bluntly, , after Zeng Mian's nearly two years of reorganization, our armies on the three sides of the Ming Dynasty can be said to be strong. If it weren't for you bunch of sycophants who encouraged you to deny me the opportunity to regain Shang Shu in the Hetao, next year I, Zeng Mian, would be able to take it with me I have strengthened the army on three sides and headed north to recover the fertile fields of the Thousand Miles Hetao."

"Hahahaha, Zeng Mian, you still dare to talk so loudly now, and you still think that I, Wang Daoqiu, are the emperor, and that all the civil and military officials in the Ming Dynasty are idiots! Zeng Mian, I think you really don't know how to write the word "death"! Zeng Mian, please touch your conscience and say, should our country really take back the Loop?"

"Why shouldn't we? The Hetao grassland is fertile, with thousands of miles of fertile fields. The Yellow River has nine bends, and only one of them is rich. Since the Tatars occupied the Hetao grassland, they have fattened their war horses there in spring and summer, and in autumn they have come to harass us on three sides. There will be endless troubles. If our government can recapture the Hetao, we can eliminate the logistics base of the Tatars going south to Guanzhong and ensure..."

"Okay, okay, Zeng Mian, you don't need to talk about this. I'm asking you, since our occupation of the Hetao will bring so many benefits, and the Tatars occupying the Hetao are such a big threat to me on three sides. Then why did Emperor Chengzu do that? Withdraw all my military posts on the Hetao Grassland to the south of the Great Wall and voluntarily abandon the Hetao Grassland?"

Seeing that Zeng Mian regarded himself as a military idiot and deceived himself with the superficial benefits of recovering the Hetao Grassland.Wang Daoqiu hurriedly interrupted Zeng Mian's self-conceited wisdom, and brought out Zhu Laosi Zhu Di's decision to abandon the Loop to question Zeng Mian.

Zeng Ming heard that Wang Daoqiu cited the example of Zhu Laosi, and he also had a premonition at this time that Wang Daoqiu should not be as idiotic as those so-called "patriots". Wang Daoqiu should have seen through the matter of regaining the Hetao. Danger to the Empire.

But a premonition was a premonition, so Zeng Xian still argued forcefully: "Grandpa Cheng is not right in everything. Abandoning the Hetao Grassland is a major military failure of Grandpa Cheng."

"Oh, giving up Hetao was a big failure of Grandfather Cheng in military affairs? Then since giving up Hetao was a big failure, why didn't the previous emperors and courts of my dynasties correct this mistake? Could it be that my dynasty Over the past 100 years since the founding of the country, have you ever been the smartest and most courageous?"

"Here, Wang Liangzhen, don't mess around. In short, it is right to regain the Loop."

"Is it right to recapture the Loop? Zeng Mian, you are really telling lies with your eyes open! Okay, Zeng Mian, I am too lazy to talk nonsense to you. Since you said that it is right to retake the Loop, let's not talk about it now. Can you lead the troops to defeat the Tatars and take back the Hetao Grassland from the Tatars? Let me ask you, what are you going to do next after regaining the Hetao Grassland?"

"What else can we do? After regaining the Hetao Grassland, we will naturally build a city and move the soldiers and civilians inland to the border."

Wang Daoqiu proposed the next steps after recovering the Hetao Grassland. This was the key to the problem and what Xia Yan and Zeng Mian tried hard to cover up.

So this question was raised by Wang Daoqiu. Although Zeng Mian was still blunt on the face, he was getting more and more hollow in his heart.Because he knew that these words of his were fooling around, those "patriots" who were born with brain damage were okay, but telling a smart pragmatist, this is a joke.

No, as soon as Zeng Mi finished speaking, Wang Daoqiu said: "The Hetao grassland is fertile and wild, and it is necessary to build a city on such a large flat grassland to defend the border. May I ask Governor Zeng, how many cities will be built, how many troops will be mobilized, How many people will do. And building a city on the grassland is different from our existing Great Wall. It is built on top of mountains, and the army can resist the invasion of the Tartars and provide protection for the people who built the Great Wall.”

"And when building a city on the endless flat prairie, during the construction of the city, if a large group of Tatar cavalry comes to cause damage, what can our army do to protect the civilians and themselves who are building the city? There are so many troops and civilians who are building the city. Food, clothing and supplies, how to protect the logistics line in the endless prairie, and..."

Next, Wang Daoqiu took out a bunch of nonsense about building a city on the prairie and guarding the border, and questioned Zeng Mian.To put it bluntly, this endless Hetao prairie has a flat terrain and no danger to defend, so it is easy to attack and not conducive to defense.

Moreover, the Mongols are all cavalry, with strong individual combat effectiveness and good mobility. On this endless prairie, they come and go like the wind.If the Ming army built a city here, it is conceivable that your city would be demolished just after you built a foundation.

On this flat prairie with no natural dangers to defend, the Ming army, which was mainly infantry, and the civilians who built the city faced the impact of the Mongolian cavalry and their sharp sabers. Their fate can be imagined.Therefore, if you want to build a city on the Hetao grassland under the nose of the Mongols, it is simply giving them heads.

Taking ten thousand steps back, if there are smart people among the Mongolians and their tactics are a bit cunning, they can let your Ming army build a few cities on the Hetao grassland. What next?
If that were the case, then the Mongolians would be happier than Li Yunlong in Bright Sword!After all, if the Ming Dynasty built a city in the Hetao Grassland and moved its soldiers and civilians to guard the border, then those Ming Dynasty soldiers and civilians who stayed in the Hetao Grassland would have to eat, wear, have weapons and equipment!Think about what Li Yuanlong did. He didn't have to worry about food and drink by guarding the traffic line.

Therefore, if the Ming Dynasty really had a city in the Hetao Grassland and left a large number of soldiers and civilians to guard the border, then the Mongols would have to live the life of Li Yunlong if they guarded the transportation lines for the Ming army to transport supplies to the Hetao.

And if the Ming army sent heavy troops to protect the transport team every time, who would pay for this military expenditure?

Therefore, even though Zhu Laosi completely suppressed the Mongols and fought several Northern Expeditions deep into the desert. The Mongols were beaten with no place to hide and had an absolute advantage in military strength. However, Zhu Laosi still took the initiative to withdraw all the troops stationed in Hetao to the south of the Great Wall. .The reason for this is that you have fewer troops stationed in Hetao. Not only will they not be able to protect Shaanxi, they may also be eaten by the Mongols at any time.And if you garrison more troops, the Mongols will take advantage of the high mobility of their cavalry to avoid your large troops and focus on your communication lines like Li Yunlong. With the small troops you patrol outside, how many do you think the Ming Dynasty has? Can financial resources be consumed like this?The real thing is that people can't kill you, but they can drag you to death!

Therefore, Zhu Laosi took the initiative to abandon the Hetao Grassland and withdrew all his troops within the Great Wall even when the Ming army had an absolute advantage over the Mongols.

As for the Great Wall, those who have never traveled or do not understand military affairs may think that every part of the Great Wall will be attacked.But in fact, as long as you climb the Great Wall and use your wisdom, you will know that there are actually [-] miles of the Great Wall, and there is no possibility of large-scale attack by nomads.

Because most of the walls of the Great Wall were built on steep hills.Because of the steepness, it is difficult for people to climb these mountains, let alone horses.Moreover, when a large force attacks, in addition to having a flat road for the large force to pass through, there must also be a large water source along the way that can be used by the large force to drink, not a small spring or a pool of shallow water.After all, both horses and people need to drink water to maintain their strength.

Along the Great Wall, there are flat roads for large groups of people to pass, and there are large water sources that can ensure the supply of large groups of people. To put it bluntly, isn't it just the passes in the mountains?That is the nine sides where the Ming Dynasty focused on city building and defense.

Therefore, the Great Wall is actually those few passes where large-scale wars may occur, while other places are basically lookout posts to deal with sneak attacks by small groups of Mongol troops, and there is no possibility of large-scale attacks.

Therefore, sending troops to the Great Wall and defending according to the favorable terrain is comparable to building a city and defending on the endless flat prairie. They may be attacked by large troops everywhere. The logistics line is still exposed on the great plain. People can rob them if they want. This requires Much easier.

As a commander who has fought in the Northeast and Northwest for a long time, how could Zeng Xian not know these obvious military common senses?And Xia Yan, as a person who has been in the officialdom for 30 years and has been able to get into the position of chief minister and is recognized as an extremely smart person, how could he not know that the so-called recovery of the Loop is a stupid move that will harm the country and the people.

Xia Yan and Zeng Xian both knew how ridiculous it was to recapture the Hetao, but they still proposed to the court to recapture the Hetao. So what did they have in mind?Obviously, they wanted to use the blood of millions of soldiers and civilians of the Ming Dynasty to gain a great achievement for themselves in regaining lost territory and opening up new territories.

Crazy, Zeng Mian and Xia Yan were crazy.Wang Daoqiu explained the so-called recovery of Hetao to Zeng Mi word by word.Listening to Wang Daoqiu's words at this time, Zeng Mi felt as if he was stripped naked in public on the street.Without the character of a shitty literati just now, he knelt in front of Wang Daoqiu in shame, crying bitterly, unable to say a word.

Seeing that Zeng Mian was convinced, he stopped pretending.Wang Daoqiu said coldly to Zeng Mian: "Zeng Mian, you also passed the scientific examination and were born as a serious Jinshi. What crime did you commit, and what will happen to you and your family? It is written in "The Law of the Ming Dynasty" Clearly, I don’t need to say anything about this, you know it yourself.”

"I was wrong, I was wrong. It was because I was too utilitarian. I always thought about making great achievements in my lifetime and becoming a marquis and prime minister, so I went astray. Your Excellency, I have died unjustly, but my parents, wife, and children...! Your Majesty , Zeng Ming begs you, please lend a helping hand and let the emperor forgive my parents, wife and children! My little girl, she is only four years old this year! Sir, please help me."

Zeng Mian was born as a Jinshi, and the "Law of the Ming Dynasty" was a compulsory part of the imperial examination, so the "Law of the Ming Dynasty" was naturally memorized by Zeng Mian.So his crime was exposed by Wang Daoqiu, and Zeng Mi knew that this time, Caishikou would not be able to hide.

But for his parents, wife and children, Zeng Mian still wanted to find a way for them to survive.So he died as a horse doctor, weeping and kowtowing to Wang Daoqiu, begging Wang Daoqiu to help him talk, so that Emperor Jiajing could pardon his family.

Seeing Zeng Mi's pitiful appearance, Wang Daoqiu said with a broken heart: "If I knew today, why bother? Before I came to Shaanxi, I looked through your materials in the archives in Xiyuan. Although your I don't believe that you are invincible and never defeated. I also suspect that most of your military exploits are false reports. But you are a man who can lead troops in my Ming army. You are still a little clever. In addition to grenades and landmines, these are good things, and I will definitely promote them in the army when I have the opportunity.”

"Okay, without further ado, let's get down to something practical! I, Wang Daoqiu, am not a very good person, and I don't like to do things for nothing. So if you want me to save your family, you must give me I want it. I’m not interested in Xia Yan’s dead dog. That’s the matter of the Three Laws Division. I just want to know how I can uproot the Prince of Qin’s Mansion with irrefutable proof, and the mid-level and senior officers in the Three Sides Army. You have some tricks in your hands."

Wang Daoqiu made a condition, which was to let Zeng Mian help him deal with the Qin Palace and control the military power on three sides.

Zeng Mian understood the idea of ​​controlling the military power on three sides, but Wang Daoqiu wanted to uproot the Prince of Qin's palace, which shocked Zeng Mian.Pointing at Wang Daoqiu, he said in horror: "There are rumors among the people that the three kings of Shandong, King Lu, were killed by the mob before you went to Shandong. This has nothing to do with you. But King De of Jinan, King Heng of Qingzhou King, you slaughtered them all with the help of the rebels. At that time, your bandit suppression troops included powerful cavalry from Datong and Liaodong. If you want to save King De and King Heng, just let the cavalry rush over. Chaos It is simply impossible for the bandits to find the strength to attack the two strong cities of Jinan and Qingzhou under the impact of your cavalry."

"There are also rumors that you were the one who ordered the suppression troops to drive the rebels towards Jinan and Qingzhou like sheep. When the rebels were attacking Jinan and Qingzhou, your troops deliberately fought passively to give the rebels a chance to attack Jinan. , Qingzhou, causing King De and King Heng to be massacred. Then you sent troops to massacre the rebellious people and robbed the gold, silver and jewels of Prince De and Prince Heng from the hands of the rebellious people."

"Originally, I was skeptical about these things, because I dare not think that I, Da Ming, would have such a bold and reckless courtier. But when you open your mouth now, you want me to help you uproot the Qin Palace. Now, those rumors in the market, I I believe it. Wang Liangzhen, you are so brave! You did something that all the scholars of our generation want to do but dare not do."

(End of this chapter)