Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 106 Japanese invaders
"Little ones, go!"

"Don't retreat. If you retreat, your family will be destroyed!"

In October, when the cold begins to appear in the Jiangnan area, some offshore beaches in the north are already frozen.

Such a scene gives some young people an opportunity to take advantage of it.

When shouts of death erupted from the surrounding area of ​​a military fort, short Japanese pirates, each less than five feet tall, rushed up to the top of the city with knives and started fighting with the Ming army at the top of the city.

The battle has been going on for a long time. From early morning to noon, the market outside the military fort was set on fire by Japanese pirates. People who had no time to escape into the fort were hacked to death by Japanese pirates. Bodies were scattered all over the dirt road, and the blood that flowed out formed puddles.

There were not many Ming troops at the top of the city, but thousands of Japanese pirates were densely surrounding the city.

This group of Japanese pirates tried to use ladders to rush to the top of the city, which was less than two feet tall, but they were fought bloody battles by Ming soldiers at the top of the city wielding long spears.

When one soldier fell, another soldier immediately took his place.

A young soldier of sixteen or seventeen years old was stabbed several times in the face. His whole face was slashed to pieces with Japanese swords and he was bleeding.

Three or four Japanese pirates rushed up and besieged him. No matter how brave he was, he was still defeated by his four fists, and the Japanese pirates stabbed his body with a Japanese knife through the gap in his armor.

"Japanese dog! Your grandfather will kill you in his next life!"

The young man was still shouting slogans when he fell.

Even if they didn't understand, the Japanese pirates around him knew that he was swearing. They angrily chopped off his head, kicked him into the city, and then turned to kill the lonely Ming army.

Thousands of Japanese pirates finally captured the military fort an hour later. The heads of the military fort’s thousands-household officials were chopped off and hung on the city wall, and their bodies were also hung up with ropes.

As if this humiliation was not enough, they took off the head of the Qianhu official, stuck it with a wooden stick and placed it at the entrance of the military fort. It was very ironic.

The fierce fire burned the military fort, and all the military flags with the character '朜' fell to the ground. While they were trampled by the Japanese pirates, they also watched the Han people in the fort being slaughtered and the women being raped.

Half an hour later, when the soldiers and horses of Jinzhou Guard came in wearing armor and watching the smoke, they only saw the corpse of Qianhuguan with his head inserted at the city gate...

"Bastard!"

On the ninth day of October, as Zhu Yuanzhang's curses rang out in the Wuying Hall, he threw a memorial to the ground.

His scolding shocked everyone in the hall, and Zhu Yunwen stepped forward to pick up the memorial and took a look.

[The capital of Liaodong reported: Jisi, there are Japanese invaders in Jinzhou in Liaodong. They entered Xinshi to burn camp food and pay, killed and plundered the soldiers, and carried away captives...]

"Jinzhou..."

Zhu Yunxu was stunned for a moment. He thought of Zhu Gaoxu's "On the Ping of the Japanese". At that time, Zhu Gaoxu said that if the Japanese pirates were defeated in the south of the Yangtze River, they would definitely move to Shandong and Liaodong to plunder.

At first, Zhu Yunwen thought it was Zhu Gaoxu's exaggeration, but he didn't expect that just a few months later, such a thing actually happened.

"In June, I issued a special order to the Governor's Office to alert the northern coast and strengthen defenses... Now take a look, what is the memorial you gave me?"

Zhu Yuanzhang scolded a man kneeling in front of him. This man was wearing a regular uniform of a first-class military attache. He had gray hair and beard and was already quite old.

"At that time, I had already informed the various governors under the Zuo Army Governor's Mansion, and also sent people to inspect. It was indeed correct at that time."

The kneeling military attache explained: "During the inspection, the city wall of Jinzhou Zhongzuo Station had been raised from one foot to seven feet as required."

"On August 26, I ordered the coastal guards of Shandong and Liaodong to raise the height of the military fort by seven feet. However, the Zhongzuo Station in Jinzhou was short of soldiers and civilians, and it was only raised three feet before the Japanese invaded."

"When the Japanese invaded, the number of Japanese pirates besieging the city was thousands. However, the Zhongzuo army had only 730 soldiers and civilians, of which only more than [-] were soldiers defending the city."

"Your Majesty, the Japanese invaders this time are indeed not the fault of Wang Biao, the official of the Central Left Office, and the military households."

"What a bastard!" After listening to the military attache's explanation, Zhu Yuanzhang cursed: "I know I can't defend it, but it only took half a day to break the city. Isn't this right?"

"Yuan Hong, Yuan Hong, I see that the more you live, the more you return!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's scolding was very unpleasant, and Yuan Hong, who was dressed as the commander-in-chief of the Left Army, could only kneel on the ground and lower his head as he was scolded.

Seeing him like this, Zhu Yuanzhang was even more angry. He had obviously reminded him repeatedly, but in the end such a scandal still happened.

He didn't care that the soldiers of Zhongzuo Suo were defeated, but the defeat couldn't be so ugly, right?
In the entire Zhongzuo Institute, more than 700 people were killed, more than 900 of them were killed, and the rest were all kidnapped. The Zhongzuo Institute, which cost the court tens of thousands of money and food, was burned to the ground.

When he thought of this, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that the anger in his chest was uncontrollable. He looked at Zhu Yunwen and ordered in a calm voice:

"Draft an order to command Cao Guogong Li Jinglong to control the coastal divisions, grant Yang Wenping the Japanese general, the fourth rank, and order the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Works to allocate 60 yuan in money and food to the Japanese general's mansion. I want to see the Japanese army invade the left in three months. Japanese heads!"

He tried his best to suppress his temper, but Zhu Yunwen still heard a strong murderous intention from it. He bowed and ordered the eunuch next to him to draft an imperial edict with his eyes.

Upon seeing this, the accompanying eunuch hurriedly went to the side hall to take care of things, and when Zhu Yuanzhang saw that his order was issued, he turned his attention to Yuan Hong who was kneeling on the ground.

"Get up and cooperate with Duke Cao to encircle and suppress the Japanese!"

"Yes...I accept the order..." Yuan Hong dragged his old body to stand up with difficulty. Because he had knelt for too long, he even staggered when he stood up, as if he was about to fall in the Wuying Palace in the next second.

Seeing his back shaking and bowing as he left, Zhu Yuanzhang sat back in his seat. Zhu Yunwen also took the opportunity to speak:

"It is not uncommon for Japanese invaders to invade, but this time they actually attacked Liaodong. This shows that what Gao Xu said was right. The Japanese invaders suffered losses in the south of the Yangtze River and must have fled to Guangdong, Guangdong, Liaodong, Shandong and other places."

"My grandson has read Yang Wen's report. From the rectification of the Chongming Qianhu Station to the training of the navy, this process only took two months. In the past two months, Yang Wen has eradicated the Japanese pirates in Shuangyu, Zhejiang and beheaded them. There are more than [-] levels and more than [-] Japanese prisoners."

Zhu Yunwen told Yang Wen's victory, and this was also the reason why the Japanese pirates fled north.

"Nowadays, the number of Japanese pirates fleeing north has far exceeded the ability of the northern coast to prepare Japanese soldiers. And this is only the north. My grandson is worried about the south..."

Zhu Yunwen looked worried: "Gao Xu said at the beginning that the Japanese pirates are mostly in Nanyang, Fujian, and Guangdong and Guangxi."

"Now that the Japanese pirates in Zhejiang are being encircled and suppressed, the Japanese pirates who want to come to Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Nanyang have received the news, and they may invade in large numbers."

He talked about Zhu Gaoxu's original opinions, but Zhu Yuanzhang had already expected what he said, and he truthfully arranged for each province to strengthen preparations for Japan.

What Zhu Yuanzhang didn't expect was that the combat effectiveness of the local garrison weakened so quickly. A dozen years ago, more than 400 garrison soldiers would have dared to go out of the city to confront thousands of Japanese pirates, but now...

At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly felt a little tired and full of doubts about Liaodong's defense.

Today's chief military officer in Liaodong is Zhou Xing. Zhou Xing joined the army during the Zhizheng period. After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, he followed Xu Da and Chang Yuchun in the Northern Expedition. Later, he worked with Tang He and King Chu to quell the rebellion of the Dong tribe in Huguang.

After leaving Liaodong, he also worked with Feng Sheng to sweep Nahachu west of Wuliangha, followed Lanyu on an expedition to the north of Saibei, and pursued the Yuan Lord to Cheche'er Mountain.

As far as his military exploits are concerned, he is definitely outstanding, but he has not made much achievements in military management.

In the past, when the soldiers and horses of the Liaodong Dusi were trained by Feng Sheng, Fu Youde and others, the Japanese pirates would not dare to invade Liaodong like this.

At present, Liaodong has only lost two people for a few years, and its armaments are already so lax, which is really worrying.

If North Korea shows disloyalty in the future, Liaodong may be in danger...

Zhu Yuanzhang was very uneasy. Many names flashed through his mind, hoping to send a general who was good at running the army to rectify Liaodong's armaments. However, he searched the names in his mind and found that these people had either been entrusted with important tasks or were preparing to go to Yunnan. campaign.

At this moment, he really doesn't have any talented people who can train the soldiers and horses of Yidusi.

Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance, Zhu Yunwen deliberately wanted to take the opportunity to recommend Zhu Gaoxu. However, it had only been a few days since the conflict between him and Zhu Yuanzhang. He was worried that his thoughts would be easily seen, so he resisted recommending Zhu Gaoxu.

"Forget it..."

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't think of anyone to send, so he stopped thinking about it.

Although Zhou Xing cannot take into account all aspects of Liaodong, he can still defend Liaodong after all. Even though he is old now, he still has no problem guarding Liaodong.

Yang Wen, who was fighting against Japanese invaders, seemed to be a bit resourceful. Once the Japanese invaders were calmed down, he could be allowed to leave Liaodong.

After sorting everything out, Zhu Yuanzhang set his sights on Zhu Gaochi.

At this time, Zhu Gaochi was dealing with the memorial in his hand. When he felt the gaze of his imperial grandfather, he raised his head and bowed to Zhu Yuanzhang while looking at each other.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at him and said, "You left half an hour early today and left the palace to ask Gao Xu on my behalf how to guard against this Japanese invasion."

"Here we come..." Zhu Yunwen secretly rejoiced when he heard his grandfather's words.

Zhu Gaoxu had already talked about how to prevent Japanese pirates, and now his grandfather asked how to prevent Japanese pirates. That was to consider whether Zhu Gaoxu had the ability to mobilize the troops of the coastal capitals.

As long as Zhu Gaoxu answers well, then he will have a reason to transfer him out in the future.

Zhu Yunwen didn't expect this opportunity to come so quickly. He was so happy that he even moved his hands faster.

"My grandson knows." After hearing what Zhu Yuanzhang said, Zhu Gaochi didn't think too much and just nodded in agreement.

Seeing him agree, Zhu Yuanzhang also looked at Zhu Jixi and Zhu Shangbing, who had not made much achievements in the past two months:
"The two of you have been handling the memorials quite well recently, but you still need to read some books in your spare time and stop indulging in wine and meat."

Lao Zhu's words made Zhu Jixi and Zhu Shangbing blush. They thought that their imperial grandfather might know that they were going to the official residence in Nanbei City, so they reminded themselves specially.

Seeing that the two boys understood the reason, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't say anything more and continued to deal with the boring state affairs.But while he was dealing with the boring state affairs, someone he cared about was enjoying his leisure time.

"Hiss...comfortable!"

In the Fujun Qianweifang, Zhu Gaoxu was lying shirtless on his bed at the moment, and a pair of rough hands were kneading the acupuncture points and muscles on his back. It felt so sore and refreshing.

"Your Highness, the piece of meat on your body is really the strongest piece of meat I have seen in all my years of practicing medicine."

The owner of the rough hands is a forty-year-old doctor wearing a long robe. At the moment, he is activating Zhu Gaoxu's muscles and bones. The reason why he appears here is because Lin Wuliu said in the morning that "the bone-setting doctor can't activate his pulse." Bad words.

In his previous life, Zhu Gaoxu's body was stiff due to long periods of sitting. Occasionally, he could hear bone-setting sounds when he moved his neck and body.

At that time, he had always wanted to find a bone-setting master, but it was too difficult for future generations to find a master who was proficient in bone-setting.

However, after arriving in this era, Zhu Gaoxu often trained too hard which would lead to muscle soreness in his body. Therefore, under Lin Wuliu's reminder, he asked Lin Wuliu to find him a doctor who was good at promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis.

"How is my health?"

Lying on the bed, Zhu Gaoxu asked the doctor curiously. The doctor also smiled and said:
"Your Highness's body is extremely endowed. Not only are his bones thicker than those of ordinary people, but the muscles and bones in his body are also very strong."

"To be honest, although the common people in the community have heard rumors from military households that His Highness fired a 130-pound tiger bow in a large teaching field, they still don't believe that someone can shoot a tiger bow at the age of 15."

"It's just that now it seems that with His Highness's strength and strength, not only the 130-pound Tiger Power Bow can be fired, but also the 150-pound bow. The common people are convinced."

"Based on Cao Min's 32 years of experience as a doctor, when His Highness reaches the crown, his body and bones will probably be several times stronger than others. If he is put on the battlefield, it is not an exaggeration to say that he can be defeated by ten thousand people."

The doctor was a military doctor Lin Wuliu found from the front guard of the government army, and he was old enough, so naturally he had been on the battlefield with the army.

Therefore, he has treated many military generals, but no one has ever been as strong as Zhu Gaoxu.

Listening to the doctor's compliments, Zhu Gaoxu just smiled and did not respond.

It’s fine if others don’t know about his body. How can he not be aware of it?

The predecessor was able to lift a three-hundred-pound tank with both hands restrained. You must know that one pound in the Ming Dynasty was equal to one pound and two in later generations. In other words, the predecessor could easily lift a 360-pound thing and walk around in a circle, and it was still The state of having hands tied.

Now that I'm here, I don't know if it's because of time travel, but my body is getting stronger and my strength is getting more and more exaggerated.

The two hundred kilogram stone table in the yard that was originally used for strength training is no longer enough, which shows how strong he is.

However, no matter how powerful an individual is, it cannot change the overall direction of a battle on the battlefield. If you want to learn, you still have to learn the art of war and be the enemy of thousands of people.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu turned around and asked the doctor: "By the way, doctor, are there any military doctors in Nanjing who are very knowledgeable in surgery?"

The word "surgery" seems to be very inconsistent in the Ming Dynasty, but in fact these two words are commonplace medical vocabulary since the Tang and Song Dynasties.

The emergence of Ma Fei Powder in the Han Dynasty put TCM surgery on the right track, while the anesthetics such as Datura and Aconitum recorded in "The Prescriptions for Saving the Doctors of the World" in the Yuan Dynasty, combined with the war-torn world, allowed surgery to continue to be popular.

By the Hongwu period, TCM surgery had begun to discuss surgical methods, and pointed out that the anesthetic dose and operation time should be determined according to the patient's age, constitution, and bleeding conditions.

Under this guarantee, surgical operations in the early Ming Dynasty reached a very high level.

In addition, as surgery advances, medical methods to promote wound healing are also constantly improving.

According to what Zhu Gaoxu learned at the university, doctors in the early Ming Dynasty already knew how to boil water for disinfection before and after surgery and various methods of sterilization and hemostasis.

They are also very particular about the topical medications used after hemostasis and disinfection.

Plasters used for external application need to be made through high-temperature sterilization.

These plasters seal and protect external wounds to isolate external infections. At the same time, the plasters also contain some local anesthetics and disinfectants, which have analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and myogenic effects to avoid mechanical damage to the wound caused by exercise.

The surgical operations performed under these medical guarantees seemed very simple and even primitive to later generations with advanced science.

However, hundreds of years ago today, Ming Dynasty’s internal and surgical medicine still stood at the apex of human medical civilization.

The reason why Zhu Gaoxu asked the surgeons in Nanjing was to bring a group of doctors who are proficient in surgery back to the north, to form a medical team in advance to deal with future wars, and to improve the medical level in the north.

It's a pity that his idea came to nothing, because when he asked this question, the doctor smiled bitterly and said:

"There are very few doctors practicing in the world today. Even if they do exist, they are first allocated to health clinics in the southwest and northwest. In the huge city of Nanjing, there are many people who are proficient in internal medicine, but there are very few who are proficient in surgery."

"Not to mention the apprentices who studied under the surgical masters, the government has set a date for guarding the border early. Once they complete their studies, they will go out with the army to guard the border as long as the government needs it."

As the doctor spoke, he also took his hand away from Zhu Gaoxu's back, and his wry smile turned into a cheerful one:

"Your Highness has a strong body. As long as you don't be competitive or exert too much force, you will probably hardly suffer from any muscle or bone disease in this life."

As he spoke, he began to pack up his medicine box. Lin Wuliu, who was at the door of the room, saw this and stepped forward to help.

Zhu Gaoxu turned over and sat up and put on his clothes. The doctor also received the [-] yuan payment from Lin Wuliu.

It has to be said that if you have a craft, you will be popular no matter which era you go to.

Just like this doctor, he only spent a quarter of an hour helping Zhu Gaoxu straighten his muscles and bones, and then he got a day's income of an ordinary Nanjing citizen.

If you make five or six trips like this every day, you will probably be able to earn forty or fifty yuan a year, and you can buy a small courtyard with two entrances and two exits in the inner city of Nanjing.

Zhu Gaoxu got dressed and went out, and the doctor also left the hospital under the escort of Lin Wuliu.

After the hospital door was closed, Lin Wuliu came back and breathed in: "With fewer doctors, the medical fees will also increase."

"When my brother went to see a doctor in June, the fee for a consultation was only ten cents. Now it has doubled."

"Why, so many doctors have been transferred in the past two months?" Zhu Gaoxu asked curiously, and Lin Wuliu nodded:

"It is said that troops will be sent to Yunnan. In addition, a notice was also issued in Liushuwan, ordering male military households over 16 years old in Gaoshikan to go to the military camp in Liushuwan to enlist. The entire Gaoshikan has been classified as military households. It will be launched in the next spring. Set off to Yunnan to guard the border."

"To this end, the imperial court dispatched two hundred families of doctors and craftsmen from the capital to accompany the army to guard the border, but they had to leave before the winter solstice."

Lin Wuliu talked about the information he had, and Zhu Gaoxu nodded slightly after hearing this: "It seems that the imperial court is going to launch troops in Yunnan around the beginning of spring, but I don't know which blind chieftain will hit the tip of the knife."

Zhu Gaoxu didn't have a good impression of the chieftain. What I really felt sorry for was the native people under the chieftain's rule.

If these native people can be used by the Ming Dynasty, then the Ming Dynasty can better develop Yunnan, and then take full control of the Three Propaganda and Six Welfare, and prepare for the future recovery of Jiaozhi.

After that, Zhu Gaoxu returned to his study to read, while Lin Wuliu went to the side room to rest, and asked a brother to sit in the main hall and watch the courtyard.

Zhu Gaoxu was quite relaxed here, but Xu Huizu, who got an errand because of him, was very busy.

His busyness made the entire Duke of Wei's palace busy, constantly coming and going to greet military attachés who hoped to have the opportunity to leave Yunnan.

Here, Xu Huizu had just seen off several Huaixi military attachés, and Xu Zengshou hurriedly walked to the main hall.

He was dressed in armor and had obviously come out of the palace.

Seeing his appearance, Xu Huizu stopped trying to sit down. Xu Zengshou also stepped forward and said with an anxious expression: "Brother, the Zhongzuo Institute in Jinzhou..."

He told the story about the burning and massacre of Jinzhou Zhongzuo Station by Japanese pirates. After hearing this, Xu Huizu frowned subconsciously, but soon relaxed his brows.

He had long heard from Zhu Gaoxu that Japanese pirates might invade Liaodong and Shandong. He was only surprised, but not surprised, by the massacre of Zhongzuo.

"More than 400 soldiers actually failed to defend the military fort at Zhongzuo. When I came out, His Majesty was furious."

Xu Zengshou didn't notice his brother's calmness and kept talking to himself.

Xu Huizu did not interrupt, but spoke after he finished speaking: "Although I have not directly fought against the Japanese pirates, it can be seen from Yang Wen's military report that the composition of the Japanese pirates along the coast is complex and their combat power is elusive. , it is difficult to determine the number, so they can break through the Zhongzuo Suo."

As he spoke, he mentioned Zhu Gaoxu: "Gaoxu is right. We should not treat coastal Japanese pirates the same way we treat ordinary bandits. We should build big ships and equip them with more artillery to suppress them."

"It's a pity that I will be leaving Yunnan at the end of the year, so I won't be able to wipe out the Japanese pirates along the coast with my own hands."

"Fortunately, Your Majesty has given Duke Cao Guo so much money and food, it won't take long to encircle and suppress the Japanese pirates along the coast."

Xu Huizu said optimistically, but Xu Zengshou frowned and said: "But Gao Xu also said that the Japanese pirates' home base is in Nanyang. If the Japanese pirates in Nanyang are not eliminated, the coast will be unsafe."

"Nanyang..." Xu Huizu murmured with a slight frown, but then he sighed:

"Except for some spices, Nanyang is really unprofitable. Sending troops is just a waste of money and food."

"If you want to send troops to Nanyang to encircle and suppress Japanese pirates, your Majesty will not agree unless there is peace in the north and southwest."

"Besides, Gao Xu..." His voice gradually became smaller, as if he was thinking of Zhu Gaoxu's current experience. After a long silence, he said: "It's good for him to suffer some hardships this time. I hope that after this time, he can understand the four concepts of keeping a low profile and biding his time." Character."

Xu Huizu looked at the sky outside the main hall and remained silent. Seeing this, Xu Zengshou also reminded: "Do you want to tell Cao Guogong what Gao Xu said?"

"No need." Xu Huizu shook his head, but explained: "I'm afraid Cao Guogong has already thought of everything you can think of. Maybe he is already in Gao Xu's house..."

(End of this chapter)