Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 331 Goryeo is a fish and a turtle

"Cough cough..."

"This earthy smell..."

In mid-May, the seventh day of the army's march north.

Perhaps to make the Northern Expedition more difficult, the dust that was supposed to end in April actually started blowing again in mid-May.

The weather that should have been sunny was extremely bad at this moment.

A Ming army of tens of thousands was marching on the grassland, shuttled through the endless grassland and Gobi. The sky was covered by turbid sandstorms, and the entire land became blurred.

In front of the marching team, a few hares could be seen hurriedly through a patch of withered grass.

Some Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers skilled in bows and horses hunted these animals and looked for herbs and game that could be picked on the march.

However, there were very few animals on this vast grassland covered with dust, and the sandstorm restricted the range of Ming Army Tangqi's activities, and they could not find anything useful.

A vortex of sand and dust came towards us, and the dust kicked up forced the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers to cover their noses and mouths.

After a while, the vision in front of me became increasingly blurry, and the entire team seemed to be isolated.

The dust and sand make people exhausted.

As the sandstorms continued to hit, the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty gradually slowed down.

Jiangnan civil servants such as Xie Jin, Hu Guang, and Hu Yan had never experienced this kind of hardship, so they all complained. Only a few officials such as Jin Youzi and Yang Shiqi swallowed their anger.

"This dust is against me, but now that the strong wind has passed, it won't blow for long, so don't worry."

On horseback, Zhu Di squinted his eyes and looked at the dim environment around him, still confident.

Not to mention the civil servants in the south of the Yangtze River, even the generals in the north complained about this harsh environment.

Fortunately, the sandstorm was just as Zhu Di said. It only lasted for a long time and then gradually subsided.

Not long after, the world became clear again, and cheers could be heard from time to time among the team.

Looking at the gradually clearing environment, Xie Jin and others felt unbelievable. If it weren't for the earthy smell on the tip of their noses that reminded them all the time, they might not have thought that they had just experienced a dust storm.

"The weather outside the Great Wall is indeed unpredictable as His Majesty said."

Yang Shiqi stroked his beard, and Xie Jin next to him patted the dirt on his body when he heard this, and said in a dissatisfied tone: "What's the use of taking down a place like this?"

When he opened his mouth like this, no one dared to say anything else and could only follow the crowd.

Indeed, judging from what the officials saw and heard on their way north, except for Shandong and Peiping, the northern land can still see some spring scenery, but outside the Great Wall, all they can see is desert Gobi.

"This place used to be a sparse forest and grassland with abundant water and grass, and fat cattle and sheep. But now it is like this. Do you know why?"

"This... I don't know."

On horseback, Zhu Di was filled with emotions, but the civil servants following him could not explain why.

Seeing that they couldn't tell, Zhu Di also said proudly: "When I was looking at the sand table in the capital, I asked the prince about this matter, and the prince found out the reason after reading ancient and modern books."

"In the words of the prince, this is because the weather began to change since the Tang Dynasty, there was insufficient rainfall, and the uncontrolled grazing of nomadic people in the past dynasties has turned this sparse forest grassland with lush water and grass into the current desert. Gobi."

"The prince also said that this place is one of the main sources of sandstorms in Beiping."

Zhu Di said what he heard from Zhu Gaoxu, but Hu Guang and others sneered at these words, thinking that Zhu Gaoxu was exaggerating. Only Xie Jin couldn't laugh.

As an all-rounder who is familiar with literature and history, Xie Jin has studied many things, including the time when sparse forest grasslands and Hetao grasslands gradually disappeared. There is no doubt that it began in the middle and late Tang Dynasty.

In other words, there is nothing wrong with what Zhu Gaoxu said, at least as far as literature and history are concerned. As for other ancient books, even Jie Jin is not clear about them. After all, he does not have the almost photographic memory ability of Zhu Gaoxu.

"But you don't have to worry now. We Han people have taken over this land and grazed more restrainedly. We can control it a little bit."

Zhu Di stroked his beard, then shook the horse's reins and hurried forward.

When Xie Jin and others saw this, no matter how reluctant they were, they still had to follow.

After the wind and sand passed, the Ming army regained control of the rhythm of their advance and worked hard to move steadily towards their destination.

On this vast and desolate grassland, they marched against the wind for several days, until they finally arrived at the south of Wulianghatu City on May 18th.

Zhu Di opened the telescope to take a look at the situation, and then waited for Tang Qi's report.

After about half an hour, when Tangqi was sure that there was no ambush, Zhu Di commanded an army of 30,000 to camp at Wulianghatu City. At the same time, he ordered Li Shi and Li Qi:

"According to the time, Meng Zhang and his people should have been waiting at the Wenwen River in the southeast for a long time. You send people to tell him and transport food and grass to Uliangha Tucheng."

"I accept the decree!"

Facing Zhu Di's orders, Li Shi and Li Qi each led more than a thousand infantrymen and ran toward the southeast.

Due to the different hydrology of the times and the perennial flooding of the Nwenn River, the Nwenn River is now closer to Ulyanha Tucheng, only a distance of 200 miles.

Zhu Di watched the two men leading their troops away from the main army, so he also ordered Xu Zengshou, Li Yuan and others to lead the army to camp in Wulianghatu City. At the same time, he sent officials from the Ministry of Husbandry in the army to lead their soldiers to measure Wulianghatu. How much farmland is there outside the city?

He personally led the army into the Ulianghatu City. Looking at the city that was unchanged from six years ago, he couldn't help but think of what happened when his second son forced him to rebel.

"If I had taken action at that time, I'm afraid the outcome would have been very different..."

Thinking of the current situation of military power in the world, Zhu Di clicked his tongue a few times without worrying too much.

After all, in his opinion, even if Zhu Gaoxu wanted him to abdicate, he would not be able to speak at this juncture.

Zhu Di estimated that when his second son's Sichuan New Deal pilot was successful and the New Deal was implemented throughout the world, he would probably be thinking about the throne.

"How many more years can I live?"

Zhu Di scratched his beard and didn't take it seriously.

Things in the south are not so easy to deal with. It doesn't take more than ten years to do it. It can't be that easy.

More than ten years from now, he may be almost sixty, and there is no telling whether he will survive until then.

With this in mind, Zhu Di also walked into a packed wooden house, waiting for news from the southeast.

While he was waiting, Li Shi and Li Qi ran wildly with two thousand Jurchen horse infantry. The next day, they met Meng Zhang's sentry riders and led them to the camp.

At noon on the third day, when they arrived not far from the Wen River under the bright sun, a camp about ten miles west of the Wen River attracted their attention. Two thousand horse infantry, led by Li Shi and Li Qi, He rushed directly to the camp.

"The Tatars are coming!"

"Don't panic, we are one of our own!"

Outside the camp gate, a team of civilians transporting food that stretched for ten miles made a sound of panic and tried to run away. Fortunately, the Ming army restrained them, so the camp roar did not break out.

Li Shi and Li Qi saw the chaotic team of civilians from a distance. They couldn't help but slow down their horses, dismounted not far from the camp, and walked quickly.

At the same time, more than a hundred figures rode out of the camp.

Meng Zhang, the Duke of Liao, led Gan Yue, the current commander of the Zhaozhou Guard, to step out and dismount not far from Li Shi and others.

"Meng Zhang!"

"Good guys, I finally waited for you!"

After more than ten steps, Meng Zhang and Li Shi started running separately. They hugged each other excitedly. Meng Zhang even punched Li Shi and complained:

"Your Majesty asked us to set off in three days, but we have been here for six days and there is still no trace of you. I was worried that you might have encountered a barbarian, so I waited for news about you."

"I encountered a sandstorm and ate a mouthful of dirt." Li Shi explained, and then after the soldiers brought the Mazha, he sat with Meng Zhang and the others on the grassy meadow with abundant water and grass.

"Since when can Bohai attract so many civilians?"

Looking at the group of common people, Li Shi couldn't help but ask, because he saw that most of the group of common people were Jurchens.

Seeing his curiosity, Meng Zhang explained: "Since I got the news at the end of last year, I have relocated all the Jurchens I recruited to Zhaozhou. Now Zhaozhou has expanded a lot."

"Right now, Zhaozhou has a population of more than 47,000 people, and there are 30,000 exiled prisoners waiting to be dealt with. Look..."

Meng Zhang pointed at the group of civilian husbands not far away with his riding whip. Among them were not only children, but also women and the elderly. They were basically the family members of the recipients.

"In addition to the tens of thousands of civilian laborers transferred from Jilin, Changchun, and Andong, we have so many civilian laborers. By the way, we also brought 20,000 draft horses for hauling grain."

"That's right!" When he heard that there was food, Li Shi urged: "Hurry up and get someone to prepare food. After half a month of eating military rations, a bird's taste faded from my mouth."

"I know what your temper is, and you have been doing it for a long time." Meng Zhang smiled heartily, and at the same time ordered Gan Yue behind him:

"Gather the sentry riders and prepare to arrange a food transport team to transport food to Wuliangha Tucheng."

"General, take your orders!" After hearing the military order, Gan Yue agreed without hesitation and immediately arranged for people to recall the sentries.

Li Shi and others watched the Zhaozhou cavalry galloping back and forth with envy, and couldn't help but smile and asked: "There are some things we can't ask Your Highness. Now tell me honestly, is Bohai very rich?"

"Who asked you to take your family south?" Meng Zhang burst into laughter upon hearing this, but still gave a general introduction:

"Last year, more than 60,000 people immigrated from the south, and 100,000 Jurchens migrated south from the Bohai Sea. Now there are more than 109,000 households and more than 477,000 people."

"As far as farmland is concerned, each household basically has forty acres. The Bohai land tax alone is enough to supply the three guards of Modong."

"That's not what we're asking." Li Shi and Li Qi looked at each other and said directly: "There must be enough military horses and riding horses in Bohai now. I think you have almost two thousand cavalry here."

"No, the four thousand people I brought this time are all cavalry." Meng Zhang smiled broadly, which made Li Shi and Li Qi instantly want to fight against the rich.

"But it's a pity that His Highness said that without his decree, no one is allowed to touch the troops and horses in Bohai and Liaodong."

Meng Zhang added, and Li Shi and Li Qi became discouraged. After all, they did not dare to cause trouble under the nose of their Highness.

To be honest, Zhu Gaoxu's anti-corruption methods against the six Jiangdong prefectures and Shandong gentry made even the old brothers from the Bohai Sea fearful and worried that they would be caught for corruption.

Fortunately, their military pay was high enough, and Zhu Gaoxu granted hereditary official positions and casual ranks to most of the Bohai military attachés and soldiers, so their lives were much better than those of civilian officials.

Among the 40,000 old Bohai brothers who went south, the worst one was also a small flag officer, and behind this small flag officer was at least a sixth-grade Zhaoxin captain.

With the addition of military rank and casual rank, and the military salary of those born in Bohai and Yanfu were raised by Zhu Gaoxu, a small flag officer born in Bohai and Yanfu would have a salary at least three times that of a seventh-grade civil servant with the same rank, about 200 Forty stones. This salary is comparable to that of a fourth-grade civil servant.

But even so, there are still many military attaches in Bohai and Yan Mansion involved in the prosecution of Jiangdong Six Mansion and Shandong.

Although they will not be exiled back to Bohai after being found guilty of corruption, they will enjoy a more painful punishment than returning to Bohai. They will be deprived of all official positions and ranks, leaving only one house, and father and son are not allowed to join the army.

This kind of treatment is more uncomfortable than being exiled back to Bohai. At least they can work hard for a few more years to cultivate their own farmland in Bohai. However, there is no wasteland for them to cultivate in Jiangnan. They can only be grateful that they learned literacy in the military. , you can ghostwrite letters for people.

Of course, Zhu Gaoxu also turned a blind eye to Brother Bohai's support for this group of people. After all, he also had feelings for Brother Bohai, but he just hated the fact that iron cannot become steel.

"There are more than 24,000 military horses, 20,000 of which are kept in the military horse farm, and the other 4,000 or so horses have been brought out by me."

"There are more than 267,000 draft horses, more than 63,400 riding horses, and more than 465,000 plowing oxen."

Meng Zhang shook off his family fortune in Bohai and Liaodong as if to show off, which made Li Shi and others so jealous that they almost went to their heads.

"How come there are so many?" The two of them couldn't believe it, but Meng Zhang shrugged: "The small tribes that Wu Liangha fled to the east didn't just run away alone, but they ran away with their herds."

"At the current pace, I estimate that in four to five years, the imperial court will be able to mobilize at least 50,000 cavalry to march north."

Meng Zhang said a shocking number, that is, 50,000 cavalry.

Since it is the Northern Expedition, it naturally does not include the cavalry from the northwest, southwest and other places who are stationed in the area.

If you include the cavalry in these places, the Ming Dynasty may have no less than 80,000 cavalry, which is almost more than the combined total of the Tatar and Oara cavalry.

Even if only 50,000 cavalry were mobilized for the northern expedition, this force would be enough to destroy the respective headquarters of Tatar and Oara.

"Why does it feel like a dream..."

Li Shi touched his short beard, and Li Qi next to him did the same.

For the Jurchens, raising horses is not a problem, nor is cavalry, but Mingjia cavalry is a problem.

When the land of Six Cities was at its peak, there were only seven or eight hundred Mingjia cavalry. Now, just a few years later, Bohai can pull out four thousand Mingjia cavalry. In a few years, it can even pull out fifty thousand Mingjia cavalry.

If the Ming army could really pull out so many Mingjia cavalry, the Tatars and Walas would probably have to reunite overnight.

"By the way, you..."

Before Meng Zhang finished speaking, he saw a Qianhu official leading more than ten cavalrymen coming from the temporary ferry of Wenwen River. He got off his horse and came to Meng Zhang and others, handing out a letter.

"Duke, the Eastern Palace Order."

"Your Majesty, Meng Zhang, accept the order!" Although the distance was thousands of miles away, when Meng Zhang learned that the order was issued from the East Palace, he still stood up, bowed, and received the order respectfully.

Not long after, he opened the decree under the curious eyes of Li Shi, Li Qi and others, then took out the fire certificate and burned it on the spot.

"What's wrong?" Li Shi asked. Meng Zhang didn't hide anything and said directly: "His Highness requested that the post road from Jilin to Jinghaiwei be opened as soon as possible."

"In addition, North Korea sent people to the capital, saying that our guard post was overstepped."

"Our guard is overrun?" Li Shi was stunned for a moment, but Meng Zhang said: "Jianzhou Guard."

"Jianzhou Guard?" Not only Li Shi, but everyone scratched their heads and couldn't remember which guard this was. They didn't remember until Meng Zhang reminded them.

"They're those savages from Odor, right?"

Li Shi came to his senses, saw Meng Zhang nodding, and said with disgust: "Those people are good at plundering, I'm afraid they may have caused trouble this time."

"Whether they cause trouble or not, they are from the Ming Dynasty after all." After Meng Zhang said this, he motioned to Li Shi and others to join him in the camp to reminisce about the past.

Li Shi and Li Qi did not refuse when they saw this, and followed him towards the camp.

But when they learned the news and headed towards the camp, Zhu Gaoxu, who was in Nanjing, finally received the envoy from North Korea.

"North Korean envoy Jin Zhan asks to see His Highness!"

"Xuan!"

In Chunhe Hall, Zhu Gaoxu responded without raising his head, and soon he heard footsteps.

When the footsteps stopped, the owner of the voice also began to sing: "The envoy Jin Zhangai pays homage to His Highness the Crown Prince. I wish His Highness the Crown Prince to live a thousand years..."

Zhu Gaoxu closed the memorial and glanced at Jin Zhan. He looked good, a typical Korean appearance, with a big face, single eyelids, and a timid temperament.

"Your Highness, this person is a scholar from the Korean National Arts and Literature Museum and a great Korean scholar."

Yi Shiha reminded Zhu Gaoxu, but Zhu Gaoxu chuckled when he heard the words.

None of the bullshit scholars will work with him.

He was not as good as them when discussing the Four Books and Five Classics, but when discussing historical materials, Zhu Gaoxu was not worried at all that he would fall into a disadvantage.

"I heard that you came here because of the affairs of Helan Mansion and Shuangcheng Mansion?"

Facing Jin Zhan's salute, Zhu Gaoxu went straight to the point and moved out of the Yuan Dynasty's Helan Mansion and Shuangcheng General Manager's Mansion to declare his sovereignty.

"Exactly..."

Jin Zhan obviously did not expect that Zhu Gaoxu looked tall and majestic, tall and thick, but he could speak clearly and logically when talking about historical materials.

"Your Highness, Helan Mansion and Shuangcheng General Manager's Mansion were only subordinate to China in the Yuan Dynasty. But before Hu Yuan invaded our country, they were both the homeland of our country. I read the "Geographical Chronicles" of "History of Liao" and "History of Jin". There is no record that this place is owned by the Liao and Jin Dynasties, which shows that it is not the territory of the Liao and Jin Dynasties at all..."

"Helan Mansion and Shuangcheng General Manager's Mansion are the territory of our dynasty, and the Jurchens on the land are also the subjects of our dynasty."

Faced with Jin Zhan's words, Zhu Gaoxu didn't accept the move at all, and directly used the local ethnic groups as proof.

Since North Korea has not completely taken over the northeastern region, they have not carried out any immigration, and the number is naturally not as good as that of the local Jurchens.

"In addition, at the beginning of the new dynasty, the two commanders of Jianzhou Zuowei and Zhongwei went to Jilin to report on their duties, which is enough to prove that they are members of the imperial court."

After Zhu Gaoxu finished speaking, Jin Zhan could only say: "The Jurchens here only came to live here to obtain asylum. This does not mean that this place is owned by the Celestial Empire."

"How does that mean that this place is owned by North Korea?" Zhu Gaoxu asked Jin Zhan. Upon seeing this, Jin Zhan also listed a bunch of historical materials, but they all said that the Liao and Jin Dynasties had no ruling foundation in the local area.

Facing Jin Zhan's nonsense, Zhu Gaoxu said directly: "Liao and Jin didn't have it, so Han and Jin finally have it, right?"

Jin Zhan knew that Zhu Gaoxu was talking about the four counties of Han Dynasty, so he hurriedly said: "The four counties of Han Dynasty are too far away. I'm afraid if I mention it now..."

"The four counties of Han are too far away, so aren't Silla and Goguryeo far away?" Zhu Gaoxu asked Jin Zhan, and cold sweat slowly broke out on Jin Zhan's forehead.

Due to the lack of historical data, Jin Zhan was unable to provide substantial evidence that North Korea ruled the northeastern region. On the contrary, the Ming Dynasty was able to take over the Helan Mansion and the Shuangcheng General Mansion in the name of Dayuan.

His original thought was that the northeastern region was not a prosperous place anyway, and the Ming Prince probably looked down upon that place.

It now appears that he underestimated the Ming Prince's determination and overestimated the status of North Korea in his heart.

"Your Highness's move is based on disregarding the diplomatic relations between the two countries."

Jin Zhan brought up the topic of diplomatic relations with tributary vassals, but as soon as he heard this topic, Zhu Gaoxu sneered: "I heard that there are always slogans in Korean temples to go to Liaodong. I don't know if this counts as disregarding the diplomatic relations between the two countries. ?”

"This... minister..." Jin Zhan broke out in a cold sweat. He didn't expect that Zhu Gaoxu even knew such things, as if he lived in Gyeongbokgung Palace where the king lived.

"This land is closer to the country..."

Jin Zhan went to the doctor in a hurry, but Zhu Gaoxu didn't chuckle after hearing this. This made Jin Zhan cautiously raise his eyes and saw Zhu Gaoxu with a cold face.

He quickly knelt down and bowed, but Zhu Gaoxu ignored it and said directly: "If we say close, North Korea is closer to China, but will China claim that North Korea is the territory of China?"

After Zhu Gaoxu finished speaking, he simply stood up and walked to Jin Zhan. He slowly helped him up and said:

"I know that the powerful person who knows the state affairs of North Korea (Li Bangyuan) cannot control the lawless ministers in the temple. How about you see it like this..."

Zhu Gaoxu pretended to think, and then said after a moment: "You ask Quan Zhizong to send those sycophants to lead the troops to attack Liaodong. The Celestial Empire still has 10,000 people in Liaodong. Although it is not many, the Celestial Dynasty is large and the number is small. But it’s similar to North Korea.”

"At that time, let these ten thousand people fight with the soldiers and horses led by the North Korean sycophants. Whoever wins will get this northeastern part."

"Ah...this...I don't dare to go to the country!"

Jin Zhan was frightened by Zhu Gaoxu's words. After all, North Korea's news was not blocked. They also knew that Annan had actually been attacked and destroyed by the Ming Dynasty, and the most important one was the navy led by Zheng He.

If North Korea mobilizes troops to attack Liaodong and Zheng He lands directly from the sea, then North Korea may not be arguing about one or two pieces of land, but whether the country will be destroyed.

News of the size of Zheng He's fleet to the East had already spread in North Korea, and the leader of North Korea, Li Fangyuan, was very afraid of the Ming Dynasty's naval power.

Now Zhu Gaoxu seems to be using the North Korean army's landing in Liaodong as an excuse, and then planning to destroy the country in one fell swoop.

After all, Zhu Di personally led an army of 30,000 people to the north. Who knows whether this army will go north to fight Wu Liangha or North Korea.

If Zhu Di personally conquered North Korea and left the prince to supervise the country and seize opportunities for North Korea, then if he agreed, it would be an act of national subjugation.

"I have not thought carefully about this. I hope to return to North Korea and discuss with our Lord before sending an envoy to the Ming Dynasty to ask for an audience with His Highness Tianrong."

Jin Zhan wanted to escape from the Chunhe Hall, but Zhu Gaoxu nodded with a smile and said, "You go back and discuss it slowly, I'll wait for you."

Although Zhu Gaoxu was smiling, Jin Zhan felt that this was a threat.

"The minister will leave..."

Compared with the calmness when he came, Jin Zhan, who left the scene at this time, seemed very flustered, and seemed to be really worried about Zhu Di's personal conquest of North Korea.

When he hurriedly exited the Chunhe Hall, Yishiha came forward and handed him some tea. Zhu Gaoxu also took a sip, disdainfully looking at the direction in which Jin Zhan disappeared:

"Boundary barbarians are worthy of negotiating terms with me!"

　"Records of Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty": "In the fifth month of Gengyin, we went up to Uliangha Tucheng to garrison troops and search for traces of Uliangha's guards and Hu soldiers."

　　"Bohai Chronicles": "On May Yiyou, North Korea sent envoys to plan for Lan, Shuangcheng and other places. The envoy said: "This place is very close to North Korea." The previous chapter said: "North Korea is also closer to the Celestial Dynasty." The minister was timid and ran back. He went up to the Bohai eunuch and said, "The Koreans are lowly barbarians on the frontier and do not know how to be kings, so they cannot be treated with kindness and righteousness. ""

　　

　

(End of this chapter)