I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 471 Military and Political Talents
Zhu Yijun glanced at the faces of Pan Yinglong, Hu Zongxian, and Tan Lun, and knew that the current Confucian scholars, even the famous and talented ones who were well-versed in ancient and modern times, had no idea about the geography of the vassal states surrounding the Ming Dynasty.

He pointed to the countries to the west of the South China Sea with his right hand and asked: "Mr. Hu, Mr. Tan, Mr. Pan, I call this area to the west of the South China Sea the Indochina Peninsula.

Have you discovered where the many rivers in Indochina, especially the two largest rivers, the Tao River (Red River) in the south of Annam, the Mekong River in the south of Champa, and the two major rivers in Pegu, the Jinsha River (Irrawaddy River) and the Zhali River (Salween River), all originate from? "

Hu Zongxian, Tan Lun and Pan Yinglong looked at each other.

What does your Highness mean by this question?
What is the relationship between managing the Indochina Peninsula west of the South China Sea and these four major rivers?
Pan Yinglong was the fastest to react, and hesitantly replied, "Your Highness, the sources of these four great rivers all come from our Ming Dynasty?"

"That's right, the Tao River originates from Yunnan, and the upper reaches are called Lihua River and Yuan River in Yunnan.

The Mekong River originates from the old Tibetan land, the snowy area of ​​U-Tsangdusi, and then runs through Yunnan, with the name of Lancang River.

The Zhali River also originates from the snowy area of ​​​​U-Tsangdusi, runs through Yunnan from north to south, and its name is Lujiang River. The Jinsha River also originates from the snowy area of ​​​​U-Tsangdusi, and runs through Yunnan from north to south. "

Zhu Yijun tapped on the map and said, "Mr. Hu, Mr. Tan, Mr. Pan, why do all the rivers in Indochina originate from Yunnan?"

"It's because of the terrain!" Hu Zongxian replied. "Yunnan is high, and the Indochina Peninsula is low. Water flows from high places to low places. In the snowy area of ​​​​U-Tsang Dusi, the snow melts and the springs become streams, and the streams become rivers.

U-Tsang is higher than Yunnan, so the river flows from U-Tsang to Yunnan. Indochina is lower than Yunnan, so the river flows from Yunnan to Indochina.

Tan Lun and Pan Yinglong also understood what Zhu Yijun meant.

"Your Highness, Yunnan is in a commanding position over the Indochina Peninsula. As the military manual says, 'The rapidity of rushing water can even cause rocks to float away. This is momentum.' We can use Yunnan to attack the hinterlands of the Indochina Peninsula countries and take advantage of the momentum!"

Zhu Yijun nodded and said, "Yunnan and Guizhou are high in terrain, so I call it the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. The central and southern hinterland is located along the coast and along the four major rivers.

The Ming Dynasty had control over the seas, but they could only get the surface by building cities along the coast. Only by commanding the enemy from a high position, going down the river, and going straight into the hinterland could they completely control this place.

Therefore, I believe that the key to managing the Indochina Peninsula lies in Yunnan and Guizhou!"

Zhu Yijun slapped the map hard.

Pan Yinglong's eyes sparkled, "Your Highness is wise! As for the countries in the Indochina Peninsula, we can first control their coastal areas, trade with them, and use strategies at the same time.

Then, we should work hard to manage Yunnan and Guizhou, change the natives into commoners, and completely bring them under the jurisdiction of the imperial court. After accumulating for ten years, we can go downstream and advance north and south with the navy, and we will surely conquer the countries in Indochina in one fell swoop. "

Pan Yinglong became more and more excited as he spoke, "Your Highness is implementing the policy of converting natives into officials in Guangxi, not only to pacify Guangdong and Guangxi, but also to prepare for managing Yunnan and Guizhou.

Your Highness has a far-sighted vision, and I admire you deeply."

Hu Zongxian and Tan Lun looked at each other and were also surprised.

In His Highness's mind, the world is like a chessboard. He is in control of the situation and knows exactly where to place the pieces and when to make them.

Zhu Yijun smiled, put his hands in his sleeves, stood in front of the map, his eyes sparkling: "Strategy is about comprehensive consideration, not limited to a corner or a moment.

Yunnan and Guizhou are located in the southwest of the Ming Dynasty. The mountains are high and the roads are long. In the eyes of many people, they are a closed and barren place.

But why don’t they think about it carefully? If Yunnan and Guizhou are connected to the Indochina Peninsula through large rivers, they are actually very close to the sea, and their connection with the outside world is beyond our imagination.

According to the almanac, during the Western Han Dynasty, people from Yunnan smuggled goods from Sindhu to Sichuan. Sindhu is now India. Where did the goods from India come from in Yunnan? They couldn't have just fallen from the sky.

It was simply transported by sea or land to Pegu or Siam, and then went up the river to Yunnan.

During the Western Han Dynasty, before Xuanzang went to India, Yunnan had already established trade relations with India. But we still think that Yunnan is a dead corner trapped in the mountains.

Is it sad?

Hu Zongxian, Tan Lun, and Pan Yinglong knew that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had resumed his daily routine of mocking the Confucian scholars.

He read the classics and history books thoroughly, claiming that he could know everything in the world by sitting at home. However, from the early Han Dynasty to the present, all the facts written in black and white in history books for thousands of years have been seen by him, just like a blind man.

But Your Highness, we scholars do not have your talent to see through the limitations of space and time and piece together seemingly unrelated parts to form a complete strategic deployment map.

It's as if the whole world is like a ball hidden in your mind. When you mention something, you can immediately think of the whole world around it.

When the South China Sea strategy was first being formulated, Your Highness insisted on taking the Malacca Strait first.

Everyone began to feel that it was too risky to take that place first.

But when the war in the South China Sea broke out and maps were continuously brought back, everyone suddenly realized the great strategic significance of the Malacca Strait.

Once the Ming Dynasty's naval and land forces occupied that place, they turned the South China Sea into their own pond, where they could play however they wanted behind closed doors.

Apart from anything else, it will be very difficult for Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain, India, and the Arab world to evade taxes when trading with the Ming Dynasty in the future.

Once the Malacca checkpoint was set up, no one who failed to pay taxes according to regulations would be allowed to enter or leave.

Of course, you can smuggle it around, as long as you can afford the huge losses.

Hearing Zhu Yijun's sarcastic words, the three of them dared not say a word.

We're all used to it.

This is the skill and hobby inherited from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's ancestors.

After Zhu Yijun’s usual mockery of Confucian scholars and civil servants, he turned to the main topic: “In the next five years, the focus of Ming’s border affairs will be in the west.

The Mongolian Left Six Wings and the Sushen Army in the east, coupled with tens of thousands of cavalry and infantry, were enough to gradually erode the Uriankhai and Khalkha tribes in the northern desert from east to west, until they reached the Tangluling and Jinshan lines, and surrounded Altan Khan's Mongolian right wing from the north.

Altan Khan is having a hard time right now, so let's just listen to what he says and watch what he does before making any plans.

The strategy of attacking the east and defending the west in the nine frontiers has come to an end. The offensive in the east has weakened, and the strategy is mainly to advance step by step. "

Zhu Yijun was pointing at the map.

"In the west, we will focus on attacking the Qinghai region and then recapture the U-Tsang region.

In order to avoid the heavy defense lines of Xiangyang and Sichuan of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Mongols made a detour of thousands of miles, gathered troops in Qinghai and Tubo, went down the river, and attacked Yunnan directly. They destroyed Dali in a few dozen days and then detoured to the south of Sichuan, thus achieving their strategic intention.

It can be seen that the advantage of terrain far outweighs the advantage of numbers.

Today, our Ming Dynasty occupies Sichuan in the north, advances to Hunan in the east, and pacifies Guangxi in the south. If we can conquer U-Tsang in the west, we can then attack Yunnan and Guizhou from all sides.

These chieftains in Yunnan and Guizhou are afraid of power and respect for virtue. We must pick out a group of chickens and kill them ruthlessly to calm the situation. Only then will they listen to the court's reasoning with them with sincerity. "Zhu Yijun pointed to the Zunyi area north of the Guizhou Provincial Administration. This place is now called Bozhou Xuanweisi. It belongs to the Sichuan Provincial Administration in name, but actually belongs to the chieftain's independent kingdom.

"The Yang family of Bozhou has been entrenched in Bozhou for hundreds of years and has deep roots. In recent years, they have indeed sent troops and made efforts to help the court eliminate the local chieftains who were causing trouble in the surrounding areas.

But how much did the court reward him? Food, cotton cloth, salt, weapons, and many other supplies, half sold and half given away, Yang was well fed and his power was growing day by day.

Yang Lie, the chieftain of Bozhou, was too old and frail to handle affairs, so all internal and external affairs were handled by his son Yang Yinglong.

Although the court treated him well, Yang Yinglong took advantage of his favor and acted arrogantly. He was suspicious, ruthless and bloodthirsty by nature, and often said that the court was weak and could be replaced.

I also heard that Yang's residence was decorated with dragons and phoenixes, and he was good at employing eunuchs. Haha, he was just like a local emperor. The Ming Dynasty has an emperor, how can Bozhou have a local emperor! "

Zhu Yijun's words became more and more stern.

The three of them knew very well that Yang of Bozhou was the one chosen by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to pacify the southwest.

The Yang family of Bozhou has been in power since the pre-Tang Dynasty, and has lived through the Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the Song Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty for more than 700 years. They are deeply rooted in Bozhou and have a huge influence in the southwest.

No matter how loyal you are to such a chieftain, the imperial court will not believe you.

The only way out is to obediently hand over the land, bring the property and family into the court, and live a stable and wealthy life.

But is Yang willing to do that?
If you're not willing, then start fighting.

However, all strategies of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince were carefully planned. If he used Yang as a prostitute, he would definitely appease her more in the early stage and use various means at the same time.

The Intelligence Bureau and the Commercial Investigation Department would conduct espionage, bribery, alienation, and rebellion. In addition, the various businesses led by the Shaofu Supervisor and the Taifu Temple would all use various economic warfare methods under unified command.

North Korea has been brought to its current state by the joint efforts of the Intelligence Bureau and several major trading companies.

In addition to the twice-yearly bombardment, Japan's Intelligence Bureau and several major trading companies secretly bought food and sowed discord. These various tactics were also important reasons for their decline.

The Ming Dynasty has now made great progress and accumulated rich experience in winning battles without bloodshed and using soft weapons.

Bozhou could not be completely self-sufficient in food, and had to rely on Sichuan salt for salt. Cotton cloth, ironware, sugar and other goods also had to be imported from outside.

The only thing they can rely on is the dangerous terrain.

But the rugged terrain means it’s difficult for others to come in, and it’s also difficult for you to get out.

By then, the four provincial governments of Sichuan, Yunnan, Hunan and Guizhou will find excuses to block the entrances and exits, and then decide what to sell to you and what not to sell to you, based on the little notebook of the General Staff Bureau. Let’s see how many years you can last?
North Korea fell into chaos in less than two years.

Japan is a half-man, and after holding on for more than five years, it finally knelt down.

"The General Staff Bureau is planning the deployment in the southwest. Mr. Wen Chang, who was previously in charge of the General Staff Bureau, has been transferred to the northwest. Mr. Pan can take on the duties of the General Staff Bureau."

Hu Zongxian and Tan Lun quickly gave Pan Yinglong a look. This is a road to success, so hurry up and seize it.

"I have received your order and am willing to offer advice for the stability of the southwest of Ming Dynasty."

"Okay, you will take a job in the General Staff Bureau. However, Yang Jinshui, Mr. Hu, and Mr. Wenchang all said that Fengwu is a man of both civil and military talents. I still have a job that needs you to take on."

Hu Zongxian and Tan Lun continued to wink at Pan Yinglong.

This is a good thing! The heavier the burden on your shoulders, the more His Highness trusts you.

Hu Zongxian and Tan Lun knew that they were both old and could not last many more years in the court. They would have to retire and return home one day.

However, since they started suppressing the Japanese pirates in the southeast, they have gathered talents from all over the world, cut through the difficulties, and reached this point today, and have also established a huge interest group.

The two also wanted to select a backup leader for the group.

Wang Yi'e is one who stood out on his own.

Pan Yinglong was recommended by Xu Wei and Yang Jinshui and trained by Hu Zongxian.

Ye Mengxiong and Song Yingchang were recommended by Yang Jinshui and trained by Tan Lun and Hu Zongxian respectively. They first went to Korea, and then gained experience in the Northeast and the South China Sea respectively.

Hu Zongxian, Tan Lun, Yang Jinshui and other bigwigs of the Southeast Group knew very well that only talents who constantly gained experience in local and border affairs would be favored and valued by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Pan Yinglong calmed down and replied: "Your Highness, please issue an order. I will go through fire and water without hesitation!"

"I want you to be the Shao Yin of Shuntian Prefecture and be in charge of the expansion of the capital!"

The three of them were stunned.

what!
Capital expansion?

At the same time, Feng Bao returned to his house and called Feng Qi.

"Who brought my uncle here today?"

"In reply to the master, it is Mr. Pan Fengwu, a soldier under Mr. Hu."

"He entered the inner courtyard?" Feng Bao asked with narrowed eyes.

Feng Qi paused for a few breaths, then knelt down and said, "Mr. Pan followed my uncle into the inner courtyard. I was negligent in my duty for a moment, please punish me, Master."

Feng Bao blinked his beautiful eyes and said calmly, "Tomorrow I will go to the Imperial Household Department to find the Chief of Punishment and receive twenty small strokes of the cane."

"Yes." Feng Qi kowtowed and thanked him immediately, "Thank you for your grace, sir."

"Where's my uncle?"

"Still talking to the lady. Would you like to go and see, Master?"

Feng Bao thought for a moment and said, "I have something else to do at home, so I will leave soon. You should take good care of me. Don't neglect my food, daily necessities and clothes."

"Yes, sir!"

(End of this chapter)