Ming Dynasty: Summoning game players at the beginning

Chapter 157 The greater the ability, the less responsible

The elder paused, as if his throat was filled with phlegm, and he slowly said in a long voice, "I think Lieutenant General Li can be promoted to the position of Deputy Commander of Henan and Deputy General of Henan..."

"Hmm..." Zhu Youjian sat back in his chair again, and after pondering for a moment, he shook his head unhappily, "The second-rank military position is too low, add more!"

The elder was slightly stunned, and before he could immediately revise his proposal, another important official took the lead.

Hong Chengchou stepped out and said respectfully, "I think Li can be promoted to Commander-in-Chief of Henan and Army General of Henan. Promoting Lieutenant-in-Chief to Commander-in-Chief and then Lieutenant-in-Chief is considered a promotion of two levels.

Furthermore, Lieutenant General Li was skilled in training soldiers, and the Black Flag Battalion's reputation for bravery and fearlessness had spread far and wide in the army. No matter if they were just ordinary people or poor beggars, they could be transformed into a powerful army under his hands.

"It would be better to give Lieutenant General Li the authority to lead the Henan militia, and have all the battalion and flag troops in Henan Province go to the Black Flag Camp for training. Once Lieutenant General Li has trained tens of thousands of elite soldiers and handed them over to Your Majesty, within a few years you will be able to wipe out the bandits throughout the world."

"Why bother seeking far away instead of near? Why not follow the example of the Wanli Emperor, when Prime Minister Zhang sent Junior Guardian Qi north to guard Jizhen? We will also send Lieutenant General Li north to Jizhen and Xuanfu. This way, the Eastern Tartars will no longer dare to raid south."

"I believe that with Lieutenant General Li's talents, he can rectify the military affairs of the capital camp. Having a powerful general guard the important area of ​​the capital can also protect Your Majesty..."

"Um……"

Zhu Youjian remained noncommittal, as the proposal to reorganize the Beijing camp did touch his heart.

At the beginning of his reign, he appointed Li Banghua to reorganize the military affairs of the Beijing Camp. As a result, the 120,000 soldiers and horses in the Beijing Camp listed on paper were all old, weak and sick.

Li Banghua carefully selected the best of the best and only chose 20,000 soldiers and horses that were barely usable.

Even though the Imperial Horse Administration later reorganized 10,000 brave guards, Zhu Youjian only had 30,000 soldiers at his disposal.

Even so, they had to send out the Yongwei Battalion to assist the government troops in various provinces in fighting the bandits.

Therefore, every time the Eastern Tartars invaded, he could only hide in the palace and wait for reinforcements from the border towns and the royal support troops from all over the world.

However, just as Zhu Youjian was about to start thinking, he was interrupted by a minister who said, "The problems of the Beijing Army are complicated. Lieutenant General Li is only 20 years old and has suddenly been promoted to a high position. I am afraid he will find it difficult to obey.

If this caused unrest in the Beijing camp, it would have been disastrous for Lieutenant General Li and would have completely ruined his reputation. The young man would have suffered a major humiliation and defeat, and he would have been devastated.

It would be better to transfer some of Lieutenant General Li's elite troops to the Beijing Camp and follow the example of the Yongwei Camp, and expand a new and brave camp... This way, we can not only protect the safety of the capital, but also send reinforcements if there is an emergency in any direction."

"That's not right. The victory report says that Lieutenant General Li, who led the charge, was ambushed and shot by a treacherous Eastern Tartar soldier. He's currently in Jinan, seeking treatment from a renowned doctor. The reports from the Governor and the Provincial Inspector also mention this, saying that Lieutenant General Li is seriously injured and will need several months of recuperation to fully recover..."

"Yes, Lieutenant General Li is loyal to his country, and I am deeply pleased! But he must also take care of his health! Tell Li Aiqing that I will not allow him to take risks without regard for his own safety. I want him to live well!"

"Your Majesty has mercy!"

"Since Lieutenant General Li cannot be moved rashly, we can mobilize his Black Flag Army and extract a thousand elite soldiers."

Hong Chengchou shook his head upon hearing this. "The Black Flag Battalion's rescue at Julu, the ambush at Jinan, and the bloody battle at Qihe—after three bloody battles, most of the elite troops were lost. If we withdraw another thousand elite troops, Lieutenant General Li will only have weak auxiliary troops. How can he train his troops?"

An elder who knew nothing about military affairs asked, "How can we not train troops without elite troops?"

Hong Chengchou felt speechless and suddenly realized that among all the important officials present, he was the only one with the most practical experience.

But he was not annoyed and patiently explained the difference between elite soldiers and recruits.

The elite are the teachers, and the recruits are the young children. Without the help and guidance of the elite, the recruits will grow very slowly and will not be able to survive in the bloody actual combat.

"The newly recruited soldiers are useless. Even if there are 10,000 new soldiers, they cannot defeat 100 Eastern Tartars. That's the truth." Hong Chengchou breathed a sigh of relief.

Yang Sichang immediately perked up when he heard this, "I think Governor Hong is absolutely right. The border towns lack elite troops and have insufficient food and money. How can they be a match for the battle-hardened Eastern Tartars?

I originally thought that our Great Ming had few soldiers who dared to fight the Eastern Tartars, but I saw Lieutenant General Li leading the Black Flag Battalion, forcing the Eastern Tartars to flee in panic. This shows that it is not that our Great Ming lacks men, but that our soldiers are short of food, pay, and training.

If we can concentrate military funds to train the nine border towns according to the Black Flag Battalion's training methods, we can train tens of thousands of elite soldiers who are brave enough to fight in two or three years.

If you appoint a military minister to lead the troops out of the border to fight the invaders, you will surely be able to defeat the Eastern Indigenous people and recapture the vast mountains and rivers of Liaodong. When Liaodong is recaptured, the country will be exempted from additional taxes, and future generations will also say that Your Majesty is the great ruler who restored the Ming Dynasty!"

it is good!
Zhu Youjian couldn't help but shout in his heart.

Yang Sichang was like a worm in his intestines. Every time he spoke, he could tickle his itch and make him feel comfortable.

In recent years, there have been endless bandits inside the Great Wall, and the Jiannu outside the Great Wall have been looting and invading the interior. Everyone feels that the Ming Dynasty will not be able to have a good life.

Zhu Youjian was most worried that he would become a "king who destroyed his country", so he worked harder to govern the country. However, the state affairs became more and more chaotic, and it seemed that they were about to get out of control.

Fortunately, Lieutenant General Li came out of nowhere and helped him suppress a group of bandits. He also organized the Black Flag Battalion into a strong army and repeatedly defeated the fierce Eastern Tartar soldiers, thus regaining the face of the Ming Dynasty and boosting the morale of the Ming Dynasty's official army.

Previously, Zhili had received reports of sightings of "flying evil spirits", and folk rumors said this was an ominous sign of the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

Now Zhu Youjian finally dared to respond confidently.

How can it be an evil spirit? It is clearly a blessing from heaven!

It was God who saw that the Ming Dynasty was in trouble, so he specially blessed him with a lucky star and a good general to help him deal with the bandits and restore order!
"The Eastern Tartars have suffered a series of setbacks, and their defeat is evident. The various armies supporting the emperor have also gathered in the Zhili area. It's only a matter of time before they are driven out. The Eastern Tartars have not gained much in this campaign, and have lost a large number of men. Even if they rest for another five years, they won't be able to recover. This is the perfect opportunity to train a strong army and recapture Liaodong in one fell swoop!"

"In recent years, the military pay for suppressing the bandits has been enormous. Where is the money left for strengthening the army and training? Are we going to impose additional taxes and levies again? If this leads to widespread public resentment and the bandits being difficult to control, even if we pacify the Eastern Tartars, what good will it do? It will only benefit the bandits in vain!"

The important official of the Ministry of Revenue spoke in an indignant tone, frowned, glared at Yang Sichang fiercely, and then looked at Zhu Youjian with a pleading look, hoping that His Majesty would reject Yang Sichang's suggestion to increase the salary.

"The training pay could be increased for a maximum of three years, or even two. As long as we train a strong army, we can crush the Eastern Tartars. How could we possibly cause a rebellion across the country?"

Yang Sichang and another important official exchanged verbal attacks for several rounds, but neither could convince the other.

"Lord Yang, I approve of your words! As soon as the Eastern Tartars escape beyond the Great Wall, we will immediately begin collecting military pay."

Zhu Youjian killed the two ministers with just one sentence.

The emperor's mind was completely occupied by the four ideas of recovering Liaodong, and he had no room for any other rebuttal opinions.

His hands resting on the table scratched the official documents unconsciously, and his wandering vision gradually stabilized. Zhu Youjian looked straight ahead, as if his soul had left his body and floated away, drifting with the winter wind, floating to the Liaodong he had longed for.

Seeing that His Majesty had finalized the decision and Yang Sichang was enjoying great favor, Hong Chengchou had no choice but to go along with the "Proposal of Suppressing Liaodong" and add some feasible strategies:

Hong Chengchou suggested reopening Dengzhou Town and using some auxiliary troops from the Black Flag Battalion as the backbone to expand a new Dengzhou army.

Sun Yuanhua's failure to judge people and his lack of ability led to a rebellion in the firearms troops trained in "Western methods", which ultimately benefited the Eastern Tartars and caused the superiority and inferiority of firearms to be reversed between the Ming and Qing dynasties.

General Lu also mentioned in the victory report that the Black Flag Camp harbored great hatred for the Jiannu, and many of its soldiers were eager to fight back to Liaodong.

If this group of black flag Liao soldiers who "are determined to return home" were stationed in Dengzhou and crossed the narrow ocean to harass the Jiannu, they could play the role of Dongjiang Town in containing the Jiannu, making the Jiannu hesitate and not dare to take the risk of invading the interior again.

"Sure!" Zhu Youjian was in a good mood. The continuous good news made him happy, and the expectation of recovering Liaodong also reduced the burden on his shoulders.

He finally no longer had to worry about becoming the king of a fallen country.

However, just as Zhu Youjian was finally happy about the good news, fate was about to give him a stumbling block.

Look, the good news was followed by a series of terrible bad news.

Gao Qiquan was killed in the army by a gangster suspected to be a government soldier, and the culprit has not been found yet.

Tens of thousands of Tartar infantry and cavalry successively broke through Gu'an, Yongqing, Dong'an and other counties. The loyalist armies in Jizhen and Datong were immediately defeated, and tens of thousands of troops under the command of the general commander were still advancing from the south.

Xiong Wencan of Huguang also suffered a defeat. The 20,000 government troops who were chasing after the western bandits who had surrendered and then rebelled again were ambushed and defeated by the bandits.

Zhu Youjian was so angry that his face turned red and his neck became thick. He picked up a series of official documents and threw them at the door. Finally, he overturned the entire table and kept cursing the incompetent ministers who led the troops.

Zhu Youjian quickly ordered the dismissal of Xiong Wencan from all official positions and asked him to stay in Xiangyang and not move until the new prime minister of the six provinces arrived.

He then deprived Lu Xiangsheng of his authority as governor of the army to support the emperor, and ordered him to find out the culprit who killed Gao Qiquan within ten days, otherwise he would be severely punished.

Fortunately, Hong Chengchou strongly dissuaded Zhu Youjian by saying that "changing commanders in the middle of a battle is disadvantageous", and Zhu Youjian allowed Lu Xiangsheng to continue to lead the army to defend the king. However, Lu's title of Minister of War was lost, and the royal flag was also taken back!

Lu Xiangsheng's authority was instantly reduced, and even if a general disobeyed his orders, the former could do nothing.

Zhu Youjian urged Hong Chengchou to lead the Shaanxi-Gansu border troops to encircle and suppress the Jiannu. No more county towns should be captured by the Jiannu!

Looking at the humble demeanor of the important officials working hard, Zhu Youjian recalled Brigadier General Li who was recuperating in Jinan at the moment.

Among a group of losers, Admiral Li stands out.

Brigadier General Li is his Yue Wumu, a loyal minister who can win battles!

Zhu Youjian silently prayed in his heart that Lieutenant General Li would recover from his injuries quickly.

He also wants to use Lieutenant General Li to recapture Liaodong and defeat the bandits!
……

In the second month of the lunar calendar in the twelfth year of Chongzhen, tens of thousands of Jiannu soldiers crossed the border with money, grain, jewelry, people and livestock that they had temporarily looted from Zhili.

The war in which the Jiannu invaded the interior of the country finally came to an end, and the soldiers in the border towns finally breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that they were alive again.

Because Lu Xiangsheng could not find out the mastermind behind the assassination of Gao Qiquan, he was demoted three levels. However, because the Governor-General of the Three Borders, Hong Chengchou, was transferred to the Governor-General of Ji and Liao, Yang Sichang took over as the Premier of Six Provinces from Xiong Wencan, and Sun Chuanting had been arrested and imprisoned, Lu Xiangsheng was transferred to the Governor-General of the Three Borders of Shaanxi to cooperate with Yang Sichang in encircling and suppressing the Western Bandits and the Qihuo Bandits.

Of course, the focus of the current encirclement and suppression is still on the more powerful Western bandits. According to the military report, it seems that many of the previously defeated bandits have run to join forces, and there are as many as 100,000 bandits, including the Chuang bandits.

If the "bandit coalition" seizes territory and becomes bigger and stronger, it will be a military group more terrifying than the beggars.

On the other hand, Li Mu, who had been "recuperating" in Jinan, finally received an official reward from the court.

(End of this chapter)