Ming Dynasty: Summoning game players at the beginning

Chapter 158 Idleness is also idleness
The court officially appointed Li Mu as the general of Henan, directly commanding 6,000 regular soldiers, including 4,500 infantry and 1,500 cavalry.

In addition, under Li Mu's command, there were two lieutenant generals, the left lieutenant general of the militia, stationed in Shangcheng to train militia, and the right lieutenant general of the aid camp stationed in Gushi, responsible for supporting General Li, each leading 2,000 soldiers and horses.

In this way, Li Mu could directly and indirectly control up to 10,000 soldiers and horses.

The above-mentioned infantry and cavalry were all paid according to the border military salary, which was 150,000 dan of grain and 240,000 taels of military salary each year, jointly provided by Henan, Huguang and Nanzhi.

However, while the officials in the imperial court relied on the Black Flag Battalion, they were also wary of its powerful strength.

In order to prevent the Black Flag Camp from becoming too powerful in the future, the imperial court dispatched a part of Li Mu's auxiliary troops to Dengzhou, and the soldiers and combat effectiveness were all selected by Li Mu himself.

At least one thousand soldiers must be mobilized. Even if Li Mu only picks weak auxiliary soldiers, the higher-ups won't say anything.

After all, the Black Flag Battalion had experienced several bloody battles, and there were not many elite soldiers on the surface, and the combat power of those "Black Flag Battalion Auxiliary Soldiers" could also be used.

In addition, all the generals above the rank of Qianzong in the Left and Right Coalitions were "airdropped" by the court, in order to use the "big and small system" to check and balance General Li.

What the imperial court wanted was to split the troops of the Black Flag Camp. It promoted Li Mu in rank but secretly reduced his military strength.

The troops from various places who came to support the king returned to their jurisdictions one after another, and the players who had visited the capital area also returned to Jinan to wait for the next instructions.

Faced with the court's restraint and division, Li Mu said it didn't matter, as long as the middle and lower-level officers and soldiers were his people.

He was able to win over the army's morale with the tactic of "not taking the blood of the soldiers and paying the military salary to every soldier".

If we can’t control the grassroots of administration and the military these days, all means of division will be in vain.

As for transferring a part of the auxiliary troops to Dengzhou, Li Mu was more than happy to do so.

As a "loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty", he should "serve" the court and share the worries of the world.

What's a thousand soldiers? This is too much of an underestimation of Li Mu's "loyalty".

New and old players who are willing to go to Dengzhou can set off to Dengzhou to report, as long as they leave a few hundred people to follow him back to the main base.

Players can establish a base in Dengzhou. They can cross the sea to attack the Jiannu and kill wild boars. They can also raise troops to establish their own regime on the peninsula and assassinate powerful and evil gentry. Don't be too enthusiastic.

The court achieved its goal of dividing the Black Flag Camp and weakening Li Mu's influence.

Li Mu planted hidden spies in Shandong, and the "merchant corps" brought with the army successfully entered major cities.

He captured thousands of bondservants and prisoners, and recruited a group of refugees to serve as laborers, thus winning at least 10,000 laborers for the main base. In the future, he could continue to attract refugees to settle in southern Henan through "propaganda channels."

The three parties got what they wanted and were all very happy.

The northern expedition to attack the Qing Dynasty was successfully concluded, and it was time for Li Mu to return home and continue to focus on the military and domestic affairs.

At present, the forces he directly and indirectly controls are increasing.

The Beggars' Army, the Black Flag Army, the Huguang Guerrillas, the Yingshan Camp, the lurkers and assassins scattered across the country...it's time to sort out the future strategy.

However, a person's wisdom has its limits. Li Mu decided to summon the Fourth Disaster to give him advice. A few insignificant generals can always come up with some good ideas when they get together.

So the player teams nominated their own "Idea Kings" and gathered a total of 233 people to participate in the strategic meeting.

At first, Li Mu thought that a few dozen "wise men" would be enough, but he didn't expect that the barracks would be filled with people, and some people even stood on the sand table.

"Get down here!"

Li Mu growled solemnly, and then someone laughed at him with gloating smile: You are finished, you are finished, the jailer is the most vindictive, be careful or he will give you a serious punishment.

Li Mu thought to himself that these idiots would make trouble everywhere if they were not disciplined. They were free and undisciplined by nature. It was a compliment to say that they were energetic human-shaped huskies.

He suspected that if he removed the restrictions on the range of activities, players would probably march directly to Japan or even cross the Pacific Ocean to the New World.

Li Mu waved his hand like he was shooing away flies, clearing a passage wide enough for one person to pass through.

He stood in front of the sand table and looked around, "My Black Flag Army has been growing rapidly in recent days. We have enough soldiers and equipment, and we have already established the basic conditions for rebelling against the Ming Dynasty.

However, the foundation of our actual controlled territory is not yet solid, and the powerful gentry are only temporarily dormant. We still need a provincial-level granary, military personnel, and equipment supply base to be secure.

Although the Qihuo Army captured a prefecture in Henan, the Jiannu were also severely beaten by us, and the situation between the Ming and Qing dynasties was basically balanced.

The Ming Dynasty had not yet experienced the defeats of Songjin, Xiangcheng, Xiangcheng, Shiyuan, and Zhuxian Town, and its main force was still there.

Right now, the Ming Dynasty will send more soldiers to train the nine frontiers. The next two to three years will be a period of "last gasp" for the Ming Dynasty, so there is no need to confront its edge head-on.

Under the above premise, if you have any good suggestions, please feel free to speak up and put them forward."

Li Mu added in his mind that he just pretended not to hear the bad suggestion.

One player pointed at the sandbox and said, "Eliminate the Qing Dynasty within two years!"

"Well, what next?" Li Mu nodded, with anticipation in his eyes.

“No more.” “No more?”

Li Mu cursed inwardly, what kind of strategy was this? He wanted to unify the world within five years, but how could he do it without a specific plan?
You are just here to join in the fun and take advantage of the situation, right?

"Let me do it!" 'Sula' pushed aside this nonsensical slacker, straightened his posture and bowed to Li Mu.

Su La said, "I think the Qing Dynasty is not the focus for the next two years. I can just arrange some guerrillas to bleed the Ming Dynasty. I even need to stop the guerrilla warfare at the appropriate time to give the Qing Dynasty the opportunity to launch the Battle of Songjin and bleed the Ming Dynasty.

We must seize the grain-producing provinces within the Great Wall as soon as possible - the drought will become more severe in the last few years of the Ming Dynasty, and it will not improve in the provinces until 1644.

Until 1644, all provinces north of the Yellow River, except Shandong and Huaibei, were unavailable..."

Before Sula could finish her words, someone interrupted her. "Doesn't the Yellow River flow into the sea from Dongying? I can understand that it includes part of Shandong, but where is Huaibei to the north of the Yellow River?"

Sula sighed briefly, like a worried parent helping a clumsy child with homework. She looked at the man with a look of disappointment. "This is the Ming Dynasty, and the Yellow River is flowing into the sea through the Huai River! It wasn't until 1855 that the Yellow River changed its course to the place we know today. Throughout history, the Yellow River has changed its course several times, with variations across many dynasties."

"what?"

"Don't interrupt!" Li Mu nodded at Sula, "Go on."

"According to this idea, if the Qihuo Army takes over the entire province of Henan, they can then expand into Shandong, northern Anhui, and northern Jiangsu.

At the same time, the Black Flag Camp in Shandong could also separate a part of it to form an army of volunteers, and cooperate with the Beggar Army to encroach on the territory of Shandong.

In less than three years, Henan and Shandong will be roughly connected, blocking the Grand Canal and consuming millions of dan of grain. By then, the drought will have eased, and we can seize the capital first, and then send troops to destroy the Qing Dynasty, and then attack the capital from both inside and outside the Great Wall."

"Is it a way to protect yourself by playing a rigged match? The rebel army kills the powerful while the Black Flag Battalion collects the money and 'suppresses' the rebels. In the end, the Black Flag Battalion becomes stronger and the rebel army becomes bigger, right?"

"Yes, this will not only eliminate the powerful, but also squeeze more money and grain from the Ming court."

"According to this theory, why not just take Henan instead of sending an elite force to seize the capital and kill Zhu Youjian?"

"Because the princes of the Ming Dynasty are all backups, even if you kill Zhu Youjian's family, there are still princes from other families who can become emperors. When the time comes, the Southern Ming Dynasty will still send troops to disgust you.

Furthermore, before we can take over the empire, it would be a good idea to let the Ming court temporarily stabilize the provinces. Bad order is always better than no order."

"Oh, you mean to keep Zhu Youjian alive and let him be our housekeeper for a few more years."

"Yes, you won't find a more stupid 'teammate' than Zhu Youjian in the entire Ming Dynasty. His micromanipulation can bring about the death of the Ming army, which is also a great benefit to us."

"Speaking of the major grain-producing provinces in the late Ming Dynasty, the strongest was Huguang. It would be better to take over Huguang than Henan and Shandong.

Hubei is largely connected to the Yangtze River network, offering convenient river transportation. With just a fleet of warships, they could easily sail down the river and capture Nanjing. Consider the speed with which the Qing Dynasty conquered the south: it took less than a year.

Wouldn't it be better if we killed a bunch of Jiangnan gentry, reorganized the land, spent a year or two cultivating the land, and then followed Zhu Baba's old path of the Northern Expedition?"

"You have a point. The fertility and prosperity of Huguang, Jiangxi, and Jiangnan provinces far exceeds that of Henan, Shandong, and Jiangbei. The drought in the north has been severe in recent years, and seizing northern land is a losing proposition. If it weren't for the numerous vassal kings in Henan, taking Henan would also be a loss."

"I agree. Even if we take Henan and Shandong and seize the capital, without the grain transport from the south, we won't be able to feed the hundreds of thousands of people in the nine border areas."

"Then how did the Qing Dynasty conquer the nine frontiers in history?"

"That was in 1644. The nine frontiers had already lost all their troops in numerous battles. It was a good thing that only % or % of them were left. Moreover, most of the gold and silver that Li Zicheng had obtained to help with the military expenditures was not taken away. The Tartars happily accepted it all."

"This means that if you rebel one day, you must remember to seize the canal transport boats before you rebel."

"So, the priority is to deploy the Huguang guerrillas to capture Hubei and Hunan. Doesn't that mean my beggar army should attack Nanyang and then move south to Xiangyang?"

"We can't say we don't want Henan at all. Henan is located in the Central Plains and is the only way to get to all the places in the world. Besides, there's Prince Fu, the biggest fat pig, to eat.

The current strength of the Qihuo Army is far greater than that of Li Zicheng in history, and it is completely capable of conquering Henan independently. The remaining military resources can be allocated to Huguang.

"Great! I can finally enjoy the Fu Lu Feast."

"The Fulu Feast is a folk history, it's fake."

"Who cares if it's official history or unofficial history? Now that I'm here, I'll make it official, even if it's fake!"

"Anyone want to come to the Southern Theater and join the guerrillas? I promise that Huguang will be the grand stage for you to realize your dreams. Wuchang's Chong Wang is also a wealthy and lucrative tycoon. As long as we capture Wuchang, our Huguang guerrillas will be promoted to a regular army overnight."

However, some people who enjoy entertainment do not care about these strategies.

The man with the most fun suggested, "You guys are talking a lot on the sand table, but I don't understand a word you say. I only know there's a Duke Yansheng in Shandong who owns at least a million acres of land and is considered the most powerful person in the Ming Dynasty."

We might as well take advantage of the time we still have left to kill the entire family of Duke Yansheng, so that we don’t have to flatter Duke Yansheng in the future.”

People who like to have fun don’t care whether the plan can be realized or how to realize it. As long as the concept is formed in their minds and they find it interesting and worthwhile, that’s enough.

"What the hell?! You're such a smart kid, you actually came up with such a mind-blowing idea! Qufu is only about two hundred miles away from Jinan, so we can reach it in two and a half days of forced marching!"

(End of this chapter)