Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 11 Rebuilding the Capital Region with an Impregnable Fortress

As night fell and darkness descended, the kitchen of the Qianqing Palace remained brightly lit.

Zhu Juezheng was having a lively conversation with Sun Chuanting and Lu Xiangsheng.

These two men truly deserve to be remembered as loyal ministers and generals in history; their abilities are exceptionally strong.

He had already made his decision: to send Sun Chuanting to guard Liaodong and Lu Xiangshan to guard the capital region.

However, these two places are crucial to the rise and fall of the Ming Dynasty, and neither can be lost. He cannot simply send the two away like this.

Those in positions of authority should avoid being indiscriminate in their actions, failing to prioritize tasks. The most important matters must be handled with care and attention, and handled well.

He thought about it carefully, then asked, "Boya, if you were to guard Liaodong, how would you manage the Guan-Ning-Jin defense line?"

You want me to guard Liaodong!
Sun Chuanting thought carefully for a moment before cautiously saying, "Your Majesty, I believe the key to guarding Liaodong lies in the unity of the military and the people, and the key to that unity lies in building a prosperous and well-fed home for the military and the people of Liaodong. Only then will they risk their lives to protect their home."

Liaodong's terrain is actually quite good at preventing Jurchen raids, because the area is crisscrossed by rivers. If the Jurchens wanted to raid the Guan-Ning-Jin defense line, they would have to build many pontoon bridges. However, pontoon bridges cannot be built in a short time, and they are not difficult to destroy.

We can rely on the Daling River, Xiaoling River, Santai River, and even the Liao River to build cities, fortresses, and beacon towers on the west bank of the river, gradually pushing the defense line eastward and expanding the military farms in Liaodong.

With more land reclamation, the soldiers in Liaodong will be well-fed and clothed, and they will have a homeland worth fighting to protect. Moreover, with more land reclamation, we can send people and ships to secretly rescue the Liaodong soldiers and civilians enslaved by the Jurchens so that they can cultivate the land, leaving the Jurchens without enough manpower to cultivate the land and graze their livestock.

With this ebb and flow, the Jurchens' strength will inevitably weaken, while our strength will gradually increase. As long as the original 100,000-plus elite border troops of Liaodong are fully restored, the Jurchens will no longer pose a threat.

Your strategy is indeed excellent, but the key is that you must be able to hold the defense line along the river.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment and then asked, "How do you plan to stop the Jurchens from building a pontoon bridge to cross the river?"

This is really not difficult.

Sun Chuanting explained in detail: "Your Majesty, there is a Great Wall in Liaodong. If the Great Wall there is repaired, it can still defend against the Jurchens. Moreover, the area within the Great Wall from Jinzhou to Gaizhouwei in Liaodong is a long and narrow terrain, with the widest part being only about two hundred li."

The Liaodong region has over 30,000 standing cavalry, which is sufficient to prevent the Jurchens from building pontoon bridges to cross the river.

We only need to build a fortified city that can house 20,000 to 30,000 elite cavalry in the general center of the west bank of the river for support, and then build a fortress that can house about 1,000 cavalry every 50 li for emergencies, and a beacon tower every 10 li for reconnaissance. Then it will be extremely difficult for the Jurchens to build a pontoon bridge.

As soon as the Jurchens appeared on the east bank of the river to build a pontoon bridge, they would be spotted by the scouts at the beacon towers. Once the scouts spotted the Jurchens building the pontoon bridge, they would immediately release smoke signals, and a thousand cavalrymen from nearby fortresses would arrive in less than a quarter of an hour.

The cavalry of the central fortress could cover a hundred li in less than an hour. In that time, the Jurchens certainly wouldn't be able to build the pontoon bridge. We only need to equip our cavalry with enough iron shields and fire arrows, then we can erect a shield wall on the riverbank and launch fire arrows at the pontoon bridge. No matter how powerful the Jurchens are, they won't be able to build it."

Well, this method can be prevented if you are careful.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment and then asked, "How do we prevent the river from freezing over in winter?"

This is even simpler.

Sun Chuanting pondered, “Your Majesty, winter is not a suitable time for military campaigns. We only need to slightly repair the riverbank, turning it into a slope higher than a man or a horse, and then continuously pour water on it to make the slope slippery. This will make it difficult for the Jurchens to climb onto the riverbank.”

If the Jurchens try to break through the ice and climb over, we can set up shield formations and long spear formations on the riverbank. This might result in heavy casualties, but the Jurchens' casualties will definitely be greater than ours.

Therefore, I believe that the unity of the army and the people is of utmost importance. As long as we cultivate enough farmland to ensure that the soldiers and civilians of Liaodong are well-fed and clothed, they will surely fight to the death to protect their homeland. No matter how heavy the casualties, the soldiers and civilians of Liaodong will fight to the death and never retreat.

Yes, that makes a lot of sense, and I believe in your abilities.

There shouldn't be any problem handing over Liaodong to you.

Oh, and there's also Mao Wenlong.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then carefully instructed, "I also entrust the command of the troops in Dongjiang Town to you. If the Jurchens attack, you can order someone to send a message to Dongjiang, instructing Mao Wenlong to take the opportunity to harass the Jurchens from the rear and force them to retreat. It will probably take the Jurchens several months to make their way back and forth. In that time, you will have enough time to build a row of city fortresses and beacon towers."

Mao Wenlong?
This guy seems to be a troublemaker.

Upon hearing this, Sun Chuanting cautiously said, "Your Majesty, I dare to say that I have heard that Mao Wenlong is somewhat arrogant and even disobedient."

That's because Mao Wenlong was Wei Zhongxian's man, and Wei Zhongxian wanted to suppress Yuan Chonghuan, so Mao Wenlong naturally wouldn't listen to Yuan Chonghuan.

Zhu Jue said calmly, "Don't worry, I will personally issue the decree and have Wei Zhongxian send his trusted confidant to deliver it. If Mao Wenlong still dares to disobey your orders, I will have Wei Zhongxian deal with him."

So you mean you can even control Wei Zhongxian?
Then it'll be fine.

Sun Chuanting nodded quickly and said, "Your Majesty is wise."

Liaodong should be fine now.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then carefully instructed, "Bo Ya, remember not to be greedy for quick success and act rashly. The recovery of Liaodong is not something that can be accomplished in a day. As long as you can hold the Guan-Ning-Jin defense line, we can still hold out against the Jurchens for ten or eight years. I am not in a hurry, and neither are you."

The current emperor is young yet composed, possesses extraordinary bearing, and shows the makings of a wise ruler.

What a blessing for the Ming Dynasty! What a blessing for the Ming Dynasty!
Sun Chuanting nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

Next up is the Gyeonggi region.

The capital region is actually more important, because the Jurchens cannot break through the Guan-Ning-Jin defense line in a short time, while the Jurchens seem to be able to break through the Jizhou defense line with a single attack.

Zhu Jue thought carefully for a moment before solemnly saying, "Jian Dou, I intend to entrust the entire capital region to you for defense. It shouldn't be a problem for Boya to hold the Guan-Ning-Jin defense line. If the Jurchens can't break through the Guan-Ning-Jin defense line, they'll definitely try to find a way in Jizhou. Do you think the existing defenses in Jizhou can withstand a Jurchen invasion?"

There are too many loopholes in the defense line of Jizhou Town.

Lu Xiang-sheng thought carefully for a moment before cautiously saying, "Your Majesty, the defense line of Jizhou Town from Juyong Pass to Shanhaiguan is more than 2,100 li long, and the border wall has been in disrepair for many years. I dare to say that with the current military strength of Jizhou Town, it may be difficult to resist the invasion of the Jurchens."

Yes, you're absolutely right.

If the existing defenses could withstand the Jurchen invasion, then the Jisi Incident would not have occurred.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and said, "Well, we're not afraid of problems. We'll find a way to solve them. Tell me, how do you plan to solve the problems of the dilapidated border wall and insufficient troops?"

This is difficult to solve.

Lu Xiang-sheng thought about it carefully before cautiously saying, "Your Majesty, the border wall of Jizhou Town is not entirely in disrepair. In the early years of the Longqing reign, when the famous general Qi Jiguang was transferred to the capital region to assist in the administration of the Beijing Garrison and to oversee the military affairs of Jizhou, Liaodong, Changping, and Zhenbao, he made great efforts to repair the border wall of Jizhou Town."

However, because the northern barbarians invaded the capital region through Gubeikou during the Gengxu Incident in the Jiajing era, Qi Jiguang mainly repaired the border wall from Juyongguan to Gubeikou. This section of the border wall, which is more than 300 miles long, has become as solid as a rock after more than ten years of continuous repairs.

Unfortunately, before he could complete the repairs of the more than 1,800-mile-long border wall from Gubeikou to Shanhaiguan, Qi Jiguang was transferred away from the capital and exiled to the south.

The border wall of Jizhou Town is mostly located in the midst of towering mountains, making its repair extremely time-consuming. If we consider the time it took Qi Jiguang to repair the border wall, the remaining 1,800 li of the wall would require at least fifty or sixty years to be repaired to make it as solid as a rock.

what?
Fifty or sixty years!

Zhu Jue couldn't help but ask, "The reason why it took more than ten years to repair the border wall from Juyongguan to Gubeikou was because Qi Jiguang didn't mobilize enough manpower, right? If we mobilize more manpower, wouldn't the speed be doubled?"

How many people are you planning to mobilize?
Lu Xiang-sheng thought for a moment and said cautiously, "Your Majesty, Qi Jiguang actually mobilized quite a lot of people. Historical records show that in the early Wanli period, Qi Jiguang conducted military exercises at the hot springs in Zunhua. On that occasion, he mobilized as many as 160,000 infantry, chariot, and cavalry from Jizhou, Changping, and Zhenbao."

This means that to repair the entire 1,800-mile-long border wall from Gubeikou to Shanhaiguan within a few years, at least 1.6 million troops would be needed.

Where did the Ming Dynasty get so many troops these days?

The problem is that historically, the Jurchens invaded the capital region from Gubeikou to Shanhaiguan, and they didn't just invade once, but rather invaded seven times!

If this line of walls is not repaired, how can we defend against the Jurchens?

Zhu Jue frowned and pondered for a while, then asked, "You mean that 160,000 troops can be mobilized from just these three places: Jizhou Town, Changping, and Zhenbao?"

How do you say this?

Lu Xiang-sheng reminded him: "Your Majesty, that was at the beginning of the Wanli era. At that time, the Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng highly valued Qi Jiguang. He could command and train all the troops in the capital region, and he could provide them with as much food and supplies as he wanted."

In the eleventh year of the Wanli Emperor's reign, Zhang Juzheng passed away, and Qi Jiguang was demoted to the south. The troops in the capital region were either dead or scattered, far from their former glory. Now, let alone 160,000, they probably couldn't even muster 60,000.

What Zhang Juzheng could give, I can give you too.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue decisively said, "I have said that the entire capital region is entrusted to you for defense. The troops in the capital region are naturally at your disposal and training. You can deploy and train the capital garrison, the border troops, and the local garrisons. As for provisions and pay, you don't need to worry about them. I will give you as much provisions and pay as you can train as many troops as you can."

You trust me so much?

Although there aren't many troops in the capital region at this time, the capital garrison, border troops, and local garrisons in the capital region number in the hundreds of thousands.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng was deeply moved and said, "Your Majesty, I swear to serve you with my life."

Well, I believe you.

Historically, you died fighting for your country.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then solemnly said, "The wall along the line from Gubeikou to Shanhaiguan is too long; we're afraid we won't have time to repair it."

Fortunately, the capital region is also crisscrossed by rivers. We can emulate the Guan-Ning-Jin defense line, building cities, fortresses, and beacon towers along the rivers to fortify the capital region. This way, even if the Jurchens break through the Jizhou defense line and invade the capital region, we can make it impossible for them to advance an inch.”

This method is indeed much faster than repairing the side wall.

The area around the capital is mostly plains, making it incredibly convenient to build cities, fortresses, and beacon towers.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng quickly nodded and said, "Your Majesty is wise. I also think that building a defense line in the capital region is faster than repairing the border wall."

If you also think it's feasible, then let's get started right away. Time waits for no one; the Jurchens will be attacking in at most two years.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue decisively said, "Then it's settled. I'll give you two years. Within two years, you must build the capital region into an impregnable fortress, making it impossible for the Jurchens to move an inch. Any questions?"

Can I say there's a problem?
Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng forced a smile and said, "Your Majesty, this requires a lot of money, grain, and even materials."

In the past two years alone, I have amassed more than 20 million taels of silver through robbery, not to mention that I will also find ways to make money.

Zhu Jue nodded slowly and said, "Well, calculate how much money, grain and materials you need first. It's just in time for the autumn harvest, and it's not good to recruit too many people for training during this period. You should make good preparations first, and start construction after the autumn harvest."

This really needs to be prepared properly.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

(End of this chapter)