When the secret reports from Wang Hongliang and Feng Shibao, Wang Dayong and Mao Wenlong were delivered to Beijing, Tianqi once again scratched his head about the Liaodong economic strategy.

Holding the title of Prince Taibao, Zhang Heming set out from Beijing on a short journey to Shanhaiguan with the Shangfang Sword given by Emperor Tianqi.

There is a reason to say it is tourism. The whole journey from Beijing to Shanhaiguan is 600 miles. The official road is complete at the intermediate post station. The stagecoach can reach it in one day. The army can only march ten days at most. But even this short journey is

Zhang Heming forced him to walk on the "long road" for seventeen days.

The reason for this is that Zhang Heming took over the Liaodong Economic Strategy out of necessity and unwillingness, so he took office with the mentality of dawdling and procrastinating as long as he could.

After Zhang Heming arrived at Shanhaiguan, he received bad news every day, one worse than the last. In the morning, it was said that Houjin was planning to attack Shanhaiguan in the afternoon, in the afternoon, it was said that Houjin was planning to attack Shanhaiguan tomorrow, and the next day it was said that Houjin was planning to attack Shanhaiguan the next day. Zhang Heming

He lived in fear every day, and he knew he was wrong: he would not necessarily die if he stayed in the temple, but he would definitely die if he stayed in Liaodong. Either he would be hacked to death after the city was destroyed, or he would be frightened to death. When a person dies, there is nothing.

Now he regretted the idea that he had just wanted to avoid being dragged down by Wang Huazhen. He could keep the green hills without fear of running out of firewood, and keep his life intact without fear of losing his official position.

As a result, Zhang Heming suddenly had problems with his health. At least this is what he said in his memorial to Tianqi. If he delayed national affairs, it would be difficult to atone for his sins, so he asked to retire and return to his hometown.

Tianqi had just appointed Zhang Heming as the manager of Liaodong. He was very happy to put aside his worries, so he recently made some satisfactory household items and produced several satisfactory works. As a result, less than twenty days later, Zhang Heming

I'm sick, and even terminally ill. What's going on?

So Tianqi was the first to think that Zhang Heming must be up to something again, and he was preparing to pretend to be sick to avoid disaster.

So Tianqi immediately sent ten imperial doctors and ten factory guards to go to Shanhaiguan to see a doctor in person, still based on the principle that pretending to be sick would not work.

It turned out that Zhang Heming was really ill this time. The imperial doctor did not dare to lie under the supervision of factory guards. Zhang Heming was so frightened that he lost consciousness.

An insane person could no longer serve in the military and state affairs, so Zhang Heming was sent home to recuperate.

Zhang Heming left, and the Liaodong Economic Strategy was free again. This was not possible, so Tianqi didn't want to argue. The next person did things very cleanly and neatly: I issued an order to the governor of Jie Jingbang, and you go.

Regarding the appointment that the imperial court asked him to do the greatly improved Liaodong economic strategy, the Jingjing Gang replied in two words: No.

The court replied: You have to go.

Jingjingbang’s reply: I won’t go.

In this way, the imperial court said three times, and Jie Jingbang went back three times, saying that he would not go to Liaodong. This is clearly disobeying the imperial edict. Since you are not going to Liaodong, then you should not be the governor of Xuanfu. It is not just the governor of Xuanfu,

Don't want to be an official anymore. Resign your position to serve the people and never use it again.

It is said that the fired Jie Jing Bang went home happily.

When things got to this point, no one was going to do the Liaodong Economic Strategy. But the problem was that someone had to be responsible for the Liaodong Economic Strategy. Over and over again, this task, which was probably the most difficult task in the world at that time, fell on Wang Zaijin, the Minister of War at the time.

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Wang Zaijin said nothing and embarked on the road to Shanhaiguan, because he knew it was his duty.

At the critical moment when others were running back and pushing back, Wang Zaijin bravely shouldered the responsibilities that a minister should theoretically fulfill but in reality could not or could often be accommodated. He did not suffer from serious illness and did not request to retire and return to his hometown. Although he may have been forced into helplessness, in terms of the result, there is no difference between him being forced into helplessness and standing up for it.

Sometimes people need to be more pragmatic, and they have to watch what they do with their hands no matter what they say. At least Wang Zaijin is a brave man. And he is a smart man, at least he is not a fool.

After Wang Zaijin arrived at Shanhaiguan, he worked all night and all day long. On the one hand, he held an emergency closed-door meeting with Wang Xiangqian, the governor of Jiliao, to discuss the situation in Liaodong and formulate strategies; on the other hand, he gathered the defeated soldiers, reorganized them, and strengthened the defense of Shanhaiguan; he also held an emergency closed-door meeting with various Mongolian ministries. Contacting each other and recruiting foreign aid, the two parties negotiated terms with each other, sometimes lowering prices and sometimes quarreling. Tired, Wang Zaijin ate breakfast as lunch, lunch as supper, and supper as breakfast the next day. He often forgot to eat when he was busy. .

Originally, Wang Zaijin worked conscientiously, but he was often criticized by supervisors who did not work. Someone sued Wang Zaijin, saying that he was a fool.

At that time, Tianqi thought that the quitters were deliberately looking for trouble in order to show their sense of existence, and did not take it seriously. However, after receiving the complaint from the quitters, Tianqi also thought that maybe Wang Zaijin was indeed a fool.

It turned out that as soon as Wang Zaijin arrived at Shanhaiguan, he made a decision to build a castle outside Shanhaiguan to strengthen Shanhaiguan's defense capabilities.

In fact, although the method of slowly advancing to build a castle is still an old routine, in any case, the Ming army is good at defense but not good at field combat. Hiding in the castle can still be somewhat effective.

This method is of course good, but after Tianqi saw Wang Zaijin's method, he always felt that something was wrong and awkward.

The reason is that the castle that Wang Zai Jin wants to build is not the key Jinzhou, nor the left and right guards of the Daling River to block the Liao River and Guangning, but the Bali Fort built in front of Shanhaiguan.

Tianqi is not a confused person. He is also very interested in military affairs because he had Sun Chengzong, the only military strategist in the late Ming Dynasty. As the saying goes, those who are close to Zhu are red and those who are close to black are black, so Tianqi still knows a little about military affairs, so he I took out the map of Liaodong and looked for this place called Balibao. I searched all the way from the west of Liaohe River to Shanhaiguan, and finally found this place - Bali Road in front of Shanhaiguan.

This makes Tianqi very confused. In front of Shanhaiguan, one person only needs to run and build a fortress in half an hour at most. Is this necessary?

But Wang Zaijin swore that this was the horn force mentioned in the art of war.

Because of this, a group of idle ministers started an endless debate again, with many opposing and some agreeing. One of them was the most active in impeaching Wang Zaijin. This person was Yuan Chonghuan, the minister of military preparation in Ning Dynasty.

Yuan Chonghuan believes that building a new city eight miles in front of Shanhaiguan is like taking off your pants and farting. Once the new city in front falls, Shanhaiguan will face the enemy peak in an instant, and it will not have any effect at all. You still need five million taels, so you are robbing money. ah.

There have always been voices of opposition, but no one has as good a basis as Yuan Chonghuan's opposition. The most important thing is that there is a way. This is very rare. If others object, it is an objection. If you ask him if he doesn't do this, what should he do?

That objection is telling you very confidently: "I only know that this thing is wrong. As for what is right, I don't know."

Yuan Chonghuan was not like this. He proposed a solution, which was to build a fortress and advance slowly. I had mentioned this method at the beginning, so I suggested that the fortress be built in Ningyuan, so that it could truly play a buffering role.

Tianqi and Ye Xianggao were both half-baked military personnel, not even talented, so of course they couldn't make up their minds.

Fortunately, Sun Chengzong came back after a long journey. At this time, Tianqi remembered Mao Wenlong's praise of Sun Chengzong, saying that the only military strategist in the world was his teacher. At that time, after Tianqi listened to Sun Chengzong's class,

He told the teacher about this matter: "Master, do you think this castle should be repaired?"

Sun Chengzong took Wang Zaijin's memorial, compared it with the map and said: "Without investigation, there is no right to speak. Long live, please allow me to go to Shanhaiguan. I will ask what Wang Zaijin is talking about."
Chapter completed!