Zhu Youzhang's evaluation of Chen Xi is very high. In this era when everyone is drunk and I am alone, Chen Xi's control over the current situation is very accurate.

If Chen Xi had predicted some situations before, he used some inevitable laws of history, but in this Tatar invasion, what he used was his reasonable deduction of the changes in the war situation and his understanding of the Tatar temperament.

However, the good materials are good, and Zhu Youzhang is not ready to send troops to rescue Chen Xi.

The fact that has happened now is that Zhangjiakou and Xuanfu lost it, and the next important pass that can compete with the Tatars and block the Tatars' troops from advancing eastward is Juyong Pass or Zijing Pass.

As for areas outside the inner Great Wall, they can temporarily give up first, which is due to grand strategy considerations.

Li Dongyang stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, the governor of Yansui, Chen Xi, had predicted the strategy of the Northern Bandits' advance before the war. He was defeated by the Northern Bandits' troops in the Battle of Tumubao, and there were indeed some generals."

"However, his advance was timid and his front-line war reports were not clearly sent, so that the court did not know enough about the situation. It is also a fact. Chen Xi still needs to be tempered to confirm the praise of His Majesty's pillars of the Ming Dynasty, otherwise he would be just a newborn calf who acted in an impulse and did not obey the orders of the court..."

Hearing this, Xie Qian couldn't help but glar at Li Dongyang.

Good, you old man Li, you used to suspect that Chen Xi was born out of nothing. I endured the words Chen Xi said, but now it is proved that what Chen Xi said is not aimless, and you are still derogatory to Chen Xi, that is not something I can accept!

Xie Qian did not want to "declare the grievances" for Chen Xi. He really felt that Chen Xi could predict the changes in the war situation one step ahead of others and accurately send the war report to the capital one month in advance for the court to be prepared. As a result, the court did not pay enough attention to it, so that Zhangjiakou and Xuanfu fell one after another. This was purely due to the insufficient estimate of the changes in the war situation by the important officials in the court.

Chen Xi submitted a memorial in advance, but the court refused to accept it. Now the major border passes are indeed besieged and lost as Chen Xi said. Who is blamed?

In addition, it is said that the war report sent by Chenxi front line is unclear. It has been ten days since the war report arrived in Beijing, but during these ten days, it was detained by the officials and the officials to prove it, which has caused the cabinet and the emperor to fail to obtain first-hand information. Should Shen Xi also be blamed?

Xie Qian could not accept the accusations against Li Dongyang no matter what!

But what Li Dongyang said was recognized by other ministers, as if he was deliberately looking for a scapegoat. If you say that the wolf is coming, we don’t believe it. That is your sin. Why didn’t you explain to us how many wolves there are? What does each wolf look like? If you explain it clearly, we might believe it!

Of course, if we still didn’t believe it at that time, we would still have to blame you!

The right to speak is in our hands, which means pushing you out to the tank. What can you do to us?

Ma Wensheng is not an unreasonable person. He reported: "Your Majesty, Governor Yansui is now in Tumu Fort, and dealing with Tatar soldiers may become a turning point in the war situation in the northwest."

"The ones that can be relied on outside Juyong Pass are nothing more than the soldiers and horses in Datong, Taiyuan and other places. If the troops from three sides are transferred to retreat, it may be difficult to move forward for a while. It is better to use Tumu Fort as a barrier, and take into account the defenses of Juyong Pass and Zijing Pass to resist the Tatar troops and horses from advancing east... Please tell me!"

Ma Wensheng's words were not recognized by most ministers, mainly because he said that the status of Tumu Fort was too high.

The ministers in the court believed that even if some garrisons and acropolis could be regarded as barriers to the eastward advance of the Tatars, a fortress that had been abandoned for decades should not be regarded as so heavy.

In the eyes of these ministers, since the Tatars could even break through the strong Zhangjiakou Fort and Xuanfu, let alone abandoned earthen castles such as Tumu Fort that were almost unpreserved.

Liu Jian came out and said: "It is not wrong to use Juyong Pass and Zijing Pass as the garrison, but Tumu Fort... It is difficult to bear the heavy responsibility without the dangers of mountains and rivers!"

Liu Jian was cautious and had a certain understanding of the situation in the northwest. If Chen Xi had not reported that he was stationed in Tumu Fort, Liu Jian would hardly remember that there was such a place. After all, Tumu Fort had been abandoned for many years. A relatively fair minister like Liu Jian would not think that Tumu Fort had the elements to block the progress of the Tatars.

Among the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, Liu Jian was the first to be the chief assistant, and among all the ministries, Ma Wensheng, the Minister of Personnel and the old minister of the four dynasties, was the first to be the first to be the minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

Now that two top civil officials are in conflict, Ma Wensheng believes that Tumu Fort should be used as a barrier, while Liu Jian opposes the inclusion of Tumu Fort in the capital defense system.

For a time, the court officials present did not know who to support, but according to the opinions of the vast majority of ministers in the court, they were more inclined to temporarily give up Tumu Fort.

Zhu Youting didn't want to make a choice between the two. He himself had no opinion on many major issues. In the past, he was clear-headed and had his own judgment, but now he was physically and mentally poor, and he could not judge who was right and who was wrong in such matters.

Zhu Youzhang coughed for a while before asking, "What do you think, do you guys?"

Zhu Youzhang used to discussing things in the court, and this sentence was said the most, and ministers were used to being ordered by Zhu Youzhang to stand by. When the two sides agreed to each other, if anyone adopts an ambiguous position, he will basically cause trouble for himself.

Zhu Youzhi asked who you support. If you say neither side supports you, please give me the reason, otherwise the emperor will think that you, as a minister, are useless and will replace you over time.

In this regard, Zhu Youzhang is a competent monarch. He doesn't like his ministers to be ruthless. Even if the ministers themselves have mediocre abilities, they must have their own opinions. In this way, Zhu Youzhang himself is the one who has the least position in the court.

Looking around his colleagues, Xie Qian found sadly that it was difficult to get others to support Ma Wensheng's view. Although so many people in the court were not all greedy for life and fear of death, from a pragmatic point of view, Juyong Pass and Zijing Pass should indeed be used as the focus of defense, and Tumubao should give up temporarily.

Xie Qian was very anxious. If Chen Xi had not been trapped in Tumu Fort, he might have supported Liu Jian's viewpoint. However, the situation in Tumu Fort is now critical, and if it is not good, it may be wiped out. He would not give up Shen Xi in public or private.

From a private perspective, Chen Xi is Xie Qian's grandson-in-law and the successor of his career he deliberately cultivated. The Xie family has a close relationship with the Shen family, and Chen Xi is closely related to the prince. Chen Xi only needs to be an official step by step, and it is no problem to join the cabinet and even serve as the chief minister in the future.

For the sake of the public, Chen Xi predicted the advance of the Tatars in advance, and once defeated the conspiracy of the Folangji people and the Tatars, and made great contributions when the bandits were pacified in the south. It is definitely a young wizard with the ability to turn decay into magic. In the current situation where the war situation is already extremely unfavorable, Xie Qian believes that actively cooperating with Chen Xi's strategic deployment may turn the tide.

After repeatedly doubting Chen Xi's decision, Xie Qian now believes that Chen Xi has magical abilities.

Xie Qian really hoped that he could convince the ministers present, so when no one else spoke, he had to take the initiative to report:

"Your Majesty, I think that although Tumu Fort has been disrepair for a long time, Chenxi's children can defeat thousands of soldiers and horses in Tumu Fort, and even the northern enemies have to repeatedly allocate large troops to siege them, and they cannot be captured for a long time. This is a concrete manifestation of Chenxi's children's ability. If they send troops to aid, even if there are not many troops, the northern enemies can be restrained everywhere. In the future, Huailaiwei, Longqingzhou and Tumu Fort are the front line of defense against the northern enemies. They mobilize troops from the capital to block the northern enemies' advance eastward three places!"

To prove your point of view, you must give a reason. This is the quality that you must possess to be a minister under Zhu Youzhang, otherwise you will be a mediocre talent.

Xie Qian was good at speaking and knew how to guess the emperor's intentions, so he naturally understood what he could say could make the emperor adopt his point of view.

First of all, he explained Chen Xi's ability. Didn't you say that Tumu Fort was disrepaired and could not be used as a barrier? Then I will tell you that Chen Xi's son relied on the defense of Tumu Fort to wipe out 4,000 Tatar soldiers and horses. Even if Liu Daxia reported a great victory in Ningxia Town, the number of Tatar soldiers and horses that were captured was not as large as this number.

Liu Daxia had tens of thousands of elite border troops under his command, while Chen Xi had only a few thousand old, weak and remnants of Beijing camps.

Didn’t you say that Tumu Fort has no strategic significance? Then let me tell you that Tumu Fort has Huailaiwei and Longqingzhou as support points, and is the last defensive position west of Juyong Pass. Before these cities were captured, the Tatars did not dare to easily advance to Juyong Pass, because the taboo of marching in this era was to go deep into the enemy. Even if there was a small county town with only a few hundred troops behind it, it might attack the army on both sides.

The reason why the Tatars were not worried about the Ming army and horse attacks before was because their cavalry were very fast, and they were fighting plundering wars, not fighting for siege cities and land. They carried very little baggage and moved very quickly.

But this time the Tatars were going to attack solid cities such as Juyong Pass, Zijing Pass and the capital. As the defense side, the Tatars could not get the expected results without siege. In this way, the Tatars had to carry a large amount of siege equipment and food supplies and slowly push them under the capital.

When the Oirats attacked the capital, they made the mistake of losing sight of the other, so that Juyongguan was not conquered for seven days and seven nights. After entering the capital, they were attacked by local Ming officials and militias everywhere. In addition, Yu Qian and others led their troops to defend, the Oirats encountered a wall outside the capital and had to retreat in disgrace.

Xie Qian said it very bluntly. He did not form the final barrier to the front line of Tumu Fort to Huailaiwei and Longqingzhou. It was just a constraint on the Tatars, and it was proposed that it would not send all troops to aid, but only some troops to strengthen their defense.

The advantage of this is that these city blocks can stop the Tatars for a period of time and give the northwest troops sufficient time to return to the rescue. The capital can also mobilize troops and generals to organize defense when they go to Juyong Pass and Zijing Pass.

This view can be said to be well-founded, and it is waiting for the emperor to agree.

But today Li Dongyang seemed to have taken the lead with Xie Qian, and actually stood up and directly opposed Xie Qian's statement: "Your Majesty, I think it's not possible! There is no need to defend the west of Juyong Pass. Even a strong city like Zhangjiakou Fort and Xuanfu have been lost, let alone Tumu Post, Huailaiwei, and Longqingzhou? The defense of the capital should be led by Juyong Pass and Zijing Pass, and the defense of the nine cities is the first. Please give your order!"

The three major ministers in the cabinet, Liu Jian and Li Dongyang, had the same opinion, while Xie Qian supported Ma Wensheng. Among the other court officials, even the British Duke Zhang Mao, who was aware of the military, stood on Liu Jian's side.

Although Zhang Mao admired Chen Xi, a young and promising young man, he knew that he was a subordinate of the Governor's Office of the Five Army, and he knew that he had been in trouble after he secretly seized the military newspaper of Shen Xi, so he simply made a mistake all the way. It would be better for Chen Xi to die in Tumu Fort, and he would push the blame on him at that time, and no one would pursue him as the prince.

In addition, Zhang Mao did not dare to place the safety of the Ming Dynasty on a 17-year-old boy, and was more willing to believe in Juyong Pass, Zijing Pass and the capital's defense.
Chapter completed!