Chapter 696 Wu Sangui’s new disease (please vote for recommendation)
"To this day, the people are a little more peaceful, they have enough food, and the soldiers are a little more skilled. They have control of strings and arrows. I look at our people in the Central Plains, who have been without a master for a long time, and I feel deeply guilty. I respectfully accept the destiny, and I don't dare to be safe. I want to send troops to the north.
Drive out the barbarians, save the people from ruin, and restore the dignity of Han officials..."
In the end, Zhu Hongyu ended with Zhu Yuanzhang’s message on the Northern Expedition.
His meaning has been made very clear!
Nothing else, just the Northern Expedition!
When Zhu Hongyu finished speaking, he threw Huang Chou into the brazier.
As the flame burned, Huang Chou quickly turned into ashes!
A gust of wind blew up, swirling the remnants left by Huang Chou's burning towards the direction of Baoding...
The next moment, the call for the Northern Expedition resounded throughout Xiaoling and beyond.
"Northern Expedition!"
"Northern Expedition!"
"Northern Expedition!"
"..."
As the memorial inscriptions used by Zhu Hongyu to pay homage to Xiaoling were leaked out, they spread throughout the whole of Jiangnan.
Furthermore, the call for the Northern Expedition resounded throughout the world.
Not only south of the Yangtze River, but even north of the Yangtze River there were calls for the Northern Expedition everywhere.
Almost everyone is looking forward to the smooth start of the Ming Dynasty's Northern Expedition!
After Zhu Hongyu completed his annual report to his ancestors, he returned to Nanjing.
He did not rush to send troops for the Northern Expedition immediately. Instead, he sent an order to the cabinet and the Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armies to immediately start preparing the grain, grass, ordnance, etc. needed for the army's Northern Expedition.
Wait until spring and the weather gets warmer before we officially start heading north!
The reason for this is that most of the officers and soldiers of the Ming army were from the south, and they were afraid that they would not be able to adapt to the cold climate of the north in winter and early spring.
Waiting until the weather gets warmer before launching the Northern Expedition can minimize the non-combat attrition of the Ming army.
As the imperial court began to prepare for the Northern Expedition, more and more grain, grass, ordnance, and ships responsible for transporting grain and grass were mobilized from various places to Nanjing.
…
Guanzhong, Chang'an City!
Although today's Chang'an is no longer as prosperous as it was in the Ming Dynasty, with the influx of a large number of Guan Ning Army soldiers and their families, Chang'an has regained some of its vitality.
At the very least, you can see pedestrians anytime and anywhere on the streets and in the fields!
The situation in Guanzhong is much better than that of the ghostly southwestern provinces.
Last year, Wu Sangui received a lot of taxes in Guanzhong.
The Guan Ning Army was able to stabilize the situation after the defeat of Huguang. In addition to the fact that the Ming Army did not cross the river to pursue, it also had something to do with the large amount of money and food that Guanzhong could provide.
You must know that Guanzhong provided nearly 20% of the world's tax revenue to the Ming Dynasty during the pre-Ming Dynasty.
Shaanxi is a real tax-producing province!
As long as we think that the civil unrest in the late Ming Dynasty first started in Shaanxi, we can imagine how heavy the taxes borne by Shaanxi were.
Sometimes, natural disasters alone cannot kill people, but man-made disasters are much more terrifying than natural disasters.
After Wu Sangui's defeat in Huguang, he became depressed.
Government and military affairs were handed over to his two sons respectively, while he himself hid in the harem and indulged in drinking, singing and dancing.
I want to use this to numb my heart!
Among them, government affairs were handed over to Wu Yingxiong, and military affairs were handed over to Wu Yingqi.
After a period of time, Guanzhong prospered under Wu Yingxiong's governance.
Of course, there is also the reason why the Little Ice Age has come to an end and the climate in Guanzhong has gradually returned to normal.
On the tenth day of the second lunar month in the first year of the restoration of the Ming Dynasty, at the Fengtian Hall in Chang'an City.
Wu Sangui held in his hand a memorial message from the south of the Yangtze River, or more accurately a message for the Northern Expedition, with a solemn expression on his face.
Reading this murderous statement, he seemed to be seeing the ferocious offensive launched by the Ming army on the battlefield.
Fierce artillery fire, harsh charging horns, iron hooves of war horses...
Everything is impressive!
Just thinking about it for a moment, Wu Sangui felt a sense of fear coming from his heart.
With the defeat of Ao Bai's troops by Guan Ning's army in the Battle of Guanzhong, Wu Sangui's late stage maniaphobia was finally cured.
However, unfortunately, after the decisive battle in Huguang, Wu Sangui suffered from the new disease phobia.
All I can say is, well, it’s fucked up!
Wu Yingxiong and Wu Yingqi stood in front of Wu Sangui, and Wu Yingxiong said.
"Father, judging from the news we know so far, the Ming thieves are about to launch the Northern Expedition!"
"We absolutely cannot sit idly by and watch!"
"If the Ming thieves succeed in driving the pseudo-Qing out of the pass, I'm afraid my lips will be dead and my teeth will be cold!"
The pseudo-Qing here refers to the Qing army in Guan led by Obai.
What Wu Yingxiong said is also what Wu Yingqi thought.
It is true that the lips are dying and the teeth are cold!
If Ao Bai is defeated by the Ming Dynasty and is completely driven out of the pass, there is no doubt that the next step of the Ming Dynasty will definitely be to rush to the pass.
The concept of great unification is deeply engraved in the bones of the Chinese people!
Any ambitious ruler, except for the weird one like Zhao Jiumei, would not want to unify the world and become the true master of China.
If he cannot really unify the world, the emperor will always lack some confidence to do so!
"Yes, father, what my brother said is right, we have to take some action here, we must not sit back and watch the Ming thieves drive Obai's troops out of the pass!"
Neither Wu Yingxiong nor Wu Yingqi said it directly, but their meaning was very clear.
The current situation in the world is that the Ming Dynasty is strong and the Qing Dynasty is weak. If they want to protect themselves, they must form an alliance with the Dong Qing Dynasty to fight against the Ming Dynasty together.
Otherwise, the Eastern Qing Dynasty and the Western Qing Dynasty will only be defeated by the Ming Dynasty!
Wu Sangui understood the meaning of his two sons' words, but he couldn't make up his mind for a while.
When Wu Sangui raised his army, his banner was to Qingjun side and execute Aobei.
Now, it is really a slap in the face to ask him to unite with Obai's troops!
However, this is not the most fundamental reason why Wu Sangui has been unable to make up his mind.
What really made Wu Sangui hesitate was that Wu Sangui was afraid of being beaten by Ming Dynasty, and he did not dare to take the initiative to stand on the opposite side of Ming Dynasty.
To put it bluntly, it is an ostrich mentality!
As long as Ming Dynasty has not sent troops to attack him, he is unwilling to stand up and face Ming Dynasty's weapons.
Seeing the embarrassment on Wu Sangui's face, Wu Yingqi spoke.
"If my father is not willing to join forces with the Aobai traitors to fight against the Ming Dynasty, then I, the Qing Dynasty, will have to prepare another way out in advance!"
"Lest the Qing Dynasty be unable to respond in time when the Ming thieves march westward again after taking Beizhi."
Wu Sangui rolled his eyes and asked.
"Ying Qi, what other way out are you talking about?"
Wu Yingqi cupped his fists and said.
"The Qing Dynasty currently has three main choices. One is to unite with Obai's troops to fight against the Ming Dynasty together. This is the best policy!"
"The second is to launch the Western Expedition in advance, move westward, avoid the front of the Ming rebels, and flee to the Western Regions in order to establish a country in the Western Regions. This is the middle strategy!"
"The third is to start operating the Tongguan defense line in Guanzhong and prepare to resist the attack of Ming thieves in Guanzhong. This is the next best thing!"
The reason why this was the last resort was because Wu Yingqi knew well that no matter how hard they managed the defense line, they would not be able to withstand the heavy bombardment of the Ming army's heavy artillery which had superior firepower.