Zhang Zhou was not limited to "searching for traps" and "suppressing traps".
What he wanted to help Zhu Youtang achieve was a head-on battle with the Tatars. It didn't really matter whether the battle took place in the Hetao area or where.
What Zhang Zhou wanted to fight was not the Fire Sieve Division or the Duoyan Three Guards. What he wanted to fight was the Dayan Division headquarters and a direct attack on Dayan Khan. Only in this way could the prestige of the Ming Dynasty be achieved.
Li Dongyang heard Zhang Zhou's intention, and he stated the disadvantages of doing so in public, saying: "Send troops from Xuanfu. After leaving the fortress, the terrain is difficult, which is not conducive to the long journey of soldiers and horses. The tribes in the grassland also use Zhangjiakou Fort and other places as gaps to send troops." It is easy to fall into a tight siege later. It is not advisable."
In the Ming Dynasty, Xuanfu was relatively in the "rear area" in the northwest. Xuanfu was an important town for storing military supplies in the northwest. It was close to the capital and relatively well-defended.
Outside Xuanfu, the grazing area that originally belonged to the Huosi Mongoljin tribe belongs to the land of the right wing of Mongolia. Duoyan and other tribes grazing to the west will also come closer to this side. This area falls under the "Three No Matters" on the grassland. "It is also a place where various tribes compete. Because there is no value in cultivating and farming here, the Ming Dynasty has never used it to plan strategies for outbound operations.
Before the Huoshi headquarters and Dayan Khan were preparing to start a war, the Mengoljin tribe had moved westward and was closer to the Hetao area. Therefore, when leaving the blockade here, it was basically a detour behind the Huoshi tribe, which meant that they had to follow the Dayan tribe. The east and west flanked the Fire Sieve Headquarters.
According to Li Dongyang's intention, after sending troops from here, the Mengoljin and Dayan tribes are likely to unite with other tribes to attack the Ming army in an area where the terrain is not conducive to the performance of the Ming cavalry and infantry.
If you want to take a detour behind enemy lines, you will easily get trapped in a tight siege.
Zhang Zhoudao: "Sending troops from Yansui is far away from mountains and rivers, and the supplies are insufficient. When troops are sent from Pianguan, the terrain is poor and narrow inside but wide outside. When troops are sent from Xuanfu, the terrain is undulating, making it difficult to attack over long distances... That means that in the future, we will still stick to the The right way is to leave things alone within the pass and the Loop. Is this what you mean?"
Li Dongyang knew that Zhang Zhou was debating with him, so he said: "Whether to send troops or not is in the process of negotiation. There is no need to make an immediate decision."
Zhu Youtang supported Zhang Zhoudao: "It is my intention to send troops to suppress traps, and it is in line with the current situation in the northwest of the Ming Dynasty. You have said before that the most important thing in the defense of the northwest is to stabilize the side passes. Now the side passes are no longer hindered. Why delay sending troops?"
Defense is not a problem, let alone sending troops. From the emperor's point of view, it's not that I have no ability, but that you ministers are afraid of wolves in front of you and tigers in the back.
Wang Zongyi, the left minister of the Ministry of War, came out again and questioned: "In the previous battles to suppress Tao, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of troops were often sent out, which wasted people and money. The Tatar cavalry often avoided the main force of the Ming Dynasty and did not fight, taking the opportunity to attack and harass other places. This is not the case." The land of the Loop can be controlled for a long time. If we send troops hastily, I'm afraid it will be counterproductive."
Zhang Zhoudao: "According to Wang Shilang's intention, because it is difficult to exterminate the bandits, the bandits are allowed to cause chaos at the door of the house? Only when they invade the house, can we resist?"
Zhu Youtang didn't want to hear such nonsense anymore.
He said in a firm tone: "I agree with the Xuanfu's proposal to send troops. We will discuss this and come up with a practical plan within ten days, so you don't have to argue anymore."
It was decided to send troops, but he still obeyed Zhang Zhou and ordered to send troops from Xuan Mansion.
The minister was naturally dissatisfied.
But with Zhang Zhou’s achievements in the previous battles, and the ministers knowing that the emperor now had great favor and trust for Zhang Zhou, they had no objections to raise. The only thing they could think of was that after the court meeting, a group of censors and officials jointly signed a petition to object. The act of sending troops.
"Wang Qiong, a doctor in Hubu, made great contributions in the battle of Pianguan. He was promoted to the right minister of Hubu and the censor of Youqiandu, and patrolled Pianguan and surrounding areas."
Zhu Youtang immediately rewarded Wang Qiong for his decision-making contribution in the battle.
The part-time job of the Right Minister of the Ministry of Revenue is almost the same as that of Qin Hong, who holds the Xuan Da General System. However, Wang Qiong is still only the governor of Pianguan, and the strategic significance of Pianguan in the Ming Dynasty is more focused on military defense and does not involve Government treasury grain and grass management and other matters.
…
…
The meeting ended.
It was originally a discussion about the merits of Wang Qiong, Zhu Feng and others, but in the middle part it completely deviated from the direction and discussed whether the troops should be sent out and where to send them out.
The interests of the emperor represented by Zhang Zhou were in conflict with the policy of stability in the northwest pursued by the civilian officials. The result was that the emperor's majesty finally decided to send troops to the northwest, but it seemed that this did not receive full support from the civilian officials.
Even Zhang Zhou knew that if he sent troops, his merits would be suppressed by civilian officials, and his mistakes would be magnified.
Civilian officials will use their power to govern the country and try their best to set up obstacles and cause trouble for those who lead troops on expeditions. This is also the biggest drawback of civil servants governing the country after the middle of the Ming Dynasty, that is, the rigidity of the military system caused by political corruption and the serious training of soldiers and horses in actual combat. Insufficient, and eventually reduced to a reserve force that can only defend the border but cannot fight tough battles.
After the court meeting ended, Zhang Zhou was called to the Qianqing Palace again.
After Zhu Youtang sat down, he didn't look too angry. He probably had been the emperor for twelve years and had been a little numb because of too much wrangling with his ministers on the northwest issue.
"Bingkuan, if I ask you to go to Xuan Mansion to lead an attack, will you have the confidence?"
Zhu Youtang now dare not take the leave of sending troops into his own hands.
If he was still counting on Wang Yue and Qin Hong before, now he understands that only Zhang Zhou can understand his meaning in terms of strategy, and only Zhang Zhou can fully stand on the emperor's stand. As for civil servants... they are closer to professional politicians. He only ensures the so-called "overall stability" and does not think about making contributions to the emperor or doing anything for the Ming Dynasty's border troops.
The "moderate" advocated by civil servants in the era of stability will push all affairs of the era in the direction of "inaction".
Zhang Zhou said: "Your Majesty, I am confident, but it takes time to prepare. May I ask how many troops and horses your Majesty can provide?"
Since he talked about sending troops, Zhang Zhou needed to discuss something practical.
If you only give him 18,000 troops, Zhang Zhou will naturally know that this will not work, but if you give Zhang Zhou 50,000 troops... it means that troops and horses will be drawn from around the Xuan Mansion and even from the entire nine sides, and the civil servants will easily agree. ?It is inevitable that there will be another round of buck-passing.
Zhu Youtang sighed: "I also know that if we want to let go of our hands and feet to fight, whether it is the dispatch of troops and horses, or the food, grass and baggage, it will inevitably affect the whole body. Even if the civil and military ministers of the DPRK and China support it, all parts of the northwest will be affected. It may not be possible to coordinate properly, not to mention... the ministers in the DPRK and China often have objections and will not fully cooperate."
Zhang Zhou nodded.
The emperor's words were tantamount to pointing out the major problem of inaction in the northwest after the middle of the Ming Dynasty.
It’s just that the execution is not good enough.
Civil servants and military generals, or border army generals, have no courage to carry out the task of sending troops, and they all feel that they can advance or retreat. It is better to stay in the pass and be a coward. If you go out to fight, you can live a life of being a coward. Yes, then why do you still fight so hard?
Once the outbound strategy is wrong, the number of casualties may not necessarily be unacceptable, but the impact on the border situation, involving farming, daily life, etc., will inevitably be affected too much. The final result... everyone comes together to mess around. day.
The more mixed up, the less effective it is to execute.
A vicious cycle is formed.
The knife was not placed on his neck, so he didn't know the danger.
Zhang Zhou said: "Your Majesty, in my opinion, if the Xuan Mansion wants to send troops, there is no need to rush. Ten thousand soldiers and horses can be mobilized to the surrounding areas of the Xuan Mansion to conduct daily drills. When the time is right, the troops and horses can be sent from the Xuan Mansion. The government sends troops. As for sending troops, there is no need to hide it. This can force the Tatars to start war as soon as possible, and the impact on the Ming border can be minimized."
Zhu Youtang thought for a while, nodded and said: "Bingkuan, what you mean is that the Ming Dynasty openly prepared for war to intimidate the hungry wolves in the prairie and make them kill each other. When they both lose, the border will send troops to finish it off?"
Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "This is also the most ideal state. It is difficult to achieve, but at least it can show my Ming Dynasty's determination to go out."
"Yeah." Zhu Youtang just nodded and said nothing more.
Dai Yi asked: "Mr. Zhang, will this prevent the Tatars from preparing for war prematurely? How can we catch them off guard?"
Zhang Zhou said: "This is not an attack on the camp, so why should we be caught off guard?"
"But Marquis Weining..."
Dai Yi was about to express his opinion, but he couldn't help but glance at the emperor, then lowered his head and kept silent and stopped expressing any objection.
What he actually wanted to say was that Wang Yue's wars always focused on surprise attacks with light troops. Battles such as the Red Salt Pond and Weining Sea were not slow marches in a step-by-step manner. They relied more on Wang Yue's ability to size up the situation and catch the Tatars off guard. Obtained.
To put it bluntly, Wang Yue likes to take the wrong approach and use his prestige to engage in strategies that involve running thousands of miles to attack in one battle.
Zhu Youtang understood the difference and said with a smile: "Bingkuan manages the army not by cunning strategy, but by strength. The so-called steady attack proposed by Liu Gelao and others is not as good as Bingkuan's pursuit of stability. The so-called stability , there is no need to push it forward step by step with earthen forts, but rely on solid military management. Bingkuan, if I really give you 10,000 troops, how long will it take to prepare for war?"
Zhang Zhou said: "I still want to stay in the capital, so I might as well replace him with someone else to run the army."
Zhu Youtang smiled bitterly after hearing this.
You just said that you are good at running the army, but you said to let others run the army. Does this mean that you don't want to die yourself?
"Your Majesty, when Xuanfu trains its troops, what they practice is artillery. There is no need to practice within the fortresses. Outside the fortresses, the journey does not need to be hundreds of miles. They take turns to go out to the fortresses to practice artillery and blast them on the grassland. When the troops are actually sent out, At that time, among the small and medium-sized tribes in the grassland, who would be willing to be cannon fodder?"
Zhang Zhou told him his plan.
Military training means fighting instead of training, but the so-called fighting means setting up a posture and engaging in rabbit hunting on the grassland.
Let the Tatars know that the Ming Dynasty is serious and can blow up the grassland to devastation during military training, and let the tribes who are not familiar with the Ming Dynasty's new artillery know what it is.
Fight psychological warfare.
When the Ming Dynasty actually sent troops to fight against Dayan Khan or the Huoshan tribe, the small and medium-sized tribes were so frightened by the power of artillery and yellow gunpowder that they did not dare to approach to help.
"That's... quite good." Zhu Youtang smiled and nodded at first, then thought of something and asked, "Are the gunpowder and shells... not enough?"
Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "Your Majesty, speaking of which, there are quite a lot of cannonballs recently. The Ming Dynasty is rich in resources. After clarifying the manufacturing technology and processes of various cannonballs, and the materials are almost inexhaustible, what is left? Use these cannonballs and gunpowder to kill Di Yi."
"Okay, then I will listen to you and dispatch 10,000 troops and horses. From where?" Zhu Youtang asked, "The capital camp?"
Zhang Zhou said: "Back to Your Majesty, I would like to invite people from all over the country to mobilize three to five hundred troops to the Xuan Mansion to conduct military exercises together. We will use the military exercises as a purpose and conduct combat training to train the artillery and artillery in various places in the nine-border town. Gunners, etc., to familiarize them with the use of artillery. His Majesty previously ordered cannons to be cast in various places in the northwest. Doesn’t it also require people who know artillery to complete the daily defense and garrison?"
"Oh?" The more Zhu Youtang listened, the more excited he became.
Dai Yi reminded with excitement: "Your Majesty, Mr. Zhang's move has served multiple purposes. He is training troops to intimidate the grassland tribes and training gunners at the same time. Originally, artillery was used in the northwest, so shouldn't there be more training?"
"Yeah." Zhu Youtang also nodded in approval.
Zhang Zhou said: "For the training of troops, I may not necessarily go there in person, but the preparations for war in various parts of the Nine Borders also need to be upgraded. Even if the Tatars know that the Ming Dynasty sends troops from the Xuanfu, we must let them feel that we, the Ming Dynasty We can send out troops from all the towns on the nine sides at the same time. Only in this way can we make the grasslands full of soldiers and make them fearful without fighting!"
"good!"
Hearing this, Zhu Youtang no longer had any worries in his heart.
"Use war as training, Bingkuan, what you said is really in line with what I have in mind. The so-called where to send troops is just a cover. Ming Dynasty is exactly what it wants to do. There are garrison troops everywhere, and they can be anywhere. Send troops, and the towns on the nine sides are both passes and bridgeheads. They can march on the grassland at any time... Only in this way can the Di Yi in the north know where the king's way is and where the power of heaven lies!"
Zhu Youtang was in a high mood and was completely moved by Zhang Zhou's mood.
In the past, if someone told him this, he would slap him back first and still shock the grassland. Does our Ming Dynasty have that strength?
But now with Zhang Zhou... With the previous great victories as a foundation, Zhu Youtang's military and political ambitions began to expand.
this moment.
It also made Zhang Zhou realize.
The emperor in the Ming Dynasty was the one who understood the golden mean the most, followed by... the prince. Zhu Youtang and his son would not be willing to follow the old ways to achieve the so-called stability of the northwest.
Probably everyone who becomes an emperor has the ideal of becoming an eternal wise king.
…
…
After Zhang Zhou discussed military affairs with the emperor, he immediately had to take care of "private affairs."
It is better to diagnose Empress Zhang's condition and become a doctor. Even Zhang Zhou felt that the identity contrast was a bit big.
He was both the emperor's trusted staff advisor and his personal doctor...but the emperor actually didn't go with Zhang Zhou to consult Empress Zhang. After being tricked by Zhang Zhou into a comprehensive attack on the northwest, Zhu Youtang was very satisfied. Went out of the palace to watch a play.
The play rehearsed that day was "Dingjun Mountain".
The veteran general Huang Zhong grew stronger and stronger, and sent troops to Cao Cao to capture Dingjun Mountain... It just matched the emperor's mood and allowed him to continue his excitement...
Zhang Zhou asked for a consultation, and this time he took the pulse directly. Afterwards, he thought about it carefully, as if he was considering what new prescription to prescribe to Queen Zhang.
"Bingkuan, I heard that His Majesty often leaves the palace to watch plays recently, and every time he comes back, he tells me about the content of the play. Does this mean that there is nothing going on in the government and the public, so is Your Majesty's heart so free?" Empress Zhang now also regards Zhang Zhou.
"One of my own", while consulting with Zhang Zhou, actually talked to Zhang Zhou about the "private affairs" between their husband and wife.
Empress Zhang really had no one to ask about matters outside the palace.
Moreover, Empress Zhang also had a sense of crisis... She vaguely knew that the emperor had to obey the Queen Mother Zhou when he left the palace, and the Queen Mother Zhou had always wanted to have a concubine for the emperor.
In the palace, it was Empress Zhang's territory, but out of the palace, Empress Zhang didn't even know what the emperor was doing outside, so how could she control the emperor's behavior?
Zhang Zhoudao: "Except for the first time I accompanied your Majesty to the theater, I have never been there again. Your Majesty may have been paying attention to theater recently. Queen, should you invite these theater troupes to the palace? Then...
…Let the queen also see it?"
"It's not impossible." Empress Zhang took her wrist back and said with emotion, "I have mentioned this to Your Majesty before, but Your Majesty meant that the troupe has always been a top performer and there is no need to disturb the palace. I feel that
Your Majesty has not been so close to me recently. Bingkuan, is there any way you can help me get pregnant as soon as possible?"
Zhang Zhou picked up his pen and was about to write a prescription.
After hearing this, he shook his head.
It means there is nothing that can be done for the time being.
A female official next to me said: "If you can't let your mother get pregnant, then why do you need to come for consultation?"
"Haha." Zhang Zhou smiled.
Empress Zhang said: "Don't be rude to the Zhang Qing family. He is a miracle doctor. If you can't diagnose and treat him well, you can't do it to others! Let the Zhang Qing family admit their mistake."
"Yes, your Majesty. Mr. Zhang, your servant is rude." The female officer hurriedly admitted her mistake.
"It's okay." Zhang Zhou didn't seem to mind.
But Zhang Zhou is a discerning person.
The queen did not allow this female official to act arrogantly, so how dare she act arrogantly? To put it bluntly, Empress Zhang wanted to play some "conspiracy" in front of him, and do some coercion and inducement.
While showing trust in him, he also asked the female official next to him to teach him a lesson. In fact, Zhang Zhou could clearly see that the female official's hands were trembling, which showed that the female official was very weak inside...
There is no way, Zhang Zhou's reputation in the palace is too "evil". If anyone dares to follow him, he can bring down the demi-immortal from the sky thunder?
"Your Majesty, Marquis Shouning is here."
Zhang Zhou was still writing prescriptions when a young eunuch came in at the door to pass the news.
"Let him come in." Empress Zhang obviously made special arrangements for her brother to come to see her.
Then Zhang Heling came in with a step that he didn't recognize his relatives. Laoyuan cupped his hands and said: "I've met my sister, I've met Mr. Zhang."
Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "Marquis Shouning, you are polite."
After all, Zhang Heling has recently been Zhang Zhou's "student", learning how to fuck, and he is quite familiar with it.
"He Ling, is there anything important?" Queen Zhang asked.
Zhang Heling said with a smile: "I heard that my brother-in-law wants to send troops to go on an expedition recently, and he wants to send Mr. Zhang there... I'm here to ask if there is a chance, and I can help you."
"Bingkuan, do you think... is it suitable?" Queen Zhang asked in a pretentious manner.
Obviously, because Zhu Youtang now began to neglect Empress Zhang, the Zhang family had a sense of crisis and began to intend to train the Zhang family brothers to be the "pillars" of the Ming Dynasty.
