Chapter 1352 Nanyang Wind and Rain - The Third Way
"Who knows whether what you said is true or false?" After hearing Cao Che's explanation that these soldiers were not from his Taiwan town, Zhu Gaoxu believed it in his heart, but he still said this.
Cao Che wasn't very familiar with him and didn't know what he was thinking, but he didn't continue to argue. Instead, he said with a smile: "Your Highness, King Su, this time I helped you defend the city. You plan to give me something to do."
What reward?”
"You came to Nanyang under His Majesty's order and you still want a reward? And you are not an official of our Su Fan, so it is not appropriate for me to give you a reward." Zhu Gaoxu said half-jokingly.
"What's inappropriate about this?" Cao Che said: "The army is sent to a distant place to reward the soldiers who have made meritorious service. There is no need to rush six hundred miles for the emperor to make a decision. You are the commander-in-chief of the army, and I am the one who has been ordered to come to the aid.
As a general, you can just reward your subordinates according to the rewards given by the commander-in-chief to generals who have made meritorious service." His voice was very steady, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking.
"Then I will give you a reward! But we have to wait a few days until the battle is over. Now I have nothing in my hands." Zhu Gaoxu said with a smile. He was half-joking at first to test Cao Cao.
Whether Che was joking or really asking for a reward from him, once he heard Cao Che's answer, he knew that he was indeed asking for a reward, so Zhu Gaoxu had no choice but to agree. Although Zhu Gaoxu was the prince, he did not dare to offend Cao Che.
Che is the consort, and his wife is Yun's sister. He is from the Marquis family of Jingchuan, and his eldest brother is very trusted by Yun. His status in Yun's mind may not be lower than his own. Secondly, Cao Che's official position is also very important.
Already.
As the commander-in-chief of Taiwan Town, Cao Che is located at the must-pass point from Nanyang to the capital. The geographical location is very important. Many ships related to Zhu Gaoxu pass through the Taiwan Strait every year. If he offends him and makes even the slightest move, he will be punished.
There will be losses; a garrison general like Taiwan Town has very great power. Compared with Fan Guo, it only has no diplomatic power, no waging war, and no power to independently appoint officials (but in fact, except for a few positions such as deputy general and director of the political department,
, all candidates recommended for other official positions will be approved), and the military and political power guarding the local area will be grasped, and I may have something to ask of him in the future, so I can't offend him even more.
This is also the reason why he called himself 'I, the King' from the very beginning, instead of 'Gu'. The word 'Gu' sounds too distant, but I, the King, are much closer to the people when I mention him.
"Besides, I don't have much money right now. I'm afraid I won't be able to give you much cash. I can only give you many precious antiques. But don't worry, I collected private goods from the people in western Java this time and got a lot of good things.
Things will not let you suffer." Zhu Gaoxu thought for a while and said. Although the money he robbed from Java Island was a lot this time, he still needs to pay back the money, and the expenses within the vassal are also very large, so he is unwilling to give it to Cao Che
There was too much money, so I could only give him very valuable antiques. These antiques were of high value, but it was not easy to cash them in. Zhu Gaoxu didn't want to bother, so he had to give them to Cao Che directly.
However, Cao Che seemed unwilling to accept the antique and said with a smile: "His Royal Highness won such a victory in Java this time and surrounded the army personally commanded by the King of Majapahit. If he agrees to release Gramavarda,
If you take a way out, you will definitely get a lot of gold and silver that Vigrama Vardhana "sincerely" offers; if you insist on annihilating the army led by Vigrama Vardhana, then lead the troops to Bitter Orange City to open up the Majapahit Kingdom's officialdom.
It’s very easy to access the treasury at will, so how can you not have money?”
"This," Zhu Gaoxu originally thought that he was not clear about the situation of the war, and wanted to fool him temporarily, so that he would not change his mind after he agreed. At the same time, he also had the idea that he liked antiques or other treasures. Now both ideas have come to nothing.
, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't find the right words to deal with it for a while.
He had no choice but to laugh and change the subject bluntly: "General Cao, you just happened to come to Semarang City. I was looking for someone to discuss things, so I discussed it with General Cao."
Zhu Gaoxu took out a map of Java Island, pointed at the map and continued: "You led the troops into the city. Even if some of Wigrama Vardana's generals saw that these more than 10,000 people were not all soldiers who were good at fighting,
It's too late now, there are more than ten thousand people in the city, if we can hold on until the food is exhausted, reinforcements from Bamalan will continue to come from far away, and Wigrama Vardhana will no longer be able to capture the city."
"In this case, he will definitely seek peace again. I would like to discuss with Mr. Cao whether to let him go or insist on annihilating all the troops he leads?"
Although Zhu Gaoxu mentioned this matter to change the subject, he really wanted to discuss with others the pros and cons of the two approaches. His original plan was to knock Wigrama Varda hard for a sum of money, and then
After consuming nearly half of the army at hand, he let him go. There were two forces of similar strength in Majapahit, Wigrama Vardhana and Veerabhmi, which caused endless civil war in the country. He acted as a third party to maintain this.
The balance between the two forces has always regarded Majapahit as a banker with unlimited access.
But after half a day of brutal defense of the city, he really wanted to kill Vigramavarda, but he didn't want to let him and his army go. He also thought about it seriously and felt that this
In the future, although there will be no endless civil war in Majapahit, the strength will also be severely damaged, and it will not be able to recover for years or even decades in the future. As long as you control it well, you can always suppress Majapahit, and it will not be too serious.
The consequences; and in this way, I can plunder all the Bitter Orange City at once, and have enough money to allow Su Fan to develop rapidly. Taken together, it may not be worse than the previous method.
But he also suspected that this was a biased idea in his mind, so he wanted to find a third person to discuss it. Cao Che happened to be here, so he discussed it with him.
"Hmm." Cao Che thought for a while and said: "I think the first idea is more reliable. Let the two tigers in Majapahit compete for supremacy, and His Highness will mediate like an overlord in the Spring and Autumn Period, and neither party will be allowed to win."
The power has been damaged too much and it is more stable."
"The second method is not bad. Majapahit has dominated Nanyang for hundreds of years. He was the overlord of Nanyang until His Majesty sent troops in the first year of Jianye. There must be a lot of wealth accumulated in the capital. Maybe even the capital
Compared to this, if you empty it all at once, the Majapahit Kingdom will not recover for decades; and your Highness, your Su Fan will be able to get a lot of wealth, and the national power will be stronger, which is also a good way."
"I have already thought of these. It is precisely because I have thought of the benefits of both methods and felt that they are equally comparable that I have difficulty making a decision and discussed it with General Cao." Zhu Gaoxu said slightly unhappily.
Not interested in hearing what I have already thought.
Cao Che was not affected by his emotions, but picked up the map, looked at it carefully, and asked Zhu Gaoxu a few questions about Majapahit and Wigrama Vardhana. After a while, he suddenly pointed at the map.
He said in the middle: "Your Highness, how high is the mountain in the middle of the map? Is it steep? Can it accommodate a large army?"
"This mountain is not very high. The highest peak is about more than a thousand feet. The people in Majapahit measured it themselves, and they don't know whether it is true or not. Although it is a continuous mountain range, it is not that high in most places.
It is steep. There are roads in the mountains that can accommodate people, but they are not wide. You also know that people here in Nanyang are lazy, and few officials will open roads in the mountains. Anyway, most mountains are not long, so you can just go around them.
, the Majapahit Kingdom is no exception, so there is no road that can accommodate the passage of a large army. If tens of thousands of soldiers take the mountain road, it is estimated that the first ones have left the mountains, and the last ones have not yet climbed the mountain road."
After saying this, Zhu Gaoxu suddenly understood what Cao Che meant: 'Are you worried that Vigrama Vardhana will let the soldiers escape through the mountain road?"
After that, without waiting for Cao Che's answer, he asked himself and answered: "No, there is no road in the mountains that can accommodate a large army. If the tens of thousands of troops in his hands escape through the mountain roads, the army will be scattered. Even if he escapes back, he will not be able to escape."
It will take a long time to reorganize the army. During this period, he does not have many trustworthy troops and cannot keep the throne."
"It is better not to be able to keep the throne than to lose my life and army in your hands." Cao Che said calmly: "If you want to completely annihilate the army led by Vigrama Vardhana, you will have no choice but to do so.
, he will also adopt such a method. There is no need to kill all the previous kings of different surnames in Nanyang. Vigrama Vardhana and Veerabhmi are close relatives, even if Vigrama Vardhana succeeds Veerabhmi
After losing power after taking the throne, I should still be able to save my life and live in fine clothes and fine food in Bitter Orange City."
"Besides, I heard that Wigrama Vardhana has no children. According to the rules of succession of Majapahit king, Veerabhmi or his son should have succeeded to the throne, and Majapahit's ministers would not be too
By opposing Willa Bumi, this country will most likely stabilize quickly. Although it has lost the treasures accumulated for hundreds of years in Bitter Orange City, it may not be impossible to rise again in the future." Cao Che continued to analyze.
"Do you mean to use the first method to give Wigrama Varda a way out and let Majapahit's civil strife continue?" Zhu Gaoxu asked.
"Your Highness, this is not what I meant." Contrary to his expectations, Cao Che replied.
"Then what do you mean?" Zhu Gaoxu became a little confused. Although he was a little embarrassed when someone pointed out his poor thinking to his face, of course he would accept Cao Che's opinion; but Cao Che's opinion was not what he understood.
Meaning, what does that mean?
"Your Highness, what I mean is to use the third method." Cao Che said.
"The third method? What method did you come up with yourself?" Zhu Gaoxu was stunned for a moment and said.
"Not only are we going to annihilate the troops led by Wigrama Vardhana in one fell swoop, we are also going to pretend to withdraw the troops so that Veerabhmi can relax his vigilance and send troops to attack him unexpectedly, and annihilate Veerabhmi in one fell swoop!" Cao Che said loudly.
Then he explained: "Your Highness, just now the official said, 'Wigrama Vardhana currently has no children. According to the rules of succession to the throne of Majapahit, Veerabhmi or his son should have succeeded to the throne.' This point is
Not only can it explain why the second method cannot be used, it can also explain why the first method cannot be used."
"Before His Majesty sent troops to invade Nanyang, Majapahit was very powerful and was the overlord of Nanyang. Both Wigramavardhana and Veerabhmi came from when the country was still the overlord of Nanyang. They should remember that time in their hearts.
Majapahit; but now their country has become so weak that there is even endless civil war. I think Vigramawardana and Veerabhmi must not want this situation to continue; before, it was just the two of them fighting for each other.
As for the throne, without the intervention of other countries, they can still pretend to forget the matter; but if they follow the first method, consume nearly half of Wigrama Varda's army and let him go back, allowing the civil war in Majapahit to continue, His Highness will be the center of balance.
It will inevitably make them remember the time when the country was strong. In this way, it is not impossible for a certain weak force to give in and reunify the country. Especially the sentence repeated by the official just now, if Wigrama
Vardana has never had children, so he may not take the initiative to hand over the throne to Veerabhmi. If such a thing happens, your highness's plan will go wrong."
"Furthermore, other forces in Majapahit may not miss Majapahit's strength back then. If they all defect to one side in order to end the war, the other side will no longer be able to maintain the balance and will inevitably fail. Majapahit will still return to the
Unify. Let your plans fail."
"So, I feel that the first method cannot be used."