Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 384 Countermeasures
"The recruiting by the Ministry of War went smoothly. About 100,000 people recruited from all over the country. The staff department selected [-]%. They have been training for more than a month."

Zhu Yi has been in the General Staff Department for many years, and as Minister of the Ministry of War, he is also extremely qualified.

"This conscription cost a total of 500,000 silver dollars in money and food, and the dispatched manpower went to Zhejiang Yiwu, Huizhou, Jiangxi, Tongling and other places. The source of troops is not bad."

These places are basically densely populated with mineral resources, and there are many ore miners.

As for Jiangxi, due to its sufficient population, there are naturally enough high-quality soldiers.

And this is the first time in Ming Dynasty that officials are directly dispatched to various places to recruit troops.

The recruitment system began during the Jiajing period, and the conscription was often dominated by generals. The court only needed to supervise and pay money and food.

For example, the Qi family army only needs Yiwu soldiers, and only Qi Jiguang and his descendants are recognized.

In this way, the problem of a big tail that cannot be shaken off is formed.

An uncontrolled strong army will never be tolerated by the court, so once Qi Jiguang died, the Qi family army existed in name only.

"That is to say, in more than a month, we can get [-] auxiliary soldiers?"

The emperor cheered up a little.

Even if it is [-] civilian husbands, it has a great effect, let alone auxiliary soldiers.

After some elimination, the remaining half can become a strong army.

"Your Majesty, these auxiliary soldiers who have never been on the battlefield, don't expect too much!"

Zhu Mou poured cold water on it: "If it is to fight against thieves and bandits, it can come in handy, but for the Manchu Qing, they can only wave their flags and carry food and grass."

"Soldiers are valuable, not in many."

Lu Daqi beside him couldn't help but said.

"The establishment of the Beijing Camp is not yet complete!"

The emperor couldn't help but sigh.

The Jingying, that is, the soldiers and horses led by the emperor, is mainly responsible for guarding the capital.

There are more than 50,000 people in the Firearms Battalion and the Qinbing Battalion, and some Sichuan soldiers, Southern soldiers, and military households are integrated, about [-] people.

Although it has been practiced for more than three months, it is too short after all. It has not yet formed combat effectiveness and has not passed the test.

In this way, the combat capabilities of the firearms battalion and the pro-barracks battalion were diluted instead.

"Your Majesty, in the end, the Huaihai defense line is well established, and it can be regarded as having the strength to fight."

Seeing the emperor's frowning, Zhao Shu couldn't help persuading him: "There are about 300,000 troops in Huaihai, plus [-] in the Beijing camp. If the soldiers and horses from Henan are transferred to Nanjing, we can gather [-] troops."

"Even if there is disagreement, the Manchu Qing cannot cross the Yangtze River with a thousand ships in the Yangtze River Navy."

Hearing this, Zhu Yixi breathed a sigh of relief.

At that time, the reason why Hongguang was defeated was that the Guazhou navy surrendered, and Zheng Hongkui in Zhenjiang would collapse at the first touch, so Nanjing was taken.

Sailors are life savers.

"It seems that the Manchu Qing Dynasty is likely to go south this autumn."

Lu Daqi shook his head, his expression was ugly.

"Bring me the map!"

The emperor's face changed slightly and he waved his hand.

Immediately, a large table was lifted out, and a huge map of the thirteen provinces of Ming Dynasty was presented in front of everyone.

The huge map is divided into four parts. In order to better distinguish them, a simple line (spread out with yellow silk) is divided.

Looking from north to south.

First of all, the Qing Dynasty, Shanxi, Beizhili, Shandong, Liaodong, and Weihui and other three prefectures.

Half of the Mongolian grassland, half of the Northeast.

If Liaodong is included, it is conservatively estimated that the ruling population is about [-] million.

Next is the northwest corner of Shaanxi, with Lanzhou in Lintao Prefecture as the node, including Shaanxi Xingdu Division, with a population of about one million.

This is Li Zicheng's shrunken version of Dashun.

Next, there are half of Shaanxi, Sichuan, Huguang, Jiangxi, half of Henan, Nanzhili, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, and Guizhou.

Even if Huguang suffered a military disaster, it is conservatively estimated that the population of the Ming Dynasty will still remain above 50 million.

In terms of population, Daming would never lose.

Sun Kewang, who occupies Yunnan, is in the southwest corner, but with a population of two to three million, it is not a worry.

"Clear and clear! Even if a humble minister doesn't know about military affairs, he can still understand the general trend of the world."

Jiang Yueguang exclaimed.

"Zhu Shangshu, you are in charge of the Ministry of War. You should have expected the Manchu Qing to go south!"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I just had a slight guess!"

Zhu Mo raised his head, revealing a pair of bright eyes.

He stepped forward without any timidity, pointing to the canal on the map:
"If the Manchus go south, there are only three ways to go."

"If it is a long-term strategy, it is to try our best to seize Shaanxi, and then plot Henan."

"If it is a slow strategy, just like in the first year of Hongguang, start from Henan, attack Huguang, capture Xiangyang and Wuchang, organize and train naval forces, and then go downstream to take Nanjing."

"The urgent strategy lies in the canal. Food, grass and supplies come from north to south, which is convenient and fast, but it is easy to freeze in winter."

"It's frozen, you can cut it open!"

At this time, Gao Hongtu, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, couldn't help saying: "The most important thing for the canal is not ice, but dry water."

"There is little water in the north in autumn and winter, but as soon as we reach Jiangbei, the water flow is abundant."

"The water volume of the Yellow River was okay last year."

Hearing this, the emperor sighed and said, "Besides, it's no big deal for the Yellow River to take the Huaihe River into the sea. It's not a big deal for people to pull horses for a distance of several hundred miles."

"So, Your Majesty, the most important thing is along the canal, such as Suqian, Huai'an, Gaoyou and other places. As long as more nails are placed, it can delay a lot of time."

Feng Xianzong said.

"The red-clothed cannons of the Qing Dynasty, no matter how strong the city is, they can't defend it."

The emperor said in a deep voice: "Either defeat them in a field battle, or cut off their food and grass, there are only two ways."

All the people sitting there were silent.

In terms of strength, no amount of stratagem will help.

After a few quick talks, the meeting ended without a problem.

However, it can be regarded as mental preparation in advance, so as not to be caught off guard.

But Zhao Shu stayed in the end.

Although it is said that the cabinet is a group system, the chief minister is the one who makes the final decision. Under the leadership of the strong chief minister, the other ministers in the cabinet are just a foil.

For example, during the periods of Zhang Juzheng, Yang Tinghe, and Xu Jie, the rest of the cabinet was dim.

"Your Majesty, for the current plan, the longer it takes, the better it will be for Daming."

Zhao Shuyan said concisely.

"Why don't I know this?"

The emperor nodded, and said softly: "But Man Qing also knows, so he wants to solve it quickly."

Zhao Shu thought for a while and couldn't help saying: "In this way, we can only strengthen Nanjing's strength as much as possible, and we can replace it."

The emperor probed and listened carefully.

To put it bluntly, it is to replace the recruits to Henan and Guizhou to form a defensive posture.

The replaced elite soldiers went to Nanjing.

"In this way, more than [-] elites can be obtained, and the enemy is not aware of it, and it can be regarded as our dark hand."

The emperor smiled and added ""

"In addition to this, we can also incite the people to revolt in Shandong, Shanxi and other places, and we can also disrupt their steps and buy time."

(End of this chapter)