General Constitution of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 80

After placing Ning Jue on the bed again.

Zhang Juzheng and Zhou Shangwen were relieved.

The eyes of the two refocused on the map in the courtyard.

"Old General, in your opinion, how should this matter be handled?"

Zhou Shangwen frowned.

"Master Zhang, to be honest, a mere Weng Wanda may not be of such great use."

Zhou Shangwen didn't speak directly.

Having been at the border for a long time, Zhou Shangwen knew that Weng Wanda would not be able to play such a big role.

If the ministers of the Xuan Mansion are determined to let me in, it doesn't matter whether Weng Wanda is in the Xuan Mansion or not.

But he was indeed called back.

Zhang Juzheng sighed meaningfully.

"People are terrifying."

Although he didn't know what role Weng Wanda played in this matter, Zhang Juzheng knew that this matter had to be guarded against.

"Old general, there is no need to worry about Weng Wanda, just follow the authority."

"I will find a way to pass the news to Jin Yiwei. As long as Jin Yiwei makes a move, Weng Wanda will have to go back to the Xuanfu."

Hearing this, Zhou Shangwen couldn't help but snort coldly.

"Master Zhang, you still take it for granted."

Zhou Shangwen's expression gradually became serious.

"If the Xuanfu is determined to let me in, it doesn't matter whether Weng Wanda goes back or not. Similarly, if what Ke Zhong said is true, even if we use the Jin Yiwei to lure Weng Wanda back to the Xuanfu, it will be useless." It’s just a way to die for him, Weng Wanda.”

"It's better to defend yourself again."

Zhang Juzheng looked at Zhou Shangwen suspiciously.

"The old general means to find a way to transfer the soldiers from the Beijing camp to directly take over the defense of Xuanfu?"

Hearing Zhang Juzheng mentioning Beijing Camp, Zhou Shangwen almost didn't laugh out loud.

"Relying on the capital alone, the capital has long been lost."

"Let's put it this way, now that there are 6 people in the Beijing camp, my old man will chop off his head and give it to you, Zhang Shi, to play as a ball."

"The old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled, standing on the city wall lined up, can you make a circle around the city wall?"

Zhang Juzheng looked at Zhou Shangwen in disbelief.

"How can the Beijing camp be so weak?!"

"Salary! Soldiers are paid, and the salary has not been paid. How can there be soldiers in the Beijing camp?"

Mentioning the military salary, Zhou Shangwen couldn't help being a little excited.

He was originally a hereditary commander, and he couldn't understand the military households of the Ming Dynasty very well.

"Emperor Xianzong was still there, and the Beijing camp was alright, but when he came to the cabinet of the Xiaozong Dynasty, Li Wen happened to be from a military family anyway! Sigh."

Zhang Juzheng looked at Zhou Shangwen suspiciously.

"But what does this have to do with Beijing Camp?"

Mentioning this matter, Zhou Shangwen couldn't help but curse.

"It wasn't the bastards in the cabinet during Xiaozong's time. They first abolished the Kaizhong method. The salt merchants were originally in the border commercial villages, and they planted grain in exchange for salt. It has been like this since ancient times. They are good. When the Kaizhong method was abolished, the salt merchants handed over the money. If you can buy Yanyin, who will come to the border to farm?"

"There is too much money in the imperial court's accounts, and the price of food in Jiubian has more than doubled!"

"The price of food in Nine Sides has risen, and the military pay on Nine Sides has to rise accordingly. They have transferred the military pay from the Beijing camp to Nine Sides."

"Soldiers have no pay, generals have no pay, generals have no pay, go to the soldiers to ask for it, soldiers have no choice but to run away."

"In recent years, the frontier affairs have been busy every day. The more wars are fought, the more expensive the food is. The more expensive the food, the higher the military salary. The higher the military salary on the nine borders, the less the Beijing camp can get."

"The Beijing camp hasn't been paid enough for many years. It's hell to have soldiers in the Beijing camp."

Zhang Juzheng sat on the spot silently.

"What does the old general mean, let's play the Son of Heaven and directly transfer Datong soldiers to the capital?"

"no!"

Zhou Shangwen interrupted Zhang Juzheng's words decisively, and started to draw on the map with the long pole in his hand.

"The art of war goes first with food and grass, and I answer that if the bandits invade, they must have assembled outside the Great Wall."

"If I were to answer the question, I would immediately change course and go straight to Yansui, and then take Datong to Jinyang."

"It doesn't matter if Yansui is lost. Without my main force in Datong, Jinyang may also be lost. By that time, the imperial court will suffer a lot more than defending the capital once."

The mountains and rivers inside and outside Shanxi are easy to defend and difficult to attack. Zhou Shangwen knew that at this juncture, if all the soldiers and horses of Datong were transferred to the capital.

It is almost equivalent to giving the whole of Shanxi to Alda.

Back then, Wang Baobao's strategy for counterattacking the Central Plains was to base himself in Shanxi and then look down on the Central Plains.

There have been more than one generation of people on the grassland who wanted to seize Jinyang and re-emerge as emperor.

Zhou Shangwen's tone became firmer.

"If he insists on going to war, the capital is the most beneficial place for our Ming Dynasty. The emperor is here. Although the capital camp is too expensive, there are always two people who transferred my two thousand soldiers to the capital. , together with the soldiers and horses of King Qin of the world, and relying on the strong city of the capital, he will not be able to enter the city even if his front teeth are broken!"

"Even if this battle is won, Daming will be able to win the favor, but Junfu's face may be completely lost."

I answered that if he really came, it could only mean that the meat in the Xuan Mansion was already rotten. If you want to stop me, you can only stop him in the capital according to local conditions.

When Zhou Shangwen said this, he couldn't help but heaved a long sigh.

After being beaten to the capital by the Tartars, looking at the entire Ming Dynasty, only Emperor Yingzongrui had achieved this achievement, and even lost the throne once.

"The matter has come to this point, regardless of the face of Junfu, but, only relying on the old general's two thousand soldiers, this... can it be done?"

Obviously, in the eyes of Zhou Shangwen and Zhang Juzheng, the issue of Jiajing's old face was never considered at all.

What Zhang Juzheng is more concerned about is that he can easily have a million-strong army. Zhou Shangwen wants 2000 people, isn't it too childish.

Zhou Shangwen couldn't help laughing and said:

"You can't say that, we can't do it here, but it's the same on the other side."

"The Han people think the grasslands are good, and Tuda thinks the Central Plains are good. They go and return, and they go back. My answer is that they just forcibly formed a few tribes in the grassland and then coerced some Han people."

Zhang Juzheng looked at Zhou Shangwen suspiciously.

"so?"

Zhou Shangwen couldn't help snorting when he heard the words: "What else can I do? This battle is fought back and forth, and each time we lead 10 people against each other and watch from behind. Daming's frontier generals and soldiers face each other, and whoever loses, the people behind will also disperse."

Since 30 years ago, the two sides have only fought small fights. The last big fight was the battle of Yingzhou fought by Zhu Houzhao.

Even in the battle of Yingzhou, the whole battle process was similar to what Zhou Shangwen experienced.

10,000+ people watched the excitement behind, Zhu Houzhao led Jiang Bin's thousands of soldiers to fight with the little prince's thousands of people, the little prince was defeated, the Ming army pursued, and the grassland ministries began to run away.

Although it is not like the dozens of casualties written by scholar-bureaucrats, the real scale of casualties is at most about a thousand.

Even if it's useless to gather more people, there are only a thousand people who really listen to your instructions.

Zhang Juzheng was puzzled and said:

"If so, how is it different from the Five Dynasties? It's nothing more than a battle of tens of thousands of people. Why bring so many soldiers and horses to waste?"

Zhou Shangwen stared and hurriedly said: "I dare not not take it."

"If someone brings it, if you don't bring it, the opponent will become more courageous. Soldiers are also human beings. No one knows who will beat a broken drum."

"It has been 100 years since the founding of the Kingdom, and the nine sides have been fighting for 100 years. The Tartars are tired, and the frontier soldiers are also tired. They are almost like a family."

"Nowadays, only a few masters in the temple think that the two sides of the Great Wall are as clear as they were when Taizu... Oh, I didn't mean that Ke Zhong and Zhang Shi talked about you. After all, you are still young, and you are not old. At the border, there are excusable circumstances."

Throughout his life as a soldier, Zhou Shangwen understood the biggest truth.

The righteousness of the family and the country in the storytelling is nonsense, and the soldiers who can't read the characters on the nine sides don't have such a clear stand, let alone on the grassland.

Everyone is living.

If there is an advantage, take advantage of it, and if there is no advantage, run away.

Whoever treats soldiers as individuals and gives enough money will win the battle.

Zhang Juzheng was obviously relieved, but Zhou Shangwen couldn't help but said: "But Shi Zhang, don't be too happy about it, even the two thousand soldiers may not be so easy to adjust."

Although these family soldiers are quite close to Zhou Shangwen, in name, they are soldiers and horses of the imperial court after all, and the transfer is also subject to the order of the Ministry of War.

Zhang Juzheng couldn't help laughing and said: "Old General, what's so difficult about this?"

"Old General, have you forgotten something?"

Zhou Shangwen looked at Zhang Juzheng in confusion.

"I haven't forgotten, I took all the medicines prescribed by the imperial physician in the palace on time."

Zhang Juzheng couldn't stop laughing when he heard this.

"Did you forget that you came to Beijing this time to pay the border guards?"

Zhou Shangwen was taken aback.

"Isn't the court...?"

Zhang Juzheng shook his head.

"Hey, old general, the pension and reward have not been issued, how can you go back to see the soldiers without asking for it?"

"If you don't pay, the soldiers will come to Beijing to ask for money."

Zhou Shangwen, who was at a loss, said in confusion: "The frontier army entered Beijing privately? Isn't that also a capital crime?"

Zhang Juzheng shook his head.

"Bring your armor, that's the frontier army entering Beijing."

"If you come empty-handed, you will be a refugee. If Mr. Yan Ge can stop the frontier army, can he stop the refugees?"

With such a big capital, there will be thousands of refugees someday!

What is the difference between adding 2000 people and adding an extra grain of sand?

Zhou Shangwen suddenly became enlightened when he heard the words.

"Can we go and inform Yan Song tomorrow?"

Zhang Juzheng sat aside, stroking his beard and laughing: "Old General, you came up with this yourself, Zhang has never said that."

The small courtyard is full of happy air inside and outside.

Zhou Shangwen laughed so hard that he couldn't straighten up.

"It has to be you guys playing with your brains, hahaha."

Zhang Juzheng said with shame: "Zhang was also forced by the situation, forced by the situation... I hope that the old general's two thousand soldiers will never be used."

(End of this chapter)