Optimus One Pillar of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 23 Overconfidence is foolishness

After making the oath between heaven and earth, the three of them were filled with great enthusiasm. Yin Zhengmao got off the boat first and went to hire a car.Wang Daoqiu and Zhang Juzheng paid money to hire a waiter on the ship to help them take their luggage off the ship.

All three of them are here to take part in the examination next year and spend the winter in Beijing.So they brought a lot of books and thick clothes, and it was really difficult for them to do it without help.

Two men were hired to help carry the books, while Wang Daoqiu and Zhang Juzheng were responsible for carrying the clothes on their shoulders.

After getting off the boat with the guys on the boat, Yin Zhengmao had already hired a carriage and was waiting for them under the boat.

As soon as he saw Wang Daoqiu and the others coming down, Yin Zhengmao hurriedly called on the coachman to come forward and help Wang Daoqiu and the others with their luggage.

The city of Beijing is not far away from Tongzhou Pier. Within an hour of the horse-drawn carriage journey, the three of them could see the city wall of Beijing from a distance.

Beijing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, is now the heart of the entire country. It borders Liaojie to the east, Taihang to the west, Mongolia, Ming's century-old enemy, to the north, and the boundless and undefendable North China Plain to the south.

Precisely because of Beijing's important geographical location, it has been a barrier for the farming civilization of the Han people in the south and against the invasion of the grassland peoples in the north for thousands of years.

Looking at the world's largest fortified city from a distance, Wang Daoqiu had seen the grand scenes of the infrastructure maniac.Therefore, he is not very interested in this city wall. He just feels that it is full of a sense of age and the accumulation of time.

Wang Daoqiu has seen the magic of the infrastructure madman, and Zhang Juzheng and Yin Zhengmao, they are both authentic bumpkins from the feudal society of the [-]th century!

So when we met the majestic city of Beijing, Zhang Juzheng's family was the sword-carrying guard of the Liao Prince's Palace. Naturally, the Hun Prince's Palace had been taught by their elders to be cautious in their words and deeds since they were young.Therefore, Zhang Juzheng rarely shows his true temperament. Most of the time, he has a pretending, poker face.Now facing the towering city wall of Beijing, I don't know whether Zhang Juzheng is excited or not. Anyway, he still has a young and mature look on his face.

Zhang Juzheng has been living in the prince's palace since he was a child, and he is good at pretending.When Yin Zhengmao Zhengzong had a surname in the mountains at the foot of Huangshan Mountain, when he saw the mighty and majestic city of Beijing, he immediately looked like a fool who had never seen the world before, pointing at the city gates, city walls, towers, turrets, and arrow towers, and the wide ones. The 50-meter moat faced Wang Daoqiu with bursts of chatter, proudly pretending that the Beijing city wall belonged to his home.

He even sighed to Wang Daoqiu: "Liangzhen, Brother Wei failed the exam twice before. Brother Wei has seen a lot of this Xiongcheng City in Beijing. But for some reason, Brother Wei always sees this majestic In the city of Beijing, people can't help but be excited and excited. I think back to when Emperor Chengzu built this majestic city, the emperor guarded the country, and the king died in the country, how domineering it was!"

As Yin Zhengmao spoke, his head was still held high, as if he was arrogant and in need of a beating.Seeing his dead look, Wang Daoqiu felt dissatisfied.So he retorted: "Brother Shi Ting, when Chengzu moved the capital to Beijing, he claimed that the emperor would guard the country and the king would die. I think that Chengzu's move was so heroic, but it was really short-sighted." "What, Chengzu was short-sighted when he moved the capital to Beijing. ? Brother Liangzhen, how do you say this?"

"How do you say this? Brother Shi Ting, you are always good at chess, right? Then let me ask you, if you are asked to put your veteran at the front of your camp, against the Chu River and Han realm. I would like to ask Shi Ting Brother Ting, are you still confident that you can win this game?"

"This………."

Wang Daoqiu said this, and Yin Zhengmao also understood what Wang Daoqiu meant.yes!When playing chess, you put the veteran at the front, and he can reach you at any move, so how can you play this chess game?

Yin Zhengmao figured it out, and Zhang Juzheng, who was smarter than Yin Zhengmao, naturally understood the dangers involved.So thinking of the consequences of putting the capital on the front line, Zhang Juzheng couldn't help shouting in surprise: "Brother Liangzhen, you are saying that putting the capital on the front line will make Ming lose the initiative in the war."

"Of course, the ancient sage kings, Emperor Qin and Han Wu, Emperor Tang Zong and Song Zu, and even Emperor Hongwu, the great ancestor of our dynasty, all of them are well versed in military affairs. They are one of the few military geniuses in China's 2000 years! They are so talented. , the force is so tyrannical, but which of them puts the capital on the front line of the battlefield? Look at these ancient sage kings, none of them puts the capital on the front line of the battlefield. You should understand that Emperor Cheng moved the capital to Beijing. City, what a mistake this is.”

"Look at the consequences of putting the capital on the front line of the battlefield. In order to protect the capital, which must not be lost, there are a so-called 15 imperial guards stationed in the capital. The outer areas of the capital range from Shanhaiguan, Jizhou to Xuanda There are 10,000+ troops stationed on the front line of the Great Wall, and small Great Walls are built in Miyun, Huairou and other places between the capital and the Great Wall. As the second line of defense, heavy troops are also stationed to prevent the Mongols from coming. This is a handful, and the defense of the capital is There are almost 50 troops stationed on the three lines of defense."

"In the military system of our dynasty, an ordinary soldier is paid one stone per month, and a cavalryman is paid two stones per month, including salt, cloth, etc. Basically, an ordinary soldier's annual salary is equivalent to more than 18 taels of silver. This means that even if the 50 troops are all Calculated based on the salary of soldiers, it costs tens of millions of taels a year. This includes the weapons and equipment, training, and daily management expenses of the 50-strong army. This number is unimaginable."

"An army of 50 people, with a military salary of tens of millions of taels a year, stays on the city wall every day, waiting for the Mongols to attack! Brother Shi Ting, Brother Taiyue, do you think this is ridiculous? What's more terrible is that these troops still They are all dead moves and cannot be moved. For example, now that the Mongols are attacking the northwest and Liaodong, do these 50 troops dare to go to reinforce them? Once these 50 troops dare to leave, the Mongols will undoubtedly march straight into Beijing. After all, the northwest is also Well, be it Liaodong, how can they not be as fat as Beijing!"

"So if our capital is placed on the front line of the battlefield, then the main force of our army can only stay here to protect the capital, thus completely losing mobility. And if our capital is not Beijing, but Nanjing in the time of Taizu, What will happen then? That is, no matter where the Mongols attack our border with the Ming Dynasty, our army can calmly go to reinforce us. But if the Mongols want to attack our core, then they have to fight across the Yellow River and the Huaihe River , fought across the Yangtze River, and charged all the way for more than two thousand miles."

"These two thousand miles are the depth of our national defense strategy. We can use this strategic depth to attack the enemy layer by layer. We can use this strategic depth to trade space for time, so that we have time to mobilize troops and supplies. So for one For a country's national defense, strategic depth is a must, and the combat effectiveness of an army also needs to be guaranteed by mobility. After all, from ancient times to the present, no army has ever been able to defeat the enemy without attacking and just relying on being beaten. "

"So Grandpa Cheng was indeed very heroic when he put the country's capital on the front line of the battlefield and the emperor guarded the country's gates. But it was also a bit foolish. This was tantamount to him destroying the strategic depth of our Ming Dynasty. And destroying our Ming Dynasty's army. The main force of the army was tied up near the capital, causing the army to completely lose its mobility and offensive capabilities. It's like playing chess, and the consequences are the same if you put the veteran in front of the pawns."

(End of this chapter)