Invincible Zhengde

Chapter 162 Grand Strategy

At this time, Fengzhoutan was an arable area with fertile and mulberry land, an enclave suitable for arable land outside the traditional Han land.But this is the Qiantao area north of the Yellow River (Qiantao is a concept in the modern sense), which is not actually within the concept of Hetao in the Ming Dynasty.People in later generations often confuse these two geographical concepts. Some people probably think that the thousands of miles from Yinchuan in Ningxia to Yulin are blessed places on earth with abundant water and grass when they talk about Hetao.

In fact, this is not the case. The Hetao area in the Ming Dynasty was not suitable for farming. It was actually the Fengzhou Beach outside the Tao to the north of the Yellow River that was suitable for farming, and the river was also used for irrigation.

The vicinity of Ordos in the Hetao is rich in water and grass, but due to the lack of precipitation, it is more suitable for grazing. This is the area where Taolus were often active in the Ming Dynasty.

While flipping through the old files, Zhu Houzhao said to Liu Jin, "Go and find a map of Hetao for me!"

"Yes, Your Highness!" Naturally, Liu Jin did not dare to be negligent, and hurriedly went to find a map for Zhu Houzhao. Because Zhu Houzhao had studied military affairs with Liu Daxia before, there was no shortage of maps of Xianyang Palace, so Liu Jin not only found the current general map of Hetao, but also Also look for old maps from Hongwu and Yongle years.

Zhu Houzhao glanced at Liu Jin approvingly, and then took out the old map from the Yongle period. The first thing Zhu Houzhao found was Daningwei.

Why did Zhu Houzhao look for this Daningwei in Liaodong?Because the Great Ningwei was also abolished in the first year of Yongle, and was later occupied by Beiyuan, it had a very similar situation to Hetao.What's more, Zhu Houzhao had to consider the whole situation, and he had to deal with Dayan Khan, not just Huozhai in Hetao.

Soon Zhu Houzhao found the location of the Daningwei, and began to compare it with later generations on the map. The jurisdiction of the Daningwei included the northern part of Hebei Province, the southeastern part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Liaoning, Jilin, and northwestern Heilongjiang.It is recorded in the old archives that Daning is located outside Xifengkou, in the ancient state of Huizhou, connecting Liaozuo in the east and Xuanfu in the west. It is a giant town.Commanding the upper ninety cities, with [-] armour, [-] leather chariots, and the three guard cavalry of Duoyan, all of them are brave and good at fighting.

Zhu Houzhao reached out and tapped the map. If Daningwei was still there, why would the Liaodong Bureau be here?In the first year of Yongle, the Great Ningwei was abolished. Why?Could it be that Zhu Di's military vision is so bad?Zhu Houzhao began to search for old files, and soon Zhu Houzhao found it.

In fact, Daningwei is also a place that cannot be self-sufficient, and has to spend the power of the four inland provinces to supply it.

The supply pressure is too great, so the Daningwei was abolished. Is it really because of this reason?You must know that the Yongle period was not poor, and Emperor Taizong Zhu Di spent a lot of money on several northern expeditions.Soon Zhu Houzhao found out the reason. According to the old records, he said to Jin Youzi and others during the first Northern Expedition in the eighth year of Yongle: "To destroy the remnant captives today, only keep Kaiping, Xinghe, Ningxia, Gansu, Daning, and Liaodong. Then there will be nothing wrong with the frontier."

However, Zhu Di still felt that it would be a one-and-done solution once and for all to withdraw all the guards in the south of the monastery and concentrate their forces to eliminate the Bei Yuan. He Fu once asked Zhu Di to restore the Dongsheng Guard, but Zhu Di still disagreed. If you want to set up a victorious guard in the east, this strategy is very happy, you must wait until all the guards in the town and the border are settled, and then you will establish it, and you will never be in danger."

Zhu Di believed that the establishment of guards should wait until the Ming army wiped out the remnant Yuan forces in Lingbei Province to inherit and confirm the northern border of the Yuan Dynasty. All the guards will not be restored in the future.

From these old files, Zhu Houzhao can tell that Emperor Taizong Zhu Di is very ambitious and confident in himself. He believes that he can destroy Beiyuan and bring the whole Monan Mongolia into Ming Dynasty, and then he can divide the border and establish Weisuo, but he failed, he died on the way to the last northern expedition.

Sighing softly, Zhu Houzhao smiled wryly. He found that he was thinking the same as Zhu Di. In Zhu Houzhao's view, only by turning the whole of Monan Mongolia into a horse grazing land for Ming can completely solve the troubles in northern Xinjiang. .If the fire sieve is extinguished today, a water sieve may appear tomorrow, can you extinguish it?

You fight, people run, you leave, people come back, it is endless, as long as the grassland is still there, this problem cannot be solved.

Although Daningwei was abandoned, it was also occupied. In the fourth year of Jingtai, Duoyan Sanwei begged to live in the abandoned city of Daning. The Ming court refused to allow it and ordered him to live two hundred miles away.After Tianshun, the land entered the three guards, but it was still occupied by the three guards of Duoyan.

Zhu Houzhao turned his attention to the Hetao. Occupying the Hetao will inevitably become a huge burden.Thinking about the current situation in Daming, Zhu Houzhao instantly felt that there was a long way to go. His eyes moved here, and Zhu Houzhao's eyes fell on Fengzhou Beach. If he really wanted to occupy it, he might as well occupy Fengzhou Beach, that is, the front set.

However, Qiantao is a farming enclave. It is far away from the traditional Han land and does not border on it. It is separated from Datong Shuozhou, which is the key point of defense in Shanxi, with a large mountain range. There will be many problems in military strategy. It's easy to become a lone army.Therefore, although the Ming Dynasty sent troops to attack and burn down Fengzhou Tanbansheng City once, it had no intention of occupying this place.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty could not talk about giving up or not giving up the Hetao at all. The Ming Dynasty never actually controlled the Hetao, so how can they talk about giving up?

Zhu Houzhao looked through the old files and found that the Hetao area was actually a no-man’s land that no one cared about in the early Ming Dynasty. In the early Ming Dynasty, in view of the fact that after the Yuan Dynasty’s forces retreated northward, there were few Inner Mongolians in the Hetao area, they directly took the surviving people in the Hetao area or expelled them. , or the policy of relocating to the Mainland.

Regarding this period of history, Zhu Houzhao still found it in the old files, "In four years, the general Tang Hebing attacked Chahannaoer, captured the fierce general Huchen Township General Xie Cheng and others, and brought them into the interior, Hetao Suixu ".The few remaining tribes were also moved into the interior, creating no-man's land as a military buffer zone.

The place where Dongshengwei is set up is also outside the set, which is closer to Fengzhou Beach. In fact, it was only used as a link in the defense system of Shanxi in the early Ming Dynasty. As an outpost for the army to march from Shanxi in the elastic defense system in the early Ming Dynasty, it was not for defense Controls the Loop settings.Therefore, the abolition of Dongshengwei has nothing to do with Hetao, it is just a strategic adjustment.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Hongwu and Yongle could not have predicted the changes in civil engineering, nor could they have predicted the trouble of trapping captives. After all, they were not gods.In their generation, because Hetao was a no man's land, in fact it was not fortified at all.

It’s just that a few years later, when the Tatars were oppressed by Oala and had to move to the Hetao area, causing the problem of captives, the Ming people looked back and said, oh, why did Dongshengwei give up such an important place?Why was the Hetao abandoned?
Many people, including Ming people, like to use the comparison between Han and Tang Dynasties to restore Hetao. In fact, as the economic center of gravity moves south, the capital is no longer in Guanzhong but in Beijing.

The strategic threat of the Hetao to the Central Plains is not as great as that of the Han and Tang Dynasties. After all, the Hetao can directly approach the existence of the Longyou Pass. The ruling center of the Ming Dynasty is not in the Guanzhong, and there is no motivation like the Han and Tang Dynasties to seize the Hetao.If you want to seize control, the only reason is to open up the map and use the people's fat and anoint to fight for fame.

Does this mean that the Hetao is not important?Is the Loop bad?No, it's important, and it's good.

But if you want to repeat the plan, you have to build a city in Fengzhoutan, otherwise the logistics supply will be unsustainable, and the imperial court cannot spend a lot of money on this place unless it is profitable.The best location is actually Fengzhou Beach. As long as the city is built on Fengzhou Beach, then Daming will actually control the entire Hetao.

But to build a city in Fengzhou Beach, the problem of defense and isolated city must be solved, otherwise the city will be harassed and captured. It is like a piece of fat in front of Bei Yuan. The better it develops, the better it will be. If it is fat and beautiful, Beiyuan will covet it more seriously. If it is a little careless, the city will be destroyed and people will die. After many years of development, it will be destroyed, and it will even become an important city of Beiyuan.

If we want to solve this problem, we can only take down the whole Monan Mongolia and turn Monan Mongolia into Daming's horse grazing land, otherwise this threat will always exist.

Zhu Hou looked at the map and fell into deep thought. Now he somewhat understands Zhu Di's actions. This is out of strategic considerations. If he wants Hetao land, he can only wipe out the entire Monan Mongolia and completely occupy this place.Zhu Houzhao also understood why Zhu Di was so persistent in the Northern Expedition. From a grand strategic point of view, it was ahead of schedule, and it was also very great.

Sweeping his eyes over the map, Zhu Houzhao found that if he wanted to completely occupy Monan Mongolia, the basic strategy still had to follow Zhu Di's direction.

First of all, the fire screen entrenched in the Hetao land must be eliminated. They cannot be allowed to occupy this place. Turn this place into a no-man's land again and make it a strategic buffer zone. Then start in the east, consolidate Liaodong, and send troops to attack Duoyanwei. Take back Daning City occupied by Duoyan Sanwei, and then use Daning City as the foundation to continue to advance deep into the grassland.

Defeat Fengzhou Beach in the west, and then build a city in Fengzhou Beach. At that time, Ming can send troops from Fengzhou Beach to fight eastward, and can also send troops from Liaodong and Daning to fight westward. Take down the entire Monan Mongolia, or you will have to withdraw from Fengzhou Beach again. This is a war of destroying the country that cannot be stopped from the beginning.

The Western Expeditions of the Qing Dynasty in later generations implemented this strategy, and at the same time they were able to attack from along the Great Wall, so that the entire Monan Mongolia could be completely included in the bag.

Stretching out his hand to draw from east to west on the map, Zhu Houzhao smiled wryly, and sat on the chair weakly. Relying on Daming's current national strength, relying on Daming's current financial strength, relying on Daming's current military strength, it is impossible to realize this idea at all.It is meaningless to simply fight Hetao and Daning, and it is useless except to increase the financial burden of the court.

Only when you take Monan Mongolia, you can move the Great Wall defense line forward, otherwise the Great Wall defense line needs a lot of consumption, and maintaining Hetao and Daning still requires a lot of consumption, this consumption is really too big, especially in this transportation Under the conditions, it would be great if there was a train, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help sighing.

(End of this chapter)