Chapter 673: Navy's Southern Expedition
However, Miao Gui reported another extremely important piece of information, an urgent military report from Shunfengsi: the army of Badu is gathering and intends to march south to the Caspian Sea.
Instead of crossing Taiheling to the east to support Harkhorin, Badu went south to the Caspian Sea. What does this mean?
The Ministry of War judged that Badu showed signs of questioning Hubili and confronting him.
Because among all the grassland forces at present, the Golden Horde of Badu is the strongest. To be the leader of the Mongolian army , the Khan has to compete with each other in strength. However, it is not ruled out that Badu and Hubili will join forces to fight against our Shenwei Army and prevent our plan to recover our territory.
Zhao Yulin thought for a while and said that Hu Bili had written him a letter, implying that we had pushed him too hard and he had no time to move.
Wang Hanchen occupied a large area of land and needed to sort it out and stabilize it, and establish a local government to consolidate his rule before he could move forward. Then we should slow down our pace and wait until Hubili and Badu are clear about who is the boss before we take action.
Miao Gui thinks that there are some problems with the strategy during this period. For example, when attacking the Hubili military group, we could have rushed forward and wiped out the remaining enemies in one battle, but we followed behind like herding sheep. Although we seized a large tract of land without any sacrifice, we did not eliminate the Hubili’s vitality.
If Hubli, Hulagu and Badu make peace with each other, the three forces combined will become a powerful force. If our Shenwei Army attacks again at that time, the situation will be very dangerous.
Zhao Yulin patiently said: Any outcome is possible. If we defeat Hubili, we should fight Alibuge next. After we eliminate Alibuge, there is still Xuliewu. Now Badu is coming again. If we continue to fight like this, how much sacrifice will we have to make to complete the plan of restoring the country?
Miao Gui was silent, nodded and drank tea.
He said: The worst situation at the moment is that Badu, Xuliewu and Hubili shake hands and make , and come together to deal with us. This situation is possible, and we must be prepared.
Wang Hanchen's vanguard has reached Suiye City. This area is vast, with many feudal lords, and has been ruled by Chagatai for a long time. We cannot simply defeat them like Hubili did. Once someone gathers troops to rebel, it will be very dangerous to cut off our food supply.
That's why I asked the Han officials to slow down and prepare for defense. Once we have established defenses and stand firm like a mountain, those scattered tribes will not dare to act rashly, and Hubili will definitely go west.
In this case, they will fight again for territory and destroy themselves.
War is about achieving the greatest victory at the lowest cost.
Miao Gui nodded and told him that Mobei was too big and too wide, and Zhang Zhi's troops were busy suppressing bandits in various places and could not completely withdraw, so their advance westward to Taiheling was a bit slow.
Zhao Yulin nodded and told them not to be anxious. We are not going to the grassland just to see the scenery. We must hold on and move forward.
Hua Yue nodded. He was in charge of daily expenses, and he felt a little annoyed when he saw the huge expenditures on military logistics. These were all real money, and they couldn't just go to waste. He thought the Mongolian army escaped too quickly, and the Shenwei Army really needed to slow down after taking over a large area of land and examine the governance issues. They couldn't eat soft-boiled eggs and get diarrhea.
Zhao Yulin said, "Let's do it this way. The general direction has been decided, so let the commander on the front line make the decision. He is going to write a letter to Prince Hu."
Everyone knew that this meant the meeting was over, and they all stood up and said goodbye.
Zhidi accompanied him to the study and made some new tea. He asked Zhidi to wait for a moment, and after thinking for a while, he asked her to ask the maid to invite Wu Qian to come and sit down.
The woman smiled and said she had nothing to do and would go and invite them in person.
Zhao Yulin wrote back to Hubili with his brush. Before he finished writing, Shunzhidi came in with Wu Qian. After he finished his work, he asked Zhidi to copy a copy for the archives, and then he sat down to chat with Wu Qian.
Wu Qian asked him: "Your Majesty, are you worried about the Western Regions? Do you want to ask me for advice?"
Zhao Yulin smiled and said that Mr. Wu was truly an immortal, as he knew what Zhao wanted.
Wu Qian laughed immediately and told him that Madam Zhidi had already told him on the way here that he estimated that the king planned to use a variety of methods such as control, amnesty and establishing vassal relations to deal with the affairs of the Western Regions.
Zhao Yulin said with a smile: That’s great, it’s Mr. Wu who really understands me.
He said: During the Han and Tang dynasties, the vast territories of the Western Regions were not all directly governed by the Zhongyang Dynasty. Most of them adopted a tributary system to achieve restrained rule. He believed that we could also adapt to local conditions and flexibly apply these methods to achieve the unification of the Western Regions and reduce unnecessary sacrifices.
Wu Qian nodded and drank his tea, saying lightly: In recent years, we have fought against the Mongolian army and launched wars in the north year after year. Although we have defeated the enemy, our national strength has also been greatly consumed. The key is that the loss of young and middle-aged population is very large. Every victory was built with the flesh and blood of young men. We should reflect on whether there is a better way?
Zhao Yulin looked at Wu Qian and said: I plan to ask Mr. Wu to go to the Western Regions in person, firstly to see how the prefectures and counties there are set up and how the government offices are organized. Secondly, to do some practical work on behalf of the court and use all means to stabilize the Western Regions.
Then he added, however, those diehards who hate our New Song Dynasty must be severely punished, just like the Mongolian army, to serve as a warning to the rest.
Otherwise, there will never be peace in the Western Regions.
Wu Qian nodded and told him that he needed to plan carefully.
The next day, Zhao Yulin convened the officials of the Central Council to discuss the matter and told them his new idea for governing the Western Regions. They all approved of it, but Miao Gui was a little confused.
He said with a smile that this is called making friends with distant countries and attacking nearby ones. Although our country is big, we cannot conquer everywhere and start fires everywhere. He proposed that Wu Gong be appointed as the special envoy to the Western Regions and go to Suiye City to handle the affairs of the Western Regions.
Hua Yue agreed with his point of view, believing that the Western Regions were large, with a large and complex population and ethnic groups, and that someone should indeed be sent to the Western Regions to deal with the situation. On this trip, Mr. Wu could also bring more officials from the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue with him. Even if they could not help Mr. Wu, they could still gain more experience.
Zhao Yulin nodded and said: "The soldiers use swords and guns to resolve disputes, but we can't govern the Western Regions immediately. He asked Miao Gui to go to Liaoyang to supervise the military affairs of the Korean Peninsula. If he deals with the island Japanese country, he will be severely punished. If we want to fight, we will strike hard, so that the Japanese pirates will be afraid when they hear the Shenwei Army."
Miao Gui was happy as long as there was a war to fight. When he heard that he was asked to go to Liaoyang and attack the Japanese island together with Feng Gui, he was happy and immediately agreed.
Yu Jie said with a smile: Our king really has a good eye for talent. He asked Lord Wu to take action to stabilize the Western Regions, and asked Lord Miao to go to the Korean Peninsula to command the fight against the Japanese pirates. This is the best way to make use of each other's strengths.
The gentlemen laughed immediately.
Zhao Yulin said: Don't just focus on dealing with the Japanese pirates, we also need to build roads, build cities, and establish smooth post stations. We want to govern and manage the peninsula.
Miao Gui nodded repeatedly in agreement.
After the meeting, Zhao Yulin asked Zhidi to arrange for a group of young students to be selected from various academies for Wu Qian and others to take out for training. He said apologetically: I have only been able to relax for a few days, and now I have to take up the burden of the Ministry of Personnel again. Madam, you are suffering.
The woman leaned on his chest, closed her eyes happily and said: It's not hard, not hard. It's much easier than when I was a child in the small village of Sifangjing, where I was busy in the mountains all day long.
Five days later, Zhao Yulin and the officials of the Central Council saw Wu Qian and Miao Gui off, and the two left Beijing at the same time and went their separate ways.
In Shenglong Prefecture, Yunnan Road, Yang Xingyun, the Minister of War, arrived and was discussing military affairs and military reforms with the Defense Envoy of Baiyue.
Seeing that Du Baiyue was in good condition, Yang Xingyun did not mention the issue of awarding ranks, but directly inspected the army and checked the daily lives of the brothers at the front-line outposts. Seeing that the Yunnan soldiers became more energetic under Du Baiyue's training, he sat down to discuss military reforms.
He told Baiyue: The Ministry of War handed over the best military equipment and the most advanced weapons to the Yunnan soldiers. This was the court's and the Third Young Master's trust in Baiyue. Although an army was not large, with only 50,000 or 60,000 soldiers, he believed that it concentrated the essence of the Yunnan soldiers, which was definitely worth ten with one, had super combat power, and was a powerful force that could guard the southern gate for the New Song court.
Baiyue was very encouraged, knowing that the troops would experience earth-shaking changes after being equipped with new weapons.
He told Xingyun to rest assured and go back to tell the Third Young Master that he would live up to expectations and do a good job in military reform. Yunnan Road not only had to train a new army, but also had to send 50,000 garrisons to the Western Regions to defend the northwest of the New Song Empire.
He told Yang Xingyun: Xiaolin, the pacification envoy, attached great importance to military reform. When he learned that the army was going to support the war in the Western Regions, Sister Sihan personally mobilized and encouraged the Yunnan men to go to the Western Regions, take root in the frontier, and build the frontier. They suggested that the Yunnan soldiers set out from Dali, take the ancient tea-horse road of Tubo, and enter the Western Regions via the Sangzhu Ancient Road.
Yang Xingyun nodded and said with a serious expression that this road was much shorter, but extremely dangerous. The Yunnan soldiers had lived in warm places for a long time, and they would definitely encounter many unexpected problems when they suddenly went to the cold plateau. He had to explain it thoroughly to the soldiers and make them fully prepared.
In fact, it is impossible to say that Du Baiyue had no ideological burden at all. Otherwise, he would not have gone to Thang Long Prefecture to train his troops. He should have stayed in Kunming and discussed the plan of governing Yunnan with the officials of Luzhi. Leaving Thang Long was just a way of hiding.
Yang Xingyun came to visit him in person. He was delighted and said happily that they had prepared the best swords, guns, bows and arrows for the soldiers on the Western Expedition, prepared brand new cotton-padded clothes and quilts, and bought a large amount of pepper to make soup to keep out the cold.
Yang Xingyun nodded and told him: The army is moving westward, and marching means fighting. The guards at all levels must do a good job of ideological mobilization for the soldiers, and the logistics should be considered more carefully. They should listen more to the opinions of veterans and officials who have been to Tibet.
Baiyue nodded in agreement, and the two continued to discuss the details.
Here, we move the camera further south, to the Songzhou Protectorate of the New Song Dynasty. Admiral Yi Shuigui, commander of the navy's South China Sea expeditionary formation, is talking with the governor Si Lang.
After Yi Shuigui killed the rebel general Zheng Qilang, he carried out a thorough purge of the Song army that fled to the island. After appointing Si Lang as the governor of the Song Dynasty Protectorate, he sorted out the personnel on the Song Dynasty Island. After eliminating the dissidents on the island, he immediately launched the first southern expedition.
