Chapter 802: Transforming the Barbarians into Chinese
Jingren Palace, outer study.
Unlike the passionate meeting in the morning, the study was quite deserted at this time. Apart from Emperor Guangde who reviewed memorials here as usual, only the Chief Minister of the Cabinet He Tiren and the Minister of War Lu Yanbin were present.
The Minister of War Lu Yanbin stood in the middle, speaking eloquently about the general policy and many details such as logistical supplies.
After all, He Tiren was old and an important minister, so he was given a square stool and placed at the lower left of the imperial desk.
At this time, He Tiren was hunched over on a stool, his loose eyelids almost covering his eyes. The young eunuchs on both sides stared at him for a long time, but could not tell whether he was awake or dreaming.
After about two quarters of an hour, Lu Yanbin's long speech finally came to an end.
He bowed slightly and asked the emperor, "Your Majesty, this is the response strategy that the Ministry of War has adjusted based on the urgent report from Southern Xinjiang. Should it be submitted to the Cabinet immediately for further consideration by the elders? Your Majesty, please make your decision."
Emperor Guangde pondered for a while, but turned his gaze to He Tiren: "What do you think, Lord He?"
He Tiren, who was originally like a clay or wooden sculpture, stood up from his stool as if a mechanism had been triggered. He bowed and said, "The military department's strategy is well-planned and detailed. Generally speaking, there is nothing wrong with it. It's just that..."
"Just how?"
"I think that choosing the coalition forces of Qianxiang, Wuke and Mango as a breakthrough point is a wise move, but pursuing the victory afterwards is questionable."
"Lord!"
Hearing this, Lu Yanbin could not help but question, "The Qianxiang Kingdom is different from the other four countries. It has been administered by our Great Zhou for more than 30 years. The roads are smooth, the language is unimpeded, and there are many people who are close to our Great Zhou."
"Although the strategy of pursuing victory is not foolproof, as long as we proceed step by step, we will surely succeed!"
"Once we take over Qianxiang, we will not only be able to intimidate the remaining four countries, but we can also attack Zhenla from both sides, making it difficult for Zhenla to advance or retreat!"
"It seems like this, but I don't know what's wrong?"
Although the chief minister of the cabinet holds a high position of power, the minister of war is not a yes-man of the cabinet.
What's more, this strategy was personally presided over by Lu Yanbin, who painstakingly prepared it based on consultations from all parties. How could he let He Tiren deny it with just a few words?
He Tiren listened to his repeated protests and finally asked himself. His old face, which looked like a terraced field, became more and more amiable. He smiled and bowed, saying, "Don't worry, Minister Lu. There is nothing wrong with this strategy in terms of military affairs. It's just..."
Having said this, He Tiren suddenly stopped.
It turned out to be the chief eunuch Qiu Shi'an, who walked in holding a memorial.
He was seen bending over, placing the memorial on the imperial desk, and pretending to step aside, but suddenly stopped, hesitated for a while, and then reported in a low voice: "Your Majesty, this is a joint memorial from Jia Yucun, the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, and Sun Shaozong, the junior official of the Dali Temple - it is about the war in southern Xinjiang."
Emperor Guangde did not originally look at the memorial. After all, there were at least fifty or sixty memorials piled up on his desk.
But when he heard that it was a joint memorial submitted by Jia Yucun and Sun Shaozong, and that it was about the war in southern Xinjiang, he immediately became interested. He took the memorial in his hand and glanced at it.
After reading it, the emperor showed a playful smile on his face, gently put the memorial back on the table, looked up and asked: "My two beloved ministers, do you know what is written in this memorial?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Yanbin
Lu Yanbin had no choice but to frown and speculate: "Although Sun Shaoqing is a civil servant now, he is a military candidate after all, and he just put down the Huguang rebellion - could it be that Minister Jia wants to recommend him to serve in the army?"
Although Jia Yucun held the title of Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, Lu Yanbin had never really worked with him.
As for Sun Shaozong...
Although he has returned with a great victory, his impression of Sun Shaozong is still reckless.
Hence the following speculation.
After hearing what Lu Yanbin said, Emperor Guangde smiled without commenting, and then turned to look at He Tiren: "What do you think, Lord?"
He Tiren finally responded this time. He lowered his white beard slightly, then shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I have thought about it over and over, but I really can't guess what these two are saying."
Old fox!
Lu Yanbin cursed inwardly, but being cunning also depends on seniority. If he had been so perfunctory just now, he would have immediately lost points in the emperor's mind.
"Ha ha……"
Emperor Guangde suddenly laughed at this time, took the memorial in his hand again, and shook it at He Tiren: "Lord He can't guess what is written on it, but I'm afraid that these two people's thoughts are similar to yours."
He Tiren looked up at the memorial in astonishment, and finally showed a look of surprise and doubt in his eyes.
Emperor Guangde was unwilling to reveal the answer directly, but instead said with a smile: "How about you, Lord, tell me what you were going to say just now and then compare it with this memorial?"
He Tiren restrained his gaze again, and returned to his calm state. After listening to the emperor's order, he bowed and said, "I obey your order."
As he spoke, he looked at Lu Yanbin warmly and said, "Lord Lu, according to the strategy of the Ministry of War, after conquering Qianxiang and Zhenla, do we want to continue to advance into southern Xinjiang?"
"this……"
Lu Yanbin hesitated for a moment, but shook his head decisively and said, "I'm afraid it's not appropriate. The other three countries are all in the mountains, and it's inconvenient to travel between them. It will also take a long time to conquer Qianxiang and Zhenla. By then, the miasma in southern Xinjiang may be rampant, so it's really not appropriate to continue advancing."
At this point, he actually roughly understood what He Tiren meant, so he continued to explain: "In my opinion, we can learn from the old practices of our dynasty and leave some elite troops to be stationed in the fortresses and capitals of Qianxiang and Zhenla, and the rest of the troops to retreat to Yunnan and Guizhou for rest. In this way, the loss of military supplies will not shake the foundation of the country."
The smile on He Tiren's face turned bitter, and he shook his head and said, "If the Ministry of Revenue heard what Minister Lu said, I'm afraid there would be a big quarrel right away. Right now, the southeast is not pacified, and the border troubles in the north are just emerging. Even if there are only a few elite troops, I'm afraid it will be difficult to support them for a long time."
Lu Yanbin also knew that the imperial court had been in deficit in recent years, but he was the Minister of War after all, and the first thing he needed to consider was not finances, but the imminent war.
Therefore, even though he knew what He Tiren said was true, he still retorted: "Then according to what the Lord said, do we still have to send them out of the country with courtesy and not harm them at all? Even if we do this, don't we still have to station heavy troops on the border?"
"Minister Lu, please be patient."
He Tiren raised his withered right hand and gently shook it beside his ear a few times. When Lu Yanbin lowered his head again, he said, "What I mean is to destroy their army and rule their country. First, we should follow the strategy of the Ministry of War and use thunder and lightning to defeat the main force of Qianxiang Country, and we must kill as many people as possible."
"But our Great Zhou's troops should not go deep into the barren land of southern border. Instead, we should take advantage of the panic of the people of Qianxiang Kingdom to send envoys to hold them accountable and help Queen Qianxiang to restore order and re-employ the ministers who are close to our Great Zhou."
Hearing this, Lu Yanbin couldn't help but interrupt again and said, "Lord! Don't forget that our dynasty has ruled over the Kingdom of Mi Le Xi Xiang for more than seventy years, and they are still resentful and waiting for an opportunity to cause chaos. How can you guarantee that Queen Xi Xiang will not be indecisive?"
"hehe……"
He Tiren shook his head and laughed, "The reason why Qianxiang Country abandoned our dynasty is that they think they have grown strong, not out of hatred. Now we just need to cut off its arms and drive it to turn against Zhenla. By then, they will be weak and the thieves will be strong, so they can only rely on our dynasty!"
"In this way, our dynasty will be able to free up our hands to eradicate the Japanese threat in the southeast and resolve the border threat in the north."
After saying this, Lu Yanbin was finally speechless.
Because he had to admit that what He Tiren said was feasible.
"Ha ha……"
At this time, the emperor laughed again and motioned Qiu Shian to hand the memorial to He Tiren. As he flipped through it, he smiled and said, "As I expected, Elder He and this memorial coincide with each other."
He Tiren pulled out a pair of glasses from his collar, read through the article word by word, and sighed, "Young people are truly to be feared."
Then he cupped his hands and said, "The strategy of supporting the prince of Qianxiang to succeed to the throne and making his master suspicious is more feasible - but in my opinion, we might as well go a step further!"
"Since the prince has not yet married, why not choose a daughter of an official family and make her the queen - if they can have a son or daughter, then the throne can be passed on to another successor."
At this point, the old man grinned and said, "We already have a Queen Qianxiang, so what's the harm in having another one? When the time comes, we can choose a young man from our dynasty to marry her. If the cycle repeats, we can turn the barbarians into Chinese."
