Volume 3: Confrontation! The Run of Civilization Chapter 431 Preparing for the Mongolian Expedition
"Your Majesty, the physical fitness test of the border troops and the Beijing garrison jointly conducted by the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, and the Censorate has ended. In the end, only more than 123,000 of the 500,000 soldiers recorded in the military yellow book passed the test."
Since the State Council meeting in November of the first year of the Tianqi reign revealed the intention to launch a large-scale expedition against Mongolia, Zhu Youdong asked the Ministry of Revenue to take the lead in conducting physical examinations of northern soldiers: The reason why the Ministry of Revenue took the lead was of course that as the department that was the most cheated by the northern border troops, it had long been disgusted with the situation that a large number of soldiers in name only in various military towns were actually useless and could not go into battle. It was much better for the Ministry of Revenue to preside over the examination than the Ministry of War, which was too deeply involved with the border troops.
Of course, as an official, one should not take ethics too seriously. So when Zhu Youdong mobilized the Censorate to participate, he also stuffed all the new Jinshi of 1619 into it.
The new scholars have not been polluted or assimilated by the officialdom, and there are more than 20 graduates from Fangshan. Therefore, the three departments check and balance each other, and the new scholars push forward with their youthful enthusiasm. Although this assessment lasted for more than four months, there are still many tricks. But in any case, the court now has something to say about the military town: every year the court invests more than 8 million yuan in military pay for the nine border towns, and also subsidizes so much food. As a result, you only have about 120,000 troops on the table, including the Beijing Camp and the Tengxiang Four Guards. Hehe, I have to say, let's put this account here first, and we will talk about it after we finish fighting Mongolia.
"Well, Grand Marshal, if that's the case, even with the addition of some new troops, it's hard for us to send more than 200,000 troops, right?"
"Indeed. Your Majesty, I am the Minister of War, and there are so many unqualified soldiers under my command. I am guilty."
"Hahaha, forget it, the border troops have been in such a bad situation for a long time. Um, Grand Tutor, are all the food and fodder for the army ready?"
"Your Majesty, the food, money, medicine, and laborers are all ready. As long as the Majesty gives the order, the army will set out without any shortage of anything."
"Okay." Zhu Youdong nodded and turned his head to the other side: "Tian Ergeng, what is the reaction of Hudun and Tuhan on the grassland?"
"Your Majesty, the Mongols usually go to the south of the desert to spend the winter. But since last year, our dynasty has started to organize the army in a big way. So Hu Dun and Tu Han hurriedly retreated to the north of the desert in February this year, when the new grass in the south of the desert had not yet grown. Now there are only a few Mongolian tribes south of the desert. Among these tribes, the largest can only mobilize three to five thousand strong men."
"Well, in that case, when we send out our troops this time, there won't be any major wars to fight in the short term, at least in the north?"
"Your Majesty is right."
"Ha~" Zhu Youdong smiled slightly and pointed at Tian Ergeng: "This guy, I know I don't know much about military affairs. Even if I lead an expedition in person, I usually just hold the flag for the soldiers behind the battle. So I don't deserve the word "precision". That's it, the northern front is like this, how about the western front?"
The so-called western line is from Shaanxi Province (Gansu had not yet been established as a province at that time) westward, along the Hexi Corridor, and into the Western Regions of the Han and Tang Dynasties.
At this time, the Western Regions were basically under the rule of the Yarkand Khanate. Although the name of this country contains the word "Qiang", it was born out of the Chagatai Khanate and was an out-and-out Mongolian country.
Of course, the Yarkand Khanate was an absolute weakling in the monster room of Central Asia. Like Korea, which was sandwiched between China and Japan in East Asia, it was a long-term target of attack. By 1620, the Khanate had become very weak.
It was not difficult to conquer this Khanate, but the difficulty was that it was too far away from the Ming Dynasty. The Western Regions were surrounded by Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Tibetans on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and even Pashtuns in Afghanistan and Persians on the Iranian Plateau. The combat effectiveness of these ethnic groups and countries was very strong.
Therefore, once you have taken it, the most important thing is how to keep it.
"Grand Sima, has the commander of the three expeditionary forces been decided?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. After repeated consultations between the Ministry of War and the veteran commanders of the two military academies, it was initially determined that the commander of the Eastern Route Army will be Du Song, the commander of the Central Route Army will be Cao Wenzhao, and the commander of the Western Route Army will be Man Gui. In addition to the 123,000 combat soldiers who have passed the physical examination, the new army will be deployed in five towns. In addition, based on the cavalry of the remaining two towns stationed in Beijing, a separate cavalry team of 10,000 people will be formed. In this way, the total force is 208,000."
"Okay." After listening to the introductions of the ministers, Zhu Youdong stood up and said, "My lords, with the military might and equipment of the Ming Dynasty today, it is difficult to suffer a simple military defeat. For a thousand-mile expedition to the northern desert and the Western Regions, logistical protection along the way is the top priority. After all, as long as there is no water cut off and food supply is insufficient, our army will at most return empty-handed, and will never collapse or suffer a major defeat."
"Yes, Your Majesty, I appreciate your advice."
"In addition, every soldier who participates in this expedition must be informed. Killing is not the purpose of this expedition. My goal is to unify the grasslands and the tribes in the Western Regions, and make these places the source of meat, milk, woolen materials, and cotton textiles for our Ming Dynasty. And through close economic ties, these places will no longer be separated from our Ming Dynasty. Therefore, military discipline is very important for this expedition. For those tribes that dare to resist, they should be slaughtered. But for those tribes that are willing to cooperate with our Ming Dynasty, we must be cautious and must not chill the hearts of all the people on the grasslands."
"Yes, I will obey your order."
…
After the State Council meeting, the ministers left. Fang Zhenghua said softly, "Your Majesty, the Queen just sent a message to you, asking you to come to her place after you finish your state affairs."
"Empress?" To be honest, a workaholic like Zhu Youdong spends very little time with his two wives (Zhu Youdong does not consider the twins from North Korea as his wives). If it were the 21st century, he would have been "laid off" long ago if he treated his wives like this. But now, both Liu Yun and You Yi have expressed their greatest understanding and support for his busy schedule. Not only do they rarely bother him, but even after his death, they often take the initiative to invite the wives of some important officials to the palace to chat, and also send people to comfort the families of martyrs who have settled in the vicinity of the capital. In short, she is a very good wife.
Such cases of actively asking Zhu Youdong to go to the harem were extremely rare in the years since the three of them got married.
Because of this, Zhu Youdong must certainly pay attention to it.
Soon, the emperor's carriage arrived at the queen's Kunning Palace.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."
"Your Majesty, please don't bow. Oh, Concubine You is here too. Please don't bow."
After the three of them sat down, they sent away the eunuchs and palace maids around them. The atmosphere between the old couple immediately became lively.
After smiling at You Yi, Liu Yun spoke first: "Your Majesty, have you finished your work today?"
"Haha, how can things be finished? However, I discussed with the ministers this morning about the expedition to Mobei and the Western Regions, and that's almost done."
"Your Majesty, are you going to attack Mongolia?" Hearing Zhu Youdong's words, Liu Yun frowned, "Your Majesty. The Mongols have been fighting against our Ming Dynasty for more than two hundred years. I'm afraid they are no easier to fight than Siam and Japan, right?"
"Hehe, about this, Princess You, you have been in the border town for a long time, can you tell me about it?"
"Sister, Mongolia used to be very powerful. Emperor Chengzu conquered the northern desert five times, but he could not completely wipe out Mongolia. Since the Battle of Tumu, the Ming Dynasty has switched from offense to defense in the past two hundred years. However, during these two hundred years, although the Ming Dynasty rarely took the initiative to attack militarily, it also imposed an economic blockade on Mongolia for more than two hundred years. So after so many years, the Mongolians have become so poor that they only have cattle and sheep.
As for which one is easier to fight, Japan or Siam? Sister, in terms of equipment and individual combat power, Japan and Siam are stronger than Mongolia. But the biggest problem of these two countries is that they are small countries with small territories and cannot move strategically. As long as they lose a decisive battle, the country will inevitably perish. But the Mongols are different. Behind them are deserts, snowfields and even forests. As long as the battle on the front battlefield is not favorable, they can immediately flee far away... And what's even more annoying is that we Han people can occupy the territories of Siamese and Japanese for our own use. But it's useless to occupy the territory of Mongolia.
So, I marched towards the army and won easily. But how long can this victory last... Hehehe, Your Majesty, please forgive me, I didn't mean to cause bad luck. "
"Hahaha, great, you two are singing a duet, do you really think I can't hear it?" Zhu Youdong was very happy: How could a fool like you, a woman with lotus feet who never leaves the house, say such a thing? If the IQ between husband and wife is totally unequal, how can they cultivate their relationship?
"Don't worry, my two beloved concubines. The purpose of the military operations I am sending out this time is not to kill people."
"Then why did the emperor send so many soldiers out?"
"Well, isn't there a saying that goes like this? A person studies hard so that he can talk to a fool calmly. He exercises his body and martial arts well so that a fool can talk to him calmly. The Mongols are not stupid, but they are very fierce. In order to make them talk to me calmly, I have no choice but to send troops over first."
"Hehehe~" After listening to Zhu Youdong's explanation, both of them laughed unconcealedly.
After a while, Liu Yunxian stopped laughing and said, "I invited the emperor here this time because I want to ask him for advice on two important matters."
"Eh? What's going on?"
"Your eldest sister Huijuan will be sixteen this year. Your second brother, Prince Lai, will be fifteen this year. But you have not said anything about their marriage, and the Queen Mother is very worried, so we can only ask you two to ask you what you mean!"
