Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 630 Zhu Youdong's Determination
"Long live!"
"Long live the emperor!"
"Long live the Ming Dynasty!"
On February 1, 1634, Zhu Youdong's carriage arrived in Calcutta. When the emperor's nine-dragon umbrella landed on the Indian peninsula, the surrounding Ming troops shouted "Long live" loudly.
"Your Majesty, we respectfully welcome you. We are incompetent and have caused the Majesty to go on another expedition. We deserve the death penalty."
"Hahaha, generals, your words are too polite. Please stand up."
After some exchanges of views, the generals led by Cao Wenzhao invited Zhu Youdong into an attic in the newly built Calcutta Fortress.
After the king and his ministers sat down, Zhu Youdong glanced at Man Gui below and asked, "How does it feel to turn over from the Himalayas?"
"Your Majesty, I feel bad. I failed to complete the mission assigned by the Privy Council to directly attack Delhi, which led to the tense situation today. I feel deeply guilty."
"Oh, that's not necessary. I asked you to launch a surprise attack because I read too many novels and books. Alas, Shu Han was a small country with poor people. There was no one who could fight except Jiang Wei, so Deng Ai's extraordinary feat was achieved. But this Mughal is a big country with a vast territory and a prosperous population. I actually wanted to replicate the Yinping miracle, but I thought too simply. In this way, I put General Man in danger. This is all my fault."
"Your Majesty, I feel deeply ashamed when you say this!"
After gently shaking his hand to indicate that Man Gui had nothing to be ashamed of, Zhu Youdong turned his gaze to Mao Wenlong who was sitting in the back row.
"Wenlong, I have read your memorial, and it makes sense. It doesn't matter. Soldiers, of course, have to follow orders as their first priority. But I am not forbidding soldiers to think independently. In the future, not only you, but everyone here can bring up any ideas in your mind. Of course, if I treat you this way, you must also listen to the voices of the lower-level officers and even the soldiers below."
"Your Majesty's teachings, we will keep them in mind."
In fact, when they first heard the news that the emperor was going to lead the army in person, everyone from Cao Wenzhao down were very nervous. But after Zhu Youdong arrived, he quickly calmed the hearts of the generals attending the meeting .
After everyone calmed down, Zhu Youdong nodded and said, "Let's start. Let's talk about the situation in the past few months."
"As you wish."
Liu Zhaosun stood up and walked to a large map of the South Asian subcontinent opposite Zhu Youdong. "Your Majesty, since our army switched to overall defense last June, there have not been many major battles. There have been some small sporadic conflicts and firing, but the casualties on both sides are not large. Since our army received General Man's detachment in September last year, we completely abandoned Kanpur and retreated to Patna. Our army has almost no direct contact with the Indian army. At most, there have been fights between scouts of both sides and between Jinyiwei and the enemy's intelligence personnel."
After seeing Zhu Youdong nod slightly, Liu Zhaosun continued: "In the past six months, our main focus has been to mobilize local people to build rivers, drain swamps, and build roads for us. Your Majesty, now we have drained most of the swamps near Kolkata, and dozens of small rivers at the mouth of the Hooghly River have been transformed into a wide river. In this way, even in the rainy season, our 3,000-ton armored transport ships can go upstream. In addition, we have also built a rough block at Chittagong, where the Ganges main stream is at the mouth of the sea, which can meet the needs of ships below 3,000 tons. The ships can stop at the port. However, the water volume of the Ganges is much larger than that of the Hooghly River, so we are temporarily unable to control the river. Finally, there is the road problem. At the end of the dry season, we repaired a simple cement road from Asansol to Patna. The road is only three meters wide and can carry no more than two tons of equipment. After the rainy season, all projects had to be stopped. From the end of October, our army began to build a cement road from Asansol to Kolkata, and widened and thickened the original Asansol to Patna road, which has not yet been completed. "
"As for the troops, our first batch of expeditionary forces consists of 25 divisions, plus 10,000 Gurkha mercenaries, totaling 385,000 soldiers. Over the past year and a half, we have lost more than 67,000 soldiers due to death in battle, serious injuries, missing, death from illness, and execution under military law. Among them, our Ming Army lost more than 29,000 people. At present, the overall mood of our Ming Army soldiers is stable. Although they have been fighting overseas for more than a year and are homesick, the morale of the entire army has been generally high after the news of the emperor's upcoming visit spread."
"In terms of local governance, the people here are very obedient , and the difficulty of governance is far less than that of Siam and Annan. However, the people here are also lazy, and their hardworking qualities are far inferior to those of the local people in our Ming Dynasty. Moreover, they have an inexplicable worship of people with fair skin. In addition, the religious issues here are more complicated. When our soldiers get along with the locals, they always encounter the religious taboos of the other party inexplicably. Since landing a year and a half ago, there have been about 900 military-civilian conflicts of various types, and more than 90% of them are related to the religious beliefs of the locals..."
"Very good." After listening to Liu Zhaosun's report, Zhu Youdong nodded: "You have achieved this level when the court has not yet sent civil officials to take over civil affairs. It's very good. But I have a question. You have been here for so long, have you completed the population census of Bengal?"
"I'm ashamed, Your Majesty. We have the will but not the strength."
"Why is that?"
"The main reason is that this place implements an open system of classifying people. Not to mention the stubborn Brahmins and Kshatriyas in Hinduism. Even the slightly more open-minded Star and Moon followers have a caste system. If we do not infringe on their interests and only ask them to provide food and labor, they will generally cooperate. But if we want to investigate the Shudras and Dalits under their command, it will provoke their fierce resistance. It is not difficult to kill these guys, but the difficulty lies in that after killing these guys, those dark-skinned Shudras and Dalits will not listen to our calls..."
Is this a true portrayal of being a slave for too long and unable to stand up? Never mind, the British in the original historical dimension never directly ruled the ordinary people of India, and they also ruled the vast number of low-caste people through the high-caste people. I am the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and it is my duty to let the people of the Ming Dynasty live a good life. As for the Indians here? They are the targets of my Ming Dynasty's exploitation in the future, why should I be nicer to them?
"Well, I have a general understanding of the military and civilian situation. What about the enemy's intelligence? Luo Sigong?"
"Your Majesty, in the past six months, the Imperial Guard has carried out a lot of work with the help of local people. Generally speaking, there have been some signs of division within the Mughal Empire in the past six months."
"Oh? What do you mean?"
"Your Majesty, after Aurangzeb posed a certain threat to our army in Patna, the Mughal royal family boasted about the battle in Patna as a great victory, successfully annihilating 300,000 of our troops. This did effectively boost the morale of the Indian army at the time and stabilized the determination of the Mughal nobles to continue fighting. However, after our army took the initiative to withdraw, the contradictions between Agra and Andhra emerged."
"Why, the Mughal emperor wanted to transfer that Aurangzeb back to Agra, but that Aurangzeb refused?"
"Your Majesty is wise and wise. It is said that there is already a clear rift between Agra and Andhra. It is only because of the presence of our Ming army and the fact that Aurangzeb was touted as a hero who saved the country by the other royal family that they have not completely torn their faces apart. In general, Aurangzeb is now a typical person who only follows orders but not declarations. However, because of the presence of our army, he also needs Agra to attract our army's attention. Therefore, my subordinates have observed that Andhra has still delivered arms to Agra several times in the past six months."
"Hmm..." After tapping the armrest of the chair with his fingers a few times, Zhu Youdong said, "I brought many ministers with me this time. This is my Mr. Wen. No matter how big the territory we conquer in India is, he will be in charge of the civil affairs."
"I have met Prime Minister Wen."
"I don't deserve it. I am no longer the Prime Minister. I will need your help in the following work."
"I will do my best."
"Okay, you may not know some of these people, but you should have heard of them. Gao Panlong, Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou... They are all assistants to Mr. Wen."
"Hello everyone."
"In terms of civil affairs, I will set the tone first. I am not going to divide India into fiefdoms. But the governance here will not be like that of our Ming Dynasty. In short, what we have to do is to divide the princes and nobles here, so that they become a loose sand and can never unite. Then we control this group of corrupt princes and nobles and let them help us rule the ordinary people here. After that, it will be enough for our Ming Dynasty to obtain taxes, raw materials, markets and abundant human resources here. If these princes and nobles obey the management, we will support them to pass on from generation to generation. If any fool wants to make trouble, we will let other princes and nobles slaughter their entire family and divide their Shudras and Dalits."
"Your Highness obeys your order."
"To achieve this goal, the Mughal regime must be destroyed, and all its royal families, both men and women, must be exterminated. Otherwise, even if we rule here, the Mughal orphans will become the banner of other forces or some local princes and nobles who are not so clear-headed to oppose us in the future. Therefore, in the next stage, we must continue to intensify our attacks on the Mughal."
When the emperor said this, all the ministers attending the meeting, regardless of cultural relics, straightened their bodies and said, "Please give your order, Your Majesty."
"I brought five army divisions with me this time. Based on the previous combat experience of the vassal states, I asked Japan, Fuguo, and Guiguo to form two divisions each. I asked Tangguo, Zhouguo, and Annan to form one division each. That means 14 new divisions with 210,000 people. I intend that since the five divisions originally formed by Luzon people and Malays are not strong enough, they will all be transferred to Mr. Wen, and he will lead these five divisions to maintain public order in the rear. Then the remaining 240,000 people from the first batch of expeditionary forces will be reorganized with the 210,000 people from the second batch. 300,000 elite troops will form the front arrowhead, pointing directly at Agra. 150,000 troops with slightly weaker combat power will cover the flanks. I will personally lead this 300,000 main force. I will never withdraw my troops until I capture Agra and Delhi and kill their chieftains!"
