Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 710: Bluffing
Because once this plan was implemented, the entire Chao Phraya Delta would be destroyed. So after listening to the introduction of Li Dingguo and Zhang Huangyan, Cao Wenzhao, Liu Zhaosun and others thought for a long time and still did not dare to act on their own. In the end, they could only send a telegram to Beijing.
After receiving the telegram, Zhu Youdong thought about it for a long time. After coming up with an upgraded plan based on this Li Dai Tao Jiang, he summoned his sister Zhu Huijuan.
Then early the next morning, he asked Fang Zhenghua to call his eldest son and second son over.
"Look, this is the plan devised by Li Dingguo and Zhang Huangyan to use someone else's power to kill someone else. What do you think? Can it be carried out? How should it be carried out? How should it be dealt with after it is carried out?"
This year is the 23rd year of the Tianqi reign of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Youdong's eldest son Zhu Ciyi is 23 years old, and his second son Zhu Ciyan is 20 years old. As adult princes, they have begun to take on some specific affairs. Zhu Youdong also began to test them frequently.
After the two of them thought about it seriously, because the two people who proposed the plan were his classmates, the second son Zhu Ciyan spoke first: "Father, the plan of Changsheng and Jinliang is a bit toxic. If we really want to carry it out, well, I don't know how many Siamese people there are in the Chao Phraya Delta at this time. But Bangkok has been the resident of the Central and Southern Governor's Office of our Ming Dynasty for more than 20 years, and I think there are quite a few people gathered there. Once the flood pours down, the casualties caused... But I think that if the Western bandits continue to occupy there, it will greatly damage the prestige of our Ming Dynasty. Moreover, if 600,000 troops are stationed there for a long time, the burden on the country will be extremely heavy. Therefore, although this plan is against the harmony of nature, I still think it is feasible and should be carried out quickly!
As for the aftermath, it is nothing more than giving more relief, doing a better job of propaganda during the reconstruction, and pushing the responsibility onto the Western bandits as much as possible. I, your son, would like to ask your father for a job. If this plan of using someone else as a substitute is successful, after the Western bandits are destroyed, I am willing to be the Minister of Disaster Relief and go to Bangkok to deal with the aftermath. "
"Haha." Zhu Youdong looked at Zhu Ciyan with a playful look, and then he understood: his second son's teacher when he was young was Yuan Keli. This guy would not use any means to achieve his goal, but at least he would give up some principles appropriately. Moreover, as the legitimate son, Zhu Ciyan was trained as the crown prince by the ministers. Therefore, in these teachings, a lot of things like "successful people will not be blamed" were also added.
Then he turned his eyes to his eldest son.
"Father." Zhu Ciyi cupped his hands and said, "This son and I have different ideas. In this son's opinion, this plan of using someone else's power to replace someone else's will not work."
"So what do you think we should do with the enemies entrenched in Bangkok? Don't tell me about a long-term siege. I need to get rid of them as soon as possible, preferably within this year."
"Father, although this plan of substituting a dead person for a dead one is not feasible, the plan of Li Dingguo and Zhang Huangyan has given me a lot of inspiration. I think we can make some improvements on this plan and use it as a bluff."
"Oh? Then tell me how you bluffed."
"Father, I would like to ask you a question. Has Bai Qi's battle plan been considered a failure today?"
Of course it was a failure.
Alas, it was all because I read a story about the revival of Shu Han written by a loser named Hun Chi Waiting to Die on Qidian before I traveled through time. The story reenacted the Battle of Changping. It made me want to reenact the Battle of Changping in Siam in this dimension - otherwise why would I name this battle plan Bai Qi? Who knows that reality is not a novel after all, and the enemy's commanders, whether Gustav or Wallenstein, are all outstanding people of this era. We had just started to encircle them, but the other side had already keenly sensed the crisis and quickly evaded it.
This is normal: if the enemy was really so stupid, how could they have fought so close to the Ming mainland?
Therefore, the so-called Bai Qi battle plan now seems to be somewhat taken for granted - to build an encirclement, all parts of the network must be very solid. And the bottom of the Ming encirclement was broken, and the plan naturally failed when the enemy did not fall for it and did not move eastward to the plains, but turned south instead, so the bottom of the bag could only rely on the weak Zhou and Tang countries.
"Father, although Bai Qi's plan failed, I think this is not a bad thing."
"Um?"
"Father, I have been in America for the past few years and have often discussed military affairs with my father-in-law (Sun Chuanting). After five years, my view on war is that the gain or loss of a city or a place, or even the annihilation of tens or hundreds of thousands of enemy troops, is not the purpose of war, but a means. The real purpose of war is to suppress the opponent strategically."
"In my opinion," Zhu Ciyi simply stood up and said loudly, "After the Western bandits took over India and invaded the inland sea of our Ming Dynasty, the highest strategic goal of our Ming Dynasty in this operation was to expel all the forces of the Western bandits, regardless of land and sea, from East Asia. In this way, even if India is lost, the economic closed loop of our Ming Dynasty in East Asia is preserved. In addition, America will also be successful, and the entire Pacific Rim will become the sphere of influence of our Ming Dynasty. In this situation, even if India is temporarily lost, even if we are temporarily unable to counterattack. The economy and people's livelihood of our Ming Dynasty will not be affected, and our Ming Dynasty will have the possibility of achieving final victory in the future.
However, annihilating the enemy's 400,000-man army may not be able to achieve this goal, because the enemy's navy is still there. Even if our Yu Tonghai and Zheng He are put into service, if we lose the naval battle and cannot regain the sea power, we still cannot guarantee the security of East Asia.
"I have been thinking hard about how to achieve the goal of driving out the enemy's navy and army recently, but unfortunately I have not found a way. However, after the war situation has developed to this day, especially after Li Dingguo and Zhang Huangyan proposed this plan of using a substitute, I suddenly found a way."
"Well, we've gone around in circles. Let's be more specific."
"Yes. Father, this is what I think. First, we must use work instead of relief and recruit Siamese civilian workers with military rations to build the Chao Phraya River. We must do it immediately. After all, we have been taught since childhood that disaster victims cannot be simply given relief, but must be given work instead of relief. Doing so will be extremely helpful in alleviating the disaster situation of the local people in Siam and restoring local order.
However, I believe that the Chao Phraya River project is mainly about building river embankments, controlling the river course, and preparing for agriculture next year. Building a dam is secondary and even false.
"You mean, pretend to build a dam and deliberately let the Western bandits in Bangkok know about it?"
"Yes, Father. After this news is released, the Western pirates will certainly panic. Since they have control of the sea, they will inevitably retreat through the navy. Then we can implement the second step of the plan and take advantage of the situation to severely damage the enemy's navy."
"Brother, our navy is very weak right now."
"Haha, brother, I know our navy is very weak right now. But Singapore is in our hands now!"
Walking to the world map hanging on the wall of Zhu Youdong's study, Zhu Ciyi put his finger on the Strait of Malacca: "If the Western bandits use the navy to retreat, they must go through the Strait of Malacca. We can lay mines there in advance. After all, Singapore is the first commercial port of our Ming Dynasty, and its ship repair capabilities are extremely strong. Mines or mine-laying ships are not advanced things for Singapore Zhu Ciyi bowed to Zhu Youdong and said: "Father, I have carefully studied the recent Changsha naval battle. In my opinion, the East China Sea is too wide. It is very easy for enemy ships to evade when using torpedoes to fight on such a sea. If we use mines to shrink the Malacca Strait, and then let our torpedo ships torpedo in the narrow waters of Malacca...
In short, in my opinion, it is better to take this opportunity to scare off the enemy first. In this way, the Chao Phraya Delta will not be destroyed. Then, we will use mines and torpedoes at sea to send the Western pirate army that has boarded the ship, as well as the Western pirate navy that is bloated and extremely slow because of carrying hundreds of thousands of soldiers, to the Dragon Palace to see the Dragon King of the South China Sea!"
"Hmm..." After Zhu Ciyi finished his bluffing, Zhu Youdong twirled his beard and thought for a long time. Then he finally smiled: "After five years in America, it seems that Sun Chuanting has taught you well."
"Thank you, Father."
"This plan still has some loopholes, but overall it is excellent. Very good, I am indeed very satisfied. So, Fang Zheng will be established."
"The servant is here."
"Go and call together the ministers of the Cabinet and the Privy Council. In an hour, hold an emergency meeting of the State Council."
"As you wish."
"Well, you guys go get ready too. You will be the keynote speaker at the conference later, Ci Yi."
"Your son obeys your order."
After the three people left, a figure who was generally slim but had some fat around the waist appeared from behind the screen in the study.
"Brother, did you tell Ci Yi about this bluffing plan in advance?"
"Huijuan, how could I be such a father?" Zhu Youdong shook his head. "You can actually tell that this is just a bluff. It's a little different from what I told you last night. At first, I considered that if the enemy found that Malacca was impassable, they would have to go around the Sunda Strait. Ciyi didn't think of that. Today's idea was really his own."
"Hey, brother, I'm a woman and I really don't like to get involved in these things."
"You are a woman, but you are also the eldest princess of the Ming Dynasty. There are some things you can't shirk. Alas, I really didn't expect that when Ci Yan was still well-behaved, Ci Yi was already able to think about the problem from a global perspective. It seems that it was right to let him go to America to be independent."
"Brother, you are only 41 years old. Isn't it too early to think about the issue of succession?"
"In terms of age and health, it's still too early for me to abdicate. But, in life, you never know which will come first, tomorrow or an accident. Huijuan, I'm not afraid to tell you the truth. If the Western bandits and local thieves really win battle after battle, forcing our Ming Dynasty into war and chaos, and the people are living in misery, I am really ready to abdicate to protect the people of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, this successor really needs to be selected as soon as possible."
"So, big brother is interested in Ci Yi?"
"It's too early to say this now. I need to see more, listen more, and think more. Well, didn't the cabinet say recently that there are many bankrupt businessmen and unemployed workers in the Jiangnan area because of this war? I have decided to tour the south soon. When I go, I will take these two guys with me to see how they perform."
