Wei Bao peeked at Wei Zhongxian and Ke Baba, Wei Zhongxian didn't look at Wei Bao, Ke Baba happened to be looking at Wei Bao.

Wei Bao and Kebaba looked at each other and smiled at Kebaba.

Kebaba also gave Wei Bao a smile back.

Dare to frown in front of the emperor, I'm afraid there is only Wei Bao.

Wei Bao couldn't meet Kebaba privately, and Wei Bao didn't really want to meet Kebaba privately.

But Wei Bao wanted to please the hospitable Baba, so it was enough to smile like this.

Zhu Youxiao followed Feng Quan's words, nodded and said: "Feng Aiqing is right, what I mean is to let Jiannu divide the troops, and I didn't say that I don't want to go to the place outside the gate, take back my fists, and fight it out!" I didn't say don't want to shut down the outside world. Besides, there are not many soldiers, but fine! It doesn't matter how much. ”

Wei Bao nodded secretly when he heard this, and said this kind of thing to Zhu Youxiao, Zhu Youxiao should definitely be regarded as a sober-minded and very strategic emperor!

"Your Majesty, at this time, you can't say this, if the imperial court proposes to withdraw the soldiers and horses outside the border, it will chill the hearts of the people in the world." Ding Shaoshi said loudly.

"Lord Ding, isn't that right? Didn't Your Majesty already make it clear? There are not many soldiers, but they are refined, lay off a few people, and train the rest of the people more refined and stronger! This has nothing to do with the number of soldiers and the lack of soldiers. Besides, when did Your Majesty say that you would withdraw your troops from Guanwai? It's a change of guard! When the disarmament is completed, pull it back, as long as Jiannu dares to come, we will fight! Wei Guang said slightly.

Zhu Youxiao and several ministers all nodded.

"Since disarmament can train elite soldiers, without disarmament, we can't train elite soldiers?" Ding Shaoshi said: "What will happen after the disarmament of the imperial court, the people of the world will not see it, and the people of the world will see the disarmament of the imperial court." ”

This time, Zhu Youxiao and several ministers couldn't say anything.

After all, it's a bit of a loss,

"Wei Aiqing, tell me about it." Zhu Youxiao directly named him, and no longer asked Gu Bingqian and others to say anything, Zhu Youxiao estimated that these people must be the same as Feng Quan, and it is estimated that they can't say Ding Shaoshi.

Wei Bao groaned: "Your Majesty, Wei Chen thinks what Master Ding said makes sense. ”

As soon as Wei Bao's words came out, Zhu Youxiao, Ke Baba, Wei Zhongxian, Gu Bingqian, Wei Guangwei, Huang Liji, and Feng Quan all widened their eyes, with everyone's understanding of Wei Bao, Wei Bao is so sleek, he must be able to guess that the withdrawal of troops is the emperor's intention, how dare Wei Bao go against the emperor's wishes? How dare you stand on the side of the Donglin Party?

Moreover, the last retreat army was led by Wei Bao.

Ding Shaoshi was also surprised, he didn't expect Wei Bao to support him.

Zhu Youxiao was a little angry, and his face was pale.

Wei Bao continued: "Your Majesty, it makes sense to reduce the number of troops again. In fact, there are 50,000 troops guarding Shanhaiguan and 20,000 troops guarding Jizhou, which can already ensure that Jiannu cannot easily enter the customs. This is the most labor-saving method, which can save time for Daming to ease the financial pressure. ”

When everyone heard this, their eyes widened again, and they secretly thought to you, Wei Bao, you are really cunning enough, and you have told you the truth on both sides? Who doesn't know?

"Wei Aiqing, there are no outsiders here, if you have anything to say, just say it." Zhu Youxiao said a little impatiently: "I want to listen to the truth, even if you think that maintaining the status quo will neither increase troops nor disarm, you can say it." I don't want to listen to those vague and meaningless words. ”

Wei Bao nodded, and said: "The so-called defense line, the enemy comes to attack is the defense line, from a practical point of view, Houjin has attacked Jinzhou and Ningyuan many times, and the Guanningjin defense line has also resisted the invasion of Houjin many times, the effect is there, it must be regarded as a defense line." Let's talk about positioning, first of all, the defense line of Guanning and Jin should be counted separately, Ningyuan's positioning is to buffer Shanhaiguan, and Jinzhou is the result of the loss of 400 miles of land before the republic, and the entire government and the opposition and all the people of Daming can see it. As for the situation of Houjin detouring to enter the customs at the back, it was not considered at that time. Sun Chengzong's strategy and its positioning are all the short- and medium-term strategies of Liaozhen. According to Weichen's point of view, the Ming court actually does not have a comprehensive idea and strategy, a headache for the doctor, a pain in the foot, how does Liaozhen say how the court does, there are Wang Huazhen, Xiong Tingbi, Yuan Yingtai, and Sun Chengzong in the back, the court does not have a fundamental grasp of the essence of the problem in Liaodong, so it will be lenient and severe, and both advance and retreat will lose. Even though the Ming Dynasty experienced the defeat of Salhu, Guangning, Liaoyang, and Shenyang, he still knew nothing about Liao. On the other hand, Liao Zhenguang can't worry about a Houjin, and he still has to think about Jizhen's affairs? Then what else do you need the military department to do? Doing your own thing doesn't solve the problem sometimes. Houjin is no longer a matter of Liaozhen, but a regional military power on an equal footing with the Ming court, the Ningjin defense line itself has its positive significance, but the later period has not been able to solve the problem, which itself is the Ming Dynasty lacks the overall scientific military system. Xiong Tingbi's judgment was very accurate, and Xiong Tingbi just wanted to replicate the situation during the Battle of Salhu throughout his life. The three-way siege of Salhu is the most difficult moment for Houjin, but if you miss such an opportunity, do you want to come a second time? Houjin worked hard in order to survive, and excellent generals were tempered by war, but my Ming court counted on civil officials to be unborn military geniuses, why could a defeated general like Yang Song command a large-scale battle like Salhu. Wechen has no intention of pointing accusations here, judging from the actual situation, there is nothing wrong with the strategic and tactical arrangement, at least from the perspective of the command. Why can an official like Wang Huazhen override Xiong Tingbi to command Liaodong? Later, Yuan Yingtai and Sun Chengzong, the Ming court meant to send whoever was okay. The Ningjin Defense Line is just an insignificant product of an unprofessional military system, and in a failed system, everything you do is a failure. ”

Everyone looked at each other when they heard this, and they didn't know what Wei Bao was going to say.

"Wei Aiqing, what do you mean? Do you want to say that Gao Di is not qualified for the position of Ji Liao Jinglu? Zhu Youxiao asked.

After all, he is a science man, Zhu Youxiao likes to speak with a single glance, and it is easy to grasp the core of the problem.

"Your Majesty, don't worry, listen to me." Wei Bao said: "The battle of Salhu was commanded by the civilian official Yang Hao, Yang Hao has fought two battles in his life, the first battle was suspended for the defeat of resisting Japan and aiding Korea, and the second battle was Salhu, and almost all the army was wiped out. Grandmaster Shen appointed Xiong Tingbi as the strategy, and Xiong Tingbi won both civil and military crowns, and continuously repelled the invasion of Nurhachi. After the Donglin people were in charge, the officials protected each other, and the most proud literati in the court at that time was called Yao Zongwen, Yao Zongwen wanted to meddle in Liao affairs, and bribed the Mongols, so he asked for 5,000 gold to buy the Mongols, but to no avail, he was ridiculed by Xiong Tingbi. So Yao Zongwen became angry and began to impeach Xiong Tingbi. After Yao Zongwen's operation, Xiong Tingbi, a Chu man who was already out of place, was impeached and removed from power and replaced by a civilian official Yuan Yingtai. Yuan Yingtai himself did not understand military affairs, and he was cautious and pioneered the tactics of fortress advancement, to the point of dividing troops to guard, so he particularly reused the Mongols. Let the Shenyang general soldier He Shixian recruit countless Yi people, counting on the Mongols and Houjin to fight for their lives. At that time, the imperial court was accusing the Liao people of being treacherous and good at running, so the generals did not like to use the Liao people, and preferred to use the Yi people as soldiers on the spot. Nurhachi planted a large number of spies in Shenyang Liaoyang, and found out that Yuan Yingtai was powerless and did not dare to go out of the city to fight, so he built a city in Fushun and advanced, and made the siege of Shenyang. He Shixian, the general soldier of Shenyang, went out of the city to defeat Houjin, but the Yiren in the city rebelled, Shenyang fell, and the military general He Shixian was brave enough to win the three armies, but he still did not die in battle. Yuan Yingtai sent reinforcements from Sichuan and Zhejiang to rescue Shenyang, but it became a tactic of adding fuel to the fire, and sent people to their heads one after another. In the three years since the reinforcements of Sichuan and Zhejiang, they arrived after the battle of Salhu, and they have never been at odds, knowing that they were angry and refused to retreat after the fall of Shenyang, and they wanted to fight to the death with Houjin respectively. Nurhachi attacked these two reinforcements with all his might, paid a heavy price, and finally destroyed the Sichuan and Zhejiang reinforcements with superior forces. When Yuan Yingtai heard the tragic situation of the Battle of the Hunhe River, he was even more timid and did not dare to rescue, and the Liao army that followed left without a fight. After a few days of rest, Houjin began to besiege Liaoyang. Yuan Yingtai was not a soft egg at the end of the day, he led the army out of the city and fought with Houjin for three days and three nights, the Liao army was about to collapse at the first touch, and his own forces gradually collapsed. After the fall of Liaoyang, Yuan Yingtai committed suicide. Liaoyang Inspector Zhang Quan also committed suicide and left a letter asking Xiong Tingbi to save the country. Several cabinets saw that the opportunity was not good, and they still had to use Xiong Tingbi. When Liaoyang fell, all parts of the country fled and fled seriously, but Guangning soldiers were prepared for Wang Huazhen to sit in the town and not be in chaos, and he gathered the remnants of the defeated generals to encourage morale. The imperial court also admired Wang Huazhen very much, so it promoted him to the governor of Liaodong and continued to live in Guangning, and gave him arbitrary power at the front. Xiong Tingbi proposed a tripartite arrangement, so he stationed in Shanhaiguan to coordinate the tripartite command of the military. Wang Huazhen felt that his army of 60,000 people was enough, and he could borrow the Mongolian Lin Dan Khan and Hou Jin to contend with him, so he led the army to attack at every turn, but he always returned in vain. Xiong Tingbi taught repeatedly, Wang Huazhen not only did not change, but was full of confidence. It turned out that Wang Huazhen collected the fugitive general Sun Degong and left a hand to prepare, and let Sun Degong go to Houjin to let his friend Li Yongfang anyway. So very confident. Wang Huazhen and Xiong Tingbi quarreled for almost a year, Zhang Heming, the secretary of the military department, is a native of Donglin, because of his personal enmity with Xiong Tingbi, he supports Wang Huazhen, and the first assistant Ye Xianggao is also partial to Wang Huazhen, so Wang Huazhen has always had the upper hand during this period. In the end, Ye Xianggao began to lean towards Xiong Tingbi because he was afraid of accidents, and the court decided to believe Xiong Tingbi and recall Wang Huazhen. At this time, Nurhachi began to cross the river, and the court had to change its mind and ask the two to work together first. Xiong Tingbi hurriedly informed Wang Huazhen to merge with Guangning. Wang Huazhen resolutely refused to listen, feeling that retreating was to grow the arrogance of the enemy. Send Sun Degong to lead reinforcements to fight with Houjin Field. Who knew that Sun Degong, the military general favored by Wang Huazhen, had been mutinied before the rebellion, and the situation suddenly collapsed, and the city of Guangning fell. Xiong Tingbi hurriedly did not arrive in Guangning, and received the fugitive Wang Huazhen, Wang Huazhen felt that the general situation was impossible, and retreated all the way to Shanhaiguan without authorization. After the war, the two were dismissed from their posts by the enraged imperial court. Xiong Tingbi and Wang Huazhen were both imprisoned by the newly appointed military secretary Sun Chengzong and impeached to death. Then the new Wang Zaijin presided over the repair of Balipu, halfway through, the emperor Sun Chengzong was not convinced, felt that the dignified Ming Dynasty must counterattack Houjin, and persuaded the emperor to withdraw Wang Zaijin abandoned Balipu, and asked the superintendent Liaodong to start repairing Ningyuan. Sun Chengzong is His Majesty's teacher and Weichen's teacher, Weichen's teacher may have felt that there was too much money at that time, so he repaired Ningyuan and began to repair Jinzhou Youtun. When Gao Di came to power, he thought that since he couldn't fight, he would withdraw Jinyou. ”

Wei Bao analyzed it very thoroughly, and directly put the problem of the Donglin people on the table at that time, and discussed the problem from the perspective of party struggle.

This time, Zhu Youxiao did not urge Wei Bao.

Wei Zhongxian and the others were secretly happy when they heard this, because what Wei Bao pointed out was the problem of the civil officials of the Donglin Party, but they were a little scared, they didn't know what Wei Bao wanted to say, and they didn't know if Wei Bao would turn to attack the eunuchs.

Ding Shaoshi stared at Wei Bao coldly, not knowing what Wei Bao wanted to say.

At the same time, Ding Shaoshi felt very embarrassed, because Wei Bao's words poked his sore spot, and from Wei Bao's words, Ding Shaoshi could judge that Wei Bao was very disgusted with the Donglin Party.

"The war in Liaodong has seriously consumed the national strength, and the annual military salary is several million taels, and our Ming army has won fewer victories and more defeats in Liaodong, and peasant uprisings broke out in Guannai. What is the meaning of guarding Liaodong? Why don't you choose to give up outside the border and stick to the Great Wall? It is certainly not possible to abandon the line of defense outside the border. Anyone who thinks that giving up the Ningjin defense line and simply retreating to Shanhaiguan will make people all over the world chill, just as Lord Ding said. Withdrawal is a technical exercise. Remove all strongholds and troops outside the Guan, and go hundreds of kilometers to Shanhaiguan, and the Manchus will not chase and rob behind them? The Ming Dynasty took the initiative to give up the existing stronghold, not without it, before Li Chengliang gave up the six forts of Kuandian, and then Xiong Tingbi withdrew his troops from Guannei and Gaodi, what are the consequences? How effective was the withdrawal? Li Chengliang withdrew: Chengliang proposed to move and build Gushan Fort in Zhangqi Ha Ladian, dangerous mountain fort in Kuandian, and four forts in Changdian and Changling along the Yangtze River. Daokun went to the court and reported it. Since the birth and gathering of more and more than 64,000 households. And in the thirty-fourth year, Cheng Liang was lonely and difficult to defend, and the governor, Fu Jianda, and Zhao Ji suggested abandoning it, and migrating residents to the interior. If the residents love their families, they will be persecuted by a large army, and the dead will be in disarray. Xiong Tingbi withdrew his troops: Tingbi said: Hey, it's too late, but it is okay to protect the defeated people into the customs. He gave five thousand people to the temple of chastity, and burned them all up. On the 26th, Kai Chu ordered to protect the defeated people into the customs. Huazhen, Chu, and Jiadong entered one after another, and Du Bangzuo died by himself. The power of Guangning rebel generals welcomed the Qing army into Guangning, and it has been two days since he fled. The Qing soldiers chased Huazhen for 200 miles, and they could not eat, but returned. Reported, the Beijing division was shocked. Raising an army is the most expensive thing. The withdrawn Guan Ning Army, doesn't the imperial court still have to spend money to support it? Just having Shanhaiguan and no effective army to defend it, it's useless, right? Once the imperial court ordered the removal of the defense line outside the Guan, it meant that the Liao people's strategy of defending Liao soil was bankrupt. The Guanning army, which is dominated by Liao, has been inexplicably cut off from the hope of restoring their homeland, and their morale will definitely be hit, will they mutini on the way to withdraw their troops? Does the imperial court have an army with comparable combat effectiveness that can subdue the mutinous Guanning army? Even if there is no mutiny, if the imperial court wants to appease and properly settle the Guan Ning army, will it cost a lot of money? The cost of repairing the Shanhai Pass and pacifying the imperial court is more expensive than not withdrawing the army. Whether the Guannai army can live in harmony with the Guanning army is also a question. The Guanning army looked down on the army in Guannai. The Guannai army regards the withdrawn Guanning army as a lost dog, and it is possible for a fire to break out, and they can still work together to defend Shanhaiguan? In order to coordinate the relationship between the armies inside and outside the Guan, the imperial court had to spend money and try to be fair. If you give up the defense line outside the gate, Jiannu will die of laughter. Jiannu will be able to calmly deal with North Korea and Mongolia. Then the two-way flank attack, so that Shanhaiguan belly and back to the enemy, it will be good-looking. Without a solid city defense outside the pass, it lost its deterrent to the Mongols and Koreans! One by one, they fell to Jiannu. Wei Bao continued.

Ding Shaoshi was overjoyed when he heard this, but he didn't expect Wei Bao's words to come back again, "What Lord Wei said is very true!" Once the Guanwai is relaxed and the oppression of the Houjin soldiers and horses is relaxed, the Mongols and Koreans will be out of the control of the Ming Dynasty, which will make the Jiannu momentum soar, and the consequences will be unimaginable! ”

All the people present, don't look at the ministers, the emperor, and the emperor's side Kebaba and Wei Zhongxian are also the highest-level figures of the country with a certain amount of knowledge.

But none of them are military savvy.

Everyone listened to what Wei Bao said made sense, and they all fell into deep thought.

"I understand, according to Wei Aiqing's meaning, it's better to keep the existing troops and territory, isn't it?" Zhu Youxiao asked.

"Your Majesty's idea is the most reasonable, but the public opinion of the people of the world also has to be considered. According to Weichen, Liaodong can lay off another 10,000 people, and Jizhou can lay off another 10,000 people. In this way, Jizhou left 10,000 people, Liaoxi 50,000, Liaodong 20,000, and Jiliao border army remained at 80,000, which is already the minimum and cannot be reduced. Wei Bao said, "As for the increase in troops, you can." Let all localities play in the provincial capital, and if any province proposes to increase troops, let them donate silver, and tell them that sixty taels of silver are a soldier, and they can increase as many troops as they want. This dispute should be settled. ”

"Good!" Zhu Youxiao stood up happily, "This method is good, if you disarm 20,000 more, you can save more than 1 million taels of military expenses!" And don't lose the existing castle, okay. This is the method of double perfection. Wei Aiqing, I asked you to do this, are you sure? As long as you can suppress Jiannu with 80,000 border troops, I can propose that you be in charge of Jiliao! ”

Wei Bao sweated, and said in his heart that you are really generous, and you want to give me the position of Jiliao Inspector in a word, a person who is just sixteen years old?

Everyone present was also shocked, Ke Baba and Wei Zhongxian, the cabinet ministers and several big eunuchs were all startled, I don't know if the emperor said it casually or seriously, this is simply impossible.

Let Wei Bao be sixteen years old, temporarily lead the matter of the Governor of Haiphong's Yamen, and talk about the past.

Let a sixteen-year-old person be the Jiliao Governor, and the Jiliao Governor has received the rank of Shangshu of the Ministry of War, which is not equivalent to handing over the military and political affairs of the Ming Dynasty to a sixteen-year-old person, how is this possible?