Xue Guoguan couldn't help but be stunned when he heard this. How could it be that I was wrong? Although there have been many police reports from the nine sides, hasn't there been an accident?

The other courtiers are also a little curious, I don't know why the emperor said this, is it possible, the emperor has a high opinion?

Sure enough, he saw that Emperor Chongzhen's face became a little more serious, and he said to Xue Guoguan seriously: "Although so far, there has been no major battle. Whether it is a prisoner or a Mongolian tribe, most of them are just harassment. However, I am sure that after I return from my expedition to Liaodong, the Jianjiao on the grassland will be under great pressure, so they will definitely launch a big war! ”

Seeing that the courtiers below were all slightly surprised, he continued to affirm: "Of course, the previous harassment can also be understood as the enemy paralyzing our border soldiers. In short, Jianyu's journey from Liaodong to Hetao was by no means just harassment. I pondered that there will definitely be a move in the near future, and the reason I have already said is because the Jianyu of the Hetao did not contain me well! ”

Hearing the emperor's analysis, Xue Guoguan and the others thought about it, as if it did make sense. But they can't, as sure as Emperor Chongzhen.

They didn't expect that Emperor Chongzhen was sure that there was more than that, so they listened to him continue and assert: "There are many Mongolian tribes who are accomplices of Jianyu, and I expected that it would not be difficult for the main force of Jianzhen to cover up his attack target. If it is I to lead the army, attack the east and the west, and bluff, for example, the main force in disguise is on the side of the Ming Dynasty, but the actual main force is stationed in the northwest of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty will be unable to guard against it, and it is easy to lose vigilance! ”

Hearing this, the military department Shangshu couldn't help it, and immediately came out and played: "Your Majesty, why don't Jianyu garrison troops to the east, but to go to the west?" ”

Originally, he didn't want to ask, but Emperor Chongzhen's tone was too confident, which made him feel that the emperor was a bit absolute, so he asked. By the way, it can also vaguely remind the emperor. Although Your Majesty, you do have the ability to deduce the truth of the matter from the clues, but there are no absolutes in the world, don't be so sure, be modest, it is what Mingjun does.

However, this subtle reminder of his is obviously useless. I heard that Emperor Chongzhen still replied to him in a very positive tone: "Don't forget, don't forget, there is a Ming rebel general Chai Shihua in the northwest who has been making trouble. If he colludes with Jianyu to invade, it will be very dangerous. Not only is he familiar with the situation in the northwest, but the Ming border army in the west has not been in contact with Jianyu, although the imperial court has warnings, but the vigilance is still a lot less than that of the land of Gyeonggi. ”

Speaking of this, he said categorically: "If I lead the army, I will definitely focus on attacking the northwest of the Ming Dynasty, in this way, it is easy to succeed!" ”

Hearing that the emperor said so much, and it was reasonable, not nonsense, many courtiers showed admiration after looking at each other.

This admiration does not mean that they think what the emperor said must be true. Instead, I admired the emperor's logical reasoning ability, although there was no term for this logical reasoning ability at this time, but it did not prevent them from knowing this meaning, and they felt that the emperor's ability was really strong!

"Your Majesty, in that case, why don't you send a decree to the governors of the three sides to strengthen their vigilance?" When Xue Guoguan heard this, he immediately played.

Emperor Chongzhen nodded when he heard this, and said, "I really have to send a will to pass." It's also strange that after I came back from Liaodong, I have been paying attention to people's livelihood, disaster prevention and relief, a bunch of things, and the restructuring of Beijing, so busy that I forgot about it. It wasn't until the past two days, when I had a little time, that I thought about it when I looked back and thought about it! ”

As soon as he heard this, the military department Shangshu was a little uneasy, and hurriedly stepped forward to ask for guilt. Anyway, after all, this is a matter of the Ministry of War, isn't it!

Of course, Emperor Chongzhen will definitely not blame him for this matter, but this is also a reminder of one thing, so he said to the secretary of the military department: "The military situation in various places is summarized, and the Qing side must be specially sorted out and played to me regularly." ”

Originally, he wanted to say that an intelligence analysis center was established. Not only the military situation, but also the people's feelings, etc. However, he thought about it again, now is the time for the reform of the government, the Beijing camp is being restructured, most of the Ming Dynasty is busy fighting disasters, and the verification of the preferential exemption limit of the gentry and the collection of taxes are still continuing. There are too many things being done, and today's yamen is not very efficient, and it is not very suitable to launch new concepts and ideas one after another. Therefore, he did not mention the matter, and was prepared to talk about it later.

However, at this time, Emperor Chongzhen still had something to say, so he heard him say solemnly to his courtiers: "The disaster of the Hetao construction must be solved by me personally." Zhu Qing coordinates the materials, and on the premise of not hindering disaster resistance and relief as much as possible, let's prepare more! ”

As soon as he heard that the emperor was going to go on a personal expedition, among these civil officials, he was not popular.

Some courtiers, because of their inherent concepts, feel that the emperor is the most important thing in the country, and they can't leave the palace easily, let alone go to war. Isn't there a saying that generals will inevitably die in battle, even if they know how to fight again, if they fight too much, they may die in battle. If the emperor dies in battle, the impact on the Ming Dynasty will be too great!

There are also courtiers who also don't like the emperor to go out of the palace, but they are afraid that the emperor will go out too much and be well-informed, and he is already so powerful, so do you want people to live?

Based on this, among the courtiers below, even including the celebrant supervisor, they were actually not happy with the emperor's three-day and two-headed expedition, so they expressed their opinions one after another.

"Your Majesty, the matter of the northwest, after all, is something that has not happened, or, in the opinion of the minister, it is enough to go to a will!"

"That's right, Your Majesty, as long as the northwest side strengthens the defense, so that Jianyu has no chance to take advantage of it, naturally there is no need to work hard to mobilize the people!"

"Your Majesty, the war is together, and countless money and food are consumed, so it is better not to fight or not. What's more, now that Jianyu may withdraw to Liaodong, it should be possible to retreat, and more than 10,000 Jianyu elites have been wiped out by His Majesty, and the Jianyu of this Hetao will have to go back! ”

“……”

As they were talking, suddenly there was a sound of hurried footsteps outside the hall, and then an attendant appeared, holding a long cylinder in his hand, and as soon as he crossed the threshold of the Wenhua Palace, he immediately shouted loudly: "Datong Mansion emergency military situation!" ”

As soon as he heard this, he suddenly became very quiet in the Wenhua Palace. It turned out to be an urgent military report from Datong Mansion, should it be, what the emperor says? Or is it something else?

Thinking like this, they were in a somewhat apprehensive mood, afraid of being fed by the emperor, and at the same time, they were also curious about what the military situation was? If it's just harassment like before, then it's fine.

As a result, after Emperor Chongzhen received the urgent report, he took a look at it, and asked the chamberlain to pass the urgent report to the courtiers below, and at the same time he said: "The main force of Jianyu appeared in Datong, and the soldiers were trapped in Datong. However, there was also an urgent report attached to the back of this urgent report, saying that Wu Qing, the general soldier of the reinforcement and suppression, had just arrived in Datong and recognized that the slave chief Zierharang, who was the leader of the army outside the city, was not himself. And in the besieging army, there seem to be signs of bravado. ”

"......" Everyone in the hall, when they heard this, couldn't help but look at each other in shock, they were really expected by the emperor?

They immediately took turns to read this urgent report according to their official positions, and finally looked at each other speechlessly, the emperor did not lie to them, that is to say, the movement of the Hetao Jianyu was carried out according to the emperor's deduction. In other words, the northwest side is probably in danger!

After a long while, Emperor Chongzhen saw that they didn't speak, so he smiled and said, "It's time to solve the trouble of the Hetao construction. I should have seen my skills, so don't worry about me, prepare with peace of mind! ”

He wasted a lot of saliva before and after, and he had already made it quite clear, and the courtiers at the bottom had no reason to dissuade the emperor at this time. However, Shoufu Xue Guoguan still played: "Your Majesty, Jianyu is not as good as the original Tumut Ministry, and there are examples of Tumut Ministry's annihilation, and Jianyu is estimated to not be fooled again." I don't know if Your Majesty will drive out on the expedition, how will you fight this time? ”

Hearing this, the other civil servants all agreed. The enemy on the steppe is the kraft candy, and if there are too many troops and a great advantage to fight, they will run; If there are fewer troops, this will definitely not work. Therefore, the enemy on the grassland has always been the biggest headache for the Ming Dynasty.

In the past, the enemy on the grassland was introduced into the pass, and they were ambushed and destroyed, this kind of thing, because there was no precedent in advance, Emperor Chongzhen did it for the first time, and the Tumut Department was unprepared, so it was easy to succeed. However, now that the enemy on the grassland must be on guard, then the next battle will be absolutely difficult to fight!

Xue Guoguan's words were also a little difficult for Emperor Chongzhen to answer, because at this time, he had no specific ideas. However, he is still confident, because several "gold medal undercover agents" have rushed to the Hetao. As long as we can know what the enemy is doing and how to do it, there will always be a way to take targeted actions.

Based on this idea, Emperor Chongzhen smiled slightly and said, "In military affairs, Xue Qing is not good at it, and I don't think it's strange. ”

"......" Xue Guoguan opened his mouth when he heard this, but he couldn't answer the emperor, because he really didn't have the experience of leading troops to fight. In the Ming Dynasty, not every civil official was Lu Xiangsheng, or characters like Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting.

But the military department is still a little experienced, and when he was about to speak, he heard Emperor Chongzhen continue: "The so-called impermanence of soldiers, water is impermanent, if I talk about it at this time, I can build a prisoner as much as I want, it will be on paper." Adapting to local conditions, adapting measures to local conditions, and defeating the enemy in any formality, is this a good answer? ”

Xue Guoguan couldn't refute this kind of reply at all. So, he thought in his heart, forget it, anyway, the emperor is wise and martial, although he is still not optimistic that the emperor can defeat the Jianyu who eliminated the Hetao, but at least, he should not be defeated! Let him be: "This ...... Weichen understands, Your Majesty Shengming! ”

At this time, the head of the household department finally came out and said: "Your Majesty, although the court has a little money now, there is a shortage of grain and grass. I don't know how many people Your Majesty will bring, and Weichen should be prepared. ”

The three major campaigns in the Wanli period drained the treasury of the Ming Dynasty, and the war was fought with money and grain. If it were possible, Tobe Shangshu didn't want a war.

In this regard, Emperor Chongzhen was still cautious, and after thinking about it, he made a decision: "The hussar camp, the rock camp and the cavalry in the Yongwei camp, that's all." In addition, the border soldiers who can be called on at any time in the nine border towns should be no problem in terms of troops. ”

Speaking of this, he remembered some sayings from later generations, so he added: "I will watch, and it is good to be able to earn money in the war!" ”

Can you earn by fighting? How is this possible? All the courtiers in the Wenhua Palace, when they first heard Emperor Chongzhen's statement, such an idea immediately popped up in their minds.

But when they came to their senses, they suddenly couldn't refute it.

Because Emperor Chongzhen drove his first personal expedition, if it was just a war against the grassland, it would still be a real earning. The money, food, and materials consumed by the army were much less than the loot that the Ming Dynasty got from the Hetao in the end. If nothing else, just the war horse, it has already been earned!

Thinking like this, they couldn't help but look forward to it a little again, could it be, what kind of Mongolian tribe's nest can the emperor bring this time? However, if the nest of the Mongol tribes had been so easy to end, they would have been extinct long ago! The emperor is going on an expedition this time, I'm afraid he can't do it, right?

Therefore, in the hearts of these high-ranking officials of the Ming Dynasty, they are full of curiosity about the emperor's upcoming third imperial expedition.

First of all, the emperor is on an expedition this time, how should this war be fought? Whether we can win the war and whether we can eliminate the Jianyu is a question!

Secondly, how much grain and materials will the emperor consume on this expedition, and how much loot will he get if he wins in the end, can he offset the money, food and materials consumed, or how much surplus can there be?

Also, this time the emperor went on an expedition, facing the long grassland, the endless grassland, can he continue to count the last resort?

…………

With these thoughts, this time the discussion of the Wenhua Hall ended, and they dispersed and went to their own affairs.

Of course, there was also a holy decree that was sent to Zheng Chongjian, the governor of the three sides, in an expedited manner of 800 miles. Although Emperor Chongzhen knew in his heart what the situation was already over there, on the surface, at least he had to go through such a process!

At the beginning of September of the 14th year of Chongzhen, an urgent report came from the border passes, the Jianguo and the Mongolian coalition army on the side of Datongfu withdrew by themselves, and on the northwest Ningxia side, the rebel general Chai Shihua led the main force of Jianyu to suddenly appear and ambushed the Ningxia Ming army. The trilateral governor Zheng Chongjian arrived to stabilize the situation, and when the urgent report was issued, Jianyu had already withdrawn.

When the ministers of the court and the central government were surprised that the emperor really expected things like a god, Emperor Chongzhen issued a decree, vowing to crusade against Jianlu and the Mongolian tribes, and give an explanation to the people of the Ming Dynasty.

So, Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty began his third imperial expedition.