Sun Chengzong was surprised: "Who are you?" ”

The young man said: "Xiaguan Lu Xiangsheng, since he was a child, he likes to dance with guns and sticks and read military books. ”

Sun Chengzong said: "It's really terrifying, then tell me about your high opinion." ”

Lu Xiangsheng said: "There is no subordinate high-level opinion, but try to guess what Lord Sun thinks, does the Lord want to use the method of pressing step by step from Ningyuan to Jinzhou and then gradually try to recover Shenyang and Liaoyang?" If there is an enemy to obstruct it, use the chariot battalion to protect the infantry battalion and cavalry to defeat the enemy, and finally gradually regain all the lost territory? ”

Sun Chengzong said: "That's exactly what this official thinks. ”

Lu Xiangsheng said: "Xia Guan thinks that it is reluctant to do this in the Liaoxi Corridor, because the Liaoxi Corridor is very narrow, but if you want to enter Liaodong, I am afraid that there will be problems, and as more and more cities are occupied, more and more defenders are needed, and the burden on the imperial court will become greater and greater." Another major drawback in this way is that the enemy can choose a city siege point at any time to send reinforcements, and even if the attack is unfavorable, the enemy can return to the army and leave our army exhausted. ”

Sun Chengzong listened silently, and then Wang Huazhen, the former governor of Liaodong on the side, said: "What if Jiannu borrowed the road from Mongolia and went straight to Beijing? This has to be guarded against. ”

Seeing that no one could give a perfect opinion, Apocalypse said, "I don't understand military affairs. But I want to say a few words to see if it's appropriate. ”

Sun Chengzong, Xiong Tingbi and others said: "Your Majesty, please speak." ”

Apocalypse said: "It is not easy for a person to come up with a perfect solution, so that a big problem can be divided into several small problems and solved one by one." ”

Sun Chengzong asked, "May I ask how the emperor divides it?" ”

Apocalypse said: "You all want to take offense and defense into account, and I want to separate offense and defense. After the past few days, I have heard that there are three routes to attack Liaodong, from Shanhaiguan to Jinzhou through Ningyuan; From Xifengkou out of the Great Wall, go north and detour to Mongolia, enter the second road of Liaodong; Mao Wenlong's Dongjiang Sailor is the third road. Each of these three roads is envisaged as an offensive or defensive deployment, what do you think? ”

Zhang Weiying said: "This is a way, how to attack? How to keep it? How to save trouble and money, and finally make a comparison, this method is feasible. ”

Apocalypse said, "Yes, and the loss of money. ”

At this time, Yang Gongchun on the side spoke: "Your Majesty, it's time for lunch." ”

Apocalypse said: "Let people pass the rice over and eat it together, it's not so complicated and simple." ”

After a while, more than a dozen eunuchs carried seven or eight boxes of vegetables into a side hall and set them up, and after Tianqi and the ministers sat down, they served food to everyone according to their needs. Tianqi first asked for two dishes, pointed to a plate of braised elbows and said, "This thing is served to Mr. Sun, it is soft and palatable, I remember that Mr. likes to eat it the most." ”

Sun Chengzong smiled and said: "The minister is old, his teeth are not good, and he likes to eat soft ones, it is rare for the emperor to remember." ”

Tianqi said: "Mr. is a few years older but looks thin, as the saying goes, it is hard to buy a thousand dollars to be thin, and Mr. will live a long life if he is thin." Come on, come on, don't be polite and let them serve what you want to eat, and we'll continue to talk after eating. ”

After lunch, everyone sat on the map again, and Xiong Tingbi said first: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the road from Shanhaiguan to Jinzhou should be defended, and when the time is ripe, he can attack according to the strategy of Lord Sun pressing forward step by step." The Mongols should build cavalry and chariot battalions to attack the main way, because they are separated by the Mongol Khan Division, so they should guard the edge of the Great Wall for training, and be ready to attack the incoming enemy at any time. The Dongjiang Mao Wenlong Department was stationed on an isolated island and did not need to consider the problem of defending, and there were not many people, so the attack was just an attack. What does the emperor think? ”

Tianqi said: "I don't approve of the judgment, let the internal guard write it down first, who will say it?" ”

Wang Huazhen said: "Your Majesty, this Mongolian Khan Department is swinging between the imperial court and the Jurchens, clearly trying to profit from it. The imperial court should send someone to negotiate with him to see if he can garrison troops there, or at least some scouts to know the situation in time and be prepared, and the other ministers have the same opinion as Lord Xiong. ”

Gao Di said: "The minister feels that it is not appropriate to attack until the empty situation of the treasury is resolved, and he can train the army on the side of the Great Wall while negotiating with the Mongol Ministry to prepare for defense, but in this way, the position of Jinzhou is too prominent, and whether it is possible to withdraw some people back so that the burden on the imperial court will be lighter." ”

Sun Chengzong said: "The minister also thinks that the location of Jinzhou, Yizhou and other places is too prominent, but the soldiers and civilians who finally occupy it and withdraw there for no reason will not be able to figure it out, it is better to repair Dalinghe City strongly, maybe it is better." ”

Gao Di said: "The imperial court has no money to repair the Daling River. ”

At this time, Lu Xiangsheng said: "Xia Guan thinks that it is feasible to train cavalry and car battalions by the Great Wall, but when the training is almost complete, it should be pulled out to practice in battle, so there should be an absolutely strong place as the support of the cavalry, and if you want to attack, you will come back if the attack is unfavorable." ”

Huang Daozhou also said: "Yes, and this place must be on the front line, so that the enemy can be found at any time and attack them." ”

Xiong Tingbi said: "If you only defend any dangerous pass, you will definitely not be able to hold it, you must fight each other to consume in order to frustrate the enemy's sharp energy and consume the enemy's strength, the difference is that the side that relies on the city pass consumes little and has nothing to rely on and consumes a lot, and the cavalry battalion leans on the city to standby, and when you go out, you can attack and attack, and you can cultivate and replenish your supplies, which can not only hit the enemy, but also change the passive defense to active defense and train yourself, this method is good." ”

Seeing that no one said anything for the time being, Tianqi said: "What you mean is to sum up that the road from Shanhaiguan to Jinzhou is the main defense, at least don't consider a large-scale attack until you have enough money to prepare." On the way out of Mongolia, it is best to give the Mongols some rewards first, so that the Mongolian Department will become a route for the Ming Dynasty to block the Jiannu bypass attack, and our cavalry will often be pulled out to practice in battle, but the front line must be strengthened first. The main purpose of the Dongjiang Mao Wenlong Department is to attack and harass, so that the enemy can worry all the time, right? ”

Everyone nodded, "That's pretty much what it means." ”

Apocalypse said, "Since everyone agrees to increase the attack force when defending the fortified city, then let's talk about where is the absolutely strong fortified city?" ”

Wang Zaijin was originally squeezed out to Nanjing because of the disagreement with Sun Chengzong about the construction of the city in Balipu, but now he came back and repeated the old saying: "The minister thought that since it was to defend it, it was necessary to build a few more dangerous and defensible places to be safe, and the low terrain of Shanhaiguan could not become the last barrier of the Ming Dynasty. Ningyuan is in the middle of the Liaoxi Corridor, about five or six miles northeast of the city, between the first mountain and the cave mountain, only two miles, suitable for building a closed city, the cost should not be much. The three customs cities of Ningyuan Pass, Balipu Pass and Shanhaiguan Pass can ensure the safety of the capital. As for Jinzhou, Youtun and other places, they should not continue to have financial and material resources. ”

Wang Huazhen said: "Lord Wang's statement of the three gates of the city is inappropriate, and the imperial court is short of money and cannot afford to repair the Shanhaiguan Pass, and then build two new passes, at most only Ningyuan Pass." ”

Zhang Weiying also said: "It is necessary to rely on Jiancheng and be close to the front line, only Ningyuan is left, so it is urgent to repair Ningyuan Pass as soon as possible." ”

Gao Di also said: "Jiannu generally come in late autumn or winter, maybe it is too hot in summer for them to wear cotton armor, and there is less than half a year to repair Ning Yuanguan." ”

Tianqi said: "In this case, immediately organize people to build a pass in Ningyuan, and I will borrow another million taels from the household department to build a pass in Ningyuan, and no one shall embezzle it." ”

Sun Chengzong said: "The disadvantage of Guancheng is that it will be defeated if it is broken at one point, and there are not too many troops stationed in Guancheng, and it is a problem to garrison outside the city to protect against the cold. ”

At the time when everyone in the Beijing Military Affairs Yuan was discussing the issues of offense, defense and customs construction, Ma Shilong, the chief soldier of Shanhaiguan who was far away in Jinzhou, was also discussing with his subordinates what to do in the future. From the second year of the Apocalypse to the present three years, it has cost millions of taels of silver every year without fighting a single big battle, and only dozens of castles have been built that are of little use. Because Sun Chengzong is the emperor's teacher, the imperial historians want to give the emperor some face, so there are not many people who directly attack Sun Chengzong, but there are already many excerpts to impeach Ma Shilong from the side, and now, Ma Zongbing needs a victory too much, whether it is to test the combat effectiveness of the troops or to block the mouth of Youyou.