In late May, Mr. Li and Sheng Yong'an wrote a strategy together. Zhu Gaoxu took a general look and felt that it made sense, so he immediately convened several confidants and civil and military personnel to discuss.

The time was not very appropriate, and when Mr. Li sent the file, it was almost unitary time; When everyone came to the study room in the front hall one after another, the sun had just set. But it's the quietest time of the day.

Yunnan is lush in summer, and the most special place is that there are many insects and birds. During the day, all kinds of birds compete to chirp, and at night insects will come out to join in the fun, and even in the Han Palace, you can hear frogs chirping from time to time.

Only in the short time when the sun goes down and nightfall, the birds and insects are very magically silenced together, and the peace between heaven and earth is abnormal.

When Zhu Gaoxu walked outside the study in the front hall, he saw that there were sergeants standing within a hundred steps of the surroundings and in Sichuan, and idle people were not allowed to approach; On a square table outside the door of the study, there were several sabers. He walked into the room, looked around, and easily saw that the few people he had summoned had arrived.

"Mr. Li", Hou Hai, Sheng Yong, Ping'an, Wang Bin, a total of five civil and military officials, are all confidants of the Han Palace. In addition, there was only one eunuch, and Wang Gui stood on the side. Everyone clasped their fists and saluted.

"Excuse me." Zhu Gaoxu casually clasped his fists with both hands, he glanced at the big bookcase in the middle of the study, there were already several large maps on it, and said: "Find a stool to sit next to the table, let's sit closer, we can speak clearly, and the map is easy to see." ”

Everyone thanked each other and sat down around the rectangular table. Zhu Gaoxu sat on the top seat facing the door, and Mr. Li sat opposite him, and the two were very close.

Zhu Gaoxu said directly: "Please Mr. Li explain the strategy first." ”

"The subordinate obeys." Mr. Li clenched his fists, he glanced at the map on the table, and cleared his throat quietly.

Mr. Li opened his mouth and narrated unhurriedly: "After the great wars in the southwest, the Han Wangfu actually occupied Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan. There are several roads in and out of the southwest, and all of them are rugged and tortuous, making it difficult for the enemy to attack; We don't need to divide our forces too much, and we have the advantage of defending the hinterland. After several great victories and generous rewards for the officers and soldiers, the morale of the officers and men who fought the crime was strong again.

However, our army cannot be trapped in the southwest, but must go east.

Today, the puppet emperor has many soldiers and horses, and the number is still far superior to mine. According to the news reported by the Beisi of the Imperial Mansion and other detailed works, the lower officials believed that the enemy army had deployed the Beijing camp and the guards in various places in Huguang, or between 400,000 and 500,000 people; Guangxi has more than 100,000 people in the Zhang Auxiliary Department; It is estimated that there are still more than 200,000 to 300,000 elite soldiers in the Beijing division.

Because before the Battle of Guizhou, the enemy army was expected to be able to break through Guizhou and want to march into Sichuan, so the main force of the Huguang Army should be in Jingzhou. In addition, Wu Gaojun is in Changde Mansion; Wuchang Mansion, Yuezhou Mansion, Changsha Mansion and other important towns also deployed a lot of soldiers and horses. When our army moves eastward, it is still possible that the enemy forces of the Beijing Division will continue to move towards Huguang. ”

Zhu Gaoxu just nodded and did not say anything, so as not to interrupt Mr. Li.

So Mr. Li continued: "This battle will march to the south of the river, there are many rivers and lakes in Huguangjiang, Jiangxi and other places, and it is the water army that must not be underestimated!" The Daming Naval Division all held the hands of the puppet emperor, which originated from the Chaohu Naval Division, and now the warships are thousands of soldiers and many ships; And the combat power is extremely strong, except for Chen Xuan who surrendered without a fight at the end of the 'Battle of Jingyan', the Daming Navy Division has never been defeated. Obviously, with the Sichuan Naval Army, we are by no means the opponent of the enemy's naval division in the first battle.

The waters of the Yangtze River, Dongting Lake, Poyang Lake, Xiangjiang River, and Ganjiang River were all controlled by the enemy.

If the sin army could not compete with the enemy's naval division on the surface of the river, it would have little chance of winning from the east of Sichuan.

The other way to take Guizhou into the lake and Guangdao to attack Changde Mansion is also very unfavorable. The road into the lake is rugged, and the main force of the crime army is too numerous, and it is inconvenient to transport grain. When our military entered Huguang, it had to face 100,000 Wu Gao's army with the city. After a little delay, the enemy army gathered from all sides; The sin army can't be used, so it can only rely on the lake to transport grain, if it can't break through and fall into a major attrition event, it will also rest.

If you detour and march to Changsha Mansion and Tanzhou Mansion, the front is the Xiangjiang River with a water width of more than one mile, and the river surface is controlled by the enemy's naval divisions; In the rear, Wu Gao's army threatened to enter Huguang Road and cut off the retreat route of the grain road. Whether our division crossed the river or not, they were in a dilemma. ”

Mr. Li pointed to a line on the map and said: "Therefore, the officials and others discussed, and the policy of 'basing ourselves on Xiangxi and waiting for the opportunity to fight' was presented."

First, the two armies attacked the Guangxi political envoys, the Yunnan army on the south road tended to Tiandong, and the Guizhou army on the middle road tended to Liuzhou Mansion. Zhang Fujun went north to meet the battle, and our division waited for the opportunity to attack Zhang Fujun on two roads; If Zhang's auxiliary army retreated, the two armies of Guangxi entered Guilin Mansion north and occupied the three divisions of Guangxi to mobilize military rations.

Then the people and horses of the north road marched into Huguang Road, and feinted to march into Yuanling and Changde Mansion; The army reached Chenxi, but turned southeast, and took this road to Baoqing Mansion and Wugang Prefecture (Shaoyang). At the same time, the two armies in the south marched north from Guilin Mansion and joined the North Route Army.

At that time, the main force of the criminal army will occupy the northern part of Guangxi and the west of the Huguang Xiangjiang River, and the Xiangxi Political Envoy can be added to govern the land west of the Huguang Xiangjiang River; The three divisions of Guilin still dominate the northern prefectures of Guangxi. When the main force of the enemy's Huguang army comes, the prince can lead the army to fight with the enemy! As long as you win a big battle, you can win the enemy's spirit, and the mountains and rivers can no longer stop the king's edge! ”

Zhu Gaoxu nodded slightly, looked thoughtfully at the shoddy map, and didn't speak for a while. Ping An Shengyong also participated in the production of this strategy, and he must agree with it. And Wang Bin and Hou Hai didn't say it easily, the process was a bit complicated, and they might not be able to understand it immediately.

Zhu Gaoxu thought while watching, pondering the steps in his heart. Mr. Li didn't go into much detail, but Zhu Gaoxu still roughly figured out what was going on.

For example, the strategy of dividing troops to the east should take into account the practical problems of roads and supplies, and the fewer people on a road, the fewer problems there will be in transporting food on the march. From the east of Guizhou, there are Snow Ridge Mountains, large and small heavy mountains, it is not easy to walk.

And the Northern Route Army's feint march into Changde Mansion may also be seen through by the imperial court. If the Huguang reinforcements gathered the main force to go south first, the North Route Army was weak, so it had to retreat to the south first and move closer to the two armies on the Fuzhong Road and the South Road in Guilin.

"The strategy of Mr. Li and others is probably agreed by this king, so I summoned you to discuss again." Zhu Gaoxu finally spoke, "In comparison, Mr. Li has taken the golden mean, which is neither too hasty nor too conservative. ”

Mr. Li bowed and said, "Lord Mingjian." The subordinate officials were worried about the sailors, so they could not formulate a strategy to follow the river, and they also believed that the first attack on Changde was not the best policy. Huguang Fang slightly forced the enemy army to fight, which was more risky.

If the prince's intention in this battle is to seek stability, it is Zhang Fujun, who is the main force going south to attack Nanning Mansion in Guangxi; The lower officials summed it up again and reworked out the strategy.

However, in this case, Zhang Fu is very likely to be unwilling to fight with the superior forces of our division, and the results of the prince will inevitably be smaller. The place controlled by the Han Wangfu extends to Sichuan in the north and Guangxi in the south, forming a long dragon, which is blocked by lofty mountains and mountains in the middle, and it is difficult to come and go; The army was far away in the South Ridge, and it could not immediately threaten the hinterland of the puppet emperor. The puppet emperor sent the generals to divide the troops through the north and south, and it was difficult for our division to open up the situation for a while. ”

Mr. Li should also see that Zhu Gaoxu wants to make substantial progress as soon as possible, so he first presents a Huguang strategy. How to make decisions, in the end, Zhu Gaoxu has the final say.

Mr. Li then said, "In the matter of military spending, the official suggested that the merchants should be allowed to open new mines of gold, silver, copper, lead, etc., in order to increase their income; borrowed money from the Shu Palace; When there is a shortage of money and money, they shall use grain, cloth, salt, and other materials to cover part of the cost of military salaries. When the prince occupies the state capital in the north of Guangxi and the west of Huxi, he can take the funds of the government treasury and collect taxes from various places. In this way, military spending may be maintained before the Huguang War. ”

Zhu Gaoxu nodded without hesitation and said: "This is how political affairs are done!" Tell the political envoys and the capital secretaries to issue government decrees and report according to this. ”

Mr. Li bowed and said, "Your Majesty obeys orders." ”

Before you know it, the noisy insect chirping has really sounded in all directions, mixed with the occasional frog chirping, and the night outside the door is very lively. The night soaked the air like water, and Zhu Gaoxu obviously felt that the temperature was much lower than before, and there was a coolness on his arms. The temperature difference between day and night seems to be relatively large.

Zhu Gaoxu sat for a while, and when he saw that no one was talking around, he pressed his hand on the table, stood up, and said, "First follow this Huguang strategy and prepare everything." If there's no better way to do it, that's it. Go back and rest. ”

Several people bowed one after another: "Xiaguan (the last general) and others have retired." ”

After everyone left, Zhu Gaoxu still stood next to the table, looking at the file written by Mr. Li and the approximate place on the map. He knew very well in his heart that the risks of this strategy were still very high. There are multiple steps, and as long as there is a problem in one place, it is not easy to clean up. But for a while he couldn't think of an easier way.

When Emperor Taizu established the Ming Dynasty, the world had already been pacified, and only the southwest was still fighting in the Hongwu period. This place is like this, the mountains are high and the roads are far away, as if they are besieging a city. It's not good to march outside and pacify; But if the people inside want to fight out from the southwest, it is also very difficult to fight from the southwest.

It is no wonder that since ancient times, there have been few forces that have won the world from the southwest corner, and it is really difficult to go out. Many people have nothing to do, so they simply prefer to be peaceful, and when the general trend is doomed, they can only sit and wait for death. So you have to find a foothold outside the mountains! Back then, Uncle Liu Huang lost his sworn brother, and he had to fight for Jingzhou with his allies, because of this.

Zhu Gaoxu looked at it for a while, and pondered in his heart that he would move the Han Wangfu to Guizhou, so that Mr. Li could lead the Changshi Mansion and control the government affairs of the three provinces. And Zhu Gaoxu himself must lead the troops to recruit in person.

He didn't like to write before. Although I have obtained a good calligraphy, my habits have not changed, and I just keep everything in my heart and do not write it down. At this time, Du Qianrui came with a few palace maids and brought food boxes to deliver food. Zhu Gaoxu saw that the meal had been delivered to the study, so he asked someone to set it out on the round table and had dinner improvised.