Zhu Yunwen's daily schedule gradually became regular, he got up every morning, exercised with the four martial arts companions, and then went to the court with Zhu Yuanzhang, and he didn't speak in the court, just observed the reactions of the emperor's grandfather and the courtiers, and learned how to control the ministers. After the meeting, I went to Wenhua Hall to study and discuss things with my companions and teachers. In the afternoon, after asking the Lu family for peace, he went to the Qianqing Palace to learn from Zhu Yuanzhang how to deal with government affairs.

Zhu Yuanzhang is very diligent, because he has to make decisions about everything, so he often works late at night, and after a long time, Zhu Yunwen can't stand it anymore, but fortunately he is young and can still hold on. Zhu Yuanzhang has been in poor health recently, so he asked him to watch some concerts that are not very urgent and urgent, Yun Wei slowly began to get started, and the memories of the two lives made him have a maturity that ordinary people do not have and calmness beyond his age, and he can slowly understand Zhu Yuanzhang's approach. Zhu Yuanzhang took the world as a province in the south of the Yangtze River, and most of the civil and military officials were from the two Huai, and they formed gangs to suppress and exclude officials of other factions; In addition to Jiangnan, there are many dissatisfied, some loyal to the Northern Yuan, and some who do not forget the old master (Fang Guozhen, Chen Youliang, Zhang Shicheng); The White Lotus Sect is still circulating in various places, and although it has gone underground after successive attacks, there are still signs of resurgence in some places; Fang Guozhen, Zhang Shicheng's remnants colluded with the Japanese Invaders, which seriously affected shipping and commercial trade; Although the Northern Yuan Dynasty has been severely hit and has been divided, it is still a little ready to move in recent years, and the north has always been the great enemy of the Central Plains Dynasty. The existence of various problems made Zhu Yuanzhang feel a headache, so Zhu Yuanzhang was particularly afraid that people would deceive him, so he did not hesitate to kill him.

In Wenhuatang, Zhu Yunwen met Qi De, who explained military affairs, he was the later famous Qi Tai, a native of Lishui (now Gaochun District, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province), about 40 years old, the first place in the township test in the seventeenth year of Hongwu, and became a jinshi in the following year. He was a cautious person, had been an official for many years without making mistakes, was well-read and knowledgeable, was the head of the military department at the time, knew the geography of the border passes and the soldiers well, and was a standard civilian official. Zhu Yunwen wanted to know two aspects, one was the situation of the northern frontier and the situation of the frontier army, and the situation of the Ming Dynasty and Fang Guozhen, Zhang Shicheng's remaining troops, and the Japanese invaders.

Qi De talked about the military deployment of the frontier today, he hung up the map of the Ming Dynasty in the Wenhua Hall, picked up a teaching whip, and spoke confidently, and there were Zhu Yunwen, Geng Xuan, Song Xuan, Guo Jian, and Wu Sheng who listened to the lecture on the spot.

"Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, since the twenty-first year of Hongwu, since the victory of General Lan in fishing, there have been a lot less border troubles in the north, in fact, General Lan has not killed too much, the key is to destroy the direct forces of the Northern Yuan Golden Family, resulting in the cannibalism of the Golden Family, so the Xiao'er Jin family is unable to command Mobei, Monan and Moxi Mongolia, so in the past few years, Daming has not had much border trouble."

Zhu Yunwen asked: "How is the difference between Southern Mongolia, Northern Mongolia, and Western Mongolia?" ”

"The desert refers to the Gobi Desert of the Mongolian Plateau, south of the desert is the desert of southern Mongolia, and it is also an area bordering the northern Xinjiang of the Ming Dynasty, east of Nuer Gandusi, west of the Ili River Basin, south to the Great Wall, north of the desert, stretching for more than 10,000 miles."

"Desert Mongolia is north of the desert, from Hulunbuir City in Heilongjiang Province in the east, to Hanhai in the south, to the Altai Mountains in the west, and to Russia in the north."

"Moxi Mongolia refers to the general term of the tribes west of the desert, and its distribution area extends from the Altai Mountains in the east to the Ili River basin in the west."

Qi De used his whip to draw circles on the map as he spoke, and Zhu Yunwen nodded and asked, "Then what do you think of the relationship and threat between these three pieces of Mongolia and our Ming Dynasty?" ”

"His Royal Highness the Emperor Hui, the direct threat to the Ming is Mo Nan Mongolia, but the Ming Dynasty has been out of the fortress many times, Mo Nan Mongolia is no longer a problem, but some of them fled to Mobei to recuperate, sooner or later, they will make a comeback, in addition, Mo West Mongolia belongs to the peripheral tribes of the Northern Yuan, and the Ming does not border, but the Ming Dynasty has dealt a heavy blow to Mo Nan Mongolia and Mo North Mongolia, Mo West Mongolia will be relatively strong, they will also go east at the right time, and then become a new threat to the Ming Dynasty. However, in the long run, it is difficult for Moxi Mongolia to become the master of the desert, because after Genghis Khan, the recognized owner of the desert is the golden family, that is, the descendants of Genghis Khan. ”

"Then how was our guard in the northern frontier of the Ming Dynasty established and how did it be defended?" Zhu Yunwen asked.

Qi De thought for a while and said: "Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, it has taken more than 20 years to gradually drive the Yuan soldiers out of the Great Wall, and establish a guard outside the Great Wall, the most important thing in the northern Xinjiang line is Dongshengwei," Qi De picked up the whip and clicked on the map, "This is the Dongshengzhou of the Yuan Dynasty, its strategic location is very important, it can control the Hetao, connect Shanxi Zhuwei and Ningxia Zhuwei, if Dongshengwei is not protected, then the Hetao Plain will inevitably fall into the hands of the enemy, and Shanxi and Shaanxi will face a direct threat from Mongolia, This will lead to the shrinkage of the entire border defense line, and the guards in the northwest will not be able to get the support of the guards in Shanxi, and the territory in the northwest may gradually encroach. ”

"Dongsheng to the east to Datong, Xuanfu, Kaiping, southeast to Daning, and east to Liaodong, east to the Yalu River. Among them, the most difficult to control is Kaipingwei, Xinghesuo and Daningwei, Kaipingwei (now near Duolun, Inner Mongolia) is the capital before the Yuan Dynasty, the geographical position is superior, you can overlook the entire Mongolian steppe, but isolated in the grassland, easy to be invaded by the Mongols, so you need effective support and supplies from the rear, but thousands of miles of grassland, it is difficult to transport grain; ”

"Xinghe (Weixia is the place, in today's Zhangbei, Hebei), there is Lingxiao Peak in the northeast, Weiyuan River in the south, Yuershuo in the west, it is very close to the hinterland of Mongolia, and the King of Zhongshan and the Northern Expedition of Liangguo Gong are all here."

"Hongwu 20 years set up the Daning Division, jurisdiction north of the Great Wall, south of the West Lamulun River, the West Lamulun River is known as Huangshui in history, that is, the meaning of the yellow river, the Khitan capital Linhuang Mansion is near Huangshui. So this place is a place with abundant water and plants, and the location is dangerous. In addition, north of the Xilamulun River are three guards, namely Duoyanwei, Tainingwei and Fuyuwei. The Mongols called Duoyanwei Wuliangha, Tainingwei Wengniut, and Fuyuwei Uqiyat. This is because the three guards of Duoyan, Taining and Fuyu are mainly composed of the three divisions of Uliangha, Weng Niute and Uqiyet, respectively. ”

After Zid finished speaking, he made a summary and drew a line on the map with the whip.

On the defense line north of Beiping, Liaodong Division, Daning Division, Kaiping Wei, Xinghewei, Datong Division, Dongshengwei, formed the outermost defense line of the Ming Dynasty, and these Cypriot guards echoed each other, with Shanhaiguan, Jizhou, Xuanfu, Datong as the center of the second line of defense is the northern defense line of the Dynasty from point to surface, forming a three-dimensional and effective system, is the sphere of influence of the Dynasty to the north of the Great Wall advanced hundreds of miles, fully ensuring the security of the interior. In addition, Ningxiawei, Lanzhouwei, Zhuanglangwei, Liangzhouwei, Shandanwei, and Gansu Wei of Shaanxi Dusi constitute a northern defense line that stretches for thousands of miles. ”

"Daningwei is north of Xifengkou, its role is to shield the association, if it is broken through by the Mongols, the front will be directed to Beiping, and there is no defense line south of Xifengkou, if Daningwei is lost, then the Mongolian cavalry is likely to be under the city of Beiping. For the attack, Daning is the right road of the northern expedition to Mongolia, to the north to the Daxing'an Mountains, and to the west is to attack the eastern flank of Mongolia, the main attack feint effect is obvious, is an important part of the northern expedition to Mongolia. To the west is Kaiping Wei, which is in the northernmost part of the four guards, and is the farthest part of Mongolia, and is the outpost of attacking Mongolia, while Xinghe Dongsheng is the middle of our border defense, and the offensive and defensive functions are the same as those of Daning and Kaiping. These four guards are a whole, not only protect each other but also play a role in protecting Liaodong and Hetao, if one of the guards is lost, the effectiveness of the entire system will be greatly reduced, and Liaodong and Hetao will also directly face the Mongolian cavalry. ”

"Generally speaking, at present, the northern defense line of our DPRK protrudes hundreds of miles from the Great Wall, and the various guards that go out of the front are not only used as a springboard for attack, but also as a wedge for defense, playing the role of early warning. The guards on the front line of the Great Wall provide rear support to the front guards. As long as there are no problems with these front guards, there will be no problems with the protection of the northern frontier of the Ming Dynasty, and the situation in Mongolia can be known at any time, so that it is convenient to strike at potential threats at any time. ”

Geng Xuan raised his hand to gesture to Qi De and asked, "Chief Qi, at present, it seems that there is no problem with the northern defense line, can it be understood in this way?" ”

Qi De shook his head and said: "No, any attack and defense is supported by strong military power, and these guards were established and stabilized after the previous Northern Expeditions achieved military superiority over the Northern Yuan. If our military is weakened and the Northern Yuan is strong, these guards will be uprooted one by one. In addition, these guards rushed into the desert, and it was very difficult to provide them, mainly food. In our dynasty, the grain was mainly shipped to the north, and the annual shipping volume was about 60-700,000 stones, mainly to supply the northern garrison. For example, in the second year of Hongwu, His Majesty ordered the household department to store 300,000 stone of grain in Taicang, Suzhou Prefecture, for shipping to Liaodong. For five years, he was ordered to pay Liao, 700,000 stone years old. This number has been basically the same every year since then. Shipping greatly solved the problem of rationing grain, ordnance and other materials in Beiping and Liaodong, but there were still some problems in shipping, one was the Japanese Invaders, who colluded with Fang Guozhen and Zhang Shicheng to protect the safety of maritime transportation, so they repeatedly sent sailors to collect the Japanese Invaders; For example, in June of the seventh year of Hongwu, Ding Liaowei commanded Ma Yun to transport 12,400 stones of grain, and went to sea to pay for a storm, covering more than 40 boats, losing more than 4,700 stones, drowning 717 officers and soldiers, and more than 40 horses. Something like this happens almost every year. Therefore, the emperor will promote the Tuntian of the Weisho this year to improve grain self-sufficiency, and after food self-sufficiency, sea transportation may be stopped. ”

Zhu Yunwen asked: "Chief Qi, do you think Tuntian can solve the problem of grain use in the frontier?" ”

Qi De pondered for a while and said: "I'm afraid not, there have been fewer wars in the past two years, so it is possible to reach the level of food self-sufficiency, but if the war resumes, it will not be possible, so Your Majesty has adopted salt to open the Chinese method as a supplement." ”

Zhu Yunwen stood up, looked at Qi De, glanced at the companions around him, and asked, "Do you have any questions?" ”

Geng Xuan stood up and said, "Since it is difficult to maintain the front guard, if you give it up, it should save a lot of money, food and troops, and the territory outside the Great Wall cannot be cultivated anyway." ”

Qi De said: "Geng Xiaohou Ye, this is not the case, if we give up the front assault guard, then our dynasty can only rely on the Great Wall to defend, without any early warning time, and the Great Wall, beaten everywhere, needs to hoard heavy troops on the front line of the Great Wall, and may even have to give up some unimportant places, which will lead to the loss of the northwest territory, and will cost more money, food and troops." ”

"Then to ensure the safety of Hetao, Shanxi and Shaanxi, the most important thing is Dongshengwei." Geng Xuan said.

"Yes, otherwise it is necessary to hoard heavy troops in Datong, Yulin and other places, which is likely to cause the loss of the Hetao, which may also lead to Kaiping being attacked by the enemy and then giving up."

Wu Sheng suddenly raised his hand and asked: "For the Liaodong Metropolitan Division, the most important thing is Daning, if Daning is lost, then Guangning will face a direct impact, if Guangning is lost again, then Liaodong will become an island." ”

"Yes, if our army is weakened, Daning is likely to be lost, but if Guangning is also lost, then as long as you get out of the Great Wall, it will be Hulu, and at that time, as long as the passes of the border fortress such as Xifeng Pass and Gubei Pass are lost, then Hulu will enter Hebei and Shanxi, and Daming will be in danger." Zid said as he dotted on the map.

Everyone was discussing enthusiastically, and Zhu Yunwen suddenly interjected: "Master Qi, how can we solve the problem of Hu Lu once and for all?" Whether they could fight like the Han Dynasty had nowhere to hide, so they had to leave; Or like the Tang Dynasty, let them submit and use them for my use. ”

Everyone looked at the imperial grandson in amazement, and said in their hearts: How is this possible, the Hulu problem has existed for thousands of years, and when the Central Plains is strong, it can still resist, and when it declines, Hulu will often cross the Central Plains and even unify China. Qi De smiled bitterly and said: "Your Royal Highness, this is impossible, the grassland is endless, and it is easy to get lost without a guide." There is also that if you want to control the grassland, you need to build a city, but you need a lot of people and materials to build a city, and it takes time to build a city. So Zid didn't think of a good solution. ”

Zhu Yunwen thought to himself, it seems that a fast construction technique is needed, it seems that the cement of Dream Middle School can be tried, he wrote it down in his notebook, and then asked: "How can our Han army defeat Hu Lu?" What are the requirements? ”

Qi De was stunned for a moment and said: "This, as long as the monarch is wise and the army is strict, he will definitely be able to defeat Hu Lu." ”

Zhu Yunwen was also stunned for a moment, and said in his heart: This Qi De seems to be better at talking on paper, which is not very good.

Zhu Yunwen continued: "So, what about firearms? Will it be possible to defeat Hu Lu on the battlefield? ”

"The use of firearms has been relatively mature in this dynasty, but it is more used in Pingding, and it is not possible to enter the grassland, because firearms are difficult to operate, slow to fire, short range, and easy to explode, so it is difficult to use."

Zhu Yunwen said in his heart, this is, the artillery in the dream shook the world, how could it not be used, the current technology is still poor, and someone needs to study it, he took out a notebook and wrote down the "firearms".

Qi De felt that the ambition of the imperial grandson was good, but it seemed unlikely that he could do it, but at a young age, it was always a good thing to have ambitions, so he shook his head, dispelled the thought from his head, and continued to lecture.

Today, after listening to Qi De's description of the northern Xinjiang defense line, Zhu Yunwen finally realized that these former raiders must have been abandoned one by one, or occupied by the Mongols, remembered the Manchu Qing Dynasty that rose in the northeast 200 years later, remembered the tragic song of the Southern Ming Dynasty, the ten days of Yangzhou, and the three massacres of Jiading, and lived in the era of the most hated Manchu Qing in his dream, and had a better understanding of the history of the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty. Could it be that this kind of rise and fall of dynasties of the Chinese nation and the misery of the people must happen? In later generations, the nomads are nothing at all, because with rifles and artillery, in fact, during the Qianlong period of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, the advantages of the nomads were not much, and firearms were relatively developed at that time, but in the end, the Manchu Qing Dynasty's policy of foolish people led to the backwardness of scientific and technological forces, although the nomads were not troubled, but there was no resistance to Japan across the ocean, remembering the scene of their own death, the artillery that covered the sky and the sun, and the thousands of heroes who held primary firearms against artillery and naval guns, Zhu Yunwen suddenly felt that his previous thoughts were too narrow, what is King Yan, even if he suppresses King Yan, what is the use? The infestation of the nomads cannot be solved, and if the king of Yan is solved by force, then it is likely that the elite soldiers in the north will be completely wiped out, how to resist the invasion of foreign enemies, those guards may have to give up, it is better to give way obediently, at least the king of Yan is indeed invincible on the battlefield of cold weapons. Now that he knows the trend of history and understands the laws of social development, he naturally has to do something different, after all, he will be the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

When Zhu Yunwen was in a daze, everyone had a very heated discussion, and suddenly Qi De asked, "Your Highness, do you have any ideas?" Zhu Yunwen woke up suddenly, thinking of the sand table and war games in later generations, which suddenly aroused Qi De's interest, as a civilian in the military department, he felt very sensitive that these two things were very useful. However, there are still some problems, Zide asked: "But this requires a very accurate survey of the terrain, and it requires a lot of manpower and material resources, and since the wargame deduction needs to be accurate, then the number of people, equipment, and terrain must be fully considered." ”

Zhu Yunwen was born as a staff officer in his dream, so it was easy to answer: "For the terrain, you are in the military department, there should be a way to get the data, we will first do the terrain sand table of Northern Xinjiang and Mongolia, and the war games need more information, such as the problem of mutual restraint of the troops, the problem of soldiers carrying supplies, the problem of the daily movement distance of soldiers, and the terrain, climate, etc., the deduction is on both sides, one side is my Daming, the other side is Mongolia, and a referee is needed to judge some controversial issues. What would happen if a thousand infantry met a thousand cavalry on flat ground, and they would be routed or annihilated? If it had been in the mountains, I think it would have been a different story. It is also necessary to have an understanding of equipment, such as siege weapons, return guns, firearms, etc., all of which must be considered. ”

Qi De, Geng Xuan and others are very interested in this, because they are not very old, and they all hope to win a decisive victory thousands of miles away in the strategic plan. So there was a lively discussion.

Zhu Yunwen didn't say in detail, but just mentioned a general situation, and the rest needed professionals to study, seeing that they were discussing very hotly, and it was not too early to read it, so he made a summary and said: "Qi De, as the head of the military department, go back and quickly make a sand table, and collect the information needed for various war games, if you need the assistance of other departments, I will apply with the emperor's grandfather." Tomorrow, don't come here, go to Zhan Shifu, where we will open a war room, Qi De will temporarily serve as the director of the war room, and a few of you will be staff officers, and the war games will be deduced. ”

"Yes, Your Highness." Everyone happily replied.