Zhu Youzhen looked at the expressions of Li Hongyuan and Guan Shanhe, and couldn't help but ask casually: "Do you think what this Ahsan said is true?" ”

Zhu Youzhen suddenly paused, turned his head to an attendant beside him and ordered: "Go and inform the head of Xialian and ask him to check if there is a Jurchen named Adahai who has entered the mainland on the ship of the Four Seas Commercial Bank, and where is this person located now?" ”

It was only after the attendant left that Li Hongyuan spoke: "The minister thinks that we can't fully believe this person's words. However, since he is willing to take his sons, nephews, relatives and friends to my country, I think it should be true that he can't stay in the Houjin country.

We only need to observe them for a while to know whether he really wants to defect to our country or if he has ulterior motives. ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at him and asked meaningfully: "Then tell me your opinion, do you think we should accept them?" ”

Li Hongyuan was silent for a moment before he said cautiously: "Accept the defection of Ah Shan, maybe after the internal contradictions of the Jurchen Eight Banners in the future, more people will choose to defect to us."

However, during the peace talks, the defection of the entourage of the other party's envoy was accommodated, and those who knew about it might not think that I had done anything wrong. But those who don't know may think that we lured or forcibly retained these people.

In the strategic plan designed by His Majesty to deal with the Later Jin State, the biggest external factor that can influence the war between our Ming Dynasty and the Later Jin State lies in who can win the support of the Mongolian ministries.

And based on the analysis of the various data collected by our General Staff, we believe that although the Mongols admired strength and were prone to submit to the strong, they were clearly more willing to surrender their loyalty to the strong and were willing to keep their promises.

Therefore, the minister thought that receiving the defection of Ahsan and others might gain some benefits, but the loss of reputation might keep the Mongol tribes away from us. The pros and cons of the two options are probably something that only His Majesty can decide. ”

Looking at the solemn appearance of the two, Zhu Youzhen said lightly: "Why do you want me to decide, why don't you let Huang Taiji and those Jurchen nobles decide?" ”

Li Hongyuan paused, "What does Your Majesty mean?" ”

Zhu Youzhen stretched out his hand and tapped on the table in front of him, and then said slowly: "It is the month of Layue, and this time of year is the high incidence of smallpox. ”

Chongzhen stopped when he said this, and Guan Shanhe said inexplicably: "Smallpox? Aren't most of our soldiers already suffering from cowpox? ”

Li Hongyuan, who was pondering on the side, suddenly came to his senses, pulled Guan Shanhe's sleeve, and after telling him to stop, he said to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty's meaning, the minister understands." I think this plan is feasible, even if we accept Ah Shan's people, no one will say that I am not a master in the future. ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at him in some surprise and asked, "You really understand?" ”

Li Hongyuan replied with a smile on his face: "The minister really understands. Guan Shanhe on the side looked at it a little bewildered, the dumb riddle between the boss and the emperor.

Zhu Youzhen looked at Li Hongyuan for a long time, and finally nodded and said, "Since you really understand, this matter will be handed over to you to be responsible, and I will wait to see the results."

This matter has passed like this, and while you are coming, I also want to ask, have you found out the stations of the 36 tribes of the closed door? ”

Li Hongyuan looked at Guan Shanhe with his eyes and motioned him to step forward, and Guan Shanhe immediately reported: "The 36 tribes of Guanmen are just a fictitious name, in fact, the total number of large and small tribes is close to hundreds, but these tribes can eventually be traced back to 36 larger tribes, so they are collectively called 36 by us.

Although Guanmen 36 is located in the area outside the Guanhai to the east of Zhangjiakou and west of Quang Ninh, most of the small tribes, except for a few large tribes, do not have a fixed station, but carry out mobile grazing life in this area.

Therefore, although we had some exchanges with the soldiers of the 36th Division, we were able to determine the specific location of only the 3 or 40 tribes. As for the location of the other small tribes, it is more difficult to determine..."

Zhu Youzhen interrupted him and said, "Okay, I understand. You all come up and take a look at this map. ”

Li Hongyuan and Guan Shanhe stepped forward to Chongzhen for some reason, only to find that there was a woodcarved sand table next to the emperor, which depicted the terrain outside the pass, obviously even if he was recuperating, Chongzhen was not idle.

Zhu Youzhen didn't wait for the two to ask, he took a thin wooden stick and pointed to the sand table and said: "This is the West Liaoning Corridor, this is our location, this is the Jizhou section of the Great Wall... The area enclosed by these places is the area that we and the Houjin Kingdom have not fully grasped.

And this area is also the grazing area of the Mongolian tribes such as the 36 tribes of Guanmen, the Karaqin tribe, and the Wengniute tribe.

Previously, because of the closure of the 36th Division, it was not attached to the forces hostile to our Ming Dynasty, although there were individual tribes in the 36th Division that occasionally violated the border of our Ming Dynasty, but it was always only a temporary trouble.

However, the closure of the 36th Ministry of the Ministry of Houjin has taught us a great lesson. If the Mongol tribes in this area surrender to the Houjin State, then the Houjin army can pass through this area covertly and unimpeded, or attack our Jizhou region; or attack my Miyun region; Or simply cross this area and directly attack the Inner Mongolia and Xuanda regions.

If a circle is drawn in the center of this area, Liaoxi, Jizhou, Miyun, and Xuanfu will become several dots on this circle. You should have studied geometry in the military academy, and you should be able to see that the Houjin army started from the center of the circle, and the road to each point was similar.

But if we want to mobilize our troops on these four points, we have to go an unknown number of miles. Originally, the passes on the Great Wall relied on the support of the rear, and we should have been fighting on the inner line.

But when the Houjin army gained control of this area, they became the inner line, and we became the outside line. On the defense line of the Great Wall, which is thousands of miles from Shanhaiguan to Zhangjiakou, it is impossible for us to station large soldiers everywhere.

In other words, after the Houjin army retreated this time, as long as they can still control this area, they will still have the initiative in the next attack, and we can only passively respond to the battle.

Therefore, in order to regain the initiative in the war with the Houjin, we must bring this land and the Mongol tribes living on this land under the control of the Ming Dynasty.

In order to do this, we must first do two things, the first thing is that we must completely submit the 36 departments to our Ming Dynasty, and let them settle down in the manner of the Mongolian right-wing departments;

The second thing is to choose a suitable location in the center of this area to build one or more fortresses, and relocate some of the people out of the customs to develop this area.

The area where the fortress is built should form an equilateral triangle with the two passes of Xifengkou and Gubeikou. Once the Houjin army is dispatched, our Daming border pass can get the warning as soon as possible, and the two garrisons of Xifengkou and Gubeikou can also directly support the soldiers and civilians stationed in the fortress area.

As long as we can do these two things, this becomes a buffer zone between us and Houjin. To the west were the Mongol right-wing divisions, and further west were the Mongol left-wing divisions, led by the Chahar divisions.

In this way, there is an early warning area along the line of the Great Wall. If the Jin army thinks about this raid on my Ming side wall like this, it is unlikely that it will appear again.

Now there is only one question left, I need someone to contact the leaders of the 36 departments and survey the local terrain, do you have any people to recommend? ”

Li Hongyuan and Guan Shanhe each recommended one person, one was Zhang Cunren, the deputy general under Zu Dashou, after seeing the emperor's suspicion of the Liaoxi generals, he began to actively show favor to Li Hongyuan, the emperor's cronies.

The other is Meng Qiaofang, who is also a deputy general, but was dismissed because of an incident in the army, and is now idle at home. He was a native of Yongping Mansion, and after hearing the news of the emperor's personal expedition, he rushed to King Qin with his family, and then was transferred to the troops raided by Wu Huai, and had a friendship with Guan Shanhe who fought side by side.

After listening to the general situation of the candidates recommended by the two, Zhu Youzhen thought for a while, and then said: "In my opinion, since Deputy General Zhang has the heart to cooperate with the work of the General Staff, it is more suitable to stay in the Liaodong Army and cooperate with He Kegang.

Although Meng Qiaofang has resigned from his post because of a crime, as long as he completes his mission well this time, I will not only reinstate him, but also promote his position.

Of course, this is just my idea, and I need to talk to you separately to see what they think before making a final decision. This matter will be handed over to Staff Officer Guan to be responsible..."

After letting Li Hongyuan and Guan Shanhe retreat, Zhu Youzhen turned his head to the attendants beside him and said, "Go and call Li Chenfang over." ”

Shortly after Dolgon fell asleep, he was awakened by a sharp knock on the door. When he put on his clothes and walked out of the room, he saw a group of men dressed in white robes and wearing a white cotton cloth on their faces, confronting his entourage, and their outfits looked particularly strange on this cold night.

After seeing Dolgon come out, Gao Hongzhong trotted to his side with a panicked expression and whispered in his ear: "These people said that they were going to take Kurtang away, and they wanted to isolate him or something..."

Before Gao Hongzhong's small report was finished, Dolgon saw a white-robed man walking towards him, and Dolgon, who was already secretly on guard, suddenly shouted loudly to the person who came to preemptively strike: "Who are you waiting for?" What do you want to do here? We are the envoys of the Houjin Kingdom, and this place is under the protection of His Majesty the Emperor, so don't you even pay attention to His Majesty's orders? ”

Guan Shanhe, who stopped in front of Dolgon, stretched out his hand and took off the mask on his face, looked at him with a strange look and said, "I naturally know that you are the envoy of the Houjin Kingdom, and we are here to protect your safety." ”