“… Although I don't agree with the saying that the upper class must be wise and the lower level must be ignorant, there is one thing I think the master said is right, once the top and bottom of the country determine the direction of development, it is difficult to waver in their own opinions.

Just like reform, the reason why we want to propose reform is because we have most of the information about the country, and we know that if we don't reform the country, it will be doomed. The reason why the people support reform is because they can't see the future if the world doesn't change, or they are sure that they don't have a future.

Therefore, the people and us are in the same boat as whether the country should be reformed, and as for those vested interests in the middle, they feel that they can jump off the boat at any time, but they will not be so firm in supporting reform.

But just because we and the people believe that the country should change, it doesn't mean that the reform we choose is the one that the people need. Reforms that don't gain the approval of the people will eventually turn into a bunch of failed policies. ”

As soon as Zhu Youzhen paused, Xia Yunyi immediately continued: "But how can the people know what kind of reform is beneficial to their long-term interests?"

They simply don't have access to all the information we have access to about the country. If they judge the gains and losses of reform by whether they can gain or not, will the fate of the country be manipulated by the short-sightedness of a group of ordinary people? ”

Zhu Youzhen looked up at Xia Yunyi, then at Niu Jinxing and the others present, and couldn't help but say with the corners of his mouth raised: "The fate of the country? Do you really think that the reforms we are pursuing now can change the fate of the country? ”

Xia Yunyi suddenly said with some surprise: "If the reform can't change the fate of the country, what is Your Majesty promoting the reform for?" Besides, if reform cannot change the fate of a country, then what can change the fate of that country? ”

Zhu Youzhen interrupted him unceremoniously and said: "Of course it's the people, the change of dynasty since ancient times, that time was not promoted by the people?" As long as the people are not mobilized, do not assume that the country will change.

What is reform? The reform was nothing more than to prompt the vested interests to spit out a part of the vested interests and then hand them over to the imperial court for redistribution. If this part of the vested interests only ends up in the pockets of another part of the vested interests, and the people get nothing, what good is such a reform for the people?

Is our reform about handing over the benefits to those with vested interests and then shouting patriotism and dedication to the people? Let you get along with the people in another place, will you also be willing?

If it were me, I would definitely not be reconciled. The benefits of reform have been carved up by the top, but the pains of reform require the people's community to be difficult.

Isn't it ourselves who will benefit the most from the preservation of this country? In order to protect our interests, but count on the people at the bottom to bear all the suffering, how can such a country exist?

Don't think that with Houjin watching from the sidelines, we can use the story of the primordial spirit in the Tartar invasion to scare the people. For the people, the pebbles in the shoes are more abominable than the tigers in the distance, and we cannot expect to use the tigers in the distance to deter the people from taking out the pebbles in the shoes, which is self-deception.

Therefore, the purpose of the reform is to awaken the people, and only when the people share the benefits of the reform, will the people stand with the imperial court. As long as we have the support of the people, no matter what kind of internal and external enemies we have, we will not be able to stop our way forward.

As long as we are on the right path, even if the imperial court only owns one place in Hebei, it can still eliminate rebellion everywhere. For me, it is a good thing that those with vested interests are willing to rise up against the imperial court, and only after the wildfire-burned forests will there be no pests and diseases left. ”

A few people sitting at the same table as the emperor, Xia Yunyi was silent as he recalled the emperor's words; Bull Venus's eyes flickered, not knowing what he was thinking; Chen Zilong felt uncomfortable, so he could only bow his head and drink tea to cover up; Zhang Dai stared at the blue sky and white clouds outside the teahouse, and he didn't know where the fugue had gone.

After traveling through several counties in Gyeonggi, Zhu Youzhen did not stop his steps, and continued to investigate the two prefectures of Baoding and Hejian in the south.

Just as Chongzhen continued to move south to Baoding, the vanguard of the Ming army had already set up camp near Yizhou. For the Derge class stationed in Uiju, this is really a war that he doesn't want to fight at all.

At the beginning of the year, Huang Taiji's treatment of his brother Mang Gurtai was resentful to most of the generals of the entire Zhenglan Banner. The families behind these generals had already invested in Mang Gurtai for the future of the family during the period of Heavenly Mandate Khan.

With the loss of Mang Gultai, it means that their future is in vain, unless Huang Taiji can accept and maintain their current position. But there is no water in their heads, and most people know that they have been too deeply entangled in the interests of Sanbeile before, and it is difficult to change their masters, and even if they want to take refuge in others, the new masters may not trust a group of unreliable betrayers.

What's more, when it comes to their current position, Huang Taiji can't take anything to buy them, but it is better to use their position to buy middle and low-level soldiers, but it is easier to control the entire Zhenglan Banner.

Therefore, after Mang Gurtai was demoted, the Zhenglan Banner united around Mang Gurtai, shouted for him, and tried to overturn the case for Mang Gurtai. The actions of Zhenglan Banner did not move Huang Taiji, but made him even more jealous of Mang Gurtai's potential.

In Huang Taiji's opinion, it is enough to have two unruly white flags among the eight banners, and if there is one more positive blue flag, he really can't sleep at night. The Dolgon brothers, who have two white flags, are still young and deferential to him, so he can also control the two white flags through Dolgon.

However, the Mang Gurtai, the Derge brothers, and the Zhenglan Banner worked together to form a small group that could not be spilled by water and needles could not be inserted, which seriously threatened the foundation of the Eight Banners system. If all the flags were like the Zhenglan Banner, wouldn't he, the Great Khan and the Lord of the Eight Banners, become an empty name?

Therefore, in this expedition, Huang Taiji not only did not bring Mang Gurtai, but also transferred the main force of the Zhenglan Banner to Yizhou, which was far away from Shenyang, and ordered Yue Tuo's inlaid red flag to be stationed in Beizhen to cut off the connection between the Zhenglan Banner and Shenyang, which was equivalent to putting Mang Gurtai under house arrest in Shenyang City.

From top to bottom, Zhenglan Banner was worried about this power struggle within the Eight Banners, where did they still have the heart to fight the Ming army.

The questioning of the envoy of the Ming army was sent to Beizhen by the Derge class at the first time, and as for the possible attack on the Ming army, the Zhenglan Banner only strengthened the defense of Yizhou City and its vicinity, and did not have the slightest intention of taking the initiative to attack.

And for Yue Tuo in Beizhen, the provocation of the Ming army did not dare to make him take it lightly. Although the morale of the Zhenglan Banner made him very worried, as long as the families of Mang Gurtai and the Zhenglan Banner soldiers were still in Shenyang City, Yue Tuo believed that the Zhenglan Banner soldiers of Derge and Yizhou would not do anything stupid.

Besides, Yue Tuo's wife was the eldest daughter of Mang Guzigege, and the relationship between him and Mang Gurtai was even closer than that of the Great Khan. Therefore, he felt that no matter what decision the Derger class made, he always had to reveal something to himself.

Of course, he couldn't let the Ming army attack Yizhou. If the morale of the demoralized Zhenglan Banner soldiers is cornered, it is normal for them to make some judgments that yield to reality. When the Mandate of Heaven Khan unified the Jurchen tribes and conquered the Mongol tribes and those Liaodong Ming armies, didn't he often put the other party in a desperate situation first, and then persuade them gently.

On October 14, Yue Tuo arrived at Uiju with 7,000 men and horses to join up with Dege. On the 15th, more than 9,000 Mongolian tribes from the left and left of Yizhou led by Kalaqin Bul Gadu Daiqing and Subudi came to help.

After Yue Tuo made public the reason for the Ming army's attack, the Karaqin tribe attached to the Later Jin, that is, some tribes of the 36 tribes of the Guanmen Division, in order not to be liquidated by the Ming army, this time they also desperately took out all the strength of the tribe.

So far, by October 16, more than 26,000 Manchu, Mongolian, and Han troops had gathered inside and outside the city of Yizhou.

To the south of the city of Uiju, nearly 20,000 Ming troops also set up a defensive line on a 10-kilometer-long front.

Located south of the Daejeong River, Uiju Fortress is the center of a basin surrounded by mountains. The flat terrain along the line of the Daling River is the widest, and then the flatter the further south you go, the narrower the terrain becomes.

Two north-south mountain ranges, one east and one west, sandwich this basin and the Daling River. Such terrain naturally makes it difficult for both sides to make a detour to attack each other's rear roads, and they can only rely on the attack of the frontal battlefield to defeat the other side.

The advantage of the Ming army is that behind it is Jinzhou, which can obtain supplies nearby. The advantage of the Later Jin army was that the cavalry exceeded more than half, and once they broke through the front of the Ming army, the Ming army was not defeated but defeated.

It was also on October 16 that the Houjin army in Yizhou discovered that at the entrance of the Daling River on the west side of the Great Wall, there were Ming army rangers, and Yue Tuo immediately ordered Taizu's son Babuhai and Subudi to lead 3,000 men to garrison the mouth of the river to prevent the Ming army from rushing into the basin from the mouth of the river.

On the other side, after seeing the positions of the Ming army, Yue Tuo decided to divide the army into two wings, left and right, and he and Derge each led a wing to launch an active attack on the Ming army's position. Yue Tuo said to Derge and the generals: "During the time of the first Khan, the Ming army was defeated by our army again and again in field battles, and after that, he only knew how to sit in the fortified city and did not dare to fight with our army in the field.

Now they dare to take the initiative to go out of the city to attack me, but they just rely on the fact that they have not suffered any losses in the previous field battles. However, according to my understanding, the reason why our army did not have an advantage in the previous field battles was because although the Ming people went out of the city, they still built an extremely strong defense line in the field, and they still used the trick of defending the city, rather than field technology that could match our army.

Therefore, we cannot allow the Ming people to build a line of defense in front of us and eventually drag us into the winter. In Uiju, we don't have so much material savings to confront the Ming people.

If you want to transport grain and grass from Shenyang, then the distance of thousands of miles plus the obstruction of mountains and rivers, the labor requisitioned and the loss on the road are incalculable? There is no need to fight this battle, and we will also be dragged down by the Ming people.

Therefore, this battle should be to crush their frontal troops as soon as possible before the Ming people have built a defensive line, destroy the courage of the Ming people to dare to confront our army in the field, and let the Ming people recall the glory of the invincible Jin army in the field after our Houjin..."