Although Sun Chengzong looks calm on weekdays, Chongzhen knows that he has always had a knot in his heart, that is, the defeat of Liuhe. Therefore, after hearing that the Guards had thwarted Huang Taiji's attack at Yingkou, they finally couldn't bear it anymore and wanted to expand the war in order to wash away the shame of the defeat of Liuhe.

Chongzhen can understand Sun Chengzong's feelings, after all, this is already in his last years, for him, it is one wish to be able to see the politics of the Ming Dynasty on the right track, and it is another wish to wash away the shame of the defeat of Liuhe before he dies.

As for Mao Wenlong, although this veteran soldier who has been fighting on the front line is sixty-four years old, his body is still quite tough. In fact, with his body, there will be no problems in Phi Dao for a few more years. It's just that with the completion of the Ming Dynasty's northern defense line and the establishment of Primorsky Krai, the status of Dongjiang Town has become more and more marginalized.

Mao Wenlong also realized that if he continued to stay in Dongjiang Town, it would be difficult for him to make contributions except for suppressing the opportunities for those subordinates to come forward. On the contrary, those subordinates who were transferred out of Dongjiang Town were promoted one by one. He knew that continuing to stay in his current position would only make his subordinates dissatisfied, so he accepted the emperor's suggestion and returned to the capital to enter the senate for retirement.

However, although Mao Wenlong left Phi Dao, it does not mean that he has lost control of Dongjiang Town. Although the General Staff was able to dismantle the feudal system of the local army, it was unable to completely eliminate mountaineering in the army. After all, the generals from Dongjiang Town will still take care of each other, just like the township party masters and apprentices of civil officials support each other.

The victory of the Guards at Yingkou naturally attracted the attention of the former commander of Dongjiang Town, who naturally did not want Dongjiang Town to be reduced to an insignificant division when the General Staff expanded the war. After all, with the recovery of the Ming Dynasty's national strength, the Manchu Qing gradually changed from a difficult enemy to a meritorious feat in the eyes of some soldiers.

Since the new army system of the Ming Dynasty is based on military merits, the army began to have the best to seek war, and no longer tried to avoid war and protect itself. Mao Wenlong naturally hoped that Dongjiang Town would also be able to occupy a place in this war to restore Liaodong, and not be further marginalized, after all, it was also a good thing for him that his subordinates could come forward.

After speculating on the thoughts of these two old ministers, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but smile and said: "Since the news that the Guards thwarted a Qing army attacking the city at Yingkou came back, it seems that everyone in the capital has become an expert in military affairs overnight.

I also heard a joke yesterday, saying that several scholars in a teahouse in the capital had a gathering, and during the banquet, a scholar did not agree and boasted to his companions, saying that if he was the commander of the army, he should send tens of thousands of soldiers and horses over at this time, surround Huang Taiji's army, and take down this man in one fell swoop, then the Jiannu group of dragons will be defeated and flee without a leader. So Shenyang can be down, Liaodong can be restored, and the revenge of the Ming Dynasty will be avenged, which is really a happy battle.

It's just that when this scholar was verbally arranging the formation, he was accused by others that he had even mistaken the location of Liaohe, and the two argued, and finally turned into a brawl between two tables of people, and was taken back and locked up by the police. It is said that even if these two people were imprisoned in the police station, they were still arguing over the location of Liaohe, and they refused to admit that they were wrong..."

Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle a few times when he said this, Sun Chengzong and Mao Wenlong exchanged glances with each other, and they didn't understand where the joke was at all. Mao Wenlong, who was sitting on Chongzhen's right side, covered his mouth with his hand and coughed lightly a few times, and then said to the emperor: "Hehe, scholars talk on paper, and it is understandable that such a mistake occurred. Liaodong is a vast area, even the subordinates of the ministers may not be familiar with the geography of the entire Liaodong, let alone these young people in the capital who have never been out of the customs..."

Sun Chengzong immediately interrupted him and said: "Although these young scholars are not familiar with geography, their loyal and patriotic hearts are still worthy of commendation. It is better to be able to fight for the location of a Liao River than to fight for the Qinglou woman. The old minister thought that His Majesty should not laugh at him, and should order both parties to go home and study behind closed doors, so as not to mislead others and themselves again. ”

Although he is already the first person among the military ministers, Sun Chengzong is still cautious about guarding the distinction between civil and military, and does not want Mao Wenlong to belittle the scholar in front of Chongzhen.

Although Mao Wenlong stopped, his face was still a little unconvinced, but he didn't dare to complain in front of Sun Chengzong. After all, this is the real emperor of the two dynasties, the only army marshal of the Ming Dynasty, even if his benefactor is in front of Sun Chengzong, he has to treat him as a teacher.

After Zhu Youzhen turned his head and looked at the expressions of the two people on the left and right, he said lightly: "It seems that the two gentlemen, like me, both think that the morale of the people in the Ming Dynasty is available now, but these people can't be allowed to influence the affairs of the military state, otherwise the world will not be chaotic." ”

Sun Chengzong's face suddenly stiffened for a moment, and then he said to the emperor with some uncertainty: "Then what does Your Majesty mean, does you not want to take advantage of the victory to pursue and keep the port of Yingkou?" ”

Hearing Sun Chengzong's question, Mao Wenlong on the side also pricked up his ears, wanting to hear how the emperor answered. After all, in his opinion, Sun Chengzong's plan to defend Yingkou and use this city to consume the main force of the Qing army is still quite high.

Zhu Youzhen was silent for a moment before speaking, but he did not answer Sun Chengzong's question directly, but asked him rhetorically: "In Mr. Sun's opinion, is the Ming Dynasty ready to solve the Manchu Qing politically?" ”

Sun Chengzong asked with some confusion: "Political preparations?" ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at the racecourse below and said firmly: "Whether we admit it or not, the Manchu Qing Dynasty is no longer a minority in my Ming border rebellion, but a state power in eastern Liaodong.

General Mao has lived in Liaodong for a long time and knows the geography and people of Liaodong best. So may I ask General Mao, are the Manchus, Mongols and Han people in Liaodong loyal to the Great Khan of the Aixin Jueluo family? Or do you think you are still a native of the Ming Dynasty? ”

Mao Wenlong paused for a while, and then said hesitantly: "The Liao people who are loyal to the Ming Dynasty were either killed by the old slave or fled from Liaodong. Now these Manchus, Mongols and Han people living in Liaodong may no longer regard themselves as Ming people. ”

Without waiting for Sun Chengzong to speak, Zhu Youzhen had already continued: "Since the First Battle of Sarhu, it has been almost 20 years since the fall of Liaodong. 20 years is almost the time for a generation to grow up, these young Liao people have never heard of the decree of my Ming court since they were young, how can they think that they are Ming people?

In the past, Huizong of the Song Dynasty plotted against the sixteen states of Yanyun, thinking that the main force of the Liao State was attracted by the Jin State in the north, and the sixteen states of Yanyun were mostly Han people, so the Song army going north would definitely make the Han people in the sixteen states of Yanyun return to their hearts and eat pot pulp to welcome the king. However, what the Song army was waiting for was not the welcome of the Han people in the sixteen states of Yanyun, but the angry blow of Yelu Dashi, and the death of the Northern Song Dynasty began here.

Later, Han Yanzhou presided over the Kaixi Northern Expedition, and also looked forward to the response of the Henan Han army, but the division of the Northern Expedition was intercepted by the Henan Han army, and the troops were lost everywhere, and the Northern Expedition failed and the Southern Song Dynasty was declining.

The above two Northern Expeditions are the best examples of the Central Plains Dynasty's attempt to recover the lost land, but it did not understand the politics and suffered defeat. I have always believed that although war is a continuation of politics, political problems cannot be solved simply by military affairs, otherwise it will inevitably be twice the result with half the effort.

In our opinion, the attack on Liaodong was a battle to restore the lost territory, but for the Manchu people, it was a battle of foreign invasion. If we can't solve this problem politically, then we are not fighting against the Manchus, but against the entire population of the Manchus.

Liaodong is different from overseas vassals, this land is the core interests of my Ming Dynasty, and it is also an inseparable part of my Ming land. The recovery of Liaodong is a problem, and how to govern it after the recovery is another problem, we cannot simply use slaughter to solve the problem, in fact, slaughter cannot solve the problem.

During the Chenghua period, my Ming Dynasty once cleaned up the Jurchen tribes in Liaodong. However, Liaodong is a vast area, and these Jurchens fled into the mountains, and in less than a hundred years, their power was even stronger than in the past. With the strength of the Ming Dynasty today, it is impossible to do better than the Chenghua period, so we will only leave greater trouble for future generations if we engage in massacres now.

It's like we conquered Vietnam for a thousand years, but Vietnam never considered itself part of the Ming Dynasty, and I didn't want Liaodong to become a second Vietnam.

Therefore, before using military means to settle the Manchu Qing Dynasty, we must first gain political recognition of the Liao people, who refer to all ethnic groups living in Liaodong, whether Han Chinese, Manchus, Mongols, or other ethnic groups. Only by first gaining the Liao people's sense of identity with the Ming Dynasty will this war not turn into a national war between the Ming and the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but only the central government's suppression of local rebel forces. ”

Mao Wenlong, who was very impressed by the emperor's remarks, couldn't help but subconsciously ask: "So how can we make the Liao people identify with the Ming Dynasty and turn their backs on the Manchu Qing?" I'm afraid it's a bit tough, right? The Eight Banners system established by the old slave is still very cohesive for the Manchurians. ”

Zhu Youzhen withdrew his gaze from the racecourse, and after he lowered his head and thought for a while, he continued: "If you want the Liao people to agree that the Ming Dynasty has turned its back on the Manchus, it is natural that the Manchus must first be completely defeated economically and politically.

The so-called state is fundamentally the imaginary community of the people. A country that cannot shelter the safety of its citizens and cannot give its citizens hope will naturally be rejected by its citizens.

To build a country, it takes cohesion, and if we want to destroy a country, we just have to do the opposite. Amplify the divisions within the Manchu Qing and deprive the upper elite of the Manchu elite and the lower class of the common people of common interests, and then carry out some military action. When the people of the Manchu Qing Dynasty were no longer willing to go to war for the Aixin Jueluo family, it was time for us to recover Liaodong. ”

Sun Chengzong couldn't help asking: "In that case, wouldn't the recovery of Liaodong have to be delayed for a long time?" ”

Zhu Youzhen turned his head to look at him, and then said with a smile: "I am not yet 30, and Huang Taiji is already 48, I don't think I can't survive him."

After all, the Manchus had no background, and every time they changed power, it was the time when the internal struggle was the most intense. The last time Nurhachi died, if it weren't for the system of the four major bailes, the Jurchens would have been in chaos a long time ago.

However, Huang Taiji personally abolished the system of co-governance of the four major Baylors, and forced Mang Gurtai to death and forced Amin to escape. After that, it may be difficult for the Manchus to have such a smooth transition of power, because Huang Taiji has already undermined political mutual trust among the Manchus. As long as there is a glimmer of possibility, no one will give their lives to others..."