At midnight, Shanhaiguan City is like a sleeping dragon, hiding its majestic body in the boundless darkness. More than 100,000 Ming troops have fallen asleep, and only a few sergeants on duty at night are still standing above the city in the cold wind, vigilantly watching the northern wilderness.

In the Jingluo Mansion in the city, it is a different scene. It's heavily guarded and brightly lit. In the conference hall, dozens of high-ranking civil and military officials of the Ming Empire sat down according to their ranks, and they were engaged in a heated debate here.

Although Zhu Youzhen sat in the handsome position, he also knew that he was just an ornament, so he had to listen quietly without saying a word.

Sun Chengzong, who was sitting on top of him and bowed his head, spoke first: "Ladies and gentlemen, once Guangning is defeated, the foreign territory of Guanguo is lost, and our army has no way to retreat. The saint was furious and ordered the Governor to lead his troops to help. But guarding Shanhaiguan is only the minimum requirement; Pacifying Liaodong and forever eliminating the troubles of the imperial court is our ultimate goal.

"You are either a civil servant who has been in the border affairs for a long time, or a military general who has fought on the bloody battlefield, you must all have some opinions on the battle situation. Today, Chengzong wants to invite everyone to brainstorm and discuss a strategy for leveling Liao. If it is feasible, the Governor will go to the imperial court and follow the strategy, so as to eliminate the Jianyu within a few years to more than ten years, and never worry about the saints. I don't know who will talk first? ”

Wang Zaijin sat under Zhu Youzhen's bowed head. Since the Battle of Guangning, he replaced the arrested Xiong Tingbi as the Liaodong Economic Strategy, and has been in Shanhaiguan for more than ten months, and he has already had a plan for the Pingliao strategy in his heart.

Seeing Sun Chengzong's question at this time, he cleared his throat lightly, and was just about to speak, when among the rows of civil and military officials sitting opposite, a person suddenly stood up in the last row, and said loudly: "Master Inspector, the lower officials think that another city should be built outside the customs as a barrier at Shanhaiguan!" ”

Wang Zaijin saw that this person had robbed him of his words, and he was very unhappy in his heart. But he has been an official for many years, and the city government is very deep, so he did not attack, but carefully examined this person.

I saw that this man was about thirty years old, and he was born dark and thin, with a wide nose and a wide mouth, and an ugly appearance. Wang Zaijin was even more unhappy in his heart, and asked with his silver beard, "Who is this...?" ”

"The subordinate Yuan Chonghuan, who is the director of the Ministry of War, is now the superintendent of the army." The man replied respectfully.

Wang Zaijin had never heard of Yuan Chonghuan's name, and he didn't know what his relationship with Sun Chengzong was, so he asked tentatively: "Master Yuan, you said that you would build another city outside Shanhaiguan, but I don't know where you want to build it?" ”

"Xia Guan thinks that it should be built in Ningyuan!" Yuan Chonghuan's eyes were blazing.

Wang Zaijin heard what Yuan Chonghuan said, which was far from his plan, and he was even more unhappy, and his face gradually became gloomy.

Sun Chengzong admired Yuan Chonghuan's courage and encouraged him: "Master Yuan, tell me your reasons!" ”

"Your Highness, Lord Overseer, Lord Jinglu, everyone, please look at the map!" Yuan Chonghuan walked out of his seat, came to the large Liaodong situation map hanging on the left side of the council hall, pointed with his finger and said, "After Jianyu occupied Guangning, he only tried to attack the south with a small force, and most of them did not dare to advance lightly. Hundreds of miles of land between Guangning and Shanhaiguan, how can it be abandoned?

"Ningyuan, on the other hand, is located at the midpoint of the Western Liaoning Corridor. Holding this place, that is, choking the throat of the Western Liaoning Corridor, Jianyu will not be able to easily go south to invade Shanhaiguan. And after our army has gained a firm foothold in Ningyuan, it can push forward one step further and build a city in Jinzhou. Jinzhou is the starting point of the western Liaoning corridor, as long as our army guards the line of Jinzhou, Ningyuan, and Shanhaiguan, it can firmly seal the Jianyu in eastern Liaoning, so that it no longer dares to covet the Central Plains! ”

As soon as he finished speaking, Zu Dashou, who was sitting in the second row, stood up and praised loudly: "The last general thinks that what Lord Yuan said is extremely true!" Master Inspector, Master Jinglu, the last general is not talented, and I am willing to ask for an order to go to Ningyuan to build a city! If you can't hold Ningyuan, be willing to be a military order! ”

Before Sun Chengzong could make a statement, Man Gui, who was sitting in the first row, got up disdainfully and laughed: "Hahaha! General Zu, your tone is very loud. But if you are so powerful, why did you lose so badly in Quang Ninh? I think if it is replaced by Ning Yuan, I'm afraid it's still the same! ”

As the saying goes, don't slap people in the face, and don't expose them when scolding. Guangning fiasco, is Zu Dashou the most shameless, the most taboo thing to say, at this time by Man Gui unceremoniously in the public to say, Zu Dashou was angry, roared angrily: "Listen to the words of the general soldiers, the defeat of Guangning will be counted on the head of the last general?" If so, please slay the head of the last general! ”

Sun Chengzong saw that the two were about to fight for the first time they spoke, and secretly blamed Man Gui in his heart that he couldn't speak, so he hurriedly persuaded him: "Two generals! In today's deliberations, we should focus on national affairs and military affairs, and don't do a battle of will! ”

Although Man Gui sat down angrily, he still shouted loudly: "Master Inspector, if you want to use it, use the last general!" The last general is also willing to make a military order, and if he loses Ning Yuan, he will cut off his head! ”

Seeing that the two generals were holding each other, Wang Zaijin finally spoke: "Two generals, what are you anxious about? Did the Governor say that he was going to build a city in Ningyuan? ”

"Oh? What is Brother Yun's opinion? Sun Chengzong also agreed with Yuan Chonghuan's proposal. But hearing Wang Zaijin say this, he obviously had different opinions, and asked in a slow tone.

Wang Zaijin looked at Yuan Chonghuan and said with a slight smile: "Yuan is in charge, let's not talk about Jinzhou first." The old man asked you, how far is Ningyuan from Shanhaiguan? ”

"Lord Huijing, the two places are more than 200 miles apart." Yuan Chonghuan replied.

"More than 200 miles, what is this concept?" Wang Zaijin raised his voice a few degrees, "Do you know that most of our army is an infantry army, and the marching speed is only tens of miles a day, and when it comes to rain, snow or cold weather, it will be slower." And the Jianyu are all cavalry, and it is not a problem to march hundreds of miles a day. If Jianyu goes to attack Ningyuan, our army will have to travel a long way from Shanhaiguan to rescue it, and I am afraid that it will be able to arrive after many days, and it will already be exhausted! Jianyu can take advantage of the fact that our army is moving, come to repair the plank road, secretly cross Chencang, abandon Ningyuan and wipe out the reinforcements in the wild! Why bother! ”

Yuan Chonghuan heard the reproach in Wang Zaijin's tone, but he said confidently: "Lord Jingluo, the lower officials want to build a strong city in Ningyuan, and it is for this reason. As long as Ningyuan can't be captured within ten months, why should Shanhaiguan rush to save it? We can hold our troops and let the veterans of the division under Ningyuan City be tired, but we need to be on guard against reinforcements from time to time. Jianyu has never been good at farming, but only to feed the war with war, and after a long time, the grain and grass will be insufficient. At that time, our army will suddenly attack from Shanhaiguan and attack with the defenders of Ningyuan inside and outside, and it will definitely be broken! ”

"Master Yuan, you are in danger of being a soldier!" Wang Zaijin was already angry and said, "I'm not talking on paper!" Let me ask you, Shenyang, Liaoyang, and Guangning, which one is not stronger than Ningyuan City? These places can't even support them for three or five days, and they were quickly broken by Jianyu, so how many soldiers and horses can be stationed in the land of Ningyuan, how do you know that they can be defended for dozens of days? ”

"Also," Wang Zaijin asked like a cannonball, "Ning Yuan is more than two hundred miles outside the pass, how can grain and grass be supplied?" It must be known that if the grain travels on the road for one more day, the transporter will have to eat one more day's grain, and the soldier will have one less day of food! At present, there are frequent droughts in various places, and it is not easy to raise grain, and the imperial court is already in a hurry. Before the old man was appointed as the Liaodong Economic Strategy, he served as the prime minister's household, soldier, and industrial servant, and he knew the difficulties! If the city is really built in Ningyuan, or even extended to Jinzhou, the imperial court is afraid that it will really be unbearable! ”

Although Yuan Chonghuan's official position is not large, he has always been arrogant. Seeing Wang Zaijin's repeated reprimands, he was also faintly angry, and immediately said in a deep voice: "Lord Jinglu, the two points you said, the lower officials have already considered them!" First of all, the defeat of Shenyang, Liaoyang, and Guangning was not an unfavorable defense of the city, but the defenders or light enemies rushed forward and took the initiative to drive out of the city to fight a decisive battle with Jianyu; Or the army is not strictly governed, and the slightest setback will cause the army's heart to collapse! If you can strictly enforce military discipline from the beginning, stick to the city, and avoid the enemy's edge, why is the battle situation in Liaodong like this!

"Let's talk about food and grass. The Liaoning West Corridor is hundreds of miles long from north to south, and the reason why Xia Guan chose Ningyuan is precisely because of this! To the east of Ningyuan is the sea, from the coast to the east for more than ten miles, there is a small island, called Juehua Island, there is a port on it, called the mouth of the Yan. Our army can completely abandon the land route and only transport grain and grass to Juehua Island by sea, and then transfer it from Juehua Island to Ningyuan. In this way, it can not only avoid the long journey by land, but also save countless efforts; What's more, because Jianjiao has no water army, he is not afraid of the enemy army robbing grain at all, wouldn't he kill two birds with one stone! ”

As soon as the words fell, Wang Zaijin sneered: "Master Yuan, you have never been to Liaodong!" Do you know that the outside of the border is by no means comparable to the inside of the gate, the winter climate is extremely cold, and even the sea water will freeze! Once the port is frozen, how do ships get in and out? ”

"It doesn't matter, it's always a long time of the year!" Yuan Chonghuan said, "As long as the ships are usually concentrated and the grain is transported from Denglai, Tianjin Wei and other places, the grain in Ningyuan City can support more than half a year!" ”

Seeing that the two were arguing more and more, Sun Chengzong hurriedly persuaded him: "Master Yuan, pay attention to your demeanor!" Don't speak so loudly in front of Lord Jinglu! Brother Yun, don't be angry, Director Yuan is also a family's words, and it's always okay to talk about it. I can't argue with it! ”

When Yuan Chonghuan saw Sun Chengzong speak, he didn't dare to argue anymore, and stood silent angrily.

Wang Zaijin also picked up the tea bowl on the table and took a big sip of it, then gasped and said: "Brother Kaiyang, I have long said that the war situation in Liaodong has been so rotten that there is no way to retreat and can no longer be defeated!" Foolishly thinking that Yuan's method of doing things is too risky, it is definitely not a perfect solution! ”

The chamber suddenly fell silent, and fell into an awkward silence.

Zhu Youzhen listened to Yuan Chonghuan's speech just now, and originally felt that it was very reasonable, and he wanted to resist foreign captives, because he wanted to fight for every inch of land. But listening to Wang Zaijin's words, he knew that war is by no means as simple as you cutting me and me cutting you, but also involves a series of complex issues such as geography, grain and grass, and the comparison of the strength of the enemy and us.

He pondered it carefully, and felt more and more that Yuan Chonghuan's plan was a bit unreliable and too idealistic. I couldn't hold back for a while, so I blurted out: "Isn't this the 'yard bunker' tactic in "StarCraft"? ”