Nala Sutai is favored, and Nan Chu is also doing well because of his sister. But after all, it's not relying on yourself, as a man, you have the opportunity to get ahead, and of course you don't want to let it go.

As for the windfall after the reward, Zhu Youxiao certainly didn't expect it. He just wanted to lay a foundation first, and use the kindness to the remnants of the Yehe tribe to increase the chance of getting the jade seal.

For the jade seal, Zhu Youxiao must have wanted to get it, this is an object of extraordinary political significance, although he is already the emperor, whether he has it or not does not affect this fact.

But getting the so-called heirloom jade seal symbolizes the return of the mandate of heaven, the silent blessing of the heart of heaven, and the return of the subjects.

That's right, it is said that the jade seal of the country that was brought to the desert by Emperor Yuan Shun had such a role in feudal society. It is also said that this heirloom jade seal is from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, as well as the famous story of "He's Bi".

Regardless of whether it is true or not, Zhu Youxiao must also strive to get it back. Houjin is the enemy in front of him, and Lin Dan Khan is the next target.

There are no eternal friends, only eternal interests. The attack on Lin Dan Khan was not for the sake of the jade seal, but to expand northward, and the territory of the empire was under the banner of the Ming Dynasty.

Beat rabbits with grass, eliminate Lin Dan Khan, and get the jade seal easily, isn't it the beauty of two powers?

As for whether this heirloom jade seal was carved from the "Heshi Bi", or whether it was taken away from the Ming Dynasty after the change of the civil fort, it doesn't really matter.

Even, after sweeping away the south and north of the desert, it is not impossible to make a fake one.

Of course, these ideas and arrangements are long-term plans. At present, the most important thing is to make full preparations to eliminate the Jiannu as soon as possible.

The battle plans that were launched sequentially were also handed down to all combat units, and they began to actively prepare for and take action one after another. The purpose is very simple, to weaken Jiannu as much as possible before next year's winter and spring counteroffensive.

The war has been fought until now, which is in line with the strategy and tactics designed by Zhu Youxiao.

When two countries or two armies fight, resourcefulness and the use of troops are of course very important. However, in the final analysis, a long-term war is still a matter of resources, financial resources, manpower, science and technology, consumption, and other factors, which are all part of the comprehensive national strength.

And no matter which factor it is, Daming will far surpass Houjin. As long as there is no internal party strife and turmoil, no discord between generals and commanders outside, sufficient food and salary, and excellent weapons, there is no reason why Houjin cannot be defeated.

The noose is tightening more and more, using the fortress as a stronghold, and pressing towards the Houjin ruling area step by step.

The Ming army of western Liaoning advanced from the mouth of the Liaohe River and successively occupied Niangniang Palace, Yingkou and Yaozhouyi; The Ming army in southern Liaoning, backed by Gaizhou Wei, successively occupied Polo Pot, Tangchi Fort, and Shimen Pass.

The two Ming armies connected the occupied areas and pressed towards Haizhouwei in a pincer shape from both directions.

Although all the small fortresses were occupied, it was also a place where Jiannu took the initiative to abandon it. However, after consolidating the defense and strengthening the weaponry, the 1,500-strong defenders will still become a stronghold that Jiannu will have to pay a lot of money to recapture.

The current Jiannu can no longer afford to consume manpower, but the defense of the Ming army, relying on sharp firearms, can at least achieve a one-to-one casualty exchange.

The offense and defense are one for one, which is quite a number. But for Jiannu, it is still not a price that can be afforded.

Jiannu also saw that the Ming Empire was going to rely on endless manpower and massive materials to drag them down and consume them.

In the face of the trench chest wall fortifications that the Ming army could quickly build, even if there was no tall city wall, even if the stronghold might be obtained from food and grass materials, Jiannu still did not dare to act rashly after weighing it.

The four guards in southern Liaoning have lost three of them, and Haizhou Wei is also facing increasing military pressure. If Haizhou Wei is lost, Liaoyang will only be left with a barrier in Anshan, and no matter how much Jiannu shrinks, it will have to withstand the advance of the Ming army.

Tong Yangxing led 4,000 Han soldiers to hold the Acropolis of Haizhou, and Yue Tuo led the red flag to move in Haizhou. Nurhachi also wanted to use firearms to defend the city, and then have cavalry to contain and resist the Ming army.

However, the advance and compression of the Ming army was not only in southern Liaoning, but also the Dongjiang headquarters was divided into two routes, all the way to Zhenjiang as a base, successively occupied Tangzhan Fort and Dangerous Mountain Fort, and forced into Fengcheng.

The other way, backed by the sailors, traced the Yalu River upstream, occupied the five forts of Kuandian, Dadian, Yongdian, Changdian and Xindian, and approached Jianzhouwei.

Nurhachi realized that the Ming army at the headquarters of the Dongjiang River had been reinforced, and could not let the Ming army advance steadily like this, so he transferred Zierharang to lead the red flag, and Tong Yangzhen's brother Tong Yangzhen led 3,000 Han soldiers to reinforce the Jianzhou Wei two banners and stationed them in Benxi.

At this point, although the Later Jin adopted a strategic contraction, in the face of the four-sided encirclement of the Ming army, they had to occupy important places and stretch out the defensive front.

However, the Ming army in western Liaoning has not made a big move, and it has to let Nurhachi station the main force of the Eight Banners in Liaoshen just in case.

Through the intelligence of various parties, Nurhachi felt more and more that the strength of the Ming army had increased, the most obvious being the increase in the number of cavalry of the Ming army in southern Liaoning and Dongjiang headquarters.

Actually, this is not difficult to guess and judge. The Ming army of western Liaoning reoccupied Guangning and reopened the horse market with the Chahar and Inner Khalkha departments, and was able to obtain horses nearby.

From Jinzhou to the sea, whether to go to Gaizhou and Fuzhou in southern Liaoning, or to Lushun and then to the headquarters of the Dongjiang River, it is much more convenient and faster than the original.

Of course, the war horses obtained by the headquarters of Liaonan and Dongjiang can only meet the needs of infantry riding, and compared with those of flying horses, there is still a gap between them.

Warlike horses are very expensive, and it is not easy for the emperor to come up with money to buy horses in large quantities. What's more, this is already of great help to the Liaonan Corps and the Dongjiang Headquarters in improving their mobility capability.

Riding and dismounting to fight can indeed reduce the grade of the horse. The increased mobility of the dragoons, coupled with field artillery that could use horses, greatly improved the combat power of the Ming army.

Just as Zhu Youxiao envisioned, the future Ming army would not have infantry, but only infantry on horseback.

Regardless of whether they have to deal with fishing and hunting peoples like Jiannu or nomadic peoples, it is impossible for an army without inflexibility to completely defeat the enemy.

The active actions of the Ming army in various military towns exceeded Nurhachi's expectations, and also broke the wishful thinking of the strategy of building slaves to wait for changes.

I'm afraid that there is no need to wait for any party disputes in the Ming Kingdom, or the chaos of civil and military officials squeezing out each other, and Houjin has been completely wiped out.

The deterioration of the situation made Nurhachi's temper more and more irritable, and the oppression and killing of the Han people in Liaodong became more and more serious.

In turn, Nurhachi's madness made the situation even worse for Houjin. The Han people could not bear the enslavement, and they rose up one after another to resist.

Now, it is not an exaggeration or an exaggeration to say that Houjin is on the verge of collapse.

The situation was extremely isolated, and it was tightly besieged and blockaded by the Ming Dynasty, the Mongol tribes, and Korea; Internally, there was a contradiction between the aristocracy fighting for power and profit, and the resistance of the Han people in Liaodong became more and more fierce, and the ruling order was greatly damaged.

In fact, the historical Houjin was also in turmoil in the last years of Nurhachi, that is, after he was old and confused and messed around. But compared to now, the degree is much worse.

If it is not to destroy Jiannu as soon as possible, in order to deal with the peak disaster of the Xiaoice River that will soon come. schoolbag

Zhu Youxiao may also hope that the old slave will live for a few more years, and he will not have to fight, but under the blind tossing of the old slave, Houjin will fall apart, or fall into division and collapse.

According to Zhu Youxiao's understanding of history, he believes that history is a series of martyrdom measures after Huang Taiji ascended the throne, and completed the key step of feudalization, which saved the fate of Houjin.

That's right, Houjin should now be considered slavery. The political organization is not complete, and the Eight Banners Army is also similar to the private armed forces of the banner owner, which has a great constraint on the development and growth of the Houjin.

The reason why he was a little jealous of Huang Taiji and spared no effort to sow discord and crack down on him was precisely because of Zhu Youxiao's analysis and judgment.

And from the three-pronged approach of politics, economy, and military, Houjin was finally forced onto the cliff.

Its rise is also vigorous, and its death is also sudden. Many emerging forces or regimes that are congenitally deficient and lack of background cannot escape this law of rise and fall.

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The situation in which Houjin is located is becoming more and more unfavorable, not only at the top, but also by the Han people at the bottom. The reason is simple, the price of food is rising, and there is less and less food on the market.

The haze began to thicken and began to spread, pressing on the heads of the post-Jin rulers, as well as the governed.

On the contrary, the atmosphere in the area ruled by the Ming army is becoming more and more relaxed and cheerful.

The most obvious is southern Liaoning, to be precise, Jinzhou and Fuzhou in southern Liaoning. Although Gaizhou has also been recovered, it is on the front line, and it is impossible not to have some tension.

Today, the two associations of Dongjiang Town, who were resting and training in Yongning, gathered early to greet the imperial envoys and receive the emperor's royal number and military flag.

"Hooray, hooray, hooray!"

When the "Sun and Moon" Daming Banner decorated with yellow tassels was picked up by Zhang Pan and waved in front of the army, all the officers and soldiers knelt down on one knee and shouted long live.

Most of the flag is red, and it is a bright yellow one near the flagpole, embroidered with the current number of the original Dongjiang Town Right Association in red, "Daming 114 Mixed Association".

The number is shuffled, taking Dongjiang Town as an example, Gou Zhenhuai's 117, Chen Jisheng's 124, Mao Chenglu's 113, Dongjiang headquarters grabbed the first three numbers.

In southern Liaoning, the Left Association and the Right Association were divided into two mixed associations, 114 and 126.

Mixed and coordinated as an independent combat unit, accounting for the prefix "one"; The cavalry is based on the battalion (3,000 people) and is the number starting with the word "two"; The reserve Ming army is "three".

Zhu Youxiao is lazy and doesn't want to be too detailed, so it's easier to get this number. Which unit the company is assigned to is also the result of rolling the dice.

But this kind of scrambled distribution, not in order, let alone writing about a certain town, has some deep meanings. They are all the army of the Ming Dynasty, and what is divided into this town and that town, these mixed associations will not always belong to the establishment of a certain military town.

In addition to the Rock Mixed Association is the name of the Imperial Gift, Liaoxi, Liaonan, Liaodong, and the five mixed associations in Dengzhenjin Town, all of which are such numbers.

Whether you are confused about the number or not, but this is the emperor's gift, the symbol of the army, and the emperor's grace. The so-called flag is in the army, and the flag is lost in the army. The absence of this flag means that the army has been removed.

"Hooray, hooray, hooray!"

There was another burst of mountain shouts, and Kong Youde also took over the military flag, waving it harder than Zhang Pan.

This is the number of the royal gift, the military flag of the imperial gift. According to the text of the Ministry of War, the first batch of people who received the mixed association number were all on the Pingliao battlefield, and there were only nineteen in total.

In other words, the great cause of Pingliao and the war of exterminating slaves are the tasks of these nineteen mixed associations, and they are also the glory they want to obtain.

The flag-awarding ceremony did not last long, and the envoy took the people to leave and went to Gaizhou to present flags to other troops.

"Hehe, one-two-six, it's bigger than Brother Zhang's one-one-four!" Kong Youde saw Zhang Pan and immediately laughed and joked.

Zhang Pan laughed and arched his hand: "Lao Kong will count, congratulations, congratulations." ”

Kong Youde rolled his eyes, but he was not angry, and said: "A certain family can't be compared with Brother Zhang, and you can take the top exam by writing and arithmetic." ”

Zhang Pan smiled and waved his hand and said, "No kidding." Since they have met together, a certain will ask you about the war horse. ”

"There are still not enough war horses!" Kong Youde immediately made a bitter face and said: "There are four associations in southern Liaoning now, and only half of the officers and soldiers are equipped, so it will take a year and a half, right?" ”

Zhang Pan bowed his head lightly and said: "There may not be so many war horses in a year and a half, if you first hold on to one or two associations, it may be better." For example, the troops responsible for defending the city do not need so many war horses for the time being. ”

Kong Youde deeply believed that among the five associations in southern Liaoning, he and Zhang Pan's troops had experienced the most battles and had the most experience. In the future, it will also be the main force of Pingliao, and the demand for war horses is more urgent.

As for the town of Xiangdeng, because of its lack of combat experience, most of the tasks undertaken by it are to guard the castle.

However, Kong Youde did not immediately say anything in agreement, and according to the battle plan, Zhang Pan's troops had completed supplementary training and were preparing to march to the front line.

In other words, Zhang Pan's proposal is equivalent to sending the war horses that were originally transferred to his troops over.

And his troops also had the task of advancing eastward and joining forces with the troops sent by the Dongjiang headquarters at Xiuyan Castle (Xiuyan), thus connecting the land of liberation.

From a strategic point of view, this meeting is also extremely important.

The Ming army group, which was scattered in two places, opened up land contacts and twisted them into a single rope, which was not only convenient for unified command, but also convenient for mutual support, which was much more convenient than the previous communication through the sea.

Zhang Pan seemed to guess Kong Youde's thoughts, but he didn't say anything, and said with a smile: "There are two thousand dragoons in our department, plus more than a thousand horses in the artillery battalion, which is almost enough." The extra war horses will be lent to Brother Confucius first, how about helping Brother Confucius go east to join the division? ”

"This-" Kong Youde didn't expect Zhang Pan to be so generous, and he was stunned and didn't know what to say.

Zhang Pan smiled and stretched out his hand to pat Kong Youde, and said, "Don't shirk, send someone to pick up the war horse tomorrow." Our troops went north, and they couldn't bring so much grain and grass with them. ”

After a pause, Zhang Pan continued: "Although the Rock Mixing Association has been formed, it will take some time to run in. At least in the fall, you and my two co-workers are now the backbone of the early action, and it is only natural that they should take care of each other. ”

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