Chapter 25: A dilemma

The location of Ying Tianfu is too important.

Politically, this is the land of Taizu's dragon prosperity, which is needless to say, and more importantly, economically.

If Jingshi Shuntianfu is compared to the head of the empire, Yingtianfu in Nanzhili is the heart of the empire. It is no exaggeration to say that this is the lifeblood of the Ming Dynasty: not only the military and local bureaucratic systems in the north, but also the center of the imperial court, if they want to operate effectively, they must rely on the Cao operation and maintenance system in the south.

Not unlike the affluent south, which has not been a major grain-producing region since ancient times. Further north, there are endless deserts and grasslands. For thousands of years, every bad year, the northern captives would commit a large number of criminals, break through the border wall and go south to fight the grass valley. In order to eliminate this threat once and for all, of course, because it is the base of Cheng's grandfather's "Jingnan", and the officialdom of Nanzhili was left by Emperor Jianwen, he was not down-to-earth in his heart, so the eloquent Chengzu opened the precedent of the Son of Heaven to guard the country, and resolutely moved the capital to Yanjing, but left a set of empty shelves of six departments in the old capital.

Over the past hundred years, the elite of the Nine Sides has become synonymous with the strongest army in the empire. However, even the strongest army has to eat, and the Grand Canal is the main artery of the empire - grain, silver, cloth, silk, salt...... They were loaded into cao boats in the rich Huguang and prosperous Suzhou and Hangzhou, and along the Yangtze River system, to the east, to the north, and finally to gather in Yangzhou, which is close to Tianfu, and then along the Grand Canal to the north continuously transported most of the rice beans and silver that supported the operation of the empire.

Even the smallest ships can carry more than the strongest cattle carts, let alone people. Moreover, wooden ships do not need to rest or eat, and the larger the scale and the longer the transportation, the greater the disparity in the cost - one of the main reasons is that cargo ships would rather hire slender men to travel thousands of miles along the river than choose land transportation (another important reason is the huge investment in road construction and maintenance). In any era, including today, water transportation has an absolute advantage in the transportation of bulk materials, let alone in that era when there was no mechanization. The cost of large-scale transportation by land and human and animal power is almost unimaginable: transporting grain for thousands of miles, leaving one out of ten. Unless, like Guan Shengyun, at all costs - of course, there is only one result: there will be thousands of miles of no man's land behind him.

In order to maintain the smooth flow of this artery, the empire specially set up the Cao Governor, that is, the Governor of Caoyun, stationed in the Huai'an Mansion in the south of the Jienan, the full name of which is "Governor Caoyun and Admiral, Military Governor, Fengyang and other places in charge of the river"! The power of the Cao Governor is far greater than that of the governor or political envoy of any province: not only the military affairs along the canal with a total length of more than 3,000 miles are under the control of the Cao Governor, but even has civil rights, and everything must be headed by it, and everything must make way for Cao Yun! The investment is even more astronomical, if it is cut off by the traitor, the consequences are far from being borne by the life of a political envoy - Xue Xiaowen knows this.

Knowing that the thieves were in turmoil, Wang Zhidong, the governor of Cao, led 3,000 Cao soldiers to Yangzhou under the pretext of assisting in defense. Cao Bing? Hehe, on weekdays, it is not a problem to bully the coolies of the Cao Gong with a whip to show off their might, and they are even more experts at eating and taking cards for the troughs, which crazy guy expects them to fight with knives and guns! Even the Governor of Caoyun's personal pacesetter is just a decoration - although Caobiao also has the name of a pacesetter, if you really do it, you can't even beat the officials!

The only reason why Wang Zhidong ran to Yangzhou was that if the thieves approached, he could hide in Yingtianfu City, which was high in the wall and deep trenches! Guazhoudu is the lifeblood of Caoyun, and the thieves will not only rob, but also burn down - in this way, even if they are recaptured, to put it mildly, Caoyun will be paralyzed for a year or two.

Cao Du is a fat and oily beauty, and if he can get this position, the backer is not ordinary hard - not to mention the elder and the six departments, it must be a trustworthy person to do it! Therefore, at that time, Wang Du is likely to be a disgraced official and will never be used - whose head will be the first to move, Xue Xiaowen can figure it out with his toes.

The Luzhou Mansion is in the military discussion.

The Jedi counterattacked and defeated Guan Shengyun and captured such a huge amount of high-quality military rations, and in addition to being excited, Song Mingyi and Sun Jie invariably thought of a question: carrying so much grain and grass, thieves are definitely not here to rob. Its strategic goal will never be just a Luzhou Mansion and Anqing Mansion, and even, it will not be as simple as Yingtianfu! Moreover, the two giants poured out of the nest, and would rather leave a thousand miles of red land behind them, completely cutting off their own back road, the only reasonable explanation is: the thieves are trying to entrench themselves somewhere for a long time - as for the location, looking at the route and mobilization scale of the two giant bandits, even Shi Erlei can blurt out: Nan Zhili!

The great achievement has been made, and the capital city of Luzhou must be preserved - even if the thieves make a comeback, the morale of the soldiers in the city is like a rainbow and the people's aspirations, it is definitely not a problem to be tough for a year or two, and even if there is a fight in the court this time, it is impossible to delay it for a year without sending aid, right? What was placed in front of Song Mingyi and Sun Jie was actually a multiple-choice question: whether to send troops south to relieve the siege of Anqing.

Of course, the safest way is to fortify the city.

First of all, Sun Jie's department only had a total of 2,000 soldiers, and after this battle, the casualties and illnesses were reduced by more than 20%, and the rest also needed a period of recuperation and recovery. Even with Song Mingyi's full support for the recruitment of new soldiers, it will take a long time for the training to run in - Sun Jie has led the troops for many years, and his experience is that the recruits will never be allowed to stand on their own, but will be scattered to the veteran barracks for the veterans to take with them, and they are not greedy: each fruit is supplemented with a maximum of two or three people at a time, so that under the leadership of many grassroots non-commissioned officers and veterans, the troops can always maintain strong combat effectiveness*. Of course, this also means that it is difficult for the department to expand its power quickly. Although it is the elite of a hundred battles, the total strength is there, and once it encounters an extremely powerful opponent, for example, in the face of a flood of displaced people who are engulfed, no matter how elite it can fight, it will be drowned.

However, Sun Jie didn't seem to mind this. On the one hand, this is the unwritten ancestral motto of the Sun family, and on the other hand, it is caused by the environment.

Let's talk about the ancestral teachings first. Before his death, the old man of the Sun family told his teenage son that he was in front of him, and Mrs. Sun also warned him in private at all times: There is a prerequisite for the grace of the saint - that is, you must let the saint rest assured! Not only should you not inflate your power too much, but you must also be cautious about marriage: you can only find a daughter-in-law in the family of your subordinates, or simply marry a commoner. Neither can it be involved with Wenchen, let alone have anything to do with other military towns, especially absolutely and absolutely no clan can be implicated! The first emperor once had a dragon face Dayue, and he wanted to marry the prince's county lord, but the old man resolutely refused, and even almost died - of course, the next day the emperor woke up from wine and figured out the concerns of the Sun family, so he tacitly agreed not to mention this matter again: this dynasty is fine, after one or two generations, the clan and the military town are mixed together, and it is by no means a good thing for anyone! In the words of the old man relayed by Mrs. Sun: "Our Sun family is a dagger for self-defense, and it is by no means a knife for killing!" The longer and sharper the knife, the easier it is for the owner to worry: what if someone else gets it? Maybe I'll ruin it with a ruthless heart! ”

The environment also does not allow it. The money and food for raising soldiers are regularly distributed by the imperial court according to the number of soldiers surveyed by the Ministry of War, which is outrageously low, and it is inevitable that it will be deducted layer by layer. However, everyone knows the relationship between the Sun family and the saints of the past dynasties, every time they pretend to be blind to the auxiliary soldiers who come to make up the number, the military department records in black and white that Sun Jie's 6,500 officers and soldiers are "drifting" - this is the rule, and it also represents the respect of the adults of the civil official group (the normal market is to deduct 30%, and the highest can reach more than 50%, and the excuse is too much), and it is rarely in arrears. Every time there is a war, the local government will give full support, and with the capture, there is no problem in raising these soldiers and providing good equipment and training. And once you really want to be big, don't mention whether it will cause doubts in the saints, the adults in the cabinet and the six departments will definitely have some opinions in their hearts, not to mention the menacing mouths of the old men of the Imperial History Terrace. In order to show their loyalty, even the saint dared to scold, jumped out and shouted that supporting the army and self-respect, that is really giving you face, which few righteous and awe-inspiring accuses the Sun family of "repeatedly living up to the holy grace and plotting against misdeeds" is by no means groundless: there is a "smell of the wind" of the protection & umbrella cover, all the old men spit on the face of the stars you have to accompany the smiling face - dare to wipe? Can't wait for you to put your sleeves down and everyone will pounce until you can take a shower with spit!

Therefore, if you choose to hold on, there are some reasons: more than half of the dead in the bloody battle, everyone is wounded, and the remnants of the enemy are not pacified...... The vast majority of people are illiterate, Song Ming will not deny it in public and private, and the old men in the court will not personally come to count the heads, even if you say that eighty percent of them are dead, it is no problem! With this disparity in strength, it seems that God is helping to win a great victory, and the most picky master Du can't say a word - otherwise it should be his turn to be spit on his face, everyone understands this truth. In addition, there is one of the biggest reasons: three hundred miles to the north is Fengyang Mansion, where the imperial tomb is located! If the lone army goes south, even if the siege of Anqing is relieved, in case there are rogues who have slipped through the net, even if they destroy every grass and tree in the imperial tomb and break the dragon vein, no one can afford this great responsibility!

Compared with Sun Jie, sticking to the Luzhou Mansion, Song Mingyi actually has a much greater temptation. It's just that this kind of thought should always be buried deep in my heart, not to mention my brother, even my parents, wife and children: if the thieves capture Yingtianfu all the way, an unprecedented earthquake will inevitably occur in the officialdom of the entire Nanzhili! As a high-ranking official, if you don't die from the thief's blade, you will also die from the Dafa of the imperial court - your great achievement is to go straight to the ladder to the many vacant seats!

However, if you choose to stick to Luzhou in this way, the cost will also be huge - since Sun Jie and Song Mingyi have separated from each other, this price will have to be borne by the Ming Empire: the safety of Anqing Mansion, Yingtianfu, and even the entire Nanzhili.

After the siege of Luzhou was resolved, Song Mingyi sent messengers to contact Fengyang Mansion and Yingtianfu as soon as possible, and Sun Jie also sent an urgent military report to the Central Capital Garrison Division. Judging from the information fed back, despite the terrifying momentum, Guan Shengyun's branch is still biased. The main force is the giant Kou Zhang Hu, the thieves are about 50,000 or 60,000, together with the exiles who are coerced, the total number is more than 200,000, the thief camp winds for more than 200 miles, sweeping both sides of the Yangtze River, and the provincial capitals and cities along the way do not care, and none of the prefectures and counties are spared...... Now Anqing Mansion is in danger!

This is the first time that Song and Sun have learned the true scale of Zhang Hu's giant force.

In this era, the transmission of military information was completely completed by stagecoaches, stagecoaches, and even in some places, only by the two legs of the post officer, so most of the information was fragmented or even diametrically opposed. The population of the Ming Dynasty was only about one-eighth of what it is today (less than 200 million), and there was no extensive road network, and a small army of several hundred people, even if it marched on enemy territory, as long as the supplies were sufficient, it was normal for five or six days to go without being discovered. All information has to be analyzed by the high-level, and finally a possible conclusion is deduced - the vast majority of military generals are illiterate, and the responsibility is borne by the civilian bureaucracy. This is also one of the important reasons why the civilian clique generally looks down on military generals, and military generals are also ashamed of themselves.

Previously, Song Mingyi and Sun Jie guessed that Zhang Hu's giant force should be around fifty or sixty thousand. If this is the case, the Luzhou Mansion will lose all the blood, and then take Sun Jie out to break the backbone and fill in the entire military town, and he can still barely support the reinforcements in a battle; But, more than 200,000 thieves! Even if you stand there and don't move and let you cut all the way one by one, who can cut it!

Song Mingyi, who was speechless for a long time, waved his hand: "Ladies and gentlemen, the matter is very high, let's discuss it tomorrow." The prefect and the general judge all understood the seriousness of the situation, and they all sighed and said goodbye, and the deputy general Shen Chenggang, the staff general Shangguan Fei and other generals also left with their fists clenched. Sun Jie was about to get up, but was stopped by Song Mingyi's eyes.

Song Mingyi took Sun Jie to the inner hall of the Houya, and instructed the elder Li Dao: "I'll talk to my brother about family life, it's none of your business, you all retreat and rest." Lao Li bowed silently and left.

The two were speechless for a long time, and Sun Jie spoke: "Big brother......"

Song Mingyi raised his hand to stop Sun Jie's words: "You and I are brothers who live and die together, let's talk to you a few words for my brother first." ”

*Recruits are independent

Before the modern military system was widely used, generals tended to let recruits go on their own. The benefits of this are huge:

First, it can be scaled up quickly. As long as you bring in soldiers, you can set up a lot of troops within the establishment in one go, give them a number (name), and then you can justifiably ask the court for money, or find a way at the local level.

Secondly, cronies can be installed. On the one hand, he promoted his own people, and on the other hand, he left a personal mark on the army from the beginning of the army.

Third, the recruits are often fellow villagers, which is easier to manage.

But the disadvantages are also very large: such a recruit battalion is naturally low in combat effectiveness, and often lags behind on the battlefield or even collapses. Training takes a very long time. It is difficult for a limited number of battalion officers, team officers, and fruit commanders to control their subordinates well in wartime.

Sun Jie adopts a more modern way, and his combat effectiveness is more guaranteed. The fundamental reason is that he and the backbone generals are very clear that they are the self-defense daggers of the saints, and they must not become long swords.