Everyone on the Ming side looked at each other, and the eyes that looked at Li Zhaoji were clear, why don't you play according to the routine.

The so-called routine should be Dashun to go south from the direction of Xuzhou, take the two Huai directly, cross the Yangtze River, trap Nanjing, and occupy the south of the Yangtze River.

This is also the routine of most northern regimes to unify the south, but for the current Ming Dynasty, only if the Great Shun and the two Huai launch an attack, the Ming Dynasty may win.

In terms of military strength, the Ming and Shun countries are roughly the same, with about 300,000 soldiers and horses, but the postures of the two sides are very different.

The Ming Dynasty's troops were distributed in Yunnan, Guizhou, Huguang, and Liangjiang, and the entire thousands of miles of border facing the north, in addition to facing the two opponents of Daxi and Dashun, they also had to suppress the uprising in the Yunnan-Guizhou region.

To make matters worse, the Ming army's army could not be mobilized as freely as Dashun did. Among them, the four towns of Jiangbei that cannot be mobilized are the four towns of Jiangbei, and there are more than 100,000 soldiers and horses in these four towns alone.

What's more, the four towns in Jiangbei are too big to fall off and stand on their own as kings. Chu Zhen has been annexed by the Ming Dynasty and exists in name only, but that was caused by the death of Zuo Liangyu, but to do something to the Xia Guoxiang forces in Zhang and Quan, it is the Ming Dynasty to cut the domain.

Since then, the four towns have been in a group for warmth, and they have been in constant contact with Dashun, which is no longer a loyal force.

If the decisive battle of Mingshun is fought in Huguang, not only will this army not be able to transfer reinforcements, but even a part of the elite will be left in Yangzhou and Nanjing to monitor and suppress the four towns in Jiangbei.

And this army is huge, but the strength is really not worth mentioning, not to mention anything else, both sides of the Ming and Shun sides have been training new armies of firearms in the past ten years, only the four towns are still the same, they only put resources into their own small number of personal soldiers, and then embezzle a large amount of food to meet their luxurious life.

If the decisive battle is fought in Huguang, the Ming Dynasty can dispatch only the troops of the Huguang Governor, some of the Jingying and Yanping Domain, and other feudal towns, and they can also make up 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers and horses.

As for the First Army of the Eastern Trading Company, is it willing to fight inland? What's more, as long as it is determined that the First Army is in the Ming Dynasty, the Manchus will definitely attack the southern part of the peninsula, then the worst result is that the Ming Dynasty will fall and the Oriental Trading Society will lose its territory on the peninsula.

When Li Zhaoji chose the decisive battle in Huguang, the deduction was already over. But the problem is that it's not that Daming doesn't want to take it, so he won't accept this battle.

In the south building, there was silence, and some people began to sweat on their heads.

"Therefore, Daming spent money to hire us, but he couldn't buy peace. Da Ming wants to survive, such as a different way of thinking, my way of thinking. Li Zhaoji said.

Many people showed relieved expressions on their faces, since Li Zhaoji had a way, then they were relieved.

It is true that the current situation is very tense, but no matter how tense it is, is there any tension in the year of Jiashen? In that situation, Li Zhaoji can seize the opportunity to keep half of the Ming Dynasty, and now it is better than that time.

Only Shen Youlong looked ugly, and Zheng Sen didn't say a word, the two didn't like to be controlled by Li Zhaoji, but the reality was that they couldn't keep the Ming Dynasty.

"Brother Li, what can you do, you can say it, there are no outsiders here." Seeing that Shen Youlong didn't say anything, Zhu Yousong hurriedly said.

Li Zhaoji said: "The trading company will not send troops to assist in the defense of the Ming Dynasty, if it can, the Ming Dynasty can send some elites to assist the trading company in the war." Now that King Yanping is sure that the enemy will launch an offensive in July next year, we can preemptively launch an offensive first. ”

"Where is the attack, Chao, Xian?" Zheng Sen asked. Li Zhaoji shook his head, he looked around, and said, "If my method is known by the enemy, it will be ineffective." Are you sure you're keeping it a secret? Everyone looked at each other, and Zhu Yousong took the lead in waving his hand, letting all the eunuchs who followed him go out.

Li Zhaoji said: "Attack here!" His finger pointed at the Liaoxi Corridor, where he drew a large circle.

"Li Chuang invaded the Ming Dynasty, what is the use of you attacking the Manchu Qing Dynasty, besieging Wei to save Zhao?" Shi Kefa stood in front of the map, looked at it carefully, and asked, his hand nodded to Tianjin Wei: "If you fight here, Li Chuang will definitely send Huguang soldiers and horses to help, and the Ming Dynasty can solve the difficulty." Li Zhaoji nodded: "That's right." ”

"You ........." The more Lee Zhaoji has this attitude, the more it means that he will not do it.

Liu Mingde also lit a cigarette and smoked it, among all of them, he was from the lowest background, even if it was He Bin, he was eighteen Zhi back then, and he was just a smuggler thirteen years ago, and being able to sit here is already an ancestor who has accumulated virtue.

"Is it any good for us to block Li Chuang's offensive for Daming? There is no benefit at all, on the contrary, we will lose Li Chuang as a trading partner. Because of this, Li Chuang would think that we were completely allied with the Ming Dynasty, and chose to ally with the Manchu Qing and the Netherlands, our two rivals. This is undoubtedly worsening our situation, in exchange for a few more years of peace for the Ming Dynasty. Liu Mingde said unceremoniously.

Li Zhaoji nodded, and the attitude of the two of them made everyone here understand that there were prerequisites for the Oriental Trading Company to help, and it could not hinder its own interests.

Zheng Sen asked: "Then how can your society attack Liaoxi solve our dilemma?" Li Zhaoji said: "It's very simple, this time, the business society is going all out. Li Chuang must be happy to see that while they fight against you, the resources and forces of the trading company are involved in other directions. But they could not accept it, and the Eastern Trading Company wiped out the Manchus and occupied Liaodong. Didn't Li Chuang want to launch an attack in July? What if, in July, the fall of the Manchu Qing is imminent? ”

"Theoretically, it's doable." Lin Weiyuan said with a smile. But Zheng Sen shook his head: "No, we can't put all our hopes on the Oriental Trading Company. Brother Li, you know very well that Liaohai will not be without ice until mid-March, which means that you only have four months to defeat the Manchus, what if you don't do it? Isn't it Li Chuang's army going south? ”

"It's possible." Li Zhaoji nodded. He looked at the crowd and said, "So be ready to move your capital." I don't believe in the four towns of Jiangbei at all, those people are not successful enough to fail, they are just a group of insects. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty is still dangerous, and Huguang and Liangjiang may be lost, so the Ming Dynasty should not fight a decisive battle with Li Chuang, but when Li Chuang attacked, he retreated decisively, lost the group of insects in the four towns of Jiangbei, retreated to Fujian, Zhejiang and Liangguang, and continued to fight. At that time, Li Chuang only got Huguang and Liangjiang, while I got the whole Dynasty, Xian and Liaodong, and at that time, we could form an alliance to deal with Li Chuang together. ”

"It's ........" The room fell silent, and everyone couldn't speak.

They wanted to refuse, but they couldn't. Li Zhaoji proposed to let Daming send troops to help, but even if he didn't help, Li Zhaoji would attack Liaoxi, what could Daming have to manipulate Li Zhaoji and force him to assist him according to the plan formulated by Daming?

The answer is no. After being quiet for a while, Shen Youlong said, "Zhaoji, you didn't come to help with the fist this time, but just to tell us your plan, right?" Li Zhaoji said with a smile: "If I win, if my plan is executed perfectly, then Da Ming doesn't need to fight Li Chuang at all, and he can maintain his current comfort." Of course, according to my plan, I will not send troops, but if Da Ming is willing, he can send an elite army to help me. However, it's not that I don't fail to help, aren't you trying to solve the loan problem, I can help. ”

"How can I help?" Shen Youlong asked.

"According to what you proposed, my Oriental Bank will lend one million to the Ming Dynasty, and Yuetong and Jiangnan Bank will each lend another two million. Interest, tenure and the like, you negotiate with Cheng Bi and Lin Weiyuan, but there is one thing, the mortgage cannot be mortgaged by Daming Customs and Shuiguan. Li Zhaoji said.

"And what mortgage do you want?" Li Zhaoji said: "I want the taxes of Guangdong Province as collateral. In addition, I need His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty to go to Guangzhou for a temporary residence. According to my judgment, if Li Chuang doesn't care about the situation outside the border, or if my plan is not so smooth, then the Ming Dynasty will lose Huguang and even Jiangnan, but Guangdong will not lose it. I don't know if you scholars will force Brother Zhu to die, but it's not surprising that the scholars did anything stupid. So, I suggest you make a plan to move the capital or something worse. The final plan was for the scholars and doctors to support the crown prince to ascend the throne in Guangzhou. ”

"I thought I could." Without waiting for Shen Youlong to speak, Zhu Yousong immediately said, obviously, he could accept these terms.

The meeting in the South Building was the last meeting between the two sides on next year's war, and it was clear that Lee had once again seized the initiative.

Shen Youlong agreed to all of Li Zhaoji's requests, and finally promoted strategic cooperation in the eleventh year of Hongguang.

On March 17, the 11th year of Hongguang, the Marines raided and occupied Juehua Island, announcing the beginning of the war.