After pondering deeply, Zhu Gaoxian said: "For the southwest affairs, the sons have three strategies. ”

Zhu Di asked, "What are the three strategies?" ”

"Down, down, down."

"You're dead."

Zhu Di was shocked, none of your three strategies is a good strategy, right?

Zhu Gaoxian sighed: "The southwest is now out of our control, not to mention, there are still our troops stationed in the southwest, we don't know whether this army has defected, in short, it is a black eye, such a battle is more difficult to fight than we go to expand the territory." ”

"In such a situation, what is the best strategy?"

Zhu Di was also a little discouraged: "Then what are your three strategies?" ”

Zhu Gaoxian said: "Just as Erchen just said, the quick knife cuts through the chaos, and these three strategies all pursue a quick word, and calm the situation with lightning speed to prevent proliferation." The matter of rebellion has always been as soon as possible, and it can be resolved as soon as possible, and it must not be postponed until the next day. ”

"Let's talk about the next policy first, the next policy is to remove Li Bin from his post in the name of the imperial court and order Li Bin to return to Beijing to investigate the crime. At the same time, mobilize the southern army from Jinling and immediately send troops to suppress the rebellion in the southwest! ”

Zhu Di frowned: "Li Bin is afraid that the court will ask for guilt, knowing that he has lost the battle by doing nonsense, and returning to Beijing is also a dead word, how can he be willing to return to Beijing?" ”

Zhu Gaoxian shook his head and said, "I know that he will definitely not return to Beijing, and he may even mutiny." It doesn't matter, we don't need him to go back to Beijing, just go through a process in name, and after the army is gathered, we will directly take Li Bin to death! ”

Zhang Fu pointed out the crux of the problem: "If this is the case, no matter how chaotic the situation is, it will not hurt us. However, the disadvantage lies in the fact that if this is the case, it will be tantamount to completely giving up the advantages we had previously won in the southwest, falling short, and starting all over again. ”

Zhu Gaoxian bowed slightly: "So, this is the next policy, not the best policy." ”

The southwest was in such a mess at Li Bin's hands, and the imperial court couldn't see anything like a blind man, and no matter how much he pondered this situation, he couldn't figure out any effective strategies.

The next policy, which is also the most stable way, is to first remove Li Bin from all positions on the table to stabilize the people's hearts, and then mobilize the army in the south to suppress the rebellion. It's just that the disadvantage is that the southwest army under Li Bin is very likely to choose to mutiny because the court gave up on them, but now that the southwest army has mutinied, instead of sorting out everything clearly, it is better to send troops immediately and have another battle of the southern expedition.

Zhu Di asked, "What about the next step?" ”

Zhu Gaoxian sighed and said: "The next strategy is to send Jinyi Wei to the southwest to check the situation, and after figuring out all the affairs in the southwest, then decide whether to prepare troops from the southern provinces to crusade against the southwest rebels, or send envoys to negotiate with Li Bin, and deal with it while fooling around to stabilize the situation for the time being." ”

"No."

Zhang Fu shook his head when he heard this, "This strategy is not as stable as the one just now, and when everything is well understood, the daylily is cold, since it is said that it is necessary to cut the mess quickly, how can it be so circumferential?" ”

Zhu Di nodded: "I think so too." ”

"Since the next strategy and the next policy can't work, then there is only the next policy."

Zhu Gaoxian's eyes flickered, "Make a decision, don't mobilize troops from the southern provinces." The Yunnan army, which summoned the Qianguo Mansion directly from Yunnan, which is closest to the southwest, was perfunctory to the southwest on the surface, but in fact, our army directly led the king's division, entered the southwest, and chopped up all this mess with swift and thunderous means! ”

Zhu Di hesitated a little: "The Qianguo Mansion should not be enough to take on this great responsibility." ”

Mu Sheng, the Duke of Qianguo, once joined forces with Zhang Fusuo and led the Southwest Army in Baihe, conquered the important towns of many states, captured the battle of Li Jichen, and sealed the country.

The Duke of Qianguo has guarded Yunnan for generations, and his father is Mu Ying, the son of Taizu, King Muying of Qianning, who has been loyal to the Zhu family for generations, and is also the only one who can lead the army to guard the frontier for generations, which shows that the Mu family has the trust of the Zhu family.

The Mu family does not live up to the Zhu family, and the Zhu family does not live up to the Mu family.

Zhu Di didn't believe in the strength of the Mu family, but because the Mu family was too weak now.

100,000 southwest troops guarded Annan Province, half of which were drawn out of the Mu army, and now Yunnan is still turbulent, and the local Tusi frequently rebelled, only the Mu army can be suppressed.

Today's Mu family is a mud bodhisattva crossing the river and it is difficult to protect himself, it is not easy for him to take care of Yunnan, if he draws troops from the Qianguo Mansion, how much can he draw?

Twenty thousand?

Thirty thousand?

If there are more transfers, the Qianguo Mansion itself will not be able to withstand it, and before Annan is pacified, Yunnan will begin to make trouble again.

This little force wants to suppress the turmoil in Annam Province, but I am afraid that it will not even be enough to plug the gaps.

Zhu Gaoxian smiled lightly: "It doesn't matter, I will make a move." ”

……

In the Wenhua Palace, Yang Rong criticized the music on the table, picked up the teacup on the side and took a sip.

An old minister in a scarlet robe walked to the side, and Yang Ge Lao fixed his eyes and saw that it was Xia Yuanji, the head of the household.

"Why did Xia Laoshangshu come to me in person, if there is anything going on in the household department, just let someone come and say no to me." Yang Rong hurriedly got up to greet him.

Xia Yuanji waved his hand: "Elder Yang Ge, don't say hello, I'm here to discuss important matters." ”

"Xia Laoshangshu, please sit down, sit down and let's talk slowly."

Xia Yuanji sat on the chair and asked, "Elder Yang Ge, tell me the truth, is the country going to war again?" ”

Yang Rong said with a smile: "Who did you listen to, in today's prosperous times, His Royal Highness has already finished the war, what is the war?" ”

Xia Yuanji shook his head: "Your cabinet knows more things than me, Yang Ge Lao refuses to tell me the truth, and I have nowhere else to inquire." But let me tell you in advance, you and my colleagues, you are in charge of the cabinet, I am in charge of the household department, they all say that I am the money bag of the Ming Dynasty, and I am also called 'Xia Lao Li' in private, this is not wrong, don't forget, when it comes to war, the financial budget of the imperial court has to come out of me. ”

The smile on Yang Rong's face retracted: "Xia Laoshangshu said that he was joking, we are all helping His Highness do things, what can't be said, I really don't know." ”

He could hear that Xia Laoshangshu had a thorn in his words.

The two of them are maneuvering here, and neither of them is willing to get to the bottom first, they are both trying to test each other's foundation with vague words.

Xia Yuanji frowned slightly: "Yang Rong, you come with me, can you not see the military newspaper in the southwest?" ”

Yang Rong was shocked: "How do you know ......?"

Xia Yuanji said coldly: "The old man has been in charge of the household department for more than ten years, and he has come through ups and downs, and you are still too immature to play this kind of trick in front of me." Do you think that if you hide the military newspaper, no one will know about it except your cabinet? The military expenditure in the southwest is from my household department, I can see a seven-seven-eighty-eight, guess what the situation is over there now, the military expenditure of the nine sides of the Ming Dynasty is handled by me every year, you come with me? ”

Yang Rong was silent.

He did know that there was chaos in the southwest, but he put the matter down for the time being.

After all, His Royal Highness and His Majesty have not yet given an answer to the rebellion. Yang Rong didn't have any bad intentions when he suppressed the matter, he was just worried that this matter would cause turmoil in the court.

As soon as the country moved its capital, there was such a chaotic situation in the southwest, wouldn't it be criticized when it was spread out?

Xia Yuanji said in a deep voice: "Yang Rong, I'm not talking to you about private affairs now, I'm talking to you about state affairs!" ”

"It's because it's a state affair that I can't tell you."

Yang Rong persuaded bitterly, "You should probably guess it in your heart, the current situation is in crisis, this matter is now a trip to troubled waters, I am already in troubled waters, the deeper this matter is, the deeper it is, Xia Laoshangshu, listen to my advice, don't ask." I'm in the water to greet you on the shore now, and when Your Highness and Your Majesty have made a statute, you don't need to ask to know, why be in such a hurry? How can you, a civil official, be more anxious about fighting a war than a military attaché? ”

Xia Yuanji and Yang Rong looked at each other, a pair of old eyes had long been cloudy, and the wrinkles at the corners of the eyes were the vicissitudes left by the years, but the spiritual energy in their eyes was still as tough as that of a young man.

In the end, it was Yang Rong who took the lead in defeat, and took out two secret letters from under the table: "These two letters, respectively, were sent by the Southwest Capital Division and the Southwest Jinyi Guard, first passed through my hands, and then submitted to Your Majesty, I left a copy for the record, you can see for yourself, I can say it in advance, I am not responsible for what goes wrong, you find it yourself." ”

Xia Laoshangshu took the secret letter and flipped through it, and after reading it, he didn't hesitate to get up and leave.

Yang Rong asked, "Where are you going?" ”

Xia Yuanji said lightly: "Face saint." ”

……

"You want to fight this battle yourself?"

Zhu Di's eyebrows locked into Sichuan characters, "Boy, don't make trouble, you are now in charge of the country, and the lifeblood of the country is on your back, how can you fight this battle in person?" ”

Zhu Gaoxian asked rhetorically: "Who can fight this battle except me?" ”

Zhu Di blurted out: "Zhang Fu, Zhang Fu has served as the chief general in the southwest for many years, and he can be competent in terms of qualifications, experience and strength." ”

Zhu Gaoxian set his eyes on Zhang Fu's body: "British Duke, can you take 20,000 people to quell the rebellion in the southwest?" ”

Zhang Fu was embarrassed, he hesitated for a moment, and replied, "No." ”

He is not modest now, nor is he giving Zhu Gaoxian face, he really can't do it.

Zhang Fu is the person who is the best at using soldiers in this dynasty except for Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxian, not to mention, the southwest is still his home field, to be reasonable, he should be no less than Xu Da and Chang Yuchun in the southwest, but it also depends on how many troops he has.

In the current situation in the southwest, I don't know how many of the original 100,000 southwest troops can be used and how many mutinies there are, plus the local remnant rebels, there must be more than 100,000 enemies, to say the least.

If he Zhang Fu had 50,000 horses, he would dare to swear that "whoever goes out to the southwest to take command, who else will he be", but let him take 20,000 horses to quell the rebellion in the southwest, which is a bit embarrassing.

Zhu Gaoxian looked at Zhu Di again: "Isn't this enough, let's not talk about how many troops the Ming Dynasty can draw and how many troops can be mobilized from the southern provinces, what we can use at the moment, and the fastest one that can be gathered, is only 20,000 troops under the hands of the Duke of Qianguo." Winning more with less is what I do best. Back then, I used 800 people in Mobei to subdue the tens of thousands of Warat cavalry of Mahamu, and now there are 20,000 people, how can I not win? ”

Zhu Di said in a deep voice: "You must know that fighting in the north of the desert and fighting in the southwest are two concepts, one is the desert grassland, and the other is the deep mountains and old forests......"

Zhu Gaoxian said firmly: "I have fought in the southwest, and I have never lost a war in the southwest." ”

Zhu Di has a toothache, and he really doesn't want to let Zhu Gaoxian go now.

More than ten years ago, Zhu Di, who was the son of heaven, must have wanted his son to be a son of heaven.

But now that he is old, he wants his heir to stay in the capital safely, in this deep palace wall, and after his death, let the heir take over this huge empire from his own hands safely.

Compared with Zhu Yuanzhang in his later years, Zhu Di in his later years was more like an indecisive elder.

Who is Zhu Yuanzhang?

He lost his father and mother when he was young, lost his brother in middle age, lost his wife in middle age, lost his son one after another in his later years, and took away the luck of the creation of heaven and earth.

Zhu Yuanzhang is a real emperor, cold, cruel, heroic, wise, in his later years he had everything, but lost everything, a lonely old man, guarding the empire he built with his own hands, his indifferent eyes looked down on the world, and there was no trace of emotion in his heart.

Zhu Di is different from Zhu Yuanzhang, his heart is more complex and his emotions are more enthusiastic.

The emperor who admired war the most, but in his later years, he didn't want his son to set foot on the battlefield again.

……

Zhu Gaoxian didn't notice the old man's complicated eyes, he was still concentrating on analyzing his strategy: "In the southwest, the biggest obstacle to my Ming Dynasty is actually the lack of adaptation to the water and soil. ”

"Even if it's our army in the south, it's hard to adapt to the rainforest in the southwest. This problem was already obvious during the last southern expedition, whether it was the army of the north or the army of the south, they did not serve as the main force in the battle of the southern expedition, but played an auxiliary role. The main attack is carried out by the army in the southwest, which is actually no way. ”

"Therefore, even if we draw troops from the southern provinces, we do not have much advantage, but will delay the offensive of our army. Sometimes, it's not a good thing to have too many troops, especially in the rainforests of the southwest, where too many people can make us bloated, which can be extremely inconvenient for both the command of the battle and the march. The number of people is small, but it can be easily played, and in this kind of terrain, the tactic of winning more with less can be brought into full play. ”

"Uh...... Dad, are you listening? ”

Zhu Di came back to his senses and nodded: "Well, you go on." ”

Zhu Gaoxian was a little surprised, he had never seen Zhu Di lose his mind when discussing the battle.

At this time, Tang Cheng hurriedly walked over and reported to Zhu Di: "Your Majesty, Hubu Xia Laoshangshu asks to see you." ”

Zhu Di frowned slightly: "What is he doing here, tell him that I am discussing important matters with the crown prince and the British public, and if I don't see it, let him come back another day." ”

Tang Cheng reminded: "Xia Laoshangshu said that he came for the southwest business. ”

When Zhu Di heard this, his face sank like water.

(End of chapter)