Datong Town.

Wang Shouren, as the governor of Xuanda, was holding a meeting on the construction of cities in Maoerzhuang and Weininghai.

The construction of the city in Maoerzhuang was decided early in the morning, and it has been put into practice, and the construction of the city in Weininghai was completely due to the response of the Ming Dynasty to give him the land of the East and West Hetao.

“…… Wang Zhitai, if he sent servants from Xuanfu and Datong to raise money and grain, he would build two fortresses at a time, and they would be in places where the grassland roads were inconvenient to transport, so he was afraid that it would be difficult to succeed. Now that it is a cold winter, should we propose to the imperial court to let the imperial court allocate 200,000 taels of coins to build the city? ”

Hu Gui, a guerrilla general in Datong, raised difficulties as a local.

The general military officer of Datong on the side, Xiangcheng Bo Li Yan said: "Even if you transfer 200,000 taels of silver, I'm afraid you won't be able to build a big city, and now the city of Maoerzhuang can't be finished, and it's only more than two miles away, so what other use is there besides being able to garrison?" ”

For the construction of a city, 200,000 taels are not enough.

This is simply the construction of city walls, towers, city gates and other fortifications, and even the servants are recruited locally, which is equivalent to saying that labor does not cost money, and even rations and other things are brought by the husband.

Even so, even a cat village can't be repaired, let alone Weininghai.

Wang Shouren is a good hand at fighting, but let him deal with the ministers of the DPRK and China, especially taking into account the people's livelihood...... From Wang Shouren's point of view, this topic is a bit complicated.

Fighting a war can rely on blood, but to govern the people of one side, it is not enough to have blood alone, and money is needed everywhere, which is precisely what the northwest lacks.

……

……

After the end of the military meeting.

Wang Shouren immediately wrote a prelude to Zhu Youji, mentioning the inconvenience of Wei Ninghai to build a city......

“…… It is far away from the Daming border pass, and there is no rest and supply along the way, Maoerzhuang has spent a lot of money to repair the city, if you consider Weininghai to build a city, it will only make the people's livelihood on the front line of Xuanda wither, and the passes such as the head pass still need to send more people to repair and reinforce......"

A set of difficulties were written down, but Wang Shouren did not sign it.

He also realized that if it was played like this, the trust of the emperor and the court in him would be greatly reduced.

"Wang Zhitai, I don't know if you can enter the lowly position?" Li Yan's voice came from outside.

"Come in."

When Wang Shouren came to the northwest this time, he didn't even bring his family, and he usually ate and lived with the soldiers, and he never held a shelf, which also made him quickly win the favor of the army.

Li Yan walked in, did not approach Wang Shouren's desk, hugged his fists and said: "Wang Zhitai, I heard that many Tatar tribes want to complete trade with the Ming Dynasty, and now the city of Maoerzhuang has not been completed, if Maoerzhuang is used to trade with the Tatars, do you think it is feasible?" ”

Wang Shouren said: "This will definitely make a lot of Tatars work carefully and mix into Maoerzhuang." ”

Li said: "Isn't this a compromise? The coal mines in Datong are in full swing, but I heard that they have been called by the imperial court and Cai Guogong, and there is no left for us in Datong to build the city...... Even Hainingwei's new salt place was obtained and exchanged for salt citations, and the salt quotations used were all three-sided salt quotations...... You just have a prestige, but there are still many constraints on the use of soldiers. ”

Wang Shouren was silent.

As he was talking, Wang Shouren's servant appeared at the door, but when he saw Wang Shouren meeting in the hall, the servant was very interested and stepped aside.

"I'll think about it." Wang Shouren said, "Even if the northwest wants to reopen the border city, it must be approved by the imperial court." Even if the border market is opened from Maoerzhuang, the harvest of the border market is less than 20,000 taels a year, and it is still insufficient to build a city fortress...... I will still propose to Your Majesty that only one city in Maoerzhuang will be improved, and Weining Haiduo will mainly send troops to patrol and defend. ”

If you don't have that big head, don't wear such a tall hat.

Wang Shouren deeply understood this, so he could only do his best to propose, just talking about building a city, but in the end he only built a city the size of a projectile, and the Tatars could not even be stationed as a fortress when they came, so it was better not to repair it.

……

……

After Li Yan left, the servants of the Wang family came in.

"The lord has sent a letter from the capital." The servant was excited.

After Wang Shouren arrived in the northwest, Wang Hua almost "didn't ask" about his son, and recently the servants of the Wang family could also feel that their young master was worried about firewood, rice, oil and salt, and now Wang Hua, the most powerful person in the Wang family, finally threw an olive branch to his son, which will make the Wang family feel that this is the joint efforts of father and son.

Wang Shouren didn't look forward to Wang Hua's letter.

Because Wang Shouren knew that Wang Hua was just a waiter of the Hanlin Academy, even if he had the heart to help him solve his troubles, his profession was not right.

Immediately, Wang Shouren opened Wang Hua's letter.

"Young master, what did the master say?" The domestic servant cares.

Wang Shouren did not answer, but carefully read all Wang Hua's letters, and then became a little worried.

"My father said that he would help me plan and deal with things as much as possible in Beijing, and also mentioned that the position of the Xuanda general system seems to be high, or it is better to stay in Nu'er Gandu Si to pacify the Jurchens, although the latter is a little harder, but at least there is no need to worry about money and grain scheduling." Wang Shouren did not tell the servants more details.

In fact, Wang Shouren's worries mainly came from his feeling that Wang Hua might have to make some "sacrifices" for him.

Wang Hua mentioned that the emperor wanted to increase the number of cabinet ministers, although he did not explicitly mention the matter of Li Dongyang and others showing goodwill, but Wang Shouren knew that once Wang Hua entered the cabinet, it would inevitably involve the dispute between Zhang Zhou and the traditional ministers.

Because Wang Shouren was the one who was brought up by Zhang Zhou, Wang Hua's entry into the cabinet was to enter the private land of traditional civil servants.

"Fame or something, it doesn't matter."

Wang Shouren immediately signed the note he had written before, which was equivalent to completing the official note and handing it over to the servant, "Let the post station be passed to the Beijing Division." ”

The servant said, "Young Master, this was just written today, right?" Do you want to wait another two days for you to polish again? ”

"No need." Wang Shouren replied very simply, "If I don't even have the courage to face difficulties, why should I stay in the northwest?" Many difficulties are beyond my ability, and raising them with the imperial court is also to let them know that it may not be suitable for me to take care of Xuanda's military affairs. ”

"Yes."

The servants heard the loneliness in Wang Shouren's words.

can repeatedly win battles on the grassland, but he has only just entered the DPRK, and facing up to difficulties is actually facing up to his own shortcomings.

With Wang Shouren's heart and pride, this requires great courage.

……

……

When Wang Shouren's performance arrived in Beijing, the Yanwu Hall had just opened, and it was still in full swing.

More than a dozen classes a day, three artillery fields, and artillery firing in turn, still using the previous artillery, but it is like obtaining an artillery professional qualification certificate, almost every military general and noble who comes to study must personally light the artillery, and learn how to aim theoretically, but also learn the art of war, and know the advantages and disadvantages of artillery on various occasions.

On this day, Zhang Zhou took Zhu Houzhao out of the city to check the artillery, which was the first time that Zhu Houzhao was allowed to go out of the city after the New Year, which was Zhu Youji's reward for his son's hard work in the New Year.

After Zhu Houzhao returned to the palace, his heart was still much more settled than before, and he had gone out to play wild enough, and he could finally settle down and study after coming back...... But after only reading for more than a month, I was already a little impatient and always yelled to come out to play.

"Sir, I heard that there is a new cannon, where is it?"

Zhu Houzhao arrived at the artillery field, and he had lost interest in traditional artillery and only wanted to see the new rifled guns.

Zhang Zhou looked into the distance with a telescope, and said casually: "The new cannon is still being developed, the danger is relatively high, and the things in front of you can't satisfy you?" ”

Zhu Houzhao pouted.

He picked up the binoculars and looked at it for a while, then put it down and said, "What's the point?" The Tartars are probably familiar with the power of this artillery, and they will look for tactics. ”

Zhang Zhou also put down the binoculars and said, "If you change it, what tactics are you looking for?" ”

"Scattered, and surprise attacks...... Isn't that what you said yourself? "Zhu Houzhao looked disapplieving, you have taught me everything, and you still come to test me?

Zhang Zhou smiled disdainfully.

In the era of hot weapons, everyone knows the power of guns, the problem is that no matter how awesome the cavalry is, no matter how much they find tactics, they are not the same as being beaten by guns? By the twentieth century, cavalry had largely withdrawn from the arena of warfare...... This does not mean that if you have the heavy cavalry of the crown of cold weapons, you are qualified to compete with the times.

Zhang Zhoudao: "Artillery and firecrackers will definitely become the mainstream on the battlefield in the future, what I want to do is not simply to use the Shenji Battalion as a strong attacking force, but also to equip every soldier with flint guns, and even eliminate swords, bows and crossbows, etc., as for artillery, it is necessary for every road to learn how to cooperate...... Prince, let you come, is it for you to watch the excitement? ”

"What do you look at without watching the excitement? And they didn't let me go up and light the cannon myself. "Zhu Houzhao seems to be using the method of agitation.

He had long wanted to light the artillery fuse himself and try it out himself, but the danger was still there, and even Zhang Zhou would not take such a risk.

Zhang Zhou said coldly: "If you want to come out in the future, write a five-hundred-word impression every time, and hand it back to me." ”

"What?"

Zhu Houzhao simply thought he had heard it wrong?

The master came out to watch you act, that was to give you face, it was to come out to relax, you actually asked me to write "after watching"?

Zhang Zhoudao: "Five hundred words, it can be regarded as giving you face, knowing that you usually have heavy schoolwork and don't have time to write so much." If you argue again, write a thousand words, and if you can't write it, don't think about going out of the palace and the city next time. ”

"The surname is Zhang, and you threaten me again?" Zhu Houzhao was annoyed when he heard it.

Even the title has been changed.

Liu Jin hurriedly pulled Zhu Houzhao and didn't say anything, but squeezed his eyebrows at Zhu Houzhao.

Meaning, let's not fight him, no matter how good you are, you can't fight him.

"Five hundred words...... What am I writing? Zhu Houzhao didn't bother to watch the artillery, so he ran directly to the back and sat down, muttering while pondering, "I'll just write how far this cannon can hit?" Or write about the results of the training of those people? You have to give a direction, right? ”

Zhang Zhou ignored him.

At this time, Li Rong, who was the commander of Dongchang, came up together with Guo Ang, the envoy of Fusi of Jinyi Weibei Town.

The two of them were originally escorting Zhu Houzhao out of the palace, but in fact, they were also at the disposal of Zhang Zhou at any time.

"Sir, I just learned that the new uncle of the military affairs of the General System Xuanda and other departments gave His Majesty a note, mentioning the difficulties of building a city outside the Datong Pass, this is a transcript, you can take a look."

Li Rong handed over the transcribed Guan Bai recital to Zhang Zhou.

Zhang Zhou, as the secretary of the Ministry of War, took a general look at it, and probably understood that Wang Shouren had suffered a lot of anger in the position of Xuanda General System recently.

This kind of qi is not something that the general can inflict on him, but because a lot of it is not pushed forward smoothly and is held back.

Bigger and bigger...... Fundamentally, the court did not support the strategy of using troops in the northwest at all, and deliberately withheld the money and grain used in various places in the northwest...... The emperor was talking about the policy, saying that he would build cities, artillery, and train troops, but the ministers below did not oppose much, but they refused to cooperate with practical actions.

Want money and food?

I'm sorry, the imperial treasury is overstretched, and it has to be used in other places, and the people's livelihood cannot be guaranteed, how to engage in those "reckless military affairs"?

Li Rong said: "Look, how to play with Your Majesty? ”

What Li Rong showed Zhang Zhou was equivalent to the task of the listening office.

A performance of the Northwest General, which is not only closed to the cabinet, but also closed to the upper listening office, is different from the cabinet to write votes, Zhang Zhou's opinion is directly conveyed to Zhu Youzhi to know.

Of course, ordinary trivial matters, such as local affairs, do not need Zhang Zhou to personally go out, Zhang Zhou is currently in charge of the use of troops and the dispatch of money and grain in the towns of the nine sides, as well as the employment strategy involving the nine sides.

"Xinbo's proposal to open a border market is very good, but it only deals with some Tatar merchants." Zhang Zhoudao.

Li Rong said: "In terms of implementation, I'm afraid it will be difficult to complete. The little prince of Tatar is very powerful in the steppe, and who knows to whom will the Tatar merchants sell the ironware, silk, etc., which they bought from us? ”

Zhang Zhou put Wang Shouren's recital together and wrote lightly: "It's just a saying, the main purpose of opening the border city is to ease the contradictions with the Tatars first." In order to facilitate the preparation of our Ming border army in the next few years. ”

Win first on the battlefield, and then give the Tatars a sweet date to eat, reopen the border market, so that the grassland can complete some commodity exchanges with the vast Central Plains.

This made the Tatars feel that there was no need to rob them, but in fact, it was to ease the contradictions and prepare for the future beating of the Tatars to death with a stick.

"Then Mr. Zhang, do you need to worry, the Tatars will also learn our cannon casting technology from the border market trade in the future? Even if there is not much pig iron stored in the grassland, as long as it is made, if it is fought in the future, it may not be able to take advantage of it. Li Rong is still worried.

Zhang Zhou shook his head with a smile and said: "We want to cast cannons in the Ming Dynasty, and we also want me to personally open mines, smelt iron, and cast, if the Tatars can cast cannons on a large scale in three or two years, the manpower and material resources consumed are beyond their affordability." What's more, as you said, the grasslands don't have that much resource rationing. As I said, I will propose it to Your Majesty, and if there is any more trouble, I will mention it again in the court. ”

Li Rong arched his hand and said, "Then our family will go back to the city first." His Royal Highness the Prince, you learn from Mr. Zhang first, and the old slave will go back to the city first. ”

(End of chapter)