Chapter 892 Cracks in Jizijuan

"That being the case, why did Feng Tang provide a large amount of material aid to the Chahar people last year?" Fang Congzhe said with a gloomy face, "It would be enough to provide some salt tea, but why did Liaodong itself rely entirely on food and cloth shipped from the south of the Yangtze River? They also gave it to the Chahar people, as well as a large amount of military supplies, including some armor and fire guns. Isn’t this just aiding the evil?"

At first glance, this question seemed a bit difficult to answer. Fortunately, Chai Ke was very familiar with the situation and answered unceremoniously: "Fang Gong, everyone knows that Lin Dan Batur is very ambitious. How can ordinary small profits impress him?" What about him? Last year, the Donglu went all out to capture the Ula tribe. Since taking control of Liaodong in the early Tang Dynasty, all the generals under his command were unfamiliar and it was difficult to mobilize troops. They could only rely on external forces to survive. If the Chahar people had not sent troops to suppress the Horqin people, Not to mention the Ula tribe, even the Ye He tribe is in danger. I thought that last year the situation could be turned around and the Ula tribe could be saved, no matter how high the price is, it would be worth it!"

"But now the Chahar people are going to invade our Zhou Dynasty. Isn't this the danger of raising tigers?" Fang Congzhe said unceremoniously, "I said it's okay to give more salt and tea, but why do we have to give away grain, cloth and even firecrackers? Are all these valuable military resources given to him? Even if Feng Tang's move is not to benefit the enemy, it is also to create trouble!"

Qi Yongtai secretly sighed in his heart, will the honeymoon period brought about by this strategy of opening up the sea be over so soon?

He has vaguely felt that representatives of Jiangnan scholars, such as Ye Xianggao and Fang Congzhe, have begun to resume their attitude of advancing the strategy of opening up the sea, and have further enhanced their control over various affairs.

Now the Northern scholars are at a disadvantage in the cabinet, and Li Sancai is from Beipinanxin. If I had known it, I would have resolutely resisted his entry into the cabinet. I would rather leave the vacancy behind, or make a deal with the emperor to bring Zhang Huaichang into the cabinet. alright.

It's a pity that the emperor wanted to let Zhang Jingqiu join the cabinet, but he never thought that with Zhang Jingqiu's obedient attitude towards the emperor, how could Ye, Fang and others let him join the cabinet?

Li Sancai is good at rhetoric, but he has to admit that he did a great job as Minister of the Ministry of Industry. No wonder the emperor finally allowed him to join the cabinet.

However, the support for the Liaodong strategy, whether it is the emperor or himself, or even Ye Fang, is clear that it cannot be shaken. It was difficult for Feng Tang to clean up the mess Li Chengliang left. Now if it changes again, the situation will be dire. It's really out of control.

Qi Yongtai sighed in his heart, but he didn't show it at all on his face: "Fang Gong, whichever is the lesser of two evils, if the Chahar people are not given military resources and the Chahar people do not send troops to suppress Horqin and threaten the Donglu, As a result, the Ula tribe was annexed by the Donglu. Did Fang Gong think about the consequences? I am afraid that the Donglu will not only eat the Ula tribe, but also become one with the Horqin people. We will have to worry about the safety of Liaodong Town. It’s not just about the Chahar people invading the south.”

 Being pushed back by Qi Yongtai's words, Fang Congzhe was also a little unhappy, "Didn't you say that Lin Dan Batur is ambitious? Then Horqin also belongs to Lin Dan Khan's management, right?"

Regarding Fang Congzhe's understanding, Qi Yongtai was also a little helpless, "Fang Gong, the Horqin people are not under the jurisdiction of Chahar, or even the traditional Mongolian left wing. They are the descendants of Temujin's second brother Habu Tuhasar. The tribes that they have always owned are independent of the traditional Mongolian left and right 60,000 households. Even Dayan Khan did not dare to annex them. However, the Chahar people have always regarded themselves as Temujin's natural successors, so they like to give orders to all Mongolian tribes. , but whether people listen to him or not depends on whether he is strong enough."

Even the ministers in the court and central government have not understood the origins of the various tribes on the grassland. It has been more than two hundred years from the Northern Yuan Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty to the Great Zhou Dynasty. The changes in the grassland are more rapid than those in the Central Plains, and the rise and fall of tribes are even more rapid. Impermanence, perhaps a tribe that is extremely prosperous may disappear in just a few decades.

Fang Congzhe is not interested in these things on the grassland. He also knows that it is impossible to take any action against Liaodong, which has finally settled down. The emperor will not agree, nor will Qi Yongtai, and even his own family will not provoke it easily. But he's going to knock the other guy.

Liaodong Town's demands for food, salary and military resources from last year to this year were so excessive that the imperial court was overwhelmed. If this strategy of opening up the sea had not indeed increased the imperial court's income, he would have launched an attack long ago. It is not easy to endure it until now. .

"Chengfeng, let's put aside these bad things on the grassland for now, but it is too much for Liaodong to generously provide aid to the grassland tribes. That's it for the Yehe tribe. We also support Shuerhaqi, but Like the Chahar people and the Horqin people, should we be more cautious? The Ministry of War and Liaodong have also proposed to contact and win over the East China Sea Jurchens. Will the East China Sea Jurchens receive our assistance but defect to the Donglu?"

Fang Congzhe's tone was calm, but very pertinent: "The imperial court's finances improved last year, but the hole in Ningxia's counterinsurgency the year before last was too big, and the Jiubian Land owed too much. We still need to fill it up slowly, so each family still has to Be careful, and like Liaodong, they even gave firecrackers and food to the Chahar people unscrupulously, but now the Chahar people are going to bite us back, I'm afraid this should be a lesson to be learned."

Fang Congzhe’s words made Ye Xianggao, Li Tingji, Li Sancai, as well as Zheng Jizhi, the Secretary of the Ministry of Hubu, and Huang Ruliang, the left minister of the Ministry of Hubu, couldn’t help but nod slightly.

Suppressing his inner irritability, Qi Yongtai also nodded slightly, "What Mr. Fang said is true. The Ministry of War does need overall planning, but the surrounding area is too wide, and the enemies it faces are extremely cunning and fierce. Even the governor and general soldiers of a place can If you don't even have this little power, you won't be able to fight the war."

"Chengfeng, I didn't say that no one would give the generals the power to make changes on the spot, but there must be a constraint. You can't be bold and act on your own, and you will not be responsible for the consequences, right?" Ye Xianggao also joined in.

Seeing Qi Yongtai's face turn blue, Li Sancai, who had been silent next to him, interrupted: "What Mr. Ye and Mr. Fang said is indeed reasonable. In the future, as the government's finances improve, the situation will get better, and so will the food, salary and military resources in the border areas. Increasing day by day, Brother Chengfeng, this is also the good intention of all the gentlemen,..."

Emperor Yonglong was also a little irritable. He faced these courtiers bickering every day, and as a result, he could not get to the point of the discussion for a long time. This situation made him very helpless.

He wanted to reprimand him, but he had to admit the suspicions of Ye Xianggao and Fang Congzhe. The Chahar people were still cheering for the Great Zhou honestly last year, so why did they fall out this year?

 Is it You Shigong's alarmism, or even his intention to distance himself from Feng Tang and become loyal to him?

 But it was not necessary to give his boss a blow in the back, it was completely unnecessary, which made Emperor Yonglong a little unsure.

Perhaps Lindan Batur is young and energetic, and really feels that Dazhou is weak and can be bullied, and wants to take advantage of him?

The atmosphere in the palace was a little stiff, and the emperor's eyes seemed a little erratic and distracted. Ye Xianggao realized that the topic was too far away, and if Qi Yongtai was pushed too hard, it would easily cause the other party to rebound, so he never gave it. Li Tingji, who was silent, winked.

"Your Majesty, gentlemen, it is not advisable to get too involved today. At the moment, we still need to discuss the content of Ji Zhen's urgent report. Since the Chahar people cannot suppress it for a while, if what You Shigong said is true, then Shuntian and forever this autumn will Pinghe Daning and Ningyuan in western Liaoning must prepare as soon as possible."

Li Tingji actually did not agree with Fang Congzhe's attack on Liaodong, but Fang Congzhe, as the second assistant, was mainly responsible for finance. He always believed that taxes in South Zhili and Zhejiang were too heavy and there was a danger of civil commotion. He wanted to appropriately reduce the taxes in Suzhou, Hangzhou, The taxes and levies in Huzhou, Changzhou and other states were not supported by Ye Xianggao. He in turn wanted to reduce expenditures, but the idea was to focus on the military expenditures of the nine sides. That was something Qi Yongtai and the Ministry of War could not do. Accepted.

Emperor Yonglong nodded with satisfaction. He was not satisfied with the performance of Fang Congzhe and Ye Xianggao, but Li Tingji still had a general understanding.

“Well, what do you think Li Qing should do?” Emperor Yonglong asked.

"When it comes to military strategy, Jing Qiu and Zi Shu are far better than me. The Ministry of War should have some plans." Li Tingji immediately retreated and escaped. There is no success in saying this kind of thing correctly, but it is wrong to say it wrong, and it is easy to offend Qi Yongtai. He I don't want to ask for trouble.

Emperor Yonglong was slightly unhappy, but after thinking about Ye Xianggao and Fang Congzhe over there, he was afraid that Li Tingji would not be able to say much, so he stopped talking and looked at Zhang Jingqiu and Chai Ke, "The Ministry of War feels that How to deal with it?”

 Zhang Jingqiu and Chai Ke had actually discussed it on the way to the palace.

 There is no good way.

The Chahar people's nomadic land spans thousands of miles, from Xuanfu to Liaodong. Along the thousands of miles of border walls, except for critical passes, other areas can only establish warning lines in the form of beacons. However, the Mongolian cavalry comes and goes like the wind. Once a breakthrough is made, , often the first line of defense cannot provide much hindrance, and it takes the second or even third line of defense to truly deal with it.

The second and third lines of defense are basically the northern areas of Shuntian Prefecture and Yongping Prefecture. Except for the Western Liaoning Corridor, which is dominated by Baozhen, if there is a slight laxity in the north of Shuntian Prefecture and Yongping Prefecture, the Mongolian cavalry will They can directly break into the capital city. Although everyone here knows that it is impossible for the Chahar people to break through the capital city, this situation is unacceptable to the Great Zhou. It is related to the face of the Great Zhou.

The problem is that if you want to block the Chahar people on the second line and prevent the Mongolian cavalry from rushing into the capital city, you need to guard the Changping-Shunyi-Sanhe-Yutian-Fengrun-Kaiping Zhongtunwei line in the north of Shuntian Prefecture and Yongping Prefecture. The enemy intercepted them.

There is no good solution, but when the emperor asks, the Ministry of War will have to come up with a statement.

"Your Majesty, I have discussed with Mr. Chai, because it is still unclear about the intention of the Chahar people to invade south. The intelligence from Ji Town only shows that Lin Dan Batur intends to go south, but from where and how big the scale is. The specific situation is not yet known. "Clear, so our opinion is that in addition to further stabilizing the defense of the three towns, we may need to deploy some mobile forces and deploy them in Changping, Sanhe and Baodi in order to maximize the response..."

 (End of this chapter)