Chapter 338 The first meeting in the 42nd year of Jiajing.
In the 42nd year of Jiajing, the cabinet only had the first assistant Xu Jie and the second assistant Yuan Wei, and the only assistant minister was Zhao Zhenji.
Yuan Wei, courtesy name Maozhong, was born in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province. He was the top pick in the 17th year of Jiajing.
Yuan Wei was originally selected as the number one scholar by Emperor Jiajing, but he made rude remarks during the final ceremonial interview in the palace and was demoted to the top prize.
This is Yuan Wei's character. When he sees what others do and doesn't like them, he will slander and ridicule them.
He has quick thinking and good literary talent, so he rose through the ranks in the previous "Qing Ci Chicken Contest" and rose step by step.
But now Yuan Wei's status is very embarrassing. He is from Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, and is the "Zhejiang Party" who is not welcomed in the court today.
Then Yuan Wei presided over the 37th Jiajing Examination. Shen Shixing, Xu Guo, and Wang Xijue were all his favorite students, and he was very close to the three of them before.
Now that Shen Shixing has been confirmed as a thief, the remaining two guys are also secretly followed and guarded by Jin Yiwei.
Under such circumstances, Yuan Wei even wrote a letter to King Xu Xijue as a guarantee, so the court did not dismiss them from office.
However, Yuan Wei is also increasingly unpopular. He goes to the cabinet every day just to show off, and he basically does not interfere in political affairs.
After Zhao Zhenji entered the cabinet, Yuan Wei rarely even went to the cabinet, claiming to be ill at home.
But this time, Yuan Wei had to attend the Lantern Festival meeting.
Among the six ministries, Yan Na, the Minister of Personnel, Zhao Zhenji, the Minister of Hubu, Li Chunfang, the Minister of Rites, Yang Bo, the Minister of War, Huang Guangsheng, the Minister of Punishments, and Lei Li, the Minister of Works, are all listed in the palace.
Among them, Yang Bo, the Minister of War, was the Minister of War in Nanjing who had previously carried out the imperial order to dig up the Huaihe River embankment to stop Japanese pirates.
After Yang Bo took the blame and stepped down, he was quickly appointed as Minister of War because he knew about the Jianghuai War.
Emperor Jiajing, who had been wearing Taoist robes all year round, rarely changed into dragon robes, and came to the palace surrounded by eunuchs.
Everyone knelt down and shouted long live the emperor. The emperor sat high on the throne, cleared his throat and said: "The
historians are not included in today's discussion, and it will not be included in the daily notes and records. The ministers can speak freely." The
emperor said this . After that, everyone was even more nervous.
Normal national meetings must be recorded by historians, and the contents of the meeting must be included in the records as material for future history revision.
The emperor said this, which shows that the content of today's meeting is of great importance, and if it is not done well, it will leave eternal infamy.
Sure enough, Emperor Jiajing said: "Today's discussion is about the location of the decisive battle with the Soviet thieves after the elites from the Nine Sides go south."
Sure enough, this is the topic.
All the ministers fell silent. Everyone knew that if something went wrong in the war with such an important national policy, the person who proposed the national policy would definitely take the blame.
Everyone is already in a position of great importance, so as long as they stay in their position, it will be fine. There is no need to take risks.
Seeing that all the ministers were silent, the emperor felt even worse. After looking around, he named Xu Jie, the chief minister of the cabinet.
"Mr. Xu Ge, you are Ge Kui, what do you think?"
Xu Jie is also a seasoned man. He said directly: "I don't know the military affairs, so I dare not speak nonsense. The court has decided on the location of the decisive battle, and I will definitely do the logistics well." Prepare the baggage."
Xu Jie's old tricks did not surprise the emperor, but at this time the emperor still showed his dissatisfaction with him.
Looking around, the emperor still chose his professional counterpart, the veteran minister Yang Bo, Minister of War.
Yang Bo was in charge of the Ministry of War. Naturally, he could no longer excuse himself by saying that he was "uncompetent in military matters." Yang Bo had no choice but to say: "I believe that the
bandit soldiers have powerful firearms, but it takes time to reload. If they can charge into the battle with cavalry, they will definitely be able to break through the enemy's battle." ."
"So I believe that the decisive battle should be at a place suitable for cavalry charge."
Yang Bo did not say this. From the time he decided to mobilize the elites from the nine sides to go south, the strategy of using cavalry to deal with the gunmen was settled.
"Talk about the place!"
Yang Bo could only bite the bullet and said: "I think that the Jianghuai water network is dense and is not suitable for cavalry charges. The decisive battle should be in Jining Prefecture."
Jining Prefecture, now Jining City, belongs to the State of Lu The ancient capital is also an important city on the canal water network. It is located in the Qilu Plain area and is an important town of the Ming Dynasty in Shandong.
Yang Bo's proposal was repeatedly discussed and confirmed by the Ministry of War.
The reason why the decisive battle was not held in Xuzhou was because of the canal issue.
Before the Song Dynasty, Xuzhou's canal was a smooth waterway connecting the Huaihe River and Sishui River all the way north.
However, during the Southern Song Dynasty, due to the low level of governance of the northern nomadic regimes, the Yellow River flooded. The Yellow River diverted Si into the Huai River, and then diverted the Huai River into the sea.
The originally smooth and clear Surabaya River and the Xuzhou section of the Grand Canal have become silted up, blocking the smooth flow of the entire Xuzhou Canal.
Because the river bed is rising, the dams must be constantly reinforced, causing the river in the north of Xuzhou City to be an above-ground river like the Yellow River.
The siltation in Xuzhou has made it very difficult to navigate this section of the Grand Canal in Xuzhou. Sometimes ships cannot navigate directly and need to use special waterway manpower to pull through the silted section.
In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through, during the Wanli period, due to frequent congestion in the Xuzhou section of the canal, the Jia Canal was finally dug through Taierzhuang, bypassing the Xuzhou section of the canal, and Xuzhou began to lose its status as a shipping center from this time on. .
However, Xuzhou was still a hub city for shipping at this time.
Yang Bo and the Ministry of War discussed not to fight a decisive battle in Xuzhou. It was because the canal in the Xuzhou section was difficult to navigate and transporting troops, horses and heavy weapons to Xuzhou would be expensive, so the Ministry of War felt that the decisive battle should be fought in Jining.
But as soon as the Ministry of War made this suggestion, Zhao Zhenji immediately stood up and expressed his opposition.
"I object!"
The emperor looked at Zhao Zhenji and motioned for him to continue.
Zhao Zhenji said: "Jining Mansion is the barrier to northwest Shandong. If Jining Mansion is lost, Beizhili will have no danger to defend it. What will happen to the court then?" The emperor frowned, but Zhao Zhenji was right. If Jining
is If the decisive battle is lost, then Su Ze's army can march north along the Grand Canal to the capital. What will the court do then?
You can’t imitate Emperor Yuan Shun’s hunting in the north, right?
Zhao Zhenji said: "I believe that the decisive battle should be held in Xuzhou. Taking advantage of Xuzhou's advantageous location, we can charge with cavalry for a decisive battle when advancing, and use Xuzhou City for defense when returning." The ministers present nodded, and even Yang Bo could not express his objection
.
As for the difficulty of walking through the Grand Canal, if it really doesn't work, then the people will have to suffer.
But the ministers quickly realized a problem, and even Zhao Zhenji suddenly closed his mouth.
The decisive battle in Xuzhou means giving up the entire southern Zhili, including Nanjing, one of the two capitals, and Fengyang, the ancestral mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty.
The responsibility of abandoning Nanjing and Fengyang is not small, and no one present dares to bear it.
When the emperor saw that all the ministers were silent, he naturally could not bear this responsibility, and the situation became awkward.
The ministers looked at me, I looked at you, and then looked down at the gold bricks on the ground, but they all remained silent.
Seeing this, the emperor once again missed Yan Song. At this time in the past, Yan Song could always take the blame. In desperation, the emperor could only say: "Order the nine-sided army to assemble in Xuzhou City, and the military supplies and equipment will be sent to Xuzhou City first." Then, the emperor added: "Order
to Zhang Juzheng, Governor of South Zhili, to send the soldiers to Xuzhou City at the end of February. Evacuate to Xuzhou!"
"Li Tingzhu, Commander-in-Chief of the Fifth Army in Nanjing, stay in Nanjing and wait for help!"
When the emperor finished speaking, all the ministers took the order and left. Only Zhao Zhenji remained in the palace.
Xu Jie glanced at his disciple who had just entered the pavilion with a playful look, and strode out of the hall.
"Please stay with me."
Zhao Zhenji asked to stay and play alone. This was a big taboo in the official circles of the Ming Dynasty.
Ministers can talk to others about everything, and if they are left alone, they will often be labeled as traitors and sycophants.
After all the ministers left, Zhao Zhenji said:
"Your Majesty, I have another plan."
"Ai Qing, please tell me." "
The river in the north of Xuzhou City is higher than the city wall. It is a hanging river. If the war is unfavorable, the hanging river can be blown up. Use floods to wash away the Su thieves."
"The Su thieves have elite soldiers. It is not easy to make weapons and train soldiers. As long as they can be wiped out in one fell swoop, the news will spread to the southeast!" Although the emperor did not express his position, Zhao Zhenji had already keenly felt Jiajing's feelings
. of joy.
Zhao Zhenji understood the emperor's intention and immediately said: "I will send my confidants to arrange this matter."
Both the emperor and his ministers smiled, but no one cared about the people in Xuzhou City at this time.
The shabby machine of the Ming Dynasty finally started to move. Messengers from all walks of life set out from the capital, and armies from all sides were also gathered.
At this time, Su Ze had quietly arrived at the Shanghai Anti-Japanese General Corps.
Su Ze and Lin Mojun were walking side by side at the Shanghai Pier, which would later be called the Bund. Su Ze asked, "How are the winter clothes?"
Lin Mojun said, "The winter clothes have been distributed. Now there are three soldiers from the First Brigade. Thousands of people, all winter clothes have been distributed."
Su Ze counted on his fingers: "The first brigade (former Navy New Army Navy) has 3,000 people, the second brigade (former Navy New Army Army) has 7,000 people, and the third brigade (former Navy New Army Army) has 7,000 people. The brigade (former Zhejiang New Army) has 10,000 troops. This is all the troops we can invest in the south after the spring, that is, 20,000 troops." The fourth brigade reorganized by Qi Jiajun is now guarding Guangzhou, mainly to
stabilize Guangzhou Prefecture and Chaozhou Prefecture. Maintain maritime security in the Southeast region.
Su Ze added: "However, in this land battle, it will be difficult for our ships to play a role. This time, your first brigade will mainly serve as artillery and will be mixed into the command of the second brigade." Lin Mojun nodded
.
Su Ze asked again: "How many bore-bore cannons have been shipped?"
Lin Mojun said: "Twenty four-pounders have been shipped, ten eight-pounders, and four twelve-pounders." "
Soldiers . We have started practicing new artillery. Everyone says that this kind of artillery is much easier to use than before, and so far there has been no problem of artillery exploding." Su Ze nodded with satisfaction. With the innovation brought about by technology, the same type of
weapons will be used on the battlefield. There are completely different performances.
On the battlefield, the firing speed is faster and the barrel explosion rate is lower, which may change the entire battle situation.
Su Ze added: "Information from the capital shows that the Ming Dynasty's nine-sided army going south this time is mainly based on cavalry. The Ming Dynasty should want to use cavalry charge to deal with our phalanx of gunmen. You have already Have you done some response training according to the new drills sent by the staff?"
Lin Mojun nodded and said: "The drills have started since the end of the year, but the cooperation between the gunners and the gunners is not tacit."
Today's new army's tactics , Su Ze did not choose the Spanish square.
The Spanish phalanx is a phalanx commonly used by today's European armies dominated by matchlocks to fight against cavalry.
However, the Spanish phalanx was not actually dominated by matchlocks, but spearmen who dealt with the cavalry, and assisted some light cavalry.
Su Ze is currently equipped with, in addition to early bird guns, percussion muskets using spring flints, which are more advanced than the current Spanish muskets.
Therefore, the new maneuver code compiled by Su Zerang's staff adopted an infantry and artillery phalanx based on the Gustav phalanx.
It is still a phalanx of cannons fired in line, and an infantry phalanx covered by artillery fire.
This is also the most suitable fighting method chosen by Su Ze based on the current equipment and training situation.
"How are the preparations for the cavalry going?"
Lin Mojun sighed and said, "There are too few cavalry in the south, and we haven't been able to recruit enough cavalry yet."
Su Ze also sighed.
Just because the Ming court did not seriously consider what would happen if the decisive battle failed.
In fact, Su Ze and his staff had not seriously thought about what would happen after victory.
When infantry and artillery are used against cavalry, the outcome depends on the troop allocation, on-the-spot command and tactical training level of both sides. However, the biggest disadvantage of infantry and artillery squares against cavalry is that they cannot pursue them.
If after victory, the enemy cavalry insists on escaping, the infantry and artillery phalanx will not be able to catch up with the four-legged cavalry.
After Su Ze realized this loophole, he immediately gave a general order to the three brigades in Southern Zhili and Jiangxi, asking them to recruit, organize and train cavalry on the spot.
It's a pity that the infantry that Su Ze has been training has no cavalry commanders that can be used.
In the southern region controlled by Su Ze, there were not many cavalry troops who were good at riding and shooting.
Things just got so awkward.
Lin Mojun said: "In addition, the problem of horses is not small. Although South Zhili raises horses, the quality of the horses is not good. The herds supervisors in various places are using horses to exploit the people. The horses raised are used for logistics and supplies. Okay, we need to select good horses before they can be used by the cavalry."
Lin Mojun added: "In addition, our artillery also needs horses, and the artillery carriages need horses to pull them, otherwise the mobility cannot be guaranteed."
Su Ze looked at the map and said: "That is to say, Fengyang Mansion must be captured before the war?"
Lin Mojun said: "That's it."
"Pass my military order, the second brigade of Lin Liangjun from Jiujiang will go to Anqing from Jiujiang Feint to attack, to contain Zhang Juzheng and Liu Shiyan's Ming army in Anqing Prefecture, and use Lin Deyang's third brigade to set off from Jingdezhen to attack Fengyang Prefecture." "The main
purpose of this battle is to control the group of herdsmen in Fengyang Prefecture. According to the enemy's dynamics, Then determine whether to occupy Fengyang."
The staff around him immediately recorded Su Ze's order and quickly spread the news to Jiangxi.
(End of chapter)