Chapter 657 Chapter 656: Attack the Enemy with the Best Strategy

Wei Guangde and Xu Bangrui have exchanged letters every two or three months over the years, so Wei Guangde is relatively clear about the affairs of Duke Wei's Mansion in Nanjing.

On the emperor's side, Wei Guangde is still relatively confident that Emperor Longqing will not refute his face.

Although Xungui has no decision-making power on this matter, he does have the right to speak.

It is impossible for Xu Pengju to not have good relations with various noble families in the capital over the years. Wei Guangde needs important nobles to stand up and speak for Xu Bangrui at that time.

Although Xu Bangrui had an advantage in terms of "etiquette", after all, Xu Bangning's mother was named the Duke's Lady in the Jiajing Dynasty, and was not affected by Xu Jie's efforts to bring order to the chaos.

In this case, Xu Bangning really occupies the title of "direct", although the name is somewhat unfair.

Among the nobles in the capital, the one who has the most say in the Duke of Wei's government is naturally Duke Ding.

"By the way, Shandai, did you know? The Ministry of War and the cabinet seem to have reached an agreement to send Tan Lun north to oversee the military affairs of Ji Liao."

At this time, Chen Ju suddenly said again.

Wei Guangde nodded, "I heard someone say a few days ago that it was Huo Yi and Yang Bo's idea."

Although he really didn't want to do this, with the support of the two ministers of the Ministry of War and the tacit approval of Xu Jie, the chief minister of the cabinet, it was difficult for Chen Yiqin to object.

The most important thing is that there is no reason to object. Whether in Zhejiang or Fujian, and later in Shanxi and Guangdong and Guangxi, Tan Lun handled military affairs extremely well whether it was suppressing Japanese invaders or counterinsurgency, and he has become a famous military and civilian official in the world.

As the Japanese pirates in the south were gradually eliminated, the court's attention returned to the threat from the Mongols in the north. Naturally, trained civil servants like Tan Lun had high hopes.

In fact, people around Wei Guangde are more concerned about Tan Lun's scandal, because most of them know the situation in Guangdong and know that Yu Dayou's situation there is not very good.

Although he knew how to fight, his relationship with his colleagues was very unhappy. If he hadn't been concerned about the relationship with Prince Yu's palace, he would have been afraid that Yu Dayou would be dismissed after fighting a battle, and then reinstated when there was a war.

"Then you don't plan to transfer Yu Dayou to the north?"

Chen Ju suggested at this time: "In the past two years, the Tatars have continuously invaded Xuanda. The Xuanfu is doing well. Although there are occasional defeats, most of them are victories. The emperor is relieved to leave Ma Fang there, but you also know Datong and Shanxi have now become the weak points of our Ming Dynasty's border defense. If we tease Yu Dayou to guard Datong."

Having said this, Chen Ju stopped and looked at Wei Guangde with burning eyes, waiting for his reaction.

Well, this is a method that Chen Ju has been thinking about for a long time. After knowing that the imperial court planned to transfer Tan Lunqi away, he was considering it.

As for why he is so concerned about this matter, he naturally hopes that his idea will be favored by the emperor.

Teng Xiang, Meng Chong and others tried to flatter the emperor, but Chen Ju thought he couldn't do it, so he found another way.

I know that Emperor Longqing still attaches great importance to state affairs, but most of the time he seems careless, not because there are people in the court who help him with ideas and solutions.

All he had to do was approve the memorial, and the ministers would help him do it, and he could sit back and relax in the harem.

For this reason, Chen Ju felt that instead of competing for favors with Teng Xiang and others, it was better to do some practical things like courtiers. As long as he could share the worries of Emperor Longqing, his status would naturally be guaranteed.

Border affairs were naturally an extremely important matter in the minds of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty. As long as they recommended officials to stabilize the border defense, it would be a great achievement.

But he was also wondering why the news about Tan Lun had spread, but no one from Wei Guangde or Yin Shizhen proposed to transfer Yu Dayou.

Yin Shizhen had raised objections in the cabinet. Chen Ju knew about it, but he didn't know how Yu Zhuan's old people discussed it.

Today I came with Wei Guangde to announce the decree, so naturally he wanted to test it out.

"Brother Chen, you don't know something."

Wei Guangde didn't know that Chen Ju wanted to use this to improve his status in the palace. He just thought that he was concerned about his side, so he said: "Yu Dayou stayed in the south of the Yangtze River. He stayed there to command the navy of Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong in the future." of.

You know that the merchant ships from Yuegang have come out, and many merchant ships from the West will visit in the future.

Those barbarians came to my country as merchants, but if they went to the sea, who could say whether they were merchants or pirates?

Therefore, our Ming Dynasty needs to have a powerful naval fleet in the Jiangnan waters to escort the opening of the sea.

Looking at the generals in the Ming Dynasty who can command naval warships, it seems that he is the only one who is qualified for the position of naval admiral. "

Wei Guangde did not doubt his presence and directly told Chen Ju his thoughts.

Only then did Chen Ju know why no one had proposed transferring Yu Dayou to the north.

Think about it, when Yu Dayou was in Zhejiang and Fujian, he commanded waterways and suppressed Japanese pirates. He was one of the few generals in the DPRK who had experience in naval warfare.

"I understand when you say that."

Chen Ju nodded. Wei Guangde had this in mind, so naturally he couldn't tell the story of Yu Dayou from the North in front of Emperor Longqing, lest it ruin his plan.

Within two days, the palace's decree finally came from below, and Tan Lun, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, was transferred to return to the court, promoted to the right minister of the Ministry of War, and temporarily took over the military affairs of Jizhen.

At this time, he was not immediately promoted to governor of Jiliao. Although he had the support of Xu Jie, Yang Bo and others, because Chen Yiqin had previously opposed it, the emperor only asked him to temporarily manage the military affairs of Jizhen.

It should be noted here that the real Governor-General of Ji-Liao should actually be called "Governor-General of Ji-Liao-Baoding and other places, and concurrently in charge of food and salary". In fact, Governor-General is a name for this official position.

The Governor-General of Ji-Liao controls Shuntian, Baoding, and Liaodong, and the four towns of Jizhou, Changping, Liaodong, and Baoding.

Ji-Liao is a geographical concept, referring to the area from today's Beijing, through Shanhaiguan to Jinzhou and all the way to Liaohe.

It can be said that the Governor-General of Ji-Liao must be someone the emperor can trust, because all the troops around the capital, except the Beijing camp, are under his command, which is enough to affect the situation in the capital.

Because of this incident, Emperor Longqing, who was addicted to the pleasures of the harem, suddenly thought of the northern border defense.

The day after the decree to transfer Tan Lun was issued, Wei Guangde received an oral order from the palace, asking him to come to the palace for an audience.

In the Qianqing Palace, Wei Guangde met Emperor Longqing, and after saluting, he was asked about strengthening the northern military.

"Last time I asked you to think about how to strengthen the military affairs in the north. I don't want to hear the news that the Tartars are plundering the territory of my Ming Dynasty anymore. Is there any way now?"

Emperor Longqing has always been straightforward to Wei Guangde, and he will not beat around the bush.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of War has sent Tan Lun to the north. With Lord Tan in Jizhen, the northern defense line is as solid as a rock. You can rest assured."

Wei Guangde lowered his head and replied.

"But Jiliao and Xuanda are stable, what about Jiangxi, Yansui, and Ningxia?"

Emperor Longqing was not satisfied with Wei Guangde's words. What he wanted was the stability of the entire northern defense line, and he wanted no more Shizhou incidents.

Wei Guangde was silent about this.

The northern defense line of the Ming Dynasty is commonly known as the Nine Frontiers, which is how long it is.

Even if the Ming Dynasty spent a huge amount of money on this defense line and gathered millions of troops, it would be difficult to achieve a tight defense and not give the Tartars any chance.

You know, the Tartars will only gather troops at one point to break through, or look for weak defenses.

If one point is broken, the entire defense line will lose its meaning.

For such a situation, there are actually not many solutions that later generations can give.

Whether it is the Maginot Line or the Soviet Union's Western Defense Line, they are also useless in the face of the German attack.

The Maginot Line was directly bypassed. The Western Defense Line is very long and the German army cannot bypass it. It can directly break through and attack in a rolling manner. The powerful Soviet army on the entire defense line cannot show its military advantage. The front-line troops often even resist with the weak against the strong.

The current situation of the Ming army is actually very similar to that of the Soviet army at that time, except that the opponent is much weaker and cannot be occupied.

For such a situation, the experience summarized by the Soviet Union later is that the best defense is actually offense.

Defense is always passive, and troops must be divided, which can not form a superior force to fight.

Only attacking and concentrating forces on one point can work.

However, Wei Guangde understood this principle, but it seemed to be of little use to the Mongols who had no fixed place to live.

During the Zhu Di period, there were several expeditions. The Mongols actively resisted at the beginning, but later they were afraid and chose to escape to the grassland directly.

How can we fight if we can't find the enemy?

Even if Wei Guangde proposed to concentrate the border troops to sweep the grassland, let alone whether the Ming Dynasty could afford the huge military expenditure, I am afraid that by then, apart from destroying the few cities on the grassland, there would be no gains.

Altan Khan is not a fool, he is very smart and knows how strong he is.

The Tatar army is really strong enough to compete with the Ming army. They have already besieged Beijing.

Recapture Yuan Dadu and drink water in the Central Plains, which is actually the dream of the grassland people.

Seeing that Wei Guangde did not respond for a long time, Emperor Longqing was unhappy and said with a hint of anger: "Can my Ming Dynasty only passively defend like this and endure the plunder of the enemy cavalry every year?"

Wei Guangde knew that he had to say something.

In fact, he had considered it during this period, but it was not mature enough. There are at least two points that need to be done.

Although it was immature, Wei Guangde could only reveal a little to Emperor Longqing at this time to avoid disappointing him.

The emperor was disappointed with him. Although his hope of entering the cabinet could not be shattered, the impact was too bad.

So, Wei Guangde looked up at Emperor Longqing and said word by word: "The Art of War by Sun Tzu says that the best way to use troops is to conquer the whole country and to destroy the country."

After hearing what Wei Guangde said, Emperor Longqing's face improved slightly, and he nodded slightly, motioning Wei Guangde to continue.

One of the advantages of Emperor Longqing is that he can listen to others' advice. As long as you put forward your opinions, he will listen patiently no matter what his mood is, and will not interrupt irritably.

"It is said: Therefore, winning every battle is not the best of the best; defeating the enemy without fighting is the best of the best."

Wei Guangde continued.

Finally, he said: "So, Sun Tzu said it at the end, so the best military operation is to attack the enemy's plans, the next best is to attack their alliances, the next best is to attack their troops, and the worst is to attack their cities."

It seems that Wei Guangde's words are vague, but Emperor Longqing was taught by Gao Gong's nine-year compulsory education after all. The key points of Wei Guangde's three sentences are "the whole country is the best", "subdue the enemy without fighting" and "the best military operation is to defeat the enemy's plans."

The whole country is the best, which means to make the enemy surrender as a whole country, rather than to defeat the enemy country by force.

Subdue the enemy without fighting means literally, that is, to surrender all enemies without fighting.

As for the best military operation, it means that the best military operation is to use strategy to defeat the enemy's strategic intentions or war actions.

"What strategy do you want to use?"

Wei Guangde's words successfully attracted the attention of Emperor Longqing, who asked with interest.

"For the Mongols, other methods are useless. I heard that the grassland people only respect the strong. Only by showing your strong strength and letting them know that they are invincible will they retreat in the face of difficulties, stop violating borders, and even bow to orders. ”

Wei Guangde replied.

"I also know this, but when I, the Ming Dynasty, face off against the Tatars, I will win half the battle and lose half the battle. How can I make Anda Khan surrender?"

Emperor Longqing frowned and asked curiously.

"Show the might of the Ming Dynasty, the overwhelming military power, and let Anda Khan know that he can survive to this day, but our emperor is kind and has not made up his mind to destroy them."

Wei Guangde said without hesitation.

"How do you want to do it?"

When he said this, Emperor Longqing felt unsure for no reason.

How could he not know the situation of the Ming army?

It's the Jingying. He often wandered around the capital when he was in Yuzhuan, so he naturally saw the strength of the Ming Dynasty's Jingjun.

If the Tatars really know the strength of the Ming army in Beijing, will they seduce the Tatars to kill them?

"Two points, at least two points must be achieved."

Wei Guangde said, it was not that he was being passive, but that he had not considered the order of the two, how could he maximize the deterrence and achieve "conquering the enemy without fighting."

So, he went on to say: "First of all, Anda Khan should be aware of the combat power of our Ming army. Previously, when the Datong Army raided Bansheng City, the towns in the border areas were inspired by this and took the initiative to fight.

But later, Datong's chief military officer Liu Han was convicted and demoted due to a failed raid on the grassland. The border towns no longer conducted such military operations and returned to their original defensive state. Only Ma Fang still went out for raids from time to time.

Your Majesty, we should encourage the soldiers of the border army to take the initiative and show the bravery of our soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. "

Emperor Longqing nodded slightly when he heard this.

After Liu Han was convicted, he was demoted from chief soldier to staff general. He knew about this, and it was only Yang Bo's intercession from Emperor Jiajing that prevented him from being beaten to the end.

"Victory and defeat are common matters for military strategists. The imperial court can do this."

Emperor Longqing immediately responded in the affirmative. As long as he dared to take the initiative to attack, even if he suffered a defeat, he could absolve the border town generals of their sins.

"Secondly, I remember that my ancestors had a grand parade, and I secretly thought that the important affairs of the country were in the military. People today are lazy and lazy. If I don't use the power of God to personally watch, it will not be enough to build up the weak spirit and inspire the hearts of the soldiers."

Wei Guangde continued.

"Grand Parade Ceremony?"

Emperor Longqing frowned.

The Grand Parade Ceremony seems to have not been held for a long time.

In the Ming Dynasty, military rituals were rich in content. “Personal expeditions were the first, followed by generals. When the troops left, there were rituals of offering sacrifices. When they returned, there were rituals of accepting surrender, presenting tributes to prisoners, and giving rewards based on their merits. In daily life, there were military parades and large-scale shooting. The etiquette of saving Japan and cutting drums are also similar."