My life skills in Daming Liver

In the 42nd year of Jiajing's reign, 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 Jiajing thirty-seventh year examination. Shen Shixing, Xu Guo, and Wang Xijue were all his favorite students, and he was also 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, Minister of Officials, Zhao Zhenji concurrently served as Minister of Household, Li Chunfang, Minister of Rites, Yang Bo, Minister of Military Affairs, Huang Guangsheng, Minister of Punishment, and Lei Li, Minister of Industry, all of them were listed in the hall.

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 sat on the throne, cleared his throat and said:

"Today's discussion will not be included in the historians' list, nor will it be included in the daily notes and records. The ministers can speak freely."

After the emperor finished speaking, everyone became 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 the place where the elites of the Nine Sides will fight the Soviet thieves after they go south."

Sure enough, this is the issue.

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 an old fritter, and he said directly: "I don't know anything about military affairs, so I dare not speak nonsense. The court has decided on the location of the decisive battle, and the ministers will definitely make preparations for logistics."

Xu Jie's old youtiao 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 affairs." Yang Bo had no choice but to say:

"I believe that the thieves' firearms are fierce, but it takes time to reload. If they can charge into the formation with cavalry, they will definitely be able to break through the enemy's formation."

"So I think the decisive battle should be at a place suitable for cavalry charge."

Yang Bo didn't say this. From the time he decided to mobilize the elites of the Nine Sides to go south, the strategy of using cavalry to deal with the gunmen was settled.

"Say the place!"

Yang Bo could only bite the bullet and said: "I believe that the dense water network of the Yangtze and Huaihe River is not suitable for cavalry charges, and the decisive battle should be in Jining Prefecture."

Jining Prefecture, which is now Jining City, is the former capital of the State of Lu and an important city on the canal water network. It is located in the Qilu Plain and is the 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, in the Southern Song Dynasty, due to the low level of governance of the nomadic regime in the north, the problem of the flooding of the Yellow River was caused.

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 silting in Xuzhou has made it very difficult to walk the section of the Grand Canal in Xuzhou. Sometimes ships cannot navigate directly, and it is necessary to use special waterways to manually pull through the silted section.

On the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled, during the Wanli period, because of the frequent congestion of the Xuzhou section of the canal, the canal passing through Taierzhuang was finally dug, 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 in Xuzhou. It was because the canal in Xuzhou section was difficult to walk, and it would cost a lot to transport soldiers, horses, supplies and weapons to Xuzhou, so the Ministry of War thought that Jining should be the decisive battle.

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 the court do then?"

The emperor frowned, but Zhao Zhenji was right. If he lost the decisive battle in Jining, then Su Ze's army could march north along the Grand Canal and march to the capital. What would the court do then?

You can't learn from Yuan Shun Emperor Beishou, can you?

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 their heads, and even Yang Bo couldn't express any 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 send the heavy military supplies and equipment to Xuzhou City first."

Then, the emperor added: "Give an order to Zhang Juzheng, Governor of Southern Zhili, to withdraw the soldiers to Xuzhou at the end of February!"

"Li Tingzhu, Commander-in-Chief of the Fifth Army in Nanjing, is guarding Nanjing and awaiting reinforcements!"

After the emperor finished speaking, all the ministers took the order and went out. 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 right, my lord."

Zhao Zhenji asked to stay and play alone, which 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."

"My love, 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 and the Su thieves can be washed away with floods."

"The Su thieves are elite soldiers. It is not easy to make weapons, nor is it easy to train soldiers. As long as we can destroy them in one fell swoop, we will be able to spread the word in the southeast!"

Although the emperor did not express his position, Zhao Zhenji had keenly felt Jiajing's joy.

Zhao Zhenji understood the emperor's intentions, and immediately said: "I will send my confidants to arrange this matter."

Both the monarch and his ministers smiled, but no one cared about the people in Xuzhou City at this time.

The dilapidated machine of the Ming court finally started to move, messengers from all walks of life set off from the capital, and the troops from the nine sides were also assembled.

At this time, Su Ze had quietly come to the Shanghai Anti-Japanese Headquarters.

Su Ze and Lin Mojun walked side by side by the Shanghai pier, which will be called the Bund in the future. Su Ze asked, "How about the winter clothes?"

Lin Mojun said: "The winter clothes have been distributed. Now there are 3,000 soldiers in the first brigade, and all the 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 Zhejiang New Army) has 10,000 people. , This is all the troops we can put into the south after the beginning of spring, that is, 20,000 troops."

The Fourth Brigade reorganized by Qi's Army is now guarding Guangzhou, mainly to stabilize Guangzhou and Chaozhou and maintain law and order at sea in the southeast.

Su Ze added: "However, in this decisive 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 guns have been shipped?"

Lin Mojun said, "Twenty doors have been shipped for the four-pound ones, ten for the eight-pound ones, and four for the twelve-pound ones."

"Soldiers have already started to practice the new type of artillery. Everyone says that this type of artillery is much easier to use than before. So far, there has been no problem of artillery explosion."

Su Ze nodded in satisfaction. With the innovation brought about by technology, the same type of weapons will have completely different performances on the battlefield.

On the battlefield, the firing speed is faster and the barrel explosion rate is lower. These 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 are mainly cavalry. The Ming Dynasty should want to use cavalry charge to deal with our phalanx of gunmen. You have already Have you done coping training according to the new drills sent by the staff?"

Lin Mojun nodded and said, "I've been practicing since the end of the year, but the cooperation between the gunner and the bird gunner is still not tacit."

Su Ze did not choose the Spanish phalanx for the new army's tactics.

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 the early bird guns, there are also percussion guns that use spring flint, 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 have not been able to recruit useful cavalry so far."

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.

The outcome of an infantry battle against cavalry depends on the deployment of troops, on-the-spot command and tactical training level of both sides, but the infantry phalanx has another biggest disadvantage against cavalry, which is that it cannot be pursued.

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 Nanzhili raises horses, the quality of the horses is not good. The herdsmen in various places are using horses to exploit the people, and the horses raised are used for logistics supplies. Okay, good horses must be selected 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 mobility cannot be guaranteed."

Su Ze looked at the map and said, "In other words, Fengyang Mansion must be captured before the war?"

Lin Mojun said: "That's it."

"Pass my military order, the second brigade under Lin Liangjun of Jiujiang will go down from Jiujiang to Anqing for a feint attack to contain the Ming army under Zhang Juzheng and Liu Shiyan in Anqing Mansion, and the third brigade under Lin Deyang will set off from Jingdezhen to attack Fengyang Mansion .”

"The main purpose of this battle is for the herdsmen of Fengyang Prefecture to determine whether to occupy Fengyang based on the enemy's dynamics."

The staff around him immediately recorded Su Ze's order and quickly spread the news to Jiangxi.