I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 604 Huh?
Chen Hong frowned tightly, and he was calculating how much more supplies and budget would be needed if this plan was approved...

Zhuang Jiye looked straight at Zhu Houxun, trying to get support from him.

Zhu Houxuan gently clapped his hands for Zhuang Jiye and said in an appreciative tone: "It's a very good plan, you are also very good..."

Zhuang Jiye smiled immediately and said modestly: "This is the collective wisdom of all colleagues in the General Staff. It is not something I came up with alone..."

Jiang Jiangong also smiled, looking proud of himself.

"But!" Zhu Houxuan suddenly made a turn, "You have to remember one sentence: war is the continuation of politics, and war serves politics..."

Zhuang Jiye's expression suddenly became stunned, and the people attending the meeting also looked at Zhu Houxuan in surprise, not understanding his intention...

"You are a soldier and cannot participate in politics, but you cannot fail to understand politics..." Zhu Houxuan looked at Zhuang Jiye indifferently.

His gaze made Zhuang Jiye feel a little at a loss...

"Your Highness, please give me some advice..." Zhuang Jiye said.

"Actually, it's not your fault. Your position prevents you from seeing the entire picture of the Ming Dynasty, so you can only make judgments based on military intelligence and formulate your military plans..." Zhu Houxuan continued.

"This war broke out entirely because of political issues, and this war is also to resolve those political issues..." Zhu Houxuan said with a sigh.

Everyone's eyes were focused on Zhu Houxuan. Zhu Houxuan always had refreshing theories, and they all listened attentively...

"Your plan is actually very feasible, but there are still some problems, such as it cannot completely solve the political issues that triggered this war, there will be great casualties, military expenditures will far exceed expectations, etc..." Zhu Houxuan continued.

Zhuang Jiye wanted to say something immediately, but Zhu Houxuan immediately waved his hand and said, "Just listen to me first..."

Zhuang Jiye sat down immediately...

"I would like to say something here that has been said many times, which is the current situation in the southern part of the Ming Dynasty..." Zhu Houxuan said patiently.

"The reason why we can firmly control the current one capital and four provinces is because the Royal Group has been working hard to penetrate the grassroots level in northern Ming Dynasty for more than ten years and win the hearts of the people in northern Ming Dynasty..."

"But the Royal Group is only a young organization after all. It is already a remarkable thing that it has been able to control the one capital and four provinces in the north of the Ming Dynasty in more than ten years. We can't ask for more from it..."

"So the Royal Group really doesn't have more energy to invest in the southern part of the Ming Dynasty. We even rarely project our propaganda power to the south, because there are too many places that need the Propaganda Department. The Propaganda Department has been burdened with a heavy burden in recent years, and has invested a lot of energy in the Yanran Protectorate and the Anxi Protectorate. I would like to express my special thanks to my colleagues in the Propaganda Department. You have worked very hard over the years..." Zhu Houxuan suddenly changed the subject.

The officials from the Propaganda Department who were attending the meeting stood up with beaming faces and thanked Zhu Houxuan.

Zhu Houxuan quickly brought the topic back to the topic and continued: "So the political ecology in the south of the Ming Dynasty is still the same as before - the imperial power does not extend below the county level! Below the county level, it is firmly controlled by the gentry from all over the country. All the channels for the people in the south to access information come from the gentry from all over the country... The people's hearts in the south are firmly controlled by the gentry."

"It is precisely because of this that the scale of this rebellion is so large, and it has deteriorated to an irreversible point. Even if we have orthodox justice, we cannot stop them. This is because most of the southern gentry collectively participated in the rebellion and brought the southern people to participate in the rebellion..."

"Your attack plan is very good, and it is estimated that you can achieve a series of military victories, but it cannot solve one problem - how to win back the hearts of the people in the south! If this problem cannot be solved, the southern rebels who control the hearts of the southerners will have the capital to deal with us. Although they will eventually fail, I don't know how many people will die in vain by then!" "You must know that they are also the people of the Ming Dynasty, they share the same language and culture as us, and they are also members of our Chinese nation! In the end, we will have to pay a great price and time to smooth over all this..." Zhu Houxuan sighed.

Everyone present was silent, immersed in Zhu Houxuan's words...

Zhuang Jiye was also like this, but he soon realized a problem. He broke the silence and said, "I admit that my offensive plan cannot solve the problem of how to win back the hearts of the people in the south, but can't the previous defensive plan solve this problem?"

"Yes! The defense plan can win back the hearts of the people in the south!" Zhu Houxuan said lightly.

"Ah~ah?" This time, not only Zhuang Jiye was surprised, but everyone present was also surprised...

Defense can win back the hearts of the people in the South? These two things are totally unrelated!
But they all knew that Zhu Houxun would not say this for no reason. Zhu Houxun must have his reasons for saying this...

Zhuang Jiye's brain worked quickly, and he soon thought of something. He immediately said, "Could it be that if we defend the southern part of Henan and the northern part of Northern Zhili, we can greatly lengthen the rebels' supply lines, consume more of their supplies, force them to impose heavy taxes and levies, and then lose the support of the people?"

When Zhuang Jiye said this idea, he felt it was too far-fetched...

But Zhu Houxuan said in a relaxed tone: "Yes!"

"Ah?" Zhuang Jiye didn't know how many times he had lost his composure today.

"We have a million soldiers on the front line, and they also have to deploy a million soldiers! They even have to recruit more troops, with such a long supply line. The material consumption to maintain such a large number of troops is extremely huge..." Zhu Houxuan said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"But...but..." Zhuang Jiye felt his brain was extremely confused. He even felt that his brain was not enough...

However, he quickly figured out a problem. "But this is too slow. How long will it take for the rebel government to lose the support of the people by imposing heavy taxes and levying heavy taxes? Didn't we plan for a quick victory when we made the plan?"

"Yes! We must win quickly!" Zhu Houxuan said briskly.

"You don't think I haven't made any other preparations, do you?" Zhu Houxuan looked at Zhuang Jiye with a smile.

"Ah?" Zhuang Jiye once again felt like his brain was not enough.

"You don't think I haven't done anything against the South in the past three years?"

"You don't think I haven't planted mines in the South in the past three years?"

"Why do you think so many organizations and people in the South insisted on evacuating until the last minute?"

"Ah?" Zhuang Jiye felt that his brain was not enough...

(End of this chapter)